What Jacob Wrestled With

Whatever we do in life, we need to give it to the Lord Jesus because it is all His. Nothing from us, everything good comes from the good God. Amen? And our good God is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Amen to that? Very good. Today, my beloveds, we are going to continue our topic in relation to the spiritual struggle between Rachel and Leah. For those who are joining us today, you may not know exactly what we spoke about, but you can always go back to it because it is obviously on the church social media platforms, whether it be YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

So the spiritual struggle between Rachel and Leah, today is part two. Just to connect last time what we spoke about and then continue with it today, we said that Leah gave our father Jacob four children or four sons. They were the first one, Reuben, and Reuben means I saw the son.

Second was Simon or Simeon, to him, listen, you shall listen. Third one, Levi or Levi, it is a matrimonial bond enjoined in marriage. And then Judah means let him who is God be praised.

Let God be praised or let him be praised. Now Reuben is the blessing and the birth right. The firstborn receives double, receives doubles according to the law.

So Reuben here represents the blessings. Simon, the word of God. Levi, the priesthood that will bring you closer to God.

And Judah, the savior, who is Jesus Christ, who came from the tribe of Judah and the flesh. So the savior who came to save you from all that is yours and give you all that is his. He came to save us from all that is ours and give us all that is his.

These are the fruits which Jacob reaped from Leah. Now we said that Jacob did not want to marry Leah because he did not love her, but he was deep in love with Rachel and he worked 14 years of slavery just to marry Rachel. But the one whom he did not love, the one who was not happy in marrying her, his uncle Laban, you know, deceived him in a way and gave him Leah.

He found out the following day of marriage, which was too late, that it was Leah, it wasn't Rachel and it was too late for that. But the one whom he refused to marry, the one who did not want, and it was given to him for free, for God's sake, Rachel, 14 years of slavery. Leah was for free, he didn't want her, but she gave him the four sons, Reuben, Simon, Levi and Judah.

Stunning, the foundational sons that came later on the nation of Israel, foundational. Now today, my beloved, we'll continue the journey about the fruits which Jacob reaped from Rachel this time. Last time it was the fruits which he reaped from Leah, today the fruits which he reaped from Rachel, the one who loved, the one who died for, the one who worked 14 years of slavery for his uncle Laban just to marry the love of his life, Rachel.

Let's see what kind of fruits she gave Jacob. Well, she gave him two fruits, two sons, one Benjamin, the other Joseph. Obviously Joseph is the older than Benjamin.

What happened? Benjamin, my beloved, during birth, Rachel died. While giving birth, Rachel dies. Jacob's love was lost, gone.

Benjamin, while coming to this world, took the life of his mother. Jacob's love was gone for good. Joseph, the other fruit, the other son, broke his father's heart.

Why? Because the other brothers became jealous of Joseph. He was the father's favorite. So they became jealous.

They tried to kill him. Then they dropped him. They threw him into this well and then they sold him as a slave to these Eshmelite merchants which took him to Egypt as a slave.

And then they went back to the father and they said, your brother Joseph has died. Looks like he's been eaten by a vicious animal in the wilderness. So Benjamin kills the love of Jacob's.

Rachel dies and Joseph breaks the father's heart by disappearing. And this is all we are going to reap from this world. We said Rachel represents the world and Leah represents heaven.

We don't want eternal life, but we chase after temporal life. We are not interested in heaven, but we are all interested in this world, the temptations of this world, the pleasures and the treasures of this world. We run for it.

When it comes to the club, we run. But when it comes to the church, we don't want to go. I'm not interested to go to church, but I'm extremely interested in coming to the club, to the pub and to the concert of some Hollywood celebrity coming to Sydney.

Rachel, I will work as a slave just to gain her. But Leah is given for free. Eternal life is given for free.

When you come to church, Christ has given you his blood and body to give you eternal life and you don't want to come to church, but you'll go to the club and pay hundreds and thousands of dollars just to enter the club. But you don't wish to enter the church for free, my beloved. The club will give you death and the church will give you eternal life, but you choose to go to the club over going to the church.

And this is what happens when we chase after Rachel. The world, the world will take away your love and the world will break your heart at the end. That's all you're going to get.

The world will take away your love and the world will break your heart at the end, my beloved. The world takes away your love. See, the world tells you to do this.

Enjoy life. Have fun. Do as you please, but tomorrow I will bury you.

Enjoy life. Have fun. Go for it.

