Now you open your Bible once
again to Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. The title of
the message today is in the form of a question. What is it? What is it to follow Christ? What is it to be a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Or, what is it to be a true disciple
of the Lord? Or what is true discipleship
unto the Lord? I want you to ask yourself this
question as we consider these verses here in Mark chapter 8
verse 34 through verse 38. Ask yourself this question. Am
I following the Lord Jesus Christ according as he defines what
true discipleship is. Now last time we met together
in our study here in Mark chapter 8, the Lord plainly declared
unto us what He must do in order to accomplish our salvation. He declares this in verse 31
of Mark 8. He began to teach them the Son
of Man, the God-Man Mediator. Must! It's an imperative. He must suffer many things. God decreed it. justice demanded
it, and be rejected of the elders, be rejected of that established
Pharisee religion, be rejected of the elders, be rejected of
the priests, be rejected of the scribes, and the Son of Man,
the God-man mediator, he must not only be rejected, and he
must suffer, but he must die, he must be killed, he must be
murdered at the hands of wicked men, And at the hands of God's
righteous justice, He must die for our sins according to the
Scripture. This is what He's teaching. What
He must do in order to accomplish our salvation. He must die for
our sins according to the Scripture. But not only that, what if He
stayed dead? Would He be an imposter? He would be a phony. He would
deliver for our offenses. raised again because He justified
us by His grace. He must be raised from the dead.
His resurrection is a bold declaration of all He said was true, of all
He performed was complete and accepted of the Father. When
He by Himself purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand
of the throne of God. He sat down in absolute victory
over sin, over death, over hell, over the grave. Absolute victory
having accomplished all of our salvation. This is God's gospel
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. What He must do to accomplish
my salvation He must put away sin. He must establish righteousness. He must be raised from the dead.
He must ever live to intercede for me. This must be. There's no option. It must be. Well, that's a pretty clear declaration,
is it not? By our Lord Jesus Christ unto
us and unto His disciples. But Peter took offense to this.
It says in verse 32, 32, and he spake that saying openly,
plainly, boldly unto them, and Peter took him aside. He kind
of got him by the arm and said, now, let's just wait a minute. Now, this dying stuff, this going
to Jerusalem and your suffering, can't we just kind of bypass
that? I don't think that's the thing
that we need to do at this time. And the Lord rebuked him. And he called him an enemy of
God. You're acting like an enemy of
God. You're not in league with me.
You're in league with the adversary. You're in league with the devil.
Those who oppose Christ crucified and salvation in him, those who
oppose a way of grace in Christ Jesus are of the camp and of
the religion of the adversary, the devil. Get behind me. Get out of my way. You're not rejoicing in these
things that are of God. You're not thinking wisely. You're not wise in the things
of God. Peter, you're acting like a man.
You're acting like a fleshly man. Peter, these things must
be. They have to be. In order for
God to be just and justify the ungodly. In order for God to
save me, not at the expense of His justice and His holiness. He must go to Calvary. He must
die for sinners. There's no other way of salvation.
There's no other way of salvation. Remember this. These things are
of God. Never think of Christ crucified
as a pitiful tragedy. Never think of Christ crucified
as an accident. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain the Lord of glory. But never
forget what else the word of God said, you did exactly what
God determined before to be done. These things must be. Now look at verse 34. And when
he had called the people unto him, with the disciples. He said unto them, Whosoever
will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and
you follow me." Now our message today, the Lord plainly declares
what is involved in being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Being
a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. being a true believer,
a devoted lover of Him. And I believe He gives to us
the principles of discipleship in these verses. Not just to
follow Him for the loaves and fishes. Many people did in that
day. He said, I know why you're following
Me. You got a free lunch the other day, and you're looking
for another freebie. You see, we follow Him not for
what we can get, We follow Him because we're in love with Him.
