 Goodness, grace, mercy, love. Lord, we thank you for all good things you are doing in our life, Lord, we surrender ourselves to the word of your grace which is able to build us love. Let you over be done, let your Holy Spirit lead us in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Yeah, last class I have assigned some other work and then I had to attend to that, so I could not take the class. So we kind of have a break between the introduction to the epistels and this first epistle of John. So maybe we could just go over one or two things while we are doing today's class just as a reminder of what we had done in the intro the week before last. So today the hope is to cover the first and second chapters of the first epistle, the first letter of John. So if we can open up our Bibles to first John and we'll of course begin with chapter one. So if I, oh yeah, before I do that, yes, regarding the assessments, if you remember assessment one was posted long ago and most of you have answered it. There are a few whose names I see here, you know, on my screen sometimes, but they have not done the first assessment. So time is kind of running out. So within the next one or two days, if you know those of you who have not been able to finish the assessment, if you could do that, because that was just 25 questions, and it should not be, it was multiple choice. So those who have not done the first assessment yet, if you could kindly finish it off. Now regarding the second assessment, that is going to be much lendier because I could only give 25 in the first one. So this will be 75 questions, 75 multiple choice questions. So it would be a lendier assessment. So which is why my hope is that by the weekend I will be able to post it, you know, I'm trying my best to do that. So we would have up to today's class in the portion. Okay, so we did a few chapters of John's Gospel, you know, for the first assessment. So wherever we stopped from that chapter onwards up to what we are doing today would be the portion for the second assessment. There would be 75 multiple choice questions. So you would need to take the correct one. And you will at least, I think get 10 days, you know, to finish it, if not a little more because 25th is the last date. Yeah, right. 25th, November 25th would be the last date. So for those who would be looking at this video later on e-platform, the link closes on November 25th and there is no way of resetting it. So, you know, those of you who are, you know, doing this course through the e-platform, please make sure that you finish both of the assessments by November 25th because there cannot be any extension after that. And if you want a certificate for this particular course, you would have to do it all over again, you know, in case these assessments are not finished off. So this is just for the e-platform students. Maybe the Google students could be shown a little grace, but it would be good if you can, you know, finish on time as well. All right, so yes, let's get into first John. So if we could have maybe one person read out versus one and two of the letter. We can start. Yes. Yeah, okay. Let's, okay, Asha has a question. Go ahead. Yeah. No, you don't have a question. Okay, fine. Yes. Yeah, if someone could read out versus one and two. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which you have seen with your eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with your hands, considering the word of life, the life is made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it. I'm proclaiming to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. Yes. So we see a similarity between the opening, you know, wording of John's Gospel and the opening wording over here. Both of them talking about the beginning, but there is a slight difference in the John's Gospel when we looked at the term in the beginning. There John was talking about even before creation and the point that he was trying to make over there was that the word, which is Jesus, was there from the very beginning, even before creation. That was the point that he was trying to get across over there. Here when he's talking about from the beginning, he's referring over here to the word of life which is being discussed here. And he wants to convey the fact that this word of life was in Jesus from the very beginning. The word of life has been incarnated, has been brought into human form, has been embodied in Jesus. So the difference between the Gospel of John's opening and the opening over here is that while in the Gospel of John in the beginning referred to Jesus being there even before creation and the emphasis over there was, you know, who is Jesus? Jesus is someone who was with God and was God from the very beginning. So the entire emphasis in the prologue of the Gospel of John was Jesus. Who is Jesus? That was being established over here. The main thing that is being established is who is the word? What is the word? And so the word is not just a bunch of, you know, alphabets put together, rather the word is a person. And so the word was incarnated in Jesus from the very beginning. So the emphasis over here is on the word. So this would be the main difference which you would kind of need to know regarding the preface of this epistle and the preface of John's Gospel. So moving on to this word of life, you know, just for us to