Christ Wants You

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. Our beloved Fathers, Deacons, Nuns, and Congregation, and those who are watching us through live streaming, I pray all of you, my beloveds, are always in good health and in good spirit in Jesus' mighty name, Amen. Better.

Thank God you are not asleep. We thank our Lord, our God, our Savior, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You know, every time you invoke this name, it is more than enough to give you fulfillment, it is more than enough to give you comfort, it is more than enough to give you peace, it is more than enough to give you security, and it's more than enough to give you stability and life eternal.

Just the name, Jesus, more than enough to get you to the heaven of all heavens. If you truly believe in the depth of this name, and the meaning of this name, and what this name carries with infinite treasures, and infinite wealth, infinite power, Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, or in Syriac Aramaic, Yeshua. The letter E, youth, this is in our language, youth, equivalent to E in English, stands for Yahuwah, Jehovah, Yahweh.

So youth stands for Yahuwah. Shoah means Savior. So Yeshua or Yeshua means Yahweh the Savior.

That's what it means. Well, Yahweh, the I am, the great I am. I am that I am.

In the gospel of this morning, I've been here before, what did I say? When you are in the presence of the Lord Jesus, it is always daylight, there is no night. Don't ever say good evening, and you are in the presence of the mighty Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the Son of God, and He is the Son, S-U-N, of righteousness.

When you stand in the presence of the S-U-N, how can you say good evening? True? You see, we need to be alert and awake when we come and talk about Jesus. We need to be very alert. Good morning, everybody.

Good morning, what? Very good. The gospel of today is from St. Matthew. The Lord Jesus was walking with His disciples, His twelve apostles, and they decided to take a shortcut through the grain fields, the field of wheat.

So they decided to walk through the grain fields. And then it was a Saturday, Sabbath. Now the word Sabbath, or Saturday, Shabbath, or in Aramaic, means peace, tranquility, silence.

No more sound, no more movement. Everything comes to a full hold. That's what Sabbath means, absolute silence, quiet, tranquility.

So they walked through the grain field on a Sabbath, on a Saturday. The disciples were very hungry, so they started plugging those grains and then rubbing them and eating them. The Pharisees saw them doing such a thing on a Saturday, Sabbath.

Whoa, that's a murder. That is in breach of the law. You are breaking the law of God.

How dare you work on Sabbath? You're not allowed to work on Sabbath. For the Almighty God said to Moses, Sanctify Sabbath. This is the day of the Lord where you come and worship me on this day.

No other work shall you do except worshiping God. So the Pharisees came to the master, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They said, what kind of a teacher are you? Why haven't you taught them well? Don't you know today is a Sabbath? How dare your disciples break the Sabbath and work on a Sabbath by plugging those grains and then rubbing them and eating them.

They are working on Sabbath. How dare they do that? The Lord said, haven't you heard of the past and the Old Testament? What David did when he entered the temple of God and he ate the bread of the presence, him and those who were with him, yet none of them were entitled or had the right to do such a thing. Yet they broke Sabbath and ate from the bread of presence from the temple of God and they were not permitted to do so.

But there is something greater that I want to tell you. The one who is speaking with you, the one who is talking to you is greater than the temple itself. I am the Lord of the Sabbath, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.

That's why therefore I came not seeking sacrifice but mercy. I came not seeking sacrifice but mercy. I came not seeking sacrifice but mercy.

The field they went through, the field of wheat, the Lord was saying to them this is my bread that descended from heaven. I am the seed of wheat. And my word to you, I want you to come into the depth of my word.

Do not stay at the surface level because if you stay at the surface level of my word, you are taking my word in the literal sense, not in the spiritual sense. And until you come into the depth of my word, you are going to be literal people, a literal person ends up being a religious figure. A religious figure is the one that has a checklist in his hand and ticks those things on the list as he goes throughout the day.

Did I pray? Yes. Did I fast? Yes. Did I go to the temple? Yes.

Did I do some terrible deeds? Yes. Oh, I forgot to do this. Oops, I'll come back to it.

Jesus doesn't want literal people. Jesus doesn't want religious people. Jesus wants people that live with him and live for him.

Therefore, I want you to eat my word in order for you to enter the depths of it and realize that spiritual treasure and wealth hidden in it, don't stop at the surface level. You will miss the point totally. You'll miss it.

