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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. So we're talking about this flow of boldness because people of faith are going to respond boldly. You can tell faith will not take the place of boldness when we feed on the word of God. When we know what God said to us, it is our place to be bold. It's not God's part to be bold. That's our part to be bold. And when we know what God says, we have to boldly step up to what God said to do, because the flesh will want to recoil, the flesh will want to step back and just want things to fall into place. But sometimes you have to step out in front of things and tell them to get in place. And if you don't have the boldness to do that, what God has put in your heart and maybe what you even have faith for won't come to pass until you boldly act on the faith that's on the inside of you. So I want to go back. We were reading in Joshua, chapter one and verse seven, when Joshua here has to Moses has gone home to be with the Lord, and Joshua is stepping up as the leader of God's people. And God speaks to Joshua in Joshua 1:7, says, Only be thou strong and very courageous. Well, see, if it was all up to God, why would Joshua need to be strong and courageous? It's not all up to God. There is a courage and there is a boldness that's called for on our part, that when God speaks to us, we boldly step out on that, and then we can keep moving forward when circumstances try to push us back. So God said to him, only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant, commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. So being bold will keep you from turning back when circumstances push on you. Being bold will keep you from looking at circumstances and tucking tail and running, running the other way. Because when God tells you to start a business, when God tells you to buy a home, when God tells you to start a ministry, whenever whatever God tells you to do, you're going to face circumstances, you're going to face opposition, and that opposition is trying to make you turn. And this is what God said to Joshua, don't you turn to the right, don't you turn to the left and Notice what he said at the end, that thou mayest prosper. So whether or not you're going to be successful is gonna depend on whether you boldly step into what I told you to do. So he's telling Joshua, you're gonna have to boldly step forward. You're gonna have to be a bold leader to the people. And then in verse nine, God again speaks, is continuing to speak to Joshua, and he again restates it. Have not I commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid. So the bolder you are, it's a harder, you've closed the door tighter against fear. That if you're just going to act intimidated when God tells you to do something, if you're just gonna speak that in weakness and be intimidated by people you may have to speak to, by places you may have to go, by things you may have to do. If you're gonna do that from an intimidated position, fear's gonna get in you. But boldness will keep fear fear out. So be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. Now that's why we're bold. We're not bold because our personality is aggressive. In fact, people who have an aggressive personality have to double check themselves to make sure they're not moving forward in their personality. Because personality won't put you over in the face of circumstances. When you're facing demons and opposition, personality's not enough. You're going to need the word of God and you're going to need a boldness that comes from settling that word in you. Not just an aggressive personality is not boldness. Don't confuse the two. Because boldness is a spiritual force that flows out. So we see this. Our courage flows from who's with us and not our own ability. Because God said to Joshua, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. That's why he can be bold, because God is with him. That's why you can be bold, because God is with you and he's leading you. Now know this. Don't be bold without the leading. You have to have the leading. You have to know what God is saying to you so that you can be bold. But God is with you. He's the one directing you. He's the one leading you so you can be bold. And therefore you can stand up in the face of men in opposition and say, no, I'll not be afraid. And I'm not going to be terrified. And I'm not turning back. I'm going to keep moving forward. Boldness is the fuel to help you keep moving forward in the face of circumstances. So it takes boldness to obey God's plan. Every single one of us want to fulfill the plan of God. And I say that by faith. I trust that about you, that you want God's best for your life, you want his plan. It's not enough to know the plan. You have to be bold with the plan. You know, you have to have boldness to carry out and walk out the plan that God makes clear to you. Without boldness, we won't move forward into the plan of God. Now, I want to read to you. Go with me, if you would, to the Book of Acts and chapter four. We're going to read now to set the stage for chapter four. In chapter three, Peter and John were going to the temple to pray at the time of prayer to the synagogue. And when they get to this gate called Beautiful, there's a lame man that's there. And he was there daily. And this lame man asked them for some kind of contribution, some kind of financial help. And they said, silver and gold have I none. That doesn't mean they're broke. It means that they just didn't have it. Have you ever gone somewhere and you didn't have your wallet on you? It's the same thing. They're going to prayer, you know. And so they said, such as we have. Give I thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And the man