Introduction.

1. For a television programme on Christmas Day three ministers from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Uniting Church were asked, ‘What does Christmas mean to you?' Not one spoke of the birth of Jesus, as the Saviour coming to save his people from their sins. All three were very politically correct and placed the emphasis on doing good deeds towards those less fortunate than yourself. Their responses annoyed me and caused me to wonder what I would have said if I was given the opportunity to speak on national television? As I thought about this the text that came to mind was Romans 1:16-17, where Paul says, ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."' Can you and I say, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Is this your clear and firm conviction? Do you have absolutely no shame about the gospel of Christ?
   
   
2. The experience of being embarrassed and ashamed is terrible. For radio broadcaster Peter Rennie a spoonerism caused him great embarrassment. In the 1960s when her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited New Zealand, it was his, job as a broadcaster to give the live description of events. His vantage point was on the main street of a small town where the queen was scheduled to pass. He carefully thought through his description of the scene, but his nervousness showed when he announced to the whole country, "And here comes her Majesty now, wearing a beautiful frummer sock!"  The Duke of Edinburgh, standing next to him, momentarily lost his composure. His snort of laughter was also broadcast to the nation. In a moment Peter Rennie felt like a fool, hid his face behind his hands and wished the earth would open up and swallow him. We all know what it is to blush with embarrassed - or to be ashamed of ourselves. We all try as best we can to avoid being ashamed or embarrassed. The devil uses our strong desire to avoid being ashamed or embarrassed to stop us talking about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The offence of the Gospel causes shame.

1. When you read the Book of Acts it ought to be very obvious that the world to whom Paul preached found the Gospel offensive. The world made it clear that believing the gospel and preaching it was unacceptable and despicable. Preaching the gospel often stirred up other people to shame the Apostle Paul. There can be no doubt that preaching the gospel cast Paul in the worst possible light in the eyes of the world around him. It is important to note that Paul never modified his message to cause himself less shame. The Jews found the idea of a crucified Messiah so offensive that it was a major stumbling block to even listen to the gospel. The Greeks considered the idea of the Saviour dying as a substitute to secure the forgiveness of their sins as gross stupidity. A crucified Saviour was the most foolish concept they had ever heard.
   
   
2. The Gospel was so offensive in apostolic times that you put your life on the line when you proclaimed the saving grace of Christ's work on the cross. Listen to 2 Corinthians 11:23-26 where Paul refers to the responses he got from the world as he preached the gospel of salvation to them,
   
   ‘...in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned...' In all these things the world sought to put Paul to shame. Paul's conviction about the gospel of Christ was so strong that he refused to become ashamed of himself as a slave of Jesus Christ. The world in a thousand different ways tells us that we should be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus. To talk about sin is politically incorrect and you should be ashamed of yourself if you suggest that all men and women are totally depraved sinners restrained from wickedness by the common grace of God. You should be ashamed of the truth about God's wrath being upon all wickedness. You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking that the wicked will spend eternity in the horrors and terrors of hell. That all men and woman deserve to die for their sins is offensive and unacceptable to the world around us and we should be ashamed for even thinking such a thing.
   
   
3. Why is the gospel of Jesus Christ offensive? The message of the gospel is very confronting in that it unveils the truth about sin and its dreadful consequences. The gospel tells unbelievers that they are so sinful that they deserve to die and suffer in eternal hell. This means thinking of yourself as no better than a mass murderer or terrorist who deserves to die for his crimes. In order to see yourself as one who deserves condemnation all your pride must be stripped away and replaced with shame. It means no longer comparing yourself against other fallen sinners, but comparing yourself against the perfect holiness of God. The gospel confronts unbelievers with the truth that they are unacceptable to God, that his wrath is set against them, and that it is only because God is full of grace and mercy that they do not find themselves already in hell. The offence of the gospel lies in the proclamation that all men and women are sinners and in desperate and vital need of salvation. The gospel asks the individual to accept unconditionally that he fully deserves to be condemned to endless suffering in hell. The cross of Jesus declares that every sinner deserves to be punished for his sin and deserves to be put to death on a cross as Jesus was.  The gospel calls on sinners to be totally ashamed of themselves before God. The Gospel is confronting as it convinces and convicts them of their guilt for not loving God with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength. The sinful nature we are born with cannot acknowledge and submit to this truth about ourselves as it means being ashamed of ourselves. The gospel of Jesus demands that men and women be totally ashamed of themselves for not believing and loving the Lord.
   
