(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we're here in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and we're continuing our series on the fruits of the Spirit. And what we're talking about today is going to be long suffering. And so we had an introductory sermon and then we covered the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace. And pretty much all of those ended up being kind of just half love and half hate for all those sermons. There's kind of the dual side of this. This is kind of the most, you know, I don't know, softest sermon so far of the bunch. There's still a lot of great information to learn and you say, what does it mean to be long suffering? Well, basically, you know, to suffer long or to be long suffering is basically when you're putting up with something for a long period of time. For example, let's say a fellow church member is annoying you or is very rude to you every single week. And if you have the attribute of being long suffering, you're basically willing to put up with it and not cause a fight with them and realize it's not worth having that fight. So it's pretty close to patience, but it's not 100% the same thing. Now notice 1 Timothy chapter 1, and the first point we have is this, that we should be long suffering for people to be saved. Long suffering for people to be saved. And the greatest example we have in the Bible about this is Paul the Apostle. Notice what it says in verse number 12 here, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. So Paul the Apostle was persecuting believers. This was someone who believed the wrong thing. He was not saved. He was very zealous of the Jewish traditions, but he did not believe that Jesus was a Christ. He was ignorant about it, and he did not know the Gospel. He didn't believe it. He was not saved, and that's the reason why God was very merciful to him. Now you have to understand, this is not the exact same thing as false prophets we have that know about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but they choose to deny it and fight against it. See, Paul obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief. So we're not talking about a Catholic priest who's been a Catholic priest for 30 years. We're talking about someone who was ignorant of what the truth was, and he thought he was following the Bible perfectly or as well as he could, but when you don't have the right belief, you're going to do the wrong things. Notice what it says here in verse number 14. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. And so what Paul the Apostle is basically saying is, I'm going to be the best example of someone who could be so bad and yet still get saved. God was so long suffering with Paul the Apostle, and the result is that Paul was very thankful that he was saved. He was such a bad person because of the fact he was following a false religion. Now he was not going out and getting drunk and being like a really bad person, but what he was doing was persecuting believers because he thought that's what was right. He had the wrong belief system, and he's a pattern to all of us that should believe afterwards. Now turn to 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3. Now here's where people could misunderstand though. What I am not saying is that when you're going door to door and you're talking to someone in the park, in Rizal Park or Kaysa Memorial Circle, and they want to argue for you for an hour about whether or not Jesus is God. I'm not saying, hey, just be more long suffering. Give it two more hours, and after three hours if they don't get it, then just move on. No, no, no, no. The Bible says a man that is in heretic after the first and second admonition rejects. And so if you give the gospel or you show something in the Bible and they just deny it multiple times, they would be defined as a heretic. And that means you move on to the next door. Now you say, how does this work when you're soul winning? Look, I've gone to Revelation 21 8 before and show them how it says all liars shall have their part. And then they say, I don't believe that. I think if you're a good enough person, then you'll go to heaven. That's one admonition. You can give them one more. Don't give them two more. It says after the first and second admonition, reject. So you show them Revelation 21 8 and they still think they're a good enough person, then you show them James 2 10 or some other verse and they still say, I still think that if you're a good person and you follow the commandments that you'll go to heaven. Look, the Bible says just move on to the next person. Now look, we don't do what the Catholic church has done through history and they're declared a heretic, so we kill them. We don't do that, but we do move on to the next person. Now you say, well, what are you talking about then? Well, here's the thing. When we're going soul winning, our time is very precious. We only have a certain amount of time and if we waste a lot of time on one person, the next person's not even going to hear the gospel. But your father, you can give the gospel to over and over and over again. Your mom, you can give the gospel to over and over and over again. Your wife, your husband, your cousin, your nephew, you can give them the gospel over and over. So every Christmas time, give some Bible verses to them. Every single Christmas, every time you get together, try to give them the gospel. You say, why? Because sometimes you plant a seed and you water that seed and you water that seed and years later, all of a sudden it works. That takes place. And a lot of people, they give up too easily. They give the gospel one time to their friend or their coworker and then they say, man, he didn't get saved. He's close to being a reprobate. He's not going to ever get saved. It's like, well, how much have you really tried? How much have you actually prayed for that person? Because God was long suffering with Paul, so why wouldn't you be long suffering with your cousin or your friend or your brother or your sister or your mom or your dad? Give it some time. Look, a lot of people don't get saved in one time. Sometimes it takes over and over again. Look, I got saved the first time I heard the gospel, but that presentation was over an hour long because it was my friend. So basically he used like five million verses. And I was still being resistant to him. I told him the next day, hey, you know, Mike, I got saved. And he didn't even believe me because I had been arguing with him for like an hour. And I was like, you don't know what you're talking about. And then, you know, but the seed was planted and I thought about it and I was like, man, I'm being foolish. It makes perfect sense. And I