Overcoming Disappointment
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
Life's disappointments are inevitable, but placing unwavering faith in God helps overcome them. Human efforts may fall short, but God's love, grace, and mercy provide the strength and hope needed to navigate life's challenges.
The core takeaway is that despite life's inevitable disappointments, placing unwavering faith in God and relying on His love, grace, and mercy will provide the strength and hope needed to overcome any challenge.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Understanding Disappointment: A Universal Experience
Have you ever been disappointed? Everyone has faced disappointment at some point in their lives. Consider the heartbreak of Olympic athletes who train for years only to be outperformed or make a critical mistake. Disappointment is a common human experience, affecting people from all walks of life.
The State of the World: A Cause for Disappointment
Recent events, such as the controversial opening ceremony of the Olympics, have left many feeling disappointed and offended. This reaction is understandable, but not surprising. The world is in a state of turmoil, and moral standards often fall short. Countries like France are seen as post-Christian nations, with a significant decline in practicing Christians and evangelical believers. This highlights the need for spiritual revival and a reminder that we cannot expect the world to adhere to biblical standards.
Faith in God's Plan: A Source of Strength
Romans 9:33 offers a profound message: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." This verse, translated differently in various Bible versions, reassures believers that faith in God prevents ultimate disappointment. While moments of disappointment are inevitable, they are temporary when we place our trust in God.
The Importance of Holiness and Good Works
God desires holiness and good works from us. We are called to live in a way that reflects our faith and glorifies God. However, it's crucial to understand that good works alone cannot earn us a place in heaven. Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Misplacing our trust in our own abilities will only lead to disappointment.
The Role of Faith in Overcoming Disappointment
Our Christian walk can sometimes feel disappointing, especially when we try to earn our salvation through good works. True fulfillment comes from serving God faithfully, which prevents prolonged disappointment. Even during times of failure and discouragement, faith in God's love and mercy sustains us.
Encouragement in the Face of Disappointment
Historical figures like King David faced significant disappointment yet found encouragement in their faith. When overwhelmed, David sought solace in God. This teaches us that even in our darkest moments, turning to God provides comfort and hope.
The Significance of Grace, Mercy, and Faith
Romans 9 emphasizes the importance of faith, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love. These elements are essential for overcoming disappointment. Recognizing that our righteousness comes from faith in Jesus Christ helps us avoid the trap of self-reliance and subsequent discouragement.
Living by Faith, Not by Works
The early church grappled with the transition from law-based righteousness to faith-based salvation. Understanding that we cannot earn salvation through our own efforts is crucial. God's grace fulfills the law, and our faith in Jesus Christ ensures we will not be disappointed.
Building Endurance Through Suffering
Romans 5:1-5 teaches that suffering produces endurance, character, and hope. Although we may face trials, these experiences strengthen our faith. Placing our hope in God, rather than worldly circumstances, prevents lasting disappointment.
Finding Hope in God's Promises
Hope in God never disappoints. Our faith is built on God's past deeds, our hope is in His future promises, and His love sustains us in the present. By loving one another and trusting in God's plan, we overcome disappointment and live victoriously.
Embracing God's Love and Forgiveness
No matter how many times we fail, God's forgiveness is always available. The parable of forgiveness teaches that God continually forgives us, just as we are called to forgive others. Our faith in His grace and mercy allows us to overcome personal shortcomings and find peace.
Overcoming Disappointment Through Worship and Scripture
Worshiping God and meditating on His Word address all our problems. The Holy Spirit within us provides hope and prevents disappointment. Drawing closer to God magnifies His presence and diminishes our struggles.
Conclusion: Faith as the Antidote to Disappointment
Life's disappointments are inevitable, but faith in God transforms these experiences. By trusting in His love, grace, and mercy, we find the strength and hope needed to navigate life's challenges. This unshakable faith ensures that we will not be disappointed, no matter what we face.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Reflect on Faith: What does faith in God mean to you? How can we strengthen our faith even when we are facing disappointments?
Understanding Grace: Discuss the concept that our good works alone are not enough to earn salvation. How does God’s grace play a role in our lives?
