The Secret of Holy Boldness

Known for his unique ability to simplify profound truth so that it can be applied to everyday life, Adrian Rogers was one of the most effective preachers, respected Bible teachers, and Christian leaders of our time. Thanks for joining us for this message.

Here's Adrian Rogers. We need an epidemic of holy boldness. The Bible says here in Acts 4 verse 13, Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled, and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Now, if you're one of those who wish that you had more courage to testify and witness for Jesus, I want you to pay attention. I am convinced that many of us want to share our faith and want to tell others about our Savior, but we've been intimidated, and we are cowardly Christians. When I was a little boy there used to be a program on the radio called the Low Pressure Salesman, and he had to go out and make sales, but he was intimidated by people, and he would knock on the door and then say, nobody home, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope.

Do you remember that program? Handel nature if you remember that. The Low Pressure Salesman, and I believe that there are a lot of people like that when they go out to testify for Jesus. Their loyalty makes them go on the one hand, but their fear makes them slow on the other hand, and they just are not the vibrant testimony for Jesus that they ought to be. Now, what made Peter and John so bold? Well, I want us to go back and get the setting here if we can, and I begin reading now in chapter 4, verses 1 through 3. And as they spake unto the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the direction from the dead, and they laid hands on them, and put them in hold until the next day. Now, that means they were in jail, for it was now eventide, howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about 5,000. Point number one, if you are going to be a bold witness for Jesus Christ, you can't expect persecution.

You can't expect it. They were persecuted, and so will you be if you get bold for Jesus Christ. The servant is not greater than his master. Now, it's very obvious to see why they were persecuted. The persecution was really not against them. It was against Jesus. Now, remember that we've told you that the book of Acts is not what the apostles were doing.

The book of Acts is what Jesus Christ was doing in the apostles. Now, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and their petty doctrine had been touched, and rather than examine their doctrine, they opposed the truth. They were the chief priests.

They were the ones who held sway in the temple, and now people were leaving them and going after the Nazarene, after the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they persecuted Peter and John, they weren't really persecuting Peter and John. They were persecuting Jesus. Now, I want you to understand this, dear friend, that if you are in Christ and Christ is in you, if the resurrected Christ dwells in you, the same world that hated Jesus will hate you, and the devil will aim all of the artillery of hell at you. And it's just an evidence that you love the Lord Jesus, and you can expect persecution. In this world we are going to be persecuted, and Jesus said we're to rejoice and be exceedingly glad. We're going to study later on in the ninth chapter of Acts where Jesus comes to Saul on the road to Damascus, and Jesus says to Saul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Now, remember, this is after Jesus had been crucified. He appears to Saul and says, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You can't persecute a dead man, only a living man. Now, the point is this, that if you know the Lord Jesus and you stand for the Lord Jesus, you're going to find yourself going against the tide and you're going to find yourself persecuted. You stand near the general, you're going to expect the hottest artillery. Now, the second thing, not only the persecution that you can expect, but I want you to notice something else.

The persuasion that you can express. Look now in verse 4. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about 5,000. 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, and when they had set them in the midst, they asked them, By what power or by what name have you done 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 this impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you 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 naught 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 think of it, think of it. They are persecuted, yes, but they are powerful. The church persecuted is always the church powerful.

Now they come to these people, they put them in jail, they intimidate them, they speak against them, but also I want you to notice in verse 4, 5,000 men are saved in one service and we estimate along with the women and children there could have been as many as 20,000 people saved in that one service. Now what convicted and convinced all of those people? Do you think that Peter just preached a good sermon and that's what did it? No, no one can preach that way.

There's no one that has that power of persuasion. What convinced the people? I'll tell you what convinced the people, not facts about a dead Christ, but an encounter with a living Christ. They met Jesus again.

They had seen Jesus. Arguments did not convince them. I've learned something a long time ago that I'll never argue a man into the kingdom of heaven. By the way, when you go out to witness, if it turns into an argument, stop. Nobody's ever argued into heaven.

