Matthew Chapter Four

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. May the almighty Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God revealed in the flesh, be with you, guide you, protect you, and deliver you from the snares of the enemy, whether it be visible and invisible, by the power of the illustrious cross and the precious blood which he shed on Calvary. May you always be built on the rock, never shaking, never breaking, forever more to come.

The gospel of today, our church fathers have chosen two parts from, separate parts from two chapters according to Saint Matthew, chapter 4 and 5. So they've taken one part from chapter 4, and another part from chapter 5, according to the gospel of Saint Matthew. Chapter 4 begins from verse 12 till the end of the chapter, and then chapter 5 from verse 1 to 17, if I'm not mistaken. There is a lot that is mentioned in the gospel of today, which we won't be able to cover all.

But, in a nutshell, the Lord Jesus, after coming back from being tempted, he fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness of Judea, at the Mount of Temptation, he came back triumphant, victorious, and then verse 12 begins, where he says, after hearing that John the Baptist was put into prison, he leaves to Galilee, and then he comes to Capernaum to fulfill a prophecy, where it says, the land of Zebalun and Naphtali, this is a prophecy of Isaiah, where he's prophesying about the coming of the Messiah, when he comes, he will visit that region, he will go to that region, and then Isaiah the prophet, where he writes his prophecy around 750 BC, more or less, between 700 to 800 BC, before Christ, where the theologians and a lot of scholars, they refer to Isaiah as the fifth gospel writer, because he writes so in detail, as if he was literally living at the time of the Lord, walking with the Lord side by side, his prophecy is so, so, so in depth, and so in details, they referred to Isaiah as the fifth gospel writer, yet he wrote it between 700 to 800 BC, before Christ, so he said, those who are living in that region, Zebalun and Naphtali, they were living in darkness, but they saw the light, but those who are dwelling in the valleys of the shadow of death, light shined upon them, so those who are living in darkness, they saw the light, he is referring Isaiah the prophet to the Israelite nation, they were living in darkness, till the coming of the Messiah, the Messiah was born in the midst of them, the Messiah was born, one of them, from the tribe of Judah, by birth, the Lord Jesus is a Jew, is an Israelite person, because he comes from the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve children or sons of Jacob, who was called later on, Israel, so by birth, he is a Jew, from the tribe of Judah, so Isaiah is saying, those who were living in darkness, living in sin, they saw the light, because Christ was born in the midst of them, they saw the light right before their eyes, but those, meaning the non-Israelite nations, all of us, the Aussies, the Americans, the Arab world, Chinese, Japanese, all the Asian world, the European, all of them, those who were living in the valley of the shadow of death, light shined upon them, the light, who is Christ Jesus, came to us, we didn't go to him, he came to us, and then it goes on and he chooses disciples for himself, begins with Simon Peter, look at verse 18, and Jesus said to Simon Peter, look at verse 18, and Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen, then he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, then immediately left their nets and followed him, going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets, he called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him, the Lord chose twelve, but in here, the Holy Spirit said, or dictated to Matthew the Gospel writer to mention four, and who are these four, Simon, Peter, his brother, Andrew, and then another two brothers, sons of Zebedee, James and John, where did he, where did he go, where did he go, where did the Lord Jesus go, after he heard about John, the Baptist being put into prison, he leaves and goes to Galilee, and he comes to a city called Capernaum, right at the shores of the sea of Galilee, there is Capernaum, I pray one day you go to Israel, and you visit that region, Galilee, and you will see where Capernaum is, it's right at the sea of Galilee, and it was a place where fishermen used to come and stay there for a few days, for a couple of weeks, from different parts of Israel to fish and make their way of living out of those fish, Simon Peter had a home, second house in Capernaum, right at the sea of Galilee, so he comes to Capernaum, he chooses four disciples, trying to say to us, that when the Lord came triumphant after the trial, the temptation, when he fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and the enemy came and tempted him, the Lord Jesus overcame all the trials that were put before him by the enemy, he came and chose, look at these four names at the beginning, to say these four names will get you to Capernaum, if you follow on the footprints of these four names, Capernaum is your city, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, and then Capernaum, Simon, these are all, Simon is a Hebrew Aramaic Syriac name, to understand the meaning of Simon, you need to say it in the Syriac Aramaic, Shimon, that's the proper name, Shimon, Shimon, Shimon means to him you shall listen, Shimon, Shimon means listen, Shimon, to him you shall listen, who is him? Christ, who should we listen to? Christ, the King, so the Lord is saying to all of us, the Holy Bible is teaching all of us, if we listen to him, i.e. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, your name will be Peter, all of you, not just Peter, the disciple, all of us will be Peter, because when you listen to Christ, you will be built on the rock, your faith will be like the rock, unshakable, unbreakable, currents of the world will come and strike against it, but the rock will always be the rock, the big waves come and hit the rock, and they go back, and the rock is still there, never moves, never moves, never moves, the water moves back, the rock says, come on, you think you want to break me, you think you want to shake me, I'll break you water, and the water here is the world, the ocean is the world, the temptations of the world, the persecutions of the world, oh what a feeling in Corona, that's one of the waves of the world, Corona, plandemic, and now LGBTQ, the rock, if you listen to him, you will be called the rock, when you are the rock, how did we become the rock, by listening to him, the Lord Jesus, himself, when you are the rock, the Lord will move you to the third name, James, and the name James means in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Ya'qub, huge difference, James, Ya'qub, Ya'qub, Ya'qub, or Jacob, they call him Jacob in English, but it's Ya'qub, now the name Ya'qub, or the word Ya'qub means, to walk in the footprints of someone else, to follow in the footprints of someone else, in Arabic, Yata'aqab, in Arabic they say Yata'aqab, Yata'aqab meaning he is following in the footprints of someone else, whose footprints we need to follow, the Good Shepherd, who is the Good Shepherd, Shim'on, to him you should listen, the Good Shepherd is Shim'on, himself, for he is the one everyone should listen to, for he is the rock, and on this rock we need to build our life, so when you listen to him, you build yourself on the rock who is Christ Jesus, as Malachi says it, Christ is the rock of all ages, and 1st Corinthians 10 verse 1 to 14, St. Paul says, and the rock that followed the Israelite in the wilderness and the rock was Christ, when you listen to him, he will build you on him, when he builds you on him, the whole world goes against you, but will never bring you down, for when you are built on the rock Christ Jesus, nothing shakes you, nothing breaks you, for Christ is the one who is sustaining you, and upholding you right, he is God, when he builds you on him, you need to do the following, walk in the footprints of Shim'on the rock, the Good Shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he leads me to green pastures, and brings me to still waters, when I follow in the footprints of Ya'qub, when I follow in the footprints of the Good Shepherd Christ, the rock, he will bring me to green pastures, I will never sleep hungry, and he will bring me to still waters, I will never sleep thirsty, he satisfies my needs, fulfills all my needs, for he is Yahweh, God the Provider, and he when you follow in his footprints, he will bring you to John, Yohannan or Yohannan, depending on the accent, the dialect, Yohannan or Yohannan, Yod, youth, for Yahweh, Chnan or Hanana, means the compassionate, God the compassionate, he will bring you into his bosom, where he gives you compassion, where he gives you kindness, where he gives you mercy, he embraces you, he showers you, and engulfs you with his compassion, John, God the merciful, that's the name John, and when you be embraced by God the merciful, the compassionate, Yohannan, you will dwell in Capernaum, Kafar, Nahom, that is the proper name, it is a compounded word, two words in one, Kafar means city or town, Nahom means rest, Kafar means city or town, Nahom means rest, Nihuthah, Nihuthah means rest, finally I can take a deep breath, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more heartaches, no more headaches, no more tribulations, no more struggles, finally I can say to myself, I am home, and my home is where I find my rest, Kafar Nahom, my father's house, I'll bring you there, if you be Shumon, listen to me, I'll build you on me, Peter, I'll build you on the rock, and then I'll expect from you to follow in my footprints, for I am the good shepherd that leads his flock to green pastures and still waters, I will never leave you orphans, I will never leave you in need of anything, for I am the God of all your needs, I provide for everything you need, and everything you lack, and when you see my provision, I will shower you, and embrace you with my compassion, Yohannan, John, and then the final frontier, I'll make you come into my feet, and