 Okay. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to another session. Let's just begin this time with the word of prayer. Could one of us please lead us in prayer? Maybe Zillatoli, can you lead us in prayer, please? Okay. For the God, we come before the presence in the name of Jesus. As we begin our class, I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us. And bless our pastor who is going to teach the word of God. I would thank you because you have anointed him, Lord, to teach this morning. And also, Lord, you bless each and every individual students here that our hearts are receptive, Lord. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Zillatoli. Okay. So, before we start today's class, let's just do a quick review of what we did last week. Last week, we looked at chapter 8, Understand and Reason. And we look at how, even when we are sharing the gospel, we are to understand the person from where they are coming from and reason with them in the right way. We looked at the whole example of Apostle Paul in Acts 17 when he went into Athens. And when he went there, he saw the idols and all that was happening there and how he was able to understand their culture. But he also was able to reason with them, putting into everything that he had learned. He was able to reason and put the gospel out to them and that wonderful sermon on Mars Hill where many people accepted the Lord and finally a church was planted in Athens as well. So, we see that Paul was able to get into these kind of places, filled with intellectual people, filled with different kinds of gods, filled with immorality and sexual immorality and people living in sinful lives, idolatry. Paul was able to go in, understand and reason with them and share the gospel with them. People accepted the Lord and a church was planted in Athens and he went on from there to Corinth and we know that he also started a church in Corinth. So, it is wonderful to see how Paul ministered. We looked at a few insights. One of the things he did was he preached the work of the cross. He did not depend only on his intellectual ability. Yes, understanding, reasoning, remembering how to reason, how to speak out, that's important. But our dependency must only come from the Holy Spirit. The moment we say, okay, I know everything or I know what this person, I know I can share the gospel and we just try it on our own ability. We may not be able to touch the heart of the person because it is the work of the Holy Spirit that touches their lives. So, it's very important to depend on the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, we saw that we are to avoid meaningless arguments and debates. And so, whether we are ministering to a Muslim, Hindu, or a Jain, a Sikh, whoever we are ministering to, understand them, do not condemn them, understand them, understand their religion, understand what they've been taught, understand their way of culture, the way what they worship, what they believe system is, understand them and then you reason with them. And that's a powerful way as we depend on the Holy Spirit. We understand, reason with them. God will be able to minister to people's lives. So, let's move on to chapter 9 and then we'll also go into chapter 10. Before we move on, would any of you like to share any thoughts, anything that happened previously during the week if you were able to share the gospel or any thoughts you have about the class? Would you like to share anything? Please feel free to just unmute and ask or share anything that you have in mind. Okay, should we go ahead? Is it okay? Yes? All right. Okay, let's go to chapter 9. Now, we've been looking at all the aspects needed while we witness to people, how to share the gospel, we looked at the practical, we looked at the theory that is needed. And so we'll just look at a few more things that we must follow to help us be good evangelists. Meaning, okay, don't say I'm not an evangelist. Meaning, help us to be people who will be able to minister the gospel in the right way, right? The Lord Jesus commissioned us to witness through the Holy Spirit. So here's the thing, we have to do two things. We have to witness one and two, we have to demonstrate that, right? So how do I witness? Firstly, we witness through our life testimony, right? Remember, your life and our life speaks more than our words. We know that saying, right? Action speaks louder than words. I'm reminded of the story that I read many a years back. It's a humorous story, but it's so true. There was this pastor and he was a powerful preacher. And one Sunday, after the Sunday service, he gave a deliver a powerful sermon. And many people appreciated him and the ladies would come and speak to his wife and say, oh, your husband is such a wonderful preacher. He preached so well, you know, so powerfully he preached. And after they all spoke, the wife, the pastor's wife said, I wish my house was on the pulpit. So the women were wondering why. I said, because the moment he comes out of the pulpit and we go home, he's a completely different person. At church, he's a different person. And at home, he's a completely different person, which means what? He does not practice what he preaches. Now, this is very important. When we witness, we have to show it in our life testimony, right? It's not about putting stickers of Jesus loves you on the car or on the bikes. It's not about all of that. You want to put it, you can put it. Nothing wrong about it. But you can't have Jesus loves you sticker and keep shouting at everyone on the road, right? It does not show a good life testimony, right? We're going to be a bad example. So even in our life, in our workplaces, in our families, maybe, you know, in the