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. Would you find the book of Acts? Turn to chapter 4, and as you're finding it, may I ask you a question. Are you a bold Christian? Or perhaps are you a cowardly Christian?
May I put it this way? If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Do your neighbors know that you're a Christian? Little boy had a mongrel dog, and a man asked him, said, Son, what kind of dog is that? Well, he said, He is a police dog. The man said, Well, he doesn't look like a police dog.
The little boy said, Well, he's in the Secret Service. I think we have a lot of Christians today who are cowardly Christians. They're saved, but somehow they are in the Secret Service. There's the curse of cowardly Christians. They don't want to be seen in the office with a Bible on the desk.
They don't want to be seen in the cafeteria bowing their head and thanking God for their food. Now, they're saved, but they are cowardly Christians. Well, we're going to look at some verses today. Chapter 4, verse 13, I want you to notice the word boldness that is used in all three of these verses that I'm going to read.
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, go to verse 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. That's the second use of the word boldness in this chapter.
Now, go down to verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God with boldness. Three times in this chapter, he uses the word boldness.
One time it's associated with God the Son, the other time with God the Father, the third time with God the Holy Spirit. Boldness, boldness, boldness. Are you a bold believer?
Or are you a cowardly Christian? Do you want to be a bold believer? What is boldness in the first place? Well, it's not arrogance.
It's not the ability to put your finger in somebody's face and to tell them off. Boldness is not being rude or crude. Some people think that they are bold and they're just arrogant, and they have bad manners and sometimes bad breath to go with it. That's not boldness.
Those people turn more people off than bring people to the Lord Jesus. We'd be gentle, apt to teach, and nothing give offense. Don't think that if you go around getting in people's face that you're necessarily bold. Well, boldness is not arrogance, and boldness is not presumption where you just do things to show how much courage that you have. For example, there are people who in some churches in certain areas of the United States that handle snakes, big, long, juicy rattlesnakes. Pick them up and handle them to show how bold they are. That's not boldness, friend.
That is stupidity. Now, they're sincere. You have to be sincere to pick up a venomous rattlesnake. One time I heard of a gospel quartet went into one of these churches. You probably heard the story, and they did not realize it was a snake-handling church out in the backwoods. When they brought the rattlesnakes out, this one man in the quartet said to the preacher who was sitting next to him, said, does this church building have a back door? He said, no, it doesn't.
He said, where would you like one? Arrogance, presumption. This is not boldness. What is boldness?
Boldness is having the courage to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ in the face of opposition. Now, as we look here at this particular passage, what has happened is this. There has been a man that was healed. He was lame from his birth, and the apostles healed him right there at the beautiful gate.
We read about that in chapter 3. It's the gate leading into the eastern side of the temple. It was made of Corinthian brass. It was incredibly glorious and beautiful. This poor beggar was on the wrong side of the gate, and he was asking alms, and Peter and John said, silver and gold, have I none, but such as I have, give I unto thee. In the name of Jesus, rise and walk. And a miracle was done. And those Pharisees and Sadducees and others who hated the Lord Jesus Christ, whose hearts were filled with venom, could not deny the miracle. But they thought, well, perhaps we can contain it if we tell the apostles not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus. Well, of course, they were not able to stop them and keep them from preaching. They brought them before the apostles. Look in verse 9. They asked him, how are you doing this? They said, 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 and all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified.
Now, this is Simon Peter talking. He's not cowardly anymore. He's not denying Jesus Christ anymore. They put him on trial, but he is not the defendant. He becomes the prosecuting attorney whom you crucified and raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. That is, we didn't raise this man from the dead. Jesus Christ raised him from the dead.
This is the stone which was said of naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. And now I want you to notice how bold he is. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
And let me just pull over and park here for just a moment. Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. Now, I want you to notice how bold he is. Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. Now, if you say that today, this world is going to come down on you like a hammer. They're going to call you arrogant. They're going to call you bigoted.
They're going to call you narrow. Whatever else they may call you, they also ought to call you a Bible-believing Christian. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Now, that was a bold statement. I mean, I want you all to turn to those who crucified the Lord Jesus and say, you crucified him.
God has made him the head of the corner. There's no salvation in any other. 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. What is the basis of our boldness? It's linked to the Holy Trinity, and we're going to see that right now.
And I want to tell you how to be a Christian, and I want to give a testimony. What I am saying today is not something that I have learned out of a book. It is something that I have found from the book, the Word of God, and something that I have experienced in my life as I preach and witness and testify. Here is the basis of my boldness. This can be the basis of your boldness. These three things can keep you from being a cowardly Christian and being intimidated by Satan when the Bible says we are in nothing to be terrified by our adversaries. And if there were ever a need for bold Christians, this is the time, this is the day, this is the hour. Number one, keep company with God the Son. Now, we're going to talk in a moment about God the Father and God the Spirit.
