Mar Mari Emmanuel warns that true church leadership requires humility and faithfulness to Christ rather than seeking prestige, wealth, or power, emphasizing the dangers of worldly influence and division within the church.
In this powerful sermon, Mar Mari Emmanuel challenges church leaders to examine their hearts and priorities, urging them to reject worldly prestige and power in favor of humble service modeled by Jesus Christ. He highlights the spiritual dangers of neglecting the poor and the consequences of division within the church. Drawing on biblical parables and historical examples, Mar Mari Emmanuel calls for a return to authentic, Christ-centered leadership that builds the church on a solid foundation.
Full Transcript
Do you think, church leader, you can protect the flock with your certificate? Satan is saying, when a church leader falls asleep, Satan devours, Satan devours. I won't have the time to talk about the entire gospel of today, but I'll say this. There are seven parables.
The first one, the sower went out to sow seed on the wayside, on the rocky ground, on the thorns, and then he turned it into fertile land. That's one. Second one, the sower went and sowed good seed in his own field.
That's the second one. But the leaders went asleep, because church leaders became too preoccupied with their prestigious life. Oh, when a church leader forgets the poor, when a church leader forgets on how to sit at the gutter, he's finished.
Satan has devoured him, even if he's a pope. You know what happened with the church leaders, with the church? We became friends with big caliber boys of the world. We sat with presidents.
We sat with prime ministers. We sat with kings. We sat with rich people, famous people, people of authority, of power, of money, and we stepped on the poor.
We stepped on them. Why? Because they are a liability. We get nothing out of them.
I have to spend money on them. I can't afford it as a church leader. Why? Because my master is not Christ.
It's Satan. And Satan will always take. He will never give.
But on the other hand, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, all glory to his holy name. He will always give and never take. He even gave his own clothes and went up on the cross fully naked as an adult.
Do you know how embarrassing that is for a young mature man, 33 years of age to go fully naked before everyone. They were all making fun of him. He did it because this is the true shepherd.
He never sat with prestigious people, famous people. He sat with the rejected, the afflicted, the forgotten people. That's why his church is built on the rock.
Today, church leaders are building their own churches on sand, on sand. They enjoy the limousines and the red carpets rolled under their feet. Why do you need bodyguards? What are you afraid of? Somebody's killing you? Hallelujah.
In Arabic comes beautifully, I have a life and it's Christ and death is a gain for me. Death is gain. Since Christ is my life, then death is gain.
Why? Because it is through death that I get to see my sweetheart face-to-face, no longer in a maze as Saint Paul puts it so eloquently. I get to see him face-to-face. Why do I need to sit with rich people as a church leader? It's not your role.
Yeah, freemasonry has infiltrated the church. Money laundering has infiltrated the church. You know why? Because when the church begins to look for massive big things, those big things need a lot of money.
The street beggar can't pay for that, so I'm going to need rich people. But when the rich people come in, Satan comes in. I ask you my beloved, do you have a problem you got to church and the church is a tent? I'll put it this way, I'll give you two options.
One is I build you a massive cathedral all the way to heaven. You enter the cathedral, it is all precious stones, gold, silver, pearls everywhere and you say wow, wow, wow. You enter this massive cathedral and you see Satan not Christ.
And on the other hand you enter a very humble, no air conditioning, no doors, no windows, no cushion seats, comfortable, no lights. You enter a tent and you say what is this place? I say to you this is the house of the Lord and you say man, even the street beggar won't even sleep here. But you enter that humble tent and you find God.
Which one do you choose? We chose high places. We met Satan, not God. And this is the parable my beloved and I'll leave you with it.
When the enemy entered and planted the tares, the tares gave out two outcomes. One, the mustard seed and the yeast. Two outcomes came out of the tares, the mustard seed and the yeast.
Says that the kingdom of heaven is like that mustard seed. In its size it's the smallest of all seeds but when you plant it, it becomes a tree bigger than so many trees. But the birds of the sky comes and nestles in this tree.
The very beginning of the parable, when those seeds fell on the wayside, the Lord said the bird of the sky came and devoured those seeds. When the disciples approached him, the Lord and asked him what does this parable mean? He said that the bird of the sky is Satan. So if the bird of the sky in the beginning of the parable is Satan, well guess what? In the midst of it and in the end of it is also Satan.
He said this mustard seed became a very big tree and the bird of the sky came and nestled in it. Well the bird of the sky, the Lord said earlier, it's Satan. So Satan nestled in this big tree.
Do you know which big tree this is? It's a harsh reality. I pray nobody gets me wrong. The Lord is talking about the church.
This is the first division of the beloved church of Christ in 1054 which they call or refer to as the great schism. This is the great schism where the tree became massive and the church got divided in 1054 between west and east. West became catholic and east became orthodox officially in 1054.
And do you know the main reason for this split? What was? The throne. My throne is the greatest said a certain bishop and everyone in Christendom must follow the throne. And the Lord said the tree became big because my church should always remain humble.
There is no thrones in my church. There is no high places in my church. If you truly follow the messiah, the true messiah of the holy bible, then you need to live on earth as street beggars begging for love, not as kings seeking high places.
What divided the church was that high place. The tree became massive. So when we seek positions, we imitated the world.
Who runs and rules over the world? Satan ruled over the church. Brothers became enemies. The pope of Rome for the first time in a thousand years, he was trying to go and see the patriarch of Russia.
For a thousand years they never spoke. Look at Satan. Is anybody home? And these church leaders, God bless their hearts, they're still insisting, I'm right.
One will come will say, if you're not catholic, you're not making it to heaven. The other one comes and says, if you're not eastern orthodox, you're not making it to heaven, because eastern orthodoxy are the chosen people of God. And the other one will come and say, you have to be oriental orthodox.
And the other one will come and say, none of the above.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Danger of Worldly Influence in Church Leadership
- Church leaders becoming preoccupied with prestige and wealth
- Ignoring the poor and marginalized
- Satan devours when leaders fall asleep
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II. The Example of Jesus Christ as the True Shepherd
- Jesus sat with the rejected and afflicted
- He gave everything, even his clothes
- His church is built on the rock
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III. The Parables and Their Meaning for the Church
- The sower and the seed representing different responses
- The mustard seed growing into a large tree
- Satan nesting in the large tree representing church division
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IV. The Consequences of Division and Pride in the Church
- The Great Schism of 1054 as a result of seeking thrones
- Church leaders imitating worldly rulers
- The need for humility and unity in Christ
Key Quotes
“Satan is saying, when a church leader falls asleep, Satan devours, Satan devours.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“Jesus Christ of Nazareth... sat with the rejected, the afflicted, the forgotten people. That's why his church is built on the rock.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“If you truly follow the messiah... then you need to live on earth as street beggars begging for love, not as kings seeking high places.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
Application Points
- Church leaders should prioritize serving the poor and marginalized rather than seeking wealth and status.
- Believers are called to build their faith on the solid foundation of Christ, avoiding worldly influences.
- Unity and humility within the church are essential to resist division and spiritual attacks.
