Not Ashamed
Notes
Transcript
Stop Advertising
Stop Advertising
License Plate Holders
License Plate Holders
You, like I, have probably been a church that hands out bumper stickers or license plate holders as a method for getting the word out about the church. I think it would be great for our church to someday get to that point, but truthfully I am not a big fan of bumper stickers and only tolerate license plate holders on my own cars. I’ve just never cared for them, but some of that is my unwillingness for people to associate my driving with Christianity!
Embarrassing Sects
Embarrassing Sects
I am just kidding around on that point, but we know people like that though don’t we? Personally or otherwise. People who you just kinda wish would stop telling people that they are Christians. Sometimes it’s because they haver embraced a warped version of Christianity. I have had to explain to a friend that I worked with that as a Baptist I wasn’t like the Westboro Baptists. More recently I know of some churches who have taken extreme views on things that are preferences, to the point of being nonsensical in their defense of their views, and when I hear those views I find myself wishing that they would stop associating their terrible ideas with the cause of Christ.
Could be me
Could be me
However, it is entirely possible that you and I could find ourselves embarrassed to be associated with someone as a Christian and it would be entirely our own shortcoming in having a heart like Christ. We could get to thinking that we are somehow the model Christian and that those who haven’t quite conformed to our expectations are embarrassing to us.
To say something like that out loud seems obviously awful, but it is a danger that is always lurking in a church. Churches can become social clubs instead of outposts for the gospel and the people can run the risk of become very much like the Pharisees we read about in our bibles.
Our Passage
Our Passage
I’m not addressing our associations with those who are embracing false teachings or living lives that are wilfully disobedient to God’s instructions, that is another subject entirely, but if you have you Bibles this morning, please turn them over to Hebrews 2:10-13 and what we will read is that a feeling of shame in associating with our fellow believers is entirely unlike Christ.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
The message this morning is entitled Not Ashamed and is our second message in our series Perfected
Pray
Who are we?
Who are we?
Who does the Bible say we are?
Who does the Bible say we are?
I have to touch back on what we read last week in Hebrews 2:6
Hebrews 2:6 (KJV 1900)
6bWhat is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
And we read that as Paul considered his own heart he concluded that he was a wretch, and when David considered his own heart he concluded that he was a worm. So who are we?
Well in 1 John:1:8 we read
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
So, we are creatures of sin. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus comments on the heart of man
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
God, through the prophet Micah paints a more complete description of man when he writes:
2 The good man is perished out of the earth: And there is none upright among men: They all lie in wait for blood; They hunt every man his brother with a net. 3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, The prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; And the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: So they wrap it up. 4 The best of them is as a brier: The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; Now shall be their perplexity.
This is a bleak assessment that concludes The best of man is a brier in v4, the most upright cuts as a thorn hedge
Depravity
Depravity
That is who the Bible says that we are.
We aren’t going to go deep into what are called the doctrines of grace this morning, and we aren’t go to open up what I hold to or don’t hold to on the subject, I am sure that will be a topic for another day. But of the topic of depravity I am afraid there is no escape. The natural state of man is depraved.
Humanism vs Christianity
Humanism vs Christianity
dThis is the fundamental point of difference between atheistic secular humanism and Christianity. Humanism wants to suggest that all people are essentially good at their core and Christiadnity proposes what we read in Jeremiah 17:9
Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV 1900)
9 The heart —the core of man— is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
You could argue no, the difference between humanism and Christianity is belief in Christ and I would see your point, but mankind needs Christ, expressly because the heart of man is desperately wicked and in need of a savior.
WEIRD
WEIRD
Most people aren’t weird. What do I mean by that? WEIRD is an acronym for Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic. There have been studies that have been done to analyze human nature nature and they have concluded what the humanists maintain, that people are by nature, good.
The problem is, they do these studies on 15% of the population of the world, and make conclusions about the world as a whole. The studies are performed in countries like The United States, The United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, etc. In other words WEIRD countries: Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic. Countries that have been established by Judaeo Christian values and morality.
When we expand these studies to include the rest of the world the studies aren’t nearly as flattering. We find what that these non-WEIRD countries aren’t as concerned with virtues such as fairness.
People aren’t fundamentally good. In fact Jesus addresses this when he says in Matthew 19:17
Matthew 19:17 (KJV 1900)
17b … there is none good but one, that is, God ...
Brothers
Brothers
You and I, if we honestly evaluate our own hearts, even our hearts after we have been redeemed and made new creatures. Our own hearts even as we are in the process of sanctification.
Do you remember Caananite woman who came to Jesus? Matthew 15:22-27
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
When we examine our own hearts, if we are honest with ourselves we must conclude that we are so far away from the righteousness and goodness of God that we like the Caananite woman who came to Jesus are just happy for the crumbs of grace that fall from our Master’s table.
But we read something shocking in verse 11
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Jesus — isn’t — ashamed — to call you — Brother! He’s not ashamed to call you — Sister.
