Good morning, and if you would please take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, and I will be reading verses 1 through 12. Ask the Lord to help us turn our eyes upon Jesus as I read this text, Luke 12, one through 12. In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light. And what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body. And after that, nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Let's pray together. Father God, you are precious and you are wonderful and you are beautiful. And I pray that over the next few minutes that you would help us turn our eyes upon Jesus. Help us to look into his wonderful face. Help us to allow your spirit to put into our lives and reorder and reshape our lives the way you want them ordered and the way you want them shaped. Father, enable us to understand your word and please change us from the inside out. I pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. It was the first day of a graduate class in human development here at Virginia Tech. And as was customary in many graduate classes, the professor asked each of us to go around the room and to introduce ourselves and say a little bit about ourselves so that the class could get to know one another. So one by one, each of us said a few things. So for example, the first person said, hi, my name is John. I'm originally from Maryland. And this is my first year graduate school here at Virginia Tech, and so on and so forth. And the second person followed in a similar fashion. But about halfway through the introduction, someone shared something about herself that wasn't like anyone else's introduction. It was totally unique. I don't recall her name. All I remember is that she was an international woman with a petite little frame, and it was obvious that English was not her native tongue. And when it was her turn to introduce herself, she simply stood up And with a huge smile on her face, she introduced herself, shared what her name was, said a few things about her life, and then she ended with this, I, Christian. I, Christian. I remember very little from that class, but that particular moment when that tiny little lady stood up and publicly professed her faith in Jesus Christ in front of a room of strangers. That's a memory that I'll never forget. It's engraved on my heart and my mind. It was natural. It was genuine. It was authentic. It wasn't forced. It was just a woman boldly acknowledging her faith in Jesus Christ. This morning we've arrived at a point in the gospel of Luke and a point in Jesus's ministry where he wants to equip and to encourage his disciples to be courageous in their faith. And just to remind you of the context, Jesus has just been the dinner guest of a Pharisee. And if you recall, the Pharisees were the religious big shots in Jesus's day, but they were also very much full of themselves. And so Jesus tells his host that he, along with the other Pharisees, were a bunch of posers. And he didn't appreciate that very much. Neither did the other Pharisees. And as you might expect, Jesus' strong rebuke of the Pharisees resulted in them actually building up a greater resentment towards him to the point where we read at the end of chapter 11 these words. As he and the he there is Jesus went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say. They hated him. They hated Jesus because he was calling them out for what they were, posers. So Jesus knew that the religious establishment was out to get him. And Jesus also knew that his days would get increasingly more difficult. But he also knew that a life marked by persecution would also come to the apostles and disciples. He knew that one day the cross was in his future. He knew that he would be raised from the dead and he knew that he would ascend into heaven. And he knew that the disciples and the apostles would be left alone to continue to travel on the trail that he blazed. So beginning from chapter 12, verse 1, through chapter 13, verse 9, Jesus is going to lay out a game plan for them and for us, a game plan about living in a hostile world, in an environment that is antagonistic to Jesus Christ. And that teaching begins in our passage this morning, chapter 12, verses 1 through 12, with the call for courage, the call for courage. Yet before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I think we must admit that standing up and courageously and unashamedly taking a stance for Christ, it's not easy. And it does not come natural for most of us. It's not easy to swim upstream against a culture that is increasingly hostile to Jesus Christ. And just to be clear, as Americans, we're not facing the same kind of persecution, say, that our brothers and sisters are facing in places like Iran and Nigeria and North Korea and China. The hostility we face comes in the form of social rejection. or ridicule because of our allegiance to Christ. And my hunch is that for American Christians, this is not going away anytime soon. In fact, I'm under the deep conviction that it will intensify in the days to come. And in the midst of it all, the temptation as we are faced with a hostile culture The temptation is to either fight back in anger or to draw back in fear. to either fight or to draw back in fear. But God's call for us as believers in a hostile world is different. His call for us is to courageously stand firm in love. It's so different. Doesn't want us to be passive, doesn't want us to be aggressive. He wants us to stand courageously in love. But the question is, how are we to do that? How are we to stand unashamed and unafraid for Christ? How are we to boldly profess our allegiance to Christ in a world that despises Him and us because of our connection to Him? Our passage this morning gives us five principles to help us along the way. And principle number one is this, living courageously for Christ, it starts in the heart. Living courageously for Christ, it starts, it begins in the heart. Anytime we talk about the Christian life or specifically living courageously for Christ, it's so important that we understand that the Bible is not only concerned about how we live, but why we live the way we live. And there's a tendency in all of us to pretend, to actually be more spiritual than we really are. That's why Jesus warned the disciples and by extension all of us today with the words, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. This warning, it's a check engine light of the heart in which Jesus is telling us, pay attention BCF, be careful BCF, Watch out, BCF. And what is he warning us about? He's warning us against the dangerous nature of hypocrisy. And just so that we're on the same page, I define hypocrisy as pretending to be something that you are not. When I was a kid, every so often, I'd try to weasel my way out of things, like school or visiting a family member. by pretending to be sick. And although the inside of my body was fine, I would fake an illness so that the outside of my body gave the appearance that something was wrong. So I would fake a cough. Or pretend that my stomach was bothering me. Or even create the false impression that I was just too weak to get out of bed. And normally my mom was on it right away. She knew I was faking. Sometimes she would call me out and sometimes out of pity she'd just go along with it. But in either case, the entire thing, it was a charade to get her to think something about me that was not true. The Pharisees were guilty of doing something similar to what I did as a child, but with a slight twist. Instead of being well and pretending to be sick, the Pharisees were sick and pretended to be well. However, their sickness was much more serious than a cold. or the flu, they were sick with the sin of self-righteousness. And rather than acknowledging their inner corruption, they posed as men who had their act all together. But there were consequences to their hypocrisy, just like there are consequences when you and I try to be something that we're not. And one of the consequences includes the tarnishing of your witness for Christ. And to illustrate the insidious nature of hypocrisy and how it ruins our witness and affects our confidence to boldly profess who we are in Christ, Jesus compares hypocrisy to leaven. And as you may or may not know, leaven is very similar to yeast. And the point of the illustration is that it only takes a small dash of leaven to work its way through dough, and it affects the entire batch. The whole thing will rise. And Jesus' point is this, is that even though we think that our secret life, our secret sin, those things that are in our hearts that we don't think anybody knows about, the fake parts of who we are, even though we think it's such a small part of our life, Jesus is saying over time, it's gonna spread and it's gonna manifest itself throughout your whole body. And it's gonna have an effect on your spiritual life, including your witness, to which you may ask, why? Why is it going to affect my witness? And the answer to that is this, because in pretending to be something that you are not, you are attempting to get people to believe something that you really don't believe yourself. How can we profess Christ? How can we profess Him to be all satisfying in our own hearts? When we have secrets in our own life and when we have tendencies to go to other places to satisfy our hearts and our souls, how are we gonna have the confidence to go to other people and say, I can help you. I know the answer to what you're searching for and it's Jesus. We can't do that with integrity if we're living as posers. And to further punctuate this point, Jesus lets us know that we're never going to get away with our hypocritical lives. In fact, he says in verse two, he says, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be made known. One day, all of our secrets, every single one of them will be revealed before God and man. Every thought, every attitude, every motive will be revealed. You know, many are under the false impression that the Christian's life will not be judged. And we cite verses very quickly, like, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And that's true if you're a Christian, ultimately, you will not be condemned to hell. But your life, in all the secrets of your life, will one day be called to the open. The Bible's clear that God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil, exposed. Of course, some of our sins will be exposed here on earth. Whether it's a pastor caught having an extramarital affair, a businessman being fired for stealing, or an athlete who tests positive for doping, God will expose all of our sin, either on earth or at the last judgment. So the question I must ask, I feel compelled to ask you this morning, do you have a secret sin? Are you living a double life? Is there a disconnect between your private and your public life? If so, that's a heavy burden to carry. The weight of wondering if you will be exposed for who you really are, that's grueling. But Jesus offers hope for all who are willing to confess their sin and turn to him for forgiveness. And when your heart is right and when your heart is clean before God, there comes with it a sense of freedom and godly confidence to courageously tell others about Jesus Christ. But let's be honest, even