I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      Very few things inspire true confidence in this world.

                                                             1.      We seek security in many things (jobs, wealth, government, education, etc.), but we do not find any lasting security in any worldly thing.

                                                             2.      We also seek security in people, but even the most faithful friend is limited by ability, resources, and time.

                                                             3.      So many times, we are disappointed by the things and people in which we have placed our confidence, and we also disappoint others by our own failures.

                                                             4.      All of this can leave us with a sense of insecurity and a longing for something better.

B.      Thankfully, we who are Christians have supreme confidence that transcends this world.

                                                             1.      The confidence of Christians is so great that it overcomes every obstacle that this world presents, including death.

                                                             2.      Let us consider this confidence and ensure that we have it within ourselves.

II.      THE SOURCE OF TRUE CONFIDENCE

A.      True confidence is the result of knowing and trusting in God.

                                                             1.      When Paul wrote to Timothy about his work as an apostle, he said, “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2Tim. 1:12).

a.       Notice how Paul’s confidence was not rooted in his own abilities or wisdom, but instead it was grounded in his knowledge of the person and power of the Almighty God.

b.       Because of his confidence, Paul was able to endure weakness and persecution without feeling shame or remorse (see also 2Cor. 4:16-5:10; 12:7-10).

                                                             2.      Paul also expressed his confidence when he revealed the secret of living in any circumstances.  He said, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13; see vv. 11-12).

                                                             3.      The key to such confidence is stated in Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

B.      Such confidence is exemplified in the story of David and Goliath (1Sam. 17).

                                                             1.      The army of Israel cowered before the mighty Goliath because of his great physical stature (vv. 11, 24), but David had no such fear (v. 32).

                                                             2.      David declared the source of his great confidence against Goliath.

a.       To Saul he said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (v. 37).

b.       To Goliath he said, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands” (vv. 45-47).

III.   CONFIDENT IN PRAYER

A.      Both Christ and the Holy Spirit give us confidence when we pray to the Father.

                                                             1.      Because Christ is our high priest in heaven, we may “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16; see vv. 14-15).

                                                             2.      Christ gives us confidence because He intercedes with the Father for us.  Notice Hebrews 7:25 – “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

                                                             3.      The Holy Spirit also intercedes in our prayers to express the needs of our hearts.  Paul wrote, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27).

B.      God gives us the assurance that our prayers are heard on the condition that we keep His commandments and pray according to His will.

                                                             1.      Faithful Christians have every reason to believe that their prayers will be answered by the Father.  Consider 1John 3:21-22 – “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

                                                             2.      The confidence of our prayers is in the faithfulness of God, for we know that He will give us what He has promised according to His will.

a.       We know that God will deliver on His promises, for He always has.  Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

b.       Therefore, we know that when we pray for that which God has promised, we will receive it.  Notice 1John 5:14-15 – “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

IV.    CONFIDENT OF ETERNITY

A.      The greatest confidence that we who are Christians have is to know that we can stand before the Lord in the day of judgment without fear because our sins have been forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice.

                                                             1.      John expressed this thought in 1John 4:17-18 – “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

                                                             2.      Because we have been justified through Christ, we should be confident that we will escape the wrath that was due for our sins.  Notice Romans 5:9 – “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

                                                             3.      We are exempt from the judgment of our sins through our faith in Christ’s word.  The Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24; see vv. 25-30).

B.      Not only are we free from fear, but also we have the glorious expectation of eternal life with the Lord.

                                                             1.      The very purpose of the gospel is to lead us to salvation and to give us assurance of eternal life.  Consider 1John 5:13 – “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

                                                             2.      Those who follow the Lord may be confident of eternal life for as long as they continue to follow Him.  The Lord said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).

                                                             3.      Although we may struggle, stumble, or suffer, our confidence in salvation remains because it is grounded in God.  Peter said that Christians “are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1Pet. 1:5).

                                                             4.      Those who are in Christ are confident even about death because they know the Lord will raise them up again.  Paul described the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead in 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 and said that “we shall always be with the Lord” (v. 17).

V.      CONCLUSION

A.      If you are a Christian, then realize the greatness of the confidence you have in Christ Jesus and embrace it.

B.      If you are not a Christian, then take hold of eternal life through obedience to Christ’s gospel and receive a confidence that the world cannot give you.