Sunday sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 18 April 2021

Luke 15:17-17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

• This is a scripture we are very familiar with right from Sunday school days. This younger son came back to his senses- who I am and who my Father is.• Even if everything is lost, if you still manage to keep your awareness and consciousness of you who are and that you have a Father in heaven, you will still experience God’s restoration and find that everything that you have lost will find its way back into your life.
• Life is not about what you have but it is about who you are!

Luke 12:15-15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of [a]covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

• It is not about the riches you have but about who you are.

Acts 19:17- 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

• The evil spirit is saying here- identify yourself! You need to declare that I am a Child of God. You need to confess in great boldness that I am a child of God, washed by the Blood of Jesus.

1 Samuel17- In the valley of Elah, Goliath, a giant was speaking loudly with his mouth. The Israelites heard him and were afraid

Verse 24- Goliath came and stood in front of him. They saw him and were afraid. Verse 23- David also heard and in verse 26, David also saw him. But he wasn’t afraid.

Today it doesn’t matter which Goliath you are facing in your life. It could be the giant of Corona virus, a negative medical report, financial difficulties or anything else; when you are facing it, don’t be afraid. If you have a covenant with God, if you aware of your identity as a child of God, declare that you will not be afraid.

David tells Goliath, ‘you identify yourself, you uncircumcised philistine’. He challenges him. The reason the others were afraid of Goliath was because of what they saw (he was tall, scary and big made) and had a big voice. That is how it is in this world. Everything around you loom large and scares you. In the midst of that you need to know who you are.

May the holy Spirit give you that deeper understanding of who you are. This 17-year-old youngster was going to face this 9-foot-tall giant in a face to face battle.

1 Samuel 17:55-56- 55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.” 8 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

• In the above three verse, we find that the only thing that Saul was interested to know was “Who this young man was”. The only thing that can give you victory is to know who you are!
• Saul wasn’t asking about/wasn’t wanting to know about this unique sling-and-stone style of war weapon. Saul was not interested in the weapon nor in his style. But wanted to know whose son he was.

The Holy Spirit is reminding you whose son or daughter you are. You are a child of God. You are sons and daughters of God.

• No matter what you are seeing. All illnesses, infections, curses be broken in the mighty name of Jesus may it bow down before you!
• The spirit realm only wants to know who you are. Confidently say who you are. • Don’t have an identity crisis. Declare that I am the child of the covenant. David knew that he was youngest who knew his God and he knew that an uncircumcised philistine couldn’t challenge him.
• Whose son or daughter, are you?

Your biological father represents where you are coming from.

Your spiritual father represents where you are going to.

The anointing from your spiritual lineage, our spiritual identity reveals what your purpose is and what you ought to be doing.

Genesis 25:5-6- 5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.

• The verse says that Abraham gave everything to Isaac. If he did, from where did he have anything else left to give other sons anything? The ‘Everything’ here refers to everything that made Abraham ‘Abraham’. That is what was given to Isaac.
• EVERYTHING constitutes the faith, a God encounter, experience of stepping out for Jesus, an obedience towards God that led him to sacrifice his only son, a conviction that he would never lack anything, the belief that he would be the head and not the tail, his prayer life, praise and worship unto God (always built an altar)- all this made Abraham ‘Abraham’. This is what he gave Isac.
• There was a Promise. He gave Isaac that promise not mere gifts. Gifts are material. I am not against materials gifts; That will come anyways. But the focus is on what Abraham gave. He gave a covenant, worship, lifestyle, faith-walk.
• Therefore, because of what was passed on to Isaac, he was not afraid even during times of famine. Even when the enemies came and threw mud into the wells he dug, he wasn’t afraid. Even when Abimelech stood in front of him challenging him, Isaac wasn’t afraid.

With the very things that gave Abraham victory, Isaac was blessed.

• Isaac he was married only at the age of 40 years. That did not worry him. He had his child at 60. Still no worry. No need of any tension. NO TENSION.
• That is how Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, like how Abraham gave Isaac, gives His children His righteousness by His Blood.

I AM worthy because of the Blood of Jesus.

• That’s why Jesus says, “Authority I give you. Go ye therefore and preach the gospel. I have given you all authority on heaven and on earth.” Make disciples of all nations baptising them unto the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• The grace and Presence of the Lord and his Promises are all given to you and me. Lift up your hands and say “I am a child of God.” That is why Jesus says, you will do greater things than these!

God says, ‘You are My boy! You are My girl! Do not be afraid. I am with you!

• This is what Eli gave Samuel; David gave Solomon; Elijah gave Elisha; Mordecai gave Esther; Paul gave Timothy. Your knowledge and conviction that you are a son or daughter of God, will produce everything, everything else that you need for your life.

Luke 15:22- 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

SYMBOLS OF HIS IDENTITY

1) The Best Robe

Whatever God gives is the best. The best robe indicates royalty

Revelation 1:6- 6 and has made us [a]kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

• I am royalty because of Jesus. The free gift of righteousness that you have through Jesus! It is a symbol of your identity. It makes you a king and a priest. • You can come boldly into His presence and stand with authority here on earth!

1 John 4:7- as He is so we are in this earth.

Jesus is royalty in heaven and we are royalty on earth.

Romans 5:17- 17 For if by the one man’s [a]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

• They will REIGN, those who have obtained the righteousness from God. Say this with great boldness.
• The book of Ecclesiastes calls it “Error” if we do not reign!

