Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel – Why You Feel Worried and Empty Inside (Part 2)

0:00 Well, our topic, as some of you or most of you know by now, is this series of lectures regarding relationship in Christ. Last week, we spoke about how to expand God's kingdom or the kingdom of God. Today's continued series of this lectures, Relationship in Christ, will be at least of two parts. We will not be able to finish it in one session, but we may need two, the least, if not three sessions. So today is the first part, which is how to develop our belief system.

0:40 It will be quite sort of involved today. So I pray by the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the message will be delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit. and conveyed in a way where we can all relate and connect with the topic because it's quite a complex topic and a very involved one on how to develop our belief system. So I will try by the grace of the Lord to be as easy as possible, as simple as possible, as easy as possible. Alright, so let's dig into it. Developing a godly belief system. Developing a godly belief system. St. Paul writes his epistle to the Romans 12 to and says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Do not be conformed to this world,

1:45 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We are talking about how do we develop a godly belief system. Why do we think the way we think? Why do some people naturally forgive while others hold grudges? Why does one person choose Christ while another chooses the world? The answer is found in our belief system. All of these questions, why, why, why, it all lies in our belief system, the way we believe.

2:25 My beloveds, every decision begins with a belief. If you don't believe in it, you never decide on it. Every decision begins with a belief. Nobody wakes up and suddenly becomes greedy, loving, holy, or hateful. Nobody. It takes a very long time to get to where we are right now. It doesn't happen overnight. Now, every action begins with a thought.

3:04 I said just shortly before, it's quite involved, but I'm trying to make it as simple as possible. Every action begins with a thought. And every thought is measured against a belief. And every belief shapes our character. And our beliefs eventually become our habits. Become our habits. And King Solomon in Proverbs 23, 7, he says, for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. In other words, whatever you're thinking of, eventually you will implement and do.

3:52 And whatever you do, that's who you are. Yes, whatever you think of, eventually you will do. And whatever you do, that will reflect who you truly are. You think of showing an act of love and then you go and implement it into an act of love. Then they're going to say to you, this person is a loving person.

4:20 Whatever you think of, you will do. And whatever you do is who you really are. Now, let's come to this. What is a belief system? It is the collection of principles and values we use to decide what is right and what is wrong. Through the belief system, we get to decide what is right and what is wrong. Without a belief system, there is no right, no wrong. So it is through the belief system we get to decide that. Now, again, under the belief system, a belief system influences our decisions, our relationships, our emotions, our priorities, and our worship. That is all being influenced by how we believe. We continue under the same header. Every single day, our belief system answers questions such as, should I forgive? Should I lie?

5:32 Who likes to lie? Should I lie? Should I pray? Should I gossip? Oh, what a topic. I think we need to talk about gossiping one day. Unbelievable. Should I gossip or should I trust God? This is all under our belief system. Now, everyone has a belief system. Every single one of us Has a belief system. But the question is. The real question is. Who built it? Who built this belief system? We all do have it. But who built it? Where did my belief system come from?

6:20 Our beliefs are influenced by. Parents. Number uno. Number one. Our belief system comes from our parents. Oh, secondly, friends. Is that sort of familiar? Friends. Culture. Social media. Another interesting topic. School. Amazing. Church. Yes. Christ the Good Shepherd Church. 32 Box Road. Wakely. New South Wales 2176. The good old looking bishop. That is the church. And the Holy Bible.

6:59 And also personal experiences that we learn as we grow older and older. Now, who influences us the most? Well, the most is family and friends. The most influential people in any one of us' life is family and then friends. So vital, my beloved, that we get to choose the right friends. It is extremely vital because the Holy Bible tells us and teaches us that a friend is closer to you than your own brother. A friend is closer to you than your own brother. I ask you, my beloved, who is closer to you than your own brother? Who can tell me? Who is closer to you than your own brother? I'll cut it short. It is only made possible in marriage. The couple, the husband and wife. The husband is the closest to the wife than her own brother.

8:08 And the wife is the closest to the husband than his own brother. Therefore, what the Bible is trying to tell us, the Holy Bible, that friends are so influential, they are closer to us than our own brother's, Meaning, be so careful and cautious on who to choose to be your friend because at the end, your friend will shape your values. If you choose them wisely, you will be successful. And if you choose them poorly, they will cause you a lot of headaches and a lot of heartaches.

8:49 All right. So now, many people unknowingly allow the world to shape their beliefs. Because the moment we start slacking off and taking things easy, we allow the worldly matters to shape our belief system without even realizing it because I haven't been cautious enough. I haven't been focused enough. Now, but as Christians, who should shape our belief system? Only one, Jesus Christ. That's the only one we should allow to shape our belief system. No one else. Amen? Amen. Are you sure? Are you really sure? Very good. Now, this next point is extremely vital. We are created in God's image.

9:48 We read in Genesis 127, the Holy Bible tells us the following. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him. Male and female. he created them adam and eve not adam and steve adam and eve so god created man in his own image he created him in his own image male and female he created them Now, when you say God's image, what does that mean? Please pay attention. It's not on the screen. Look at this good looking face. When we say God's image, we mean God creating a world with heaven and earth reality. And then an image at its center, at its heart. God creating heaven and earth reality. Reality.

10:53 God creating a world with heaven and earth reality and an image placed in the core, in the heart, in the center of this reality, heaven and earth. You read that in Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. So God created the heavens and the earth and in the heart of this world, He put His image. He put his image. Now, when you bring heaven and earth together in this space, what do you call this? We call this a temple. When you bring heaven and earth together, we call this a temple.

11:38 And what is a temple? A home where God dwells, divinity dwells. So when God created the heavens and the earth, in his mind, he was creating a home for himself. And the center of this home was his image. And the center of this home was his image. Therefore, God created us differently from every other creature. Human beings are the only creation of God that is different to all other God's creations. My beloveds, please pay attention. You want to get to know the city of Sydney. You want to know where to go, how to go, how to navigate through the city of Sydney, all of it. Will you be able to know how Sydney operates, functions, and how you maneuver between all the streets and the alleys and the roads of Sydney by just going and focusing

12:42 on Martin Place? Or focusing on George Street? Or focusing on the Darling Harbour? If you focus on that part only, will you be able to know what Sydney is all about? No. No. When will you be able to know how Sydney is all about? When you explore all of Sydney. True? It is exactly in this concept when you come to know God, you cannot know God by reading just the Gospel of Matthew.

