Longer Than Your Trials | 1 Peter 1:6-7

welcome to the victory broadcast if this ministry has impacted you in any way please consider supporting the spread of the gospel by visiting us online and choosing the giving option that works best for you now we pray that this message will stir your heart and build your faith get ready to receive the word of god what's up family greetings to all of you my church family wherever you are watching in the city of atlanta and to all of our online and extended family watching in cities across the country and even in some pockets around the world welcome to victory church online we are fresh off a powerful sunday baptism experience i want you to help me celebrate 94 souls that celebrated a public declaration of their faith in the lord jesus christ would you just drop the number 94 uh in the chats uh we are celebrating uh what god has done uh on that sunday just last week haven't gathered in over a year and a half yet by the power of the holy spirit god drew 94 souls to himself to be baptized 16 of those came forward to be baptized spontaneously as they heard the preaching of the gospel at the end of our baptism experience men and women came in their plain clothes surrendering their lives to jesus christ and followed him through the waters of baptism and we thank god for those 94 souls that were radically transformed and made those public declarations of faith among those 94 a young man who i mentioned in a sermon that i preached to you two weeks ago who sent me an email saying that he was suicidal and was prepared to take his life and by god's providence he stumbled onto this live stream and then stumbled onto our messages on youtube and placed his faith in the lord jesus christ and sent me an email saying pastor do you baptize and i said to that brother across this camera i said brother we are getting ready to have a baptism seven days from now and if you show up we will baptize you in jesus name and i am elated to stand here and share with you family that that brother who almost took his life the night before he found the stream made it to church on sunday uh we could celebrate that in the studio we could celebrate that in the chats and uh he was baptized last week on sunday i did not get a chance to speak to him personally uh according to my wife who spoke to him afterwards he was overcome by uh emotions and uh and uh this brother i learned uh moved here eight months ago to be a part of our church family and that was his very first gathering uh with us and so um we thank god for that young's man's life if you watch me right now brother welcome to the family of god welcome to uh victory church [Applause] and um you are assigned to us of the anointing that is on our church uh to aggressively spread this gospel until all have heard the message of the lord jesus christ it serves as a good reminder for us who call this church home we call this church a family that we are not gathering just to have services or build monuments unto ourselves um but as we see the day approaching we want to be more mindful of the times that we're living in i want to say to you a hundred times that we will be like the sons of issachar who rightly discerned the times and knew what to do about it [Music] and that the vision of this church has not changed we have not wavered in that vision it is very very simple um we exist to lift up christ to retrieve the loss and to empower god's people uh if you were lost concerning that vision or forgot that vision it has not changed our vision is to make jesus known it is to rescue those who are lost and to disciple those who are found that vision is not going to change ever unless i'm no longer the pastor of this church because that vision was born out of matthew 28 the great commission in mark chapter 16 which is the vision jesus did not give victory but jesus gave to the entire church and if we have any other vision other than that we are operating aimlessly and an era and so we celebrate that brother's life we celebrate those 94 souls and we celebrate 16 of those 94 who came in their plane clothes to make public declarations of christ um family before i jump in this message i do want to address the whispers in our church um rumblings of of people who are disappointed that we are not physically gathering um even those who may have stepped away because we are not physically gathering we love you and pray for you nonetheless um those who god has assigned to my voice will be here and uh i want to remind you and i want to say over and over again there is no one who wants to physically gather more than me and the challenge we have right now is that our atlanta location still remains closed we are believing that it will open to us in the month of august this fall when school reopens to their students and we have also hired a full-time real estate company that is pounding the ground every single week in addition to my wife and other members of our team searching for a place for us to gather the challenge is not that we don't want to gather the challenges that we physically don't have a place to meet yet and so i appeal to you my brothers and sisters to quell the whispers um to shut down the noise and the lies that i'm trying to stall you out from gathering i would prefer to be preaching this message to you in person and not across the camera but you can join us in prayer that god will give us wisdom and guide us as we are searching for a location to restore in-person gathering you can pray that god will grant us favor in this difficult atlanta market and that you could continue to be faithful in your generosity as we are still taking care of staff taking care of operation overheads bringing you the gospel via technology and trying to put away something to be prepared for when god opens the door um we are believing that we will be back together in a room um very very soon um but if anything our baptism taught me last week it was that the hand of god is still upon us mightily and that for a church to not have gathered in over a year and a half to witness 94 people be baptized is a monumental feat and for that we give jesus praise yeah for that we give jesus praise one of the things i was sharing with our staff this week in a meeting is that we need to be very careful to always be grateful and to thank god even for the smallest things that he does in our lives gratitude is an incentive for god to keep on blessing i think i need to say that again gratitude is an incentive for god to keep on blessing gratitude attracts favor and so when we keep stepping over even the small things that he does we rob him of the incentive to keep on blessing us another thing that robs him of this incentive is when we keep comparing what he's doing in our lives to the lives of other people we say that god you was not smart enough to do this in my life and so we want to be thankful for everything that god does in our life and in our ministry and to see 94 