 Okay, okay, so work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts, part two, right? So let's continue. I hope you have your Bibles open. So we're going to look at, we've been studying through the book of Acts and the work of the Holy Spirit because we want to see what the Holy Spirit did through the lives of ordinary people. Okay, in all that we've seen now, we see that these are ordinary people, just like you and I. Okay, people with faults, people with limitations, people with serious problems. If you look at Peter the way, you know, he denounced, denied the Lord, but the Lord restored him, the Lord filled him with the Holy Spirit and we see, you know, what he could do. And we see, you know, all these people who are really ordinary people, who are actually abandoned the Lord at one point, right? But the Lord restored them, Lord filled them. And so when we look at ourselves, right, and we look at our own lives, okay, so this is what we can conclude that the Lord, the Holy Spirit, can do amazing things, can really rewrite the script of our lives, right? Completely rewrite it or give us a fresh start, right? And set us on the course of a life that's exciting, challenging, no doubt, at the same time fulfilling, right? Because, you know, when we walk in his plan and purpose, it's a fulfilling life. And it need not be, you know, quote unquote, full-time ministry. It can be full-time ministry, but whatever we are doing, in whatever, you know, sphere, God places us, whatever environment God places us, you know, to be led by the Spirit, to actively seek Him, seeking to please Him, seeking to receive instructions from Him, that's a great life. Okay, so we are studying through this and then we are, you know, learning all these things, right? Okay, so we looked at chapter 7, verses 51, verses 55, right? Okay, so let's move on to chapter 8 and verse 10. Okay, chapter 8, verse 10. So chapter 8, another ordinary man, Philip, he goes to Samaria and it's amazing to see in what circumstances he goes to Samaria. Anybody, why does he go to Samaria? Does anyone know? Philip goes to Samaria, he, does he get invited for a meeting in Samaria, invited by some church? Why do you think he goes there? Okay, just read chapter 8. Why do you think he goes to Samaria in the first place? See, in Samaria, amazing things happen. Okay, there's a great revival, people are set free, people hear the gospel, many turn to Christ. But why does Philip go in the first place? Yeah, Philip was actually running for his life, right? Because there was persecution. Chapter 8 verse 1. And who was doing the persecution? Who was the chief architect? You know, who was driving this persecution campaign? Saul, right? He's just planning things, okay, you go there, you go here, persecute, put people in prison, we'll call them out. He's, you know, he's just driving this whole thing. There's great persecution. And because of which, there was people who scattered, right? And one of them who ran to Samaria was Philip. But the amazing thing is that Philip goes there, he's running for his life. And we read about, we read this in verse 4. Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. You know, I find that very challenging, inspiring, motivating, right? It was not in the best of circumstances. Just imagine you're being persecuted, which means that you pick whatever you can and you're running for your life, right? Maybe you're living out of one bag, maybe even not that. You don't know where your next meal will come. Maybe you know some people, they say, hey, can I stay? It's all very uncomfortable situation, right? And it says that they went, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. And I believe it's because of their connect, of their fellowship with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. It's only because of that. Otherwise, why would they do it? Because the Lord said, you know, the Holy Spirit fills you and you will be witnesses with power. And this is one way in which they witnessed, which is amazing. Like no comfort, you know, fearing for their lives, but they went and preached the gospel. So anyway, Philip was one such person, right? That is what we see. He went and he preached and amazing things happened. It says in verse 7, for unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed and there was great joy in that city. You see, wickedness and the work of Satan is removed. People who were in bondage now are free and there was great joy. We see that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And the Kingdom of God, we see is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So they experienced that first hand. They were set free. There's a king, they experienced the rule and reign of the king and there was joy in the city. They experienced great joy. And it says here that there was a man named Simon who was a practicing in black magic and all those things. He was a sorcerer and he was also, he also believed and he was baptized and he continued with, Philip verse 13 says, and he was amazed seeing what was happening, all the wonders and all the miracles he was one. He was amazed. Then we see that the Apostles come there, that is Peter and John come there and when they had come down, I'm reading verse 