Clean Hands Won't Save a Dirty Hear- Bishop Mar Mari

0:00 He who speaks against Bishop Murray on a personal level, I've already forgiven.

0:07 Them before they even opened their mouth.

0:09 And no matter what they say, they spit in my face, they use foul language against me, I forgive them. But they talk against the church, I will never forgive them. Christ is not Catholic. Christ is not Orthodox. Christ is not Protestant. Christ is God, revealed in the flesh. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. We thank our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for His infinite love, mercy, and compassion. For His unfailing love, faithfulness, for always being there for us, even when We so many times are not there for him, yet he is always there for us.

1:04 We thank our Lord for this day, for every day. We thank him for allowing us to be in his holy church, in his holy presence, receiving and partaking and then receiving the true body and the true blood of Christ.

1:23 It is true body and true blood, not symbolic. It is true.

1:30 We thank the Lord for his infinite love. We pray for those persecutors to be enlightened by the light of Christ to realize where the truth is and where the true living God is. It is only Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There is no other God but him. It is him and it is him alone. You see God on earth you won't find any God but Jesus Christ. We pray for the whole world to come to this perfect God, perfect man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

2:10 Amen.

2:11 So our church fathers have chosen a reading from the gospel according to St. Mark chapter 7 and verses 1 to 23 inclusive.

2:19 Mark 7, 1 to 23. Today's message is.

2:28 The Lord is teaching us all and revealing to us all a profound message on how we should live as Christians. The Lord says, as a Christian, don't ever let your focus be on external things, but rather on internal things. Because he was approached, the Lord was approached by Pharisees and some scribes and saying to the Lord Jesus, how come your disciples are eating bread with unwashed hands? Because they follow the tradition of their elders. And that is you cannot eat unless you wash your hands in a ritual way. Not just you go and wash your hand, normal washing. No, it has to be done ritually. Till this very day, our beloved Jews and our beloved Muslims, Before they pray, before they do anything, there has to

3:30 be a certain procedure, a certain process in a ritual way.

3:35 Otherwise, it will not be accepted by God.

3:40 So the Lord, they came and said, how come your disciples are eating bread with unwashed hands? The Lord says, well, it is well said by Isaiah the prophet about you hypocrites.

3:54 And who are these people? Pharisees and scribes.

3:58 And if you ever come across a literal, narrow-minded people would be the Pharisees and the scribes.

4:10 And they are so literal, like it's suffocating, you know. Suffocating. Everything is under the microscope. What kind of life is that? Man, relax.

4:23 Have a hamburger, fish burger, eat all the burgers. You need to relax a bit. So anyway, they said, how come? When you read in chapter 6, at the end of chapter 6, and more so from verse 54 to 56, you'll see that when the Lord came out of the boat in the northern side of Israel, in the region of Galilee, people recognized the Lord. They started bringing people from all over the region and the hundreds and the thousands who were sick, all kind of illnesses. They brought them all to the Lord saying, if we just touch the hem of His.

5:03 Garment, we will be healed. He healed them all.

5:07 So you Pharisees and scribes, can't you see this Jesus of Nazareth is healing and doing wonders? Then, ignoring all these miracles, only God can perform. Ignoring all these miracles, only God can perform. You come and hold Him liable because his disciples ate with unwashed hands.

5:33 He can't be any more hypocrite than this.

5:38 The Lord says, it is not what enters your mouth that defiles you.

5:47 It is what comes out of you. It is that what defiles. It is out of the heart of man all evil thoughts come out.

5:59 The disciples later on asked the Lord, what did you mean by this parable? He said, you are also without understanding. Don't you know what enters the mouth, goes into your stomach, and then gets discharged and cleansed? That doesn't defile you. What defiles you is what comes out of you, not what goes inside of you through your mouth. It is what comes out of you, out of the heart.

6:30 Come all evil thoughts. You Pharisees and scribes.

6:37 But let us not just focus on the Pharisees and the scribes of the Old Testament. Aren't we all Pharisees and scribes of the New Testament as well? We follow same thing. We are repeating the same mistake. We come to church. Is it really about coming to church only? No, it is the intention of you coming to church what matters to Christ.

7:06 It is not you just coming to church.

