 Good morning everyone and thank you for joining class. Can I ask Subashish to lead us in prayer please? Yes, please. Heavenly Loving Father, once again Lord we thank you so much for this beautiful day Lord. Thank you for bringing us together to know your word better. Lord, I especially pray for a faster Lord as he is leading us Lord. I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to take complete control. Let Lord you teach through her and what are the things Lord is teaching that will be prepared hard pastor and I especially pray for all the students. Bless those who are not yet able to join. Bless them so that they will also join in time. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you Subashish. So last class on last Friday we looked at the doctrine of the church and we began with the definition of the church and we looked at the Greek word for church which is Ecclesia. And we said that church is refers to a gathering of those who have been called out for a definite purpose. Ecclesia means called out, called out of. So we said that church is a gathering together of those who have been called out for a definite purpose. And we looked at each of these words and terms, you know, who are called out, what are they called out, what is the definite purpose. And then we looked at the important truths about the church, which is the body of Christ. And we also looked at the important truths concerning the local church, after which we looked at the mission of the local church, which is categorized into five main areas. So we looked at the five main areas. And then we were looking at the local church as a body of family and an army. Okay, so we were basically looking at how the local church is a family. And we said because the local church is a family, there are certain practices that we should pursue. The first one we said is to walk in brotherly and sisterly love. And we said to walk in brotherly and sisterly love, we need to be kind to each other. We need to give preferences to one another. We need to do good to those who are the household of faith. Now, basically when we talk about household, you know, the church is referred to in the scriptures as a household. So, you know, doing good to those who are part of the church, part of the believers, one in faith in Christ Jesus. We also said we need to walk in brotherly and sisterly love. You know, we walk in brotherly and sisterly love and we support those who are weak and restore the fallen. Okay, so this is where we had stopped. We'll continue from here. So how do we walk in brotherly and sisterly love as a church, as a body of Christ, as a body of believers. As we, you know, we need to support those who are weak, and we need to restore those who are fallen. Okay, so all of us, you know, fall at different times in our life, we need support, we need encouragement, we need help. We need people to strengthen and build us up. And so we need to, you know, instead of, instead of laughing at them, putting them down, criticizing them, condemning people who've gone astray, who've fallen into sin. You know, we need to gently in love, restore them like it says in scripture, Romans chapter 15 verses one and two. It says we then was strong ought to bear with the, you know, couples of the week, we need to bear with those who are weak. And, you know, it says let each of us please his neighbor for his good leading to edification in verse two of Romans chapter 15. So we need to, those of us who are strong, we need to bear with the frailties, the weaknesses of those who are weak. And we also need to, you know, do good to please our neighbors so that we can edify them, we can build them up in the faith and in Christ Jesus. We can also look at Galatians chapter six verse one and two. Can one of you please read that? But it talks about how we need to support the weak and restore those who are falling. Galatians chapter six verse one and two. Anyone would like to read Galatians chapter six verse one and two. Galatians chapter six verses one and two. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently, but watch over yourself or you may also be tempted. Second, carry each other's burden and in this way you will fulfill the law of the Christ. Thank you. So here it says that if anyone is caught in a sin, you know, we who are spiritual or we who are mature, we need to restore that person in a spirit of gentleness. You know, maybe the sin is grievous, maybe the sin is really great. You know, but we need to be gentle with that person so that we do not lose that person totally to Satan, to his that he will be lost in a sin, but we need to restore him gently. Okay, so that is what we need to do as believers, those who are a part of the family of the local church. So we walk in brotherly and sisterly love, being kind to each other, giving preference to one another, doing good to those who are part of the church and supporting the weak and restoring the falling. The second practice that we need to follow as a local church is to keep the unity and fellowship of the spirit. Okay, so everything that we do a church in the local church, we need to maintain unity. And this is what the Holy Spirit brings in us. We know that the Trinity, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, they work in perfect unity and in oneness and it's their desire that we, their family, you know, who are