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[0:00] So be bold. Be bold is my message tonight. Would you like to have spiritual boldness? Yeah? Boldness, yeah. Do you want to live more boldly for Christ? Shouldn't we want to? Shouldn't we? It's a huge problem I believe that is facing the church today as a lack of courage to do what God has called us and enables us to do.

[0:28] So I'd like to show you some ways to grow bolder. Be bold. Now you might say when you're hearing this, who? Me? And that's kind of how I feel sometimes because I'm somewhat inclined to be not so confident at times and a bit nervous and feeling self-conscious and that's in all of us I think to some degree isn't it?

[0:56] And we have much need of boldness as we see the enemies of God that are advancing all around us in the world today. We see the enemies of God advancing on all fronts.

[1:07] I've seen some really disturbing things about the kind of books that are in school libraries, children's libraries, in our public libraries. We see some of the things that are in your face on the media through upcoming media that's coming out and it's all the enemies' fingerprints are all over it.

[1:30] We see the enemies very bold. And I saw people might have seen the front page of the advertiser just recently where they're saying that there's an army captain who's made the very brave step of coming out and declaring himself non-binary.

[1:47] And this army captain is pictured there on the front page of the advertiser wearing a female uniform. This is a man who now has stated that he wants to dress as a female soldier in a female uniform wearing a dress.

[2:07] And he's very brave, they say. He's very bold to do that. And that's the kind of boldness the world has, isn't it? It's in your face, it's shocking, it's disturbing, it's confronting, it's evil.

[2:19] Sodom is very brave and bold and emboldened, brazen. What about the church of God? Where are we? In contrast, it's almost like we scarcely would say a thing.

[2:33] God really only uses ordinary human beings, people just like you and me. You know, sometimes we think we've got to be a super Christian. We've got to be an extra special kind of breed of a Christian that's kind of a higher grade Christian.

[2:49] But no, in the Bible, God only uses ordinary human beings. And really, they're warts and all. They're just like you and me. They're humans. They're human with frailties, with faults, with failings.

[3:01] People just like you and me. So don't think to be bold for God, you've got to somehow have a personality transplant. But yet we see the world is brazen, isn't it?

[3:13] We see much spiritual deception and confusion in the churches. We're seeing churches that are going completely off track, completely away from the Bible.

[3:24] And there's much concern. It's like the church of God is being white-hanted. It's what happens in political institutions too. They get white-hanted, or they get overtaken, and they just gradually get eroded, bit by bit like white ants in your house, until the thing falls down.

[3:43] Boldness. What do you want to be remembered for when you're gone? When you're gone? Will you be known as one who has stood up or one who did not? Will we dare to stand for Jesus?

[3:55] That's my urging to you tonight. To take that road less travelled. And it is less travelled. It's like the narrow road, isn't it? The broad way, and then there's the narrow way.

[4:05] There's very few that seem to take that fork in the road where they say, I'm going to follow Jesus, even though it's a lonely time. It's a journey that might be with few others.

[4:19] It's like the vast multitudes going the one way, and we're going the other way. We've got to swim upstream, don't we? It's a bit like the picture here of one fish going the opposite way to all the other fish.

[4:32] And that can be what it feels like sometimes, when we're bold for God, that we go against the flow, we swim against the tide, we stand up for Jesus in this wishy-washy world with all this relativism and moral confusion.

[4:45] We stand up for the one sure saviour in a world where it's all murky and confusing, overtaken, it seems, by so many gods, false gods.

[4:56] False worship and idols prevail today. In the Old Testament, there was much occasion where there was false gods and idol worship. We don't see so much of that idol worship or idolatry so much in the Western world, but in the West, we worship other idols, don't we?

[5:13] The Western world worships all kinds of false gods, and there's lots of false worship. It's like we need more than ever the spirit of Elijah, as it were. Like when he said in 1 Kings 18.24, where he confronted the people and he said, Call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord.

[5:36] And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. So Elijah was very brave in this occasion where the prophets of Baal were wanting to make a big show, and they had all kinds of religious antics and much frantic worship and ecstatic zeal and carry on, but yet it was in vain.

[6:01] And then he called on the name of the true God, and God answered by fire. The true God answered by fire. And he was very bold to stand and to call the people, to make a choice.

[6:12] Follow the gods of Baal, the ones that you used to worship, or follow the true God. As Joshua also had that occasion where he said, Make a choice. He made a very bold call to them to stand for the right.

