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Amen. Okay, Acts chapter 4. There's a lot in there, we're going to be looking at most of the chapter, but I want to just look at a few verses for now before we get started with the sermon. Acts 4, and look at verse 8 again. Verse 8 in Acts chapter 4 which says this, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at Nalt of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled, and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And I told him my sermon this morning is when they saw the boldness, when they saw the boldness, I'd like to pray before we get going with a message. Father, thank you Lord for the truth of your word, Lord. Thank you for the lessons you give us out of it and help me to teach this one just in an accurate and a clear way now, Lord, in a way that people want to apply it. We want to, you know, take hold of this and try and live this way, Lord, and try and get this right in their lives. Help me to be bold as I preach this, Lord. Help me to be full of your Spirit as I do this, and help all these things to be done in Jesus Christ's holy name. Amen. Okay, when they saw the boldness. So we're talking about boldness today, obviously, and we're going to look at the results of it, where it comes from, and then areas that we should be bold in as well. But before I do that, okay, so before I go into that, I want to just differentiate between being bold and obviously in the sphere of our faith is what we're really talking about here, and just being obnoxious. Okay, there are people that, you know, kind of get this the wrong way. Okay, they see, yeah, we should be bold, and then they just get it wrong, right? They just end up being idiots. Keep a figure here and turn to Colossians 3, Colossians chapter 3. So we should be bold, but we should also be meek. The Lord Jesus was both, wasn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ was bold, but he was meek. Matthew 11 29, he said this, your turn to Colossians 3. In Matthew 11 29, the Lord said, take my yoke upon me and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Now meek, according to Webster's 1828, has two definitions. It says number one is mild of temper, soft, gentle, not easily provoked or irritated, yielding, given to forbearance under injuries. And then number two is appropriately humble in an evangelical sense submissive to the divine will, not proud, self-sufficient or refractory, not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations. Now the first person described as meek, and the first time we see the word in the Bible, was Moses in Numbers 12 3, where it says now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. So he was certainly humble, wasn't he Moses? He wasn't prideful, he was long suffering, especially towards his people. He was submissive to God, he was kind, right? But he wasn't a pushover either, was he? Okay, he stood in front of Pharaoh multiple times, the god of the, basically at least the biggest power in the area, probably the world at that point. He stood in front of him and demanded his people to be freed. So he wasn't a pushover, he had boldness, but he was also meek. He was a humble person, right? The Lord Jesus Christ was pretty humble too, wasn't he? Okay, yeah, the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't a pushover, but Philippians 2 7 says of him that he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. So he still though, with that in mind, stood in front of the rulers of the nation, called them out for their wickedness, didn't he? And people that did have the ability to call for him to be put to death. So I say that because the flesh, look, some people's flesh goes either way with this. Some would love to jump on the boldness bit, and often in areas outside of our faith, and then ignore the meekness part, which is such an important counterbalance. Okay, like I keep talking about, there's this balance in the Bible, there's a counterbalance to people going too far without and thinking that they just need to call people out all the time, because constantly beyond people's cases, rude to people, etc. The counterbalance that we're meant to be humble, we're meant to be meek as well, right? But we're still meant to be bold. In Colossians 3.12, and we're going to be looking at these over the next few weeks as our memory verses, the Apostle Paul said, put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. You go, oh, this doesn't sound like hard preaching, I don't like this. Yeah, but that's the Bible, right? I'm doing you a disservice if I'm like, yeah, but us men here, we all just want to hear about the hard parts, right? Yeah, but we're also told there's a balance here, right? We need to get that balance right. He said forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity, which is a bond of perfectness. So lifting yourself up, being rude to others, which is often a result of inflated pride, being unforgiving, being unloving, that's not how God wants us to behave, okay? That's not how he wants us behaving. However, with that in mind, he also wants us to be bold, particularly in certain areas of our life. So we want to get that balance and hopefully today will help with that, getting that balance right. So here in Acts, okay, Peter and John, if you go back to Acts with all of that in mind, Peter and John have gone to the temple and they've healed this well-known temple beggar who'd been lame from birth. So you could argue this, he's been lame from birth, he's, you know, he's an adult now. Peter has then preached the Gospel to them. Loads of people are getting saved, so as expected, what happens when this sort of thing's going on? The bad guys turn up, don't they? Okay, here in Acts 4, it's the priests, the temple authorities, the Sadducees all turn up. They throw them in some sort of holding cells and then bring them out the next day in front of the rulers, the elders, the scribes, the high priest, even his family turn up for the show as well. They ask them by what power and name have they done this? It says this in verse 8 of Acts 4, verse 8 said, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, so this is a guy that was lame, by what means he is made whole, be it known, sorry, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Then says, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. So like I said, the title is When They Saw the Boldness. And I've got three questions to look at today with three answers to each question. So we're in threes today, okay. So question number one, question number one today to look at is what were the results