 So we are good to get started. So yeah we talked about how God minister to Saul and how he sent him ananias and the believers in Damascus were so welcoming, they were so encouraging that the initial days of Saul as a believer was spent there. Now what does he do immediately after that? So Luke writes that he started preaching. Preaching Christ, imagine, we don't know when Luke says immediately was that days, weeks, months that he is referring to, the exact timing we don't know but like immediately means people still have the memory of Saul as a persecutor and during that period how would you like it if you know somebody today you look at that person as a persecutor, very dangerous persecutor and then you are hearing them preaching a sermon in front of your eyes, obviously you will not believe it, but that's what's happening. You have the persecutor immediately it says preached Christ in the synagogues. So one thing we have to understand about synagogues is they would allow any learned knowledgeable person to come and speak on any topic. So they allowed Saul to go and preach but little did they know that he is going to preach about Christ among them. The same person who was against Christ is preaching Christ. That is amazing, that is amazing and what is he preaching about the Messiah is saying that Jesus is the Son of God. If you recall in the book of John we are reading about the titles, Son of Man, Son of God. So for the Jews Son of God is again a very clear cut way of pointing to Jesus as baby, as the begotten, the father. So the Jews had counted that as blasphemy in the life of Jesus but here is Saul saying that Jesus is the Son of God. So everybody who heard Saul speaking about Jesus they were amazed and they asked they said is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose so that he might bring them bound to the chief priest. So they couldn't believe it. That an opposer is now a supporter but Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelled in the masquas proving that this Jesus is the Christ. So what an amazing amazing thing that has taken place in two chapters here, chapter 7. Stephen is doing this, Stephen a man full of wisdom. He is arguing remember, he is debating, convincing people from other synagogues. One synagogue that was a part of the people that Stephen took over is Sicilia. We know that Saul was from there. Now Saul is doing that. I'm sure God filled him also with wisdom, with that wisdom. He is, it's his confounded the Jews meaning argued in such a way that the Jews have nothing to say and he is proving that Jesus is the Christ. So excuse me, this would have been marvelous in the sight of everyone. So when this is happening like initially maybe the Jews didn't believe that Saul has become a part of the way but as they kept observing Saul they must have understood, oh this man something has changed, a real transformation has taken place in his life. So the Jews, they were against the apostles. They were against the believers. So now once they recognize that Saul is part of them, they become against Saul. They were so angry with him that we read in verse 23 that they plotted to kill him. So what a change has taken place. He has moved from the team that was persecuting to becoming a part of the team that is being persecuted. So now the Jews are plotting to kill him but obviously you saw still had connections. Maybe there were some loyal people whom he knew among the authorities and among the Jewish circle. So we are told that he came to know that they want to kill him. So he was aware and people are just waiting. It says they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Meaning if this man is going to go out of Damascus he has to go this way. When he comes over here that's it. We are going to get rid of him. So that was in their hearts and Saul knew that however the disciples who were with him in Damascus they came up with an idea and they thought to protect Saul how about we make him escape. If he goes to the gates the Jews will kill him. So let's figure out a method by which we can get him out of the city of Damascus. So what they do in the night they let him out through the wall in a large basket. So this is an unusual way of doing things. A large basket obviously we can understand here that it was a basket large enough to carry a human being. So quietly they made Saul escape. So from this you realize that see the church is not going looking for persecution even Saul he could have gone to the gates he could have fought with the Jews again but he didn't want to do that. So escaping in this scenario is a lot better so he just escapes the sea and persecution comes face it but don't go looking for persecution. Saul escapes persecution opposition and he is helped by the believers in Damascus. Maybe they only would have given him the wisdom and said Saul why do you want to argue with these Jews. You better go out from here and you see how the Lord leads you. So he is let go. What happens to Saul after this you know. We understand that okay I need to explain one part which I have missed. Here in verse 23 it says now after many days were passed. So this is explained by Paul in Galatians chapter 1 verses 13 to 18 where we read that when he was ministering in Damascus he was not very well received. So for three years he fled to Arabia. So he fled and he was there for a while. So Damascus Arabia you know that's kind of the region where Saul was for about three years and then later on you know you also study that he spent you don't read much about