1
00:00:00,140 --> 00:00:03,180
Today, we want to consider a word of

2
00:00:03,180 --> 00:00:06,960
encouragement for those who feel their life has

3
00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:07,560
been a failure.

4
00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:10,700
Lots and lots of people feel that they

5
00:00:10,700 --> 00:00:13,300
have messed up their life so badly and

6
00:00:13,300 --> 00:00:15,219
they wonder, what can I do with my

7
00:00:15,219 --> 00:00:16,320
life for God now?

8
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,460
There is a message of hope in the

9
00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:20,840
word of God for such people.

10
00:00:21,580 --> 00:00:25,200
There are many brothers and sisters, believers who

11
00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,560
feel that because they have sinned and failed

12
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:30,380
God at some time in their past lives,

13
00:00:31,340 --> 00:00:34,060
therefore they can't fulfill God's perfect plan for

14
00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:34,880
their lives now.

15
00:00:35,940 --> 00:00:37,560
Because they say, well, once upon a time,

16
00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,360
when I was young, if I had yielded

17
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,160
completely to God and lived in His perfect

18
00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:43,700
will, maybe I could have, but I have

19
00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:46,120
made such a mess of my life, what

20
00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:46,880
can I do now?

21
00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:51,360
Now, according to logic and our own human

22
00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:53,000
understanding, that sounds right.

23
00:00:53,700 --> 00:00:56,140
But let's look at the scriptures and you

24
00:00:56,140 --> 00:00:58,360
may find that God's thoughts are completely different.

25
00:00:58,500 --> 00:00:59,760
God's ways are completely different.

26
00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:01,360
There's hope, even for you.

27
00:01:03,060 --> 00:01:05,040
Notice, first of all, how the Bible begins.

28
00:01:06,580 --> 00:01:09,520
In the beginning, God created the heaven and

29
00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:09,780
the earth.

30
00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,480
That's written in Genesis 1, verse 1.

31
00:01:14,740 --> 00:01:16,680
And after the heavens and the earth were

32
00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:19,220
made, when God makes anything, it's perfect.

33
00:01:19,220 --> 00:01:22,060
They must have been perfect, because He never

34
00:01:22,060 --> 00:01:23,000
does anything imperfect.

35
00:01:24,140 --> 00:01:25,420
But some of the angels whom He had

36
00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:28,920
created fell away, and that's described in Isaiah

37
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,580
14, verses 11 to 15, and Ezekiel 28,

38
00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:34,540
verse 13 to 18.

39
00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,420
And when that happened, we read in Genesis

40
00:01:38,420 --> 00:01:41,220
1, 2, the earth became formless and void

41
00:01:41,220 --> 00:01:42,760
and empty and dark.

42
00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:46,440
But then, what did God do?

43
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,080
He didn't leave the earth in that condition.

44
00:01:49,500 --> 00:01:51,580
It says, the Holy Spirit began to move

45
00:01:51,580 --> 00:01:53,280
upon that earth, and the word of God

46
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,840
went forth on that earth, and God remade

47
00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:57,400
that earth.

48
00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:59,880
He worked on that shapeless, empty, dark mass

49
00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,840
and made something so beautiful out of that

50
00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,080
mess, that at the end of it, He

51
00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,039
could say in Genesis 1, 31, it's very

52
00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:09,300
good.

53
00:02:09,900 --> 00:02:11,480
Now, what's the lesson in the first chapter

54
00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:11,940
of the Bible?

55
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,200
That even if the devil has made a

56
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,480
mess of your life, if you surrender to

57
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,620
God's word, you see how God said, God

58
00:02:21,620 --> 00:02:24,140
said, God said appears in the first chapter?

59
00:02:24,700 --> 00:02:27,260
And to the Holy Spirit, He can make

60
00:02:27,260 --> 00:02:30,620
something excellent out of your life, no matter

61
00:02:30,620 --> 00:02:31,420
how much you fail.

62
00:02:35,330 --> 00:02:38,710
Now, before this failure of Lucifer, God must

63
00:02:38,710 --> 00:02:40,210
have had a perfect plan for the heavens

64
00:02:40,210 --> 00:02:40,690
and the earth.

65
00:02:42,390 --> 00:02:45,830
But when Lucifer sinned, that plan had to

66
00:02:45,830 --> 00:02:48,810
be set aside, but God remade the heavens

67
00:02:48,810 --> 00:02:50,370
and still made something good out of it.

