JBC A Biblical Model: The Certainty Of Suffering

Pastor Corey delivers his weekly message titled "JBC A Biblical Model: The Certainty Of Suffering

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Well, I want you to take your Bibles and go to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, all right? Chapter 2. And I know I just had you sit down, but I'm gonna have you stand one more time. If they don't mind putting up the uh title page of our message today, you know the series we're in, and it's titled, uh, the series is titled JBC a Biblical Model. And I've I've expounded on that here for the last four weeks about you know what we're trying to do here. We're trying to take the what hot white hot truth of Scripture and what the Thessalonian church is all about, the model that they were, and and uh and the model that they were in history, and see how we measure up to it. And so it's kind of a series that has developed um to be more than a three-part message, and we're just going through the whole book of 1 Thessalonians and probably 2 Thessalonians. Now, titled today's message, The Certainty of Suffering. What greater um example that we could have than a church like Thessalonica, a church there that went through so much suffering. We don't know all the suffering and and and what it was all about, but we do know this. We do know that they were suffering because of their faith. They were suffering because they were Christians, and they were suffering locally by what was going on in their town, in their city, and their community. And people were giving them a hard time. Uh, not unlike what people are going through today. People who are losing their jobs because of their faith, people who are being canceled on social media because of what they believe. Um people in some ways who have violence coming their way because of their Christian testimony. So, what I want us to see today is suffering is a real thing. And though we here in the West, particularly in the United States in the United States of America, have been we have been uh inoculated to some extent over time from great suffering because of the bloodshed of so many in some horrific wars to make sure that we had freedom, and so many of them never got to fully experience that because they died, they gave their lives for our freedom. But for the most part, my entire life has been a life of amazing freedom to be able to worship the Lord as we see fit. But we see things changing, we see the clouds on the horizon, and we know that there are some difficult times coming for Christians here in the United States of America and in the West. I'm not trying to be negative here, but I'm just telling you. As Paul told the Thessalonians, it's coming, and we're all gonna suffer in some way or another, and some more than others. So, how are we going to model our faith in light of suffering? Let's pray about that. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that we have a church here that we can look at and see what they did in the midst of and in spite of their trials and their suffering. Teach us what it means to suffer for Christ and how we can respond. And I prayed in Jesus' name. Amen. And you may be seated. I've titled the message, The Certainty of Suffering. The Certainty of Suffering. And I and I've already highlighted that in the introduction here while you were standing. But throughout Christian history, the church has suffered immeasurably. You know, we did a series not long ago on Hebrews chapter 11 about all those who were faithful to Jesus Christ, and we had a bunch of them who were named. And then the Bible talks about many who were unnamed, and then what happened to them? They had their children taken from them and burned alive to the false God Molech. And they had to watch that. Their children were sacrificed to idols. Some of those people were sewn into, some of them had their babies cut out of their wombs while they were alive. There were people who went through some extraordinary things. And the Bible says they remained faithful yet, though they had not received the promise of the Messiah yet, and they stayed faithful even then. And then we know of all the New Testament Christians who were faithful throughout the centuries in the midst of unbelievable persecution. And the thing we have to keep in mind, and there's no excuse for you and me, in the global world that we live in, with all the information that we have right before us, I mean, this is really the first modern-day war that we're seeing with social media today. Now, I know we had, you know, the invasion of Iraq, and we had the things going on in um in Afghanistan, and we got to see some of it. But we're seeing a society today that that's totally plugged in, a society that has Wi-Fi, a society that has everything that we have here, and a lot of them still have access to that, thankfully, because of Elon Musk and Starlink and all of that. And so we're seeing in real time what's happening to a lot of those people there. And so as a result of that, the thing I want you to realize is that there's no excuse that we shouldn't be aware of what's going on in the world. And there are Christians all over this world suffering. You know, the media won't cover it. We have