7:09 Because some people come to church for the sake of saying, I have fulfilled my duty before Christ. Christ says you have to come to church and receive the body and the blood that I have shed and broken for you from Calvary. then when I go, then my conscience is at ease and at peace because I've done my duty.

7:34 But your coming to church wasn't for Christ. Then it's unacceptable by the Lord. It is not the external appearance that matters to Christ, but it is the internal appearance what gets Christ's attention. What is the benefit of me coming to church for the sake of coming?

8:00 But rather, I should be coming.

8:03 To church with the intention I am seeking the healer of all healers, the doctor of all doctors. I come to church for the Lord because I am sick and I need this doctor to heal me. Now, this is called coming to church. So you're asking me, the hands are not clean? You should have been asking about the heart.

8:31 If it's clean or not. Not the hands.

8:35 Eat with dirty hands. As long as the heart is clean. You're a child of God. What the Lord expects from all of us.

8:45 As Christians. What he expects from all of us. Is this.

8:52 When you're coming to church. Who are you coming for? What is the reason for you to come to church? Is it because there is a special occasion? Is it because there is an invitation? Is it because there is somebody coming who is famous to preach? Is it because this priest or that priest or this bishop or that bishop, this pope or that pope?

9:21 Who are you coming to the church for? The Lord says. You understand the church is the house of God.

9:31 So since it's the house of God, then you better come for God first and foremost. Then for whoever God has placed in his own house. This bishop is appointed by the Lord Jesus who is God revealed in the flesh. But your coming to church is not for the bishop. The bishop is just a vessel that I use for my own glory. If I let go of the bishop, he is good for nothing. It is I, Jesus, who make a person everything.

10:05 It is I who give you value. It is I who give you dignity. It is I who give you identity. It is I who give you glory.

10:13 It is I who give you eternity.

10:15 It is I. You need to come for me and me only.

10:21 Otherwise, coming to church will change nothing in you until you come for Christ and Christ only. So don't come to church to fulfill a duty. Come to church to live Christ. Christ is life, not an obligation. I need to live Him. Not serve Him.

10:54 Live Him.

10:55 I can't serve Christ unless I live Him first. I come to church and I gossip. I come to church and I judge. I come to church and then I go and do wrong things. I come to church.

11:14 To please myself.

11:17 And others around you. That is not coming to church. Coming to church is to please the Lord. And how is the Lord. When will the Lord be pleased.

11:31 In one way. When all of us. All of us.

11:36 Come to his holy church. Confessing. That we are sinners. Before his holy.

11:45 Face. We are sinners.

11:49 And we are in total need.

11:53 Of His salvation and redemption. The Lord is seeking the Spirit, not the Word.

12:06 He says the letter kills, but it is the Spirit that gives life. Pharisees and scribes were literal people. Following the letter to the dot. But they were heartless. When it came to dealing with others. They were heartless. So they would demand others to fulfill the law. Yet they were the first who broke the law. pointing their fingers at everyone that are second-class citizens, sinners, unworthy to come to the temple, yet they were the first one who rejected God, denied God, and ended up crucifying this God.

12:58 And as Christians, we're doing the same thing.

13:02 How are we dealing with one another as Christians? Are we Kind to each other?

13:10 Are we loving? Are we caring? Are we sharing?

13:15 Are we forgiving? Are we tolerating one another? Are we patient with one another? Do we show mercy towards one another? For this is what Christ is seeking. The Lord says, I do not seek your sacrifice, but.

13:32 I came seeking mercy. I came seeking mercy. Sacrifice....

13:39 You as faithful, when you come to church, what are you doing? You have sacrificed that time for the Lord because you could have spent that hour and when the bishop is preaching the three hours, did you get that one? When you're sacrificing those hours for the Lord, you could have sacrificed them somewhere else. You could have gone to another place. family member's house instead of the church. You could have gone out for a drive. You could have gone out to a club. But you spend that hour, two, three in the church. That is a sacrifice to the Lord.

14:17 But the Lord says, even though you sacrifice those two hours for me by coming to my house, but if there is no mercy in your heart, those two hours I do not accept from you. Meaning, You came to the church, but you still haven't forgiven your brother, your sister, someone who has hurt you. If you haven't forgiven them, the hours you spend in the church is not going to be beneficial to you. It is not the unwashed hands that defile. It is what comes out of the heart that defiles. We need to live Jesus Christ, not just talk about Him.

