Mount Of Beatitude Part 4

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. We thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his infinite love, mercy, and compassion, allowing us through his grace to be in his holy presence, in his holy church, sharing his life-giving word, the truth, the holy Bible, the scriptures, who are telling us who the true divine God is, and who was revealed in the flesh over 2,000 years ago, and his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. For those who are with us in this holy church, and those who are watching us through live streaming, I pray that you're always in good health and in good spirit, in Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

I pray all of you, my beloveds and those who are watching us through live streaming, are always in good health and in good spirit, in Jesus' mighty name, and I want to hear a big Amen. Amen. Now, now, you're improving, you're improving.

Very good, very good. It pays off if you are persistent after a while. We thank the Lord for the Holy Mother, whom he has chosen to be his mom and our mom at the same time, where the Lord himself, while hanging on the cross, turned to the Holy Mother and said, women, behold your son, and that son was John the Beloved, one of the 12 apostles.

He said to the Holy Mother, behold your son, and then this, whom the Lord says to, John, behold your mother, so John comes and says to us that we are his brothers, and if we are his brothers, then the Holy Mother is our mother as well. If she is the mother of John, and John is our brother, then the Holy Mother is our mother. And the commandment says, respect your father and mother in order to be blessed and given a long and abundant life.

Well, blessed is the soul that respects and venerates the Holy Mother, and blessed is the soul that does the will of my father, as Jesus Christ said, and blessed is the one who walks in the way of the Lord Jesus, for there is no other way but him. Amen. Alright, so our topic today is a continuation from the Gospel according to St. Matthew.

Today we'll be reading from Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 to 12 inclusive. So it is Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 to 12 inclusive. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you, and all glory be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen.

Okay, the last couple of weeks we've been talking about the Gospel according to St. Matthew in chapter 5, and we took it from verse 1, and today we'll be, God willing, finishing verse 12. We said the Lord Jesus, after seeing the multitudes, he went up on this mountain, he sat down, the disciples came closer to him, and he opened his mouth, and started with the nine blessings which he gave on that mountain, which we call the Mount of Beatitudes, and is also called by the church fathers, the second Mount Sinai of the New Testament. Just like God gave the commandments, the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the Old Testament, the Mount of Beatitudes is the Mount Sinai of the New Testament.

The Lord Jesus begins, we said, he said, blessed are the poor in spirit. This was the first blessings the Lord Jesus spoke of. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

We said, poor in spirit, you need to come to the Lord as poor, i.e. empty. Come to the Lord empty in order for the Lord to fill you up with his Holy Spirit. If I come full, and I say to the Lord, I'm good for you, I've done this and I've done that, I've brought people to you, I changed people toward you, I built churches for you, I expanded your kingdom, what is the Lord going to do for me? Nothing, I'm already coming full.

But when I come and say, Lord, I'm a sinner, I'm empty, I'm blind, I'm weak, I'm a piece of wreck, I'm good for nothing, then the Lord will begin working in me. The Lord is saying, this is the kind of a person I'm looking for to enter the kingdom of heaven. I'm not looking for saints, I'm looking for sinners, not saints.

So when I come poor, empty, He'll fill me up. When He fills me up with His Holy Spirit, what will happen? The second blessing, blessed are those who mourn. When I'm filled by the Holy Spirit, I am enlightened by the light of the world.

When the light of the world enlightens me, He will reveal all my mistakes, all my sins, all my wrongdoings. I will see every single moment I've hurt the Lord with, I'll begin to mourn, I'll begin to cry for every sin I committed against the love of my life. Every moment I broke His heart, I will cry for it.

Every moment I walked away from Him, I cried for it. Every moment I sold Him with 30 pieces of silver, I cried for it. I mourned for all the wrong things which have offended my Jesus, the love of my life.

When I mourned, the third blessing, blessed are the meek. Meek, we said, are those who put all their trust in the Lord, invest everything in the Lord. Safe custody, we called it safe custody.

I put the most precious thing I have in a safe custody, in the hands of the almighty Jesus Christ of Nazareth, where no one can snatch anything out of His hand. And the most expensive thing I have is my spirit. When I entrust Him with my spirit, I am meek, i.e., I begin to trust the Lord.

When I trust the Lord, the fourth blessing will come, when I become thirsty and hungry for righteousness. When I begin to trust the Lord, I'll begin doing all the good deeds that make Jesus happy. I'll start pleasing the Lord.

I'll become hungry and thirsty for the things that make the Lord happy, pleases Him. And the more I become hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the Lord is fixing me up, is filling me up, is changing me more and more, and He'll give me the fifth blessing, blessed are the merciful. Mercy is a must in the life of a Christian.

