Mar Mari Emmanuel teaches that Christians must lovingly embrace and uplift struggling believers rather than judge them, emphasizing faith in Jesus as the true treasure and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.
In this heartfelt teaching, Mar Mari Emmanuel challenges Christians to recognize and lovingly support hidden false believers within the church rather than judge them. He emphasizes the importance of faith in Jesus Christ as the true treasure and the convicting role of the Holy Spirit. Through practical insights, he encourages believers to live fully in the present, embrace one another with grace, and allow the Spirit to guide them toward righteousness.
Full Transcript
We are members in the body of Christ. Some members in the body of Christ are saints, some are sinners, but they are all members. Some are pure, some are not so much pure.
What Saint Paul is saying, since you are paying the most attention to your nose, the dirtiest member of your body, so as in the spiritual sense we need to look after our brothers who are distant from the Lord. Don't ever judge someone who is distant and you say, how dare this person come to church, this guy, I know exactly what he does in life, he is the greatest sinner of all. Yesterday I saw him doing this and this and this, what kind of a face he has to turn up to church today, yet I knew where he was yesterday.
Don't ever judge, lest you be judged. If you find a Christian person that is the weakest of all, the dirtiest of all, the filthiest of all and the most distant from the Lord Jesus, swimming in filth of this world, you better run to that person, hug them, embrace them and give them courage and say to them, don't ever give up, for as long as Jesus Christ lives, you will live. Come back to the Lord, give him courage.
Do not judge, do not look down at other Christians, but hold on to them, hold their hand and say, if I am standing today strong in faith, brother, sister, give me your hand, let me lift you up, because the Lord loves you the way he loves me. Come, nothing is lost, nothing is lost. As Christians, do we have this kind of an approach? Do we have this kind of a mentality? Do we have this kind of an insight? Or do we throw arrows at one another? We blow the trumpet the moment somebody does something wrong and we write about it on all social media platforms.
Did you know so and so what they've done? We tell the whole world what people have done, but we have forgotten that Saint Paul says, love covers a lot of errors, love covers a lot of errors, love covers a lot of errors. Whoever walks through the front door of the church, it is not my business, even if I am the bishop of this church, it is not my right to question who are you and what are you and where did you come from, even if he came out of the brothel, I will embrace that person. But not in the way, accepting the way he has chosen to live, no, but I'll embrace them in the hope and in the faith the Lord will touch their heart and make them from a sinner to a saint.
But if I'm going to scan them with the latest technology of MRI and CT scan, this person will never come back to the church ever again, the Lord will lose this sheep because of me. I'll embrace you, I'll love you and then I'll give you the third degree burns. And next time you want to go anywhere, not right, let me come.
I'll come with you bro. And then we say, what's up brother? Bro, don't get down, get up. What do you mean get down bro? See, it's a negative kind of talk, get down, not get down, get up.
Get down is a failure, is a fall, get up, stand up, be successful. And whatever has happened in the past, it's the past, don't dwell on it. You're wasting your time, you're wasting your breath, you're wasting your energy, you're wasting above all your life which is priceless gift from God for you and me and all of us.
Just get up, dust it off and walk forward, don't look back. And if you're ever going to look back, look back for one reason and one reason only, to learn from the past because that is the only place you and I can learn from. We cannot learn from the present moment, we are still living it.
We cannot learn from the futuristic moment, we have not lived it yet, but it is only the past that is our school of thought where we go back to learn from, not to dwell on and remain in that past that we cannot remain because what is gone cannot come back again. But look back, learn from the good times and the bad times, from the light and the dark moments of that past to make up a better future in this present moment. And you know what is so truthful? If somebody asked you, how old are you? Tell them the bishop told me to say to you, I am 24 hour old, that's my age.
Don't ever say, oh I'm 21, I'm 51, I'm 91. No you're not, you are 24 hour old, that's all. You know what, because all those years that have gone by, that's not your age, it's not yours, can you control it? No, it's gone.
Whatever hasn't come yet, it's not your age. So what is your age today? Today is the only day you have influence over. So how old are you today? 24 hours.
