Confidence in Crisis

Hey, welcome to Gateway Church.

I want to bring you greetings from your most southern campus here in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

But Pastor Robert and Debbie, we love you.

What an honor it is for us to be with you in your first conference, and we're excited as we face this new year together.

You know, this past year, 2020, has been one of the most challenging years for all of us.

It's almost like there was a spirit of anxiety that was released over our nation.

I mean, hey, listen, I'm a guy that doesn't deal with anxiety very much, but I'm gonna tell you, I felt the heaviness and the weight at times in 2020.

But as I I looked to the Word of God, I kept finding my comfort in a voice that echoed down through the ages of time.

Actually, 1,959 years ago, this voice pierced the darkness of that hour and declared, I have found the secret to peace and confidence in times of crisis.

I don't know if you realize this or not, but the crisis hotline here in America had an increase of over 890% in his calls.

People were in this state of crisis.

I don't know if it was the uncertainty of our times, the isolation that came because of COVID-19, but I know this there was a spirit of anxiety that was loose.

But there was one voice that said, I found the secret, how to have peace and confidence in these times, in these difficult, challenging times.

And of course, that voice came from a prison in Rome when he declared, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Now, this is a very familiar verse to all of us, Philippians 4.13, that the apostle Paul was writing to the church at Philippi while he was imprisoned in Rome.

And he writes to them and tells them, Hey, I I found it.

When I was reading this verse again, because we have all known the verse, my goodness gracious, it's been my life verse, it's been your life verse.

I mean, Tim Tebow was wearing it under his eye, you know, when he played his football games.

But I wanted to get to the foundation of Paul's confidence.

Because I think it's important for us to review some of these key revelations that came to the Apostle Paul that are available to us that will give us confidence as we face this new year together.

Because 2021 is going to be a great year.

And as we step into it right now, we need to step into it with the confidence that God has for us.

So to discover the foundation of this confidence, I want us to go back to the Apostle Paul's original encounter with Jesus Christ.

So we'll go back to Acts chapter 9 that tells us the story.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

So would you join me there in the Holy Scriptures as we read?

It says, Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.

And he went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus.

So that if he found anyone there who belonged to the way, that was the followers of Christ in the early days were called followers of the way.

Remember, he is the way, the truth, and the life.

Whether men or women, that he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

And as he neared Damascus on the journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground, and he heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

Who are you, Lord?

Saul asked.

I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied.

Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.

Wow, here he is, Saul of Tarshus had just left the persecution of Stephen, one of our first martyrs.

And this man is on a mission because he believes these followers of the way are committing a heresy against the church and the law and the way of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Isn't that amazing?

So he's on this street called straight.

I've always thought that was humorous to me, that God was going to straighten out Saul of Tarshius.

He was going to become Paul the Apostle, he was going to straighten him out on a street called straight.

And he sends a humble little servant to him by the name of Ananias to help him understand what God is about to do in commissioning Saul of Tarsus to become now Paul the Apostle that would take the gospel to the known world through the power of Jesus Christ.

Let's continue reading in verse 17.

Then Ananias went on to went to the house and entered it and placed his hands on Saul, and he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And immediately something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again, and he got up and he was baptized.

Here's what I love about this passage.

Gateway, there were three major revelations that came into Saul of Tarsus' life that transformed him to become Paul, the great apostle, who took the Word of God to the known world and has written the majority of our New Testament writings in the Word of God.

Here was the first revelation that got him.

He heard the voice of God.

Now think about it.

The apostle Paul had been living among generations of people that had not heard the voice of God for over 400 years.

And suddenly God speaks to him on the road to Damascus, and a distant God at that moment became personal when he sought Saul out and called him by name.

It transformed him that suddenly he could now hear and commune with this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He knew that the distant prophets had heard the voice of God.

He knew that Moses and Abraham had heard the voice of God.

He knew that Joshua had heard the voice of God guiding.

But this is not just for an average man like me.

