Loud, but Little — Endure — Rich Wilkerson Jr.

and i want you to turn to first peter chapter five verse eight uh last week manooshka did an incredible job the week before that dakota duron who's in the studio give it up for dakota who preached so good a couple weeks ago but it's my honor to get to close us out first peter chapter 5 verse 8 says this it says be self-controlled and alert someone say be alert your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour resist him standing firm in the faith because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings and the god of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in christ after you have suffered a little while someone say a little while will himself restore you and make you strong firm and steadfast to him be the power forever and ever amen and i just want to take that little text god knew before we began eight weeks ago where we would land how we would land it's the lord who's speaking to us and i just want to take the next 30 minutes or so i'm hoping people are at silver spot are ready to preach back people there on youtube get the people in your house ready make a little bit of space get aggressive with this message people there and zoom man you might need to get into a different posture you might need to stand up a little bit i i just want to preach the next few minutes from this subject loud but little loud but little everyone say loud belittle do a little bit better say loud but little i'm hoping i can give you an anthem for the next seven days this week as you step into monday that you would endure and you would constantly be saying it's loud but little how many out there have ever been on a a road trip before come on where's all the oh okay most of people here in the audience today um i feel like this summer in so many ways i i finally actually became a real dad and and what i mean by that is of course i've i've had two kids for almost three years now but um this summer i decided to take my boys on an official minivan road trip we we loaded the minivan up and we decided that we were going to drive to birmingham alabama to go to the lake there in alabama it's about a 13 hour drive i know i know just just thank you jesus and um we decided that we would you know plot a course and we weren't going to do it in one day just too much and so we decided to kind of make a little you know a little bit of a trip and do some sightseeing we stopped in you know the glorious region of tallahassee it was beautiful and i was i was i was on a road trip just living the dream it's so funny because um as i was in the driver's seat driving my kids to alabama i was just having so many memories all these like nostalgic moments where i was remembering going on road trips with with my parents whether that was driving out to the mountains or driving to a nearby city and what's funny i know there's a lot of people in our church that you haven't had the joy of becoming a parent but what's funny is how time feels so different from when you're a kid to when you're a mom or a dad what's funny is like my perspective as a child on the road trip is so very different from my perspective as a dad on the road trip because as a kid you ever notice it's like like for kids time is so slow but the older you get you're like slow down time is slipping away it just goes faster and faster and faster and faster but when you're a little kid it's like this is the longest day of my entire life and i was just thinking and reminiscing about my experience because as a kid i'd be in the back seat with my dad and on the road trip i felt stuck on the road trip i felt uncomfortable claustrophobic i was that annoying kid dad i can't breathe i can't breathe pull over you know like i i was just i was wanting breathing room so many times i wanted to get off the trip so many times i just wanted to get out of there how do we know this because every little kid on a road trip has the same question are we there yet your kids say it my kids were just saying it and i said it are we there yet dad how much longer is this trip and i don't know if you had the same dad as me but my dad would always say a little while longer when a kid hears a little while longer a kid simply goes oh you mean for ever for er it just you mean forever i didn't grow up with a gps system i didn't know the approximate amount of time remaining on the trip these kids today are so spoiled you have two hours and 22 minutes until you arrive at your destination considering traffic what i didn't get that luxury you didn't get that luxury i just heard a little while longer and all i heard was forever what's amazing is being a dad on the journey my experience of being on the road trip is so different than what my kids are experiencing the back seat because as a dad i'm excited about the road trip as a dad i'm looking for the time together in the car as a dad i enjoy the journey as a parent most of us can say that when we're with our kids it's less about the destination and so much more about the journey we're experiencing i'm like literally national lampoon's summer vacation i'm like let's make some memories boys you know i got us an audio book i made everybody listen to it together i had recap moments reflections my sons can't even speak yet but i'm like let's reflect on what we learned you know because i want to be with my kids i understand that time is moving quicker and faster than they could ever imagine and when they say are we there yet i just say a little while longer i think in so many ways when i view the faith journey i view it just like that i view following jesus like a road trip with god and i view us all getting in the minivan with god and god in the driver's seat heading to a destination and all the while many of us were going how much longer and god's response always is a little while longer see here's what i know today i know right here in this studio audience i know people over there at silver spot i know people on youtube every single one of us i don't need you to raise your hand