 Yes, so thank you so much for being here on time, not on time, before time and thank you for helping me with all this setup, yeah. So we will begin. So last class we were looking at the doctrine of redemption and sanctification. So we've kind of finished with the whole aspect of salvation and today we will look very, very briefly at the doctrine of Holy Spirit and we'll also look in greater detail at the doctrine of the church. The reason that I have not covered the Holy Spirit doctrine in detail is because you guys anyway had a full-fledged course last semester on this topic so you're already very, very familiar with it. So which is you know maybe I'll just take about 10 minutes, 15 minutes to just touch upon this already familiar topic and you know we'll move into the doctrine of the church and we'll see how the Holy Spirit is involved in you know the functioning of the church and in the lives of believers and we know we'll look at the church in greater detail. So that's the basic plan for today's session. So in your notes you would find the doctrines of Christ and the Holy Spirit combined together as one chapter but then I wanted to devote more time to the doctrine of Christ so that was you know kept as a separate chapter by itself and so we are just now combining this doctrine of the Holy Spirit with the doctrine of the church. So we'll go ahead then as we all know when we look at the Old Testament there's a lot of emphasis on Yahweh and also on God the Father. So we have emphasis on Yahweh which is the entire Godhead including all the three persons of the Godhead and we also have an emphasis on God the Father in the Old Testament. When we come to the New Testament we see a lot of focus on the Son you know so when do we see the main focus on the Holy Spirit that begins in acts when you have the church being formed. So then we start from the time of Pentecost we start seeing the involvement of the Holy Spirit to a greater extent. Now this of course does not mean that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was not involved because right from the beginning it was through the Spirit that God was doing his different works but it's just that we see more of his active involvement written out for us in the book of acts and there on you know in the doctrines which are discussed later by Paul. So we see that the main role of the Holy Spirit in the world is that work which he does of convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment so that's with regard to the world. When it comes to us believers his main function with us is to be our teacher and guide and also to be the one who sanctifies us the one who is helping us to achieve this goal that we are working towards which is to become like Jesus Christ. So he helps us in that and we're of course also familiar with the fact that he is a complete full part of the Godhead in no way is he inferior to the other two persons of the deity and we have seen that earlier. So the main reference which is usually given is Acts chapter 5 verses 3 to 4 where you have Peter talking to Ananias. So in the first sentence when we see in verse 3 Acts 5 verse 3 Ananias says you know you have lied to the Holy Spirit so he very clearly says you have told your lies to the Holy Spirit and then when you look at the next verse Acts 5 verse 4 there he says you have not lied just to humans but to God and so the term God and the term Holy Spirit are used interchangeably. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is very much part of the Godhead. He is as much divine as the other two persons of the Godhead and then we have also seen how you know in our different New Testament verses these three persons of the Godhead are mentioned in different order for instance if we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 what's the order that we see over there if someone could read out 2 Corinthians 13 verse 14 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Yeah so the traditional understanding maybe oh no no God the Father should always be mentioned first. His role must always be mentioned first because in our minds we may think oh he's in some way superior to the other two persons of the Godhead but over here in this verse you know Paul had no problem in mentioning the role of the Lord Jesus first so he says may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and then the third he mentions the role of the Holy Spirit which is the fellowship you know that we have with the Holy Spirit. So he doesn't begin by saying may the love of God and then the grace of the Lord Jesus you know as in there has to be an order that has to be maintained because they have that is the order of superiority. No so it's very very clear that these three persons of the Godhead can be mentioned in any order because it doesn't affect the fact that they all are you know completely equal co-equal. So what about 1 Peter 1 2 in 1 Peter 1 2 what is the order that we see say someone could read out that. I liked according to the foreknowledge of God the Father this in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Yeah so over here we have God the Father being mentioned first and then second you have the sanctifying work of the Spirit mentioned so it's not like as if in all the verses the Holy Spirit is mentioned last no we have a scripture over here where the role and work of the Holy Spirit is being mentioned second in the in this particular list so it so just because the ordering of the names are in a particular way we don't have to make a wrong assumption that one person in the Godhead is superior to the other no they are co-equal. So just a very very briefly look at the the functioning of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and compare it to the way he functions among us today because this is something that has always fascinated me. We don't realize sometimes what a privilege we have today we just take things for granted. Have you noticed you only really appreciate something the value of something when that's temporarily