"The Man Who Meant Well" with Jentezen Franklin

the following program is sponsored by friends and partners of Kingdom connection we all have our favorites in the Bible but for me Simon Peter would be my favorite and I love the fact that he was a man who was not perfect but he always meant to do right I'm preaching today on the man who meant well I didn't say he always did well but he meant well he testifies to the fact that mistakes don't have to be fatal that Peter is someone who was always failing forward that when he failed he didn't he didn't let his mistakes push him further away from God but he was forever falling and failing forward anytime the devil tells you you're a nobody from nowhere headed to no place I want to remind you of the man who meant well there's something about Simon Peter that he always had a comeback spirit after Jesus was crucified and he he knew he had failed and done all of these things that he lost all hope of God ever using him in ministry and he went back to his fishing business and he went out on a fishing boat and he was fishing and while he was fishing the Bible said he saw the silhouette of a tall lean Galilean and even though it was the long ways off he knew that man he had lived with that man for three and a half years and followed him and when he saw that silhouette he instantly with all of his flaws and failures threw his coat off and dove into the water and swam over a hundred yards to get to Jesus because he was always trying to get to him get near him get close to him he went back to his cussing habits his denying habits his forsaking habits he might as well go back to his old job he had fished and caught nothing but when he saw Jesus there was something in him that I loved him I still loved him I loved him and and and he couldn't hold himself back and dove into the water trying to get to Jesus on another occasion he plunged into not only the water but when all the other disciples said on the boat in the storm there was something in Simon Peter his his impulse when Jesus was around is I've got to get near him I've got to get to him and when everybody else was content to set on the boat it was Simon Peter who said he's out there and even if I have to walk and try to do the supernatural I've got to be near him he was always trying to get nearer Jesus it was his impulse and he won't own the water and now he's looking on the shore when he comes up out of that water he's looking in the face of Jesus the one who had been crucified and laid in a tomb and rose from the dead and Jesus was cooking him a meal of restoration of fish the Bible said and bread and it's it's Jesus and he's looking in that face and he's got such guilt and he's got such condemnation the one that he denied jesus said to him one question and one question only do you still love me he did not say why did you run he did not say why did you cuss he did not say why did you deny me when I needed you the most he did not say why did you not love me like you promised you would do three times he asked one question all I care about is do you still love me I'm not holding what you did wrong all I care about is there still an impulse in you to want to be with me you lied you denied but Jesus didn't ask him about any of that he never brought up his past Jesus said all I want to know is do you still love me and I don't know how many times you've run and I don't know how many times you failed but through it all Jesus has a question for you who are listening to me in this room and by television and at our campuses I don't care what you've done he is not asking about what you have done he's asking one question do you still love me because if you still love me he's not here to condemn you Peter failed forward it's better to fail with a high than just to succeed with a low aim I didn't really think Simon Peter meant well even when he cut the man in the garden and cut the guy's ear off he meant well he was just trying to defend Jesus his motive was good even when he cussed he didn't mean to he was warming his hand by the fire what was he doing there all the rest of them had fled he came back to get near Jesus he knew Jesus was in Caiaphas house and he she he was endangering himself to be there he knew it and somebody recognized him and old the old guy came back in and he started cussing and and said some words but but he meant well I guess what I'm trying to tell you is God can tell the difference between somebody who sinned and messed up but if your heart still loves them I'm not glorifying sin but I'm telling you that when the devil whispers to you you're not worthy you know what I say who is when the devil says you don't measure up I say who does but I tell you one thing I love Jesus and if I failed I'm gonna get up and fail forward even in your failure you meant well you might have got caught up in a somebody's gonna say he's loose on sin this is greasy grace preaching no it's not it's Bible preaching and even in his weak moment of temptation the said you're finished because you failed but he was a man who meant well now let me contrast him with Judas Judas is the opposite they both failed they both wept Peter wept and he was restored but Judas wept and was never restored why the intentions the sincerity was different one truly well out of repentance and brokenness over what he had done the other well not for the same motive not for the same reason Judas well because he was mad at himself Judas wept because he was mad at God Judas was well because he he was mad of how things turned out that it didn't go the way he thought it would go Judas planned his sin he calculated he plotted it he day after day after day premeditated he set around and and he he went but he went because he got cold he got paid to do what he was doing he negotiated a deal for his sin Peter well because he really didn't plan to do it each time he messed up he he got angry and did something he shouldn't have he somebody sent something to him any custom out but he didn't he didn't mean he didn't sit around playing and saying when I see that person I'm gonna cuss him out and I'm gonna cut that one you see the difference do you see that one had a different spirit the Bible said this is the most touching part of this text to me that while Peter was warm in his hands by the fire they brought Jesus across the courtyard in Chains after he had been beaten and scourge dand he was bleeding wounded no doubt the crown of thorns already shoved on his head and your Bible said without a word being spoken and when Jesus looked at him across the courtyard Peter