i don't need you to stand up and tell me your story but every one of us are waiting on something we just are we're just we're waiting on something maybe we're waiting on a healing maybe we're waiting on a breakthrough maybe we're waiting on a new job or maybe waiting on a promotion maybe we're waiting on a new relationship maybe we're waiting to get married maybe we're waiting for a loved one to come to jesus maybe we're waiting for a kid in our home to come back from the prodigal road we're all waiting on something and the truth about the faith journey the truth about following jesus is can you learn to rule your spirit while you're waiting for you to arrive at the next destination can you learn to be happy on the road trip can can you learn to discover that god is up in the driver's seat and i know you're feeling cramped right now and i know you're feeling uncomfortable maybe right now and i know you're feeling pressure right now and i know you're feeling like you're suffering i know some of you want to pull the car over and you just want to jump out something like i'm done with this faith thing i'm done with this jesus thing i'm done with this church thing i just want to eject i just want to get out god how much longer and god has the same response over and over again a little while a little while can someone say a little while a little while a little while longer this is really what i think peter's getting to the heart of in first peter chapter 5 verse 10. i want to skip the first two verses i want to take draw your attention to first peter 5 verse 10 he says and the god of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in christ watch this after you have suffered a little while will himself restore you and make you strong firm and steadfast this is what peter's saying peter is saying your suffering in comparison with eternity is a little while so endure don't give up don't quit don't jump out of the van stick with it god wants to be with you in every season i think for me i'm just a practical guy and i like specifics and i like as much clarity as i can possibly get and so i sit here and i read this and i hear peter say a little while you'll suffer and if you're like me you're going okay cool i like it i'm ramped up happy sunday good to see some friends yay let's cheer for it but what the heck how long is a little while it would ever feel that way like rich that's your answer right now in the state we find ourselves in is how much longer do we have to go through this in our nation and the pastor says a little while longer you're like not a good not enough i need more clarity how many know that god he operates on a totally different timetable than you and i i think it's always healthy for us to remind ourselves that god is not on your timeline he has his own timetable listen god is not late god is not early god is only every time all the time on time okay it's just good when you start thinking about how much longer do i have to wait or how much longer i have to go through this or how much longer i have to endure it's really good that you understand that god exists outside of time and so the way that he tells time is not the way that you tell time and the way that he knows time is not the way that you know time in fact as you go into peter's second letter you just some of you want to just continue in the study you can start next week just going into ii peter but watch this peter says this in second peter chapter 3 verse 8. this is really helpful he says but do not forget this one thing dear friends with the lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance i don't know if you heard that but peter's like you want to know what time is like to god god says a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day what's he saying he's saying time is irrelevant to god he exists outside of time and as you read this you're like bro i don't understand what do you mean like i just can we just go to heaven jesus like it's been 2 000 years since you came what are we waiting for the suffering is bad the pressure is bad the disappointment is bad can you just come and rescue us can you just come and save us it's been 2 000 years but guys i know it's not it's been more like two days what are you waiting on is he waiting to rescue us that is not the context of the text the scripture does not say that he's waiting to rescue us he's waiting to judge us why has he not come back because he's patient and he's slow not wanting any one of us to perish but he says i will wait on you till you come to me i don't want to lose one he's not slow in rescuing us he's slow in judging us his grace is inexhaustible and while you're going through suffering right now god is like no i just won't be with you i'm with you and i'm waiting on somebody else to turn to me because i am telling a much bigger story this term a little while like i i wouldn't give it so much emphasis if this was the only scripture i had it's always important that when you study the bible that you don't just isolate one scripture and teach a whole thing about it you you interpret the bible with the bible you cross reference the bible you have to read it in context what's interesting is this term a little while this isn't the only place where it shows up it's in other places in the bible most notably jesus now i'm getting encouraged i don't know about you but with all the media and all the news i'm just looking for something i can trust how about jesus and jesus before he goes to the cross before he is buried in a tomb before he resurrects before he ascends he begins to foretell his experience to his disciples it's in john 15 16 17 he starts to talk about the holy spirit and specifically in john chapter 16 jesus he tells the disciples he's like hey check this out um in a little while you ain't gonna see me and in a little while you will see me again and the disciples like you and i 2000 years ago sitting here in casa studio or at silver spot or on youtube were like okay that doesn't make any sense john chapter 16 verse 18 