 Okay. One minute please. Okay. Good morning, everyone. Sorry for the little delay. Welcome, everyone, to the class BC 214. Let's take a moment to pray and then we'll get started. Could somebody please pray with us, please? Thank you. Okay. Welcome, everyone. So we started talking about lesson number 6, the faculties of the human spirit. Let me just go ahead and share. We started talking about the five spirit senses and then we started talking about the ability to see in the spirit where God can communicate to us through what we see. I think we just came to the introduction of that part. So let's start talking about seeing with the eyes of our spirit. So there are many different ways that that God communicates to us through what we see. So what we normally have, we use the term visions in a very broad context. There are times when it's an, we can call it as an inward or an internal vision. That means you're not seeing into the spirit worlds. You're not seeing into the spirit world but something is being shown to your spirit inside you. So the eyes of your spirit are perceiving something. It's not the same as an, so one we would call as an open vision when somebody says an open vision. There it's as though the eyes of our spirit is seeing through our natural eyes. It's as though the eyes of spirit is seeing through our natural eyes something in the spiritual realm. So now my example, now my physical eyes are open. I am seeing what is in the natural realm. So imagine in the same way my spiritual eyes are open and I'm seeing in the natural realm that we would call as an open vision. We call as a vision. So somebody says I saw a vision. This is also, this is a vision but it's an open vision. You're seeing into the spiritual realm. But at the same time, if the eyes of your spirits, you're seeing something in your spirits, not in the spiritual realm but in your spirit like a picture that also we say as a vision. That's also we say we use the word vision but it is something you have seen inside you, not in the spiritual realm. The eyes of your spirit have seen a picture and then of course that comes to your mind and in your mind you process it. You understand? Right? So when you see something in your spirit, you see a picture. The Holy Spirit is giving you a vision, a visual in your spirits. You know sometimes it could be a picture, it could be even some actions happening, things like that. But it's given to you in your spirit. Or you may have an open vision. So for example, we've given a few examples at the bottom of page 22. Seeing in the spirit realm the last point, last bullet point, there are some examples. There is Elijah, Elisha and his son, not his son, his servant Gehazi. So the servant says, he sees in the natural, he sees everywhere the armies, the enemy armies surrounded and then Elijah prays, Lord open his eyes and then he's suddenly able to see into the spiritual realm and he sees the heavenly hosts, the chariots. So that is what we will call as an open vision. That means you're seeing into the spiritual realm. Your eyes of your spirit is seeing in the spiritual realm. Or there's a time when Elijah, Elisha again, his servant Gehazi went after Naaman and after Naaman had gone, so he was far away. Gehazi went and said, Naaman, Naaman, give me the clothes, money, etc. because he gave a story to think. Elijah was sitting in his house but he was able to see something so far away through the eyes of the spirits. But it was not just an inward vision, like as I'm there, I'm seeing what is happening. So it's in the spirit, God is allowing him to go and see through the spirit, see what is happening in the natural. So you can see events happening in John 1. You find another example where Jesus is seeing through the spirit what happens under the victory. So when Philip goes to call Nathaniel, Jesus is far away, he's not in that place. But through the spirit he's seeing, he's through the spirit he's seeing what is happening in the natural realm. So that is, it's like an open vision but you're seeing in the spirit what's happening in the natural at that point or what just happened. So that's another experience of seeing. There are pictures, as in Jeremiah's case, God says, Jeremiah, what do you see? So looking at a picture, you say, I see a branch of an elementary. I see a pot that is with boiling water, it's facing north. I see these things. So what do you see? I see these things. So there's another way of seeing something in the spiritual realm. There are visions that you can see that is, so Daniel seeing the angel Gabriel. So that's an open vision. Daniel seeing things in the night while he's asleep. He says, I have in the night visions, that means he's asleep. So we will call that as dreams. So he's asleep. And in that, he's seeing a lot of things. So a lot of the things in the book of Daniel happen as night visions. That means they were sleeping. We will call as dreams. They were sleeping and then he's seeing all this happening. So Nebuchadnezzar has that dream. Daniel seeing the thing. He wakes up. What is this? What is the meaning? So that is also seeing what is happening in the night while you're asleep. So we call it dreams or