people baptized to me is awesome it is miraculous it is phenomenal and for that i'm still giving god thanks and praise thanks and praise now family the word i want to bring to you um i'm just going to push all my cards on the table may not meet every single person where you are for we are all in different places in our lives walk and in our journey yet no matter where you are as i'm talking to you this sunday uh this uh simple message uh the truth and the simple message uh will intersect the life of every person watching me uh this morning and so there are many of you this message will meet you right where you are and there are others of you you will take this message on credit you will need it some weeks from now some months from now a year from now and uh and i want to use this sunday following our baptism to offer you a word of encouragement around these four words that i want to use to tag a title to this message and these four words are the title of this talk i'm just going to call it longer than your trials longer than your trials not stronger than your trials it'll make sense by the time we get to the end but longer than your trials let's let's pray eternal god another wise father we humble ourselves right now in your presence and we give you glory and honor for who you are the god who is keeping us during this pandemic [Music] the god who poured out his spirit on our outdoor baptism the god who called 94 people to make a public declaration of their faith in a gathering from a church that had not been in person for over a year and a half the god who works miracles the god who hears us when we pray the god who has called us to be sons and daughters the god who is patient and kind slow to anger and abounding in mercy the god who gave us the holy scriptures that you said you exalt even above your own name this word that is forever settled in heaven the god whose anointing and power and spirit rides on the biblical teaching of the expression of these holy scriptures the god that gave me this message for this people on this day in august at the beginning of fall this second half of the year this new season that we are walking into the god who is able and more than enough the god who has not forsaken us nor abandon us to you god we give glory i feel the spirit in the studio the spirit of the living god i pray you would minister strength and hope and healing to every man woman teenager child under the sound of my voice right now let not this word fall on deaf ears or rocky soil for father some people's lives are dependent upon this word father some people will commit suicide if they don't grab hold of this word i come against suicidal thoughts i come against depression worry and anxiety i come against every lion spirit that is tormenting your people even right now let the preaching of the word dismantle the lies of the adversary the enemy of our souls let it tear down faulty thought patterns let it drive away heaviness in this preaching presentation [Music] may we all walk out of this moment encouraged inspired and strengthened by the power of the preaching of these holy scriptures i pray that [Music] i pray that in emphatically and passionately over your people in the mighty and majestic and the unequivocal matchless name of the lord jesus christ um somebody just shot me down in the chat and say amen amen amen amen amen come on keep saying it in the chats amen amen come on agree with me in the studio amen amen amen means so let it be agree with me in the studio say amen amen shout me down in the chats just drop amen and amen come on blow up the chats right now with amen amen shout me down in the studio and just say amen receive it for yourself amen means so let it be it is not churchy it's not overly religious it means i accept that for myself jesus i want all of that for myself god i take all of that for myself just keep blowing up the chats with amen and amen and amen and amen and amen amen longer than your trials i want to speak to a reality that for every person watching me is just about inevitable uh in this life no matter one's socio-economic status or family origin one's education no matter where one is right now on their spectrum in their spiritual walk their beliefs there is no one listening to me right now that is immune from the possibility of this reality when it manifests in our lives it often enters our life through unwanted circumstances and it could linger for a period of time weeks months years in its worst forms decades and for some people unfortunately it can linger for a lifetime the reality i'm speaking of in this message is the reality of human or i would say christian suffering hardships trials which is a human experience that does not discriminate against anyone not long ago i was reading a historical account about an air force pilot who was piloting a helicopter on a reconnaissance mission to find other soldiers that have been shot down in the jungle when he found those soldiers that were missing the chopper he was piloting was also shot down by a missile and this helicopter pilot and the people with him crashed in the jungles in north vietnam they tried to escape the vietnamese army but was taken captive after some miles on the run and they were all sentenced to a pow camp where it was held hostage in very hostile conditions this helicopter pilot recounts a story of the tortures that they suffered brutal tortures at the hands of the vietnamese who were trying to prove a point to inflict pain upon the united states of america he shared his stories of enduring tortures and harsh conditions in fact spent the first year of his imprisonment in solitary confinement before he was reconnected with the men who he crashed with in the jungle he shared this very powerful part of his story he talked about his personal faith in the lord jesus christ he talked about his faith in god his faith in the scriptures and the faith that was common among a lot of the other pows that was with him in this north vietnamese camp one of the things he said that i thought was very very profound that hit me deep in my heart was that of all the men who had faith in that camp the men that begin to lose their mind the quickest the men that lost hope the quickest the men that gave up first were the men who was expecting their captivity to end very quickly these were the men that quickly gave up their faith they abandoned their faith these were the men that lost their mind some went insane some tried to commit suicide some completely turned their back on god altogether but this p.o.w this captain said the men that survived that had the mental capacity to survive the time that they spent in captivity was the men who held on to this christian trait we just call perseverance their ability to endure long and that for them they were not thinking about the day they will be released they were just holding on to the faith they had in the lord jesus christ they were thinking about eternity they was