Participants: David Asscherick
Series Code: 09GYC
Program Code: 09GYC000005
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00:20 Elizabeth and Marshall Wareham
00:46 Elizabeth and Marshall Wareham 01:31 Elizabeth and Marshall Wareham 02:03 Elizabeth and Marshall Wareham 03:38 Good evening GYC! 03:41 Tonight I had the amazing privilege of introducing to you 03:45 not only an inspirational speaker, 03:47 but a dear friend of mine. 03:49 Over the last eight years the Lord has used 03:52 David Asscherick and his ministry to touch my life 03:55 in an amazing way. 03:56 I know I would not be who I am today if it were not for 04:00 him and the Ministry that he has had. 04:01 The Lord has used him to bring different people into our 04:04 lives that have led me not only to change the course of 04:07 my life, but to Mission College and different places 04:10 where I know that he is led of the Lord. 04:14 My prayer for you tonight as he preaches on The Relevancy 04:18 of Crucifixion, is that your heart and minds would be 04:21 drawn not to the messenger, but to the giver of the 04:24 message and to the giver of the Lord of David's life. 04:28 May you all be blessed, Amen! 04:34 Alright, thank you Laura, I couldn't hear a word you 04:36 said, good evening everyone. 04:40 Happy new year 04:42 Is the year 2010 going to be a great year? 04:47 I'm determined it is going to be my best, boldest, and 04:51 most unashamed of Jesus year yet. 04:55 Anybody else want to say that? 04:58 I'm on fire for the new year, normally I treat the new 05:01 year with ambivalence mostly, but I don't know I feel 05:05 very good about the new year and I really like the idea 05:09 of having the GYC over the new year. 05:12 Do you like that? 05:14 I think it's the best place frankly, one of the best 05:18 places to usher in the new year and my hope is that we 05:22 don't have to do too many more of these. 05:26 Are you tracking with that? 05:27 In other words, okay, great I like you and you like me, 05:30 this is all fine and good, but it is going to be better 05:33 in heaven. Amen! 05:36 so I am all for the GYC, love it and support it, enjoy 05:39 it and what to spend the New Year's here, but I will 05:42 look forward to the time when they are done. 05:44 Amen! 05:48 Well did you have a good day today? Audience: Amen! 05:51 Did you enjoy the seminars? Audience: Amen! 05:53 Did you learn anything? Audience: Amen! 05:55 Now the really important question, are you going to 05:59 apply any of it? Audience: Amen! 06:01 Now that is where the rubber meets the road. 06:05 We have a lot we want to talk about and we are going to 06:08 be developing a series of three presentations. 06:12 I'm so happy I get to preach three times. 06:14 Listen, its one of those things where typically I get 06:19 asked to speak somewhere and they say, 06:20 what is your sermon title? 06:22 I don't know, they're asking months in advance. 06:26 Some terrible thing could happen, my life could change. 06:30 How do I know what I am going to preach four 06:31 months from now? 06:32 Usually, I usually don't know what I'm going to preach 06:35 on Thursday, they say do you have your sermon title and 06:37 your hymns and Scripture? 06:38 I say no, I'll know that tomorrow, 06:40 Friday, the day before Sabbath. 06:42 But somehow when I was asked to speak at this year's GYC, 06:46 Justin called, or whoever it was that called, I just knew 06:49 immediately, maybe even instinctively, exactly what I 06:54 was going to preach and when I heard the theme, 06:57 guys what's the theme this year? Audience: Unashamed! 07:00 It sounds so good to hear you all say it. 07:02 What is our theme this year? Audience: Unashamed! 07:05 While that sounds so good. 07:07 When I heard the theme I thought that's a great theme. 07:11 I love the fact that it is rooted in Romans chapter 1 07:17 which is where we are going to be spending our time 07:18 tonight, without further ado let us pray and then dive 07:21 head-long into a study of Scripture. 07:25 Let's pray together. 07:26 Father in heaven, we gather here confessing that we are 07:33 at times ashamed and yet the longing desire of our heart 07:40 is to be unashamed. 07:42 Father this is not a confession of strength when we say 07:49 we want to be unashamed it is an admission of weakness. 07:54 But we are thrilled to know that Your strength is made 07:57 perfect in our weakness. 07:59 Father as we open Your word we need You to come and open 08:03 us, we are in need of Your Spirit, the infilling of Your 08:06 Spirit because spiritual things are spiritually 08:09 understood and discerned and tonight we come in need of 08:12 Your inspiring, enlightening, and instructing Spirit. 08:17 Father we don't want to hear just a good sermon, and I 08:21 don't want to just preach a good sermon. 08:24 We want to spend time with Jesus. 08:27 We want to spend time with You. 08:30 We want to be revived. We want to go home. 08:36 So Father tonight may this be more than oratory, may this 08:44 be more than elocution, may what happens tonight be a 08:49 supernatural transaction in which the Spirit takes the 08:54 preached word and applies it, tailor makes it, to every 08:58 circumstance, personality, and situation. 09:02 Father we need revival, I need revival, so tonight we 09:08 are crying out for genuine revival. 09:12 Speak to us through the message preached is our prayer 09:17 in Jesus Christ name. 09:19 Let everyone say, Amen! Amen! 09:25 So what it is our theme everyone? Audience: Unashamed! 09:28 It sounds so good. 09:30 As I was reflecting on what it means to be unashamed of 09:35 Christ, I decided it wasn't enough just to be unashamed 09:43 of Christ in a general sense. 09:45 The question that came to my mind and what I am going to 09:47 try and explain over the course of our time together, is 09:52 what does it mean specifically? 09:54 What does it mean, what word everyone? 09:57 Audience: specifically! 09:59 What does it mean specifically for a Seventh-day 10:01 Adventist Christian living at this time in Earth's 10:04 history to be unashamed? 10:06 Are you tracking with me? 10:08 In other words their have been different periods, different 10:11 epochs, areas of time in which to be unashamed of Christ 10:15 meant something very specific. 10:17 What does it mean for me and what does it mean for you as a 10:21 Seventh-day Adventist Christian or perhaps you are not 10:23 a Seventh-day Adventist Christian you have just come and 10:25 decided to hang out with us. 10:26 As Bible believing Christians what does it mean for 10:31 me to be unashamed of Christ? 10:33 I think it means three things. How many things? 10:36 Audience: three things. David: three things. 