May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
Gospel of Mark chapter 8 and we'll read verse 38 which is
the last verse in this 8th chapter. The Gospel of Mark chapter 8
and reading verse 38. Whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of me and of 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. The Lord had called the people
unto him with the disciples. And he was to tell them very
important and vital things that they might take to heart and
that it might have a good, gracious, and right effect upon them. How many times in the word of
God especially in the New Testament, our attention is drawn very clearly
to the importance really of our relationship with the Lord God
and the relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is
that which is personal to each one of us. It's not something
which is just in a general way. We know, of course, that there
is a general way, but every one of the children of God will have
the evidence in their hearts, in their souls, of the blessed
life of God. And that evidence will have a
gracious and a blessed and a wonderful effect upon them. I suppose it
will centre on the truth that they are bought with a price,
that they have been redeemed from all their sin. They have been set free from
the curse which speaks, the soul that sinneth it shall die. And
how necessary that is for every believer. It is the evidence
of being a believer. And without these evidences,
there is no real fact and real confidence and real truth that
they are a true believer. And how necessary for us today,
in this day in which we live, and it's described, is it not,
in the day that the Saviour spoke, and surely it is the same today,
an adulterous and sinful generation. And that's the times in which
you and I live. And the Lord has called us, you
and me, to walk upon the earth today, not yesterday, not tomorrow,
but today. And as we walk upon the earth
today, we are to hear the words of the Saviour. And we are to
be concerned to follow the words of the Saviour. You and I are
wonderfully, wonderfully blessed to have the Bible and have the
Word of God that we are able to read. And there are of course
today so many in the world who do not understand the need of
this and the blessing of it and the favour of it. But we are
blessed with it. But my friends, what a terrible,
what a solemn consideration to think that that day will come,
that great day of judgement, when you and I stand before the
judge of all the earth, whose eyes will pierce us through and
through, the Saviour Himself, and to have to confess that yes,
we had the Word of God, and yes, we read the Word of God, But
yes, we ignored the Word of God. We turned away from it. We didn't
take it to our heart. We passed it by. We were more
concerned about the things of our natural life. We were more
concerned about the things that we were going to do, and how
much money we had in the bank, and how we were going to please
this one and that one, rather than concerned with the state
of our soul and where we would spend eternity. That really is,
is it not, the great question for us. And so we have here,
set before us really, in a concluding comment or word by the Saviour,
addressed to us, as he addressed it to the people and the disciples. He says, whosoever, therefore. It's a very broad statement,
isn't it? We're very thankful for the very many whosoever's
there are in the Word of God, which we can think, well that's
wonderful because it can include me. Yes, it does. And yes it
can, but here we have also a very solemn really, whosoever, which
speaks to our hearts. And this is what it says. Whosoever
therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation. If you and I are ashamed, Therefore,
of the Lord Jesus and his words, this is the reaction of Almighty
God. This is what will occur when
you and I stand before that judgment seat. Of him, individually, you and
me, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh
in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Well, just ponder that. It's worth
pondering, it's worth thinking about, because surely we don't
want the Lord Jesus to be ashamed of us. If he is ashamed of us, the verdict
will be Depart from me. I never knew you And that will be a just sentence
And that sentence will not be revoked There will not be any opportunity
to say well I'll try and do better. I'll try and reform. I'll try
and change my ways and because time will have ended. We shall be in that eternal state.