get a perspective why is the emphasis over here in the epistle about the word of life? And why was there an emphasis earlier about Jesus? That's because you see when John's Gospel was written at that time, you know, he and the other believers were still dealing with the Jewish people, the Jewish leaders and many of whom were fighting the truth, fighting the fact that Jesus is from God. And so in John's Gospel, his attempt, you know, his main attempt is trying to establish very clearly the fact that Jesus is divine, that he is from God, that he must be worshipped as God. So that was the main emphasis. So in John's Gospel, the emphasis is on trying to, you know, point out who Jesus is, what capacity he occupies and all of that. Here the times have changed because these letters are being written at a later period. And so over here in the first epistle, the people are bringing in, there are people who are bringing in false doctrines. So here he wants to emphasize that the word of God has not changed from the time of Jesus. When Jesus came as word incarnate, you know, in human form, literally embodying the word in human form, from that time the word has not changed. So now even though false teachings are coming in, hold on to what was taught to you right in the beginning, what you have, you know, and he talks about how they have seen the word, how they have touched the word. You know, they have lived with the word. And so he is the correct word and all these new doctrines that are coming in are false. So here the emphasis is on the word because it is this word that the believers need to hold on to so that they are not deceived and led away. So that would be the, you know, contrast that we see. And so here in verse two, there's something very nice that, you know, that John says, he says, the life appeared. We have seen it and testified to it, you know, because they literally lived with the, with the life who came. He came in human form. So they interacted with him. They saw him. They were with him. And it says we have seen it and testified to it and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. So here not only is the word being spoken of as Jesus, eternal life is also being spoken of as Jesus as a person. So eternal life is not just a concept. It's a person. And this I think is very key for us to grasp because eternal life is all about relationship, fellowship with this person. Eternal life is not a product that you acquire, that you take in your hand and put in your pocket. No, it is a living person. So eternal life is you having a relationship with this, with this Jesus who is the eternal life. So this kind of, you know, helps us to separate the true believers from those who have just simply said a salvation prayer because they wanted a ticket to heaven. So you see, it immediately brings in a divide between the two categories. There are people who have said the salvation prayer not because they cared about Jesus or because they loved him or felt grateful to him for what he had done. No, they said the salvation prayer because they wanted to purchase something. Okay, it was not being purchased, just being given free, but they wanted to acquire it. And so they have said the salvation prayer simply to get their heaven ticket. And but eternal life is not a heaven ticket. Eternal life is a person. It's a relationship. So those who have not genuinely made that commitment are under the impression that they have been saved, but there has been no salvation experience. There has been no transformation on the inside because they did not reach out to a person and say now I am submitting to you and I want to have a relationship with you. I want to, you know, your life to flow into mine and I want to be changed and transformed. So all those events have not occurred. And so over here in verse 2, it is so clearly established. We proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. So here it has been made very clear that eternal life is a relationship with Jesus. It's not just you saying, you know, you know, thank you for what you did on the cross. And I think I would like to have my ticket. It's not at all that. So we would kind of, you know, need to remember that. And yes, we have Charles who has raised his hand. Please go ahead, brother. Yeah. Do you allow me to ask the question, Pastor? Go ahead, please. Yes. All right. I am responding to the fact that someone who makes a prayer of salvation, when they are not going to experience transformation, would such people go to heaven? Well, salvation is only through Jesus, through his cleansing work, his work of atonement. And for that, you would first need to abide in him, right? You come into him. He is, you're like this branch which is getting attached to the wine. So when you make that commitment, you get attached to the wine and his life flows into you. So you and I, we become living beings in the sense now we have, you know, eternal life in us. So if there is no relationship and you're still like a branch which is, you know, still standing apart. And all you're saying is, you know, give me my ticket to heaven. You have not really abided in him. So this is all about relationship, this whole, you know, life that we have as believers. It's all about being connected to him and being a part of him. And in fact, he says, apart from me, you can do nothing. So maybe