of seeing that boldness? What were the results of seeing that boldness? They saw the boldness of Peter and John. Verse 13 said, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. So what was it that they saw? Verse seven said this, look back at verse seven. It said, And when they had set them in the midst, they asked by what power or by what name have you done this? So they've just got out of prison. They're standing in the middle of those responsible for the crucifixion of the Lord. And instead of keeping quiet, instead of finding a way out of it, explaining a way to miracle, maybe just focusing on the miracle, right? Instead of any of that, they said this. Verse eight says, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him do this man stand here before you hold. No, they boldly declared the name of Christ. And do you know how? How was it that they did this? It was with the word of God. It was with the word of God. Look at verse 11. They said, he said this, This is a stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. So do you know what he's doing? He's referencing Psalm 118 in verse 22. So Psalm 118 22 says this, The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. So he's just said this is a stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. So he's got a quoting part of it. He's turning it, showing that they're the ones that refused him. The boldness that they saw and the boldness that we're looking for, okay, isn't in our own words. I'm so bold in my own words. I'm so bold in my own ways of explaining things, describing things. I'm so bold in those sorts of things. It isn't in our ability to maybe dominate conversations. It isn't in our intelligence, right? Our job, maybe some people are bold about their perceived intelligence, their jobs, their stature, maybe our knowledge of other subjects. The boldness is in the word of God. That's what they were bold in. Now jump forward to verse 29, verse 29, where they've got back to the other disciples. They've gone back there. They tell them what happened. They all pray to the Lord and then they say this in verse 29. It says this in verse 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. Notice that? So they're praying for boldness to do what? To speak the word, to speak the word of God. That's what we're asking to be bold in. That's what we want God to make us bold in, speaking the word of God. He said in verse 30, by stretching forth thine hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done in the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed the place was shaken when they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. It's like the boldness chapter. We just keep saying about boldness, boldness, boldness. And what is it being bold with? It's being bold with the word of God. That's what the boldness is in. It's the word. And back in verse 12, they boldly spake the word of God to the rulers. They said in verse 12, after that, they then said neither is it their salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It then says this, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. So you've got this boldness with the word, yet they were unlearned and ignorant. Now it's not calling them illiterate or stupid, okay? It's that they're not theologically trained. Unlike the apostle Paul, for example, they hadn't, like him, sat at the feet of Gamaliel. You know, Acts 22, 3 said of Paul, he said this, I am verily a man which a Jew born in Tarsus, a city in Silesia, yet brought up in a city at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers and was zealous toward God as ye all are this day. No, no, these were fishermen. They weren't, you know, brought up in those things. They weren't supposed experts of the law and everything. They were fishermen. They were just regular people, yet they spoke the word of God with boldness. They were bold with the word of God. It said in, the title is When They Saw the Boldness, and point number one is what were the results of seeing that boldness? And point, and first point there, first answer to that question is they marveled. They marveled. We just saw in verse 13, which is to wonder or even to admire, you could say as well. So the high priest didn't fall down and call on the name of the Lord, okay, but maybe there were some there that did go on to get saved. Do you wonder that? I mean, they as a collective marveled and there were, like we said, we saw that his family was there as well. There were many people there, and I'm sure that many people here have also seen people marvel at your boldness with the word. So those are those times when you have been bold and you've gone out, and not just preach the Gospel, but think about it when you have preached your Gospel, and you've got out and you've boldly declared the Gospel to someone. Sometimes people marvel, don't they, at the boldness? You notice that? When you really feel bold, and we're going to look at some recipes for that in a bit, but when you're really feeling bold, sometimes you kind of notice that look on someone's face, don't you, when they're a bit taken aback, sort of, wow, that's some boldness in the word of God, some boldness in what God says. But it's not just the Gospel, even explaining other truths. Maybe you've kind of, you know, whether it's with family, friends, colleagues, whatever, when you're explaining things out of the Bible, and you can just go, this is what the Bible says, this is what the word of God says, you're bold in it. People marvel sometimes, don't they? It could be, like I said, a wondering and even maybe an admiration for that boldness in something, that conviction in something. You know, you sometimes get that sort of, you know, where people try and patronise you and say, well, you know, it's good that you really believe in something, you know. But in a way, sometimes they're saying, they're marvelling, and they're like, wow, this person really believes that. They're really convicted by the word of God. Family members might marvel at that, for example, at your boldness with the word of God. In just other subjects and other things and, you know, the truths of it, the fact that you believe that it is the word of God, it's a preserved, inspired word of God. Some people just marvel at that, at that conviction, that boldness. Verse 13 said, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. So they marvelled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And I believe that rather than an extra thought, this was related. So the boldness alongside being unlearned and ignorant men meant that they knew that they had been with Jesus. Now, turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, 1 Corinthians 1, obviously keep a finger here, we're going to be coming back regularly to Acts 4, 1 Corinthians 1. Who was it on the whole that was following Jesus? On the whole? Was it the lawyers, the doctors, the On the whole it was a common man, wasn't it? It was a common man, like the Lord appeared to be, the son of a carpenter, yet he and they and his followers were bold in the word of God, weren't they? And it's not that being educated is a bad thing, it's not that having knowledge and skills in other areas is a bad thing, but so often with that stuff just comes pride, doesn't it? And that's the hindrance of it, which makes you less, like, firstly it even prevents salvation a lot as well, people just get pride for they think that they know too much, but it also makes you less usable by God if you are saved but you're prideful. 