How to Suffer Well — Endure — Rich Wilkerson Jr.

the premise of the talks studying the book of first peter is just this idea that life is not always about conquering often it's just simply about enduring i think the older i get by the way like i'm more attracted to people and i'm more fascinated with people not that i've accomplished so much but rather who have just stayed on the consistent persistent path of becoming that have endured it's cool when someone posts their five-year wedding anniversary shout out to all of you that have been married for five years but come on let me know there's something a little bit different when someone celebrates 50 years of marriage just something about we man we went through some pain together we went through some struggles together we endured him really that's what peter is writing to he's writing to an audience and he's challenging them and he's encouraging them to endure you know i have one of those kind of weeks this past week i don't know if you have one of those kind of weeks that it's it's so bad that you just have to laugh anyone ever ever a day like that where it's like dude this day is such a struggle all you really can do is laugh at this day anyone ever a day like that come on just wave at me maybe a week like that oh come on month like that a year like that um 2020 in a nutshell sometimes you just got to step back you just you just got to laugh um and my struggle isn't you know that big of a deal but it was one of those kind of weeks we were like what is happening i i've been bringing you updates and i know it's at this point it's like it's just too much i've been bringing you updates about the challenges of my house uh most of these updates have been around our rodent problem i'm gonna spare you those details if you're just joining us for the first time you're like rodent problem yeah it's a whole situation some of you're like bro what are you just gonna move out of that house i don't know i feel like i feel like pharaoh and i'm unwilling to let it go you know i don't know how many more plagues i'm gonna need but but but this story doesn't have anything to do with uh with rodents instead though this has been it's been a challenging week for the wilkersons uh my wife and i we we went out of town both had separate commitments that we had to be at i was in new york and she had to be in springfield missouri and this was like one of the first times that we were going to be gone for more than one day in 2020 away from both of our sons and so all the parents out there know that if you're both going to be out of town it's a whole prep situation you got to plan you got to get schedules you got to lay out vitamins you got to get completely ahead of the game and so we were a little nervous flying out of town and we're going to be going for three nights and uh after the first night i get a text message the morning after uh the night that we've been away and i wake up to i wake up to these pictures on my phone from my brother-in-law david d and he sends me images of what i think when i first see it is like i i honestly thought someone tried to bomb my house that is that's no exaggeration that's the level of the image i looked at what it was was a hole in our ceiling and i'm talking about debris everywhere i'm like what on earth happened bro he said man i was laying in my bed and out of nowhere the entire ceiling came caving in and it exploded all over the room i was like this is not real life he said here's the deal there's so much debris in the house right now that man the dust in this house our oldest son wyatt has asthma he's like i don't think the kids can stay here i'm like you gotta be kidding me i'm away night one and now i'm moving my family has to do like the exodus they actually have to leave the house without their mother and father so i have to call a friend i have to get my kids to stay somewhere else because we have to repair and clean up the debris it's just a whole debacle but it gets worse friends i finally get home we get the ceiling repaired but then it's just like a week from i don't know where it came from but it didn't feel like it came from god uh the power went out with the power going out we had an alarm that was going off for like three hours straight it's like is this real you know uh yesterday the ac froze it was 88 degrees in my house i'm like what is the lord speaking to me and then you can't make this up friends this is a true story this is a true story i'm late this is all in one week i'm laying in bed with don cherie shut up i'm laying in bed with dantri and out of nowhere our entire bed just caves in my bed broke we are laying there in the sunken in mattress and we're like like is this real life what is going on how do you know when it rains it pours baby i thought today i would i would use that as an illustration because i want to talk to you today from this thought how to suffer well now listen i i know my challenges are not real suffering but i think it plays as a good illustration that that life comes at us and when you define the word suffer the word suffer means any unpleasant hardship that you experience i just think it's important that we all note in this life that we will face suffering in fact even right now as i'm coming to you so many different people watching this content so many different people i don't know if you're listening on podcasts right now i don't know if you're watching this on playback on youtube maybe you're live in the zoom right now but if you could describe your situation you would say i feel like i'm suffering and suffering comes on on so many different levels right just any unpleasant hardship that you are experiencing maybe right now you're suffering in your marriage man this year has put pressure on marriages and couples dealing with a pandemic trying to figure out where your kids are going to school working from home all of these things create pressure and suffering maybe you have got relationships suffering with a friend or a loved one that this year has created so many opportunities for polarizing things to be discussed that right now there's such disagreement that lines have been crossed and it seems like there's disrespect that's occurred and so you're you're trying to walk through the suffering maybe you're dealing with financial suffering maybe it's it's the pressure of what you've lost that your business has has lost or your business has gone down or maybe you lost your job or maybe you were