Called To Boldness - Acts 4:26

 

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed.” - Acts 4:26

There’s probably not a better description of how the unbelievers and authorities in our present day treat Christians and our world view. They rage at us and are constantly plotting more ways to shut down our worship and the spreading of the Gospel. They take every opportunity to stop any public discourse about God, His laws, and His righteous judgment. In these difficult times of the ever-encroaching constraints on the free practice of our faith, we must remember that despite their best efforts God has it all under control. “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” - Proverbs 16:9.
The ‘statists’ have mistakenly determined that the proper separation between church and state means the state must deny the very existence of God, rather than simply deny that the state supports one faith over all others. Predictively, much of the population has contorted the doctrine to say that God has no place in the public forum. God is not to be trifled with and denying Him results in catastrophic judgment - “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” - Romans 1:28. The result is the world we live in today. All the horror and sinfulness in our world can be traced back to our foolish denial of God. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” - Psalm 14:1.
What then is the recourse of the Christian in today’s world? Would it not be the same for us as in any other time in our history? Even the Apostles were faced with censure by the legal authorities of their time. “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” - Acts 5:27-29. And so this is what we Christians must ultimately do: preach Christ and preach Him boldly regardless of the opposition! To do so requires much prayer in a world where faith in the one true God is too often aligned with hate speech by those who would deny God and His Commandments. “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness . . .” - Acts 4:29.
We must never allow our fear of the opposition to pare down our witness to the Gospel. To do so would indicate that we fear man more than we do God. Jesus was very explicit on who we owe such fear. “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” - Luke 12:5.
Our true witness has been commanded of us by Christ Himself in no uncertain terms and we must never shirk from our duty to spread the Gospel in boldness as we were commissioned.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”- Matthew 28:19-20. We have the promise of Jesus Himself that He will be with us always.