No, no, no.

That was the revelation that came to him.

And it awakened his inner man when he heard that voice.

You remember what Jesus said to us in the Gospel of John?

He said, My sheep follow me because they know my voice.

Isn't that great?

We are to be able, as followers of Christ, to know and discern the voice of God.

So here was the first revelation.

It's very simple.

Everyone can hear the voice of God.

And Paul's confidence grew because he suddenly realized now I don't have to go through my life making decisions just on my own basis or my own wisdom or my own understanding.

I have the voice of God to guide me.

That is amazing.

I want to tell you something.

Confidence comes from wise counsel.

We have the counsel of the word of God, and it's there to guide us, and we are so blessed that we have that as followers of Christ today, and this word will guide us.

We also have the privilege every time we gather at Gateway and we hear Pastor Robert, under the anointing of the Spirit of God, proclaim the word of God to us, we are hearing the voice of God.

It's there to give us wisdom and guidance and direction in our lives and call our lives into balance and into alignment with God's word and God's purposes for our lives.

And this is also important.

I think we all need it, Ananias.

We need a wise counselor to come alongside of us that's there to counsel and to encourage us in the word.

I've always sought out men of wisdom, men of faith that I can seek wise counsel from.

You know, I've sought wise counsel from Pastor Robert many times over many situations.

I've sought wise counsel from Pastor Steve Doolin there at Gateway.

Steve's a very dear friend, and we pray about a lot of matters throughout many weeks because I think it's important to have that wise counsel.

Let me give you a coaching tip.

When we're looking for something new and something you know in our life that we're trying to really discern the voice of God, let me encourage you.

Go back and make sure that you're walking in obedience to what you already know that the Word of God is spoken to you.

Because here's the key obedience heightens our inner awareness to discern the voice of God.

Our obedience positions us to really hear the voice of God.

That's a simple coaching tip.

And you can Twitter, tweet, or whatever that is out.

You know, obedience helps us to discern, it improves our spiritual hearing.

And here's what I know when you have the voice of God guiding you, you can face any challenge you are going to need to face in this new year with great confidence.

That's the first revelation.

This personal God wants to commune with us, and we have the ability to hear and discern the voice of God to guide our lives.

Here's the second thing that rocked his world is what he experienced.

And by the way, he experienced just the opposite of what he thought he was going to experience, because suddenly when he encountered Christ, and he knew the very one that he was seeking to persecute for heresy was actually he was the one that was committing heresy.

So Paul was a man of the law.

He had studied, you know, under under Gameliel, who was that famous rabbi, and Paul knew the law.

And I'm gonna tell you, with the law, here's what came.

When you followed the law and you broke the law, judgment would come.

Paul was laying there expecting judgment from God, but what did he receive?

The love of God came over him.

The mercy of God, the grace of God, the forgiveness of God flowed over him.

And suddenly, wave after wave of God's love is transforming this saw of Tarsus' heart into Paul, the great apostle, that would take this message of love to the world.

And after Paul experienced this love, he wanted everyone to experience this love and to comprehend it.

I love what he writes to the church at Ephesus.

Found in Ephesians chapter 3, we have these words recorded.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

He says, And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

He said, I just want you to be lost in his love.

There's an old song we sing, Blessing Assurance, Jesus is mine, oh, what a foretaste of glory divine, filled with his goodness, and I'm lost in his love.

Think about it.

His love is so vast.

We live in such a cynical world.

We live in a world of such conditional love.

We live so many people who have been betrayed by those that said they loved them.

And that has scarred their lives.

But Paul found a purity in the divine agape love that transformed him.

And I'll tell you what, that love passes all understanding.

He also knew this that God's a God of covenant, therefore, this is an everlasting love for all people.

That's why he wrote to the church at Rome these words.

I love this, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height or death, nor anything else in all creation.

Think about it.

Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

That's transformational.

When we get hold of that, and there's no condemnation in that.

