I Am Not Ashamed

[0:00] And all right, so let's get in the Bible. Would you please open up to Romans chapter 1? And we'll continue with our study here on the Apostle Paul. And just like Jesus Christ had some I am's, we got some I am's from our Apostle and some practical things that we can follow, not as the authority to salvation, like Jesus Christ is the authority when he can say, I am the light of the world and I am the bread of life.

[0:26] But the Apostle Paul is our authority that we're to follow and our pattern to live the Christian life. And so as I have stated already, I'm going to catch the third one this week.

[0:40] The third thing that Paul says he is, and rather this one's kind of in the negative. It's something that he is not. But I think we can really benefit from it today. So we'll begin reading verse 14, 15, and 16 and just briefly review and then get back into it.

[0:56] Verse 14, Paul says, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

[1:10] For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

[1:20] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Let's pray together and then we'll review. Father, please bless tonight.

[1:32] Thank you for each one that's here. Thank you for each person that came hungry for the word of God and hungry to be around believers and to fellowship in Jesus Christ. So Lord, I pray that you would satisfy their hunger, that you would feed them from your word, that your spirit would minister and move in our midst and just grow us in Christ, grow us together.

[1:53] Please honor your word tonight and be pleased with our worship and our attitude and our reception to the word. We pray in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Amen.

[2:04] So first of all, Paul says, I am debtor. And we hit that, that you also are debtor. Maybe not the way Paul was to all of the people that God had called him to, the apostle to the Gentiles, but certainly there are people in your life that you're debtor to.

[2:17] If you have received the gift of eternal life, there's people in your family perhaps, or people that know your name that you consider your friends, you're debtor to them to get the gospel to them.

[2:29] You're debtor to tell them what Jesus Christ did for you and what he did for them. Shame on you if you keep it to yourself and just go to glory without ever telling somebody else that Christ died for them.

[2:43] So you can thank God that somebody told you and that makes you automatically debtor. To tell somebody else, particularly those that you love, those that know you by name. And so Paul is debtor and so are you.

[2:54] And then in verse 15, last week we were out on the patio with the campfire going and we looked at this thought that he said, I am ready to preach the gospel. And we looked in this chapter here and then a little bit in chapter 15 and saw that his readiness was expressed in several ways.

[3:11] And the first one was that he was making requests in verses 9 and 10. He was praying. He was praying. He's ready to preach and it's evident because he's been praying about this. And that's a great place to start if you're going to try to preach the gospel to somebody.

[3:25] If you realize you're debtor to get them the gospel, you realize I need to do this for Jesus Christ and to keep them out of hell, a good thing to do is start with praying and seeking the Lord and asking Him to do something and to soften their heart and to give you an opportunity and to prepare the way and to give you wisdom and to give you courage and to give them ears to hear.

[3:46] And the Lord can do all of those things. And so he prayed and he longed, he desired in verse 11 and he even made some attempts, several attempts it seems. Oftentimes he says in verse number 13, he purposed to come unto them.

[4:00] He made serious attempts. Christ is proving that he was ready to preach the gospel. He didn't just pray for them and then just hope somebody else does it, but rather he took it upon himself as a debtor to get the gospel to them.

[4:13] And the final thing we studied last Wednesday night was that some of his attempts failed, but he came up with another plan. In chapter 15, he was planning, I will see you again, he said. I'm on my way to Spain.

[4:25] I'm coming to Rome by the way of Spain. And he made another change. He didn't give up. He didn't give up and he didn't give up. He wanted to get the gospel to him. Now, thirdly, in this passage, verse 16, Paul said, I am not ashamed.

[4:42] I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. So let's stay right there tonight and consider this thought the apostle Paul has and see if we can't follow this I am as well.

[4:53] Maybe this time I am not. So I hope this concept, when you read that verse, I hope that it's already a reality to you. I hope that's the case. To hear him say, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

[5:06] I hope as you read that verse, as you hear me read that verse tonight, that you've already fallen in love with Jesus Christ. You're already living for him. You don't have any regrets. You don't have any reservations.

[5:17] You're living unashamed of the gospel of Christ. I hope that you're telling others. I hope that your family knows you're saved and they see a difference in you. I hope that your co-workers know there's something different about you.

