My title this morning is Being Confident with No Confidence. Turn with me to Philippians chapter 1 if you would. Philippians chapter 1. I want to begin in verse 6.

Confidence, as you know, is the feeling or belief that you can rely on someone or something with firm trust. you have confidence in something or someone. It's the state of feeling certain about the truth of something. It means to trust, to believe, to have faith, reliance, dependence on something or someone. We all know what confidence is.

So my question to you this morning is where is your confidence? Where or who are you putting trust, belief, reliance, dependence in or on this morning? Well, the answer comes down to only one of two answers, really. You either put it in yourself or someone else. Is your confidence in you? or is your confidence in someone else?

Now, most would not believe my next statement. They'd argue and probably say, well, what's the big deal? But the correct answer, spiritually and eternally speaking, is a matter of life and death. And I can't convince you of that, only God can. Where you put your confidence is a matter of life and death. It really is.

Now here in Philippians chapter one, verse six, the apostle makes a statement to those who profess to be believers, whom he addresses in verse one to be saints in Christ Jesus, which are Philippi. And it's important for us to understand that all the epistles in the New Testament are letters written to believers in different particular churches. It'd be like me writing a letter to the church where Paul Mahan passes and saying to the saints at Rocky Mount, Virginia, and to John Chapman, to the saints there in Spring Lake, North Carolina.

Paul's writing to a group of believers in Philippi. Believers. professing Christians, and in verse six he writes, being competent, there's the word, putting your trust, reliance, and dependence of this very thing. Paul is being very specific here. He says this very thing, that he, God, which hath begun a good work in you, will perform.

In my marginal Bible, that word perform means finish. And it should, because whatever God performs, He finishes. God never starts anything and doesn't finish it. And the word it, that's speaking of that work that He began, which is redemption and salvation. He says he's gonna finish that work until the day of Jesus Christ.

So let's just quickly break this verse, this statement, this declaration from Paul down. First, salvation begins with God, not the sinner. He who has begun a good work. He didn't say you who have begun a good work. It says, He, God, who has begun a good work. The statement Paul makes, which is the gospel, is not that you decided for God, not that you improved yourself, not that you cooperated and helped God save you.

I hear a lot of that today. Let go and let God. Well, listen, if I can let God, then I'm God. I had a man tell me one time, oh, don't say that, you tie God's hands. If I can tie God's hand, I'm God. If I have to give Jesus my heart in order for Him to save me, then He's no God or Savior at all.

Now this work, this work of salvation in you started and began with God. Regeneration, that's just a big word for spiritual rebirth. It always precedes a response by us. Dead people don't initiate anything. Now, you may say, well, I'm not dead. Well, spiritually speaking, we all are. When God told Adam and Eve, in the day you eat of this, the fruit of this tree, you shall surely die. Adam lived 930 years. But he died that day spiritually to God. And all those that he represented, all mankind died in him. We're born dead. We're born condemned, the scriptures say. Dead in sin, that's what God said. And again, speaking to believers, God said, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins. We're dead because of our sin. Ephesians 2.5 says, even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. Paul said in Colossians 2.13, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. Romans 6.11, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. Dead, dead, graveyard dead. The Bible describes deadness as our natural state. Paul said in Romans 8.6, to set the mind on the flesh is death. He said the body is dead because of sin. It's the same thing over and over. 1 Timothy 5 says, she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. And death is described as total inability.

Now I know folks don't like this because men by nature want to do something to be saved. That's the first question that men always ask when confronted with the truth of the Bible. And that is, what must I do to be saved? And then you find out, according to the Word of God, according to God Himself, there's nothing you can do. But believe, bow, that's all you can do.

