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Man, the title of my sermon this evening is Life Isn't Fair. Life is not fair. The Bible reads in verse number 20 there, For what glory is it when ye be buffeted, for your faults ye shall take it patiently. But if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. You know, the Bible is teaching us here that there are going to be times when we do well and suffer for it. We do something that's right, we do something good, and as the saying goes, sometimes no good deed goes unpunished, and we do something good, and yet something bad comes to us as a result. This is because life isn't fair, alright? And we need to get this idea out of our head that life is going to be fair, that everyone's going to be treated equally, that everyone has the same advantages or disadvantages. No actually, each of our lives is different. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, different challenges and advantages, and life is just not going to be fair. Now if you would turn back to Ecclesiastes chapter number 9, you say, why preach a sermon about how life isn't fair? Because people who sit around expecting life to be fair and then getting all upset when it's not fair, they end up murmuring and complaining and whining and seeing themselves as a victim all the time because they don't have what someone else has or maybe they're having a harder time than someone else. So we need to get this wrong idea out of our head that somehow everything in life is fair and we're all going to have the exact same challenges or experiences. Look what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter number 9 verse 11, we're talking about life not being fair, look at Ecclesiastes 9 and 11, I returned and saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all. So the best man does not necessarily always win. The best worker is not necessarily going to get the promotion. The best athlete is not necessarily going to win the competition. And the Bible says here, bread is not always to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding. So you might be smart and you're working hard and you don't get ahead financially. And then some other bozo gets ahead financially and he's not working as hard, he's not as smart as you are, whatever. This is because life isn't fair, okay? That's the way life works. You can't look at other people and expect for everything to go toward you the way that it goes toward them because that's not the way the world works. Flip over to chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes, you're right there in chapter 9. Go to chapter 10 verse 5, there's an evil which I've seen under the sun as an error which proceedeth from the ruler, folly is set in great dignity and the rich sit in low place. I've seen servants upon horses and princes walking as servants upon the earth. He's saying there's so many things in this world that are backward. You know, I see people that I would expect to be receiving honor and lifted up and exalted, they're walking on the earth while the fool, while someone that is not dignified is riding up on the horse. And you look at that and you say, you know, how is that that this guy is in that position and not the other way around? And this is the way the world works. The Bible says in verse 6, folly is set in great dignity. You know, do you think on YouTube the most popular videos are the best videos? Is that what you think? Because if you go to YouTube and just look at what's popular, you know, I don't know what it is, but it's probably just the stupidest, most brainless comedy videos that dominate or just dumb stunts and pranks and just weird, goofy, brainless, idiotic things that would dominate the page of YouTube. I'm not going to do it right now, but in another sermon one time, I just pulled out my phone and just went to YouTube and just read the top, like, 40 videos that people were watching right now. And it was just all idiotic, mindless garbage. Why, folly is set in great dignity. That's the world that we live in. Just some idiot eating a Tide pod is going to sometimes get more views than someone preaching a great sermon from the word of God, you know, or teaching real knowledge and wisdom that could help people in their lives. No, it's all about, you know, dumping ice water on your head or something. And that's probably some of the more normal stuff that people are into on there. You know, folly is set in great dignity. Many things in this world are backwards. People who work hard and do right and are good, honest people, they don't necessarily get ahead. And then other people who are crooks and thieves and liars, they get ahead. They succeed. They get what they want in life. This world is not fair. Life is not fair. Go if you would to Matthew chapter 20, Matthew chapter 20. Now, God is righteous. God is fair. It's not that God is treating people unfairly or that God has some kind of an injustice, but it's just that the world that we live in is unjust, isn't it? So God is not running everything in this world, as some people believe. Some people wrongly believe that God is just like running everything in the world. Now, if God's running everything in this world, he's making some real strange decisions about what's on the home page of YouTube, for example. But I mean, if God's running this world, then why is it so messed up? The answer is that he's not running it. The Lord God is ordering the steps of the righteous. The Bible says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Obviously, God does intervene in the affairs of mankind, but the reason why this world is messed up is because of sin and because people make their own decisions and they commit sin and do all these things. And you know what? Don't turn to Matthew 20. Turn, if you would, actually to Philippians chapter 1. Because of the sins of mankind, the world is in the condition that it is. And so that's why I say the world's not fair, because this world is not necessarily going to reward the righteous. They're often going to reward the unrighteous. And as 1 Peter said, you are going to often suffer for doing well, because we're living in a fallen, sinful world. Now, in Philippians chapter 1, the Bible reads, let me find my place here. I'm sorry, it's chapter 2. This just popped into