With all love and respect, when someone comes and says that the days of worship of the Lord is Saturday, not Sunday and the church changed the day of God from Saturday to Sunday, we are missing the point. And I'm saying it with love and humility. We need to understand what the Bible says and the truth.

And anyway, the Lord said the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. It was not the Son of Man made for the Sabbath. It was the Sabbath made for the Son of Man.

Jesus Christ is greater than this day. If the Lord meant Saturday to be the day of worship in the literal sense, then we've got a problem. When we go back to the book of Genesis chapter 1 and we read the days of creation, God created day 1, day 2, day 3, and then day 4, 5, and 6 filled what he created in day 1, 2, and 3. God created in three days, and the other three days he filled what he created initially.

And then it says, the Holy Bible says that God rested on a Sabbath. God rested on Sabbath. Sabbath, Saturday.

Sabbath, the seventh day, is the seventh day of the week. What is the first day of the week? Sunday. What is the first day of the week? Sunday.

What is the seventh day of the week? Saturday. That's when we read the book of Genesis. God rested on Sabbath.

And God said to Moses, sanctify this day for me. Come and worship me on Sabbath. The question is, if we were to take the days in the literal sense, then there is a problem here because Sabbath is not finished yet.

When you read day 1, it says, and there was an evening and a morning. Evening, a beginning. Morning, an end.

But the Bible does not specify when was the day's beginning and when was the day's ending. Does not specify. All it says, there was a beginning to day 1, an evening, and there was an end to day 1, being the morning.

And this is the day with God. Not our topic, but since I mentioned it, I'll give you this information. The day with God begins with an evening, ends with a morning.

The day with the world begins with the morning, ends with an evening. You want to chase the world? You'll begin in the light, but your end will be in absolute darkness, destruction. You want to chase Jesus Christ? You will begin with him, with darkness.

You'll end up in him, in the light. Absolute eternal life. So day 1, evening and morning, beginning and end.

Day 2, evening and morning. Day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, all of them had evening and morning. Day 7, Sabbath, there is no mention neither of evening nor of morning.

Sabbath is going till this very day. Therefore, the days in Genesis creation are not literal. Are not literal.

Are not. Because day 7 has no beginning, no end till now. Hasn't finished, still going.

That's 1. Number 2, my question to all of us, when does God rest? How does God rest? We need to question what is written. And God rested on Sabbath. Well, how does God rest? What is rest anyway? Does it mean that God created in 6 days and then on the 7th day he just switched off? Nothing to do anymore, gone.

What does the Lord Jesus say in the New Testament? My father till this very day is working and so am I. My father till this moment he is working and so am I. So God never stops working. So what is God's rest then? When you go to work, you start work at 8 a.m. let's assume and then lunchtime is 12 o'clock. When you started at 8 till 12, you were doing a specific task.

When lunchtime came, you said I went on my break. I had a rest. Did you really rest in the sense that you stopped doing everything and anything? No.

What happened from 8 till 12, I did something. At lunchtime, I stopped what I was doing and I began doing something else. I got my lunchbox which my beautiful wife prepared for me and if I had taken it back without eating it, I would have slept in the street.

So I took the lunchbox, I opened it, I ate, I washed it, I cleaned, I prepared, I packed it up, I put it in the bag again and then I went back to my other job. So rest means I stopped doing what I was doing earlier and I began to do something else. God never stops working.

If he stops, everything vanishes including life. There is nothing left. So what did God do? God created everything in those six days and on Sabbath when he rested, he started protecting and preserving what he had created forever.

I'll give you an example. When you come to build a house to live in, you're excited. I got the DA, now the CC, a construction certificate.

You see, I'm not just a pretty face, baby. Use 32 MPa concrete, it's good for you, brother. Just kidding.

But it's there. We run out of wood, no carpenters. Timber is finished, man.

Bunnings is running out of timber. That's terrible. Australia has so much timber and we run out of timber.

Isn't that amazing? Incredible country. What was I saying? You begin to build a house, you're excited, you started laying the foundation, putting the frames up and the brick and all the workers are coming and going and you are running here, running there, making sure everything is into place. And then maybe it took you, let's say, about a year of hard work, hard work, calling, going, coming.

Finally, the house is built after a hard one year of hard labor. And then I've got the keys and I'm putting the key into the door and I'm taking a deep breath and I'm saying, finally, I am at rest. Thank God the house is finished.

