Parable Of A Worker In The Vineyard

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, always and forevermore for his infinite love, mercy, and everlasting kindness and compassion, allowing us to be in his holy church, present in his holy presence. May the almighty God revealed in the flesh, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, bless you, guide you, protect you, and deliver you from the snares of the enemy, whether it be visible or invisible, Amen.

The gospel of today is from Saint, according to Saint Matthew, chapter 20, verses 1 to 16. It is Matthew, chapter 20, verses 1 to 16, inclusive. The last week or two, we were reading also, we had the readings from the gospel according to Saint Matthew, and it was more so of chapter 18, where the Lord Jesus was saying, unless you go back and become a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

And we said, when you look at chapter 17 of Matthew, you'll see the Lord Jesus establishing his kingdom on earth. So 17 is the Lord establishing his kingdom, chapter 19, the Lord is choosing people for his kingdom, and chapter 18, the way of his kingdom. So wherever there is a kingdom, a place, you need people for that kingdom, and those people need to know how to walk, live in that kingdom, and the way of the kingdom of Christ on earth is going back and becoming a little child, i.e. innocence.

Be innocent as a dove, innocence. Now, since the Lord established his kingdom in Matthew 17, in 18, he showed the way to his kingdom, in 19, he chose people to his kingdom, obviously, and chronologically, 20 is talking about working in his kingdom. When you bring people to the kingdom, then the next thing is required, or asked of them to do, is to work for the kingdom.

So in this chapter, the Lord gave this parable. He said there was this landowner who went out early in the morning seeking people to work in his vineyard, and he saw some people standing idle, and he asked them, why are you standing idle, in the 21st terminology, unemployed. Now, you can laugh, unemployed.

Why are you standing idle? They said, well, nobody is really employing us. He said, okay, go and work in my vineyard, and I will give you a denarii as a wage for the day, and by the way, at the time of the Lord Jesus, the denarii was the wage of a day labor. The denarii was a wage for that day labor.

So he went out early morning, he saw people standing idle, he sent them to his vineyard, and he made a deal with them that I will pay you a denarii for that day. They agreed, they went. So this landowner went out again at the third hour, and saw exactly the same again, people standing idle, he sent them to the vineyard, yet he did not make any deal as far as money is concerned.

He didn't mention money, he just said, would you work? They said yes, and they went to work. And then the landowner goes out on the sixth and the ninth hour, and does the same thing, sending more people to work in his vineyard. And then he goes out on the eleventh hour, and does so.

At the end of the day, he calls the stewards, and he said, pay them their wage starting from the last to the first. And the last one came, who worked at eleventh hour. And by the way, these hours are the prayer hours of our beloved Jews till this very day.

These hours are the prayer hours of our beloved Jews till this very day. Early morning, 6 a.m. Third hour, 9 a.m. Sixth hour, 12 noon. Twelfth hour, ninth hour, sorry, 3 p.m. And the eleventh hour, 5 p.m. Early morning, 6 a.m. Third hour, 9 a.m. Sixth hour, 12 noon.

Ninth hour, 3 p.m. Eleventh hour, 5 p.m. The day begins at 6 a.m., ends at 6 p.m. So those who worked at the eleventh hour, i.e. 5 p.m., they only worked for one hour, and one hour only. They got paid a denarii, a dollar, a gold dollar. They got paid a denarii.

Those who worked early morning, 6 a.m., how many hour shift they did? Twelve. That's a long day. From 6 a.m. till 6 p.m. When they saw those who received the denarii for one hour only, they said, we hit the jackpot.

We're going home rich today, brother, and we're going to put the prawns on the bar. When they came to get paid, they received the denarii. Ouch.

They said, hang on, landowner, this is not fair. How come those who worked only one hour, they received the same as us, yet us, we worked all day long, and we carried the heat of the day. Twelve hour shift, and we received the same.

He said, didn't I make a deal with you and said I'll pay you a denarii, and you agreed? I said, yes. He said, okay, well, what's your problem then? I'm fair. Looks like you're not.

