 Welcome back everyone. We can resume where we had stopped. We had just seen how Paul makes an escape from the city of Ephesus and we also saw how he goes to a different place from there. But now he has, if you count the number of people within about a seven member team, you know, as he is continuing on his third missionary journey. So let me quickly show us a map of the third missionary journey, which will be helpful to capture all that we've been discussing about. Okay, I hope you can see it, everybody, are you able to see? Okay, wonderful. All right, so let's look at this. We said earlier that he finished a second missionary journey, went to Antioch. We didn't read too much about, you know, what happened in Antioch, but then the third missionary journey began very quickly. And the specialty of the third missionary journey is you don't really see, you know, new ministry as such. The route is the same route, you know, that Paul had taken earlier. So, primarily the main cities are the earlier cities are the ones that you continue to read about, but we know that he spent most of his time in the city of Ephesus. So we start off at Antioch, the upper regions, remember we said Galatia, this is like the region of Galatia, you can see the name written over there. So the region of Galatia. So he went through there, came directly to Ephesus this time around. And he stayed there. He taught in the school of tyrannous. And what else did we see? We saw all the supernatural things that took place through his ministry, the uproar that was caused because of the man called Demetrius. Demetrius was a silver smith. He was a silver smith who made the shrines of Dinah and then that was by God's grace, it was quietened by a clerk and Paul escaped. Now he makes his journey out of Ephesus when the time got, you know, there was a rise in opposition and things got difficult. He moves out, he goes to Troas and then he goes to the Macedonian region. Okay, so this is, we saw last time that this is the present day Greece, this is the present day Greek region. So he goes to the Macedonian region and will go to cities such as Neapolis, Philippi, Thessalonica, Beria and then come to the Achaean region. And the important city of Achaea is Corinth. We also know that, you know, he had already ministered in Athens so likely that he went assumption. You know, some people say that he did go there as well. He may have gone there and he may have spent some time there. So he goes to Corinth and then he comes back, right? He comes back. It takes slightly different route from here. So we will read about all these city names. We will read about, you know, Samos, Mithili. Then he will come back. We will read about Miletus, over your pronouns and then he's making his way back to Jerusalem. So the reason why he wants to go to Jerusalem is actually we construct the understanding of Paul's ministry and, you know, Paul's intentions with the help of the epistles as well. Okay, so though we read the book of ads, we don't get the full picture. So we have to pick scriptures from the epistles to add more to the life of Paul. Okay, now we are doing this course. It's about the book of acts, but it's also about the life of Apostle Paul. So I'll just share some of the things that he may have done and we are picking all this up through the epistles and I would encourage you to particularly go back to the APC publication known as Revivals, Visitations and Moves of God. And I'm told us that there is an account of the book of acts and the life of Paul has been very beautifully reconstructed in the chapter from that book. Okay, so that's how we will gain an understanding. So this would be the third missionary journey of Apostle Paul. He goes to Jerusalem. We know that he goes there because he wanted to take relief to the impoverished believers of Jerusalem. So that was one of the reasons why he was in such a hurry to head towards Jerusalem. So he goes there and from there we will see a very sad sort of an ending coming upon Paul. So we will see his first imprisonment. After this, we will see his second imprisonment in Rome and finally, you know, his sunset years or the last few years that he will actually be able to live here on the earth. I'm just trying to give a defense for himself and which is why we also look at the book of acts as that defense brief that Dr. Luke wrote for Apostle Paul. So that's how his life ends. We read about the third missionary journey and then of course are the imprisonments and the last days of Paul. Some people term the imprisonments because that is also a journey. You'll notice that he had to travel. He had to travel from one place to the other place to be tried by the Roman authorities. Some people call that as the fourth missionary journey because, you know, knowing Paul, he was never quiet. He was never silent. He was always giving witness to the gospel that he believed in. So you might find in some literature that they have an additional missionary journey that they attribute to Paul, but basically it was more about his imprisonment and his last days. So intentional church planting equipping sort of a missionary journey of Paul is this third missionary journey, which is rather long. 53 AD, 258 AD and he spent most of his time. You know, some people say three years. Some people say more than three years he spent in Ephesus. So that was the place where a lot of his ministry took place. So let's continue from here. I hope that you now have a good picture. Oh, I missed all your comments. You're not able to see the city. Okay, we observe that Silas did not accompany Paul in his third missionary journey. There is no mention, Brother Manohar. So I don't know if he left somewhere midway and I can't recall from the epistles about the exact place still where Silas traveled