If we are able to make one difference in this 24 hour, we've changed our entire life. See some people sit and look back and say, where do I start? 50s of my life, sorry the 50s are not your life, they're gone, they're not your life. 50s of my life, what do I change from these 50s? No, the 50s are gone.
What you can change is today, because today is your life. What you have control over, that's what you own, that's what is yours. So your age is 24 hours, can you change one thing? If you can change one thing in it, you've changed your entire life.
You've changed your entire life. How easily we get entangled with our own way of thinking and with what the world offers us, and the majority of things the world offers is nothing but a lie. Make a bright future for yourself.
A bright future? What is the church? Family, family, family. This is why the church is hated by the world. Why? Because in today's gospel, the Lord Jesus says about the Holy Spirit, He says, when I send the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, He will rebuke you on three things.
He will rebuke on sin, on righteousness, and on judgment. And the Lord elaborates more and explains. He says on sin, because they did not believe in me.
On righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no more. And on judgment, for the ruler of this world is being judged. Wow.
The Holy Spirit will rebuke you. When the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He will ring a bell inside of you. He will shake you, He will make you, He will break you, He will do so many things in order to get your attention.
He will rebuke you on sin, because they didn't believe in Jesus Christ. He will rebuke you on righteousness, because I'm going to the Father and you will see me no more. And He will rebuke you on judgment, for the ruler of this world is being judged.
On sin, because they didn't believe in me. Every time we do not believe in Jesus Christ, we are sinning. Every time we do not believe in Jesus Christ, we are sinning.
And when is it, as Christians, when is it that we don't believe in Him? Every time we make a mistake, it is a unbelief in Jesus Christ, because if we had believed in Him, we wouldn't have sinned. When the Lord Jesus says, do not use a foul language, and I keep on using it, I am in denial of Jesus Christ. I don't believe in Him, because if I truly believed in Him, I wouldn't have swore.
When the Lord says, do not steal, and I go and steal deliberately, I am in denial of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Every time I have no faith in the Lord, I am a sinner. And on righteousness, because I'm going to the Father and you will see me no more.
What does that mean? See, the Lord says, wherever your treasure is, there will be your heart as well. And heart here means your entire being. Your mind, your soul, your spirit, your thought, your entire being, wherever your treasure is, whatever your treasure is.
So if your treasure is money, that's where you're going to be. If the treasure is a fame, that's where you're going to be. If the treasure is a rank, that's where you're going to be.
If the treasure is a person, that's where you will be. The Lord says, if I am your treasure, then remember one thing, I have gone up and sat at the right hand of the Father. I am in the heaven of all heavens.
If Jesus Christ is your treasure, my child, why are you searching for me in the streets of the city downtown? As a Christian, what are you doing in this world? Definitely you are not searching for your Lord, because Jesus Christ disapproves of this world and the way the world handles itself. So if you are truly believing in me as Jesus Christ, and if I am truly your treasure, why are you still holding on to the pleasures of this world? Why are you fighting over materialistic things? Why are you chasing temporal things? Why are you focused on your external looks, rather than focusing on your internal looks? You're spending too many hours, days, weeks, and months to make yourself look beautiful from outside. You're not spending one second to making your heart looking beautiful to your Messiah.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Body of Christ and Its Members
- All believers are members, some pure and some sinners
- Avoid judging others harshly
- Embrace and support distant or struggling believers
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II. The Danger of Judgment and the Call to Love
- Judgment leads to alienation and loss of sheep
- Love covers many sins and errors
- Encourage and uplift rather than condemn
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III. Living in the Present and Letting Go of the Past
- Focus on today as the only time you control
- Learn from the past but do not dwell on it
- Renew your life daily as if you are 24 hours old
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IV. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Rebuking and Guiding
- Holy Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment
- Unbelief in Jesus leads to sin
- Jesus as the true treasure should shape believers’ lives
Key Quotes
“Love covers a lot of errors.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“If you find a Christian person that is the weakest of all... you better run to that person, hug them, embrace them and give them courage.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“Your age is 24 hours; today is the only day you have influence over.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
Application Points
- Avoid judging fellow believers and instead offer them encouragement and support.
- Focus on living faithfully today, letting go of past mistakes and future worries.
- Seek to make Jesus Christ your true treasure rather than worldly possessions.
