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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everyone, God bless you, thanks a lot for tuning

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<v Speaker 1>in and good strength, good strength to you all.

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<v Speaker 2>Stop sinning, stop sinning.

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<v Speaker 1>I know that sounds maybe too direct or too simplistic.

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<v Speaker 1>I must say that I have said it many times

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<v Speaker 1>in the confessional, not without compassion, with compassion, but also

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<v Speaker 1>just a clear word. As a matter of fact, recently

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<v Speaker 1>one of my lovely parishioners raised the question and said, Father,

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<v Speaker 1>what can I do to help the perish in this

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<v Speaker 1>very great task of starting another church. I responded by saying, simply,

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<v Speaker 1>this is for everyone. Stop sinning. Stop sinning. It is,

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<v Speaker 1>in fact the most important thing that you can do

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<v Speaker 1>if you want your parish. If your parish needs more love,

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<v Speaker 1>be more loving. If it needs more zeal, be more zealous.

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<v Speaker 1>If it needs more enlightenment, be more enlightened. And when

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<v Speaker 1>there is sinful behavior that causes problems, nothing burdens a

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<v Speaker 1>priest more than that. Nothing hurts a shepherd's heart more

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<v Speaker 1>than seeing his flock in disarray or acting inappropriately in

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<v Speaker 1>a way that isn't good for them and disgraces the

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<v Speaker 1>name of God. But this is a very very important word,

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<v Speaker 1>and it comes directly from our Lord Jesus Christ and

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<v Speaker 1>his word to the man who was paralyzed to the paralytic.

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<v Speaker 1>This is one of the gospel texts during Poscletide in

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<v Speaker 1>the Orthodox lectionary.

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<v Speaker 2>And this was the case.

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<v Speaker 1>This was the story when our Lord Jesus came to

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<v Speaker 1>the pool and there were all the sick people waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for the movement of the water, because occasionally an angel

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<v Speaker 1>would come, dip his finger in and move the water,

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<v Speaker 1>and the first one into the pool after the moving

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<v Speaker 1>of the water would be healed. Jesus came and ignored

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<v Speaker 1>the whole pool and healed a man then came and

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<v Speaker 1>approached him. Later found him on another occasion after he

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<v Speaker 1>had been healed and said this to him. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>stop sinning. And then the Lord went on he said,

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<v Speaker 1>stop sinning lest something worse happen to you. Can you

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<v Speaker 1>imagine those are some very strong words. Those are that's

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<v Speaker 1>an arrow to the heart. First, our Lord is saying, look,

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<v Speaker 1>your paralysis is about your sins.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, Jesus is very clear in many other texts

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<v Speaker 1>that we can't presume that there's any sort of a

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<v Speaker 1>one to one correspondence between them. Many very pious people

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<v Speaker 1>that are very sick, and many terrible sinners are very healthy,

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<v Speaker 1>so we don't make any conclusions about that. But in

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<v Speaker 1>this case, this man's paralysis had to do with his sins,

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<v Speaker 1>and the Lord said, look, I've healed your paralysis, but

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<v Speaker 1>your real problem is not that. Your real problem is

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<v Speaker 1>your sin. Stop repent and stop sinning. It's an incredible

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<v Speaker 1>word from our Lord, and I want you to see

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus's care about spiritual health, about the health of your soul.

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<v Speaker 1>He's far more concerned about the health of the soul

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<v Speaker 1>than he is about the health of the body. If

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<v Speaker 1>his job concern was the health of the body, he

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<v Speaker 1>would have healed easily, just by an expression of his will,

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<v Speaker 1>all the people who were at the pool who are sick.

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<v Speaker 1>He healed a particular man, and he did it to

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<v Speaker 1>provide an opportunity to cure his soul as well, and

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<v Speaker 1>to provide a model for everyone of exalting the matters

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<v Speaker 1>of the soul far above the matters of the body.

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<v Speaker 1>If you heal your soul, if you find forgiveness and

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<v Speaker 1>health for your soul, it will without fail lead to

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<v Speaker 1>the resurrection of your body. If you neglect the health

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<v Speaker 1>of your soul, because of your obsession of bodily health,

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<v Speaker 1>which would make you basically an American. Today, we are

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<v Speaker 1>obsessed with bodily health and often at the neglect of

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<v Speaker 1>our souls.

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<v Speaker 2>We must reverse our priorities.