my head, so I've got to find it here. OK, chapter number 2, the Bible says this in verse 14. Do all things without murmurings and disputings. OK, now what are murmurings and disputings? Murmuring is complaining, whining about things. Disputing is arguing, fussing, being difficult, right? So do all things without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I've not run in vain, neither labored in vain. So there's a lot here in these three verses, but the Bible says that we should not go through life complaining and murmuring. And this is something we find all throughout scripture. In the book of Numbers, when the people complained, it displeased the Lord. God doesn't want us to be complainers, murmurers. He wants us to be content with what we have and not to whine about the things that we don't have. OK, so when I say life isn't fair, I'm not trying to give you this bad attitude and preach a sermon called life isn't fair, and then you just go out of here, and you're just like, man, life isn't fair. And you know, it's just the whole world's messed up. It's all backwards. A lot of people, when they learn the truth from God's word and they find out the way things are supposed to be, and then they look around at the world that we live in, that's the attitude they get. They get a bad attitude, and they're super negative about the world that we live in and their situation. And so we don't want to come away from this understanding that life isn't fair with a bad attitude. Why not? Because first of all, the Bible says, do all things without murmurings and disputing. So go through life and quit whining and complaining and seeing yourself as a victim. Don't complain. But also, where we started in 1 Peter chapter 2, it said, you will sometimes do well and suffer for it. But what were we supposed to do? What kind of a reaction are we supposed to have when we do well and suffer for it, according to the Bible? The Bible says that if we do well and suffer for it and take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. You know, the Bible tells us elsewhere that if we're persecuted for righteousness' sake, we should rejoice. So instead of having a bad attitude about life not being fair, why don't you just realize the fact, you know what? Sometimes I'm going to do right. Sometimes I'm going to do my best. I'm going to do well, and I'm not necessarily going to win. I'm not necessarily going to succeed in this world, in this life. But that's OK, because when God sees me suffering for doing well, he's pleased with that, and he's going to bless that. So the Bible says here in Philippians, do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. So he's saying, look, you're living in a nation that isn't fair. You're living in a world where things are backwards and where things aren't necessarily the way they should be. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ. And then look at this last phrase, that I've not run in vain, neither labor in vain. So no matter how unfair this world is, no matter how backward things are, no matter how much the wrong people are succeeding and the good people seem to not be able to get ahead, at the end of the day, we ought not murmur or complain about it. We need to just stay the course, do our job, serve the Lord, trust him. And in the end, we will not have run in vain or labored in vain. We're in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. But instead of complaining about it, instead of whining about it, why don't we be lights to shine in the darkness? Why don't we let our light shine in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation? And in the end, we will not have run or labored in vain. Because we know that God, in the end, is going to reward the just and punish the unjust, OK? Now, when it comes to this idea of life not being fair, the whole idea of fairness contains within it a comparison between us and someone else. So if I say this isn't fair, that means that I'm basically looking at my situation and comparing it to someone else's. That's necessary to even talk about fairness. There'd have to be some kind of a comparison. And this is where the problem comes in. We don't want to compare ourselves to other people in life. This is going to cause us to be unhappy and can lead to us complaining and murmuring when we maybe look at other people and feel that they have it better than us. I was going to do the story in Matthew chapter 20. I had you turn there a minute ago. But for sake of time, I'll just kind of allude to it. But that's the story where the different workers show up at different hours. One of them shows up at the third hour, some of them show up at the sixth hour, the ninth hour, the 11th hour. And at the end of the day, they all get paid the same. People that worked for one hour get paid the same as people who worked for 12 hours, right? And the people who worked the full 12 hours, at the beginning of the day, they had agreed upon a certain price, one penny for the entire day's work. Obviously, inflation has changed that. It's a different kind of penny. But the point is, they worked all day and they received the exact amount of money that they had agreed to receive. But then they turned around and complained because they saw other people working less and getting the same amount. So this guy only worked an hour and he got the same amount that I got. Now, if they had not known what that other guy got paid, they would have just gone away happy, wouldn't they? Or if they just didn't care, or if they just didn't worry about it, or if they just didn't think about it. If they would have just shown up and said, OK, here's the work, here's the pay, did their job, got paid exactly what they agreed upon, they could have just gone home happy and lived their lives. But the thing that ruined their day was seeing someone else having it better than them. And God rebukes these people and says that they're wrong. And he says, I can give away my money to whoever I want. I could just give people money for free if I wanted to. Can't I do what I want with my own stuff? Why is your I evil because I'm good? If I just gave a bonus to these people who worked less, does that mean I shortchanged you because I gave you what we agreed on? Take your money and go and be happy. And I'm paraphrasing, of course. But that's basically what that parable says. And if you stop and think about it, that's the same way it is with our lives. We, if we just looked at our life by itself, are really actually very blessed. Because we're saved, we're going to heaven, our sins are all forgiven. We don't deserve that. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We deserve hell. But yet Jesus Christ died for us and paid for all our sins. And our sins are forgiven and forgotten. We have eternal life. We're going to live in heaven forever. We have all these great blessings. What in the world is there to complain or murmur about? And then even our physical lives on this earth, most of us in here, or maybe even all of us in here, are actually living a pretty good life as far as we have food to eat. We have clothing. We're probably sleeping in a climate-controlled environment all summer long. And so we have all of these material blessings. We're in church tonight, which means that we have a community of people here that are like-minded. We have friends. Other people in other parts of the world, they wish they had Christian friends. Because they're living in some godless, heathen part of the world. And they wish they had saved Christian friends. And you say, well, it's church people. OK, but some people just wish that they had any kind of church people. And by the way, our church people are great. Just travel to a bunch of other churches. Our church is the coolest church. We have the best church right here. I've been to some churches in the past. I'm not talking about any of our friends. I'm just saying I've been to some churches where the people are a little strange. But you know, Faithful Word is a great crowd of people. I mean, there are just a lot of really nice people here, a lot of really cool people, great opportunities for friendship and fellowship. Now, a man that has friends must show himself friendly. And if you come to events, and you participate, and you get out soul winning, and you go on trips and everything, you're going to make friends here. And you're going to really meet a lot of great people. And look, I interact with a lot of people in my life. I interact with people outside of church. I like church people better than the people that I interact with in other spheres of life. You know, this is my favorite crowd right here, OK? Church. I mean, it's a blessing. But you could just take that for granted, and then maybe just find everything you don't like about our church, or don't like about church people, and pick apart the people at our church. Or you can just be glad that you have a church, and that you have an oasis that you can go to three times a week, where people actually believe the word of God, and actually have the same values that you have, and they actually believe the Bible, and care about the things of God, and they can encourage you to be a better Christian, and you can encourage them to be a better Christian. You know what? That's a blessing. So if we just looked at our life all by itself, and didn't compare ourselves to other people, we would see that we have salvation, we have prosperity. You want to compare yourself to somebody, why don't you compare yourself to all these third world countries all over the world, where people are struggling, and starving, and making a few dollars a day, or something, and realize how good we have it here in the United States. So we've got prosperity, we've got the church, we've got salvation, we've got the word of God translated into our language, we've got the King James Bible that we can read, and hear exactly what God has to say for us. So there's so many blessings, so many things to be happy about. But when you start looking at other people, then envy can creep in, and you can start thinking, well, yeah, but I don't have what they have. Or, well, yeah, OK, I like my church, but what about this other, better church over here? Sorry, all you people at home that have to feel that way. But, you know, oh, this better church, or whatever. You know, that's just a dumb attitude when you start looking at other people, and envying what they have, and complaining. You know, just realize, look, life isn't fair. Everybody's got different advantages and disadvantages. And we might look at one guy getting paid for an hour, another guy getting paid the same for 12 hours, and saying it's not fair. But you know what? At the end of the day, life is like that. And there's no point in complaining about it. Do not envy other people. That's where a lot of your discontentedness, and unhappiness, and murmuring, and complaining is going to come from. Flip over, if you would, to John chapter 21. And you know, an example of this could also be within marriage. Within marriage, you've got the husband and the wife. And the husband and the wife do not have the same role. They're not the same. And even just our experiences in life are different as men and women. Men don't live the same life that women live. We have a totally different experience in life. Now today, we have a bunch of weirdos who are born as men, but then they think like, oh, I'd rather be a woman. Or women who are born as a woman, and they, oh, I'd rather be a man or something. And obviously, that's extreme, and perverted, and weird. But it's out there. What is driving that? It's basically an attitude of envy, looking at the grass on the other side of the fence and seeing that it looks greener over there, and wanting to basically be like someone else. But you know, even within normal Christian households, there could sometimes be this attitude of envy that says, well, this isn't fair, where the wife could basically look at the husband and say, well, it's not fair, because I have it harder than you. You have it so easy. And I'm having to do all this housework, and deal with the kids, and everything like that. You just get to go to your job and just kind of like, just do your job all day. It's so easy. You know, well, I'm at home really slaving here with the kids. But you know, the husband could have the exact opposite attitude and just say, well, you know what? It's pretty easy for you, staying home every day, you know, eating ice cream in sweatpants. No, I'm just kidding. I sure hope not. But you know, the husband could have the attitude that