INVINCIBLE CHURCH

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
12/3/2023
The Power of The Bible
John 1:1-5
The focus of the messages that God’s been sending His Invincible Church this year have centered on the topic of truth… God’s truth... which is the only truth! Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about the power of God that undergirds His truth, which makes His truth invincible!
A big part of God’s truth is man’s natural power pales in comparison to Satan’s supernatural power. So, we don’t stand a chance if we’re not connected to God and His supernatural power because Satan’s supernatural power doesn’t hold a candle to God’s supernatural power!
God’s supernatural power is all encompassing! He’s the only (and will always be the only) omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent being there is! Which means He’s the only all powerful, all knowing, all present at all times sovereign Holy God of the universe!
Within God’s supernatural powers is the power of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the Bible! Two Sundays ago, we talked about the power of Jesus! Last week, Brandon preached a message on the power of the Holy Spirit (And God’s been building that message in Brandon for a long time!) Today we’re going to cover the “Power of the Bible!
The Bible is one of the primary miraculous works God has given us because it’s literally the breath and revelation of God recorded in book form! It’s the most powerful book that will ever exist! It’s the most powerful piece of literature ever written!
It was spoken and authored by God through the power of the Holy Spirit. God moved human writers to write exactly what He wanted said and known to His creation! God sums up exactly what He wants us to know about the supernatural power connection between Him, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Bible in…
John 1:1-5 NIV - 1 In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was With God, and The Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was Life, and that Life was The Light of all mankind. 5 The Light Shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome ~IT~!
We don’t have time to get into all the deeper meanings of the Greek words that explain the fact that God’s telling us here that He is the Word and the Word is Jesus. Likewise, the supernatural power of the Word is the Holy Spirit… and there’s no greater power than these! But I will mention here that the Bible goes on to say in…
John 1:14 NIV - 14 The Word became Flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His Glory, The Glory of The One and Only Son, Who came from The Father, full of Grace and Truth! ... [That’s Jesus]
Now, the foundationally clear principle of Bible translation we should look for is it has to be based on an accurate translation of the original test from Greek, Hebrew and some Aramaic! So, the job of a translator is to find out exactly what the author said…
… and then write exactly what the author said in the language he’s translating what the author said into! The word “author” means originator!
It tells us that language translation has everything to do with what the author said. Translation has nothing to do with how the reader may read it! When translators fail to follow this principle, it creates confusion because they haven’t discerned and translated the original text accurately!
That’s why divinely inspired translators have based the words and wording of the Bible on exactly what God says from the original languages of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic! Divinely inspired translators don’t base their wording on what the reader may think!
God describes the Bible as “alive and powerful”… sharper than any two-edged sword! So, it’s a weapon that can defend us from evil, but it also has the capacity to piece into our soul and reveal our nature, character, sinfulness and where we stand with God!
The Bible’s a powerful/living tool that God uses to expose our heart and the truth about us to ourselves! The Bible also has the power to put us back together again when we’ve been torn apart by circumstances, situations and other people of the world… or the devil!
So, in order to accomplish these living things, there’s no way the Bible can be the word of man! The Bible has to be the word of the living God! The one and only God Almighty! And that’s exactly what it is! God has elevated the Bible to the level of who He is…
… And to the character and integrity of His Holy Name! It’s impossible to separate the glory of the Word from God Himself because the Bible is entirely Him and it’s entirely His own word! The Bible is God’s revealed truth. God speaks in it and through it!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV - 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness … 17 so that The Servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work!
The Bible is the Word of God! So, if we want to experience and encounter God through the power of the Holy Spirit and from the truth of the power of the Bible, we’ve got to understand and believe the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God!
The we have to make Jesus the primary focus of our life! The way we do it is through the power of the Bible as God’s Word… and through the power of the Holy Spirit as our supernatural advocate, counselor and helper. It’s all about knowing God better through His Word. So, let’s look at…
6 Requirements for Understanding The Power of The Bible
1) You have to be a Follower of Jesus!
1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV - 14 The person without The Spirit does not accept The Things that come from The Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand Them because they are discerned only through The Spirit.”
