SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Summit Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us as we share weekly sermons and teachings from Summit Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
SPEAKER_00: Our prayer is that today's message encourages your faith and helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Check out our website at summitchurchtn.com.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and we pray this message encourages you today.
SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to continue.
SPEAKER_01: This is actually the sermon I thought I was going to preach a couple weeks ago about getting unstuck from disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: Because God's heart and my heart for you this morning is that the people of God are free from their past to walk into the blessing and the promise that God has for you in the present and in the future.
SPEAKER_01: But a lot of times one of the things that we see is that Christians get tangled up, their feet get tangled up, they get stuck in the mud and the muck and the mire of disappointment in their life.
SPEAKER_01: And it prevents us from moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: It prevents us from walking into the fresh promise and the fresh renewal and the fresh power of God in today in the future.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus came to set us free.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came to let us walk in truth and power into the future and into the blessing that God has for us.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes part of that freedom process is breaking the chains of the past that hold us bound.
SPEAKER_01: And so what we're going to talk about this morning is we're going to talk about getting unstuck from disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: Has anybody ever been disappointed before?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Has everybody been disappointed in church before?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, now I'm going to challenge you just a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been disappointed in God before?
SPEAKER_01: And so the the thing is that one of the things that we see in Scripture is there's lots of stories about disappointment, and there's lots of stories and how to handle it and how not to handle it and how to walk in freedom when things don't go the way that we thought that they would.
SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of times we tend to see, if we're on a mountaintop, we tend to see the next mountaintop.
SPEAKER_01: We just don't see the valley in between that it takes to get from mountaintop to mountaintop, right?
SPEAKER_01: So we see the mountaintop and go, oh, I'm going to stand on that mountain and I'm going to conquer and everything's going to be great.
SPEAKER_01: But we don't, and again, I grew up in the mountains, so I know that in between every mountaintop, there is a valley, right?
SPEAKER_01: And in between all of those things, there's hardship and struggle and trial.
SPEAKER_01: Don't get me wrong, the mountaintop's always in the future, but sometimes you're stuck, right, trying to cross a raging creek in a valley when you're tired and wet and hungry, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so we're going to talk a little bit about that this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to start out in Romans chapter 10, verse 11, and I'm just going to read one verse.
SPEAKER_01: And this is Paul in Romans quoting Isaiah, where he says, For the scripture says, whoever believes in him and God in Jesus will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we talk about that verse, we know that if we walk in God, if we walk in Jesus, if we walk in the Holy Spirit, we will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: But we just confessed there are times we are, what is it?
SPEAKER_01: Disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: So, okay, Daryl, how are you going to get out of this box?
SPEAKER_01: Ah, it's a good thing that the scripture gives me a roadmap to do that, right?
SPEAKER_01: So one of the pieces that we tend to see is that a lot of times in Christianity and in charismatic Christianity, and I'm charismatic, I'm Pentecostal, I'm very, very affirmatively a part of that tradition.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes we like to talk about the exciting things.
SPEAKER_01: We like to talk about the promise.
SPEAKER_01: We like to talk about the expansive reading of God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: And we never get prepared for the waiting.
SPEAKER_01: We never get prepared for when our expectations and our reality don't match.
SPEAKER_01: But let me tell you, in the Word of God, God prepares us for that time because He says, In this world you shall have tribulation.
SPEAKER_01: But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so when we talk about this, we want again, and I understand the economy where, right, you go online, you go on YouTube, you go on Instagram or TikTok, and it's the exciting word, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's the energizing word.
SPEAKER_01: I've got something that's going to lift your spirits, and right, and and and and it's never, you know, I've got a boring but necessary word.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever heard anybody, you know, on social media go, I've got this really mundane maintenance thing that's going to really help you, but it's going to be a little boring along the way, right?
SPEAKER_01: And and so the uh again, because sometimes, and I've done this too.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not criticizing them.
