16 October 2022, Sunday sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, Cornerstone church 

2 Chronicles 20:7-7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?

• Abraham, Jesus’s best friend for ever. Some friends are temporary, while you were in school, in your work place, your neighbours but Jesus says this about Abraham- he is my friend forever. 

2 Timothy 2:3-8 You therefore must endure[a] hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and [b]may the Lord give you understanding in all things. 8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel 

• The friendship of the Holy Spirit. There are different types of relationships. • There are hi-bye relationships. There are relationships where you are partners (Hebrews 6 talks about partakers together- like you are related by virtue of being partakers for health, blessing etc). Beyond these is a relationship called friendship. 

Proverbs 17:17- A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. 

• A friend loves at ALL times. Jesus Knew that Abraham would love him at all times, whether or not he saw his deliverance, received His Promise. May you decide to love the Lord at all times no matter what situations you are in. Having a relationship with Jesus at all times. 

Proverbs 18:24- A man who has friends [a]must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. 

• There may be natural relationships in your life but beyond that there are relationships with those that are washed by the Blood of Jesus and with those who are walking with Jesus. May you have such relationships.
• This morning the Lord is calling you into a deep friendship and intimacy with the Holy Spirit more than ever before. Surrender to that and say, yes Lord and He will send forth an anointing upon your life.

Luke 12:4- 4 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! 

• Jesus is calling you be His friends. Friendship will give you confidence to face challenges. When attacks come against your life, then you will know that there is a companion and a 

friend who will stand with you. May Jesus transform to be your best friend. Let God’s grace flow through your life. Tell Him that you want to be faithful to Him and that He is your Best friend and that you want to enjoy your relationship with Him more than anything else. 

The easiest way to be blessed is by being a friend of God. 

• In Luke 11, we see that a friend who comes at mid night knocking at the door for help. Do you know how you can get your answer to your prayer? When you make Jesus your friend Someone you can go to even at midnight and knock at the door knowing that the door will be opened to you. No matter how late it is, you can still trust your Friend Jesus to still answer you.

I will love you more than anybody else Lord. You are more important to me. Is there anyone who will say this to Jesus? 

• Abraham was a friend of God and Jesus promised this friend that He would bless him with a son. After that promise, Abraham had to wait for 25 years to see the promise being fulfilled through Isaac’s birth. Some of you hear a prophecy from me one week and are expecting that prophecy to be fulfilled before the next Sunday and then you get upset and sit here with a long face. Imagine, that GOD himself spoke to Abraham who was his friend and then he had to wait for 25 years!!!
• Nobody can make me feel as if I am not anointed! Abraham had to wait for 25 years even though He was called as God’s friend.
• Remember what HE has spoken, He will do at the right time, at HIS appointed time! He is a God of His Word. If any of you have had a prophecy spoken over your life and it as not yet been fulfilled, don’t be angry with me! Ask the Lord who spoke and He will answer you.

Sometimes, though we have received a prophecy, it doesn’t come to pass because the Lord wants to teach you a few things and wants to school you in the SCHOOL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

• If there is a word on deliverance, it can only be received by those who have experienced deliverance in their lives. Ones who have not experienced deliverance cannot receive that Word. Only if you can see it, you will experience it.
• Chances could be that you have been put into the school of the Spirit to learn something if you haven’t seen a prayer or a prophecy come to pass. 

Only if you are a student that you can be a lecturer. 

• If you have received a prophecy but have not seen its fulfilment, that means you are being schooled. If you learn what God wants you to learn, you will see your deliverance. Only the one who has gone through that school knows the value of prayer and has a hunger for prayer. 

One pastor said that as a church they give all the members who come to church some kanji (rice broth) and money for travel to church and back. When I asked him why they 

did that? He said that when he first stepped out for Jesus, he was a Pattani and he would walk for 24 km to attend meetings because he did not have money to even get transport. Now God has blessed him and he did not want anybody to leave his church hungry.

• Remember that if you are a friend of God and haven’t seen your breakthrough, the Holy Spirit of God is teaching you something through it. Never allow the devil to make you feel that the Lord hates you when God doesn’t answer your prayer. It may be a prayer for healing, you have done everything you could to get your healing- fasted, prayed, prayed in tongues anointed with oil, drank oil, ate salt etc. And when the devil comes to tell you that God doesn’t love you, don’t believe him. Just tell him that he is a failure and liar and that God will bring you into His promised Land no matter what. 

R.W. Schambach said, one lady about 40 years of age came running to him and said that I have been born again for many years and I have never experienced a single problem in my life. The Man of God said, please bend your knees and pray; You are not born again! If you are born again, you have an enemy- the devil and he will definitely try to attack your life.

