Deception and discernment!

(0:00) Hello and good morning church. Isn’t it wonderful to be here in the house of the Lord? (0:08) I’m so glad all of y’all could make it here today and before I begin, I’m going to open up in a (0:14) short prayer. Thank you Abba.
Thank you Heavenly Father. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ. (0:27) Thank you for your Holy Spirit.
Thank you for your love. Thank you for your compassion. (0:34) Thank you for your grace.
Thank you for your mercy. Abba, as I’m about to speak, let the words (0:41) that come out from my mouth be your words my Lord. Let you be glorified in everything I say.
(0:48) Let you be exalted in everything I speak. Let your Holy Spirit manifest in this place right here (0:55) and right now. Abba, as these people have come here to witness you, to seek you, you bless them.
(1:04) Let their thirst be quenched my Lord. Let the joy of the Lord be their strength. (1:12) Thank you Abba.
I make this prayer in your precious name. Amen. Jesus Christ, Amen.
(1:18) So I’m going to start with this little poem I wrote. I call it a song of Adam. Oh Lord, (1:26) you called upon me and I looked away.
As I faltered and my emotions frayed, yet you chose (1:35) to stay. The earthly realm is all I could see. Flesh is all I could feel.
I was caught up in (1:43) the mundane. I had no time to heal and yet again you called me by my name and I shrugged in disbelief. (1:51) I couldn’t see past my shame.
Buried in my own rout, I had no way out. Nights were full of terrors (1:59) and battles. Days spent in meaningless rattle.
The devil had me pinned down and on my face he put a (2:06) frown. As my faith dangled on a string, this conniver led me into a fiery ring. And when all (2:13) hope was lost, you came through.
You paid the cost. Through the darkness you paved a way. Your spirit (2:21) came like a beacon and swept me away.
Blessed are you oh Lord my God. You stretched out your hand and (2:27) you pulled me out of the abyss. You turned my melancholy into heavenly bliss.
You restored all (2:34) that was lost. You set me apart. You healed my mind.
You mended my heart. And whenever I feel unworthy, (2:42) your presence will always comfort me. I will forever call upon you oh holy one.
For I now (2:48) understand you’d never forsake me. For my name is engraved on the palms of your hand. (2:56) Jesus.
Thank you Abba. Thank you. If I rewind my life to just about a couple of years from now and (3:06) give you a gist of it, I was lost.
I was broken. I was confused. I was anxious.
I was misled. (3:15) And even though and I was caught up in the wicked ways of the world (3:18) and I lacked Jesus. But even though I was caught up in the ways of the world, he never let go.
(3:26) Because his grace was sufficient for me and his power was made perfect in my weakness. (3:35) And even though that I was detached from him, he never let me go. He was always there out to (3:40) save me.
His love and his compassion was always hovering around me. I could say that I was a (3:49) Saul back then. But now that I’m getting closer to him, I feel the Paul in me tuning in.
(3:57) But then again, I still have my flaws and I am far from perfect. But now that I have him, (4:05) I am confident and I am sure of this that he who has started a good work in me will carry (4:11) it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Amen.
So I have a little testimony to share with (4:21) you all, which I’m sure is going to be a blessing to many, especially the youth. So I want all your (4:27) ears and your attention please. At the age of 16, I used to go to a church in Bombay with my parents.
(4:37) But honestly, I didn’t know God. I didn’t know who Jesus was. And I knew nothing about the Bible.
(4:45) I used to tag along with them just for namesake. And even when I was at church, I was always (4:52) distracted, like super distracted. Either on my phone or talking to a friend or just daydreaming (4:59) sometimes.
Sometimes I used to even escape and slyly skip church, escape during worship and (5:08) then come back during the end of service and then hide away at the back. One Sunday, that didn’t (5:15) happen. One Sunday, my parents didn’t let me go.
They forced me to stay. And on that particular (5:21) Sunday, we had this unknown preacher come, prophetess come to our church. And now this (5:29) woman of God, during her preaching, mid preaching, she randomly calls out my name and she says, (5:36) there’s a boy named Adam in the crowd here.
Please get up and come forth. Now at first, (5:43) when I heard her calling out my name, I was petrified. I thought to myself, (5:50) why is she calling out my name? What did I do? Did I do something wrong? (5:54) So I got a little nervous.