taken away from you you know I mean we all you know drink water all the time but on some day if you're stuck somewhere you know in some vehicle and you're stranded over there and there's no water with you hour after hour after hour and all you can think is dream about you know large bottles full of cold water you know we've all gone through that right that is when you really appreciate anything yes water is such a beautiful wonderful thing you know so sometimes we don't appreciate what we have because from the moment of getting saved we have we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us we take him for granted without even understanding the immense privilege that we have you know to have someone of the Godhead literally being in us with us we just take it so much for granted we don't even understand the value of it so I like looking at these Old Testament scriptures because it kind of makes me realize how privileged we are so let's just look at okay what scripture can we start off with yeah maybe we can look at 2nd Peter 121 yeah what does 2nd Peter 121 say about the Holy Spirit? For prophecy never came by the will of man but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit yeah so you see in the Old Testament it was the holy men of God it was the prophets they were carried along by the Holy Spirit and they spoke out you know so they would come and stand in front of the people and they would say God spoke to me and all the people would be like wow God spoke to you he spoke through you wow you really must be so great and here we are today you get up in the morning you know you rub your eyes you're half sleepy you go open your Bible and God is literally there with you you know you're like in your pajamas you're not even like formally dressed you're in that half you know wakeful condition and the God of God's is there literally sitting there on the bed with you and he's talking to you it's such an amazing thing in the Old Testament he only spoke to the prophets the holy men of God who were carried along by the Holy Spirit today you and I have can talk to him non-stop I mean he won't mind you know other people may get bored with the things that you're saying but he never finds you boring whatever you go on about he'll be there by your side listening attentively because you are his precious child so there's something so beautiful about the Holy Spirit that the axis that we have to the Holy Spirit today you know another scripture that I like to look at is um yeah okay maybe Genesis chapter 41 38 Genesis 41 38 so Faro ask them can we find anyone like this man one in whom is the spirit of God yeah you know they're talking about Joseph so Pharaoh says my goodness I've never seen a person like this this really is the man who should take over our administration because God seems to really communicate with this man and this man has the skill and the wisdom and the intelligence to to go to to run the administration of this nation so so in the Old Testament they were the specially appointed people of God and the Holy Spirit you know would would rest upon them and enable them to function in a way that the rest of the people could not we see the same thing even regarding you know Bezalel um that would be Exodus chapter 31 verses 2 and 3 Exodus 31 2 and 3 see I have chosen Bezalel son of Furi the son of Hore of the tribe of Zuda and I have filled with him with the spirit of God with wisdom with understanding with knowledge and with all kinds of skills no it says over here that this man Bezalel he was filled with the spirit of God you know and with wisdom and understanding and all of that because this was especially chosen and appointed person but here we are in the New Testament times where even some person sitting in some you know MNC office just doing his secular job he has the Holy Spirit enabling him equipping him to give his very best in that office you know in a secular office which is not like even related to the church God is with that person the Holy Spirit is enabling that person to do to give us very best in that job which he's doing in some secular setting so we all have that close access to the Holy Spirit today where the Lord enables us and helps us in all that we do even in the normal everyday things that we do the Holy Spirit helps us I remember this one lady she would say I asked the Lord to help me with my cooking you know because I mean see that's something that's important I'm sure her family appreciates it because you see they have to eat her meals three times a day so you see the Holy Spirit enables her to really be the best cook you know in for her family so today not only do we have the Holy Spirit helping only those people who have been appointed for great tasks like running an entire nation nation's administration or you know in designing and constructing the temple no today we even have simple ordinary people who are equipped by the enabling and power of the Holy Spirit to do their work you know well so hint when you're doing your assignment whom should you be actively asking whose help should you take he will help you okay so that is important another just one other one thing that I know I thought maybe we could touch upon this is you know David's prayer in Psalm 51 11 and actually many of us probably even know it by heart Psalm 51 verse 11 do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me David was a person who could feel God's presence he could feel the nearness of God's presence because he had chosen to live in a way that honors the Lord you know he his desire was always to study the law of the of the Lord you know as in the word of God the and so he would spend time meditating upon God and so he could feel the closeness of the Holy Spirit and when he chose to sin he stopped feeling the closeness of the Lord so you know he says please don't take away your Holy Spirit from me so David he had the Holy Spirit's presence with him but I doubt he ever had the Holy Spirit indwelling him and definitely not on a permanent basis