 Okay, okay, so yeah, so we're reading the last few verses, the last section of first continents, right? Okay, so Paul says that chapter 16 verse 5, that now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, I'm passing through Macedonia and it may be that I will remain or even spend the winter, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go, but I do not, for I do not wish to see you now, but I hope to stay for a while with you if the Lord permits. So, you know, which means that his plan is not yet clear and he's not sure what the will of the Lord is about this matter, so he's just saying, you know, if the Lord permits, yes, I will indeed stay back and then spend time with you and so on. So he's, you know, is depending on and God's, which means that his travel plans, his ministry plans, everything, you know, he's submitted to the will of God, submitted to God's guidance, right? Again, something for us to learn in this. Then, then he talking about Ephesus, that he's going to be staying for a longer time in Ephesus. He says he will wait in Ephesus until Pentecost and the reason is also this for a great and effective door is open. So there's a great opportunity for ministry in Ephesus is what he says and and at the same time, you know, there are many adversaries, right? There are there are many adversaries simply means an enemy, somebody who resists. So it is an effective door, a great opportunity, a good opportunity, but there are at the same time many adversaries. So again, learning for us is that, you know, just because there are ministry opportunities or, you know, very good ministry opportunities to serve the Lord, that does not mean that there will be no opposition or assistance. They will not, there will be no enemies. It is possible that there will be, you know, there are adversaries, there will be adversaries. But you know, you see Paul's whole outlook towards this. He says, yeah, there are many adversaries. But the thing is that he's continuing on, like he's continuing on to minister in Ephesus despite the fact that there are adversaries. Okay, so he's saying, so the thing that we understand and learn is that, yes, when there's an open door, when we recognize that there is a effective door for ministry or an opportunity for ministry, that we then we respond by stepping into that or taking up that opportunity. Again, in the will of God, right, because he's always dependent on that for the will of God. But just the fact that there are resistance, there is resistance or opposition should not make us doubt and turn back, right? When we know that's the will of God, I mean, when we know that, okay, this is an open door to minister, and in the will of God, we are here, then just because there is a resistance or things are difficult, right, and there is a resistance to the work, we should not turn back because Paul just stepped into it knowing that there will be resistance, knowing that there are, you know, adversaries, difficult circumstances, difficult people, maybe people who are, you know, totally against the work, but even then he stepped in. Okay, so we, that should be our mindset, that should be the way we respond to open ministry opportunities, okay? Then in verse 10, we see Paul saying, and if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord as I also do. Therefore, let no one despise him, but send him on his journey in peace, that he may come to me, for I am waiting for him with the brethren. Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time, however, he will come when he has a convenient time, okay? So here it writes about Timothy, and he's saying that, you know, when Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, okay? And for he does the work of the Lord, he does the work of ministry, even as I do. So, I mean, that's something that he's recognizing and acknowledging, and he's saying Timothy is just like me in the ministry, okay? He does the work of the Lord, as I also do. He's just like me in ministering, serving. And when he comes there, let him be without fear, because Timothy we know is a much younger person, younger than Paul, obviously, and also younger than most people in the church, right? Most people in the church at Gordon, so saying when he's there, you know, let him be without fear, okay? Make sure that you send him on his journey in peace, send him on his journey, meaning that, you know, whatever he needs for his journey, you make sure that you send him on his journey, whatever he's going to, after meeting you, you send him on his journey with in peace, right? So he's kind of encouraging the others and also at testing, affirming that, affirming Timothy as a minister of God, and not just as a minister of God, but one who does the work of ministry, similar to the work that he does, or just as he does. And he says, for I am waiting for him with the brethren, okay? So then he writes about Apollos, and we see that Apollos also, you know, ministering with Paul and in the places where Paul ministered. So he writes about Apollos, and he's saying, you know, I strongly urged him to come to you, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time, he will come when he has a convenient time, and Apollos is free, and when he's convenient for him to travel and visit, he will come, okay? So we see that Paul is, again, at testing the ministry of, affirming the ministry of Apollos, right? So, see, there were some people who Paul warned about, okay, about false brethren, about, and in second currency, we're going to see, you know, more