 Welcome back everyone, we are in Acts chapter 1, we will continue from the same passage. Alright, so we said that in this passage we have the ascension of the Lord Jesus being spoken of by Luke. He makes it very clear that you know Jesus is now ascended up into heaven. He talks a little bit about the ministry of Jesus. He talks about the Trinity. He talks about the empowering work of the Holy Spirit even in the life of Jesus. Why is it so? Simply because the Lord Jesus was fully man and we know that. We know that he also needed the power of the Holy Spirit in order to move in signs, wonders and miracles. That's a very encouraging thought because we all have the same Holy Spirit in our lives to help us. We see how Jesus spent 40 days continuing to do his wondrous works among people. As 1st Corinthians chapter 15 reminds us there were at least 500 people. Many people which is about 500 people who witnessed him and who saw this resurrected Jesus. So it's a historical event, 40 days after when we know that the Lord Jesus when he was taken into trial and he died. It was the Passover and many rituals of the Passover activities of the Passover are talked about during the death of Jesus Christ. So 40 days after the Passover Jesus was around with the people and we saw how the focus of God doesn't change. The message doesn't change. So even when Jesus was resurrected and ministering to the same disciples, he stuck to the message pertaining to the kingdom of God. And that is a reminder for us. We must not move away from the core theme of the Gospel. We must not move away from the Lord Jesus being our central message. We should not move away from preaching about the demonstration of the Gospel and all the essentials that so far have become the foundation of what we believe. We must continue to speak the same things and that's what Jesus said. He talked about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now let's move ahead to verse 4 here. And we see how these disciples were during the resurrection of Jesus and meaning at the time when Jesus was with them before the ascension. So in verse 4 it says, and we assemble together with them. He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem. So what's happening now? Jesus is not ascended. He's going to ascend and Luke is saying that Jesus was with the resurrected Christ was with the disciples. He gave them a command. What was the command? He said, don't go from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said, You have heard from me for John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So Jesus talked about the kingdom of God. Now Jesus is also talking about something else that is important. And we are going away on a long vacation or a long break or some assignment where we are going to leave behind the people that we work with or the people at home. What do we do? We give them the most important instructions. So first he spoke about the kingdom of God and now he's talking about the Holy Spirit because he knows that the Holy Spirit is so important for each believer. So he's commanding them. He tells them, look something special is going to happen in Jerusalem and I don't want you to miss it. So he says wait. Wait means what? Wait until you receive. Wait till it comes to pass. Okay. So you need to receive it. You can't miss it. And that's the point here when he says you wait in Jerusalem till you receive what is in store for you. And he's referring to this upcoming event or what the people are going to receive as the promise of the Father. So what is the promise of the Father? The promise of the Father is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. If you go back to Matthew chapter three, even then John the Baptist seems to know about this promise where he says, Oh, look at this. We all the Lamb of God. This is Jesus. I baptize you with water, but you know, he will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire. So even John the Baptist knew about it. We know about the prophecy of Joel with the children of Israel would have been aware about and Jesus is actually talking about that. And he's calling it the promise of the Father. He's saying the Holy Spirit will come. You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So it's really beautiful because just in these verses, verse four, verse five, you see the Trinity. Why? Because I'm being assembled together with them. He commanded. He is who? The Lord Jesus. He talks about the promise of the Father. So the son, the father, and then later on, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. So we can find all three personalities and just these two verses and how beautifully they work together. So the promise of the Father. When we use the term promise, what do we expect? That has got to be a fulfillment. There is a promise, but there has got to be a fulfillment. So that was the special command of Jesus to the disciples. Look, something beautiful is going to happen. The promise that people waited upon all along is going to be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit will come and he will baptize it. So this is what he says, wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have heard from me. Jesus had already talked about this to the disciples for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. Also, let us recall that Jesus is talking to people who have already received the Holy Spirit as believers. You go back to John chapter 20, you will see, you know, over there you will see that Jesus is resurrected and he's ministering to the disciples. So at one point he breathes upon the disciples. What is breathing upon? It is the release of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. So we as believers, when we believe in Jesus Christ, what happens? The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us at that point itself. So where the disciples born again? Yes, we