Wise Men From The East

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. May the Almighty 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, by the precious blood which he shed on Calvary, and by the love of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, that the Triune God may be with you, bless you, all the days of your life, and forevermore. Amen.

All right, thanks very much for coming. See you later. We need to recharge the batteries by the power of the Holy Spirit.

You know, every time we take a break from preaching, we sort of get a bit rusty. So we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us and give us the message that is needed to be given to all of us, our beloveds. The Gospel of today is according to Saint Matthew, Chapter 2, the entire chapter.

It's a long chapter, but to sum it up, the message of today, what we need to learn, what we need to implement as Christians, as believers in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, all glory to his holy and mighty name, is that God always rules and reigns. Humanity cannot do anything, even if they do everything. God will always rule and reign, and humanity cannot do anything, even if they do everything.

At the end, God reigns. So whatever people do, whatever the enemy does, and his hosts, at the end, whatever the Lord Jesus had said long time ago, will take place, will happen, even if the entire world try to change things, even if the enemy with all his power try to change things, at the end, whatever Jesus says, it is done. Period.

This is the message from the Gospel of today. God's word will rule and reign forever. It will go forth, never come back empty.

Whatever God says, it is done. My advice to all of us, whenever you speak about the Lord Jesus, always speak in the past tense, never present, never future. Always speak in the past tense.

What do I mean by this? Don't ever say, the Lord will come, he's already come. Don't ever say, the Lord will do, he's already done it. Don't ever say, the Lord will say this, he's already said it.

Anything and everything you think of, that is relating to the Lord Jesus, always speak in the past tense. Say, Lord, I trust in you because you've already looked after me. You've already rewarded me.

You've already looked after me. You've already supported me. You've already provided.

Everything must be in the past tense. You need to have this kind of a faith. Don't say, Lord, can you come? What do you mean, can you come? He already came over 2,000 years ago.

Don't say, where are you, Lord? He's already here. But if you want to ask, ask about you. Where are you in relation to the Lord? Where are you in relation to the Lord? King Herod, this is the story of the gospel.

King Herod, on earth, in the human race, the highest rank in the human race is a king, and the lowest rank in the human race is a slave. Now, King Herod was a king, meaning he held the highest rank in the human race. Being a king, he has the power to make decisions.

He has the power to rule, to reign, to decide, to give commands and orders, and to be fulfilled whatever he demands and commands. Just like many other kings like him, and just like many other leaders of the 21st century, whether they are kings, presidents, prime ministers, it's the same concept. When any human being is placed in that kind of a leadership position, they think they can do and say whatever, and it is done.

Or secret societies, another leadership role. So they decide behind closed doors, they decide in underground places, and it is done, but not realizing there is one who art in heaven, who sees everything behind closed doors, everything underground. His eyes see what is not being seeable, and his ears hear everything.

God never passes him by unless he knows of it before it even takes place. Therefore, no power can ever surprise God. No power can ever plan anything which God had already got a plan for.

God knew exactly what humanity were going to do. God knew exactly what the angelic orders were going to do. God knew exactly what satan and his fallen and foul spirits were going to do.

God knows everything before it happens. So there is nothing hidden before God. And this God, his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Amen. So now, just like King Herod thought he's a king and he can say and do as he pleases and it's done, so as so many leaders, whether they are church leaders or leaders of the secular world, they say and do, and it is done because they hold that influential position. Poor thing, not knowing God is always in control.

So King Herod, when he was visited by the Magis who came from Iran, Persia, and they said, we saw the star in the east and today is born the king of the Jews. King Herod became angry, jealous, vicious. Who is this newborn baby king of the Jews? There is only one king of the Jews and that is Herod.

How dare he? Who is this newborn baby? How dare you call this newborn baby king of the Jews? But obviously this was happening in his heart. But what came out of his lips, he said to the Magis, go and investigate and find out where he is because I want to come and worship him, a lie coming out of his mouth. So what the heart was saying was totally different to what the lips were saying or the tongue was saying.

He said, I'll come and worship him, go and find out where he is. But in his heart he said, find out so that I can go and behead him. Nobody is a king of the Jews except Herod.

But God knows every thought of man, every heartbeat of man. He knows the inside and out of you my beloved. You cannot hide anything from your Lord.

Everything is in the open. So the best thing we could ever do for ourselves is to come to the Lord as we are. Don't ever pretend.

Don't ever act. Don't ever fake it. Don't ever come with a mask on.

Come as you are, sinner, full of filth, full of errors, full of mistakes. Come as you are because the Lord knows you more than you. And the Lord will only be able to help you when you are true to yourself, not to him, to yourself.

