INVINCIBLE CHURCH 7-21-24

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Invincible Church Sermon Notes
7/21/2024
Relationship Pt. 3 – Ephesians 6:10-13
The Church
Because of GOD's PERFECT STANDARDS.
There is ONLY :
RIGHT or WRONG
GOOD or EVIL
LIGHT or DARK
BELIEVERS or PAGANS
SAVED PEOPLE or LOST PEOPLE!
There is NO "IN BETWEEN" and when GOD's PERFECT PLAN for this "EARTH" is COMPLETE, ETERNITY STARTS and there's ONLY HEAVEN or HELL!
The ONLY perfect beings are GOD – JESUS – and The HOLY SPIRIT! They are the ONLY ones worthy of our: BELIEF – FAITH – and TRUST! Which means as a True Followers of Jesus we are HIS CHURCH and we: WORSHIP GOD – PRAISE JESUS – and RELY on the Holy Spirit in ALL "CIRCUMSTANCES and SITUATIONS"!
It is what gives us the ability to be CONTENT no matter what and CONTEND for the faith if GOD is being dishonored or when we are under some sort of "SPIRITUAL ATTACK"! So, we bring "GLORY" and HONOR" to GOD by living out his perfect plan through BELIEF – FAITH – and TRUST!
Once we have decided to submit to JESUS as our: LORD – SAVIOR – and KING.. We have the guaranteed hope of ETERNITY with GOD in HEAVEN, following the instructions of JESUS! … We FIGHT the "CHALLENGERS" against GOD's PERFECT PLAN! Which are "SIN and SATAN"! Neither "SIN nor SATAN" can DEFEAT GOD but, unforgiven sin affects us. Because it "SEPARATES" us from GOD! Once we submit to JESUS as "LORD and SAVIOR", Satan can't take us away from GOD. But, he can try to distract and deceive us, which interferes in our relationship with GOD!
Satan is jealous of GOD's GLORY and wants to be "god"! It is a big part of what causes the spiritual battles that are going on around us all of the time. We are called to FIGHT as AMBASSADORS – WARRIORS – SERVANTS – and SAINTS for JESUS! We see our battle commands in…
Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV - 10 Finally, be strong in The Lord and in His Mighty Power. 11 Put on The Full Armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on The Full Armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Obviously, GOD does things to continue revealing himself to US! Some of them are huge events of "PROTECTION and INTERVENTION" but, I also believe that GOD does some subtle things that only True Followers of Jesus will recognize and appreciate!
Dennis pointed out to me the time that Trump was shot was 6:11 pm, look back at verse 11 from chapter 6! People pray and take action and GOD INTERVENES! GOD's got a PLAN for The United States and has chosen people to lead the way!!
When someone interferes with HIS plan at critical times, GOD "STEPS IN" and redirects the attack! Another subtle similarity to think about is when the guards came to arrest JESUS in the garden of Gethsemane! Peter drew his sword to protect Jesus! He was ready to kill them all! But, if Peter had killed the guard, the story would have been entirely different! GOD moved the guards head in order to keep his plan on track! Instead of cutting the guards head off Peter cut his ear! Jesus healed the guards ear and the story was included in the BIBLE!
People will say, you mean to tell me that God intentionally connected ear storie 2000 years apart? I am not saying I know everything God does but, I 100% believe he connected ear stories 2000 years apart! The enemy was trying to disrupt HIS plan and GOD is not going to have it!
So, following JESUS is not passive aggressive, it is not a sit and soak proposition, it is an active duty operation! We are commanded by JESUS to take the good fight of faith to the enemy! We continually pray so we can discern and follow orders. Whether the orders are stand up and fight or stand down and be ready! The CHURCH is GOD's MILITARY We have to be: ABLE – WILLING – and OBEDIENT to follow orders! We want to do whatever it takes to WIN SPIRITUAL BATTLES! … The NLT says it in an easy-to-understand way!
Ephesians 6:13 NLT - 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor [The Equipping] so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil [The Action]. Then after the battle [The Results] you will still be standing firm [The Victory]. It is what we the Church are supposed to do!! We are GOD's MILITARY!
JESUS "RECRUITED and BUILT" GOD's MILITARY for "SPIRITUAL BATTLE" Again, it is called The CHURCH in this SPIRITUAL "FIGHTING FORCE": GOD – JESUS – and The HOLY SPIRIT are The GENERALS and, the WARRIORS are ALL those who CHOOSE to SUBMIT to JESUS as : LORD – SAVIOR – and KING!
GOD's military is not established and maintained by a draft. It is ALL VOLUNTEERS! Once we decide to enlist, we all start the training process called "SANCTIFICATION"! The battles are always going on. So, True Followers of Jesus start fighting "The GOOD FIGHT" IMMEDIATELY! Using the abilities GOD designed and placed in us ALL through the POWER of The HOLY SPIRIT!
