Courage to Speak the Word of God
By Jay Wegter
“I shall wash my hands in innocence, and I will go about Your altar, O LORD, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders” (Ps 26:6-7).
“But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall
tell
of Your righteousness and of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them. I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention
of Your righteousness, Yours alone. O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come” (Ps 71:14-18).
“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works” (Ps 73:28).
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh 1:8).
INTRODUCTION: It’s Impossible to be a genuine believer and at the same time have a casual relationship to God’s truth (Joshua 1:8). (EX. Like weapons-grade plutonium in your garage as a “hobby.”) The divine mandate to speak God’s truth to one another is undeniably clear. In passages such as Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78, it was evident that the role of the believing man is that of a perpetual “truth speaker” (not just truth seeker). In strong churches, the God-given mandate of speaking God’s truth will not be ignored or relegated to the job of the pastor (church leaders). The obedient believer understands that the spiritual state of those in his sphere depends upon his willingness to speak God’s truth. We must come to the point where we can tell ourselves, “I am not loving these people around me properly unless I am willing to speak God’s truth to them!” (EX. Eddie Ochoa.)
When we examine the example of the O.T. Prophets and the example of Jesus and the Apostles, it is obvious that their truth speaking was pointed—it was not general, but filled with penetrating application for their listeners. (EX. Note the well-aimed sniper bullet versus buckshot.) It is at this juncture that our courage is most likely to give out, and we yield to the pressure exerted by our comfort
zone.
We fear being the “heavy,” a meddler, or regarded as judgmental, or “holier than thou.” What enabled believers like Elihu, Elijah, Daniel, and Phinehas to fearlessly speak the truth when
they were a minority of one? The answer lies in their zeal for God’s honor and glory. They knew that all of history is but a record of the honoring and dishonoring of God, and that only those who honor God will ultimately stand (1 Sam 2:30). They also knew the power of God’s Word: “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jer 23:29).
They also knew that the proclamation of God’s truth often involves a crossroads or turning point for the listener. When the Word is spoken into your life, the Lord calls for ongoing repentance through which our affections and will are repeatedly conformed to God’s truth. The progress and spiritual well-being of ourselves and our listeners are bound up in ongoing repentance. The better we understand this, the more willing we will be to speak God’s truth without fear (be winsome).
The Apostle Paul saw his role as a proclaimer of the Word of God to be a sacred trust that carried massive accountability. What is striking about Paul’s testimony in Acts 20 is that his faithfulness was joined to the fact that he was never mute when God required him to speak the Word. “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:26-27).
Timothy was to see his task of proclaiming the Word as nothing as the very means of ensuring the salvation of his listeners. “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Tim 4:16).
Paul repeatedly warned Timothy against the error of allowing timidity and neglect to interfere with his sacred charge of teaching, preaching, and exhorting. “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Tim 1:7).
APPLICATION: We have been entrusted by God with His almighty, living, sword of truth. The sword of truth must not be allowed to remain unused like a steel blade stuck in a rusty scabbard. Those in our sphere; family, neighbors, co-workers, friends, are in need of hearing the Word of truth from us (normally be edifying more than preaching). As with Timothy’s congregation, God has strategically placed us in a position to speak the truth to those around us. The means God intends to use in their salvation and sanctification is tied to our faithfulness in speaking the Word with courage.
When considering how God had entrusted him with the Gospel, Paul saw himself as a debtor to both Jews and Greeks (Rom 1:14). This same principle of obligation applies to us. The Lord has called us to skillfully, prayerfully, and courageously use the “sword” of truth issued to us in order to encourage, build up, reprove, exhort, instruct, equip and admonish. It will take courage to swing the sword in each of these arcs and orbs of application, but God expects nothing less from us as His disciples.
I want to give you 5 biblical ways to increase your courage to speak the Word of God:
I. Courage to speak the Word of God comes from abiding in Christ (Jn 15:4-5).
The more our hope and expectations are centered in Christ, the more Christ’s cause will become our cause—build with Him. And the more we will be delivered from the fear of man (and worship of the creature). The approval offered by the people around us can be incredibly fickle. Christ alone loves us with immutable/unchanging love. Fellow sinners do not carry our worth, security, and dignity. When we mistakenly assume they do, our courage dries up. Christ alone is our “Source Person.” He alone deserves to be regarded as the unfailing channel of every resource we need. By union with Him, we have a status before God of favor, righteousness, security, and sonship (1 Cor 1:30).
