Before I give you my text this morning, I want to describe a scenario for you. And the message today will be a little bit more of a theme or a topic as opposed to a single passage. But years ago we were, I had the privilege to travel for the school in some of the summer quartets and you'll have to use your imagination with me because for most of you this is not familiar but that was during a time when there was no such thing as GPS, had not heard of such thing. There was no such thing as a cell phone. There were a few car phones. It was a car phone. It was attached to a vehicle in a bag and it was very expensive in the service, very unreliable. So when we went out we were very dependent on written directions when we would be going to a church they would give us they would fill out a sheet with get off the interstate at this exit and go this direction and those kind of things. Sometimes whoever did the directions was spot on. Sometimes they assumed we had more familiarity with the area than we actually did. But so there were some interesting times that we had trying to find different places. There was not always a sense of confidence. Hey, I know exactly where we're going. You know, it's not like, okay, estimated arrival time, 4.18 p.m., like you have on Google Maps or Apple Maps now, right? That was not always the case. So sometimes it was maybe a place I'd been before many times, never heard of it before. Most of the time I wasn't driving, so it didn't really matter, theoretically. But there were a few times where we just didn't have directions, or we didn't have good directions, and that was not the fault of the lady who put the notebooks together. Mrs. Scoville would do that. She was very diligent to forward those things on to us. Sometimes the churches just didn't send it in. That's a little side note. Do your follow-up work if you're responsible for that in the office, in the church office. But there was one fella who was in our group that had traveled some, And there were times we'd be like, oh yeah, I've been this place. I know how to get there. Well, we learned pretty quickly that if he said, take the highway east, we should probably go west. If he said, turn right at this light, we should probably go left. We learned that through experience and trial and error and that kind of thing. But we're supposed to go somewhere, have no idea where I'm going, how to get there. That's not always a lot of fun. I won't tell you who that was, because I wouldn't call out Peter Smith's father. But he has gotten much better at that through the years. But when we were traveling in summer quartets, there wasn't a sense of confidence, at least on my part, when we were doing the directions there. But when it comes to the scriptures, I want us to see today that God desires for you and me that we have a sense of confidence, a sense of, if I could say it this way, certainty or assurance. I was a little bit nervous yesterday when Mrs. Beal gave the testimony. I thought I was gonna have to find another message and outline. but that certainly, that topic kind of dovetails right in with what I want to talk about this morning. And I simply want to, if I have to give a title, and I do, because the soundboard asks for one, I would give the message today, this title, The Privilege of Confidence. The Privilege of Confidence. I'm going to give you a text, but we'll by no means stay here for the entire message, but we're going to start in Romans chapter four. The Privilege of Confidence. Romans chapter 4, I was reading this recently and a particular verse, a particular phrase jumped out and grabbed me. Not literally, that's a figurative expression, okay. But just grabbed my attention, began to dig in and try to expand on that a little bit. But beginning in verse number 19 of Romans 4, being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead. When he was 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And here's the phrase in verse 21, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. That phrase fully persuaded there has the idea of confidence, of assurance, of knowing something for certain. But this is certainly not an isolated concept in the scriptures. Let me read you some scriptures here. Proverbs 22 verse 21, that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee. Luke chapter one, verse one, for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. Luke one in verse four, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou has been instructed. Second Timothy one in verse 12, for the witch cause also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Hebrews 11 verse number 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims. On the earth, Colossians 2 verse 2, that their hearts might be comforted being knit together in love unto all riches of full assurance. of understanding. 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 5, our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Hebrews 10, 22, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Now, I've just given you a limited sample. I took the lists and cut them down greatly for sake of chapel today. Could give you far more examples from scripture, but just based on 10 scriptures or so that I've read to you this morning, is it fair to say that the scriptures talk about a sense of certainty or confidence? Is it fair to say that God wants us to have that confidence? All right, so the privilege of confidence is what we're going to look at this morning. Number one, I want us to look at this, the basis of confidence. What is the basis of confidence? In Philippians 3, we read what the basis of our confidence should not be. Philippians 3, verses 3 and 4, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more." Now we know that was written by the Spirit of God. Who's the human writer for Philippians? It's Paul. And he's the one that stated, if