Unlocking the Fire Within: What Boldness Really Looks Like
In a world filled with fear, compromise, and retreat, the Holy Spirit doesn’t whisper weakness—He breathes boldness. This sermon is about the fire inside us. It’s about the Spirit of God that not only indwells us but empowers us to preach Jesus Christ when it’s uncomfortable, when it’s dangerous, and when we’re outnumbered.
The power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in every believer. And please take a moment to think of that power. It’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Yet many of the saved out here and out there walk timidly, unsure, hesitant. But when you’re filled with the Spirit—not just indwelt, but filled—you stand up, speak up, and step out without fear. NO FEAR.
Let’s be like the early church: shaken, not silent.
1. Boldness Is the Spirit’s Signature Mark
Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
That was after Pentecost. The same believers who had already been filled were filled again—why? Because they asked for boldness, not safety.
Look at Peter. Just weeks earlier, he denied Jesus three times. But after the Holy Ghost came, he stood up to the same Sanhedrin. This was the ruling religious council of the Jews – made up of many enemies of the Christians and murderers of the prophets. Peter stood up and said:
Acts 4:10
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 doth this man stand here before you whole.
That’s boldness. That’s fire. That’s the Holy Ghost. Peter, prior to this, was afraid of the Jews.
That’s why he denied Jesus three times. But now he has the Holy Spirit with him and you see his boldness. You need to be filled with the Spirit in your every day life. Get that same boldness.
Moses Before Pharaoh
Context: Moses stood before the most powerful man in the world—Pharaoh—armed with nothing but the Word of the Lord and the rod of God.
Exodus 5:1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
He went back again and again, despite threats, mockery, and rejection—because the Spirit of God gave him boldness.
2. Spirit-Filled Boldness in the Streets – Out There
We’ve gone out into the darkest streets—where the devil sells pills and broken souls buy them. We were just there. We’ve stood in front of drug dealers with pit bulls and pistols tucked under hoodies.
We’ve had people slam doors, scream cuss words in our faces, and follow us. We’ve had people follow us around, call the police on us, harass us, and lie about us. One woman threatened to burn the church down. We’ve had people yelling at us.
You know what we did? We kept going. And we’re still going today. We preached anyway. We went to the next man up. We went to the next woman up. We keep going.
Because:
2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
When Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra, he didn’t give up. He went right back into the city:
Acts 14:19–20
And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
You don’t do that without boldness from the Spirit of God.
3. Real Boldness: Preaching When It’s Not Safe
Stephen stood in front of a hostile crowd. He wasn’t defensive. He was on fire. Watch what he says to the people.
Acts 7:51-53
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
He’s not preaching easy. He’s preaching with boldness. Stephen is saying what needs to be said. “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. Ye do ALWAYS resist the Holy Ghost.” Stephen is filled with the Holy Ghost and preaching hard. He says, “You killed the prophets and you killed the Savior.”
Acts 7:54
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Stephen told them the truth. They didn’t like it. But he didn’t care if they liked it or not. God tells you the truth. You can take it or leave it. These people left it.
Acts 7:55–56
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Hey, he was FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST. That’s what we want to be. Stephen didn’t see stones—he saw heaven. He saw Jesus Christ standing on the right hand of God.
That’s what Spirit-filled boldness does. It lifts your eyes off the threat and sets them on the throne.
We’ve stood in neighborhoods where people said, “Y’all are gonna get shot out here.” And we say, “We’re already dead in Christ.” It’s not safe here for you. No, it’s not safe for you to not be with us. It’s not safe for you not to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m perfectly safe in Jesus Christ. I know where I’m going.
We’ve had people follow us with bad intentions. We’ve been cussed out, threatened, and laughed at. We’ve been mocked. Hey, doesn’t bother us at all.
We keep preaching. We keep going. We don’t stop. Why? The boldness of the Holy Spirit!
Elijah on Mount Carmel
Context: One man versus 450 prophets of Baal. Elijah wasn’t scared—he mocked them.
1 Kings 18:27
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
1 Kings 18:36-37
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
1 Kings 18:38
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
That was boldness backed by faith and fire. Elijah mocked the prophets and put all his faith in the Lord. Elijah knew the Lord would deliver. You must know this too. False preachers want to mock me. I’ll mock you right back you liars and deceivers. I know the Lord will deliver.
4. You Were Made to Be Bold
Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.
If you’ve believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, you received his righteousness. The righteous are bold as a lion. Watch a lion walk around. He walks with confidence. Why do we walk with that same confidence? Because the Lion of Judah lives inside us. Jesus is called THE LION of the tribe of Judah. We will walk in Jesus Christ. We have 100% confidence. We are not lacking.