furloughed or maybe an entire industry that you've given most of your life to doesn't even exist anymore maybe you've suffered physically maybe it's in your body maybe you've you've lost someone to covet maybe you've gotten sick maybe you have a bad doctor's report right now that you're going man i'm suffering maybe you have pain in your body that you wake up with every single day and you just have to deal with it we all suffer on different levels maybe today you you're suffering in silence you know the collateral damage of this year has been that mental health has so been hit depression is on the rise anxiety is on the rise suicide is on the rise and you go through life every single day but you're suffering in silence i remember one time i was reading the story of jim baker jim baker was a very prominent preacher in the 80s and the 90s and through a whole series of events he ended up losing everything he actually ended up going to prison and he wrote his biography and he called it i was wrong and it just describes his entire situation but he used this illustration that has never left me he said when i was going through the challenges that i was facing as i was making mistakes as i was carrying shame as i had found myself in problems he said i just felt like i couldn't tell anybody he said one night i went to bed and i had a fish tank in my house and that night as i went to sleep when i when i woke up the next day i discovered all of the fish in the tank had died he had to call someone to discover what had taken place and what had happened was was that the heat in the fish tank had gone up yet nobody knew he said when the person came to fix the aquarium it was such an illustration for my personal life because so often that's what's happening is that heat is rising he thought i wonder if any of the fish ever tried to cry out for help but i never heard him i wonder if that's where you're at today i wonder if you're going help help but as you're shouting out for help there's no one who's coming to your rescue maybe you're suffering in silence here's the truth today suffering is unavoidable but enduring is achievable that is the hope that we have today as we jump into what it is that peter is going to describe for us see i want to encourage you and i'm being silly but i want you to see it just because my exterior life was breaking apart this week doesn't mean that my interior life has to collapse this is a word for somebody see just because my ceiling caved in doesn't mean that my marriage has to cave in just because my bed broke doesn't mean that my joy has to break just because the power went off in the house doesn't mean that the power to my faith has to turn off enduring is is achievable you will face suffering on some level to some degree but you can endure it reminds me of the story that jesus told in matthew chapter 7. you know the story jesus tells a story about a wise man and a foolish man i've used it many times but jesus said a wise man built his house on the rock and a foolish man built his house in the sand and when the storm came or when the suffering came or when the pressure from the outside came the wise man's house stood strong while the foolish man's house fell apart wisdom does not prevent suffering wisdom does not prevent storms however the entire story is predicated on one simple fact are you wise or are you foolish how do you know which one you are it simply comes down to the foundation you choose to build on that a wise person chooses to build on solid rock that withstands the storm but a foolish person builds their house on sand which always crumbles in the storm what does the solid rock represent the solid rock represents the name of jesus christ and i've been saying it throughout this collection let me say it again jesus works jesus is the only thing worth building your life upon he is solid rock that when suffering comes you can endure and when jesus told the story he's not talking about a physical house he's talking about your life and what is it that he says about your life he wants you to get a picture that as exterior pressure comes the question is what is your life built on what is the foundation i mean foundations are something that you can't see this is how our interior life works how are we strengthening our interior life how are we continuing to build upon jesus that idea of building upon jesus can become so complex what does that look like i believe in many ways today that's what peter is after peter wants to be very practical and he wants to prescribe to you how you can endure through suffering by building a life on jesus and what that actually looks like first peter chapter 3 verse 8 we're picking up kind of where we left off really last week but peter is now saying finally and you're gonna go and finally finally what we'll remember we've been talking week in and week out week one we talked about first peter chapter one that peter gives theology he shows us how to study god and he says that you can carry pain because you have a living hope but then week two we kind of go from our beliefs into our behavior you don't start with your behavior you start with your be belief right living comes from right believing and so he calls us to a life of holiness to be set apart to be counter culture but quickly we have to give ourselves some grace because why because you are being built we all have weaknesses we all have a mess but i am being built into a spiritual house so relax exhale give yourself some grace but then he says hey i want to make sure you understand that that a good church a healthy church is built upon a healthy home and so that's why last week we talked about families and we talked about men and women and marriage and and doing life and what that looks like and how we endure and how we move forward but now he's he's come to this idea that he wants to prescribe and he says finally all of you who is all of you remember this letter is written to the church it's written to churches scattered across really in an area known as asia minor which is modern-day turkey and really they are under the control of the roman empire and the roman empire is growing it's a worldwide power it's massive but with that all of this pressure is coming there's division in the streets so many different cultures so many different ideologies so many different philosophies and all of this division is starting to creep into this remnant known as the church and so peter's like no endure keep your eyes