 Good morning. Thank you, Asha, Kennedy, and Koon for joining class this morning. Can I ask Koon to lead us in prayer, please, before we begin? Yes, Pastor. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this morning. God, I pray that as we hear You, our God, that we would pay attention to it, and that we would apply it, God, in our daily life, God. Lord, we thank You for helping us this evening to teach well, God. Thank You, Lord, that You were just bless her, and that You would guide her. And we thank You for this time. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Koon. Okay. We're just three of you, but I think we just have to begin with Siddhant. Siddhant has not come to Bible College today. He's here, Pastor. Okay. I haven't seen him join class. Anyways. Okay. Good morning, Pastor. Good morning, Asha. Good morning. Okay. So we were looking at Romans chapter 11 on Wednesday. We began Romans 11, where Paul says, you know, ask a question. In verse one, has God cast away His people? You know, we know that Paul is, you know, has following this pattern of asking questions, rhetorical questions. So he says, has God cast away His people, the Jews, because now He's chosen the church. The church has chosen people. So says, certainly not. Look at me. I'm an example that He has chosen me. And Paul says that those who, you know, yes, you know, there are people who, the Jews who have rejected the gospel, they have not believed, they've not accepted, and they have rejected the gospel. But there are remnant Jews. There are Jews who have received salvation by grace through faith, and they are now part of the kingdom of God. So there is a remnant that is there. And then he goes on to talk about how the rejection, because the Jews rejected the truth of the gospel. The truth is now taken to the Gentiles. And, you know, by taking the truth to the Gentiles, somehow, you know, God wants to provoke the Jews to jealousy so that, you know, they can come to faith in Christ Jesus. They can be saved. But also taking the, you know, the truth of the gospel to the Gentiles, you know, God wants to awaken, so-called awaken the Jews from their sleep, from their slumber so that they can see the truth, the light that is in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they will accept him as their Lord and Savior. And then he goes to very beautifully talk about, you know, in verses 16 onwards, he talks about, you know, the cultivated olive tree, which is, which resembles the Jewish nation, the Jewish race, is the lights. And then he talks about the wild olive tree that resembles the Gentiles. And he says some of the branches of the cultivated olive tree has been broken because these are the branches that have not accepted or believed in the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And in that place, you know, the branches of the wild olive tree have been grafted, which means the Gentiles have been incorporated into the plan purposes of God, into the kingdom of God. And these Gentiles are those who have received salvation by grace through faith. And so they have been grafted into the tree of life. And Paul says, you know, don't tell the Gentiles, don't be, you know, proud that you are part of the, you know, of the of this tree because, you know, you need to know that the roots, the roots are basically talking, the roots are the Jewish nation, the Jewish race. Basically, the roots are the patriarchs who God gave the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob and Moses and David and to Jesus Christ. So says the roots, you know, are still the Jewish nation. And he says, for a while, God has, you know, blind, left them, left the Jews to be blinded in their eyes to the gospel. But in the fullness of time, you know, he will bring them also back into the kingdom. They will be grafted back into the tree of life. And Paul says, just imagine, Gentiles, you know, if the, because of the Jews, because of their rejection, you have received, you know, riches, you have received this blessing, just imagine if what would happen or the blessings that you would receive if the Jews accept the gospel, if they are saved, if they receive salvation, what greater blessing will you incur or will you receive if just the Jews, you know, come into salvation. Just their rejection, just their, you know, hardness of heart, their stubbornness has caused you so much of, brought about so much of riches and blessings. Just imagine what would happen if they accept the depth of the riches and the blessings that you would receive if the Jewish race, the Jewish people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior of the sea, salvation. So that was Romans chapter 11, verses 1 to 25, which we looked at on Wednesday. We will continue. So can somebody please read verses 26 to 36, please? Verses 26 to 36 of Romans chapter 11. Yes, please. Thank you. All Israel will be saved as it is written. The deliverer will come out of them. He will try to wake Godliness from Jacob, ungodliness from Jacob. But this is my covenant with them. When I take away their sins, considering the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But considering the election, they are beloved for the sake of the others. But against the calling of God are irrevocable for as you were once disobedient to God, yet have not obtained mercy through their disobedience. Even so, this also has not been disobedient. That through the mercy shown you, that also means obtained mercy. For God has committed them all to the disobedience that he might have mercy on. All the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, once searchable are his judgment and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor? Or who has first given to him? And it shall be repaid to him, for of him and to him. And to him are all things and to him be glory forever. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Asha. So Paul brings this whole section to a conclusion. So he says all Israel will be saved. It does not mean that every individual in Israel or the Jewish race will be saved. It basically means that, you know, those who receive salvation, salvation will touch everyone powerfully, but those who believe will receive salvation. So that does not mean that automatically everyone, the Jewish race will be saved. All Israel will be saved. It only means all will be saved who receive and believe in Jesus Christ. They will receive salvation by grace through faith. And then, you know, Apostle Paul quotes here from Isaiah chapter 59, verses 20 and 21. In Isaiah chapter 59, verses 20 and 21 says, The demon will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, says the Lord. Verse 21, As for me, says the Lord, this is my covenant with them, my spirit who is upon you and my words which I put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants, descendants, says the Lord from this time and forevermore. So Paul is basically quoting from Isaiah chapter 59, verses 20 and 21. That deliverer will come out of Zion and he will turn away these people's ungodliness. And God says, this is my covenant. You know, I will take away their sins and they will turn away from their sins. They will accept me. And verse 28, you know, Paul is telling the Gentiles, right now, as far as the gospel is concerned, you know, the Jews are your enemies because they have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. They might be persecuting you. They might, you know, might doing things to harm you. So they might be considered as your enemies, but considering God's choosing, they are the beloved of God. And who are the beloved of God? Why is he saying they are the beloved of God? It's for no other reason than for the sake of the fathers, sake of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. And that's why he's saying that they are the beloved of the Lord. So as far as God's purpose, election, calling and choosing is concerned, you know, the patriarchs are the roots, you know, of this cultivated olive tree. They are the main cultivated tree, olive tree through which God is working out his plan and his purpose. And then this beautiful verse in, you know, verse 29 says, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, which means that, you know, God is not changing his mind. It does not change his mind like, you know, Paul starts off this whole chapter by saying, has God cast away his people? That means has God cast away the Jews who he has given the laws, the covenants, the promises, you know, there's where the police has God cast them away. So he is saying here in verse 29, he's coming back to that and saying, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. That means God does not change his mind regarding his calling, his dipping, his choosing and purpose. So when God calls someone, you know, he does not change his mind. And this also applies to us in our present day. You know, when God has called you or called me and has chosen us, he is not going to change his mind. He's not going to cast us off. He's not going to abandon us, but he's going to work out his purposes in our life. And this is the wonderful assurance that we receive that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. And then Apostle Paul sums up by saying in verses, he says that you were once disobedient to God. So he says, you Gentile Christians, you also were disobedient to God. You came from disobedience, yet God showed their mercy in part through the disobedience of Israel. And he says that you have received this much. Sorry, I lost network connection and I'm back. Okay. So we're looking at verses 30, 31 and 32. And if God used the disobedience of Israel for the good of Gentiles, you know, the Jews refuse to accept the truth that is in Jesus Christ. Now the truth is taken to the Gentiles. If God could use the disobedience of Israel for the good of the Gentiles, he could also use the mercy that he's shown to the Gentiles to reach out to Israel. So that's basically saying that, you know, obtain mercy to their disobedience. The Gentiles obtain mercy because of the disobedience of the Jews. And so he's saying that Gentiles, you know, to bring about mercy to the Israelites, which means God is saying that, you know, when the gospel was taken to the Gentiles, it, you know, God was using it one way so as to provoke the Jews of their jealousy so that they can receive salvation and also to wake them up on their slumber so that, you know, they can know the truth and they can receive the truth and believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Yes, Mange, you have a question? Thank you, Pastor. It's something to help on the plan to find the disobedience of Jews because we read that the gospel is for everyone and Jesus died on the cross for everyone. And even if the Jews didn't refuse the cross, the gospel has gone to the world anyway. So can you please help clarify what Paul says there? Yes, what you're saying is right. But, you know, now, you know, there was a struggle in the church and basically Paul is writing to the church at Rome. So the Jews were basically saying, you know, telling the Gentiles to become Christians that, you know, hey, you guys, he's saying it's not about the law. It's not about circumcision. But he's saying that 3456, you know, about Abraham, how he was justified by faith. So keep these old estimate rituals and laws. Can you hear me now? Okay. I know that in between