Don't worry about anything. You're free. Enjoy that freedom.

Do as you wish, but tomorrow I will bury you. The world will swallow you in that little grave, and once I go in that grave, all that love is taken away from me, and the world will break your heart like it did with Jacob by losing his son Joseph. The world breaks your heart.

You put all your hope in the world, and at the end, you come out with a broken heart. Disappointed. Disappointed, my beloved, because in Job chapter 14 verse 1, the Holy Bible tells us, man who is born of women is of few days and full of trouble.

Man who is born of women is of few days and full of trouble. This is the world. Your days are short and they are full of trouble.

Why are you chasing the world? Why are you focusing on the world? Don't live for this world. It's going to take your love away, and it's going to break your heart at the end. All of us are born into this world crying.

We never heard anyone coming to this world laughing. Everybody is born crying. This is the world.

It gives you nothing but brokenness and tears shedding from your eyes, yet so many people still love the world, and they don't want to do anything else but cling onto this vanity of all vanities called this world. The struggle with our father Jacob was, number one, he loved Rachel. The Lord said to him, in order for you to truly struggle and strive in life, I will have to take Rachel away from you.

The only way, Jacob, that you are truly going to struggle in order to strive, to move forward, to succeed in life, I have to take Rachel away from you. Now, I want to draw your attention to a very specific point here. You see, when Jacob heard that his brother Esau is coming with 400 armed men with him, he got scared.

Esau is coming with 400 armed men. So what did he do? Jacob lined up first his two female servants and their sons. See, Esau wasn't coming just to say hello to his brother Jacob.

If he was coming just to say hello, why would he come with another 400 armed men? So definitely he was coming to kill his brother Jacob. Why? Because Jacob stole Esau's blessing, because mom told him what to do in order to steal his brother Esau's blessing. So Esau said, I will not give up until I behead my brother.

I'm going to kill him. So he was coming with 400 equipped and armed men. Now, the moment Jacob heard this news, fear engulfed him and said to himself, what shall I do? My brother's coming with 400 armed men.

Again, he used his head. You see, Jacob's mistake all of his life, he relied on his intellect. He always used his head in everything in life.

Did not seek God's counsel. He relied on his intellect. So again, he is relying on his intellect here.

He said, what shall I do? So to his genius way of thinking, Jacob said, well, this is what I'm going to do to ease the situation and calm it in order for my brother not to kill me. I'm going to prepare for my brother Esau three gifts. Each gift, let's say equivalent of today's monetary value, quarter of a million dollars.

Each gift, quarter of a million dollars. And then he said, I'm going to put a distance between this gift and the next two kilometers. So I'm going to send the first gift with some people with it.

And then once they pass those two kilometers, I'm going to send the other gift. And another two kilometers gone by, I'm going to send the third gift. One after the other, each one gaps is two kilometer gap between this gift and the other one.

But each gift valued up to 250,000 dollars, quarter of a million. Now the first gift moved with people with it. Esau meets these people along the way.

He is coming to meet Jacob. So along the way, these people come with the gift. So Esau meets them and he says, who are you and where are you going? They said, we are the servant of Jacob, your servant.

And we have a small gift from your servant Jacob to his master Esau. Wow, look what he taught them. He said, we are Jacob's servants.

And this is a small gift from your servant Jacob to his master Esau. They're brothers. But he said, tell him I'm his servant and he's my master.

Jacob thought that once Esau sees the first gift, his anger will go down at least by quarter. He's now 100% angry. He sees the first gift, quarter of a million dollars.

That's going to calm him down. So a quarter of anger is going to go down. So now Esau walks another two kilometers.

He meets more people and they ask him the same question. Who are you? Where are you going? They said, we are Jacob's servants and this is a small gift from your servant Jacob to his master Esau. Then now his anger goes down to 50%.

And then the third gift, Jacob is really doing quite well here. He's saying now with the third gift, definitely Esau's anger is now 75% less, which he got it totally wrong. Now again, the third gift is from your servant Jacob to his master Esau.

Now the anger is definitely gone down to 75% according to the genius Jacob. But what Jacob did not realize and never thought of, because he used his head only, did not seek God's help. He did not realize that when Esau saw the first gift and saw that it's worth quarter of a million dollars, straight away he said, well, well, well, I just wonder how much capital Jacob has since he stole my blessing.