Now these verses don't use the word dead, but they describe what death looks like. The Lord Jesus stood one day talking to a bunch of dead folks. They were alive, they were walking around, but they were dead spiritually. And he said, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw them. You see, a dead person can't come and a dead person can't go. I challenge you the next time you go to a funeral home and see a corpse lying there to say, hey, come on, let's go down to McDonald's and get a Big Mac. You see if they get up and go with you. No, because they're dead. And it's no different for someone who's spiritually dead. Total inability. No man can, no man has the ability to come to God to have life. That kind of shoots the whole thing in the foot of me giving my heart to Jesus or me coming down front and accepting Jesus. No, I've got to be accepted In Christ, I got to be accepted by God. I don't accept Him. It's just His mercy and grace that saves me. No man can. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2.14. For they're foolishness unto them. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. God's got to give us life. God's got to give us the ability to even understand these things. None is righteous. No one seeks after God.

Believers in Christ pass from death to life. John 5, 24. He that hears God's word and believes on Christ has passed from death to life. John 11, 25, Christ said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. If you're interested in life everlasting, let me tell you, there's only one place you're gonna find it, in Jesus Christ. 1 John 3, 14, we know that we have passed from death unto life.

So the bottom line is this, Scripture teaches total spiritual death, not partial life. You know, we use little sayings like, well, he was half dead. There ain't no such thing. You ain't half alive, you're not half dead. You're either dead or alive. Dead people don't cooperate in their resurrection. God doesn't improve sinners, He raises the dead. That's why salvation is grace from start to finish. And until you see and until you believe that you are spiritually dead, you'll never see a need of life through a substitute and a Savior. That's just...

Secondly, from this verse, we see salvation as God's work from start to finish. I've already pretty much established that. Not only did salvation begin with God, He's the one that's got to Continue it. He keeps giving grace, more grace, more grace. The gospel is not self-reformation. I hear people talk about reformed doctrine all the time, what we do to improve ourselves. Listen, you can't do anything to improve yourself. And if you do something that's an improvement, it's God that granted you the ability to do it. It's a divine action producing real transformation. Every child of God is being conformed to Christ. Not by their own will, not by their own doing, but by His mercy and grace.

Thirdly, our preserving is God's preservation. We've talked about this a lot. It rests on God's faithfulness, not ours. Aren't you glad? He will perform and finish it. That's what perform means. This is a promise rooted in God's character. My character's not worth talking about. I'm so fickle, as we talked about in the first hour, I change like the weather. I'm high, I'm low, I'm in between. Hot and cold. It's not dependent on my endurance. God preserves us in His grace. It's not white-knuckled obedience. It's not us straightening up, pulling up ourselves by our bootstraps. A dead man can't put on boots, much less pull himself up by them.

Fourthly, the end of salvation is certain and fixed. He said, until the day of Jesus Christ. Now, the gospel has an appointed finish line, Christ's return is the proof of His promise. There's no unfinished redemption. There's no half-saved Christian. Well, he's half-saved. He's either saved or not saved. He's either alive or he's dead. No in-between.

And fifthly, gospel competence is Christ-centered, not self-centered. Our competence is not in our behavior. Aren't you glad? I tell you, sometimes we're up and we're just, bless the Lord and all that, and sometimes we're down and we think, I wish God just killed me. No, it's not based, our confidence is not based on our behavior, but in God's promise. Biblical assurance is not found by us looking inward at our performance. but upward to God's purpose being accomplished through Christ's finished work. Jesus paid it all. He didn't pay most of it and leave me a 10% balance to pay. He paid it all. All of it.

I told you about the time I was, when I was younger and dumber and believe it or not, I used to be dumber than I am. I wasn't managing money well, and I had a truck payment I couldn't make. So I made interest payments. You ever made any of them? They're no fun. You just pay them interest, and you still hold the same. Well, I went down to make an interest payment. And they gave them my name, account number, payment book, whatever. And she said, Mr. Edison, you don't have a payment, do you? And I said, oh, yeah, I do, too. And I said, matter of fact, you've sent me several letters telling me I do. She said, no, I'm showing that this account's paid in full. I said, paid in full? She said, yeah, it looks like your mom and dad paid it in full. There wasn't a balance left. And not long after that, I got a copy of the loan stamped in red ink. I'll never forget it. It said paid in full. That's what the gospel is. Christ paid your account in full. There's nothing left for you to pay. Jesus paid it all. This confidence, this assurance is initiated by God. It's completed by God. It's guaranteed by God. And we're confident of this very thing. This is the gospel. He that had begun this good work in you, he'll finish it. He won't leave it half done. Anything that shifts the weight of salvation to human effort away from Christ is not good news. It's just religious pressure that's dressed up as faith.