Overcoming Disappointment: Share a time when you felt deeply disappointed. How did your faith help you through that time?
Living in Faith: Why do you think it’s crucial to keep our eyes on God rather than our own abilities or the world around us?
Encouraging One Another: How can we, as a church family or small group, support and encourage each other to trust in God’s plan?
Practical Applications: What steps can we take this week to remind ourselves of God’s grace and love when we face challenges?
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Connecting our kids to what we as adults are learning and hearing on Sundays is vital to passing on our faith to the next generation. Use the summary below as a great way to talk about the message we heard with your kids.
Once upon a time in a little village, there was a boy named Sammy and a girl named Ella. They always tried their best to be good, thinking that’s how they’d get into the King’s Great Castle. One day, an old wise man named Pastor Derrel visited their village and gathered all the children. “Children,” he said, “do you know about the King’s Great Castle?” “Yes!” they shouted. “We have to be perfect to enter!” Pastor Derrel smiled and said, “Oh no, that’s not true. The King loves you so much that he made a way for everyone to enter, not by being perfect, but by believing in his son, Prince Faith.” Sammy and Ella were surprised. “But we always mess up,” Ella said. “That’s okay,” Pastor Derrel replied. “Prince Faith takes care of that. When you believe in him, the King sees you as perfect.” From that day on, Sammy and Ella focused on loving the Prince and showing kindness, knowing they had a place in the Great Castle because of their faith. The end.
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Historical Context of Romans 9
In Romans chapter 9, Paul addresses the tension between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians in the early church. This period in the Roman Empire was marked by significant cultural, political, and religious diversity. The Jewish Christians were deeply rooted in the traditions of the Mosaic Law, which included strict adherence to customs and commandments handed down through generations. These laws were seen as a covenantal relationship with God, a cornerstone of Jewish identity and faith. Paul's writings in Romans come at a time when Christianity was emerging as a distinct faith, increasingly attracting Gentiles who were not familiar with Jewish Law. Many Jews struggled to reconcile their deep-seated beliefs with the new teaching that faith in Jesus Christ, and not strict adherence to the Law, was the path to righteousness. Politically, the Roman Empire was vast and polytheistic, allowing for various religions but often viewing new movements, like Christianity, with suspicion. Christians faced varying degrees of persecution, which impacted their ability for public worship and evangelism. Religiously, this was a transformational period where the message of salvation through Christ was spreading beyond Jewish communities to Gentile populations. Paul's teachings emphasized grace, faith, and the universality of God’s promise to all humanity, attempting to bridge the gap between Jewish traditions and the burgeoning belief system of the Christian faith. Paul’s epistle aimed to clarify that while the law revealed the impossibility of achieving righteousness through works, Jesus’ sacrifice made righteousness accessible through faith. This shift from law to grace was radical and foundational for the direction of early Christian theology.
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Have any of you ever been disappointed?
Has anybody not been disappointed? Everyone has been disappointed, many that have competed already in the Olympics. The sad part about watching them is to see those that are heartbroken. I mean, they've spent years getting ready for this opportunity, and then a mistake or just somebody a little bit better, they're devastated. And we're probably all disappointed at the mocking of the Lord's supper and the opening ceremony.
Now, I did not watch it. Did not see it. I watched a little of the Olympics, but I did not see that. But I've seen it. And I was disappointed.
I was offended. Yep. But was I shocked? Nope, I wasn't shocked. She said, why not?
Because the world system is in a mess. Our world's in a mess. And you can take that however you want to take it about being offensive. But see France, many consider France a post christian nation. You say, what does that mean?
That means they consider that Christianity has passed them by. And I know that it's considered a catholic nation, but the reality is so very, very few are practicing Christianity. We also know that there's less than 5% evangelical Christians in France. So they need revival. And friends, we certainly need to be offended, need to defend the word of God.
But we should not be shocked because that's the world system. That's the world. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and wickedness in high places. And we cannot expect the world to abide by biblical standards. Now, Romans, chapter eight is a chapter that I may have used or may use gator as much as any chapter in the Bible.
