You Are Wiser Than They Think Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel

0:00 Today we will be taking this topic. It is from the book of Proverbs, chapter 30 and verses 24 to 28 inclusive. Proverbs chapter 30 and verses 24 to 28. And the Holy Bible says... There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags.

0:43 The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks. The spider skillfully grasps with its hands and it is in kings' palaces. And all glory be to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen. You may have heard us say this before. There are five books, and all five are in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. They are referred to as the poetic books.

1:23 They are poetic books. They are five. Starting with the book of Job. And then followed by the book of Psalms. Then followed by the book of Proverbs. Then followed by the book of Ecclesiastes. And the fifth one, the song of Solomon. Or the song of songs. Or the song of Solomon. So Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. and Song of Solomon.

1:51 These five books are all in the Old Testament Bible, Holy Bible, and they are referred to by the church fathers as the poetic books. The book of Proverbs teaches you perseverance during difficult times. The book of Psalms teaches you praising God at all times. The book of Proverbs teaches you wisdom applied on earth. And the book of Ecclesiastes teaches you the life of repentance throughout your life's journey on earth. And the book of Song of Solomon or Song of Songs teaches you on how to enter a relationship with Christ, the heavenly groom, based on divine love.

2:45 So now, when you come And you read them in this perfect order. This is the way they are in this order. First is Job, then Psalms, then Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes, then Song of Solomon. Why in this order? Because we'll find out very shortly. Perseverance. When we encounter difficulties throughout our life's journey, we go through ups and downs, dark tunnels, tribulations, persecutions, you name it. But when we persevere during all these hardships and we hang in there, no matter what, the Lord is teaching you and all of us something very profound.

3:33 The Lord says, when you persevere throughout your difficulties in life, this will teach you the second level, and that is Psalm. And what does Psalm teach you on how to be thankful to God always at all times? When you persevere, throughout your hardships, and then God gets you through them all, successful, triumphant, without a scratch, without a blemish, without any failure. He brings you out triumphantly victorious. There is only one thing left for you to do for God, and that is to thank Him always, always, always. And that is the book of Psalms. And when you thank Him always, This is the only way for you and me, me and you to thank God always when we were able to persevere through difficult times. Persevering through difficulties will teach you

4:39 on how to be grateful and thankful of God every time, all the time. Good times, bad times, richness and poorness, in sickness and in health. It is like a matrimonial bond. You become grateful Always, whether you're good or not very good, you're grateful. When you start thanking God, always, for the good and the bad, for the successes and the failures, you thank Him in all, He will take you to the third step, and that is the book of Proverbs.

5:14 God will give you wisdom. He'll make you wise. Now, wisdom is only given by God, no one else. When you go to university and you graduate and you receive your PhD in theology, you receive your PhD in whatever scientific field, you become a professor in whichever field it is, all you're gaining is knowledge. But wisdom can only be given by God, not any earthly person or any earthly university.

5:49 Only God gives it. And God will only give it to the thankful soul that persevered through it all. That rhymed. God will give it to the thankful soul that persevered through it all. And when God gives you wisdom, He'll take you to the fourth step. And that is the book of Ecclesiastes. And Ecclesiastes teaches us all on how to live truly a life of repentance. It is not just by coming to the Lord Jesus and say, Lord, forgive me. I'm repenting of my sin. Please have mercy on me. That is easily said than done. Repentance is a life journey. It's not once and once and for all as something. You need to repent before God every single day. Because every day we sin, every day we make mistakes, every day we fall short of the glory

6:55 of God. You need to learn on how to be a repentant soul all your life. And the only way to live a true repentance before the Almighty God, you need wisdom. And the only way to gain wisdom, you need to be thankful always. And the only way to be thankful always, you need to go through hardships and persevere.

7:22 Never give up, never run away. And when you start living a life of repentance, the Lord will bring you to the fifth and final step. And that is the song of Solomon. He will bring you into a relationship with him based on divine love where he will make you one with him like in marriage the two are no longer two but are one and what God has united let no man divide he'll make you one in him divine love matrimonial bond today's topic It's from the third step. Book of Proverbs. Wisdom. But this wisdom. That is necessary. For our life on earth. Not in heaven.

