 Good morning everyone and welcome Asha, Kongshri, Kumar, Christopher, Abina, Rupa, Simrin. Thank you for joining class. The others will join us. Let's begin with the word of prayer. Can I ask Rupa to lead us in prayer please? Ma'am, I'm in a hospital now. Can you please ask someone else? No worries, no worries. Okay, I hope everything is fine Rupa. Yes ma'am, I came for a bone density test. Some problem with my bones, no problem otherwise. Thank you ma'am. Okay, so can somebody lead us in prayer and also pray for Rupa please that you know that her bones will be strengthened, that you know her bones will just receive the life of God in her right now even as we pray that things will be restored in her bones. That should be healthy and made whole in Jesus name. Can somebody lead us in prayer please? Anyone? Okay, thank you Asha. Dear God, thank you so much for this day. I lift up everything that you have in God, especially right now, for being able to learn that you healed her and strengthened her bones God. By this drive we declare complete restoration of her bones. No sickness shall come into her. We're afraid that her bones will be strong in Jesus name. We declare that your name is over her life and we proclaim that she is healed, restored and preferred, divine miracles to take place in her life Lord. And I lift up today's class God as we are about to learn the Book of Romans that we may understand in depth and also give us the wisdom and understanding to grasp what Pastor San is teaching. And also Lord have, not Pastor San in the Lord as she teaches Lord that she will find what she needs looking for God. Thank you Lord for everything in the name we pray. Amen. Amen, amen. Thank you so much Asha. Today we'll continue with our study of Romans chapter 15. We stopped at verses 25. Yes, so can somebody please read Romans 15 verses 25 to the end of the chapter please, anyone? Verses 22 to verses 33. Romans chapter 15 verses 22 to verse 33. Yes, go ahead. For this reason, I also have been much hindered from coming to you. But now no longer having a place in this park and having a great desire, there's many years to come to you. Whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way there by you. At first, I may enjoy your company for a while, but now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, for it pleased those from Macedonia and Ikea to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints for in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things. Their beauty is also to minister to them in the real things. Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this food, I shall go by way of you to Spain. But I know that when I come to you, I shall find the fullness of the blessings of the gospel of Christ. Now I beg you brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit that you strive together with me in prayer to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy but the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Amen. Thank you Asha. Well read and I always appreciate your willingness to read and to pray and to be available to do that in class. Thank you so much. So here Paul writes in verses 22 to verse 33. He's basically talking about his plans. He's sharing some of his travel plans and so he's saying, you know, he wants to come to meet them. He has a desire alone, desire alone, waiting desire to meet the believers at home. He says, for this reason I also have been much hindered and what is has hindered him from coming or traveling to Rome and ministering there because, you know, it was Paul's great desire to do the pioneering work where no one has gone, where no man has gone. And he says because of that, you know, because he had gone to places where the gospel has not been reached, where no man has gone. That was a hindrance from him coming to Rome because in Rome they, the believers churches were already established, the work was going on, he said so much. So he wanted to go to territories to places where, you know, the gospel is not being preached to final the work there. But he says, you know, his desire, his great desire to see them. And the Paul is writing this letter to the church at Rome from a current, and this is towards his third missionary journey before he, he plans to go to Spain and on the way he plans to go to Rome. Before that, he's planning to go to Jerusalem, where he's collected some money from the churches in Achaea and Macedonia. And he plans to take that money which he's collected to the churches at Jerusalem. The churches at Jerusalem were suffering because there was a famine going on there. So then from Jerusalem, he plans to go to Spain. And on his way to Spain, he plans to stop by at Rome. Okay. And he has this assurance that when he comes to Rome, he says in verse 29, he shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now, from this verse, you know, was coined the term the full gospel. Okay. From this verse, Romans chapter 15, verse 29, you know, where Paul writes, he says, he shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ was to coined the term or the term full gospel came about. And there are churches who are called the full gospel churches. They are basically churches who, you know, share the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. They share that the gospel of Jesus Christ not only brings forgiveness of sins, but also healing for the body's deliverance from demonic powers. So from this verse, you know, is basically coined the word full gospel, where we have the full gospel churches, where they're sharing the fullness of the gospel, just not preaching