I'll bring you to my father's house, Kafar Nahom, Kafar Nahom, the house of rest, the city of rest, because when you come into my father's house, it is then and then only you can finally and once and for all say, I'm at peace, no more, goodbye to agonies, forever and ever, I will live at peace, who did that? Christ the King, then he goes into chapter 5, and he gives what we refer to as the royal speech, the royal speech, verses 1 to 14 of Matthew 5, the royal speech, the royal speech is where this King is coming for the first time ever addressing the public, you know when the time comes for elections, right, don't vote for labor, that's for sure, we want to vote for someone that has fear of the Lord Jesus, amen, or am I voting for someone to come and bring me laws against God, why would you give your vote for someone like that, no hard feelings, I love you as a human, but hey, you do things against God, why should I vote you, I don't know you, I don't give, I'll pray for you, but I don't give one penny about you, I'll pray for you, but you offend my God, don't stand in front of me, you're not going to get my attention, and you're not going to get my respect, I'll pray for you, but God will always come first, always, this God, for me, his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, till the day I go to the pit, to the grave, that will always be the case, I'll never go back on that, if they cut me to pieces, never, not because I'm saying it, because this is the truth, one day everyone will come to this realization, there's only one God, and the one whom they're going to see is Jesus Christ, because he is the only face of God, when you see the face of Jesus, the man, you see the face of God, this is the only way to see God, because God as divine as spirit is infinite, you can never see God in the divine essence, because he is infinite, we are finite, so the only way I'm going to see God, and I'm going to see the face of God, is when I look at the face of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, this is the only way to see God, and that's why the Lord Jesus said it, when he said, I'm going to go to the father, and I am the way, and Philip said, show us the way, he said, Philip, all this time I've been with all of you, and you're telling me, he said, show us the father, the Lord is saying, I'm going to the father, and Philip said, show us the father, and it's enough for us, he said, Philip, all this time I've been with all of you walking, and you're saying, show us the father, truly I say to you, he who sees me, sees the father, because Philip, I am the only way to the father, I am the only face of seeing the father, so when voting comes, all those people who put their names to be prime ministers of this country, by the way, I'm putting my name for the next election, just kidding, just kidding, actually I might just do it, you know, so you vote for me, I'll be the prime minister, I'll walk into parliament, and I'll sack everyone, Mr. Speaker, I just sacked you, you go and tell your king, Mr. Charles, go and tell him, I don't want him, I have one king, his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, if all kings, president, prime ministers, do not bow before the king of kings and lord of lords, they are all going into perdition, they are all going into destruction, without Christ, there is no life, there is no kingdom, there is no country, there is nothing, so my king is Christ, and I'll change all the laws, and let them kill me after that, I'll change him, forcefully I'll change him, I'm not going to come and say, what do you think, what do you mean, get out of my sight, this is the way it's going to go, there is no voting, there is nothing, get out, Christianity will be the official belief of this nation, we will love everyone who is non-Christian, in fact we will do more for them, than we do for the Christians, because this is the way the lord taught us, so if I do one thing for a Christian, I'll do a ten things more for non-Christian, I'll love him, I'll provide everything for them, more than the Christian, but it will be based on Christian values, shame on those countries who were once upon a time Christians and now they are denying, are ashamed of their Christ, shame on them, cowards, traitors, shame on you denying me lord, shame on you. Anyway come back to voting, I had to let it out, you know when people come before election, they go out and they campaign, right, this guy comes and on national television and public arenas, if you vote for me, I'll do this and I'll do, they are all lies, I'll do this and I'll do that and I'll do, the only one who said it and did it was Mr. Trump, I don't care what you say, what you don't say, the only president that said I'll do this and did it was Trump, he said I'll build the wall and I'll let Mexico pay for it, he did it, he built the wall and the Mexicans paid for it, he said I'll refurbish and revitalize America, he did it, and yet he was the most attacked president in four years' time, it was Trump. By the way, I got no benefits by saying this, but that's a fact.