15, who when they had come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. So the Apostles knew now, there's something that we have received. How did that happen? We were in the upper room, we were praying, we were in one accord, something supernatural happened, God filled us. And Peter knows, I was there surrounded by these people. They were asking me shooting questions at me. I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I prayed, I spoke to them with boldness. And he also remembers, you know, we went to this place after people told us not to preach the gospel. We were there in the room. All of us were praying with one accord. The room was shaken, the place was shaken and we were filled with the Holy Spirit and we went out and preached the word with boldness. So he remembers all that. So he knows that, hey, you're a believer, you need the Holy Spirit. So Peter and John come there and this is what they do. The first thing they do is that they come down. They prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. There was already great joy in that place. They were already experiencing deliverance and freedom and everything. It says that, you know, so the church was born, multitudes with one accord, heated the things spoken by Philip was success. Multitudes with one accord, heated the things. They listened, their hearts were open. So they already received Christ and then here we see that they prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet, he had fallen upon none of them. They had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Verse 17, then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money saying, give me this power also that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to them, said to him, your money perished with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. Okay, so we see something here, something tangible, something amazing happened because they laid hands and prayed and people were filled with the Holy Spirit. So it doesn't say whether they spoke in tongues, it doesn't say whether they prophesied, but something tangible, something supernatural happened. So much so that this sorcerer who was used to all this black magic arts, he saw this and he said, hey, I want that, that he had believed. But he said, no, I want this. So that when I lay hands on people, I want them to experience the same thing. So good, I mean, it's a good thing, but wrong motive. Because he was a black, I mean, he was a sorcerer and he used to do this. People used to say, oh, this is a great power of God whenever he did these things. But so that's what they said, no, in verse 10, this man is the great power of God. And the least to the greatest, this is what they said. So he wanted the same thing. Now suddenly he's saying, people are set free and that power is not there anymore in his life. People are praising Jesus and maybe he felt that, hey, I need to get some of that reputation back. I need to get some of that fame back. So he says, give me this, I'll give you money, you give me this so that when I lay hands on people, they will also receive the Holy Spirit and Peter rebukes him. So we see that something tangible happens. So many things that we can learn. First of all, we see that for a believer, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is something important, is something foundational, something basic. There's no need for us to shy away from it, no matter what background people come from. Maybe as a person who's ministering, this is something which is natural. You share the gospel. Yeah, our people, believers, they put their trust in Jesus. Yeah, just pray for them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Something very basic, something very foundational. That is what we see in the New Testament Church. And we see that something tangible happens every time. We can expect that something tangible happens. We can expect something supernatural when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Okay, there's a question here. Holy Spirit is with every believer. Then why does it say in Acts 16 that the Holy Spirit had not yet come down? Okay, so that's, yeah, Krisha, so I see a question. So the thing is this, we see that there is two things we see. Now, the believers, as believers when we receive Jesus, we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, no doubt about it. But the Holy Spirit comes upon us in a way that is different. So that is why he says here, the Holy Spirit had not come upon them. It was 16 you are referring to. For as yet he had fallen upon none of them. So they had only been baptized in the name of them. So he doesn't say that they did not have the presence, but it says he had not fallen upon them. So there's a difference between Holy Spirit in me and the Holy Spirit upon me. So it doesn't negate the fact that the Holy Spirit's presence was not there, but the fact is that they had not experienced the truth or had the encounter of the Holy Spirit upon them. Many examples. So we see that how did they become believers? It's only because they were convicted by the Holy Spirit. And also in the book of Acts, we see that they were all praying, they had all become followers of the Lord Jesus, but they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And