Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study
Dr. Kevin Zadai 01-08-2023
The Spirit of God Wants To Reveal Himself To You
"These people had hung out with Jesus for a while, which was why they were bold."
~Kevin Zadai
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.—Proverbs 28:1
DISCUSSION:
While studying Enoch, the Lord ministered to me about several aspects of his character. This week I want to discuss another very important personality trait of Enoch—boldness. I want you to have more confidence to be bold in the things of God.
Sometimes we think that if we are bold, we're being prideful. But there is a difference. Boldness is not being prideful. I want to show this to you in Proverbs 28:1 which says, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” This verse reveals that the source of boldness is righteousness, which is the status of being righteous. In other words, righteousness comes from God; He is righteous, then He imparts or imputes righteousness to us (Romans 4:6). So that means you are in right standing with God, you are walking right, but then you also have a status of being right.
There are two aspects of righteousness: there's the relational aspect and there's the positional part of it. Positionally, the Lord Jesus Christ brought us righteousness through His blood, the sacrifice that causes us to have salvation. This means that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, as Paul said (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then there's relational righteousness where you walk in the reverential fear of the Lord, which causes you to live uprightly.
When the disciples of Jesus became apostles, they were sent forth to teach and proclaim the truth. They encouraged people to not only believe in Jesus but to literally live righteously, walking out life His way. So there is this idea that the righteous, when they are complete in Christ, become bold as a lion, whereas wicked people flee. In other words, the wicked remain in fear even when no one's actually pursuing them. Their fear causes them to flee and not be bold. We witness people manipulating and operating in wickedness because they are fearful. Yet the righteous are bold.
o What is the difference between positional and relational righteousness?
BOLDLY PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
—Acts 28:30-31
This verse describes Paul proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance. This is what took place in the early church.
Let’s look at the importance of speaking about the kingdom of God:
• Before His crucifixion, Jesus often spoke of the kingdom of God, including His many parables on this topic.
• After the resurrection, when Jesus walked about the countryside for 40 days, He taught about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
• In the Book of Acts, the believers continued to speak about the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ with boldness.
• We, too, have this same commission to proclaim the kingdom of God with boldness.
PRAY FOR BOLDNESS
When you are bold, it means that you have an assuredness that comes from the Lord, which is not prideful at all. Also, just because the believers in the Book of Acts proclaimed God’s Kingdom with boldness doesn’t mean that this came naturally to them; they prayed for it.
“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.—Acts 4:29-31
This passage captures an example of when the believers prayed together after being threatened. This took place during a time period when many were persecuted, beaten, and thrown in jail for their faith. So they actually got together and asked the Lord for boldness. You can pray for boldness as well. According to verse 31, when the believers prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They continued to speak the word of God with boldness. So it infers that the Holy Spirit actually helped them and gave them boldness.
According to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
—Ephesians 3:11-12
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
—Matthew 27:50-51
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
—Hebrews 4:16
Ephesians 3:12 refers to the position that Jesus Christ gave us. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the Old Testament temple, which separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, was torn in two. However, as you can see in Hebrews, now, through Jesus Christ, we actually have access to the throne room in Heaven and to the Father. The symbolic “veil” was torn in Heaven, too, so we may have the confidence to enter in and approach God’s throne as His redeemed children. We have been given direct access to Him to obtain what we need. Take note that boldness gives us confident access, which also relates to faith, as mentioned in Ephesians 3:12.