building their kingdom here on earth, who are representatives of God, most high, you know, we need to also maintain unity. And we know that this is, we looked at it even in John chapter 17, the high priestly prayer of Jesus, where Jesus says, Father, let there be one as we are one. So it's God's desire that, you know, we do everything in unity. And this is what the Holy Spirit brings about, he brings about unity by strengthening our ties. Okay, so we are to be people who do things that promote peace, harmony, quietness and rest amongst us. If there is no unity in the church, we will not be able to see the work of the Holy Spirit. The manifest presence of the Holy Spirit and His full power will not be witnessed in our church, in our local church, in our gathering because there is this unity. Okay, so we need to practice keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We need to remove all things that bring about division and strife because division weakens us. Mark chapter 3 verse 25 says, and if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Okay, so one of the ways the enemy tries to destroy a local church is just by bringing about this unity and strife and division. And we know that once he brings about this unity, there's division and that church cannot stand, it will be divided. Okay, and we also to maintain unity, we need to cut out all gossip, grumbling against each other, murmuring about one another. And that is what it says in James chapter 5 verse 9 says to not grumble against one another brethren. That means brethren, it's talking about brothers and sisters in Christ. So as brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not grumble against one another, you know, lest you be condemned, behold the judge is standing at the door. And also to maintain a unity and to keep the unity of the Spirit in the local church. We need to do, you know, everything in oneness, in unity and do nothing out of selfish ambition or self promotion. The moment there is jealousy that creeps in, there is selfish ambition, self promotion. You know, then we can see it slowly, you know, transferring into bringing about this unity and strife. Okay, so sometimes, you know, even we need to put down our egos, sometimes we need to even give room to other people to do things, to let them do their thoughts, their ideas. You know, what are their plans if God has revealed it to them? Just work in perfect unity with the pastor who's leading the church because he's hearing from God, he's doing what God wants him to do. You know, honor the leader, just walk in step with what the leader is saying so that, you know, it'll kind of be easier for the leader himself or herself to lead the congregation and also there will be unity and we can see the work of God just moving mightily in our midst. So a church is not a place for us to bring about our own selfish ambitions, our plans, our agendas to do what we think is right for our self promotion but always do what God wants us to do in step with what the leader is telling us, walking in step. Yes, of course, if the leader is going way away from, you know, falling apart from God's will and God's plan and purpose, we know that then there's no point in gossiping about him but you know, as elders, we need to go and gently in love like we heard, which we just read, you know, correct the leader so that the church is not divided so the church is not destroyed and we need to take necessary steps but do that all in love, speaking the truth in love as it says in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 6 I think and you know, but don't put forth your own selfish ambitions and self promotion because when our plans, our agendas, our ambitions are not fulfilled and that's when we get very irritated, we get angry, we get upset, you know, then we can start murmuring, complaining, grumbling, talking, you know, behind people gossiping, slander, which is also demonic because it's not coming from God, it's all from the, it's all the work of the evil spirit in our lives. We need to be careful that we root out every kind of selfish ambition and self promotion, like it says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 3, can one of you please read Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 please. Do nothing out of selfish, yes please go ahead. Yeah, go ahead Subashish, sorry. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or when conceived rather in humility, value others above yourselves. Thank you. So says do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility of mind or loneliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves, better than himself. Okay, so here it is do nothing out of selfish ambition, but do things out of humility and out of humility, esteem others better than yourself. Okay, so that is what scripture says and this is something that we find very difficult in, you know, whether it's in our families or whether family setup is in relationships. You know, even in the church, we find this very difficult. But we need to put behind our selfish ambitions, our selfish agendas and promotions. And we need to, you know, come together in humility and esteem others better than ourselves. Okay, so when we come to church or whether we're in a family, you know, each one of us have our own opinions. But, you know, it's good to put forth your suggestion and your opinion. But