Amen. So keep your place there in 1 Peter chapter number five. We're going to be there and in 1 Peter chapter 3 and 1 Peter chapter 4 in just a few minutes. That's going to be kind of our key chapters in the sermon this morning. So this morning, the title of the sermon this morning is titled The Other Side of Suffering. I want to talk about suffering and the purpose of suffering this morning. But first I want to give an introduction on what I'm getting at this morning and talk about a few things that kind of prelude our understanding of suffering. And let me first talk about this subject that is very popular in our society today, very popular in our culture today. This idea of instant gratification, of just having things that we want right now, finding ways to get things as quickly as possible. For the sermon this morning, talking about the other side of suffering, and I'll explain to you what I mean by that in just a few minutes. But I'm going to give two just general examples this morning talking about this sermon. I'm going to give examples using health and the topic of your health.  So those are the two main examples that I'm going to use this morning. However, with this idea of instant gratification and the overall context of the sermon, it applies really to everything in your lives. But I'm going to show you this morning just through these simple examples of how, you know, what is the point of the other side of suffering. The idea that instant gratification is being pushed everywhere in our lives today is something that is just ingrained in us as Americans in our culture today, that everything has to be as convenient as possible. You know, the idea that we could be inconvenienced with anything. I mean, just think about the idea of a drive through. I mean, a drive through.  I have to be able to just stay sitting in my car. I need to be able to just have people just feed me as I sit, set it, you know, in my car doing what I'm doing. Think of the idea of a headset or the AirPods everybody has or the Bluetooth things that everybody walks around talking to themselves in their ear.  It's just, it's too inconvenient. It's too much trouble. So anything to instantly just remove any inconvenience from us, I could just go on and on and on. Basically, businesses thrive on this. You'll have one business who is literally successful over another business because he has simply made, you know, something more convenient than everyone else. Look at Amazon. This is why Amazon is so popular because, you know, I remember the early days of Amazon. The reason Amazon was so popular is because you could buy something with, like, literally one or two clicks.  I mean, literally I can't be, I mean, if I have to click my mouse button five times, that is too inconvenient for me. I mean, people made an entire worldwide business model successful just on removing a slight inconvenience from people. But just think about your health and maybe this is a good New Year's or a good January topic for you. But just think of the idea of your health and becoming a healthy person or staying healthy or whatever it is. I mean, just think of this idea of, you know, what does everybody want to do today? They just want to invent some kind of pill that you can take that would just instantly make you feel good and instantly make you, you know, lose weight and be a healthy person. Without having any inconvenience to you, without having you change your schedule, change what you're doing, you know, it's always some new drug. I mean, ever since I've been a conscious person, it's always some new drug that is coming out. I mean, this is healthcare in general today. It favors the drug. It favors the instant fix, the instant quick fix. It favors the, they don't want to go and look at, hey, why are you having these pains? Why are you having these things? Maybe you're doing something to damage yourself. Maybe you're into something you shouldn't be doing. Why are you stressed out? Why are you anxious? Why are you depressed? They don't want to look at anything like that. They just want an instant quick fix. And look, that's what people want too. So really, it is just this industry that is just meeting the demand of this population that just wants an instant quick fix. I mean, just like drugs and alcohol in general is exactly the same thing.  I want to be happy. I don't want to change what I'm doing in my life. I don't want to look at why I'm not happy. I just want to be instantly joyful or instantly high, as they will say. So what do I do? I drink alcohol or I take drugs. And it instantly makes me feel good. I mean, this is sin in general, really. Sin in general is just this instant quick fix. It's an instant good feeling. But I want to show you this morning how the instant things are always bad. And then we'll talk about suffering in just a few minutes. But relationships. Relationships are the same way. Good, proper relationships are not instant. People that don't have experience with long friendships, what do they do? They look for shallow friendships. They look for shallow relationships with people that are defined on a very shallow level. You know, I've been talking to, for some reason, I've just met a lot of people in the last couple of months who are actually leaving California. I've actually talked to several people that are, they're not just talking about doing it because I've always met those people. But they're actually leaving California. And one thing that I've always, and I've actually asked this question to some of them, I was like, well, don't you have any relationships here? Don't you have any friendships here, any people here that you care about? And, you know, the answer on the people that I've met so far is either those people are coming with them, that they have the relationship with, or they just have not found any real relationships here. So it's easy for them to leave. Or the relationships that they had here were very shallow, so it's easy for them to leave those relationships. But, you know, or, you know, many of them, most of them, their relationship is with money and they realize that they can have more money if they live somewhere else. Which, you know, you can, I guess you can have a relationship with money anywhere if that's your relationship. But the point is this, everybody wants good friends. It's something that everybody wants and more and more people in our society, in our culture, in our country especially, are having a hard time finding good friends. It's something that if you look at trends and look at polls, it is just from 20, 30 years ago, we're at all time lows. People are getting lonelier and lonelier, having a hard time finding good friends. You know, having a hard time finding people that they can really relate to on deep personal levels. The problem that people have here is that very few people know how to get and maintain good friendships. They want instant friendships. Turn to Proverbs 11. Turn to Proverbs 11. So look, the selling point of a lot of these things that are bad that I'm mentioning at the introduction of this sermon is that they are quick. Sin is an instant pleasure. Sin, right away, I mean in Acts 1.18, it talks about the, you know, Judas got the reward of iniquity. Look, there was an instant gratification that he got there when he received the money for betraying Jesus Christ. There was an instant gratification there. In Hebrews 11.25, it talks about how Moses, look, Moses was the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He was the adopted son of the princess of the kingdom. He could have had a lot of instant gratification in his life. But the Bible says that he rather chose to be with God's people than to just enjoy, you know, sin for a season. The pleasures of sin for a season. Look, there is pleasures instantly in those things. There is a reward instantly in those things. But look at Proverbs 11 and verse number 27. Let's look at what the difference is between things that are good, things that God would want us to have versus all these instant gratification and these instant pleasures. Look at verse number 27. The Bible says this. It says, He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor, but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. There is this word in the Bible that is used again and again in its diligence, this word diligence. And what diligence means is, it means investment, it means discipline, it means work. But here's the key difference. It means all of those things over time. It is not just you work hard, you are disciplined, you invest in the right areas for five minutes. It is over a long period of time. And that's why this word diligence is such a great word that the Bible uses again and again and again. And what I want to point out to you this morning is this variable that is inside the word diligence, which is this time aspect. This time variable and how crucial it is. Because something that is instant, it has no time variable. Something that is instant that I can have right away. Time, it doesn't matter because I can just have it right now. But the problem with diligence and the reason that diligence is so hard to achieve by so many people is because it has this aspect that it is over time. That it takes a long time. The time aspect is crucial in all good things. Instant gratification is not really possible when it comes to your health, when it comes to your relationships. The two examples that I'm using this morning, just think about it for a second. Think about your health and just think about all the things that you hear out there today. You think about your health. I mean, look, to get and to stay healthy, literally to be healthy takes diligence. Why? It takes investment. It takes something that you're going to do. Look, whatever that thing you're going to do is, but it's going to take doing that thing over time. It's going to take diligence. It can't just be some new miracle pill. No, there's a new miracle pill now. And you just wait.   It's going to destroy something because that's just not how God allows it or wants it to work. Everything that is good requires diligence, which has a time factor involved. I mean, to be healthy means to be long-term healthy. Think about it. Just think about just the statement itself.  It's generally how you live. It's not how you live that five minutes, that one time back in 2017. That has nothing to do with how healthy you are. When you get to be an older person, this is why people say that somebody is in really bad shape when they're 65 or 55 or 85 or whatever it is. Well, they say, oh, well, he smoked for years. They don't say, oh, back when he was 22, he had a pack of cigarettes one day. No, he smoked for years. He drank for years. He was, you know, addicted to, you know, he was on drugs for years. It's because being healthy, it's about diligence. Being unhealthy or healthy is about time. It's about how you generally live. Look, turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Relationships are exactly the same way. Relationships are exactly the same way. It's dependent on time. It's dependent on how you operate over long periods of time. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and look at verse number 1. Look, the longer you have known, this is just a truth. The longer you have known someone and the more you have known about them, the deeper that friendship has been and the longer you have known them, the more trust you will receive from that person and the more trust you will be able to give to that person. That's just how it works. Look at verse number 1 of Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Look at what the Bible says here. It says, a good name is better than precious ointment. But look at the second part of this verse that's in the same sentence, by the way. It says a good name, okay, a good name is, oh, you need to have a good reputation. I get that. You know, the Bible talks about that in Proverbs as well. Good reputation, what people think about you. But look at the last part of this verse and ask yourself, why is it in the same sentence? It says, and the day of death, then the day of one's birth. Look at what the Bible is saying here, talking about your reputation or your relationships between people. Basically it's saying what people think about you depends on how you end the thing. All the way to the end, talking about, it's not talking about that instant investment. You're not going to have a great friend who thinks that you are a great friend because you were nice to him one time five years ago.  Or her life or whatever. No, it's talking about the investment over time, talking about all the way to the end. And that is implying that somebody that has a good reputation, somebody that has a good relationship, somebody that has good friendships. Good friendships meaning people think highly of them, they think highly of other people. They have done that over a long period of time. And over in this verse, the whole time. This is a great verse in many different aspects talking about this is why it's more important to end well than to start well. But this friend right here has a good name because he did good things all the way to the end. Not just, and it doesn't even make any sense that you would have a good friend and oh, I'm really good friends with Joe because Joe, you know, there was this time ten years ago where Joe really helped me out and then just, it just has never been good since then. It's ridiculous to even think about it. It's all about that time factor. But here's the thing folks, many people will just never have this because they don't understand that it's over time and it is how you end that is better. Relationships have to be prosecuted properly over long periods of time. And if you can end well, you're eventually going to lose every single one of your relationships. Think about that. I mean just think about sins in the Bible. Just think about things that are considered sins. Just think about men today. Think about men today in this idea that, you know, I mean, it's not hard to understand. I mean, you see the stats and they're kind of shocking about young men and how young men are less interested and less interested and less interested in God's version of a relationship with a woman, which is marriage.  This is easily tracked through stats. People are getting married at a later age. People are just taking marriage and just putting it off forever in their lives, especially young men. It seems that young women still want to be married, but they're being sucked into, you know, different things too. But you say, why is that? I mean, why is, how could it be possible for like men who have this natural desire to be, you know, drawn to women? It's a natural thing. How could they put off that? Well, it's because there's all these instant gratification things that are being available, being made available to them. I mean, the oldest one in history is prostitution. It's in the Bible all over. Just Hordom and just Hormongers and, you know, Hordom, the Bible talks about. What is it? It's just, it's a way for a man to have a physical relationship without any kind of time involved. He doesn't have to have a proper relationship as God would put forward. I mean, modern examples are pornography. I mean, there's that instant relationship right there. You don't have to do anything that God wants you to do. Just, it's just an example of sin, you know, enticing people to replace good things with terrible things that God does not want. Fornication. Fornication, just in general. Fornication is an instant version of what God would actually want. It's a sinful replacement for God's, you know, that's why in 1 Corinthians 7 the Bible says, you know, to avoid fornication, let every man have a wife. To avoid what the devil offers. But this is why you are seeing less and less people, less and less young men want to be married because they're taking the instant gratification option, which is sin in every single case. I mean, just for relationships in general, 39% of people, think about this for a second, 39% of people say that the only friends that they have are online. What? I mean, that's shocking. But people think that just, but guess what? You can have, you know, here's another AI prediction from me. People are going to have friends that aren't even real soon. If 39% of people, the only friends are people that respond to them, people are going to have friends soon that are just fake. They're going to go out and they're just going to purchase a friend. They're going to subscribe to a friend.  Guaranteed this is coming. Guaranteed. Because guess what? As I showed you last Sunday night, all these friendships and all these, even these conversations with these artificial intelligence engines, they're very shallow levels, but even, you know, somebody that is online that you've never even met that's your friend, that's a very shallow relationship. That is a very shallow relationship that could easily be replaced by a machine for sure. So there's a market for it. People are going to be buying friends pretty soon. Look, that's what fraternities and sororities are anyway. People are already buy friends, all right?  You don't have to spend any time doing anything right. You don't have to do anything. So the question is this. This is all introduction. The question is this, why can't people maintain their health? Why can't people maintain relationships over time? You say if it's better to have relationships that last a long time and it's better to be healthy over a long period of time, why can't people do it? Turn to 1 Peter chapter 5 where you should already be there. And the answer is this, suffering. The answer is suffering. I heard from, I don't remember who said this, but I heard this from like some motivational person or a health person or something, but they said it was, I think it was in a book that I read, but it was a really good statement where it said, suffering is the killer of dreams. And what that person was talking about when they said that is people have great dreams and they have great goals, but as soon as suffering enters in, they let go of everything. As soon as it hurts, they stop. This is what a trainer, a fitness trainer means when he says no pain, no gain. But people hit the pain or they hit minor inconvenience and they stop everything. Our society today has a goal to remove all suffering, to remove all inconveniences. Just think of any kitchen appliance that you have. Think about it for a second. Why do you have all these specialty kitchen appliances? Is there maybe like 10,000 kitchen appliances that you can buy? There's a billion of them. There is tons of them. Why? Because I don't want to sit there and I don't want to chop onions for 20 minutes. That's inconvenient. So I've got this special device that chops onions and I've got this special device that slices tomatoes and I've got this special device that, you know, I don't want to have to put, you know, chicken in the oven for like an hour. I want to put it in this thing that will magically pressurize it to like 2,000 PSI and add steam and it's done in two and a half seconds or whatever it is. We have one. I'm not blaming you if you have one of these things. But the point is then the cover comes off it and there's like a steam column like shooting into the ceiling of the house. And I'm just like, is this safe? How could this be safe? My wife is like, it's fine. But what are all these things? These are silly examples. What are all these things designed to do? They're designed to remove all struggle from our lives. They're designed to remove any semblance of any kind of inconvenience that we could possibly encounter. So what does that do? That creates a society where if there's any struggle or there's any inconvenience or there's any pain, we haven't even really gotten to suffering yet. People stop. People quit. They're like, whoa, something's wrong here. You get inconvenienced in any way today. You're like, something's wrong here. We need to invent something. I like to invent things. I get it. But this is a problem when it comes to the Bible. Look, suffering should be the test on whether or not something is legit or not. If something is legit or good, suffering is a good test. I don't know how many different ideas and exercise programs and diets there are out there, but there's a lot. Suffering is a good test. Is there suffering involved? If there's not, if it's just, hey, eat whatever you want. Never exercise. Eat bread and ice cream every single day and follow my program. Just stop listening because it's fake. It's a scam or it's not good for you. One of those three. So the title of the sermon this morning, look down at 1 Peter chapter 5, is the other side of suffering. The goal for us as Christians, and we're going to apply all of this to the Christian life, but the goal for us is to come out the other side of suffering, is to get through suffering, to enter suffering, get through it and come out the other side. And that's what I want to point out this morning. Look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and look at verse number 10. The Bible says, But the God of all grace who have called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after, you see that? After that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. Notice it says after you have suffered a while. What do you see there? You see time there. You see that this is talking about somebody who has gone through suffering for a period of time. And what do they come out? They come out better.  It's like, you know, endure. Endure the hunger. Endure the hunger. If you can't endure any hunger, how are you going to fast? How are you going to do a spiritual fast? You know, if you can't endure the pain of any kind of physical exercise, you will never be healthy. But whatever other healthy goal that you have, I mean, and again, there's millions of different things out there today. And they're getting, and it's so, it's so funny.   