I want to talk tonight about
God not being ashamed of being our God. God not ashamed to be
called our God. Let me read starting with Abraham in verse
8. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place, which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
where he went. And by faith he soldiered in
the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
What was he looking for when he was going through that strange
country? He looked for a city which hath foundations, who's
builder and maker is God. And through faith also Sarah
herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful
who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
water, And that set promise seed, the
Lord Jesus, as good as dead, so many as the stars, the sky
in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.
They persuaded of those promises. They embraced those promises.
And in doing that, they confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned. But now, oh, how
many times in the Bible does it say, but now, they desire
a better country, that is a heavenly country. Wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God. for he hath prepared for them
a city." That's one of the most astounding statements you'll
find in the Bible. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God. And that's what he said to you
right now if you're a believer. He's not ashamed to be called
your God. I'm their God. They're my people. Now that's what you call a miracle,
ain't it? For God to look at you and me and say, I'm not ashamed
to be called their God. Not ashamed of it. Not ashamed
of them. Not ashamed of them. What's about
us to be ashamed of? We stand perfect in Christ. We're
complete in Christ. We have no sin. We're righteous. And He made us all of those things.
So He couldn't be ashamed of His work. It's His work. It's His work. And we love to
talk about God. I tried to say a few things about
Him this morning. We love to talk about God and
all that He is and all that He can do. And I don't like to talk
about the things God cannot do. But I'll tell you some things
he cannot do. He cannot lie. He cannot lie. He cannot be tempted with evil.
And he cannot deny himself. And he cannot change. He cannot
change. And another thing about him is
that he doesn't love everyone. He said, Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. And these things about His blessed
nature and character, they're comforting to us to know that
He cannot change. We change. Oh, how we change.
We change from doing the day. We change from being happy to
angry. We can change from having our
hearts warmed by God to being cold, just like that. We can
change to having our mind fixed on heavenly things, and next
thing you know, they're in the gutter. Just that quick. But
He's not like that. He does not change. Cannot change. And He cannot ever deny Himself. And these things are comfort
to us. And I know, like I said this morning, God's not like
us in any way whatsoever. He does not need us, but we need
Him. Through all these things that
He is not, we are. He's not a liar, we are. He's
not able to be tempted, we are. He cannot deny Himself, but we
oftentimes deny Him and deny... And He cannot change, but you
and I can. And oh, He's not like us. We
can do all the things that He cannot. But look here in Hebrews
11, 16 at this startling, startling statement. Wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God. And look what it says, He hath
prepared for them a city. When did He prepare it? Before
the foundation of the world. Here's what it is about God.
Let me just say a few things about Him. Go back here to verse
6. This is why. You see, He's not ashamed to
be called our God, for we believe that He is. He says in verse
6, without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that He is. And we believe that He is. Well,
who is He? Well, look over in Exodus 3 and
look what God says about Himself. Who is this God that we believe
He is? That He is. He that comes to
God believes He is. We believe that He is. Not that
He was. Not that He's going to be. That
He is. There never was a time that He was. There never will
be a time that He won't be. And what He was in eternity,
He is now. And what He is now, He'll be
always. And He'll never be. And He's
eternal. He's immutable. He's holy and just. And the creation
and the creator of things. But look what happens. Here in
Hebrews chapter 3 in verse 6. Moses, you know, he saw that
burning bush and he turned aside. And look what he says in verse
6 here. God speaks to Moses. Put off your shoes from your
feet for the place you stand is holy ground. Moreover, he
said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Jacob, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses
hid his face for he is afraid to look upon God. And that God
is not ashamed to be called our God. Now look down here in verse
13. And Moses said unto him, Behold,
he told him he was going to send him to Egypt. And Moses said
unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto
you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall
I say unto them? What am I going to say about
you? How am I going to describe you? How am I going to tell them
your power and your glory, and that you God gave us a promise,
and you're going to save them out of Egypt? What am I going
to say about you? I got to tell them something.
