Charles Stanley — Confidence That Conquers
Your confidence level is probably one of the greatest determining factors of whether you'll succeed in life or whether you'll fail. And I've known some people over the years who were very qualified, very gifted, very skilled, talented, educated, you name it. But they never got very far in life for the simple reason, it's the way they thought about themselves. I thought much more highly of them than they thought of themselves. And there are a lot of people who miss out on life's best because they think they're less than. They don't feel. And their negative attitude is devastating to them.
And I think people don't realize that unless somebody points it out to them. That, you know, you are gifted, you're skilled, you're qualified. But what what what's the problem? But they don't think so. And as long as you don't think so, it's a detriment in your life. Well the truth is, confidence is a very important thing. In fact, it's a good thing. It's a healthy thing. It's an enabling thing. And yet many people think in terms of confidence, Well, if I'm confident, I'm going to come across as being bold. And I'm going to be egotistical. And people are going to think I'm just being prideful. Not necessarily. You can be very confident without being prideful or egotistical or arrogant. Because confidence is of God. But if you don't have it, it's not because God wouldn't have you to have it; it's because you've chosen not to believe about yourself what God would have you to believe.
So in this particular passage of Scripture which is very short, but it's very profound. When I think about all that Paul said in one sentence, it's awesome. And it's a verse that's easily memorized, very familiar and people quote it. But the truth is, they don't believe it. If they believed it, they would practice it. But they don't. And the way they live their life and their sense of lack of confidence is proof that somewhere along the way they they they read it. They they have the words. They can put the right intonations on each word, but somehow it never sinks inside.
So I want you to turn to Philippians chapter four. And I want us to begin reading here in this tenth verse of Philippians four as Paul comes to the end of this epistle. Four chapters, only four chapters. He's writing out of a Roman prison. And he just gives us a little background here about what's happened in his life and then I want us to come to this particular verse. So he says beginning in verse ten, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity". Which means simply this, they were supporting his ministry and then they had a little low time and so they ceased to support him. But now they're coming back to support him again. And here's what he said, he said, I'm saying this, "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I'm in".
Can you say that? Can you say, I am content no matter what my circumstances? "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need". In fact, he says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". He says, Through all these difficulties and hardships and trying times, I've learned something. And that's this, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". That is, the Apostle Paul had an awesome sense of confidence. Now the fact that it was not pride and arrogance. I want you to turn if you will to Acts chapter four for a moment. Because here we get the right understanding of what confidence is all about. Confidence is a sense of boldness; assurance. It's a sense of being a very purposeful in a person's life. And listen to what he says here. And Peter and John are before the council being tried because they've been preaching the gospel.
So look in verse ten and you'll hear what Peter says, "Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, which you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name, this name, this man stands here before you in good health". He they healed this man, "He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved". That is his message. And he's saying it in such a fashion, this is their response, "Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus".
What is it that got a hold of them? Their confidence. They said there's something about these men and what they realized is that they'd been with Jesus. Now so, Peter and John weren't being arrogant. They weren't being prideful. They were just speaking the truth. And so, I think about what Paul says in this first chapter of Philippians. He says in verse six, "For I am confident of this very thing," what is that? "That He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ". That is, he said, I'm persuaded. I am confident of this very thing, And for example, if you turn to first John chapter five, speaking of confidence. Listen to what he says in this four fourteenth verse concerning prayer. He says, "This is the confidence we have". We're persuaded about this. And that is, "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we've asked of Him". That's not being pride and arrogant. That is a matter of being fully persuaded, fully assured, fully convinced that what He's saying is absolutely the truth.
Now when I think about that and I think about oftentimes this verse, this thirteen verse is oftentimes quoted but very often not believed. It's a hindrance not to believe it. And what I want us to do is I want us to look at this verse in light of what Paul really and truly meant when he said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Did he mean what he said? Sure he did. But oftentimes it's misinterpreted. Oftentimes we don't understand what's involved in that. Because you'll hear people say, I can handle that. Don't worry about; I'll take care of that. Now sometimes it's a matter of confidence, but sometimes a little arrogance in there. Don't you worry about it; I can handle it.
So let me ask you a question, would you consider yourself a confident person? Or do you find yourself lacking confidence? Can you distinguish between being confident and being arrogant and prideful? Confidence is a good thing. Confidence is a healthy thing. Confidence is a quality that all of us should have. And confidence is a quality God intends for us to have and to enjoy. And to live out our lives and to work out what He's called us to do. Not hesitatingly, not feeling we can't, not feeling down; but feeling confident. And that is, if, and this was Paul's conviction, if God is calling me to do it, then certainly I am able to do it.
So what I want you to see, I want you to see what this statement is saying. Paul is saying, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". And what I want you to see is this, it's born out of a relationship. He says, the reason he can say this is because of his relationship to Jesus, "I can do all things through Christ". He and he said, you know he said, I died to my old self. It's Christ living within me. He understood his relationship. He understood that he had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ who makes promises that He keeps. So when he says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".
