INVINCIBLE CHURCH 12-22-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
12/22/2024
Trials Strengthen Faith Pt 2 – 1 Peter 1:3-9 and Philippians 4:10-13
Quick review from last week. The Bible says it is impossible to please God without Faith and the trials in our life strengthen our Faith. So, we should be Thankful to God for Trials, because “Suffering and Enduring” Trails MAKES our Faith STRONGER. Which Pleases GOD! It is also how we find a way to be Thankful for Everything! We Started with.
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 promised a guaranteed “Living Hope”! (vs 5) Tells us that as True Followers of Jesus. We are completely “Covered and Supported” by God’s Power. So, Eternity is Secure because of Faith. (vs 6) Says our Faith gets Stronger from the “Trials and Tests” that God ALLOWS in in our Life!
In (vs 7) ~It~ Declares that “True Faith” is more Valuable than Gold, which Can “Burn Up”, even when it is Refined by Fire! So, when our Faith “Gets Tested” by “The Fires” of Life “It” Develops our “Spiritual Purity” And Builds our “Spiritual Strength”!
So, Instead of Asking GOD to protect us from Trials. We should be Asking HIM to “Put” us through All The Trials that He DEEMS Necessary to Give us The :> - Courage– Confidence– and Strength that Comes with :> - Pure– Bold– God HONORING Faith!
(vs 😎 Tells us that our “Unconditional / Obedient” Love for Jesus GIVES us The Ability to continually Experience TRUE “Joy and Peace” that goes Beyond The understanding of Lost PEOPLE in a :> - Fallen– Sinful– Depraved– Dying WORLD! The Bottom LINE is … We Love JESUS No MATTER What! Then >
(vs 9) Tells us that, “True Faith” will be :> - Proven– Tested– and Strengthened through Trials on Earth. But, we are headed for the “Perfect” Eternal GLORY that God PROMISED before He ever created The World! And it starts with our “Unconditional Love” for Jesus thru “True Faith” ~In Him~!
The Final OUTCOME of our “True Faith” is when we receive The Salvation of our Souls through Jesus for Eternity in Heaven! … There is nothing that will change this Reality for a true follower of Jesus; it is a Permanent GIFT from God! It is a supernatural fact of “The Faith”! So, “God’s Plan” for us goes like this …
Each Person must “Intentionally and Freely” Decide if They want to submit to Jesus as “Lord and Savior”! Which Leads us Into The Process of Following JESUS here on Earth and Developing ”The “Godly Attributes” that Equip us to Be The :> - Ambassadors– Warriors– Servants– and Saints for Jesus that God CALLS us to Be!
We have talked about the Spiritual “Attitudes and Attributes” of a true follower of Jesus like :> – Love– Mercy- Unity- Humility– Compassion– Forgiveness– and Joy! Which are All ESSENTIAL in The Life of a God HONORING “Family and Church”! Basically, they are the “Internal Organs” of The Body of Christ!
Two of the most important attributes of The Faith for a true follower of Jesus are being “Thankful and Content” but these two “Attitudes and Attributes” do not just happen naturally for a lot of people! Just like any other Godly “Attitude or Attribute” They have to be “Taught” and then Developed through Training!
Too effectively, “Mentor and Train” a Person to become a true follow of Jesus. It requires the:> - Parent– Teacher– Preacher– Family MEMBER – or any responsible BELIEVER to Sacrifice:> - Time– Effort– Energy– and Personal PREFERENCES! The Mentor has to Discern “What’s More Important to God”!
As a true follower of Jesus. We are called to be “Spiritual Leaders” in Some WAY! So, the question that we all have to “Deal With” ~Is~ Are my Personal “Agendas and Desires” more important than The “Spiritual Growth” of The Person that God has Trusted me to :> - Raise– Mentor– Teach– and Disciple?
Philippians 4:10-13 NIV– 10 I rejoiced greatly in The Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through Him Who gives me strength.
When Paul wrote this letter to The Church, He was in Prison! Falsely Accused of Crimes against The government! He was chained to a Roman SOLDIER so he had to write it with shackles on his wrists! And as he is Writing He says he Doesn’t Need anything! Now that is Absolute CONTENTMENT!
Down In(vs 12) he Says It again “I have learned The Secret of being Content in Any and Every Situation” He’s Been TRAINED! He has learned how to be CONTENT! Unfortunately, it is a “Not so Secret” principle that most people are never able to Fully GRASP! The Reason is that
Most people Base their Contentment on How they~ Prefer “Things to Go” in their Life! They Get “Caught Up” in their :> - Emotions– Moods– and Feelings when Life is not “Going” as they Want! When they are Being “Mistreated or Disrespected” by somebody they let their Feelings take over!
Our Feelings will lie to us! But the Holy Spirit. Never LIES to Us! So Instead of Relying on our Feelings We Rely on Him! People Will “Let us down” But Jesus will never LET us down! It is why we have to focus on Him and Him CRUCIFIED! He is already Done ALL The Suffering for Us!