13:14 You cannot know God by reading just Genesis. Or you cannot know God by just reading bits and pieces from both Old and New Testament. I ask this question to our beloved Christian people. Have you read the Holy Bible? Some are hesitant. Have you read the New Testament only? Some will put their hands up. Have you read the Old Testament only? Some will put their hands up. I'll say, have you read? Bits and pieces from old and new, majority put their hand up. If you have read only bits and pieces of the Bible, you will never be able to know what God wants from you. Because you can't know Sydney by knowing Martin Place only bits and pieces.

14:04 It's either the whole city or forget it. And if you try by navigating through Sydney by knowing only Martin Place, you will be lost in the streets of Sydney. Until you explore it all. So by knowing God in bits and pieces, doesn't work. That's why we get into trouble. Now my beloved, the whole creation, heaven and earth Joined together as a home for God. The whole creation, heaven and earth, joined together as a home for God. Just like the temple. Inside that temple, there is that image.

14:57 That image to do what? What is the image in the temple? To reveal God to the worshipers and then to convey the worship of the people back to God. So the image's role is to reveal God to the worshipers and to convey the worship of the people back to God. That is the image. God gets revealed through the image to His all creations and then the worship of the creations through the image back to God. Now, when God created heaven and earth and He put His image in the heart of these two worlds and He put them together, you know who's... Who is God's image here? You.

16:01 You are the image. Genesis 1.26 Let us go down and make man in our own image. So the human being is the image of God in these two worlds, heaven and earth. In the Old Testament, please pay attention. In the Old Testament, when you read it, you don't see the word image being mentioned quite often. It's not that often. It is mentioned when God creates the man.

16:41 He says, I created him in my own image. And also you will find the word image mentioned by God when it came to false gods. Carved images. He said, do not worship carved images. Why? Because carved images are dead. And since they are dead, they can only reflect dead gods like it. Because the image is the reflection of the true living God. And if the image is dead, that means the one who created that image is as dead as the image. Are you with me? You know, my beloved, listen to this. In the olden days, Caesar, like Augustus Caesar, the Roman emperor, what he would do, Caesar, he would put statues, his image, Throughout his entire empire. Why?

17:42 He would put it in every province, in every city, in every town to tell the people of his entire empire that I am your king. When you look at this statue, which is my image, you will know who is your king and who is ruling over you. So those statues which were the image of the king placed everywhere were reflecting to the people who is the king or the emperor of the entire Roman Empire. So now, and also that image was inscribed on coins, currencies. Now we come to the New Testament. The Lord Jesus was in the temple talking. And then these Pharisees and scribes came to try and trap him in corner of the Lord Jesus. They said, is it okay to give tax to Caesar? The Lord Jesus asked for a coin, denarii,

18:47 a coin. When they gave him the coin, the Lord Jesus asked this profound question. He said, whose image, whose image And superscription is on this coin. Whose image and writing is on this coin? They replied and said, it is Caesar's. Do you know when the Lord Jesus said whose image and superscription or the writing? Do you know what the writing was on that coin at the time of the Lord Jesus? I'll tell you what the writing was.

19:25 It says, Caesar is now the son of God. And the true high priest. Caesar is now the son of God. And the true high priest. And look at this. Who's holding the coin? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Is holding the coin. And he is reading the inscription on it. The superscription on it. And he's saying. Caesar. is now the son of God and the true high priest and Jesus Christ is the true son of the living God and the true high priest forever forever and ever my beloved wow amazing what the Lord has said thereafter, he says, render what is Caesar's to Caesar and what is God's to God.

20:17 If you knew that the image is of Caesar's on this coin, therefore the coin belongs to Caesar. Haven't you realized whose image is imprinted on you? Aren't you created in the image of God? Then you belong to God. Therefore, since we are the image of God, then we owe it all to God. All myself belongs to him. Because his image is imprinted on me. So the coin belongs to Caesar. And all of me belong to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The king of all kings. And the Lord of all lords. Amen. We are made in God's image.

21:06 We owe it all to him. See, the Lord Jesus was anointed to be king. Psalm 267. And the high priest, Hebrews 8.1. When you read in Psalm 2.6, he's the king forever. And Hebrews 8.1, he's the high priest forever. Now, since he was anointed to be king and priest, then he sums up the position and the rank he has.

21:35 He is of the royal priesthood. Therefore, since Jesus Christ is the royal priesthood, we are chosen generation to be royal priesthood as well. As far as 1 Peter 2.9 says. 1 Peter 2.9, he says, we are a chosen generation descending as a royal priesthood. Since Christ is the royal priesthood, we descend from him. Then we are a royal priesthood.

22:09 Coming from the Lord Jesus lineage. Now another thing. Christ is the image of God. Colossians 115. And when you read in Hebrew 1.3. What Saint Paul says. Christ is the brightness of God's glory. And the express image of his person. Christ is the full and perfect image of God. What did we say the image does? Reveals God to the creation. And the creation worship is conveyed back through the image to God. Christ on earth is the perfect image of God. Through Jesus Christ, God in fullness was revealed to humanity. And then those who believed in him, they started worshiping God through the image of God who is Jesus Christ. And that worship was conveyed through Jesus, the image back to God again. Because love is a

23:16 two-way street. God loved us by sending his beloved son. And if we love him back, the only way I can love God back is when I love God through Jesus. Because the only perfect and complete image of God on earth is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So now, what are we as Christians? Small images. Like Caesar. When he was the king over the Roman Empire, he put statues, his image, everywhere throughout the empire. So now, we as Christians are small images placed by Jesus Christ, the king, everywhere in his kingdom to do what? To reveal Jesus Christ to the world and then bring the world to Jesus to worship him through us. The images that represent and reflect the king on earth. In his kingdom. Are you with me?

24:16 So as a Christian, you cannot afford to reflect Satan in your life. You are not the image of Satan. You are the image of Christ. Of God. Who is Jesus Christ. So good. So now, please, please. When you read that we are created in the image of God, remember, God chose this human being to reveal Him to the world.

24:49 And then through this human being, to get to people who are distant from Him, and through this human being, to bring those lost sheep back to Him, so they worship God once again. We are now the center of all this. Christ is the fullness of that image. We are little images of Christ on earth. But he's the complete image. God is fully revealed through Christ. But through us, you know, One of us is kind. The other one is a preacher. The other one is a healer. The other one is, you know, merciful. One of us is long-suffering, patient.

25:33 All of these reflecting the image of God to the people who are godless. So as Christians, we need to lift Christ on earth and reflect the image of the king. Because only the king's image is imprinted on the coins. And we are the coin of God. Are you with me so far? Thank God. Now, we are created in God's image. To understand our belief system, we first need to understand ourselves. Are you ready? I told you, it's not that. I'm trying to be as simple as possible. Okay.