in fact, the Lord Jesus told the disciples specifically, these people who were following him to whom he said, he breathed upon them and he said, receive the Holy Spirit, we saw that scripture also. And to them he said, you wait. So there is a difference between the Holy Spirit in dwelling me and the Holy Spirit coming upon me, which is what verse 16 refers to. Does that clarify? Yeah. Okay. Sure. And we'll see that in some more detail when we address the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Okay. Fine. So let's look at... Okay. We were looking at Acts 8, 1-20. Okay. Let's look at verse 29. And now this is what is happening again with Philip. Philip, his ministering there in Samaria, all these amazing wonderful things are happening. And God tells Philip, you know, we see that in... Yeah. We see that in verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. Okay. I'm in chapter 8, verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, arise and go toward the south along the road, which is, which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and went. Okay. So, okay, something that we see here, I know there's amazing things happening here, but Philip is very sensitive to the voice of God, the instruction of God, and he obeys nevertheless. He didn't say, okay, God, I'm needed here. I need to do these things. There's no pouring happening here. I need to minister. How can I move nothing? He was so convinced that God spoke to him through this angel and he just moved. So he arose and went. Verse 27. Verse 29, then the Spirit spoke... Let's read. So he was 27 onwards. So arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, under Candice the Queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. Okay. So this poor Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, do you understand what you are reading? So something that we learn here as well, what is that? The thing is that Philip was again sensitive to the voice of God. And God can give very specific instructions. Okay. It's not just, okay, you will worship me or some very broad categories, like today, glorify me, stuff like that, which is also how God can speak. But God speaks in very specific ways. Go overtake that chariot. So can God do that today? So in today's, what would be a parallel instruction for you as a student? What do you think? If the Holy Spirit were to speak to you, something on these lines, go overtake the chariot. Okay. Yeah, I can just be a little more specific, no? Okay. So go pray for that person. Okay. All right. Anything else? Just try to think. Right. Because we are thinking, okay, Holy Spirit will only do ministry related. Of course, tell a stranger about Jesus. Okay. Tell a stranger. Okay. And where would the stranger be? Where would the stranger be? Now just use your imagination. Where could he be? Like, yeah, be specific. Where could the stranger be? Let's say you're from home, where could the stranger be? On the road? Okay. So you're coming and on the road, you're going somewhere and you feel compelled that I need to, you know, say hello to this lady and, you know, talk to her, yeah, whatever. Right. Or it could be, okay, yeah, Chaya, it is wise to obey the voice of God, true, correct. Or it could be, you get up in the morning and say, you know, God says, okay, I just want you to, you know, you, you know, give a gift, a present. Okay. Why don't you, why don't you just bake a cake and take it to the class. Take it to the Bible college, you know, maybe after lunch they can have it as a dessert. It can be as specific as that, right? Holy Spirit is a person and to be very specific. And sometimes we, we don't know the outcome of it, the full outcome of it. Philip, go overtake the chariot. Okay. Why Lord? Why that chariot? I, I don't think I can overtake the chariot is going, okay, he's reading, so obviously it didn't go very fast, but I'm just thinking. No questions, right? He just did, he just obeyed. And we, he didn't know the outcome, full outcome of it when he started doing it. Right. Just think about it because many times when we want to do, when we say, okay, God, you spoke and we want to ask God, God. So after that, what God? Okay, I go meet him. Then what do I do? I go say, then what if, what if that person says something else? What if God, you know, we have all those questions, right? And that stops us from having an adventure, from going on an adventure with the Holy Spirit. Right. That stops us. That prevents us. We are like, okay, maybe it's just my imagination. Maybe I know, I've been listening to this Holy Spirit class, maybe it's just because of that. I'm psyching myself up. Let's, let's not do it. Right. But the fact is, God could be speaking to your heart, saying, why don't you do this simple thing? Right. And, and you do it and then it opens up. So Philip did this and let's look at the other, you know, go near and overtake this chariot. Was 34. So Philip ran to him. So he had to run and he heard him speaking the Prophet Isaiah, reading the Prophet Isaiah. And then he asked, he asked the question, do you understand? Okay. So, you know, sometimes it happens this way that you take that first step and then you just get curious, you get interested and you just