[5:29] I hope people in your life know that you're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. If you are ashamed, you may say, well, no, I'm not, but I just don't really show it. Well, there's a reason why you may not show it.

[5:41] Because you are ashamed of it. Shame does some things to a believer. Shame does some things. One thing it does is it cowers. It causes a believer to cower, to live in fear.

[5:53] What are they going to say about me? They're all going to mock me. They're afraid to bear the reproach of Jesus Christ because they're ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It'll cause believers to cower.

[6:05] It'll cause believers to cover and to hide their identity. And I can tell you, by way of personal testimony, I lived years and years of my younger days and teenage and young adult life covering my identity in Christ.

[6:19] Not letting anybody see who I was. Afraid to tell them that I was growing up in a Christian home. That my dad was an associate pastor at a Bible-believing church.

[6:29] That I attended a Christian school. I didn't want to tell people I went to the Christian school. Why? Because it had the name Christ on it. And it's not that I was not happy to be saved and to know the truth and to have parents that loved me and to be raised in the truth.

[6:47] Part of me was glad for that. But there's another part of me that wanted to fit in with the world so badly that I could not mention that name of Christ and live the life I was trying to live.

[6:58] And so I was hiding my identity. I was covering up. And shame will do that. I was ashamed of the gospel of Christ where I worked at a fast food restaurant at 16 years old amidst a bunch of lost teenagers that went to public school and were smoking weed and getting drunk and doing what they do.

[7:16] And I was just trying to fit right in with them. Ashamed of Christ. And boy, do I ever have regret about that. Something else shame will do, it'll cripple the work of God in you.

[7:27] You'll never grow. You'll never gain confidence. You'll never have any impact, little to no impact at all on the world that you live in for Jesus Christ and specifically in the context we've been studying amongst your family and amongst your friends.

[7:45] If you're ashamed of the gospel of Christ, you'll have no impact. You'll cripple the work of God. If that sounds like you, tonight let's look at the Apostle Paul. Let's look at what he says confidently in verse 16 and pick up his example and pick up some strength and some confidence and pick up some conviction so that we don't live like we're ashamed.

[8:05] The first thing I see about this Apostle and he says I'm not ashamed is that he proved this. Look back at chapter 1 and verse number 1. Paul displayed to us that he's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ by his allegiance.

[8:21] First of all, by his allegiance. Look at verse number 1 of Romans. He says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

[8:35] When he identifies himself, the very first thing he has to say about himself is that he is under one man, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, not of Caesar, not of the high priest, not of the law of Moses.

[8:52] No longer does he even identify with any of that stuff. It's one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he displays to us, he's not ashamed of Jesus Christ by his allegiance.

[9:03] He says in verse 1, I'm separated unto the gospel of God. Now, understand, he's not talking about this sanctification where he's separating himself from all worldliness and all ungodliness and all of that and I'm not having, I've come out from among them and that's not what he's talking about here.

[9:20] He said, I'm separated unto the gospel of God. He's pointing out to us that this is the life now that he lives. We've read this a few weeks ago, several times even in Galatians.

[9:34] It was a chapter 1 where he said that they heard that me, the one that persecuted the church of God is now preaching Christ. That's his reputation changed.

[9:47] Everybody knew that. That's his way of life now. He's separated from all of that other religion and all of that upbringing. He's separated unto the gospel of God. He's a legion to it. Keep your place, but just flip back to the book of Acts chapter 20 and take a look at something he says in chapter 20, verse 24.

[10:11] Acts chapter 20, verse 24. Worried about going to jail, he said, none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish, notice the next two words, my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

[10:38] He's just given, this is who he's allegiant to. It's to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's given me a course and this is all I care. I'm not even worried about my own life anymore. At the point of losing my life, I am going to try to finish my course, the ministry that was given to me of God to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

[10:58] He said, I'm separated unto the gospel of God. You better believe this man's not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's separated his life unto this gospel. He's identifying with this gospel.

[11:10] He says, this is my course. This is my calling in life. He's allied to Christ. In Philippians chapter 1, he says, for to me to live is Christ.

[11:23] He's allied to Christ. He's allegiant to his gospel and he is not one bit ashamed to let everybody know it. His allegiance is public. It's pronounced.

[11:35] News that he was apostle of Christ that spread the entire region. Folks knew about this. He didn't hide it. Even he was called before the Jewish council.

