Alright, turn with me if you
would to Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6. The Apostle Paul, in exhorting
all believers, to put on the whole armor of God, which is Christ. It is His truth. It is His righteousness. It's
His gospel. It's His faith. It's His salvation. It's His Word. He said that you
may be able to stand against the wiles of the adversary put
on the whole armor of God. And the last piece of armor that
he mentioned is prayer. He said, cry out to God for help. Cry out to God for help. And
that's what I want to encourage every person here to do. Cry
out to God for help. Lord, help me. Please help me.
He said in verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, fervently
beg God, fervently beg God for your own soul's sake, Lord, help
me, help me. I need Christ. Lord, draw me
near to Him. I need to hear His voice. I need
to hear His voice today. I need to hear His voice through
His Word. I need to hear this Word. Prone
to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Please keep me. Please keep me. He said, pray this for yourself.
And he said at the end of verse 18, supplication for all saints. Pray this for your brethren.
I want to ask each one of you to pray for this assembly. Pray
for your brethren. Lord, keep us. Keep me. And keep us. Don't let us go,
please don't let us go. We sing a song and one of the
verses in that song says, keep us, Lord. Oh, keep us cleaving. To that self and still believing. Till the hour of our receiving
promised joys with the. Pray for yourself. Pray for your
brethren and verse 19 he said, pray for me. Pray for me. Pray for the man who is going
to preach the word to you. Pray for that man. It pleased
the Lord to write a book. Aren't we so glad it pleased
the Lord to write a book. This is the written word of God. Not one word in this book is
under any inspiration of man. It is all the inspired word of
God. And it has pleased our Lord to
call preachers to preach His Word." Declare the Word. It has pleased Him to use the
preaching of this Word to call out the sinners that He's chosen
to save. So the Apostle Paul said on behalf
of himself and he said it on behalf of every man that has
been called to preach. He said in verse 19, pray for
me. And for me, that utterance may
be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador
in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. May utterance be given to boldly
make known the mystery of the gospel. Now I've titled this
message, what is bold preaching? That's what I'd like for us to
consider just for a minute. What is bold preaching? We need bold preaching. We desperately need. Bold preaching. Paul said, pray for me that I
might preach boldly. And I need for you to do the
same thing for me. I need for you to pray for me that I might
preach boldly. There is only one way to preach
God's word. Boldly. There's only one way. So what does that mean? How do
we do that? What is bold preaching? Well, verse 19 tells us that
it's not something that comes natural to a man. It must be
given. If a man is going to preach boldly,
it has to be given. That ability only comes through
a gift. Verse 19 says, and for me, that
utterance may be given unto me. that I may open my mouth boldly. If it is not given by God, if
it does not come from man, then it has to come from God. And
if it's not given by God, then a man cannot preach with boldness. It has to be given. Verse 20
tells us that the man who does preach boldly will not be well
received by those who God has not given a heart and a love
for bold preaching. Paul said, they put me in prison
for preaching this way. Verse 20, but that you also for
which I am an ambassador in bonds, he said, I'm in prison for preaching this way. Our Lord very clearly said that
the preacher who preaches His Word with boldness is going to
suffer persecution, and he's going to suffer rejection for
it. He is not going to be loved by the masses. But even so, every
man that has been called to do it knows. Every man will know
that that's how he ought to speak. Verse 20 says, For which I am
an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as
I ought to speak. Come what may, there's only one
way to preach God's Word. Boldly. That's how I ought to
speak. That's how I must speak. Now
what is bold preaching? Verse 19. And for me, that utterance
may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel." When you hear the word bold or
boldly, the first thing that may pop into your mind He is
a preacher who is gritting his teeth and he's got a big vein
popping out in his neck and he's clenching his fist and just pounding
on the pulpit. That is not the definition of
boldness. Not at all. Now there is a fervency
that goes along with bold preaching. There is an urgency. This is
urgent to all who who love and know Christ, all that God has
called. This is an urgent message. There's
