Transcription
Matthew chapter 18, verse 21 and 22. The words of Jesus. Of course, first and foremost, let's go to 21.
Then came Peter to him, so it's Peter that's provoking a conversation.
Then came Peter to Jesus and said, "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? How many times should I forgive when my brother sins against me?"
Peter answers the question of why very wisely. How about seven times? If a brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive him? Peter is a brilliant guy, to learn so much. That means his patience was limited. He couldn't go beyond seven. If you go beyond this, you'll get a good whacking, thank you. Good. Praise the Lord. You know, this is my measurement; beyond this, please don't test my patience. I can't forgive you beyond this. Seven times.
How did Jesus reply? Jesus said unto him, "I say not unto thee, until seven times; but until seventy times seven." That is 70 x 7. Do the mathematics, and you will end up with 490.
I want to speak on a subject called, "How to obtain 490 blessings." How to obtain 490 blessings? Where did Jesus bring the 490 equation? What's the reason? Did He just make up a number? Or is there a purpose behind what He is saying?
Jesus is the Master. He is the Word in flesh. He is God in human form; He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't just say words for the sake of saying it. 70 * 7 means 490. There is only one word in the Bible that matches with 490, 491. Let me explain. Unlike English or Sinhala, or any other language, the Hebrew language; every letter is den, or every letter denotes a number. Family, are you here? Every letter in the Hebrew language has numerology attached to it. Did you hear what I just said? Yes, every letter has a number. There is only one word in Hebrew that tells of 490, that correlates with 490. So when Jesus said 70 x 7, He is making reference to that word. Bethlehem is the word. The word Bethlehem; Beth has a numerical value of 412. Lehham has a numerical value of 78. 412 + 78 = 490.
When Peter comes and asks Jesus, "Seven times is enough," Jesus' response is Bethlehem, Bethlehem. What is Bethlehem, family? Since last Sunday, the Holy Spirit has been reminding the glorious church how important it is to be in the house of God, and the reminder to us last week was; the house of God is represented by ladders and gates, and Jacob found the ladder and the gate in a place called Bethel, which is called the house of God. But when we come to the New Testament, we are introduced to another representation for the house of God. The house of God is Bethlehem, because Bethlehem means house of bread. It means you are already fed. Now you think of Bethlehem maybe only on Christmas days. You know Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This is why there is a similarity between Bethlehem and the church of Jesus Christ. So when I ask you to take church attendance seriously, every time you come to church, you are coming to Bethlehem. You are coming to obtain 490 blessings; 490 blessings. Now the devil is going to work overtime to pull people out of the church, because there is no 490 for 4 Seewood Avenue, Colombo 4. There is no Bethlehem in Sri Lanka. Anywhere the church gathers, that's a Bethlehem; 490. You can have 490 blessings nowhere else in the world. Only in the house of God. There is a ladder in the house of God. There is a gate in the house of God. But I am here to tell you there is one more thing in the house of God; there are 490 blessings to obtain; 490 blessings. How do I get them? One main key thing. One main key thing. What's the context? How often should I forgive my brother? You don't want me to preach. What's the context? 490. The context of 490 is forgiveness. Forgiveness. When Jesus took the bread, He was born in Bethlehem. Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. I need media to work first, to know when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Where was He born? He is born in the house of bread. Any time you meet Bethlehem, there is always food there. That's how you choose the right church. There should be bread. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus has to be represented in that church. Hallelujah, Hallelujah! Jesus is there in Bethlehem. Take a look at verse number 6. 490 blessings. How do I obtain it? And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Jesus is coming out of Bethlehem. A saviour is coming out of Bethlehem. That's why Bethlehem represents the house of God. Where is Jesus coming from? Jesus manifests; the house of God is Bethlehem. Not in the marketplace; not in your home. There is a blessing you can receive only in the house of God. This is why this auditorium is your house of God. You are collecting blessings every time you come here. But none of that gets unlocked until you walk in forgiveness. You know what? Forgiveness, as a subject, sounds easy. You have to understand that I am sent by God to tell you this message. This is not what I want to preach. This is what I have to preach. I don't want to, but I must. A prophet has no choice. In a moment, you are going to connect bread with forgiveness. Celebrate that God has forgiven you. And yet there are people in the church you don't talk to. No wonder your life is a mess. No wonder you are not blessed. What does Bethlehem mean? Bread of forgiveness. Hallelujah! The Saviour who saved you from the sins of humanity, He was born in Bethlehem; the birthplace of forgiveness. Are you getting this? There is no blessing in a place in your heart where you are able to release forgiveness. You will die young. Let me show you in the scriptures how you will die young. First Corinthians 11:29 and 30. First Corinthians 11:29 and 30. So how do I obtain the 490? 