[11:45] He was called before the high priest. Such a rare thing to be called in front of the high priest and questioned. He was called before Agrippa. He was called, even sent to Caesar, sent to Rome to go to Caesar to stand before the highest power of the land.

[12:02] This man is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He was mocked by Agrippa saying, Paul, thou art beside thyself. Much learning hath made thee mad. You're nuts, Paul.

[12:14] Oh no. No, no, no, no. You don't understand. So Paul was not ashamed. And it's displayed by his allegiance. He suffered many things and he never flinched.

[12:25] Why? Because he was not ashamed to be a servant of Jesus Christ. He was not ashamed to be an apostle. He was not ashamed to be separated under the gospel of God. But come back to Romans 1 and I'll show you something else in this first chapter at the beginning that displays that he's not ashamed.

[12:42] And secondly, I want you to see that he's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. That's displayed by his arguments. In verse 1 he says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

[12:57] And then he throws in this little parenthesis. Do you see that in verse number 2? Before he goes on anywhere, he says something which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. What's he talking about?

[13:08] He's talking about the gospel of God. I'm separated unto the gospel of God, by the way, which he promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

[13:20] Paul immediately brings up the Holy Scriptures and that this gospel was promised in those Old Testament Scriptures. It was promised by God in the writing of the prophets.

[13:32] Now Paul, you're going to have to explain that one to us, right? You're going to have to, you can't just say things without explaining them and so he does. And does he ever explain them? I want you to see this in two points that is displayed by his arguments in number one, in his publications and then secondly, in his preaching.

[13:51] First, his publications. He quotes the Old Testament more than any New Testament author. As a matter of fact, the book of Romans has the highest Old Testament quotation rate of any New Testament book and it's not the biggest book at all.

[14:08] But the Apostle Paul is going to prove to us in his writings, in his publications, that God promised this gospel.

[14:20] So he writes the book of Romans and please understand, this is a doctrinal masterpiece. This is not a simple writing. This is not just sit down and whip this out and say hi to a few people.

[14:33] This is a, nothing short of a, a thorough thesis on the operation of salvation in this age. He covers the whole thing and he starts it slow and he builds it and he gives it its bang.

[14:49] That's why the Romans road is so popular if you're familiar with that, taking somebody down the Romans road, showing them that they're a sinner, showing them that Jesus Christ died for their sins, showing them the wages of sin, of course, showing them how they can call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

[15:02] And there's several points that go through this book. You can kind of just pull out the little bullet points and preach the gospel. But Paul writes this book and he quotes the Old Testament more than anybody else.

[15:16] I want to show you this just briefly in three ways. in this publication, how he does this was, number one, he identifies the situation that all have sinned, that all are under sin.

[15:31] It doesn't matter who you are. After we get past this section that we're studying in Romans 1, he jumps right into this wrath of God being revealed in verse 18 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness.

[15:45] He's saying God was, God manifest himself to men and they rejected him. They refused to glorify him as God in verse number 21. They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image in verse 23.

[16:01] They, verse 25, changed the truth of God into a lie, worshipped and served the creature more than the creator. Mankind that has just turned his back on God and pretended he doesn't even exist. And then the rest of the chapter shows the filthiness of that man, the outcome of his sin, what he's become.

[16:18] He's guilty. He's dead guilty. He's got nothing to say. And that's man that has rejected God and knowledge of God. But then there's another man on the earth that has not rejected God, but he finds himself to be righteous because he thinks he follows God and observes the Lord and his law.

[16:37] And Paul shows in chapter 2, well, you're in the same boat as the other guy. Because while you're claiming that you keep the law, you're still breaking the law, therefore you're guilty too. And he shows that the Jews are guilty even in keeping the law.

[16:51] And then in chapter 3, look at verse number 9, a summary statement of those two thoughts. In verse number 9, what then? Are we better than they? No.

[17:03] In no wise. For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. And there's no remedy for that.

[17:14] Verse 20, that by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified. And so Paul first here identifies the situation that we're all guilty of sin before God without a satisfactory solution.

[17:28] But as he closes chapter 3, he introduces the solution. He introduces faith of Jesus. Verse 22, the righteousness of God in verses 21 and 22.