The Lord may sit down with you and negotiate on certain things, and He will tolerate certain things. But when it comes to mercy, He will not tolerate, He will not negotiate. It's mandatory to be merciful, if you wish to be a true follower of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

And the sign of mercy is forgiveness. If you as a Christian are unable to forgive someone who has hurt you, you are not following in the footsteps of your Messiah, period. If you want to follow in the footprints of the Lord, you have to forgive those who have offended you, hurt you, gone against you, and given you nothing but hell.

You need to forgive. If you say, I won't, Jesus will say, I don't know you. In this, He will never negotiate, it's a must.

So do you want to see the Lord or not? Do you want to be rewarded by the Lord or not? Do you want to be with the Lord or not? It's up to you. When you forgive someone who has hurt you, you are not doing them a favor, you're doing yourself a favor. Not them, remember this.

If you want to live miserable, don't forgive. If you want to live happily ever after, forgive. Maybe the reverb slightly lower, or maybe the volume, I don't know.

Maybe the volume right. When I'm merciful, when I'm merciful, I am imitating the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I'm imitating Him.

I don't want to repeat this, it's in the previous lectures. But this mercy, when the Lord fills me with this mercy, what is that doing to my heart? Blessed are the pure in heart. You see, mercy leads you to having a pure heart.

But why do we need a pure heart? Because without a pure heart, I cannot see God. Blessed are those who are pure in the heart, for they shall see God. And we said about seeing God, meaning you get to know how God operates, how God functions.

The problem is with the church of the 21st century. And I'm talking about church leaders like me. I'm not judging.

If I judge, I'm judging myself before anyone else. The problem with the church leaders of the 21st century, they talk about Jesus Christ, but they don't know Him. Not all of them, don't get me wrong.

There are some wonderful leaders. There are some beautiful leaders. But some who hold influential position, authoritative position in the church.

Those who can make a difference in the church. Unfortunately, they talk about the Lord, but they don't know the Lord. You see, without a pure heart, I cannot see God.

Meaning, I don't know how He thinks. I don't know how He functions. I don't know what He wants from me.

If I don't know Him, how can I serve Him? I cannot serve a stranger. I can only serve someone I am familiar with. How do I get to know Him? By having a pure heart.

How do I get the pure heart? I need to be merciful. How do you be merciful? You need to be hungry and thirsty for good deeds, righteous deeds. Not evil deeds, righteous deeds.

Now, to be hungry and thirsty for righteous deeds, you need to be meek, trusting the Lord. You need to let the Lord navigate your life. Don't do it your way, let Him do it His way.

Because without the Lord, there is no good deeds. When the Lord works in you, then you can be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, which is the work of God. The work of God, only God can do when you allow Him to do it in you, through you, by you, with you, and for you.

And when you're meek, how did you become meek, trusting the Lord? You cried on every sin you've done against Him. And yet I'm a sinner, He showed me mercy. Yet I'm a sinner, He embraced me and cleansed me.

Yet I'm a sinner, He never judged me. Yet I'm a sinner, He loved me. I said, I'll never ever find anyone that will love me the way this sweetheart does.

His name is Jesus. Man, I adore this man. I love this man.

I worship this man. I die for this man. I melt when I mention this man's name.

I melt. For He is everything for me. It is without Him, I'm an orphan.

It is without Him, I'm lost. It is without Him, I'm nothing. It is without Him, I'm dead.

It is without Him, I am a piece of dust. But in Him, I am the Son of God. I am descending from The Royal Family.

Not in England, in heaven of all heavens. In heaven of all heavens. In heaven of all heavens.

Man, I love Jesus. I love the Lord. He knows it.

I can't help it. He made me crazy. Anyway, I don't care, it doesn't matter.

Pure in heart. When you're pure in heart, you start, you look at the face of the Lord, you know what He wants from you. You hear His footsteps, you know exactly it's Him.

You just watch Him move, you know exactly what He is expecting of you to do. You get to know what God is all about. And you begin doing what He expects you to do.

You begin doing. Now, when you get to see God, you're a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers, number 7. Peacemakers, the problem is, I cannot be a peacemaker in this world unless I get to know the peacemaker himself.

And unless I know him, I will not be able to make peace in this peaceless world. I need to know what Jesus Christ is all about in order to know how to make peace. Because peace comes from Him, for He is the King of peace.

If I don't get to know the King of peace, how will I be able to establish peace on earth where it doesn't exist? And we said, blessed are the peacemakers. The word make, meaning, peace does not exist on earth. Why? Because earth is placed in the bosom of Satan.

This world is placed in the bosom of Satan. And Satan has no peace. That's why you look at the world.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's happening in the world. It is all evil, isn't it? Isn't it, my beloved? Evil. Look at the countries, look at the so-called governments, look at the United Nations.

I pray and I ask the Lord Jesus to give me the UN for a day. I'll get the most powerful pressure cleaning machine. I'll gurney them all.

Make the concrete shine, baby. Mr. Speaker, they need a wash. Not a car wash, they need a wash.

