Talking Boldly About God to Others--Life With God Series

            When you find someone in life that you love, it’s just natural to want to tell other people about that person. We all know this is true with romance. We can become downright annoying to our friends when we fall in love because we just go on and on talking about that person.

            We do the same thing with lots of other relationships, too. If you find an author you just love, you want to tell people about his or her books. If you find a hairdresser you love, you’ll be handing out her business card anytime someone says they’re thinking about a little trim. If you find a mechanic you love, you’ll be offering to help people get their car in to his garage when they need service.

            Certainly, in our relationship with God, because we love Him, we want to tell other people about Him. We want to tell people about Jesus and all that He has done to save them. We love God, so it’s only natural to want to talk about Him.

            I would venture to say, however, that most of us don’t share our faith with others as much as we would like or as much as we feel we should. We know it’s important—we know that it’s honoring to God, and we have a message that all people need to hear. But perhaps more than any other factor, we feel like we lack boldness to speak up about our faith in Christ when opportunities present themselves.

            Today, we’re going to take a look at the ministry of the Apostles to discover how they found the boldness to continue to proclaim the Gospel despite heavy opposition—even life-threatening opposition! What did they remind themselves of, and how did they pray in order to boldly speak up for Christ? We’ll find our answers today in Acts 4.

“A Good Deed Done to a Crippled Man”

            Let me briefly set the stage for what we’re going to study in Acts 4. Back in Acts 3, Peter and John were entering the Temple in Jerusalem when they encountered a beggar who could not walk. They healed the man in the name of Jesus, and the man’s celebration and loud praise to God drew a crowd of spectators.

            Peter took advantage of that opportunity to preach to the crowd about the resurrection of Christ. Well, the religious leaders got wind of this, and Acts 4:3 says they were “greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” So they arrested Peter and John and put them on trial.

            In the trial, their main challenge to Peter and John is recorded in verse 7—“By what power or by what name did you do this?” Peter’s response to them is a true model of boldness [READ Acts 4:8-12].

That’s quite the bold response, and now at this point in the chapter we will begin to see the keys to their boldness.

1. Know God well, and speak about your relationship with Him (v. 13; v. 20)

            Notice the statement of v. 13 [READ v. 13]. The leaders were astonished because Peter and John were nothing special. They had no credentials, no fancy education like the religious leaders had. Peter and John were just blue-collar guys who had made their living on fishing boats in the Sea of Galilee.

            The only thing special about them was that they had been with Jesus. They knew Him well through their relationship with Him, and that was all the qualification they needed to be bold witnesses. Notice in vv. 19-20 how they point out that they were simply taking about the things they had experienced with Jesus. After being told by the religious leaders not to speak about Jesus any more, Peter and John answered [READ vv. 19-20].

            Take note of that final declaration—they were speaking about what they had seen and heard. They had lived with Jesus, heard Him speak, saw His sinless life, then they saw Him crucified and then living once again after He had died. They were simply telling people all that they had experienced with Jesus.

            I love that statement in v. 20 because it reminds me about what God desires from us—simply to tell other people about our relationship with Jesus. Witnessing is not about being a debater or a fancy orator or being anything that you’re not. It’s simply a matter of telling other people about your relationship with Jesus—how He has saved you, and how He can do the same for them.

            To put it another way, witnessing is just a matter of saying what you know. The best example of this is the blind man who was healed by Jesus in John 9. The religious leaders brought that man in for questioning, too (they must have been paid by the trial!), and they peppered him with questions about Jesus—“Who do you think He is? Is He a sinner? Is He from God?”

            I paraphrase here, but essentially the man said, “I can’t answer all of your questions about Jesus, but this is what I know—I was blind, now He has made me see.” This is a great summary of what God desires from us in witnessing—just say what you know! Perhaps someone will ask a question that you can’t answer; if so, don’t worry about it—you can look into it later. If you’ve simply shared what you know from your relationship with the Lord, you can be confident that you’ve done what the Lord desires to see from you.

2. Know that God is in control (vv. 24-28)

            After Peter and John were released, they took two actions that will also help you sustain boldness for witnessing. First, they got together with their brothers in Christ [READ v. 23]. When you undertake something challenging—as sharing your faith can be—it is all the more difficult when you feel like you’re all alone. Coming together with your Christian family is imperative. With a church family, you can know that you have a place where you belong, which is especially important since we sometimes face rejection from other people when we share our faith.