But first of all, keep company with the Son. Now, look in 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.
What? That they had been with Jesus. They were keeping company with the Son of God. You cannot walk in His presence and be a coward.
You just can't do it. Now, Jesus is alive and well on planet earth. They said, how did this man get healed?
They said, don't blame it on us. Blame it on Jesus. Give Him the glory. By Him, by His name, by His presence, this man was healed. Now, walk with Jesus.
Make certain that Jesus is real to you. I want to say to you, and I say this from my heart and all sincerity, Jesus Christ is real to the man named Adrian Rogers. He is real to me. I have talked with Him. I have fellowship with Him. I love Him. He's real to me.
He's not somebody that I read about in a book. I love the song. Sometimes the people want to take it out of the hymnal because they think it's ephemeral and syrupy. It's one of the greatest songs in hymnody.
I come to the garden alone when the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear falling on my ear. The Son of God discloses, and He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I'm His own. And the voice I hear is the voice of Jesus. No one else knows what we know as believers. Jesus Christ is not up in heaven peering through the clouds. Jesus said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst. Jesus Christ is here. That's the reason you ought to sing. That's the reason you ought to worship. That's the reason you ought to rejoice. He has not left us alone.
He is here with us always. One of the first times I was ever called on to witness. I was just a kid and not been saved very long. My dear, sweet mother who's in heaven right now was a young lady in the church, and they gave my mother an assignment taking a survey. That is one thing my mother did not want to do. Go from door to door taking a survey, Christian survey, and bless her heart, she unloaded that on me. She said, Adrian, will you take this survey for me?
And I said, yes, Mama, I will. And there in West Palm Beach, Florida, I went to my first door, and I said, oh, I don't want to do this. I don't want to knock on that door. I'm afraid. I don't know what's behind that door.
I don't know what anybody's going to say. And at that moment, the Scripture came to me. Jesus said, you go and make disciples, and lo, I'm with you.
Lo, I'm with you. I cannot tell you the change that made in my heart just as a boy, a new Christian. I said, well, listen, Jesus, we're going together to this door. And I went down that street with Jesus. You see, that's where the boldness comes from, knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ is with you. They're telling us we can't take Jesus into the public schools. Oh, we can.
Let me tell you how we can take him in the public schools. I was coming back to this country. And you know, when you come back to this country, if you've been overseas, you have to go through security. And there's several things they won't let you bring when you go through security.
You can't bring in, you know, fruits and vegetables and animal life and certain products, food products. And there was a man in front of me. He had some gourmet cheese. And the inspector there said, I'm sorry, sir, you cannot bring this cheese into this country. But he said, I paid a lot of money. No, you can't bring it in. He said, I will bring it in. He said, you will not bring it in. He said, I will too bring it in.
Walk back there and ate it and then walked right on through. He said, I am going to rewrap it. Pretty smart. Listen, they may say that we can't take Jesus in the public schools, but friend, He's in us.
He is in us. There's no way that they can keep Jesus out as long as Christ is in us. They marveled and took knowledge of them. They said they're unlearned, they're ignorant, they haven't been to seminary, they haven't been to college. Yes, but they have been with Jesus.
That's the basis of boldness. You keep company, keep company with God the Son. You see, Jesus didn't come to get you out of trouble, mister. He came to get into trouble with you and He will be with you.
Now, here's the second basis of boldness. Not only keep company with God the Son, but number two, have confidence in God the Father. Now, they told them not to preach anymore, but now notice in verse 24, and when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God. They're talking now about God the Father with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that in them is who by the mouth of thy servant David has said.
Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ for the truth. Against thy holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants, here it is again, that with all boldness they may speak thy word.
They said, don't speak anymore. They said, oh God, just give us more power to do exactly what they told us that we could not do. Now, they not only were keeping company with the Son of God, God the Son, but they were having confidence in God the Father. You know, you have to get things in perspective. If you don't get things in perspective, you're going to get spooked.
The devil's going to have you on the run. But when you have things in perspective, when you see God, who He really is, the man who can kneel before God can stand before anyone else. One fear, a holy fear of God, removes all other fears.
Look at this now. Here's the confidence they had. They had confidence in God as the Creator of all things.
Look in verse 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God, which made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. This is God who scooped out the oceans, who heaped up the mountains, who darted the universe with stars, billions and billions and billions of stars out over the velvety blackness of space. They're saying, God, you made it all. Why should we tremble when you are our Father?
Why should we be intimidated when a God who could do such things is on our side? A college student asked his pastor, Pastor, do you believe there's life on other places out in space? The pastor said, no, son, I really don't believe there is. He said, now, pastor, think about it.
There are billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of stars. And you don't believe there's life out there anywhere? He said, I can't prove there's not.