Satan has “Manipulated and Influenced” our Society into a “Victim Mindset”! A lot of people have been Led to Believe that “Anything and Everything” that Goes WRONG in their Life is Somebody else’s Fault So somebody’s got to’ “Make ~It~ Right”! Most of That is a Lie from The Pit of Hell! Now
There are some Times when Bad DECISIONS that Other people Make IMPACT our Lives in Negative WAYS But as a true follow of Jesus. We do not “Sit Around” Feeling SORRY for ourselves Waiting for somebody Else to “Fix ~It~! We have the Power of The Holy Spirit in Us! Jesus told us we would have Problems in this Life!
So, We Seek GOD First And Discern WHAT He has for Us to “Learn” and “The Actions” He has for Us to Take in “Every Situation” No MATTER how “Good or Bad” ~It~ Maybe! We are Not the Victim here! Our Identity is ~In Jesus~ So We are Invincible! The Bible says
We have to develop The Mindset of being “Slow to Anger” And “Quick to listen”! “Slow to being Offended” And “Quick to Encourage”! “Slow to being Frustrated” And “Quick to Speak TRUTH in Love”! In this passage from Philippians Paul GIVES us The Secret for Controlling our “Attitude and Attributes” so we can BE “Thankful and Content” So Let us look at
3 Biblical Principles for Being “Thankful and Content”
1] Trust GOD’s Plan– God WORKS everything to The Perfection of His “Own Will”! We Need to Learn to Trust in that Truth and have Confidence in The Discernment HE Gives us from ~It~! Remember He will guide our steps but, we have to ~Trust~ Him And Start “Stepping” Even ``When we Can’t ~See~ how we’re going to’ Get to Where HE’s Leading us!
Romans 8:28 NIV– 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who Love Him, who have been called according to His Purpose.
God will Act at the “Perfect Time” and in The “Perfect Place” when He WANTS to Intervene! Think about ~it~ God TAKES The Millions of Contingencies that are “Going On” all Over the World at the Same TIME And Orchestrates ALL of them perfectly into “His Plan”!
God has Unlimited POWER! He can just STOP the Normal PROCESS of Things and Performa Miracle! We “Believe and Understand” ~It~ because we have Seen It~ Or Heard TESTIMONY of ~It~ Or We Know that The Bible “Accurately and Perfectly” Records the History of ~It~!
He Allows MILLIONS of People Making Millions of Decisions Doing Millions of Different THINGS While Satan and All his Hosts of Demons are Working their Whole EVIL System All of This “Going On” All at The Same TIME And He BLENDS ~It~ All together to Make “His Plan” Work PERFECTLY!
That goes Way BEYOND my Imagination! Its What PAUL is Talking about in (vs 10) When he Says, “I Rejoiced Greatly in The Lord”! Because he knew that, ~it~ was God WHO Delivered ALL The Things he needed at Just the Right TIME! And Paul’s Faith NEVER :> - Wavered– Worried- or Doubted! The 2ND Principle we have to Learn is.
2] Be Satisfied with Little– We have to Learn to Trust that God will Provide EXACTLY what we Need at The Exact TIME we Need It~ No MATTER what we “May Think” we Need! God knows, what we need! We see this in (vs 11) this is not Easy Especially for a Lot of The true followers of Jesus living in The U.S.!
Paul’s not REJOICING because finally got something he needed! He is already content! He really does not Even THINK about Needs! He Just TRUSTS The Lord! So He is rejoicing because God USED The Church at Philippi to provide him what was needed to keep the Ministry going Strong!
Proverbs 19:21 NIV– 21 Many are The Plans in a person’s Heart, but it is The Lord’s Purpose that Prevails!
Developing this Kind of Trust in Jesus is Hard in our Society! It is one of The Challenges of Prosperity! When God GIVES us The Means to Work and Provide for our Families We Tend to focus on our Jobs and “Potential Income” Way MORE than we focus on doing the Work of Jesus!
Paul Really LIVED with The Mindset that he did not need anything but Jesus! We have so Much MORE than Paul and The People of that Time had And we have Way MORE than most people in The World TODAY But it's Still HARD to Believe somebody would Say “No I Really Don’t Need Anything at All”!
The Prosperity GOSPEL got Popular there for a While but did not Last very Long because The Poor got Poorer GIVING their Money to The Prosperity PREACHERS! The Promise was Wealth but People did not Get RICH Just the Ones at the Top got Rich like the Pyramid SCHEMES! Now we see
The “Needs Gospel” has replaced the Prosperity GOSPEL! The “Needs Gospel” Falsely TEACHES that Certain people Groups have Been :> - Oppressed– Discriminated AGAINST – Been CHEATED – and Treated UNFAIRLY … So Everybody in this Certain people Group is a Victim!
It is created a New THEOLOGY Built on “Need”! This “Seeker Friendly” False GOSPEL is all PREDICATED on “Fulfillment and Personal SATISFACTION”! So what has happened is Thousands of People in these Congregations “End Up” Going into some kind of’ Psychotherapy EVERY Year!