Is your eye evil because your eye is evil and I am good? Why are you judging? Why are you arguing? Why are you unhappy? I agreed with you for a denarii. Aren't I the rightful owner of my vineyard, and I have the full right to do as I please with the first one, same way with the last one? Why are you complaining? Don't we complain? Some might come and say to the Lord, I've been working for you. By the way, that landowner is the Lord Jesus.

That vineyard is the church. The vineyard is the church. Those who are standing idle, unemployed, every single human being standing idle, i.e. living in sin.

Sin bankrupted everyone. Sin made everyone unemployed, unable to work and find a good decent job. As sinners, all of us were outside the circle of God.

God came looking for sinners, and He sent them to His church, the vineyard, and said, I will pay you if you work there. So someone will come after being chosen by the Lord, after being revived by the Lord, after being saved by the Lord, and taken back from the world into the kingdom of heaven, from the world into the church, and after working in the church for so many years for the Lord, and the Lord chooses more people for His house, for His church. One has been working 20-30 years for the Lord, and someone walks through the front door today, the Lord pays the one who just walked through the door the same wage as the one who has been working 30 years.

The one who's working 30 years, whinges and complains, and says, Lord, this is not fair. All my life I worked for you and your church, and this person just walked in today, and he's being rewarded the same way as me. He's got the same position, the same place, the same respect.

This is not right. I should be respected more. I should be paid more.

I should be rewarded more. I've done it all my life. This guy just came from the streets of King's Cross into your church.

Not right, not fair, Lord Jesus. The Lord will say, I'm the rightful owner of the church. I do as I please, and I pay as I please.

I reward as I please. What's it to you? Let me ask you, if it wasn't for me, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you who are complaining now and saying, I've served you 30 years in your holy church. If it wasn't for me, where would you have been all these 30 years? You would have been in hell.

Who made you the son of God? Who made you that servant of the Lord? Who allowed you to enter the holy presence and the holy church of the Lord? Wasn't it your Lord who purchased you with his own precious blood? Remember, where would you have been without the Lord's mercy? Where would you have been? You would have still be standing idle in the streets of this world, enslaved to satan, enslaved to the temptations of the world offered to you by satan. Just like I showed mercy upon you, I wish to show the same mercy upon this man who just walked in today through my front door. Why are you not happy? So has it been all about you all these years serving in the house of the Lord? But it's nothing about you, it's all about me, I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

When we come to the Lord Jesus, we need to come for him and him only. Not for the bishop, not for the priest, not for any occasion, not for your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your husband, your wife, your cousin, your niece, your friend, not for the one sitting next to you, not for anyone. You need to come to the house of the Lord for the Lord of the house who is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Our focus, our intention, our heart, our mind, our soul, our entire being needs to come seeking the Lord and the Lord only, no one else and nothing else. When I am serving in the house of the Lord for the last 30-40 years and someone comes by the grace of the Lord, by the blood of the Lamb of God who carries away the sins of the world, when someone walks in through that front door and is greeted, honored, respected the same way as this bishop, this bishop, if he is serving the Lord truly, he needs to be extremely and overwhelmed with joy and happiness for this lost soul who has been just found by the Good Shepherd. We need to be happy for our brethren, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, those who were distant and today they are brought back close to Christ.

You need to rejoice if you truly are serving the Lord, not your own interests in the house of the Lord. You should rejoice and in fact you should get up and welcome and greet that person who just walked in today and say, come up all the way and take my place, for my place is yours, for everything belongs to the Lord. It's not about me, it's not about you, it's about Christ the King, all glory to His Holy Name, all glory.

But when we come to the house of the Lord and serve in the house of the Lord for our own interests, obviously we'll be offended when someone just comes the other day and is greeted and rewarded the same as me, who has been serving and sweating it out for the last 40 years. If I'm serving myself, of course I'll be offended, but if I'm serving the Lord, then the focus is Christ. I'll be happy for my Heavenly Father that one of your children who was lost is now found, one of your children who was dead is now alive.

This was the dilemma and the problem of the older brother when we read that parable in Luke 15, the prodigal son. When you read that parable in Luke 15 about that prodigal son who took his portion from his dad and said, dad I don't want to live in your mansion anymore, you know what, you're suffocating me dad. I want to live freely.