got saved. What I'm trying to tell you is this, that when it comes to people you know, your friends and coworkers and family, be long suffering with them. Do not give up and keep putting in Bible verses to them. Look at Christmas time, find a way to mention Romans 6 23. It shouldn't be that. Find a way to mention Ephesians 2 89. It shouldn't be that hard. Even if your parents don't want to hear the gospel, you'll be able to get out. Well, you know, the gift of God is a term. This reminds me of how the Bible says the gift of God is eternal life. Eternal means forever. So you can never lose it. And God paid it all 100%. And you can just stop after that. And it's not a World War Three argument, but you subtly planted a seed. You say, Brother Stuckey, have you done this? Yes, I have. And I've seen it be effective before. And I hear a lot of people that have only been saved for a year. And they already say, wow, man, my parents, my brother, my sister, they're never gonna get saved. It's like, I'm glad I didn't quit, you know, trying after a year, because I'd see loved ones of mine not have gotten saved because I gave up way too easily. Look, you know, people can hear the gospel many times before they get saved. Listen to Pastor Jimenez's testimony about his wife getting saved. She didn't get saved the first time, or the second or the third. It took a lot of time. You say, why? Because sometimes people need to hear that seed planted, and it watered and watered and watered. So when it comes to your family, don't give up immediately. But when it comes to door to door, you only have so much time. And if you're spending an hour preaching the gospel to someone on a regular basis, you're doing something wrong. It's very, very rare. I don't think there's been a single time since I moved here, I've spent one hour with one person. You say, why? Only if they don't get it after 30 minutes, they're not going to get it. On occasion, I might reach 40 minutes or 45 on a very rare occasion when I'm being probably too long suffering. But quite honestly, if you're spending like 45 minutes every single time, it's like, man, you're wasting your time out there. There's people that are going to hear it, and 99% of the time, those people never end up getting saved. You say, why? Because you've given them one, two, three, four, five, six, seven admonitions. What I do to end the conversation in these situations is I'll say this, hey, do you want me to share with you more verses, or do you just want to think about it? And then they'll say, I just want to think about it. And you've planted a seed, that's fine. That's an easy way to end the conversation. I said that yesterday when I was preaching the gospel to someone, and the seed was planted, but what I didn't do was spend 30 more minutes, because quite honestly, they just weren't going to believe it. They weren't going to accept it at least yesterday. Maybe in the future, but they weren't going to get saved yesterday. Now in second Peter chapter three, second Peter chapter three verse nine, second Peter chapter three verse nine, the Bible reads, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now this is a very misunderstood verse, and it really shouldn't be, because it's not that complicated. The Bible says here that God is not willing that any should perish. What that means is God does not want anyone to die and go to hell. Remember in John three 16, if you don't believe, it says should not perish. If you don't believe you're going to perish, you're going to die and go to hell. So what he's saying here is I don't want anyone to die and go to hell. I don't want them to perish and spend forever in hell, but I want them to come to repentance. Well, what does that mean by repentance? Notice it does not say repentance of sins. It does not say that. It just says repentance. What does repentance mean? It means to change your mind. So what he's saying is I want you to be like Paul the Apostle, change your mind about what you believe and believe on Jesus Christ. Look, somebody cannot still believe in Roman Catholicism and believe on Jesus. It's not possible. They must make a choice. I'm not saying they're going to have full understanding of the problems with Catholicism from day one, but what I am saying is they cannot believe in the sacraments and believe in Jesus alone. When it says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, it's saying money well and long. Believe only. It's not believe plus you can add a few things. No, it's believe only. That's what it says. It's just believing. And when you add just a single ounce of trying to work your way to heaven to that, it is no longer by faith alone. And so what he's saying here is what it says that they should come to repentance. God wants everybody to change their mind about what they believe and believe on Jesus Christ. And what it says here is he is long suffering to us work. Now how did Paul the Apostle get saved? Did Paul the Apostle just repent of his sins and he quit drinking? He quit smoking? No, there's no indication he was drinking or smoking. The reason why he was doing wrong is because he believed the wrong thing and he came to a place of repentance where he changed his mind about what he believed and he believed on Jesus Christ. And so what God wants is that we change what we're trusting to get to heaven. Quit trusting in your dead works. Quit trusting in your baptism. Quit trusting in anything else and just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn in your Bible to Exodus 34. But see, realize that if God is long suffering for people to get saved, we ought to be the same way. We ought to really care about people. And look, you know what, there might be people we talk to and they've heard the Gospel once before. Hey, by all means, we re-knock that door, give them the Gospel again. Somebody a month ago told me that somebody else from my church, he said had knocked the door and had talked to them before and he had heard the Gospel and I went through it with him again. He's a Catholic. Still didn't believe it, but he's kind of like really thinking about it. He's willing to listen and you say, was that a waste of time? No, because he was willing to listen and he wasn't rejecting what the Bible said. He just wasn't sure. Just a couple days ago on Friday, me and Brother Dustin were going soul winning and I was preaching the Gospel and he could hear some of the conversation I was having and I was preaching the Gospel to a Catholic lady and it was probably 35 minutes. It was a pretty long conversation because she was thinking about it and she just wasn't able to give up Roman Catholicism. But what she was not doing was denying the Bible. She wasn't seeing a