 Okay, so welcome back to BC 106. It's our second lecture today. Our course on interpreting scripture. Thank you everyone for connecting to the class. I'm just waiting for Nina John to connect back. I think she was logged out. Okay, yeah, Nina, you're back in for some reason. When we started the recording, it's logged some people out. Okay, I'll come back, everybody. So we were talking about the cultural aspect in interpreting scripture, which means that there are certain things that we find in the Bible, which are cultural. It was meant for those people at that time. So in interpreting that, we don't practice the same thing, but the principle we take. The principle. What was the principle behind it? That stays, but the practice we don't follow because it was given for a people in a particular time for them to do practice. Okay, so let's go through some examples. Number one, you can all see it. Yeah, first one. So the Apostle Paul wrote Romans 16 verse 16. He's writing to the church. Church in Rome, he says, greet one another with a holy kiss. Romans 16, 16. Do we practice it or not? Now we say sheikh hand. Hello, how are you? Maybe, you know, in some parts of the world, they'll give big hug like that, right? Yeah, I don't know. Some places they do a bow, they do a namaste. They do different things. So it's not that we take this verse and say, if you're a believer, you have to do this. We don't. We don't practice that. So what is it? It is a cultural instruction. It's an instruction for the people in their culture. The principle is to greet one another, right? So you greet one other, shake hands, whatever you want, you greet. Sean. Usually during weddings, I've seen my mom kiss our relatives or her sister-in-law like that. They kiss on the cheeks and the side to side and that's it. Yeah, so that's a cultural thing, right? She's not doing it because Romans 16, 16 says it. She's doing it because they're all their relatives and she probably hasn't seen them for a long time, right? And she'll do it only to relatives. She's not going to go and do that for other people in the church. I mean, we don't do that, right? So generally we're saying in the church, we don't practice this. We just greet according to our culture. Whichever part of the world, whatever your custom is, according to that custom, you greet. We're not saying this is the only way to greet people. So for this one, we would put a T meaning it's a temporary thing. It's not a permanent, it's a temporary thing. Next one, point number two. Acts 1529, the Apostles gave instruction to the new believers, abstain from meat sacrificed to idols or abstain from food that was given in worship to idols. Question, temporary or permanent? Now, before you say anything, think about the other New Testament scriptures on the same subject. That means Acts 1529, they gave this instruction. But what else does the New Testament say on this subject? So you will read 1 Corinthians 8, 1 Corinthians 10, Romans 14, and you'll also read 1 Timothy 4. So there are many other New Testament passages that also speak about the same subject of food offered to idols, offering meat to idols. So when we have to interpret Acts 1529, we shouldn't take that verse in isolation only by itself. No, take all the other New Testament passages that are talking about food offered to idols. So Acts, then you come to Romans 14, something is there. You come to 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, something is there. Then you come to 1 Timothy 4, something is there. So you put all these scriptures together. And then you say, okay, what does the New Testament say? So I will just give you the summary of it, but you can go read these passages. So the New Testament teaches, yes, we do not eat food offered to idols. For what reason? One, we don't worship the idol. Two, we don't want another believer to stumble thinking that we are worshiping the idol. Yeah, suppose I have another person who's a believer, but he's come from maybe the non-Christian faith. Or it could be somebody else. They see me receive this, somebody comes and says, hey, this food we did puja or we did something, something received. And they see me take it. What message will they have? They will think I am worshiping the idol by receiving this. So that Paul explains very clearly, Romans 14, we don't cause a weaker brother to stumble. Again 1 Corinthians 8, we don't cause. The other side is also true, meaning the Bible says, he says the idol is nothing. What is offered to the idol? That's food offered is nothing. That means a banana is a banana. You can go around so many times. It's still a banana. It is not a demon poses banana. It's only a banana. So you're not afraid of the banana. You're not afraid of the, oh, I can't touch it. What happened? It went around. The banana went around the temple or whatever. I'm just whatever. It's not that we are afraid of the banana. So Paul says the