How To Be A Better Christian Through Jesus Fasting

We do not respond or reply to the devil with our own thoughts, but with what is written. Because the Lord Jesus himself, when he came to replying to the devil, he never said, I think. He said, but it is written also.

It is written. Every time the Lord replied to Satan with the written word. Meaning, if you want to overcome Satan and his deceptive and cunning ways, be embedded in the Holy Bible.

Be familiar with the word of God. Don't leave the book on the shelf. Don't leave this holy book closed.

Start reading the holy book, even if you don't understand it. Some people say, I don't read because I don't understand Bishop. It's not about understanding initially.

It's about reading the Holy Bible. Just read it for the Lord's sake, because the word on its own can help you and save you and give you the wisdom to overcome any and every Satan's or the devil's temptations. And thirdly, we also learned one thing about Satan.

He is patient. He is patient, so he'll come and tempt and he may not win. He will come back again.

He never gives up. That cheeky, sneaky, little liar. Yes, I got help here.

That little liar, he does not give up. He is very patient. So if you want to learn something from Satan, I'm not saying go and learn from him.

But if there is one thing you want to learn from the scriptures, he is very patient. He is very patient. And we see that.

You see, when he did not win with the Lord Jesus with the first temptation, when he said to the Lord, if you are the son of God, say to these stones to be bread. The Lord replied and overcame Satan. Satan didn't give up and say, oh I'm not winning with this man.

I better leave him alone. No. He said, he heard the Lord saying, it is written, it is not by bread alone a man shall live, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Satan heard the Lord saying, it is written. He said, well very true. Since I don't give up easily.

Well, since you, Jesus, say it is written, then I'll come to another temptation from the written book. And I'm going to tempt you. I don't give up.

And the second one was, then the devil took him up, the holy city, set him on the pinnacle or on the edge of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written. Ah, wow. So Jesus, you say it's written? Fine.

Okay, let's leave the bread alone and the stone alone. I'm not winning in that aspect. I'm going to come to another written aspect.

Because I'll say to you now, Jesus, it is written. What is written? He shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Satan is quoting biblical references.

That means he knows the holy Bible from cover to cover. Isn't it a shame? We don't know the Bible. Satan knows it.

We belong to Christ. He doesn't. Yet he knows what's in the Bible.

And we, the children of Christ, we don't know what is written in the Bible. You need to put Satan to shame and start reading the holy Bible thoroughly. Thoroughly, my beloved.

Start reading it, please. But one thing with Satan, he will never give up on his deceptive and and lying way of thinking and talking. He'll never give up on that.

You see, Satan quoted, he shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. Where did Satan get this from? Psalm 91. Well, Psalm 91, and by the way, Psalm 91, if you read that every day, you'll have Satan under your foot, in Jesus mighty name.

Psalm 91 is one of the most powerful, powerful Psalms to overcome Satan's attacks. Psalm 91. Satan quotes from Psalm 91, and it is verses 11 to 13.

However, the little sneaky Satan leaves few words out. He doesn't quote the whole verses. Isn't he cunning and deceptive? My goodness.

Look at this. Psalm 91 verse 11. Look what it says.

For he shall give his angels charge over you. Satan quotes half the verse, and he leaves the other half alone. Why? Because the other half is against him.

What a sneaky little bugger. If you are not familiar with the Holy Bible, Satan can play with your head, even through the Holy Bible. And isn't Satan doing that with some people calling themselves Christians, but they are not teaching the truth.

Satan has entered and falsified the truth. Amazing, amazing how sneaky he is. For he shall give his angels charge over you.

Half the truth. What is the other half of the truth, Satan? Which you kept silent to keep you in all your ways. Ah, so the Lord will keep Jesus in all his ways.

If Satan had quoted the entire verse, that meant Satan would have lost straight away, because the Lord keeps Jesus in all his ways, meaning he protects Jesus in all his ways. But Satan didn't say that, because it's against him. And then, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

That's quoted, but not the whole truth. What is the whole truth? Continue. This is about Jesus Christ when he comes.

What will he do? You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra. Who is the lion and the cobra? Satan. You shall tread.

When Jesus come, he will step on the lion and on the cobra, on Satan. And what else? The young lion and the serpent you shall trample under foot. Satan didn't quote that, because it's all against him.