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm I'm saying this this is what we sometimes we kind of get into Dollywood Christianity because we like the roller coaster ride, we like the thrill, right?
SPEAKER_01: And and that's okay, that's wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: I love the thrill.
SPEAKER_01: As as Brother Mike was saying in prayer meeting on uh Saturday night last night, we encountered the presence of God and it was thrilling and it was wonderful and it was fantastic, and praise God for it.
SPEAKER_01: But God is saying sometimes we have to understand that Jesus, the name above every other name, is with us just as much or more in the valley than he is on the mountaintop.
SPEAKER_01: That Jesus is with us in the times when our react what our context and what our what we're seeing doesn't match our hopes and our expectations.
SPEAKER_01: Because the scripture says that in that time, even when we're disappointed with what's going on around us, we will not be disappointed with the one who is in us.
SPEAKER_01: When we we can be disappointed for what's going on in the world or society or even churches or whatever is in your past, but I'm telling you that if you focus on Jesus, the lover of your soul, you will never be disappointed, even if what's in your mind doesn't match the world, but what's in your heart can overcome what's in your mind to give you peace and glory in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna take a look at some examples of disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go first to Genesis chapter 4.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the story of Cain and Abel.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so, but we're gonna look at it a little differently than it's normally preached, because normally we focus on Cain, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because he's the guy who did the murder, right?
SPEAKER_01: But today we're gonna focus on Abel.
SPEAKER_01: So in Genesis chapter four, verse one.
SPEAKER_01: Now the man, Adam, had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I have gotten a man child with the help of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Again she gave birth to his brother, Abel, and Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
SPEAKER_01: So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.
SPEAKER_01: Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the flat fat portions.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.
SPEAKER_01: So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
SPEAKER_01: He was disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry?
SPEAKER_01: And why has your countenance fallen?
SPEAKER_01: If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?
SPEAKER_01: And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it.
SPEAKER_01: Cain told Abel his brother, and it came about that when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's an encouraging story, Darrell.
SPEAKER_01: The reality is, though, a lot of times we focus on Cain and his envy and his disappointments.
SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that we get a lot in life and in Christian life is we have those people in our lives that are supposed to be our brothers and our sisters, biological family, church family, people in our lives, friends that you know that we we call chosen family, the people who are supposed to be there for us, right?
SPEAKER_01: You know, one of those things on social media, and I've never ever understood how being a co-conspirator and a murderer is a sign of friendship.
SPEAKER_01: But you know, the the thing on social media is if you kill somebody, just call me and I'll bring a shovel, right?
SPEAKER_01: I I I've not quite understood that as a definition of friendship.
SPEAKER_01: But you've had those people who say, I'll go with you, right?
SPEAKER_01: If you if you storm the gates of hell, I'll be right there with you with a water pistol, right?
SPEAKER_01: They're there they're right there trying to and making all these affirmations.
SPEAKER_01: But the person who was supposed to be there was the person who came against you.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So Cain was the firstborn.
SPEAKER_01: He was the older brother.
SPEAKER_01: He was the one who was supposed to be the child of promise.
SPEAKER_01: He was supposed to be the leader in the things of God.
SPEAKER_01: He was birthed by the help of God.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that?
SPEAKER_01: And here he is, and he offers up worship first.
SPEAKER_01: He offers up his offering first.
SPEAKER_01: But Abel does it according to the heart of God, and Cain does it according to his own heart, and Abel's is accepted, and Cain's is not, and Cain becomes disappointed because, well, that's not the way I thought it worked.
SPEAKER_01: And so the Bible does not give us Cain's internal dialogue.
SPEAKER_01: And I understand we, and I say we as preachers like to fill in that internal dialogue.
SPEAKER_01: We like to psychoanalyze Cain.
SPEAKER_01: We like to say, oh, he must have thought this and he must have thought that.
SPEAKER_01: But the real answer is we don't know.
