Sunday Sermon By Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 31 January 2021

Happiness has an expression. That is the way that you should come into the House of God. Worship, clap, run around and praise. In Jesus name, let God’s miraculous move be revealed through your life.

Isaiah 60: 1- "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

• The glory of God is risen upon me– a revelation and experiences of this will be given to you like never before.
• There are dimensions of glory that we have never ever seen yet. These days, the Holy Spirit will reveal this over all those who are hungry and thirsty for God’s presence. The mysteries, experiences and miracles of His glory is being revealed upon the church. I receive it in the name of Jesus.

This verse talks about 3 things:

1. The time of the glory descending or when is it revealed?
2. The value of the glory
3. The way the glory will be revealed

THE TIME IN WHICH THE GLORY OF GOD IS REVEALED

When the darkness begins to cover the earth, that is the time that the glory of God will manifest. When darkness and deep darkness shall fill the earth, that is when His glory will fill his church. Don’t think that you will be consumed in this darkness.

There are different reasons why darkness fills the earth.

What is the darkness?

1. Romans 13:12-13- 12The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore, let us layaside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Darkness refers to the deeds of darkness. In darkness, there is no proper behavior, there is drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, strife etc. That is in the world and that is the sign of being under darkness. But the children of God don’t have to be consumed by this.

2. Ephesians 5:8- for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

• Doing what God wants you to do is being in the light. Doing your own will is darkness.

3. 2 Timothy 3: 1-2- But know this, that in the last days [a]perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, [b]unforgiving, slanderers,

• Perilous times in the last days. It is the time when you are finding it difficult to be a Christian. That is the time of darkness. Declare this, “I am a child of God. I won’t sin, I won’t lie, I won’t take a bribe”. It is difficult to live that life. But you will not give into that darkness. You will still be appointed by heaven to walk in glory and live life like a Christian.
• Earlier days there was only man and woman, now there are 36 types of genders. Such are the times we are living in. Man is marrying animals. Dark times. There is license to do so. If you have walked in holiness, this is the time you will be persecuted for it. In the midst of such times, God has given us the grace to stay and remain in the glory of God. I can remain in that glory by His grace.

4. 1 John 5:19- We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

• The KJV version says ‘Wickedness’ of the enemy. The power of darkness is the time of great wickedness.Nowadays 500 rupees is enough to get somebody killed. You can even decide how wickedly you want the person killed. People are not afraid to kill. In such times, the children of God do not have to fear or come under it or become a slave to it. I will not become a slave to darkness. My family is protected by the Blood of Jesus. The glory of God arises over my life.

5. Lightlessness is darkness.

The bankruptcy of light and absence or shortage of light. If there is no light, there is confusion. Even in spiritual life, there is no clarity. We do not know what is the right thing to do. We don’t have an identity. We do not know whether we are a boy or a girl.

• A lady came to pray saying her son had just changed his gender. Am I straight? Am I boy or am I a girl? Which direction should I take? What is the correct teaching? If you are in that state of confusion, that means that you are under darkness.
• Even those who are ministering are only preaching what man wants; not what God wants.

The internet is the headquarters of confusion. They are confused themselves, and they confuse others.

• ‘Everybody is saying something but not everybody knows what to say’- Oral Roberts. • Those who are in that confusion only need an encounter with the Glory of God. In Jesus name, declare that you are going to move from darkness into light. I am going to walk in the direction of the Holy Spirit.
• People write articles against the Bible and then claim to be Christian. They are in darkness. This morning, the glory of God will fill you.
• All those who are afraid of darkness, come under his glory. Help me to stand under the fire of His glory and His presence.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF THE GLORY?

Isaiah 4:4-5- 4When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, 5then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

1. GLORY IS A DEFENSE

Upon all the glory shall be a canopy, a defense. His glory is a defense, a shield, a covering and a canopy, a protection. It is a defense for us. We do not have to be afraid of the enemy.

Glory is like a missile shield. It can destroy any ballistic missile that the devil sends.

• Let the glory of God cover you and your family. Even if it is a terminal disease, or COVID 19, the news that you see and hear, whatever it is, the glory of God is your shield. His presence is a covering. Don’t have a monkey spirit. Have you seen the baby holding the mama monkey? It is not the mama holding the baby.

When we read the Word, it is the Lord who holds us, not we holding Him. It is not your grip but HIS grip on you; and the One that has held us is mighty and strong. You are safe and secure in the rock of all ages!

John 10:27-29- 27“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I giveeternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

The Lord says, ‘No one can snatch you out of MY hands’. I am secure in the Hands of Jesus Christ my Lord. No devil can touch me. He has to first shake HANDS with God to be able to touch you.

In Acts 27, there is a verse. Paul who was in the ship was hit by a storm. For 14 day he hadn’t seen the sun. But he felt secure on the mere wooden plank in the midst of the sea and storm.

A plank is enough in the midst of the stormy sea if JESUS is with you. Even if you do not have a ship, it is enough of God is with you. You will reach the shore. Storm and winds and waves will not drown you.

2. GLORY WILL HELP GOD’S PEOPLE TO STAND OUT IN THE MIDST OF DARKNESS

In the midst of the darkness, you will be different. I won’t become like those in darkness. The tendency of darkness is to swallow up your identity. But this is the time for your identity in Christ to be revealed. That will happen through the glory of God. Who you are in Christ and what your inheritance in Christ is will be revealed.

Darkness wants you to be limited by the standard that your family or generations before have seen but God’s glory will make you beyond that.

3. GLORY GRANTS PEOPLE DIRECTION IN THE MIDST OF DARKNESS

• What is the next step that I should take? The glory of God will direct your steps; not your mind, your thoughts or your intelligence will direct you, but God’s glory will. The Holy Spirit and God’s favour directed Ruth into the fields of Boaz.

