 The recording has started. Let's pray, either Prince or Dave, one of you, would you please lead us in prayer? Prince, can you lead us? Okay, I think Dave would like to request you. Are you able to hear? Yes, yes, I am able to hear. Actually, your voice is too low. Oh, is it? Okay, let me just adjust it. Let me know whether it's any better. It's fine. Is it better? Can you hear me now? It was fine for me. I see. Okay, not sure. I have kept everything in full volume. It's quite okay. Okay, okay, all right. Okay, okay. Okay, great. Thank you for having me, Father. Thank you, Lord. You have given us a wonderful morning. As we've come before you, Lord, as you're going to learn your world, whatever you want to do with them, also with the students. I submit all the students and amen you have. Amen, amen. Thank you. Thank you, Prince. Okay, so we shall get back to our subject here. We have been studying from the book of 1 Peter. And to the same audience, Peter writes another episode. An episode is nothing but a letter. So, in the first episode, we saw that he had a lot of encouragement for the persecuted believer. He reminded them of their imperishable, eternal, precious inheritance because of which he said that this life, don't worry about the challenges that you're going through in this life. God is there and we are from a kingdom which cannot be shaken. So, basically, he's just trying to help them understand that the struggles of this world will not last forever. And we also saw that he gives them pointers on how to live their lives as believers in a world where people are observing them. So, in the context of authority, he spelled it out like he talked about the governmental leaders and he talked about the husband-wife relationship, husband over the wife. And then he also talked about leadership in the church. How do you deal with elders? So, basically, he emphasizes on submission, that we must walk in submission, we must walk in honor. So, in this way, he kind of brings in encouragement, brings in instruction. But in the second episode, the subject is completely different. So, he found it important to address the issue of false teachers. And so, you find that the second episode is a warning to the believers. The first episode was encouragement, but the second episode is a warning. Similar to the book of 1 John. Remember, we all went through the three episodes written by Apostle John. And it seemed like even John, at some point, he brought in the subject of apostasy and people trying to mislead the sheep or the flock of God and bring in wrong teaching, wrong instructions, wrong examples. So, all the apostles seemed to be warning the people to hold on to the true doctrine and to recognize these false teachers and false leaders as quickly as possible. So, you would find that this entire episode is more of a warning. So, that is what is covered in this episode. Let's get into it. I'm in 2 Peter chapter 1, where again, as per the method of writing, Peter introduces himself. He uses his full name for some reason here, Simon Peter. We know that Peter is the name that God gave him, Jesus gave him, but Simon was the name that he was known by. If you just want to think about it, maybe he didn't forget his past and he knew where he came from and yet God gave him a different future. So, it's beautiful to see that this begins with Simon Peter. This is what God does in people's lives. He turns it around. He introduces himself, Simon Peter, a bond servant. You've seen this earlier as well. A bond servant is like a slave of someone in those times. So, he is fully committed or sold out for the kingdom of God, sold out for the cause of Christ and that is who he is and he also recognizes his calling. He says, Apostle of Jesus Christ. So, he's quite clear on who he is in terms of the assignment that God has given him. Then he addresses the audience. Audience, though earlier we saw that he says the dispersion of the brethren. So, he refers to a geographical region, but in this situation, he just describes their spiritual status. So, he says, you who have obtained precious faith with us by the righteousness of God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He just describes that through the work of the cross, here are the people of God who have now this precious gift of faith which has been given to them by the righteousness of God. How did God display his righteousness? By redeeming us, he paid the price for our sins and he bought us back to himself. So, he says, come on, now you must recognize who you are. Again, emphasizing more on the spiritual identity of who the people are and that is why he says, now you have precious faith with us by the righteousness of God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Now that he has given an introduction, he moves on. Again, we saw earlier how, greet one another with a holy kiss. That's the way he ended the previous episode. So, they had a way of greeting one another. So, once again, you find the greeting of their times where he says, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. So, that was their way of greeting one another. So, right at the beginning, he says, grace and peace be multiplied to you. So, it's like speaking blessings over the community of believers. Then, we see that he says, in the knowledge of God and of our Lord. So, here is the understanding that for a believer in our lives, the more we know about the Lord Jesus and knowing here is not necessarily only an intellectual knowledge but it also refers to an experiential knowledge where we know about but we also personally know who the Lord Jesus is. So, when this happens, the knowledge of God increases. We could also see that proportionately our peace and the grace of God also increases in our lives. So, it's also, though it's a greeting and a blessing, there is a