I can't go down there and say, well, this God sent me down here
that met me in a burning bush, and I don't know, you know, I
don't know if he's got the power to do what he says he does or
not, but oh, no, no, look what's that. And God said unto Moses,
I am that I am. Eternal self-existence, I am,
and I am. Never is a time that I will not
be that I am. You go down there and tell them,
who is He? I am! Who is He? I am! You know, if you say, I am, that
don't mean diddly, but if He says, I am, and look what He
goes on to say, and He said, thus shall I say unto the children
of Israel, I am has set me unto you. I am eternal, the self-existent
God. And God said, Moreover unto Moses,
thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord
God of your fathers, the God of Isaac, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me unto you,
and listen to this, and this is my name forever, and this
is my memorial unto all generations. I am. If you was to describe
God to somebody, how would you describe Him? I am. And when we describe Him
and He says, I am, that means He does as He pleases, when He
pleases, always as He pleases. Here in Hebrews 11.3 it says
this, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the Word of God. Framed by, built by, upheld by,
And everything that you look at now was not made. Everything that exists is not
made by anything you can see right now. We believe that He is. That means
when we believe He is, we're like Abraham when Moses, when
God said, I am. And that's what we say, God,
You are. You are holy. You are glorious. You are creator. You are sustainer. You are life. You are the God of promises,
you're the God of sacrifice, the God of substitution, the
God of setting, you're God and there ain't nobody like you.
And we'll bow down before you and we'll humble ourselves before
you and we'll bow to you and you're the only God we'll ever
bow to. Oh, listen, He's the only wise
God and He's Omni. He's Omni. What does Omni mean?
That means that he's got everything. He has all. He's omni. Oh, he's omnipotent. That means
he's got all power. He's omnipresent. That means
he's everywhere. And he's omniscient. That means
he knows everything. That's why he says, I am. Could you be anywhere where he's
not? Why? Because He is. I am. And oh, listen. He does according
to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And no man can say, does according
to His will, no man can say unto Him, what thou doest and can
stay His hand. Oh, no. He does what He pleases
in the heavens, in the earth, in the seas, in all deep places.
And I tell you, we find comfort and assurance in this God. Sovereign, electing, predestinating
God. The God of Jacob. Brad preached
last Sunday morning and talked about the God of Jacob. Do you
know who the God of Jacob is? God said, I am. I am the God
of election. I chose Jacob. I'm the God of
love. I love Jacob. I'm the God that
meets Jacob and cripples Jacob and changes Jacob and gives him
a new name, makes him a new creature. I'm the God of Jacob. I'm the
God that made a promise. I'm the God of Jacob. I promised
Jacob that out of him would come a nation. I'm the God of Jacob. I'm the
living God that gave him life and made a promise to him. I'm
the God of Jacob. And I tell you, beloved, we pray
for His will. We trust in His will and we bow
to His will. And I tell you something, we're
not fatalists. No, no, no. No, because we believe that He
is. And that means that He's all
wise, kind, full of mercy, pity, patience, and longsuffering.
And we believe that He is. Wherefore, He's not ashamed to
be called our God. Huh? Not ashamed to be called
our God. And oh, listen, back over here
in Hebrews, Noah moved with fear and Abraham obeyed God. I mean,
because they knew He was the great I Am. And look what else
it says back over here in Hebrews 6. Hebrews 11.6. Not only do we believe that He
is, we believe that He is. You know, there's a... I read
the other day where one of the most intelligent men that's ever
been known to man, Carl Sagan, he's dead and gone now. He says
that the earth came into existence by a big bang, that we came here,
we know nothing while we're here, we can't attain nothing while
we're here, we don't amount to nothing, and when we leave here,
there's nothing left to do. Oh my, I'd hate to live like
that. I'd hate to live like I was just an animal just passing through
here, and I'm going to die the death of an animal and things
just cease to exist. Oh my. Oh, but listen. We believe that He is. We believe
that He is, and when we say that, we believe that He is who He
says He is. I love that God. You can worship
that God. You can call on that God. You
can trust that God. You can believe that God. You
can obey that God. You can call on that God. And
you don't have to look at anything or see anything to trust Him.
Just believe what He says. When it's dark, we can still
walk. We set out on the porch last night, that big storm come
through there and all the clouds got just as dark, you know, and
I sit out there and I watch that. I love watching them things.
And they just come through there and the wind just blow it, and
just dark and dark and dark. I said, that's the way life is
sometimes. You're sitting there and then
all of a sudden, wind goes to blow it. Dark clouds come through
then, and a storm blooms over you. And God is. Get up the next morning,
sun's shining. God is. God is. Now look what else it says. Not only do we believe that He
is, but it says there in verse 6, for he that cometh to God. And not only do we believe that
He is, we've come to Him as He is. We've come to Him. Not a
God that we imagined. But how did we come to Him? We
come to Him by faith. Look back up here in verse 1
with me. We come to Him by faith. By faith. Now faith is a substance. And what substance means? That
means that it's the confidence that we have. Of things hoped
for. And the evidence of things we've
not seen. We've never seen God. We haven't
seen the Lord Jesus Christ. We haven't ever seen a trinity.
