Holy Boldness

God ministered by Jesus and His disciples expose the false and validate the authentic. Jesus knew that the message His disciples carried would create a conflict. The mission of the Kingdom of God was (and is) by its very nature disruptive. The kingdom exposes the false and establishes the real. It was designed to be disruptive and challenging. Jesus sent His disciples into a highly contested region. He did not tell his disciples to avoid conflict. He simply told them to be aware of it, to be careful, and to be prepared for the consequences. Men can be treacherous and ruthless. But the fear of the Lord sustains the believer’s integrity amid pressure and threats. The peace of God in the midst of challenges is a sign of the ultimate victory of God in the heart of every follower of Jesus. Fear God, not man! “ So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt 10:26-28) Jesus told His disciples to have no fear of men but to deliver the message that He had given them. Jesus was the light and He equipped His disciples with a message of light for the very purpose of exposing things in darkness. When Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out and bring the message of the gospel it stands to reason that the fear of the Lord would be critical to the message itself. No one wants to be exposed. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it. But the very nature of His message is Light! And light by its very nature exposes darkness. Because of the hostility they would face, for no one wants to be exposed, they had to walk in the fear of the Lord in order to deliver the word accurately. If the fear of man infiltrates the messenger, then his message will change. If the messenger pulls back and does not follow through with what he or she has been given, then the message will be compromised. This is mission-critical! For anyone to faithfully carry the message of the Kingdom, the fear of the Lord must be an essential apparatus to insure an accurate message. The fear of the Lord protects the message, clarifies the message, purifies the message, and assures that it gets delivered in its original condition.

The Fear of Man waters down the message

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