Overview
Jason Patterson examines “One Accord Conference #8: One Accord and Boldness (From Release to Authority)” through Acts 4, Leviticus 26, Colossians 2, Ephesians 4, showing how christ, boldness, bold shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Transcript
Understanding One Accord Conference #8: One Accord and Boldness (From Release to Authority)
This morning, we’re going to take a look at boldness from release to authority. Please turn to Acts chapter 4. How do we experience release when faced with accusations? When you just want to hide under a rock and cower? When you just want to live a normal life with a great 401k? Have you ever been emotionally tied up or bound? Or held captive such that you were unable to speak or move freely? At times, we may feel intimidated when we look at our present circumstances through the lens of the past. Those hurts.
Or maybe it was those negatives that others have spoken about us. Or maybe even when we were faced with our own insecurities. In Acts 4, Peter and John were, let’s just say, minding God’s business.
When the religious leaders had them arrested, they were preaching the resurrection of Christ. And there was this guy who had been unable to walk for 40 years and then was healed. Following the healing of the lame man, the apostles responded with bold speech.
Think about it. This man had never walked his entire life and now was no longer physically bound or captive but completely released. Peter and John were arrested.
They were put in prison overnight. And then the next day, they were put on trial in front of the same cohort that killed Jesus. They asked them, by what authority are you doing these miracles? And Peter, without skipping a beat, in verse 10, says, Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him that this man stands here before you whole.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. They marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. This word boldness, it means freedom of speech or openness.
It was the absence of fear. It’s a free and fearless confidence. The root of this word comes from two words.
The first meaning, the whole, everything. And the second, to pour forth. Being bold is to pour forth everything without restraint.
It’s an unhindered, unrestrained pouring forth, totaling completely unbound, not captive by fear. Here Peter and John have responded openly and were convinced of the risen Christ. They were in Acts chapter 4 verse 2 preaching his resurrection.
Whereas just days prior, the resurrected Christ himself appeared in their midst when they were behind closed doors for fear of the Judeans. They were held captive. They were unable to move freely.
The Biblical Foundation
They were bound by their fear. Please turn to Leviticus chapter 26. You see, a transition in the heart of Peter and John took place where they were previously mentally captive but were now set free.
The door to their heart was no longer shut but open. They became unhindered, unrestrained and poured forth the whole thing in the face of those that had just crucified their Lord. You know, it says that the religious leaders marveled.
They were surprised. With their credentials, it was clear that you couldn’t train to be bold like that. It was of God.
That’s why they perceive Peter and John as having been with Jesus. Let’s look at Leviticus 26 and we’ll see the first occurrence of this word for boldness in the Old Testament. This is God speaking to the children of Israel regarding the covenant that he is going to make with them.
And in verse 12 it says, And I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people. Never forget that God walks among us. God is at work in living and moving now.
Verse 13, I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondmen. And I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you go upright or led you forth openly. That word upright is that same word as it boldness in Acts chapter 4. You see, for 400 years the children of Israel were enslaved and held captive by the Egyptians.
And yet God reminds them that he has broken the bands of their yoke and led them forth openly. Upright. You see, this yoke was a way to harness oxen.
It consisted of a wood beam that was shaped to go over the oxen’s neck. It was then held on to the oxen with the use of leather straps. This yoke was so heavy that it pressed down on the animal, such that they weren’t even able to lift up their neck.
God here is using the literal yoke as a figure that communicated the bondage and servitude that they experienced in Egypt. The yoke, their bondage, was such a burden that it was like the Egyptians had pressed down on the Israelites so much that they could no longer stand upright physically. It communicated oppression and inability to move freely.
This paints a clear illustration of the children of Israel stooping beneath the yoke while in bondage and then walking upright completely released without any burdens. God is reminding the children of Israel that the Egyptians no longer have authority over you. The mechanism of your despair, which brought you mental and physical torture, has been broken.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
You no longer need to be burdened with fear and intimidation. You may go upright, unhindered. It probably would have been very easy for the children of Israel to continue to act as though they were still in bondage and yet completely released.
Actually, they did this for 40 years in the wilderness. You see, we can often look at the present circumstances through the lens of the past and find disappointment and discouragement rather than realizing what God has already done in the present. That’s why in Leviticus, God is reminding the people that He has broken the bands of their yoke and led them forth openly, freely.
To be bold, we must realize that God has broken the bands of our yoke. Have you ever had a fly in your car where it was completely trapped and you roll down all the windows and yet it continues to stick around and then you open the sunroof. But it still thinks it’s captive.
You literally gave it every opportunity to escape, but yet it appears to still be bound. Like the children of Israel, for some of us, we can be like this fly trapped in a convertible with the roof down, mind you. We can be completely released and yet continue to live as though we are still trapped or held captive.
