Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel – Why God Sometimes Gives You Nothing and What Jesus Revealed About the End Times

0:01 In today's liturgical service, our church fathers have chosen a reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke and chapter 14, verses 1 to 14 inclusive. So it is Luke 14 and verses 1 to 14 inclusive. In this gospel of today, the Lord Jesus is sending a very profound and foundational message to everyone who wishes.

0:28 To follow Jesus. Him in the truth.

0:32 Whoever wishes to follow the Lord Jesus in the truth, the Lord Jesus, through today's gospel, is saying to us, if you want to be with me, my child, if you want to follow me, my child, and remain with me, you need to ask your Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ of Nazareth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grant you this one thing.

0:59 And that is self-pride. Take it away from me, Lord. Self-pride. If there is one.

1:11 Thing that is stopping us from following Christ, stopping us from being truly in His holy presence, it's self-glory or false glory.

1:27 Self-pride.

1:28 The Lord Jesus entered one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread. And then there happened to be somebody who was sick in that house. What was the illness? Yeah, I'm getting old, you see. Give me the Holy Bible. I'll have to find it. Anyway, he had an illness where water would gather together under the skin and would swell up.

2:03 Dropsy. Dropsy. That's what it's mentioned in the New King James Bible. Dropsy. So dropsy is an illness. Right?

2:13 So he was swelling up under the skin, water gathering. So the Lord Jesus turned to all of those, including the one who invited him into his house, and he said, is it lawful to heal this man on a Sabbath? None of them answered him. So he holds this man, he heals him and sets him free. And then he turns to them and he says, if your donkey or your ox falls into that pit or the well on a Sabbath, wouldn't you grab them and pull them out of the well? If you show mercy and if you do this deed, You're working on a Sabbath.

2:54 So you are breaking the Sabbath for the sake of an animal.

2:58 Isn't it more lawful to break the Sabbath for the sake of a human being, not an animal? The human being is the only creation that is being created by God in His image according to His likeness.

3:13 So if you are.

3:13 Breaking the Sabbath for the sake of an animal, yet you do not acknowledge that you are in breach of the Sabbath. then why are you pointing the finger at me and saying you're breaking the Sabbath for healing a human being, not saving an animal? They couldn't answer. And then he turns and says, when you are invited to a wedding, especially a Lebanese one, when you're invited to a wedding, do not take the highest place Do not seek an honorable place for yourself. When you're invited to a wedding, do not sit in a very high place. Go, lest the one who invited you comes and says to you, sorry my friend, why are you sitting up here? This place is not for you. It's for this person whom I invited also. You need to get up and walk away.

4:16 You will get up. being in shame in front of everyone, and then go and sit right at the back. But when you're invited, I say to you, find the least of all places and sit right at the back. Then the one who invited you comes to you and says, my friend, why are you sitting back here?

4:37 Get up and move up.

4:39 Then you'll get up with honor in front of every invitee. Because he who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

4:53 Be humble.

4:55 Don't ever walk in self-false glory. Don't ever think for a moment that you are better than the rest.

5:09 You deserve a special treat.

5:11 No. Hide yourself from Don't ever seek glory your way. If you want glory, deny yourself, be humble. And then the Lord turns to the one who invited him. He said, when you invite people to a banquet, to dinner, to supper, don't invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, the rich people, because they will invite you back and you have received your reward from them.

5:46 It's equal now. You invited them. They invited you back. It's even.

5:50 You received the reward from the people. You have no reward from God. But I say to you, invite the poor. Invite the maimed. Invite the lame. Invite the blind. And blessed are you for they have, for they cannot pay you back. For your reward will be given unto you on the resurrection of the just. So in other words, your reward will be given unto you by God Himself.

6:20 When you do something, don't do it on the expectation of a comeback. Do it to those who cannot pay you back. Don't do it to those whom you know for sure that they will pay you back. Because if they pay you back, you got your reward from people, not from God. But blessed are you if you help someone that cannot help you back. God will help you.

6:50 In other words, the Lord.

6:53 Is saying, if you are seeking your own glory, you can never be with God. You can never live for God. You can never serve God. You can never live with God if you are seeking your own glory. But if you are seeking the Lord Jesus, then you are seeking Him to be glorified through you. As Christians, Christ lives in us in His Holy Spirit. Christ dwells in us.

7:35 You see, when the Lord was born, His name was called Immanuel. Immanuel. God with us.

7:41 But after receiving the baptism, the very God who.

7:45 Is with us, now he is in us.

7:49 So as Christian baptized in the name of the triune, holy worship God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, the Christ now is dwelling within us. So now, when you are going anywhere, when you are invited anywhere, wherever you go, remember, it is not you going, it is Christ who dwells in you going with you and through you and by you.

8:18 So it is not you going, it is Christ going. If you are truly a follower of Christ, then you need to acknowledge this truth. It is not you, it is Christ who is in you.

8:32 Making you go, come, sit, get up, sleep, wake up. It is Christ. Without Him, we are nothing.

8:43 So when you're invited to a place, remember, it is not you going, because Christ is in you, if you're a Christian, if you're a true Christian.

8:53 Amen? So now, my question.

8:56 To all of us, Does the place make Christ number one? Or does Christ makes the place number one? Christ makes the place number one. And this is exactly why the Lord Jesus, when he came to be born, he chose a manger where animals live. He was more than capable to be born in the king's palace. He was more than capable to be born in Caiaphas' high priest house.

9:28 He was more than capable to be born in a very rich family house. But the Lord chose to be born not in a house, not in a granny flat, not in a little hut. He was born in a place where animals live, not humans. To what low level God.

9:51 Went down? To choose a place for his birth to take place. A manger. You know why?

10:00 Because the Lord says it is I who make the place number one. So I will be born in a manger in Bethlehem and I'll make the manger number one.

10:13 In the world.

10:14 The whole world will come to this manger and lick the dust of that manger. They will bow before that manger. The whole world will come and worship me in that manger called the Nativity Church. In Bethlehem today, that was the manger. It is Christ who makes the place number one. So if you are focused, if you are fixated on Jesus Christ of Nazareth, then wherever you go, you are reminding yourself, I'm in the presence.

10:53 Of the Lord. They didn't invite me. They invited the Lord.

10:58 If you are, if you are, you see when you love someone, like when you love someone deep, deep, like from the bottom of the heart, from the core of your being, when you love that someone, That someone becomes your breath, becomes your everything. Like you wake up, he is the number one before you, in your mind, in your heart. You turn around, you see his face. You wait for the message to come from there. He takes your whole heart, your whole mind, your entire being, wherever you go. Whomever you are with, you may be surrounded by a hundred, a thousand people. But the only one who's taking control of this.

11:42 Is your sweetheart.

11:44 When Jesus becomes your sweetheart, the love of your life, wherever you are, you don't see nobody but Him. Because when I'm sitting with my Juliet, I don't care if there is a million gazelles sitting there. My Juliet is my gazelle. No one takes her place. And when I'm sitting with my Romeo, he's the only one, baby. I don't care a million men come along. I only see my Romeo. Is Jesus your Romeo? When Christ is the love of your life, then you are fixated on Him.

12:26 You breathe Him, you eat Him, you drink Him, you live Him, you walk, you dance with Him.

12:32 No one else.

12:33 So, Christ is God, revealed in the flesh. He dwells in me in His Spirit, Holy Spirit. So when I get invited, it is Christ invited, not me. Because I live for Him. I no longer live, but Christ who lives in me. I'm no longer for myself. I belong totally for Him. So when I'm invited, I'm saying to myself, they didn't invite me, they invited my sweetheart. Because me is Him and Him is me. I am no longer in existence. He is my existence, my everything. So who do they invite? The Lord Jesus. So when I go and I believe and trust and know, acknowledge and live this truth that it is Jesus invited, I'll sit anywhere.

13:23 I don't care about honorable places. I don't care about high places. I don't care to be acknowledged, to be given a special seat. No, I'll sit in the street. That place becomes number one. Wherever I sit, since it's the Lord, wherever the Lord sits, that place becomes number one. So don't search for high places. It is not the place that makes the Christ who is in you number one.

13:56 It is the Christ who is in you not only makes that place, but makes you number one.

14:05 So when you hide from false glory, Jesus' glory shines through you.

14:13 And when the Lord's glory shines through you, no one can hide it, even if the whole world tries to do so. Because Jesus Christ is the sun, S-U-N, of the world. And when the sun shines, can anyone, you know, seal it, close it, put a blanket over it?

14:32 No. When the sun shines, it lights up the whole world. So the Lord says, are you coming for me?

14:42 You know, when you leave your own home, coming to the church, what you need to say, say, Lord, let's go together to your house. I'm not going without you because you're with me and I'm with you You're in me and I'm in you. There is no separation here. You made me one with you, Lord. But the Lord.

15:07 Expects us to acknowledge this truth.

15:12 I'm no longer me. I'm Christ's living in me. So Lord, we're going together to your holy church, to your holy house.

15:25 Please, Lord, after you. Age before beauty.

15:30 He's going to smack me now.

15:33 Lord, please.

15:36 When I'm driving the car and the next seat is empty, don't ever say it's empty. My sweetheart is sitting next to me. When I'm flying in the plane and I'm sitting in that seat and I look around, every seat is filled with It's a full flight. I don't say oh sorry Lord there is no place for you. Because the seat I'm sitting in.