490 means forgiveness; 70 times 7. Forgiveness. Forgiveness is the context. Be free with forgiving people. Forgive those people. Forgive your brothers in the church. Forgive your sisters in the church. Forgive, forgive, forgive your enemies. Forgive your children; your parents. Forgive. And watch how 490 unlocks. You are suffering unnecessarily. Twelve hours of prayer every day. Before an interview, you fast. And yet a non-Christian will get a job without fasting. You, for every financial breakthrough you need, you have to fast. The non-Christian that's next door to you, money everywhere. Why are you suffering when non-believers don't suffer? You know Jesus. Your problem is just one. Your life is not moving. Hell is and you never going to get to Bethlehem until you say, "I am a man forgiven; I need to forgive others." Not forgiving people is like you taking poison and hoping the other person dies. Bones are, every day your bones are decaying. Forgive. So you can't have communion until your heart has forgiveness. This is how you obtain 490 blessings. You can't curse me; I am too blessed. Forgive. Every day I walk in forgiveness. Because trust me on this; someone does something. So it's like getting out-of-jail-free card in Monopoly. There are people who offend you. You give them the get-out-of-jail-free card. Don't put them in the prison of your mind. [Music] And then, next 10 minutes, "Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread." The next verse says, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others." You can't partake of that bread unless you forgive. You will die if you eat the bread without forgiving. That's what the Bible says; I will show you that. The Bible says if you eat the bread without forgiving, you will die soon. Do you know unforgiveness will take you to the grave fast? Heaven, grave, grave. Take a look. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, referring to the table of communion. This is First Corinthians. Paul is dealing with communion, but not just communion with the Lord. As he explains, it is explaining communion with our brothers and sisters, and how it affects your life from this earth. And he writes: If you eat or drink the table of communion unworthily, that means lightly, dishonouring, just having it casually. First Corinthians. If you just do that, you will eat and drink judgement to yourselves. Not discerning the Lord's body. He didn't say not discerning the Lord's body and blood. He stops with, "You are not discerning the Lord's body." I come back; I want to know if 100 people are getting what I am saying. Balcony, listen. I don't want to be cheating God; I really need to know if 100 people get this. I want you to see what Paul is saying. He's saying, "You are judging yourself; you are bringing a curse on yourself." When you have communion, the bread and the blood of Christ, when you don't discern His body. He is talking about the bread and the cup. He is talking about the Lord's body; the church. You have not discerned the Lord's body. Who is the Lord's body? The one seated next to you. We are one body. You are taking communion. Ten minutes ago, you have just massacred this person in the car park. Not somewhere else; all in your home. You lambaste the brothers and sisters of the church. The only relationship you have is with God, but until you forgive your neighbours, God does not know you. You know God, but God doesn't know you. You can claim to know God. But He only knows those who are in Him. This is how you obtain 490 unstoppable blessings in your life. For you have nothing to lose. Discern the Lord's body. Look at the next verse. Next verse. For this reason, what reason? Wrongly, wrongly, not discerning the body of Christ. For this reason, many among you are weak and fall asleep, that is not falling asleep I am talking about, this is about death. You are getting weak in your health. You were healthy. You had communion. Two months later, the doctors found a cancer in your body. How? You were healthy. Soon after communion. Six months later, you are diagnosed with some issue. The Bible says, the reason why you are weak and you are sick, this is the reason. You are not discerning others in the body of Christ. This church, this nature. This is why you will never hear me talk against another man of God. You will never hear me. [Applause] I dare you to find a video. You will not find it. We will never stand here and condemn another denomination. Sometimes, to make you laugh, we will insinuate something, maybe joke there, but we back off. There is a limit you can go. Then, after that, you don't touch it. This is why outsiders, even you insiders here, you have no fear of God. You can talk bad about the church. You can talk bad about the brothers and sisters. And then, after a few months, you get sick, and you are wondering what is wrong. You have not discerned the Lord's body.
