 OK, welcome back. So let's get into chapter 10. Before we do that, any questions, any other thoughts anyone would like to share? Any questions? Shall we move ahead? I hope everyone are on the same page following along. Just feel free to stop me at any time if you have questions. Feel free to ask those questions at any time. So shall we move on to chapter 10? Yes? OK. All right, so let me just. OK, so chapter 10, here the apostle points out to the Hebrews some of the lessons or some of the mistakes they made in their previous past. He goes a little bit back, and he warns the people of Israel from history saying, these are the things that you did, and this is what the outcome of these situations were. And so we can divide this chapter into four, which is here. First one, lessons from Israel's history. He talks about the cup and the bread. Again, he touches the matter of idols and sacrifices and food sacrifice to idols. So let's pick up from verse one. Lessons from Israel's history. So verse one onwards, moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea. When he's talking about fathers, he's talking about the Hebrews who were coming out of Egypt during the Exodus. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now, these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted and do not become idolatrous as some of them were as it was written. The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Not let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did and in one day, 23,000 fell. Nor let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and they were destroyed by serpents. Nor complain as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now, all these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with a temptation will also make the way for escape that you may be able to bear it. Therefore my beloved flee from idolatry. Now, the apostle Paul is bringing out, he's going back into history and he's looking at how the Hebrews came out of Egypt. They came out of Egypt with joy. They were singing songs of deliverance to God. God brought us out with his mighty hand. Now, as they came out of Egypt, suddenly that joy was replaced with something else. Oh, I wish I was in Egypt itself. There was good food to eat. There was wine to drink. There were nice shelter for us to stay. Why Moses, why did you bring us out here? Now that you brought us out here, we are struggling. What happened? Those challenges, those difficult seasons, right? Took them away from God. Their mindset changed. And instead of looking at how they were in bondage for 400 odd years and God brought them out with his mighty hand, they looked at their current challenges and they went against God, right? As they journeyed, they saw a wonderful experience. Imagine the pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. Can you picture this? Imagine a pillar of fire just going past everywhere in that desert, just fire, just moving past. They've seen these things. They've seen the seas. The Red Sea has parted into two and they're walking on dry land. They're seeing every day manna falling from heaven. All they have to do is go take it and eat it. And then there's water from this rock, sweet, tasty water. Which they all they have to do is take and drink of it. They've saw the miracles. They saw the hand of God. Now all of them saw the miracles. Yet the same people, Paul is pointing out and he's saying the same people disobeyed and lived, went back to idolatry, went back to sexual immorality. So you look at the time at Horeb in Mount Sinai. It was one year, one month and five days. So from Horeb, they had a 11 day journey to Kardesh. So it was right from the east of the River Jordan and they sent 12 spies in all of this. What was 11 days? They were wandering around that Mount Seer for 38 years. Okay, a journey which was 11 days took 38 years. And Deuteronomy, I love how God says that, right? We have gone around this mountain for long enough. Now go the other way, go northward. But the Hebrews, the Israelites thought they're making ground. Oh, they're making ground to where we have to go. No, they were only going in circles. Now Paul is saying, these have become examples. Why? Because they began to live in sin. They made an idol. They began to worship that idol. Why? Because Moses has gone up, right? Why did they do it? And here Paul is pointing out some of the mistakes they made, lust for evil things. They were so used to the enjoyment in Egypt. They enjoyed meat, they enjoyed the food. Now there's nothing wrong in enjoying food. It's good. But when that enjoyment takes precedence over the will of God, over God's plan, what may be acceptable in one season may not be appropriate for another season, right? Now for so many years, they enjoyed the meat in Egypt. They're coming out, God brought them out of bondage. They can go and live their life and freedom, work in their own fields and earn and eat. But they're looking back at Egypt and saying, hey, we had meat over there. But the season God was taking them through was a season of mana, quail and mana. It was simple food, not very tasty as meat. But God knew that is enough for you in this season because when you get into your promised land, I will give you the best of the best. But he was testing them, right? All they had to do was