 Alright, the recording has started. Let's pray together and then continue. Could any one of us lead in prayer, please? Can I take a picture? Yeah, go ahead. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Thank you so much for today, Lord. It's been a pleasure to meet you. I'm so proud of you. So, first, we're praying for wisdom and knowledge from your Spirit God. Thank you for everything that you're about to teach us, and we still understand that. And I pray for your special needs, and I say that you must know that you're fully true to those who don't miss it. I'm going to pray for your true love, and I'll be classing about it. But we cast wisdom out in knowledge and the class of yesterday's teaching drills school. Thank you for loving the promise. Thank you for leading in prayer. We will start off with Acts chapter 13. As you know we've seen so far from Acts chapter 2 to 8, we saw more of the first five, first eight years. So Acts 2 to Acts 8 is about eight years, AD 30 to AD 38, where we saw that the church was born and the church was in revival. And as we went ahead from Acts chapter 8 to Acts chapter 13, this is again something like a decade, about nine years or ten years time. And so now from the birth of the church to Acts chapter 13, it's almost 17 years. So we've got to remember that. So it's been 17 years since the baptism in the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost. So 17 long years, many believers have been one for Christ, churches have been planted in different cities, churches have been strengthened in different cities. We have leaders as of now, some who are known, some who are unknown. We have the apostles who are providing leadership to all the churches across the region. They are of course based out of the Church of Jerusalem. But they are providing leadership to all the other churches. We also saw that there was a young person by the name of Saul who encountered the Lord Jesus in Acts chapter 9. And he is said to have been about the age of 29, somewhere there 29 to 33 years. That's what theologians assume his age to be. And he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he begins to make his journey in ministry. We saw how he started his work almost immediately, but he was not accepted because people thought that he could be an impostor or he could be falsely pretending that he is following Jesus. So those were the issues. But we know eventually, we saw how Barnabas, when he wants somebody to help him in the Church of Antioch, he goes and he brings Saul. And by now, we are referring to him as Paul. And that's because he had two names, a Jewish name and a Roman name. So that's how. So he is more famous by the name of Paul. And he comes into the picture in the Church of Antioch. And he's seen as one of the prominent leaders there. So Acts chapter 11 was more about the Church of Antioch and how that church is established. It's a multicultural church. It's a church where we see leadership as a teamwork. So it's not that there is only one leader. We also saw that the Church of Antioch was not necessarily planted by any of the apostles. So there is a shift in the way we are looking at the establishment of church and the oversight of church by a leadership. So it's a group leadership that is actually happening here at the Church of Antioch. And then we saw how in Acts 12, it was a season of persecution. But Acts 12 revealed a very heightened persecution where the leaders of the church were at risk. We saw that James was killed. And now there was a threat to the life of Peter. And how Peter, because of the prayers of the church, God supernaturally delivered him. So there was an angel that came to his rescue and brought him out. And then we saw the end of the mention of Peter here in the Book of Acts. So nothing was happening in Peter's life. But the focus is now shifting to Paul. And that's what you will notice. So 17 years and then you see that the focus is now going to shift to Apostle Paul's missionary journeys. And then we saw the pride of Herod and how he was struck for his pride and he died. So that's what we've seen till Acts chapter 12. So now coming back to Acts chapter 13, here again, it's like another 20 years is what the duration is of Acts 13 to Acts 28. So roughly about 20 years. So AD 48 to AD 768 is what all this, we will observe all the things that are going to take place. So we will see in Acts chapter 13 that Apostle Paul and Barnabas make their first missionary journey. So this first missionary journey is of the duration of about two years. So I said that Acts chapter 13 is where you will see a focus more on Paul. So how do we see Apostle Paul sort of gaining prominence? Yes, he was a leader in the Church of Antioch. But then we will see that as the leadership of Antioch was praying, God gave them this guidance that they must set aside Barnabas and Paul for this missionary kind of a role. And so they are commissioned and then the missionary journeys begin. So it is said that the journey, the first missionary journey which Paul undertook is from AD 44 to AD 46. So I know that there are some overlaps in the timings, let's not get too confused about it because you have different books, different versions giving us different dates. And I don't think we can actually come up with the exact date but based on the writings that are available, there is like an informed guest or they have come to the conclusion that these would be the dates. So first missionary journey AD 44 to AD 46. So this is from Acts chapter 13 verse 1 all the way to Acts 14 verse 28. So today we will try to cover the first missionary journey. And before I get into talking about the first missionary journey, I thought it would be nice if I can show you an image of this missionary journey. So just give me a moment sharing my screen with all of you. Okay, please excuse me, there is just this. Okay, not able to