If you turn back to Matthew chapter
10, Ida Isaacs is in Arizona with
her son who had heart surgery and he's in pretty difficult
condition right now, so remember them. And also Savannah came
home this week, wherever Janet is, so we're all awful happy
about that. I want to attempt to speak upon
the subject of confessing Christ. Confessing Christ. The inspiration of this message
came from me reading 1 John 1, verse 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Obviously,
if we do not confess our sins, we will not be forgiven. Now, what does it mean to confess
sin? That's what I was thinking about because I thought about
my confession. My confession of sin always seems so inadequate. and even insincere and filled
with excuses and self-justification, self-vindication. And I thought,
do I even know what it means to truly, before God, confess
my sin? That means the word confess means
to speak the same thing. It's important for us to understand
that. That's what the Greek word means
to speak the same thing. If I do confess my sin, I speak
the same thing God speaks concerning my personal sin. Now, the importance of this subject,
confessing, is seen in that it has something to do with what
happens to a sinner when God saves them. Listen to these scriptures. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You see, this has something to
do with salvation. For with the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. With the mouth, confession is
made unto salvation. You see, there is no salvation
apart from this thing of confession. What in the world does it mean?
I read that passage of scripture in Matthew chapter 10. The Lord
said, whosoever shall confess me before men. You know what I'm doing when
I confess him before men? I'm saying the same thing God
says concerning him. I am in agreement with God concerning
him. Whosoever shall confess me before
men. There's something public about
confession. A man doesn't believe any more than he will make a
public stand for. Whosoever shall confess me before
men, him. will I confess before my father,
which is in heaven. Don't you find in yourself a
longing to have him confess your name before the father? I want
to just keep my mouth shut and hear what he has to say. But
whosoever denies me before men, him will I deny. before my father,
which is in heaven. Now, somebody that he denies
before his father, that person certainly is not saved, are they?
I want to know something about what it is to confess him and
so to be saved. Now, turn with me to John chapter
12. I'm not saved by my confession.
I'm saved by Christ, and that's what I confess if I'm saved.
Look in John chapter 12, verse 42. Nevertheless, John 12, 42, nevertheless,
among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because
of the Pharisees, they did not confess him. lest they should
be put out of the synagogue. They would lose their position
if they confessed him. Four, they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God. Now, were these people saved?
Says they believed. Were they saved? Well, if they
were, there's certainly not much to salvation, is there? If they
were. And I can assure you that they
were not, because if you love the praise of men more than the
praise of God, you've never seen who he is, or you wouldn't love
the praise of men more than the praise of God. Now, if God saves
a man, he will confess Christ. And the reason he's going to
do it is because deeply in his heart, he believes. You see what comes out comes
from within. What you deeply believe, you
believe him. You will confess him. Now the Lord says, whosoever
will confess me, Before men, him will I confess before my
father, which is in heaven. Oh, I want that. But whosoever
denies me before men, him will I deny before my father, which
is in heaven. Now, do you remember when Peter
denied that he knew Christ and he went out and wept bitterly? And I know what was going on
at that time. He remembered the Lord saying these words, whoever
denies me before men, him will I deny before my father, which
is in heaven. And I'll guarantee he was scared
to death. He was thinking the Lord is going
to deny me. I've blown it. No hope for me. Now, Peter did not deny Christ. He denied he knew him. He chickened
out. He caved in through the fear
of man and said, I don't know the man. And he started cussing
and swearing, saying, I don't know him. Who in this room has not done
that? Let him first cast the stone
at Peter. Everybody in this room has been
guilty of what Peter did. in denying any connection with
Christ. But Peter did not deny Christ
himself. He did not deny that Jesus is
the Christ, the son of the living God, the Lord of the universe. At this time, he caves into peer
pressure. He was afraid for his life and he denied any connection
with him. He denied he knew him, but he
did not. deny that Jesus is the Christ,
the son of the living God. Now, whosoever will confess me. Now, when I confess him, I'm
confessing who he is. You see, Jesus Christ is the
gospel. And if I confess him, I'm confessing
who he is. Who he is is so beautifully illustrated
by that bush that burned with fire and could not be consumed
that Moses saw when the Lord made himself known to him. Now
that bush that burned with fire did not need the energy of the
wood to keep it going. It kept burning. And what that
speaks of is the independence of Jesus Christ. He has no needs.