The Lord shall give his angels over you. The Lord shall give, what is it? Shall give his angels charge over you. Shall give his angels charge over you, if others throw you down, not you throw yourself down.

So Satan is coming in a very sneaky way, because he is what? He's a cobra snake, in a twisted way. He said, throw yourself down. No, the Lord will send his angels to your rescue, if others throw you down, not you by yourself.

Because if you do it yourself, you are testing the Lord. And this is why the Lord Jesus replied and said, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Satan, I know your sneaky ways.

Throw yourself down. No, no, no. The Lord will only come to my rescue, if others come and hurt me.

But for me to hurt myself by myself, then I am putting the Lord to the test. Don't ever tempt the Lord. See how sneaky he is.

Third temptation. Again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

Then Jesus said to him, away with you Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. But do you notice one thing here? Maybe not. When Satan said, I'll give you the kingdoms of the world and all their glories, if you bow down and worship me.

The Lord, before quoting the biblical reference, before quoting it, he says to Satan, away with you Satan. Go away. Then the Lord quotes, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve.

Why? If the Lord had quoted the verse without saying to Satan, away with you prior to it, he would have brought back Satan to worshiping God. He said, go away now because this verse is not for you. It's for my children.

The day you challenged me in heaven, you lost that position. You can never come back to worshiping me again. So be gone Satan.

Now it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. Worshiping and serving God is no longer for Satan. It is no longer available.

It is only available to mankind and this is why Satan is attacking mankind. He is saying, since I will never be able to go back and worship God again, I will do my absolute best to make sure no human being worships the true divine God again. The way I lost, I want them to lose that privilege and that blessing.

That's why Satan attacks you because he wants to get to one point, take you away from God. The three temptations, first one to do with the body, second one to do with the spirit, third one to do with the soul. If you are the son of God, say to these stones to be bread, that's to do with the body.

And what is the attack against the body? Lust. Lust. And what is the cure the Lord is providing for the temptation of the body? Fasting.

Fasting is the medication to overcome lust. Why? Because when you fast, you are weakening the body. You are breaking the body.

When you are broken in the body, you're not gonna go downtown anymore baby. Imagine this, when we're healthy and wealthy, we can do anything and everything. We can go anywhere we wish because I have the health and I have the wealth.

But imagine an illness comes and breaks me down and I am bedridden. Are you gonna go to those places that you were going before? No. Are you going to talk the way you spoke before? No.

What are you going to say? Lord, please I beg you, I don't want nothing from this world and from this life. Just give me good health. Give me back my health Lord.

I promise you Lord, I will never ever be naughty again. The Lord gives me the health and I go back to my naughty ways again. He comes and breaks me again my beloved.

Naughty, naughty. So now the flesh, the body, lust is the enemy. The Lord says fast.

Now what is the enemy of the spirit? The second temptation. He took him up on the pinnacle of the temple, a high place. When someone stands on a high place, they feel good about themselves.

Whoa, everybody's looking up to me. Everybody is focusing on me. I am the center of attention.

Wow, I am someone special. My head becomes a big hot air balloon. False pride.

Pride is the enemy of the spirit. And what is the cure for the pride? Prayer. The Lord says pray to overcome the pride of the spirit.

Fasting brings the head of the flesh to the ground. Prayer brings the head of the spirit to the ground. And the third one, the soul.

What is the weakness of the soul? Greed. All right. Can you please give me five dollars? I'm hungry.

I don't have. This person has millions, not a cent out of that person comes. Greed attacks the soul.

Poor soul lives, dwells in wealth and possessions, loves wealth, loves possession. This is my house. This is my car.

This is my money. This is my throne. And nobody touches it.

I am the bishop in charge. And whatever I say goes. Relax soul.

Nothing is yours. When death comes, death will take away everything you think you've ever had. Nothing is yours.

Give. Cheerful is the hand that gives. Cheerful is the hand that gives.

Why are you afraid? Why are you so greedy? It's not yours. You have billions in the bank account. Well, when are you going to eat it all? When you go out to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, how much are you going to eat? When you want to travel, how much are you going to travel? How long are you going to be traveling? You got this Ferrari, and that Lamborghini, and this Mercedes-Benz, and that Rolls-Royce, and whatever.