church, in our colleges, wherever we are, our life testimony will speak stronger than the words that we speak. Right? So picture this. Imagine there are, you know, in college, you've got all your friends there. All of them are saying, hey, come, we'll do this or come, we'll do that. And you're saying, hey, no, I, you know, sorry, I can't come. Right? Now people will ask you why you say, you know, this is, you know, something that I don't want to do. I follow the word of God. I want to please God. Now they may call you a fanatic, but remember, you are witnessing. Through your life testimony, it will impact people. It will touch people. Right? And so the 80% of the work is done when we already, you know, live that life. You don't have to prove anything to others. Right? You can witness, firstly, by our testimony, secondly, by what we say. That is sharing of the gospel. Right? Now what we say can also affect how we witness. Imagine this, you got, you know, we are witnessing, we're doing, you know, our life is, we're following the word of God. We're trying to live a good life, a holy life, pleasing to God. But imagine, we've, you know, we've got this problem of always gossiping or always talking behind people's back. Or maybe our words are not right and we speak words of anger, words of hatred. What happens? It does not become a good witness. And remember what Jesus told, you know, in the book of Matthew, he says, when you come to your, to give your offerings, if you have something against your brother, go make things right and come back and offer your sacrifice. And then I will be pleased with your offering. Right? So our witness is our life testimony and what we say, how we speak, how our words, you know, the book of Proverbs talks about how words are powerful. Words are powerful. They bring life and death. Right? I just shared this, that happened recently. That's a very sad story. There was this, there's this elderly woman in our church and very God fearing woman. Always there at church, early to church, always praying, always worshiping God went through a difficult time in her life. Because of the challenges she faced, she was, she's very close to God's heart. She would come for the prayer. She would come for Wednesday prayer, Friday prayer, wonderful woman. But she had this thing of, you know, always declaring things on her life. She would always say, oh, I wish I, I wish I could just die or I wish I could just, you know, I don't know why God has kept me. You know, her husband passed away many years ago in an accident. And I don't know why God has kept me. I should have died, you know, why did God save me when I was in that same vehicle? So she has a lot of questions, but she's very good, very close to God, right? She would, she had a very sincere heart for God. But only thing her words was, I wish I could die. I wish I die and just go, go be with the Lord. And this was because of the challenges she was facing. Recently, she went for a, you know, she went to the hospital for a checkup. And after the checkup, the doctors told her that you are on third stage cancer. It became a complete shock for her. She, it is something that she could not digest. And she began to cry. She said, no, I want to live. Then I remember, you know, we, we, I, every day we are praying for her. And I asked her, what was, did you speak any negative words on yourself? She said, yes, I used to always say, I wish I could die. I told her, just cancel those words, cancel those words. Because what we say, the Bible teaches us that the words that we speak bring life and death. They are powerful. I'm not saying that because she, you know, said that, that, you know, she's got this sickness. What I'm saying is we are opening a door for the enemy to come into our lives and to work. Right. So we witness through our life testimony and what we say to, we demonstrate through the power that is the power of God. And we demonstrate through love. Right. And we looked at this in the previous chapters as well, where the Lord Jesus demonstrated in power and compassion. Right. Sometimes as a church, we forget the whole aspect of love because we are only looking at power, power. You know, we want God's power. We want the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the whole spirit of God to pour out his power upon us. And then we forget about love. Right. Now, we must combine both. Both the elements should be combined. We demonstrate out of love in the power of the Holy Spirit. Right. Let's read Matthew chapter five, 13 to 16. Can one of us please read that? Matthew chapter five, 13 to 16. You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven. Amen. Thank you, John. So we see such a powerful word Jesus is giving his disciples here that he's saying you are the salt and you are the light. If the salt loses its saltiness, it's of no use. You just throw it away. You may have about two sacks of salt, but if all of that salt has lost its saltiness, it is nothing but just white powder. It is nothing. It is of no use at all. And two, Jesus is saying we are the light of the world. You don't take a light and put it down, but you put it up so that the light falls everywhere and it brings brightness. And so everyone can see the light. So basically what Jesus is saying is your life, our life has to reflect who Jesus is. Our life has to reflect who Jesus is. It's not only about reading the Word and praying and all of it. But our life, not only on Sundays, even outside, our life has to reflect who Jesus is. What does he say in the last verse? He says, Let your light so shine that people will see that light and glorify the Father in heaven. When we walk in the light of God, people around us will notice there's