thinking about the hope that was greater than they circumstanced they were not thinking about the day they was going to be released they was not thinking about the light at the end of the tunnel they just kept their faith in christ and in the hope of eternity that was greater than themselves and the men who kept their faith in christ and the greater hope than the things there was experienced in his life he said where the men that were able to survive that captivity are captivated that lasted for seven and a half years in other words the men who were focused on perseverance had the mental capacity to watch outlast the trouble that they found themselves in and because certain seasons in this life of hardships or unforeseen captures or unforeseen pandemic or unforeseen trials are beyond our control we must see the great value and persevering through difficult seasons because some things you and i will go through in this life are beyond our control you did not ask for it you did not bring it upon yourself you did not go looking for it you and i will experience trials and tribulations and hardships in this life that we did not ask for did not look for that absolute require the christian trait of perseverance it is this christian trait that keeps us from canceling the things that brought us so far in our christian walk that gave us strength in the first place as i'm talking to you right now all across our culture we see in society what they call cancer culture politicians being cancelled from social media for inflammatory rhetoric people losing book deals for inflammatory rhetoric people being put out of certain camps for their political stance all across our society we see cancer culture but not only society we see cancer culture in the church of jesus christ believers all across the political spectrum all across the spiritual spectrum canceling the things of god as soon as they entered into the slightest wind of trouble the slightest disappointment something is not going right in their lives they feel uncomfortable in their season we had this tendency as christians to cancel god himself or to cancel the things of god that brought us to a place of strength and you know how this go down we often cancel god when two things happen in our lives when god blesses us and we find ourselves on a mountaintop we forget god and we begin to cancel him we don't pray we don't want to go to church we don't want to read his word we don't want to seek him because we ride off the high of some blessing we prayed for the child and now the child has become an idol we prayed for the opportunity and now the opportunity has become an idol we prayed for the blessing and now the blessing has become idol and now we cancel god because we're standing on some mountaintop but equally disappointing is when we find ourselves in valleys in hardship and we begin to cancel god as if he does not care he is not listening he has forsaken us we stop doing the things we know to do we stop praying in the valley we stop coming to church in the valley we turn off the live stream in the valley we disconnect from community in the valley we try to do life alone in the valley we don't log on to access on wednesday night anymore in the valley as soon as things stop going our way we just grab to cancel god from all the things we know formerly made us strong i see these patterns in the lives of believers in the church canceling god because they're blessed canceling god when things go wrong but more than anything canceling god in times of hardship and this appeal that i'm making to this morning for endurance during times that are difficult is not new to the followers of jesus christ a specific time in history that i want to focus your attention on happened about 35 years after the resurrection of the lord jesus christ while the apostle peter was the first pastor and leader of the early church the first church born in the first century a.d he was leading the church followers through a very difficult season following the resurrection of jesus christ during the days when persecution of christians was widespread and it was severe for a period of time that persecution was mostly like financial they could not get good wages they could not get open doors for certain jobs most of that persecution was like social they was ostracized and um they were disrespected in the streets some of them was beat or flogged that was the pretty much the level of the persecution those believers were living in time when some of them were being killed some was being tortured but the time that i'm speaking of became more defined in the years ad64 to ad67 when a very evil roman emperor named nero came to power in world history and for three years from 80 64 three years three years to 80 67 three years christians who are alive at that time endured one of the most vicious seasons of persecution the church had ever known historians charged nero with setting the city of rome on fire because he wanted to rebuild it according to his specifications and as a scapegoat because he was a coward he fixed the burning or the arson of rome he fastened that charge to the christians as a result of that fierce persecution broke out against the christians in 1864 to 67 these christians were put to death everywhere they went they were killed they were fed to lions in fact history tells us nero had christians impaled with wood sticks and lit them on fire to use them as human candles for his gardens and his mansions the persecution was so fierce christians were scattered they were running for their lives the gathering of believers was now scattered they were not meeting together as they was we see in acts chapter 2 peter the first follower of jesus christ watch he died during this three-year time of persecution by execution that's how fierce it was the apostle paul who wrote two-thirds of the new testament watch died during these three years of persecution via a beheading it was so vicious that the two chief leaders of the church was put to death during this three-year period of this persecution church gatherings and christian life as they knew it was completely watch disrupted god help us for three years we've been in this pandemic now for about a year and a half yeah christian life and church gatherings were completely disrupted as they knew it for a period of three years and christians were dying and they were scattered it was a season of suffering and severe hardship for the followers of jesus christ in and around the city of rome what happens to people in the midst of this kind of hardship look right at me because i'm going to testify to you what i already know about you what happens to us when we go through hardship look right at me what happens to us when we go through trials what happens to us when we find ourselves in seasons and long difficulties long hardships long trials long suffering what happens to us in this season you know what happens to us and you'll see look right