And you've got mansions, and properties, and everything. And, and when I sit at home alone, I look at myself and there is a big emptiness, void from within. I had fun to the fullest, but at the end I am empty.

You know why? Because you enjoyed life outside of the Creator, and His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The only one that fills you up from within, the only one that gives you the virtue of contentment is God, and His name is Jesus. It's the only one.

The more you give, the Lord will give you more. And the only time you'll be happy when you help, not when you take, when you give, my son and my daughter. That is the only time you enjoy true happiness.

Why? Because you are imitating your Christ on earth, and the only happiness that you will ever receive that is absolutely genuine, is when you put a smile on the Lord's face. He'll make sure that you are happy. When you make Him happy, He'll make you happy.

And as the simple English saying goes, what goes around comes around. You make me happy, I'll make you happy. You scratch my back, I scratch your back.

Now let's focus also on the following. Let's take fasting as a journey. Let's take fasting as a journey, and in every journey we need to determine the following destination.

Without destination, there is no journey, there is no travel, there is no trip. So I need to determine the destination in order for me to have a journey made possible. When I determine the destination, it is therefore, thereafter, I determine in what kind of a mean I shall travel with.

Is it by the road, by road, on earth? Is it by the sea, or is it by air? Depending on the destination. Well since we live in Australia, if you wish to go overseas, it's either boat or plane. There is no cars.

You have the Pacific Ocean surrounding this continent, and there is no other means but only the sea and the air. Now, fasting, the intention behind fasting is to get us to Christ. That is the ultimate intention.

So it's not about what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and so many Christians waste their time and breath thinking what do I cook today or tomorrow or the next day. Enough! Stop making food your priority. Your priority through fasting is to get to Christ.

What food? So now, since I need to get to Christ, I need to climb up. Well the only climbing up way is by air. I need a plane.

The plane is made out of three parts. There is the main cabin, the body, there is one wing to the right, and another wing to the left. These three components is what we call the way of worshiping God, and that is also included in the our beloved Jewish Tanakh.

One body, the body is called prayer. The main cabin of the plane is called prayer. One wing is called fasting.

The other wing is called charity, alms giving or charitable deeds. Now, fasting and charity are means to get me to my destiny, but the main body is foundational. So it's like the triangle.

This side is fasting. The other side is charity, but the base and the foundation of the triangle is prayer. Now, why is fasting and charitable deeds our only means, but prayer is foundational? Because if somebody, what is fasting is to weaken the body, to break the body.

If someone is sick, the church allows and permits that sick person to eat in order to take medications. That we cannot expect the sick person to fast. Why? Because what fasting was trying to determine, illness has already achieved that.

The illness broke the body, we're even now. Fasting is to breaking the body and making it weak. Well, the illness took care of that, and through that illness the body is weak.

So a person that is sick, I don't ask them to fast. A person that is a street beggar, I don't ask them to do charitable deeds, but prayer, I ask everyone to pray. Prayer applies to everyone, every situation and every condition.

The poor must pray, the sick must pray, the wealthy must pray. It is for everyone applicable. That's why prayer is foundational, my beloved.

So I need this plane that is made out of the main cabin, prayer, one wing fasting, the other wing is charitable deeds. Now when I sit in this plane of prayer, fasting and charity, I'm cruising now to this high altitude, getting closer to Christ. That is the beginning of the great length.

I'll tell you about our church fathers. Every church has different readings on these Sundays, from the first Sunday till the eighth Sunday, which is Sunday resurrection. Each church has different readings.

I'm going to quote you from the church I belong to, what the church fathers have selected to be the readings from the holy gospel for every single week leading up to Sunday resurrection. Amazing, amazing how they put it in this particular and specific order. The first week is the beginning of the great length and it begins with the reading from the gospel according to Saint Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 to 11, which has been the topic for the last three weeks with us.

The great length, the fasting of the Lord. Why do they begin with it? The three temptations. The Lord is saying, if you wish to come to me, you need to fly because you need to climb up and the only way for you to start climbing up, i.e. detaching yourself from earth and coming to heaven, you need to sit in the plane that is made out of three parts, prayer, fasting, and charitable deeds.

If you lack one, the plane will crash. Remove one wing, can't fly. Take the cabin.

