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Shamed - Part 2 of 2

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• Psalm 119. And again, let's read the first eight verses. And Lord willing, we will take up where we left off last week. Last week, I began a message which I entitled "Shamed." And today is part two. So notice, if you would, Psalm 119, beginning with verse one. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity, they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will keep thy statutes, O forsake me not utterly." May I just remind you in the very beginning that Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm, and I told you last week the reason there's 176 verses in this psalm is because there's 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and verses 1 through 8 all begin with the Hebrew letter Aleph in the original Hebrew,

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• and verses 9 through 16, all the verses there begin with Beth, and so on down through the Hebrew alphabet. And therefore, we have 176 verses. I've also pointed out that Psalm 119 is a psalm of the law. And of course, he begins by saying, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord." So the way to remain unstained and undefiled is by walking in the way of the Lord and in the law of the Lord.

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• Oftentimes we are shamed because of our own ignorance, our foolishness, and our disobedience. And there are many times that we have been ashamed and certainly we remember those experiences. In fact, sometimes we remember them very painfully. I quoted last week, Psalm 51 and verse three, where David said, "I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me." And so Psalm 119 then sets forth the way that we should walk in order that we should not be ashamed and that we should not be shamed before the Lord. And then of course, verses nine through 11 emphasize what David says in verse 1 and in verse 2 where he says, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word."

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• "With my whole heart have I sought thee, O let me not wander from thy commandments." Then he said, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

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• Now, when we talk about being ashamed, there are a number of things for which we should be ashamed. And if we're not ashamed in those areas for which we should be ashamed, then something is vitally wrong in our lives. A real Christian cannot help but sense shame when he is disobedient to the word of God. He can't help but sense shame when he realizes he has failed in his duties, in his obligations, in his responsibilities, and in his privileges as well. We have to understand this, that whenever we fail in our responsibilities and duties and obligations, we also fail in our ministry to the Lord, for actually our lives are to be a ministry to the Lord. Purely.

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• And of course, David goes further. And if you remember this in verse 80, he said in Psalm 119 in verse 80, "Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed." So the way not to be ashamed is to have a sound heart in the law of God, a sound heart in his statutes, to know and understand and apply the truth of God.

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• Now, the interesting thing is this. We should be shamed when we're disobedient. In fact, the Apostle Paul, you remember last week I dealt with 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 14. He said, "And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed." So anytime you have anyone, and especially a Christian, who will not hear or heed, obey, and apply the word of God, he should indeed be ashamed. We should also be ashamed of our lack of study. I quoted also 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15, where he said, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

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• Now, let me remind you when he said "study," he literally meant to exercise diligence, to actually exert yourself. And when we study, we are to study so that we may be approved unto God. I made the statement last week, if we learn to study seeking God's approval, it will make a difference in how we study. But he said, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." So if we're not actually studying and if we're not studying seeking the approval of God, we should be ashamed. But then he went on to say "rightly dividing the word of truth," and I pointed out how that word actually means to cut a straight line or to cut a straight course, because obviously we want to teach what the Word of God teaches and we do not want to make the Word of

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• God teach what we think or what we believe or what our opinion is. I also quoted from 2 Peter there where Peter said, talking about the Apostle Paul, "even as our brother Paul has written, certain things are hard to be understood, which they that are unstable and unlearned wrest the scripture to their own destruction." And the word "wrest" actually means to torture. It means to put on the rack, to stretch it out of proportion. And so actually a lot of people stretch the scriptures. They torture it. They put it on a rack and they make it say things that it never was intended to say anyhow.

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• So, I ended this message by asking, basically, would we be ashamed when we saw our Lord? And some people say, "Well, I don't think I could ever be ashamed when I see our Lord." Well, if you will turn in your Bibles, holding Psalm 119, very quickly, and look again at 1 John 2 and verse 28. 1 John 2 and verse 28. Note, if you would, what the scripture says. John writes, and he says, "And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming." So there's a way to have confidence before the Lord. And if we do not have that boldness, that confidence, if we do not have that fearlessness before him, then of course, we're going to be ashamed. And of course, I pointed out the way not to be ashamed is found in 1 John 4 and verse 17, where he says, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world."

