Verse 16, Paul the Apostle says, For I
am not ashamed of the gospel. That's what I've entitled this
message, Not Ashamed of the gospel. Now, being ashamed, as you know,
is one of the worst feelings in the world, isn't it? Being
ashamed. It's that feeling of fear or
shame that prevents you from doing something or prevents you
from wanting to be associated with something or even someone. Shame. It's a horrible feeling,
isn't it? Being ashamed. I hate being ashamed. I think
of the feelings that come into my mind. I can think of times
when I've been embarrassed or ashamed or humiliated. Shame is a powerful thing, isn't
it? As a matter of fact, shame, if God leaves us to ourself and
doesn't prevent this, Shame can prevent a man from confessing
Christ. Let me show you this in scripture,
turn to Mark chapter 8. Verse 34. Mark 8, verse 34, And when he
had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said
unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
and the gospel's the same shall save it. For what shall it profit
a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for a soul? Whosoever therefore shall be
ashamed of me and of my words." You can't separate him and his
words. Whosoever will 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.
Turn to John 12 for a moment. John 12. Shame. Which of us? Which of us? I've never been in a situation
where we were ashamed to confess what we knew we should. Which of us have not played the
coward at one time or the other and not confessed? Here in John
chapter 12, verse 42, nevertheless, Among the chief rulers, also
many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, their fear
of the Pharisees, their respect for the Pharisees, they believed
on him, but it says they did not confess him, lest they should
be put out of the synagogue. They were afraid of the repercussions
of this confession, for they loved the praise of men more
than the praise of God. Now, somebody may wonder, does
a true believer need this warning? Surely one who loves Christ does
not need this. Well, question, was Timothy a
believer? Was he a believer when Paul,
the apostle, said to him, Timothy, be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord? nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God." Now, this is shame, or being shamed is associated
with the fear of man, fear of what they think about us. Doesn't
it make you hate yourself when you're more concerned about what
a man thinks than what the God of glory thinks? Fear concerning what a man may
do to us. You know, it was shame and fear
that caused Peter to deny his Lord. That's exactly what was
taking place then. He was ashamed. He was afraid
of what would take place. You know, our Lord said one time,
fear not them that are able to kill the body. And after that,
that's all they can do. Yay, rather fear him that's able
to take both soul and body and cast it into hell. Yay, fear
him. And while there is misery and
shame, and I know that from experience, how bad you feel about yourself
when you fail in that respect. While there's misery and shame,
there's such joy in a bold, open confession. Oh, to say with Paul,
and I'm saying it right now, I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Now, I am ashamed of man's religion,
to be quite frank. I'm ashamed of man's religion.
I don't want to be identified with it. I don't want to be identified
with the great majority of what is called Christianity. or Christian
religion in this nation, I don't want to be identified with it.
I'm ashamed of it. Why? Well, the God that's presented
in this religion is a shameful God. He's not worthy of worship. You see, you'll only worship
an absolute sovereign. And you won't worship anything
else as long as you can manipulate God, you won't worship him. You'll
only worship an absolute sovereign. And the God that I hear preached
is a God that I am ashamed of. He doesn't even deserve the name
God. Is that speech too harsh? No.
Somebody says, yeah, it is. Well, no, I don't agree. I believe
that. But I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Now, like I said, I'm ashamed
of human religion. I am. I don't want to be associated
with it. I don't want to be identified with it. I don't even like to
tell folks I'm a preacher when I'm out in public, because I
know what's going to happen as soon as I do. You don't know how people
turn it on when they find out you're a preacher. I've got to
listen to all that stuff. And I just, I try to, you know,
well, what do you do? Well, you know, I'm married to
William, you know. That's about it, you know. But
with regard to the gospel, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. As
a matter of fact, I am proud of the gospel. It's a message
worthy of God. It's a message that glorifies
and honors the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm proud of it. I'm not
proud of myself, but I'm proud of the gospel. You see, when
you love somebody, when you really love somebody, your children,
when your children are exalted, you love them. You love them. You're just as
proud as if it was you, because you're so proud of them. When
you love somebody, and we are proud of that gospel that exalts
our Lord and our Master and our Savior, it makes us proud of
Him. I'm proud of the gospel. It gives Him all the glory. I'm
proud of it. I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
I preach. I'm not. By God's grace, I'm going to
shout it from a housetop. Somebody says, why don't nobody
else believe that? I don't care. I'm still not ashamed of it.