• If you have no enemy, check your salvation. If you are truly a friend of the Holy Spirit, check and see- you will have an enemy. There is a dark kingdom that is against you but you don’t have to fear him. You are a generation that will receive the anointing to destroy his works. God is raising up a generation like that from this church.

You will destroy the works of darkness and will manifest Gods’ glorious working. 

Genesis 18:1- 18 Then the LORD appeared to him by [a]the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.

• After 24 years, God was speaking to him and the Word says that Sarah laughed. You know people make fun of me too when I finish preaching but that doesn’t bother me. If Sarah laughed when GOD Almighty himself spoke, why would they not laugh at me! The Word says here that the LORD (with capital) L spoke to Abraham, it was not an angel but the LORD EL-Shaddai Himself. 
• God will honour you. There is a day that He will lift you. It doesn’t matter who makes fun of you, puts you down, humiliates you, speaks falsely about you, remember that there is a day in your future where God will lift you up. 
• Has someone made fun of you? Only 5% of what is seen on social media is reality. People make fun of men and women of God and there are kings and influential people to hit likes and clap when they do that but remember that the King of Kings Jesus Christ will return one day upon the clouds for you and me.

In the new testament, the Words say many things about the Children of God. But I want to draw your attention to what the Word says in 2 Timothy 2. It speaks about three things in reference to children of God: 

1. A Soldier 2. An Athlete 3. A Farmer

There is no ordinary child of God who is a friend of God. 

• In the olden days, when people used to become born again, they had a little mat upon which they would sit and pray. In small churches, the pastor would wait for people to come and sit and these mats and listen to the sermon and would not turn on the fans till someone came and sat on the mats or else the mats would fly off. The truth is God did not call you to simply sit in one place or on a mat. Inside you there is a purpose and the vision.

He is calling you a friend and exhorts you to be a soldier, a farmer and athlete. Nobody is called to be sitting doing nothing. 

• In these days, you have been called for fasting and prayer not to just sit and listen to some sermon and leave. But to receive the anointing and the strength of the Holy Spirit and to know that you are called to be a soldier, a farmer and an athlete.
• Jesus set a demon possessed man free. Immediately he went about celebrating and declaring what God did for him in ten nearby towns. God has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light to declare His greatness. 
• Why did God set you free? To be used in His Kingdom. Each of you sitting here are flames of fire. You are fire balls for God. You need to celebrate HIM. 

Have you seen a soldier?--- There is self-sacrifice. They are ready to die for the country. They love their country. Your love for God and your friendship with God is what makes you a soldier. Paul says, the love of Christ compels me.

An athlete is disciplined. They go to Olympics with the goal to win! They don’t run to take a selfie and put it on social media. 

• The one who runs has a focus. There is a finishing line ahead of him. They make sure that they don’t change tracks. There is a finishing line, that is the focus of an athlete. • They don’t think about who is running next to him or her, what shoes they are wearing, which brand of running shoes etc. This athlete is not bothered about anything else but his/her eyes are only on the finishing line.
• God has kept a track for you. you need to run on that track and reach the finishing line and you need to get that crown that God has kept for you.

You are not called to be a paper weight. There is a race. When you run for Olympics you receive an olive crown which would dry up eventually but Paul says that we are not running for a crown that perishes but for an imperishable crown. 

• We need to run in the track of the Holy Spirit. “Nothing can divert me or take my focus away”. I have a race to complete. I have a prize to win. God is going to hold your hand and take you into that grace. God is leading the church to the way of discipline.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. His kingdom is your focus.What does God want you to do? That is the key thing. 

• Jesus said, if you want to be a disciple then you can’t love your father, mother, wife and children more than me. Yes, that is the level of focus that God expects of you! 
• We are not here to be a family, just to sit together, listen to His word, have a pizza after service, go home and sleep. No! God has a purpose! 
• God asked Abraham to get out of the Ur of Chaldeans – That’s is why God has asked you to leave your father’s home and land and step out for Him! 

You need to place Jesus in front of you and run. 

PV Sindhu is India’s Badminton star. She said, that for about 8 months during her preparation for Olympic she switched off her mobile phone. She did this to obtain a perishable medal but for us, it is eternal! How much more should we keep aside all distractions!

• God has called you for that. How much more should you move away from social media if it is distracting you. What is more important is you, Jesus! Your Kingdom, Lord! • It doesn’t matter how late you started running the race but there is anointing of the Holy Spirit that will bring you to the front.

The race for eternity is far greater and far more important than the Olympics. 

• It is more important than guarding our Indian border. To pray and battle for the power of God, for His people, for His ministers and His church. “I will stand up to defend the kingdom of God. To stand in your calling is great”. 

