Bullets From The Bible 2-4-18
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It is told that a preacher once had the opportunity to preach before King Henry VII. Henry was not very happy with the sermon that the preacher preached, so the king commanded the preacher to preach again the next Sunday and to apologize for his sermon. The next Sunday the preacher began his sermon by saying, “Do you know before whom thou are this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king’s most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life, if thou offendest. Therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then consider well, dost thou not know from whence thou comest— upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty God, who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell!” It is said that the preacher then preached the same sermon he had the week before, but that he preached it with even more vigor.
Boldness is an attribute that all Christians should have. We must remember that it does not matter who we are speaking to, the truth is the truth. Regardless of what authority some man might have, God has a higher and ultimate authority. Paul was in prison for preaching the truth and his prayer was that he might have boldness to continue teaching the truth. Philippians 1:19-20 says, “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” Paul knew that he was possibly facing death. Paul had seen many other Christians face death for preaching the Gospel...yet Paul still knew who had ultimate authority.
Speaking the truth is usually simple yet we tend to complicate it because we are afraid of what others might feel or say. Often we want to water down truth because we don’t want to offend someone or hurt their feelings. Other times we might shy away from truth because we are afraid of what might happen to us if we speak the truth. Yet truth is truth and does not change. Refusing to speak the truth might spare me trouble in this immediate life...but it will no doubt leave me defenses before the almighty creator.
Have you ever considered that speaking the truth in the here and now gives us boldness when we stand before God in eternity? When we have been willing to stand strongly for truth throughout our lives it gives is boldness to stand before the almighty creator knowing that we have done that which is right. 1 John 4:17 says, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
We must remember that God has ultimate authority and we answer to Him. We must realize that truth is the truth and we cannot back way from that truth. We must realize that many times people are not going to want to hear truth, however it is that same truth that is the only thing that can save them. If we shy away from truth...then we will be judged for that. If we boldly teach truth and are persecuted for it, then they will be judged accordingly. Let us boldly stand for truth because we know our creator and judge.
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Bravo sir.