This is not just to follow Him for the loaves and fishes or
the miracles and the healing, but to seek real and lasting
and eternal blessings in Him. We seek not just the blessings,
we seek the Blessor, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now these
words are weighty and they're solemn. meditate upon. I want you to consider these
things very, very carefully. One of the old writers that I
was reading after this last week, he said, concerning these verses,
he said, this is the plainest definition of what it is to be
a true believer. One of the plainest definitions
of what it is to be a true, committed disciple of Christ. Now, I have
three points in this message. Three aspects. Three aspects
of true faith. The faith of God's elect. And
this is, I think, the heart of faith. The heart of faith. Number
one, coming to Christ. Coming to Christ. He says that
in verse 34. Whosoever will come after me,
coming to Christ. at the heart of true faith. Secondly,
commitment to Christ. Commitment to Christ. And thirdly,
confession of Christ. He said, if you're ashamed of
me right now, I'll be ashamed of you when I come again in power
and great glory. Now, let's go back and look at
these three things. The importance of coming to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now understand this. This is
not something physical. I know religion in our day has
made coming to Christ synonymous with coming forward, shaking
a hand, signing a card, or making a decision. That's not coming
to Christ. Coming to Christ is not something
physical. Coming to Christ is something
spiritual, in your heart, before God. Would you have eternal life? Would you have salvation and
a forgiveness of sin? Then come to Christ in your heart. As one old preacher of the past
that was a mentor of Pastor Mahan, this is going way back in the
early 50s, Brother A.D. Muse, he said, come to Christ. Don't move a muscle. Don't move
a hand or a hair. Come to Christ. In your heart. In your heart. Would you have
eternal life, salvation, forgiveness of sin, and come to Christ? Our
Lord said, Oh, everyone that thirsteth, he said, come to me.
All you who are laboring and heavy laden, he said, come to
me. I'll give you rest. You see,
eternal life is in a person. in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son, Son
of God, hath not life. Whatever else you have, if you
do not, if you are not one with Christ, united to him by this
saving union of faith, you have not eternal life in Christ Jesus. He said, Whosoever will come
after me, after me, and not to a position on doctrine, I'm sure
there are many staunch Calvinists who know nothing about the gospel
of God's grace. Not to a pool of baptism, not
to the pageantry of ceremony. This is coming to a living person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, come after me, after
me. Come by faith. Trust Him and
believe Him. Remember, when Paul was in prison,
Philippi, and the jailer asked him, what must I do to be saved? And the Lord said, or Paul said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Coming to Christ is not something
physical, it's an act of the heart. It is the gift of God. He said, No man can come unto
me except the Father which sent me. Draw him, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. Faith is a gift of God. Look at that first word in verse
34. Whosoever will come. He said, Whosoever will come.
As my pastor used to say on that word, whosoever, that's a wide
word. It didn't say, and it didn't
write my name in there, it didn't say, Tom Harding, you come to
Christ. It said, whosoever will, come to Christ. Whosoever will,
come to Christ. That's a wide word. It froze
open the door of salvation to every sinner that is thirsty,
hungry, and in need of mercy. He said, you come to me, and
I'll give you rest. He's able to meet all our needs
according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. I remember
when the Lord was first teaching me the gospel of God's grace,
and I was so careful to say certain things, and I was kind of afraid
of that word, whosoever. I'm not afraid anymore. It's
a scriptural word. It's a wide word. Listen to these
scriptures. Romans 10, 13. Whosoever shall
call, Upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm going to
call on Him, whoever it is. Call out of your need, out of
your guilt, out of your sin. Call upon Him. You'll have mercy. Now call upon Him, the Lord.
John 3.15 declares, Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish,
but have eternal life. I'm going to believe on Him by
His grace. He said, Whosoever does, shall have eternal life.
Matthew 10, 32, we read earlier, whosoever shall confess me before
man, him will I confess before my Father, which is in heaven. John 14, 4, our Lord declares
this, whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst, but in him shall be a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. He said, go and preach the gospel
to every creature. Is that what he said? I don't
know who the elect are. He has an elect. But I know this,
he is ordained to call out his elect with the preaching of the
gospel, whoever it is. Now what's involved coming to
Christ by faith? He gives us three things here.
Three things. In verse 34. The first thing
he says, You will come after me, whosoever will come after
me. Number one, let him deny himself. Self-denial. Coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith and embracing Him and receiving Him is denying
sinful self. Self-denial is a hard lesson.
It's a hard lesson. But it's one of the first lessons
learned in school. of Holy Spirit conviction, to
have no confidence in the flesh. We are the true Israel of God,
as Paul described believers, which worship God in the Spirit,
that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have zero confidence in
the flesh. We deny ourselves any strength,
any merit, any righteousness in ourselves. We count it as
nothing before God. This is denying self. It's to
renounce all self-dependence, to renounce it, to be done with
it. Self-glory, self-love, self-righteousness, and cast all dependence upon
Christ. What is it to deny yourself? It's selling out. It's surrendering to the Lordship
of Christ. It's giving up on self. It's
bowing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Bowing to his lordship. That
was the issue when Peter stood at Pentecost and preached that
day. He declared, this same Jesus whom you crucified, God has made
him both Lord and Christ. Now, bow to him. Bow to him. Submit to him. This is what's
involved in denying self. I'll give you a good example.