something different in this person. It opens a door for us to share the gospel. Right? Remember, in chapter 1 we studied the urgency and necessity and we saw that every person needs a savior. People are living in darkness. People are living in fear, in hopelessness. Imagine you are walking as a light and they see this light and they will say, Hey, I can go and I can ask this person for help. I know that he will give me the right words. I know that he has a word of wisdom for me. Right? So we witness our life is to reflect who Jesus is. Let people see Jesus in our lives. It's easy to speak all of this, but here's what it is. It is difficult. It is hard. It is difficult in the sense that we go through challenges. We may fail. We may fall down many a times. But the Holy Spirit enables us to walk just as Jesus walked. So can we? Yes, we can. Because the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who was in Jesus is in us. So he enables us to walk like how Jesus walked on the earth. We try it on our own. We will fail. But when we ask the Holy Spirit, we'll be strengthened. God will enable us to do that. Then let's read 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Yes. Thank you, John. So we see here, again, another verse Peter is saying to the believers. He's saying, you are a chosen generation. He has called you into his marvelous light. So these words, we looked at the two-minute testimony, four-minute testimony. These words that we speak over them are very important. One of the things that helped me personally and I could encourage each one of you also if you can go ahead and do it. Take a notebook. What I did was I wrote down all these verses. So I wrote down verses on love, verses on power, verses on hope. And so I keep pondering upon them, keep speaking them, keep declaring them. And so even when we minister to people, the Holy Spirit will give you the right verse at the right time. He reminds us of what we have. Now, remember, the Holy Spirit takes what is in us and uses it to bless people. So for example, if I don't know the book of Acts, for example, or I don't know the book of Romans. Now, it's very unlikely that the Holy Spirit will say, okay, Romans 3.17, why don't you tell this person as your ministering? It's very unlikely because the Holy Spirit uses what we have inside us, what we have learned, what we have taken an input in us. He uses that to minister to people. So it's important, very important to prepare in the word. Read the word. Use examples. Read the scriptures. Have verses memorized. If memorizing the scripture is difficult, then you can just take the chapter and verse, remember them. And so even as your ministry, you can probably look over it on your phone and just give them the verse. And these are powerful ways where we can demonstrate the work of God. Let's go to the next chapter. Praying for the unsaved. Now, all across the scriptures, we see that prayer is a precursor to ministry. Prayer is a real battle that we face. You may have heard this. Every battle is one on our knees first and then in the practical way. So the real battle for souls is a spiritual battle. Now, if you and I have to, God is calling us to reach out to people, but the real battle is for souls is a spiritual battle. You know, we're studying about two minute testimony, four minute testimony, eight minute testimony, all these ways of, you know, approaching the gospel and sharing the gospel, but the real battle is a spiritual battle. God is doing his work of drawing people to himself, but Satan is also doing his work from hindering people from being reached and receiving the gospel. So how does Satan hinder people? Let's look at a few points. First one, he blinds the minds of people. He just blinds them. They can't see this, that this is the truth. Now, it's not that it's happening now. It happened even from the time Jesus was there, right? Jesus himself has proclaimed that he's a Messiah. He's telling them, hey, before Abraham was, I am. He's telling them, he's pulling out the scriptures and he's showing them that he is the Messiah, but their minds were blinded. Their eyes were blinded. They didn't want to receive this. It was too much for them to take. How can we know him? He's Joseph's son. He's a carpenter's son. His brothers are here. His sister is here. We have seen them. They walk around here. Jesus was here all this while. Till he was 30 years old, he was there. He was just regular, just walking around. Now he says, he's the Messiah. It doesn't make sense, but the enemy has blinded their eyes and they could not receive that he was the Messiah. Let's read a few verses, maybe two. Let's read 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3 and 4. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4. Even if our gospel is wailed, it is wailed to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Amen. The God of this age has blinded their eyes. The devil has blinded people through various forms of deception. Through lies, through keeping them under a cloud of darkness. Meaning, no, this is all right. Or sometimes the deceptions could be, you have everything in life. Don't worry about it. Don't really need a savior. Or the other deceptions are, this is a generational thing that we've been worshiping. So we can't let go of this. And so the enemy has many plans and many tactics of blinding people's eyes. He's got the same tactics, but he's got plenty of them. He just improvises on that. Here's the thing. You and I, when we pray, God, the work of the Holy Spirit, is to remove that veil from their eyes. Picture this. I'm sure many of us have gone through this. We're sharing the gospel with somebody and they say, did Jesus really die on the