True to yourself. Be honest with yourself. So the Lord knows the heart of King Herod and he knew he had a very deceptive one.

So the holy family, our father Joseph the just, our holy mother Mary, the virgin of all virgins, and the baby Jesus, they fled to Egypt. King Herod gave an order to kill all the baby boys who were born in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas of Bethlehem from the ages of two and below because he said this baby cannot be more than two years of age. So he gave an order to kill every baby boy that was born in Bethlehem and the surrounding towns from the age of two and below and they were killed.

Three babies escaped the sword of Herod. One, Nathanael who later on became one of the 12 apostles of the Lord Jesus, Bartholomew, Nathanael. Two, John the Baptist who baptized the Lord Jesus at the river Jordan and the third baby, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

All glory to his holy and mighty name. The Lord fled with the family and they went to Egypt. Herod the king thought he can do anything and everything not realizing that the Lord was not running away from Herod but there was a prophecy which the Lord had to fulfill and that prophecy said out of Egypt I called my son.

Thank you Herod for doing God's will. You see the problem it is the is that history is being repeated again. Nowadays leaders in the church, certain leaders in the church and certain leaders in the world, they think they have that position, that authority, they can say and do whatever and it is done not knowing they are fulfilling the Lord's word and what is the Lord's word? The Lord said in the end of times, the 21st century, my church would have gone away from me.

That's why we see certain church leaders who have sold their master Jesus because the Lord knew it. That's why he wrote it 2,000 years ago. So when you see any church leaders doing mumbo-jumbo, don't be shocked, the Lord knew it, revealed it over 2,000 years ago.

He knew it but who is in control? The Lord. Who is in charge? The Lord. Whose word is always fulfilled? The Lord's.

No one else's, not the Pope, not the Cardinal, not the Bishop, no one. It's the Lord, not the President, not the King, not the Prime Minister, it's the Lord's. It's the Lord's.

So they had to go to Egypt. Thank you Herod for coming after us because there's a prophecy, I have to go to Egypt and my mom is not going to go to Egypt so I'm going to make my mom go to Egypt through Herod because I have some work to do in Egypt. In the book of Isaiah, about 750-800 years, written 700 to 800 years before the birth of Christ.

The book of Isaiah was written between 750 to 800 BC, before Christ. In the book of Isaiah, the Lord God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah and says in the heart of Egypt, I will place my altar. Wow! In the heart of Egypt, I will build or place my altar.

So that prophecy also has to be fulfilled. That's why Jesus Christ of Nazareth had to go to Egypt. And you look at Egypt today, the altar of the Lord is placed in the heart of Egypt.

The Coptics, our beloved Coptics, are the original pharaohs. The Arabs, the Muslims came later on, they only came the other day. The natives of Egypt are the Coptics, not the Muslim Arabs, that is history.

Just like the aborigines are the natives of Australia and this history cannot be wiped, cannot be denied, so as the pharaohs, the Coptics are the natives of Egypt. What was the king, the pharaoh, what did he put on his head as a crown? It was a crown with a cobra on it, snake. What does the snake represent biblically speaking? Satan, Satan.

So on the head of pharaoh, whose head was it? Satan, meaning Satan was ruling over pharaoh. So, today, over the Coptics head is the cross, the Lamb of God. See the Lord? Poor King Herod, he thought he was doing as he pleased.

He didn't realize God was moving him and controlling him and making him do whatever God wanted. So what is the message for all of us? Whatever you are going through now, whatever you went through before and whatever you are going to go through later on, remember God is in control. Can you trust Him? You need to be awake.

You can't trust Him being asleep, can you? So, whatever you've gone through, whatever you are going through now and whatever you will go through later on, remember God is in control. Someone might come and say, Bishop, I've been dealing with this person in my life for the last 20 years and they have been nothing but a pain in my life for 20 years on end and I begged the Lord Jesus to do something, either change them or remove them entirely from my life because it got to a stage I cannot handle this. Well, let me answer you, my son, my daughter.

Please remember this and please focus on this. Maybe that person whom you are whinging about is the very reason that you are still close to the Lord Jesus today. Have you thought about it? You see, if this person hadn't given me hell 20 years, I wouldn't have been close to the Lord now.

It is this person that through that pain, I received humility. You know, while we are in that cyclone, we lose sense of direction but when you come out of that cyclone and everything is clear, you'll realize, well, I thought I was lost but it's all good. See, while you are suffering, you've been praying but the focus has been on the suffering, not on the prayer as far as you're concerned.