brothers and sisters in Africa being, it's a genocide, just what's going on. And we have people in different places of the world. It's just, it's amazing and it's sickening and disgusting all at the same time. The certainty of suffering. Unbelievable what's going on to Christians, and it's always been that way. So we know it's gonna happen. So the Bible talks to us about some things here, and I had you uh I had you stand, but did I I did not read the scripture, did I? I'm just realizing I knew something was off. I could not quite figure it out. But I got out of my own way to realize I was getting ready to refer to a passage and I went, I didn't read the scripture. Stand again. We're not just gonna pretend to stand. What in the world? Sometimes, sometime, we got Coach O over there. So sometimes I look at our president that I pray for. I really do. I pray for him. Sometimes I want to make fun of him. And I wonder how in the world did we get stuck with a geriatric president who can't even put a sentence together, and then I do what I do. And I'm just 56. Holy cow. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 14. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way, they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you. Now, I'm not gonna spend any time talking about part of this passage here where he talks about the great effort to see them, the longing. They were like orphan, they were like parents, he says, like a mother and father who had their children taken away from them. And we were longing to see you. And I just want to make this point and statement. If you're a true Christian, you long to be with God's people. And I'm gonna leave that right there. Verse 18, for we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did, again and again, but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. Father, help me to make sense of this in spite of me. And I prayed in Jesus' name. Amen. And you may be seated. So the certainty of suffering. I want to jump right in it. Number one, I want you to see this about suffering. I want you to see, and I titled it the certainty, but I want you to see, first of all, the reality of suffering. Suffering may be certain and it's coming, but it is a reality in some people's lives. The reality of suffering. It's real, folks. And it's gonna happen if you haven't gone through it. Let's just bring it on home to what you're going through. Would you say that when you lose a loved one and you have to bury them or you have to make decisions about their life in hospice care, like Lynn and Ray had to do, and like so many of you had to do, and like Brother Bill's family had to do recently, and you deal with death, I want to ask you this question. Do you feel serious pain in that situation? Of course you do, right? And in some regard, it can be suffering. Not only the person who's going through that, the end-of-life situation, but the caregiver is also suffering and going through it with them, correct? They're suffering. Jim Riley can tell you about that as a chaplain in the medical field and all that he sees and all the suffering that he sees people going through. Wouldn't you say, Jim, that it's not just painful, but it's it's in a way it's suffering, right? So the reality is there. And here's the other thing I want you to keep in mind. This idea that being a Christian is all happy in a bed of roses and nothing bad ever happens to you is not biblical. And any preacher on TV that tries to tell you that if you just give your life to Jesus, that you can have your best life now, you know who I'm talking about. And other people like him who just try to make the Christian life look like it's just all positive all the time. I'm here to tell you that that's not the reality of Scripture. Just live a little while and you'll find out. Hey, look, I'll tell you, if nothing else, and I know it's not the same as to what other people are going through in the world right now, but if you pump gas recently, you know that your bank account, your pocketbook is suffering, right? You know that your paycheck today doesn't go as far as it did yesterday. You know that, right? You know it. I'm telling you, I struggle. You said, Pastor, what are the things you struggle with? Oh, I can tell you right now, if you ever see me pumping gas out of gas pump, I'm struggling to hold back the vulgarity that has risen in my heart over what we are having to pay. And I'm not trying to get political here, but there are a lot of things we can do to limit what we're going through right now. And so many people are just gutless in wanting to do that. The fact that we're still importing oil from Russia. Is that not insane? And it's causing people, it's causing people who are living paycheck to paycheck, who it's causing them to decide should I put gas in my vehicle or buy a piece of buy a buy a loaf of bread. Guess what, guys? We're gonna have beans and rice tonight, but we're not gonna be able to have any toast bread in the morning. That's people are going through some difficulty. And there's a reality there. And in verse 14, Paul talks about that, and he says, he says, here, for you, brothers and sisters became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus, you suffered from your own