The woman that wrote that hymn,
Jane Bonar, wrote it upon the death of her beloved husband. I love thinking about that. Her
husband dies and she says, fade, fade each earthly joy. Jesus is mine. Hebrews chapter 10. Let me remind you that verse
that I read to open this service. The wicked flee when no man pursues. They're paranoid. They're afraid. They don't have any confidence.
But the righteous are bold as a lion. You think of the boldness
of a lion as he walks through the forest. Perhaps a baboon
comes across his path. And those things scare me to
death. I've watched them on those nature programs. They seem so
mean. Lion's not worried about it. He knows he has no enemies. He has no fears. He's the king
of the forest. Now, the righteous, there are
two kinds of people, the wicked and the righteous. The wicked
flee when no man pursues, but the righteous, are bold as a
lion. Something all of us desire to
have is confidence. Confidence. Lack of confidence
is paralyzing. When you lack confidence in your
ability to do something, you generally just don't do anything.
You're paralyzed. You're afraid to. Unconfident
people quite often are unhappy and fearful people. Quite often,
an unconfident person will try to compensate for his lack of
confidence and it comes out as arrogance. And this creates all
kinds of problems for that person. It makes that person disliked.
And all it is is a cover-up for lack of confidence. You put a
man in a job that he feels unable to do and that man is miserable
if he feels like he can't do it or he doesn't know how to
do it. Put him in a position where he
doesn't know how to do the task and he is one unhappy person. But when you're confident, what
a blessing that is to have some confidence. You don't look at
others as a potential threat to you. You know you can do the
job. It's a wonderful feeling, confidence.
Lack of confidence is unhappiness. And a confident person is happy. And we all deserve, we all desire,
we all desire to be confident people. Now look in Hebrews chapter
10, verse 19. Have it, therefore brethren,
boldness, confidence to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus. Now this is something that every
believer has. He doesn't say we ought to have
it. He doesn't say we don't have it. He says we have it. He's speaking to all of those
who come under the umbrella of brethren. everybody who believes. Having, brethren, boldness. Confidence. Now this word carries
with it two ideas. First, boldness of speech. Freedom of speech. You don't
weigh your words through fear of offending somebody. You put
it out there. You speak without ambiguity.
And the second meaning of this word is absence of fear. Cheerful courage. Confidence. Now the writer to
the Hebrew says to every believer, having therefore brethren, confidence. Boldness. How can this be understood in
light of this passage of scripture? Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Paul says in verse 3 of Philippians
chapter 3, for we are the circumcision. These fellows that talk about
circumcision, they don't even know what it means. We are the
true circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit. We realize that the only way
we can worship the living God is by the Holy Spirit of God. It doesn't simply mean we worship
in a spiritual manner, it means we worship by the Spirit of God. There is no other way to worship.
And we rejoice, we glory in, is what the word means, we have
confidence in Christ Jesus and we have no confidence in the
flesh. None whatsoever. Now this confidence
we have, having therefore, brethren, boldness, confidence to enter
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, this confidence has
absolutely nothing to do with our flesh. Anything we do in
this flesh, we have no confidence in. Back to our text in Hebrews
chapter 10, Having therefore, brethren, boldness. Now, what's
the therefore for? What's the therefore therefore?
It's referring to what he said previously. He says in verse
14, for by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. By his one offering on Calvary's
tree, he made me perfect. He did this before I was ever
around, so obviously it didn't have anything to do with my flesh.
By that one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified, them that are being sanctified, them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost, verse
15, is a witness to us, for after these said before, this is the
covenant that I'll make with them after those days, saith
the Lord, I'll put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds
will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Now, where remission of these
is, and that's what our Lord did, He put them away, they are
no more. Where remission of these is,
there's no more offering for sin. I don't have, this is what
makes me lose my confidence, is my sin. You see, the righteous
that are as bold as a lion, where does this boldness come from?
