R1646 A Christian Response To A Personal Attack, Pt.2

A Christian response to a personal attack. That's today's message from Dr. Don Wilton on this edition of The Encouraging Word. We'll head to Psalm 27 in just a moment with Dr. Wilton, but know that we're connecting with you every single day on our website, www.tewonline.org. Stop by and see us today.

That's tewonline.org. And now Dr. Don Wilton. The church and the family. God instituted both of them.

God did. This is a Christian response to a personal attack. It'll manifest itself in your relationship in the body of Christ. You'll become an agitator, like you are in your home, like you are in yourself.

Fourth way is nationally, how you deal with national strife. What does the Bible say? Bible says we are salt and light. If the world loses its saltiness, how's it going to have any taste?

It's talking to Christians. You know how God takes the salt out of you? He doesn't. God never takes salt out of anybody.

The devil does. The devil's out to steal, rob, destroy, take, diminish, render you dry. He's going to rub you up the wrong way. Going to get in there and niggle you until you can't stand it anymore. He's going to agitate your heart. He's going to tickle your insides. He's going to bother you to death.

That's what he does. And then the fifth of course is the world. You'll see it in your relationship globally. You say, well, I don't go anywhere.

We are all products of our world. All right, watch this. You're ready for this now guys, because I want to give you, I want to show you what God showed me. So here's David and he's about to be king.

He's got everything and he's under such attack, personal attack, and it affects him in his family, affects him in his nation, affects him in his person. So what does he do? Well, he gives us five things to do.

Here they are. Number one, how do you and I as Christians, how do we respond? What can we do? Number one, establish your foundation. And sometimes you need to reestablish your foundation. Look here in chapter 27. Yeah, he says right out the bat, this is how he starts everything. He says, the Lord is my light, my salvation.

What's the next thing is a question. So bring it on. He didn't say that.

That's my Greek and Hebrew in there. Now bring it on. That's not like an arrogant thing, like you want a piece of me, you know.

That's not what he's saying here. He's saying, listen, before I even go to God with this thing that, or these things that are getting into my soul spirit, I'm going to establish my foundation. Lord, you are my light. You are my salvation. By the way, you'll never have a Christian response if you don't establish your foundation.

Guys, listen to me. There are a hundred wonderful Christian counselors out there. I'm one of them. I'm a wonderful Christian counselor. It's part of what I do, but I can't do for you what only God can do. Did you get that?

I can't do it like only God can do. He said, Lord, you are my light. You're my rock. You're my foundation. You're my fortress. So establish your foundation. Number two, identify your attackers. Oh, really?

I'm going to put it into lay people's terminology. Ready? What is your problem, man? Why are you so down? Why are you hurting like this?

Excuse me. Why are you talking like that to your wife? Why? What's the matter with you? Why do you treat your family like they your enemy? Why are you behaving like that in your church?

Why are you acting like a total jerk in your classroom? What's all this strutting around and I'm going to tell you and as far as I'm concerned, let me give you a piece of my mind. You're a Christian. Something's got to you.

So I'm just one fellow, right? I love you, man. I want you to hurt like this. I want you to go through life backwards. It bothers me that you spend every second day being so miserable.

You don't need this and your family doesn't need this. So what David did, he identified his attackers and you'll notice the three categories there. So he kind of like isolates them.

The first are the people. He says men who are evil, evil people. I sound like a foghorn.

Some of you say, oh, there he goes again. I'm so tired of him telling me to protect my children. I get it. I'm a parent. Listen, I'll say to you again, protect your children from evil people.

I'm telling you watch your kids. Don't fall for the sleep over lie. What's the sleep over lie? All little kids want to go and sleep over.

Nothing wrong with sleeping over, but you had better know the people they're going to sleep over with. That's what I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. You don't just say to your child, oh, wonderful. That gives us a night off. Off you go, sweetheart.

I'll drop you there. There are evil people out there. They will destroy your child. I'm just telling you. And all it takes is one night.

