Discerning the Signs of the Times -- Zac Poonen -- February 20, 2021

[Music] we are so blessed that in this time of pandemic where many have to stay in their own homes we have the privilege and opportunity to meet like this never take this for granted i mean the very fact that you have some technology available with you to be able to watch and see and listen is itself something that you really need to be thankful for there are so many things in the christian life we take for granted we don't realize that perhaps 70 or 90 percent of the world don't have some of the things we have one of the first lessons we need to learn is to be grateful i want to begin with that what shall we think of in these last days when there's so much of suffering disaster wars rumors of wars earthquakes famines and pandemic one of the first things is be thankful the first step to backsliding is in gratitude not being thankful to god that's where i want to begin because that's something i keep on emphasizing the bible says give thanks in everything in all situations you read ephesians 5 18 onwards it says be filled with the spirit and then it goes on to say give thanks in everything and sometime when you get time if you turn to romans chapter one if you all have a paper and a pen i would encourage you to have a paper and append just to write down some of these verses that you can look up later on you know in romans chapter 1 verse 18 to 32 this last half of that chapter it describes the descent of man from two greater and greater degrees of sin and in that passage three times it says god gave them up verse 24 and verse 26 and verse 28 god gave them up god gave them up god gave them up at three levels he went aloud gave them up and they sank lower and lower into sin where did that backsliding begin what is the first step downwards let me tell you that romans 1 21 when they knew god [Music] they did not honor him by giving thanks the first step downwards in backsliding is an ungrateful heart not thankful for whatever god has given there are so many things we don't have never mind we still have much more than 90 of the world the very fact that you're able to watch this indicates that so dear brothers and sisters let us develop this habit of thankfulness because around us is a around us is a world that is not grateful to god for all that god has given many have even stopped believing in god and many christians also have only got a form of godliness the doctrines are right the language is right they go to church they sing songs they believe the right things they're evangelical in their faith but there's no spirit of thankfulness and when there's a lack of spirit of thankfulness even your home atmosphere becomes heavy imagine if you have a husband and wife we're always thankful for each other if your wife brings you a cup of tea or coffee in the morning to have a spirit of thankfulness not to say well that's our duty it's not our duty we're not obliged to do anything for anyone else god has been merciful to us and good to us so we are good to others please develop this habit so our subject today is discerning the signs of the times in which we live and that's a word that jesus himself spoke if you turn with me through matthew chapter 16 let me read this verse the pharisees and sadducees matthew 16 1 came to him and said show us a sign from heaven and he said well you people when you in the evening you say it's fair weather when the sky's red or there'll be a storm today the sky is red and threatening they could read the signs of the weather just like we can you know weather reports nowadays are very very accurate but he says you don't know the signs of the times you cannot discern the signs of the times you can discern what the weather is going to be like tomorrow or day after and you plan your life accordingly oh it's going to rain so we can't go out for a picnic you trust the weather report what about the signs of the times in scripture that's what the lord rebuked the pharisees for not knowing and not discerning discerning is different from is more than knowing knowing is just an intellectual thing discerning is in your spirit you sense something which goes beyond your mind you know man is body soul which is his mind and spirit and discerning is the thing of the spirit in the heart i sense something which is beyond what my mind tells me so we need to be alert to the times in which we live and the way we can be discerning is first of all i told you by developing a spirit of thankfulness just think of the number of things god has done for you and god has given you which you don't have physical health for example the fact that you're able to hear and see and speak be thankful for all these things and the other is to keep a good conscience whenever you do something wrong confess it immediately whenever you have hurt somebody ask forgiveness immediately you keep a good conscience your sense of discernment is like sharpening a knife you just touch that piece of bread and it cuts you touch something hard and it cuts because you've sharpened the knife conscience is like that i want to keep my conscience sensitive so the place in scripture where jesus spoke most about his second coming is in matthew chapter 24 so i want to turn there for a moment if you turn with me to matthew and chapter 24. it says they're the disciples when he was when jesus was sitting on the mount of olives the disciples came to him and said lord tell us when are these things going to happen when is this temple going to be destroyed and the other what about the end of the age they were interested in the end of the age and what is the sign of your coming i want you to see in matthew 24 what jesus said was the very first sign of his coming many people are looking for how things out in the world wars famines earthquake he did mention that in uh verse six that there'll be wars there'll be rumors of wars and verse seven he said about famines and earthquakes i agree all of that but what is the first thing he said many people don't recognize that what is the first sign of the last days deception matthew 24 and jesus replying to the disciples they asked three things when will this temple be destroyed that is the first question because jesus said about the temple being destroyed in verses one and two second what will be the sign of your coming verse three and third the end of the age and the answer he answers all three in sequence and the first thing he says is don't be deceived so deception widespread deception is going to be one of the characteristics of the last days and especially in christendom there's so much deception in christendom nowadays a tremendous amount in fact if you read through matthew 24 you find that jesus didn't speak about famines and earthquakes and war so much but he kept on speaking about deception for example he says in uh verse 11 we already saw what he said in verse 6 and 7. further down in verse 11 we read he says many false prophets will arise and will mislead many again he's talking about deception and then he goes on further down in in verse 26 and 27 turn with me to verse 26 and 27 behold when people say to you behold he's in the wilderness don't go out we hold these in the inner rooms don't believe them because my coming will be like the lightning that shines from the east to the west there are many people who speak of a secret rapture where christ will come and nobody will know it and only the believers will know you know what jesus said verse 25 i told you in advance don't believe those who say he's here he's there