2024-03-31_Sunday 2nd Service: The Empty Tomb; God's Open Door. By PBC Associate Pastor, Rev. Dr. Simon Mwangi

We are reading from the book of Matthew, chapter 28, verse 1 to 10, and then 16 to 20.

Matthew 28:1–10

Matthew, chapter 28, verse 1 to 10, and then 16 to 20.

Matthew 28:1–10

This is what the Bible says in the NIV version of the Bible.

Bible says in the NIV version of the Bible After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and I pray an angel comes down from heaven Hallelujah, hallelujah and rolls something away in the path of your life.

I go back.

Sorry, I got excited.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and then sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

I want us to read verse 6 together.

He is not here.

He has reason, just as he said, come and see the place where he lay.

Let me go on reading.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has reason from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.

There you will see him.

Now I have told you.

The women hurried away from the tomb, afraid, yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly, jesus met them, greetings he said, they came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.

Then Jesus said to them Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, there they will see me.

Then we jump to verse 16.

Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

Then Jesus came to them and said I want us to read that part.

He said what All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Let's continue reading.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I'm with you always, to the very end of the age.

This is God's word, father in heaven.

We commit ourselves now under the unction of the Holy Spirit, that you may teach us your word and I commit myself into your hands too, as I release a message you put in my heart.

My God, as we share in this word, bless us, bless those who are here in person, bless those who are following online, wherever they may be around the world, and thank you for making us one great, beautiful family.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

We may have our seats Once again.

Let me acknowledge the presence of His Excellency the Governor of Nairobi, johnson Sakaja, and his team, karibu sana, and also acknowledge your sister, who is part of our congregation, of course, at Honorable Sakaja.

We are at home.

We are at home and God bless you.

We thank God for you Big time.

This church, we pray for you, we pray for the city and we pray for this nation.

The empty tomb, god's open door that's the title of the message, the text I have just read.

There are three areas I would wish us to visit Number one, the open door to eternal life, and number two, the open door to all authority.

And number three, the open door to all nations.

Let me remind us again that the power that raised Jesus from the dead was greater than the power that put him in there and let me say that there is a power available that is greater than the power that takes you down.

And this morning or this afternoon, on Resurrection Sunday, I sense the dynamic of this power at work and therefore, even as I share the Word of God, I know and I believe God is at work in all areas of our lives, reversing the power that tends to take us downwards.

And right at the beginning, let me say I cancel every downward power in the name of Jesus Christ, and I decree Isaiah 60, verse 1, that says Arise and shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1

Light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

And also Numbers 28, verse 13, that says you shall be head and not tail, you shall be top and not bottom.

Numbers 28:13

The dynamic of God's power is one that lifts people from down there, takes them here, takes them there, takes them to the next level.

Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 6,.

Ephesians 2:6

As Paul is celebrating resurrection power, he said that we've been raised together with Christ and we are now seated with him in the heavenly realms.

In Christ Jesus, I would like us to read this verse in the first person.

Make it personal.

Verse 6,.

Let's read it together Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 6.

Ephesians 2:6

And God has raised me up together with Christ, and now I'm seated with him in the heavenly realms.

In Christ Jesus.

That is the truth.

Give a hand, clap to the Lord, and so victory is the last word.

And we are looking at a situation where a tragedy has been transformed into triumph.

And today, even as I share with us and celebrate this Sunday, every tragedy is being turned into triumph and what was intended for evil, the Lord is doing what he's turning it for good.

That's what his hand is able to do.

Now there are many who did not want Jesus to rise from the dead, and there are many who may not want you to rise to the next level, but I counsel their efforts in Jesus name.

Whatever stronghold, altar or voice or word spoken to try and destroy you, once again I say it's cancelled and doesn't matter what they do.

Those who are for us are more than those who are against us.

Now listen to the futility and foolishness of the Sanhedrin and also of the authorities of the day.

They tried to seal the grave so that Jesus could not rise.

But I thank God for resurrection power, because I say that power is greater than the power that puts you down, and today is a day that chains are broken.

This is a day that strongholds are brought down.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we are celebrating resurrection power.

In Matthew 27 from verse 62, the Bible says the following the next day, the one after preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate, sir.

They said we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver Imagine, they are calling Jesus the deceiver.

Hallelujah Said after three days, I will rise again.

They will very quickly discover he is not the deceiver.