The enemy of our soul tries to condemn us, tries to remind us of all our past failures and faults.

And when you're in Christ Jesus, he has forgiven us and transformed us, and we are in that love, and we need to experience the depth of that and let it be transformational.

You know, um, I gave my heart to Jesus when I was a very young man.

I grew up in the church.

My grandfather was my pastor, my mother played the piano.

We never missed church.

Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.

I mean, we were there back in the day we used to have two and three-week revival services every night, no excuse.

I used to want to stay home and watch Davy Crockett on Sunday nights when it first came out on Disney on a little black and white TV.

And then I'd say, Mama, I'm sick.

I can't go to church tonight.

She says, No, you're going to church, you'll be healed.

Okay, so come on.

So we we never, we never miss church.

So I grew up.

And then I and then when I got in my teens, I started serving in the church, and and then when I got married, and I was 20 and got married, my wife and I, we started serving in local church, and I'd lead worship and I'd preach and speak occasionally.

And we we loved Jesus, you know?

But it wasn't until I was 38 years old.

I went to Israel for the first time.

I made my way up the Via Del Rosa and I went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and I went upstairs where they believe that Christ was crucified, and the cross was placed on that in that stone there on Galvary.

And I watched people kneeling down under this altar to put their hand in to touch that stone where they believe the cross was placed.

And I sat down on a little stone bench back, watching pilgrims from all over the world gathering at that holy site.

And something happened.

It's like God parted a veil, and I was able to look into the depth of the love of Christ for me, and his sacrifice on the cross became personal that day for me.

And I sat there and I wept and I wept and I wept, and my wife and my children were with me, and I said, Listen, I know the tour's got to go on back to the to the hotel, but I'm gonna stay here.

I'll I'll make my way back later.

And I sat there for hours, and I felt the wave after wave after wave of God's love come over me.

I had an experience at the cross.

It changed me.

I knew I could no longer ever live for myself from that point forward.

I came back, I had no idea what God had in store, but I surrendered that day in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre when I encountered the depth of the divine love of God that I'm just still beginning to explore.

But six months later, God birthed Christ's fellowship.

That's over 37 years ago.

And I look back over that journey, and it all came, a transformation came with a revelation of the depth of God's love for us.

I tell you what, I want you to understand that and walk in that and find security in that.

The apostle Paul, he was secure in that love.

He found his identity in that love, he discovered his purpose in that love.

And when you are lost in the love of Christ, those things happen.

And out of that comes a security and a comfort and an encouragement that no matter what we face, we can have confidence because of the love of God that is there with us.

I tell you what, I want you to face this new year with such confidence that the voice of God is there to guide you, and the love of God is there to comfort, encourage you, and to bring security to you in all that you do.

But there was a third revelation that the apostle Paul had.

And this third revelation was simply this Paul realized that the presence of God was no longer limited only to the temple.

Now you remember that only the chief high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement could go into the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and he would go in there to pray and intercede for the sins of the nation.

And the presence of God dwelled there.

The Shekinah glory dwelled there.

But when Christ died on the cross, the veil was rent in two from top to bottom, and the Spirit of the living God was set free.

And now Paul had a revelation when the Holy Spirit, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, that now the presence of God could dwell in a human heart, and that we now became the temple of the living God.

What a revelation.

Now the apostle Paul knew that God had spoken to Moses in Deuteronomy, and he said to Moses, Moses, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The Lord, I mean the Lord also spoke to Joshua, and he knew that.

Paul knew he had spoken to Joshua and he said, Joshua, I'm going to be with you.

Be up strong, be courageous.

I will never leave you, I'll never forsake you.

But now it became personal again to Paul.

And we have it written in Hebrews, the same verse quoted, I will never leave you, never will I forsake you.

Suddenly the presence of God became personal with Paul.

Now think about that.

When you have that presence of God with you, and he writes to the church at Rome, and I love this verse in 831, what then shall we respond to these things?