idol is nothing. Neither anything offered to the, it's nothing. And then he writes in 1 Timothy 4. He says, you know, when you go to the market, you don't know what the person has done before you came there. So he says, whatever is sold in the market, you buy it and you eat it. Because everything is sanctified by the word of God and through prayer. Example, you go to a restaurant. Before they opened the restaurant, they did full puja over everything they did. You don't go there and say, I can't eat masala dosa. Oh, you go there. You happily eat masala dosa, idli, whatever everything. But you're sitting in a place where they all did puja every day. They've done already before you came. Same thing when you go somewhere. You don't know what the person has done. So you're not afraid. Yes, we actually know that the people who are selling it or cooking the food, they have done their thing. But we happily, what we do, we pray and we eat. So that is the second aspect where that's in 1 Corinthians 10 and 1 Timothy chapter 4. Paul says, don't worry about what you buy in the market, because everything is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. So in one way, we are eating food that is prepared in an environment where people have done their other forms of worship. They've done all that, but you're going sitting there eating happily. We are eating. When you go to a restaurant, that's what happens. When you go buy some things in the... Even if you go to a market and buy vegetables, that person shopkeeper has done his pooja before you come there over everything he has. But you're not afraid of it. What do you do? It is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. So there are two sides to this whole thing. One is I don't do it because of these two reasons. I'm not myself worshiping the idol and I'm not... I don't want people to get the message that I am worshiping idol by receiving. So in that case, I don't. I also know in the other general case, there are so many things that we actually eat where people have already done their poojas and whatever. But when we sit to eat, we speak blessing so that food is sanctified. Right? So point number two, it's a permanent instruction, but understand it in context in the rest of the scriptures. Sean. So usually when it's Diva time or any of those vegetables, we get sweets, all neighbors around give us sweets for that time. So I myself, I don't want to eat, but my dad says that he'll just pray and he'll eat. So after he prays and he'll eat, he says he doesn't pay that much heat or mind to that. So whereas I am a different guy that I said, no, I don't want to eat the thing because I know it's on that day. I don't know if they're giving it to the idol or what and what not. That's the thing. Yeah, so again there, if you look at Romans 14, Paul says, let every person be fully persuaded in their own minds. So Romans 14, you can read through it. He's talking about observing days and food, what you eat, what you don't eat and all. So as long as, so suppose in this example that you gave, where somebody comes and gives me a box of sweets, right? They buy country sweets or London sweets, they come and give me a box and they give it because some occasion, you know, it's some festival or some birthday or some marriage or whatever, they come and give a box of sweets. Okay, now I have a choice. I can eat it or I don't need to eat it, you know, but I need to be fully persuaded in my mind, right, that what I want. This is not an issue of, am I causing somebody else to stumble? No, nobody else is in my house other than family. So we're all going to eat the box here. So then you can just say, oh, thank you so much for the box. You open it and eat it if you want. Or if you don't want to eat, don't eat. But you be fully persuaded in your own mind and have no doubts that anyway, whatever we buy and eat when you pray, it is cleansed. We are protected. We're not afraid of that thing. Okay, so Nina, you have a question. You want to ask a question on the mic or you can type it either way. Yeah. Can I speak? I mean, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Go ahead. Yeah. About this, the second instruction about abstaining from things sacrifice to idols. Now, what about that scripture which says that, you know, if someone tells you that it is, it is something that has been thing, then you, it says that you don't, you don't eat it. And the instruction, yes, I understand that we can eat everything that is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. But if someone tells you that it is thing, it says that you don't, it's better that we don't eat it. And that other scripture also which says that we can't partake of the, you know, if we know, I'm saying, I mean, if we know that very specifically it has been sacrificed to idols says that we can't partake of the Lord's table and of, because this is offered to demons or, I think that's what