IINVINCIBLE CHURCH 1-12-25

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
1/12/2025
The Mindset of True Faith- Philippians 3: 12-21
As a True Follower of Jesus, God intends for us to live a life of faith, which includes risk, responsibility, adventure, joy, and peace. It takes commitment and hard work if we are going to keep a mindset of true faith while we are running the race of life.
God has some expectations of us in the life He’s blessed us with on Earth. We’re supposed to:
· Love others unconditionally
· Tell others about Jesus
· Sacrifice for our family
· Stand up for what’s right
· Learn God’s Word
· Resist temptation
· Serve His Church, among other things.
So, God’s plan calls for us to consistently train to make our faith stronger. It’s a challenge because we have to keep training while we’re fighting against sin and Satan and enduring the trials that we’re all certainly going to face.
Philippians 3:12-21 NIV - 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
In verse 14, when Paul says, “Press on toward the goal to win the prize,” he’s talking about pursuing Jesus so we can become more like Him. This ought to be the goal for every true believer, which means at some point, the basic desire of every True Follower of Jesus should be to become more like Jesus so we can do His work more effectively.
But we live in a world where most people are more concerned about worldly comfort, convenience, pleasure, and self-interests than they are about any kind of faith or religion, let alone true faith in Jesus Christ. Even for a lot of professing Christians, the priority for what they think of as “faith and church” is more about a “pleasant experience” that fits their schedule and makes them feel good, instead of discerning where God wants them to be so they can become more equipped to do what He designed them to do.
One of the primary instructions from Jesus is for us to teach others how to be obedient. This means we need to be teaching others how to pursue Jesus and become more like Him so that their primary desire becomes more about Him and His Kingdom, and less about their own selfish interests.
If we’re going to pursue becoming like Jesus with the intensity that Paul did, then we have to be able to understand ourselves and teach others how to pursue Jesus in a life of true faith. It doesn’t just naturally happen on its own. In the passage, we see there are
3 Key Factors for Developing a “Mindset of True Faith”
1] The “Motivation Factor”- God’s Promises God promised we could be with Jesus in heaven!
The motivation is knowing we’re going to see Jesus, and we want to have lived an obedient and productive life of true faith so that on that day, we’ll hear Him say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Then the reward will be living in eternal glory with Him in heaven.
It’s the guaranteed hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ! In verse 21, it says He’s going to finish the process of changing us to be like Him. So, we have to stay clearly focused on that truth, which is the promise and reality of a never-ending eternal life in heaven.
We want to do our part, so we have to diligently and intentionally guard against being distracted by the foolish things of this temporary world. And in this passage, Paul tells us how to have “the mindset of true faith” so we can do it.
In verse 20, he says, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” So what he’s telling us is the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven, and He’s coming back to get us! Remember last week we saw where Jesus said in:
John 14:1-4 NIV – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
So, Jesus left this world in His physical form for a while, but He promised to come back! He’s coming back to get us! So, we’re not waiting for an event to happen; we’re waiting on a person, and that person is Jesus.
The first time Jesus came, He was the “suffering servant.” The second time He comes, He’ll be the “conquering king.” The first time Jesus arrived, it was under very humble circumstances. The second time He arrives, He’ll have all the “armies of heaven” riding by His side.
If that’s not a motivation for developing a “mindset of true faith,” I don’t know what is! So, if we know Jesus is coming, then the motivation is we want to be ready when He comes. We want to be found faithfully doing His work when He comes!
We want to show Him that we’ve served Him well. That’s the motivation factor for developing a “mindset of true faith.” And to help us understand and teach others how to do the same, we have to realize that there’s a second factor we need to take care of too, and it’s:
2] The “Accountability Factor” - The Instructions and Commands of Jesus - The Bible warns us in:
2 John 1:8-10 NIV 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.
God has promised rewards for all True Followers of Jesus! It can include some blessings that we receive while here on Earth, but nobody receives God’s full reward while on Earth. The “full reward” is reserved for our heavenly eternity. So, what this means exactly is:
If a professing Christian is unfaithful and allows themselves to be deceived in regards to God’s truth, then they’ve never really been fully submitted to Jesus as Lord, Savior, and King. So they haven’t positioned themselves to be able to receive the “full reward” that God promised!
A person can’t be a True Follower of Jesus without being a true follower of his instructions and teachings! True intimacy with God requires us to abide by and continually remain in his word. If we’re not, then we’re aiding and abetting in false teaching. It’s a scary thought for sure!
So, developing a “mindset of true faith” isn’t just about being motivated by sheer love, joy, and the desire for eternal reward. There’s also an accountability factor as well! We don’t want anybody to be headed to meet Jesus on “that day” thinking they’re saved and they’re not, so they end up at the “great white throne” judgment instead.