with a heart that is tender towards the things of God, living courageously for Christ is still difficult because many of us are people pleasers. And we worry about what people think of us. And that leads us to our second principle, living courageously for Christ comes when we fear God more than man. Living courageously for Christ comes when we fear God more than man. And that's precisely Jesus's point in verses four and five. Where he says, I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do to you. But I will warn you whom to fear, fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Jesus knows that things will get difficult for his disciples. And Jesus knows that they will soon face severe persecution for their faith. And Jesus knows the same about us. Jesus knows you who are in high school and in college. He knows that you might be mocked because you believe that God and not Darwinian evolution is how the world and everything in it came to existence. Jesus knows and God knows that some of you young single professionals might be ridiculed because of your stance that sexual intimacy is to be reserved for marriage. God knows and Jesus knows that some of you professors will be discredited because like the song we sing, you do believe in God the Father, and you do believe in Christ the Son, and you do believe in the Holy Spirit, and you do believe that our God is three in one. And some of you professors are even facing scorn because of that belief. Yet in the midst of it all, Jesus tells us that we are not to fear those who mistreat us. Why? Because their power, those who mistreat us because of our allegiance to Christ, their power is only limited to their time here on earth. Even if we're killed for Christ, after that, there is nothing more than that people can do to us, nothing more. And to drive this point home, Jesus compares the power and authority of those who hate us here on earth with a power and authority with God Almighty. Ultimately, it is God that we should fear because it is God who has the authority to determine the eternal destiny of every soul. In other words, unlike man, God's impact on human lives is boundless. It's boundless. Brothers and sisters, we give people way too much power way too much power over our lives. Some of us are paralyzed with fear because of what others might think about us. It just torments us. We're terrified about speaking about Christ at work because we think it might cost us our career or at school because it might cost us our popularity. or we refuse to confess to our family members that we are Christians because we fear being cut off from the family. But Jesus is saying that when we respond this way, we are fearing the wrong thing. There's only one to fear and that's God himself. But unfortunately, we've gotten to the point in American evangelicalism where fearing God is hardly even mentioned. Or when it is, it's quickly excused away as just respecting God or being in awe of God. And yes, the word fear encompasses respect and a sense of amazement. But in this context, Jesus is saying exactly what it sounds like He's saying, that you and I should tremble before a righteous and holy God. And as Philip Riken puts it, when we tremble at God's authority over heaven and hell, we are ready to defend his cause in the world, fearing little what others will think. So yes, if we're going to be unashamed for Christ, then we must fear God more than we fear man. But we should never take that to mean that we need to be afraid that God will hurt us. Which leads us to principle number three, living courageously for Christ grows as we know how much we are loved and valued by God. Look with me again at verses six and seven. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies and not one of them is forgotten before God? Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, you are of more value than many sparrows. It's amazing. It's amazing. On one hand, we are to tremble before a holy God. Yet on the other hand, we're not to fear that God would ever use his power to hurt us. How do we do that? And how do we know that more importantly? We know that because of how much he loves you and how much he loves me and how much he values us. And Jesus illustrates God's love by first giving us an example of the sparrow. Sparrows were sold for relatively nothing, either for a pair for a penny or five sparrows for two pennies. In other words, the sparrow was practically given away at the market. Yet in spite of their relative insignificance, God does not forget one sparrow. Furthermore, God knows and loves us so much that he even has the number of your hairs counted. In case you're interested, blondes, you have an average of 150,000 hairs. Redheads, 90,000. I don't know why you have less, but you do. Those with black or brown hair, We have on average 110,000 hairs and God knows them all. He has them all numbered. And it's because of his great love for us and his interest in our life that Jesus tells us that we're to fear not. We're to fear not. Isn't that something? Again, on the one hand, we saw that we are to fear God. Yet on the other hand, We're not to fear our circumstances because we have a God who loves us and who will care for us. Living courageously for Christ starts in the heart. It comes when we fear God more than man. It grows when we know how much we are loved and valued by God, but that's not all. Living courageously for Christ takes place when we keep eternity in mind. When we keep eternity in mind, look again at verses eight through 10, and I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. I'm not sure if you noticed this or picked up