GOOD FRIDAY MESSAGE 22/04/11

DARKNESS

When Jesus was crucified in the cross so many changes happened in the nature; when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon and many believed that He is the Son of God. Mar15:33,39. I received this message from God before one week itself and I asked Lord for a sign if I need to give this message today as it comes under the title "darkness". I did not receive any sign till yesterday so I prepared another message for today and made everything ready and I was happy about that. But today early morning God gave a wonderful sign confirming that I need to give that message which He gave me before. Today at 4AM there was a heavy thunder and lightning and many believers who came to the first service said that the thunder was same like they heard it in 1997 when Pr.Stephen entered into God's glory.

I just had the hints of that message but not prepared it fully as God spoke to me clearly that I should speak these words to you today after 4AM I prepared it in detail. Our God is a supernatural God.

When we talk about the sixth hour it is 12pm and the seventh hour is the first hour. So there was darkness all around between 10am to 3pm. Mat27:45. I hesitated to give this message as I thought the word "darkness" refers to "Satan" but Ps18:9 says, "God made the sky sink as He descended;a thick cloud was under His feet. He shrouded Himself in darkness,in thick rain clouds.IISam22:12. It is like He covered Himself with darkness.“The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness.IKings8:12.

On the day of solar eclipse we cannot and should not see the sun directly as it will affect our eyes. Fully exposed x-rays and developed film is very dense; even so, some say the recommendation is to use at least two layers of this to view the sun. For safety, you shouldn't even trust this: instead, project the sun's image onto a flat surface using a pinhole. We need to take so many preacautions: Without a spectrophotometer to ensure the film is blocking dangerous infrared and ultraviolet rays as well as reducing the intensity of the Sun's visible light, you're risking damage to your eyes or blindness. These are the steps to see a simple sun. Imagine how glorious our God is! He is millions and millions of times brighter than the sun. No one can stand against His glory.
From the brightness in front of Him came coals of fire.IISam22:13. If He shows all His glory the whole earth and everything will be burnt. Scientists say if the sun moves 1degree  forward it will be burnt and if it moves 1degree backward everything will be frozen. As the sun is in its right position we all live safely.

I believe this is not a customary good friday message but an unusual, extra ordinay and remarkable one. You will definitely go out with a transformation as this message is a God- given one and also confirmed by Him. Thank You Lord.

Why God came down?

A sacrifice is accepted only when it is be offered by a priest. Jesus had to be sacrificed to take away the sin of the world. As there was no high priest to sacrifice Jesus, the lamb of God, God came down to this world to sacrifice Him and He accepted that sacrifice. Through that sacrifice we are all cleansed and sanctified and redeemed. The darknesscame in that time was not due to sin but because God came in His glory covering Himself with the darkness as a shield. If He did not come down with that covering of darkness everything in this world would be burnt. Very truly God Himself came down to offer and accept Jesus Christ. We are going to meditate about in what all circumstances darkness came into this world.

1. COVENANT - ABRAHAM

When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep,and great terror overwhelmed him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land..." Gen15:12,17,18.

Here we see Abraham's fear as a result deep sleep fell on him. Finally we see that God is making a covenant with Abraham. And why did this darkness come and why was he afraid? We have read the words of God and know many things about God but Abraham was from the Chaldean/Babylonian culture lived on at Ur who were noted for their astrology and moon worship. So he did not know anyting about God. He was with the question, "How God will lead me?" and God spoke to him clearly about the plans He has for us and the promises and also made a covenant with him. That time a great darkness came and that was God.

What was the covenant?

It was the covenant of the descendants, that God would lead his descendants till the end. Even today many of us are with so many questions, " Will I be able to do this or that?" Believe God has come down to make a covenant with you and He is the answer for all your worries and questions.

When we buy a land or a house both the buyer and the seller should sign an agreement and then both parties cannot change the decision once they are agreed. Our TV program was suddenly stopped without any prior intimation. When we enquired about that we came to know there was no agreement for that and so we could not do anything about that. But for us God Himself has come down today to make a covenant with us. We also have come to a significant time of making a covenant with God. God is renewing the covenant He has made with you on the day of your salvation.

God says, I the Lord will protect you; I will continually shelter each one from these evil people and I will be with you till the end of this world.The light of the righteous shines brightly,it never goes out. I will keep your generation to serve Me alone. They will be all with Me and they are for Me. My eyes are always upon them.

Prayer: Indeed, my Lord, the God of our ancestors, make me a thousand times more numerous than I am now, blessing me just as He said He would! The Lord is faithful and will also fulfil His words.

2. ISRAELITES- THE LORD BATTLES

Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord that He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again.The Lord will fight for you, and you can be still.” The pillar of cloud came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other the whole night.In the morning watch the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army into a panic.So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state when the sun began to rise. Now the Egyptians were fleeing before it, but the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. Exo14:13,14,10,24,27

When you surrender to God saying, "Lord there is no way to escape without you" that is the point of time miracles work out. We see the situation of the Israelites here Egyptian army at the back and the Red sea in the front. No way to go. And God fights for them He made them a way (dry ground) in the middle of the Red sea. What a wonderful God! God confirms this to you that the battle belongs to Him and we should be still. Israelites had no weapons with them butthey had victory over victory with God on their side. In verse 20 we read a great darkness came down. God came down and made the Egyptians drowned in the middle of the sea.

God says, "Be still and know that I am God".

Prayer: Lord, I hand over everything to You and you take care of my everything and help me to be still.

3. LEADING OF MOSES - GOD'S VOICE:

Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you,that the fear of Him may be before you so that you do not sin.” The people kept their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.Exo20:20,21.

You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud. Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything – only a voice was heard.The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all He said. Then He inscribed the words on two stone tablets and gave them to me. Deu4:11,12;5:22.

God's word is coming directly to the church. God is going to lead you. How many of you have the experience of holding your dad's hand while walking, when you were young? It is a good feeling. The same way God holds your hands and leads you. He has come down for that and He says, " I will never leave your hand". From today onwards you will have the experience of hearing His voice directly as a man speaks to you.

Prayer: Father, please take hold with my hands and speak to me that I can hear your sweet sweet voice.

4. DANIEL - REVELATION

He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light resides with Him.Dan2:22

As unto Daniel God reveals the darkness and changes that into light. He makes such things for us. The submarine as it goes down there will be full of darkness even in the day time and as they come up there will be light. For the worldly people who is in the darkness there is no hope of light but for us "God is light". The great darkness means the same to the worldly people but for us it is the great light. As the Psalmist says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strenght of my life; of whom, shall I be afraid?

What kind of light?
It is the light of revelation and vision. God gave Daniel a vision,a light, things which is to come after so many years.

And the Lord God says, "No more darkness in your life hereafter. After all of this I will pour out My Spirit on all kinds of people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; your young men will see prophetic visions."

Prayer: Lord, I want visions and revelations from You Lord, not for boasting but to be profitable unto Your work.

5. CHURCH- COMING

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.Blow the trumpetin Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed,it is near!It will be a day of dreadful darkness. For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night.The Lord is not slow concerning his promise,as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because He does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.1The4:16;5:2; Joel2:1,2;2Pet3:9

All the above is for the church and it is about the coming of Jesus Christ. That day of darkness (His coming) is a glad thing for us and we wait for His coming and for the worldly people it is going to be outrageous. The one who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”

Prayer: Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all.Amen.