Maybe we need to open up human wash, not car wash. Please come on in. You need to make this peace because this world has no peace.

It is all about fighting. It's all about rebellious things. It's all about evil things.

Why? Because Satan is ruling over it. Please wake up. You come to the Lord Jesus, no more fighting.

If you truly have a true encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the only true living God revealed in the flesh over 2000 years ago. If you truly have an encounter with the Lord, you will fight no more. Even if everyone is going against you.

Even if everyone is trying to agitate you. Even if everyone is trying to hurt you. You will snort it off.

You look at them and you say, Man, I feel sorry for you. I pray the Lord Jesus touches your hearts the way he touched my heart. No hard feelings, baby.

You swore at me, that was honey. You told me off, that was a blessing. You ridiculed me.

Man, I'm on cloud nine, baby. It doesn't matter, my sweetheart. You want to offend me? You think you can offend me? You think you can hurt me? You want to destroy my reputation, my name, whatever you want to do.

Thank you. God bless you. Thank you very much.

And those who come and say, you're a saint. You're the most faithful person. You're the most wonderful person.

It doesn't matter, my dear. It's not about me, my sweetheart. It's about the crown of glory.

Jesus Christ. It's about Him. You love me, you hate me, all good.

All good. It's about the Lord. Six foot one.

Long tan skin. Brownie crispy hair stood in the middle all the way to the shoulders. Short beard, still brownish.

Because he's 33. Young man. After 2023 years later, he is still 33.

He'll never age. He's stunning. And I always say, a guy, a Jewish guy, this good looking, that's a miracle.

He's just stunning for a Jewish guy. You look at him, you fall in love. Stunning.

Breathtaking. You see him, you see God. You see him, you see holiness.

You see purity. You see light. You see sanctity.

You see everything stunning. Stunning, stunning, stunning, stunning. The moment you start making peace on earth, you are called the sons of God.

The peacemakers are the sons of God. What a title. What a title.

Sons of God. Now we come to our topic. The moment you start making peace on earth, verse 10 comes into play.

What does verse 10 say? Verse 10 will say this. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The moment you start making peace on earth, you will be persecuted.

You will be hated. You will be kicked out, punched, left, right, and center. And that was a sneeze, a testimony, and a stamp seal that what we say is biblical, is the truth.

The moment you start making peace, persecution will come your way. Why? The world is placed in the bosom of Satan. Satan has no peace in him.

He is the one who divides and conquers as they say. Divide and conquer. Have you heard this saying? That's from Satan.

Divide and conquer. So Satan always comes to cause division. Never unity.

Never. Because unity will come when there is love. Division will come when there is hatred, jealousy, envy, all the bad, ugly things.

So when you start making peace, what will Satan do? He will get up and cause for certain people who follow him, he will push them, force them to go against you and begin to persecute you in order to give up on making peace. In order to give up. Why does Satan do that? Look, fair is fair.

All right. We're going to speak simple English here. Fair is fair.

Everybody's got a business to run. Satan has got a business to run. Everybody's got a business to run.

Now, as a businessman, would you like to see your company going bankrupt? Losing profitability? Of course not. You will try everything under the sun to make it profitable, successful, prosperous business. Now Satan has got a business.

His business is to win the people to him and take him with him to hell. Eternal death, condemnation. So when you come carrying the light of the world, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and you start making peace in this peaceless world, Satan is losing business.

You're taking people away from him and giving them to Christ, the King. Now Christ is becoming profitable. Satan no like it.

So he's going to get up and say, Oh, who do you think you are? Are you trying to cause damage to my profitable business? Do you know how much I sell my shares on the stock market? What's that street called in America? Wall Street. So Satan has got his shares on Wall Street. When he sees his share prices going down, losing people to the kingdom of heaven, to the Lord Jesus, do you think he's not going to come and fight you? Of course he will.

So he's going to come and start saying, but the Lord is saying, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. What did we say? Righteousness is everything that is of good origin.

What does this verse mean? Let us say it in a simple term. You're working in this company and you're doing your job to the best of your ability. You are a very loyal, faithful employee to your employer, to that company.

You do your job wholeheartedly. There is no corruption. There is no under the table.

Everything is in the light. You're doing everything according to the rule book of that company, and with faithfulness and loyalty. The other colleagues are not as loyal as you are.

They want to make extra money. They want to twist a few things, falsify a few things, and shove and push few things under the carpet. You cannot accept such behavior.

So what is happening now? You are becoming a thorn in their side. You're becoming a stumbling stone for them. You are suffocating them.

You're not letting them do as they please. Because every time they want to do something wrong, you are the spotlight shining on that wrong doings. So what will happen? Satan will come and say to those colleagues, get up and give him hell, or give her hell.