when, you know, it kind of reboots, I just stop and then I continue from where I stopped. Okay, so then he's telling the Gentiles, you've come by faith. So don't be proud that, you know, you are greater than the Jews. You are not. It's also because you are shown mercy just like, you know, because of their disobedience, you know, you have the salvation, the truth has been revealed to the Gentiles. Now, having said that Paul is not trying to say that it was not God's plan at all to reach out to the other nations. Okay. If you look at the very plan of God in the Old Testament, we see that why did he choose one nation? It was not to show partiality to one nation. Why did he choose one race or one nation is so that through them, the surrounding nations can know the true and living God. They can know the laws. They can know the rituals. They can know the commandments. They can know everything. So God wants the Israelites to keep the laws to worship him. And also to, by doing so, to be an example to the surrounding nations. And when the surrounding nations, you know, were punished for their disobedience, for their violence, for their acts of, you know, of disobedience against God, you know, God used the Jewish race to, you know, to correct them, to show them his mercy and love. And so through his mercy and love, we wanted the other nations also to, you know, to come to know him as God and to worship him. Just like Jonah, you know, he could have, God could have wiped out the entire city of Nineveh because there were very, very wicked people, the people of Nineveh were extremely wicked, but God shows mercy to them. Again, he uses Jonah to bring about his mercy to these people. So what we're saying is that it's not just God choosing the Jewish race, but through the Jewish race, he wants to bring about his salvation or make himself known to the other nations as well. So here, basically, what Paul is saying is not just because, you know, if the Jews would not have rejected God, if they would not have, you know, if they all would have accepted God, then God would not have taken salvation or the truth to the Gentiles. No, you know, he would have used the Jews to reach out to the other nations just like he did in the Old Testament. But we see that when the Jewish race, when there's the lights worshiped idols, they receive the same punishment that God gave to the other nations who, you know, did not worship him. So he's not a partial God. But here, basically, Paul is in his argument. He's saying that, you know, don't be proud of Gentiles. You know, it's, you know, you receive this because of the mercy of God, just like the Jewish race also are going to receive mercy. Just like God is showing you mercy. He's going to show them mercy as well. Did that help, Mangi? Yes, Pastor, that's helpful. Thank you. Okay. And so in verse, you know, Prithvi Tugh, God is saying, God has committed to them all. God has committed them all to disobedience. The idea is that Jews and Gentiles, both are lawbreakers in God's sight, you know, but God offers them mercy based on the person and work of Jesus Christ. So everybody is equally, you know, shown mercy. Everybody is equally having this right standing in grace when they receive salvation by grace through faith. And in verses 33 to 36, Paul is celebrating this mystery that, you know, is being revealed. So what is this mystery? In verse 25, we've already seen the mystery that Paul speaks about in verse 25. He says, for I do not desire brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinions that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. We look at this towards the end of the last class in verse 25. And Paul in verses 33 to 36 is basically celebrating this mystery that has been revealed that, you know, there is a remnant of Jews who believe in Christ. There are still many Jews who are blinded to the truth and God has let them be in their blindness in part till, you know, the gospel is being preached to the Gentiles and then he is going to come and, you know, is also going to work among the Jews and those who believe in him will be saved and be part of his kingdom. And then how is he celebrating? How is Paul celebrating this mystery? He's celebrating in verses, you know, in verses 33 to 36. He's praising God. He's talking about, you know, how he's celebrating the depth and the riches of both the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How wonderful is God in his working. You know, he's also praising God because God is at work and his ways are unsearchable. His ways are beyond our understanding. And so he just basically praising God for who he is, for his mystery that is revealed, for his wisdom and knowledge that is so unsearchable that is way beyond our understanding. So what is God doing to the nations is actually is bringing all of them together into his plan and purpose, which is for the Gentiles and the Jews to experience the mercy of God. And in verses 34 and 35, you know, also Paul quotes from the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 13 and Job chapter 14, 41 verse 11. So in Romans chapter 11 verse 34, he says, for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor with 35 or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. That is, he's quoting from Isaiah chapter 40 verse 13 and Job chapter 41 verse 11. And then Paul ends this whole part of his letter by saying for him and to him and to him are all things to whom be the glory for ever. Okay. So it's all of him. This plan came from God. It wasn't man's idea. We didn't say, well, we were offended God. We have to find a way to get back to him. So let's work on a plan to come back to God. No, it was not our plan in our spiritual