Let's go in and have a rest. And to your shocking surprise, your work is just about to begin because it took one year to build the house. It will take a lifetime to protect it and keep it.

Hello, anybody home? It took one year to build, a lifetime to preserve. A lifetime. It took six days for God to create everything.

It took his life on the cross to preserve what he created. It took his life. So now, when does God rest? How does God rest? Well, when I and all of you, my beloveds, when we are sin free, when we are sin free, then God rests.

God, the Lord said he is our father. I'm sure there are beautiful fathers here and those who are watching us through live streaming. And the same goes to mothers, please, no offense.

Mom and dad, equal, no difference. Father and mother, equal. Parents, you work extremely hard for your children's well-being.

You try your hardest. You go out of your comfort zone to make sure your child is well-dressed, well-fed and has a good future. You'll do anything and everything for your child.

You sacrifice your life to raise your children. You're working so hard and then now they are grown-ups. They've gone out and they're coming back and they are married and they're coming back on the weekend to spend the weekend with mom and dad, the good old mom and dad.

We miss those old days. Let's go, my dear wife, together and with the kids and see grandpa and grandma, my dad and my mom. Dad is still with a white hair and a white beard like me and mom has wrinkles on her face, working hard.

The children are coming. The children are coming. We're preparing to welcome the children.

Dad is working hard. He's got the barbecue on. He's got the prawns on the barbie baby.

He's got all the meat and everything is prepared. He's working. He's sweating, working so hard all his life.

The moment he sees his children walking in the house in good health and in good spirit with a smile on their face, that wipes all the hard work of daddy. That wipes all his pain, all his suffering. That wipes all the hard yakka.

He forgets it when he sees his children in his presence. He forgets all the hard work. We can never repay parents by giving them money.

We can never repay parents by giving them a gift on their birthday or whatever occasion it is. We only repay parents when we are good to God and good to them. The moment the children are in the father's presence, the father says, now I'm okay.

My eyes fell on my children. Whatever I did all my life, it was worth it. I don't remember it.

No matter how hard I worked, the reward is given for my children are in my presence. Then the father rests. God rested on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath, my beloved, is not a literal day. The Sabbath is the person of Christ himself. He is the Sabbath, not a Saturday.

This is the true Sabbath. This is the true spiritual Sabbath. My beloved, do not learn the Bible in the literal sense.

You need to take it in the spiritual sense. God's rest was only when his beloved son died on the cross in the flesh and shed his blood on Calvary and with his blood wiped the sins of the world. When he wiped our sins, he called us his brothers.

He called us his brothers and when he made us his brothers, we became the children of God and God became our father, Jesus Christ. Through him, we entered into the presence of our heavenly daddy. When daddy saw us in his presence, then and then only he rested.

So, how does God rest? When you accept Jesus Christ, the true Sabbath, as Lord and God and Savior for your life. That's when the father rests. When did the father rest? When his son, beloved son Jesus Christ, rose from the dead.

When did Jesus rise? Sunday, my beloved. He rested on Sabbath in the tomb and he rose from the dead Sunday morning. Now, from the Sunday, day one to Sunday, there is eight days, not seven.

From Sunday to Sunday, there is eight. I'm learning. There is eight.

Seven is the number for this realm. Eight is the number for the other realm. Seven is the number for the tangible realm, the temporal realm we live in.

Eight is the number for the heavenly realm, divine realm that never ends. And number eight, when you put it on its side, that is the symbol of infinity. Isn't it? Some people wear it as a necklace.

What are you wearing, baby? Oh, well, number eight, you know, on its side. Number eight is infinity. Why infinity? Because it is a circle within a circle and it never ends.

You go inside that circle, you will never come out of it. It goes forever and ever and ever and ever. There is no end.

Therefore, in infinity, a dot can be the beginning and a dot can be the end. There is no end to it. It is a beginning to no beginning and it is an end to no end.

Infinity forever. Jesus Christ deliberately rose on Sunday to bring us into the eighth day, not the seventh, out of this realm into the next realm, the number eight for the next life, not for this life. That day in the next life is the day that will never end forever.

And the son, S-U-N, of that day in heaven is this gorgeous Jewish man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. All glory to his holy name. So how does God rest when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for your life? When did God rest the father? When did he rest? When his son rose from the dead.

