INVINCIBLE CHURCH 10-27-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
10/27/2024
God’s Weapons of War – Matthew 16:13-28
The reality is, most all of life on Earth is comprised of a spiritual battle. It doesn’t matter what time in history or life circumstance a true follower of Jesus happens to be in. Whenever Satan has the opportunity, he tries to provoke us into spiritual battles—it’s spiritual warfare!
In any war, if the commander isn’t smarter than the enemy, the army’s in big trouble. So, if we want to win the spiritual battles we face every day, we have to trust God’s leadership as our commander. This means we should always: Seek God first, Fight as He guides, and use God’s weapons of war as we fight. This is what keeps us from becoming spiritual prisoners to sin.
A critical part of the spiritual battle plan is knowing, without a doubt, that the Bible is a God-inspired book. Since God is omniscient, He knows the past, present, and future—even before it happens! So, He’s always smarter than all our enemies.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Our spiritual battles always start in our minds. Bad decisions and Satan's deceit, influence, and manipulation from the spiritual realm cause people to follow a worldly way of thinking instead of obediently following Jesus in alignment with God’s way of thinking.
Paul says that our spiritual enemies are not "flesh and blood." So, we won’t be successful fighting against them if we just use our natural human weapons and methods. But God has given us spiritual weapons, methods, and support to fight our spiritual enemies.
In verse 4, it tells us that Satan is always trying to set up strongholds in our minds. He’d like a permanent place of influence in everybody’s mind because if he can get us in the habit of pursuing worldly ways first, instead of seeking God and pursuing Jesus first, he can keep us living in a pattern that hinders our relationship with God and others.
Verse 5 tells us part of the reason he’s able to do this so well is that many people have arrogant attitudes and unreasonable ways of thinking that continually cause senseless arguments, which is obviously contradictory to God’s way of thinking.
Satan’s goal is to block the truth of God’s Word from ever entering our minds. He wants to limit the amount of godly information we receive and then confuse the meaning of the limited content of godly information that we do receive. Satan knows and fears the Bible.
So, he understands the value of its content to us, and if he can set up strongholds in our minds to keep us from receiving it or confuse us about the parts that we do receive, then he’s won a spiritual battle against us, which means we’re still struggling with the same old problems.
Remember, the answer to everything is Jesus, which includes all the problems we face! The entire content of the Bible is all about Jesus, which is God’s holy Word. So, if Satan can keep us away from the Bible and confuse us about God’s Word, he can win more spiritual battles.
It’s the exact same strategy he used against Eve in the garden. God’s word to Adam and Eve was, “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Satan knew if they took just one bite, it would be a sin against God, and he’d have a stronghold in their minds—where spiritual battles begin. Once he had the stronghold, he could confuse their minds about the truth of God’s Word, which is exactly what happened.
Many people receive biblical knowledge and a message from God on Sunday morning, and they’ll testify that it’s true. But on Monday morning, they go right back into the worldly grind and the endless pursuit of the "American Dream."
Everybody at church knows we’re saved by the blood of Jesus, but if nobody at home, work, school, the gym, the golf course, or the bar ever hears us talk about Jesus, they’ll have no idea about our faith or what we believe. This is why a true follower of Jesus can’t be "for God first" one minute and "for myself first" the next minute.
God’s perfect plan doesn’t work that way! This is how Satan gets people to block the knowledge of God out of their minds. It’s what James was talking about when he wrote...
James 1:8 NIV 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Satan wants us to be double-minded by sometimes doing things God’s way and other times doing things the world’s way, because it totally counterfeits God’s plan. This allows Satan to get a stronghold in our lives, which hinders us from seeking God first and accessing the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
This causes many people to be prisoners to sin for so long that they don’t know how to live when they’re set free. Sometimes people start thinking there’s no way out of their bondage to sin, so they give up and start calling the “prison of sin” their home.
This is why people who proclaim Jesus but live for the world are double-minded, and it dishonors God. Look at...
Matthew 16:13-20 NIV 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
In verses 13–16, Jesus wants them to realize that there is a broad spectrum of belief among people about who He really is—just like there is today! People can’t factually deny that Jesus was here on Earth, but who exactly is He? In verse 17, Jesus affirmed Peter and told him, “When you take a stand for Me, I’ll take a stand for you.” And verse 18 is incredibly important!
In verse 19a, He gives us the honor, privilege, and responsibility to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to be obedient. The keys He’s given us open the doors of opportunity that He places in front of us to serve Him as His ambassadors, warriors, servants, and saints.
Then, in verse 19b, He tells them that whatever “the church” declares to be improper and unlawful on Earth, in accordance with God’s Word, will already have been verified in heaven, and whatever “the church” declares proper and lawful on Earth, in accordance with God’s Word, will already have been declared “right” in heaven.
In verse 20, Jesus tells them something that seems strange to many people—He tells them to keep what He’s told them quiet. The reason is that the religious leaders of Israel didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah anyway.
So, if there had been a movement among believers to crown Jesus as the Messiah, “King of the Jews,” and the Son of God Almighty, the Pharisees would have implored and insisted that the Romans put a stop to it, which would have been before the prophesied time.
Now, at this point, Peter had the right mindset! Peter knew who Jesus was and wasn’t ashamed to declare it. He proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, Son of the Living God, Savior of the world!
He identified with Jesus, and he didn’t care who knew it! Peter took his stand with Jesus. But then, just a few minutes later, look at what happens in...