10:38 Well let's just think of our name. 10:40 We are seventh day Adventist Christians. 10:45 Let's say that together, we are Seventh-day Adventist 10:49 Christians, what does that name mean? 10:52 What does that name, Seventh-day Adventist, communicate? 10:56 Well I think it communicates three things. 11:00 First of all seventh day. 11:04 The seventh day is an allusion to the Sabbath. 11:07 The Sabbath, scripturally speaking, has two primary 11:13 theological significances. 11:15 Number one, Sabbath is rooted in salvation and 11:19 redemption, can you say Amen! audience: Amen! 11:22 Right? Ezekiel chapter 28 and verse 12, "I am the Lord 11:25 "who sanctifies you and the Sabbath is a sign that" 11:29 "I am the Lord who sanctifies you. " 11:31 So when I tell someone I am a Seventh-day Adventist, what 11:33 I am saying part is I honor and keep the Sabbath because 11:38 I believe God is my Redeemer and God is my Savior. 11:42 Amen! audience: Amen! 11:44 So as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian then, being 11:46 unashamed of Christ, for me means, I'm unashamed of the 11:49 crucified Christ, so far so good? 11:53 But the Sabbath has another significance, the Sabbath is 11:56 also rooted in creation, we are going to talk about that 11:58 tomorrow night. 12:00 We believe, just as Chester did a very good job of 12:02 communicating, and Amy did a good job of communicating 12:05 last night, we believe in a literal six-day creation 12:09 that took place in the recent past. 12:11 Can you say Amen! to that? 12:13 We will talk more about that tomorrow night, but as a 12:15 Seventh-day Adventist Christian I am also unashamed of 12:17 the creative Christ, Amen! 12:22 that is the Sabbath day part, the Sabbath. 12:24 Unashamed of the crucified Christ, unashamed of the 12:27 creative Christ and what is the second part of our name? 12:30 Seventh-day Adventist comes from Latin Adventist. 12:34 Adventist means arrival, what does it mean everyone? 12:41 Audience: arrival David: the arrival. 12:42 We are waiting for someone to come. 12:45 We are anticipating someone's arrival. 12:48 I wonder who that might be? 12:49 Whose arrival are we anticipating? 12:54 You tell me! Jesus Christ, so what does it mean for me 12:59 David Asscherick, and what does it mean for you John, 13:01 Mary, Tom or whatever your name is. 13:03 What does it mean for you to be an unashamed Seventh-day 13:06 Adventist Christian? 13:08 I think it means three things. 13:09 We are unashamed of the crucified Christ. 13:12 We are unashamed of the creative Christ. 13:14 And we are unashamed of the coming Christ. 13:17 Can you say Amen? Audience: Amen! 13:19 we are going to talk tonight about being unashamed of the 13:21 crucified Christ, now it is not insignificant and not 13:25 serendipitous that our name, and the significance of our 13:30 name is actually rooted in what many might call, 13:32 Magna Carta. 13:34 That is Revelation chapter 14, what we refer to colloquial 13:37 as the three Angels messages. 13:42 Maybe you would just join me there briefly. 13:44 Where am I going? Revelation chapter 14. 13:49 Here in Revelation chapter 14 we will talk more about 13:52 this tomorrow specifically and certainly on Saturday. 13:56 But just take a look at this, Revelation 14 beginning at 13:58 verse six, "John said I saw another angel flying in the" 14:02 "midst of heaven," what is the very first thing we learn 14:04 about this angel? Having the what? Everlasting gospel! 14:09 The very first thing we learn about the first angel that 14:12 is flying in the midst of heaven, is that he has the 14:14 everlasting gospel. 14:16 Now notice what the angel who has the everlasting Gospel 14:18 says, "to preach to those that dwell on the earth, every" 14:21 "nation, tribe, tongue, and people saying with a loud" 14:23 "voice dear God and give glory to him for the hour of his" 14:27 "judgment has come. " So this is a judgment hour message. 14:30 There is an urgency here, "and worship him who," 14:35 Who what? "Made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the 14:39 springs of water. " 14:40 That's creation, we will talk about that tomorrow night. 14:41 Now notice that you then have the second angel's message 14:44 in verse eight, and the third angel message in 14:46 verse nine, 10, 11 and then you have 12. 14:48 Notice what happens in verse 14, then I looked, this is 14:52 after the giving the messages, "looked and behold a white" 14:54 "cloud and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man having" 14:58 "on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp" 15:01 "sickle, and another angel came out of the temple crying" 15:04 "with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, thrust in" 15:07 "your sickle and," What is the word everyone? 15:09 "Reap for the time has come for you to reap for the" 15:13 "harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who sat on the" 15:15 "cloud thrust his sickle on the Earth and the Earth was," 15:18 what? "Reaped!" 15:19 So in the three Angels messages do we see the gospel? Yes! 15:23 Do we see creation? Yes! Do we see coming? Yes! 15:26 That is why I am a Seventh-day Adventist. 15:28 I'm a Seventh-day Adventist because the message that 15:32 God has committed to His last day people. 15:34 I think the name is a great name, it could have been 15:36 called some other name, but I think the Seventh-day 15:38 Adventist name is a great name because it holds out at the 15:42 forefront the three central prominent features of our 15:45 faith, seventh day, that's redemption, that's creation. 15:49 Adventist, that's the arrival of Jesus, it is all rooted, 15:52 totally, completely rooted in the three Angels messages. 15:56 Can you say Amen! Audience: Amen! 15:57 So we are going to talk tonight about being unashamed of 15:59 the crucified Christ. 16:02 Unashamed of the crucified Christ and we are going to go 16:05 of course to Romans chapter 1, so join me there. 16:11 Our central text, our theme text we will go to Romans 1. 16:17 Justin took us here last night and hopefully many more 16:22 will be taken us there as well. 16:24 Romans chapter 1 beginning in verse 16 the apostle Paul 16:29 is writing to the church at Rome and he begins with the 16:33 word for, what is the word everyone? For. 16:38 Take a look at the very first word of verse 17 and tell 16:40 me what that word is? For. 16:42 Take a look at the very first word of verse 18 and what 16:45 is that word? For. 16:46 How about the first word of verse 20? For. 16:48 Paul is setting out a case. 16:51 He is setting out a what did I say? 16:54 He's building his case. 16:56 Paul is very logical, Paul is very linear and you may 17:00 even, and perhaps say that Paul is clinical in his 17:03 setting forth of the gospel. 