I want to seek my own freedom. I want to be my own boss. I go whenever, however, with whomever.

I don't want you dad to dictate to me how I should live because this is Australia dad. It is not somewhere in a village in the Middle East. You don't dictate, this is Australia brother, wake up to yourself.

I live how I please to live. So daddy enough of your dictatorship. I want to be free.

So he went off on his journey seeking freedom like so many millions of people seek freedom their way. Where did they end up? Enslaved to Satan. He ended up working in a pig's field, i.e. in the depth of sin and filth of this world.

Filth. When we go out and do it our way, we do everything wrong under the sun, everything from drugs to alcoholism to gambolism to women and the likes of it. We do everything wrong under the sun.

Why? Because the moment we choose to do it our way, outside of God's way, we destroy everything beautiful God gave us. When that younger brother came back, the older brother was working in the field. Now listen to this.

When you read this parable, the sin of the older brother was much much greater than the younger brother. But when you read it at a surface level, you'll say look at the older brother how wise, how beautiful, loving, respecting dad so much. But the younger one naughty.

He just took off and didn't care about that. No, the sin of the older one who remained in the house of his dad was much much greater than the one who left dad and broke dad's word. When the older brother came back from the field, from a distance he heard there's a lot of singing and dancing and shouting.

There is a joyous occasion at daddy's house. So he calls one of the servants, what's going on at my dad's house? He said, didn't you know your younger brother came back? What? Yes, and your father he slain a big fat oxen or a calf. He slain a big fat calf because he received your brother intact and one piece.

And he called the whole city to come and rejoice with him because his son was lost and now he's found. His son was dead and now he is alive once again. The older brother refused to enter and be glad sharing the happiness and the joy of his father.

The father went out begging his older son, my son, please come in. You know what he said to his dad, the older brother, wow. He said, this son of yours just shows how selfish the older brother was, just shows the way he speaks, how selfish he was.

This son of yours, he didn't say my brother, this is not my brother, this is your son. I have disowned him, Mr. Daddy. So if you want to own him, he is yours but he is not mine.

As far as brotherhood is concerned, I don't know this man. Your son, not my brother. Your son, he did everything evil under the sun.

He damaged your reputation, your image before the whole world and then he goes and does everything evil. After doing all that evil, all these years, comes back and you welcome him like a royal welcoming. Yet I have been serving you all my life at home.

You didn't even give me a goat to have fun with my friends. Wow, you didn't give me a goat. To have fun with my friends.

Do you know what a goat is? Sin. The Lord Jesus in Matthew 24 says, when I come back, the son of man, when he comes back again, he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left hand. Left hand, going to hell, sin, darkness.

Sheep, right hand, light, holiness, eternal life. He said, you didn't even give me a goat to have fun with my friends. You know why that older brother didn't even care to go searching for his younger brother? And when his younger brother came back, he never was happy seeing his brother back.

You know why? Because as long as his younger brother is out of the picture, the older brother is getting all the credit from people. You are the good boy. Your younger brother is nothing but a fool, but look at you, how smart you are.

Your younger brother had no respect for your dad, but look how respectful you are. He was getting benefits, credits, left, right and center. This man was walking with a head like a balloon.

And as long as his younger brother is out of the picture, he is the Mr. Perfect, the saint of all saints and the faithful of all faithfuls and the role model of what a son is supposed to be. Loving, respecting, honoring his dad. Yet, my beloved, all his life on earth, living in his father's house, he did it only for his own personal benefit.

He never served his dad, but he served in his dad's house for him to get all the credit from people. Wow. Wow.

Why did you pay the last hour the same as the one who worked 12 hours? Oh, so you worked 12 hours not for the Lord, you did it for yourself. Therefore, all the hard work you've done, you have no reward from me. I will pay you not.

I will pay you not. And this is the five unwise virgins. In Matthew 25, it says the kingdom of heaven is like the 10 virgins, five wise, five unwise.

The five unwise came knocking at the door. They said to the Lord, in your name, we preached. In your name, we did all wonders and miracles.

The Lord said, away with you, all evildoers. I do not know who you are. Why does the Lord say, I do not know you? Does the Lord not know everyone? Of course, he knows every heart, every person more than that person's self.