of that. Paul writes about what kind of ministers there are, right, who are traveling and who are, you know, doing all kinds of things, and it is only for their selfish gains to watch out for them, okay? He warns the church about such kind of ministers, but here he is encouraging the church about Apollos and his ministry, and Timothy and his ministry is saying, you know, he's encouraging such kind of ministers, and also the ministry that they do, acknowledging that, affirming that, and asking the church to receive such kind of ministers and their ministry, okay? Okay, let's read from verse 13, watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love. I urge you brethren, you know the household of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of Akhaya, and that you have devoted, they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that you also submit to such and to everyone who works and labours with us. I am glad about the coming of Stephanus, Fortunatus and Akhaya because for what was lacking on your part, they supplied, for they refreshed my spirit and yours, therefore acknowledge such men. So here, after talking about Timothy and Apollos, he goes on to encourage them and again talk about a couple of other ministers, right? So he encourages them by saying, you know, watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love. Okay, so he's saying, you know, watch, the Lord Jesus said, watch and pray that you don't fall into temptation. And so similarly saying, you know, you watch meaning, be vigilant, be awake, be sober minded, be alert, right? Be on your guard because there is an enemy. So it's not time, it's not the time to lower your guard and compromise and be complacent. He's saying, be alert, be vigilant and be watchful. Just like the Lord said, watch and praising, watch. Okay, and then he uses another word, stand fast, which means that, you know, it means that in the army or in the military, that to be, to be, of course, vigilant, but to be orderly, to be disciplined. Right. So first of all, to be awake, to be alert, to be vigilant. And secondly, to, not to be disorderly, to be orderly, to be disciplined, to be determined to be in order, right? In the army and especially when they march, it is always in, you know, rank and file, right? Everyone knows their place. They are not disorderly when it comes to whoever's leading them, right? When there is a captain or a centurion or whoever is there leading, there is always order and submission and obedience, right? So saying, stand fast in the faith in the sense, be disciplined, be orderly, do not be disorderly, right? Thirdly, he says, be brave. And apparently, this is the only place in the New Testament where, you know, this word is used. So he's saying, you know, be brave and be like a man, right? That's, that is what he says. Andri Zomai, the Greek word, which means, you know, be brave, be like men or be brave. So don't, don't be cowardly, but be manly or be brave, right? So be brave. And then he says, be strong, okay? Be fit, increase in strength, learn how to conquer and, and if need be even, you know, die conquering, so be strong. Again, a term that is used for the army or in the army, be strong, right? So he says, watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, and let all that you do, whatever you do, you do it as motivated by love, that all that you do, be done with love. Again, it's a repetition of what he writes in 1 Corinthians 13, chapter 13, where he writes about the motive for serving, the motive for the use of the gifts, right? The motive for all that, it has to be love. There has to be, it has to be expressed in love. You have to serve with love, okay? So then let all that you do be done with love. You know, you're doing, doing in the name of the Lord, you're doing for the, you know, for the benefit of the church, for the edification of the church. Let all that you do, okay, let it be done with love. Let it be done with the God kind of love, right? So let all that you do, let it be done with love. And he says, you know, it's, he's talking about agape there, everything that you do, be done with agape. Let it be unconditional and so on. Okay, then, then he talks about a few names this, Stephanus, Fortunators, and Akaiakas, and especially about Stephanus, he says they are the, they are the first fruits of Akaiak, you know, they are the, the people who actually became believers in Corinth. And, you know, we see in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 16 also, where he talks about, you know, how he baptized the household of Stephanus, right? So in Corinth, when he came and he ministered, this family, this individual and this family, Stephanus, and the household, they seem to be the ones who actually became believers in that region, like in Corinth. So Stephanus and his household, and he mentions them as the first fruits of Akaiak, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints, like they have, they've given themselves to serve, they are serving the people, serving the ministers of God, and everyone who, you know, probably they were, you know, like being hospitable to them, caring for them, caring for their needs, allowing them to probably stay with them, like so they are, and also, you know, taking care of the, of the church, like they are taking care of the ministry of the saints, so devoted to the ministry of the saints. So he says, therefore, you also submit to such, you submit to such kind of people who are leaders, submit to such, and everyone who works and