 Alright, welcome back. Let's get into the next chapter, chapter 20 and this is an interesting chapter from the cross to the throne. Okay, so we're going to look at what really happened after the cross and now we know that Jesus is our High Priest, He is in heaven. He seated at the right hand of the Father but there are few things that happened between the cross to the throne. So let's look at a few pointers and we'll go a little quick because we have quite a lot more to complete. Okay, so from the cross to the throne, on the cross Luke 23-43 Jesus said, Today you will be with me in paradise. Talking to the thief, He said today you will be with me in paradise. So as Jonah was in the belly of the fish, this again Matthew 12, Jesus is saying, Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish, same way the Son of Man will be put away and on the third day He will resurrect again. Now let's go down, let's go to Abraham's bosom, the old paradise. Now Christ let us know, the Lord Jesus, He told us, He said, You will be with me in paradise. So what is paradise? So we got to talk a little bit about it. Just like right now there is heaven and there is hell. Now in the Old Testament, before the cross, there was a place called paradise. In paradise there was Abraham's bosom and there was a place of torment. Okay, understand this. So those who in the Old Covenant, so for example, there was Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Daniel, those who lived according to God's word. After they died, they went to this place called paradise, which is divided into two sections. One is Abraham's bosom, one is a place of torment. Okay, so in Abraham's bosom, it is a place of comfort and rest. So when David and all the prophets and those who lived holy lives during the Old Covenant, they went to this place and they rested there in Abraham's bosom. And then there was a place of torment. So those who did not obey God's word, who did not live a holy life, they were put into this place of torment. Now Jesus gives one example, the rich man and Lazarus. We know the story, right? The rich man was there living his whole life and then there was the beggar who was Lazarus, who was there begging. But when they died, Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom, right? And here the rich man went to hell, the place of torment, right? And it's interesting to note that the person who was in hell, the rich man, he could feel his mental faculties, his senses, his spirit, his soul could feel everything. He could feel the burning sensation. What does he say? Just give me a drop of that wine that I could just taste it. Then he saw Lazarus. The faculties, he could see Lazarus, right? And he also said, nobody else would go through this, so you please go and tell my brothers about this, right? So we all know the story, right? So when the rich man was in this place of torment, he could feel the pain. There was his mental, his faculty, emotional, the soul, mind, will and emotions that was working at that time. Now when Jesus died, he said, from today you will be with me in paradise. So he was talking about this place of rest, okay? And what happened after Jesus died? Okay, we look at a few scriptures. Let's read 2 Corinthians 12, 1 to 4. This is where Paul was caught up in the third heaven. Here again, he's talking about into paradise. Or before that, let's read Ephesians 4, 8 to 10. Therefore he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity, captive and gave gifts to men. Now this, he ascended. What does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who has descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. Okay, so now we, I won't go too much in detail. You learn more of this in eschatology. That is the end times alone. So I'll just do a quick overview, right? So there's paradise, there's Abraham's bosom, there's a place of torment. Now after Jesus died, Ephesians 4, he goes and he, what he does is he tells the people there, I am the Messiah, right? And he takes them to this place. Now, so right now, there is no one in Abraham's bosom, right? It is mostly, see, there's no, there's no worse that says, okay, Abraham's bosom has become heaven, right? So it is most likely that this place of Abraham's bosom is now closest to heaven, right? So now you've got the place of torment, which remains unchanged, the lake of fire. What does the Bible say at the end? Hades will give up their debt, right? So to understand this well, Jesus dies, he goes, he tells the prophets and all of those in Abraham's bosom, I am the one, I'm the Messiah you all talked about. So now he led these people up to heaven. So right now, there is heaven and there is hell. Understood everyone? Yes, right? And you learn more in detail, maybe in eschatology. But what did he do? He made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, meaning those who are held, right? They were not yet enjoying the blessings of heaven, right? And so now on the resurrection morning, Mark chapter 16 and verse 8, and then even in John 20, Jesus says, do not touch, sorry, in the resurrection morning, Jesus says, don't touch me. But eight days later, right? Jesus appeared to his disciples and this time, see, Thomas is doubting. He says, okay, you remember that, you know, when, when Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, she went to touch Jesus. What did Jesus say? Don't touch me because I have not yet returned to the Father, right? And now eight days later, Thomas