Are You Ashamed?

Are You Ashamed?  2022 03 27

Romans 1:16, 17

Have you ever done something or said something you wish you hadn’t and wish no one had seen or heard?  Were you ashamed of yourself?

Have you ever been out somewhere with someone you did not want to be seen with?  Why was that?  Were you ashamed to be seen with him?  Or her?

Are you ashamed of your parents?  Or your child?  Or your grandparents?

What about Jesus? Are you ashamed of Jesus?  Are you afraid to let people know you’re a Christian?

Romans 1:16, 17

Paul, who got into more trouble because of his faith than most western Christians will ever face, and perhaps more trouble than most Christians in the world will ever face, eventually being beheaded for it, was not ashamed of Jesus!   He not only said he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ to other Christians in this letter to the Romans; he lived out his faith in his actions.

Turn to Acts 14:19 – 21.  Paul was in Lystra when this happened.  Look at what happened!   A mob turned on Paul for preaching the gospel, stoned him to death, so they thought, dragged him out of the city, and left him for dead like a pile of garbage on the ground.

  1. But wait!  Paul wasn’t dead.  God miraculously preserved him after this cruel and painful experience, he got to his feet, and made haste to leave the area… right?
  2. No!  Paul went BACK into the very city where he had just been stoned by this mob to prepare for more preaching.
  3. The VERY NEXT DAY, Paul went to another town to preach the gospel, but then he came BACK to Lystra to continue preaching the gospel.  When Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” his life and actions proved it.

I  Are You Ashamed?

  1. As we begin, be honest with yourself in your own heart.  Are you ashamed of the gospel of Christ?
  2. Quick test:  Do you talk to non-Christians about Jesus?  Do you let people know you are saved?  Do you do all you can to fit in, or do you do all you can to make sure people know how to get to heaven?  There are many more questions we can ask ourselves here, but the big one is, do you identify with the world, or do you identify with Jesus Christ?  Are you ashamed of the gospel?  Let’s do some real soul searching as we examine this passage in Romans.          

II  Do You Believe?

  1. Are you uncomfortable sharing the gospel or identifying with Christ?  It might be because of unpleasant experiences you have had in the past or the way you’ve seen people treat other Christians.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:13, “Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” 
  2. Yet history shows us that Paul and the other apostles and missionaries, vilely as they were treated, did not give up, did not back down, did not hide their faith. In fact, they worked as hard as they could as long as they could to make sure the gospel got to you, today.
  3. They proclaimed the gospel in every place they could, even though it cost most of them their lives. (Hebrews 12:4 says that if you’re alive today, “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”)
  4. Paul wrote and dictated many of the books of the New Testament from prison, going blind and chained to a wall, waiting for his day in court. In the end, he was beheaded on trumped up charges because he was a Christian.

III Don’t be Ashamed!

  1. If you have really and truly turned from your own way to God by faith in Jesus Christ, you have no business being ashamed of the gospel of Christ!  Here’s what God says in his word:
    1. Romans 9:33 “As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
    2. Romans 10:11 “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
    3. Romans 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
    4. 2 Corinthians 7:14 “For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.”
    5. 2 Timothy 1:12 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
    6. Philippians 1:20 “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”
    7. 2 Timothy 1:8 “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;”

IV  The Gospel is the Power of God

  1. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a story.  In fact, it’s not just history.  It is the very power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
    1. This was God’s mighty plan for the salvation of human beings from the very beginning. It is effective, powerful, and applies to every condition of man.  The price has been paid!  No one needs to go to hell!  It is utterly tragic that so many reject this amazing gift!  1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” God our Creator paid our penalty himself!
    2. It is by the “foolishness” of the preaching of the gospel that we were made aware of our sin, of the awful penalty for our sin, of the payment for our sin by the blood of our Saviour and of the resurrection to everlasting life through our Saviour.
    3. The gospel is what brought us to faith, and it was by faith that God’s grace saved us! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8,9
  2. Further, the gospel is the righteousness of God, lest any man should find fault with his plan. God declares in his word through the prophet Habbakuk in chapter 2:4, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”
    1. God’s plan is a righteous, unchanging, eternal plan!

V  This World is a Mess

  1. This world is under wrath, being stored up to the end, when God’s wrath will be poured out in the judgment. The Bible says when that day comes, “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”  Revelation 6:15 – 17 

Conclusion

  1. Are you ashamed of the gospel? Do you hide it?   If so, why?  You have so much more than this corrupt and dying world.  There is nothing here worth identifying with!  The gospel of Jesus Christ SO outshines this filthy world!  The day is coming when the heavens will depart like a scroll and every mountain and island will be moved out of its place.  The lost will be gathered before the great white throne of judgment, and then cast with the devil and his angels into the lake of fire where they will exist forever.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!
  2. Don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Christ! It is the power of God that saves you from this terrible destination and what can still save many more people that you tell! God doesn’t want them to perish.  Jesus Christ died to pay for the sins of the whole He wants you to tell them before it’s too late. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Romans 10:13,14,17
  3. You might be the only one they ever get to hear it from. Will you tell them?