here we go they kept asking who's that the disciples what does he mean by a little while we don't understand what he is saying so if it's confusing to you right now rest assured it was confusing to them jesus saw this and wanted to ask him about this so he said to them are you asking one another what i meant when i said in a little while you will see me no more and then after a little while you will see me i tell you the truth you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices you will grieve but your grief will turn to joy a woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world so with you now is your time of grief but i will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take away your joy jesus as he answers this question about a little while he has a two-fold meaning in one sense of the word he's referring to the fact that i'm about to die so you ain't gonna see me i'm gonna be in a tomb and then a little while longer you will see me because i'll resurrect but as you study all three chapters you understand that he's telling a bigger story which is actually you're not going to see me a little while because i'm going back to the father and then in a little while i will return and rescue my church i don't know about you but really jesus with his own words is clarifying for you and i that he sees two thousand years still as a little while he has not come back he has not returned we eagerly wait for this moment for him to return and to rescue us and we endure in the process knowing confidently that what jesus said is true we're waiting we are in the little while right now and i love jesus right because you ask him like really specific questions and what does he do he tells you a story it's like your grandpa right you know should i marry her let me tell you a story what yes or no could have worked you know and what is the metaphor that jesus tells us i think it's a profound metaphor he he's wanting to explain to us the pain the suffering the endurance that we need and he likens it to a labor to a woman giving birth how many all know that women are the real heroes come on somebody my favorite thing is when when men get up and said we had a baby you didn't have nothing bro she had a baby at best you cheered for her you know but but it's an interesting picture because the truth of the matter is is that labor is awful in so many cases it's intense it's painful so i hear so i hear in fact this past week uh incredible leaders in our church uh adrian and michelle molina uh she gave birth to their second born son mason we love that family we're grateful for you guys and the truth of the matter is i'm sure any one of us could call michelle right now and if we wanted to i'm sure she could give us some details about how intense the labor was and how uncomfortable it was but my guess knowing michelle is that if you started to get a conversation going with her she would be so much more focused not on the labor but on the prize she would be so much focused not on not on the pain but she would be saying yo when i'm staring at my baby boy the labor and the pain pales in comparison to the prize of giving birth come on somebody this is what jesus says to you and i jesus is like you know what going through this life following me it's going to feel at times like you are giving birth but rest assured that the prize on the other side it will be so much greater than the pain the labor the adversity before the prize comes anyone ever feel like your life be like anyone ever feel like your money be like anyone ever feel like your marriage be like your job your friendships anyone reflect your purpose anyone reflect your calling the lord would say unto you today keep on breathing keep on breathing keep on pushing i'm telling you what there is breakthrough coming a birth will take place and when you're holding your prize the pain and the suffering will pale in comparison don't give up endure come on somebody give him a shout of praise keep on breathing keep on believing keep on enduring if your life at times feels like looks like labor you are doing it right this is what the apostle paul would specifically and precisely tell you and i romans chapter 8 verse 18 i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us what is he saying he's saying this little while suffering this little while road trip it cannot compare with that which god has promised me which god has destined me which god has called me to he says we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in pains of childbirth right up to this present time not only so but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons the redemption of our bodies for in this hope we were saved but hope that is seen as no hope at all who hopes for what he already has but if we hope what we do not yet have we wait for it patiently come on somebody keep on waiting i got one message keep on waiting don't give up hang in there endure it will be worth it i wish i had more eloquence i wish i had a broader vocabulary i wish i had deeper revelation all i got is this text after you have suffered a little while how long is a little while how long is it how much longer is 20 21 go like 2020 what what about 20 22 i don't know but hang in there endure it reminds me of habakkuk in the old testament he's a prophet and he's angry at god some of us today we feel kind of angry at god we we're confused all sorts of different people in this room i'm speaking to right now and there's just confusion so many people in america they want two different things and there's just confusion just feel angry how come you don't respect my opinion how come you think that's valuable how come you don't think that's valuable and there's confusion and some of us we're taking it out even on god we keep forgetting that this world is broken it will fail us and that's a backup some 700 years before christ came 700 years not even a day to god like a third of a day he's mad at god how on earth do you let the wicked prevail how on earth do you keep letting people mock your