is saying, I won't believe until I touch Jesus. Jesus comes into the room and says, Thomas, come and touch. Come and touch the nail pierced hands. Come and touch the side, right? So John 20 verse 26 to 28. And after eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came to those being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace to you. Then he said to Thomas, reach your finger here. Look at my hands. Reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said, my Lord and my God. So what happened? It is most likely that in those eight days, within those eight days, God, the Lord Jesus has gone. He descended. He ascended into heaven. He took those captives, captives. He went up to heaven. He made atonement. He took his blood. He poured it into the Holy of Holies and he said, the price has been paid. And now he's come back eight days later. He's coming and he said, touch and see flesh and blood. I'm flesh and blood. You can see I have the resurrected body, right? And so that's what happened. So somebody raised their hands. Lucy. Brother was the ascension of Jesus Christ was after 40 days of his resurrection. Lucy, one minute. Your voice is breaking. Just one minute, right? Yes. Go ahead. Ask the question again. Brother Jesus Christ after his resurrection. His ascension happened after the 40 days of his resurrection. No. So after he died, right? After he died, the Lord Jesus, he descended. He went into paradise into Abraham's bosom. Ephesians 4 says he let the captives captive. So there were people in the old covenant who were in this place of comfort, right? So for example, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the men and women of God. So they're in this place of comfort. So what he did was he went there. He told them of what he has accomplished through the cross and he let them into heaven, into God's presence. So right now, there is no Abraham's bosom. So it's deep. What does Paul say? To be absent in the body is to be present. So Abraham's bosom is no longer there, right? But there are some scholars who say that Abraham's bosom becomes heaven, right? But that doesn't really matter. What matters is when we are absent in the body, we are present with the Lord. But the place of torment that is hell continues to remain the same, right? So once more. No, brother. After resurrection, he was on the earth for the 40 days, brother. Correct. At that time, I wanted to get it confirmed. He told us that within eight days here, after eight days, Thomas, he felt him and he knew. Yes. So he was in his resurrected body, right? So for example, when you and when, when, as believers, when we die, we will be shaped in the twinkling of a knife. We will have a resurrected body. The Bible here in John 20, it says that the doors were closed and Jesus walked in. So in a resurrected body, he also ate breakfast with them, right? So, so Jesus was in his resurrected body, right? It was a glorified body. So, yes, they could see him. There was, there was flesh and bones to him. Thomas touched him. So for the 40 days, he was there in a resurrected body. And then after 40 days, he went up again to the father. Okay. Okay, brother. Okay. Thank you. Yes. In line with that, we were actually having a discussion an hour back. So when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, he says, don't cling on to me for I have not ascended to the father. And he also goes on to show his hands to Thomas and says touch so that you will believe. So, was it before ascension that he showed his hands to Thomas? Yeah, so it's most likely that when, see, when he told Martha, don't cling on to me. Mary Magdalene, sorry. Don't cling on to me. It's most likely he hasn't gone up to the father yet. Right. So he has to make atonement. So we read in Hebrews, he goes up to heaven and he made atonement with his own blood. Okay. Right. So he went, he went up to heaven, made atonement with the father saying, I have made the price. I've paid the price. Hebrews talks about that. He made atonement with his own blood. And then it was not like Jesus said, okay, I made atonement and left it there. So he had to come. He came back to the reason for him to come back is to encourage the disciples. Like he didn't just leave them in the air. Even though he told his disciples, okay, you know, I'm going to leave you. I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to go away. I'm sending the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will be like I am there with you. But the disciples were weary. Thomas was weary. He said, until I touch, I won't believe. So Jesus had to go deal with certain things. So he chose to go in his glorified body. Now, if you look at Revelations chapter 2, we see Jesus. I saw John sees a revelation of Jesus. Oh, he had hair like wool, feet like brazen like grass. And from his mouth came the double edges. Now, if he had gone like that, what will his disciples do? When John saw that they, he fell at his feet as he did. So he cannot go in that kind of a form. So he had to let go. He had to go in a way that he could relate to the disciples. So he went. He said, so the disciples could recognize him. So some of the things that we can take is, see, the doors were all closed. The glorified body, he just came through that. Right? People can recognize. They recognize, hey, this is Jesus. Right? And even when the disciples are going in the ship, Peter says, that's Jesus. He jumps off the water and he swims towards him. So they recognize