 Okay, good morning everyone. Good to see Paul, John, Jephila, Siddiqueno and Zillatoli. Can I ask Paul to lead us in prayer please? Let's pray. Father Almighty God, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for yet another day in our life. We thank you for this moment that we are going to hear your word, because your word is good and it is live all the time. Father, as we are going to partake of it, let it bear fruits in our life, let us give wisdom, let us give us knowledge, let us strengthen art. We pray that the internet also be stable throughout. We pray and commit this into your hand. We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. Amen. Thank you Paul. You're welcome. So last week, last Wednesday, before we finished class, you know, we were looking, we began looking at Chapter 6, Kingdom Culture. And before that, we looked at Kingdom lifestyle, Kingdom living. We saw a few characteristics in Kingdom lifestyle, Kingdom living, that this holiness and reverence, righteousness, peace and joy, power, authority and dominion, endurance and suffering, forgiveness, no partiality, being ready for the King and being celibate for the Kingdom's sake, okay? So today we're going to look at, continue looking at Chapter 6, where we're talking about Kingdom culture. And last class I mentioned in Chapter 5, that in John Chapter 18 was 36, Jesus said that my Kingdom is not of this world. So when we are born again, we are born again into the Kingdom of God. We are born again into the Kingdom of Heaven. We belong to the culture, the lifestyle, the thought process and the values, sorry, of the Kingdom of God, okay? And then we looked at a few, important thing about being part of the Kingdom culture is our identity, who we are. We are Kings and priests and we read Revelation Chapter 1, verses five to six, five and six, where he says that, you know, as believers we've been washed from our sins by the blood of Jesus and he has made us Kings and priests to our God. And then we looked at both the present and application of us being priests and kings to our God. And also we look at the future tense application of us being priests and kings. So the present tense application is that, you know, presently we are Kings and priests in God's Kingdom. We represent God's rule and reign here on earth. And you know, we intercede on behalf of the people and we also are here to see his Kingdom come in our earthly realm, okay? So as a priest, we said that, you know, we are to worship God, we are to glorify God and also take up matters of earth to heaven, to seek God's heart, to bring in heavenly intervention in the affairs of the life of mankind. And then we also saw there is a future tense to this where, you know, each one of us will, based on how faithful we have been here on the days of our life that, you know, we will be appointed as kings and priests when we will reign on earth, literally in his kingdom, which we read in Revelation chapter five, verses nine to 10. So as a nation, you know, as a people group that's belonging to the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, we are a separate nation, a race, a tribe of people who have the same habit, customs and culture. So as kings and priests, we are people of, you know, belonging to the kingdom culture, we share common kingdom culture amongst ourselves and we have, you know, we shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that, you know, characterize us as people belonging to the kingdom of God, okay? So what is the importance of actually, you know, belonging to a kingdom culture is, you know, when we all live kingdom lifestyle, when we think kingdom patterns, kingdom, from the kingdom perspective, what does it really do? How does it really help, you know, when we adhere to kingdom culture, you know, share the same attitudes, the values, the goals, the beliefs, the behavior patterns, what does it do? It actually builds a community of believers, you know, because we are all following the kingdom, thinking the kingdom living and hence we create a kingdom culture in our environment. And what does this, how does this help, you know, this really helps in when people from, you know, from the world or, you know, from doctors, they come in and they engage with us, you know, they would experience the power of God, they will experience the truth of God, they will experience the lifestyle of God, the culture of God and, you know, that will change them. So the kingdom culture will overpower the evils of any culture around it. So, you know, when people come from darkness into the kingdom of God, you know, you know, they would, their culture will be changed, you know, they will be overpowered by the power of God, the power of evil in them will be overpowered and, you know, and they will be set free and they will be part of God's kingdom culture or part of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. So that is what we looked at before we ended class last week. We just began to look at the different facets of the kingdom culture and we looked at a culture of order. So we look at