Matthew 16:21-23 NIV 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Jesus tells them about God’s perfect plan, but Peter doesn’t like the sound of it! So, he rebukes Jesus and demands that God forbid it from happening—Peter could be a little intense at times! Jesus said, “I’m going to die as a sacrifice to pay the price for the sins of the world.”
But Peter replied, “Oh no, you’re not!” Peter was willing to fight for Jesus, but at the expense of God’s perfect plan, which was disobedience to God. In very righteous anger, Jesus firmly calls Peter out:
He says, “Peter, you’re acting like the devil. Just a few minutes ago, you recognized me as the Son of the Living God, and now you’re trying to tell me that my Father’s perfect plan won’t work.” Jesus called Peter “Satan” to emphasize just how far out of line Peter was in his actions.
The point is, even if our intentions and thoughts could be considered “good,” if they’re out of alignment with God’s plan, then they’re wrong intentions and thoughts because they’re not God’s thoughts.
Peter thought it would be a good thing to defend Jesus from dying, but it would have been really bad if he did because then the world couldn’t be saved from sin and separation from God. Jesus goes on to explain this further in...
Matthew 16:24-28 NIV 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The Next 8 verses in chapter 17 tell us about The Vision of The Transfiguration
A big part of what denying ourselves means is that when our thinking and God’s thinking are in conflict, we’re being double-minded. So, we have to go to battle by seeking God first and tear down the spiritual wall that the enemy has put up to keep us from receiving God’s message.
In verse 16, the gates of hell can’t stop us! This means taking on the mind of Christ, because our identity is in Christ—not in ourselves or the world. Whoever controls our mind “runs our soul.” We can allow our feelings to control our soul, or we can allow the Holy Spirit to control our soul.
God gives us the freedom to choose, the help to make the right decision, and the spiritual weapons to get it done. We saw the “warfare language” of this earlier in the message in...
2 Corinthians 10:5 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
So every time we discern that a thought we’re having goes against the revealed will of God, we have to go to spiritual battle with the devil and take that thought captive with the help of our “war advocate,” the Holy Spirit!
We can completely defeat the problems we face when we address them from a godly perspective and with a positive mindset of faith and trust in Jesus. If a person’s thinking is always negative and worldly, that thinking has to change.
Otherwise, the problem will never change, because Satan’s spiritual wall will never be torn down. But once the thinking changes to a positive, godly pursuit of Jesus, we can develop the mindset of Jesus and stay in alignment with God’s perfect plan for life.
Spiritual issues create the toughest problems we face in life, which demand spiritual solutions. So, we must have an effective “plan of attack” and the right “weapons of war” if we expect to win these spiritual battles.
The way we become equipped for winning spiritual battles that can affect marriages, family relationships, friendships, finances, emotions, health, addictions, etc., is given to us by Paul when he listed some of the trials he faced in ministry in...
2 Corinthians 6:4&7 NIV 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;>>>7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
Remember, in our spiritual battles, any gift from God that has the power to destroy evil can be described as a “weapon of righteousness.” Here are five:
God’s Primary Weapons of War
1. Love- All our other weapons of righteousness are worthless without this one!
According to Jesus, the greatest commandment is even greater than faith. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” Love empowers true followers of Jesus by uniting us, giving us understanding and encouragement, and allowing us to experience true joy.
When we trust in God’s love
2. Prayer- James 5:16b - “…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Scripture is full of examples of the power of prayer. During the time of the judges, “when they were oppressed, they cried out to God, and in His great compassion, He gave them deliverers who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.” By prayer, drought began and ended during Elijah’s day. By prayer, the enemies of Elisha were struck blind. By prayer, Samson achieved victory over the Philistines.
3. The Bible-Hebrews 4:12 - 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
All God’s words are true, righteous, and useful for “training in righteousness.” This makes the Bible an effective weapon for Christians. Jesus used God’s Word to defeat Satan’s temptations. The word of the Lord is depicted as a sword coming out of His mouth, having the power to strike down the nations. God’s Word is a powerful weapon of righteousness against the forces of hell.
4. Faith-This should not surprise us since Jesus revealed that even a small amount of faith has the power to move mountains; nothing is impossible for a true follower of Jesus!
The Old Testament tells of heroes “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised… They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Hebrews 11:33–34). “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
5. Goodness-When just one true follower of Jesus takes a stand for the goodness of God, he can set in motion the defeat of an incredible amount of evil. It is essential to be intentional about adding goodness to our faith. It’s what helps us to defeat the evil of the world and the evil within our own sin nature. We are instructed to “overcome evil with good.”
It may seem odd to call goodness a weapon, but when it’s used as a demonstration of righteousness, it has incredible power in spiritual battles. Evil may appear more powerful or more prevalent at times, but it is only temporary.
In addition to the weapons of righteousness, Christians are supplied with the “full armor of God” to empower us to stand against Satan and all the forces of hell.
The life of a “dedicated/loyal” follower of Jesus is tough. We face hardships of every kind—spiritual, emotional, and physical—and they are continuous. That’s why we must always carry his “weapons of righteousness” in both hands; both the right and left are equally occupied. This is what gives us confidence in:
Romans 8:37-39 NIV 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.
God has equipped us with His weapons of war for the spiritual battles we face. And when there are battles of any kind, there will be death. But Jesus, our “Savior and King,” has conquered death and gives us His power over death and all spiritual attacks.