Christ-Confidence

There’s a Stirring # 9   

            For years I have had students write their spiritual autobiographies. I started this back at ACU when I was teaching there. I cannot tell you how many times I had students who seemed to “have had it all together”—world class athletes, beautiful young women, handsome young men—yet beneath the surface, they struggled with self-confidence.

            That was not necessarily a bad thing. Let me explain.

            In his book, ASK HIM ANYTHING, Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote that the word confidence comes to us from the Latin. Con means “with”, which you may recognize from Spanish. Fidere means “faith” or “trust”. So confidence means an all-together faith.

            To have confidence in its truest sense means you have complete faith in something that is totally consistent and reliable. Therein lies the problem.

            How many of you have ever been totally reliable? How many have never made a mistake?

            To be self-confident is impossible in the purest sense. You will let yourself down. You will break down over time. It is more pressure than you were built to bear. So, these college students who lacked self-confidence had a chance in life because they did not have to unlearn some things that are hard to unlearn.

            Have you ever heard of brokenness? Brokenness occurs for a lot of reasons. Sometimes, it arrives when a person is placing confidence in himself, and his “self” lets him down.

            I’ve made this mistake before. When I went to college, I was surging with self-confidence. I had to be taken down a peg or two.

            When I went to Argentina as part of a team to do mission work, I had enormous self-confidence. I went to Argentina with all of the answers. I left five and half years later with a lot of questions. That experience changed my life forever.

            What about you? I have seen guys bully men who have had affairs, only to later have one themselves.

            I have seen people savagely treat a Christian going through a devastating divorce. That would never happen to them!

            It did.

            I wonder if Paul was thinking about self-confidence when he warned us to put no confidence in the flesh.

            Now, you may be wondering—what (or who) do we put our confidence in? I’m glad you asked.

Let Me Tell You the Story ‘bout a Man Named Mel

            There was an ancient king of Salem named Melchizedek. Let’s call him, Mel.

            Mel was highly thought by Jesus’ people, the Jews. He was a “mystery man. All we know is that he was the King of Salem when Abraham sought to honor him with ten percent of his plunder after defeating some evil kings in a brief war. We never read of Mel dying.

            The Preacher in Hebrews writes this about Mel, “…the Melchizedek story provides a perfect analogy: Jesus, a priest like Melchizedek, not by genealogical descent but by the sheer force of resurrection life—he lives!—"priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.” (Heb. 7:15-17) THE MESSAGE

         In other words, after comparing Jesus to Mel, the Preacher says, “The former way of doing things, a system of commandments that never worked out the way it was supposed to, was set aside; the law brought nothing to maturity. Another way—Jesus!—a way that does work, that brings us right into the presence of God, is put in its place” (Heb. 7:18-19.) THE MESSAGE 

         The old system of sacrifices never worked because we cannot keep the Law. The Law taught us that. Ever had a parent tell you NOT to do something, and then you do it?

         The Law taught us that we couldn’t hack it. It taught us that we have a problem. It taught us to put no confidence in our ability to be good.

          “The problem with self-confidence is that the self is not either consistent or constant.”—Lloyd John Olgilvie

         “Earlier there were a lot of priests, for they died and had to be replaced. But Jesus' priesthood is permanent. He's there from now to eternity to save everyone who comes to God through him, always on the job to speak up for them.“

         Jesus came and took care of our problem of our sinful selves. He was the perfect go-between—between God and us.

Mediation

         Okay, put on your thinking caps.

            Everybody wants a mediator.

            When I was in the third grade, I liked a girl. I wanted her to like me. I wanted to know if this girl liked me. However, I knew instinctively that I could not be so bold as to go up to her and say, “I like you–do you like me?” Instead, I knew I needed a mediator.

            That's why I knew I needed to seek the help of her good friend, and mine, so I approached this friend and I asked, “Would you serve as my mediator? Would you enter this girl’s awesome presence, and express my supreme affection for her? And would you do so in order that she and I might have a closer relationship?” (My words were probably not that precise, but that was the general idea.)

            Imagine my excitement when my mediator complied with my request, and the aforementioned girl became my girlfriend. We began a beautiful relationship that lasted—three days.

            Human beings instinctively understand their need for a mediator. We have always understood the need to have someone else go before God in our place.             

            The world religions throughout history have displayed this understanding–even if they did not know who Jehovah was, they understood that there was a great being, more supreme, out there in the universe. So throughout history, in the world religions, you will find the shaman, the holy men, or the priests to go in front of the people, for the people—before God.

            We observe this on a junior level with human royalty. Prince William and Princess Kate have been the fad lately. Many people would love to enter into their presence. However, you cannot simply walk up to them. There is an elaborate etiquette to be observed.

            Here are a few basic tips of royal protocol:

Once you are formally introduced, you may address the Princess as “Mam” and the Prince as “Sir.”

Please do not initiate conversation.

During conversation, if you want to ask a question, say, "Begging your pardon, Mam, may I ask a question?”

Here’s the protocol if you are if you are invited for a meal with the Queen:

You sit when the Queen sits, and rise when she does.

