Be Bold for Christ | Acts 28:30-31 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh // A Message in Light of the Assassination of Charlie Kirk

In light of recent events, we will not be going through the

Book of Revelation today. Instead, I have one ambition,

one simple desire for you and for myself is that we would

leave here with greater courage, with stronger boldness, with

more clarity, and with a sense of supernatural strength.

We discussed much on Wednesday night, even more on Friday.

But I want to immediately open up God's Word and see what God

has to say to us in these trying times for our nation and even

for the church. And so I invite you to turn with

me to the Book of Acts in chapter 28.

Students of the scriptures have noted in the past of a strange

ending of the Book of Acts. At first glance, it doesn't seem

to have a proper conclusion, doesn't end with a doxology.

There is no benediction. There doesn't seem to be any

final instructions of any kind. It seems to just abruptly end

with a brief comment on Paul's imprisonment in Rome while he

was under house arrest. But this unusual closing was not

due to Luke running out of parchment or this being the

result of the best that he can do under restrictive

circumstances. Like every other author of the

New Testament of the whole Bible, Luke was under the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And what we find here is

intentional. And the reason why Acts seems to

be concluding in an incomplete way is because, in a sense, the

story of Acts continues to this day.

You see, if the book of Acts were primarily about Peter or

Paul, then what we find here in these final verses would be

perplexing. But if we understand the book of

Acts for what it really is, recording the success of the

spread of the gospel, then this ending is beautifully fitting.

What you have here in Acts 28 is the apostle to the Gentiles

arriving in Rome, which at the time was the center of

government and trade. And when Paul arrives to the

strategic city, we read here that the author wants to

conclude the narrative there. Nothing else is told about Paul.

What happens after this? We're going to read it in a

moment here. But again, it seems abrupt.

But it's meant to leave you and I as the readers of this account

with a sense of anticipation that this mighty evangelist and

apostle who has now finally arrived at this place will

surely be the cause of the expansion of the gospel across

the globe. And we know in church history

that it has in many ways. But more than that, it also

shows us here that the spread of the good news is ongoing.

That it doesn't stop the advancement extends beyond the

story and the discerning. I will even see that this is

also, in a sense, an invitation to every age and every believer

in those different periods of history to be a part of this

story, to actually play a part in bringing the gospel to new

places and to more people. Let me put it this way.

There is no Amen at the end of Acts because in a sense the

story goes on and we are part of it because we are the same

church that started here. We are part of the same story

that God began writing 2000 years ago.

And it's in these last verses, I believe, that we are given a

very helpful insight to show us how we as Christians could be

effective and continuing with the apostles laid down.

Let's read together in verse 30 of chapter 28 of Acts.

He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed

all who came to him. Being Paul proclaiming the

Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with

all boldness and without hindrance, I find it both

inspiring and insightful that one of the final words in the

book that speaks about the flourishing spread of the gospel

is boldness. Boldness.

Other translations might read openness or confidence, but I

want to. I want to use what the ESV

renders. What does boldness mean

according to the Bible? Well, the original word simply

means freedom and speaking unreservedness in speech.

But when you see boldness in action in the Bible, you get a

sense that it's deeper than that.

You realize that is the act of speaking the truth with

confidence, conviction, and courage, even in the face of

opposition. True boldness, by the way, never

justifies pushiness, insensitivity, aggression.

It never makes an excuse for recklessness.

Snarkiness, obnoxiousness should never be confused with rage or

profanity or being brash. There are some people who think

they're a bold when in reality they are just loud, rude, and

unwise. On the other hand, boldness,

according to the Bible, refers to speaking the truth and living

truthfully regardless of the risks because one is driven by

love for Christ and a commitment to his revealed will.

Paul had that boldness. And what we learn here at the

ending of the book of Acts is that in order for there to be

any hint of success for the spread of the gospel, you and I

must understand that boldness is a non negotiable quality.