says, hey, you know, well, it must be nice staying at home and not having to go to work. And I have to deal with all these vile people at work. And I'm working my fingers to the bone out here. And I'm doing menial, mindless labor for days on end at these jobs. You know, you're at home doing something meaningful with family. You're spending time with the children. And you're in your home environment. You have all this freedom. You know, but here's the bottom line. Being a husband and being a wife are not the same. The experience is different. And they both have their pros and cons. And sure, are there some things that are better about being a husband? Absolutely. I don't want to be a housewife. I don't want to stay home and take care of the house and take care of the kids and do all the cleaning and cooking and stuff. You know, I don't want to do any cooking at all, ever. OK? But here's the thing. I guarantee you that there are a lot of things in my life that my wife doesn't want to do, that if she tried to live my life, it would drive her absolutely insane. But if I tried to live her life, it'd probably drive me insane. And so if all our problems were hung on a line, you'd take yours, and I'd take mine. Because we all have advantages and disadvantages. And there are some things that are better about being a husband. You know, it's good to be the king, right? And so, you know, you get to be the lord of the manor. You get to be the king of the castle. You get to be the boss. OK? And you know what? Yeah, it can be great going out to work. And going to work can allow you to have all kinds of great experiences. You get to see places and go places and do stuff. And sometimes you actually do have some meaningful labor. But it's not always like that. Sometimes it's a drudgery. Sometimes it's a drag. And it can be stressful to be a husband. Because as a husband, yeah, you get to be the leader. But you also have to be the leader. It's not necessarily a get to, because it's a lot of responsibility. And you have to make difficult decisions. And you have to say no to people. And you have to bear the responsibility that goes with that. And then as a wife, you know, OK, yeah, you get to stay home, which is a privilege. It's a blessing to be a stay at home. Because guess what? Other women wish they could stay home. You know, it's easy for the housewife and the stay at home mom to complain about how hard it is being cooped up in the house and staying home. But you know, other women, they're trying to juggle everything. Other women are out there working a job and then coming home and juggling responsibilities with kids and with housework and so forth. Or how about this? What about the woman who can't have kids? You're over here complaining about being a stay at home mom and a housewife. Meanwhile, there's a woman who wishes that she could even have kids, but she's infertile. And you know, how would she feel about you complaining that you have too many kids? You know, oh, poor you with your 12 kids or 10 kids or eight kids. But why are you laughing? That's how many kids I actually have. The 12 is on the way. But anyway, you know, meanwhile, somebody just wishes that they had one. OK, so you know, everybody could just be a complainer if they wanted to, right? Everybody could just murmur and whine because life isn't fair. We're not all going through the same experience of life. One woman can't have kids at all. Another can only have one. Another is burdened with 15 of them. Or you could look at it as a blessing to have 15. It's all how you look at it. And so you can go through life comparing yourself to other people and finding something to complain about. And you're always going to be able to find something to complain about because life is so unequal. Life is so unfair that you're always going to be able to find injustices and inequalities. But instead of seeing yourself as a victim or envying other people, you should rather just be happy with what you have. Glorify God for all the gifts that you've been given. Just narrow in and just look at your situation and see how actually good it is on its own when you're not comparing it to someone else. And you just look at your situation, look at all the good things about it, serve the Lord, push through, and your labor is not in vain. And even if you don't get rewarded for it in this life, you know you're going to get rewarded for it in heaven. And if you suffer when you do well, well, happy are you because God's going to bless you for that. He sees what you're going through. And you know what? You should just be happy as a wife to be a wife. Don't try to be a man. And not just literally, because that's the weird world that we're living in, but even figuratively, don't try to live as a man. Don't just think like, oh, it'd be so great to just kind of strap on my pants and my boots and go out there and work or something. Just live the life that God has designed for you to live. And the same thing with men. Get out there and work hard and do a man's job and don't sit there and say, well, maybe I can be a stay-at-home husband or something. No. Now, did I have you turn to John 21? Look at John 21. It says in verse 18, and I'll give you the context here. This is about Jesus appearing to the disciples after he's risen from the dead. And he appears unto Peter and John and some of the other disciples. And he's telling Peter in verse 18 what's going to happen to him. And you could look at it as kind of a punishment or a result of him having denied the Lord three times. Peter's being restored to fellowship. And Jesus is telling him that he wants Peter to serve him. And he's bringing him back into the game. But he's telling him also that there's going to be some bad things that he's going to face down the road, probably as a result of the fact that he denied the Lord three times. It says in verse 18, verily, verily, I say unto thee, this is Jesus talking to Peter, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. Now, that's kind of a little bit of a riddle or a parable, right? What's he saying? He's saying, you are going to go somewhere that you don't want to go. And you're going to stretch out your hands. And you are going to basically die for me, is what he's saying. Because it says in verse number 19, this spakey signifying