people. And in verses 3 and 4 of chapter 3, look at the certainty here. He says, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. Paul said, I told you that it was coming. Well, preacher, I came to church today to hear the good news, and man, you're just telling me nothing but bad news. Hang on. We're not done yet. But it's the reality of suffering. Suffering's real. Suffering's real. We're all gonna go through it. All human suffering is common. It's common. I if I've heard it one time, I've heard it a thousand where people say, Well, preacher, you just don't know what it's like. I may not know what it's like to go through that right there, what you're going through, but I know what it's like to go through other hardships. Right? Correct? You ever buried a grandchild? I have. I'm not saying that what I went through is worse than you. I'm just saying that we all suffer in one way or another. And in doing so, we have to decide how we're gonna respond to the reality of suffering. And Paul reminded them that they were examples, they were imitators of God's churches in Judea, which had been persecuted by the Jews, by some of the Judaizers who had come in and tried to create havoc for Paul and them. And he's saying, y'all went through some of the same things in the same way by your own people. The reality of suffering. Some of you have been, in a way, ostracized and even kicked out of your family for your Christian faith. And some of you, when you get together at Christmas time or Thanksgiving, you're made fun of by some of the people in your own family, some of your own blood, some of your own people. There's a reality in suffering. Won't you notice the second thing, though? Look at the reason for the suffering. Look at the reason for it in verses 15 and 16. It says here, he's talking about the Jews, and he says, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. Now he's not being anti-Semitic here. He's not just blaming the Jews. We know that all of us put Jesus on the cross, right? All of our sins. He says here, but he's giving you, he's helping you to see the spirit in which people who oppose Christians, where it's coming from. And he says, they displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. There is a reason for suffering. The reason we suffer as Christians is because as Christians, our heartbeat and goal is for everybody to come to the knowledge, the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, isn't it? And as a result of that, there are people who don't like it, and there are people who get angry. It blows my mind the atheistic humanists who say that there is no God spend so much of their life trying to limit Christians who worship a God that they say doesn't exist. Well, if the God doesn't exist, then what is the big deal about? Who cares? And there are reasons for suffering, and the reason is this. I'll tell you, I'll tell you why you have people at work that are mistreating you because they know you're a Christian or family or others, they know you're a Christian, and they know to some extent what you believe. And if they agree with you, they are agreeing that they are sinners and need to repent too. And they don't want to do that. And so what was happening was Paul was saying that when he was taking the gospel to the Gentiles, the Jews didn't want them to be saved, some of them. Some of them didn't want them to be saved, they wanted the Gentiles to receive Christ and to have what they had. And so the reason for suffering sometimes is the very existence of the gospel. The very existence of the gospel. I know some of you, your families are not happy with you because tell me if tell me if they didn't they haven't said this to you before. You spend more time at the church than with people of your own blood. Has that ever been said to you? Can't you just go once a week? Why do you have to go on Wednesday night Wednesday night? See, they don't understand. And you're being mistreated or or looked down upon or what have you, you know, and I'm not saying that that's as serious as some other things, but it can become psychologically and emotionally difficult to deal with those things. And the reason is this I go back to this. My grandmother, when my father got saved, listen, my grandmother got mad that my father got saved and started going to a Baptist church and quit drinking. Well, he could have quit drinking without going to a Baptist church. And I looked at her and I called her Mama. I said, Mama, but he didn't. It's not the Baptist church that got him right, it's the word of God that dealt with his heart and changed his heart and changed his life. And she was upset because it didn't match what she wanted and it convicted her about the way she was living. And so the reason you go through suffering is people oppose the gospel. That's what it's all about. They're not opposing you, they're opposing the gospel. And that's why people in your family and people at work are giving you such a hard time. Number three, I want you to notice the roadblock that happens when you're faithful to God, and that happens in suffering. Paul says, For we wanted to come to you, certainly I. Paul did again and again, but Satan blocked our way. Satan blocked our way. The roadblock that