Please turn to Colossians chapter 2. Being bold starts by recognizing God’s movement in your life through the work of Christ, being disconnected from the burdens of the past. We see our release from captivity played out with Christ as the final sacrifice, breaking the bonds of sin that we were tied to. Ephesians 4.8 explains how He led captivity captive.
This record in Colossians 2 is the only reference to the boldness of Christ Himself as the risen Lord. And let me tell you, this is where we take our cues for our boldness. This is how Peter and John were able to respond with boldness in the face of the religious leaders.
They were convinced of the authority that they had in the risen Christ. The tomb was no longer empty or it was no longer closed, but it was open. It was empty.
It was in His resurrection that Christ exposed the powers of this world in public triumph. This is our present reality. This is where we live.
This is our house. Not the house of bondage, not the house of closed doors, but open, where we experience not only complete release, but complete authority. Colossians 2.13 states that God made us alive together with Christ.
It’s in the risen Christ that we are inextricably tied to this release and authority. In the ESV in verse 14, it says that He did this by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside.
Faith in Action
He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in it. The faith of Jesus Christ broke all the chains of the spirit kingdom.
Christ triumphed over them and put them to shame openly, boldly. Let’s turn back to Acts 4. You see, boldness is what resulted from the believers in Acts being with one heart and one mind on the risen Christ. Burdens and fears were broken.
Not only the fears of the past, but the fears that they were currently experiencing in that moment. You see, our burdens and fears can be broken in the moment that we experience them because we are no longer captive. You see, when we are bound, it’s difficult to recognize God’s prompting in your life.
And it may at times take God’s prompting through the life of somebody else specifically to you to recognize that movement. Several years ago, I was studying for my licensing exams to become a registered architect. And this was a very stressful grueling process in which I would study outside of regular work hours on nights and weekends.
And this went on for a year and several months, as there were at the time seven exams. And it got to a point that during this process, I became worn down, where I had become fearful. It seemed as if the end was out of sight.
At this point, a bold grandmother, many of you knew her as Muncie, but her name was Christabel, Marilyn’s mom. She pulled me aside after a fellowship, and she said these words that I’ll never forget. She said, I am storming heaven for you.
When these bold words were spoken with a squeeze and a tug on my arm, I realized how encased in fear I had become. My perspective had shifted from being seated in the heavenlies to that of the fears of the current day in my present circumstance. Like a fly trapped in a convertible with a roof down, I was bound by fear.
I was captive. The fear of the day had become my focus to the point that I was bound. But after that brief encounter and bold words, I was back.
Here in Acts 4, Peter and John have been released by the religious leaders and headed back to the believers. And they recounted all that had happened. And in verse 24, we see this powerful unified prayer.
And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. That word lifted, it means to carry away. It’s the same word as in Colossians 2.14, where it says that he canceled the record of death that stood against us.
He took it out of the way. He set it aside, nailing it to the cross. This word is also used of Christ bearing away the sins of the world.
Walking in Love and Confidence
You see, their burden was lifted with one mouth and with one heart. They weren’t captive. In prayer, we have release from current fears and intimidation.
Look at verse 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. Being bold is a refusal to yield on what God accomplished in Christ.
In the face of accusation, their boldness stemmed from Christ’s unaltered faith. How are we set free when faced with fear and intimidation? When faced with intimidation, free yourself from the past and live in the moment. One of the ways our enemy endeavors to limit movement in the present is to captivate with the past.
The greatest intimidation trick is for you to think that you are captive based on your past circumstances when in reality you are completely set free. Let’s be honest. A fly in a convertible with a roof down.
It won’t be able to stick around. But whether we want to be or not, that fly is completely released. It’s set free.
To be bold, we must free ourselves from our yesterday, from our last month, from our last year, from our past decade. You are not the mistakes or wrongdoing of your past. Even if you made a mistake in the past and you were wrong, being bold in who you are in Christ is realizing that you are not to suffer the consequences.
You have been saved by grace. You have been released. Your bonds have been broken.
Too often we allow the chains and the bondage of the past to limit our free movement in the present. The systems of this world are designed to convince you that they are in every way greater and stronger than you. That you are insignificant.
The systems of this world are designed to magnify your insecurities. But Christ has already made a show of them openly, plainly. Who’s captive now? Since Christ conquered it, we can stand when the attacks come.
We stand in His faith. And that’s why we can be unrelenting, steadfast, and firm in who we are in Christ. When faced with intimidation, free yourself from the negatives that others have spoken about you.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
Free yourself from the judgments of this world. Have you ever become so immobilized by your critics? Often intimidation will come from words that people speak to try to do one of two things. To make you feel inferior or insecure.