We haven't seen justification. We haven't seen righteousness.
But every one of these things have substance to us, reality
to us. How? By faith. I don't know. You know, going to heaven, I
don't have a clue what that city is going to look like. and how
peaceful and what it will be like to be without sin and enjoy
God forever. I don't know what that's going
to be like to never weep, to never sorrow, to never grieve.
All those people today talking about their loved ones say, we
know you're looking down, we know you're looking down. That
couldn't be heaven if you're looking down. And I've never seen it, but faith
gives me substance. There's a hope after this life.
Faith gives me substance as an eternal hope waiting for me.
And it's a living reality to us that have faith. Ain't it? It's real to us. It's not some
pie in the sky. Oh my, look what else it says
here. And by faith. We've come to Him
by faith. By it, the elders attained a
good report. God said, look, look, they believe
me, they believe me, they believe me, they believe me. I'm not
ashamed to be their God. And it's through faith we understand
that the worlds were famed by the Word of God. And I'll tell you, Lord willing,
I'm going to start preaching through Genesis pretty soon.
And we're studying for that. Again, I'll tell you, you would
not believe how many people that are out preaching that believe
the first 11 chapters of Genesis is just make-believe. That it
doesn't amount to nothing. Ain't that right, Gary? The first
11 chapters is just a fairy tale. And you've got to start with
Abraham in Genesis 12 and say, that's where you pick up. All the rest of it is just foolishness.
Don't even believe it. But that's not the way we are.
See this world? God asked Job, said, where was
you at when I built it, Job, and I laid the foundation of
it? When I start to build a wall here and a wall there, and I
make this thing around, and I put stars in the skies, and sun in
the heavens, and the moon in the heavens, and put people on
it, where were you at, Job? Oh, my. And by faith, Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Oh, and that's what
we do. We have a more excellent sacrifice.
Oh, we have the best sacrifice, the only sacrifice that God will
accept. We have the sacrifice of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have faith in a sacrifice.
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. And look
what it says, And God testified that he is righteous, testified
of his gifts. And oh, we come unto God by Jesus
Christ. We come by faith. We have a sacrifice. And that sacrifice is Christ
Himself. Abel brought a sacrifice. Well,
you and I are here tonight with a sacrifice. What sacrifice is
this? It's the blood and righteousness
of Christ. We come to God by Christ, by
our Lord Jesus. And God testifies that this is
My beloved Son whom I am well pleased. They are coming to Me
except by Him. He's holy and righteous, harmless
and undefiled, separate from sinners, even higher than the
heavens. Oh, my! And I tell you what, this is
why we trust a person. We trust a person. Let me tell
you something. I love the doctrine. I love the
doctrine of Christ. And that's what's called the
doctrine of Christ. I love the truths of God. I can't embrace a doctrine, but
I can embrace a person. I can't talk to a doctrine, but
I can talk to a person. I can't bow down to a doctrine,
but I can bow down to a person. And that's why he says, God made
him to be that sacrifice for us. He, without spot, without
blemish, offered himself to God. He by Himself entered into heaven
with His own blood. And He put it on the altar before
God. And now God said, that's a sweet-smelling
savor to me. And every time you come to God
in Christ, God says, that's the savor of life! I tell you, beloved, though we
believe and we have faith, I'll tell you something, faith didn't
put sin away. The Lord Jesus Christ did. Faith
didn't satisfy God's justice, the Lord Jesus Christ did. Faith believes it's done, not
I must do. That's what we talk about when
we talk about faith. And oh, our Lord Jesus with His
spotless garments on with us. Spotless is God's own Son. Holy
is God's own Son. We're for God. It's not a shame
to be called our God. He gave us a sacrifice. And we believe that sacrifice,
and that sacrifice is ours. Huh? And we're made of septic. Where at? In the Beloved. I tell you, God's not ashamed
to be called their God. And let me show you something
else down here in verse 7. Oh, by faith we condemn the world,
and by faith we say we're strangers and pilgrims. It says here, by
faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet. There,
he had some faith that had some substance. He hadn't seen a water. He hadn't seen a rain. But God
told him it was going to rain. He was going to destroy the world.