Cesar Castellanos is a Man of God in Bogota, Colombia- in on year, people in that church are expected to receive the anointing and start moving in their giftings and callings. Your faith is to help you remember your calling, move in your gifting and battle like solider, sow seeds like a good farmer and sow precious seeds.

If one person rises up to walk in that anointing, India will see revival. One generation that will raise up to stand in holiness in these times.

A farmer - By faith the farmer ploughs and then sows the seeds of faith. By faith he waits, by faith he waters it and then a harvest comes forth. From our nation, a harvest will come forth.

• Let the giftings manifest. Sunday service must be a service of impartation. If a person works 6 days in a week and on the 7th day he stays at home expecting to be in peace and joy. A lady struggles for 6 days and on the 7th day she waits for her husband to take her out. While one person wants to relax at home, the other one wishes to be taken out. That hope is what became a Sunday. When many people see Sunday as holiday we see it as a HOLY day.
• Be equipped to go out and sow the seed, to inform people about what God has done for you, in school, office and in playgrounds about what Jesus has done. Learn to battle in prayer for people! 

The seeds that I sow will gain root. Just sow seeds wherever you go. 

• Who have you been battling and praying for. You will see your miracles. Where will you place your focus and run? You will receive an impartation when you look unto Jesus. 
• Don’t waste your time. Don’t be a paper weight. Don’t come here and ask for prayer for Visa, school fees etc, those things I will anyway pray for but know that there is a greater purpose over your life. 
• I only know one thing- earlier days in my ministry, God showed me a vision that in the last days HE will raise up an army of the Living God who will be equipped with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A people who say that if I live, I live for Jesus. If I die, I die for Jesus, without being afraid of him who can destroy your body but fearing the one who can put your soul into hell. A people who will stand for Jesus and stand strong even when you are made fun of, humiliated for His name’s sake. 
• A generation that stands for Jesus. Don’t be afraid of the devil. The Lord Jesus destroyed the enemy on the Cross of Calvary. He destroyed him. Let the Holy Spirit fill us! • Some people are afraid to become old. I had that fear. Will I lose my hair? Will my face become deformed? Different people have different kinds of fears. Some are scared about their future. They are not afraid of the devil but of their future. Some people are scared thinking what will happen to their ministry and to their relationships or their business. • Moses was standing in front of the Red Sea and people were scared and they began to cry. The Lord asked him to tell them not to cry.

What you fear, God will make a way THROUGH that very thing! 

• God told Abraham not to fear. I am your exceedingly great reward. I am your friend, don’t be afraid. Even if you walk through the valley of shadow of death, you need not be afraid. Coz I am your Lord. He is my good Shepherd. There is joy and happiness beyond that valley experience, you can celebrate after that. 
• Jesu got into the fiery furnace where Daniel’s friends were thrown. 
• You may be going through the red sea, through the fire but there is a celebration beyond that point. 
• Moses’s sister Miriam took the tambourine. Moses would have told her, ‘listen we are leaving and going across the Red Sea’. She would have packed everything and kept all the old clothes at the bottom and the new ones on top in hr bag. Placed all the gold and FD money right on top. But when they got across the red sea, there must have been such a relief that nothing had happened as they may have feared. She would have thought “wow, this is my brother who we left into the River Nile. Look at Him, the deliverer of Israel!” She may have taken her tambourine out and celebrated God singing and dancing. 

It is time to take your tambourine out, bring out your worship! You may have been worried what will happen to you children, to your business. But just worship 

• A friend of God doesn’t need fear but needs the fear of God.

You need to move from the fear of men to the fear of God. May you have that kind of boldness. May every fear be broken out of your life. May you have only the fear of God.

Mark 4:35-41- 35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, [a] be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How[b] is it that you have no faith?” 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” 

• There were multitudes that heard Jesus preach him but not all stayed back with him. Many left and returned. We are not one of those. We have a focus.

60% of the pastors are quitting ministry. They get into the boat with Jesus and they follow Him in small boats but when the wind and the waves come, they get threatened and they leave.

• The disciples woke Jesus up when the waves and winds came. You need to become strong in prayer and wake Jesus up when you face a problem. Jesus woke up and asked the winds and the waves to be silent. Jesus looked at the disciples said, “why were you so frightened? don’t you have faith?” 
• They were even more scared when everything became calm. At the beginning they were scared when they witnessed the winds and the waves. That was human fear. But when Jesus stilled the weather, they were scared even more considering who Jesus was (someone whom even the winds and the waves obeyed), they were in the fear of God. From human fear to fear of God. The winds and the waves won’t destroy Him!