ENTERING THE NEW YEAR WITH CONFIDENCE....

             ENTERING THE NEW YEAR WITH CONFIDENCE

PROVERBS 28:1 DECLARES, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth:
but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

   NOT “BOLD” in the sense of “brash” “impudent” or “crudely forward.” But rather, as the Hebrew word denotes, “BOLD” as in “confident” or as seen in those with “strength of purpose.”

WHO ARE THE CONFIDENT ONES?

The text says “the righteous” are such.

Both those who are positionally righteous IN Christ Jesus (made such at salvation), and, those believers who day by day are becoming righteous BY Christ Jesus.

1.     Believers IN Jesus Christ ARE righteous, the righteousness of God imputed to them at salvation.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2.     Believers in every day practice are becoming more and more righteous BY Jesus Christ.

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. ¹³ Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:12-14).

*THE BLESSED TRUTHS OF SALVATION GIVE CONFIDENCE!

WHAT REALLY IS CONFIDENCE?

The Hebrew word batach (batah) signifies boldness, sometimes a reckless boldness. But, in the better sense, a boldness rooted in trust or grounded upon that which is undeniably trustworthy.

DAVID HAD SUCH CONFIDENCE FACING THE GIANT (1 Samuel 17:40-49):

^“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods….⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. ⁴⁶ This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. ⁴⁸ And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.”

*THE POWER AND PRESENCE OF GOD GIVE CONFIDENCE!

HOW CAN WE BE LION-LIKE WITH SUCH CONFIDENCE?

“Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;
 do no violence to his home;¹⁶ for the righteous falls seven times and rises     again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity” (Proverbs 24:15-16).  

WHY IS THIS SO????? Righteousness (obedience to the Word of God) unquenches and ungrieves the Holy Spirit who then fills the believer and gives confidence for life. The Bible says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:16-18).         

*THE ENABLING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES CONFIDENCE!                                                               

Dr. Dick D. Christen