by what death he should glorify God. And he's going to die in such a way where his arms are stretched out in some way. So what do you think that death is going to look like? Basically, he's going to die on a cross. He's going to be crucified. Jesus is not the only person throughout history who was crucified. And legend has it, and we don't know if this is true or not, because a lot of these things get embellished and so forth, but legend has it that Peter was crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy or blasphemous to die in the exact way that Christ had died. I don't know if that's really true or not. But this seems to indicate that he was crucified in some way if he's going to stretch forth his hands as a mode of death. So Jesus is basically telling him, you know, you denied me three times, and you didn't want to follow me unto death as you claimed you would be willing to do. And so now you're going to, whether you like it or not, face that same fate eventually. And so eventually Peter is going to be martyred. It's not recorded in the Bible, but obviously Jesus is saying it's going to happen. So I'm sure it happened one way or the other. This spake he's signifying by what death he should glorify God. Now you could look at this as very negative, like, hey, Peter, I got news for you, buddy. You're eventually getting crucified. So enjoy your life up until that point. But that'd be kind of a scary thing to have hanging over your head, wouldn't it? You're going through year after year of ministry, and it's just kind of in the back of your mind that eventually you're getting crucified. It's kind of a scary thought. But at the same time, he says that he spake this signifying by what death he should glorify God. So also, this is a glorious death. It's a glorious martyrdom for Christ. And so you could look at it as positive in that way. And when he had spoken this, he said unto him, follow me. And what I like about that is that he basically tells him, here's going to be the cost of following me. You're going to be eventually martyred. You're going to eventually be crucified. Follow me anyway. Because you say, well, could Peter have avoided this, like some kind of a question of, is it set in stone? Well, I would say that it's not set in stone. Because constantly, God is prophesying things that are going to happen. And then basically they change based on circumstances changing. And so I think the idea here is, if you follow me, this is what the cost is going to be. But I'm demanding that you follow me anyway and that you be faithful unto death and that you be obedient unto death. And so he tells him, this is the death by which you're going to glorify God. So follow me. Then Peter, verse 20, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him sayeth to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? So Peter's just told, by the way, you're going to be killed. You're going to be crucified. So follow me. And he's like, well, what about this guy? What's going to happen to him? Now, you can see here this competitive spirit or this idea of envy or comparing himself or looking at someone else's situation when Peter says that about John. Now, remember, John's the guy who actually didn't deny Christ, OK? Because if you remember, John's the one who actually did follow Jesus to the cross. Everybody else is kind of scattered and running every direction. John goes there at Jesus' trial. And when Jesus crucified, women are there at the cross with him. And then John is there. And that's why Jesus is able to say to John about Mary, you know, woman, behold thy son, and son, behold thy mother, or man, behold thy mother, whatever exactly he says there. He basically looks to John and speaks to him because John is at the foot of the cross. John goes and follows close to Jesus, whereas Peter followed afar off and then denied that he even knew Christ because he was scared. John sort of did the opposite, OK? So you can kind of see there's a little bit of bitterness here when Peter says, well, what about this guy? So what does he get to do? And look at the answer, it says in verse 22, Jesus saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. What if he just never dies? If it was my will that he would just live forever until the second coming of Christ, what is that to you? And that's a question that we should let really sink in. What is that to thee? What's it to you if someone else has a better life than you, if someone else has more advantages than you, if someone else seems like they have everything handed to them? You know, what is that to you? You know, is Peter being treated unfairly here? No, Peter gets to be one of the disciples of Christ for about three and a half years during his ministry. Peter goes out and denies Christ three times, and then he's restored. And not only is he restored, he basically is one of the top apostles going into the Book of Acts. I mean, he gets a lot of air time in the Book of Acts, doesn't he? Because the first part of the Book of Acts really focuses on Peter's works. He gets to write two books of the Bible with his name on them, First Peter and Second Peter. And so I think Peter has it pretty good. Now, I don't want to get crucified upside down. But at the same time, you know, you get a couple books written with your name. But again, you know, I think I'll just stick with my life. Thank you very much. But Peter, if he just looked at his own situation, he's actually got it pretty good, doesn't he? First and Second Peter, yeah, but you know, there's First, Second, and Third John. Why, you know, why does he get three epistles? How will he get two? It's stupid, right? The point is that when we look at other people, we can start getting a bad attitude. But rather, we should just be happy with all the blessings that we've been given by God and just be happy to live the life that God has set for us. And so he says, if I will, that he tarry till I come. What is that to thee? Fall without me. And then a rumor goes around that basically that disciple's not going to die, that John's not going to die. He's just going to live until the second coming of Christ. But then the Bible clarifies in the next few verses there in chapter 21 that that's not what Jesus said. Jesus said, well, if I will, that he tarry till I come. What