Look how much God has blessed him. He's given me a small gift and the small gift to him is worth quarter of a million dollars. Well, thank you Jacob for stealing my blessings because it was mine.

I would have been the rich man because you stole my blessing. Now you've got all the richness and the success in life. This time definitely I'm gonna behead you.

If there was one percent chance that I would change my mind and not kill you, now that one percent is gone thanks to you Jacob. I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you because now I'm really angry. You steal my blessing and you get all the success and I come out with nothing? I'll fix you So many times we behave exactly like Jacob.

We receive a blessing and we put on a show before everyone, look what I have. Thinking that by putting on a show before in front of everyone, you are going to gain their favor. It's quite the contrary, you're creating enemies for yourself.

So when God blesses you, you don't go and let that trumpet blow before the whole world. When God gives you something, you keep it to yourself. It is between you and God.

All the people are not in need of knowing what God has given you. But you see the reason why we do that because we want to be boastful about it. Look at me, God gave it to me not to you.

Look I'm driving a Mercedes Benz. When I'm coming to getting married, I'm maybe a multi-millionaire. Marriage will cost me a couple of million dollars.

Relax. Why are you putting on a show? Do it normal. You see marriage is not about two million dollar wedding.

Marriage is about two hearts coming in unity with the heart of Christ. It's not about putting on a show. Look at my face now.

Look at my dress now. Look at my voice now. Look at my diamond ring now.

Look at this. Look at my house. Look at my Ferrari.

Don't be boastful like Jacob. Don't use your head. Let God guide your steps in this life.

Let God guide your steps in this life. Don't take it into your hands. Jacob thought by giving presents to his brother is going to calm him down.

Not realizing it made him more angry now. So now Jacob has heard that his brother Esau is coming with 400 armed men. He said well I need to get ready now.

Well I've sent the three presents now. The first one calmed him by 25 percent. The second one by 50.

The third one by 75. By the time he gets here that last 25 percent of his anger would have evaporated. Not realizing he's now fuming a volcano about to erupt upon Jacob.

So what does the genius Jacob do? And I should say our father Jacob because at the end he's a saint in heaven. But it's a lesson we are all Jacob. Don't be offended and upset with Jacob.

We are all the same. So what did our father Jacob do? He lines up his two servants females and their children and then Leah and and then Rachel in this particular order. Look he starts with Leah's maid and her two sons.

Leah was his first wife. His first wife had two maids. So he lines Leah's maid with she had one maid sorry and that maid gave Jacob two sons.

So he lines Leah's maid with her two sons and her two sons. Then he lines up Rachel's maid and her two sons. Then number three he lines up Leah and her four sons.

Number four at the end he lines up Joseph and the very last person in this particular order he lines up Rachel the love of his life. I'll say it again. Knowing Esau's coming with 400 armed men he lines him up from first to last.

First one Leah's maid and her two sons. Second one Rachel's maid and her two sons. Third one Leah his beloved wife which he never loved.

Leah and her four sons. Then fourth he lines up Joseph his favorite son and the last one he lines up is Rachel the love of his life. Why in this order? He said well when Esau comes to kill he will begin from the first and end up with the last.

I want Rachel to be last. He's using his head. He's using his head.

While he's thinking I'm going to line up in this way the Lord comes to Jacob and says to him um have you lined them up? Then Jacob says yes Lord I have. The Lord says who is the last one in in the line? Jacob says it's Rachel. He says oh so Rachel is the last one in the line yes? He said yes.

He said well guess what Jacob I'm gonna start with the last first end up with the first. I'm gonna take Rachel first. You put Rachel last to be killed? I'm gonna kill her first.

My beloved son my beloved daughter don't ever plan things for God. Don't ever plan things for God. Number two don't ever put your thoughts in God's plan.

Number one don't ever plan things for God. Number two don't ever put your thoughts in God's plan because the Lord God says in Isaiah 55 verse 9 for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Don't ever plan things for God and don't ever put your thoughts in God's plan because neither his ways are yours nor his thoughts are yours.

You put the one you love the most last God will take the one you love the most first. His ways are totally different to your ways and his way of thinking is totally different to your way of thinking. Now prior to Jacob and Esau's encounter Jacob crosses the fort of Jabbok with his two wives his two female servants and 11 sons.

We read this earlier last week in Genesis 32 verse 22. Genesis 32 22 we see Jacob takes his two wives his two female servants and 11 sons and crosses them all through the fort of Jabbok. Now the word Jabbok means the flowing waters.