After three days, I will rise again.

So give the order For the tomb To be made secure Until the third day, otherwise his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead.

This last deception will be worse than the first.

Take a guard.

Pilate answered Go, make the tomb as secure, as you know how.

So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard.

Let me say that God did not design anyone to end up in a prison or to end up in a cellar or to end up in a grave.

That was not God's mission, it was not God's purpose.

And from the beginning, when humankind chose to go a different way from the path God had ordained, we started going downhill.

But from that day, a long time ago, in the book of Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, god started working a plan to bring back man from the wrong direction that he was going.

And we went very, very far.

And from the Old Testament, starting with the prophets, starting with the slaughtering of goats and bulls, they went through the kindergarten of understanding the redemptive intention of God.

But every effort they tried and threw at this problem of the downward spiral of man got nowhere Through the prophets, through the sacrificial system of animals and through the institution of the temple, plus the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the whole journey that took several centuries.

But eventually one came, the one that John the Baptist described as the Lamb of God.

John, chapter 1, verse 29, where he said Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

John 1:29

And therefore he looked at what man was going through.

We were separated from God, we were spiritually dead, and he determined he's going to give it a go and beat death at its game.

And so Jesus became a human being.

And remember last Sunday what I said that if you really want to bring change anywhere, identify with the community or all the people that you need to connect with.

Last Sunday, I said that if you want to change ants, the world of ants what did I say?

You become an ant, isn't it?

If you want to change the girirris, those small creatures, then become a giri-ri.

And Jesus therefore became a human being.

And then he died and was buried and rose on the third day.

Jesus decided to deal with the problem we had had on and he became the Lamb of God, and then he went to the grave.

He needed to beat everything that would come against humankind, including sin, and so he carried sin in his body, then went to the grave, he died and he was buried and finally, at the theater of death, he beat death and he conquered death and today his reason.

He is alive, and for that reason there is nothing you will ever go through that Jesus is not able to handle.

God did not determine that anybody would end up in the prison of fear, the prison of poverty, the prison of anger, the prison of bitterness, the prison of resentment, the prison of disease.

It was not God's intention that any human being would stay in those limiting situations and those prisons and those cellars.

God's intention is that everybody would receive victory and be victorious.

And today I decree and declare your victory in Jesus' name.

And so for that reason he had to get into that game and really beat the devil at that game so that he qualifies to be the one who saves to the uttermost.

The word saving to the uttermost means saving everything.

It doesn't matter how far down you are.

God is able to reach there and actually pick you from there and bring you up again.

And that is why, on Resurrection Sunday, he released resurrection power so that whoever desires to be lifted from one level to another can connect with this power and be released and be freed completely.

There is no family problem God cannot solve.

And if you're here and you're coming from a home and a family that is struggling and there are some problems there, today, as we pray, I urge you to invoke the resurrection power in that situation and that problem and I tell you that God will solve it like this If he conquered death, what is it he cannot conquer?

And so today I declare all the prisons open in Jesus' name, and I see the freedom and the release of God's people.

John 8, 36 says whoever the son of God sets free is free.

Indeed, john 8, 32,.

He talked to the disciples and he said you shall know the truth and the truth shall do what Shall set you free.

And therefore, congregation, I want us to proclaim some words here and we say I am free, indeed, because Jesus is risen from the dead.

And so there is no door God cannot open.

In Revelation, chapter 3, verse 7 and verse 8, the Bible says he holds the key of David, the door he has opened no man can shut, and the door he has shut no man can open.

Revelation 3:7

But then, in verse 8, the Bible says he has opened a door before you that no man can shut.

Make a confession today and say in the days ahead this is the last day of the month of March, we are entering the month of April and you can make a declaration it's a good time to do that that God has opened a door before me that no man can shut.

Can we try that?

Let's say God has opened a big door before me that no man can shut, and that door God has opened is big enough for you and your family.

It is just like at the Red Sea, when God made a way, and also at the River Jordan he made a way.

People are able to move across.

Even whole families were able to go across the way the Lord had made.

He's a way maker, and let me say today that the way that God makes for us, we won't have to squat.

That God makes for us, we won't have to squat, we won't have to squeeze, we won't have to compete.

God makes a way that we are able to pass through and therefore, today, I declare the power of the resurrection is rolling the stone away.

