 Welcome back everyone. We are at verse 26 of Acts chapter 8 and we have seen so far the work of God performed in Samaria initially through Philip and later on by the Apostles Peter and John. We have seen the response of the city as well where people accepted what God was doing in their midst. We saw that the gospel impacted influential people like Simon and that there was great joy in the city. Many people turned to the Lord and once this work was done Peter and John went back to Jerusalem but they ministered to villages of Samaria along the way. We understood so many things about the way to disciple people and the pattern of equipping people in the things of God. We have seen how a church is emerging in the region of Samaria. Even a community that it was not honored by the Jews of their times. So now coming to verse 26 we saw that this work of God began through Philip, one of the volunteers with a good witness in the church of Jerusalem. Now Philip's ministry continues in Acts chapter 8. So what kind of a ministry is this? So far we have seen that his work was more evangelistic. Evangelistic but it included the supernatural. Let's see further verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So Philip is continuing to do what God wants him to do. How is God guiding Philip at this point in his journey through an angel? So God guides us in many different ways. Primarily through his word but there are times that God may guide us in unusual ways. Different ways maybe we see a signpost and we recognize oh wow Holy Spirit is speaking to me. God is saying something or somebody speaks to us and we hear from God. So God can lead us in all these ways but you see God can also speak through an angel. So the word of God came to Philip through an angel. There is an instruction in this word and it says arise go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he is getting directions from the Holy Spirit. So in prophetic ministry we have seen this. God speaks to us and he gives us directions. So he is getting a route. This is desert. So there are commentators who write things like Philip had celebrated ministry in Samaria. So when a minister of God has a wonderful ministry where people recognize people, talk about the work of that minister, it is very difficult to leave and go to another place. But what is God calling Philip to do? Leave everything Philip. Go to Gaza. This is desert. So commentators some of them interpret and say that God is taking him from all the acclaim and accomplishment to a dry place, a desert. But what is important for us as ministers, what is important for us as believers to go where God is leading, not to get caught up in what is happening in that place. Our fame and our recognition that is not what should keep us moving forward in the ministry. It should be the voice of the Lord, the purpose of God. In this situation, very funny because God is taking Philip from all the fame to a desert land. What is Philip going to do? Verse 27, obedient. He's so obedient. So he arose. What did God say? Arise and go. Verse 27. So he arose. He did. And it says so he arose and went. So when we listen to the leading of God, even if it doesn't make sense to our five senses, God has a purpose. God has a plan. God has an open door in that path. See what happens now that Philip is obedient and behold a man of Ethiopia, eunuch of great authority under Candice, the queen of the Ethiopians who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship. So God creates God appointments. Did Philip know anything about this man of Ethiopia? Nothing. He only heard from the angel arise and go toward the south. So the angel is giving him the location. It's like Google Maps, right? He's like GPS. Here is the pin. Go there. How does the angel know? God, omniscient God knows where the people are who need to hear the gospel. So God asks Philip to go to a place where somebody needs to be ministered to. So there was an open door where God had asked Philip to go. He arose and went and there was a man of Ethiopia. What is so special about this Ethiopian man? He was a eunuch of great authority. Sometimes the kingdoms of these times had eunuchs. So they had eunuchs who were part of the king's team. So they were ministers in the palace. So there were eunuchs in some of the kingdoms. So here is another eunuch. And what else is special about this Ethiopian eunuch? He had great authority under the Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. So again an influential man. In Samaria, a spiritual influential man, now Philip is able to minister to an influential person in the kingdom of Ethiopia, under the queen of the Ethiopians. So very influential. What ability does this Ethiopian have? He had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship. So here is a person, you could say something like the finance minister of a country. So it simply says, has charge over all her treasury. In other words, he has the keys. He can open the treasury. Oh, is there a what? Okay, this is the budget. Is there a famine? This is the budget. So he's a big person. He has these incredible powers under the queen of the Ethiopian Candace. Did Philip know all these things? Zero. He has no idea. He's just following what God is telling him to do. And sometimes I walk with the Lord should be as simple as that. We may not know the details. All we need to know, like Abraham and like Philip is, go. You just go. And God takes you to the right person. So there is a divine connection that God himself is making in the situation. It was one more beautiful thing about this unit. Okay, he's influential. He has authority. It says he had come to Jerusalem to worship. So God fearing. He was a God fearing