that scripture says, something like that. Yeah. So then what do we do? Yeah. So I think, so again, the context of these things, right? What you said, it is obviously it's there in the scripture for 1 Corinthians 10, it is something that has been offered to idol, Romans 14, something has been offered to idol, the context. So what is the intent in both these passages? Both these passages is I should not cause a weaker brother to stumble. Second, I'm not participating in the worship of that idol. So if somebody comes and offers me something and say, hey, this was offered to an idol, then yeah, I will say, you know, we refuse it. We say no for these two reasons. We're not participating in the worship of the idol. And second, we don't want to cause somebody else to stumble. But let's think of another scenario. And this is a hypothetical scenario. Suppose you, somebody came and gave you a banana before you left. They said, this banana, I did puja. I'm giving to you. And you left on a journey. And suppose for three days, you've not had water and food. And the only thing you have is this banana. What will you do? And nobody's watching you. It's not about you're causing another brother to stumble. Somebody has given you a, this is a hypothetical situation. Okay, I'm just making it up. I'm not saying it's going to happen. I'm just saying, here's a hypothetical situation. Right? Nobody is, you're not causing another brother to stumble. You're not doing it because you want to worship the thing. You're having a banana in your hands. Somebody has said, hey, I did puja on it. I gave it to you. You haven't had food for three days. You need some nourishment for your body. See, at that moment, you have a choice. It is your decision. You can say, okay, God, I will not eat this banana because this banana was offered to an idol. Or you can say, God, I know this banana was offered to an idol, but no devil is, I'm not afraid of any devil. No devil is in the banana. In the name of Jesus, I consecrated. This banana was created by my God who's greater than the idol. I'm going to eat it. And you can eat it. You won't die. And God is not going to get angry with you for eating that banana because you are seeing God superior to the idol or whatever that was prayed over it. So I'm just giving a hypothetical situation. So at that point, Romans 14, Paul says, you be fully persuaded in your mind how you're going to do it. And both options are there. Yeah. I just want to add to your point, sir, that at that point, you should know that God is not human to say that, hey, you're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to eat it because of a title. See, understand the situation at that point. You know, you've been hungry. You're not, we need it for a few days. I mean, if the guy rejects the banana saying, no, I don't want to eat it, then of course, God is going to bless him. But if he offers a prayer and he says, he declares that you made this banana, that he knows the Lord has made banana and all that. And then he said, God also understands, yes, this fellow has not eaten for a few days. So that he has. So either way, God understands what it is. Yeah. So yeah, it's up to your choice. And you have a biblical precedent for this example. And this is on a sacred side, you know, in the Old Testament, and Jesus actually raised, you know, Jesus actually raised this point where when David was running for his life and he had no food, he came to Abhitha, Abhitha the priest. And he asked the priest, do you have any food to eat? The priest said, I don't have anything, but I have the food from the temple. And that food was only to be eaten by the priest. So God had said, that is only for the priest. Now David was not a priest, but he was hungry. He said, hey, bring it to me. And he ate it and he didn't die. So Jesus in the New Testament points back to that and says, hey, tell me, did David do what's right or wrong? So Jesus said, you know, that's one example. And in another context, he said, you know, man was made for the Sabbath, not the Sabbath for man. You know, that, sorry, Sabbath was made for man and not man was not made subject to the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given to man. It was for man. And it's not like man is created for the Sabbath, right? So man is more important than that instruction there. So just keep everything in context, be practical. And remember our faith in God. God is greater than, right? So I see Roshan's comment on the chat here. Pray and eat the banana. Why starve and die? Yeah. So at that moment, you make a very practical decision. You know, God is superior to all these things, right? So there's a context. There's a reason why these instructions are given. Why you shouldn't eat Sabbath. Why you shouldn't eat Sabbath. The instruction is given. Why you shouldn't eat something to an idol. And that's what I was highlighting. There are two reasons. One is you're