Verse 2, again, it says there was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

You know, using the power of imagination, I can see the angel sitting on the stone and actually crossing his leg like this and laughing at death, Hallelujah.

And I'm seeing angels coming in your direction and that thing that has been so difficult is sorted out by the power of God.

And the angel is looking and laughing and saying is this what was really the problem?

And so today is really a day of victory and it's a day to appropriate this victory, one number one in the area of eternal life.

The open door to eternal life.

That's the first thing.

The open door to eternal life we are designed to For eternity With God.

Death does not have the last word.

Today, I want us to be reminded Life has the last word.

In fact, when you read 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, from verse 54, 1 Corinthians, 15, from verse 54 up to verse 57, this is what the Bible says when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to true Death has been swallowed up in victory, and I thank God for this.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Death has been swallowed up in victory, where all death is your victory, where all death is your sting.

The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

But let's read verse 57 together.

But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, the open door to eternal life.

When that stone was rolled, god was basically saying our death is behind us, death is beaten, death is overcome.

Jesus has been in there, he has beat death at its game, he has beat the devil and he is actually out and therefore God opens eternity and the opportunities of eternity once again to mankind.

In the Garden of Eden, when man sinned death, came in.

But the new Adam, jesus Christ, when he conquered death, he unveiled the season and dispensation of life.

John 10.10 says the following the thief comes to steal, to kill, to destroy.

But Jesus came that he might do what?

Have life, and have it abundantly.

And therefore, if there is something that is dead in your situation, you can now speak life into it, because we are in the season and dispensation of the resurrection and the dispensation of life, but not just life in small bits, in droplets in droplets life in eternity.

And God wants us to enjoy life, life with him forever, not just here but also in his presence.

And so we can speak to death and say oh death, where is your sting?

Oh death, where is your victory?

You know death has been swallowed up in victory and I thank God for opening for us the floodgates of life so that we can speak life.

Where there is death, you know, god can make even your body come alive again.

There was a guy called Abraham and his wife Sarah in Romans, chapter 4 and verse 18.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

We'll read on the screen, romans, chapter 4, from verse 18,.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

He was in a hopeless situation.

His body was like dead and the wife's body was dead, but God was supposed to raise something good out of there.

So, even in dead situations, god can bring life Against all hope.

Abraham, in hope, believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him so shall your offspring be.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.

And then verse 21,.

Being persuaded fully that God had power to do what he had promised.

I want to say God's power is greater than Satan's power, and sometimes we act hopeless because we give the devil so much credit.

And I want to say the devil's power is powerless power.

And here, when he's using his tools like death and everything else, jesus beats him and all his tools and demonstrates that he is able.

Matthew 19, verse 26, says the following With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Matthew 19:26

And so today we are looking at God who is able.

We are looking at God who is able and God who is able to bring life even where there is death, in the life of Abraham, in the life of Sarah.

Their bodies are gone but God is not hindered by that stone at their gate.

God is able to roll the stone and God is able to cause Sarah to carry in that womb, is able to cause Sarah to carry a baby.

And sometimes we give up very quickly.

Today I'm here to tell somebody don't give up.

Don't give up.

Last Sunday I talked about the Valley of Dry Bones.

It was a place designated for bones.

It was like a cemetery and you know, the prophet of God is sent there and the valley of death Ezekiel 37, verse 1 to 10, becomes the valley of life.

Ezekiel 37:1–10

God wants to breathe life in your family.

God wants to breathe life in your career.

God wants to breathe life in your finances.

God is here to breathe life.

May the resurrection power descend upon your situation.

May the life of God enter that situation, not just for one day, but for eternity.

May God begin a program of life, and this kind of life, abundant life, eternal life, if you want to describe it that way.

You know, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 11 and 12, says the following and this is the testimony God has given us eternal life.

1 John 5:11

Real life is in Jesus and if you really want life, invite Jesus taking in like a capsule.

Then you will be walking with a dynamic of life, and not just life for one day, but eternity, because he takes you through even from this life to the next life.

And you know you find he's also waiting you on the other side.

John 14, verse 2.

John 14:2

He says I go to prepare a place for you and when I'm ready I'll come for you so that you can be with me forever and ever.

You know that is in John, chapter 14, not Joshua.

John 14 · chapter mention

John chapter 14, verse 2 and 3.

John 14:2

My father's house has many rooms.

If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me where you also may be where I am.