Next chapter. To further elaborate what He means. 21. 21st verse. Chapter number 12. We have to read a few verses here. My family, are you here? At least, because you are there, aren't you? I'm talking to all of you in English, because anyone who comes to this church, you might not know English; you will know English after we finish. Look at this. The Bible wasn't written in chapters. Earlier, we looked at the 11th chapter; this is the 12th chapter. Even though it's the 12th chapter, it's the same chapter. Paul breaks the chapter into, but the same thing that Paul is saying here, he is speaking the same thing. In the Lord's body, I can't say to the hand, "I don't need you." And in this church, you are giving people that attitude. You can't do that. You can do it. But don't you dare have communion. Because if you touch communion, you have to be right. God has made, made you right with Him. But you have to make an effort to make yourself right before others. That's the power of communion. Look at it, the eye can't say to the hand, "I don't need you." The poor can't say to the rich, "You are the reason we are not counted in this church."
නිසා තමයි මේ ගණන් ගන්නේ නැත්තම් මේ ස්වභාවය කියා. Are you getting this? The rich can’t look at the poor and say, “We don’t need you.” ඔහොම පොහොසත් අයට බැහැ දුප්පතුන් දිහා බලලා කියන්නේ ඕගොල්ලන් ඕනේ නැහැ කියලා. The poor can’t say to the rich, “We don’t want you.” දුප්පත් අයට පොහොසත් අය දිහා බලලා කියන්න බැහැ, “ඔබට ඕනේ නැහැ” කියා. I cannot say to the hand, “We don’t need you.” ඇසට කියන්න බැහැ, “අත දියා බලට ඇයි?” The head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” හිසට බැහැ පාදවලට කියන්න, “ඔබව අවශ්ය නැහැ” කියා.
Much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary. ඉතින් ශරීරයේ වඩා ඕනෑ කරන්නේ වඩා දුර්වලව පෙනන අවයවයයි. ඕගොල්ලන්ට තේරුණාද කියලා දන්නේ නැහැ. Do you understand what I’m saying? And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable. අඩු ගෞරවයක් තියෙනවා කියලා ශරීරයේ සිතන්නා වූ කොටස් upon these we bestow more abundant honor. ඒවාට වැඩි ගෞරවයක් අපි දෙනවා. Just translate what I’m saying. And our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. Go to the next verse, for our comely parts have no need, but God tempered the body together. අපේ අවශ්යතාවයට සරිලන විදිහට ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ ශරීරය නිවැරදි කරලා තියෙනවා. That’s right. හරියට තෙම්පරාදු කරලා තියෙනවා. ශරීරය හරි ලස්සනට උන්වහන්සේ දාලා තියෙන්නේ. නහය තියෙන්න ඕන තැන නහය තියෙනවා. මේ කතා කරන්නේ තමාගේ මේ බොඩිය නෙමෙයි. මේ කතා කරන්නේ දේව ගෘහයේ ඉන්න මිනිස්සු ගැන. Refer to: සමහරුන්ගේ නහය ලොකුයි. Some people know. හැමදාම සමහර අයගේ මේ හොම්බ ලොකුයි. හැම මගුලකටම දානවා හොම්බ. ඒකයි බයිබලේ කියන්නේ. සමහර ඔවුන්ගේ හොම්බ ලොකුයි, උන්ගේ ඇස් ලොකුයි, උන්ගේ කන් ලොකුයි, උන්ගේ දිව දිගයි. හැබැයි ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ මේ හැම අවයවයක්ම තෙම්පරාදු කරලා ලස්සනට දෙවියන් වහන්සේගේ ක්රිස්තුස් වහන්සේගේ ශරීරය කියලා ශරීරයක් දීලා තියෙනවා. දේව සභාව කියලා. හාලේලූයා. හාලේලූයා. ඔය සභාවට තමයි බෙත්ලෙහෙම් කියලා කියන්නේ. ඔතන තමයි 490ක ආශිර්වාද ඔබට ලැබෙන්නේ. 490 blessings are best of it.