Have you ever worked somewhere and you really had it tough with the colleagues around you? Yes. Some of you maybe were forced to leave their job, resigned from their jobs because they were persecuted so badly in their jobs. They could not last any longer.

They ran away because they complained. They went to their bosses. Everyone is corrupt.

So when they went to their bosses complaining and whinging, come to my rescue, they realized that the boss is more corrupt than the other colleagues. What do you do? You can't stay there because you are persecuted. You either be like them or they will kick you out.

When you are being persecuted for being a faithful person wherever you are, at home, at school, at work, wherever you are being persecuted for the job you're doing faithfully and loyally, the Lord is saying, blessed are you for the kingdom of heaven is yours. What does it mean? The kingdom of heaven is yours. Meaning the invitation is still open for you to be in the kingdom of heaven.

The door is not shut because wherever you were, you did it from the heart faithfully and loyally. God will reward you and will say the door to the kingdom of my heaven is still open for you. If you are faithful.

But verse 11, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely. For my sake, I Jesus Christ rejoice and be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward in heaven.

There are two kinds of persecutions. One, you are persecuted for the sake of doing a job faithfully and loyally. This for this you are rewarded.

The kingdom of heaven is still yours, i.e. the invitation is still open and you have the chance, the opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven and remain in it. But if you are persecuted for the sake of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rejoice and be exceedingly glad for your reward is great in heaven, not in the kingdom of heaven, in heaven. When you are persecuted for the sake of the Lord Jesus, the Lord says be exceedingly glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.

Not in the kingdom of heaven. To understand the difference between heaven and the kingdom of heaven, we go to first Peter chapter three, verse 14 and then first Peter chapter four, verse 14. Do we have it on the screen? Can we have those verses on the screen, please? Yeah.

So let's look at first Peter 3, 14. What does Saint Peter say in first Peter 3, 14? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. So if you suffer for righteousness sake, what is righteousness sake? If you're doing your job to the fullest, being faithful, being honest, then if you're doing that, you are blessed.

The kingdom of heaven is yours. But let's look at Peter, first Peter 4, 14. Look what Saint Peter is saying here.

But even if you should suffer for, sorry, if you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. When you are persecuted for Christ's sake, the heaven, your reward is great in heaven. Who is heaven? God.

So when you're persecuted for doing a good deed, the kingdom of heaven is yours. But when you're persecuted for the sake of Christ, God is yours, not the kingdom of heaven. God himself will be your portion.

My goodness. When we read in the gospel according to Saint John chapter 11, we see this man being born blind. He was born from his mother's womb blind.

So in chapter 11, the Lord Jesus is walking with his 12 apostles. The 12 apostles stop. Once they saw that blind man sitting on the wayside, begging, they said, Lord, whose fault, whose sin was it for this man to be born blind? Was it his sin or his parents? Which one? He said, neither his nor his parents, but this man has been placed here for the glory of God.

The Lord Jesus spits onto the ground and makes mud with that spit, and then applies it on the blind man's eyes. And he says to him, go and wash in that pond. Shiloha, Shiloha in the proper pronunciation.

Shiloha or Shiloha means the messenger. It was called the messenger pond. So when he went and washed his face, he regained his eyesight.

When he regained his eyesight, what did the people of his own country, of his own town, his own people, what did they do to him? They cast him out. They persecuted him. Why? Because he said, this man called Jesus of Nazareth opened my eyes.

They said, this man is a sinner. He breaks the law of God. He breaks Sabbath.

He works on Sabbath. This man is a blasphemer. How can this sinner open the eyes of a blind person born blind? He said, well, I don't know.

You go and ask him. But I know one thing. God does not hear the voice of a sinner.

And yet you call this man a sinner. Well, this man opened my eyes. I don't know.

You go and ask him. So what did they do? They told him off and they grabbed him, threw him outside the town. When they persecuted him, reviled him, and kicked him out, who found him first? God.

His own parents disowned him. When the Pharisees and the scribes came to his parents, they said, isn't this your son? Yes. Wasn't he born blind? Yes.

Who opened his eyes? They were afraid to say Jesus, lest they be persecuted as well. They were afraid. They said, we don't know.

He is a mature adult man. Ask him. Why are you asking us? Wow.

You see, some people, when it comes to persecution, they back off. Prior to that, they are warriors. Prior to 2020, all church leaders were warriors.

After 2020, not many. Not many. It's easy to shout and yell and speak so strongly when you are free.

But I just wonder, can you do the same when you are being choked by lockdowns and police come and knocking at your door? Oh, it's scary now. The coppers are here. Bing, bing, bing, bing.

What happened? Let me tell you this. I'll say one thing about the Lord. The Lord, forgive me.

We can say, till kingdom comes, Lord, I love you. Oh Lord, we love you. The Lord will look and will say, yeah, okay, no problem.