So what did he mean by evil men? Excuse me. I've never known a chair to jump up and bite me. Never. That chair will not, nor will this.

Now I might stumble over it or hit myself or bump myself. This thing cannot hurt me. But I tell you who can, a people person. People can be as unkind as you've ever been.

They will rip you to shreds. He talks here about slander. You're not slanderers saying malicious things about someone with the intent to diminish them. Gossip. Rumor. Evil people.

Sorry. Second thing he talks about are enemies. Somebody said, what's the difference between people and enemies? Well, people are people. Enemies are a bunch of people. It's the convoy.

People gather people. Listen, folks. When that old devil decides he's going to get to you and attack you, he may start with one person.

Forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message in just a moment with Dr. Don Wilton, but as God spoke to him, asked him to say yes, and he did, perhaps there's something going on in your life or my life right now that we realize God is calling us to do. Perhaps you'd like to have someone to pray with you or for you in that decision-making process. We have great friends at the other end of this phone number, 866-899-WORD, always available to pray with you and for you and even connect you with great resources here at The Encouraging Word.

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Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Let me tell you what evil people do. They look for company. They gather to themselves friends, allies. Let's all go and put this number on her and let her know how sorry she is.

Well, not in a month of Sunday is she going to sit at our table. And then the third group are armies. How do you define an army?

This is like open warfare. He goes from one person to a bunch of people to an entire country. And if you're asking me to define America today and the onslaught against America, there you have it. It's coming through individual people. Just look at some people in Congress or wherever it is you are. It's coming through collections of people. And it's coming through national legislation.

This is what the whole country is going to have to do. We are not going to worship God anymore. We are not going to pray anymore. And we are not going to mention Jesus. Now blasphemy is an exception. You can blaspheme Jesus anyway. And we'll include it in the speech.

But you can't pray in Jesus name. I just wanted to clarify something. Identify your attacker. What's happening to you, my friend? What is it?

What's causing this in your heart? Number three, determine your end game. I love this point here. It's a strong point.

I didn't make it God's word. Determine your end game. So let me give an illustration here. So if you're bringing up your children, you as parents are actually, you have determined your end game for your sons and daughters. So what is your end game for your son or your daughter? Well, where do we start?

I want my child to be healthy and happy and wholesome and get educated and be able to play a good sport and have good friends and grow up one day and meet someone wonderful and have a happy home and marriage. That's your end game, right? That's the goal. Watch me. Listen to me, guys.

You won't ever, you will not overcome your attack if you don't define your end game. So if you're in a marriage, you've got a husband and wife and one or both of you have been behaving very strange over a period of time and it's affecting your home. The first question I'm going to ask you, identify that. Say, yes, okay, this is what's going on. Yes, we're not doing good.

I'm not doing good. And this is it. A, B, C, D, E, F. Now what's your end game? What would you like your marriage to be, your home? Well, man, I just want to have a happy home. I want to walk into my house. Hey, sweetheart. And she says, hey, sweetheart, I want to be able to play in the backyard with the kids, man, and go for a picnic and wake up in the morning, watch a movie together. I just want a happy home life. That's an end game. Maybe your home right now is not.

It's tense. It's like one thing's not right. Establish your end game, guys. Are you listening to me?

What did he do? He had three points of his end game. Number one, to hear the words well done. Right there in verse four, he says in verse four, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. What's the end game? David is saying, you know what? I want one day when I die to hear the voice of my savior say to me, well done, good and faithful servant. That's my end game. But then he brings it close to home.

He said, my second end game is to hold steady. Look at verse five. He says, he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle. Look at the beginning of verse five. This is not waiting to get to heaven. This is now. Hide me now. He says, for in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling.

That's his end game. Yeah, Lord, I want one day, you know, when I die and I go to heaven, I want you to be able to say to me, well done, good and faithful servant. But right now in my trouble, in my attack, I want you to help me to hold steady. Guys, what happens when we hurt? Everybody who hurts runs. I cannot tell you the number of people in my ministry that have had a marriage and a happy life and something they've come under attack and the first thing they do is they run. They run from the church.