That is God's desire that he breathes life for us into us now, but also life that takes us all the way to eternity, but also life that takes us all the way to eternity.

The devil's program is to steal, to kill and to destroy, and therefore the grave represents the devil.

The power of the resurrection comes, beats the grave and death at its game.

Jesus is released from that grave and he's inviting the nations to the same kind of life Life uninhibited life, free life, eternal life, abundant.

That's the kind of life Jesus is inviting us, and the empty tomb is a sign that life has been given strength by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so may God breathe life in that scenario.

And may God breathe eternal life.

And how you get it?

I said last Sunday money doesn't give you, you know, education doesn't give you, status doesn't give you and there's a deception sometimes and it's good to have these things and we pray for these things that if I get to the next level in terms of position, then I'm going to enjoy life.

I want to say that's good, but you'll enjoy it better if you allow Mr Life his name is called the resurrection and the life, john 11, verse 25, and you allow him into your heart, then you will enjoy life even here and also life in the presence of the Lord.

John 11:25

Glory to God.

Number two the open door to all authority, the open door to all authority.

We were designed to walk with divine authority.

In verse 16 to verse 18.

The Bible says the following Matthew 28.

16 says then the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

Then Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

You know, the authority you find in a policeman comes from the crown and that is why he can stop vehicles on the road.

He just lifts his hand like this and vehicles stop.

It doesn't matter how big that vehicle is.

It could be a very long track, but a policeman doing like this on the road, that track actually stops.

I want to remind us on Resurrection Sunday that God has given us authority and for that reason we are able to face every grave, wherever we find it, and every hindrance and address it in the name of Jesus and ask it to get out of our path.

Do you remember the verse in Matthew 17, 20 that says If you have faith, the size of a master's seat, you can say to this mountain Be removed from here to there, and it shall be done.

When is the last time you exercised your spiritual authority?

Jesus is saying the same way.

I have risen from the dead.

You shall become agents to cause others to overcome handicaps and blockages in their way.

You shall operate in the realm of authority.

I want to refer you again to Luke, chapter 10, verse 17 to 20.

Luke 10:17–20

Luke, chapter 10, verse 17 to 20, regarding this authority, and we believers need to go out there and exercise this authority.

Luke 10:17–20

The 72 returned with joy and said Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.

He replied.

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.

Nothing will harm you.

I want us to go back to that verse again.

I have given you authority.

Yes, why don't we read this verse in first person?

We make it first person.

Let's read it.

I have been given authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.

Nothing will harm me.

Why don't you give a hand clap to the Lord?

That is a description of us and therefore, everywhere we go, we should release resurrection power, we should release restoration power, we should release healing power.

And if you find somebody who is sick, don't hesitate to lay your hand on them and pray for them.

In the name of Jesus.

Let me tell you, the apostlele Paul went to Ephesus.

It was a town full of sorcery and magic and divination and idolatry, but the Apostle Paul exercised his authority in that town called Ephesus.

Nairobi needs divine authority.

Africa needs this kind of authority, and I'm praying especially for the young people who I see here.

There are so many young people and the young people of Africa.

There are so many spaces and pockets that need authority.

Where we go and express confidently this resurrection power in the name of Jesus Christ.

Authority has two facets.

One authority has power and authority has permission.

You can be given permission to do something, but you also need power to do that same thing.

What Jesus is saying all authority, in heaven or not, and under the earth, is given to me, and he's actually giving that same authority to each one of us.

So, instead of now, therefore, looking helpless, the church in the city must never be seen to be helpless.

The church in the city has a role in the expression and the exercise of the authority mandate that God has given to it, and so when we leave here and we go out there and we get into all these setups.

It is up to us to take charge, you know, and release authority and commands in those situations.

Jesus told Peter I have given you a key and with this key, whatever you, it shall be open.

You have authority.

Whatever you bind shall be bound, and whatever you loose that is found in Matthew 16, from verse 13 up to verse 19, it shall be loosed.

And then when you come together, two or three of you from Matthew 18, verse 18 to verse 20, the Bible says when two of you or three of you gather in my name, I'll be there.

Matthew 18:18

But then it goes on to say whatsoever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and what you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.

And that is why we declare the kingdom of God.

What is authority Authority in kingdom terms is declaring the kingdom of God.

What is authority Authority in kingdom terms is declaring the kingdom of God In the Lord's prayer.