And then that's how you start your day. And at the end of the day, you get into a sauna that's like 210 degrees, and that's how you end your day. And look, I'm sure it probably works. I'm sure it probably does. But here we've removed so many conveniences from our life that we literally have to now inject artificial struggle. I mean, it's irony. But, again, all the diets and the exercise routines, if there's no discomfort, it's fake. So we're injecting artificial discomfort. We're injecting what? Suffering. And look, it's probably an indication that those types of things that are, look, that's extreme suffering. I don't know if you've ever been in freezing water. We were out duck hunting one time and we didn't have a boat or we didn't have a dog because we were kind of like, we were just kind of poor duck hunters and I was in college with some friends and we had chest waders and we shot a bunch of ducks that were beyond the depth of our chest waders. We couldn't get to them. So we had, we picked up all the ducks that we had and here we had like four or five ducks like out in the middle of this slew and look, there's snow on the ground, there's ice everywhere, it's cold. It's about ready to be free. This slew is going to be frozen in the next couple of days and I just told my buddies, I was like, all right, I'll go get them. I'll go get them. So like, go warm up the truck. So they got in the truck and they warmed it up and I just like stripped down to my skibbies and I just went and I just swam after these ducks and I'm telling you what, I almost died. I felt like I was going to die. Like I was locking up, like I was locking up as I was swimming back and I got in the truck and we, it was like 45 minutes back to town and I was freezing for the entire day. Like it was, it was, it's so, look, the ice bath thing probably works because it's horrible. That's a terrible feeling that you, you know, I don't know why anyone would honestly do that to themselves but the point is this, they're suffering there. They're suffering there so it's probably has some kind of legitimate, this is my thought, it's got, you know, otherwise take this pills of fraud. It's always going to be that way. True friendships are the same way. True friendships are the same way. Turn to Philippians chapter two. Every single true friendship where, and I'm talking about a true friendship, not where just one friend just constantly helps out the other friend, all right, because in that case you have one friend and one person that's not a friend. That's what the Bible would teach. But a true friendship, a true friendship involves sacrifice and involves discomfort and involves taking time, taking, doing things that normally wouldn't be the best for you to have a true friendship. That's true friendship. And if you have friendships in your lives and you're like, I have pretty good friends and all this and you've never had to sacrifice your time or your effort or your money or whatever for your friendships, there's a problem there because they're probably doing it for you. Look at Philippians chapter two and look at verse number four. The Bible says this, it says, look not every man on his own things. Look, if I want to have the best things and the best things that are for me, I would just constantly look at my own things. But every man also on the things of others, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being made in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found as a fashion of a man and he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Jesus Christ is an extreme example of this. He's an extreme example of this where he came to earth to literally do nothing for himself. None of us can say that. None of us can say that we're not doing anything for ourselves on this earth with this life. But Jesus came to do nothing for himself. That's why the Da Vinci Code and all that stuff that came up 20 years ago or whatever it was was so wicked.  No, because Jesus literally came here to do nothing for himself. He came here to do nothing but 100% sacrifice for mankind. So friendships will require sacrifice. Friendships will require some sort of suffering or giving on your side. Otherwise, they're not good friendships or you're just not a friend. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Actually, here's another example. Just turn to Hebrews chapter 12 and then we'll go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. But sin is another example of this. God literally designed sin to cause suffering. I'm glad that sin causes suffering and you should be glad too. Look at Hebrews chapter number 12 and look what the Bible says here. Look at verse number 6. The chastening of God, you're going to suffer through that. You're going to suffer through that. But on the other side of that suffering, you will come out better. This is why I'm thankful that God has sin. You know, the consequences of sin are God's chastisement and sin just causes suffering in itself. I'm thankful for that because the idea is that you will come out of that better. Look at the Bible in verse number 6. It says, For whom the Lord loveth, he chaseneth and scourgeeth every son whom he receiveth. If he endure chasening, God dealeth with you as sons. For what son is he whom the Father chaseneth not? But if he be without chastisement, we're of all our partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. So it's saying appreciate your chastisement because it just means you're adopted by God. You're saved. Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? But look at verse number 10. For they verily for a few days chasened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. So he's saying that God is really the perfect Father because the reason that he punishes you is not for it. God doesn't take pleasure in punishing you, but he does it. So what? So you profit from it. So you come out of it better. And he's kind of comparing that to a worldly Father who may chasen his children, you know, in the flesh and spank his child and be like, you know, you just deserve this and all this when really we should have the heart of God when we discipline our children and be like, I am disciplining you child, I am spanking you, I am punishing you according to the Bible so you can profit from this. Because that's the heart of God towards us. But the point is this, that suffering of chastisement is for our profit. We will come out the other side of that better. And that's the reason that it's there. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. All of this, you say, why use the example of health and why use the example of relationships in your life? Because both of those aspects apply directly to your Christian life. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. Look, the Christian life, folks, is compared to a race. There's nothing, there's nothing instant about a race. You got to be healthy to run a race. You got to have relationships, you know, amongst, you know, yourselves that are healthy, but you need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be successful in this race. Look at verse number 24 of 1 Corinthians chapter number 9. The Bible says, no ye not, that when they, when they which run in a race run all, but one receiveeth the prize. So run that ye may obtain. And every man's striveth for the mastery is temper, every man that striveth in the mastery is temperate in all things.  This person is not only just running this race, but they are striving to master the way of this race. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible, just applying this idea of a race upon our spiritual lives. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, sounds like a struggle there to me, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, when I have preached unto others, I myself should be a cast away. What he's saying is, it takes control of your body. To what? To run the Christian life. To run the spiritual life, it takes control of your body. Why? Because you're going to have to strive for mastery, you're going to have to train, you're going to have to get through struggle and uncomfortableness in your Christian life. And if you're kind of a person that needs to be instantly gratified in everything, you're never going to have any friends, you're going to be super unhealthy, and you're going to fail in the Christian life. This is what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. There's nothing easy about a race. Just think of a physical race. There's nothing easy about training for a race, and there's nothing easy about running an actual race. That's why it's such a great analogy. I mean, not if you want to do well anyway. But I guess if you just enter a race and you just walk, you're not really racing. You're not really training. Turn to Psalm chapter 27. Turn to Psalm chapter 27. This is why patience in the Bible means a little bit different than what patience to us in our society means. Patience, true biblical patience means the ability to suffer over time. Patience, we think of patience and we think of somebody sitting with a fishing pole waiting for a fish to bite. But patience in the Bible is the ability to go through suffering. That's why in Romans 5 it says tribulation, worketh, patience.  If you can endure that, that is what patience is. Patience is the ability to endure tribulation. Look at Psalm 27, verse number 14. On this idea of biblical patience, look what the Bible says here. It says, wait on the Lord. Okay, wait on the Lord. Like I'm holding that fishing pole, right? I'm out in the lake. I'm holding that fishing pole. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. Why do I need courage to just hold a fishing pole? And he shall strengthen nine hearts. Why do I need strength to just stand there holding a fishing pole on a lake? And it says, wait, I say, on the Lord. So the Bible is saying that biblical patience is going to take courage and strength. You say, why? Because there's suffering there. That's why. And it's saying, wait on the Lord. Get through that suffering. You must endure. And look, this is why Jesus was such a great example here of this, because he endured the ultimate suffering on the cross.  What was that like? I'm sure that wasn't fun. I'm sure that was, you know, miserable.  And now go back to 1 Peter 3. Go back to chapter 3 in 1 Peter. But he came out the other side. He came out the other side. And what does that look like for Jesus on the other side of that? Look at 1 Peter chapter 3 and look at verse number 17. We're looking at the other side of suffering here. We're not to avoid suffering in our lives. We're to embrace it because on the other side of it is something better than what is here on this side of it. Look at 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 17. For it is better if the will of God be so that you what? That you suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. For Christ also. So look, yes, chastisement is going to cause you to suffer and doing good also could cause you to suffer. It's better to suffer for doing good. I mean that's just pointing out that you're going to suffer either way.  But it's better to suffer for evil-doing. It's better to suffer for doing well for going through tribulation.  