sometimes we call it night visions. So we have different kinds of ways, different ways in which God helps our spirit to see. Now sometimes it may be very difficult to differentiate. Am I seeing in my spirit or am I seeing a spiritual vision? It will be very difficult because we are processing with our natural minds, a spiritual experience. So in your mind you're thinking, huh, did I see it in my spirit or did I see in the spiritual? Sometimes it might be difficult, right? But you process with your natural minds. Go ahead. Seeing in our spirit and also what? Seeing in spirit. Okay, let me try to give an example. So the question is, how do we, we want to differentiate between seeing in our spirit and seeing into the spiritual realm, which is we call open vision. So I would make this comparison. See now I'm sitting here in the class, I'm seeing all of you. So if I see this, this I would call as an open vision. Like it's as though I am here and I'm in the same place I'm seeing. But suppose somebody took a picture of all of you sitting. They took a photograph or a picture and that picture was given to me. Like, I suppose I was sitting outside and they gave me a picture from this place, this picture, right? And they showed it to me there. I'm seeing that picture. It's exactly like this. But that I am seeing only a picture. I'm not in this room seeing. But it's the same. It will be the same. Like all of you are sitting here, color picture. I can see the color in all that. I can see if I'm sitting, I'm going to take a picture and give it to me outside. I'll see. So that is like an example where you're getting a picture inside you in your spirit. But it's the same. I'll be able to tell. Yeah, there were one, two, three, four, five people like this in the arrangement. It's a picture, but it's given to me in my spirit. Whereas sitting here and seeing all of you is like an open vision. That means it's like you are there in that realm and you're actually seeing what's happening. Two different. Oh, it doesn't, you know, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to be present at the event. It's actually, it's the seeing, the visual is as though you are actually in that. But remember, it's in the spiritual realm. That's open vision. So when the Lord Jesus appears to Paul, it's open vision. I mean, see his eyes are open. He's seeing that and the Lord is telling him, Paul, don't be afraid. So things like that. So we need to, I mean, it may not always be possible to tell the difference. Sometimes you can tell, yeah, that's an open vision. That's a picture. Sometimes it may seem very similar. You may not always be able to tell the difference. And of course, dreams obviously when you're asleep. In your sleep, God is giving you maybe one picture, maybe a movie thing. But that's also God's giving you something for your spiritual eyes to see. So the important thing for us is to become sensitive to this experience and become confident in it, that God is actually telling me something, revealing something. Sometimes you can see words. Sometimes they give you a Bible reference. Sometimes, you know, something from the scriptures come up, but you're becoming confident that God is speaking to me this way. We also see another example of traveling and seeing in a vision. It's almost like God is taking him and taking him to another place and showing him something far away. It's like as though he's there. Sometimes we call this as an out-of-body experience, which is possible where the spirit goes that place and sees and comes back. Call it an out-of-body experience. I've never experienced it, but some people tell me, they say, oh, you came to me in the dream and you were speaking to me and you told me this. I never felt anything. I know it, but I've had that happen on several occasions. People come and tell me, you came to me in a dream and you were telling me like this, like this, like this. Thank you. I have no nothing about that, but it's something God did it for them, to minister to them. So I don't know how that works, but Ezekiel shares a lot of that kind of experience. God took me and he took me there. So it's like some spiritually is being translated, taken to a different place. His body is in one location, spirit is in another location. So we call it by-location, right? Body in one place there and he's seeing something there, then he comes back to his body. So Ezekiel, when you read all these references, you find so everything. So I find these experiences. It's very interesting when you look at what you see in scripture. Many times, different prophets, like we have given the list of examples, Jeremiah, Amos, Zechariah, others, they say, God showed me, God showed me, God showed me. That means it's a picture, either of still picture or of vision. Sometimes it's inside their spirit, sometimes the eyes are open to see, but the language is, God showed me. It's a vision. God is showing them a picture and communicating. The whole book of Revelation is what John saw in the spirit, whole book of Revelation. So John is here, it's a powerful spiritual experience. His body is on earth. So Revelation 1, he says, I was caught up in the spirit and then he's