68
00:02:51,610 --> 00:02:52,890
And now see what happens next.

69
00:02:54,010 --> 00:02:57,950
God creates man and woman, and He's got

70
00:02:57,950 --> 00:02:59,530
a perfect plan for Adam and Eve.

71
00:03:00,930 --> 00:03:03,230
And in God's perfect plan for Adam and

72
00:03:03,230 --> 00:03:05,150
Eve, there was no provision for them to

73
00:03:05,150 --> 00:03:06,370
eat of this forbidden tree.

74
00:03:08,270 --> 00:03:09,330
That was not God's will.

75
00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:11,070
In fact, God clearly said you shouldn't eat

76
00:03:11,070 --> 00:03:11,410
of that.

77
00:03:12,330 --> 00:03:13,750
So if God had a plan for them,

78
00:03:13,970 --> 00:03:15,350
the plan was they should not eat of

79
00:03:15,350 --> 00:03:15,550
it.

80
00:03:17,250 --> 00:03:20,770
But they did eat of it, and they

81
00:03:20,770 --> 00:03:22,010
spoiled God's plan.

82
00:03:22,170 --> 00:03:24,130
Now if we go by logic and reason,

83
00:03:25,050 --> 00:03:28,510
we'll have to say, well, now they cannot

84
00:03:28,510 --> 00:03:30,010
fulfill God's perfect plan.

85
00:03:30,630 --> 00:03:32,650
Now we have to go to God's second

86
00:03:32,650 --> 00:03:33,150
best.

87
00:03:34,610 --> 00:03:35,850
But what do we read there?

88
00:03:36,530 --> 00:03:39,530
We read there that the Lord comes to

89
00:03:39,530 --> 00:03:41,110
Adam and Eve after they have sinned and

90
00:03:41,110 --> 00:03:44,070
tells them, well, don't worry, I'm going to

91
00:03:44,070 --> 00:03:44,870
solve this problem.

92
00:03:46,510 --> 00:03:49,130
I'm going to send a seed through the

93
00:03:49,130 --> 00:03:52,190
woman, that's referring to Christ, who will come

94
00:03:52,190 --> 00:03:53,950
and bruise the serpent, the devil on his

95
00:03:53,950 --> 00:03:56,130
head, and destroy his power over you.

96
00:03:58,100 --> 00:04:00,920
So there He's speaking about Christ dying for

97
00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,860
our sins and overcoming Satan on Calvary.

98
00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,440
Now tell me this, what is your answer

99
00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:08,220
to this question?

100
00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,580
Was the death of Christ part of God's

101
00:04:12,580 --> 00:04:15,300
perfect plan for us from all eternity or

102
00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:15,620
not?

103
00:04:17,220 --> 00:04:19,660
The Bible says in Revelation 13, verse 8,

104
00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,420
that the Lamb was slain from the foundation

105
00:04:21,420 --> 00:04:21,980
of the world.

106
00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,400
So was that in God's mind from eternity,

107
00:04:26,860 --> 00:04:28,780
or was it God's second best?

108
00:04:28,780 --> 00:04:30,480
How many of you would dare to say

109
00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,200
that the death of Christ on Calvary was

110
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:34,240
God's second best?

111
00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:36,900
Wasn't it His perfect plan?

112
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:37,580
It was.

113
00:04:38,300 --> 00:04:40,740
But yet, when you turn to Genesis 3,

114
00:04:41,260 --> 00:04:44,180
logically you have to say Christ had to

115
00:04:44,180 --> 00:04:45,780
die only because Adam and Eve failed.

116
00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:48,560
If Adam and Eve had not sinned, there

117
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,720
would be no need for Christ to die

118
00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:51,720
on the cross at all.

119
00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,240
So then, was it God's perfect plan or

120
00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:55,540
not?

121
00:04:58,220 --> 00:05:00,600
And we would not have known of God's

122
00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,680
love if Adam had not sinned.

123
00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,140
There would have been no Calvary's cross.

124
00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:08,080
What's the answer?

125
00:05:09,060 --> 00:05:09,920
You're confused.

126
00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,380
Because our human understanding cannot grasp this.

127
00:05:15,220 --> 00:05:19,500
That even where man has failed, God can

128
00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:21,640
still fulfill His perfect plan.

129
00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,420
Now human logic fails here, it baffles us.

130
00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:28,900
That's why the Bible says, don't lean on

131
00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:29,820
your own understanding.

