 Good morning and welcome. Let's pray and get started. I would like to request anyone in the class to lead us with the word of prayer. Father in the name of Jesus. Father in the name of Jesus Lord, this morning we come before you. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for mercy. Thank you for all your love Lord. We surrender this day all the classes to you Lord. Lord you teach. We submit to word of your grace which is able to build us. We thank you for all things. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank you. Thank you Sita. So I know someone else began praying. Maybe you could lead prayer the next time. So here we are at Acts chapter 9 and we started last class describing how Apostle Paul who was a person, we know him as Apostle Paul but he was a persecutor because of his seal for Judaism. And how he encountered God on the road to Damascus. He encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. So that's where we were. What I would say is we could quickly go over Acts chapter 9. I mean somebody can quickly read it and then we can get into the chapter. It's somewhat long but it's helpful to go through it. So then we know how exactly we are proceeding and what are all the incidents that are covered under this particular chapter. So I would like to request someone to please read. We can begin once again from verse 1 and someone can please read till verse 9. So one person verses 1 to 9, another person verses 10 to 19 and then maybe another person verse 20 to 20. So you could read till that. So let's read this much. We'll see how it goes if we still have the capacity we will read the remaining. So verses 1 to 30. That's what we are reading now. So anyway verses 1 to 9 please. Okay, I read. Then Saul still reasoned sets and word against disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus. So that if he found anyone who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He said, who are you Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goats. So he trembling in astonishment said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Then the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city and you'll be told what you must do. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. Thank you, Christopher. We'll go ahead and read the next portion here. So could somebody read from verse 10 to verse 19. Okay, can you hear me? Yes. Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision called Ananias. Yes, Lord, he replied. The Lord said, go over to a straight street to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man, ask for a man from a terrace named Saul. He's praying to me right now. I've shown him in a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again. But Lord Ananias, I have heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem. And he is authorized by the leading priest to arrest everyone who calls upon your name. But the Lord said, go for Saul as my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to the kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hand on him and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Instantly something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward, he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. Thank you. Thank you, Kun. So we'll continue to read from verse 20 now, all the way to verse 30. We'll read one more verse here. After a while, some of the Jews brought it together to kill him. They were watching for him day and night at the city gates so they could murder him, but Saul was told about their plot. So during the night, some of the other believers lowered him in a large basket to an opening in the city hall. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They're not the ones. He had truly become a believer. Then Barney was brought home to Saul and sold him. Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. He told the believers that Saul had preached the word in the name of Jesus and the Lord Christ. So Saul stayed with the apostles and all of them, Jerusalem, had been preaching the word in the name of the Lord. He debated with some great speaking Jews, but they tried to murder him. When the believers heard about this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Jerusalem. We generally term it as the conversion of Saul. The reason being, he encountered the Lord Jesus and was born again. His entire life changed from that time of encounter. So we will look at what exactly happened and how Saul began to do the ministry from that point onwards. So we said that Saul was continuing persecuting the believers. He was so adamant about doing the right thing because he thought that he was doing the right thing for God. That he even persecuted the women. So that was the kind of zeal which Saul carried. But as he had taken permission and he was moving to Damascus, he had this experience. So verse 3, it says, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light showed around him from heaven. So we also have to understand that this light, I was explaining to us that Middle Eastern sun is anyway hot and very bright. But while he was on his journey, he saw a very bright light from heaven and that's how Luke puts it. So we also see Paul sharing this incident in other places. So with those explanations about Paul and what really happened, we are able to build a picture of how exactly these things happened. So you would find that Paul, in his defense later on, we will see that now Paul will be saved through the encounter. Then he will begin to do the work of the ministry. He will eventually go and join one of the prominent churches of his time. Then from there, the Holy Spirit will commission him to go into more of a missionary kind of a ministry. So then he will go to different places, planting churches, raising up leaders, strengthening the body of Christ. And later we will see that when Paul finally after his missionary journey, he moves to Jerusalem over there. A plot against Paul will arise and he will be captured from Jerusalem. He will go from the hands of one leader to the other, one government official to the other. So that people begin to question him about his faith, about his patriotism and about his commitment to his earlier faith and things like that. So he begins to give a defense for