What an awesome chapter. I preached over it a few weeks ago and. But chapter nine, now, for those of you not good in math, chapter nine is one right after eight. Chapter nine is much more complex than chapter eight. See, chapter eight says, if God be for us, who can be against us?
I like that. Says chapter eight tells us that his love will never leave us. Chapter eight tells us about his mercy, his grace, and all those wonderful things. But then chapter nine, it begins to talk a little bit differently in chapter nine. I want to begin by reading just verse 33, verse 33 initially, where it says this, chapter nine, verse 33.
No wonder I was in acts and that wasn't fitting. Let me go to Romans. Okay, Romans, chapter nine, verse 33, where it says this as it is written, behold, I am lying in Zion, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Will not be put to shame.
Now that was interesting, but I read it in a new living translation. It says this, I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, but anyone who believe in him will not be disappointed. Now that seems like a little bit different. Put to shame or disappointed. So I looked that up to find out who was right and I found out they both were.
They both were. How many knows that our language can get really messed up at times? There's a lot of similarities and there's a lot of words that weren't even existed when the Bible was written and now they're new and, you know, I mean, I'm sure some of you have noticed that there's been a change in our language. There's a change in our language and we need to understand that, that God has, but he's still goddesse and it says, I will. Those who believe in him will not be disappointed.
Now before we go on, I need to say something. Does God desire us to be holy? Yes, he does. He says, you need to be holy because why he is holy? Does God want us to do good works?
Certainly said, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify the Father in heaven. Paul, that'll be fine. It can wait till after church. Okay, thank you.
Glorify the Father in heaven. So works are still valid, holiness is still valid. We need to understand that. And if we're going to use the name Christian, we need to make sure we do not bring shame upon that name. And we need to understand that.
But we need to understand this too. If you think you're going to be good enough to get to go to heaven, you got a problem. If you think you're going to be good enough to get into heaven, you're going to be disappointed. You're going to be surprised. I know when we get to heaven, we're going to be surprised.
Some people will be surprised. We got there and there's going to be people that we thought should have been there and not. And then there's some say, how in the world did he get there? I can tell you how he got there through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we need to understand that.
And we will be rewarded according to our works, but our works will not get us into heaven. And so if you think we get into heaven for that, you're going to be disappointed. But do you think that's one reason that we get disappointed, that we're disappointed in our christian walk because we trying to earn our salvation, we're trying to get there by good works. And I can tell you if you're trying to get there through your works, you are going to be disappointed. Because there's going to be days that you're going to come to the end of the day and say, man, I just didn't do it today.
I wasn't as good as I should have been. I didn't do what I should have done. And we're going to be disappointed.
And this scripture says if we're serving him, we will not be disappointed. Now that does not mean that we will not have moments of disappointment, but it means that we will not stay in a place disappointment. And there's a major difference. We will not stay in a place of disappointment. No wonder we get disappointed if we are thinking we can do it by ourselves, because Satan is going to remind us how much of a failure we are.
I know that some of you can't relate to this, but I can. When I was growing up in a pentecostal church, I thought that to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a stamp of approval. I don't think I was taught that, but that's what I learned. Man, if I can just get the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence, speaking in tongues, I'm there now, friends, all that is, is a brand new gate to take us into a greater relationship with God. That's not the end, and it is not a stand for approval.
Because I'm gonna tell you, I've seen some people speak in tongues and jump and run. It wasn't much of a Christian, but I'm glad that it's not what we do. It's all about him. It's all about him. And we will have times of discouragement.
We will have times of disappointment. Jeff's sermon a few weeks ago was off the church. David encouraged himself in the Lord in the midst of great despair. He was disappointed. I can tell you, if I was pastoring that army, if I was that general, I'd have been ticked.
I mean, I was doing the best I could. And now they wanted to kill me. They wanted to kill me because I, our families and everything had been ransacked. And kidnapped while I was gone. And they thought that I was a failure.
