Boost Confidence

You're going to pick up your Bible and follow along.

We've got some scriptures to read tonight.

We're going to start in Hebrews 10, verse 35, and it says Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance so that, after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry.

Hebrews 10:35

Now, the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him, and so the title of tonight's message is Boost your Confidence, and we're going to talk about those words confidence and endurance tonight.

I just want to talk a little bit about the situation we're in, the circumstances all around us, in our community, in our state, in our nation.

There are some crazy things going on right now, and the media doesn't talk a lot about all the issues.

They may touch on it in some media outlets, but really the news is avoiding a lot of the topics that they should be reporting on.

You've seen what's happened to Trump over the last little while, and so let me just run down a brief history there.

After he ran for his first presidency and he announced that he was running again.

What do they do?

They mock him, they try to discredit him, they try to destroy his reputation and divide his family.

And really that's nothing new in politics, that's pretty typical.

It's sad, but it's pretty typical.

But while he was in office and even after he was in office, the bureaucratic letter agencies they worked against him.

The people on his own team, you know they had somebody in there who would betray him or would leak documents and spread rumors.

The legislative branch has impeached President Donald Trump twice.

They used the judicial branch to try to bankrupt him.

He's been through lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit.

They stormed his home, they indicted him, they arrested him, they've come after his family and anyone close to him and now, finally, they've tried to kill him.

I think it's pretty clear to all Americans that the Secret Service didn't do the job that they're there to do and that wasn't by accident and it wasn't by mistake or incompetence.

There was something that was intentionally allowed to happen.

And when you see the head of the Secret Service give the excuse that they couldn't cover that particular roof where the shooter was because they couldn't put agents up there, because it was sloped, you know that's just pathetic and ridiculous.

And then you see the Secret Service, the head of the Secret Service, go before Congress and Congress asked all these very serious questions and she ducks and dodges most of those questions and it's pretty clear that she's not doing her job.

Again, that's not by incompetence, that's intentional, and so she's just merely a pawn in a bigger picture of what's happening.

Biden was the presumptive presidential nominee from the Democrat Party and even though the last couple of years his cognitive ability has been in serious decline and he has a hard time putting the whole sentence together for a while, there the whole Democrat Party we're talking about how strong he was and how sharp he was, and and what a great job he's doing.

Strong he was and how sharp he was and what a great job he's doing.

When asked if he was going to consider bowing out of this race for any reason, the answer was no, and not just no, but lots of no's, and his team was very supportive of him that he is not going to bow out.

He's definitely running for president.

Next thing, you know, he disappears for a week.

What happened during that week?

And he had a very serious medical event.

We don't know what it was.

They reported it as a COVID thing, but he was in Las Vegas and they were preparing to rush him to the emergency medical center there to take care of him.

And then they changed plans, put him on a plane and sent him back Northeast, and then we didn't hear from him for a while.

Nobody saw him.

Nobody heard from him.

So he had a serious event which meant he was incapacitated in his in the role of president.

Now, for somebody else to not be sworn in, the session plan should immediately go into place.

We're already having a constitutional crisis.

They're they're disregarding the constitution because they want to do everything they can to hold on to power.

Three days ago, we got a letter that was dropped onto Biden's ex or Twitter account announcing that he was dropping out of the race he would not be running for re-election, and then throwing his support for Kamala Harris.

Now, kamala Harris, her polling numbers were worse than Biden's, so if Biden is not fit to run for president, he's also not fit to serve as president right now, and it's very doubtful that he's even going to be able to finish this term.

And that's just a few short months, about six months before he would be out of office.

If Kamala does fill that role and become the president at some point between now and the end of Biden's term.

There's going to have to be some kind of a national crisis so that she can look presidential, because she just doesn't.

She looks anything but presidential, and so there's going to have to be a something come up for her to look presidential, and that's going to be at the expense of this nation, at the expense of people.

It's just what happens.

You know we call it an October surprise, and I'm expecting, between now and election time, that there's going to be a lot of surprises.

A lot of things happen.

You see how big things in the news suddenly fall out of the news cycle because something bigger comes in and covers it up.

Nobody's really talking about the fact that Trump was shot in the ear.

They're talking about Biden and now Kamala.

And let me just throw in now does anybody remember anything about the bridge that was collapsed in Baltimore?

I mean, that's been gone for a few weeks now and nobody talks about it.

Nobody remembers anything about it.

But that was a failure of navigational systems.

I don't believe that was an accident either.

So you have all of these things happening as we're leading up to this election.

We've got trouble, serious trouble, in this nation.