he's gone no when he comes it'll be like the lightning coming from the east to the west and lightning is not something seen only by believers lightning is something seen by everyone when christ comes everyone will know it the true saints of god who have walked with god with a clear conscience will be raptured taken up to greet the lord in the air and welcome him to the earth where he comes to establish his kingdom but that's another subject what about the times in which we live that's what we want to think about right now first of all deception so i want to share with you something more important than the types of deception which i will come to how can we escape deception i want to turn to second thessalonians in chapter 2 and verse 10 and 11. it's speaking here in verse 9 about the activity of satan now many people think of satan as witchcraft and demons and all types of evil that also he does there are false signs and wonders mentioned in second thessalonians 2 verse 9 but he goes on to say this deception will come through all types of wickedness for those who perish why do people perish here's the reason given it's not just because they have fallen into sin all of us have fallen into sin but we've repented come to the lord the reason they perish is because they do not receive the love of the truth to be saved from sin whenever the new testament speaks about being saved it is never being saved from hell it's always being saved from sin the very first promise in the new testament you shall call his name jesus matthew 1 21 because he will save his people not from hell he will save his people from their sins and because they are saved from their sins they are also saved from hell but he didn't come primarily to save us from hell he came to save us from our sins right now being saved from hell is in the future so this is very important second thessalonians 2 10 and 11. this is the verse that's helped me when i live in the midst of a christendom which is full of deception everywhere so many doctrines so many people who appear to be holy and yet as time goes on you find these people who claim to be very holy pursue after money pursue after honor fall into sin fall into sexual sin and you wonder what is happening what is happening godly men supposedly godly disappoint you i'll tell you how you can all be saved from deception this has helped me for many many years second thessalonians 2 10 11. why does god verse 11 send a deluding or a deceiving influence on people to believe what is false this is an amazing verse i told you the primary sign of the last days is deception why does god himself allow people to be deceived now the bible says in jeremiah 17 that the heart is deceitful about all things here's something that deceives me the bible says in ephesians 4 that we have got deceitful lusts there are desires in our flesh that are deceitful our heart is deceitful lusts in our flesh are deceitful the bible says in revelation 12 that satan is a deceiver of the whole world here are the deceivers a heart and your if you are not converted lust in the flesh for everyone and satan so how shall uh we escape this i mean on top of all this like it says here god himself begins to deceive us and there's no hope for us i mean we can battle the deception of the heart the deception the lust of the flesh and even the deception of satan provided god himself is keeping us in the truth but here it says god himself will send a deluding deceiting influence on certain people and don't say because i'm a believer i will not be deceived i've seen numerous believers in my life i've been a christian for 61 years nearly 62 no i'm 81 years old but i've seen in my lifetime so many believers deceived falling away why how can why are they deceived how can we escape it here it is for this reason 2 thessalonians 2 11 this is the reason why god sends that deceiving influence on people why god does not allow them to escape deception some of us may sit saying where we believe in the scriptures we believe in the bible we will not be deceived dear brother dear sister the more proud you are the more likely you are to be deceived god resists the proud he gives grace to the humble and it doesn't matter what you're proud of you can be proud of your good looks you can be proud of your intelligence you can proud of your position your job your money your house your car you can be proud of your spirituality your knowledge of the bible there are 101 things you can be proud of but the word of god is true james 4 and 1 peter 5. god resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble that's a verse i've lived by for many many years remember this i pictured it like this that if i'm humble before god not before men we can all act humble before men it's worthless but if god sees i really live in low thoughts about myself grace means he'll come behind me and push me forward nobody can stop me then my spiritual progress and growth will be amazing phenomenal because the devil can't stop me the world can't stop me my lust can't stop me god is giving me grace pushing me from behind but the moment i become proud of anything proud of my spirituality my bible knowledge proud of my accomplishments proud of what i've done for the lord or any type of foolishness like that god will come in front of me and push me back that's the meaning of god resist the proud i want to ask you brother sister do you want god to come behind you and push you forward or come in front of you and resist you god himself will delude people who for this reason the reason is important here it is ii thessalonians 2 10. two things they do not love the truth and secondly they don't want to be saved from sin if you have these two qualities i'm not giving you a list of 25 qualities and the bible doesn't give a list of 25 reasons or qualities only two very easy to remember but difficult to practice love the truth seek with all your heart to be saved from sin you may not actually be saved you may still be defeated in a number of areas never mind don't give up do you have a desire god looks at the desire if the desire is there overcoming sin is a progressive thing little by little by little like the disciples like the israelites when they occupied the land of canaan they didn't kill all the giants in one day and you will not overcome all your sins in one day no they killed they went in occupied jericho and they occupied that whole and all the giants there were killed and the land where they killed the giants they possessed it and then they went to the next territory and in one place they failed because they were not walking with god in obedience in i they were defeated then they repented and they overcame that then they killed those giants and little by little by little they occupied more and more and joshua towards the end of his life god told him there's still so many giants to be killed so much to be possessed so overcoming sin is like occupying the land of canaan that's very clearly mentioned in hebrews 3 and 4 coming into the rest of god and it's little by little by little but if you have a desire lord in the old testament it says the land of israel was called from dan to beersheba it's the top to the bottom not to south and if you have a desire from the crown of your head to the soul of your feet to overcome sin to kill every giant from dan to be a sheba that desire is there little by little you will overcome them your life will progress you'll have a dis if you have a desire to be saved from sin the other is to love the truth this is very important when you read