about the forgiveness of sins, but also, you know, the whole message of salvation, so so, the comprehensive word that so so is, which is forgiveness of sins, healing, deliverance, deliverance from demonic attacks, strongholds, preservation from sin and from the attacks of the evil one. Okay. And verse 30, he says, you strive together with me in prayers to God for me. He says he's telling the believers at Rome, you know, that he wants them to strive along with him in prayer. Now he's writing to believers at Rome and Paul is here in Corinth, but yet he's saying I want you to strive with me in prayer, though, you know, we are in different places, you know, yet we can come alongside other people. We can lend them our spiritual strength as we pray with them, even though we are in different places, we can come together in agreement in prayer where we're striving together with them in prayer. So what does Paul want the church at Rome, the believers at Rome to strive with him in prayer for? It's basically that he will be delivered from the, from those in Judea who do not believe. And he says that my service for Jerusalem will be acceptable to the saints. So basically he wants the believers at Rome to strive together with him in prayer for the Jews in Judea who are not believers. They're very angry with Paul because he became a follower of Jesus Christ. He's preaching the gospel and they're planning to kill him and also that even as he goes to Jerusalem, the Jews are also not there, are not going to spare him and whatever he's going to do there in terms of giving the donations that he's collected is service to the saints. The believers at Jerusalem will also be acceptable. So we see that Paul eventually goes to Jerusalem and in Jerusalem he's captured by the Jews for and he's there for two years. He's imprisoned in a Caesarea for two years and then he appeals to Caesar and we see that he's taken as a prisoner with a lot of guards. He's taken as a prisoner to Rome because he appeals to Caesar and then when he's brought to Rome he's kept in under house arrest. But you know that's not how he wanted to basically go to Rome. That's not how he wanted to minister at Rome to the believers there. He was longing to go but we see that situation changed. He was in chains but irrespective of whatever his situation was, he used that situation yet to minister to the believers at Rome. So even though he was in a house arrest, given the liberty for people to come and meet him, so he would meet with believers, preach to them, teach them and minister to them. So it just shows us Paul's heart. He could have been disappointed. He could have been upset that he's imprisoned. He knows that this time he's not going to get out of this debt that is impending upon him. He's going to die soon but all that does not stop him from laboring from the Lord, from doing what God wants him to do. So that's a good example for us to learn as well to see from Paul's life. Sometimes when we go through situations in life and we're in ministry, we get very disappointed, frustrated when things are not going right, when we are not encouraged, we are not supported, when we are not given importance or we are not given personal preference or we are not applauded for what we do or just people gossiping, talking, backbiting and the work is becoming very hard, strenuous. There's no free time for us. It's just all the time, labor, labor, labor. And we come to a place where we just want to give up but we can learn from the life of Paul, amazing life, a man who is so well educated, a Pharisee, the tribe of Benjamin, a man of high standing, high ranking in society, a rich man doing his own business, having his own business, earning his own money. But we see him in spite of all the shipwrecks and the beatings and being thrown into prison and hardships that he faced, he still labors hard for the Lord. And he says, he writes in one of his books, he says, I labored more than all the other apostles. So he continues to labored in spite of knowing what is going to be the eventual end of his life, how he's going to die, being in imprisonment that does not deter him or stop him from pursuing God's call, doing what God has called him to do and also to ministry to people. So even though he wanted to go to Rome and meet the believers, their situations, the different circumstances was different, but yet we see he was able to minister to the believers and that is so amazing that we can also learn from Paul's life. So that is the end of chapter 15 and he ends it by saying, that I might come to you with joy by the will of God and maybe refresh together with you. So he basically wants to go there to be refreshed and also to refresh the believers there. And that is what he does, even though he's in chains and though the circumstances are different from what he envisioned, but still he does what he's called for and what he has been longing to do. Okay. Any questions regarding verse 15, chapter 15? Is Mangi in class? He had asked a question on Wednesday. Is Mangi there? Okay. Just, Mangi's not there, but just to answer Mangi's question, you know, yes, Paul going to Jerusalem is mentioned in the book of Acts, you know, in Acts chapter 21, even though he, you know, gets a vision of God wants him, what is going to happen in Jerusalem, but yet we see that and the disciples, you know, pleading with him not to go up to Jerusalem, but he still goes up to Jerusalem. We also see, we read in Acts chapter nine, verse 28 to 30, that, you know, he declares in Galatia that the three years that elapsed after his conversion before he went to