with Paul. Of course, we know in Philippi he was there. He was imprisoned together with him. But later on, yeah, we don't read about him. So maybe he departed and he headed back to Jerusalem. Okay, do you want me to show the map again in case you couldn't see the cities? Yes, of course, sir. Yeah. Is it clear? Yeah, sure, sure. Let's do that. I'll try to zoom in. He increases. Are you able to see now? He better? Yeah, now better. Okay, okay. So then you can have a good look. Antioch, Galatia region, straight away to Ephesus, taught here, you know, demonstrated the supernatural here. Opposition arose, so traveled out, pro-ass. So we saw about the seven member team, then he will go to the Macedonian region, spend some time here. So Macedonian cities are, here you have it, Neopolis, Philippi, Thessalonica, Peria, Achaean region, you have Corinth and maybe he spent some time in Athens also. And then from there, return. So you can see the arrows, hopefully. So the arrow heads back. So he's just strengthening the churches, heading back, slightly different route on his way back. Italy, Chios, Samos, then, you know, Trojillium, Miletus, and then he makes his way back. We will see that he'll go down to Jerusalem. So he's in a hurry to take relief back. He'll touch Tyre, Ptolemos, Caesarea and Jerusalem finally. And here Jerusalem acts 21. You will see how he gets, they seize him and from there starts his imprisonment and, you know, later on all his trials and all of that. So third missionary journey, officially, we are saying it ends, you know, with his trip back to Jerusalem. We don't read all the other missionary journeys where like a full circle, he went back to Antioch, the base church, the mother church, but no more. Right? So this time around, he's stuck in Jerusalem. He took the aid back. He collected some money for Jerusalem. And also, you know, collecting money from different churches just shows the feeling of brotherhood and unity and, you know, camaraderie between the local churches. And it's beautiful. So whatever the others could give, they gave and he took it back to Jerusalem. So I hope you have a better understanding now. So this would be the third missionary journey. So this again is your Asia Minor region. This is present day Europe. So two continents. Now we know in our current way of looking at the maps, this is obviously Asia. So this is Asia, this is Europe. So you see how it acts, 1-8. The promise that God, Jesus gave the disciples is, you shall be my witnesses, right? Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So ends of the earth, not really, you know, they did touch the ends of the earth. But thank God, they were at least able from their place here, right? We have Judea, Syria, all those places here. From there, they at least went, touched another continent. They touched the continent of Europe. So Asia, Europe. But of course, with so many leaders raised up, churches planted. We know that from that point up until now, the work of the gospel has not stopped. So the ends of the earth, it's happening. Remember, we began in the introduction of Acts. The book of Acts, we said Acts 29 is who we are now and the gospel is being preached through our lives to the ends of the earth. So some regions were actually covered by the ministry of Paul and the team members. So agency is also another important part that you might come across. So you can register that agency. Okay. All right. So we stopped sharing the map and let's go back to Acts 20. We have seen how Paul, you know, he left Ephesus, he went to Macedonia and in Greece he spent three months. So a few other things we can pick up from the epistles is that it's likely that when Paul was in Ephesus, he wrote first Corinthians. So he wrote that book to instruct the Corinthians. Remember, he had to flee Corinth, right? Even there, there was a lot of opposition. So he wrote the book from Ephesus. Okay. And it is said that he wrote second Corinthians from Macedonia. So Paul was in Macedonia and that's where he actually wrote the second book of Corinthians. Later on, when he goes to Corinth, it is said that he wrote an epistle to the Romans. So, you know, the book of Romans was written when Paul was in Corinth. So these are all, where are we getting all this information? We are getting this information from the epistles, you know, things that he will mention when he writes these letters. And I'm not mentioning the scripture, the chapter and verse, but I'm taking this information from the APC publication. Okay. Revivals, visitations and Moves of God. So you could study it from there. So now we are in Macedonia with Paul. And let's continue at chapter 20. So from verse seven. Yeah, verse seven. Let's move on. Ministering at Troas. Okay. So he goes to the Akan region. Now he's back. He's back at Troas. Could somebody please read from verse seven to verse 12. Now on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul ready to depart the next day spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And in the windows had a young certain young man called Utesis, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep. And as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him and embracing him said, Do not trouble yourself for his life is in him. Now when he had come up at broken bread and eaten and talked long while, even to daybreak, he departed. And they brought the young man in alive and they were not a little comforted. Yes, thank you, Christopher. Never a dull moment in the ministry of Paul during his missionary journey. So he comes back to Troas and the kind of individual that Paul was, he wanted to ensure that he equipped all these believers really well. So praise God in Ephesus. He had, you know, that kind of time in the school of tyrannous. So two years, you