She then called my name again and she said, Adam, get up and come (6:00) forth right now. And I waited again. And then she said, Adam, wake up and come right now.
And then (6:06) I got up and I walked towards the pulpit. I walked towards the pulpit. I got on that stage.
She then (6:12) laid her hand on my head and she prayed over me. She prophesied over my life saying that (6:18) this boy is going to lead a Joshua generation. (6:25) Honestly, I was not in tune with God’s word, God’s purpose in my life.
I was young. I was naive. (6:34) I was stubborn.
I was a deviant. Even after my calling, I still indulged in man’s wicked (6:41) ways of gratifying the flesh. I adopted bad habits, bad vices.
I even stopped going to church (6:48) completely after that. I buried myself deep into the ground of lawlessness for many years. (6:55) To just about a couple of years from now, when I was at the brink of depletion, (7:00) I just lost my mom.
I was broken. I was devastated. I was just basically at my lowest (7:09) and I felt I had no way out.
I remember my mom’s last words to me on her deathbed and she said, (7:17) Baba, don’t forget your calling. Jesus loves you and I love you too. I picked up the Bible (7:25) and I opened to the book of Joshua and in there I read that Joshua was the one chosen by God to (7:33) succeed Moses after his death, to lead the people of Israel, God’s chosen people to the promised (7:40) land of Canaan by defeating the tribes that were inhabiting the land at that point of time.
(7:47) But honestly, all this didn’t make sense to me. What is my role in all of this? What is this (7:52) Joshua generation? Who am I supposed to lead? The same time, I was watching the series called (7:57) The Chosen and in there, there’s this part where Nathaniel is sitting under the fig tree and he’s (8:04) crying to God. He says, God, show me.
Why are you hiding your face away from me? (8:10) After watching this clip, I broke down a little. I got a little emotional. I went in my room (8:17) and my conversation with God was, God, you know what? I give up.
(8:24) I’m a broken man. I’m a mess. This life isn’t working out well for me.
Everything is falling (8:31) apart. If you can, please save me. Show me who I am.
Show me my purpose. Turn my life around. (8:44) I surrender.
I submit. You see, God doesn’t fail and his timing is perfect. (8:55) He gives you the freedom of choice.
The question is, are you ready to submit and surrender to him? (9:03) He then uprooted me from where I was and he placed me in fertile ground. (9:08) He put me in a church in Goa and he ministered to me through his vessels and that gave me some hope. (9:15) But I was still far from saved.
I still hadn’t learned to put my flesh to the test. (9:20) I felt the urge to get baptized and on my first day of baptism class, I asked my teacher this (9:25) question. I said, is it okay to get baptized even if I’m still sinning and I’m a sinner? (9:32) And to that his reply was, Adam, you do not have to be clean to get baptized.
Everyone is a sinner. (9:39) Once you get baptized, you receive the Holy Spirit and when you receive the Holy Spirit, (9:44) he convicts you and when he convicts you, you automatically learn to change your ways. You (9:51) get conscious of your sinful nature.
And when he said those words, it instantly clicked in my head (9:57) and I said, hey, this is something my dad also used to say to me. So it’s gotta be right, you know. (10:03) I then got baptized and things started to change.
The supernatural began to take place in my life. (10:11) I took a leap of faith and I started getting involved in church and church activities, (10:16) youth meetings and choir practices. To my surprise, I even got called to become a youth (10:21) leader.
And on that day when I got called to become a youth leader, I went back home (10:27) and I started to ponder over everything God was doing in my life. (10:30) Honestly, I didn’t feel I was the perfect candidate for the job, yet he chose me. (10:38) And I couldn’t say no to him for anything.
I just knew things were about to change in my life from (10:45) now on. I started to form new practices. I started to cling on to him.
I started getting hungry for (10:51) his word. From a nobody, Jesus was now giving me an identity in him. His promises and his prophecies (11:02) and his purpose was coming to pass in my life.
He was molding me. He was shaping me. He was making (11:08) me a vessel of purpose.
I know when some of you look at me, you see my outward appearances. It’s (11:15) my tattoos and my earrings and my cap and my alien lingo. And you may think, you know, this (11:20) guy here, he looks like trouble.