When we abide in Christ, there is power and nerve. And we will make it our ambition to please Christ first (2 Cor 5:9). The ambition to please our Lord is filled with the eschatological hope of favorably greeting Him at His imminent return (1 Jn 2:28). Courage is a byproduct of living to please Christ. When Christ’s approval towers over all other sources of approval, COURAGE becomes second nature. Those who live to please Christ have the judgment seat of Christ etched on their consciousness (2 Cor 5:9-10). In essence, living to please Christ is a measure of our reverential fear of God.
Those who live for Christ’s approval are continually weighing the glory to come against temporal losses (2 Cor 4:17-18). As a consequence, their value system is constantly adjusted to heaven’s standard. This involves communing with the Lord in prayer as a source of boldness: “. . . and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6:19-20). Spurgeon hit the bull’s eye when he said, “Compared to what my heavenly Father thinks of me, the opinions of men are like so many chirping sparrows.”
APPLICATION: The one we strive most to please will necessarily be our primary evaluator. In other words, the one we seek to please will always wind up evaluating our efforts at pleasing them. In effect, we are somewhat suspended upon their approval or disapproval of us. It must be Christ, for He carries our value, not mortal sinful men.
“The fear of man brings a snare” (Prov 29:25). The fear of God and the fear of man have always been, not only incompatible, but inversely proportional to one another. The greater fear of God a man has, the less he will fear men. When by God’s grace a man answers the call of true discipleship, his fear of man will be overtaken and ultimately consumed by the fear of God.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus faced “wanna be” followers who remained in bondage to the fear of man. John 12:42-43 provides an authoritative record of these double minded individuals. “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”
Some might be quick to excuse the desire for human approval as simply a natural tendency that is not a serious sin. Jesus places this illicit craving under the spotlight in John 5:44. In this passage He warns that the fear of man is so serious, it can keep a person from living to the glory of God. “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”
APPLICATION: If we are going to demonstrate courage as TRUTH SPEAKERS, must repent of our “addiction” to the approval of men—admit to God that we have placed the praise of men above the approval of our Heavenly Father. We need to confess that our narcissistic desire to be liked by all has often stolen our courage to speak the truth in love. “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Prov 28:1). Which leads to our second point of strength:
II. Courage to speak the Word of God comes from a clear conscience (Acts 24:15-16).
To abide in Christ is to be controlled by the MASSIVE GUILT TRANSFER accomplished by our Lord at the cross. The clear conscience of the person who abides in Christ will show itself in courage (Acts 24:15-16). We cannot make a penetrating application of God’s Word to those around us unless we ourselves welcome examination by God’s Word. Courage in speaking the Word is dependent upon a clear conscience before God and men (Acts 24:15-16).
Even one sin or lust “banging around” in the conscience is enough to dull the edge of our courage. Timothy’s success in proclaiming the Word with courage depended upon his maintaining a clear conscience. “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim 1:5). “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith” (1 Tim 1:18-19). “. . . but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Tim 3:9).
God’s answer to our fear and weakness is found in the mandate to abide in Christ (caring for, and maintaining our relationship with Him). “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7). In order for us to exercise courage, the blood of the Son of God must be the loudest voice in our conscience. In order for God’s justice at the cross to be believed and reckoned so as to silence the Accuser, we must habitually be mortifying sin by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:12-14).
APPLICATION: The same man (Peter) who turned coward when questioned by a servant girl preached the Pentecost sermon less than two months later. The Apostle Peter’s radical move from fear to courage, according to the book of Acts, was the result of two factors. First, he had been with Jesus. “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Remember, Christ had re-commissioned Peter in John 21:15-17—Do you love Me? Tend My lambs. Second, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
‘Rulers and elders of the people. . .’” (Acts 4:8).
III. Courage to speak the Word comes from obeying God’s purpose to be transformed by His Word (the ‘transformation mandate’).
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2). “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (Jn 17:17).