Find Philippians chapter 3. This is a good example. of what
he's talking about here, and we see this in the example of
the Apostle Paul. Old Saul of Tarsus, hard-hearted,
full of self, full of arrogance, full of self-righteousness, but
when he met the Master, and God unhorsed him, God put him in
the dust, you know what happened? He denied self. Look what he
says here in Philippians 3. But what thing, verse 7, were
gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ? Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but loss, for the excellency, the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things. And to count them but dung, that
I may win Christ, and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, O that I
may know him, that I may know him. Denying self. That's coming to Christ. And
that's involved in faith. It's giving up on self-righteousness,
self-glory, self-reliance. It's letting go. Counting all
loss that you might win Christ to be found in Him. The second
thing he mentions there in our text, not only is it involved
in coming to Christ, it's involved denying self, but taking up the
cross. Now, taking up the cross. Now,
before I tell you what that means, let's see how important it is. Taking up the cross. Find Matthew
10, 38. Turn and read these with me. I'll try to give you time to
turn and read. Matthew 10, 38. Let's talk about how important
it is, the importance of this. Now, I'll tell you what it is.
Matthew 10, 38. He that taketh not his cross
And followeth after me is not worthy of me. Well, it's pretty
important, isn't it? Then turn to Luke 9. Luke chapter
9. Luke 9, 23. Luke 9, 23. He said to them all, if any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily,
and follow me. daily consent, taking up the
cross. And then turn to Luke 14.27.
And we see the necessity of doing this, taking up the cross, denying
self and taking up the cross. Luke 14.27. Whosoever doth not
bear his cross, and come after me, he cannot
be my disciple." Well, I'd say that's pretty important. So what
does it mean to take up the cross, to bear your cross? I believe it's this. It's savoring,
rejoicing, honoring, enjoying, contending for the things of
God in the gospel. That's what's involved in taking
up the cross. The things of God in the gospel,
not the things of men. Isn't that what the Lord said
to Peter in verse 33? You save us not the things that
be of God, but the things that be of men. Carrying the cross
and standing for the cross is savoring the things that are
of God. Salvation by His blood, salvation by His grace, being
justified freely by His grace. It is plainly and publicly and
boldly to take an uncompromising stand for the gospel of God's
grace and never compromise, never cave in. This is what it is to
take a stand and to bear your cross. take up his cross and follow
the Lord. An uncompromising stand for the
gospel. I want you to find 2 Timothy
3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. We are to contend for the faith
once delivered unto the saints. We are to take a stand for the
gospel of God's grace. That is how God saves sinners
in Christ. This is 2 Timothy 3, excuse me,
verse 10. He said, Thou hast fully known
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering,
charity, patience, persecution, afflictions which came unto me
at Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, what persecutions I endured,
but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer Persecution. You take
a stand for the gospel, salvation through Christ crucified, and
say with Paul, God forbid I should glory save in the cross of Christ,
and it will cost you. That's what it is to bear the
cross. Notice just across the page,
2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6, he said, I'm ready to be offered
the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight.
I've stood my ground. I've carried this message of
Christ and Him crucified. I've finished my course. I have
kept the faith, the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, not to me only, but to all
them that love His appearing." Take a stand for the gospel.
Turn back to the book of Philippians and find Philippians chapter
1, one other verse on that point. Philippians chapter 1 verse 27,
only let your conversation be, Philippians 1 verse 27, as it
becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you,
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand
fast, one spirit, one mind, striving together for the faith of the
gospel. Are you standing, or are you
compromising? Well, let's just compromise a
little bit to get along. Oh no. Oh no. We say with Luther,
Martin Luther, who stood before that trial of those religious
men who had the power with a word to have him executed, and Luther
said, here I stand. I can do no other. I'm not going
to back down if it cost me my life." That's what it is to take
the cross, your cross, and stand for the gospel. One preacher
of the past said this, if I choose not to bear his cross on the
earth, I shall never wear his crown in heaven. And then thirdly, he mentions
this, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, let
him take up his cross, Take a stand for the gospel of God and grace.
Don't back down. And then follow me. Follow me. Our Lord said, My sheep hear
my voice. I know them and they do follow me. And I give them
eternal life and they shall never perish. Our Lord said His sheep
do follow Him. They follow Him. You know why?
