BOLDNESS
When we are working the Bible, many of the
translations of different words mean different things as opposed to our modern
English. We refer to these different
meanings in the Bible as Old English.
Before we begin this teaching, make sure you do not confuse the modern
translation of the word ‘boldness’. It
is not referring to a child who is difficult to discipline. The meaning of boldness in this teaching has
absolutely nothing to do with this type of definition. Remember, it is not referring to a child who
is hard to discipline. When I first
heard, in the Bible, that we were supposed to be bold, I became somewhat
confused. So I am getting rid of that
confusion for you right at the beginning of this teaching.
‘Boldness’ throughout this teaching is
referring to courage, bravery, and confidence. The simplest definition of
boldness that I learned is to act without fear. It’s that simple. We are going to study what God’s Word says
about the subject and how important it really is when we walk by the Spirit.
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Where does boldness originate? As always, I am going to let God’s Word
answer this question by going through a number of Scriptures. Mostly all of them are in the New
Testament. But first we will start off
with a Scripture in the book of Proverbs.
This Scripture has always been a favorite of mine. Remember we deal with principalities and
powers and not with the flesh. Boldness
is a deep-rooted spiritual concept and in the Age of Grace, which is the
administration in which we live, you may see the effects in the carnal
mind. However, boldness originates as a
spiritual concept. I hope I explained
that to you clearly. What I should say
is that because we are bold, that does not mean that we are brawlers and going
around looking for fights. Again,
boldness simply means to act without fear.
Now let’s get to the Word.
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the
righteous are bold as a lion. --
Proverbs 28: 1
You will learn by experience that a wicked
person is always running away from something, even if no one is pursuing that
person. This can be referred to as fear
or paranoia. I was like this at one
point in my life before I studied God’s Word.
I was full of anxiety and worry all of the time and yet nothing was
happening. In contrast to this wicked
person, the person who lives by God’s Word – he is righteous and he is as bold
as a lion. Why is this true? Because this person applies the Word of God
in his renewed mind. You should remember that the effects of his efforts are
courage, bravery, and confidence. That
man does not run away even though no one is pursuing him. In fact, this righteous man has what we may
refer to as confidence and intestinal fortitude. Confidence comes with an accurate knowledge
of the Word and the experience of applying that Word. I would like to think that the above is a
full and clear explanation of the difference between a wicked man and a
righteous man. God always explains His
Word in as simple of terms as possible.
One of the ways that boldness originates is from righteousness. Let’s move on to some Scriptures in the New
Testament.
Praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; --
Ephesians 6: 18
You
need to understand the phrase “all prayer and supplication in the Spirit”. This is referring to the manifestation of
speaking in tongues. I have prepared a
teaching for you on this particular subject.
You should review it and practice this principle since it is most
important because it is the only way to pray perfectly. I don’t know of any believer that speaks in
tongues enough in their private prayer life.
The enemy talks us out of it because he knows how powerful it is. There are two ways to pray and one is by the
spirit and the other one is with our understanding. So it becomes obvious as to what the subject
matter is of this Scripture. It is
talking about prayer. Prayer is another
area where boldness originates. The more
that we pray to God, especially in the spirit, the more fearless and the more
courage and the more bravery we will have in our lives. This may sound unusual to you, but it is God
who honors prayer. God likes when we
talk to Him and He will also talk to us by the manifestations of the spirit
which are mainly word of knowledge and word of wisdom. Word of knowledge is when God tells you
something to do and word of wisdom is when He tells you how to do it.
Now
in the second part of the verse, God tells us that we are to watch for the
welfare, perseverance and supplication for all saints. Many times when we pray, we should be praying
for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And for
me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to
make known the mystery of the gospel, --
Ephesians 6: 19
Now
we see that is it is specifically stated that when we pray, we open our mouth
boldly – without fear – to make known or to witness the mystery of the
gospel. And let’s face it, it sure is a
mystery to most people because they choose not to study or to give God any time
or to give Him any prayer. So now we
have seen a second concept as to where boldness originates. Let’s move on and we are going to stay in the
New Testament for quite some time.
Preaching,
witnessing, or sharing the Word of God will really turn you into a fearless
believer. I know. I did it back when I got into the Word of
God. This was when the ministry that I studied
with was as strong as it could be. Just
like in the book of Acts, and other places in the Bible, the believers were
divided and this ministry fell apart.