17:04 For this, for this, for this, for this, in fact who 17:09 wrote the book of Acts? Who wrote the book of Acts? 17:13 Luke wrote the book of Acts. 17:15 Listen to some of the adjectives that Luke uses to 17:18 describe how Paul presented the gospel. 17:21 In Acts 17:2, 18:4, and 19:24, 25 he says Paul reasoned. 17:31 What's the word everybody? Reasoned! 17:33 In Acts chapter 17 he alleged. 17:36 In Acts chapter 9 verse 22 even go so far as to say, 17:46 come on and work with me. 17:49 So Luke said that he reasoned, that he alleged, and that 17:54 he proved. Are we together on that? 17:57 What is Luke saying, Luke is saying that when Paul went into 18:00 the synagogue, Paul was amidst a group of people, a 18:03 congregation of people and was setting forth the case 18:06 for the Messiahship of Jesus in a logical, scriptural, 18:10 and linear manner. Amen! 18:12 We find them doing that here in Romans. 18:15 Look at what he says, "not ashamed of the gospel of" 18:20 "Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for" 18:25 "everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for" 18:29 "the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is" 18:32 "revealed from faith to faith as it is written," 18:34 "the just shall live by faith. " 18:39 You can have a case, it would not be impossible or even 18:42 difficult particularly, to make a case that these are two 18:45 of the most important words in all of Scripture. 18:49 In fact you can make a very strong case 18:54 Someone give me a hand held mic. 18:57 So whoever you are, please bring me my sword. 19:05 Thank you sir, okay, alright! 19:13 Okay, you could make a very persuasive case that the 19:18 entire bedrock foundation of the Protestant Reformation 19:23 was founded on these two verses. 19:25 Martin Luther came across that phrase, "the just shall 19:29 live by faith. " 19:32 Now I know these quotes are from Habakkuk but he was 19:34 exposed to it the Romans. 19:35 Romans 16 and 17 we find the apostle Paul setting forth 19:40 his case and he does so in a very logical and very linear 19:45 even a very clinical manner. 19:46 I learned a new word this week, I love words. 19:49 You might be able to tell. 19:51 I learned a new word this week and I'm curious if anyone 19:54 does this word, the word is litotes. 19:56 You were just using that yesterday were you? 20:00 Litotes, does anyone know what that word means? 20:04 I wouldn't expect it, I didn't either. 20:08 The word litotes is actually a very interesting word. 20:12 It's a rhetorical device in which you derive an 20:16 affirmative by stating the negation of the contrary. 20:24 It's crystal clear now isn't it? 20:27 You see you will be a using it all the time now, litotes. 20:31 Basically Paul is actually employing the litotes device. 20:34 What he is saying is that he is stating his case in a 20:38 negative, he says I am not ashamed. 20:42 Deriving an affirmative by stating the negation of a 20:46 contrary, I am not ashamed. 20:49 You shame which is something you would not want 20:52 to be and you stated in the negative. 20:54 Why does he frame it this way? 20:56 Why does he purposely frame the setting forth of his 21:01 argument, which is a very systematic, very profound 21:04 argument, which begins in Romans one and moves very 21:08 powerfully gaining momentum all the way through into 21:11 the final chapters of Romans, Romans 16. 21:14 Why does he set it forth in the negative? 21:16 I am not ashamed, in fact if you look up a variety of 21:21 English translations you will find almost unanimously 21:25 every translation renders this, I am not ashamed, I am 21:28 not ashamed, I am not ashamed, I am not ashamed. 21:31 I came across only one translation the CEV renders it 21:34 in the positive and it has Paul saying I am proud of the 21:38 gospel, but it misses the point. 21:40 The reason almost all translations render it in the 21:44 negative is that the underlying Greek is framed in the 21:48 negative, and my question is why? 21:50 Why not just state it in the positive? 21:53 I am proud of the gospel. 21:55 Paul says I am not ashamed of the gospel. 22:00 The answer is so simple that you might have missed it. 22:02 The only reason that you would state that you are not 22:05 ashamed of something, is that there was probable cause 22:08 for you to be ashamed of it. 22:11 Are you tracking with me? 22:13 So he is coming out and saying I am not ashamed, well 22:15 why frame it that way? 22:17 In the days of Paul there would have been significant 22:21 shame associated with the message he preached. 22:24 He says he is not ashamed of the gospel, ashamed of the 22:28 what word everybody, the gospel. 22:31 Now the center of the gospel is a man named Jesus Christ. 22:34 Jesus Christ was crucified. 22:37 Let's talk your moment about crucifixion. 22:41 Let me just give you two quotations. 22:44 Both semi-scholarly sources, scholarly in one and popular one 22:49 The goal of Roman crucifixion was not just to kill the 22:55 criminal, but also to mutilate and dishonor the body. 22:59 What was that last word there to? Dishonor the body of 23:04 the condemned. 23:05 In ancient traditions an honorable death required 23:08 burial, leaving a body on the cross was to mutilate it 23:11 and prevent it's burial was a grave dishonor. 23:15 There it is again. 23:16 Under ancient Roman penal practice Crucifixion was also 23:19 a means of exhibiting the criminals low social status. 23:22 It was the most dis- honorable death imaginable 23:26 originally reserved only for slaves. 23:28 So what is the recurrent word here? 23:30 What is the recurrent word? Dishonorable! 23:33 It is easy to kill somebody, just thrust a sword through 23:36 them, thrust a spear through them. 23:37 Why go to all the trouble of crucifying them? 23:40 Well sure there is more pain, because it is torturous, 23:43 etc, but the primary reason for inflicting crucifixion, 23:46 incidentally the Romans didn't invent it, they likely got 23:49 it from the Persians or the Carthaginians, but they 23:52 perfected it and turned it into an art. 23:54 They kept a man balancing ever so precariously between 23:59 being dead and being alive. 24:00 They like to suspend him there. 24:02 Historians tell us that some people spent as many as 24:05 seven days on the cross. 24:08 It wasn't just for the purpose of killing, that's easy. 24:11 The Romans were master executionists and turned death 24:15 into an art. 24:16 The purpose of crucifixion, it was reserved to dishonor. 24:21 What is the word everyone? To dishonor. 