you and I are indwelt by the Holy Spirit moment by moment permanently he will never ever leave us you know so what an immensely privileged people we are and why do why have we been given this immense special privileges because we are the church of God that is who we are all of us believers today you know God considers us his dwelling place we are literally the temple of God you know earlier in this Old Testament times when people would talk about the Jerusalem temple they would talk about it with respect oh Jerusalem temple that's where God dwells that is where God is seated you know so they would think about the Jerusalem temple in a in a very great you know in a very respectful manner now that very honorable status has been given to you and me very ordinary people like us we are that temple and that is why God says you know treat your bodies with respect please the things that you watch the things that you listen to you know the things that you do with your hands and your feet please let it be honorable because that status which Jerusalem temple had I mean imagine people you know who had settled down in Egypt and people who had settled down in Babylon and all of those people would come you know kilometers they would travel they didn't even have you know aeroplanes and all in those days they would come long distances just to stand over there in the Jerusalem temple at least once a year and offer their sacrifices why because God's presence was in that place and today we don't have to go anywhere you don't have to travel kilometers is right there you know in us so because we are the church of God we choose to recognize who we are the status that we have been given and we treat him with honor and respect in our you know in our everyday lives so just to understand better about this church that God has instituted you know what should be our understanding of it so coming to the doctrine of the church now the word Ecclesia is the word that is used in the New Testament you know for church so what exactly is this Greek Ecclesia in those days not everyone had citizenship rights okay so of course by this time you know the nation of Israel was under Roman control so the Romans were you know ruling and in certain appointed cities they would allow certain people to become Roman citizens so only those people had citizenship rights all the others were you know inhabitants of the land but they were not considered you know in ancient Israel when you know Israel had its own nation and its own king all of them were citizens of Israel they could all proudly say I am an Israelite but now people didn't really have the privilege of saying you know I'm a Roman citizen only a few people had this privilege and some people paid large amounts of money to get that privilege so it was like that so these citizens would be given some special power in decision making so when it came to you know administrative matters when it came to certain decision making matters these people were allowed to come for a meeting and so they would all meet together and in that meeting these citizens had the privilege of opening their mouth and saying you know I think this is this is what we should do regarding the city so those assemblies where people collected those were actually called Ecclesia so today so basically that word basically meant you know a gathering a gathering where people are you know collected together for some particular purpose now we are not just the you know a gathering of Roman citizens trying to decide on some matters of you know the town and some matters of you know administration and finances no we are a gathering of God's own people gathered to achieve divine purposes that have been given to us so we are no normal gathering you know you look at a group of believers who come together and you know we know that right any group of believers that come together automatically they are a church because they have come together as the body of Christ so if you look at them just an ordinary bunch of people one of them maybe you know some person working in a in a business another one maybe someone was working in an MNC another person you know may you know just be working in some government office very very normal ordinary people but when they come together they are coming together as citizens of God's kingdom and they are gathering together for divine business of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords so you see this is no normal Ecclesia this is a very highly privileged gathering and because we don't recognize who we are and the status that we carry we think oh I'm just coming for a church service we don't understand the gates of hell trembles when the Ecclesia gathers together because this is not a normal bunch of people that are gathering together if their eyes could be opened and if they could catch who they are and what they can accomplish together if they are united and act together and speak together and hold on to God's word together they are not even aware of how much power there is in their hands which is why you know Satan devotes most of his time probably 99% of his time goes to you know the other one person to know he uses to control the world it's very easy to control the world because the poor world is under his control so it's easy to manage them believers they are the main threat so as long as he can keep us believers divided as long as he can create this kind of you know sense of you know friction unhappiness towards one another as long as he can keep us divided this Ecclesia it's not going to function very very well and things are safe for him oh but then if we were to lay aside our differences and say no because we belong to Christ we are his body we will come together stand together we will choose not to focus on our differences but we will choose to know love each other accept each other and if we come together and together start fighting against him he trembles because we are standing there in the name of Jesus and there's nothing that he can do you know so