So it's a very solemn thought, isn't it? It's a very important
thought, a very necessary consideration for us to think upon and to meditate
upon and to realise the importance of it and then to apply it to
our own hearts, to our own state, to see whether it has, which
it does, a real application to every one of us. What a blessing
if you and I are not ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ and
are not ashamed of his words. We might think, well what does
ashamed mean? Well I suppose we could say it
also means to be embarrassed. Embarrassed, we might understand
that a bit easier. Because we live in this wicked
world And perhaps we don't want people to think we are a bit
different. We don't want people to think
that we're not willing to go in all their ways and all their
lives. We don't want people to think
that we're not going along with what they set out to do and set
out to worship. We don't follow the things of
this world, because the things of this world will quickly vanish
away. And when we're asked to follow
a certain course and do certain things, that the Lord gives us
that strength to say those simple words, no. It's a very small
word, isn't it? You can't get a smaller word,
can you, than no? And yet, you know, it's exceedingly
difficult sometimes to say that. Because if we do say no to certain
invitations, to go along with the spirit of the world, the
spirit of the age, and see, we don't like to be thought a strange
person, a different person to the world. And yet, on the other
hand, we don't want to be thought of nothing in the eyes of Almighty
God. Sometimes we find ourselves in
a difficult position and we're not sure which way to go but
you see very often we go down on the side of the devil. We don't go on the side of God.
What a blessing if we are given that grace therefore to perhaps
sometimes to stand alone. But you know the truth is that
we are not alone. We're not alone. Why are we not
alone? Because God is with us. What
a blessing and how important to know that God is with us.
Because if God is for us, who can be against us? It may appear
that people are against us. They may say things against us.
They may say horrible things against us. And we may be upset
about what they say. But it's better to hear things
from men against us than things from God against us. That's right,
isn't it? Well, maybe then be able to take
on board the great and blessed words of the Saviour. And let's
not turn away from it, but let's pray earnestly for that strength
and that grace to stand strong for the things of God. And to
not be ashamed, not be embarrassed, to be able to testify that yes,
we do believe the truth of God's Word. Yes, we do believe in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, we do believe the things
that he has said. Now, to make a stand like that
is not easy. It brings with it blessings. It brings with it the answer
of a good conscience. And it brings with us union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't bring with it union
with the world. It doesn't bring with it the
union with the spirit of the world. And we find there is therefore
that separation. and therefore that difficulty
in our natural life. But again, remember, our natural
life is just so short compared with eternity. And then to consider
the cost of our salvation. that cost that was paid by the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells us here in these
words, these previous words, and he says it's very clear,
isn't it? Whosoever again, gracious word,
will come after me, let him deny himself. and take up his cross
and follow me. So there is a denying. There is a following. There is a cost. There is a cost, without any
doubt, to true Christianity. And what a blessing if you and
I don't count the cost, really, We don't count the cost, because
of what the Saviour has done when we think that He didn't
count the cost to save us. Well, He knew what the cost was,
but He's willing to pay that price in order to redeem our
souls, and so there's a cost for us today. There is a cost. We're not to turn away from it.
That's the problem today. The problem with the Church of
God. People turn away. They're not
prepared to deny themselves. They're not prepared to take
up their cross. The effect is, the reality is,
they are ashamed. They're embarrassed to be a true
follower, a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Saviour goes on. He sets
it forth very clearly. My friends, may our hearts be
opened to receive the clarity of the Gospel. Because here it
says, Whosoever will save his life shall lose it. Sometimes
we might perhaps turn away from a situation which we know will
end up in embarrassment and difficulty for us if we truly take the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ upon our lips. We know that it will
be a costly action and well we should be thankful that we're
able by the grace of God to follow such a path. To realize here
not to try and save our life, not to try and save any embarrassment,
not to try and save any difficulty, any criticism, any opposition. Our natural mind, our natural
spirit will endeavour to relieve us of any criticism from the
world and the devil will encourage us to go along with the world,
to follow the things of the world and to try and let the world
know that we understand their worldly conversation. That we
follow some of the programs that they listen to or watch on television
and the films they go and see and the theatres that they visit
and all those kind of things that when we're asked the question
whether we've seen this or heard that know it's quite difficult
sometimes to stand firm and say well no and I don't really want
to and I don't go along with it because see this is the great
situation we are not to therefore stand on one side we are to be
a true disciple and a true follower and therefore to take up our
cross and to acknowledge that we are denying ourselves these
things on the one hand and on the other hand we are following
this great and glorious Saviour. And so the Lord says, whosoever
will save his life shall lose it. If you and I try and wear
two hats and have two lives, it's not taking up our cross.