But if you count the number of prayers you said throughout those 20 years, there was no way in the world you were going to pray that much if you had a very peaceful life. Isn't it Bishop? When you are healthy, do you pray as hard as when you're sick? I went to the doctor and the naughty doctor said to me, you have three weeks to live. Listen to doctor, you better check those x-rays one more time and you better redo those blood tests because you could be mistaken.

I don't want to die. So you'll start knocking at every single church's door in Sydney, in Melbourne, in all of Australia. You will call upon every saint.

You will call upon the name of the Lord a million, zillion, trillion, zillion, billion, zillion times. You will never cease praying. I don't want to die.

I don't want to die. I'm still young. I haven't seen Bondi beach yet.

I want to go to Coogee. I chop you. I haven't explored life yet.

Lord, please, I'll do anything for you. You pray and you pray and you pray and you pray. Imagine if you were healthy, would you do the same? Never, never.

So the Lord knows you and he says, if I let you be comfortable, I'll lose you. So what I'm going to do, I'll allow. It's not that I wanted it to be this way, but if I let you to be on your own, I would have lost you.

So therefore you left me no choice but to put someone who is going to be a pain in your life for 20 years, because this pain in the neck is going to bring you to me. So was it the Lord not doing anything? No. Was it this person being a pain in your life? No, it was the Lord's doing for your own salvation.

So Herod was a good boy. He was doing his job. But you see at the time, Herod is ugly.

Herod is an evil doer. Look at him. He's trying to kill us.

He's trying to destroy us. He's sending his army after us wherever we go, from one town to the other, from one city to the other one, from one country to the other. Herod is not letting go until when Lord.

But you see, you need to come back and trust in the Lord. Let him work in you the way he sees it fit and good for you, because the Lord is known never to fail. And whatever the Lord starts, he will make sure he ends it.

When the Lord begins the journey with you, don't ever think he will leave you halfway through it. The Lord is known to finish the race. You need to trust in him.

The race is the Lord's, not yours. All you need to do is cling on to him and say, Lord, take me with you. When you trust in the Lord, he will not leave you on the wayside.

He will not leave you halfway through. He will make sure you finish the race. That's what St. Paul says.

I have finished a good race. Wow. Well done, St. Paul.

See, I trust in the Lord. He made me through. He made me through it all.

So whatever is happening in your life, whatever currents are hitting against you, trust in the Lord. He knows everything. He knows everyone.

He knows what is happening, what will happen. He knows it all. Leave it in the hands of the one who is capable of everything.

Capable. So when someone came and kicked me out of the church, so be it. And when someone came and brought me back into the church, so be it.

Both of them are a secondary thing. They don't mean anything. Whether I get kicked out or brought back, what matters is that I trust in the Lord in both ways.

When I was kicked out and when I was brought back, was my focus on the Lord or on others or me? I need to focus on the Lord, on the Lord. You're sick? Hallelujah. I came out of the doctor's surgery and he said, you got three weeks to go, Bishop Murray.

Thank you, Lord. I'm happy. Whether I live or die, this is my sweetheart.

This ain't going to change, baby. This is not going to change. Whether I live or die, Jesus is the love of my life.

That is not going to change. As a Christian, you better believe in this way and don't ever have it any other way. Thank the Lord for everything, the good and the bad, the light and the darkness, the tears and the joys and the laughter.

Thank him for all. Thank him. And don't dwell on the past.

Look at the past. Learn from the past because that's the only place you can ever learn. The present, you are still living it.

You cannot learn from the present. The future, you haven't lived it yet. You cannot learn from it.

The only place you can learn from is the past because you've lived it and it's gone. So when you look at the past, don't dwell on the past. Don't live the past.

You cannot. You can do only one thing with the past. Learn from the goods and the bads of the past.

To make a better future in the present moment. But thank the Lord. So my beloveds, whatever is happening in your life, you've got marital issues, thank the Lord, leave it in his capable hands.

Do your best. I'm not saying don't do anything. No.

See, you need to do something about it but trusting the Lord, having faith in the Lord, being built on the rock, leaving everything in his capable hands, and moving forward. Say, Lord, let's go and talk to my wife because you're the only one that can break her head. Or Lord, come with me because you're the only one who can smash this hubby of mine.

I've been telling him don't go to pokies for 20 years. Stop playing the pokies. He keeps on going, not listening to me.

Lord, next time he is playing the pokey, put his head through that poker machine and make the monkeys go. He's hit the jackpot. Put everything in the Lord's capable hands.

Trust the Lord. Oh, and the Lord does it his way. My goodness, amazing.

