 Okay, good morning everyone, and good morning to our students online as well. Okay, let's begin this time with a word of prayer. Let's submit this hour, submit this day into God's hands. Let's just pray that God will minister to us even as we continue to learn throughout the course of this day. Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this beautiful day, for this morning Lord. We thank you for your grace, O God. We are here not because of our own abilities. We are here because your grace and your mercy abounds in our lives. Lord, even as we come together to study about our identity and what you have called us to be Lord, I pray Holy Spirit that you will speak to each of our hearts, minister to us Lord. And Lord, I pray that everything we learn, we will apply it and walk in this identity that you have called us in Lord. We give you all the praise and glory in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, amen. Okay, so last week we did quite a lot, last class. We talked about how God has redeemed us from the fear of death. God has redeemed us from generational bondages, right? One of the questions that came up was if there's a generational bondage from years, right? Well, it's still work in my family, definitely not because as a believer when we believe in Jesus, we are free from that bondage, right? Then we also talked about the blood of Jesus, the importance of the blood of Jesus. We always pray it, we speak it and we saw that the blood of Jesus testifies for what is being done right now. The blood of Jesus, everyone say testifies. That means it's like a testimony. The blood of Jesus is like in the book of Hebrews it says that the Lord Jesus took his own blood as a testimony, right? So then we also looked at we are free from the bondage of the law. Now in the Old Testament, the law was given. What did the law do? What did the law do? Still kept them into bondage. They were not in freedom, right? But now through the cross we find freedom and also we talked about free from meaningless rituals. What is rituals? Something that has passed on from generation to generation to generation is a ritual, right? For example, why you go to church on Sunday? No, my parents go. That means what? Sometimes we hear the word ritual and we think of other faiths. Judaism, you look at the Old Testament, it was a ritual, right? Just go do sacrifice, go back, sin, come back, sacrifice. It was a ritual. There was no meaning in it. When God told Moses to do it, you know, you come up with these offerings, there was some meaning. But over time for the Israelites, it became meaningless ritual. What is today Passover? What is tomorrow? One more feast. What is next month? One more feast. That's all it was, right? There was no meaning in it. But through the cross, you and I are free from rituals. That means what? It's not like we have to go to a place, close the door only then we can pray to Jesus. Or it's not like only on Sunday in the church, we can experience God's presence, right? You're free from all of them. It's no more ritual. We can be doing anything, cooking. We can experience God. We can God can minister to us, right? So those that mindset of, oh, I have to wait for Sunday to speak to Jesus. Those are all meaningless rituals, but we don't have to live by free from. Okay, let's get into Chapter 75. We start from here, right? Yes, okay. Free from man-made ideas. Now, there's a lot of man-made ideas, right? When you look at us, look at things around us. Are there ideas, man-made ideas? Plenty, right? Now, let's look at how you and I are free from these man-made ideas. Colossians, Chapter 2, 16 to 23. So let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you for your reward, taking delight and false humility and worship of angels intruding into those things which he has not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head from whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God. Verse 20, therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourself to regulations? Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility and neglect of the body, but of no, but of our of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Now, Paul is writing this whole passage. It sounds a little bit confusing, but basically what he's saying is some people are taking pride by saying, hey, I did these following, following all the festivals. I followed all the laws. You know, I did, I gave my best sacrifice to God. And I, you know, I fasted and prayed for 40 days. I did everything. Now Paul is saying here, he's saying it is the wisdom of God. Right. God gives us the wisdom to follow the rules and regulations and things that are their offerings on all of it. But people are boasting about that. I did this, this, this, this. So Paul is reminding them, hey, you are coming. That means you're coming to God's presence by all that you did. You're coming to Jesus by all the sacrifices and all these works that you have done. Paul is saying all of these will only bring pride. Here he says in verse, in the verse he says for humility, he talks about humility, right? In