"Fallen Warriors"
Genesis 37: 1-11
(Prayer)
What dreams do you have for the Lord Jesus Christ? What vision have you received from Almighty God of what he wants to accomplish through your obedience to Him? Without a vision, the people perish!
(1) Joseph had a vision that incurred the intense hatred and betrayal of his brothers to sell him into slavery not only because of his prophetic vision but also because of the favor he enjoyed in his father’s eyes.
(2) Joseph was not only hated by his brothers but was also rebuked by his own loving father, the one who loved him more than anyone else on the face of the earth.
(3) God’s vision never changed though! God’s plan is unchangeable! God’s plan is unmovable! God’s vision is right because He cannot lie and He does not change his mind! He’s the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He knows the plans He has for us!
Joseph had a good character and he also had a strong faith in God. He believed that God would bring to pass the things He had shown him BUT HE MADE ONE VERY COMMON AND SIMPLE MISTAKE!
It’s a common mistake! One that I’ve made many times in my Christian walk and I’m sure that most of you have made the same mistake also in your life since being saved. THE MISTAKE THAT JOSEPH MADE WAS IN TELLING HIS BROTHERS ALL GOD HAD TOLD HIM! YOU MIGHT SIT THERE SAYING TO YOURSELF, WHY BROTHER MIKE HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT WOULD BE A MISTAKE!
When you share your heart and lay it all out of what God has told you, the people around you then have the ability and the opportunity to tear down that dream and crush your hope in the Lord!
I believe with all of my heart that each and every Christian had high hopes of serving God when they were saved but only 5% of them every lead anybody else to the Lord. When you were first born again to the family of God, you wanted to serve the Lord with every fiber of your being and every breath in your body but the average Christian has a shelf life of only eight weeks in the kingdom. YOU HAD A GREAT HOPE OF DRAWING EVEN CLOSER TO JESUS BUT NOW YOU JUST HOPE YOU’LL POSSIBLY MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. YOU HAD A BURNING DESIRE TO SERVE THE LORD WITH YOUR LIFE BUT NOW IT’S A PROBLEM TO EVEN COME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. AMEN? YOUR PRAYERS ASKED TO BE USED GREATLY IN DRIVING BACK THE ENEMY AND BEING USED TO SET OTHER PEOPLE FREE…
BUT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE BLOOD AND RECEIVING THE POWER…
A BATTLE WAS FOUGHT AND YOU SHOWED UP WITH A POCKETKNIFE AGAINST A MACHINE GUN AND THE DEVIL AMBUSHED YOU! NOW YOU AREN’T EVEN SURE IF YOU’RE SAVED MUCH LESS THAT GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE!
Are you to be wounded forever my friend? Brother Mike you talk like I don’t have to be resigned to the fact of seeing other Christians used by the Holy Spirit and not have any power in my life? Am I to be unfulfilled forever longing in the depths of my heart to be used in the hand of God? Do I have to powerless forever and just watch from the sidelines waiting for my chance to be called into the game?
The mistake that you made was to share those hopes and dreams of what God might do with you to people who pulled you down to their unspiritual level, now wasn’t it? Amen or OME?
In Matthew 7:6 Jesus said something about sharing your hopes and dreams and even the gospel with just everybody and anybody.
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs neither cast ye your pearls before swine lest the trample them under their feet and then turn again and rend thee."
(1) If more people would wait until the Holy Spirit prompted them to say something or share something, Christians and Christianity itself would be a lot better off
(2) If you had just waited before sharing the priceless treasure of what had been put into your earthen vessel or what God had shown you instead of airing your hopes and dreams to every Tom, Dick and Harry YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT INSTEAD OF JUST BEING MAINTAINED BY HIM.
In the book of Luke a little young girl was visited by and angel once straight from the throne of Almighty God. Luke 1:30-33 "Fear not Mary, you have been found favor in the eyes of God and you shall bear a son named Jesus who will save his people and he shall reign forever and ever and his kingdom shall have no end."
But quickly look at what this little girl did with what God’s message was in verse 39. She didn’t go down to the bingo hall and interrupt them to tell everybody how special she was and what God had told her. She didn’t knock on everybody’s door telling them what God’s plans were for her life and the child she was blessed to carry. She didn’t try to create any excitement over what was fixing to happen! HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW GOD CAN CREATE HIS OWN EXCITEMENT? AMEN? VERSE 41 " AND ELIZABETH WAS FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST"
God has a way of confirming to us and drawing certain people to us that will bear witness to what he has shown us. The Holy Spirit will prompt us at the moment it’s right to share our pearls with other people. Maybe if we had just waited on the same Holy Spirit to create the excitement, then grandma wouldn’t have told me I shouldn’t waste my life preaching the gospel. Maybe if my relationship had been stronger with Jesus before I shared what he had told me then when everybody laughed at me, I wouldn’t have just quit. FOLKS SOMETIMES JESUS HAS A WORD MEANT JUST FOR ME AND THAT’S NOT MEANT FOR ME TO TELL YOU! SOMETIMES JESUS HAS A WORD MEANT JUST FOR YOU! People can sit in a worship service like this and hear a message like this and this person here is getting a washtub full of blessing from the Holy Ghost but the people sitting all around them ain’t getting nothing from it. Sometimes God has a personal word just for you and that’s alright!