SPEAKER_01: But we do know that when he became disappointed, when God accepted what somebody else was doing, but not him, he rose up and he killed him.
SPEAKER_01: And let me tell you right now, with a heart of love, because some of you sitting in this place right now have been doing exactly what God has called you to do, and God was blessing you, and because you were walking in what God wanted to do, and somebody maybe who got there first, somebody who had the right position, somebody who had the right status, maybe somebody who was doing it longer, maybe somebody who had earned it, didn't get the blessing that you got, and they became envious and they tried to kill what God had in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Am I preaching to anybody?
SPEAKER_01: And so one of the things that we have to understand since the very beginning, the enemy has used disappointment and envy in people's lives to try to get them to kill what God is doing in yours.
SPEAKER_01: God loves you and He wants you to prosper.
SPEAKER_01: But there I've heard people preach from pulpits because it preaches so good.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we get in trouble because things preach good, they're just not biblical.
SPEAKER_01: They sound great, though.
SPEAKER_01: They sell books, we get on podcast.
SPEAKER_01: They say, oh, if you follow God, everything's always gonna work out.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, if you're having financial troubles, if you follow God, it's just all gonna work out.
SPEAKER_01: If you're having family troubles, if you follow God, all of a sudden all those problems are gonna magically disappear.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: If you have gout and you follow God, it's gonna magically go away as long as you're walking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes gives us wisdom not to eat the liver and onions, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But I am not gonna ask.
SPEAKER_01: And God is saying, do not take, and we're gonna see this in Jeremiah as well, but God says, do not take the response of ungodly, unsaved, unspirit-led people as the response and the context of God.
SPEAKER_01: Later we're gonna talk about Jesus and the disciples, but you know, Jesus was sent first to the house of Israel, and what did Israel do?
SPEAKER_01: They rejected him.
SPEAKER_01: They crucified him.
SPEAKER_01: Now the Romans actually did the crucifixion.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to get in conspiracy theories, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But the the thing is that Jesus came on a mission prophesied.
SPEAKER_01: They had hundreds of years of prophecies and hundreds of years of foretelling.
SPEAKER_01: They had hundreds of things.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus worked miracles, he raised the dead, he healed the sick, made the lame walk, taught with power and authority.
SPEAKER_01: He did everything that his father told him to do, and his immediate response was what?
SPEAKER_01: Rejection.
SPEAKER_01: He told his disciples, you know, they hate me, they're gonna hate you too.
SPEAKER_01: That does not get you on podcast.
SPEAKER_01: And so the thing is, right, we get into this wisdom of the crowds mentality.
SPEAKER_01: Well, if everybody around me is saying.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if everybody around you is praying and reading the word and full of the Holy Ghost, then yeah, you listen to the folks around you who are talking to you if they're talking with God.
SPEAKER_01: But what too often when we get into these situations, we say, oh, because somebody got envious or somebody got jealous or somebody got disappointed and they came against me and it didn't work out, it must not have been God.
SPEAKER_01: But you're going to hear all through this sermon this morning that sometimes for God's will to be done, it not only takes your yes, but it takes their yes too.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, follow peace with all men.
SPEAKER_01: There's not a period there.
SPEAKER_01: It says, as much as it lies within you.
SPEAKER_01: Follow peace with all men as much as it lies within you.
SPEAKER_01: So if somebody comes into my house with a gun, intended to kill my family, I am not going to greet them with a holy kiss.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to the disciples, right, after he rose from the grave, how many swords do you have?
SPEAKER_01: Two.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's enough.
SPEAKER_01: But you're going to need them.
SPEAKER_01: What are you saying?
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying we have been taught that if somebody else reacts badly, if somebody else behaves badly, if we get criticized, if we get condemned, if we get drugged down, if we get beaten up, that somehow it is our fault, that somehow we have done something to provoke it.
SPEAKER_01: But let me tell you what, that is the language and the thought process of the abuser and the accuser.