the different facets of kingdom culture, kingdom culture is a culture of honor, okay? And we looked at when do we show honor to someone and that's where we stopped, okay? We give honor to, with what we say, what we do, when we speak highly of people, when we refuse to defame people, when we stand up in the presence of a person and, you know, we applaud them, we appreciate them, encourage them, we give financially into their lives or we serve in any way, we show honor to that person, okay? So whom do we honor, okay? As part of people who are part of the kingdom culture, who do we honor? We honor our king that is our Lord and God who is the head of the kingdom and we also bestow honor on those whom God has appointed to serve in specific functions in the kingdom, okay? So there are people that God has appointed, prophets, priests, apostles, teachers, you know, who God has specifically given them the functions in the kingdom of God, who we need to honor as well. If you look at 1st Timothy chapter five, verse 17, Paul is writing to Timothy and he's saying, those who lead God's people well and those who labor in word and doctrine are to be given double honor, okay? So here it says that those who are in the five-fold ministry office functions, those who actually labor for the word and the doctrine are to be given double honor. So when we honor someone, you know, you, what does it do? It actually blesses you in return. You know, you receive through their life. So it's not like you're just giving them honor for, you know, just because you have to, but you know, when you do it with a sincere heart, you actually receive through their life. So Matthew chapter 10, verses 41 and 42, can somebody read that please? Matthew 10, 41 and 42, Matthew 10, 41 and 42. Matthew 10, 41, 42, he who received a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of the righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of the disciple, as shortly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. Thank you, Zalatoli. So here we see that, you know, whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, okay? Whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. So when you receive or honor a prophet, a righteous man or a disciple who are part of the kingdom of God, then you receive a reward that represents who they are, okay? I'd just like to give you a couple of examples from the Bible. Anyone can give me a couple of examples from the Bible where you read how, you know, people have basically honored a prophet or a righteous man and they receive the reward. Any narratives from the Bible you have read, do you remember, comes to your mind? Anyone? I think I don't know the name Elijah, I mentioned someone, the widow used to go home where, I mean, her son will be sleeping. You're right, Jafina. It's Elijah when he was, you know, after he told King Aham that, you know, he, there won't be rain in the land because of the wickedness. And then he got tells him to go and stay in the book of kerat or kerat. And then, you know, he provides ravens to feed him and then the water dries up there. Then God tells him to go to Zeraphith where he's going to meet a widow. And, you know, when he goes there, he sees a widow with the son, you know, picking up sticks. So he knows that this is a lady and he tells her to go bring water. And then he tells her to, you know, give him a piece of bread. And then she says, you know, I have very little with this, you know, it's the last meal that my son and me will eat in. But he says, you know, do what I say. Okay, and then when she gets it done, he says, you know, the oil will never run out and the flour will, the jar will never run out. And then we see likewise, you know, for the time that he spent, Elijah spent with that, staying with that widow in Zeraphith, though the others around, but there was severe famine because there was no rain. But because of this woman's obedience, you know, she had, every time she put her hand to take out flour, if there was flour, every time she poured the jar of oil, there was oil. And so that is receiving a profit reward. Anyone else? Jonathan, David, okay. Okay, Isaac, sorry. Yes, there is the story of the Shunamite woman who provided accommodation for the Prophet and she was richly blessed thereafter. Yes, good example. Thank you, Isaac. So the Shunamite woman, you know, who did not have a Shiana husband, you know, benevolent Elijah is to come to their town to invite them and, you know, have given a meal to him. And they realize that the Prophet keeps coming to their town. So why not build a room upstairs? They build a room upstairs, you know, put a table, a chair, a cot, and in a bed so that he can come and stay there. And Elijah wanted to repay this Shunamite woman for what she has done. And so, you know, she tells, he tells his servant Gehazi, asks him, and Gehazi says, you know, she doesn't have a son or a child. So calls her and says, by this time next year you will have a son. Okay, and shows she was like, you know, I'm already old, don't give me that joy now. But, you know, she does have