Here locally in Houston, we had Hurricane Beryl come up through Houston and Beryl left a trail of broken trees and fences and damaged buildings.

Some people lost their life out of that storm, but it knocked power out to more than two million here in Harris County alone.

The fact that our infrastructure was so vulnerable is a problem.

What's worse is that it took them a fair bit of time longer than it should have, with the number of linemen and service people that were available to work and were not working for various negotiation reasons between their company and the CenterPoint's company.

Here we were without power for an extended period of time and some of that time was unnecessary.

We've got a vulnerable infrastructure in this nation.

That's just an example of what it's like here, and so think about what it's like to go without power here in Houston and what you did without.

How do we get fresh food and keep it fresh?

You have issues like that on a personal level, and then just a couple of days ago, we had an internet outage.

We got a power outage and now we got an internet outage, but this was more on a global level.

That affected air travel with several airlines that was shut down and all those flights it kind of snowballs, the trouble of flights being delayed and canceled and people missing their travel.

Additionally, people couldn't buy and sell using their credit cards, and so if you didn't have cash during that moment, you were just without.

And so you know that was a small happening, and I just want you to think what would that look like if that was a major happening?

What if it was longer than a day?

I believe that that was a test of something that perhaps is an option for people who want to do harm and do evil in this world, and it was a successful test.

So just think about what it's like to be without to not be able to buy or sell or trade using the electronic format, the credit cards, to not be able to buy or sell or trade using the electronic format, the credit cards, to not be able to communicate through your phones, through your cell phones, through internet, through email, through text, to not be able to travel because you can't buy gas, to not be able to travel because the airlines are shut down.

I mean, these are real things that are happening and they're happening more frequently, and so we're at a point in our history point in the timeline where we've got trouble and it's not getting less.

There's more to come, and I don't say that to be the bearer of bad news.

You know this message title is boost your confidence.

And I've done nothing to boost your confidence in our society right now.

But our hope is not in, it's not in a person, it's not in a president, it's not in a government, it's not in a president, it's not in a government, it's not in our infrastructure, it's not in any of those things.

Our confidence is in God's Word and it's in our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father.

And so let's read that verse again Hebrews 10.35.

It says, therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Your confidence has great reward.

And it also says for you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God, there's a part that we have to play on our side.

We do the will of God and then we're in position to receive the promise of God.

And so let's look at those two words, confidence and endurance.

They're in the New Testament, they're Greek words that are used right there.

So confidence, the Greek word for confidence, is parisia, and it means outspokenness, bluntness, unreserved utterance, it's a freedom of speech, it's frankness, it's cheerful courage.

It is the opposite of cowardice, timidity and fear.

You know so, remember that verse out of 2 Timothy 1, 7, it says For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power and love and of a sound mind.

And so power, love and a sound mind that fits with the confidence, with the boldness, with the all-out spokenness.

When you believe something wholeheartedly, you have words that go with that.

You speak what you believe Out of the abundance of the heart.

Doth the mouth speak.

And so it's indicative of what you truly believe.

When you're in the middle of turmoil and trouble and circumstance, what is coming out of your mouth in that moment?

Because that's indicative of what's in your heart.

And what's in your heart, that's what you've been putting in there over a period of time before the trouble came.

We've got to guard our heart with all diligence.

We've got to be putting good things into our spirit, into our heart, into our mind, into our soul.

You've got to pour the good things in before the trouble comes so that when the trouble comes the right things are coming back out.

And so we have need of that kind of confidence, that kind of boldness, which has a great reward.

And it says for you have need of endurance.

So let's look at endurance.

Endurance Greek word for endurance is hupomone.

It means constancy, perseverance, it's continuance, it's bearing up under something, it's aancy.

Perseverance, it's continuance, it's bearing up under something, it's a steadfastness.

It describes the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, not with.

You know, I'm just going to try to outlast the trouble, I'm going to try to outlive this, I'm going to try not to die and hopefully this trouble will pass me by.

That's a passive complacency and that's not what this is.

It's a hopeful fortitude that resists weariness and defeat, and so it's an active thing.

To have endurance is to be actively resisting the weariness and defeat that might otherwise come because you're fearful of the circumstances or the outcome of the circumstances.

So let's look at another verse.

This is 1 John 5.

We're going to start in verse 14, and it says now, this is the confidence, and it's the same Greek word here.

This is the parrhesia, this is the outspokenness.

When you believe something, you're outspoken about it, you're not fearful.

It's the opposite of cowardice.

About it, you're not fearful, it's the opposite of cowardice.

So now, this is the confidence that we have in Him, in Christ, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us, and if he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we've asked of Him.