Jesus. So Jesus had to do it just to reinstate everything. So he reinstated Peter as well. He got some things done, the road to Emmaus. They didn't recognize him until he broke the bread. Right? And so there were some things that he wanted to do. He wanted to show that he has overcome death. If he didn't come and he's just saying, I overcome death, I've overcome death. Then the disciples, what will they do? Now the moment they saw it, they were all like, everything changed in them. Hey, Jesus is alive. We saw it. We saw him die. We saw him alive. We ate food with him. We ate fish with him. So he's alive. And he had to show it. Now he doesn't have to prove it. He doesn't have to come and prove that he's alive. We know it. But since it was just the establishing of the ministry, they were going forward. So he had to do that. It was very, very little confused in the English version. It says, don't cling on to Mary. And for Thomas, it says, don't touch. Yeah. In Hindi version, both the scenarios it says, don't touch. Okay. So, but it is eight days later. Yeah. So that you have to keep in mind here. It is immediately here. He's made a tournament and he's come back. Right. See, if God chooses, like, for example, like we are talking right now, if the Lord chooses, he can come here as a man and talk to us. If he chooses, right. Yeah. If he chooses, if he wants to, he can come and sit with us one on one, face to face, and we can talk to him if he chooses to. But then there's a glorified Jesus. We dare. We cannot look at his face. But what is the book of Corinthian and Thessalonians Paul writes and he says, the twinkling of an eye, the sound of the trumpet, we will get a glorified body and we will see him face to face because the incorruptible will become incorruptible in our natural eyes with all our sin nature. We cannot see him. So when we get that glorified body, we will see him face to face. Right. So there was a reason why Jesus did that. Right. But is he able to do it now? If he wants to, he can. We hear of testimonies where people have seen Jesus coming and healing. Some of them have not seen the face. Some of them have probably seen the face. All these are there. So it's all in God's control. Jesus is controlled. Right. He knows. So right now, what we must understand is there's heaven and there's hell. Right. And it's a choice that we have to make. The place of torment doesn't change. Towards the end in the book of revelations, there will be a lake of fire. Hades will give up all their debt. All that all of those who did not believe in Jesus. Okay. Will stand at the great white throne judgment revelations. And they have to give an account. And they will be thrown into the lake of fire along with Satan and his demons. Right. So we know the end. We know that's going to happen. There's no change there. But here. No more Abraham's booze. What does Jesus say? I'm going to the father and he's preparing mansions for you. The streets are made of gold. Now this is not some story. It is real. It's really going to be like this. Jesus says, when Jesus says, I'm preparing mansions for you. It's not for them to feel happy. It is real. Streets of gold. Heaven is a real place. Right. Which is far greater than Abraham's booze. It's not just a place of comfort. It's a place where we will see him face to face because of the cross. You understood that difference? Yes. Okay. And with his own blood, Jesus went into the Holy of Holies and he made atonement. Hebrews 9, 11 and 12. But Christ came as a high priest of the good things to come with a greater and more perfect abernacle. Not made of hands and not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. So within the eight days, this is what would have happened. Hebrews 9, 11 and 12. From Mary Magdalene to Thomas, Hebrews 9, 11 and 12 would have happened. He went as a high priest. He went and with a more perfect abernacle, he made atonement for us. The Father accepted that perfect sacrifice once for all. He showed himself alive after that. If Jesus said, I am alive and just did nothing about it, would anything have happened? Would the disciples be encouraged? But there was a reason. Here's the best part. Jesus didn't hide. Oh, they're coming. Let me hide here. The Romans may see me. At least bother who's going to see him. The Bible says he was seen by more than hundreds of people. Hundreds of people saw Jesus. I wonder what happened to them. Because in the end, in Acts chapter 2, there's only 120 people praying. Hundreds of people saw. They saw Jesus alive. And the disciples saw Jesus. Other followers saw Jesus alive. And people can testify to it. He ascended on high. The graves were opened in Matthew 27. Now, this is a very peculiar thing that happened. And sometimes we may not understand this portion. The graves were opened in Matthew 27, 51 to 53, where when Jesus died, let's read it. Matthew 27, 51 to 53. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was thrown into from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So, on the day when Jesus died, the certain graves were opened. Now, there are many understandings to this. And sometimes we don't understand a few things from scriptures, especially this. And even when Elijah, they were carrying the bones of this dead body of somebody and then it fell in the book of, I think, the Second Kings. It fell on Elijah's grave and the person came back to life. So, there are some things that are left unexplained. But the main thing that we go from here, from this verse, what we can take is the veil was stoned. Meaning, the separation was removed. Maybe it was a way for the Lord to just express that graves, the dead will come back to life because of what I have done. Maybe it was a way of expressing it. And then in the last portion, he was, he is seated on the highest throne. When Jesus went up to heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, everywhere in the Bible. When you say the right hand, it only means all authority, all dominion, all power given to Jesus. So now, when Jesus is there, he's gone back to heaven. Right now, he's seated at the right hand of the Father and he's making intercession for you and me. He's making intercession. Can you picture this? Jesus is praying for you and me on behalf of the Father. He is making intercession for us. Why is he doing it? Because he's our High Priest. He's standing on our behalf in front of the Father. So we have a great High Priest. And how is he standing? He's not standing, you know, with some other blood. He's standing with his own blood. I mean, if you're excited to go to heaven, not now, let me become 85 or 90. That's good. The Psalmist says, with long life, I will satisfy you. It's wonderful. It's good to live a long life. It's a blessing from God. But it is such a joy. It's such a hope to know that you and I, the moment we pass the shore, the moment we breathe our lust, to be absent in the body, is to be present with the Lord. That we will be with Jesus. We will see Him. We will be with Him. All that we're doing, all that we're talking about, all that we're trying to understand, you know, there's no need of feeling. There's no need of deliverance. There's no sickness. There's no pain. There's no stress. There's no weariness. It is only Jesus. Our eyes are fixed on Him. His presence will bring comfort and joy. There is no sadness there. Book of Revelation chapter 4, and chapter 5 talks about, after the rapture, what will happen? Millions of people, a multitude of people, they're singing to the Lamb who is seated on the throne. He is victorious. So as believers, it's very important every now and then to remind ourselves of the bigger picture that we are here for. It's very important to remind ourselves. You know, I always say this as pastors. We go for these funerals. And every time we go for the funeral, it's a reminder of what is life. The one day we will pass, body is going to go. What about our spirit? So it's not a hopeless thing. We don't live without a hope. Bald rights to the Thessalonians. Don't be without hope. Because we have a hope. Though the physical body may go, it will decay, but the spirit, we will get a glorified body and we will be with Jesus. So that's where Bald writes and he says, that has been swallowed up in victory. Is that a physical death? Yes, but it's destroyed. Because when Jesus lives, right now Jesus lives, so we will live. We will live with him forever. That is the hope that you and I have. So every now and then, remind yourself. It's good to work hard. It's good to earn and do things in the ministry and have plans. But always go back. Whatever I'm doing, let it bear fruit. Let it bear rewards that are eternal for your kingdom. Eternal rewards. And that's the best place to be in. Let's go to chapter 21. The power of his resurrection. One of the greatest testimonies to the resurrection of the Christ is he still works amongst us. And he is transforming lives and he's working miracles in our lives. Now tell me something. Each one of you, you're here in Bible college learning about the Bible. Why? It's not because you don't know what to do. It's because you know that there's a God who's alive and who's working in our lives. And you want to know more about God. Even as we spend time and praise and worship, we know that as we read the word, as we worship him, he's transforming our lives. And God is still working miracles. He's not going to stop. That is his nature. That's how he is. He's a God who works miracles. You know, you look at the heavens. The earth is tilted in an axle. Right? So the earth is round. It's tilted. It's like this. So it goes this way. Can you think of that? If it's even moved a little bit towards the left or to the right, there can't be life on earth. If Jesus just takes the earth like this and shakes it like this, over. It's done. Revelation says the skies will roll. Have you seen projector screens? Projector screen you've seen? You take out the projector screen and leave it. The ones that are fixed on the wall. Take out the projector screen and leave it. The projector screen just goes up. Like that the sky will roll up. The mountains will melt like wax. Have you seen candle? How the wax falls down? The mountains will melt. Think about this resurrected Jesus. And he's still transforming lives, touching lives, working miracles all across the world. Do you think if Jesus was, anyone will follow somebody who is not alive? Why are we talking about him thousands of years later? Why are we still talking about Jesus? Why are we still praying about him? That's because he's alive. Why are we still praying for healing and deliverance and miracles? Why is he still doing? Because he's alive. He's there. He's working in each of our lives. So the resurrection power was seen in the early church and we see those beautiful, beautiful miracles that the same disciples, Peter and John went to pray. They met a layman. What happened? Can you give me some money? Peter