If God be for us, who can be against us?

I think the enemy wants to distract us from the realization that God's abiding presence is with us, and we have nothing to fear when God is near.

I grew up in southern Ohio, and my grandfather was my pastor, he also loved to hunt and fish.

And one thing he loved to do was he loved to get these hound dogs, and we'd go out and chase raccoons around at night in these woods.

So we'd go out in woods all around southern Ohio, turn the dogs loose, they would tree these raccoons, and we'd go out there and just have fun hearing the dogs tree those raccoons.

And I loved to be with my grandpa.

He was about six foot four, and you know, I was a young kid, and I'm running around trying to keep up with him in the woods, and I never had a flashlight.

I never needed a flashlight.

Grandpa always had a flashlight, and I was never concerned in the woods, never fearful in the woods.

Why?

I was with grandpa.

If a bear came up in the woods, well, I didn't have to worry about it, he'd whip the bear.

You know, if they talk about Davy Crockett being able to whip a bear, well, my grandfather could whip Davy Crockett.

So there was nobody that could mess with Grandpa.

So I hadn't never feared anything when I was with Grandpa.

Until one night we were in a strange woods, and um the dogs had treed way off in the distance, and and grandpa said to me, He said, Son, you're gonna slow me down because I gotta go way that distance, and we gotta come back this way to get back to the truck.

So I want you just to wait here for me, and I'm gonna go get the dogs and I'll be right back.

And I said, Grandpa, I I don't really want to be here alone without you.

He said, No, no, son, you'll be all right.

I would never leave you anywhere that you're not gonna be okay.

You're okay, just stay right here.

And so grandpa left.

Well, suddenly things started happening.

I started seeing things I've never seen before in the woods.

I mean, strange shadows started appearing.

Then I started hearing things I've never heard before.

And and that was strange to me.

So I backed up against a tree, I got a stick, and for the first time I had fear come over me in the woods.

I'm alone, I'm in the dark, I don't know what to expect, and here I am alone.

But then I heard the dog stop barking, that was a good sign.

Grandpa had gotten to him, and then I could see a flicker of a little light coming towards me in the woods.

And every time I saw that light, as it got closer, I got braver.

By the time I could hear Grandpa talking to the dogs and walking, I dropped my stick, I moved out from the tree, I was okay because grandpa's near.

I have nothing to fear.

He came up and he said, By the way, he said, Some were you okay?

I said, Oh, yeah, I was fine.

Were you afraid?

Oh, no, no, no, I wasn't afraid at all.

Hello.

But what I realized when Grandpa's near, I have nothing to fear.

Because he's going to take care of me.

Well, do you realize that your heavenly father is abiding near you and he's there to protect you and provide for you?

And Paul knew that.

No one had been through more crisis than Paul had been shipwrecked, stoned, and left for dead, my goodness, imprisoned about every decent jail from Jerusalem to Rome.

But every time he knew he was never alone, God was with him.

And with that gave Paul the confidence to declare, I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me.

So let's review real quick.

Paul's confidence was rooted in these three divine revelations.

The voice of God would guide him.

Think about it.

The love of God would encourage him, and that's where he found his security, and the presence of God would protect him.

Wow.

Well, here's what I want us to know.

As we step into this new year that we're embarking here in 2021, I want you to have the same confidence that the Apostle Paul had.

No matter what we come up against, I want you to know that the voice of God is going to be there to guide you.

The love of God is going to be there to secure you.

And the presence of God is going to be there to protect you.

And then Paul goes on in that same passage, by the way.

He teaches us when he's talking to the church at Philippi, I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me.

A few verses ahead of that, he gives us actually three great coaching tips on how to strengthen our confidence.

So in the next couple minutes, I want to run you through three coaching tips that will help strengthen your confidence as you face this new year.

Are you ready?

Let's go.

Let's jump into it quick.

I want to read the passage first that's found in Philippians chapter 4, beginning with verse 4 through verse 8.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Follow along as we read.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

And I'll say it again, rejoice.

