Hold On To Your Confidence And Push (Praise Until Something Happens)

Introduction:

In living in a world that has been transformed from one of perfection to imperfection, the Christian is going to suffer. I know that people have lied on you, tried their best to tear you down, they set traps for you, planned a private attack on you, tried to get you fired on the job, tried to lead one of your family members astray, and even tried to get your spouse to turn against you.

But there is a reason for this. This world that we live in was perfected starting at the beginning when God created everything and moving to the Garden of Eden. All of this was simultaneously transformed into imperfection. This world was perfect when God and His mighty hand created it, but it slipped into imperfection when the poison of Satan contaminated the two perfect beings which were Adam and Eve with his lies.

You know the story of the fall of man. Every since the fall of man, man must toil the earth for a living, a woman must bear pain in conceiving a child, a man’s life is only for a short season and then he will eventually die. Genesis 3:19 says, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

All of this is because of sin entering into a perfect world. I know this may sound a bit harsh, but through it all I still have some Good News. Stopping here I just want to spend a little bit of time on two points if I may.

Development:

Point #1: Things May Look Bad, But We Still Have a Guarantee

Well the Apostle Paul was in prison. He was writing a letter to all of the believers. He missed the fellowship that he had with them, but he was reminding them that no matter what happens, they need to hold on to their confidence. They need not to forget who they belong to.

Now according to Webster’s dictionary, the word confidence means to have full of trust; belief in the powers, reliability of a person or thing.

I know life will at times take you down a road that seems that this just might be the end. Your job may fold up, you could loose a loved one unto death, or sickness may have your body.

Sometimes life and the pressures of this world can have you so low that getting up isn’t on your mind. You may be in a storm of life and all you see is darkness and you are calling out to God, and your cry is, “God where are you? Lord, have you forgotten me? God, do you hear my prayer?”

There was an opera several years ago called “Emperor Jones” and a famous black baritone singer by the name of Paul Roberson sung a solo in that opera called “It’s Me It’s Me It’s Me Oh Lord, Standing in the Need of Prayer.” I don’t know about you but I’m always standing in the need of prayer.

If you haven’t seen those dark sides of life yet, or have wondered if God is still near, or if God is hearing your prayer, just keep on living because your day is right around the corner. But my brothers and my sisters no matter how grim things may seem, no matter how dark the road may get, no matter how high the hills are that you have to climb, no matter what the judge says in a court room, no matter what the doctor may say, you still have a guarantee. These words are only for believers, those that have an intimate and defined relationship with Jesus the Christ.

Jesus Himself made a promise to all of His people that they would never be alone. He said that He would never leave you nor forsake you. He said that He would send you a comforter, and that comforter is the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost. The Greek word for comforter is paracletos (pa – rak – la –tos).

My brothers and my sisters knowing that the Holy Spirit is here within us is some good news. We have been Signed, Sealed and Delivered by God Himself. That is our Guarantee. That is our Life-time Warrantee.

God will be with us no matter what the situation. We have the paracletos (pa – rak – la –toss) Comforter. The Comforter or the paracletos (pa – rak – la –toss) is the one that is with us. Just let me park here with the Comforter.

§ The Comforter is our shield, it protects us.

§ The Comforter has sealed us. God "seals" all of His. When God seals us it means that He puts His mark on us, He puts His stamp on us, He marks all of His believers. That’s why we are different. That’s why when we walk into a room, the conversation changes.