verse 18, let no one cheat you of your reward taking delight in false humility. That means what? What is false humility? There's a difference between humility and false humility. Humility is walking in humbleness, right? False humility is what? Pretending to be humble, but really you're not humble. Right. And so the people there, Paul is writing and he's saying, you all are pretending to be humble by doing all these things. But in reality, you're boasting about what you have done. So Paul is saying, don't go by these ideas. Don't go by what men have, you know, set these regulations. Don't go by only that. Now, there are certain regulations and rules that we must follow, right? So for example, we have decided Sunday will be a services, church services, right? Now it was a man made idea, right? Over time from Saturday, we moved it to Sunday for practical idea, practical reasons. Now, is it working? Is it beneficial for us to have service on Sunday? Yes, right? But it's not like, you know, we're not... There are some ideas which, you know, destruct the word of God or twist the word of God. Now, some ideas, it's good. So for example, some churches have communion in the beginning of the service. Some churches have in the middle. Some services have it in the end. Some have, especially in North India, when you go, you have praise and worship. Then announcements. Then you have worship songs. Now first praise songs, then announcements, then worship songs, right? Now these are all man made ideas, but it's not wrong, right? It's not that they're glorifying themselves. It's just to make sure that the service happens right. So here Paul is saying, he's not talking about his planning and execution. He's talking about personal life. Don't follow things just because others are doing you don't do it. Follow what the word of God says. Look at Titus chapter 1, verse 13 and 14. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. Look at this. Now imagine this is Paul. Is he a Jew? Is Paul a Jew? He's a learned man, right? He knew everything about the law. Now he's saying, don't give heed to Jewish fables. That means don't give heed. Don't, you know, keep following all these traditions and man made ideas. What are some of the man made ideas? I'm just giving a few examples. For example, if you look at a few things, not really in ministry, but I'm saying, okay, so for example, in the Jewish custom, some of the man made ideas could be, you know, when you get your sacrifice, make sure you stand there and you should stand for 10 minutes and you cannot enter through this gate. You must only enter through. All these are, you know, I'm just giving an example, right? But all these are man made ideas. Thinking that, okay, if I do it like this, then it'll work. So Paul is saying these are Jewish fables and commandments which bring nothing. What do they do more than turning to God? We turn away from God with all this, right? So we do not be. Look at this was in the next portion there in your notes. It says festivals, new moons and Sabbaths. We do not have to be subject to man made ideas on observing days, right? Now, for example, it's written there lent. If you look at the Roman Catholic Church, now nothing against it, right? There's nothing against doing it, but these lent is a 40 days where they, you know, they stay away from meat, right? They don't eat meat. They don't indulge in meat. Now it was just, it's just to honor God. It's like a sacrifice, like how you and I do fasting, right? But it's a man made idea, right? I'm not saying it's wrong. We can, we can, you know, fast and sacrifice, you know, go through a time, a season of, you know, sacrificing food, but it's not like without that God won't work. You get what I'm saying, right? It's not like if I don't do this, don't follow these days, then God won't work. No, you may have heard preachers and pastors saying, if you don't do like this, then God judgment will come upon you. And if you don't pray, if you don't do this, God will do this. Now be careful with all those prophecies, right? Think about it. Is God, does God work like that? If I don't fast and pray 40 days, God will, you know, he will never give me a job or he will never put me in the ministry. God doesn't work that way. Doesn't look at works. He looks at the calling. He looks at what is inside us, right? Then we do not subject ourselves to somebody else's spiritual encounters. That means some other person had visions and dreams and angels and Jesus and, you know, nowadays when you look at YouTube, you have all kinds of people. Have you seen the testimonies? I'm not saying they're not true. They may be true, right? Some of them have gone with, gone, met Jesus, had tea with Jesus. They've come back, right? Some of them have gone to hell. They said hi to few demons. They came back. So all of this is, it could be, right? Angelic visitations, all of that is good. But we don't base our, our identity out of all of that, meaning we don't subject ourselves. He, this person went to heaven and came so he will know everything. Or he saw angels or he saw, you know, visions and dreams. You