The Stone Has Been Rolled Away, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

The bible tells us what happened on the first Easter Sunday. It was a day of great joy. Satan thought it was over for Jesus and the redemption of Man, but the day became the beginning of victory for Man and a day of great accomplishment for Jesus.

Matthew 28:1-6 – In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come; see the place where the Lord lay.

Jesus was crucified on a Friday. He gave up His ghost about 3pm. It took Joseph Aramateaus a lot of trouble with the Jewish leaders before Pilate for the body of Jesus to be released to him. The Sabbath in Israel begins at 6pm on Friday to the end of Saturday, so Jesus was quickly put in the grave for lack of adequate time for a proper funeral.

Early on Sunday morning, certain women came to Jesus tomb to anoint His body properly as it was hurriedly done on Friday. But there was a big question on their lips, “who shall help us roll away the stone?”

Thank God that they were women of faith as stated in Heb 11: 35a, they decided to go and try rather than staying indoors like the men, and their faith paid of. As they approached the tomb, they discovered that their main problem had been taken care of somehow.

This morning, simply put, some people are here that are been bothered by ‘huge stones’. Something that is not allowing you to make progress, something that is not letting you do specific things you would have loved to do. I am here to tell you that God says ‘the stone’ has been removed.

That stone has been removed in Jesus name.

What are stones? Stones are majorly objects of obstruction. They are impediments. They block one’s view, make one to stumble, block one’s path and make advancement difficult. The only thing stones are good for is either to be crushed and used for construction or built upon as a form of defence.

– Every stone blocking your path shall either be crushed or you will sit on it in Jesus name.

– The stones shall not dictate your life. You shall see their end.

Note that the stone was not partially opened for Jesus to squeeze Himself out, it was rolled away. The angel that rolled it away actually sat on it; saying let me see who will roll it back.

– That problem will not be partially solved; it will be dealt with totally and permanently.

– May the angel of God sit on the stone that has been troubling you.

– You have been struggling in a certain area, may the Power of resurrection bring that struggle to an end today.

As the ladies were coming to the grave, apart from the size of the stone, other things must have been bothering them, like the soldiers watching the grave and the seal of the Roman Governor. Again, when they got there, they discovered that the soldiers had run away out of fear and the seal has been shattered.

– May those monitoring your movement be overwhelmed with great fear.

– May they abandon your case hurriedly and hide forever.

– Every seal and embargo placed upon your destiny is hereby destroyed.

– They are shattered in Jesus name.

The stone and the tomb of Jesus were shame and reproach to Him while he laid there. How could the Son of the Living God be trapped in a cave? The Jews were celebrating that He was gone finally. Thank God it wasn’t for long. The power of the Holy Ghost set Him free.

Jesus rose up in a glorious body and became unstoppable.

– Somebody is here, you are a pot of shame has been cooked for you. It may not be widely known like that of Jesus. But the reproach is real. The power of the Holy Ghost shall set you free in Jesus name. God shall rescue you from the pot.

– May God disappoint those who are celebrating your present condition. May you henceforth be unstoppable.

– God told Joshua and the Israelites at Gilgal, that their shame and reproach of bondage of 430 years and wandering of 40 years was rolled away. Every form of shame about your life till now is hereby roll away in Jesus name.

– Jesus died at 3pm on Friday. Rose at dawn on Sunday. Assuming it was 5am. It occurred to me that it would be about 38hours of battling with death, grave, hell and Lucifer. Jesus won and rose up. Within 40 hours from now, 7 persons are receiving freedom from the spirits of death, grave, hell and Lucifer.

It baffles me so much that human beings can allow themselves to be used wickedly. Jesus was good to all and yet they wanted Him killed. Pilate allowed them, and then they still wanted His copse. They were able to convince Pilate to monitor His lifeless body as well.

– Every power that has been responsible for any negative occurrence in your life and is still eager to do more will be judged by God.

There are several types of stones that can block one’s path of progress. The stone against the path of Bro/Sis A might be different from Bro/Sis B. The size of the stone may also differ. The common thing however is that they are impediments and therefore must move. Otherwise none of the Brothers/Sisters will move.