seeing all this. God is showing him in the spiritual realm all of these things. It's very, very detailed. So the challenge, let me just pause and see if there are any questions. Okay, let's go back. So the challenge is, first of all, for us to become used to this kind of, this way that God communicates with us, that God is actually speaking. Well, this is not normal. It is, normally we don't expect, but we should be open. Suddenly a picture is coming in your spirit or where is it coming from? Okay, God is giving me, God is telling me to do something. Sometimes you might see yourself doing something in that picture. That means God is telling you, I want you to do this. He's giving that instruction to you as a picture in your spirit. So you go do it. It may be simple, like go talk to that person or go shake hands with that person or something. It's just coming up in your spirit. God is telling you through that picture, through that vision, is giving you instruction. So first, our first challenge is being open to this way of God speaking. Second, then, is how do we interpret and then how do we communicate that. If there is a message or something, God wants us to tell somebody, how do you, that is also a learning for us. So I just put down some simple guidelines. This is not necessarily everything, but if what you're seeing is literal, you describe it, if it is figurative, interpret it. So example, if God shows you a picture, like you're looking at somebody and suddenly God shows you that somebody came and stabbed him at the back. Now, it could be literal, but it also could be figurative. So you need to differentiate, God, is it literal? Did literally somebody came and attacked him and hurt him and maybe that person is suffering from that fear and that whatever of that literal thing. Or God, is this figurative? Figurative means it could mean somebody backstabbed him, somebody betrayed him. Somebody who he was trusting, they betrayed him. So that is a figurative meaning. So when you see some picture like that, you have to pray. I mean, you have to listen to God. Lord, is it literal? Is it figurative? Then you go to that person and if you get the sense that this is figurative, you can say, Hey, I just God showed me, I feel that maybe in your life somebody betrayed you, somebody backstabbed you. So that not literally put a knife in you. The picture is that, but the meaning is somebody backstabbed. So you are still very hurt by that experience. And can I pray with you, God wants to heal you, something like that. But if God says, no, no, this man was actually attacked. That means it's a literal thing. Then you can say, Hey, I feel that God just showed me a vision or picture that you attacked. Somebody hurt you at the back. Then he might say, Yeah, yeah, the scar is still there or wound is still there or something. Yeah, it actually happened and he will, then it's okay. God wants to heal you physically and emotionally from that event. So that is one is physical, one is literal. So we have to interpret God. What does God say? Is it literal? Is it figurative? If it's literally say, describe it, if it's figurative, you interpret the interpretation, you have to learn how to do that. It takes a little bit of practice. So when we interpret, always try to stay within the Bible. What does the Bible say? What is the Bible meaning? What does that represent in the Bible? Don't use some other books. There are a lot of other books on what different symbols mean, etc. Don't use that. Stay within the Bible. What is the Bible? Or listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will give you the meaning. If it's a picture that's not necessarily in the Bible, okay, listen, Holy Spirit, I'm seeing this. What does that mean? What is the meaning you are telling me? But don't go and try to refer to outside books and things like that. Just stay within. Sometimes God will give you Bible characters, incidents or texts. So example, you're seeing somebody and God suddenly reminds you about the incident of Joseph where he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife. And that's a Bible incident. But God is telling you by reminding, giving you that picture, that visual of Joseph being betrayed. This is what happened in his life. So God is using a biblical incident to tell you something about a person. So God can do that also. So then you understand the meaning, oh, this person was betrayed, this person was falsely accused and something's happened in his life. So like that, they can use biblical incidents, texts and so on. So and this is a few of the ways by which God can speak through pictures. He can give you pictures of things from the Bible and tell you to use that to minister to somebody. So even when you're praying for somebody, suddenly God will quicken a character in the Bible or an incident in the Bible as a picture in your spirit and say, pray that for that person. You're with me. Yeah, so visual, you know, speaking, something that comes up in your spirit. It may come as a dream. It could be an open vision. You can through the spirit see into the natural. You can be transported in the spirit to another location. All kinds of things can