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• So the way to have boldness is to live as the word of God commands us, in Romans 8 and verse 29, by being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, living an obedient life as our Lord was obedient as well. Now I want you to remember that I've pointed this out before and I want to say it again: that whenever you have a negative in the scripture, you must always look for a positive. Whenever you have a positive in the scripture, you must also look for a negative.

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• So last week I was really dealing with things for which we should be ashamed. This week, I want to show you from scripture things for which we should never, ever be ashamed. And if you are ashamed of some of these things, then you really should be ashamed. Because you should never be ashamed of what I'm going to share with you today. First of all, clearly, and most importantly, we should never be ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Now, the apostle Paul said in Romans 1 and verse 16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Now, one of the problems is we take this verse so lightly. We never really consider the implications of it. When the Apostle Paul said, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," we never think of the persecution that the Apostle Paul and the other apostles really endured. You need to remember all of the hatred, animosity, ill will that was heaped consistently and constantly upon Paul and the other apostles. Now, Paul specifically was hated by the Jews. He was cast out.

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• He was regarded as an apostate. Many of the Greeks despised him as well. He was hated. He was hunted. He was proscribed. He was persecuted. He was attacked for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 23, he said, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." So the Jews then stumbled over the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Greeks counted it as mere foolishness. In their worldly wisdom, they did not see anything wise in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Now, let me show you something. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 because the Apostle Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," but I want you to see what he and the other apostles endured so that this will at least give you a better grasp of what it meant not to be ashamed for the Apostle Paul. So, in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, beginning there with verse 9, look at it if you would, please. He says, "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death.

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• For we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we're despised. Even in this present hour, we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place and labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless.

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• Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

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• Now, if you were just to look at the negatives in this passage, the apostle Paul says that he and the other apostles have been set forth last as appointed unto death. He says we're made a spectacle. Then he says in verse 10, we're fools. We're weak. We're despised. In verse 11, even in this present hour, we hunger and thirst and are naked or buffeted, have no certain dwelling place. And then in verse 12, he says that we're reviled and we're persecuted. Verse 13, we're defamed.

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• And then he makes this statement. "We are made as the filth of the world and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." Now, the word "filth" is an interesting word. Perikatharma is the word, and it literally means refuse or filth. And so he says we're counted the refuse or the filth of the world. And then he says we're the offscouring of all things unto this day. Peripsema is the word, and it literally means that which is wiped off or that which is scraped off.

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• Now, I'm not trying to be crude, but I was raised on a farm and I know what you wipe off and scrape off of your feet. That's what the apostle Paul is talking about. Moreover, some of you ladies have cooked and some things you've cooked too long and it burned in the bottom of the pan. And so now you not only have to wash, you have to scrape the bottom of that pan because it has to be scoured. It's worthless. It's no good for anything. And that's what the apostle is saying. We are counted now as the filth of this world and that which has to be wiped off and scraped off. Now, with this in mind, notice the apostle Paul said, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ."

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• It doesn't matter how much persecution, it doesn't matter how much ridicule, how much mockery has been heaped upon him. He said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Why? "For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." Now, everyone in here knows that the Greek word for power is the word dunamis. It is where we get our English word dynamite. So the Apostle Paul is saying that the gospel is the dynamite of God. It's the power, it's the strength, it's the ability, it's the might of God. And he said it's the power of God to the Jew and to the Greek. In other words, it's the power of God even to those who hate it. The Apostle Paul at one time hated it himself.

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• And so therefore, when God saved him on the Damascus Road, he was a changed man. He understood, therefore, what the gospel could do. And he believed, therefore, that since it changed him, then the gospel could change anyone. So he was not ashamed of it. That's why he said in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 15, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." So if God could save the chief, then he can save the rest of the tribe as well. So the apostle is saying, "I am not ashamed." Now in 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 12, he went a little bit further and he said, "For the which cause I suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." There are so many people today that are ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our politically correct world, in our pagan world, there are so many that ridicule the Lord Jesus.

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• They deny him. They denigrate him. They despise him. So let me just make this exceedingly plain. Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone is salvation. There is no other salvation. There is no other way to the Father. There is no other way to heaven. There is no other mediator, Savior, or Lord, or Redeemer. And you will either be saved by Jesus Christ or you will not be saved at all.

