[0:00] If you guys can go with me to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 1. This morning in the Spanish church where I was there listening to the message and I would just hear like, cha-cha-cha-cha-cha. I'm like, what is that? Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha.
[0:12] But it was brotherly, I don't know where he is, but that pork was good. Amen? Amen? Yeah, there you go. Galatians chapter 1. We're going to be reading verse 6 and verse 8.
[0:23] And it's an honor and a privilege always to be able to preach the word of God, share something. Tonight I want to just remind you, church, that there's only one true gospel. Amen? And that is that we're saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Amen?
[0:37] If you believe that, say amen. As we go there, the book of Galatians is a little different than the other letters that Paul writes to the church. As we see, Paul is a little upset at the church. He's a little mad at the fact that they've turned from the one true gospel.
[0:51] There's people out there changing. They're saying that you can be saved by circumcision. You can be saved by keeping the law, by your works. But there's Paul's mad. He's like, no, no, no, church.
[1:01] Listen here. We're saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Not by what we do, but through faith in him. Amen? Bible says, verse 6. I marvel. Paul's talking. He's marveled.
[1:13] I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Verse 7. Which is not another. He says that again. Which is not another. It's not another gospel.
[1:24] It's only one. But there be some that trouble you and will pervert the gospel of Christ. And verse 8. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
[1:38] Church, there's one gospel and it's our job to share it. It's sad. Well, there's people out there that are dying and they're believing these lies. They're going and they're just thinking this because of how they live, by how good they live, by what they do, by their works.
[1:51] And it's sad, but there's people dying all over the world. And it's sad, but it's true. Ephesians 2.89. We say it's not about works. A couple weeks ago, we had the cheapest mission trip.
[2:02] If you went to the cheapest mission trip, can you raise your hand? Okay, I thought we had more, but yeah. Okay, so we went to a Hindu temple. Jeff, we went with Jeff Brown and McKenzie. We went to a Hindu temple. Man, it was such a challenging week.
[2:14] What a great week it was. But you know what? We went to this Hindu temple here in Atlanta. We went and we walked in. And as we were walking up, it's a room probably this big. And there's a bunch of gods made of stone.
[2:27] And we were just walking around. And I would just see like God and God and God and false gods. And I'm like, man. And then it got worse because I got to the end. And I see this little girl, probably the age of my little sister or younger.
[2:38] And she's bowing down. Her parents were teaching her how to bow down. They were teaching her how to do this and stand up and bow down and stand up and bow down. And doing it over and over again. And I'm like, she's going to live her whole life believing this lie.
[2:50] She's going to live her whole life. And then she's going to pass it on to the next generation and to the next generation. And more people are going to keep on dying. And all over the world too. And I was thinking of the fact that there's Hindu temples here in Atlanta.
[3:02] It makes me think how many of there actually are in the country of India and all over the world. There's people out there being lied to. There's people out there. There's false teachers going around and saying, hey, you can be saved by what you do.
[3:13] You can be saved by how you live. You can be saved by the words. You can be saved. You can have Jesus, but you have to keep the Ten Commandments. And it's not true. We have the true gospel, church. And it's our job to share it.
[3:23] Amen? Jesus tells the people in Matthew 7 and 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're ravening wolves. Paul himself in the next chapter too says, And that because of false brethren unaware is brought in.
[3:36] And there's people now that's in church that they either add or take out from the gospel. They just want to fit it as long as it goes to how they live, as long as it fits their routine. We need, as a church, we need to be reminded. First, we need to be aware.
[3:48] We need to be aware that there's people out there. False teachers are lying. They're saying all these things. But also, as a church, it's our job to share it. There's people being lied to, but it's our job as Christians to share the truth.
[3:59] And if you're here and you're not saved, let me tell you, God sent his son. And we sang that song, Man of Stars, and I love that song. Oh, that rugged cross. He died on the cross for all of us in this room.
[4:10] And not just all of us in this room, but the whole world. And it's our job as a church to share that truth. So, church, I encourage you. We're saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
[4:21] I just remind you, I just encourage you tonight, let's be aware. And let's share that truth. Thank you. Great message on how we should share that truth by Benjamin.
[4:34] If you guys can turn your Bibles to the book of 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. You know, there's one true gospel. But in 1 Peter chapter 4, we're going to be talking about suffering.