Righteousness. I'm righteous. If you're righteous,
you don't have to worry about sin. Sin is what destroys our
confidence. But the righteous are bold as a lion. In Christ,
I am righteous. And this is where this confidence
comes from. There is no reason for a lack
of confidence because I have no sin. Where remission of these
is. There's no more offering for
sin. Now, this is the confidence of faith. The scripture says
faith is the substance or the confidence of things hoped for. The confidence of faith is not
self-confidence. It's Christ's confidence. There's
all the difference in the world. It's the faith Abraham possessed
when it says he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith. giving glory to God, being fully
persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Now, how much did that have to do with Abraham's flesh? None
at all. He was confident of this very
thing, that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. Turn back to Hebrews chapter
3. Verse six, but Christ as a son
over his own house, whose house are we? If we hold fast the confidence and
the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. If we hold the
confidence of the hope, and the rejoicing of the hope. Now remember,
faith is confidence in things hoped for. That's what the scripture
calls it. It's the evidence of things. It's the substance or
the confidence of things hoped for and the evidence of things
not seen. Now, here's something I hope
for. I hope that when I stand before
God in judgment, He's going to look
me through and through. And he's going to say, well done,
thou good and faithful servant. I have a hope that before God,
I am righteous and without sin. Now I've got a hope, but you
know what? I can't see that hope. I can't
look within myself and say, well, you are righteous. What is the
evidence that I have this hope? Faith in Christ. Faith is the
evidence of things not seen. Now, you can't say that I'm righteous
before God, but I am. And the evidence of that is faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We hold the confidence and the
rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. We never leave this. Christ is my hope. Look in Ephesians chapter 3.
I love this verse of Scripture. Now, every believer in this room,
I mean even the newest believer, the most immature babe in Christ,
has reason to have this holy boldness, this confidence. This isn't just for more mature
believers. This is what every believer can have. Look at Ephesians chapter 3 verse
12. He says, In whom? In the Lord Jesus Christ. Of
Him are you in Christ Jesus. This is where this boldness and
confidence come from. In whom? In the Lord Jesus Christ. Of
Him are you in Christ Jesus. Before I read it, let me repeat
this verse. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. In Christ I'm so wise that God
can have fellowship with me. In Christ, I'm so righteous that
God can embrace me in Christ. I'm so holy. I'm as holy as God's
son in Christ. I've got redemption, full deliverance,
and this is where this confidence comes from in in who? in whom
we have boldness, freedom of entrance, in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of Him. I've got faith
in His faith. I'm resting in His faithfulness.
And here's the confidence I have. This is my access. And that's
what that we have access, that's freedom of entrance. Here's where
my freedom of entrance and access comes from. If I'm in Christ,
when He goes to the Father, I do too. If He's welcomed by the
Father, I am too. If He's pleasing to the Father,
I am too. So when He comes into the Father's
presence, which is all the time, I do too. Now this is my boldness. He comes into the Father's presence,
the Father looks at Him and says, I'm well pleased with you. You're
perfect, you're holy. I come in and that's how I am. access with confidence. Knowing
Christ is always welcomed by the Father, He has freedom of
access. I do too. Turn to 1 John chapter
4. We looked at this verse this
morning. 1 John chapter 4. Verse 16. And we have known and believed
And just as good a translation of that would be, we've relied
upon. We've relied upon. We've trusted. This is where
we're hoping. We have known and believed the
love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Now, we've known
and believed the love that God has to us. We've trusted in the
love that God has to us. The love that God has to me.
Now, let me say this. God's love, and I've used this
phrase in the past, and I'll never use it again by the grace
of God. God's love is not unconditional love. There's no such thing as
unconditional love. If God could love you unconditionally,
He could quit loving you unconditionally. You see, for there to be love,
there has to be something there to love. Now, in Christ, I'm
lovely. I'm accepted in the Beloved.
