 Okay. Great. The recording has started. We will pray. Please also pray for Charles's father. Could somebody lead us in a word of prayer? Then we will get into our session for today. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise, acknowledge your holy name, Father, at this moment we come onto your throne of praise. Father, if you're dedicating ourselves, past man, say at this moment, what's one full class, Father, lead us, teachers, and mold us into your image. Father, serving you wholeheartedly, Father. Lead us through your holy street, Father. We pray for the child's father who is actually feeling not and for the old part of some days he is in, Father. We pray that your complete healing and divine healing shall become upon him right from the Father. We are praising you, Father. We are pleading you in the name of Jesus. Give him complete healing, and Lord, so that he can come up and give your test to many fathers and all people. Let's pray and give you all glory and honor. Thank you, Father, for healing him for right away. And thank you for hearing our prayer. I ask this prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you Prabhakar. So in the last class, we had stopped at Acts chapter 10, and we saw how beautifully God led Peter, who was such a devoted Jew, and he wouldn't do anything that was, you know, not anything against the Jewish traditions. But, you know, there was this invitation to visit Cornelius, a Centurion, who was also a Gentile, and to minister the word of God, to share the gospel, and subsequently minister the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Now, Peter of his own will would never have done such a thing, but we saw how the vision that God gave him clarified to him that all people need to hear the gospel, and now that the Lord Jesus had paid the price for us on the cross of Calvary. The gospel was meant to reach the ends of the earth, and so a different community was not a limitation. So, seeing this vision, yes, Peter initially did not have an interpretation, but the way the circumstances were orchestrated, he got the message. Almost immediately he had some men standing at the gate at the Tanna's house, and from there he was led by those men to Cornelius' house. Another very beautiful incident that encouraged Peter and helped him know that what had happened right now was really the will of God, and really, you know, something that God intended to do is the fact that while Peter was sharing about the Lord Jesus, even without laying of hands. Now, we know that in the book of Acts, we've seen earlier, we've seen in Acts 8, you know, when Peter and John come to minister in Samaria, Simon the sorcerer, he sees that by the laying on of hands, the Holy Spirit is poured upon people. But then here there is no laying on of hands as well. So, just while the word is being spoken, people are baptized with the Holy Spirit. So, can such a thing happen today? Yes. So, commonly it is through the laying on of hands, but even if there is no laying on of hands, the baptism in the Holy Spirit can be administered. So, that is something we have to note down. And the other very crucial point here is that first the baptism in the Holy Spirit takes place and after that, Peter says, God poured out his Spirit and baptized them. We shouldn't stop baptizing them in water. So, he takes the next step and these people are baptized in water. So, we see how the order is slightly different because in the other instances earlier on, we saw that people first believed in Jesus, they were baptized in water, then they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. But in this situation, it's the other way around. So, when people ask us the question, they say, should we wait for some time for the believers to become mature, whatever mature means to them, but should we wait for some time before people are baptized in water or people are baptized in the Holy Spirit? But when we see the accounts in the book of Acts, all of these are almost immediate. So, water baptism, if you recall the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip shares the Gospel with him and they see a water body and almost immediately he's baptized in water. And now again, Cornelius' household, they accept Christ and in this situation, they're baptized in the Holy Spirit first and almost immediately they're baptized in water. So, there is no time gap as such that we notice in a believer being baptized either in water or in the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, in some settings, some churches, people have certain rules. Now, obviously, after learning what we have learned just now, we know it's not from the Bible. These rules say that a believer must come to church at least for six months and the pastor has to observe whether the believer is really committed and all that. Only after that, they can be water baptized. You can pray over them for Holy Spirit baptism. But actually, there is no such requirement. Of course, we understand the need to ensure that someone is a believer, that they have truly accepted Christ. That is understandable. So, we wait till someone makes that confession and can genuinely, through their lives, also show the fruit of salvation. So, that is completely understandable. But to put a standard rule on everyone and