[6:26] And that's the same for you and me. We all ought to hear that same call today, to stand for the right, even if you're a lone voice. You think of, for example, people like John the Baptist.

[6:38] They called him a voice crying in the wilderness, didn't they? A voice that was one solitary voice in this wilderness that it was. And he was bold to call the people to repent.

[6:51] What did they say about him? He was a burning and shining light. John the Baptist. And you were willing for a season to rejoice in his life. John the Baptist. He was bold. And he was willing to face the axe.

[7:04] And have his head chopped off for his faith. What about you and me? Are we bold? We may face suffering for Christ. This is not something we should shy away from.

[7:15] The prospect that it could come to that. So do not be deterred to be bold enough to go all the way. Friends, we face a committed enemy. And he's unrelenting.

[7:26] We must oppose him. The time is now for God's people to be awake and to be bold in their faith. Yet it seems like a lot of people, they just, you know, you hear that, do, do, do, do.

[7:38] And they hit the snooze button. Don't they? Hit the snooze button. I just want to sleep a bit longer. Many are asleep, aren't they? Many are asleep when the alarm's going off. There's warning signs.

[7:48] There's need to be awake to wake up. And we hit the snooze button spiritually. There's so much apathy. It's so easy for us Aussies to get so comfortable, too comfortable.

[8:01] Do you love the truth? If we love the truth, that really provokes us to think, well, I should be bold. To want the truth. To love it so. To have a passion for it.

[8:11] To tell it. To receive it. To declare it to others. Look at the word of the Lord to Joshua in Joshua 1. He tells Joshua, go over this Jordan.

[8:24] I will not fail thee. I will not forsake thee. And it says here, we pick it up in Joshua 1 verse 8. The Lord says to Joshua, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayst observe to do according to all that is written therein.

[8:42] For then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success. So he's saying to Joshua here, meditate in the word. Meditate in it day and night, day and night.

[8:56] And observe to do it, to live it, to act it out, to practice it. And then he reads on verse 9. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage.

[9:08] Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.

[9:20] Why? Because the Lord thy God is with thee, wherever you go. He says, do not be afraid. Fear not. Be bold. It's interesting how fear not or do not be afraid goes hand in hand with be of good courage.

[9:35] Be bold. Be courageous. Fear not. Be bold. They come together. They work together. It's so easy humanly to be afraid, isn't it?

[9:47] To fear, to be fearful. But the Lord calls us, he commands us to be bold. He commands us to be strong and of a good courage. To be courageous.

[9:58] To be unswerving. In this world where it's so easy to be swerved off track. And so many are swerved off track. They lose their direction. There's not that focus there.

[10:12] To know God. To love him. To follow. But to be detoured. And this is happening so often. Many times we see this. In Mark 6 it talks about when the disciples saw the Lord.

[10:24] He was walking upon the sea. This is Mark 6, 49. And they cried out supposing it was a spirit. And they were troubled. And immediately he talked with them and he said unto them, Be of good cheer.

[10:37] It is I. Be not afraid. So when he came to them walking on the water, they were afraid. They were troubled. He says, Be of good cheer.

[10:47] It is I. Be not afraid. Again they go hand in hand. Have courage. Don't fear. Overcome fear with faith. It's easy for us to limit ourselves by fear.

[11:00] To limit ourselves by fear. In Genesis 15 verse 1 it reads, We can limit ourselves by fear.

[11:19] When it comes to a challenge that we have spiritually, it's easy to stay in that fear zone. In the zone of fearfulness.

[11:31] Of being afraid. Being afraid to step out. And you know we see that sometimes. And some people struggle with this for many years. Like even, you know I've had it happen where people are afraid to speak up.

[11:46] To say something. To pray. To witness. They just stay in that fear zone. And they just think I'm too fearful. I'm too afraid. That God wants us to take us out of that place of fear.

[12:00] And to take us into that zone of faith. And God tells Abraham, I am thy shield. I am thy exceeding great reward. He says, fear not.

[12:12] Fear not. Again, this fear not and faith, they go together. Here's another one as well. Proverbs 3. Verse 25. It says, Be not afraid of sudden fear.

[12:23] Neither the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence. And shall keep thy foot from being taken. Notice there it's talking about fear.