him. You don't read much about him from now till you come to Acts chapter 13. So from Arabia and Damascus what are the places that Saul went to what is the kind of ministry that Saul did. You don't have a lot of information about that. So people generally say something like 16 17 years Saul was quietly ministering wherever the Lord led him. So you don't read too much about this public ministry. So at this point in the book of Acts we only see him escaping from Damascus and then there is what is called as the silent years of Paul unfolding. So we don't read too much about him but we know that you know God strengthened him. God he must have learned a lot about God and about ministry received all the revelation which he needed to continue the work in a strong way from Acts chapter 13. So between now we are in Acts chapter 9 between now and Acts chapter 13 you would have something like 12 years 12 years or 13 years that go by and only later you have the missionary journeys of Paul. So in this chapter so about the life of Saul what have we seen we have seen that he came zealously to persecute the believers in Damascus but he encountered the Lord Jesus on the path and he had a genuine life transformation a heart change and God ministered to him through Ananias. He was blind but Ananias came and ministered healing and also baptized him. He was baptized in water and then immediately he started doing the work of the ministry but he was not accepted. He was not accepted by the people and so and also the Jews started hating him. So to protect Saul the believers make him escape from Damascus a little more a little more about Saul we will see and then you know Peter comes into the picture. Okay it was 26 and when Saul had come to Jerusalem so from Damascus from Damascus where does he go? He goes to Jerusalem. He tried to join the disciples there so yeah this seems like a good idea because you know if you go to the if you want to call Jerusalem the head office you know you have all the leaders of the church in Jerusalem Saul must have thought let me go to the main place let me go back to Jerusalem at least there I will have protection I will have the wisdom of the apostles so he goes there similar to what the other believers even Ananias had that doubt I have heard about this man he's a persecutor all the disciples in Jerusalem also were very scared of Saul so we see they were afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple so they found it hard to accept Saul into their circle or their community of faith now we can imagine Saul would have been so disappointed thinking that I thought these main people will at least understand and be excited about what God has done in my life but the believers in Jerusalem they were cautious and they said okay we can't believe this man what if he is pretending and what if he gets us in trouble he'll come to know all our secrets this must be a plot of the authorities so they never believed him but it says there was a man called Barnabas if you remember Barnabas is from that that Levite background he's a generous man he's a good man okay we've seen that description of Barnabas now you see the attitude of Barnabas here Barnabas took him so he seems to be one with a personality of accommodating other human beings okay there are some people like this who who trust faster than the others so Barnabas is one such person who looks at Saul and he understands come on at this stage we should not leave this man he has had a genuine heart transformation so Barnabas takes Saul brings him to the apostles and he declares to them that this man has seen the Lord to is seen the Lord on the road to Damascus and that he has spoken to him he also explains to the apostles that this person has been engaging in ministry how beautifully how boldly he preached about Jesus in Damascus so all this information Barnabas is sharing it with the apostles to convince them not to be scared of Saul so because of what Barnabas did for some time Saul was able to be with the believers in Jerusalem coming in and out and you know later you find in his other writings that he talks about how he did not personally spend time with all the apostles except with Peter okay he just spent something like two weeks with Peter and that's about it okay so he spent some time with the believers in Jerusalem and that yeah so so yeah all right so then this is it and then he kind of is led from there down to Caesarea and then back to Tarsus so he sent back to Tarsus so we've seen so far in Arabia and Damascus like about three years and from there I told you we don't know too much about his whereabouts so here we read he goes to Tarsus and kind of you know just that is in our minds and then 12 years passed by and then Acts chapter 13 happens when he comes back into public ministry but for something for us to see here is how the believing community finds it hard to accept to somebody who has lived a life of a persecutor so far okay but an individual like Barnabas does the mediation he tries to convince the apostles that now Saul indeed is a changed man and they must accept some so that's how he manages to be with them for some time and then comes to Tarsus so that's about the journey of Paul and now we read that the churches what was happening to the churches now because initially we saw that no apostles were going and planting churches believers were going and planting churches so what happened to the persecuted church the region still had persecution okay just because Saul encountered God doesn't mean that