Because rising from the dead meant your debts now are forgiven forever. Imagine if the Lord had preached, done all the wonders and the miracles, and then took all our sins, all of our sins upon himself and crucified them on the cross, and then he died in the flesh and was buried and never rose. We would not have benefited nothing.

Our sins would have been greater than him and they would have buried him and he never rose. He would have done nothing for us at all. But him rising from the dead meant he stepped on our sins.

He crushed everything under his foot. When he rose from the dead, it was then and then only our debts were forgiven once and for all. And this is why for the first time ever, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior himself, for the first time ever says to Mary Magdalene, go and tell my brothers I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God.

It is the only place Jesus says for the first time ever for to us, my brothers. Read the New Testament. Other people came and said to the Lord, your mother and your brothers are waiting for you outside.

People said it, not Jesus. When did Jesus himself call us brothers? After resurrection. Why? Because prior to the resurrection, there was no way in the world for the Lord to call us brothers.

For one simple fact, he is the son of God. And if he had called us brothers prior to resurrection, we would have been the sons of God as well. And it is impossible to be the son of God.

Yet you have sin in you. You have to be sin free. You have to be like your heavenly father, holy, perfect.

So when Jesus rose, he paid the debt, the price of the debt. Those who believed him and him, those who accepted him, their debts were forgiven. Once their debts were forgiven by his resurrection, it was then and then only the Lord was able to call us brothers.

Now you have no sin. My blood washed it. My resurrection, you know, sealed it forever.

The debt is paid once and for all. Now that you are sinless, I can call you brothers. Therefore, it is impossible for Jesus to have biological brothers as some claim.

That is a very theological error and a very big theological error. It is impossible for Jesus to have biological brothers, my beloved. Mary is virgin for eternities.

She is mother and virgin forever. She can never have conceived after Jesus. Impossible.

Impossible. We need to understand theology. We need to understand the holy Bible and the truth and not speak here and there.

The Lord can't have biological brothers. He cannot afford to have sinners as brothers. He is the Son of God, the perfect lamb of God, the holy of holies, without a blemish, without a stain.

In order to have brothers, our sins must be forgiven. Therefore, that was only made possible after resurrection, which was Sunday. So what is the spiritual Sabbath? Sunday, resurrection.

For the Sabbath was not referred to be a day. The Sabbath was referred to be Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It is in this person that God the Father rested, because he's the only one that fulfilled every word and every law of God.

This is the only man that made God rest. And whoever receives this man, we are making our Father rest. For in this man, there is forgiveness of sins, redemption, salvation.

That's how God rests. So what is Sabbath? Sunday, resurrection. Who is Sabbath? Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

The Bible is not talking about a day. Now, so now today is the spiritual Sabbath. The Father is resting, because we are going to come and receive the body and the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

The moment your sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Daddy is at rest. Why? Because when I'm sinless, I am in his presence. And when the children come in and be in the Father's presence, the Father finally is at peace.

Well, the people of the Old Testament misunderstood. The Israelite people took it literally. They misunderstood.

You see, when you do not receive Jesus Christ as Lord and God, you'll still stay in the dark. How are you going to be enlightened unless you have the Holy Spirit? And how are you going to receive the Holy Spirit if you don't receive the Son and the truth? Five minutes? Are you cold? No? I'm hot. The Lord says, I came not to seek sacrifice, but mercy.

Very quickly. The sign of mercy is forgiveness. The sign of mercy is forgiveness.

Sometimes people have asked me this, how do I know I'm walking in the Lord's path? Look, I know when I'm going to Liverpool, from Fairfield to Liverpool, or going to the city, I know because there are ways that I drive and I get to. There are signs, there are, you know, ways to get to the city and Liverpool or Parramatta. So I know I'm driving and I know where I'm going.

But you, fathers, you keep on saying you must walk in the Lord's path. You must walk in the Lord's path. Okay, you've bombarded us with all of this talk, but you haven't told me how do I know I'm walking in the Lord's path? Where is it? You want to know if you're walking in the Lord's path or not? One of the biggest, not the only, but one of the biggest signs that you're definitely walking in the Lord's path, when you are able to forgive someone who is a pain in the neck in your life.

Someone who has hurt you, someone who has destroyed you, someone who has stabbed you in the back, someone who has digged a big ditch and made you fall into it, someone who gave you a hard time, you want to rip him apart, but then you say, may the Lord forgive you, I forgive you as well. When you're able to forgive someone who has been painful in your life, then rest assured, rest assured, and rest assured, you are definitely walking in the Lord's path. For one simple reason.