not worshiping the idol to, you don't want to communicate a wrong message to somebody else, right? But then we are not afraid of the fruit or the food. You know, it's not like the food is demon possessed or something. And we are superior. We have greater authority than the works of darkness. So we understand all of that. So everything is held in context. Okay. We don't live in fear of anything. All right. Let's continue this little exercise here. I hope you will enjoy it. Let's see now. So number three, be baptized. I mean, be baptized in water. Acts 238. Is it temporary? Is it permanent? Permanent because Jesus gave it. Okay. It's for the church. Right. No questions. You have to be baptized. So that is easy. Number four, wash one another's feet. John chapter 13, 14, verse 14. Jesus said, you know the story. He went and washed everybody, the dispute of his disciples. And he said, you do to one another as I have done to you. Temporary or permanent? Temporary. What do you say? Temporary or permanent? Wash. Those of you on the chat, you know, you can type it on the chat. Wash one another's feet. Is that a temporary instruction or is it a permanent instruction? Not sure. The reason I said temporary is because in that context, he's teaching about how to be humble to one another. So in this, we already know what is the point of washing someone's feet and to be humble. So like, I even discussed this during our meeting, meeting last time, last month, where ma'am told that that is exactly, Deepika ma'am said about, talked about this. He said, this is the point of this is to teach humbleness. Now if you can watch other's feet or you can wash others' feet and you can have like all your other thoughts in your head. The reason is that you have to learn the lesson. That is why Jesus did that. Right. So remember what we said. There are some practices that are temporary, but the principles are transferable. The principle applies, not the practice. Right. So we don't wash one another's feet. Now if you want to do it, that's up to you. Some people here and there, you will see some, you know, some people do it. But the principle applies. What is the principle? He said, I loved you. You serve one another and love, right? Just as I, I, the Lord, your master, if I, the Lord, your master washed your feet, then you must also wash one another's feet. You serve each other in humility, as Son was saying. So that's the principle. That's what we still live by. But we don't every, every morning you see each other. Come, come, come, wash your feet. Oh, we'll be busy washing everybody's feet. We don't practice it. Imagine Sunday service. You want to wash 400 people's feet. How much water, how much towel. We'll be wasting our time. So we don't practice it. Some cases you'll find some people do that. You know, once it happened, Amy and I were in Ecuador. We were ministering there after we finished all our days of ministry. Last day, we're getting ready to leave the pastor gathered. He said, I must, and he made us sit down. They prepared nice lunch. He said, we have to wash your feet. I was so embarrassed. What is this? I never let anybody do this. But they insisted we have to wash your feet. No, then we can't escape. I have to go. They won't let us go until they do this. So we sat and you know, just let them do it. But it's kind of very embarrassing, right? Like having somebody come and wash your feet, but they wanted to do it. Okay. So some rare cases you'll have these kinds of things, but normally we don't practice, right? The principle is what we must follow. That's important. Point number five, same thing. Extend the right hand of fellowship. So here it's more of a, it's a symbolic gesture. That means you're welcoming somebody at the fellowship, right hand, you're welcoming, right? So does it mean if you give left hand, some major sin happens? It's not about hand, right? I know sometimes you find some people write articles and he put his left hand on somebody. It's not your right hand, left hand. It is you welcoming them, right? So don't get so fixed on, oh right hand, only you must place your right hand. If you place left hand, devil comes through. What is this? It's not about your witch hand. The principle is you're extending fellowship. You're welcoming them, right? So in that sense, it's temporary. Okay, point number six, let me hear what you think. Ordain by the laying on of hands. Do we practice that today? Do we still practice? Yeah, we still practice, right? So that is in the New Testament scripture. In fact, laying on of hands is one of the five, six, five things I think, or six things that the writer of Hebrew says are foundational in the Hebrew chapter six was one and two. These are foundational doctrines of the church and one of them is the laying on of hands. Hebrew chapter six was one and two. So the laying on of hands is a foundational doctrine. We practice it and we lay hands for