Thank you, Sally and John. Turn
with me to Matthew 10. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 10. I hope you read the bulletin.
There's some good articles there. One in particular my pastor wrote
on what is it to confess Christ. We'll be using some of the things
he said in this message. That's our subject. Confessing. the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew
10, our Lord said in verse 32, whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which
is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Alright, turn with me to one other scripture, Mark chapter
16. Mark chapter 16. Mark 16, look
at this. Mark chapter 16, our Lord says
in verse 15, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. But he that believeth not, and
he that believeth not will certainly not be baptized, shall be damned."
Confessing Christ. What does it mean? Our sister,
Kathy Utz, is coming this morning to confess Christ and believers'
baptism. This is the public confession
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he told every believer
to do and every one of those people in Acts 2. No exceptions. All that believed, all that gladly
heard the word and believed were baptized. No exceptions. Not
one single person said, well, the thief on the cross wasn't
baptized. No, no, no. They gladly were baptized. And
I venture to say that every believer in here upon beholding baptisms,
you want to do it again, don't you? It's such a blessing to
witness and a greater blessing to be a part of. But this is
what our Lord told all believers to do, to confess Him publicly. But confessing Christ doesn't
start here. Turn to Romans 10. Romans chapter
10 with me. What is it to confess Christ?
Well, first of all, you have to believe Christ. Everybody
in Acts chapter 10, after they heard the gospel, how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
to be seen? The gospel is the power of God on Sunday. And all
those people heard the gospel. Look at Romans chapter 10. Now,
this chapter is the gospel. Brethren, verse 1, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. I bear record that many have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. They're ignorant of God's righteousness. Is it necessary to believe something
about God's righteousness? We're going to see what faith
believes. Or rather, who. They're ignorant
of God's righteousness. going about to establish their
own. That means like Cain and bringing their works and so forth.
But that's, nobody's saved by their work. Hadn't submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. Verse 4, for Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. to everyone that believeth. Holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in God's sight, not for anything you do or are, but for what Christ
has done, who Christ is. This is what it means to confess
Christ. And it starts in your heart. You hear the gospel. And there's a confession of sin.
That's in 1 John 1. We confess our sins. He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Confession of sin. But we're
talking about confessing crime. Read on. It says in verse 5,
Moses describes the righteousness of the law, that the man that
doeth these things shall live by them. But the righteousness
of faith says this. Don't say in your heart, who
can get to heaven? That is, bring Christ down from
heaven, or who shall descend in the deep to bring up Christ
again? What does the Word say? What does the Scripture say?
It's nigh thee, it's in thy mouth, it's in thy heart. It's the Word
of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart. Here's where it starts. That
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. With
the heart man believeth unto righteousness. This confession
of Christ starts in the heart. We confess our sins to God. God,
I'm a sinner. I'm worthy of hell and death. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's what the publican said
in the temple when he came in repentance. Repentance toward
God and what? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord God, I can't get to you but one way. I've heard the gospel
say that Christ is the way. That Christ is the only way I
can get to God. I believe Christ in my heart. So we confess from the heart
to God before we confess to anybody. Before we get in the pool. It
says, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. You know,
out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. There is a confession of sin,
but to confess Christ is first to confess Him to God from your
own heart. God, I'm a sinner, unworthy,
unclean, undone. Have mercy upon me. through the
Lord Jesus Christ, upon hearing this gospel. Romans 10, are you still there? Yeah. It says that God hath raised
him from the dead. With a heart man believeth unto
righteousness, with a mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the
Scriptures say, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Not be ashamed. Alright, now
notice in verse 9 it said, if you confess with your mouth,
believe in your heart, the Lord Jesus. The first thing you've got to
know and believe in your heart, and this is a gift of God, is
that Jesus Christ, that man, and this is what Peter preached
at Pentecost, that that man that walked this earth named Jesus
is God. He's God. You do not accept Jesus
as your personal Savior and then later make Him Lord of your life.
That's a hoax. That's a false religion. That's blasphemous. What you
find out is, the first thing you find out before you even
believe that He did anything for you, you find out He is Lord. That He's God. Many, if not most, talk of Jesus. That's who they believe in. Jesus. Everybody believes in Jesus.