8:21 Our life on earth. Now King Solomon. There are three books that are. Referred to be. King Solomon's. They are the book of Proverbs. Ecclesiastes. And Song of Solomon. These three. are referred to King Solomon as the author, or the writer, I should say. Now, in Proverbs chapter 30, verses 24 to 28, the book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs, gives us four lessons to reach this point. The topic of today or the title for these verses we just read from 24 to 28 chapter 30 is how can I be a faithful Christian? How can I be a faithful Christian? How can I be a faithful Christian? The book of Proverbs gives us four things and through these four things we learn how to become faithful Christian. Number one ants, number two rock badgers, number three locusts and

9:52 number four spiders. Well what do we learn? What are these animals, insects teaching us on how to be a faithful Christian? Well, let's come into it. See, verse 24 says, there are four things which are little on earth, but they are exceedingly wise. There are four things which are little by size on earth, but they are exceedingly wise.

10:26 The first one, verse 25. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. What do we learn from the ants? My beloved, the ants from the beginning of summer till the end of it, they never stop preparing food for winter. The moment summer comes, Till summer ends, every single day without fail, they never stop working, preparing food for winter that comes. Because once winter comes, they go home and never come out from their homes throughout the winter period. Therefore, they need to prepare and store enough food to last them all of winter, lest they starve to death. So what do we learn from these

11:38 ants working throughout summer non-stop? Well, summer is usually hot like today. In some countries could be snowing now and they are freezing and here we are melting. They are in a freezer and we are in an inferno. You know, you should maybe when it's winter here go to a place where it's summer. And when it's winter over there, come to Sydney when it's summer. And you'll avoid winter.

12:08 And maybe it's not a very good thing at the end of the day. God knew what to do. That's why he put four seasons. Because four seasons are balanced for your bones, for your well-being. All right. So what is summer hot? And what is this hot, fiery summer symbolize? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like fire. It's like fire. It's symbolized by fire. Now, St.

12:45 Paul in Ephesians 5.16 says, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Redeeming the time because the days are evil, Ephesians 5.16. And what is St. Paul saying here, redeeming the time because the days are evil? He is literally saying time is one of the most precious gifts God ever gave the human race. And maybe one day we speak about time as a topic. Time is so priceless.

13:19 Time is so precious. Do not waste it in vanities. Just like the ants, learn from them. They don't waste time. All of summer, every second, every minute, every hour, every day of summer, they never stop working, working hard, hard, hard to prepare for the freezing winter that is coming upon them so they can survive the winter. They don't waste time like some of us do going out for no reason. reading something that is useless, watching something that is pointless. What are you wasting time for? Do you not realize that time is extremely precious gift from God?

14:04 I'll give you an idea how time is precious. Some people have asked me, why didn't God forgive Satan when he made the mistake in heaven? Why didn't he forgive him? He is all merciful. He is all love. Isn't Satan one of his creations? Yes, of course. Then why didn't he forgive him? Well, for one simple fact and truth, because of time, he could not forgive him. Because Satan was an angel and the highest rank in the angelic orders called the cherubims. He was one of the highest rank in the angelic orders called the cherubims. Now angels are in heaven. God created them in heaven and placed them in heaven. And in heaven, there is one thing, eternal life. There is no time. Time is absent in heaven.

15:00 So that means when you decide on doing something in heaven, you only have once to go at it and once only. There is no time to come back and say, sorry, I made a mistake. Are you with me? Because every tick is a new fresh start for all of us. But in heaven, there is no time. So when the angel made the mistake, he made it in a realm that has no time. Therefore, there was no time for him to come back and say, sorry, that mistake was eternal.

15:42 He couldn't come back. Do you realize how easy for a human being, after making a mistake, coming back to God and say, please forgive me, Lord. How come it's so easy? Because of time. Because of time. I made the mistake in this second. The next second has got nothing to do with the second where I made that mistake in. Then other second is a fresh, brand new start.

16:10 I can come back in the next second and say to God, I'm sorry, forgive me for my sin. It is time that permits us and allow us as humans to come back again and again and again, seeking God's mercy and forgiveness. Time is precious, do not waste it. Do not waste it. And like one of the church fathers put it so beautifully, he says, time is a distraction to eternity. It was the grace of God that...

16:42 put us, created us and placed us in a realm that is governed by time so that time would take us away from eternity in order to be able to come back and say sorry when we make mistakes. This is how much God loves us. He knew we were going to make a mistake. That's why he put us in a realm That is governed by time. Time is a distraction to eternity. It takes us out of the eternal realm. The moment the spirit leaves the body. We enter the eternal realm. And that's why it's too late.