happens in the middle of suffering. There are times in suffering, though you believe God is coming to the rescue, you wonder if he's ever going to show up. You wonder, what in the world's going on? And then you might think of, okay, here's a solution maybe to getting out of that, but all the roads are closed. The pathways are closed. God's not allowing anything to happen, and it's like you're stuck in that suffering and you can't move forward, and you wonder what in the world's happening. Sometimes it's Satan who comes in and throws a barrier in the middle of the road. And there's a roadblock. What do you do during that time? Did Paul kick and scream? He said, No, we wanted to come to you, certainly. It's possible that where Paul was at and he wanted to come back to visit with the Thessalonian believers, but he couldn't. It could be that maybe Satan was using some of the Judaizers who were teaching a false teaching and he couldn't leave there and he had to correct all of those things. And so that was kind of the roadblock in the calendar that kept him from coming because he had to deal with that and put that issue away. And God knows it. God knows what's going on. There's a roadblock sometimes in the midst of suffering. And then I'll give you a fourth thing. I want you to see the reward for suffering. I told you I get to the good part, right? The reward for suffering. Paul says here in verse 19, for what is our hope? Or what is our joy? Or the crown in which we glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes. Isn't not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. After men's Bible study on Wednesday night, McKenzie was waiting for me, and she said, Pastor, our class needs to see you. And I'm thinking, is this good or bad? Because if it's bad, it's at the end of the day. It's almost eight o'clock, and I'm tired. And I, you know, that's what my mind was going. And she goes, Oh, we got we got some questions for you. And I walked in there, and one of the things they were studying about was the crowns that we will receive. And what does the scripture say about that? And where is it at in the scripture? And they had some questions, and we had a fairly good and long discussion. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was wonderful. I'm like, oh man, y'all do this more often. Not next week, though. Or this week. No, I'm just kidding. Anytime. But it was about the crowns. And it just so happens that this is where we are in our passage of scripture today. And so I kind of did a little study about the crowns. And Paul talks about look, for what is our hope? What is our joy? The crown in glory, he was saying, Who is our glory? What is our glory? Here's the thing you have to keep in mind in this life and in suffering. You gotta keep the big picture in mind. This life is minuscule compared to what we will have in eternity. And it's hard for us to fathom that because we are tied to these bodies. We live here. I keep going to the scripture all the time because it's so true. Romans tells us, uh, it says here, what I has what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him. You know what that scripture's saying? That in heaven, our ears wouldn't be able to contain what it is. Heaven is so awesome. It's so wonderful, it's so amazing. And there is an amazing reward for all of eternity that's there for those who are faithful to him. And that reward is for suffering for your faith in Jesus Christ. Paul reminded them that in this life you're gonna have a lot of trouble. Jesus even said that, right? Y'all with me? This life's got a lot of trouble, right? Woo! Just wake up in the morning and get out of bed. We got our little grandkid running around right now, and when he comes over, it's Tornado Alley, and everything hurts that you step on. I mean, just from that. And then everything, I mean, you get in your car every day. Everybody was so just blown out of their mind, so scared of COVID, when the reality is you have a greater chance of something bad happening to you on your way to work than you do from COVID. Those are the facts, those are the numbers. But yet you get in your car and you go anyway. You mitigate the risk, you you you accept it and you go forward with it, and so forth and so on. Well, in the Christian life, we have to understand that there's a lot of challenges out there, and there's going to be some suffering. So, what gets us through? Listen to me now. It's knowing that everything we go through in this life is not in vain. It has a purpose. There's an amazing reward. Paul talks about this crown. Now, listen. There are crowns mentioned in the Bible. I'm going to give you this, trying to make it clear to you, okay? And before we put up the next slide, don't put up the next slide yet, guys. The Bible says that after we get saved, we belong to Him. We live for Christ. We don't live for ourselves anymore. And the Bible says that those of us who are Christians will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for what we've done, the Bima seat. And the Bible says that there will be a holy fire that will come upon the works of our life after salvation. Not to see if we're good enough to go to heaven because we're not. We're going to heaven because we belong