verse in the Bible and saying, that's not true. I asked her at the end, I said, this is very different than Roman Catholicism. She's like, yes it is. I was like, I'm glad she understood that. And I said, are you able to reject Roman Catholicism, believe on Jesus, or are you just not sure right now? And she said, I'm not sure. So she wasn't denying the Bible, she just wasn't sure. They're asking people to change their entire philosophy of getting to heaven in 20 minutes, 30 minutes. That's hard for people to do. But that doesn't mean that she can't get saved in the future. Now not only should we be long suffering with people to get saved, we should be long suffering with people in general. Notice what it says in Exodus 34, verse number 6. And the Lord passed by before men proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. This is an attribute of God. God is long suffering. Verse number 7, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children, on to the third and to the fourth generation. And so notice how he says in verse 6 that he's long suffering. But then in verse 7 he says that will by no means clear the guilty. This is not a contradiction in the Bible. God is very long suffering, but there still is a punishment for the sins that we commit. And so when God asks us to be long suffering with someone, hey, that person, if they've done wrong, they're going to reap what they sow. But we should still be long suffering. That's the way God is. I'm not saying that God is just weak and just lets anything go. No, they're going to pay for their sins, but he's still long suffering. Now turn to Numbers 14, Numbers 14. And so, you know, honestly, that can be encouraging or kind of scary to us because, yeah, God's long suffering with us, but you're still going to pay for the things you do wrong. I mean, David committed adultery on his wife. It doesn't really get a whole lot worse than that, and then he had Uriah, one of his best men killed, and God was long suffering with David, wasn't he? But did David get away with everything? No, he paid for that in this life. And so I'm not saying it's okay to commit sins, but, you know, God is long suffering with us. We ought to be long suffering with people as well. Numbers 14, verse 17, and now I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. So not only will we pay for our sins, but realize this, as God is long suffering with us, the people that are wicked people, they're going to pay for their sins as well. He is going to visit that iniquity upon them. He will not by any means clear the guilty. If someone does not believe on Jesus Christ, they're going to pay for every single one of their sins in hell forever, okay? Now turn to 2 Samuel 22, 2 Samuel 22. And so part A of being long suffering with people is just with fellow church members and fellow people, you need to be long suffering with them. It says in 2 Samuel 22, 2 Samuel 22, verse 26, 2 Samuel 22, verse 26, With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. You say, Brother Stuckey, why should I be long suffering with other people? Like if somebody does me wrong, somebody I get in a fight with, and they've lied about me, and they've done things wrong to me, and I'm angry, why do I have to forgive them? Why should I be long suffering? Because God is going to be as merciful to you as you are to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And so if you are unforgiving, guess what? God's not going to be that forgiving to you when you mess up. And you might think that you got it all figured out and you're not going to make mistakes, but I like what Pastor Mendez has said. He's like, why don't you build up some equity? So basically you're very long suffering with people. So basically if you have a situation where you fall into deep sin, God's going to look down and say, you know what? You have been very merciful with other people. I'm going to be very merciful to you. You say, is that how it works? Well, that's what it says in 2 Samuel 22 verse 26. With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful. And if you're someone who never forgives any other people, somebody does you wrong, and you stay mad about it and never forgive them, and you have a grudge about it, and five years later it's still something you're thinking about, look, God's not going to be long suffering or merciful with you. And so from a logical standpoint, it makes sense that if somebody does you wrong, to be merciful to them. And I like what Pastor Mena said, he's like, it's almost something you should be happy if somebody does you wrong, because like, yes, I've got more equity with God, you know, in case I mess up in the future. So if somebody does you wrong, don't look at it as something so terrible. Be merciful, be long suffering, and God is going to be long suffering with you when you need it. Not if you need it, but when you need it. Okay, turn to Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4. And in Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 2, going to our text verse for the week in our bulletin, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 2, and realize this, that when we look at the book of Ephesians, this was written to the church at Ephesus, okay? And so when it comes to this sermon of being long suffering, this is a pretty important attribute when it comes to a church. Because in church, you're around each other all the time, and from time to time you get in fights with one another. From time to time you get on people's nerves. From time to time people get mad at you. And look, you know, people, you might get mad at other people from time to time, I promise you other people in this room are going to get mad at you from time to time as well. Because your personalities, you end up getting in fights with one another. That's just the way it works. You know, when two people get married, they still have fights because personalities sometimes clash. That's the way it works. And when you're around people at church all the time, every once in a while, you guys are going to get in fights with one another. It's not the end of the world, you just forgive and forget, okay? But in Ephesians 4 verse 2, what it says is, With all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You say, Brother Stuckey, why should I forgive my fellow brother in church? Because you want to keep unity in the church? Look, if you consider this your home church, and you say, I love Verity Baptist Church, Manila, I want to go soul winning for this church and bring people to church. I want to be here for years and see this church grow. You know what, you should endeavor to keep unity in this church. And look, every single one of us from time to time, we're