Everyone has been struggling for a long time.

Good morning everyone,

Before we begin i want to state that our theme is one that everyone has been struggling for a long time. The world and Christianity and how it affects us? I am trying something different and wont be putting the verses on the screen so fasten your seat belts and grab your bibles

Galatians 1:1-2 “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:”

There is definitely no denying that the Apostle Paul is writing this letter because he has put his stamp of approval. We don’t have to worry about someone messing with Scholars disagreeing because the Apostle Paul figured that out for us. However, before we go any farther we have to dive deep into a word that he uses.

The word Apostle has many meaning. However, the meaning that we need to understand and worry about is what it means for the Apostle Paul. Apostle or like we have called it in the past Big A means in Greek a messenger or someone commissioned to carry out the instructions of God.

I am not going to try and say the Greek word because it would be like a train wreck with no chance of brakes working. The Apostle Paul was apart of the original 12. Of course i am excluding Barabbas that betrayed Jesus but this was a select group of individuals that God chose to spread the Gospel and do his work.

What we need to gather is that God has tasked Paul with the job of being the messenger or a modern day amber alert or silver alert to tell us about something important that we need to know. For example, a few weeks ago we had the massive group of torandos that hit southwest Florida Sunday morning. We recieved notifications via text message, amber alerts, emails, phone calls and television. there was every possible way to get our attention and to spread the information to the citizens of lee county. It almost drove some of us crazy that were here for Sunday School. The Apostle Paul is exactly the same thing because he is trying to tell us something so important that God has chosen him to get the message out.

There is no hiding that human-beings are stubborn individuals that do what they want instead of what is right or what we are told. If you don't believe me and your a guy i want you to ask your significant other?

There is a reason why God has given us individuals to help us in this life and for us to listen to them. A few weeks ago i worked a really long day and wasn't feel very good but i got up like normal to spend some time with my family. My lovely wife said honey i love you but take your meds and go back to bed. I could of fought it but i didn't because she was there to help me. What i am trying to convey is that the Apostle Paul is like our spouse or mentor that is trying to help us as the reader and the citizens of Galatia. They are not trying to belittle us or make fun of us but they are trying to help us. The apostle Paul is doing the same thing.

We don’t even get into the second verse and he says that he is not saying this directly but the message is from our Heavenly father and the trinity. Our Creator is trying to save us from ourselves and from each others sins and transgressions. You cannot go five minutes into the outside world without being faced with massive amounts of sin, evil and flifth that plagues the streets. And i have to be honest some of that even comes from indivudals that call themselves Christians. Yes i said it even Christians can sin and yes we know this but are we willing to admit it?

The Apostle Paul was speaking the message that God inspired and has inspired with the entire Bible.

All 66 books of the Bible came from the many individuals that were the instruments of writing the scripture that we carry in our pockets on our phones and the paper copies that we have on our book shelves. He was not simply stated that he was saying something to the Galatians but everyone that reads the letter. The letter that we are going to go over is almost 2,000 years old but it has so much relievence (Re-live-ence) and critical information for us to understand.

Now we see something that is very interesting and fascinated me when i was diving deep into the meaning of our Apostle Paul. We see it in the 3rd verse so let us dive deep into it.

Next we see in verse 3

Galatians 1:3

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,”

Of course we think that this is a simply greeting like whats up dawg or how are you doing? But there is so much more depth and understanding that we need to grasp from the context of this. We as a church know the meaning of Grace our fellowship is called the Charis fellowship or Grace in Greek. However, we must take a step back and understand that the people of Galatia were told and lived with the concept that they could give themselves salvation and grace. They believed in Salvation by works and by something you earn. Sounds Familiar with what many modern day Christians are told that they must do x amount of things no matter what so they can party in heaven with Jesus.

Right off the bat the human author is telling us that

we add nothing to the equation and we are merely nothing compared to our heavenly father and Jesus who died for our sins. The world has almost always been wicked except for the small period of time before Adam and eve ate from the tree of knowledge. The Bible has nothing but scandal, murder and sin throughout the pages but there is another message in how we all deserve no mercy, no saving, no life boat but we have someone that loves us so much that he had a plan. God knew that we were going to mess it up and provided a plan A to give us a way to become clean with no transgressions. White as snow and the whitest white known to man. He doesn't forget them but he has forgiven us of them. We as human beings and as Believers give noting , nota the situation or the equation.