Because they have been Told that When they Get into this “Christian Deal” They’re going to’ have all their Personal NEEDS Met and Be COMPLETELY Satisfied! But they are Really LIVING in a Worldly CULTURE where there is No END to Problems!
The Job of a true follower of Jesus is to tell these People the Truth that the Only “Compelling Need” they really HAVE is to Escape HELL thru a relationship with Jesus And Worship the One :> - True– Almighty– Sovereign- Living GOD Who MADE ~It~ even Possible for Us to Have It~!
~It~ does not Really MATTER whether we have anything in this Life or Not! But we do have so Much! We are so Rich and that is Okay because God has blessed us! It is great because it is Part of His PLAN for Us! We just need to get BUSY Finding OUT from Him WHY He’s Blessed us so much!
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV– 9 However, as it is written “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” The things God has prepared for those who Love Him!
We should be Urgent in steering people to Jesus and Away from Any TYPE of False GOSPEL Especially the Unbiblical “Christian Humanism” Philosophy, that says, “I’m The Center of my Universe and my Needs are The Driving Force of my Faith”! We know this Person is headed for Hell! Finally the third Principle, Which “Ties In” with The SECOND One is?
3] Be “Composed and Confident” in Any CIRCUMSTANCE – Learn to Focus on The Responsibility we have to Obey GOD’s Moral STANDARDS Instead of The Preference we May have for Personal “Civil Rights”!
Our Attitude has to Function INDEPENDENTLY from our Circumstances! Paul DESCRIBES how to do ~it~ in (vs 12) where he kind of “Cancels Out” The Unstable “Emotion and Negativity” from Every POSSIBLE “Life Scenario”!
Listen again, to how he does it~, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want”! Circumstances are Irrelevant! So ~it~ does not Matter!
When we learn to Trust GOD and His “Perfect Plan” to Take CARE of Everything Then we will
Always be “Thankful and content”! Paul FOUND all his Satisfaction in his relationship with Jesus and being Useful to God for His KINGDOM Purposes, Which Means we can do it too!
If God PROVIDES Wealth that is great! We want to’ be the Very BEST Steward of His BLESSINGS that we possibly CAN! … Which Means we have to “Discern and Understand” how He wants us to Use It~! And if He does not Provide “Health and Wealth” Then That’s Fine TOO!
The Reality TODAY is The Pagan LEADERS in our Society want to make people think they are Victims! It is Why they “Emphasize and Glorify” Personal RIGHTS over our Moral RESPONSIBILITIES! It is why so Many people are :> - Bitter– Ungrateful– and Always DISCONTENT!
“Corrupt Politicians and False PROPHETS” want to :> - Personalize– Privatize– and Individualize SPIRITUALITY So that “Faith” is Whatever “People Think” ~it~ should be. Instead of What GOD Intends our Faith In Jesus to Be!
Society “Thinks” Jesus should be some kind of “Spiritual Philanthropist”. Where they can just Ask HIM for anything and He has supposed to give them what they want! They Use “Deceptive Advertising” and “Social Programs” to Keep people “Dissatisfied and Deceived” about absolutely everything!
That is Not the Only SOURCE of “Troubles and Struggles”! A Lot of them come from the “Selfish / Sinful” Attitude that Way to Many people Have! When that kind of Attitude is Brought into a :> - Marriage– Family– Job– School– or Church ~It will Mess THING Up in a Hurry!
People Driven by Self-Satisfaction will Eventually “Mess Up” All their relationships! It is a “Terrible Tragic” Thing! And the False PROPHETS that are Telling people they should Receive JESUS because he will produce “Self-Fulfillment and Self-Satisfaction” in their Life they are Putting them on ``The Road that Leads to Disaster!
Some of them may actually make a profession of faith in Jesus. But Then they Spend most of Their So-Called “Christian Life” Wondering WHY “Things” didn’t Work OUT The Way they were Promised It~ Would!
If People are going to be :> - Selfish- Be a Victim– Be Offended by Everything– or Think they are entitled to Prosperity. They will always be :> - Angry– Bitter– and miserable they will “End Up” Destroying ALL their relationships and tragically most Likely “End Up” Ruining their Life!
But Life can be Very DIFFERENT for all who choose to be a true follower of Jesus. When we learn to “Recognize and Trust” that all our Circumstances are Part of God’s Plan Then we will always be Satisfied with Little and “Composed and Confident” No MATTER What!
It is The Secret PAUL Gives us for Contentment and it's how we can ABIDE by The Principle GIVEN to Us IN
We’ve Talked a lot about Paul But The Greatest EXAMPLE of being “Thankful and Content” when there is :> - Pain– Suffering– and Need is of Course ~Jesus~! Let ALONE The Cross-Remember… The Story of Jesus FEEDING the 5000-20000 with Just a Few “Fish and Loaves” 1ST He GAVE Thanks
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV– 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s Will for you in Christ Jesus!