at me we feel feelings of being overwhelmed we join the writers of the psalms where we feel crushed down to the floor a lot of us know what it is to be shed in tears in the dark and saying praise the lord in the light on instagram we make bold posts but in secret we are drowning from hopelessness we're hanging on to a thread for build life just hoping somebody would text us some word of inspiration we get up in the morning we're thumbing through social media just looking for something positive to take into our soul we we have no desire to read we have no desire to go to the gathering no desire and and secretly we we're dying on the inside we feel overwhelmed we feel torn we feel frustrated some of us if we be honest we even feel mad at god we feel like he has abandoned us for some of you you know what this feels like we look at what other people are doing we feel like he loves that person more than us i've been faithful and i still don't have a husband i've been faithful and i'm still single i'm this age i feel like the window is closing i've been faithful you didn't answer this prayer i've been faithful this door didn't open why does the wicked continue to flourish god when you see me being faithful like david and i don't see nothing good happening in my life lord anybody know what that feels like yes if you're honest you know what that feels like you know what it is to be in a dry and dark place desperate for the springs of water to meet you right where you are it's so ashamed you can't tell anyone what's really going and then you look up and you're gone from fellowship because nobody knew you were dying on the inside these are the types of feelings and the light that watch blind us from having vision of hope beyond our current circumstance they watch they choke out vitality and hope this type of frustration and pain it pushes us to want to do what quit give up throw in the towel walk away from the assignment walk away from the relationship walk away from the charge walk away from the church walk away from the call and walk away from jesus you know this because many of you have experienced this and many of you you're experiencing this right now as i'm talking to you i feel it in my spirit because the lord gave me this for you and peter the pastor looking out over a church scattered not gathered scattered in a three-year severe time of trial and tribulation and persecution we've been dealing with this for a year and a half a church scattered what was peter's encouragement to the saints that was scattered around rome and all these other places what was his encouragement to them during these three difficult years of hardship the past of the early church now scattered by a pandemic of persecution against christians around the known world i love the bible oh my god i love the bible peter takes pen to parchment and he writes what is a book or a letter of encouragement to believers who are hurting so if you're hurting this is a letter of encouragement to you he takes pen to pad and he writes on parchment first peter chapter one i'm gonna read you these powerful seven verses first peter chapter one verse one he says peter an apostle of jesus christ not these fake apostles we have today one truly chosen by jesus you can't give yourself an office ephesians chapter four foot is he who gave some he jesus to be apostles prophets pastors teachers and evangelists for the building up of the saints we don't choose that office you are put in that office by the lord jesus christ we got too many fake apostles fake prophets fake pastors fake evangelists fake teachers leading the people of god straight anybody put you in that office you just like the title and the fame that comes with it it is he according to ephesians 4 that puts men in these offices or ladies peter an apostle of jesus christ watch to god's elect strangers in this world uh pause uh just notice the tagline of the identification for all followers of jesus strangers in this world a world that we're not supposed to become like a world we're supposed to influence he called the strangest in this world a constant reminder that we are sojourners and that what we are doing now look right at me all my young brothers and sisters is just a dress rehearsal for eternity that's why we waste our time trying to build monuments to ourselves here this is not utopia utopia is on the other side when we stumble into the arms of our savior this is the season to grind to build to spread the gospel to labor watch to fulfill your calling because we all have to give an account on the day of judgment now is the time to work jesus said while it is still day who told you it was time for anything else same time for it to be all about you this is time for us to be all about the lord his cross made my name famous in heaven my cross is to make his name famous in the earth right he said scattered throughout these five places pontus i feel the spirit of god galatia where we wrote where paul wrote to those churches cappadocia asia and byzenia washes notice the spiritual condition of the church then very similar to the condition of the church now how not gathered but scattered my brothers and sisters scattered why because of covet 19 some of us are not going to step foot in a gathering we're not going to step foot in a building i'm not mad at that we want to protect our children they're people now even if their churches open up they're still going to sit at home and watch a cro the church right now is scattered across this country pastors are not seeing the numbers they were seeing pre-pandemic pastors are not seeing the crowds they were seeing pre-pandemic even churches that have reopened are not seeing more than 60 to 70 percent capacity-wide because right now for i don't know how long it's going to last it's been a year and a half we are the church listen to me scattered yeah nationally verse 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of god the father through the sanctifying work of the spirit for obedience to jesus christ and sprinkling by his blood grace and peace be yours in abundance that's a killer introduction to a letter right and i don't have time to dwell on this uh but i just want you to notice that those who are saved were chosen by god based on his foreknowledge let me just slide a little bit of theological argument in here uh for knowledge of what foreknowledge of the fact that he knew every person that would say yes to him in receptiveness of the gospel and every person who will reject him today is sunday yesterday was saturday you remembered everything you did yesterday you remember if you went to walmart or target you remember if you played basketball you remember what restaurant you ate at can you change anything that happened yesterday on saturday no but you remember it take your memory and swing it around to the front and that is god's foreknowledge he already knew every person that would say yes he already knew every person that would