pick a tab. So I'm just going to share my screen. Let's see how this works. Okay, are you able to see? Yeah. Okay. So now can you see the image? All right. Yes, we can first. Okay, that's wonderful. Thank you. So here you can see the first missionary journey will notice that Paul and Barnabas, they are the team that undertakes this first missionary journey. It will begin obviously from Antioch. And then you would notice that they'll go to this place called Seleucia. We don't read too much about any ministry which is done in Seleucia. Maybe it was a spot from where they had to take a boat or a ship to go to Cyprus. So that's where they went to Seleucia. We don't know, but we cannot even digest the fact that Barnabas and Paul did nothing in Seleucia. I'm sure they would have shared the gospel with people there as well. So we don't read about much ministry there, but then we see that they move on from there. So there's a mention of Salamis, the region of Cyprus, then Paphos. We will read how they will minister to a government official in Paphos and what actually happens there. That will take us to the end of Acts chapter 13. And then we will eventually move on. We will see that they go to Perga, Sidia. So remember I mentioned earlier there are many different Antiochs. So that name was given by the ruler to various cities. So you have the Antioch of Sidia over here. So don't confuse it with the Antioch church that we talked about earlier. That would be the Syrian Antioch. So you have the Syrian Antioch and from there they will move to Iconium where they will do some substantial amount of ministry. So we will see that. We will see how from there they will eventually go to Lystra. They'll go to Derby and from there they will come back in the same route. So basically from Derby back to Lystra, Iconium and then you take the same route back to Antioch. So you will see them coming back to Antioch. So missionary journey, the first missionary journey is rather simple. So there are a couple of places involved over here and you can look at it like they start off from Antioch, the base church, they move on to certain cities, do the ministry there. Then they take the same route back simply because they want to revisit and see how the believers are doing, whether they are strengthened or not and then sort of on the way back encourage the believers and come back to Antioch, the base church and report the ministry that has been undertaken. So this is the overview and this will be very helpful as we go into chapters 13. Let's hope we are able to touch till chapter 15 but let's see how it goes. So yeah that's the map of Paul's first missionary journey for us. Now let's get into the chapter here. So Acts chapter 13, what we can do is, okay let me see, maybe I'll only read and try to explain things fast enough. All right so Acts chapter 13, so it says now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manayen who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrap and Saul. So remember we said that there is a team ministry in the church of Antioch and this team is a varied team. So you know Barnabas we know that this person is quite mature and you know he's a Levite and we know about his character then Simeon. Simeon is referred to as you know Niger here maybe because he came from some of the African countries and you know for whatever reason that's how they described in those days and so you know it's put across in the same way in the Greek language so we understand here that there is a difference in ethnicity of the leadership team so that's the beauty of it. Lucius of Cyrene also belongs to a different region so you have people from different places very easily we can understand that then there is Manayen who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrap. So this shows us Herod the Tetrap is the person who beheaded John the Baptist. So if there was someone who was brought up with the Tetrap it's likely that Manayen was a very rich person. So you see that place ethnicity social status it has it is not creating any division okay that is the beauty of the kingdom of God because you know as we read earlier in the Old Testament God does not look at the face but he looks at the heart so for God you know our origin our background our financial condition none of this really matters he picks people from every nation every tribe every tongue and you know he redeems them and so it there's a beautiful multicultural team here in Acts chapter 13 where you know as far as the church of Antioch is concerned okay so can we have multicultural churches today of course we can have multicultural churches because there is an example right here in the Bible for us of a multicultural church okay then what else do we observe about this team we see that this team they ministered to the Lord and fasted then it says the Holy Spirit said so it shows us that the leadership had a culture of prayer and fasting and seeking the Lord so when we notice that they have this kind of a culture it shows us even today you know sometimes when we are in ministry and I am talking from you know whatever a little experience I have it's really possible for us to get so busy with all the responsibilities that have been handed to us that we have no time for God we have no time for prayer you know we have no time even as a team to to seek the Lord but the beauty of what is being written here is that this team they not only ministered to the people obviously they ministered to the people but they ministered to the Lord so remember as scriptures teachers we are kings and we are priests priests what is the duty of priests priests minister to the Lord okay so there is this ministry unto the Lord which is communing with God which is spending time in his presence spending time in the word you know spending time in prayer and that is a priority that is a priority we've seen that you know