can say that they were born again because of the breathing of Jesus upon them and the Holy Spirit already went and began to dwell in them. So now what is Jesus doing? Jesus is talking about a different experience. They're already believers. They're already born again, the disciples. But he's saying, I want you to get something more. What is that? He says baptism, baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. So baptized, we talked about this in other courses, you know, baptism. When we look at that Greek word, it's the term immersion. So the way John baptized, how did John baptized? John baptized people unto repentance in water. So they were completely immersed in water and they came out of the water. Signifying now their new journey with the Lord, their renewed heart. Now in the same manner, Jesus is saying there's a separate experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit or being immersed in the Holy Spirit which I want you all to have. So totally, Jerusalem would wait for the promise of the Father. Very exciting. Wait for the promise of the Father. John baptized with water, but now you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. And Jesus also reminds them, I've already spoken about this to you and I really want you to get it. And over here, another reminder for us is that at this time when the disciples had not yet received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, only once you see Jesus telling them, wait. Nowhere else as we continue to read the book of Acts, you will notice nowhere else will you find the apostles or the believers telling other believers you have to wait for five days or 10 days or something like that to receive the Holy Spirit. There's no waiting component later on. In fact, in some instances, it's like they go, they lay hands, they pray and people are baptized. So they never tell people to wait for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That waiting is only in this first chapter where Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem because it was going to happen in Jerusalem. So let's clarify that because there are teachings where people tell people you have like, you know, teachers of the word tell believers you have to wait. You have to wait for many days or just wait upon the Lord and you will get the, you actually don't need to wait. That was an instruction given to the disciples by the resurrected Christ. Let's move on. If you have any questions or any point, please feel free to just talk to me and ask me. So we will try to delve deep into the truth that we can get from what we are reading. So verse six here says, Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? So, you know, the disciples are just being themselves. They know these are special moments. They know that Jesus is instructing them like this because he will go away and he won't be with them any longer. And they're asking irrelevant questions. They're so excited. They're like, we need to find out from Jesus about these crucial things. Why did he come? He came to die for the sins of the world. We saw him dying. So looks like the restoration of Israel is going to take place. So notice how they are disconnected to what God wants to unfold the way God wants to do things. Their questions are not even connecting to what God is wanting to do at that point in time. So they ask a disconnected question. They say, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Now the promise was there in Scripture that Israel would be restored. So it's nothing out of what Jesus had spoken that they were asking him. But the timing was not correct. They could have asked him many other questions. But at this point, they ended up asking him about the restoration of Israel. But that was not the immediate plan of God. So how did Jesus respond to their query? Verse 7, and he said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the father has put in his own authority. So he's saying valid question, but you know what? Just leave it to God regarding these times and seasons. You don't have to focus on this particular matter. He brings back their focus. He says, you know what? I will tell you what is important for you. It comes back to the point of the Holy Spirit. So just think about this as believers, the Holy Spirit is so important for us. That is what Jesus talked about repeatedly. He said, wait, don't miss it. You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I've already told you about it. And then he's saying, don't ask those questions because the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon you. That is what you should be focusing on. He comes back to the Holy Spirit verse 8. He says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So Jesus is reminding the disciples, you need a different focus and that focus should be the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And he's explaining it to them. He's saying the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Remember, I said that they were already born again. So a born again believer, do they have the Holy Spirit in them? Yes, every born again believer, we already have the Holy Spirit in us. And the Holy Spirit does his work of leading us, of reminding us of Jesus, giving us the conviction about sin, righteousness and judgment. So he continues to do his work. But there is another special experience with the Holy Spirit that Jesus is explaining as, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The Holy Spirit coming upon the believers is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. So Holy Spirit is already inside. But another experience of the Holy Spirit coming upon us is also crucial for the believer. What will happen to the believer when they are baptized in the Holy Spirit? He says, you shall be witnesses to me. Are these people not witnesses right now? They continue to follow Jesus, isn't