What's that mean? It means he's God. Only God is
independent. He doesn't need certain things
to happen for His will to be done. He's absolutely sovereign. He's holy. He's all-powerful. He's all-wise. He has no needs. Jesus Christ has no needs. He doesn't have to have something
to happen for Him to make Him happy. He is God over all, blessed
forever. And that would could not be consumed
by that fire. That's speaking of the perfect
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God manifest in the flesh. And when Paul says in 1 Timothy
3.16, great is the mystery of godliness, without controversy,
that's the only time that word is used in the New Testament.
And it's literally confessedly. This is something you confess.
Confessedly, God manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God.
He's your Lord. He's in control of everything.
He's the Lord of glory. He's the creator of the universe.
You are in his hands and what's going to happen to me, what's
going to happen to you is totally up to him. He's God. He's the perfect man. If you're
saved, it'll be because of his manhood. He is the God-man, Christ
Jesus, the Lord. Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. Turn with me to 1 John 4. First John chapter four, verse
one. Beloved. Beloved. Believe not every spirit. And that's talking about preachers.
It's exactly what that's talking about, preachers. Believe not
every man that claims to be a spokesman for God, but try the spirits,
test them. Whether they're of God, because
many false prophets are gone out into the world, Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth. There's the
word. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is not of God. This is that spirit of antichrist.
Where have you heard that it should come and even now already
it's in the world. Now, confessing has something
public about it. And what do they confess? That
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Now, when you make that
confession, you confess that He was, before He came, the eternal
Son of God. and that he came in the flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And he did what he came to do. Matthew 121 says, thou shalt
call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. That's exactly what he did. He
accomplished salvation. Now that's what you're confessing.
And you're identifying with this message and no other message.
I mean, if you're here because you believe this message, you're
confessing this publicly right now. This is the gospel I believe.
This is what I want to be identified with. He was before he came,
the eternal son of God. He came in the flesh. The word
was made flesh and he did what he came to do. When he said it
is finished, all the elect were saved. Everybody he died for
was saved completely. That's our confession. He said in Revelation 22, 13,
I love this. He said, I am the alpha and omega.
That's the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
That means everything spells me. Everything spells me. I'm the cause of all things.
And then he said next in Revelation 22, 13, that I am the beginning
and the end. You know what that means? He's
the cause of everything. And he's the purpose of everything.
You believe that? He's the cause of everything,
the first cause. He's the end, the purpose for everything. I'm
the first and the last. Now, when we confess him, we
confess what God says concerning him. He is all in salvation. And we say, amen. We confess
that to all that God requires of us. He looks to his son for
all that God requires of us. We look to his son for, we confess
him. Turn to Romans chapter 10. I've
already quoted this, but I want you to see it. Verse nine. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth. Now here's a public confession
that's articulated. And what is it? The Lord Jesus. You believe Jesus Christ to be
Lord dictator. the absolute sovereign of the
universe, the blessed and only potentate, the Lord of Lords,
the King of Kings. You believe he's the Lord. You
believe he rules. He doesn't want to rule, he does
rule. He's in absolute control of everybody
and everything, doing whatever he pleases. You confess he's
the Lord, and it's because you believe in your heart. What you
confess with your mouth is what you believe in your heart. Somebody
says, I hope that their heart is better than what they say.
Let me assure you, it's not. It's not. You confess with your
mouth what you believe in your heart. And with the mouth, confession
is made to salvation. With the heart though, man believeth
under righteousness. Now you know where it says you
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead? Here's
what that means you believe in your heart. You believe that
his resurrection from the dead is where your personal righteousness
comes from. You really believe that. You
believe in your heart that the only reason you're counted righteous
before God is because he was raised from the dead, all your
sins were paid for, they were all put away, and his righteousness
becomes your personal righteousness before God. And you believe that,
you'll confess it. You most surely will. Turn with
me to 1 John 1. Like I said, this is what inspired
this message. 1 John 1. Verse nine begins with an if.
If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now this verse cannot be understood
apart from verses eight and 10. Verse eight says, if we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. At all times, I have a sinful
nature. at all times. And for me in any
way to deny this is to deceive myself and lose all credibility. The truth is not in me. Look in verse 10. If we say we've
not sinned at any time while I'm preaching, while I'm praying,
while I'm reading the Bible, If we say we've not sinned, you
see, I've got this sinful nature that makes everything I do the
commission of sin. If we say we've not sinned, we
make him a liar because he says we have, and we're denying what
he says, and his word is not in us. If we confess our sins, Does
that mean to confess each one of them individually? And if
I fail to do so and leave them out, I will not be forgiven.
