 Okay, great. So the recording has started, maybe one of us can pray, then we can move forward. Kanan, are you okay to pray? Could you hear me, Kanan? Okay, maybe anyone else who can, okay, he's having some, he's unwell. Sure, no worries, Kanan. Take care, we'll keep you in prayer. One of the others? Okay, I'll go ahead. Yes, please. Father, we thank you for this wonderful morning Lord God. We thank you for this new week. And as we go ahead with the lessons, Lord God, I pray that you stay with each one of us and guide us, Lord Jesus. Help each one of us to understand your word and the knowledge that we have to gain from this teaching, Lord Jesus. This teaching not just the teaching, but maybe to guide our lives and our wills to you Lord Jesus. Thank you for my name and for all the students as we come to class Lord Jesus. We want you to open up our heart and Lord Jesus beyond every force to be understood Lord Jesus, that there will be no disturbance and that there will be no power cuts as well Lord Jesus. There will be a smooth condition Lord God and I pray for your favor to be with each one of us. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen, amen. Thank you. Thank you, Dave. Okay, yep. So, yeah, kind of internet is fluctuating. Anyway, so I was just saying how are you all doing? Are you through with all your classes? Third year classes? Or some subjects are still, you know, you have portions to complete? We still have some more to complete. Okay, okay, okay. And assessments are going on right now? Some assessments? We had, yeah, we have one IPR. One IPM, other for the youth instrument. Okay, fine, fine, fine. Okay, sure, sure. Now just wanted to see when to kind of place your last assignment. So, we'll do that. Yeah, with regard to this subject, I think we might, you know, go all the way till the last week of April. Let's see, you know, how it goes if I can wrap it up faster than that. Just trying to go, you know, as much verse by verse as possible without skipping, you know, large sections of the portions here. But we are okay. We are comfortable because the main subject where we needed a lot of explanation was Hebrews. As far as first Peter, second Peter is concerned. Yes, we do need clarity on what Peter is writing. But then, you know, because he's not really referring to Jewish traditions and things like that. It's fairly easier for us to understand what Peter is writing. So the practical things. So similarly, even the book of James, it's got a lot of practical insights. So then we're able to relate easier to it and we can go slightly, you know, faster on these subjects. So that way, you know, we should be able to catch up. But your last assignment will be 40 marks. I know your second assignment also, I am yet to post. Sorry about that because, you know, it's kind of taking a while to set it up. So the second assignment also I'm thinking of giving you something very simple. It's already ready. I just have to release it. So it'll be more like a multiple choice sort of true or false sort of format. Then it's quick for you also to answer. But the last assignment, let me see for e-learning students as well. I can give, you know, a more something like you got to write your inputs as compared to just a quick writer for true or false or multiple choice sort of an answer. So for both for both Google Classroom as well as for e-learning, I will give something that has to do with understanding and writing, you know. What you have learned so far. So that will be the longest written assignment that you will be doing. But otherwise, you know, the first two are simpler to answer. So that is a little bit about the assignments and you should be able to, you know, hand it in also well in time. And I told us when we started the class that please make sure to attempt all assessments. Because if we don't do that, then unfortunately, we end up end up missing out on some of the marks. And, you know, for you to qualify to complete the course, you need attendance, you need marks. Okay, so please make sure that you're doing your best to to you've put in so much effort. You might as well finish it and finish it well. Okay, so a little bit about the assessments. So let's just go back to our portions here. We were in first Peter chapter 4 and we've been seeing how, you know, Peter is encouraging the believers to have a holy lifestyle where they they are living a life which is dedicated to God. So this is not just in the worship which they bring to God, but in also the daily living because our understanding is that even our daily living is something where we can show our trust in God. So that is why we talked about submission in the earlier chapters here, chapter 2, chapter 3. Peter talked about submitting to the governmental authorities. He also spoke about submitting to people who we work for. And then chapter 3 we saw quite elaborately, you know, he talked about women, husbands, husbands, wives. So his way of looking at that relationship is he told that, you know, wives, you submit yourselves to your husbands. But then he also reiterates the