truth in it. The truth is that the more I come to know God, the more I come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, the greater my peace, the greater the grace with which I can move forward. So, that is how he blesses the church. And then he affirms to the church that, see, this salvation which we have through that, you know, God has given us divine power and what does this divine power do? It says his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. So, you know, isn't it beautiful that God calls us to live the Christian life but he doesn't leave us without resources. It's as if God is saying, okay, come, let me first give you a deposit of what you need to live a victorious Christian life and that is the beauty of it. You know, even though we may say, oh, in this world, there is the devil. There is the, you know, the world which attracts us. There is also the flesh which goes against the desires of God. There is an overcoming work of the cross which has also given us the victory. So, you know, in every way we are overcomers and that is the great beauty of this Christian life that, you know, we are already, even Peter, he begins by emphasizing the spiritual reality of what has actually taken place. So, you know, it's a blessed thing for us. Every time we think about us being believers, we can be so, you know, so strong because we are victorious, no matter what is there in the world, we are victorious. And he says, you're already empowered. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. What do you need to release and reveal that victory? You already have it for life as well as godliness. And this comes to us through the knowledge of who? Through God who has called us by glory. And, you know, he also reminds the believers that we have been given exceedingly great and precious promises. So, you know, it's like talking of all the good things. His divine power has given you everything you need for life, godliness. You've also been given the great and precious promises of God. And because of this, you know, here's the beauty. What can happen? We can be partakers of the divine nature of God. You know, if we had a gospel where God said, OK, be holy as I am holy, you know, be righteous, be virtuous, be faithful, be strong. So many things that God wants us to be just like him. But he never gives us the power or he never gives us the victory. You know, it is like the old covenant where people knew what should be done, but they never had the power to live that kind of an overcoming life. But here is the privilege for the believers, you know, those of us who are on the other side of the cross. We also have the empowering. So he says you have exceedingly great and precious promises. You have everything you need for life and godliness. So what? So you can partake of the divine nature. So you and I, every believer, you know, again, it is not only referring to pastors. Sometimes people have that concept, you know, pastors have to be very, very holy, but believers can't be holy because they are just believers. You know, they don't have the power to be holy. Maybe God gives the people in leadership or with a certain calling the ability to be holy. But you see every child of God can partake of what the divine nature, divine nature. So what is the divine nature of God? The divine nature of God is clearly a nature which is so pure, you know, and so uncorrupted and pristine and glorious and, you know, beautiful. So you could look at the nature of God. And you see, that's why we are told that we must worship God in the beauty of His holiness. It's so beautiful that we are awestruck by it. We are amazed by how holy. Wow! You know, that is the feature about God that attracts us, that God is a holy God. Now, can I be holy? That's what Peter is saying. Believer, you can be holy. You can partake of the divine nature of God because you have been given everything you need for life and godliness and also the exceeding great and precious promises of God. So I can partake of the divine nature of God. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust and, you know, that is understood. If we are walking according to the nature of God, we are not walking according to the nature of the world. And therefore, the corruption of sin, which is there in this world, we can sort of, you know, overcome that and we can live above it and not be touched by it. Now, a little bit more, you know, he encourages the believers before he comes to the point of warning them. Now that he has spoken about who we are in Christ. Okay, so that is his point. Number one, who we are in Christ. Now, he adds a note to say that a believer's journey should go from strength to strength, glory to glory. Anybody who joins school or, you know, joins a course or anything at all, you know, we want to learn what is our expectation. We go from level one to the next level of learning and then keep moving to the next level of learning. So in the same manner, we are in Christ. Yes, positionally, the truth is that we have already been blessed. We've already received so many things from God. However, there is also a need for us to keep growing, keep learning, keep maturing in God. So, you know, here is that word of encouragement where he says, for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith. So he gives them some keys and says, in this manner, you can be a more mature believer. Okay, so somehow when you look at the early church and the episodes that, you know, were written, the leaders and in these cases, apostles. They always encourage the church to grow. How? Just numbers? No, but also they encourage the church to grow spiritually in maturity. So he's saying here how to be a more mature believer, you know, add to your faith virtue. To