But he said, I just don't believe there is. And then the college student said, well, pastor, there's not. And then the college student said, well, pastor, why did God go to all that trouble to make all that stuff? The pastor said, what trouble?
Only God can do that. He spoke in universes dripped from his fingers. What a mighty God we serve. What a mighty God we serve. You see, they had confidence in God as the creator of all things. And so it follows as night follows day, they saw God as the controller of all things.
Now, listen, you've got to get your perspective on that. Look beginning in verse 25. They speak of God the Father, who by the mouth of thy servant David has said, why do the heathen rage?
And the people imagine vain things. The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord. Boy, can you see that as they stand on two big feet, stick out their big chest and shake their puny fist in the face of almighty God. They stand up together against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together. Now watch this, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
I love it. God is the creator of all things and he's the controller of all things. Do you think dark Gethsemane and bloody Calvary was a mistake? Do you think things were out of hand? Do you think God's walking up and down in heaven saying, oh no, oh no, what am I going to do now?
What am I going to do now? Do you think the Holy Spirit ever meets an emergency session to say, oh my, look now what has happened? Look, they crucified the Son of God.
Oh no. Not a blade of grass moves without his permission. To do whatsoever thy hand has before, thy counsel has before determined to do. God has never lost control and God never says, whoops. God is in control. Now that ought to give you courage and know that he is the creator of all things. He is the controller of all things and therefore he is the conqueror of all things. Peter here is quoting Psalm 2 and he says, the kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and his Christ, his anointed.
But Psalm 2 goes on to say, yet have I set my king upon the holy hill of Zion. I want to give you good news. We win.
We win. Jesus Christ is going to be enthroned in Jerusalem. Sin can't win. Faith can't fail.
Things are not right in this world right now because as I've told you before, things are out of place. The church is the bride and the bride belongs with the groom. We will at the rapture. Jesus is the king and the king belongs on the throne. He will be when he comes again.
Satan is the criminal and he belongs in the dungeon and he will be when Jesus comes again. Yet have I set my king upon the holy hill of Zion. You know, sometimes you look at the ebb and flow of things and you get the idea, well, everything has gone wrong. Maybe God has failed. Maybe the Bible is not true. No, no. Sin can't win.
Faith cannot fail. I was raised in Florida on the east coast. I love the ocean. I love to watch the ocean. I love what an unknown poet wrote when he said, on the far reef the breakers recoil in shattered foam. Yet the sea behind them urges its forces home.
Its chant of triumph surges through all the thunderous dim. The wave may break in failure, but the tide is sure to win. Listen, almighty sea, thy message in changing spray is cast within God's plans of progress. It matters not at last how strong the shores of evil, how wide, how deep the reefs of sin. The wave may break in failure, but the tide is sure to win. Now, don't you get your eye on some little old wave.
I'm telling you, God's tide is moving and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ. Now, what is your problem? Think about it today. You got it in your mind? Now double it.
Make it twice as bad. Now, double what you've doubled. And now I want to ask you a question. Is that big to God? Is that big to God? Of course not.
What is the basis of boldness? You must keep company with God the Son. You must have confidence in God the Father. When these people were terrified, they took their eyes off of man and put their eyes on God.
The Bible says the fear of man brings a snare. Take your eyes off your problems. Focus your eyes upon almighty God, who is the creator of all things, who is the controller of all things, who is the conqueror of all things. That's the basis of your boldness. Now here's the third thing.
Here's the third thing. If you would be bold today, number one, keep company with God the Son. Number two, have confidence in God the Father.
He is over all. He cannot fail. He must prevail. Have faith in God. Number three, receive courage from God the Spirit.
Receive courage from God the Spirit. Now begin reading again in verse 29 where we left off. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 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. The first time, we mentioned God the Son. The second time, we mentioned God the Father.
Now we're mentioning God the Spirit. And boldness is in the triune God. When we keep company with God the Son, when we have confidence in God the Father, then we receive courage from God the Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit will give us the courage that we need to live for Him. Now notice what the apostle said, Lord, look at their threatenings. Look, if you will, in verse 29. Behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. The word servant here is the Greek word that means bond slave. Are you a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ? I try to make it a habit every day to lift my hands and surrender to the Lord, to say to the Lord, I am your servant. Not really just simply a servant.
This word means a slave, a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Boldness is not for rebels. You will never have boldness, true boldness, until you can say, now Lord, grant to your bond servant, to your slave boldness. Now when you do that, the Holy Spirit of God will give you courage. You know, if there's any unconfessed sin in your life, any unsurrendered area, you're not going to have boldness. The Bible says the wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
The wicked flee when no man pursues. He's always wondering, you know, do they know this? Have they heard that? Will I be discovered here?