Within God’s glory there is direction. In that place you will be blessed and the plans of future will be revealed.

Exodus 13:21- By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

• God shows the way. Moses and the 60-lakh people did not know that there was a way in the midst of the red sea but God knew that He had prepared a way for them in the sea. You may only see people oppressing you but God will show you the way in the midst of that. Declare that over

your life. Did Moses and others know that there was water within the rock? No, they did not know. But God has kept a fountain flowing from the rock. Your situation may seem tough and hard like a rock but the Lord has kept provision and waters within it.

• When the children of Israel left Egypt, the nation of Jericho had begun to start building a wall to keep them out. The day that you gave your life to Jesus, the devil started his work. He started building walls ever since you stepped out for God just to stop you from stepping into the promises of God but ONE PRAISE is enough to break the wall that the enemy has been building for years down. One worship, one act of obedience, one praise is enough! Respond to God and let the walls fall down! Let His Promises be revealed. Let your glory be revealed, Lord!
• Let every wall that is stopping you from seeing God’s goodness FALL TODAY! One fast and prayer, one worship, one act of obedience, one shout of praise is enough to break those walls this day in Jesus name. God has kept a way for me in His glory.

Exodus 15- The enemy said we will overtake them. Pharaoh and his army went after the Israelites. Not one was able to overtake.

In the way that God has opened for you, no one can overtake you or replace you. Think about it- the children of Israel did not have horses nor chariots but the Egyptians had all this inspite of which they could not overtake the Israelites. If it is the way that God has opened in your life, the enemy (no matter how strong or well equipped) cannot overtake you!

God’s glory is a direction giver and a spiritual navigator.

4. GLORY IMPACTS GOD’S PEOPLE WITH VITALITY AND STRENGTH TO WITHSTAND THE STRESS OF THE TIME

2 Timothy 3: 1-2- But know this, that in the last days [a]perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, [b]unforgiving, slanderers.

• Perilous times. Refers to strength-reducing times. It is the sign of the last days. Don’t sit in that place. Ask God for a glory encounter!

Exodus 34:29-30- Moses face was bright and shining after having an encounter with God’s glory.

Deuteronomy 34:7- 7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His [a]eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor [b]diminished.

• At the age of 120, Moses’s strength had not decreased. His natural strength was not abated nor did his eyes go dim. If Moses had that vigour at the age of 120 in the Old Testament, how much more for those in the New Testament? How can we walk tired, broken and defeated? Get out of that tiredness. I am going to stand up in Jesus Name, my strength and my youth will be renewed

in Jesus name.

• Just imagine the stress that Moses may have gone through! His own family went against him. People wanted to stone him every now and then (like it was their hobby), all the nations around him wanted to destroy him. In the midst of it, he did not have a breakdown. He weathered the storm. If he lived for 120 years it was because of God’s glory.

The glory of God saturating your life will give you the needed antioxidants. The stress elements in your bodies will leave!

A man of God said, ‘don’t let age deal with you, you deal with age! Don’t let the age strike or slap you. You beat age!’

• Kenneth Hagin junior is 80 years old. His wife Linnette Hagin. At the age of 35 she said, I will remain this age all my life. These people are keen on glory encounters. She declared that. “I will be like this”. Now you should look at her picture. She is 70 plus but looks 35!
• Kenneth Copeland may be over 70 years old but his wife Gloria Copeland really looks 48. She is 70 plus! They have caught youth and are sitting in it! Not just eating egg whites but reading the Word of God. HIS GLORY!

I feel so young. I feel like I have stopped ageing for sometime now.

• God’s glory encounters will renew your physical strength and youth. The world’s stress will not affect you.

5. GLORY GRANTS GOD’S PEOPLE A SUPERNATURAL ATMOSPHERE OF EXEMPTION• Jesus said, you are in this world but you are not of this world. You are different. The children of Israel, when they went through the wilderness were exempted from the heat. Some people think that good will come to them only if they travel to other nations. You are different! Wherever you are, God will bless you. Heaven will bless you. When darkness covers the earth, the glory of God will cover you, do not be afraid!

THE WAY OF GLORY- HOW CAN I ENTER INTO THIS GLORY?

1. The arrival of light or possession of light

Isaiah 60:1- Light has to come through the Word. Do not read the Word like a sense of religious duty. Only where there is light glory is revealed. Many people are familiar with scripture and that is detrimental to their spiritual growth. But when you keep reading the same portion again and again, then that becomes light. There, glory is revealed.

Let there be light! Light is the fuel for glory. May you be never bankrupt of light.

• You need something in the Word that sparks within you. Then you will be ready to box the devil in his nose.

Psalms 119:18- Open the eyes of my understanding that I can see the wonders of your law

• Do you want to see wonders? You can…but only when your eyes are opened to see the light. The BIBLE is a book of wonders.

2. A passion and hunger for this glory

• We are satisfied too quickly. We are filled too quickly. Even if the meeting is over, are you still longing? As the deer panteth….Keep your hunger.
• There is more in Christ. We do not know everything. Glory will keep rising over you. I want to know You again. I want to taste You again. I want to touch and feel You again. If you are hungry like that heaven will certainly fill you.

3. Death of pride

Isaiah 42:8- I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

The limit of your humility is the extent of your glory.

John 12:24- 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much [a]grain.

Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies... Your pride has to die. Your ego has to die. Don’t let people over praise you or over admire you.

We may be called spiritual fathers and mothers etc. All these things enter into the hearts of believers and they lose their relationship with God. None of things are important. “Your presence and glory is what I need Lord. I will surrender and decrease. Make me nothing. I have none but You. There is no glory without You, God. There is nothing I have. Christ in me is the hope of glory.”

AMEN and AMEN!