Everybody loves Jesus. Nobody fears Jesus. But the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of it. How many times does the
scripture talk about the fear of the Lord? The fear of the
Lord. The fear of the Lord. It never says fear of Jesus. Fear of the
Lord. If you believe with your heart
and confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus. You've got to
know the right one. So many have believed in Jesus,
and so many have been baptized in the name of Jesus. Our Lord
told them in Matthew, go into all the world and baptize them
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It's to confess Him as Lord,
to confess Him as your God, before you even believe He's
But I've got news for you. If you know that He is Lord and
bow to Him, He's already saved you. He's already saved you. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Isn't that what Simon Peter found
out before he knew anything? When the Lord called those fish
into his net, you know, in his boat? Simon Peter feared that man named
Jesus, and he hid his knees. He fell at the feet of the Lord
Jesus, and Christ said, Depart from Me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. See, he didn't know if the Lord
was going to save him, what the Lord was going to do with him.
He just knew this man right here is God. And he feared Him. See, the fear of the Lord. It's
to confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what Thomas said?
My Lord and my God. What did Paul, Saul of Tarsus
say, a religious man, when he met Jesus? Who art thou? I'm
Jesus. He fell on his face. What are
you going to do with me, Lord? Isn't that what blind Bartimaeus
said? Lord, I want to receive my sight. The leper, Lord, I want to be
clear. Lord. To know him as Lord. You don't make him Lord. No,
no, no, no. You find out he is. You know,
when Moses asked the Lord, Jehovah, Whom shall I say hath sent me? What did he say? Who was speaking
to him? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said, tell them I am
hath sent thee. Tell them I am that I am. The Jehovah Witnesses say that he
never said he was God. He said I am ten times in John's
Gospel of John. Didn't he? I am the door. I am the bread. I am the way. When you find out who Christ
is, you realize He's the door to heaven. He's the bread. I'm going to die without Him.
He's the way to God. I can't get to God through Him.
He's the truth. Everything else and everyone
else is a lie. He's life. I'm dead without Him. He's the
light. I'm in darkness without Him.
He's the shepherd. I'm a sheep prone to wander. I am the vine. I am the resurrection,
he said. I am that I am. I am. And they came to get him in the
garden. He said, Whom seek ye? Like Moses, Whom shall I say
hath sent me? Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus. He said, I am. And they all hit
the ground. Fell backward. You know that
every knee will bow. And every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, I am God, to the glory of God the
Father. But salvation is to do that now,
before it's everlastingly too late. I am. I am. So we must believe first
that He is Lord. Believe it in the heart. He's
my Lord. My Lord. To confess Christ, look
at Isaiah 25. You know that the word Christ
is not in the Old Testament, but the word Messiah says. It's
the same word. It means anointed one. But in
the Greek, it's Christ. In the Old Testament, it's Messiah.
It's the same word. Okay? Anointed. Isaiah 25. What is it to confess Christ?
Well, it's first to believe in your heart who He is, that He's
God, manifest in the flesh. Well, why did he come? Why did
God come to this earth? Here's a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of all acceptation. Christ came into the world to
do what? To straighten up everybody's
life and make them happy in Jesus and, you know, fill up their
bank account. Oh, no. It's not a health and
wealth gospel. It's all about sin. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. That's why He came. Did He do
it? It's a false gospel that said,
now He's done all He can do. I'm not splitting hairs here.
Brothers and sisters, if you've confessed that Jesus who did
all He could do, and you did the rest, and you accepted the
grace that God offered you, and you made Him Lord of your life,
you've confessed the wrong one. If you believe that Jesus, everybody
believes He died for everybody, and it's those that really believe
on Him, and it's those that improve on His, that make His blood effectual
by their faith, that's another Jesus you've confessed the wrong
one. You haven't confessed Jesus Christ. I urge you right now,
if you believe what I'm saying, that you just come with Kathy
right now, and you get in this pool, and you confess the right
one. You confess His work. When He
came to save, did He do it? If He didn't do it, we're lost.
And it's regardless of what anybody... He said, I've come to seek. That
means to look for and find my lost sheep. I've come to seek
and to what? Save that which was lost. A lost person can't
find himself. A dead person can't get himself
out. A blind person can't see. Christ can't see. He's all of
that. Isaiah 25, I love this. Isaiah 25, it says of Christ,
where do you start? Look at verse 8. Christ, speaking
of Christ, He will swallow up death in victory. The Lord God
will wipe away tears from off all faces. The rebuke of His
people. shall he take away from off all
the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said
in that day, Lo, this is our God." Every Jew believed that
God was coming to earth. Every Jew read Isaiah, and they
believed Isaiah 9. Call his name Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Every single Jew believed
that God, the Christ, Messiah, was coming to this earth, and
who it was that was coming, that Messiah is God, manifest in the
flesh. And this is what Peter, when
he came and preached to all those Jews from all over the world,
he said, that man named Jesus, that's God. He came. He's the
one. But he was crucified. Yes. As
the whole Scripture prophesies of. Ought not Christ to have
suffered? Yes. The just for the unjust? As the Lamb slain? Must have
a Lamb. That's the Christ who came. The
substitute. The burnt offering. All those
things speak of Christ. And that Jesus who came. That's
the Christ. He's God. God died on that cross. How's that possible? I don't
know, but He did. Nevertheless, He lives. And He's
seated right now on the right hand of the Majesty on the High.