say that, you know, oh, no, you have to wait for a year or you have to wait for six months. You have to wait for this and that. It's not something that we observe in the Bible. Okay. Let's move on. Acts 11. Yes, Sri Kumar. Thank you, Pastor. Pastor, I just want to know regarding to the baptism. Yes. This is one thing which I just want to know that when the apostles were praying in the Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit came. So, and that was the beginning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So, but they were actually took the baptism of John, not the baptism of Jesus. So, is it possible that after the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they took the baptism in the name of Jesus or they took baptism of Jesus before the Holy Spirit came? I just want to know that. Hope you understood my question. Yes, yes, I did. So, your question is about the water baptism? Yes, because they were actually took the baptism of Jesus, John. They were took the baptism of John. But after the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is it possible that they have took the baptism in the name of Jesus? Yeah, that is my question. Or before they sat for those 10 days, before they took the baptism in the name of Jesus, whatever Jesus said. In the name of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. That's my question. Yeah, thank you, Pastor. Okay, thank you, Shri Kumar. So, we don't see any like scripture that tells us that they were baptized in water in the name of Jesus. Okay, but here is an assumption. Okay, so what I'm going to share with you, it's an assumption. Seeing how in Acts chapter 2, Peter stood up and preached and when 3000 people responded, their immediate action was, you know, we also see that they baptized as many people on the same day. So, it just shows that they were obedient to this command of baptism as well. So, it is likely that they were baptized before the day of Pentecost because they have been obedient to baptize new believers from that day of Pentecost onwards. So, it's likely that they themselves were also obedient to this practice earlier on. So, again, this assumption is, after the Lord Jesus died, He was resurrected. My guess, it's just a guess. My guess is that, see, in John 20, we read that Jesus breathed on them and said, So, that is the movement of the disciples being born again because they were not born again. You needed Jesus to complete the work of redemption for anybody to be born again. So, the disciples also were not born again till Jesus, you know, rose from the dead. So, once Jesus rose from the dead and we see that account in John 20, where he says, receive the Holy Spirit, the disciples were born again. So, somewhere between that period and the day of Pentecost, my guess is that they were water baptized. Yes, thank you, Pastor. Yes. Thank you. Okay, yes, thank you. Yes, good question. Thank you, Shri Kumar, for that question. So, anything else before we move on? Yes, yes, brother. Just a view. Yeah. When this happens where Jesus breathed into the disciples and told them, receive the Holy Spirit, was there a need for them to be baptized? Since Jesus himself has baptized them in the Holy Spirit, whether there was a need for them to be baptized physically in the water? Okay, got it, got it, brother. Thank you for that question. So, the way we look at what a baptism is. See, even though there is a baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, there is also the baptism in water. And even in the Great Commission, you know, Jesus said that he said, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, he meant water baptism. Now, along with that, we said in Acts, we see the apostles doing it. So, it sets a precedent for the, you know, the growing church in the coming centuries to follow what is being done in the early church. So, Acts, apostles did it. We see Jesus commissioning the disciples to go do it. So, he never said, you know, just let people believe in your preaching and that is enough. He did mention baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, where he's referring to water baptism. So, it becomes a command. It becomes a command. And if we go back and look at the life of Jesus, we also see that Jesus himself, now he was the Son of God. The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance. So, looking at the life of Jesus, when we study the Book of Hebrews, we understand that he was perfect in every way. He was tempted in every way yet without sin. So, being a sinless individual, there was actually no need for Jesus to take the baptism in water for repentance. But the scriptures tell us that he did it so that obedience may be fulfilled. So, just some scriptures for us to understand that there is a spiritual importance of water baptism. And in the Book of Corinthians Paul writes to the Corinthians and he says that the baptism in water is a picture of death, burial and resurrection. So, he points out the way Jesus died. We go into the water, we die to our own selves, we die to our sins and the way Jesus rose up, we come out of the water. It's also a picture of the new life in Jesus. So, having all these things in mind, we can be clear about one thing. Yes, there is the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that the