Jesus Is Lord in Your Winter: Shout It From the Housetops

Sermon outline

What Jesus tells you in secret you must speak out loud, and the first confession to hold on to in hard times and in promotion alike is that Jesus Christ is Lord.

1. They will speak against you, so refuse to fear

   If they called Jesus, the master of the house, the chief of devils, they will speak against His household too, so do not be disheartened when people come against you. Jesus says to have no fear of them. Fear will come in various forms, like a parcel the devil wants you to sign for, but you refuse to receive it, because once you take a thought of fear the thing you fear will visit you.

   Illustration: Fear is a package the devil brings to your door. It might be for your neighbour or the man down the street, but it was not made for a child of God.

   “Make a strong quality decision in your life that you will from today not fear.”

   • Matthew 10:24-26
   • Hebrews 12:2
   • Proverbs 28:1
   • Job 3:25

2. What you hear in the dark, speak in the light

   What Jesus says to you in the dark is His word: what you read and meditate on in your closet where nobody sees you. You then come out and proclaim it from the housetop, openly and out loud. That is confessing the word of God.

   Illustration: Walk around saying loudly to yourself that you refuse to fear, that you may have lost your job but God will get you a better one, because He supplies your needs.

   “When you're reading the word of God in the dark, where no one can see you, you come out in the light, and you speak the word of God.”

   • Matthew 10:27
   • Isaiah 54:17
   • Luke 10:19
   • Philippians 4:19

3. God is watching over you and Jesus is praying for you

   Not a sparrow falls without the Father's notice and the hairs of your head are numbered, which means He loves you intimately and watches over you. Jesus is not resting in heaven but making intercession, touched with the feeling of our weaknesses. When you confess Him openly before men, He confesses you before the Father and says, I know that cry.

   Illustration: Ask anyone how many hairs are on their head and they cannot tell you, because the brush took some out this morning. God knows the number.

   “When I'm going down, or I'm challenged with some things, the thing that comes to my mind is, Jesus is praying for me.”

   • Matthew 10:29-33
   • Hebrews 7:25
   • Hebrews 4:15
   • Isaiah 59:1
   • Psalm 34:15

4. Following Jesus will cost you, but He gives a higher life

   Decide to follow Jesus one hundred percent and your foes may be those of your own household, and some are disinherited for it. But Jesus never lets His people down: what you lose for His sake He gives back, and He blesses you to be a blessing. Lose the lower life and He gives a higher one, with peace, health and blessing here on earth, where we actually need them, not only in heaven.

   Illustration: What would you do with money in heaven, buy Coca-Cola or McDonald's? We need money, healing and peace here. He adds that there was a time his family had nothing, but today he has enough to give.

   “Jesus never lets his people down.”

   • Matthew 10:34-39
   • Mark 10:29-30
   • Psalm 37:25
   • 1 Corinthians 15:52

5. Prayer is foundational, but learn to use the word as a weapon

   Reading to the end of the chapter, he comes back to confession. Prayer, church, Bible reading and fasting are taken for granted as foundations, and he prays every day himself. But believers have been taught how to pray and not how to use the word of God as a weapon to get their breakthrough. Anointed words spoken with a believing heart can change an atmosphere and a destiny.

   Illustration: When he interviews someone for a job he does not ask whether they showered or ate breakfast that morning. Those are foundational things you are expected to have done already, and so is prayer.

   “Anointed words released into the atmosphere can change your destiny.”

   • Matthew 10:40-42

6. Confession number one: Jesus Christ is Lord

   There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, so the first confession to cling to is that Jesus is Lord. Say it in your winter: when they are laying people off and your name is next, when sickness or financial trouble hits. Saying it rejects fear, invites faith and boldness, and releases the angels to work on your behalf. Praying and fasting are good, but done in unbelief and fear they bring no result.

   Illustration: Someone tells you the boss has said your name is next on the retrenchment list. You do not say, maybe it is true. You stand up and say, Jesus is Lord.

   “Jesus Christ is Lord over my situation.”

   • Ephesians 4:5

7. Jesus is still Lord when the promotion comes

   Money was never his source, and he proved it to himself with the church's first offerings. People fast and pray for promotion, then have no time for God once the company car, phone and expense card arrive, and their walk and talk change. He admits he did the same and that his job was once his god. Your job is not your source, because you can be retrenched tomorrow. In lack or in a new car and a new suit, Jesus is Lord, because He gave it.

   Illustration: The church's first offering was 17 rand, then 77 rand, then 143 rand, then two hundred and something. For about two months he gave every offering away, to prove to himself that money was not his god.

   “When you're down and out, Jesus is Lord.”

   • Proverbs 1:32