it? Yes, we know that the disciples were distracted. When Jesus went through his trial, Peter denied Christ. They were not, if you want to say it like the best disciples that Jesus could have expected. Yet they were witnesses for Jesus. Yet they were known as the disciples of Jesus. People associated them with Jesus Christ. But now Jesus is talking about another level of witnessing. You shall be my witnesses. You shall be witnesses to me. When you look at the word witness there, the Greek word is matus. Out of which we get the word matus. So it's almost like Jesus is saying, the kind of witness that you are going to be, that you will see the baptism in the Holy Spirit is, you will be like sold out. Not that all of us are going to be martyred, that's not the point. But it's that commitment. That level of commitment to Jesus, the level of the work of God in our lives and our love for God, which will be birthed in our hearts, it's going to be at another level. So you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to be end of the earth. So he is saying, you are going to be a special witness for me, greatly committed to me. You will see the power of God being demonstrated through your life and everybody is going to know about it. So how does he tell the disciples that everyone is going to know about it? By saying, you'll be my witness here and everywhere. So he is using that progressive way of speaking. Geographically, we know Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. So everyone will know that you belong to me and you are my witness. But for you to be such a powerful witness, you need the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And that is the reminder of the Lord Jesus. So notice two things that Jesus laid emphasis on and that Luke is pointing us to. He's saying, he talked about the things pertaining to the kingdom of God and then he speaks about the baptism in the Holy Spirit because as believers, the disciples needed it. As believers, we needed it. And these are the two things that Jesus had spoken of before he ascended. Now going to verse 9 here. It says, now when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up the whole, two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him going to heaven. Now, people have a question. What was the need for Luke to say that they watched him and he was taken up into heaven? He could have just said Jesus ascended and left it there. But there are explanations to why Luke may have said things like this. So, some commentaries say that after Jesus resurrected, people were talking, they were kind of making their own stories about Jesus. And once Jesus ascended, they could have been so many stories without sufficient proof, isn't it? So, Luke is making it very clear. He's saying, look, Jesus didn't escape to another nation or escape to another region. Let's make it very clear. All the disciples witnessed while they watched, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. So, he makes it very clear where did Jesus go? He ascended up into heaven. And a cloud received him. When we talk about the second coming of the Lord Jesus, we see that he's coming on the clouds. He's coming back on the clouds. So, it's like saying, he went into heaven and he come back from heaven to receive us. And Luke is making that very, very clear. He's also saying, they looked steadfastly toward heaven. Meaning, let's not have any confusion about this. They were watching as he was taken up. That is the real story here that Jesus ascended up into heaven as he went up and they were just watching the Lord Jesus. Now, we can imagine the emotions that the disciples could have been through. Oh, Jesus, you were with us. It was so good. Bread was multiplied. Wine was water turned into wine. Life was so beautiful with you, Jesus. And unfortunately, they saw the trial of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross and they must have been in anguish and grief at that point. But wow, once again, God does this wonder of resurrecting the Lord Jesus. And Jesus is back with them. The disciples would not have wanted to meet Jesus. If they had an opportunity, they would have held on to Jesus and said, don't go anywhere. We want you right here. Okay? But in front of their eyes, he's ascending up into heaven. So when Luke is telling, they looked steadfastly toward heaven. You can only imagine all the emotions that went through them and they're thinking, why is this happening? We want you back, you know, Jesus. What are we going to do? Maybe some of them would have been worried. How is life going to be? How will we be his witnesses? What is it that we have to do? But many questions and, you know, grief and I don't know if joy would have been a part of this list, but they were lost. They were only looking at Jesus and they were thinking, what do we do now? They looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up. You see, we are in positions where we are wondering, Lord, what do we do now? How do we go about our lives now? God is faithful to give us the essentials or, you know, the keys, whatever we need at that point. He already told them, look, you know what you need? We need the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Get it, okay? Don't forget it, forget it. You need to be grounded in the truth and be focused on that. Now, he is sending a reminder in the form of two men stood by them in white apparel. Now, the explanation about these men seems like they could have been angels. So, when we need an angel or when we need, you know, God to speak in a certain way to guide us, God is so faithful, he does it. So, there were two men in white apparel, most likely angels who stood by them and they told them kind of gallery. Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Or in other words, they are saying, don't worry, this is not the end of the story. There is so much more to come. There's so, you know, like an exciting life ahead of you. Why are you standing gazing up into heaven as if everything is over? It's not over yet. And they are reminding the disciples, you know, there's Jesus who you saw being taken up in the cloud. This same Jesus, they are also clarifying to the believers. He's going to come back. This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. And you know, Paul talks about this. He talks about this. He talks about, you know, the resurrection of the believer in the book of Corinthians. He talks about the second coming of Christ to the Thessalonians. So he says, we are people of hope. We will be resurrected. If we die in Christ, we will be resurrected and the same Jesus will come back to receive us. So these angels are giving them a message of hope and they are saying that Jesus will come back in the same way to receive you. But what is the other message that comes through to us over here? Basically what God is telling the disciples is, come on, you know, get up. You've got work to do. You can't you can't just sit and gaze and wonder, oh, it was so good when Jesus was there. It was so nice sitting and listening to sermons. It was so good being in church. Yeah, good. We've received what we need to receive. Whatever God wanted to impart it to us, we've taken it. But there's work for us to do now. So it's like God telling them, come on, now it's your turn. You've got to go. You've got to do your work and I'm getting you ready for it. I'm going to baptize you in the Holy Spirit, your disciples and you will do that work. So that's why we say the Acts, right? So earlier we said the Acts of the Holy Spirit through God's people. But the Acts of the Apostles is, you know, what this book is titled the Acts that the Apostles did by the power of the Holy Spirit. So till now it was about what Jesus taught, what Jesus did. Now it's got to be about what the disciples, the Apostles are doing. But who is who is the one empowering them to do all these things? The Holy Spirit. But there is a work for every disciple to do. And that was the reminder from these angels. They said, come on stop casing at heaven how you get up. You need to go. You need to get a work done. Okay, now let's come to verse verse 12 here. Let me quickly pause just to see if there's, you know, anything that we want to talk about. So yeah, okay, Jeffina is asking a question here. Is there any reason why Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria were mentioned? I can only tell you what I think Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. So those were the regions where ministry would happen through the Apostles and God knew that. Primarily those are the regions and then Paul and his team would go a little further. So though it says the end of the year Europe, Asia Minor, only that much they could cover in their lifetime. So God was just saying what is going to happen. But it is also like pictorial language where God is saying that the place where you are and the place a little farther away from you and the farthest places you will impact. So it's literal and pictorial. Yeah, thanks Jeffina for that question. Anything else? What are you all thinking as we are talking about this? Are you feeling excited? Is that a no? I can't hear any one of you saying anything or commenting. Okay, only Subash is excited and happy. I feel encouraged. Okay, Jeffina is also excited. That's great. Okay, everyone you know, this is an exciting book of the Bible where, yeah, thank you Lyndon, where we are seeing how God started to work you know through His people. So right now we've seen the ascension of Jesus and we've also seen the encouragement or the redirecting of God to the focus that the disciples need to have. So you were telling them I know you have all these other questions but you should have the focus on doing what I'm calling you to do and I'm empowering you by the Holy Spirit. Let's go on to verse 12. There it says then they return to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet which is near Jerusalem, a sabbathay's journey. So they come from, they come to Jerusalem because that was the instruction of Jesus, right? We commanded them you stay in Jerusalem. So what have they done? Obedience they obey Jesus. He told us to be there. We will be there. They go to Jerusalem and it talks about how long the journey was and when they had entered they went up into the upper room. What is this upper room? It is said that the upper room is you know a place near the temple. It was a place near the temple. Now we are aware that the festival of Pentecost is around the corner and that's the time when people choose from many parts of the region would come to celebrate the Pentecost in Jerusalem. So you know places would be offered rented out and all of that and so it was common practice. They could actually come and they could get a place for themselves and be there. So upper room is one of those spaces where the disciples chose to stay. So they went to the upper room or this particular place where they were stayed. Now who are all part of that group in the upper room they elisted out Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, Simon the zealot, Judas the son of James. They noticed 11 disciples have been mentioned. But isn't it supposed to be 12? What happened? Okay, so Jeff and I are saying later on we will see Matthias joining, no? Yeah, but who is supposed to be in this group? Judas is carrying. Correct, correct. Yeah, Rosalind. Judas is carrying. So he is the person who is missing right now. And that's why, you know, I said only 11 are here. But what is the beauty about these people? They all continued with one accord. Right? And further just in prayer and supplication with the women and marry the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. So Judas is carrying it backslided. He went away from Jesus. But