[12:34] Being afraid. The fear of the destruction of the wicked. When sudden destruction comes. Sudden fear. It says, The Lord shall be thy confidence.

[12:46] The Lord shall keep thy foot from being moved. Being taken. Notice here what it's saying. Where's your confidence? The Lord shall be thy confidence.

[12:58] It's far better than us to have self-confidence. As the world would call it. Self-confidence. We can have something much, much more. Much, much better. Much stronger.

[13:09] God confidence. The Lord shall be thy confidence. Isn't that a blessing? To think of that. It's not about you having enough self-confidence. The Lord shall be thy confidence.

[13:19] He's going to be your confidence. Because your trust is in Him. He's going to help you. So fear not. Have faith. Have courage. And be bold. No matter the opposition too. You can think of right through the Word of God.

[13:31] This recurring theme. Consider Noah. As Noah built the ark. As he laboured on for many years. People would have mocked him. And laughed him to scorn. Wouldn't they?

[13:42] In 2 Peter 2 verse 5. It describes Noah as a preacher of righteousness. So imagine here. As pictured. He might have been preaching. While he was working on building this ark.

[13:54] And people would have considered him such a fool. And mocked him. And scorned what he was saying. But of course. It proved true. That God was going to send judgment.

[14:06] And the crowd largely rejected the message. Only 8 were saved. Out of the whole planet. And that's many thousands. Were perished.

[14:20] Only 8 were saved. It should make us think. Shouldn't it? But consider the boldness of Noah. In the face of all that opposition. That he was. He certainly wasn't top of the pops.

[14:30] He wasn't a popular preacher. As you could reckon it. He didn't have a mega church. He only 8 people were saved. Because of his message. Another example is David.

[14:42] He faced the giant. With only a sling. And a stone. And it's interesting with David. He volunteered for the fight. He wasn't conscripted.

[14:53] He wasn't even in the army. He was out. Looking after the sheep. And he just went and took some lunch. To his brothers. Took it to the front line. And then he heard this Philistine.

[15:06] Goliath. Mocking the people of God. And David said to the Philistine. Thou comest to me with a sword. And with a spear. And with a shield. But I come to thee. In the name of the Lord of hosts.

[15:18] The God of the armies of Israel. Whom thou hast defied. Think of the boldness of David. As he confronted this giant. The godly boldness.

[15:29] That he had. It was motivated by passion. And it's the same for you and me. We can have that boldness. That comes from that passion. For our love. For our Lord. For his truth.

[15:40] To know him. To know his salvation. To want to be in his will. To be serving. To be used of him. And we can have that passion. That boldness.

[15:51] That will help us to keep growing. And building. That faith. That boldness. That is faith. That is the courage. To make sacrifices. The boldness to.

[16:03] Even as David. To go right into the danger zone. To stand boldly. Against this Philistine. Because he knew. That he had defied. The almighty God.

[16:15] And our source of courage. Really. Brothers and sisters. Our source of courage. Is not as. I suppose. Military ones. Would serve out of loyalty. For their country. And that sense of patriotism.

[16:27] And national pride. Which are all. Generally good things. But it's something much higher. Something much. Much more precious. That faith. That he is the one.

[16:37] Who saved us. He has saved us. He has loved us so. And he's called us. To be his very own. That we can have. A love for him. That motivates us. And that gives us a courage.

[16:48] That is beyond our own strength. Because we trust in him. And we can draw our strength from him. As we see David. As an example of that. And we can draw our strength from our Lord.

[17:00] Because it's beyond our own. Because all of us humanly feel fearful. All of us humanly feel not able. It's in all of us. But we can draw our strength from him.

[17:11] The Lord almighty. The Lord almighty. And one of the keys is to spend time with him. With our Lord. We see as it was said. Of Peter and John. Now we can look back to the word of God.

[17:23] We see Peter. He wasn't really a very good example. Of a man of faith. As he was warming himself at the fire. And they said.

[17:33] Oh you're one of them. And he said. Oh no. Not me. And he started to curse. And deny his saviour. And he was a weak. And scared man.

[17:44] Wasn't he? He was scared and fearful. Lacking in faith. Very inadequate. And really a great failure. But then we see.

[17:55] In Acts 4. See the boldness of Peter here. It's like he's a different man. The boldness of Peter and John. They saw that. And they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.