can just imagine together with me two years is a long time. And he was teaching in the school of tyrannous. You know, every day and commentators say that he would have probably taught from the time of, let's say 11 a.m. to about 4 p.m. every day, because that could have been the break time of the school of tyrannous. And it would have also been the time when people probably rested from their vocations. So that rest time, Paul made use of that. And for two years, thousands of hours, he stopped them. What in all did Paul teach them? You know, we can pick up bits and pieces from here and there, but we can assume that he covered, you know, everything he knew from the scriptures, from the teachings of Jesus which were passed on to him, from the experiences of the apostles. You know, absolutely everything that he could cover, he would have taught the people there in Ephesus. So he was the kind of person who wanted to impart and you see his desire, his concern, you know, when he writes to the Corinthians, we read about the concern which he had for all the churches. So he comes across as this apostle with a great burden, incredible burden for the churches that he planted, the believers that he raised up. So now he's in this place called Troas and we can observe that there, the church is established there or Ecclesia, the gathering of believers and they have a pattern somehow. Okay, till now we didn't read first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread. Earlier we read they went from house to house breaking bread. They were meeting daily, they were meeting in homes, they were meeting in the temple. That's what we saw when the church actually began in the book of Acts. But now somewhere you read about the first day of the week when bread was broken, so communion, communion on the first day of the week. So Sunday people take that as Sunday first day of the week, communion was taken by the churches. So many churches adapt this and they practice it. But then these practices have emerged over time and for whatever reason such things were practiced and of course they are adopted by some of the churches today. So we see a pattern. Okay, what else? So Paul, ready to depart to the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. So you see his concern. He's making use of the time that he has. He didn't have much time in Troas but he wants to impart maximum. So Paul, the zealous guy that he is, he's talking and talking and talking and is going on till midnight. Just think with me. These days if you have a service which is slightly longer, people will already be quite tired and they will have feedback for you for the pastor. Why is it being dragged for so long? But the people in Troas, they were eager to listen because Paul, I'm sure he had an idea that he may never come back in this direction again and he had to deliver the message that God had put in his heart. No matter how long it takes. So Paul is talking till midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. So they had lit up the place to ensure that people were comfortable. They were able to listen to Paul's message. So there was a certain young man by the name of Eutychus who was sinking into a deep sleep. So there are some places where you read about the layout of the place where these believers of Troas gathered. It's likely that he was sitting in some corner, something like a balcony. He was sitting in a place like that and he was overcome by sleep. Why was he overcome by sleep? Again, we can make some assumptions. These people would have worked all day long. They were first of all tired. Second, Paul is talking so much. He's dragging his message up until midnight. So it's a rather long sermon that he has. And because of the lamps, so they used to light these lamps with some kind of a fuel. And maybe the smell of that oil burning was also something that was uncomfortable. It could have caused people to feel drowsy. So because of all these reasons, this man, Eutychus, a young person, he fell asleep and the unthinkable happened. What happened? He was overcome by sleep as Paul continues speaking. He fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. So unfortunate. He fell from the third story and he was actually dead. So some people joke around and say that people even slept when Paul preached. So it's okay. Someone sleeps when you're preaching. Don't feel too bad about it. But we know there were other reasons why this man could have fallen asleep. But then what happens when this sad incident takes place? You see the supernatural power of God. Think about a preacher who's preaching and somebody falls dead in your meetings. What would you do if you were the preacher? What would you do? Paul went down, fell on him, embracing him. He said, do not trouble yourselves for his life is in him. Basically, he ministered to this young man and this young man was resurrected back to life. Paul goes back. He continues his meeting. They broke bread. They ate. He talked till daybreak. Then he departed. So just think about this. Nothing could stop him, not even a dead man. He just went to minister to the dead man. The man was raised from the dead. And of course we read when he was leaving Troas. The man was brought back. He was actually alive because he had risen from the dead. So incredible ministry there in Troas by Paul. Yeshri Kumar, you have some comments? I have a question. Pastor in the seventh word and in the eleventh word, the Bible, he is saying that they broke the bread and eaten. So is it represents to the Holy Communion? Because both the time they took the Communion after the resurrection and after. Thank you. That's my question. Is that the Communion it represents Communion? Yeshri Kumar. That language is used for Communion only. Went house to house, breaking bread. Breaking bread is Communion. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you for noticing that within 24 hours twice they actually had the Communion. That's what we understand. Okay. So that's how he ministered in Troas and he went ahead from there. So let's read on from verse 13. Could somebody please read till 16, 13 to 16? Yeshasha, today seems to be your day. Please go ahead. Paul went by land to Ososis where he had arranged for us to join him. While we traveled by ship, he joined us there and we sailed together to Meteorium. The next day we sailed past the island of Troas. The following day we crossed to the island of Samos. When a day later we arrived at Mutes. Paul had decided to sail on pacificus for he didn't want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem if possible in time for the festival of Pentecost. But when we landed at Mutes, he sent a message. Sarah Caster. That's okay. Yeah, that's fine. So, you know, as it is given here, it's quite clear. It's basically just covering the locations where Paul had been and mention of all those places that we saw on the map. You know, Mitalin, Chios, Samos, Trojillium, Miletus. And Paul, it says decided to sail past Ephesus, meaning he didn't want to go there because recently, a couple of months ago, there was this uproar. So it was dangerous for him to actually go back. So he didn't go to Ephesus, but he was hurrying to move to Jerusalem. He wanted to be there possibly on the day of Pentecost so that he could take the relief. So, no problem, Asha, we will continue to read. But maybe someone else can read because she's already read quite a bit. So from verse 17, would someone please be able to read? You can read till 38. The entire section. 17 to 38. Yes, Kom. Asha, can you hear me? I can hear you. Okay. For 17 onwards. But when we landed on Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him. When they arrived to declare, you know that from the day I set foot on the province of Asia until now, I have done the Lord's work humbly and with many tears. I've endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shined back from telling you what you needed to hear either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike. The necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God on having faith in our Lord Jesus. And now I am bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work. Assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God. And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the kingdom will ever see me again. I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it is not my fault. For I didn't shrink back from declaring that God wants you to know. Declaring all that God wants you to know. So guard yourselves and God's people. Feed and shepherd God's flock his church, purchase with his own blood, for which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. I know that false teachers like vicious wolves will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and disorder the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out. Remember the three years I was with you, my constant watch and care over you day and night and my many tears for you. And now I entrust you to God in the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself. I've never coveted anyone's silver or gold or fine clothes. You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus. It is more blessed to give than to receive. When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. They all cried as they embraced and kissed him goodbye. They were sad most of all because he said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship. Yes. Thank you. That was again a pretty long passage there. But it very beautifully summed up the heart of Paul, the heart behind the ministry that he did, especially for the Ephesians. So, you know, we know that he did not go to Ephesus because it was dangerous at this point for him to visit the city. But what he did was he asked for the leaders. So, it was 17 from Miletus. He sent to Ephesus meaning he asked, he had sent somebody. He asked that person to invite the elders of the church to come to Miletus where he was. So, the elders came. So, notice so many things we are observing. You know, first day of the week when they broke bread. So, there are some patterns that have emerged in local churches, patterns of their format, their leadership structure. So, elders of the church. So, there were elders in the Church of Ephesus. So, it's no longer just the apostles managing the churches, but there are leaders, there are elders. So, the elders of the Church of Ephesus came. Now, what else do we read? He begins to talk to them. And this speech or the sharing is very heartfelt because Paul knows that he will not have another opportunity to talk to the elders. So, do you see the kind of relationship that he has built with the people? Yes, he taught them for two years, but it was not like, okay, let me equip you, you go do the work of the ministry and that's about it. But he had built a very, you may even say there was an emotional connect that he had with these people whom he had raised up in the Lord. So, it was very heartfelt sharing and he was pouring out his heart in other words. So, basically he touches on different things that might be relevant to the elders. So, he shares about his own intentions. He says that he served the Lord with a good attitude, with all humility. Humility before God, before man, he served the Lord. He served during trials. So, the elders of the Church of Ephesus had already seen how there was an uproar against Paul and how he must have struggled. Initially, he tried sharing to the Jews, but they were not very receptive. So, he had to find the school of terriness. So, it was not easy. He