And the author of Hebrews tells us where, he quotes Psalm 22:22 in verse 12
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
And so when we work this backwards we see clearly God’s design of the church. In v12 it’s the assembly, that’s what church means. It’s the assembly where the praises of God are sung by Christ. And we can see that it is made up of the siblings (if you will) to whom Christ has declared the name of God. And in v11 we see that it’s those who Christ is sanctifying, those who are saved, who he is not ashamed of, that He is calling brother and sister.
Value
Value
We can carry guilt. We evaluate ourselves against scripture and against God’s holiness and we inevitably fall far short. If we didn’t see ourselves as falling short it would demonstrate either our ignorance of God’s holiness or it would be blaspheme.
Good Guilt
Good Guilt
Some of this guilt is good. It is corrective and we need to have the heart over our shortcomings that we find in Psalm 38:18
18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
This is a Psalm of David. David who had the peaks and valleys of his spiritual life laid bare and the preserved for eternity in scripture. Warts and all.
David wasn’t defensive about his sin. He didn’t try to sweep it under the rug or white wash it. There isn’t anything written in scripture where David twists God’s word in order to give himself a pass.
No. David says I will declare mine iniquity. He will proclaim his guilt, he made no secret of it. And then he said I will be sorry for my sin. That is key.
Pr 28:13 reads
13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
So if we can have guilt over our sins, and we confess them, and we forsake them then we can expect the mercy of God. So, it is good that we have —that— guilt because that guilt can lead to the mercy of God.
What does Romans 8:1 tell us?
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Context
Context
The Theologian C.H. Dodd promoted a theory that OT references are not isolated proof-texts but take the entire context
This would be true in our contemporary culture. If someone were to respond in a situation with the famous line Et tu, Brute? from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar It would immediately bring to mind the entire context of Caesar’s betrayal at the hand of his trusted friend Brutus
Or in a more contemporary terms, If someone exclaimed Houston We Have a Problem it would immediately take you to Apollo 13 and the challenges leading up to the Astronaut’s emergency landing.
This passage in Hebrews Hebrews 2:12 points back to Ps 22:22
But it is part of a greater context. Turn with me to Psalm 22, we aren’t going to read it in it’s entirety but follow with me:
This is the Psalm which begins in v1
1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
In verse 16 we read
16 For dogs have compassed me: The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: They pierced my hands and my feet.
We see the affliction of Christ foretold in the lamentation of David, but more importantly we see this:
A savior who had the sins of all mankind put upon him, and the torment of that sin upon his flesh. But also of a God who didn’t abandon him.
I have heard it said that when Christ cried out with what we read in verse 1
Psalm 22:1 (KJV 1900)
1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
upon the cross, that God had turned away from Christ at that moment.
But look what the Psalm says in verse 24
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither hath he hid his face from him; But when he cried unto him, he heard.
God didn’t hid his face from the afflicted. When he cried out to Him. He Heard.
A Reason to Sing
A Reason to Sing
In Hebrews 2:12 it says of Christ that he sings praise unto God. The words Sing Praises is one word in the Greek, ὑμνέω (hymneō). Christ sang hymns in the congregation praising God.
Here is a hymn of praise worth singing:
In his suffering Christ was made perfect. Complete. For man to give God the glory through Christ’s sacrifice he had to become a man, had to suffer like a man, and even though he was perfect he had to have the sin’s of man put upon him for the cause of atonement. He had to have the guilt of sin put upon Him.
Through all of this Christ still calls us brothers and sisters. And it doesn’t bring Him shame it brings him glory. And here is the amazing thing.
Just as it was true of Christ and just as it was true of David if you are afflicted with the burdens of sin and you cry out to God he is not going to turn His face from you! God does not despise you! — He hears you --
Not Worthy
Not Worthy
We can look at our sin, all of the ugliness in our past, the wickedness of our hearts, and we can conclude, Who am I. Who am I that God should be mindful of me.
Well, if you were on the outside looking in, like and angel would be, you would look at God and you would look at man and you would conclude…nothing. You are nothing compared to God.
But, despite our meekness and our feebleness. God loves us. We are His self portrait. And it’s not all about our eternal well being either, this isn’t just some favor God is doing for mankind, no God is glorified, His greatness is put on display for all of existence to behold; every time a sinner is saved, every time that grace that was bought on the cross is realized through the repentance of sins. Each and every time, God is glorified.
Closing
Closing
This morning, if you only know the shame of sin. I want you to understand that if you turn away from your sin and put your faith in Christ you won’t be some outcast, some sort of outcast in the Kingdom of God. You will be a brother, in whom our Lord is not ashamed.
If you have any questions about the message this morning, or if you want to know more about salvation through our savior Jesus Christ please grab me as when we close the service or send me or the church a private message online. There is nothing I would love more than to tell you about my savior.
Pray