[18:07] They marveled. And they took knowledge of them. That they had been with Jesus. These weren't people who had some great vast knowledge. Of man's kind of wisdom and training.

[18:18] These were just humble men. Fishermen. In Peter's case. And they were unschooled. And just ordinary people. We see the early church.

[18:30] They prayed for boldness. They made it a prayer point. That they prayed for it. In Acts 4. Verse 29. It says the believers prayed for boldness. To continue. To declare the gospel.

[18:41] To continue. Despite all the threats. Of the religious leaders of the time. It says there in Acts 4. 29. As they prayed. Now Lord. Behold their threatenings. And grant unto thy servants.

[18:53] That with all boldness. They may speak thy word. Believer. Tonight. You have a story to tell. Everyone. That knows the saviour. You have a story to tell.

[19:04] You have a testimony. You have a witness. To give. And now more than ever. That we need to be confident. In our faith. When we're confronted. With so many lies.

[19:15] So much deception. So much. False. Fake news. False truth. So called. False truth. Is obviously a lie. And that's what we're being bombarded with.

[19:27] Day after day. The lies of evolution. The lies of all kinds of false religions. And philosophies. The lies of this rainbow. Alphabet generation. This madness.

[19:39] That's consuming the planet. It's now more than ever. That our world needs truth. Truth on fire. It needs men and women. Who'll speak the truth. To power. And Paul and Barnabas.

[19:50] It says in Acts 14.3. They spoke boldly in the Lord. They spoke boldly in the Lord. There's many examples. Right through the word of God. This is a recurring theme.

[20:02] And it's ordinary people. Just like you. And me. Just like us. Esther. Was one who showed great courage. In the face of danger. It's men and women.

[20:15] How about us? Are we willing to step out. Of the comfort zone. Are we just going to press the snooze button? Be prepared to share your faith. Be prepared to share your faith.

[20:27] I know it's a great witness. I've seen. In some that are knocking doors lately. There's one of our number. That would really. Just go along. As a silent partner.

[20:37] As a silent witness. Just accompanying. Others that were more. Accustomed to saying something. And this one. They've stepped out of the comfort zone.

[20:48] And now they're part. Of declaring. A witness. At the door. And it's wonderful to see. Someone who was very nervous. And shy. And withdrawn.

[20:59] And not feeling very confident. Not feeling comfortable. Now they've stepped out. Of that. And they've. They've opened their mouth. And they. Able to share the gospel. The good news.

[21:11] And not out of a forced thing. They just came. To that place. Of faith. They say. I want to tell others. The good news. I want to tell others. And it's just being prepared.

[21:22] To share your faith. Sometimes it takes time. To get to that place. Our natural disposition. Is to be nervous. And to. Be shy.

[21:34] But all of us. Can tell another soul. All of us can tell. Another soul. Of the saviour. And. And. Paul says. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Of Christ.

[21:45] It's the power of God. Unto salvation. To everyone. That believer. To the Jew first. And also to the Greek. I'm not ashamed of it. This is a story that.

[21:56] I must tell. I have to tell. No matter what. The reception of it. You know. Sometimes. I know. When we do a knocking. It's very easy. To be put off. Because you get a lot of.

[22:07] Not interested. A lot of people say. They just slam the door. They don't want to. Engage. And. That's probably the natural thing. With anyone these days. Oh. What are you selling?

[22:17] I'm not interested. But. You know. It's almost like. We can easily be deterred. When we get knockbacks. But we think. This is a message. We must tell. Even if it's rejected.

[22:28] Because some. Will receive. The gospel. Can we have that. Godly conviction. That this is too important. To keep to ourselves. We must. Tell. We must tell others.

[22:40] The world is increasingly bold. To market evil. What about the church? Where's the church? Let's face it. It's a godless culture. An age of tolerance.

[22:52] We have dire need. Of truth telling. But unbelieving fear. Will freeze us. God has chosen you. For a divine appointment. Every one of you. You've got a circle.

[23:03] Of influence around you. People you work with. People you mix with. People you touch. Their lives. In different ways. God has chosen you.

[23:13] For that divine appointment. To tell another. To tell another. It's too important. To keep it. To ourselves. This courage that we have. Is what God has given to us.

[23:25] Again. It's something. We have to have. God's help. Because. Naturally speaking. Fear. Would. Overwhelm us. I know. It does for me.