I am not ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
let's see what led Paul to make this statement, and I want you
to listen prayerfully and carefully as we consider this, not ashamed
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be able to
leave this place saying with the same conviction as the Apostle
Paul himself, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Well, if I leave
this place like that, I'm going to be one happy fellow, aren't
I? Oh, there's such joy in this bold, open confession. We'll
look back at verse 8. Paul says, first, I thank my
God. Isn't that what ought to come
first? Sure it is. First, I thank my God through
Jesus Christ. I love the way Paul says, I won't
even thank God apart from the mediation of Christ. God won't
even accept my thanksgiving without Christ. I thank my God through
Jesus Christ for you all. Now, that's not the way the average
says it. I thank you for being here. I thank you for being here. Now, I'm glad you're here. I
am. I want to thank you for being here. You're here to worship
God. Should you be thanked for that? That's what you ought to
be doing. That's what I ought to be doing. We thank you for
being here. Now, don't be harsh. I mean, I'm not saying, well,
y'all believe. No, I'm not. I'm glad you're
here. I really am. I really am. I'm
not thanking you for being here. I thank my God. That's what it
says. I thank my God for you all. You're the reason you want to
be here. Who gets credit? He does, doesn't he? I thank
my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world. Now, such was the faith of the
Roman believers that it was spoken of throughout the whole world.
Let me ask you a question. The object of our faith is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Should we have not such, should
we not have such a confidence in him, such a faith that causes
it to be spoken of throughout the whole world? Isn't he worthy
of that? Complete trust and confidence. Isn't he worth wanting to deny
yourself, take a, not just wanting to do it, denying yourself, taking
up your cross daily and following him? And he says to the Roman
believers, your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
That's quite a combination. He says, I thank God for it.
I'm not thanking you for it. I'm thanking God for it. I'm thankful for
you. I am. I'm thankful for the work of
God's grace in your heart. Who do I thank for it? God. He
says in verse nine, for God is my witness. Whom I serve with
my spirit. I don't serve him with my flesh,
I serve him with my spirit and sincerity. That's what it means
more than anything else, serving in sincerity. You know, if you're around somebody enough,
you're going to figure out whether or not they're sincere, aren't
you? You'll know. He said, For God is my witness,
whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. I'm not
just talking. Now, that's what most religious
people's speech is. Just talk. He says, God's my witness. I'm
not just talking. I pray for you. I pray for you. I bring your name before the
throne of grace. God's my witness. I pray for
you, Lord. Lord knows whether that's so.
I pray for you. I bring your name before the
throne of grace. That's how much you love these people. God's
my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of the
Son, but without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers,
making a request, if by any means, now at length, I might have a
prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you. You know,
whatever I do, I want it to be easy. I'm going to pray for a
prosperous journey. I'm going to pray that everything
goes well and everything, and Paul did too. I'm not going to
pray for a rough journey. I'm not going to pray for trials.
Lord, send me trials to make me grow. No. I'm quite happy
to just think the way they are. I'd just as soon get out of trials
if I can get out of them. Give me the grace to believe your
word. Let me have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come to you. He says in verse 11, for I long
to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gifts
To this end, that you may be established. I want to see you
for this end, for this purpose. I wanted to impart to you some
spiritual gift, not a material gift, but a spiritual gift so
that you might be established. And that means settled. He's
talking about the gift of the gospel, preaching the gospel
to them. And I want you to become settled, established, strengthened,
where you're not always going back and forth. Swayed back and
forth. The latest thing you hear, it
brings you this way and that way. No, I want you to be firm
and strong and settled in the gospel. Don't you want to be
established? I mean, I'm rooted right here. I'm not going to
get knocked back and forth. He says, this is what I want for
you, that you might be established so you're not chasing rabbits
all the time. You're established in the faith of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He says in verse 12, that is, and here's what I'm
talking about, verse 12, that is, that I may be comforted together
with you By the mutual faith, both of you and me. Now, this
is what comforts me now. And I understand this. Did you
know that your faith, the strength of your faith, the people I'm
looking at right now, is what encourages me and strengthens
me. The strength of your faith. Now,
you believe for yourself, isn't that so? Nobody can believe for
you. You believe for yourself. But
there's something contagious about faith. In this sense, if
I see the strength of your faith, that is such an encouragement
to me. If you see the strength of my faith, doesn't that encourage
and strengthen you? Faith, it feeds on each other in that sense. And this is, I'm encouraged by
the mutual faith, both of you and me. I see you growing in
grace. I see your stance for Christ. Boy, that encourages
me. It emboldens me. You see it in me, it does the
same for you. That's the way faith works. It's contagious
in that sense. He said, I want to be comforted together with
you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. Verse 13, I would
not have the ignorant brethren that oftentimes I purpose to
come into you, but was hindered. Hindered. I thought it was the
will of God for me to do this, but something happened providentially
that kept me from it. And aren't you thankful for God's
hindrances? Part of it says, no, I'm not.