Jerusalem. So after three years of this conversion, we see that he goes to Jerusalem, but Ilocrum is not mentioned in Acts, even though Paul mentions that in Romans chapter 15, verse 19, Paul claims that, you know, he did his ministry from Jerusalem and round to Ilocrum, where he's fully preached the gospel of Christ. But, you know, it's not mentioned in the book of Acts, specifically that Paul visited Ilocrum, but, you know, commentators say it may fit in Acts chapter 20, verses two to three, where, verses two and three, where Paul says he had gone over that region and stayed there for three months. So Ilocrum is due west on Thessalonica, and, you know, there was a famous Roman road that went between Thessalonica and the Roman province of Ilocrum. And so, you know, though it's not explicitly mentioned that he went to Ilocrum, but, you know, commentators say that in Acts chapter 20, verses two to three, you know, where he, in that places where it's mentioned in those verses, you know, there's a possibility that he had gone to Ilocrum. Okay, so that is answering Maggie's question. He's not here, but anyone else has any questions? No questions to chapter 15? Okay, if there are no questions, then we'll move on to the last chapter in Romans, Romans chapter 16. So, you know, the Romans chapter 16, Paul is just basically mentioning his last words, his greetings, he's bringing this letter to a closure, to close, and, you know, it's very touching, what impresses us about Romans chapter 16 is how Paul recognizes the people who minister along with him or are ministering in various areas, and how he's thanking other people who are serving along with him or serving the Lord in other places. And it also just shows us or teaches us that, you know, we also need to recognize and thank people who are ministering along with us, you know, ministering different places who have invested in us, and, you know, and help us grow and mature, or who are also mentoring us in our walk with God. Okay, so in verses one, chapter 16, verses one, right up to verse 16, he mentions a lot of names. So, would anyone like to read that quickly? Romans chapter 16, verses one to verse 16, please. Yes. I commend you Phoebe, our sister, who was a servant of the church in Centria, that you may receive her, the Lord, in a manner worthy of the saints, and a sister in whatever business she has made for you, of you. For indeed, she has been a helper of many and of myself also. I greet the Sila and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who wish their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Affinitus, who is the first fruits of a care to Christ. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Antonicus, and Junior, my countrymen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplius, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Statius, my beloved. Greet Apilius, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristibulus. Greet Herodion, my countrymen. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Greet Crophinia and Crophosal, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved persons, who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Greet Ascindicritus, Felicone, Hermes, Patrubus, Hermes, and the brethren, who are with them. Greet Philokas and Junior, Nereus and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints, who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you. Thank you so much, Christopher. Good job at reading all those names. Thank you very much. So here we see Paul's heart for people. And we also read in various places, Paul is saying, what is my joy, my crown, when I stand before the Lord? Is it not you, people who are labored, who are ministered to? So he's saying, what is my reward? When I stand before God, what do I boast about? It's not about all the missionary journeys. It's not the great apostle he was, the epistles he wrote, the revelations he received, the amount of knowledge of the Old Testament. But he says, you, my people. And he says, I have you in my heart. He holds people so dear in his heart. And because he has people in his heart, the Holy Spirit, God had given him the liberty to speak into people's lives, to write into people's lives or to write upon their hearts. And so it's so important for us, you know, ministries not about just about writing books or writing songs or having a big church or, you know, conventions, meetings, crusades. But, you know, Christian ministry is all about ministering to people. It's about people. It's about ministering to people. And we know we need to hold people in our hearts. And so here we see, you know, Paul himself having people in his heart. And, you know, it's not easy for him to write all of these names. He could have just avoided it because we know in those days, they didn't have just a paper and an ink or they didn't have a tab or, you know, a laptop where they can just type out all of these things and, you know, just email it, just send it and this goes as an email there. They write it on parchment. It is so difficult. They have to take that so-called pen, dip it in ink several times and write it. And it's not an easy process. But, you know, just taking that pain, the struggle to even write out all of these names just shows Paul's heart for people. And we see that he calls them here as fellow workers, fellow laborers. In other places, he calls them York fellow, you know, fellow prisoners, you know, you know, laborers in the Lord. He calls them all of these things just to show that, you know, Paul is just actually being mindful of who's serving and also telling people