15:06 It is not about knowing the law. Knowing the law is one thing, fulfilling the law is a totally different thing.

15:14 You can know the law till kingdom comes and you'll end up in hell. Until you live the law, you will have no life in you. The Lord is saying, stop cleaning your hands, stop cleaning externally. I want you to start cleaning your heart internally. But the issue, my child, what is internal cannot be cleansed except by God. Because you cannot change your own heart. It took God to be a man on earth, be crucified by shedding His blood on the cross. That's what changed that heart. It took Christ to die on the cross. Not an easy price to pay. And not an easy price to ignore.

16:12 We need to be indebted to the Lord forever. We need to be mindful and watchful of what Christ had done. Because it took His death for my heart and your heart to be changed.

16:26 And until the heart is changed, there is no life. We're all dead. My son, my daughter.

16:38 We need to hit on the brakes really hard this time. And start thinking, what am I?

16:47 Where am I?

16:49 And what am I doing? And whatever I'm doing, where do I wish to be? Where do you want to end up? You need to think because life is not a gamble.

17:04 Life is not a joke. Life is not heads or tails.

17:10 Life was made possible by the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. I need to be much more careful The Lord wants the heart. He said, out of the heart of man, all evil thoughts come. This is applied to every aspect of a Christian life. What's the point of fasting for the great Lent? Some people say, you know what, Father? Yes, my child. I fasted for 40 days, 50 days. I didn't eat any meat, any dairy product. But I chewed every human bone that lived on earth.

17:58 I chewed them up.

17:59 I did not stop gossiping about people. But I fasted from meat and I ate everyone's meat.

18:07 With my lips.

18:10 What's the point of me fasting from material matters yet the spirit is not fasting from spiritual matters?

18:18 What's the point? Who cares you didn't eat meat? Stop eating people's meat.

18:25 Meaning, stop talking behind people, stabbing them in the back, digging beneath their feet and wishing them nothing but the worst of the worst. You don't call this a Christian life. You haven't fasted.

18:39 The Lord will not accept your fast.

18:41 Not only if you fast 40 days, you can fast for the rest of your life.

18:45 He will not accept it.

18:47 We need to come to this truth. Christ is truth. So we need to come to this truth. Then I need to examine myself. Stop examining people. Examine your own self. Stop pointing the finger at others and say, you've done this and you've done that. How shame on you. Yet I am full of mistakes. And yet I'm given a blind eye to all my errors. They are massive.

19:18 You need to stop looking outside for a change.

19:24 We need to look on the inside, the heart. Where am I in relation to Christ? See, if every single one of us spends time fixing their mistakes, heaven is on earth.

19:41 Why do we keep on fighting? Why do we keep on arguing at home? In the church. At work.

19:50 But let me keep it within the family circle maybe at work they are not family but at home husband wife children in the church the bishop the priest that the deacons and the faithfuls we are family Why do we keep on arguing and fighting with one another? Because we haven't learned as yet to look at our own self from within. We're still looking at people around us, how they behave, how they talk, how they walk.

20:24 We are not spending enough time on how.

20:27 We behave, how we talk, how we address matters. I need to see myself For a change, stop pointing the finger at others. And I've mentioned this before and I'll mention it again. Every time we point the finger at somebody, remember, that's.

20:46 Not Father Isaac.

20:47 Every time we point the finger at somebody, it is one finger. This is how we do it. We don't do this.

20:54 We do this. Why? Because one finger, we are meaning you. Yes, you, you, you, you. I'm specific about you.

21:05 One finger but remember when you point that finger at a person it is one you're forgetting there are three fingers pointed back at you that's why the Lord says do not judge lest you be judged three times more over when I look in my heart I see it full of stakes I have no right to judge anyone I don't have the time just to fix my own mistakes.

21:40 When will I have the time to fix others or to focus on other people's mistakes?

21:45 Lord, have mercy on me, I, the sinner.

21:50 If everyone focused on their own weaknesses, trust me, trust the Lord.

22:00 Everything is manageable. Let me tell you this.

22:08 For as long as we live in the flesh, misunderstanding will always happen. Mishaps will always happen. Arguments will always happen. Fighting will always happen. But what makes the family holy is not when they are saints.

22:31 No.