indifference and death. We didn't care about the plan. And even if we did care, we were not smart enough or wise enough to make one. So it's all of him. It was him who planned. It was God's plan and purpose. It is all through him, which means that even if we had a plan, we couldn't make it happen. We couldn't free ourselves from the prison of sin and self. It could only happen through Christ, through God. So it's through him. The great work of Jesus on our behalf is the work that is done through him that brings salvation. And then he says, it's all to him. So in this last verse, in verse 36, it says, for all of him, through him and to him. So it's all to him. It's not for me. It's not for you. It's all to him. So it's all the praise, the glory and honor goes to him because it is his grace. It's for his pleasure that he created and we find fulfillment in bringing him glory and bringing him honor. And then he ends this verse 36 by saying to him, be glory forever. So the fact that Paul can't figure out God or understand his ways and knowledges, comprehend his ways of doing things, he says that makes it all the more the reason to glorify him, to give him all the honor that he is due. So when we understand some of the greatness of God, we can worship him more passionately. So that is how he ends this part of this letter of what we are looking at is chapter 11. So it says, for him and to him and to him, all things to him be the glory forever. So Paul is basically breaking out in praise and glory and honor because of God's plan, his way of doing things, how he is still dealing with the Jews, how he's bringing about the Gentiles, crafting them into the tree of life, bringing them into his plans and purposes and he's still yet going to reach out to the Jews, he's going to bring them into salvation. He's also going to craft them into the tree of life or back into the cultivated olive tree. So that was Romans chapter 11. Anyone has any questions? Romans chapter 11, any questions? Questions anyone has any questions? Okay, if there are no questions, then can we move on to chapter 12? Is that okay? Yes, no. Okay, we'll move on to chapter 12. Okay, now in chapter 12, actually Paul is turning back his attention to the church, the believers, the church at Rome. So now he's actually connecting back to Romans chapter 8. Okay, so till Romans chapter 8, you know, from Romans chapter 1 to 8, in this part of his letter, he was connecting to the believers in the church. He was writing to the believers. He was talking about how to live the Christian life. He was talking about how to walk in the spirit, in chapter 8. He was talking about how to crucify the flesh, how to rejoice even in tribulation. And he says in chapter 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So he's connecting back from Romans 8 now into chapter 12 or this part of the letter. But we see in chapters 9 to 11, he goes kind of on a little excursion, so to say. And then he comes back about how to live the Christian life in chapter 12. So he's chapter 12 is basically connecting back to chapter 8 and chapter 9 to 11. He's like, you know, just kind of taking a detour, you know, just a small little excursion. And now he's back to the main idea. So we remember when we did the introduction, we said we need to have a forward look and a backward look. So now, you know, backward look, we're going back to Romans 8. And we're saying, you know, where he left off, he's connecting back in chapter 12 or this part of the letter, where he's talking about the Christian life. So chapter 12 verse 1, Paul writes, he begins by saying, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your body as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So we see that Paul is turning his attention to the brethren, which is not the Jewish brethren. Now he's talking to the believers at Rome, to both the Jews and the Gentiles that comprise the church at Rome. And Paul is making them a request, a very solemn request. He says, you know, beseech you therefore. And the word therefore means whatever I've told you in verse, in chapters 9 to 11 or in that part of the letter, you know, in view of all that, you've understood God's plan, you understand the severity of God and the goodness of God, that God is good, but he's also severe. You also understood that he's a God who's compassionate, but he's also a God of truth and justice. So in his dealing with his people, you know, there is a coming together of the goodness of God and the severity of God. So he says, I want you to think of how God is working. Okay, how he worked with the people of his tribe. When they rejected him, he gave them up to their own blindness, their own ways, and he's extended his goodness now to the Gentiles. The truth has been made known to the Gentiles now. Salvation has been made known to the Gentiles. So in the light of all of this, you know, here's what I want you to do. So Paul is saying, keeping in mind the goodness and the severity of God, you know, what I want you to do or what I want you to do with your heart, with the heart of compassion or with God's mercies that he has given to you, he says he goes on to tell them what he wants them to do. So he says, even as I'm telling you to do this, you know, I want you to do with the heart of compassion and with the mercies that God has given to you. So what does Paul want them to do? He says, present your bodies. He wants them to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Now we know that in Romans chapter 8, Paul talks about the body. He says how we need to keep the body under the power of the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, he of chapter 8, he says, you put to end the sinful