If we are not fighting we are training and sometimes it is both! We "REST and RELOAD" when we CAN! We discern the mission and "GO" as GOD GUIDES! We "PRAY CONTINUALLY" and KEEP WORKING to IMPROVE our SPIRITUAL "STANDING and SKILLS" Always being THANKFUL for opportunities!
We intentionally train hard so we are ready for every: MISSION – SEASON – and DIVINE OPPORTUNITY to SPEAK TRUTH! GOD has a specific "DESIGN and PURPOSE" for every FOLLOWER of JESUS and HE PUT us HERE for JUST SUCH a TIME as THIS! Look at-
Ephesians 4:11-15 NIV - 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
A lot of people in the Church read this passage and say… "Phew! I am not: Apostle – Prophet – Evangelist – Pastor – or Teacher So, I just need to make sure I am in Church and Try to Be Good!" Somehow they "GLAZE OVER" on the part that says "To Equip His People for Works of Service"!
The purpose of the first five positions in GOD's MILITARY is to "PREPARE and TRAIN"..True Followers of Jesus to FIGHT "SPIRITUAL BATTLES" for GOD's "HONOR and GLORY"! So, since The CHURCH has NOT been completely "BUILT UP" to 100% UNITY in the FAITH or ATTAINED the FULLNESS of CHRIST. We have got to keep working the process and fighting hard until HE comes BACK!
The "GOOD NEWS" is we are working from the perfect The PERFECT CORNERSTONE of The CHURCH that was FINISHED with the: DEATH – BURIAL – RESURRECTION – and ASCENSION of JESUS! Also, we have got all of the weaponry we need because the original "APOSTLES and PROPHETS" were obedient to finish The "MISSION" GOD gave them to complete the REVELATION of HIS HOLY WORD!
Now, JESUS is the "PERFECT and FINISHED" cornerstone of the CHURCH. But, the ongoing work for us is: TRAINING – SPEAKING – TEACHING – PREPARING – and FIGHTING "SPIRITUAL BATTLES" ALL through the POWER of the Holy Spirit! The BIBLE has everything the Church needs to: KNOW – GROW – THRIVE - FINISH – and WIN The "SPIRITUAL BATTLES" GOD has for US to FIGHT!
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.
It is pretty cut and dry, the BIBLE has all the instructions needed to carry out GOD's perfect plan and GOD is NOT the author of confusion! But, other "RELIGIONS and BELIEFS" confuse people. False religions are man's preference and a lot of it is contrived and inspired by Satan! It is why we need to be ready to contend for and defend the Faith and have knowledge of false beliefs. Only GOD can: CONVERT – SAVE – and TRANSFORM someone, our job in the process is to steer them in the right direction by telling them the truth, praying for them, and living out a life of obedience to JESUS in front of them!
It is why Jesus taught that GOD is not as concerned about the external rituals of religion as HE is about the true nature of our heart! He even points out that it is possible to wear large prayer boxes with Gods word inside of them and at the same time be disobeying GOD's WORD!
In the Church today people can wear a cross, give an offering, sing a song, and quote a creed, all without truly acknowledging JESUS in their HEARTS! But, GOD knows the true spiritual condition of a persons heart!
So, the key for the CHURCH is to TRULY BELIEVE that, GOD'S word is absolutely clear about everything we need for following JESUS in GOD HONORING FAITH! We don't need some kind of infallible interpreter to tell us that!! Because there isn't one! We have to believe JESUS!
A lot of people ask, can we always trust church leaders? What if they compromise biblical principles by mixing in their individual preference or denominational tradition? The reality is there is not a CHURCH where everybody's going to like everything about it. Because ALL CHURCHES are "MADE UP" of IMPERFECT people!
But, we can appreciate what GOD is doing in any CHURCH! Christians are failing every day and bringing disgrace to the gospel! It is not something that just started happening! The reality of it is when any True Follower of Jesus does something out of character for Christians it brings disgrace to The GOSPEL! Everyone lets Jesus down at some point!
MARK DRISCOLL (MARS HILL) – TONY EVANS (OAK CLIFF) – ROBERT MORRIS (GATEWAY) – ANDY STANLEY (N. POINT)!
It could be that we missed an opportunity to be bold in contending for FAITH or to speak the TRUTH about JESUS but, we did not! It makes us feel bad! It is not something new or unique that leaders just started doing! GOD's people in the Old Testament and professing Christians of the New Testament have been letting JESUS DOWN from The VERY BEGINNING! We should be repentant, forgiving people who are slow to judge that speck in someone else's eye before we remove the log in our own eye! We have to be humble if we are going to be like JESUS!
We see this throughout The BIBLE! GOD uses people who have got defective motives or attitudes to accomplish his purposes! Paul said in Philippians 1- that he rejoices when The GOSPEL of JESUS is proclaimed whether the motives are good or bad!
One way to think through and process any ministry that has a defective leader, whether the problem looks like it is going to cause the CHURCH to implode or not is to remember that GOD is incredibly merciful to use us with all of our imperfections to speak The GOSPEL TRUTH!