It is an essential ingredient to the Christian and to the

ministry of the church. And that's why I want to speak

to you about it today. I want to speak to you about

being bold for Christ and my genuine prayer.

Because this message, I'll tell you out front, is going to be

simple and most likely short. But so be it.

Because my prayer behind this is that cowardly Christianity would

die. Would die in any of us who are

honest enough to say that there is a level of you being held

back to be bold with your faith, faithful with the truth,

unashamed when an opportunity is presented to you to speak out

about Christ or to present the hope of who He is.

My desire is that there would be a new level fearlessness with

our testimonies. My true desire is that with all

the uncertainty in the air, with all the fear that you and I

would be willing to walk in biblical boldness no matter who

stands before us or what the outcome of our witness may be.

That's my sincere hope, and I pray that this message will be

of some help. And together we will prayerfully

pursue this by staying in the book of Acts.

To learn more about what true boldness entails, look back

again at verse 31. See that word boldness there?

In Acts 2831, it appears a total of five times.

Throughout the book of Acts, the noun boldness appears a total of

five times in the book of Acts. And what I find interesting is

that three out of those five times it is concentrated in a

single chapter. There's one chapter where the

word boldness appears three times, and I believe that is

especially helpful for us because it brings us into focus

to seeing early in this book the beauty, the availability, and

the necessity of boldness for the church.

And I want us to go to that chapter together in Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4. So let's turn that to a very

well known passage as we discover and rediscover perhaps

what happened to Peter and John once they were arrested after

demonstrating the healing name of Jesus and preaching the

gospel, resulting in thousands being saved.

You know this very well. Peter and John were used by God

to see a man who was crippled by the temple, to be restored to

full health and to be an object lesson of the powerful name of

the resurrected Christ, and so many were moved by it.

Instead, we find that there were others who were disturbed by it.

And so you have these religious leader that arrests them, they

stay overnight in the local jail and the next day they

interrogate them, wanting to know how it was that they were

able to perform this miracle. And so this duo give a brief yet

powerful explanation. And this is what we read after

their initial witness, verse 13. Now when they saw the boldness

of Peter and John and perceive that they were uneducated common

men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had

been with Jesus. The first thing that's vital to

comprehend about biblical boldness, please hear this, is

that boldness is not a personality trait.

You might think that would be the case if this verse read

differently, if the religious leaders saw the boldness of John

and we're astonished by it in comparison to the rest of the

apostles. You can argue that John had the

most courage for the simple reason that when others were

hiding while Christ was dying on the cross, he was the only one

who stood by him. That was dangerous.

That was risky. So if John was the only one in

view here, then you can say, well, you know, that's his

personality, that's his disposition, that's his genetic

makeup. That's just something that he

was born with that made him less afraid of dangerous situations.

But you can't say that you know why?

Because the boldness here is also attributed to Peter of all

people. The one who denied Jesus three

times, the one who cowered away, the one who shrunk from an

opportunity to stand for the Lord and to live up to his

boast. The very same Peter here, who is

fearful to speak out for Christ, is now crowned with boldness,

and that should excite any of us who have a tendency of being

hesitant to speak up, of standing by the truth, of

defending righteousness. If Peter could be bold, so can

we. But moreover, notice that the

opposition acknowledged their bravery, yes, but before that

they also recognized that they were uneducated and common men.

What a thought. What a thought.

That boldness is not reserved for the formerly trained.

It's not a reward for the scholarly.

It's not something that one taps into because they are physically

intimidating so they have the ability to muster up boldness.

Or maybe because they are outwardly beautiful and so

people are more willing to listen to what they have to say.

No, these religious leaders stood in awe as they sensed a

current of courage flowing out of these ordinary, common

looking Jews. They were stunned, which gives

us even more reason to rejoice today.

Because Christ, like Spirit, empowered otherworldly.

Boldness does not discriminate. This reality can be yours and

mine. For the same reason it was a

reality for these apostles. What does the verse say?

That they recognize that they had been with Jesus.