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• So many people try to say, "Well, there are exceptions. The Jews are the exception." No, they're not the exception. The truth of the matter is every Jew will perish just like anyone else unless he repents and exercises faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace and the power of God. It's just that simple. No exceptions. Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone happens to be the only way to the Father. That's why he said in John 14 and verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." That's why in Ephesians 2 and verse 18,

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• he said, "For through him we both have access unto the Father by one Spirit." Now there are people who are ashamed to admit and confess the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are some Christians that are shamed. Well, let me ask you a question. If you're ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, will he be ashamed of you? In one sense, the answer is yes. Let me show you.

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• Look in your Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 8, and look, if you would please, at verse 38. Mark 8 and verse 38. Mark 8, verse 38. Our Lord says, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." So he said if you were ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. Now he said the same thing again in a different way in Luke 9 and verse 26. He said, "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and that of the holy angels." So yes, if we are ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's the possibility that he's going to be ashamed of us as well.

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• So He is our only hope in salvation. He is our only hope in holiness. He is our only hope in practical obedience. Many of you are familiar with the YMCA. You hear people, they say, "Well, let's go to the Y. Let's go work out. They've got a dance class or they've got this class or you can go swimming in the Y." You know, most people have never, ever thought that the YMCA stands for the Young Men's Christian Association.

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• It was founded by Sir George Williams. I want you to listen to what he said and I want you to see how far the YMCA has gone. Sir George Williams said this, "My lifelong experience as a businessman and as a Christian worker among young men has taught me that the only power in this world that can effectually keep one from sin, in all the varied and often attractive forms, is that which comes from an intimate knowledge of the Lord

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• Jesus Christ as a present Savior. And I can also heartily testify that the safe guidebook by which one may be led to Christ is the Bible, the Word of God, which is inspired by the Holy Ghost." So here's a man who founded the YMCA talking about the fact that he was not ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he founded that actually to bring men to the Lord Jesus Christ. So we should never be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. If you're ashamed of the gospel of Christ, then you really genuinely should be ashamed. Secondly, may I point out, we should never, ever be ashamed of our daily provision. We should be thankful and we should be grateful and we should be appreciative of that which God gives us in his providence.

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• It doesn't matter whether it's a steak or a salad or peas or whatever. But the Bible says in Psalm 37 verse 19, "They shall not be ashamed in an evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." So God is going to take care of us even in the days of famine.

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• Now we may not necessarily have a 15-course meal. But he's going to see that we do not starve. And the Bible says in Acts 14 and verse 17, talking about God, "Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness, in that he did good." Listen to this. "And gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." There are some Christians who are ashamed to bow their heads in a public restaurant and thank God for their food. I've seen them. I've got news for you.

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• I can share with you some things that can really make you thankful. For instance, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand. Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was a pastor who was kidnapped by the Romanian secret police and thrown into a communist prison for 14 years. His wife, Sabina, was in a communist prison for three years. You can read all about his testimony and what happened to him in his book, "Tortured for Christ." After he was released from prison and he came to America, he went out to dinner with a number of pastors in a big restaurant. When the food came to his table, remember, there were a number of pastors there, so there was lots of food and the food was plentiful and the food was hot. When Richard Wurmbrand saw all of that food, he dropped from his chair to his knees on the floor of that restaurant and began to publicly thank God for the food. One of the pastors there said, "Everyone in the restaurant stopped eating and looked at us."

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• He said, "I was so embarrassed. And then I got embarrassed because I was embarrassed." He said, "If I'd eaten rats for 14 years, I think I would learn to appreciate some fine food as well." The same thing happened, basically, in our home years ago. We had Harlan Popov.

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• Now, Mr. Popov has written his book, "Tortured for His Faith." He was also thrown into a communist prison. So he spoke at our church, and afterwards he went home with us for dinner. After dinner, he was sitting on the couch and my children were small at that time. And the twins came out with their little cage and said, "Mr. Popov, look at our gerbils." He said, "Rats, they're rats." They said, "No, Mr. Popov, they're gerbils." He said, "They're rats.