Now remember, he's writing this from prison.

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything.

Oh, wait a minute.

Would you say that out loud with me, wherever you are right now?

If you're assembled with us or you're watching this online, I want you to say it with me together.

Here we go.

Do not be anxious about anything.

Wow, okay, praise God.

But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God will, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

And finally, brothers and sisters, whatever's true, whatever's noble, whatever's right, whatever's pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.

So here we go.

First key.

Paul says, rejoice.

And again I say, rejoice.

Praise and worship is our first key of strengthening our confidence.

Because here's what praise and worship does: it invites the presence of God into our situation.

Remember when Paul and Silas were in prison in Acts chapter 16?

Acts 16 · chapter mention

They're in stocks, it's midnight, they've been beaten unjustly.

What are they doing?

They're singing praise and worship songs unto the Lord, singing hymns unto God, and God's presence comes, shakes the prison, sets them free, salvation comes to the jailer and his family, and the church at Philippi is birthed.

Wow.

Because Paul chose to praise.

Here's what I know praise lifts our faith to look beyond our circumstances.

That's why it's so important.

And I'm going to tell you something.

There's something about corporate praise.

I know we've been watching online for months, and now we're getting back into the habit of getting gathering back together.

But I'm going to tell you what, as soon as we got back together, the one thing I realized I missed most about it was our corporate praise experience.

There's something about praising God with one another and what it does to invoke the presence of God to come and dwell among us.

Here's what else I know.

Praise declares, and this is important, that all things are under God's authority.

It brings everything back into right perspective because we're declaring, we're praising God because our eyes are not going to get fixed on our circumstances or on what crisis we may be dealing with in our lives, but we are looking above that to our source, to our God.

Amen?

And that's why the apostle Paul could write to the church at Rome, Romans 8.28.

Now we know that in all things God works for good for those that love him and who are called according to his purpose.

I hold on to that.

No matter how tough a situation is, I stop and say, wait a minute.

I know I love him.

I'm going to praise you because I know you're going to take this difficult time and you're going to turn it around for something good that's going to bring honor and glory to you.

Here's the second key, Paul says.

Don't be anxious about anything, but through everything in prayer, make your petitions and requests known to God.

You know, I love about the Apostle Paul when he was in, I think it was Acts chapter 27, when he's at storm at sea and the hurricane winds have driven him forever.

Acts 27 · chapter mention

And Paul just got up and he prayed, and God gave him the answer and the confidence that you're going to make it through the storm.

The ship's going to be destroyed, but all 327 of them traveling with you are going to be saved.

Paul gets up and makes the announcement.

The ship was destroyed.

They were all saved.

And Paul building a fire to comfort everybody.

You would think, well, you know, look at him.

He's should be honored.

We should be building a fire for him.

And then a snake jumps up, bites him while he's there doing the fire.

Now I'm going to tell you what, I don't like snakes.

He just shook the thing off.

It's like, wait a minute.

God sent me to Rome.

I'm on a divine mission.

Nothing can stop me.

Now I've done all this good for everybody else, and still the enemy's trying to bite me with a snake.

Man, I one time I was walking in Africa and the snake, I stepped over a log, and a cobra came right up out of that log under my legs, and you would have thought I was a drum major.

I mean, I tore off high stepping out of there like you won't believe.

The Apostle Paul shook it off.

Why he had such confidence in that the Lord was with him and he was on a divine mission from God, and God's going to use everything ultimately for my good if I trust him.

And he was a man of such faith, he was a man of such prayer that he had this confidence.

Of course, you know the rest of the story.

Ended up, that incident led him to an opportunity to bring healing to those that were sick and officials on that island of Malta and then help bring revival.

Remember, everything God allows us to go through, he will use ultimately for his good.

That's why we are to prayer.

Pray.

Now here's what I love about prayer.

It positions us to hear the voice of God, obviously.

