BE THE CHURCH (part 6)
The Church of the Firstborn (part 2)
“The Lord of the Lost and Found”
SERIES TEXT – Hebrews 12:22-23 - 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written F46 in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
INTRO – In Matthew 16:13, Jesus asked the question “Whom do men say that I am?” The answer Jesus received then is reflective of the answer He would receive now. The world doesn’t have a clue as to whom Jesus is. We can only know whom Jesus is the way Peter knew. Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God by revelation from the Father. We can’t know whom Jesus is without a revelation from the Father. Our heavenly Father reveals to us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The term “Son of God” carries the connotation “God in the flesh”. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh which means He was fully God and fully man. There is a bifurcation of the Fully God/Fully man ministry of Jesus Christ: the Great Exchange ministry and the Firstborn ministry. The great exchange ministry is “His loss is my gain.” He came down so I could go up. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich (2 Cor 8:9). He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isa 53:5). It’s the great exchange: my sin for His salvation, my weakness for His strength, my lack for His abundance. His loss is my gain is the great exchange. The second half of the ministry of Jesus Christ is the ministry of the Firstborn. The ministry of the Firstborn is “He did it so I can do it” or “He won so I win”. When Jesus Christ ascended into heaven as the disciples watched Him go up into a cloud of glory, an angel asked “Why are you standing here gazing up into the sky? This same Jesus is going to come back down the same way He went up.” Not only that, but the same way He went up we are going up! 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 says 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent F10 them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The same way He went up we are going up! He did it so I can do it! He won so I win! I’m a part of the church of the Firstborn. Romans 8:29 says God foreknew you and predestinated you to be conformed to the image of his Son. He won so you win! He did it so I can do it! He laid His life down and picked it up again. He recovered from His loss so I can recover from mine. Everything He lost in the crucifixion, He regained in the resurrection. He’s the Lord of the Lost and Found!
SERMON TEXT - Luke 19:10 - For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which WAS lost.
1. There is a mystery that needs to be revealed.
Jesus Christ came to seek and save that which WAS lost. When you came to church, you came to the lost and found. If you’ve lost your peace, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He knows where it is! If you lost your joy, Jesus will restore unto you the joy of your salvation. He knows where it is! If you’ve lost time and wasted time, Jesus Christ is able to redeem the time. He knows where it is. The Son of man is come to seek and save that which WAS lost. Anything you’ve lost really isn’t lost because Jesus came to seek and save it. He knows where it is. So it really isn’t lost, it’s hidden. It isn’t destroyed, it’s just buried. It’s buried like buried treasure, it’s appreciating in value. It’s buried like a seed, it’s growing, it’s maturing, it’s multiplying. God’s going to give you double for your trouble. He’s going to give you another income. He’s going to give you another degree. He’s going to give you another ministry. The Son of man is come to seek and save that which WAS lost. It’s not lost; it’s just in storage because right now you don’t have room enough to receive it.
2. There is ministry that needs to be released.
Right now, somebody else is holding on to it. Right now, there is ministry in somebody that needs to be released. God’s trying to open somebody up as a window of heaven and pour somebody out as a blessing but they are holding on to their previous success preventing their future success and impeding the movement of your blessing. (1 Kings 17:1-16) I believe the reason the widow woman was down to her last in Zarephath is because Elijah would not move until the brook dried up. I’ll bet as God told Elijah to move away from the brook, he was binding and loosening. He was casting out devils, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” He was probably calling out to God “Send down rain, Lord.” And all the while, that widow woman’s supplies were going down, down, down. God told her that her help was on the way. It’s not lost. It’s just in storage. I’ve got a prophet that is going to bring it to you as soon as he lets go of what he’s holding on to. There is ministry that needs to be released.
3. There is a maturity that needs to be reached.
It’s not lost. It’s just in storage. It’s not lost. It’s just in a trust fund. Jesus has set it aside until He can trust you with it. He has set it aside until you are mature enough to handle it. Not only is there ministry that needs to be released, there is a maturity level that needs to be reach. It’s not lost. It’s in the will. God is just waiting for you to get in his will so He can give it to you. I’ve told you, you can be out of the world and still not be in the will. A maturity level needs to be reached. He’s hidden your blessing while it appreciates until you can appreciate it. Jesus Christ is holding your blessing in a trust fund until He can trust you with it. He’s got it in storage until you get out of school. I believe we’ve been in school. We’ve been learning to trust Him even when we can’t trace Him. We’ve been learning that He is faithful even when we aren’t faithful to Him. We’ve been learning that no matter how many or how few, God is able to do what He said He would do. You have to finish school. It’s called the school of hard knocks. There are some things that life has to teach you that you cannot learn from a book. You have to go to school. I heard a preacher say “Next time somebody says they want me to pray for them to have the same anointing I have, I’m going to pray that their parents get sick and die, that they get kicked out of churches, that they loose their job, their home, their car, that they through the same things I went through.” Some things you can’t learn from a book. You have to go to school. As a pastor, I’ve had to go to school. I’ve had to pray and praise and preach to just my wife and kids. I’ve had to learn to preach with my eyes closed so I could preach to one like I was preaching to one thousand. I’ve had to call for help and nobody answer. I’ve had to have people that I’ve helped leave me and talk about me behind my back. I’ve had to have people hate me when I did nothing wrong. I’ve had visions lie, prophecies not come to pass, and attempts to do what I thought God told me to do fail over and over and over again so I could learn to try it again because a maturity is needed. Hebrews 12:23 says that just men are made perfect. Jesus is perfecting me. God is maturing me. What God has for me is for me! It’s not lost. It’s being prepare for me as God prepares me for it. God’s going to give me double for my trouble. Like Job, God is going to give me double for my trouble. Like Elisha after sticking with Elijah through Bethel, through Gilgal, past Jericho, and past the Jordan, God is going to give you double for your trouble. Your blessing WAS lost. Your peace WAS lost. Your joy WAS lost. Your ministry WAS lost. But, the Son of man came to seek and save that which WAS lost and now is found and He’s going to give you double for your trouble! He’s the Lord of the lost and found.
