INVINCIBLE CHURCH 12-15-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
12/15/2024
Trials Strengthen Faith – 1 Peter 1:3-9
If it is impossible to please God without Faith and The Trials in our Life Strengthen our Faith Then, we should be Thankful to God for Trials. Because Enduring Trials Makes us Stronger in our Ability to Please God through our Faith! It’s also How we Find a Way to be Thankful for Everything!
Our Salvation for Eternal Life with GOD in Heaven Requires Faith ~in Jesus~ and NOBODY’s “high Moral Value” OR any other Personal “characteristic or Trait” Brings any “value” for Getting Closer to The Salvation “requirement and Process”! God doesn’t Need “anything or Anybody”! …
So, There isn’t Anything anybody Can Do to Make themselves Worth Saving! God just Chooses to Save “unworthy Sinners” like us because of His Indescribable - Love - Grace - and Mercy” for Us! It’s How we Know we Can’t Do Anything to Make Him “recall” our Salvation “praise Jesus”! LET’s Go to .
1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV- 3 Praise be to The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith … of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire … may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
*(vs 3-4) Says we are Protected by a Guaranteed “living Hope”! . And PETER’s Point Here is We have a “guaranteed Hope” for Eternal Life that Can’t Die! Our “living Hope” on Earth is a Guaranteed Hope of Eternal Life in Heaven w/JESUS and that Hope never Dies for Any True Follower OF Him!
Hebrews 6:19 NIV- 19 We have this hope as an Anchor for The Soul, Firm and Secure. It enters The Inner Sanctuary behind The Curtain … [Just Like we Talked about Last Week]
And If that Promise isn’t Enough for somebody (vs 5) Tells us that as a true follower of Jesus we should always Remember that “in All” this we are Completely Protected by GOD’s Own Power. And It’s The Greatest Power there’s ever Been and Will ever Be! There’s No Greater Power than His!
Then there’s something that is super important to see in (vs 6) That NOT Only are we Protected by a ````“guaranteed Hope” and Protected by GOD’s Own Power. But, we are Also Protected by the “trials and Tests” that God Allows to Happen in our Life! 6 In all this you greatly rejoice tho’ now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials!… Notice That …
It does not say “will” suffer, it says “may” suffer! Trials are Usually Consequences of Bad Decisions we have Made … OR … Bad Decisions somebody Else has Made that Impact us! Tests can Be from God to “equip Us” and “strengthen Us” for The “plans and Purposes” He has for Us!
So - If we’re Making “good Decisions” by Seeking God First – Hanging Out with Good People who’re Like Minded in The Faith – and Guarding against Being “influenced and Manipulated” by Bad People -
OR The Enemy Then God “may Not” Decide to Test us as Much!
Now at “first Glance” Being “protected by Trials” Seems like It’s Counter-intuitive to Having The Power of GOD’s Protection. But The Bible tells Us that It’s a Super Impt “principle of Faith”! Because The Reality is Trials Strengthen our Faith And Reveals our “true Faith” to Others! …
James 1:2 NIV - 2 Consider it Pure Joy, my brothers and sisters … whenever you face trials of many kinds,
There’s Great Wisdom in this Verse because sometimes Trials cause People to Start Doubting their Salvation! … They Start Wondering if they’re Really Saved … OR … If God really Loves ‘em! I’ve had People Ask me “I’m Struggling with Whether I’m Really Saved or Not?”! They Might Ask if I ever Do?
I don’t Struggle with it Anymore. But, when I was Younger, The Devil would Hammer me with Doubts about it! But Once we Go thru a Whole lot of Trials The True Character of our Saving Faith gets Stronger Which Protects us from Deception The Enemy uses to Get us to Doubt our Salvation!
Every Time a True Follower OF Jesus “goes Thru” and “endures” a Trial They See The Nature of Their Faith “grow” and “get Stronger”! Trials don’t Help God “find Out” what Kind of Faith we Have Because He Gave it to Us . And He Knows everything! So He doesn’t Needs Info about our Faith!