132
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:33,580
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

133
00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,620
If God was working according to mathematical logic,

134
00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,180
then we'd have to say that Christ coming

135
00:05:38,180 --> 00:05:39,680
to the earth was God's second best plan.

136
00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:41,340
But that's blasphemous.

137
00:05:42,220 --> 00:05:44,040
It was part of God's perfect plan.

138
00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:46,620
God makes no mistakes.

139
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,660
God, who knows the end from the beginning

140
00:05:50,660 --> 00:05:54,440
and who silently plans for us in love,

141
00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,020
plans something allowing for our failures.

142
00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:02,960
He knows that we're going to fail, He

143
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,480
allows for our failures and has made a

144
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:07,440
perfect plan for us.

145
00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,720
That's the word of encouragement that there is

146
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:11,120
for you.

147
00:06:11,980 --> 00:06:14,820
God's perfect plan for Adam was certainly not

148
00:06:14,820 --> 00:06:15,980
that they should eat of the tree of

149
00:06:15,980 --> 00:06:18,820
knowledge of good and evil, but because He

150
00:06:18,820 --> 00:06:20,920
knew the end from the beginning, He knew

151
00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:22,320
that they would fail and so He'd already

152
00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,380
made a plan that accounted for that failure.

153
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:27,960
The same way in your life.

154
00:06:29,500 --> 00:06:30,800
There are a lot of things you've done

155
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,120
in your life that God never wanted you

156
00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:33,500
to do.

157
00:06:34,620 --> 00:06:37,180
But do you know that in His great

158
00:06:37,180 --> 00:06:40,060
love for you and in His perfect wisdom,

159
00:06:40,740 --> 00:06:44,900
He has made allowance for that failure and

160
00:06:44,900 --> 00:06:49,080
can still lead you into His perfect plan.

161
00:06:51,290 --> 00:06:52,790
His ways are not our ways.

162
00:06:52,910 --> 00:06:54,290
His thoughts are not our thoughts.

163
00:06:55,530 --> 00:06:57,370
So don't let your logic and reason say,

164
00:06:57,510 --> 00:06:59,390
oh, now I cannot do God's perfect will

165
00:06:59,390 --> 00:07:00,090
for my life.

166
00:07:01,150 --> 00:07:03,310
God's message to us from these opening pages

167
00:07:03,310 --> 00:07:06,170
of the Bible is just this, that He

168
00:07:06,170 --> 00:07:08,870
can take a man who has failed and

169
00:07:08,870 --> 00:07:11,950
make something glorious out of him and still

170
00:07:11,950 --> 00:07:13,030
make him fulfill.

171
00:07:13,030 --> 00:07:15,090
God's perfect plan for his life.

172
00:07:15,950 --> 00:07:17,950
That's in the first pages of the Bible

173
00:07:17,950 --> 00:07:20,150
and we must never forget it.

174
00:07:20,710 --> 00:07:22,130
And if you're a failure, God can pick

175
00:07:22,130 --> 00:07:24,890
you up and fulfill not His second best

176
00:07:24,890 --> 00:07:27,350
or third best, but His perfect plan.

177
00:07:28,130 --> 00:07:30,810
That's why it's important for you to give

178
00:07:30,810 --> 00:07:32,790
the rest of your life totally to God.

179
00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:40,120
See because even our failure may, though it's

180
00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,920
not part of God's perfect plan, may be

181
00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,180
permitted by Him to teach us some lessons.

182
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:52,620
For example, we never learn humility, unfortunately, except

183
00:07:52,620 --> 00:07:53,520
through many failures.

184
00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,660
We try to get victory over sin so

185
00:07:56,660 --> 00:07:58,360
many times we fail and fail and fail

186
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,960
and fail and fail and we realize finally

187
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:02,500
that we cannot without God's help.

188
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,880
Well, that's an education we got through our

189
00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:07,240
failure.

190
00:08:08,020 --> 00:08:09,560
See for example, Peter.

191
00:08:10,220 --> 00:08:13,320
Part of Peter's training for leadership was failure.

192
00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,440
The Lord could not break Peter through educating

193
00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,160
him, through teaching him, but when he denied

194
00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:21,920
the Lord three times, which was certainly not

195
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,980
God's perfect will, it accomplished something in Peter.

196
00:08:25,060 --> 00:08:25,640
It broke him.

197
00:08:26,420 --> 00:08:28,120
And that was God's perfect will, that it

198
00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:28,740
should be broken.

199
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:34,460
So God can use failure to accomplish something

200
00:08:34,460 --> 00:08:34,780
good.