Just like they were upset at Jesus for being good they're going to come after you for doing good. Look at verse 18. It says, for Christ also hath suffered once for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit. But now look at verse 22. What was the other side of suffering for Jesus? Look at verse 22. It says, who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Look, the other side of suffering for Jesus was he's on the right hand of God now. He's such a great example of the other side of suffering. It's always better than the other side of suffering is always better that is found on anything at the beginning of it. The problem is many people will just never see what's on the other side of it because when they start to suffer they just immediately self-gratify. They just immediately look for that quick fix. They immediately look for that self-medication. They immediately look for look, the other side of suffering, suffering is necessary to accomplish anything great in your life and especially your Christian life. Suffering is necessary. But if you're just this person that's just like, I just have to avoid suffering and inconvenience at all costs. You will never do anything great. This is why you go out soul-winning and you get people saved and you never see them at church. This is why. I mean it's not suffering to come to church but people today they can't even handle a minor inconvenience on what they do every day. Well, I play video games all day on Sunday. That's what I do. I watch football and I drink beer with my buddies. That's what I do on Sunday and I can't inconvenience myself by not doing that. It's incomprehensible to people but they'll never do anything great in their life even if they're saved. They'll never do anything great in their Christian life if they are not able or willing to suffer inconvenience and especially go into suffering and find out what's on the other side of that suffering. These people I mean these people will miss out. It's so sad because you ask people as I just asked somebody yesterday like do you want to do great things in your life or do you want to have a life that is meaningless and nobody has ever chosen meaningless yet that's what they're all choosing. When they choose to not be willing to even inconvenience themselves for the Lord that saved them by the way for even a moment. They are choosing to have a meaningless life. They are letting go of all these blessings that lie on the other side of this wall of suffering. I mean it's a sad fact. Most Americans have trained themselves to not be able to handle even a minor inconvenience. It's pitiful. Much less actual suffering. So I mean just as we end this morning just think about as yourself as you sit here in church on Sunday morning just kind of do a check on yourself here do a check on yourself Jesus is like where's the suffering in your life? Where's the inconvenience in your life today? Where is the sacrifice in your life today? Turn to 1 Peter chapter 4. If you don't have any if you're listening to what I'm saying and you're like I can't think of anything. I can't think of anything that I've sacrificed in my life recently in my friendships in my whatever I can't think of anything that I've had to help out a friend with that I've had to go and sacrifice this or I've suffered through this or even you know look you probably aren't accomplishing much. Even in your career look the more you suffer and the more toil and pain you go through the more accomplished you will be even in a worldly job. If you can't think of any inconvenience that you're going through in your life right now you're probably not accomplishing much. You probably aren't much of a friend. Look at 1 Peter chapter 4 you say well I have some I have some suffering I have some inconveniences in my life right now Pastor that's not me I have some look at 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 13. 1 Peter chapter 4 look at verse number 13 the Bible says but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed you may be glad also with exceeding joy. Look since suffering and on the other side of suffering is the only place that true blessing and true joy resides embrace it rejoice in it. If you're suffering through it look if it's the chastisement of God or things you got yourself into get yourself out of those things realizes the chastisement of God and then rejoice that you realize that it was the chastisement of God get down on your knees apologize to God and thank him for the chastisement but rejoice in the chastisement and get right going forward but look if you're just suffering through tribulation rejoice in it because on the other side of it is where the other side of it that's the only place look on the other side of suffering is the only place true success can be found in life and especially in the Christian life I mean all these people that are like I gotta be I wanna be instantly rich I wanna be instantly rich I wanna be instantly healthy all these people that I just had this conversation a couple weeks ago with somebody like I just wanna win the lottery and I don't have to when they win the lottery that I see they ruin their life they destroy their family they destroy their marriages they destroy everything it's like no thanks what a curse all the instant rich people the instant health people the instant relationships people it all ends in calamity it all ends in disaster we should want to you know go the hard path and go through the sufferings and especially if we're going through those sufferings that not because we did something stupid but especially if we're just if we're doing good and we're going through the sufferings look folks thank God for that opportunity to be in that suffering because on the other side of that suffering it's gonna be great many Christians the only time that suffering was on the other side was when they were physically dead and imagine how great it is for them to have that incorruptible crown now I mean the other side of suffering is guaranteed especially if it is for doing good it is guaranteed to be better than anything we could find in this life of total convenience this life of convenience is a curse it's a curse upon the Christian it's a curse upon the married man and the married woman it's a curse upon all your relationships because good relationships and good marriages and good raising up children that are according to the Bible and that are gonna grow up to be adults that serve the Lord with their lives that's not in five seconds no one is ever gonna say this way Ecclesiastes 7.1 is so powerful no one has ever said ma'am my dad was a great dad because he was good to me when I was 12 for five seconds that one time he took me to that place no, it's how you were the whole time no matter what whether it was hard or whether you suffered through it that's what matters and on the other side of that suffering comes the successful marriage on the other side of that sacrifice comes the successful children that grow up to serve the Lord with their lives comes all the promises in the Bible come from going through whatever is necessary to get through the things that we need to go through and look there's gonna be a lot of inconvenience there and if we're doing it right there's gonna be suffering there turn to John chapter 3 turn to John chapter 3 I always like to read a few verses every now and then read a few verses before the soul winning verses and a few verses after just kinda keep yourself in context of these verses that we say so many times but look at John chapter 3 in verse number 14 look at John chapter 3 in verse number 14 look at this word that we see here and it says and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up this is why our salvation is so great you know you say oh Jesus on the other side of his suffering he got to sit on the right hand of God but you know what on the other side of Jesus' suffering lies our salvation it must happen is what the Bible was saying the suffering must be part of it even it's even baked into the cake suffering was baked into the cake of even how God saved mankind so don't try to avoid all suffering in your life that's not the way it's supposed to be we're supposed to be able to endure suffering this idea that we need to remove every suffering and every inconvenience and instantly gratify ourselves that is from Satan himself our life is going to have suffering in it we're going to have peaks in our life we're going to have valleys in our life but we're in those valleys and we're like man I'm really suffering here make sure it's not because of your sin if it is get that right but if it's just because you're living the Christian life rejoice in it because on the other side of it that's why Jesus had to go through suffering because so many great things are designed as God bakes them into the cake to come out of the other side of suffering let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer


I am eager to interact with Karkatas from Kanyakumari, Coimbatore, Nilgirij, Namakkal, I bow to the rich culture of this great state. Tamil culture and Tamil language is one of the oldest in the history of mankind. This is the land that is home to Tamil, one of the most beautiful languages. The shores of Tamil Nadu have drawn people from all over the world. Tamil Nadu is known for industry and innovation. It is a center of literature and learning. Agriculture and art have flourished here. People from Tamil Nadu are making their mark across the world. They are making their state as well as their country proud. I am happy to have the opportunity to meet you all. We will go to 5 different places and talk to the Karkatas. Later, first go to Coimbatore and I know Coimbatore is known for the textile and IT sectors. I have fond of memories of my visit there in 2014. A ball from Coimbatore who would like to talk. Coimbatore's award is not coming. Your mic is okay. Yes, now you start. When I come. It is a blessing for me to share my thoughts with you directly. Thank you very much. I am very proud to say that in 2019, we will undoubtedly come back to power under the leadership of Coimbatore. Kavita Ji Namaskar. Welcome. And thank you for your best wishes. BJP believes in Sapkashat Sapkavikas. BJP believes that India can only develop when North, South, East and West all develop. BJP government given special attention to the needs of South India. No central government has done as much for Tamil Nadu as we have from health to housing and from skills to sanitation. Lives of people are being improved across all sectors. Kavita Ji, sit here comfortably. Let me give you a few examples. More than 70,000 people from Tamil Nadu have received free treatment under PM Jai. Aishma and Bharat, people used to say Modi care. In less than three months, more than 47 lakh toilets were constructed in Tamil Nadu and more than 12,000 villages were declared open, defecation free. In four years, more than 3,000 kilometers of rural roads were constructed in Tamil Nadu in the last four years. More than 27 lakh women have got smoke-free lives with Ujwala, with the gas connection in the last four years. More than four lakh youth have got skill training in the last four years. Lacks of people have got Mudra loans, Mudra Yojana in the last four years. More than four lakh 30,000 families have got a home, Pakka Ghar in the last four years. Under Sagar Mala program, three major power development works were awarded to Tamil Nadu. Under Swadesha Darshan, development of coastal circuit Chennai, Mamallapuram, Rameshwaram, Manapadu, Kanyakumari is underway. All this has happened through the efforts of the central government on the... Imagine the kind of contribution we can make if we get a chance to serve the people of Tamil Nadu. It is the duty of our Kairakartas to create awareness on these and also enroll more people in these schemes and make them partners in our development journey. We should also think of doing beneficiary summons to enroll more and more people and make sure that the benefits reach to more people. Now, let us talk with friends from Kanyakumari. Vanakkam Kanyakumari. Bhadak! Vivekanan Rock Memorial reminds us of Swami Vivekanan and inspires. Kanyakumari is seeing a lot of infrastructure development. It has immense scope in tourism and central government is working at several sites in Kanyakumari. Well, who wants to talk? Greetings. Greetings. I am Muthu Krishnan from Kanyakumari district. Today, I got a chance to talk to you directly. I am very happy. My question is, middle class is a section which was neglected for successive governments. You have given special attention to the middle class and we are thankful for this. How do we better explain what the government has done for middle class? Greetings. Greetings, Mr. Muthu Krishnan. You have asked a good question. And this is the responsibility of the Indian People's Party. That we should convey our message to all the citizens of the society. I would love to answer this question. People from the middle class have contributed and sacrificed a lot for the country and asked nothing in return. When we requested people to give up LPG subsidy, over 1 crore people gave up their subsidy. A large number of middle class families came forward. When we requested senior