is that to thee? He did die. He's been dead for a very long time now. But of course, he's living in heaven. Only his body died, his soul is in heaven. But if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? And of course, you've got the legendary story about the Apostle John being, and I grew up with this story. But again, it's not in the Bible. Who knows if any of these things are actually true? And this one seems a little more far-fetched. But supposedly, he was like boiled in oil, but he was just totally unharmed. OK. Who's heard that one? Yeah, lots of people. You know, they supposedly boiled in oil, but they pulled him out, and he was just completely unharmed. Sort of like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So I mean, it could happen, right? I mean, they're thrown in the fiery furnace, and they're fine. He gets thrown into boiling oil. But again, these stories aren't really based on the word of God. Who knows? But you know, I wouldn't mind getting thrown into boiling oil if it's just like a hot tub, and I don't even get hurt. So meanwhile, John's over here hot tubbing it, and Peter is being crucified upside down. He's saying, God, is it fair? But John went through his own problems, and trials, and tribulations, and he was in exile on Patmos, and all of those things. So who knows, right? But let's just say that John just had it way better, and didn't get martyred, and just lived to be an old man, and just died peacefully of old age and asleep. Meanwhile, Peter is being tortured to death on an upside down cross. You know, that wouldn't surprise me, because life isn't fair like that. It's just the way life works, you know? The Bible says, behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life. Is everybody who serves Christ gonna get thrown into prison? No, only some will. Well, that's not fair. How come some people have to go to prison, and others don't? Because life isn't fair, that's why. Quit comparing yourself to other people. Quit expecting us all to have the same life. We all have a different life. We've all been given different talents and abilities, and we're dealt different circumstances. And you know, what really matters at the end of the day is what we do with what we've got, okay? So we're all dealt a different hand in life, and the thing that matters is what we do with it. Some people are gonna grow up privileged. You know, and a big term today that you'll hear a lot is white privilege, right? And this is kind of a buzz phrase. So you'll hear this idea a lot about privilege. Check your privilege, right? White privilege and so forth. What does that even mean, white privilege? Here's what it means. It's basically saying that some kids are growing up in a situation that sets them up for success more than others. So basically, you'll look at somebody and say, you know, why is this person failing in life? And they'll say, well, it's not really their fault. It's because they went to a bad school, they were in a poor neighborhood, and the neighborhood kids were a bad influence, and their parents were divorced, and they had an abusive step-parent, and they didn't get help with their homework, and their parents were on drugs or drunk or whatever, and so forth. Now, I don't know why this is called white privilege, because I'm sure that there are plenty of white people who grew up in horrible situations and plenty of black people who grew up in great situations. I mean, think about, I mean, families in our church that are black and their kids are growing up in a godly Christian home in our church, I mean, they're pretty privileged, aren't they? You know, their parents are married and serving the Lord, and they're working, you know, dad's working at his job and succeeding and everything like that. So yeah, there are obviously different levels of privilege when it comes to our upbringing. You know, I didn't inherit some great sum of money from my parents, or they didn't just put me into some career where I'm just running some family business or something. You know, I'm not like Hunter Biden where basically I just get to make millions of dollars with no abilities and no talent just because my dad is the vice president or whatever. But here's the thing about that. Did I grow up privileged? I think so, because of the fact that I grew up with my parents being married to each other. I actually grew up living with my biological parents, if you can imagine that. Because nowadays, I think my wife was telling me the statistic is like 15% of kids are like growing up with both biological parents in the home. So that's a privilege. You know, my parents were married to each other. They're both my biological parents. I grew up with them. That was a privilege. I grew up being taken to church. That's a privilege. My parents took good care of me. They always had enough money to pay the bills and so forth. They taught me the Bible. So I grew up with a lot of advantages in that way, didn't I? Other people grew up in a terrible situation. Is that fair? I mean, I didn't do anything to deserve to be born into a good Christian home. I was just born into it. My parents taught me the Bible. I got saved when I was six years old. I grew up listening to preaching in a Baptist church, being fed nutritious food, drinking clean water, living in America. I mean, is that fair when someone else is born in some Muslim home being taught to follow some damnable, illiterate religion? Or growing up in some atheistic home where the parents are worshipping Satan and getting drunk and getting high and just bringing all kinds of weirdos into the house? Look, life isn't fair, okay? Some people are gonna grow up more privileged than others. But at the end of the day, we're all responsible to take what we've been given and to do something with it and serve God to the best of our ability. And God is not going to judge us just on a straight scale with everyone else. He's gonna judge us based on what we did with what we got. And here's my biblical proof for that. You know, he gives the one guy two talents. He gives another guy five talents, right? You know, the guy with the five talents, he earned five talents with it. The guy with the two talents, he earned two. He didn't look at the guy with two and say, well, why didn't you produce five? He was only