1 Corinthians 1 says this in verse 26, 1 Corinthians 1.26 says, For ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men offer the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Now, it didn't say not any, did it? It just said not many. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised have God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are. So he's saying that those that people look down upon, those that people think, well they're not, you know, at the top of society, at the top of these work forces, and you know, the intellectual minds of the world and everything else, but those same people confound the things which are mighty, confound those so-called wise people that just can't understand the things of God. And he said that he chose to do that. Verse 29, that, that no flesh should glory in his presence. So basically when they see a regular uneducated guy, according to the world standards, or at least here, you know, it was in terms of probably theological stuff, but regardless, speaking the word of God with boldness, they take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus. So when you just see a regular person just with that boldness in the word of God, people take knowledge that you've been with Jesus. And when you're expounding the Scriptures, especially to the so-called wise and mighty, at least others might take knowledge that you've been with Jesus. You ever notice that sometimes, when you kind of have someone that tries to challenge you but there's someone else there? Maybe like someone's come from the back room to try and stop you while you're trying to preach the Gospel on the door, maybe you're out in the street or something, and then there's someone that thinks they know it all, and like, you know, I've read the Bible once or, you know, they're really proud of it, or something or whatever else, they claim that they know it all. And then when you just kind of show what they're saying is in error, and you do it politely, and just say, well, the word of God says this, sometimes it actually helps with the other person, who suddenly, okay, now they're taking no. They're taking knowledge, yeah, this person's been with Jesus, they're just a regular person, but they really have boldness in the word of God. Verse 13 said this, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And then verse 14 says, And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. So the question, the first question we're looking at is, what were the results of seeing that boldness? They marveled. They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus, and they could say nothing against it. So it wasn't just that there was a miraculously healed man there. They could have said plenty against that, couldn't they? They could have claimed the miracle was of the devil, like they had with Jesus, maybe given the credit to someone or something else for the healing, maybe just denied it, just said this didn't happen, this is a fake, whatever else they might have tried to do. The boldness, I think, in the word of Peter and John was a part of why they could say nothing against him. Was it just there was a healed guy here? It was on the back of the boldness of Peter and John. These two weren't going to deny the healing power of the Lord, weren't they? They weren't going to be shut up. They weren't going to say, okay, well, whatever they say. They were boldly declaring Christ's hand in it. And isn't that a result of our boldness? So whether it's a salvation or an answered prayer or maybe a changed life, that boldness in the word of God prevents the naysayers from being able to say much against it. It's very hard for them to say much against it, against what's been achieved when you're boldly just going, God answered that prayer. You're boldly saying that person got saved. You're boldly saying that person's life's been changed by the word of God, by preaching, that the boldness in the promises of the power of the gospel, the power of prayer, the power of the word to change lives. And that boldness in the spiritual and physical healing power of the word of God, it often results in the unbelievers in our lives. And we all have unbelievers in our lives in various areas able to just say nothing against it. I don't know if you ever noticed that, just kind of silenced by your boldness in the things of God, the word of God. The boldness can make them have to accept the truth even. Now that doesn't mean that they choose to put their faith in Christ, but it can be a step towards that, a part of that, of them at least accepting. There's some truth in what this person's saying. Look at the boldness. Verse 13 said, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And behold, the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. So the title is When They Saw the Boldness. Point number one, question number one was what were the results of seeing that boldness, and we saw that they marvelled. They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus, and they could say nothing against it. So question number two, okay, is where did they show that boldness? So where did they show that boldness? So we've seen that the boldness was in the word of God. We saw some results of that boldness. Where did they show that boldness? So was it in their debating skills, do you think? Was that how they showed how bold they are, because they're just so, they'll boldly debate with anyone? Or was it in their ability to yoke up with all religions? They're so bold in their faith they could just hang around with all religions, because they're bold in what they believe. No, firstly they saw their boldness, and really it was despite persecution. That's the first point I want to look