going to get in an argument or disagreement with someone. That's just the way it works. We're not perfect people. We all have bad attitudes some days. And what you need to do is walk away from that. Give them, talk it out, and then it's done. It's foolish to keep a grudge. And here's the thing. If you keep a grudge versus someone, you're not harming that person. You're harming yourself. Look, bitterness is a very foolish thing to do, because you're not harming the person you're bitter at. You're just harming yourself. You say, but they did me wrong. You might be right. They might have done you wrong. But you staying bitter at them, you're doing yourself wrong. You're causing problems with yourself. You're always going to have a bad attitude and be upset when you can't forgive somebody. Look, from a logical standpoint, you should just be long suffering, but it's one of the fruits of the Spirit. It's something God commands. Now, turn to Luke 18, Luke 18. And so not only should we be long suffering with fellow people, fellow church members, things such as that, but we should be long suffering with children, especially in the context of at a church. Notice what it says in Luke 18, verses 15 and 16. And they brought onto him also infants that he would touch them, but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them onto him and said, Suffer little children to come on to me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. He's saying allow these little children to come. You need to put up with it. You need to be long suffering towards these children, and they need to be here to hear the preaching of the word of God. You say, Brother Stuckey, will we ever have a children's ministry here at Verity Baptist Church Manila? No. It's never going to happen. You say, why wouldn't we have that? Look, have you opened the newspaper in the last five years? It's like, they'll mention some province that everybody was shocked because the Catholic priests molested like 20 children at the church. It's like, why would you be shocked after this amount of time? It's like every single week it's a news story in some church, some Catholic church, but it doesn't just happen at Catholic churches. See, what you have to understand is if you create a church that creates an atmosphere to allow perverts to come in and defile children, what's going to happen is perverts will come into the church. And if you have children's ministries where there's no security, no safety, and just one person watching it, look, a bad person's going to want that job. I remember there was somebody that I invited to church a long time ago in West Virginia, and I thought I got him saved, but quite honestly, he was a very strange person. Very strange person. And I actually felt bad for him when I met him because everybody made fun of him at work. And so I invited him out to lunch, and I gave him the gospel. He didn't get saved, but he called me that night and said, hey, I got saved. And so I was excited about it. The guy was a weird guy, and he just had that look in his eyes. People that are just weird, and I did not feel comfortable with him. I still invited him to church, but I was just, I don't know about this guy. And I remember at the church just a few years later, because he was off and on coming to church, and he told the pastor, he's like, man, I want to start getting connected to church. What I really want to do is work in the children's ministries. That's what he said. And look, he was somebody that I had really questioned whether or not he was a sodomite. He was very effeminate, and he had actually lived with a sodomite for six months, and he said, for rent purposes, he needed someone to live with. And there was a lot of red flags. I was being very long suffering, too much with this guy. But this guy, you know, I believe is a sodomite. I believe he's a reprobate, but guess what? He wanted to work in the children's ministries. And so I called the pastor, and I told him the situation, and I said, hey, I haven't said anything bad about this guy because I'm the one who brought him to church, and he got baptized. I was the one who I thought got him saved, and I just told the pastor, I was like, you know, I'm worried he might be a sodomite. And the pastor's like, thank you. He's like, I don't want, you know, to put our children at risk. But that church did have children's ministries. And you have to understand, there'd be other people that wouldn't have said anything to the pastor, and he would have just started working in the children's ministries. Look, this happens in IFB churches all of the time. Stuff happens to kids because they create an atmosphere. That is why we have a mother-baby room where moms go with their children. And so what you have to understand is that if kids are acting up, we as grown adults need to put up with it. It's not the end of the world if they're a little bit noisy. We need to put up with it. Now by all means, if you're a parent and your child is out of control, we have the mother-baby room back there for a reason. You go back there, and you can deal with your child. That's what my wife does when my son acts up when he's noisy. And look, that's just the way kids are. But we will not change the way we run our church. And look, if we changed our church to have children's ministries, we would double in size in a week. I promise you that. If we started just creating special flyers and just said, children's ministries, games, free food, look, we would have 100 people here next week. I promise you that. But we're never going to do that. Now look, I'm happy when we have some kids come from time to time. But look, I don't want 50 kids. That's why I said when we have those flyers for our anniversary, I don't want just like 100 kids to show up. We say, why? Because how are we going to supervise them? I mean, we're not going to be able to. When we've had too many kids with their parents not here, look, they disrupt the service. They're not bad kids. It just is what it is. That's why we keep the parents with the children. And if your child's acting up, there's the mother-baby room back there where the moms can go with their children, not fathers, mother-baby room. They go back there with their children and they can deal with it. But here's the thing. We as grown adults, we need to put up with these children and you say, that's your opinion. No, that's what Luke 18 verses 15 and 16 says. I've literally heard pastors go to this passage and say, this is why we need a children's ministry. It's like, are you reading the same Bible that I am? Because in this story, Jesus says, no, I want the kids here. You say, why? Because the young children need to hear the same preaching we