time and prayer was such a priority even in the earlier years in the book of Acts but it continues it continues and you see how that is the place the presence of God while we are seeking God that God begins to give directions sometimes there's no clarity about what we should do because we are not even waiting on the Lord but this team as they waited on the Lord we read here that the Holy Spirit said in other words we can hear from God better if we are spending time and seeking him so the Holy Spirit gave them an instruction what was that instruction now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them so isn't that Barnabas and Saul were not doing any ministry so far no it's not like that but you see that in God's timetable in God's plan God wanted them to fulfill a different role compared to what they were doing earlier so it was time for that and which is why the Holy Spirit is telling them now separate to me these two men for this role that I have for them to the work to which I have called them so you see how God calls different people for different tasks or works so these two men are called then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them they sent them away so you see how the church is so we use the term spirit led because they are taking the instructions of God and they are being obedient to it so such a quick was there finished God said it we obeyed it and we went ahead with that plan so now Barnabas and Saul have to do the work which God has for them so from verse four begins their journey as I showed you in the map so being sent out by the Holy Spirit they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus and when they arrived in Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews they also had John as their assistant so you notice how the journey is going on so the first place where you hear about them preaching is Salamis they also had an assistant so it was not just two of them but it was three of them John who is John John Mark John Mark is the son of Mary and this Mary is the person in whose home you found the believers praying remember in Acts 12 Rhoda came out and then she opened the door so that is Mary's home and John Mark is the son of Mary and so there are three people so they have an assistant along with them so now they continue so they did a little bit of ministry in Salamis and now they are in the island of Paphos what happens here we are told in Paphos there is a certain sorcerer a false prophet a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus okay Bar Jesus will see that his name is Elimus also now what what is the task of this person it seems like in these times for prominent leaders they had a prophet and they had a spiritual person you know assisting them in we don't know exactly how but sorcerer it indicates to us that maybe he was engaged in some kind of sacrifices and some some things so that he can gain some spiritual power and authority for that particular leader so there is a sorcerer who is associated with a leader so who is this leader his name is Procancel Sergius Paulus okay and the scriptures tell us in verse 7 he was an intelligent man this man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God so obviously it is quite well known now that you know the steam Paul and Barnabas they are preaching about Jesus so this intelligent man seems like he was a learner and he wanted to know what Jesus was all about so he asks Barnabas and Saul hey tell me more he wants to hear about this but in verse 8 we see Elimus the sorcerer Bar Jesus Elimus the sorcerer withstood them seeking to turn the procancel away from the faith so this shows us that there is there are spiritual strongholds spiritual entities or spiritual you know we know that these are demonic hindrances that come against the preaching of the gospel so here is an intelligent man a learner person with a high position in the government who is willing to hear about Jesus but what is the problem there is a spiritual hindrance that is coming through by a sorcerer and because of that we are told you know we read here withstood them so the sorcerer it's he's stopping or hindering the procancel from receiving the message of the cross receiving the message of Jesus and we are told here that he was seeking to turn the procancel away from the faith so even today there can be people all categories who can be hindered spiritually from receiving the gospel and that is the reason you know when we talk about people coming to know Christ yes we do all the practical things what are the practical things you preach the gospel you go you know you share you minister you hold conferences you know so many different things but one of the main things that we must take note of is prayer spiritual warfare breaking those strongholds in the spiritual realm that form a hindrance to the preaching of the gospel so so clear it is here it is over here that there is a spiritual hindrance so how are Paul and Barnabas going to deal with this so verse 9 then Saul who also is called Paul so you see he's sort of his name is a different name you know they they call him over here not that it was a new name given to to Saul but he had both names one was a Jewish name and one was a Roman name so they just picked you know or the the other name which was not used so far so Paul Saul who is also called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looked intently at him so spiritual warfare is happening and in this case what happens was stead and said or full of all deceit and all fraud you son of the devil you enemy of all righteousness will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord and now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind not seeing the sun for a time so remember Acts 5 was a time of judgment where people within the church within the congregation you had Ananias Safira who liked to the Holy Spirit who