SPEAKER_01: Because when we are walking in the Spirit and walking according to the word of God, and somebody comes against us, that is not telling us we are doing it wrong.
SPEAKER_01: That's telling us that they are rejecting us just like they rejected Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: The enemy's telling you, oh, they they didn't respond.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't get applause, you didn't get pats on the back, right?
SPEAKER_01: That you had somebody that you thought was your friend and you tried to follow God and they they stuck a knife between your ribs.
SPEAKER_01: They did truly betray you, they did try to kill what God.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been moving in God and have somebody tried to douse your fire?
SPEAKER_01: You start worshiping in the Holy Spirit and they start making jokes to try to control your worship and make yourself conscious.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it got a little quieter in here because that one hit a nerve right there.
SPEAKER_01: But God is saying that if somebody's used humor to make you self-conscious in your worship, or humor to make you self-conscious in your prayer, or humor to try to control what you do, oh, you look so silly.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to be like David, who said, Then I will be even more undignified than this.
SPEAKER_01: Anytime somebody comes and tries to quench your fire and kill what God is doing.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're praying too much.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm gonna pray a little more now.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm gonna talk about Jesus even more.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're worshiping and you're undignified.
SPEAKER_01: And what will people think?
SPEAKER_01: I only care about what one person thinks.
SPEAKER_01: And he's got nail scars in his hands, and he's coming back riding on a white horse with an army of saints with him, and I am going to glorify and magnify and bless the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And if you try to kill that in me, you know what I'm gonna do?
SPEAKER_01: What my father's doing, what my father's saying.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because in this story I'm not gonna focus on it, but God took care of Cain.
SPEAKER_01: God took care of Cain.
SPEAKER_01: You notice there wasn't a family meeting called by Adam and Eve.
SPEAKER_01: There wasn't this massive confrontation.
SPEAKER_01: God took care of Cain.
SPEAKER_01: And when somebody tries to kill what God is doing in you, don't get obsessed with them.
SPEAKER_01: Pray, say, God, I release them into your hand, I forgive them.
SPEAKER_01: I pray they put it under the blood, but they're your problem now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going on with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because Satan and and and and Freud want you to endlessly obsess about the people who have betrayed you and tried to hurt you in the past.
SPEAKER_01: And God has said, you put them in my hand and I will recompense, I will repay you, I will reward you, I will make it all work out.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have judgment day in your mind, this life will always shortchange you.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus said in scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture, there's a judgment day coming, and those that are faithful and those who have built on the solid rock out of gold and silver and precious jewels, that the fire of God is going to reveal what you've done, and you're gonna walk with rewards into the into eternity that others are not gonna have.
SPEAKER_01: So when somebody puts that knife in you and tries to kill what God is, and you give them to God, you have just sown the seed, you have just invested in eternity.
SPEAKER_01: And let me tell you, God's interest rates are awesome because he doesn't give you 5% or 10% or even 20% return.
SPEAKER_01: He gives you 100% and 500% and 700% and a thousand percent return when you invest in the kingdom by doing what God has for you, then your blessings and your return in eternity are so much greater than anything this world can offer.
SPEAKER_01: So if somebody got envious and disappointed and tried to put murder and death in your life out of their envy and disappointment, just put them behind you, forgive them, release them, move on.
SPEAKER_01: But don't take the poison.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let the evil on the outside form evil on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: The enemy will go, oh, there must have been some truth in that.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Not a drop.
SPEAKER_01: They might have gotten some facts correct by accident.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna repeat that.
SPEAKER_01: They may have gotten some facts correct by accident, but there is no truth in sin.
SPEAKER_01: There is no truth in the accusation of the enemy, and there is no truth in envy.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go to Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah 20, verse 7 through 11 from the New King James.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah was in this place where God had called him and given him a prophetic word.
SPEAKER_01: It was a word that was exactly 100% God, and we know that because it's scripture.