Jesus taught us to pray Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

And therefore there is a perfect pattern of destiny of every city, every nation, every individual that needs to be downloaded.

There is what God intended for every person and let me tell you, like I said earlier, it was not God's plan that people, you know somebody, ends up in a grave dreams, in a grave careers, in a grave, stunted, stagnated.

There is a divine pattern and God's pattern and will for every individual is that you live to full expression, you blossom and become everything that God wants you to be.

But because of powers and principalities and rulers, as you are growing up there are interruptions, beginning from home and in the marketplace, and for that reason you never get where you really wanted to be.

But God's plan is good.

Jeremiah 29, 11,.

I believe you all know it.

God says I know what, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, and declares the Lord there are plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This is what God wants to achieve and therefore Jesus paid the highest price so that the authority mandate could be released to the everyday person and so that we can go back into the community and begin to decree and declare the plan, the purpose, the will of the kingdom of God regarding every person, and that's why we say that where demons have been active, we cast them out in Jesus' name.

Right now, if there are some demons that have been disturbing you in your home and in your life, I cast them out in Jesus' name.

Are you hearing what I'm saying, that house?

If there are some things that have been, you know, coming up again and again and you're wondering how do I overcome this problem, I take authority as a pastor, together with you, in casting those demons out, and I declare this being Resurrection Sunday.

You'll never see that problem again.

I am standing on the authority God has given me in union with Jesus Christ.

So what I have done, it can be done by anybody.

It can be done by everybody.

It is not a preserve of the clergy or a preserve of apostles, bishops, whatever type title you wish to use.

The resurrection is for everybody, and that power and that mandate has been released to every one of us.

And so when we go out, instead of complaining, take charge, take charge, begin to decree, begin to give orders, because that's what this kind of authority is all about.

So in Acts, chapter 3, verse 6, peter found a cripple, and that cripple had been there at the beautiful gate for a long time.

Acts 3:6

And Peter said silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.

Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong.

He jumped to his feet and began to walk.

Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and doing what?

And jumping and praising God.

This is the mandate God has given us.

So everywhere we go, then lives improve, lives are changed, because the authority mandate by the resurrection has been validated, it has been authenticated.

The resurrection.

If the resurrection never took place, then my preaching would be in vain, then the gospel would be powerless.

But because Jesus rose from the dead, he has given authority to his people and when we minister in the name of Jesus Christ, then God brings that difference.

But finally, the door to the nations, the open door to the nations.

We were designed to be fruitful.

In fact, god designed us to be like the tree planted by the waters Psalms, chapter 1, verse 2 and 3.

Psalms 1:2

God's desire for everyone is that they would leave a legacy of fruit, that we would be productive, like this tree planted by the waters.

Psalms, chapter 1, verse 3.

Psalms 1:3

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever they do prospers.

Of course he goes on to say not so with the wicked.

But if there is a purpose I understand God has for us, it's for us to be fruitful.

Parklands Baptist Church.

You and I are very blessed, and this is because the fruit mandate is within us.

John 15 5 Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in me and I in him, he that bears much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing Fruit bearing.

And then verse 8.

What you know the fruit God wants in verse 8 prolific fruit.

This is, to my father's glory, what you know.

The fruit God wants in verse 8, prolific fruit.

This is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

And then, when you jump to verse 16, he wants fruit, not only prolific, but fruit that lasts.

Verse 16 of the same chapter you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will do what Last, a legacy of fruit, and you know.

That's why, therefore, god has opened doors to the nations so that you can go as far as you can and make a difference and bear as much fruit as you can.

And so he told the disciples go.

The dynamic of go, don't stay, don't sit, go, go and make disciples.

It's only by going that this fruit bearing is going to happen.

And make disciples of all nations, fruit of disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and Lord, I'll be with you.

Jesus says unto the end of time.

So God wants us to bear fruit.

Kenyans and I know there are people from other countries here God wants us to bear fruit and he wants us to bear fruit All over the world, and for that reason he has said go.

Now I want to say something here that God has already stamped the visas to the nations.

We have actually been talking about passports.

We have asked us to get passports.

Let me see by a show of hands how many have passports by now.

We have been saying it.

Let me go around.

God bless you.

There are still some.

That's about 70%.

What about here?

Okay, 60%, yes, another 60%.

What about this side, yes, and there, yes, 60, 60.