say no he does not interfere in that decision and based on that for knowledge he says that person is among my elect because i knew lena would choose me in her early 20s she is among my elect because i knew rhonda johnson would choose me she is among my elect he did not co-sign people to hell he did not co-sign people to heaven right he gave people free will and choice you have to be a theological junkie to peep the inferences that i'm sliding into the text right now the nuances of where i stand on this issue this is why jesus speaking to a man named nicodemus said for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son watch the next word that whosoever mean choice will put their faith in god shall not perish but have everlasting life and you have to be a real theological nerd to read between the lines of what i'm saying uh god did not cosign people to hell and cosign people to heaven watch this gives credence for the necessity of the preaching of the gospel that we will not be prideful to say because i'm elect i have no business preaching the gospel or sharing it with other people i don't lean on that school of thought no knock to my other brothers and sisters don't support that in the scriptures you got to read between all the lines of what i just dropped for you that's a whole sermon series all by itself i like how in the last verse he mentions the entire godhead the father son and the holy spirit all three agents active in our salvation the father the father active in our salvation the father who chose us the son who died for us the holy spirit who empowered us or regenerated us verse 3 and 5. praise be to the god and father of our lord jesus christ watch and his great mercy he gave us new birth that is salvation into a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead that we're not saved by good works or saved by church behavior we saved by faith in christ alone solar feed day according to the solar scriptora the scriptures alone and into an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade kept in heaven for you who through faith you are shielded by god's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time that is in the day of judgment i will not endure one day in hell damnation because i have been shielded by the righteousness of jesus we should celebrate that every time i forget how good god has been to me not because of my bank account in the house because my name is written in the lamb's book of life i'm preaching to you right now peter is where i want to land this message it's about to address the suffering of the people he's writing to in the season or place of their difficulty and notice before he talks to them about their suffering and the wisdom of the inspiration of the holy spirit he anchors them in what an eternal hope before he talks to them about their suffering let me say this again peter inspired by the spirit takes a moment in verses three through five to anchor the hearts of the christian sufferers in an eternal hope first oh my god before he talks to them about their suffering that is the medicine before the suffering comes before he even addresses it he anchors them in a hope that goes beyond this life that is greater than any trial you are dealing with because watch if we lose sight of that it opens the door for many believers to watch quit and walk away from god away from the church away from calling you're going to walk away and then you're going to say what on a day of judgment right you're going you're going to abandon god because it's too difficult right you're gonna you're gonna walk away from the calling because you're not famous or somebody else is more known than you or your instagram page is not blown you're gonna abandon the call because it's not sexy and nobody will know your name and you're on the back side of some mountain you're going to abandon the call and then you're going to say what on the day of judgment what account you're going to give when he asks you what did you do with the assignment and the gifting that i gave you well lord my instagram following wasn't big enough so i jumped ship the season of difficulty i was in lasted too long so i jumped ship my book never took off so i jumped ship my church never blew up so i jumped ship this person stole my idea so i jump ship that person is better than me so i jump i don't want to do this no more i'll deal with him when i see him really really i'll stand before judge have been there i'll face a cop have been there i'll deal with teachers have been there i deal with authority figures i'm telling one person you don't want to deal with in the judgment you don't want to stand before the lord jesus christ i have no answer for what you did with what he gave you i don't want to read lord i walked away because it was too much for me that's not going to be good enough because he said take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and my burden is light it is the it is the traditions of men and everything we try to manufacture that makes the burden heavier than what it really is i know this is too real you want me just move on and finish let me let me let me uh all right these are the two verses i really want to land the plane on i'm almost done verses six and seven watch where peter goes next oh god verse six in this the word this is very important you greatly rejoice gosh though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials did you peep the monumental statements he made in this verse he said in this you greatly rejoice though now for just a little while oh my god i'm about to break this down for you you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials this is so powerful who puts the word rejoice and suffering in the same statement we don't do that you don't do that on that post who puts the word rejoice and suffering in the same statement rejoice while i'm suffering how how is that possible man four monumental statements i want to unpack from this verse the first statement is rejoice he said rejoice rejoice in what philip he said in this what is this this is not what he said after this is everything he said in verses three through five what is that re rejoice in the hope you have in the coming of eternity the ending of your trials and tribulations the crown you will receive in glory your name written in heaven the salvation has been procured and secured for you by the lord jesus christ he said rejoice in that not rejoicing money this is where we get messed up not rejoice in following oh my god not rejoice in status or my album or my book or the size of my church he didn't say rejoicing anything's why because these things are movable he didn't say rejoice in any of these things because these things are movable they shift and so if my joy are attached to things that shift watch i will be always unstable you got to be able to be in the middle of hell's kitchen and take a walk outside and look up in the clouds and say god i give you glory