that its ministry is not about all about I, me, myself. You know, it's not that I'm doing everything. I couldn't have done everything on my own, but it's all of these people. And he mentions a name here, Phoebe, says Phoebe our sister who is a servant. Basically, the word servant translated as deacon, an elder in the church. And she's overseeing the church in Sincaria. And so, you know, probably she's traveling towards Rome. So Paul is saying when she comes, please receive her, you know, and give her whatever help that is needed, a sister in whatever way that she needs help. He also mentions about Aquila and Priscilla, the couple who, you know, had to leave Rome because the Christians were persecuted, they were asked to leave Rome. So they moved to Corinth where they met Paul, they worked alongside with Paul, ministered along with him. Paul, you know, spoke into their lives, trained them up. And then, you know, when the door was open to go back to Rome, this couple goes go back and they continue the work there. And that is how Paul hears all about the work that is done at Rome, the ministry at Rome, the people at Rome. And so he says, he just remembers them. And he also remembers the sacrifice, how they sacrifice or they risk their lives for Paul's sake. Now, there's nowhere mentioned, what was the risk that they took upon themselves to save Paul, but we just read about it here, but we don't have any specific details, how they risked their lives to save Paul's life. Paul also mentions many other names, basically just, you know, acknowledging what these people are doing for the Lord. Hence, it also teaches us, you know, it's a good thing to acknowledge and thank people for the work that they are doing, the sacrifices they make for the Lord. In verse seven, you know, he mentions a female's name, a lady's name, Junior. And he says, you know, he mentions this in verse seven, Andrew Nickes and Junior, his fellow countrymen, fellow prisoners. And he says, one of note among the apostles. So basically, somebody who's done something remarkable or outstanding among the other apostles. And hence, it could imply that Junior was a female apostle. We're not very sure, but we're just, you know, implying that she was a female apostle. This could be a possibility. But, you know, we also see that Paul, you know, making note of ladies, which is very unknown and unpopular in those days, but people, ladies who have done remarkable work with serving the Lord in smaller big ways, he just credits them for what they are doing. He also mentions about churches who meet in various houses. So it just gives us a view about, you know, where the church is met during that time, during Paul's time. It's not like the church is met in buildings like we meet today. But, you know, in the earlier days, during the time of Paul, they met mostly in houses, there were many house churches, because they didn't have church buildings. So they meet in different homes. Just look at how, you know, even Paul greets the households of various people. And not just, you know, his fellow workers, but also he's greeting various households. So basically, he's a man who, you know, maintains relationships and knows the importance of maintaining relationships in the body of Christ, importance of co-working with other people. You know, Paul has got things so right in his ministry. You know, ministry is not about building my empire, my kingdom, my vision, my field, what God has entrusted to me. But it is actually, you know, it's going about building the vision, the plan and purpose, God is entrusted, but also co-working alongside with other people in the kingdom of God, and having working with this kingdom mindset that, you know, we are not just building our own kingdom, our own, you know, vision that God has given to us, but we are actually building up the kingdom of God. So how we can partner alongside with other people, we're having the same vision, what we can learn from them, you know, the experience they had, the things that they're doing, how they can help us, how we can help them. So, you know, kingdom building is all about co-partnering, co-working with others like-minded people. It's also not about just my ministry, my church, my organization, not all about, I mean myself, but how I can invest and along with others in building and identifying the body of Christ and building the house of God. And also, you know, when we're talking about being kingdom-minded, it's about co-laboring. And, you know, when we co-labor, Paul is mindful that, you know, where as he goes about doing his fulfilling, his calling that God has given to him, that God is bringing about different people into his vision, into his field, and how he treats them. You know, it does not treat them, it does not boss over them, it does not treat them being authoritative, but he actually is training them up, we're training them up and sending them to different places like he trains Timothy, Titus, Aquila, Priscilla, then he doesn't just keep them with him, but he, you know, he launches them out into different places, put them in places where they can be responsible. And we see that, you know, Paul has given them good training, you know, through not only just teaching them, but through his very life, his very life, his ministry, and that is why he's, you know, able to say, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Okay, let me just give you that reference, you know, where he's able to tell people, you know, not just build up people in the faith, but, you know, train them as leaders, but also, you know, he says, you know, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Where is that, you know, able to find it. But, you know, we just look at, if you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 17, you know, he says, he's talking about Timothy, he says, for this reason I accept Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church. So, you know, it's basically Timothy came to him as a son who's new in the faith, but we see how he, you know, he builds him up in the works of the Lord and then he, you know, gives him the leadership responsibility to build up the work that is in Ephesus. And 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 1, Paul says, imitate me as I also imitate Christ. And then he goes on to say in Philippians chapter 3, verse 17, you know, brethren join in following my example and know those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. The things that you learned and received and heard and saw me, these two and the God of peace will be with you. That is in Philippians chapter 4, verse 9. So, you know, all of these people have not just received revelations or knowledge from God's word, but they've also, you know, just seen the way they've learned from Paul's very life, you know, what they heard from him, what they've seen him, how they lived, his example, how he walked, and he says, just do that as a pattern. Just follow me as a pattern, everything that I have done. And it's just so amazing, you know, for Paul to say that because his life was so transparent, so open. My people could just see through, read through his life. And he's saying, no, just be, imitate me as I also imitate Christ, just follow my pattern. So that is how we need to be as kingdom builders, even as some of us are leadership responsibilities, you know, come to a place where our conducts, our lifestyle is, you know, is in alignment with God's, you know, Godly standards, His holiness, that people can just look at us and just imitate the way we do things, the way we live our lives. Any questions? Before we move on to West 17 on, any questions? Yes, Christopher, you pronounced them right. Thank you. Okay, so about the holy kiss. This is in, in West 16, greet one another with a holy kiss. Yes, you know, in, in, in those days, they did practice, you know, you know, kissing each other in, in the, in, as believers in the church of, in the church, how can it be practiced today because we are to pattern Paul's teaching. You know, nowadays we give not a holy kiss, but, you know, just a handshake or a high five or, you know, a hug, because I think, you know, kissing is just in our Indian culture. We don't do that, but maybe in the Western culture, they, they have no comms in doing that. So I think it just differs on the culture. You know, whatever culture that we come from, whatever is adaptable in our culture, we can do that. I don't know what is the culture, what is your culture, but in our culture, we don't do much of, you know, even, we just do handshake high five. Few people just give hugs, but you know, it's just limited to handshake. And, you know, just to avoid problems, you know, men just give hugs to men, women to women, but nowadays our culture is changing in bindosity. It's, we see not only in the church setup, but also in the, in the public places when I've seen many young people, you know, in colleges, when they just want to say bye to their friends, I've seen, you know, young boys and guys just hug each other and say bye. So there is no handshake, anything anymore. They just give a hug, but there's no kissing, because that's not very relevant in our own culture, but it depends from culture to culture what people are, you know, comfortable doing. So yes, that sounds strange. You know, Luke actually in Luke chapter seven was 45 shows how common greeting a kiss was. And Jesus basically rebukes a Pharisee because he did not give a kiss. Jesus a kiss when he came into his house. You know, but commentators basically say that this practice was abused later. And, you know, the Clement of Alexandria complained about churches where people made the church resound with kissing and says that this shameless use of a kiss on occasions, you know, where there's foul suspicions and evil reports have been, you know, have just been reported about Christians. And I think later on this practice, they felt was being abused of kissing each other and hence it was stopped in the churches, yes. But it was a practice. Did that help Kennedy? So that's why I think Paul says holy kiss. He's qualifying the kiss as well as holy kiss. Yes Charles, I know in your culture you hug a lot. Yes. Yeah. In our Indian culture, in some churches, they do this, you know, or some people just do this. But in our more modern context in Bangalore, handshake, hug and high five and just hitting your shoulder like this and things like that. That's what we do. It's becoming different, different things that people feel comfortable doing. But older folks like me are just comfortable in saying hi and, you know, just handshake or just hugging ladies, ladies, men with men. So that's in our context. Okay. Any other questions? If there are no questions, can we move on? Can somebody please read verse 17 to verse 27 please? Anyone can read? Yes. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them. For they that as such serve not, not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly and by good words and first speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is calm abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on behalf, I'm glad therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have your wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 21 Timothyus, my work fellow and Lucius and Jason and so see Peter, my kinsman, salute you. I, Tatius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Gaius, my host, and of the whole church, salute you. Arrest us, the chamberlain of the city, salute you. And quote us, a brother, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen. Now to him that is of power to step, to stabilize, to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the war began. But now is made manifest and by scriptures of the prophets according to the commandments of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Thank you, Harrison. Just give me a minute please. Yeah, thank you, Harrison. So in verse 17, we see Paul's heart once again, his desires for believers to live in unity. He says, you know, he says, watch out for people who are causing divisions and offenses, which are contrary to what he has taught them or has been teaching them through this letter. He says that people are speaking things that are different and causing people to stumble. You know, he says, avoid such people. Now why is he saying this? Because this has been an ongoing problem in various churches. And that is why we see in most of his letters he's writing to the church of Galatians. He's writing to the church at, you know, he's writing to Timothy in 1st and 2nd Timothy. He's writing to Titus. And, you know, in Galatians chapter 4, verses 11 and 12, he says, you know, I'm afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain, brethren, I urge you to become like me for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. So what Paul is basically saying here is, you know, he is very disappointed at hearing what is happening at the church in Galatia, because he has labored so much for them in their faith. He's brought them up in their faith. He's taught them things, but they're being easily swayed away by some other people who insist on some of the Old Testament practices of the law that still has to be observed. And it seems that Paul, what he has labored among them has gone in vain. You know, but we see that we see Paul's heart for the people. He says, in spite of all this, even though he's heartbroken, he's disappointed. He says, you have not injured me at all. So we basically see his love for people. But also, he knows that there are these Jewish believers who are coming to the church. It's not only the problem of the church in Galatia. There's also a problem in the churches at Ephesus. And that is why he leaves Timothy there. And he's writing to Timothy. He's telling him what kind of leaders to choose in 1 Timothy chapter 3. You know, he's telling them the different kind of leaders that he needs to choose, reminding them what kind of men they have to be, telling titers also the kind of leaders he has to choose. Because there was this problem of these Jewish believers who were coming into the church, they were bringing about their Jewish mythologies, Jewish fables, you know, the kind of eating, the food they have to eat following Old Testament rituals and practices and circumcision and keeping the laws and everything, which is kind of burdening the people. And that was not needed for people in the new covenant. And Paul has already taught this to them. But people are going away and these Jewish believers are bringing all of these teachings. And he says, you know, have nothing to do with such people, you know, causing division, causing offenses, keep away from some such people, avoid people who are divisive and offensive. Paul says, keep away with, keep away from them, don't partner with them, because these people are serving their own selfish interests. They have nothing to do with, you know, people going to the faith or they have, they have nothing to do with Christian maturity, they walk with God, you know, building righteousness or maintaining their righteousness by faith. It's not by keeping the law. And so Paul is saying, you know, I've taught you about all of these things from, you know, written about all of this for us is from chapter one right up to chapter 15. So start your oldest, you know, now since you know about all of this, don't partner with them, because these people are actually serving their own selfish interests. And that is what he's even when he's writing to Timothy, First Timothy, Second Timothy mentions this, you know, when he's writing to Titus as well, he's saying the same thing. And here he's saying, you know, you know, because they want, they're feeding their own bellies. That means they're being very selfish. They're doing things to gain prominence in the church for people to listen to them, to them being leaders. And also through these means he's trying to just, you know, make use of them and, you know, take money from them. So he's saying they're not serving Jesus, they're the serving people who are simple. And, you know, people who are simple believe anything and everything. So, you know, don't give room for these offensive, decisive people, because they take advantage of the simple people, avoid such people. And it's important for believers to stay together. And he says, be wise in what is good, know what to avoid, and know what to pursue. And what 17 he says, don't get involved with evil, stay away from evil people, stay away with what they have to say, don't even listen to them, don't even encourage them, don't give a year to them. And as you do this, he says in verse 20, and the God of peace will cross Satan under your feet. And so he's saying, you know, you as believers, you know, when you do this, when