who denied and custom all the things he called his eye he caught the eyes of Jesus in the eyes of Jesus connected with Simon Peter their eyes apparently he was close enough to make eye contact and the Bible said when he saw the eyes of Jesus without a word being spoken that Peter turned and went off and wept bitterly because there's a difference between being overtaken in a fall and overtaken in a sin when when you're overtaken in a sin is part of your walk it's part of who you are you have not confessed it you have not really rejected it and turned away from it it's part of who you are that's overtaken by a sin but when you fall the Bible said a righteous man if he loves Jesus a righteous man falls seven times a day but rises again and if I fall I fall forward I fall toward him I there's something in me that I mean Jesus I want to get back to him quick and that's how you know if you're saved or not I've used this illustration many times through the years but I can take a pig and if he's got a real pig and I can put a bowtie on him or and put a choir robe on him I can put him up here and put him on a onna on a table and let him stand up here and preach beside me and as soon as the service is over bow tie choir robe and everything as soon as he goes outside if there's a mud hole because he has the nature of a pig he's gonna forget all about how holy he is and run straight for that mud hole cause something in his nature loves it he says I belong here I love this filth I love this slop I love this mud this is where I want to be now if a sheep falls in mud he may fall in it but instantly he's getting up because it's not in the nature of a sheep to enjoy field anything get me out of here I don't like it and the way you know if you're a sheep or a hog come on the way you know if you're a child of God a sheep or a goat is what kind of nature do you have not that you don't fall but when you fall is there something in you that says oh Jesus I'm so sorry wash me cleanse me get it off of me and God by your grace I'll never go back to it again that's how you anybody know you've been saved by that can you shout that there was a time when you wanted it but you don't want it no more a time when you had to have it but you don't even want to be around it anymore that's the power of the Cross and I've come today to tell somebody Jesus is calling you by name he wants to meet you again do you love me I love that Jesus didn't call him on the carpet Jesus didn't put him down Jesus didn't rehearse well let's talk about the line let's talk about this let's talk about that no all I want to know is after all this stumbling and all this foolishness and all this cussing and all this cutting and all this line and all this this temper tantrums do you still love me you see Peter despised himself and it's a dangerous thing when you do when you reach a low in the life you're living that you begin to despise yourself it's dangerous mark Rutherford said in his book if I could write one more beatitude it would be blessed are those who heal us from self despising of all the services that can be done to man I know of none more precious than to be healed of self despising it was true of Simon Peter he had wounded the one that he loved the most and he couldn't forgive himself for it he couldn't get over he couldn't live with it and when I think of people who are turning to drugs and turning to alcohol and prescriptions and there they failed they've just messed up if the dad should have been there but he left the family did something crazy or are a child that hurt the parents or whatever it is and and they begin to despise themselves and the enemy whispers just take your life you're you're good for nothing what a failure of a father what a failure of a mother what a piece of trash you are and you begin to despise yourself it's one thing to heal a man of despising others but it's another thing to heal a man or a woman who despises themselves but hears the word of the Lord to you if it's not on God's books it ought not to be on your books three times in this book three times in this book he said I even I am he that blots out your transgressions to remember them no more says those words three times I will remember your sins no more I will remember your sins no more I will remember I do not remember your sins anymore stop despising your cell stop I know you if you could go back and take that moment back but God saw your heart God's you you know you're the man or woman that meant well you you shouldn't have done it it was stupid my god what a dumb decision but you meant well anybody thankful for Grace's this sermon make any sense anybody thankful for grace that that can see beyond a dumb action still love you still love you the Lord told me to tell you listen to me now feel this big in my soul somebody's listening to me and you need to hear this because you've messed up and you despise yourself for what you've done the Lord told me to tell you you are not a Judas you are a simon peter what you did was not malicious you didn't plan to fail you kind of got dragged into it by sin you've been sorry ever since have you and I'm talking to you Jesus didn't say to him oh well I'm glad you love me you're not worthy to touch my food but he put him back into the ministry after all that mess and he said feed my sheep I'll give you back your ministry I'll give you back your calling I'll give you back your dignity I give you hold your head up high because I'm gonna use you mightily and it's always gonna break you and humble you that you failed me in the way that you fail me you'll never forget the stare that when our eyes connected and the blood was dripping off of my eyebrows from the crown of thorn you'll never forget that in bout time you want to get proud you remember where I brought you from the apostle of weakness and denial will become the apostle of boldness and faith and so in closing Peter wrote two books of the Bible he had more to say about humility than any other New Testament writer he gave us two of the most profound scriptures on humility in the Bible he said humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and in due season he will exalt you he gives grace to the humble listen to him he dipped his pen in the ink of his failure and he wrote he gives grace to anyone who falls forward in humility but he holds at arms-length he he pushes away the proud he wrote things that still help us today there's no friend like that lowly Jesus he's the man who meant well everybody say these words I am NOT a Judas I may have had thoughts but not intentions