name why does this keep happening i'm mad at you god i'm paraphrasing it but go read habakkuk one and two he is complaining to god i love god god says no the vision's coming he's speaking about jesus who's not gonna come for another 700 years and god says back to habakkuk quebec's like how much longer and god's like yo a little while longer a little while longer it's going to take some time for this vision to unfold for the process of it to unfold but he says very clearly in habakkuk chapter 2 verse 3 if it seems slow in coming wait patiently for it will surely take place it will not be delayed i want to preach to somebody today on this sunday if it feels slow in coming if the waiting feels longer than you expected don't you dare give up right now your god is not late your god is only always on time keep breathing keep pushing keep enduring you're going to get through this thing so how long is a little while the only answer i can give you is how long is a little while is like being a little boy in the back of a minivan talking to your dad you're going i'm enduring this road trip how much longer and he says a little while and in your mind you go that's forever but what's amazing the difference between the son and the father is the sun is enduring but the father is enjoying every moment we're together how long is a little while i don't know maybe a day maybe a thousand years maybe a season maybe a moment maybe your entire life but it's not always about conquering often it's simply about enduring peter he is laying this premise and he's he's really echoing first peter chapter one and it's fun taking some time like eight weeks because we can see the book ends here in first peter chapter one he his entire thing is a is a is he's laying out doctrine he's laying out theology he's giving us a truth about god and he's reminding us in first peter one about the living hope and now here in first peter chapter five he's talking about suffering for a little while and ultimately this little letter comes down to this idea that that suffering is a little that it's little suffering that we're in the little while suffering in comparison to eternity it's it's a little but what peter is going to lean into now in a very specific practical way and i think it's fitting on this sunday that we take a moment and we consider deeply we evaluate ourselves and we ask god for his grace because peter is going to say as you are enduring the little while you need to be aware that there is a loud adversary who wants to come to you who wants to get you to jump out of the van who wants to get you off the path who wants to ruin you and destroy you and you need to be aware little suffering loud adversary some would say little suffering loud adversary come on at silver spot i want to hear over there in the studio everyone say little suffering loud adversary first peter chapter 5 verse 8 going back up two verses peter writes in his closing remarks be self-controlled and alert your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour looking for someone to a devour i just want to show you just three little things these are quick in the text that i think we need to all hear especially on this sunday in this hour when it comes to this loud adversary number one is be alert everyone say be alert we need to wake up to this simple fact that there is a constant threat in the head in the spiritual realm known as the devil and peter is cautioning you and i to wake up and to be on your guard be alert be aware the enemy wants to come and jack with you he has a plan to hurt you and to ruin you the scripture says that he's like the lion that he's he's prowling around the earth and he's looking for someone or something understand if you are a friend to god you're an enemy to the devil i want to say it really loud for if you love god the devil hates you there is a target on your back this is why so many believers get so confused because they thought i'ma follow jesus and because i follow jesus i'm never going to be tempted i'm never going to struggle i'm going to have this happy life and everything's going to be perfect white picket fence two and a half kids what is two and a half kids it's perfect but instead they start following jesus like yo life got way harder because before that moment you are a spectator in the stands and the moment you said i'mma follow jesus you put a jersey on saying i'm getting in the game and now there's a target on your back and if you're not aware you're ignorant you're naive peter's not trying to scare you he's trying to warn you he's prowling around let's cross-reference it job chapter one we see the exact same picture remember god calls everyone to attention because even the enemy has to obey god and the devil comes into god's presence and god says where have you been and what does the enemy say he says i've been roaming around the earth see the devil stays busy he stays clocked in on your life he stays relentless on your life he stays trying to devour you jesus christ himself said the thief comes to steal kill and destroy peter he just sums it up with one word he comes to devour you bro he comes to devour you some of us we we know what it's like to be devoured by the enemy's lies some of us are watching today and sin has devoured you addiction has devoured you low self-esteem has has devoured you listen i want to say this as gracious as i possibly can but the devil and sin are nothing to play with nothing to play with it's not a game my wife and i we were in idaho two years ago visiting a friend and we were staying there they have a beautiful lake house and you know i'm from miami i'm from the city you feel me i like hotels um you know you know what i'm saying i like service i like to sit on the beach and someone you know coming what do you like what do you want to eat you know i can do that you know but anything in the great outdoors is a new level for your boy and um we were in idaho we were staying with our friends and remember one day we went into town or the community that we were in and every