persecution stopped persecution was still going on in the region and there were lots of churches also okay at the same time we see the churches in Judea, Galilee and Samaria were peace and were edified so in the midst of persecution what can we expect we can we might expect that people will be discouraged that people will give up on following Christ but that is not the case instead the churches had peace it says and they were edified or they were strong so this is how God works even today when we look at some regions in the world and we may think how can believers be strong in God over here but sometimes you hear of the testimony you know of some of the strongest believers from persecuted regions I am sure you have heard about some believers you know from I mean I don't want to take names of places because all this is being recorded but you know you understand right like there are regions in the world where it's not easy to preach the gospel there are restrictions there is threat to life if you speak the name of Jesus and yet right some of the strongest believers of their life stories we hear of from these places and it amazes us you see how this verse says the churches had peace peace in the midst of turmoil strength in the midst of turmoil doesn't mean that they were free no but they were strong even though opposition was there and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit they were multiplied so can a church grow when there is persecution definitely the church can receive the work of the Lord okay the comfort of the Holy Spirit the ministry of the Holy Spirit and have that resolve it says they walked in the fear of the Lord meaning they wanted to do what God wanted them to do so then when people are living like that intentionally what happens God continues to work in the life of that church and in the life of the believers and you see that in the midst of persecution the churches are being multiplied people are being added they were it doesn't say they were added they were multiplied so persecution or no persecution God is faithful and the work of God continued in the different regions so and that is really beautiful for us to know and you see how Luke did not forget two chapters prior we were in Samaria that over there a lot of miracles happened you know wonderful Peter then John also came and they also did a lot of miracles and it didn't stop there we are told that those churches are going strong so when a work is started you should not forget that work but you see the pattern of the early church they used to think about the work which is started you don't abandon it you nurture it you continue right giving into that work protect it make it grow make sure that it is going well so that is the attitude of the early church so that's why Luke is still writing about the church in Judea church in Samaria in different regions okay so that's about the churches now what about the other Apostles we gave too much attention to solve in this chapter now Peter comes back in the scene the Apostles have not stopped doing their work Peter and John they went right they went to Samaria when they heard that the word of the Lord had gone there they went they ministered the baptism in the Holy Spirit now what are they up to they are continuing to go to different places to do the ministry so you find Peter went through all parts of the country it says so busy this is a if you open his google calendar Peter is very busy he has to go here they are all over the place and he's doing that he's going to various parts of the country that he came now to a place called Lidda okay so that was on his calendar so he went there when he goes there he finds a man by the name of Amius okay so Amius he is bedridden for eight years and paralyzed do you remember anybody similar to this in the ministry of Jesus anybody who's paralyzed bedridden yes okay yeah okay great so you're all are giving me references yeah we do see we do see paralyzed people whom Jesus healed and you know Jesus ministered very miraculously there was one person near the pool of bed bed sedah whom he said you know just just get up and then he was able to do that there was a man that four friends he brought they brought him he was paralyzed and Jesus told him also like get up take up your bed and walk and he was able to do that so Jesus was doing this in his ministry now what is Peter going to do when he comes across the same situation was this the first paralyzed man that now Peter was ministering to we don't know okay but earlier we saw lame man he ministered that miracle to the lame man so when he says Amius bedridden for eight years Peter does what Jesus did he says take up your bed and yes he says Jesus Christ heals you so you see Peter is very careful to give glory to Jesus when the lame man in acts three was healed he said right he said that the power in the name of Jesus has healed this man why are you looking at us as if we have done anything great but the power in the name of Jesus has given this man's strength and now Peter's saying Amius Jesus Christ heals you and the way Jesus said okay get up take up your bed and walk similar way you know sometimes you just follow the teacher if you have seen the teacher do that you also do the same thing so he says arise make your bed he does Amius the miracle happened immediately he did this person arose immediately so all who dwelt in Lidda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord so Peter ministered a supernatural healing what are supernatural healings miracles supposed