Is that what that means? Well, if that is what it means,
then you won't be saved. For several reasons. Number one,
that means we're going to have to confess each individual thought,
each individual action. And there's not enough time in
the day to do that. You'd be continually nonstop
confessing your sin. Whereas really we should be continually
nonstop confessing our sin, but that's not what it means to confess
each individual sin. And as far as confession go,
the way I've introduced this message, my confession is inadequate. When I confess my sin, I've got
something going on in my mind that lets me know you're not
sincere enough, you're not sorry enough, you're still vindicating
yourself, you make up excuses for yourself. Your confession
is no good. As a matter of fact, my confession
of sin itself is evil enough to send me to hell for. Do you
believe that about your confession? My confession is no good. What's it mean to confess your
sin? Turn with me to Psalm 38. And one of the things I love
about the King James Version is it talks about being justified
by the faith of Christ. Not by faith in Christ, but by
the faith of Christ. Somebody had to believe God perfectly. Of course not. Our prayer is
continually, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Somebody,
Jesus Christ did, and I am relying on his faith. Well, don't you
have to have faith? Yeah, I'm relying on his. I'm
relying on his. All God requires of me he looks
to his son for. That's what I'm relying on. Now
look here in Psalm 38. These are David's words, I realize,
but primarily they're the words of Christ from the cross. Psalm
38, verse 18. For I will declare, that word
is confess. I will confess mine iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin. This is how truly that my sin
became his sin. He confessed it as his own. And He was sorry for it. The only one who has ever been
truly sorry over sin. The only one who has ever confessed
sin as it should be confessed. Now, I'm scared even talking
like that, but I know it's the truth. This is the Son of God
speaking from the cross in Psalm 38. You read the whole psalm,
you see it's obviously Him. Yes, it's David. Yes, it's David
saying, I will confess my iniquity and I will be sorry for my sin.
But as I said, my confession, there's so many holes in it.
My sorrow, I'll forget it quick enough. And God requires a true
confession. God requires true sorrow. Just as I look to the faith of
Christ, I look to the confession of Christ. I look to the sorrow
of Christ. He's the only one who knew, really
knew what sin was. Me and you don't really know.
We're used to it. It doesn't bother us. We're hardened
and desensitized. We don't really understand. He
does. I will confess. And here's my
confession. I'm looking to his confession.
To confess means to speak the same thing. I'm speaking the
same thing God does about my sin. I agree with what God says.
I take sides with the Lord against myself. Now that's what it is
to confess sin. And look at this continuation
of this verse. I think this is so glorious.
If we confess our sin, take sides with God against ourself, look
to his confession. He is faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins. Faithful to do what he determined
to do before time began. You see, he determined the complete
forgiveness of my sins in the covenant of grace as the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And he's only doing
what he determined before to be done. Not only is he faithful
to forgive my sins, he's, what's the next word? Just. We would say gracious and merciful
and that would be true, but that's not what the Bible says. It says
he's faithful and he's just. The very justice of God demands
the complete forgiveness of everybody Christ died for. Isn't that glorious? If we confess our sins. He is
faithful and just. to forgive us of our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Turn to Acts 24. This is Paul defending himself
before Ananias And he says, beginning in verse 11, because that thou
mayest understand that there are yet but 12 days since I went
up to Jerusalem for worship, and they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people,
neither in the synagogue nor in the city. They're making all
these accusations against me. I deny them. They're not so,
neither can they prove the things wherever they now accuse me,
but this I confess. unto thee. I plead guilty. This I confess unto thee, that
after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God
of my fathers, believing all things which were written in
the law and in the prophets, the way which they call heresy. Now, Christ is the way. There is no other way. The only
way I can get to the Father is if I'm in Him. The only peace
I have is that He is my peace before God. He is the way of
righteousness. His righteousness is the only
righteousness. Now somebody says, that's heretical.
That's not leaving anybody any room for obedience and seeking
to be holy and so on, while you're just saying, you're just excluding
all that. Well, after the way which they
call heresy. So worship I, the God of my fathers, believing
all things that are written. This is the religion of this
book. And we believe all things that are written. We confess. Turn to Matthew chapter three.