This happened in my lifetime.
That’s why I continue to do more and more teachings on the Internet
because it is the best way that I can share God’s Word at the present
time. Let’s now study the following four
Scriptures. Now remember to watch your
pronouns. Again, the next example will
illustrate the importance of prayer and the benefit of boldness which we will
receive as we share God’s Word.
The
following example is another source were boldness originates. Simply put, this involves fearless preaching.
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed [endeavored]
to join himself to the disciples: but
they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. -- Acts 9: 26
But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and
declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken
to him, and how he
[Paul] had preached boldly at Damascus in the name
of Jesus. -- Acts 9: 27
Paul
was visited by the Lord and Barnabas took his side trying to explain to the
apostles about the situation. He told
the apostles that Jesus Christ had spoken to Paul and how Paul preached boldly
at Damascus in the name of Jesus. How
did he speak? He spoke boldly. There is something about witnessing that is
unexplainable. When you witness without
fear to unbelievers, you get a type of strength within you. Barnabas stood by Paul and backed him up by
telling the believers that he had preached the Word of God fearlessly.
And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. --
Acts 9: 28
Paul
was moving. He was not staying in one
position because he knew that the Grecians were out to kill him. And you may think we go through a lot of
tribulation. How would you like this
happening to you? But what did Paul keep
doing? He kept moving. Let me tell you something that I learned many years ago. When the devil is shooting at you, you keep
moving. You don’t stand in one
spot. That is why variety is very
important in our lives. We should change
the things that we do and how we do them every so often. That way the adversary cannot predict what you
are about to do next. This is a very
important principle and I am glad I was able to place this principle within
this teaching.
And he spake boldly in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay
him. --
Acts 9: 29
Notice how it is mentioned again that Paul
spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and he argued against the Grecians,
but they still wanted to slay him. Paul
had a way of preaching to people in a fearless manner, which means he had the
ultimate in boldness – acting without fear.
I have to believe that at times what kept Paul alive in these situations
was the fact that he spoke the Word of God without fear and with confidence and
bravery.
The next section which should help us remain
clear pertaining to the subject of boldness has to do with Christ. I will begin in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 11
and conclude in verse 12.
According to the eternal
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In whom we have boldness and
access with confidence by the faith of him [Jesus
Christ]. – Ephesians 3: 11, 12
Many believers do not understand the faith of
Jesus Christ. The meaning of faith here
means that we all receive the same amount of faith when we are born again. We cannot get anymore because we all have the
same potential to act on and renew our minds to God’s Word. Up in verse 12, we see that we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of Jesus Christ which is in us when we
are born again. So we can easily
conclude that boldness and access with confidence is a result of having the
faith of Jesus Christ. We have the
battery and the whole car, but we must turn the key. Turning the key means that we are renew our
mind to the principles of the Word of God and we are also applying them. You see that God has all of this set up in a
very simple manner where we are to move with Him step-by-step. So what causes us so much trouble in our
lives at times? The enemy tricks us and
deceives us and in turn, he stops us from renewing our mind to God’s Word. There are millions of distractions out in the
world and he is taking advantage of this.
There is only one road that you must take and this road is a dedicated
obedience to God’s Word. I myself, have
been tricked very much lately with temptations due to a simple lack of
listening to God when He tells me something by word of knowledge and word of
wisdom. I, by my own free will, have
decided in many ways not to listen and carry out this revelation. The results are catastrophic. I myself have had times where I am making one
mistake and one bad decision after another.
God had taken me aside and lectured me pertaining to decisions and how
they were to be made. This resulted in a
complete change in my lifestyle, but very much for the better. I only decided this morning that I was going
to listen to God and I was not going to falter any longer. I am not going to get into it right now, but
I’m sure that you know that there is a Scripture in Corinthians that says that
Satan himself can be transformed into an angel of light. That is why, and I’m stressing this for you,
that you must be sharp spiritually. You
should never let your guard down because the enemy looks for weaknesses in
people. I did not think that I would get emotional while telling you this, but
I am. I need to tell you that the devil
and all his devil spirits are more deceptive than you can ever believe. Only the Word of God will allow you to discern
which source revelation is coming from.