Ecclesiastes 10: 5-7- There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 Folly is set in [a]great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place. 7 I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground like servants.

• This is an error. You are meant to reign in life and not walk defeated but the church is not reflecting this. In fact, the children of God are walking around like defeated people. You should reject defeat. It is an error for a child of God to be living in defeat!

If you have not experienced this, let it begin today! Let God give you his restoring grace to reign!

Proverbs18:16- A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men. (brings him before royalty)

This scripture s not a spiritual gift but material gifts. Material gifts open doors to access spiritual things. It is in your giving that you see doors open.

2) A RING

• The ring is a symbol of authority. Authority can be simply understood as ability to take charge of your world. Whatever Adam called was the name of the creature.
• The symbol that you are a child is that you have authority. Don’t run away from home again. Certain things can be called into your life. God has given power and authority over your tongue. Whatever you declare, so shall it be.

What you will allow and disallow is in your tongue

• I will allow the mercy, the blessing, the joy, the peace, the goodness of God into my family, my life and my realm. I will call forth the healing of Jesus into my life. I disallow everything that causes restlessness, everything that causes strife, division. I disallow it in the Name of Jesus!

The most important vehicle for expressing spiritual authority is prayer.

• You can’t be prayerless and expect authority to flow. Don’t end up only calling the helpline. Have a revelation of who you are. Certain things you allow will happen. • In Genesis, God said that the descendants of Abraham would be slaves for 400 years. But in Exodus we see that they were slaves for 430 years. Why? Because they allowed it!

Exodus 2:23- 23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.

• They cried out! If you don’t cry out, your slavery will continue. Cry out to God. Identify yourself as a Child of the Promise. I am a child of the covenant. I will walk in the blessing of God. My experiences have to be different. If you cry, pray and intercede, Heaven will work for you!

Mathew 26:40-41- 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus came close to his disciples.

One translation uses the word- To do that which is right your spirit is wanting but the flesh is wanting the very opposite of that. That’s I why you need to pray.

Psalm 42:1-2- As the deer panteth, so my soul longeth for thee. When shall I come before the living God and face Him.

• The spirit says ‘I want to go before God, I want to pray’. The flesh says ‘no, you are busy, walk in your strength, there is a nice movie to watch, take a break’! • In the midst of this battle, if you would sit with me for at least an hour, I will give you authority to overcome your flesh. Just sit for one hour and pray and your inner man will get strengthened every time you pray.
• Jesus could have said ‘I don’t want to pray, I don’t have the mood, the atmosphere is not conducive etc. But Jesus did not say that. He prayed even when it was hardest to pray.
• “I have been to the garden of Gethsamane. There are Olive trees as old as 2000 years. May be under one of those trees Jesus may have prayed.”

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PRAY

Mathew 26:45- When he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

1) There is authority to those who pray- In the entire period that Jesus was living on earth, this was the most trying time. Still he displayed such authority! 2) The one who prays knows the time! - “The time is at hand” Jesus knew it was time for the son of God to be delivered into the hands of sinner.

Mathew 26:46- Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

3) When you pray, you will know who is with you or against you- Jesus knew who would betray him. ‘I know the one who betrays me’. You know who is the one who will betray you in your family, among your friends.

Mathew 26:50 - Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.

4) The one who prays keep the singleness of heart- Judas had the coins in his pocket and when he hugged Jesus, Jesus must have felt the coins rubs against him! Jesus said, “Friend”. Jesus did not ask him why he came? For prayer? For ministry? 5) Prayer gives you the power to forgive and still love

Verse 54: But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

6) When you pray, you can understand the Word of God.

7) When you pray, even in your pain and the biggest crises in your life, you can be very organised.

Verse 63- 63 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

8) If you pray, you will be silent. Like a lamb that was led before the shearers, jesus was silent.

9) If you pray in the midst of your crisis, there is a possibility to stand in boldness and complete clarity of you are and who you are belong to.

Jesus has set an example for us

Verse 64- 64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right

When you are in prayer, you will know the right time to reveal what is happening to all in front of everybody.

Jesus prayed thrice. All three times, disciples were sleeping.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SLEEP WITHOUT PRAYING?

1) If you don’t pray, you will sleep.

2) You will react in the flesh (because you can’t forgive) (you will chop off somebody’s ears!)

3) They were scattered and their unity was broken. when you don’t pray, unity is broken. Even your plans will be scattered.

4) Even if no one chases you, you will still flee if you don’t pray.

5) The decision you take will be unstable and temporary. ‘All of them went back to fishing’ after Jesus was crucified. Peter denied Christ though he claimed he wouldn’t.

Authority is revealed in the platform of prayer.

3) SANDALS

Speak of destiny (footwear) and speed.

• The tragedy of the grave is that it follows unfinished destiny. Your dreams, your vision unfinished is represented by grave.
• But shoe is your destiny fulfiller. It symbolises that nothing can destroy you. Since I have the shoes given to me by the Lord, I will move forward speedily and fulfil all the commission and tasks that the Lord has given me. Jesus help me to fulfil and do all that you have planned for my life!
• The one who has started the good work will bring it to completion. You have to finish your race, you have to fulfil your destiny. You have to stand and hold fast to your faith.
• That bondage that is holding you back from moving forward to break this morning. The grace and the speed that you need to do all.
• Let there be God speed over your life to finish what you need to in time! Let every barrier be broken.
• Identify yourself. Look at your feet and Speak to them – “you shall fulfil all that God wants you to!”