labors with us, okay, the ones who work with us, the ones who minister to you, the ones who are part of our team, and they are, you know, working and ministering among you, so such people, you know, you submit to them, okay, and then he says, I'm glad about the coming of Stephanus, Fortunators and Akaiakers for what was lacking on your part, they, they supplied, so they seem to have taken care of some needs of all, and he says, you know, they're, whatever was lacking there supplied, for they refreshed my spirit, and yours, therefore, acknowledge such men, so he's saying, be submitted to such kind of people, leaders, and acknowledge such men, okay, recognize them, and acknowledge them, right, the churches of Asia greet you, Akila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house, all the brethren greet you, greet one another with the Holy, so he's saying Akila and Priscilla greet you, he's giving them, you know, sharing them greetings, and you know, we, we, we see that he meets with Akila and Priscilla in, in the book of Acts, when on his journey, he writes about them, and, and how they are also of the similar trade, right, so he mentions that also, and how he stayed with them, and he works with them, and ministers, and Akila and Priscilla are also those who actually help Apollos, right, they teach Apollos, the word of the Lord, accurately, and, and so on, right, so we read about that in Acts chapter 18, right, Acts chapter 18, he meets Akila and Priscilla in Corinth, and in, sorry, in Pontus, and, and then he meets, he meets with them, he spends time with them, also we read about Akila and Priscilla helping, ministering to Apollos, we read that towards the end of that same chapter, Acts chapter 18, okay, and, okay, then he also says that all the brethren greet you, greet one another with the Holy Kiss, so this is a way of greeting that the church had, so which was again, you know, we read about something that was cultural, like head covering, this is also something that is cultural, so cultural way of greeting one another, so, so he mentions that, and, and then he ends by saying, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, you know, let him be accursed, oh Lord come, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, my love be with you all in Christ Jesus, amen, okay, so, so ends the, you know, so he ends the epistle with these greetings, and also the greetings from the other believers, like Priscilla and Akila, so we see Priscilla and Akila actually, you know, doing ministry, and they are giving leadership to the church, and the church is meeting in their house, okay, so, so we see, you know, again, when it comes to the church, you know, where they meet, church is a people of God, so it's, it's, it's scriptural, you know, wherever the church, whether the people of God meet, they are the church, so here they are meeting in their house, so the church is meeting in the house, yeah, so we see all this here in chapter verse, sorry, chapter 16, okay, so any, any questions or doubts before we move on, and we move on to second Corinthians, any, any questions, any doubts, it can be in any of the other chapters also, what we looked at earlier, first Corinthians, okay, any questions at all, okay, so he covers quite a bit of, you know, instructions, and, and we see Paul actually, you know, saying that, now concerning this, now concerning this, and so he writes about, you know, food offered, idols concerning marriage, concerning, concerning, you know, gifts, gifts of the spirit, so about head covering, about headships, and so on, so about the resurrection, so many things he, he teaches, he lays down, and yeah, so he does that, okay, so let's, let's move on, if there are no questions, you're free to ask, of course, even during our, you know, our study into second Corinthians, if there is anything that comes up, you know, you can always ask, okay, okay, so let's look at second Corinthians, I think I've not uploaded the second Corinthians notes, but I'll do that, I'll do that at the end of this class, so you can, you know, follow that second Corinthians as well, right, okay, let me just check, have I uploaded it? I think you have to upload it, yes, okay, course notes, I will put it up, right, so you can follow it, okay, so let's look at, you know, second Corinthians, so second Corinthians, so Paul, you know, finishes this letter, and first Corinthians was probably written around AD 52, 53, we don't know, approximately around that time, right, and so people who came from Corinth or, or, you know, we read about the household of Phoebe, right, so they, sorry, Chloe, sorry, Chloe's household, in chapter one, one Corinthians one, verse 11, he talks about, you know, Chloe's household, that he hears about these things happening from this, you know, Chloe's household, so it could be either some of them who visited him, who took back the epistle to Corinth to be read in the church, to be shared with the church, or it could be Titus who did that, because we read that, you know, second Corinthians chapter two, let me just read that verse, second Corinthians two, and then verse 12, you know, he goes to Troyus to preach Christ, and says that Adore was open to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia, now thanks be to, you know, he goes on to write about that, so it could have been, you know, he was waiting for Titus to meet with him, and so he does not find him there in Troyus, so it maybe it was Titus was sent to, you know, sent back to Corinth, who carried the letter, okay, so