at today, the first answer to that. Verse one, back in verse one of Acts 4, it said this, And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they took the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold until the next day, for it was now eventide. Now for many, okay, for many, and let's be honest, probably for most here, getting thrown in some sort of jailhouse for the night might affect your resolve a little bit. Okay, you're looking at the thing, oh man, this isn't right. Some will start questioning and go, well maybe it wasn't God's will, maybe it's my fault, maybe I've done this wrong, right? Then it was a who's who of haters turned up after that, look at verse five. It then said, so they've been thrown in jail, then verse five says, And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem. Now if you remember Annas had sent the Lord to Caiaphas, these were like, one was the previous high priest, one was the current high priest. Caiaphas had previously plotted to kill him according to Matthew 26.3 where they were like, right, we need to find a way of killing him. These are people that hate the Lord, right? So they've been thrown in prison and now in front of like the enemies of God. Verse seven, And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? Now you would think for many this might be right time to find a way out of this, right? Let's see how we can get away with this. Well, there must be something we could say to get, look, we're in big trouble here. We're in front of people that, look, that basically eventually got the Lord Jesus Christ put to death. They were slapping him about before that, spitting in his face, the rest of it. What are we going to do? Verse eight, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel. And then he goes on to boldly declare the word of God. And that's the test that we will all have if we haven't already. Will you still be bold in persecution? You know, if you live godly in Christ Jesus, you shall suffer persecution. Okay, so you are going to have persecution in life. Hopefully it might not be quite like this. Maybe you won't be getting thrown in prison, but we go through different in different ways. We go through persecution and it can come maybe from mockery. Maybe that's a persecution you need to deal with. Maybe it's a mockery of those around you, people you know, maybe people you don't know. You know, maybe it's people persecuting our church in various ways and maybe they'll try and scorn your church, scorn what we teach, what we believe here. Maybe it's persecution of you. Maybe even you might worry about family, friends, your job for being a part of just a Bible believing church. Maybe it's angry, angry family about other things, about choices you make in life, about trying to live a godly life, about trying to do things in a godly way. How are you going to respond to that, right? Are you going to respond with boldness? Because Peter and John showed that boldness and persecution. And then it continued as well, so it wasn't just then. Verse 13 said, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that had been with Jesus. And beholding a man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they commanded them to go aside after the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? For that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straightly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, or teach in the name of Jesus. But, but Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. A great verse to buy with that isn't it? We cannot, we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. And just to point out, okay, I don't believe they threatened them like to not talk to them ever again. I don't think that's what they were dealing with, you know, the silent treatment. I don't think they're even being threatened with prison time. Remember that the Lord had just been crucified ultimately by these same people. So I, you could imagine the threats were probably pretty, pretty bad threats, weren't they? They showed boldness in persecution, didn't they? They were bold, right? Are we, you know, and that's a challenge for all of us, right? Can you be bold in persecution? Will you be bold in persecution? Have you been bold in persecution? Go back to verse 8. Verse 8 says this, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. So they showed boldness in their faith as well, didn't they? Was it just that they were bold in persecution? They were bold in their faith on the whole, right? Peter was bold enough to stand there and give all the credit to the Lord Jesus Christ. So it could have been bold to say, oh, we're going to carry on what we're doing, but just maybe keep quiet, maybe not mention the Lord because they don't really like the Lord Jesus Christ, these people. He wasn't ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, was he? Pretending that they may be pretending that we're not really his disciples. And look, they had more reason than most to do that. They had more reason than most to maybe deny Christ, right? And of course, Peter had done that before, but we're seeing a difference now, aren't we? This is a different Peter. And that's a boldness that we could all do with. And aside from the Gospel, OK, I'm talking about a boldness in your faith on the whole. So just like I said, around family, it's a boldness in your faith, around your friends, around your colleagues. And I'm not talking about being a blowhard. I'm so bold in my faith, so I just like bring it up and rebuke people at work and people like, you know, random people and tell them they're ungodly. That's not being bold in your faith. That's just being an idiot. OK, that's not what it's talking about. OK, but being bold, not being embarrassed, not being ashamed of the Lord, you know, not not not being, you know, not not like, oh, they asked me what I'm doing on the weekend, so I'll just pretend I don't go to church. Oh, just stuff. You know, Sunday's quite busy. Don't want to say why, you know. Oh, what are you doing on a Wednesday night? Oh, just, you know, I'm just busy. Just it's not being. Look, people get ashamed. Sadly, people are embarrassed of Christ. They notice you sheepishly admitting to being a Christian. People notice that people aren't stupid. You know, like often people think they're cleverer than than they are often like people in life. It's it's a sad truth in life. You see it all the time, especially like especially with guile where people just think people don't see it when they're just kind of like subtly saying this or just, you know, quietly not really mentioning this