So, if we think a "CHURCH or MINISTRY" has defective leadership in some biblical way and it is proven to be true and they are approached about it and they humble themselves and admit it is true. Then we have to be true to the instruction of JESUS and handle it in faithfulness to HIM!
We do not throw out The PURITY of "GOD's TRUTH" with the dirty water of "SIN and BAD LEADERSHIP"! In other words, it is foolish and it dishonors GOD for a person to leave CHURCH altogether, just because a leader has some kind of a failure!
JESUS is our ONLY HOPE and just because a "CHURCH LEADER" makes bad decisions does not make JESUS defective! JESUS is the one person in the universe without defects or failures. If we walk away from HIM we are walking away from the only guaranteed hope in our life!
We have to encourage others to NOT walk away from JESUS and HIS CHURCH because of somebody ELSE! When we look at centuries of Church history. We see GOD is the king of generals who uses the tactical defeats generated by HIS people for the strategic victories of HIS KINGDOM!
There are all kinds of examples of bad decisions of church leadership and some have led to tragedies! The reality is that a lot of people get hurt when this happens and it is all considered a spiritual defeat.. The reality is that anytime there is a spiritual defeat inside of the church. It is a colossal victory for satan! But, despite all of these defeats, it does not mean The GENERAL has lost control! GOD is not observing all this and thinking "I do not have a clue as to what I should do now" He did not drop the ball, he is not sweating, he is not anxious! He is totally in charge of this spiritual war! He allows some tactical defeats for the sake of The GOSPEL! We do not know why but, he has done it and we know that HE is perfect!
North Africa used to be predominantly Christian, but now it is almost totally Muslim! The Middle East had Christian roots way back before Muslims came on the scene. Now it is predominantly Islam! Scoffers say, what is GOD doing, is HE in charge of The World or what?
How can he allow these kind of tactical defeats from The Middle East to North Africa? Cities in The United states are smaller battles in comparison to Africa and The Middle East.
1 Peter was written to Christians everywhere in Turkey. Today there are 52 million muslims in Turkey and just a handful of Christians!
But, ALL True Followers of Jesus are still 100% convinced that GOD in in charge! He knows what he is doing! That is why we need to help people understand that it is foolish to walk away from JESUS because of the bad things that people do. Do not walk away from JESUS or The CHURCH because of a MAN!
But, then some people still say "I'm not walking away from JESUS, I am just done with The Church because I cannot trust the leadership"! I am not going to walk away from Jesus but, I am done with the organized aspect of Church Life"!
The reality is they are walking away from JESUS! Because a person is lying to themselves when they say that they love JESUS but, they won't submit to HIS word! Jesus said in…
John 14:15 NIV - 15 "If you Love Me, keep My Commands.
JESUS FOUNDED The CHURCH. People did not FOUND The CHURCH! He "RECRUITED and TRAINED" APOSTLES to be The FOUNDATION of The CHURCH and then HE BUILT IT with : - PROPHETS – TEACHERS – and PASTORS and HE ORDAINED people THAT were THERE to BE a "NETWORK and STRUCTURE" of LOCAL CHURCHES in The BODY of CHRIST! It was not MAN's IDEA! Look at…
Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV - 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow Citizens with God's people and also members of His Household, 20 built on The foundation of The Apostles and Prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as The Chief Cornerstone. 21 In Him The Whole Building is joined together and rises to become a Holy Temple in The Lord. 22 And In Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God Lives by His Spirit!
There is a lot of young pastors who ty to be "COOL and HIP"! They end up being kind of' "LEFTWARD LEANING" because they think that they can organize a substitute of GOD's DESIGN for CHURCH! We have to look at what they are substituting and discern if they are creating thei own version of CHURCH and if they are unintentionally compromising The BIBLICAL TEMPLATE GOD GIVES us for CHURCH!
It is not wrong to be creative in CHURCH but, it has to be done BIBLICALLY! It means doing what our "LORD and KING" has told us to do through HIS "WORD and APOSTLES"! It all boils down to a person cannot choose JESUS without wanting to be a part of HIS CHURCH! Then it is just our opinion over The BIBLE and The BIBLE is where we MEET JESUS! We cannot make up our own version of JESUS! Nobody can, he is The JESUS of The BIBLE or HE is The JESUS of somebody's imagination. It cannot be both ways and there is only one way that is RIGHT!
If we BELIEVE He's The JESUS of The BIBLE then we have to "RECEIVE" The WHOLE JESUS. We cannot take him in bits and pieces! And The WHOLE JESUS is The JESUS WHO LOVES The CHURCH. JESUS DIED for The CHURCH. And The CHURCH is ALL who CHOOSE to FOLLOW HIM! Let's do what HE says!
Next week we are going to start getting into recognizing some of the practices of false beliefs! If we want to defeat the enemy, we have to know how he is going to attack!

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