Still.

What about around here, 55.

And what about here?

Is it 50 or something like that?

And here, oh, wow, almost 80%.

And what about here?

Is it 50 or something like that?

And here, oh, wow, almost 80%.

And what about here?

Oh, my goodness, this is 90%.

So the general average seems rather unbuckle.

It seems like around 75%.

So we still have 25%.

When God says go, get ready.

When God says go, get ready, do anything and everything that is required to make you ready, because God is about to take you places.

And God is taking you places because he wants you to bear fruit, he wants your life to be effective, he wants your life to count.

And that is what this open door by the resurrection is all about Not just get out of the grave, to feel good Now, to remember, to remember, not just to get free and just walk around saying I'm free, but to do something without freedom.

You know.

It says go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you.

And he says if you do this, I will be with you, if you really want to enjoy God's presence, do his will.

I will be with you to the end of the age.

And the second coming of Christ is awaiting fruit generation.

It is when we preach the gospel to the last person.

The last person hears the gospel, then Jesus will come a second time.

And so I have said from heaven, the visas are stamped.

You understand that verse well.

The visas to the nations and the gates of every nation are open.

They are there for your taking.

God has stamped, and what is awaiting is a manifestation.

Let me ask what nation are you praying for or about?

And are you praying?

God makes me useful and fruitful, not just in Kenya, but across Africa and also to the ends of the earth.

God has given us gifts and talents.

We are professionals of all kinds.

I mean, this is one of the most gifted, talented churches in Africa.

And let me tell you, god has given us this gift for a purpose.

And so the resurrection unlocks the potential.

The resurrection releases the potential.

Unlocks by rolling the stone, but also gives power to the potential, but then releases and commissions that potential.

And God is saying this month is a month where you're going to see God's hand and God is going to use either the path of your job, career or something else.

Divine favor to get you to the place you need to be.

God wants you to operate in the area of your purpose and calling so that you are happy, you know you live a meaningful life, you're not just working for money, but money works for you.

Hallelujah, yes, and I pray we get to that place where money works for us, not pursuing the shilling, but the shilling pursuing us.

And what you're doing is something you love doing.

You enjoy doing.

You can do it 24-7.

The reason why people have to be pushed to go to work, you know, is sometimes because it's not aligned.

But I am praying and trusting God that God will open those doors for each one of us and we shall end all over the world.

Am I okay in saying that?

Now?

This is 360.

And if you look at the place where I'm standing, there is a circle.

This is a circle here and this is Africa.

The map of Africa is here.

There is a map of Africa here and there is a cross.

Jesus will make the difference in Africa.

Then there is a country with a prophetic destiny, called Kenya, and from Kenya men and women shall go to the north, shall go to the south, shall go to the east, shall go to the west, and that is the mandate of Kenya.

We are a hub nation.

We are a blessed nation.

Isaiah 60, verse 3 says this and it's already happening for Kenya.

Isaiah 60:3

We are a hub nation, we are a blessed nation.

Isaiah 60, verse 3 says this and it's already happening for Kenya Nations will come to your light and kings to the rising of your dawn and we shall be sought after.

Isaiah 60:3

I declare they will headhunt Kenyans from around the world.

Are you hearing what this preacher is saying?

Now, if you don't have a passport, that window will pass.

You Be ready with your passport From the God's side.

He has stamped.

He has said go.

I have given you the go mandate and I want you to go and be fruitful, make disciples of all nations, go through the various platforms, but as you go there, let God be king and lord and let me declare you shall prosper.

In Jesus' name, I cancel the spirit of poverty in Jesus' name and the spirit of debt.

It's so dehumanizing that demon.

I break it right now Of poverty and debt, even the debt burden over Kenya.

I take authority on Resurrection Sunday to actually cancel it.

God is able, as a miracle working God, he's able to meet every need of ours.

And so I talked to the young generation and I have a daughter who has taken me seriously.

She's called Becky.

And I have a daughter who has taken me seriously.

She's called Becky and in the youth church early service, they were praying for her and she just followed something she's going to Canada on the 9th of April, visa stamped, everything, hallelujah.

My daughter, my fourth born, I have five children and she's going for her postgraduate studies.

This is a girl who has faith and a half, and so when we say, get a passport, she got a passport very quickly.

When we say the Great Commission, go to the nations, she believed God.