given two. So the best he could do was to turn two into four. And the guy who was given five, the best he could do was to turn five into 10, okay? He doesn't expect you to take two talents and turn it into 10. So don't compare yourself necessarily to the 10 guy over here. And if you're the guy with five talents, don't compare yourself to the two talent guy. You know, we've all been given different advantages and disadvantages. You know, upbringing is only one part of it. Living in America is only one part of it. And by the way, you are blessed to live in America. Just travel the rest of the world and you'll figure out how great America is, okay? But here's the thing about that. You know, what about looks? Some people are just born and they're super good looking. Other people have a face only a mother could love. Okay, some people are very healthy. You know, I was always blown away by those kids who would have perfect attendance at school. I was like, how do they do it? Because I'd get sick all the time. And then I see them, they have perfect attendance. I just thought, man, these people just have an immune system that's amazing. And some people are sickly and have all kinds of health problems and they've had them their whole life. Other people are just super healthy. Some people are very athletic and talented. Other people, not so much. Some people might be born with a great singing voice or other ability, others, not so much. And so there are all these different areas where we're given a different level of talents. Maybe you're not so good looking, but maybe you're really smart. Somebody else is really good looking, but they're not that smart. You know, which one's better? You know, it doesn't really mean being smart. Okay, all right. And you know this from experience or you know? You know, but the point is, the point is that it's not a matter of which one's better because they're not necessarily better. It's just different because guess what? These are things you can't control. So if I say, well, it's better to be smart and ugly, you know, and I know from experience. If it's better to be smart and ugly, well, here's the thing about that though. Then basically then all the good looking dumb people could look at you and feel bad like, man, I wish I could just be uglier if I could be smarter and whatever. This is a dumb line of reasoning because these are things we can't necessarily control. Now you can obviously maybe do something to improve your looks a little bit. Maybe you could do something to improve your intelligence a little bit. But what I'm talking about is the baseline that we start with. You know, no matter how much I study, I could study and study and study and study. It doesn't mean I'm gonna be the smartest person in the world because some people they're just born with a sharper mind so that if I study hard and they study hard, they're gonna do a lot better. You know, I could work really hard at sports. Someone else is gonna outdo me. And even if I outwork them, because they just, you know, they're starting from a different point. They've got some kind of a mutant muscle fiber or, you know, their VO2 max is just, you know, inherently different than mine or whatever. But the point is we all have a baseline that we start with, our basic looks. You know, we could definitely do things to make ourselves uglier. That's easy, okay? And, you know, people could even do things to make themselves look better. But there's a baseline starting point there. Some people just, they just come out of the womb looking good, all right? Other people, not so much. You know, same thing with intelligence, same things with athleticism, same thing with your immune system or your health. Yeah, we could all eat better and get healthier and improve our immune system. But, you know, some people, they eat all kinds of junk and they do all the wrong things and they just never get sick. And then other people are doing all this health food and everything and they're getting sick all the time because there's a baseline that we're just kind of born with, okay? And so the point is that we're all given a certain baseline of what talents we've been given by the Lord, whether it's looks, intelligence, you know, fitness, immune system, whatever. Go down the list of all the different attributes that we have, okay? What matters is what you do with what you've been given. Okay, that's all that matters. So it doesn't matter if I'm not as smart as someone else. You know, if I studied to show myself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, if I studied the word of God and studied to show myself approved and use my brain, that's all God expects from me. He doesn't expect me to be the smartest person. He just wants me to use what I've got, okay? You know, if one person has the ability to get out and do a whole bunch of soul winning, another person only has the ability to get out and do a little bit of soul winning. You know, God just expects us to do what we can and we ought not compare ourselves to other people and be down on ourselves or down on them or complaining or murmuring and saying it isn't fair. It isn't fair, okay? How is it fair that we all start from a different place? Some start in a good godly Christian home, others start in a horrible home that damages and scars them for life. But at the end of the day, both people can serve God, both can earn rewards in heaven, both can press toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And so the fact that life isn't fair should never be an excuse for us to not excel in the Christian life. I don't care how bad your upbringing was, God expects you to start from that point. Maybe I'm starting at a five and working up from there. Maybe some people are starting from a zero. Maybe you're starting from negative 27. But you know what? God expects us to all climb that spiritual ladder as high as we can go and do the best that we can for the Lord and serve God. Do not become an angry, bitter person. Anger rests in the bosom of fools. Murmuring and complaining displease the Lord. Accept your situation, accept who you are, look at yourself in the mirror and accept your appearance, accept your level of intelligence and your skill level, accept the things that God has given you, accept your parents, accept your family