that i belong to you that even in the middle of my trial i know that my name is written in heaven you got to be able to face in death in the face on a deathbed and say but listen don't he slay me yet will i trust you you got to be able to look hell in the face and say i thank god that he has not forsaken me nor has he given up on me you got to be able to look through the clouds and see one day i will be with my savior [Music] because in that we can rejoice watch watch watch watch out charge in anything cause that is unmovable why don't they preach that in the american church us millennial generation don't like that we don't want to hear nothing about eternity that's why we are weak and anemic and sick because we love cotton candy preaching that does not prepare us for real life i feel the spirit of god in the studio we love that garbage that keep us high on junk food but does not prepare us don't give us earth we got nothing in the basement of our soul to withstand the fiery trials of the adversary or this life is why watch we quit everything so easy i'm older than y'all this is the flightiest generation i've ever seen in my life the wind blow left we quit a tree a leaf falls we quit the wind blow right we quit i feel uncomfortable we quit they're requiring more of me we quit nobody knows me really quick nobody recognized me request i didn't get to sing the song that i want i quit i didn't get the title that i want i quit i didn't get the position that i want i quit this is taking too long i quit that's this generation when we endure hardships or tough seasons we are not to lose sight of watch who of who called us to himself and the hope that he gave us in a life beyond this world the second phrase i want to bring attention to is oh my god he said that you suffer for just a little while watch just a little while you know what that phrase means that means there is an expiration date on suffering he said you will suffer for just a little wild tagline code that there is an expiration date on suffering it will not be this way always watch that's why you don't stop in valleys you watch you go you go through them because at the end of every valley is the base of another mountain i i want to prophesy to somebody watching right now there is an expiration date on your suffering it could be just around the corner don't quit now there could be an open door for you just around the corner don't quit now they could be a blessing just around the corner don't quit now your singleness may be coming to an end just around the corner don't give up now there is an expiration date on your suffering and i'm gonna even go deeper i'm gonna go deeper i know you're not gonna like this nobody's gonna say amen because this is not gonna get me on nobody's conference watch and for some believers even even those on other countries they're going to deal with suffering for a lifetime now we're not ready for that in america but the expiration date on their suffering is death martyrdom what was the expiration date for paul suffering beheaded how did god call him see how much he will have to suffer for my name's sake but you want paul status see how much he will have to suffer for my namesake you want poor following see how much he will have to suffer from my name say that anointing costs something his expiration date on suffering was beheading the trials and suffering that you are in i prophesied to you is coming to an end a new season is just around the corner the sun is about to pass those dark clouds in your life who am i talking to there's an expiration date on your suffering if not temporary or episodic seasons ultimately our suffering will end at some point right around the corner or end in glory whichever one comes first these are momentary and light afflictions man i'm trying to put a fire up under you right so there's an x there is always an expiration date because sometimes you notice go down we'd be in the middle of some season of hardship and we quit because we just can't see it when it's going to come to an end but the scripture says there is always an expiration date on your suffering you suffer for just a little while watch and god is not in a rush you are he's not that little while might be a year three years seven years he's not in a rush he knows exactly what he's doing in you i've been pastoring church for eight years and still suffering from the time of our first gathering maybe he might do something in the 10th year he might come and meet me in the 12th year right but i got to keep on pressing because there is an expiration date on my suffering even if it's when i lay my crown before him in glory that's too real for you look at this third phrase but he said some of you may have had to suffer now watch these words they reveal an uncomfortable truth watch i know you don't want to hear this look right at me i'm almost finished some trials are needed this is why you can't escape them and this is why if you try to run from one church because you was uncomfortable because they try to call you to a higher status you're going to run right into the same trial at the next church because god won't let you escape some trials he has scheduled for you like a classroom and you cannot skip grades you want a college degree so bad but you won't pass high school we got to pass high school before we go to college some of us are praying for things we can't handle you can't handle a level of blessing your maturity will kill you on that level your immaturity will kill you on that level the god knows that's why he's stalling you out he's trying to do something in you before he gives you that thing you asked for them lights are too hot for some of us it will kill you on that level man i am preaching to you he says look that some of you may have had big word had to suffer that means some sufferings are needed a deeper word they are necessary for you and for me some sufferings are tailor made with your name on it you cannot get around it it implies that although we do not engineer it whether through bad decisions or sin god will inevitably assign to you some measure of suffering he allows it that this does not minimize the actions of other people it does not minimize the actions of people who are evil it does not mean that suffering is good or the ages of suffering are good or god delights and seeing us suffering it does not mean any of that but peter is encouraging believers everywhere who are enduring suffering of any kind that god is even working his plans in you and for you through suffering listen there are some things that you have to suffer else you won't grow you won't develop you won't change like for example um you read google articles all you want i read the scriptures the scripture says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child and the rod of correction this belt on my ways the wrong correction will drive it far away that's discipline your children why because they're foolish on the inside