we could even say, you know, you can be nothing in the sense you have no eternal life in you. So yes, people who are kind of doing this in a way, it's not really their fault. It's what they have been taught. They are told, you know, you are a sinner, you have sinned. Now, if you say the salvation prayer, then Jesus is going to forgive you. And once you're forgiven, you know, you have a way to heaven. Now there are some who would have said that prayer with repentance in their heart. They would have said it, say, you know, really ashamed of their past. And now they know that there is hope in him. So they are coming to him saying, Lord, you know, be my savior. I really want my life changed. Now, they may not fully, you know, know all the details of what is involved in salvation. But the attitude is right. They are reaching out to him because they want his work in their life. And he will never turn away anyone who comes to him, you know, with that attitude in their heart. So they may not have that all the right words in their mouth. They may in fact not even know all the details of what they are doing. But one thing they know, that if they reach out to him, he will be their savior. He will change them. Now in him, they're going to be made righteous. And they're going to get a second chance to live the way we are meant to live. You know, so they have at least understood that much. On the other hand, someone was just coming and saying, oh, this is really nice. All I need to do is say a prayer and I get to go to heaven. This is a really good deal. But there has been no commitment made on the inside. So in a way that person has chosen not to be attached to the wine. So no, there would be no salvation. So from the outside, we will not be able to judge at all. When we have two people standing in front of us or the altar call and they are saying the salvation prayer, we will in no way know and it would be probably be very dangerous for us to even point fingers and judge. But only the Lord knows the work that has happened on the inside. Has there been a connection? If there is a connection, now they are part of his family. On the other hand, if they have chosen not to connect, then no. God will just continue speaking to them, you know, motivating them, urging them. So maybe someday down the line, they will realize that, oh, you know, I need to make this personal commitment to him and they'll actually do it. So for some, when they say the salvation prayer, it is a genuine experience. For some, maybe at that point of time, they have not really understood the facts. But gradually maybe they'll get to know that, oh, okay, I'm actually meant to live with this Jesus and make a commitment to him. And they would do that sometime later, I suppose. And yes, at that point of time, they would come into his family, into his fold. And yes, then they would be able to go to heaven. I hope that kind of clarifies it. Does that help, Charles? Yes, perfect. Yeah, so let's move on from there. Yeah, he says, yeah, verse three. All right, if someone could read out verse three. Firstly, it says that that which we have seen and had, we proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, a man. Yes, so here, there's a point that John is very specifically making. He says, you know, we are giving you this fact so that you can believe in this embodied word in this Jesus, because then you will be able to have fellowship with us. Because those who are now beginning to get drawn away by the wrong doctrines, they are going to be having fellowship with the followers of the wrong doctrines, rather than having fellowship with John and the other true believers. And fellowship over here implies not just simply, you know, sitting with them, sitting with that particular group. But it would automatically mean, you know, the works which they are doing, you also would do, because fellowship always involves more than just being with a group. You would automatically begin to think like them. Your choices would be made, you know, in accordance with the choices that they are making. So your entire worldview, your perspective, it's all going to undergo a change. You will be like the group that you are fellowshiping with. And so over here he says, you know, we are trying to give you the truth. I am writing this letter to give you the truth so that you may continue to have fellowship with us and not with them. Okay, so he's drawing a clear divide between the true believers and these fake Christians who are calling themselves believers. So he says, you know, we are revealing the truth to you so that you can have fellowship with us. Because when you have fellowship with us, our fellowship is something very superior. It's not just fellowship with a bunch of human beings. Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And when you have fellowship with the Father and with Jesus Christ and with us, your joy will be complete. So that is the reason why I'm writing this letter. So, you know, he's urging them to take the letter seriously so that their joy can be complete. So throughout this letter, we have to keep in mind that he's addressing a very dangerous issue that is creeping into the church. And he wants to take a very firm stand against it and make it very, very clear that what was revealed by the word incarnate, you know, the words which came out of Jesus' mouth in the beginning, those are the truth. What is now coming in, these things which people are now bringing in, those are false. So just to very quickly touch upon the three wrong teachings that were prevailing in John's church at that time. We did cover this in the introduction, but then, you know, it's been like two weeks now. So the first was the dosetists. The dosetists were the people who said that Jesus looked human, but he was not actually fully human. He was like the Old Testament angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord would appear to people in human form, but he was not really human. He appeared that way, but in reality he was fully divine. So they said Jesus was something like that. He never was fully human is what the dosetists said because the dosetists, the Serentians and the ones who were into the, you know, the Gnosticism proper, all the three categories of people were Gnostics in one sense or the other. And for the Gnostics, you know, that would be G-N-O-S-T-I-C-S, the Gnostics. For all the three categories of these Gnostics, their main basic belief was that matter is evil. Matter is impure. So the matter, including the flesh, the human body, it's impure. How can God become something impure by putting on an impure matter and becoming a human was their thing. So the dosetist Gnostics would basically say that, no, no, Jesus was never fully human. He would never lower himself to becoming something that is impure matter. The Serentian Gnostics, on the other hand, they were focusing on another aspect of Gnosticism where you would need to have some kind of divine experience, a kind of divine knowledge which comes upon you. So they would say, Jesus was a normal human being. He was born to Mary and Joseph. There was nothing supernatural about his birth. But on the day of baptism, the Spirit of Christ came upon him. So that was the divine experience which made him divine temporarily because while he was hanging on the cross, the Spirit of Christ left him and went away. So for a temporary period of time, he was divine. So the Serentians focus on that aspect of Gnosticism where you have a very mystical experience which comes upon you and your mind is opened and you get to know things which no other people know and that would lead to your salvation. So that was what the Serentians were saying. The Gnostics proper who were deeply into that whole doctrine, they said that only one small set group of people, specially chosen by God, they are the ones who would have this kind of very deep experience where something would happen to them and God would start revealing mysteries to them which nobody else knows. And so they basically looked down upon the church. They looked down on all the believers and said, you know, you people are not that special chosen few. You know, you do not know the things that have been revealed to us. And so they said, come join our group. Then maybe you too will have one of those experiences. And then if you do, then you will become part of the chosen ones. And so they presented themselves like as if they are elite, you know, and there is something special about them and like as if all the others are holding on to outdated knowledge. So these three kind of was making sense to these poor believers and they were getting led astray. And so John in his letter, almost everything that he writes over here, he is targeting this is trying to put a close to this kind of wrong doctrine that is going around. Just another point that we could maybe bring out from this particular, you know, verse before we move on. He says, and our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. Now, John usually both in his gospel and over here in this epistle, wherever he uses the word son for Jesus Christ, he uses one particular Greek word called weos. Okay, that would be H-U-I-O-S. Okay, so wherever he tries to use the word son for Jesus specifically, he uses the Greek word H-U-I-O-S. But on the other hand, wherever he's trying to use the word son for, you know, believers, he uses a different word, tecnon, okay, T-E-K-N-O-N. So throughout his gospel and his epistels, he talks about tecnon and he talks about weos. So wherever he's talking about weos, he's referring specifically to Jesus Christ. On the other hand, wherever he uses the term tecnon, and in some places he uses also the word paitia. Okay, so in these places he's talking. So he makes a differentiation between the son of God, the divine one, and the sons of God who are the family of the Lord. Okay, so he makes this differentiation. On the other hand, it's interesting to note that Paul makes no such differentiation. He very freely calls even the believers also weos. So I'm not particularly sure why, you know, there's this distinction. I'm assuming it's because John was worried that the people would take the word weos and again bring some new doctrine out of it saying that no, we are also divine just like him or something like that. So maybe that is why he was very, very careful even though Jesus is the son and we too are sons of God. He tries to keep the two words separate. On the other hand, Paul does not make any such distinctions and he freely uses the word weos for both the son of God and also for all of the believers. You know, Romans 8 14 would be one example. There are of course many, many places where he uses