say, okay, anyways, another 11 days or 15 days, we can manage this for 15 days. It's okay, God, thank you for what you're giving. But no, there was lust for evil things. They desired more, right? I would say it became more of a gluttony. Gluttony is a sin where we only think about eating, right? Now, it became an evil thing in the eyes of God. God provided, right? It's not like they were starving. All they had to do is go and on the sixth day, just collect more for the seventh day so that they don't work on the seventh day. Simple, right? Make what you have to make, eat and move on. They all were in good health after eating that. None of them were sick among them. Their slippers were not torn off. So yet with all this, they had the lust for evil things. Two, idolatry. Anything that replaces God in our life is an idol, right? And so in this case, Paul is pointing out that there was sexual immorality. One, there was really an idol that you all made and you all began to worship that idol. And I was really upset and you saw what I did there. And three, you're talking about food. The food is not good. You know, why have you brought us out here? So anything that takes priority over God in our life becomes an idol. So in moments or seasons of silence or inactivity, when God is not saying or doing anything, we may tend to make up our own things for ourselves. Right? So it's important to stay with the last instruction. What did Moses say? Moses said, stay down, pray and be down. I will go up. I will go to the mountain. I will meet with the Lord and I'll come back with further instructions. What did they do? Oh, nothing is happening. God is not saying anything one day over, two days over. God is not saying anything. They said, OK, since God is not saying anything, we will do something. We'll take all the gold. Everyone put your gold, silver, everything. We'll burn it. We'll make it into a nice idol. And then we can ask the idol to tell us what to do. Why? Because God was silent. Before that, God was speaking, meaning they were seeing the miracles, so they didn't want anything. So this is a very important lesson for us. All the Hebrews, all that they had to do was say, hey, Moses said, be here and pray and seek God. And Moses said that we should not go into idol worship. God brought us out. And there was a group of people among them who God saved. But majority of them lost their lives that day. Stay with the last instruction. Avoid things that can become an idol in our life. Three, sexual immorality, impurity as well. Now we look at that whole chapter of sexual immorality. Paul began to discipline the believers in the church and call them saying, it may be OK for others, but as a child of God, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. How can I defile my body with a prostitute or with the things of the devil? So Paul is saying, we must consecrate our sexual appetites. It must be consecrated to God. 1 Corinthians 9, 27 says, I must discipline my body and bring it under subjection. And we looked at that verse, right? Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. And we see here, the Hebrews did exactly the opposite. They knew that it is wrong in the eyes of God. They came to a point where own brothers and sisters were involved in sexual immorality or sexual impurity during that time. It was detestable in the eyes of God. So that's why God brought down that judgment. 4, tempting Christ, it says, right? Now they tempted the Lord saying, is the Lord among us or not? Right? Now the amplified version says, testing his patience, question his purpose or exploit his goodness. It's not like they are like how the enemy tempts us. It's not that. They were testing his patience. So here Paul is saying, are we trying to test the patience of Christ also by involving in all of these things, sexual immorality, idolatry, lust for evil things? Are we tempting Christ? Because they did that and our ancestors did that to God. They tested God. God is saying, sometimes when we read the Old Testament we look at it and we say, God is always angry. He's always bringing judgment. But no, it is just God's goodness all over. God was so merciful. How long would it take for God to just wipe out the nation of Israel? But he was true to his promise. What he promised Abraham, he said, I will make you a nation. You will be great. You will be like the stars in the sky because of that covenant. He kept going for it. Why did God send prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet? Just so that they turn from their ways. It was God's mercy there. But everywhere it's God's mercy. But mercy and judgment go together. But mercy triumphs over judgment. There had to be, sometimes they say, the question that always comes to me is God is love. So how can a loving God do this? It does not make sense to ask a question like that. Why? Because if God is love, he has to hate something. We love something. For example, if we love the summer weather, most probably we don't like or we hate the winters. Or for example, we love to play indoor games. Maybe we don't like or we hate to go on outdoor games. It's simple. You love something, you hate something else. God says, I despise what you do. So God is love. He loves us, but he despises the things that the people of Israel were doing. It was too much. He