citizens who can afford to let go of the rail subsidy, lakhs of senior citizens came forward. Most of these senior citizens are from the middle class. We requested doctors to do free checkups for pregnant mothers once a month and thousands of doctors are contributing. We recently launched a volunteer platform self for society for the IT sector and we are seeing huge participation by IT sector professionals. We have successfully addressed the issue of inflation which hurts the middle class most. Consistently, high inflation many times even in double digits was hurting the common citizen under the previous government. In comparison, inflation has been kept on a tight leash by our government. Just a couple of days back, the retail inflation figure came out which were only 2.3%. Now, a common man would not understand the importance of these numbers. We need to explain to them how this makes a difference in their lives. In 2010, 1 kilo of moong dal was available for 86 rupees which went up to rupees 90 in 2014. In the price rise continued at this rate. Price of moong dal could have reached 95 to 100 rupees. But you know that the price of moong dal today is only 70 to 80 rupees per kg. Similarly, in 2010, 1 kilo of moong dal was available for 50 rupees which went up to rupees 65 in 2014. If the price rise continued at this rate, prices of moong dal could have reached 80 to 85 rupees. But you know that the price of this dal today is around 60 rupees per kg. The middle class has dreams. Often, full-filling dreams needs them to access loans. The availability of loans at lower interest rates give them wings. Educational loans, home loans or automobile loans are available at much lesser rates now. The move have resulted in lower AMIs and increased saving for the common citizen. For example, the rate of interest on home loans is around 8% as compared to around 10% in November 2013 during the UPA area. Similarly, the interest on educational loans has also come down to around 10.5% from the UPA era interest rate of around 14%. The BJP government is helping home buyers with interest submersion. Interest up to 6.5% is borne by the government to help you and buy your home. If you are a person with household income up to 12 lakh rupees and you buy a home through a loan, our BJP government contributes up to 5.5 lakhs towards your home as interest submersion. Medicines are available at extremely affordable prices in more than 4,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras, often at up to 70% less than their market price. Also, these stores are open and accessible to all the citizens of the country. Most families have members over the age of 60 and take some medicines regularly. This easily reduces the cost of medicines. Ownest tax-paying citizens are the backbone of the country as they contribute to the country for their hard-earned money. With an aim to reduce the tax burden on such citizens, multiple measures have been taken by our government. For example now, a tax-paying citizen whose annual income is 5 lakh rupees pays an income tax of only 5,200 rupees. Four years ago, the same person would have paid 18,540 rupees. Also, with the rolling out of GST, there are around 150 items that attract 0% tax and some 400 items that have taxes on them reduce. Eating out is no longer a luxury for the common citizen as it has become much cheaper now. The tax on a restaurant's bill is now a 5% GST with no other hidden taxes as opposed to the earlier range of 13-28% taxes that had to be paid. From cost of daily life commodities to health from loans to income tax, ease of living has become a feature in every citizen's life. Public service too have become people-centric and efficient. A very basic example could be getting a passport. It used to take weeks together to do this and often many would even have to travel to different cities for this purpose. However, now as compared to the earlier 77 functional passport Seva Kendra, there are more than 300 functional passport Seva Kendra. This has taken service closer to the people as well as greatly speeded up delivery. Many people have even received passports within two days. Thank you, Kanyakumari. Now we'll move to Namakal. Namakal is famous for the poultry industry and the transport industry. Well, I would like to... Yes, who wants to talk? Namaste. Namaste. Namakal district president N. P. Satyamothi. G. Most government only talk almost charity investment industry and so on. Nobody talked about a grusial sector like health care have even great imparties to the health sector. We want to know, want, deal to you so. Thank you. Friends, it is of a firm belief that a healthy India is a precondition for a prosperous India. We have seen how families were pushed into poverty due to illness of a family member. We have seen how families could not rise above poverty due to cost of health care. If we want to ensure the growth of India, we need to ensure that health care is affordable so that every poor Indian is provided the right to quality health care. We took several steps. Firstly, we opened for thousands of the centers nationwide to provide affordable medicine. Many medicines are provided at less than half their market price in these stores. Secondly, we brought down the cost of cardiac strengths and knee implants significantly. It has brought a cheer in the lives of elderly and their blessings means a lot for us. Similarly, the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Program providing free dialysis services for poor and subsidized services to all patients has eased lives of the patients as well as their near and dear ones. Thirdly, we made good health care. A mass movement with launch of world's largest health insurance program, Aushman Bharat. People used to say Modi care. Within less than three months, not even 100 days, within less than three months, 5 lakh people availed the schemes, get treatment totally free of cost. It is setting off a massive transformation on the ground with health no longer an obstacle. The amount of energy being focused on productivity pursues. On the ground is going to unleash a new era of change. There have been many a times when pregnant mothers and newborn children lost their lives because of lack of proper vaccination or treatment. With Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matruta Abhyan, more than 1.3 crore free checkups were done with lakhs of high risk pregnancies being identified. It helped in reaching out to the pregnant women on time and saved lives. With Mission Indra Dhanush, 3.34 crore children and 86 lakh pregnant women have been immunized. These families have been saved from years of financial and emotional distress just by simple health intervention. Future of the country has been safeguarded through these schemes. It is not just policies that are being fruit but awareness on cleanliness too has resulted in protecting the health of our children. There has been huge health impact of Swachh Bharata Abhyan. As per studies, it is not only saving thousands of rupees in healthcare but is also helping save lakhs of lives. Smoke free lives with the free LPG connections under the Ujwala Yojana too has helped aid many more healthy years to a women's life. So now we'll have to move. Let us join friends in Nilgirij. Nilgirij is glazed with a great natural beauty. The tea grown there keeps everyone refreshed. Val, who would like to talk? Thank you very much for this opportunity. I am asking you this question today. Every day, the government of Andhya is wearing shoes in the streets of India. How will we handle it? Thank you. Greetings. If you ask me what is among the most satisfying things of being in government, I would say it is to work for our hardworking farmers. After all, it is the farmers who are our Anandatas. Their well-being is a priority not just for the government but for the whole nation. Our government is the most farmer friendly government in India. Let me explain how. Four years ago, farmers asked for urea but all they got was lathi charge. Farmers asked for higher MSPs but all they got was empty promises. Farmers asked for increased incomes but all they got was insensitivity. From 2009 to 2014, the UPA government allocated 1.21 lakh crore rupees for agriculture sector. In the last four years, we have allocated 2.11 lakh crore rupees. From 2009 to 2014, 5 years, only a quantity of 7.28 lakh metric tons of pulses and oil seeds was procured at MSP. In the last four years, our government procured 93.97 lakh metric tons of pulses and oil seeds were procured at MSP. This is 13 times the quantity procured by UPA government. Overall, our government has brought about a paradigm shift and is working hard to double the farmers' incomes. This is happening by reducing their input costs, reducing wastage, ensuring fair price and for the crop and creating alternative means of income. It is for the first time that farmers' welfare is being ensured in a holistic manner starting from the seed to the market. Today, I would like to ask you about how well you know about our government schemes for farmers. Who will give me names of our schemes? Is there anyone who can say? 100% subsidy for drip irrigation. Yes. Anyone else? Name-quoted area. Name-quoted area. Rs. 300. Yes. Pusal Bhima Yojana. Pusal Bhima Yojana. Yes. Namaste Ji, Madhu Sudhanen from Goodlore Assembly Constituency. The main scheme Neelgiri District is a tea industry-based district. We appreciate the efforts by giving green cards to all the tea growers in Neelgiri, especially small growers. Thank you. There are many graphics on farmer welfare available on Namo app. Can you share them with all your friends and family? Please raise your hand. Do you understand my question? There are many graphics on farmer welfare available on Namo app. Can you share them with all your friends and family? Yes. Can we make sure all people in our booth get them? Yes. I want to answer from each and everyone. That will be a good display of showing which booth is sapsimhaj booth. Thank you. Thank you. In a historic step, the MSP has been increased to ensure that farmers get at least 150 percent of the cost of production. Did the Swaminathan Commission report not exist earlier? What step them previous government from implementing it? We have enabled our farmers to sell their produce across the country through enum and get the best market rates. More than 1.27 crore farmers and sailors are already on the platform and getting high returns for their hard work. The focus is also being devoted to cold chain projects and food parts to ensure value addition, reduce wastage and increase profits. We are not like the Congress which will only pay lip service to farmers but ignore their well-being. Whenever Congress is in power, farmers suffer. In Maharashtra, Congress was at the forefront of an integration scam. Just a few days back, a top Congress leader from Punjab who has earlier served as their PCC chief said that Congress government in Punjab is not serious about issues relating to the sugarcane farmers. I am sure you read a newspaper report that said that the Karnataka government where Congress is an integral partner had given a short of waiver scheme worth Rs.44,000 crore. Only 800 farmers got mere benefits. Is this a joke? Is this how serious they are about farmers? If there is one party that understands agriculture issues and will always hear farmers and resolve their issues, it is BJP. Friends, from Salem, I think they are waiting for us. Namaste. Namaste. Namaste. Gopinath. District President. Gopinath Ji, please speak. I would like to congratulate you on yesterday's Supreme Court verdict. This is a big blow to the campaign of ways by the opposition.  