Our hope —immortality, or eternal life (Romans 2:7)—is based on Biblical reality.

Yet, many who claim to have Christ cannot make this their reality, for their hope is based on fantasy. The fantasy started in the garden of Eden when the serpent convinced Eve that she would not surely die if she ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:4). Since that day, many Christians have based their hope on fallacies, damnable lies, and "the doctrines of devils" (1Timothy 4:1).

In a most enlightening lesson, Brother Singh draws from Paul's epistle to the Ephesians to demonstrate God's process in the lives of the elect When we read Paul's epistles, we seldom consider the timeline of the apostle's ministry and the process he had to endure. From Paul's conversion until his death was about 28-30 years. It is not obvious that nearly half that time (14 years) was spent in isolation.  Paul was far too impetuous to be an effective preacher. After two near-disastrous attempts to preach the gospel, he was banned to his hometown of Tarsus, where he worked as a tentmaker. That "cooling off" period was necessary to take the Pharisee out of Paul and develop the Spirit of Christ in him. The spirit of a man called by God is far more crucial than his education, training, or his intelligence. God must empty his vessels before He can use them.

No one had more compassion for the sick and the defenseless than Jesus. He preached the gospel to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, and the blind. Yet this man of tender mercy demanded that his disciples build grit.  Discipleship demands that having put our hand to the plow, we never look back! (Luke 9:62) Brother Singh's exhortation today urges us to persevere through every ordeal. He no longer prays just for our healing or deliverance but that God's will be accomplished in our lives. As Jesus did for Peter, he prays that our faith fails not! (Luke 22:31-32)

God does not call everyone who listens to the gospel of Jesus Christ to understand and accept it. Jesus explained to the disciples why he spoke in parables: "it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it is not given" (Matthew 13:11). "Them" referred to the scribes and Pharisees, the religious elite of the day. The elite leaders were thoroughly acquainted with the law of Mosses and the prophets, but they lacked "present truth." They did not recognize their long-awaited Messiah when he was in their midst. 

Many misconceptions of the role of the Holy Spirit exist. Misunderstandings exist for two primary reasons: Lack of Biblical truth and flawed understanding of personal experiences. In this crucial message, God helps us untangle our confusion by leading Brother Singh's mind to open to us Biblical reality.

We must understand our dual nature: We are born as flesh and blood but with a natural inclination to sin. That is the fallen nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve. It is the dust {carnal nature} upon which the Lord commanded the serpent in Genesis 3:16 to feed. 

Brother Singh challenges us with this statement: "If I preach a lesson that offends you, figure out what it is that makes you feel that way. Is it God or a demon? The apostle Paul stated, "If our gospel is hidden {or veiled} it is hidden to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

The devil can make us feel like we are doing the right thing in Jesus' name when our worship and service to God are in vain. Paul's fear for the Corinthian church was that their minds be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity of Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 11:3) It seems that his fears were well-founded. Just as "the serpent in his craftiness deceived Eve," Corinth was seduced by Apollos, who appeared as a minister of righteousness to be used by Satan. The church soon fell into apostasy and despite Paul's valiant efforts, it never recovered. 

The commissioning of the disciples (Matthew 10) was the beginning of Christ's called ministry. The disciples sent out without money and only the clothes on their back. Jesus instructed them to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. He explained, "You freely received cleansing; give it without expecting payment. " (Mt. 10:8)Today, we market the gospel like every other commodity. A designer-Jesus is available to fit every consumer's demand. The ministry like other professions seeks stability, security, and a decent pension plan. It is a far cry from what Jesus intended. 

Every called man of God is processed before he can fulfill the ministry intended for him. Scripture is full of examples that we tend to ignore. While by faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, we forget that he murdered an Egyptian overlord in his carnal strength. That impetuous act drove him into the wilderness for forty years to escape justice. Yet, in God’s plan, it provided the time necessary to eliminate the mentality of an "Egyptian prince" from Moses so that God could use him. When Moses could no longer speak, God could use him.

Brother Singh challenges us to follow him as he follows the Lord. It is 21st Century arrogance that causes some people to believe that the God-called ministers are ordinary men, who we listen to at our discretion. People in the early church understood differently: "And you became followers of us {the ministry}, and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Ghost." (1 Thess. 1:6) By following the ministry, we follow the Lord. To defy or ignore those God placed over us puts us outside His will, making our salvation is impossible.