Verse 8, And He swallowed up death and victory, Death, someone
said, stung itself to death when it stung Christ. But they'll
say in verse 9, when He comes, this is our God. We've waited
for Him. He will save us. This is the
Lord. What's that word? Jehovah. We've
waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. Did He do it? If He didn't save us, There's
no good news. There's no gospel if he didn't
save. If there's something left to be done, there's no gospel.
To confess Christ is to confess who he is, to confess his finished
work on Calvary's tree. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. He came into the world to redeem. With His own
precious blood, we cannot be redeemed by corruptible things,
silver, gold, Catholic indulgences, whatever it may be, our vain
conversation, whatever we do cannot be redeemed. One thing
redeems, atones for the soul. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He came to redeem. He came to make peace with God. You can't make it. Man can't
make it. That's one way it's made. Jesus Christ. God is angry
with the wicked every day. But the wrath of God poured out
on Christ. He came to make a people righteous. We read in Romans 10. The righteousness. Is that important? Well, I'll
tell you this. Here's what Isaiah 45 says. In a couple of the last verses
it says, Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness. You know what that means. Jehovah
Sidkenu. Listen to this name. Jehovah
Sidkenu. I see some smiles. What does
that mean? The Lord our Righteousness. That's Romans 10. He came to
make us righteous. How? Second Corinthians 5.21. God hath made him to be sin for
us. That we, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Doctrine? No,
it's person. And you must believe. You must. You must know what that means.
It's written too many times in Scripture. Our Lord, you know, it's not
merely Jesus. to change our lives and make
us happy, but it's the Lord our righteousness. You've got to
know something about that. And you can know this in your
head, but when you find out, and you know like Solomon in
his prayer said, when you realize the plague of your heart, sin,
that there's nothing you can do about your sin. that you've
got this sin nature with you all your life, and God is holy,
holy, holy, and you can't get into His presence unless you're
righteous like God, unless you're holy like God. You realize you
need some righteousness that you don't have, and that is Christ. Our Lord came to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. So to confess Christ is to confess
you have sinned, you can't do anything about it, Only Christ
can, only Christ must put it away. And that's what it is. You're
not confessing yourself when you get in this book. When you
go to talk to people, you're not confessing yourself. All
you got to say about yourself is, I'm just a no-good sinner.
Oh, but you're a good Christian. No, I'm not. I'm just a sinner
saved by Christ. And Christ is my only hope. That's
what it is to confess Christ. It's to confess Him. His person,
His work. To confess Christ is to confess
Him in believer's baptism. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel, which I've been trying to preach. Preach the gospel,
which is a person. He that believeth, he must believe
the gospel. Not another. The gospel. The
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Not another Jesus. Which is not
another. The Lord Jesus Christ. And whoever
confess and is baptized shall be saved. I'm not going to qualify that.
I'm not going to say anything to that or take away from it.
Our Lord said you must. Didn't He? Didn't He? He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. I'm not going to apologize for
that. And when somebody really believes, like all these people,
what should we do? Like the Ethiopian eunuch, when
he heard the gospel from Philip, when he heard of Christ crucified,
the eunuch said, here's water, what hinders me? He said, you
can't if you believe. I do, I believe with all my heart
that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of God. God in the flesh. You know, turn
with me to Romans 6. John told me, he said, you're
going to turn to Romans 6, aren't you? I said, well, I was going
to quote it, but I want you to turn with me to Romans 6 so I
won't misquote it. Baptism is both a funeral and
a wedding. I like to think of it this way. It's like a funeral and a wedding.