deed to the body and you will live. That's what he says in verse 13. And now he's continuing the same thought. And also in Romans chapter 8, he also mentions that, you know, Jesus broke the power of sin on the cross. The Holy Spirit has worked in us to overcome the things of the flesh so that we can walk in the spirit and not yield to the things of the flesh. So Paul is saying in the view of all of this, you know, what God has done for us, what he's accomplished, his plan and purpose, you know, and how he's given us the Holy Spirit that enables us to crucify the flesh, to overcome the flesh. He's saying in the view of all of this, what I've written so far, he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. So present means, you know, make a deliberate choice, make it a willing, intentional, deliberate choice. So he's saying willingly, deliberately make it a choice to make your body as a living sacrifice. Now the Jews were very familiar with this word sacrifice because in the Old Testament, they brought sacrifices as part of their worship. They brought animals, birds, grains as part of the sacrifice. Now Paul is saying, you know, don't bring your animals, your birds and your grains, but sacrifice yourself. Lay yourself on the altar. Sacrifice yourself. Sacrifice yourself. Present yourself on the altar. Don't present some animal or grain or bird, but you put your body there or for your body. And he says, this is a one-time sacrifice. It's a living sacrifice. Sorry, he says this is not a one-time sacrifice, but this is a living sacrifice, which means why does he say it's a living sacrifice because our body is alive. We need to live with this world. We need to keep ourselves alive to do what God has called us to do to fulfill his plan and his vision for our lives. So yes, our bodies are alive. So hence it's a living sacrifice. But even though our bodies are alive, yet it's being sacrificed. And hence it is a living sacrifice. So, you know, we are alive. We are here engaging in what God has called us to do. What his purpose for us to do. But at the same time, we are offering ourselves on the altar. We are laying ourselves always on the altar. And hence it's a permanent sacrifice, which means it's an ongoing sacrifice. It's not a one-time sacrifice, an ongoing sacrifice, which means that every day we are sacrificing the things of the flesh. We are, you know, cutting off the things of the flesh. We're crucifying the flesh. And hence we are making that sacrifice on a daily basis, day in and day out. Every hour, every minute, you know, we're making that sacrifice. And hence it's a permanent sacrifice. And he says the sacrifice should be holy and acceptable to God. So how do we offer our bodies? We offer our bodies as a living sacrifice by keeping our bodies holy and acceptable means pleasing to God. So, you know, this is what we do constantly. This is what we do every day. We need to keep our bodies holy. We need to keep our bodies set apart for God. And when we do, it is something pleasing to God. And then Paul connects this sacrifice, which is not a one-time thing, but which is a daily thing, an ongoing thing. A living sacrifice, which should be holy and pleasing to God. He says this is your reasonable service. Now, this sacrifice, which you're making of your own bodies and bring it on the altar, you know, you're making it daily, day in and day out. He's saying this is your reasonable sacrifice, which means he's saying this is your thoughtful worship. This is an act of worship. Some translations, you know, render this phrase as this is your intelligent form of worship or this is your rational or logical, you know, way of worship. Now, let me just, you know, just to explain this, let me give you some irrational way of worship so you can understand what I mean by saying that this is, you know, offering our bodies as a living sacrifice daily on the altar is a rational, logical, intelligent form of worship. Now, you know, let's think about it this way. You know, I'm not saying this in a very demeaning way, but you know, if, you know, I just go and keep beating my body with whips or cutting myself up and saying this is an act of worship. You know, how is beating up my body or cutting myself up? How can it be an act of worship to God? You know, it seems irrational. It does not make sense. In the same way Paul is saying, you know, when you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God, you know, when you do this, this is your thoughtful, intelligent, rational, logical way of worshiping God. Okay, so now to put this in practical ways, to look at this in practical ways or think about this in practical ways, just imagine you're walking down the street. You know, you see a big billboard sign and it has images or graphics that is not something that you should keep your eyes on or you can put your mind on that. So just for example, you know, you are googling something on the net and, you know, you have these obscene pictures that come. You know, you can choose to, you know, look at it, you know, focus your mind on it or you can just choose to quickly, you know, close your eyes or you know, focus your eyes on what you're searching or just close that window. So if you're looking at, you know, you're shifting channels, or you're looking at some YouTube videos and you come across some material or graphics that is, you know, you shouldn't be watching, you shouldn't be seeing, then you quickly switch it off. You don't give it a second look, a second glance, you don't focus your mind on that. When you're doing that, you've actually offered your body as a thoughtful, intelligent, rational worship to God. You've offered your bodies as a reasonable holy sacrifice