16:07 Or on. You are sitting on that seat Lord. It's not me. We're one. You're sitting.

16:16 The seat is yours. I'm just a vessel. That carries the treasure. The Lord.

16:26 Once that heart beat.

16:34 That heart beat, the Lord scans it. Did the heart beat for me or for someone else? Did the heart beat for me or for something else? Did the heart beat for me or did it beat for you? That heart beat, who was it for?

16:56 The Lord.

16:59 Is waiting earnestly. You have no idea. I'm revealing a little secret now about the Lord Jesus. Maybe He won't be that upset with me. You have no idea how the Lord is keen like He can't wait out of like longing, out of thirst, out of hunger for you and for your heartbeat to beat for him. He's like waiting with, I can't say anxious, but I don't have enough words to find to describe how the Lord is.

17:47 Because this is God revealed in the flesh. He can't, the intellect can't fathom the Lord. But he is like that, like a little baby waiting, waiting, you know, anxiously for mom and dad to come and pick me up. The Lord waits anxiously for you to think of him, to love him, for your heart to beat for him.

18:07 He waits anxiously.

18:11 And when he sees that that heartbeat was for him, no one else, melts like a candle.

18:20 Melts like a candle.

18:23 It does not take any great effort to get the Lord's attention.

18:28 So many times we try.

18:31 So hard, we try so frantically to please the Lord or to get the Lord's attention and we say, where are you Lord? I'm trying, I'm praying, I'm going to church, I'm doing charitable deeds, I'm doing my best Lord just to get your attention.

18:47 No, none of that. The Lord says... I'm.

18:52 Just waiting for that heartbeat. Is it beating for me or not? You don't need. You know why my son you don't need to work hard? Because when you are in love it comes naturally. You don't think about it. You don't try hard to say to your sweetheart.

19:14 I love you. You don't try hard.

19:16 In fact, you do it so naturally, it shocks you because you've never done it this way before for no one else. But when I fell in love, I started acting crazy. I'm doing things out of the ordinary, yet they come so smoothly. I'm shocking myself that I have this kind of capability, which were absolutely obscure before to me.

19:44 It's the love that moves mountains. It's the love that raises the dead. It is the love that heals the sick, heals the blind, heals the lepers, heals the demented. It is the love that changes the heart forever. It is the love that gives eternal life.

20:04 It is the love.

20:06 When you love the Lord, it is impossible to For me to seek my own glory. Because the one I love is the one I live for. I don't live for myself anymore. I have forgotten myself. Because my love has taken over and has swept me over. I don't see myself. I don't hear myself. I don't know myself. All I know is my love.

20:32 Jesus Christ.

20:36 So who gives a penny if I sit on the throne or not? Who gives a penny if the whole world acknowledges me or not? Who gives a penny if people love me or not? What matters is the love of my life. My life loves me.

20:52 That's what matters. Because when I'm in love, in love.

20:58 Baby, when I'm in love, all four capital letters, L-O-V-E, All I see is love.

21:11 I see the L capital for Lord. He is my love.

21:15 Lord came to give me L for life, to give me L for liberty, to give me L for love. When I carry this love in my heart, when I live for this love, when I breathe this love, when I drink this love, when I eat this love, when I submerge myself fully in this love, The Lord gave me the awe for obligation. I am obligated based on the love of the Lord that I need to carry this love for this loveless world. I need to carry this love for where there is no love, which is the world placed in the bosom of Satan who has no love, knows no love. I need to carry this love to this loveless world And say to them, Christ is all love.

22:08 He loved me from the very beginning.

22:10 He showed me this love in the end of times when He became like me. And then He gave me this love. He taught me this love. He fed me, gave me this love. And told me, submerge yourself in my infinite love.

22:26 To understand that love is the great mystery.

22:33 Can't fully fathom it, fully understand it, comprehend it, but.

22:38 Accept it and see the wonders of this love.

22:42 And now I am obligated to carry this love to people who have never experienced this love before. And when I carry this love to this loveless world controlled by Satan, rest assured you're entering a battle. Because Satan is going to fight Satan hates love. He loves hatred. So when you carry this love where there is no love, the enemy will... Start fighting against you. You'll enter a battle, but do not be afraid. Do not be disheartened if you go through ups and downs, if you go through dark tunnels, if you go through hardships, tribulations, persecutions, attacks.

23:32 Do not be disheartened.

23:33 Because the one who started the road with you will not leave you halfway for he is known to finish the race. His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Lord of Lords and.

23:43 The King of all Kings.

23:45 Who is all love, is dwelling in you. And when God is with you, who is against you, then the battle, the outcome of it is 100% fee for victory.

23:57 You're victorious in the Lord. No matter what happens.

24:01 Because the one who is with you is greater than the one who is in the world.

24:05 God is in you. Fear nothing. And when you are.

