INVINCIBLE CHURCH 11-19-23

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
11/19/2023
The “Able Power” of Jesus
Ephesians 3:13-21
We finished a series last week that focused on God’s truth, which is the only truth. Now we’re going to move into a series focused on God’s power and all that goes with it, which goes way beyond a person just saying they know there’s a God and He’s powerful because…
… knowing God and experiencing God are two different things! We’re going to look at what the Bible says about experiencing and encountering God through our belief, faith and trust in Jesus, which also provides us His power and it all starts with sincere worship, praise and prayer as God’s humble/obedient ambassador, warrior, servant and saint!
God has unlimited power and we have ongoing needs, but that’s ok because God’s able to do way more than we could ask or even imagine! So, it’s a perfect match! But it still seems like a lot of believers have some unmet needs. The Bible tells us why life seems this way.
Ephesians 3:13-21 NIV – 13 I ask you, therefore, Not to Be Discouraged because of my Suffering’s for you, which are your glory.14 For this reason I kneel before The Father, 15 from Whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of His Glorious Riches He may strengthen you with Power thru His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have Power, together with all The Lord’s Holy people, to Grasp how wide and long and high and deep is The Love of Christ, 19 and to know this Love that surpasses knowledge … That you may be filled to The Measure of all The Fullness of God. 20 Now to Him Who is ABLE to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His Power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be Glory in The Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Paul is praying for and encouraging the church to get a grasp on the able power of Jesus! (vs 19) is saying it’s directly related to the fullness of God, which is everything God is! It’s all His attributes, character, perfection and holiness.
And it all hinges on His power and love! So, the fullness of God is in His complete nature. It’s who He is! This passage is telling us that Jesus has infinite power and He is able to do anything, everything and all things! And His power is IN us!
At the time, Paul’s talking to people who’re discouraged, defeated, scared, tired and have lost hope! Just like a lot of people today! Paul points them to Jesus and tells them Jesus is able to help them overcome everything that’s overwhelming them.
Jesus is the best news we could ever give to lost people… and people who’ve lost all hope in life. There’s somebody who is able to deliver them from shame, guilt, fear, oppression, persecution, evil… just name it! He has power over it and His name is Jesus!
So, when the Bible says we can conquer all things through Christ who strengthens us, that’s exactly what it means! It’s not some philosophical ideology! It’s the cold/hard facts! The power of Jesus conquers all things and the Bible gives us a lot of real examples!
A lot of real-life bad situations involving real people aren’t just stories. Like when King Nebuchadnezzar told Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego that they had to stop bowing to worship God and submit to his authority instead or else they’d be executed in a fiery furnace!
Nebuchadnezzar told them that nobody has the power to overrule him! But these 3 Hebrew men told the king the sovereign/holy God whom we serve is able to deliver us from your hand of persecution. We don’t know if He will, but we know He’s able!
Then on over in Daniel 6, a law was passed by the kings of the Meade’s and Persian’s that prohibited praying for 30 days! Daniel kneeled and prayed anyway! And he didn’t hide to do it! He opened the windows in his house to prove he trusted God for protection!
The penalty for disobeying the king was being thrown in the lion’s den to be eaten alive! The king came the next day to see if there was anything left of Daniel, but Daniel was alive and well! And he testified to the king, “I tried to tell you that my God is able to protect me”!
The king had earthly authority to sentence Daniel to death for breaking man’s law but he didn’t have the power to override God’s hand of protection over His faithful servant! It’s the same power of Jesus that saves us from the life and death situation we’re in with sin!
Our sin convicts us and sentences us to death, but we can be saved through the power of Jesus, who’s able to defeat the death sentence of sin! And He’s more than able to protect us from the attacks of the enemy and the bad situation of life!
Now, the power of Jesus in us doesn’t always deliver us from bad situations. Sometimes He delivers us through bad situations and sometimes He delivers us in bad situations. But He always delivers us in God’s perfect timing and our faith is a big part of it!
Hebrews 7:25 NIV – 25 Therefore He is ABLE to save completely those who come to God through Him, [That’s JESUS] … because He always lives to intercede for them!
Then there’s the people who’re headed for death and don’t seem to know it. And part of the work Jesus has given us to do is speak the truth into them and wake them up! It’s why we should never give up on unsaved people we live because Jesus is able to save them!
2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV – 8 And God is ABLE to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Jude 1:24- 25 NIV – 24 To Him Who is ABLE to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His Glorious Presence without fault and with great joy … 25 to The Only God our Savior be Glory, Majesty, Power and Authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
(vs 20) God want us to experience and encounter Him in miraculous ways so we can testify to people about things that are only possible through the power of Jesus! People aren’t always going to believe what we’re telling them, but they ought to be able to see that we believe it!
When we truly love Jesus and speak God’s truth with boldness, conviction and guidance from the Holy Spirit, people are able to tell that we believe in God and have faith in Jesus. So, it’s imperative that we trust the process that the Bible lays out for following Jesus!
We see the process at work over in (Mark 4 and to the end of Mark 5) … Jesus takes the disciples on a journey to learn how to trust Him. They’re going to see 4 situations that most anybody who’s caught in the middle would say are impossible to resolve!
What Jesus is about to show them is the Almighty Power of God over every situation… and understand what they’re about to experience and witness in real life… is directly connected to what Jesus just taught them in the classroom. (And He’ll do the same for us!) So…
4 Examples of The “Able Power” of Jesus in Impossible Situations
I. Jesus Calms The Sea! - (Mark 4:35-41) … Jesus and the disciples were crossing to the other side of the sea of Galilee to continue their mission and ministry work. Jesus was asleep because He was exhausted from all the work they’d been doing. Then, a violent storm blew in!