he says that he planned to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, in chapter, you know, chapter 16 we read that, and then visit them at a convenient time, visit them, meaning visit Corinth, so we know that from Ephesus Paul went on to Macedonia, okay, so the Macedonia area would include cities like Neapolis, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, okay, see, if you look at Acts chapter 20 and verse 1, okay, so Acts chapter 19 is about what happened in Ephesus, and from there we see that he goes to Macedonia, okay, and then from there he travels there, and we look at some of those cities that are mentioned there in the Macedonian region, it's Berea, Philippi, and Thessalonica, and so on, okay, so this region he traveled, and while in this region is when he writes Second Corinthians, the second, what we know as the second epistle to the Corinthians, Second Corinthians, he writes from there, and he was, Paul went, goes through a very difficult time in Ephesus, sorry, in Macedonia, right, so lot of suffering, lot of difficulties, and he is, he is comforted by Titus' arrival, and when Titus comes and meets him, he's comforted, and he, you know, he writes about that also, and we see that from here that, well, Titus comes, meets with him, and we see in Second Corinthians 7, chapter 7 and verses 5 to 7, you know, we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, we were troubled on every side, verse 5, right, outside were conflicts, inside were fears, nevertheless God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by the, by his coming, but also by the consolation, which, which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoice even more, so Titus, you know, from Corinth, Titus is meeting Paul at, in, in Macedonia, and he is also bringing news of what is happening in the church at Corinth, right, so he's sharing about that, and he says he was greatly comforted by Titus' arrival there, and, and so Titus, accompanied by other brothers, like in chapter 8, we read about that, we'll come to that one by one, but so Titus carries the second letter, second episode, Paul writes to the Corinthians, and he goes from there, and also, you know, he is also supposed to, you know, make arrangements for collection, which he had actually reminded them, which is, you know, which we see in 1 Corinthians, so where he says, you know, at the first day of the week, you keep aside when you get, when you gather, so keep aside a certain sum of money, so, so Titus goes to complete that work, and collect, and to, and to, you know, take that collection to Jerusalem. Okay, so here it, with regard to the timeline, so we know that he wrote from Macedonia, but with regard to time, we probably around AD 56, okay, probably about three, two to three years, maybe after he wrote the first episode, okay, so again, it's an approximate time, and need not be very accurate, okay, so let's start with chapter one, and yeah, verse one, Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Akhaya. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all atribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now, if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer, or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. Okay, so Paul saying, you know, I'm called to be invited or appointed to be an Apostle, okay, Apostolos, one who sent a Delegate and Ambassador, like a commissioned one. So, he's saying that this is the will of God, right, by the will of God. Again, the same way he started the, you know, the first episode also, he's reiterating his greeting and he's reiterating the call and the fact that it is by the will of God. Okay, 1 Corinthians also says an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes our brother here says an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother and addressing the church. Timothy was of course part of Paul's ministry team and he was also there when Paul first went to Corinth and spent that time there. He was also along with Paul in the planting of the church and definitely, you know, he is familiar with the believers or would know the believers in Corinth so he's also referring to Timothy, Timothy our brother and to the church at Corinth and he says to all the saints who are in Akhaya, so the church, the city, the believers who are part of the church at Corinth and believers who are in Corinth and so the Ecclesia uses the word Ecclesia for the church, meaning the ones who are assembly of those ones, the gathering of the people who are called out for a particular purpose, called out for a particular purpose. So these are the saints or the sanctified ones, the believers who are called out Ecclesia for a particular purpose. Okay, so gathering of the saints. Now the gathering of the saints in the city of Corinth, so we know that Corinth is again known for its immorality, okay, known for its loose immoral lifestyle and there are these sanctified ones, the separated ones, the called out ones who are gathering and who are right there in such a city, in such a culture and obviously the objective is to be an influence for good, to be an influence for transformation and as we know, the purpose of the church is to be the body of Christ and fulfill the plans and purposes of Christ and the church would minister and Jesus would minister in that particular place. So that is the purpose of the church. So we see that all these believers in that place, in that city which is highly immoral at that time and to obviously to bring about change and so