don't have to subject yourself. There's a testimony. Okay. Take it. Move on. Right. But what we see right now is people get so endorsed in this, you know, angels, dreams, visions. It's good. The supernatural is good. But don't, don't follow somebody because they're in the supernatural. You pursue God. You ask God to minister to you. He can't take you to heaven. Can he take you to heaven? He went to heaven and came. But can he take you? Who can take you to heaven? Jesus. Can he pray on behalf of you to take you to heaven? This boy is a good boy. Can he just, he also wants to see heaven. Can he do, can he do that? No. So basically don't depend or don't put your entire identity on someone else's spiritual encounters. Ask God for your own. Right. Lord, you speak to me. Okay. Then there are cultural superstitions, which especially in our nation, a nation of India, we have a nation of culture, right? We come from different cultures, different backgrounds. We all have many, many man made rules and man made superstitions. But here's the thing. If these rules and these things that we follow are taking us away from God, then we got to be careful. Right. Now let me give you this example. If the church says, you know, women should cover their hair while praying. And I'm sure in the churches in North India, they do that. Now is it, it's a, it's a man made, what do you call it? It's a man made rule, right? Over time they've made it. But does it take them away from God? It doesn't. So cover the hair cover. No big deal. But if a person comes and says, if you don't cover your hair, Holy Spirit won't come. Holy Spirit won't minister to you because you are unholy. Now what is that? You know that that is wrong. You know that that's not how God works. Right. So you're understanding what I'm saying. Right. So these man made rules should not take us away from God, should not bring condemnation or fear. Right. Then it's wrong. And we can just throw it away, right? Because we are free from all of that. 76, chapter 76. Stand firm in your freedom. The Bible says, you know, it was for freedom that Christ has set you free. Galatians 5 1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made you free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. What is firm? What's the word firm? What does the word firm mean? Firm means, you see a tree which is maybe the tree outside there. Can you go shake it and break it? You can't. Because it's firm and established with maybe maybe 100 years old. That tree you can't. So that's being firm. Right. If you have to take out that tree, you will need a person to come with, you know, a saw and all of these electronic equipment to cut it down. So firm. Even a storm may not take it off. It's all the same here. Stand firm in the liberty. That means you'll be strong in the liberty that Christ has given you. So the devil will come and say, you are in bondage. You did this. You did this. You stand firm. Because you say, hey, Christ has set me free. Says here and do not be entangled with the yoke of bondage. You know, what does entangled mean? See all these wires here. What happens when the wires go crisscross? I get entangled and you won't know which wire is for what. So that's why it's very important to lay out the wires so they don't get entangled. So Paul is saying, don't get entangled by the yoke of bondage. They are there, but don't get entangled with it. The enemy is there. He's trying to wrap you. You don't get entangled in it because Christ has set you free. Right. Has he set you free? Right. So you walk in that freedom. Right. Now if you, you know, I got this wonderful opportunity once to talk to an old man and he was born before the independence. This happened quite some time back and I was talking to him and the older man. So I asked him, how was it before independence or before independence? It was good and it was bad. He was saying the good thing was the Britishers came, they brought a lot of their, you know, culture of, you know, the things that they do. They helped us learn a lot of things. They brought education. So most of the schools in, for example, Bangalore, many of them were started 1914, 18, whatever, you know, 1800s. Why? Because they came, they, you know, they did a lot of work. Now he was saying that there was this freedom, but there was also this feeling that this is not my land. The Britishers gave them freedom. Okay. You want to start hospital? Start. You want to start school? Start. It was not like the Indians were put under suppression continuously. No. It's just that they were governing, but there was this feeling of I am subject to the Britishers. I don't belong in my own country. They had the freedom. They wanted to start and do whatever they wanted to do. But they felt inside that I am being a slave because I'm, I'm ruled by another government. Right. So that's not how it is now. You and I, the enemy may come and say, you know, you did these things wrong. These are the bondages in your life. You say, Hey, I'm set free. Right. I'm, I'll stand firm in my freedom. Look at the next one, chapter 77. Do not misuse your