dropped dead now in this situation also by the power of the Holy Spirit there is a judgment it is coming upon who it's not coming upon a believer it's coming upon the the person who is sort of the source of the demonic hindrance so can there be people who form a hindrance like you know a spiritual hindrance to the gospel yes we've learned about this when we studied about believers authority there can be people who are empowered by demonic spirits to an extent where they can control you know individuals they can control even communities and regions if you recall we read about a sorcerer and acts it isn't it Simon Simon the sorcerer and people called him the god so yes there can be human beings who are used by Satan and the demonic powers to stop the light of the gospel from touching people's hearts so how do Paul and Barnabas deal with it Paul full of the Holy Spirit rebukes elements about Jesus and you know he he proclaims blindness on him okay and what happens then we read in the middle of acts the chapter verse 11 of acts 13 and immediately a dark mist fell on him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand so judgment has come upon this individual then okay now that the demonic hindrances dealt with what result can we expect verse 12 then the procuncel believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord you know even earlier uh Paul and Barnabas were sharing about God but the procuncel just couldn't receive it or understand it see it but once the spiritual hindrance was dealt with he was able to get it so this is something all of us should realize when we share the gospel we've got to deal with spiritual or demonic hindrances okay that is when our work will be effective so I hope you're all doing okay I'm going on continuously so I'm just concerned whether yeah you know you are getting what I'm sharing and if you're comfortable with the pace if you have any questions comments so far okay all right so that's good good to know that you know you're understanding everyone's okay all right fine that's that's good then let's just continue from there okay wonderful all right so we've seen how the ministry took place in Paphos okay so just remember it by region what are all the things that happen in these regions who are the people whom we met in these particular cities so now we're coming to Antioch of Sidia so verse 13 now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos so notice how Paul is getting the prominence here okay not to say that Barnabas is not important anymore but somehow you know at that point in time you could you could say that there was a work for Paul to do you know which needed to be mentioned so the team which was earlier known as Paul and Barnabas is now somehow called Paul and his party okay so Paul is getting the prominence here and also maybe because this is a defense brief which we've already been talking about so the focus goes to Paul so they set sail from Paphos so they leave this region of ministry move to the next they came to Perga in Pamphylia and John remember John John Mark his his name is John departing from them returned to Jerusalem okay so this young assistant he was part of the team now we have no idea why he left Paul and Barnabas there are a lot of speculations Luke doesn't tell us why he left there can be reasons that he was not mature enough or he went for this journey and he felt that it was too tiring for him or you know he was not too happy that you know now Paul is getting all the prominence because later on we will see that John is actually related to Barnabas okay so there could be many reasons why John was not happy but here in verse 13 acts 13 13 we notice John left the team John departing from them returned to Jerusalem some people say that he was a young lad and he was very homesick and he wanted to go back you know after all the tedious ministry back to his family okay anyway so now we just have Paul and Barnabas we'll see what what they do verse 14 but when they departed from Perga they came to Antioch of Sidia in Sidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down verse 15 and after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation for the people say on so those days there was this openness in the synagogues where any learned person or anyone who had a message to share could come you know to the forefront and they could read scriptures they could share what was on their heart so in Sidia Antioch in Sidia there is an opportunity for Paul and Barnabas to actually share they're being asked by the synagogue people men and brethren if you have any word of exhortation or encouragement for the people say on so they receive this opportunity and notice how Paul and Barnabas are quite strategic they know where their open doors are they knew that it was the synagogue where they will have an opportunity to preach and so they go there to the synagogue and they begin to share so now that they've been asked to talk Paul stood up okay again you notice how now suddenly Paul Paul Paul you know Paul is sharing Paul is doing this Paul is doing that's a Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said so he begins his sermon or he starts to share with them so you know you would see this whole narration but obviously the conclusion of this narration is the Lord Jesus so he wants to bring home the point you know he will somehow bring this narration to David and you know David's generation and Jesus and how Jesus died for our sins and you know that we are justified through Jesus so the point is the gospel so he wants the people to know the gospel okay and we will see the reaction of the audience also after this has been shared so I want to request somebody to read from verse 16 all the way verse 41 okay so that will cover what Paul had to say so anyone a long passage there but if someone can volunteer that would be wonderful so can I read it yes yes