O Christian! Do Not be ashamed of Jesus!

Amen. This is the word of the living

God. Luke chapter 9, verse 23.

And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever would lose his life, who save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, we'll save it.

Or what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Or whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of him with a son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory, in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.

That's far as the reading of God's word. We chose to read verse 23, 24 and 25 with 26 this morning by means of making sure that we understand that this is part of a complete statement that Jesus is making, that Jesus is speaking to those who would follow after him.

By way of recap, if we just consider chapter 9. Chapter 9 we see where Jesus called the 12 unto himself, sent them out to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God having come.

We read in verse 7 when we were there how Herod the Tetrarch had a perverse curiosity about Jesus Christ and the work that he was doing.

We read in verse 10 where Jesus, after having the apostles come back to him, he feeds the 5 ,000.

In verse 18 we have read where Peter makes that great confession of faith for Jesus asked, who do men say that I am?

They say some say you're Elias, some John the Baptist, some one of the other prophets and Jesus asked the point -blank question to them, but who do you say that I am?

And Peter gives the great confession of faith, you are the Christ of God.

You are the Christ of God. In the other of the Gospels we hear the words of Jesus, flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you.

For God, it takes the Spirit of God regenerating the heart, the soul, the mind of a man, woman, boy or girl for them to be born again.

But be certain of this today, you must be born again. We read in verse 21 and 22 where Jesus plainly states to them to tell no one what he has just told them and he says this, the

Son of Man must be, must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and on the third day raised again.

There was nothing shrouded, there was nothing shrouded in mystery there. He gave them a plain speech.

He spoke to them plainly saying this and then Christ Jesus, after he tells them what's going to take place, he begins to lay it out before them very clearly and very plainly as it should be laid out before Christians today.

He said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and let him take up his cross, not just on Sundays but daily, every single day of the week.

We are not called to be Sunday Christians. There are no part -time applicants that are accepted in Christianity.

Christianity is full -time. You are saved or you are lost. You will take up your cross daily or you will deny the

Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 24, Jesus said whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For Jesus states clearly what will it profit a man if he gains the entire world and yet forfeits himself or loses his soul.

So the speech is plain, the speech is direct and the speech is very clear. For whoever

Jesus said in our text for this morning here in verse 26, for Jesus said whoever is ashamed of me, whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of him will the

Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the

Father and the glory of the holy angels. J .C.

Ryle rightly said this, the loss of the soul is the worst loss a person can experience.

All other losses are bearable or only last for a short time but the loss of the soul, it is forever.

It is to lose God when you lose your soul. It is to lose Christ. It is to lose heaven.

It is to lose glory and happiness for all eternity and Ryle goes on to say this, it is to be thrown away forever, hopeless and helpless in hell.

Jesus said whoever is ashamed of me and of my words of him shall the

Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory. If you're taking notes and you're wanting to write down the title of the message, the title of the message is quite simply this, the call to the

Christian. Do not be ashamed of Jesus. Do not be ashamed of Jesus.

Dr. Martin Lloyd -Jones said the Christian is a man who expects nothing from this world.

He does not pin his hopes on it because he knows that it is doom.

Lloyd -Jones went on to say expect nothing from this world, not applause, not acceptance, not fairness, not tolerance, not friendship, not popularity, not reasonableness, not kindness, not forgiveness, not unity, not justice and not peace, which is what everyone in the world is seeking after.

But my friend, Jesus Christ is the answer. Lloyd -Jones went on to say this, work for good

Christian. Give thanks for common grace. Recognize that humanity is unpredictable.

I believe he sets realistic expectations and we ought to have realistic expectations.

And that is, my friends, is a true statement. Humanity is unpredictable. Sometimes humanity can show kindness.

Sometimes they can show extreme wrath and anger and bitterness. But my friend, one thing is certain, humanity is unpredictable both positively and negatively.

But Lloyd -Jones said, but Christian, you should pray to be salt and pray to be light.

For Jesus stated to the disciples, you are a city that is set on a hill. Right? That we are a city that is set on a hill.

Lloyd -Jones went on to close his statement by saying this, put all your hope in Christ. Put all your hope in Christ.

Bet everything on that hand and go all in. There are many ways of being ashamed of Christ.