someone could have confidence in the flesh, my resume's better than yours. Right? That's my paraphrase of that. But he said very clearly, our confidence is not to be in the flesh. There are other statements in the New Testament, not in earthly wisdom or not in man's wisdom. In other words, our confidence is not to be in ourself. If our confidence is not to be in ourself, then where is the basis of our confidence? Well, if it's not in self, I want us just to see this. Our confidence comes from the certainty of God's character. Our confidence is based, first of all, in the certainty of God's character. Malachi chapter 3 and verse number 6, we read this, I am the Lord, I change not. That's a tremendous truth, isn't it? The New Testament says Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. I'm the Lord, I change not. The rest of that verse in Malachi 3, 6 says, therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. What God was saying in that particular context was, I'm God, so I'm going to do what I said I was going to do, even though I probably should wipe you guys out. But God's character does not change. Second Chronicles 16, we see that Hezekiah made a grave error because he failed to trust the Lord. In 2 Chronicles 16 we read this, we're not the Ethiopians and Lubam's a great host and he relied on God and God delivered him. Verse 9, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. God's character is unchanging. You understand that that ultimately is the basis of God's promises? The basis of Bible confidence, first of all, is based on God's character. But secondly, I want us to see that the basis of confidence is based on God's word, the certainty of God's word. Psalm 119 verse 89 says this, Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. That term forever there literally means unto eternity. We're never going to reach a point in the timeline of the earth where God's word is unsettled. 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine approved correction instruction in righteousness. Matthew 24 and verse 35, heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. Our confidence ultimately should be based on the certainty of God's character. and the certainty of God's word. Now the Psalms give a relation between those two. There is a statement in the Psalms that says this, I've magnified my word above my name. I don't think that's really a ranking of degree. I think it is a statement of these two truths right here. Let me try to illustrate what I'm talking about. If I give someone's name, it brings certain things to mind, right? We'll go back to the testimonies yesterday. Michael Beam's name was mentioned in the testimony. So when we say the name Michael Beam, what do you think of? Now, please don't say it out loud. This is a time for you to keep those thoughts in, okay? But you might think of a friend, an encourager. I think of growth when I think of Michael Beam. I also think of skits. Right? He has been the, I don't know if mastermind is the right term or not, but he has been the inspiration for many things for student body through the years. Mrs. Lucan probably thinks of, you know, events and decorations. He's been a help in several of those special events. But when I say a name, does that, the name represents his character and his behavior, right? Now, I could say the name John Thompson. Now, why are you laughing like that? I mean, when we say the name John Thompson, certain things come to your mind, right? I could begin to call names and the name represents the person, who they are, what they've done, that kind of thing, right? Most of you, when I said the name John Thompson, started thinking about the building project over here, right? And maybe, or maybe volleyball or softball or Josiah is thinking about Ultimate Frisbee. I understand that. But, you know, what I'm saying is the name represents a person's character. When someone's name comes up, that also brings up immediately your interaction with them, your impressions of them, your evaluation of them. God's name represents his character. Now, I'll go back to the illustrations here for a minute. If Mr. Thompson says you be here at 2 30 and I'll be there to pick you up. I'm like OK. I'll be more surprised if he doesn't show up than if he does. Now that may or may not be true for your roommates. OK. You could pretty much tell who would need a reminder text or phone call and who is going to be there at 2 30 to pick you up whether you know they whether you remind them or not. Okay, but when someone's name is mentioned, that also is representative of their character. When the Bible says that God's magnified his word above his name, it is above his name in the same sense that a house is above the foundation. Is a house above the foundation? Yes, but it also rests upon it. Is the house strong without the foundation? No, it would fall in, it would be unsteady, it would be unstable. And so the word of God rests on the foundation of the character or the name of God. The word of God is reliable because of who God is, right? Just like I tried to illustrate a minute ago. If someone makes you a promise, the reliability of that promise is based on the character of the promiser. Is that good grammar? Probably not. but it's shorter than the one making the promise, okay? But the reliability of the promise is only as good as the character of the one making the promise, right? God's word is reliable because God's character does not change. The New Testament, there's a fancy word for that, it's called immutability. By two immutable things in which God, it's impossible for God to lie. is a description in Hebrews, but the God does not change. He is consistent. He is another term we use for that is faithful, right? So in the scripture, we can have confidence because of God's character and God's word. Okay, so our confidence as believers