Holy Boldness!

Text:  Ephesians 3:12

 

God made each of us in a unique way.  We are each very different from each other in personalities, height, weight, hair/skin color, dialect, interests, etc.  Some of us appear to be more bold in nature than others.  Some appear to be able to take control over a situation and handle it more easily than others.  Some are nurturers.  Some work best with their hands, such as with crafts or construction.  Some seem to know just what to say at any given moment.

 We are unique and different from each other in our DNA or our inner structures.  A structure is "anything that is composed of parts arranged together in some way".  Well God has certainly arranged our inner structures in ways that only He can and for His purpose.  The one thing on the inside of us that is the same for all of us Sons of God is the Almighty God who dwells within us!

I want to share with you an example from God of the uniqueness of geese and their bold nature.  I was on the way to work one morning, and I reached a location near a pond.  There are often geese nearby, and this day was no exception.  As I approached the pond, there was a mother goose and her gosling just reaching the opposite side of the road.  As I drove past those geese, God gave me the words "bold";  "having boldness".  My thought was this:  God, you are so right!  These geese have incredible boldness when it comes to crossing the roads where cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other vehicles travel.  Geese are so bold that they don't stop to look for traffic coming - they simply waddle into the road and continue until they reach their destination.  Now that's pretty bold!

A few days later, God confirmed this to me again on the way home from work near this same location.  Up ahead, I could see that traffic coming toward me had stopped.  Once I reached that point, I saw 4 geese crossing the road while the traffic waited.  That is boldness!

Now I am not suggesting that we all cross streets without even looking for oncoming traffic!  But I

am suggesting that the geese exemplify a type of boldness that we should have as Sons of God - one

that will give us confidence to step out in faith and proclaim the kingdom message.  I'm talking

about "Holy Boldness", which is what I have entitled this  message.  Holy Boldness!

I want to share with you some thoughts that God has given me about the word "bold" or "boldness".  Let me read a statement on boldness found in Ephesians 3:12.  Prior to this verse, Paul is explaining to the Gentiles and the Jews that they are now equally part of 1 body of Christ - THE Body of Christ.  They are partners and associates in this communion with Christ as their Lord and Savior - not the Gentiles joining the Jews but the Gentiles and the Jews becoming a NEW body in Christ.  Through God's unlimited wisdom, He created this communion in Christ but kept it a secret until the time was right to be accomplished through Jesus the Christ.

Verse 12

"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him".

So what is boldness or to be bold?  Let's examine it:

1- fearless before danger; showing or requiring a fearless daring spirit (describes the geese!)

2- impudent [cocky boldness or disregard of others]; presumptuous [overstepping due bounds; taking liberties]
3- assured [to make safe from risks, to give confidence to, to inform positively, guarantee]; confident [self-reliant, trustful, full of conviction]
4- adventurous, free
5- standing out prominently, striking

The word "bold" is an adjective which describes a person.  "He was bold in rescuing that little girl OR she presented a bold plan to the group." 

The word "boldness" is a noun.  It describes a personality trait.  "She has the boldness to defend her position in this issue OR the boldness with which he spoke was remarkable." 

"Boldly" is an adverb which describes the action that a person is taking.  "Go boldly where you have never been before." How should we go?  We should go boldly.

Regardless of how you use this word or some form of it, it describes a person's personality.  But we may not necessarily see this aspect of a person's personality unless they take action.  Then the boldness is demonstrated.

These definitions all begin with action verbs - showing a daring spirit, overstepping due bounds, taking liberties, standing out prominently, showing confidence, etc.  To demonstrate boldness, you have to do something. 

I believe God is telling me through the action of the geese that we need to show our boldness by taking action.  I feel that God is encouraging me to do more for His glory in order to reach more people - to go boldly where I have never been before.  But before we can begin to go where we have never been before, we must "jump start" ourselves by taking action.

Remember when the disciples were in the Upper Room after Jesus had ascended, and they were waiting for "the promise of the Father"?  They were following directions from Jesus, and they had to wait there before they could take any action.  On the day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and then they took action.  Peter preached his sermon and 3,000 were baptized.  Their boldness took over once they were filled with the Holy Ghost.

In the scriptures, Jesus told his disciples that they would receive the power to heal diseases and cast out unclean spirits.

Acts 1:8: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Luke 10:19:  “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.

Now that is some awesome power to know that we can defeat the devil, and God will not let anything hurt us!  We know that Jesus has given us this power.  What does it take to demonstrate this power?  It takes Holy Boldness!  When God stands up in us, we are demonstrating that Holy Boldness!