Jabbok means the flowing waters so he crosses them all across this flowing waters to the other side of the river. Now when he crosses with the family on the other side of these flowing waters he sits there by himself. Now what is strange about this place where Jacob sits by himself alone what is strange about it geographically is this to its right to the right of this place was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites.

We find this in the book of Numbers chapter 21 verse 26. Numbers 21 26 was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites and to the left of this place was the city of Bashan Og king of Bashan. Now there is a meaning to this there is a meaning to the right of the place where Jacob sat alone was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites.

The word Sihon means arrogant. Sihon means arrogant and king of the Amorites. Amorites is the elevated one or the elevated people.

Now who is the arrogant elevated one? Satan. Satan. So to the right of this place is the arrogant elevated boastful self-exalted Satan.

To the left of it is Og. It's written in English. Now Og means crooked and who is crooked here? Og symbolizes the body of sin.

This is the crooked one. Our bodies are crooked because they are all sinful. So where we sat or where Jacob sat to his right was the arrogant elevated Satan and to his left the crooked body of sin and he sat in between.

Now the crooked one Elijah says about the crooked one in first kings 1821. He says how long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow him but if Baal then follow him. If the Lord is God follow him and if it's Baal then follow him.

Do not falter between the two. You're either with the Lord or with Baal. Baal is Satan.

You're either with the Lord or with Satan. You're either in the church or the club. You're either in the light or in darkness.

You either drink the blood of Christ or the wine of this world. You either praise or swear. You either speak the truth or the lies.

You cannot falter between the two. You can't be one day in the church the next in the club. You can't praise then swear.

You can't tell the truth then lie. You can't walk in the light and then in the darkness. You can't be with Christ and with Satan later on.

It doesn't work. If Christ is the is the Lord is God then worship him and if Satan is God then worship him. But between having the two together in your life will never work.

It will never work. Now this is the crookedness and the faltering in our life. Between Satan and between this sinful body we struggle.

I say I'll never do it again and I will not listen to Satan and I go and do it again. I will never put one foot in that club ever again and I go again. I will never gamble and I gamble.

I'll never drink and I will drink. I'll never take drugs and I will again. I will never swear and I swear again.

It's a struggle because I'm living in this crooked og which is the body, the sinful body, the weak body that drags me into the same mistake over and over and over again. And Satan on the other hand is tempting me and making it look so beautiful. Yet there is poison from within.

This is the dilemma of all of us my beloveds. We are living in the body of sin one and we are living in the world placed in the bosom of Satan who is the ruler of this world. This is the struggle.

On one hand is a sinful nature on the other hand we're living in a world that is ruled by Satan the father of all lies and the killer of mankind from the very beginning. For these reasons the angel had to appear to Jacob in a form of a human being because Jacob is surrounded by Satan and the weakness of the flesh. That's why the angel appeared to Jacob in a form of a human being.

This angel my beloved is the Lord Jesus himself. So the Lord Jesus appears in the old testament prior to his incarnation in the new testament. And in the book of Hosea he tells us this in Hosea 12 verse 4 he says yes this he struggled meaning Jacob he struggled with the angel and prevailed.

He struggled with the angel and he won Jacob won. He wept and sought favor from him. Angel means servant angel means servant and the Lord Jesus came to serve all and not be served by all.

He came to serve us and not be served by us. Jacob wrestled wrestled with this angel. Jacob wrestled with this angel.

Looks like we're going to finish early today. Jacob wrestled with this angel. From the beginning of the night till dawn he wrestled with this angel.

What did Jacob do and say? He said to the angel bless me. The angel said leave me alone. He said no I want you to bless me.

The angel said you better leave me alone I say. Jacob said no I am saying to you you have to bless me. The angel says to him you are not up to this word that you're asking for bless me.

You're not big enough for this word. I'm saying to you you better walk away before you cop it from me. He says no I will not let go of you until you bless me.

This was the wrestling from night till dawn. All night long till dawn. Jacob says to the angel bless me.

The angel says walk away go away bless me walk away bless me walk away. When dawn came when dawn came the angel touched the socket of Jacob's hip and was out of joint. He dislocated his hip.

He dislocated his hip. You know why he dislocated Jacob's hip? I'll tell you why. Last week I don't know if you remember this.