a son. And what happens, her son, when it grows up, I think a little older, he dies one day. And then we see that, you know, the Shunamite lady goes, finds where Elijah is. And when Gehazi, so Elijah sees her from a distance, sends Gehazi and she says, no, all is well. And she just goes and tells Elijah to come. And then Elijah goes and resurrects her son back to life. So here we see these instances in the Bible where, you know, you will see when you honor a prophet, a righteous man or a disciple for who they are in the kingdom, then you receive a reward that represents who they are. Okay, and Pastor in his book, which we are following actually we are studying, he talks about Pastor Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church, Redding, California. And he says, he shares what Pastor Bill Johnson has said. He said, Elijah was trained by Elijah. And we all know that, you know, he asked for a double portion of the anointing from Elijah and Elijah received a double portion of the anointing and the power. And he did twice as many miracles as then what Elijah had done. Yet, when we read that John the Baptist who was Jesus's forerunner, we read that he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah, not Elisha. So even though Elisha had a double portion of the anointing and power, he did many more miracles compared to Elijah, but we see that when John the Baptist came, he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah and not Elisha. And then Pastor Bill Johnson explains why was that. And he says that, you know, God honors the fathers of a movement. So whoever starts a movement, God honors them. He places the honor of the one who paid the price, sowed the seeds to pioneer a fresh move of God in a place. Okay. So we see that, you know, Elijah and Elisha were one of the great prophets. And we see Elijah starting this whole movement of the prophetic ministry so powerfully. And then it was continued by Elisha. So he was the one who pioneered the whole thing. And so, you know, Pastor Bill Johnson says that God honors the fathers of a movement. He places honor on the one who paid the price and sowed the seeds to pioneer a fresh move of God in a place, okay. So we'll move on to the second facet of a kingdom culture. It's a culture of selfless giving, okay. So, you know, a kingdom culture described by selfless giving, it's not cumbersome and there is joy in the process of giving. It could be giving of anything but time, efforts, comfort, encouragement, support, finances, anything else. And people are sacrificed very willingly, very gladly. It's a spontaneous form of giving. It's not because of compulsion and it's, you know, because it is spontaneous it comes from the heart. So selfless giving is seen in the kingdom of God, kingdom men and women belonging to the kingdom of God. And when do we see selfless giving is those who serve behind the scenes unnoticed and often go unappreciated. You know, in our church, we have many people on a Sunday morning working behind the scenes. You know, they come there as early as 6.30 in the morning they do all the setup, chatting, all the equipment, all the stuff and, you know, we don't see them on stage. They go unnoticed, they often are, but they are appreciated, you know. But, you know, sometimes most of them are unappreciated those in our churches who just serve tea, coffee, or, you know, keep the chairs or clean or, you know, whatever they do. So these people are selfless giving of the time, efforts and also people who forsake their earthly opportunities and success to invest their time, the energies for serving people and the furtherance of God's kingdom. So I gave you this example, you know, people who are highly educated and good posts, they receive a call of God and, you know, they're willing to let go of everything, give up everything just to pursue the call of God to go as missionaries or evangelists or, you know, be pastors or whatever. Okay, even give up their degrees, some of them doctors and engineers, highly educated, you know, and those who expect nothing back from those who have received from us knowing that God will reward us in due time. So there are people who keep serving, who keep ministering, you know, pastors, missionaries, missionaries in, you know, isolated places, nobody even knows about them. They're working so hard and the tribals or the people group or, you know, the people that they're working among don't even have the, you know, the capacity enough to, you know, afford or give them anything in return, but they know that their reward is in heaven. So what do we learn from this? That, you know, kingdom culture is a culture where we do things, we give off our time, efforts, encouragement, you know, financial support and other things and talents, share our wisdom, our resources, our revelation with people, you know, and do it not because we want to get something in return, not so that we can get a position, not so that we can have fame, not so that we can, you know, people can put us on a pedestal, but, you know, just do it because we want to give into