baptism in water, you know, stopped being important after baptism in the Holy Spirit came. So, that's what brother Manohar, we continue with both. I got it. I was asking specifically for the disciples, not for others. Yeah, for them also. Since Jesus himself was baptized. Yes, there you go. That is the reason. True, true. Thank you. Sure, sure. Thank you. Thank you brother. Yes, Sai, we can't hear you, Sai. Could you please unmute yourself? Can you hear me, Pastor? Yes, we can hear now. Yes, mine is just an observation from our discussion on baptism by water. I think the importance of the spiritual emphasis of why we do baptism hasn't really been explained well in the light of our experience in Christ. And I think that's why there is so much debate and confusion. I'm not talking about here in class. I'm just talking in the body of Christ generally is that we have not really brought it down to the context of what, how it relates with Jesus Christ. His dead resurrection and its spiritual implications. So I think that's why most times people don't really see the relevance, you know, in water baptism. So I just wanted to say that it would be very important, you know, for us, you know, to explain it in the light of Christ so that people can see the spiritual meaning and why they have to do baptism, water baptism. Just to my observation. Thank you. Thank you, Sai, for sharing that. I understand. You know, your point of view. I would also like to share that there is an APC publication. It's called as water baptism. So it covers most of what I shared and much more than some of the points that I made in the class. More than that. So I would recommend that all of us read it. Not just that there is a publication on Holy Spirit baptism as well. So both of these are available and before our water baptism sessions here in Bangalore, we give these, we give the water baptism to all the people who sign up for water baptism. We encourage them to go through it, ask questions, clarify, settle matters in their mind before they even, you know, take that next step to be baptized in water. So that is helpful. And we've seen that, you know, this step is very helpful. So if you would like to use that book, you're most welcome to just download it from our website and use it. So that will equip people in the word. Okay. So, yeah, a quick note there. And we can now move forward with Acts chapter 11. So, Acts chapter 11. So far, we understood, you know, what happened to Peter and how God caused him to step out of the box. So, you know, knowing Peter's personality, he was, you know, like, like a very dedicated Joe, who would not break the Jewish traditions. And, you know, so, and he wanted a good reputation of the Jews as well. But for him to actually visit a Gentile was a very, very big deal. But we see how God suffered Peter's heart and he did something which was quite different, you know, from his original or his old convictions. So that's, that's what we see at the end of Acts chapter 10. Now in 11, it begins the script, the portion begins by saying that now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea, heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him saying, you went into uncircumcised men and ate with them. So just as much as Peter is very convinced that, you know, this ministry is only for the Jews, the Gospel is only for the Jews, the other apostles were also convinced about the same thing. So when they heard this good news that the Gospel had gone out to the Gentiles instead of rejoicing in it, what do we read there? We read that this report caused contention or the apostles in Jerusalem questioned Peter and they were unhappy about the fact that they were unhappy about the fact that Peter went to minister to the Gentiles. So they say something like, you went into uncircumcised men and ate with them. So eating in that culture was a symbol of close fellowship. So you couldn't just eat with a Gentile. That was disgraceful. But Peter did it. Now, when he was questioned in this manner from verse 4 onwards, we read on till about verse 17 and we see that Peter actually narrates. He's just narrating the incidents that took place. You know, whatever I shared how he had this vision and, you know, he saw all the animals, four footed animals, they were brought before him and then God spoke to him and he said, God said that you must not, you know, consider what God has, don't consider the common things as uncommon. So he gets this vision and how there were men standing outside. So basically it's a narration of what exactly happened. So it's kind of a repetition. And then he goes with the men of Caesarea and, you know, he goes and he ministers to Cornelius' household and then he shares how the Holy Spirit fell upon these people and then, you know, he also goes ahead and baptizes them in water. And he justifies. He justifies what happened. So in verse 17, he says, if therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? So, you know, basically he's just passing the blame on, if you could put it this way on God and saying, don't be upset with me, God did it. You know, God is the one who baptised these Gentiles. So how could I stop the work which God himself was doing? In verse 18, we see how the apostles had a mindset, you know, Jewish mindset. At least they were