17:18 To come back and say sorry. After the spirit leaves the body. Too late. While you are in the body. You have the time to come back and say Lord I'm sorry. After the spirit leaves the body. Gone. Gone. Gone. So. That summer. That hot summer. Symbolizes the Holy Spirit. And St. Paul like we mentioned in Ephesians 5.16. He says we need to redeem that time. Because. The days are evil.

17:54 Be wise like the ants. Work hard. For your eternity. Work hard. before winter comes and you're not able to work anymore. If summer represents the spirit and the body, then winter represents spirit leaving the body dead. Once the spirit leaves the body too late, can't say I'm sorry. It's not going to get anywhere. Too late. Too late. Therefore, my beloveds, do not waste this time on worldly matters, on materialistic matters. Do not waste this time on pleasuresome times.

18:42 I want to go out with me mates. I'm going downtown, brother. I'm going to sit in the car with the big Sabufa Khabibi in the backseat going wah-wah-dah-dah. And I go clubbing and I go and hang around Maccas till 3 a.m. What are you doing hanging around Mecca's till 3 a.m.? What are you doing in those dark little alleys exchanging those bags of white powder? Stop it. What are you doing in the clubs and in the pubs gambling and drinking and having so-called fun? Poisonous fun. The time is precious.

19:21 Once this tick goes by, nothing can bring it back. Nothing. Nothing. My beloved daughter, my beloved son, I beg you, don't be deceived by the world. Don't listen to people that are trying frantically to take you away from Christ. Don't. That is satanic way. Satan came to destroy everything good. God created do not when friends say to you let's go to the city don't run and don't choose them to be your friends because your friends should say to you let's go to the church not the club Let's go to the light, not darkness. Let's go to the truth, not the lie. Let's go to the antidote, not the poisonous snake. Do not come to Christ. For time is of the essence. It's precious. Stop wasting this time on empty, hopeless,

20:36 useless things. I'm not saying for you not to work and have a house. I'm not saying for you not to work and go on a holiday. I'm not saying for you not to work and buy a nice car or nice clothes or, you know, enjoy a moment. But don't let your entire life based on worldly matters. Don't fight over materialistic matters. Don't argue and don't cling to this world because it was never yours, never will be.

21:08 For God's sake, Wake up. Wake up. All we care about on how I look beautiful from outside. How about we spend time to make ourselves look beautiful from inside in the presence of the Almighty God. We spend so much on trying to lose weight and making my face look beautiful and put the foundation and the mascara and the mascara and... And go and do some laser eyebrows.

21:41 And go to Istanbul to stretch the skin. The skin is going to come back and be wrinkled again. No matter how many times you stretch it. You need to spend time on your heart, my child. Stop spending time only on your face. And ignore the heart. Come back and look inside. And see how God is seeing it. And let me tell you this, the first step ever in the path to humility, the first step ever in the path to humility is when we begin to see our heart the way God sees it. And the question is to me and to all of us, if God comes now and checks my heart, how would he see it?

22:35 Lord have mercy. full of spider webs, full of envy and jealousy and hatred and bigotry and pride and self... Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly, dark places. Spend the time to beautifying your heart. Stop just looking at your external appearance. For the Lord's sake, begin to look at your internal appearance. redeeming the time for the days are evil. Summer for ants is your spirit in the body. And as long as the spirit is in the body, we will always have the opportunity to come back and say to the Lord, forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned. Have mercy on me. That's the ants.

23:44 Verse 26 talks about the rock badgers. It says, the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags. There are different interpretations about rock badgers, but I'll say this. The rock badger is a very weak animal that cannot dig They're going to dig a hole for itself because their feet are so fragile, they can't even dig a hole in a soft dirt. They cannot.

24:26 Their feet are extremely fragile. So when they come to try and dig a hole for themselves, to make a home for themselves, the softest ground, they can't make an opening in it because their feet are extremely weak. So what do they do? They need a place to live in and to have a shelter. They find cracks in the rocks. When they find those cracks in the rocks, they make those rocks home. The rock badger is a very weak animal, can't build or dig a home for itself.