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• I know what they are. I had to eat them just to stay alive." I tell you what, you chow down on a plate of rat, and I'll guarantee you'll learn to be thankful for a hamburger, a hot dog, a salad, whatever. I've got news for you. Whatever God provides for us, it could be a lot worse. Have you ever stopped to think about that? There have been times in our lives, and Alice can tell you, there have been times when she and I and our children ate nothing but peas for several weeks. It's all we could afford. And that's what we ate. And I was thankful to have the peas. Most of you do not know, but you know, it's a standard practice the first of the year, New Year's Day, to eat black-eyed peas down south. You know why?

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• Because of the Battle of Corinth, Corinth, Mississippi. The Yankees destroyed all the food, except they left the field peas because they thought that there was just animal fodder and they left the peas for the horses and the cows. And that's what those people in Mississippi lived on until they could get a garden and a crop going after the Yankees had left. And so it became a standard procedure. First year, first day of the year, you eat peas. But it's not just for, quote unquote, good luck, as most the world has said. It was in remembrance of how God fed those people in Mississippi during that time.

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• So we learn to be thankful. Now, the Bible tells us in Psalm 37, verse 25, one of my favorite verses. David said, "I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread." So God's going to feed us. God's going to take care of us. But the truth of the matter is we learn and we need to learn to be thankful for whatever God provides for us. It's just that simple.

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• I got so tickled at myself. I was feeding my horses and as I handed them the feed and poured it in their trough, I thought, "Wow, they eat the same thing every day." Then I got to thinking, "Well, so do I." We basically eat the same thing every day anyhow. But we need to be thankful, whether it's a 15-course meal or whether it's just a hamburger or hot dog, be at least thankful that we have it. Here's the third thing we should never be ashamed of. We should never be ashamed of the persecuted prisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• I want you to stop and think about this. Persecution has gone on ever since the Lord Jesus Christ. And I do not personally understand how it is that Christians can turn their backs upon their persecuted brethren. And I'm not talking about the people who are being persecuted in China. Yes, there are persecuted Christians there. Russia, all parts of the world. But there are persecuted Christians here in America as well.

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• And one thing is this, we just assume that anyone that has been arrested or in a trial, or in prison, must be guilty of something. He must have done something wrong, or at least attempted to do something wrong, or he never would have been arrested to begin with, or never would have had to go through that trial. May I remind you that the Lord Jesus Christ was arrested? May I remind you that his apostles were arrested, imprisoned, and some of them murdered. Let me put something down that you need to write in your mind. You need to settle it in your heart. You need to understand, and it is especially true in this day and time, you do not need to do anything that is wicked, vile, and wrong in order to be arrested and imprisoned.

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• In fact, you also need to make sure that you know the difference between two Latin terms, mala in se and mala prohibita. Mala in se refers to that which is evil in and of itself. That would be violation of God's law. When God says, "Thou shalt not kill," murder is evil in and of itself. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Adultery is evil in and of itself. "Thou shalt not steal." Theft is evil in and of itself. So mala in se refers to those things that are evil, intrinsically evil in and of themselves. Mala prohibita just means something is bad

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• only because it has been prohibited by man. For instance, "Thou shalt not drive over 55." Well, if you drive 56, does that make you inherently evil, wicked, vile, and bad? No. How about this one? "Do not walk on the grass." "Do not park here." And you park there anyhow. I saw a cartoon one time, the pastor was pointing to a handicapped parking spot. And he was talking to a man and he said, "We call this our miracle parking spot because most people who park here are instantly healed up their feet hit the ground." Well, you know what it means that people park there regardless. So does that make someone inherently evil because it says "handicapped parking only"? No. Does it make someone inherently evil because they speed? No.

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• Now, ignoring mala prohibita law sometimes may be costly and expensive, but that does not necessarily make them evil in and of themselves. And a mala prohibita does not have to be negative. It can also be positive. "Thou shalt do this" or "Thou shalt not do that." Or the man says you must do this or you, you know, as long as man says it, it's just mala prohibita. It's not mala in se.