you walk in unity, in peace and oneness, and when you walk in what God has called you to do, you build up your faith in Godly ways. And what is required of you, he says, you know, you will walk in dominion, you will live experientially, you know, you will walk in dominion, and experientially, you will walk in triumph over Satan, you will have, you know, you will triumph over Satan in everything that will be your experience. And God will cause you to walk in triumph over whatever Satan is doing. And then he continues to greet a lot of other people, and then he ends this whole, you know, letter by, you know, just blessing them. He says, now to him who is able, which means, you know, with all the dangers that the believers at Rome are facing, and every church that is facing, you know, persecution, Paul fittingly concludes by commending them to him who is able to establish them, to keep them safe. And Paul also knows that this will be done according to my gospel, he says, you know, you know, according to his gospel, that means a gospel of Jesus Christ that he is being, he's preaching. Remember, he spoke about his gospel elsewhere in this, in this letter, and here again, he mentions my gospel. Where does he say that? In verse 25, he says, now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, my gospel is basically the gospel of Jesus Christ that the whole gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul is teaching. So the gospel that he was preaching, the gospel, he says, is a gospel that was kept secret, you know, but it's now unveiled and this is the gospel that he is preaching. So in verse 26, Paul says, this gospel is being made manifest by prophetic scripture and is made known to all nations, which means his gospel was in the prophetic scripture in the Old Testament. It was hidden there, which means people did not know about it until it was unveiled, until it was revealed by God sending his own son, Jesus, coming and dying on the cross. And it was, you know, it was brought open, it was unveiled to us. And, you know, he says, we are now proclaiming the same gospel to all people in every nation. He says, according to the revelation of the mystery. Paul means that this, this as the whole plan of redemption that was brought about by Jesus Christ, which God announced, you know, this plan previously through the prophets from the very beginning from Genesis, right all through the Old Testament, but its final outworking wasn't evident, wasn't seen until it was revealed to the person and the work of Jesus Christ. And then he ends this letter by, you know, giving them the benediction to God alone, wise, be glory to Jesus Christ forever. So in this conclusion, Paul reflects on the wisdom of God's plan in the gospel and the fact that such wisdom is beyond man's understanding. You know, God had a plan that no man would come up with. But, you know, the wisdom and the glory of the plan of God is now evident and he's even spoken about it in the chapters, you know, when he's talked about Abraham, David and how he brought it, you know, the plan was revealed to the Jews and to the Jews, it was passed on to the Gentiles. So if there's anything in the book of Romans that, you know, explains from beginning, if there is anything that the book of Romans explains from the beginning to end, it's the greatness and the glory of the plan of God that Paul preaches the gospel as the good news. And hence, Paul seizes as very fitting to conclude this letter, you know, praising God for his plan, his plan of salvation, of how he includes all people from all nations and all tribes into the gospel, into the salvation, a plan that he had. And Paul is saying that, you know, I'm preaching that gospel. So the good news that Paul preached presented the God who chose to glorify himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ and who will glorify himself in the future forever. And he just gives him all the glory and honor. So Paul is basically in this letter spoken about, you know, how God unveiled his plan and purposes right from the beginning through creation, Adam, David, you know, through the prophets, through the Jews, how he called them, you know, and how he used the Jews to bring about this plan of salvation or to reveal the gospel or to reveal the blessing that was for the Jews as well, to the promise that he gave Abraham, even how it was a promise for the Gentiles and how they are also inclusive of this blessing and how he's revealed everything and how Paul is making that revelation known to people. And he says he gives glory and honor to God for his plan and, you know, how he made this plan evident and how he's unveiling this plan so people can know and, and he gives all the glory to God. Somebody had their hand up? Yes, Christopher? Yes, Pastor, I just wanted to just give us an example of that, those words, which may have been said, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil, an example in, in sort of present life. Just give us an example. Thank you. So that is in verse 19. Yeah, so for your obedience has become known to all therefore I'm glad on your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. So basically wise in what is good is, you know, all that he has thought about, you know, he's taught them regarding the law, regarding the rituals that they want to keep, their righteousness is not by faith and not by keeping the laws. And then the observance of, you know, certain days that people have the food habits, you know, the kind of, you know, the dressing sense, you know, the way you treat people, you know, treating everyone, keeping the bond