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<v Speaker 1>If we care about the body that much and we

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<v Speaker 1>neglect our soul, will lose both will lose the health

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<v Speaker 1>of our soul because we're not attending to it, and

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<v Speaker 1>that will lead, in fact, to the loss of our

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<v Speaker 1>life and our being unable to inherit the Kingdom of God.

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<v Speaker 1>This isn't just the thematic pedagogical focus of our Savior.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one account, he does this over and over

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<v Speaker 1>and over again. Think of the healing of the man

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<v Speaker 1>who was carried the paralyzed man who was carried by

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<v Speaker 1>his friends. This is in the Gospel of Mark chapter two.

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<v Speaker 1>They went to such effort to bring their friend through

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<v Speaker 1>the crowds. They dug a hole in the roof. They

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<v Speaker 1>let their friend down so that they could be he

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<v Speaker 1>could be near Jesus. And then Jesus looks at the

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<v Speaker 1>man and says, your sins are forgiven. Who's talking about sin?

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<v Speaker 1>All of the friends were there because their buddy was paralyzed.

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<v Speaker 1>They came to get physical healing of his paralysis, and

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus completely ignored it. He said, your sins are forgiven you.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus did heal the man, but he healed the man

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<v Speaker 1>about what he really should have been concerned about, which

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<v Speaker 1>was his sins. And then to prove that he was

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<v Speaker 1>not joking, that he wasn't just saying that because he

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<v Speaker 1>was incapable of healing the man, like some people were whispering, Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus only did that because he couldn't actually heal the man.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus said, rise and walk, and the man got up

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<v Speaker 1>and was able to walk. Jesus used the physical miracle

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<v Speaker 1>to demonstrate the greater miracle, which was the forgiveness of sins,

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<v Speaker 1>and that he has authority as the son of God,

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<v Speaker 1>as divine himself co eternal with his Father, he has

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<v Speaker 1>the authority to forgive sins, which is everything for us.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the message, stop sinning, Stop sinning, and you know.

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<v Speaker 1>Saint John Chrisostom and his commentary on the on the

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<v Speaker 1>Paralytic in Saint John, Chapter five his commentary. In his commentary,

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<v Speaker 1>he mentions that this account also is an example scripturally

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<v Speaker 1>of proving and showing the doctrine of hell of eternal punishment. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>I can hardly say the word without wanting to cover

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<v Speaker 1>my face. It is such a frightening reality. And anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who's trying to trivialize it, like some heretics do, it's

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<v Speaker 1>making a very, very terrible mistake, say John Chrissostom says,

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<v Speaker 1>this gospel account of the healing of the paralytic teaches hell.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, thirty eight years of suffering for a sin,

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<v Speaker 1>and the sin probably took a moment. Chrisism rights people

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<v Speaker 1>ask I committed adultery in thirty minutes? Am I to

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<v Speaker 1>suffer forever for it? His answer is yes, unless you repent.

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<v Speaker 1>I killed a person in a dispute and it only

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<v Speaker 1>took five minutes. Why should I suffer forever? Chris system answers,

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<v Speaker 1>you will suffer forever unless you repent. The gravity of

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<v Speaker 1>a sin is not measured by how long you did it,

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<v Speaker 1>but by its own nature, its own grievousness, the nature

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<v Speaker 1>how terrible the thing is. It could take only a minute,

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<v Speaker 1>But if it is a terrible sin like murdering someone,

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<v Speaker 1>the gravity of that is necessitating calling for eternal punishment.

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<v Speaker 1>And christisdom here points out this man, whatever his sin

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<v Speaker 1>was thirty eight years. He had been suffering for thirty

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<v Speaker 1>eight years. He had been paying the price. This shows

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<v Speaker 1>that sins are massively grievous, and some of them are

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<v Speaker 1>even mortal. Some of them are even sins that the

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<v Speaker 1>weight of justice calls for eternal condemnation. And it's only

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<v Speaker 1>by repentance and forgiveness of sins, as Jesus so generously

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<v Speaker 1>gave to this man here when he declared to the

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<v Speaker 1>paralytic in Mark two, your sins are forgiven.

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<v Speaker 2>That's what we need. That's what we need.

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<v Speaker 1>So, dear ones, my word to you is stop sinning,

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<v Speaker 1>and my word to myself is the same, and made

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<v Speaker 1>the grace of God provide us this victory.

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<v Speaker 2>God be with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everyone, I hope you've downloaded the Patristic Nectar app

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<v Speaker 1>on your phone. It is a treasured trobe of soul

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<v Speaker 1>nourishing content, and I hope you'll consider becoming a regular

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<v Speaker 1>donor to Patristic Nectar today.