INTRO.- ILL. - A prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman, to the stand. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?" She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a rising big shot when you haven’t the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Williams, do you know the defense attorney?" She again replied, "Why, yes I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to baby-sit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He’s lazy, bigoted, he has a drinking problem. The man can’t build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him."
At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace, "If either of you asks her if she knows me, you’ll be jailed for contempt!"
Brothers and sisters, as you well know, this is the not the norm in the court of law. Most people are very cautious about what they say before the judge and jury.
Have you even been in a court of law? Ever had to stand before a judge and answer questions? How did you feel about it? Did it make you nervous? Of course, if you were not the defendant in the case you might have little to fear, unless you were appearing before JUDGE JUDY!
If you ever thought it would be hard to stand before a judge, knowing that you were guilty as sin, just think how you would feel standing before God, knowing you are guilty of gross sin! How does that thought grab you?
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
I know of some people that should dread to fall into the hands of God, don’t you? But fear not, it is not you nor I. Why? Because our sins are covered by blood of the lamb.
Romans 4:7-8 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Do you believe it? You should. We who are in Christ should have confidence before God. We must trust Him and His Word!
PROP.- Our text reveals what it means to have confidence before God.
1- We ask and God answers
2- God speaks and we obey
3- God sends and we receive
I. WE ASK AND GOD ANSWERS
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
Confidence before God means that we receive from God anything we ask. Have you received everything you’ve asked of God? Probably not everything. So what’s the deal? Why don’t we get everything that we ask for from God? The reason is because God rules and He has certain criteria for our asking. What are some of His guidelines for getting our prayers answered?
- We must ask in faith, nothing doubting.
James 1:5-6 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
We ask for wisdom in faith that the Lord will provide it and we ask for everything in faith that He will provide. But if our faith is lacking or doubting, we may not get an answer from the Lord.
I believe that “faith” and “faithfulness” go hand-in-hand. If we are not faithful to the Lord in worship and serving it’s highly possible that our faith is lacking and our prayers may not get answered.
ILL.- Verizon wireless has long advertised, “Can you hear me now?” But we don’t have to ask God that question. We just need to believe He does hear us and that He will answer us in His good time.
As Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus He prayed.
John 11:41-42 CEV “After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, "Father, I thank you for answering my prayer. I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so that the people here would believe that you sent me."
I know that you always answers my prayers. Do you have that kind of faith? We must believe that He answers and not doubt.
- We must ask unselfishly.
James 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.” Ah ha, would we ever ask for something for ourselves? For our selfish pleasures?
ILL.- A girl prayed, “Lord, I’m not asking for me, but could you send my mother a son-in-law.” It doesn’t work that way. Or “Lord, I don’t need a new car but my wife could use one.”
- We must ask in Jesus’ name.
John 14:13-14 “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Why should ask the Father in Jesus’ name? Because it doesn’t do any good to ask in anyone else’s name!
ILL.- Can you imagine praying, “Lord, would you please provide a job for me and I ask in Jack’s name”? I know you wouldn’t do that. And you most certainly wouldn’t ask in your own name. But could it be that whenever don’t ask in His name that we are essentially asking in our name? And our name nor any human person’s name carries no weight with God.
- We must ask in obedience.
I John 3:21-22 “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”
Does this mean perfect obedience? No, because no human person perfectly obeys God, not even Billy Graham. It means, however, that we must walk in obedience to Him as best we can, not the least we can or not just on Sunday.
ILL.- Whenever I worked for Safeway as a grocery clerk some stock clerks could work really fast if they knew the boss was coming down their aisle.
Our boss is always near. We should work really fast. We should obey really fast and then perhaps He’d be quicker to answer our prayers.
Confidence before God means that we ask and receive.
Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
II. GOD SPEAKS AND WE OBEY
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
We are confident of our relationship with God because we are obedient children.
ILL.- Shane and Heather have a little Jack Russell Terrier mix. She’s about three years old and follows Heather around the house like she is her mommy. I think Heather can ask Heidi to do anything and she’ll do it. In fact, sometimes Heather doesn’t even have to speak to get her to do something. Some time ago Heidi had an ear infection and Heather had to put ear drops in one ear. All Heather did was look at Heidi and she came to her for those drops. IT’S CALLED OBEDIENCE.
When we have confidence before God, HE SPEAKS AND WE OBEY. A part of our confidence in God is that we are willingly obedient.
