SEVEN TIMES THE RIGHTEOUS RISE UP AGAIN!
Prov. 24:16
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Some people fall at the worst times. Like the high school graduate who fell down the platform stairs just after receiving his diploma (in front of 4,000 people).
2. A waiter in a restaurant told of slipping on a wet spot and baptizing a lady customer with a cold pot of clam chowder.
3. Bridget told how she went to court for a traffic ticket. While waiting, with legs crossed, her legs fell asleep. When called by the Judge, she got to the end of her row and fell on her face. Of course, she busted out laughing (who doesn't laugh at falling?!). The judge didn't think it funny and put his glasses at the end of his nose and asked if she’d been drinking that morning (it was 9 AM). He made her pay the full ticket!!!
B. TEXT
“For though the righteous fall seven times, [seven times] they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” NIV
C. THESIS: REBOUNDING
1. Wilt Chamberlain holds the NBA record for the most REBOUNDS, leading the NBA in rebounds in 11 different seasons, and has the most career rebounds in the regular season (23,924).
2. Watching a basketball game, you quickly realize that rebounding is just as important as getting the ball in the hoop is when you miss the hoop!
3. The Bible is chocked full of examples of REBOUNDS – i.e. Samson, Moses, David, and even Peter, Paul, and Onesimus. [R. Mangold]
I. THE CONUNDRUM OF GODLY SUFFERING
A. CHRISTIAN LIFE ISN’T PAIN-FREE
1. God’s people aren’t promised freedom from worldly cares, losses, trials, or attacks of the enemy (Jn. 16:33; 2 Tim. 2:3; 1 Pet. 1:6–7; 5:8). The Lord Jesus said that the rain falls on both the just and the unjust (Mt. 5:45). We’re not exempt.
2. Even so, the Lord watches over His children. He promises to be with us in our trouble, to deliver us, and honor us (Ps. 91:15).
3. The true mark of your success is NOT in never falling, but in always getting back into the game!
B. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW DIFFICULTIES?
1. PERFECTS OUR FAITH/ CHARACTER. “the testing of your faith...that you may be perfect and complete” Jam. 1:2-4.
2. PROVIDE GREATER OPPORTUNITY. Only when we have the ocean in front & the Egyptian army behind will we need God to open the Red Sea to make a way of escape. Only a great crisis requires a great miracle (John 11:4).
3. MAKES US STRONGER. Biologists recognize "the adversity principle;" “habitual well-being is not advantageous to a species.” A challenge is necessary for vigorous life. Ex. 1:12, “the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew.” Adversity often brings growth.
4. TO BRING US CLOSER TO HIM. When we reach the end of our own resources, we have no recourse but to turn to God, to depend upon Him more. (Psalm 119:71)
5. TO CUT AWAY PART OF OUR WORLDLY NATURE. To make the right choice often requires us to lose something or to deny our desires in preference to God’s will (Matt. 16:24). Flesh must be denied to make room for spiritual priorities.
6. TO MAKE A NEW VESSEL. Jer. 18. The Potter has to squash your old life to make you a new vessel. Sometimes it’s not possible to have one without the other.
II. IT’S OK TO FALL DOWN/ TO FAIL!
A. REASONS PEOPLE DON’T GET UP
1. It’s one thing to fall down, and all believers do from time to time…but sadly, there are many today who never get up. They remember how it used to be with them and God, and how they used to go to church and live their life, but somewhere along the way they fell and didn’t get back up.
2. One of the biggest factors that keeps many from serving God is not peer pressure or lack of desire, but guilt. I’ve talked to many people who have done something in their past that they are totally ashamed of. Or they fell out of church years ago and would be embarrassed to return.
3. The problem is we are looking backward instead of forward. Jesus said, Luke 9:62, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Phip. 3:13, “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, & reaching toward the things which are before...”
4. You may’ve fallen, but I have good news today: You can get up! Tell God you’re sorry and then start over. Don’t let Satan keep you from living the Christian life because he keeps bringing up your past.
B. THE TRUE DEFINITION OF FAILURE
1. YOU’RE NOT A FAILURE BECAUSE YOU FALL…only if you don’t get back up. If you get up just once more than you fall then you’re a success!