ask, you have a normal conversation. And that normal conversation led to this man, this Ethiopian unit receiving Christ being baptized in water and going back to the nation and opening up the nation for the gospel. One man just takes one person, right? He's an official, obviously he'll go and share. Hey, something interesting happened on the way back. I was coming back and this man came, this asked me and this thing and I know that Jesus is Lord. This is what was prophesied in Isaiah. I was reading it. I didn't know it. This man explained and he was so convicted that he actually said, I want to be baptized in water. Just think about it. They were on that trip and then he sees water by the side. Why can't I be baptized? Which means Philip told him everything. What happened when Peter shared the gospel and people coming and all that he would have shared. Okay, so the thing is this, to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. Okay, let's look at verse 39. Now, when he had come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuchs saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing. So it says that the eunuch saw, he came out of the water but then Philip was taken away by the Holy Spirit. Something supernatural, maybe for us who are living in today and all this technology and everything, we think, okay, can God really do that today? I can take an ola, I can take an uber, I can go to this place, I can take the metro. But actually, I don't remember reading this book. I don't know how many of you have read it. The Heavenly Man. Have you read it? Heavenly Man. It's about, I forget the name of the pastor of Pastor of an underground church in China and he writes about many things. How he came to the Lord, how he was persecuted. He writes about some of those experiences. He says that he had to actually go past some two, three hills to that village, two, three mountains. So he's running, he's actually going to minister, whatever. He's running and it's already evening, it's already dark and he's thinking, how can I go past these things? It's going to take a long time but suddenly he's running and he finds himself in that mountain. He can't explain it because actually there are at least three mountains along the way. He has to cross those but then he runs and he finds himself in that last mountain where he's supposed to go. So he's referring to that, he's saying, I can't explain it. It's the work of God. I was going for that meeting to share there and then this is what happened. So God can do amazing things. We don't have to box in and say, with our finite thinking, with our finite reasoning, God can do amazing things and this is what he did and this is what we see here. Okay, let's move on. Chapter 9 and verses 17 and 18. Chapter 9 verse 17. This is about chapter 9 starts with Saul becoming a believer. He's on the road to Damascus. He has an encounter with God and he falls off the animal that he was traveling in and he cannot see and the instruction is that he should go to the city and he will be told what he needs to do. So Ananias, a disciple who was at Damascus, he has a vision. So the book of Acts is all about a lot of supernatural things which are natural over there, everyday occurrences. So he has a vision, God speaks. The Lord said in a vision, Ananias, and he said, here I am Lord. So, you know, I know this is not a reference to the Holy Spirit but then just want us to be aware of this, that God speaks in visions, that God speaks in dreams and God speaks not just casual conversation, he might do that also. Saying, oh, you know, you're a precious child, you know, I care for you. He might do that also and he will. But he also gives some very important instructions. This was an important instruction to Ananias. What was the instruction? Go, meet Saul. And he gives the address, a rise and go to the street. It's like saying, okay, Narayana Purna Cross, whatever, you know. It's like that, right? Go to that street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas. He's giving the name of the person who's staying in that house and he inquires for this man Saul. Now, Ananias knows about Saul. So, immediately he says, God, did I hear right? Are you sure about this guy? You know what he's done to your saints in Jerusalem, right? So, God is patient. He says, go for, he's a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before. Gentiles, kings, et cetera. So, Ananias goes. So, this is what happens when he goes there. So, there was 17, Ananias went his way into the house, laying his hands on him. He said, Brother Paul, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Okay. So, he says, Brother Saul, you know, because he knows God has encountered him. Saul has accepted the Lord. And he says, you know, this is why I came, that you might receive your sight and that you might receive the Holy Spirit. More important, you know, that you might receive the Holy Spirit. And immediately, they fell from his eyes, something like scales. And he received his sight at once. And he arose and was baptized. Okay. So, this baptism, it refers to the Holy Spirit baptism. He was baptized with the Holy Spirit because he said he arose and he was baptized. And did anything supernatural happen? Well, we do not know. It's not mentioned here, but we do know that, you know, all the gifts and everything started operating in his life because he writes about that to the Corinthian church. First Corinthians 12, 13, 14. It's all about the gifts, how we need to desire them, how it should be for the edification of the fellow believer and all that, right? So, we see that. Okay. Let's move on to verse 31, chapter 9. Okay. Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified. Now, what is it referring to? It's talking to the fact that Saul had stopped his persecution. He had become a believer. So, as then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace. So, which means it sells something about Paul actually. The fact that whatever job he did, he did a fantastic job. He did a thorough job, right? So, when it was persecution, he made sure it was people who were persecuted, right? He made sure that nothing was left undone. So, it says here, then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace because the persecution had stopped. Whatever Saul was carrying out. And were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. Okay. So, this is another thing. What is the name of the Holy Spirit? In Greek. I mean, in a sense, sorry. What is it? That's not the question. Like, the question is like, how Jesus explained the Holy Spirit? He said he's the Comforter. He's the Helper, he said. And he will help. The one who comes alongside, you know, the Greek word is allos, paracletos, meaning one who is like me will come alongside and help me, help you, right? So, here we see that they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Okay. So, a very important thing. You know, many times we use that word. Okay. God comforted. Fine. But the thing is for a person who needs comfort, for a person who's grieving, right? Comfort is a big thing. Right. I just want to share this, this quick personal thing, right? What happened was I lost my father to, yeah, 2021, okay, January. January 3rd passed away. And the thing is God, actually, you know, I experienced, God spoke, saying, okay, you know, he's at peace. And so, it was so strong in me. That was fine. But for my mother, it was a big thing. Right. Because my father and mother were always together, right? In the sense, if she's in the kitchen, you know, cooking, he'll be doing something, cutting something, washing things. They were always together. Any, you know, social gathering, wedding, they'll go together. So, for her, it was too much. The separation was too much. The grief was too much. She couldn't sleep at night. And she was just seeing her suffer, right? So, I just pray to God, you know, somehow you need to comfort her. You need to console her, God. Because I can try my best. You know, I can be there. I can't be there all the time. I can use words, but, you know, I know to some extent, you know, so I just pray to God, you know, you are the comfort, you comfort. And so, I used to, you know, she stays about seven hours away from here. So, I used to go over there 10 times. How are you at night and all? I've seen, you know, she won't be able to sleep. And this happened for some time. And on one occasion when I went, I saw that there was change, right? So, I asked her, you know, what happened? She said, she asked, she told me about a dream that she had and how that dream explained a lot of, because she had a lot of questions, right? She had a lot of questions like, you know, why wasn't he healed and what? And so on. So, she said, you know, God, show me this dream. And he explained to me, you know, all the things that didn't happen. And I understood. So, from then on, I saw there was a difference. Why? Because God had brought in comfort. He brought in comfort through a dream, right? No amount of human reasoning and sitting and saying, oh, you know, this thing, look at this chapter verse. Come on, you need to be strong. It didn't work. But one dream from God, one explanation from God, she was comforted. And I was really relieved, you know, she was strong, she was very different, completely. So you know that they walked in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. So for those who are grieving, from then on, I said, yeah, you know, the best thing I can do as a pastor, you know, visiting home, maybe somebody's grieving, somebody's, you know, hurting and they've lost someone. And sometimes, you know, especially during this COVID time and a lot of things happening. And you can't really, you know, you can't reason things out. The best thing is to entrust them to the comfort of the Holy Spirit, to the comfort and say, God, you speak. You bring that comfort. And for him, it just may be a word. It could even be the presence, just the presence of God. No words spoken, no words. What do I feel just as presence? Is it comforting? Absolutely. Can you give any reason? No, I can't. The peace of God beyond our understanding, so also the comfort of God. So they walked in the comfort of the Comforter, the Paracletus. Okay. So we see that in chapter nine, verse 31. Okay, let's move on to chapter 10. He accepted 10, verse 19. Again, very exciting things happening here. You see that conversation, you know, every conversation that the disciples have with God, it says here that the