Covenant Series

Releasing Benefits Pt. I

Scripture:

Isaiah 53:3-6 “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Introduction:

Living in covenant with God brings us into many wonderful blessings. The blood of Jesus Christ was spilled to bring us into relationship with Father God. That blood is actually the seal of the covenant. In other words, the covenant is ratified by the precious blood. Because of this covenant we find ourselves in a ministry of agreement to see the benefits of the Kingdom released in the lives of each other and those we’re privileged to minister to.

The meaning of covenant:

1. An agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.

2. Ecclesiastical . A solemn agreement between the members of a church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel.

I. As covenant partners, we serve one another in order to see Kingdom prosperity released into each life.

III John 1:2 “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

A. True prosperity begins in the soul. (The will, emotions and intellect.)

B. We release our gifts in ministry to the Body to encourage each one to commit their wills to serving God and His Kingdom.

1. Joshua challenged the people to make a choice.

Joshua 24:15-16 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 16And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;”

2. Jesus (who we are in covenant with) is the prime example of one with a will devoted to God’s purposes.

John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

John 5:30 “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

C. As covenant partners we minister to the Body to see them happy, blessed and filled with the fullness of God.

Ephesians 4:13-16 “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

II. We work together to release the benefit of forgiveness for transgressions.

A. We bind together to bring people to understand how great is the forgiveness and release of their transgressions.

Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

B. God has appointed us as His ambassadors to bring reconciliation to the lost and dying.

II Corinthians 5:18-19 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

III. As covenant partners we work together as peacemakers to minister to the troubled soul.

A. God’s blessing rests upon those committed to this ministry.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

B. We present Christ to the hurting so they can find the peace they need.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”