when, you know, people make the decision whose opinion or suggestion is the best, you know, it should not hurt our egos. We should not feel hurt or, you know, think that our plans our suggestions is not being taken. You know, we need to go with the decision that is being made. You know, we have to flow with together with what, you know, like minded people have decided. And so that's what Philippians chapter two was to says that, you know, we need to learn to flow together by becoming like minded, having the same love being of one accord and of one mind. Okay, so that's very important. And I think, you know, whatever it is, we, we need to strive to bear to keep the unity of the spirit in the church. Yes, there will be many people. If you're a leader, you know, there'll be many people who will talk bad about you, who will laugh behind your back, who will gossip behind your back. You know, who will do things that will kind of hinder the flow, the peace. But as a leader, if you are somebody who's striving for unity and not getting back at this people, you know, you know, don't waste your time. It's a waste of time to fight back with people. It's a waste of time to, to hear what they're saying. It's a waste of time to get back to, you know, to teach them a lesson. So to say, because it trains you of all your energy, your time that can be, you know, used to channelize in a meaningful way to invest in the kingdom of God. And these are fights that are not worth fighting because Paul says our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, forces of darkness in the heavenly realms. So we need to know that it's the evil one that is working in and through. And of course, these people have given room for that. So we really can't fight them because fighting them is going to cause division and strife. The best thing to do is just let it go and submit it in the hands of God. When you do that, you will be amazed to see how God beautifully would orchestrate things for you, will keep the church running, will keep the organization running, will keep whatever project you are involved in going forward and will remove the clutter, will remove the people who are kind of being a hindrance, kind of being a disturbance because, you know, you are not just fighting a battle, it's God who's fighting the battle for you. And we know that, you know, when God fights the battle for you, there's always victory. Okay, so it's very important that you strive to keep the unity of this unity in the group, in the church, what you're serving, whether you're part of the children's church or youth ministry or you're part of a, you know, a cell group or a life group at your home Bible study group. You know, you just do everything to love the people, keep things going, just do what God has planned and will for you, don't look at all of the extra unnecessary things, just continue running your race. And, you know, the God who is the master of the church, who's the owner of the church, who's the head of the church, he knows, he sees, he will fight your battles, he will remove things for you. And that is, I think that has been my experience the last, you know, 21 years being in ministry, you know, kind of handled led projects, initiated projects. I've seen a lot of people who come, who try to bring about disturbance in the project, who try to break the unity, there's gossiping, there's jealousy, there's hate. But I've never fought them because I've never had the time to and never had the energy to, I just let it go in God's hand. And I've just seen God miraculously work, but it's important that you are focused on what you are called to do. A calling is not to fight people, a calling is not to, you know, put down people to see what they're saying and how we can prove ourselves right. We can never prove ourselves right. Two people who are trying to prove us wrong. So it's a waste of time and energy and it's something that Satan will also, you know, make a detour. So it's important for you to be focused on what God has called you. Just keep things running. You know the back of your mind what's happening but let go and you see how miraculously God fights your battle and you know the battle always belongs to Lord. So that has been my testimony that has been what I have witnessed and I have seen and I have just thank God for, you know, keeping the project, keeping the group safe. There's no division, there's no confusion, but just rooming away people who are trying to bring about disturbance and division in the group. Okay, so I think we all need to learn that and God will give us a strength and the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us. The next thing that we need to do is, you know, we, apart from just walking in brotherly and sturdy love and also keeping the unity and fellowship of the spirit, you know, in our family, everyone works. Okay, in a family, if we take a family unit, everyone is responsible at home to do something for the running of the house other than little children. Okay, so similarly in the house of God, all of us have a responsibility that we need to do that we need to help in that we need to pitch in. So we need to rise up and do our part for the functioning of the house of God. Matthew chapter 20 verse 28 says, just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve. So all of us, you know, don't go to churches for us to receive