open to see the work of God. You know, sometimes what happens, we get stuck in our old ways and we're not open to receive the new moves of God. Was there provision for a move like this or a work like this in the cross? Yes, there was because God had already spoken and told Abraham, through you, I will bless the nations of the world. And, you know, we know, even in Acts 1-8, that you shall be my witnesses to the ends of the world which includes people of all nations. As we read other scriptures in the Old Testament, you know, in Isaiah 52, the last verse there, Isaiah 53, you see there that the work of Jesus' redemption was for all men, for all men. So there was nothing new in what was taking place, but it's just that the Jews were very stuck in their own mindset and traditions and it was, first of all, it would have been very hard for Peter to obey this instruction from God, you know, to minister to the Gentiles, but God did it through a vision. God did it. Now for the others, other apostles, it's becoming very difficult to accept what Peter did. But, you know, he narrates the story, but it was 18. The beautiful thing is their hearts were open. So verse 18 says, when they heard these things, they became silent and they glorified God saying that God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. Isn't that beautiful? That the people, the apostles are willing to accept change. They're willing to accommodate, you know, the way God is moving. So sometimes that is the hindrance in our lives and in our ministries. We are just used to the past ways. When God is moving differently and whenever, you know, I say differently or new revelation, I don't mean things outside. Of the revealed will of God and the real purpose of God. No, not at all. We know that the Holy Spirit is always in agreement with the word of God. You know, 1 John 5, 7. However, there can be a different way that, you know, God shows his works. There can be a different approach which God takes because he's a God. You know, you can't box it in one method. So our openness to the ways of God, it's very crucial. If we are not open, then the new thing that God is doing, you know, we will not be able to move forward with it. We will not be able to see the growth that God is bringing in and all of that. So a soft heart and open heart to the ways of God is important in this case. Praise God for the apostles because they were willing to accommodate the new moves of God. So when Peter told them, scriptures tell us was 18, they became silent. They were fighting initially, but they became silent and they glorified God. They could appreciate the good things that God was doing in the lives of the Gentiles and they accepted the fact that God is granting Gentiles repentance to life. So let's move on from here. Kishan, I can see your hand raised. Do you have a question or is that by mistake? Okay, if you have a question, please unmute and ask. All right, seems like that happened by mistake. Okay, let's move on. So we're at verse 19 here after this incident of the gospel opening up to the Gentiles. We see that, let's not forget, we are still in the times of persecution. No, we saw how Saul himself was a persecutor. So persecution is ongoing at this moment, even though there wasn't anything specific that mentioned it. So now suddenly Luke brings that in verse 19 and he says, Now those who have scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. So the believers, they were doing what they knew to do and that is to preach the gospel to the Jews. So during persecution, one of the things that happens is people flee for safety and just to find another place where they can dwell and continue on with their lives. So it generally happens during times of persecution and something similar happened in the book of Acts. So when persecution was increasing, people started moving to safer places. And as some, you know, regions are mentioned here Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. And the good thing, however, is that people moved but they continued preaching the gospel. They continued preaching the word and yes, their thinking was limited. They still thought that it was only meant for the Jews. The good part is they were ministering the word. So think about it today. We as believers, wherever we go, do we carry the word with us? Sometimes as believers, we are just used to going to church and having that whole routine, a very church routine but sharing the gospel with others may not come naturally or we may not have been equipped in our churches to share the word wherever we go. But look at these believers, persecution. We saw earlier that persecution did not stop the spread of the gospel. As Gamaliel said, it just continued because this is a work of God and no man can put a full stop to what God is doing. And right now in Acts 11, we see persecution made people scatter. But the beauty is these believers were the kind who followed the Great Commission wherever they went. Even persecution pushing people to, you know, maybe not so prosperous regions. One thing it has ended up doing that we notice in Acts 11 is the church is being built in new places. So wherever these believers go, churches are being established. That's the point. So today is that a reality in our communities, wherever we go, wherever