He knows everyone. But who does the Lord not recognize? He does not recognize those who served in his holy church, yet serve for one reason, to gain people's attention and people benefits, getting the credit, stealing it away from the owner and the rightful owner. Those servants, the Lord says, you are evildoers.

I don't know you, because you stole the glory from the glory of all glories, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But if we are truly serving the Lord, then whoever walks in through the front door, even if I know, even if I know for sure, this person just came from the brothel, open your ears and eyes, my beloved. As a bishop, even if I know that person just came from the brothel and walked through the front door of the church, I will bow and kiss their feet.

And then I'll shred them to pieces. Yes. If you ever, if you ever want to gain someone's life, once you want to save someone's soul, you must first show them love, then shred them.

The Lord, who is the only being that has the right to judge, yet he never judged us, the sinners. He showed mercy. Yet he is the only one who is, who has full right to judge.

He never did. What did the Lord do to that Samaritan woman at the well? John chapter 4. She came to draw water. She married five times.

And the sixth one, she said, enough, I'm not going to marry again. I'm embarrassed. She couldn't even face people.

That's why she went during the day at the hottest time of the day in summer at 12 noon, because at that hour, it's so hot, everyone is at home. She was avoiding people out of embarrassment because she's been married five times, divorced five times. She can't face people anymore.

She went at 12 noon at the hottest time of the summer day in order to be her alone. To her shocking surprise, she meets not just a person, a man. She's had enough of men.

She is the most expert when it comes to men. She's a professor. She's got PhD in manhood.

She comes and she sees another man. She said, Oh Habib Albi, where did you come from? Lebanon? From the mountain area. And then the Lord engages with her in a conversation.

Oh man, give me water to drink. She said, hang on. By the looks of you, you're a Jew.

I'm a Samaritan woman. We're not friends, just like the Israelis and the Palestinians. We pray they become friends.

Amen. Don't fight. I give a piece of advice for the Israelis and the Palestinians, with all love and respect.

I'll take the land, don't fight. No, what? You know the word Hamas in Arabic, it means like Hamas eagerness. That's what it means.

Hamas. I'm eager. I'm a roaring lion.

No Habibi, I am, I am Lamas. I am Hamas. I'll take the land, stop fighting.

No problem. And I'll build the church on Mount Moriah. And I'll call it the Good Shepherd.

The land belongs to Emmanuel. This is the prophetic word. Read the Holy Scriptures.

The land belongs to Emmanuel. And Isaiah said, you will have Emmanuel. This virgin will give birth.

Emmanuel came over 2000 years. He is the rightful owner of that land. No one else.

No Jews, no Muslims, no one. It belongs to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the rightful owner.

Stop fighting. The moment you receive the son, you have the land here and there at the same time. He is the rightful owner of both worlds, my beloved.

Just receive the son, work smart, don't work hard. You've been trying to conquer the land for centuries, killing millions of people every single century. And yet it is not yours yet.

Because the truth is, never was, never will. The land will be your grave and mine at the end. This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

So help you Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Emmanuel, who is God in the flesh. Amen. So when you have Emmanuel, you've got every land.

You've got heaven, you've got everything. I go with Emmanuel to hell, I step on Satan and I come out, I am free. Because when I have the son, I have the authority to step on the snake and on the scorpion.

And even if I drink the poison of the snake, nothing harms me, nothing. My goodness, I pray every human being has an encounter with Emmanuel, God is with us. Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

So the Lord meets this woman and he says, give me water to drink. She said, you're a Jew, I'm a Samaritan, we don't like each other. Why are you talking to me? He said, if you knew who's talking to you, you would have asked him for water and he would have given you the living water where you thirst no longer.

She said, hang on, this well belongs to our father Jacob. He drank from it, his family and his flock. Where is your water? You don't even have a glass or a jar in your hand.

Where are you going to get this living water? And then the Lord hits the sensitive cord of this woman by saying to her, go and call your hubbub. Go and call your husband. She said, I don't have a husband.

That's all she said. The Lord said, yes, because you had five husbands before and the one who is with you in the 21st century's terminology, your boyfriend. And all of this you said correctly.