Where are you going to put the wings? The three have to be together in order for the plane to fly. So you want to fly? You want to be heavenly? You want to be spiritual? You want to come to me? Stop living for this world and the temptations of this world? You want to live for Christ? You better start praying, fasting, and doing charitable deeds. Break the body.

Don't give it what it wants. Don't spoil your body. Smack your body and tie it up and when you're greedy, break that greed by doing a charity.

Just break it. Go one day against your will and give a thousand dollars to someone that has nothing. You will not sleep that night from the pain and the agony and the brokenness of the heart.

Ouch! I gave a thousand dollars. I never gave no one nothing. First time ever.

I am aching. I am breaking but I did it and do it again and do it again until you overcome the weakness of greed. And prayer.

I was going to talk about a topic, man. I don't have the time. Ah! And prayer, my beloveds.

Do you know why people don't like to pray or why people struggle with prayer? Have you noticed every time you want to come to pray, you either fall asleep or you start wondering. Prior to praying, I had dementia. The moment I started praying, I regained my memory in full.

I remembered everyone's birthday under the sun. I remembered that the food is on fire. The clothes are in the washing machine and I forgot, I remember that I forgot to call my cousin who has been waiting for the last 10 hours.

I remember everything suddenly. No more dementia. Hallelujah! It's a miracle.

And the moment I stop praying, I become dumb again. Huh? I don't know. People struggle with prayer.

You know why? Because Satan doesn't want you to pray. Now, he is the corporate behind it. 100%.

We have an element of it as well but to be fair, 90% is Satan. 10% is us. We're just being weak and lazy.

But 90% is Satan. He doesn't want you to pray. And when you are stubborn and persistent and you get up to pray, what did we say? He's patient.

You see? He doesn't give up. So he will come and try to distort your prayer by reminding you the food is on fire and the clothes are in the washing machine and everything else. You start wondering.

I'm praying and I'm thinking I'm at Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach, mate! And put on that vitamin D on baby. Yeah, got a beautiful suntan.

It's a struggle. Why is it a struggle? Because prayer brings the spirit into connectivity with God. You are connected with God.

Prayer is the way to enter in the presence of God. Prayer is the only way to enter in that into the presence of God. And when you enter into the presence of God, what is God's in his nature? Light.

I am the light of the world, the Lord Jesus says. That is the nature of God. So if somebody says, where did Jesus say I'm God? Well, when he said I am the light of the world, only applies to God.

God is the only light. We cannot say we are the light. We can only say we live in the light or we dwell in the light.

But for me to be the light, only God is. So the Lord says, I am the light of the world, meaning I am God. So when you enter in the presence of the Lord, you are entering in his light.

When you're in the light, everything becomes crystal clear. I'll give you an example. Imagine you're dressed up in this beautiful white suit and you're going to a very formal kind of a gathering and you are dressed up beautifully, a nice suit, all white.

And you're walking on the footpath and it's kind of dark there, not much light. A car comes, not realizing there is a little ditch holding some dirty water. The car goes into that ditch and splashes that dirty water right on you where your entire suit becomes dirty by that water.

What do you do? Because it's dark, you get your handkerchief, which was right here so beautifully folded. You get your handkerchief or whatever you had on and you try to clean your suit as much as possible. And because it was dark, your thought, all the dirt is gone, all the mud is gone.

I can't see any more stains. So you enter that room with confidence that my suit is beautiful again. And as you enter and sit, you notice people looking at you and staring at you.

And you say, what's wrong? Then you turn and look at yourself and you get out of that room faster than a Formula One car, realizing your entire suit is all muddy, dirty, ugly. In the light, everything is very clear. When we enter in the presence of the Lord, His light shines upon us and start revealing to us all our sins, mistakes, wrongdoings, weaknesses.

He'll start penetrating the inner person of you deep down where maybe you have forgotten about certain things. You will start being reminded of everything you have done wrong. What happens when the Lord lights up your spirit? Someone gets upset called the body.

What does the body do now? Oh, I have a headache. I have a backache. My legs, I'm tired.

I've been working so long and so hard all day long. You know what? I need to have a rest. I need to go to sleep.

So the body starts putting you to sleep. Your eyes start shutting. The beautiful head of yours start tilting forward until you are gone to sleep.

In the middle of the prayer, you're gone. Why? Because the body is not happy. You have brought the body to a place where now the body can't receive oxygen.