There was something about the influence of Christ in the lives

of these two that radiated from them in this intimidating

situation. And here's what's so wonderful.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the living God, He does not

discriminate. And because he does not

discriminate, he shows no partiality to granting this gift

of boldness to anybody who desires it.

So no matter who you are, how you look, how much you know,

this boldness can be yours. Doesn't matter what your

vocabulary level is, it doesn't matter what your background is,

none of that matters. This can be experienced and this

can actually have an effect if you tap into it.

The second thing to underline from this one verse is how

boldness is impactful. There's something attractive

about boldness, and that's true in several ways.

It's contagious among believers, and even here we realize that it

can grip and confound sinners. Notice again in the middle of

verse 13. It says here that they were

astonished. They were astonished at the

boldness of these men. It was unexpected.

It was a surprise. And what I take from this is

that even the world takes notice when a Christian is unashamed,

unmoved, not afraid, composed when they're standing for the

faith. And boldness does not

automatically guarantee conversions, but it does contain

the power to make an impression that sparks curiosity and even

conviction. In the case of Paul with the

Thessalonians, the boldness he had played a major part in their

salvation. I want us to turn there for a

moment. Go to 1st Thessalonians chapter

2. Look here with me in verse one

as he recounts his ministry among this group of believers

who are at one point not believers, and notice what he

says about the success of his efforts there.

First Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning in verse one for you

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

yourselves, no brothers that are coming to you was not in vain.

Why wasn't in vain? Paul?

Well, he explains in verse 2. But though we had already

suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you

know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of

God in the midst of much conflict.

Don't you love that little phrase boldness in our God?

You're not going to find it in yourself.

I'm not going to find it in myself, not in your gift, not in

your charisma. If you want biblical boldness,

it only comes from God. We had boldness in our God.

And notice here that he attributes to the success of his

trip to Thessalonica to a God empowered courage that he and

his team demonstrated while they were there.

Why was our visit not in vain? In great part because we had

boldness in our God to preach to you the gospel even though we

were surrounded by hostility and danger and threats.

A Christianity void of boldness is vanity, is vain, doesn't

amount to anything. It robs you.

It limits your impact on the loss by convincing you that

sharing your faith should only happen when it's convenient, not

when there's conflict. Open your mouth when there's an

openness in the culture, not when there's opposition.

Please never forget that cowardice will always cost us

way more than whatever boldness may require cowardice.

We'll always be more expensive in our efforts for the Gospel

that whatever boldness may require of us.

And while we're here, why don't we just look at a couple of ways

we can prepare our hearts for this Apostolic energy to come

alive in US? I want to know.

I'm sure you do as well. Look here at verse 3 of the same

chapter. For our appeal does not spring

from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive.

But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted

with the gospel, so we speak not to please man, but to please God

who tests our hearts. People pleasing and boldness can

never coexist. Incompatible, Paul says, do you

know why we came to you with the boldness in our God?

Do you know why it was so effective?

Because we first determined long ago before we even arrived here

that we will not speak for men. We will not speak with man's

opinion in mind. We will not share with the fear

of what they have to say about us.

You see the secret to Paul tapping into this boldness and

how we going to be a success for you in your family, in your

workplace, at your school, among your peers.

You must train yourself by the grace of God and by the truths

of the Scripture to ask questions like what does God

want from me? What would make him happy out of

this? What would bring most honor to

his name? What is it that he longs from

me? Not well, not what others have

to say. And the more you are consumed

with them, the more you are preoccupied by that, the less

room there is for people to influence you and to determine

how faithful you are to the truth.

And the wonderful thing about Paul's God word ambition is that

it brought the greatest blessing to people.

When Christians are not bold, they do nobody a favor.

You don't inspire Christians and you make no impact on the lost.

You're just floating around. You're just on a lazy river

called ministry. Just just just wherever it goes,

I'm just going to go. That's useless, absolutely

useless. This man says no, no, I'll tell

you why. We're a bold We've determined to

please God with our words, with our message, with our

philosophy, but it's more than that.