She didn't say all of that. She only said, I don't have a husband. The Lord elaborated and said, five you had before and the one who is with you is not your husband.

And then the Lord goes back and gives all this credit to the woman and says, you have said all of it correctly. She didn't. But look at the Lord's way of respecting this woman.

For the first time ever in her life, she is respected by a man. She was never before. That's why she married and divorced.

She wasn't living in sin because she divorced. No, her problem was one thing. This woman, when you look and read between the lines, what was her problem? She was looking for that perfect man.

So she thought Romeo is the perfect man and she is Juliet. So she threw that stone at Romeo, Romeo, Romeo. Turned out to be a, I don't know, a dump.

She dumped him. She dumped the first Romeo. She thought he was the perfect man.

She went and married another one seeking perfection in man. She realized after the fifth one, there is no perfect man till she met the perfect man at the well in Shekim, in Neablis, in Gaza Strip, where around three million Palestinians today are held hostage in an open prison. When she met this man, she said, I've never heard any man talking this way to me ever before.

John 4 verse 9, you're a Jew. John 4 verse 19, you must be a prophet. John 4 verse 29, you are the Messiah, i.e. God.

The Lord didn't raise the dead. The Lord didn't do wonders and miracles. All the Lord did, spoke with respect.

Made this woman confess from a Jew to a prophet to God. And made this woman go and call all of Samaria and brought all of the city to the Lord where they embraced him, accepted him, and the whole city was saved by a sinner, the best customer of Satan. What this woman done, Saint Peter couldn't do.

Wow. Wow. The one who is the rightful owner to judge, never judged this sinner.

Then who are we to judge someone walking through the front door and say, what are you doing? You belong to the streets. Don't ever do that. For those who are here and those who are listening, an advice from your spiritual father.

If you are living in sin this very moment, my son, my daughter, if you are thinking for a moment it is too late for you to come back and fix your life. If you think you've gone too deep, too far, where there is no comeback. If you think God has forgotten you, God has forsaken you.

If you think the Lord Jesus doesn't care or give one penny about you, if you see that it is too late for you to fix you, this very moment the Lord is waiting to save you. Just say, Lord forgive me. Lord forgive me.

I've been standing idle for too long. I've been serving Satan for too long. I've been living in this world for too long.

Today I say, Lord I've had enough. I'm coming back Lord. No more pleasing Satan.

Today I'm coming asking you and begging you Lord, allow me to please you for a change. Allow me Lord. The early morning, the land owner Jesus Christ of Nazareth, all glory to his holy name.

That early morning represents Adam. The third hour which is early morning is 6 a.m. The early morning represents our father Adam. The third hour which is 9 a.m. represents our father Noah.

The sixth hour which is 12 noon represents our father Abraham. The ninth hour which is 3 p.m. represents the great prophet Moses. And the 11th hour, 5 p.m., one hour left for the day to finish represents the Lord Jesus.

The Lord came in the end of times. Read Galatians chapter 4 verse 1. The last hour is the end of times where the beloved son of God was born of the virgin, of all virgins, our holy mother Mary. And one other thing, early morning on its own.

Third hour 9 a.m. on its own. But when it came to the sixth hour and the ninth hour, the holy Bible puts them together. And he went out on the sixth and the ninth.

He put these two hours together. So the sixth is 12 noon, the ninth is 3 p.m. 12 noon and 3 p.m. puts them together. Why? Because at 12 noon the Lord Jesus was crucified.

At 3 p.m. he died in the flesh on the cross. These two hours are together. You see what made every one of us being unemployed, idle, into working in the house of the Lord, being slaves and changed into the sons of God.

It was those two hours, the sixth and the ninth, 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. It is the blood of the Lamb of God who was shed on Calvary on the cross by being crucified and dying on the cross, made us today sons working in the house of our Heavenly Father. It was the Son of God who done it at sixth and the ninth hour, 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. By being crucified and dying in the flesh, changed us all and allowed us to work. It's about the Lord.

It's not about you and me or how long we've been serving him. If it wasn't for him, there was no house, there was no service, there was no, there was nothing. It was the Lord.

