(Audio/Video/Text)
Title: The Great Tangent (Part Five)(Part Two)
Intro:Today we have reached not only the conclusion of“The Great Tangent” but also we will finally be answering the three questions that I have been teasing for the last two weeks:
Three Questions We Need To Answer:
How does this apply to me?
What is my responsibility in all this?
Is this even possible?
(read/pray)
Last week, you recall, we looked in depth at two words: “boldness” and “access”. We looked at the original Greek and came away with these two conclusions:
“Boldness” Greek: parrēsia
Conclusion/Application:
Because of Christ, we don’t need to mince words with God. We can just shoot straight from the heart, without any need for pomp or formality.
“Access” Greek: prosagōgē
Conclusion/Application:
Christ has already served our introduction to God, despite the fact that judgement is to come, we are already known to God, and Christ has granted us an intimate audience with him.
Now we will look at one more greek before drawing to our conclusions and answers.
“confidence”
Greek: pepoithēsis
Definition: trust, confidence, reliance
This word appears six times in the N.T., all of them by Paul’s hand. Five times it is translated as “confidence” one time it is translated as “trust”
2 Cor. 1:15
And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;
2 Cor. 3:4
And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
There is nothing particularly remarkable about this word, but when we place it in context I want to propose this formula based on Paul’s usage of the word in verse 12.
It’s better to understand this word not just as “confidence” but rather “confidence through faith” (Pistis) Meaning, the confidence is NOT our own, but a confidence born of a greater belief that Jesus has actually accomplished these things that Paul is stating he has done on our behalf.
In other words, this is actually a reality check for our faith. It is a bit of a litmus test. If you look into what Paul writes here, it’s a fair examination to say:
- Do you have faith? (YES)
- Ok then, do you approach the throne of God with Confidence? (…Uhhh…I think so…?)
- Well, according to Paul, if you have faith, you absolutely should have confidence, because Christ has granted you BOLDNESS (ability to speak to God without having to mince words) and ACCESS (the audience with God has been granted to you already!)
POINT: Approach God with the confidence of boldness and access!
I think back to what Jamie said last week about her relationship with her father: “Yeah, he was the authority figure, and was given due respect…but I never felt like I couldn’t go to him…because he was my Father….”
THEREFORE (call to action)
Paul suddenly gets very personal in verse 13, the last verse of his great tangent…he does not command them, rather he pleads with them.
“Therefore, I ask that you not lose heart at my tribulations for you…”
Paul is saying, look, I know you are worried about me, I know you have heard of my trials, my beating, imprisonments, being constantly pursued and threatened by both Rome and the Jews, my own people….BUT…because we have such amazing access to God, an access where he sees us as children before we are seen as subjects, an access where we can speak plainly with the creator of the universe, an access that is born from our faith that Jesus Christ has granted us this access, and become the sacrifice for the debt that we could never pay on our own….because of all that, I ask that you not lose heart, for my tribulations are all part of HIS plan, and they are for YOUR glory.
The KJV, ASV and YLT translate this “that ye not faint”
The NJKV, NASB, and NLT translate this “that you not lose heart”
The NIV translates this “that you not be discouraged”
All of these are legitimate renderings.
Johnathan Edwards:
“By (or through) whom we have liberty to open our minds freely to God, as to a Father, and a well-grounded persuasion of audience and of acceptance with him; and this by means of the faith we have in him, as our great Mediator and Advocate.’ We may come with humble boldness to hear from God, knowing that the terror of the curse is done away; and we may expect to hear from him good words and comfortable. We may have access with confidence to speak to God, knowing that we have such a Mediator between God and us, and such an Advocate with the Father.
Let’s look then at our three questions as we close:
How does this apply to me?
Answer: If you are a believer, this is a reminder that whatever is going on out there (Pandemic, Political Unrest, Race Tension) I AM right here, and you have access to me, the ONE, greater than all these things. COME TO ME.
What is my responsibility in all this?
Answer: The ONLY thing with the POWER to bring peace to this world is the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST. Therefore, put that first in your mind, first in your speech, and first in your solution when discussing these tribulations.
Is this even possible?
Answer: It doesn’t even make God blink.