and John says, hey, look at me. Silver and gold I don't have, but what I have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Rise up and walk. They didn't go to Bible college. They didn't have anything, no degrees in their hands. You know why the Pharisees and the Sadducees were upset with Jesus and his disciples? Because Jesus and his disciples were doing things which they could not do. Because they could not do it. They didn't want others to do it. So Peter and John, did those miracles? Can you think about the other miracles that happened? So many, right? The saints had lit up when Paul was at Lydia. There was a layman and he says, Peter, sorry, apostle Paul, looks at that layman and says, get up on your feet. He's not walked his entire life. He doesn't know what it means to walk. Paul says, get up on your feet, take care of your mat and go home. He gets up, takes his mat and goes for 38 years. He did not walk. He doesn't know what it means to walk. We see the resurrection power in the early church. We see in the great miracles that Jesus is doing. He's doing it even now, available for all of us as believers. Jesus is giving the same Holy Spirit to each one of us. What is one of the gift of the Holy Spirit? The working of? How many of you know all the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit? I know, Pastor. Very good, good truth. Those who are here, the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. Okay, this is your homework. You should know all the nine... How many of you want to flow in the gifts of the Spirit? If you want to flow in it, you don't know what it is. How will you flow in it? Right? I want you to learn all the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. And then the fruit of the Spirit. This is Sunday school stuff. You should know it. All nine. Praying God, give me the gifts of the Spirit. Jesus is asking, okay, which one do you want now? Let me go back to the Bible. No, you got to know it. So if I'm going and praying and I'm praying for somebody who's sick, I'm saying, Holy Spirit, you have the gift of working on miracles in you. So Lord, you release that working of miracles. Let a miracle happen in this place, in Jesus' name. So what are we doing? The gifts of the Spirit is there. It's available for all of us as believers. We must know it to walk in it. So next class, I'm going to ask everyone what one of the nine gifts is. The power of God exerts, the power that God exerts towards us who believe is the resurrection power. The same power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead is working in each of our lives. So when you are praising and worshiping God here, praise and worship that happens here or maybe in your homes, those online, the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Holy Spirit that is ministering to you at that time. So what can you expect? You can expect God to work. You can expect God to work miracles. You can expect miracles to happen. You ask in faith that God is able to do it. Don't feel only when the prophet comes, only when the healing evangelist comes, there will be healing. No. It can happen. Right? When you're praying here, when you're singing songs to God, remember that the same Holy Spirit raised Jesus is in you. Right? Revelation 1.17 and 18, it talks about having the authority of the keys of death and hell and to have the keys means to have the power over. Jesus has the power over hell and death. You know, somewhere, sometimes we feel Satan is in control of hell. Operations, all the operations that's happening in hell, Satan is in control. Maybe he's in control of certain operations but here the Bible says Jesus has the power over death and hell. If Jesus wants in this helping you to paint a picture, if Jesus wants he can go down to hell, he can stand and he can say, okay stop what you're doing about, you know this is my son, stop what you're doing, stop all your work against this, he's my son and he can go back. The demons and the powers of hell will shake, they will tremble at the name of Jesus. Forget about Jesus going. He just has to say the word. That's the authority that Jesus has and he has given us that authority through the power of the Holy Spirit. His resurrection power is made available to all of us as believers. So when we are ministering to people, then we are you know, serving in the ministry. Expect God to work miracles. Don't be in a place where you say, okay if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. No. You've got to have faith. You've got to expect God to work and when you expect God to work God sees that and he begins to work. That Roman Centurion, it really stuck into me. You've got the Jews who are saying, come Lord come and heal those who are sick at home. This Roman Centurion is saying, no, no Jesus, I've heard about you. You don't even need to come. You just say the word, my servant will be healed. Jesus was astonished is what the Bible said. That means Jesus really. So you believe if I say the word that your servant will be healed at home. You don't want me to come. And this Roman is saying, don't come. Just say the word, I know he'll be healed. Look at that faith and Jesus was astonished and he says, go, it is done. And when we as believers we are called to walk in this resurrection power to walk in an anointing. Now you may ask me, how is it that I don't, you know, I don't see any of this. Maybe we have to press on for more of God. There is a price you have to pay. When