They run from God. He is saying, my end game is hold steady. Don't get out of the boat. Hold steady. And number three, worship regardless. Isn't that a powerful point, Chris?

I mean, he says it here in verse six, he says, whatever happens, I will sing and make music to the Lord. Can't tell you how many times I walk in here. I've got this going on, this going on, this going on, meet this person doing that's all.

Nothing's terrible. I walk in, but I come in and I stand and I start worshiping and God inhabits my praise. When we sang Waymaker before I got up to preach this morning, I was standing right down here on the front row. This is where I was.

I wasn't on the platform. Hello to all you on TV. You've never seen me this close have you? I'm not that bad looking, I told you.

So look at the back of my head for a second. So here I am worshiping. I will sing anyway. And so you say, well, man, you preaching, you just, you never under attack. You don't ever have any problems. You don't even burp.

I do. And then I get up here and Genesis are just sharing in worship. And that's what he's saying here. He's saying my end game, I'm going to make these decisions. So then he gets to the next point and he, let's just go through it again.

What does a Christian respond? What do you need to do? Number one, establish your foundation, right? Second, define who's attacking you. What is it?

What's going on? Number three, determine your end game. What do you want to come? What do you think God would want of you? Happiness has got to be one of those, right?

You've got to be, I just want to be happy. Thank you. Number four, speak your request. Now it's time. David says, now it's time to actually tell God this. It's not like God's been sitting there saying, I wish he'd start speaking up. Now God knows this all from the beginning, but now he says, I'm going to tell him, look what he says here in verse seven.

I mean, it's clear as anything. He says, hear my voice. So when he speaks his request, here's the four things he speaks. Number one, hear me. Number two, look at me. That's right there in verse nine. Number three, teach me. Verse 11. Number four, hold me. That's his request.

I love it, man. No one hear me. Number two, look at me. Number three, teach me. Number four, just hold me. You know, on Friday we went down to Lake Hartwell area, Greg and Abby and four of our grandkids came up there.

We just sat on the edge of, got some chairs and sat there for a couple of, five hours and just played with the kids, man. Love it. To my grandkids, they call me chief. They know that I love them. So why do they have to come up to me and say, watch me chief. Why? Listen to me chief. I don't have to do that. Hold me chief.

I don't have to do that. Do you know something? You'll only understand this if you're a parent or grandparent. There's just something about that little one that you love that looks up into your face and says, chief, please hold me. That little girl comes and stands there and says, listen to me chief.

I want to talk to you. You and I all too often just assume on God. We just see him as God.

God's going to do it anyway. He still wants us to love on him back, which brings me to the final point. This is David's final point.

Number five. He has the fifth thing you can do. Wait your turn. Look what he says here in that last verse. He says, wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Why does he say wait for the Lord? Because he's God. The word wait there carries with it the idea of a total trust in God's ability, in God's time. By the way, God and instant coffee don't go together.

Did you know that? God is not a coffee machine. Oh, excuse me just a minute. God's not a drive through.

You don't wind your window down and say, I'll have this, this and this and I need it right now. He's God. You got to trust him. You know why you can trust him?

Because he'll do it. As God has stirred your heart and my heart, perhaps there's something that needs to be adjusted, a change necessary. Before we get away and you've heard from Dr. Wilton preaching and teaching from the pulpit, but as he steps into the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. Perhaps you prayed with Dr. Wilton just moments ago to give your life to Jesus Christ. Again, Dr. Wilton has these resources that will help you grow in your faith.

He wants you to have if you'll call 866-899-9673 or meet us online at www.tewonline.org. And while you're there, discover who we are. Right now you may be driving in your car or sitting in the comforts of your own home.

Perhaps you may be at work or listening to us in a prison cell. Wherever you are, I have an encouraging word for you today. And that word is God is in control. He is sovereign over the universe. His plan for your life remains intact and He has not changed.

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