Who am I speaking to? කාටද මම මේ කතා කරන්නේ? නැහැ. Who am I speaking to? කාටද මම මේ කතා කරන්නේ? නැහැ. Receive 490 blessings. ආශිර්වාද 490 ලබාගන්න. You are not going to get it in your kitchen. ඔබට කුස්සියේ දේවාශිර්වාද හම්බවෙන්නේ නැහැ. Not going to get it because you somehow went to another country. ඔබ වෙන රටකට ගියා කියලා එක හම්බවෙන්නේ නැහැ. Get it in the house of God. ඔබට ඒ ලැබෙන්නේ දේව ගෘහයේදී. I speak by experience as a prophet; let me tell you something. මම අත්දැකීමෙන් කියන්නේ දිව්යමය සේවකයෙක් ලෙස. There are certain places where you can grow in development. සංවර්ධනය වෙන්නට පුළුවන් ස්ථානයන් තිබෙනවා. Danny boy, there. Danny, you know Danny? Danny, you know Danny, right? Yes, sir. Then he was asking me—we were walking the other day. Then… ප්රශ්නයක් ඇහුවා එදා අපි ඇවිදිමින් ඉඳද්දී. And he said… ඔහු කිව්වා. I think he asked me something about when should I get married? මම කවදාද විවාහ වෙන්න ඕනේ කියලා මගේ ඇහුවා. ඌ වෙන ප්රශ්න නැහැ. දැනියට තියෙන්නේ ඒ ප්රශ්නය. That’s his question. දැනියට පැනි වැඩිවෙලා. දැනියට පැනි වැඩිවෙලා. So Danny, he was asking me… දැනි අහනවා. Wing walking, wing dead, dead, dead, bad, dad, that can ask you a question. මට ප්රශ්නයක් අහන්න පුළුවන්ද? Last question, ask now. When do you think I should get married? මම කවදාද කියලා? Do you know my answer? මගේ උත්තරය දන්නවද? I said yesterday. මම කිව්වා ඊයේ කියලා. ආ! I said yesterday. මම කිව්වා ඊයේ. He was shocked. ඔහු පුදුමයට පත් වුණා. I said… මම කිව්වා. The reason why I’m saying yesterday… මම ඊයේ කියලා කියන්නේ හේතුව තමයි… is because… හේතුව තමයි… there is a certain level of development in your life you will only experience after you get married. ඔබේ ජීවිතයේ යම්කිසි විදියක සංවර්ධනය වෙන කොටසක් තියෙනවා, විවාහ වුණාට පස්සේ විතරයි ඒ කොටස සංවර්ධනය කරගන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්නේ. The gym can’t give you that development. ජිම් එකට බැහැ ඒ සංවර්ධනය ලබා දෙන්න. Only marriage. විවාහයට විතරයි. There are some muscles you only develop after finding a spouse. සමහර මාංශපේශී සංවර්ධනය වෙන්නේ ඒ සහකරු සහකාරිය හම්බවුණාට පස්සේ විතරයි. You are welcome, true. ඒක තමයි ඇත්ත. That’s why there is a significant gap of maturity between the married and the unmarried. ඒ නිසා තමයි විවාහක සහ අවිවාහක අය අතර බොහොම පැහැදිලි පරිණතභාවයේ වෙනසක් තියෙන්නේ. Produces development. විවාහය ඔස්සේ සංවර්ධනය ඇතිවෙනවා. That’s why marriage is not for boys. ඒ නිසා තමයි පිරිමි ළමයින්ට විවාහය සුදුසු නැත්තේ. පොඩි ළමයින්ට… Therefore, shall a man leave his father and mother—not a boy. ඒ නිසා පුරුෂයා තමාගේ මව සහ පියා අත්හැර… To boys are living with mom and father. ළමයි තමයි අම්මා තාත්තා ළඟ. Then you’re in trouble. එතකොට ලොකු ප්රශ්නයක්… Therefore, shall a man leave his father and mother. ඒ නිසා