which is why it says in when you resist the devil I know and by submitting to the Lord yes no choice he has to flee so the Ecclesia is not just some normal legal body the way it was in the you know in the Roman times now the Ecclesia is something so powerful so let's keep that in mind let us be very aware that when we go on Sunday morning especially those of us you know who attend churches which are early in the morning people who attend the 1030 service oh no issues but the ones who attend the service early in the morning remember where you are going remember for what you are going because when you're gathered together over there in his presence when you pray when you sing you know worship and when you I know listen to the word of God when you stand up and make your declaration even as you're doing all of those very very normal things realize that it's not just normal it's great power because the Holy Spirit is indwelling that body of believers and if we can focus our eyes on him great things will be accomplished through us okay so it's good to be aware of that now there are many you know images used pictures used in the in the Bible to describe this church they know this for the most common description that we see you know the one of the main key pictures that we see of the church is when the church is described as the body of Christ so you know in your notes there are some very good pictures mentioned of you know the church is an army the church is a family and there are many other pictures but we don't really have time to go into all of that so you know we will if we have time at the end of the class you know we can maybe look at those beautiful pictures of the church and understand the significance of all of them but for now you know let's focus on this main picture of the church as the body of Christ so maybe we could begin by looking at Ephesians chapter 1 22 to 23 if someone could read out for us Ephesians 1 22 to 23 and God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills everything in every way so this this Ecclesia is actually indwelt by the Spirit of God so he you know literally is among us and in us and this church is the body of Christ so who is the head the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church he has been appointed to be head over everything for the church which is his body so not only is he the head of the church he is also the head of everything on behalf of the church which is why he says you know when he gives the great commission he says you know you don't you don't need to worry I'll be with you right up to the end of the age so you don't have to do anything on your own I have been appointed as head over everything and so through me you can have access to whatever you require to do your ministry so never fear you don't have to worry I have been appointed as head over everything on behalf of the church so as long as you remain in me as long as you submit to me as long as you stay you know united with me abiding in me I can take care of every detail regarding your personal life and regarding your ministry why because he has been appointed as head of everything for the church and we are his body so it is very very essential for the body to function according to whatever the head is telling you know if the body refuses to cooperate with the head then nothing much can be achieved because you know to take the example of a physical body you know if the head is saying you know don't go over there there's a pit over there don't go over there don't go over there and the two you know feet are happily trotting over there towards the pit no total lack of cooperation the head is giving the warning the head is saying do not go over there and the two feet are refusing to listen and they just go over there you know it's good it's not only going to affect those two feet it's actually going to affect the poor hands which are innocent the hands didn't do anything wrong but because the feet are dragging the rest of the body over there the rest of the body suffers so you see it is absolutely vital that all of us together are paying attention to what the head is saying and we choose to submit to him you see the feet the problem with the feet in this you know simple example that we are using the feet don't have eyes they cannot see the pit they just have to trust the Lord when they when the head is saying pit is there do not go they need to listen so there are sometimes we don't understand why God is telling us to do certain things in a particular way we can't see we don't understand but we just have to trust the head and listen to what the head is saying submit to him as long as you submit to him you will stay at the center of his will and your life will accomplish what it is meant to accomplish otherwise not only will you drag yourself towards no wastage of time and harm you'll drag the rest of the people also over there which is a very very seriously irresponsible thing to do one day you would be held accountable by God for being so reckless because not only did you harm yourself you harmed others because of your actions you know of your lack of submission to the head so it is very very vital for the body to submit to the head you know and and live in accordance with whatever he is telling so 1st Corinthians 12 27 is also a very good verse to look at 1st Corinthians 12 27 now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it so you see it says over here every single believer is a part of the body of Christ so nobody can say oh I am an independent person I would like to function in my own way I don't really need the other people the other people are like they're weak look at them so spiritually weak you know that person you know he reads the Bible only once a week you that other person he sleeps in the church I've seen him sleeping in the church there's a oh I don't need all that I am this wonderful spiritual person so if you do that you're being very very foolish because it says over here in 1st Corinthians 12 27 each one of you is