The disciples panicked. They didn’t stop to consider who was in the boat with them. However, they woke Him up and asked Him, how and why He could sleep when the storm was about to sink them, So, He got up, spoke with power and the sea went calm because He is able!
And then He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind obeys Him!” But even then, instead of fully trusting Him, they were kind of afraid of Him. After this, it gets even better…
II. Jesus Heals a Demoniac! - (Mark 5:1-20) … The boat lands in a very rocky area with cliffs, where there’s actually a demon possessed maniac! He has supernatural strength and nobody or nothing could bind him. Jesus spoke and cast a legion of demons out of him into pigs!
Then the pics panicked and ran off a cliff and died, which put a stop to the legion of demons! Then, the man goes to ten cities and tells people, “I met a man who spoke and the demons came out of me! The Messian has come! Remember the disciples are seeing all this! Next…
III. Jesus Heals a Woman! - (Mark 5:21-34) … They go back over the Sea of Galilee and a Jewish ruler named Jairus has a daughter who’s dying! He says, “My little girl is dying. Will you please come help?" And, Jesus says, “Yes!” So, as Jesus is walking toward the home of the little girl who’s dying, He’s swarmed by other people wanting help! All of a sudden, He stops and says, “Who touched me? I felt power go out of me!” A woman in the crowd confessed that she touched Him!
She had an issue of blood that couldn’t be healed, but she believed that if she could get close to Jesus, He would surely heal her! Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well!” Apparently, even after this, the disciples are still confused because He didn’t touch her! Then…
IV. Jesus Resurrects a Dead Girl! - (Mark 5:21-43) … Now He’s ready to go to the dying girl! But runners from the house tell Him it’s too late. She’s dead! Jesus turns to them and says, “Don’t be afraid! Only believe! And He goes to the house anyway!
Mourners are already there… waiting and crying! Jesus tells them to stop it! And everybody calms down. He says, “The girl is not dead… she’s just asleep!” He looks at the girl that says, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” And she wakes up! Jesus has authority over life and death!
So, we see in all of these real life/real people impossible situations that Jesus can be trusted… again… these things really happened! This isn’t just some folklore or fable. These events show and prove the power of Jesus and His teaching, which tells us…
4 Facts about The “Able Power” of Jesus
A. Jesus is the Lord over the “natural” realm.
He speaks to the wind, water, fire and earth … and they obey Him!
B. Jesus is the Lord over the "spiritual" realm!
The enemy’s supernatural power, evil principalities and demonic forces… are all under the control, command and able power of Jesus!
C. Jesus is the Lord over the “physical” realm!
He heals the physical body! Like the woman with the issue of blood. His “able power” speaks, touches, or is just simply present… and it reverses physical events that have already transpired like the little girl that had died!
D. Jesus is the Lord over the "eternal" realm!
Jesus is the sovereign Lord and has power over all things: past, present, future and forever!
We’re living in a day where the prophecies, purposes and words of Jesus are literally happening at an exponential pace… and we’re headed to the final chapter of this fallen/sinful earth at almost break-neck speed! All of it’s fully described in the Book of Revelation!
So, we can either focus on our circumstances and what other people are saying and doing or we can trust the truth of the Word of God and focus on Jesus … how He's the almighty/sovereign Lord and has power over heaven and earth!
The history of this earth ends with Jesus coming back and making all the things right that we’ve seen made wrong. And He’s bringing God’s justice with Him! He’ll establish a new heaven and new earth and He doesn’t want anybody to miss it!
He has a role and responsibility for us in the process and He doesn’t want us to miss that either! So, when we think about what really matters, let’s move beyond our earthly perspective on circumstances, economies, political issues and world situations!
So, let’s focus on Jesus who had a fully human, natural, humble birth! He lived a perfect spiritual and physical life! He died a physical death and defeated evil and sin in the process! He even defeated physical and eternal death!
And He’s coming back to defeat Satan and all his demons! So, how could we ever doubt that Jesus has all the power that we’d ever need in all our times of trouble! No matter how desperate, how urgent, how tragic or how personal our trouble happens to be!
We have to believe He has the power. We have to live out our faith to prove it! Not only to ourselves, but to others! Then we have to trust Him by taking whatever action He calls us to take in advancing God’s kingdom, even if it makes us afraid or doesn’t make sense!
Jesus came on the greatest rescue mission ever conceived! He has not … cannot… and will not fail. In fact, He’s already won the war! We just have to finish the battles and He’s fighting right beside us! His plan for our life is better than any plan we could ever come up with!
Jesus is a mighty God. We can believe His promises! He has power over the spiritual world… the physical world… even power over life and death itself! He’ll give us everything we need to face anything we’re going through. But we have to ask!
We have a hope in Jesus that does not… and will not change! Because we’re connected to Him through belief, faith and trust! We’re His brothers and sisters as children of the most high God! So, let’s put our best effort and energy into focusing on that!
Things will change for the better when we do! I promise because Jesus promised us first!
In Revelation 1:8 Jesus declared that “Alpha and Omega”! … The beginning and the end… the spirit of the living God… who’s the creator… and who has all power over past, present and future! He dwells in us and wants to help us. He has done and will do… everything He says He’ll do!
We need to work hard everyday to obediently live out the guaranteed hope and power of Jesus so others will see our love for Him but most importantly, so we show Jesus how much we love Him. I don’t do this much, but …
I want to give us an action item to take away… a tangible thing we can all do for life application. It’s really easy… if we’ll do it! Sometime this week read (Revelation 22) … the entire chapter. Let the reality of the guaranteed hope that we’ll have in Jesus sink in. Pray as you read through and ask God to do something through us for Him.
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!
And please join us for our baptism service on December 3rd.
Let’s pray!