He is suffocating. The spirit is receiving oxygen because the spirit wants to be with the Lord but the body wants to be with the world. So when you drag the body along with you by force and bring yourself to the church in the presence of the Lord, the body starts aching, starts breaking, starts puffing and especially when it's the bishop preaching, the body will say, please get me out of here.

I have been sentenced to life imprisonment. The bishop never stops once he starts. That's why I pray for too long.

I want to get to your body. I want to break your body. So the body is aching, is breaking, is on the edge, wants to get out.

The spirit is enjoying it but there is an attack now. Now let's reverse the cycle and the body wins and takes the spirit to the club or to our concert and there is a famous singer all the way from America coming to a stadium here in Sydney. Give me thunder.

The stadium is packed. I'm trying to get a ticket in the black market because it's been sold out. It was a hundred dollars online.

I'll pay a thousand. I just want to get in. Wow! You want to pay whatever it takes just to get in but you don't want to come and get into the church for free, for free.

You don't want to do that but you will pay anything and everything you can just to get in and listen to some nonsense. I was going to say evil but I'll stay with nonsense slash evil. The body is in the concert.

The body is breathing, full of oxygen, full of life. The spirit is suffocating. The spirit is aching and it is breaking.

I can't breathe. Get me out of here. The body says this is incredible and you see them shouting and yelling.

What is this? Big deal. Whoever that so-called celebrity is, what is this going crazy? You see all those especially those youngsters, the teenagers. Oh my goodness.

I can't believe it. I can't believe it. What have you been just electrocuted? Looks like you just grabbed a naked cable and it was alive.

Why don't you do that when you're in the presence of the Lord? Why? Why? Why my beloved? Why? In that place Satan is but there is a difference here now. In the church, Satan may come to tempt you but he's not in charge. But in that club and in that concert, Satan is in charge.

So you ask for it. So now when you go there he will need not to ask any permission to devour you because the permission is given already from a very long time ago. What did the Lord Jesus, what did God, what did God say to the serpent? I'm taking you back to the book of Genesis now.

It's a long drive back. In the book of Genesis, what did God say to the serpent? Now the serpent is Satan. Represents Satan here.

It said because, because you have made Adam and Eve fall or Adam fell through Eve, he went to the women. It's a long story. Now since I've mentioned this, I have to elaborate a little bit so there is no confusion here please.

I don't want anyone to come and point the finger at the bishop and says, oh the bishop said it was the woman. I've been asked this question so many times, bishop whose fault was it? Was it the man or the woman? This question was asked more so by the men than the women. Whose fault was it, the man or the woman? I said it was the woman and before finishing they said hallelujah.

I said let me finish. It was the woman's not fault. It was the man's fault.

Why? Because when you read, when you read the holy bible thoroughly, you will see the Holy Spirit is writing through Moses, says and the woman was walking alone in the garden. Now we need to take the word alone and understand. What does it mean the woman was walking alone? See the Holy Spirit is focusing on the word alone.

Why? Looks like the man failed to provide everything the woman needs therefore he left a certain void inside of her and because of that void she started searching elsewhere to fill that void outside of her husband's circle. Now walking alone meaning she is lacking. Walking alone meaning she is lacking.

It is the man's role to provide and it is the woman's role to appreciate and protect what the man's has provided. But it is the man to provide not the woman. That's why God created man first then out of the man the woman.

So the responsibility first and foremost lies on the man not the woman. God will never ask about the family's well-being from the wife. He will ask it from the husband from the man of the woman.

Maybe they're difficult words but we need to hear them. We need to wake up. Yes we need to be responsible before God and then before our family.

So now looks like Adam failed to provide everything the woman needed and it is only humanly natural when we have some sort of an emptiness from within. If we can't find it where we are naturally we will search for it elsewhere. This is the danger when you go elsewhere searching to filling that emptiness that is in you when you leave the house.

So dangerous when children leave the house parents and go and search for freedom elsewhere. So dangerous satan is waiting for them to devour them. So the women went out alone searching for a place that will fill her emptiness.

You'll only find satan. Satan came and walked along he said is it true if you eat from that tree you will die? Is that what God said? She said yes. Well God said if you touch the tree and eat.

She added to God's word. See when you are alone so dangerous you'll start changing what God is saying. God never said touch.