We're coming up on the first of the year, a time where most everyone sets some goals for themselves. I stopped doing that. We often start out with a bang on these, quote, new resolutions, and then we get a little discouraged, and then we lose confidence, and we lose heart. But Paul here gives us a promise that we can be confident of. It's God's faithfulness is the reason. God always finished what He started. He began a good work, He'll finish it. If it's left up to me, it won't get done. It won't be finished.

Imagine planting a seed. Some of you may plant a garden, or you plant flowers, and you put a seed in, and you water it, and you tend to it, and you hope it grows, but the seed itself's got to have life within it. God is the one who implanted the spiritual seed in your heart, and He's not gonna abandon it. You see, He controls the rain. He controls the watering with the Word. He's the One that shines the sun down on our flowers. And He's the One that shines His sun in our hearts. This is God's doing. God's work's not a one-time event. Though we are, in God's eyes, perfect, this good work continues throughout our lives. Even when we stumble, even when we fail, even when we fall short, God continues His work. He shapes us, He corrects us, He teaches us. He's so patient and long-suffering with us. And He molds us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we stand before Him that day in judgment, He sees His Son. And what does He say? Enter in, thou good and faithful servant. Me? A good and faithful servant? Yes! Because of what Christ finished for me. Not what I did.

You know, a sculptor. chiseled away, let's say on a piece of marble, a block of marble, over time. And each strike may seem small, each chisel, each move may seem insignificant, but eventually the masterpiece is revealed. And it's the same with God's work in you. It's no less deliberate or beautiful. I remember Steve Brown, an amazing carver, wood carver. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, he can take a block of wood and make it look like you. And I remember asking him one time, I forget what he was carving, and you've heard this illustration with other folks, but I said, how do you do that? He said, if he's making a fish, let's say, you know, I'm carving a fish. He said, I just cut off everything that don't look like a fish. I guess that's what he does. It's still amazing and God just cuts off everything on us that don't look like Christ. And He conforms us to His perfect image.

So our ultimate confidence and assurance is that God will finish the world. We ought to underline that there in that verse. He will. Nothing or no one can prevent Him from finishing it. How do I know? Because He's God. None can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou? Why? Because He's God. And the problem with this, the reason people have trouble believing this, is because most preachers in religion today has portrayed God to be this weak, beggarly little old man upstairs, reaming his hands, wanting somebody just to. .. He loves everybody, just wants somebody to love him back, and it's a lie. Need to open this book and read it. Our God's in the heavens. He's done whatsoever He has pleased. Whatever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth and in the deep seas and in all places, even in hell.

Well, the devil made me do it. Listen, the devil, is God's little dog on a chain is all he is. He can't do anything that God doesn't allow him to do. We are talking about a God who does what he wills. And this God is your heavenly father, is out to do you good. We saw that last week. God's out to do you good, isn't he, Shelley? You better believe He is. If you love the Lord and are thee called according to His purpose, it's all good. We say that it's all good. Well, it is. It is. And this gives us hope and confidence and trials, our setbacks. Don't frustrate God's eternal purpose. Nothing too hard for Him.

A marathon runner, he may tire, he may stumble, he may even fall, feel weak, but he endures until he crosses the finish line. And God promises that He's gonna bring every single believer, every single child of God to the finish line of salvation. He finishes what He started. So what do we do? We rest in God's faithfulness.

Jesus, I am resting in the joy of who thou art. I'm finding out the greatness of your loving heart, day by day, a little more, line upon line, precept upon precept. I'm learning just a little bit more. I'm growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find confidence and assurance and encouragement knowing God always, always, always finishes what He starts. What did our Lord Jesus say from the cross? It's finished. The work's done, work's accomplished. What do we do? Sit down and rest. Believe, trust. Don't worry, be happy.

