The bold – Proverbs 28:1
Over the Christmas period we went to visit some friends that have recently acquired a new dog. This dog thinks everyone loves it and wants to play with it. It greets you with such enthusiasm it can be overwhelming. Take it for a walk and it wants to play with every dog it meets. Big dogs, small dogs, pretty dogs, ugly dogs, shy dogs, aggressive looking dogs – it thinks, without exception, that every dog wants to play with it and will be pleased to see it. I admire its boldness. There are times that people can behave like this dog. They usually have an overdeveloped sense of their own importance. The vast majority err on the side of caution, perhaps being far more timid that we should and reluctant to put ourselves forward.
The verse we are looking at tells us that the righteous are as bold as lions. I want us to look at what it means to be bold. We recognise the problem of over-confidence but also the problem of under-confidence. This morning I hope we can look at what Biblical boldness might mean, especially in light of understanding we are the righteous ones. Three things I want to look at.
The bold are
The first thing I want us to think about is what the bold are. We said last week that we are the righteous. Our status before God is that we are covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit our state is increasingly being transformed into his likeness. The verse before us says the righteous, that is us, are as bold. In other words, what is implied in this text is that if we understand that we are righteous there will be a boldness to the way we live our lives. This is supported by Isaiah 32:17 which helps us understand what boldness is. The verse says, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever.”
The righteous will be at peace. If you remember last week we said righteousness was a relational quality and through God’s grace, we who once were unable to relate rightly to God have through the shed blood of Jesus been given the opportunity to enter into covenant relationship with God. This is the most significant relationship in the world. It is the relationship that counts above all others. When we are rightly related to God peace is brought to our person. Peace is not simply the absence of strife, it is shalom, well-being in every part of our lives. Rightly related to God brings well-being to every part of our lives, a sense that everything is right, fulfilled, satisfied. There is no need to chase after anything else to make us feel whole – we are at peace.
The righteous we are also told will be quiet. Peace brings that assurance that we no longer need to compete. It is said that 80% of drivers think they are better than average. Most parents consider their children to be bright, more towards the gifted and talented than the average. Even as something as simple as our driving or raising children we can feel we have to assert ourselves. We have to compete for significance and recognition. Yet the person who understands that they are righteous can be quiet. There is no need to be competitive or assertive or vie for significance, what matters is their relationship with God. It is right. It has brought peace. A quiet life can now be lived.
The righteous we are also told will be confident. We compete with our driving because we think our competence gives us significance. We compete with our children because our parenting gives us significance. We assert our views because recognition gives us significance. We collect toys or designer lifestyles because our surroundings give us significance. The righteous have put aside such pursuits. What matters they already have. They are reconciled to God and their relationship restored – that is all that matters. When they prang their car their competence is not at stake, when their children need special help at school their parenting is not compromised, when we do not get our voice heard we do not feel violated. Instead, safe and secure in the love of God the righteous can live confidently because all their significance, all their worth, all their value is in that relationship with God that can never be lost. The shed blood of Jesus removes everything that could possibly compromise it and we live confidently because there is no condemnation. We will always be loved and valued by God. Who we are is defined by our relationship with an amazing God that gives rise to a peaceful, quiet and confident life.
The bold ask
The second thing I want us to think about is that the bold ask. I went to visit my mum last week as she had been in hospital for twelve weeks. On the journey back I was sat reading the paper at Kings Cross station. A lady came up to me and said she was homeless could I in any way help. Perhaps you might think she was desperate but I would like to suggest that it was because of the good nature of so many people. Sure, some might send her away with a flea in her ear but sufficient people have given to those that have asked that begging is one way of trying to meet your needs. So, the bold ask. Jesus said, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:24) If we are the righteous there should be a boldness to the way we ask.