Nobody had ever seen that before, but he moved with faith because
God's promise had substance for him. And what did he do? He moved
with fear. He hadn't seen nothing yet. And
he prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Huh? And by faith Abraham went out
and all listened. And he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And I tell
you, they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims. Are you a stranger and a pilgrim
here? Are you a stranger to Pilgrim?
Look what David said about, I think it's Psalm 39. I'm pretty sure
it's Psalm 39. Look at Psalm 39. This is what
David said. And this is the way we feel.
I believe it's Psalm 39. Yes, 39 and 12. Oh, listen, we confess that we're
strangers and by faith we condemn the world. Our righteousness
condemns the world. And He condemned the world by
His righteousness when He prepared that ark. But look what He says
here. Psalm 39, 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give
ear unto my cry. Hold not Thy peace at my tears.
Now listen to this. For I'm a stranger with Thee.
What does He mean? that God's a stranger in His
own world. How many people do you know that
knows God? Huh? He's a stranger in His own
world. All you've got to do is hear
people talk for two minutes and you know that He's a stranger.
And that's why David said, God, you're a stranger here and I'm
a stranger here with you. Huh? And I'm a sojourner. Just like all my fathers were.
My fathers were sojourners going through this world and that's
all I'm doing. That's all I'm going to do. I'm just traveling through. He
said, I'm just traveling through. Oh my. And I'll tell you what,
look what back there in Hebrews 11.7. It says that, He prepared
that ark to the saving of His house by which He condemned the
world. And the faith that we have, and
looking to that ark, our Lord Jesus Christ, by way we believe
and what we believe and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ and getting
in that ark, trusting in that ark, being in Christ our ark,
we condemn the world. We condemn the world. Huh? Oh, we're looking to Christ alone,
our ark, and on that promise that's His alone. And so, oh,
God's not a bishop. to be called their God. Oh my. And that because He was their
God. You notice Noah didn't have a clue what was going on until
he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham was an idolater
when God saved him. Israel was down in Egypt, slaves. And God said, that's my people.
I'm not ashamed to be called their God. But let me tell you
who the people he was not ashamed to be called their God. I'll
tell you who it wasn't. I'll tell you who he was ashamed
of to be called their God. First of all, he was ashamed
of Cain. He never said, Cain. He cursed Cain. Oh, not Ishmael, not Esau, not
just the Jews. But who is here not ashamed to
be called their God? Abel. Why? Because Abel brought a blood
sacrifice. You know what he did when he
brought that blood sacrifice? He said, I'm coming with an innocent
person. I'm coming with my sin, but on
somebody else. Because I'm a sinner. And God
is not ashamed to be called God. to people that are sinners. He's not ashamed to be called
Enoch's God. He's not ashamed to be called
Noah's God. And Noah was like anybody else
that lived in his day until God gave him grace. Abraham, sinners. He's not ashamed to be called
their God. Not ashamed. He's not ashamed for David. I
know you've heard this before and I'll say it again. David
was as much loved of God, saved of God, and not ashamed to be
called his God when he was in the arms of Bathsheba as when
he was fighting the Lord's enemies. You say, that's hard to take.
No, it ain't. Not for me it ain't. And I'll
tell you why, then. God never changes. And if He ever changed, He'd
cut me and you off just like that for what goes through our
minds. Ain't you grateful that He is
who He is? Oh! Oh, my. Ain't that a shame to be Simon
Peters? God, Simon, you're going to deny
me three times tonight. Oh, no, no, no, not me, Lord,
not me. I'm not ashamed to be called
his God. He is warming himself at the
enemy's fire. That's one of mine. That's one
of mine. That's why you call it salvation
by grace. That's why you call it by salvation
by what somebody else did. never has anything to do with
us. Huh? I like it like that, don't you?
And not only do I like it, I love it! Take everything away from
me and just give me Christ. That's enough. And oh, I tell
you where He's not ashamed to be their God, before the law
and justice and holiness and righteousness, He said, before
His own law, He's not ashamed to be their God. Before justice,
He's not ashamed to be called their God. Before His holiness
and His righteousness, I'm not ashamed to be called their God.
Why? Because we've kept the law, justice has been satisfied, and
we have the righteousness of God. He's not ashamed to be called
our God before the devils. He said to Satan, When Satan
come to and fro, he said, Satan, he told Satan, he said, where
you going to? I'm going to and fro, looking for whom I may divide.