Look at the balance. Look what he's saying, he's saying, Here's what I can, but here's what God does. I can, He's the strength. I will, but He's the strength. He's the power. Whatever God calls us to do, He enables us to do. He is there to enable us and to help us to be able to understand that He doesn't make empty promises. And so, when he says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". It's always based on a relationship. Not on our abilities, talents and skills. That's boastfulness and prideful and arrogance. You can do anything and everything God calls you to do within His will. If you don't think so, then it won't happen.
And I think about many people whom God calls into His service. Many people whom God calls into His service who say to themselves, I couldn't ever preach. I couldn't ever sing. I couldn't ever teach. Oh, I could never be a missionary. I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that. They affirm in the presence of Holy God, who lives inside of them at salvation; when when they got saved, Christ came into their life and now they are Christians. They say they believe Jesus and all the things have, I don't question their salvation.
But to tell God that you can't do something that He's calling you to do is to say that God's unfair, He's unwise, and He's made a mistake. That He's calling me to do something that He will not enable me to do. He will not equip me to do. He would He didn't in other words when I was born, I didn't have those qualities lying deep within me that would make it possible for me to serve God. So God's made a mistake. So what do they do? They say no to God and then what happens? Their life begins to be a picture of someone who can't. Can't, can't, can't because they've told God they can't. I can tell you, my friend, if God's called you to serve Him in some fashion; whether it's in your church, to sing in the choir or play in the orchestra. Or teach a Sunday school class, whatever it might be and you tell God you can't do it, that is a terrible mistake.
There is a penalty to be paid when you say to God, I can't do it. Because what you're saying to Him, I know Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". But, I can't do it. Paul, recognizing his own inabilities and skills at times, he said, you know, never would he talk about what he can do. He talks about his inadequacy. But, watch this, his feeling of inadequacy. But then what does he do? He also lines that up with the capacity and the power of God. And it levels it out. You may feel, I'm inadequate. If you feel that a way, then when you get to reading the Word and you begin to believe what God says, you begin to understand that God, God assumes responsibility for equipping you; enabling you. And everybody whoever, has ever spoken to anybody, first time you do it, you're probably scared to death, whatever it might be. If you say, I can't, because you had a little fear. Or you have an opportunity on a job and you you're about to get a promotion and you think, "Oh my goodness, I could never do that".
Well, wait a minute. If you ask God to bless you and now He's giving you an opportunity that's going to test you, try you, educate you, grow you up, mature you, make you a better person and make you a much more valuable servant of God in that business; and you're telling God you can't do it. Now, when he says, All things; you say, You mean to tell me that I can do anything and everything through Christ. No, I would not say that and that's not what he said. Because you see, go back to that relationship. Paul is speaking as a child of God. He's speaking as a servant of God. He's speaking, listen, on the basis of this relationship that God has called him to do what he's doing. You have to look at it this way, you can do anything and everything God calls you to do, listen, in His time. That is, whatever is His will. You could you could say, Well "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".
Remember this, He has never required anything of you that He has not been there as one of His children side by side with you to equip you and enable you and to encourage you to get it done. That's who He is. He couldn't do otherwise. He has a will and a purpose and a plan for your life. And when He planned your life, everything that you would, watch this, everything that you would ever need was in the plan. God doesn't have to say, Oh, my goodness, what did we forget about him? Look at him now. That's not the way God operates. That is, if you'll think about everything for example, when He puts your plan out on the on the board shall we say; in His omniscience He knew everything you would ever need, all of your energy, all of your intelligence, all your skills, ability, talents, all of it was there.
So if you and I come up lacking it's because we've missed something with Him. I go back to say it's a relationship. All, he says, "I can do all things through Christ who is my strength. He's already said He's his life. Christ is our life. He says, "I've been crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me". Think about this, God didn't give Paul anymore than He's given you.
Now, watch this, when you look at your God's plan for your life, everything He everything that's in your plan, He's already provided. You could have a million dollars deposited in your account at the bank and if you didn't know it was there, you'd live your whole life in need. Or if somebody told you that it was there and assured you that it was but you said, Oh, I'm not good enough for that. That they wouldn't ever do that. We are self-defeaters. And the tragedy of that, listen, when we defeat ourselves, we defeat to some degree the plan of God for us. And then people live out their lives and they think, Well, what was life all about? It could have been about something awesome if you'd have just followed Him. Be, listen, and to believe that one single verse, you can do all things, anything that is in the will of God for your life by His assistance, His power. And, listen, and His help. He will enable you if you let Him do it.
Listen, you should say to your children especially when they're growing up small;, listen, God has a will for your life. God has something in He has something in plan for your life. I drilled that into my children before they ever knew what the will of God was or even who Jesus was. I just kept saying it before they went to bed every night. I was telling them, God has a plan for your life. God has a plan for your life. You want to find God's will for your life. So when you grow up believing He has a plan for your life, what happens? You start looking and checking out to see what the plan is. And when I think about it, I think about it in this way, whatever you must do in life, He will equip you to do it. Whatever you must say in life, He will equip you to say it. Whatever you must sing in life, He will enable you to sing it. What, listen, however you must act in life, He will enable you to do it. Whatever work He's called you to do; He will enable you to do it.