But part of it says, yes, I am. Yes, I am. I'm thankful for what
the Lord stopped. He said, I wanted to have some
fruit among you, even as among other Gentiles. Verse 14, he
says, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor, I am under obligation. If I found a cure for cancer. What if I decided to keep it
to myself? What if I decided to just Well,
if I get cancer, it'll help me. And didn't let mankind know about
it. Would that be right? Would there
be anything commendable about that at all? No, if God has saved me, if God
has done something for me, if God has revealed his son to me,
if God has revealed how he saved sinners to me, if I found peace
and joy and comfort in this message, Am I not a debtor to all men
to let them know about it? Now, I can't save anybody, neither
can you. Only God can do that. But I am responsible. And you
are responsible. You're just as much a debtor
as Paul was. I'm just as much a debtor as Paul was. We are
responsible to do everything we can to give everybody the
opportunity to hear the gospel. And then we just leave it alone.
We can't save him. We can't get him to believe it. By his grace, we
can sure preach the gospel. And that's what God's going to
honor. He said, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor, and this is what
somebody says, I'm looking for purpose in life. Here it is.
This is purpose. I'm a debtor to the Greeks, Jews,
the wise, the unwise, the barbarians. I'm a debtor. Verse 15, so as much as in me
is. as much as in me is, I am ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. With all my
heart, this is what I'm giving myself to do. That's it. To preach
the gospel. I'm not trying to build a church.
Lord knows whether that's so. I'm not trying to have a job,
establish a ministry, none of that kind. No. Paul said, Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. That's all
I care. Preach the gospel. And Paul says,
I'm ready. I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you that are in Rome also. Now, verse 16 is our text. He says, I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Now, what we have to do first
is identify the gospel of which Paul was not ashamed, because
as I've already stated, there are many messages that go under
the name gospel of which I am ashamed. But in this passage
of Scripture, Paul tells us clearly just what the gospel is of which
he was not ashamed. He says, I'm not ashamed. I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now, I'm ashamed of man's
gospel, but I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, the gospel
which comes from him, the gospel which is about him. Now, we already
considered last week how Paul identified the gospel in these
opening verses. Look in verse three, he says, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. Now, nobody has a problem with
a gospel. Nobody has a problem with that,
even if you clearly give what you view as the gospel. I believe
the gospel is this. This is the highest form. This
is the most pure form. This is the most accurate view.
Here's a gospel. Nobody has a problem with a gospel,
as long as I'm OK and you're OK. You believe your gospel,
I believe my gospel. We're both going to the same
place. Nobody has a problem with that. Nobody has a problem with
a gospel. What folks have a problem with is the little definite article,
THE. THE gospel. Not a gospel, not
even the best gospel. Not even the most accurate view
of the gospel. But THE. Definite article, the
gospel. The gospel. What that means is
if this is the gospel, means that ain't the gospel. And you can take that any direction
you want to. There's a lot of implications to that. You work
on it yourself. But the gospel excludes all other
gospels. The gospel, not a gospel, the
gospel. Now, I said this at some time
in the last week, I don't remember which message it was, and I want
us to remember this. The very nature of the gospel
is inclusive. It's not exclusive, it's inclusive.