to do they turn the hearts of the people towards God you remember in acts three when the lame man got healed it was at the crowd gathered and then Peter began to preach about Jesus you know how we did this this is how believe in the Lord Jesus now a miracle is taking place in Lidda what happens people their hearts are open so that is why miracles are very important healings are very important one is they bless the life of the person who is experiencing them and that person comes to know that God truly loves them but at the same time when healings take place it draws other people to God okay so we should really pray for healings we should pray for God to do more and more right healings in our churches today and that will show the power of God and people will will not be able to deny that truly he is he is a living God so in the ministry of Peter you observe that he went he ministered a miracle and then that became an opportunity for others to come and accept Christ what else happens okay now in a close by place called Jopa there was a believer by the name of Tabitha and you know this this was translated as Doc is her name okay Doc is basically wait both the names mean dear but just a name which was given to this lady but about this lady she was a good lady okay she was so good that it is said that she was full of good works and charitable deeds so somebody who was a blessing in the community unfortunately she became sick and she died so when they had kind of you know she died and they had to follow the rituals they heard that Peter had come close by so they invite him they ask him to come and minister to this lady because see the early church they really believed in miracles okay they believed in God's power and supernatural demonstration of God's power so when this death happens so they invite Peter and they tell him like please come without any delay come quickly in other words to this place so Peter he gets up and he goes so you just think about the ministry calendar of Peter I mean if it was us right do we do we really believe in the resurrection power of Christ do we really believe in the power of the Holy Spirit that you know every place we go there are healings taking place and if somebody calls up and says okay today you have come to this city amazing miracles have happened you know at the end of the day what happens you feel like wow great great day of ministry I've reached on the subject and people also experienced all these healings are great they let me eat some biryani and sleep right so you you might feel like that but almost immediately a word comes to us and says hey somebody has died you know in the close by area can you come faster can you come can you pray for that person how would you feel right unless you believed in the supernatural power of God you'd be like oh my goodness I just thought today's work is over I can relax and now they're calling me to raise a dead person how can I go okay that shows that you know we still doubt whether God's power can do the work or not but look at this you know Peter as soon as he got the next assignment come to Joppa Marcus Tabitha has died minister to her he gets up he's ready okay next assignment on my calendar now I have to go to Joppa to pray for Tabitha so you'll find them very active very passionate very trusting believing in the power of God they just go they just release the power they see the work of God being accomplished in every community so Peter goes and when he had come they brought him to that upper room they had kept her in in an upper room and you know in in those times they had traditions where people will be there crying around the dead person so there were some widows and their job was to cry loudly and it seems she was good with garments you know preparing garments so the tunics and garments which doctors had made they had kept over there and basically they were mourning they were thinking about her life over such a good lady she has done such great works and on and they were just mourning over there but Peter he puts them out he says okay everyone who's crying can you please go out and he melt down and he prayed over there and turning to the body he commanded he said Tabitha arise and she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she sat up okay and then yeah he gave her his hand lifted her up it says and when he had called the saints and widows he presented her alive wow okay what what a fulfilling way of completing your assignment right so God had orchestrated Peter's steps so he was being led by the Holy Spirit to put different places and minister to the people that God had put on his heart and he was seeing the results in the work that God was calling him to do now just recently Ania's eight years paralyzed walking now Daakis Tabitha dead she is alive presented her alive and here also it became known throughout all Jopah and many believed on the Lord so you notice how the ministers the apostles the believers they would go not just not just preaching but also doing the supernatural works of God and that brought many people into the kingdom okay so same thing today like Jesus like Peter we can also preach heal demonstrate the powers of the power of God and that will bring many souls to the kingdom of God so after that it says that Peter he stayed many days in Jopah so he continued to stay in that same place with a man called Simon a tanner a tanner is you know somebody who deals with the the dead animals their skin to make leather so it was not you know it was not a very well respected