Yet, with all that said, we live in a world that's obsessed with confidence, and we very often hear things like, well, believe in yourself. Trust in your abilities. You got this, you got this. Be confident in yourself. So how can we be confident and not be confident in ourselves? That's very confusing to me. Turn over a couple pages to Philippians chapter 3. Paul's going to tell us where our confidence should lie. Look at verse 3 here in Philippians 3. Paul's instruction to believers is to worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus And what's the last thing? And have no confidence in the flesh.

Doesn't say have some confidence, a little confidence, no confidence. Now don't forget what confidence is. It's believing, relying, depending on someone or something with firm trust. Is our confidence gonna be in ourself? Paul says no. He says have no confidence in the flesh. And we see in the next three verses that Paul is very qualified to make that statement. Verse four, he said, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. I will circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. It's touching the law of Pharisee. concerning zeal, persecuted the church. Well, I even held the coat of those that murdered Stephen. He says, persecuting, touching the righteousness which is of the law. I was blameless.

If anyone had a reason to boast in the flesh, it was the Apostle Paul. If there was anyone that should have confidence in the flesh, it was him. Paul declares that all his achievements in the flesh were worthless, of no profit. If salvation could be earned by religious credentials, moral record, spiritual pedigree, Paul qualified. But this is the point of Paul's argument. He says even the best resume with God, to God, is worthless. Worthless. Not worth the paper trip, no. It's of no value in the matter of salvation. And I find such comfort in that. Because I know what I am. I know my inabilities. And what Paul is saying here is this. He's saying, if you think works matters, he said, mine's going to be hard to beat. He said, if you think obedience saves, he said, I outperformed all of you. He said, if you think religious stature matters, I had it all.

Paul lists five credentials here. We'll look at them again very quickly. Five things that the Jews thought to be advantageous to serve in the kingdom of God. What are they? Circumcision on the eighth day. That just says Paul wasn't a convert or a latecomer. He was a Jew from birth. He observed the law of God from the time he was a small lad. Secondly, he said, of the stock of Israel, Paul was born into a Jewish family considered to be the people of God. He said, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. That was one of the most loyal tribes whom Israel's first king came from. He said, I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews. No compromise, culturally, linguistically, religiously, Paul was pure and above reproof. as to the law of Pharisee, the most strict, disciplined, admired group among the Jews. He had such zeal that he persecuted the followers of Christ. And having righteousness, what he thought being accepted of God by keeping the law, he said, I was blameless. You're not going to find any fault in what I do.

But notice what Paul does here. He dismantles the idea that the right background, that the right rituals, the right identity, the right rule keeping can make a person truly righteous. These things may produce pride, but not peace. And they may create personal confidence, but they could not bring conversion. And Paul is claiming that everything that he trusted in before Christ Made him religious, but not redeemed. Salvation is not inherited. It's not achieved. It's not maintained by religious superiority or activity. It's received by grace through faith in Christ alone. Right?

Verse seven, but what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. All these credentials I had, I thought were gained, but they counted lost for Christ. What is seen as gain in the world, whether religious credentials, moral performance, reputation, self-righteousness, it becomes lost to being right with God. You know who loves this message? Sinners! Wretched, no good sinners. That's who Christ came in the world to save. This is a faithful saint and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came in the world to save sinners. Sinners. And the man that wrote this said, of whom I am chief. Well, he was Paul. He was Saul. He was now Paul. He wrote three quarters of the New Testament. Chief of sinners, he said. How you see yourself, Paul, chief of sinners, the worst of the worst?

You see what feels like loss, abandoning all trust in self, suffering, humility, dying to self is actually gain because it brings us to Christ. It's gain. We go from self to Christ. We go from merit to mercy. We go from pride to righteousness. Anything that competes with Christ as our righteousness is lost. Anything that costs you everything but gives you Christ is gained. That's how we can be confident having no confidence. Our confidence is in Christ, not in ourselves. Verse eight, yea, doubtless, And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung. You know what dung is, don't you? Manure? Dung! Count it all but dung that I may and be found in Him.

Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. Not just faith in Christ, but the actual faith of Christ. That faith that God imputes to me. Christ's faithfulness is now my faithfulness. That's why when I stand before God, I stand before Him perfect. Not because of my faithfulness, but because of His. The faith of Christ. The righteousness which is in God by faith.

Now, what are the lessons to be learned here? What true gain is to be obtained? In these things, the gospel is revealed. I'm gonna give them to you quick. Christ is above all. Paul emphasizes that the true treasure is Christ himself. It's not religious credentials. It's not social standing. It's not personal merit. Salvation is in Christ alone. What could be greater than that?

Secondly, worldly things are seen as lost. The gospel calls believers to see human achievements as nothing compared to God's gift of grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's righteousness is imputed. That word means charged to us. The ultimate gain is found in Christ, which leads to forgiveness and righteousness and intimacy with God that only he can give.

Fourthly, righteousness comes not by self. That's self-righteousness. Nobody likes somebody that's self-righteous. Holier than thou. Think they're better than you. That's all it leads to, self-righteousness. Trusting in self. Salvation and right standing before God can't be earned by human works. Keeping of the law, effort, any self-derived righteousness is worthless.

Fifthly, trusting Christ alone is the key. True righteousness comes through faith in Christ. Hadn't we said that already? Yes. That's the message. Not through human merit. The gospel centers on trusting Christ, not ourselves. Union with Christ. Paul said being found in Him. This highlights the believer's position in him. Salvation isn't just forgiveness, friends. It's being identified with the Lord and being found as one with him. So that when God looks upon me in the day of judgment, and even now, he sees his beloved son.

And it's such a contrast, lastly, with the old way. Paul contrasts this divine righteousness with the righteousness of the law. showing the insufficiency of human effort to achieve God's standard. You'll never meet what God requires in and of yourself. You've got to have somebody to do it for you. And it's the perfect son of God who kept the law perfectly that we put our trust in. It all comes down to that. Are you trusting in Him?

That word no means much more than just being aware or perceiving and having knowledge of Christ. To know Christ is to be intimate with Him as a man knows his wife, as a wife knows her husband. The Lord Himself prayed in John 17 verse 3 to His Father and said, this is the eternal life that they may know Thee. the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Eternal life is defined as knowing God. It's much more than just intellectual knowledge, just knowing some things about Jesus. You know, I know of a lot of famous people. I know a lot of facts about famous people, but I don't know them, not intimately. not in a way of personal experience. And there are a lot of people that know about Jesus, but very few that know Him. I want to show you one more Scripture and I'll finish. 2 Corinthians 5.21. Most of you can quote this. Look at it with me. 2 Corinthians 5.21. This is what a true believer hangs their soul on, trusts their soul to. 2nd Corinthians 5 21. For he, God, that's who that's talking about, had made him, Jesus Christ, to be sin for us. I can't explain that. I don't know how God did that. I believe he did. God hath made Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin. He didn't know sin. He never once sinned, never once had a bad thought, never once said a bad word. Never once did a bad thing. He always went about doing good. Everything he did was perfect.

Why? Tells us that we might be made the righteousness of God. That's it. That's the glorious good news of the gospel. And that's ultimate gain right there. That's having confidence that what Christ done for me is enough. We receive forgiveness and freedom. Our sins are forgiven, put away. We're set free from the powers and penalty of sin. We have a new identity. We become children of God and heirs of His promises, and that gives meaning and purpose and eternal security. We gain life in the Spirit. We have great assurance and confidence and hope, and we're given victory over death and the world in Christ.

Every suffering, every trial, All losses, but pathways to ultimate gain. Paul said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I believe that. I no longer fear death. I really don't. Why? Because it's the beginning of life. True life, eternal life. The world tells us to place our confidence and wealth status and talent, something within ourselves, but it's all just fragile and fleeting, every bit of it. Don't put any confidence in temporary things, friends. Put it all in eternal things. True confidence is found where? And if you have confidence in Him, you can't be shaken for eternity. Gotta see to it. So surrender your doubts, ask God to give you faith in Christ, and know that He is faithful. I promise.