A person has to be saved! We have to be submitted to Jesus as Lord and Savior and King! The natural man doesn’t understand the things of God. It’s foolishness to them because they’re spiritually dead and they can’t spiritually discern the things of God!
The Bible is confounding and confusing to lost people no matter how great their mind is, but it’s as clear as it can be to any follower of Jesus who’ll consistently and diligently study it and pray for discernment. So, it starts at that point. Next…
2) You have to have a Strong Desire to know God Better!
1 Peter 2:2 NIV - 2 Like newborn babies, crave Pure Spiritual Milk, so that by it you may grow up in your Salvation,
We have to develop an internal drive and passion for it! We’ll never get to a high level of experiencing and encountering God… and the power of the Bible unless we have the self-discipline to study it! So, we need to pray that God would give us that kind of strong desire.
God’s true wisdom is only available to followers of Jesus and it only comes to those who seek it in His strength. Next…
3) You have to be Diligent in Reading The Bible!
Acts 17:11-12 NLT - 11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched The Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching The Truth. 12 As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.
If we want to know God better, we have to be in His Word. It takes diligence on our part! People ask me sometimes, “What one book gives the best explanations of the Bible?” It’s a typical question of a person who doesn’t know the power of the Bible. There’s not a book that can do that!
There are commentaries, concordances, study guides and other writings that can help, but nothing compares to the Bible! God wants us to know what He’s saying. So, He’ll tell us if we’ll put in the effort to pursue Jesus, be diligent in His Word and pray for discernment.
4) You have to Work Hard to Avoid Sin!
James 1:21 NLT - 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”
If we want to know God better, we have to strive for holiness! If we’re going to really pursue Jesus and deal with the power of the Bible at a high level, so we can experience and encounter God in His fullness, then we have to be willing to give up the sin in our life… and anything and everything that hinders us from running the race that God has designed for us to run. Next…
5) You have to Apply God’s Word to Your Life!
James 1:22 NLT - 22 But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what It says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
A person can’t say that they’re a follower of Jesus unless they really believe what the Bible says… and then applies it to their life! We should be diligently learning it, applying it and putting it into practice! It’s not some theoretical thing. It’s a matter of life… and death! Probably the most important thing is…
6) You have to Pray Constantly!
Ephesians 1:17-20 NIV - 17 I keep asking that The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Glorious Father, may give you The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, so that you may know Him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know The Hope to which He has called you, The Riches of His Glorious Inheritance in His Holy people, 19 and His incomparably Great Power for us who believe. That Power is The same as The Mighty Strength 20 He exerted when He raised Christ from The Dead and Seated Him at His Right Hand in The Heavenly Realms …
Paul says he prays! The most intense time of prayer ought to be the times we’re studying scripture! We need to be asking God for clarity, understanding and wisdom, so we can discern His truth, apply it to our lives and use the power of the Bible to advance His kingdom!
The Bible can be trusted because it’s the Words of God from His breath and revelation! It takes faith because it’s impossible to please God without faith! Faith includes belief in God, submission to Jesus and trusting in the Holy Spirit. It’s also impossible to have faith without prayer!
We wouldn’t be here if God hadn’t physically created us and specifically made us! Also, we’re only protected and sustained here by God’s mercy and grace through His supernatural power. Otherwise, Satan would wipe us out because he’s jealous of God’s creation!
As a follower of Jesus, we should be way more concerned with what God thinks about us rather than being obsessed with what the world thinks about us!
>GOD is our CREATOR … and all that goes with it.
*JESUS is our SAVIOR … and all that goes with it.
>The HOLY SPIRIT is our SUSTAINER … and all that goes with it.
Why wouldn’t we want to try to do what please God first, instead of what pleases us?
When we become saved Jesus is our king, different from worldly king, He sacrificed His life for us!
If you’re listening online… and you haven’t made the decision to follow Jesus, then I’m inviting you to pray to Jesus right now… and receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior! He knows what’s best for us and it’s eternity with God in heaven… But the only way to get there is through a salvation relationship with Jesus! So, don’t wait! Receive him now!
Let us pray…