[17:41] There's righteousness that can be obtained by faith of Jesus Christ in verse 23. You can be justified in verse 24 freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness.

[18:01] Paul introduces the solution that is salvation by grace through faith. And then as he continues into chapter 4, he illustrates with Scripture. In chapter 4, you'll see Abraham in verse 1.

[18:15] You'll see David in verse 6. And there he goes back into the Bible, into the Old Testament, and starts illustrating, further expounding with Old Testament examples, men that believed God.

[18:28] Men that had righteousness imputed to them because they exercised faith. And the illustrations don't stop there. And Paul goes on chapter by chapter by chapter covering all this material, laying a doctrinal groundwork for our New Testament of salvation by faith.

[18:48] You think he was ashamed? He authored a detailed argument for the gospel of Christ. You think he was ashamed?

[18:59] He wasn't ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He authored this work and he put his name at the top. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, is displayed by his arguments in his publications and then also in his preaching.

[19:17] Another way that he argued a case for Jesus Christ. Flip back to Acts chapter 9. You can keep your place in Romans 1. But Acts chapter 9. And when he first is converted and he trusts Christ and he comes to know him and his world is changed.

[19:48] He spends some time with some disciples. He gets some time with the Lord even. And in verse number 20 of Acts chapter 9 it says, In straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God.

[20:04] And in verse 21, All that heard him were amazed and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?

[20:15] But Paul increased them more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. How do you think he proved it to them? To the Jews?

[20:27] By what authority? Is he going to talk about his experience? Why would they even listen to him? Oh, a bright light shined from heaven. Why would the Jews give a rip about what he said about that?

[20:37] You're nuts, Paul. How did he prove? I'll tell you how he proved. First, there's one more verse. Look at verse 29. It says, And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians.

[20:51] What am I saying? I'm saying that in his preaching he displayed in his arguments that he's not ashamed. Look at chapter 17 and here's how you can here's what he said he used to prove to expound to dispute.

[21:10] This is the authority. Chapter 17 in verse number 2 and 3. And Paul as his manner was went in unto them in the synagogue of the Jews that is, verse 1.

[21:25] He went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.

[21:41] Yeah. Paul's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ and he displays it by his arguments in his publications with his name front and center and in his preaching.

[21:52] He's not ashamed at all. He's actually a bit you might call him a bit passionate about the gospel of Christ. In Romans chapter 1 we read it he said this it is the power of God unto salvation.

[22:06] Do you ever hear anybody in churches around this area standing up and saying that the gospel of Christ that's the power of God unto salvation? Or do they talk about spritzing some water on a baby?

[22:18] Or do they talk about taking you through a catechism to when you get of a certain age and you can recite all of these beliefs you've been indoctrinated you're in. Who's preaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ that that alone is the power of God unto salvation?

[22:35] Plus nothing. Paul did his preaching. he displayed his boldness he displayed his not ashamed by his allegiance and by his arguments.

[22:51] I wonder what you argue about. I wonder what you argue for. You get into discussions don't you? You debate with people about things you believe don't you?

[23:04] What do you argue for? You argue about politics? You like to let them know the right thing for America? The way it should be?

[23:16] And who we should get in there? Is that the argument? That's who you argue for? For this country? For some man? Who do you take a stand for and declare what you believe?

[23:29] I wonder today it seems Christians in pulpits even sadly are more passionate about politics than they are about the gospel of Jesus Christ the power of God. Here's just a thought.

[23:43] Anytime somebody wants to talk that stuff with you just here's a quick answer. What America needs is Jesus Christ. Just say that. Just say that right there.

[23:54] Who America needs? I believe it's Jesus Christ. That's what we need. We need the gospel of Jesus Christ in this land. See if anybody agrees with you there.

[24:06] But there's a stand. You'll be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ you stand up and talk like that. There's a way to do it. Paul preached the gospel. It's obvious he wasn't ashamed by the effort that he put into his arguments.

[24:19] There's a third thing and a final thing I want to say that displays he's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ and I'll say this it's by his ambition. In chapter 1 and this is some stuff we've covered last week but look again at verse 13 through 15.

[24:35] Chapter 1 verse 13 of Romans. Paul says I would not have you ignorant brethren that often times I purposed to come unto you but was let hitherto that I might have some fruit among you also even as among other Gentiles.