or, you know, or just being sneaky or just being deceptive. Just people see it. You know, people see it. And then what happens is when people see it, they then get angry with the person. Sorry. You know, you just got to accept that I messed up there. Right. OK, but you don't need to do that stuff for people because they will see it. And what instead we want them to see boldness, not see you trying to like deceive your way out of, you know, being having to admit to being in the faith. They see you almost apologising for the harder truths of the Bible. They see that stuff. Oh, well, you know, I know that. Well, the Bible does say that, but, you know, you know, the Bible does say some things and it's hard to understand. And so, you know, the Bible says some hard truths, right? Bible's got some stuff that doesn't jive with the world. Are you bold in that? Are you embarrassed about that? So we want them to see it. We want them to see that unflinching faith in the word of God. Paul said in Philippians 120, you don't have to turn there. He said, according to my honest expectation, my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed. Nothing. He said, but that with all boldness, as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it by life or by death. Now, he said that he will be ashamed of nothing, but instead bold so that the Lord is magnified. We want the Lord magnified by our boldness. And here in Acts four, they saw the boldness in their faith. They then said this, in verse 11, this is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation any other, for there is none of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So they showed boldness in their faith and then particularly in what in the cornerstone of that faith, salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are boldness in that, didn't they? Boldness in salvation. They didn't just say, yeah, we're of Jesus. Yeah, we're believers. They didn't say, well, that's our religion, but each to their own, right? They said neither is there salvation in any other, right? They said, this is a one way. They said, you've rejected him, but there's no other name. There's none of the name. And I'll tell you what, look, I'll tell you now, okay, that boldness is, I believe it's the key to soul winning. It is the key to effective soul winning, you know, on the whole, right? I actually, over a year ago now, a year or two, maybe two years ago now, I preached a sermon called The Key to Effective Soul Winning off this passage and other places, just all about boldness. It's like, it's so important to get a conversation going in the first place. It's so important to keep that conversation. It's so important to encourage them that what you're saying, you know, is the truth. It's the word of God. Like, boldness is a big part of soul winning, isn't it? Now, of course, look, the word of God is what gets people saved. But that is one of the ingredients, isn't it? And especially to get that stone started, to get to the point where you can preach it. Turn to Ephesians six, Ephesians chapter six. Boldness will have them marvelling, we saw. They will have to accept that you've been with Jesus. They will be able to say nothing against it. And that results in salvation. It does, it results in salvation. And whether it's the longer term stuff, whether it's people outside of, outside of the church, people in your own private lives, or whether it's, it's people when you, when you have that chance meeting, whether it's out in the street with, when you preach to God, when it's knocking on the door, when they see the boldness, when they marvel, when they accept you've been with Jesus, when they're able to say nothing against it, there's more chance you'll be able to get them saved. Which is why the Apostle Paul finished that famous passage about the armour of God with this. He said in verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, 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, for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. He's saying pray for me to have that boldness. Pray for me to make known the mystery of the Gospel with, by opening my mouth boldly. Pray for me that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. We ought to be bold with the Gospel. We ought to. That's what we should be doing. It's the difference between heaven and hell. Why would we not be bold with that? We know, you know you're saved. If you're saved, you know you're saved because you put your trust in Christ. Why would you not be bold with that to others? And I'm not saying that in a sort of picky on your way, because we've all had times where we're not, haven't we? Because the flesh is weak. The Spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, and we should, we should though, we ought to be bold with the Gospel. Even the Apostle Paul had to pray for that. So we want to find some ways of being bold, don't we? They said in verse 12, neither is their salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. They weren't just bold with the Gospel preached to someone that they bumped into in the high street or that they've knocked on the door or someone in their private lives. They were bold preaching the Gospel in front of people that were ready to gnash on them with their teeth. The title is When They Saw the Boldness. Question number one, what were the results of seeing that boldness? They marveled. They took knowledge of them that they'd been with Jesus and they could say nothing against it. Question number two, where did they show that boldness? They showed it in persecution, they showed it in their faith, they showed it in preaching the Gospel. So with all of that in mind, question number three, how did they get that boldness? How did they get that boldness, right? Because it wasn't from the latest self-help books. You know that? I don't think they had like the latest version in Greek of like how to be bolder in life. How to win life with your boldness? People go for it, they're probably Christians, I don't know, maybe people are here trying to find books on how to be bolder and stuff. Well, how did they do it? Because they didn't have these books, right? And how do we get that sort of boldness? Well, the obvious answer is in verse 13. Verse 13, for the first answer, says this, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. They got boldness from being with Jesus. So first answer to this question is that they got boldness from being with Jesus. But we're not Peter and John, right? We're a couple of thousand years on from the Lord Jesus Christ walking the earth, aren't we? But we can still get