MOST CHRISTIANS NEVER GOT OUT OF THE NEWBORN CREATURE IN CHRIST BECAUSE WE FAILED THEM! WE DIDN’T FEED THEM THE RIGHT THING CHURCH! WE DIDN’T FEED THEM THE RIGHT THING PREACHER! WE PATTED THEM ON THE BACK AND TOLD THEM EVERYTHING WAS GONNA BE ALRIGHT NOW THAT THEY GAVE THEIR HEARTS TO JESUS AND FORGOT TO PREPARE THEM FOR THE BIGGEST BATTLE OF THEIR CHRISTIAN LIVES! They started out with hope and excitement and dreams of the relationship with Jesus and we failed to feed them the right things to prepare them for the battle the devil was fixing to fight!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGED MILK AND AGED WINE?
Does anybody know? Milk sours over time but wine only gets better with age! The Apostle Paul said that we were to disciple new born babes in Christ with milk in the beginning but to grow them into mature Christians able to eat meat and drink wine. The wine represents the Holy Spirit, Jesus talked about a new wine being put in new wineskins. If we had spent more time teaching people that the Holy Spirit is the presence of God in our lives instead of trying to fit God into our little boxes of tradition and denominationalism, maybe more people would have the power of God on their lives. Maybe more people would be fighting the battle and maybe more people would have some joy in their lives! NOT A JOYOUS OCCASION TO DRINK SOUR MILK OR TO HAVE IT TURN SOUR IN YOUR BELLY BUT GOD CAN RESCUE YOU MY FRIEND!
Joseph made a common mistake by sharing his heart but he served and uncommon God with supernatural Holy Ghost power to work out all things for his ultimate good.
"All things! I may not know much but I do know this, All things work together for good to those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28
(1) Are you tired of feeling all around you but never touching the power of God?
(2) Are you tired of smelling but never tasting that the Lord is good?
Are you tired of being wounded and at the mercy of the enemy behind enemy lines, left on the field of battle by your fellow soldiers with one bullet and a gun? Christians are the only army in the world that shoot their wounded or leave them behind on the field of battle!
HOLD ON BECAUSE GOD WANTS TO RESCUE YOU TODAY MY FRIEND! JESUS LOVE YOU AND HE WON’T LEAVE YOU BEHIND! HE TOLD A FAT BALDING PREACHER TO LIFT A BUGLE TO HIS LIPS TODAY AND SOUND THE CHARGE SIGNAL, NOT THE RETREAT, NOT THE EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF SIGNAL, BECAUSE WE’RE NOT LEAVING ANYBODY BEHIND ANYMORE! WE’RE GONNA RESCUE OUR WOUNDED! IF YOU’LL JUST REACH OUT TO JESUS TODAY, YOU’LL NEVER BE THE SAME!
Don’t look around at the ones sitting next to you because all they did was leave you, Jesus says if you’ll only trust him HE’LL RESCUE YOU TODAY! Do you need him? Can you feel him? Do you believe him?
There was a little boy once in the bible who was snatched up at a moment’s notice by his nursemaid to run from the approaching enemy. She was trying to save him and the little boy put all his trust in her to help him. (ILLUSTRATE)
That little boy trusted her but she dropped him while running. He was damaged in both his feet when they were broken, a cripple for life. Damaged beyond repair in his body and soul because someone he was counting on dropped him. Crippled in his feet but within his veins flowed royal blood. Every time his heart beat it pumped royalty! His rightful place was with a crown on his head seated in the throne room of the king but because of his damaged feet when he was dropped, he was hiding for his life from the King.
Mephibosheth grew up in obscurity, hiding in a land with people who weren’t his birthright until the day that King David remembered a promise he had made to his best friend Jonathon. ARE THERE ANY REMAINING OF THE HOUSE OF JONATHON THAT I MAY SHOW MERCY TO? ZIBA IS SUMMONED AND A TROOP OF SOLDIERS IS DISPATCHED TO GO BRING BACK MEPHIBOSHETH TO THE KING’S PALACE…
HE IS BROUGHT INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE KING AND FALLS AT HIS FEET BECAUSE HE JUST KNOWS IN HIS HEART THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. I’M DAMAGED! HE COWERS AT THE FEET OF THE KING WAITING FOR A DEATH BLOW BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE DOESN’T DESERVE MERCY! HE DOESN’T DESERVE GRACE BECAUSE HIS GRANDFATHER WAS THE ENEMY OF DAVID.
Then he feels a hand on his face lifting it to look into his eyes, there’s no hate in those eyes looking back at him. The king reaches down to help him to his feet, but he’s still damaged, he’s still a cripple. He sees the table prepared for him and the king is helping him but he just can’t make it. That’s alright too because the king might have helped him but since he’s too damaged…
THE KING CARRIES HIM! SEATED AT THE TABLE OF THE KING WITH ALL THE OTHER KING’S CHILDREN. YES THERE’S ABSALOM AND AMMON AND TAMAR AND OTHERS AND POOR MEPHIBOSHETH SITTING THERE WITH THEM. SITTING AT THE KING’S TABLE, HE LOOKED LIKE ALL THE OTHER KING’S CHILDREN FROM THE WAIST UP…
YOU SAY OH BUT BROTHER MIKE HIS FEET WERE STILL CRIPPLED AND YOU’D BE RIGHT…
BUT YOU CAN’T SEE THE DAMAGE BECAUSE THE KING WON’T LET YOU LOOK UNDER THE TABLECLOTH!
WHEW! THE BLOOD OF JESUS COVERED IT ALL FRIEND! THE KING OF KINGS HAS A BANQUET PREPARED FOR YOU AND HE’S INVITING YOU EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE DAMAGED GOODS, EVEN THOUGH SOMEONE DROPPED YOU!
COME TO THE KING’S TABLE! INVITATION!