[23:35] Anyway. And it says. Paul writes to young Timothy. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. For God hath not given to us. The spirit of fear. But of power. And of love. And of a sound mind.

[23:46] We don't have to muster courage. Of our own selves. We don't have to manufacture it. That strength. Of our own making. We simply have to submit. To the spirit of God.

[23:57] To his power. That works within us. His spirit works within us. Another source of strength. Is fellowship as well. We can nurture our faith. Like we're hopefully doing tonight.

[24:08] As we get together. With others who love the saviour. We can nurture our faith. As we see. It tells of the Philippians. Paul says. That they were waxing confident.

[24:20] Because of his bonds. His chains. So. They saw the witness of Paul. In the imprisonment. For his faith. And how he kept strong. And kept faithful.

[24:32] And his chains. Were. A source of confidence. To them. Well if Paul can be. Bold and confident. In his faith. Then. Why shouldn't we.

[24:43] Why shouldn't we be. Bold too. To speak the word. Without fear. Now. I was thinking. When I was. Reading this. As a chain reaction. As it were. As the boldness of his bonds.

[24:54] As a chain reaction. Where. When you are bold for God. You can help others. To get bold too. They. They can see the fire. That's in you. The passion that is in you. And they can catch that.

[25:04] Fire too. So. You might say. Preacher. I'm hearing what you're saying. But. I'm not. I'm not really there yet. I'm not. Feeling like. That's me yet. Start to take steps.

[25:17] Small steps. Take some small steps. As an 18 year old. I was asked one day. To help say some things. At our church. At the time. And I was packing it.

[25:28] I was nervous. I was feeling very inadequate. And unable. 18 years old. And. It was those small steps. That I took then. That's helped me.

[25:40] As I look back. There's the small steps. That started. My growing as a. As a man. As a believer. And it's the same for all of us. Take some small steps.

[25:51] Young people. Young people here tonight. You can take some small steps. To do something for God. To be strong in your faith. To grow and get stronger. And as you take those small steps.

[26:02] You can take bigger steps. And bigger steps. And bigger steps. And God will give you. More confidence. More spiritual confidence. More spiritual boldness. Don't limit yourself.

[26:14] It starts with the smallest of steps. The smallest of steps. Take those small steps. Don't limit yourself. By your own faintness.

[26:24] As well. We can say. Look I'm weak. I'm just feeling like. I just don't have the strength. In Isaiah 40 verse 29. It says. He giveth power to the faint.

[26:35] And to them that have no might. He increaseth strength. So. Who does he give the power to? The faint. So when we realize. Our inadequacy.

[26:46] Our limitations. Then we can draw from his strength. As our resource. Here's where the true strength. And courage comes from. Notice. Who it comes to. The faint.

[26:57] We can naturally feel like. We're not able. Yet take the step. The first step. That small step. Whether it be. You know. As in the context. Of witnessing.

[27:08] Come and join the witnessing team. Just tag along. And just. Just be there. And you don't know. How that can be a start. To help you get stronger. Because it's.

[27:18] Even if you say nothing. You're being there. It's. It's being bold enough. To be there. That's the first step. Isn't it? And take that first step. Take it nervously.

[27:29] While you're feeling. All of your human frailty. And your inadequacy. Your weakness. Most of all know. The power of faith. Because he increases the strength. To those who have no might.

[27:42] He increases the strength. So. Most of all. Know the power of faith. Do not be afraid to do right. And this is when the courage will show. Another example is Daniel. We know.

[27:52] In Daniel's case. The king made the law. To not pray. To anyone. Not make a petition of anyone. But the king. So. Prayer. Was declared illegal.

[28:04] And so. What did Daniel do? In Daniel 6 verse 10. When Daniel knew. That the writing was signed. The law was. Made law. He went into his house. And his windows being open.

[28:14] In his chamber. Toward Jerusalem. Says he knelt upon his knees. Three times a day. And prayed. And gave thanks before his God. As he did a four time. The law was made law.

[28:26] And he did what he always had done. He prayed. It was illegal. But he did what he always did. Which was to pray. The boldness that we have.

[28:37] Is a quiet consistency too. Have a quiet consistency. Daniel kept on doing. What he knew was the right thing to do. Just be a Daniel. Dare to be a Daniel.

[28:48] Do the godly thing. It wasn't a big thing. He was just praying. But he knew that. That meant the lion's den. It wasn't a big thing to. Open his window.

