TRINITY HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH
SUNDAY SERMON
20th of October, 2024
Topic: The Presence of the Lord
Preacher: Reverend Ebenezer Olawuyi
Text: Exodus 13:20 – 22
MESSAGE
Declaration: This is my Bible, the Word of God. I believe in this revelation and I submit myself to the authority of this Word. My life is guided by the instructions of this Word. I receive peace by obeying this Word. I receive light and understanding this morning. In Jesus name, Amen.
I welcome you to church this very good morning. Every day is a gift from the Lord. The scripture says, ‘He has given us today to enjoy.’ This is the gift from God, and we want to thank God for the gift of today. God made this day; the Devil didn’t make it. This is the day the Lord has made… Hallelujah! Lift up your hands and say, ‘Father, thank you for the gift of today. I will rejoice and be glad over this gift in Jesus Name. Amen.’
I am going to share with you briefly on the same thing we’ve been looking at: The Presence of the Lord. I just want to be where You are, dwelling daily in Your presence. I don’t want to worship from afar, draw me near to where You are. I just want to be where You are, in Your dwelling place forever. Take me to the place where You are. I just want to be with you. I want to be where You are, dwelling in Your presence, feasting at Your table, surrounded by your glory. In your presence, that’s where I always want to be. I just want to be with You.
The Scripture we read in the devotional this morning says, ‘As they were ministering, the Lord said….’ The Scripture says, ‘…they were ministering to the Lord.’ They were not praying, as such. They were not asking. They were not ministering before the Lord; they were ministering to the Lord. You know, the word ‘Minister’ also talks about ‘serving’. They were just there, expressing their love to the Lord. They were just thanking Him, worshipping, and as they were doing it, the Lord spoke. The Manifest Presence of the Lord. Yes, we have the presence of the Lord within us, but God brings the tangible presence into our midst, into our lives – His touchable presence. The scripture we read in Exodus 13:21 – 22, the scripture says, ‘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. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people (NIV).’ That is, ‘My presence will be with you. I am going to create an atmosphere around you. Anyone outside it will be outside the atmosphere.’ So, when the children of Israel went through the Red Sea, the cloud was upon them; the Egyptians were outside the cloud and thus, perished in the water. When the atmosphere of His presence is on you, in you, around you, possibilities will be yours. Unimaginable possibilities. I will mention one more thing that will help us to enjoy His Presence, to enjoy His manifest presence.
Psalm 133 says, ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there, the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.’ Friends, let me tell you this: When the people of God are in unity, they attract His presence. They draw His manifest presence because the Spirit of God is that of unity and not that of division, disunity and dissension. One of the works of the flesh is dissension. Dissension – the divisive spirit. The Holy Ghost withdraws where there is divisive spirit; the Holy Spirit can’t condone it. However, when the people of God are united, when they are united in their spirit, one mind, one goal, one purpose, they invite His glory. He comes down. He manifests His presence. He broods over them.
Listen to this: A simple way to know where demons, witches, wizards thrive is in the place of disunity. When you see families that are never united – uncle fighting with aunt, brother fighting with brother, I can almost beat my chest and tell you, there are witches and wizards in that family, because that is their trait, that is where they thrive. Witches thrive in disunity; evil men and evil people thrive in disunity. Any family or any organisation where you see this kind of thing happening, be careful, there are witches in that family or in that organisation. One of the ways to send them packing is to walk in unity. Let me tell you this: Demons can never be comfortable where there is unity, they run away.
The scripture says in James 3:15 – 16, ‘This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.’ When you begin to envy one another, fighting against one another, the Bible says there will be confusion and every thing you can mention as evil are present there. You know what? If you are the most senior member of your family, I pray for grace for you to maintain unity in your family. It takes sacrifice to be a leader because your junior ones will insult you. If you permit that disunity, you will open the door for the devil. As the most senior, you must be able to accept a lot of things. The goal is to maintain that unity, to prevent disunity and close the door against the devil in your family. Sometimes, you may take disrespect, you may take insult, but you have a responsibility. In every organisation, it is also the same thing, because what the devil is seeking for is an opening. When the edge is broken, the serpent will enter and bite. You see all sorts of sicknesses, diseases, premature death, affliction in that family because there is disunity. I always pray for the firstborn of each family.