the word weos very freely. So in Romans 8 14, Paul says, for those who are led by the spirit of God are the weos of God. They are the children of God. They are the same word which is generally used for the son of God. Yeah. So the first four verses that we saw in this epistle, they are called the preface or the prologue. I mean, they are like the introduction where John has presented the word of life, the original word of life, you know, which was incarnated in Jesus and who stood among them and spoke. He says that is the true word of God. Hold on to that. Don't get led astray. So that is basically the content of your first four verses, which are your prologue. Now verse five onwards, he starts talking about, you know, people who claim that they know God. What are some of the things that you see in their lives? So if you don't see those things in their lives, then it means that they are fake Christians. Okay, so verse five up to chapter two verse two. Okay, so from one five up to two two, you could say it's talking about how you can test the people who say that they know God by testing their attitude towards sin. So in this passage, which we will be going into, one five up to two two, one way that you can test the claim that people are making that they are believers, you would need to test their attitude towards sin. So let's actually get into that. If someone could read out verses five to seven. Yes. One John chapter one verse five to seven. Yes. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from all sin. Yes. Just one thing that we can note before we get into the actual content of this passage. If you see in verse five, it says and declare to you God is light. And in verse seven, it says that God is in the light. So there are two statements, one that God is light and the other that God is in the light. So the first off course is talking about his character. God is light. There is no darkness at all in him. There's nothing dark about him. Nothing that needs to be hidden. He is completely all light. That would be his character. Now when it comes to verse seven and it says that he is in the light, it's talking more about his actions, his deeds, what he does, what he says. So over here, when it says he is in the light, it's talking more about what he does as a person, his actions and his words. So that's just the basic difference between God is light and God is in the light. Now coming to the content of this passage, which was just read out. If you notice in verse six, it says, if we claim to have fellowship with God and yet walk in the darkness, then we are lying. On the other hand, if we walk in the light, how would you complete the sentence? We are saying fellowship with God. If you walk in the darkness, you don't have fellowship with God. On the other hand, if you walk in the light, you would probably fill up the blank and say, you would have fellowship with God. But he doesn't say that. He says, we have fellowship with one another. So in verse six, it says you walk in darkness, you don't have fellowship with God. Next verse, you walk in light and we would assume that he will say, you will have fellowship with God. But he says, we will have fellowship with one another. So this is just like what I had said earlier. He's trying to bring out the fact that people who acclaim that they have fellowship with God and are refusing to fellowship with the other believers because they think they're superior to them. He says, in what sense are you true believers? Because you seem to be thinking that you can form an exclusive club and say that you people are the only chosen ones with some kind of hidden knowledge and you're refusing to fellowship with the other believers. And yet you say that you're walking in the light, that cannot be. Because a person who is walking in the light, they will have fellowship with all the believers. But you people who hold on to the false doctrine are not doing this. So very clearly he brings out the point over here that people who are claiming to have fellowship with him but are refusing to have fellowship with the other believers, it shows that they are very much walking in the darkness and not in the light. Because people who are in the light will have fellowship with one another. It kind of makes us think about our own interactions with other believers. How are our interactions with other people? Because for God that is very vital, very important. How we relate with the rest of the family of God. So if we are walking in ways that are hurting other people, that are not building up other people, then we are imitating the people who walk in darkness and that would not be something that would please the Lord. So we have to be very careful to act like people who are walking in the light and make sure that we have good fellowship with all the rest of the family of God. Even during times when we don't quite agree with them, even during times when it's difficult to show love and show kindness to someone who is not treating us very well. So we see this point coming across. So the first thing that we, the first result of walking in the light is that we will have fellowship with all the believers. The second result of walking in the light is that we will be purified from our sins by the blood of Jesus. So here the wording says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin. So