the bible let me give you one example of loving the truth you read the bible and you discover that something written there is contrary to what your church has taught you for so many years you have believed something from childhood because you grew up in a particular church your parents took you to a church you believed something for many many years and there were many preachers up there who preached in a very convincing way and you believed it but one day you read something in the new testament something that jesus said or something in the episodes and you find hey this is not exactly like what i thought heard in my church there at that point you don't realize it god is testing you will you love the truth which you saw in scripture or will you love what your parents taught you will you love your church whichever church it is i don't care which church it is you say oh but if what will happen if i disagree with what this church says i'll tell you what will happen you'll be deceived if you want to please your church leaders and you want to please your parents i guarantee you you'll be deceived seek to please the lord alone and say lord i don't care who's going to turn against me if i see the truth now i'm not saying you jump at something you read because you misunderstood scripture perhaps seek advice from some godly person what does that verse mean and compare scripture with scripture and you will get the truth you see for example in our website cfc india.com we have a complete study of the new testament from matthew chapter one to the last verse of revelation verse by verse if you go there and go to that it's at the bottom of the first page you open up in cfc india.com you can go through the whole new testament and get an explanation of every verse if you want and see whether it's truth or not i'm not asking you to believe me ask the holy spirit to tell you whether it's the truth or not but love the truth when you read the scriptures face up to it and be willing to change anything be willing to displease anybody not in an arrogant way but in a humble way the other area where we need to love the truth is in some situation god tells you you are wrong that was not right what you did was not right the way you spoke to your wife was not the way you should be speaking as a christian husband the way you spoke to your husband is not the way you should be speaking as a christian wife you can resist that you can say no no but she deserves to hear that or he deserves to hear that yeah there are people who argue with god in their mind they are opening themselves to deception love the truth say i'm sorry lord go to your wife go to your husband and say darling i'm sorry for the way i spoke please forgive me you will not be deceived the proud or deceived what is it that prevents you from going and asking an apology pride nothing else how can i lower myself in the esteem of my partner better to that your partner thinks less of you and that you're not deceived rather than to have your partner have a high opinion of you and you live in deception so love the truth and seek to be saved from sin that's all those who don't love the truth don't want to be saved from sin for this reason god will send a deluding influence on them i mean i say that in connection to what we read the first mark of deception where you saw in matthew 24 was many false prophets will arise that's the other thing verse 11 deception again false prophets now all of us listen to preaching how do we know who's a false prophet well first of all if he doesn't speak according to scripture a man who hardly ever quotes scripture i would not listen too much to him if a person just quotes one verse in the beginning of his message and then keeps on preaching for the next half an hour one hour airing his thoughts i say listen brother where do you get this from scripture i prefer to root all my preaching on scripture and all the books i've written you see that's another thing you can go to cfc india.com and read all my books there free or some of them listen to them online free every one of them and all those 30 books i've written if you open any of them almost on every page you open any page on one side or the other there'll be some versus scripture that's the way i've written my books based on scripture i say something and i say look at this verse i say something else and look at this verse all the books are in almost every page there'll be quotation from scripture because i say my words are not important you don't have to be convinced by what i say i may be a very clever person arguing and proving something like in a court of law your faith should not be rest on the wisdom of men that's why i point people to scripture i should go to god's word faith comes by hearing god speaking to us through his word romans 10 verse 17. so that's very important to get to know the scriptures so how do we know who's a false prophet you know there are preachers who preach and preachers who write and there are some people who claim to be prophets predicting the future okay let me begin with nowadays a lot of people particularly in certain denominations who claim to predict the future i predict who will get elected in this election i political election i predict this is going to happen well it's very easy to find out if he's a true prophet or not wait till the event time for that event is over and then what happens if it did not happen mark that guy down as a false prophet don't ever believe him again no matter what he says and many of these false prophets they don't even repent after their prophets prophecies fail it's happening today i've seen it numerous times in my life let me turn you to scripture again to prove that deuteronomy chapter 18 if you don't have time to look at it now just write it down deuteronomy chapter 18 the lord says in verse 18 deuteronomy 18 18 i will raise up a prophet and he's referring to jesus from among the jewish countrymen and i'll put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them and i shall command him and jesus submitted to the father deuteronomy 18 19 and shall come to bat that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name jesus spoke in the father's name i will require of it i will require it of him so you remember on the some on the mount of transfiguration when jesus was up there with peter james and john you read that in matthew 17. moses and elijah appeared there and when peter was so amazed he said lord let's build three tabernacles here one for you of course you're the most important tabernacle and one for moses one for elijah immediately a cloud came over them whenever you equate the lord jesus with any human being even if it's moses or elijah or the greatest preacher on earth a cloud will come between you and god you won't see him and you wonder why your vision of god has become a little dim nowadays you have put some man as equal to christ you put his words as equal to christ you don't compare his words to scripture no wonder there's a cloud between you and god and when the cloud was lifted a voice came from heaven in the mount of transfiguration matthew 17. the voice from heaven said about jesus this is my son moses and elijah disappeared at that time this is my son listen to him that's what we read in deuteronomy 18. i'll raise up someone you must listen to him and then further in deuteronomy 18 but if a prophet says something verse 22 deuteronomy 18 last verse verse 22 if a person who claims to be a prophet speak something in the name of the lord in the name of the lord i'm saying this is