In addition to the personal contact with Scripture (in study, memorization and meditation); there is also a corporate element. God has set forth a clear plan in Scripture that fellowship be spiritual fellowship. This involves edifying one another so as to build with Christ, and not merely social fellowship. The strength of any individual local church depends upon whether or not its members are committed to Christ’s mandate to grow fully formed disciples through spiritual fellowship (Mt 28:18-20).
It is remarkable just how many N. T. commands govern how believers are to speak to one another. Some of the most common verbs are encourage, exhort, comfort, admonish, implore, edify, stimulate, and speak to one another, etc. Not only must God’s truth be communicated from the pulpit, but also within the ‘relational space’ of believers expressing spiritual care and parenting.
Obedience to Christ’s discipleship mandate is only possible if we prayerfully speak the Word of God to one another and train one another. “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Col 3:16-17). “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” (Rom 15:14). (NOTE: Paul links this ability and practice of mutual admonishment to the health of a local church.)
The chief pathway of Scripture shared/communicated verbally is to be from believer to believer. “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God” (Col 2:18-19).
This ‘pathway’ (of the Word from believer to believer) is the biblical pattern for spiritual maturity: “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph 4:14-16).
Our fellowship is designed to build with Christ that we might move each member to maturity. “We
proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man
with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col 1:28-29). Sanctification and progress toward spiritual maturity is a ‘group effort’. By forming partnerships for discipleship; the saints are trained/empowered to wield the Sword of Truth and spiritually influence others with the truths of Scripture. Men must take the lead in this; believing men are called by God to devote themselves to Bible doctrine so that they might grow to be examples in exercising spiritual leadership (Titus 1:9; 2:1, 6-8, 10).
Now how does our commitment to the transformation mandate begin—and how does it become a lifestyle? It will if we love God’s truth in the inner man—which brings us to our fourth point:
IV. Courage to speak God’s truth comes from loving God’s truth in the inner man.
In order to excel at speaking the truth, the believer must be accomplished at using the Word, the Sword of Truth on himself (which is loving the truth in the inner man) (1 Tim 4:15-16).
Believers who are able to wield the Sword of Truth in their relationships are animated by God’s truth in the inner man—they desire what God desires—that is God’s truth in their innermost being (Ps 51:6). The godly person rejects the notion that truth for the believer need not rise above mental assent/agreement and admiration.
In the book of James we read: “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was” (James 1:21-24). Love the Word; Obey the Word: Speak the Word. God’s truth has no power over a person unless the truth is loved and obeyed (The Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards).
Where God’s truth is loved, it will be central in our conversations (Zech 8:16; Mal 3:16; Deut 6:4-9; 11:18-19). Only when God’s truth is loved can it dominate exceptionally in our lives so as to renew us and transform us (Rom 12:1-2). The man or woman of God ultimately can only preach/proclaim with conviction what he or she has first preached to his own heart. He can only call for repentance only where the truth has produced repentance in his own life.
Loving God’s truth in the inner man equips us to speak His truth (Ps 145). “One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and merciful;
slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, and Your godly ones shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom” (Ps 145:4-12).
“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him” (Mal 3:16-18).
We could summarize this point by saying: “What must be uttered from the mountain tops must begin in the heart.” We could refer to this as the principle of the enlarged sphere. There is a logical progression in the enlargement of a Christian’s sphere of spiritual influence. Each step of progression is stipulated on faithfulness in the previous step: 1.) First: you speak the truth in your own heart—that is you love the truth in the inner man. You apply the truth to yourself in ongoing repentance. 2.) You speak truth in your home and in your relationships. You speak truth in the Body of Christ in your conversations. 3.) You begin to live a lifestyle of edifying the body of Christ. You are able to encourage, exhort, and admonish your fellow believers (Rom 15:14). 4.) You speak the truth of the gospel with boldness to a lost and dying generation.
Power in evangelism must be built upon the principle of the enlarged sphere. For each step not only prepares a believer for the next step, but reveals your own relationship to the truth. Out of these spiritual disciplines (our first four points) comes ACTION. Obedience doesn’t develop in a vacuum, each act of faithfulness leads to the next. “. . . the people who know their God will display strength and
take action” (Dan 11:32).