To every God's creation, God placed a law in it. In this tangible realm, there is the law of physics. For every action, there is a reaction.

Equal in force, opposite in direction. Man, I should teach physics, brother. For every action, there is a reaction.

Equal in force, opposite in direction. In the biblical terminology, love the one who loves you and hate the one who hates you. If somebody smacks you, smack him.

And if somebody hugs you, hug him. And if somebody hates you, hate him. And if somebody loves you, love him.

This is the law of this world. The Lord came. This man is stunning.

He said, love your enemy. Oh, what? I have a lot of wax in my ear, I can't hear. Can I have a hearing aid, please? I didn't hear you well, Jesus.

Yes, I'll say it again. Love your enemy. Never heard this before.

Do good to those who do bad to you. If somebody drags you for a mile, walk another mile with them. That's not in me, Lord.

I can't do it. He said exactly. I know it's not in you.

Because what is in you is the law of this world. And the law of this world, love the one who loves you, hate the one who hates you. I came not from this world.

I came from heaven, from above. I came with a law from above. The law of the above is love your enemy.

It is a law that is not existent in this realm. It is not. It is out of this realm.

Therefore, it is out of your capacity. And that's why the Lord said in John 15, 5, without me, you cannot do nothing. That's what he meant.

Because my law is not in you. I'm going to ask you not the difficult thing. I'm going to ask you what is impossible, not difficult.

The difficult things, Jesus leaves you to do it yourself. The impossible, Jesus enters and does it himself. The Lord, when he came to raise Lazarus from the dead, to remove the rock from the face of the tomb, he said, disciples, remove the rock.

Why? Because they are capable of removing the rock. Are the disciples capable of raising the dead? No. That's why he didn't ask them to raise him.

He will ask you what is possible in your hand, and he will never ask you what is impossible. He will do it himself. Removing the rock, you do.

Raising the dead, my job, not yours. I do. So now, love your enemy.

This is the law that is not in you. He says, yes, the only way you're going to be able to do it, let me be in you. Let me be your Lord.

Let me be your Savior. Allow me to live inside of you. Allow me to dwell in your heart.

Allow me to be king over your life. Allow me to work through you. Let me do the impossible in you and through you.

When you accept me in your life, I will make sure you will love your enemy. So when you're able to forgive the enemy, you are walking in my path. Because this law is from above.

It's not from this realm. You are definitely walking in my way. Blessed is the soul that can forgive those who have hurt that soul.

And when you forgive someone that has been a pain in your life, you are doing yourself a favor, not them, by the way. You're doing yourself a favor, not them. You're doing yourself a favor.

Because what saved us all was the forgiveness of Jesus Christ to all of us, or for all of us. Forgiveness is the sign of mercy. The first statement the Lord Jesus said while he's nailed on the cross, he said seven statements, by the way, those seven statements, they go hand in hand with the seven days of creation, Genesis 1. They go hand in hand.

The first statement the Lord says, and before he gives his spirit, he says, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing. Forgive them. What did they do to Jesus? They shredded him to pieces.

They ridiculed him. They swore at him. They spat at him.

They dragged him in the streets of Jerusalem, and they nailed him on the cross fully naked. Imagine this, a fully mature man at the age of 33, maturity age, to go up on the cross fully naked. There is no more embarrassment than this.

People were making fun of him. And all of that, he says, Father, forgive them. It's okay, Dad.

I forgive them, Dad. I'm asking you to forgive them as well. Wow.

What saved us all from eternal death, eternal hell, eternal condemnation, was the mercy of God. What is the mercy of God? Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. This is the mercy of God.

And the sign of this mercy, Daddy, forgive them. I came not to seek sacrifice. I came to seek mercy.

Don't come and offer me things. Offer me mercy. For I am the merciful God that forgave you.

Yet you were unworthy of my forgiveness, but I still forgave you. Shouldn't you do the same? Shouldn't you do the same? Are you cold? Man, I'm getting old. I'm wearing all these warm clothes, right? And I'm a bit cold.

It's old age. It's old age. Ask the Lord Jesus to help you to be able to forgive those who have hurt you.

Forgiveness is one thing. Justice is another. Love is something else.