He said, if you considered my servant Job, I'm not ashamed
to be called his God. Well, I tell you, you just build
a hedge around him. You take that hedge down, he'll
cut you to your face. No, he didn't. God said, I'm
not ashamed to be called his God. And he's not ashamed. to be called their God and our
God before men. When Stephen was being stoned
to death, you know what the Lord just says? The Lord Jesus Christ
stood up. He said, I see the Lord Jesus
standing on the right hand of God. And he said, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. Lay not this sin to their charge. Oh, He wasn't ashamed to be Stephen's
God. He wasn't ashamed to be Paul's
God. And He's not ashamed of us before
angels. And I'll tell you what, He knows
everything there is to know about us. I read it this morning. God
knoweth the hearts. He knows us. He knows us, knows
us, knows us just as we are. and even before our own hearts,
our grumbling, complaining, sinful hearts, He says, I'm not ashamed
to be called your God. There's never a time, never a
place, never a situation, never a circumstances where He is ashamed
to be called our God. And we confess Him and on Him
and bless Him and His blessed Son for being our God and our
Savior. We do. And I'll tell you something
else. Look in Romans chapter 10 with
me. Look at this just a minute. Romans
10. And we won't be brought to shame by our God. We won't be
brought to shame. And this is saying the same thing
but in a different way. We'll be ashamed of things we
do, but God's not ashamed to be called their God. Look what
He said in Romans 10, 9 and 11. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised thee from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteous, with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Now that's not talking
about us being ashamed of God. That's talking about when it's
all said and done, we won't be brought to shame when we believe
God. That's what this is saying. That's
what this is saying here. Many is going to hear him say,
Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you."
But not those who confess the Lord. When He says, you confess
with your mouth, believe that God raised Him from the dead.
And I'll tell you, we confess the Lord. We confess that He
was raised from the dead. We believe in all our hearts,
we believe that He's our only righteousness. And we confess
that He's our only righteousness. We confess! that we have nobody
else to trust but Him. We confess that. And that's our
confession of salvation. What's our confession of salvation?
Christ? What's our creed? Christ? What's
our hope before God? Christ? Why ain't God ashamed
of us? Christ? And I believe with my
heart that God raised Him from the dead and that He is righteous, and
we will not be brought to shame when we face God. That's where
it's going to count. That's why when we go to a believer's
funeral, we can rejoice. We can bless the Lord. Our flesh
is sad and our hearts are sad, but oh my goodness, all those
that's gone by, these all died in faith. They went to that city! And all believe in thine heart,
God raised him from the dead. You believe he satisfied God,
that sin is finished, wrath has been endured and consumed. And oh my, taking the Lord Jesus
Christ as the only hope that you have. And I tell you, beloved,
and that's why we're looking for a city. Looking for a city. who's builder and maker is God. And you know what? He's prepared
that city. He ain't gonna let us in the
city that he gonna be, ain't nobody going in there he gonna
be ashamed of. That ain't gonna happen. Our Father, oh our Father, Thank
You for the joy and peace that we have in believing. Thank You
for this blessed gospel that gives all the glory to You. That
attributes everything that's ever done to You. All of our
salvation. All of it. Every drop of it. Every minute detail of it. It's
of You. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto
us. but under thy name be glory for
thy mercy and thy truth's sake. Oh, we bless you, Lord. God save
you people in this place. Strengthen and encourage you
people in this place. Please be merciful and gracious
to the hard men. Give them grace and strength
and others among us whose bodies are weak, whose afflictions may
be great, whose heart may be heavy. Oh, the great I am. We believe
you will. Amen. Amen. Let's get our course
books. I'm saying that living by faith. Number 11. Number 11. Let's stand
together. I care not today what the morrow
may bring If saddle or sunshine or rain The Lord I know ruleth
o'er everything And all of my worry is vain Ocampus may blow and storm clouds
may arise, I'm fearing the brightness of life. I'm never alarmed at
the overcast skies, The Master looks on at the strife. I know that He safely will carry
me through, yes, yes bless His name. Why should I then care
though the tempest may blow, if Jesus walks close by my side? In Jesus above, trust and confide. Yes, He is great love. Our Lord will return to this
earth some sweet day. Our troubles will then pay me. He will lead us
away beyond that blessed heavenly shore. Jesus I'm saying Pastor Gene Harmon will be here.