things from the Word of God just to receive blessing just to experience the presence of God, the move of God, the healing deliverance of God. You know, that is part of, you know, why the church meets the word church fellowships, but you know, all of us also need to serve and not just sit back to be served. So when all of us pitch in, you know, it helps in the smooth functioning and the running of the. There are some areas where we are to help one another. And there are some areas that we need to carry our own responsibility as individuals in the church or in the family, we know that, you know, as family as a unit we see that each of us do our own responsibilities. So that there's a smooth functioning in the family. So we also at times help each other pitch in for each other. But there are times that but most of the time we need to do our own responsibilities, we can't expect others in the family to do our own work. There are some things that are our own responsibility, we need to take care of that. So we need to help one another in carrying each other's burden. So in a church if there is people who are hurt, going through grief, going through loss, loss of job or there's depression, there's sadness, there's separation or there's a breakdown in relationships. Then we come alongside them, we help them, we support them. If there's sickness in the family, we just are there for them to help and care for them. So this could be life challenges, struggles, difficulties, you know, anything that people would face from time to time. And we need to be there to help each other, we need to be there to support each other. Like it says in Galatians chapter 6 verse 2 and verse 5, it says in Galatians chapter 6 verse 2 bear one another's burdens, that means bear one another's weight, their load. And when we do that, we fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ here? What is the law of Christ here? I think it is hoping one another. Sorry, it is... Hoping one another in need. Helping one another in need. Okay, thank you Lubega. What else is the law of Christ? It could also be, you know, loving our neighbor just as we love ourselves, right? When we go through problems and difficulties, we need help, we need support, we need encouragement, we need people to come alongside us and help us. The same way we need to love our neighbors just like we love ourselves. And verse 5 says, for each one will bear his own load. So there are two things here that we need to... We can see that we need to bear one another's burdens, help each other. But in verse 5 it says, but each one should also bear his own load. That means we need to do our own tasks, our own responsibility. You know, we need to work. We can't depend on the church to feed us, to help us to pay our bills, to take care of our children, to take care of our families. You know, we need to take care of our own things, our own families by working hard, by earning. And, you know, living in unwanted, excessive greed, just, you know, getting into debt. And, you know, when we're not able to pay the debt, you know, we want people at church to help us. We want church members to help us. We want the church to help us. And if they don't, we kind of think that, you know, there's no love in this church, there's no support. Well, the church is there to help and support, but those in times of need. Like even if you look at what Paul writes to Timothy, when Timothy is overseeing the churches at Ephesus, he says, you know, the church should help the widows. But if the widows have children, grandchildren, you know, a good family who can support them, who can take care of their needs, then the family, you know, should take on the responsibility and not leave the burden to the church. But yes, if a widow has no children, and you know, she's been somebody who's been part of the church, she's been very prayerful, she's been spending her time in praying, then the church should take care of the needs of such a widow. So Paul is writing to Timothy and he's saying, you know, you know, the church can take care of people in need, but it's important that people, that families take their own responsibility first, fulfill their own responsibilities towards their family members by working hard, by not putting on the responsibility to the church. So each one of us must do our own work, discharge our own responsibilities. We are to bear our own load that is we need to fulfill our own duties. Okay, so this is just in brief about how the local church is a family. We saw the local church as a body, body of Christ. Now we look at the local church as a family. We look at the local church next as an army. Okay, if you notice that, you know, the notes what I have been saying so far is not there in your notes, but I've taken it from Pastor's book, The House of God. So, you know, it's a good read, it's a good book to read. So please take time to read that book. It will help you, those of you who are pastors, who are evangelists, who are part of church and building up a church. It's a good book to read. Okay, we look at the church as an army. So even as, you know, these are like big chapters have kind of taken a few points here which are important. So it's important that you can also make notes for yourself. You can take down notes that will help you. Okay, church is an army. Now, why is church before it was an army? You know, we