So we have this confidence, one that we can approach Him and we can ask Him for something, and we can ask Him things, something, and we can ask Him things according to His will.

And if it's according to His will, then we know he hears us.

He hears things that are according to His will.

He's waiting for us to make petitions according to His word.

When we do that, he hears us, and we know that if he hears us, then we have the things that we have asked Him for, and so that is a confidence that we have.

We firmly believe that, and so when we ask, I want you to expect to receive the very thing that you asked, according to his will and according to his word.

So, remember, we can ask.

In Hebrews 4, verse 16, it says Let us therefore come boldly, and again boldly right.

Hebrews 4:16

Here is the same word as confidence.

It's the same word, it's just applied a little differently.

Let us therefore come with parrhesia boldly to the throne of grace that we can obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.

So that we can obtain mercy.

I know, you know, our pastor's taught a lot about the word mercy.

It's a covenant word, it's covenant kindness and on God's side, god can't not not provide what he's promised.

On His side of the covenant he is fully obligated to do His side and he will and he does.

And so that's the covenant kindness right there.

And so we can come boldly, not in cowardice, not fearful of God, not shying away from Him, but we can come fully confident, knowing that we have access to Him and that when we come into the throne room we can obtain mercy.

And when we do that we'll find help, grace to help in the time of need.

And when we do that, we'll find help, grace to help in the time of need.

And so we've got to come prepared and be ready to plead our case at any moment.

When we come into that throne room and we're talking to God, we need to not forget to give Him praise and to give Him honor and to express gratitude to Him for who he is and what he's done.

That means what he's done.

That means you got to go back and remember his goodness.

Psalm 103 says bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not his benefits.

So know what benefits belong to you when you approach God so that you can come confidently.

I know that I'm entitled to these benefits because they belong to my covenant and I'm going to confidently, boldly, put a covenant demand on these things.

I'm going to ask for these things that he's provided for me.

I'm not going to forget his benefits.

In Psalm 78, we're going to look at a negative example here.

This is all through Psalm 78.

It's a record of how the Israelites didn't keep the covenant with God.

They didn't walk in his law.

They refused to do what's right.

It says that they forgot his works and his wonders, that he had shown them.

Marvelous things he did in the sight of their fathers.

He divided the sea, he caused them to pass through.

He made the water stand up like a heap.

In the daytime he led them with a cloud.

In the night he led them with a fire.

He split rocks in the wilderness.

He poured out water, he fed them, he gave them meat, he gave them manna.

He did all of these things and at the end, there.

In Psalm 78, verse 40, it says how often they provoked him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert.

Psalms 78:40

Yes, again and again they tempted God and they limited the Holy One of Israel.

You know, we think of God as being omnipotent, omniscient, all-powerful, almighty, all-knowing, and all of that's true.

How can we possibly limit someone who's limitless?

Well, he's limited by his own righteousness, by his own justice.

He will not violate his word.

In other words, he's limited.

He can't go against his word, he can't do things that he has declared are not just.

And so when people come to God and they complain and they haven't kept his word, they haven't acknowledged all of his goodness and all the good things that he's done.

They forgot about his goodness and instead they complain.

That limits God's ability to act on your behalf, to do things on your behalf, and it was true of the Israelites and it's very true of the believer today.

And so when we approach God, we can do it with boldness, but let's remember his goodness, let's talk to him about it, let's give him honor.

He's worthy of that.

Don't forget and then get into a complaining mode.

In Hebrews 10.38, it says now the just shall live by faith, and if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

So back to Psalm 78, in verse 9, it says the children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

They did not keep the covenant of God, they refused to walk in his law.

So there was another indictment, another example out of Psalm 78, of people who were prepared, who people?

They had God's law, they could have followed God's law, they could have obeyed, they were armed, they were ready and they drew back.

And here in Hebrews it's saying my soul has no pleasure in those who draw back.

God's not looking for people to draw back, to be cowardly, to hide, to run, to give up and to quit.

He's given us a way of success, regardless of the circumstances that are around us, and he does not take pleasure in the drawing back in the retreat, knowing that he's given us every means to be successful.

And so we're going to read some more out of Hebrews 10.

Let's go to verse 19.

We'll read, beginning in verse 19.

So Hebrews 10, 19 says therefore, brethren having boldness, having parrhesia, having confidence to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, we know that we have right standing, not because of anything we did, but by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God.

Let us draw near with a true heart, full of assurance.

Now, the word assurance there is a different Greek word, but it's very similar in meaning.

So it's again in full confidence of faith.

We can draw near to God with a true heart, in full confidence of faith.

Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscious, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water.