responsibility of the husbands. So if you go back to the culture in which this this letter was written, you would notice that those days women had hardly any rights in the marriage relationship. So it's actually quite radical of Peter to begin to address husbands and also tell them that, you know, husbands, you need to honour your wives, live with them with understanding. And then he also goes on to say that if you don't maintain that right relationship with your wife, then your prayers also will be hindered. So your spiritual walk can be hindered if you are not in right relationship with your wife. And we've seen how he talked about, you know, the good behaviour, the virtuous behaviour of a wife which can draw a husband to God even if that person may be an unbeliever. So all that we saw and then, you know, we moved on to up to four now where we are learning about the fact that, okay, why should we? Why should we undergo, you know, sometimes justly we go through these these sufferings, if you want to call it, like in this case, we said, even if there is a harsh employer or master, as Peter puts it, even then, you know, he says that it's a commendable thing or it is a, it is something to appreciate if a person is still maintaining the right attitude and serving such a master, because we can understand that the dependence of this person is on God. So if you recall, he used he used the phrase for God's sake. So for God's sake, you do the right thing. What is the point if we do the wrong thing and we come under punishment for that? So he's encouraging and speaking about all these things and then he takes us to consider the life of Jesus. And he talks about how the Lord Jesus, he went through so much of humiliation in his experience on the earth. He went through, you know, accusation from people to the extent of physical hurt, but then you don't really see him. There is this term called reviling or like slander, right? You speak against so and so, you speak against the authorities, you speak against your master, you speak against people. Jesus never did that, but he went through the suffering in a humble way. And that's what Peter is saying. Look, if you go through it like that, then you are really following the example of Jesus. So do the right thing because it's the right thing. Do the right thing because, you know, you're trusting in God. Do the right thing because Jesus has given us a wonderful example. And now in chapter four, you know, he shared with us that Christ suffered for us in the flesh. And those of us who have suffered in the flesh, you know, in this way, he also says that you have ceased from sin. Or he is just letting us know that we've seen, you know, passages like this in other epistles as well, where we are told that when we undergo any kind of trial, okay, and please remember whenever we say suffering trial, the godly kind of suffering trial is when we have not done anything wrong because sometimes we can be on the wrong and therefore get the punishment or the consequence to our wrongdoing. Now that should not be understood as suffering, godly suffering or persecution. That would be plain simple consequences to the wrong that we have done. But if we go through and in this case, you know, he's also saying that suffering in the flesh, he says suffering in the flesh or you could say that this is more placed in the context of persecution. Somebody has gone through so much of pain and hurt and even physical distress. It has a property where it can help us overcome this world. Because you see, for us in general, we have a tendency to be drawn by the world because the world offers us fame, the world offers us all kinds of pleasures, the world offers us, you know, its own kind of honor, all these things. But then when you have suffered for Christ, you begin to realize that it's a great privilege for me to be commended or appreciated in God's sight as compared to having the things of the world. So we can come to a place where we realize, hey, at the end of the day, eternity, eternal things are what really matter. So even if I have some losses here on the earth or we go through some, you know, later on we will use the term fiery trial because these believers would have gone through so many challenges for believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's just trying to encourage them and he says there are so many advantages. God will appreciate you, you know, you will get the reward from God. You will see good results for doing the right thing. Here he also adds that we can overcome sin. We are seized from sin or the attractions of sin also become very, he says seized. You know, we are just able to overcome these things when we go through suffering, especially physical suffering for the sake of the gospel. So you could put this under the category of persecution. So when we go through persecution, okay. So somebody who has been through persecution, it says that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men but for the will of God. So there will be a strong sense of wanting to live for the sake of the gospel. So