do. You say, but they don't understand it. Look, they probably understand a lot more than you think. And quite honestly, at the very least, they understand the type of music and type of preaching and the type of atmosphere at a young age. They're going to learn that and it's going to be ingrained in them. But what's taking place in churches all over is that kids are growing up in these fun centers. I used to preach at junior church every single week in West Virginia. I know what it's like. I was on the bus routes for years bringing kids to church. I was just trying to help the church out. I don't think it's wrong if you're at that type of church to help, but I know the problems with it. I know the fact it's not biblical, but I know just the inherent problems with doing that because the kids are there and the kids that will come are the ones whose parents don't want to spend any time with them. The kids already have a bad attitude. And literally at junior church, I would preach and sometimes there would be a kid standing up on top of a chair just screaming. It's like, guess what? You can't take that child and spank that child. If I do that, I could go to jail. And it's like, well, what can you do? You cannot bring them to church without their parents. That's what you can do. It's like, you know, and I worked in junior church for the pastor during the main service. I was preaching in junior church and look, some of those kids I really loved. Some of them were very nice, very respectful kids, but quite honestly, most of them were kind of troubled kids and it just destroyed the services. And so look, every church out there that has these children's ministries, I would love to see the Bible verse that would support it. And I would want you to actually think about the safety of those children because it is not the safest thing, okay? Now turn in your Bible to 1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3. Let me say this so that people that are at our church, you know, you ought to appreciate being part of a church if you have children where we actually protect the children. We actually care enough about the children. I'm not just trying to, because look, if I made a YouTube update next week and said, we had 125 people at church, look, you know, and guess what? Every single one of those kids would get saved, you know, after the service. It's like five years old and get baptized and do the same thing next week. But look, it would look really good, but it would put children at harm and risk, including the children from our church. Because the problem is when you bring all these kids in and there's too many of them, they must go to another room because they disrupt the service. That is why, if you could keep them all organized and sitting down and respectful in church, there wouldn't be a problem. The problem is you're never going to have that take place if you have too many kids. Now there are some kids that are good kids, but I'm just saying in general kids are rowdy and they don't learn this from their parents. That's the reason why the parents let them run around. Look, when my son is six years old, he's not just going to be able to run out in the street and do whatever he wants for a couple of hours and then just come back home. No, he's a six year old kid I need to watch out for. And so when you have these kids that do that, you have to realize that they're probably going to be a little bit undisciplined and not listen to rules. And so what takes place is you have to have another room for those kids and all of a sudden there's no safety and they're not hearing the same preaching. That's what takes place. It just does not work. It's been proven not to work. Now look at 1 Peter chapter 3. And so another thing we need to be long suffering is long suffering through trials in our lives. Trials and persecutions that take place in our life. Notice what it says in 1 Peter 3 verse 13. And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? But if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror and neither be troubled. The Bible says you're going to be happy if you suffer for righteousness' sake. But here's the thing, you must be long suffering through that trial though. Because if you quit on that trial, you quit on that persecution, you're not going to have the happiness that comes on the other side of this. You must actually be long suffering as you're going through trials and not quit. Look most people quit in the Christian life. They quit going to church, they quit serving God. There's just too much persecution. You go to a church like this and people make fun of you, they criticize you, so you quit on a good church and just quit going to church because you can't take the persecution. Verse number 15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for well-doing than for evildoing. And so look, if you're someone who's very religious but you're suffering because you're an evil person, which the false religion's out there, look, you're not suffering for righteousness sake, okay? I remember reading, you know, an old article about Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, and it talked about him being in Missouri and how the Mormons were being persecuted and then how they got tar and feathered. That was like an old punishment in the old times. They'd tar you and they'd put feathers on you and it'd be stuck and you couldn't really get it off. And it's like, but I'm sorry, the Mormons weren't persecuted for righteousness sake. I mean, do you know how Joseph Smith died? He was in prison and he got shot to death, but guess what he was doing? He was shooting at them. It's like, yeah, that's the same thing as Jesus Christ. It's like that's the exact same thing. He was gunning people down. He got blazed down in a blaze of glory or whatever. I mean, he got gunned down. He was shooting at them. Why? Because he was a wicked person. He was a bad person. And they tried to link that to Jesus Christ. It's like, no, you were killing people as you were being killed. It's not the same thing. I mean, he was thrown in jail because of the fact they were bad people. The Mormons were stealing money from people, stealing land. They weren't persecuted for righteousness sake. Okay? Now turn to 1 Peter 4, 1 Peter 4. As you're turning to 1 Peter 4, let me read you a few verses where it says in 2 Timothy 3, 12, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You say, Brother Stuckey, I want to be a godly person. I want to be a holy person. I want to live for God, but I don't want any persecution. That's impossible. According to the Bible, that's impossible. If you're going to live godly, you're going to have persecution in your life. Don't think