No wonder. The Bible says David cried until he couldn't cry anymore because he went through a severe disappointment, a time of discouragement. But he encouraged himself and the Lord. Now if you read all of chapter nine, like I said, most of us know chapter eight. But all of chapter nine, you'll see several things that just jump out at you.
You'll see faith. Faith. You'll see mercy. You'll see grace. You see forgiveness.
You see love. See, without those things, we're gonna stay discouraged. But when we remember that Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. When the Bible tells me that if we cast our cares on him, he cares for us. He loves us.
With the everlasting love, he forgives us. So let's go back and read a couple more verses in chapter nine, verse. Start at verse 30 this time. John, chapter nine, verse 30. What shall we say then?
That gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it? That is a righteousness that is by faith. Now let me put that just in a nutshell, okay? That if we as christians, or let me rephrase that, we're not Christians. If we just think we're good, if we think we're good and we see those people that do that despicable thing on national tv, international tv, and we think we're better than them, we got a problem.
Because without God, we're not better than them. I said, without God, we're not better than them. We're just the same way. If we don't have his mercy, his grace, his faith, then we're messed up. And it says here, and it's talking about the Jews.
The Jews were upset with the Christians because the Christians, listen, you don't have to do all of those things to become a child of God. You've simply got to believe they couldn't handle it. And that's what it says. What shall we say then? That gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it.
That is a righteousness that is by faith. But that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching the law. Why? Because they could not be good enough.
Why? Because it did not pursue it by faith. But as if it were based on works they have stumbled over. The stumbling stone, as is written. Behold, I lay in am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.
And whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. I want to tell you something. The early, early church had a problem because they were preaching something that went totally contrary to their bringing up. They were taught about the law. Now, the law is not something to be thrown away.
The Bible just said, the Bible is not done. The law has not done away with. It's just been fulfilled. It's just been fulfilled. But this was a totally different thing to them.
And they were basing their experiences on if they could be good enough to obey the law. And the law revealed something. We never can be good enough to get into heaven. And so he said, for God's to love the world that he gave.
So we read that scripture put to shame or not be disappointed. They're both right. See, that's the same word that's used in Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five, verse five. But I want to begin reading it, verse one.
Therefore, we've been justified by how good we are. No, it didn't say that, did it? We've been justified by faith. We have peace with God. And friend, if you do not have peace with God, you cannot be at peace with yourself.
And if you're not at peace with yourself, you're not going to be able to be at peace with your fellow man. But therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace. I really get frustrated with some christians that think they've done something great. It's all God.
It's all God. We didn't do anything. All we did is by faith. We believed that what he said he would do, he would do. It says that gave us access and grace in which we stand and we rejoice and hope the glory of God.
One of these days we're gonna fly away because we got the hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Not only that, but we rejoice over our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. You mean sometimes we got to suffer? Yeah, sometimes we're going to be disappointed, but we got to get out of that disappointment.
Sometimes we're going to be discouraged. We need to overcome that discouragement. Why? Because that's not a place to dwell. And God says, if you obeying him, we do not live in discouragement.
We live in faith, we live in hope. Oh, we live in hope. I tell you what, I get frustrated whenever I see the people in the church that have no more hope than the people in the world. Something is wrong with that picture. I said something is wrong with that picture because we got hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here's our hope. Here's our hope. He's our refuge. And you say, well, what if something happens in this election? Something's going to happen.
I don't know why, but something's going to happen. And there's going to be some that won't like it, maybe a bunch that don't like it. But I can tell you what. My hope is not built on the election. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and his righteousness.
He says he will give us hope. Now, does that mean we shouldn't vote? No, we get out there and vote. We do what we need to do and can do for the glory of God. But we do not get disappointed in what happens in the world because we serve good God.
We serve one that looks out after us. Oh, I could almost preach to this morning. And it says not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character. We got a lot of characters, but not too much character. And character produces hope.
And hope does not put us to shame. That's the same word. Hope does not disappoint. The hope in God does not disappoint. Some glad morning.