then we said that he was telling the people that they need to live a life which is different from the worldly people. So I read for us from, you know, the message version, right? Like a life of lusts, a life of, you know, drinking parties, all kinds of things that people who don't know God have, a believer should not have a similar testimony. So think about it, you know, what is the difference if the way a believer lives is just the way a person in the world lives. Okay. By this we mean indulging in sinful activities, indulging in, you know, sinful things. So if there is no self-control, if we don't exercise the power that we have received through the cross over sin, then, you know, the life of a believer and an unbeliever would remain the same. But Peter is calling the believers and he's saying that your past life was like that. And he also tells them you spent enough time living like that however you like. Okay. But now please don't live like that. But instead you must live such or we as believers must live such a holy life that even if people want to find fault with us, they should not be able to find any. Okay. And then he also reminds us that all people, even those who speak evil about us for when we are, you know, doing the right thing, he says everybody has to give an account to him who's ready to judge the living and the dead. Okay. So this gives us great confidence to keep walking in the ways of God and to not give up. And, you know, he also goes on to say this reason, the Gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit. So, you know, earlier we saw this thing about Jesus going to Hades and preaching to the prisoners. But also you see that before Jesus ascended up, you know, he made his sacrifice and ascended up into heaven. There is a zone, if you will, you know, in Hades, which is called as paradise. So paradise was like the place where the righteous people were positioned. But, you know, the moment the Lord Jesus paid the price for the sins of mankind, the proclamation of what the Lord Jesus has done, that is what is spoken of as preached. Preached, if you look up the Greek word here, it does, may not mean, you know, calling people to salvation because the dead people, you can't call them back to salvation. Hebrews 9, okay, go back to what we studied. Hebrews 9 verse 27, it says that, for it is appointed for man to die once and after which is judgment. So when people are alive, that is the time to make a decision, whether you accept Christ or you don't. Now, once person is dead, preaching to a dead person, as it mentions here, for this reason, Gospel was preached also to those who are dead. So this doesn't mean that they were being called to salvation. It simply means that these people heard the declaration of what Jesus had done or the proclamation of what Jesus had done. So that is how we will understand this. And, you know, we realize that, you know, God is a judge of the living and the dead as well. Okay, now moving forward. Okay, everybody with me? Okay, class, I would need some reaction from you otherwise it becomes very hard for me to know whether you're getting what I'm saying or not because sometimes when I ask questions, the answers are very delayed and so I kind of avoid asking questions. But I'm hoping that, you know, you're tuned in actively and listening to what I'm saying. So even, you know, a comment on the chat, yes, no, is it really helpful? I hope it's okay. Are you all with me? Okay, okay, great, great, great. Okay, let's continue. Thank you so much. Thank you for that. Okay, now let's move on. So again, you see when someone's going through persecution, we might have this question of God, this is so long and when is this going to end? You know, when are you going to judge righteously? How long do I have to bear this unjust persecution? All of those questions arise in our mind. So here is Peter in the next verse, verse 7, he says, but the end of all things is at hand. So basically he's saying, see that is a good thing in our life on the earth because this is the place where we will undergo, you know, the greatest, you know, sufferings, challenges, whatever it is that one can face. But once this life on earth is done, you know, we will move on to eternal life and we will move on to glory, which is a completely different kind of a life filled with, you know, no interference from the kingdom of darkness, filled with God's glory, filled with, you know, the things of the kingdom like joy, hope, peace, all of those things. So when we look at the struggles of this world, okay, we must recognize that these things will soon pass away. Or here also, you know, Peter begins the next part of what he's going to say as, but the end of all things is at hand. Okay, so don't worry, these challenges will end. Even the persecution which you are going through, you know, it will also come to an end. And therefore, he says, don't give up on your faith. It's only the person who understands that, okay, there is this life, but there is also greater eternal life that we are able to live so differently from the