Whatever. Oh, but when you can wake up and say, there's nothing between my soul and the Savior Lord, I am your servant. I am your slave. Grant, boldness, to declare your word. Now what did they want courage for? They wanted courage to express God's word. Look again in verse 29, with all boldness that they may speak thy word. I think the curse of the 21st century is cowardly Christians who are not expressing the word of God. These apostles did not ask for safety. They asked for courage.
They asked for the ability to do more of what got them in trouble in the first place. I want not only courage for the man and woman in the pew. We need more pastors with courage.
Now I don't hold myself up as the paragon of excellence in that area, but I am truly convinced there's not a whole lot wrong. They could not be radically, dramatically, and swiftly put back in place if we had a generation of preachers who would open the word of God, fill the Spirit of God, and preach the Christ of God without fear or intimidation or worrying about being politically correct. Preach the word of God. They wanted courage to express God's word.
They wanted courage to extend God's hand. Look in verse 30. Lord, give us courage by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child, Jesus. Oh God, let your miracle working power flow through our hands. Well, you say, I thought Jesus did it.
Yes, he does. Look in chapter five, verse 12. By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders done among the people.
And the word by actually means through. Jesus Christ is doing it through us. Anything that you're doing that can be explained apart from Jesus is not worth anything. Now, what do they want? They wanted courage to express God's word. They wanted courage to extend God's hand. They wanted courage to exalt God's son.
Look again in verse 30. By stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child, Jesus. The name means the authority of Jesus. Did you know that Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor, I believe, took great exception when Franklin Graham prayed the inaugural prayer in the name of Jesus? You know, the name of Jesus today is a name people don't like. You can pray, just don't pray in the name of Jesus. Just don't lift up the name of Jesus.
Friend, I want to tell you something. If there's ever a generation that needs boldness about Jesus, it's this generation. And don't you let them dumb you down about praying in the name of Jesus. I go to a public occasion somewhere and they call on me to pray. Well, friend, if they don't want me to pray in the name of Jesus, then they ought not to ask me, because that's the way I pray. It would be a form of religious persecution and bigotry to tell me I ought not to pray the way I pray. I don't expect a Jew to pray in the name of Jesus. I wouldn't have respect in a Jew who prayed in the name of Jesus if he didn't believe in Jesus. I'd have more respect for him if he prayed the way he normally prays. I would have no respect for a Muslim who prayed any differently in public than he prays in private. I want him to pray the way he prays. I want a Jew to pray the way he prays. I want a Christian to pray the way he prays. And all they do, they pray about pluralism. They don't mean pluralism.
What they mean is syncretism, just dumb it all down. That means nothing to everybody. And then we'll let you mumble a little mumbo jumbo.
No. Don't be ashamed of Jesus. Don't be afraid to lift up the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit of God, give us courage to express your Word, to extend your hand, to exalt your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, not everybody will believe in Jesus. And I would not force Jesus on anyone. But I don't want anyone telling me I cannot express the Lord Jesus.
I cannot exalt the Lord Jesus. Now, what happened when these people were filled with boldness? Go down to verse 31. And when they'd 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.
Now look in verse 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. And there were multitudes who were swept into the kingdom of heaven.
Now, as I bring this message to a close, let me tell you something. This is the year of evangelism, and the challenge is to make Jesus known to our neighbors. They will not all believe, but we're going to share the Lord Jesus Christ with them. You say, Adrian, the day of evangelism has passed. You are wrong. You say, people are not interested in Jesus.
You're wrong again. Surveys have been taken, and today research shows us that there is today in the day in which we live a harvest of souls greater than any that the apostles witnessed here in the book of Acts. There are massive victories being won in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is growing three times faster than the world's population. Souls are coming to Jesus Christ every day by hundreds of thousands, and they will come to Jesus in our world today if we will stop being cowardly Christians, if we stop being in the secret service, if we will begin to keep company with the Son of God, if we will have confidence in God the Father, and if we will receive courage from God the Spirit, that we might speak the Word of God with boldness.
Brothers and sisters, listen to me. It is time in this church, in this day, and in this age, we get out of the boat with both feet and go for God. You may be a little afraid. You may feel a little intimidated, but remember, I'm not talking about arrogance.
I'm not talking about brashness. I'm talking about courage to express God's Word, to extend God's hand, to exalt God's Son. Now, if you're not certain that you're saved, I want to lead you in a prayer. And in this prayer, you can receive the Son of God today and be saved.
Remember what the apostle said in Acts 4-12, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved than the name of Jesus. Pray a prayer like this, O God, I am a sinner, and my sin deserves judgment, but I need and I want mercy. I am willing to turn from my sin to you. Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. I believe that you paid for my sin with your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised you from the dead, and now by faith, this moment, I receive you into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin, cleanse me, save me, Lord Jesus. I give you my life, I receive you by faith, and by your grace, I will follow you the rest of my life. Help me never to be ashamed of you. In your name I pray. Amen. Thank you.