It doesn't keep people from being saved. So if it's all I want
to be saved, it's not exclusive. It's inclusive. It takes folks
like me and saves me. People that would have been damned,
it saves them. It's inclusive in its very nature,
but it excludes all other ways but the way. Isn't that so? Christ
didn't say, I am a way, did he? He said, I am what? The way. And nobody has a problem with
a gospel. But folks start balking when they start dealing with
the gospel. And Paul had defined that in
Romans 1. Let's look at the first few. I'm not going to go over
what we preached on last week, but it's important. Paul, a servant of Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. What gospel? The gospel which he had promised
before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, the gospel of
the Old Testament, the gospel that's revealed in the Old Testament.
Verse 3, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. That's
the gospel of God. The gospel that's concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, his glory, who he is and what he did. Now
look back in our text, he says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Not the gospel of man, but the
gospel of Christ, who he is, the God man. What he did, he
by himself purged our sins. Why did it? For his own glory. Where he is now, seated at the
right hand of the Father. What he's doing, ruling and reigning.
That's the gospel of Christ. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, the gospel that gives him all the glory.
And he identifies this gospel real clearly. Look what he says
in verse 10 or verse 16. He says, for I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ for it. The gospel. Is the power of God
unto salvation. Now this is the gospel Paul says
that I'm not ashamed of that gospel which is the power of
God unto salvation. Now let's talk about this word
salvation for just a moment. Now the gospel Paul says that
I'm not ashamed of it's the power of God unto salvation. Well what's
that got to do with it? Salvation from what? What do
you need saved from? What do you need saved from?
I know what I need to say from. I need to say from myself. I
need to say from my sins. Matthew chapter 1 verse 21 says,
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their what? Their sins. My sins. Now, what
are you talking about when you're talking about sin? You know,
people have different definitions of sin. Well, the Bible doesn't. Sin
is a transgression of the law. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. The plowing of the wicked is sin. To him that knoweth to
do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. I mean, there
are real clear definitions of sin in the Bible. My sins, my
actual transgressions, doing that which I know I shouldn't
do, doing that which I know, God forbid, I did it anyway,
that's my sin. Not doing what I know I should
do, that's my sin. Oh, my sinful nature, that nature
that's ever with me. Like David said, my sin is ever
before me, and it is. I'm not talking about the way
I used to be either. I'm talking about the way I am
right now. My sins. I need to save from
my sins. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall, not he might, he shall save his people from their
sins. Now, how's that? You know, I
know I've said this, I don't know how many times. I'm going
to be repeating something everybody here has already said. If you
listen to the gospel as a sinner, it'll still be fresh to you.
It'll still be powerful. It'll still come as good news.
Now, if you're no longer a sinner, it'll get old. Boy, why don't
you get something else? Well, I'm doing my best. But salvation
from sin. Salvation, first of all, from
the penalty of sin. I'm all the time, about every
time I sin, I'm always worried about what's going to happen
to me. I've been saved from the penalty
of sin. I'm never going to have to give an account before God
about my sins, not even the ones I haven't committed yet. They're
all put away. I've been saved from the power
of sin. Well, it seems like if you were
saved from the power of sin, you'd quit sinning. It does seem
that way, doesn't it? But that's not what it means. There was a time when, because
of my sinful nature, I couldn't believe, I couldn't repent, I
couldn't love God. I do now, I do believe the gospel
and that's because of the power of God. I've been saved from
the power of sin and one of these days, bless God, I will be saved
from the presence of sin. Now that's the power of God into
salvation. That's the gospel that I'm not
ashamed of is the gospel that actually saves. It doesn't just make salvation
possible if I fill in the missing link. No, it saves. It saves by itself without my
help. Hebrews 1, 3 says he by himself
purged our sins. That's the gospel. The gospel
of which Paul says, I'm not ashamed of that. You know, there's several
scriptures that deal with his salvation. We read the scriptures
of being saved by him. He saved us. We read in scriptures
of being saved by grace. unmerited favor. We read of being
saved by his life. That means his perfect life,
his obedience, that means his intercession with the father
right now. We read of being saved by his blood. We read of being
saved by faith. And notice the text back into
our text, verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it The gospel of Christ is
the power of God unto salvation. To whom? To whom? Everybody? Is everybody
saved? No. Is there a place called hell
where men have to pay for their sins? Yes there is. You know that. The gospel is
not the power of God unto salvation to everybody, but it is the power
of God unto salvation to everybody that, what? Believe it. Believe it. Believe it what?