2. God loves you just as you are AND he loves you too much to leave you that way! God still wants you! He’s there all the time, waiting patiently in line! He’s sovereign and can make lemonade out of lemons like us!
3. ILLUS.
a. One time George Whitefield & a friend were taking a large sum of money to a desperate widow. A robber came on them and demanded their money, which they gave him. They sadly continued on their horses.
b. In a few minutes the robber came back & demanded Whitefield’s coat, which was nice. He gave Whitefield his own tattered jacket. In a few minutes they heard him coming back. Fearing for their lives, they rode hard to a village.
c. Later, Whitefield discovered the widow’s money in the man’s jacket, and thanked God for how He turned the events around for the widow! [Tan, Encyclo. Of 7,700 Illus., #6896]
III. PROV. 24:16 PROMISES YOU WILL OVERCOME!
A. YOU’RE DESTINED TO WIN
1. In this verse is a TREMENDOUS PROMISE that God will keep delivering us every time we ask for His aid. Each time, He will help us get victory over our problems.
2. SO, YOU ARE DESTINED TO WIN! This means the Christian should never think they can’t overcome a problem. There’s no problem we can’t overcome because God has given us the promise of unlimited assistance, if we’re repentant, humble, and are asking for help. YOU WILL GET THE VICTORY!
3. Sometimes God has to delay answering prayer – in order to get circumstances lined up just right, but the answer will come. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him OUT OF THEM ALL. The righteous cry out, & the Lord hears, & delivers them out of all their troubles” Ps. 34:19,17, NKJV.
B. EXAMPLES OF THIS HAPPENING
1. JOSEPH’s wicked brothers conspired against him and sold him as a slave into Egypt. They gloated in their triumph over him. But God raised him up and later they bowed before him!
2. Satan conspired against JOB. He took Job’s assets, income, real estate holdings, family, and then his health. But the Lord raised him up again and gave him double.
3. HANNAH had no children. Her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, gloated over her and persecuted her for a barren womb. But the Lord raised her up again and gave her Samuel – the great judge/prophet of Israel & five other children as well.
4. DAVID sinned terribly. His enemies lay wait against him, even his sons Absalom and Adonijah. Shimei cursed him publicly for being a bloody man. But the Lord forgave David, raised him up again, and destroyed all his enemies.
5. DANIEL’s enemies lay wait against him. They deceived Darius to make a law against Daniel’s religion. Daniel broke the law and was cast to the lions. They celebrated and gloated. But God raised him up again and threw them down to horrific destruction.
6. PAUL was the greatest apostle of Christ, but had more tribulations and persecutions – fell more times – than any other man in the New Testament. But God raised him up again, even from the dead, Acts 14:20! His list of sufferings are difficult even to read, but he rejoiced in them all, 2 Cor. 11:23-28.
7. Dear Christian friend, do you have enemies lying in wait against you? “No weapon formed against you shall prosper!” “No one shall be able to stand against you” Deut. 7:24; 23:9. God is our strength and our fortress; we shall not be moved!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A biologist told how he was watching an ant carry a piece of straw which seemed a big burden for it. The ant struggled along under its awkward length and weight.
2. The ant came to a crack in the earth which was too wide for it to cross. It stood for a time, as if pondering the situation, then it put the straw across the crack and walked over upon it.
3. The lesson from God is that what at first appears to be a burden to us may be turned into a bridge for us to get to a place we couldn’t otherwise get to! [Paul tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, #6866]
B. THE CALL
1. Are you carrying wounds or pains? Jesus is saying, “I want to heal those....” The same Jesus is in the house today.
2. If you’ve fallen, God promises power to help you get back up again. We all will fall at one time or another, the key is to get back up.
3. As the story of the ant shows us, our burdens can be turned into bridges to help us reach places we couldn’t go without them. God knows what He’s doing!
4. The very middle verse of the entire Bible is Psalms 118:9, which says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” So, the Bible clearly tells us to TRUST in the Lord! Can you put your trust in Him tonight?
5. PRAYER.
[This message includes some quotes from gbcdecatur.org/ FreshStart and from “Let God be True” website on Pr. 24:16]