– Nothing shall impede your movement or progress in Jesus name.

In Exodus Chapter 14, the Israelites were marching majestically and joyfully to the Promised Land after Pharaoh finally allowed them to go. They had secured wealth from the Egyptians and singing freedom at last.

However, that feeling was short lived as they saw the Egyptian Army coming for them again. In front of them was the Red Sea, it was a huge stone that needed to move; otherwise they would have to go back into captivity. Thank God, on that occasion, the Red Sea was parted! The stone against them was rolled away. Pharaoh and his armies got drowned.

– Every Pharaoh and army trying to force you into the captivity of your past is hereby drowned in Jesus name.

– There is someone here; you are faced with two problems. One appears to be chasing after you; the other appears to stand in your path. What I hear is ‘move forward’; the problem in front will give way, the one behind will then disappear.

– Another person is here, something is hindering your progress. God says He will remove that thing for you to pass, and later replaced the thing when you had clearly escaped.

How God miraculously gave us our papers by Amnesty outside immigration rules and reinstate the rule again. If 12 months visa were to be given to us then, we would still have rejoiced. Talk less of indefinite Leave to Remain. That was 2004/05. Nothing like that has happened since then.

– If you also need a miraculous escape for any aspect of your life, may God specially carve it out for you in Jesus name.

In 2 Kings 7: 1- 20, God supernaturally rolled away the stone of premature death for 4 lepers and the whole city of Samaria. The armies of Syria had encamped against Samaria for a lengthy time to the extent that people were eating their children in turns.

The lepers decided to approach the enemies for food even though they might be killed or spared, but it’s better than accepting to do nothing and die.

Unknown to them, God had earlier chased the enemies away, leaving behind plenty food, raiment and money. They didn’t only survived, they became wealthy.

– Every stone against your long life shall receive a blast from the Almighty. They shall leave you to enjoy your life to the full in Jesus name.

Are you faced with stone of poverty or lack of any kind? God can roll it away. He has done it before. In John 6:5-13, Jesus finished teaching the people. They were hungry and Jesus asked Phillip to feed them just to test them as He knew what He was going to do.

The question was, “where shall we buy bread for all these people?” The team had about £6 in the purse.

Jesus later blessed five loaves of bread and two fishes belonging to a boy and that fed 5000 men excluding women and children.

– I have told you before how I survived and yet surviving miraculously in this country with just £50.00 on arrival in 1999. Thank God, immigrations did not ask how much I had, I would have been sent back at the border then.

– If you are faced with stones of lack of any kind, God will provide for you. The little you have, Jehovah will multiply. You will have surplus.

May be you are facing something or someone that is stronger than yourself. No matter how powerful the object might be, you will overcome it in Jesus name.

Goliath was stronger than any one in Israel. The challenge they had was who will represent them. God however did not use a huge fellow; it was David a young boy that was used.

– God that delivers the weak from the hands of the mighty shall deliver you.

In conclusion, when Jesus was told that Lazarus was sick, He said the sickness was not unto death, but to the glory of God. Lazarus however died, (slept in Jesus term) and was buried four days before Jesus arrived.

After Jesus had greeted Mary and Martha, the first thing He said regarding the case was for the stone blocking the path of him that was dead to be removed. Other commands were given, but for the glory of God to manifest in Lazarus life, the stone had to first be rolled away.

– Every stone that may be hindering the glory of God to be shown upon your life shall be removed right now in Jesus name.

Prayers

Almighty Father, let your justification be evident upon my life.
Almighty Father, let your glory and honour be seen upon my my life.
Almighty Father, let my life shows what you have predestined, called and justified me for.
Almighty Father, let my life give glory and honour to you.
Almighty Father, let your glorification upon my life be very huge.

The sermon, The Stone Has Been Rolled Away, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye, was delivered on Easter Sunday March 27th 2016. For more sermons, please visit http://www.rccgleeds.org.uk/sermons