So they'll come out, they'll say you vote for me, I'll do this for you and I'll do that for you, and once they sit on that throne, they forget about all the promises. The Lord Jesus came, he is the king, the king, now he's coming to address the public for the first time in his ministry, the royal speech, the Mount of Beatitude, which is a mountain in the north of Israel in the region of Galilee, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, it is an absolute magnificent sight when you go on this Mount of Beatitude and see the Sea of Galilee beneath you, Jesus Christ is God, revealed in the flesh, period. So the Lord is king, is the king, he's coming to address the public, they don't know him, they haven't heard him before, they don't know what his intentions are, what he's looking for, what he's expecting.

So he came to promote his kingdom, speaking to the public, look what he says, amazing, this king is totally different to all other kings, the other kings are liars, he only speaks the truth. This king, the true king, the only king says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I'll just dwell on this for the next ten hours.

This king came to say, I have a kingdom, and I'm looking for people to enter and live in my kingdom. I came to choose people for my kingdom. What kind of a people you're looking for, Lord? He said, first thing, eight things he says here, eight things.

The first thing he says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When you look at the kings of the world, when you look at the presidents, prime ministers of the world, who do they associate themselves with? With the rich people, those of big caliber, those who have influences in their own roles. They go and have meetings and dinners, barbecues, they associate themselves with the rich.

Have you ever seen a president, a king, a prime minister, during their campaign, they go and sit with the homeless and say, these are my people? No, no. Why? Because what is this homeless going to benefit me? I need people with money to pay for my campaign. And I need their votes because they have influences within their own circles.

When I do them a favor, they will do me a favor in return. If I, if you wish for me to give you a big grant, you need to give me your votes. Anybody home? So those big boys, they promise this guy who is an atheist, who is going to bring laws to enslave these Christians, for the sake of money grants, they will give their votes for him or her, whatever, or nowadays maybe it's going to be in between, just to get things moving.

Wow. And one day, the very ones you voted for, the very ones who are going to enslave you with their evil laws and agendas, well done Judas Iscariot. No, no.

I've said it. I'll take that back. Judas Iscariot is a man.

These are not. Judas Iscariot never denied the deity of Christ. Never.

He went to the Jewish priests, and he said, listen, this is the Messiah. Messiah, you know, Moshiach, Moshiach, Christ. Messiah means God revealed in the flesh.

So he said to them, this is God. Simon denied his deity. He said, I don't know this man.

He made an oath. Yet beforehand he said, you are Jesus Christ, son of the living God. He acknowledged his divinity, and before a woman he denied his divinity.

So Simon's mistake was much worse than Judas Iscariot. By the way, Judas never denied. He said, this is God.

Go and catch him. The Lord came promoting himself. The first people he said, I'm looking forward to enter my kingdom where I rule over them.

I'm looking for everyone who says I am poor, not rich. Totally the opposite to worldly kings and leaders. He looks for the poor, not the rich.

Eight lessons. I'll read them very quickly. Are you in a rush? Good.

Lesson number one, the Lord says you need to be poor. And by the way, the order is perfect. I don't have the time because this will take me definitely 10 hours.

I don't have the time, but the order of the Lord just said it just like that. Stunning, stunning. He said, the first thing you need to be poor.