world that the world might wonder, hey, how come these people are still so bold and confident and all that, why are they continuing to do what they believe in? Because we believe that soon this temporal world will pass. Okay, and we will step into glory. So that gives so much, so much of courage, isn't it? For us to continue to be overcomers. So with this in mind, once again, he instructs them and he tells them, you know, therefore, be serious, what is serious? Serious is to be, it's to be like fair-minded to have the right kind of a thought process. So people who are serious are the people who are thinking in a focused way. They don't just think random things and, you know, just waste their attention. So be serious means we have a fair mind, have a sound mind and then watchful. Watchful is alertness. So where you are looking out, you're waiting, waiting with alertness. So that is watchful. How can we be watchful? Watchfulness, he adds here, he says watchful in your prayers. So we continue to pray. We continue to ask God for all that he has promised during our lifetime, during our times of trials and in this case in the time of persecution and also knowing that, hey, the end of the world is coming. We can't, and even those who are moving on, you know, the people who are accusing the righteous believers, knowing that they will also be judged. When the end comes, what is the next thing that we can expect? A judgment for both the believer and the unbeliever. So be watchful in prayer. So what can we pray? We can pray so many things that God give me strength to go through this well and God forgive. That's how Jesus prayed, isn't it? So far, Peter has spoken about the sufferings of Jesus and we should understand that Peter was alive when Jesus went through what he went through, unlike, you know, somebody like a Timothy or somebody like a Paul. Yeah, Paul received by revelation, but Peter firsthand, he saw the sufferings of Jesus and that's how he's telling the believers, come on, you know, if he could go through it for the right reasons, you can go through it and, you know, the end is close. So don't give up, but, you know, be alert, be serious and pray, pray, pray for yourself, pray for others. And now he goes on to add a lot of practical aspects of community living. So, you know, he says above all these have fervent love for one another. So one another referring to the body of Christ or the term which the believers use those days was brethren, brotherhood, so fellowship of believers. So fervent love is an earnest kind of a love which we have for each other, which is sincere. In other words, it is sincere. It is seeking to do good to the other believer. This is the kind of love that we must carry. So he continues to say that love will cover a multitude of sins. And he also emphasizes hospitality. Remember, we saw this even in the book of Hebrews. So usually they would address things that had to do with the fellowship of believers as well. So here he says, just like the Hebrews writer, he says be hospitable. Okay, take care of people, but he also adds and he says without grumbling, because don't you think it can happen that, you know, when we are taking care of people, when we serve, sometimes we develop this attitude that we say, oh, I have done so much. Nobody is noticing or I have done so much. I have put so much effort given my time and God, where is your reward? So what is all this? This is all grumbling. Okay, grumbling is having an attitude where, you know, we feel that I have not been treated fairly or I have not received the kind of appreciation or the reward which is due to me. So that's when grumbling comes into the picture. So grumbling is very similar to the attitude of the Israelites when they were walking through the wilderness where God did so much, but they were focusing on what is not there. They were focusing on what God should have done. So that kind of a behavior. So he says, come on, you know, when you are hospitable, please don't grumble, do willingly, do happily. Then that is, you know, the kind of hospitality that God is looking for. So all these matters, you know, these are all to do with our inner attitudes. So it's really challenging and, you know, only I believe that when we are moving towards maturity, that's when we can overcome all these attitudinal issues where, yeah, love can be there, but love may not be sincere. But here Peter is telling, no, fervently love meaning have sincere love with maturity that will come. And also grumbling, hospitality without grumbling, that also is a sign of maturity. Why do you think that, you know, maturity will help us have sincere love and not grumble when we are hospitable? Anybody, any thoughts to that? Why does maturity help? We can empathize ourselves, we can see others. Okay, okay, good. We can put shoes. Okay, very nice. So that's right, Thomas. I just want to reiterate what Thomas is saying. He used the word like empathize. We can put ourselves in their shoes. So maturity, whenever we think about maturity, consider parenthood. Because parents are like generally, they're