And you heard this in the book of first John, if you are not blessed,
you are living in sin. So if you are
having similar opportunities, pray to God and pray with all your heart that He
will help you. You must convince God
that you are willing to make changes in your lifestyle that will please Him and
in turn will give you the more than abundant life.
Let’s take a look at Philippians and remember
we are still on the subject of obtaining boldness by the faith of Jesus Christ.
According to my earnest
expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
but that
with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my
body, whether it be by life, or by death. –
Philippians 1: 20
What is Paul trying to say here? That according to his expectations and his hope,
in nothing shall he ever be ashamed, but exercise all boldness and
fearlessness, and as always Christ shall be magnified in his body, whether he
lives or dies. Paul was truly an amazing
apostle. His believing was beyond almost
anyone’s believing that I know of. He
believed God’s Word 100%. Why is this so
and we seem to have a hard time? I hate
to use this expression but I’m going to use it.
Sometimes you need to go through hell to get to heaven. I have been there. Even if Paul had died, his example would
still live on. I follow a certain man’s
example today and he fell asleep many years ago. But as far as I am concerned Christ is still
magnified by his example when he was alive.
And I have hundreds and hundreds of this man’s teachings. They are truly magnificent and as I have said
it before, I truly believe he was the first apostle on the face of this earth
since Paul.
Let’s go back to Paul and maybe try to answer
why he had so many expectations and hope and fearlessness. We all know what Paul did before he was born
again. God forgave him for the things
that he did. Do you think Paul was
thankful? Let’s take a look at a similar
example still in the book of Philippians.
And many of the brethren in the
Lord, waxing confidence by my bonds, are much more bold
to speak the word without fear. – Philippians 1: 14
Why were the brethren in the churches
scattered about renewing their minds and studying Jesus Christ and the Word of
God? They were confident by Paul’s
bonds. Paul had set such a great example
that it affected the believers to a point where they were more
bold to speak the Word of God without any fear whatsoever. When you witness, many people will want to
follow your example if you are in fellowship with God. I had never forgotten and never will what
took place in my life when I was first witnessing the Word of God to new
people. For some reason after they had
taken a long biblical research and teaching class that I signed them up for, I
finally asked them one question. I said
would you tell me from your heart why did you sign up for this class and what
made you so interested. They looked me
straight in the eye and they said, Ralph, I wanted to be like you. Can you imagine that? So remember, you set the example for the
people that you witness God’s Word to.
And remember, never let your audience dictate your performance.
We are now going to go to the book of Hebrews
and study some more. You have to admit
that studying God’s Word makes you feel better.
It can’t totally be understood but it always works that way.
This verse is going to help you in a great
way when you are praying to God. Do you
know that you never have to beg or plead with God for answers to your prayers?
Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4: 16
This example refers to boldness through
Communion with God. It is quite a
revelation to many people that God Almighty wants you to come boldly to His
throne of grace when we pray to find help in time of need. We are to go to God in a fearless manner, not
a wishy-washy way, but with confidence and bravery. God wants us to speak to Him in this
manner. Many people like to pray and
they get all emotional and beg God for things.
This Scripture should do away with this if you have ever done this in
your life. Now you know that you are to
come to the throne of grace with bravery and confidence and fearlessness. When I first learned this Scripture I was
rather shocked. God has given us so much
that I’ll tell you the truth, I used to think we should crawl on the ground
when we pray to Him. But that’s not true
and now you know it’s not true and you will never forget it. This knowledge that we gain even in this
teaching and especially this Scripture is obviously the result of a renewed
mind effort to learn and apply God’s Word to its highest degree. The more we renew our mind to God’s Word, the
stronger we become. It’s magnificent
really if you would get your head out of your iPhone and dial-up God’s
Word. You’ve got to be able to see that
all of these devices in the world today are designed to distract you and take
you away from the way that you should be living. I showed you many times that Scripture that
we were made to live by the Word of God, not by cell phones, and not by
four-wheel-drive trucks. God is the same
yesterday, today and forever. All the
miracles that you saw take place in the Bible are available today. Why?
Remember, we all have the same amount of the faith of Jesus Christ once
we are born again. I am going to go to I
John and talk about another place where boldness originates and it is one of
the most important principles in the Word of God. It can be referred to as perfect love.