Can I tell you this also? You may say, ‘That is not my responsibility, I am not the firstborn.’ If you are not the firstborn of your family or the head of an organisation, you are an agent of unity. I am the last of a family of six, because I understand this, I make efforts. So, you won’t have an excuse. If others don’t do it, because you know you are a child of God and you know the implication, you must make sure you mend fences. Sometimes, the family may have to make contributions and someone who has the ability to contribute even more will say, ‘I am not doing anything’, not minding the fact that it is a family function and even he or she will be there to eat and also bring his or her guests. Don’t say, ‘If you don’t contribute, you won’t be part of it.’ Serve his foods and serve his guests too. Don’t treat the guests as if the person who invited them didn’t contribute anything. That is the sacrifice for unity. You want the presence of God in your family and organisation? Maintain unity. How good and pleasant is it for brethren to dwell together in unity…. There, God pours out His blessings, He disrupts the works of the devil, He manifests Himself. I pray for you, the grace to uphold unity, receive it! May you not be an agent of disunity. Avoid malice, avoid strife. Do you know that in the church like this, even in the body of Christ, there are people who keep malice and don’t talk to each other? Avoid malice. I keep telling people, even if the person doesn’t greet you after you have done all, keep saying, ‘good morning’, it doesn’t take anything away from you.
Hebrews 12:14 says, ‘Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.’ Friends, listen to this: When you talk about pursuing peace, it means you are running after something that is going away. It is your responsibility to run after peace. Pursue peace and run after it. It will naturally want to run away, it is your responsibility to pursue it. In other words, make efforts to ensure there is peace. When there is peace, there will be holiness; the scripture says, ‘Without this, no man shall see God.’
For you to enjoy Him, and be able to operate in the supernatural… you know, there are things that cannot be understood by the natural. Sometimes, you say how can I forgive the person who has done this? Listen: if Christ did not forgive you, what would you say? The scripture says in Romans 5:8 that even while were still sinners, Christ died for us. He forgave you. He gave you grace instead of judgment. Mercy is God withholding judgment, grace is God giving you benefits that you don’t deserve. He forgave you, so why won’t you forgive somebody else? Yet, you partake in the communion. The more you have this kind of heart and partake in the communion, you are putting curses upon yourself because you are crucifying the son of God the second time.
Pursue peace, run after it. In other words, after this service this morning, go to that person and say, ‘I still love you, whatever you have done before, I forgive you.’ Even if the person runs away, pursue peace, that is the way to stop the devil. Some people are going from one affliction to the other because they are full of bitterness. It is like taking poison and expecting another person to die; that way, you make your life the place for the devil to dwell. Release that man, release that woman. You know what? Even pray for him, pray for her. You can’t pray for someone you are bitter against. Instead, you rain judgment on such person. What you say concerning that person is, ‘May the Lord show him judgment.’ But when you tell God to remember him, it shows that you have forgiven him. From today, pray for that person, you will see the hand of God working in your life and family. I hear God telling me this: You are entering the move of God in your life. Allow Him, surrender to Him.
Prayer
I surrender all. All to thee, my blessed saviour, I surrender all. All to Jesus, I surrender; all to Him, I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.
Pray and say: Lord, I know it’s difficult but I surrender. I forgive them: my in-laws, parents, friends, children, etc. I release them and I pray that you bless them.
Lord, as many as with a broken heart, heal their broken heart. Heal their wounds. Cause them to see your love, they shall not be instruments in the hands of the Devil. Satan, we forbid you, no place for you in our home, life and church. In Jesus name, Amen.
Call to Salvation
It’s very difficult for you to do this, if Jesus has not given you a new heart. So, you want to say, ‘Lord, I am surrendering everything to you’? Put your left hand on your chest and say, ‘Lord, I give you my heart and I ask you to forgive me also so that I can forgive others. Give me a new heart, reveal yourself to me. Save me and write my name in the book of life. In Jesus Name I pray, amen.’