HoHum:
Confident, confident, dry and secure; raise your hand, raise your hand if your Sure- if only when I used that deodorant I felt confident and secure
WBTU:
The Christian should be a humble person. The Christian should be a confident person. How do we reconcile these two things? What does that look like in real life? We are to be confident without being cocky, self assured without being arrogant. A good athlete who does not believe in his ability will sit on the bench. An overly cautious driver who lacks confidence is a hazard on the highway. Have to have confidence to function well in life.
Self confidence is a must. Confidence enhances the use of our spiritual gifts. “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:6, 7, NIV.
Confidence enhances our personal joy. It is a terrible thing to go through life being afraid of people- insecure, inhibited, always lacking confidence. Life becomes a continuous, exhausting effort to avoid embarrassment. There is a special joy that comes to people who aren’t afraid anymore. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13, NIV.
When Paul speaks of his confidence in the Christian life, he uses the word competent 3 times. That word means, “sufficient” or “qualified.” It is the same word used in 2 Cor. 2:16 where he asked, “Who is equal to such a task?” This passage gives the answer. The Christian can be equal to the task through Christ.
Thesis: 4 ways that we can gain confidence- 2 Cor. 3:1-6
For instances:
1. Resist the temptation to impress others
Vs. 1- Paul was not out to impress people, through he could have. Had impressive credentials.
In that day when people traveled to a new community, they didn’t have any way to verify a persons credibility- no telephones, no internet, no credit karma. The way to verify credibility was by bringing letters of recommendation from influential people. These would be similar to letters of recommendation people write for someone else to help them get hired for a job or admitted to a college. In the ancient world, as now, sometimes these written testimonials didn’t mean much because people would exaggerate or falsify.
A preacher was asked to write a letter of recommendation for a church member who was obnoxious. The preacher didn’t want to be dishonest, so he wrote: “When you come to know Tim Hawkins the way I know him, I’m confident you will feel about him exactly the way that I do.” Sometimes letters don’t mean much. Paul said he wasn’t concerned about what other people felt about him. That was not the source of his confidence.
If our confidence is directly related to other people’s opinions, we are going to be plagued with insecurity for 3 reasons. 1. People are fickle. One day the crowd said, “Hail, Jesus” and a few days later it was, “Nail, Jesus.”
People are often wrong. One newspaper editor ripped Abraham Lincoln apart for his Gettysburg Address, saying his remarks were inappropriate and not worth mentioning. Thomas Edison’s grade school teacher said he was stupid and would never learn. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper whose editor said he had no creative ideas. Noah preached for 120 years and he had no converts except his family. If Noah’s confidence had been directly related to the people’s response, he would have been devastated.
People’s tastes are varied. What one person likes, the next person finds revolting. Take, for instance, preaching. One likes a preacher who bounces all over the stage. Another likes a preacher who stays. One likes a preacher who gets fired up, another likes a preacher who is calm and comforting. One likes a preacher who is dramatic, another likes a preacher who is intellectual. One likes a preacher who is emotional, another likes a preacher who is more stoic
If our sense of security too closely depends on other people’s opinions, our life is going to be miserable. We have got to determine how God has gifted us and where God wants us to walk. Then walk in that way confidently, and don’t be upset about how people feel. Remember, if we worry too much about what people think of us, we probably will be disappointed to discover how seldom they think of us at all!
2. Rejoice in the endorsement of other Christians
Vs. 2- Paul’s endorsements were the changed lives of people he had led to Jesus Christ. His record spoke for itself. Everyone could see the legitimacy of his ministry by the lives that he had won to the Lord every place he had been. We evaluate a school by its students. We evaluate a company by its products. We evaluate a church and a ministry by the people who come to know the Lord through its influence. God’s people are open letters to their community. Many people will not read the Bible and will not listen to Christian broadcast, but they will read our lives and carefully observe whether the church and Jesus Christ are having a positive or negative effect.
If we are going to be confident Christians, we need to take satisfaction in the maturing process of those we influence. The world seeks confidence boosters through externals.
Paul said he received his satisfaction not from something written in ink, but something written by the Spirit; not written on tablets of stone, but on the human heart. Christian parents, we ought to receive a real confidence boost when we see our children come and accept Jesus Christ and be baptized into Him. Maybe not that great in the world’s eyes but great in what really matters
Sunday school teachers, when we see young people grow up and become ministers, elders, or deacons, or when we see adults grow in the Lord, we should have a real sense of satisfaction. If we invite our neighbors to come to church and they keep coming, and eventually they give their lives to the Lord, we get a sense of satisfaction from them.
Bob Russell- I went to visit the family of a 39 year old woman who had died of a stroke 2 days before. I saw the faith of her mother and father, her husband, and her 3 daughters through that ordeal. I saw her Sunday school class bringing food and minister to them. I heard her husband say, “I just don’t know how people can go through this kind of sorrow without Jesus Christ.” I hurt for that family, but I was proud of them and for the church too. I have a sense of satisfaction when I see the maturing faith of people who have come to put their confidence in Christ and not in external things. Read vs. 3
3. Rely on the assurance of God’s provision
Vs. 4 and 5- We can read all kinds of books on how we have got to believe in ourselves. If we put our confidence in ourselves, that confidence will be shaken, because no matter how talents we are, we are going to make mistakes. No matter how confident we become, there will be things we cannot control. But we can be confident as Christians because our confidence is not in ourselves but in God.
Paul told the Colossian Christians he thanked God “who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:12, NIV. That word qualified is the verb form of the same word he used in 2 Corinthians 3:5, competent. He has “strengthened (you) with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” Colossians 1:11, NIV. That’s the secret. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13, NIV. I love the plague that reads, “Lord, help me remember that there’s nothing going to happen to me today that You and i can’t handle together.”
4. Relax in the freedom of the New Covenant
Vs. 6- We are not going to be confident Christians if we don’t understand the distinction between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, people felt like they had to earn God’s favor by living a good life. If someone kept the 10 commandments, God would bless and save them. But the problem was, nobody kept the rules. Nobody every completely obeyed, so nobody was ever confident of his salvation. Even in the Old Covenant, it was still by faith in God. The righteous will live by faith comes from Habakkuk 2:4.
The New Testament is clear about a new way of righteousness. Jesus Christ came and died on the cross. He knew we were incompetent. He knew we had sinned, but he took the burden of our sin on himself on the cross, and now, through him, we can be saved. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no-one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9, NIV. Talk more about this tonight.
Invitation: The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco was built between 1933 and 1937. During the first half of the construction, over a dozen men fell off the superstructure, falling as far as 700 feet to their death in the water below. Construction was halted, and a safety net, costing several hundred thousand dollars, was put under the bridge so that, if anybody fell, he would be caught. During the last half of construction, 6 people fell, but their lives were spared. Surprisingly, during the last half of construction, the work proceeded at 25% greater efficiency. Knowing the net was there didn’t make the workers careless, it made them more confident and more efficient. As a Christian, we have a net below us called God’s grace. When we stumble and fall, that net catches us and forgives us and reestablishes un our role. When we understand about that net of grace, it doesn’t make us careless. It makes us more confident and more self assured. It makes us more relaxed, and more joyful in the Christian life.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,” “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:19, 22, 23, NIV.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine- Is Jesus yours?