But Christian, you'll hear this repeated today, do not be ashamed of Jesus Christ.

There are many ways that we can be ashamed of Christ. We are guilty of this when we are afraid of letting people know that we love

Christ and that we love his teachings and that we love his people.

Let it be very clear today, if anyone, anyone tells you that they are a

Christian and that man or woman does not love the church, they are deceived.

For the church is the blood -bought people of the living God. The Apostle John taught us in his epistles, if a man say that he loved

God and hates his brother, he is a liar and the truth is not in him.

Being ashamed of Christ is demonstrated in an outward rejection and hatred of his church.

Many people will say, well I've been hurt by so many churches. I've been hurt by seeing what so many preachers do.

You are looking to the wrong place. You must turn your eyes upon Jesus.

You must look full into his wonderful face and the things of earth, according to that old song, will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and in the light of his grace.

J .C. Ryle said we're guilty of being ashamed of Christ whenever we allow the fear of man to win over us.

We are guilty of being ashamed whenever we allow the fear of man to win us over and to stop us from letting other people know that we are

Christians. Whenever we act like this, we are denying our master and we are committing great sin.

So J .C. Ryle said let's resolve. Let's resolve never to be ashamed of Christ.

Never to be ashamed of Christ. Oh Christian, do not be ashamed of Christ.

If you want to be ashamed of anything, be ashamed of your sin. For it is a sin for which

Christ died. Of Christ and his cause, we have no right to be ashamed at all.

We have no cause to walk around in this world in which we live as though the world has the market on everything, has a corner on nothing but sin and death.

But in Christ, there is everlasting life. There is peace and the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ.

Matthew Henry stated this, as Christ had a state of humiliation and exaltation, so likewise has his cause.

They and they only that are willing to suffer with it when it suffers shall reign with it when it reigns.

Henry went on to say this, those that cannot find it in their hearts to share with it in its disgrace and to say if this be to be vile,

I will be yet more vile, they shall certainly have no share with it in its triumphs.

The world has heard from churches too long, come to Jesus and he'll make everything better.

Friend, we do not come to Christ to have our marriage made better, to have a better job, to have a better this and to that.

We come to Christ because we are sinners, helpless and hopeless outside of the grace of God and beyond Jesus Christ, there is no hope for the sinner.

But nevertheless, we live in a day and we live in a time, 2021 by the way, in a day in a time where shame, shame is worn as a badge of honor.

It's carried about as though it is a virtue by the world. What is called good or what is good is called evil and what is called evil is called good.

It's like we live in a bizarro world. The cultural mandate, which by the way, let me be plain in my speech here, the cultural mandate is topsy -turvy.

It's turned on its head and it's leaning ever so obviously to the opposite side that biblical

Christianity is on. Christians, we are not called to be like the world.

We are called out of the world to show forth and to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The cultural mandate is leaned the opposite of what biblical Christianity is and the mandate seems to be quite simply this, be as bad as you want to be.

Do whatever you want to do. If it makes you feel good, roll with it. But my friend, we must understand this, that our sin affects others, not only ourselves.

This precedent is set in the book of Genesis when we read about Adam and Eve. It is because of the sin of Adam and Eve that we are born sinners.

It is because we are, and in that, by that reasoning, because we are born sinners, we stand in need of salvation.

Salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ and him alone.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian Church and he said this, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our

Lord Jesus Christ, by whom this world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.

The gospel proclamation has always been clear. It's not come to Jesus so everything will be better.

It's come to Christ because you're a Savior and you need salvation. And it's take up your cross daily and follow

Jesus Christ. Oh Christian, do not be ashamed of Jesus Christ.

We live in a day, we live in a day of the of the dainty

Christian, of the delicate Christian, of the Christian who wears their feelings on their sleeves and gets offended and gets hurt and leaves and goes to do their own thing.

We live in a day of a dainty Christian. Maybe it might be better said, should I say that we live in a day where many quote -unquote profess to be

Christians but those same people deny Christ with their lives.

They are living in shame. Let's remember this, that a man according to the

Scriptures has made a dichotomy, both body and soul. That being said, if your soul is saved then likewise your body is saved.