We can be witnesses, but we're not called to be lawyers. Oh, we can defend the faith and we can give a rationale, but when it becomes into an argument, just stop, because if you lose the argument, you lose the point. If you win the argument, you lose the person. Nobody's ever argued in the kingdom of heaven. These people were not argued into the kingdom of heaven.

It wasn't an argument. They had met Jesus in the person of the apostles. They had seen Jesus.

They'd seen him work. After the resurrection of Jesus, Thomas was a doubter. And the other disciples, the other ten, tried to convince Thomas that Jesus Christ was alive.

They had seen him. But after having seen Jesus, they could not convince Thomas that Jesus was alive. But when Thomas saw Jesus, he didn't need an argument. He had had an encounter with Jesus himself, and he fell at his feet and said of Jesus, My Lord and my God. Now, if ten of Thomas' friends could not convince Thomas that Jesus was alive, I'll never convince you that Jesus is alive by an argument. But when the Holy Spirit of God filled these apostles and now Jesus Christ was alive and living in them, then they were not just simply arguing that a dead Christ existed some time ago or even that a living Christ had risen from the dead.

They were demonstrating with Christ in their hearts that He was alive. I would pray that when I would stand up here and preach that you'd not say, Well, there's Adrian up there preaching, and that's the only thing you'd say. But I would pray that you would say Jesus is in that man and that you would have an encounter with the living Christ, all this power, when Christ in us convinces the people. I've said it before.

I'll say it again. I can preach truth, but only He can impart truth. I love verse 11 where Peter ends up this passage by saying, This is the stone which was set at naught by you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Now remember, all of the high muckety-mucks were out there. I mean, all of the religious and governmental top waters were there. And now Peter, this is the same Peter that had been such a coward who was petrified, who trembled in front of a little teenage girl and cursed and swore and denied Christ.

Now he's surrounded by all of them, and rather than being intimidated, he becomes the prosecuting attorney. And he says, This is the stone which was set at naught by you builders, which has become the head of the corner. There is an ancient Jewish tradition that says that when Solomon's temple was built, this is not tradition but actual history, that all of the stones were cut out of the quarry so that when the temple was constructed there would not be the sound of a hammer on the temple site. All of the stones were precut to be assembled there on the temple site, and they were hauled there to the temple site, and they were put in a construction yard, and they were stacked and numbered by the architects so that they could send for each particular stone. Now there was one stone sitting right out in the middle of the construction yard, quite an unusual and quite a large stone, and it was sitting there, and nobody seemed to know what it was for. And the workmen had to keep walking around it, and some of them would stumble over it, and it was just in the way of the construction. And so finally somebody said, this is a worthless stone and a useless stone, get rid of it. And so they took their crowbars and began to tumble that stone and to roll it off of the temple mount, and it rolled down into the Kidron Valley there to the east of the temple mount.

It just rolled down in that valley, and then the weeds and the bushes grew up over it, and it just plain disappeared. And then finally when they came to put the cornerstone in, the stone that would unite the whole building and hold it together and give it strength and beauty, they sent to the quarry and said, we're ready for the cornerstone. Send the cornerstone. They said, we've already sent the cornerstone. They said, no, you haven't sent the cornerstone.

We have done an inventory. We don't have the cornerstone. Send us the cornerstone. They sent back and said, we've already sent the cornerstone.

You better check again. And then, of course, you know what they discovered, that the stone that they had rejected, the stone that they had rolled off down the mountainside, they had to go get and retrieve, because that stone that the builders rejected, the same had become the head of the corner. Now, it is that illustration, I believe, that Peter is using to tell them, listen, Jesus is the chief cornerstone, and you have rejected Jesus, but He is the head of the corner, and neither is there salvation in any other. Ladies and gentlemen, if there's one message that the church needs to preach today, it is that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

Now, if that's narrow-minded, I can't help it. If I cannot preach that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, then I'm not going to preach at all, because if Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven, Jesus Christ is none of the ways to heaven. If Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven, the apostle Peter is a liar. If Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven, Jesus Christ Himself is a fake and a fraud and an imposter, for He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Peter said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none of the name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

Now watch, watch. Because Christ is alive, there will be persecution. But secondly, because Christ is alive, there will be persuasion. I don't have to depend upon my powers of persuasion. Every now and then somebody says to me, you'd make a good salesman. They're talking to me, you'd make a good salesman. And evidently they think that being a preacher is being a salesman.