[28:59] And pray. He was simply being steadfast. Be consistent. Listen. The boldness that we have. Is a quiet consistency.

[29:11] That quiet consistency that you have. Is your boldness too. But you're being a bold testimony. To the loved ones in your life. To the people that you. Have in your life.

[29:22] Be that consistent testimony. Quietly. Consistently. Steadfastly. Like Daniel. He didn't give up. What about you and me? Don't give in to despair.

[29:32] And sometimes we might think. Well I've failed. I've blown it. And we give up trying. No. Keep on. Pressing on.

[29:43] Be steadfast. And be willing to face rejection. And testing. Of men. Be willing to be brave. And face danger. We see another example. Elijah.

[29:54] Ahab. King Ahab confronted him. And this is 1 Kings 18. 17. He says. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? King Ahab saying. Oh. You're that troublemaker.

[30:05] You're the troublemaker. Elijah. And it says. He answered. Verse 18. I have not troubled Israel. But thou and thy father's house. In that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord. And thou hast followed Balaam.

[30:17] He confronted the king. He said. It's not me that's caused the trouble. You've forsaken the Lord. You've followed these false gods. Elijah spoke the truth. Even to the king. You can be bold.

[30:28] Now we may not have to face up to a king. And face the death penalty. For offending the king. But you can be bold. You can be bold. In your own influence. In your own place.

[30:38] Where you reach people. Where you influence people. You can be bold. You can be bold in your home. You can say. This is going to be a home. That honours the Lord. Christ is the head of this house.

[30:49] And I'm going to honour the Lord. As the head of my home. We can be bold. In our home place. We can be a godly testimony. To our own family. You can be bold with your friends. That where there's something.

[31:01] That you have an opportunity. Where there's something. That comes to place. Where you can be a testimony. In your workplace. Amongst your friends. You can say.

[31:12] I'm going to seek the glory of God. I'm going to stand strong. I'm going to be bold. With my friends. We can see the glory of God. In all the spheres of our life. Where our foundation.

[31:23] Can be strong. If we firmly plant it. On his word. Know also. When we think of this theme. Of boldness. Know that. He will not fail you. He will not fail you.

[31:34] Now. Don't limit yourself. By your own weakness. Or failure. Don't limit yourself. You might say. Preacher. I've failed. I've fallen. I've blown it.

[31:46] It's true. That we may fall seven times. But we will stand up. Eight times. Amen. It says that in Proverbs 24. Verse 16. For a just man falleth seven times.

[31:58] And riseth up again. All right. You're going to fall seven times. But you've got to get up eight times. Amen. That might be you. That might be me. It is me. And we fall. We fall. We fall.

[32:09] And we stand up. God helps us to stand up again. The eighth time. He's going to help you keep standing. Even though we're inclined to fall. Know that the Lord will sustain you. Don't limit yourself by your own weaknesses or failures.

[32:22] Don't say. Look. I'm just a failure. No. God can help you stand up again. Get back on your feet again. I love the scripture here in Joel 3 verse 10. It says. Let the weak say.

[32:33] I am strong. It's like the little mouse here. We might feel like a mouse. We're weak. We're going to say. I am strong. Because that's what the Bible says. Let the weak say. I am strong. And you know.

[32:44] We can confess that. That strength. That is in him. In Ephesians 3. It talks about. In whom. In Christ. We have boldness. And access. With confidence.

[32:54] By the faith of him. Think of it. Brothers and sisters here tonight. That you've got an open door. Into the heavenly throne room. 24 by 7. So shouldn't that make you have confidence?

[33:05] You've got access. You've got access. To the very throne room of God. Into the heavenly throne room. So when you're feeling inadequate. Go to the throne room.

[33:17] Answer with boldness. As it talks about in Hebrews 10. As well. Answer boldly. Into that place of prayer. Because we have a helpline. We have a helpline.

[33:28] And it's better than any lifeline. Or any other telephone counselling service. I know for a time. I was a volunteer. On a telephone crisis line. And I know the heartbreak.

[33:40] People that cause such things. And they're crying out for help. But thank God. This is greater than any human help. Any human helpline. We can go straight to the one. The Lord is my helper. Amen. Amen.

[33:50] The one who says. I will never leave thee. Nor forsake thee. So we may boldly say. The Lord is my helper. And I will not fear what man shall do. Answer me. So he's always there.

