Success is Farther
than Failure.

Failure is always at hand,
but success is a little farther
down the road

Scripture

Psa 31:9 "Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly."
Psa 31:10 "For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed."
Psa 31:11 "I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me."
Psa 31:12 "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel."
Psa 31:13 "For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life."
Psa 31:14 "But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God."
Psa 31:15 "My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me."
Psa 31:16 "Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake."
Psa 31:17 "Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave."
Psa 31:18 "Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous."
Psa 31:19 "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!"
Psa 31:20 "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues."
Psa 31:21 "Blessed be the LORD: for he hath showed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city."
Psa 31:22 "For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee."
Psa 31:23 "O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer."
Psa 31:24 "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."

Text

Psa 31:22 "For I said in my haste,

I spoke too soon
I had not finished the course
I had got in a hurry to conclude the matter

"For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee."

It looked as if there was nothing but failure
and it was true.

But on the Road of many Failures
there is also Success or Victory.

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Spiritual Examples

Eleazer

Eleazer knew that so far he had been prosperous
but prosperity was not to be had until he had completed his journey.

Gen 24:56 "...Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master."

Eleazer had to get the Bride to Isaac
If he quit or tarried at that point, it would have been failure on the very road to success.

He would have failed
while on his way to success.

Joseph

Joseph had many failures along the Road
Hated by his brothers
Sold into salvery by those very same brothers
Betrayed by the wife of Potiphar
Forgotten by Pharaoh's Chief Butler in Prison

Of course these do not appear to be failures now,
but certainly to him back then, they could have looked like failures.

Failure after Failure
but all on the same Road
and that same Road led to Success or Victory for Joseph.

Moses

Moses had many failures along the Road to Success or Victory
Born in a time when it was not healthy to be a Hebrew baby boy in Egypt.
Killed an Egyptian and had to flee to the Backside of the Desert.
Doubted God's word at the Burning Bush.
Threw down the 10 Commandments and broke the tablets they were written-on.
Impatient with the Israelites, and who would not be thoroughly tested by that bunch of never-do-wells?
Even at the last, he could not enter the Promised Land.

But Moses is held in high esteem
by man and God.

Failure at every turn on the Road of Life
but success or Victory is on that same Road, just a little farther.

David

David had many failures along the Road to Success
Rejected by Saul.
Hunted by Saul.
Fit of temper with Nabal.
Took several wives.
Bathsheba.
Had Uriah killed.
(Tarry at any point that may apply to your listeners.)

Practical Examples

Thomas Edison
we are all familiar with the exploits of Thomas Edison the "Wizard of Menlow Park".

How he had tried many 100's and 100's of times
to perfect a substance for a filament for the Lightbulb.

Failure after failure
but everyone of those failures on the rough, hard, uphill Road of Life,
every Failure was on the same Road to Success or Victory.

Incidentally
His Victory was so huge and complete that that very same bulb that he invented 100 years ago is still burning constantly today.

That is lasting Success or Victory
which is what the Lord offers.

Christ's example

Jesus
Everywhere that Jesus turned in His life He found Faithlessness.

In the very hand picked men
He had chosen to follow Him.

In the people
He had fed and healed.

In the Priests and Leaders
who knew of the Prophecies of His coming.

In the very people
He had come to save by Faith.

But His journey was not a dead end.
On the very same Road of constant Failures
was the path to Success or Victory.

Of course,
Jesus never looked at the Failures in others to come to Him as the Christ, as His personal Failures (and they were not), but we often do. We cannot see the future. We have not used our faith to trust. We often stumble upon the stumbling of others. But we need to just keep going, our success in just a little father along. If we stop short, we are certain to never reach it.

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No life is left unscathed.
Every Road of Life is filled with Failures.

There is no point
in looking for another Road to Success or Victory.

Every one of the roads we travel
is filled with Failures and Success is a little farther down.

Spiritual Examples

Paul traveled many Roads in his life.
He traveled the Road of Half Jew and Half Gentile and met many Failures on his way to Victory.
He traveled the Road of Pharisee and met many Failures on his way to Victory and Respect.
He traveled the Road of Christian and had to be let out of a city in a basket, meeting failure and failure but on his way to Victory.
He was called to be an Apostle and met Failure there at every turn, even the other Apostles did not want to have much to do with him, but all of it was on the Road to Victory.
He was called to be a Missionary and met Failures on the Road to Victory there as well.

There is no point in changing Roads
on your way to Success or Victory to get away from the Failures.
Failures are on the same Road as Victory.

To leave the current road
Is to leave a lot of Failures on finished and to start all over again with a new set of Failures heading for a different Success or Victory.

Christ's example

Jesus met the opposition of people
as a Boy,
as a Man,
as a Prophet,
as a Priest,
and even as a King,
(Tarry at any of the examples that might apply to your people.)

Every Road of Life
is filled with Failures on the Road to Victory, even the Road that God-in-Flesh traveled.

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I don't know why this is
but failure happens many more times than Success or Victory.

Spiritual Examples

I think about Lazarus
the brother of Mary and Martha.

Who failed
to be the one best known of the family,
to stay alive until Jesus got there,
he even failed to stay dead,
and failed in getting to stay in Heaven once he got there,
he failed to get respect of the local people after his resurrection from the dead.

But his single Victory
in being the Friend of Jesus and being used as a Friend in his Resurrection was a great encouragement to all that came after him even until this very day.

He may have looked at it all as Failure
But his Success or Victory was coming, it had been just a little farther down the road, out of sight for the moment, out of touch for the time.