going to happen this will happen on so-and-so date or whatever it is and the thing does not come to pass that is not what the lord has spoken he has spoken presumptuously presumptuously means in arrogance he claimed to be a prophet and spoke thus of the lord and multitudes of dumb believers believed him because they did not read deuteronomy 2018 verse 22. they did not read the bible i've often said to people if you have a bible in your language and you don't read it and study it you deserve to be deceived you deserve to be deceived if you have a bible in your language and you don't read and study it you just believe what this man preaches or that man preaches you listen to youtube messages i praise god for the opportunity we have on youtube to preach there are 2000 messages of mine you can listen on youtube but be careful about all the messages you listen see whether the preachers go to god's word don't just swallow everything you hear there some people are very powerful communicators but they are not anointed with the holy spirit deception so prophecies when they are not fulfilled i'm amazed at the number of people who listen to these so-called prophets who prophesy something it does not happen and they still go and listen to him again you deserve to be deceived because you're ignoring what you're trying it says in deuteronomy 18 the last verse i want to speak strongly my brothers and sisters because i love you in christ and i don't want any of you to be deceived i've been preaching now for 55 years or more and one of the burdens god's given me is to deliver people from deception by pointing them to the scriptures here is this scripture here is that scripture and thus to protect them it's only the word of god that will protect us in the anointing of the holy spirit you know one of the things um i have i'm absolutely convinced i've studied the bible for 60 years and one of the things i'm absolutely convinced is this book the bible is the word of god when i began my christian life how could i know first of all today i can say to the word of god because it's changed my life i've proved it in my life that this is god's word in different situations i found an answer here i could give you numerous examples where from god's word i got a clear answer all types of complicated situations but when i began my christian life 61 years ago i did not know i didn't have experience how did i begin by believing the bible is god's word whenever i met a truly godly man and i'll tell you i've met very few very very few truly godly men in my life some appear to be godly but when you get close to them you find they're a bit arrogant or stubborn not humble they don't value all human beings they value a certain class of people or something like that or they love money or they are unfaithful in the area of sex something like that so i met very very few people in my life whom i can really look up to and say there was a man of god and if you met even two or three like that you're very very blessed because there are not many but one of the things that i found in the few men of god that i met when i was very young there were two things that stood out about all of them all of them they all believed number one they all believed the bible as the word of god and secondly they all believed in being filled with the holy spirit and they had an experience of being filled with the holy spirit those are the two things i pursued i said lord i want to be filled with the holy spirit not just one word continuously i want to believe the word of god that's how we are protected from deception i want to say something more about other you know other than the gift of prophecy for example there are people who claim to have the gift of healing well let me introduce this by saying this in my entire life as a believer of 61 years and i've traveled to many countries i've read many books of many many all types of denominations pentecostal in other words i've gone to numerous healing meetings and let me tell you this this is my conviction you don't have to agree with me i have nev i believe in a gift of healing it's one of the gifts mentioned in 1 corinthians 12. give to a prophecy gift of teaching gift of healing miracles is all there one corinthians 12 i believe in all of them the gift of speaking in tongues interpretation i believe all of them i don't have the gift of healing the gift god's given me is the gift of teaching not even evangelism i tried to be an evangelist in my younger days i'd give out tracks in every bus or train i traveled in and stood in the streets for years preaching but i hardly found anybody converted i found i'm not an evangelist let me accept it i wanted to be i was eager to go to the unreached when i decided to quit my job in the indian navy i said lord you send me anywhere i'll go but i can't go and preach to the unconverted if you don't give me the gift of evangelism i don't want to be arrogant and say well i know the basic gospel i'll go and preach no we can witness to everybody but to go out as a missionary you have to have the gift of evangelism i didn't have that but i found that god had given me the gift of teaching that when i preached the gospel very few people were converted but when i got up in a meeting and began to teach so many people began to understand the scriptures and i discovered what my gift was and in the beginning i reluctantly accepted the gift of teaching instead of evangelism but today i can see that god wanted that gift in the church and that's why he equipped me for the for what he saw the church needed and what is it how do you know whether a person's a good doctor let's take an example you go to him with a sickness and he tells you the exact cause of it and tells you what you need to do for medicine in your take of what actions you need to take to be cured and you do it and you're cured that's the mark of a good doctor but you go to somebody else who's a crack and he tells you certain things it doesn't work how often will you go to that doctor or once in a while by accident something works no a good doctor will tell you exactly when he doesn't know something he says i'm sorry i don't know so by the by the fruit you shall know them jesus said so i say how do i know that i was not an evangelist i tried preaching the gospel and hardly anybody was converted but when i began to teach i found people coming to me and say brother zach i never understood that scripture till you explained it it became so clear to me i've read that so many times and i discovered gradually not just one or two that everybody in the room would be edified by teaching i discovered gradually that is my gift i did not have the gift of healing i prayed for many sick people because the bible says in james chapter five lay hands on the sick elders must pray for those who are sick and i pray for the sick you know i don't pray for fantastic things serious sicknesses but somebody comes with a cough or a cold or a fever and i just pray for them and in a limited measure i've seen occasionally somebody healed an answer to prayer one in a hundred yeah i believe in healing i always pray for the sick whenever my children and they're growing up at home were sick i would lay my hands on them i encourage all fathers and mothers to do that lay hands on them in the name of jesus even if they got a small fever or a cold or anything and pray in the name of jesus they'll be healed i do that but i don't have the gift of healing and i know that because every person i lay hands on is not healed if one in a hundred is healed i don't have the gift of healing let me give you an example if i preach to a hundred people and 99 people tell me brother zach i didn't understand anything about what you said and one person says yes you understood i can be pretty sure i don't have the gift of teaching because 99 of people did not understand what i said so how do you know whether the person has a gift of healing those he prays for get healed it's not that one in 100 get healed i've been to these healing meetings where one in ten thousand get healed what is that that's because of that person's faith not because this guy had a gift of healing so i believe in the gift of healing but let me say my testimony in my lifetime i have never met a single person who has the gift of healing and i've never heard of one either who every time they prayed for someone he was healed that's how it was with jesus in fact once when one person said to jesus no i'm not fully healed um i see men like trees walking you read that in mark's gospel he said okay i'll pray for you again you know what some free he so-called fake healers say today they pray for somebody he's not healed you know what they tell them no no confess that you're healed say that you're healed then you'll be healed that's a deception that's telling a lie how can you say you're healed when you're not healed excuse me when that person said to jesus i can't see clearly i see men like trees jesus didn't say no no confess that you're healed no he said okay be honest i don't want you to tell a lie i don't want you to say you're healed when you're not i'm glad you spoke the truth i'll pray for you again and that's the difference between jesus and so-called healers today i'm just giving you one example you read that in mark's gospel chapter eight so deception the tremendous amount of deception and christendom that's the number one mark of the last days so i want you to turn with me to another passage in relation to healing just briefly before i move on a child of god get sick second corinthians chapter 12 this is where i found the answer in my own life see let me tell you two sicknesses that i have that you can see i'm bald i wear glasses you know that's a sickness you know that i will not be bald in heaven you'll be surprised when you see me in heaven i'll have a head full of hair and i won't be wearing glasses this is called myopia it's a sickness i'm amazed at these healers who wear glasses and say god heals some of them are bald too let's not fool ourselves does god heal he does does he heal all sicknesses it's obvious he doesn't but i'll tell you where i found the answer i've had sicknesses in my life and god has healed me too say and this is what i've done i say second corinthians 12. paul says god gave him verse seven a thorn in the flesh a type of sickness i don't have time to show you but it i think it was a sickness in his eyes we read that in galatians four but it the reason god allowed him to have it was because he was being so mightily used by god that he was tempted he would become proud the danger of becoming proud and so the lord gave him a sickness to keep him humble and i tell you many great servants of god need a little thorn in the flesh to keep them humble it says here he prayed three times oh in jesus name heal me heal me heal me you know what the lord said no if i heal you you'll become proud paul ii corinthians 12 9 but i'll give you something else better than healing is there something better than healing sure my grace verse 9 is sufficient for you because when that in your weakness my grace will give you power to be an overcomer people will see you as a sick person as an overcomer serving me wholeheartedly and then paul said then i'm not going to pray for healing i'm going to pray for grace so you know this is what i'll tell you this oh i pray every time i'm sick i said lord are you trying to teach me something is there some area perhaps or i got a little puffed up we're all in danger of pride show me lord sometimes the lord shows me and i cleanse myself immediately thank god for the little fever or a little time you put in bed and you lie down there and the one good thing about lying in bed is you can only look up and you look up and say lord what are you trying to teach me is there something i need to set right in my life the lord offended and what i pray when i'm sick is lord either heal me or give me grace to be an overcomer and if you think grace is better than healing i choose grace but if healing is better give me healing i think that's a righteous prayer to pray based on second corinthians 12 if this is a thorn i have to keep in my flesh all my life i accept it and you'll give me grace because you find grace is better but if it is healing which challenges my faith i want to be healed so pray that prayer and say lord give me either healing or give me grace and be willing to accept either don't dictate to god what he should give you god knows better than you but i want to say one more thing that i've used for the in relation to healing because sickness is so common among believers that's why i mention it and because there's so much of deception in the last days in this area i want to clarify it one corinthians 6 and verse 13. it says it speaks about food and sex two great desires in the body two great desires that all human beings have is the desire for food desire for sex food is for the stomach stomach is for food one corinthians 6 13 god will do away with both of them then it speaks about sexual desire the body is not for immorality there's a righteous sexual fulfillment with your wife everything else is immoral but the body this is the part i want to show you the body is for the lord do you know why god gave you a body so that you can use it for the lord he gave you eyes to read the scriptures to read good things and to read stuff which way you can you need to increase your knowledge so that you can get a job use your eyes for clean things pure things not to lust after women he gave you a body use your tongue not to tell lies but to speak the truth and encourage people the body is for the lord use your hands never to sin but to do good the body is for the lord supposing you say lord every part of my body is for you my eyes are for you my tongue is for you my hands are for you my legs take me where you want me to go i never want to go where you don't want me to go then the other part of that verse is true the lord is for the body i have taken that verse myself i said lord jesus to the best of my knowledge i never want to read anything with my eyes or see anything in my eyes which will displease you i don't want to live before man's face your face i never want to say anything with my tongue which will hurt people i want to speak the truth if that hurts it's okay but i don't want to hurt people with language or i never want to speak one rude word to my wife or to anybody i want to be careful with my tongue this is for you my body is for the lord i don't want to do anything with my hands which is sinful i don't want to write letters that are sinful i don't want to sign anything that is false i don't want to make money by giving a false signature my body is for you and because my body is for you lord you are for my body not just for my soul not just for my spirit you are for my body my body is for the lord the lord is for my body live that life that's the way to seek for healing and don't be afraid of taking medicines 1 timothy 5. timothy was another very godly man and he also had a thorn in the flesh did you know that 1 timothy 5 please turn to verse 23. he says don't drink water alone but take a little wine which is in those days considered a medicine for stomach ailments one spoon of brandy as a medicine for stomach ailments so what is paul telling timothy who had frequent stomach ailments according to verse 23 that was his thorn in the flesh frequent stomach aches some problem with the stomach and i'm sure paul prayed for him paul probably laid hands on timothy numerous times but timothy was not healed even though the mighty apostle paul laid hands on him so paul says okay i might pray didn't heal you maybe some reason god has allowed you to have this thorn in the flesh but get some relief by taking some medicine yeah so there's nothing wrong in taking medicines you know medicines are from plants and chemicals that are found in the world who created them not the devil the devil would not create anything to heal sicknesses far from it he'd rather let everybody die of sickness it's the mercy of god that he's kept these things on the earth to provide healing for a world that is under the curse because of adam's sin so it's perfectly right to take medicines what about vaccinations now there is so much controversy on that but i personally believe it's perfectly okay to take a vaccination do you know that there was a time in the world when so many people died of smallpox in the early part of the 20th century in india and europe in many places but it's almost eradicated because children were given given a smallpox vaccination i remember i got it on my arm when i was a small kid it's not so frequently needed now because it's almost eliminated tuberculosis there are treatments for that and for polio and so many things that if you take a little tablet or some treatment you can be protected from it there's nothing wrong in it don't let your children suffer by you're listening to all these things that people say this is bad that is bad the other thing don't believe everything you read on the internet i'm not saying that there's no deception out in the medical field and i'm not saying that you believe everything that every doctor says i would only leave it at this there's nothing wrong in taking medicines but if in a particular situation you don't feel free in your spirit you pray about it you don't feel preen your spirit okay but don't have a permanent prejudice against doctors medicines and healing if you're sick consult a good doctor go to a hospital there's nothing wrong with it and in a time of pandemic if people get the kobit 19 i know believers who got kobe 19 and who got over it they followed the instructions of the doctor and they got over it and you can i i've hardly ever heard of a believer who dies of it and there may be a few cases i don't know [Music] i want to turn to another passage of scripture concerning the last days discerning the times turn with me to luke's gospel and luke's gospel chapter 17 we read here that one of the characteristics of the last days will be that it will be like the days of noah luke 17 he's talking about the coming of the son of man it'll be like the lightning verse 24 from one end to the other so will the coming of the son of man be then it says like it was in the days of noah luke 17 26 so will it be in the last days like it was verse 28 in the days of lot so will it be in the last days what is the one thing characteristic of the days of noah and the days of lord two things actually sexual sin and violence you read in matthew sorry genesis chapter six you don't have to turn there right now where it says in the days of noah the angels lusted after women on the earth the angels don't have bodies but they lusted and they had this great sexual lust to desire even though they didn't have a body it's an amazing thing when it says the the sons of god is referring to angels there you know the book of job also angels are referred to as the sons of god the direct creation of god is called the son of god and angels are direct creations um and they possess men i believe and just like and demons possess men when an angel falls into sin he becomes a demon and they had sex with women and satisfied their lust sexual perverted sex that's that was not natural it was unnatural sex that was a characteristic of noah's day and as you approach the end of another mark of the times in which you'll be live will be unnatural sex men with men women with women [Music] the same thing happened in the days of lot lot was in sodom and the very word sodomy has come from sodom men with men they lusted after men you read that in genesis in chapter 18 [Music] and we read there that the lord finally saved you read that passage genesis 18 and chapter 18 and chapter 19. how the lord delivered lot from that place but those days were days of wickedness in the sexual area so in the last days there's going to be a lot of perverted sex discern the signs of the times and that's progressing by leaps and bounds and there are christian churches that are accepting that as normal divorce has become so common even though jesus spoke so strongly against it and the other thing that was common to the days of noah and the days of lord you read in genesis 6 and also in genesis chapter 18 and 19 was violence they were killing people in the days of noah and in the days of lot as well when the angels came to lot's house the people wanted to get him out and get them out and destroy them kill them sex and violence sexual sin perverted sexual sin also ordinary adultery and fornication is going to be very very common pornography is the development of that a christian who opens himself up to watch pornography on his phone or the internet is going to sink into a hole from which it will be very difficult to come out god can pull you out from any pit from the deepest pit but if you think that ah this is not a big thing just see for a little moment i'm not actually going in committing sexual sin with some somebody i'm just enjoying something on the screen you know what will happen it'll it'll held a grip on your mind and it'll grade you making me you more and more of a slave the aim of the devil is to put one chain around you and you enjoy that so much you put another one another one ultimately you become a slave fight it break free if somebody is tying you with a robe would you try to be free why do you allow the devil to tie you with shame round and round and round and you sit there and allow him to do it there is only one way to escape pornography and i'll tell you let me show it to you from scripture one corinthians and chapter 6 and verse 18 1 corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18 flee flee is a stronger word than run away from flea means at full speed run away from immorality i would put pornography there as well because that's a form of immorality in the mind run away from pornography there's going to be a lot of it in the last days like the days of noah and a lot perverted sex and [Music] fornication and immoral sex is perverted sex the only way is to run away from it you're watching something on your computer and you're tempted to click on a site which leads you to pornography and you accidentally open it switch it off and run away turn off the computer that's the meaning of flea go and do something else go for a walk go and meet with some believers at that time and come back a little later on your phone you're suddenly tempted switch off your phone at that moment that's the meaning of flee i guarantee the holy spirit will help you if you keep doing that every time you're tempted to watch pornography yeah we can overcome