Secondly, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Mourning, M-O-U-R-N. Those who mourn comes after being poor.

Number one, you need to be poor in order to mourn. Second, and when you mourn, you will go to my third lesson. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Unless you are poor, you cannot be mourning. But when you mourn, this will lead you to meekness, humility, because with humility is the only way to inherit the earth. And the earth is me, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Look, it's too deep, too deep. And when you become weak, meek, humble, then lesson four, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Matthew, his name was Levi.

Levi was a tax collector. How would he know how to write this in this stunning way, in this breathtaking way, in this piece of music that surpasses Beethoven, Bach, and the all-mah-bah-wah. This is stunning piece of orchestra.

Music to my ease, classical music, but a much high in elevation. What Bach? It's Ach, which the literal transliteration into English, ouch, ach, ouch. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.

When you are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the Lord will take you to the next lesson. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. And when he teaches you on how to be merciful, look at this, the next lesson, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Stunning, stunning. And when he gives you that purity of heart, he'll take you to the next lesson, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. And when he teaches you how to be a peacemaker, he will take you to the next lesson, which is the ultimate.

Stunning, Lord. What is it? Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And the last one, stamp sealed, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely.

For my sake, I, Jesus Christ rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven, not the kingdom of heaven in heaven. Man, I wish I had the time. And when he takes you out of this graduation, here is your certificate.

Thank you for graduation from whatever university, not these universities, Jesus Christ of Nazareth university, the only true university, not Notre Dame, Oxford, I don't know what, get a life. When you graduate from Jesus Christ of Nazareth university school of thought, depth of theology, the truth, he will give you the certificate on the certificate will say, so and so now is qualified to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That's what he seals it with.

You are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world. It all began with being poor. Now I am salt and I'm light.

Salt from below, light from above. As one of the church fathers puts it so eloquently, every theology is Stavrology and every Orthodoxy is Paradoxy. Every theology is Stavrology.

Stavros in Greek means the cross. Every theology is about the cross. You read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, one third of the four gospels put together, one third talks and focuses on the cross because without the cross, forget about everything.

Forget about everything. And every Orthodoxy, true faith, not like being Orthodox meaning Eastern or, no, no, no, Orthodoxy means true faith. You receive it from the master's mouth straight to the heart of the Lord Jesus.

No right, no left, nothing. Straight to the Lord. This is Orthodoxy.

Straight line, straight faith. When you have this kind of an Orthodox straight line faith straight to the heart of the Lord Jesus, the sacred heart of the Lord, then in every Orthodoxy there is Paradoxy. Paradoxy, two parallel lines can never meet.

What is impossible to man is possible to God. Two parallel lines, what are they? Number one, the Lord Jesus is the lion and the lamb. The Lord Jesus said, be innocent as the dove and be wise as a serpent.

Two parallel lines, dove and serpent, enemies. The serpent comes and devours the dove's babies and eggs. Lion and lamb, dove and snake, serpent.

Grave and resurrection, darkness and light, salt and light, two parallel lines. But when it's done by God, perfect. When you come to my school, the Lord Jesus says, but I came to choose and I came to choose only the poor.

Anyone who says I'm rich, I'll say, sorry I didn't come for you, I only came for the poor. Are you poor? Even if you have billions of dollars, are you poor in the eyes of God? Do you see yourself poor when you stand in the presence of the Lord? Or do you say, look at me, I'm rich. You know what rich means? I can do it on my own.

I'm not talking about wealth, being rich, no. Being boastful about yourself, that's richness. Self-exaltation, that's richness.

But when you come to the Lord and say, Lord I'm blind, I'm nothing, I'm a sinner, I'm a piece of rake, have mercy on me Lord, have mercy on me son of David. Just like that blind man on the wayside cried out, have mercy on me son of David. What do you want me to do for you? Lord, I want to see because I am blind, meaning I'm a sinner.