ILL.- In his book God will Help Me, Walter G. Swanson refers to the life of Robert Dollar who passed away in 1932. He writes: “A keen-eyed young sea captain stood in the lobby of a large hotel in Hong Kong conversing with an Englishman. ‘So you’ve come to do business in the Orient? Well, step into the bar and tell me about your plans.’ ‘I’m sorry,’ said the seaman, ‘but I never partake of alcoholic beverages.’ The man’s face broke into an unbelieving smile.
‘Entering the Oriental trade without having a Scotch and soda?’ ‘Yes, sir!’ ‘Do you expect to be successful without taking your friends into a tavern for a drink? If you do,’ he said with a cynical laugh, ‘God help you!’ The young man replied, ‘God WILL help me.’” And God did help him.
Years later, Robert Dollar stood on the 10th floor of the building that bore his name near San Francisco Bay. He was watching the workmen unload cargo from his freighters that had come from all over the world. Having avoided the pitfalls of liquor, he had indeed been richly blessed by the Lord.
I like this story. I like the idea that he said, “GOD WILL HELP ME.” That’s faith plus obedience. Robert Dollar believed God would help him because he was quick to honor God in what he thought was obedience in abstaining from drinking.
That’s confidence in God and we need to get it. How? Walk with Him. Spend more time with the Lord in prayer and praise.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
Does your heart ever condemn you? Probably. Sometimes we know that we are guilty of sin and we feel terrible about it. We may feel so bad about it that we actually condemn ourselves. We may think, “Oh no, I may go to hell for this sin.”
Did you ever do that or feel that way? Please don’t. Please put your trust in Jesus and what He did for you, not what you think you must do to make it right. Christ made it right with God on the cross! And as we trust Him for our salvation in spite of our sinfulness, our faith will grow and our confidence before God will grow!
The more we walk with Him, stay in His presence, the more our confidence and obedience will grow.
III. GOD SENDS AND WE RECEIVE
24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. Confidence before means that God sends and we receive.
ILL.- How would you like to have these things? $800 million dollars, to begin with. Wear shoes that cost as much as $5000 a pair. Own a $12.5 million Gulfstream Jet and a $4.5 million 88 foot yacht???
Sound good? Sounds rich, for sure. Well, all of these material things belong to the Gov. of CA, Arnold Schwarzenegger
And we in America often place a premium on material things. Like what? Like nice houses, fancy cars, expensive clothing, luxurious living, dining at fancy restaurants.
These things are what most people value in life but are they the most valuable things in life?
ILL.- One time a young artist was very unhappy and dissatisfied with his painting, so he somehow was able to borrow the brush of a great painter. BUT THE BRUSH DIDN’T SEEM TO MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE IN HIS PAINTING. A friend suggested to him, "It is not the Master’s brush you need, BUT THE MASTER’S SPIRIT."
COULD THIS BE OUR PROBLEM AS WELL? We want the Master’s material blessings but what we really need is His Spirit. And we have been given His Spirit. How or when did this happen?
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 5:32 “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
Apparently, when we initially accepted Christ through faith, repentance and obedience in baptism we received God’s Spirit.
GOD SENDS AND WE RECEIVE. And His Spirit is the greatest gift.
The Holy Spirit is real but are we in touch with Him? Are we aware that Christ lives within us through His Spirit? Are we sensitive to Him, to His leading? Do we allow Him to take control or do we want control of our own lives?
ILL.- Someone said: “In many Christian circles the Holy Spirit is either neglected, forgotten, or misunderstood.” Perhaps all three.
The late Dr. A. W. Tozer, author and pastor, said, "If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference.”
Tozer was saying that we operate most of the time or live without depending on God’s Spirit.
ILL.- One New Year's Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.
This may well be true for many people who are Christians. We are supposed to empowered by God’s Spirit and yet, we’ve “run out of gas” when it comes to living for Christ.
ILL.- A woman testified to the transformation in her life that had resulted through her experience in conversion. She declared, "I'm so glad I got religion. I have an uncle I used to hate so much, I vowed I'd never go to his funeral. But now, why, I'd be happy to go to it any time."
Once we receive the Holy Spirit a change takes place in our lives, but that’s not exactly the change the scripture speaks of.
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Galatians 5:16 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
And God’s Spirit can increase our confidence in God if we pay attention to Him.
CONCLUSION---------------
ILL.- Preacher Dwight L. Moody men a man one day and asked him in his abrupt fashion, “Are you a Christian?” The man stiffened up and said, “Well, what do you think?” Moody replied, “Not a red hot one.” And so we are.
We lack faith and we often lack confidence in the Lord. How do we get it? We listen to God’s Word. We walk in obedience to Him. We spend much time in His presence. The more we do, the more our confidence in Him will grow.