We think that in the year 2022 things are evil and getting bad but they always been bad and even when the letter to Galatia was written they were doing with wicked and morally wrong things that would make our sin crawl.

What are some thing that are wicked or evil in this world?

Murder, greed, lying, lust, deceitful thoughts and actions. This is just a small list but think about a your favorite murder mystery show.

Kaitlyn and I love the show Castle where there is a writer that tails a NYPD detective and they solve crimes and get themselves into trouble constantly. Anyone that has seen this type of stuff in real life or on TV knows that people are not good. We kill each other over money, we back-stab for a promotion, we lie, we cheat and do whatever we want because we can and it is ours for the taking. The world owes us nothing and God owe us nothing. YOu are not special and do not deserve a participation trophy Just for showing up.

But we have to ask ourselves internally did we create ourselves ? Did we give ourselves life or did we depend on someone else? We didn't give birth to ourselves- we had a mother who went through hours of labor with pain and agony to bring life into this world. We did not decide one day that we would create the sky, heavens and the dirt but instead we had a supreme amazing being that created everything before even the concept of time !!!

Jesus didn't save us from a physical death but saved our soul from a spiritual death. God sent his son to to take our transgressions so that we did not die spiritually. What is the health of your spiritual health and what are some of your struggles? These are the things we have to face in this book as we start.

We Continue in our Passage by moving on to Verse 6 and 7.

Galatians 1:6–7

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”

The Apostle Paul dives right in and calls out the Believers of Galatia for something that we would be shocked that happened. These are very early believers and still learning. You could call them baby Christians because they are still learning but this doesn't take the blame but gives us an explanation. They almost are instantly leaving our Heavenly Father that has saved them from grace and given us mercy by sending his son to die on a wooden Roman cross. The aspect of false teachers and doctrine is introduced. The truth was replaced by someone that was spreading the false word.

How many churches have we had in our past that they are preaching the false doctrine or something that goes completely against God word and what he is teaching us. If you ever get bored do a web search of different types of false doctrine.

For example some types of false doctrine being taught is legalism , believing that if you just say a prayer or get baptized you are saved even if there is no transformation in your life.

One that shocked me was that some churches are teaching that Jesus is not actually God. They discredit the entire Trinity even though it is in black and white in Scripture. And the last one i am going to mention is the added requirements to be saved. Jesus and something else is needed to be saved.

Those that Believe in Jesus and send 20 dollars to my church every week or buy my new book that is going to open your eyes and earn your Salvation.

The concept of False Doctrine and the wrong type of teaching is not something that is two thousands years ago but is right in our backyards. One of the most dangerous things in my opinion for Christians is someone that just accepts the fact of what is being said without, using critical skills to dive deep into the scripture. If you are not having that walk with God every day than i could twist the scripture to say whatever i want. I could take something out of context on purpose and we would have another James Town or even worse. It is your job in those seats to keep us in check because yes we make mistakes and we need to be called out.

One Hardest things for any guy is to admit that he was wrong or he rushed in his teaching but this is critical for anyone that is teaching God’s word. Believers think that if you are a pastor that you know everything that is happening in the Bible and why it is happening. But here is the thing you are always learning and there are just things that you wont know until you have died and asked the author that wrote those inspired words.

Lets move on in the journey

Verse 8 The Apostle Paul continues by saying

Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

The Apostle Paul continues with the previous verse with an example that is almost bizarre because he is saying that even if himself or an angle is saying something that is different than the Gospel that has been taught then they are not being completely honest and True.

Nothing is to go against what our Creator, Sustainer and Heavenly Father has told us in Scripture. Not myself, pastor rich or any other Biblical Teacher. We get things wrong and the Apostle Paul goes another level deeper and says that if an angel tries this then they are wrong. AN Angel or Messenger based on the meaning in Biblical Text is included just to even reinforce that nothing can go against what has been said in the Gospel. Unless it is God himself then nothing can change the Gospel. Think how paramount that must be if not even an angel can change these things?