We grow quiet in our time of prayer.

And prayer, here we go, is the best defense against anxiety.

It's the best defense against it.

Well, there was one key more that I want you to get.

First key was praise and worship.

Second key was prayer.

The third key, Paul gives, he says, focus.

Focus your minds on the things of good report, the things that are pure and lovely and noble and honorable.

Focus your mind.

Because you know Paul had a battle in his past life, the enemy kept trying to bring up his past to him all the time.

Remember what he said earlier in chapter 3 in the book of Philippians?

He said, I have to forget what is behind me to press towards what is ahead of me, to take hold of that for which Christ has called me heavenward.

You know, we all have to battle with things like that all the time.

The battleground of the mind is a critical battleground.

That's why Paul writes and says, take every thought captive to the church at Corinth and make it subject to Christ.

He writes to the church at Colossians and says, Hey, don't let your minds be taken captive by the foolish and vain philosophies of this world.

No, no, no.

Keep your mind in Christ.

He says in Colossians chapter 3, set your minds on things above.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

And what did Jesus say?

Love the Lord your God with all your what?

Heart, soul, and mind.

It's critical that we focus.

It says in Proverbs, I love this out of the King James Version.

It says in Proverbs 33, for he, as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

What I would say in our terminology today, what you focus on, you become.

What you focus on, you become.

Now here's my challenge to you, Gateway.

Boy, I love you guys so much.

I hope you know that.

I I just I love the team at Gateway.

I love Gateway Church.

If if God didn't call me here to be a part of this South Campus of Gateway here at Christ Fellowship in South Florida, I'd be there with you at Gateway.

But here's what here's coming.

I wrote this down because I didn't want to miss this.

As we face this new year, don't let these three revelations be stolen from you by the enemy of your soul.

There is a spirit of fear that's roaming around our world today, trying to take our hearts and our minds captive.

We've got to rebuke that.

God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of what?

Of love, of power and love, and that of a sound mind, Paul said to Timothy.

There is a spirit here, but we we've got to battle through and press through to know that the voice of God is available to us to guide us.

And we can be confident of that as we seek him every day in prayer.

And as we seek him in our time of praise and worship, as we focus our mind into his word and into his truth, the voice of God is there to guide us.

And the love of God is there to comfort us.

And that's where we find our security and our identity in his love.

And the presence of God will protect us.

Remember, I like to translate at Romans 8 31 this way.

If God be for me, who can mess with me?

No one.

No situation.

Because with God, I make a majority and I will overcome.

And by the way, wherever I travel, I got goodness and mercy, got my back covered, and I got the Spirit of God leading me.

Therefore, I can step into every situation with confidence because here it is.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Let that become your declaration as we enter this new year.

And you can enter it with confidence.

And with that confidence, you will fulfill your divine calling, your divine purpose, and you will shine bright like a light that God's called you to be.

Jesus said in Matthew, so let your light shine, that men see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

I like to translate it this way: live a life that's so attractive that men and women are drawn to you so you can lead them to me, Jesus said.

And when you live a life of confidence, you live a life that is attractive.

And so here's the simple truth the winning edge for 2021 is the confidence that we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in his voice, in his love, and in his presence.

Gateway Church, I love you so much.

I want to pray a prayer of blessing over you as you're stepping in to this new year.

That it will be a year of the greatest experience of God's confidence in your life that will lead your life and your family and Gateway Church to new heights and great victories in Jesus' name.

Let me pray for you.

Father, I thank you for the privilege to share with the Gateway family today, and I pray your blessing and favor over them into this new year.

Continue to bless and lead and guide Pastor Robert and Debbie as they lead the team.

And God, I pray for your confidence to flood into the hearts for these divine revelations that came into Paul's life.

They will be brought to the surface in our lives, and we will recognize your voice is here to guide us, your love is here to comfort us, and your presence is here to protect us.

And we thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

I love you, Gateway.

God bless.