I deserve the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks
at me and He looks at me. He says, I can't help but love
Him. Look at Him. Look at Him. He's lovely. He looks just like my Son. He's in my Son. You see, this
is not unconditional love. I don't have any confidence in
unconditional love. Now, we have known and understood
the love that God has toward us. We've relied upon, we've
trusted this love. It doesn't just mean we believe
He loves us. It means this is what we're relying on. I'm accepted
in the Beloved. I'm graced. I'm accepted. God accepts me. One of the most
ridiculous things that religion ever says is, won't you accept
God or won't you accept Jesus? That's so ridiculous. That's
not the issue. Will you accept him? Will he
accept you? Every believer is accepted in
the beloved. This is how real this thing of
being united to Christ is. Now, let's go on reading. Verse 16, we've known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Now herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness, confidence in
the day of judgment. Hold on for a second. Boldness? Courage? Cheerful courage on
the day of judgment? Me? Me? Standing before God in judgment
with boldness? Look at me. I've committed sin against God,
transgressing His law, And the same sins. Over and over again,
repeatedly, I'm filled with such contradictions and inconsistencies. Me. And I know what I'm saying
about myself is true. And I'm not saying it as accurately
as I should. Me stand before God in judgment
with boldness, cheerful confidence and courage, absence of fear
in light of what I just said about myself. Well, let's read
the rest of the verse. I guess I quote this real often,
but I'm not getting tired of it. Herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness, cheerful confidence in the day of judgment
because as he is. Well, how is he? Holy, perfect. seated at the right hand of God,
altogether righteous, altogether lovely. Oh, the father looks
at him and he's well pleased. Now, as he is, so are we in this
world. That means right now. Now, if that's so, and it is,
this one speaking to you can have boldness before God on the
day of judgment. Have you ever had to take an
exam when you have no confidence that you'll pass? a test, or have you taken a test
where you had confidence that you did well, and you found out
that confidence was an ill-founded, an ill-grounded confidence when
the test came back. You didn't do what you thought
you would do. You got a lot of answers wrong
that you thought you were right, or perhaps you've gone into tests.
I've gone into a lot of tests like this. No confidence that
I knew the answer. I didn't know the answer, and
you feel so miserable. It takes forever and oh, it's
a bad feeling, isn't it, to take a test where you don't feel confident
about it. But what if you could take a
test where you had the paper with all the answers and they
were right and you turned it in and it wasn't cheating? A plus is what you get. Now that
is the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We already have the answer,
Christ is all. And we turn in this answer that
God has given us, and we're not accused of cheating, it's real.
It's the very truth of God. Now this confidence that a believer
has, and it's a confidence in him, isn't it? I do have confidence
that he's all I need. I have confidence that I don't
need anything else. I have confidence that I am complete
in Him and nothing can be added to that. Now, I have confidence
in Him. And this confidence comes from
being with Him. Turn to Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. Now remember,
this confidence has two meanings. both of which are included in
this thing of having this boldness that the scripture speaks of.
First, this confidence does mean a cheerful confidence and a courage
and an absence of fear, but it also affects our speech. It means
you speak without ambiguity. You speak without having to weigh
your words from a deep conviction of the facts. Look in Acts chapter
4 verse 13. Now, verse 13, now, when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John, they heard them speak, and they
saw a holy boldness. There was an absence of fear.
They weren't weighing their words. I hate to hear a preacher preach
when you can't even figure out what he's saying. I mean, you
could take it this way, you could take it that way, but he didn't
have the courage or the boldness or the belief in what he was
preaching to really lay it out on the line. So he makes it so
it might mean this and might mean that. God's not in that.
God's not in any preaching like that. Now, when they saw the
boldness of Peter and John and they perceived that they were
unlearned and ignorant men, They marveled, they were amazed, and
they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Now here's where this boldness
comes from. Being with the Lord Jesus Christ. If I believe I'm
with Him, and He's protecting me, you know what? I'll be bold. And this boldness comes out in
our speech. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter
6. Paul is asking the Ephesians
to pray for him, and he says in verse 19, and for me, pray
for me, and I'm asking you to do the same thing for me, that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly. to make known the mystery of
the gospel for which I'm an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak
boldly as I ought to speak." Now, I realize that unless the
Lord enables me to preach the gospel boldly, I won't preach
the gospel boldly. I realize that. I'll be afraid
of men. So pray for me, but understand
that no ifs and ands, but pray for me that the Lord will enable
me to preach the gospel with boldness. And I pray for you
that the Lord will make you bold witnesses. Now, what is this
boldness? It means we're not weighing our words, we're laying
it out. The Bible is the word of God. Believe this message and be saved.
Don't believe and be damned. Now that's the truth. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. God is absolutely sovereign.
That means He's the first cause behind everything. He controls.