SPEAKER_01: It was a word that was ordained by God.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah was the one he goes before you even were in your mother's womb.
SPEAKER_01: I knew you.
SPEAKER_01: He had identity, he had calling, he had anointing, he declared the word of the Lord, he had this great professional.
SPEAKER_01: Prophetic ministry, right, where he had this pot, right, and he smashed it in front of the leaders of Israel and the temple, saying, This is the judgment's coming against you.
SPEAKER_01: And they all fell on their face and repented before God, and there was a great revival in Israel.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, that's not what happened.
SPEAKER_01: What they did is they beat him and threw him into a pit and told him that he was a false prophet and rejected everything that he had to say.
SPEAKER_01: Because, right, God loves us, so he's not going to send judgment.
SPEAKER_01: So if you don't speak the words we want you to speak, right, we're going to reject you and knock you down.
SPEAKER_01: So here's Jeremiah after he's been rejected, after he's been beat up, after he's been in prison.
SPEAKER_01: And this is his lament.
SPEAKER_01: O Lord, you induced me, and I was persuaded.
SPEAKER_01: You are stronger than I and have prevailed.
SPEAKER_01: I am in derision daily.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone mocks me.
SPEAKER_01: For when I spoke I cried out, I shouted, Violence and plunder was coming to Israel, because the word of the Lord was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.
SPEAKER_01: Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, but his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones.
SPEAKER_01: I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.
SPEAKER_01: For I heard many mocking, fear on every side.
SPEAKER_01: Report, they say, and we will report it.
SPEAKER_01: All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, Perhaps he can be induced, then we will prevail against him, and we will take revenge on him.
SPEAKER_01: But the Lord is with me as a mighty and awesome one.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.
SPEAKER_01: They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.
SPEAKER_01: Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
SPEAKER_01: I use just used to use Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Rogers, but then I started getting blank stares from all the people who aren't geezers like me.
SPEAKER_01: So uh Mr.
unknown: Rogers.
SPEAKER_01: And there won't again, I don't have anything against either one, but we we want to make God something about being right, whoever's the nicest and the most polite is following God the best.
SPEAKER_01: But Jeremiah was here in this place of profound disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine when God said, I've known you from your mother's womb?
SPEAKER_01: It's like, I'm all for greatness.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: I've anointed you and I have called you to be a prophet in Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Prophets get to talk to kings, right?
SPEAKER_01: They're in the king's court, right?
SPEAKER_01: They do miracles, right?
SPEAKER_01: When people call them bald, they get to call bears out of the forest.
SPEAKER_01: This is gonna be so great.
SPEAKER_01: This is gonna be so awesome.
SPEAKER_01: God has a purpose and a destiny for me, and I know I'm just gonna go from victory to victory.
SPEAKER_01: Has anybody else been there?
SPEAKER_01: We had an encounter with God, praise God for that, but then we filled in all of our assumptions about what it was gonna look like from mountaintop to mountaintop.
SPEAKER_01: And so Jeremiah said, God, in in the New American Standard, it says, God, you deceived me.
SPEAKER_01: And that's not the exact right phrasing on that word, because what it meant was, God, you told me things, and then I I I imparted, I inferred, God didn't imply, I inferred, Jeremiah inferred, all these things that were going to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: And so he was saying, I'm gonna be a prophet, I'm gonna do all these great things, and then here he is, stuck it literally in the mud.
SPEAKER_01: Right, in a pit.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Again, there is no prison in the United States that was filthy, as nasty, and as evil as the prisons used to be.
SPEAKER_01: This is the improved version.
SPEAKER_01: He was rejected, and he said, even my acquaintances are waiting for me to stumble that they can prevail upon me to get me to change what God has put in my soul, in my spirit, and is burning like a fire in me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you right now, if you follow God, there are gonna be well-meaning people that are gonna come to you when you're on fire for God with fire hoses and fire extinguishers.