a part of it so start you know mingling with the other people you know and say oh hi hands hi eyes you know you're also part of this body of Christ and you're as important and as vital as me you know you are functioning in a completely different way I don't even understand you I'm a hand I know what hands are supposed to do but you know you're so different from me there's no comparison between nose and hand but I know I understand that you also are part of the body of Christ and let's together submit to our Lord the head who really knows it all who understands it all it just makes life so much more meaningful when we understand that we are a part of this body of Christ okay so nobody is exempt nobody is an independent agent every single believer is a part of the body of Christ and because we are a part of the body of Christ what does it say about us Ephesians 4 15 to 16 Ephesians 4 15 to 16 instead speaking the truth in love we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is head that is Christ from him the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does it work yeah you know so it says over here um speaking the truth in love we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head that is Christ so for the entire body of Christ to become mature uh each part has to do its you know independent role in developing their own spiritual maturity nobody can say oh I don't feel like being mature so fine you know let all the other people be mature I was I think I will stay the way I am no you see you're affecting the rest of the body you're affecting the rest of the growth of the rest of the body the thing is you and I have don't really understand how important and valuable we are you know uh prime ministers presidents politicians they're very very aware of how important they are you know they they believe you know if they are not there this country can't function only the country is actually able to hold together because so just because they are they they they have very clear understanding of their importance we don't understand that we think I'm just an ordinary Christian what can I do we don't understand how valuable we are we literally carry the Holy Spirit inside us and if we can just follow his guiding and his leading he will tell us what to do he will tell us what to speak he will tell us when to act and we have a very very vital role to play in the advancement and maturity of the entire body so you know if you have uh uh you know the the one you know your little finger saying I'm just the little finger you know I'm not very important for the rest of the body and you know if it if it doesn't bother to take care of itself and be the best little finger on earth you know every time that person tries to you know pick up a plate you know serve communion that little finger is not helping not cooperating it's going to affect the rest of the body so whether we understand it or not we are very very valuable it says over here you know so we speak the truth in love to one another we grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head that is Christ from him the whole body you know joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work so each part instead of instead of thinking oh I'm just the little finger yes you are the little finger you are you are specially created to be the little finger because you have a very very important role to play so stop you know uh thinking that little finger is a bad thing I mean who actually came up with these ratings you know that the head is more important than the little finger and then the you know your toenails are you know less important than the little finger I mean who came up with all these ratings foolishness God has designed each person a particular way because they have to fulfill a purpose which nobody else can your eyes can never do what the little finger can do so it is so absolutely vital that we all it says over here the entire body grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work so seriously take a look at yourself and I need to do the same we need to look at ourselves and ask ourselves am I being a responsible part of the Ecclesia am I seriously taking my my you know my personal role in this whole thing seriously because I need to also you know grow in maturity and you know um be in such a way that I am contributing to the growth of the rest of the thing is you see the rest of the body of Christ may not be aware that you are important you know so they they also may be a little blind you know they may not really understand how important you are but it's okay whether they realize it or not you just go ahead and do your part most you know um most sincerely one day you know when they can understand all these things they'll come up to you and say oh I never realized the little finger is so important you know thank you thank you for being the best little finger on earth at that time they may realize right now they may not realize it just because they don't realize don't don't be lazy just because people are not realizing it do not be lazy your Lord realizes it right he's telling you that every day right he's every day as you go for your devotions he talks to you he says I want you to do this this this and you're like ah if I don't do it what's there nothing will happen no you don't understand what's going on in the spiritual realm each of us has a role to play and if we are sincere in our role if we are doing what we need to do we're actually enabling the rest of the body of Christ to grow to become what it is meant to be what an immense privilege we have been given you know I don't see it as a very frightening responsibility oh today I didn't read my Bible the whole body of Christ is going to suffer because of me no you know don't have to live under condemnation just go to the Lord and say Lord I'm really being very bad with my Bible reading please help me to improve because I want to contribute to the rest of the body of Christ so never live under condemnation go to him with your