cross? One of the most common questions that I get, did Jesus really die on the cross? Was it Jesus or was it somebody else? No, no, it's only a myth. It was not Jesus. We have proof that Jesus came to different countries and he stayed in different countries. And so, you know, the devil is able to make people believe in that lie. Sorry to say this, but there was this wonderful worship leader in Hill Songs. Maybe some of you may know this story. A Hill Song worship leader, been with Hill Songs for maybe about 15 odd years. Writing wonderful songs. I'll leave his name unnamed. But wonderful songs. Worship leader, right? Travelled all across the world with Hill Songs. And recently, maybe about two years back, he says, you know, this is, it was all just an experience. I didn't really, you know, understand this whole thing. And, you know, the band was good. The times of worship was good. But it's not something true to me. And he came out saying that he doesn't believe in Jesus. Now, whose work is that? A person 15 years, probably in the worship team for great big ministry, leading the worship, writing many songs. And the end of his, you know, almost, you know, after 15 odd years, he's saying it was all just an emotion. It was a good time. And he's left the faith. So the enemy is able to deceive the enemy is able to blind our eyes. And so it's very important that we as believers, not only pray for ourselves, but also pray for the people around us. Pray for people that you're ministering to pray for people around your city, your neighborhood, pray against the strongholds that are happening in that place. And Ephesians chapter two and verse two, let's read that, please. Ephesians two and verse two. In which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sense of disability. Thank you, John. So Paul is writing to the Ephesians. He's saying, hey, you all were in bondage. So the second point, how the enemy, you know, hinders us from, you know, receiving the salvation is to he holds us in bondage. Paul is writing to the Ephesus church and Ephesians and he's saying, you were in bondage. You were living in sin. You were living in your life, your entire families in an entire city of Ephesus was living in sin. Why? Because the enemy had blinded your eyes. The enemy had overpowered you. The enemy has taken control over you. But now you have come out of that into the light of God. The devil works to hold people in bondage to keep them away from the truth of Christ. You know, we pray, right? We all make these prayers, Lord, we break this bondage. We break the curse, right? It is true. The enemy has these bondages to just hold on to this. You know, I remember a couple of months back, a student in our church, he came up to me and said, you know, pastor, I think I'm having suicidal tendencies. I was really surprised. Very faithful to church Christian. He says, I'm having suicidal tendencies. Please help me. And then I said, it was kind of a shock to me. But as pastors, we hear a lot of stories. So I sat with him, spoke to him for a long time. I got to know that when he was, now he's about 22 years old. This feeling was there from the time he was 10 years old. Only God has protected him. Only God, you know, his parents are wonderful believers praying for him. But from 10 years old to now, and he still has those thoughts, those thoughts still come into his mind. And I told him this, I said, that is a bondage that the enemy has in you. And so how does that, how will that break prayer and break that bondage until that bondage is broken? The enemy is going to use that day after day after day. And he will keep that bondage and make it stronger and stronger and stronger until we have, you know, completely lost the battle. I love that verse where Paul writes the Ephesians and Ephesians, the last chapter, Ephesians 6. He says, put on the armor of God. So he stole the church. Okay, this is how you lived. These are the works of the enemy. Then he says, you're blessed of Christ. He's brought you out. And then he ends that wonderful episode in Ephesians 6. He says, put on the armor of God. Put on the helmet of salvation. Put on the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shield of faith. Put it on. Don't take it off. Let it be on you because the enemy is coming against you. He's coming against us. So we must put it on. Right. And we are to fight our battles. And so the enemy, what he does is he brings these bondages into people's life, curses, generational curses, generational bondages. There are times when I've spoken to a few families where their firstborn always dies. It's been happening for the like from like five, four, five generations. And, you know, this woman said, now my son is going to get married. Is his, you know, is his first child also going to die? What's the question? I said, no, you break that bondage. We've got to break it by prayer and we got to break it by the power of the Holy Spirit. These are spirits of disobedience, holding strongholds, holding bondages, demonic influences in people's lives. So remember when you are sharing the gospel, you know, it's a spiritual battle. You're fighting against the work of the devil. Right. Three, the enemy hinders the proclamation of the gospel. He hinders it. He will do all he can to stop people from preaching the gospel. There's a thing. The enemy knows that the Word of God is powerful. The enemy knows that if somebody receives, if this gospel, if this person hears the gospel, and if he believes it, even a bit, he will be saved. So the enemy knows that. Right. So he will do anything and everything in his hand to stop people from hearing the gospel. The devil's work is to hinder the gospel and he does that in many