fixed on jesus don't let the problems out there become the problems in here does it sound a little familiar in 2020 don't let all of the discussion out there become all the discussion in here don't let the problems out there become the problems in here this is a letter to believers this is a letter to churches so i'm speaking to the church so he says finally all of you who's all of you it's the church it's believers i'm preaching to believers today finally all of you live in harmony with one another be sympathetic love his brothers be compassionate and humble so what peter is going to do here is peter is going to focus in on an area of a muscle that you have to strengthen in order to face suffering it's some of those muscles that we don't always pay attention to that matter the most it's some of those muscles that we don't always focus on that matter the most i'm finally at a place in my life that i can honestly tell you that i value physical fitness it's taken me some time but i can honestly come to our church right now and tell you that i honestly value physical fitness the last three years now i have really made going to the gym not just a thing that i do but it's actually part of my lifestyle i i have a value but i've got a system attached let me know you can value something but just because you say you value it doesn't mean that you actually value it's not until you apply it's until you attach accountability in a system that says you know what now we actually value this thing so it's taking me a long time i can tell you that i value working out i'm still not comfortable telling you that i value leg day just if i can be honest if i can still just be a pastor who has weaknesses i despise leg day in fact i would say three years ago before i ever started going to the gym consistently my entire model was all chest no legs but i've had to discover on this journey of pain and endurance that working out my legs is mission critical if i want to strengthen my entire body see what people don't understand a lot of dudes in miami right now who don't understand so often we just want to focus on the appearance on the exterior so often we just want to focus on getting our biceps strong so often we just want to get that beach body you ever see that beachbody do with like all chests but just his legs can barely hold him up you know it's like that's him you know hey hey how are you how are you happy spring break um but you've got to actually commit to working at your legs and what people understand is that the legs have the biggest muscles in the body and so something happens when you're working out legs it feels many times if you're like if you don't like it it feels like it's not helpful but what i've learned is is that actually working out your legs is necessary but unpleasant this is an important truth that there's things in your life that are necessary but they're unpleasant working out my legs is necessary but it's unpleasant why is it necessary because it's the largest muscles in your body and there's no way that you could ever dream about having strong arms if you don't actually work out your legs see what you learn is it's this thing called unintended consequences that what i do today creates consequences for tomorrow and what i found out when i first started in the gym i was like yo bro i just want a big chest or bro i want my biceps i want to look good you know my trainer started to tell me no rich you're going to have to work out your legs because it fits into your core and what happens when you work out your legs is that it produces testosterone in fact it releases growth hormone so that when i work out my legs on tuesday i don't know it but when i get to my biceps on thursday my biceps are reaping the benefit of what i did to my legs on tuesday it's necessary but it's it's unpleasant it has an unintended consequence it's sort of a good picture of what church looks like by the way because because church i was going to call this message leg day but i just didn't think it would hit very hard on youtube church is kind of like leg day because you just have to understand that being a part of church and going to church has this thing at times called unintended consequences you might be here today lifting your hands or plugging into the zoom or going to the movie theater it's like ah is this really worth it is this really up to something but what you don't understand is that as you work it out today on sunday you're building your f your faith for the fight on tuesday you don't know what type of fight you got to face on tuesday you don't know what your boss is going to come and say on friday but thank god you've been putting in some work on the interior life that when you need to fight you got some strength it's developing some other muscles it's producing something different when suffering hits my life i hope i have been putting into my interior life in so many ways this is what peter's saying peter is about to tell us practically how we should respond he's going to give a prescription how we should respond to day by day suffering for being a believer but before he does it it's like he's putting you in leg day and you're going to miss it we're going to go right by it but it's like is that really that big of a deal is that really that important is that really something i should be focused on yeah he's not teaching you have to flex you're going to have to get stronger but in order to use all those other muscles to face suffering you're going to actually have to put in and focus on the body and focus on your legs and understand it it's leg day it's going to have some unintended consequences and his big leg day workout routine for you is this little phrase live in harmony live in harmony live in harmony with him he's talking to church so so so he's letting you know you're gonna face pressure to the body what is the body the body is the church of jesus christ so he's he's gonna talk to the body you're gonna face pressure you're gonna face storms you're gonna face suffering but please understand leg day well it's focusing on an area that you don't always focus on that seems unpleasant and the best way to say that is live in harmony live in harmony with each other harmony is an interesting concept because harmony we know that term in in music and the way you get harmony is that you need multiple singers and someone sings the melody and then other people come alongside the melody and they sing other notes that complement the