201
00:08:36,220 --> 00:08:38,059
See, one of the biggest problems that God

202
00:08:38,059 --> 00:08:40,500
has with us is to bless us in

203
00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:42,140
such a way that the blessing does not

204
00:08:42,140 --> 00:08:43,280
puff us up with pride.

205
00:08:45,770 --> 00:08:47,210
You see, if you get victory over anger

206
00:08:47,210 --> 00:08:51,550
and then you become proud, that's falling into

207
00:08:51,550 --> 00:08:53,290
a far deeper pit than anger itself.

208
00:08:55,890 --> 00:08:57,930
So it's not only important to get victory

209
00:08:57,930 --> 00:09:00,170
over sin, it's important to be humble at

210
00:09:00,170 --> 00:09:00,670
the end of it.

211
00:09:00,770 --> 00:09:01,610
And how does that happen?

212
00:09:02,170 --> 00:09:04,230
Only if God allows us to fail many

213
00:09:04,230 --> 00:09:04,770
times.

214
00:09:06,170 --> 00:09:09,290
Genuine victory is always accompanied by humility.

215
00:09:10,570 --> 00:09:12,030
And the other thing is, if we have

216
00:09:12,030 --> 00:09:14,170
failed many times, we can never despise another

217
00:09:14,170 --> 00:09:14,590
person.

218
00:09:15,650 --> 00:09:17,290
Because we know we've failed ourselves.

219
00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,820
So we're not saying that a man should

220
00:09:21,820 --> 00:09:23,220
therefore keep on sinning.

221
00:09:23,500 --> 00:09:26,000
You know, Paul speaks about that, saying, well,

222
00:09:26,060 --> 00:09:28,580
if my dishonesty brought glory to God, Romans

223
00:09:28,580 --> 00:09:29,480
3, 7 and 8.

224
00:09:31,330 --> 00:09:33,170
If you follow through with that idea, you

225
00:09:33,170 --> 00:09:34,530
come to this, the worse we are, the

226
00:09:34,530 --> 00:09:35,550
better God likes it.

227
00:09:36,010 --> 00:09:37,770
But the damnation of those who say such

228
00:09:37,770 --> 00:09:38,610
things is just.

229
00:09:39,810 --> 00:09:41,250
No, we're not saying that we have to

230
00:09:41,250 --> 00:09:41,510
sin.

231
00:09:42,130 --> 00:09:44,050
What we're saying is, if we have failed,

232
00:09:44,930 --> 00:09:48,910
God is not frustrated in fulfilling His plan

233
00:09:48,910 --> 00:09:49,530
for our life.

234
00:09:50,570 --> 00:09:53,790
Every man whom God has used has failed.

235
00:09:53,950 --> 00:09:57,690
Peter, Paul, John, James, you, I, everyone.

236
00:09:58,210 --> 00:10:00,570
God has not called people who never made

237
00:10:00,570 --> 00:10:01,630
mistakes in their life.

238
00:10:02,970 --> 00:10:06,010
If God could fulfill His perfect plan only

239
00:10:06,010 --> 00:10:08,110
in the lives of those who never made

240
00:10:08,110 --> 00:10:09,730
a mistake, then we'd have to say Jesus

241
00:10:09,730 --> 00:10:13,110
Christ was the only person who ever fulfilled

242
00:10:13,110 --> 00:10:14,370
God's perfect plan for his life.

243
00:10:14,430 --> 00:10:14,970
Nobody else.

244
00:10:16,470 --> 00:10:18,030
Great men of God may not have told

245
00:10:18,030 --> 00:10:21,890
you about their failures, but they have failed

246
00:10:21,890 --> 00:10:22,130
too.

247
00:10:23,270 --> 00:10:25,070
Now the question is whether you can believe

248
00:10:25,070 --> 00:10:25,750
that or not.

249
00:10:26,770 --> 00:10:30,390
You see, if you don't believe this, if

250
00:10:30,390 --> 00:10:31,450
you say, no, no, no, no, it's not

251
00:10:31,450 --> 00:10:33,750
possible in my case, then it won't work.

252
00:10:35,270 --> 00:10:38,910
But if you can believe, Lord, there's nothing

253
00:10:38,910 --> 00:10:39,930
impossible for you.

254
00:10:40,630 --> 00:10:42,130
You can take the mess I've made of

255
00:10:42,130 --> 00:10:46,230
my life and still accomplish something glorious, fulfill

256
00:10:46,230 --> 00:10:46,950
your perfect plan.