[24:50] I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Paul not only aspired to get to Rome and preach the gospel he attempted to get to Rome and preach the gospel and if God would allow it he would one day accomplish getting to Rome to preach the gospel.

[25:13] We read in verse or in chapter 15 last week that he described himself as having a great desire to get there and saying to them I will come to you. Paul's not ashamed because he shows us he's making real efforts to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[25:30] He's not ashamed of that gospel at all. Again last week we saw that he prayed that he desired to get there that he attempted to get there and that he continued to make plans to make a trip to get there.

[25:42] He is not ashamed one bit he's putting his life on the line that's how unashamed he is. Paul doesn't hold anything back from Christ and he doesn't hold anything back from man. He's offered him life he's offered himself a living sacrifice and you know he's not ashamed it's displayed by his ambition.

[26:01] Now there's a wonderful liberty to be realized when you are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. You personally in your spirit in your heart in your being it's a wonderful liberty that you can breathe and feel like feel like none of these things move me.

[26:20] You can feel like if God before us who can be against us when you drop all of your fear when you drop all of your hiding and your coverage and not your cowardice and you just say I am not and no longer going to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[26:37] There is such a liberty in living that life but to live a life ashamed of the gospel and afraid to mention his name or afraid to let other people know that you're a Christian and that your sins are forgiven and that you'll go to heaven and you know it living that life is like being stuck in a prison cell.

[26:58] It's being stuck in a place where you're starved you're oppressed you're not able to live freely this life that God has given you to live you're just locked up and it's cold and it's dirty and there's no peace and you hate it because you wish you could do something you're convicted you should be doing something but you stay locked up ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

[27:26] You never experience the thrill of serving him you'll never know the joy of obeying him and that joy of pleasing him and if that's you you're robbing yourself of living an abundant and a fulfilling life that can only be realized when you openly live for Christ.

[27:46] one great step one great step a first step maybe to living this life that you're unashamed of Jesus Christ is to publicly confess Jesus Christ to publicly with your mouth confess Jesus Christ that's a big step for some but it's a relieving one if you've never done that and I'm not saying you just walk outside and just shout it out to the side but you could do that too it'll feel good it'll feel real good I promise you it will you could go out in the street corner and just tell the world that you're saved that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ you'll be relieved to do it you'll feel energy flow through your body that you've never felt before publicly confess him tell your family that you've believed on Jesus Christ that's why I go to church now

[28:47] I'm saved don't worry about the reproach don't worry about the reaction do it for you not for them do it for you because you'll grow you'll get confidence from that you'll get courage to not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ to take a stand and declare that you love Jesus Christ I remember when I was a young man just coming out of a worldly mess and God was so just merciful to me and gracious that I can just recall that when I was in the world I just felt like I don't know if I'm ever going to get out of this mess I don't know if I'm ever going to fix this and have the courage to do what I should do and want to do but when God it's like he was just he had his hand out the whole time and when I finally took him by the hand he lifted me up and pulled me out of that mess cleaned me up and just put me on my feet and gave me some strength for a little time where it's like I didn't have to do it by myself he just just held me up had his hands on my arms my shoulders maybe and I remember being in that place as a young man and just falling in love with Christ that he was patient with me that he was long suffering with me and there was times where a pastor in church would say does anybody have a testimony anybody wants you know the Lord done something for you and people would stand up and say yeah this happened and God took care of it or I you know got a good report from the doctor or somebody got saved and sometimes

[30:16] I didn't have a testimony saying this great thing happened but what was inside my heart I just stood up and raised my hand and he's like Tob and I just said I just want to say that I love the Lord Jesus Christ he's been nothing but good to me and that's how I feel about him and I'm glad to be saved and I'm glad to be in church because of his grace and just sat back down because I loved him one time my wife and I I don't know if we were married yet we might have been we were in a church visiting a church it was her home church where she grew up and I didn't know hardly a soul there really just her parents is about it and I felt a little out of place and I feel like we had gone to Bible school maybe for a year and we're back I can't recall but the pastor there saw us and recognized her obviously and he said oh we got visitors it's Toby and Carla here Toby why don't you get up and say something and I was like what in the world you know I didn't have pre-planned pre-packaged this is what I'm going to say but you know what came out of my mouth that right there