we go for work, you know, today more than ever we travel the globe. We, you know, people have jobs in different countries and couple of years they moved to another country. But wherever we go, do we carry the word? You know, are people blessed by the gospel? Are people giving their lives to Jesus? These are questions we have to ask because when we look at the book of Acts, that is how the people were wherever they went, they shared the word and was 20. But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus. So here we see that eventually, eventually there are people who also begin to minister the word to the Greek speakers. So the Greek speaking Jews. So they come to Antioch and in this place they begin to minister to the Greek speaking Jews. And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. So when you look at this church of Antioch, this church of Antioch, as you study, you would notice that it was predominantly a Gentile church as well. So that is something that history reveals to us. It was predominantly a Gentile church and who was it started by? Again, the beauty of this is it just says there were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. Who are these men? What are their names? What is their calling? Where are their people in the five-fold ministry offices? We have no solid or concrete information about these matters. So we can assume that normal believers were planting powerful churches. The church of Antioch is a really powerful church and that is the reason Luke makes a mention of this church. But again, it was not planted by a Peter or a John or a James or Philip, none of the apostles. It just says there were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. Some ordinary men just that they were believers and they were fulfilling the great commission through their lives. Whether they had a position in the church or not. So that's the beauty of this. Ordinary people wherever they went, they were sharing the gospel and others were giving their life to Christ. And in the case of Antioch, a church was established and verse 21 it says, and the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. That's what every church needs, the hand of the Lord upon us. And when the hand of the Lord is upon us, we will see that there will be a great growth and the church of Antioch is a beautiful example. A great number believed and turned to the Lord. So it was a growing church. It was a thriving church. So this church of Antioch, it is in present day Turkey and in the Bible you will also, like even in the book of Acts, you will come across another Antioch. When we study about Paul, so don't get confused. So there is the Antioch of Pisidia or Sidia, some peace silent. And there is the Syrian Antioch. So this Antioch that we're talking about is the Syrian Antioch. Currently it is in the present day nation called as Turkey. So back in the days when the early church existed, the population of the city of Antioch was quite huge. There were lots of people but apparently now in the present day it has a smaller number of people dwelling there. So that's a little bit about the city of Antioch and if you want to study much more about Antioch, you could do that based on who established it and things like that. So it is said that it was established in 300 BC by Seleucus, one of the inheritors of Alexander the Great's empire. And he liked to make a city and name them after his father Antioch. So that's the reason you have many Antiochs. So we have to be careful when we talk about an Antioch, which Antioch are we talking about. So this city is Syrian Antioch or apparently it's also called as Antioch of the Orons. So a little bit of information for us there about Antioch. Okay, let's move on. Now this church of Antioch, we will see the importance of this particular church. Firstly, we said that some normal believers they planted the church and in verse 22, you know how the base church or the mother church in Jerusalem always received reports of new churches and churches that were doing well. So in verse 22, we notice that the church of Jerusalem hears about the church of Antioch. So verse 22, then news of these things came to the years of the church in Jerusalem and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. So this again is a very common practice. We see that whenever there are new churches, the church of Jerusalem ensures that these new churches are established with strength. So remember the church of Samaria when Philip went and he was having good ministry there. Immediately Peter and John were sent. They ministered the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the church of Jerusalem thinks that, hey, we have to impart what we know to this church of Antioch. So even today, it's a biblical practice that when we see a church, a new church, leadership has to think, wow, God is doing a good work here. God's hand is upon this new church and many people are being added to this church spiritually. What is it that the Holy Spirit wants us to impart to this new church so that we may establish this new church? That's a mindset that we must carry instead of having a competitive mindset of thinking, oh, they are growing, they are doing better than us. The church of Jerusalem had that motherly heart for all the new churches. So