This hellish teaching of no lordship salvation that says come to Christ, be saved, and then go as you please and do as you please and then at your funeral the preacher might stand up in front of your casket and say to those who are there, oh he certainly was an awful man but there was that time long ago where he prayed a prayer.

It is not about that. My friends, when you get born again you will be made a new creature.

All things will be becoming new regularly in your heart and in your life.

So Christ saves both the soul and the body. So know this, Christian, whether you live or whether you die, you are the

Lord's. Do not be deceived. Another biblical exhortation here.

Do not be deceived, Christian. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

If you sow to the flesh, you will of the flesh reap corruption. And if you sow to the

Spirit, you will of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Again, this profession that is made with no regeneration taking place is a dangerous trend in the churches and has been throughout the years.

We must be preaching not decisional regeneration, not pray a prayer, walk an altar, do this, sign a card, do that, but we must be proclaiming that regeneration by the

Spirit of God as the only evidence of being born again. And the evidence of that being born again is that you walk in the newness of life.

Sadly, many professing Christians can't recite more than a couple of Bible verses, and they may not even be able to rightly exposit or exegete those two or three verses that they know.

But the time is now. The time is now that God's church be mature and be healthy and be growing and be growing in the faith and that the church of the

Lord Jesus Christ stand against the wiles of the devil. The Apostle Peter writes to the dispersed

Christians in 1 Peter 1. We'll be reading verse 13 through verse 25 there in your hearing.

The Apostle Peter writes to the dispersed Christians in 1 Peter 1, verse 14, and he says this, as obedient children, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

But as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all of your conduct.

Since it is written, the Lord has said, you shall be holy for I am holy.

And the Apostle Peter goes on to say this, if you call on him as father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing this, that you were ransomed, that you were bought, that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

Oh, Christian, do not be ashamed of Christ, for Christ paid the price for your sin.

Not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold from the vain tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without spot and without blemish.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in these last times for your sake.

Who through him are believers in God. How does a man become a believer in God?

He is born again by the Spirit of God, based upon the work of Christ on the cross and his resurrection.

Who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead. There's great hope here, my friend.

This is a stirring passage of Scripture that ought to compel us as Christians to go out into the world and proclaim the gospel with confidence.

Who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, gave

Christ glory so that your faith and so that your hope are in God.

And then he says this, having purified your soul by your obedience to the truth, for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable seed through the living and abiding word of flesh, he said.

All flesh is as grass and its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the

Lord endures forevermore. Praise God for that. Christian, do not be ashamed of Jesus.

Do not be ashamed of Jesus. How can anyone be ashamed of our

Lord when he has done exceedingly and abundantly above all we ask or even think?

There is no way in the world that any mind, though genius they may be, would have ever concluded that Christ has accomplished.

It is the work of God. Christian, do not be ashamed of Christ.

But then there are those of us vain thinkers who assume that when we read those gospel accounts where the apostle

Peter himself denied Christ and we think, boy, I'll never do such a thing. How often do we deny

Christ? We are foolish, but I would ask you to ask yourself this.

I've asked myself this. Are we any better than the apostles who walked with Christ? No, we are not.

That's rhetorical, by the way. That was a rhetorical question. We can, however, learn from them.

Christian, do not be ashamed of Christ.

There's a great many people who brag about being proud of Jesus. There's a great many people who like to sing that old song,

Oh, How I Love Jesus. And they go out the church doors as though they never met him in their lives.

Many people brag about being proud of Jesus. They talk about how much they love him. And yet, for that matter, for that matter, there's a great many folks who will proclaim such a thing.

Those words will come out of their mouth, and yet they will not get up on Sunday mornings and go to church because they have believed the lies that have been told them in the media.

The living word of God itself. Friends, you need to understand this if you're a

Christian. God is able to care for his own. You need not fear death, for death has been defeated.

The last year everyone was talking about a great reset, but still, everyone wants to talk about it, but nobody, you do know that to reset, if you reset a computer, that you got to put your finger on the button.

Everybody wants to talk about a reset, but nobody wants to put their finger on the button. I would say this, that a hard reboot might not be a bad thing right now.

Some may say that preaching like this, preaching that makes much of Jesus, much of sin, much of salvation, that that would set the church back 200 years.

And I would say this, if that's your line of thinking, you're probably wrong.

It does good to set the church back 2 ,000 years. To go back to where the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the main thing.