is not in ourselves, but rather it's in the promises of God and the character of the one who made that promise. This weekend, this past weekend, I had to get something for the house. And something, if you have a house, something always needs to be fixed or replaced or whatever. That's just part of life. And so I went to the home improvement store to get that. And I had a coupon that said, you know, so much off a purchase, meeting these qualifications and what I needed fit the criteria. So I tried to use that at the register. And, you know, they scan it. I'm sorry, it's no good. Really? It says right here that you're gonna give me this much off my purchase. You understand when you go to redeem the promises of God, you never get that response. When you go to claim the promises of God, you never get a message that says the coupon is expired, it's no longer valid, you don't meet the criteria. The basis of confidence for a believer is the character of God, which is the underlying foundation for the Word of God. All right. Number two, I want you to see with me the process of confidence. This is a quick point here, but I think it's important. The process of confidence. What is the process of confidence? Two things, the fear of the Lord and personal study. The fear of the Lord and personal study. For those of you in poetical books class, you should remember this. But the fear of the Lord, we've defined it this way. The fear of the Lord is to know God, know his design for life, and then to live in light of that knowledge. In other words, to get to know him and then to live to please him. That is the fear of the Lord. Okay, the fear of the Lord is getting to know him. Now, when you got here this semester, maybe this is your first year, or maybe it's not your first year, but you had a roommate or a coworker that this was their first year. There's a process of getting to know them, right? We've heard some amusing anecdotes of those processes. and I will not regale you with those today, but getting to know them, you're kind of feeling that out. It's like, okay, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I'm going to try to get to know you a little bit and see if I can rely on you. Now, if today your mother were to call and say, you know, I will do this at this time for you, I suspect that for most all of you, you wouldn't second guess it. You would have a sense of confidence. Why? Because you've built a relationship. You've known your mom since birth. Most of you. Okay. I like what Abraham Lincoln said. He said, I was born at home so I could be close to my mother. Most of you have been close to your mother all of your life till you came to college. But why do you have confidence in what your mom says? There's a relationship that's been built over time, right? If many times when we don't have confidence in God's word it's not because he's unreliable. It's because the relationship isn't as established as it needs to be. So the fear of the Lord is getting to know God and learning to live in a way that pleases him. And the second aspect of that I'd said is simply this personal study. Second Timothy 3.14 says this, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of. What was Timothy's position when he received that instruction from Paul? Was he a teenager in the church youth group? Was he, you know, a student in Bible college? What was Timothy's position when he received that instruction? He was a pastor. The whole letter starts out saying, I left you here to pastor this work and to lead and deal with these situations. If Timothy as a pastor needed to continue in the things that he had learned, then that pretty much tells you and me that we do as well, right? You will never outgrow continuing or abiding, refreshing, improving in the things that you've learned and has been assured of. So the basis of confidence is the character of God and the word of God, the process of confidence. We gain confidence in God's word by spending time there, by getting to know him. Number three, I want you to see with me the results of confidence. the results of confidence. What are some areas where the scripture tells us God wants us to have confidence? Well, one of those areas would be in the matter of salvation. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. You know, there are some in this world that would call us arrogant and unreasonable for saying that there's only one way to heaven. The all roads lead to heaven is much more popular statement, but there is a certainty given in the scripture that there's one way of salvation. If I take another step further, God wants you and me to have assurance that we have the salvation that's been promised, right? Titus chapter one, verse number two, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. You understand eternal life is ultimately based on the promise of God and the word of God. 1 John 5, these things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life. John 10, verses 28, 29, and 30, Jesus said that no man can pluck us out of his hand, no man can pluck us out of the Father's hand. God wants us to have an assurance or a confidence about salvation. But I want you to see this, and another result of confidence is simply this, it is access. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 12 says, in whom we have access with boldness by the faith of him. We have access to the very throne room of heaven if we have confidence in God's promises. If we have confidence in the blessings of salvation. Another result of confidence is this, sound doctrine. That term sound doctrine is used four times in the New Testament and all of those are in the pastoral epistles, 1st, 2nd Timothy and Titus. What is sound doctrine? Healthy. It is doctrine which is correct, if I could say it that way. It is not broken, it is not misformed, it is not incomplete. How do you get sound doctrine? you get sound doctrine by having a confidence in and a relationship with this book. Let me say another thing, another thing along that line is this, sound doctrine comes from listening to the right teachers. All right, now I'm getting ready to quit preaching and go to meddling. Okay, 2 Timothy 3.14 says, continue down the things which thou has learned and has been assured of, and then what's the next phrase? knowing of whom thou hast learned them. In other words, you know who your teacher was. It's always simultaneously a sense of amazement and a sense of disappointment to a faculty member here when someone who had the opportunity to sit with men who have ministered and studied and served God faithfully. They've been taught right. All right, let me back up. Most of you had a whole lot of teaching before you ever got to Bible college, right? Most of you have a mom and a dad that taught you the scriptures. You have a pastor that tried to teach you faithfully. You have maybe a youth pastor, youth director, folks that poured into your life and taught you the scriptures. The purpose of Bible college here is to build on that foundation, not to tear it down, but to strengthen it and broaden your understanding. So it's amazing when folks who have that opportunity get enthralled with a website, a YouTube channel, a blog, a podcast, when they don't know really a whole lot about this person other than they sound really smart. What do you know about that person? What is their background? What is their doctrinal position? What is their current ministry? Do they even have a ministry other than criticizing fundamental independent Baptists? I'm not really kidding there. The admonition in 2 Timothy 3 was to continue in the things which you've learned and been assured of. There's the idea of confidence. And part of that is knowing of whom thou hast learned them. The confidence comes from the source of the material and the faithfulness of those who taught you. Why would you throw away the years under a faithful, solid pastor? Because he doesn't sound as intelligent as someone who can delete a podcast and re-record it if they didn't say it right. Your pastor can't delete a sermon. He can maybe try to go back and fix it or clarify what he's trying to say, but pastors don't always get a do-over. And what I'm saying here is that the Bible says God wants us to have a confidence in God's character, in God's word, in sound doctrine. And that comes from the word of God and from solid teachers. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Why do people pay good money to come to Bible College and then teach the teacher? Why do you pay good money to go to Bible College to then turn around and say, no, I like Mr. Internet Guru better. I think I'm going to follow that line of teaching. Many times there's more confidence in the intellect of a great speaker than there is in the plain statement of scripture, okay? We're to have confidence in the word of God, which brings a confidence in Bible doctrine, in sound doctrine. If we have confidence in the word of God and in the character of God, it will also bring us a certainty when it comes to God's will or God's working in our life. Philippians chapter one, verse six says, he which hath begun a good work and you will perform it. until the day of Jesus Christ but I skipped over the first part of that verse. How does that verse start? being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. If we know who God is, then we can be confident that if he's led us to this point, he will continue to lead. If God led Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years who were knuckleheads and complainers and disobedient, but he still faithfully led them till he was finally able to take them across into the promised land, God will lead you if you want to follow. A knowledge of God's word and God's character brings us a certainty about God's working in our life. If I could say it this way, that studying God and God's word brings a confidence about the word of God itself. The Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And not only that, but Psalms 119.89 that we already read said, Thou forever, O Lord, thou wert as settled in heaven. Psalm 12 says, Thou will keep them from this day and forever. And I know if you read the wrong books or websites, they're going to make a grammatical argument about Psalm 12.7. There is a perfectly solid grammatical explanation for why that verse in Psalm 12.7 refers to scriptures and not some other arcane concept grabbed out of the air to undermine confidence in the Bible. God wants you to have a confidence in sound doctrine. God wants you to have a confidence in your Bible. You can have a confidence that this is God's word. All right, what does all of the confusion lead to? A lack of confidence. All right, so we see number one, the basis of confidence. It's in the character and the Word of God, the process of confidence. I gain confidence as I fear the Lord and I seek to please him and I seek to study where the results of confidence. There's assurance of salvation. There's access with confidence. There is soundness of doctrine. There's a growth in understanding. Now number four, I want you to see with me in closing the enemies of confidence. What are the enemies of confidence? Well, number one, I don't have to preach it in great detail because it's been preached the last few days in chapel, and that is this, fear or doubt. Doubt is the enemy of confidence. As we heard on Friday, 2 Timothy 1, 7, God had not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Genesis chapter three, the first attack on Eve was an attack on the reliability of God's Word. Yea, hath God said. There is a constant attack by the devil to undermine confidence in the certainty of scriptures. But may I just say this and I'll probably, you know, here. Well, I probably won't