people's life. That should be our motive, that should be our initiative, that when we minister in whatever field, in whatever area that we're not doing it to get some benefits, to get some reward, but it's just serving Christ and serving His people who are, you know, heirs of God's kingdom, okay? So this kind of giving is motivated by the words of the King when he says in Matthew 25, was 40, can somebody read that, Matthew 25 was 40? It's there in your PDF and your book. Matthew chapter 25 was 40. The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Thank you. So, you know, this kind of giving is motivated by the love of God and love for people. It's nothing else, it's just pure love that we're motivated to serve, to give, to minister in spite of the circumstances, in spite of the situation, okay? Another facet of kingdom culture is the culture of daring faith. So, you know, people belonging to the kingdom of God, I characterize by people of daring faith who are able to stand in the midst of hardship, you know, with joy in their hearts, with strength, willing to face things because they know who is with them, you know, they trust in a God who is able to see them through, who is able to take them through. And they also have a kind of faith that, you know, they're willing to take risks, okay? Like Peter stepping up the boat and walking on the water, you know, willing to take risks every day of their lives, you know, based on their faith in God, based on what God is telling them to do. Most of the time, you know, when we take the steps of faith, it's basically, we know that it's God asking us to do it, it's a steering in our heart, there's a push in our heart or, you know, we hear clearly from God. And we also see that these people don't mind putting their reputation on the line to see God's kingdom come and this will be done. But, you know, they do all of this because what is a motivation behind all this is to see God glorified, you know, in any and every way. So this is a kind of faith that if we belong to the kingdom culture, if we say we belong to the kingdom of God, we say we belong to the kingdom of heaven, then we need to have this daring faith. And like we just saw, we need to have, you know, be selfless in giving to other people and also a culture of honor where we're honoring, esteeming people above ourselves, okay? So when we have this kind of faith, it actually sees advancement of the kingdom of God in any area, you know, in the marketplace of the business world, in the arts and entertainment, education field, wherever, you know, when you have this daring faith, it just sees the advancement of God's kingdom. And even if we want, you know, to see science miracles, wonders, deliverance, healings happening, then we need to have this kind of faith, daring faith. So if we belong to the kingdom of God, our culture is a culture of daring faith. It's also a culture of joy. An example we can look at is when Philip, you know, when the church in Jerusalem was persecuted and all the disciples, they spread out and wherever they went, you know, they did not go in height, but, you know, they went and preached the gospel. So Philip went to Samaria and he preached the gospel there and he preached concerning the kingdom of God and, you know, there was great joy in that city. The Bible says in Acts, you know, there's a great, there was great joy in the city. Unclean spirits left, the lame were made whole and the people rejoiced, okay? I think it's in Acts chapter five, I think. If I'm not wrong, let me just look at it. Okay, I think it's not able to find it in Acts chapter five. Okay, I'll let you know where it is, say. The seven. Seven, no? Perfect. Okay, in Acts chapter seven. 24. No, no, no. No, it's not in Acts chapter seven as well. Eight, 26. Yeah, I think it's eight. No, this is, yeah, Philip here in Samaria, chapter eight, yes. Chapter eight, verse five, thank you. I had been meaning that, you know, Philip went to preach in Samaria and we see that, you know, verse eight says, chapter eight verse eight says, and there was great joy in that city. Why? Because, you know, unclean spirits left, the lame were made whole, people rejoiced. We read this in verse seven, unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many were possessed and many were paralyzed and lame were healed. So, you know, there was great joy in that city. And so we see that, you know, this joy that we have because we belong to the kingdom of God is something that no one can steal, can take away from us. And, you know, whether it's, you know, difficulties, hardships, slander, persecution that we go through, insults, offenses that we face, personal loss that we go through, you know, losing loved ones' relationships, losing jobs, whatever, nothing can steal this joy. Okay, the joy of the Lord is expressed in and through us, not only through laughter, but also through this calm assurance and the peace that we have in the midst of difficult situations. I don't know if you've, you know, gone through difficult situations in your life, you know, and you just, you