Sermon Central
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Having Great Confidence!
Contributed by Dana Visneskie on Oct 29, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: It’s a great comfort to know that Jesus never abandons us, that God will finish what He started in the Christian life. I look closer into this verse and give 4 points into Christ’s character that will encourage every person.
Title: Having Great Confidence In One Thing!
Text: Phil 1:3-11 (Key verse 6)
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Introduction:
- The church of Philippi was special to Paul.
- For the reason that it was the first church established on European soil, and a church that supported Paul with gifts. Philippi was a church that cared and showed it.
- When Paul wrote this letter, he was under house arrest in Rome.
- When the church heard about Paul’s situation they sent Epaphroditus, who was possibly the Pastor at the time, with another gift.
- The trip involved both land and sea and the distance was less than a thousand miles. It was quite possible that the trip could have taken a month’s time.
- The Philippian church never forgot about there founding father.
- So Paul’s purpose in writing this letter was to say thank you for the gift he received, to encourage the Christians in Philippi and to give further instruction about the gospel and how to live for Christ.
- In fact Paul mentions Jesus name 51 times in the 104 verses of the Epistle.
- Philippians begins as a message of gratitude, but it does not end there.
- He encourages the Christians in Philippi to rejoice in hardship and sorrow. (Phil 4:4, 10)
- He also encourages them to be strong, (Phil 3:14; 4:13) to help one another, (Phil 1:24-25) and to give thanks. (Phil 1:3-6; 4:6)
- And all that Paul said then applies to us today. It’s for our edification and strength in the Lord.
Transition:
- So this morning I want to focus on a particular verse of scripture found in our text and it is Phil 1:6, “being confident in this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
- Why should we as Christians have great confidence? Great confidence in what?
- What is “this very thing” that Paul is referring to, so that we can have this great confidence?
- The answer being that God would certainly continue to completion the good work He had begun in them.
- That good work was their salvation.
- It may also include their fellowship and sharing their generosities with Paul.
- Either way God was going to finish what He started in the church of Philippi.
- No matter what struggle or hardship they would face, God was not going to give up on them and abandon them.
- Paul here is referring to God’s character and giving us a glimpse of who He is.
- Because Jesus will never abandon us, and will finish the work in every believers life says something about God and who He is.
- Because sometimes we get discouraged and wonder if God has given up on us.
- We wonder if God is disappointed with us and has stopped working on us.
- This verse of scripture says otherwise
- Behind the verse of scripture Paul gives us a glimpse into Christ’s character.
- It says......
Point 1: Christ Is Committed To Us
A young man was appointed to the presidency of a bank at the tender age of thirty-two. The promotion was far beyond his wildest dreams and very frightening to him, so he went to the venerable old chairman of the board to ask for advice on how to become a good bank president.
“What is the most important thing for me to do as a new president?” he asked the older man.
“Make right decisions,” was the gentleman’s terse answer.
The young man thought about that for a moment and said, “Thank you very much; that is very helpful. But can you be a bit more specific? How do I make right decisions?”
The wise old man answered, “Experience.”
Exasperated, the young president said, “But sir, that is why I’m here. I don’t have the experience I need to make right decisions. How do I get experience?”
“Wrong decisions,” came the old man’s reply.
- The only way for the Christian to be successful growing in God is to make mistakes.
- Spiritual Maturity doesn’t come easy. It usually comes by making lots of mistakes.
- No matter how many times we blow in this life, never give up, because God never gives up on you.
- Commitment means when we make mistakes and fall, you hang in there and learn from your mistakes.
- Jesus allows us to make mistakes because He is committed to us.
- Making mistakes is the only way we will learn to be more like Him.
- Jesus wants us to be more like Him, so He allows hardship to come into our lives to see what is inside us. Will we cling to the Lord and use this valley experience to change and become more like God.
