Matthew chapter 10. The message this morning deals with confessing Christ. It says in verse 32, Whosoever therefore
shall confess me Our Lord, now before this, our
Lord spoke of persecution, gospel, that they were going to have
to suffer and go through. He assures his disciples their
Heavenly Father's care. I wish we could really get a
hold of our Father's care. We would be astounded, I mean,
beyond measure, if we could understand and get a hold of it. Cast all your cares upon Him. Our Lord speaks of the minuteness
of His care. The very hairs of your head. That's how intimately acquainted
He is with each one of His children. Right down to the very hair that
is on you. He said they were of more value
than any sparrows, more value. He said not one sparrow falls
to the ground without your Heavenly Father, without His will, without
Him being involved in it either directly or indirectly. They
call His will, His permissive will, His direct will. Not even
a sparrow falls to the ground. Do you know how many sparrows
died this year? How many sparrows have fallen? Our Lord knew what was coming
for them, and that some would be tempted to draw back. Peter, for example, He denied knowing the Lord when
the battle got hot. Three times. I don't know the
man. No. We don't know what we will do
under great distress over the gospel. I've never been put in
great distress. My life A life has never been
put on the line. Theirs would be. Some of them
would die. About upside down. We don't know what we would do,
but we do know this. We do know this. We have His
promise of care The man named Hugh Latimer, 500
years ago, preached to Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, preached
a sermon that was very upsetting to the king, very upsetting. He was ordered to preach again
the following Sunday. and he was to make apology for
offending the king. The next Sunday rolled around.
He stood before King Henry VIII, and after he read his text, he
looked at King Henry, and he started his message like this.
He said, Do you know before whom you speak
this day? To the high and mighty monarch,
king's most excellent majesty, who can take away your life if
you offend him. Therefore take heed, Hugh Latimer,
that you speak not a word that may displease the king, But then he considered, well,
he said, but then I considered, well, he's speaking to the king,
Hugh, you know from where you've come, you know upon whose message
you are sent, even the great and mighty God who's all present,
who beholds all your ways and who's able to cast body and soul
into hell, therefore take care deliver the
message faithfully. Eulatimer began to proceed with
the exact same sermon except with more energy. He preached the exact same sermon
to the king, and the king sent for him and demanded of him how
he dared to preach in such a manner. fell on his knees and replied
his duty to God first. He had merely discharged his
duty and his conscience in what he had spoken. King got up off
his throne, walked over to Hugh Latimer,
put his arms around him, and said, blessed be God, I have
so honest a servant. Hugh Latimer, who do you fear?
God. Not long after that, Hugh Latimer
burned at the stake. I can't imagine that. But when
he was burned at the stake, there was a man named Nicholas Ridley
that was burned with him, both of them. as they were being ready
to be burned, Hugh Latimer looked over to Nicholas Ridley and he
said, play the man, Master Ridley, play the man. We shall this day
light as such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall
never be put out. Be a coward. But let's stand
firm as they burned them at the stake. Burned them. God has promised
His care of us, He has said, fear not, don't you fear them.
Tell you who to fear, fear Him who's able to cast both body
and soul. You know, God's promised care ought to remove our fear,
shouldn't it? He's promised to care for us.
Martin Luther said this one time. He said he saw a bird. He said
he saw a little bird among the leaves of a tree one evening.
And he said, this little fellow has chosen his shelter for the
night and is quietly rocking himself to sleep without a care
of tomorrow's lodgings, calmly holding by his little twig and
leaving God to think for him. Think for him. Oh, fear not. The Lord said,
fear not. There was a man named J. Colrose. He said he entered a room where
a little blind girl was sitting on her father's knee. And her
father had his arm clasped around this little girl. He said, without
saying a word or making a sign, he said, I stepped quietly up,
unclasped his arm, and lifted the child away. As I took her
out of the room, her father said, Louie, you're not afraid. I'm glad you couldn't see. You don't know who has you, he
answered at once. No, I don't know who has me,
and I'm not afraid, for you know who has. Therefore, Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess before my Father. I have four
things I want to mention. What is it to confess Christ?
Preaching, innocent, personally. What is it to confess Christ?
Have I confessed Christ? A promise to those who confess
Christ and a warning to those who deny Him, who refuse to confess. Now, what is it to confess Christ
and what is it to preach Christ? Well, He's speaking this to His
disciples who are going to go out and preach. And He's telling them, when you
go out to preach, that is, confess me, what I'm doing this morning.