very selfless. You know, they, we've heard stories, right? Like they don't get sleep, but they make sure the children sleep well. They may work very hard, but they make sure the children get, you know, their education or their free time or their vacations. So they sacrifice on, you know, if they have money to spend on themselves, they don't because they want the children to get new clothes and new toys. So parenthood, if I may put it this way, is very selfless. Because parents think more of the children than themselves. So then we usually say, parents, you know, mature. Compared to children, parents are mature. So maturity really has to do with selflessness. Even in the body of Christ, when believers become selfless, where it's not always about me, me, me, me. That is when we can do what is written in God's word, sincere love. Hospitality without grumbling or murmuring. So, you know, think about it like that. So we want a maturing congregation. So I know at least two of you here, do you want to be pastors? You are already serving in that area. So what are we doing? We are working towards building a mature people. It's only the mature people, you know, who will be able to do what is being asked of them here. So that is the way we would look at it. That is the way we would raise a congregation. Okay, come on, we have to mature the people. They need to see what is important for the kingdom, you know, and for others. So just bear that in mind. We continue. Okay, again, he talks about a fellowship. He talks about the body of Christ and he says, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another. See, minister is served. So if I have something, I can share that. Or I can use it to bless. Why do you serve? You serve again to build up the kingdom of God, the body of Christ. So he's encouraging all the believers that come on. You know, the kingdom has to be very dynamic where all the believers are serving. Now, if you go back to church history and at the time when, you know, Constantine institutionalized the church, it got sort of segregated into the clergy and the laity. So the clergy used to do all the spiritual work, whereas the lady will just come here, receive, go back. But when we look at what the Bible says, it says that no, all believers as each one has received a gift. All believers again, you can go back and refer to 1 Corinthians 12 and see how in the body everybody has a part to play. So all of us need to do our part. If you have a gift or in other words, it's not if whatever gift you have, understand, okay, this is what God has given me and serve the body with that gift. So minister it to one another. Good stewards of the manifold grace of God. So where did I get the gift from? Obviously, it's not mine. I have received it from by the grace of God. So I honor if somebody gives it gives us something which we don't deserve. Okay, how do we treat it? We are so grateful. So in the same way, whatever gift God has given us, we are grateful for that and we use it to build up the body of Christ. And so he kind of elaborates on it and he says, if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. So speaking as the oracles of God is like speaking the way God speaks. So that's how we should be bringing the focus on the on what is on God's heart. That is how he's saying. So if you can speak as if you're speaking the very mind of God to the people. And then he goes on to say, let him anything else that any other ability that you have, which is given by God, use it according to what God supplies. Now, some of us we will compare ourselves with other people. Let's say in the area of speaking only, maybe somebody has the grace of God to speak, teach God's word. But we may have just started out trying to understand the Bible thoroughly, interpret it correctly, share it in such a way that people can apply it in their lives. But when we are doing what we are doing, we could look at somebody who's going, I don't know, doing crusades and somebody who's teaching and preaching on the television. We could compare ourselves and say, oh, look at me. I'm just nothing compared to so-and-so preacher or so-and-so teacher. But we should not do that because here we are very clearly told. Let him do it as with the ability which God supplies. So God has wired each one of us differently. He has positioned us differently and there is something he wants to accomplish in and through us in the given situation. So never compare oneself with another person and say, oh, I want to be in their position. No, you can compare to improve. That is a good thing. Compare to see, hey, how can I minister in an anointed way like that person? I will learn. That's a better attitude rather than to say that I covet another person's calling or another person's gifting. So what is the ability that God has given with whatever God has supplied to me? My duty is that I have to be a good steward. I have to be faithful. See, that's all God asks. He says, what do you have in your hands? Generally, you've seen that, right? Even earlier, like Moses, God asks, what do you have? God, I