Going Through Trials is The Only to Train FOR Trials! It’s How we “get To” The Point that Trials become a Joy for Us Because it becomes a Witness to Others! IN our “flesh” We’re Just selfish Humans But IN our “spirit” We’re - Ambassadors – Warriors – Servants – and Saints for Jesus! So we Need to Be Ready to Endure Trials!
James 1:3 NIV - 3 … Because you know that The Testing of your Faith Produces Perseverance!
Successfully Enduring Trials thru Faith IN Jesus and Trust in The Power of The Holy Spirit is The Only Way to be Honed into The Image of Jesus! There’s NOT a Greater Gift than Eternal Salvation thru Jesus But it has to Be “received” for a Person to be Able to Start The “sanct or Discship” Process!
We Don’t ever havta’ “fear or Doubt” because When we “put” our Identity ~in Jesus~ We’ve Got The “real Thing”! . It’s The Only Way to Truly Survive Disaster! In Fact From my Experiences in Life The more Severe The Trial The Stronger my Faith Got And The more I Trusted The Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 1:8-12 NIV– 8 So do not be ashamed of The Testimony about our Lord or of me His Prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for The Gospel, by The Power of God. 9 He has Saved us and Called us to a Holy Life … not because of anything we have done but because of His own Purpose and Grace. This Grace was given us in Christ Jesus before The Beginning of Time, 10 but it has now been revealed through The Appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, Who has destroyed death and has brought Life and Immortality to Light through The Gospel. 11 And of this Gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He Is able to Guard what I have entrusted to Him until that Day!
(vs 9) Talks about The Principle of “election or Predestination” which is Foundational to our Gospel Hope! But then Paul says in (vs 10) Because Jesus Suffered while “standing For” and Defending “The Truth” about “The Faith” So Paul was “ready and Willing” to be Obedient And Do The Same!
And Amazingly Paul Survived some of The Most Horrific Circumstances Imaginable! In Fact He Rose to The Occasion on Every One of ‘em! It’s usually Why The Greater the Suffering The Brighter our Testimony “shines” thru Us to Others!
It is Why Paul is “so Confident” in The Middle of (vs 12) when he Says “I know whom I have believed “! Paul knew from “exp” that Jesus will Make His Presence known to Any of His true follower who Call on Him for The - Power – Patience – and Peace to Endure “The Trial” for The Glory of God!
At The End of (vs 12) he Says … “ … I am Convinced that He is able to Guard what I have Entrusted to Him “until that Day!” That Day Here is Talking about “redemption Day” when we See Jesus “face to face”! So, Paul knows Who he has Believed He Knows What he’s Believed And he’s trusted that Who he ~believes In~ has The Power to Protect All that he’s Entrusted to Him!
In Greek “all he has Entrusted” means “deposit” and IN this Case it Specifically means That We Deposit our - Life – Soul – and Eternity into The Care of Jesus Trusting Him to Guard it with His Power! Kinda’ like a Safety Deposit Box where we have One Key and Jesus has The Other!
We Know He Can Guard it because of our Faith ~in Him~! No Matter what kinda’ Trial OR How Bad our Circumstances may Get We Know He Can “guard Us” because of our Faith! HE’s Given us The Faith that Will Survive it All. It’s Up to Us to Access it And Strengthen it! It’s why Real Faith always “comes Out” Stronger on The Other Side of Trials! It’s said Best in>
Romans 8:35-39 NIV– 35 Who shall separate us from The Love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is Written … “For Your Sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who Loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from The Love of God that is In Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul didn’t Just Put these Verses in a Sermon! He’d Experienced every Bit of it in his Life as a True Follower OF Jesus! He’d “been There” and “done That”! Plots to Kill him almost Daily! Subjected to The Weather Without - Food – Clothing – or Shelter … Adrift in The Cold Dark Sea ON and ON
So Trials cause Hardships for a Little While! . Trials are like Fire that “burns Off” Impurities! …That’s The Point! . Trials “reveal and Purify” our Faith! . In (vs 7) of our Main Psg it says “true Faith” is more Valuable than Gold Which Can “burn Up” Even when It’s Refined by Fire!