melody it's called harmony you need more than one person for harmony to really be effective i hope you can see some of this stuff today because if you're gonna face suffering you're gonna need some people around you but our church needs to walk in harmony the body of christ at large in a year in a season that is so polarizing and so divided i'm pleading with us let us walk in harmony because you get multiple people singing but this is how music works right music is everybody playing their part to create something bigger something better so you get all of a sudden a piano player who hits three notes and it's called a chord and it's the three notes together then you get a drummer who starts to put down some rhythm and then you get some singers that come along and they start to sing the melody and some others start to sing the harmony before you know it it is this beautiful moment and it's called a song and it's called music but it's a lot of other parts coming together in in harmony it's a picture of what it looks like in our faith to walk with one another here's what's fascinating what's fascinating is imagine today we were singing one of these slow songs and imagine uh the drummer my man over there what's up brother maggie heez gets really inspired he's like i don't like this song he's like you know what the church needs a little ac dc today or he goes into some he goes into a def leppard drum solo i don't know he just goes off george of the jungle style okay like he's just crushing it how many of you know that all of our eyes would be drawn to the drummer but how many know that all of our eyes would be drawn to the drummer for all the wrong reasons i wonder today if people's eyes are drawn to us for all the wrong reasons focus on me listen to what i have to say i don't want to walk in harmony here's what's something that's always been perplexing to me is that in my life um i'm not the most musical i i can't really carry a tune i don't i definitely can't keep rhythm manushka is working with me it's like a discipleship course that we're doing together it's weird it's like all right clap it's but it's pray for me what's amazing is that i can't always hold a note but how many know when i walk into a room if somebody's singing off key i can instantly hear it and the majority of you can as well why because you don't have to actually have good pitch in order to notice that the room is off-key just like the church can say we're walking in harmony but a non-believer can look at what we're saying and instantly tell nah they're not singing on key over there i wonder today as the world looks upon the church that's facing pressure as the world looks upon vu church i wonder if they step back and say y'all you guys are saying one thing but you're doing another i'm not even a part of that body but i can tell that you don't know music you don't know harmony you are off key [Music] i wrote it down this way we don't tune the church to the world we tuned the world to the church [Applause] the body of christ is supposed to be the example the church is supposed to be leading the way of how you disagree and you don't disrespect the church is to be leading the way with gentleness and with respect and with grace but instead many times it seems like we're getting our cues from the world instead of giving the world the tune that we are singing and peter he does this so masterfully right he just he's just in it and he's just so beautiful he's like you wanna know what living in harmony looks like he's like it looks like being sympathetic you gotta be sympathetic with one another that's what living in harmony is sympathetic with one another sympathetic really that that that's a key word because i know this is the year that we talk about empathy and empathy is vital and powerful but how many know in order to get to empathy you got to first go through sympathy and sympathy is a feeling i know like most the time you hear me preach it's like yo don't make decisions by your feelings don't live by emotion live by devotion i believe all of that but i want to be really careful that we understand feelings matter i don't think god created you with all those emotions if none of those emotions matter i don't want to be led by my emotions but i want to pay attention to my emotions you see i'm telling you right now what happens is this is that emotions turn in interaction into a connection like i love my iphone wherever it's at and me and siri you know i talked to syria like what's up siri you know what restaurants are open right now what's up siri is there still a curfew in miami yo what's up siri give me the weather report today but let me know siri um like i have use of siri but siri and i do not have a relationship siri is a machine it's transactional she's serving me based upon what i ask her to do she can't think she doesn't have feelings it's our emotions that separate us it's our feelings that make us unique and make us human beings and friends to live in harmony means we laugh together to live in harmony means guess what we cry together to live in harmony means we celebrate together living in harmony means we grieve together i have sympathy for my brother and sister but i like it peter's like you wanna know what harmony is it's loving as brothers isn't that interesting that he chooses that phrase to love his brothers does peter not prefer the women does peter not like the girls no no i think he's actually using this on very own purpose because i am one of four i have three brothers and yo i know something about brotherly love and all types of love is different that's why the greeks they have four different terms for love we just know love i love my pizza and i love my wife it's like which kind of love is that you know greeks have agape and storge and phileo and eros love all these different types of love but brotherly love is this phileo type of love it's a it's a deep friendship i think this is really really important because when it comes to my brothers and i many my brothers and i we can fight in fact when i was younger it got physical like we would lay hands on each other and it wasn't the ministry if you know i'm talking about it we will fight we get into it and you might even hear me privately say something about my brother at my house yo my brother he's wearing me out that's one thing i can say that he's my brother but if you think for one second you can be in my presence and utter a negative word about my bro you got something else