When the Queen stops eating, you stop as well.

You no longer have to back completely out of the room; however, you do need to take two or three steps back before you turn to leave.

And don't forget to pen a personal “Thank You” note within 72 hours. The Queen may never see it herself, but her social staff will make note of it.

         All of this is for entering into the presence of human royalty! What about entering into the presence of eternal royalty?

            In the Old Testament, that’s what the tabernacle was for. Their tabernacle was the place where the King of the universe resided. For humans to meet with God, royal protocol had to be followed. The High Priest served as mediator and chief protocol officer for the people of Israel. He entered into the presence of the King on behalf of the people.

            When I preached this passage, my church placed a tabernacle set on the platform in our auditorium. The set included articles that were mentioned specifically in Hebrews chapter nine.  For fun, I had one of our young people pretend he was the High Priest and walk through the tabernacle in our congregation’s behalf. We imagined he had been trained in all of the rules of divine protocol.

            Every time this young man made a movement that was counter to the biblical etiquette of the High Priest, I would interrupt him and point out the proper procedure. This brought chuckles.

            I then told him we forgot to act according to rabbinic tradition, so I brought out a rope and tied it to his ankle. I reminded him that Jewish tradition emphasized that he was entering into the presence of a holy God. One false or incorrect move, and God was going to kill him. Indeed, accounts in Jewish tradition inform us that God struck an occasional high priest dead for violation of divine procedure. (When I started to tie the rope around his ankle, he showed a real reluctance. That got some laughs.)

            I hoped to make a point. Jesus, the Greatest High Priest, changed the ballgame! Because of his work, God could write a new covenant on our hearts. God would no longer remember our sins: 26-28 So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God's presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn't have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins.

         He's done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect (Heb. 7:23-28.) THE MESSAGE.

            Not only can Jesus go in our behalf before God, because of his sacrifice, he also can take us with him! Israel had not remained “faithful to my covenant, 
so I turned my back on them, says the LORD. 
 10 But this is the new covenant I will make 
with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD:  I will put my laws in their minds, 
and I will write them on their hearts. 
I will be their God, 
and they will be my people…(Heb. 8:7-10) NLT 
 

         12 And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins” (Heb. 8:12.) NLT

         Jesus changed the divine protocol!

         To sum up where we are:           

            All of us have a sin problem.

            So all of us have a God problem.

            Which means all of us have a SELF-problem.

            All of us have sin problem, which means we cannot go into the presence of God. God cannot allow sin to come into his presence. Consequently, we all have a self-problem. So where do we put our trust?

            Lloyd John Ogilvie writes that as a native Californian, he rarely had to wear gloves. On a trip to Detroit, he arrived during a blizzard, and the weather necessitated the purchase of a pair.

            Being a good preacher, he immediately observed a useful illustration. He noticed that without his hands inside the gloves, the gloves were “listless, inanimate, motionless.” However, when he inserted his hands inside, the gloves became “alive, vital, energized.”

            Ogilvie applied his observation in this way: the empty glove represents our self. Our self was created by God to be filled so that we might fulfill his purpose. When we are baptized into Christ, and the Holy Spirit fills us, we are empowered to be bold and confident.

            What does this look like? It means we can overcome sin. It means God can use us in powerful way. It means God can do great things through us. However, in each scenario, the emphasis is not on us, it is on Him.

Our self was created by God to be filled so that we might fulfill his purpose.

When we are baptized into Christ, and the Holy Spirit fills us, we are empowered to be bold and confident.

The gift of God is Christ Confidence.

            Our daughter, Haleigh, is a freshman at Harding University. A few weeks back, she said goodbye to some of her friends on a Friday afternoon to leave for spring break.

            Six of her friends traveled in two cars. Haleigh diverged paths from them at the city of Texarkana, TX. She traveled to Tyler on Interstate 59. They continued on Interstate 30 toward Fort Worth.

            Shortly thereafter, the six students were involved in a chain reaction collision. One of the young men got out to see if the person in front was okay. Getting back to his pickup, he was hit and thrown over 50 feet in the air.

            The prognosis was grave. Two of his buddies held him in their arms there by the Interstate until medical help arrived to care-flight him to a hospital that specialized in the treatment of victims of brain trauma.

            Haleigh, another one of my daughters, Abby, and I had a chance to go visit the families at the hospital waiting room. The atmosphere there was one of confidence in the work of Jesus. Everyone knew if a Christian young man died, he would be with Jesus forever.

            That mood was different than other waiting rooms I have been in. The confidence was lacking, and for good reason. If one is not in Christ, I cannot offer hope. What a difference it makes if one has faith in Jesus.

            What does Christ-confidence look like?

            It means God can overcome sin in us.

            It means God can use us in a powerful way.

            It means God can use us to do great things.

            But, it will be God who is working through us. Without him, we would be nothing.

            Therefore, let us then be Christ-confident, not self-confident for as Ogilvie states, “The secret of lasting confidence lies in his indwelling resourcefulness.”