person we came in contact with i'll never forget they said please be careful um they saw him out in line last night i was like excuse me what uh this is not normal uh conversation for your boy from the 305 okay everywhere i went everywhere like i went to the restaurant the person behind you know sir hey did you hear about the mountain lion i'm like no you know like i just saw a car though you're saying there's mountain lions here too every person we talked to said hey there's a mountain lion everyone everyone's on the mountain line what's amazing is that every person took it upon themselves to warn us of the threat of the mountain lion you know what i didn't see i didn't see anybody finding the mountain going oh my goodness guys oh my god it's a mountain lion come on come on come on let's pet him that's better nobody was getting selfies with the mountain lion nobody was capturing it's the mountain lion baby no anybody who saw or heard about the mountain lion ran in the other direction but we got people today that are saying how close can i get to the mountain lion how close can i get to the enemy how close can i get to darkness can i get a selfie with it can i pet it how close can i get before it devours me and all i want to do from first peter is just warn you and plead with you i'm not coming at you judging you i'm coming at you as your brother in the lord we need each other and we need to wake up and be alert we don't need to be afraid we need to be alert you go through the scriptures man anytime somebody kind of fell into a slumber david when the when the men went off to war david held back wasn't doing his job wasn't staying alert that's when he fell into sin samson when he thought that he could just manage his lust and he could actually let go of his vows that's when he lost all his strength peter for goodness sakes this guy when he felt self-confident i will never deny you lord when he put his faith in himself that's when the enemy came and devoured him having him betray jesus to a little girl wake up church be alert this ain't a game it ain't nothing to play with he will devour you people make fun of me my brother-in-law's my wife because i got a i got this alarm clock on my phone and when david d travels with me and we're in some hotel somewhere whenever we set the alarm the alarm goes off and i i just have that alarm that goes and my wife doesn't get it and david don't get it why would you ever want to wake up to code red he's like i have i'm literally having an anxiety attack as i wake up and i don't know i just i feel like sleep is for sleep and when it's time to wake up you wake up i'm not against your angel music i'm not against your fade-in but what i would say is when it comes to your spiritual life you don't need to fade in about the devil's plans you don't need some chimes and some harps you need a code red alarm and don't play don't play don't play be alert be alert but peter wouldn't just say be alert he would say resist first peter chapter 5 verse 9 this is just the text that we're reading resist resist him standing firm in the faith resist him we actually have to resist his schemes his tactics we have to resist his temptation we have to resist giving in to our flesh we have to fight back we have to resist i mean honestly as i as i think about this little word i think so often in church culture and church world i'll get to talk with people and please hear my heart today i mean jesus is our message we don't believe jesus came to make bad people good we don't have a message of morality we have a message of transformation from the inside out but we also understand that the enemy wants to lie to us repeatedly and so i'll talk with some people and sometimes people will tell me you know i'm just really i'm struggling you know i'm struggling i think god's got grace for our struggles i hope you're not hearing this message today and you're going oh so i guess my struggle discounts me no your struggle doesn't discount you but i think there's a lot of people that use the word struggle but what they really mean is willfully sinning and the difference between struggling and willfully sinning is one word resistance resistance there's one thing when i'm fighting and i'm resisting and i give in and i fall and i get back up you see the glory is not found and never falling the glory is falling the glory is found in getting back up and and rising again the righteous man falls seven times but he but he gets back up we're thankful for his grace we're thankful for his grip we're thankful for his love we're thankful for his mercy his mercies are new every morning there is nothing too big that god cannot forgive you from and there is no sin too big that god's grace cannot cover but i want to plea with my brothers and sisters that if you're going to go on this road trip if you're going to get in this van this lion is going to be roaring left and right and you actually have to resist his tactics resistance builds strength resistance is how you get strong it's the same thing at the gym that as i resist and as i push i become stronger it works the same way with god i think so often little things that i learned as a kid are some of the things i still stand on today i sang to you he's got the whole world in his hands but i could also sing right now today be careful little eyes what you see be careful little eyes what you see for there's a father up above who is looking down in love so be careful little eyes what you see be careful little ears what you hear be careful little ears what you hear for there's a father up above who is looking down in love so be careful little ears what you hear this isn't legalism this is love this isn't this isn't legalism this isn't religion this is i don't want to get devoured not playing games with him he's got a tactic he wants to ruin me he wants to steal everything from me i'm not playing games with this what's amazing is that when we resist so often i think about when we think about this idea of resisting the enemy the only narrative we have in