no time, you know, prone to wander. There's there's no time to wander. I don't have time for my mind
to wander. Come back to me, please. It's
urgent. It's fervent. It's serious. But boldly does not mean arrogantly,
this bold preaching. And it does not mean offensively. Now, when the Word is clearly
preached, there will be an offense. There is always an offense. When the Word of God is plainly
told, there's always an offense, but if a man or a woman is going
to be offended, then may they be offended by what God has said
in His Word and not by my delivery of what God has said in His Word. If I make myself to be the offense,
then I'm just a hindrance. That's all I am, is a hindrance
to the message of God's Word. What is bold preaching? What
truly is bold preaching? Verse 19. And for me that utterance
may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make
known the mystery of the gospel. The definition of the word boldly
in our Bible dictionary is freedom in speaking. Unreservedness in
speech. Openly, frankly, without concealment. And this one's my favorite. It
means cheerful courage. That word cheerful puts a smile
on my face. Cheerful courage. Brethren, I'm
being serious. Pray for me. That utterance may be given unto
me. that I may open my mouth with cheerful courage to make
known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador
in bonds, that therein I may speak freely, with no reservation,
openly, frankly, concealing nothing, not concealing one word from
you. Not one word, not one word of
God's truth and pray that I might do it cheerfully. As I ought
to speak, pray that for me. Pray that for me. All right,
now let's see if the Lord will give us some boldness. Salvation. Is not in man's hands
at all. Not at all. Salvation is not
in man's hands at all. All flesh is grass. Cut grass. The grass withers,
right? And what is it good for? Cut
it. Cut it down. And that's all that flesh is,
is just withered cut grass. It's worth nothing but to be
cast into the oven, cast it out into the street, trample on it
if you want to, that's all it's worth. Men and women have no
role in their own salvation. No role at all. It is not our
decision. We do not and we cannot decide
to be saved. A lot of men will stand up in
pulpits and say, now, don't you want to be saved? Oh, yeah, I
want to be saved. Well, then why don't you go ahead and make
your decision and then you can't. We do not decide to be saved. Never has one sinner ever been
offered salvation, never. Salvation is life. That's what salvation is. Salvation
is life. Men and women say this all the
time. You'll hear people say this. I'm born again. People say that
all the time. Oh yeah, I'm born again. What
that's supposed to mean is I was dead in my trespasses and sins
and now I have life again. Never has anyone ever been offered
life. Not one time. Not one time. Either we have it or we don't. Never. Not one time has a baby
ever accepted life from its parents. Not one time. Not one time has a baby ever
decided to live. Not one time. We had no role. There was no
role in our physical birth. We have no role in our spiritual
birth. Every soul who receives salvation
to life, every soul who receives salvation to life, this word
says, is born of God. Born of God. Now this is called
the mystery of the gospel because these things are hid, they are
hidden to the natural eye. People who are just natural in
the flesh, I mean smart people, educated people. They are hidden to the natural
eye. Naturally, men and women cannot
see and understand the things of God until he reveals it to
them. Just cannot do it. And he reveals
it through the boldness of preaching, through the freeness, the unreservedness
of preaching. The mystery of his gospel has
been revealed in his word throughout the ages. It is a revealed mystery. But until God gives life. The salvation of life. Without
life, men and women cannot see the mystery of the gospel. Envision
someone who has no life. They're laying, that person is
laying there with no life. Without life, you cannot see
the mystery of the gospel. Without life, you cannot hear
the mystery of the gospel. You cannot understand the mystery
of the gospel. You cannot believe the mystery
of the gospel. But once life is given, all of
the senses that life brings starts to reveal these things. When
life is there, we see that salvation is not in our hands. When life is there, we understand
that it's not our decision. When life is there, we believe
that every bit of this is according to His will. It's all according to His will.
Turn with me over to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 3, it says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him, before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good
pleasure of His will. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will." Everything concerning the salvation
of all of God's people happened according to His will. It was all according to His will.