job so it seems like Peter was staying with a person who's you know like sort of low in the society but he was okay to stay with this person probably because he was also a brother or a believer in the Lord so these are his activities in Lidda and Jopah so we can move on to the next chapter here okay and one more thought that I want to add about Peter is you know Peter he is he's a very devoted Jew and he was a very proud Jew okay but you notice that as he's walking with the Lord the the kind of people that he's ministering to he's becoming more and more open so he went to minister in Samaria Samaria is like a mixed breed a Jews and a foreign you know like background it's mixed and those people also not considered very highly but Peter is kind of softening up to minister to those who are not pure Jews and now he's staying with Simon the tanner it's a kind of a lower job but Peter's not worried about you know or you should be a rich Jew only then I will come and live with you no there's no such issues the humility of his heart he's able to understand that the gospel is for everyone and you know it's it's okay even if somebody is not rich but if he is a brother in the Lord yes and what tells me to stay with this individual I will stay so you know that preparedness to be anywhere be ready to stay in any condition for the sake of the gospel but that that heart of humility we are able to see in the apostles okay so yeah let me just stop here a little bit before I start off on Peter's ministry anything you want to add anything that is ministering to you okay so you're all still digesting what you're hearing that's my assumption okay anything maybe if someone can also unmute and share it would be nice if you had a different voice okay I'm sorry to put you on the spot but what are your thoughts anything that you are specifically thinking about yeah yeah go ahead I can hear me first yes yes yeah one thing I'm learning about in the life of science in wonder is it really matter in the ministry is it really is it really yes yes aren't we didn't get the last part you said science and wonders is it really yeah it's really matter in ministry is it really needed yeah yeah okay so uh yeah yeah very good yeah so aren't um uh I don't know if you made it you it's a statement that you said or a question but I'll anyway answer it uh we how did people come to know Christ we've seen even in Samaria even Jerusalem now with that jopa there is a lot of supernatural healing miracles you know science wonders and that's how the church is growing in all the regions so today if we are going to do ministry without the supernatural power of God uh it is not aligned to the way the early church did it no so it's important that's the point it is important yeah but uh some of the believers out here they are usually they are scared of these uh science and wonders no so how are we going to handle in that kind of situation yeah see I do understand that people can be um very they can be they might be uh cautious because they have had a poor experience earlier okay uh but what do we see Jesus doing what do we see the apostles doing they they continue the work aren't so I feel people can be scared but we should not let that stop us okay you we should continue to minister in this way uh and we will believe that the genuine will uh diminish the effects of the the falls or the the count of it okay example I'll tell you you remember when God called Moses to bring the people out of Egypt he goes to Pharaoh and over there in the court like there are sausages there are black magicians and uh Moses he throws the rod okay and he does all these signs where the rod becomes a snake uh and all so even the magicians are able to do that but does Moses stop doing uh his his uh demonstration of the supernatural no he also continues the magicians also continue but at the end of it what happens the snake that is produced by Moses's rod eats up all the other snakes so one lesson we can learn from here is the enemy will also do supernatural things okay but we should not stop we should keep continuing God will work in people's hearts so that's that's uh I mean that's how we go about it does does it make sense aren't yeah sure sure so let's just continue let's just continue we should not get worried what what will the people say and all that um yeah so that's about the supernatural and uh one more thought I'll add to it see Satan no he will always try to make a count of it of something that is valuable he won't waste time on something that's not valuable so when he knows that these signs wonders and miracles are valuable what is he trying to do he's trying to bring an imitation okay so if there is an imitation we know that this is valuable so we should not stop yeah yeah very very good question haren yeah anything else class any anything else that you are thinking about okay haren shares about her background yeah where she comes from a certain denomination within the way they did not believe in the supernatural yeah yeah haren uh a lot of denominations don't believe but again you know we have to be bible based it's not about what our denomination believes it's about what the bible says and in the bible we see emphasis on the supernatural work of God Jesus did it the early church did it so how is it wrong yeah true true yes right so yes class anything else from your side based on what we have looked at okay so uh so far we have seen you know the change of heart that people are having the uh journey of Paul the beginning of the journey of Paul we have