257
00:10:47,030 --> 00:10:48,470
It will happen according to your faith.

258
00:10:49,730 --> 00:10:51,430
Think of the story of the prodigal son

259
00:10:51,430 --> 00:10:54,170
who wasted so many years and all the

260
00:10:54,170 --> 00:10:54,750
father's money.

261
00:10:55,270 --> 00:10:56,890
And when he came back, the Bible says

262
00:10:56,890 --> 00:10:58,230
he got the best robe and the best

263
00:10:58,230 --> 00:10:58,550
seat.

264
00:10:59,110 --> 00:10:59,730
What was that?

265
00:11:00,730 --> 00:11:03,130
It's a message that says that God can

266
00:11:03,130 --> 00:11:04,590
pick up a person who's made a mess

267
00:11:04,590 --> 00:11:06,950
of his life and make something glorious out

268
00:11:06,950 --> 00:11:07,170
of him.

269
00:11:07,250 --> 00:11:08,650
That's the story of the prodigal son.

270
00:11:09,850 --> 00:11:11,290
Think of the story of the man who

271
00:11:11,290 --> 00:11:12,930
went out hiring laborers.

272
00:11:13,590 --> 00:11:14,830
He went at six o'clock in the

273
00:11:14,830 --> 00:11:16,710
morning and hired laborers.

274
00:11:17,110 --> 00:11:18,810
And then he went at five o'clock

275
00:11:18,810 --> 00:11:21,630
in the evening to hire laborers who could

276
00:11:21,630 --> 00:11:24,490
work only for one hour out of twelve.

277
00:11:25,250 --> 00:11:28,670
In other words, they had wasted ninety percent

278
00:11:28,670 --> 00:11:29,450
of their life.

279
00:11:30,670 --> 00:11:32,390
Eleven hours out of twelve.

280
00:11:34,390 --> 00:11:36,970
And they went and worked and they got

281
00:11:36,970 --> 00:11:37,890
their reward first.

282
00:11:39,030 --> 00:11:41,250
What does that parable in Matthew twenty teach

283
00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:41,630
us?

284
00:11:42,830 --> 00:11:46,190
That God can do something even with those

285
00:11:46,190 --> 00:11:48,810
who have ruined ninety percent of their lives.

286
00:11:49,790 --> 00:11:53,950
Nobody is so hopeless that God cannot do

287
00:11:53,950 --> 00:11:54,670
something with them.

288
00:11:54,790 --> 00:11:56,690
Jesus came to destroy the works of the

289
00:11:56,690 --> 00:11:56,910
devil.

290
00:11:57,070 --> 00:11:59,030
We read in one John three verse eight.

291
00:11:59,950 --> 00:12:01,490
He can untie all the knots that the

292
00:12:01,490 --> 00:12:02,690
devil has tied up in your life.

293
00:12:02,770 --> 00:12:05,270
My brother, my sister, don't listen to the

294
00:12:05,270 --> 00:12:06,010
lies of the devil.

295
00:12:06,730 --> 00:12:08,230
When he says no, that's impossible.

296
00:12:09,510 --> 00:12:12,370
If you believe him, it'll be impossible.

297
00:12:12,370 --> 00:12:16,290
But if you believe God, who can take

298
00:12:16,290 --> 00:12:20,070
the broken vessel and as a potter make

299
00:12:20,070 --> 00:12:25,350
it again, anew, then it will be fulfilled

300
00:12:25,350 --> 00:12:26,010
in your life.

301
00:12:26,250 --> 00:12:29,090
Whatever your blunders and failures, you can make

302
00:12:29,090 --> 00:12:29,630
a new beginning.

303
00:12:29,890 --> 00:12:31,770
And if you've made a thousand new beginnings,

304
00:12:32,330 --> 00:12:34,270
make a thousand and first new beginning today.

305
00:12:35,410 --> 00:12:37,750
God can make something glorious out of your

306
00:12:37,750 --> 00:12:38,130
life.

307
00:12:38,980 --> 00:12:42,610
Give glory to God by believing this is

308
00:12:42,610 --> 00:12:43,030
true.

309
00:12:43,690 --> 00:12:45,530
And one day in eternity, God will show

310
00:12:45,530 --> 00:12:47,810
you as a person who has a failure,

311
00:12:48,470 --> 00:12:52,630
but from whom He brought tremendous glory in

312
00:12:52,630 --> 00:12:53,730
your earthly life.