And so sometimes, you know, our brain reminds us of all the faults and all the failures and all the.

Our brain reminds us of all the faults and all the failures and all the shortcomings of our life.

But the blood of Jesus washes that away from our account.

And so when we approach God, we can't do so with a guilty conscience.

We've got to approach God in the full assurance of faith, knowing that our conscience has been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus, our body has been washed, we have right standing with him.

And so how do we do that?

Well, before the trouble comes, we need to be in the habit of keeping short accounts with God.

We don't run away from God, we run to God, and we obtain mercy in the time of need.

We can obtain forgiveness anytime we need it.

So, continuing on Hebrews 10, verse 23, it says let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

Hebrews 10:23

Hold fast the confession, that means to keep confessing, to keep saying with boldness, with parrhesia, without wavering Whatever is on the inside of us, whatever we've been pouring into ourselves, is going to come out in the time of trouble.

So when trouble comes, let's make sure that what's on the inside of us is a proper confession that lines up with God's Word.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

God is faithful and we've got to have confidence in that.

Then it says in verse 24, and let us consider one another to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more, as you see the day approaching.

And so we've got to be faithful to be around like-minded believers.

And you know how do you stir each other up with love and good works if we're not around each other.

So we've got to stay in the family of faith.

And then it says not forsaken the assembling of ourselves together.

Come to church.

If the church doors are open, you need to be here.

Come.

It's important so that what you're putting in on the inside of you when trouble comes, that's going to be here.

Come it's important so that what you're putting in on the inside of you when trouble comes, that's going to be what comes out and you have full confidence, full boldness, and when you speak you sound like it.

Encourage each other, build each other up.

Be an encourager, not a complainer.

Don't be complaining about all the things that you don't have Now.

We can communicate our needs without complaining, but don't be a complainer.

Be an encourager.

Paul encouraged the church at Philippi and when he did that, he expressed his confidence.

He said, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it.

Has God started a good work in you?

Has he begun something?

Has he initiated something in you?

Well then, you need to have confidence in yourself and other believers around you that if God started something, that he's going to finish it.

We're all an incomplete work, but we're not going to stay that way.

We're going to constantly be growing and maturing.

But we're not going to stay that way.

We're going to constantly be growing and maturing.

So real quick a testimony.

If you've attended this church for any time recently, you've probably heard about it.

But our oldest daughter was in a terrible car accident last October and she was hit broadside by a big heavy pickup truck that was going about 50 miles an hour.

She was found unconscious at the scene by the firemen that arrived there and we got a call from the fire department that she had signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injury and that they were loading her in a helicopter and were going to transport her to a hospital downtown.

That was a moment of trouble and the circumstances looked very dire.

They looked horrible.

I don't wish that on any parent.

The feeling that comes with that is awful.

But what came out of our mouth was not the circumstance.

What came out of our mouth was God's Word she will live and not die, and she'll declare the works of the Lord.

No weapon formed against her shall prosper.

No harm shall come near our dwelling.

When we heard about it from a friend who was nearby the accident, claire encouraged her do not fear, only believe.

And so Claire is encouraging somebody else who's about to pray for our daughter only speak God's word, don't pray anything outside of God's word.

Do not fear, only believe.

And so you know, claire is busy encouraging this other person who's going to be busy praying for our daughter, and that person you know is going to encourage others around to pray for our daughter with God's word.

And so it's common to pray fearful prayers in a time like that, but that's not the time to let fear in.

So we had a confidence, we had a boldness of speech that came out.

The feeling did not match up with that.

I'll tell you right now.

There was a feeling that was quite different, and that's the emotional side of it.

That's your body reacting to the traumatic situation around you.

But you are not a body, you're not an emotion, you're a spirit, and what needs to come out of you is boldness and confidence, confidence in your speech.

And so you need to be boosting your confidence before trouble comes.

And the end result of that was that we got to the hospital and Thea looks over and she said I'm fine.

And they gave her a Band-Aid and a Tylenol and a tetanus shot and sent her home and that was the extent of her injuries.

You know there was some symptoms you know I would call them mild of a concussion after that for the next day or so.

But we had pretty much had to tie our daughter down to keep her from moving about, because we wanted her body to relax, wanted her brain to relax and fully recover.

But she felt fine From traumatic brain injury to I'm fine and she gets a Tylenol and a Band-Aid and comes home.

Is an outright miracle.

But that's the confidence that we have.

He's faithful, who promised.

And so you need to be boosting your confidence well in advance of these circumstances so that when they come, the right things come out and you respond according to God's word and not according to the circumstance and according to the fear, and just know that if God began something, he's going to complete it.