[4:48] Now, why are we talking about suffering? Well, everyone suffers. Whether you're saved or lost, everyone suffers. Now, if you know anything about suffering, suffering isn't really a good thing.
[4:59] No one likes to suffer. But spiritually, we sometimes suffer because of our sin. We suffer because we're doing wrong. And you know what? We suffer because we need to face the consequences. Other times, we suffer because we're doing the right thing.
[5:12] And because we are a Christian. And you know what? Satan's just attacking us. One example of a person who suffered was Job. You know, he was tested. And he suffered. And we should know that everyone will go through suffering in life.
[5:26] And you know what? Today, I want us to see three things on what to do when we suffer. Three ways to respond to suffering. The first thing is, do not be surprised with suffering, but expect it.
[5:37] Verse 12 says, Beloved, think it not strange. Don't be surprised concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.
[5:48] You know, many times as Christians, we go through trials and we don't expect them. You know, we have a lot of things going on in life. We get distracted by other things. And then when trials come, we get mad at God.
[6:00] Why? Well, sometimes because, you know, we need expected. And for me, trials are like a football game. I played football in high school. And you know what?
[6:10] You should always expect the unexpected. You know, when you're playing a football game, you should always expect to get hit. And if you don't expect it, if you're just running and you get off guard, your opponent is going to try to hit you as hard as he can.
[6:26] And you know what? If you get off guard, you're going to get knocked out. And in a match, you don't say, what in the world, ref? What are you doing? You know, I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't ready.
[6:37] You know, next time, give me a heads up. No, we should always expect it. As Christians, we should always expect trials. We should always expect suffering. And why should Christians expect suffering?
[6:49] Well, the first thing is that we live in a broken and sinful world. John 16, 33 says there will be tribulation. You will go through problems. You will go through suffering.
[7:00] There will be suffering. Second thing is that we are strangers to this world. And John chapter 15, verse 20 says, If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
[7:13] You will suffer. Because Jesus suffered, you will suffer. And the third thing is we see in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12, that we shouldn't be surprised because it's a test. It's a trial.
[7:24] It's to try you. It's not to harm us, but it's to test us. Second thing is that when we suffer, we should not be sad. We should not be in a mood. We should not complain. But we should rejoice in it.
[7:35] Verse 13, let's see what it says. It says, but rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
[7:47] And if you go down to 16, it says, Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. We should rejoice because we're giving God the glory.
[8:01] It should be a privilege to suffer for him. When I think about suffering, I think about Peter and John, how they're dragged out and they're beaten for their love for God. We aren't told, they were preaching the gospel, and they were told never to talk about him again.
[8:15] But you know what they did? They preached the gospel. And in Acts chapter 5, verse 41, you know what? The Bible says that they rejoiced. And I can't imagine how they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus.
[8:28] And you know what? We should love Jesus that much that we should be willing to suffer for him. And the last thing is that when we're suffering, we need to trust God.
[8:39] Trust God. Verse 19, it says, Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful creator.
[8:52] When we suffer, we know that we can go to him and trust him because he is a faithful creator. When you suffer, you should turn to God and say, God, I may not understand this.
[9:03] I don't know what I'm going through, but I don't need to because you are a faithful creator. Give your life to him. Trust him.
[9:14] Are you trusting him? Lost person. Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? So how can we respond to suffering? Well, we need to expect it.
[9:25] We know that suffering is going to come. We need to rejoice in it. We need to rejoice. And the last thing is that we need to trust God. Many times what I tend to do is I tend to get mad at God and ask him why.
[9:40] And instead of expecting things, you know, and I always say, God, why am I suffering? Why am I going through this? Why, God? Why me? I do that a lot.
[9:50] Do you do that? Instead of rejoicing and suffering, I complain and it's always about me. It's always about why is it happening to me? What's going on in my life? But we know that we should rejoice in it.
[10:03] We should rejoice. And instead of trusting God, you know, I try to work it out. I don't go to God. And you know what? When the Bible says to lean not on your own understanding, you know what the human does?
[10:15] You know, they try to lean on their own understanding. When the Bible says to trust God, we don't trust God. Why? We need to be trusting God. Are you suffering today? Are you struggling?
[10:27] We know that you need to expect it. When you're suffering, expect it. Rejoice in it and trust God. Because God, he is good.
[10:38] God is good and he is faithful. And not just any faithful person, but he is a faithful creator. So trust in him and give your life to him if you haven't already. Thank you.