coming because it's my brother and i will stand in the gap i wonder with the body of christ do we not understand that we disagree privately but we honor and celebrate publicly it's called brotherly love you can't talk about my fellow man like that i'm not gonna let this go down like that you can't just say whatever you want that's my brother that's my sister and we're walking in harmony he says you won't know what harmony is it's being compassionate and humble i like it because he takes the word there he doesn't leave it out sympathy is a feeling compassion is an action for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes him shall not perish but of everlasting life jesus loved you so much that he came to you there was an action attached to it that i actually am a person of compassion it's not enough just for us to feel bad for one another we actually have to do what we can for one another everybody wants to change the whole world but nobody wants to start in their own backyard who can you be compassionate towards that how can you walk in harmony and he says you got to be humble he you got to be humble man he's he's telling you right now that this this matters humility is the key ingredient to a community it's a it's a preferring of other people it's a pr you're saying but rich i thought you were talking to me about how to suffer well i am i'm letting you know that when pressure hits the outside of our body there's got to be something that we're already doing on the inside that i'm already walking with brothers and sisters in the lord that i'm walking in harmony that i'm being sympathetic that i'm feeling what they feel that i'm loving as brothers hey you can say don't you dare say something about my brother don't you dare say for someone i'm being compassionate and i'm being humble why because this is leg day and i know it doesn't look like much right now but i'm telling you it's gonna have a consequence tomorrow [Applause] listen to me when the church is in harmony the world is drawn to our melody when the church is in harmony the world is drawn to our melody is anybody even listening is anybody drawn at all to the song that we're singing it's about us doing the thing in private it's about us building on jesus a firm found the storm will come the suffering is gonna happen it's unavoidable but to endure is achievable but i gotta know what he's laying down right here he said all right this is leg day this is to live in harmony you gotta get this because you're going to need some other muscles if you're going to respond correctly to suffering i i want to show you quickly how to suffer well number one peter would say if you want to suffer well you have to be a blessing everyone say be a blessing first peter chapter 3 verse 9 do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult but with blessing because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing let me just tell you something right now our knee-jerk reaction when someone harms us or does something wrong to us is that we want to repay evil with evil it's just called being a human being it's it's natural but remember week one was all about our study of god and who god is and until i see god correctly i'm not going to see others correctly until i see god correctly i'm not going to see myself correctly and everything about following god goes against our flesh and goes against the world and what peter's saying is like yo you really want to know how to handle suffering you want to respond to it the right way when people are saying something about you or doing something to you or maybe you're going through something right now that you don't understand first thing be a blessing look for an opportunity to be a miracle for someone else look for a chance to actually bless someone else you want to get blessings you got to give blessings you know it's peter or it's paul who said in romans chapter 12 do not overcome evil with evil but overcome evil with good hey you want to you want to take the knife out of your back and you want to really put it to work you really want to get back at people who have said wrong things about you you you really want to show the doubters what's really happening your life you really want to get revenge okay do it god's way do it the righteous way it's called forgiveness that you would choose to forgive there's so many of us right now that you're suffering relationally because you have unforgiveness in your heart someone said something about you someone did something to you and now there's resentment and it reminds me of that old quote that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die let me put it a new way for you unforgiveness is putting the innocent party into prison and many of us right now we're in a prison we think we're getting someone back we think that we're really showing them no it's you're suffering even more we think that it's going to bring us peace we think it's going to bring us happiness to really tell them how we feel it doesn't when you forgive when you release it opens up your heart when you start to be a blessing guess what because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing that when i give blessings i'm also inheriting a blessing don't let the ugly and others kill the beauty in you your counter culture be a blessing but number two stay clean everyone say stay clean first peter chapter three verse ten what is walking to the text for whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech he must turn from evil and do good he must seek peace and pursue it oh that's good let me just tell you something right now many of us we continue to suffer because we don't have control of our mouth you either control your mouth or your mouth is going to control you and what peter is saying he's like yo look you gotta you gotta stay clean you you gotta watch what you're saying you gotta you gotta actually check yourself out you don't wanna look like the rest of the world you wanna be different from the world so you first want to say how can i be a blessing when i give blessings i get blessings but i want to stay clean in all of this you know we live in a funny time right now where because of the internet people can say whatever they want whenever they want and you know i'm not going to lie like sometimes people start writing comments on my instagram and i wish i could say that i just never i never paid attention to any of it and i just rise above it and i walk over the comments like jesus