virtue, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control, perseverance, perseverance, godliness, to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. So, you notice here that the life and the attitude and the character of the believer should display this spiritual reality that already exists. We said that in Christ Jesus, we are partakers of the divine nature of God. But that should show in our practical life, isn't it? That is what Peter is saying. Now, if you, he says giving all diligence, you know, giving all diligence is the way I really appreciate, you know, your batch because you are in the third year now. Was it easy to finish first year and then second year, you know, every semester, every course, every assignment, all that and then come all the way to the end of the third year? No, but then, you know, diligence is a character where you don't give up, you pay the same attention, you know, you are careful to do. That's what diligence is. You're careful to keep doing what you need to do. And that kind of attitude when you carry all through, you know, you all have reached here. And I'm so happy for you in a matter of a month, you all will be graduating with your bachelor's degree. So that's the attitude. But then, you see, you must continue with diligence. Don't just take a, you know, like they say, right, you take a chill pill and you say, now I finished my graduation. Now I'm going to relax. No need to be attentive to God's word anymore. I've already been so attentive in my classes. No, but all diligence means you pay attention, you give careful thought to something and you keep at it. So in the same way, you know, he's telling the believers, come on, you need to be alert, give all, give your attention and keep adding, keep adding to these godly characteristics. Okay, we already have faith. Good. Now, if you have a believer who has faith and who's not righteous, you know, it's, you just can't make sense of it, isn't it? It's very disappointing. So he says, we say we have faith, but we also need to be walking in righteousness. You know, he says virtue, virtue is goodness, virtue is, you know, doing the right thing. So virtue has to do with truth. So righteousness, he says, faith and virtue have virtue. Now, having virtue, being walking in righteousness and, you know, being true to God and all, but if we lack in knowledge, we don't know God's word. You know, we are so just, you know, lacking, lacking that capacity of understanding. Would it be beneficial? No, we should also know the truth of God's word. Otherwise, what happens? We don't know how to, you know, worship God in the right manner. We don't know how to teach others about the things of the kingdom of God. So it really cripples us. Okay, so he says, come on, if you add all these things diligently to your characteristics, then you will be so productive. You will be so useful and you will be mature for the kingdom of God. So he said, virtue, to that you add knowledge, to knowledge, self-control. So again, when we look at this, if you've ever seen a leader who practices self-control, it's very impressive because you know that they have truly applied what they have learned in their personal life and they are able to, you know, overcome their fleshly desires. So for every believer, and you know, this is for every believer, he's saying all believers can have these things. So to your faith, you please add virtue, to virtue, you please add knowledge, to knowledge, add self-control, to self-control, perseverance. Okay, again, perseverance is a characteristic of the mature people who are able to bear up under pressure. You know, people who give up easily, we could say that, you know, that shows that the strength within them has not yet developed fully. But then he says, come on, if you develop your strength to an extent that you can persevere, that is really displaying Godly character. To perseverance, he says you add godliness. Godliness is again, you know, characteristic where we are living a God-pleasing life. So in our choices, in our thoughts, in our behavior, in our lifestyle, we constantly are living the way it pleases God. So he says, okay, you have perseverance, how about you also have godliness. And to godliness, he says, have brotherly kindness. So, you know, I don't know why he has chosen these particular characteristics, but maybe, you know, Peter observed that these are the ones that are so important for the believer's community to display. And so he says, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, love, you know, just like Apostle John, what did he do? He went straight to love and, you know, he just said what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called as the children of God. And then he goes on, if you say you love your, if you love God and you don't love your brother, you know, how can that be okay? But we must truly love our brothers. So he goes straight to love and he begins to describe it. And he says that if you carry the character of love, you know, we will surely walk in victory. Peter, in a more practical way, you know, he comes to love, but then he says, come on, let's be very, very practical here. We say we have faith, but please display all these other characteristics as well. And when a believer has all these characteristics, you know, we could say that, wow, you know, they are moving towards the path of maturity and that brings honor to God, that brings glory to God. And that is how, you know, as pastors and leaders, you can also teach your church, what are we doing? We are helping the church to make a journey of growth and maturity towards God. Okay, now coming to verse eight. Now, again, some more encouragement for if these things are yours and they are bound. So he says that not a little bit, but when we are full of these things, when we are full of the character of God, then what happens? You