How do we obtain this Holy Boldness?   Through Faith!

Gen 1:26:  God said "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness....; verse 27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them"

God made us just like Him!  We are made in His image, and our inner structures are made just as He designed them so uniquely.  As I stated earlier, the one thing on the inside of us that is the same for each of us Sons of God is the Almighty God Himself who dwells within us!  John 14:16 - 17: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you"

We are one with Christ; we are in Christ; so we must take on the mind of Christ because "As he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17).  We have the characteristics of Christ in us because the source is in us!!!

When God created each of us, He included a dose of "Holy Boldness".  Quite often it appears that some have more boldness than others, but I believe that it is within all of us. 

God has given us the power we need to stomp on the devil and to heal diseases.  If we have this awesome, limitless power within us (and we do), this means that we have the Holy Boldness needed to carry out God's mission for us.  The power within us is God, the Father; Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit all working together as one. 

But there are also things inside of us that clash with this power and the working of the Holy Spirit.  God is carving and whittling those obstacles out of us to reduce and eliminate these conflicts or things that fight against the power in us. 

As the obstacles diminish, the power doesn't increase, but it becomes more apparent to us and to others.  Think about a woodcarver crafting a new piece of art.  He begins with a block of wood.  He cuts, chisels, scrapes, sands, and carves away the "obstacles" - the wood that does not belong to this piece of art - so that his prized work of art can appear.

It has been there all along, but it had been covered by the hardened, exterior wood.  God's Holy Boldness within us  has been there all along, but it has been clouded over by these obstacles within us.  This power within us is fueled by the Holy Boldness that God has given us.

Let's return to the scripture of Ephesians 3:12 again:  "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him".

This verse may seem like an "add on" given the powerful verses prior to it, but to me, this is the most important verse.  Paul tells them that with this faith in Jesus the Christ, we are assured of unlimited boldness and access to Christ because of our faith.  Does that mean anything to anyone here?  Unlimited boldness and access to Jesus the Christ because of our faith.  I can get unlimited texting and cell phone minutes but I have to pay for it.  With Christ, I get unlimited boldness and access to Him, and He paid for it!!!!!!!

We don't have to worry about whether or not He is with us; we don't have to worry about facing the daily obstacles; we don't have to worry about how to pay those bills; we don't have to worry about what to say to someone when they think that heaven is a place up yonder in the blue; we don't have to worry PERIOD!

In this scripture, the word "boldness" in the Greek is parrhesia meaning all outspokenness, frankness, bluntness, assurance; confidence.  "Access" in the Greek is prosago meaning to approach, bring, draw near.

So by believing and demonstrating our faith in God, we have unlimited assurance, confidence, and frankness with which to approach our God and draw near to Him at any time.  AND we have the confidence to do this because of our faith.

Let's think back about the boldness of the geese that were crossing the street.  They possessed a boldness that many other animals or birds don't have.  They did not sit back and wait for the traffic to stop before they crossed the road.  They made a judgment call to take action and move forward.  I believe we can learn many things from geese and their boldness.

Years ago, I attended a session on team building at a professional conference.  The speaker talked about "Lessons From Geese" by Angeles Arrien.  Let me share them with you.

Lessons From Geese

1.   As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for others behind him.  There is 71% more flying range in V-formation than flying alone. 

     Lesson:  People who share a common direction and sense of common purpose can get there

     quicker.

We all know that geese fly together in this V-formation.  There are 2 key points here:  1) they fly together as a body and 2) they fly in the V-formation.

      1) Geese fly together as a body - what about the body of Christ?? 
          a) To fly means to move in or pass through the air with wings; to move through outer space; to
              float, wave or soar in the air; to move, pass or spread quickly [Webster]
          b) Did you notice that in every definition, the word "move" is used?  move means to cause
              something or someone to go from one place or position to another
          c) As the body of Christ, we should be and are moving in the same direction; we should be and
              are sharing the common purpose of spreading the truth that God lives in us, and we don't
              have to die to be in heaven.  We are going from one place to another as well as one position
              to another in the body of Christ.  We are going boldly where we have never been before.
      2) Geese fly in the V-formation; this is a more aero-dynamic way for them to fly and have least
             resistance; therefore they can fly further - 71% further - which will get them to their
             destination in a more timely manner.
          a) If we move together in a V-formation, we are moving in Victory!  We are saying that "We
             have the Victory!"  If we are moving together in Victory, we will have the least resistance
             from the religious system because they cannot break this V-formation that God has formed
            within us!  So we fly together as the body of Christ, and we fly in Victory!