to Jesus. And it says that there are going to be some who are their works will be likened to wood, hay, and stubble, and the refining fire will come and burn it all up. And the Bible says, but yet they will be saved, yet as through fire. Then the Bible says that there will be some who will have for their life's work something that's likened to gold, silver, precious metal. And it's going to go through the refining fire and it's going to remain and stay. And then the Bible later says that the twelve elders in the book of Revelation, chapter four, took their crowns and they cast them before the feet of Jesus. And we know that Paul talks about several crowns that we're going to receive, and they can, and there's no reason and no way for me to believe in heaven that we're going to walk around with crowns like a like like a checkers board, you know, when you play checkers and you go, crown me, and you put the crown and I'm a king, and we're going to walk around, hey, I'm a king, hey, I got more crowns than you. That's not going to be what happens in heaven. We're going to take those crowns and we're going to say, This isn't for me, this is for you. This represents the life that I live for you, Jesus, and it's all glory to you. So that's what's going to happen with these crowns. But what are these crowns? Well, put up the whole slide, guys. Instead of putting it up one at a time, I have a lot in there, and I'm not going to go over all those scriptures. Uh I'm I'm putting it up up there so you can write, okay? And you can you can list these down. Hey, take a picture of it if you want. You know you can do that, right? I went to a conference a couple of years ago and they said, take a picture of it if you if it's going too fast for you. And I went, who knew you could do that? Take a picture of the I didn't know that. Anyway, pretty cool. So there it is. So what are the crowns that he's talking about? The Paul says this. He says, You are our crown. Save people, people who give their hearts to Christ because of you, because of something you did, something you said, the way you lived your life, maybe something you gave, maybe a church in some far-off country somewhere, somewhere was built, and you prayed for that missionary and you sent them off, or you sent a team that went off, and they gave their lives to Christ, and you don't even know who they are. And you'll get to heaven and you'll get those crowns. They're the crowns of saved people. In other words, the people who came to know Jesus Christ as a result of you. Philippians 4 1, Paul says the same thing about the Philippian believers. He says, You are our crown. Another crown is the crown of self-control, the self-controlled body. 1 Corinthians 9 24 through 27. I'll put it up there. It says, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. And then he says, Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like. And controlling yourself so that you're not disqualified. There are going to be people who get that crown. Then there's the persecution. The crown that you get for persecution is the victor's crown. And I'm not going to read this, but you can see it in Revelation 2.10. Then there's the crown of righteousness, and then the crown of glory for pastors. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5, 1 through 4, that if pastors, pastors are not to do it for dishonest gain, they're to serve willingly, not lording over the people. They're to be elders, they're to be shepherds, they're to be overseers of God's work. They're to lead by example, the Bible says. And then it says, for those who have faithfully served in that way, there will be a crown of glory. And you know what? Listen, no pastor will wear a crown of glory. No true pastor. He's going to take that crown and he's going to lay it at the feet of Jesus and say, You are the chief shepherd. You deserve to have all the glory. It's all for you. And then there's a crown of life, James 1, 12. So I wanted to lay that out for you so you could see some of this stuff and go look at the scriptures that are with that. And just it's amazing to see these things. In other words, what I'm saying is this, and what Paul is saying at the very end, is that in suffering there is a reward. And it's coming. One thing we didn't read the passage of scripture in 2 Timothy 4, 7 through 8. We read it at Brother Bill's funeral or celebration of life service, where it says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. The crown of righteousness has been laid up for me. The crown of righteousness, living the life that God has called you to live. And being faithful to the very end. So suffering is difficult. It's challenging. There are reasons behind it. There are roadblocks at times when we go through this thing called suffering. There is the reality of it. But y'all, there is an immense eternal reward. That if we suffer for Christ, there are some amazing things that come with that. And all of those things that come, all of these rewards, are going to be so we can give it back to him. And not with arrogance in heart, but with humility and weeping. We'll probably say he'll give you, but God, I don't deserve it. You kept me strong. You carried me through those times. But all I knew, Jesus, was