will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So in other words, for us as, you know, the modern day believers, basically he says that do you want to be an effective believer? Do you want to be a productive believer? Then please, you know, you need to have all these things as a part of your character. Then yes, you are an effective, productive believer. So he says no barren or unfruitful. What is the opposite of that? You're not productive for the kingdom of God. Now moving on, he says that this sort of, you know, if at all people don't have these characters, he says he who lacks these things is short sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. So a believer who does not think that, you know, having the lifestyle filled with the character of God is important. If a believer doesn't think that way, if a believer only thinks, yeah, I go, I'm saved. I go and do all the Christian activities. It doesn't matter, you know, what else is a part of my life, whether I know the word, whether I live in righteousness, whether you know, all the other things, whatever we saw in a perseverance. It doesn't matter. So such a believer, he says a short sighted. Short sighted are people who only think of the present, who don't have the wisdom to think of the future. Imagine if somebody gives us, somebody gives a mother, okay, a mother, I'm just giving a simple example, 3000 rupees. Okay, somebody has given a mother 3000 rupees. Now this mother is, she has two kids and she also has a job. What would that mother do? She would calculate, okay, you know, I'm getting so much out of my job. Now I also have extra money. How about I use it in a good way? And then, you know, what does the mother do? The mother will, you know, plan up for that 3000 rupees, you know, how to use it in such a way that it will, one second, yeah, that it will be beneficial for my family. But let's say we give that 3000 rupees to a teenager. Now this teenager only knows about, you know, going out with friends and maybe, you know, eating ice cream or something to have fun, go for the movies, buy clothes. The teenager will be very excited and how will the teenager use the money? Just spend it off. So do you see the difference in wisdom and foresight? It's 3000 rupees. It is a big deal for, let's say, both that mother as well as the teenager. But a teenager has no idea about the importance of that amount of money that you could probably buy grocery for the house. You could probably buy, you know, gas or fuel, cooking fuel for the house or you can pay some bills with that money. So somebody with wisdom and foresight knows that we have to live life in a wise way. So a maturing believer thinks, ah, this is what God has blessed me with. And, you know, this is what I must accomplish for the kingdom of God. I must move forward. And those thoughts come to a maturing believer. But here he says, a short-sighted believer doesn't care about these things. He's just concerned about, today I enjoy, today I am happy. That's good enough. But such a believer, you notice, he says they have forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. So in other words, till now he said, you know, precious faith, precious promises. So the believer who is careless about their maturity, it's as if they have forgotten what a precious sacrifice Jesus made for them. No, isn't that so sad that when we don't take our spiritual life and we don't take our salvation seriously, it is like saying, okay Jesus, whatever you did, fine, it doesn't matter to me. So it's like we have forgotten and that is not a good thing. It is in fact showing that the believer has become short-sighted, barren, unfruitful. All this is ineffective for the kingdom of God. So, you know, it's like standard growth. I don't know if you all have seen there is a, there is a gardening technique. It's called bonsai. Maybe some of you know, in that what they do, they will take a tree. Okay, maybe like let's say mango tree simply, I'm just telling you, they will grow the tree, but in the size of the tree will be small only. Okay, so there is some technique that they use to keep the size of the tree small. It never really comes to its full form. And you know, when you think of a mango tree, you might think of shade, you might think of fruit. But in the bonsai technique, you will just have a cute little tree, which you can probably keep on your shelf. You know that, hey, you know, this is a whatever this tree or that tree, but it will not yield its full results. And in a way that's very sad because the full cap potential of that plant or tree has not been released. So same for the short-sighted believer who's living for today's pleasures, no maturity. It's as if, you know, I'm a believer, but stunted. Okay, and not useful for the kingdom of God. And that is something that we should be careful about. And that is why, you know, Peter goes on, he says therefore. So whenever there is a therefore, you have to see what is there before that. So till now he just said, you need to be mature. Some people are not mature. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent again. He says diligent, diligent, diligent is be careful to do or be serious, be attentive. So all believers, you know, we have to learn this to be serious about salvation and about our spiritual walk with the Lord, our assignment, our purpose, we have to be serious about it, you know. And if you don't carry that attitude, that's not good. So he says, there is a chance of being stunted. So please be even more diligent to make your call and election. Sure. So basically he's saying what God has given to us. Okay, call and election is salvation, the inheritance, the blessings. Okay, so all those things who we are in Christ. Knowing these things, you try to remain in that because even in Hebrews, we saw that some have tasted these things. And then what? They have given it up. And such people, it says it's impossible to renew them into the faith. So there is a warning of falling away and we have to be careful. So every believer must be diligent and make your call and election. Sure. So this doesn't mean that we are the ones who will assure our salvation. No, not at all because assurance of salvation comes by the finished work of the cross. It comes by the work of the Holy Spirit, okay, within us, bearing witness within us. The believer just has to cooperate and the believer just has to walk aligned with the purpose. It's not that we have to do anything to earn our salvation, but when we are cooperative with God, then we can keep it. Then we can stay in it. And he says, if you are careful, you know, to keep moving with it, if you do these things, you will never stumble or you won't slip. The believer, you will walk steady in the faith. For so an entrance would be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So basically he says, hold on till the end. If you hold on till the end, then what? You enter into eternal life and you have heaven waiting for you because you have finished the race. And that's the important thing. You know, we always say, again, coming back to the fact that you all are in third year, it's easy to start anything. Easy to start learning an instrument, easy to start learning, you know, reading a book. But what is more important is that you finish. So the people who have not given up, you know, they are the ones who end up becoming instrumentalists or the people who have not given up are the ones who finish reading the book. Now, you people are completing your graduation, right? So finishing is so, so, so important. And as leaders, as, you know, pastors, please remember that now we are all serving. That's so nice. Praise God for it. But till the end of the journey, we have to serve. We have to same diligence, give even more diligence, be alert. Never in our spiritual walk, we should say, ah, now I'm going to relax. You know, when you do that in your spiritual life, it's very dangerous. Because Satan will be like, ah, now is my chance. In a spiritual life, he's relaxing. Let me go. You know, let me make him to stumble. So Peter is basically saying, come on believer, you have all this in Christ Jesus. Please take it seriously. Finish. Finishing is important. So please make sure you finish this race of faith. Now again verse 12, he says, for this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things. Though you know and are established in the present truth. Again, he says, I will be reminding. You know, for us, sometimes, you know, when we read passages of scripture, we read about righteousness in one passage. Then we read again about righteousness in another passage. In further, when we're moving into maybe a different book of the Bible, again you read about righteousness. Sometimes we feel that God, why are you repeating this for me? You see, reminders are very good. And that is why scriptures carry a reminder of many of the truths. Same truth will be spoken of elsewhere. Now even when it comes to, you know, us, let's say, ministering to people or ministering to the church family, is it okay to repeat certain matters? Is it okay to teach people who they were, who are, we are in Christ? Let's say, you just started a church and you've done a series on who we are in Christ. After two years, you come back and you again teach on the same subject. You know, maybe you use a different title, but you teach them on the same subject. It's a reminder. Is it necessary? Yes, it is definitely necessary in our spiritual journey. Many subjects we need to be reminded of it again and again and again. So I can't read any one verse and say that I already know, I already read this 10 times. I don't need to learn anything out of it. You know, whenever a believer does that, that is when it is dangerous. Because we feel that we got everything out of it already. But you see, the power of God's word is such that, you know, that truth will always remain and that truth will always work in us to change us and transform us. And so we must believe in the capacity of God's word and you know, the power of God's word as Hebrews 412, you know, we saw God's word is living. It's active. It's powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. So we must never take it lightly and reminders are always very good. So if at all I feel like, hey, this is a reminder. Be happy about it that God is once again helping us refresh our knowledge. Then again, he moves forward and he tells them, you know, about how this life is temporary. Verse 13 he says, yes, I think it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. So he's talking about his end. He knows that he is going to die. And he refers to his body as the tent. Okay. Tent is temporary, but constructed houses, you could say permanent. So he says this body is temporary, but the glorious body that we're going to have later, you know, that is in eternity. And that is what we should fix our eyes on. And you know, because he knows he's going away fast soon, he says that it is very important for me, Children of God, to remind you of all these matters that you must know who you are in Christ, that you must keep maturing, be productive, be effective, be diligent, give attention to God's word, so on and so forth. Now verse 15, he says, moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my disease. So you see, this is very apostolic that the apostles have the doctrine and they don't want the people to forget the doctrine. Okay. And we know that the Bible is made up of the doctrine of the founding apostles. So you have people like Paul, Peter, John, James, who have put down for us the truth of God's word and the boundaries of that truth. So they also wanted to make sure that