to God. That moment you've offered your body as a reasonable holy sacrifice. Why? Because at that moment, you know, you could have chosen to look at it, indulge in something that is unclean, but you have not. And hence, you've offered your body as a living sacrifice and you have worshiped God by doing what is right. So I hope you understood what Paul is basically trying to say. I just tried to make it more, you know, applicable for us in our daily life. So every time when we're making the right choice, you know, we're actually offering our bodies as a living sacrifice as holy and pleasing to God. Which is our reasonable service, which means it's a thoughtful, intelligent, logical, rational worship to God. Okay, so you see how, you know, how we can offer our bodies a living sacrifice every time we're making the right choice. So Paul is saying in the view of all that you've heard of what God has done, his plan and purposes, brethren, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. And he says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, verse two, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So he begins verse two by saying, and the word and means also. So, you know, he says, you know, just like you know, offer your bodies as a reasonable holy sacrifice to God. He says, also do this. Okay, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Okay. Remember, I just, I said that, you know, you know, Paul is trying to basically tell them, you know, you know, keep what God has done for them all this time he says keeping all that in mind this is what I want you to do. The first thing he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God is your reasonable sacrifice. And then verse two he says, and which means when translated says also do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So he says, do not be conformed to this world, which means do not be conformed to the pattern in the way of your thinking lifestyle behavior to the ways of the world. But he says be transformed. The word transformed is the Greek word metamorph. Okay. From which we get the English word metamorphosis. And when you think of metamorphosis, which creature can you think of anything? Caterpillar. Yes, a caterpillar to a butterfly. Thank you. So the Greek word here transformed in this verse uses to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The word transformed in Greek is metamorph for from which we get that English word metamorphosis, which is basically, you know, you know, giving us an example of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly. You know, just a worm, a wriggly worm that is, you know, you know, on the ground on the dust, you know, it just becomes such a beautiful creature. It's become such a colorful, beautiful butterfly. So he's saying, you know, undergoes such a beautiful supernatural change in the way you think, live and behave. Okay. In the light of everything that Christ has done for us, how he's given us a Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit enables us, helps us to, you know, crucify the flesh to put down the deeds of the flesh. The way the Holy Spirit is enabling us, he's saying, you know, do this as well, you know, be transformed with the renewing of your mind. And this transformation is undergoing a beautiful supernatural change in the way we think, live and behave. And he tells us how this transformation is possible. He says it's by the, how is this transformation possible? What does he say? How is it possible? How can we renew the mind? Yes, thank you. He says, he says it's by the renewing of your mind. Thank you, Rupa. Okay. He says it's by the renewing of your mind. You know, something that I like to talk about the caterpillar is, you know, when a caterpillar is going through metamorphosis or in that stage where it's going to become, you know, go into the cocoon and become the butterfly, it actually begins eating. And it's eating and it's eating, it's chewing on that leaves, it's consuming leaf after leaf after leaf, it just keeps on eating and eating and eating. And when it eats, it expands. Now, why does it eat so much? Because it's preparing for the change, the change that is going to take place. It disappears into that cocoon and inside that cocoon, all the changes are taking place. And then it comes out as a beautiful metamorphosized butterfly. Okay. I'd like to compare this eating stage or this consuming stage of this caterpillar to you and me, you know, to consuming God's word. Because it says here that we transformed by the renewing of our mind or the renewing of the mind. The mind we know has to do with our mental faculties, the way we think, the way we reason. Now, how do we renew our mind? Now, the best way to explain the renewing of the mind is what we read in Isaiah 55 verses 7 to 9. Isaiah chapter 55 verses 7 to 9. So, can somebody read Isaiah chapter 55 verses 7, 8, 9 and verse 11, please? Isaiah chapter 55 verse 7, 8, 9 and verse 11. Isaiah 55 verse 7. And then we can change the ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong and then turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God for He will forgive generously. My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts say so Lord and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. Verse 11. It is the same with my word, I sent it out and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all that all I wanted to and it will prosper everywhere I sent it. Amen. Thank you. So in verse 7, God is speaking to the wicked. Wicked basically means the man of this world or the woman of this world. He says, I want you to forsake your ways and thoughts. Let all of them turn away from your ways and thoughts