Let me see if you truly love me. He will pick you up and put you in a hard, difficult situation. He's going to say, let me see if you're still going to love me or not.

Talk is cheap. The Lord says you can talk for as long as you want. It's cheap.

I want to see action. I want to see these words into action, into play. Stop saying I love you.

Show me you love me. Stop saying it. Show it.

Stop saying it. Show it. That's why only a few get to know the Lord.

Not many. I really feel sorry for some Christians where they speak with confidence about the Lord, yet they are little kids. Absolutely little kids.

And believe you me, I'm saying it with love and humility because I just wonder what they will do under pressure. Not big pressure, a little tiny one. What will they do? Are they going to be those warriors? Or are they going to just go back and be quiet? When this man was persecuted and he was cast out, the first one that met him and embraced him was the Lord God.

When you are persecuted for my sake, I Jesus Christ of Nazareth, blessed are you. You need to rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven and heaven is God himself. The Lord says, when you accept persecution for my sake, I will give you not only heaven, but in the kingdom of heaven, I'll give you myself.

I'll give you myself. I will come with my own feet all the way to where you are and I will carry you and put you in the core of my heart. Then I'll show you wonders of this God no one had ever seen before.

Because you accepted that persecution for my sake. I Jesus, I am a fair master. I am a fair God.

I will never ever forget all the hardships you endured for my sake. I never forget. I reward you.

I give you myself. The next time the Lord will come and say, Son, come with me. I want to show you something.

Stop being boastful about your doctrines. My dear friends, the only time you should boast when you say, I know the Lord. I don't just believe in him, I know him.

Church leader, do you know the Lord? Don't tell me you went and studied at this university and you got your doctorates. Big deal. Satan can devour you and you won't even know what hit you if you've got your doctorate.

If you don't put your head under the feet and the sandals of Jesus Christ, you have no chance, my dear friend. Even if you're a Pope. You have no chance.

Satan is much smarter than you, much wiser than you. The only one who overcame Satan is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Not the Pope, not the Cardinal, not the Bishop, no one.

The Lord. No wonder the church is in turmoil because church leaders of great influence positions, they only speak about the Lord, they don't know him. I don't want to talk much because they might say, oh look at this guy, he's trying to be a show-off or something.

I'm not, please. We need to pray for Pope Francis and the Catholic Church in general. And then we need to pray for every Pope, every Patriarch, and every church leader.

Because what is happening in the church, very sad. Very sad. Very sad.

If any church comes to this level and say that we need to embrace LGBTQ, R, S, T, U, V, Y, Z, X, Y, R, and what else. And it is absolutely normal and it's not against the Biblical teachings. That is no longer a church.

And that leader is not a leader anymore. No matter who he is, what he is, I don't really give one penny. There are things outside your jurisdiction, church leader.

You are not above the Lord Jesus. Do you understand? You're not. And the Lord will reprimand.

Don't ever think that Jesus Christ is only love and only mercy. No, no, no. He can be very harsh when he comes to punish.

Oh yeah, he can be very harsh. And he is the only true powerful God ever in existence. If something, Satan, is powerful, Satan is nothing compared to what Jesus Christ of Nazareth can do.

Nothing. Satan is absolutely a little mouse when the line of Judah comes along. He becomes a little mouse.

Be gone, Satan. We need to withstand persecution. Not give in.

Not the flood of the world enters the church and then the church becomes worldly. Doing what the world wants, embracing what the world embraces, imitating what the world imitates, it is no longer a church. It's a den of thieves.

It becomes a den of thieves. The church needs to be the light, not darkness. The church needs to speak the truth, not the lie.

The church needs to reflect, represent Jesus Christ of Nazareth, not Satan. I'll step on Satan in Jesus' mighty name. And the hell with the world.

We want to bring the world back to the Lord. But for the world to come and impose, dictate things that are worldly to the church, over my dead body. You only live once.

I will never die a coward. Enough of this nonsense. Now I'm really upset now.

Honestly, I don't know, what's happening in the world? Sick. Not the world, what's happening in the church is sick. I mean the world has always been sick.

But the church to be this sick, that is sickening. You can marry the LGB and embrace the LGB, and you will go and embrace them. You son of a snake.

You're not enduring persecution. Where are you standing for the truth? When are you going to stand for the truth? When? And let me tell you this, we're all Christians. I don't care if you're Catholic, you're Orthodox, whatever, we're all Christians.

When we see anywhere in Christendom, something going wrong, we should all feel the pain, the hurt. Don't say, ah, this is happening in the Catholic Church, I'm Orthodox, I don't care. No, you need to care.

And you need to pray. And you need to ask the Lord Jesus to go and fix what's happening. Because the Catholic Church is another Christian branch.

We need to ask the owner of the church to revive it, to replenish it, and to bring it back to her glorious days. That I have to, as a Christian, feel upset, angry, hurt, because it is my church as well. There are Christians like me.