24:24 The secondary source here, the secondary quote. 24:26 Social stigma and disgrace associated with crucifixion 24:30 in the ancient world can hardly be overstated. 24:33 It was usually reserved for slaves, criminals of the 24:36 worst sort, from the lowest levels of society, military 24:39 deserters, and especially traitors. 24:43 Among the Jews it carried additional stigma because as 24:46 Deuteronomy 23:24 states, a hanged Man is accursed by 24:49 God, and this was understood by the Jews to mean that 24:53 the very method of death brought a divine curse upon 24:57 the crucified. 24:59 Now think about this, Paul is coming to Rome. 25:02 He is coming to the regal city, the Imperial city, 25:04 all roads lead to Rome. 25:06 Rome wasn't built in a day. 25:08 When in Rome do as the Romans do. 25:09 Paul is coming to Rome and he is now writing of Rome 25:13 and he is going to be preaching a gospel of good news 25:18 message that is centered on a crucified Jew. 25:25 The whole purpose of crucifixion was to stigmatize 25:30 the person that had undergone the punishment. 25:33 Is there cause, contextually and culturally for being 25:38 ashamed of this message yes or no? Yes, absolutely! 25:42 The people in Paul's day would have regarded the veneration 25:46 of a crucified person, and furthermore a 25:48 faith system founded on a crucified person as the height 25:53 of folly, I mean you're kidding right? 25:57 You're going to tell us, let me just get this right. 26:00 I want to be sure you I heard you right, let me fix my 26:03 hearing aid, be, be, be. 26:04 Let me make sure I heard you right. 26:06 You are going to tell me about a crucified deliverer. 26:10 Just let that sink in, crucified deliverer. 26:16 You are going to tell me about someone who couldn't 26:19 deliver himself from this hideous, ignominious, 26:21 stigmatized punishment and he is going to deliver me? 26:26 There was a tremendous stigma attached, this is why 26:31 Paul purposefully, intentionally employed this 26:36 rhetorical device litotes, he purposely states his 26:40 case in the negative. 26:43 I am, what are the words everyone? Not ashamed! 26:47 Crucifixion communicated two things in Paul's day. 26:50 High crime and low social status. 26:54 High crime coupled with social status. 26:57 Both were sources of shame in Paul's time so he purposely 27:01 communicates it in the negative. 27:03 Now let me read to you a fascinating little statement 27:07 here, this is from a series of sermons by Dean Martin 27:11 Lloyd Jones who preached on the book of Romans at 27:14 Westminster Chapel every Friday afternoon 27:17 from 1955 to 1968. 27:21 It took in 13 years to get through the book, Expositorily 27:25 Preaching on the Book of Romans. 27:27 Can you imagine, 13 years of sermons? Fascinating. 27:31 Listen to what he says, "why then is it that the world" 27:35 "ridicules the gospel? It is because the message which" 27:39 "the gospel conveys. The Gospel proclaims, the preacher" 27:43 "of the Gospel has to proclaim him who was born in utter" 27:48 "abject poverty. Born in a stable, no room at the inn. " 27:51 "Brought up in a little village, trained as a carpenter. " 27:55 "That is the One that we preach. That is the One that we" 27:58 "hold before the world, One who was crucified in apparent" 28:02 "weakness having made exalted claims for Himself, He is" 28:05 "taken in utter helplessness and He is nailed to a tree" 28:08 "and dies why the mob jeers at Him. They derided Him" 28:12 "saying, He saved Himself, He saved others let Him save" 28:16 "Himself if He be the Christ, the chosen of God. " 28:18 "That is what we proclaim. We proclaim a carpenter who" 28:21 "lived a life of poverty and who died upon the cross. " 28:25 "Of course the world scoffs at it and ridicules it in its" 28:28 "heart, but we assert that this selfsame person is the" 28:31 "Savior of the world. " 28:34 "The Son of God, to the Jews this was stumbling block. And " 28:41 " to the Greek the height of foolishness. So the very " 28:44 "character of the message tends to produce ridicule and as I" 28:48 "say man by nature doesn't like being ridiculed so he's ashamed" 28:52 "of the gospel. " 28:53 "And this is the temptation. " 28:55 Paul frames his affirmation of his confidence in Christ 29:01 in the negative purposefully because he knew that the 29:05 promotion and the publishing, widespread publishing of a 29:10 crucified deliverer sounds almost oxymoronic. 29:14 Let me ask you a question? 29:16 Have you ever been ashamed of the gospel? 29:21 Have you ever been ashamed of Christ? 29:27 Well, yes or no? Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah. 29:33 What is that? 29:37 Is there someone here who will say, I've been totally 29:40 ashamed of Christ? 29:43 Yeah join the club, me too. 29:45 Incidentally, so probably to was Paul's number one 29:51 understudy, a man by the name of Timothy. 29:55 Join me in 2 Timothy chapter 1 if you would. 29:59 2 Timothy chapter 1, this word here ashamed occurs, 30:04 this particular Greek word that is rendered ashamed 30:10 occurs some 11 times in the New Testament. 30:13 We are going to look at most of them. 30:19 2 Timothy 1:8, Timothy was a young man. 30:27 Easy for us to remember his name Timothy rhymes somewhat 30:34 with timidity, and this was probably his struggle. 30:39 Paul writes to young timid Timothy and says beginning 30:43 in verse 8, "therefore do not be", what is the word? 30:48 "Ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. " 30:51 What is he saying? Don't be ashamed of Christ. 30:57 He continues, "do not be ashamed of the testimony of our" 31:00 "Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the" 31:02 "sufferings of the gospel according to the power of God" 31:05 "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not" 31:08 "according to our works but according to his own purpose" 31:10 "and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus" 31:12 "before time began. " 31:14 Look at the confidence he is speaking with, "but now" 31:16 "he is being revealed by the appearing of our Savior" 31:19 "Jesus Christ who has abolished death, and brought life" 31:22 "and immortality to light through the gospel:" 31:24 "which I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle," 31:27 "and the teacher of the Gentiles. " 31:28 "For this reason I also suffer these things:" 31:31 "nevertheless I am not ashamed. " 31:36 Same language in Romans 1. 