ways. Let's just look at Romans chapter 15 was 30 and 31. Romans 15 30 and 31. Romans 15 30 to 31. I urge you brothers and sisters by a Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the spirit to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord's people there. Thank you, Divya. So we see here Paul is writing in Romans and he's saying believers, please pray for me because I know one thing. The I am going and proclaiming the gospel to different places and we've started churches. We're doing this wonderful ministry, but the enemy is still after me. He's using the unbelievers to try and stop me from proclaiming the gospel. So one is he can use people. Two is the enemy can use situations. The enemy can use pain and sorrow. The enemy can use difficulties to stop us from sharing the gospel. He will do all that he can. Now Paul also what a wonderful minister of God. You know, he's his body is bruised. He's gone through all the challenges. Right now. Remember we when Apostle Paul started off, he's about 50 years old when he launched out into his first missionary journey. So he's not a young man just full of zeal, but he's an old man full of zeal. And he's doing all these wonderful works. Right. I'm sure somewhere in between his body would have given up. He writes to the Corinthians and he says, you know, these are the things I've gone through. I've been shipwrecked. I've been beaten. I've been beaten by Rawls. I've almost died. All of these things has I have gone through, but it has not hindered me from sharing the gospel. What an amazing testimony. Sometimes we may go through these physical or emotional pains and difficulties and seasons. Let it not hinder us from sharing the gospel because the enemy wants that he wants us to stop. Then he can use persecution. We look at what's happening around us in our nation of India and also in different nations, persecution. If you believe in Jesus, you're going to die. We will kill you. And so people will not believe in Jesus. So that's the work of the enemy. The enemy is instilling fear into people's minds. It's so wonderful to read about Afghanistan where the believers are so strong in the faith. And they said, we're ready to go, but we will not deny the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is so powerful. So you and I as believers, the enemy can use anything to hinder us from proclaiming the gospel. Sometimes it's family. Our own family members may say, what are you doing? I don't think this is what you're doing. It could be anything. So we are to stand firm and proclaim the gospel. Sometimes the enemy also uses this feeling of unworthiness. Hey, I myself, I'm not able to follow this word and I'm living in sin. Or I did this wrong. So how can I go and share the gospel with somebody else when I myself have not, you know, obeyed? Now, we all get that feeling. Here's what we should do. The Bible teaches us that if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. So we ask forgiveness, confess our sins, ask for forgiveness and go about proclaiming the gospel. That would be the right thing to do. Let's look at how the enemy infiltrates the church. Revelations two. Now we're going to just look at a few churches here in the book of Revelation, the church in Smyrna. Now these are real churches that were planted by different people. And these are mostly in Asia and Europe, the seven churches, right? So let's look at how the enemy has infiltrated the church, the church in Smyrna. Revelations two 10. We see that a presence of a group of people who belong to Satan is in the church. And the devil is going to cause some of them to be put in prison. So you see here that in the church, there's a group of people who follow Satan. They just outwardly Christianized, but their minds and their spirit and their hearts are towards the work of the enemy. And it goes on to say that some of them we put in prison. Second one, the church in Pergamos, the place where Satan's throne is and Satan dwells and the doctrine of Balaam is infiltrating the church. Now this is, you know, I wonder what kind of a church is this, the church in Pergamos, the place where Satan's throne is and Satan dwells there. The doctrine of Balaam infiltrating the church. So there will be times the enemy can bring wrong doctrines into the church to hinder the work of the gospel. And when we look at church history and we look at the doctrines that have come up in the next semester, in the following semester, we'll be studying about world religions and contemporary cults. How the cults, these people were very strong Bible believing Christians had a genuine work of God somewhere in the long the line. They lost the way and, you know, other doctrines came into their mind. For example, let me give you this example of Joseph Smith, a fervent man of God, very devout. He loved the word of God. Growing up, he always thought, okay, God is so wonderful and he lived a very good life, honorable life, a holy life. He lost the way, founded Jehovah's Witness. These, the enemy can use anything to infiltrate and bring wrong doctrines into people's lives. Another example would be that of Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin went into the seminary as a young boy to become a preacher. He was a dictator. He went into the seminary to become a preacher. So he studied the word of God and everything. And after he came out of the seminary, he thought he is God. Now, we know what he did. He killed 15 million of his own people. Joseph Stalin. You see how the enemy can work? He can bring wrong doctrines. He can bring wrong ideas, wrong ideologies into our minds and cause destruction. Three, the church in Thyatira, false prophetess named Jezebel is at