Because He leads them. He leads them. The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. They submit to His will, receive
His instruction, His words, His teaching, and do those things
revealed therein. Let us not be just hearers of
the word, but let us be a doer of the word, a follower of the teaching of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to James chapter 1. James
chapter 1. Let's not just be a hearer of
the Word. Let's do the Word. Let's be obedient. Let's be a
follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can you be a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ and a committed disciple if you don't believe
His Word and obey His Word? You're not a follower if you
don't obey His Word, obey His truth. James chapter 1, look
at verse 22. Be ye doers of the Word, not
hearers only, deceiving your own self. If any man be a hearer
of the word, and not a doer of the word, James 1.23, he is like
unto a man beholding himself, beholding his natural face in
a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way in a straight
way, forgetteth what manner of man he is. But whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, that's the gospel, and continues
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work,
this man shall be blessed in his deeds." So let's not just
be a hearer, let's be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. To
follow Him is to continue to follow Him, to be resolved in
your heart never to forsake Him. Our Lord turned to thousands
of people one time and He said to them, After he declared his
sovereignty, his power, he said, Will you also go away? Many of
those who were following him for loaves and fishes, they did
forsake him. And then he turned to his disciples
and said, Will you also go away? Remember what Peter said? Lord, to whom shall we go? We believe you are that Christ,
the Son of the living God. be resolved never to forsake
Him." Well, here's the second point, verse 35 through verse
37. Such glorious salvation in Christ
Jesus, freely bestowed by His grace, deserves commitment and
consecration to Christ. What a privilege He has given
us to love Him and to believe Him. Now, verses 35 through verse
37. Let's read these verses. Whosoever
will save his life will lose it. But whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake and the gospels the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world? Lose! Lose yourself. Lose your soul. Now we all have
a body in which we live. You're looking at this body,
this tabernacle of clay. A fleshly, sinful tabernacle
of clay. But every person also has an
immortal soul, though fallen through Adam's sin, though guilty
before God, by nature sinful, nevertheless immortal and eternal. Every man has a soul that will
live eternally, either in eternal death and torment of God's holy
justice and wrath, separated from His mercy, love, and grace
because of unpardoned sin, or because, or in the eternal glory
of peace and righteousness and happiness of eternal life, in
Christ Jesus, because He put away our sin by the sacrifice
of Himself and saved us by His almighty grace. Those who are
given the privilege to hear and believe the gospel are highly
motivated to live for Him, His glory, and the furtherance of
the gospel of God's grace. They're sold out and committed. They're committed to Christ. Now here's a good scripture on
that. 2 Timothy, turn over there. They're sold out, they're committed
to Christ. Like Paul, I've counted all things but loss to win Christ. This is 2 Timothy chapter 1.
2 Timothy chapter 1. And here's
a good definition for faith. Look at verse 11. Whereunto I am appointed a preacher,
an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the witch cause
I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed, knowledge of him. And I know whom I have
believed, and secondly I am persuaded that he is able, I am persuaded
that he is Almighty God. And the third part of that verse
is, he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day. Now hold fast the form of sound
words, which thou hast heard of me, and faith and love, which
is in Christ Jesus." Hold fast. Saving faith is committed faith.
Now look back to the text again, Mark 8, verse 35. Whosoever will
save his life, seek to preserve his own life, will lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, and the gospel of the same, shall save it. Here's
another one of those paradoxes of the gospel. You see, the way
up is down. The way to be clothed is to be
stripped by God Almighty. The loser is the winner. That's
a paradox, but it's true. Whosoever will live only to self
and for self in unbelief, loving self, seeking to spare self or
save self from persecution for the gospel's sake, or compromise
and neglect the true gospel for merely creature comfort, in the
end will be an eternal loser. Here is a way of salvation in
Christ Jesus. This is a way of faith. If I
would save my life, I must surrender my life unto Him. If I would
save my life, I must lose it for Christ. See what he's saying
here? Lose it! Let it go! Committing everything
to Christ. Those who lose their life for
the gospel, the same shall save it eternally in Christ. Those
who are made willing to forsake all and commit all to Christ
are eternal winners! Oh that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Now let me give you this example.
This is a good example of this very point. Just two pages over. Mark 10. Turn over there. Mark 10, 17. Let's begin reading
there. Here was a young man who came
to the Lord and he was very wealthy. Verse 17 of Mark 10. And when
he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, kneeled
to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? And the Lord said to him, Why
callest thou me good? There is none good, but one,
and that is God. You know the commandments. Do
not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, bear
false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother.
And he answered, verse 20, and said unto the Master, well all
these I've observed from my youth and the Lord beholding him had
pity on him loved him said and said to him one thing you lack
go your way sell whatever you have give it to the poor you'll
have treasure in heaven and come look at that phrase there and
do what take up the cross and you follow me You see, the Lord
confronted him with that one thing. And with this man, it
was a point of his rebellion. His riches. It's not that he
was wealthy. It was not that he was rich.