himself. That's where you have all these chapters, Acts 22 and further from there. So there, when he is giving a defense for himself, that's when Paul narrates this incident again. So in Acts 9, we see a couple of things that I've mentioned. But we build the full picture with the help of passages from Acts 22, then again Acts 26. So I don't know if we would want to read it quickly. It might be useful for us actually. So Acts 22 verses 3 to 11, I will quickly read it for us. If you get down to it, then please do and you can look at it. So Acts 22 verses 3 to 11. There Paul says, I am indeed a Jew born in Tassus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our Father's law and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the High Priest bears me witness in all the counsel of the elders from whom I also received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus to bring in chains, even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. Now it happened as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon. So that's what I was telling us in Acts 9, we don't see any noon or anything. But when Paul narrates it again, he mentions noon time. So there was a light that showed at noon time. So here at verse 6, now it happened as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon. Suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So I answered, who are you Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting and those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid. But they did not hear the voice of him who spoke to me. So from Acts 22, what is the picture we get of Saul? We already understood he was very zealous. He was persecuting the people of the way. That is repeated. But he also says that he was born in where? Tarsus. Tarsus of Cilicia is where Paul was born. What was his religious identity? He was a Jew. And he says, I am indeed a Jew, sort of to stress that he was very committed to his faith. So he was a Jew. He was born in Tarsus of Cilicia. Then what else? We read that he was brought up in Tarsus. So where did Paul grow up? He was brought up in Tarsus and he was brought up under Gamaliel. So if you all recall, we have talked about, we have seen Gamaliel advising, isn't it? We saw Gamaliel giving this opinion that if these apostles and the work that they are doing is from God, we will not be able to put an end to it. So Gamaliel is the person that the council listened to. So again, as I pointed out earlier, he was a very well respected teacher in the times of Paul. So somebody who had a statue like Gamaliel, Paul was his student. So it gives us a picture and an idea about the kind of brilliance, the kind of experience that Paul had. Saul, he was called Saul at the time, or you know, more familiarly called as Saul. So this is his upbringing. This is his background and he himself states, he states that he was brought up according to the strictness of our father's law. So he was a very devout Jew. We can come to the conclusion. And we can also conclude, as he states, was zealous toward God as you all are today. So he is stating that whatever he did for, you know, even persecuting the people of the way, the Christians were known as people of the way, why did he do it? He did it as a commitment to God. Sometimes we find that the people who persecut think they are doing God a service. They're doing God divine service. They're very committed. So he is coming from that place when he's persecuting. So it's amazing to see that God actually encountered a man like Saul. So today, if there are people who are so zealous for their faith, and they don't understand what, you know, being born again is what is the redemption of the cross? Who is Jesus? You know, very zealously, they could be going against the things of the kingdom of God. But we see how beautifully God encountered this learned zealous individual by the name of Saul. So another account, we would see that in Acts 26. So maybe we won't read it now because, you know, it'll just take away time from what. So this is Acts 26 versus 12 to 20 in case you want to make a note of it. Let me just share any key highlights from there if required. Okay. Nothing that, you know, we need to know right now. All right. So let's move on. So these are the two places where he repeats the same incident. And from there, you know, we can, we can build a picture of what exactly took place. So the important thing for us here is to know that nobody is so difficult for God to reach, even as well as persecutor. God touched him. Now, it's not a common thing that God encounters people in this way. Okay. Now, we might ask God and say, God, you know, you have to shine a bright light on people and encounter them. You have to do it like this. So you have to do it like that. But God does it in his own way. We don't see something like this encounter very often. But, you know, God knows what is best, how to meet with people. But the common thing, common way in which people are ministered to is when they preach the gospel to them and they come to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. So, but this one was quite a dramatic incident. Then what else do we see? So, when Paul has this encounter, he hears a voice and that voice with a lot of emotion when you have a repetition, you know, of a name, you know that there is some emotion attachment. So, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So, this is what the voice says to Saul and what is the response which Saul has. So, when God speaks to an individual, there are choices that the individual has. One is to respond and say, God, what is it that you would like me to do? Or to ignore the call or just to record it as, hey, God spoke to me. But the response which Saul had was a very good response because the moment he heard the voice, the moment he saw the light, he knew that the God of the universe is reaching out to him to, you know, to touch his life. So, there was nothing more that was said except Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And the response that Saul has is he wants to know who this God is and what he can do for this God. So, we'll see what he says. He says, who are you, Lord? So, he wants to know the identity of this God and what is the answer that comes to him? I am Jesus. Now, we saw in the account of Acts 22, he narrates it as Jesus of Nazareth. But here Luke says, I am Jesus. I am Jesus. That's all that he points out. Now, why is it that, you know, there is no more description of the name Jesus. Earlier we said, you know, Jesus Christ, Christ is a title of Nazareth. That's a very specific way of identifying an individual in those times. But I am Jesus and Luke left it at that just to tell us the confidence, you know, that God was displayed to Saul. But he didn't have to explain his identity anymore. I am Jesus. Okay. And Jesus goes straight ahead and he says, whom you are, you know, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Now, here's the other thing. I told us in the last class that when people of God are persecuted, God takes it very personal. So, when the question came to Saul, the question was, why are you persecuting? For who? Why are you persecuting? What does the voice say? Me. Me, isn't it? Why are you persecuting me? And that is how God sees persecution. Jesus sees persecution and later on when Saul asks, who are you Lord? Okay. And Jesus says, I am Jesus who you are persecuting. So, when Saul was persecuting God's people, he did not realize he was persecuting Jesus himself. And here's the next statement that Jesus makes. He says, it is hard for you to kick against the goats. What does that mean? So, there is an instrument that farmers use when they work with an ox on their farmlands. They use a goat and what the goat does is it puts pressure on the hind legs of the oxen. And whenever there's pressure, the oxen know which direction to move in. Okay. So, even if let's say the oxen kick the goat and they want to move in their own direction, it may not work. It may not work. So, when Jesus was saying, it's hard for you to kick against the goats, what he was saying is, he was saying, you can't run away from me. You can't run away from the purpose that I have for your life. Okay. So, did that mean that Saul did not have a choice? He still had a choice. We know from Scripture that salvation is a choice. It's not trusted on people that, hey, you have to. There's no other way. God is saying you have to become a believer. You have to accept Christ. So, though God wants everyone, God does not want anyone to perish for a second. Peter believed that. But it's a choice that every human being makes. But Jesus is specifying and telling, reminding Saul, you can't run away from my purposes. That's what he was telling him. Then let's move on. So, when he heard this voice and had this experience, what was his reaction? Trembling and astonished. Trembling and astonished. A zealous man was trembling and astonished. It's enough to tell us that this was a supernatural experience, which he had. And as I told us, he wanted to know the identity of this voice. Secondly, you know, very quickly Saul asks the best question. He says, Lord, what do you want me to do? So just look at this. He says, Lord, first question also, who are you, Lord? So he understood God is speaking to me. When he heard Jesus, a second statement again. He affirms that Jesus is Lord. So he says, Lord, what do you want me to do? So that should be the response of every human being when God speaks to us. We say, God, what do you want from my life? And this time the persecutor turned a child of God, asks this question. Then God gives him a clear instruction. What is this? Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. So for whatever reason, he was not given all the details of his life in that one moment. Sometimes people say, when God meets you for the first time, he should reveal to you what the purpose for your life must be about and all that. But not really. In this case, Saul, such a mighty apostle of God, what does God tell him? You know what? You just get up, okay? You go to the city and you will be told other things, what you must do. So he rises up and he goes and we see other things about you know how exactly this encounter was. So verse 7, there were people along with Saul, isn't it? So he was moving with a team. The people also experienced something. You see, at times when God speaks, only the person who God is speaking to hears it. Sometimes that's the case. For example, Samuel. When God spoke to Samuel, Eli did not hear, but the voice came to Samuel and God communicated to Samuel. But in the case of Saul, it's different. So why is God ministering to people in different ways? Because he is God. We cannot box him up and say, this is the only way you should work, Lord. We can't do that. So in this case, what was the experience of these people with him? Hearing the voice but seeing no one. So they heard the voice. Saul heard the voice. The men with him also heard the voice. So it was a divine encounter and their response was they stood speechless or they were astonished at what had actually taken place. Then Saul got up and one particular thing that happened to Saul is, when he tried to see, he could no longer see with his natural eyes. He had to be led by hand and then brought into the city of Damascus. So Saul went blind. Why did Saul go blind? The exact answer for that, I'm not sure I have it. But it was an encounter which he had maybe. Some people say, the bright light from heaven. It was something that the natural light could not capture and so he went blind. So we don't know the exact reason why he ended up becoming blind after that incident. But he did go blind and he needed the support of the people around him to go to Jerusalem and in Damascus. So when he went to Damascus, three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. So this is explained by some people as when he had an encounter with God, it was so real to him that being a devout Jew, he had the traditions of prayer and fasting as a part of his life. So it's likely that he just wanted to consecrate himself or dedicate himself further to this God who called him. And so he goes into a mode of fasting. So three days without, you know, three days, neither ate nor drank. So he was fasting. He was blind and he was fasting. And obviously, we know he had the desire to find out what God wanted to tell him in the city of Damascus. Because that was the last thing he heard from the voice. Go and I will tell you more will be told to you about what you must do. So that's how this whole incident took