25:06 It seeks a home in the cracks and openings of the rocks. So now let's come biblically and see who is this rock. And the rock says, Psalm 62.2, He only is my rock and my salvation. It's not on the screen. Psalm 62, 2. He only is my rock and my salvation. Who is he, the only one that is my rock and my salvation? Well, 1 Corinthians 10, 4, St.

25:35 Paul explains it and says, and that rock was Christ. And the rock is Christ. So the rock badger is so fragile, is so weak, can't build a home for itself. It finds the rock badger. To make it home. And the rock is Christ. And my beloved. We learn from the rock badger. That we are all weak. Like this rock badger. We cannot build nothing. We cannot make anything for ourselves. We are so fragile. And so weak. Full of errors. Full of shortfalls. Full of sin. The only way for my shelter and refuge and salvation. Is when I make the rock my home. And that rock is Christ.

26:29 Seek Christ to be your home. For without him we are too weak. To make it my beloved. We won't last. We must hide in Christ. Our rock of salvation. My beloved. Verse 27. The grasshoppers. The locusts. Look what it says. Verse 27. It says the locusts have no king. Yet they all advance in ranks. What does that mean? Did you know out of the entire insect's kingdom, the only insect that has no king is the locust? Every other insect, they have a leader. King meaning a leader. The only one that does not have a leader as a king is the locust. However, they fly in swarms, in groups.

27:28 They fly in groups. Now the locusts eat green stuff. Green leaves, you know, the wheat fields, when they're green, they land in there and destroy it all. So they eat anything and everything that is green. When they fly, they don't have a king, they don't have a leader, but they fly all together. So when they fly all together as a group, as a swarm, some will be at the front, some will be in the middle somewhere, and some will be right at the back. So obviously the ones that are at the front, they will arrive to the place where there is food first. And they'll eat.

28:11 Then the next will come, and the next will come, and the next will come, till the last one comes. But all of them eat equally. The first and the last eats the same. Yet they don't have one to lead the whole swarm. Well, as human beings, let me see if we can come together without a leader and how far would we go? We will eat each other alive.

28:47 Everyone will say, no, we do it my way. The other one will say, no, it is my way. The other will say, none of your ways. It is my way or you hit the highway, brother. And anyone says, otherwise, I will behead you, chop you, put you through smithereens. No one will listen to no one. The locusts are much wiser than all humans put together. They don't have a leader, yet they never fight and never argue who is first and who is second and who is last.

29:22 All of them live happily thereafter. You know, when they're flying in a group, now the ones at the front, Of course, they're going to arrive first. They're going to eat. But the ones last also arrive and eat. I resemble this when we fly to a country or another destination using the plane. You know, somebody will come and says, oh, well, my boarding pass says seat number one. And if you're flying an A380, somebody will come, poor thing, will be right at the tail, right at the back. We'll say, well, my seat says 101. Somewhere along those lines. I don't know how many seats there are, but they're definitely over 100.

30:08 So this one is seat one. The other one is 101. But when the plane lands, the one with seat one and the one with seat 101 arrive at the same time. Why are we fighting? Ask yourself. We arrived together. Big deal, you're seat number one and I'm seat number 101. But it's the same plane. We will arrive at the same time.

30:47 So why are we envious and why are we jealous and why are we upset for my brother or my sister to have seat one and I have seat 101? Big deal. As long as we are together, who cares? But let me tell you this, my beloved. If anything happens to the plane, it matters not what seat number you're in. All of us are in deep trouble. All of us. It's like we are in the Titanic and the captain comes while it's drowning. The captain comes and says, it wasn't my fault. It was your fault. And they start bashing each other. That's foolishness. Hey, the ship is going down, bro. The ocean cares not if you're a captain or a cleaner. For God's sake, just salvage the whole ship before all of you die. This is the

31:44 way the Lord wants us all as Christians. It doesn't matter that this guy is the Pope and it's not you. Stop arguing. You see, they become jealous even with the ecclesiastical orders. Why did they choose this to be the Pope and not me? Why is this the bishop and not me? Why is this the cardinal and not me?

32:06 Why does this person have this seat and not me? Stop fighting. We are in this boat called the church. The Ark of Noah. and the New Testament. This boat doesn't matter if the bishop is the captain and you are the sailors. Let me tell you one thing. As far as the ocean is concerned, all of us are the same. The ocean cares not one bit. The world is the ocean and the church is this boat sailing in this ocean. Stop making fun of ourselves before the world where we begin arguing, excommunicating one another and going off at each other in public, fighting and telling each other off. At the end, we are Christians and if anything happens to the church, the world is a winner.