පුරුෂයෙක් තමාගේ පියා සහ මව අතහැරලා යනවා. And those of you who walk away from marriage… විවාහයෙන් ඉවත් වෙලා යන අය… Of course, there are… there are exceptions which I won’t talk about. විශේෂ අවස්ථාවල තියෙනවා. ඒක ගැන මම කතා කරන්නේ නැහැ. I want you, as a church, to appreciate marriage. You know why? Marriage is a muscle development center. නමුත් ඔබ විවාහය කියන එක ගෞරවීය සලකන්න. මොකද ඒක මාංශපේශී වර්ධනය කරන්න මධ්යස්ථානයක්. Spirit muscles you develop. ආත්මික මාංශපේශී ඔස්සේ වර්ධනය වෙනවා. For those who are married 25 years… අවුරුදු 25කට පෙර විවාහ වුණ අය… Muscles are there. ඔබගේ මාංශපේශී තියෙනවා. Married 30 years ago… අවුරුදු 30කට කලින් විවාහ වෙච්ච අය… Your muscles… ඔබගේ මාංශපේශි… Married four years… අවුරුදු 4ක් විවාහ වෙලා ඉන්න… Close to heaven. ඔබ දැන් ස්වර්ගයට හිතාමිටි කිට්ටුයි. Those of you are married 50 years… අවුරුදු 50ක් විවාහ වෙලා ඉන්න අය… I’m telling you, angels are saluting you. දේවදූතයෝ ඔබට ආචාර කරනවා. God is saying, “You made it, boy, you!” උන්වහන්සේ කියනවා, “ඔබ නියමට ඒක කළා!” A development center. ඒක සංවර්ධන මධ්යස්ථානයක්. You know where else brings development? සංවර්ධනය වෙන කොහෙන්ද හම්බවෙන්නේ කියලා දන්නවද? The next place that develops… ඊළඟට ඔබගේ ජීවිතය සංවර්ධනය කරන ස්ථානය තමයි… the church. සභාව. There is a significant maturity gap… බොහොම පැහැදිලි පරිණතභාවයේ හිඩැසක් තියෙනවා… between those who are part of a church and those who are not part of the church. සභාවේ කොටස්කරුවන් වන අය සහ නොවන අය අතරේ. They think they can stay home, save money… ඔවුන් හිතනවා ගෙදර ඉඳලා ඔවුන් සල්ලි ඉතුරු කරගෙන… tithe, no cost… දසයෙන් කොටසට වියදමක් නැහැ. Tithe, no cost… දසයෙන් කොටසට වියදමක් නැහැ. Give seeds to the Lord, no… දේවමාලිගාවට දෙන්න බීජ නැහැ. No, no need to give to the Lord. මම ඒ වගේ අයට කියනවා, “ඔබට ජීවිතයක් නැහැනේ.” Such people… ඔබ ජීවිතයකුත් නැහැ. You don’t have a life either. You can’t order Bethlehem on… ඔබට බෙත්ලෙහෙම ඕඩර් කරන්න බැහැ. Sir, you can’t… ඔබට බැහැ… you’ve got to find it and get there. ඔබ බෙත්ලෙහෙම සොයාගෙන එතනට එන්න ඕනේ. I’m telling you, it’s a dangerous thing. When you find Bethlehem, don’t leave. Ask Naomi and Ruth. ඔබ බෙත්ලෙහෙම හම්බුණාට පස්සේ එතනින් යන්න එපා. අහන්න නෝමිගෙන් සහ රූත්ගෙන්. The Bible says, in chapter one of the book of Ruth… බයිබලේ කියනවා රූත් පොතේ පළවෙනි පරිච්ඡේදය… verse one onwards… පළවෙනි පදය ඉඳලා… “Don’t go there.” I preach it quickly because… අපි එතනට කතා කරමු. That’s a family called Elimelech and Naomi… එලිමෙලෙක් සහ නෝමිගේ පවුල… with their two sons. ඔවුන්ගේ පුත්රයෝ දෙන්නත් එක්ක. They left… ඔවුන් බෙත්ලෙහෙම අතහැරලා ගියා. 