            The second action they took was to pray together with their friends. The content of their prayer teaches us that in order to have boldness, it is necessary to remember that our God is in control of all things. He made them all, and He controls them still [READ vv. 24-27].

            Then what did the Apostles say in v. 28? Did they say, “Lord, we know you tried to keep them from crucifying Jesus, but it just couldn’t be done?” Did they say, “Lord, we know you did your best, but it was too hard even for you?” No, they said [READ v. 28]. Even in the very moment in which it may have seemed that God lost all control, He was still in full control over all that took place.

            God was in control over the people who crucified Jesus, and He’s in control over the people that we share our faith with today. We don’t need to be intimidated by other people because they’re not running the show—God’s running the show! Now you might say, “Pastor Tim, that still doesn’t seem very comforting, because He was running the show back then and He allowed His Son to be crucified! What if He allows something to happen to me?”

            If He does allow us to face rejection or even persecution, our comfort is this—we know that such things are not out-of-control events, but part of a larger plan that comes from the heart of a kind Father. So however we look at it, His control can give us great boldness and confidence for sharing our faith.

            During the Civil War, Confederate General Thomas Jackson became famous for his fearlessness in battle. He was given the nickname “Stonewall” because it was said that during battle, he was as immovable as a stone wall. You may have heard of Stonewall Jackson, but you might not know that his courage came from his deep faith in God. He had a firm belief in God’s control over all things—including every bullet fired on a battlefield. He believed that not a single one of those bullets would hit him unless God allowed it, so he faced the challenges of battle with great courage.

            We may not be in a war, but we are in a spiritual war when we try to share our faith, aren’t we? We face a frontal assault from a whole battalion of doubts and fears. What if my friend gets offended and doesn’t want to be my friend anymore? What if my family stops talking to me? What if my co-workers think I’m silly or old-fashioned and I get overlooked for a promotion or a raise?

            We don’t have to let those doubts stop us when we remember that God is in control. The results are up to Him, and He is kind, all-knowing, and all-powerful. So we can act, knowing that it’s all in His hands.

So the first key for having boldness is to know God well, then simply speak about your relationship with him. The second key is to know that God is in control. And finally, the third key is this:

3. Know that God will work through you and with you by the power of the Holy Spirit (vv. 29-31)

            In verses 29 and 30, we see a wonderful balance between doing what we can do – which is, speak the word – and trusting God to do what only he can do – which is, to work in miraculous ways. Notice their prayer here [READ vv. 29-30].

            Don’t overlook the balance in the Apostles’ request—“Lord, help us do what we can do, and we’ll trust you to do the things that only you can do.” When you share your faith with someone, you are merely part of the whole process. It is not all on your shoulders!

            We can get very intimidated by evangelism at times because we let ourselves think that a person’s response is all up to us. We think, “This person’s eternal destiny is hanging in the balance, and it’s all up to me! If I can’t answer every question they may have, they’re going to reject the Gospel and it’s going to be all my fault.”

            If that’s what we think, it’s no wonder why we find evangelism to be so intimidating. We know full well that we can’t change someone’s heart, but I’ve got good news for you – that’s not your part of the process anyway! I can share the Gospel, but only God can save someone; only he can change their heart.

            The illustration of a witness in a courtroom trial is a good illustration for our responsibility in evangelism. When a witness is called to the stand, he simply shares what he knows. It’s not his job to make the entire case – the witness just shares what he knows. It’s the attorney’s job to make the whole case and press it home on the minds of the jurors.

            In this picture, you and I are the witnesses and God is the attorney. We simply share what we know, and we trust that God will press it home on the mind and the heart to the person that were talking to. We do our part, and we trust God to do his.

            In verse 31, we read again about the Holy Spirit working through his people [READ v. 31]. Look again at verse 8 and notice this – how was Peter able to speak with boldness? He was filled with the Holy Spirit. We read the same thing again in verse 31 – they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

            When we take the simple step of obeying God, He’s not going to leave us on our own! He won’t leave us unassisted! His Holy Spirit will empower us to do what we have chosen to do for the Lord.

            So to find the boldness to share our faith, we must know God well, and then simply speak about our relationship with Him. We must know He’s in control—that all things and all people are in His hands. And we must know that God will work through us and with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. May we be bold witnesses for the Lord as we face this task unfinished—the task of making disciples of all the nations.