   
4. The gospel does two things; it exposes the sinful activity in those who do not believe, and it gives freedom from shame to those who believe and embrace Christ. Jesus' life, by way of his teaching, example and pro-active conduct constantly exposed the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees for their blatant hypocrisy. Jesus was hated because he brought shame upon those who fraudulently represented his Father. Jesus shamed those who claimed they loved God but rejected him by saying, ‘Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.' Jesus shames them by identifying Satan as their true father who directs their actions. This truth was very confronting and full of shame. The Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees sought to shame Jesus by  falsely accusing him of blasphemy, beating him, ridiculing and taunting him, stripping him of his clothes, scourging him with a whip, torturing him in public, and made him look like a fool as people mocked him on the cross saying, "You who saved others, save yourself." The world will always seek to make believers feel ashamed of the gospel of Christ Jesus and also of the Christ of the gospel. You need to know that this is a strategy that the Devil constantly uses.

2. The fruit of the Gospel removes shame.

1. Is there such a thing as false shame? We see a classic example of this in 2 Samuel 19. Absalom had sought to usurp his father's throne, but was defeated and killed by soldiers who were loyal to David. When David hears the news that Absalom had been killed he mourns the death of his son saying, "O my son Absalom-my son, my son Absalom-if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!" The affect these words had on David's loving and loyal soldiers is recorded in 2 Samuel 19:2, ‘And the people stole back into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.' The soldiers felt ashamed for securing victory for David over the rebellious, treacherous, and devious traitor Absalom. They were ashamed of doing that which was good and right in the eyes of God. Why is the person who blows the whistle on a corrupt college at work made to feel ashamed? Why is the student who dobs in his friend for drug abuse made to feel ashamed? Why is a man made to feel ashamed because he is poor? Why is a person made to feel ashamed because of the colour of his skin? Why are Christians made to feel ashamed for refusing to work on the Lord's Day? We live in a world that heaps shame on actions that should be applauded. The world we live in is wallowing in false shame.
   
   
2. What did Jesus (whose sinless life made him shameless) do with the shame that the world heaped on him? Listen to what Hebrews 12:2 tells us, ‘Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.' How do you despise the shame others pour on you? Listen to John Piper's comments on the concept of despising the shame others poured on Jesus. ‘Jesus...said to the shame, "Shame, I despise you. I will not yield to you. I will not give to you any satisfaction. You may do with me whatever you please - in the short run - but I will not obey you or follow you or give in to you. I despise you, shame, and will not let you rule me." How could he do that? How can you do that? Hebrews 12:2 says he did it "for the joy that was set before him." Shame was stripping away every earthly support that Jesus had: his friends gave way in shaming abandonment; his reputation gave way in shaming slander; his decency gave way in shaming nakedness; his comfort gave way in shaming torture. So, if his present supports were all being stripped away in shaming persecution, how did he not capitulate to such shame? Hebrews 12:2 says, he set his heart not on the supports of the present, but on the joy of the future where very soon he would "sit down at the right hand of the throne of God." Though he was being shamed, Jesus was not ashamed of his God and Father. Why? Because God had power to save him from death and give him all-satisfying glory at his right hand forever.' Jesus despised the shame being heaped on him because it was false shame.
   
