Every Christian should be ready to stand up courageously and unashamedly for the Lord. How sinful it is for a person who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ and has experienced Christ’s saving power to be ashamed of Christ before an unbelieving world!
On one occasion, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia in the 18th century, invited some notable people , including his top ranking generals, to his royal table. One of them, by the name of Hans von Zieten, declined the invitation because he wanted to partake of communion at his church.
Some time later at another banquet, Frederick and his guests mocked the general for his religious scruples and made jokes about the Lord’s Supper.
In great peril for hi life, the officer stood to his feet and said respectfully to the monarch, “My lord, there is a greater King than you, a King to whom I have sworn allegiance even unto death. I am a Christian man and I cannot sit quietly as the Lord’s name is dishonoured and His character belittled.”
The guests trembled in silence, knowing that von Zieten might be killed for speaking out against Frederick the Great in this way. But to their surprise, Frederick grasped the hand of this courageous man, asked his forgiveness and requested that he remain. He promised he would never again allow such a travesty to be made of sacred things.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,,,, ( Romans 1:16a)

The story is told of a small town in which there were no liquor stores. Eventually, however, a nightclub was built right on Main St.

 Members of one of the churches in the area were so disturbed that they conducted several all night prayer meetings, and asked the Lord to burn down that den of iniquity. Lightning struck the tavern a short time later, and it was completely destroyed by fire.

The owner, knowing how the church people had prayed for his tavern to be destroyed, sued them for damages. His attorney claimed that their prayers had caused the loss.

 The congregation, on the other hand, hired a lawyer and fought the charges.

 After much deliberation, the judge declared, “ It’s the opinion of the court that wherever the guilt may lie, the tavern keeper is the one who really believes in the power of prayer, while the church members do not.”

 We smile at the story, but it is surely a great tragedy that much of our praying is devoid of genuine faith and trust in God.

Mark 11: 22-24   And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted to him. Therefore I say to you, all things which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted to you.”

Atheism leaves mankind without hope and without meaning. If this world was not created by the Lord God and is simply the product of time and chance, then our lives are completely without hope and meaning. The British philosopher, Bertrand Russell expresses the hopelessness of atheism in the following words, which he wrote:

“The life of a man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, toward a goal which few can hope to reach and where none may tarry long. One by one as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent death. Brief and powerless is man’s life. On him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls, pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way. For man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow to pass through the gate of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere yet the blow falls, the lofty thoughts that ennoble his little day.”

 How different is the Christian view of life. The writer of Hebrews said that hope is the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast. (Hebrews 6:19)

Hope is not simply a ‘wish’; rather,it is a certain and sure reality for every believer. Hope is established on the promises of God, who cannot lie. He has promised eternal life to all who put their faith in His only begotten Son ( John 3:16)

Rom 8  18,19  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

To own Jesus Christ as Lord will make a difference in the everyday decisions we make in our lives. We must be willing to pay the price of discipleship.

 The truth is well illustrated in the life of American businessman, Jack Eckerd, who was the founder of a very large drugstore chain in America.

Shortly after his conversion, he happened to be walking though one of his stores when he noticed the magazine racks with their glossy copies of Playboy and Penthouse.

 Although Eckerd was retired from active management, he called the president of the company and urged him to get rid of those pornographic magazines. The president protested because substantial profits were gained from their sales.

 Being the largest stockholder, Eckerd himself stood to lose a lot of money by such a decision. Eckerd remained firm in his objection and he prevailed. The offensive magazines were removed from 1700 drugstores.

When he was asked what motivated him to take this action, Eckerd replied,” God wouldn’t let me off the hook!”

NIV  Luke 9:23  Then he said to them all: “Whosoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

The story is told of a college professor who visited the Fiji Islands. Being agnostic, he critically remarked to an elderly chief, ” You’re a great leader, but it’s a pity you’ve been taken in by those foreign missionaries. They only want to get rick through you.  No-one believes the Bible any more. People are tired of the threadbare story of Christ dying on a cross for the sins of mankind.  They know better now. I’m sorry you’ve been so foolish as to accept their story.”

The old chief’s eyes flashed as he answered. ” See that great rock over there. On it we smashed the heads of our victims. Notice the furnace next to it? in that oven, we formerly roasted the bodies of our enemies. If it hadn’t been for those  good missionaries and the love of Jesus that changes us from cannibals into Christians, you’d never leave this place alive.

You’d better thank the Lord for the Gospel; otherwise we’d already be feasting on you. If it weren’t for the Bible, you’d now be our supper!”

Psalm 19: 7-8  “The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”