You confess who I am. Don't you take the edge off of
it. You confess who I am. I am God manifest in the flesh. That's who I am. Do not draw
back from that. That one maid said to Peter,
you're one of them. No, I don't know the man. Don't
you dare do it again. He hadn't done it yet, but this
is what he said. Don't do that. It's to confess his person. God
is to confess his work as the Redeemer Jesus Christ is the
Redeemer in Jesus Christ now listen Jesus Christ redeemed
Everyone he died for They are redeemed. They are bought. They've
been bought with the price and God shall have them They will
not perish There is no one in hell for whom Jesus Christ died
for That's not a popular message I can preach that here. I have
been places I couldn't, they didn't want me to come back.
About Thursday night, they did not want me to come back. There's
been places, Brother Henry preached, they did not want him back. There
was a time, I think it was one time, they shut the meeting down.
Same thing with Rothbard. That's not a popular message. But that's not, that doesn't
matter. Christ said, you confess me. It's who I am, what I've
done, and where I am now. You read the book of Acts. Their constant message was Jesus
Christ is risen. Him you have taken by wicked
hands and crucified, but God raised him from the dead. And
he is seated in glory at God's right hand, And he is the sovereign
king and he rules and he reigns over all things. I say that here. I say that on the radio. I don't say a different thing
on the radio than I do here. A different message. I don't
say a different message on the radio than I do here. What is to confess Christ is
to preach Christ. But here's what it is to confess
Christ. Now, first of all, for the person
who hears the gospel. You can deal now with the person
who hears the gospel. You've sat here, you've heard
the gospel. Many of you have already confessed it. It implies a knowledge of Christ. You cannot confess someone you
don't know. God is, through the preaching
of the gospel, God's given you a knowledge of Christ. There must be a knowledge of
Christ given of God for anyone to confess the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that knowledge comes through preaching. Look over in Romans
chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. This is why
preaching is so important. Look in verse 13, for whosoever,
Romans 10, 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? You can't believe in someone
you've never heard of. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher, without God sending them a preacher? And how shall
they preach? shall they preach except they
be sent, that is, sent of God. As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they've not all obeyed the
gospel for Isaiah saith the Lord, who hath believed our report.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and the hearing, the hearing
of faith, this faith that comes by hearing, comes by hearing,
the Word of God, which is the Gospel. That's how faith is created in
the soul. The Holy Spirit takes the Gospel
and He applies it in power to the heart. He gives a new heart
and He applies it in power to the heart. And that person believes. That person says, I believe. It implies knowledge, it implies
faith in Christ. It's to believe on Christ with
the heart. It says there in the same Romans 10.10, for with the
heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. What's in the heart is going
to come out. Right? What's in the heart's
coming out. God's done a work in the heart. That person's going
to confess with their mouth. Then it implies love for Christ.
Our confession of Christ is more than a religious profession.
This is not a religious profession. It is one of love. It is a relationship
confession. That's what it is. Personal confession. Look over in Acts chapter 8.
Acts chapter 8. This is Philip preaching to the
eunuch, and he's preaching to him out of Isaiah 53. In verse
36, after Philip had preached Christ unto him, and as they
went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the
eunuch said, See, here is water, What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered, he answered
and said, I believe. See, it's a personal confession.
I believe that Jesus Christ is. All my heart, Philip, he said,
Philip, I believe. He didn't just believe some facts. He believed that this man, Jesus
Christ, is the Son of God. He's the Messiah. He said, I
believe that. And Philip said, whoa. Stopped
that horse and they got off him. It's a personal confession. And
then it's a public confession. You remember that woman with
the issue of blood? Made her way through the crowd.
He said, if I can but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be
made whole. Touched the hem of his garment and she was made
whole. And the Lord stopped. Touched me. He knew who touched
him. He knew who touched him. He said,
I perceive virtue gone out of me. Who touched me? And the disciples
said, Lord, look at this throne. Look at all these people. And
as he walked by, everybody was touching him. Everybody was reaching
out there and touching him. But there was only one who really
touched him. And he says, somebody has touched
me. The virtue on out of me. turned around and looked, and
that woman came forward. She was going to slip out to
the crowd. It says that she confessed to him before all, before everybody,
why she touched him. It's a public confession. The
Lord has no secret disciples. This is not a secret society. And as a public confession, we
openly confess him verbally and we confess him by baptism. That
is how we confess Christ. We identify with him also, not
just verbally, but also through baptism. He commands Those who
believe and are baptized shall be saved. That's an ordinance
given by our Lord to do. I tell you what, it's a great honor.
It's a great honor when that water is identified. Great honor. And it's a confession. It's the confession of a person.