it definitely we can overcome it i know people are enslaved to it who have overcome it don't ever think you can be even if you've been enslaved to it for years i tell you in jesus name he came to set the captives free he's come to set you free discern the signs of the times and don't get swallowed up in that flee from immorality there's no other way to escape it let me turn you to another verse about the last days second timothy and chapter four chapter three sorry second timothy chapter three speaking about the last days in verse 1 [Music] it says in the last days difficult times will come and the living bible paraphrases that verse beautifully difficult in what way persecution no there may not be persecution in some places there will be but there will be comfort also the living bible says in the last days it will be difficult to be a christian because of the amount of compromise in churches the lowering of standards by preachers divorce becomes common adultery becomes common immorality becomes common homosexuality becomes common same-sex marriages become common and even churches begin to accept it and you'll wonder lord where shall i turn where shall i find a fellowship that stands for god's word you are truly blessed my brothers and sisters if you've got a fellowship in your place that stands for the truth of god's word that's what we have sought to plant in different places churches that are true to god's word leaders that are godly humble men in our cfc churches no elder we don't have pastors we call them elders the leaders of the church no elder gets a payment everybody works voluntarily just like the apostle paul including me i've never taken a cent from my church in the 45 years that we've had a church in bangalore we support ourselves and one way or the other live simply important thing is to be free because i want to show you second timothy 3 why will it be difficult to be a christian in the last days because here four types of lovers are mentioned listen listen to this lovers of self verse two lovers of money verse two lovers of pleasure verse four lovers of god lovers of god is what we should be but in contrast to lovers of god there are three other lovers or three other loves that can come into our life if you allow any one of these three other loves to come into your life it will be very difficult to be a christian so let me paraphrase these words in the last days it will be very difficult to be a christian because these other loves will come into your life which are contrary verse four to loving god let me begin with verse 2 the love of money jesus said in luke chapter 16 verse 14 just note it down if you love god you cannot love money if you love money you cannot love god if you want to serve god you cannot serve money we can use money we can have money you can be a millionaire and serve god but even if you have only 100 in your bank account and you love it you cannot serve god it's not the amount you have in your bank account people are careful with their money and save up money and work hard and they earn a lot of money and they keep it as savings for the future there's nothing wrong with having savings for the future the bible says in proverbs chapter 6 go to the ant and see how the ant saves up for the winter season and is encouraging lazy people to save up for the future jesus had a savings account unfortunately the banker was a crook judas iscariot but he had a bag where when jesus got some money he didn't spend it all the same day people gave jesus gifts and they came with the judas back judah's bag was a bank it was a savings account there's nothing wrong with that jesus jesus said keep it maybe i need to use it next week or next month so there's nothing wrong in saving for the future in fact second corinthians 12 second corinthians 12 verse 14 says parents must save up for their children don't leave your children stranded educate them take care of them save something for the future for the rainy days as it says save for the rainy day as they say when you may not have enough like the ant save for the future there's nothing wrong with saving money there's nothing in having money but there's everything wrong in loving money loving is in the mind and you know whether you love money if that's what you're thinking of most of the time what do you think of most of the time this is just making more and more more and more money you find a delight in your heart when you check your bank account and say oh i've got so much be careful brother you may be loving money it's not only rich people who love money some people say well that guy's so rich he must be a lover of money i have never seen a homeless man who does not love money we have many beggars in india who sit on the streets every one of them loves money have you ever met a poor man who doesn't love money i mean a beggar they are wanting money love of money is not something found with the rich or the poor it is found in the race of adam every child of adam loves money and if you want to love god you've got to break free from that you can have money and say lord money is going to be my servant money is going to be under my feet not on top of my head there's gold on this earth and you know there's gold in heaven too we read in rev in genesis chapter 2 that the gold and eden was good and the golden earth is hurts people in heaven there is gold but do you know where it is it's on the streets they walk on it there's gold on the earth where do they put on earth where do they put gold on the head in a crown or hanging around the neck in gold in heaven is to be under our feet and i'll tell you you are ready for heaven if you have learned to put gold under your feet that's how it's going to be in heaven have you learned to put money under your feet don't throw it away make it your servant not your master money is a wonderful servant very very useful servant but a terrible master be wise the using of it don't love it in the last days it will be very difficult to be a christian because men will be lovers of money secondly lovers of pleasure we read in verse 4 second timothy 3 4 who are looking for sinful pleasure normal relaxation is good to find some way of relaxing because you know we live in a tense world people at work sometimes eight nine hours and commuting up and down uh in the olden days when people had to go to work a place of work they could sometimes travel one hour to work one hour back a lot of the time is spent tense it's good to have some form of relaxation which is clean and good i'm not here to tell you what forms they are maybe it's going out maybe it's some type of playing games with their children or different ways there are forms of relaxation very good this pleasure that is pleasant for example good healthy food you enjoy eating a good meal it's fine but when it becomes a lover of pleasure that is sinful that is provoking your lusts or even when you become a glutton where you want to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and you live for eating where you live to eat rather than eat to live then you become a lover of pleasure avoid it and hate it and say lord i want to overcome i want to eat what's necessary for me i want to be disciplined in my eating i don't want to destroy this body you've given me in the same way the way you spend your time there are many legitimate forms of relaxation pleasure having a vacation having holiday but make sure the pleasure never becomes sinful and make sure that your love of pleasure and ease and comfort does not drive you away from god there are people