Holy Spirit spoke, the Holy Spirit led, the Holy Spirit showed. Okay, so we can say, Holy Spirit, you show. There's nothing wrong. God, you show. God, you, you know, God, Holy Spirit, you lead me, you guide me. And he will do that. Like we see here, chapter 10, verse 19, it says, when Peter thought about the vision. So just before that, Peter's had the vision. Okay, he's hungry. He wanted to eat, but the food was not ready. And he had a, he fell into a trance and he saw heaven opened and a great sheet. You know, all of us are familiar with this, right? A great sheet and a lot of animals. And what is the voice from heaven saying? Peter, rise, kill, eat. So Peter's saying, no, no, no, no, God, I'm a Jew. You know, these are all unclean things. How can I eat this? How can I eat this? So three times it happens. And then the voice, he heard the voice. What God has cleansed, you must not call common. Okay, so this happened and then it was the object. That is the end of it, right? End of that experience. And then Peter's thinking, okay, what could this mean? I had this vision, what does it mean? So then verse 19, we see, let's read verse 18. And they called, actually it's from 17 onwards. Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision, which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius. Okay, so that's the Roman centurion. From his house they had come. The men who had sent from Cornelius made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. When Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise, therefore, and go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Okay, so again, here also is a very important instruction because God is about to do something for the first time. That is, non-Jewish people are going to hear the Gospel, they're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. So this is very important. So the Spirit says to Peter, Go with them, don't doubt anything. Now we need to understand, Peter's a Jewish man and God prepares him beforehand. Showing that sheet with all those animals is a non-Jewish person, which a Jewish person should not actually be involved in. And he gives that. And he comes with specific instruction. So instruction comes from the Holy Spirit. And we know the rest of the incident, right? He goes there, he preaches, people receive, people also are filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's it, right? Amazing things happen there. If you read 44, it talks about that. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them, be baptized in the name of the Lord, that they asked him, then they asked him to stay a few days. Okay. So this is what happens. He's preaching, the Holy Spirit falls upon them those who heard, which means that they heard, they received, they believed. And those of the circumcision were astonished. Those Jews were astonished. Why were they astonished? Like Peter himself had preached that message saying, This gift of the Holy Spirit is to you, your children, and to all those who are afar of whom the Lord will call. But in his mind, he was probably thinking all the Jewish people, all the Jewish people whom the Lord will call. But here he sees, these are non-Jewish people. He's a Roman centurion and who is actually worshiping God. And God gives him instruction and gives Peter an instruction to go and he's preaching and something amazing is happening. So they were amazed. Why were they amazed? Because they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God because the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. So we see that salvation is for all. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is for all. All those who believe in Christ. Now we see another thing, 47. Sometimes we hear the preaching, you need to be baptized in water. Only then you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit. So here it is actually Ulta. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. And then Peter says, I need to baptize them. Why should I stop? So they are baptized in water. Okay. Then let's move on. Chapter 11. Acts chapter 11 verse 12. Acts chapter 11 verse 12. Actually this probably will skip because he's recounting those things. Peter is actually telling. Because the people were, the apostles and brethren, they heard that the Gentiles had received the word of God and they were all upset. You know, saying, you are a Jewish person. You actually broke the law. You know, how can you go there and stay? Because they asked him to stay a few days. He stayed. So as a Jewish person, he's not supposed to fellowship. He's not supposed to stay. He's not supposed to eat with them, etc. But he did that. So they were all angry. On one side, okay, they were happy that they received the word. But then they were upset. You know, how can we do this? How can you stay? So Peter explains to them all that had happened. Okay. So that is what we see in chapter 11 verse 12 and also 15 and 16. Okay. So let's go to verse 24. Verse 24 talks about, it's talked about Barnabas, right? He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. Okay. This talks about Barnabas who went to Antioch. Verse 28, it talks about Agabus, a prophet, and he again prophesied by the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Okay. So that we see in verse 28. Okay. Let's go to chapter 12 then. Chapter 13. Okay. Chapter 13 verse 1 to 4. Chapter 13 is in this place called Antioch. And there was a church there. And now, you know, Paul is doing ministry. Barnabas is there who's actually brought him and introduced him to the disciples and so on. So now they've come to, they've traveled and they've come to Antioch. And it says there that they were prophets and teachers. Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Mennon, Herod, Saul, they're all there. Okay. Verse 2, they ministered to the Lord and fasted. Okay. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted. What happened? What happened? The Holy Spirit spoke. What did he speak? What did he speak? What did he say? They read that verse. Verse 2, right? Chapter 13 verse 2. So the instruction was about ministry. They were fasting. They were praying. They were ministering to the Lord and worship and prayer. Holy Spirit spoke. Okay. Clear instruction about who and what they need to do. Right. So can we expect in today's time, can we expect the same thing? Yeah. Absolutely. Right. God will confirm, God will speak by His Spirit. Right. So this is what happens. Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called them. Then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So Paul's first missionary journey starts this way. Right. And we know the kind of impact, you know, his ministry had in that surrounding region. His first missionary journey started this way. Many churches were planted. Many people came to the Lord. Many leaders were raised. Right. People like Timothy, Titus, read about many who were raised because of his ministry. They'd go, you know, they'd share the gospel. People would gather to worship Jesus. And in that gathering, they would raise up leaders who would again, take care of that, oversee spiritual oversight over that place. So yeah, yeah, Chai, I just see your comment here. Yeah. So this is the thing. So Holy Spirit gives specific instruction. God gives specific instructions, ministry. So maybe, you know, maybe not now, but then, you know, at the stage where, you know, maybe you are giving spiritual oversight to a group of people in the sense, maybe you're leading a church, maybe you're leading a ministry, you know, or even otherwise, you know, we can depend on God. We can depend on the Holy Spirit to give these kind of strategic instructions. Okay. What should I do? Where, who should go where? And these instructions will be, you know, not only are they strategic, but very impactful, highly impactful. So that's what we see here. Right. Okay. Chapter third, that was chapter 13 was one to four, nine to 12 talks about discernment. Okay. Maybe we'll finish with this. Verse nine. Okay. They go to this place. They sail to Cyprus and they go to a place called Salamis. They preach the God. Now they preach the gospel there. And it says that they meet someone called Sergius Paulus, who was a proconsul, you know, was like a governor there. And this man actually called for Barnabas and Saul. He wanted to hear the word of God. But there was someone with him. Okay. He was a sorcerer. Okay. He was Elimus, the sorcerer, and he withstood them seeking to turn the proconsul from the faith. That is verse eight. Okay. So, so he was probably doing something. You know, he was a sorcerer. He was doing something in the spiritual realm. He was trying to block the proconsul from meeting or receiving, like, you know, this person receiving Jesus. So the next verse talks about how Paul reacted, how Saul reacted, right? So then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, Oh, full of deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness. Will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And, you know, and he just pronounced his judgment, right? That he will not be able to see for a season, right? And for a time it says, so he went blind. And then on seeing that, the proconsul, believe in the verse 12, then he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Okay. So he saw what it was done. But he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Okay. Both he saw the signs, the wonder, he saw the power of God, and the teaching of the Lord. He received the teaching of the Lord. He was astonished at both. Okay. Right. So we see all these things happening, Paul ministering in the power of the Spirit. Okay. So that's Acts 13, Acts 15. Do we have time? Acts 15 and verse 8. Okay. So now Acts 15 onwards till the end of the chapter, you know, there are about six, yeah, seven references, right? So maybe you can just read through. Okay. And just like how we did today, you can actually glean a lot of things, like a lot of learnings from the way the Holy Spirit ministered, from the way people were ministered to and the way people directed. So as you read through those references, you know, in your mind, you just say, okay, God, you know, you did this, then you do it now also. You know, we're just saying, opening up our lives and saying, God, and our minds and saying, God, you can do it in my life in today's time also. Right. Okay. We'll stop here and we'll continue next week. Okay. Thank you. Online students, thank you. God bless. Have a great weekend.