And even in the Orthodoxy world. Stop being fanatics. Fanaticism is not good, it's not healthy, it's ugly.

This is the only truth. We hold the truth. Just get a life, man.

You don't hold nothing. We have lost, we have lost the true Christ. That's why the church is in turmoil.

Blessed are you, when you are being persecuted. For my sake, I Jesus Christ of Nazareth. For I will give you myself.

Who is this soul? Which is this soul that will receive Christ as the reward? Blessed is this soul. This is what you call a saint. Endured all persecutions, tolerated them, and till the end, remained faithful to the Lord Jesus.

For at the end, the reward of that soul is God himself. God will give you himself as a reward. There is no greater reward than this.

It surpasses all heavens when God becomes your gift. Surpasses all heavens. Surpasses all heavens.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward in heaven.

In heaven meaning, I God will be your reward. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. When you look back in history, every single Christian that tried to live a life of Christ on earth, every single one of them were persecuted by their own church, by their own people, by the people of the world as well.

But the first people who went against them were within their own circle. Your own church will go against you. Saint Nektarios, persecuted by his own church.

Padre Pio, persecuted by his own church. It's the Lord's. The Lord always tells the truth.

You cannot just give a blind eye to what the Lord Jesus is saying for his word is divine. The Lord cannot say anything but the truth. Whatever the Lord says, has to happen.

But he's saying, blessed are you when they persecute you. You know what I love about Padre Pio? Out of all, you watch his movie, I pray you watch his movie one day, very soon. Out of all the things that he said throughout that movie, one thing touched me so deep.

You see, the Vatican sent this clergyman to go and check this out. There is this monk priest in Rotondo Giovanni in this little village. He is celebrating the mass for three hours on end.

No such thing in the Catholic church. It's half an hour maximum. What is he doing? Going against the Pope's will and wish? Who is this friar? Who is this priest monk? Who does he think he is? So they sent a Vatican representative to go and investigate and then if he is in breach, to be reprimanded.

Padre Pio was persecuted by this clergyman for years, for years, for years. He gave him hell. On the last day, Padre Pio, his lungs are collapsing.

He is breathing through this oxygen mask. He can't breathe. That's it, that's his last day.

He is extremely exhausted, tired, fatigued. Everything is going wrong. This clergyman asked Padre Pio this.

He said, Who are you? He asked Padre Pio, Who are you? Padre Pio looks at heaven and the way he replies, stunning. He says, I wish I know who I am. For I am a mystery to my own self.

Do you know what he was saying? I wish I know who I am. You ask me, who are you? I wish I knew who I was. If I knew who I was, I would have told you.

Because I am a mystery to my own self. Now this is a saintly talk. Because the closer, the closer you get to the Lord Jesus, the more you don't know who you are.

Because the moment you are engulfed, the moment you are embraced, the moment you are devoured by the Lord Jesus with his love, with his passion, with everything, you will lose yourself. You won't even know what hit you. And so true.

He is not making it up. He truly said it from the bottom of his heart. Because the closer we get to the Lord, we become a mystery to ourselves.

Because all I remember once upon a time, I was that little kid playing in the street with the neighbor's kids. I used to play soccer. We had these little colored marbles.

We were so innocent playing in the street. I didn't know any better. Look at me.

I don't know who this is. When I look at that kid, what made that kid this person? I don't know. But I know one thing.

This perfect God, perfect man. So don't ask me, who are you? I don't know. For I am a mystery to my own self.

When you come to this level, no one can take you away from the Lord. No one. What Vatican? What Freemason? What secret societies? What world? Step on it all.

Ah. Ah. I beg you.

Boys, teenagers, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, daughters, if you're a teenager, you're in your twenties, you're engaged, you're single, you're married, please, I beg you. Stop for a moment, and think deep, think wisely, and think with calmness. Don't be agitated.

Don't let anyone agitate you. Hit on the brakes, and stop for a moment, and be very quiet and calm, and ask yourself this question. What are you doing? Where are you heading? What are you trying to achieve? My friend called me yesterday, and he said, let's go downtown, and we went downtown, and I went clubbing, and actually, I stayed back till three, four o'clock in the morning, and we danced, we drank, we did whatever we did, we sniffed, and we had so-called fun, and then I came back.

Question yourself, ask yourself, what are you doing? Do you think this life is a joke? Do you think this life is cheap? Do you think this life is nothing? For me to gamble with it so easily, what are you doing? What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, my daughter? The Lord is still waiting for you, and me, and all of us, and He says, I love you, but a lot of times, I am so lonely on the cross. A lot of times, I am unheard, my voice is rejected, my voice is not wanted. I am crying out from Calvary, in pain, in agony, shredded to pieces, bleeding for you.