of unity of peace, as far as possible, keep that, you know, submitting to leadership to government, to civil government. So all of these things that he has spoken to them, you know, what is wise and what is good, he says, you know, keep that and, you know, don't be, act simple because if you, you know, people who are simple are people who are easily swayed away by anything and everything they listen to, they just follow people. Okay, he says, don't be simple in that sense, you know, be wise. You know, I have mentioned all of these things, you have taught you all of these things. Now act wise, don't just believe anything and everything that people say, you know, you can receive only righteousness by faith, you can be justified only by keeping the law, by circumcision, by observing, eating this kind of meat, eating this kind of food, practicing these certain days and all of that is all Old Testament rituals, you know, he's saying be wise, you know, and just don't, you know, act simple and just follow what anything and everything that people are saying. So in today's world, you know, how do we need to be wise in what is good? There are a lot of teachings that are people who are saying, you know, revealing different manifestations of the way the Holy Spirit works, you know, doctrines that have come up, and we need to always go back to the scripture because, you know, whatever God does, does not violate his word and what he has revealed to us in scripture and always will be in accordance with his nature and what he has revealed in the written word. And hence, you know, we need to be wise in the doctrines, the different teachings, the manifestations of the Spirit, what people are saying, this is the work of God, it could be even fleshly manifestations, but how do we know the difference between the Spirit-led manifestations? The fleshly manifestations is by the fruit. So we just wait and watch and see, and if it's of God, it will last, if it's, it will bear fruit, you know, we will see the evident fruit, there will be fruit, there will be transformation of people's lives, you know, the move of God, healing, deliverance that is happening, but if it's a manifestation of the flesh, it will just be shown by the fruit. So just be wise in what is good, what God has called us to do, not just keeping rituals for the sake of ritual, keeping it for the sake of rituals, which has no meaning, but doing things that bring glory and honor to God. So Colossians chapter 3 says, you know, Paul is saying, in everything that you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all for the glory of God. Okay, so I'll compare this to verse 19 to Matthew chapter 6, 10 verse 16. So what does Matthew chapter 10 verse 16 say? Sorry, we just overshot our time, but we'll just stop with this. Matthew chapter 10 verse 16. Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves, therefore be wisest sermons and harpless. Yes, yes, basically that. Yeah. So I hope I answered your question. I think it was Harrison who asked, right? Or Christopher, sorry. Christopher, I hope I answered your question. Harrison has also helped us with Matthew chapter 10 verse 16. Okay. Anyone else has any questions? Okay, if there are no questions, then this is our last class. I hope Romans helped you, you know, in just knowing in depth the doctrines from the Old Testament as well, how we can apply it in our everyday lives. Please feel free to share your feedback, whatever it is, whether it's in the form of suggestion, criticism, you know, whatever it is I'm willing to take your feedback because it just helps me. Next time when I have to teach Romans, I can keep this in mind because we don't know. We just teach. We think that it's just, it's useful, applicable for students, but you are the one on the receiving end, so you know better. So please share your useful feedback, even if it's criticism, don't hesitate to share it because it just basically helps me, helps me grow to become a better teacher and how I can communicate the word of God better. So any thoughts on the teaching style, the delivery style, the content, the way of doing it. If I was very fast, anything, you can just share your feedback. Please take a moment or two to share your feedback. We'll just be very helpful. Assessments also, you can share your feedback. It'll just help. Okay. I can just wait. Anyone wants to share your feedback on this chat section. You can do so. Those want to leave class. You can leave. If there are any questions you can have, you can post it on the stream page. If there's any section or portion of scripture you didn't understand, you want me to teach again. Please feel free to post that on the stream page and we can meet together again as a class and I can teach that as well. Okay. If not, this will be our last class and I've also posted the days when we have the assessments. So I will do that on those days. Okay. Okay. Thank you, everyone. God bless you all and go back to your notes, listen to the lectures. The best way you can practice it is to teach the book of Romans and you get more acquainted when you teach. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Christopher, Kong, Abinas, Harrison. Thank you, Master. Thank you, Kong. Thank you, Asha. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Simran. You are able to do your assessment with that link I sent. Yes ma'am. Okay. Yes ma'am. Did you post the assessment? Yes. Yes. Okay. Last night I go with you. Okay. Great. Thank you so much. God bless. Thank you, Sidhan. Thank you, Abishek. Thank you. Thank you so much, Rose. God bless you too. Thank you, Simran.