26:23 We are created in God's image. We were created body, soul, and spirit. Where do we find this? St. Paul tells us very clearly in 1 Thessalonians 5.23. In 1 Thessalonians 5.23, St. Paul says, Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

26:52 So 1 Thessalonians 5.23 states clearly beyond any doubt that the human being is made out of three components, body, soul, and spirit. Very clear. Where is it? The first component, the body. The body connects us to the physical world. How does the body connect us to the physical world? Through five ways. The five senses, which is sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. So the body is the one that connects us to the outer world, and it connects us through the five senses of the body, which is sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. This is the only way that we are connected to the external world. Now, the body Has certain works.

27:44 The works of the flesh. What does the Holy Bible say about the works of the flesh? Very dangerous. The body has desires. The body has desires. Listen to this. Without God, these desires become passions. The word passions is used by church fathers a lot. Church fathers do not speak about desires of the body, but rather the passions of the body. Because when the desire becomes distant from God, that desire turns into a passion, meaning a sinful way.

28:21 So now, these passions such as lust, anger, drunkenness, selfish ambitions, And you'll find this list in Galatians 5, 19 to 21. So when somebody is selfish, when somebody is boastful, when somebody... Blame your body. What are you watching, my dear friend? What are you drinking? And selfish ambitions. You say, as long as I succeed, I don't care about no one else. Wow. Selfish. Amazing.

29:08 Let's continue with the body and the works of the flesh. The body in its nature is not evil. The body is not evil, but... When separated from God, it becomes ruled by sinful passions. You see, when this body is detached from the Almighty God, those desires of the body change into passions, sinful passions. Now, the body must not become our master. Don't ever be. enslaved to this body don't let this body drag you in the streets and those dark alleys of the downtown brother don't go clubbing don't go drinking gambling alcoholism drugs men women in between baby This is all the deeds of the body. Do not be enslaved to it. So what do you need to do? Saint Paul says, this is what I will do to the body in order to gain Christ. 1

30:11 Corinthians 9.27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. I tie it up. And when it tells me, let's go to the club, I'll say, shut up. When it tells me, let's drink scotch on the rock, I'll say, shut up. When it tells me, sniff this white powder, I say, shut up. When it tells me, let's go to Istanbul and have a facelift, I say, shut up.

30:40 When it tells me to turn my lips into that Nemo fish, I say, shut up. Naughty, naughty body. Smack the body. And say you are a nobody. Don't ever think you are everybody. You're nobody. Alright? Will you do that? Will you do that? Why are you quiet? You're scared? You see? The body. The body, body, body. Okay, now we go to the second component of the human being.

31:19 The spirit. We read in Genesis 2, 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. The spirit came from God from within him and into the nostrils of Adam. And Adam became a living being. The source of life is God.

31:47 That's why science can advance as much as it wants. Scientists can advance as much as they want. There will never ever come a time where people, humans, can create life. They can create a cell, yes, but it is a dead cell. Because God created the cell and cell in its own nature is dead. But then God breathed into the cell the spirit of life. And when that spirit that came from God gave life to that cell. Therefore, God is the only creator of life. God is the only giver of life. God is the only taker of life.

32:27 No one can ever take this role because God will never make it happen. He will make sure of that. So scientists can speak and swim in their imaginations. They will never be able to create life. Never. Only God is the only source. Amen. So what is the role of the spirit? The spirit gives life. The spirit communes with God. And the spirit longs for eternity. The spirit loves going to church. The body loves going to the club.

33:11 The spirit loves drinking the blood of Christ. The body loves drinking the alcohol of this world. The wine of this world. The spirit wants to be in the light. The body wants to be in darkness. The spirit wants to be with Christ. The body wants to be with Satan. The spirit wants to live. The body wants to die.

33:35 No good. No good at all. It longs for eternity. Look at one of our church fathers, Saint Isaac of Nineveh. Nineveh is a city in Iraq, Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization where this good old looking bishop and many more like me come from that part of the world. I come from Iraq. I'm a very proud Assyrian and a very proud Iraqi. So should you be With your heritage.

34:03 Don't ever lose track of your heritage. Monoculturalism does not at all mean that you deny your heritage. So leave Pauline Hanson alone, okay? All right, so St. Isaac says the soul, by the way, church fathers, when they spoke about the soul, they meant the spirit as well. Very close. So he says the soul or the spirit naturally, naturally longs for God. naturally longs for God. So the spirit doesn't have to think about it. It just longs for God automatically, naturally. Now we're going to come to the third component and this is the rest of the evening and it's quiet and interesting topic which is the third component being the soul. That's where all the trouble lies.

35:00 That's all. Is it still hot? Thank God. Here we go. The soul is the center of our personality. And it includes, one, conscious, the spiritual mind. Two, subconscious. I'll come to these later on. There is the conscious, which as far as psychology is concerned. And there is the spiritual mind as far as the theology, Christian theology is concerned. And the third one is the will.

35:36 Fourth is the thought. Fifth is the emotions. Five things make up the soul. Conscious, subconscious, will, thought, emotions. These five components make up your soul, my soul, and every human soul. Doesn't matter you're a Christian or not. All of us have the same thing. All of us. Now, the soul, my beloved... Is the center of our personality as we mentioned. It is also. Where spiritual battles are fought.

36:12 All your struggles. All your uppercuts. All your you know. War. All of that happens within the soul. Today. We are exploring who we are. You'd be surprised. We may think we know ourselves. But. The question is, how much do we know of ourselves? Very little. Very little, my beloved. Again, the five components of the soul are conscious, subconscious, will, thought, emotions.

36:52 These are the five components of the soul. Now, Christian theology says, speaks more broadly of the soul's faculties rather than defining rigid psychological compartments. So today, we're not going to be focusing too much on the psychological aspect of the makeup of the soul, but rather the theological aspect, Christian theological aspect of the components of the soul. We'll be focusing on that more so. But we will address the psychological aspect of it along the way. Now, which part...

37:28 Makes the decisions. It's not the body. It is not your emotions. It is the will that chooses. The will is one of the five components of the soul. So when you make a decision. How were you able to make that decision? Through the will. How were you able? Through the will. The conscious mind presents the choice. And the will acts on it. So your conscious mind presents the choice and then the will decides to say yes to this or no to that. Now, let's come now to what is the conscious mind. The conscious mind is our awareness of what we are thinking, what we are choosing, how we are feeling and doing. All this your conscious mind does. You think the way you think, the way you choose, the way you feel, the way you do things.