But once Samuel 16, 7 says, God doesn’t look at the outward, (11:29) he looks at the inward. And when God comes calling, it doesn’t matter what anyone says or thinks. (11:36) So I’m going to ask you a question over here.
Can anyone tell me what this book is? I know it’s a (11:42) very dumb question to ask, but can anyone here tell me what this book is and what this book means (11:49) to y’all? Correct. Correct. Correct.
Correct. And correct. This book here contains the word of God.
(12:05) This book here is living. And this book here is as sharp as a two-edged sword. This book here (12:12) is my user manual.
This book here guides me on how to live my life. This book here has the wisdom (12:20) and the answers to everything one needs to know. (12:25) I’m sure all of you are familiar with the scripture that says, man shall not live by bread (12:30) alone, but every word that comes out from the mouth of God.
This book here comes, the words (12:37) from this book here comes straight from the mouth of my God. If you go to John chapter one, verse one, (12:44) it says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And if (12:53) you go down a bit, same chapter, verse 14, it says, and the word was made flesh and it dwelt among us.
(13:02) So basically Jesus is the word of God and Jesus is God and Jesus is life. And when we imprint (13:13) the word, which is Jesus into our lives, into our minds and into our hearts, (13:20) his spirit influences us and his word echoes through us. And when his word becomes a source (13:29) of our understanding, everything we do and everything we know, and we see, and we hear, (13:36) we filter it out through the lens of scripture to understand if someone or something is coming (13:43) from God or not.
Basically we use scripture as a measuring stick to discern if something (13:53) is coming from God or not. Don’t you love it when God speaks to you through his word? (14:00) Aren’t you empowered by it? Doesn’t it fascinate you? (14:04) One of the many supernatural gifts I’ve received from reading the Bible in a short span of time (14:09) is spiritual discernment. Remember, spiritual discernment cannot be gained by an earthly (14:16) experience.
It cannot be earned just by your works. You receive it when you submit and surrender (14:24) to him and you lean onto his understanding rather than your own. And when I say his understanding, (14:30) I mean also following and practicing what he says.
(14:35) Now when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he pours into you his wisdom. Wisdom (14:42) far beyond your understanding. Wisdom so pure that at first it takes time to comprehend.
(14:49) The wisdom and the understanding to discern the deceptions of this world. (14:54) And this wisdom cannot be contained within oneself. It cannot be restricted.
It has to be (15:00) shared so that he may be glorified. Now when I started to read the Bible and I started to grasp (15:06) in all of this, I began to discern things through his eyes. Because I lived in the darkness for so (15:14) long, I didn’t know what the light felt like.
And because I lived in the darkness for so long, (15:19) I didn’t understand the devil’s art of deception. But now it feels different. If you see, (15:27) you read 2 Corinthians 4.4, it says the God of this age, lowercase g, the God of this age, (15:35) the forces of evil that influence this age.
The God of this age has blinded the mind of (15:41) unbelievers. You see, I had a calling, but because I didn’t believe in Jesus Christ, I strayed away. (15:50) The devil’s deception is strong.
He led me through the broad way. His deception is so strong (15:57) that he literally convinced and took one third of the angels to the bottomless pit. This dude (16:05) literally tried to tempt Jesus during his 40 days in the wilderness.
But obviously that didn’t work (16:11) out for him well because it’s Jesus. But you see, he saw his wonderful state and he tried his luck. (16:18) Don’t you think, do you think it’s hard for him to deceive one of the finest of Christians? (16:27) 1 Peter 5 verse 8 says, be alert of sober mind.
Your enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring (16:37) lion looking for someone to devour. This is why it is so important to set your eyes and your gaze (16:45) unto him and seek his kingdom first. It is so important to read your Bible and it is so important (16:53) to be spiritually discerning, to understand the deceptions, to see through the deceptions of this (16:59) world.
Ephesians 6, 12. This is an eye-opening scripture. It’s beautiful.
For we do not wrestle (17:09) against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of (17:15) this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. You know what this means? (17:23) It means our battle here is not against each other. It’s not man against man.
It’s against (17:29) the forces of evil that influence this world. And if you look in Matthew 24 verse 37, it says, (17:39) as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the son of man. (17:44) If you look around and see, it’s a time of spiritual lawlessness at its peak.