I knew that God began something in our daughter and he's going to complete it.

I know that when Trump got up there that day and he took a bullet through his ear, god protected him, and we've already talked about this as a church.

But if God protected him, then God has a purpose for him and what God began, god will complete.

And so there is a protection for Donald Trump there.

Let's look at Proverbs, chapter three, and in verse 25, it says do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes.

When it comes, it's not an if it said for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught the Lord will be your confidence and He'll keep your foot from being caught when trouble comes.

When it comes, it will come.

We can pray as a church, we can pray as a believer and we can mitigate some things around us, but we live in a fallen world and Jesus did say there would be trouble.

And so we're building our faith against that trouble.

We're building our confidence, we're boosting our confidence against trouble.

How many know the days are evil.

The days are evil.

Right now they're getting pretty dark.

But my confidence again is not in a government, it's not in a person, it's not in a culture, it's in the living God.

The living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy, who supplies my every need according to his abundant riches and glory.

By Christ Jesus, I'm not going to run out because my confidence is in him.

Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 15 says see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.

Ephesians 5:15

Circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, because the days are evil, and it says redeeming the time because the days are evil.

See, then, that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

Verse 17 says therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

So it's foolishness to not know what God's will is in any set of circumstances you're in.

The good news is is we can approach, we can ask and we can receive.

When David, when King David and his men, their wives were taken, their children were taken, their stuff was stolen and the people sought to stone David, they were greatly distressed.

David was greatly distressed, um, they were ready to kill him and and their soul was just terribly grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters.

And but it says that David strengthened himself in the Lord.

David had to encourage himself, he had to boost his confidence.

He had to probably remember how God was faithful to him before, the good things God has done, how God didn't let him down.

And he probably had to encourage himself and say, well, if God brought me this far, he didn't bring me this far to fail.

So he must have a plan, a way of escape for me to get this stuff back.

I know what I'll do.

I'll seek God and I'll ask him shall we pursue?

And so he sought God and he asked God for wisdom.

He asked God for a plan.

God shall we pursue?

And the answer came back you shall surely pursue and you'll recover all.

And they did.

David didn't just launch out in anger and try to handle stuff himself.

He started by encouraging himself and then he found out what God's will was in that situation.

He got wisdom for that situation and then he applied that wisdom before he launched out and he was successful because of that.

In the book of Proverbs, about 14 times it mentions the fear of the Lord, 14 times in the whole book of Proverbs.

And we know that the fear of the Lord is 14 times in the whole book of Proverbs and we know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

So if you want wisdom, it starts with honoring God and putting him first in your life and caring more about what God thinks on any given situation than anything else.

And so we've got to honor God.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Psalm 39, verse, I'm sorry.

Psalm 34, verse 9, verse 9, it says O fear the Lord, you his saints.

Psalms 34:9

There is no want to those who fear him.

The young lions lack and suffer hunger.

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

And we know in the book of James, chapter 1, that we can ask for wisdom anytime we ask for wisdom, and we do it in faith, with nothing wavering.

James 1 · chapter mention

In other words, our confidence is high that if we ask for faith we're going to receive faith.

Then we can have it.

And when we have wisdom, then we can apply it.

And that will get you out of the trouble, out of the circumstance that you're in.

And so you know, if I had to put a list here of things that were important out of this message tonight, number one you know we're here to boost our confidence.

Forget not his benefits, remember his goodness, encourage yourself and then, when you've done that, encourage others around you.

Encourage yourself and then, when you've done that, encourage others around you.

Know that you can go before God.

Go boldly, with confidence, to the throne of grace.

Obtain mercy, obtain covenant kindness, know your rights.

Know what that covenant kindness represents.

Know what belongs to you.

Fear God, care about what he thinks on any given situation and don't be afraid to ask for wisdom.

I know we're spirit-led beings.

We have the Holy Spirit on the inside of us.

We can follow the inward witness, but sometimes we need some wisdom specific to a certain set of circumstances.

So look, I know we've got trouble coming.

There's a lot of months.

There's about four months before this election happens, six months until the next president is installed.

So, as a country, we're in a tumultuous time, an unstable time, a dangerous time, and I can't tell you what's going to happen.

And when things happen, they can affect you personally if you let them.

But I want you to have confidence.

Boost your confidence now so that when trouble comes, you're prepped and ready.

It's a prepper thing.

So be prepped and ready.

Be confident in who you are in Christ and what the God's word says about you.

And then, when that comes, when that situation comes, be ready to apply that word the same way that you've been putting it in.

Apply it and then you can be victorious because of it.

So boost your confidence.

You.