freedom. Everyone say misuse. What is misuse to wrongly use freedom? Let's look at this was Galatians chapter 5, 13 and 14. For you brethren have been called to liberty only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Look at that. Paul is being quite stern now. Right. He's saying you have been called to freedom. You've been called to liberty, but now don't misuse that liberty. That means Jesus was saying, I have paid the price. I bought you. Now you're free from sin. And you come, you ask for forgiveness. I will forgive you. But don't misuse that freedom. Don't say, now remember, he's talking to the Galatian church. What was the problem in the church in Galatians? They were all believers, but they're going and getting circumcised. I'll get circumcised, but I'm a believer in Jesus. So Paul is saying, how can you do that? How can you get, be a believer? If you're a believer, how can you go back and be circumcised? That means you're working on the flesh there. So Paul is saying here, we must learn to walk in the freedom that God has given us. Right. To walk in freedom is also to walk with wisdom. Right. So for example, you have, you know, example one day, you have three hours free, no classes. Okay. Do what you want. Three hours. What are you going to do? Don't. What's the word? Misuse. You're, nobody's got to check on you. Who's going to say what you did for three years? Right. Now, this is just an example. Right. But it's your freedom. It's given to you. You have the choice. Right. And the same way here, the New Testament teaches us to use the freedom that God has given us with wisdom. Right. To walk wisely. Do not abuse your freedom. And the New Testament also teaches us to walk in the spirit and to walk in love. Right. Now just because I have the freedom God has given me, I can't go around telling people, hey, you are wrong. The one you, you know, the God you worship is wrong. You are, you are doing this wrong. And, you know, the attitude of, you know, I am greater than anyone else or I'm holier than anyone else. I cannot do that. We're learning in lifestyle evangelism. Right. Even as we minister to people, we minister in love, the spirit of love. Right. To walk in love. The walking in love towards others overrides our walking in freedom. The word overrides means God has given us freedom. But walking in love is more important than walking in freedom. Imagine we're walking in freedom, but you're still, you're still in hatred. We hate people. We look at people in anger and jealousy and pride. What's the use? God is saying you're free. You're walking in freedom, but I have all of this inside. But rather walking in love is greater than walking in freedom. Everyone with me? So we see that walking in honor towards others overrides our walking in freedom. When we, our freedom ends where honor towards others begin. You know, for example, you know, somebody has done something wrong to you. And you feel, hey, he should say sorry first or she should say sorry first. Here comes the place. Now you have the freedom to forgive or not to forgive. Christ has given you the freedom. Right. But what are you going to do about it? So when we place honor on others, we are giving up certain rights that we may have, which is greater. All are saying here to walk in honor is greater to walk in freedom. Then to walk in a place of well-being of others is greater than walking in the freedom that God has given us. If my freedom is causing others hurt and pain and, you know, neglect and, you know, just a place of emotional, you know, emotional pain and neglect. Then what does it mean? Something's wrong. I am misusing my freedom. So I have to come to a place where saying I'm willing to give up so that this person is feels better or I'm able to make him or her feel better. Willingly, we are completely free in our spirit. So letting go of liberties, what we could otherwise enjoy for the benefit of another person, willingly sacrificing our personal freedom for the benefit of another person. Because in our spirits, we are indeed free in Christ. So think of it this way. God has called us to freedom. We are walking in freedom. The moment we misuse that freedom, it becomes a bondage. Or it or I would say it becomes a place where the enemy can work. So always ensure, okay, I'm working in freedom. If there are things that I have to do for others or there are things that I have to do in my life itself to help others, let me do it. Because that is more important than the freedom that God has given me. Everyone understood, right? Okay, obey civil authority. So Paul is writing. He's saying he gives a whole list there and Roman study in one through seven. Let's just pick up a few verses here. Verse three onwards or was to therefore whoever resists the authority, resist the ordinance of God and those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. Verse four for he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and Avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Verse five. Therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath, but because, but also for your conscious sake