38:34 And it is where we think, reason, make decisions, discern right from wrong, and choose whether to obey God. This is all through the conscious mind. Now in 1 Corinthians 14, 15, St. Paul says, I will pray with the spirit and I will also pray with the understanding. Now in the New King James Version, the translation understanding means the mind. So St.

39:08 Paul is saying, I will pray with the spirit and I will also pray with the mind. Because the mind is to do with understanding. So in the original text, is not understanding it's the mind but what does the mind do gives you understanding now my beloved oh I'll go back to it okay what is Saint Paul he is saying please now stay awake please very vital Saint Paul is saying that there is two parts to prayer he says I will pray with the spirit and I will also pray with the mind So in order to pray or to be able to pray, you cannot pray just with the spirit. You cannot just pray with the mind.

39:59 You must, you have to pray with the mind and the spirit together at the same time. That's what he's saying. So for prayer to be made possible, the mind and the spirit must pray together. And the only way for them to pray together, meaning they have to be united in harmony. This is one of the biggest reasons why we struggle when we come to pray. Have you tried it?

40:33 Every time you come and pray, you'll start remembering things 400 years ago. Prior to praying, you are absolutely empty. You can't even recall what happened five minutes ago. The moment you come and pray, oh, you start remembering, oh, the food is on fire. The clothes are in the washing machine. Oh, it's my cousin's birthday. Oh, I forgot to buy this. You're praying and you're making a shopping list in your head. And then you struggle with it.

41:03 You become so fed up, angry. I can't stand this up. Enough is enough. I'm not praying. Let's watch a movie. Who's experienced this? Come on, come on, be honest. Shout out. If you don't put your hand up, that means like you are the mighty saints. I'm very worried now about you. We need to have a confessional session with you, my dear friend. Because you're not telling the truth. So now let's go further. Are we excited? What is the conscious mind?

41:47 When we hear the word mind, we often think of the brain. When we hear the word mind, we often think of the brain. But scripture teaches that there is something much deeper than the brain. The mind, my beloved, The spiritual mind in the Greek language, they refer to it as nous. I hope I'm pronouncing correctly. I'm not Greek, you know, but I'm trying. Therese has to teach me how to speak Greek. So the word nous is the spiritual mind, which is much deeper than your brain. Now, the conscious mind, It's the gatekeeper of our decisions. Every choice first passes through our conscious awareness before the will acts.

42:42 So the conscious is the gatekeeper of choices coming in in order for the will to act upon them. So if I choose not to allow this thing to enter, then the will will not act on something I rejected. But if I accepted the thing, automatically the will will react and will act upon it and will decide on it and choose it. The moment the will chooses it, you are, that's it, too late. And I pray it was a good choice. Because once the will acts, finito. Now, The Christian understanding of the conscious mind, nous, or in other words, the spiritual mind. What is the nous? The Greek word nous means our spiritual mind or spiritual eye.

43:41 Have you heard this being mentioned in any preaching or said to you? You need to, Lord, open my spiritual eye. I pray that your spiritual eye is open. If you've heard this, that's what the word news is. The spiritual mind or the spiritual eye. Now I need you to focus more and more. You fall asleep, you'll wash my car in this cold weather. Now, it is the faculty by which we know God. So the spiritual mind or the spiritual eye is the only way to get to know God. It is more than intelligence. It is more than intelligence. Intelligence is not necessarily the mean to get to knowing God. So many intelligent people yet atheists. You wonder.

44:41 You wonder. This man is so educated. What's wrong? Why can't he believe in God? See, so intelligence is not enough for you to know God. You need the spiritual eye to be opened to know God. It is the spiritual perception. News is the spiritual perception, my beloved. Please pay attention. You will find some biblical verses where they will be coming to light for you for the first time maybe. And you've read them before, but you never understood it this way. Look what the Lord Jesus is saying in Matthew 5, 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall what? See God.

45:33 You know, when you dive deeper and deeper and deeper into the Holy Bible, you'll come to one conclusion. Without any doubt at all. This is the word of God. And Jesus Christ is God himself. Because the way the Lord Jesus speaks. In so simple terms. In so simple words. Yet they are so deep. They are so complex. Wow.

46:05 He never went to Oxford University. He never went to Notre Dame University. He never went to any universities. We never heard that Jesus Christ graduated from university. The uneducated person is the teacher of all generations. Incredible. Source of wisdom. God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

46:33 Matthew 5, 8. The purified mind, or nous, the spiritual eye, the purified mind sees the truth as the healthy eye sees the light. Who says this? Our church fathers. The purified mind, the nous, the spiritual eye, the purified mind sees the truth as the healthy eye sees the light. So you need A pure spiritual eye knows in order to see God. And when you see God, you're seeing the truth. And what did the Lord Jesus say about the truth? And the truth shall set you free. While we are still in bondage, we haven't been set free by the truth. In other words, I haven't seen God yet.

47:23 My spiritual eyes are not opened. My physical, biological eyes are opened. But my spiritual is blind. I need it to be open. Now, let's go further. Please, if you get tired, let me know. Not that I'm going to care, but it doesn't matter. I'm just trying to keep you awake. Because it's a, trust me, like this topic is extremely complex.

47:47 And I'm trying to put it as simple as possible. Now, the Christian understanding of the conscious mind, again, noose. Christianity teaches that the noose is not simply our intellect. It's not. I'll give you an example why it's not simply our intellect. An example. You have a brilliant scientist, may have a brilliant intellect, but still have a dark and noose if he rejects God. So he is, as far as the intellectual capacity, brilliant at it. But since he rejected God, his spiritual eye is blind. And the fool says there is no God. Very intelligent. But when he says there is no God, he talks like a fool. Because the spiritual eye is blind. They put lecturers, scientists, biologists at university levels, you know why, deliberately, atheists to the core,

48:50 to brainwash the young generation and take them away from God, sons of the snake. But the Lord is faithful. He put someone like me to remind you Jesus exists. There you go, baby. I'm going to lecture at Sydney University tomorrow, don't worry. Now, look at this scientist who is brilliant in his intellect, but because he rejected God, he is blind.

49:19 But we come to a humble saint, to a humble saint living in a cave in the desert, in the middle of nowhere. A humble saint living in a cave with very little education may possess a purified noose, the spiritual eye, because his heart is Has become united with Christ. So what opens the spiritual eye. Is not your intelligence.

49:46 It is. Your heart connected with Christ. Even if you're not educated. God is not seeking educated people. God is seeking your heart. Not your head. Your heart. And we'll come to the heart. Now let's move further. Mind, brain, and heart. Let's come to the brain. What is the brain? It's a physical organ. Possesses information. Dies with the body.