God said eat. Do not eat. He never said do not touch.

That was the first error Eve fell into. She added to God's word. Yes God said do not touch and eat.

Said now trust me eat from the tree and you'll become like God. So she ate and made Adam fall and eat from that tree. That's not our topic.

Now I forgot what I was saying. I got excited. Yes see the holy spirit reminds me on the spot.

When the snake in a sneaky way made Eve fall and threw Eve at him, God came and condemned the snake. He said you will creepy crawl on your belly for the rest of your life and you will eat the dust or the dirt of the earth. Snake you will crawl on your belly and you will eat the dirt of the earth or the soil of the earth.

Now what is earth? The body. Where is the human body taken from? Earth. When somebody passes away far from all of you what do they say in simple terms? Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

And I got a lot of help today. It's amazing. Dust to dust and ashes to ashes because the body is made from that dust from the earth.

So God says to the snake which is satan you have authority over the flesh. That's your jurisdiction. I give you.

Who gave satan the authority over the flesh? God. Not satan. God.

And when God gives something no one can change nor take away. So God gave the permission to satan to rule over the flesh. You will eat the dust, the dirt which is the flesh.

God didn't say you will eat the spirit. No. You only have jurisdiction over the flesh.

That's all you have. The Lord Jesus came. There is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus in the book of Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament.

Malachi prophesies about the Lord Jesus prior to his coming and he says Jesus Christ is the rock of of salvation of all ages. The rock of salvation of all ages. He is the rock of salvation.

And when you read in first Corinthians 10 verses 1 to 14 Saint Paul when he talks about the Israelites leaving Egypt and he says and the rock was following the Israelites nation and the rock was Christ. So what are we? Earth, dirt. And what is Christ? Rock.

One of the one of our church fathers in the 12th century by the name of Giorgis Warda. Giorgis means George in English. His name was George Warda.

George Warda was a laity. He had no rank in the church but a saint in every way form or shape. A saint.

A true saint. He in his wisdom he writes the following. He says there are three ways.

There are three ways in life. Those ways do not leave any fingerprint or any track behind. There are three ways in life.

They do not leave any fingerprint nor any track behind. What are they? One, an eagle in the air. Two, a ship in the sea.

Three, a snake on the rock. An eagle in the air. The eagle is flying in the air and then leaves.

You come. Will you ever know there was an eagle flying here before? No. Why? Because there is no track.

There is nothing left behind. There is no fingerprint. A ship cruising in the Pacific as it cruises cuts the water.

There is a path but when it leaves slightly thereafter the water goes back and the track is gone. You come. You won't know there was ever a ship that went by this this way.

There is no track. And a snake on the rock. A snake crawls on the rock.

Can't leave any print on the rock. Where does the snake leave a print? On the soil. And who is the soil? Us.

Who is the rock? Christ. We are all sinners. He is the only one that is sinless.

The only one that can save a sinner is the sinless one. A sinner cannot save another sinner like him but the sinless can save the sinner. That's why Jesus is the only savior and there is no one else but him and this has got nothing to do with Christianity.

It's got to do with the truth. Jesus is the savior to every human being that came to the first of this earth because he is the only one that is the rock and every human being outside of Jesus is nothing but dirt, soil. The snake can leave its print on you and me and everyone but it couldn't do it on Christ.

Meaning satan made all humans to fall into sin. He couldn't do it with Jesus. He tried his hardest till the very end and Jesus crushed his head on on Calvary on the cross.

You know what? You better shout hallelujah to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You better shout my beloveds and you better believe in Jesus Christ that he is the only true savior and the true redeemer. And the Lord said it.

He said the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me. Meaning what does that mean he has nothing in me? Meaning he tried his hardest to find one mistake in me, one sin in me, one fault in me. He found none because I am the rock.

I am born the virginal birth. I am born without the original sin. I am the only one that is born of an earthly mother, no earthly father.

Let me see who else was born into this realm with only one parent and a woman not a man. No one except Jesus. That's why my beloved in a theological way Christ did not take upon himself the human's seed.

He took upon himself the human nature. Now that's another topic so deep. It's so deep because we're dealing with God the infinite.

The holy bible on its own is enough proof that God exists. When you truly come and learn how the holy bible talks because you'll realize there is no human intellect can put this together like that in this perfection. Impossible, impossible.