I'll refresh your memory. Jacob came and arrived at a well and there were three shepherds and then he said do you know Laban? They said yes in fact his daughter is on the way to the well with her with her father's flock sheep. He said okay well while she's coming to the well why don't you just pull water out of this well and and and give water to your flock.

They said there is a very large stone on the mouth of this well. It takes maybe seven to ten men to move it. It's too heavy and we're only three.

We need to wait for more shepherds to come in order to move that stone from the mouth of the well to draw water and give it to the sheep or to the flock. While they were talking Rachel arrives for the first time. Love at first sight.

Jacob looks at Rachel and they say here is your uncle. Here is Laban's daughter. He looks at Rachel and he sees her stunningly beautiful and he said I didn't know my uncle had such a beautiful daughter.

So he tried to be a show-off. So he went to that large stone and he said I'm gonna be a show-off and show Rachel that I am the most powerful man on earth baby yo what's up. So he put his foot firmly into the ground meaning he leaned on his hip to push the stone.

He relied on his hip to push the stone. He relied on the hip and he pushed the stone by himself. Rachel saw this man for the first time she sees him.

One man moves the stone only maybe up to 10 men can only move. She said whoa who is this baby. This must be Romeo that Juliet has been waiting all along.

So she liked him. The very hip that made Rachel love Jacob. The very hip the angel who is Jesus Christ brought it for him.

Whatever you are boastful of Christ will break it for you. You will never succeed. You want to go and find out for yourself.

Please be my guest but let me tell you this as a pre-warning based on love. You will suffer immensely till you find out. The holy Bible is telling me and all of us don't try to find out for yourself because if you do God is known to tell you and speak the truth.

He is the only truth and everyone else is a liar. So don't ever try to say to God you're not telling me the truth. Don't ever do that.

Whatever you try to be a show-off with God will break it for you. Jacob relied on the hip to push that stone from the mouth of the well. God dislocated that hip.

Oh my goodness my beloveds pride is the one of the most if not the most dangerous thing ever. Pride and when I say pride I'm talking about self-glory self-exaltation. What made this angel who was the highest and the angelic orders in heaven.

What made the highest angelic order this angel to fall from the highest rank to the lowest of the lowest of the lowest you know pits was pride. This angel who was from the rank of the cherubims who is now called Lucifer who is now called Satan. The reason why he fell from the highest place to the lowest place pride engulfed him and he said I will take my throne above all these stars and I will make it equal to the throne of God.

He said to God you're God in heaven I'll be God like you in heaven. You're a government I'm a government we're equal head to head. God said there is only one I am in heaven and there can never be another I am.