on this, but throughout this entire passage, Jesus keeps pointing to eternity as he gives us these instructions for courageous living. Did you pick up on that? He keeps looking towards eternity. In verses two and three, he points to the final judgment when all our secrets will be revealed. In the previous section, we saw in verse five that God has the authority to issue eternal verdicts on behalf of every soul. Now in verses eight through 10, we get a sneak preview to the great court proceeding in heaven in which the ultimate chief justice holds court with all the angels. And did you notice what Jesus said? He said that if you and I stand up for Jesus now, if we profess him publicly and boldly and courageously, if we will do that now, then he will stand up for us later. Do you know what that means? That means there's great news for us who are still worried about all the secrets being revealed at judgment. Some of you are still on the first part of this sermon. You're thinking about all those things, all those secrets being revealed. And yes, it's true, all of our secrets will one day be exposed, and the law will condemn us, and our sin will condemn us, and Satan will condemn us. But if you confess Christ here on earth, he will jump to your defense come judgment day, and he will declare in the celestial courtroom that you belong to him by faith. and that Jesus' righteous life was given to you, and that your sins were placed upon Jesus at the cross, and He will plead your case before the Father, and you will be declared righteous in the sight of God. You don't have to worry about those secret sins because of Jesus. It motivates us to deal with our secret sins. But if you have secret sins, you can confess them boldly. And you can even know that when they get exposed, that Jesus will come to your defense because of his work on the cross on your behalf. Yet for those who do not acknowledge Christ, who do not repent from their sin, they will be held responsible for their sins and will be sentenced to an eternity in hell. And this should lead us all to ask ourselves, am I confessing Christ or am I rejecting him? It's a huge question, the most important question that you can ask this morning. And just to be clear, confessing Christ does not mean perfection. It means to acknowledge before men that you belong to Jesus Christ and that he's your Lord and Savior. Or as Romans 10, nine puts it, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Some of you might be wondering, how can I be sure that God will forgive me from all of my sins? Is there anything that will not be forgiven? God is willing to forgive all of your sins, even if you spoke poorly of Jesus. Even if at one point you denied him like the apostle Peter did. There is still forgiveness. The only unforgivable sin is to continually reject Christ's gift of salvation. Jesus refers to this as blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Because it's the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin and convicts us of our need for Jesus. And if you continually reject the Holy Spirit and His work in your heart, you're hardening your own heart to the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I would urge you, if you've been coming to church for a year or two years or five years and 10 years and you just keep on putting it off, and the Lord just continues to convict you. Don't put it off any longer. There'll come a day when that conviction is no longer there because you've hardened your own heart. So rather than committing this unforgivable sin, Jesus calls us to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit by taking Jesus as your Lord and Savior. But the Holy Spirit's work in our life continues in our Christian life, and that brings us to our fifth and final principle. Courageously living for Jesus Christ requires that we depend on the Holy Spirit, that we depend on the Holy Spirit. When Jesus calls you and me to live courageously for Him, He doesn't expect us to muster up the courage on our own. We can't. I can't, neither can you. So he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. That's why he told the disciples in verses 11 and 12, and when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Now, obviously this was a specific promise to the apostles. And we know from other passages, every time the apostles were brought before the various rulers and courts, God always gave them the opportunity to preach the gospel. And that same Holy Spirit that indwelled the apostles is the same Holy Spirit that indwells each of us who are believers in Jesus Christ. And as we depend upon him, he will give us the courage that none of us can manufacture on our own. So as we bring this to a close, may I please urge you to courageously take a stand for Christ this week. This week, maybe it comes by asking a friend if you can pray for him or her. Maybe for you it might mean telling a family member that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, something that you've never done before because of fear. Maybe for someone it's actually putting your trust in Jesus Christ for the very first time and telling your spouse about that or your child about that or a friend here at BCF about that. Or maybe it's even introducing yourself to someone for the first time like that international woman did to us in the class, by somehow letting it be known that you are a Christian. Whatever it might be, my prayer for us is that sometime this week, God would give us the courage to profess our faith in Him. and that that might start something in us as a church body that would just form a pattern for us down the road.