*When we Get our Faith Tested We Get more “pure and Strong”! So Instead of Asking God to Protect us from Trials We should be Asking Him to “put” us thru All The Trials Necessary to Give us The Confidence that Comes with - Pure – Strong – God Honoring Faith! Incredible Story in
Acts 5:39-42 NIV– 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” 40 His speech persuaded them. They called The Apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak In The Name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 The Apostles left The Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for The Name. 42 Day after day, in The Temple Courts and from house to house, they never stopped Teaching and Proclaiming The Good News that Jesus is The Messiah.
The Sanhedrin Let ‘em Go and Ordered ‘em NOT to Speak in The Name of Jesus Anymore! So They Came outa’ There - bleeding – bruised – battered – embarrassed – humiliated But “fired Up and Excited” Because they Knew they had a The Faith that was Real!
They Knew they had “The Faith”! And we See in (vs 42) that it Made ‘em Bolder! Because The Worst Thing anybody could Do to ‘em was Haul ‘em “back In”And Do it All Over again Which would Just Strengthen their Faith More!
Even Jesus Christ Himself was Strengthened thru Suffering! The Bible says That “he didn‘t Verbally Abuse others even When he was being Verbally Abused He didn’t Make any Threats about What HE’d Do when He Comes Back …He just Kept Entrusting Himself to God!
*paul said Jesus Proved His Perfection thru Suffering! It’s How we’re “perfected and Protected” thru Trials! GOD’s Given us s Faith that’s Energized by Holy Spirit Power Which Can’t be Defeated Because there’s No Force that’s Equal to it!
It Gives us a Guaranteed “living Hope” It’s a Hope that’s Built into our Faith And it Can’t Die! So God also Protects us thru Faith when we’re “tested and Tried”! (vs 7) Also tells Us we’re Protected by “eternal Purpose”! GOD’s Designed us to Get Things Done for Him!
Think about it! God Designed our Faith to Last till The Very End of this Life because Faith Gets Stronger thru Trials! It’s an Amazing Principle if we Can get a Grasp on it! We Can have a “proven / Tested” Faith that Gets Fulfilled in The “purpose and Plan” of God!
Then we Get to Be with Jesus Forever in Heaven when It’s All Over! it goes Right Back to The Reason we’re Saved in The First Place We’re Chosen so that we’d Be Brought to Eternal Glory for His “purpose and Pleasure”!
And by The Way This wasn’t Just something God Promised at The Time we Heard The Gospel and Submitted to Jesus as “lord and Savior” He Made this Promise before He ever Created The Earth or Anything in it! God Predetermined that we’d be Brought to Eternal Glory! So
We have to understand The 3 Dynamics of Salvation if we want to’ understand it at All! There’s The Point where we Believe and Submit to Jesus and Receive Salvation! … There’s The Process where we’re Honed into The Image of Jesus Then there’s The Final Step of Salvation where we’re Glorified w/GOD in Heaven!
Which Means when God Predetermined to Save a Person He Predetermined that All 3 Steps would Take Place for ‘em! NOT just 1 OR 2 of The Steps! Whatever we might suffer here, we rejoice because it shows us we have a real faith and strengthens that faith and none of that suffering is to be compared with the glory that God has predetermined for us.
It is Why (vs 😎 Tells us We’re Protected by “unconditional / Undying” Love! 8 Though you have not seen Him, you Love Him”! That’s The Bottom Line! We Have a Love for Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians 16:22 NIV– 22 If anyone does Not Love The Lord … Let that Person Be Cursed! Come, Lord!
This is a Strong Statement The True Nature of Salvation! . It’s NOT only Characterized by Believing in Jesus And by Professing Faith in Him It’s also about Loving Him! Christ! Alotta’ People Testify that before They were Truly Saved They Thought that “I Believed The Facts So I Assumed I was a Christian!”
A Person can Believe The Facts and NOT be Saved! Even The Devil and The Demons believe The Facts And Know they’re True! . The Issue is Loving The Lord Jesus Christ! Remember … Jesus said “If you Love Me You’ll Keep My Commandments”!