happen where you're seeing into the spiritual realm and God is giving you information. Let me just say any questions, any questions from our online students? You all with me so far? So let's continue. Let's do one more today. So what I want to encourage all of us is to practice this. I know some of you have already been practicing it, which is good, but just be open to it. It can happen anytime. God can speak to us anytime through visuals, through the eyes of our spirits. Second, through the second faculty of hearing. So when we say hearing, doesn't mean there always has to be sound. In the natural, yeah, there has to be sound. Only we are using sound to communicate. But actually, this sound is carrying words to you. So words that I'm speaking are being transmitted through sounds. But in the spiritual realm, sound is not needed. So when words come to you, that is hearing. Words are coming to your spirit. That is hearing. But without sound. Now sometimes, sometimes there are experiences we have seen and we've seen the Bible. It's like Samuel hearing a sound or people, when the father said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased, people heard that. So sometimes that happens. But many times, words are imparted to your spirit without sound. That is hearing. You're hearing in the spirit. Sometimes people even use the word knowing because that knowledge has come to your spirit. So our spiritual ears can hear. And the interesting thing is in the spirit, it doesn't have to happen word by word. A whole paragraph, a whole book, a whole page can be imparted to your spirit. That means it's all of those words. All right, come, come. It's all of those words being imparted to your spirit at that moment. So to hear in the spirit does not require the same process to hear in the natural. In the natural, it requires sound. And in the natural, it takes time. Like I have to say one sentence after another sentence after another sentence, you have to listen to me for one hour. Only then you're getting all the information. But in the spirit, that information can be given to you in a second. It's like God is giving all those words to you in an instant. Right. Sometimes it may come little by little. Sometimes it can just come, you know, fully as a God giving you all those words right then and there. Okay. So hearing in the spirit, we must get used to this. Right. Now, sometimes what happens is God wants us to take steps of faith. So you may hear a few words. Then as you start engaging with those few words, more words will come. So maybe you're reading the Bible and suddenly revelation is coming. It may come, maybe one thought, one idea, one insight begins. Then you get a hold of that and then you continue to engage with meditate on it. Think about it. Say, God, tell me more. God, I want to learn more. Then what happens? More and more of that revelation begins to come into your spirits. Right. Or you're ministering to somebody. You start speaking to them. Right. So you might speak one idea, one thought to them. And as you are talking to them, God is giving you more, more information to tell them, to talk to them. Right. So in the spirit, you're also training yourself how to receive more of what God is saying to you, more words. So it's a part of training. It's part of learning. Train yourself that you can get more and more of the words that God is speaking to you. Right. Yeah. So sometimes a single word, sometimes sentence, sometimes there's more. So many of, many of the instances that we see in the Bible, when people say, when the Prophet said, or in the New Testament, and say, the Word of the Lord came to me. So we ask, how did the Word of the Lord come? When the Prophet says, and the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, how did it come? I mean, was God talking to you in a year? You know, was it coming like through a microphone you have in here? Hello, Jeremiah. Now I want you to prophesy this. You know, how did it come? He says, the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, how did it come? What I can conclude, like, you know, I'm summarizing based on what we are seeing in scripture. It is through the spiritual faculty of hearing that the words are coming into their spirit. Whether it's a sentence or a paragraph or lots of words, it's not like necessarily some audible voice they're always hearing, and then he's speaking. No, it's coming into their spirit, that knowledge, that understanding, those words are given, and then they're acting or saying or speaking. Some instances, yeah, it's an audible voice, but most of the time it's the inaudible communication of God to their spirit. Words are coming. Another thing to keep in mind about words is that God sometimes may speak only few words, but those few words have big consequences. He may speak one sentence, instruction, but that one sentence of instruction can have big consequences. This is an example. In Acts 8, the Holy Spirit is telling filler, go join this chariot. So you see the instruction, very small, very simple. Go join this chariot, but something big is about to happen because inside the chariot, there is one Ethiopian. He's working for the Queen, very