He that confesses me, in the Greek it reads like this, confesses
in me. And it means this, it is to make
Christ the central, listen, it is to make Christ the central
and object of our confession. We're confessing a person, not
a religion, a person. That's what it is, identification
with a person. This is my Lord. This is my Savior,
this one. This one is my Lord, this one
is my Savior. This sovereign, this sovereign gives life to whom he will. Passes
by whom he will. It's my Savior. My Lord, what
was it Thomas said? My Lord and my, or was it Philip?
It was one of those two men. My Lord and my God. And then to confess Christ is
to unite with His people. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy
chapter 1 verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. Paul wrote in Romans, I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. At one time, he was. At one time,
he would not identify himself with that man. But after God
saved him, he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which
is the power of God unto salvation. But be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. is to unite with
his people. We confess him with the mouth.
We confess him in baptism. We confess him by being united. Body. Being united to the body
of Christ. Now, secondly, have I confessed
Christ? Have I confessed Christ? Have
I preached Christ? I've been here a year and a half
now. About a year and a half or so
now. Have I preached Christ? Have I really set forth the Lord
Jesus Christ in His person? I believe I have. I believe I
have. By God's grace, I'll continue. But this is also personal. Have
I confessed Christ? It's a personal question. Have
I personally confessed Jesus Christ? Have I personally owned
Him? Owned Him as my Savior. Owned
Him as my Lord. Owned Him as my God. Owned Him
as my Redeemer. Owned Him as my Sacrifice. Owned
Him as my All-in-all. Have I personally done that? Have I really, truly identified
myself with Jesus Christ? You know, one time they took
notice of the disciples that they had been with Jesus. They
knew that. They took notice that they had
been with Jesus. And then it's a serious question.
It's a question with great consequences. I'm really not interested in
that right now. Denies me, I'll deny him. Cannot ignore this. It's the
greatest thing that I can do. The greatest thing in my life
that has ever happened is the day God enabled me to confess
Christ. Really. It's a revealing question. Taken seriously, it'll make you
search your heart. I apply this to me. You know,
when I read the scriptures, I don't say, well, you know, this one
doesn't apply to me. I always look at it, I always
look at it, the first application is I always look at it as a binding. Before I give it to you. I don't say, well, everyone
here's, probably everyone here's confessed Christ, let's just
pass on that. And then it's given with a promise,
whosoever, Therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess
also before my father. Our Lord gives this promise.
I will confess him for my father. He's saying here, I will own
him. I will identify him before my
father. for God Almighty. Promise. I'll confess him. It's a mutual confession. He
that confesses me, I'll confess him. It's a personal confession. He said, I will do this. I will confess him. I will own
him. Confession of ownership. It's a confession of friendship.
It's a confession of brotherhood. He's mine. You know, He's saying here,
He that confesses Me before men, I confess Christ before you. I confess Christ before this
community. But it's nothing compared Christ
standing before the Father, confessing John Chapman. I confess him before men, but
he confesses me. It is a confession before the
greatest person, God the Father. Now, close with a warning. Our Lord
gives a warning here in verse 33. Whosoever shall deny me before
men, will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
What is it to deny Christ? Well, my first point was this.
All of the above. But let me just give you a few
things. To deny Jesus Christ, it is not to preach the Lord
Jesus Christ. Preaching on issues is not preaching
Christ. One place said to me years ago, Do you preach against rock and
roll?" I said, no, I preach. Do you ever bring messages against
these things? No, I preach Christ. You know, all the girls that
have an abortion, rock and roll, turn it all off,
you're still going to hell. Christ crucified that saves.
And it's the grace of God that will deny ungodliness. The grace of God in you teaches
you to deny ungodliness. But without that, you're going
to perish. It's to preach Christ and not
issues. To deny To deny is to preach
issues and not Christ. That's what it is to deny. Let
me get that corrected. Preaching on issues and not Christ.
That's denying Christ. To deny Christ is not to confess
Him at all. It's just not to confess Him
at all. It's not to join with His people.
It's not to be identified with the body of Christ. That is to
deny Christ. It's to deny his righteousness
and make one up of your own. To deny Christ is to keep quiet. And his name is being slandered. I wouldn't let you slander my
wife's name. I would not let you slander my
mother and my father. I wouldn't let you do it. But then the Lord's name, my
God, my Lord, my God, my Savior, His name being slandered, I know we've done it. I know
I've done it. I know there have been times I've kept quiet. Thank God that He, but it's to keep quiet. His name
is being slandered. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. Whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father in heaven. There'll be many that say, Lord,
we preached in your name, we cast out death, we've done many
things. He's gonna say, depart from me. I never knew you. Therefore I don't confess you
before my Father.