and come to me. And God says, you know, when you come to me, I will pardon you and I will receive you. Verses 8 and 9, God says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways than your ways. And verse 10, he says, as high as the heavens at about the earth, so high are God's thoughts and ways than our thoughts and our ways. So the thoughts and ways of the wicked. So he's talking about the huge difference. God's ways and thoughts are way different from our ways and thoughts or from the ways and thoughts of the wicked one. So the implication here is, God is saying, you know, I'm going to help you to take on my ways and thoughts. So my ways and thoughts are much higher. There's such a big difference, you know, my ways and thoughts are, you know, as high as the heavens are thought about the earth. So are we higher on my thoughts and my ways? And God is saying that, you know, I'm going to help you to take on my ways and my thoughts. And how is this going to happen? How are we going to take on God's ways and thoughts is to a renewed mind. And in verse 11, he says, by the word of God. So the word of God is going to help us to take on the ways and the thoughts of God. So what is the renewing of the mind? It is the process here given in the process here of renewing our mind is given here in Isaiah chapter 55 verses 7 to 9 and verse 11. It is giving up our ways and thoughts and taking on God's ways and thoughts. So and as I take on the ways and thoughts of God, you know, I'm going to a transformation in my own thinking in my own ways and my own thoughts. I'm no longer going to be taking on the ways of the world like the wicked, but I'm going to begin to walk on the higher levels of the ways and thoughts of God. And how is that possible by renewing of the mind? Which means we need to train ourselves to lead the ways and thoughts we are used to and we take on the ways and thoughts of God. And how is it possible to the word of God? So we got right here in chapter 12, Paul mentioned some of the ways and thoughts of God that we can take on to renew our mind. He says, he talks about forgiving, showing love. So, you know, and he mentioned some other ways. So like the caterpillar, you know, which keeps on eating and eating and eating and chewing on the sleeves. We also need to keep on eating and eating or we need to keep on consuming the word of God. And as we do, you know, the word of God, you know, fills our minds, our feelings, our emotions, our soul and our body. And, you know, we are renewed in our mind. We are renewed in our ways and thoughts and, you know, God's word renews us. And, you know, we become new and different. We become transformed. We become those so-called metamorphosized, you know, part of Christ. But we need to begin to align our thoughts and our ways, the thoughts and ways of God. And this process of renewing our thoughts and ways of God is the renewing of the mind. And the renewing of the mind results in the transformation of our lives when we are able to, you know, think and live and behave differently. Okay. We'll stop here. We'll continue with about renewing of the mind. We have more on this in the next class on Wednesday. Anyone has any questions on this? Basically, how do we renew our minds is, you know, the idea is the answer is in Isaiah 55 verses 7 and 9. The best way to explain is leaving away our ways and thoughts and taking on the higher ways and thoughts of God. And we'll see practically how we can do that next week. I'll just give you a couple of examples, which Paul again mentions in chapter 12. Any questions, please? Okay. Or when do you want to have the next assessment before we call it a day before we end our class? I requested if we can have assessment two on Romans chapter five to chapter eight, five, six, seven, eight on October the 25th. What do you all say quickly? Okay. Thank you, Lysa. Thank you, Rupa. Yes, Asha. Lysa, can you have some more time on doing the assignments? You want some more time, dear? Yes, please. Two days? Okay. I think Abhishek or somebody said that we could have it on a Thursday. I remember seeing that, but... Actually, I... Yes. On Monday, Monday to Wednesday, like one Monday full day time if you give... You mean you want two days time to do the assessment? Like if you... Last time you give one day. That's why if you give one more day, full day. Okay. One, two full days. Yeah. Okay. Okay. We'll do that. Two full days. Yes. And Pastor, we could also have... Give us, you know, till the end of the day if possible. I don't think something comes up, but I'm going during the day. So if it's five o'clock or... Last time you put it at five, at six o'clock. We have it as, you know, maybe the end of the day as in 11, 11.59 or something, if that's possible. Okay. We'll do that. Okay. So two days and two full whole days. Okay. And is this the final assessment or this is the main... This is the second one. This is the second one. You have two more to go. I'm going to put it down into chapters. I've given you four so that you can, you know, if you don't do well in one, you can pick up in the other. So... And it also helps you to study, go back, revisit those chapters. So please listen. The questions will be based also on my notes. I mean, the lectures that I'm giving you and not just on the notes, you know, the notes are very little, but I'm giving you a lot of additional information in my lectures. So please listen to the lectures. I hope you're taking down notes and that would help. Okay. Thank you everyone for joining us. Have a blessed day and a blessed week ahead. God bless you. And I'll see you next week. Thank you. Thank you, madam. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Elisha.