Good morning, everybody. If you want to, you can be turning
to Romans 10, and I'm only going to read three verses. But if
you want to, turn with me to Romans 10. verses 9 through 11. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. There are some who confess with
their mouth because they have believed in their heart. This
heart being the new heart given by God. There are some who confess
with their old wicked heart, that heart that deceives them
always. There was a time when I did not
confess the things that I now confess. Being in darkness, I
confessed my work and my worth. I confessed that I had accepted
Jesus as my personal savior. The problem with that is Christ
had not accepted me. The world, which I was once in
the world, is always confessing what they do for God. We know
from scripture that this is not what the believer is brought
to confess. My own experience confirms God's
word that left to myself, I will do nothing but confess myself
as if that is anything to God. In Matthew 12 and verse 34 it
says, O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak
good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh. And again in Luke 6 45 we read,
a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is good. And an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For
of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. So it is
out of the heart that causes us to confess, whatever confession
that might be. A believer does not confess what
they do or do not do. However, what we do and do not
do does matter. We reap what we sow. Scripture
also says God is not mocked. You will not spit in the face
of God and it be okay. Romans six and verses one and
two says this. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God gives us the
answer. God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? But yet, we do still sin. So what are we left to confess?
First of all, a believer cannot confess what or who he does not
know. He will never know unless he
hears. and he will not hear unless someone
is sent to him to tell him. I want to look at confessions
of a believer. It says in Matthew, speaking
of John the Baptist and those from Jerusalem, Judea and all
the region surrounding Jordan that came to John. This is what
it says in Matthew 3 and 6. It says, and were baptized of
him in Jordan, confessing their sins. First of all, we confess
our sins. This is not a confession of our
sins to men, but to God. We may acknowledge to men that
we are sinners, but we are never told to confess our sins to men. But we do confess our sins. The
scripture does say we confess our faults one to another. It
says in James 5.16, it says, confess your faults one to another
and pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. What are these? This word here, our faults, this
word means a sideslip. These are things we do as a believer
that might offend both God and our fellow believer. Confess
those to one another when they happen. What does this do? It lets each of us know that
we are mere men and do have faults. I do not want to know about all
your sins, but if there is something that is done in public that might
dishonor our Lord, then confess that, but only to one another,
not to the world. But in 1 John 1 and 9 we read,
if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The he there
is God, Jesus Christ. We confess our sins to God Almighty
and he will always forgive us. It says here that he is faithful
and just to forgive our sins. A believer given sight, made
to walk, made clean by God, given life by God, knows that they
are by nature. They know that this nature is
totally opposed to who God is. He confesses that everything
he has done and will do is not worthy of his acceptance. There
is not one confession about himself that is positive. Other than
this, in and of himself, he can positively sin because he is
sin itself. So what else do we confess? We
confess Jesus Christ. Matthew 10 and 32, we read, whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. So what do we confess
about Jesus Christ? First of all, we confess that
Jesus is the Christ. He is that one spoken of in all
of scripture as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
There is one that is testified of in the Old Testament as being
the seed. That's him, that's Jesus Christ.
That seed who is the elect of God, the firstfruits among many
brethren. the one typified in the sacrifices
who would take away the sins of his people, the one who would
be that daysman betwixt God and man, bringing them both together
in peace. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This is something we also confess. Mark 1 and 1 it says, the beginning
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the only
begotten of the Father, the one with whom God the Father is well
pleased, the one who is a sweet-smelling savor unto God the Father. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is God. Who does
it say that God is as we read in the Old Testament? In Exodus
3.14 we read, And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. But then we read in Mark 14.61
and 62 that Jesus Christ says, he says, I am. It says in Mark 14, 61 and 62,
it says, but he held his peace and answered nothing. Again,
the high priest asked him and said unto him, art thou the Christ,
the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am, and ye
shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and
coming in the clouds of heaven. But then again, we read in the
garden, we read in John 18, verses four through six. It says, Jesus,
therefore knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth and said unto them, whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon as they had said unto
them, I am, They went backward and fell to the ground. The believer
is also brought to confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is the great I am who has
come down to this earth in human flesh. He was made of a woman,
made under the law, that he might redeem them that are under the
law. The believer also confesses that
Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1 and 30, it says,
but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Jesus Christ is Lord of all. This is Lord of all things. people,
things, happenings. God Almighty is, and Jesus Christ
is, sovereign of the universe, you might say. And all more than
the universe, everything. But Acts 10 verses 34 through
36 reads, then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I
perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation,
he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with
him. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is
Lord of all. So, he is our wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, but he's also all these things.
This is what the believer confesses. He is the way, the truth, the
life. He is my cloud and pillar of
fire. He is my buckler. He is my rock. He is my help. He is my comforter. He is my
savior. He is my brother. He is my friend. The believer is brought to confess
that Jesus Christ is all. If this is not your confession,
but rather what you do or do not do, then you are not a believer. First John 5 and 10 says, he
that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his son. So the believer confesses the
record God gave of his son. This record is found from Genesis
to Revelation. Is confessing Christ important? I'm gonna give you three verses
that let us know it is important. And the scripture says in the
face of two or three witnesses, everything should be established. Here's three witnesses. Matthew
10 and 32, and we've already read one of these. Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before him, will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. Again in Luke 12 in verse 8 it
says, also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men,
him shall the son of man also confess before the angels of
God. And in Revelations 3 in verse
5 we read, he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in
white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the
book of life, but I will confess his name before my father. and
before his angels. So confessing what we are to
God is something a believer confesses. Confessing who Jesus Christ is
is something that every believer does. This is not a secret confession. What we have read already, with
the heart man believeth, and with the mouth confession is
made, and this confession is made before men. We're not ashamed
of Jesus Christ. We do this because we have heard
of him. Romans 10 says, verses 13 through
15, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. So God in time will send someone
to those he has chosen before the foundation of the world to
tell them of the one that they will confess. By the life and
faith given them, they will believe Jesus Christ and will confess
all these things in time. But there's one more thing that
a believer is brought to confess. And please turn with me to Mark
9. Mark 9. Beginning in verse 14. Mark 9
verses 14. And when he came to his disciples,
he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning
with them. And straightway all the people,
when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, saluted
him. And he asked the scribes, what
question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath
a dumb spirit. And wheresoever he taketh him,
he teareth him, and he foameth and gnashes with his teeth, and
pineth away. And I spake to thy disciples
that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answereth
him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto me. and they brought
him unto him. And when he saw him straightway,
the spirit tear him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, how
long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, of a child. And oftentimes it hath cast him
into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst
do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said
unto him, if thou canst believe all things are possible to him
that believeth. And straightway the father of
the child cried out. And this is what every believer
is brought to confess. Lord, I believe, help thou my
unbelief. Who do you confess? Mack, will
you lead us in prayer, please? Most gracious Heavenly Father,
Lord, we thank You for this day that Thou has given us to assemble
ourselves together. We thank Thee, Lord, for the
many blessings of life. We thank Thee most of all for
our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. We thank Thee, Lord,
for preparing a place where we can come together and hear the
truth of the Gospel, because there is so little of it preached
today. Heavenly Father, be with Lord
as He's standing before us. Joe, give them strength and teach
them the things that they need us to hear. These things we ask
in His name. Amen.