[31:20] I'll just say that I love the Lord Jesus Christ he's the best thing that's ever happened to me there's no it just just came out like that because that was just a go-to you know if you've never publicly confessed Christ that's a good step a good first step to helping you not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ I told you this story before and I'll close with this story some of you haven't heard it it's just one that's I'll never ever ever forget this moment but in Bible school I'm in Pensacola Florida and as our custom was on Saturday afternoons we met for street preaching and I had a spot that I went to and it was where a highway exited from the beach kind of merged with Interstate 10 that goes all the way over there and it comes around wraps around a two lane exit and I had a spot little concrete island like a triangular island in between the turn lane and the two lanes and it really filled up in the summer on those evenings or those afternoons and I remember standing there and just kind of going through this little gospel presentation preaching to the stopped cars and the light turned green and they all took off and I'm standing there with my shirt and tie and my Bible in my hand and just like this and just hold that Bible up as the cars drive by and they all went by and the last one went by and the light turned yellow and it turned red and I just kind of stood there and looked around and I looked at a couple other guys who were across this corner and I came back and looked to see if any cars were coming and here come a car around the corner and it was a convertible and I could see there was a bunch of people in this convertible and I knew they were going to come and they were going to stop right there and as I approached and got closer

[33:05] I immediately got this little nervousness like this convertible you know I can't you can't get away from that like I could reach out and touch them and as I pulled up closer it was a bunch of young pretty attractive girls that had just got home from the beach and they're still wearing their bathing suits and bikinis and there they are and they pulled up and stopped and here's this goofball with a shirt and tie and a bible and they all pull up stop and they all go and here they are looking at me and in a moment the instinct was crawl in a corner and run and hide it was just this is embarrassing to have attractive girls looking at me in their bikinis and I'm like oh can't really hit on them I'm married yeah my wife wasn't with me but but it was just there was that moment of awkward and I felt ashamed in that moment and immediately the lord gave me this verse and I took that bible and I held it up as other cars were coming and I said

[34:14] I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth and began to ask the question have you believed on the lord Jesus Christ have you believed and just who knows what it came out of my mouth after that I know I didn't speak in tongues but just gave him a few more verses and just felt so relieved that God gave me that verse it came up and it came out and it was what I needed and what I wanted because I don't want to be ashamed of Jesus Christ just because some pretty girls are staring at me and I look like a fool thank God for that moment that I got to look like a fool in front of them if they giggled and laughed and thought this guy is totally who cares I was thankful that God gave me that verse that I could proclaim that I'm not ashamed even though inside my flesh I still am and I wanted to hide it helps to publicly confess Christ it will give you strength so live unashamed

[35:21] Christian live unashamed let's follow the apostle Paul as he says I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ take the cover off and put on the Lord Jesus Christ that's just the old man that's afraid that's the old man that doesn't want to bear his reproach so take put him off and put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ pray away the cowardice and grow in confidence as you declare that you're not afraid and you're not ashamed it's not only worth believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ it's worth living for and so I hope this little thought tonight from the apostle Paul that he's not ashamed I hope that resonates in your spirit the Lord uses that to prick you if you've been living undercover or if you've been afraid to open your mouth and let God show you a way that you can do it that you'll pray for a time to do it and that you'll be able to confess him to somebody let him know you're a Christian let him know you're not ashamed it'll do you good

[36:26] I promise you so I am not ashamed are you let's pray Father please take take the message take the passage take all of this and get it inside of us and I pray that it would bear fruit in each individual's life from the youngest to the oldest help us not to be ashamed help us not to live in fear help us not to fear what man can do unto us but to boldly proclaim who we are in Christ please use us and glorify yourself Lord I know that some are shy and some are intimidated so give them power give them courage and just deal with their hearts give them conviction to say something before it's too late Lord if there's somebody here that is lost show them their need for Christ if there's somebody on their heart that needs to be saved and they know it

[37:32] God give them an open door give us all an open door to preach the gospel and help us to be faithful doing it unashamed we love you we thank you for Calvary and for forgiveness of sins thank you for giving us eternal life and may we not keep it to ourselves bless as we go please keep us healthy and safe in Jesus Christ and it's in his name we pray amen amen tonight you are dismissed