Come down here to verse 5. For we never came with words of

flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed.

God is witness. So more than his heart being

free from people pleasing, Paul's heart was totally

liberated from any covetousness. This man had zero financial

ambition. Why is that relevant to

boldness? Because you couldn't buy Paul

and you can't sell anything to Paul.

He could not be influenced by anybody who could profit him.

It didn't cross his mind. He didn't manipulate and massage

his ministry message, his gospel presentation with other

ambitions and motives. I hope I can befriend this

person because they'll really contribute financially to this.

None of that. He trusted God to take care of

him. He really believed.

If I'm faithful to the truth, God will take care of my

ministry. Not to play games.

Don't have to play Kate, don't have to dilute anything.

Don't have to wonder who what soul is soul is.

Are they going to be there Sunday?

I'm just going to preach a very strong word.

I don't want to step on their toe.

None of that silliness with Paul.

Completely consumed with a faith that God will take care of me.

Money has a way of muzzling Christians and not just

Christians. Pastors, God help us.

If you're doing this thing for money, get out of the ministry.

Has nothing to do with money. You really believe God, then

preach the Word and let him take care of you.

You see, the freer one is from the love of praise and the

desire for material grant gain, the bolder we become.

You can't hold on to financial, material, comfort, luxury,

pursuing that, securing, that nourishing that.

You can't hold on to an addiction to people's opinions

about you and expect to be a bold Christian at the same time.

Choose one or the other, But also I'll tell you why I was

bold. I, I determined to speak for God

and I determined to do so at any cost.

This is just a couple of thoughts from Acts 413, but you

know what question I had the other day?

What did they see that concluded they were bold?

What is it that came out of these two in Acts chapter 4 that

Acts 4 · chapter mention

proved that they had courage? And I want you to see it with me

because we find it in the verses proceeding.

Look back here in Acts 4 and look here at verse 7.

This is the following day after they were arrested.

And it says here. And when they had set them in

the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name did

you do this? Then Peter Phil of the Holy

Spirit said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, here's

one major property for boldness and a boldness.

Boldness blinds you from your audience.

You don't see what other men would see.

I'm talking about a good kind of blindness.

You're not affected by who's standing before you.

You're not influenced by the presence of some influential

figure or powerful man. Notice here that the first thing

that they say is they acknowledge who these men were

rulers of the people and elders, and they're about to preach the

raw gospel in their presence. What boldness does is strip away

the fear of man. What boldness does is help you

perceive man the way God does. See, these are rulers.

These are these are big names in Jerusalem.

And yet, because these men were filled with the Holy Spirit and

as a result driven with boldness, as the context shows,

they just saw them as sinners who are under the wrath of God

and need to be saved. So the natural they were rulers,

sure, but in the spiritual they were in desperate need of the

truth. Boldness does that when it's

given by the Holy Spirit. It blinds you from the faces,

the reactions, the potential ramifications of of those who

can do something about you because of what you stand for.

But not only that, look here. What happens next in verse 9 he

continues, if we were being examined today concerning a good

deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been

healed. Let it be known to all of you

and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by

him, this man is standing before you.

Well, it's not only does this boldness blind you to your

audience, but boldness caused you to speak unapologetically

and unambiguously about sin. You see what happens here?

He addresses them and he confronts them about their

crime. And he doesn't speak in

generalities. Whom you crucified.

When a preacher, when a Christian is really filled with

spirit empowered boldness, They don't tiptoe around

controversial air quotes issues. They don't they call it as it is

when when they preach, they don't just talk about the wrong

that we have all done, how we all have just lost our way.

Yeah, that's a biblical phrase. But you also find that the Bible

lists sins, puts a language to these things.

And so with a holy love but also with a holy boldness, you can

expect somebody who is possessed with this force to actually

addressed things in a way that is meant to address people

personally. Is there wisdom in how we do

this? Absolutely.