   
3. False shame calls on you to be ashamed of doing anything that honours and glorifies God by submitting to the principles of his law. When you work through the issue of false and true shame, it really comes down to whether you believe God or the sinful nature? God names and shames all sinful behaviour, the sinful nature shames all behaviour that glorifies God. Will you be ashamed of what is approved by God, but frowned on by the world, or will you be ashamed of things frowned on by the world but approved by God. Why was Paul unashamed of the gospel? He was unashamed because ‘it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.'  Paul knew the amazing power of God in the gospel; therefore he was convinced and convicted about its truth and effectiveness. Paul was willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel, also willing to be misunderstood, and willing to be rejected and vilified, but was never wiling to be ashamed of Christ and his glorious work. All the shame the world would heap on those who love the gospel is false shame.
   
   
4. How do you gain victory over the sense and feelings of shame when you are being shamed for believing in Jesus and sharing the gospel? The first thing you need to do is determine whether the shame you feel creeping into your heart and mind is true or false shame. Check this by asking yourself whether or not the Lord would approve of what you have done or are doing. The second thing you need to do is to take time to think about the power of the gospel to reconcile sinners to God, secure their adoption as sons and guarantee eternal joy. No other religion or philosophy on the face of the earth has this glorious power. There is no other Saviour who can take away your sins and reconcile you to God. Only Jesus could do that glorious work. How can you ever be ashamed of a gospel that reconciles sinners to the only true and living God? Do you have absolute confidence in the gospel, - convinced that it can fulfil every promise it makes? If you have such confidence you can never be ashamed of the glorious gospel of Christ.
   
   
5. Like the Apostle Paul every believer should have absolute confidence in the gospel of Christ in which they believe. Believers have experienced the power of the gospel in their own lives. There are four things that you should know from your own experience:
   
   1. The power of God in the gospel of Jesus delivered me from the guilt of my sins. When Jesus died he atoned for all my sins, past, present, and future. He suffered the condemnation my sinful life justly deserves as my substitute in order to reconcile me to God.
      
   2. The power of God in the gospel of Jesus delivered me from the power and dominion of sin. In his work on the cross Jesus broke the shackles that made me a slave to sin. Jesus defeated my wicked master and set me free from his wicked dominion. I am free to please God by loving and obeying him.
      
   3. The power of God in the gospel of Jesus delivered me from God's wrath. Jesus in his death on the cross made propitiation for my sin. His suffering and death appeased the righteousness, justice, holiness and wrath of God. Jesus suffered the wrath of God I deserved in order to appease God.
      
   4. The power of God in the gospel of Jesus delivered me to fellowship with God. I know the presence of God; I commune with him every day in prayer and he speaks to me from his Word. I know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who influences me everyday to be more and more like Jesus by producing in me the fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
      
      If you are a believer you ought to have absolute confidence in the power of God in the gospel, your own experience ought to testify to you that you cannot be ashamed of such a glorious and liberating Gospel.
      
      
6. Your confidence in the power of God in the gospel needs to be robust enough to stand up to the criticism of the world against the gospel. The way the world has sought to shame believers has changed over the past 50 years. In the 60's believers were criticised for believing a gospel with super-natural powers. In the 70's believers were criticised for believing a gospel that came from the Bible which was full of myths, legends, contradictions and errors. In the 80's believers were criticised for believing that absolute truth existed. In the 90's believers were criticised for believing that truth actually exists. Today believers are criticised for believing others are wrong about what they believe in. You are shamed today not so much because you believe, but because you are arrogant, bigoted and egotistical in claiming that Christ's ways are the only ways. The accusation you face today is that you should be ashamed for your lack of tolerance of other faiths and your mean-spiritedness that declares that unless a person believes in Jesus Christ he will be condemned forever in hell. This is the shame that the world will pour on you directly and indirectly. Despise this false shame and never be ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

Conclusion.

If Jesus was alive today he would be called a bigot for saying, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' When the world tells you that your claim that Christ Jesus alone saves sinners is intolerable, accept it as a compliment, for the world is saying that you are like Jesus. If the world shames you for believing Christ alone is the Saviour, take it as a compliment for indirectly they are saying you are like the Apostles who said, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."  Do not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ as it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. Make it your resolution for 2007 never to ashamed of the gospel of Christ.