okay so Paul stood lifted his hands to quiet them and started speaking men of Israel he said and you got God faring Gentiles listen to me the God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt then with powerful army led them out of their slavery he put up with them through 40 years of wandering into the wilderness then he destroyed seven nations of Canada and gave their land to Israel as inheritance all these took about 450 years after that God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet then the people begged for a king and God gave them Saul son of kish a man from the tribe of Benjamin who reigned for 40 years but God removed Saul and replaced him with David a man about whom God said I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart he will do everything I want him to do and it is one of king David's descendants Jesus who is God's promised savior to Israel before he came John the baptized preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized as John was finishing his ministry he asked do you think I am the Messiah no I'm not but he is coming soon and I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet brothers you son of Abraham and also you God faring Gentiles this message of salvation has been sent to us the people in Jerusalem and their leaders in our recognized Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about instead they condemned him and in doing this they fulfilled the prophet's words that are read every Shabbat Shabbat they found a legal reason reason to execute him but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway when they had done all that the prophecies said about him they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb but God raised him from the dead and over the and over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem there are now his witnesses to the people of Israel and now we are here to bring you this good news the promise was made to our ancestors and God has now fulfilled it for us their descendants by raising Jesus this is what the second Psalm says about Jesus you are my son today I have become your father for God had promised to raise him from the dead not leaving him to rot in the grave he said I will give you a give you the sacred blessings I promise to David another Psalm explains it more fully you will not allow your holy one to rot in the grave this is not a reference to David for David had gone sorry for David had done the will of God in his own generation and he died and was buried with our ancestors and his body decayed now no it was a reference to someone else someone who God raised and his body did not decay brothers listen we're here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins everyone who believes in him is declared right with God something the law the law of Moses could never do be careful don't let the prophets words apply to you for they say look you mockers be amazed and die for I'm doing something in your own day something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it okay thank you for reading that long passage for us so as we can see in what Paul shared he was coming to the point that Jesus is the Son of God and the Father has called him his son you are my son today I have begotten you so you know he talked about how by inheritance Jesus is is the you know he is the heir and that he is Lord he is King he's the Son of God and then we go on to see that he talks about the redemptive work that Jesus did how he died for our sins and how God raised him up and that he did not perish okay and he's quoting some Psalms he's referring to David you know and the fact that whatever David spoke was not about himself when David said you will not allow your holy one to seek corruption but it was about the Lord Jesus so you know very clearly Paul points to the Lord Jesus using scriptures so this again tells us that he's speaking in context so the Jews will understand the context when you share the names of their patriarchs and you know you share the scriptures so they know they understand and maybe they will be open to receive this message so Jesus is preached to these Jews in the synagogue at Antioch of Sidia and you know very clearly Jesus is proclaimed so verse 42 let's see what happens after this message is proclaimed it says so when the Jews went out of the synagogue the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath so there are some God fearing Gentiles who also want to hear the message so sounds good sounds like you know they are being respected and their message is being received very well because another group now wants to hear the message verse 43 now excuse me when the congregation had broken up many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God so there were a group of Jews and Gentiles who received this message well Paul and Barnabas encouraged them to grow in the Lord verse 44 so remember the another meeting invitation next Sabbath you come to us so what happens on the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God so sounds like this mission mission's effort is successful isn't it but we'll see you know what takes place later so the whole city comes together verse 45 but when the Jews saw the multitudes okay so when they when the Jews saw this new dynamics that hey come on people are actually listening they are interested in these visitors Paul and Barnabas it was disturbing it was disturbing for the Jews so we read verse 45 but when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they opposed the things spoken by Paul so you notice the atmosphere changes from one of welcome and applause to one of opposition okay and condemning and blaspheming so it's a very tough situation now for Paul and Barnabas okay so when the time gets when when things get tougher how did they respond in the city verse 46 then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us I've