wherever you have the term, the blood of Jesus purifies us. It's talking about the work which Jesus did on the cross, the entire crucifixion process that he went through as a result of which we now have cleansing because of which we now have atonement. Because it's rather harmless. In fact, wondering whether I should even touch upon this point or not. But just so that we would have more clarity in our minds about what we are doing, there are people who go around applying the blood of Jesus to everything in sight. I apply the blood of Jesus to my home. I apply the blood of Jesus to my vehicle. The blood of Jesus is not some kind of holy water or some kind of anointed liquid that you go around sprinkling about like as if you're doing some kind of a ritual. What you're actually talking about when you say the blood of Jesus, you're talking about what Jesus did on the cross and you're consciously understanding and saying, oh, because of what Jesus did on the cross, my home is safe. Because of the work of Jesus on the cross, I can take my vehicle and go out on the roads and I will not have an accident because God, I'm part of His covenant, He will watch over me. So we are consciously dwelling upon those aspects of the blood, those aspects of the work on the cross which was done and completed and being fully aware of that, we are declaring that over our lives. So just simply reducing the blood of Jesus to some kind of magical substance which you just kind of randomly keep applying to everything, that I think does not quite make sense. The people who do that have nothing bad in their hearts. They genuinely believe in the power of the work of, you know, the finished work on the cross. So I think God does not hold it against us when we do that but it helps us to know what on earth we are talking about when we say, you know, I'm applying the blood to this, I'm applying the blood to that. You're actually talking about what He has done on the cross and you're saying because of what He has done on the cross, I know that this portion of my life is secure, is under His protection. So it would help for us to have clarity on what we are saying rather than kind of doing it like an empty ritual. Yeah, because then it gains meaning and then Satan cannot take advantage of us because we can declare and say, you know what, this aspect of my life, I have brought it under the blood of Jesus. I have brought it under the divine work which He did. So because of the work which He has done, now you can't meddle and do your works in this area of my life. I cancel those works because I stand on what Jesus has done through His blood for this aspect of my life. So you know, even you do it consciously, just create a power and Satan will not be able to play with us. So rather than the innocent believer who just simply says, you know, I apply the blood to this, I apply the blood to that. So it helps us to be conscious about what we are saying and to understand what we are saying. Yeah, we have two hands being raised. Yes, we have time. Yes, we do have time. Please go ahead, yeah. Maybe we can have Charles because his name is showing first. Yeah, if you could ask your question. Or okay, he has not raised a hand. In that case, Brother Shehi, your name is next on my screen. So would you like to go ahead? Yeah. Yes, Pastor, thank you very much. Thank you for bringing this up. I think it was good you brought it up. But I'd just also like to gain clarity on what you just said about people ignorantly, and I say this with caution, ignorantly just applying the blood of Jesus to every single thing. And maybe again, it could be because this has been passed down over the years. We have seen maybe our four parents doing this and we've seen it and people just blindly and ignorantly continue. So in another light, could it be that the reason why people do it is that it's in the similitude of what the Israelites were instructed to do when Moses got the instruction from God to apply the blood of the Lamb on the lintel of their door. And by that, the angel of death will pass over. And if that's a loan from the blood of an animal could prevent the Israelites from being killed, how much more the blood of Jesus Christ? So I'm thinking in my mind, I totally agree with what you just said, but I'm thinking in my mind, could it be that that was the basis, because at the end of the day, even when we look at the Old Testament, we see that many things are pointed to Jesus Christ. The way they even place the blood on the post of the door, it kind of signifies the cross of Jesus Christ. So could it be that that was the basis for why people would always apply the blood of Jesus to every single thing, their house, their car, over their kids, over their children, just so that within the safety of the Lord, maybe, I don't know, maybe it could just give more clarity on it. Or are we just supposed to look at the blood of Jesus Christ in the sense whereby we only strictly just see it as the washing power over our sins? Or could there be more potential to the blood of Jesus Christ, but we need to do it with understanding and knowledge? Just maybe an answer for more clarity. Yeah. We have three minutes left, but then we can maybe take another extra one or two minutes. So the blood of Jesus does not symbolize only the washing and cleansing aspect, because the blood of Jesus also