That people go out of the house of God, only affecting their heart and their mind, that they can do nothing but preach the good news.

Tell it and sing it from day to day, while you are passing along. Tell it to sinners who fall by the way.

Spread it in story and song. It is a message of Jesus to men, sent from the

Savior above. Tell it and sing it again and again. Wonderful message of love.

We ought to be proclaiming that message with everything that is within us.

George Whitefield said that mere heathen morality and not Jesus Christ is preached in most of our churches.

That was true 200 years ago and that's true today. People professing to be

God's people are ashamed of the old truths of the gospel. Let me do something that might be threatening to some.

I want to read you a quote from a newspaper article. The quote is thus, the irony of it all is that when man receives better pay, better housing, and improved medical care, the problems still remain.

For the simple reason that the drama of human depravity continues to go on.

History will establish that the preaching of the message of personal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ has more than any other factor influenced society in general and individual

Christians in particular to help alleviate suffering, ignorance, and injustice. If we want true justice, then we must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only remedy. The article goes on to say this, the depths of present day human depravity are too vile for any word in our language to describe.

We are seeing not ordinary moral corruption, but we're seeing evil double distilled and compounded in weird and uncanny and demonic concoctions.

Concoctions of iniquity never heard of a generation ago. And this idea, the idea of the age, this mantra is broad -minded tolerance.

This condition extends into the religious world even, and even into evangelical

Christianity. It is possible to fraternize with unbelievers until false doctrine becomes less and less objectionable.

We come to terms with it, and we would incorporate it into the fellowship of truth, and we begin by opening doors to borderline sects, to borderline groups who believe almost as we do, and others find overtures from Rome attractive.

Oh, did I forget to mention this article was written in 1978, and this article that I'm reading to you is actually sermon transcript from an old preacher,

Vance Havener, who had this sermon published. The title of the sermon is called Getting Used to the

Dark. Havener went on to say this, one of the signs of getting used to the dark is the way we excuse sin.

We give it new names. Adultery is called free love. The drunkard is just an alcoholic.

Sodomy is called homosexuality. The murderer is temporarily insane.

Church workers fall into grievous sin and move on to new positions without repentance or change of conduct.

Parents let down in discipline, saying, what's the use? Pastors give up preaching against sin, arguing that the world's evils are here to stay, and since the church members aren't going to do any better, we might as well accept the status quo and live with it.

May God strike me dead. May God strike Sir dead. Kenny's not here, but I'll say it on his behalf.

May God strike him dead. If as elders of this church we back up an inch on the preaching against sin, for it is sin for which

Christ died. Oh Christians, do not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do not be ashamed. Another of the old songs says, fight, be brave against all evil, never run or even lag behind.

If you're in the battle for the Lord and the right, just keep on the firing line.

Stay up, stand fast, stand strong in the faith.

Jesus said, if you are ashamed of me and of my words in this generation,

I will be ashamed of you before my father who is in heaven. Christ was not mincing his words.

Christians should not be either afraid or ashamed of our Lord's commands nor of his precepts, but we ought to go to the scriptures themselves.

We ought to go to Psalm 119 and read the words of the psalmist concerning God's word,

God's law, God's truth, God's precepts when he said this, you have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.

Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes.

Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

I will praise you, the psalmist said, with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules.

You need to, if you want to know how that you must rightly and reverently and give

God acceptable worship, worshiping God in spirit and truth, and you need to go to the Word of God.

That is where we find that. Christians, do not be ashamed of Jesus.

Please do not be ashamed of Christ. Does anybody know where we are right now?

Other than 8015 Chapman Highway. We're in 2021. In June 2021, we're right smack dabbed in the middle of what is being called right now

Pride Month. When it's reality, Pride Month is nothing but a celebration, a celebration of all that God himself calls wicked and abominable.

And Christians, we ought not to be ashamed of Christ and his word, but we must go forth professing the good news that Christ Jesus, according to the scriptures, died for our sins and that he was buried.

And according to the scriptures that he rose again on the third day. For example, an example of the shame that many

Christians will show forth. If they hear a statement like this being proclaimed from a pulpit, which you've heard this before, so you're likely not to be too confused by this statement, but abortion is murder and everybody knows it.

