Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness
Acts of the Apostles 4:29 NIV
The Believers Pray for Boldness
- DO YOU?
- How do YOU ACT Confidently in Christ Jesus?
παρρησία – parrēsia
Now as they observed the confidence G3954 of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 4:13 NASB20 – Reaction of the rulers and elders of the people to Peter preaching at Solomon’s Portico, filled with the Holy Spirit
Luke’s account of events in Jerusalem has already revealed boldness in the Apostles not seen before Pentecost.
(Of course if YOU had seen the RISEN Crucified Christ Jesus in His flesh and received the HOLY SPIRIT in Jerusalem’s upper room, YOU would have had some added confidence as well.)
- Invite the Holy Spirit of God and Christ Jesus into your life; and then boldly ACT for Him.
ACTS of Confidence and Boldness
ACTS of Jerusalem’s First Century Believers 4:
The believers continue to lift their voices together with the Apostles to God:
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
ACTS of the Believers in Jerusalem 4:31 NIV
Where will 21st. Century Christians find such BOLDNESS?
Christian confidence seems hard to come by in this world opposed to GOD and Jesus Christ, doesn’t it?
The Apostles and many first century saints who became their disciples gained such boldness because they knew Jesus Christ personally.
And like us, first century believers receiving the Holy Spirit came to know Christ through the Holy Spirit. New believers met the Apostles as living witnesses, God’s anointed shepherds of Christ’s living Church.
ALL feared God and basked in the light of Christ’s grace and unfailing eternal love.
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com
παρρησία – Strong’s G3954 parrēsia
- all out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, publicity; by implication, assurance:—bold (X -ly, -ness, -ness of speech), confidence, × freely, × openly, × plainly(-ness).
- 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, boldness, assurance
- the deportment by which one becomes conspicuous or secures publicity
Conspicuous Confidence of Christian Witness
The fear of their Messiah in the flesh and blood always infected the multitudes who surrounded Jesus, along with recognition of God’s love in His Person.
The Apostle John tells us in his Gospel:
And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.”
However, no one was speaking openly [G3954] about Him, for fear of the Jews.
So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this man not the one whom they are seeking to kill? And yet look, He is speaking publicly [G3954] , and they are saying nothing to Him.
Gospel of John 7:12-13, 25-26a NASB + talk of JESUS at the Feast of the Booths in Jerusalem
And just two months earlier in Jerusalem, at Jesus’ trial (when Peter cowered secretly beyond the gaze of official witness by the powers that be who cross-examined Jesus):
The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching.
Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly G3954 to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple area, where all the Jews congregate; and I said nothing in secret.
Gospel of John 18:19-20 NASB + True testimony of Jesus before the Jewish High Court prior to the Passover Sacrifice
This is Annas, the same High Priest who now recognizes Peter and John as Jesus’s Disciples.
More Miracles and Boldness
- ACTS 2:2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- 2:3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.
- 3:8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them..
- 4:4 But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
- 4:13b-14 ..they [Annas, the High Priests and ruling Council] were amazed, and began to recognize them [Peter and John] as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
- 22 for the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.
- 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken,
- and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
- 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
- and abundant grace was upon them all.
- 34-35 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need.
A Witness of Grace by the saints
Five thousand disciples of the Apostles of Christ SPEAK the word of God with much BOLDNESS!
These confident new Christians share Christ’s love as a community of faith in Jerusalem SHARING all blessings of the Lord God as if their money is not their own, but solely the LORD’S. And the saints, disciples learning of Christ JESUS from the APOSTLES trusted them completely with EVERYTHING.
From his introduction to the church in Jerusalem in second account, next Luke will insert a caution to believers about NOT being ‘ALL IN.’ But for our conclusion noting these ACTS of BOLDNESS we will proceed just a little ahead in Luke’s list of signs and boldness of ALL.
Returning to Solomon’s Portico
Acts 5:
The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
ACTS of the Apostles 5:12 NIV
Why does the NIV translate this in the past tense?
5:12 διὰ δὲ τῶν χειρῶν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐγίνετο σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα πολλὰ ἐν τῷ λαῷ καὶ ἦσαν ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἅπαντες ἐν τῇ Στοᾷ Σολομῶντος
Luke wrote ACTS of the Apostles about three decades after these signs in the Temple.
AD 44 Judaea is annexed as a Roman province after the death of Herod Agrippa.
Luke’s readers may not have seen the temple prior to it’s destruction.
Opposition to our Boldness
Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them.
Acts 5:12-13 CSB
The NASB states:
But none of the rest dared to associate with them
Acts 5:13A NASB20
‘WHY NOT,’ Luke’s readers must have wondered?
Do you ever feel like the crowds do NOT want to associate with you once you boldly claim faith in Jesus Christ?
14 Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women. As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
ACTS 5:14-15 CSB
Luke tells us that these accompanying signs of miracles from God also occurred in towns surrounding Jerusalem as well. But of course, ALL of this had taken place prior to Rome completely eliminating any threat of these Judean Jews.
Luke then makes the opposition to Christian boldness in Jerusalem apparent to any now persecuted by Rome. Once again, the powers that be in JERUSALEM meet to reign in the boldness of these ‘Galileans.’
Their persecution of these BOLD opponents begins
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
ACTS of the Apostles 5:17-18 NIV
Arrested AGAIN!
To be continued...