for because of this, you also pay taxes for their God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due customs to whom customs fear to whom pure honor to whom honor. And look at this. Can you believe this? This is the partial form writing to the Romans. The Romans are in control of the Jews that time. Paul is saying subject to authority. Now imagine the believers or the Jews reading this. Why should I subject to them? They are not good. They are. They have come. They have caused so much trouble and we have to pay taxes to them. We are struggling. We are working hard and we have to give them. So there was the Romans of the Jews. There was so much of hatred. But Paul is telling them if you are a believer, you do what is right. And what is right is to to make sure that we honor our authority. Honor the authority for God, for his God's minister. And you must be subject to those who are above you. If you have to pay taxes, pay it. We have to pay customs. Pay it. Notice Paul doesn't say these Romans are not good. They are taking all our taxes. So from now, let us not pay taxes. Or from now, we will try our best and we'll ensure that the Roman government does not overpower us. He doesn't say anything about it. He's saying right now, this is the authority. We have to obey the authority. If they say pay taxes, you've got to pay the taxes. If they say, you know, each PM you can't go out of the house, you have to obey it. Because right now they are in control. They are our authority. I see a question here. Gertrude says, what if the authority is evil? See, so that's a good question Gertrude. When you look at governments, there will be evil. Right? Now, let me give you the best example. If the government is, you know, say, for example, there is a couple of leaders who are evil, right? They have evil intentions. They say, okay, from now, we will increase the education in India by 20%. So education is going to increase. What will the poor people do? No, it's not the right thing to do. Actually, what should the government be doing? Providing free education. Right? Actually, like poor people, let's provide some free education, start some new schools, provide education. Let's get people to children to learn and let's make our country a better place by providing free education. That should be the mindset. But now if you have some leaders saying, you know, we'll make it 20% more and an intention to earn more money, you know, that's evil. But even though it's evil, we'll have to obey it. If we want our children to join school, we have to, we can't say cut that 20%. It's a law. It's established. You have to pay. Now, like this, we'll have to obey these kind of. Now, say a government comes and says, you cannot share the gospel of Jesus Christ or you cannot have Sunday services. Right? You cannot share the gospel. Now, which is more important? Human law or God's law? Right? So authority is there. We honor authority. But when we honor authority, we must also know that we should not go against what God is telling us. Right? What does Jesus himself say? Go and pay the taxes. When they try to, you know, catch him, he said, whose face do you see? If it's my face, you give it to me. He says, you see, whose face do you see? Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Give to God what belongs to God. So Jesus himself didn't say, don't pay taxes. Was the Roman government evil? Did he know that they are going to persecute and kill him? Yes. But he said, pay the taxes because we are under them as a son of God. He didn't say, I'm the one who created money. I'm the creator of this world. You're asking me to give you money. He didn't say that. Give it. It's theirs. I'm sure the disciples would have thought, why should we give? You're the Messiah. You're the son of God. You tell them, no. Jesus didn't say all that. He said, give. As long as we are here, we should give. There will come a time the Roman government will go. It's ours. You understand? Right? There are certain guidelines that we must follow. Whether it is according to whether it is beneficial or not beneficial, we'll have to follow. Right? But if it is, but if there are rules and regulations set by the authority that are going against the word of God, then you can always stand by God's word. Then you know, okay, God's word is more important than this. Okay. God's word, I hope I answered your question. Yes, pastor. Thank you. You're welcome. Lucy has a question. This is with regard to a ritual. We practice during marriages of Haldi ceremony and showering of rice grains. Any guidance on this to avoid in our get together in marriages? Okay. So Lucy, I think this whole thing of Haldi and rice. See, we need to understand in our nation, especially, what is a Hindu nation, right? And there are many customs that have come in, right? Now, putting Haldi or throwing rice, right? It could be a practice that has done hundreds and thousands of hundreds of years ago and it's come down to generations, right? And right now, people are still doing it. But Lucy, the question we must ask ourselves is when we do this, are we glorifying