We are members in the body of Christ.
Some members in the body of Christ are
saints, some are sinners, but they are all
members.
Some are pure, some are not so much
pure.
What Saint Paul is saying, since you are
paying the most attention to your nose, the
dirtiest member of your body, so as in
the spiritual sense we need to look after
our brothers who are distant from the Lord.
Don't ever judge someone who is distant and
you say, how dare this person come to
church, this guy, I know exactly what he
does in life, he is the greatest sinner
of all.
Yesterday I saw him doing this and this
and this, what kind of a face he
has to turn up to church today, yet
I knew where he was yesterday.
Don't ever judge, lest you be judged.
If you find a Christian person that is
the weakest of all, the dirtiest of all,
the filthiest of all and the most distant
from the Lord Jesus, swimming in filth of
this world, you better run to that person,
hug them, embrace them and give them courage
and say to them, don't ever give up,
for as long as Jesus Christ lives, you
will live.
Come back to the Lord, give him courage.
Do not judge, do not look down at
other Christians, but hold on to them, hold
their hand and say, if I am standing
today strong in faith, brother, sister, give me
your hand, let me lift you up, because
the Lord loves you the way he loves
me.
Come, nothing is lost, nothing is lost.
As Christians, do we have this kind of
an approach?
Do we have this kind of a mentality?
Do we have this kind of an insight?
Or do we throw arrows at one another?
We blow the trumpet the moment somebody does
something wrong and we write about it on
all social media platforms.
Did you know so and so what they've
done?
We tell the whole world what people have
done, but we have forgotten that Saint Paul
says, love covers a lot of errors, love
covers a lot of errors, love covers a
lot of errors.
Whoever walks through the front door of the
church, it is not my business, even if
I am the bishop of this church, it
is not my right to question who are
you and what are you and where did
you come from, even if he came out
of the brothel, I will embrace that person.
But not in the way, accepting the way
he has chosen to live, no, but I'll
embrace them in the hope and in the
faith the Lord will touch their heart and
make them from a sinner to a saint.
But if I'm going to scan them with
the latest technology of MRI and CT scan,
this person will never come back to the
church ever again, the Lord will lose this
sheep because of me.
I'll embrace you, I'll love you and then
I'll give you the third degree burns.
And next time you want to go anywhere,
not right, let me come.
I'll come with you bro.
And then we say, what's up brother?
Bro, don't get down, get up.
What do you mean get down bro?
See, it's a negative kind of talk, get
down, not get down, get up.
Get down is a failure, is a fall,
get up, stand up, be successful.
And whatever has happened in the past, it's
the past, don't dwell on it.
You're wasting your time, you're wasting your breath,
you're wasting your energy, you're wasting above all
your life which is priceless gift from God
for you and me and all of us.
Just get up, dust it off and walk
forward, don't look back.
And if you're ever going to look back,
look back for one reason and one reason
only, to learn from the past because that
is the only place you and I can
learn from.
We cannot learn from the present moment, we
are still living it.
We cannot learn from the futuristic moment, we
have not lived it yet, but it is
only the past that is our school of
thought where we go back to learn from,
not to dwell on and remain in that
past that we cannot remain because what is
gone cannot come back again.
But look back, learn from the good times
and the bad times, from the light and
the dark moments of that past to make
up a better future in this present moment.
And you know what is so truthful?
If somebody asked you, how old are you?
Tell them the bishop told me to say
to you, I am 24 hour old, that's
my age.
Don't ever say, oh I'm 21, I'm 51,
I'm 91.
No you're not, you are 24 hour old,
that's all.
You know what, because all those years that
have gone by, that's not your age, it's
not yours, can you control it?
No, it's gone.
Whatever hasn't come yet, it's not your age.
So what is your age today?
Today is the only day you have influence
over.
So how old are you today?
24 hours.
If we are able to make one difference
in this 24 hour, we've changed our entire
life.
See some people sit and look back and
say, where do I start?
50s of my life, sorry the 50s are
not your life, they're gone, they're not your
life.
50s of my life, what do I change
from these 50s?
No, the 50s are gone.
What you can change is today, because today
is your life.
What you have control over, that's what you
own, that's what is yours.
So your age is 24 hours, can you
change one thing?
If you can change one thing in it,
you've changed your entire life.
You've changed your entire life.
How easily we get entangled with our own
way of thinking and with what the world
offers us, and the majority of things the
world offers is nothing but a lie.
Make a bright future for yourself.
A bright future?
What is the church?
Family, family, family.
This is why the church is hated by
the world.
Why?
Because in today's gospel, the Lord Jesus says
about the Holy Spirit, He says, when I
send the Holy Spirit to dwell in you,
He will rebuke you on three things.
He will rebuke on sin, on righteousness, and
on judgment.
And the Lord elaborates more and explains.
He says on sin, because they did not
believe in me.
On righteousness, because I am going to the
Father and you will see me no more.
And on judgment, for the ruler of this
world is being judged.
Wow.
The Holy Spirit will rebuke you.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He
will ring a bell inside of you.
He will shake you, He will make you,
He will break you, He will do so
many things in order to get your attention.
He will rebuke you on sin, because they
didn't believe in Jesus Christ.
He will rebuke you on righteousness, because I'm
going to the Father and you will see
me no more.
And He will rebuke you on judgment, for
the ruler of this world is being judged.
On sin, because they didn't believe in me.
Every time we do not believe in Jesus
Christ, we are sinning.
Every time we do not believe in Jesus
Christ, we are sinning.
And when is it, as Christians, when is
it that we don't believe in Him?
Every time we make a mistake, it is
a unbelief in Jesus Christ, because if we
had believed in Him, we wouldn't have sinned.
When the Lord Jesus says, do not use
a foul language, and I keep on using
it, I am in denial of Jesus Christ.
I don't believe in Him, because if I
truly believed in Him, I wouldn't have swore.
When the Lord says, do not steal, and
I go and steal deliberately, I am in
denial of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Every time I have no faith in the
Lord, I am a sinner.
And on righteousness, because I'm going to the
Father and you will see me no more.
What does that mean?
See, the Lord says, wherever your treasure is,
there will be your heart as well.
And heart here means your entire being.
Your mind, your soul, your spirit, your thought,
your entire being, wherever your treasure is, whatever
your treasure is.
So if your treasure is money, that's where
you're going to be.
If the treasure is a fame, that's where
you're going to be.
If the treasure is a rank, that's where
you're going to be.
If the treasure is a person, that's where
you will be.
The Lord says, if I am your treasure,
then remember one thing, I have gone up
and sat at the right hand of the
Father.
I am in the heaven of all heavens.
If Jesus Christ is your treasure, my child,
why are you searching for me in the
streets of the city downtown?
As a Christian, what are you doing in
this world?
Definitely you are not searching for your Lord,
because Jesus Christ disapproves of this world and
the way the world handles itself.
So if you are truly believing in me
as Jesus Christ, and if I am truly
your treasure, why are you still holding on
to the pleasures of this world?
Why are you fighting over materialistic things?
Why are you chasing temporal things?
Why are you focused on your external looks,
rather than focusing on your internal looks?
You're spending too many hours, days, weeks, and
months to make yourself look beautiful from outside.
You're not spending one second to making your
heart looking beautiful to your Messiah.