different reasons and one of the reasons is to ordain people to put them, say you're appointed for this ministry, we lay hands on a point. So that is a doctrine of the church. That means it's an ongoing teaching and practice of the church. So we do it today because we see it given for us very clearly. Okay, now number seven, prohibit women from speaking in a church assembly. Okay, this is controversial. Let me hear what you think. Can women speak in church? Verse 14, he says, let the women keep silent. So what is it? Controversial. But answer is very simple. Sean. I think in those times he went into the importance of the danger. That time in preaching, you had to encounter a certain danger. After no, there's a certain risk to what you're doing. I think maybe for that reason. Okay, let's see. Anyone else? Okay, so this is a question we should take in detail, but I'll give you a summary. I'll give you a summary. Towards the end of this course, we will have, we will pick up difficult questions. And one of the difficult questions is this, because it's a controversial subject, but I'll give a quick summary. There are three places that, or three passages, New Testament passages, people use to say, to argue on both sides, right? So one is 1 Corinthians 14, another one is 1 Timothy 2, and another one is 1 Corinthians 11, three passages where people use to take sides. Now, if you look at all of the three passages, I'll give you a quick summary. 1 Corinthians 14, when he says, let the women keep silent in the church. The context is about asking questions. First thing you will notice. Second thing you'll notice is he's talking, he's not talking about all women, he's talking about women who are wives, because he says, but let them ask their husbands at home. So he's not talking to all women. He's saying, hey, women, you have a husband, you go home and ask your question. That's what he's saying, right? So he's not saying all women keep quiet, right? The third thing is in that same chapter, two other times he says, keep quiet. He says, keep quiet to those who speak in tongues, and he says, keep quiet to those who prophesy. So that doesn't mean we should never speak in tongues or never prophesy. He's just giving proper behavior in church. So what is the proper behavior? He's saying women, if you have basically wives, specifically talking to wives, if you have a question about something, go home and ask your husbands. Don't ask in the church, hey Joe, what is the preacher saying? Hey John, what can you tell me what the preacher was saying? Don't start discussing in the church. Go home and discuss. That's what he's saying. First Timothy chapter two, it's a little bit more difficult passage, but it's actually very simple to understand. If you look at the context, he's talking about behavior, conduct. He starts with the men. He says men, wherever you are, you pray lifting up holy hands. Then he says women, behave yourself properly. So the context is not the pulpit. The context is behave wherever you are properly. So after he says husbands are men, you behave yourself properly, don't get angry, you lift your hands and pray all the time. Then he says women, you dress modestly. So it's not just about the pulpit. He's talking about just general conduct, behavior. Then he says women, women, especially those who are married, you be quiet. You learn in subjection. Then he talks about Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve was husband and wife. So in that context, there's a context. He's not talking to all women. He's talking to married women. You be silent. You learn from your heart. Don't assert your authority over your husband, just like what happened to Eve. So context is married women, not the pulpit. So very clear. So first time of the chapter 2, people have taken that verse in isolation that I do not permit a woman to teach but to be silent. Hey, what is the context? The context is general behavior. He's not talking about the pulpit. He's talking about general behavior anywhere, any time, all the time. And most specifically, he's talking to those who are married, like Adam and Eve. You learn from your husband. If Eve had gone and asked Adam, snake is telling Eve the fruit, should we eat or not? Adam hopefully would have said don't eat. But she ate without asking. And then she told him, you also. Anyway, so the point is, so first time of the chapter 2 can be very easily understood. If you don't take the scripture out of context, in context, you understand what he's saying. And understanding is very clear. Same thing in 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11, he's talking about God's government. So he says, you know, just like Christ, he says the head of the man is Christ. The head of Christ is God. Is Christ co-equal with God? Yes, Christ is co-equal with God. But when he walked on the earth, he walked in submission to the Father and that was proper government. So