It was the Lord my beloved. 12 noon and 3 p.m. Why 12 noon represents Abraham? What did Abraham do? He took his son Isaac, oops, yeah sorry it wasn't Ishmael, okay it was Isaac. He took his son Isaac on Mount Moriah to slay him and offer him to God.

Abraham here represents God the Father. Isaac represents symbolically God the Son. So the Father took his son, his only beloved son, just like God the Father has only one beloved son.

Abraham took his only beloved son born by the power of the Holy Spirit, not of the flesh but of the Spirit, Isaac, the promised son. Just like that Father took his only son to be offered on Mount Moriah, yet God saved him from that knife going down and slaying his only son by showing him a ram tied to that tree and that ram tied to the tree is Jesus Christ tied to the cross, the tree. But this time the knife didn't stop when God the Father offered his only begotten son on Calvary, on the cross.

This time the knife went all the way and slain the son. That is Abraham 12 noon, the son is slain, crucified and 3 p.m is Moses. Why? Because Moses represents the law and Jesus by dying on the cross, the Lord paid the price of the law, i.e. justice.

When the former Adam broke the law, the law said you must die. Adam, the latter Adam, Jesus Christ died at 3 p.m, fulfilled the law, the justice of God represented in Moses. And he came at the last hour, the Christians are the last hour, we are the end times, we are the ones who worked that hour and we got paid the same way those who worked from 6 a.m till 6 p.m. We worked for an hour, we got rewarded the same.

Thank the Lord always, my beloved. Believe you me, when we have the chance, the opportunity to come to church, remember this is the mercy of the Lord still present in your life. A time will come, there will be no longer church opened.

Remember this, a time is coming and when I say it's coming, that means it will come, it's not if, it's when, it's not if, it's when. When the time comes, you, I will be crying and dying to go to church, no more that privilege available. Today it is so easy to come, we tasted a glimpse of what is about to come in 2020 through the so-called pandemic, the biggest lie of the 21st century.