is a righteous God. He had to deal with it. Imagine, they were living in such a sin and they were not, you know, they were not thankful to God. They were not, they came a time when they said, take us back to Egypt. We want to go back. You know, at least there we lived better. This is not good. They tried to kill Moses. This is all testing his goodness. We must be careful that we do not question God in a manner that challenges to prove himself. We don't have to, you know, God is very secure in himself and he does not have to prove himself to anyone. So for example, you're praying for somebody and you know, you're praying for somebody maybe for healing and you pray. Yes, we pray and if they receive healing, praise God. But what if they don't receive healing? The person can say, hey, your God is not true. Now, just because he does not receive healing does not mean that God is not the healer. He's secure in himself. He knows, he knows who he is. He knows how to deal with that situation. So here's the best part of ministry. We have a freedom while we minister. It's not our reputation and stake. It's God's reputation. Right? Now, we must believe his promise and not question his promise. The people of Israel, you know, you read the whole of Exodus, there's so many lessons for us to learn. They were murmuring, they were grumbling, complaining, what took 11 days? They, if, you know, if you picture it, I feel that 11 days would have gone by really quick. They would have gone to the promised land. God would have, what happened 38 years later, God would have just done it in 12, 11, maybe 15 days, keep a few additional days for them to settle down. 15 days, doesn't that sound so simple? Walk into the promised land, get your land, build, have your own places, eat your own fruit, the labor of your own hands. Then you eat, no, meat, vegetable, vegetables, whatever you want to eat, eat. But in that season, God was taking them through a season. 15 days, not a big deal. But they began to question God. So this is very important, very important, right? Especially when things are not going right in our life. We're saying, God, you're not saying anything. Things are going so bad. Why are you, what are you doing? Why are you not able to do this? Stick with God's promises. Those promises never changes, right? They are true, right? He may not be speaking, sometimes he may just be quiet, just watching. It's not that he's looking to see, let me see what they'll do, no. There's a reason, he's secure in himself. He doesn't have to prove himself. God knows what he's doing. So we must believe in that promise, not question him. So maybe some of us, maybe going through that season of quietness, God, why aren't you speaking to me? Why aren't you telling me what should I do? It's a difficult season, but stick to the promise. I don't question that promise, right? And I believe that if the Jews, the Hebrews, it just said, okay, it's okay, 15 days, everything would have just gone on smoothly. But there's so much that happened after that, right? Fifth one, complaining and murmuring. So Paul is saying, complaining of very small things, especially complaining during difficult times, right? We lose on God's purposes. We say, God, why is this happening? Things are getting, things will be unsettling at times, when you transition, turning from a place where you're comfortable to a place that is maybe God is taking you somewhere else, right? It's unsettling. Hebrews who are coming out of Egypt, they were there for years. They were probably used to the lifestyle, used to the food, used to the culture, everything, they were used to it. Now all of a sudden, they're in the desert. Now in the desert, it's unsettling. What about the food? What about the house? What about the tent? What about, you know, we had nice water, the river Nile was there, there was cool breeze here and the desert is only hot and dusty and, you know, murmuring, complaining. These five sins kept the people in the wilderness and away from the Promised Land. And God said, because of this, you will not see, but the following generation will see the Promised Land. Now the sad thing is, when the following generation came, they had no idea what has happened, right? That's why the Book of Deuteronomy, the word Deuto means second time. So Moses had to write again, okay, this is what happened. This is, so if you read the whole of Deuteronomy, it's all reminders of what God did. So these five sins, lust for evil things, idolatry, sexual impurity, tempting Christ, meaning testing God's patience and goodness and five complaining and murmuring, right? So these are things that kept them away from the Promised Land for a long time. Verse 12 through 14, verse 12, let's look at verse 12. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he falls, right? We should be careful that none of us fall into these sins. We should guard our hearts, walk humbly, be watchful, don't let pride come into our heart, right? Especially in times when things are going really well, you know, maybe in our workplace, in the ministry, things are going well, you're getting recognized. It's very easy for pride to come into our heart. And so we must be careful, right? We must avoid that, right? Verse 13, no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not love you to be tempted beyond what you are able, right? The word temptation, Greek is Parisamos, which refers to testing, trial, experiment or proving, adversity, afflictions, troubles. Now, there's a way of escape, which means you and I can exit out of something, right? God has an exit for us, a way of escape, and we must run through that exit. If we want to overcome temptation, do not linger about saying, I know where the door is, but then let's see what happens. We have to resist temptation and, you know, not yield to it. If you've seen the way temptation works, it goes through a certain process. One, the thought comes. Two, we are enticed. Three, we give in, right? But when faced with temptation, run through the exit or resist to the end, don't give in. Now, here's the thing, none of us can say we are not going to be tempted. That would be foolishness, right? All of us, whether we are pastors, whether we are prophets, whether we are in ministry for one year or for 20 years, 30 years in ministry, maybe we know the whole of the Bible, or Old Testament, New Testament, we have Bible teaching, whatever we are, we will face temptation. Because the devil is not going to sit back and just say, okay, this person is like the snore. Was Jesus tempted? Yes, Apostle Paul? Definitely, yes. But they ran. And you say run doesn't mean they literally run in the spirituality exited out of that situation. Look at Jesus, he led with a beautiful example, right? He says, all three temptations, he says, it is written, it is written, it is written. That's why in the book of Revelations, it says, we overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. So God has given us an exit. For example, if we begin, sometimes we may wake up and we say, oh, what a terrible day I'm having. Everything's so wrong, everything's happening back. Oh, why is it happening? Now you know it's the enemy trying to just bring that feeling of negativity or hatred or irritatedness. Now we need to exit out of that. It'll come, but we need to exit out. You say, God, this is the day the Lord has made. Things may not look as good as it is, or the way I wanted it, but I will rejoice and be glad in this day. Thank you for the gift of life over. You're exited out because you've already thanked God for something that is not going on right in your life. The devil is not going to, he's not going to, he can't do anything about it, right? So run from temptation or don't yield to it till the end, right? Run from idolatry, run from sexual immorality, run from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of God, run from it. And when you run from it, God has given us that escape route and always go to God. Now he's not going to let us be tempted more than we can take, right? Meaning, he knows. He knows how to help us overcome. The Holy Spirit inside us will give us the authority, will give us the boldness, the strength to overcome it. He knows. So we may have temptation after temptation after temptation, but the Holy Spirit inside us is willing to help us fight that temptation. So it's a fight that we must fight, we must run, right? Then he goes on, verse 15 onwards. I speak as to wise men, judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessings which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break, it is, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we though many are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread, observe Israel after the flesh, are not those who eat the sacrifices, partakers of the altar. Now, Paul recognizes that he's speaking to the wise, meaning he's speaking to those who are in the church and Corinth is in Greece, it's an intellectual capital, and he's inviting them to think now. If you partake in the Lord's table, you're sitting in Corinth and I am sitting here in Ephesus. If you are partaking of the bread and I'm partaking of the bread, we are partaking of the same body. Physically we are in different places. If you are partaking of the blood and I'm partaking of the blood, we are one body. Again, physically we are elsewhere, we're in different places, right? What does it mean? The word refers to coenonia, which means fellowship. We are partaking together, we may be in different cities, different towns, different countries, but we are partaking of that same communion, right? And we're partaking in that one body, the body of Christ, right? So the cup of blessing, this cup that we drink is intended to administer blessings into our lives, right? Which means when we have it, when we drink of it, it's a blessing to our body. We are allowing the power of God's resurrection to come and work in our body. And when we partake of the blood of Christ, we receive the benefits of the blood of Jesus. What is it? There's remission of sins, there's cleansing of sins, there's forgiveness, there's power in the blood of Jesus, there's healing in the blood of Jesus. So when we're partaking, we're opening our lives to the power of the cross. So all of us are partaking in that one body spiritually. So Paul is pointing out to the fact that in the Old Testament, the people of Israel was expressed through the eating of the sacrifices made at the altar, right? So he's telling the Hebrews now, when you do a sacrifice and when you eat of that sacrifice, it's also meant you're becoming part of that