That wasn't his problem. His problem was that his riches
had him. It wasn't that he had riches.
His riches had a hold of him. He wouldn't let go. And the Lord
confronted him on that very point. And he was sad at that saying,
and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And the
Lord looked round about, and said to his disciples, How heartily
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God? Now
watch this. And the disciples were astonished
at his words. Jesus answered again, and said
unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in
riches, there's the key, to enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, then for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God. They were astonished
at a measure saying among themselves, well who then can be saved? And
the Lord said, well with man it's impossible, but not with
God. With God all things are possible. Now back to the text. Lose your life for Christ's sake. That's true faith. That's coming
to Christ. Now, look at verse 36. For what
shall it profit a man if he'll gain the whole world and lose
his soul, lose himself? You see, I have a body, tabernacle
clay, but I am a soul before God. This soul lives in this
body. What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul in that day of judgment? Now here's one of the most sobering
questions any sinner can consider. What's your soul worth? What's your soul worth? What
would you give in exchange for eternal life in that day of judgment? What would it profit you if you
did gain the whole world? What eternal value would that
be if you did gain the whole world? and lose your life. You see, we live in this place,
this world, where everything seen is temporal. We're going
to a place where everything is eternal and spiritual. Weigh
nothing here more valuable than you shall weigh it in that day
when you leave it forever. We brought nothing into this
world, right? The Scriptures declare, 1 Timothy
6, We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we are
going to carry nothing out. Having food and raiment, let
us therewith be content. Godliness with contentment is
great gain. Great gain. Well, my last point
is this, verse 38. Remember, we've been talking
about the heart of true faith. This is right down where we live.
This is right where the rubber meets the road. Coming to Christ. Commitment
to Christ. And lastly, confession. Confession. Confession. Now we don't have
to guess. He said, Whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of me and of my words, And this sinful generation,
when the Son of Man comes back again, He'll be ashamed of you.
He will not own you as His own. Now, we don't have to guess what
it is to be ashamed of Christ, do we? It's to refuse to publicly
confess Him and own Him, His Word, His truth, His gospel,
and His people. The Apostle said in Romans 1.16,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Find Romans, the
book of Romans. Find Romans, excuse me, Romans
10. This hope we have maketh not
a shame, because the love of God is shed abroad in our heart
by the Holy Spirit. You find Romans chapter 10. And
let's read a few verses here. Verse 10. Romans 10, 10. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Now
you find 2 Timothy again, chapter 1 again, 2 Timothy 1 verse 7, 2 Timothy 1 verse 7,
For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of
love and of a sound mind. You got it? 2 Timothy 1.7. 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. Take up the cross, follow
him. For who It's God who saved us,
verse 9, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Confessing Christ. Matthew 10,
32. We read a moment ago, Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before me, and him will I confess before
my Father which is in heaven. Whosoever shall deny me before
man, him will I also deny before my Father. So then, what is it
to confess Christ? One of the TV sermons by Pastor
Mahan that we transcribed recently, the title of the message was,
What is it to confess Christ? And he gave these four points.
Number one, what is it to confess Christ? It's to confess Him in
your heart before God. in your heart before God. Secondly,
is to follow the Lord in believer's baptism. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. Notice I said believer's baptism. Baptism is for believers. It's
a confession of your faith in Christ Jesus, His death, burial,
and resurrection. identification with the Lord
in believer's baptism. Thirdly, to identify with his
people, where the gospel is preached, with that man who is preaching
the gospel of God's grace and where his people meet together
to worship him. And fourthly, it's to confess
him daily in my walk. Colossians 2 verse 6, As you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him. How did you receive him? As Lord? As Christ, as Savior, walk in
Him that way. You see, our Lord has no secret
disciples. Nicodemus tried that. Joseph of Arimathea, he tried
that too. The Lord has no secret disciples. Somebody might say, well, I believe
these things, but I don't want to be identified with God's people. I don't want to be called a fanatic
or radical. It's not being a radical to believe
God and to identify with that gospel of God's grace. We're going to sing a song in
just a moment, our closing hymn. But there's a line of that song
that goes this way, and the title of the song is, Shall It Ever
Be? Jesus, shall it ever be, a mortal
man ashamed of Thee? Ashamed of Jesus, whom angels
praise, whose glory shines through endless days? Ashamed of Him? Can it be? Oh no, oh no. May
God give us grace to do this right now. Come to Him. Commit all to Him and confess
Him. Confess Him publicly. Own Him
publicly.