boldness from being with Jesus. So he's here in this book, isn't he? Isn't this where the Lord, how are you with Jesus? You can be with Jesus by reading the Word of God, by hearing him talk to you. He's a living word, isn't he? We're with Jesus every time we read his words. You're with the Lord, he's talking to you every time you blow away the dust, you swat away those moths, and you open it up, and then you don't get distracted too much by messages and things coming through on your phone, and you actually just look at those words and you read it. You're with the Lord, right? Jesus is talking to you. We're with Jesus every time we get on our knees and pray, aren't we? We're praying to God. He's God manifest in the flesh, the Son of God. You're praying. You're praying on your knees and you're with Jesus. You're talking to him, he talks you through the Word, and we're with Jesus every time we come to his house. When you come to the house of God, you're with Jesus. David said in Psalm 27, for one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. You know when you come to the house of God, you're beholding the beauty of the Lord. In case you're looking at me going, I don't look too beautiful. No, it's the Word of God. It's the Word of God being preached. It's singing to the Lord. It's him amongst us. It's the Holy Spirit. We're beholding the beauty of the Lord by doing the things of God by being in his house. So you want that boldness in his word. You need to get close to him, don't you? You want to be bolder. Oh look, they're looking for the key. How can I be bolder in life? You know, I'm not assertive enough. I'm not, I'm not bold enough. I need to go and find some like secular books on being bold. No, you don't. You know what you need to do? You need to get near Jesus. You need to be with Jesus. They marveled, they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Verse 13, it said this, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Now, here's another way of getting that boldness. Look at verse 8 for the next obvious one. Verse 8, it said this, then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them, you rulers of the people and elders of Israel. What does it mean filled with the Holy Ghost? So if you're saved, okay, you have the indwelling Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. But being filled is when you're walking in the Spirit. Being filled is when you're being guided by the Holy Ghost rather than you just being saved. If you're saved, you have the indwelling Holy Spirit, but you could quench that Spirit. How do we walk in the Spirit? Well, one way of helping you to be filled with the Spirit is prayer. Verse 31 said this, verse 31 said, and when they had prayed. This is a simple thing to do, yet so often we don't do it, right? It said, 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. So boldness being a result of being filled with the Holy Ghost, prayer being a way of helping that. So you want to be filled with the Holy Ghost, you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, well try and get your prayer life in order for starters, right? Pray to God regularly, pray to Him, and when you're praying to God, when you're communing with the Lord, you're praying, you're calling out to Him, you're more likely to be denying the flesh at those points in time, aren't you? Kind of praying to God while you're doing something wicked. Praying to God while you're just in some nasty sin or something. So firstly, you're more likely to be denying the flesh anyway, but secondly, you're communing with God, you're coming to God in prayer. Here, it's when they prayed that they were filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. Now turn to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. Another thing to bear in mind is that to walk in the Spirit, you have to deny the flesh, okay? Like I just mentioned there, you have to deny the flesh. You're turning to Ephesians 5, but Galatians 5.17 says this. Galatians 5.17 says, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. Now, what he's basically saying there is that you kind of got one or the other. You've got the flesh, okay, which we all have, just because you're saved, you're not now, you know, you haven't reached sinless perfection or anything, you have the flesh. You're going to battle with that daily. It battles against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. They're contrary, so you cannot do the things that you would. So the Spirit might want to do one thing, but the flesh is getting you to do another, right? So how do we deny the flesh? Well, Ephesians 5 gives us some ways to help this, right? He said in Ephesians 5.18, and be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. So first off, yeah, how about you just be sober? Oh, I just don't know how to get bolder in my life and everything else where you're like glugging away at the booze and stuff, or whatever else, whatever other mind-altering drug or something else. How about you just get sober in life, like the Bible constantly tells you, be sober, yeah? For starters, be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. You ain't filled with the Spirit if you're drinking alcohol, right? How else can we be filled with the Spirit? Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submit to yourselves one to another in the fear of God. So, how to be in the Spirit, how to deny the flesh, sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs? You go, well, when do I do that? You can do that any time, really, can't you? I mean, obviously, you come to church to do that. So much of this stuff happens in the house of God, and being in the house of God is a big part of that, of denying the flesh, being in the Spirit, because a lot of the time the flesh doesn't want to be in the house of God. We were talking about it earlier, just saying the further you live from church, sadly, the more temptation there'll be not to come when it's like a 50-50. When the flesh is really, you know, the flesh is getting a bit of a victory that morning, or that Saturday night before you're making your plans, and you're feeling that little bit more fleshy, the longer that journey, the more likely the flesh is going to win, really, isn't it, right? Sadly. So you got that. But not just in church. You can sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, sing them in your car, you go, well, I don't have a car, I'm only on public transport, let me wait till you get home. You could give a rendition on the train, but I don't know, you get kicked off for that, I don't know. You could do most things, probably