he says to this letter, this epistle is to the church of God at Corinth, the believers and to all the surrounding regions. So this would apply to them as well. So to be read out in all those other gatherings also for all those believers and as was customary, Paul is talking about the grace of God, says the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the grace meaning carous referring to again, these are things that we know and just reminding as a reminder, sharing this that grace of God referring to God's favor, God's enablement is empowering God's character and the gifts. So grace to you when he says grace to you is referring to all that, referring to the favor of God, referring to the empowering of God and also referring to the character of God and the gifts that come from him or everything. So it's divine favor, divine empowerment, divine virtues or divine character and also divine gifts like the gifts of grace. So we're saying the grace to you, so saying this is to you, it comes from God and peace from God, the Irene meaning harmony and safety and prosperity. So in other words, he's saying, total well-being and this grace, let it be with you. And as believers, we can walk in this and he's saying, he's blessing them with the grace and peace, grace and peace to you. So says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. So he's saying, Father of mercies and God of all comfort, mercy and grace comes from him, comfort comes from him. And he says, he's the originator, God is the originator of compassion or originator of comfort, God or the father of mercies, the father meaning he's the source, he's the one from which mercy and compassion flows. So he's saying, he's blessing, he's praising God, he's praising the Lord Jesus and he's saying, God the Father is a source, the originator of all mercy and compassion and also comfort. Paracletus is the word he uses there, he's the one who calls us alongside to comfort us. So he's the one who's merciful, he's the one who draws us near to comfort and console. So first of all, who comforts us in all our tribulation. So Paul is actually stating this with as a personal testimony, one who has experienced the comfort of God. So one who has gone through tribulations and at the same time, he has also experienced the comfort that comes through the tribulations in the tribulation, the comfort that comes from God. So he's saying, God is a source of the mercy, he's the one who draws me close to him to comfort me, to strengthen me, to encourage me. So now, you know, I'll praise to him who comforts us in our tribulation. And the second part of that verse 4 is that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the same comfort that we have received from God. Okay, so that's the thing. God comforts us in all our tribulation. And the purpose of that comfort is not just for us, that we may in turn pass on what we have received through him. Okay, what we have received firsthand, personally through him, that we might be able to comfort those who are having the same kind of trouble, any kind of trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted. And the word, you know, tribulation, the word used there is tlipsis, which means oppression, you know, like a strong lot of pressure, it's like pressing, it's like putting on, you know, maybe you have a stack of clothes or newspaper or something, and just press it down, you know, it just goes down. And with that weight of you pressing down, it's some similar kind of thing. So he's saying, you know, this tribulation, it's like that, it's just weighing down and pressing us down. But God comforts us like in that situation, so that we can comfort others who are also weighed down, burdened and pressed down. Okay. And so he gives the ability to do that. Okay, so one thing that we need to understand is that, you know, every tribulation, every kind of trouble that we go through is, again, an opportunity for us to experience this comfort. See, God is a God who comforts, he's a God, he's the originator, he's a source of comfort. You know, just like how we read in, you know, Hebrews, we see that looking unto Jesus, Hebrews 12, the author, the author and the finisher of our faith, which means the author, meaning faith comes from him, he's a source of faith when he speaks, and when we receive it, when we hear it, there is faith that is birthed in our hearts. The same way, he here, God is the author, our God is the source of mercy and grace, compassion and grace and also comfort. So we receive that and to comfort others, but every time we go through a similar kind of tribulation or we or others go through similar kind of tribulation and trouble and oppressive pressure, then we are candidates for that kind of mercy and that kind of comfort. So we qualify or it's an opportunity for God to, you know, to release that mercy and comfort, and it's an opportunity for us to receive that mercy and comfort because Paul says, you know, for as the sufferings of Christ abound, verse 5, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now, sufferings of Christ abound, so it is suffering in ministry, it is the trouble that is all the tribulations that are happening because of their stand for Christ. So that we should understand. It is because they have decided to live for Christ because of the faith in Christ and because of the ministry for the sake of the kingdom of God. So the sufferings of Christ abound in us, it uses that phrase, sufferings of Christ. So for the sake of the sake of Christ, for the sake of whatever, you