gets up and walks. This lame man leaps and jumps and goes with them into the temple. So you talk about they had a good prayer meeting that day. Cause they had a testimony to stuff, right? Well, that took boldness on the part of Peter and John for Peter to reach out. And it just says he just took the man's hand. It took boldness for him to reach out and expect by faith that the power of God would meet his action. See, this is when you have the leading of the Spirit. You act boldly because you know power is going to meet your actions. So that's why you can be bold. But it takes boldness. And let me just say it to you this way. The anointing meets boldness. The bolder you are, the greater the anointing will flow. The less bold you are, the less degree of anointing that'll flow. Why? Because boldness shuts out fear. And I tell you what, when there's no fear, the anointing can meet you. So then not everyone was thrilled that this lame man was raised up and Peter and John were pulled before the religious leaders to give an account of this event. And so in Acts, chapter 4, verse 8, I want us to read together Acts, chapter 4, verse 8 through 10. We'll read. It says, then Peter, because now notice he's. He's being called in front of these religious leaders. They're not a friendly crowd. It says, then Peter, look at the phrase filled with the Holy Ghost said, See, it matters. You can be bold when what you say is filled with what the Spirit says. When you are filled, it will help you be bold. Empty people are not gonna be bold. Yeah. It says then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, 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 all 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, even by him, doth this man stand before you whole. Now, that took boldness for him, Peter, to stand and say, the man that raised him is the man you crucified. Wow. They can't say, oh, praise the Lord, Amen, because he has accused them of wronging the one who raised the man. Now, that took boldness, don't you say. Now look down at verse 13 of Acts 4. 13. Now, when they talking about these religious leaders who Peter just put his finger in their face, that was boldness. That wasn't his personality and that wasn't his offense with anyone. Yeah, offense was not going with a chip on his shoulder and pointing his finger. This was boldness out of the fullness of the Holy ghost in verse 13. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter, ah, so boldness becomes visible. They saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. Meaning this. They had not had the scriptural or the scholarly education that all these rulers, that these scribes, the Pharisees, rulers, doctors of the law that were before them, you know, the chief priests, and all this they recognize. Now, these men haven't been trained in the scriptures the way we have. They have not had this background of training. But it says they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. They marveled and they took knowledge of them. Look at this. That they had been with Jesus. Ah, being with Jesus Christ turned their tongues skillful. Being with Jesus put a boldness in them to where they pointed at them and said, the one you killed is the one that raised him, that took boldness. They took note that they had been with Jesus. Notice this. They possessed knowledge. I mean, Peter and John had a knowledge that the name of Jesus would raise up the lame man. But until they acted on that knowledge in boldness, that knowledge wouldn't do them any good. You can know that Jesus is a healer, you can even have faith for that. But if you don't boldly act on that, nobody gets helped. It's important. Why do people not minister to people when they're out? Lack of boldness, not lack of faith. Lack of boldness. And so we have to make sure that it's not just about faith. Because faith, faith gives us the equipment we need, I mean, so that we can act on the word, but it takes boldness to release the faith that's in you. Now, when we look at the definition for the word boldness, it means this. Not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff. Listen to that. Not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff. It's courageous and daring. Ah, I like that word, daring. Look at this. Beyond the usual limits of conventual thought or action. Ah, meaning this. Your natural thinking and your actions would put limits. Boldness will take you outside those limits. And that's what a definition of boldness is, beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action. The Vine's dictionary of New Testament words says that boldness is the absence of fear. So now we know why it's important that we be bold. Because it's proof there's no fear in us. It's proof that faith can flow because fear is not there, hindering it and polluting our faith. So we need to have not just faith, but a faith that's free from fear. And a faith that's free from fear is bold. Now, they threatened these religious leaders, threatened Peter and John, and says, don't you preach anymore in that name. Well, they basically didn't say, yes, sir and walk out. They said, whether it's right to obey you or God, you judge. And then they walk out, basically. In other words, we're not obeying you. That took boldness to keep answering, answering, answering. And that's what faith does. It answers everything. It just keeps answering wrong. It answers situations, it answers lack, it answers symptoms. You can have the faith in you, but if you don't have the boldness to let the faith out, then faith can't benefit you. So boldness will keep answering in the face of adversity. Now Peter and John were let go. They went back to their company and they began to pray. All the people of their company, along with Peter and