So he is the rock of all ages as Malachi says. Christ is the rock of all ages. So the snake, this saint in the 12th century, one of the church fathers says the snake on the rock can't leave any print behind or any track.

Satan tried everything with Christ. Christ is the rock. Nothing happens man.

He remained the sinless forever. The perfect lamb of God that carries away the sins of the world. Amazing, amazing my beloved.

So now when we go to Satan's territory, clubs, pubs, star city casino, dark alleys, white powder, alcohol, gambling, men and women, women and men, and in between. This is all Satan's territory. We're asking for trouble.

Satan has already got the permission from God from the time of Genesis. He doesn't need to go and ask for it. So you go into his territory seeking freedom, seeking my own ways, enjoying life.

I want to dance with somebody. I want to do whatever I want to do with somebody. You are entering Satan's territory.

Now he has a grip on you. He will devour the flesh. Snake eats the dirt.

He will devour the flesh. Why my beloveds, and I'll leave you with this. I wish I had more time and I don't want to keep you here even though I am so tempted to do so.

But let me tell you this. Body, soul and spirit. The weakest out of the three is the body.

A second stronger than the body is the soul. The strongest is the spirit. When you run in a marathon, they will only give you medals for the first three that come first in that marathon.

Somebody comes fourth. Well done, mate. Just get out of my sight.

Nothing for you. Third, you got a bronze medal. Second, you got a silver medal.

First, gold medal, baby. Gold, spirit, silver, soul, bronze, body. Can I elaborate on this? The weakest is the body.

Guess what? God gave the permission for Satan to attack the weakest component of you which is the body. In order to get through the weakest, the body, to the strongest, the spirit. He's after your spirit but he has no authority to attack your spirit directly.

He has only the authority to attack your body directly in order to gain the spirit through the body like he got to Adam through Eve. Adam is the head. Eve is the body.

Get it? He can't attack the head. He can only attack the body. Now, the head represents the spirit, gold.

The body is the bronze but guess what? Women, so you don't get disheartened. When it comes to fire, gold which is the much more expensive. In fire, gold melts.

Body is copper. In fire, it gets stronger. That's why the woman is your support man.

Without the woman, he cannot make it. This is from God. You better adhere to God's directives.

I wish I had time. I wish I had time. So when the man says to the woman, you're nothing.

Oh, he's in deep trouble. She's your support because when you face challenges fire, you're gold. You're gonna melt.

You need the copper, the woman to be stronger in fire. The more you expose copper to fire, the stronger it becomes. Good luck breaking it.

That's why the woman can do a hundred million things at a time. A man can only do one thing because he is dumb enough to be able to do one thing and this is why when you ask the woman a question, how are you or how was your day and how was work? You need to allow her to speak and elaborate for the next day or two because she will tell you every nitty-gritty of the start till end. She'll say, well, Habib, when I woke up in the morning, I wasn't feeling that well.

Honey, I just asked how was the work. Well, honey, let me finish. So when I got up, I wasn't feeling well.

I dragged myself for the sake to provide for you and the family and then I went to work and this man came and said this and this and this and this and this and this and she's still going and going. By the time I got home, honey, I was exhausted but then again, I dragged myself to the kitchen so I can cook something for my hubby and then after going through all this hell and you never appreciate me, now pack your luggage and go to mama. That was just by asking the question, how was your day, honey? You ask the man, how was your day? Yeah, all right.

One word, the woman is waiting. She's excited. She's in the mood to listen and and what? Anything else? Nah.

Yeah, that's it. When we go to the wrong places, Satan now has the permission to overcome the body. He will overcome the body.

The second day you wake up, the spirit is on the verge of dying. You feel so empty. You feel so miserable.

You feel so guilty. You feel so broken, reaching a level hating yourself but when you come to the Lord and be in his presence, and pray, Satan will come not being in charge anymore but start distorting that focus of yours. So you start wondering, sitting in the church and you're saying, wouldn't it be better if I called my cousins over a barbecue in the backyard? Come on bishop, hurry up.

We have a birthday party to attend to. Wow. Where is your priority? Yes.

In a concert for 10 hours, it felt like 10 seconds but in the church for one hour or two, it felt like eternity. So our topic for this evening is, how to become a better Christian. I have to leave you with this.