know, experience that amazing peace of God that just comes over you. I mean, it's just such a wonderful experience, you know, you're just going around you, it's so disturbing, what is happening in your life is so disturbing, what you just heard from the doctor is so disturbing, but there's this amazing sense of peace and joy that comes and you're so shocked. I mean, I mean, this is what the doctor just told me and, you know, that amazing sense of peace and joy, I just, I think, year back, I think a year or more than a year, you know, since I'd gone to the doctor and I had to do a scan and things were not too good and the doctor was pretty shocked with the scan and he told me, you know, know this in your body and I said, no, he says, how can you not know? And he was quite shocked and he was, you know, quite taken aback, but then I just, when I stepped out of the room, I just sense this amazing peace and I was just smiling and laughing and I just had this joy of the Lord and I was like, I was just too shocked, you know, and I was just saying, God, what do I do now and God is telling me right there, you know, just heard these words come boom into my heart, you know, I am your portion. And that was so amazing. And that's when, you know, God was reminding me about, you know, the storm, the disciples, they were in the storm and the Jesus said, you know, peace, be still or be still and everything was calm and there was amazement in the hearts and in the faces of the disciples and God is saying, that is the peace that you are experiencing now and it was such an amazing experience. So even when, you know, situations around us can be quite overwhelming, can be very difficult, you know, we can experience the joy of the Lord, we can experience His peace, which is really so wonderful, which is really so uplifting and we know that it's just God, okay? So, you know, we can experience God's peace in the midst of any situation. So it's the ability to, you know, experience the peace of God when situations are weighing down on us. It's a joy that enables people and the community to also stick together even when things are pulling us apart, okay, whether it's family, whether it's church, whether it is spouse relationship, it's spouse, you know, there are conflicts that happen, Bible study groups, whatever group we are engaging, conflicts that happen, but you know, even when things pull, try to pull us apart, you know, we learn to stick together and it's the joy that brings about unity and fellowship in the spirit. So a kingdom culture is an environment of such joy, inexpressible and full of glory that we read in 1 Peter 1.8, okay? It's a kingdom of kingdom culture where we experience the inexpressible joy. We just can't express that and it's full of glory, okay? That's when God manifests his glory. Manifests his glory means who he is and what he does, he comes through for us. Okay, a culture of heaven invading earth, we also, you know, we know that in the Lord's prayer, we pray that kingdom come that will be done on earth at this in heaven and it's God's will plan even before the foundations of the world that the kingdom culture be manifested here on earth. So we are to pray that his kingdom would come and his will be released on earth as it is in heaven, you know, in our lives, in our family, in our extended families, in our neighborhood, in our city, in our nation, the nations of the world, okay? So what is his, you know, what is the kingdom culture? It is God's will or what is God's will? Now when we pray that your kingdom come that it will be done, what is God's will? Is it for the lost to be saved, the sick to be healed, the demons to be cast out, the captives to be set free, the poor to hear the good news, the homeless to have shelter, the hungry to be fed, the naked to be clothed, the widows and orphans to be cared for, those who are mistreated, abused to receive relief and hope, everything that actually basically represents invading of heaven on earth. So a kingdom culture will be an environment where all of these things happen all the time and it just does not happen automatically. God has given us, he has made us his, along with him, Paul has, along with Christ, he has given us the keys of the kingdom which he's taken back from Satan. So we are the rulers, we have to subdue, we have to take dominion. We need to bring God's kingdom and his culture, his living, his lifestyle, the thought process here on earth and it has to begin with me, it has to begin with each one of us and that will invade or that we just move through. When we all live with the same culture, ideologies, mindset, values, goals, beliefs, behaviors, then we create a kingdom culture. When others see it, when they come in, when they see it, you know, they will be overpowered by the power of God and they will become part of the kingdom of God, okay? So that is about kingdom culture. Anyone has any questions? Or you have anything that you did not understand, you want more clarity, anyone? Is it clear? Okay. Okay, so we'll move on to another very exciting, thank you Zillatoli and Rosalind, move