walked on water i just i wish i wish that was my testimony always but but it's not but i can't tell you how many different times someone has come and just thrown daggers at me and said something negative that hurt my feelings and then i got ready to go and write something back on their wall or comment back but before i did i would click on their profile and just by clicking on their profile how many know that before you know it you get more than just a snapshot of who they are you start to get a bigger story so many times what you'll discover is that people that are saying something negative to you or hurtful towards you or causing pain to you it's because they're hurt because hurt people hurt people and literally peter's like yo whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil in his lips from deceitful speech what a time this has never been more practical for all of us in america in 2020. it's so easy to let people know what you think or how you feel to say something negative about someone to gossip about someone but he's saying stay clean in fact he says seek peace pursue it i wonder are you seeking peace jesus what do you say he said blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of god he doesn't say blessed are the peacekeepers there's a difference between making peace and keeping peace i think most of us like i'm down to keep some peace no no you're called to go a step further you're called to stay clean you're called to make peace to go to people to bridge the gap to stand in the hallway and say let's make peace i'm a son of god i i was thinking just about this idea of staying clean and it's like you know this this cup of water i just believe right now as you're suffering we're so tempted when we're suffering to let our mouth go maybe you got sickness in your body right now and it's just like i'm so tempted just to like be angry at god be mad at god but but just think about this cup and just for a moment just imagine that this cup represents you i believe that god didn't just create you so that you could exist on this earth i believe that god created you that you might bring him glory by being useful to his kingdom work god wants to use you he wants to use you over there at silver spot theater and he wants to use you at zoom and he wants to use you on facebook he wants to use you on youtube god wants to use you and really god isn't looking for a whole lot what is god looking god wants to pour into you he wants to fill you up in order to spill you out and the only thing that god really needs in order to fill you up and spill you out is he just needs a vessel he just needs a vessel that's empty empty of what empty of bitterness empty of resentment empty of my flesh empty of my sin but it's got to be clean i fight different i i let god do the fighting i'm not trying to prove myself i'm not trying to make myself great i'm trying to honor god and if god can find a cup that's clean and empty god will continue to fill it up in order to spill it out come on if you believe it somebody give god some praise over this place somebody give god some praise worship team help me out a little bit number three how to respond to suffering remember the lord is watching first peter chapter three we're just walking through the text for the eyes of the lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil i think when you're going through suffering it's really really important that you just remember the lord's watching the lord's watching the lord the lord sees all the lord's got a different vantage point than what i have he sees it he sees it and his eyes they stay on the righteous god i'm gonna honor you god i don't understand what's going on right now this is hurting i feel like my roof's caving in my bed's breaking i feel like the power's out but god i know you're watching and his ears are attentive to their prayer he hears you how comforting is that when you're suffering that god actually hears you but the face of the lord is against those who do evil you know it's interesting these last three verses that we just saw verse 10 11 and 12 peter is actually drafting he he's stealing some bars from king david and this is an excerpt right from psalm 34 actually in psalm 34 david writes this beautiful poem this beautiful song unto god but we know that psalm 34 connects to first samus chapter 21 in first daniel chapter 21 is the story of david on the run from king saul king saul the king of israel wants to kill david why did david do something wrong no david didn't do anything wrong saul was jealous of him david was going from cave to cave place to place he went about suffering i mean literally saul had the entire israelite army and he was trying to kill david and david writes psalm 34 from this moment where he he goes to the priest priest elimelech and he goes there and he has to pretend he's like yo um i i i need some food i need some shelter and eliminate doesn't know he's running from saul he thinks he's with saul and so eliminate gives them some bread and eliminate gives them this the sword that that that goliath used to carry and david went out with some sustenance and he went out with some protection and as he went into gas and enemy territory some men recognized that's david that's david right there and and david was so afraid and so scared of for his life he's got he's got his mentor the king of israel trying to come after him he's got an enemy army in front of him and that's david that's david and this story says in first 21 that david behaved like he was crazy he pretended to be insane he he acted like he lost his mind this is the point that david finds himself this is where david is at he's got pressure he's got suffering he's afraid and it's from that place that he says the eyes of the lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer but the face of the lord is against those who do evil david didn't just write about it he was about it david had a moment where he could have put a sword or a spear through saul but instead of killing saul he said do not touch the lord's anointed what was david saying david was saying you know what i didn't appoint saul i didn't anoint saul god did so if god wants him out of power god will take him out of power it's not up to me i'm going to run my course i'm going to run my race and i'm going to recognize that god sees me and he hears me from his deepest moment of suffering to the point that he was behaving like he was insane he still has enough fortitude