and discipline trains them out of foolishness so lena and i spanked our children watch every time they got spanked it hurt but you know what you see in my home fruit my children are on order they love jesus they respect adults and authority them beatens watch transform them them them beatings code word trials transformed them took foolishness out of them matured them changed them perfected them are you are you understanding what i'm saying to you every single weapon was a trial and it perfected them in some area of their character where would they be without that discipline oh where would you be without that last trial if you look over your shoulder some things you were crying about if you look over your shoulder you realize god ah that's why you put me through that right and then when we mature we learn to not only thank them for mountain times we thank god thank you that you allowed me to go through that because if i did not go through that i would have blown this over here some of you will be terrible spouses if god didn't let you suffer some seasons over there you asking for a man are you praying for a wife you're not ready you would destroy some man or some woman so god gotta he gotta he gotta spank you watch so you don't ruin the boaz when it comes or rebecca when she comes move on pastor philip no these spankings are necessary for you and i and that's why sometimes we'll be praying asking god to take me out maybe the prayer is not god take me out but god show me what you're trying to do in me in the trial he says all kinds of trials notice the plurality in the text all kinds of trials why because some trials are physical they're in our body they're in our lives some trials are mental in our minds some trials are emotional they're in our hearts some trials are financial some trials are occupational issues with the job some trials are familiar problems with the family often we could be dealing with a host of these things a combination of things some of y'all dealing with five of these things all at the same time your family is crazy your money's messed up your heart is a wreck your mind is everywhere somebody say amen let me let me finish the message why does god allow his children to endure sufferings that come in the form of all kinds of trials verse 7 provides the reason and then i will pray for you verse 7. the trial you're in right now the trials you will go through the trials you have gone through that god has allowed peter tells you the reason these trials have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold gold which perishes even though refined by fire gold will perish watch your faith may be proved watch his word genuine gosh man i feel the power of the spirit and it may result in these three things praise glory and honor when jesus christ is revealed look at me family suffering is the crucible of faith watch this look at me i'm gonna help some of you because this helped me listen i'm going through a lot of hell right now let me just i'll just be honest with you i'm we're not gathering we can't find a place i'm dealing with all men of issues in my mind my heart i want to be with you we're dealing with transition it's all kind of stuff going on it ain't rosy right now right your boy is hurting too i'm going through too i had to tell ron and the prayer team pray for your pastor too yeah but i'ma tell you as i was studying this i felt so encouraged because i'm encouraged by this truth here peter gives our sufferings and trials watches dignity by calling them a test peter and i'm finished gives our trials look right at me dignity meaning purpose gosh by calling them a test let me let me say this one more time so it'll minister to somebody watching me peter gives your trials and minds dignity purpose meaning by calling them oh my god a test i want everyone in your mind to call your trial a test think of the worst thing you're dealing with right now and then define it as is just a test god god allowed the test and is using the tests these trials to bring about and perfect the genuineness of my faith endurance of suffering or trials or tough season watch authenticates faith a faith not tested is a faith that cannot be trusted how does god know you could really handle the next blessing the next season the next one how does he know you really love him he has to test that faith by what by fire and if you put gold in fire you know it's pure when you can see your reflection in it whole walk is to what conform us to the image of his son so when we don't look like his son he said uh i gotta run you through this one more time and when we don't act like his son he i gotta run you through this one more time oh you love money more than me i'm gonna have to run you through this one more time and sometimes he'll send us trials because he's trying to perfect our faith the end product of testing is deeper commitment to the person and path and process trials come watch to make us better stronger and wiser wiser we learn humility through trials we grow in character through trials we grow in an understanding of god through child sometimes we grow closer to god and trust some of you did not have a prayer life until a trial the whole focus of verse 7 is the genuineness of your faith watch this peter says everybody look right at me the genuineness of your faith i'm finished watch is more valuable in the sight of god than any treasure or material thing on earth let me say this one more time look at me the genuineness of your faith is more valuable in the sight of god the father than any treasure you will amass on earth the thing he wants to see most in you is not how well you can perform or preach or play or sing or serve is how real is your faith can you be corrected can you be rebuked can you be tested can you go through trial can you come out on the other side better or will you come out bitter is it the i or the e for you i speak to you to someone watching me right now these trials are only a test i speak to someone in a good place headed towards a trial when that trial comes it's only a test now watch me just imagine what i have right now imagine the strength that comes to the person in the middle of difficulty where they say to themselves this trial that i'm in watch is only a test that ministered life to muscle the hell that i'm going through right now leading this church during the pandemic is only a test will i survive will i come out on the other side with whoever is left would it be the thousand people that were gathering pre-pandemic or would it be a faithful 300 i don't know would i come out with a faithful 50 i had to rebuild all over again but will i survive all god is looking for is for me to not quit and not give up because he's testing the genuineness of my faith could it be that god allowed the pandemic this is harsh could it be that god allowed the pandemic to test the genuineness of the faith of the church think about how many people have walked away from jesus