they were looking at what is it that they could contribute to strengthen a new local church? So they asked the same question here, what can we do for Antioch? And so they immediately sent Barnabas. Remember Barnabas, a rich man, Levite, a generous man, a giver. And he's also known as a good man, a good testimony, son of encouragement. So here is a good minister of God whom they sent to the church of Antioch. So verse 23, when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all. That with purpose of heart, they should continue with the Lord. So you see how encouragement works, church to church, more established church to a growing church, there is encouragement. So Barnabas comes, he sees the good work and he encourages them and he says, come on, you need to keep going strong so that the purpose of God can be accomplished in all of you. And sometimes we need that, we need that encouragement as we are in this race of life. Verse 24, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith and a great many people were added to the Lord. So when Barnabas goes to his ministry, once again, we see the fruit of that, that many people are added to the church. Yes, Ashri Kumar, you have something to ask? Yes, Master. I just want to know, as you said that the church encouraged the church and they imparted to the other church. But today if you see, there are churches, even though they wanted to impart something, but God has given to them. Maybe it is a grace of prophetic or a grace of something which God is really blessed them and God is stored in them. And if they wanted to impart to someone's life, but they charge so much that which is sometimes beyond a normal man's approach. Like for example, if you have to attend a three days prophetic conference, you have to give some somehow someone like to lack Indian currencies to get that one day or one and a half day meeting. And so many other places they charge so much to receive that which God has given to them. I think maybe that is the reward of their faithfulness. So how you think about it, because these things when I see you said that it is an encouragement, but sometimes I get discouraged because of this. Thank you, Master. That was the question. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Ashri Kumar. I know where you're coming from. And it is a reality that sometimes these conferences where we can receive something from the Lord are quite expensive. So my take on it is, see, if an organization charges or let's say a church, they charge something reasonable. So when I say reasonable, see if there is a conference and the running costs can be quite high in some of the cities. So if people are charged for their stay for their food and things like that, and these are reasonable charges. I don't see anything wrong with reasonable charges comparable with like a very basic budget way of living. Yeah, everything can be affordable. Yeah, affordable. Beyond the affordable thing when you see what is one lakh rupees or one and a half lakh rupees. So then it's quite... Yeah, yeah. So that is understandable and as far as I'm concerned acceptable. But what you're sharing is, you know, there are some charges which are way too high. I don't know how to justify that. I really don't. Yeah, it's... Is that okay in the God size or is it... As far as I can see, see, like if our intention is to have many people joining, then how can they join Shri Kumar if they have to spend so much? But are they wanted to cut short the people, the number, and they only wanted to give to the special people who can afford? In that case, the people who don't have money, how they will... Yeah. So yeah, I mean, it depends on their goal. We cannot judge the motive of their heart. Because God is using them in that. We cannot judge them that way. Absolutely, they are actually independent. God is... Yeah, yeah. But yes, somewhere, you know, charging people so much for conferences and programs. It is unreasonable. You know, because like, okay, even if you have, if you want only a small group to attend. Yeah, if they specify that, then I think it's kind of justified. If you want a lot of people to attend and the charges are high, then I don't see how they will be able to fulfill their goal of ministering to a lot of people. And Brother Manohar here shares that Jesus said freely you have received, freely give, but reasonable charges are quite okay. Okay. So I think he has summed it up beautifully right there. Wherever possible, it is nice if we can give things freely. As some of you know here at APC, the publications, the printed copies, they're all free. So even recently, you know, we, for the missions events, bulk, a huge bulk of books were sent out. It's free of charge because that is something that is one area where we feel if people can have access to the books, the word of God, it will change their lives. So wherever possible, it's good to make it free. But we do understand that everything, you know, may not be practical you to keep it free. So as brothers put it, reasonable charge, something to do with the running costs of an event makes complete sense. Okay. Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Shikumar and Brother Manohar. Let's take a break. We will come back and continue with our subject here. Thank you. We'll meet at 10.02.