he's still able to achieve he's still able to get through and endure and he says the lord's watching watch your tongue stay clean the lord's watching the other day i was in my house and my son wyatt he's two years old he's fully two years old if you know what i mean jerry de lento knows what i mean bonus has no idea what i mean omar knows what i mean zack knows what i mean but my son wyatt he's just got some behavior stuff you know what two years old just loses his mind every once in a while and the other day i was in the house and my wife pulled up in our awesome honda odyssey minivan you don't know about your pastor live and large out here brah pulls up in the minivan i'm in my house and i can hear my wife in the driveway i mean this is through a door and i can hear the sliding door of the minivan open and i can hear wyatt just screaming no mom no mom i'm in my house and i keep hearing just go crazy i'm like what is this kid doing i'm over it finally i get up from my chair and i open up the front door and i'm not even off the doorstep yet but i can see wyatt in the minivan and as soon as he catches my eye he stops he changes his behavior he goes i'm sorry dad i'm sorry dad i'm sorry dad sorry mom sorry mom sorry mom hey he hits his happy butt he goes he what shifted what shifted is that he had he had the knowledge that his father was watching see why it's just a little baby he can't get much past me at this point of course i see the bad that he does but how many also know i see the good that he does i want you to know when you respond correctly to suffering god sees god blesses you remember the lord's watching peter would go on and say do not fear everyone say do not fear first peter chapter 3 verse 13 who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good but even if you should suffer for what is right you are blessed let that be an encouragement to some people who's gonna harm you if you're eager to do good meaning if my intention is to do good most likely i'm gonna be okay but even if you're not you're gonna be blessed not in this life i'm talking about heaven ever after and then he quotes isaiah do not fear what they fear someone should put that in the chat right now someone ought to get that in their spirit right now don't fear what they fear who's they what's the world fears do not be frightened we got a church walking around afraid of the same things the world's afraid about news flash jesus christ conquered death hell in the grave you don't have to fear 2020 you don't have to fear a pandemic you don't have to fear suffering you can rest assured that even if you face it you can't endure this is not a message to create fear this is a message to build your faith [Music] life is more than 80 years on this earth life is more than one presidential election life is more than just one moment it it's actually eternal and we can walk through it and because of jesus we don't have to fear do not fear what they fear i feel like i gotta preach on that next week do not fear what they fear i wonder am i afraid of everything else the world's afraid of something's wrong there something's wrong there i don't want my fear to be there for you i want i want my fear to be god i want to be used god i want to give it my all god i want my neighbor to know you god i don't want the rhetoric of the day to be a distraction for the song that the church is singing do not fear and lastly how to respond to suffering be prepared everyone say be prepared but in your hearts this is verse 15 set apart christ is lord i i just you don't just say it you do it in your heart can you put your hand over your heart right now in your hearts set apart christ is lord christ is lord jesus is king he sits above all of it always be prepared someone say be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have but do this with gentleness and respect keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in christ may be ashamed of their slander peter says be prepared be prepared to give an answer for everyone who asked you for the reason why you have hope how are you responding this way how are you continuing to be a blessing even though you're suffering how are you keeping it clean when everybody else is playing dirty how do you remember the lord is watching even when you can't see him how is it that you're operating not in fear but you're operating in faith you need to be prepared and yes of course as you study the greek of this this is where we get the word apologetics and there is no doubt that we need to learn about our faith you need to discover your doctrine you need to have a good answer you need to actually learn these things but friends please don't miss the big idea and the big idea is that nobody has ever been argued into the kingdom of god you know who you don't want to watch the sun rise with a meteorologist oh wow it's gorgeous let me explain to you exactly what's happening right now it's all science no it's a mystery to me man it's beautiful to me man so when i read this and it says be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have what i understand is that god who has a bigger vantage point in god who's telling a bigger story and god who says all things work together for good for those that love and trust him i understand that every time i go through a season of suffering suffering is creating a stage suffering is developing and building a stage a stage for god to get glory a stage for god to show up a stage for god to show off but a stage for you to stand on and give a reason as to why you have hope in him so i want to go through this season that i'm in where i feel like i'm suffering that i'm sensitive i'm suffering that things are breaking ceilings are caving in and i can't avoid it but i know i can achieve endurance and i want to recognize no no god's building a stage and i need to be prepared because at some point i'm going to have to give a testimony as to why i hope in him i'm going to have to have a reason and i don't know about you but if i can just be honest today my reason is not an argument and my reason is not because life is easy in fact most of my reason as to why i have this hope is not because of the absence of suffering but instead because of the presence of a savior why do i have a hope because every time i found myself in this in these deep waters every time i found myself in this deep pain a savior has shown up and he has walked beside me i could take you down memory lane right now and most of the