anybody, any other God? So for example, there's a strong believer. A strong believer. And he's going to get married now. And these two, they say, hey, we have this Haldi ceremony. Okay. So, so what is happening now? Is it, is it that this person is going to involve in something that is completely sinful? It's just a culture. It's something that they do as fast as we have gone for these ceremonies. We pray, we say, okay, God bless the couple, bless them, bless their future. What is that thing they're putting? That's just some, it's a culture, it's a tradition, but it's not taking them away from God. You get what I'm saying, right? So we have prayer, we read the Bible, we have a message sermon, we sing a couple of songs, we bless the couple, then they put Haldi and all of it. I think it's going to change, right? Because they're believers. So what I would say is Lucy, it's just a cultural thing. Right now, for example, you go to, you know, go to other countries. They may not have this culture, right? They may have cultures which are different. Now, for example, there are a few marriages, you know, even in our city and even in our nation, we have, you know, where there is alcohol, right? There's a lot of alcohol and people drink and now you know that is wrong. You just avoid it. You avoid it as much as you can, you avoid it. But things like this Haldi and growing rice, it's not going to affect your spiritual life. Now, if there's alcohol in a wedding and if we get involved with it, we know that, hey, I'm the body of Christ. I'm the temple of the Holy Spirit. I can't involve in that. So I want to stay away from it. But it's a culture. Past hundred years, people are doing that. I don't want to involve in that because it's affecting my spiritual life. Putting Haldi and throwing rice is not affecting my spiritual life, right? Lucy, I hope that answers. Okay. Okay. Honor your employers and managers. So Paul is writing again. Born servants, Efficient 6, 5 through 9. Born servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in sincerity of heart as to Christ. Not with eye service. Everyone says eye service. Eye service means, hey, if somebody is looking, then you work. That person's gone. Then we're looking everywhere. If somebody is looking, thank you, Jesus. Nobody is looking. What time this is getting over? It's not going to be a big deal, right? What does it say here? Not with eye services as men please us, but as born servants of Christ doing the will of God from the hearts. So Paul is saying you are born servants, meaning you have a master. Be obedient to that master with fear and trembling. He may be a good person, good master. He may be a bad master, but you got to be obedient and be obedient, not just with eye service, but also and not as men please us, but doing everything from your hearts. This master is a hard task master, but still I will do everything from my heart because when I'm doing it, I'm doing it to please God. I'm doing it to honor God. God told me to obey, to honor, so I will do that. Amen. Right? So it's very important that we understand this. Verse 7, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men. Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord whether he is a slave or free. Whatever good you do, you will receive from the Lord. That means God is your rewarder. So we're not working for, we may be working under a master or a boss, but our true reward comes from God the Father. God is the one who will open doors. God is the one who will lift you up. Can you ever think about, let's look at these two examples. Moses, he didn't made a mistake. He killed the Egyptian. He ran and now he's looking after his father's sheep, father-in-law sheep. Right? Now I'm sure he would have said, oh, what am I doing? No one in the palace, I'm a great man. Now I'm looking after sheep. This is not what I'm called for, but I'm sure he did it faithfully. He would have done it faithfully. Meager task. Think, hey, I have to do it. I've been asked to do this, I will do it. So later on, we see that God honored him. Look at Joseph. God, you said my brothers, you will make me a leader and my brothers will bow down before me. Where? I am sitting in a prison. But in prison also, he was faithful. You know, the Bible says that even in the prison, he was prosperous. God was with him. That in a moment, he became the second in command in Egypt. How long that would have that whole conversation? Five minutes from prison to second in command. Five minutes. So remember that your reward comes from who? God. You may be working under people, but God is our reward, right? So use your wisdom or use your freedom wisely. Your freedom ends where the well-being of others begin. You and I are completely free in the spirit. So we sometimes have to let go of liberties that God has for us for the benefit of others. Look at this. Romans 14 verse 1 says, receive one who is weak in the faith, but do not, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let him who eats despise, let not him who eats, despise him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat, judge him who