She's going to Canada and 9th of April, which is a week away, she's flying out to do her postgraduate studies in Toronto.

And I have, hallelujah, the youth church prayed for her.

I have prayed for her.

I have said, daughter, you're going there as a missionary and while you're in Canada, you shall be very, very fruitful In that land.

God is going to bless you and while she's there, then she'll also invite all of us in that direction.

Hallelujah, because God is a way maker, doesn't he?

Yes, and you go and then you invite others and you form a cluster, a kingdom cluster, to make a difference out there.

And so, as others are coming to Kenya, we are also going out there and we are going all over the world.

Let me say that every nation in the world is open for any of us.

Did you hear what I say?

Every nation in the world is open for any of us.

Believe, have resurrection, faith.

Believe Because Jesus gave those words on resurrection, first day of the week.

His resurrection, and he gave the life mandate, the authority mandate and the nation's mandate.

In Matthew 28, there are those three the life mandate, the authority mandate and the nation's mandate.

And by the resurrection it's therefore saying the gates are open, the doors are open.

If you don't connect, it's because you've chosen not to engage.

But today, as I pray, I want us to embrace life, I want us to embrace authority afresh and I want us to embrace the nation and by faith, as you believe, together with me, god will give you that which you ask.

May I declare that this coming month, which is the month of April, resurrection power will be active like you've never seen before this month of April, from the beginning or the other to the end.

I counsel the spirit of death on the roads.

In Jesus name, we shall be hearing reports of life and not of death, and all of us are covered the whole month of April by the blood of Jesus.

Kenya is covered by the blood of Jesus, the city of Nairobi is covered by the blood of Jesus and we are going to have a wonderful April month Amazing.

But secondly, let me say the heavens of Jesus.

And we are going to have a wonderful April month Amazing.

But secondly, let me say the heavens are open because the resurrection opened the gates of heaven and God is supplying every need of ours.

In fact, we shall be dealing with that in the month of April.

God is supplying every need of ours according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus and therefore poverty broken.

Are you getting me Debts canceled in the name of Jesus, those two demons that disturb us as we work and live in our houses we can't enjoy our homes those two demons are also cast out in the name of Jesus.

This month of April, you will sleep like a baby.

Are you listening to this preacher?

Am I saying anything outrageous?

I am saying this month of April, you shall sleep like a baby, but don't oversleep.

You will wake up in good time.

Let me finish the sentence properly you will sleep like a baby and you will wake up at the right time, re-energized, rejuvenated, to be able to do the things that God has called you to do.

And so resurrection power means people are alive, people are walking with authority and they're walking with heads high.

You know, on Rabu Sakaja, every Monday, for the last 23 years I have prayed for the city of Nairobi.

This congregation knows.

Every Monday, for the last 23 years, I wake up in the morning and the whole day.

All I do on Mondays is go to population centers, supermarkets, hospitals, schools, anywhere you find people.

That's where I go and what do I do?

I pray for these three things Life, authority and the nations.

When I look because I go to supermarkets and I look at people you can tell when people are downcast and especially when that trolley, the amount of money they could fill with it yesterday.

Now they are doing half.

So instead of walking like this nicely and whistling because I also whistle a bit and they are whistling going round, they are actually going like this and they are trying to choose the smallest of every item that might not take them that far, let me say you shall fill your trolleys to overflow, hallelujah, and you shall not be looking at the smallest items.

You shall look for the big ones, because you want to share with your neighbors, and that is what God is about to do.

We have a great city, we have a great nation, we have a great continent and the future is very, very bright.

So the life mandate in people on the streets, and then the authority they walk with a gate and a command, even our youth and nothing can put them down.

And then a sense of mission even as they go around, they know my life is about this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do the other and therefore lives are actually fruitful.

And when you get people with these three resurrection mandates, then that community, nobody can beat them.

They are actually unstoppable, and that is what Parklands Baptist Church is.

We are now going to another level and the Lord is leading us into that level and we shall be victorious, not just in Kenya, but around the world.

Let's all be upstanding as we pray together.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we celebrate the fact that your love, demonstrated through your son Jesus Christ, eventually produced fruit when your son became the lamb and he died.

And then he conquered death and rose from the dead.

And not just that, not just him, but he passed that dynamic to the church, to every believer, and I thank you that, 2,000 years down the road, father, we can celebrate an act that happened a long time ago yet continues to be powerful and effective Because it was an act of life, life-giving act.

