“Open My Mouth Boldly” (Eph 6:18-20)

“[Praying] for me, that word may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth BOLDLY, to make known the mystery of the gospel… that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (vs19-20).

We must tell everything that we see, hiding nothing. We cannot preach to please sinners and earn favor; we must be “Thus says the Lord”, or let us quit the ministry and work a 9-5. 

There is no place for not setting forth the word of truth:  (1) it causes others to err (2) it angers God (3) it is below the inheritance of saints for us to cower before men, changing our faces to please those who have no real power (1 Sam 21:10-15).  Let the Christian stand up and speak what he has learned, leaving the consequences with the Master. We are mere servants, and we get our wages from Him, and not from what we can acquire for ourselves through deceit.

Gehazi had to get rich, so he got leprosy (2 Kings 5:20-27).  Judas had to be advanced by this world, so he hung himself in worldly sorrow (2 Cor 7:10). And, we may continue.  Whitefield wouldn’t trade places with those who preached for a living, a title, a name. He wanted to preach and teach what he believed and enjoyed, and anything else is slavery to the worst.

We are not saying, “Be mean and rude for the sake of being bold”. We make no excuse for belligerence or cruelty in witnessing. The Christian minister, so honored to be used of God, should be the humblest and meekest of persons, trusting God to use the words of one who has obtained mercy - one who has made no contribution to the word or my own salvation - “in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Tim 2:25). But, let us preach it as it is in Christ; let us preach SOVEREIGNTY, commanding all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).  Let us preach REPENTANCE and the forgiveness of sins, demanding that Christ be Lord and Savior (Luke 24:47).  Let us preach hell hot and heaven so glorious as beyond words. Let us PREACH grace, faith, and GOOD works; let us SPEAK the whole counsel of Christ, fearing no man’s face, and seeking no approval by holding back some truth or expression - “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which tries our hearts” (1 Thess 2:4).

Let us be honest by trusting Christ, for Paul says, Pray for me, meaning that he needed help, and so do we, “that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak” (Col 4:4).  Augustus Toplady warned that a timid partial declaration of the gospel is unworthy of a minister, and yet Gideon obeyed by “night” and succeeded (Judges 6:25-32). Therefore, whether trembling needlessly, or shouting in confidence of faith, let us SAY all that God has revealed to us for His honor and man’s good.