I want to say that one thing that starts out in our four years of governance is the focus on national security. I want to ask how this party shift came out. Thank you, Gopinath Ji. Sit down. Sit down. Ours is a government that values your safety and well-being above everything else. We will do everything possible to protect India and 130 crore Indians. When it comes to national security, the morale of the forces is important. Among the first thing that we did after coming to power, we have conveyed to the soldiers that we value them. The soldier who is standing at the border knows that the country is standing behind him. Our government has ensured operational freedom for our forces to deal with those who are harming the country. The surgical strikes show how capable our forces are to give a strong answer to those who attack us. The Maoist terror which had once affected many districts of the nation is on a decline. There has been a major crackdown against Maoists and their sympathizers. Forty-four districts which were earlier affected by left-wing terrorism show the zero incidence of violence in last four years. It has happened because on one hand there has been a sustained campaign by the security forces to fight back while on the other hand the government is making efforts to develop these regions. In Kashmir, while we have reached out to the people in full measure, the army has struck a heavy blow to terror our nations, eliminating terrorists in record numbers. Recently, panchayat Poles were conducted peacefully in the region and saw great participation. Striking terrorists where it hurt them the most has become a new normal in India's anti-terror policy. Recently you would have seen that India's pride nuclear submarine INS Arihan successfully completed its first deterrence patrol on November 5th, 2018. The success of INS Arihant enhances India's security needs. It is a major achievement for our entire nation with INS Arihant India's nuclear trade is complete. Due to its name INS Arihant will protect Indians from external states and contribute to the atmosphere of peace in the region. It was our government that had the honor to fulfill the long pending demand for one rank, one pension, OROP, that was lying unattended for 40 years. The previous government after much persuasion left mere 500 crore rupees aside for the OROP which was nothing short of a cruel joke. We got the opportunity to implement one rank, one pension which we deal with full sincerity. Sadly for Congress national security and defense sector is either a punching bag or a funding source. On one hand the leaders called the army chief names and mocked the surgical strikes. On the other hand they have looted the defense sector from the jeep scam back in the 40s and 50s to buffers in the 80s, the Augusta scam and the sub-managed scam among many others. All they see is way to make money even if it means the morale of our forces is diminished. Thankfully those days are gone. We are proud of our forces and have faith in them. We are a peace-loving nation but will not hesitate to give a fitting reply to antisocial elements who harm our people and disturb our development. Thank you friends. It was great talking to you. I really cherish my interaction with the BJP family through Meera Booth. Thank you very much.


He's definitely speaking to an audience who does not know the Lord Jesus and they're all looking at Peter and John and then they're looking at the miracle that has been done and they obviously don't know the Lord Jesus. But here Peter is saying, this is what you need to do. You need to repent, change your ways, be converted. And he says that times of refreshing, times or seasons of refreshing might come from the presence of the Lord. And I know that we are a group of people who know the Lord, who received him as Lord and Savior, but I believe this is applicable to us as well. If there are some areas where we need to repent, repentance we know it doesn't just mean saying to the Lord, I'm sorry Lord, but it means that there's a decision that you make a decision to turn away, you make a decision to forsake those things that are maybe displeasing to him. It could be an attitude, it could be a motive, it could be an act, it could be anything, it could be some stronghold in the mind. But this is what it is, repent and be converted meaning and be changed and the Lord's promise is that times of refreshing, seasons of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord. Now what is holding us back from experiencing that season of refreshing? It's that we are not repenting, we're not making that change, we're not making that decision and saying, God, I just want to put these things away. But the Lord's intent is that we experience times, seasons of refreshing from his presence. So his presence is very unique, his presence is powerful, his presence is personal and his presence is refreshing.  You're not been looking at the clock, you've not been looking at the watch, but then three hours just went because you just wanted to be there and such is the presence of the Lord or probably even more than that is the presence of the Lord and seasons, times of refreshing come from his presence and all those need that refreshing. So we're just going to spend some time just praying and saying, God, these are areas that I need to change. These are areas that I need to repent, but I need to make a decision and say, God, I'm going to change, I'm going to forsake and the Lord promises that times of refreshing will come from his presence. So let's do that. Let's just pray, take some time to talk to the Lord personally, what is on your heart and each of us, there could be maybe a attitude, maybe some kind of an act, some kind of a motive and the Holy Spirit is shining his light and he's pointing at those very things, not in a condemning manner, but in a convicting manner so that we would take that step and say, okay, I change, I forsake and the Lord wants to fill that space with his refreshing with this presence. Let's pray, Father, we thank you. In your one words, just pray to the Lord, pour out your hearts to the Lord, say, God, this is where I am, that these are things that need to change within me. Yes, Lord. Yes, I'm gone. Just tell the Lord, Lord, I change from this, God, I make a decision, God. So what God says, if we are willing, he gives us the ability, meaning ability for what, ability to change, ability to forsake, ability to stay away, ability to even take on certain things. So repenting doesn't mean just always forsaking, but which means that we need to take on some things, maybe something that the Lord wants us to do instead of what we are doing. So it means to take on certain things and so repentance is that also saying, oh, God, I've been hesitating, I've been resisting to take on these things. It could come in the form of maybe a responsibility, a calling, certain steps that we need to take. Even that is repenting, saying, God, yes, I take on these things, God. I commit to this, Lord. So as we do that, what have God declared the times of refreshing? Father, God, we come before your presence, Father, God, as we are, Lord, Lord, we thank you for speaking to our hearts, God. And Lord, even as we, Lord, make those decisions, God, make those choices, Father, God, to either, Lord, change and forsake or to change and take on, God, as an act of repentance, Lord, Lord, we thank you that you promised that times and seasons of refreshing come from your presence, God.  Lord, whatever is keeping us ensnared and changed, oh, God, let it be broken, Father, God, and what limits are there, barriers are there, ceilings, oh, God, that we have put on ourselves, Lord, let it be broken, Lord, even today, Master, yes, Father, God, we thank you, we say yes to you, Lord Jesus, we say yes to you, Lord Jesus, yes, oh, God, we thank you, we thank you, Lord, we thank you for your work, deep work in our hearts, Master, we thank you that you love us, we thank you that you're leading us, God, from where we are to where we should be, Lord, we thank you for empowering us, oh, Father, God, we thank you for, Lord, assuring us of your presence, Father, God, we thank you for assuring us of your power, oh, God, in our lives, Master. Lord, we pray even today that even as we open our hearts, God, we pray that you would speak to us, Lord, speak to us in ways that only you can, oh, God, speak to us, Lord.  Now, let's take some time to do that. Thank you, God, thank you, Lord. Just be mindful of what the Spirit of the Lord is doing, He is quickening a scripture, maybe is doing anything, any of that thing, but just be mindful of that, and in His presence, there is fullness of joy, maybe there's a release of joy in your heart, maybe there's a release of unexplainable peace, a peace that passes understanding, so just be mindful of that and receive that.  And those of us who are online, I just want to request you to do the same, right?  Yeah, just do that with a hunger, with a passion, you know, and even if you're feeling down in your spirit, just stir yourself up, say, I stir myself up, I position myself in His presence, I position myself in the presence of the Lord, and to receive, I prepare my heart to receive, Thank you, Father, God, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Yes, Lord, we just want to thank you. Thank you for all your work in our hearts, your work in our lives. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that you're the God of the here and now, real and authentic God. You're the one who speaks in the here and now, God. We just want to thank you. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your assurance, God. Thank you for drawing us to your side, Lord. May we continue to walk with you by your side. Lord, always aware, Father, God, that you are speaking to us, that you're drawing us, that you have good things in store for us. We thank you. In Jesus' matchless name, we pray. Okay, I just want to open up this time. If there's anything that you sensed, anything that maybe for the class, maybe for someone here and online class, same thing. If there's a scripture that was quickened to your heart, something that you saw, you can just put it on the chat so that I can share it here with the in-person class also. So anything at all, you can share. Anyone, anything, what you sensed, what you felt impressed in your heart. Yeah, to do that. Yeah, Rinchen, you want to share something? No. If it's something personal, then you don't have to, but then if it's something that you feel that, go ahead. Okay, so it's a mirror and then light shining on a mirror and then reflected. And yeah, so Rinchen shared that saying that she, you saw this, you sensed this. You saw, something visual, mirror, light shining on the mirror, light dispersing and message being that, okay, the way I've shown my love to you, you share the love with others. Praise God. Anyone else? Yeah, so, Prince. Okay, so this is something that you saw or sensed, you heard. Okay, so this is Prince here. So what he heard in your heart, right? It's a cup that we, for the cup to be, a cup needs to be overflowing, but for that, one is to take away what is hindering or to take away what is, what we have already filled in that cup so that he can fill and the cup can overflow. Okay, so yeah, praise God for that. Sometimes we put, it's like, we say, okay, please serve and we just do that. But then if we put our hand there, it's people can't actually pour in and sometimes we do that, our own attitude, all sincerity we want, but then we're doing something, we are either fearful, we're either afraid, our attitude. So we actually, without knowing we do that, right? Yeah, so yeah, this is a reminder of that. Okay, anyone else? Take that hand off, right? Okay, praise God. Anyone else? So it need not be something visual, okay? Sometimes with the, oh, I didn't see, like, oh, Ranshan, sorry, like Ranshan said or like Prince, I just felt something and I'm not even sure whether it's God or not. How can I share? Please share. Okay, anybody feeling like that? St. Francis? Nothing, okay. Who else? Vijay, Anand, Sheera, trying to recollect the names, Vimal, right? Then Nishant, Nikhil, Nikhil, Srirada, Nina, anyone, online folks? Okay, yeah, something here. Let me just read out from Jachin Joel, okay? I'm so much thankful to God for his love.  