situation, accept what God has dealt you in your life, and just do the best that you can with it. And just serve the Lord, don't complain about it, don't see yourself as a victim. Because you know what? If you start out lower on that ladder, then there's just more glory in climbing that ladder. So you could look at it that way. If you end up being one of the few that's cast into prison, you know, look, I don't wanna go to prison. I hope that I'm never cast into prison. But if I am cast into prison someday, I'm not gonna complain about it and say, well, this is a fair, you know, why isn't Pastor Jimenez in prison? Why am I in prison? So much for white privilege. You know, I'm in prison and he's scot-free, we preach the same stuff. You think that's gonna be my attitude? No, if I go to prison someday, I'm not gonna complain about it. You know what? I'm just gonna look at it as, well, you know what? It's kind of a privilege in a sense to go to prison for Christ because it's rewards in heaven. You know, you could look at it that way, right? Instead of just thinking, well, this isn't fair. Well, you know what? It's not necessarily gonna be fair. I look at my pastor friends and I see that several of my pastor friends have been persecuted a lot worse than I have. I've gone through some stuff, but honestly, I do not believe that I've been the most persecuted pastor in the group here. I would say that pastor Jimenez has been persecuted worse than I have. I would say pastor Berzins, pastor Shelley, pastor Mejia, I mean, these guys have all gone through worse things than I have. Pastor Thompson, I mean, I look at, you know, and I've gone through some stuff, but I look at the stuff that they're going through and I'm like, wow, that's a lot worse than anything I've gone through. So is that fair? When I've said all the same type of things and done the same type of things, and yet it seems like I got off pretty easy compared to some of these guys, you know, knock on wood. But then again, you know, they might be thinking the same thing about me, but I think objectively speaking, some of these guys have gone through worse stuff than I've gone through, period. But the point is, it was never going to be fair. You know, we should never expect it to be fair because life is like that. We're all hit with something different, but you know what? I'm just gonna be the best pastor that I can be and deal with whatever God throws at me. And my other pastor friends are gonna do the same thing. Whatever God throws at them, that's what they have to endure. I have to endure what's thrown at me. They have to endure what's thrown at them. And it doesn't really matter. It's not profitable to sit around wondering, you know, well, is it fair or why? Why did he get persecuted more than you? Is it because, you know, God's punishing him for some secret sin in his life? Or is it because he's a better Christian than you? So because he's better, he's getting more persecution because he's better. Or it's because he's worse, so God's not protecting him. I mean, this is stupid, isn't it? It's meaningless. It's nonsense. There's no comparison. I'll tell you why some pastors among us get persecuted worse than others. It's simply because the world isn't fair. That's why. Because everybody's experience is gonna be different. Because life doesn't throw the same thing at every person. But the only thing that matters is just that we handle whatever is thrown at us in a godly way. That's all he expects us to do. So don't complain. Be happy. Be content. Don't envy other people. Don't compare yourself to other people. Just praise the Lord for whatever God throws at you. And just realize that life isn't fair. So quit being shocked when people at your job get promoted that don't deserve it, and when people that deserve the promotion don't get it, and when stupid videos are on the home page of YouTube every single day. Why does that surprise you anymore? You think the best man is going to win the election, whatever the election? No. Because life isn't fair. But at the end of the day, God is fair. And at the end of the day, at the judgment seat of Christ, he will fairly reward us all. And he will take into account what we were given. And he will not grade on a straight scale, but it will be curved according to what we've been given. And he will judge us based on what we did with what we were given. So you say, well, I don't have the talent of so-and-so. Well, you know what? Fine. You do the best with what you've got, and you'll be judged accordingly. You don't have to measure up to so-and-so, OK? Because you run your own race, and they run their own race. Let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for the fact that someday when we get to heaven, everything will be fair and right and just, Lord. But here we are in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, Lord, and things aren't fair. Lord, help us not to get angry or bitter or have a bad attitude, Lord. But just help us to be happy for all the blessings that you give us every day. And not let that happiness be soured when we look at other people who seem to have it better than us, Lord. Help us to just run our own race and be content with the situation you've given us. And in Jesus' name, we pray, amen. Amen. Take your song books, and let's go to hymn number 150. 150, my faith has found a resting place. Hymn number 150. Let's sing it on that first verse together, number 150. My faith has found a resting place, not in device or place. I trust the ever-living one, his voice for me shall be. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. Enough for me that Jesus saved. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through his blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. My great physician gives us safe, the lost he came to save. For he is precious that we share. For he is lightly paid. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. Amen. Great things. Same thing for us this. Amen. I said, would you sign it? The blessings that you give us every day and not let that happiness be soured when we look at other people who seem to have it better than us, Lord. Help us to just run our own race and be content with the situation you've given us. And in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.