Having Paul’s Confidence

Preacher:
Date: November 20, 2015

Bible Text: Philippians 1:6 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Take a map and trace the three journeys of the Apostle Paul throughout the Middle East and you will quickly acknowledge, considering how difficult travel was in the first century, that covering the distances he did was no small feat. On his third journey, from somewhere in Greece, Paul sat down and wrote a letter which he sent to Rome with a fellow traveler whose name was Phoebe.

Paul had been a Christian for about 20 years, say historians—twenty drama-packed, action-filled years which took him from his home in the Tarsus Mountains eventually to Rome where he pled his case and eventually lost. Someone has said that Paul was the greatest credential Christianity ever produced, and I would not argue with that claim.

The book he wrote from Greece is powerful! It demolishes the logic of those who leave God on the sideline. It answers the questions of why we have tsunamis and earthquakes, why men castigate the sins of others and allow the same ones in their own lives.

Paul’s life was not an easy one. Hated by Jews because they thought he had betrayed them, and persecuted by those who disliked the changes his Gospel wrought in the lives of those who responded to his teaching, he was often beaten, thrown in prison, or driven out of the city. Yet he advised, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.’ If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17-21).

His advice was not a matter of dishing out high-sounding platitudes, a “do-gooder” who wrote from a cloister or behind a strong wall, but he bore the marks of a street-fighter, a gladiator who had taken hits from the enemy without taking his sword from the scabbard.

In closing, two questions: “How could Paul do this?” and “Can I have the same confidence that he had?” First question—why was he able to respond to trouble as he did? I’ve concluded it was because he was secure in His relationship with God. Read the last half of Romans 8, where he says, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37- 39). He was secure. He knew who held the reins and controlled the future.

Next question: “Can you have that same confidence?” What’s your answer? In this same letter Paul told us that there is no respect of persons with God. He doesn’t play favorites. He treats his children all alike. If you believe that, you can have the same confidence that he had. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

May I suggest you get acquainted with Paul’s letter? It takes only an hour to read it at one sitting, and that one hour can help you gain an understanding which lays a foundation of confidence in your life—one that cannot be shaken.

Resource reading: Romans 8:31-37