I hope you hear this as principles and not as just a

black and white blueprint, but so much of what we hear today

just dances around the issues. So much of what we hear today is

first introduced with so many apologies from the pulpit, as

though what we're saying we don't really want to say, but we

have to say it because we don't want to get in trouble by the

actual Christians in the church. It's just powerless.

It really is. Boldness calls out sin.

Boldness can see the current issues in society and say it's

evil. That's wrong.

That's from hell. Finally, look at verse 11.

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders,

which has become the cornerstone, and there is

salvation and no one else, for there is no other name under

heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Boldness will make you unashamed to publicly testify the mission

and person of Christ. A lot of people have no issue

talking about God higher power. That's not what Paul, or rather

Peter is preaching like. He brings up the name of Jesus.

He brings up the exclusivity of his mission, of his cross, and

he doesn't flinch doing it. Boldness will compel you to

speak about Christ without quivering.

This is what they saw. They saw that they were unfazed

by these big names who had real abilities.

I mean, they just arrested them. You know, these two apostles,

Stoic, I'm sure. Respectful, absolutely.

But strong, direct, clear, unafraid, unashamed.

More can be said about this, but we've only touched on the first

time boldness appears in this chapter.

Let's look at the two other times.

Look here at the end of this chapter in verse 29 and Acts

429. This is after the two apostles

were released being threatened and warned never to speak and

teach about the name of Jesus. So they go to their friends and

they have a prayer meeting and this is what we read near the

end of their prayer in Acts 429. And now, Lord, look upon their

threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak

your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand

to heal. And signs and wonders are

performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were

gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with

boldness. There were the two other times.

And I want to use this text to end with this thought.

How do we get it? How do we get this boldness?

And I want to use the letter A to mention at least four ways.

The first is to assemble with God's people.

What's the context of this prayer?

Again, it begins back in verse 23.

Peter and John were released. They went to their friends and

reported all that the chief priests and elder said to them.

God designed Christian community.

God designed Christian relationships to be the fuel

station for our courage. Christ sent them out two by

twos. Clearly there is something there

about that companionship that made the more effective in their

gospel witness. And He gives us more than just

instruction how to go out to the loss.

He shows us even here by way of example, that there is genuine

boldness that can be experienced in community when you gather

with God's people. Why?

Because testimonies are there. Encouragement is there.

Truth is championed there. Think about Paul with the

Philippians. You know this very well.

A lot of this is just reminders for us.

But in Philippians 114, he says, and most of the brothers haven't

become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more

bold to speak the word without fear.

They're much more bold now because of my imprisonment.

You would think it would be the opposite.

But again, there's something attractive about boldness, and

all it takes is one person to have it and to pay a price for

it, to set off a movement to take people to a new level in

their faith, to shake off the cobwebs of their own

complacency. If Paul was willing to go to

prison, what are we doing here? If Paul thinks it's worth it to

die for Christ, then let it be true of us.

So God has given us community. For our own personal courage, we

assemble regularly, and we need to do that more and more in

these times. But more than that, we abide.

We abide in God's Word. Notice that in the middle of

their prayer back in verse 24, what they do says here in verse

24. And when they heard it, they

lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord,

who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything

in them, who through the mouth of our Father David, your

servant said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and

the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set

themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the

Lord and against his anointed. Here they are in need of a fresh

dose of of courage and boldness and what do they do?

They quote scripture, they bring to mind God's sovereignty

revealed in His Word. They bring to mind God's

Providence. They bring to mind His

character, what He's done in history, how what He said in His

Word relates to their present time.

You want to nurture boldness, feed on the truth, familiarize

yourself with stories. I mean, I was ready to jump when

Pastor Ben opened up about James and John and Steven and how it

how about how in every case their martyrdom made way for the

word of God to spread. I was ready to say Amen and just

go something about the truth. It has power.

