Confidence
"Could it be that a false sense of humility has silenced the church?...What if faithful men would once again step out in faith in their God with great confidence..."
Something that I have noticed repeatedly as I read God’s Word is that God’s people are confident. Consider Noah. When God told him to build an ark, there was no wavering. He spent the next 120 years confidently doing just that. Then I think of Abraham confidently doing whatever God asked of him, even when He asked him to sacrifice his only son. We cannot speak of confidence without mentioning Caleb and Joshua, who after hearing all their comrades give their doubting reports, confidently described what they should do with this new land of Canaan: …Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it –Numbers 13:30.
We cannot forget about David who went out and silenced the large naysayer—Goliath. Nor can we forget Daniel, Gideon, Job, Ezekiel, Isaiah, or Jeremiah and all that they did with confidence. As we study each of these men of faith and many others, we clearly see that they had a great amount of confidence in their God!
Some might say that if God worked the same way today as He did back then, we would be more confident. Maybe if God were still an Old Testament God, it would be easier. If He led us into battle, destroyed our enemies, parted seas, and caused bread to fall from heaven, then we would have more confidence in Him.
Now let us consider the New Testament. It is quite different. God’s people are commanded to leave everything for the sake of Christ. They are promised that the world will hate them. They are told that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. They are guaranteed that they will be blessed if they suffer, if they are poor, if they are hungry, and if they mourn.
Can people still have confidence in a God that asks His people to follow Him under these circumstances? Yes! The disciples proved it. They went about preaching and teaching. They were hunted and beaten repeatedly. The deacon, Stephen, showed great confidence when he was brought before his oppressors, even when they began to gnash their teeth at him, and stone him. Stephen showed confidence until he took his last agonizing breath.
Before he became the apostle Paul, Saul was an enemy of the cross, the chiefest of sinners, and a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was a prominent man, taught by the best. Then he met the living God, and everything changed. After Paul was baptized, …straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God –Acts 9:20. The next verse says the people were amazed, then in verse 23, five verses after he was baptized, it says that the Jews took counsel to kill him.
It takes a lot of confidence in God to change a man like that, to cause him to, overnight, completely change allegiance. According to his own testimony, Paul was faithful until his death: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: –2 Timothy 4:6-7.
God did amazing things in the New Testament. He healed the blind and raised the dead to life again. He released prisoners and struck people dead. Some may say it would be easier to have great confidence in God if we were still living in the New Testament Bible times when Jesus physically walked and talked here on this earth.
In the early church, we again see a group of people that did not waver; they had confidence in their God, a God they could not see. Tens of thousands of God’s people stood boldly before the world and proclaimed its wickedness, and tens of thousands of God’s people were killed. The confidence of these people was never questioned. They were called fools, for believing in a “God they could not see”. They were mocked and scorned for their ‘foolishness’, they were …killed all the day long… –Psalm 44:22. People questioned their practices, they questioned their religious structure, they questioned the message they preached, they questioned many things, but they never questioned their confidence. These Christians believed in their God, of that there was no doubt.
Strangely, they were not interested in the pleasures of this life; they did not care about the things of this world, and even their very lives were a small thing to give up for their God. Families were torn apart, houses and lands were confiscated, churches were burned, but it did not faze stop them. They lived for something greater, something the heathen could not understand.
“I appeal to Scripture!” art by Peter Balholm
Copyright: Sermon on the Mount Publishing
Through the time of the early church and the time of the Reformation, people were added to the Kingdom in great numbers. Yes, children did grow up and join their parents’ church, but there were also great masses of new converts from the world. How could anyone convince a worldly person to join a group that was hunted and killed—a group that suffered like the church of Jesus Christ suffered? Yes, we know that salvation is of the Lord, but it was the confidence of God’s people that caused others to wonder, that caused them to seriously consider this new religion of heretics. This was a group of people that would gladly accept the spoiling of their goods, be happy to give all they had to help others, and not resist their capture by the authorities. The true church of Jesus Christ was a group of people that always caused others to wonder, “Who are these people?” They clearly put all their faith in their God, and that was not a common occurrence. They stood up for God’s Truth no matter how hot the fire burned, no matter how miserable their lives were made. It all showed a great confidence, not in themselves, but in their God.
As we look at the church today, what do we see? Some of God’s people are taking up their crosses, and denying the world and the lust thereof, other people are not. Is the church of today still known for being confident in their God?
As professing Christians, have we lost some of this biblical confidence? Are we still out there undeniably serving the one true God? Do people look at us, and stand in awe of the confidence we are displaying in our God? Too many people of today are saying they are Christians, but they demonstrate very little confidence in God. They live quite closely to the ways of the world. Instead of enjoying persecution, they enjoy many of the same things that the world does. Each of us needs the fire of God burning deep within our hearts, a fire that cannot be quenched.