50:18 The body dies. The brain dies with it. Bye-bye. That is the brain. Now what is the spiritual mind? Noose. It's a spiritual perception. Knows God and needs purification. Now, please pay attention to this last one. The nous, the spiritual I, needs purification. Needs purification. Very important. Now, what is the spiritual heart? Or, in Greek, the spiritual heart is kartia. Kartia, yeah? Cardia. Cardia. Cardia. See? Cardia. And that's where we get cardiac arrest. Cardiac is a Greek word.

51:10 It's not in English. So cardia means the heart. So what is the spiritual heart? It's the cardia, which is the center of the whole person. The dwelling place of grace. The dwelling place of grace. It is the source of life. Now look at the Holy Bible now. Oops, oops, let's go back. Proverbs 4.23. The book of Proverbs written by King Solomon teaches you wisdom. How to be wise on earth.

51:46 Proverbs 4.23. Look at this. Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. So where does life come out of? The heart, my beloved. The source of life is the heart. And it's not the heart that pumps blood. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

52:16 Not whatsoever. This is a spiritual heart. Much bigger, much deeper, much more profound. The Christian understanding of the spiritual heart. The Bible often speaks of the heart. Not the physical heart. The spiritual heart, or we can call it the spiritual subconscious. Everything flows from there. From the spiritual heart, everything flows.

52:46 Now listen to this, my beloved. It's not on the screen, so look at this good-looking bishop. The Lord Jesus in Matthew 15, 19 says something extremely deep. Look at the Lord. And the Lord Jesus in Matthew 15, 19 precisely talks about the spiritual heart where he says, For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. Because... They came and criticized the Lord Jesus. Why are your disciples eating with unclean hands?

53:20 He said it is not what enters your mouth defiles you. But rather what comes out of your mouth. Because what enters your mouth goes into your stomach and then gets eliminated. But what comes out of you is what defiles a man. For out of the heart of man all evil comes out. So it's not the blood. It's not the pump that pumps blood. No, no. This is the heart where everything comes out of there. Whether it's life or whether it's death.

53:52 Depending what you've done with your conscious, with your spiritual eye, with your senses, with everything that has impacted your spiritual heart and then determine what comes out of that depth of your entire being. Are you with me now? It'll get better. Much harder. Don't worry. So now, The spiritual heart.

54:18 This is the deepest center of human consciousness and the dwelling place of the image of God. What did we say the image is? It reveals God to the creations and then it conveys the worship of those people back through the image onto God again. So the image reflects, reveals God and conveys the message back to God. So this is the dwelling place of the image of God.

54:51 In Christian spiritual life, the ultimate goal, the ultimate goal in our Christian faith, the ultimate goal is to bring the conscious thoughts down into the heart. This is what the church fathers call prayer of the mind in the heart. Prayer of the mind in the heart. To achieve what? Healing. and union with God. I told you it's not an easy topic. I will explain it. I'll break it down at the very end. Now, this next slide is the love of my life, my sweetheart. But Mary, and every time I mentioned the name Mary. And I just adore my mom. I love my mom. I can't live without my mom. She is the crown of my glory. I love my mom. Luke 2.19. Look at the Holy Mother.

56:09 What an awesome person she is. What an awesome person. Luke 2.19. But Mary kept all these things and pondered. Pondered means she used her mind. She thought. Pondered. Them where? In her heart. Oh, what did St. Paul say? I pray with the spirit and I pray with the mind. So the Holy Mother, when she searched for her beloved son Jesus Christ frantically for three days on end, And then she said, oh, on the third day, I'm going to go back to the temple. It's a long way, but I'm going to go back. Hopefully I'll find him there.

56:47 So when she gets in the temple, she sees her son, beloved son, sitting in the midst of teachers and philosophers and educated people of the temple. Talking to them, asking them, and addressing their questions, their mind was blown away. She comes to her beloved son. She says, son, why did you do this to me and to your father? I've been frantically searching for you for three days. Why? He said, didn't you know that I belong in my father's house?

57:18 Have you forgotten, mom, where I came from? You're the one that knows where I came from more than anyone else. I need to be in my father's house, mom. But even though he said, I have to be in my father's house, but he never broke mom's word and went to Nazareth with his mom. Why? Because one of the commandments says, honor your mom. And since Jesus Christ is the savior, he has to fulfill every law. If he breaches any law, he can't be the savior. So that commandment that was given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, honor your father and mother so that I may bless you and give you a life abundant. Jesus, as the man, had to honor mama. Yet I belong to my father's house.

58:10 But since you're my mama, I can't break your word, mom. I'm coming down to Nazareth with you. But while she's walking, everybody was questioning why Jesus did this. The only person that pondered these words of Jesus to her was the mother. And she pondered them where? In her heart. What the Holy Mother did here just shows the depth of her spiritual life. And the deep connection that she had with God.

58:40 Because my beloved, when we are able to seize... I'm going to come to this more. When we are able to seize the conscious mind, the rational one, to seize it from what? From being constant and restless, analyzing things. And doesn't this conscious mind drives us crazy? Sometimes I say, stop. Stop thinking. Stop talking to me. This noise in me, this sound in me, I want to get rid of it.

59:13 It's like an ongoing, you know, thinking, thinking, thinking, analyzing, thinking, analyzing, restless, anxious. I'm sick of this. I can't live at peace because of this rational mind is driving me crazy. the moment we're able to seize this nightmare that is running in our conscious mind and united with the heart, the spiritual eye news is purified. And when the spiritual eye is purified, what happens? This will allow us to experience God's grace and attain spiritual clarity. You know, I'm praying. I'm asking the Lord Jesus for something. So I'm using my rational mind, conscious.

1:00:06 So I'm praying, I'm praying, I'm begging, I'm begging. Please, Lord, please. I want to marry Rachel. I want to marry Rachel, please. Lord, if I don't marry Rachel, I'm going to kill myself. Lord, you have to give me Rachel. It's either Rachel or nobody. And then, thank you, Lord, I trust you. He walks away, not even one minute. He starts again thinking. Will the Lord answer me? Will the Lord grant me my wishes?

1:00:29 And what if he doesn't? And what if this happens? And what if this? And what if that? Poor guy fell, collapsed, heart attack. Just had a stroke. You know that joke that I told you about Sarah? This guy, this doctor decided to go to a mental hospital. So he walks into this room. He sees this guy with a piece of stick in his hand, bashing his head with it.