When I forgive someone, unless they are immediate family, it doesn't mean that I have to go back and live with them and walk with them. If someone is a friend, someone is a cousin, outside of my family circle, if their way is against the Lord, I need to forgive them, but not mix with them. I need to keep my distance, because if I continue living with them, they will drag me away from Christ.

But walk away, but in your heart, have nothing but love, mercy, and forgiveness. Pray for them. Say, Lord, I pray that you touch their heart.

Wake them up. Bring them back to you. Give them the best of the best in your kingdom.

I wish them nothing but the best. I did not come for people to love me or hate me. I came to glorify your name, Daddy.

I came for you. We need to be close to the Lord Jesus. And when the Lord starts working in us, the impossible becomes possible.

Believe me, the impossible becomes possible. Maybe you've heard, I'll leave you with this. I didn't think of it when I said it.

I'll leave you with this. Tafalake, tafalake. An Italian boy went to his Italian daddy, the good Italian stallion baby.

He said, Papa. He says, what son? He says, Papa, can we have a color television? He smacks the son on the head and he says, now you can see all of the colors. See, our daddies were tough.

Not like now, they were tough. You know, you don't ever say to your Middle Eastern or Italian dad, I am bored. Imagine you say that, he will say, come here, bored.

You can go now on the roof and clean all the leaves and unclean all of the gutters and then come down and then cut all of the grass and then go and throw everything in the tip. Come back, then I give you something to do. Yes.

A true story. Maybe some of you heard it, some of you not, I don't know. This is a true story.

There was this dad who had a son. He used to take him to church every Sunday without fail. Very, very close to the Lord the dad was.

The wife had left him. She passed away. He raised his son, the only son.

He used to take him to church. One day, far from all the fathers and mothers, from parents, one day he got ill with cancer, far from you. True story.

He became very sick. And then he dies. The son is a teenager, about 13, 14.

He started mixing with some people, so-called friends. Please be careful of these friends. So they took him in the wrong direction.

This priest or this child's father who was very close to this particular priest, this priest never gave up. He kept on asking for this son of where he's about. 20 years he kept on asking.

Nobody knew a trace of this young boy. 20 years went by. Now this young boy is a grown-up man now.

After 20 years, the priest was in the church and it was a Sunday, like today. This man walks in. He says, father.

He said, yes, son. I've heard that you've been looking for this man. He said, yes, for 20 years I've been searching for him.

He said, father, I know where he lives. Thank God and thank you, my son. Give me the address.

He gives him the address. Monday, the following day, he goes to that man's house, knocks at the door. The man opens the door, recognizes the priest from his childhood.

He says, oh, father, welcome, welcome. It's been a long time. He said, son, where have you been? 20 years I've been looking for you.

Son, Christ wants you. Christ wants you. He said, father, I promise you, next Sunday you'll see me in the first row sitting in the church.

I'll be waiting, son. Sunday comes. That son does not come.

Monday, the priest goes again. He knocks at the door. He opens the door and he says, son, where were you? I was waiting for you.

He said, I'm so sorry. I was coming, father. But something came up.

This son, he ended up being the biggest leader of a drug syndicate in that country. The biggest leader of drug syndicate. Extremely powerful, extremely rich.

Extremely rich and extremely powerful. True story, true story, believe me. He said, father, I'm so busy.

Promise you next Sunday I'll be there. Sunday comes. He doesn't show up.

Monday, the priest goes, knocks at the door. Son, you didn't come. He said, father, we need to stop, you know, lying to ourselves.

You know very well what I do for a living, father. If I come to your Jesus, can your Christ give me the money that I make every month? Can he? He said, my son, Christ's treasures are endless. He can give you anything and everything.

He said, father, please stop wasting your time and my time. Go and find someone else for your Christ. I am no good, neither to you nor to your Christ.

Away with you, father. And don't ever come back to this house again. He says, son, I'm going.

But Christ wants you and I'll be waiting for you. He said, good luck. Sunday comes, obviously doesn't show up.

Monday, the following day, the priest goes. The priest, by the way, is illiterate. Doesn't know how to read or write.

He learned the liturgy, the church services by heart. That's how he learned them. He was illiterate.

True story. He goes on Monday. He knocks at the door.

To the priest, taffalak. He knocked in a way. Apparently, this man was waiting for some other drug dealers.

To come to his house that day. And it was exactly the same knock as the priest did. The priest didn't know a poor thing.

But there was a sign. You knock this way, I know which one it is. So the priest knocked the same way as those drug dealers.