the context of 1 Corinthians 11 is proper government. In that context, the wife is in submission to the husband. Again, the context is wife and husband. The wife is in context. It doesn't mean all women can never have leadership over men. The context there is husband and wife. And as long as God's government is properly executed, everything is fine. So 3 passes can be easily explained. And to answer this question, yeah, we can look at other scriptures to show that God does use women to proclaim His words. So that's the long answer. So verse 7 is, it's a temporary instruction. It's a cultural instruction. It was the behavior of the Corinthian married women in the church. They were disrupting the service by asking questions from the husband. So to them, he says, you go home and ask your husband the answer to your questions. So that's number 7 is temporary. Everybody got it? Okay, sorry, long discussion here. Number 8, fixed hours of prayer. What do you think? Do we all have to pray exactly at 6 o'clock in the morning and 12 o'clock in the afternoon and 3 o'clock? Or can you pray anytime? Okay, that's easy. Yes, so. But when you set a time, when you set a time that you're going to pray, you should honor that, right? You can't just keep changing. Okay, today 12 o'clock, I decide I'm going to pray. I should go pray at that time. Then it's done like one day, then next day I'll do that 5 o'clock. Then again, I'll do it at maybe 2, 12, 30, like that. That's entirely up to you, right? But God is awake 24-7. Yeah. So the thing is this, the less we bind ourselves to things, the more free we can live. So it's good to have discipline. Example is you try to discipline yourself to pray at a certain time every day. But don't make it a law for yourself because there will be days we don't follow it. Because if something else happens, you have to attend to this, you have to attend. So your relationship with God doesn't change. God is still your father, you're still his child. Just that on that day, you haven't done that what you normally would do. But don't make it a law for yourself. Be free, but have discipline. It's good to have set things. Okay, but we can pray anytime, right? Sing songs, hymns and spiritual songs. Do we do that today? Yes, so that is permanent. We continue doing it. Number 10, abstain from eating blood. Acts 15, 29. What do you think? They said specifically don't eat blood. But in some parts of the world, blood is delicacy. Do you think I owe? No, but in some parts of the world, it's part of their diet, it's part of their food. That's what they eat. That's what they have to eat. So what do you do? You can't go and tell them, Acts 15, 29 says don't eat blood. They say, hey, we've been eating blood for 2,000 years. You've come 2,000 years later. That's part of their culture. That's part of their food. They prepare it in different ways. And they eat it. So what will we do? Acts 15, 29 says abstain from eating blood. Like sir, before, when you're still Christians, we've always been Christians in our family. But we still used to celebrate. We used to burst crackers during Diwali season and all that. But once we kept learning more about the world and our family, we stopped celebrating the thing. We used to stop bursting crackers. We stopped celebrating certain festivals. So I mean, once people learn about this, maybe they're like, hey, we should stop doing this. We should go forcibly and tell them, if they themselves are Christians and they themselves want to change. And if we tell them, see, this is what's in the Bible. They're not supposed to do this. Now it's up to them that they should change. Now they've learned the truth. They have to see if they want to change from learning what's the truth in the Bible. And then again, blood is life. And he says you can't... Alright, so here's the thing. The context of Acts 15. What is the context of Acts 15? Acts 15, the context is not to worship idols and eat blood. So the participating in these blood sacrifices was an act of worship to the idol. So the problem was not in the blood. The problem was in the blood sacrifices that they were engaging in. So today when we go to certain cultures, there for them it is their food. They're not worshipping it. Hey, we do this to live. We eat the whole animal, everything inside and outside because that is what they have for food in certain parts of the world. Now for us, we don't do that. We don't do it. So no, we don't go and enforce saying don't eat blood because the context of Acts 15 is it's the idol it's their worship. It's the blood sacrifice. Blood per se. So it's a cultural thing. It's a temporary thing all over the world. So when we go preach the gospel in certain places, if they are eating certain food, it's okay. For example, do we eat pork? Old Testament says don't eat pork. Do you eat shrimp? Yeah, Old Testament says don't eat shrimp. Do women wear trousers? Yeah, Old Testament