just to trust you. All I knew was to believe your word. All I knew was to be faithful to the end. And Jesus will say, My child, here's the crown of righteousness, here's the crown of glory, here's a the victor's crown for you. Here's the crown of life. And then you and I will turn it back and say, No, it all belongs to you. There's a serious reward for that suffering. And while none of us want to go through that, I can tell you that those who have, they would tell you, if and when that day comes, if you're a true Christian, God will give you what you need. The Ukrainian people, a lot of them had no idea if they could go through that. It's been a long time since some of those folks had to go through a difficult time. It's been quite a few years since Ukraine broke off from the USSR. Generation of people that never been through anything like that. I mean, the president of Ukraine is a comedian, for goodness sakes. But yet so many of those Christians who are suffering may not ever go back to what we think is a normal life, but they will have an eternity to spend with the you know with the rewards that God has for them. You know who I think of when I think of something like this, somebody, you know, more in our day as opposed to maybe the biblical times. I think of Diedrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany, who opposed Nazism and its belief system because it was against Scripture, and he opposed the Nazis and they arrested him, put him in a concentration camp, and we look at it and say, Well, it was a shame because he was executed just a day or two before his concentration camp was liberated. So, man, why did that have to happen to him? Don't you think that the Lord knew what he was going through? I've read his biography, I've read the autobiography. I mean the uh the the uh biographies about his life, the autobiography he wrote, um, read a lot about his life, and the man was a spiritual giant, and the Nazis killed him. But I want to say this to you that Diedrich Bonhoeffer is probably a man with so many rewards, and he's reaping the glory of being faithful in the midst of suffering. The word is they hung him with piano wire and videoed the hanging so that Hitler can enjoy it. Don't don't think for one moment that that kind of stuff's not going on to some degree even in Ukraine. Especially in the eastern parts of that country. There's a lot of suffering going on in this world. But in suffering, there is an eternal reward that Christ has for us. Be faithful to him, my dear friend. Be faithful. We have a man in our church who's got to replace his roof on his house. He can't get insurance. His insurance is gonna cancel him if he can't change his roof. He can't qualify for a loan through the roofing company to get a loan for the roof. He's in a pickle, he's in a bad situation. I don't know all the answers for him. And his paycheck is getting smaller, not because he's getting paid less, but because everything else costs more. Y'all feel that? You know what I'm talking about? It's tough. We've got some single parents in this church. It's tough. I'm counseling young couples left and right, some who are getting ready to get married, some you know, who are already married. And it's hard to get started in life. You realize that? Compared to what it used to be. I mean, what it cost to get insurance for a car, what it costs to get a car. Heck, a used car costs more than a new one sometimes. And a new one's insanely priced. I'm told that a one-one, one bedroom, one bath apartment right here in Jonesville in some of these newer apartments is minimum $1,700 a month. You say, Well, I'm gonna buy a camper. You can't live in a camper. You say, Oh, I can. No, you can't. You can't live in a camper on your own property. They won't let you. You gotta go live in an RV park. I mean, it's crazy. I figured Mike would like that. But anyhow, it's crazy what it costs just to get started. It ain't easy. Now I know it's not to the level of suffering that a lot of people are going through, but it's worrisome. I counsel them to do whatever you can to get out on your own. But well, we're gonna live with mom and dad for a little while. And I I can't blame you. I understand. I mean, what are you gonna do? It's tough. It's hard. So suffering is relative to what you and I are going through. What it means for us. So what are you gonna do? Paul talks about the Thessalonians' faith over and over and over and over. Their faith, their commitment. And you gotta decide who you're going to serve. I tell the men this every Wednesday night in our Bible study. You know, men, it comes down to this it's your decision how you want to live. If you want temptation to constantly be overcoming you all the time, then do nothing. But if you want to overcome temptation, and you can be an overcomer, the Bible says we are more than conquerors through Him. Then you got to do some things. You got to be faithful and you got to take seriously the Word of God, and you've got to implement some things in your life to help you overcome those temptations. Well, in the same way, you want to overcome difficult times. Well, what are you doing about it? Are you looking to the world to provide the answers? It's funny to me. Listen, listen. It's