our mind is i don't want to let god down i don't want to let god down what an awful way to live you can't let god down you were never holding him up to begin with you need to change the narrative and the paradigm in your mind it's not about letting god down it's about blessing god it's not about not hurting god it's going i want to i want to bless you god i want to show you that what you've done in my life is so valuable that i will resist the scripture says this you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free see when we resist we don't just resist in our own strength we resist the scripture says we stand in faith so i don't resist in my strength i resist in faith what is the faith the faith is my trust in what jesus has done that every time i stumble he's gonna pick me right back up and it's that love and that affirmation and that love that flows through me and forgives me that keeps me following after him so we fight in faith and the enemy's greatest tactic what the adversary loves to do is he loves to roar his accusations in your direction that's his greatest tool he loves to come and lie to you and he loves to come and get you to believe that you are who he says that you are and the way that you overcome that according to the scripture is that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free a lot of people misinterpret that text because what they say is they say the truth shall set you free not true the truth has always been here and a whole lot of people still aren't free the truth is always sitting right here on my shelf doesn't mean i'm walking in freedom it's not enough to have the truth i got to know the truth it's when i apply the truth it's when i put the truth down in my heart down in my spirit that's when i'm set free so when the enemy comes and tells you that you are your mistake you got to look back and say that's not true for there is no condemnation that is in christ jesus next time the enemy comes and lies and roars in your direction that guess what you have made far too many mistakes you could never achieve god you are not a christian you are not saved you go that's just simply not the truth yet to all who received him and believed in his name he gave them the right to be called children of god next time you're feeling like he comes and says you have no purpose you have no calling you have no value you go that's just simply not true for i am fearfully and wonderfully made all the days ordained for me were written in his book before one of them came to be next time he comes to you and says you're never going to get out of this darkness you're never going to get out of this shame you're going to always live in this valley you're going to always live in this depression you look back and say that is not the truth yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for his rod and his staff they comfort me i know the truth that's not true where all you want roar all you want that is not the truth it's not true peter says be alert peter says resist and lastly peter says remember everyone say remember as you bring these monitors down just a little bit he says be alert he says resist and he says remember look at what he says you can keep playing richie i like it first peter chapter 5 verse 9 he says because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings the enemy wants to roar and say get out of the minivan stop waiting do it yourself you're the only one going through what you're going through peter says no no you've got to remember that christians from the very beginning to the very end listen to me you're not the first and you won't be the last oh let me just find comfort in that today we're not the first and we're not going to be the last but there's believers who are suffering all over the earth i like it how one of the pastors in my life says that he says you will always be as sick as your secrets we confess to god for salvation but we confess to one another for healing and i think what the enemy wants to tell you is that whatever you're struggling with or whatever mistake you've made or wherever you gave up in the past wherever you stopped waiting on him and started trusting yourself i don't know it's all so many different things that we're dealing with he wants you to believe that you're the only one why is that well it's kind of how a lion attacks when lions attack they seclude their prey from the pack they go after the one and they devour they get you away from the community they get you away from your brothers and sisters they they get you away from people and they they isolate you so you become more vulnerable the enemy knows if he can isolate you if he can get you just living your life up in here not talking to anybody not confessing nothing i'm not an advocate that you should get up and confess your sins to the world i am an advocate that you should confess your sins to someone you should confess your struggles to someone some of you people right now you're like i don't know if my marriage can make it don't think that anymore go tell that to somebody i i don't know if i can if i can give up this this drinking habit don't just keep thinking that and fighting that alone go tell somebody i don't know how to get off these pills you can't just fight that alone you're vulnerable i i i i feel so alone then go tell someone this is what communities about can i just be honest with you like this is me being honest the way that i've gotten through 2020 is a simple reminder that all the pressure and all the adversity and all the trials that vu church is facing guess what we're not the only church facing it my experience is not so unique my pain is not just so authentic no others are facing it i can't do it alone but together we can get through it i know we're not meeting in person and that breaks my heart breaks my heart now today more than it did yesterday it's been difficult not seeing you don't you know we love you we miss you i wish i was in silver spot right now on a stage shouting at you i wish i was going to preach a few more