I am crying out to all of you, saying, why are you leaving me alone? Look, look at the one who loves you the most, why do you love the one who hates you the most, and despise the one who loves you the most? Why are you running to Satan, running away from your Christ? Why? Why? Why? Why do you choose darkness over the light? Why do you choose love, why do you choose hatred over love? Why do you choose death over life? Why do you choose bitterness over sweetness? Why? Ask this yourself, what are you doing? Where are you going? What are you trying to achieve? Blessed are you, when they revile you, and say everything evil against you for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in heaven. When you are persecuted for the sake of your Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus is all yours, all yours, all yours.

I pray, we stop going to the world, and coming to Christ. I pray we stop going to the club, and coming to the church. I pray we stop swearing, and we start praising.

I pray we stop reading the filth of the world, and start reading the light of the world, the Holy Bible. I pray we stop going to Satan, and start coming to the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I pray we stop going to those dark alleys, and we stop doing the wrong things under the sun.

I pray, I pray we start coming, and making Jesus happy for a change. I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray my beloved, let those knees go down to the ground, let them touch the ground in worship, for Jesus is God, and He is ought to be worshipped. He is worthy to be worshipped.

He deserves to be worshipped. The moment you make peace, persecution begins. The moment you speak about love and unity, persecution begins.

Your own people will go against you. Your own family will go against you. Your own church will go against you.

It's a given. The Lord said it, He can't lie. Are you accepting what the Lord is offering you? You know what's the most beautiful thing the Lord can teach anyone of us? I'll tell you this, and I'll leave you with it.

Please pay attention. The Lord may come and give you something very precious. And He grants you that, and you see that, you taste that, you live that.

You know this is from the Lord. It's not a dream. It's not a fantasy.

It's not some sort of an imagination. No, it's reality. God gave me this gift.

But in the midst of all this, the Lord is testing you for one thing. The Lord says, I gave you this. Are you going to focus on what I gave you? Or is your focus going to be on the one who gave it to you? I made you a bishop.

Is your focus going to be on the bishophood, on the throne, or on this sweetheart? Which one? Lord, you made me a bishop. And no matter what you make me, I beg you Lord, don't let me pass the rank of that donkey of yours. Always make me your transportation vehicle.

And since your transportation vehicle is a donkey, because you don't like sitting in limousines like some do, and the red carpet rolled under their feet, you don't like that Lord, your humble God. So since your limo is the donkey, please make me that donkey. I want to be that donkey.

Because I don't care about the priesthood or the bishophood rank. I care about you more. I care about you more, Lord.

You know, when the Lord sets you free, truly you are free. That's why it doesn't worry me. I have a throne or I have a gutter.

At the gutter, it's beautiful. Sitting on the throne, it doesn't matter. It's all the same.

Because the place doesn't matter. It's the owner. It's the owner of the place that matters.

That's why I don't care about going to heaven. I don't care about going to hell. All I care about is one thing, I want to be with the Lord.

If I'm with the Lord and He takes me to hell, then it's my heaven. Because wherever the Lord goes, it's heaven. Because heaven is not heaven, heaven is Him.

He makes heaven, heaven. And without Christ, even if I go to heaven, it's hell. It is Christ who makes heaven, heaven.

Then, drinking poison with you, I'll choose any time, all day long, than drinking honey with Satan. I'll drink poison with the Lord any time, but I will never drink honey with Satan. Love the Lord Jesus.

And whatever has happened in your life, whoever has hurt you, whoever has gone against you, whoever offended you, whoever persecuted you, whether it be your own family, husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, relatives, friends, neighbors, whoever that person is, forgive them and hold on to Jesus Christ, for your reward at the end will be great, for Christ will be your portion at the end. Christ. The first time, for the first time coming to the Lord, I was poor.

I walked into the church, I didn't even know how to make the sign of the cross, it's been too long. I didn't even know how to pray, I haven't prayed for maybe the last 40 years, I haven't prayed, I forgot. So I came to Paul.

The Lord filled me with His Holy Spirit. He started enlightening me gradually. It takes time.

It's a life's journey. It's not an overnight transformation. You don't just say, Lord, you're my savior now, and that's it, finished.

No, it's a life's journey. You need to live with the Lord every single day. Salvation is every single day.

So I came to Paul, he filled me. I started crying on the sins that broke his heart. I realized how beautiful he is, how loving he is, yet I broke his heart so many times.

I cried for every time I broke his heart. I mourned. When I mourned, I began trusting him.

I became meek. Because I realized, yet I was a sinner, he loved me so much, it's impossible for anyone to love me as Christ does. I can't trust no one but him.

So I entrusted him with the most valuable thing I have, my spirit. I put it in the hand of the Lord. And then he made me hungry and thirsty for righteous deeds, for deeds that make God happy.

It is not he who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but it is the one who does the will of my father. Doing the will of the father is the righteousness, the righteous deeds. When I was hungry and thirsty for righteous deeds, God filled me with mercy.

