To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 2:2 “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

Marks of the fruit-bearing believer: that’s something that Paul is describing in the verse above.  His ministry to the Thessalonian church had not been in vain.  And why was that? It was because he had conducted himself among them in a God-honoring way. 

One such mark was Paul’s boldness.  Boldness: the word in the Greek language means outspokenness, frankness, even bluntness.  So much of false teaching is marked by what the teachers don’t say.  They are remiss to speak about sin lest they offend someone, although the reality of sin is part and parcel of the gospel.  As for Paul, although he faced opposition everywhere he turned, he did not shrink back from the ministry God had given him. He pressed on, boldly proclaiming the gospel – all of it.  What an example he has set for us.  His life was an example of the spirit-filled and spirit-empowered life that does not cower in fear or remain silent when opposition comes because of the truth we are called to share. 

In this world that has been filled and primarily operates on the basis of the lies of the enemy of our souls, opposition will result as we share a message that is diametrically opposed to the enemy’s deceptions. That has been true since the earliest days of the church. In Acts 4 we are given the account of the apostles Peter and John as they preached the word of God in Jerusalem soon after the resurrection.  There we are told that “as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ’Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ Now when they saw the  boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.”   Then we are told that the religious rulers threatened them and commanded them not to speak any more about Jesus, and released them. However, “When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, Who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit  “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed”— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” 

You see, over and over again we see the word “boldness” as it pertains to speaking the gospel. It was a mark of the apostles, and it was a prayer of the early believers. They desired boldness in preaching the gospel, no matter the opposition they might receive. So, what about you? Does that describe the desire of your heart?  Does boldness describe your ministry as you share the gospel with others in your life, or do you quake in fear with the idea of telling someone else about how Jesus has changed your life and the truth about sin and their need for salvation?  May God give us boldness to declare His Word far and wide, for it is boldness that is necessary in a world that opposes the very mention of the name of Jesus and the exclusive truth that it is He and He alone Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  May the Holy Spirit encourage each one of us with these words of Paul “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).  Boldness – it is an essential mark of a life lived to the glory of God and that bears the spiritual fruit of those who are abiding in Christ.