The gospel. Now turn with me to Romans 10.
This will give some light on this. Believe what? But you know,
I don't know how many times I've tortured myself with this question.
Believe what? What's it mean to believe? What
are you talking about? I mean, I believe, sure, I believe
that Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again. I believe
he ascended back to the Father. I believe he's going to come
back. I believe that. But what does that mean to believe? Everybody
doesn't have faith, but just about everybody believes that,
but everybody doesn't have faith. What's it mean to believe? Well, look
here in Romans 10, verse 10. For with the heart Man believeth,
and before we go on, let me say what that means. With the heart,
that's not something mystical. That means the whole man. The
understanding, the affections, and the will. With the heart,
man believeth unto what? What's the next word? Righteousness. Righteousness. That's very important.
Look up in verse four. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. If I am exercising saving faith,
that means that I am relying on His righteousness alone to
bring me into glory. I'm not looking to my experience.
I'm not looking to my doctrinal knowledge. I'm not looking to
the church. I go to the preacher. I listen
to preach. I am looking to his righteousness alone, his obedience
as my only ground of acceptance before God. I'm relying on that.
Lord knows whether I am. It's one thing to say. It's another
thing to do it. Lord knows whether I am, but I am relying on his
righteousness alone to bring me into the presence of the father.
Let me show you what that means back into our text. Look with
me. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it, the gospel of Christ, is the power of God
and the salvation to everyone that believeth, whether Jew or
Gentile, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile, for therein
in the gospel is the, what's the next word? Righteousness. In the gospel
is the righteousness of God revealed. from faith to faith, as it is
written, that just shall live by faith. In the gospel is the
righteousness of God revealed. And that word revealed is uncovered. Uncovered. In the gospel is the
righteousness of God uncovered. Now, if you ask the average religious
person on the street, churchgoer, what is it that the gospel reveals
about God? What would they say? What would they say? love, right?
Love is love. His love, his mercy, his grace.
Now, I'm not going to say it doesn't
reveal his love. It does. Does God really love sinners?
You look at the cross, you'll find out. But I've heard people
say, how can a loving God send somebody to hell? Well, a loving
God doesn't. But just God does, though. His love is for his people. What does Paul say the gospel
of God reveals? For therein, in the gospel is
what? The righteousness, the absolute
righteousness of God is revealed, is uncovered from faith to faith
as it's written with Joshua by faith. We're going to get more
to that next week on the Joshua by faith and from faith to faith
and what all that means. But let's talk just for a few
moments before we close on the righteousness of God. That's
what's revealed in the gospel, the righteous character of God
Almighty. Now, I want you in your mind,
as the Lord enables you to do it, to go back and think of that
one nailed to a cross. What do you see there? Christ
nailed to a cross. He never sinned. He can say,
which of you convinces me of sin? He never sinned, yet he's
nailed to a cross. The pain, the agony, the shame,
stripped naked before that mob, nailed to a cross. There he is.
What do you see there? What do you see? When I see that one hanging on
that tree, I see the utter righteousness of God. I see the righteousness
of His character. I see a righteousness that He
requires that you can't be without, because even when sin is found
on His Son, what does He do? He nails Him to a cross. How holy do you have to be as
to be accepted by God, you have to be as holy and righteous as
God himself, and the cross is proof of that. Who shall come into his presence?
He that hath a clean hand and a pure heart, and that hath not
lifted up his soul in divinity, nor sworn deceitfully. Who does
that describe? The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how
the Father loved the Son, yet when the sins of his people were
charged to him, he was made on the cross to be a worm. He said,
I'm a worm and no man. That's what I see in the cross.
I see the righteousness, the righteous character. I see a
righteousness required. But not only do I see a righteousness
required, you listen to this. I see a righteousness provided. Oh, the beautiful, lovely obedience
of my Lord. kept the law. Ain't nobody else
did it. But he did. People love to post up the Ten
Commandments in public places. It's OK. But it's not he that
posts the Ten Commandments up in a public place. It's he that
keeps the law. That's what counts. Not bragging
about it. Not being able to recite it. But keeping the law, he kept
the law. You think of it? I can't even
imagine this. But, you know, Christ never even
thought of sin. Never even entered his mind. He never had a bad
motive. He never had an impure thought.