the church is built on the truth of God's word, that it should not be infiltrated with lies and all kinds of false philosophies and doctrines. And that is why Peter is reminding the people and he's saying, come on, you know, I will be careful to ensure. These are all words to say that this is very important. The truth is very important. You have to stay in the word. I will make sure the truth is preserved so that it can be carried forward to generations. So he says that you will always have a reminder of these things after my disease. So that shows us why the apostles wrote the epistles. You see, they could have just spoken it to the people, isn't it? But they knew that if they put it down in writing, then what happens? Even if they die, their words continue to speak. You know, here we are. In 2000 plus years later, reading the epistle of Apostle Peter and the doctrine where we are understanding, okay, this is the truth. We should not allow any false philosophies or false doctrines to come and, you know, change the things that we have already learned. So apostles are usually careful to make sure that the truth is out there. So the written documents are so important. So that's what Peter is saying. I'll be gone. I'm going to die soon. I know that. But you know, if I put it like this in writing, remember, he said with Silvanus or Silas, I wrote this all down so that you have a copy and a reminder. Even if I'm gone, you know what you need to do. So verse 16, For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power in coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But where I witnesses of His majesty. So you see, just like John. John said that, right? We have seen, we have heard, we have touched. So what was John saying? John was saying, I'm talking to you about history. Some philosophies in the world, some religions in the world. They have a mythological basis. So it's not history. So they have all these stories that have no reference in world history. But John said, I have seen, I have felt, I have heard of those things I'm telling you. This is Peter. Remember, he's one of the first few disciples of Jesus. So he's saying, I'm not cooking up any stories. It's cunningly devised fables. Again, fables are stories. You know, how you have all these kids stories, right? They may not necessarily be real. So fables. He's saying that the gospel, the truth of God's word, it's not a story. But then he uses the term, I witnesses. So we have seen these things. It is historical. I witnesses of his majesty. So his majesty, when did Peter see the majesty of Jesus? In so many ways, you know, Peter was there when Jesus did the miracles. Peter was there on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter was there when he, you know, met with Jesus after his resurrection. Peter was there when Jesus ascended. So Peter is saying, I know what I'm talking about. I have seen the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is historical. Okay. So again, you know, apologetics. We are talking about history here. And so there is a lot of evidence as well, which can be spoken of when we talk of the life of Jesus Christ. So he continues. He says, for he received from God the Father, honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice, which came from heaven when we were with him on the Holy mountain. So again, he talks about this as an eyewitness. Where he saw Jesus being, I think this was in transfiguration, right? When they heard a voice, yeah, correct. We heard a voice from heaven where even though there were other men like Moses, Elijah and all present, it was Jesus who has been affirmed by the Father. Okay. Going to verse 19. He says, and so we have the prophetic word confirmed. Okay. So you see, he's talking in a very apologetic way. He says that it has happened. What the prophets had spoken, it has already happened and I have seen it. So we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. So he says that the prophecies about Jesus have come to pass. And so here is the truth about the prophetic word. Remember in one Corinthians 14-3, we say the prophecy is to comfort, what is it? Comfort, exhort and I only forgotten. Okay. One second. Let me just, okay. So it is two. It's in a different translation here. Okay, JV. Edify, exhort and comfort. Yeah, edify, exhort and comfort. But he says the prophetic word is also a light in the darkness. So you see that the prophetic word already reveals the mind of God to us. So even though at present it feels dark, there is a light. What is that light? It's the truth of God's word, the prophecy that yes, you know, for the believers of the Old Testament, they had the prophetic word that the Messiah is coming. So though it was a dark season, they knew that surely the Messiah will come. So in the same way for us today, if we have the prophetic word of God in our hearts, there are all kinds of prophetic words, isn't it? There is the prophecies, Bible prophecies about what is going to take place in the future. That also gives us clarity on the second coming of Christ, the end of the world and all those matters. Then we have personal prophecy. Again, we have to understand that personal prophecy is conditional. It depends on the cooperation of the individual. So even personal prophecy, it is, it strengthens us. Okay, it really strengthens us because we carry a word in our hearts. Maybe our church is really small right now, but there is a prophetic word that says, okay, I'm going to increase you. I'm going to bless you so on and so forth. So what is the work of a prophetic word? It's like light in the darkness. That's how it works and that's how it blesses a believer. Okay, so we have come to the end of the first session. Let's take a quick break. Let's come back and we will move forward. Okay, fine. So let's submit a 10-01. Thank you.