sacrifice. You're in fellowship with that sacrifice. So whatever happened in that altar, the worship of God and God's blessing on that becomes part of our life as well. God releases it to us as people, right? So the important truth here is sharing in the benefits of the cross, the communion, many become one. So when we look at food, he's talking about the cup of blessing, which is the communion, and then he goes into how, eating of idols and sacrifice, eating of the food, sacrifice to idols, why is it wrong? Because he's bringing it into context here. He's saying, when we do this, we're partaking in the blessings of God. And then verse 19 onwards, he talks about the idols and the sacrifices. So he's saying, yeah, what am I saying then that an idol is anything or what is offered is anything? Rather that the things which the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed the demons and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. Remember the previous verse, what was he saying? He's saying, see, I don't want you to eat if your brother, your sister, and Christ is being offended or his questions is faith. So just for that sake, I will not have it, right? Now he's bringing out another reason here. Is he contradicting that? No, he's just bringing out another reason why he would not eat, right? If I am partaking in the sacrifice of my God and God is pouring out his blessings through that sacrifice into my life, how can I partake in the sacrifice of demons? And because if I do that, I'm fellowshiping with the demons. So here he's saying now, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the demons. You cannot partake in the Lord's table and the table of the demons, right? So it's very interesting here, right? The sacrifices offered are actually offered to the spirits behind the idols, to the spirits, the demonic spirits working behind them. The idol is nothing. He's saying that, right? The idol is nothing, but there are demonic spirits working behind the idol. And if I offer a sacrifice to this idol, the demonic spirits behind that, it's like I'm partaking with the demonic spirits. How can I partake with God and partake with the demonic spirits? There cannot be an association of the two together, right? It's because there's a spirit working behind it. So a believer partaking in the Lord's table is fellowshiping with the Lord. And if the believer partakes of sacrifices made to idols, they are fellowshiping with demon spirits. We cannot mix true worship with idol worship. Now, why is he saying this? Remember, you see, the Apostle Paul is a brilliant writer, right? Before explaining something, he's trying to bring context. These are the sins that the Hebrews made when they came out of Egypt. These are the challenges they faced. That's why what was 11 days ended up 38 years. And now let me tell you what, this is what it is. When you are partaking in the Lord's table, when you are eating in the body, in the blood of Christ, we are one body. Doesn't matter where we are, what we are doing, we're one body. Same way, if you partake in the Lord's table, that's good. You're partaking in fellowshiping with God. But if you partake with the demons, with the idols, you're partaking with the demons working behind that idol. And you can't mix both of them together. Now, the Hebrews did that. They are partaking in the sacrifices to God. And then they are partaking in the sacrifices made to idols. And the same thing is being repeated in the church in Corinth. This provokes the Lord's jealous love and care for his people. And we are not more powerful than him. We are not to provoke the Lord. You know what is provoking? I'm sure, for example, there's a boy who is... I'm just giving this example. There's a boy who's maybe 10 years old. And for example, he knows how to ride the cycle very well. And there's a boy who's four years old. He's learning how to ride the cycle. Now, there are two things that can happen. That boy who's 10 years old can say, hey, why don't you pedal slowly and then slowly put your legs up? Or why don't you... He'll give him some ideas. That is to help the person, help the other child. Then you have some people who will provoke. Go, go, nothing will happen. You'll fall. It's okay. You fall. Hey, be careful. Just provoking the child, putting fear into that person, or making that person uncomfortable. We are not called to provoke God. When we know something is wrong, stay away from it. Now, here Paul is saying, you know you're partaking in the Lord's table. Why do you want to partake in the other food that is sacrificed to idols? You're partaking of it. Now, what is happening? One is the believer who's just new in the Lord. They have questions and he may falter. Two, you're fellowshiping with idols behind the idol that's working, the demon that's working behind the idol. And so let's see what he sums up there later on. Food offered to idols, verse 25. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscious sake. For the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner and you desire to go, eat whatever is said before you, asking no questions for conscious sake. But if anyone says to you, this is offered to idols, not eat it for the sake of the one who told you and for your, for conscious sake. For the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience? But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whether you do do all for the glory of God, give no offense either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God. Just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved. I like this verse in verse 31, right? He sums it up. He says, therefore whether you eat or whether you drink, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. So if I eat of the food, sacrifice to idols, is it going to glorify God? Is God going to be pleased with it? Definitely not. So why would, for my conscious sake, why would I do something when I know that God is not gonna be pleased with it? So I will turn away from it, right? And it says here, the earth is the Lord and all its fullness, okay? I think we've got a question. Yes, Mangi, go ahead. Thank you, Pasha. On that question of for the profit to idols. For example, the blue culture is here, when an elder dies, they kill this lot that goes, sacrifice and then the whole family has to eat. They have to make a meal afterwards. And it is normal. It's not to be normal people, it is normal. And for example, if a believer eats that food, for example, visiting a friend or family and they slaughter cow, they do their offering and they just make a meal for everyone to eat afterwards, is that same because no one will be offended if I'm a believer and I'm eating that food, no one will be offended for their eating. So is that burden should we eat it? Okay, thank you, thank you, Mangi. So Mangi's question was, for example, he's at somebody's house, they offer a lamb and they, it's offered to an idol and they cut it as a believer, for others, it's not a problem. So Mangi's question is, as a believer, there are no other believers around me. So is it okay if I can eat it? Because I'm not going to offend anybody who's around me. There are no believers and all that. So Mangi, Paul, the apostle gives two reasons why we must not have it. The first reason was so that I don't offend or bring another believer down just because of what I eat or drink. Now the second reason, he defends the first one by saying that, the second reason is if I am a believer, I'm partaking in the Lord's table, right? So I'm fellowshiping with him, I'm one body with him. So if I know this other food has been sacrificed or prayed over to an idol and I eat it, we know the idol is nothing, but there are demons working behind that idol. And if I eat it, just as how I partake in the Lord's table, I'm fellowshiping with the Lord Jesus. I recognize this death, his burial is resurrection. If I eat the food sacrificed to idol, I will be fellowshiping with the demon that's working behind that idol. So for my conscience's sake, I will not provoke the Lord by eating it, right? So Maggie, my answer would be, if I know, okay, so if I know that this is food sacrificed to idols, I would not eat it. But it may be a family gathering and all of that. I would say it's difficult, right? I understand where you're coming from. Everyone are eating and they would ask you, why aren't you eating? You can just tell them that sometimes in the DNAs that we're living in now, you can just say, hey, no, I'm not feeling hungry. I can, I'll probably eat. Or they may force you, so being family, you must eat. Then you can tell them, see, I prefer not to eat because I have my own reasons as a believer in Christ. I believe that what I eat should glorify God, what goes into my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, as I know that God is in me. So what I eat and what I speak, it should glorify God. So if I do this, I'm not glorifying God because I'm partaking in what has been happened before. Now, the way we put it across should be, we should be very careful, Maggie, because we can't say this is food sacrificed to idol. It's a demon behind it. We can't speak that way, right? We be very sensitive, we say. So I prefer not to have it, right? Now, especially when it's a family setting and you're the only believer, it's difficult. But again, it stands as a testimony. If you continue to say, no, I prefer to honor God in my body, it stands as a testimony. So, Maggie, Apostle Paul gives two reasons. One is for the fellow believer. And when there is no fellow believer around, I don't want to partake in the Lord's table being fellowship to fellowship with God and also partake in food sacrifice to idols because I will be fellowshiping with the demons. That does not mean that immediately some curse will come upon me, right? That's why he says, don't test God. God is good. God loves us. God cares for us. But just because he's love, he cares for us. He protects us. We call him, don't test him. Don't provoke him. When we know it's not right, just avoid it, right? We don't have to see, let me eat. Let's see what God can, let's see if anything will happen to me. I don't think anything will happen to me. We don't have to do all that, right? So to answer your question, Manki, I would somehow avoid it, right? They may have a lot of questions. They may rebuke us. But when you stand, it could turn out to be a testimony. I hope that answers, Manki. Thank you, thank you for that. If I may ask one more question. Yes, go ahead, go ahead. In the world, there are so many festivals. Like, for example, in India, I think it's called Diwali or