I want you to cleanse me so that I can see you spiritually, not physically. Because if you open these physical eyes, death will blind them again. I want you to open the spiritual eye where no death can overcome it.

Give me an eye that will be open forever. I'm poor. Lord, I hold PhD in theology, but when I'm standing in your presence, I am a fool, an ignorant person.

I am an idiot. I do not know anything. You teach me Lord.

Lord, I have billions of dollars, but when I come to you, I'll say I'm begging for your mercy Lord. I'm poor. To understand, blessed are the poor in spirit.

To understand the poor in spirit, you need to understand who is poor in the flesh. Who qualifies to be a street beggar? In other words, who qualifies? Two things. Qualify a person to be genuinely a beggar who needs our help financially, whatever it is.

Two things. Number one, this person is born with some sort of a deformity. This deformity stops him from being able to work, to rely on themselves.

Stops them from being able to work, to rely on themselves. Secondly, they were born and their parents left them nothing. They did not inherit any money, any wealth from their parents.

Imagine someone is born fully paralyzed, but their parents left them millions of dollars. They are not street beggars. They are not in need of help because mom and dad left them millions.

But imagine they're born unable to work, to rely on themselves, provide for themselves, and their parents left them absolutely zilch. Then the only source of help is me and you. They are worthy of our help.

They deserve it. They inherited nothing, unable to work. Well, let's put it into the spiritual perspective.

Pour in the spirit. I was born of my mom a sinner, and with iniquities my mom conceived me in her womb. I came from my mother's womb with the original sin, and sin made me paralyzed, unable to work, because the wages of sin is death.

Can someone dead work? No. So the I came a sinner, and sin paralyzed me. And what did I inherit from my mom and dad? Zero.

Zilch. What did they have? Nothing. They were sinners, and they gave birth to another sinner like them.

They had nothing, and they left me with nothing. So now I have nothing spiritually. I am bankrupt, because sin bankrupted me.

So I came down bankrupt, and sin paralyzed me, unable to work. Lord, I am a street beggar in the spirit. You are the only true king that can one, give me inheritance, two, enable me to stand back on my feet and serve you.

If you come to the Lord and say, Lord, I am paralyzed spiritually. I am bankrupt spiritually. I am empty from within.

I have nothing to offer you. The only thing I offered you was the crown of thorns. My sins I gave you.

No matter what I say, no matter what I do, the only, the ultimate thing I could ever give you, Lord, is my sins, which is the crown of thorns that you put on your head, on your holy head. I beg you, Lord. Sin has paralyzed me.

Sin has bankrupted me by your precious blood that you shed on Calvary. Cleanse me. Bring me back on my feet, and let me inherit you, Lord, the ultimate treasure, the ultimate wealth, you, Lord.

You'll end up being salt of the earth and light to the world, the Lord will make you. From being unable to work, unable to do anything, to being salt of the earth and light of the world, and this I leave you with. Salt.

We put some salt to the food we cook, yes? And in the right measurement. If you're a brilliant chef and a cook, you know how much to put. Did you know salt is made out of two components, chlore and sodium? Both are fatal if they are done separate.

Poisonous substances, we use them in our food. Isn't that amazing? Anyway, so when you put the right amount of salt, and you stir that pot, do you see the salt in the food? No. What do you do? You taste the salt in the food.

You don't see it anymore. Why? Because when you put that salt in the food, the salt dissolved and became one with the food. You don't see the salt anymore, but you taste that salt in the food.

When you eat, you say, wow, this is very tasty. What gave the taste to that food? Salt? That was an Iraqi style hand. I was chopping all these vegetables, and I was doing this and that, and I cooked some rice, and I bought some meat and all this, and I put so many ingredients into that dish, but with that salt, no taste.