SPEAKER_01: There are gonna be people that say, Oh, you shouldn't sew that much into the church financially.
SPEAKER_01: You're giving I've had people tell me that.
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's not a big amount of money.
SPEAKER_01: Don't anybody freak out, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But I've had people tell me, oh, you pray too much.
SPEAKER_01: I've had people say, oh, you worship too much, you devote too much time, you devote too much attention.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you, those that trust in the Lord and in who he is will not be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: But it felt really disappointing for Jeremiah because he was caught in his emotions and his feelings in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: And God is telling us today, if you get caught in your feelings and your emotions, God was not offended by what Jeremiah said.
SPEAKER_01: He put it in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: God is not offended when we have an emotional roller coaster or have a down day and say, God, where are you?
SPEAKER_01: I expected you here, or God, I wanted you to move in this way and you didn't do that, or I wanted you to move in that way, or I wanted to be used in this way, or I wanted this position, or I wanted this ministry, or I wanted this business, or I wanted this family, or whatever it is, God, this is what I wanted, and I don't get it, and that's achingly powerfully hurtful to me.
SPEAKER_01: God is not offended when you have faith enough to take God every one of your cares and every one of your sorrows and every one of your troubles, because you are declaring your faith in Jesus as the one who is your healer and your deliverer and the one who provides for you.
SPEAKER_01: When you take him your sorrows and your troubles and your pains, you are declaring your faith that God, you are the one who loves me so much.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be there for me every time.
SPEAKER_01: So Jeremiah did.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that we have to understand if we have an eternal perspective, when Jeremiah was saying they will be, they will not prosper, right?
SPEAKER_01: They'll be ashamed, they'll stumble.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't saying, oh, that they won't get the good job or they won't have the nicer house or they won't have the better car.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: He was not saying, right, that their their football team won't win the national championship.
SPEAKER_01: What he was saying on judgment day, I'm going to be in a better position than they are.
SPEAKER_01: And this is where we really have to understand in the faith that when we flow in the Holy Spirit and people reject it, or people try to kill it, or people reject what God is doing in us and through us and around us, what we're doing is we're stacking rewards in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Got a little bit of struggle there, so I'm going to come back to that.
SPEAKER_01: When the people around you, even the people who are supposed to be your acquaintances, even the people who are both supposed to be your brothers or sisters, are rejecting what God is doing with you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not talking about our own flights of fancy, and that sometimes we get carried away, and that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: But when God is genuinely working in you and you persevere and you glorify God and say, even though nobody around me is accepting what I'm doing in God, even though every other person is saying, Oh, that's too spiritual, that's too intense, that's too Jesus, that's too godly, oh, you should just loosen up and have a little fun and not be so so so godly minded and enjoy the things of the world a little bit, and you lose friends and you lose acquaintances because you are standing on the word of God and the way of God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you, you are stacking rewards in heaven, and God's interest rates will blow your mind.
SPEAKER_01: God knows there's a cost to follow in Him.
SPEAKER_01: But God is telling you it's worth it.
SPEAKER_01: And God knows that there are times that those around you are going to fail you, and you're gonna be faithful, and you're gonna be true, and sometimes you're gonna get knocked down, but you're gonna get back up, right?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says seven times a man may fall down, but he gets back up again, and he keeps moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: But now we're gonna go to the toughest one in Mark chapter 14.
SPEAKER_01: Then they came to a place which was called Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray.
SPEAKER_01: And he took Peter and James and John with him, and he began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
SPEAKER_01: Then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus goes to his disciples, the guys that he's called, that he's elevated, right, that he called out of poverty, called out of illiteracy, called out of meaninglessness and purposelessness.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, My soul is sorrowful even unto death.
SPEAKER_01: That is a cry for, hey, I need you, bro.
SPEAKER_01: My soul is sorrowful even unto death.
