Sermon by Pastor James Kimathi
23rd March 2025
Hebrews 11:1 states, “now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Thus, we have faith, which is our confidence and trust in Christ Jesus. The devil is always working to weaken our confidence, and in this case, let us keep trusting in the Lord so that our confidence builds up from one level to another and is not weakened. May we never abandon our faith or lose our confidence.
As it is much easier to fear than to believe in the Lord, eliminating all fear through abiding and trusting in God will strengthen our confidence that God will always protect us. In this case, the same way we fight sin, we should fight fear.
It is important to note that Adam and Eve were not shameful and fearful before sinning. But after they ate from the forbidden tree, they became conscious of shame. Although they attempted to cover up their shame using fig leaves, the shame wasn’t taken away. Only Jesus can take away the shame.
Overcoming Shame
We overcome shame by truly repenting. True repentance comprises conviction, confession, and confrontation. In this, we should be convicted of our sins. Afterward, we should confess by laying bare and exposing our nakedness (Psalm 51) & (Psalm 32). Confession should be very specific and sober in that we ask ourselves, ‘What sin do we want God to forgive?’
On the other hand, confrontation entails praying to God and confronting a situation at the place of prayer. For instance, it is important to understand that in terms of sicknesses, God never sends diseases. Thus, interrogating our lives and letting the sicknesses help us reach our knees before God and ask for His mercies is essential.
The Holy Spirit is so true. If we depended on God for everything by abiding in Christ, sin would not be found in the church. Conversely, most people do not receive power and results in prayer because they are not yet in a place of confidence. They lack confidence and assurance. That said, anyone who is bold and confident will receive answers to their prayers. As such, we should look forward to being men and women who do not need to depend on their pastors but on God. For instance, Ephesians 4:11-12 demarcates, “So Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Such portrays that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are to equip us for the works of service, but not that we can depend on them.
God has not created us to carry shame. There should be a turning around where we take off the old self and put on the new nature full of confidence in Christ. Both conviction and confession necessitate confidence. Indicating that forgiveness is a result of confidence. David had the confidence that God was with him. With this, he was able to approach King Saul and kill Goliath. Similarly, it does not matter whether God is with us; if we do not have the confidence that God is with us, we will not be able to kill the ‘Goliath.’ As indicated in 1st Samuel 17:45, David knew whom he had believed in. Thus, we ought to know whom we have believed in.
People who have truly confessed their sins have their confidence in Jesus. They do not have confidence of their own. For instance, Paul, in the book of Acts, preached to those he was persecuting because he laid down his shame and exposed it. In the same way, laying down our shame is paramount because if we continue to contend and cover up our shame with the fig leaves, we will be ashamed forever.
Romans 13:14 elucidates that we should clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, understanding that our righteousness is just like filthy rags is paramount. This is because self-righteousness is similar to wrapping ourselves up with grave clothes and fig leaves. That said, managing our shame by covering up our sins and trying to improve our lives is unacceptable as it does not yield the confidence of Christ. Therefore, removing the grave clothes and fig leaves will enable us to attain the covering of Christ because Jesus cannot cover us while sin, fig leaves, and grave clothes are covering us.
It matters not what we have done. But the truth is that if we confess our sins, we will get rid of the covering of shame and get clothed with the robes of righteousness. Through the covering of Jesus, we attain God’s glory. We should embrace Jesus’ covering by removing the covering of shame, as it will prevent us from being stuck and lacking confidence. As we remove the covering of shame and sin, there will no longer be powerlessness in the church because of our trust and faith in the Lord.
We need not to hide anything. Before the feet of Jesus, let us lay everything bare, remove the shame and sin covering, and attain the covering of Jesus. Jesus is the kinsman redeemer; as we accept to lay everything bare and be covered by Him, we will not be naked before the demons and the spiritual realm.
In conclusion, the fact that most of us hold titles such as leaders, apostles, priests, prophets, etc, does not mean that we have the covering of Christ. Jesus’ covering should be essential in our lives. On the other hand, we cannot say we have true faith in God when we have not gone through true repentance. Whatever sin we might be covering up will uncover us one day. Shame and fear are the two main reasons why people are stuck. This is because no one can hide their nakedness and still give birth. Thus, let us lay bare our shame and quit trying and faking everything. Let us be clothed with the garments of Christ, acknowledging that many people are not stagnant because the devil is too powerful but because their strength is evaporated because they have failed to have the covering of Christ.