The wicked flee. We will not flee. We will not run. We will be bold because of God with us.
When David stood before Goliath, he didn’t bring boldness from himself. He said:
1 Samuel 17:45
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
Hey, to all the drug dealers out there who want me dead. Hey, I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, THE GOD of the armies of Israel. I promise you. I am not afraid of you. You defy God over and over again. You are the one who better be careful. People tell me, “You better be careful out there.” No, they better be careful out there. God owns this area. I’m with him.
You better watch out.
That’s Holy Ghost boldness in the Old Testament! A shepherd boy stared down a killer giant because he knew the power that backed him. Hey, know and understand what you have. I go out in the streets doing God’s work. He’s got me. And I know it.
Micaiah Before Ahab and 400 False Prophets
Context: The entire religious establishment said what King Ahab wanted to hear—except Micaiah.
1 Kings 22:14
And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
Even though he was slapped, imprisoned, and hated—he stood on truth. And he didn’t back down to the king. We will tell you the truth no matter what. If I know the truth will make you mad, I’ll still tell you the truth. If I know telling you the truth will make you hate me, I will still tell you the truth. And I hope you’ll see that. The truth = love. Remember that.
5. The Spirit Makes You Speak
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The Spirit gives power, and that power produces witnesses. I will be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. For necessity is laid upon me; YEA, WOE UNTO ME IF I PREACH NOT THE GOSPEL. Listen, I won’t be quiet about the Gospel. That’s why many of you are here right now. It wasn’t me. It’s the Holy Spirit within me. And I won’t be quiet.
I will speak. I will preach the Gospel. I will be a witness for Jesus. My Creator, my God, my Savior, my Everything. I will do what Jesus asked me to do. He gave me that choice, and I choose to do what Jesus said.
In Acts 5, the apostles were arrested, beaten, and commanded not to preach Jesus. Imagine that. Out preaching the Gospel. Arrested, beaten, and commanded not to preach the Gospel. Do you know what happened?
Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
That’s not bravado—that’s the boldness of the Spirit. They were beaten. I want you to see this. I want you to see the Scriptures.
Acts 5:40-42
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
They were beaten and commanded by men to not even speak in the name of Jesus Christ. They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus. But look at verse 42. Did they quit? Did they stop? Did they obey God or men?
“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” No man stopped these people filled with the Holy Ghost. No beating stopped these people. No threats stopped them. Hey, your threats out there will never stop me. You can threaten all you want. And I’ll be there again, and again, and again. Why? The Holy Spirit within me.
That same Spirit that filled them in Acts 5 is that same Spirit that dwells within us today. It’s that same Spirit, “THE HOLY SPIRIT,” that gives us that same boldness. I will preach the Gospel any time and any where.
6. Fearless Faith Comes from Fullness
Ephesians 3:16
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.
When you are filled, fear falls. Flesh falls. Excuses fall. I want that to happen for you. This is very important in your walk as a Christian. There’s way more to this than what you’ve seen. You need to see this with your own eyes.
You have a chance to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Go out soul winning with us consistently, and you will see this with your own eyes. It happened in the Bible, and it will happen with you IF you’ll get out there with us.
Do you want boldness?
- Get filled.
- Pray.
- Step out.
It’s not about hype. It’s about Holy Ghost power that makes men courageous, unshakable, and unstoppable. And that can be you. And we need more people filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
Conclusion: Stir It Up and Step Out
2 Timothy 1:6
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
You’ve got the Spirit. But are you filled? Are you stirred? Are you walking in boldness, or hiding behind what’s comfortable? Don’t hide. Let’s get out there. Don’t be afraid. Just go for it. Take the leap of faith. God has you.
This generation needs a church that won’t back down. You are a part of a church that WILL NOT back down. We will not. Not a chance that we back down here. Why? The Holy Spirit of God. We will do what God says, and God will fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we have that boldness to preach and spread the Gospel.
- Bold men.
- Bold women.
- Bold preachers.
- Bold teenagers.
Not because we’re brave in the flesh, but because we’re filled with the Holy Ghost.
We speak. We go. We preach. We don’t flinch. We don’t fold. We don’t fear.
Because we’re filled—and we trust the power within us. And that’s what it all comes down to. Do you trust that POWER you already have within you. Do you trust God? He’s going to take care of you ESPECIALLY when you are doing what he asks you to do.
Let’s pray.
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