Your Faith Can Give You Confidence
Intro:
1. Confidence (παρρησία) = unreserved speech, not afraid to speak your convictions, boldness.
2. Faith must not be based upon how you feel.
a. Emotions are so unpredictable & unstable.
b. Faith comes from something far more stable than emotions. Rom 10:17 - Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
c. Emotions come as a result of faith!
3. How does having confidence help your life?
a. ILL: The Net Under the Golden Gate Bridge. (Jan 1933)
b. 25% more work was done each day when the men knew they were safe.
4. So - if your faith, based on the word, gives you confidence; what are the things you can be confident about?
I John 5:12-20
I. v12-13 & 20 - You Can Be Confident That You Have Eternal Life
A. v12 - If you have the Son of God you can have confidence.
1. Have you ever heard, “You can’t really know if you have eternal life until you die”?
2. ILL: The Man with the Bag of Potatoes. When I rest on the word of God, the weight gets less!
3. The Lord said, Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life - Jn 5:24.
4. “In Christ” you already have eternal life - so trust it!
B. v13 - If you trust in His name you can have confidence.
1. What are the elements of faith?
a. Trusting that Jesus is God’s Son.
b. Trusting that what the Bible says is true.
2. These elements are necessary to make your faith a saving faith, but they aren’t what faith really is.
3. Saving faith is trusting Lord Jesus to do for you what He promised to do for you.
C. v20 - If you trust that Jesus is God in the flesh you can have confidence.
1. Lord Jesus is God in flesh! - Jn 1:14 - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
2. God made Himself fully known & understood in human terms through Lord Jesus.
3. Jn 1:1 - Lord Jesus was to the Father what a word is to the thought it expresses.
II. v14-16 - You Can Be Confident That Your Prayers will be Answered
A. Prayers that will not be answered.
1. You must have fellowship with God. Jn 15:7 - If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
2. You can make a selfish request & not be answered. Jam 4:3 - When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
3. A non believer has no assurance of answered prayer. Jn 9:31 - We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
B. Prayers that will be answered.
1. v14 - When you pray according to the Lord’s will.
a. It doesn’t mean tacking on the end of your prayer, “If it be your will”. That’s often a cop out for not praying for results!
b. It means knowing what God’s will is through Bible study, prayer & associating with mature Christians.
c. The Lord’s desire for you is usually greater than your desire for you! ILL: The Bigger Hand. & Choosing the Watch.
2. v15 - When you pray trusting the Lord for the results.
a. Mk 11:24 says to pray as though it has already been answered.
b. Matt 21:22 - If you believe (trust), you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
C. v16-17 - An example of the prayer of a righteous person. Jam 5:16 - The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
1. v16 - Intercession for a sinning person can bring forgiveness if they have not committed the sin that does not lead to death.
2. So - what’s a sin that leads to death?
a. Mk 3:29 says blasphemy against the Holy Spirit brings death. Why? That’s a sin impossible to repent of.
b. I Cor 11:30 says lack of repentance at the Lord’s Table can bring death.
c. Heb 6:4-6 says those who fall away from their faith have crucified Lord Jesus afresh & can’t repent.
d. So - the unforgivable sin is the sin that’s not repented of!
III. v18-20 - You Can Be Confident That You Will
No Longer be a Slave to Sin
A. You are slaves to the master you obey - sin & death or obedience & righteousness. Rom 6:16 - Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
1. Without Lord Jesus in your life, you are a slave to sin.
2. But - Jesus paid the ransom for your sin so you can be free to serve Him!
B. v18 - Born again children of God have been freed from the sin oriented life. Not having anything to do with that lifestyle will keep Satan from being able to get a hold of you again.
1. Jam 4:7 says when you resist the devil he will flee from you.
2. So how do you resist Satan? The same way Jesus did - with the word of God (Matt 4:1-11).
3. Then - confess sin you have committed (I Jn 1:9).
4. Then - ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit (Lk 11:13) in that area of your life!
5. You can then plan on living your Christian life victoriously!
What are the things your faith should give you confidence in?
Eternal life - answered prayer &
not remaining a slave to the sin oriented life!
http://biblelifemessages.org/