33:09 The world is the winner. As long as the church is prosperous. As long as the church is embedded in Christ. It doesn't matter who does what. First or second or last. As long as Christ is glorified. That's all that matters. See my beloved. The point and the issue is not about me and you. It's about the Lord. We need to learn from the locusts. Yet they don't have a king, a leader that directs them and guides them. Each to their own, but they live together harmoniously. We need to learn from this insect. If my brother succeeds, it is my success. And if my sister fails, it is my failure.

34:10 And you see, that's what happens even at home. Husband and wife, the family, when they go at each other. To prove what? For the husband to prove that he was right and the wife was wrong or vice versa. If you prove that your partner was wrong, guess what? You are also in the wrong because you chose that person to be your partner in marriage. you needed to put the glasses on before you chose your partner. So when you chose your partner, that's it, tough luck. Now she is not good, she is good. It is your problem who told you to choose her and marry her.

34:50 Anybody home? We need to listen, not walk away. We need to listen. My beloved, humility is the key to success. Humility is the key to success. Christ will choose the humble one, not the prideful one. The humble. The one who does not really care where they sit. Or where they are to be seated. Whether you tell me to sit at the front or at the back. Or even in the street. For me it's the same. Because what matters is not the place. But the owner of the place.

35:42 Is God in the church? Yes. Is he outside of the church? Is God everywhere? Yes. So now. If you're seeking God. What does it matter if you are being honored or dishonored. For the sake of the Lord. It's all beautiful. Some people say the bishop got deposed from the church. Well, let me see what you would do if you get deposed from your position and get a knife in your eye and still preach the gospel. What are you going to do, my friend? No, no. You see, no, no.

36:28 The reason why I'm saying this, I want us all to come and focus. It is about Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You see, the issue is, if I get treated like a king in the church and love Christ, that love is fake. But will I love Christ and then get thrown in the gutter? Now, that is true love if I continue loving him. Christianity is not a sermon. It's not a song. It's not a preach. It's not a service that I do. Christianity is life. I need to live Christ on Good Friday and on Sunday resurrection. I need to love Him in both situations equally. I need to love him when he was dragged in the streets, spat on, kicked, punched, ridiculed and then shredded to pieces.

37:20 I need to love him and I also need to love him when he rose glorified, triumphant from the dead and went up to the heaven of all heavens and sat in glory at the right hand of his beloved father. I need to love him on Good Friday and on Good Sunday. If I only love him on Good Sunday, I am fake Christian. But if I love him on Good Friday, definitely I'll love him on Good Sunday. On Sunday resurrection. Christ wants people that would love him for himself, not for what he does for you. If you're waiting for the Lord to give you something, then you love him, that is a selfish thing. Fake love. But will you love him even when he gives you nothing? Will you love him? Will you love him? I'm not asking you

38:25 now to give an answer. That's a life journey. That's a life journey. You may say yes, but after one week, one month, one year, ten years, you start getting tired. And after the bead goes white You'll really get exhausted. What are you going to do? Pack up and leave? Or persevere? My dear friend, my advice to you, before you talk, think. What do you know about the bishop?

39:04 Don't say what you're not capable of. The locusts, they fly in a swarm without a king, without a leader, but they live in absolute peace and harmony. Verse 28, which is the fourth insect. Verse 28, the spider skillfully grasps with its hands and it is in king's palaces. Look at the book of wisdom, how it talks. Man, this alone is, says that there is God. This is not a man's work here, my beloved. People can't write these things. The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in king's palaces. What does that mean? What is King Solomon trying to teach us here through this book of wisdom? I'll put it in a simple term.

40:14 One day the spider decided to walk into the king's palace. Because it says. But they are in king's palaces. So the spider was walking and saw this big building. Says oh that's beautiful. So and then he decided to walk into the king's palace. So he's a little tiny creature. So he under the door a small opening here there.