person. He came to Jerusalem because he was seeking God. He had a hungry heart before the Lord. What about Simon in Samaria? We don't know whether he was seeking God, but the word of the Lord came to Samaria. He happened to hear it. He believed his response was belief and he became a believer. This is a different situation. There is a man who is seeking God. Sometimes there are people, they are looking for God. They are asking the questions. What is the purpose of my life? Who has created this world? Who has created me? So they are seeking God through all these questions. So there are some people in that situation and look at the mercy of God. God makes the connection. He just tells Philip, I know where such people are. I will take you. Just follow. Get up. Go down south to Gaza. So Philip goes and there is a Ethiopian eunuch who is also a worshiper, a seeker of God. And in the journey of the Ethiopian eunuch, verse 28 says he was returning and sitting in his chariot he was reading Isaiah the prophet. So it's like you think about finance minister of a country. He has come to Jerusalem. He has worshiped. Maybe he has a Mercedes or something like that. He is just sitting in his car and that's the point where God makes Philip and this Ethiopian eunuch meet. Verse 29, Then the spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot. So we don't know. Maybe Philip was on a two wheeler or in an auto rickshaw. So he is just going, God you told me go down south to Gaza. I am going and here is the Mercedes. And he just feels in his spirit as he is driving the bike. Can you please go a little fast? Overtake. Go near and overtake the Mercedes. So something like that. Just for us to imagine. So he overtakes. See sometimes the promptings of God in our heart know it might look very funny. It might be very simple. Can you do and how much is God talking to him? Not one paragraph, one book just one one line. Do this. Do that. Overtake. Go near and overtake this chariot. But what is important in the prophetic? We read about the prophetic. Obedience is the most important thing in the prophetic. You hear from God. You do it. Philip did it. So Philip ran to him. Isn't that beautiful? Everything God is telling. He is doing it. No wonder he is getting more instructions. So he ran to him and when he went close to this Mercedes, he hears the man reading the prophet Isaiah. So maybe he just went near the chariot and loudly he can hear this man is reading from the book of Isaiah. We know that the book of Isaiah was also something that the devout people, the devout Jews, they used to study and read and honor. And to notice that this man is sitting in the chariot and reading from the book of Isaiah also tells us that he is very wealthy because people of his times would not have had a copy. Today we have copy everywhere. Copy of the Bible on the phone, on the internet, on your iPad. So copies are easily available. But in the times when this eunuch was there, the scribes had to write out a copy and an entire scroll would have been the book of Isaiah. So it's very expensive to get somebody to copy the book and carry the scroll. But he is sitting in the chariot and he is reading the prophet Isaiah. So he had a copy. So it tells us he was very wealthy. This man was very wealthy. And when he is reading, Philip asks, do you understand what you are reading? So this is again, you know, about evangelism. Sometimes we have to take people from what they know to what they don't know. The eunuch knew some passage in Isaiah. That's all he was reading. But there was no understanding. So Philip makes use of that opportunity and says, hey, he asks a question. You know, asking a question is always a good way of leading people to seek God. So he asks a question. Do you understand what you're reading? So when you find a seeker, instead of telling them many things, maybe asking questions is very good. Make them think. Okay, so what do you think the purpose of life is? What do you think God created you for? What do you think? So he's asking a question. Do you understand what you are reading? Verse 31. And he said, how can I, unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. So it's a divine connection. It's a divine moment. Just the right question is asked. Just the right response comes. So maybe this man, this Ethiopian eunuch, he was like the, you know, the right fruit on the tree. Sometimes the right fruits, you just touch them, they just fall. And God knew that there is such a man who is ready to listen. And when we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, even in evangelism, look at the kind of evangelist that Philip is. He's following the leading of the Spirit. He's not just going, oh, I finished Samaria. Let me go, you know, to Caesarea. No. Holy Spirit. Where do you want me to go? So the leading of the Spirit, the Spirit shows him. There is a man. He is ready. He's asking questions. You go there. I'll tell you. This is the address. So he goes. He asked the question and immediately this man responds and he says, no, I don't understand. How will I understand if somebody will not explain? If someone doesn't guide me? So he tells Philip only, okay, looks like you probably know the answer. So come up and sit with me. So favor. How can an ordinary, you know, believer like Philip get an audience with the finance minister? Supernatural favor. It was just a moment of favor. And he said, come, Philip, sit with me. Verse 32, the place in the scripture where he read was this. So this is what the eunuch was reading. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shirrer is silent. So he opened not his mouth in his humiliation. His justice was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is taken from me. So this is what he was reading. And this passage, you know, it refers to Isaiah 53. So that's what it refers to. So some portions from there and Isaiah 53, as you and I know, that is the passage that talks about Jesus Christ and how he is going to become a sacrifice to redeem us. So as soon as this passage, you know, Philip saw that this is what he was reading. Or rather in verse 34, we are told that he asks Philip a question. So he says, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this of himself or of some other man? So it's a very good question that the eunuch asks. So who is this passage talking about? So this was Philip's chance. It says, then Philip opened his mouth. Okay, so sometimes we have to wait by the leading of the spiritual people ask the right question. It says, then Philip opened his mouth, then he answered. Okay, now is every technique of ministering to people evangelism like this? No, there are times when you have to just go preach. And that's the right thing to do. But in this situation, Philip had to wait. So the eunuch asked him, tell me who is this about? Who is this about? Who am I reading about? Is it some prophet? Is Isaiah talking about himself? Or is this somebody else? That's when Philip opened his mouth and beginning at the scripture preached Jesus to him. So he explained and said, okay, come on, let me tell you. So this person who was led as a sheep to the slaughter was the Lord Jesus who sacrificed his life for you. And so he goes on to explain and preaches Christ to the eunuch. Verse 36, now as they went down the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, see, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? So there is a little bit of information that kind of is not available in between. And that is to say that the eunuch became a believer immediately in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that is why he is asking for baptism, isn't it? Philip told him this passage is about Jesus. The eunuch believed. Next verse 36, he's ready for baptism. Now some people ask the question, when should I take water baptism? Should I take water baptism five years after I become a believer? Three months after I become a believer, you know, two weeks after I become a believer. When did the eunuch take baptism? Almost immediately. He heard, he believed, he desired to be water baptized. So he says, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Verse 37, then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. Okay. So what is the criteria for water baptism? When water baptism, when one believes in their heart, they can be water baptized. So then the eunuch says, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So he affirms his faith, he confirms his faith, he confesses his faith. And then, you know, the eunuch commands the chariot to stand still and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him. Okay. So very interesting things here. The baptism took place almost immediately. Where did it take place? Any water body which was seen close by? Who baptized? Not an apostle. Who is Philip? He's just a believer. Till now, Philip has not even been called an evangelist. Later, we will see in the book of Acts, that's where you will read about Philip the evangelist. And his daughters. But now, who is Philip? Ordinary believer. Ordinary believer is baptizing another. Maybe not that ordinary believer. I'll tell you why. But he's baptizing somebody who believes Jesus. Right then and there. Okay. So quite clear. Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. Okay. So what is so special about this Ethiopian eunuch? This was the first time as a recorded in scripture that somebody, you know, that the gospel is being taken to Africa. So Ethiopian eunuch. He came, he traveled out of Ethiopia and he came and the gospel, we are saying it because he is an influential person who can now go back and use his influence to share what he has learned about the Lord Jesus. So in that sense, the gospel went to Africa for the first time. Through the continent of Africa, through this Ethiopian eunuch. Did Philip know God's agenda, God's plan? Why is God telling me to go to MG Road? Why is God telling me, you know, to go to some other place, St. George's Street or some other street? Sometimes we don't have the full picture. When Philip went to Gaza, he did not know that God's agenda was to take the gospel, not to the next village or the town or the region or even a nation, but a continent, an entire continent. But what made it possible? Very simple, not complicated at all. Obedience. God said, arise and go. Philip arose, he went. Overtake the chariot, he overtook the chariot. God says something, just do it. That's all. And we will be amazed sometimes when we look back and see, oh wow, I didn't know this was so and so or I didn't know they could do this and that. We don't know. God knows. All that should matter to us is God said it. I did it. That's all. And through the simple obedience, the doors for the gospel were opened up in an entire continent. Okay, so that is the beauty of Philip's journey here. And now let's see how God leads this man of obedience. Verse 39. Now, when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the Yonah saw him no more and he went on his way, rejoicing. So as Philip is being obedient to what God is saying, supernatural experience after supernatural experience for Philip, isn't it? Earlier he's ministering with signs, wonders where people are, you know, people received it, people received the miraculous, the entire city was rejoicing. Later on, what is the next supernatural experience? The angel said he heard from an angel. What is the next