No mind can ever think of it. You would never ever would have imagined the way the Lord put it all together. Beyond, beyond any intellect and every intellect, this is God, the only true divine God.

There is none like him. He is the only infinite, perfect God, creator of everything and everyone, visible and invisible. God is beyond your imagination.

But he is the truth. Oh, Jesus is beautiful. Man, I love this man.

I'm a sinner, yes. I'm a very weak instrument, yes. But I adore him.

He knows that. That's why I'm saying it because he knows I'm not lying. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to say it because I would be lying.

But he knows I love him to death. Be strong. Whether people go against you, whether situations go against you, whether dark tunnels come your way, whether big tidal waves trying to smack you and smash you, whatever is happening in your life, let God be in charge of everything, including you.

Let him be in charge. Now, what happened? King Herod, with all his might, with all his authority, with all his sovereignty, with all his power, tried to kill a little baby. He died and the baby is still living.

It's very funny when all this mighty king could not overcome a little baby, so hopeless and useless. Wow! Very funny, king. You couldn't win with a little baby.

In Assyrian, we say, You see, the world, with all its might and power, the people of the world, at the end, when they try to go against the true divine God, they end up acting childishly, foolishly. All this power and might, they couldn't do anything. Oh, they brought the corona.

Oh, and that might bring something else. Don't ever believe in none of this nonsense. It can jab you, pray and ask the Lord to change it into water and it will.

But don't ever say that was a vaccine. That was never a vaccine. If you say it was a vaccine, it will poison you.

But if you say, I was forced, Lord, whether I was weak, whether I was fragile, I was put in a situation bigger than me, please forgive me, Lord, and change this poison into water, the Lord will. But that is never a vaccine. Never.

That was an evil act, period. But you see, when you trust in the Lord, he will deliver you from the snares of the enemy. And even if you step on snakes and drink the poison of the snake, nothing will harm you.

Nothing. But when you have the Lord, the Lord will also give you at the right time, the courage to stand and speak the truth. Everything is the Lord.

Me standing here and speaking, it's the Lord. You sitting in the church today, it's the Lord. Celebrating the holy mass service, it's the Lord.

It's the Lord. Why are you here and not elsewhere? It's the Lord. There are two words you need to scrape them from your Christian index, luck, coincidence.

Don't ever use these two words ever as a true believer in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There is no luck, no coincidence in Christianity, period. Get rid of it.

Don't ever say, oh what a luck, oh that was a coincidence. Doesn't exist. Everything is planned by Jesus Christ of Nazareth because he is God.

So you being here was planned by the Lord Jesus. Maybe somebody called you, maybe this good-looking face you saw on YouTube or TikTok or WickWock or WickMock and you came here. It is not.

It's the Lord. It's the Lord. Everything is the Lord.

Trust the Lord in everything even if it looks the end to you. It's not the end until the Lord Jesus says it is. Believe you me but believe in the Lord.

So many times I've said it's the end for me. The Lord didn't say that. So he overrides whatever I say because I've asked him even through my weakness I say no more.

I ask you Lord ignore my weakness and override it. He does and sometimes he does it even if I don't ask because he knows me. He knows you and everyone.

So this is a new year. We need to have a new year's resolution. What are we going to do today different to all the past ease of our life.

If you haven't read the holy bible before this is your new year's resolution. I'll start reading the holy bible. If you don't have a place at home where you go and kneel before the almighty Jesus Christ of Nazareth and call it a church then make your home a church this year.

Put the holy cross. Dedicate a corner somewhere in your house. Put the holy cross.

Put a beautiful icon of the Lord of the Holy Mother or a saint that you that is very close to your heart and make it a place of worship. Let the church be home, family, mom and dad, husband and wife. Instead of sitting arguing, instead of sitting talking about worldly materialistic things that are absolute vanity of all vanities.

How about as husband and wife you come and say you know what we've been married for five years. We've been married for one year. We've been married for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.

Just kidding. That's a life sentence. Okay.

We've been married for all these years. How many times out of all these years we've bent our knees for the Lord Jesus? How many? How many? If you haven't, start today and don't ever stop. Call the children.

Say my child, our beautiful children, sons and daughters, it is time to thank the Lord Jesus. Come on son. Come on daughter.

Come with mom and dad. All of us. Daddy is going to be the first to do it.

Watch me my son. Watch me my daughter. Watch how your dad worshiped Jesus Christ.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Teach your children how to love the Lord, how to worship the Lord. Dad, you kneel, then your wife, then the children. And why are we kneeling? We need to explain the reason why we kneel our children because what the Lord has done for us, there is only one thing left of us to do for him.