40:37 Enters the palace. He says whoa. That is a very expensive place brother. And then he's walking, wandering around, seeing all those family pictures hanging on the walls, very expensive one, Mona Lisa and Shana Lisa and Annalisa and all of them. Oh, Annalisa's here too. And then the spider comes across this extremely expensive crown of the king. And then the spider decides, for no reason, to spend the night in that crown, sleeps in the crown. So he climbs up the crown and on top of it finds a cozy cushion, a nice, very expensive material, cloth, and then it's all diamonds and gold and maybe it's worth a couple of million dollars.

41:33 And the spider sleeps and makes its bed, the crown that is worth $ 2 million, the most expensive The richest man on earth, I don't think their bed is worth $ 2 million. See, the spider lives, you know, much better than the richest man on earth. So the spider sleeps that night and that crown worth $ 2 million. But what does the verse say? It says, the spider skillfully grabs with its hands. And it is in king's palaces. While the spider is sleeping in that extremely expensive crown, but the hands of the spider are clinging on the very strings that it makes, not the crown. I'll read it again.

42:33 The spider skillfully grasps with its hands. What does it grasp with its hands? The string that makes that spider web. So while it's sleeping in that expensive crown, but the hands are not clinging on the crown, they are clinging on the very string that it makes. Who gave the string to the spider? Who can tell me? Who gave the string to the spider? Who said God? No, no, who said God? I want to see you. Absolutely right.

43:15 God God gave that very string to the spider because God created the spider and created everything the spider can make. Look at the spider. The spider is sleeping in a crown worth $ 2 million, but the hands of the spider are only clinging on what God gave it, nothing else outside of that. What are our hands clinging on to?

43:44 What God gave us? Or what others have. Look at the next door neighbor. They just got a new Mercedes Benz. Shame on you husband. He's still driving that old Ford. A piece of wreck. Every time she leaves the house with a different dress. I've been putting this on for the last 20 years. And that young man bought his fiance a 50,000 diamond ring for the wedding. And you are trying to bluff me and get me a $ 2, 000 ring for my wedding? What are you clinging on? What is within your capacity? That's all yours. What's not? Don't try to make it yours because you'll be found as a thief. The spider is content with what God gave it.

44:56 Even though it's an expensive crown. But I will not stretch my hand on something God never gave me. I'll only hold on to what God gave me. That piece of string. Maybe the string is worth a couple of cents. But to the spy that says, this is the most precious gift God ever gave me. How to be a faithful Christian. Four lessons how to be a faithful Christian.

45:37 Number one, the ants. What do the ants teach me? How to rely on God always. How to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you always and not on your own intellect. Let God navigate your life on earth since He is the one who created this life. He is the one who gave it. He is the one who created you, created everything and everyone. He is the only one that knows how everyone and everything functions. perfectly let the creator navigate your life on earth do not rely on yourself but rely on God the Holy Spirit that has dwelt in you that was sent from God the Father in Jesus Christ name to dwell in you through the baptismal font through the sacrament of baptism to be in you to be your source of life and

46:36 wisdom and guide your steps in this journey so that you can make it to the shores of heaven at the end intact in one piece how to become a faithful christian one rely on god never rely on yourself and on your own wisdom but on god's wisdom who is the holy spirit these are the ends Number two, the rock badger. We learn that we need to make Christ the rock of all ages, our salvation. We are feeble.

47:13 We are weak. We can't dig. We can't build homes for ourselves. We can't safeguard our life. It is Christ, the savior that can save you only. Don't ever think you can survive without the Lord. Do not. He is the ark. Are you in the ark or outside of it? Because let me tell you, if you were the best swimmer in the world and outside the ark, you drowned.

47:44 And the rabbit that can never swim, that was inside the ark, was saved. It is not what you know and who you are. Are you in Christ or not? This is the question you need to answer. Be the rock badger. Feeble weak yet finds its home in the rock and the rock is Christ Find your home in Christ make him your home and What does it mean make him your home meaning at the end of the day?