And what does the Saviour say? But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, and the Gospels, the same shall save it. And that's
our eternal life. Take it to heart. The reality
of such important words, they relate to our eternal life. That life which you and I will
be found living eternally. when our little life is finished,
when all those who perhaps would criticise, all those who would
speak against us, and sometimes when the Lord gives you and me
grace to stand against the temptations of Satan, we find that those
things which we perhaps feared don't come upon us. we find that
people don't react in the way that we feared. Because they
recognise that here's a man who has faith in his God. You know, generally speaking,
the Muslims expect Christians to stand up for their beliefs. They don't expect them to deny,
they expect them to stand up. You and I wouldn't expect a Muslim
to, if he was faced with whether he believed in Allah, to say,
well, no, I don't really believe him. We would expect them to
stand up, and they would stand up. And yet, we're worshipping
the true God, the eternal God. And we have really nothing to
fear. If God is on our side, then how
easy it is to side with the world and their views and be concerned
what people will think. The Word of God tells us in a
very simple statement, the fear of man bringeth a snare, and
so it does. We often fear men. What a sad
thing it is, isn't it, if we fear men more than fearing God? We should fear God far more than
fearing men. And so we have this statement,
what should it profit a man if he should gain the whole world?
It can't be a greater expression than that, can it? But again,
the whole world, what would it benefit us if we could have everything
we wanted? Everything. What would it profit? What would it benefit? When you
and I come and stand before the judgment seat of God. Well, we
couldn't say, well I've got this and I've got that and I'm willing
to give this. It's worthless. It's of no value. It's not legal tender when you
and I stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The only legal
tender that there will be is this. To know that the Saviour has
redeemed our souls. He's paid a price and that price
It wasn't anything monetary. It was his most precious blood. That's the value of our salvation. And so it won't profit us anything
if we gain the whole world. And how important for us today
to put first things first. Because if we gain the whole
world and we lose our soul, we're lost. Eternally lost. We spend eternity in hell with
the devil and all his angels. What a terrible environment.
What a terrible environment. We're told about it, it's described,
where the worm dies not, where there's that nagging pain always,
that nagging realisation we've turned our back upon God, darkness,
gnashing of teeth, no relief, no relief. No relief eternally. What an utterly terrible thought,
is it not? So it says, and lose his own
soul. And what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? There's nothing, my friends,
of any legal value or legal tender which would equate to the value
of our souls. And therefore the Lord brings
us then very clearly to this important statement, whosoever
therefore, there we are, face for the facts, whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of me and of my words. The two things are joined together. Very comprehensive, first of
all, Ashamed of me of course is ashamed of the Lord Jesus
Christ and of my words means the whole Bible, doesn't it?
The whole Word of God. Are we therefore ashamed of the
Lord Jesus Christ because he was a despised person? Are we ashamed of him? Ashamed
of his life? Ashamed that he didn't bring
himself to be a natural king, but indeed was just a poor man
in this world with no possessions apart from the clothes he wore? And are we ashamed of the Word
of God? And that means from Genesis to
Revelation. You see, today, There is much
ridiculing of the Word of God. And you and I can be sure that
we will be ridiculed if we say that we believe the Word of God
to be truth. People will mock, of course they
will. But you see, that may be painful to your flesh, but it
doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And why does
it matter? We have a good conscience before
God, which is so valuable. Perhaps in our lives we have
to look back. Sadly, sadly, look back and confess. It's been perhaps many times
when we've been ashamed of the law of Jesus, when we haven't
liked to confess. that we do believe the Word of
God, the whole Word of God. This is the great problem today.
People sit on the fence. They sit on the fence. They're
not prepared to acknowledge whom they serve, who they desire to
serve, who they follow, who they want to follow. And the reason
for it We're ashamed. Well, if we are ashamed, do we realise that the day approaches
when the Lord will be ashamed of us? It's a great thought, isn't it?
