Essex Remembrancer Luke 9:26 For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory… I. WHAT IT IS TO BE ASHAMED OF CHRIST AND OR HIS WORDS; AND WHAT IS REQUISITE. TO EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE NOT IN SUCH A CASE. Every one who is unwilling to sacrifice his temporal ease and pleasures, or to lay down his life for the sake of Christ, and who neglects to persevere in a steady and uniform course of obedience to His commands, in spite of all opposition and of every indignity that may be cast upon him, is considered — Jesus being His own interpreter — as ashamed of Christ. But some meek and lowly person, with much humility of mind, and great fear and trembling, may perhaps anxiously and eagerly inquire — not being without hope that he is ready to own his Lord — How must I act in order to prove the sincerity of my desires, and to evidence that such is the language and feeling of my heart? To this it is replied, It is undoubtedly requisite that there should be — 1. A confession of the Lord Jesus. 2. A readiness to defend the Saviour's cause. II. WHENCE DANGER ARISES OF BEING ASHAMED OF CHRIST, 1. The simplicity of the gospel itself. Against this point the men of the world have frequently directed the weapons of their wit and jesting. Thus of old, by the polite and learned Greeks, the doctrines of the gospel were considered as foolishness. And in modern times, the wise of this world affect to sneer at the doctrines of the Cross, and mock at those who espouse truths so humiliating. 2. The character of the age in which the profession of Christ is to be maintained. In the days of our Lord it laboured under this peculiar disadvantage — it was to be professed in an adulterous and sinful generation. Awful as this language may appear, yet it conveys but too striking and faithful a picture of the manners and character of the present age. 3. The sense of fear, under apprehended danger. The cry, as directed against Jesus, that oft falls upon the ear, is, "Away with this fellow from the earth"; and the question that follows upon it is, "Art not thou one of this man's disciples?" Immediately we begin to fear, and perhaps reply, "We know not the man." Alas! this shameful fear too often gains the victory, and leads the disciples of Christ to base desertion in the hour of danger. III. WHAT WILL BE THE FINAL AND AWFUL CONSEQUENCES OF YIELDING TO THE THREATENING DANGER. "Of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels." It is justly remarked that the day is coming when the cause of Christ will appear as bright and illustrious as it now seems mean and contemptible; for, as Christ had, so His cause shall have a state of humiliation and exaltation. (Essex Remembrancer.) Parallel Verses KJV: For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. |
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