John, began to pray. And this is what they prayed. This is a portion of what they prayed. In Acts 4:29, it says, and now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. I love this. They didn't go there and say, oh, Lord, do something for us. They said, give us more boldness. It was boldness that got him into that situation. And he says, now give us more of it. Why? Because boldness will keep you violating opposition. Boldness will keep you doing what you ought to do when everything around you is telling you to stop doing that. And so they said, grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. What are they saying? Give us a speech that's free from fear, that has absolutely no fear in it. When you have no fear, I tell you what, results are going to be very dramatic around your life. I've heard ministers ask this, and I like this question. What would you do if you had no fear of failing? That's really what boldness is. It's refusing to be afraid that it's not going to work, that the business God told you to start isn't going to work. Your boldness. I refuse to have any fear. I refuse. I run fear out of my life. And the more boldly you act, the more it runs fear out of your life. Amen. So they said, grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. So notice the word has to be spoken, spoken in boldness, no fear in it, by stretching forth thine hand to heal that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy Holy Child, Jesus. So they say, whatever they're threatening us not to do, give us more of that. That took boldness to even address them, and now they're saying, just give us more of it. Why not? Because we're not stepping back. They're not going to God and saying, I can't believe you put us in this situation. I can't believe that we're getting opposed. We're obeying you. No, you know what they said? They didn't even try to. They didn't even say, change the people. They didn't say, change us. They said, just give us more boldness. What? More fuel to keep going Just keep doing it. Just keep doing. Just keep doing. And then in Acts 4:31, it says, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And remember, it said about Peter that when he was before those religious leaders, he was filled with the Spirit. It says, and this place where they were praying was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Notice. And they spake the word of God with boldness. So what happened? God answered their prayer. They pray it. And all of a sudden, boldness comes. So know this. It's right to pray for boldness. You don't pray for faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. But boldness can come through praying. God will grant you boldness, you know, Dr. Lester Sumrall was a young man that got to be around Smith Wigglesworth. Now, Smith Wigglesworth was an English preacher that had phenomenal results. He had. There were well over 20 cases that were recorded of people raised from the dead under his ministry. And he. One of the things that was such an outstanding characteristic of his faith life was his boldness. Dr. Sumrall went there as a young man to visit Smith Wigglesworth in his house. And every time he would lay hands on Dr. Sumrall and bless him as a young man, you know, and Dr. Sumrall would walk out of there and he said, you know, I didn't have boldness until Smith Wigglesworth laid hands on me. Now, those of us who got to be around Dr. Sumrall at the end of his life, he was one of the boldest men I've ever seen in my life. In my life. And I'm not talking about a bold personality. I'm talking about a bold characteristic of the outflow of God. I mean, it was just. He was. There was absolutely no trace of fear in that man. There was no fear in his eyes. There was no fear on his face. There was no fear in his voice. He was completely bold. But he said, that didn't happen until Smith Wigglesworth laid hands on me. So we can see that boldness can come just by being around the right people. Doesn't fear come by being around fearful people? Yeah, you can get around people who talk fear. And I tell you what, it'll put some of that fear in you. You get around boldness, and it'll put that boldness in you. Get around people who are so clear and confident in what God has said to them, and get around their boldness, and you'll see them Lay hold of things and get results. It'll help you be in that same flow. So notice this. It says in Acts 4:31, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. So notice this. To be bold, get full. If there's no one to lay hands on you, no one to pray with you about boldness, if you'll fill up, it will help you in this flow of boldness. Because in fullness, all fear is washed out, all fear is run out. When you're full of God, there's no room for fear. So when you get full, all that's left is confidence. And boldness is simply the outflow of divine confidence. Again, I'm not talking about a personality. I'm talking about a spiritual characteristic that flows from who you are in Christ and the Word that's in you. Hallelujah. So the word is to be spoken in boldness to get results. So we see the boldness in connection with them getting a miracle of this lame man at the gate. Beautiful. I have to question, in the body of Christ, do we not have more miracles because we lack boldness, we don't lack power. We got the Holy Ghost. We have all access to all faith. We have the Word that is the wellspring of all faith. I think many times we. It's not a lack of power, it's not a lack of faith. It's a lack of boldness to act. And I remember what one minister said, it blessed me so much. He was going out to preach and he said he was believing, praying, praying to God for miracles. And God spoke to him, I love this statement. And he said, God, I pray that there be