When You Speak God's Truth
by Skip Heitzig | January 5, 2024

In the early days of his Crusades, Billy Graham was filling stadiums all around the world. In Dallas, Texas, seventy thousand people filled the stadium to overflowing every night. One of the Texas newspapers ran an article about the phenomenon.

It said, "How can a young man without any seminary education draw such a crowd of people when some of the highly educated, enrobed, downtown ministers preach to half-filled churches on Sunday mornings? It's because Billy Graham preaches what the Bible says. He has a note of authority in his message, a 'Thus saith the Lord….'"

That note of authority is what the prophets in the Bible had. The phrase "Thus saith the Lord" occurs 415 times in the Old Testament. Jesus held the same ring of authority. When He preached the Sermon on the Mount, the crowd marveled. "And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:28-29).

The followers of Christ had that same authority. In the book of Acts, when the early church was threatened by the councils, "they spoke the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31). When Stephen stood up before the council, "they [some Jews from the Synagogue of the Freedmen] were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which [Stephen] spoke" (Acts 6:10).

All of them spoke with boldness, clarity, and authority. Now, I don't mean arrogance. I mean confidence. Those are two different things. Arrogance is a know-it-all attitude, and nobody wants that. Confidence is the knowledge that the message you share is God's truth.

Daniel is a prime example of this. When King Nebuchadnezzar asked about his dream and its interpretation, Daniel already had the answer (see Daniel 2). But he said, in effect, "There's not a man on earth who can tell you what you want to hear." He continued, "But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets" (v. 28). And in his humility, he stated, "As for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living" (v. 30). In short, "I'm not better or wiser than anybody else. It's not me. It's God."

The most effective people in sharing their faith are those who are confident in their faith. They believe what it says in Hebrews 4: "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (v. 12).

The most effective people are also humble. You see, humility makes a hard message softer, and it makes you believable. There's an old saying: "You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Sweeten it up a little by humbling yourself.

When you speak to an unbeliever, humility is so important. Authority needs humility. If you have authority without humility, you are arrogant. But if you have the blend of authority and humility, you have integrity, and your message will stick.

How do you show humility? Well, if you're talking to somebody and you're speaking God's truth, listen to them too. Find out what their questions and concerns are. It doesn't help a thirsty person to have you open a fire hose on them. Give them truth in doses, in increments. Above all, don't point to yourself—point to Him.

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