set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth so they just decide okay that if the Jews who have this this beautiful heritage of the scriptures are not willing to listen no they they now make a decision that we are going to start proclaiming the truth of the gospel to the Gentiles so when there is an open door you will notice this everywhere when there's an open door the like the teams that are that are ministering in this case Paul and Barnabas they go and they proclaim the gospel but when the doors shut okay it is like they fight another open door and they go there and they begin to proclaim so now that they understand the Jews are unwilling they say that they are going to begin to preach to the Gentiles so verse 48 now when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed so even in the midst of opposition there is strategy God given strategy Jews are not listening leave it preach to the Gentiles there is fruit that they preach to the Gentiles they believed okay and verse 49 and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region but the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium so what's happening the prominent people of Antioch of Sidia are now strongly opposing Paul and Barnabas and they came to the extent of removing them expelled them from the region so they removed from there so they moved to the next opportunity which is in the city of Iconium okay and the people of Iconium disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit so they're just continuing their ministry if one city does not accept them they just go to another city where people are accepting them and they continue the work so that is Acts chapter 13 for us and we will soon go to Acts 14 where we will see more of the ministry in Iconium and a place called Lystra and you know different things that took place there but any any thoughts as of now any you know something that stood out for you in Acts 13 can I say something pastor yes Charles um I'm looking at the when it when you are expecting praise warm welcome but now it becomes the other way around so I I learn that whatever we are expecting might not come out the way we expected it but now it's going to do the other way around so it is to again depend on the Holy Spirit to see on how to handle such situation especially to remain sober to remain content so that you are able not to to misfire not to to kill ministry but to handle it well so that the church is edified thank you yeah that's that's a uh you know very beautiful thought thank you Charles for sharing we have to keep the ministry going yes there will be acceptance there will also be rejection but you know the work must go on um all right so Louis I see that you've raised your hand please share your view um I think might be a bit slightly different from Brachios because the first time I read that um I kind of saw a pattern uh if I'll call it that where I think I was directing them into the core of the ministry because when he told the elder to separate them he didn't tell them specifically what he was going to give them but the work was he also said to a work that I will show them um and immediately they purposely they traveled into the regions where they went and the first thing the first place they went to was to the Jews we they were kind of comfortable with because that's their own people you know but as time went on they began to understand that Paul says this the grace to the Gentiles were given to me and the grace of the Jews were given to Peter so I think in a way it got systematically drew panabas and Paul into the the the people he wanted them to have the minister of the constellation with so the the confrontation was like a blessing in these guys because now Paul had to focus on the Gentiles they were receptive of his message you know so in that in that that looked like a criticism or rejection it was like god putting pulling them into the core of the ministry so that they are working in its perfect will because when they walked in the gospels opened up to the Gentiles and that's how Paul you know basically found that okay it seems like the grace of god is for me to work with the Gentiles and that way even though I want to preach to the Jews but the grace of god upon my life is to work with the Gentiles so sometimes setting confrontations we find is what is directing our steps of our minds to what he wants for us and my coming confrontation people I'm rejecting our message but God's saying there are some people that will accept your message so we are flexible in that regard and I'm not saying okay because this is a gospel I must preach to the Jews and the Jews are rejecting and I say that I must preach to them now maybe that's the way something God has to navigate our our path even ministry and your life you know just my observation yes yes thank you Louis yes thank you for noticing that what we see here is that even though you know circumstances aligned in a certain way what ultimately happened is God's purpose for Paul's ministry he was called to the Gentiles he was an apostle to the Gentiles and it it took place you know though they were adverse circumstances it did not stop the purpose of God from unfolding in his life so did God cause the persecution to happen I would say no I would say that God knew what would happen and that is why you know he was leading them in a certain manner there's a scripture in Isaiah Isaiah 46 and verse 10 which says God knows the end from the beginning so God knew the responses of the people in Antioch and you know later on now we'll see the responses of the people in Iconium so knowing what would happen the Holy Spirit was directing Paul into his ministry for the Gentiles okay so yeah good things to think about at this point let's go in for a break it's 9.54 so we'll take a 10 minute break and let's come back at 10.04 and pick up from here thank you thank you everybody