since the beginning of the pandemic maybe the faith was not real to begin with that if i if i if i could only be close to christ when i was standing on somebody's role then maybe my faith wasn't genuine to begin with if i could only be christ if he's given me everything that i want maybe my faith wasn't genuine to be with how many of us are gonna make it out of this season still connected to christ connected to the church connected to community connected to servant connected to all the things we know to be right it's all a test of the genuineness of our faith because if there's anything the pandemic has done the pandemic to me in the spirit is a time of testing and purging god testing the genus of faith and purging the church from cancer and toxicity [Music] the genuineness of the christian church our faith is being tested in the middle of this pandemic season and what is the result of us standing firm praise glory and honor unto god that the issue is not how strong is your faith but how long is your faith gosh is your faith longer than your trials that is the real question my brother sister is your faith longer than your trials we need faith that is not only strong but longer than my trial so to the faithful to everyone that's still watching still praying still serving still giving still here great is your witness before the unbelievers great is your witness the other brothers is as great as your witness in the eyes of god great is your reward in this life great is your rewarding life that great is your legacy and your testimony of faithfulness great is your love and dedication to christ the kingdom of god and the church don't quit don't give up and to those who faith has waned i don't condemn you you've walked away you stumbled onto this podcast on the stream by accident look come back to the father come back to the church come back to community come back to prayer come back to bible reading come back to all the things that got you where you was before you gave up all the lord is doing is testing the genuineness of your faith is why paul wrote to the church in galatians 6 9 let us not become wary and good doing for at the proper time we will reap a harvest watch if we faint not that's my exhortation to you my brothers and sisters wherever you are don't faint don't quit don't give up don't walk away man persevere have long suffering let your faith be longer than your trials you cannot control the dynamics of the pandemic i cannot control the fact that csk is closed i cannot control the fact that i can't find a place for us to gather i can't control the fact that there's transitions around me i can't control the fact that there's hardships going on in my life you can't control the fact that it's hard to sometimes you is outside of your control but what you can control is will your faith be longer than your trial when the trial is over would you still have faith you could control the length of your faith don't quit don't give up don't walk away because of feel pressure don't cancel the things of god don't cancel the lord you're a reaper harvest if you don't faint listen to me your faith must be longer than your trials and i just want to encourage those of you who remain my family we may be the church scattered but we're not a church without a mission whether it's through technology or we're in a room together the gospel must be spread souls must be saved people must be discipled we must move the work of jesus forward with whatever we have left i put a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other we must rebuild and fight off the devil at the same time that's the season that we are in family but it's not the season to quit so i make an appeal to you my faithful brothers and sisters continue to stand faithful in the lord jesus christ and to those of you who have fallen off get back and put your hands on the plow my brother and my sister don't give up in the middle of your trial god loves you he knows you he sees you he knows exactly where you are your faith must be longer than your trials do you receive that wherever you are let me pray this word into your heart eternal god another wise father i pray over every weary soul under the sound of my voice i pray over every man woman and child teenager every believer in the middle of a trial let the revelation sink into their heart that this trial is only a test of the genuineness of their faith let them see everything they are suffering right now as only a test of the genuineness of their faith and let hope rise up in the basement of their soul hope that looks beyond the circumstance that they're dealing with right now father god i pray for those who have remained faithful god lord i pray that they would feel you saying to them well done my good and faithful servant and father to your sons and daughters whose faith has waned i pray you will draw them back god to yourself back god to the church back to community back to faithfulness and father i just pray that there would be an outpouring of faith on these your sons and daughters for the trials we are enduring now and the trials that we will endure i pray god that it will be in the back of our mind that everything we go through that you have allowed is only a test of the genuineness of faith and my prayer is that we will pass that test i pray strength and hope and renewed vitality and encouragement and vision and life and revival and restoration and healing back into your people breathe on your sons and daughters and help us god to fight through this difficult season and to come out on the other side with our faith shaken but intact for our faith will be longer than this trial i pray this over your sons and daughters in the mighty and majestic and matchless name the lord jesus christ [Music] if you receive that just say men in the chats just receive that in the chats receive it receive it receive it my brothers and sisters i love you [Music] thank you for standing with us right now in this difficult season through your prayers you're serving your giving yes we're going through many trials of different kinds but the lord is faithful he is with us they're only a test and i just want to say to someone the lord is faithful he will not abandon you nor forsake you our emcee is coming to share some words with you and we'll see you next week right here at victory church online until we're able to gather stay connected family i love you go in peace thank you for listening to the victory broadcast we prayed that message was a blessing to you if you have a story or testimony to share we want to hear all about it send us an email to share at victorychurchatla or visit us online under share thanks for listening go in peace

Channel: Victory Church

Views: 1,132

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Hope, long suffering, help, Philip Anthony Mitchell, change, depression

Id: SmLV5hQrS0c

Length: 71min 50sec (4310 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 02 2021