struggled in his ministry in Ephesus and they had observed it. That's why he's saying many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept that nothing that was helpful. So, you see with humility, with suffering for Christ. And the suffering is suffering opposition, suffering persecution for Christ. And then he goes on to say that his ministry was such that he gave it his best. So, he said, I kept nothing back. The way we see passages in the Old Testament which says enlarge your tents, hold nothing back. Paul never held anything back. He gave his all in the ministry and he says, I never held anything back that would have been helpful to you but proclaimed it to you and taught you. How did he minister? He says, both publicly and house to house. So, he made every effort to impart the word and the work of the spirit to these believers at every opportunity. And verse 21, he's in testifying to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So, basically the proclamation of the gospel. He goes on to say that he is no longer accountable in the sense that he has done his best. He exhausted his energy, his resources. He held nothing back so that the Greeks and the Jews would hear the gospel and have an opportunity to respond to the gospel. And he ministered in such a way that he did not even count his life dear. So, we are observing that it was quite dangerous in every city right from the beginning. You remember city of Antioch from that time there were crowds which were against Paul and they were even chasing him city after city but that did not stop him. The fear for his own life, his own preservation, his own protection that did not stop him. But he continued the work of the ministry. But look at his intention, very beautiful in verse 24. He says, now do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish. So, that is the kind of person Apostle Paul was. His eyes were fixed on the goal. In our first year we've done that fulfilling God's purpose for our life. Apostle Paul is a beautiful example. Of course Jesus is always our greatest and best example but Apostle Paul is another additional example for us of a man who wanted to fulfill the purpose of God for his life. And he says that I may finish my race with joy. So, he wanted to finish the work that God gave him well with joy. Simply tells us that he wanted to do it well, complete it with excellence and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. So it basically is just pouring his heart out and we can see that and he was telling the elders, look I did my best and my goal, my intention is to finish this ministry that the Lord Jesus has called me to do. And he goes on and he says that nobody has an excuse because I've shared the gospel. So, you know, I'm not responsible for the blood of all men, he says, or his way of saying that the opportunity is before all because I did my job of preaching the gospel. Now it's up to them if they want to respond or not. And then he goes on to encourage the leaders and see how beautifully he puts it. He says the way I have, you know, held on to the ministry that God gave me, I want you to hold on. So he says, take heed or take hold on to the ministry that God has called you to. And he also says to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. So who is it who gives us the ministry? He points out here, he says the Holy Spirit, all you elders, you received your responsibility, your ministry from the Holy Spirit. So God is the one who gave you the ministry, not you by yourselves, but God gave you the ministry. So take it seriously, take it, hold on to it, you know, serve well in the ministry that God has given you. And he says the Holy Spirit has made you overseers or the Holy Spirit has made you the elders to shepherd the church of God. So what is the responsibility of the elders? Beautiful shepherd, just the way Jesus is our good shepherd. He's a shepherd to the extent that, you know, the good shepherd lays down his life. So building up the church, nurturing the church in every way possible, even sacrificially, you know, if it calls for that. So he says elders, you be good shepherds to the church to which the Lord Jesus or the Holy Spirit has assigned you. And how did he actually, you know, bring this or give birth to this church or the body of Christ? He says he purchased with his own blood. Okay, very beautiful. So we recognize that the church is so precious, the body of believers is so precious. You know, we don't take the body of believers lightly because it isn't free. The Lord Jesus paid his blood as a ransom. He gave his life as a ransom to purchase the body of believers and which is why we must value every believer. Okay, anyone part of the kingdom of God, we have very high value because their life in Christ didn't come easy. Lord Jesus himself shed his blood for these people to be purchased. So you see how Paul is thinking about the church and why the church is so valuable to him and why he has put his life on the line to raise up and equip the body of believers. That's a very heartfelt message. He's clarifying his intentions and how he is actually thinking about the ministry, how he is actually thinking about the people of God. It would really help us as we serve God's peoples. He uses all these things, these words that says the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, shepherd the church, which God has purchased with his own blood. And then he goes on to say that there will come a time where you might even have to deal with opposers within the church. He puts it as there will be wolves, savage wolves, he says, among you will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. So false teachers, false prophets, people with wrong intentions may arise from among you. But please make sure that you continue