Abortion is murder and everybody knows it. But it's statements like this that is taken by liberals, both those liberals who deny

Christ outright and those quote unquote liberal progressive Christians who deny

Christ. They are taken, they are taken aback by statements like this. They are offended easily by statements like this when they do not understand that their sin of murder is grievous and heinous.

Taking the life of the unborn is murder. Sin is sin no matter who commits it.

Some are better at committing certain sins than others, right? But sin is sin and the wages of sin is still death.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our

Lord. It is for our sin that Christ died, so we should not be ashamed of God's holy and God's righteous standard.

To quote from their website at Free the States, T. Russell Hunter, Jane Silberman, Sam Riley write this on one of the pages of their website, we are abolitionists.

We refuse to go with the multitude to do evil and we as an abolitionist organization agree with the pro -life position that abortion is bad but further, further we believe abortion is murder and ought to be treated as such.

While many who call themselves pro -life agree with us that abortion is murder, abortion has not been opposed by the pro -life political establishment in a manner consistent with its being murder.

The manner in which abortion has been opposed by pro -life lobbyists and politicians has not only been inadequate but it's been largely unfruitful.

That's the kind of strong stand that we take. That's the kind of strong stand that as Christians we must take.

That's the position that we must take. Going further just a little bit more, Christians do not be ashamed of Christ nor of his word.

The sin of sodomy ought to be proclaimed as wickedness. Were you taken aback by that phrase?

I hope not. The sin of sodomy ought to be proclaimed as wickedness. It ought to be an expected norm for the church of the living

God to hear from God's own word what he says about this sin. It should not catch any born -again, saved -by -grace, blood -washed, spirit -filled

Christian off guard when we hear other Christians denouncing the sin of sodomy in the world.

For it is the message of the gospel. For the Apostle Paul writes in the book of Romans chapter 1 verse 16, the

Apostle Paul says this, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes to the

Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for to faith.

For as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. He goes on to say this, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and it's been perceived into things that have been made so that they are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools. The fool has said in his heart there is no

God. And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore, because they did this, therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie.

And they worshiped and they served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever.

Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions, to vile passions, for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

And men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind.

He gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips. They're slanderers.

They're haters of God. They're insolent. They're haughty. They're boastful. They're inventors of evil things.

They're disobedient to their parents. They're foolish. They're faithful. They're heartless. They're ruthless.

There is something in here for everyone. Some of you may be saying,

I'm just a kid. None of that's for me. Are you being obedient to your parent children? Are you honoring your father and your mother?

Because if you are not honoring your father and your mother, you are dishonoring God and you're sinning against God.

And even you must repent of your sins. But the good news is that the

Word of God tells us if we say that we have no sin, the truth of God is not in us. But if we confess our sins,

He, Jesus, is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Though they knew God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Oh, we've addressed a couple of the hard issues, the big sins of our day.

I don't know if any of you have ever stopped to really take a look back at the church in general.

There seems to be an approved list of sins. The church has kind of brought about their own approved list of sins.

And in that list of sins, we leave certain things out and we just face those hard issues.

But what has happened as a result of this, the church has become such a weak influence that preachers, preachers, men of God are no longer standing up and decrying the sins of lying.

Lying is still a sin. There are different reasons you may lie, but no matter for what reason it is, it is still a sin.

Preachers are no longer decrying the sins of lying. They're no longer decrying the sins of drunkenness.

They're no longer decrying things that we ought to be standing against.

And why? I will say this, because they're ashamed of Christ and His Word. And they respect, they want the respect of the crowd more than they want the honor of God.

But you cannot have it both ways. You will honor Christ, or you will honor yourself.

You will honor sin, or you will honor the Savior. Preachers have gone so far as to back off preaching against such sin as shacking up.

That's an old term. Some of you old folks have heard that before. The younger kids may have never heard a term like that.

That means when you're living with somebody out of wedlock. And preachers don't want to preach about that. Why? Because it will affect, it will offend the respectable givers that come to their church.

We can honor God, or we'll honor the world. The man of God ought not to be one who is ashamed of Christ and His words.

We know, according to 1 Timothy, that the law is good if a man use it lawfully.

I know some of you may be thinking, are we moving to a close? Yes, we're getting very close. There is hope.