says women shouldn't wear trousers. So all these things you see between Testaments, right? In the New Testament, it is anything you pray over it, you eat it. So we will leave that as temporary. There are Christians who say I won't eat pork. There are Christians who won't eat shrimp because based on Old Testament scripture, there are Christians who say women must not wear trousers based on, okay, you want to follow that, you follow it, but don't put it as a binding thing on everybody else. You personally have made that decision. Fine, but we know that it doesn't matter. Okay, it's your health choice. Let's go forward. Just take the mic in case people online can hear. Let me see if there's any questions online. In our place, the people used to do sacrifice of goat and beef like that. Animal sacrifices, animal sacrifices. So they used to serve in whole village. They serve that sacrifice? Yeah, they serve like in like Prasad. So you're saying in a village, they do an animal sacrifice and they serve that to everyone. But we didn't take that because we learned about that. So that is Act 15. It's exactly talking like that. Because he said stay away from sacrifices offered to idols and from drinking blood. So that's exactly like example or not exactly, but an example of what you describe, right, where they have made a sacrifice for idol and now they're sharing that flesh and blood. It's a blood sacrifice. So Paul says, or not Paul, the Apostles have said, don't partake of that. It's a correct example. You're given a real example. So don't partake. So we say, hey, we won't, we don't want. Thank you very much. But other goat and sheep, we lead. But in this thing, right, that we don't because it has specifically been offered to an idol. We don't partake of that flesh and blood. Got it. So that's example. All right. Okay. Thanks to those online who are following us. Let's try to finish this quickly. I'm just spending time here on this. Let's finish this. Number 11, slaves obey your earthly masters. Today, we don't have slaves, but we do have employees, employers. So in that console, the context is different, but the principle applies, right? So if you're working somewhere, you obey your boss. You obey your employer. Although we don't, you know, we don't have this idea of slaves. Number 12, observe the Lord supper. Of course we do it every time. 13, do not make any oaths. Yes, we don't avoid doing this. But if you do give a word to somebody, you keep it. But better not to make any oaths. Don't say, I promise you, I will give you. Don't say that. Just say, hey, I will give you. But if you promise, if you have given your words, do your best to keep it. Number 14, okay, circumcision. Do we practice it now? We don't. Okay. It's not a law. We have the circumcision of the arts. Okay. 15, wear sandals, but not an extra tunic. So don't take an extra gown. Just wear sandals. We don't practice that now. That was a temporary instruction Jesus gave to his disciples. Okay. So when you go, you wear your sandals. Don't take extra clothes. Just go. Think. But then he changed that. Okay. Last question. Well, it's an interesting thing. Do we cast lots to appoint people in the ministry? Acts after one after Judas killed himself, they had to find somebody to replace Judas as one of the 12 apostles. Correct. So that's a very important place. You're going to be one of the 12 apostles. What do they do? They cast lots. Pick. See if that name, whose name comes. And they got the name. Okay. You are in charge. You are now going to take the place of Judas. You're going to one of the 12. Question. Do we do that today? We don't. Why? Why did they do it? The apostles. It's an ax after one. And why do we not do it? Because the Holy Spirit was given after that. Right. So this was before the Holy Spirit came to teach them and guide them and tell them what to do. Right. So the Holy Spirit was poured out. Acts after two, then they learned that the Holy Spirit will be that guy. So you can see in Acts after two, after that time, it was the Holy Spirit was telling them, do this, do that. They were not casting lots. Should I go to Samaria or not? No. Holy Spirit said go. They went. Right. From then on, the Holy Spirit was going to be their guide. But at that time, they really didn't know how to receive guidance for the Holy Spirit. So they used this little method and God honored that. It was just that brief moment. Today we don't do that. Today we listen. If God says, you know, God has raised up somebody. Okay. You follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Okay. So some examples. Let's try to finish this. So what we must understand in talking about cultural practices is I think we'll have to complete this next time that quite a few details. Okay. Let me just do at least one first point. Some situations, commands or principles are repeatable, continuous or not revoked and they pertain to moral theological