supernatural experience? He heard from God, a prophetic within his spirit. Okay, go overtake the chariot, supernatural experience. After that, what happens? He ministers to this Yonah and the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. Supernatural transportation. Okay, so, you know, you see this like quite rarely in the Bible because it's so against the laws of nature that we know. Nobody just disappears. You know, I'm sitting here and I've disappeared, I've gone to the first year classroom. But that's exactly what this scripture says about Philip. The spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, meaning he just disappeared physically. How do we know? Yonah saw him no more. Supernatural transportation if you want to call it. In a minute, he's here. Next minute, he's somewhere else. Can this happen today? Why not? We don't see anything in scripture which says, you know, it has stopped or God has stopped doing the supernatural. Nothing in scripture tells us that. So, can people for, you know, the purposes of God get transported supernaturally? Why not? So, the Yonah saw him no more. What is the impact of the gospel on the Yonah? See, in Acts chapter 8, the city of Samaria received joy. They were joyful. The Yonah went on his way, rejoicing. So, what does the gospel bring? The true gospel when we preach it, the genuine gospel when we preach it. What will happen to people and the hearts of the people, cities, nations? There will be joy. There will be rejoicing because the salvation of Jesus brings what? Liberty. It brings restoration. It brings, you know, peace and everything that the cross has to offer. So, when the gospel is preached, as those of us who are preaching, let's remember, sharing Christ with somebody, they will be filled with joy. Because that is the result. When you share the gospel in this passage, we saw twice the Samarian region. Samarian region they rejoiced. The Yonah went on his way, rejoicing. So, that's what the gospel does for people. That's what Jesus does for people. He brings joy into the lives of the people. He was 40, but Philip was found at Azotus. Okay, so, we can also understand where was his pickup? Where was his drop? So, he was picked up from Gaza. He's dropped at Azotus, supernaturally. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. So, what was this? Did God just give him a vacation? No, he was on assignment. He was on duty. Most of the times, we see that the supernatural is manifesting as we are walking according to the purposes of God. The supernatural is not for entertainment. God simply doesn't do these things. Earlier also, we saw an angel bringing the apostles out of the prison. But they were on assignment and they were told, go back to the temple, preach there. They still went back and they were on assignment. Even now, these supernatural experiences that Philip is having, it's because he's walking in the purposes of God, not outside of that. So, we must not try to use the supernatural for our own pleasure and our own whims and fancies. That's not God's best way for the supernatural. Okay, so quite a long journey there of Philip. And some questions here. Let me take a pause and a breather for all of you and then we'll go to Acts 9. Kennedy says, why was this Ethiopian eunuch castrated? So, Kennedy, I am not too sure. But historical reports tell us that many of the ministers in some of these kingdoms, they were castrated. They were made eunuchs because there was some policy, I guess, in those times. I don't understand fully what that was, but this was a common practice. So, if there was a skilled person, a trustworthy person, a high ranking official, sometimes the kings chose to make them eunuchs and have them in their team. So, I don't know if I've answered your question, but yeah, that's the input I have. Okay, so any other comments, questions, anything before we proceed to Acts 9? Or any observations? Mine is about Simon. Mine is about Simon. Now you see what the Bible does not tell us whether Simon was forgiven because he said, please ask the Lord so that I'm not punished. Is there any other church writing that he would be explaining about what followed next? Thank you. Thank you, Charles. And as I said, since we don't have it in scripture, I would look at everything else as speculation. Moreover, I haven't researched this. I don't know if I want to research it in detail. So, yeah, maybe you could look it up, Charles, and you let us know. Would that be okay? I don't know even where to take over which are the writing, which is not canonical because there are many. Maybe I will try and see. Yes, please. Just give it a shot and let us know what you find. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. Yes. Say I saw your hand raised. Anything you wanted to share? Can't hear you say you're on mute. My apologies. Sorry. No problem. Go ahead. This may be out of the scope of our course, but I was just wondering. We heard of Stephen. We heard of Philip. And just like you mentioned later, we're going to see that he's later called the evangelist. My question is, is it that as I've heard some preachers or let me not say preachers, just some people who have commented on the fact that seven people were appointed to be deacons. We only hear about just two people. In your own opinion, or maybe based on historical facts outside of the Bible, I don't know. Do you think these other ones were ineffective? They didn't have any impact? Or do we just say that, you know, it's out of fact that this is only what we know and look was privy to write. It says that this was the only information he got about Philip and about Stephen. And for the rest, he had no personal contact or had no direct knowledge of