I'm going to give three more real briefly. Verse five, then went out to
him Jerusalem and all Judea at the preaching of John the Baptist
and all the region round about Jordan and were baptized of him
in Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, does that mean that somebody
stood before the Jordan and before they went in to be baptized,
they started enumerating their sins to everybody? Well, I've
been guilty of this sin, I've been guilty of this sin, I've
been guilty of this sin, and started naming their sins. No. As far as that goes, that kind
of stuff is weird. I mean, it's just weird people
getting up and trying to do this. Don't do that. Don't do that. That's that's wrong. There's
nothing. It's weird. There's nothing good about it.
Don't do that. What they were confessing. Is
I personally am so sinful. that the only way I can be saved
is by what baptism depicts. That when Christ kept the law,
I was in Him and I kept the law. I could not keep the law in any
way but Him keeping it for me and me being united to Him. When Christ died, and this is
what baptism depicts, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
When Christ died, that is the only way my sins could be paid
for. I was in Him. I died when Christ
died. That's how my sins are paid for.
And the only way I'm so sinful in and of myself that the only
way I can stand just before God is if when Christ was raised
from the dead, I was raised with Him, and the Father was well
pleased with Him, and He's well pleased with me. I am so sinful. That's what that is talking about.
I'm so sinful. The only way I can be saved is
by the gospel. If it's by my works in any way, there's no
hope for me. Here is my public confession. I'm confessing to
all men when I'm baptized. that this is my salvation. I'm so sinful, I cannot be saved
any other way. Now turn to James chapter five. Verse 16. Confess your faults one to another
and pray one for another that you may be healed. Confess your
faults. Now, this is very similar to
the one before this. Does that mean I'm supposed to
confess my individual sins to you? No. What that means is I confess
before you I'm so faulty so sinful that I don't have any reason
to sit in judgment on you for anything. And whenever you and
I are critical and judgmental toward other people, we are practicing
grotesque hypocrisy. Amen? That's true with regard
to all of us. I am confessing And you know,
that's how people get along, humility. Whenever you become
proud and self-righteous and arrogant, looking down your nose
at people, that's where the problems begin. And anytime we sit in
criticism and judgment of somebody, it's hypocrisy. It's hypocrisy. Confess your faults one to another. Don't claim to be what you're
not. Titus chapter one. Titus chapter 1 verse 15. Unto the pure all things are
pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing
pure. But even their mind and conscience
is defiled. They profess, and that's the
word confess. It said profess here, but it's
the same word. They confess that they know God. They tell everybody they know
God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient
and unto every good work reprobate. Now do you remember in Revelation
14, 13 when the Lord said, blessed are the dead that die in the
Lord? You remember that. What does
he say at the end of that verse? It says they shall have rest
from their labors and their works do follow them. Their works do follow them. Now this is true of every dead
believer that dies in the Lord, their works do follow them. Now, what does that mean? Well,
they don't come out in front as the cause of their salvation
in any way. They don't walk along beside
as evidence of salvation. If you can look at anything about
your life and say, well, I must be saved because I, as Antichrist, but their works
do follow them. Now what does that mean? I'm
looking at some people that I see evidence in their life that they
know Christ. You might not get assurance of
your salvation from that, but I'm looking at people who give
evidence that they know the Lord. The evidence is in their life.
And if somebody lives in such a way as denies any possibility
of them being saved, there's a reason. They're not saved.
Your works follow you. They give evidence, I mean, they
give evidence that the Lord has done something for you. Somebody
that, and I want to say this, I want to say this carefully,
but somebody that lives like hell, they're going to hell. That's just all
there is to it. Somebody that lives like hell,
they're going to hell. Now, is somebody saved because
of the way they live? No! They're saved because of
what Christ did for them. and they don't derive assurance
from their works, but with regard to everybody that's saved. They want to hear the gospel.
Somebody that doesn't want to hear the gospel, well, what's
that say about them? Somebody that doesn't believe
Christ, what's that say about them? The fact of the matter is, you
confessed Christ by your life. And these people didn't. Now, I want to confess him, don't
you? I want Him to confess my name before the Father. I want
to confess Him before men. I want to confess Him with my
mouth. I want to confess Him by baptism. I want to confess Him by confessing
my faultiness before all other people, not being able to sit
in judgment over anybody. And I want to confess him by
my life where it's going to be obvious to people. I do love
Christ. He is my all in all. May the Lord enable us to confess
Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would take your word and bless it for your glory according
to your will to each one of us for Christ's sake. We ask that you would meet with
us tonight once again. and bless us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray.