Sunday Sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 20 Dec 2020

Job 22:29- When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

• There is exaltation for me. There is a grace for exaltation this morning

For every letting down (even if it were years ago), there is a lifting up.

2 Corinthians 11: 33-33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

Paul was let down as way of escape from his persecutors. The next chapter, 2 Corinthians 12 starts like this – “Paul was lifted to the Third heavens.” For every letting down, there is a lifting up!

In every one of my lows, God has kept a lifting up for me.

This is the prophetic declaration for 2021--- ‘You will fly high for the glory of God in 2021. Spiritual levels will change. Financial, family and health situations will change. You will walk in double strength and you will fly high.

• Do you know when Paul was lifted to the third heavens? When those who were against him threw stones at him and left him in the garbage dump thinking that he is dead. It is in that very garbage bin that Paul took an excursion into the third heavens.
• When the devil tells you that you are in a dustbin and have no way out, it is there that the Holy Spirit will show up and take you to higher levels. You will fly higher!

Look at the one sitting next to you and say, “we have to take our place at the top.”

Long back when we were all in college, we used to buy cheap tickets and sit in the front rows in a cinema theatre and strain our necks to watch the actors and actresses. Later on in life, when we had a little more money, we moved to the balcony where we got a good view of things! We rose higher.

In 2021, the Holy Spirit is saying that you will not walk in your older levels, but in higher levels. You will soar into new levels with HIM. The river of God is flowing forth for you, for all those of you who believe!

Genesis 1:28- 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

• The word used here is DOMINION. The Latin word for this means ‘Lord it over’. God says, ‘Lord it over’ the fish of the sea and beasts of the field.

Deuteronomy 28:13- 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you [a]heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

• Favour will cause you to fly high. If God said this in the time of Moses and in the time of Adam, how much more would this apply to a born-again New Testament believer who filled with the Holy Spirit.
• The Book of Ephesians says that we are seated with Christ above, in the heavenly places. Have that realisation, insight and revelation. Whatever problems you are facing is under your feet. It could be a demonic spirit; it is under your feet because you are seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm!

Anything that brings you down is not from God. Because God wants you above only.

Revelations 12:13-14- 13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

• God has got a lace for me; and that place is at the top. Fly high and take your place. • In 2021, don’t think that church is going down. God is going to lift you up. From glory to glory, from faith to faith, from strength to strength. God wants you to have dominion.

Genesis 27:40- By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

• The father is saying this about Esau. When you have dominion, yokes break. Jacob and Esau were brothers. You need to break off the yoke. It is a season of yokes being broken and destroyed. Whatever be the yoke. Anything that is trying to diminish you, is all going to break off. Let it leave my life in Jesus name. This yoke was keeping Esau from rising to the top.

THERE ARE THREE DIMENSIONS OF THIS YOKE:

1. Esau brought this yoke upon himself

Genesis 25:33- 33 Then Jacob said, [a]“Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

• Esau sold his birth right. Judas sold Jesus for 30 silver coins. Joseph’s brothers sold him for 20 silver coins. Something that you sold off brought you down. That is what is your yoke. The birthright signified double portion anointing. I wonder what you are selling your gifting for? Your conscience for? What are you selling your godly relationships for? Something important is in your life, but if you are diminishing it, and you are devaluing it, it ends up becoming a yoke.
• You need to value what you need to value! Value God’s presence in your life. Bow down on your knees before His presence. When you value the prophecy, the Word, spiritual relationships, it will take you higher. If you do not value them, it becomes a reason for you to come down.
• Proverbs 28:13- Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
• Judgement will always make you to look at what you have done. Mercy will make you look at what Jesus has done.
• This morning if you need mercy, confess your sin before God for His mercy. Whatever wrong it is, confess it before the Lord. The Blood of the Jesus Christ will cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
• You can keep yourself at the bottom by the way you live. If you do not live like the way Christ wants you to live, you will stay at the bottom. “Lord, I want to walk with you, live for you,” and when you say that from your heart, the Lord’s Holy Spirit will lift you up. Pastor can try and pump you up like a cycle pump and inflate you but if you don’t watch ow you live, it is of no use.

2. This yoke can be placed by the words of your mouth

Genesis 27:37- Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have [a]sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”

• This yoke was placed upon Esau by his father. Parents, watch what you speak over your children. By your words, you can place a yoke upon their lives, and you can clip their wings

Genesis 49:4- Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.