Because it was an act of life, life-giving act, because it was an act of authority, it was an act with authority and it was an act that leaves legacy and leaves fruit.

Father, thank you for that blueprint and that masterpiece and that design that we continue to benefit from.

And, lord, even as I pray for us today, I pray with joy and thanksgiving Because I know that everyone here is important and is critical in terms of your overall plan, and that is why I pray life, authority and mission, a sense of mission in every one of us.

Lord, help us interpret what I have shared in a way that will have eternal impact and that through this month of April.

Therefore, I speak life, I speak authority and I speak the nations.

My God, I pray open big doors, big enough that we can walk through them with our families, open big doors where we don't have to squat or even squeeze.

There's somebody here who has gone through a season of just quizzing and struggling and things don't come easy.

My God, on Resurrection Sunday, I pray expanse in their path and, god, I pray a super highway.

I'm also praying that you remove every impediment and every roadblock in their path.

Impediment and every roadblock in their path, that suddenly the compression shall be detonated or there'll be decompression, and that this coming month of April they shall sense that they are walking on a white path.

My God, I thank you for the way you have made Jesus.

You say you are the way, you are the truth and you are the life.

And for somebody here who has been squeezed by life and by issues, their relief has come.

In the name of Jesus Christ, and I say no more squeezing, no more competition, no more struggling, no more stagnation, no more stunting.

God has made for you and listen to me as I pray a wide way God has made for you, and listen to me as I pray a wide way.

As you leave this place, you'll be surprised at what God is able to do in rolling the stones that come in our way with the power of the Holy Spirit and also the power of the resurrection, and making a way where there was no way.

Therefore, my father, as we go into this month, I decree and declare the application of resurrection power in all the aspects of our lives.

My God, there are those who have suffered disease.

May they be healed in Jesus' name.

There are those who have suffered failure, my God, may they be put back on track.

There are those, lord, who have gone through oppression and depression and debt, and there are some who have been in the prison of addictions and they have tried everything, everywhere, to break the addiction thing.

My God, may the resurrection power descend upon them and may the stone be rolled away for them.

May they go free.

Lord, I pray for somebody who has struggled with their dream and career.

It's not going in the right direction.

Your God, who is able, and today, by the resurrection power, I declare the blockage is lifted and the path has been made.

And therefore, father, let your power now release salvation, release joy, release peace, release good health, release victory, make alignments of finances, jobs and careers and dreams coming true.

My God, you did it for Jesus from the grave.

You're doing it for somebody, and therefore I declare a new season and a new day and a new dispensation.

Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.

See, god is doing a new thing.

God has made a way where there was no way, and so, father, thank you so much for what you're going to do in the month of April, and I declare that Monday is blessed, tuesday is blessed, wednesday is blessed, thursday is blessed, friday is blessed, saturday is blessed, and this coming Sunday we are coming with testimonies In the name.

Coming Sunday, we are coming with testimonies in the name of Jesus.

We are coming with testimonies in the name of Jesus as we continue to pray.

My God, I have talked about life and abundant life.

There may be somebody here who doesn't know you as Lord and Savior.

My God, I know that that life comes through accepting you as Lord and Savior, my God, I know that that life comes through accepting you as Lord and Savior, and so if you're in this congregation or in the pavilion or in the overflow spaces and I know there are many people following this service online you can also put a hand on the screen and you're saying this is my day to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, just wherever you are, just raise a hand and put it down.

God is able to see that hand and God will know that you have made that decision.

Wherever you may be, downstairs, upstairs, upstairs, anywhere, just put up the hand and put it down.

Hallelujah, just up and down, and God will see that hand.

My God, we thank you so much for the dynamic of life and I thank you for somebody who has prayed a prayer saying Lord Jesus, come into my heart.

My prayer is that, lord, you guard that decision and you cause them to grow from one degree of glory to a higher one.

And we bless you because you rose from the dead and you have given us the same life, the same authority and the same commission, so that we may enjoy and celebrate with you the resurrected life.

And we have prayed this prayer in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Spirit, and we all say, we all say, let's give a hand clap to Jesus.

Glory to God, glory to God, glory to God, glory to God, glory to God.

And now.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore.

Amen.

Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever and ever.

Amen.

Enjoy your Easter Resurrection Sunday.

God bless you.