Speaking the Word of God with Boldness: Acts 4:31
“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.” Acts 4:31
The end result of being filled with the Holy Spirit was that they “began to speak the Word of God with boldness.” The confidence and courage they pleaded for in prayer was granted. They were no longer timid, fearful or ashamed of the gospel.
This is a direct fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in Acts 1:8; “ “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” The mission is world evangelization. The means is the power of the Holy Spirit. The message is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
At some point, God wants His people to start talking about Jesus Christ and verbally share the gospel. The emphasis in Acts 4:31 is on “speaking” the Word. This was the validation of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
I have emphasized this point previously; miracles and signs and wonders are not random. They are given by God to either open the door for a verbal gospel witness or confirm the message and the messenger.
If your Christian life or church has become mundane and powerless, I guarantee two things have happened. First, prayer has been displaced and squeezed out by other “stuff.” Second, the gospel has been set aside and ignored.
Satan doesn’t care how spiritual you look or how busy you become as long as you neglect prayer and never open your mouth to verbally share the gospel. The filling and power of the Holy Spirit is generated through prayer and aimed at speaking the word of God with boldness. It’s that simple! It’s that powerful! It’s that profound! It’s that important! It’s that biblical!
Let me quote Hebrews 2:3-4 one more time; “3) how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4) God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” It’s our job to speak and tell the story of salvation, it’s God’s job to miraculously confirm the message and save lost people.
Stop separating God’s miraculous power from the spread of the gospel. They walk hand in hand through the New Testament. Stop being timid and ashamed of the gospel.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus connected the power of the Holy Spirit to the spread of the gospel. In Romans 1:16, Paul connected the gospel with the power of God. In 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul again connected the word of the cross with the power of God. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 guess what happens? Paul again connects the gospel message to the power of God. I will resist the temptation to again connect Hebrews 2:1-4 to this discussion.
If you are zealous to see signs and wonders, start praying like the early Christians and ask God for boldness to speak the gospel. Then catch every wave God sends past you for sharing the gospel. Soon you will be surfing on the wake of the Supernatural just like the early church did in the book of Acts.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