are called to be people of peace, not to be people of war. If it's an army, that means we are preparing for battle. We are preparing to defend ourselves. Why is the church called an army? Any thoughts? Yes, Lubega. First of all, it's an army because each of us gets armories, as we see in Ephesians number two. It's an army because we do fight against the principalities in the atmosphere. And we also keep fighting. We should keep guard because every day now and then we fight against the devil. We flee from the devil. Of course, when we are fleeing, it means we are also soldiers in one way or another. So those are some of the things that I can instantly mention. Thank you, Lubega. Yes, thank you, Super Shish. We are in a spiritual warfare. Anything else? Do you think this concept came about only in the New Testament that the church is an army? When Paul writes in his various epistles about, you know, fighting, putting on our spiritual armor, fighting against the enemy. I think that's only in the New Testament. Is it then the Old Testament as well? Yes, it is there in the Old Testament. I remember when Gideon was about to go with men to fight. And God said, I cannot fight with you when you are this number. And He told him to test them by taking them to the stream of water. And those who will drink water while putting their armor down will not be picked. And He told those ones who were able to just lick the water, something like that. I think it has also been there in the Old Testament. Even we can see Samson, we can see Elisha when they were attacked by Assyrians. There are so many good examples. Yes, thank you, Lubega. Yeah, about Elisha. You know, when the army came and surrounded them, Elisha's servant said, you know, there's a huge army in the morning. You know, he wakes up, he sees this huge army, and then Elisha is able to see in the angelic army that has come to defend them. He says, those who are with us are greater than those who are the army that has come to fight against us. And the servant is not able to understand. And then Elisha prays and says, God open his eyes and be able to see the angelic army. So he opens his eyes and he sees chariots of fire. So yes, we see that anyone else, any thoughts? Right in the Garden of Eden, when God created Adam and Eve, He said, you know, fill the earth. Be blessed, be fruitful, fill the earth, and subdue the earth. So remember, I kind of explained what is subdue, the word subdue. We said it's a military term. Why did God have to tell Adam and Eve to subdue when everything was perfect and good that He created? Because after He created each thing on each day, all six days, He said it is good. It's perfect. So why subdue? So basically we saw, I explained and I said, you know, there is an enemy, Satan, and God knows he's allowed to make what he has done perfect as imperfect. And so God created Adam and Eve and gave them, you know, created them in His image and likeness. They have the authority of God, He's given them the authority to fill the earth, to be fruitful, to multiply, to subdue it. He's given them the authority. And we see that, you know, instead of using their authority, they gave over their authority to Satan. They were not able to subdue him, but he was able to subdue them. And we also see, we read, I think in Psalms, chapter 115 or Psalms, chapter 113, that it says, The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to man. So He had given authority for us over the earth, He had given man the authority over the earth. But we see that man gave over the authority to Satan. And so when Jesus died on the cross, He took back everything that Satan had taken away from us. And then we are now given the keys of the kingdom, not just given the keys of the kingdom, but we've also been given everything that we need to fight our spiritual battles. So in the New Testament, we see both the church and the individual believers are often addressed in military terms. It conveys to us that the church, in a spiritual sense, is an army, is a militant force that is engaged in spiritual warfare. Why are we engaged in spiritual warfare? Because we have a real enemy. And that is Satan. He is a spirit being and his demonic forces are also spirit beings. And so we are engaged in a spiritual battle, in a spiritual warfare. The passage in Matthew chapter 16, verses 15 to 19, which we read, I think on Monday when we were doing about the church, the foundation of truth of the Son of God, we looked at Matthew chapter 16, verse 15 and 19, where Jesus asked Peter, to ask the disciples, who do you say I am? And Peter, without a second thought, he says, you are the Christ, 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. And then he says, Peter, you know, on this rock, you are Peter, but on this rock, I would build my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And in verse 19, we looked at verse 19 specifically and said, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The keys symbolize what? What does keys symbolize? Anyone remembers what I said on Monday? Jesus said, I give you the keys of the kingdom. So what does keys symbolize? Come on, it was a class on Monday. I'm sure you should remember. What does keys symbolize? The word begins with the answer begins with an A. Thank you, Anita. Keys symbolize authority. So we've been given the power, we've been given the authority. Thank