have a rod in my hand. Okay, you use that. You have what? Two loaves, five fishes. Is that the thing for five fishes, two loaves? I'm getting confused. But whatever it is that, you know, a person has, God can multiply that. So with the ability which is given to each of us, use that. That in all things, he says, God be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory, dominion forever and ever. Amen. So to put it in a short way, be a good steward. God has given it to us the gift. We use it responsibly. The gift is not our own. Now moving forward, again, words of encouragement from Peter where he says that, you know, don't think that it is so strange that you're going through persecution. And he, in fact, uses the term your fiery trial. So if you looked that up in the Greek, you know, you would see it says burning, burning. So sometimes the kind of difficulty or the persecution that we go through, it may feel like you are in the fire and you are burning. But he says for a believer, you know, somewhere in our minds, we should have it clear that if I'm going to follow God, if I'm going to do the right thing, if I'm going to live to fulfill my purpose for the kingdom, there are going to be challenges. So it's not like I'm surprised. Oh, I'm doing the right thing. Why is it that I'm going through struggles? No, if you're going to live like, you know, Jesus, if you're going to live like Daniel, Shadrak Mishak and Abednego, there will be difficulties. There were times when they were pulled up by the authorities, by people around them. But it's part of our commitment to God that, hey, if you have chosen this life, then don't be surprised if certain difficulties come our way. So we should have that in our mind. But you see, the good thing is that we are going through the trial for a good reason. As he said earlier, it's not like we robbed a bank or we cheated someone or did something unrighteous. No, we are not suffering for those kind of reasons, but we are suffering for honorable reasons. So when that happens, remember that, yeah, everyone has their due share of such challenges. They will come. It's nothing strange. But he says, carry a good attitude in the midst of such a suffering. So that is rejoice, rejoice. Because you see, it's also says here, remember this particular passage, verse 12 and verse 13. He says, rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings. So, you know, people ask this question, if Christ has already suffered once. And we've seen that in the book of Hebrews, right? Hebrews 9, 10, in those passages, we see that Jesus became the atonement prize. So he suffered. There is no need for another human being to pay the price the way Jesus paid the price. So then, what is this partake of Christ's suffering? What is partake? Okay, I'll just quickly look at the exact Greek word here. Yeah, partake share. Okay, so it means to share in Christ's sufferings. Though we don't need to suffer for our salvation. Okay, get it very clear, very clear because sometimes people take this theology and they, you know, preach it to believers. They say, oh, the sufferings of Christ. So we also have to suffer to receive our salvation, not at all. Yes, this passage talks about partake becoming a partaker or sharing with Christ's sufferings. But what does it mean? Look at the context. Context is we are talking about persecution. So when we go through persecution, it is considered by God as an extension of the sufferings of Christ. We are participating in that. And God, what does he do? You know, God will, his glory will be revealed when we are going through this. Okay, and that is the reason he says, rejoice. And he also ends that verse 13 and he says also be glad with exceeding joy. Because if you don't understand that, you know, that persecution, it's like me saying, oh, come on, you know, Jesus, you're my brother, you went through this, I'm going through this for your sake. We go through it with a very positive attitude and with happiness. So rejoice, exceeding joy, you know, he uses words like that. Because if you don't recognize that, it's very funny that the Bible is saying, oh, you suffer, but you be happy in that suffering. You get it? But why should we suffer and be happy about it? Because we are going through it for righteous reasons. We are, you know, we are recognizing with the sufferings of Jesus and God's glory is going to be revealed. See, Stephen, he was persecuted. He died. What happened? You know, it made such a, such an impact that Paul at the age of 25 is said to have watched the execution of Stephen and it impacted his life. That, wow, what courage this man has that he was stoned and yet he's so bold about his faith and about the God that he worshiped. So it made an impact on Saul who later became Paul. So when we go through persecution, God's glory will be revealed and we are participating or we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ for his namesake. Okay, so let's just take a break class. We'll come back in 10 minutes. So let's meet at 1001, a slightly past time. So see you then. Thank you.