what they had accomplished. So what would be your standard on that? Okay. Thank you. Good question. And as I said earlier, my view is that Luke was very selective in what he put down. He has covered 30 years, three decades, the birth and the growth of the early church in Jerusalem and then it's spread. So we will notice that he is in a little bit of a hurry to cover the first 10 years quite quickly. So far we've understood the birth of the church, persecution rising, the church is growing. Many believers are serving very well and just spreading out to reach the nearby community. So then quickly he will shift to our main focus, which is Apostle Paul. I'm going to talk about Apostle Paul in Acts 9. So he'll shift focus into the next 10 years and then quickly to the ministry of Apostle Paul. Because as I told you, it's likely that Luke wrote the Book of Acts as a defense brief. So he is selective, not that the other men and their ministry was not important, but Luke is in a hurry. He wants to quickly bring in Paul and his ministry. So maybe that is why they couldn't find place in the Book of Acts, the other volunteers and believers in the church. The second reason is as I shared, people mentioned about the scroll that one couldn't write too much also because then the scroll would become very heavy. So most of the gospels, I mean all the gospels, the epistles, the New Testament works when you look at them, they're not very long. So they have a sort of an average limited size and one of the reasons people speculate is the size of the scrolls. They wanted to keep it short, they didn't want to make it too long. So I hope it somehow answers your question. Yes, yes, Pastor, it does. Okay, great. Yeah, thank you, thank you. Good, that's nice. Anything else, anything else attached to you? Ma'am, can I just say a point? Yes, yes, please. I believe the whole scripture, whatever long or short is written under the influence of the Holy Spirit God. And what all we have to know as a church is already revealed, we don't have to speculate or go into things which we don't know because they don't edify us in any way. But sometimes there is a curiosity to know that is not wrong because we are human. But I think Bible is everything we need to know that's just like 1st Chronicles 29, 29, all that we need to know God has revealed. Thank you ma'am, just wanted to add that. Okay, thank you, sister. Thank you for sharing your view and opinion regarding understanding God's word. Yes, say just a moment before I let you share. Kennedy has a comment here. Kind of talk about the Black Jews in relation, Queen of Sheba. If only the Ethiopian Yonak brought Christ Christianity to Africa. So Queen of Sheba is in the Old Testament, no Kennedy. So we are talking about Jesus Christ and the Gospel. So after the death burial resurrection of Christ, this is the first reference that we have. Okay, so I'll move to Sayi. Please go ahead Sayi. Yes ma'am, apologies if I'm bringing up this question. No, go ahead. Was Luke a medical doctor in his time? Again, when we look at the book of Luke itself, the Gospel, and then we look at the book of parts, we see how meticulous he writes, detailed and all that. And can that be attributed to the fact that he was a medical doctor who wanted to be very detailed in his writing and all those. I just wanted to bring that up. So yes, Sayi Luke is a medical doctor and historians confirm that about Luke, which also can explain to us why his writings are so systematic and so focused. So yeah, anything else you were looking for? Not at all, just the confirmation basically. I just like to have all this background. He helps appreciate the Bible more and the writings that I just wanted to bring up. Thank you. I understand, yes, definitely. So yes, Luke is a medical doctor. So we know that as a fact. All right. So if we don't have any more comments, I will move on to Acts chapter nine, another very beautiful chapter. You know, you could just stay stuck on the book of Acts for a year. I don't know how long, but we're just trying our best to keep moving forward. Okay, Asha has shared my learning of this chapter eight is that obedience is what is required from us. Obedience is most important in prophetic ministry and also is good to ask question. And Kong shares for me, I liked how you mentioned that obedience is important when we are in ministry. Okay, wonderful. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Asha and Kong. Okay, so let's move forward to Acts chapter nine. And let's see what's happening here. But before that, I wanted to project for us the journey of Philip. Okay, it's good to see a picture from time to time. Hope you're able to see everyone. Okay, wonderful. So here you have the, you know, Samaritan region, Samaria and then from Samaria. I don't know if you can see, but the road to Gaza. Okay. And from here, he moves to Azotus. So he's picked up supernaturally. He goes from here to Azotus. In a moment he appears in Azotus. And after Azotus, we learn that he continued to preach about Christ and he went all the way to Caesarea. So this is the journey which Philip made. Okay, so Philip made. And we can see here Jerusalem, Jerusalem in this region. So from Jerusalem, Peter and John would have gone all the way to Samaria, ministered to the people there and then came back to Jerusalem. So Jerusalem is like your base church or mother church or, you know, whatever term you want to use it. So the apostles are functioning from here, the headquarters and the work is beginning to take place in the nearby regions as of now. So this is what Acts 1.8 said, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. And then we will see how through Apostle Paul the ends of the