weaknesses and say Lord I really need to improve in this help me he will help so uh so at the same time we don't need to you know be afraid that we are going to destroy the whole body of Christ because we are not good enough just go to him he knows your your Lord and master you know he said take my yoke upon you I'm humble and gentle I will teach you I will train you I will you know be there for you so you don't have to worry all he wants is a responsive heart that's one very very vital thing a heart which is willing to accept correction a heart which is willing to you know hear what he has to say and submit and nod its head and say okay Lord I will do this that's all he really wants from us so as long as that responsive attitude is there it's taken care of you know the Lord can lead us to accomplish what we are meant to do so every part of the body has you know different roles and functions which it performs and so we have Romans 12 6 to 8 which talks about that so it says over there we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us so there are some people who are really excellent at serving you know I guess over here when it says serving it's talking about hospitality you know those who have the gifting of hospitality so if you if that is your gifting it says you know so if it is serving then serve you know if your gifting is to be an encourager then give encouragement and then it says you know if it is to lead you know please lead diligently so each person you know so over here Romans 12 6 to 8 these are your membership gifts which are being talked about so every single believer will have a bunch of membership gifts which they are supposed to use for the building up of the entire body of Christ so different believers will have different membership gifts we are supposed to use all of those gifts for the benefit of the entire ecclesia of the entire church so how sincere we are in using that because you see you remember the story of the talents what does that man do whether with what he has been given he says I took it and I hid it nicely you know the the the owner gets really angry and he says who asked you to go hide it you're supposed to use it you're supposed to create a profit for me with it so do not take your giftings lightly no you've been they've been putting your hand for you to develop and to use you know to to help the rest of the body they are not meant for you to know place on display in the shelf or to hide somewhere you have to use them you have to you know take responsibility and start using them so even as we are using our giftings we need to maintain unity this is the hard part you know so as we are all you know we all love the Lord we all want to give him our very best we all really want to build up the church but the thing is the church is made up of people and people don't always see our view point here I am so sincerely trying to follow my gifting and the other person is getting in the way doesn't he understand my gifting has to operate in this particular way and this person doesn't understand so it becomes so important it says over here when those circumstances happen where you know you are being very very sincere in using all of your giftings to build the church and this person is getting in the way they don't seem to get it so what are you supposed to do in all of those circumstances efficiency 4 I'm a brilliant person I've written over here efficiency 4 4 to 4 efficiency 4 4 to 6 okay yeah someone could read out efficiency 4 4 to 6 please there is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called one lord one faith one baptism one god and father of all who is over all efficiency 4 4 to 6 so I've written the wrong thing is it you know the one which says then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received see that's what that's the thing okay efficiency 4 okay verse one as a prisoner for the Lord then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received be completely humble and gentle be patient bearing with one another in love make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace there is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope when you were called yeah yeah so it explains here how you need to go about fulfilling your role you know because as you are doing it as you're being sincere in whatever has been given to you there will be people who are seem to be working in a different way and what are we supposed to do with them it says be completely humble and gentle be patient bearing with one another in love make every effort it doesn't say make some effort it says make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace to the extent possible you go out of your way to maintain the peace you know so from your side everything that you can do make that relationship more peaceful please go ahead and do that so if it's not beyond your hands leave it you know but up to the extent that you can you make sure that you are establishing peace you know with the other people and the other thing is it says bearing with one another in love now this I only understood this after I read an article somewhere you know because I always thought bearing with one another is where I grit my teeth and I say okay I'll just bear this person I'll bear this person because I have to bear this person you know that was my thing I really thought that was the way to do it and then you know I read this article where it said bearing as in you know you're bearing them you're lifting them up you know you're helping them in a very loving way to you know to understand you better you know you're humbling yourself so that you can know you're reaching out to them and you know asking them okay how can I do it where we know we can both be more amicable so you're bearing in a positive way you're bearing in the sense you're building up that person you're trying to be of help to that person you know in doing whatever they are doing for the body of Christ so not in a negative way of you know bearing as in oh I have to endure no