not sing spiritual songs, right? But, you know, you can sing, sing in the morning, you can sing to the Lord, you play some music, you know, play instrumentals, you know, hymns and sing along and stuff, you know, that's a good way of being in the Spirit though, isn't it? And again, when you're singing to the Lord, you're singing a hymn, you're singing a psalm, a spiritual song, you're singing those things. You probably, let's be honest, straight away, you're less likely to be in the flesh, aren't you? Are you singing that while you're doing something horrendous? Probably not. Are you singing that while you're, well, you're singing that, you're going, yeah, but I'm really tempted by this or that. Probably going to just reduce that a bit, isn't it? But also, was it just singing? He said, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So another way to, remember, we're looking at how to be bold. How are we bold? Being with Jesus, it all goes hand in hand, but being full of the Spirit, how do we get full of the Spirit, full of the Holy Ghost? Another way is giving thanks. And was he just saying giving thanks sometimes, just give thanks when you have a nice meal? Give thanks, you know, if you're in public when you eat, make sure you give thanks in front of everyone. He said, for all things. Now, look, yeah, I believe we should all be giving thanks for our food, but I think you should try and give thanks just for all things. Just give thanks. When something happens, something, whatever it is, just give thanks. Maybe give thanks when you get up in the morning and you're able to get out of bed. A lot of people can't, right? A lot of people have problems, issues, disabilities, things like that. There's so much that we forget to give thanks for. And the more you start giving thanks, the more you appreciate God, the less likely you're going to have a bitter and resentful spirit, the less likely you're going to be murmuring, complaining. And again, you can go too far with this where people are like, you can never say anything's bad in your life, you know, and they're like, almost like, want to make you feel like you're some sort of horrendous person because you've like, you've talked about some problems and issues. No, we all have problems and issues. But are you appreciating God still for everything else? Yeah, sometimes you need to talk about stuff. Sometimes you just be honest in life, go, yeah, this has been tough. This has been tough. Oh, this is a bit of a problem right now. I need to get over that. That's fine, right? But are you murmuring and complaining and blaming God for things? Well, you know, one way of not doing that is by giving thanks to him for all things. And the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he said this, and he said, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Do you know that that's a sign of someone that's Holy Spirit filled? So like I said, so there's boldness, and then people get confused. They think the boldness is to basically talk down to people. The boldness is to be rude, I better pull that person up. The way they said this, I didn't like it, I'm going to cut them now with this, with what I say next. That's not bold, that's not spiritual boldness. You got that all wrong. Because you're meant to be submitted to yourselves one to another in the fear of God when you're filled with the Spirit, right? So there's a submissiveness that goes with it. No, it's not, you know, kind of doing everything everyone tells you to do and running around, because then there's like the excess of that, right? But it's just putting people above you being humble, right? Wanting to help people, do things to people, be polite to people, be nice to people, all that sort of stuff is part of being filled with the Spirit, and that will ultimately help you to be bold in the things you're meant to be bold in, ultimately what we're talking about here being the Word of God. And if you're filled with the Spirit, you will speak the Word of God with boldness. First study one said, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, sorry, back in Acts 4, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness. So we've got that they, we've got here that they prayed, right? We saw that. We saw that they're filled with the Spirit, and then we've got this, we've got that they got boldness from being, I believe, doers of the Word as well. So they've healed this guy for starters, okay? Then Acts 4 said this in verse 1, and as they spake unto the people, okay? So what are they doing? They're speaking to the people. What are they speaking to the people? Well if you look back at Acts 3, they're speaking the Gospel, okay? They're speaking the Gospel, so they're preaching the Gospel, they're speaking to the people. The priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, so they're teaching the people, they're teaching them the truth, the Gospel, the Gospel of your salvation, and they preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So they taught the people, they're preaching through Jesus, they preach about the resurrection and what that meant, that death-bell resurrection, you know, paying for their sins. So what happened? Verse 3, and they laid hands and then were put them in hold until the next day, for it was now eventide. How be it? Many of them which heard the Word believed, and the number of the men was about 5,000. And I want to get this across to you, I'll tell you what makes you bold with the Word of God, is when you're doing it and you're seeing the results, when you're living it. That's where you get the boldness with the Word of God, is when you're actually doing it. It's hard to be bold with something that is just in black wine. Don't get me wrong, we should be bold in the Word of God, the Word of God's truth. But it's very different when you're doing it. They're healing people, they're preaching the Gospel, they're getting salvation. And when you're bold, that's when you're boldest, isn't it, right? When you're living it. Look, you know when you're living it, when you're preaching the Gospel and you're seeing people get saved, you know that if someone just lets you preach the Gospel to them, there's a big chance you're going to get them saved. And there's a boldness with that, isn't there? So when you're in front, when you're out there and you've got the Word of God, you've got the Bible, you're just trying to find someone, you're not going, hi there, would you like to, you know, we're from Strong Tower Baptist Church, probably doesn't want to hear it. Because really you're thinking, well, they're probably not going