We tasted it, the doors of the churches got shut, the Lord pre-warned us, pre-warned us, Satan cannot shut the door of the church, the Freemasons and the secret societies cannot shut the doors of the church, the only one who can shut it is Christ, the rightful owner, the land owner, the vineyard owner, the church owner, he is the only one that can shut it. The Lord allowed Satan, through certain people who worship Satan, he allowed them to shut the door, but the Lord allowed to give a glimpse to the Christian world, Christendom, my beloved children whom I have purchased with my precious blood, don't ever walk away from me, don't ever walk away from me, don't ever walk away from me, don't come and tell me you are a Catholic, don't come and tell me you are an Orthodox, don't come and tell me you are this and that, you need to come and say, Lord I belong to you, I belong to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, what does it benefit you being a Catholic and distant from the Lord, what does it benefit you being Orthodox and distant from the Lord, what does it benefit a man if he gains the whole world and loses himself at the end, if we do not have a personal, personal, intimate relationship with the Lord, nothing saves me, it's the blood of the Lamb of God that does, while we are privileged to come and go whenever we please, take the most of it while we can, because a time is coming, we will no longer have this privilege, there won't be churches anymore, believe you me, and it is the Lord's plan, no one else, love the Lord, I know I talk too much, tough luck, love the Lord, be honest with the Lord, never act before the Lord, be you, don't ever come putting a different mask on, that is not you, come as you are, do not act, do not fake who you are and what you are, because the Lord knows you more than you, come as you are, full of sin, full of errors, full of mistakes, full of filth, come as you are and say Lord, I'm a sinner, I'm the greatest sinner of all, I need you to cleanse me Lord, I need you to change me Lord, I need you to bring me to you Lord, I am lost, bring me back, I'm dead, revive me and bring me back to life Lord, and see what the Lord will do for you, see what the Lord will do for you, the Lord is faithful, oh yes he is, the Lord is faithful, when you think it's too late, that's when the Lord shows up, when you think nothing can fix it, then that's when the Lord fixes everything, when you think you are forgotten, that's when the Lord puts you in the core of his heart, just trust him, so next time your friends call you and say what are you doing bro, don't say nothing, there's no such thing as nothing, you must be doing something, and if they say you want to go downtown, say no bro, why, say because I'm going uptown, what do you mean uptown, I'm going to the church, which church, oh the church where the best-looking bishop is in, the one who has red belt in karate, and the one who goes, we're going to see the best-looking bishop, get down brother, let me some skin bro, I think I've told you this before, I'll say it again, one day I was preaching because I talk a lot you see, I love it, so anyway I was preaching and then maybe 10 minutes into the preach, this lady is sitting and all of a sudden I hear her, and throughout the hour and a half, all I'm hearing is Beethoven Bach, the orchestra was playing, best, after the preach they tap her, wake her up, the lady walks up to me and she said bishop, this was the best lecture you ever gave, I'm not kidding, I'm not kidding, I said in your dream baby, I was just in case if there was somebody asleep, hopefully he's awake now, God bless you, may the Lord Jesus be with you always, always, always, show mercy to one another, love one another, pray for one another, and come to the Lord for the Lord, for his person, for himself, don't ask him to give you nothing, don't ever come to the Lord with a shopping list, don't come and say Lord I want to marry Rachel, I want to buy a Ferrari, I want to have a house, I want to have a successful business, forget it, say Lord I'm coming for you, you can step on me, break me, make me, do whatever you wish to me, as long as I am with you, Lord I'm coming, seeking no one but you, be like that Canaanite woman, when he said that, when the Lord said to his disciples, it is not good to take the bread of the children of the sons and throw it to the dogs and give it to the dogs, she said yes Lord, and the dogs also eat from the crumbs that fall from the tables of their masters and live by those crumbs, Lord I don't mind being that dog, as long as this dog is tied to you, I'd rather be that dog and not be a king and tied to Satan, let me be that dog and tied to the king of all kings, I'm honored to be that dog Lord, as long as this dog stays with you, I'm honored, thank you Lord for allowing me to be this dog, this is the way you approach the Lord, this is the way you come to the church, this is the way you give your heart to the Lord, for him and him only, even if he takes you to hell, kiss his feet, because with the Lord, hell is heaven, with the Lord, hell is heaven, without the Lord, heaven is hell, with the Lord, hell is heaven, without the Lord, heaven is hell, it's not about the place, it's about the owner of the place, it matters not where the Lord takes me, but what matters is the Lord is with me and I with him, that's what matters, what position, what I am first, what I've served you for, who gives one penny, it's about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, therefore I don't care if I sit on a throne or I sit at the gutter, if I am respected or if I am defiled and and dishonored, it matters not they love me or hate me, exalt me or bring me down on my head, matters not my dear friend, when you have the Lord, you have nothing to lose, you worry nothing, you fear nothing, you don't care about nothing, when you have the Lord, you have everything, when you have the Lord, you have everything, all good, bishop, no bishop, some people say he is deposed from the church, don't listen to him, who cares, what deposed, you can't depose me from my sweetheart Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Habib Alba, you cannot, the one who chose me, the one who gave me his rank, the one who appointed me, you cannot by couple of words on a piece of paper, you say whatever you think you can touch, not even a glimpse of me my dear friend, what the Lord has done for me, neither you nor those who are above you can ever do anywhere near what the Lord has done for me, I've got the Lord my dear friend, I pray you do so as well, not worried about church deposing me or not, I'm worried about one thing, does the Lord say this is my son or not, that's what worries me, it doesn't matter what people think, it's what the Lord thinks of me, seek the Lord, let's bow our heads, ask the Lord as we recite this prayer of absolution, say Lord forgive me for my sins, make me worthy to come forth and receive you in the true body and blood of Christ the King, Amen. Our good God and full of mercy, our good God and full of mercy, whose grace and mercy is poured upon all, pour my Lord the compassion of the delightfulness of your love upon your servants and again transform them in the hope of renewal to the life of repentance, renew in them your Holy Spirit by whom they are sealed for the day of salvation, purify them by your compassion from all flesh and spiritual blemishes and assure the hope of their faith by the aid of your grace and instill the walks of their behavior and the paths of righteousness, please them along with the saints in your kingdom by the assurance of the hope of their faith and the adoption as your children and in the joy of your absolving mysteries, empower them by 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.