reasons why i believe in god is not because i didn't face suffering most of the reasons why i believe in god is because god was with me in the suffering and the suffering develops and creates a stage and the stage is not for your glory the stage is for his glory and so i live my life being prepared with a reason i have a reason his name is jesus he's never left me he's never forsaken me he's walked with me he's carried me through and today i plead with you it is not what you are going through that matters most it is who you are going to his name is jesus christ and he is a firm foundation and you can rest assured if you build your life on him he works come on if you believe today why don't you jump up on your feet why don't you lift holy hands towards heaven come on let's sing it out with everything we've got come on lord's been revived come on come on is [Music] jesus [Music] awaken your fears [Music] foreign [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] today wherever you're at if you're going through an area of suffering if there's some pain if there's some hardship it's so many different levels it's it's different for everybody and your storm is not more important or less important to god if you're going through and if it matters to you it matters to god today i just want to encourage you that today as we're singing as we're worshiping it might not feel like much but i promise you it has unintended consequences later in this week it might even be unpleasant right now but i promise you it's more necessary than you could ever imagine you don't know what the fight has for you this week you don't know what might come your way it's unavoidable but i'm telling you you can achieve endurance and maybe just with your hands lifted if that's you today you're saying rich that's me i i'm going through it i'm suffering we're just we're asking god to move today we just we want the lord to move in this place we just we believe that he's here that he's working in our life and as i pray for you today we'll continue to sing but just with your hands up lord i pray right now for everybody on the other end of this camera or that's that's facing something that there's some sort of hardship there's some sort of struggle there's some sort of pain and i pray that right now god your peace would begin to envelop them that your peace would begin to meet every one of their needs today god we find comfort in your word today lord we're preparing ourselves we have a reason for this hope you've never left us you've always been with us and so god right now we're committing to responding well to the suffering god make us a blessing in this season even while we're suffering god we want to be a blessing we want to overcome evil with good god may our lips be clean may the words that come out of our mouth may they represent you may they create unity god let us remember you're watching right now you see our worship you see our life god i pray that we would not fear that we wouldn't be afraid of what the world's afraid of but rather lord we would stand in faith and god today we're getting prepared we're getting prepared we're getting prepared come on ash come on begin to sing it out come on [Music] come are on for you come and do what you don't lift your hands we are here for you jesus come and do what you [Music] do [Music] [Music] oh [Music] we are here [Music] is [Music] today jesus we we need to move we need to move i i need a move of your spirit in my life lord awaken us today let us endure in this season let the church lord walk in harmony today your head's bad your eyes are closed for a moment i just want you to be private with god it's it's always the thing that he does on the interior life before it shows up in the exterior life we strengthen the body from the inside out it's the muscles that we can't see that matter oftentimes the most and i just wonder if if you're watching today if you're if you're listening today if you've never met jesus you know what a great invitation if he invites you into relationship today he's not mad at you he's madly in love with you i just want to give a chance right now to respond to his grace he is running towards you his compassion was so great that he stepped out of heaven put on skin put on flesh and he walked amongst us in the pain in the suffering he says i'm emanuel i'm god with you that's that's who jesus is today it's simple you just respond in faith say i i believe you are who you said that you are and i want to give my life to you i want to follow you it's a journey following jesus doesn't happen all at once but justification happens all at once you become right with god if you want to make your peace with god right now i invite you to pray this prayer just say dear jesus today i surrender i give you my entire life forgive me of my sin i repent i change my mind about you and i turn towards you i gave you my past i gave you my present i even placed my future in your hands i'm yours jesus today i want to follow you thank you for saving me and thank you for leading me i love you jesus in jesus name amen can we just celebrate what jesus is doing in people's lives right now so very important because right at the bottom of the screen it says text decided to 786-755-3737 text that word decided right now we want to partner with you we want you to know that you're not on this journey alone commitment as we always say it lasts better in community that's what church is and we're so proud of you for the decision that you made and i just believe that god's speaking to you [Music] hey rich wilkerson here i want to say a big thank you for watching today's content believing and trusting that it impacted you and if it did help you or and encourage in any way i would love you to like it and share it with some other people make sure to subscribe to the vu church youtube page where you can get more content just like this and while you're there go peruse the gallery as they say and see past talks and past content that i believe is going to help you i love you best yet to come

Channel: VOUS Church

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Keywords: vous, vous church, rich wilkerson, rich wilkerson jr, dawnchere wilkerson, miami, church, live stream, worship, church live, live stream church, sermon, miami fl, miami chuch, preaching, the gospel, good news, the message of jesus, jesus, faith

Id: GcuW2BNL4FY

Length: 59min 59sec (3599 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 18 2020