I know this (17:52) topic is not addressed that much, but he who has spiritual eyes will see. I am going to state a few (17:59) points to show you how this world is living in denial and is being deceived and why it is important (18:05) to have the spirit of discernment. Remember real eyes, realize real lies.
(18:14) I’m going to repeat that again. Real eyes, realize real lies. (18:23) Point number one, reality TV is scripted.
They stage conflict, lust, and betrayal. So chaos (18:31) feels normal and holiness feels strange. Fashion is normalizing immodesty, then shames purity (18:39) as oppressive.
The news runs 24 seven, but the gospel is outdated. They broadcast chaos daily, (18:48) but call eternity irrelevant. Schools are erasing the creator, then wonder why students (18:54) feel meaningless.
They teach evolution without God, raising generations without hope. (19:00) Gender expression is a mockery today. God’s design being questioned is like the clay questioning the (19:07) potter.
Antidepressants are everywhere, but forgiveness, nowhere. You can numb guilt, (19:14) but you can’t heal it without Christ. Porn isn’t just private sin anymore.
It’s mass slavery, (19:21) and Satan funds it for free. They are shrinking your attention span through various means because (19:28) distracted people won’t seek God. Presidents change, but the agenda never has.
Two wings, (19:36) one bird preparing the beast system. Wars don’t just happen. They are funded, staged, (19:43) and televised.
Do you know why? Because fear fattens pockets. And talking about wars, Matthew (19:50) 24, 4 to 8 says, Jesus told his disciples, watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come (19:57) in my name claiming I am the Messiah and will deceive many.
You will hear of wars and rumors (20:03) of wars, but do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will (20:10) rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various (20:15) places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. If you look around and see, all this is happening (20:22) as we speak.
But some of us are just so distracted with our day-to-day life that we (20:28) don’t want to pay attention to all these things. We don’t want to see what God shows us sometimes. (20:33) If you see, they are setting a stage for the beast system.
The wicked are raising a platform (20:38) for the revealing of the fallen. Jesus warns us about these days to come. The book of Revelation (20:44) reveals it to us, showing us how it’s going to take place.
Now I need to ask you one serious (20:53) question. When the time has come, would you be able to differentiate between the Messiah (21:01) and the fallen and the false prophets? Because just like the fallen, just like the savior, (21:08) even the fallen will have supernatural powers and he’s going to deceive many. (21:18) At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Messiah or there he is, do not believe it, (21:25) for false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, (21:30) if possible, even the elect.
Biblically, the key differences between Jesus and the Antichrist are, (21:41) Jesus was the lamb who was slain for our sins. The Antichrist will come as a beast who devours. (21:49) Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world.
The Antichrist will bring his kingdom (21:54) into this world. Jesus gave his life for us. The Antichrist will demand our lives for him.
(22:02) The Antichrist will perform miracles and will lead everyone astray from holiness, (22:06) but when Jesus comes back, Revelation 1-7 says, behold, every eye will see him with the clouds. (22:15) The Bible refers to it as glorious and blazing. Matthew 24-27 says, just like lightning flashes (22:23) from the east and shines to the west, so shall be the coming of Jesus.
Now, that is a huge difference (22:30) from what the Antichrist is going to be like. See, the Antichrist will want to gain followers, (22:34) political power, he’s going to perform miracles and bring a sense of false peace, but nothing (22:39) about him is going to be glorious, blazing or holy. Revelation 3-11, I am coming soon, (22:49) hold on to what you have so that no one can take away your crown.
(22:55) Jesus is saying here, he says, hold on to what you have, hold on to your faith so that no one can take (23:01) away your crown, no one can take away your prize, no one can take away your reward and no one can (23:06) take away your victory. My last question to you guys before I leave the stage is, when that day (23:13) comes, how ready are you? How ready are you? Do you want to be like the wise virgins who came (23:24) prepared with more oil and their lamps kept burning or do you want to be like the other (23:31) virgins whose oil ran out and they had to go fetch some more and were not present when the Savior (23:38) arrived? You see, the choice here is yours. Remember, Jesus loves you, he wants you to be (23:46) prepared, he wants you to be watchful and he wants you to be ready, he wants you all to be part of his (23:53) master plan.