just how I think. I'm messed up. I understand it. But listen, I was watching something about George Strait last night. And I admire George Strait in a lot of ways. And I like some of his music, and some of his music as far as the content, I don't like it. Now think about this. Over 50 years ago, George Strait met Norma and he married her, and they've been married for 50 years. That's unusual in the entertainment industry, right? I admire him for that. But his songs sometimes go against everything that he believes and lives by. Some of his songs talk about leaving. Heck, he loves Texas, but he's got a song. All my exes live in Texas. That's why I hang my hat in Tennessee. You don't live in Tennessee. I mean, might have a house. Everybody lives in Texas. What I'm getting at is this. And I'm not down in Georgia and all of that. Just be careful where you get your information from and what really becomes part of your life and what you're going to believe. If you're going to believe country music is the way to go, and you're going to believe everything that country music says, hey man, I mean you got a pretty pathetic life. I mean, you lose your dog, you lose your house, you lose your boat, you lose your car, you lose your wife, you lose everything. Or you got to say, I'm living for a higher purpose. I'm living for Jesus. You can look at the news all day and let them shape what you believe. You can look at social media and let all your friends and all these TikTok nut jobs tell you what you should believe. Or you can go to the Bible because the Bible knocks TikTok out of the park. Just made that up. And you can be depressed in suffering, or you can be joyful knowing. And what did Paul say? He says, You are our joy. You are our glory. Even while you're suffering, you are our crown. Because we've invested our lives in people for the glory of the gospel. And that's what matters. So suffering is certain, but how are you going to respond to it? How am I going to respond to it? Am I going to kick and scream and be like a little boy or a little girl that don't get their way? When bad things happen? Or am I going to be an adult, as Paul says, when I became a man, I put away childish things? And am I going to take it like a Christian man or like a Christian woman? And instead of saying, why? I say, what, God? What can you do through this? Or how can you receive glory? Oh, they're bombing our city. Well, what are we going to do? Some of us need to fight. You say, I don't know if that's biblical. Go look at Nehemiah when they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah told them, put a trial in one hand, a tool, a masonry tool in one hand, and a sword in the other. And he said, I'm going to put you according to your families. You're going to work at the section of the wall next to where you live. You know why? Because people fight stronger for their families. And he said, You're going to have the word of God with you, the truth, but we've got to build these walls to get a fortification to protect the city of Jerusalem. And we've got to do it in record time. And there are going to be times that the enemy's going to come while you're working on the wall and you're going to have to fight them. So work on the wall with the trial and put those rocks up there. And then when the enemy comes, you've got to get the sword, and you're going to have to fight them. So suffering comes, but in suffering you deal with it. And listen, the society and the world that we live in is unstable. It's shifting sand. But the Bible says, no other foundation can anyone lay except that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Salvation. When you get saved and you have Christ as your Savior and you start living for Him. Natural disaster can come. It's hard. You suffer, but you stay focused. You keep your hand on the plow. War may come, you keep your hand on the plow. Famine may come, you keep your hand on the plow. Economic collapse may come, but you keep your hand on the plow. You keep living for Jesus. And one day, there will be a reward. So great. I can't wait. I can't wait. Let's stand together, everybody. So heavenly Father, thank you so much for the word. Not an easy one, Lord, to uh to try to make sense of, but it gave me some clarity, and I appreciate that, Lord, and I hope that it's minister to our people. I pray that as suffering comes to our various lives, we would embrace it as those being obedient to Christ. May it be said of us as Christians that we stayed faithful even in the midst of suffering, even in the midst of a pandemic, even in the midst of political persecution, whatever it might be. As God's spoken to you, I'm going to encourage you to follow him, to trust him. This altar will be open for you to pray. I'll be standing here if you want to make some kind of decision. If God's leading you to join our church, just come forward. Just come to where I'm at and I'll help you with that. Pray for your children. The world we live in is trying to destroy the family. They're suffering there and persecution. Pray for you. Pray that you would be strong. Pray for our church. Pray for our churches in our area. And Father, we thank you. We prayed in Jesus' name. As our team leads us, I encourage you to come.