these 11 disciples, what is their story? They continued with Jesus and that's a beautiful reminder for us. Yes, when we begin our journey with Jesus, it's wonderful. And all these dreams are in our hearts and we have a vision and we have passion. But keeping that passion alive and journey with God till the end, that is required of us. We are being reminded through the lives of the disciples that here are 11 men who continued, they continued and that in this specific situation, they continued in one accord it says meaning one heart. What is one accord? One accord is having unity of heart. Now, physically we can be together. We all know that even if let's say three people are in our home and they are physically together they can be so different in their thinking their values and what their purpose is and there can be a lot of how do you say strain in the relationship of these three people. But here you find that these 11 men are continuing in one accord meaning they are together in heart regarding the purpose of God and at this point, what is it that they are believing God for? Together they are believing God for the promise of the Father. Jesus said not many days from now you will receive it. So they believe that and they are together and they're all trusting God. Yes, it's going to happen. You know maybe pray, it says prayer and supplication. So that again is wonderful knowing that the disciples knew what to do with what Jesus had spoken. Jesus said all these things. Now what do they, what is the first thing they are doing about what they have learned? They are praying, they are speaking to God earnestly, supplication and they say Lord, you said all these things, please do it in our lives. So prayer, a life of prayer in unity with one another they are seeking the Lord. So that attitude of seeking the Lord is part of the disciples and that's really beautiful to see how they are living for God and they were not alone because we see that there were women with the disciples so obviously the ministry of Jesus it impacted many lives. There were 12 disciples of Jesus but there were many other followers they were 12 apostles but then there were many other disciples of Jesus. So obviously these women also were followers of the teachings of Jesus and that is why they were also there waiting for the promise of the Father you see that Mary the mother of Jesus she was also a disciple of the Lord Jesus. This is something for us to note as the mother of Jesus she could have been like okay whatever God wanted to accomplish through my life I've done it it's over now let me just live my life however to Mary was she also continued she knew who this Jesus was the Son of God himself and so she's looking at him in that light isn't it not just as a son but she is giving him the honor of the Son of God so Mary is also part of that group and with his brothers now that is really beautiful I don't want to get into the details of that but we know there are passages that say that the brothers of Jesus did not give him honor as the Son of God they treated him just as an ordinary person alright but at this point we notice that we notice that even the brothers of Jesus have put their trust in him so James Jude these are all the brothers of Jesus and they have become the disciples of the Lord Jesus and that is exciting news for us so how did they become disciples you see some people point to the resurrection that the resurrection was such an event that it jolted people out of their unbelief to know that oh this person Jesus the carpenter's son we know him we know his family but it's when he died and he rose again that especially the family of Jesus realized it was not an ordinary human being but it was the Lord himself who came and lived among us so even the brothers of Jesus put his trust in Jesus so it's so beautiful that you have the apostles you have other disciples you have some women you also have the family of Jesus who are there in the upper room what are they doing they are waiting for the promise of the Father how are they waiting they are waiting in prayer and supplication and it says in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples nothing new about Peter he loved to talk he loved to be the first one you know and in some commentaries we read about Peter and his personality which is said that he spoke before he thought I don't know I hope Peter is not angry with me for saying all these things but you know some people evaluate him like that before he understood what he was saying and at times when he needed to step up you know at the trial of Jesus he wasn't covered us like he didn't show up he denied Christ he fled the scene and that's really sad even at this point the disciples are in a crucial time and something has changed in the life of Peter yes like he always does he speaks but the note is that he's taking leadership he's taking his position of leadership how did it happen well it was the way God has called each of the disciples the way God has called each of us and the grace which was upon Peter's life nobody had to tell him Peter this is the time you need to address the disciples because they may be in doubt they may be in grief Jesus has left us he's ascended into heaven nobody had to tell him anything but the grace of God which was upon his life Peter stood up he automatically took the position of a leader and amazing to see that everyone else is following along we're actually listening to him so it was the way God worked that was the time for Peter to take like the wheel in his hand and begin to direct the disciples on what needs to be done he stood up amidst the disciples and we are told that number of names was about 120 so when we imagine the upper room it must have been a big room because there were 120 people there and he said to them men and brethren the scripture had to be fulfilled so now Peter is beginning to lead the