So all that, without the salt, it's nothing. You see, no matter what you have, you see all those ingredients are your successes in life, what you've achieved, the houses you have, the Mercedes Benz you drive, and the luxury lifestyle you have, the private jets, the mansions, the gold, and the silver, and the linen, and the diamonds, and all the wealth and the empire you have established for yourself with your hard yakka. But unless Jesus Christ is in the midst of all that, it is tasteless, meaningless, fruitless, hopeless, stupidless, stupidless not.

Without the Lord, what's the point? Because when you put that salt in the dish, when you die, what have you achieved? Foolishness you've achieved. There's no taste. But when you put Christ in everything, there is purpose, meaning to everything.

That's salt. Light, can you work without light? No. You can't.

You can't. You can't. You can't work.

And who works? The one who is alive, not dead. So in order to work you need light. So what is light? Life.

Because those who are living can only work, the dead cannot. But the living work in the light, not in darkness. From being paralyzed, living in sin, he made you the light of the world.

Now not only you've changed, but he allowed you to change others now. Not only you came back to life, you started bringing people to life. Wow.

From a lost sinner to someone found and finding hundreds and thousands others and bringing them to the Lord. From someone who was unknown, unheard of, now the world is tasting Christ through him or her. Who was Simon before Jesus? Nothing.

But look at him now. His epistles are being read. It is part of the Holy Bible of the New Testament.

Wow. Taste, salt. Who would have given one penny about Simon? We wouldn't have even known that he would have existed.

But when Jesus chose him, he made him the salt of the earth. The whole world now, 2,023 years later, they are still tasting Christ through Simon Peter, the epistle of Peter 1 and 2. By the way, did you know this fisherman Simon is talking in his epistles about nuclear weapons? He is talking about people will, a day will come, people will discover the atomic bomb. It is in his epistle.

But you don't realize when you read it. He is talking about people will discover the atomic bomb. This fisherman over 2,000 years ago, what atomic bomb? There was no electricity back then.

He made them the salt, the taste. They made a difference in people's lives. And they led people to Christ.

They became the light to those who were living in darkness. How did this happen? You need to listen to him. You need to be built by him, Peter on the rock.

You need to follow in his footprints for he is the good shepherd who leads you to green pastures and still waters, James. And you need to be embraced by the merciful compassionate God, Johanan, in order to later on come and enter your father's house, the city of rest. But before you enter the city of rest, you need to work for him.

Thus he made you salt of the earth and the light of the world. God bless you. We need to listen to the Lord.

We need to adhere to his holy word. Read the holy bible. Make the holy bible your friend, your companion, your best friend.

So next time your other friend calls you, say, look, I'm busy. The line is engaged. I'm talking to Jesus.

And then when they call there, that sound comes. And they keep on calling. And then you feel sorry for them.

So you say, Lord, just give me one second. I want to teach this guy a lesson once and for all. Listen, mate, I'm too busy.

Okay. Didn't you see an engaged signal coming your way? Do you know who I'm speaking with? His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. How about you come and speak to him as well? The line is still open.

But a time will come, the line will be cut off. And you try to call, no more. Apple, Macintosh, none of this technology will work.

What's the other one? Galaxy. Samsung. Samsung.

Samsung. That is the name of my grandfather. They called the phone with it.

Samsung. Samsung. I love everyone.

I just joke sometimes. By the way, one thing about our beloved Asian people. When I say Asian, they could be Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians.

See, I speak all languages. I love about these people is, one thing I love is their family orientation. They're very similar to Eastern culture.

Very similar. You see an Asian married with children, but when they talk to their parents, they don't look into their face straight. They bow their heads down and talk to their parents out of respect.

Now this I respect. This I salute. An adult, a married son with his own children, yet when he addresses his father, he bows before his dad.

Now this for me goes a hundred million zillion miles. Stunning. If anything, the Western culture should learn from the Eastern culture is respect of parents and respect of family value.

And they need to teach about family value. You know why our children in the Western culture are lost? Who is talking about family bond? Do they talk about family value at school? No. What do they teach them at school from a very early age? If your dad, your mom smack you, call triple zero.

