Fear with men is rooted in the fear of not being right with God.

If you knew God was standing at your right hand with infinite power, with his right hand

on your shoulder, you'd be bold.

You'd be bold as a lion.

If the fear of man is linked to uneasiness about our standing with God, how does the gospel

give us the confidence we need?

John Piper turns to Proverbs 281 to show us how to cultivate Christian boldness in this

episode of light and truth.

The sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on May 2, 1993.

Our primary task in the world is to live in such a way as to become advertisements that

the gospel is more valuable than anything in the world.

One of the ways you do that, one of the characteristics of life that advertised the infinite value

of the gospel, is the fearlessness of believers before their opponents.

So it says, see that you walk worthy of the gospel, that when I come I might find that

you stand firm, unafraid in anything before your opponents.

Walking worthy of the gospel, that is, magnifying the worth of the gospel, is letting it have

such an effect on you in freedom and boldness that you are unafraid of your opponents,

and that becomes a sign of the truth of the gospel so that those who believe are saved

and those who don't are condemned.

Now what we find in verse 1 of Proverbs 28 is a confirmation of that truth.

The wicked flee when no one is pursuing.

But the righteous are bold as a lion, so there's a correlation between wickedness and fear,

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