important man. He's having the scroll of Isaiah and he's already in Isaiah chapter 53, and he's about to be saved. And if he gets saved, what's he going to do? He's going to take the Gospel to Ethiopia. He's going to go and talk to the Queen, but the Holy Spirit instruction is go join this chariot, very simple. He didn't tell Philip, go join this chariot. In the chariot, there is a man. He's working for the Queen. He has a scroll. He's in Isaiah 53. Holy Spirit never told all that. They said, go join this chariot. So many times, the instructions that God gives are simple. We want very big, one simple instruction. But if you obey that instruction, something big can happen. You know, same thing in Acts 10, Peter's praying on the rooftop and all that. And God's instruction of Peter is, Peter, three men are looking for you. Go with them. Don't ask any questions. What is the instruction? Three men are looking for you. Go with them. Don't doubt anything. Don't ask any questions. That's the instruction. He didn't say, Peter, these men have come from Cornelius's house. Cornelius is a Roman Sancturian. He's a very big man. You better wear your nice suit. None of those instructions. Yes, Peter, you go with them. Don't ask. Don't worry. Just go. So like that, there are many, we'll have many instruction. We see examples. Sometimes in the words, there are personal details. Like, you know, when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well of Samaria, he said, you know, you had, I don't know, five husbands, a man you are now with, it's not your husband. In Acts 5, Peter says, you know, did you buy this land for so much money? So that was, numbers were given. Names, numbers, addresses, you know, go to this house, the street called Strait and you'll find there's a man, Paul, he's praying and so on. So all those details are also given to us through words, right? So we must get used to receiving words. Sometimes it's just a word. Sometimes it's a sentence. Sometimes it's more and that then we need to engage with that revelation, engage with that. Do you need to give it to somebody else? Is it for you? What do you do? So on, so forth. Okay. Any questions on that online? All right, right. So like, when it comes to hearing, what are the like, some steps that we can take in order to acknowledge what we are having inside of hospital or what we are hearing? It's from God, but not our own thoughts. What we can measure that we can take in order to differentiate what we are hearing is from God. Okay. So the question is, how do I know, how do I check or verify, right? That what I'm hearing, like the words that are coming are actually from God and they're not our own, right? So one is to, that we should just be honest with ourselves, like, you know, that this is from God, that I be honest with myself, that I'm not making something and that if I'm hearing a word, it's coming from my spirit and not something I made up myself. So one is to just be honest internally, you know, be honest with yourself. Second test would be, as these words are coming in my spirit, do I feel peaceful? Do I feel the peace of the Holy Spirit? You know, do I sense, is there a sense of peace that is the Holy Spirit is bearing witness with my spirit? Yeah. This is, I am speaking to you. Pay attention. So the sense of peace, if I'm disturbed, confused, etc., then, you know, okay, I will be careful with that. But there's a sense of peace. I know this is God speaking. There's a sense of peace with those words. The other test, of course, is to make sure it's aligned to the word of God, right? So that whatever words are coming, it's not contradictory to the scriptures. It's not against God's word. So we are careful about that. Because the Holy Spirit will never say anything today that contradicts the written scriptures. So you're not going to tell you something today to do something that is against the word of God. So contradictory. So that's it. So I think one is, I'm being true to myself, that I'm not making it up. I'm listening to the, to my spirit, to the Holy Spirit speaking to me in my spirit. Second, there is the sense of peace in my spirit, a sense of God's presence, that this is, you know, sometimes the sensing of peace or presence may be more and other times it may be less. Sometimes you know this is, you know, there's an awesome presence. So you know this is God. And the third is, you're checking with the word of God. It doesn't contradict God's word. So you know that, that is God speaking. And of course, if we are going to release these words to somebody else, you always let them test it. Like you don't tell them, I heard God, you have to believe this. You always let them test it. If it's for somebody else, you're speaking it out profanically or giving it to somebody, you always allow them to test what you've heard. Any questions? So two parts of our faculties, what we can see, what we can hear. So I want us to practice that, develop that. So you ask God, God, please show me. God, please speak to me. You ask him. There's nothing wrong in asking. The Bible tells us to desire spiritual gifts and spiritual experiences. So I think I want to ask God, speak to me. God, show