on to another interesting part of the kingdom of God, which is kingdom parables. Okay, we all like stories and so we're gonna look at kingdom parables and the kingdom of God is such an important topic in the Bible, we've seen that from the very beginning as we saw in Genesis, we saw how God, even before the foundations of the world, he had planned for a kingdom to be established and this is the same theme that we see even in the very last chapter in Revelation, where God wants to establish a kingdom where people will inherit the kingdom. And so in the closing chapter of the Bible, we see he's a king of all kings, a lot of all lords and the extent of his kingdom, there is no limit and no end. So the kingdom of God, the theme kingdom of God runs through from the beginning, Genesis right after Revelation. Now when Jesus came to earth and he thought about the kingdom, he spoke to people in parables, okay? And he spoke many parables as a means to communicate hidden truths concerning his kingdom. So he spoke in parables to communicate mysteries, hidden truths concerning his kingdom. So we'll examine some of the parables and we'll understand the truth, so the hidden mysteries that God, that Jesus wanted to communicate to each one of us. So parables basically reveal to us mysteries or reveals to us hidden truths concerning the kingdom of God. Now before we look at some of the parables, let's turn to John chapter three versus 19 to 13. Okay, can somebody read that please? John chapter three versus 19 to 13. John chapter three versus 19 to, ma'am 19 to 30. Sorry, it's nine to 13, but you are nine to 13. Nicodemus answered and said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven. Thank you, Rosalind. So here in John chapter three versus nine to 13, we see Jesus in a conversation with a very learned person, Nicodemus, who's a scholar, a learned man. And Jesus is explaining to him the need to be born again, okay? So he's using something from our world or our natural world to tell Nicodemus about the spirit, about the spirit then, spirit world, about the need to be born from above. And Nicodemus is not able to understand this and we read in verses nine to 12, Jesus tells Nicodemus, you cannot understand what I'm talking to you about earthly things. You can't just understand me when I'm talking to you about earthly things, then what would you do if I told you about heavenly things? How will you understand it, okay? So here, you know, Jesus is facing a challenge. He's trying to explain this to Nicodemus, who's a scholar, a learned person. He's trying to explain him the things of the spiritual realm, the spiritual kingdom, the spirit, and you know, and he's using something from our world, from our natural world to communicate from him, but sadly Nicodemus is not able to understand it. And Jesus tells him, I'm talking to you about earthly things and you can't understand me. What would you do if I told you about heavenly things? How will you understand it? So Jesus says, you know, he's the only one who could tell him of the heavenly things because he's come down from heaven. Jesus says, in fact, I am, you know, from heaven and though he's on earth, so Jesus says, I am in heaven and though he's on earth, he's connected to heaven in his spirit. And he says, I can tell you there have any things, the things of the unseen kingdom, okay? So Jesus says, I'm the only one who can reveal to you, you know, the things of the unseen kingdom, the mysteries of the unseen kingdom because I am in heaven, which means Jesus is saying, yes, he's on earth, but you know, he's connected to heaven in his spirit man. And so he says, I can tell you of heavenly things, things of the unseen kingdom. So Jesus had basically had a challenge here. It was about, you know, how to reveal to Nicodemus, also how to reveal to people who are listening to him who come every day and listen to his teachings, also to reveal to us unseen things, the things of the world he comes from, okay? Because we're not able to understand it. So sometimes when he spoke of things of our world, you know, we were able to understand it, but when he spoke things of his world, you know, we could not understand. So Jesus had to bridge this gap and that's where this whole concept of parables come in. And this is what Jesus began to do. He used stories of our world, our, you know, natural world, our understanding to unveil the mysteries of his world. Okay, so that's what parables simply is. It's, you know, because Jesus was trying to communicate things, trying to reveal things of the unseen world that he comes from. And, you know, when he spoke of the things of our world, also sometimes we were not able to understand. So Jesus had to bridge this gap and that's where, you know, he brings about this whole concept of parables, where he used the stories of our world to unveil the mysteries of his world and that is what parables are, okay? So parables are basically stories from our world that help us see into or help us get an understanding of things concerning the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. So