• Jacob is saying this about Reuben. This is a yoke that the father placed. “Reuben, you will not excel”. It could be words spoken by a spiritual authority or by parents.

Deuteronomy 33:6 – “Let Reuben live, and not die, Nor let his men be few.”

• Moses said this about the same Reuben. Spiritual authority can break off the yokes placed by natural authorities. Even this morning, curses spoken by parents and husbands can be broken off in Jesus name. You feel like your wings are clipped, you are unable to see the next realm in your life. This morning the Holy Spirit is setting some of you free.
• Every unjust yoke be broken in the Name of Jesus. May your life be free. There are many such examples. There are people who have fasted for 40 and 21 days but aren’t free because the yoke needed to be broken off.
• It is your time to fly. This morning whatever is tying you down, whether it is cursed words, let it be broken off in the name of Jesus Christ.

3) A bloodline yoke

• Isaac, took the place of Ishmael. Jacob took Esau’s place. Ephraim took Manessah’s place. There was a place meant for them but someone else occupied it. it was in the bloodline! • May no one take your place. Your place, your blessing.
• Judas’s place was taken by Mathias. The devil’s great task is to digress someone from taking the place meant for them. He tries to remove peoples from their designated place. • In the day of your celebration and day of your elevation may you be present.

Judges 6:15- So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

• Gideon says here, Lord, I am at the bottom and the smallest.” Why was he so? In Judges 6:25 we see that the people had given themselves to other forms of worship, prayers and other altars in their dwelling place. Break that off in prayer. Any other worship other than the true worship is a bondage. Build an altar of true worship in your homes.
• Any contrary forms of worship be broken off in every home in Jesus name. • Let real worship come up to God. Gideon’s situation changed. He blew the trumpet and 32000 came running to him saying ‘what do you want us to do?’ His level changed.
• Our level is going to shift. You will fly high by the favour and mercy of God.

John 18:37- 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

• Jesus says to Pilate that the very reason why HE was born and came down to the earth was to be king. God had a place and purpose when He sent you to the earth. You should rise to that. You are not meant to just survive and somehow struggle and make it in life but you were born to fly higher. That is why God kept you here on the earth.
• Certain yokes in the bloodlines can manifest like tiredness, rebellion, bouts of anger, disease, mental conditions, financial stress. Everyone in your family has this issue. But God is sending a certain anointing into you, the anointing will break off the yokes of sinful relationships. There is a miraculous shift that will happen. In 2021 you need to fly high for the glory of Jesus Christ. Our story is different because of Jesus, because of the anointing. Those that mocked you, belittled you and made you small will see you fly high.

This year, you will step into the New year knowing that there is something new that has happened in your life. Receive the Word of the prophet, you are not saying this just for some style but because something new has happened in your life and in your bloodline. There is anointing that is breaking curses from your bloodline.

• Those who forgot you in 2020, will remember you in 2021.

Jeremiah 32:17- 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too [a]hard for You.

The prophets says this in verse 17 and in verse 27, God replies saying 27 “Behold, I am the LORD,the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”

In the New Testament, if you believe, all things are possible, Mathew 19:26- 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

If you believe, you will fly. For every casting down in my life, there is a lifting up. Why do men cast you down?

• So that they can see you walk your life with problems one after the other. Some of us are so used to problems that we feel a bit out of place if we don’t have anxiety and worry! This was the feeling I had in the initial days of ministry.
• The devil wants you to continue or do the same thing again and again. You just thought you were becoming OK, then something goes wrong. There is an “almost there” syndrome. Just when you thought you will buy a car, just when you thought you will be promoted, just when you thought the proposal has come through for marriage, you felt you were almost free; you were almost seeing the change in your dad’s character….you came right back into the same bondage. It is men casting you down. It is a demonic power. In the midst of that, you need to have faith.

When men cast you down what should you say?

• You should say, “I have a lifting up. I am going to fly higher. I am being lifted up.” • You will neither crawl, walk nor even jump into 2021. You will not only rise to the top. You will fly to 2021. I will rise to the top by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God of Abraham, Isac and Jacob. It should have been God of Abraham, Isac and Esau! Nobody will take your place. Your weakness and tiredness is removed by the Lord. With my God I can advance against a troop, I can scale over a wall by my God! The Holy Spirit is giving some of you a mental adjustment, Nothing is impossible for us of the grace of God.

Psalm 30: 1, 5- will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.- For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But [a]joy comes in the morning. thou hast lifted me up.