place. And we also understood the background of Saul. Now coming to verse 10, we have. So it says there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him the Lord said in the vision, Ananias. So don't confuse this Ananias with the earlier Ananias. So that we talked about it there at chapter five. The person who was rebuked and he also died. So there was judgment. So that is a different Ananias. This Ananias is a disciple in the city of Damascus. So you see, God has his people in various places. When he wants the work of the ministry to be done, what does God do? He just picks, you know, one of his people, he speaks to them. So in this situation, Ananias was the man who was chosen. And what does the Bible describe him as a certain disciple? So we can come to the conclusion. He was probably not a leader of the Church of Damascus, anything like that. He was an ordinary believer. So God picked a believer. What did God tell Ananias? Again, you see the response of Ananias. It was said the latter part that God in a vision comes to him and says Ananias. Ananias says, here I am Lord. So we understood about Ananias. He's a believer, ordinary believer. Second thing you understand about Ananias is very coveted, very obedient, isn't it? So the moment God calls our name, the response is Lord, here I am. It's like saying, I am available. The moment we hear our name from the lips of Jesus, when we say here I am Lord, it's like saying, whatever you want me to do, I will do. So that is the description of Ananias, an ordinary believer with a very coveted heart. So how can God work through a person like this? So here is God telling him in the vision. So now you would see in the book of Acts, there are dreams, there are visions, there is God speaking to Philip, so the prophetic and what exactly is going on. Everyone is picking up the instructions of God through the direction of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is giving instructions to the believers as far as the building up of the church is concerned, as far as the edifying of the body of believers is concerned. So it's not like the book of Acts is filled with people, mighty men and women of God who are so coveted and they are doing the works of the Kingdom, not necessarily. You find obedient men and women who listen to the voice of God. Here we have an Ananias who had a vision from God. God speaks in different ways. Philip picked it up in his spirit, overtake the chariot. But here Ananias, he has a vision from God and what does God tell him in the vision? Very, very specific, very, very specific instructions arise and go to the street called Strip. It's very interesting, it's like saying the vision is giving you clarity to the last letter. How would you like it if God said, I want you to get up and go to Dev Nahali. There is a street over there to go straight, take the first cross or the second cross. These are the ways in which we describe addresses here in India. I don't know how it works for others elsewhere but very specific. So God is telling me I've been Damascus, go to the street called Strip and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold he is praying. So God tells Ananias, this is where you have to go to Judas's house and there is a man Saul of Tarsus, what is he doing? He's praying, so obviously he did not eat or drink beans, he was fasting, he was seeking the Lord. And verse 12 in the vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive a sign. So here is God speaking to Ananias about Saul but also he has spoken to Saul about Ananias. So it's very clear communication what needs to take place next. In this section there is the name of another person, Judas of Damascus, house of Judas. We don't know much about who this Judas was but what is the conclusion that we can come to? I feel like he was again a very committed believer, these are all just ordinary believers and God was working in the life of the to be Apostle, the mighty Apostle of God who has got to write all these epistles, he was working through ordinary believers. So for God it's not even our stature or our position, he just wants a person who is available. Ananias was available, Judas was available, we don't know much about Judas he was so integral in the unfolding of the purposes of God in the kingdom of God. That's the beauty of a committed and an obedient life. So here is Ananias who got a specific instruction and he was also told that Paul also is waiting for you so you better go. This is a committed believer, does he just go and meet with the soul? No, he had his own apprehensions. So when God gives us an instruction, is it okay for us to speak to God and say God I'm not sure if I can do it or I need this help or something like that where we are just sharing our concern with God. You would notice that Ananias actually does that, verse 13, he tells God, Lord I've heard from many about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all you call on your needs. What does he say? He's saying Lord I'm scared, I can't go, I know who Saul of Tarsus is. Like are you serious? You're sending me to Saul of Tarsus, verse 15, God encourages him and he says go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. So even before the Bible tells us about what Saul knew about his purpose Ananias is told about Saul's purpose that he is to bear the name of Jesus before Gentiles. Kings and children of Israel. So that is the purpose which God had for who? A persecutor. Is it possible that God calls a persecutor? And you know Saul was a persecutor, my chosen vessel. God can choose anyone, God can work in anybody's life. So Saul to later on, once he became a believer, he ended up doing all of what God had spoken to and Ananias about. So verse 16, again God shares little bit more about the destiny of Saul. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. So the life of Saul was going to be a very tough life with a lot of challenges. But he was going to bear the name of Jesus to different categories of people, the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel. So God was comforting Ananias and saying that don't worry. Like I am with you. This is my purpose. I want you to just get up and go. So obedient Ananias, he went, he entered the house it says and laying his hands on him, he said. So some commentators say that laying his hands, Ananias could have just prayed without laying hands. Why did he lay hands? So maybe when the vision of God came to Ananias, his heart was changed about Saul. He was scared of Saul but now he is filled with love for Saul and Saul is blind. So maybe he just wanted to express love through that touch. So he touched Saul with his hands and what does he address him as? Brother Saul, brother Saul. So the New Testament in many places wherever we read brother, brethren. It's a way of indicating that those people are born again, that they are part of the kingdom of God. So obviously Saul is born again and Ananias knows that Saul is born again. So he says brother Saul, so with love and compassion, he reaches out to the persecutor that Saul was. And he says 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. Now how did Ananias know that the Lord Jesus appeared? Because we don't see that, right? We don't see all those details in the vision. We never know, we never know whether the word went around or there were additional things that were told to Ananias in the vision. But he states and he says that this Jesus who appeared, he is the one. He sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. So Ananias was just fulfilling the instruction that Jesus came in and immediately, so when he ministered to Saul immediately, something like scales fell off his eyes and he received the sight at once. He arose and was baptized. So apostle Saul, the persecutor, born again now, very clear. It's very clear, he was praying and now he is being baptized once he receives his sight. So he's on his journey of becoming a disciple of Jesus and a minister of Jesus. So that's how this entire story goes. So now that he is born again, we would expect that people will accept him but that is not the case. So we'll quickly look at how life went for him from this point on. So we say that Saul was zealous. So something about the personality of Saul is he's always zealous. So earlier he was zealous for Judaism and look at verse 20. He says immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. So he is zealous for Jesus now and God is working through his personality to minister to people. So here is Saul born again. He's going and he's preaching. He's preaching in the synagogues. He's preaching the same Jesus as Christ or the Messiah and that he is the Son of God. So people who are listening to him, the scriptures tell us from then on, they were amazed because they knew his background. Isn't this he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem? And he has come here for that purpose so that he might bring them down to the chief priests. So they're asking all these questions. What happened? Is this for real? But scriptures say even though people were not very clear about Saul's intentions, something that happened to Saul was he increased all the moral strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. So you find that he's growing stronger and stronger in the ministry. So here is another lesson for us to learn. Saul did not wait when he was born again, whatever he knew to do to serve God, he started doing it. The acceptance of people was not a criteria for him. He wanted to serve this God who saved him. So he did his best and what does the Bible say? He increased all the moral strength. So God strengthened him in the work of the ministry and God began to do his work through Saul's life. Obviously the people are still wondering. So what happens was 23. Now for many days were passed the Jews plotting to kill him. So obviously the Jews became fed up with Saul preaching about Jesus. They didn't like it. They started plotting against Saul. So what did the believers do? The disciples of the city of Damascus in the night, they made Saul escape. So in a big basket, we are told that he was placed there and he was let down. I mean, whatever way from the wall and he could actually escape because there was threat to his life. So now he moves out of there and he comes to Jerusalem and we would think that the believers in Jerusalem will accept him. But what exactly happened? He came to Jerusalem. He tried his best to reach out to the apostles, but they were afraid of him. They did not believe that he was a disciple and it's understandable because it could be a plot, isn't it, that a persecutor is behaving like a disciple and just when you start accepting him, what if he catches all the apostles and puts them in the prison? So they were afraid of Saul. But there was a man called Barnabas. We've seen about Barnabas earlier. He was who? He was a Levite. He was a good man. He was a generous man and he's known as the son of encouragement. That same Barnabas, he had the courage to accept a man like Saul. He took him and brought him to the apostles and he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So imagine if there was no Barnabas, somebody who could see the good in Saul, a man who had such a great purpose of God for his life, the apostles would have rejected him completely. So there was a Barnabas who saw good when others did not see good and he was the one who accepted Saul and he brought him into the company of the apostles. So they accepted him and he was there with them for some time. So he was with them at Jerusalem, we are told. And again, what did he do then? He continued to speak boldly the name of the Lord Jesus and he disputed against the Hellenists of the Greek Jews and they also got upset. So people, the Jews of Damascus were upset now. The Jews of Jerusalem were upset. The Hellenists were upset and when the believers found out that this is what happened, they thought he needs a place of safety. So come on, believe Jerusalem and please move on to Tarsus. So they sent him out to Tarsus. So let's stop at this point. We'll pick up from here. Any questions? There's one minute left. So any questions? There is no question but to some good the way he arranges things. Yes. Yes. He arranges things in a way that even where you expected the bad things, he can get out good things for sure. I bless the Lord the way he is preparing Paul for a greater ministry. Thank you. Amen. Thank you, Charles. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. So let's go for a break then and we will come back and pick up from where we start. Thank you everyone.