You can't rely on your emotions. Even with this recent tragedy in

our nation, don't expect to stay stirred 2 weeks from now the way

you're stirred now. You need to abide in God's Word.

You need to remind yourself of eternal truth.

Events will come and go and God uses them.

But if you want to remain attached to this heavenly force,

you need to stay attached to God's Word.

Thirdly, ask, ask, and ask again.

Boldness is not designed to be permanent.

It's not like you get it and you have it forever.

It is subject to vacillation. It is subject to being taken

from you. Boldness yesterday may not be

there tomorrow, may not be there even now.

So these same men who earlier in acts were filled with the Holy

Spirit spoke boldly are now and the chapter hasn't even ended

yet. The story of of this part of the

Scripture hasn't even concluded yet.

And yet they find themselves yet again coming before God and

saying, oh Lord, fill us again. Give us more of this.

It wasn't enough that we had it when we had that meeting with

you. We need it now as we move

forward, and God graciously grants it.

Pray for it in the morning when you wake up.

Pray for it as you are stepping into that meeting.

Pray for it before you go to that doctor's appointment.

Pray for the wisdom to know what to say.

Pray for whether you should say anything at all.

Pray always, finally, act, act. There's no good and asking for

it if you're not prepared to do something with it.

What does it say here at the end of verse 30 of Acts 4 and

continue to speak the Word of God with boldness.

Is there anything in your mind or in mind that is strategic

with the gospel? Let this be a revival in each of

us to actually be mindful of opening our mouths in different

settings or maybe with people who we've known for some time

and yet they don't know that we're actually born again

followers of Christ. Sometimes we wait for a

sensation, maybe even what we find here in this testimony that

the walls would shake. OK, we got boldness, now we can

do something. And what you find regularly

throughout Acts is that boldness accompanies the act of stepping

out, that it almost meets you while you are ready to do

something. And so you might sweat a bit.

You might not know how you're going to articulate yourself.

You might not know how this is going to flow.

One of the beauties of this boldness is that it tends to

surprise you as much as it might surprise someone else.

Maybe you've been there where you you're almost beside

yourself saying what? What was that?

Or you leave a conversation with somebody over the stranger at

the grocery store, whatever the case may be.

And you think, where did that scripture come from?

I didn't. I memorized that years ago.

I don't remember the last time I read that chapter.

Where did that come from? You have to be willing to act.

You have to be willing to act. I'll end it here.

We can't rely on events, surely, but we have to be wise and make

the best use of time for the days are evil.

Now's not the time to be worried about the America that your kids

are going to grow up in. Now is not the time to be overly

consumed by media and news to the point that you're unable to

hear God in His Word. Now is not the time to allow

your emotions to just make you angry and sit there.

Now is the time to lift your head, assemble with God's

people, abide in His Word, ask for boldness, and even ask God,

Lord, where do you want me to act?

This is a wonderful opportunity for the church to make an

impact, but it can't happen without boldness.

If you're a preacher here, an aspiring minister, I know

education is important, theological training is good.

But what I've discovered in my short time of ministry is that

you can have letters beside your name and be a coward.

PH DS Do nothing if you're not willing to preach the whole

counsel of God. And so May God empower pastors.

And more than that, May God do something in his people.

So the world at this time would be astonished at the boldness of

the church. Father, we ask, though so much

more could be said, we take this simple truth to be bold.

And so though we do what we just learned in Your Word, we ask

for, we ask for, we ask for it. God, please.

We need boldness in our God. We need boldness from the Holy

Spirit. And Lord of these great apostles

sought it more than once. Surely we are in need to

perpetually pray so Lord, we don't make excuses with our

personalities. And Lord, we even choose today,

in a fresh way to confess that we love Your truth more than our

own lives. Show us what to do in this hour.

But Lord, don't leave us to ourselves.

Give us true boldness made in fact, the church may make an

impression on the lost, and may you be glorified and all in

Jesus name we pray. Amen.