The Lord says in Matthew 5, you are the salt of the earth. Now the salt is usually taken out of the sea. Now the sea represents in the biblical terminology, the world.

Why? Because the sea is never stable. The sea is full of vicious creatures in there. The strong devours the weak and the sea is salty.

The more you drink, the more thirsty you are. The more you chase the world, it is a never-ending story. You have one house, you say, I want another.

You'll have another more. You'll say, well how about four? How about ten? I've got a million. I'll make it ten.

I'll make it a hundred. I'll make it a billion. I'll make it two.

It's a never-ending story. Chasing, you know, salty waters, you will always drink and never quench your thirst. But without realizing, one day I hit the grave and was all nothing but vanity.

Empty, one big lie. That is the world. So the Lord came and he said, I made you the salt of the earth.

I pulled you out of the sea. I pulled you out of the world. I pulled you out of your worldly ideas, your worldly way of living, your worldly mentality, your worldly, everything that has to do with the world.

I pulled you out of there and I made you salt. When you pull the salt out of the sea, the salt is made out of two components which are both poisonous and if used, only one of them alone can be fatal. Sodium and chlore.

Sodium and chlore make up the salt. Sodium alone, poisonous. Chlore alone, poisonous.

But when you put the two together at the right measurement, at the right pace, when you put it in the food, you'll say, what a tasty kind of a meal I have just eaten. Stunning. It was so tasty.

Where did this taste come from? The salt. The best meal you cook with no salt added, no taste. What gives that meal a taste, in other words, value, is the salt.

But the salt is from two poisonous components. What are the two components, the main two components that make up a human? Body and soul. Body and spirit, sorry.

Body and spirit are the two main components. And what ties these two together? The soul, s-o-u-l. No time.

Let's say the body is chlore and the spirit is sodium. If you become worldly only, only body, body, body, body, you poison yourself. And if you are spirit only, spirit only, only, only, you poison yourself.

But the body and the spirit put together at the right measurement by the master chef, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You are tasty, there is no taste after that. When you live for the world only, you're unbearable.

And when you live for the spirit only, you are also unbearable. Because you cannot live with an over-saved Christian. Have you heard this terminology before, over-saved? You know what an over-saved Christian is? A pain in the neck.

An over-saved Christian, imagine you're with an over-saved Christian at Mac's, McDonald's. It's kind of casual, right? And you're sitting at Mac's and you say, I am hungry. The over-saved person jumps like a lion and says, Jesus said, I am the living bread that descended from heaven.

He who eats me shall never hunger. All right. Oh, I'm thirsty.

Jesus said, I am the living waters. He who drinks of me shall never thirst again. Relax, bro.

And then all of a sudden you're looking for your car keys. You can't find them. And you say, oh, I can't find the keys.

Jesus said, you need the keys to enter God's kingdom. Listen, mate, I don't drive a kingdom. I can't sit in my garage.

Relax, we're at Mac's. You want to be a balanced believer? You don't need to always say, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. No, no, no.

It doesn't work. You need to have a private life with Jesus where nobody hears you. Only Jesus hears you.

You need to relax, bro. I joke with you, but what do you know about me? Jesus. You know, he's beautiful.

You need to let the master chef, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to drag you out of the sea, the world, and bring the sodium and the claw, the body and the spirit at the right measurement and unite the body and the spirit together. That way, when you come in the presence of the Lord, the body is not whinging and complaining anymore because the body now is united to your spirit. Both happily live ever after.

And when you go to the club, both are suffocating. Both will leave together. Unity is life.

Division is death. Love the Lord bodily, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, you name it. Love him wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly.

And then you can say, I want to dance with this body. Yeah, yeah. I want to feel the heat with this body.

Yeah, yeah. Fasting is a plane. You need to board to fly to Christ.

And to start with your takeoff, you need to pray, you need to fast, and you need to do charitable deeds. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, amen. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Whether it's hatred, let me sow love. Whether it's injury, pardon. Whether it's doubt, faith.

Whether it's despair, hope. Whether it's darkness, light. Whether it's sadness, joy.

Oh, divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Amen. May the Lord Jesus bless you, guide you, and protect you all the days of your life, now and forevermore. Amen.

Go in peace. The peace of Christ be with you all, always, my beloveds. Amen.