There are many more Failures
than Victories

It only takes one Victory
to be a success

Practical Examples

Abraham Lincoln
is the classic example of Failures happening many more times that Success or Victory.

He failed
in business, as a lawyer, as a soldier, as a candidate for politics several times.

Even when he won the Presidential Election
he met failure in not being able to stop the war.
He failed many times to get the right General to lead the Army of the Potomac.
He failed to win an early end to the war

He felt like he failed
in the loss of his very young son.

He failed
to win the confidence of his wife.

He failed
over and over again.

But he had a Victory here and there
as President,
in finally choosing Grant to lead the Army,
in winning the hearts of those he defeated,
in writing the Gettysburg Address, but even then most of the reporters of the time criticized what he had to say and the way he said it at Gettysburg.

Not many Victories
in comparison to all the Failures.

Medal of Honor
In our country we have heroes that come to the forefront at various times of Crisis.

Frequently these people
have been failures all their lives, then in one instance, they arise to the occasion and meet the Crisis and we give them the Medal of Honor.

Very often
after their moment of Victory and Glory they go right back into their former failures but their name is still written in the rolls as a Medal of Honor winner.

It only takes a few Successes or Victories
amongst a long string of Failures.

Iwo Jima
Many of us are familiar with the Battle in WWII for the Island of Iwo Jima.

Where at the end
of some of the hardest fighting of the entire war, a few soldiers raise the Stars and Stripes.

A Camera man
recorded the incident and the men are now forever famous.

In reading about those men
Some of them led very tragic lives before and after.
Failure after Failure but that one "Rising-to-the-Occasion" gave them Victory as long as the History of this Country will be recorded by the historians and read by its people.

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Failure and many Failures
are on the same Road as Success or Victory.

But when a person quits
Failure is assured.
Failure seals that person's life.
Failure is the epitaph for his tombstone.

Quitting is the fulfillment of Failure
But, Continuance is the assurance of Success.

Spiritual Examples

Demas
Demas, as a Christian had many Victories and Failures.

But his quitting
and going back to the world assured him of the Darkest, Dreariest, Face-in-the-Dirt Failures known to mankind.
Having known the truth and turned his back on it.

Lazarus and the Certain Rich Man
Lazarus was a begger and failed in life,at every thing he attempted.

He was
looked down on, despised, condescended to, was given everyone else's scraps.

But the whole time
he continued,
he didn't quit.

Ad when he died
he met his reward for faithfulness.

If you quit you will Fail.

If you continue you will have Victory.

1 Pet 5:10 "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."
1 Pet 5:11 "To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

To God be the Glory
because He is where we get the grace to continue to the end, sometimes the bitter end.

Jude 1:24 "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,"
Jude 1:25 "To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen."

Praise God!
He can keep us from failing and from faults.

In another place
it says the same thing:

2 Tim 4:18 "...the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

The Lord can
deliver me and preserve me.

Now remember:

God's deliverance
is not out of the situation, but through the situation.

God's deliverance
is not out of our problems, but through our problems.

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Failure, much of the time, is caused by staying in sin.
Anyone can be deceived.
Anyone can have a weak moment.
Anyone can be ignorant of the wiles of the devil.
But no one is allowed to stay there.

Failure, on the road to Success,
is many times caused by staying in sin.

Sin is the stoppage of righteousness:
Quitting,
Giving-up,
Can't hold-out,
Departing the Will of God,
Discontinuance of Loving God with all you have and loving your neighbor as yourself,
Yielding to circumstances,
Termination of right,
Letting go.

All are subject to these things
but none are allowed to stay there.

1 John 1.9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Confess Sin
Confession here covers acknowledging sin and turning from it, forsaking it.

God is the only One
that cannot Fail.

Deu 31:6 "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Everything else will Fail

Money will fail:
it failed in the land of Egypt in Joseph's time,
it failed in many Kingdoms of the past,
it failed in 1929,
it failed for Germany and Japan in WWII.

And Money will fail again.
Its failure will not be according to these Conspiracy Mongers,
but according to God's Plan.

Hearts Fail

Heb 12:11 "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
Heb 12:12 "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;"
Isa 35:4 "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you."

Anyone can Fail
Yea, everyone does fail.

Psa 12:1 "Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men."

If the godly and faithful Fail,
who can stand besides them???

Psa 73:26 "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

God is love
and Love never Fails.

1 Cor 13:8 "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."

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Be careful with Success or Victory

Prov 1:32 "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them."

That last part
is the part I'm interested in. The prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

I have seen:
men survive failing health,
women survive a failing husband,
children survive a failing marriage,
CEO's survive a failing company,
animals survive a failing habitat,
students survive failing grades,
buildings survive failing structures,
even Christians survive failing faith.

But I have seen very few Survive
a Huge Success.

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Luke 12:33 "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth."

Two on the Road to Emmaus
had seen Victory exactly a week before with Jesus coming into Jerusalem on the donkey,
had seen the crushing failure at the Cross,
had seen the dejection of the Disciples afterwards,
had seen the failure of Comfort to rise to their occasion,
had seen the failure of sleep to take away the grief and fear,
had seen failure grip their hearts to the extent that they were leaving Jerusalem
had even seen the failure of a Risen Christ to bring them back to Comfort with the explanation of the Scriptures

But just then
when Jesus took bread and brake it and gave thanks, their eyes were opened.

Many failures
but now at last Victory.

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To the Christians
to continue along the Road of Apparent Failure, but will eventually lead to Victory and Success.

To the Lost
to come to Christ, the Saviour from Failure and the author of Success and Victory.

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