48:17 I have a place to go to I? Call home I Don't sleep in any strange places I Because I have home. Called Christ. Amen. So from the rock badger. I can't make it. Unless Christ. Is the rock of my salvation. The locust. We learn from the locust. On how to trust in God. Even though they fly together. One big swarm. One big group. with no king, with no leader. But they have one thing. They have surpassed the human race. They trust God that even if I arrive first or last, God will always provide. Therefore, never be jealous, never be disheartened, never argue, never fight. What God gave your neighbor has given you. What God gave your brother has given you. What God gave your sister has given you. What are you arguing? What are you

49:28 fighting for? Be like the locust, trusting in God. And number four, spider, contentment. I'm content with the strings. Yes, it's a very expensive crown, but God never gave me the crown, so I will never be somebody God never created me to be. I'm a spider, I'm not a king. If your nose is big, be happy. And if your ears are big, be happy. And if you're not as beautiful as the other girl, be happy. You're beautiful in your own way. There is no competition. Hey, my darling, my daughter, my love, my sweetheart, I love you to death, my daughter. There is nothing to compete here. God created you for himself, not for you. God wants you the way you are. The way you are, present yourself to him.

50:31 Let him make you beautiful. Don't try hard to make yourself beautiful because you'll ruin it and you'll look like the lips of Nemo. Sorry, I mean well. But why are you pumping these lips, why? Leave them alone. I don't know if it's a traffic light or something. I'm not sure. You can't tell if they're smiling or not smiling.

51:05 It's the same. Don't focus on the external. But you need to focus on the internal more than anything else. Four lessons that will make you a better Christian. That will make you a better follower of the Lord Jesus. Four things. The ants. Rely on Christ, not on yourself. Number two, rock badger. Confined in Christ and make him your home. Number three, the locust. Trust in the Lord and don't ever, don't ever Suspect or be suspicious that he has forgotten me and walk away from me trust.

52:00 He's always there for you He has never left you never will no matter what? You better trust in this Fly like the focus like the locust but They don't have a king but you do His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen make him your king and Finally the spider Be content, my child. And be happy with what God has given you. Do not put too much load on yourself that is unnecessary. You know what's happening?

52:39 And I'll leave you with this. Thank you, Elias. I'll leave you with this. The reason why we start having problems at home, I'm not saying this is the only reason, but this is one of the reasons, definitely. Because we're putting too much load on ourself that we can't stretch ourself this much. An example, I have a little house, I wanna make it bigger. I have a small car, I wanna make it bigger. I have 5,000 in the bank account, I wanna make it 500,000. And the 500,000, I wanna make it $ 500 million. But it's never ending. Why?

53:15 Because when you chase the world, the world is like the ocean, my beloved. The water is salty. The more you drink, the thirstier you become. You will never reach contentment. And this is the deception of the old serpent, Satan the snake. He's deceiving you, saying, come on, you can do it. Come on, a little bit more. Come on, push yourself. You can achieve. You can be greater. You can be stronger. But that is a lie. You're chasing a mirage. It's not water. Give it up. Give it up.

53:57 Thank God for what you have. See what happens. When I go and buy a house that is beyond my budget, when I go and buy a car that is beyond my capacity, when I go and do things that are outside of my reach, what happens now? The debt is beyond the limit. I'll start doing one, two, three jobs running like a chook without a head. As a father, as a husband, where is your wife? Where are your children?

54:29 And before you know it, I've aged. I've been running 20s to provide, but I'm becoming older. I can't keep on running. I can't keep on chasing the mirage because one day sooner or later, I will collapse because the sun in the desert is treacherous. It is fatal. Satan is that sun in the desert. He will burn you out and he will drop you on the wayside. Between living and dead. I got older. I didn't even enjoy my kids. They grew. And I didn't even know how, when, what happened. And now, my daughter is as a stranger.

55:14 My son is getting married. And I didn't even enjoy a moment with my son, with my daughter. Because I was too busy paying the debts. What does it benefit a man if he gains the whole world but at the end loses himself? What does it benefit a man to live in a mansion but has no life, no family, no time to enjoy? You may look at an expensive mansion from outside and say, oh, how lucky they are.

55:49 even though the word lucky doesn't exist in the Christian index. But I'm going along with you guys. You know, how lucky they are. This is a worldly talk. How lucky are we say how blessed. Who says? You're saying it. You're looking from outside. Go inside this mansion and sit five minutes with the people of this mansion. You will see them, the most miserable people on the face of this planet. Because peace, happiness, joy, success, prosperity, you know, and enlightenment, only God gives. No one else. When you have God, even if you live in a little hut, you're the happiest and the richest person on earth. When Christ is your Lord, your King, your Savior, the rock of salvation. Amen? I went to the Philippines back in 2015.