SPEAKER_01: Stay here and watch.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds like a pretty easy assignment, right?
SPEAKER_01: Just sit down and and and be watchful.
SPEAKER_01: He went a little further and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him, the hour of his crucifixion.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Abba Father, all things are possible for you.
SPEAKER_01: Take this cup away from me, nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.
SPEAKER_01: Then he came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, Simon, why are you sleeping?
SPEAKER_01: Could you not watch with me one hour?
SPEAKER_01: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.
SPEAKER_01: The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
SPEAKER_01: And again he went away and prayed and spake the same words, and when he returned, he found them asleep again.
SPEAKER_01: This is how we know Jesus is God and I'm not, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because right there I probably would have blown my top, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so but he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.
SPEAKER_01: Then he came the third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting?
SPEAKER_01: It is enough.
SPEAKER_01: The hour has come.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
SPEAKER_01: Rise, let us be going.
SPEAKER_01: See, my betrayer is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: And again, a lot of times when we as ministers preach this passage, we'll preach it from Jesus' perspective.
SPEAKER_01: But again, I'm going to flip it a little bit today and preach it from the disciples' perspective.
SPEAKER_01: Because I'll tell you what, I've been in the disciples' shoes in this passage a lot more often than I've been in Jesus' shoes in this passage.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the hardest things, and I believe I have the hardest heart of the Father on this, and God loves you and wants you to be free in the disappointment in yourself.
SPEAKER_01: God wants you to be free in the disappointment and how you handled certain situations.
SPEAKER_01: Wants you to be free from the disappointment that you're not like this person or like that person, that you don't talk like this person, or you don't approach things like that person, that you're not as successful, or you're not as wealthy, or you're not as polished, or you know, the the thing is that all these comparisons that we do.
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: I I I really wish I had a voice like Alan DeDio's, right?
SPEAKER_01: He's got this great voice, right?
SPEAKER_01: And and so, but you can't get hung up on that stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And so one of the most powerful things in this story is that the twelve disciples, in spite of their failure, became the twelve apostles, or eleven of them became apostles.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about that.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter, here is Peter, who Jesus has said, You're going to deny me three times.
SPEAKER_01: Not only did he deny him three times, but he fell asleep on him three times.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter wrote, later wrote books in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Peter worked miracles through the power of God.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter later found it within himself when they said, deny Jesus or we're going to kill you.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Not only am I going to not deny him, but I don't want you to crucify me right side up because I'm not worthy to be crucified in the same manner my Lord was crucified and crucify me upside down.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Peter got beyond his disappointment in himself, and he got beyond his past failures to walk boldly and authoritatively in the power and the anointing of Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The world will tell you that your past is your future.
SPEAKER_01: But God is telling you that Jesus and the power of Holy Spirit is your future, and if you will shake off the failures and the disappointments of the past and walk in the power and the anointing that God has for you today, that you can walk victoriously and help change the world for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I've never done anything great.
SPEAKER_01: Good, that's the kind of person God usually picks.
SPEAKER_01: But the heart of the Father and the heart of his love for you is that he wants you to let go of your disappointment in yourself that he's already covered in his blood.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm harder on myself than anybody.
SPEAKER_01: And I say this with a heart of love.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to confront you, but if you're harder on yourself than God, you're elevating your judgment over God's judgment.
SPEAKER_01: And you know what I know?
SPEAKER_01: People who are hard on themselves tend to be hard on the people around them.
SPEAKER_01: Because when they say, oh, I'm harder on myself than anybody, it's our rationalization.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't say your rationalization, I said our rationalization, right, to be hard on the people around us.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, now I'm preaching.
SPEAKER_01: And the thing is, is Jesus is saying, if we let God's grace come to us, we'll be able to be graceful to other people.