1:00:55 So he asked the other doctor, what's wrong with this man? Poor thing. He said, this man was in love with a girl called Sarah. He was so in love with her. Her parents rejected him because they never gave Sarah to him. He lost his marbles. He lost his mind and ended up in the mental hospital. He said, ma'am, that's a very sad story. So he goes into another room. He sees another man bashing his head against the wall. He said, what's wrong with this man? He said, this man married Sarah.

1:01:26 So let God run your life. Don't ask him and beg him and then give him a headache. It's either this or not. Stop it. Because what are you doing? You are creating a very unpeaceful conscious mind here. Speak, pray with confidence. Lord, I want to be an engineer, but let it be your will. Lord, I want to buy a house, but let it be your will. Lord, I want to be a bishop, but let it be your will. It is not mine, but yours. Didn't the Lord say that in the Garden of Gethsemane? Lord, let this cup, bitter cup pass me by, but not my will, but thy will. That's why Jesus was at peace. This didn't trouble him. Because he trusted God. Now, my beloved. Oh, we don't have the time. I better rush. Look at the Holy Mother. Amazing, huh? Incredible. The fall changed the

1:02:32 human mind. You see, when we fell into sin, when we transgressed against God, when we broke His word, what did happen? Adam and Eve were created to know God. What sin did distorted that relationship. So when God created Adam and Eve, He created them to know Him. And at the beginning, they knew Him until they broke His word.

1:02:56 The moment they broke His word, sin entered. When sin entered, it distorted that relationship. And look at the Ephesians 4, 17 to 18, what St. Paul says about sin distorting this relationship. Having their understanding darkened. So what happened to their understanding? It became dark. Now, The fall resulted, this resulted in what? Confused thinking, self-centered desires, wrong priorities, broken relationships, and spiritual blindness. Sin caused all of this. Sin caused all of this. Now, notice my beloved, St. Paul said, does not say our minds were destroyed when sin entered but what did he say he writes he says they were darkened so our spiritual mind knows the spiritual eye because of sin it became darkened not destroyed huge difference

1:04:04 thank God it wasn't destroyed it became darkened now what happens A dirty window still lets lights through, but only dimly because it's dirty. Christ came to clean the window for the spiritual eye to open again. How did he clean it? With his precious blood on Calvary on the cross. The crown of glory. Amen. If you haven't received the body and the blood of Christ for a long time, you better start When has it been the last time you confessed? When has it been the last time you came and received the body and the blood of Christ?

1:04:47 When has it been the last time you've read the Holy Bible? When has it been the last time you fasted? When has it been the last time you've been in the presence of the Lord Jesus in His church and everything that relates to Him and everything that has to do with Him? When has it been since you came and listened to the good preachers like this bishop? The Lord came to clean the window. Why do we sin?

1:05:12 Every sin begins with a thought. Every sin begins with a thought. Every thought becomes a choice. When you think of something, you will choose that thing. Isn't it? You know what? I'm thinking of going to Marconi to hit the jackpot. Or I'm thinking of going to Star City Casino. I'm going to hit the jackpot. Well, whatever you're thinking of the thing, that becomes your choice. You will choose it because you're thinking of it and you're not letting go.

1:05:47 Every choice becomes a habit. You know, these things are so important. They're very important, these things. Extremely important. Why we behave the way we behave now. Every sin begins with a thought. Every thought becomes a choice. Every choice becomes a habit because the more you choose, the more you get used to it. If you choose the thing over and over and over and over and over again, it becomes a habit. What does the habit do? Every habit forms our character. Every habit forms our character. What I thought of is what I chose. And what I chose is what became my habit. And what my habit was became the way I am now. Now are you ready?

1:06:46 Five minutes, maybe ten. Okay. Remember earlier we said there is the five components of the soul. Conscious, subconscious, will, thought and emotions. Yes? Okay. So now when we come to the conscious... and the subconscious in the psychological sense, not theological, Christian theology, psychology. When you come to the conscious and the subconscious, what do they do? The conscious mind is the one that you use every single moment of your life on earth. The one you use so you can manage your life. So the conscious thinks of everything, deals with everything. It has a short lifespan. I'll give you an example of what I mean. When we came first to learn how to ride a bicycle, what do we need to be able to ride the bicycle? I

1:07:40 need my conscience mind. My conscience mind now became extremely focused on how to learn to ride the bike because I'm still learning. So the first day I went, I struggled badly. I fell about 100 times. The second day, you know, 90 times. After a week, after a month, after two, after three, after one year... Because I kept on riding the bike every day. What happened? That choice became what? A habit. Yes? That choice became a habit.

1:08:12 I chose to ride the bike every day. When I repeated my choice, when I repeated riding the bike all the time, I got to a stage where I have learned, I mastered how to ride a bike. The moment I master how to ride the bike, what happens? It changes. It actually moves from the conscious to the subconscious mind.

1:08:36 When it goes to the subconscious mind, it becomes a habit. The next time I ride the bike, I don't need to think about riding the bike. I ride the bike and I'm thinking about, I need to get some things for the house. But I'm not thinking about the bike. It becomes naturally, why? Because the subconscious took over. It is the subconscious telling me to ride the bike. And don't worry about the conscious. The conscious is overridden now.

1:09:07 The conscious now is focusing on the flowers, on the birds, on the trees, and bumping into somebody. When I repeated riding the bike, I got so used to it, the subconscious took it over. When the subconscious takes it over, it becomes a habit. Now, the next time you want to use your conscious to change that habit, World War III. Father, I've been smoking for 20 years. I want to give it up. I'm struggling. Father, I've been gambling for 10 years.

1:09:53 I want to give it up. And every time I say, I'll never go to the club. And I still go. Because I'm using my subconscious mind or my conscious mind to say, enough is enough. The gambling destroyed me. The alcohol destroyed me. The men and the women destroyed me. The white powder destroyed me. The conscious is saying, stop it.

1:10:14 But since I practiced so much on it before, When my parents said, don't go. When the bishop said, don't mix. When everybody told me, be careful. Don't go with these people. They are not friends. They are going to destroy you. I did not listen. I continued with my conscious mind. And I said, I'm going to do this. I'll do this.

1:10:36 I don't care about no one, including God. And I kept on going. And I kept on doing. When I kept on going and doing, it changed from the conscious to the subconscious. Became a habit. When it becomes a habit, it becomes natural the moment you open your eyes. So you can say till kingdom comes, I'm not going club to the club again. But because you got used to gambling for years, it became a habit. The subconscious now overridden.