We're going to fly away. Why? Because we got a hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us for while we were still weak at the right time. Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See, he died for the sinners. He died for barabbas that they let go because he was a. And he was a renegade.
He was a murderer. He gave his life for Judas. He gave his life for Peter. The failure. He gave his life for you.
He did it. Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Whoo. Now, we don't like to think about the wrath of God.
But, friends, you ain't seen nothing yet.
I said, you ain't seen nothing yet. The wrath of God is a terrible thing to fall in the hands of an angry goddess. For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Much more. Now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?
What does that mean? That means his death saved us, but his life gives us something that we can live in victory. We can live not live under a time of discouragement or. But we can be encouraged in him. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Wow. Wow. I know that some of you get tired of me talking about Barnabas, but I love that man. Uncle Barney. I love Uncle Barney.
And that wasn't even his name. It was Joseph. See, we find that Barnabas was used of God mightily in acts chapter eleven. I said, in acts, chapter eleven, we read something and begin reading at verse 22, talking about the church at Antioch. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
And when he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad. And he exhorted them to remain faithful to the Lord with a steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and the faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. Now, we have to remember that the.
The Bible is not always written in chronological order, and it's a little bit out of sync here, because after Saul got saved, his miraculous Damascus road experience, he got saved and he started trying to preach. He did a pretty good job of it. But those people that he had a John Doe warrant in his pocket for, they didn't trust him. I know some of you said, wait a minute. See, he had the authority to arrest anybody.
I said, he had the authority to rest anybody that was standing up for Jesus. And here he comes up to say, hey, gator, I'm here to help you out. I'm going to preach Jesus. And Gator said, I don't know about this. See, I run into this whenever I went to China on a missions trip.
I could not understand why there's an underground church and there is a registered church. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me because I talked to the pastors of the registered church and I said, what can you preach? He said, we can preach anything we want. Said, the only problem, you cannot get more than three people together outside of the church building. I said, oh, that makes sense.
But then I also found out that a lot of those people that belong to the underground church, they had belonged to the underground church before the registered church came alive. And they had people that were killed because of their faith. And they said, I'm not putting my name on that roll. How many thinks that that's a good idea. I'm not sure I'd want to put my name on the roll of a church that might be arrested or might be killed.
And that's what happened when Paul was converted, he went preaching and he did some, had some good meetings. But he got to a place that he made some enemies. And they tried to stone him. And they let him down over a wall with a rope. And he went.
They sent him. They sent him to Tarsus, the church, the leaders of the church sent this on fire man back home because he was not ready to do the work of the ministry.
How many thinks that Paul might have been disappointed? I believe he's disappointed because everything I read about Paul, he was going, oh, and the church sent him to Tarsus. So now you say, where's Tarsus? That was where he was from. So now they were beginning to have revival.
It had been a couple of years down the road, and Uncle Barney said, I'm going to go find Paul because we need him now. He's ready. And this mister encourager went looking for Paul. Now, if Paul would have been assembly of God, he probably was a tough sale. Come on back and we need you to preach.
They didn't want me last time. They didn't want me last time. We don't find that. But I think that Paul was encouraged by this man of encouragement. And he came and brought him back to those places.
Way back in the old Testament, we have a story where the enemy had surrounded Jerusalem. The army was so, so much bigger than Judah's army. And we find a guy by the name of Jehoshaphat that he said in two chronicles, chapter two, verse 21, he said this. And when he had taken counsel with people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praised him in holy attire as they went before the army and say, give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever. And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord, set an ambush against the men of ammon, moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah.
So they were routed. Now, let me ask you, where did Jehoshaphat get his courageous? Because he was not a great general. He just had a small army. And he said, God, what are we going to do?
If you go back to verse twelve of that chapter, you find the solution, o our lord, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless.
We are powerless.
Folks, we're going to be disappointed if we think we have the power to withstand against sin on our own. If we think that we can do it by ourselves. That was exactly what Paul was addressing in Romans. He was telling them, listen, yeah, we want you to live a good life, but you need to understand something. You need to live in his love.