Man does not have a free will. Man does not have a free will.
Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, And you hath he quickened who were
dead. How free is a dead man's will? Man can go around saying that
he has a free will all he wants to. Man goes around and says,
I have a free will. But it doesn't change the fact
that man does not have a free will. Everything that took place
in our salvation, was according to His will. I love this verse
of scripture. James 1 verse 18 says, Of His own will begat He
us. It was His will to give us spiritual
life. Now why was that His will? If
we were dead in trespasses and sins, chapter 2 verse 1 says,
And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Why would it be his will to save
us from the grave? Why would it be his will to save
us from deadness? Why would it be his will to give
us the salvation of life? It's because it all boils down
to this. He is merciful. He is a merciful God. It's not
because we earned life. It's because He is merciful.
Behold your God. This is our God. Verse 4, right here in Ephesians
2, it says, God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace you are saved. and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For
all of eternity, the ages to come, This is what he's going
to do for us. He is going to show us the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
That's what he's going to spend eternity doing, just showing
us. Verse eight says, For by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast for we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Do we notice how in giving all
the glory to Christ, there's none left for us? When you give
all the glory to Christ, there is none left, none left for us. And that's where the offense
comes in. Man wants to share the glory with Christ, but there's
none left to share. He earned it all. He paid it
all. He accomplished it all. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. No work has ever been done by
a sinful man that is pleasing to God. I will I will give great thanks
to our Lord if he mercifully reveals that to people in this
town. No work has ever been done by
a sinful man that is pleasing to God. No work. There has not
been one deed done by any sinful man that God has ever accepted.
Not one deed. Titus 3, 5 says, not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost. He washed us in his blood and
sent us his Holy Spirit. Romans 3.20 says, Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. None. Go back about two pages
to Galatians 3. Galatians 3 verse 10, For as
many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For
it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it's evident.
For the just shall live by Christ. The just will live by faith.
And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. What makes this revealed
mystery of the gospel so glorious? is how a just and a holy and
a righteous God who must do what's right, He has to do what's right.
It's how He can condemn and punish sinners in all of their sin.
That's what they're owed and He can give that to them. And
at the exact same moment in time, He can declare them to be spotless
and holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight and
set them free at the same moment in time. And never break His law in the
process. Never break His justice in the
process. How can God do that? Go with me to 1 Timothy chapter
3. We'll close with this. 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3 verse 16, it says,
And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. God came down because His people
could not go up. It says, God was manifest in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit. The Spirit bore witness of Him.
that he lived a spotless, holy, unblameable, unreprovable life
before his father. It says God was manifest in the
flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels. They saw him
when they announced his birth. They saw him as he lived his
perfect life. They saw him when he was tempted
in the wilderness. They saw him in the Garden of
Gethsemane when he took his own life and gave it to his people.
And he took their life and made it his own. They saw him as he
hung on the cross. In the place of his people suffering
all that justice, all of that. Holy punishment. That was owed
to them. The angels saw him when he finished
the work of redeeming his people and gave up his ghost. And they saw him when he victoriously
conquered death and hell in the grave by walking out of his own
tomb. They saw it. They saw it all. Verse 16 says,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles. How? Boldly, openly, freely,
and through that unreservedness that he gives his messengers.
It says in verse 16, he was believed on in the world. And that's the
evidence of life. That's the evidence of salvation.
That a sinner would believe, truly believe that God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up
into glory where he is right now. seated on his throne, all
of his people being securely seated with him. We are right
now securely seated with him right now. Right now. What a
mystery. Is that not a mystery? What good
news? Brethren, would you pray for
me however long I'm here, if the Lord is willing, I'll be
back in about six and a half hours. And between now and then,
and between now and next Wednesday, and every Sunday and Wednesday
that follow, would you pray for me that utterance may be given
to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the gospel, the good news of Christ. that I may speak as
I ought to speak. May the Lord help us all. May
all of us. May he help us to speak of Christ
as we ought to speak. All right, let's all stand together.