1:11:09 You're conscious. So you start fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting. It gets nowhere. Now let's look at the conscious spiritual mind and the subconscious spiritual mind, which is the heart. So the spiritual subconscious is the heart and the conscious mind spiritually is the noose, the spiritual eye. When you allow your spiritual conscious, which is the spiritual eye, to open up either to God or to Satan, When you get used to whatever you see through the spiritual eye, whether light or darkness, guess what?

1:12:01 After a while, what you got used to repeating became a habit and went down to the spiritual subconscious, which is the heart. This is why the Lord says, it is out of the heart of men proceed all evil. Why? Because the noose, which is the conscious spiritual mind, the spiritual eye, got used to evil things. Distant from God.

1:12:26 The eye got used to darkness. Therefore the heart is going to release nothing but darkness. And darkness is death. Everything they did. Was for the eternal condemnation. But if the eye. Spiritual eye. Is open to Christ. And it gets used to Christ. Becomes a habit. And goes from that spiritual consciousness. into the spiritual subconscious, which is the heart, then Christ dwells in the heart. When Christ dwells in the heart, the rational mind is at peace. I hope you're with me. I ask you this, my son, my daughter.

1:13:17 Why are you afraid? Why are you worried? Why are you anxious? Why are you depressed? Why are you empty? Why are you lost, confused? All these are going through your rational, conscious mind. You know why? Because your spiritual eye is not fully opened to Christ. Why? Because I'm still living in sin. And sin has darkened the spiritual eye.

1:13:48 Sin does not destroy it, but it darkens it. So there is light coming in. And who is the light? Christ. I still love the Lord, but I'm still sinning. The reason why? Because the spiritual eye is darkened. It's letting the light of Christ come in, but it's coming in a very minute way. I need that spiritual eye, that window to be cleansed, to be clear so that all the light comes in. Without distraction, without hindrance. Now for that light to come in clearly, the window must be cleaned of the spiritual eye. Only the blood of Christ cleans it. Nothing else. No one else. My son, my daughter, if you think that when you go and do things your way, you will live happily thereafter, you're mistaken. If

1:14:49 you think that you are free, you are mistaken. If you think you live on earth forever and you can do anything and everything and get away with it, you are mistaken. Because God will always be the sovereign authority. And He wants you. He loves you. And He wants you to see Him. See, the moment we see Christ spiritually, physically we're at peace. Psychologically we're at peace. I'm not going to worry anymore. I'm not going to be afraid anymore.

1:15:31 I'm not going to be anxious about anything anymore. Whatever happens, the Lord is in control. Because now I am in union with Christ. I'm living in harmony. I'm not fighting no more with Him. I'm at peace. See, the only time we are at peace with God is when we let it, when we let God do it His way, not our way. I've tried it till the bead went white.

1:16:05 Trust me, God will never ever give you something that is going to take you away from him. Even if it's the best thing in the world and you say, Lord, this is it and there is nothing else. If it's going to take you away from him, forget about God giving it to you, no matter how many million times you beg him for it. And you may think when you get the divorce, you're finally free. And you may think when you have hundred million dollars in the bank account, you're finally free. And when you think you become the Pope, you're finally free. And when you think you become the Bishop, you're finally free. This is just wishful thinking. The only time we are truly free is when this beautiful and only perfect God and perfect man is king over your life.

1:17:03 That's when you're free. That's when you're free. That's when you're free. And when you're free, you're not going to worry whether you are in prison or out, whether you are in hell or heaven, whether you are on earth or wherever. You're not going to worry. You know why? Because freedom is only given by the Son of God.

1:17:29 And if the Son sets you free, surely, truly you are free. So what matters is It's the person, not the place. That's why I don't care if I have a church or not. I don't care if I have a congregation or not. I don't care if I am acknowledged or not. I don't care if I am accepted or not. And when I say I don't care, I mean it from the bottom of my heart with absolute love and humility. I don't mean it in any other way but love and humility. Trust me. You know why?

1:18:07 Because when this sweetheart found me, I don't need to find anyone else. This is living in peace. This is not thinking anymore. Tomorrow, I don't have food to eat. All right. Thank you, Lord. You know. Since you know, and since you're in control, and since you love me, and you died for me, and you rose from the dead for me, then why am I worried? Since God knows and He's capable of putting food on the table, He decided not to put the food on the table.

1:18:46 So be it. God, let it be Your will. I'm giving an example. When you let go, and I'm not saying you let go and you don't try to work. No, you work, but with the Lord. And let him be free. Let him be free in your life. So what do you need to do to get rid of the habit, the bad habits? You need to repeat doing what is right, not what is wrong. So the reason why I ended up being a gambler, nobody was born a gambler. Nobody was born an alcoholic. Nobody was born a drug dealer, a drug addict. Nobody was born a serial killer. Nobody was born a child molester, which I can't stand. Nobody.

1:19:34 Everyone was an angel. But what happened to this angel that turned into a vicious being? Because this person allowed things that he shouldn't have allowed to enter their life. That's why they ended up where they are now. So those habits took ease of rehearsal and practice. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until he mastered that. First time he went to the club, he was not comfortable. But the hundredth, he didn't want to leave the club. So when you come back from the club to the church, the first time you will struggle badly. You're suffocating in the church. You're not used to it. Used to the club. Used to the party. Used to going out, drinking, dancing, jumping, nakedness and the likes. Now I'm coming. I'm dressed up. I'm covered.

1:20:28 I'm coming to the Lord. I'm bowing. I'm not using foul language. I'm praising. I'm not used to it. I'm not comfortable because I was comfortable in the light, in the darkness that the light is hurting me. So when I came to church the first time, I just wanted to run away. I don't belong here. This is not my place. The people are all weird. I love the people in the club. I love the people in the dark alleys. The people in the church are all sick.

1:21:01 But when you keep on coming after the hundredth, after the thousand, what happened? You kept on practicing coming to church. Eventually it will end up being a habit in the spiritual subconscious mind, which is the heart. That is the place where you meet God. The image of God is there. You start there. Revealing God to others where you were revealing Satan to others before. You start revealing God to others and you start bringing people to God where the worship is given back once again to God through you.

1:21:43 You become the vessel of glorifying God. Isn't this incredible? What God has given us is beyond measures. He doesn't need nobody, but he is the humble God, the loving God. He wants his children to be glorified, even if he is hidden, not seen. Do you see the Lord? No, you're seeing this old, ugly bishop. But it's the Lord who is crying out to all of us, not only you, including the preacher. He's preaching to me. I want the Lord.

