The Right and Responsibility of the Firstborn

“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

Biblical law gave preference to the firstborn son. He had the rights to a double portion of his fathers possession. He recieved a double portion because he also inherited the responsibility for the family.

Jesus is the firstborn of God.

Romans

Romans 8:29 ESV

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Colossians 1:15–18 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

Colossians 1:15-16

Jesus came as God’s representative and Jesus came to take responsibility for God’s family. Jesus came with the double portion blessing on Him.

In Jesus we are all firstborn.

Hebrews 12:22–24 ESV

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:22

“to the assembly of the firstborn”

We are the church of the firstborn and have rights and privileges to a double portion blessing, why? Because we are responsible for the family of God. It is not automatic, tho. it has to be given to us.

How do we receive the double portion blessing of God?

5 loaves and 2 fish

Matthew

Matthew 14:14–21 ESV

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Disciples went to Jesus and wanted permission to disperse the crowd bc of a lack of food.

Jesus told them not to send them away, but to take responsibility for them.

“We only have 5 loaves and 2 fish!”

The Spirit of the firstborn must fill us before the blessings of the firstborn falls upon us Jimmy Evans

The disciples were looking at what they did not have to complete something Jesus had told them to do.

Jimmy Evans

He said bring them here to me.

“The spirit of the firstborn must fill you before the the blessing of the firstborn falls upon us.”Jimmy Evans

The church is responsible for God’s children, those in the church and those not saved yet.

The Problem

Matthew 16:5–12 ESV

When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 14:5-12

Matthew 16:

Matthew 14:5–12 ESV

And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Beware of the teachings/doctrine of the Pharisees

What was their doctrine? Selfishness

Matthew 23:12–14 ESV

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

Jesus approached the crowd and said I’m here for you

The pharisees approached the crowd and said You’re here for us

Jesus was using the feeding of the crowd as an object lesson. Take responsibility for my people irregardless of your own need and I will take care of you.

We have to take responsibility for this community right now! Not after we get alot of money in the bank, but right now.

Share the recent SCF story.

We approached 2018 facing budget issues, giving was down and bills were up. Elders meetings were consumed with discussion about our finances. We had received some large gifts but we didn’t want that to skew reality of the normal ebb and flow of church giving. We were focused on our need and not what the Lord has called us to do. We decided as a staff we had to be better stewards. As elders we decided to stay the course and ride out the summer.

The summer of 2018 has been the best summer of giving in the 6 years I’ve been here. It gets better. When we bought the mall the Lord had provided $400k thru the sale of some land SCF owned to remodel this area for worship. We borrowed and additional $220k to complete it. That was a significant monthly payment we had to make. We had been applying generous gifts to the debt, as of September, the church, Spring Creek Fellowship is debt free! (We still owe on the mall, but that is being taken care by the leasing of the stores.)

I began wondering what had caused this, God was the obvious answer, but after I had heard this message at conference I started to look at the things that had taken place this past year.

Linda our awesome office administrator, who handles the tithes and offerings on a weekly basis had been convicted by something. Finances had gotten so tight we had stopped setting aside money for missions and benevolence. It wasn’t the first thing set aside every week, it was last, if we could afford it. She knew we had originally committed to setting aside 10% of the weekly giving to missions and started doing it again, first.

Our Daily Bread food ministry kicked off taking care of a need in this community, providing food to those in need twice a month.

We continue to support global missions such as OCC.

We became better stewards of the tithes and offerings coming in.

Deacons and Missional Communities continue to take care of needs of the widow, the elderly and others in need.

Our baptisms have also increased this year, which is a good indication that we are reaching more people with the Gospel.

We didn’t have a money problem, we had a identity problem.

We are the firstborn of God and have a right to a double portion, not so we can have a large bank acct or alot of stuff, but so that we can take responsibility for those in the church and those in our community who are not saved yet.

Back to the problem in with the bread, pharisees and sadducees.

When the 5 loaves and 2 fish was in the disciples hand it was not enough. Once it was transferred from their hands to Jesus’ hands, there was more than enough.

The disciples had a problem, the crowd was large

God’s plan for his church is to impact our communities with the gospel and meet needs by living a life of generosity. Not just for those within the church family, but for those not saved yet.

The devil has a plan for the church. That plan is to keep us bound up in these four walls praying for survival.

The church is viewed today as irrelevant in our communities because the church has been irrelevant in our communities. Jimmy Evans

In Christ we are the firstborn, it is time to take responsibility for those God has charged us with.

It is time to talk to that friend or family member about Jesus.

It is time to stop praying for survival Christian and time to realize who you are in Christ, understand the privilege and responsibility that comes with being a firstborn.

Isaiah 58:8–12 ESV

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.