eats, for God has received him. Who are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand. Look at verse 5. One person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each one be convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord. And he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it. He who eats each to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat to the Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks. Verse 7, for none of us lives to himself and no one dies to himself. Or if we live, we live to the Lord. Say this after me, if we live, if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So it's a basic simple instruction that Paul is giving. See there are some people who eat, he started this entire portion. There are some people who eat meat. There are some people who only eat vegetables. There are some people who will not eat vegetables. There are some people who only eat meat. Paul is saying, those who eat meat don't look down on those who are eating vegetables. Hey, what are you? Why are you eating vegetables? Don't do that. And those who are eating vegetables don't look at those who are eating meat and say, hey, how can you do this? You are not a good person or judge them. So basically Paul is saying, when you're eating, whether it is meat or vegetables, you're eating it unto the Lord. He says that, give thanks to God for the food and eat it. Don't judge each other. Don't rebuke each other and let it not be something that divides each other. Paul is saying, food is unto the Lord. Then he goes on and he says, there are some people who say, hey, Sunday is the most important day. They may fast on Sundays. Good, because he's doing it unto the Lord. But there are some people who say, hey, Sunday is my day to enjoy myself. After church, I would like to have a good meal and get some good rest and get ready for the next day. Those who are struggling and fasting, don't look about, look at those who are enjoying on Sunday and say, hey, you're doing something wrong. You get what I'm saying. Whether we eat, whether we observe different days, we do it unto the Lord. If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord. Verse 9, for this end, Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. So all of these earthly things, these earthly traditions and customs should not divide us as believers. It is sad to see that, you know, even now across, we see that because of traditions and customs, sometimes in the church, there is divisions. There are divisions within the church. But the scriptures are so clear. Whether people observe or don't observe, whether we eat, we don't eat. All of it, we do it unto the Lord. Because Christ is the Lord Jesus, is God of both those who are living and those of the dead. Whether we eat, you know, whether it's Good Friday, for example, if it's Good Friday, whether we eat non-vich or don't eat non-vich, it doesn't matter what matters is our heart. Right? Remember growing up? I remember growing up, my parents said, Good Friday, don't eat anything. Don't eat non-vich. You go fasting. It is good intentions. But I realized that, hey, I'm just starving more than fasting. So I said, no, it doesn't make sense to me. I would eat. But later I realized that it is the heart of the heart. If God, you know, it is my relationship with God. I just remember that, hey, God died on the cross for me. The Lord Jesus paid the price. And so as a day of remembrance, I want to honor him by doing this, fasting. Some other people may honor God by spending time in, you know, two, three hours of worship. Or some other people may honor God by having a fellowship meal. So it's not... these traditions must not divide us. You get what I'm saying, right? Now it's very hard, you know, when traditions are there, it's very hard when we change it. When we do something the opposite, people will question, why did you do like this? Past hundred years, we are doing this. How can you change it? Maybe hard. But remember what I was saying here, whatever we do, we do it unto the Lord. We're not doing it unto people. We're not doing it unto the church. We're not doing it unto our leaders. We're doing it unto the Lord, right? So 1 Corinthians 9, 19 to 23, 4, though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more. And to the Jews I became a Jew, that I might win the Jews. To those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law. To those who are without the law, as without the law, that I might win those who are without the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, That I might by all means save some now this I do for the sake of the gospel So Paul is just saying we quickly close Paul is saying For the Jew I will become a Jew for the Greeks for the Gentiles I'll become a Gentile for those under the law. I'll become under the law Okay, so whatever it is for the week. I'll become weak for the strong I become strong all of this I do for the sake of the gospel Right, so we'll stop here and we'll pick up from chapter 79 That is section 9 children and joint is with Christ. Thank you. Have a good day. God bless