Complete Confidence

Confidence in God is the foundation for all joy and hope in our daily lives. As we speak about Confidence, what is laughable is over confidence. Like the poser Ben Affleck in the movie Good Will Hunting, who busts a move on a girl and is not only rejected, but is humiliated by an obnoxious grad student.

Luckily “Will Hunting” played by Matt Damon saves Ben. We all cringe as we see the self-confident, cocky Affleck get crushed. What is even more tragic, than the laughable over-confidence is under-confidence. Yet we pay little attention to it. Will, (Matt Damon) is incredibly bright, yet works as a janitor at MIT. His broken family, his being beaten by his step-father, his many foster homes.. Put him in a state of mind where he didn’t believe he could be an MIT student. Will is assigned a counselor by the state (Robin Williams). Williams enters into the young mans life and over time trust is built. Love and compassion begin to grow a sense of confidence in Will. Eventually Will is able to stay in a relationship, studies at MIT, and gets a job. For Will Hunting it was about confidence and feeling worthy of receiving blessings and a good life.

How about you? Do you have confidence in what God is doing in your life? Philippians 1:6 reminds us that: Clinging to God gives complete Confidence “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” From Roman prison to the new church in Phillipi, Paul writes encouragement. We see 3 things: I Complete Confidence in Commencement “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you…. What was begun in the Philippians? Yes, they came to faith when Paul and Silas were miraculously released from jail. They became believers, were baptized and vv. 4,5 show us they became partners with Paul in His gospel ministry. They literally became children of God, disciples of Christ, and partners with Paul. But, when God has once begun his work in us, we are not passive instruments, but active partners, His children, relying on Him, Abiding with Him and working in the family gospel business! We must Cling to God as He Commences His work!

II Complete Confidence in Carrying On “being confident of this, that he… will carry it on.” When we come to faith life is “sunshine lollipops and rainbows, Everything that’s wonderful is what I feel when we’re together,” Then the next Sunday, We get baptized, and testify to all God has done. Then comes Monday. We go to work, or school and what do we say??

This is where we lose confidence, in the trials of real life. We are like people on a giant roller coaster for the first time. Yes, All excited to ride at 70 miles an hour, with a 200 foot drop. Cool. Then you board. A belt locks you in. You get to the top and look straight down and say ‘I am gonna die’

In our daily lives, we have similar experiences. We encounter difficulty, pain setback and cry out to God “I’m gonna die”. We’ve never been in the situation we are in and it’s scary. But, God has not forgotten you, He will carry it on. He helps us over, through, around the obstacles and trials of life.

Here is a concept we need more clarification on. It is on being saved. We called someone coming to faith in Christ “saved”, and that is right. The person is justified before God and all sins have been forgiven. We are saved from the penalty of sin. But, there is so much more!

Saved is also the ongoing, perpetual grace and care of God. It is being saved from the power of sin in our daily lives. Coming to faith, or justification, is like being plucked from icy north Atlantic waters into a lifeboat. Being saved also means that God is bringing the lifeboat to the ship, bringing us into the ship, and delivering us safely to port. It is the idea of Carrying forward.

We must remember Jude 1:25 “He is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy”. As we trust Him in all circumstances, rely on Him, Abide in Him and cling to Him, we see Him work, and our faith begins to grow.

III Complete Confidence in Completion “being confident of this, that he… will carry… to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God is not just Completing our final resting place, by bringing us to heaven. He is Completing me and you! Completion is being transformed into the image of Christ.

Like Jesus in love, joy and righteousness and in dependence on our Father… We can have Complete Confidence that God is forming us to be true sons and daughters, like Jesus, so that we are fit for heaven. But again, we must trust him in His sanctifying work. We must cling to him until Completion. Dear brother/sister in Christ, whether you find yourself “up” or “down” (spiritually/emotionally) as you hear this, take just a moment and ponder the certainty of the work of Spirit of Christ in you. He is so faithful and His work so complete that on that glorious day “we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1Jn 3:2). We can have Complete Confidence that the day Christ Jesus comes is the day we enter into the fullness, the completion of our Heavenly Father’s redemptive plan for each of us. How glorious! This message was preached at Kanata Baptist Church on Aug. 2, 2015. To listen to this message, just click the link below: http://mp3.cookingwithsql.com/sermon_080215.mp3