“i Have Fallen But I Refuse To Stay Down!”

“I Have Fallen BUT I Refuse to Stay Down!” Lk 22: 60, 62 & Mth 27: 5

Did you know that EVERY one of the disciples of Jesus fell down?

Jesus told them, on the night He shared the “Last Supper” with them in;

[Mat 26:31 NIV] “…"This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:" 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”

They ALL messed up but our Scripture, for today, focuses only on two. READ

The issue is not that you fall or how hard you fall but that you get back up. Peter/Judas. [Peter repented….Judas simply regretted]

Judas was around Jesus but never WITH Jesus…[John 6:70-71 NKJV] “70 Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”

It wasn’t how Judas died that condemned him but that he never knew Jesus…

The issue is not that you come to church but that you come to Jesus.

Can I tell you a secret? We ALL fall from time to time…but sadly, there are many today who never get up again. They remember how it used to be. They remember how they used to go to church. They remember how they used to live their life, but somewhere along the way they fell and refused get back up.

Did you know that peer pressure or lack of desire is not what keeps most from surrendering to or serving God?

One of the biggest tricks Satan uses to keep you from starting or maintaining a relationship with Jesus is nothing more than guilt. It was guilt that took Judas to the hanging tree…

Is it possible to move forward while looking behind at where you’ve been and what has happened…back there?

If you look backward and walk forward what do you think might happen?

The problem for so many of us is we are looking backward in our relationship with Jesus, instead of forward. We tend to focus on the stuff that tripped us up and knocked us down. We focus on what we did that caused us to lose hope and feel abandoned.

Many will bring a failed relationship from the past with them when they come to Jesus…

They bring that father/mother that you never please or that abandoned you.

They bring that husband/wife who kept reminding you that you were as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

Maybe the God you see is that possessive boyfriend/girlfriend who rules over you with an iron fist…

When we bring these into our relationship with Jesus, we will never be able to move forward.

Paul said in, [Phl 3:13-14 NIV] “13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

You may have fallen, but I have good news today: You can get up! And you CAN move forward.

Don’t let Satan keep you from surrendering to or living for Christ because he keeps bringing up your past.

The past can’t be changed. Remember that God cares more about where you’re going than where you’ve been.

The present is right now. And your future is tomorrow…

Listen, Just come to Jesus and admit that you’ve messed up…you’ve sinned against Him. Would you like to know what he will say? “I know, I was watching.” Then He’ll reach out His hand of love, mercy and grace and say, “Now let’s get you up from there because we’ve got stuff to do.”

You’re not a failure because you fall…A failure is the one who refuses to get back up.

God loves you just like you are BUT He loves you too much to leave you like you are!

This morning I want to show you 3 things Jesus will do, if we will refuse to stay down.

1. Jesus wipes the slate clean. Some are saved in word only. “Pastor what do you mean by that?” Those are the people who make the most noise about being saved and are ready at the drop of a hat to fight anyone who says different. They are always spouting off about how saved they are. BUT true salvation is by the blood of Jesus and when you come under the blood you get washed clean and you don’t need to run around bragging about how saved you are…people can see how saved you are [Or not]. When Jesus wipes you slate clean you can ask, “Jesus, do You remember when I did…” He will say, “No I don’t.”