God you have lifted me up and people will not mock me. The Lord Jesus, you are one, You are ONE!

God is not calling loudly only some and whispering for some others. There is only one call. The same voice that called Abraham, Reinhard Bonke is calling you! He Himself is saying to you that you will be above only and not beneath; I will give you donion and will make you fly higher. Thank you, Jesus.

FOUR POINTS ON THE PLACE AND LIFTING IN JESUS

1. In the world He has created, God has a plan for you. A world with 8 billion people, God has kept a place for you and me. During a person’s lifetime, one meets or gets close to at least 600 people on an average. From the time of birth to death, one comes across 80,000 people. Some may ask ‘we are so insignificant and how can we rise higher?’ Yes, You! Yes, God will lift youhigher. Someone said, on a single day 3,50,000 babies are born. On your birthday another 350000 are celebrating their birthday. 240 babies are born every minute. In the midst of that God has special attention towards you. Our call is from HIM.

Psalm 22:9-10- But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. 10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God. He is the one who brought us out of the mother’s womb. Without you even knowing, there was a God who loved you!

2. There is place for you to fly high in the Book - BIBLE

Psalm 139: 16- Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

• You have to see yourself in the Book. Jesus, when he started ministering, looked for the portion of the passage that referred to Him and preached from there. You decide whether you want to be a Peter or a Judas. You can make that decision. This scripture is written for our encouragement.
• People’s impression about you is not the standard about your life. What is written about you in the Book is your standard.
• You might not be attributing any value for your own life. But God’s Book is ascribing value to you. You can choose to either be a David, or Esther, Hamaan, or Mordecai. If you want to play a villain’s role, you can. It is there written about you.
• Some people just pick up a piece of wood and throw it but a sculptor will pick it up and make something beautiful from it. And then the Holy Spirit will chisel at you and make you fly high. If you walk against men of God and move in pride, the Holy Spirit might just see you as a Goliath! But if you decide to be a David, HE will shape you like that and use you. You can decide whether you want to be an Israelite (Ready to step out) or a pharaoh (no matter what I will destroy you!) You can choose.
• Do you want to be a Miraim or Delilah, you can choose. God has given you promises about His presence, His peace, His joy. Look at all that and claim it for yourself.

3. He has a place of favour for you on this earth for His work

You are an ambassador of Christ. Some people bring their positions into their conversations. Billy Graham valued his place in Christ greater than the position of an American President.

• This morning, it is the greatest privilege to be used for God’s great work. You are in this land for God’s work. If you truly value it, your conversation will be related to that. • I am called as a servant of God. I am an ambassador of Christ. Thank Him for it and be grateful and unashamed about it. God saw you before you were born. You did not get this job because you applied, but because God planned it for you.

In 2021, some of you will fly in the Holy Spirit in doing God’s work.

• One day when you stand before Him, God will ask you, what did you do for me Son? I sent you favour, I lifted you up, what have you done for me? Can you unashamedly tell Him what you did for Him? In your family, in your home or work place, if someone is sick, they will not call Mark Zuckerberg for help because he does not know how to pray but they will call you. If you pray God will heal you, God will listen to your intercession. God knows we will glorify His Name. When someone is dying, will they call the panchayat president? They will call a person who prays!

4. He has a place for you in the next world that HE is preparing

John 14:2-3- 2 In My Father’s house are many [a]mansions; if it were not so, [b]I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

• I go to prepare a place for you, says the Lord. We are called to not just fly here on earth but to rise into an eternal mansion that God has prepared for His children. That is favour! • Earth is nice if you have money and influence. Otherwise nobody would like to live here. Why should we not fly airplanes. When businessmen can why shouldn’t pastors? Isn’t it nice to eat good food?
• Good food is always little portions. Wearing good clothes is good. But all this can be enjoyed till about 70 to 120 years maximum. After that when it’s time for God to call you home, the most amazing food will not be digestible, best beautiful suit will not be recognizable. But the real thing is eternity (not 100 or 120 years not 1 million or 1 billion years, but ETERNITY!). No beginning no ending, Jesus has kept a place for you for eternity, give the price that is worthy of that.

Even if you gain the whole world and lose you soul, what profit is there. There are streets of gold in heaven, there is a walkway to this mansion. Do not forget!

you simply need to pay a price where you need to. You need to go to the mansion that God has prepared for you. While you are here on the earth, you need to give your life to God, it is not a loss, it is a gain. That is the wisest decision you will ever make!