490 blessings… අවුරුදු 490ක ආශිර්වාද… They left it. එයා ඒවා අතහැරලා ගියා. Because there was a famine in… මොකද බෙත්ලෙහෙමේ නියංගයක් තිබුණ නිසා… and they migrated to Moab… ඔවුන් මෝආබ් වලට ගියා… where God is not. දෙවියන් වහන්සේ නැති තැනකට ගියා. The husband died. ස්වාමිපුරුෂයා මැරුණා. Both sons died. පුත්රයෝ දෙන්නම මැරුණා. Leaving behind three widows. ඊට පස්සේ වැන්දඹුවෝ තුන්දෙනෙක් ඉතුරු වුණා. One day… එක දවසක… Naomi has a spiritual awakening. නෝමිට ආත්මික පිබිදීමක් ඇති වුණා. I know why we went through this. ඇයි දැනගත්තා අපි ඇයි මේක තුළින් ගියේ කියලා. Because we left the house of bread. අපි රොටි තිබෙන නිවස අතහැරලා ආවා. We left Bethlehem. අපි බෙත්ලෙහෙම අතහැරලා ආවා. We believed in an unchurched environment. අපි සභාවක් නැති ජීවිතයක් විශ්වාස කළා. ඒකට ප්රශ්නයක් නැහැ. Get money… ටයිත් එකට ගෙවන්න ඕනේ නැහැ. We are saving the tithe. අපි දසයෙන් කොටසත් ඉතුරු කරගන්න ඕනේ. God… අපි දේවමාලිගාවට වපුරන්න ඕනේ නැහැ. We don’t have to give for missions. අපි මිෂන්ස් වලට දෙන්න ඕනේ නැහැ. We’re in a good place now. අපි දැන් හොඳ තත්ත්වයක ඉන්නවා. We don’t have to rub shoulders with people we don’t like. අපි අකමැති අයත් එක්ක ඇසුරු කරන්න ඕනේ නැහැ. No cost! ඉන්ධන වියදමක් නැහැ. Jeep life! හරි ලාභයි ජීවිතය. We are so happy at home. ගෙදර අපිට හරි සතුටින් ඉන්න පුළුවන්. My head is better than your mouth. Let me finish the center. And one day… දවසක… death struck. මරණය පැමිණියා. There are some of you here… මෙතන සමහර අය ඉන්නවා… you will not value the anointing I carry until death strikes your home. ඔබ මට තිබෙන ආලේපනය ගරු කරන්නේ නැහැ. ඔබගේ නිවසට මරණය පැමිණෙන කල්. Until there is a death certificate hanging at the car, at the main door of your house… එතකොට ඔබ… then you’ll prophesy! ප්රොෆට් කියලා! ඔබගේ නිවසේ දොරකඩේ මරණ සහතිකයක් එල්ලිලා තියෙනකල්… ඔන්න මරණය පැමිණියාට පස්සේ කියයි! prophesy, prophesy! කියලා. Are you getting this? ඔබට වැටහෙනවද මේක? Naomi decided… නෝමි තීරණය කළා… Moab was no longer working. මෝආබ් වල මේ කස කස ඉඳලා හරියන්නේ නැහැ. Now her husband’s dead, her two sons are dead… දැන් මහත්තයා මැරුණා, පුතාලා දෙන්නම් මැරුණා… there’s no… no… no need to pray. Listen to me, I have an announcement. මට නිවේදනයක් තියෙනවා. Your prayer has no power in Moab. ඔබේ යාඥාවට බලයක් නැහැ මෝආබ් වල. You have to get back to Bethlehem! ඔබ නැවත බෙත්ලෙහෙමට පැමිණිය යුතුයි. Because that’s where God can restore everything. මොකද එතනදි තමයි දෙවියන් වහන්සේට සියල්ල ප්රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කළ හැකි. නෝමි සහ රූත්… ඒ නිසා නෝමි සහ රූත්… journey back to the house of God. නැවත දේවගෘහයට පැමිණියා. Where there is bread. රොටි තිබෙන ස්ථානයට. When they came back to Bethlehem… ඔවුන් නැවත බෙත්ලෙහෙමට ආපු විට… You know the story. ඔබ දන්නවා කතාව. Ruth got married. රූත් විවාහ වුණා. They had a child. ඔවුන්ට දරුවෙක් ලැබුණා. Out of that lineage… ඒ පරම්පරාවෙන්… King David. දාවිඩ රජතුමා පැමිණියා. Out of that lineage… ඒ පරම්පරාවෙන්… Jesus. ජේසුස් කියන රජ පැමිණියා. Out of