Because the more I did good deeds, the more I realized how merciful God is. Yet I was a piece of wreck. Look what he's done.

Out of a sinner, he made a saint. Out of someone who was lost, he made me found. Out of someone who was dead, now I'm alive.

You're so merciful, Lord. I need to be merciful like you. When I showed mercy, a pure heart was born in me, was created in me.

That pure heart made me see how God works. I came to know him. We became familiar with one another.

Now when Jesus talks, I could pick his voice from a million, zillion voices. Satan can come and try to imitate the voice of Christ. I say, get lost.

You cannot deceive me. I know the voice of my sweetheart. We've lived for too long together, baby.

I know him. I know the voice more of my sweetie Jesus. Now let me tell you, after this, Satan will come and try to deceive me.

Okay? He will. But the Lord is with me. Who cares? Do you think I stand and talk because I'm wearing this outfit? No.

Jesus is something else. Jesus is something else. My dear friend, the Lord loves you.

You, you, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. He loves you very much. Be strong.

And the one behind you, there he is. Don't worry, brother. It's been a long journey, but it's all good.

Be strong. Pure heart allows you to be a peacemaker. Peacemakers make you a son of God.

And with all the privileges that are attached to this title, son of God. All the privileges. You know, as the son of God, you walk into heaven.

Not on heaven, not on earth. You walk, the most powerful angel in heaven, the Archangel Michael, the warrior, yeah? You've seen him depicted with a sword. He's fighting Satan and chopping Satan.

This Archangel, how powerful he is. He will come and serve you. He will come and salute you.

Well, I'm a piece of dust, but I am the son of God. As the son of God, the most powerful angel will come and salute me and say, What can I do for you, sir? I'll say, Michael, Can I have a chocolate sundae? And if you're going to Marsharbel, please tell him to make me some tabbouleh. The privileges of being the son of God.

The privileges. I'm not worthy to make tabbouleh for Marsharbel. Who am I to stand in his holy presence? I kiss his feet if he allows me.

I kiss his feet. And all the saints equally. All the saints.

Some are crying, that means time is up. When you make peace, persecution comes, but don't worry. I'll tell you this.

I became a priest. I didn't want to be. Two years later, I got kicked out.

No, I was becoming a priest. I got kicked out. And then five and a half, six years later, I became a priest.

And then two years after being a priest, I became a bishop. Two years after being a bishop, I got kicked out. I got kicked out when I was a deacon.

I got kicked out when I was a bishop. When I was a deacon and I got kicked out, I was shattered. I did not eat, drink for one week.

May God rest her soul in peace, my earthly mom. What a beautiful lady she was. I miss her dearly.

I've lived with her all my life. She was also destroyed for me. She would come into the room, I did not speak for a week.

I did not blink for a week. I did not do anything for a week. I did not eat, I did not drink, I did not get out of the room for a week.

I was this destroyed. Because I wanted to be a priest badly. And I got deposed by the highest rank in the church.

That destroyed me as a deacon. When I got deposed from the church as a bishop, I went... Not that I was happy being deposed, no. But I was happy because the Lord taught me not to worry.

It's not about people. It's about the Lord. It's about the Lord.

Because in those 6 years, the Lord gave me what can carry me for eternities. That's why nothing matters anymore. It is all good.

In the church, outside the church. St. Paul, St. Paul. He said, it matters not whether we are naked or clothed, respected or dishonored.

Whether we are trampled underfoot or placed in high... It doesn't matter. It is all good because I found the Lord. I found the Lord.

Nothing takes me away from the Lord. No hardships, no sword, no persecution, no nakedness, no... Nothing, nothing. St. Paul, my sweetheart.

My sweetheart. I love this saint. Badly I love this saint.

Ask the Lord to show you the way. Love the Lord. Ask Him to give you His love.

Every good gift comes from the good God. Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You need to ask for it.

Say, Lord make me a better person. I want to be closer. It's not enough.

If I am sitting at your feet, it's not good enough. I want to sit at your right hand. It's not good enough.

I want to sit in the core of your heart. And it's not good enough. I want to be you.

All of you. I want to be you. After that, whatever happens, who cares? Believe me, who cares? It's all good.

You failed the exam. You passed the exam. Who cares? You married Rachel.

You married Elizabeth. You have to care if you marry Elizabeth. She's a good girl, Elizabeth.

Who cares? Your business is doing well, not doing well. Leave everything in the Lord's capable hands. The hands, the very hands that were pierced for you and I. Leave everything in those capable hands.

And my daughter, I beg you, don't cry if Jonah leaves you. Who cares? Put Mabrish, ash on his head. Jonah goes, Yohanna comes.

It's the same name anyway. Sarkis will come. Sarkis is much more handsome than Jonah.

Doesn't matter.