31:38 "Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have" 31:41 "believed," can you say Amen! 31:43 "and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I" 31:46 "have committed unto him against that day. " 31:47 Look what he now has to say to Timothy, "hold fast the" 31:49 "pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in" 31:51 "faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. " 31:54 "That good thing which was committed unto you keep by" 31:56 "the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. " 31:58 "This you know, that those in Asia have turned away from me," 32:01 " we think that Paul was a popular guy. NO! 32:03 He said he went to Asia and everyone abandoned me. 32:06 Everybody pretended like they didn't know me when I went 32:09 to Asia, everyone turned away from me. 32:12 "Among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. " 32:14 "The Lord grant mercy into the household of Onesiphorus;" 32:18 "for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my" 32:22 "chains: but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out" 32:26 "very zealously," apparently not like the others. 32:28 "And he found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find" 32:31 "mercy of from the Lord in that day; and you know very" 32:34 "well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. " 32:37 Three times, Paul is beginning a second letter to 32:39 Timothy, he says Timothy I know you're tempted to 32:41 timidity, I know you're tempted to be ashamed, don't be 32:44 ashamed of the gospel, don't be ashamed of the testimony 32:47 of our Lord, don't be ashamed of my chains. 32:49 You are reminding me of Hermogenes, you should be like 32:52 Onesiphorus, when he came to town he couldn't wait to 32:55 find me, he knew I was in chains and knew that I had been 32:59 rejected and that I preached this crazy, wild, seemingly 33:02 insane message of salvation to the world based 33:06 on a crucified Jew. 33:07 He said don't be ashamed. 33:10 Now, beloved, the only reason that Paul would write these 33:13 things, not once, he doesn't say casually, he doesn't say 33:17 off-the-cuff or serendipitously, by the way. 33:21 He gives this counsel because he knows that Timothy is 33:23 tempted to timidity. 33:25 He knows that Timothy is tempted to be ashamed. 33:27 He knows that this is a struggle for Timothy. 33:29 There is reason to believe, and if I had time I could 33:34 develop what I believe is the case. 33:35 A persuasive case that Paul himself struggled with this 33:38 four a time, but he got the victory over it which is why 33:41 he announces, with such boldness to the church at Rome. 33:44 What does he say at the onset? I'm not ashamed! 33:49 There would have been significant cultural reasons for 33:52 Paul two have felt shame, are you kidding? 33:54 Preaching the salvation of the world from a crucified Jew 33:58 in Roman society. 34:01 The whole purpose of crucifixion was to stigmatize. 34:04 The whole purpose of crucifixion communicated high crime, 34:06 low social status, and you are going to tell us about a 34:09 crucified deliverer? 34:11 Do you not hear the inconsistencies 34:13 in that language? 34:16 Fascinatingly Jesus used this word as well. 34:20 Go with me to Luke, chapter 9. 34:23 In Luke Chapter 9 he actually uses also in the Mark 34:26 account, Mark 8, but we are going to look at the Luke's 34:30 account, Luke 9:22. 34:38 It says, in verse 21, "he strictly warned them and" 34:42 "commanded them to tell this to no one saying, the son" 34:45 "of man must suffer many things, and be," 34:50 what is the word there everyone? 34:52 "And be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the" 34:55 "scribes and be killed and be raised the third day. " 35:00 Then he said to them, "if anyone desires to come after" 35:04 "me, let him deny himself and take up his," what? 35:07 Take-up his what everyone? Cross! 35:10 So Jesus here speaking about rejection. 35:13 Jesus here speaking about being killed. 35:15 He is speaking about suffering and then he says 35:17 if you're going to come after me you will have to 35:19 take up your cross. 35:20 I will remind you that Jesus was a man. 35:22 That Jesus was a man who walked and talked in the same 35:25 way that you and I walk and talk. 35:27 He learned the way that you and I learn, yes He was God, 35:29 but at some level He must've laid aside those divine 35:32 attributes and He experienced life as you and I 35:35 experience life, Jesus must have known. 35:37 Jesus must at some level have known, whether God revealed 35:40 to Him, or with His brilliant brain He just put it 35:43 together, that He was going to die a hideous, 35:45 ignominious death at the hands of the Jews. 35:47 He knew that the Jews couldn't execute capital 35:50 punishment, they would have to bring Him to the Romans 35:51 and He knew that they would push for crucifixion. 35:53 So Jesus here, I believe, anticipating, 35:56 He is aware that when He dies He it almost certainly 36:00 will be a crucifixion. 36:02 So It basically says, Fellows listen it is not always 36:05 going to be happy go lucky. 36:06 I'm going to be rejected, I'm going to be crucified, 36:09 I'm going to be killed. 36:11 I can just imagine the response of the disciples. 36:12 What's this guy talking about? 36:14 When we join the Messiah club we couldn't wait to chop 36:16 the heads off of the Romans and now He is talking about 36:18 getting killed, we wanted to do a little killing 36:20 of our own. 36:21 Jesus must have sensed the incredulity, He must have sensed 36:24 the surprise so It turns them and says, I have news for 36:27 you, if you want to be My follower, you are going to have 36:29 to pick up your own cross. 36:31 Take up your cross and follow Me. 36:36 Now look at this, verse 24, "whoever desires to save his" 36:39 "life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake" 36:41 "will save it, for what profit is it to a man if he" 36:44 "gains the world and is himself destroyed or lost. " 36:47 Now look at verse 26, in the immediate context of His 36:50 rejection, in the immediate context of His crucifixion, 36:53 which He anticipates, look at what He says. 36:56 "For whoever is," What is the word? 36:58 "Ashamed of me, and my words. " 37:04 What words? Well the words I'm going to be crucified. 37:08 "Whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, the son" 37:12 "of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory" 37:15 "and of his father's, and the holy angels. " 37:17 Beloved this word does not appear that many times in the 37:19 New Testament, go look it up. 37:21 It's 11 times, we have looked at 8 of them already. 37:26 When this word comes up, with two exceptions, it is in 37:30 the context of a crucified Messiah. 37:32 When this word is used, with two exceptions, and we will 37:36 look at one of them in just a moment. 