Anything I can talk you into, somebody else can talk you out of. But thank God that Jesus Christ is alive and He's the one who builds the church. And what we need to do is to recognize the power of the living Christ, and there may be persecution because He still lives and He in us is going to be persecuted, but there's going to be persuasion, there's going to be power. And then thirdly, I want you to notice not only the persecution we may expect and the persuasion that we may express, but I want you to notice the presence that we shall experience.

Look with me now in verse 13 of this same chapter. And when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. That is, that Christ is their contemporary, and beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against Him. These men were bold. Why were they bold? Well, they were bold because they had been with Jesus. They had seen Christ alive, resurrected, and now Christ lives in them. And all of the forces of hell could not intimidate them, they could not shut them up, could not hold them back. They refused to let up or shut up or back up because they were filled with the Spirit of God and the presence of Jesus.

I want to say again, listen to me. One of the curses of Christianity is the cowardice and the silence of good people. It is the strategy of the devil to keep good people silent in an evil time. We need a contagious epidemic of holy boldness. What is this boldness? When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, what is this boldness that they had?

What was it that set those people on their ears so long ago and made them marvel? Let me tell you what holy boldness is not. Holy boldness is not human courage. Now, there's some people who just have an extraordinary amount of courage, but that's not holy boldness. It may be self-confidence. Maybe they took a Dale Carnegie course, or it just may be that they don't know enough to be afraid.

That's not what I'm talking about. If you say, Pastor, I'm just not wired that way. I've always been afraid. I want to remind you that so was Simon Peter, so much that he trembled in front of a little girl before he had this boldness. Holy boldness is not human courage, not innate courage. I want to say that holy boldness is not arrogance. I see some people today, what they call boldness, I call brass. They say, well, I just speak my mind. I'm bold for Jesus. I just think they're arrogant people, and they're going around telling people off.

They call it witnessing, and they witness in such a way in airports and bus stops and so forth as to embarrass people. Jesus never did that. Jesus was winsome. He was bold, but He wasn't arrogant. He wasn't brassy. He wasn't going around buttonholing people and calling it boldness. What is boldness? It's not human courage. It's not arrogance.

It's not presumption. I see some people, they call themselves bold in order to show how much faith they have, they handle rattlesnakes. That's not boldness to me. You may be bold for a little while, but you won't be old long. I have to admire these people.

Obviously, they're sincere. That's not boldness. That's presumption. That's tempting God. The Bible says, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Boldness is saying, Lord Jesus, if you be for me, who can be against me? Lord Jesus, if you want to use me, use me, Lord, and I trust you to take care of me. And Lord, if you choose, if you choose to let me be put in jail, then I'll rejoice that I'm counted worthy to suffer shame for your name. If you choose, Lord Jesus, that I suffer bodily harm, then, Lord, nothing will come to me but what it comes through you first.

And, Lord, you are my Commander in Chief, and, Lord, I submit myself to you and I will speak at your command. And when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they marveled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Now the last thing I want you to notice in this passage, beginning in verse 15, is the person that we must exalt. Notice in verse 15, But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men?

For indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them, as 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 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, but we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. You cannot be convinced that Jesus Christ came out of that grave and that He is the only hope of a sin-cursed world and be silent.

You cannot. You might as well tell the sun to cease to shine as to tell a Christian who has had an encounter with the living Christ and has that Christ alive in him to shut up and be still. All hell could not stop these men from speaking. They said we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Remember that Jesus said ye shall be witnesses unto me? What is a witness? A witness is someone who tells what he's seen and heard.

And the reason that some people do not witness is they've not seen or heard anything. What was evangelism in the New Testament? Evangelism in the New Testament was not an eight-day meeting where they bring in an outside speaker. Evangelism was not some sort of a religious show. It was the daily business of these early Christians.