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• Now, the truth of the matter is this. There have been people thrown in prison for righteousness' sake. I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8. Look what the Apostle Paul tells Timothy. Then we're going to read a little farther. Look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 8. He tells Timothy, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." So he says, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. In fact, if need be, you be a partaker of the afflictions and you might end up in prison as well. But do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. It's amazing how many people are ashamed of Christians who've been in prison for the faith's sake or for righteousness' sake. If you'll skip down to 2 Timothy 1, look in verse 16 and we'll read through verse 18. He said, "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft

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• refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me." Now look at verse 18. "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered to me in Ephesus, thou knowest very well." So notice if you would, Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul, even when he was in prison. And notice he said, "When he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me." In other words, he kept looking for Paul until he found him so that he could minister unto him. And Paul said, "May the Lord have mercy upon him in that day." I have friends who've been in prison for conscience' sake. I have friends that have been in prison for violating mala prohibita laws.

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• I've stayed in contact with them. I've visited them. I wrote them. I talked to them on the phone when it was possible to do so. One husband and wife that I know that were in prison, and they were in prison, I think, for three years. Godly people and had not done one thing wrong. They were not wicked. They were not bank robbers. It was a mala prohibita that put them in prison.

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• When they got out, they told me, "You are the only pastor that corresponded with us the whole time we were in." Alice and I know another husband and wife who were in prison together, had done nothing wrong. There have been men in prison for their bold stand against tyranny and wickedness. There have been men that have been put in prison, arrested and put in prison for failing to take a license for their ministry. Lester Roloff, Everett Sileven. Now, if you don't know what a license is, I would encourage you to look up the word "license" in Black's Law Dictionary or Bouvier's Law Dictionary, and you'll find this definition, "license:

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• Permission from a competent authority to do that which otherwise would be illegal." Really? In other words, I have to have someone's permission to preach and teach God's word, and if I don't do that and take their license, then they would arrest me and put me in prison. That's what they did to Roloff. That's what they did to Sileven. That's what they've done to a number of people. That's what they did to John Bunyan. John Bunyan stayed in prison 14 years for failing to take a license.

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• I'm just simply saying there are individuals who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake. Now, let me show you how far this has gone in our modern time. I read this years and years ago. And as I was preparing this message, it came back to me and I looked it up and I found it again. And so I wanted to share this with you. So a certain church was looking for a pastor. The search committee or pulpit committee was reviewing resumes and they came across this one particular resume and the chairman of the pulpit committee read it. And here's what the resume said. "I have many qualifications.

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• I've been a preacher with much success and also had some success as a writer. Some say I'm a good organizer. I've been a leader most places I've been. I'm over 50 years of age. I've never preached in one place more than three years. In some places, I've left town after my work has caused riots and disturbances. I must admit, I've been in jail three or four times, but not because of any wrongdoing. My health is not too good, though I still get a great deal done. The churches I've preached in have been small, though located in several large cities. I've not got along too well with the religious leaders in towns where I've preached.

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• In fact, some have threatened me and even attacked me physically. I'm not too good at keeping records. I've been known to forget those whom I've baptized. However, if you can use me, I shall do my best for you." The chairman asked the committee, "What do you think? Shall we consider him?" The others were aghast. Said, "Hire an unhealthy, troublemaking, absent-minded ex-jailbird? Are you crazy? Who was this applicant anyway? Who has such colossal nerve?" The chairman glanced down to the bottom of the page and said,

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• "It's signed by the Apostle Paul." Yeah, that's where we are. The Apostle Paul would have a difficult time in finding a pastorate in today's politically correct world. So we should never, ever be ashamed of our persecuted brethren. Fourthly, we should never be ashamed of our own persecution as long as it is for righteousness' sake. Since you're in 2 Timothy, look in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12, the apostle says this. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." So if you live godly in Christ Jesus, mark it down, in one way or the other, in one time or the other, you will be persecuted. Now, if you would turn right over to 1 Peter, chapter 4 and look at verse 16, 1 Peter, chapter 4 and verse 16. Watch carefully.

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• Because here the scripture makes this exceedingly clear. 1 Peter 4, verse 16, he says, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf."