to hear, you know, are they even going to get saved? When you're feeling like that, you ain't going to be bold. But you know when you're going to be bold when you're seeing it, you're seeing the results, you're seeing people get saved, you knock on that door, you speak to that person out on the street, and you're thinking, just let, if you could give me a way in, just let me open my Bible, I know I've got a big chance of getting this person saved. There's a boldness with that, isn't there? When you know, you know that sermons change lives. And when you see it, you're seeing people's lives change, you're seeing people cleaning up from, from, you know, from coming into this church to suddenly they're like a new person, you're seeing things like that, there's a boldness there when you preach the Word of God, isn't there? And not just for me, for people around here, when you're seeing different people changing, you're seeing people growing, you're seeing family change, families getting more godly, people getting more godly, when you get behind the pulpit yourself, you're going to have that boldness, the Word of God changes lives. When you read the Word of God, you think the Word of God changes lives, right? You know that it sanctifies. And the more you see it, the more you see that happen to people, the more you do it, the bolder you get. And now, the thing is with this is it's a bit of a vicious, maybe not vicious, it's not a vicious circle, but it is a circle, where if you're not doing it, you're not really as bold, and then you're not really getting the results, and then you're less bold, but you got to just do it. And you got to sometimes go through a bit of time where it's like, okay, I need to work, I need to just, just knuckle down, do the things you've got, and you'll get that boldness. And then when you get that boldness, you'll keep seeing changes, and lives changing, people getting saved, and all of that stuff, and then you're living it, and more and more, you're getting bolder and bolder and bolder. That's how you get bolder. Turn to Proverbs 28, Proverbs 28, the more you live for God, the bolder you'll get, in the Word of God. And look, it's not that boldness in other areas of life sometimes is a bad thing, but what ultimately is our goal? Our goal is in the things of God, right? James 1.25 says this, James 1.25, your turn to Proverbs 28, James 1.25 says, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. So he's saying not just a hearer but a doer, what he does, that work is then going to be blessed. So don't just hear the Word of God, and then that's it, go on with your week, hear the Word of God, go on with your week. No, do the Word of God. Do it, and what you do do will then be blessed, and then when that stuff's being blessed, you're going to be bolder with it, aren't you? And Proverbs 28.1. Well, just before I say, and many people know this verse, just to point out, and I know we looked at it recently in our Proverbs series, okay, of course there's no righteousness without faith in Christ, his righteousness is imputed unto us, right? But it's not that just because someone's saved they're now as bold as a line, okay, there are many saved people that aren't very bold, because here there's righteousness which comes from faith in Christ, and then after that they're trying to live righteously, trying to be a righteous person, trying to, for God to look down and go, that's a righteous and upright person, and the more you do that, and that's by living for God, that's by being close to God, that's by being with him, that's by being in prayer, that's by being filled with the Holy Ghost and all those things, then you might, you could get to the point where maybe, yeah, you're feeling like I'm doing alright, yeah, I'm being fairly righteous, and when you are getting it right, Proverbs 28.1 says, well, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. So how did they get that boldness? From being with Jesus, that's the way of getting righteous, isn't it? From being filled with the Holy Ghost, that's the way of being righteous, from being doers of the word, that's the way of being righteous, isn't it? So you want to be bold in life, get right with God, get right with God. Acts 4, 13, back in Acts 4 and verse 13, it said, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. So the title is when they saw the boldness, and question number one was what were the results of seeing that boldness, they marveled, they took knowledge of them that had been with Jesus and they could say nothing against it. Point number two, question number two is where did they show that boldness? They showed it in persecution, they showed it in their faith, they showed it in preaching the gospel. And question number three, how did they get that boldness? And that's what we all want to know, how do we get that boldness and then to show it in all those areas from being with Jesus, get with Jesus, from being filled with the Holy Ghost, deny the flesh, walk in the Spirit and from being doers of the Word. Don't just be hearers, be doers of the Word, right? And when you do that, maybe someone will be walking around saying and you could describe it as when they saw that boldness, right? And there are great results to boldness, like I said, it's a key to affect someone, but not just that, just to, you know, our Christian life from the whole, being able to build those up around us as well, being able to, you know, being able to raise a godly family, being able to be a godly mum, being able to just be a godly person, all of that stuff. Ultimately, you need that boldness in the Word of God, don't you? And that comes from those areas. That was when they saw the boldness and on that we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Father, thank you, Lord, for your word, thank you for, well, for the boldness that we have access to, Lord, to be able to preach the Word of God boldly, to teach it boldly, to declare it boldly to those around us, Lord, to just have that boldness, that confidence, that assurance in your word. Help us to want to be bolder, Lord, in those right areas, Lord, but to also, you know, be meek and humble in life as well, Lord, help us not to get prideful, help us to be bold but not prideful, help us to, ultimately, if we're going to glory, glory in you, Lord, and help us to do that as we go out this afternoon for soul winning out in the high street, out on the doors, Lord, help us to approach people boldly with the word, but confidently, Lord, but also politely, help us to get many people saved in return for the evening service, Jesus, I'm proud of this. Amen.