2.   Whenever a goose flies out of formation, it quickly feels the drag and tries to get back into position.

      Lesson:  It's harder to do something alone than together.
 
Yes, sometimes we do get sidetracked and begin to veer out of the Victory formation.  When that happens, God engages his GPS - God's Pilot System - to get us back on track.  When we take a road trip, we may start out following the GPS in our car, but if we change directions from what the GPS is telling us, the system has to recalculate to get us back on track.  Same with God!  If we try to veer out of this Victory formation, He will give us a way to get back on track, but we must choose to follow it.

If we are flying out of formation by ourselves, we do feel the drag of the gossip of others, the financial claims on all of our funds, the negativity of those who don't have or want to know the truth of God's Word, the pull of the temptations of this carnal world.  It becomes a real struggle to do some things by ourselves because we have strayed from the body of Christ.  I am not saying that we have to do every little thing with another person or group because all we really need is God, but there are many times when doing things with others in the body of Christ is much more effective, productive, and encouraging for our mission of sharing God's Word.

It can be a real struggle to get ourselves back into the formation with the body, but God will provide us the air [his breathing, breath] to give us the uplift that we need to do just that.
 
3.   When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the head.
      Lesson:  Shared leadership and interdependence gives us each a chance to lead as well as
      opportunities to rest.
 
There are 2 points here:  1) the lead goose will get physically tired at some point and must rotate with the other geese to continue the journey; and 2) if there is no rotation of leadership, then what are the other geese learning about their mission or their journey and what do they understand their role to be?

1) the lead goose will get physically tired - In Mark 16:15, Jesus tells the disciples:   "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature".  Jesus gave us the commission to go out to all the world and preach and baptize.  That could certainly become a physically tiring task!  It is easy to
understand how the pastor of a congregation will get tired just as the lead goose gets tired.  If the
pastor thinks that he or she must be in the "lead" position in all that the church does, then he or
she will wear themselves out!  Physically there needs to be shared leadership and interdependence
within the body of Christ. 

2) no rotation of leadership - These geese are smart enough to know that they all need to take
responsibility along their journey and help the body to get to their destination.  Our pastor was
directed by God to establish Greater Works Ministry in this way.  We are all ministers and all have
messages that are God-directed.  Our pastor not only allows us to bring these messages but
encourages it.  At GWM, we are expected to help carry the body of Christ by using our God-given
talents and skills.  By sharing the responsibilities, we can do more towards fulfilling the commission
given to us by Christ, and we can learn new skills that will take us boldly where we have never been
before.
 
4.   The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
      Lesson:  We need to make sure our honking is encouraging and not discouraging.
 
Honk means to make the characteristic cry of a goose; to make a sound resembling the cry of a goose [Webster]

Regardless of what type of sound we are making, the tone of the sound as well as the meaning are what are important.  If our words and sounds are encouraging, positive and uplifting, then the body of Christ will continue to move forward toward each destination.  Psalm 100:1 - "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands"

If our sounds and words are negative or weary, they will do nothing to move us forward.  Proverbs 18:21 - "Death and life are in the power of the tongue"
 
5.   When a goose gets sick or wounded and falls, 2 geese fall out and stay with it until it revives or dies.  Then they catch up or join another flock.
Lesson:  Stand by your colleagues in difficult times as well as in good.
     
John 13:34-35:  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that he also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another".

It is by love that we stand together as the Body of Christ, and we take care of each other.  There are

times when we experience tribulations, but there is always someone to help us.  There are times

when we face physical illness or conditions, but there is always someone to encourage us, pray with

us or take us to the doctor.  There are times when we falter in our faith because we wonder if God

hears us, but there is always someone to hold us up and help to get us back on the right path.

 
The Body of Christ is a strong, bold family of believers who care for each other enough to encourage us, challenge us, feed us, help to take care of our needs, etc.  We are that strong family BECAUSE we know who lives on the inside of us! 
   
The next time you see a flock of geese, remember their displays of awesome boldness as well as the strong bond that holds them together as a group - a group who believes in and depends on each other.  Just know that we who are the Body of Christ all have the Holy Boldness on the inside of us.  God has already given it to us, and He is working to carve out the obstacles that are trying to mask the Boldness within us. 

We need to be prepared to take action - we need to not only go but go boldly!  By doing this, we will continue to expand this strong, bold family of believers, and go boldly where we have never been before.  Praise God!!!!

~ Deaconess Rachel West