Maybe it was just one person or maybe it was a whole group of people. Maybe even somebody that had authority. The adversary will use words of others to intimidate us into thinking that we are incapable.
Perhaps intimidation came as a result of your last accomplishment. Or lack thereof. In our society and culture, so much of our worth is based on our last accomplishment.
If we begin to derive our confidence based on these, it’ll last for a little while, but it will eventually fail. You see, our boldness in who we are does not rest on our last accomplishment. But it rests solely on the work of Christ.
The faith of Christ exhibited that He exhibited it far surpassed anything that this world had ever seen. And you have within you something far greater than He that is in this world. True boldness is really acting on behalf of God despite others’ judgments in the face of accusation.
When faced with intimidation, remind yourself that you are as Christ is while you’re here on this earth. First John 4 17 says, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. That’s today when man does the judging, because as he is, so are we in this world.
The key is realizing that no shortcoming you have is to be magnified above Christ’s faith. His faith conquered it all. In this moment or any future moment, we need not be held captive by the intimidation of the day.
I say that because as Christ is currently in heaven, so are we on this earth. You are free to walk with authority. You may say, but I’m not naturally a very bold person, Jason.
I tend to be a little bit more quiet, a little bit more reserved, a little bit more laid back. But from a biblical sense, boldness is not a personality trait, but it’s a spiritual quality that results from an internal conviction in the heart. Our confidence derived from Christ is called boldness.
That’s why you don’t have to be allowed to be bold. You see, I used to think that since I was not a loud person, that I was not bold, so that I had to put on my boldness face. I had to work at it.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
I had to turn it on when I needed it, like it was a front, but not really who I was. Anyone else felt this way? I felt this way because boldness did not necessarily reflect my personality. At times, I can be a bit reserved.
Let’s just say I dance in my head and not in my body, because God knows that’s not what I was called to do. I have since realized that boldness is not the equivalent of being loud, but results from an internal conviction based on the work of Christ. You know, boldness looks different on different people.
Boldness may be outwardly loud for one, but it might not be as forthcoming for another. But for both, it’s based on an internal recognition of Christ’s work in the heart. For me, boldness is drawing a line in the sand where I will not allow the enemy to cross.
Often, when I am prompted to be bold, I am prompted to be bold when I see a fellow believer who is being attacked, and they think less of themselves. And boy, does that strike a nerve in me. I once received a phone call from a woman who is going for a yearly review at her job, and based on physical limitations, she was concerned that she wouldn’t receive the necessary raise that she desperately needed.
After listening to her voice her concerns, the Incredible Hulk inside of me came swinging back. It was really the Christ inside of me that stood up because my heart was so stirred for this woman. In a few brief, bold statements, I reminded her of who she was in Christ.
Let me tell you, the raise that she got was not a result of me, but God who is at work, I was just bold to speak. To close, let’s look at Acts 4 and in verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spake the word of God with boldness.
This one accord in Acts 4, it prompted a release from the present fear and intimidation that these believers were experiencing. They were able to respond with boldness in the face of accusation because they were free. They were not held back, but they were completely unrestrained, where their speech was completely unhindered.
You see, they were able to pour it all forth, the whole thing, in the face of those religious leaders. They were convinced of the authority that they had in the risen Christ and walked in His faith. You have been set free.
You have been released. The bands of your yoke have been broken. Now is your time to walk with authority.
We have been given complete release and authority. As we live unbound, we will recognize God’s movement and follow His prompting to be bold. God bless you.
Key Takeaways
- In the face of accusation, their boldness stemmed from Christ’s unaltered faith.
- The greatest intimidation trick is for you to think that you are captive based on your past circumstances when in reality you are completely set free.
- To be bold, we must free ourselves from our yesterday, from our last month, from our last year, from our past decade.
- Being bold starts by recognizing God’s movement in your life through the work of Christ, being disconnected from the burdens of the past.
- This record in Colossians 2 is the only reference to the boldness of Christ Himself as the risen Lord.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “One Accord Conference #8: One Accord and Boldness (From Release to Authority)”?
Jason Patterson examines “One Accord Conference #8: One Accord and Boldness (From Release to Authority)” through Acts 4, Leviticus 26, Colossians 2, Ephesians 4, showing how christ, boldness, bold shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Acts 4, Leviticus 26, Colossians 2, Ephesians 4, John 4.
How can believers apply this teaching?
To be bold, we must free ourselves from our yesterday, from our last month, from our last year, from our past decade.
Scripture References
Acts 4; Leviticus 26; Colossians 2; Ephesians 4; John 4
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