Surely we don't want the Lord to be ashamed of us, faced with
eternity. We want to hear those great and
glorious words. Come in! Now, blessed are my
Father, wherefore standest thou without? Gracious words of invitation
into glory. May we therefore come and recognise
these words before us. Be ashamed of the Lord Jesus. It's a very personal statement,
isn't it? It's a personal statement to you and me. We have to answer
before God as to whether we have been ashamed. And if we have,
to pray for forgiveness and seek that the Lord will strengthen
us to not be ashamed again. To not be ashamed again. How we need God to help us. And what a favour it is to enjoy
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no greater blessing than
to realise He is our beloved. that he is our friend. Just like those words spoken
by the Bride of Christ in that fifth chapter of the Song of
Solomon. Very blessed words they are. And as we realize what she
did, the Bride of Christ, she was really ashamed. And she was really not very concerned. She was more happier just staying
in bed because she'd washed herself and taken off her shoes and she
didn't want to get up. She was really ashamed. And when she went to hear the
preaching of the gospel, when she heard the servants of God
referred to as the watchmen, well, they didn't comfort her.
They weren't words of comfort. They were difficult for her. And she tells us of the situation
in the fifth chapter of the Song of Solomon. She says, the watchmen
that went about the city found me. They smoked me. Now, it's a good thing, my friends,
when you and I come to hear the preaching of the gospel and the
word of God, it smites our heart. It has a gracious effect. And what a blessing if it is
because of God's love toward us, that we haven't been passed
by. The Word of God smites us. They watched and they went about,
they said, did they found me? Yes, she was found out. It's
good when you and I are before God, listening to the preacher
of the Gospel, and we're found out. The Word of God penetrates,
we're found out. And they smoked me, they wounded
me. It's good, you know, if the Spirit
of God comes like that and speaks to our heart and it smites us
and we're wounded. It has effect. It's produced
something. Again, think of that in your
and my spiritual life. To have the evidence where that
has occurred, that we have been smitten and wounded by the Word
of God and sure it's when the Spirit of God reveals to us our
sinful condition and how we've turned our back upon God. We've
followed our way, the way of sin. We've listened to the devil. And what's the devil said? What's
the devil said? There's no harm in it. There's
no harm in it. You know, never forget the words
that the devil spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden, recorded
so very clearly in that third chapter, when the serpent came
and said, yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree
of the garden? He asked a question. And the
woman told him the answer. The woman said, we may eat the
fruit of the trees of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which
is in the midst of the garden, God has said you shall not eat
of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die. And that was
a very clear statement. What does the devil say? Ye shall
not surely die. And that's what he says today.
You can do this, you can do that, there's no harm in it. You won't
die, it won't affect you, but it will. So here was the words of this
Bride of Christ. She knew, you see, she realised
what was happening. Then she went to the Church of
God, the Daughters of Jerusalem, and she said, Hey, if you find
my beloved, will you tell him that I am sick of love? And I
ask her the question, I say, well, what is thy beloved? More than another beloved that
thou dost so charge us. What's the difference? We might
be asked the question, what does Christ mean to us? What does
Christ mean to us? That really is the separating
Question, isn't it? What does Christ mean to you
today? Is it nothing to you, or you that pass by? We pass by, is it nothing? Does
Christ mean nothing? Well, the Bride of Christ, she
was able to give a good answer, we won't go through it, but from
the verse 9 down to the end of the chapter, it tells us, and
it comes right to the very last verse, which says this, his mouth
is most sweet, that means the words that the Lord speaks to
our soul is good. This is my beloved and this is
my friend. Just think of that. The Saviour,
a friend of sinners. Is he your friend? Is he my friend? This is my beloved, and this
is my friend, the daughters of Jerusalem. If you're able to
tell the Church of God what the Lord Jesus meant to her, and
what a good thing it is. If you and I were to tell the
Church of God what the Lord Jesus means to us, the chiefest among
10,000, and the altogether lovely, wherefore, therefore, Whosoever
therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words." Well remember
then, this means the whole Word of God, the whole doctrine of
the Word of God, right from the beginning, to believe that the
Word of God is God's Word, not the Word of man, it's the Word
of God. God created all things. He spoke the word into being.