You need to share in his grace and his mercy and do those things. So because you're not doing it by yourself, you're not doing it by yourself. So let's go back and say, o our God, you will not execute judgment on them. For we are powerless against a great horde that's come against us. Folks, we're powerless to take on the enemy in our own strength.
And we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and wickedness in high places. That means the enemy is bigger than we are. We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. That was where Jehoshaphat got his encouragement.
That's where he got his faith from, because he said, listen, in the natural, in the natural, we're going down. I think I'm speaking to some folks this morning that in the natural, you're going down. In the natural, you're not going to make it. In the natural, you've been disappointed. In the natural, you've been discouraged.
But let me tell you today that we serve not a natural God, but a supernatural God that's able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask or think. Wow.
And do you notice again, as we go back to verse 20 and reread that, where it says this? Hear me, Judah, inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe. What does the word believe mean? Have faith.
Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established. Believe his prophets and you will succeed. You will not be disappointed.
So Jesus made the statement. He says, have faith. He didn't say just have faith. He says, have faith in God. Folks, if you're putting faith in your goodness, you're going to wind up disappointed.
I said, if you put faith in your ability, you're going to be disappointed. But when you put your faith in God, you'll note discouraged. You'll not be disappointed. Jesus proclaimed it, have faith in God. Then in acts, chapter 20, powerful, powerful, powerful verse.
A lot of people don't like it because, see, there's some people that tell you that once you become a Christian, you'll never encounter another problem. All you die do is confess it, and it goes away.
I found out that that's not totally true. I thank God for positive confession. I thank God for faith. But, friends, I'm not going to put my faith in my faith, because my faith, brother Bill, gets weak sometimes. I'm going to put my faith in God.
I'm going to trust him because I know he knows what I don't know. And he might be care of me in a situation, circumstance that I don't know. Paul was getting ready to go into a sad, sad situation. His church leaders, his partners in the church, his church board was saying, paul, you don't need to go to Jerusalem. And this is what Paul said, chapter 20, verse 20.
He said, I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that's profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and to the Greeks, of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm constrained by the spirit of not knowing what will happen to me there now, he said, not knowing. He knew it was going to be bad. Let's read on.
Except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction awaits me. Now, I'm going to tell you, I love going on mission trips, but if I knew that next month when I go to Tobago that I was going to be arrested, I'd probably stay home.
Especially if they talked about killing me. If they thought about beating me, I could tell them, watch online.
But he said, affliction waits me. But I do not account my life of any value, nor is precious to myself. If only I may finish my course, only if I can run my race, if I can win my race. Everything else is fine. And the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Did you catch that? I'm leaving. I'm not going to come back through here. This is it.
Therefore, I testify you to this day that I am innocent of the blood of all. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Wow. He said, I don't know what's happening, but I'm not going to be discouraged. You say I'm not gonna be discouraged.
Remember on the boat, he told the captain, he said, don't sweat it, buddy. We all gonna live. We're not gonna drown because God's got something for us. What did he have for Paul? He had prison.
But he said, God's not finished yet. But he encouraged himself, he encouraged the elders as he was leaving and telling them he wouldn't see them again, he said, but God's in control. David certainly failed a number of times. But he's the one that encouraged himself and the Lord. David wrote a lot of the psalms.
This particular psalm, I believe, was written by Asaph. A psalm of asaph. But listen to what it says in psalm 73, verse 16. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed like a wearisome task. Until I went in the sanctuary of God that I discerned therein.
What's he saying? He said, when you don't know what to do, go to God. Truly, you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment.
Swept away utterly by terrors, like a dream. When one awakes, o Lord, when you arouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in my heart, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast towards you. Did you get that?
This was a guy that failed God. This was God. Said God, I messed up. I messed up. But nevertheless, I'm continually with you.
And you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterwards you will receive me to glory.
You will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail. Did you catch that?
My flesh and my heart may fail. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far away from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell all of your works. What a promise. David understands it. Sometimes we gonna have some bad days. Sometimes we gonna fail.