we look at the book of Acts, when we look at these great men and women of God, these posters that we have here, these frames, these are all regular men and women of God just like you and me. But they sacrificed. They put their faith in God and they sacrificed things for the kingdom, for the sake of God and they were able to do great things. But it's the same Holy Spirit that can do great things in our lives. Same Holy Spirit. All we need to do is to press on to believe. I like that verse, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you say to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea it will be done so. There's another verse where Jesus is saying, when you ask, believe you have already received it. What measure of faith is that? When you ask, believe you've already received it. And so we are to walk in this kind of resurrection power. Jesus is the resurrection and He is He has walked in resurrection power before His death and burial and He continues to walk in resurrection power. What is the enemy doing against you? In you or in your circumstances there is a power that is available in you to stop and overthrow the working of the enemy. Amen? When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will raise a standard against it. Remember, God is fighting for you. God is fighting for you. We have such wonderful promises in His Word. He says, hey, I'm fighting for you. I will stand with you. Stand still. You see the salvation of the Lord. The battle is not yours. It's mine. I will fight you. You just trust me. He's telling the Israelites, you don't worry about the Red Sea. I will handle the Red Sea for you. You just stand still and you see what I'm going to do now. What you have never thought in your mind, I will do it now. I will part the season to do. The Israelites says, were there no graves in Egypt? You brought us here to die. They are complaining to God. But God is saying, hey, stand still. I'm going to fight this for you. I brought you out. So I will take you out. You stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. So no matter what circumstance you're going through, whatever impossibility, whatever plan that you have ahead, maybe you have a plan to start your own ministry, a big vision ahead and you see yourself and you're saying, God, how is it even going to happen? I don't have the finances. I don't have the resources. I don't have people. I don't have money. I don't have anything with me. Don't worry. You stand still, meaning you trust God. Right? Hebrews 11 talks about faith and he says, by faith they subdued kingdoms and authorities. So you stand. You believe God. You prayed for it. You believe that God can do it. If you haven't prayed for it and you don't believe, it will not happen. Right? If you pray, if you haven't prayed for it and you don't believe that God can do it, it will not happen. You got to believe. You got to have faith. You got to trust God. Right? Even in the impossibilities, even in those challenges, you trust God. God will make a way for you. So remember that, right? The resurrection power of Jesus is working in us. Let's go quickly to chapter 22. The way of the cross. How does the cross affect our daily lives? Right? The cross is an offense. When I say the word offense, what is offense? Is that the feeling? Sometimes you eat something and say, offense is something that it is deeply disturbs you. Relations 511 and I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? And the offense of the cross has been seized. Paul is saying, if they are beating me up and putting me into prison and you know, causing all this trouble to me, if it's because of circumcision, it's no use. If I preach circumcision, I'm safe. But the moment I say there was a man who came who came down as a man, he died on the cross to call my sins, people get upset. They're angry. They say, how can God die on a cross? It is not making any sense. It is silly what you're talking is rubbish. We don't believe this. That's why they beat him up, put him into prison. So Paul is saying to them, if I talk about circumcision, my life will be peaceful. No problems. But I'm not talking about circumcision. I'm talking about the cross of Jesus Christ. It's an offense. It's going to be an offense till the end of time. Till Jesus comes back, it'll be an offense. So people say, hey, what you're a Christian, what do you believe in the cross and all that's okay. It is an offense. You can't help it. But it is also the power of God. People ridicule you and mock you because you're a believer and you believe in the cross of Jesus Christ. It's okay. It's a natural thing. That means you're in the right place. Right? If you are persecuted for your faith, you're in the right place. It's an offense. There's separation from the world, Galatians 614. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. A life of self-denial. No man is a friend of the cross of Christ. No man who is the friend of the cross of Jesus Christ will give license to his passions, indulgence and he will not give license for the enemy to come and work in his life. If the cross of Jesus Christ is working in your lives, you will not let the things of this world affect you. You know, sometimes people ask me, there are times people ask me, what do you do to enjoy yourself? I love to play with my children. We like to go out every now and then as a family. What do you do? Because I don't have a Facebook account. I don't have Instagram. I don't have any of these other things. You know, WhatsApp, I use it sometimes very minimal. Because in ministry we get all these WhatsApps and messages and so I have to coordinate. It doesn't matter to me. See, Instagram, Facebook is very good. I'm not saying it's not good. It's a wonderful means of reaching out to people. But I don't waste my time on that. I don't have a personal account. I don't see how many people... I don't even know how to open the Instagram thing. I don't know. I don't know what it is. And I don't want to know it. People may say, oh, then you are living in the ancient times. I say, that's okay. That's okay. You should be in line with what's happening now. Yeah. I have to... if my work requires me to have Instagram, I will have Instagram. My work doesn't require me to have Instagram and Facebook and all of this. I don't waste my time. It's a waste of time for me. Or rather spend that one hour on my knees praying, seeking God or reading God's work. I'd rather do that. Right. And there are times when we'll have to separate ourselves from the things of this world. It's very important to be willing to do that. People may not accept you at that time. That's okay. It's okay. They didn't accept Jesus. It's all right. No, I'm not saying don't have Instagram. Okay. I said this before, you know, when I joined Bible College, the first week, the second week, I was working in the corporate sector, so I was using a phone and all of that. And somewhere in my spirit, I felt this phone is disturbing me. I've come for studies, I have to study, I have to prepare myself. So I woke up in the morning, I took the phone, I put it in a toilet and flushed it. And so for the next two years, I didn't have a phone with me. And my friends are like, why did you give me the phone at least? I said, no, I don't want a phone. Why did you do this? How much of the phone does it matter? What matters is I've come here for the sake of the gospel. I have to learn. I have to grow. Okay, don't have to do this. Why am I sharing all this? Because there's a cost, there's a price we have to pay at times. We have to be willing to do it. And when you do it, you feel this assurance. You know that God is working in your life. You'll be fellowship in his sufferings. So again, Paul writes in many places to the believers to Timothy and he says, hey, there is going to be sufferings, but we fellowship in that sufferings. Just like how Christ suffered. We fellowship in the suffering, but we know that the suffering is not the end. One day we will see him, we will be with him. All suffering will cease and we will be rewarded for our suffering. God is not going to turn a blind eye to all our sufferings. It's going to reward us for our faithfulness. And then there are enemies of the cross. The enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ who try to be little, meaning try to make the cross as something which is very not even real or very superficial. They make the cross enemies of the cross, people in the world who have many reasons, they say, okay, the cross is not even real. It was not God who died, it was just a good man, just a prophet who died or just a leader who died and he's nobody. Just a good man. Enemies of the cross. Then you have enemies of the cross in church where there are Paul states that whose God is their belly, they indulge in self indulgence whose glory is in their shame who live worldly lives with worldly thinking. Right? And we are told that their end is destruction. There are enemies of the cross. The number one thing the devil doesn't want you to believe is that Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead and he's alive today. He doesn't want you to believe in the cross. So he will make up stories and all kinds of stories, exceptions and lies. Actually Jesus escaped. He went into the Himalayas he was sitting there and that's how from that came the whole yoga movement or then you have these other ideas actually instead of Jesus there was another person who went on behalf of Jesus or there's another study which says okay the angels came brought him down and thirdly there's you know Jesus did not, he died on the cross but he didn't resurrect the disciples. So John it's written that they still believe that the disciples stole the body and went. So there's a group of people who believe that the enemy can bring in all kinds of things because he does not want you to believe that Jesus died on the cross. He's forgiven your sins. He can bring healing and today he's alive he doesn't want you to believe that. So he can bring anything into your mind and my mind. Here's what it is when we know the word of God we stand on that. So we can tell the devil hey I believe because that's what the word of God says. Finally when we don't believe we are crucifying the Son of God afresh, Hebrews 6 4 to 6, what is impossible for those who are once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. If they fall away to renew them again to repent since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame. Every time you and I as believers we choose to go back knowingly we choose to go back to a different life or to sin and to the enemy we are crucifying Jesus once again. And so we thank God for what he has done through the cross and so we've completed this section next class next week. We will start with section 3 the blood of Jesus Christ. Thank you so much. Thank you for those who are online. Have a great weekend. I'll see you all next Friday. God bless.