miracles. And God spoke to him and said, step out, I'll meet you with in them. So in other words, we're praying for God to give us something. And God's waiting for us in boldness to step out so his power can meet our steps. So praise the Lord. Now I want you to go with me over to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four. And we're going to see something here. I love this passage that this statement that Paul writes to us in the book of Hebrews, and he says this in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So notice this, he didn't say, let us come to the throne that we may obtain mercy. He said, let us come boldly unto the throne. It matters our approach when we come boldly, it's evidence we have gotten rid of sin consciousness. It's evidence that we are understanding who we are in Christ. Because you go to pray and I guarantee you if your mind is not renewed, the devil will back you out of that prayer, that place of prayer. Many times he'll say, don't you remember this fault, this sin, how you're not this. You failed God at this. He will point to your faults, failures, weaknesses and sins to keep you from being effective in your prayer life. So the devil's going to use that on everybody. So when somebody comes boldly to the throne, you know what that means. They have stepped over those accusations. They have renewed their mind against what the devil's accusations would be. And they realize I'm blood washed. I'm not coming here based on my credibility. I'm coming here based on the blood. And when somebody comes back boldly, that is a sign that they know who they are in Christ. That is a sign that they have put their foot to sin consciousness, that they're not going to back down in condemnation, in guilt, in shame. Because effective prayer involves boldness. If we're not bold, our prayers will miss in effectiveness. We have to be bold to be effective in prayer. Why? Because the devil's going to accuse you. He's going to try to hold you back. He's going to point to what you're not, to keep you from being bold in the presence of God. So when you're bold in the presence of God, you are showing God, I have stepped over opposition to be here in boldness. I've stepped over my failures, my weaknesses, my flaws. Another thing of boldness, you go to pray for somebody, the spirit of God may lead you to pray for someone. Or you may know that someone is facing something, so you just take initiative to pray for them. Many times when you're praying for somebody, God will use the one praying to be their help. He will send you to go speak to them, to encourage them, to call them or maybe to. Maybe the person you're praying for is having a financial difficulty. You pray for them and God may speak to you. Then you give them money because God uses the one praying. Why? Because the one praying loves enough to be used. You don't pray for someone you don't love. That's why we're told to pray for our enemies. It keeps us loving them. And so when you're praying for someone out of a sincere heart, that's love propelling you in that. That's love motivating. You. And when God sees love, he sees someone he can use. So God will never send you to minister to someone you don't love. And so when God sees you praying for someone, he knows you love them. Even if you're loving them by faith, so to speak, you know, you're putting down your own feelings and you've chosen to forgive by faith and you're praying for them. And then God will say, I want you to go speak to them. I want you to go bless him. It takes boldness to act on what God tells you to do. There have been times when somebody was on my heart and I started praying for them. And in praying for them, God said, go warn them. Ah, I didn't want to in my own flesh. I was just praying for God to bless them. I was praying for God to help them past that difficulty they were facing. And God said, you go warn them. You go talk to them about this, that, and the other, ah, the natural side draws back. That's why you have to have boldness to step over your flesh. If you don't have boldness, your flesh will stop you from moving forward in the plan of God. It'll stop you from moving forward in miracle power and healing power. When you operate by the gifts of the Spirit as a minister, especially we operate in these gifts by faith. But it takes boldness to call out somebody. It takes boldness to lay hands on people. It takes boldness to say, what happened to you after I laid hands on you. It takes boldness to move with the Holy Ghost and to have the operations of the gifts of the Spirit. It takes boldness. Now, where does our boldness come from? Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 12. I want you to see this. Ephesians, chapter 3 and verse 12. Hallelujah. It says this. In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. So where does our boldness come from? It comes from him, who we are in Him. As I said, it doesn't come from personality. If someone tries to be bold out of their personality, they will become unkind. They will offend people, they will be curt with people. They will step out of love many times. Boldness does not come from an aggressive person. Boldness is a spiritual force. Sometimes you can have a little quiet, Grandmama, but when she gets in the Spirit and she's full of the Holy Ghost, I mean, a boldness will come out in her prayer life that will just rattle the room. What is that? That's divine boldness to lay hold of what God says is ours. Miracles Healings Our best year yet ahead of us. But it's going to take boldness for us to move forward in the plan God has for us. I encourage you move forward in boldness. It belongs to you in Him. Amen. Hallelujah. We trust you've enjoyed this message. 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