it's strange when you have persecution when you decide to live for God. People have decided to come to our church and they got persecuted by friends and family. That's true with many people at this church. They decided to take a stand for God and line up with God's people. What takes place? Are people happy for them that they're going so many and reading the Bible? No. They just persecute them. The Bible says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Remember what it says about Moses, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Notice how Moses suffered affliction with the people of God. Here's the thing about this. You're not unique in this room. You're living for God. You say, I'm suffering affliction, but since you're in this church, you're with the people of God suffering affliction with you. It's no different with other members of this church. When you decide to live for God, you will suffer persecution and affliction, but when you're coming to church, you're in a church that other people have the same story. Everybody. Look, when I decided to live for God, I went through persecutions. I went through afflictions. You say, why'd that happen to you? I thought it was just me. It happens to everybody. Every single person. Now, in 1 Peter 4, verse 12, the Bible reads, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. The Bible talks about being partakers of Christ's suffering, and Christ was long suffering as he went through those trials. Verse 14, If ye reproach for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. Now verse 15 is kind of interesting because the Bible says you can suffer because you're a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or you're a busybody. There's something that we like to call keyboard warriors. That's someone who doesn't go soul winning, but gets in a lot of fights online. And they're like, man, I'm really suffering persecution. Look at this like two hour argument I had with a sodomite. It's like, yeah, that's persecution. No, you're actually being a busybody in other men's matters, to be honest. And that's why you're getting persecution, because you're causing it. It's like, why are you wasting your time worrying about some other person? And quite honestly, sometimes we go through persecution, but it's because we caused it. And it's like, if we cause persecution, you can't say it's for the name of the Lord. Now look, I'm not saying to be watered down. We ought to take a strong stand on what we believe. But you know, we also ought to be wise as serpents. There's a balance there that we all need to find. Now you don't have to turn there, but we'll actually turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 5. 1 Corinthians 5. And I'll read you a few verses. In James 5, verse 10, the Bible reads, And it mentions Job being the person we can look at as someone who went through afflictions and patience, but he patiently endured, it says. He was long-suffering through it. Philippians 1, verse 29, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. And so when you decide to live for God, the suffering, the persecution, look, it's coming along with it. You have to be long-suffering through that persecution and that affliction that's taking place. Now I'm going to actually turn there myself as well, 1 Corinthians 5, because I did say we ought to be long-suffering, and that's what the Bible teaches. We went through many points. But I do want you to understand, there are some things that we should not be long-suffering about. And there are some things where we should not just accept it and let it go and say we need to give people more time. Notice what it says in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 9. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters, for then must he needs go out of the world. And so Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, and what Paul wrote was that this church had a lot of disgusting sin in it, and they were putting up with it. They were being long-suffering for wicked sin. They're putting up with it, not having any discipline. They weren't kicking this person out of the church. Paul was even said, I can judge about the situation even though I'm not there. It was pretty cut and dry. A man had his father's wife. Look, that's disgusting sin. That's something that was not so much as named among the Gentiles. That's a sin that is, I mean, it fits under fornication, but it's a really terrible form of that. And so what Paul the Apostle was stating was, that person needs to be thrown out of church. And so here in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, it talks about church discipline, and one thing it mentions is in verse number 9, we are not to company with fornicators. You say, Brother Stuckey, should I quit my job because there's people at work that live with their girlfriend or boyfriend? No, because then it says, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, because then it says at the end of the verse, for then must he needs go out of the world. Look, there's plenty of people here in the Philippines that are committing fornication. And if we just tried to avoid them, it would be impossible. There is no job you could take. You say, Man, I'm going to quit my job. There's a lot of fornicators. There's no job you could take. It's like there's plenty of people committing fornication and wicked sins. But what the Bible's stating is in church. This is the church of Corinth, because when you come to a church, although we're not perfect, it should be a place where people are trying to get pure and get right with God. And if there's this gross and wicked sin in the church, there's a real problem with that. And look, you can go to any number of Baptist churches here in the Philippines where the pastor's daughter will get pregnant. Isn't that true? The pastor's daughter will get pregnant, and then nothing is done about it. Nothing is said about it at all. The pastor's son gets a girl pregnant, no big deal, no discipline whatsoever. It takes place all the time here in the Philippines. It's a joke. There's literally no church discipline whatsoever, at least for the things that God talks about. The only way they're going to kick you out is if you go soul-winding too much. And quite honestly, that's not really a joke. I mean, it's true. They won't kick you out for being a fornicator. Oh, we need to give them a chance. You know, church is like a hospital. People are wounded. We need to minister to them and just let them—look, you know, when your daughter got pregnant out of wedlock, Mr. Pastor, first you don't rule your house well, so you're no longer qualified to be a pastor. But it's like, why does she not have church