me. And then you listen. God shows you something, you act on it, speak it, share it. But we need to, that's one way of how we practice developing the faculties of our spirits. Okay. So I think we will stop here. Just two simple thoughts. We'll cover a little bit more next week, feeling the other faculties and so on. Okay. And all right. So may I ask somebody to please pray? Oh wait, there's a question here. When someone asks us to pray for a suitable part now or an overseas Indian job, asking us to pray to tell us if there's the right one or not. At times God tells us, sometimes he doesn't reveal, but we don't have the urge to tell them. Is it right for us to keep quiet? Should we pray and ask God to reveal them? Yeah. So generally in situations like this, it's always good just to pray that God will speak to that person, because we don't want to get them to make a decision based on what we said. Otherwise they're going to blame us. You told me, you told me. So it's better that God speaks to us. So our first thing is God, you speak to them, you guide them and if God reveals something to you, you can tell them. See, this is what I feel God is saying, but you please check. You please pray and you please make sure God speaks to you about it. So you can pray and say, yeah, this person seems right for you or yes, it seems right for you to take up this job. You're praying, this is what you sense. You tell it to them, but your prayer is God speak to them and even if God shows you something, you submit it to them saying, this is what I feel, you check and you pray and you see what God tells you. So that way, the final decision is always theirs and they are encouraged to listen to God themselves. Yeah, question? Pastor, so once I had a dream, I had a dream that a small accident for a person, like one person is having an accident, met with an accident. I didn't pray. I was a completely new believer. So after some months, the person had had an accident, met with an accident. It came into that point. It was like death and life. So when I asked for forgiveness and I prayed, that person got healed. Like whole body was like completely broken. So from that point, I'm not able to come out that I may like be open up like that guilt that I may not be able to take the responsibility and till today, I'm not able to come out. Like what is the how to come out from that kind of situation? Okay. So you look back now, so when God revealed that to you, of course, the intent was that you could pray for that person, try and prevent that from happening. But anyway, that happened and then you realize that. So one is you forgive yourself. God has forgiven you. From God's side, there's nothing more he needs to do. Now you have to forgive yourself. You tell yourself, you know what? It's okay. I was new to all this. Right? I'm learning. So forgive yourself. And then you open up and say, God, please continue to speak to me. Please continue to show me. And when you show me, I will try to act on it as soon as possible. So when God speaks to you, maybe through a dream or any other way, you act on it, you pray for it or you do something with it. But the most important thing is you forgive yourself. You don't hold yourself responsible for it. Yeah. So we all make mistakes. You forgive you because God has forgiven you. You forgive yourself. And then you come for God and say, God, please continue speaking to me. I will be sure to act on what you tell me in the future. Yes, friends. Sometimes when we have dreams, we share it with those persons. So the question is, when we have dreams, is it necessary we share it with the people who you have it with? Not necessary. Sometimes God shows you things about other people, mainly just for you to pray for them. In fact, that will be the most often. Right? When God shows you a dream and you see some other people in it, the main thing, the reason is God wants you to pray for them. God wants you to intervene in their lives through prayer. But there may be times, he wants you to tell them. But you pray about it. So the thing is, God, I saw this, these people, do you want me to tell them or do you just want me to pray for them? If you feel prompted that you need to tell them, then you go and tell them. Otherwise, just pray for them. Majority of the time, it would be just pray for them. Yeah. So you don't want to alarm them. God is just showing you to pray for them. All right. Okay, let's close in prayer. Our time is almost up. And so, okay, go ahead, friends. You glory for this time of learning, O Lord Father, that we had a lot. We pray that you will help us, O Lord Father, to put into practice everything that you have taught us. Holy Spirit, God, we submit ourselves into your hands. You come and you take control over our lives and you lead us, O Lord Father, in your ways that you have for our lives, O Lord Father. Whatever we have learned, O Lord Father, help us to steward it, help us to nurture it, and you water it, and you help us to grow in your world and in your spirit, O Lord. We submit everything to your mighty hands. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Thank you, everyone. God bless. We'll continue this next week.