37:38 It is in the context of a crucified Messiah, so Paul says 37:40 "I'm not ashamed. " 37:42 He wrote to Timothy three times and said, don't be 37:44 ashamed, others were ashamed of me, don't you dare be 37:47 ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. 37:48 Don't be ashamed. 37:49 Jesus is here, Fellows I have news for you, I'm going to 37:52 Jerusalem and I'm going to be betrayed. 37:54 I'm going to be rejected, I'm going to suffer and He 37:56 anticipates crucifixion, He knows is coming, 37:58 at some level, and I'd like to think He just put it 38:00 together, He figured it out, I'm going to be crucified. 38:03 He senses the incredulity, He senses the surprise and 38:05 says, hey you take up your cross. 38:09 Do not be ashamed, in fact He goes so far as to say that 38:12 whoever is ashamed of Me, the crucified Christ. 38:16 Here again, crucified Christ, Christos, Messiah, 38:19 Anointed, the crucified Deliverer. 38:23 You are kidding, right? 38:26 The crucified Deliverer, if you are ashamed of Me the 38:29 crucified Deliverer, He says, I will be ashamed of you. 38:33 Beloved, with two exceptions, we have looked at every use 38:37 of this particular Greek word. 38:39 We have looked at them and were going to come back to the 38:41 third in just a moment because it is fascinating. 38:44 Is the message clear so far? Yes or no! 38:48 Why would Paul announce it in the negative? 38:51 Because there was a cultural stigma attached to his 38:55 crazy message. 38:59 In fact it is imperative for us to go very quickly to 39:02 1 Corinthians chapter 1, join me there. 39:05 Here we get a feel for the intensity of the radical-ness 39:15 of the message preached. 39:17 Look at what he says here, very similar by the way. 39:20 Very, very similar. 1 Corinthians, Romans 1, many 39:22 of the same themes. 39:24 Romans chapter 1, "for I'm not ashamed of the gospel" 39:26 "because it is the power of God. " 39:28 The phrase "power of God" 3 times in 1 Corinthians 39:31 chapter 1, the words "saved", the word "faith" and 39:34 "believe", they are very, very similar. 39:36 So check this out, beginning there in 1 Corinthians 39:40 1:18, we are going to look at the message of the cross. 39:44 What is the message everyone? 39:45 What's the message everyone? Audience: the cross. 39:48 What is the message over there, I can't hear you? 39:51 What is the message? Audience: the cross. 39:53 It's the cross, look at what he says. 39:55 "The message of the cross," is what? "Foolishness". 39:59 "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who" 40:03 "are perishing, but to us who are being saved," 40:05 say it with me, "it is the power of God. " 40:08 That is what he says in Romans chapter 1. 40:11 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the" 40:14 "power of God. " 40:17 He says man, this is the message we preach and they think 40:20 you are loony, you preach that salvation of the world, 40:24 salvation for me, salvation for my family comes through a 40:28 crucified Jew, again I have to say it. 40:30 A crucified Deliverer, you are kidding right? 40:35 Paul says the message of the cross is foolishness. 40:39 It's out right folly, "but to us who are being saved," 40:42 "it's the power of God for it is written I will destroy" 40:46 "the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the" 40:48 "understanding of the prudent. " 40:50 Paul calls out here rhetorically again. 40:52 Paul was a debater, he was with depth, he was brilliant, 40:56 he was capable of using rhetorical and forensic devices 41:01 to make his case. 41:03 Where is the wise, he says. 41:06 Almost challenging, almost defining. 41:10 Corinth at the time was certainly rival Athens, it may 41:14 have been the greatest city in the Greek Empire at the 41:17 time, the greatest city in Greece would be a more correct 41:20 way of saying it. 41:21 He is writing to the Corinthians, where is the wise? 41:24 Where is the scribe? Where is, your Bible says, 41:27 the disputer? It's literally debater. 41:30 It is like he is picking a fight. 41:32 Where is the debater of this age? 41:34 "has not God made," what is the word? "The foolishness" 41:38 "of this world, for since in the wisdom of God the world" 41:42 "through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through" 41:45 "the foolishness of the message we preach. " 41:48 Which he just told you was the message of the cross. 41:49 "Pleased God through the foolishness of the message we" 41:53 "preach to save those who believe, for the Jews request" 41:58 "a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach," 42:03 what do we preach? Christ, that is Messiah, that is 42:10 Deliverer, that's Anointed, we preach the Messiah crucified. 42:18 It is foolishness, absolutely, totally, completely, 42:24 fool hearty, and Paul knew it. 42:26 In fact a little later this epistle he says, we are all 42:29 going to be fools for someone, 42:30 I'm going to be a fool for Christ. 42:32 We preach Christ crucified to the Jews it is a stumbling 42:36 block, and to the Greeks it's foolishness, but to those 42:40 who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power 42:43 of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of 42:46 God is wiser than men, and weakness of God is stronger 42:49 than men, for you see your calling brother that not many 42:52 wise, according to the flesh, not many noble are called, but 42:56 God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to 42:58 shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of this 43:01 world to put the shame the things that are mighty. 43:03 Weak, like a crucified person? 43:05 You can't get any weaker than that. 43:08 And the base things of the world, base, despised, 43:11 abominated. 43:13 The base things of this world and things which are despised, 43:16 There it is. He is talking about the cross and the things that 43:19 are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, 43:22 this is the way that the ancients would speak with, 43:25 when they wanted to say something that was lowly, 43:28 something beneath their recognition, they would say, 43:31 things that are not. 43:33 It is thing that is not. 43:36 Paul said God has taken those things. 43:38 Paul says that God is taking the things that are not, 43:41 the things that are despised, the things that are based, 43:44 and God has chosen to use those things to confound the 43:47 wisdom of the worldly wise. 43:49 Paul was an unashamed preacher, not just of the Christ, 43:53 not just of the coming Christ, not just of the creative 43:56 Christ, anyone can believe in that. 43:58 Creative Christ, that is good news, that's power, 44:00 that's strength, that's a might, that's majesty, that's 44:03 Christ, that's sword, that's slaying, that's returning. 