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• Now we should be ashamed if we're suffering from our own stupidity, wickedness, disobedience, and foolishness. But if we're suffering because of our stand for biblical truth and for the Lord Jesus Christ, he says we should never ever be ashamed. Now, if you go back in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, notice if you would please what our Lord says. Matthew chapter 5, and we'll begin reading there with verse 10. Matthew 5 and verse 10. Notice our Lord makes a statement. Matthew 5 verse 10.

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• He says, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Now look back at verse 10. He said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake," not because of your own stupidity, not because of your own foolishness. Watch verse 11. "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely."

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• It's not that you earned it. It's not that you deserved it. They were cursing you, slandering you because of your stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says that we are to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is our reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before us. Now if you will turn back in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3 and look, if you would please, at verse 16, because in this passage, Peter tells us exactly what we are to do when we are wrongly persecuted, falsely slandered and accused. And 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 16, he says this, "Having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers," in other words, they're slandering, they're lying, "they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." In other words, he says, you keep living a holy, godly, obedient life, and you prove them to be liars.

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• So we're not to go looking for persecution. We're not to be hoping for persecution. We're not to be endeavoring to bring persecution to ourselves. But when it does come for righteousness' sake and obedience, we're not to be ashamed and we're to glorify God on that behalf. And fifthly today, we should never ever be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just his gospel, but of the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not matter how many people deny him, denigrate him, despise him. We should never be ashamed of the fact that He is our Lord and our Savior and Redeemer. We must confess Him. We must acknowledge Him. We must proclaim Him. He is God incarnate.

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• He is the only mediator. He is the only go-between. He is the only Savior. The Bible says in Romans 9, verse 33, Paul said, "As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offence, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Now, so Christ then is a stumbling stone or a stumbling block. To some he's an offense, to some, but he said whosoever believes shall not be ashamed. And then in Romans chapter 10 and verse 11, for the scripture says, "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." So if you are ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, you should be ashamed. You should be shamed. Now, let me show you something that is just mind-boggling to me. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 and I want us to begin reading with verse 9 just so that you can see in the context that we're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. To me this is an absolutely astoundingly remarkable text. So look, if

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• you would please, Hebrews 2 verse 9. He says, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Now we're talking about Jesus Christ. Now watch verse 11. "For both he that sanctifieth," that's Jesus Christ, "for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified," that's us, "are all of one." Now watch, "for which cause

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• he is not ashamed to call them brethren." To me, it is almost unbelievable that Jesus Christ is unashamed to call us brethren. I can assure you that I have done things, said things, thought things that should cause me to blush, hang my head in shame just like every other Christian, but to hear the scriptures say in light of our sins, in light of our disobediences, in light of our failures, in light of our helplessness, He's not ashamed to call us brethren. Wow. He's not ashamed. If he condescends in such grace and mercy, shall we, who are the recipients of that grace and mercy, to whom we are indebted for everything, be ashamed to confess him as Lord? We should never, ever be ashamed of Jesus Christ. He is not only our Lord and Redeemer and Savior and mediator and friend. He is our hope. Our only hope.

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• In Romans 5 and verse 5, the Bible says, "And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." So we have hope in Jesus Christ, we should not be ashamed. So many today are ashamed of Jesus Christ. Isaac Watts, the great hymn writer, wrote a hymn many, many years back.

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• "Am I a soldier of the cross?" Here's several stanzas. "Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, shall I fear to own his cause or blush to speak his name? Must I be carried through the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought for the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood?

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• Is this vile world a friend of grace to help me unto God? Sure, I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord. I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by thy word. Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? Shall I fear to own his cause or blush to speak his name?" If he is not ashamed to call us brethren, we should never be ashamed to call him Lord.

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• Another thought that grasped my mind was this. Before the foundation of the world, before anything was ever created, God sovereignly chose us to be his own. And he knew every sin that we would commit. He knew everything that we would ever do. And yet he set his love upon us and called us and redeemed us and gave us to Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ accepted us from the Father. And therefore, He's not ashamed to call us brethren. We should never, ever be ashamed to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow before thee.

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• We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you that Jesus Christ is Lord. Father, may we never be ashamed of your gospel, of your provision, of your persecuted brethren, of our own persecution. And may we certainly never be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. Give us your grace, we pray. Give us holy boldness and confidence. In thy blessed name, we ask it through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T21:22:15Z