So he ran thinking it is the drug dealers. Opens the door. And to his shock, it's the priest.

Out of frustration and anger, he punches the priest in the face. Big punch. Knocks him on his back.

He breaks one of his teeth. And blood gushes out of his mouth. After a few seconds, he wakes up.

He was very shaken. And he dusts his clothes off. And he says to that man.

My son, I'm gonna go. But I will never come back to this house again. But before I go, I wanna say to you for the last time.

Christ wants you. And he goes. That night, police catch this man.

He was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment. He was thrown in a dungeon. Not even 2 meters by 2 meters underground.

Absolutely pitch black dark. And full of mold and mice. And then when he sees this dungeon.

From the mansion to the dungeon. He says, I can't last 9 seconds. Let alone 9 years.

He started bashing on those bars. Screaming, let me out of here. Let me out of here.

The security guard comes laughing at him. He says, ha ha. Outside you were a lion.

Look at you now. You are nothing but a little mouse. No one will come to your rescue.

No one. So be quiet. He sits on the floor.

It is him telling the story. He sits on the floor. Crying to himself.

And then he hears a whisper. There was a sound in the dungeon. He became so scared.

He said, they must have put me with a murderer. He's gonna rip me apart here. And he says, a glimpse of light comes in that dark pitch black dungeon.

True story. He says, that glimpse of light becomes stronger. Bigger.

Brighter. Brighter. He says, until the whole dungeon became brighter than the sun.

And in the midst of that light. I saw Jesus sitting on the ground. With both hands and feet.

Legs chained to the ground. And I looked at him. I said, Lord.

What are you doing here? When he spoke, I saw a tooth missing in his mouth. And blood coming out of his mouth. I said, Lord.

What happened to you? Who did this to you? He said, my son. You did it. He said, I threw myself at his feet.

Crying like a baby. I said, when Lord? How could I have done such a thing to you? He said, my son. Do you think I am a harsh master? I'm not.

Do you know who sent that priest to you, my son? It was me. It was me, not the priest. I am that priest.

I sent him to you because you're my son. I love you. I don't want you to be lost forever.

I sent that priest, but it was me. When you punched that priest. You did not punch my servant.

You punched me. Haven't you heard, my son, what I said? What you do unto these little ones that are my disciples. You do unto me.

When you punched him, you punched your master. He said, I started crying and begging him for mercy. Forgiveness.

Forgive me, Lord. I didn't know. I'm blind.

I'm this. He said, and then I saw the chains coming off his hands and of his feet. And Jesus started going up and up and up.

And I looked up to him. And I said, Lord, forgive me. Give me a chance.

When I come out of this dungeon, I am all yours, Lord Jesus. For the rest of my life and forever. And then he said, Jesus looked down at me with a big smile on his face.

And he said to me, Christ wants you. The exact words of the priest. It's not me talking.

It's the Lord. I'm nothing. Believe me, that's the truth.

He asked for a holy Bible. They brought him one. He memorized the Bible from cover to cover in those nine years.

He came out of the dungeon and became one of the most famous preachers in that country. They used to ask for his preaching in all the churches in that country. So famous.

From the dealer to a preacher. What happened? Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they're doing.

It's never too late. Come back to the Lord. Let's bow our heads and ask the Lord for forgiveness.

And while we are reciting these words in your heart, repent, ask the Lord whatever sins you have done. Say him in your heart before the Lord now. Our good God and full of mercy.

Our good God and full of mercy. Whose grace and mercy is poured upon all. Pour my Lord the compassion of the delightfulness of your love upon your servants.

And again transform them in the hope of renewal to the life of repentance. Renew in them your Holy Spirit by whom they are sealed for the day of salvation. Purify them by your compassion from all flesh and spiritual blemishes.

And assure the hope of their faith by the aid of your grace. And instill the walks of their behavior in the paths of righteousness. Please them along with the saints in your kingdom by the assurance of the hope of their faith.

And the adoption as your children and in the joy of your absolving mysteries. Empower them by your by the aid of your mercies to observe your commandments. And fulfill your will to confess worship and praise your Holy Name.

The Lord of all, Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever. Amen. God bless you all.

May the Lord Jesus forgive us our sins and our foolishnesses and our shortfalls. And bring us into his divine light. Amen.

Maybe you'll have a kingdom on earth. Maybe you'll have wealth on earth.