that lineage… ඒ පරම්පරාවෙන්… all of us. අපි සියලු දෙනා පැමිණියා. You have to go back to Bethlehem. ඔබ නැවත බෙත්ලෙහෙමට යා යුතුයි. God… I don’t know who I’m speaking to. කාටද මම මේ කතා කරන්නේ? When Naomi came back to Bethlehem… නෝමි නැවත බෙත්ලෙහෙමට පැමිණි විට… all that she lost… ඇයට නැති වුණු හැම දෙයක්ම… Pastor… පාස්ටර්… all that she lost… ඇයට නැතිවුණු හැම දෙයක්ම… all that that woman lost… ඒ කාන්තාවට අහිමි වුණු හැම දේම… God restored. දෙවියන් වහන්සේ ප්රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කළා. හාලේලූයා! The 490 blessings… ඒක තමයි ආශිර්වාද 490… Restoration is one of them. ප්රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කියන්නේ ඒවායින් එකක්. In the house of God. දේවගෘහය තුළ. No matter what you have lost… ඔබ මොනවද අහිමි වෙලා තිබ්බත්… if you stay long in Bethlehem… ඔබ බෙත්ලෙහෙමේ රැඳී සිටියොත්… and eat the bread of the Master… ඒ ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේගේ රොටිය කෑවොත්… the day will come… දවසක් එනවා… when you look back… ඔබ ආපහු හැරිලා බැලුවාම… you say, “I lost that, but God gave me that.” මට අරක නැති වුණාට මට දෙවියන් වහන්සේ මේක දුන්නා. I lost that, but God gave me that and that. මට අරක නැති වුණාට ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ අරකයි, අරකයි දුන්නා. I lost that… මට අරක නැති වුණා… but God gave me that, this, that, and that. මට ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ මට අරක, මේක, මේක, මේක, මේක… නමුත් අරකත් එක්ක දුන්නා. Found in Bethlehem… ඒවා හම්බවෙන්නේ බෙත්ලෙහෙමේ. Bethlehem! බෙත්ලෙහෙම! 490! 490! This is how you obtain it. මේ විදිහට ඔබ ඒක අත්පත් කරගන්නේ. But family, here’s the secret. මෙන්න මේකයි රහස. Forgiveness. සමාව දීම. Forgiveness. සමාව දීම. You have to release forgiveness. ඔබ සමාව දෙන්න අවශ්යයි. Your heart has to be free. ඔබගේ හදවත නිදහස් වෙන්න ඕනේ. Don’t give your enemies so much space in your head. ඔබගේ සතුරන්ට ඔබගේ හිසේ ඒ තරම් ඉඩක් දෙන්න එපා. Let it go! ඒක අතහැර දාන්න. Let it go! ඒක අතහැර දාන්න. Let it go! අතහැර දාන්න. Let it go! අතහැර දාන්න. Let it go! අතහැර දාන්න. Let it go! අතහැර දාන්න. Before we take communion… ශුද්ධ සහභාගීතාවයට එකතු වෙන්න කලින්… today… අද… Let it go! ඒක අතහැර දාන්න. Let it go! අතහැර දාන්න. And watch how 490 blessings come haunting you! ඊට පස්සේ බලන්න ආශිර්වාද 490 ඔබ හඹා එන ආකාරය. Than are… ඔබ ලබාගන්නවාද යම් දෙයක්… for the other person. අනිත් පුද්ගලයාට සමාව දෙන්න. Never have anything against anybody. කාටවත් විරුද්ධව කිසිම දෙයක් තියාගන්න එපා. Church should be an enjoyable place. සභාව හොඳින් විඳින්න පුළුවන් තැනක් වෙන්න ඕනේ. A place where you say, “I’m loving what God is doing in the house of God.” දෙවියන් වහන්සේ දේවගෘහයේ කරන දේට මම හිතාමිටි ප්රිය කරනවා කියන තැනක් වෙන්න ඕනේ. I say this, and I close. මම මේක කියලා