[34:01] He's standing by. At your side. And he doesn't put the call on busy. You know. It's not got that engaged tone. He'll answer the call straight away. He's always there waiting for your call.

[34:12] You know. Honestly and truly it's true. That you can call on his help. At any time. So. Brothers and sisters. Friends here tonight. Know that there is a boldness you can know. Not a self confidence.

[34:24] But a God confidence. You can know the Lord is my helper. You can know though I am weak. Yeah. I'm going to say I am strong. And the boldness that we talk about here.

[34:35] Is not an arrogance of our own flesh. We know there's some big shot type people. You know. Certain cultures and countries. They tend to be big shot. Braggarts.

[34:46] Big mouths. You know. Aussies can be like that too. Can't we? It's all. You know. The boldness is a self confidence. An arrogance. Like a braggadocio. That power of the pride.

[34:58] Of the self. Of our own self. It's not that kind of boldness. That we're talking about here tonight. But the boldness that we have. Is the boldness that comes from knowing Christ. To know that we know that we know that we saved.

[35:10] To know that we know him. As our saviour. To know the Lord is my helper. It's not an arrogance of our own fleshly making. But it's knowing that he is my Lord. He is my helper.

[35:21] I'm his and he is mine. And I want to tell the world. Because this message is so important. And it's by the power of his spirit. This is God's doing. This boldness that we're talking about here tonight.

[35:34] So. Will we take the small steps? Just take the first step. The first step. The second step. The small steps. That God can help you to be a bold witness.

[35:47] And that doesn't mean necessarily you're going to be open air preaching down at the street corner tomorrow morning. But it could be that you're going to have a gentle witness. Maybe passing out a leaflet here or there.

[35:59] When you're shopping. Or just dropping a leaflet in a letter box. Or to a friend. It's sharing the testimony that you have. In whatever way that you can.

[36:10] In just those gentle simple ways. And it can be in practical ways. That your life can be a testimony to others. That God is working in your life and they can see it. And that boldness of your faith.

[36:22] That you've got a faith that holds you. A faith that saves. And that's a bold faith. And think of the bold consistency. That day by day you can be like Daniel.

[36:34] He just kept praying. Didn't matter what the government said. That's illegal. He just kept quietly consistently praying. And that's the consistency. Boldness can be a consistency.

[36:45] And God can help you have that consistency. And if you fall and fail. You'll get up eight times. And you'll stand. You'll keep standing. Amen. So fear not. Be bold.

[36:56] Know that power of faith unleashed in your life. That fearless faith. It's believing God. Believing his promises. Believing what he says. You might say, I'm unable.

[37:06] But then you can come to that place of faith. I am able. Because he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You might say, I can't. But God says, no.

[37:18] I can. I can do all things. I can have that boldness of faith. That boldness of witness. That boldness of consistency. And God will help you to follow Christ. In whom we have boldness.

[37:29] We have access with confidence by the faith of him. I pray tonight that you would know him. That's the most fundamental question. Do you know him as your saviour? Then you can know.

[37:40] And it's not a presumptuous thing. It's actually because God says it and I believe it, that settles it. Not saying, well, I'm a Christian.

[37:51] I'm as good as anyone else as far as reckoning myself in terms of grading myself. No, it's not about you or your works. But it's about his works. It's about his grace.

[38:03] It's faith in him. And in him we have access. Because he's received us as his very own. And we can have that faith that saves.

[38:14] Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that your grace is sufficient. And the most weak, we can say that we are strong. When you come and live in our hearts by faith, we know that your Holy Spirit comes and gives us a strength that's far beyond any of our own strength.

[38:33] Lord, and as we might come to faith and grow in that faith, you'll help us to make those changes, to take those small steps that our faith can grow. So we'll take those small steps to be a volunteer as David volunteered, to fight that great cause, to fight even the giant.

[38:53] That faith that he had was such that he didn't see how big that giant was. He just saw that you were his strength. Lord, and it's the same for every one of us. As ordinary people, as the unlearned and ignorant men of Acts, Lord, that Peter and John, people saw that there was nothing about them, but it was all about you, that they had been with you.

[39:17] Lord, help us likewise to have that love for you, that passion for you, that love, that faith, that confidence that you give. Lord, we pray each one might know that today and that we might grow in that by your Holy Spirit's power.

[39:33]  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.