earth is, you know, where the gospel will begin to move towards. So a little bit for us to sort of lock in all that we have learned so far. So coming back here to Acts 9. Okay, much to share. Again, a very, very beautiful passage. Then Saul, we talked about Saul in the beginning of Acts 8. And we saw how he was so passionate about persecuting the believers. Again, it talks of his passion. Then Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord went to the high priest. So it just shows to us that he was very proactive in his ministry at that time. What was his ministry? He must persecute people who believe in Jesus. That was his ministry when he was not a believer. So proactively, zealously, he goes to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus. So what does he do? He wants to keep traveling and moving about many kilometers persecuting those who believed in Jesus. So even the synagogues of Damascus, which are a little further, you know, they are further away from Jerusalem. Saul is moving up to that region. He's taking the official letters necessary to keep persecuting. And, you know, the verse 2 says, so that if he found any who were of the way, so the way is the earliest term that was used to describe the believers of the Lord Jesus. So there's no term like church that you see so far. The term which is used for believers of Jesus is the way. So they were known as the people of the way. So he is persecuting these people, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. So he wants to catch them. He wants to tie them up, bring them back to Jerusalem as his trophy. So that is the work that he is, you know, passionately doing. Now verse 3. So before I go any further, you know, scriptures tell us in Galatians, Paul admits. I'll just see if I have which passage. Galatians 1 verses 13 and 14 where Paul says about himself, For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and destroy and destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. So NKJV version. Galatians 1 verses 13 and 14. So Paul himself admits that why he did what he did was because he thought he was serving God. So in Judaism zealously, he's trying to serve God. He's trying to preserve the culture and the faith of Judaism. And so you see the personality of Paul as an unbeliever, he's passionate as a believer also he is passionate. So sometimes God uses our natural personality also. All of us are different and you would see different other people. Barnabas has a completely different personality. God uses his personality. Paul's personality, a passionate man. It's the same whether he's on, you know, one side of the fence or the other. Now verse 3. Now he has deliberately taken permission. He's moving towards Damascus to catch these people who believe in Jesus, bring them bound to Jerusalem. So he's on his journey, assignment. And we are told as he journeyed, he came near Damascus. So he's reaching quite close to Damascus. And suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So a persecutor is on his way to do what he wants to do. And God interrupts him. Scripture says, suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. And later on when Paul explains himself, you know, we will see this in Acts, I think, 26. You'll see that when he narrates the story, he will tell us that this was noonday. And those of the people who have been to these regions, you know, the Judean region and all. You know that the afternoon in these regions is so bright. The Middle Eastern sun, people talk about it. And noonday sun must be super bright. But what is Paul saying? Suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. So we registered it this way. A light brighter than the sunlight. Noonday Mediterranean sunlight. Now I don't know what kind of light that was, but obviously it was too bright for him to take. So he fell to the ground. Why did he fall to the ground? Normal reaction. He's afraid. He's afraid. He sees a light so bright in the afternoon that he just falls maybe to protect himself. He fell to the ground and it also says he heard a voice. Saying to him. So God is speaking personally to a persecutor. Calling him by name. Saul, Saul. Whenever you see a repetition of a name like this, when Jesus says this or the scripture says. Martha, Martha. Jerusalem, Jerusalem. It's a lot of emotion there. Twice God is repeating that name. Saul, Saul. Saul, Saul. And notice what he's saying. You remember what happened when Stephen saw the heavens open? Jesus was standing. Standing ovation for somebody who fought the good fight of faith. We will see. I'm just saying using the word God. But later the voice will introduce himself as Jesus. But Jesus tells Saul. All these people you are persecuting from Jerusalem to Damascus. He just sums it up and he says. Why are you persecuting me? So when people are persecuted, when believers are persecuted, Jesus takes it personally. So on this note I'm going to stop. It's really like heart touching and warming. So we'll get deeper into this in the next class. Let's pray and close off. I invite anyone to please pray. Then I will close this class. Could somebody please step up and pray, please? Thank you so much for this. Thank you for helping us to learn about the biblical facts. The biblical facts, chapter 8, God that the Lord has the meaning of obedience. And also to understand the depths of who you are and what you're doing. Lord that will be God, fair and person. And also that maybe spread the joy among the cities and all the places. God, thank you so much. Lord, I pray you're blessing all of my classmates and my teachers. Blessing all of you. Thank you. Amen. Thank you, Asha. God bless you. Meet you again in the next class. Bye for now.