It didn't come about with a big bang or didn't come about by
some theistic solution of God using time to produce creation. Not at all. Believe it as the
word tells us. And again, to follow it through,
my friends, you and I should pray that we might have a good
and a right and blessed understanding of the whole gospel of Christ.
See that's what will strengthen us. That's what will be a support
to us when we are able to understand the great plan of salvation.
Man sinned as we read in that Garden of Eden. Man disobeyed
God and everyone has fallen, everyone has sinned through that
original sin and you and I sin every day, don't we? And we need
to be delivered. We need to be freed from our
sin. No sin enters into heaven. I don't think it does. I don't
think there's any entrance in for an unwashed sinner, an unsaved
sinner. There's no way. Heaven is a holy place. My friends,
you and I need to know the blessed Saviour has given His life. He's died for us upon that cross
at Calvary. There was neither good enough
to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate
to heaven and let us in. There was neither way. Christ
is the way. That's why the question is so
relevant. What think ye of Christ is the test. We had this in the earlier part
of this chapter, when the Lord Jesus asked the disciples, whom
do men say that I am? And they gave various reasons.
But the Lord said, but whom say ye that I am? It doesn't matter
what other people think. It's what you think. It's what
I think. What do we think? What do we think? What did Peter say? He answered
really on behalf, didn't he, of the other disciples. What
did he say? Thou art the Christ. Thou art the Christ. All my friends
today, can you answer that question? Thou art the Christ. That means
the one who's died in your place. He stood there, he's bore the
punishment instead. He's paid the price for your
sins. Sins past, sins today, sins to come, they're all paid
for, they're washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And my friends, dare we bear
shame of such a Saviour? Oh, the words of God. These words which are food and
drink to the Church of God, they're not just dry words, they're not
just dry doctrines. No, they're wonderful truth. We are remembering in a special
way this year, of course, the Reformation at the end of October,
that day when Martin Luther nailed his thesis to that church door.
You know, Martin Luther said, doctrine is heaven. Don't ever listen to people who
say dry doctrine. That's a phrase which is absolutely
wrong. My friends, doctrine is heaven. Doctrine is establishing. Doctrine
is good. Read the Word of God. Read the
Word of God, bless God for the Word of God which shows to us
the whole plan of salvation. It shows us how the Lord in his
great love and mercy called a people, he chose a people. Don't turn
away from the great and glorious gospel truth, the doctrine of
election and predestination. You see, without it, There wouldn't
be any hope for you and me because we wouldn't have any desire naturally
to serve God. No, we wouldn't have any desire
at all. What a blessing it is when we know the effect of the
work of the Holy Spirit upon our heart. And recognize it is
the Word of God and the blessed effect of His work as the Holy
Spirit comes upon us and instructs us and that we know that we could
not have done this ourselves. We recognise it is the power
of God unto salvation. Well, the Lord Jesus spoke of
it, didn't he, so clearly. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. God has chosen us. What a mercy. Do you bless God for that this
morning? Do you bless God that has given you grace to seek after
him? If you bless God, He hasn't left
you to an evil heart of unbelief. Whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of me and of my words, oh let us not be. Let us not
be. Let us not be. Because if we
are, the Lord tells us He'll be ashamed of us. He'll be ashamed
of us. What a tragic situation. Can
you imagine a life in hell with a conscious understanding
that you spent your life ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend in whom our
hopes of heaven depend? No, you've been ashamed of Him.
You didn't want to take up your cross. You didn't want to be
criticised. You didn't want to be despised.
You didn't want to be mocked. Remember the Saviour. He was
mocked. He was despised. He was spoken
against. He did all that as the Almighty
Son of God. to redeem your soul. The price
of our redemption, so high, so great, his death, his sin-atoning
death, his painful death. But my friends, it was accepted
to the Father. Remember then, this great statement,
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, and may we therefore
never be ashamed of this great and glorious Saviour. Remember
in this last verse, in this eighth chapter of Mark, whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of me and of 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. Amen.