I may have fallen and struggled but Jesus I still love you lift your hands and worship Him just a moment lift your hands and praise in just a moment lift your hands in honor to him come on open your mouth and thank him for his amazing grace and mercy and forgiveness and he sees beyond the bad he sees the heart he sees the man a woman who meant well who didn't intend to get trapped and messed up and he says I'm I am willing not only to restore you but I'll use you again do you still love me is the only issue not have have you lost this or you lost that or you went out and did something you lost this you lost that because of sin the question is do you still love him stand to your feet please all over this room stay with me on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the emblem our suffering and chain and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinner's I would slay it sure I cherish feel to my trophies gonna lay him down at his feet oh I'm gonna clean I can't give up let go turn back for nothing this world has to offer that already closed still the message and exchange did Sunday for crime hallelujah Jesus is calling backsliders home Jesus is calling people who've missed their life uh you even despise yourself he's calling you home to his loving arms families are going to be healed this morning marriages are going to be healed this morning lives are going to be restored dreams are going to hope is going to come back and be sparked again I want active obedience the only issue the only question Jesus has for you is do you still love me not why did you do it do you still love me if we had bound every unclosed and I make no apologies for getting emotional over a message about the cross it still moves me after all of these years that Jesus would bleed and die take my sins and nail him to a cross so unworthy I feel the love of God in this room so strong flowing into that room wherever you're watching this do you still love him pastor I'm not right with God I'm a teenager I'm a college student I'm a husband wife business person I'm Baxley and I know I'm not right I know that I'm not living right and I would love I would love to feel what Simon Peter must have felt when Jesus gave him back his calling his purpose and his plan for his life I would love to start all over again with Jesus I want to get right with him and I can because of the cross and I want to acknowledge the need that I have for Jesus all over again in my life today if that's you and you're listening to me wherever you are as bold as you can I'm not humiliates you embarrass you but I'm gonna tell you something he will not come if you don't invite him and this is your chance to invite him he knocked and he says it's up to you to open what you're feeling right now is the spirit of the Living God and he's not asking - have you got a drug problem have you got an alcohol do you love me there was a man in the Bible who had 2,000 demons and those demons couldn't stop him from getting to Jesus because he loved Jesus and the demons were broken all you got to do is say yes pastor pray for me I would love to get right with God today affects you right where you are raise your hand as high as you can if you say I know I'm not right and I want to get right with God today raise it high on a shame you're in this room up in the balcony all over this main room wherever you are and the overflow if the Lord is speaking to you right now get out of your seat and come stand right down here right now right now right now right now right now right now right now the cross the cross the cross it's my only hope and that's all you need that's all you need pray this prayer right where you are wherever you are watching by television or at another campus right here in this room in this altar lujah say Lord Jesus I give you my life I believe in a man named Jesus and a place called Calvary where he shed his blood that my sins could be washed away and today I invite you Lord Jesus to come into my heart I thank you you have not given up on me and I still love you I know I failed you but hear my cry I still love you and I know you won't turn me away I receive you as my savior thank you Jesus I'm saved I'm born again I'm a new creation lift up the biggest shout of the praise that you can come on in thinking that the angels are rejoicing in heaven today over one soul being safe our forgiving Kingdom connection is a soul winning ministry that is reaching the world through broadcasting expansion into new church campuses and global acts of compassion by using the technology of today to fulfill the Great Commission we are able to connect with countless people and reach hundreds of thousands of lives our broadcasts connect with people all around the world who say that the messages speak directly to them our ministry exists to help build a connection for strengthening your faith and living out your god-given purpose and our missions and relief work helps connect you to desperate situations showing the love of Christ through global acts of compassion including our newest endeavor of building a school in Ghana West Africa bring the hope of salvation and a future to children who need them the most and that only happens when you partner with us in connection partnership for as little as $1 a day you'll be helping us reach further than we ever have before for more information on how you can be a part of the ministry and enjoy exclusive partner benefits go online or call eight eight eight three three nine zero zero or nine for more information we can't do everything but together we can do something amazing Jennsen Franklin proudly presents I hear the sound a brand new collection of favorite hymns recorded live at free chapel this album captures the heart of worship through times and cherished hymns and is sure to be a favorite for years to come these 1290 classics are beautiful reminders of biblical truths and God's sovereignty and estas countdown the brand I hear the sound album is available for purchase for $15 each or two for $20 oh well Healy in a quiet moment of worship we hear the heart of God call now or visit us online to order your copy of the I hear the sound album this program has been brought to you by the friends and partners of Jensen franklin media ministries for more information on this broadcast go online at Jensen Franklin Oh Archie

Channel: Jentezen Franklin

Views: 38,641

Rating: 4.9015384 out of 5

Keywords: Jentezen Franklin, Kingdom Connection, Free Chapel, TV, Ministry

Id: rIF7wiZx0yI

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 29 2016