you, LeBega. And says, whatever you bind, Jesus said, whatever you bind or not, will be bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven. That means, you know, we have been given the authority to usher in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. So what, and I said that whatever we see on earth here is not of heaven that we bind. And whatever we know is in heaven that we release here on earth. And I told you all the things, you know, that we can bind and all the things that we can release. And so we see that, you know, Jesus in Matthew chapter 16 tells us that Jesus describes a church as a body that is authorized by heaven to bind and lose and to go against the powers of darkness. We also see apostle Paul using a lot of the military imagery in his epistles, you know, depicting believers as engaged in a spiritual conflict. He also gives us the full description of the armor of God or the spiritual armor that we need to clothe ourselves in so that we can fight against every spiritual forces or wickedness in the heavenly realms. And we see the spiritual armor or the heavenly armor that Paul mentions in Ephesians chapter 6. And we are also taught and trained how to use these weapons and how to engage in spiritual warfare. By the personal level, all of us as believers, we need to resist the devil and his schemes to overcome temptations and give the devil no room or access into our lives. So if you just open the door a little bit, you know, it just a foothold space we can give him, he can enter in. That's more than enough for him to cause confusion and destroy our lives because we know that Satan is described as a thief. He's a thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. And we know that, you know, thieves don't need the main door to be open ajar, but they just need a small opening somewhere in the house. They're able to break through and steal, kill and even destroy the house. So, you know, we don't even give Satan a foothold. It can be just one wrong thought, one wrong scene or a picture, an image that we see, you know, as we're surfing the Internet or it can just be one lie. It can just be, you know, something that we do that just gives him a foothold to enter in and to destroy our lives. So we need to at a person level know how to resist the devil and his schemes to overcome temptations and give the devil no access into our lives. And so we have everything God has given us, you know, there's a word in Scripture that says God has given us everything that we need for life and godliness. God has not left us with, you know, just fighting our own battles. He's given us every weapon that we need. He's given us a shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He's given us the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness. So we have everything that we need to know how to use it to hold it in place and hold up our shield of faith that we can quench every dot of the evil one that he throws against us. So what are some of the spiritual weapons that we have as believers that God has given us? What are some of the spiritual weapons that God has given us as believers to fight our spiritual battles to fight against our enemy? Come on, what are the spiritual weapons God has given us? Yes, thank you. He's given us prayer. Thank you, Sidu Kenu. The word of God. Yes, thank you, Lubega and Anita. Thank you, Nicholson. Yes, the word. What else? Prayer, word. Anything else? Okay, Ephesians chapter 6. Okay. Faith, okay. The power to bind. Okay. Righteousness. Yes, thank you. Okay, please note these things because it's that important, the name of Jesus. Remember when Jesus sent out the 12 and then he sent out the 70. You know, they came back very excited. They said, you know, Jesus in your name, you know, the demons shudder and shiver and they flee. They were so excited to see all of this. And, you know, he had given them the authority of his name, the name of Jesus. And we've also been given the authority as believers, you know, to use the name of Jesus. And we know the name of Jesus, there's healing, there's wholeness, there's deliverance. The demon shuddered and shivers Satan, flees at the very name of Jesus. So name of Jesus, then all of you said the word of God. The third thing is the blood of Jesus, which is the completed work of Christ. Okay, so through which, you know, we are made righteous, we are justified, we are redeemed. So it's the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed, the blood of the Lamb, which was the full sufficient, perfect sacrifice. It made the perfect atonement or the propitiation for our sins. You know, that is our powerful weapon that we can cover ourselves with, that we can cover our ministries, we can cover our families. The name of Jesus, the word of God, the blood of Jesus and the completed work of the cross. You know, so-and-so, the gift of salvation. We declare when we want to receive healing, when we want to receive deliverance, when we want to see breakthroughs in our life. We declare the finished work of the cross through the blood of Jesus Christ. And that is why partaking in the Lord's table is a powerful reminder and we can appropriate, we can receive all the blessings that Jesus has purchased for us on the cross. The next thing is our position in Christ. You know, we are now seated in heavenly realms. That is our position. We are made