And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is
love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. – I
John 4: 16
Isn’t that a beautiful Scripture? The person who lives with love in their
heart, God in Christ dwells in that person.
Well, let me say something that needs to be said. Many people are afraid to love today. They are tough like they’re a big deal. Well let me say this, that person who does
not dwell in love dwells in hell. The
next Scripture gets more specific as to the subject matter of this
teaching. But I wanted the previous
verse to set the stage for this.
Herein is our love made
perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:
because as he is, so are we in this world.
– I John 4: 17
I am wondering if you finally got this
principle straight. Jesus Christ was not
and is not God. He was a man just like
us on the face of this earth. The only
major difference was that he had a pure bloodstream and he never sinned. He always did God’s Will. God refers to the life of
Jesus Christ and He says that if we dwell in love, love is made perfect in
us. But there it is. What is one of the attributes or benefits of
walking in love? The answer is clearly
boldness “so that we may have boldness”.
The end of the verse states that as Jesus Christ was, so are we in this
world. Jesus Christ teaches us that we
not only have the power that he has, but we have greater power. This sometimes confuses a believer so I am
going to straighten it out for you right now.
The fact that we can get people born again is something that Jesus
Christ could not do during the Christ administration. We are in the Church or Grace
administration. I have said it time and
time again that everyone should study the teaching called The Seven
Administrations if you want closure on this subject.
Since we have done a rather extensive job
defining boldness and mixing it in with some examples, we are now going to
strictly focus on examples of boldness.
The following is an example of the tribe of Levi and how they went and
obeyed the command of Moses without a second thought. Let’s go to the record.
Then Moses stood in the gate of
the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let
him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves
together unto him. -- Exodus 32: 26
Just take notice that there was no bickering
and no complaining and no cowardly behavior amongst all the sons of Levi. They simply obeyed the request of Moses. This takes an army that is without fear and
has a lot of boldness.
And he [Moses] said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by
his side, and go in and out from gate to gate
throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his
companion, and every man his neighbor.
-- Exodus 32: 27
Moses told them to have their weapons
prepared and to move throughout the people who were all idolaters and to slay
every one of them. And what did the
children of Levi do?
And the children of Levi did
according to the word of Moses: and
there fell of the people that day about 3000 men. --
Exodus 32: 28
Watch the way that the Word of God is
worded. The children of Levi did
according to the word of Moses, but that word was actually revelation from the
true God. Moses was in close touch with
God and it was God’s Will that all of these people who practiced idolatry would
die. The point I’m trying to make here
is that these Levites went into battle without any fear, but with confidence
because they knew they were following the Word of the true God. There are many examples like this in the Old
Testament, but I thought I would choose this one since it is very simple and
easy to understand. This is an outright
and clear example of boldness.
Take a look at I Samuel 17: 43. This record reflects a well-known story about
David and his battle with the Philistines.
Notice the last part of verse 43.
The Philistine cursed David by the Philistine’s gods. The term ‘his gods’ should give you a lot of
information. This was not the true God
and father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Philistine worshiped the god of this world which is the devil. Now watch how the Philistine brags to
David. Let us go over that verse.
And the Philistine said to
David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to
the beasts of the field. -- I Samuel 17: 44
Unless you can do what you say you can do,
that is not bragging or boasting. But we
will see that the Philistine who was boasting was not going to be successful in
his battle with David. So the Philistine
was bragging and boasting because he could not do what he said he would.
In verse 45 David tells the Philistine that
the Philistine was coming to him with the sword and with the spear and with the
shield.
Verse 46:
But David said I am come in the name of the Lord of hosts of the God of
the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
David went on to tell him that he was going to deliver him and take off
his head and give it to the Philistines.
He told the Philistine that his head would be given to the wild beasts
of the earth and the fowls of the air that all may know that there is a God in
Israel.
Now we need to take a look at verse 47 and
you better be reading these verses if you want to get the point of this
teaching. I know many of you value your
firearms. But as a true believer, you
never need to have a gun in this New Testament era. This may be hard for you to understand. The verse says that the Lord saves not with
sword and spear for the battle is the Lord’s.
