Monday, September 4, 2017, 3:44 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Jesus, Name I Love.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read 2 Timothy
1:8-14 (NASB).
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for
the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us
in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been
revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,
who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For
this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I
know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard
what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain
the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in
the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the
Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted
to you.
Not Ashamed
And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said
to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself,
and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the
gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole
world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his
soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when
He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mk. 8:34-38
If we truly believe in Jesus
Christ to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of our lives, and we sincerely love
him, worship him, and revere him, we should never be ashamed of him and his
Words to us. It should not even enter our minds to shy away from speaking of
him. So, why do so many Christians (or professing Christians) feel
uncomfortable talking about Jesus and his Words, even among themselves? And,
yet, they have no problems at all talking about major sports figures, sports
teams, movies and movie stars, TV shows, or political heroes? I believe a lot
of it comes down to rejection or acceptance by others, and our culture, including
church culture, but some of it has to do with lack of true, intimate
relationship with Jesus Christ.
Yet, if we look at these
words here in Mark 8 (cf. Lu. 9:23-25), we see that coming to faith in Jesus
Christ means denial of self, death to sin, and following our Lord in obedience
and in surrender to his will. Our lives are no longer our own to live how we
want, and to please ourselves, for we were bought back for God with the blood
of Christ shed on a cross for our sins, therefore we are to honor God with our
lives, not try to save our lives for our own selves. For, if we hold on to
living our lives to please ourselves, and to preserve them for this world, so
that we will be liked and accepted by other humans, then we will lose our lives
for eternity. But, if we die with Christ to sin and self, we will gain eternal
life in him.
It saddens me to get together
with other Christians, and to find they are not comfortable talking about Jesus
or their relationships with him, or his Word, but they are perfectly fine
talking about everything this world has to offer. They may even call their
gatherings “Christian fellowship,” and they may even pray to God to “bless”
their times of “fellowship” together, but other than that, Jesus’ name is not
even mentioned, and if you try to begin a conversation about Jesus, it is real
obvious that is not a subject many Christians (or professing Christians) want
to talk about. Yet, Jesus said that if we are ashamed of him and his Words, he
will be ashamed of us when he returns for us. And, not only that, but many
people are dying in their sins, and they need someone to tell them about Jesus
and his salvation, but if we don’t tell them, who will? We need not be ashamed
of Christ and his Words!
Suffering for the Gospel
Instead of shying away from
talking about Jesus and his Words with other humans out of fear of being hated,
rejected or mistreated for our faith and testimonies, we need to be bold in our
witness, and not fear what other humans might do to us or think or say about us
to others. We are to share with Christ in the fellowship of his sufferings,
first in his death to sin, and in his resurrection to new life in Christ, and
then in suffering persecution for our testimonies for him and his gospel of
salvation. For, we are not here on this earth to please ourselves, or to have
people like us, but we are here to reflect Christ in all that we do, say and
are, and to be lights for him and his gospel to a world lost in sin, so that
they, too, can believe in Jesus and have eternal life with God.
A Holy Calling
For, our Lord did not die on a
cross for our sins just so we could be forgiven our sins, escape hell, and have
the promise of heaven when we die. He died that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. He saved us and called us to himself with a holy calling. And,
to be holy means to be separate (unlike, different) from this sinful world,
because we are being conformed into the likeness of Christ. He called us
according to His own purpose for us, which is that we might live holy lives
pleasing to him, no longer conformed to the ways (patterns, behaviors) of this
sinful world, but transformed of the Spirit of God in the renewing of our minds
to make us more like Jesus. His grace to us is not free license to continue in
sin, but it instructs us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions
(lusts) and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present
age while we wait for Christ’s return.
Retain the Standard
God has given us a standard
by which we are to live. We have it recorded for us in his written Word, but
his Word is also living within those of us who are his by faith in Jesus
Christ, God’s Son (and God). We are to hang on to or to keep a hold of that
standard, and preserve it, not just intellectually, but by how we live our
lives day in and day out. It is not enough to just know the Word of God, but we
need to DO what it says. We need to live it! And, we need to do it, not just
because God commands that we do, but because we love him, and we want to please
him in all that we do, think, say and are.
So, if we are doing this, and
we are living holy lives, pleasing to God, and we are not ashamed of Christ and
his gospel, and we are suffering for the sake of his name and for our
testimonies for him, what should that look like? Well, for one, we should not
be one (united) with the world in their thinking, culture, philosophies,
attitudes, values and beliefs. We should not adopt their ways and thinking and
make them our own, so that it is barely distinguishable between the church and
the world anymore. So, that means that we should also not be choosing each day
to saturate our minds with all that the world is offering us, nor should we be engaging
ourselves in being entertained daily by their sinful attitudes and behaviors. But,
we should come out from them and be separate (unlike, different) from them.
This also means that we are
now living for our Lord, living holy lives pleasing to him, and that we are
walking in his ways, and in his truth, with undivided hearts, in order to bring
honor, glory and praise to his holy name. We are not ashamed of him and his
Words, and in the power of the Spirit within us, we are bold in our witness for
him, in saying what he wants us to say, despite how other humans may respond to
us. And, we are being hated, rejected and persecuted because people, including many
of those who call themselves Christians, will be offended by us and our stand
on God’s Word, because it won’t mix with their sinful, ungodly, lackadaisical
lifestyles. And, although we may not live in absolute sinless perfection, we
are conducting our lives (in lifestyle) according to God’s Holy Spirit, and no
longer according to our sinful flesh, to do what our flesh desires, but our
desire is for our Lord, to please him in every way.
Jesus, Name I Love
Or, Like the Strain of Sweetest Music
William M. Runyan
Jesus, Jesus, name I love,
Sinful needy hearts to move.
Name, all other names above,
Jesus, name I love.
Sinful needy hearts to move.
Name, all other names above,
Jesus, name I love.
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