SPEAKER_01: If we let God's mercy and love help us to get over being disappointed in ourselves, we'll be able to respond to other people like Jesus when they disappoint us.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine what an empowered Holy Ghost-filled life you would have if and I would have if we got over our fear and our reaction to disappointment and started walking in the faith and the love and the mercy and the grace and the power of Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: That just means that God's got a greater ability to come in and do even a greater miracle.
SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that I want to tell you is some of you in here have had powerful encounters with God.
SPEAKER_01: Powerful anointings, powerful ministries, powerful words, powerful experiences.
SPEAKER_01: And you kind of let it slip away.
SPEAKER_01: And you're afraid that if you have another encounter and powerful encounter with God, another ministry, another anointing, you were disappointed in yourself last time, so you don't want to be disappointed in yourself again.
SPEAKER_01: And it keeps you from pursuing what God has for you today.
SPEAKER_01: Because you didn't handle the past thing perfectly.
SPEAKER_01: But God is telling you in this story, it doesn't matter how you handled the past.
SPEAKER_01: God wants you to flow in Him today because He's calling you out of His love saying, I've forgotten about it.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why you're still rehearsing it.
SPEAKER_01: I put it under the blood.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why you're still putting it on the docket in the court case.
SPEAKER_01: You're already pardoned.
SPEAKER_01: Why are you still serving that prison sentence?
SPEAKER_01: I've already set you free and disassembled the jail.
SPEAKER_01: How come you're rebuilding that cell so that you can walk into it?
SPEAKER_01: Who the son has set free is free indeed.
SPEAKER_01: And that includes over the disappointments and the hurts and the pains and the times that we failed and the times we felt like we didn't get it.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what, I'm gonna do a little, this isn't real prophecy, this is Daryl prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: But if you go in the Holy Spirit and you flow in God, guess what?
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna make mistakes in the future as well.
SPEAKER_01: I know I'm going to.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Daryl, if you confess that you're gonna make mistakes, that means you're gonna make mistakes.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not it my no, my confession is not creating my humanness.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just telling you the truth.
SPEAKER_01: And the thing is, is God is calling you to say, Lord, I'm willing to put up with my own imperfection to follow you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm putting up willing to put up with the times I disappoint myself to follow you.
SPEAKER_01: Because people will tell you, if you never try for great things, you'll never be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: If you never try to follow Jesus and walk in the power of his spirit, you'll never be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: If you never pray for miracles, if you never pray to flow in the anointing, if you never pray and pursue and try to do great things for God, you will not you will never be disappointed.
SPEAKER_01: But I will tell you what you will be is ineffective.
SPEAKER_01: Powerless and miserable.
SPEAKER_01: Because when the children of Israel balked at going into the promise in the promised land, even though they knew there was going to be battles, and in every battle there's loss, even though they knew there were going to be giants and facing giants is scary, when they said no, what happened?
SPEAKER_01: They wandered around the wilderness for 40 years.
SPEAKER_01: And there's some people who are so afraid of disappointing themselves or so afraid of failing in the future of God that they're walking around the wilderness because God's not going to force you to go where you're not going to want to go.
SPEAKER_01: But he's calling you out of that this morning.
SPEAKER_01: He's calling you out of that right now to say, God, I'm going to boldly go and face my giants.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to boldly go and face this disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, I know I'm going to be like Peter because this was not the last time that Peter failed.
SPEAKER_01: After the resurrection, Peter got carried off into making trying to make Gentiles too Jewish.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul said, I had to confront him to his face.
SPEAKER_01: But Peter still died a martyr's death and wrote the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Peter is still somebody who is revered as one of the most faithful and obedient in spite of the fact he kept making mistakes.
SPEAKER_01: And what God is telling you that he doesn't care about your mistakes.
SPEAKER_01: He cares about your willingness and your openness and your heart to pursue him and follow him and to go after him.
SPEAKER_01: God has been making up for human mistakes for thousands of years and he's pretty good at it.
SPEAKER_01: So if you just come and trust him in God, you will not be disappointed.