Of course, this is a strong example but it is meaning to stress the point that no matter what we are to not go against the word of God. The word of God is like super glue and concrete mixed together. It is binding and lasting forever and it cannot be changed. There is a reason for every word that was written in the Scripture. For example, last Sunday school we mentioned the dead sea scrolls and how it was so scared and critical that if there was just a single mistake they had to start all over again. Every time they wrote the name of God they used a new writing utensil.

There is a reason why Doctor. Luke seems vague sometimes and the Apostle Paul seems to take it up a notch to stress a point .

We see in Verse 9

“As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

The Apostle Paul is making a reminder to the church in Galatia that he has mentioned this issue previously and that it is so critical that they understand this that he is making the statement again.

Anyone that makes a different Gospel or message contrary to what i have told you is speaking untruth and should not be followed.

The culture at that time was doing the complete opposite of what the church was being told. Destruction of God word and attacks on believers is not something new and has been happening for thousands of years. We have to understand that Satan uses these devices to ensure that we doubt God word or we had our own spin to it.

The Judaizers who were a hybrid of Jewish and Christian were trying to say that you were not a Believer unless you were circumcised and followed the old Testament laws that God used as an example to show the Jewish people the difference of Clean and unclean.

Pastor Rich has stressed this and for good reason.

WE as humans are fowl individuals and not like the bird. We will cheat,steal and kill for anything that we want. We lie just to ensure that we are not put in a place that we don’t want to be.

The 613 laws in the old Testament was not a manual or a rule book but more of a way to show them that they were not able to keep them all. You are messed up and without, the grace and the love of God you are unclean and will go to hell. There is not a single thing that you can do that will save you from your transgressions. without Jesus covering of our sin we are going to Hell . Cut and dry just like that. This was a major issue in the early church and in my opinion it keeps creeping up because individuals think that everything can be bought. Going to church is not fire insurance . It is not something that i can add to my Group plan with Trippe A but having a relationship with The one that created everything from nothing or even the abstract of nothing. There are not even enough words to even explain or phantom this.

Doctor. Randy smith says something in his book on Galatians that makes so much sense and that is if sin is the sickness of man then God and the Gospel is the cure. The Gospel of God is the ultimate medicine that we need. But will we listen to it ?

Will we tell our neighbors , family and friends?

The Gospel is not something Secret and has been around for thousands of years but not everyone has been exposed to it. We cannot keep it to ourselves. It is our job to follow the true Gospel and to tell everyone about it.

We do not get to pick and choose what we like and what we do not like because if we did then we are no better than the judaizers that were pushing the Leveltical laws.

But we are not done yet in this periscope . Verse 10

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

I always love the Apostle Paul because there is so much i see and love about him. We see in this verse that he is saying like it is. I am not trying to seek your permission or even your blessing. If i am to please man than i will not be pleasing or making my Heavenly Father proud of me. It is not our job to make our fellow Believers or those on the outside happy with us but with the one that created us. Should we truly care if someone doesn't like that someone asks questions during a sermon or we all use tablets and iPad as our Bible. As long as we are glorifying and doing what God has told us then what is the big deal ? Why should i care because God doesn't care and he created the world in seven days.

I always think of it as a book you have the beginning, the middle and the end. The thee parts that most people read in the book store. Without, the beginning then we do not understand the shear power and awesomeness of our Creator. Without, the middle we do not see that he has provided an escape plan that was foretold to give us grace and mercy by sacrificing his son on a Roman cross. And we have the end where the Earth is Destroyed and we all who are called are partying with Jesus. Yes i realize i extremely over simplified this but i was trying to state that we should not be seeking the blessing or affirmation from fellow man but from our abba. Our Heavenly Father.

So what are our takeaways or if could think of it as a job description

What would it say

First, I believe it would say that if someone is saying they are an Apostle (Big A) in 2022 then you need to run and steer clear.

These were select individuals all with skills that God chose to spread the Great commission. Jesus spent a massive amount of time teaching them, guiding them and developing them. This was not just a quick class on a Sunday after noon but took years and years of being at the feet of the master.