know, the ministry work, suffering of Christ abound in us. So also, consolation, comfort through Christ also abounds in us. So, you know, as this increases, the comfort also increases. And in the later chapter, he writes about the kind of difficulties in chapter 11. And he writes about 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. He writes about the kind of difficulties, you know, how he was whipped, how he was put in prison, and how they threw stones at him, you know, he was shipwrecked, and there was dangers in the sea and everything, all that he went through, how all that happened. It's very clearly in 2nd Corinthians 11. And Romans chapter 8 also talks, like when he says, triumph in all these things, you know, over all these things we triumph. He writes about that also. So those are some of the sufferings of Christ, you know, which abound in the life of the believer and the minister, and specifically in Paul's life. Right. So that is something for us also, you know, when we go through these tribulations, we can be certain that we can receive the comfort from God, tribulations of this nature, or even otherwise, that we can be certain that since he is the Father, since he is the source, we can receive from him. Right. Verses 6 and 7 says, you know, the sufferings that they all went through is for the sake of the gospel. Okay. The sufferings that they endured, the sufferings that he says in verse 6. Now, if you are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings, which we also suffer. So he's saying, you know, you also who have received the comfort, you can also endure the suffering in the same manner. Right. He's saying, you know, we suffered for the sake of the believers, for the sake of the church, for the sake of ministry, and there is much fruit in the kingdom of God because of this. Right. Saying, which is, and our hope for you is steadfast. No. We know that as you are partakers of the suffering, so you will also partake of the consolation. So he's saying, you know, we have gone through this tribulation, we have experienced the comfort in the same way you as the church, you as the believers to whom we minister, even as you are partakers of the same kind of sufferings, you will also be partakers of the consolation. Right. Verse 7. So to you also, you will partake of the consolation. It is of the consolation. Right. Let's look at verse 8. Verse 8 onwards says, for we do not to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble, which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and thus deliver us in whom we trust that he will still deliver us. You also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. Okay. So here again, if you recall, there's another place where he uses that phrase, we do not want you to be ignorant. In the first episode also, he says, we don't want you to be ignorant. It says when it comes to the spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be ignorant. And here also, he says, concerning this, we do not want you to be ignorant. So we don't want you to be without knowledge and without understanding about the kind of trouble which came to us in Asia. It says it was really a difficult time. They were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that they despaired even of life. They thought that they would not live anymore. So this was such was the kind of difficulty. And he writes about that in several places in the second first episode, of course, he writes. And here also he writes in chapter 11 and so on. So Paul is sharing about that. And then he says, we have the sentence of death, verse 9, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us. So this phrase, sentence of death, so what does it mean? When we say the court passes a sentence or the judge passed a sentence or pronounced the judgment, it means that it's the final verdict given by the judge. So he uses that phrase sentence of death, meaning that we had no hope. There was this verdict, the final verdict was pronounced and all the discussions of the case, everything is over and it's as if the final verdict was passed and we had this sentence of death. This verdict was that we should lose our lives the sentence of death and we were carrying this, we had the sentence of death in ourselves. So we could trust only in Christ, only in Jesus, we could trust only in the Lord and saying he's the one who raises the dead. So we carried the sentence of death, meaning there's no other go, it was as if that was the final thing, but we trusted in Christ. Since we were carrying, we were facing such an impossible situation that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God and but this is what God does, God raises the dead. So he's saying that we put our trust in him, that our trust should be in him, in God who does the impossible things, who makes the impossible possible. So our trust was in him, we could not put our trust in anyone else, we could not put our trust in any other human being because such was the nature of the difficulty that we went through. We carried the sentence of death wherever we went. And he says, this God who raises the dead, he delivered us from death and does deliver us, and in whom we trust that he will still deliver us. So the thing is he delivered us, he continues to deliver us and we put our trust in him that he will he will deliver us in the future also. Okay, so we'll stop here and then we'll continue in our next class from from verse 10 onwards. Okay, so thank you. Have a great week. God bless. See you. Bye-bye.