not in that negative sense at all because that's a very I never realized it but you know that is such an unpleasant way of bearing with someone where you know you're so critical and you think you're just bearing with them no your bearing should be the way Christ bears you oh it's so beautiful the way Christ bears us right you know he's not like oh I have to put up with her no he's like how can I help her how can I help her to understand you know how can I make her I know realize this truth how can I you know he's so humble and gentle in the way he teaches so in the same way we bear in that sense we are humble and gentle in the way we interact with that other person so we bear with them in love in that way so even as we are doing that you know we are all you know you know showing respect to this one Lord because we have this one faith in him and you know we have all gone through this one baptism experience with him so we were doing all of this because we are under one Lord and Savior so so which is why you know especially in those times you know in biblical times when the Jewish believers were now coming into close contact with people of other cultures for us it's more easy thing nowadays we are also multicultural you know especially in our you know urban churches we have people from all you know all states all backgrounds all countries in fact so we are so used to mingling with people we don't really think about this too much but back then the Jewish people were now for the first time in their lives really coming into close contact with people of other cultures and they had to be nice to everyone not just being nice they have to respect everyone not just outwardly but from the heart they needed to learn to respect because you know always the Jewish people would probably look at the other sunset for these dogs now you can't go looking at the next to the believer next to you as a dog no please they're not dog in any sense of the way you know in any sense of the word they are you know children of God with the Holy Spirit in dwelling them so you better understand who they are and respect them you know so so for them I think basically this verse was written Colossians 3 11 someone could read out Colossians 3 11 yeah you know so don't look at each other as you know oh I'm a Jew you're a Gentile oh that person over there is a barbarian the Greeks you know had this real you know a lot of pride they consider themselves as the civilized people so they regarded certain other people groups as barbarians that word barbarian literally means uneducated uncivilized you know so they literally that was the formal technical term which they used for certain people they were literally called those particular people groups as barbarians so you know here Paul tells them stop looking at each other in that way because it says Christ is all and is in all so when you look at a person you think of that person as oh okay that is a brother of Christ Jesus that is a sister of Christ Jesus so you know that's a member of the royal family you know so you know if you were to meet someone from a royal family how would you be treating them you would treat them with great respect so each person that you run into they are a child of God they are a brother and sister of Jesus Christ and they have the Holy Spirit living inside them permanently so we need to learn to treat people with dignity our brothers in the Lord are very amused in the last bench okay one more verse you know and then we can go for our break acts one eight acts one eight but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Zurea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth yeah you know it says over here when the Holy Spirit comes on you you will be my witnesses so the Holy Spirit will tell us what to speak how to speak so which means you know the Holy Spirit we know right what Jesus say about him he said only what I have told that he will speak to you so the Holy Spirit is basically conveying to us the things which Jesus Christ wants you know us to know wants us to follow so it is becomes very very important that we do all of our witnessing in line with the Holy Spirit because when we are you know following his guidance we're actually following the guidance of the Lord Jesus because Jesus said only what I tell him the Holy Spirit will convey to you so we it's so important for us to always stay under the direction and leading of the head and he will tell us how to be witnesses to basically see a witness what a what a witness does is something very basic you know so if there is an accident and then know the witnesses are asked to tell what happened over there they will give the description of what they have seen they will give the description of what they have heard and that's basically what we are doing as believers we are telling people see this is what I'm experiencing about this Jesus this is what he has done in my life this is how my life has changed so you're just being a witness only thing of course you should be saying the right thing to the right person so the Holy Spirit will guide you he will tell you what to say to whom how to say it and on which occasion to keep quiet and not say anything and on which occasion to you know openly tell them because he can lead us in a way which will be most helpful to that person okay so he guides us in doing that but basically witnessing is not a very difficult thing because all you are doing is you're telling people about what Jesus has done for you personally how he has made a difference in your life you're sharing that news with other people and the Holy Spirit will help you to do it in a most effective manner even as you just simply trust him even as you're just trusting him he will lead your words he will guide your thoughts he will arrange the circumstances he will take care of the details so he will enable us to be effective witnesses okay so when we come back from the break we look at some main functions of the church all right so let's meet again at 10 o'clock thank you