work. The works, when we say false prophet Jezebel, it's not the women Jezebel, but the attributes of the women Jezebel, sexual immorality, hatred, idolatry. That's what Jezebel was all about. He wanted to kill, she wanted to kill Elijah, murder, hatred, anger, idolatry, sexual immorality. This was all happening within the church. Now, who brought this in? The enemy infiltrated the church. Fourth one, the church in Philadelphia. There's a presence of a group that belongs to Satan and will cause them to bow before the church. Again, just like the church in Porgamos, there's a presence of people who belong to Satan. So, you know, it's not that Satan is looking at the church and he's saying, oh, I can't enter this church. No, no, no. The enemy is not afraid of the building. He can come in. One thing he's afraid of is when we know the word of God and we stand on that truth. We're confirmed in that. We are settled in that word. We know that this is the truth. Then he can't do anything. It's not about the church building. It's got very little to do with that. You and I are the church. So, what should we do? We must pray that we will block off the works of the enemy, that there will be a covering within our church and our church communities, that the works of the enemy will be expelled from the church. And it's wonderful because we have wonderful promises. What did Jesus tell Peter? He said, Peter, on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So, we are assured of this. Yes, the enemy is infiltrating but it shall not prevail because God is building his church. So, we are assured of it and we do our bit. So, what is the church's responsibility now? The church's responsibility is to be light to the Gentiles. Right? Wherever we go, be that light, bringing people out of darkness into his marvelous light. Do not be unashamed. Do not be ashamed as a gospel. Do not fear. Do not, you know, feel small about ourselves that, okay, hey, I'm just a minority in this world. No, no. Our responsibility is to bring light to the Gentiles, to open prison doors. God is with us. He's able to do it. Two, the church has kingdom or authority and spiritual power, spiritual weapons and power to overthrow the work of the devil. Right? God has, God is able to do that. Second Corinthians chapter 10 was three to six. This is a powerful verse. Let's read that. Second Corinthians 10, three to six. Yes, go ahead, somebody please. Second Corinthians 10, three to six. Although we walk the flesh, we do not want to burn in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing, raised against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of the Christ. Amen. Thank you, John. The King, I think it's a new King James Version says, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, right? Which means they are not worldly. We're not using weapons of the world, but the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty in God, which brings down strongholds. And so when we pray, when we pray to God, when we are seeking God, remember the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are mighty in God, right? So the church has the authority. The church has the power to overcome and to subdue the works of the devil, right? When I say church, it's you and me. We are the church. We have the power to overcome the devil. Plenty of stories, plenty of examples where we have gone ministering to different parts of India. And I've seen some of the most horrendous things. I've seen some of the most, I would say, the scariest things in certain villages and towns and seen such offensive things that the enemy can do. One thing I know is that the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God. They break, they are able to overcome and subdue the works of the devil, right? So no matter what the enemy is doing, he's doing his bit. Oh, there's witchcraft, there's this and there's that. Oh, the devil is doing this. It doesn't matter. The weapons of our warfare are mighty in God, mightier than the weapons of the enemy. Using our spiritual weapons, we can destroy that blindness which Satan creates in people so that people may receive the gospel. On the basis of the finish work of the cross, we can destroy Satan's stronghold, right? Again, coming to the whole point of our identity in Christ, right? And this, what we do, our identity, our authority, is the spiritual warfare that God is calling us for. Three, the church's responsibility is to bring spiritual transformation. We can engage in prayer, worship. We can exercise spiritual authority for the lost, right? Now, let me give you this example. There are plenty of examples, but just one example. In church history, there was this whole revival that happened in North America. I'll close with this example, but in North America, it was a time when there was a depression during the early 1700s. It was a time of depression. Christians were at a low. The spiritual atmosphere was completely dampened. There were no churches. The economy was down. What happened was God used a few people, a few pastors, and just a handful of people to come together and pray. They were people who knew their authority. They knew the Word of God, and they wanted to see a revival. So they began to pray, about 10 of them. They prayed for the place that they were, and they were in New York. So they began to pray. And as they began to pray, they began to declare against the works of the enemy in that locality in the place that they were in. So they specifically prayed against the work, the blindness that people are in. And all of a sudden, they saw a move of God in that place. From about 10 people, in a couple of weeks, it became 100 people. That became 300, 500. In two years, they