44:06 No, no, Paul was preaching the crucified Christ. 44:12 In verse 29, "no flesh should glory in his presence. " 44:15 "But of him you are in Christ Jesus became for us wisdom " 44:18 "from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption:" 44:22 "that it is written that he who glories let him glory," 44:24 Where are we going to glory? "In the Lord. " 44:27 Now look at this, jump down to verse 2 of the next 44:30 chapter, "for I determined not to know anything among" 44:33 "you," except here it comes again, "Jesus Christ and him" 44:36 "crucified. " The anointed Deliverer, crucified. 44:44 Some of you are attempted to laughter, Paul anticipates 44:46 to everyone it is funny. 44:51 You are really going to come to our town, you're going 44:54 to come to Rome, you're coming to Greece? 44:55 What happened in Acts 17 when Paul goes through 44:58 Areopagus and Paul starts promoting, you know some of 45:01 your Greek poets said this and I bring a message to you 45:04 from the unknown God and were not children groping 45:06 around in the dark. 45:07 Oh yeah this is good stuff, because the world loves 45:09 philosophy, the world loves intellectualism, the world 45:12 loves for people to stand up and sound smart, and sound 45:14 good, and then he says I preach to you Christ whom God 45:17 raised from the dead, and it's like the record stops. zooop! 45:19 And then the Amphibians look at one another, 45:23 are you kidding? Who is this babbler? 45:26 The guy has lost his mind, a crucified Jew is going to 45:30 save us? And you are really, really going to come and 45:35 talk to us and tell us that our salvation depends upon 45:39 a crucified Jew? 45:42 Paul says it is foolishness, but he says when I came to 45:45 you, I decided, I made up my mind that when I came to you 45:48 I was not going to know anything among you except 45:51 Jesus Christ and him crucified. 45:56 The intellectual hostility that Paul based is identical 46:01 to the intellectual hostility that we face today. 46:03 That intellectual hostility manifested itself with 46:05 religionist and secularist. 46:08 In Paul's day the religionist would have been the Jews, 46:11 they would've said you are kidding, right? 46:13 It was a scandal, and the so-called secular assured they 46:16 were religious, but they were religious only in the sense 46:20 of religion being part of Greek society in very broad 46:24 strokes, they were the secularist. 46:26 Not exactly akin to our materialist but close enough. 46:29 Basically what he says is, the religionist want a sign, 46:32 prove to me that what you are saying is true. 46:35 The secularist, the Greeks, they want wisdom. 46:37 That is what they are seeking after. 46:38 Beloved, that is the same kind of hostility 46:40 that we face today. 46:42 Because we are not as wild as the Pentecostals. 46:45 I'm speaking in tongues and God is doing... 46:48 We're just lowly Seventh-day Adventist church. 46:51 We don't have all that accouterments, and frankly don't 46:54 want them, we just have a Bible and a message. 46:56 Audience: Amen! 47:01 That's it! I don't want to have to work a miracle for 47:05 you to believe the gospel. 47:06 The gospel is believable on its own terms. 47:09 The secularists say to us, well it is not intellectually 47:12 credible, well my response is Paul's response. 47:15 God has made foolish the wisdom of this world. 47:18 Beloved, the apostle Paul was in environment that was 47:24 far more hostile than ours. 47:27 In fact, let me just read you some thing very interesting 47:29 here, this is from Barnes on this very topic. 47:31 He says, "it is worthy of remark also that to the ancient" 47:35 "philosophers this doctrine would appear still" 47:38 "more contemptible than it does to the people of modern" 47:41 "times. Everything that came from Judea they looked upon" 47:45 "with contempt and scorn. They would spurn above all things," 47:49 " the doctrine that they were to expect salvation only by the" 47:54 "crucifixion of a Jew. Besides the account of the" 47:57 "crucifixion has now lost no small part of its reputation" 48:00 of ignomy, even on the cross there was conceived to be 48:03 no small" amount of honor or glory. " 48:05 In other words he is saying, because the world has become 48:08 so Christianize, we now regard the cross in a positive light, 48:12 we think the cross, self-sacrifice, the cross 48:16 magnanimity, the cross selflessness, the cross. 48:19 We wear it, you don't, people wear it around their neck. 48:23 They put on their cars, and they hang it, the cross. 48:26 Beloved, in the first century they didn't have all these 48:30 centuries, they did have these centuries of venerating 48:33 the cross, and the God of the cross. 48:35 Paul is walking around and saying, yeah, the Messiah 48:38 was crucified and you should believe in Him. 48:42 Somebody is saying, what about the resurrection? 48:45 Beloved you couldn't even get to the resurrection. 48:48 The records stopped at Messiah. Squish... 48:54 "But to the ancients it was connected with every idea" 48:58 "ignomy, with them therefore the death of the cross was" 49:00 "associated with the idea of all that is shameful" 49:03 "and dishonorable. " 49:04 There is our words again. 49:06 "And to speak of salvation only by the sufferings and" 49:09 "death of a crucified Jew was suited to excite in their" 49:11 "bosoms only unmingled scorn. " 49:15 Let's put that in modern language, they 49:18 thought it was stupid and they hated it. 49:23 Paul was in a more intellectually hostile climate 49:27 then you are, are you hearing? 49:31 You think, I'm so afraid to speak, people in my University 49:34 are going to think I'm weird. 49:38 The intellectual hostility you face is less than half 49:41 of what Paul faced. 49:43 For a variety of reasons, one of which is the point we 49:47 are making here and that is the cross, the crucifixion. 49:51 The concept has lost much of its stigma. 49:53 In fact, it is valued by many as an object of veneration. 49:57 An object of selflessness. 50:00 Paul wrote to Timothy and said, man when I showed up in 50:03 Asia people pretended they didn't even know me. 50:06 For Phygellus and Hermogenes, who are you running from? 50:15 Some of us are like, here it goes. 50:25 God bless you! 50:30 Right? Isn't this us? 50:32 Isn't this us? 50:37 Tell me you can't relate? 50:39 You are in a restaurant, 50:49 thank you! 50:54 It's like trauma for us. 50:56 Paul comes marching into cities, and he says can you show 50:59 me the most prominent location please. 