something. The Kala Festival. Yes, yes. The Kala Festival has something that has become popular even here. Every thousands of people, not Indians and non-Indians, they flock the road. Christians celebrate it. Is this a good for believers to celebrate such festivals? Yeah, so Manki, the answer would be no. It's not good for us to celebrate that because we're celebrating what the idol is doing, right? What the demon is doing behind the idol. So basically, we are honoring a demon. Like, we know that, that's why Paul, he brings it very clearly. He says the idol is nothing, but there are demons working behind that idol. So if I celebrate a festival that is honoring a demon, then I'm glorifying a demon. So as believers, we must not. We must not. We must not celebrate it, right? So we can just avoid it. It's not, again, we are not provoking, we don't want to provoke God. We don't want to provoke the Lord Jesus. So we know it's wrong, just avoid it. Now, the thing is, sometimes, people who are not yet strong in the Lord, they don't understand things. They go ahead and it happens everywhere, Manki, even in India and different nations. They just do it just because everyone are doing it, but they don't understand the repercussions that can happen. They don't understand that they're opening their doors, so they're opening their life for the demonic, for demons and the demonic work to work in their lives. It could be strongholds. It could be negative thoughts. It could be temptations, anything, right? So it's like we're opening the door. We don't want to do that, right? So we don't want to open the doors for the enemy to come and bring things in our life. So, yes, Manki, as a believer, I would say don't involve in it. Just let it go, like people will be there. Believers are doing it. Maybe you can tell them what you're doing is wrong because this is what the Bible says, but you don't have to, it'd be wise to not involve and celebrate that, right? So, okay, yes, Sri Kumar, go ahead. Thank you, Pastor. I have two questions. Yes. One question has you, now you were suggested like you should not celebrate the festivals which Gentiles are celebrating. Now my question is this, that we know that the Christmas and the Easter is not from the Bible and it is actually a demonic culture which came out and now the Christians are celebrating. So, it is nothing connected with Jesus or nothing connected with God. And then why we are celebrating because that is, if we are doing that, we are actually glorifying the demons. So, it's my question is that, is it to, then we should not celebrate the Christmas and the Easter because it's directly connected with it. Thank you. Okay, that's a good, very good question, Sri Kumar. Now, I'll just quickly answer and then we can probably take up some more time next class and just remember this question, Sri Kumar. You can write it down. So, if I'm not able to answer both, we can, yeah. So, you're right. So, the Christmas was just a day. Now, if you look at the Gregorian calendar, right? It is definite that Jesus was not born in December, right? History says that he was born somewhere around March, April, somewhere around that time, probably. Now, it is a day to recognize the birth of the Lord Jesus, right? Now, when we are celebrating, we are celebrating his birth, right? We are celebrating the birth of a Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's not that we are celebrating, or we are not worshiping an idol or anything on that day, right? There's no idol worship. We are remembering a person who was born, the Lord Jesus Christ, right? As a Messiah, he was born. God came into this world. We are remembering the person. There is no idol worship there. There are no demonic spirits on because when we are remembering the Lord Jesus, there's no demonic work happening there, right? Now, Ishtar, which is Easter, yes. It is a day, you know, I forget what it is, but Ishtar, I think is the idol of, I forget that what her thing was, and then eventually it became Easter. Now, this is a good question, Sri Kumar, but I would say, does that glorify God? Now, yes, it is over time, changed from Ishtar to a day Easter where we think about the Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection, and these changes came over time. But what I would say is, as long as we are not glorifying a demon working behind it, right? Now, when we are remembering the birth and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus on Easter, there's no demonic work happening behind it. The roots may be demonic, right? They, you know, the previously, but we are not thinking of that. We are thinking of, I hope I'm trying to get this into as short as possible, but we can discuss more on this. And so we are remembering the Lord Jesus, right? We are partaking in the Lord's table. So there's no demonic work as such happening there, right? So it nullifies what has happened in the past because we are looking at the Lord Jesus and he's greater than any, the idol is nothing, again, right? So, Sri Kumar, I think we can discuss more on this. I know that you may have a lot of questions, but you may have to go to your next class. So we'll close. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you, everyone, and have a great week ahead. I'll see you next week, right? God bless you all.