If you remain in this wrongful way you leave me no choice but to cast you out of my heaven. The angel who is spirit only spirit only angels are made out of fire and light by the way angels are made out of fire and light very powerful and very knowledgeable and especially the cherubims which is the highest rank in the angelic orders the holy bible genesis says that they are full of eyes and the word eye in the bible represents knowledge knowledge so this cherubim is full of knowledge that's why satan is full of knowledge we can't win against him when we do it our way he can deceive anyone and everyone before we blink our eyes he is too wise for us we cannot handle him he is too wise for us he even deceives the elect the holy bible says meaning the saints only christ was able to overcome him and crushed his head once and for all on the cross on calvary only christ did that no one else no one else no one else only christ alone nobody assisted him nobody helped him no one no one only christ so my beloveds if you think that you can do things on your own and if you believe that you are free and people coming in the 21st century trying to bluff you and lie to you and deceive you that you are living in a in a democratic country it's freedom you can do whatever you want dress up be whoever you want male female in between this that that is the deception of the snake satan the father of all lies no one is free no one no one he realized it but it was too late for him to fix it pride engulfed him and he wanted to be like god like god he fell from the highest place to the lowest place which is hell from this illuminative spirit to a dark illuminative beautiful spirit to a dark ugly spirit now he's getting angry but the holy cross rebuke him right now in jesus mighty name satan be gone in jesus mighty name my beloveds what made this angel fall was pride and angels we said they are spirits made out of fire and light but they are spirits so now what is the human being made out of three things first thessalonians 5 23 saint paul says we're made out of body soul and spirit so there is spirit in us so now what is the enemy of the spirit pride what is the enemy of the spirit pride what attacks your spirit as a human being is pride what attacks your soul as a human being greed i'm not gonna give i'm not gonna donate i'm not gonna give nothing away it's all mine it's all mine greed is the enemy to your soul and what is the enemy to your body lust pleasures having fun let's go downtown brother let's go clubbing that is the enemy the enemy of your body is lust the lord gave a medication to it called fasting the enemy to your soul is greed the lord gave a medication to it called charitable deeds give don't take don't be greedy be charitable and the enemy to your spirit is pride the lord gave a medication to it called prayer when you pray you destroy the pride of the spirit when you give you destroy the greed of the soul and when you fast you destroy the lust and the temptation of the body don't ever be boastful about yourself don't ever take pride when you achieve something good don't ever take pride in your looks in your what in your possessions don't ever take pride don't ever say look what i've done look what i've achieved look at me look what i have don't ever do that because the moment you do that satan is controlling you the spirit is in deep trouble the spirit is in deep trouble but the problem when the spirit is in deep trouble then you are lacking wisdom i don't have the time you are lacking wisdom and the moment you lack wisdom you will not be able to discern what is right and what is wrong what is good and what is evil what is light and what is darkness what is truth and what is lies you won't be able and don't be shocked when people behave in this kind of a way not realizing their right hand from their left because the moment you lose that wisdom you are absolutely spiritually blind spiritually blind you won't see your way you won't even know where you're walking what are you doing and what you're saying you need to be very careful so when when jacob came wrestling with this angel who is jesus christ of nazareth and he said you need to bless me and he said walk away he said you need to bless me he said you better walk away he said you need to bless me he said you better walk away you're not up to it you see jacob is thinking that when god blesses me i'm gonna live like a king and that's how some christians think when they come closer to christ he's gonna bless them abundantly their life is gonna be like living like a king that's why they come to jesus but this is the wrong way you approach the lord you don't come to the lord so he can heal your physical illness you don't come to the lord so he can make you rich and get you out of poorness you don't come to the lord so he can make you strong and take you out of weakness you don't come to the lord to bless you earthly physically materialistically you come to the lord because the lord will bless you spiritually before anything else spiritually so what was the stumbling stone for jacob's spirit to advance the flesh of the crooked sinful body he said i'm gonna lie on my hip and the spirit said go for it jacob come on because the spirit loves pride so the body says okay i'm gonna do it when he came to god says bless me he says the only way i'm gonna be able to bless you is when i break your hip to break that pride that engulfed you break the pride that engulfed you what kind of a wrestling match was it between jacob and the angel who was jesus christ who's god what kind of a wrestling match was it we'll continue next week i told you we're gonna finish early so now i can talk so you're not gonna finish there the spiritual struggle between leah rachel and leah the spiritual struggle between rachel and leah rachel the world leah eternal life rachel is this world don't we all chase this world so many people all that they think of is how i live where i live what kind of a lifestyle i should have what kind of a house what kind of a car money dreams ambitions going coming flying holidays eating drinking dancing that's all they think of materialistic tangible world my beloved this world laughs in your face at the at the beginning but then makes fun of you at the end at the beginning it welcomes you and says come my friend you need to enjoy life you deserve it you're so good you're so beautiful you're so handsome don't ever listen to no one else but yourself and this is the 21st century that we live in the 21st century world says to you all you need to care of and think of is you no one else think about yourself live for yourself and this is where psychology fails yes psychology is good to what to somewhat degree but then if you don't use the christian basis and incorporate it with psychology you'll end up teaching the person to be selfish because how will you come out of this depression depressing you know moment think of yourself only looks like you've been thinking of others you have you know deprived yourself from so many good things you spend all your time for others and you gave yourself nothing from now on think of no one but you dangerous if we focus on it always that is against the lord so now what do we need to do i need to come and think for a moment okay i'm gonna go and have fun i'm gonna dress the way