A Definition of Following Jesus It’s Purest Sense would have to Include The Word “love” in there somewhere! A lot of people Talk about Believing in Jesus But very Few Love Him - Sacrificially – Obediently – Loyally – Unconditionally - and Righteously!
(vs 😎 … 8 Tho’ you have not seen Him, you Love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you Believe ````In Him and are filled with an Inexpressible and Glorious Joy! … We Can tell a True Follower OF Jesus because they Love him so Much Joy just Exudes Out of ‘em! . The Story of Jesus and Peter in John 21 Helps us understand The Love that The Bible is Talking about!
What Jesus wanted to Restore Peter at The Sea of Galilee He asked Peter “Do you Love Me?” It’s The Way Jesus Defines a Relationship “Do you Love Me?” Peter says “I Love You!” Jesus said “Well then Do what I tell you Feed My Sheep!”
Jesus asked a 2nd Time “Do you Love Me?” Peter said “Yes I Love You!” Jesus said “Feed My Sheep!” Jesus asked Peter a 3rd Time “Peter Do you Love Me?” And The Reason He asked Peter 3 Times was Paralleling Peter’s 3 Denials on The Night before The Crucifixion! But at The Time
Peter knew Jesus couldn’t Doubt his Obedience Because there wasn’t Any! . So Peter said “Lord You know Everything You’re Omniscient You know what’s in my Heart You know I Love You!” Then Jesus said “Feed my sheep!” Peter knew that Jesus knew that Peter Loved Him
1 John 4:19 NIV – 19 We Love because He First Loved us!
So Jesus knows if we Love Him! It’s Why in a True Human Relationship There has to’ Be - Love – Trust – and Action from Both Sides! . And so does our Relationship with Jesus! . That’s How It’s Defined! There’s No Such Thing as a Christian who doesn’t Love Jesus!
In our Life Long Process of Following Jesus We continue to Grow in our Love for Him! . We also Grow in our Affection for Him! The More we Love somebody The More we want to know them! . Paul knew That he was Loved by Jesus! That’s Why he says “That I may know Him!”
Paul knew Nothing could Separate him from The Love that Jesus had for him And he also Knew that nothing could Separate him from his Love for Jesus! . Paul said it doesn’t Matter if I’m in - trials – Tribulation – Persecution – Distress – Nakedness – Famine – Sword And Nothing will Change my Love for Jesus!
Paul Loved Jesus with The Same Love that Jesus Gave him! It’s a Gift from God Just Like Faith! . We’ve been Given a Supernatural Faith! . We’ve been Given a Supernatural Love that Never Changes! And a Big Part of it has always been “love and Faith” are Strengthened thru Trials!
So (vs 5) We’re “kept” thru Faith And Last Thing (vs 9) Tells us What we’re Headed for! 9 For you Are Receiving The End Result of your Faith The Salvation of your Souls! This Principle could Be Called The Perseverance of The Saints OR The Perseverance of Faith!
We’ve been Given a Faith that Never Perishes That’s Protected by The Power of God That has a Guaranteed Hope And that Can’t be Defeated! It’s a Faith that is - Proven – Tested – and Strengthened thru Trials!
It is a Faith that’s Designed for our Eternal Glory Which He Promised before The World began! It’s a Faith that Contains our “unconditional Love” for Jesus! . And The Outcome of our Faith will be Receiving The Final Salvation of our Souls for Eternity in Heaven!
The Result of Saving Faith is our Final Salvation! There’s Nothing that’ll Change this Reality! We also Experience “present Salvation” here on Earth as a Result of The Faith! It’s The Nature of “The Faith”! It’s a Permanent Gift from God!
Philippians 1:6 NIV– 6 … Being Confident of this … That He Who began a Good Work in you will Carry it On to Completion until The Day of Christ Jesus!
It is saying If Jesus Starts it He’ll Finish it! That’s All we should Need for The Assurance of our Salvation And All we should Need to have “peace and Endurance” thru The Trials of Life Plus we have The Bonus of Knowing our Faith will Be Stronger on The Other Side of The Trial!