for example who love money and pleasure so much that they don't even have time to read the bible how can such people say they are christians the third lover second timothy 3 2 is lover of self this is the love of honor you want people to appreciate you detest it hate it wanting people to honor you and appreciate you steer away from it that will only make self strong in you and christ will be dethroned in your life so here are the three dangers of the last days it will be difficult to be a christian in the last days because around you will be men who love money who love pleasure and who love honor and themselves avoid them and be a lover of god because ii timothy 3 5 there will be people who are christians who have a form of godliness you know what the form of godliness is right doctrine right words externally right but inwardly they don't have the power to live in purity the power of godliness is gone ii timothy 3 5 and we read of great preachers falling into sin and being discovered years later that's not something that happens suddenly it's the result of constantly basking in the sunlight of people's honor and fame instead of detesting it instead of saying lord i don't want the honor of men i live before you would you be very careful be a lover of god be one who says lord jesus i want to love you with all my heart i don't want place in my heart for anyone other than you so these are the things that will preserve us and let me finally come back to matthew 24 before we close matthew chapter 24 where jesus said verse 12 and 13 matthew 24 verse 12 and 13 [Music] because lawlessness is increased because there's going to be so much sin in the world in the last days he's speaking about the last days here sin in the area of money sin in the area of pleasure sin in the area of people seeking honor all types of sins because there's going to be so much sin in the last days many people's love for the lord will become cold they'll have time for everything else except to read the scriptures except to read the bible they'll have time to watch movies but no time for the bible they'll have time to watch the internet and get all the things on the internet but no time for the bible like i said if you can read and you have a bible in your language and you don't study it you deserve to be deceived dear brothers very very important read the scriptures meditate on it don't just read think about what you read and once in a while throughout the day think about what you read in the morning love will grow cold love for jesus will grow cold love for one another will grow cold be careful be careful that your love for your wife and your husband doesn't cool off that's the way morality comes be careful that your love for your brothers and sisters don't cool off progress to the place where you love your enemies where you bless those who curse you i evaluate my life like that because i'm a servant of god the devil's attacked me for years for 40 50 years he's attacked me and it's always through human beings but i have decided i'm going to love every one of them those who've spoken evil about me those who've told false stories about me i'm going to love them i have loved them i will not hate anybody in the world i say lord your your god is love and if i'm filled with the spirit of god i'll be spilled with love and if there's one human being i cannot love there's something wrong with me not with him i may not agree with him i may not agree with all that he does i may disagree with him he may be a false teacher he may be an evil man but there will be no hatred in me towards him i will obey the lord jesus who said to me love your enemies bless those who curse you i will speak well about those who speak evil about me i will not speak evil evil about them let them do what they like i am a follower of jesus take that attitude the love of many will grow cold in the last days discern the signs of the times these are the days in which you are living around you christians will cool off if you don't agree with them they won't love you if you don't go to their church they don't love you i don't want to be like that i have my convictions very strong convictions i come out of many many churches because i found that they were they were preaching wrong doctrines i remember one brother telling me when i said this that i left this church and left this church and i found something more they said brother zach you're such an unstable person always leaving one church and going to another going to another i said brother i've been unstable all my life i left the kindergarten and went to grade 1 then i left grade 1 and went to grade 2 then i went to grade three i've been unstable all my life i've always progressed i never stuck in the same great one all my life and whenever i found something wrong in a church i moved out of it and looked for a better one and that's where i am today i'm supremely happy with the fellowship i'm in now love will grow cold be careful love everyone even those who disagree with you but verse 13 the one who endures to the end in love will be saved you want to know how to be saved not just from hell endure to the end in love read matthew 24 12 and 13 discern the times in which you live there'll be a lot of hatred bitterness backbiting gossiping the devil is called the accuser of the brothers and many many believers will join hand with the accuser will join hands with the accuser and go around accusing accusing accusing accusing accusing don't do it don't go around spreading gossip warn people but don't go around spreading gossip don't hold hands with the devil and accuse people many times you don't even know what happened you read something or you heard something and you go wrong talking about that why you want to talk about it why not share the gospel with people why not share to with people how god a testimony of your life how god helped you rather than all the gossip that's going on in the world all the accusations the devil says i want some co-workers with me who will accuse believers will you join hands with me and a lot of believers raise their hand say yes satan i'll join hands with you who do you want me to accuse accuse that man accuse this person you know the number of foolish believers are doing that you don't realize it is the devil telling you beware he who endures to the end in love will be saved i want to be saved from the wretched world i am living in dear brothers and sisters recognize the time in which you are living the world is moving towards babylon people are getting in revelation 17 you read out politics is mingled with babylon i don't have time to talk about this maybe another session we can talk about it it's very interesting the things that babylon are involved in revelation 17 and 18 politics and christianity money and christianity revelation 18 and towards the end of revelation 18 music and christianity rock music and all types of things where music becomes more important than godliness be very careful of these things yeah thank you all for listening i hope the lord has spoken something to you which will be a lasting help to you you

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

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Keywords: rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, church, god, jesus, bible, scripture, discerning, signs, times, end-times, prophecy, antichrist, mark, beast, COVID-19, pandemic, vaccination, apostasy, sermon, zac, poonen

Id: kt9LTbPIAp0

Length: 74min 18sec (4458 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 20 2021