This boldness is because we are confident of our relationship. We are righteous. In other words there is nothing that can hinder our relationship with God. When god looks on us he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is no reason to reject us or remove us from his presence. When we are conscious of any sin in our life Jesus Christ’s all sufficient death on the cross means that our sin is already forgiven and all we need is to receive that forgiveness. God’s grace is amazing, God’s love is freely accessible, God’s favour is available and we are so bold because of that relationship.
This boldness is because we are confident of the resources of God. We have heard that all manner of things have begun to disappear as people try to sell scrap to make money – lead from roofs, copper wire from signalling on train track, even the York stone that makes up our pavement has gone missing. Money is tight in some quarters. Heaven is not paved with York stone. Revelation 21 says it is made of pure gold. The resources of God are so vast that we should be bold, God can meet all our needs, “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” (Luke 6:38)
This boldness is confident because of the character of God. God not only has the resources but the character to want to pour out his blessing into our lives. Simply because he has made us righteous through Jesus Christ, an act of amazing grace, should give us the boldness and confidence to believe God is good. God is good, always, all the time. He is always in a good mood with us. That’s his character.
This boldness is because of the confidence of the outcome of asking. James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” As we are in a right relationship God listens when we pray. As God listens he begins to act on what we pay for he loves us and what moves us moves him as what moves him should move us. As God begins to act all the resources of heaven are at his disposal and in prayer we experience being more than conquerors. This does not mean we always get our way but God works out the best for us. He has to, he loves us, and sometimes we want what is less than the best. We ask with boldness because our prayers are answered by a God who has our best interests on his heart.
The bold aim
The last thing I want to think about is the bold aim. Being bold means we believe that there is so much more, a wonderful adventure ahead of us if we will begin to explore. No matter how old we are, how long we have been a Christian, we believe that the best days are still ahead of us. Abigail was given a soap making kit for her birthday. The girls and I decided to make some soap. We had a choice to follow the instructions, or, as it said on the side, to experiment. Exciting as the instructions were it was far more exciting to experiment. Some of you may have been skiing. As exciting as skiing may be, so I’m told, it is even more exciting when you go off piste. God wants us to be adventurous and take us to places that are good if we will go with him.
We recognise our adventure as we recognise our inheritance. As the righteous all the promises of God become open to us. God is not a liar, he can’t lie, he is not a covenant relationship breaker. What he has promised he will honour. He has to. Therefore, all the promises of God become our inheritance through Jesus Christ. There are many promises in the Bible. It is helpful to know some, even commit them to memory. It’s important that we read His word sensitively so we see and understand God’s promises, we actually recognise them. We can be blind and gloss over what God is giving us as our inheritance if the Holy Spirit does not open our eyes as we read.
We recognise our adventure awaits as we recognise our responsibility. God has promised us a great inheritance but we need to act responsibly. It is no good simply recognising what God promises, we have to ask and move forward. Responsibility begins with beginning to pray the promises of God over your life and the life of your family and the life of the church. Sometimes God may highlight certain promises. We have these promises but we need to activate them. Expressed really simply. Here is a cake. If you want a piece and want to benefit from it simply come forward and take a piece. In a similar way God asks us to come forward and take hold of his promises.
We recognise our adventure as an act of faith. Praying the promises of God is an act of faith. God does not always work them out in the way we might think. AB has a son who is 90% deaf. He has prayed for his son to hear but he is still 90% deaf. He has prayed for other people’s deaf ears to hear and they have. Yet his Son is still 90% deaf. His son has prayed for the deaf to hear and they have recovered their hearing. He has prayed for himself and he still is 90% deaf. It doesn’t make sense to our minds. Yet if they took offense and gave up praying many who were deaf would not have been blessed with a recovery of their hearing. People want to draw up nice neat formulas but faith sometimes does not work that way. Sometimes God seems to answer instantly, other times we have to really perceiver in prayer. The temptation is to give up but if we have a promise from God we have to continue to live by faith until we see it fulfilled. The bold do not give up. God’s promise acts as vision of what will be even if the experience here and now is quite different. It encourages us to reach out and take hold of what God says our future should be. The bold do not rest but aim for what God has promised.