discipline practiced to her? It's like, you know, if she got pregnant out of wedlock, you know, yeah, there's church discipline. Now look, there is a place to let that person back into church when they get right with God. But you can't just let open sin in church and you say, Brother Stuckey, this is your opinion. No, that's what it says in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 9. It gives you a direct situation. Now this is not the only situation, but that is a clear one where there's actual evidence and people are going to see it. Now look, I have known people that had to leave church because of the fact they got pregnant out of wedlock and they came back and asked for forgiveness and they were welcomed back and nobody said anything about it. And I think that's great that they have a chance to get right with God. Look, David got right with God again, but first Nathan rebuked him and he had to admit he was wrong and ask for forgiveness. And he is lucky God is long suffering because he could have been killed for what he did. So I'm not saying they can't come back to church, but there has to be church discipline practice. Verse number 10, notice how it says, or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters. So it mentions a few other things here. Now this does not mean this is the only reason why someone can get kicked out of church. It's giving you a basic example because these are the sorts of things that's going to probably get somebody kicked out of church. Now since this church has started, we have kicked two people out of this church. And it fits under verse 10 because it's a mixture of being covetous and being an extortioner where in my estimation they're basically stealing money from people because they're guilting them into giving them money and it's like that's not welcomed at our church. And it's like these are people that I was long suffering, was I not? I was long suffering with these people. I gave them a chance. I talked to them about it. And quite honestly, the situation didn't go away. And then once they got kicked out, they criticized me. They criticized the church and how evil is Brother Stuckey, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, why are you stealing money from people at our church? It's just like, you know, when you have a story and, you know, it just doesn't add up. When two plus two equals seven, there's a problem there. One day two plus two equals seven. The next day two plus two equals nine. The next day two plus two equals 13. I mean, the story was all over the place with one person. It's just like, you know, we're being long suffering, but you're obviously just pretending to be like us because the person wasn't even saved, you know, the one person I'm talking about. And it's like, you're just pretending to be like us because you want money. That's the truth. You say, Brother Stuckey, you know, I think you're being too harsh. Look, if I don't have a strong stand on this, we're going to have so many people coming into this church stealing money from people. You say, why? Because I'm a white American. Let's be honest. I'm a white American. There are people always going to be wanting to try to get money from us. And if they find out, oh, you know, that church just gives money to everybody, do you realize how many people are going to come to this church trying to get money simply because I'm a white American? It's the truth. Look, the church is meant to help those that are members of the church, not people that are not members and are trying to use the church, people that are actually members of the church, okay? Verse number 11, but now I've written on you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer, there's another thing mentioned, or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat. You say, Brother Stuckey, what exactly does this mean? It means that if I have to kick somebody out of church one day, it means you shouldn't be going to lunch with them at Jollibee or Chow King, anywhere, okay? You shouldn't be going to lunch with them. You shouldn't be hanging out with them. And quite honestly, it hasn't been a problem at our church because the people I'm mentioning, pretty much everybody is like, Brother Stuckey, you should have kicked him out two months ago. But the reality is that I've seen this at churches where somebody gets kicked out and then people feel bad for that person. Here's the problem. You guys might not know all the facts. Look, I'm not just up here every Sunday just in the announcements and say, well, so and so did this this week, so and so did this, but I do know about those things. And so it's something I know. I'm not going to broadcast it, but if it comes to a point where it's a big problem, and what I've noticed is the fact it's with money, is the situation with people that are not members that come here and try to use the church, then it's something that must be dealt with, okay? The other person that we kicked out of this church, before the church started, he posted on Facebook making fun of Pastor Jimenez. It's like, wow, this is a complicated one to figure out. And then I messaged him and he's like, oh, it was a mistake. Oh, it's just a mistake. I didn't mean to say that. It's like, you know, are you kidding me? And so, look, for us, it's been pretty cut and dry with these situations. But I do want you to realize that one day somebody might get kicked out of this church. And in your mind, you might say, I think you made the wrong decision, Brother Stuckey. But see, that's where when you're at a church, you need to have trust in the person who's leading that church. And you must realize you don't necessarily know all the information. Look, I'm not on a hair trigger to kick people out of this church. It's not like I've gone around, if somebody got in a fight with someone and said, you're thrown out of the church. No, I mean, I'm not going to throw someone out of the church for something small, okay? Things happen. But when it's something that's a big situation, when people are trying to steal money, and in my estimation, it's a form of extortion. Because when you're guilting them into giving you money, you know, you're not stealing it by force, but you're guilting them into it. Look, I remember when I was in college, and I remember a homeless person came up to me, and he was begging me for money. And what's the natural reaction in your heart? You feel bad for that person, right? And I gave him $20, $10 or $20, I don't remember. But I gave him money. It was either $10 or $20. I think it was $20. But I remember coming out of my class at college and seeing that person stumbling around drunk. So I helped him get drunk. That's what took place. Look, you