V. Courage to speak the Word of God comes from our initial acts of obedience.
First we must know and believe that the cross produces this zeal for good works in every true believer (Titus 2:14). In the parable of the soils, genuine faith is tied to the Word of God which dominates exceptionally so that it brings fruit to harvest (Mt 13:23). You do need to examine yourself (2 Cor 13:5). If you are apathetic about serving God, if you are unconcerned about fruit-bearing, and if you are listless about abiding in Christ, then that does not bode well that you have the right kind of faith (Jn 15:6; 1 Jn 2:28). Saving faith is a zealous for good works kind of faith.
Let’s review for a moment. Your determination to obey the Lord and be a truth speaker may be expressed in three stages of growth in obedience. The FIRST STEP addresses your relationship to God through Scripture. In this, the foundational stage, there is an attitude of heart which ought to characterize every Christian: “I cannot live without the Bible. I have to know what it means. I have committed myself to study it and understand it because I can’t live without it—my life is utterly dependent upon it.” That’s called building upon the Rock (Mt 7:24ff.). “My relationship to the Word is my lifeline in my walk with God. The Word feeds my faith and worship; the Word gets me to God in communion and fellowship.”
And then there is STEP TWO: “I have to apply the Bible to my life and allow it to define and order every area of my life, prioritizing my world, and controlling my affections and decisions. I will walk by the Spirit so as to make it my ambition to be pleasing to the Lord (2 Cor 5:9). I will see myself as living in the presence of God, presenting myself back to Him daily because He bought me and I am not my own, He has taken possession of me” (Rom 6:11-13; 1 Cor 6:19-20).
So, a life characterized by conformity to the truth sets us on a path or direction, which Jesus called the NARROW WAY (Mt 7:13-14). The ability to enter STEP THREE in our obedience depends upon the prerequisites of living obediently in steps one and two. Step three means that you wield the Sword of Truth on others by way of encouragement, edification, exhortation, and admonishment (2 Tim 3:16-17). This is only possible because you have become experienced at wielding the Sword of Truth on yourself (you are masterful at biblical self-confrontation).
So many Christians are unfruitful because they are biblically mute—their swords are permanently corroded and held fast in their sheathes by years of rust and disuse. They’ve just been neutralized, they’re not spiritual influencers; they are paralyzed spiritually (side-lined themselves), and they have forgotten that to follow Christ is to wage war with the Word of Truth. That’s what a Christ follower does. A true disciple is constantly battling and waging war by means of the Word of Truth.
What is the solution? We can begin by obeying in small doable steps: consider questions you may ask fellow believers. What has the Lord been showing you from Scripture? Where have you found the hottest part of the spiritual battle field in your life? Is there a ministry idea you want to pursue? Who are you discipling? How may I pray for you? May I share with you how God has been encouraging me from His Word?
Start with encouragement. Everyone needs encouragement; discouragement is one of the enemy’s greatest weapon to neutralize the people of God. Determine that you will obey God and be a blessing to others in the Body. Determine to move your conversations from mundane and casual to meaningful by prayerfully speaking God’s Word and truth into the lives of others.
Think ahead of time about what you may share (“premeditate”). “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word
as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment,
so that it will give grace to those who hear
” (Eph 4:29). “. . . and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24).
Our faith is both strengthened and challenged when we see the faith of others expressed by means of the truths of Scripture. Bonhoeffer notes that when we hear others speaking the truths of Scripture to us, it strengthens our faith. “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you
while among you, each of us
by the other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Rom 1:11-12).
In the final analysis, God is the source of our courage. We are to allow our hearts to take courage. “Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD” (Ps 27:14). The ability to act in courage is a function of waiting on the Lord. Faith’s object is the goodness of the Lord and the confident expectation that He will preserve the faithful, and empower them to bear witness to the truth (Jn 15:26-27).
Those around us need our courage in speaking the Word of God. It was a penitent King David who prayed, “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee” (Ps 51:11, 12). The next generation is depending upon our courage. They are waiting for our faithfulness. They will not put their confidence in God unless they see the faith of their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters—hearing from them the joy of God, the works of God, and commands of God (Ps 78:3-8).
“The one indispensable requirement for producing godly, mature Christians is godly, mature Christians.” ― Kevin DeYoung