Pastor’s Bible Class
Thomas Road Baptist Church
Overcoming Last Year’s Failures
Dr. Elmer Towns
January 11, 2009
A. STORY OF A SON’S FAILURE
“A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’ And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet’” (Luke 15:11-22).
1. The story represents any who think they know better than their father. “Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me” (15:12).
2. The story represents any who walk away from the Father. “Not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey” (15:13).
a. When we think we know better.
b. When we think we can better take care of ourselves.
c. When we think things are better elsewhere, we run away.
3. The story represents any who look for life away from the Father. “There he wasted his substance with riotous living” (12:13).
4. There always comes a “mighty famine” (15:14).
a. Spiritually lost.
b. Lost purpose in life.
c. Physical hurt. God always hits us in our pocket book to get our attention.
B. THINKING ABOUT YOUR FAILURES
1. It is not our failures in life that hurt us; it is the way we think about our failures that may destroy us.
2. Different kinds of mistakes bring different consequences.
a. Intentional mistakes.
b. Unintentional mistakes.
C. PROCESS FOR THINKING ABOUT YOUR MISTAKES
1. Mess up.
a. “To err is human.”
b. If we mess up after we have committed a mistake, the problem gets larger.
c. If we mess up once, we will mess up again unless we fix it.
2. Blow up.
a. Usually we get mad at ourselves or we get mad at someone else and we lose control of ourselves.
b. When we lose control of ourselves, we lose everything.
c. When we are controlled by emotions, we cannot properly deal with our problems.
Ignorant eyes are blinded by fears,
Emotional eyes are blinded by tears.
John Maxwell says, “Our reaction to our mistakes usually makes the mistake bigger than it initially was.”
When you emotionally react and give up, your mistakes are exaggerated and they blow up.
3. Cover up.
a. Usually our mistakes don’t sink us; it is the way we respond to our mistakes that puts us under, i.e., Nixon.
4. Back up.
a. After making a mistake, we tend to put distance between the mistake and ourselves.
b. We turn our back on the mistake as though it didn’t happen.
5. Slow up.
a. We will not face up to our problems.
b. We lose respect of people who know about it, or we lose loyalty among those who work for us, or our family.
c. When we become “mistake obsessed,” we lose our stamina.
6. Wake up.
a. To wake up doesn’t mean that you have overcome your problem; it is simply a fork in the road that points you in a different direction.
b. The prodigal son came to himself while feeding pigs in the pigpen. When he came to himself, it was a spiritual breakthrough.
c. What is a spiritual breakthrough? When you take responsibility for a problem and do something about it, then those who love you will rally around you . . . forgive you . . . accept you . . . and work with you.
d. The three most difficult words to say are:
“I WAS WRONG.”
D. AFTER MISTAKES ARE OVER
1. Everyone makes mistakes. The question remains, “Will you learn from your mistakes?”
2. What is the worst mistake of all? The greatest mistake of all is doing nothing about your mistake.
3. When you are afraid to make mistakes, you have paralyzed your life and thinking.
4. We should learn from the mistakes of other people. Why? Because we can never live long enough to learn all we need to learn in life from our mistakes.
5. A child never learns to walk without falling down.
6. Bear Bryant: three things to do with mistakes:
a. First admit it.
b. Learn from it.
c. Don’t repeat it.
7. John Maxwell: two types of people to avoid, “First, the man who never makes a mistake because he is not honest, and second is the man who makes the same mistake twice, because he is not learning.”
It is not the size of your mistakes that makes you a failure;
it is the size of your heart that makes you a success.
8. Remember the father’s acceptance: “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him . . . for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:20, 24).
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord,
I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
For more information on the TRBC Pastor’s Bible Class, log on to the Internet for TRBC Home page at www.trbc.org/pbc.