righteous in God's side. We are justified. We are seen just as if we have never sinned. God loves us the same way he loves his son. We are the same level as Jesus Christ. So we need to know our position. We need to know our identity. We need to know who we are in Christ. Of course, we also have the full armor of God, which is given to us in Ephesians chapter 6. Prayer and intercession, praise and worship, which I said is really powerful. You know, when you are down, depressed, there's brokenness, there's grief. You know, grief is one way we give and give room to the evil one to work in our lives to cause even more destruction in our lives. So grief very subtly comes in. You know, there's depression. So at those times when we really don't feel like praising and worshiping God, it's important for us to do it because it breaks the forces of darkness that are covering us. It just opens up for God's reign, his presence, his blessings, his activity to just flow through in our lives. So it's praise and worship and also it is repentance and like Anita said, righteousness and others said as well. So we have all of these weapons which are very, very powerful. The first thing is for us to know. The second thing is for us to use it. Just speak the name of Jesus. It's very, very powerful. I remember an incident when I was just kind of beginning ministry. Just when I was in Bible college, we have seven months of internships. So I chose to go to Kolkata which is a city in the north of India and was working with drug addicts and alcoholics and also with commercial sex workers children. And there was a girl who was a mainliner heroin addict and the family wanted help. So she came from another part of India and we couldn't keep her in the residential rehab because it was all men and it's quite dangerous in a sense. They can have emotional attachment to each other and there are no other girls there. So the leader wanted her to be with me in the apartment and it's a very big responsibility to take care of somebody because they can run away. They can easily get drugs from somebody. They can die of an overdose and he will be held responsible. I remember that when she came in and I've come from a very traditional church where we were not taught about the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit. Even in Bible college, we were not taught about all of these things. So all of you are really privileged because when I look at all the subjects that you are learning, I wish I would have learned it when I was in Bible college. So you are really privileged to receive all of this. We learned it later on after coming out of Bible college. Even as we are teaching you all, we are still learning. I'm still learning. Sorry, not me. I'm still learning. So I didn't know that there's the forces of darkness that can work against us because we were never taught all of this at church or in Sunday school. So I just had this girl and it was my first day and I was very exhausted. I remember just lying down in the apartment and she was lying down next to me in a separate cot. And I was conscious that I should not fall off asleep because she could quietly escape. And I suddenly had somebody choking, just pressing me down on my neck like this, holding my neck down. And I was trying to look at this girl to get help, but there was a force that was hitting my face towards the wall and I could just see my legs doing this. I thought I'm going to die because I just couldn't breathe. And I didn't know what to do. I was trying again to look at her to get help, but there was this force that was hitting my face towards the wall and I just couldn't breathe. I could see my hands and legs shaking as if to say there's no oxygen in my body and I'm going to die. And all I said was Satan just leave me. I didn't even use the name of Jesus. I just said Satan just leave me and there was immediate release, immediate freedom. And I just sat up with a big shock and I realized what authority God has given us as believers. The position that we have, who we are in Christ that I don't even use the name of Jesus. I just have to say Satan just leave me and there was release. So, you know, most of the time we continue to live our lives under the forces or under the weight of what Satan puts on our lives, but we have God has given us the authority. He has given us every spiritual weapon that we need. So we need to use it. And of course the spiritual authority does not come just because we accept Christ. The spiritual authority comes because, you know, when we are reading God's word prayer intercession, worshipping God, living in obedience to God, then the power of the spiritual authority just flows in and through our lives. So even as this morning we have known what are our spiritual weapons. Let's use it in humility, in the fear of the Lord, giving thanks to God for what he has done on the cross that we can receive this authority and this power and use it to build God's kingdom and not just, you know, kind of make fun of it or use it as a magical things that know that we can use sometimes. Okay, so we'll stop class here. Any questions anyone has? No questions. Okay, if there are no questions, we'll end class and I'll see you all on Friday. This evening I'll be posting your second assessment on doctoral foundations. Okay. Okay, thank you everyone. Have a good day and I'll see you on Friday.