22:32 Holiness is not when the family are all saints. Saints are later on when they get to heaven. But what makes the family holy is that family that is so weak and falls into so many mistakes all the time. Yet when they make mistakes, when they go against each other, when they fight with one another, they run quickly back to Christ, all of them, and ask for forgiveness. Lord, please fix us, bring us back and unite us again.

23:04 Now this is a holy family. is when you make mistakes, but you run to Christ to fix them for you, not remain in those mistakes.

23:14 That is a holy family.

23:15 Because as long as we live in the flesh, we will all make mistakes. So if you are looking for a perfect family in your way, there is no such thing as perfect family, meaning All of them are saints. They never make mistakes. That family will never exist on earth. But what makes that family holy before the eyes of the Lord Jesus is we know we make mistakes, but we all come back and say sorry to one another.

23:51 Please forgive me, mom. Please forgive me dad. Please forgive me honey, my wife. Please forgive me my husband. Please forgive me my brother. Please forgive me my sister. We come back and ask for forgiveness from one another but all of us collectively as one seeking God's forgiveness. That is a holy family. So, it's not about your hands are clean or not.

24:17 It's about the heart.

24:20 Until when We're going to focus on external things and lose track of what is foundational, the internal.

24:28 If my heart thinks evil, who cares my hands are clean? The hands can't save. It's the heart.

24:40 In the book of Proverbs 23, 26, chapter 23, verse 26, King Solomon says, God is speaking through King Solomon. He says, God is saying to all of us as well.

24:52 It's His word.

24:54 Stands forever. He says, my son, give me your heart. And let your eyes observe my ways. My son, give me your heart. God wants our heart. Because in that heart, the image of God was placed.

25:19 You see?

25:20 If you don't come on Fridays, you missed out on this relationship in Christ. We spoke about the heart. See, this gospel of today is what we addressed on the last two Fridays about the heart, which is in Greek, they refer to it as the nous or the spiritual subconscious mind. The spiritual subconscious mind. It is the heart where the image of God Lies there, sits there, it is seated there. And that image which God created us in His image. Since God is the living one, then the image He created is living. The image's role is to reflect God through it. It's like a mirror that reflects whoever stands before it. God created us and put His image in us and that image is living because it was created by the living God. And what does

26:25 that image, what is it for? To reflect God to those.

26:32 Who have walked away.

26:34 As Christians, if we can't love one another, how can we love people who are not Christians? As family, if we can't love one another, How can I love my neighbor if we can't love the Lord? How can we love one another? The Lord left us with the last commandment. He said, this is my final commandment.

27:01 I leave you.

27:02 Love one another the way I have loved you. Love one another the way I have loved you. In this, the world will know that you are my disciples. How will the world know if we belong to Christ or not? When we love one another the way Christ loved us. Question in a nutshell and I'll leave you with it. How did Christ love us? Died for us. There is no greater love than a person lays his life for his friends. He died on the cross to reveal what true love is all about. He gave the ultimate price, His own precious blood, His own life, gave it up for me and you.

27:56 This is the love He loved us with.

27:59 Are we willing to sacrifice for one another the way Christ sacrificed for us? And who did Christ sacrifice for? The Holy of Holies. sacrificed himself to the sinner of all sinners. I won't talk to my brother unless he comes and begs me for forgiveness.

28:19 Relax. He's your brother. Go and hug him and kiss him.

28:26 I will never talk to my husband until he comes and bows and asks for forgiveness from me and from his mother-in-law.

28:32 Relax.

28:34 Leave the mother-in-law alone, poor thing. I will never forgive you because you spoke against me. You assassinated my character before the whole world.

28:47 Let me tell you this.

28:50 He who speaks against Bishop Murray on a personal level, I've already forgiven them before they even opened their mouth. And no matter what they say, they spit in my face, they use foul language against me, I forgive them. But they talk against the church, I will never forgive them.

29:11 Never.

29:14 You talk against me, I deserve it because I'm a sinner. You talk against the church, it is the body of Christ. I cannot forgive you. We need to realize whom we are following and serving.

29:33 It's the Lord. Love the Lord and love one another. when you come to the church you enter that front door we are one family doesn't matter who comes in if I know.

29:52 Somebody that walks in and I know them on a personal level and I know they've done a lot of bad things I will bow and kiss their feet. Because the moment they enter the church, they belong to Christ, not to me. Christ has entrusted me with them to look after them, but they are all His. Because He is the one who purchased us all with His precious blood.