i want i'm gonna dance the way i want i'm gonna talk the way i want i'm gonna choose people the way i want i'm gonna live the way i want i'm gonna go and come the way i want but at the end where you're gonna end up the world at the beginning makes it honey at the end nothing but poison i went and i had fun and then i ended up being enslaved to the very things that i chased initially i went as an innocent young man and woman out of the house into the club the first time was a shock a culture shock the language different the environment different everything different but after going you know the hundredth time there i became part of it i mastered it and before i realized i became a drug addict alcoholic with a lot of men with a my life and the end of this journey when we chase the world the end of the road is the grave the world laughs into your face and makes it beautiful in order to lie to you and laugh at you at the end and bury you i beg you my son don't go to the club don't go to have fun in a worldly ideology don't because you are destroying your life 100 percent 100 you're destroying your life the world is nothing but a deception the end is death so what was all this about since the world gave me death all one big lie i became a king and then i died big deal i became the president of the most powerful nation in the world and then i died big deal i was i was caesar augustus caesar where are you wrote it gone with the wind big deal this is the world i was i was a hollywood celebrity i became famous i became so rich and then i died saint simon the saint the patron saint of this church he was beheaded in the fourth century over 1600 years ago the church is named after him why because he never died he who has the son jesus christ of nazareth has eternal life after 1600 odd years we still remember saint simon the patriarch of the church of the east who gives one penny about caiaphas who gives one penny about pontius pilate who gives one penny about augustus caesar who gives one one penny about all the empires that came into this world gone christ is the living messiah people still coming and receiving jesus christ as their lord and god in the 21st century over 2 000 years he is still kicking and so powerfully and so powerfully from all over the world are receiving jesus as their lord and god why because he is the living messiah he's the living messiah but since you're living in the world take christ with you don't leave christ behind you are living in the world not for the world you're living in the world not for the world so take christ with you and when you take christ with you christ is not going to go to places that are wrong christ will not go to places that are wrong let christ teach you let christ show you the way let christ be the good shepherd because he is and there is no one else but him let him lead your steps to green pastures and still waters let the lord show you the way for he is the way the truth and the life don't be deceived in chasing this vanity of all vanities don't chase the world and the entire focus of your life is just this world and what it offers to you because everything the world offers to you and me at the end it was never mine it will never be mine because death will take everything away from me and you everything will be gone when death comes takes the spirit out of the body everything will be gone so now how should we start thinking a fresh thing a fresh thought how lord this house that i live in even though you worked hard to build it you worked hard to work hard to buy it but the house is yours lord it is not mine this car which i just got brand new from the car dealer the car is yours lord i'm just your chauffeur i'm the driver i'm not the owner the money in the bank account they're all yours lord and since they are his by the way then he is free to do with his own possessions why are you standing in his way when the lord comes and says give a million dollars to the poor you get a heart attack why do you get a heart attack because the money is still yours not the lord's if it was the lord's truly you would be more than happy to give it but since it's mine i'm not going to give a million dollars of my own money no way in the world all the poor people can go to hell i don't care but if it's the lord's you'll give it or you're not going to give it but he's using you to do his work to finish his job so now the lord comes and says bishop marie i want you to go over there i'll say i'm tired lord i don't feel like going i'm too tired let's say hang on didn't you say lord you're my king you're my god yes i did lord well you're my property aren't you yes lord i am i guess not you guess you better believe it yes yes i confess lord i'm your property then i'm i'm free to do whatever i want to do with my property so now get up and go even if you're tired when are we going to really wake up and think once in our life that i don't own myself neither myself nor anything else nor anyone else everything is the lord's why are you acting as if you're the owner you're a steward you've been given this to look after till he calls you home it's not yours it's the lord's so to all church leaders the church is not yours nor anything else it is all the lord's have you asked the lord before you made that decision have you prayed dear church leader before you took that step forth what if the lord is not happy about it are you going to say well the lord put me here and he gave me the keys so i can tie and loosen whenever i want no whenever the lord wants not you even though he put you there even though he gave you the keys and even he said when you when you tie it it's tied in heaven and when you loosen it on earth it's loosened in heaven but my way leader not your way my way i'm not absent i'm the ever-present god and i'm the only truthful owner of the church i'm the head remember and there's only one head to the body all of you are the other body you are the church and the church is the body but there is one head to this body and his name is jesus christ of nazareth so the church leader is not the head he's the body placed as a leader by grace not by merits by grace not by merits the one who is the head by merits by law is christ we're all sinners he's the only one who is sinless so my beloved do not be deceived by the world don't just chase the world come to the lord jesus i beg you come to the lord jesus for he is the truth let him guide your steps and when you wrestle with him we'll find out next week what this wrestling was all about my beloveds may the lord jesus bless you always guide you and protect you always in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit one god amen lord make me an instrument of your peace where there is hatred let me show love where there is injury pardon where there is doubt faith where there is despair hope where there is darkness light where there is sadness joy or divine master grant that i may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand to be loved as to love for it is in giving that we receive it is in pardoning that we are pardoned it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life amen may the lord jesus bless you guide you and protect you all the days of your life now and forevermore amen go in peace the peace of christ be with you always my beloved god bless