Second, Church is not ment to be Legalistic in which you have to be circumcised or you have to dress a certain way. I know that we all have grown up or known individuals that had to wear something a certain way or to church just to enter the door. God doesn't care if your not wearing a beautiful dress or a suit. It is not a requirement for him because he sees the inside. What matters ? In he past i have told individuals that were interested in our church and they asked what do i wear ? I say it doesn't matter. As long as you have what needs to be covered to not be considered i descent exposure we do not care. They don’t believe me until i tell them that i usually preach or come to church in blue jeans, tennis shoes and a polo shirt. If i am wearing something fancy then someone must be having a funeral, wedding or Christmas Eve service.

God doesn't care about these things and the Judaizers were just trying to push what they were taught and do Jesus plus. However, Jesus paid the ultimate price for our transgressions.

Third, we add nothing to the equation

What i mean is that there is not a single thing that i can do to ensure that i am going to heaven. The only thing that saved me was Jesus having the snot beaten out of him, humiliated, and then nailed to a Roman cross. The ultimate price is death and he paid for it.

All Sins must be paid for either by us or by proxy through Jesus on the cross.

Do we really think that sending 20 dollars to some guy on TV for some special water or helping the sick will help us earn favor so we can go to heaven.

I am not saying that helping he sick , poor and broken is bad but it does not secure your seat in heaven. WE are called to be like Christ and he helped everyone no matter what. He cared for the individual in any way that he could. YOu need some food and i have some then i will give you some. If we can help our fellow human then we need to.

Fourth, If we have deserted our Heavenly Father we will have two things that might happen. Either we are going to have every bad thing in the world happen to us to try and convince us that we cannot do it with our power and only through him. I am not saying that Being a Believer you will not have struggles or challenges. God uses difficult situations to mold us and grow closer to him.

And if that doesn't work then God can take you home. I am not talking about your house with your tv and your bed but to your Heavenly home.

Next, those that are seating out in our auditorium or listening online have a very important job. You are to remain on guard to false teachers. You cannot just accept what we say. If i say jump then you cannot ask how high ? If something is going against what we have been taught on Scripture it is your job to challenge that individual.

It is your job to say something and if you have to throw a tomato or loaf of bread then i hope it is soft and not messy. The church of Galatia was facing these struggles of people teaching the wrong doctrine and this can destroy a church and is used by the enemy to keep us away from our Heavenly Father. I don‘t care if it is Pastor Rich, Mr. Chuck, myself or even some of the big name guys. If we are teaching something contrary to God word then we are teaching false doctrine and i hope you guys start throwing.

The more that we do and grow in our relationship the harder it will be. I had a Bread route say to me Tuesday morning who is a Believer if i was preaching or just preached. I told him no the 30th. His response you always have more thrown to you when you are doing what is right and for God?

Next, should we really care what man thinks of us?

Should we care if we are apart of the popular crowd like high school or should we be following God who is above all of that? Are we trying to keep up with the jones or the roberts when really we should be looking at are we keeping up with our relationship with God and are we doing what we have been called to do?

But we need to ask ourselves why are we as Christians trying to keep up with the world when they are wicked, cruel and will throw their own mother under the bus to save themselves.

Yes the world will do it to us but is it right for us to do it? Look at it through the eyes of your grandchildren, children and the next generation. Well my family always yelled , screamed, cheated, lied to each other so what’s the big deal ? These are things that will open your eyes and they should. That doesn't make it right!

The last thing we have to remind ourselves, is that this is not the first time that the Apostle Paul has mentioned this and wont be the last time that we are reminded of this. Just like in elementary school or college if it is mentioned multiple times than it is important. Underline it, highlight it, All caps. It would be like how in my mind when i see truly truly i think of a flashing red light getting my attention that something big is going to happen.

False Doctrine isn’t just wrong but is used by the enemy to cause destruction and to undermine the church of the biggest goal and mission we have. The Great commission to go and spread the GOspel through the entire world ? Thought lee county or even down your street? Are we doing this currently in our day or are we just in a waiting room hanging out to be called home to party with our Heavenly Father ?

That something we need to truly truly think about because we were not called to be place mats but to do the work of our Heavenly Father.

Lets Pray !!!