because I won't read the comments, but there'll be others who'll disagree with me. that the current climate of a version of the year when it comes to Bible versions does not improve confidence in the average person in the pew. It brings an uncertainty of, well, is this the latest edition or is there gonna be a new one next year that's different? Do I have this or do I not have this? The same God who inspired the Bible is the same God who has preserved it, and he has preserved it continuously from the time of the writing till now. It didn't disappear for a millennium and then reappear suddenly in some lost manuscripts. God has given his word, but you know what happens in the process of, you know, well, what about this? What about this? What about this? It sows seeds of doubt. If you have doubt about the reliability of God's word, you will not be confident in your personal prayer life. You will not be confident in your witnessing. You will not be confident in the decisions you have to make about what's God's direction for my life. You will not be confident in, well, I know I'm where God wants me to be. If there are seeds of doubt about the reliability of God's word, that overflows into every area of a person's life. What are the enemies of confidence? It's doubt. And understand this, we are here to learn and to study and to try to understand. Now, Timothy was admonished by Paul to continue to study, to read, to grow. It wasn't just, well, you've been taught this, so never ever question it. But as he put his eyeballs into scripture, what he had been taught was reinforced. Very few folks who have been to Bible college get led astray with their eyeballs in scripture. They get led astray with their eyeballs on websites, blogs, newsletters, YouTube channels, and sources about scripture, but not the scripture itself. God wants you to have a sense of confidence, but the enemy of confidence is doubt. Number two, the second enemy of confidence is neglect. Neglect. What do I mean by that? 2 Peter 1 9 says this. I want to read it to you rather than misquote it here. 2 Peter 1 9. He that lacketh these things, what's the context talking about? If we back up to verse number 5, it's talking about adding to your faith, or if I could say it this way, Christian growth. Then when you get down to verse 9, it says this, he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and was not purged from his old sins. That what it says? It doesn't say he wasn't purged. What does it say? Has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. You know what's the enemy of confidence? Neglect. When you neglect your time in this book, when you neglect your time in prayer, when you neglect a growing relationship with the Lord, that causes us to lose confidence in the very God of the Bible. All of our life as believers is based on the instructions of God and the promises of God. Is that not what our hope of eternity is based on? Somebody says, what happens to you after you die? I'm going to heaven. How do you know that? You'd probably quote scripture to them, right? Everything that I believe, if someone were to, you know, figuratively use expression, gun to your head. If somebody really were to put a gun in your face, what do I believe is going to happen to me? I believe that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I believe I will be standing there. But all of that ultimately comes from this book. That's where my confidence lies. That's where your confidence should lie. But when we neglect that, it begins to wane. Number three, the third enemy of faith, and I've touched on this a little bit, but I'm just going to call it Mars Hill syndrome. Mars Hill syndrome. Where do I get that? Acts chapter 17. That was when Paul was giving a defense of the faith on Mars Hill, but Acts chapter 17, verse 21 says, all the Athenians and strangers, which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. If it weren't for some new thing, YouTube would not be nearly as profitable as it is. You realize they give you a free access to YouTube and they sell that, they sell access to you by selling commercials, okay? But, you know, just scroll through and find something, right? Let me find something. Oh, I've already seen this one, you know. Some new thing, whether it's a website, whether it's videos, whether it's, you know, whatever form of entertainment. Do you know some new thing is not sound doctrine? Okay, the body of scripture is established. The body of sound doctrine is established. There are things that are new to me as I learn them. But if somebody comes up with a doctrine, nobody's ever figured this out before. But let me tell you, I've figured out when nobody's figured out for 2000 years, since the establishment of the church, it's not new. If it's true, it's not new. If it's new, it's not true. Okay, but Mars Hill syndrome that is constantly listening to somebody else. And if I could say it this way a constant pursuit of stimulate my intellect as opposed to let me exercise my intellect in the study of God's Word. You understand the difference? I mean, I'm the academic Dean here. I'm not against you using your intellect. In fact, I'm very much in favor of it. But the intellect is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to use your intellect to learn about God so that we have a heart relationship with the God of the Bible. That's the goal of teaching the Bible and knowing God's word. I mean, we should earnestly contend for the faith. You should use your brain and defend the scriptures. But if you get enamored with somebody else that you think is a big brain, You're very easily going to be led astray. God wants you to have confidence in his word that is based on his character. And number four, the enemies of confidence. I would say the enemy of confidence is unbelief. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul talked about Alexander the coppersmith who had opposed him. That was a willful unbelief. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul talked to Timothy about in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves. That wasn't always willful. Sometimes it was just they didn't know what they didn't know and they were hurting themselves thinking they were making progress. You didn't know he wrote about Bible college students, did you? But there is sometimes an unbelief that is just immaturity. And there's sometimes an unbelief that is willful. But unbelief. is the enemy of confidence. If I can say it this way, Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, without faith, it is impossible to please him. You must use your brain. You must use your heart. But ultimately, you must start at the basis of, I believe there is a God and that this is his word. Okay, what are the two foundational assumptions of theology? God exists and God has spoken, right? Without faith, it is impossible to please him. Okay, if you are seeking to intellectually validate all of that to the exclusion of faith, you will be misled. You will go astray. The privilege of certainty. Now there's a lot more things that could be said, but God wants us to have assurance of understanding, assurance of salvation. God wants us to have a soundness of doctrine, a soundness of walk, a personal walk with Him. All of that, what is the basis of our confidence? The basis of our confidence ultimately is in the promises of God, and the promises of God are based on the character. of God. The promise is only as good as the one who makes the promise. God who cannot lie makes a promise. It's good. You can rely on it. There is a mindset out there in certain circles that says that if you are certain or dogmatic, that's a sign of weakness. Now, there are folks that are dogmatic with absolutely no thought or research put into I will acknowledge that, okay? That's not what we want you to be. You know, I am sure of my position, although I cannot defend it, I'm sure that I'm right. That's not where we want you to be. But understand this, certainty or confidence in sound doctrine and in the word of God, that is not a sign of weakness or immaturity. I can say it this way, certainty is not the delusion of a weak mind. Rather, certainty is the outgrowth of faith in the character and promises of God. Okay? Certainty, it does not mean that you're a small-minded, weak little person, and if you really expanded your mind to all the things that are out there, you realize you can't be so confident about all of these things. Granted, are there things that I still need to learn and understand? Sure. Things that I need to grow in? Sure. But to have a mindset that would say, well, we can never know for sure. We can never be certain. No, you need to drive a stake and say, this is what I believe. I am confident of this. Certainty is not the delusion of a weak mind. It is the outgrowth of faith in the character and promises of God. If I could say it this way, biblical certainty is maturing faith. The more my faith grows in the Lord, the more my confidence grows in his word and in his promises. So here's my challenge to you today. If you don't have one already, I'm gonna challenge you to make an I believe list. You know, we talked about sound doctrine. Paul told Timothy that he should continue in the things that he had learned and been assured of, reassured, persuaded. It's from that same idea of to be persuaded. The things he's learned and been assured of. Do you have an I believe list? I believe there's one God I believe there's one way to salvation and you put scripture with that. Some people call that a doctrinal statement. I used to might say well I don't need one because I'm not going to I'm not going to be a pastor. You're going to be a Christian. You're going to be a witness for God. You need a list of the things that you have learned and have been assured of. Learn it. Settle it in your own mind. Ask questions of the right people and get it settled. But then when you do, drive a stake and say, this is where I stand by the grace of God and I'm not moving because of Dr. So-and-so. Because it's out there. books, websites, YouTube channels, all manner of avenues are coming at you. And if you're a pastor, people are constantly asking about this or that, or why we do this, or can't we change that? You need to know where you stand and why. Okay, certainty should not be an irrational. I pull it out of the air, but there is such a thing as biblical certainty. The Bible says as we read earlier of Abraham, he was fully promise. He was fully persuaded that what he God had promised he was able to perform. Why was Abraham fully persuaded? Because he knew the person the character of God. He knew he could trust the promise of God. We have a privilege of certainty. Do not waste that. Do not depend on someone else for that. But as you are growing, establish your own certainty, not just because it's what mom and dad said, this is what my pastor said, this is what Dr. Lucan or Dr. Spencer says. I believe they're going to teach you right. But we need to be establishing a this is what I believe because this is what the Bible says list. But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the certainty we can have in your word and in your character. And God, I pray for each of us as faculty and staff that you'd help us to have that confidence and that growing relationship. I pray for our students, Lord, that you'd put some steel in their backbone, that they would determine that they can trust you and trust your word and that they would not be moved off the sound doctrine that they've been taught. Lord, thank you for giving us that opportunity. Help us to be pleasing to you and how we take advantage of it. We pray now that you bless in this time of invitation in Jesus name. Amen.