Perfect. Well, what about that obedience?
He's nailed to a cross. Why? Well, that obedience, he
worked out. Yes, my sin truly went to him. of His obedience,
just as truly as He was made sin. He wasn't made as if He
were sin. He was made the thing itself. But I am made, every
believer is made, the righteousness of God in Him. I see a righteousness
provided, the perfect obedience of Christ. And I'm not going
to stop there. Not only do I see a righteousness
provided, I see a righteousness accepted. When God raised Him
from the dead, God said, everybody He died for, they're accepted.
My sin's gone. I see a righteousness required.
I see a righteousness provided. I see a righteousness accepted. With the heart man believeth
unto what? Righteousness. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. They believe unto righteousness. They believe that what Christ
did. Do you believe Are you relying? I don't mean just that you believe
it can happen. Are you relying right now on what He did as everything
in your salvation? Not just 99%. I mean everything. Not the minimum
requirement, but the maximum due. Are you relying on that? Nothing more, nothing less, nothing
else. That's what it is to believe. I am. I'm one of those folks
that believe. I am. What are you? I'm a believer.
I'm a believer. What do you believe? Everything
He says. I believe on Him for righteousness.
Now, that's the gospel. And you know what? This gospel
I'm preaching to you, I'm not ashamed of it. Matter of fact,
I'm proud of it. Now, I want to close with this
question. What does it mean to be ashamed of it? Paul said, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Well, what happens when somebody's ashamed of it?
Well, when you're ashamed of the gospel, if you're ashamed
of me, if you're ashamed of me and you see me out, you don't
want to confess to no one. You're not going to hear it with
a crowd. You're ashamed of me. You're going to go the other way. You're
not going to say, well, no, you're going to avoid it. You fail. You're ashamed of the
gospel when you fail to confess Christ. That's what it means
to be ashamed of the gospel, is to fail to confess Christ.
Now, what does it mean to confess it? That's the only way I can
understand what it is to be ashamed of it. If I understand what it
is to confess it, well, it means four things. It's really very
simple. All are necessary, important. First, I confess Christ when
I'm confessing in baptism. That's what baptism is. Believers'
baptism. Believers' baptism is my confession
of Christ. And the scripture backs that
up. They were baptized of him confessing their sins. That doesn't
mean they articulated their sins and then they were baptized.
No, I don't want to know what you've done. Somebody comes up to the
preacher. A lot of people think preachers
are priests. They do. They want to let you know what
they've done. I don't want to know. I don't want to know. You know what so-and-so
did? No, I don't. And I don't want to know. I'm
not a priest. I don't need that information,
believe me. All you do when you give somebody
information about somebody is you just make them, they'll end
up thinking the same thing or doing the same thing. So just leave
that alone. They confessed their sins in
baptism. They confessed in that act of baptism. The only hope
I have is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ.
That is all my salvation. That's what I confess in baptism.
I confess in baptism. I confess Him with my mouth.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed of the
Lord say so. No, there's no silent Christians,
no silent believers in this sense. We're confessing by identifying
with the message of the Prince right now. I identify with his
people. I want to... birds of a feather flock together,
don't they? I want to be identified with his people. I want to be
identified with that group of people. that confess his righteousness
is the only righteousness that's who I want to be known for. Nothing
else. That's our confession. We confess
him by baptism, we confess him with our mouth, identification
with his people, and we confess him with our life, with our conduct,
how we conduct ourselves, how we treat people. You know, Paul
speaks of those in Titus of who profess that they know Christ,
they confess that they know Christ, but in works they deny him. Being abominable and disobedient
and to every good work reprobate. Well, I don't want to be in that
crowd. I want to confess him with a thankful life. You shouldn't
believe he'll be a thankful person. Got anything to thank God for
this morning? Got anything to praise Christ
for this morning? Oh, I want to confess him with
my life, whatever that means. I'm not ashamed. I'm not. This is how much I'm
not ashamed of this message. I'm willing to stand before God
in judgment with this message. Christ's righteousness is enough.
That's what I'm going to take. That's it. That's it. That's
how I'm not ashamed of this message. May God bless this too. I'll
give it in his glory. Let's pray together.