But the scripture says in 1 Timothy 1 .8, we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully.

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and the disobedient, for the ungodly and for the sinner, for the unholy and the profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, the law is needful.

Marriage is honorable in all, and the marriage bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers

God will judge. But the fearful, in Revelation chapter 21, in Revelation 22, we have two statements, the fearful and the unbelieving, the abominable and the murderers, and the whoremongers and the sorcerers and adulterers and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.

Many people, because we are not delving into the truth of God's Word and seeing what these words actually mean, they take that term sorcerer and they think they're talking about magicians.

It's those who, the It was the practice of taking drugs to put yourself in a state of mind so that you could quote -unquote worship

God and do this and then do that. Drugs haven't been a problem that have just crept up since the 70s.

Drugs have been a problem since the beginning as well. But my friends, the good news is this, that Christ died for your sin and that if you will repent of your sin, turn unto the living

God today, you can be saved. And I'll close with this statement.

Matthew Henry, two statements actually, one by Matthew Henry and one by Vance Hadner. Christian, let me remind you, do not be ashamed of Christ.

For Christ said, if you are ashamed of me and of my words before in this generation, I will be ashamed of you when

I come in my glory, in the glory of the Father and the glory of the holy angels. Matthew Henry said, the sins of those who perish, the sins of those who perish among which are first mentioned there in Revelations are cowardliness and unbelief.

The fearful lead the band in the blacklist. I love his phraseology there. The fearful are the ones that lead the band in this blacklist.

They durst not encounter the difficulties of religion and their slavish fear proceeded from their unbelief.

But those who are so dastardly as not to dare to take up the cross of Christ and to discharge their duty to him were yet so desperate as to run into all manner of abominable wickedness, murder, adultery, sorcery, idolatry, and lying.

Their punishment, they had their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

They could not burn at a stake for Christ, but they must burn in hell for their sin.

They must die another death after their natural death. The agonies and the terrors of the first death will consign them over to far greater terrors and agony of eternal death to die and to be always dying.

He goes on and he says this, this misery will be their proper part and portion.

Modern English, they'll get what they deserve. Unlike if you're saved today, know this, you have not gotten what you deserve.

I have not received what I deserve, but God sent his son in his great love and his mercy to die for my sin.

How about you? Henry says this, thus the misery of the damned will illustrate the blessedness of those that are saved and the blessedness of the saved will aggravate the misery of those that are damned.

And Havner, in closing of his sermon there that we read to you from, he said this, early

Christianity, early Christianity set the world aglow because absolute light was pitched against absolute darkness.

God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

There is nothing but blackness and darkness in the world, but good news, the darkness will never overtake the light.

It will never overtake the light. He said this, the early

Christians believed that the gospel was the only hope of the world, that without it all men were lost and all religions were false.

The day came when the church and the world mixed light and darkness. The church got used to the dark and lived in it for several centuries with only occasional flashes of light.

Havner said, today too many Christians think there's some darkness in our light and some light in the world's darkness.

He said we half doubt our own gospel and half believe the religions of this age. We are creeping around in the dark when we should be flooding the world with light.

We need to get our candles out from under bushels and beds. We need to take the shades off the shades of compromise and we need to let them shine in our hearts, in our homes, in our businesses, in our churches, in our communities so that with that light that shines the

Savior in the scriptures and in the saints is exposing the darkness of this world.

Church, I would ask you if you would to stand with us this morning. Jesus said, if you are ashamed of me and of my words in this generation, then

I will be ashamed of you when I come in my glory in the glory of my

Father and the glory of his holy angels. It's time for the church to arise.

It's time for when you come to church on Sundays that you don't go out unaffected and unchanged and if you go out every

Sunday unaffected and unchanged then you need to examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith.

For the Word of God is quick, it's powerful, it is life -giving, it is action -producing and the

Christian as Christians we cannot help but be propelled forth by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do not be disheartened. Do not lose faith. Do not lose heart.

Know this, that he who has called you keeps you and he who keeps you compels you to go have faith in God.

Christ died for your sin. Christ was buried and Christ arose on the third day because he was the acceptable sacrifice for your sins.

If you want to place your hope in anything today, put your hope in Jesus. As Lord Jones said, bet everything you got on Jesus.