නිමා කරනවා. Are you receiving? ඔබ ලබාගන්නවද? Back to First Corinthians, chapter 12. පළමු කොරින්ති, 12 වැනි පරිච්ඡේදය. Which verse are we on? Which verse were we on? Some more minutes and I’m done. තව හතකින් ඉවර කරනවා. In the house of God… දේවගෘහයේ… there are uncomely parts. අර අශෝභන කොටස් තියෙනවා. There are uncomely… ඒ කියන්නේ අශෝභන කොටස් වලට… God gives comely parts. දෙවියන් වහන්සේ ශෝභන කොටස් දෙනවා. Uncomely parts. අශෝභන කොටස් තියෙනවා. Honorable, comely parts, and uncomely parts. ගෞරවනීය, ශෝභන කොටස් සහ අශෝභන කොටස්. In your physical body… ඔබගේ භෞතික ශරීරයේ… there are noble parts, there are not-so-noble parts. බොහොම ශෝභන කොටස් තිබෙනවා. ඒ වගේම එච්චර ශෝභන නැති කොටස් තියෙනවා. That’s why God has given us clothes. ඒ නිසා දෙවියන් වහන්සේ අපිට ඇඳුම් දීලා තියෙන්නේ. We close that part that we don’t want to expose. අපි පෙන්නන්නට අකමැති කොටස් අපි වසා ගන්නවා. Same thing must happen in the church. You have to close each other. සභාවෙත් ඒ වගේම වෙන්න ඕනේ. එකිනෙකා වසාගන්න අවශ්යයි. “Uncover your clothes,” no! ඇඳුම් ගලවන්න කියන්නේ නැහැ. Not clothes, no! රෙදි ගලවනවා. "Uncover your clothes!" උඹේ රෙදි ගලවනවා! Come next Sunday and uncover your clothes! එන්න ඊළඟ සතිය පල්ලියට ආවාම රෙදි ගලවනවා උඹේ! In a church that is this big… මෙච්චර විශාල සභාවක… you’re going to come across… ඔබට අනිවාර්යයෙන් හමුවෙයි… challenges in getting along with other people. අනිත් මිනිස්සුන් එක්ක අභියෝග වලට ලක්වෙනවා. But it’s an opportunity. නමුත් ඒක අවස්ථාවක්. Forgive… සමාව දෙන්න. Bethlehem… බෙත්ලෙහෙම… house of bread… රොටි ඇති ගෙදර… house of bread… රොටි ඇති නිවස… the bread of forgiveness… ඒක තමයි සමාවදීමේ රොටිය. One day, a prophet called… දවසක… සාමුවෙල් කියන දිව්යමය… he was sent to the house of Jesse… ජෙසීගේ නිවසට යවා… to anoint the next king. ඊළඟ රජු ආලේප කරන පිණිස. My question… මගේ ප්රශ්නය… where did Jesse’s family come from? ජෙසීගේ පවුල කොහෙන්ද එන්නේ? පැමිණි තැන. Where kings came out of… රජවරු පැමිණියේ කොහෙන්ද? From where? කොහෙන්ද? You don’t know? කොහෙන්ද දන්නේ නැහැ? First Samuel, chapter 16, verse 1… එකවරු සාමුවෙල් 16… the Bible says… බයිබලේ කියනවා… “And the Lord said unto Samuel…” ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ සාමුවෙල්ට කියනවා… “How long shall you mourn for Saul…” සාවුල් වෙනුවෙන් කොච්චර කාලයක් මොර ගහන්නද?… seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel. ඔහුව ඊශ්රායෙලයේ රජකමෙන් ඉවත් කරලා තියෙනවා. Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlemite.” So where did David’s father live? ඔබ කුප්පායට තෙල් පුරවාගෙන යන්න. බෙත්ලෙහිම් හිමි ජෙසී වෙත. එහෙනම් දාවිඩ්ගේ පියා කොහෙද ඉන්නේ? බෙත්ලෙහෙමේ. Where did David come from? දාවිඩ් කොහෙන්ද එන්නේ? බෙත්ලෙහෙමෙන්. You know what Bethlehem had? බෙත්ලෙහෙමට මොනවද තිබුණේ? Just bread? ඒ රොටි විතරක්ද තිබු