51:01 I've got a message, I've got an urgent message that 51:03 everyone needs to hear, gather round. 51:05 Oh, there is an urgent message and he has traveled many 51:07 dozens and hundreds of miles. 51:09 There is an urgent message, okay you're all gather 51:11 together, beloved I preach to you Christ, 51:13 Jesus of Nazareth a man crucified. 51:21 What! We're going to beat the tar out of this guy. 51:25 We are done with him. We're done with his babbling. 51:28 Beloved, you have this vision and I had this vision of 51:31 Paul the hero striding confidently through the cities 51:34 of Asia minor and riding into Philippi and into Galatia. 51:38 People believing by the hundreds and by the thousands. 51:40 Flocking to the great and mighty, the only place that 51:43 happened was when they thought he was Apollo's, 51:45 and thought the other was Mercury and when they found 51:47 out he wasn't they tried to kill him. 51:50 People hated this guy. 51:54 Reality check time. 51:57 We think we're going to go gliding in because we got a 51:59 WWJD bracelet, yeah! 52:02 Unashamed baby. 52:07 Just tuck it up under your sleeve. 52:14 Beloved you get the point and I want to close with this. 52:17 The apostle Paul says in Galatians chapter 6:14. 52:21 He says, "but God forbid that I should boast. " 52:25 I want you to hear this. 52:29 Aw, Paul was a real person and he didn't like to be 52:34 rejected, I think that is why he is so affirmative. 52:39 I think that is why he is so engaging right at the outset 52:42 of the Romans. 52:43 He says, I'm not ashamed! 52:44 So Paul writes and he is a real person and says, 52:48 "God forbid that I should boast except in the cross. " 52:52 Everybody is going to look like a fool. 52:56 I'm going to look like a fool for Jesus, he says. 52:59 Now I told you there was 11 occurrences. 53:02 We have looked at most of them, Romans 1, 2 Timothy 1, 53:06 we didn't look at Mark 8, but it is very similar to Luke 53:09 chapter 19, but we have been basically through all of 53:13 them, but let me show you one of the ones that is not 53:17 related to the crucified Christ. 53:19 This term comes up, it's almost always in the 53:21 context of the crucifixion. 53:22 Paul says I'm not ashamed of the crucified Christ. 53:24 He says to Timothy, don't be ashamed 53:26 of the crucified Christ. 53:27 Jesus says don't be ashamed of Me, 53:29 I'm going to be crucified. 53:30 But let me show you one of the two instances where this 53:32 does not, it is so thrilling. 53:36 Book of Hebrews, book of Hebrews go there with me, 53:38 if you will. 53:39 We have a very good reason to believe the apostle Paul 53:41 wrote it and I like to think that he did. 53:43 But even if he didn't, the point stands. 53:45 It is more powerful still, if he did. 53:46 Hebrews chapter 2, where are we going everyone? 53:49 Audience: Hebrews chapter 2. 53:52 Hebrews 2:9, look at this, this is awesome. 54:00 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the" 54:04 "angels," there are some translations put it that He was 54:08 made lower than the angels for a little while. 54:10 "We see Jesus that was made a little lower than the angels" 54:13 "for the suffering of death crowned with glory and" 54:17 "honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death" 54:21 "for everyone. " 54:22 Hallelujah, beloved that is the gospel. 54:26 That is the gospel that Jesus died the death 54:30 that you deserved. 54:32 Jesus lived the life you have not lived and Jesus' 54:37 resurrection is your only hope is the future 54:39 resurrection, can you say Amen! 54:41 That is the gospel. 54:43 The gospel is not a philosophy and it certainly isn't a 54:46 concept, the gospel is a person. 54:49 It is the good news, it is a statement about facts about 54:51 a person, and that person is Jesus. 54:53 Jesus is God, but gospel is good news about God. 54:57 Look at verse 11. 55:00 "For both He who sanctifies and those who are being" 55:03 "sanctified are all of one," now this is complex in the 55:06 Greek but what he is saying is, those that are being 55:08 sanctified, and those that are sanctifying, that is 55:11 Jesus, are all members of the same family. 55:16 Members of the same what? That is basically the point. 55:19 "For both He who sanctifies and those who are being 55:22 sanctified are all of one" now look at this, 55:23 here it is, here it is. 55:25 "for which reason," because he is a member of your family, 55:27 "for which reason," 55:30 "He is not ashamed to call them brethren. " 55:36 There it is right there, same configuration my friends. 55:39 Same word, Woo, hope you didn't miss it. 55:42 If you missed it you weren't paying attention. 55:45 Paul says I'm going to live my life on ashamed of Christ. 55:47 I'm going to exhort Timothy, don't be ashamed of Christ. 55:50 We are going to be fools, we are going to preach the 55:52 crucified Messiah, the crucified Deliverer. 55:54 I'm going to go to Athens, I'm going to Asia, and people 55:56 are going to hate me, but I'm going to preach the 55:58 crucified Christ. 55:59 And we get to the book of Hebrews, I love this, 56:01 you like to think that the Spirit inspired Paul to write 56:03 it, Paul says, consider Jesus who was made a little lower 56:06 than the angels so that He could taste 56:08 death for every man. 56:09 And then He says some thing fascinating, He who sanctified 56:12 and He who is being sanctified, that is God and you, are all 56:16 members of the same family and for that reason Christ is 56:20 not ashamed of Paul. 56:26 Paul was not ashamed of the crucified Christ. 56:29 The crucified Christ is not ashamed of the struggling 56:35 failing, sometimes falling, Paul. 56:40 Christ glorified, not ashamed of the un-glorified Paul. 56:59 So how is it, I asked you at the outset, have you ever 57:05 been ashamed of Christ? 57:07 Silence, as if that question needs to be asked. 57:13 There is not a person in this room who hasn't been at 57:18 some fundamental level, people are going to say that is 57:22 a manipulative technique, blah, blah, blah. 57:24 Give me a break. 57:26 If we were not ashamed of Christ in the way that we would 57:31 like to be and should be, there wouldn't be a GYC 2009. 57:40 You say, you can't read my heart. 57:42 I can't read your heart but I can look at the evidence, 57:43 we are still stuck here. 57:49 That tells me that we have to some degree taken our light 57:52 and put it under a bushel. 57:54 But I've decided for me beloved, and I don't want my 57:56 promises and resolutions to be like ropes of sand. 58:00 I am pleading with God to make me a man like Paul in 58:03 2010 Lord, I want to be bold, I want to be unashamed. 58:07 I want to be hated for Christ sake. |
Revised 2014-12-17