BOLDNESS
BOLDNESS
(Eph. 3:10-12)
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Eph. 3: 10-12: “In order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.”
BOLDNESS—Strong’s #3954 – “freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech, openly, frankly, i.e. without concealment; without ambiguity or circumlocution; without the use of figures and comparisons; free and fearless confidence; cheerful courage, assurance;”
Acts 4:29: “And now Lord behold their threatening and grant unto your servants, that with all boldness they may speak your word.”
Hebrews 10:19: “Having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”
1 John 4:17: “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. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
Perfect love is love which has been made complete. Love which reaches beyond word and speech to deed and truth cannot provide any occasion for fear because he who loves is living in the light, and is being cleansed by the blood of Jesus from all sin. They are also confident they are doing what pleases Him. Love with actions and in truth drives out fear. “ Bengal remarks that men may pass through diverse conditions; without either fear or love, in fear and without love, in both fear and love, finally reaching love without fear.”
Fear is the opposite of Faith. Proverbs 28:1: “The wicked flee when no man purses, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Bold—Strong’s #982 – to trust; to be secure; to feel safe; to have confidence, be confident.
We are safe in Christ. This is the security, preservation, and protection of the saints. ` Heb. 2: 13-15: “When you were dead in your transgressions and the Uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
This is the confidence and trust “that we come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”
He has given us clear instructions of how to live Godly in His provision and victory that enables us to “overcome” evil. We are to develop our strength in the Lord and learn to rely on His might to the place where it actually becomes our power and we can do so in boldness. “Herein in love made perfect that we may have boldness.”
We are in a contest with Satan to overcome all attacks against our soul and the soul of our cities, communities, and nations. Our fight is not with flesh and blood, but against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We are to arm ourselves with every spiritual weapon in God’s arsenal, so that we may be able to encounter and survive the cunning assaults and strategies of the devil. The Christian’s new wardrobe includes a war suit!
Many in the modern church have become so familiar with the lusts of our culture that they come into agreement with the demonic forces of wickedness in order to go- along- to- get- along.
Francis Frangipane posted a powerful word on the Elijah list this week about Jezebel, “To the victor goes our nation.” “To understand the conflict between the Elijah spirit and the spirit of Jezebel, we must understand these two adversaries as they are seen in the Scriptures. Each is the spiritual counterpart of the other. Is Elijah bold? Jezebel is brazen. Is Elijah ruthless toward evil? Jezebel is vicious toward righteousness. Does Elijah speak of the ways and words of God? Jezebel is full of systems of witchcraft and words of deceit. The war between Elijah and Jezebel continues today. The chief warriors on either side are the prophets of both foes; to the victor goes the soul of our nation.” (Francis Frangipane)
Until we learn to use our spiritual weapons against the devil, we remain his easy victims. Millions of unchanged lives within church buildings certify this bitter fact. This warfare is against a person, the tempter! This supernatural demonic power is extremely clever with instant access to our minds. Satan-ward action (spiritual warfare) is needed which is bold and ruthless toward evil. This is the military side of the Christian life and it is not a tea party with everyone nodding, smiling and playing nice to demons. The saint’s defense and attack are not obscure. We do not fight in a worldly fashion.
We are in high level spiritual battles with an unseen empire of highly organized satanic beings. Arrayed against us is a kingdom of evil rulers who control the darkness of this world. There are dignitaries in command of entire armies of evil spirits who cannot be perceived by our senses since they operate in the spirit-world.
These huge satanic forces move against the saints in the war between good and evil. They are unseen; occupying a sphere which corresponds to their nature, just as earth and air corresponds to ours. This does not make them any the less real, but it does make fleshly weapons useless. Behind all that is destructive and sinful in this world, Paul sees and describes in Ephesians 6: 10-20 an evil armada with its commanding general, Satan. The battleground is in the spirit and the realm of our thought life.
6:13: “Therefore take up the full armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm.”
Paul commands the use of arms against Satan. There is no automatic defense, though some read it into “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:4). This is true, but that “Greater is He” in us must stand, fight, and overcome. Jesus’ indwelling presence is the resource for our boldness, not a victory. It is because of His presence we dare to fight. What is the “evil day”? It is a crisis to face Satan head on for the first time and put James 4:7 to the test. “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” When it is all over, you want to be still found standing on your feet. If we do not submit to God, and fight the good fight of faith His way, we won’t be standing. Christian may suffer numerous defeats before he finally learns how to use his weapons in the power of the Holy Spirit.
In holding your ground, have your loins girded with truth. This means true to our self and to God as well as our fellow man. It is the Holy Spirit of truth that will gird us. When we yield our flesh to His work of truth, then we have girded ourselves. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. It is only in truth that we dare to have the boldness to even enter the battle.
We must have righteousness as our breastplate. This is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ through His Holy Blood. Our motives must be pure seeking the Lord for His Kingdom purposes and not our own agendas. If our motives are not righteous, we have set ourselves to lose the battle before we begin.
Preparation in the gospel of peace becomes our war-sandals. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Without this “peace” i.e.” rest” in the Lord, we have no Kingdom authority to enter the battle against evil. Without this armor, we will be easy pickings for the devil.
Our shield of Faith quenches the fire-tipped arrows of the devil. This Faith is our confidence and trust that gives us boldness to know that we know that we are standing in Christ Jesus and fighting the good fight of Faith for the Kingdom of God. There is no other reason for us to enter into a battle.
6:17: “Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints”
Truth, faith peace, etc. are choice weapons on the battlefield of the mind. Arm yourselves---learn the truths of Satan, i.e., who he is and how he operates as well as acquire techniques for resisting him. The Sword ---we are to fight using God’s supernatural Word. It is a damaging weapon. The angels are sent to perform the Word of God spoken by the saints in the will of God.
Paul wrote of Isaiah in Romans 10:20: ‘Esais is very bold, and said I was found of them that did not seek me and I was manifest unto them that asked not after me.”
Hebrews 3:6: “Christ as a son over his own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”
Resisting Satan is impossible apart from the Lord’ strength. Stay alert with all seven eyes of the Holy Spirit watching. We must be persistent in intercession when it comes to asking God in behalf of His people.
This armory was first described by Isaiah the bold warrior. Isa. 59:17-21: “He put righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun. He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. A redeemer will come to Zion, to those who turn from transgression from Jacob declares the Lord.”
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from New American Standard; Quotes from Francis Frangipane; C. S. Lovett’s Lights on Ephesians and F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary; George E. Harpur
Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I have gleaned.