were ministering to about 10,000 people. In five years, they had 40,000 people. So what's happening? People in the entire, you know, the whole state and the nation have come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has moved so powerfully that all of them have come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And what has happened? They transformed the societies. The bars were closed down. Pubs were closed down. Gambling places were closed down. The crime came to nothing. The police didn't have anything to do because there was no crime. So the police, to fill in work hours, they would go and sit in the church and be in the singing team of the church because there's no work. And this is true. This is really what happened in the North American awakening. They had thousands of people gathering together in one place. There were meetings of 20,000 people, 20,000 in the afternoon, 20,000 in the evening. Gathering together. What were they doing? Praying, seeking God. What started with a handful of people? Revival broke out. Touching North America, transforming the entire nation. Churches began to grow. Imagine, everyone are talking about newspapers came and they wrote articles. What's happening? There's something happening in the church. Churches in America. Thousands of people are coming. Nobody knows what's happening. The enemy knows what's happening, but he can't do anything because people are so strong in the word. They were committed to what God was doing in their midst. And so even this morning, all of us, as we studied all of this, let us be sure of who we are, our identity and our authority. Even as we go about doing everything that we have to do, that we will know that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty in God. Amen? Amen. So let's close. Anybody have any thoughts, any questions you have? We can just close, pray and close. Any thoughts, any questions? Yes, go ahead, John. So in one of the examples that we discussed today regarding a boy with suicidal tendencies, so these types of bondages will it be broken all of a sudden or it needs constant follow-up or anything of that sort? Yes. So John, the thing is, see, bondages are there in people for a long time, right? There are certain bondages. Like for example, there are times where, you know, sickness is a bondage, right? So maybe somebody is sick in their body. It's a bondage. So we pray over them. They're healed immediately. But there are times that people who are sick, we pray for them, they're not healed. But it happens over a series of events, series of prayer. So the same thing with suicidal tendencies. Sometimes people just come out of it. They just realize, hey, this is a life which God has given me. They're just out of it. But sometimes it really takes, you know, prayer and counseling and constant follow-up. But even as we're doing that constant follow-up, we know that we are going from strength to strength. We know that we're putting the word of God and we know that, you know, God is going to work in their lives, right? The word of God is going to make effect in their lives. So yes, to answer your question, there are certain bondages which immediately just after a prayer, they go away. But there are certain bondages which are there for many, many generations or many years. And it requires constant prayers. You know, sometimes you need fasting and prayer. And sometimes it's just, you know, just spending more time for them in prayer, you know. And so yes, there will be times when you have to, you know, constantly follow-up and constantly pray for them. It's not going to be easy. It just does get overwhelming, right? But we are assured that, you know, God is able to bring restoration. One of the things that, you know, as pastors and leaders, many people come and share many things to us. And so very important is to give them words of assurance that God is able to. He's beyond any, you know, challenge or anything that is happening. He's beyond that. He's able to make things possible. So you give them words of encouragement, but you also tell them that practically you have to do something about it. You have to read. You have to pray. And so yes, I hope that answers your question, John. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Anyone else? So we can close. All right. So let's close in prayer. Divya, can you close in prayer, please? Sure. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for this time that you've given us, Father, to help us understand, Lord, how to, Lord, be a witness for the Lord, as well as to exemplify, Lord, that in our lives for the Lord to be solved, to be a light for the Lord. We pray, Father, when we speak about you, Lord, help us be also for the live out our lives for the Lord in a manner that is worthy. Lord, of your name, help us not bring Father any disgrace to your name, Father Lord. Help us bring glory and honor to your name, Lord, as well as Father Lord. We thank you and praise you, Father, for these nuggets of truth that we learned. You help us, Father, that we be able to practice them in our lives, Father Lord. Thank you and praise you, Father, for Pastor Paul. Bless him immensely, Father Lord. And even as the encouragement and all the examples, the testimonies that has been shared, Lord, help us, Father, that we be able to, you know, Father learn from those, Father, and practice them in our lives, Father. I pray for each and every student gathered here, Father, Lord, bless them as well in all their walks of life, Father. All these things we pray in the name of our Lord and save you, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Divya. Thank you, everyone. Have a wonderful day, wonderful week ahead. God bless.