That's who He is. That's why Paul could say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Think about it, he was he was a Jew. He was a Rabbi. He he had great credentials as far as they were concerned. And if somebody said to him, Do you think your life could ever change in such a way that you'd become a Christian? No way. You could never have convinced him that he would have one day been the apostle of Jesus Christ, whom he hated and despised; until he had a relationship. I just love that! That here he is lying in the dirt on his back looking up and seeing nothing but darkness. He heard a voice of the Savior. God transformed his life. And when He transformed his life, He transformed his life in such a fashion he was never the same again. He didn't try to live in the past.
He didn't say, Well, nobody's going to listen to me. And for awhile Christians didn't listen, they were afraid of him. He didn't quit. He just kept going. They threw him in jail, he said, It's all over. No, soon as I get out I'm going to Philippi. Soon as I get out of this jail, I'm going over here to Ephesus. Soon as I get out of this one, I'm going to Colossae. In other words, he never stopped. He never gave up, he never quit. And thank God every single solitary one of us and everybody who's listening or ever will listen, you and I are blessed as a result of the confidence that he had never to quit, never to give up no matter what.
He had a plan for his life. He's got a different plan for our life. But He, listen, what I want you to see is this is God isn't prejudiced. He doesn't have favorites. Somebody says, Well, I could never do what so and so does. Maybe God doesn't want you to do that. But ask yourself the question, God, at this point in my life, what could You do with me? If I can do anything and everything that's Your will, what do You want to do with me? What I want you to see is this, you have the capacity and the assistance and the help of Almighty God to enable you to do anything and everything to become what God wants you to be and to do... The past should not be in the front of you. What God has forgiven you for, He does not hold you accountable for. He's forgiven you. He's cleansed you. He says, You have a whole brand new life.
So what does God want to do in your life? You have just as much right today in the twenty-first century to say, "I can do all things through Christ who is my strength". You have just as much right to say it as the apostle Paul did in his day. Now you can say that based on three things. For example, on your position in Christ Jesus, you're a child of God. He's your Heavenly Father. Secondly, on your perception of who Christ is, He's the sovereign ruler of this universe. He can do anything in your life He chooses to do; whatever it might be. And then of course, a third thing and that is on the basis of my position, my perception and on the basis of His promises. Promises, what? He promised to be with you no matter what. He promises to provide for you no matter what. He promises to empower you, to strengthen you no matter what in life. That is, you can just go right down the promises and what happens? Wherever you are and whatever's going on in your life, He's there to enable you to be able to say in the twenty-first century, what the apostle Paul said, I can do everything in Christ Jesus, by His strength, by His power.
That is His will. You can affirm this today, yourself, whoever you are. I today, in this twenty-first century, I can do anything and everything that Christ calls me to do. That is, everything that is His will, in His strength. I can do it. That isn't boasting, that's just being confident. And remember, the confidence is based on your relationship with Him, the promise of His presence and His power in your life. And the promise, for example, that He's going to provide for you and protect you no matter what. He doesn't change. You can walk out of here today, or you can wherever you are, you can stop right now and make a decision. Beginning today, I'm going to claim that verse on the biblical basis that my Father has a will for my life. He will show me His will day by day.
I can rest in perfect confidence that I have His assistance, His guidance, His direction, His provision to enable me to do anything and everything He calls me to do. If you can do that it'll transform your life. You'll stop thinking about how ugly you look. You'll start thinking you're looking pretty good. You will begin to have a little light trip in your step. People will wonder what happened to you. I'm a child of God. I have His assistance, His presence, His power, His provision, His protection in my life to do whatever He wants me to do. Whoever you are, God can do an awesome work in your life today, no matter what your age, no matter where you are in life. Listen, He can do an awesome work in your life if you will say to Him, I accept by faith the truth of this statement based on my relationship on Your will and Your promises in Jesus' name, amen.
It's yours for the claiming. It's the Word of God; I haven't told you a thing that wasn't in the Word of God. There are lots of other verses we could go to. It's a matter of whether you're going to claim it or not. I want to know the will of God and I choose to walk in it. And I'm going to watch this wonderful thing God's going to do. More than likely, it'll be something that you haven't even thought about. Don't settle for less than God's best, which He's provided for you.
Father, how grateful we are that You love us. And I think about when Paul made that statement two thousand years ago, he could have had no idea the influence and impact of his life. I pray today that every person who hears this message would be wise enough, brave enough to choose from the moment of hearing it; to accept by faith the truthfulness of this statement and the possibilities that lie before them based on their personal intimate relationship with Jesus and the awesome power available for every move and every work. We thank You, Father for it in Jesus' name, amen.