Young Adults' Group

The Boldness To Speak

by Pastor Mark
February 16, 2017

The spirit of Bethany

We thank God for the spirit of Bethany. This spirit has been cultivated over the years…over 43 years. But what is this spirit of Bethany? Using the acronym “Bethany”, Pastor Charles revealed to us what the spirit of Bethany is. This week, we want to consider the first letter B which stands for boldness.

Understanding boldness

The word “boldness” in Greek is “parresia” which means to have confidence. There is a sense of confidence in the way we speak…to openly speak. There should be no reservations or fear. The challenge is to speak boldly of the Lord.

The boldness of the Apostles

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

The Apostles demonstrated boldness in the way they spoke of the Lord. They were persecuted by the religious leaders for bearing witness. When they were asked by what power they spoke, the Apostle Peter spoke of salvation by the power of the name of the Lord.

Their boldness was manifested in the way they witnessed even though they were “uneducated and untrained”. They did not go through formal Rabbinic training. They were considered unskilled in the eyes of the leaders. Yet, they were able to speak as they did. The leaders marvelled at them for they recognised that they had been with the Lord Jesus. The Lord had trained them well and they were now able to boldly bear witness for Him.

Praying for greater boldness

Even though the Apostles were being persecuted for their faith…for bearing witness, they were not deterred in anyway. They sought to gather together and reported to each other what the chief priests and elders had said.

They looked to God in prayer. They recalled Scripture in prayer…making reference to Psalm 2 concerning the rulers who went against the Lord and Christ. (Acts 4:25) They also prayed for boldness, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,” (Acts 4:29) As a result, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31) The Lord answered their prayer. Even though there was great opposition, they continued to speak with greater boldness through the Spirit of God.

Owning the spirit of being bold

The Apostle showed that they had the spirit of boldness…to be witnesses for the Lord. They did not give up when faced with opposition. They owned this concept of having boldness to speak. Let us be challenged to follow the example of the Apostles and to own this spirit of boldness in sharing the gospel with people . As part of Bethany, let us be challenged to have this same spirit of boldness bearing witness of the Lord to others.

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