24:11 Victorious, that's That's the only time you deserve the reward.

24:21 You cannot be a doctor.

24:22 Unless you pass the exam. When you are victorious, then the reward comes. The Lord will come and say, your reward for being victorious in me, I give you E for eternity.

24:40 Welcome to my Father's house.

24:44 And inherit This kingdom that was prepared for you before the creation of the world.

24:52 Eternal life is your portion.

24:58 And the Lord is the beginning and is the end. Is the Alpha and the Omega. The first and the last. Who cares about the place? I always say this. Don't waste too much time on saying, is there the kingdom of God?

25:22 Is there heaven? Don't waste too much time. Is there hell? Don't waste too much time. Is there something in between? Who cares? Who cares about that? You know what?

25:34 I don't care about heaven. Let alone to go and waste my time on hell. Who gives one penny about hell? Leave hell for the one who goes there.

25:46 Who cares? I don't care about heaven. You know why?

25:49 Because my heaven is not a place. My heaven is the person of Christ. That's my heaven. So wherever I am, it is number one. Wherever I sit, it is heaven. Who cares I sit at the back or I sit.

26:05 At the front.

26:06 The place changes nothing. It is the person who dwells in me changes everything. My child, Do not seek your own.

26:19 Glory.

26:21 Do not wait for people to acknowledge you and give you a medal and applaud you and say, well done. You do your part for your sweetheart Jesus Christ and walk away for the Lord is the one who rewards, not people.

26:38 And this is why.

26:41 The only time we are free truly and set free once and forever is when you look at the people who love you and you look at the people who hate you the same way.

27:00 Now you're free. You're at peace. The ones who loves me, the ones who love me and the ones who hate me, I love them both equally. That's what the Lord did.

27:18 That's why the Lord Jesus, as the perfect man, as a human being, He was always at peace.

27:25 Nothing shook Him.

27:27 Even though He went through immense trials, beyond anyone's comprehension. But He was always at peace. And He always used to say, and He says always and forever, I'm not alone. You will leave me alone, but I'm not alone. For my Father is with Why? Because I didn't come for you. I came for my dad.

27:49 Why?

27:50 Because I love my dad. And whoever my dad loves, I will love. I love you because my dad loves you. If it wasn't for my dad, I wouldn't have come. I don't love you, but my dad loves you. And because my dad is the love of my life, then I'll love whoever my dad loves.

28:05 That's why you love me, you hate me. Matters not.

28:09 Because I love my dad.

28:13 And I wait for my dad to pay me. I don't wait for you guys to pay me.

28:18 Well, he doesn't use the word guys, but you know, that's a 21st century terminology.

28:23 Yo, what's up, bro? What's up? Get down, brother.

28:26 So I wait for my dad to pay, not people. So the difference is this fine line. When you love the Lord Jesus, you will love everyone Those who are with you and those who are against you. You love them both equally. So your love for people now is through the Lord. Not between you and them. It's through Christ to them. That is genuine love. So, my son, when you want to get married, don't just love her Because she's good looking. No. You need to find out first if she loves the Lord. Then love her because she loves the Lord. Now you're going to live happily ever after, brother. And then you can take her to Alishan Zalazayi, you La Paris, and when you take her to Alishan Zelezei, she will say, honey, don't spend the money,

29:51 because you are my Alishan Zelezei. when you love the Lord, the place matters not. I don't care about the place. As a bishop, if I sit up here, down here, back there, in the car park, at the gutter in the street, all honey. When you get to this stage, you're flying like that bird. high up in the sky, in the heaven of Christ.

30:35 I'm flying.

30:37 But if you are captivated by the place and the position and you're captured by it and you're chained by it, you're a slave. Even though you're a Christian, but you're a slave because the place chained you up.

30:52 Be free.

30:53 When you don't ask for nothing, God will give you everything. And you know what that everything is? It's not a thing.

31:04 It's His Son. He is everything.

31:10 And when you have the Son, surely you are free. And when the Son sets you free, you are surely free. I am the truth, and the truth shall set you free. So, don't worry about show-offs. Please, don't be a show-off. My daughter, stop playing with your hair. My son, don't go to Istanbul and have a facelift.

31:47 Love the Lord, amen? Very good.

31:51 Let's bow our heads. Ask the Lord for forgiveness. Ask the Lord to heal our wounds. Forgive our sins and make us worthy to come forth and receive them in the true body and the true blood, the sacrament of the body and the blood of Christ.

32:11 Amen.

32:11 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.

32:40 And the paths of righteousness.

32:42 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.

32:53 Empower them by the aid of your mercies.

32:55 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.

33:05 Amen.

33:06 May the Lord forgive us, make us worthy to come forth and receive him in the true body and the.

33:11 True blood of Christ. Amen.