have to understand that when people are begging for money, they could be lying to you. They might not be telling the truth, okay? Verse number 12, For whatever I did do to judge them also that are without, do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without, God judgeth, therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. And so the Bible says is you're supposed to put out that wicked person. Now this comes from the leadership of the church, though. Look, if you don't like someone at church, you can't just throw them out. Brother Ehrman can't say, Brother Prince, you're out of here. We're done with you. It's like, no, it doesn't work that way. You have structure and authority. But if there is a situation, like a big situation, what you can do is tell me privately about it, not tell other people, and so I'm aware of it. You say, Brother Stuckey, does that mean you're going to kick them out immediately? Not necessarily. Because I'm going to be long suffering and give them a chance. It must be a cut and dry situation. You say, what? Well, turn to Revelation 2. Revelation 2. I'm going to explain this a little bit more in detail. So by all means, there is a point where we should not be long suffering with people anymore. There's somebody in West Virginia. I used to give a ride to church, and this person was living with his girlfriend, and I gave him a ride for a while, but it reached a point where I felt guilty giving him a ride because I showed him what the Bible said. I was like, man, you need to get married. And it turns out his girlfriend was divorced. That was kind of a disaster or whatever. But basically I told him, you know, you're living in sin. I was like, this is wrong. I was like, you got to make a decision, and he just didn't make a decision. So I decided I wasn't going to give him a ride to church anymore because I felt guilty about it. So there is a point where we should stop being long suffering with people, but when it comes to kicking someone out of church, that is something that the leaders of the church are going to be doing. But I want you to notice here in Revelation 2, it says in Revelation 2, verse 20, this is speaking to a church. It says, notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which callest herself a prophet, is to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And then it says in verse 21, and I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. Notice how it says in verse number 21, he gave her space to repent of her fornication. This is the reason why you should not just immediately kick people out if there's a problem usually. You say, why? Because God is long suffering, and in Revelation 2, with a church, what you see is he gives her space to repent of that fornication. Look, if I found out that somebody was committing fornication before they were married, I would still give them a bit of a chance to change it. You say, why? That is what God does. That's what you see in Revelation chapter 2. Now you might say, well, I think they should get kicked out immediately, but that's not what you see in Revelation chapter 2. And from a logical standpoint, this makes sense, and you say, why? Because if I just quickly am kicking people out of church, what's going to happen is I'll lose my credibility. Because here's the thing, you might agree with me on some situations, but if you disagree on another situation, what's going to take place is you're going to really lose trust in me. Okay? This is something that Pastor Min has actually talked to me about before I started. And he, I remember he had talked to Pastor Thompson and everything, but basically that your members are going to give you basically a certain amount of leeway. But if you're just always kicking people out, every week somebody gets kicked out, look, you guys are going to start to question me. That's the way it works. It's better that when you kick somebody out, the people on church are on board with the situation. Now that's not necessarily always possible, but the people that have been kicked out, everybody at church was on board with it. Okay? It's better to do that. Plus in Revelation chapter 2, you do see that God is long suffering and he gives her space to repent of her fornication. That's what you see in Revelation chapter 2 and realize what she's doing is pretty wicked. Because in verse number 20, it says she's seducing the servants to commit fornication. And to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Now is that a small sin or a big sin? It's a pretty big sin and yet, yet she's not immediately kicked out. Now here's the thing about this. You are at a church though where you know I will kick people out if necessary. But if I don't kick somebody out immediately, look, don't get mad at me because of the fact in the Bible God is long suffering. And so there's, if somebody has a real problem where they are committing some wicked sin, I will talk to that person, I will give them some sort of time frame depending on what it is. And if they don't get it right, then eventually I might have to kick them out. Okay? It doesn't mean I hate that person. Look, assuming that person's a believer, I hope they get it right and come back to church. But there is a point where they need to be kicked out of church according to the Bible. Okay? And so in this sermon, what we're seeing is as a general rule, we should be long suffering. Okay? And what's funny is the world has the opposite view. They basically say we should always be long suffering towards sin and not let it bug us. Just put up with it over and over and over again. Just bring all these wicked people into church. Give them a chance. Look, that shows the world's hypocrisy. And see, what you see is that yes, we should be long suffering, but there's actually a system that God has. It's not just a free for all, but we actually have a set system God shows us. But in general for you, your fellow church member, look, your fellow coworker, be long suffering with that person. Don't try to create enemies if you can avoid it. Be the better person. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today. I ask you to just help us apply this sermon to our lives, God. This is something all of us need to work on from time to time. Help us to be better at forgiving people, being merciful with one another, God. Help us not to hold any bitterness and help us to realize that even though we love each other at this church, we care about people, we're a church family, we will still have problems with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from time to time. Help us learn to be the better person and just forgive one another, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.