represents other parts of what he did on the cross. So it was not just the cleansing which he did. He also won victory for us with regard to sin. He helped us gain victory over sickness. So when we say blood of Jesus, we are not talking about just the cleansing and the purification part of the work that was done. There were other aspects of the work also which were done because of his work on the cross. Now I can have victory over sin. I don't need to always live as a slave to sin. I can have a victorious life because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. I can claim healing for myself and for my family members. So fully knowing all the things that the blood of Jesus has accomplished on the cross for me, the entire full list of all that he has achieved for me, the covenant promises which are all mine now because he shed his blood. He won those things for us. Earlier only Abraham and his descendants had a right to those things. But now I have a right to all and access to all of those things because of the work which was done on the cross. And Paul says all the spiritual riches in heaven are now ours. So that is also because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. So maybe you could actually write down an entire list of all the things which are now ours because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. So the blood of Christ represents all of those things. And so we want to apply all of those things to our family members. We want to apply it to our home and our possessions so that none of them fall into danger. In the Old Testament, they actually used the physical blood of an animal and it was symbolic. They would apply it to the dope post on at least on that particular occasion. They were allowed to apply it to the dope post and the angel of death passed over. But after that, the blood was never allowed to be used as some kind of talisman to keep away harm and danger. They were never encouraged to use it in that manner afterwards. It was only ever used by the priest in a symbolic sense where he would sprinkle it as symbolism of cleansing and purification. But they were never allowed to go around because especially back then in those times when you had all these pagan rituals going around Yahweh would have been very careful not to encourage his people to start using animal blood as some kind of thing which holds divine properties and to go around sprinkling it all over the place. So even then it was something which only the priests would ever do and they would sprinkle it once in a year inside the holy of holies to symbolize the atonement work. And also they would sprinkle it on the other objects which are there in the holy place and all of that. So it was more to do with sanctification and not to guard you from any danger. So coming to what we actually do in our homes and our families it's like people who I know many people personally who keep a Bible under their pillow when they sleep because the idea is that if you have a Bible under your pillow you will get good dreams and you will get good rest. Now Satan knows that that book under your bed is not really going to make much of a difference but if that kind of helps you and God still sees that you know that that is your level of growth in spiritual knowledge at that level he may actually you know support you in that and actually help you to get good dreams and get good rest because you're still learning these things and you're still growing and the Lord is already my child is trusting me in his own way he's put that Bible over there because he believes that if he puts that Bible over there you know I'm going to protect him. So but then at some point of time we'll have to outgrow those childish things and we would have to understand what we are doing. So when we go around saying I'm applying the blood to my children applying the blood to my home if we are still at that young level we are still learning the truths that's totally fine I'm assuming because God would say yeah you know these people are trusting in me but on the other hand Satan can still you know meddle with our home and meddle with our you know the lives of our children and create damage however if we are aware of all that the blood stands for and say this is the finished work of the cross on the cross for my children and so you know Satan you have no right to harm my children and you declare it knowing fully what you are saying now that Satan cannot fight against so innocent you know rituals I think God is okay with it and he even backs you up to an extent but doing it fully knowing and doing it like a mature adult and declaring that would be actual spiritual warfare because you know by the testimony you know and by the blood that is what it's talking about when it talks about how they won their victory by the testimony of the words they speak out the declaration they make regarding the finished work and the actual work of the cross which is backing it up backing up those words that is how victory is won so it would always help for us to have to consciously do it rather than you know just doing it more like a innocent ritual ice yeah yes does that help thank you thank you pastor I had another question though maybe we after the break so now it's 54 so in that case shall we get back at 10 4 alright so 10 4 we will resume our class 10 4 alright thank you