subjects. They're repeated in elsewhere in scripture and therefore they act permanent and transferable to us. That means if it has not been explicitly revoked, that means it's continuing or it is repeated. Then it is continuing. Example, punishment for death, death penalty. You know, life for life. It's there in the Bible. It's never been revoked. So today, if we decide somebody who has committed a murder has to be killed. Okay. Nothing wrong with it. Right. Now, some people will keep them for life imprisonment, whatever. That is part of the judicial system, according to the government. But notice polygamy. It was practiced in the Old Testament, but New Testament changes very clearly. And we've given references multiple times. It says monogamy, New Testament. Okay. So Old Testament, they practice polygamy, New Testament, monogamy. So it has been changed explicitly. Right. So we follow that. Nazirite, he was to grow his hair. But New Testament, long hair, not very nice for men. So you see slight difference in how long you want to keep your hair. It's your choice for the men. But we're saying a difference, right? We're not saying that God didn't say every person has to be a Nazirite and let their head grow. He never said that. It was for the particular people in a particular time. You do like that. Right. Last one. So the Bible sets its own limits on what practices are culture bound, which ones are not. So the first thing to determine is something temporary or permanent is you ask this question. Has it been revoked? Has it been replaced in Scripture as you go from Genesis to Revelation? Has it been revoked? Has it been replaced? If it has been revoked or replaced, then follow what was the last thing said about that. Okay. So that's one thought. I haven't finished it. There are some more points. We will cover the next class, but everyone is following me on the question. Our Lord supper. Oh, okay. Okay. So the question is to participate in the Lord supper, should you be baptized or should you not be baptized? So when you look into the Bible, right, the Bible doesn't give any instruction on it. There's no chapter in verse that says you must be baptized and then take the Lord supper. There's no verse like that. Right. And then so then we see, okay, let us see how did the early people practice it. Right. Again, it is not very clear that you don't find in the New Testament church anywhere. Them telling anybody explicitly, you have to be baptized only then you can take Lord supper. It doesn't say it. Say that. No, you don't find it. So therefore, we have to go by the principle. What is the principle? The principle is you partake in the Lord's table because you believe in what the Lord did, because you believe in what Jesus did for you on the cross. That is you're doing it meaningfully. You discern the Lord's body. You understand what Jesus did for us on the cross, then you participate. So to understand what the baptism is a good thing, but not a requirements because a person can believe and fully understand what Christ has done on the cross and say, yes, I believe it. And they're ready to partake of the Lord's table because they understand they believe. They may not be water baptized, but water baptized is a good thing because that affirms your faith that you actually believe in the cross. So that is why some churches make it a requirement that you have to be water baptized. At the APC we don't. We say, hey, as long as you believe in the cross, you're ready to partake of the Lord's table, whether you're baptized or not, that can come later. It's okay. So we don't make it a requirement. And so anyone who believes can participate. But in some churches, they make it a requirement. And it's for good reason because they want to be sure that that person genuinely believes. But even there, sometimes somebody can just go and say the water and come out. It doesn't mean they really believe. He'll jump in, jump out. No meaning to it. So both sides you have pros and cons. But the real requirement is do you discern the Lord's body? Do you understand what Christ did for you on the cross? And you do it that way. Yes. Sorry. Oh, should women cover their head in church? Okay. We will discuss it next time. Again, that's 1 Corinthians 11. We will take up those passages. Okay. Online. I hope all of you have been following along. And then things. Okay. Any questions before we or times already up 1050. Okay. Let's just close in prayer. We will continue this next week and you're welcome to ask questions as well. We'll do our best to answer. Okay. Father we thank you this time of learning. And we pray we'll continue to receive understanding so that we can rightly handle your word of truth. Let your wisdom and understanding rest in each of our hearts in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you everyone. Thank you. You can have your break and prepare for your next class please. Thank you.