They were all at it, and they were always at it. And I want to challenge you, my dear friend, tomorrow to say, Lord Jesus, you are alive and well, and you live in me. If I suffer persecution, it'll only be a sign that you're in me. I'll not be ashamed of you, Lord Jesus, no matter what happens. Lord Jesus, I'm not going to try to persuade anybody.

I'm going to let you in me persuade them. And Lord Jesus, I'm going to keep such company with you that I'll not be intimidated by any person. And Lord Jesus, I'll not let them shut my mouth.

I will not keep silent. I will not, dear Lord Jesus, speak thou through me. These early Christians were remarkable. I tell you, dear friend, as I told you in the introductory message, they had no radio, they had no television, they had no newspapers, they had no buses, they had no literature, they had no church buildings, and yet they turned that world inside out and upside down for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The New Testament Christianity cannot be explained, it cannot be rationally denied, and it cannot be intimidated. We cannot but speak those things which we've seen and heard. Do you know the Lord Jesus?

I mean, do you know Him, really know Him? Sometimes people come down here and they think that we're giving them a bunch of rules telling them what to do and how to live, and they say, well, I just can't live that way. Friend, I'm not here to lay a lot of rules on you.

Not at all. I just want to introduce you to somebody who's alive. His name is Jesus. And let Him live in you. Mark Twain said, don't tell me what to do. He said, I already know what to do. He said, I'm not living up to half of what I already know. It's not what to do that I need, it's how to do it.

How to do it. It's the desire to do it and the power to do it. You see, dear friend, Jesus is the one who not only shows you what to do, but He makes you want to do it, and He gives you the power to do it.

Have you ever really bowed before Him, ever really just made Him Lord? Years ago I read a story that has stayed in my heart and in my mind. It was about a young man who was having difficulty living the Christian life, and he somehow just did not seem to be able to make that full commitment. He went to his pastor, a man named Dr. Evans, and he said to Dr. Evans, Dr. Evans, I'm just having difficulty living the Christian life.

I don't know why, but it just seems like I've never really ever committed myself to him, or I just don't seem to have that power in my life. Dr. Evans said, son, there's a painting of Jesus I'd like for you to see. Would you go see it? The young man said, well, yes, sir, I will. And he said, it's in thus and such a building and told the building where this magnificent painting was. He said, you go and tell the caretaker there that I sent you and that I want you to see the painting. The young man said, all right, I'll go. And he went to this particular building. The caretaker came out and he said, son, you've come to see the painting, haven't you?

He said, yes, sir. He said, well, come in, and I'll show you the painting of Christ. The young man walked into the building, and there on a huge wall was a painting of Christ. And Christ is on the cross, and He's crucified.

He's dying in agony and blood. But right away when the young man saw the painting, he was repelled by it, almost repulsed by it because it looked like the artist was not a good artist. The painting somehow seemed to be top heavy. It seemed to be leaning out.

It seemed to be out of proportion, almost grotesque. The caretaker said, son, get closer. So the young man came closer. I said, son, get a little lower. He got a little lower. The caretaker said, would you get closer? And he got closer. He said, now, son, get lower. Now he said, get closer. Now get lower.

Now get closer. And the young man kept getting closer and closer to the picture until finally he found himself on his knees right at the foot of the cross. And when he looked up, it was in perfect proportion. And that was the only position from which it made sense, right on his knees at the foot of the cross.

From that perspective, it had been painted. I want to tell you, friend, it may be, but that's exactly where our Lord wants to bring you tonight, on your knees, right at the absolute foot of the cross where you bow your head and say it and mean it, Jesus is Lord. Let's bow together in prayer. Lord Jesus, I pray in my own life that you'll give me a holy bonus, Lord, that I'll not be arrogant, that I'll not strut in a swagger, that I'll not be brassy and argumentative. Lord, you've said that the righteous are bold as a lion. Help us, Lord, to be bold for you. Lord, if we have difficulty, help us just to come and kneel at the foot of the cross and say, Lord Jesus, because you died for me, I will live for you. Lord Jesus, inhabit my humanity. Take control of my life, Lord Jesus. I pray that those who don't know Jesus might come to know Him tonight. In His wonderful name I pray, amen. .