Turning the world upside down - pt. 8

[PreacherE]

They spake the Word of God with boldness

Acts 4:31

'And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.'

The priests had threatened Peter and John and then released them. They were too afraid to touch them at this time because of all the people who knew they had performed the miracle on the lame man. When Peter and John returned to the rest of the disciples they told them of everything that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. In verse 24 we see that they immediately began to pray when they heard of how Peter and John had been threatened not to speak or teach in Jesus' name. In verse 29 we see that they prayed for boldness to speak the Word of God. In our text verse we can see that God immediately granted their request.

Sadly, this is something that is disappearing from churches today. It left the different apostate, ecumenical denominations many years ago. Now many Independent Fundamental Baptist churches are losing their boldness to speak the Word of God as well. I have known churches that at one time use to thunder out from the pulpit against sin and worldliness, but now no longer do. Instead of telling people how to get right and stay right with God, they have started teaching them feel-good sermonettes. Our churches need men of God who will proclaim the whole counsel of God from the pulpit instead of hirelings who will merely mention things that will tickle the ears of the congregation. Also, this sinful world needs Christians who will have the boldness to proclaim the truth found in God's Word concerning our need of a Saviour. The world does not need us to be their friend by telling them everything will be OK if they just do their best and follow whatever path they feel is right.

1. We will not have boldness without having some other things in our life.

The early church never would have had boldness to speak the Word of God if they had not have had some other things present in their life. Many of those things we have talked about in previous posts are things which when added together allowed them to speak the Word of God in boldness. We have seen how they were in one accord with prayer and supplication, they were filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and it was evident they had been with Jesus. All of these things together allowed them to be able to speak the Word of God with boldness. It basically all boils down to the fact that they had a personal relationship with the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and they were busying themselves about the work of the Lord.

We can not expect to have boldness in our own lives unless we have a relationship with Christ. All of the things mentioned above should be a part of our lives if we are going to have a personal relationship with the Lord. It takes a prayer life of going before God's throne with our petitions and needs relying on Him to supply them. There should also be times where we merely go before His throne with praises and thanksgiving. We need to continue steadfastly in following the Word of God for every aspect of our lives. If the Bible says it, then that settles it, and we ought to believe it. We can not have a good relationship with the Lord if we are living contrary to His Word. While we may disobey out of ignorance for a time, there is going to come a point where God is going to show us our wrong and we will have to choose whether to get it right or not. We need to be faithful in our church attendance as well. We should look forward to going to church and meeting with the Lord in the presence of fellow believers. Every Christian should be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost in their lives. Sadly, most Christians spend more time quenching the Spirit of God then they do submitting to the Spirit. Lastly, it should be evident that we have been with Jesus. If we are doing these things mentioned and if we are developing a personal relationship with the Lord then it will be very evident in our lives that we have been with Jesus. If all of these are present in our life then we will have what we need to speak the Word of God with boldness.

2. We need to pray for boldness.

The disciples were just starting to feel the effects of some persecution. It had come to the point where they were now being threatened by the religious leaders for their faith. They knew that it would not be much longer until they would face actual harm for their stance on the Word of God. Because of this they prayed to God in verse 29 that He would give them boldness to speak the Word of God. Instead of praying for deliverance from the persecution that was to come they prayed for the strength to endure that persecution. They wanted to be able to stand in the face of death and yet still proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Oh, How we need to pray for boldness in our own lives. Modern Christians in America have had it easy because of the religious liberty our Founding Fathers wrote into the Constitution. However, our liberties are being chiseled away more and more with each passing year. For the most part we still have the right to proclaim the Gospel and to speak the Word of God freely. There are those who are working to make it a crime to believe the Bible and there is coming a day where American Christians will have to choose between God's Word and their freedom and/our lives. In many parts of the world Christians are forced to make this choice everyday of their lives, especially in Islamic and Communistic countries. We need to be praying that when that time comes to us that we will be able to speak the Word of God with boldness. We also need to pray for the boldness to live a separated life unto God and boldness to witness to the lost telling them of the Saviour.

If we have a personal relationship close to Christ then we will be where we need to be to pray for boldness and to receive it.

In Christ,

PreacherE

[james516]

Amen Preacher E Amen.