1:22:23 I want the Lord. That's where life lies. In the heart. And the heart is united with God. Very quickly. Look at this. James, the apostle of Christ. In his epistle, the first one. James 1, 14 to 15. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires. Can I say this with all love and respect? In Buddhism, my beloved, with all love and respect, the ultimate, the ultimate achievement for those monks who leave the world and go in the crevices of the mountains and they just isolate themselves totally from humanity. The reason why they go away from everything that is worldly, because they are in pursuit of killing the desire. That is Buddhism at its ultimate best. Killing the desire. Why? Because their belief is,

1:23:26 if I am able as a human being, if I'm able to kill the desire, I am in control. I am free. Because what caused me the headaches and the heartaches was the desire. Because I desired money. I desired wealth. I desired fame. I desired this. I desired that. This desire drove me to becoming enslaved to materialistic things. So let me kill the desire and be set free. But the problem my beloved Buddhist. Desire is a gift from God.

1:24:00 You cannot kill it. But the problem. When the desire becomes imbalanced, that's where the problem begins. But the desire in itself, it's holy. Because if you don't desire God, how can you pursue Him? And how come the Dalai Lama has the desire to free Tibet? Why do you have the desire since you want to kill desire? But your desire is to free Tibet? Oh, because it's a God-given gift. That's why. Satan rarely begins with actions. He doesn't use actions. What does Satan use? Thoughts. He plants the seed of thought in your head. And he says, think about it. Doesn't it sound good? Doesn't it feel good, bro?

1:24:47 You know, when you start thinking, then the emotions kick in. And I feel good. I knew that I would. Look, think about it. Look at this. And think about, look, all the people do the same thing. Why do you want to be different? Go with the flow, brother. Everybody goes out and enjoy life. Why are you different? Are you the black sheep? No, don't look different. Blend in, bro. Go.

1:25:16 You're young. When you get old, 80 plus, I'm sorry, you're not old. But when you get over 80, you know, I don't want you to stone me to death. When you get old, then come back to God. You're still young. Look at you, girl. You're 18, 19, 23, 25, 30. Now is the time to enjoy your life. What? When you become a pensioner, you can't even walk. You'll be sitting in a wheelchair. So enjoy it. Look, if it's wrong, no one would have done it. Everybody's doing it. Go to Istanbul and change your face. Go and dress up as you wish. Eat as you wish. Dance as you wish.

1:25:57 Mix with people as you wish. It feels good. It feels good. So Satan plans... The seed of thought. Why? Because if he gets you to think about it deep enough. You'll put it into action. I was sitting at home. And I thought that I hit the jackpot in Marconi. I was sitting having a nice conversation with my family.

1:26:32 I went along with the thought. I left the family. And I went all the way to Marconi. Thinking that I'm going to hit the jackpot. I left Marconi. Marconi being Thomas the Tank. Lost everything. Smoked out, baby. Satan is good at planting thoughts. Step on it. He begins with thoughts. If he wins the mind, the action usually follows him. Because what are you going to think of?

1:27:06 What are you going to do? See, Satan is very smart, huh? Not an easy guy to deal with. Only the Lord won against him. Crushed his head. That's it. Have the Lord. You crush the serpent's head through the Lord who dwells in you. Amen? Now, very quickly. I'm going to rush. I'm going to rush. Trust me, I'm going to rush.

1:27:27 Not every thought comes from God. Guard your thoughts. According to the church fathers, thoughts may come from God. Our own mind and the enemy, Satan. Philippians 4, 8. Whatever things are true, meditate on these things. Not everything is true. So not every thought is right. Not every thought is from God. Not every thought is trustworthy. Don't accept whatever thought comes in your head. You better test the spirits to see if it's God's or of the dark world.

1:27:57 Be careful. Guard your thoughts. That's what it says. Be very mindful. You are not responsible for every thought that enters your mind. However, you are responsible for the thoughts you choose to entertain. So when a thought comes into your mind, not your fault. But if you let it dwell and nestles in and lays eggs and babies, now you are entertaining the thought. You are in deep trouble.

1:28:22 Once you entertain it that far, you will action it, my beloved. You will action it. Think of your mind as a front door. What does it do? You cannot stop people from knocking at your front door, but you definitely can decide who enters. Not everybody who knocks is welcomed are you going to be just an open door no you need to say yes you need to say no So when your friend, so-called friend, next time calls you and he said, yo, bro, what are you doing?

1:28:51 Don't ever say nothing. Please, I beg you. Get rid of this word. It doesn't exist. There is no such thing as nothing. You are definitely doing something. At least you're thinking you're doing something. So when your friend calls you and says, what are you doing? Don't say nothing. Say, hey, you want to go out? Where, bro? Let's go to the club. Now, I'm going to the church. Why? Because Bishop Murray is preaching. Hallelujah. So, you want to come with me? No. If you don't come with me, I'm not going to come with you. If you are truly my friend, you take me to church, the house of the Lord, not to the club, the house of Satan.

1:29:23 You're not my friend. Don't call me ever again. Bye. Bye. Decide. Cut him off your life. Otherwise, they will still drag you to the club. Cut him off. Very quickly, very quickly, very quickly. Ah, watchfulness. And today I'm a Greek guy. Hallelujah. Nepsis. Nepsis in Greek is watchfulness. Look at this. Watchfulness means continually guarding the heart and mind against sinful thoughts. Watch and pray. Lest you enter into temptation. The Lord Jesus said it in Matthew 26, 41. Watch and pray. Lest you enter into temptation. Prayer is vital. We'll come to it in the next part, next week, God willing. Prayer is extremely vital. Watchfulness is a continual fixing and halting of thoughts at the entrance to your heart. Did you

1:30:20 know prayer stops every evil thought? You want to stop those evil thoughts? Pray. They block the bad thoughts. Oh, the church fathers. Very vital. I love them. Watchfulness is a continual fix and halting of thoughts at the entrance to the heart. Look at the church fathers. Incredible because they lived it. That's why they wrote it. They lived it.

1:30:49 They experienced it. They experienced it. Watchfulness is spiritual awareness. We do not become obsessed with evil. Instead, we become attentive to Christ. And when a sinful thought arrives, we recognize it early and reject it before it takes root. And that's the end. No, no, it's all good. I took a little bit extra time here. My apologies, but what can I do? It was a deep topic. All right, let's stand for the finale prayer. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, amen. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

1:31:32 Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive.

1:31:54 It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen. Before I say the sealing one prayer, please do come. This series of Relationship in Christ, it will get more and more interesting as we go. Don't give up. These topics were a bit difficult, but later on it will be much fun because I will give you the third degree burns. In Jesus' mighty name. May the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth bless you, guard you, and protect you all the days of your life. Now and forevermore. Amen.

1:32:27 Go in peace. The peace of Christ be with you always, my beloved. God bless.