Thank him. Thank him because we cannot pay him back. All we can do is thank him for everything he's done for us.

Thank him. Trust everything in the Lord's capable hands and fear nothing. Worry about nothing.

And whatever happens, I die, so be it. I live, so be it. I fall, so be it.

I stand, so be it. I laugh, so be it. I cry, so be it.

I get filled, so be it. I starve, so be it. Thank the Lord.

Trust him in every situation. Every. The king is running after me to kill me.

I have the Lord. No one can touch me. I have the Lord.

That baby went back after three and a half years in Egypt. King Herod died. Caiaphas said crucify him.

Crucify him. Caiaphas died. Jesus lives forever.

Why Jesus lives forever? Because he trusted his heavenly father with everything and all of him. That's why he lives forever. See when you put everything and all of you in the hand of the almighty God, no one, nothing can touch you.

And even if they put you in the grave, God will raise you from the dead. See, simple. But we need to focus.

A few days ago, we were at this particular place. And while we were there, they said there is this person on life support. The doctor said he's dead.

He's gone. Two days ago. That person is fully recovered.

Fully recovered. Do you think this is just a story? Do you think this is just a song? Do you think this is just an obligation, a duty? You come to church on a Sunday to do your duty? No, this is your life. Jesus Christ is your life.

He is the only true living God. So when you come to the Lord, you better come to live him. Not to do some sort of a duty toward him.

No, you need to live, live, live the Lord. And you need to give him everything. Give him all of you.

Give him. Don't reserve nothing. Don't hold back nothing.

With all of my mistakes, all of my wrongdoings, all of my filth, Lord, I give everything to you. Take me, the dirtiest of all, the filthiest of all. Take me Lord.

Do whatever as long as you cleanse me. Make me wholesome. Because I don't want to be holy for the sake of holiness, but I want to be holy because if it's, if it takes holiness to really see you, then I want to see you.

I don't want to be holy, but if it takes holiness to see you, since I'm dying to see you, then make me holy. I don't care about holiness. I care about seeing you.

Because you to me, you are much more precious than holiness. I want you. I want you Lord.

It's a new year. Change. Even if it's one thing in your life, change it.

Ask the Lord to change it for you. What kind of a habit has been a pain in your life? Say, Lord, please release me. Set me free from this habit.

I want to be free. I want to live for you Lord. I want to live for you.

Amen. Now we begin with the sermon of today. This son, this is a joke.

Yeah. So this joke, it's the, the message behind this joke is whenever my son or daughter, whenever you want to ask mom or dad for a prayer, you better know what you're asking for because you will get what you ask for when parents pray for you. Because the most powerful prayer in the sight of God is the prayer of a mother or a father.

The most powerful. So this son went to his mom. He said, mom, can you please pray for me? I need a few blessings in my life.

She said, my son, I pray that you find a rental property without paying rent. I pray that you eat as much as you want without paying for the food. And I pray that people protect you and guard you day and night.

The son ended up going into prison because in prison, you are getting a rental property without rent. You eat without paying and you have the guards guarding you day and night. So you better watch what mom and dad pray for.

Okay. So you have to be very careful. All right.

Thank you very much. Wonderful. Mom and dads, God bless you.

Those who are parents and the Lord Jesus bless you. You have a huge role to fulfill and a huge responsibility, but a very precious position as well. Being a father or a mother, that is the ultimate.

God is the father. God is the mother. He reveals himself in the Holy Bible as the father and as the mother, the protector and the provider.

So parents, you are the ones who take the place of God on earth, not the Pope, not the Patriarch. Yes. So next time, if you think the Pope or the Patriarch has got the place of Christ on earth, no, he is a servant and a hopeless one too.

He's a steward, but you are the owners. You are the, you have the position of God on earth. When God gave the 10 commandments to Moses, he didn't say respect your Pope so that I can bless you and give you a long life.

He said, respect your father and mother, because out of good parents, good leaders come. Not out of good leaders, parents come. The parents are the roots and the foundation to those Popes, Cardinals, bishops, and leaders of the church.

The parents. So do you see what kind of a position God has given you? The ultimate. Thank God.

And for those who are not married yet, please stay single, whatever you do. Just kidding. You know, it's, it's new year, it's Christmas, it's festive season, we gotta laugh.

Amen. All right, good. Don't laugh too much.

Okay. Yes, yes, this is what we're going to do. Let's bow our heads and ask the Lord Jesus for forgiveness, making us worthy to come forth and receive him in the true body and the true blood of Christ.

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 in the paths of righteousness. Please them along with the saints in your kingdom by the assurance of the hope of their faith in 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.