many times when Jesus was speaking in parables, he would say, this is what the kingdom of God is like or this is what the kingdom of heaven is like. And then he would tell something from our world. He would always start the parable, saying this is what the kingdom of God is like. And then he would go on to tell us something from our world with the intent that we would get an understanding of his world or understanding of the heavenly kingdom that he comes from, okay? Let's look at Matthew chapter 13 verses 10 to 17. Can somebody read that please? Matthew chapter 10 verses 13 was 10 to 17. Matthew 13, 10 to 17. Matthew chapter 13 verse 10 to 17. The disciples came to him and asked, why do you speak to the people in parables? He replied, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you but not to them. Whoever has will be given more and he will have an abundance who does not have even that, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables. Though seeing, they do not see, though hearing, they do not hear or understand. Until which verse first? 17, can you read 17 please? In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. You will be ever hearing but never understanding. You will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become colorless. They hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would hear them. But blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men long to see what they see but did not see and to hear what they hear but did not hear it. Thank you, Jefina. So here when you see the disciples coming and asking Jesus in verse 10 of chapter 13, why do you speak to them in parables? Why do you speak to the people in parables? And Jesus replies says, as for you, that means he's telling his disciples, you have been given the opportunity to understand the mysteries of the kingdom. So it means that the disciples, God has given those who believe in Jesus. We are also disciples, we also believe in Jesus. God has given us the grace for us to know the mysteries of the kingdom. I'm sure you must be excited about this. It just excites me to know that God has given us the grace to know the mysteries of the kingdom. And that's why when he asked his disciples, who do people say the son of man is? And they replied, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah and still others, Jeremiah or any one of the prophets. But Jesus asked them, but who do you say I am? He says that Jesus tells them, but what about you? And he asked them, who do you say I am? And Simon Peter says, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. And Jesus tells him that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven. So this is a good example where we can see that people are trying to understand who Jesus is. They are saying he's John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets, but it's to the disciples that God reveals who Jesus exactly is. So it was given to the disciples to know the hidden truths of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. So the general public would just come and listen to Jesus and Jesus said they have eyes, but they cannot see, they have ears, but they cannot hear, they cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom with their heart. They can't discern, they can't perceive. So in order to bridge this gap and in order to communicate the mysteries of the kingdom, Jesus says, here's what I'm doing, I'm speaking to them in parables, I'm taking stories from their world to help them see things in my world. But in the process of giving the explanation to the disciples, Jesus also says something. He says, this is how it works in the kingdom of God. If you have and are going after for more, then you will have abundance. If you have little and are not doing anything with it, you will lose even the little that you have. I hear something very, very important about the kingdom of God, you know. And if we receive revelations, I mean, this is in the context of understanding the mysteries of the kingdom of God. You want more, you're going after more, you're saying God, please, you're studying God's word, you're hungry for God's word, you're meditating on God's word, you want God to reveal things to you, you know, you will be given abundance of revelation. So you think you might be wondering how some people can write so many books like Pastor Ashu's and such wonderful revelations is because from a very young age, he has been, you know, hungry for God's word, pursuing a revelation. So here the word of God says, you know, anyone who receives these revelations, these mysteries, the kingdom of God, and you want more and you're going after more, but you will be given in abundance. So, but if you're not doing anything with the little revelation that you've got, then you're going to, you know, you're in a position of risk where you're not only getting, you will not only get more, but, you know, you will also lose out the little that you have. Okay, we'll stop here because it's our break time and we'll come back after the break and we'll continue, okay?