Infinite Fellowship Ministries

Provoking The Manifestation of God’s Glory: Sermon By Minister Lelli Mandela

Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so,our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. 

Daniel 3:7-30 (ESV)

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 

Exodus 6:2-3 (ESV)

There’s a difference between anointing and glory but most times we cannot tell them apart. 

Anointing – a supernatural activation given to a person for an action, season or assignment. 

The anointing gives a person definition that distinguishes them from others. It is attractive and makes someone stand out. 

The pitfall of anointing is when we ascribe titles and idolize them and the people who hold them rather than giving due honour to God. 

Glory – tangible evidence or supernatural manifestation of God. 

Sometimes, we think we cannot experience the glory of God because we’re waiting for anointing to precede it. But we need the glory of God in our lives. 

We are being called to a higher level of consecration. Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word consecration literally means “association with the sacred”. Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups.

God is calling us to a lifestyle of walking in His glory where we tangibly walk with Him. The anointing is for an assignment but the glory is for a lifestyle. 

In Genesis 1, light was created on the 1st day but the sun and moon were created in the 4th day. The glory of God (manifestation and projection of Himself) lit up the universe before day and night and the sun, moon and stars were created.

The sun and moon were created to define time and seasons, not to provide light. Time was for the benefit of the natural man because the supernatural man who dwells in eternity doesn’t need it. 

God speaks inwardly because He dwells within us. Hearing from God doesn’t necessarily mean hearing an audible outward voice. This is the reason there is the Cross that brings back the Holy Spirit to indwell us so that we can speak with God internally like a friend. 

The anointing needs the glory, but the glory doesn’t need the anointing. While we may not be anointed in certain areas, it is everyone’s portion to walk in the glory. 

God wants us to tap into His glory and start walking in its different realms. You don’t need to be anointed more than once for a given purpose. But the Bible tells us that we are to move from glory to glory. 

To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life. 

Genesis 3:16-17 (AMP)

The reason why we find it hard to walk in glory is because we are still unlearning the effects of living in the law.

You pay a price for the anointing but the glory is not a reward. We miss out on the glory because we expect it to be a reward for our work. The glory is your inheritance as a son of God. All you need to walk in it is to embrace your sonship.

Our perceptions on the principles of fatherhood and God can also cause us to misunderstand His glory.

Glory is a factor of your native element – the presence of God. Adam did not need an anointing because he was living in the glory.

Once you understand the glory, you stop working and start living. You stop striving for things you can tap into as a son. 

God’s anointing reveals an attribute of God that He wants you to tap into. 

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.”

 Exodus 6:2 (ESV)

The different names of God reveal His different attributes e.g. Yahweh, Jehovah.

I AM that I AM – God cannot be fully defined by an attribute. We can miss out on the glory if we focus too much on one aspect of Him and forget the others. 

There is no part of God that is like the other. This is why He wants us to walk in the different realms and dimensions in which He exists. He is eternally different but eternally one.

God’s glory isn’t found in His attributes, it’s found in His person. It can only be accessed through relationship with Him. We must acknowledge God for His attributes but be willing to be in relationship with God. 

God’s glory is for our eternal relationship, fellowship and communion with Him because we need to walk in our native element. His glory is not for our provision; the provision is a by-product of it not the primary purpose.

When you know who you are, you become a human being and stop becoming a human doing.

Before the fall, Adam’s work did not define him. He worked without striving and had unlimited access to the glory of God. The curse from the fall brought us to a place where we define ourselves by our jobs and accomplishments. 

The glory is for those who want to be defined by God Himself.

When you intercede for another person, God activates someone else to intercede for you.

When you have a problem or are going through warfare, God sends angels to minister to you and to fight for you e.g. Daniel, Jesus after temptation. But there is a place where God Himself has to come down into your situation on your behalf.

In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar set himself up against God not Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego who represented the interests of God. 

There are times we want God to fight battles that are not His own. If you cannot represent God’s interests in the physical, He cannot represent your interests in the spiritual. 

We miss out when we market ourselves as “good” people as opposed to believers who serve God. When we identify as people in the service of God, our service becomes His business. 

Being a good person is not God’s business. There are aspects of our walk that should bear witness to the truth that we are more than “good” people; we are believers. God has not called us to be good people, He has called us to be believers. 

The furnace was heated to be 7 times hotter. It was a fire of perfection where Christ was revealed as the 4th man. What astounded Nebuchadnezzar was not that they were walking and unhurt but that there were 4 people. Christ had been revealed.

In the fire of perfection, Christ is revealed. Christ is not revealed in our prayers. He will be revealed in a circumstance that renders you useless so that Christ may be revealed.

Nebuchadnezzar realized that Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego walked with a fourth man that he himself could not access. As believers, we should not wait for Christ to be revealed to others. We need to seek out a personal revelation of God. 

Possibly, only Nebuchadnezzar saw Christ (the fourth person). God wanted to reveal Himself to Nebuchadnezzar. The fire of perfection will cause Christ to be revealed to the kings at the gates.

The glory of God and Christ in you will not be revealed to everyone. God will not justify and vindicate you before all men. He will only do so before a chosen few. 

The glory of a father is his son. The glory of the Father was revealed through the Son (Christ). 

If you really want to walk into God’s glory, you need to prepare to walk into the furnace of God which is meant to perfect you. It will not be an easy process. God wants to reveal you in the height of His perfection/His fire.

If you are not perfected, it may hinder other people from hearing God through you. Eg: Abraham missed God’s voice through Sarah asking him to chase away Hagar and Ishmael because Sarah spoke angrily.

You can give proper service e.g. prophecy, advice, etc and yet it is rejected because your attitude – your heart and mind – are not aligned to that of God. 

Perfection is necessary to sort out any character issues we may have that could be a hindrance to our fellowship with God and man. 

Seek the perfection of God. Seek His fire.

Preach Christ to the people around you.