Men are dead in sins. Dead, graveyard dead, can't do
anything to save themselves. He elected a people before time
began to be saved. Christ died to the elect and
accomplished their salvation. God's grace is irresistible. He causes His people to do His
will. He comes in the irresistible
grace and gives life. And because of that, they persevere
walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. They persevere in holiness and
obedience and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace
of God. You see, grace works. Grace works. There's a bold proclamation of
the truth, not apologizing for it, not trying to bring it in
a way that you can take it one way or the other. No, there's
boldness in our speech. And this confidence or this boldness
is something that has to be maintained. Look in First John, chapter two. First John, chapter two. This word's in the Bible a whole
lot. Verse 28, And now, little children, abide in Him. Stay in Him. That's what Paul meant when he
said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Now, this
is what I want. This is my desire simply to stay
in the Lord Jesus Christ and not be found anywhere else. I
don't want to be judged. About my boldness? Or my faith? Or my repentance? Or my love?
There's one place I want to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now he says, you abide in Him. You stay right there. That's
the only place I have any confidence. In Him. I don't have any confidence
anywhere else. In the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says, now little children, abide in Him that when He shall appear,
we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him. at His
coming. Now the only way that I will
not be ashamed before Him at His coming is if I'm simply found
in Him. Don't have any confidence in
anything else. And you know there's great reward in this confidence.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Don't you want to have this boldness,
this confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ? Look what the writer
of the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 35. Where does it say, Hebrews 10,
I'm sorry, wrong chapter, Hebrews 10, verse 35. Cast not away, therefore, your
confidence, your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward."
You know, there is reward in this thing of confidence. I mean,
there's great recompense of reward. Now, this is one of the glorious
things about the Lord. He gives us this confidence and
He rewards us as though it came from us. He gives us faith and
He rewards it as though He never gave it to us, it was ours. He
gives us this love and He rewards us as if it came from us. And in fact, we are the one loving,
we are the one believing. You know, the Holy Spirit doesn't
believe for me, I believe myself. The Holy Spirit doesn't repent
for me, I repent. But I know the only reason I
do it is because He caused me to do it. And what great reward
there is in this confidence. First, heaven. Peace. What peace there is in
knowing that Christ is my confidence. What joy there is in knowing
that as He is, so am I in this world. Oh, this confidence, this
boldness, there's great recompense of reward. You know, if you have
this confidence in Christ, let me tell you what it's going to
do to you. If you have this confidence in Christ, it's going to make
you give yourself lock, stock, and barrel to Him. Lack of commitment
comes from lack of confidence. When I see people who are always
wavering, you just wonder about them. Their life seems to just,
you don't know where they're coming from. The root problem
they have is lack of confidence in the Redeemer. If you're really
confident in Him, it'll make you committed to Him. It'll make
you walk with Him. It'll make you seek to obey Him
in all things. That's what this confidence does.
It doesn't make you Turn into, well, I'm saved, doesn't matter
how I live. No, not at all. Not this faith. It makes you committed to Him,
and there's great reward in this confidence. Now turn to Hebrews
chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Let us, every believer,
Let us therefore come boldly with cheerful confidence unto
the throne of grace. How come that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need? Now, how am I to come
to this throne of grace? Remember, I'm coming to the throne.
This is the Lord God. But thank God it's a throne of
grace. How am I to come? Boldly. With confidence. What for? To obtain mercy. And to find grace to help. And
I need grace to help, don't you? I need grace to help me believe.
I need grace to help me have boldness. I need grace to help
me in all things. When do we come? In time of need. I don't know of any time that's
not a time of need, do you? That means I come all the time
with boldness, coming to this throne of grace where my great
Redeemer dispenses grace to help me in my time of need. The last scripture I want to
look at is Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 15, let your conversation
be without covetousness, and be content with such things
as you have. My soul, what do you have? You have Christ. What else needs
to be said? You have His grace. You have
the promise of His providence. You have God for you. Who can
be against you? You have all the gift of His
grace. You have all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. What
is there to covet? Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. That's His promise. And in the
original, there are five negatives. To make sure we understand what
he's saying, he says, I will never, never, no, never, never,
never leave thee, nor forsake thee. We sing that song, the
soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will
not desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell should
endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. Now he has promised, I'll never
leave thee, nor forsake thee, verse six, so that we may boldly
say, the Lord is my helper. And I will not fear what man
can do unto me. Now this is what made that lady
who sang that song at the first of this, Fade, Fade, Each Earthly
Joy. She believed the Lord's my helper,
and I will not fear what man can do unto me. So when her husband's
dead, she says, Fade, Fade, Each Earthly Joy, Jesus is mine. What else could anybody say? Let's pray.