56:39 And they took us to this remote place where cars can't get to, there are no roads to it. They are absolutely off the radar. So we got in this little scooter and little box. I was squashed in it. And bumping and my head was hitting that roof, which was like, you know, crushing me down. Finally, we get to this place after half an hour of bumpy ride.

57:04 And then we get to this place. It's in the middle of nowhere. People are living in a little hut made out of, I don't know what, some rusted material. It was like a little tiny one. One whole family came out of this little circle. I wouldn't say would be maybe two meters in diameter or three meters in diameter.

57:24 Wouldn't be more than that. Just a little box, a circle. Whole family lived there. It's a room, it's a kitchen, it's bathroom, it's everything. And there was a couple of huts there. They came... Expecting the good-looking bishop all the way from Sydney, Australia. And I arrived there. My heart got broken. But look how rich these people are in God.

57:54 They put food on the table. I'll call it a table. But they put food. And there was bottles of Pepsi inside. The priest who was accompanying me said, Father, they can't afford what you see on the table. They did it for you. And one of the food was a cooked chicken. I'm vegetarian. I don't eat meat. And I said to the father, but I don't eat meat. He said, you know what, Bishop? I said, what? He said, this was the only chicken they had. They slain it, cooked it for you. And he said, they don't have the money, so they must have borrowed from here, there to buy you a bottle of Pepsi. How could I eat? How could I drink anymore? I'll be stuck here, can't. But then I stopped and I thought for a moment, They

58:58 put me to shame, these people, with their faith in the Lord. They put me to shame. Yeah? So do you think faith is about I stand here and I preach? Oh, look at him. Or do you think I sing a song or I write a book or I do something? No. You need to live Christ. You need to live Christ. They have nothing but they have God. Smile on their faces.

59:26 So content. So content. Let me see what we would do if we would not live there all our life, but spend one hour of our life there. Then we'll see what kind of Christians we are and what kind of a substance we're made out of. My beloveds, you need to live the Lord. It's not about my canon law and your canon law and my dogma and your dogma.

1:00:03 Go and eat dolma. Honestly, when are we going to grow up and live the Lord? Till now we're attacking one another as Christians and the world is laughing at us. And the world is doing whatever it wants and we are asleep because they asked the Lord Jesus, Lord, didn't you sow the good seed? Where did this bad seed come from, the tares? He said, while people were asleep, the enemy planted it. While the church leaders went to sleep.

1:00:39 Because they're asleep. Arguing with one another. Fighting against each other. And excommunicating one another. They're too busy with their canon laws. And their ecclesiastical orders. And the likes. And the enemies laughing. And coming and planting the tares. In the midst of the good seed. Which the son of man planted. Who is Christ the king. When are we going to wake up? Ants, rely on God, who is Christ Jesus. Rock badgers, make Christ your home, the rock of salvation. Locusts, trust in the Lord, not on yourself or in yourself. And spiders, thank God for what he has given you and cling on it. Do not be envious of what your next door neighbor has, what God gave you. Be grateful and thankful.

1:01:47 And then see what God will do for you. Amen? Alright. And I feel good. Very good. Nobody's singing? That's alright. I'll sing. And I will always love That's C minor. Or B flat. But B flat suspended. Or augmented. See? I know all the chords. I'm not just a face. You know what I mean? There you go. You know, don't ever complicate things. And don't ever be a show-off as a Christian. Don't go and force Christ in people's throats and I'll say hello to you and I'll laugh with you and I'll make a joke but inside of me I'm talking to my Lord you don't need to know and I don't need to tell you I'll be sitting with you and having the good old chin wag and having the beautiful bush tucker meat pie mate and

1:03:12 the prawns on the barbie but I'm still talking with my Lord I'm in a birthday party and everybody's laughing and everybody's talking and everybody's singing and dancing but I am dancing with the Lord. I'm in the church and hundreds and thousands and millions of people watching and listening but I am listening to the Lord. It's the Lord.

1:03:37 No one else. Because one day this truth the Lord will reveal to all It was all along about him. Nothing else, no one else. It was all about him. Blessed is the soul that glorifies him for what goes around comes around. What you plant, you will harvest. You glorify the Lord, he will glorify you. You remember him, he will remember you. You honor him, he will honor you.

1:04:10 You sacrifice for him, he will sacrifice. He's already done it. He's already done it. Make him the crown of your glory and let the spiders live there.