Let’s get right into verse 48 and 49 and conclude this record of amazing
boldness.
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. 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. -- I Samuel 17: 48, 49
So there you have one of the most amazing
examples of boldness in the Word of God.
David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone and he
smote the Philistine and he killed him:
but there was no sword in the
hand of David. The rest of the record
will give you more details as to what David did.
Now due to the length of this teaching, I am going to have you read a record in the book of Daniel which illustrates great boldness as I have never seen in a group of men. These men were called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and I am sure that you have heard the story. The story begins at about verse 6 of chapter 3 of the book of Daniel. I am going to ask you to read the whole chapter so that you understand the context of the teaching. In essence, these three men were thrown into a furnace because they would not obey the religious ceremonies of the King whose name was Nebuchadnezzar. They went into the fiery furnace supposedly to be burned alive and the record says that not even a piece of their clothing was singed. It is truly a remarkable story of miracles, boldness and believing. Let’s now stay with the book of Daniel and illustrate another similar story.
Daniel, chapter 6, is similar to the previous
record in which Daniel would not believe and carry out the writing and decree
of King Darius. Daniel would pray with
his windows open in his chamber facing Jerusalem and he kneeled down three
times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did
aforetime. To make a long story short,
the king had men spying on Daniel and reported his behavior to the King. The king was reluctant, but he had David
thrown into a den of lions. The next
morning the king came back to see about David’s condition. He could not sleep all night long and what he
did was really bothering him because he knew David was a righteous man. He was influenced and persuaded greatly by
the men who had reported Daniel’s praying behavior. Of course, David was not hurt by the lions
because God had shut their mouths. In
turn, the King threw in the people who were to watch over Daniel and he also
threw in the lion’s den all the family members of those den keepers including
their children. And then he promoted
Daniel to a very high position in his province.
All of this happened because of the boldness of Daniel. He believed that God would protect him from
the mouths of the lions and God did.
These stories may appear to be hard to believe, but they actually
happened. You can see how far we have to
go to learn to believe to such an extent and to be so fearless that we are
truly bold.
We’re going to now go into the book of Acts
and use at least one example from this book.
I usually do not teach teachings that are this long and I do not want
you to lose your concentration while trying to read this teaching. My suggestion to you is to read half of the
teaching and then come back at another time and read the other half. I will quote one Scripture and I will ask you
to read the chapter by yourself, again due to the length of this teaching. The Scriptures should help you to understand
the complete context of the chapter.
For we cannot but speak the
things which we have seen and heard. So
when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how
they might punish them, because of the people:
for all glorified God for that which was done. – Acts 4: 20, 21
It was the Sanhedrin that commanded them not
to speak nor to teach in the name of Jesus.
But the disciples answered back and said we cannot help but to speak the
things which we have seen and heard.
They went up against the Council and they could care less what they
did. Because of their boldness, the
Council released them mainly because they feared the people. The more of the Word of God that you know and
teach to others, the more power God allows you to have. There is power in numbers and it is important
to have as many people on your side as is possible. This seems to be a difficult thing to do in
this day and age, but it is possible.
Please read this whole chapter on your own. It’s time that some of you who have been
following this website begin to get on your own. Remember, you and God always make a majority.
The next verse is also in Acts and it really
is a historical turn of events as a result of what Paul said. I will give you the subject matter
first. The Israelites were not listening
to or accepting anything pertaining to Jesus Christ. So Paul and Barnabas being as bold as they
could be told them they had put it from them and to judge themselves. Let me quote the verse and let God say it the
way it should be said.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God
should first have been spoken to you:
but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
– Acts 13: 46
It amazes me many times how much clearer God
can say something that I myself. Paul
and Barnabas were fearless when they told the Israelites that the Word of God
should have been spoken to them first.
But the fact that they put it from them and chose not to believe, they
judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life.
And here is the main point.
Because of this, they began to speak the Word and to have faith in the
Gentiles as compared to the Israelites.
I could not see breaking this teaching into
two parts since the second part was actual examples of boldness and tied in
well with the first part which was a combination of definitions. The teaching is really not that long to the
point where it would be cumbersome to study.
But as I had mentioned before, you may want to read part of the teaching
and then come back and read the final part.
This will conclude the teaching on boldness. God bless.
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