We'll send the police and they'll put him in a cage and we'll take you away from your parents. Well done such evil doers. Well done.

Because you are doing it on purpose. Because Satan is your master, is your God. Because Satan, the first thing he attacked was family bond.

And he's doing it again in the 21st century. Instead of educating the parents and the children, teaching them on how to respect family values, principle, ethics, they are destroying and decimating it. Because the moment you get rid of family value, you have devoured that individual, whether it be father, mom, or a child.

They're gone. Because without family, there is no God. Where there is no God, there is Satan.

And where there is Satan, there is death. Slavery. Western culture need to come back to family value and make a huge emphasis on family value.

In all of the TV programs, is there anyone coming speaking about family value? Nothing. In all of the educational system, where do they talk about family value? It's all about individual. You're free.

You can do whatever. You're 16, you're 18. You are sick in the head.

This 16, 18 is a child. He's my son. I'm talking with love and respect.

What does this 16 year old, 18 year old, what do they know about life? What? My goodness. How could you say they can make their own decisions? Are you sick or are you sick? Which one? Man, I'm great at giving options, aren't I? If I were to become the next prime minister, the first thing I will bring back into Australian culture, family value. And family is father and mother, male and female.

Yes? Male and female, Adam and Eve, not Adam and whatever age. Bring back family value. Those who wish to live in that kind of a lifestyle, I'll build them a city far away.

Live on your own. Have your way, mate. No visas to cross borders.

And I think when they talk about family value, we pass the other law and they'll come. The first one will be persecuted will be me. Because they want to pass this thing where they remove the freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

They want to remove it totally. So next time you speak something that is offensive to any constituents of this nation, then you are guilty of discrimination and judgmental and the person you are, you are facing imprisonment. Hallelujah.

My name is Ahmed. You come to me, I'll say Allahu Akbar. We need to come back.

When you come back to the Lord, then and then only you'll understand and appreciate what family is. God is family. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, He's family.

He's the ultimate family. He revealed Himself as the family. I am the Father because I have the Son.

And the relationship between us two is the Holy Spirit. The bond between the two of us is the Holy Spirit. The dynamics of that Trinity is stunning.

I'll leave you with this. The Old Testament, the Father spoke. He spoke in the Old Testament.

All the Father spoke in the Old Testament was of His Son. Nothing of Him, everything about His Son. The Son came in the New Testament.

All He spoke about the Father, nothing of Himself. If you love Me, then do the will of My Father. Don't just come say to Me, Lord, Lord.

It is when you do the will of My Father, you will enter the Kingdom of God. Don't call Me, Lord. Do the will of My Dad.

Do the will of My Dad. I came for My Father's will to be done. I came, My Father gave Me this kind of food.

I need to eat this food and fulfill His works. Everything about that. The Son went, the Holy Spirit came and dwelt in us through the Holy Sacrament of Baptism.

One of the seven sacraments of the true Church of Christ. The Holy Spirit, all He talks about is the Son. The Trinity, the Holy Trinity, no one ever spoke about Himself.

He spoke about the One He loves. The Father spoke about the Son. The Son spoke about the Father.

The Holy Spirit speaks about the Son until the Son comes and takes His bride to His Dad's house. And we live there forever in the spiritual realm. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, family embracing us all and becoming one united to them.

Now this is family. Next time, dear husband, you want to talk, talk about your wife. If you want to live in peace and in paradise, talk about your wife.

If you talk about yourself and say, look at me, look at me, your wife will give you hell. You want to live in hell or in paradise, talk about your wife. Wife, next time you talk, talk about your husband.

True love talks about the One they love, not about themselves. If I talk about myself, I'm selfish. That's not love.

Let's bow our heads. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. Our good God and full of mercy, our good God and full of mercy, whose grace and mercy is poured upon all.

Lord, 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 in the adoption as your children and in the joy of your absolving mysteries. Empower them 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.