Confidence equals obedience. I have met many Christians of our day whose ancestors gave their lives for Christ, and their grandfathers bravely led the church, but there now seems to be something missing. As I interact with many God-fearing Christians, it seems that there is a prevailing struggle with confidence—a confidence in a living God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present.
In the uncertainty of our world today, we need to once more boldly proclaim the gospel message just like true believers did in times past. We need to clearly draw distinct biblical lines between right and wrong. We need to rid ourselves of all these wretched gray areas and call sin, sin. It seems that we have lost the confidence to speak out against the sin of our day. If we confidently proclaim what God has declared, there are some people who will not like us. We need brethren that are not afraid to be scoffed at and are willing to take the road less traveled.
Right before our Lord ascended on high, He gave His disciples a glorious promise, …ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth –Acts 1:8.
Ye shall receive power! Not power from men, not power from kingdoms of this world, but real, overcoming power—power that comes only from the Holy Ghost! After we receive this power, we go forward as a new creature, confidently proclaiming the blessed Gospel of our Redeemer.
I was eating lunch one day when a couple approached me with a serious question, “Why does the church think it has to control us?” After they explained how they think they should be able to be ‘free in Christ’, I was excited to answer their questions. However, there was another ordained brother sitting beside me. So, I decided to wait, hoping that he would engage the couple, but he said nothing. As another forty-five minutes passed, I tried to explain to the couple how they needed to deny themselves and submit to the church. And that if they laid down their lives fully, if they surrendered all, they would no longer have such a struggle with church structure.
The couple seemed encouraged and ready to give things another try. However, the minister beside me did not seem too pleased, so I asked him what he thought. He said that his father told him years ago that when he was young, he thought he had all the answers. After he got old, he realized he did not know anything, and that church issues are too complicated to solve. We need to just try to get along.
Is this the answer, to just act like we don’t know anything and hope that it all works out in the end? I do understand that we don’t have all the answers. After all, I realize that I have more questions than answers most times. However, I do know what God wants for His church! …Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish –Ephesians 5:25-27.
A glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish! Will we, as God’s people, once again stand for truth, deny the world, and like sheep allow ourselves to be led to the slaughter? Or have we made our lives too comfortable to deny, have we chosen the easy (broad) way and denied the straight and narrow? Have we signed a peace deal with the servants of sin? If I weep as I write, will you weep as you read?
The definition of the word confidence is a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers. Many people today have confused confidence with pride, and for good reason. Most people that are confident are confident in themselves, instead of being confident in Christ. We see this self-confidence all around us. There are life coaches and counselors all over the globe, telling people to believe in themselves, telling them to be confident in themselves. When one is confident in themselves, they often do become proud. Remember the world does not look down on pride. You can hear the world boast of its pride everywhere you look. People are proud of their children, proud of their country, proud of their favorite sports team, proud of their lawns, proud of basically everything that is good in their lives. We must remember that pride is sin and will not enter heaven. While confidence in one’s self or things is pride, confidence in God is not!
It is not a new concept to confuse confidence in God, with pride. David’s oldest brother Eliab said to him, “I know thy pride”. Was David proud? No, he simply had a great deal of confidence in his God.
Could it be that a false sense of humility has silenced the church? Could it be that this tactic of the enemy is one of Satan’s current weapons against Christians? Could it also be the reason that the Church seems to be struggling in all parts of the world? What if faithful men would once again step out in faith in their God with great confidence and by their words and actions show this sinned-stained world the straight and narrow way—into the Kingdom of God?!
We all must agree, we live in a confused world—one that is confused as to what is right and what is wrong. What if the world could look at the Church and once again find a group of people that know exactly where they are going—a church that has no doubt which way is the right way—a church that can boldly proclaim the answer to the problems of our day—a church that is nothing less than completely confident in their GOD?
Let us come before our God on bended knee, with our hearts bowed low, demonstrating genuine godly sorrow for where we have lost our way. Let us earnestly seek God’s will for ourselves, for our families, for our churches, and for our neighbors. Let us ask God to show us how we can be His examples to the world around us. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified –Isaiah 61:1-3.
Confidence
With a God so big, why would one fear?
He controls the sea, the storms that appear.
He knows tomorrow, before it has come.
The hairs of our head, He knows the sum.
Why would one question a God like this?
Why do some doubt, or ask amiss?
“Trust in the Lord” the Scripture has said.
But our own understanding, we lean on instead?
I’m sure it’s confusing, to the all-knowing One.
All the miracles, with a word, they were done!
He looks to and fro in this world today,
For one that will trust, without a delay.
The things of this world are so brilliant and fast.
Do we even need God, maybe old-fashioned at last?!
Enough with the folly, we all know the truth.
We have seen God working, yes, from our youth.
Nothing can replace our almighty God;
To say any different would certainly sound odd.
He’s waiting for the church to trust Him once more.
He stands and knocks; will you open the door?
Not just in a pinch, or when life’s too hard,
But every moment, your fears disregard.
He’s looking for a people once more in our day,
With confidence in God, His power to display.