But we don't put our faith and trust in us. We put our faith and trust in God. So how do we overcome disappointment? The first thing is through faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God.
Faith in what he has done, faith in what he's doing and faith in what he's going to do. Amen. Now, some people have a different take than I do on this. But when he talks about faith, hope and love, this is my take. And I know some of you disagree.
But faith is based on what has already been done. My faith is built on what I know that God has already done. My hope is in the future, and my hope is still in the faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. And love is in the present faith, hope and love, these three and friends, we need to learn to love one another. Even if they vote differently, even if they look differently, even if they're different color, even if they're a different shape, even if they're totally different than you, even if they're your wife's in.
No, don't say that. You got to love them, because that's what the book says. And I love my wife's family. I was just teasing.
So it starts by faith.
You say, pastor, I failed you many times. Really?
I felt him too many times. He can't forgive me. Jesus is the one that told the parable, the story. When Peter thought he was being magnanimous and said, how many times should I forgive him? Seven times.
Hey, I'm going to tell you, if my brother, somebody slaps me seven times, probably the 8th time, the spirit of slap's going to come over me. But he said not seven times, but 70 times seven. Now I'm going to tell you something. God will never ask you to do something he wouldn't do.
So he's keeping forgiven. You have not done so much that God will not forgive you. Paul is a great example. A murderer, David, a great example. An adulterer, a murderer or a liar.
So we need to have our faith in him, faith in his grace, faith in his forgiveness, faith in his love. How do we overcome disappointment? Know that it's hime, not us. I said, know that it's him, not us. How do we overcome disappointment?
Discouragement. I know you're a lot more spiritual than I am. But every now and then I get what I call the mully grubs. And I think I deserve the muddy grubs because people have. People have been nasty and I deserve to be able to be down.
But then God lays one of those songs on my heart. Bless the Lord, o my soul. And I'm reminded of his grace, I'm reminded of his faith. As I said last week or week before last, he has more faith in me than I have in myself.
I'm reminded of his forgiveness, of his mercy, of his strength. And all of a sudden I realize I really don't have any reason to be down. Because greater is he that is within me than he that is in the world. So we learn to worship the Lord we lead, to read and meditate upon his word.
Because God has already addressed all of our problems. Then we need to remind ourselves the Holy Spirit is already in us.
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. You shall not be disappointed. None of us will be disappointed in heaven. Cause the Bible says that I have not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man. What heaven's gonna be like.
What does that mean? That means that you can dream all you want about the wonder of heaven. And the reality is you're not even close.
Have faith in God.
I said it a few weeks ago, and I say it again today. The closer we get to God, the bigger he gets. I mean, that's just in nature, right? The closer you get to something, the bigger they are.
And the closer I get to God, the bigger he gets. And the bigger he gets, the smaller my problems become.
I will not be disappointed. And even as I say this today, and as we close this service, the worship team comes. I know that many of you are going through some struggles, some of you, some great difficult struggles. But we need to understand that our goddess bigger. And we're going to pray with you and pray for you today.
But the greatest thing, I think there may be a few people that are watching online or maybe here in this service that says God can never forgive me because I've been too bad. It's not who we are, it's who he is. And he's a loving, forgiving goddess. Holy Father, thank you for your love and God. We pray for every need that's represented here in this building.
Physical needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, financial needs, you know, every one of them. And God, there's some people that are watching online that they're not. Their health would not allow them to be here today. But, God, I believe that you're going to go right into that room where they are and bring encouragement. Remove the disappointment, because they're going to put their faith and trust in you, the author and the finisher of our faith.
So, Father, we ask you to minister. And God, if there's anyone here that believes that they're not good enough to be saved, let them know that they're not good enough. That it can only come through faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask you to have your way right now and give your praise for it right now, in Jesus name. We're going to open the altars, going to sing a worship chorus and worship the Lord.
If you need prayer, we encourage you to come on down and let us pray with you. If you want to give your heart to the Lord, if you want to be forgiven, that's the only way to get into heaven, not by your works, not by how good you are, but through faith in Lord Jesus Christ.