times i've never missed preaching five times more than i ever have in my life but never again um we miss seeing you we love you next week we're gonna have a gathering it's gonna be beautiful but i'm so tempted to believe oh if we don't gather we won't have a church if we don't gather all the people are gonna scatter if we don't gather nobody's gonna give if we don't gather people won't stop serving if we don't gather people are going to give up their salvation if we don't gather they won't follow jesus but history would tell me otherwise the facts would tell me otherwise the facts would tell me that in communist china today that there is a revival breaking out in the christian community the facts would tell me that islamic iran right now has a revival taking place of the body of christ there is no building there are not four walls that can contain the love of jesus from breaking out and spreading we're called to endure how much longer a little while longer little suffering loud adversary loud but little loud but little you want to know what a good definition of the devil is he's loud but little the enemy in your life is loud but so little he's loud with his accusations but he doesn't realize how little his accusations matter if you're covered by the blood of jesus he is so loud roaring around in your life trying to put fear in you no we're to be aware we're to be cautioned but we are not to walk in fear if we are in christ jesus for he can roar all he wants but he has no power unless you give it to him he is loud but little i suppose my question for you simply today is this is can you endure the little by not losing focus on the loud can you endure the little by not losing focus on the loud i think the thing that pops up the best to me as i read this scripture i don't know if you saw it but i can't move past it peter says be self-controlled be alert for your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion what's the point rich uh the point is is that he's not a lion he's like a lion he's loud but he's little see everything about the enemy is counterfeit everything about the enemy is smoke and mirrors everything the enemy wants to offer you is a perversion a destruction he doesn't have anything authentic to give you he doesn't have anything that he has to offer you all he has is lies he's loud but little he's loud but little he's a counterfeit you know what i mean by counterfeit right we're in dade county here you got a counterfeit purse put it under your chair right now i remember in high school i got this gold chain i said this thing's these things this thing's this is awesome and the thing about the gold chain is it it it looked real and to the untrained eye to someone who has not been informed to somebody who's not used to looking at gold they could look at my gold chain and they might even pay what they believed the assessed value was believing that it was real this is what the enemy does he he he offers us gold chains that fade away i remember one day i was sitting in class just puffed up with pride big old gold chain remember in class you'd sit in those long rows and person behind me say hey bro your neck is all green so what you're talking about i said i don't know you got your neck is all green see the thing about a counterfeit gold chain is it can look real for a little while but after a little while it will fade and it will leave a residue and this is the enemy in our life he's like a lion he is not a lion he roars and he screams and he lies and he wants you to focus on the little while you're done you're over you've failed you're finished may i remind you about the grace of god may i remind you the man who's who's writing this scripture to us peter please understand that he failed worse than most of us could have ever imagined he betrayed his closest friend lied about jesus to a little girl oh but after he encountered the grace of a resurrected savior some years later peter the rock upon which this church has been built he found himself staring at the same cross that jesus christ died on but this time with a new revelation of grace he said i won't jump out of the minivan i won't be swayed if i have to lose my life in a little while on the cross so be it and instead of being crucified like jesus he said if you're gonna crucify me you better hang me upside down for i am not worth it i am not valuable but still somehow he puts value on me he uses me and if he can use peter he can use you you can endure you can get back in the van he's slow to judge not slow to rescue the enemy is like a lion he's taunting you he's scaring you oh but i want to remind you today he is loud but he is so very little for he is only like a lion can i remind you who jesus is he is the lion of the tribe of judah he is stable he is strong he is firm he is steadfast you can build on jesus you can rely on jesus he ain't like a lion he is the lion and when your strategies fail jesus prevails when your plans fail hear me let me pass you for saying jesus prevails don't put your trust in all this stuff they'll put your trust in men and women jesus prevails when your money fails jesus prevails when your instagram projection fails jesus still prevails he's the lion he's strong he's firm he's steadfast he's he's faithful when pastors fail jesus prevails when politics fail jesus prevails when presidents fail jesus prevails so whether the donkey has failed you or whether the elephant has failed you can i lift your head up to one who is higher i don't have a donkey i don't have an elephant i have the lion of the tribe of judah and he has never failed me yet he says endure he says stay faithful stay on the journey you're coming through this thing come on somebody come on come on 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 for 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

Views: 24,550

Rating: 4.9843135 out of 5

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, endure

Id: bVZn_dJ4rBU

Length: 54min 14sec (3254 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 08 2020