to shepherd the flock or protect the flock from all kinds of wrong teachings. So he's warning them, he's warning them and verse 31, therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So he had done intentional and sacrificial ministry among the church of the Ephesians and he says, please preserve what I have done. Don't let any of these false teachers or false prophets or false apostles have their way. So basically he's telling them, you have the responsibility to protect the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to come and then he encourages them and he tells them, I want you to hold on to the word. So in verse 32 he says the word of God which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. So you see the value that Paul placed on the word. No wonder, thousands of hours he taught the people the word. How is it that the people can overcome external opposition, internal challenges just by themselves or just by their state of being motivated or inspired. It's not possible. It wouldn't be possible by just being encouraged and motivated. They needed something concrete and that was the word of God. And so he's reminding them, look for two years I taught you the word because the word has the ability to build you up, to give you the inheritance among the saints. So it's so important. This is how churches should be built, equipped, strengthened, established without the word of God being taught to the believers. They will never be able to grow up in the Lord. So all this is coming from Paul's heart and he's saying, see this is how I've done the ministry. I want you to continue this. Hold on to the word because it is the word which has the ability to build you up. And then he talks about his sincere work. He says, I did not covet anyone's silver or gold or apparel. So again, so much to learn from this. As ministers of God, if there was one person who could have gained the favor of the people and we know there were many rich people in his team. And even when you look at the city of Ephesus and we saw one to five million dollars of money was burnt up as these people who had turned from black magic, put their faith in the Lord Jesus. So there were opportunities for Paul to build his own kingdom to amass wealth for himself. He could have done all kinds of things but he says, look, I was very sincere. I had only one goal. I wanted to win people for the gospel, equip people in the word of God, establish them so that the kingdom of God is established. I did not have any sort of covetous intention, silver or gold or apparel. My eyes were not on those things to build myself up. And then he goes on to say, yes, you yourselves know that these hands are provided for my necessities and for those who are with me. I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. So that was his attitude. What was Apostle Paul's attitude? As far as possible, I will sustain myself. I will not be a burden to the believers. I will have an attitude of giving wherever possible. I will give to the believers. He says that the believers and the elders had observed him laboring, working very hard. We know that he was a man who was so determined, so focused, so zealous for the gospel and so hardworking, so hardworking in the ministry but even in work so that he could have a good testimony. That nobody should be able to say, you stole from us or we were the ones who gave you the resources you needed. Did he take any help from believers and leaders? Yes, he did. But only at times when he needed that support, but in general, he was a man who worked very hard to maintain a good testimony among the believers and very hard touching. The last section of chapter 20 was 36 and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. It was 37, then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. 38, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke that they would see his face no more and they accompanied him to the ship. So there was a bond which had been built with these leaders and these believers and such a beautiful bond. He never looked at them as, okay, you're my work, now you go extend the kingdom and that's all. There was a relationship, there was love, there was tenderness. They were able to relate with him in such a close and intimate way. And so there was really a beautiful bond that he had developed with the elders of Ephesus and I'm sure knowing Paul's attitude and approach, this would have happened in all the churches. But the good thing was he had a lot of time in Ephesus. Okay, so let's pray, we'll wrap up for today and we have three more classes so we should be able to complete the book of Acts. Could somebody please pray as we close? Finally, Father, Lord, we thank you for this powerful teaching from the life of Paul. Lord, so precious teachings for the thank you of this law help us to emulate it and to imbibe it into our life, Father, that we may follow this pattern in our life also. He has preached day and night without ceasing in spite of persecution still or what a beautiful verses he spoke to the Ephesian church. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for teaching it. Thank you for the precious teaching from Pastor Nancy. Blessed Lord Emmanuel for the ministry he is doing and their passion for teaching like this to the people. We thank you and even praise you, help us Lord. I have heard this in a fully, Lord, taken into our hearts and spirits and let this be our pattern also in our life. How you said that, that I may finish my race with John, help everyone of us also to say the same word in our life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen. Thank you Brother Manohar. Thank you everyone. Thank you for staying on longer. God bless you. Have a great weekend. We shall meet again next Friday. Bye for now.