When you confess Christ in believer's baptism, what you're saying is,
I was crucified with Christ. Killed. That's what the law saith. It saith to them that under the
law, the law saith the soul that sinneth must surely die. What
you're saying is I deserve to die. But Christ died. I was crucified on Him, buried. We're going to put our sister
under the water like many in this room. Put her under the
water. We're not going to leave her there, hopefully. But what you're saying is I want
this old man gone. I will be done with sin, this
sin nature, forever. I'm so tired of it. My sin is
ever before me. I do believe that Christ died
for sinners and put away sin and separated my sins from me
as far as the east. I believe that, but yet they're
still ever with me. But I want them gone. I'm confessing
Christ crucified. Look at verse Romans 6, verse
3. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
God put us in Christ. When Christ was on that cross,
His people were in Him, immersed in Him, in Christ. Christ became
us. We became Him. One. And when Christ was crucified,
He wasn't crucified for His sin, He was crucified for ours. He
became us, substituted. And God killed His Son in our
sin. Alright, He was buried. He's
buried. The soul that sins must surely
die. Christ died. And His people died in Him. Verse 4. Know ye not, you're
dead. Verse 4. We're buried with Him by baptism
unto death. But now, hold on. Like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, how
are we quickened, how are we made alive? By the Spirit of
God, through the Gospel of Christ. Even so, we also should walk
in moodness of life. It's a funeral. It's a funeral. Do you know every funeral our
Lord attended? The person got up out of the
casket and walked away. And everyone that confesses Christ,
he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. He said,
oh, you're going to put your body in a casket and put that
body in the ground, but not you. You're going to go be raised. It's a funeral. It's what we're
saying is, I read it to you in Galatians 4 where Paul said,
the world is crucified to me and I'm to the world. It's a wedding. It's a wedding
when you confess Christ. You know, you're not confessing
yourself, you're confessing Him. Say, He's my all, He's my Lord,
He's my God, He's my Savior, He's my righteousness, He's my
Redeemer, He's my husband, He's my Father, He's my everything. It's a wedding. When you come
to be married, two people to be married, the wife loses her
name. She takes her husband's name.
Do you take this man lawfully wedded husband. I do. And to
confess Christ in baptism is to say, this is my Lord. This is my Savior. I want to
confess Him to everybody that He's my own. And we read there
that it's to rise to walking newness of life. Walking with
the world. No, you're walking by faith.
You're walking with God. You're walking with Christ. Like
Kenneth Fellowship, don't you? our fellowships with the Father
and with His Son. We never walked with Him before, we do now. It's
to identify with His people, to walk with His people. Did
you notice there in Acts 2 how every single person who heard
the gospel gladly were baptized and they continued daily with
one accord in the temple? Worshipping the Lord. They were
together and had all things common. They joined together. Forever. Family. Our Lord said in Matthew
10, He said, I've come to set a man at various with his father
and his mother. He that loveth father and mother
more than me is not worthy of me. And you're going to leave
all. You're going to leave your father and your mother and their
religion and your brothers and sisters that don't believe this
Lord, this Christ. You're going to leave them to
be with God's people who know Him. That's what we're all going
to do when this is all over, isn't it? We're going to leave
everybody and everything to go where? To be with our Lord and
His people forever. And we'll be so happy. We say in baptism, we say, In
life, here's what we say, like Ruth said to Naomi, this is what
all of God's people say to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is
what baptism is saying. Don't let me leave you or return
from following you. Where you go, I'll go. Where
you went, I went to the cross. Where you go, I want to go to
the right hand of God. Where you lodge, that's where
I want to be. I want to dwell. Your people, these people that
believe this gospel, they're my people. This is my family. And where you die, I die. And I'll be buried. And Lord,
do so to me. If anything but death separates
me. Isn't that what you say? You know, the Lord adds to His
church daily, as such it should be said, the church. But then
the Lord adds to a local assembly, where you live and you hear the
gospel. And the Lord puts you in that local assembly and you
tell everybody. And many come out of religion,
Methodists and Baptists and Catholics and all that, and hear the gospel
and come where God's true people are. And you say, these are my
people. Well, come over here with us and work. I can't do
it. That's not the gospel. That's not the Christ I believe.
It's a different God and a different Jesus. This is the gospel. This is the gospel. And one more thing. It's said in Romans 6, to walk
in newness of life. To confess Christ is to confess
Him in your attitude, your walk, your talk, everything about you. You go out in the world. You know, we represent our God. We represent Christ. We don't want to bring reproach
on Him. Our attitude, we need to be the
most thankful people on earth. We need to be the most submissive
and meek and humble people on earth. Humility and meekness
and brokenness and love. We need to be the most loving
and merciful and gracious and kind and forgiving and compassionate
and tender people on earth. As God, for Christ's sake, has
given us. That's what it is to confess Christ, you know. So, our sister Kathy Hoots is
coming this morning to confess Christ. And I always do this. I tell you that anybody else
who believes, you need to confess Christ. And I'm going to leave
the water in there for another week or so. And you come. It's a command and it's a privilege.