observed uh and and even in the life of Peter right God is transforming his heart I told you he's a Jew he's very um uh stuck on his own way of doing things like in general that's that's how uh we have painted a picture of Peter but slowly things are changing for him he has ministered in Samaria he is staying in uh Jopah in Simon the Tanner's house and now what is God going to do in the life of Peter so we have a little bit of time maybe two three minutes I will just share and then we will pray and wrap up so act chapter 10 in this chapter God is concerned about a man called Cornelius so it says there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment a devout man and one who feared God with all his household who gave arms generously to the people and prayed to God always wow you know when the Bible describes a person it's so beautiful and there are good people who uh we see like Barnabas it says about Barnabas right that he was also a giver he was a generous he was a good man says he was a good man then uh we who else did we see the person okay fine now uh we are looking at Cornelius and Cornelius also it says he was a devout man he feared God he gave arms so the Bible is describing you know a good life and and uh somebody who's living their life like this praying giving they were actually showing their devotion to God okay and we will understand that Cornelius is not a Jew not uh a Jew and yet his heart is devoted to God and he's trying to practice all the things which are necessary to uh fear God okay verse three and about the ninth hour he has a vision remember God is speaking how does God speak dreams wrong things uh angels you know an angel comes and tells the apostles you go you know you go back to the temple you go preach that so communication of God again Cornelius he receives a vision in a vision and in the vision an angel of God okay so that's the way my God is speaking to him what what does the angel say name remember Saul uh Ananias Cornelius so God is speaking to the individual and when he observed him he was afraid and said what is it Lord you see people are responding to the communication of God and saying what do you want me to do where do you want me to go Lord all of them are responding Cornelius is saying what is it Lord meaning what do you want me to do then uh so the angel replies and says your prayers and your arms have come up for a memorial before God now send men to Joppa and send for Simon who's serving this Peter he's lodging with Simon Natana whose house is by the sea he will tell you what you must do isn't this so beautiful that the Holy Spirit is directing people to go and meet other people imagine today you know in our churches if this happens if let's say Dave has a dream about uh somebody in his place where he's staying right now he has a dream and says you know brother uh again brother John he stays in this place he's praying I want you to go Dave I want you to minister there and then you know uh let's say Siddharth has a dream and God is showing him I want you to go down to this particular area street number seven go to house number this there is a person there he's a good person he has lived this life so well before me and you know I want to minister to him I will minister through you if God makes these supernatural connections in our life today wouldn't that be amazing but you see that in the early church Holy Spirit is speaking giving people visions directing them to cross paths with each other so that's really like you know a wonderful very dynamic exciting work of the Holy Spirit taking place among the people and you see here there is a man he's not even a Jew but he was devoted to this God right he was devoted to God and whatever he did in the name of God God recognized it and you see so when we pray when we give for God in the name of God all these things come before God and God always remembers those things so God is saying look there is a man he has done these good things and I remember it and I am going to do something in his life today so God was intentionally God minister to Paul on the road to Damascus God minister to Amias when he was paralyzed God minister to Tabitha when she was dead okay and now God is ministering to Cornelius because of his good life and that's the way God is ministering to people in the book of Acts so let us just pray right now we will close because time is up and we will pick up from where we have stopped in the next class I will pray Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for your grace Lord your mercy Lord even as we have had the time to study and learn Lord from your word from the book of Acts Father we pray that this word will revive our spirits Lord and Lord we believe that what you have done Lord in the in the book of Acts in the lives of the people the Lord you can come you will do that in our lives so today Father I just speak and declare dreams visions Lord communication Lord from heaven into each one's life Father all the students Father God every listener and I just pray Lord that you will pour your spirit on each one of us and Lord we pray that Lord we will see greater wonders and not greater things done in our lives Lord even greater than what we are seeing today Father God in these chapters Lord we thank you once again we come at the rest of the time the glasses into your hands lead us and guide us Lord bless you in Jesus name we pray amen amen so thank you class and I will see you next week in Acts God bless have a good day bye for now okay thank you bye thank you bye bye