disciples he's addressing them and how is he ministering to them on the basis of scripture so he feels like something important needs to be done right now on the basis of what scripture has spoken so what is it that will be done now he says look as per what scripture said which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus so he's talking about Jesus he's talking about Judas and what happened to Judas the fact that he betrayed Jesus and then you know Judas hung himself very like a very unfortunate death a very gory scene that he paints out over here he fell and he died and all of that but he reminds the disciples that according to the word of God this has happened so he quotes a passage here from Psalms he says let his dwelling place be desolate and let no one live in it let another take his office so he's just reminding the people that all this has happened but scriptures do mention that we have to position someone else in that place to that Judas Judas left, wake it so Peter is taking responsibility to bring in another leader into the fold of the apostles okay so now are there any questions are there any doubts about Judas I've been asked this question in the past session so that's why I just thought you two might be wondering you know when Peter says that the scriptures are telling us that somebody has to take his position it almost feels like the scriptures had predicted that Judas is going to do this and that he will betray Jesus so is it like God you know people use the term allowed God allowed or God designed for Judas to sin against God and then the position would be vacated you know Peter and all would have to go and do an election for the 12th person in their group so it's not like that so we must understand that free will is something that is so important to God if you go back to the garden of Eden God created man and woman and he told them you can have everything but you don't eat of this certain tree God never controlled them he gave them the option he gave them free choice and said it's up to you I'm telling you what needs to be done but you make your choice so in the integrity of this thought when we talk about the life of Judas I'm sure God would have spoken to his heart many times and he would have had the opportunity to make the right choice but for whatever reason he went ahead and made the wrong choice but God knows the end from the beginning isn't it it's not that God is directing somebody's God is controlling somebody's choice but God knew what Judas is going to choose and thus there is a mention in the book of Psalms that this place is empty let his habitation be desolate or when one sings against God that dwelling place of that person is desolate and let no one live in it let another take his office so it's pointing to Judas in a manner that God in his full knowledge was aware about what is going to take place it's not so much that God controlled the life of Judas and you know Judas was made to sin to have the story that we have today so we must not look at it that way because God is the initiator of free will and choice and so it was Judas's choice to betray Jesus and do all the things that he did very very unfortunate to do that so we see that Peter was actually asking for the disciples to pick another person so that's what happens from verse 21 therefore of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us beginning from the baptism of John to that day then he was taken up from us one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection so he's wanting an apostle in the team and again we'll see how they chose they are choosing a faithful person because what does he say he says among those who have been with us who have from the beginning baptism of John so it's not like these people suddenly came into the picture those who have journeyed faithfully with Jesus and us among them let us pick someone so they propose two names and they say Joseph Corbassavis and Matthias come on among these two let us pick someone and it's beautiful because even when we had to select among two choices it was not so much a mental exercise but it was a prayerful exercise to us 24 we read and they prayed and said they pray to God and they say God reveal your purpose to us you or Lord would know the hearts of all show which of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and a apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place and they cast their lots and the lot fell on Matthias he was numbered to be 11 apostles so though it seems like only election you vote let's vote let's pick the right person but it was a prayerful selection of the person according to the plan according to the purpose of God so this is from Acts chapter 1 just an introduction for us but we will keep getting deeper into what's happening in the lives of these disciples I really look forward to seeing you in the next session which is about the baptism in the Holy Spirit so let's pray and close if there are questions please continue to post it on the stream page I can address them request somebody to please pray we close we come to you under the name of Jesus we thank you for this Dave we thank you for this time of class that we had we thank you for taking up the cross we thank you for this direction and ascending into heaven again so that we can have this great Holy Spirit so that we can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that we can be filled with power filled with your guidance and do mighty things for your health, health, Jesus your plans your works or your own imagination thank you for everything that you did and God be blessed this class as we listen to the next classes help us to have a deeper revelation of who you are and what you have did for us we give you all the glory and honor in Jesus name amen thank you Jafina thank you everyone God bless you have a good day we meet again in the next class bye for now