30:19 It wasn't my blood, it was His blood. They belong to Him. I welcome you. My role is to give you Christ. And I leave you with Christ. Because He is the good teacher.

30:33 And He is the good God.

30:35 And He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. It is Christ whom we all need. So my role as a bishop, as a shepherd, is to offer you Christ.

30:47 And that's it. My job is done. My job is done. It is about the Lord. No one else. It's about the Lord. There is no Lord. There is no life. There is no love. There is no heaven. There is nothing. It's the Lord.

31:13 My son, my daughter, I beg you. Stop going to places the Lord rejects. Keep on coming to church. I've heard some people say, I went to church last Sunday. It's too much to go every week, man. It's too much.

31:35 Once a month, yeah, not bad. But every week, come on, what are you doing? Excuse me? Once a week is the minimum of the minimum of the minimum.

31:47 You're barely making it. Like your tank is running on zero and it's about to stop. The car stopped halfway in the road and you just came at the right time and filled your tank again.

31:58 That's the minimum. I wish you had the time to be in the church every day. Every day. Every day. Imagine if we do.

32:11 This for a year. I'm just, okay, it's hypothetical. But I pray it's going to be real. Like imagine for a year you do it every day you come to church. All you hear is just beautiful hymns and beautiful liturgy service. And all about Jesus, about the Lord, about the Lord. After one year, I guarantee you, you'll come out. You'll say, man, I see the world totally different. Like in Assyrian we say, Where I was and where I am now. I thought I knew.

32:43 I was blind before. Look what the Lord has done for me. He's opened my inner eye.

32:52 He cleansed my heart. I see people different. I see everything different. But I see it in a beautiful way. No more ugly. Before I couldn't stand somebody says a nasty word to me. Now I thank God for that nasty word.

33:14 Thank you Lord. This person swore at me. I love you brother. I love you. Isn't it wonderful to be free? Freedom is beautiful. But the problem, the world is trying to give you freedom. They're lying. Freedom is only in this person, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You want to be free? Do what he asks of you to do. You'll be free.

33:47 Come for Jesus Christ of Nazareth. One of my favorite titles about the Lord, the word Nazareth. He is of Nazareth. Stunning title. Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

34:03 Wow.

34:04 Like if I were to contemplate on Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

34:08 These three words. And just contemplate on Him. Try to live those three words.

34:14 And the heaven of all heavens is mine. I don't need anyone. I don't need anything else. Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What a stunning name. What a stunning title. I'm proud. Of that perfect God. Who became man. Lived most of his life in Nazareth. Was born in Bethlehem. But was raised in Nazareth. I love that man. I love him.

34:42 See this man here.

34:43 Pope Cyril.

34:47 He was the pope of the Coptic church. Some will come and say. That's not your church Bishop. That's a Coptic church.

34:57 Who cares? Who cares? I love this man. I love this man. You know why?

35:05 Because he loves the Lord. Not I love him because he's a Pope. Not I love him because he's Orthodox, Christian Orthodox. Not I love him because he is from the Coptic Church. I love him because he loves the Lord. He left me no choice but to love him. Because he who loves the Lord leaves you no choice but to love him. Because it is the love of Christ that flows through Pope Cyril.

35:38 That hits you so deep. You cannot resist but to love him back. Love the one who loves the Lord. Whether they are Catholic or Orthodox. Yes.

35:58 Who cares? Christ is not Catholic. Christ is not Orthodox. Christ is not Protestant. Christ is God. Revealed in the flesh. Don't ever put these names on him. They can't be put on him.

36:17 Okay? These are man-made names, not Christ. Christ says, you're my son. You're my child. Come to me.

36:25 I'll fix you. I'll show you the way. I'll give you life. I change your heart so that you serve me from the heart, not from the lips.

36:37 Let's bow our heads.

36:41 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, 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.

37:02 Renew in them.

37:03 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. And the adoption as your children. and in the joy of your absolving mysteries.

37:29 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.

37:43 Amen.

37:45 May the Lord Jesus forgive us all and make us worthy to come forth and receive him in the true body and the true blood of Christ.

37:53 Amen. All right. God bless you. I love you. but Jesus loves you the most. God bless.