And for all True Followers of Jesus there will be a time when we stand before Jesus on the “judgment seat” for a complete assessment of what’s gone on in our life! And even though we’re not under fear of eternal condemnation, we ought to feel the threat of failing in our responsibility to follow the instructions Jesus gave us as his follower. We don’t want the blood of a “lost person” on our hands!
We’re going to be held accountable for a lot of the foolish and self-centered things we’ve done in our life that don’t honor God because foolish and self-centered things don’t tend to steer anybody to Jesus! And that’s a big part of the accountability factor.
1 Corinthians 4:5 NLT – 5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.
Now, so far, we see that:
To develop a “mindset of true faith,” we have the “motivation factor” of God’s promise that we can have the guaranteed hope of seeing Jesus one day. Then there’s the “accountability factor” of being faithful to carry out the instructions and commands we have as True Followers of Jesus! Then, #3 could be the best of all:
3] The “Security Factor”!– The protection of the Holy Spirit in us! The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is our advocate. He’s always with us because he lives inside us in our spirit! He helps us do the works of Jesus and fight the spiritual battles we’re always facing. The Bible also says in:
Acts 1:11 NIV – 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Jesus had reappeared to the disciples after his resurrection and had just finished giving them some wisdom and instructions. Then they watched as he was taken up to heaven and disappeared in the clouds! Then two angels appeared as men and told them, “Don’t worry, he’s coming back!”
The disciples were standing there looking up because they didn’t know how they were going to keep “carrying out” the work of Jesus without Jesus! But Jesus had also already told them that they would have a “helper” So they’d be able to do kingdom works “far greater” than he did!
That helper is the Holy Spirit! And as a True Follower of Jesus. That same Holy Spirit is in us today! The Holy Spirit’s not going to do the work for us But he will always help us if we ask him! It is why we have to “seek God first” in every situation! So we can access the power of the Holy Spirit who is in us!
So … Anybody who submits to Jesus as their “Lord and Savior” has a helper and he’s the “greatest helper” that could ever be. Because he has God’s power! And it is the very same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead and put him at his right hand! All this tells us
We are supposed to be doing the work of Jesus with a “mindset of true faith” until he comes back! And, If Jesus was not going to come back God wouldn’t have put it in the Bible! There is no greater security than knowing that’s true with the bonus of having the power of the Holy Spirit in us! Then Jesus said in
John 6:39 NIV – 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
So, We have security in that! .And it doesn't matter what happens in this world Nothing is going to change it! Which means the “eternal inheritance” for a True Follower of Jesus is :> - undefiled - incorruptible - and reserved in heaven just for us! That’s a great promise!
The Bible says it this way in…
1 Peter 1:3-4 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,
It is the reason our hope in heaven is guaranteed. Because God has reserved it for us! So we need to live our life from that perspective The guaranteed hope of the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ! Obviously we’re not physically in heaven yet But our spirit lives in the heavenly realm!
He has the power to make us like Jesus! That's part of the promise! So, in this guaranteed hope that we have in Jesus coming back gives us :> - motivation – accountability – and security to live with a “mindset of true faith”!
Illustration: Story of Phocas the Gardener in the 1st century (as told by John MacArthur)! Venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Phocas was a faithful Christian! He was known to be a :> - helper – servant – encourager. He tended his garden and engaged passersby
At the time “Emperor Diocletian” declared an edict that all Christians had to be put to death! Roman soldiers were assigned to areas. They stopped at Phocas’ house but, did not know that it was him! He offered “hospitality” and even let them stay overnight!
Phocas had heard the edict and knew why they were there! He prayed and heard from God! That night he started digging in his garden while the soldiers slept! All he wanted was God’s will! The soldiers tried to let him go But Phocas had heard from God The sword did its work! Phocas was martyred! Maybe for just this story of “dedication and devotion” to God to be told for thousands of years! Almost like Jesus at the cross when he said “Forgive them, Father they don’t know what they are doing”!
What would it be like to have that kind of :> - dedication – devotion – and obedience to Jesus, Let’s make sure that we don’t get so distracted by the world that we “fail to position” ourselves for the “full reward” that God has promised us!
When things are easy, anybody can “run the race” well and keep the faith! But a lot of people “fall out” of the race when things start getting hard! God promises us that those who “stick it out” and endure the :> - trials – tests – and hardships of life receive the greatest blessings and ultimately The greatest reward!
We have got to look beyond instant gratification - instant reward – or instant satisfaction! It is the whole point of what the passage is telling us today! The prize is being like Jesus Christ when we get to heaven for eternity!
We see Him in heaven and we get to see Him like He is! Perfect in every way! And he makes us like him because it is included in the guaranteed hope of heaven that God promises! And “the hope of heaven removes fear”!
So, We can overcome anything we fear if we’ll pursue Jesus with the best of everything we have and develop a “mindset of true faith” through the :> - motivation – accountability – and security we have been “given and promised” by God!