God broke the barriers within my heart and I'm determined to live the way he wants me to live, reflecting his love for me to those around and even to people who do not accept me. His power will enable and sustain me. Thanking God for his assurance and supernatural peace I receive now. Praise God. Thank you, Joel, for sharing that. Thank you, I really appreciate it. Okay, maybe two more minutes and then we'll jump right in, anyone? Sheera, anything? Oh, okay, okay. So whenever we, you know, of course, when we pray, we pour out our hearts, right? We tell the Lord what we want. We tell the Lord who he is, right? And also, we can take time to be mindful of what he is putting in us. It's a communication is always two ways, right? So it's a two-way lane. It's never one way, right? So we can be mindful of that and say, okay, God, what are you telling me? What are you speaking to me? Because the Lord wants to do that, right? Okay, so like what I saw was like something like a reverse rain, you know, rain always comes from top to bottom, like top down, from the sky to the earth. And then there's a lot of things here on the earth, right? So, but I saw something like a reverse rain in the sense, even as all of us were like praying, you know, quietly, softly, like going up like rain, something like a, like reversing a video, no? Like, like up like rain. So I just saw that, like things going up to heaven. And then the Lord, and I was just thinking, and the Lord responding to that with his, the rain of his presence, you know, but receiving and then, you know, sending the rain of his presence. And also sense that God bringing to maturity certain things in people's lives, like bringing to maturity, bringing to completion, you know, not all aspects of our lives, but some aspects of our life. And the Lord doing that, he sends that. Okay, anyone else? No. Okay, let's, let's go right into today's class, right? So today, online students, I've actually uploaded two books, A Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Wonderful Benefits of Praying in Tongues. So you can download that on your, you know, on your personal devices and so that you can access it. And others, you have the books here, physical copies. No, not yet. Okay. Okay, you may have it on top. You can, you know, pick it up later between the two classes when you have a break. But anyway, let me just, so, yeah, so we'll use content from that, both, both written by Pastor, Pastor Ashish, right? So this is about the whole aspect of baptism with the Holy Spirit, right? So we need to understand that from a point of, okay, what, what does the Bible say about baptism of the Holy Spirit? Okay, we've, you know, and, you know, coming from charismatic backgrounds and all that, we've always heard this, but it's, it's good to, you know, study and see what does the Bible talk about it, scriptural background for it, right? What it is and what it's not, so we know the difference. And also, why, why baptism of the Holy Spirit, right? And, you know, we're going to look at that. And we're also going to look at, you know, what does it result in? Okay, what do the Lord intend for us when he said, okay, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, you know, you'll just see the promise of the Father. What do the Lord intend for us? And, and, you know, some of those things, right? And also about praying in tongues and so on, why tongues and all that. So, so let's look into that. So first of all, the Lord, it was John the Baptist who, when we see in Matthew chapter 3 and verse 11, okay, you can turn there. Yeah, of course, you can follow in the notes also, you know, some of those things are there, but in the book, it's a little more sequential. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 11, okay, so this is what John the Baptist says.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Okay, so this is something that we see where John the Baptist who is actually baptizing people in water, he says, okay, this is what I'm doing. I'm baptizing you people in water and this is the baptism of repentance, a sign of that, but there is one who's coming who's mightier than me. He's referring to the Lord because the rest of the chapter talks about that and where he says, you know, he, the Lord Jesus comes and then, you know, and all that we read the rest of the chapter. So here, he's talking about this baptism and he's talking about how the Lord Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Okay, so it's a different kind of a baptism.  Okay, so that word baptize, baptize, means to immerse, okay, to immerse completely. And people who actually were, you know, dying of garments, right? So they would use that dying of garments meaning, okay, if you want to, you know, take a white garment and then make it into a different color. So there would be a liquid, right? Liquid color, liquid dye, they would immerse that garment completely in that dye. And when it comes out, it comes out in a different color. You know, it could go in white, but it come out red or whatever. So, so immerse completely that the picture, that's the picture. So baptize, meaning immerse completely. So baptize with the Holy Spirit. So in the Greek, you know, that word, that proposition with can be translated as in or off or by.  You know, the thing is that the Greek actually usage can be translated into all these ways in English. Okay, so baptize with, baptize in, you know, you don't have to be troubled. You know, it's the same thing. So it's a baptism off the Holy Spirit. Okay, so John the Baptist announced this and he said the Lord Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. So he's talking about the baptism. He's talking about an experience. He is talking about what the Holy Spirit would do. And he says that it is the work of cleansing, right, fire, just like how fire burns says he will do this, right, it's a work of cleansing. Okay, then the Lord Jesus also said something like this, you know, when you go to Luke chapter 24. Okay, Luke chapter 24 verse 48. Okay, let's look 24 verses 48 and 49. Okay, it says you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. Okay, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. So John is here when you see the Lord is saying, okay, you wait for the promise of my father and you wait in Jerusalem till you are endued or filled or surrounded with power from on high. Okay, then let's turn to Acts chapter 1. Okay, Acts chapter 1 verses 4 and 5, okay, Acts chapter 1 verse 4. And being assembled together with them, okay, he commanded them. Who commanded them? Jesus. The Lord Jesus commanded his disciples not to depart from Jerusalem. Now this is after the resurrection. Not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said, you have heard from me for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Okay, so he's referring to, he's using this phrase promise of the Father. And he says, okay, you have heard from me. You have heard me speak about this. Okay, so when did they hear him speak about this during his earthly ministry? Right, during his earthly ministry, the Lord. And where do we see that? The Lord speaking to them and talking to them about the promise of the Father. Right, where do we see that in the Gospels? Anyone? Huh? Yeah, where do we see in the Gospels where the Lord Jesus talks about this promise of the Father? Of course, one we see in Luke chapter 24, verse 48-49, but he says, this promise of the Father which you have heard from me, where else did he speak? Yeah, in the book of John, in the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus makes several references to the Holy Spirit, about the Holy Spirit. Right, starting from John chapter 14, he says, I will pray the Father, 14 and verse 16. I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because, you know, several references, like verse 16 talks about that. And then we go down to verse 25, 26, 27, right, it talks about the Holy Spirit and several other places. So he's reminding them the promise of the Father which I actually, you heard from me, and he's saying, this is what will happen. You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now, but wait in Jerusalem. So even before that, what has happened is the Lord Jesus, we read about this in Matthew chapter, sorry, where's that reference? John chapter 20, right, the Lord's, you know, after the resurrection, he meets them and he breathes upon them, he breathes upon them and he says, receive the Holy Spirit. So here he's saying, you will receive the promise of the Father, you will be endured with power on high, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And after his resurrection, he's, you know, he's breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. So something is happening right in the lives of the believers, they've been receiving from the Lord. You know, many things have been, exciting things are happening. So we can see that, okay, they, after his resurrection, they receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. They were born again, right. For them to be born again, the Lord Jesus has had to be, you know, had to die and rise again, right. He rose again, he defeated sin, he, you know, destroyed the body of sin. So now that, you know, the body of sin in their life, sin has no hold over them, no power over them that has been dealt with, okay. And he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. So they have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Now these are followers of the Lord Jesus, right.  So the purpose of the Lord to baptize them was to be this, that they will have power to witness, okay. So we need to understand why baptism, why at all baptism, what is the objective. This is the intention that his disciples, his followers of the Lord Jesus, you and I, will have power, will be in, will be clothed with power to witness, okay. So that's the intention. Second one, what John the Baptist said, that he will do the work of refining. He will do the work of refining. He'll burn away the chaff, he'll gather the wheat.  Therefore, the baptism also, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, there is a work of refining, there's a work of cleansing. There's a work of purifying that happens. Okay, so it's twofold, right. So what is the objective? One is to receive power in order to witness, be a witness, right. Second one, purifying, cleansing work as believers, right. The Lord cleansing us. So the objective is that, okay, purifying also so that we can be witnesses, okay. So when we turn to the book of Acts, we see several instances, starting from Acts chapter 2, in the early church where the disciples had gathered, several instances or several situations where people were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Okay, people were baptized with the Holy Spirit and we need to know that, okay. What happened when they were baptized? What were the, what was the situation? Who are these people? How do they, you know, how were they baptized with the Holy Spirit? Okay, so we need to know that. So we're going to look at that, okay. Let's look at Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, I'm sure you've read this many, many, many times. Acts chapter 2 verses 1 to 4, okay. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly they came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire and one sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, right. So this is what happened. So something very supernatural, something, you know, something amazing and it's like you see something happening in the environment itself, atmosphere itself. They came a sound from heaven, rushing mighty wind, it filled the whole house. They were divided tongues of fire on each head.  There's not much ventilation and all that, fans are not on. But then there's a sound of a mighty rushing wind filling the whole, a whole room and on top of that, something that we can see, tongues of fire, claims of fire on each person's head and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, this is what the Lord Jesus said. He didn't say, okay, you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit. He said, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit, okay, and they were all filled. So which means being filled with the Holy Spirit, being baptized in the Holy Spirit is the same thing, like the, it's used interchangeably here, right. Okay, so we see that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So they began to speak in other tongues, meaning they began to, you know, speak in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance, okay.  So they spoke in other tongues. Now, it was a harvest festival, the feast of the first fruits, feast of Tentecost, everything was, you know, happening one after the other. And we see that in Jerusalem, people had come to celebrate this feast, people from the surrounding regions who spoke, you know, other languages, they were all there. And when this happened, they were amazed, you know, we see different reactions, somewhere amazed, they marveled, how can this be? Now these are Jews and they're speaking my language, right. It's as if I suddenly started speaking in Telugu and Anand is like, wow, buster. What do you say in, how do you say in Telugu, wow.  So that's the same reaction, they marveled, right. They were amazed, they were also perplexed, meaning troubled, how can this be? How is this happening? What is this due to? And some of course, they heard the languages and then they said, these people are drunk, right, they were, they just mocked, they ridiculed, they made fun of them and said, they are drunk.  And this is what we see and we see this in Acts chapter two. You know, let me just read that, right. How is it that we hear verse eight, how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya, adjoining Cyrene, you know, Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues, the wonderful works of God. Verse 12, so they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, whatever could this mean, others mocking said they are full of new wine. Okay, so this was the reaction and it's, it is recorded for us here. So when all this happened, Peter stands up, Acts chapter two, 14 to 18. Peter stands up and he says something. He addresses the crowd, but Peter standing up with the leaven, raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words, but these are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. So he's referring to another incident or another prophecy that was made by the prophet Joel. He's referring to the Old Testament scriptures, the scriptures of those times. And he's saying, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.  Your young men shall see visions, your old men shall see, shall dream dreams. And on my men servants and on my maid servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy. Okay, so prophesying is to speak forth as inspired by the Holy Spirit. There are very many elements to it prophesying. But simply put, it is this, God speaking to man through man, right? So they were prophesying, what were they saying? They were actually declaring the wonderful works of God. Okay, and Peter is saying, this is what it is. The Lord, the prophet declared this, we see the completion of that, or we see the actual working out of that, and they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are not drunk, they are filled with the Holy Spirit. And as a result of that, this is what you see, this is what you hear. Okay, so something we see that as a result of baptism of the Holy Spirit, you know, he's talking about dreams, he's talking about visions, he's talking about prophecy. So we know that it can be an overflow of that, right? As a result of baptism of the Holy Spirit, we can expect that. As a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit, we can expect that because God wants to do that, God wants to release that, right? Dreams, prophecies, visions, well, it comes with that. So we don't need to restrict God and say, okay, it can happen this way. No, and they all spoke in tongues as well. So we see that. And then he says in verse 38 and 39, what does he say? Then Peter said to them, repent, because they ask, you know, what should we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off as many as our Lord our God will call. So if there is a question, you know, this baptism of the Holy Spirit was only for the New Testament early, it's not for others. It could, you know, some of these questions could come up. You know, it was only then the Lord did it sovereignly. It's only then it's not anymore. But, you know, Peter puts to rest any such question. It's to you, it's to your children, the next generation and to those who are afar off people who are not here, they are as many as our Lord will call. Okay, so it's talking about Jerusalem, Judea, ends of the earth, Atomos parts of the earth, everyone is included in this. It is for all, this baptism of the Holy Spirit. Okay, so what is the intention? What is the objective? It is to witness with power. Okay, so in the witnessing with power, we need to understand this. Witnessing with power, you know, what is the understanding of it? Okay, let me ask you first. Witnessing with power. Okay, we received that to some of the Holy Spirit. He's given us the ability to witness with power. Does it mean that I need to speak it loudly, boldly, the gospel? What is it? What do you think? Witnessing with power, anyone? Good boldness, careless, okay, without any hesitation, not being ashamed, not being shy, anyone? Anyone else? Live for God, a life that is abandoned, totally for him, yes. What else? Anybody from the online class, what do you think? This witnessing with power. Now, this is the way in which the apostles actually gave witness. So, is there more to it? All these responses are correct. With boldness, without holding back, living an abandoned life, peerless, absolutely. But is there more to it? What do you think? Yeah, so that's the other aspect of it. In the sense, whenever the apostles, when we read the book of Acts, whenever the apostles, it says they gave witness with power and it talks about, let me just read. Okay, so verse 43, Acts, we read 38 and 39 promises to you and your children. Right? Then when we read 43, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles, many signs, many wonders. So, where the signs and wonder, how were these possible? How was this possible? Because the Lord Jesus already said that, if you believe, you will be doing this. He already said that. He also said that it is to this whole thing of baptism of the Holy Spirit, infilling of the Holy Spirit, it is so that you might be filled with power. Okay? And so, when we say to be witnesses, to be clothed with power, it is to be giving witness with the manifestation of the power of God. Living a righteous life, life of integrity and holiness. Yes, it is the power of God, transformative power of God. You know, living a life or giving witness with supernatural works of God, right, where God meets the need of people, whether it's healing or, you know, when there's a discouragement situation and the Lord brings in a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom, where the person, you know, begins to share or begins to share an information to another person, which this person has no idea about that person, but the Holy Spirit who knows everything reveals and you share, like, that is witnessing with power, right, where you witness with the power of God and you're giving witness, you're saying, this is God, it's not me, what is God, and God who knows everything is actually revealing.  So there is a witness right there, there's a testimony right there and it's with power, right, and that's what happened, you know, when they started speaking in tongues, it's not to display, put on spiritual display, you know, something like a trophy, oh, I received this, no, it was actually witnessing in power the supernatural works of God, what God, this infinitely supernatural, this wonderful working God can do through a finite person, a finite human being whose life is turned over to God, right. So the Lord Jesus wanted that to happen to all his, wants that to happen to all his, believe us, right, all his followers, all his disciples, that we would give witness with power, right. So, okay, the annoying thing will be moved to make a decision, yes, yes enough, yeah, so that's the thing, you know, it's, so power includes all that, you know, the transformative life, the testimony, the, you know, convicting power of the Holy Spirit and truth being enlightened and all these other manifestations of the power, because of the power of the Holy Spirit, right. Okay, so that was the first thing, okay, so let's move on to the second instance, okay, so these things, you know, you should be in your heart, okay, Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 8, all these things, you know, all these, you know, instances that happen, we should really know it, okay, so let's move to Acts chapter 8, okay, so Acts chapter 8 and verses 12 to 19, okay, Acts chapter 8, what happens in Acts chapter 8, okay, just a quick recap, there's a lot of persecution that happens after the martyr Dem of Stephen, right, chapter 7 is all about that, Stephen shares the message, he's stoned, he's put to death, Saul, we see Saul being introduced there, Saul is standing there, he was taken care of actually all the cloaks and everything, he was consenting to the death and after that we see that Saul is creating a havoc, right, he's persecuting the church, he's doing all that and people are scattered and one such place where this persecution happens is of course in Jerusalem it happens and Philip and others, they go to this place called Samaria because of the persecution. Philip shares the Gospel in Samaria, people are born again in Samaria, right, people start to follow the Lord, actually it says here that if you look at Acts chapter 8 and verse 7, for unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed, so what was Philip doing, he was actually giving witness with power there and it says, as a result of all this, verse 8, there was great joy in the city, right, people who were in bondage, they are being set free, they have come to the saving knowledge of Christ and there was great joy in that city, okay. Okay, now let's go on to verse 12, right, we have time, okay, let's take a break and then once we come back, we'll continue with verse 12 to 19, Acts chapter 8, we'll take a break right.