All right, turn back to Matthew
10 for a few moments. Let me read this couple of verses
again, so they'll be fresh on your mind when I ask a question. Our Lord said in Matthew 10,
verse 32, shall confess me before men,
before this world. Him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me,
refuse to confess me before men. Him will I also deny before my
Father which is in heaven. What is it to confess Christ? To confess Christ. What is it
to confess Christ? Well, it begins right here. It
begins right here. With a heart man believeth unto
salvation. Unto righteousness. With the
mouth confession made to salvation. But you can't confess with your
mouth what you don't believe in your heart. This is where
it starts. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart, God raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But the heart believes,
the mouth confesses. As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he. So here's where it starts. To
confess Christ is to believe God. It's not to believe there
is a God. It's not even to believe in God.
It's to believe God. Now turn with me to Genesis 15,
just a moment. Genesis chapter 15. It's to believe
God. Abraham is held up before us
as our example of faith. He's called the father of believers.
And so we look back here to Genesis 15, verse 5 and 6. Verse 4, 5,
and 6. And here is Abraham and God. No one else, no revival meeting,
no preacher, no witnesses, just God and Abraham. God and Abraham. The man whom God called my friend.
Abraham is alone with God. And the Lord God in Genesis 15
verse 4 says, And behold, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham,
saying, This shall not be thine heir, not your servant, Eliezer,
but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels, you're
a hundred years old, your wife's ninety, but you're going to have
a son, Isaac, he'll be your heir. And God brought him forth abroad
and said, look now toward the heavens, look now toward heaven, tell
the stars if thou be able to number them. He said to him,
so shall thy seed be. And he, Abraham, He believed
God. He believed God. He believed
God's Word. He believed what God said. He
believed God. When God spoke, he believed Him.
He believed Him. So, to confess Christ, first
of all, is to believe Him. To believe His Word. Now turn
over to Romans chapter 4, and it talks about Abraham here.
He believed God and he believed his word. And in Romans chapter
4, it says in verse 20, he staggered not at the promise of God. What
a promise! Here stands an old man with an
old wife, past the age of having children, with no seed, no family. And God said, You're going to
have a son out of your own bowels will come forth an heir and from
Sarah. And Abraham believed God. He
believed Him. He believed His word. And he
didn't stagger at the awesomeness of the promise, the greatness
of the promise when God promises us the forgiveness of sins. All
sins. The blood of Christ cleanses
us from all sins. That's awesome. But that's what
God said. That we have before Him acceptance. That we are holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in Christ, that's awesome, but it's God's work.
That heaven awaits us, resurrection and glory, to be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ, that's awesome. There's no strength
or power within us to produce such a grand and glorious accomplishment, and yet, God's
work. And Abraham didn't stagger through
unbelief, but listen, verse 20, he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. You give glory to God when you
believe God. Believe him, believe his word, and being fully persuaded
that what God had promised. And where are the promises of
God? In Christ. All the promises of God are in
Christ. Yes, yes, so be it. Amen. He didn't stagger. He was fully
confident, persuaded that what God said, God was able, able,
able to perform. Able. Therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. He believed God. He believed
his word. And he believed Christ. All of this is in the Redeemer.
It can't be accomplished without the Redeemer. It can't be accomplished
except through the Redeemer. It can't be ours except in the
Redeemer. There's a lot to be honored.
There's justice to be satisfied. There's a debt to be paid. There's
God's wrath to be appeased. There's holiness to be worked
out. And it has to be a Redeemer. Abraham believed God. He believed
God's Word. He believed God was able to do
what he said. And he believed the one in whom God would do
it, and through whom God would do it. Because our Lord said,
Abraham rejoiced to see my day. My day, the day of the Messiah,
the day of Christ, the day of the Redeemer, the day of incarnation,
the day of God's visitation to this earth and human flesh. Abraham
saw that day. He rejoiced to see it. And he
was the first man in the Bible, recorded in the Bible, to mention
the Lamb. That's right. We have the law
of first mention. I know there were lambs slain
and sacrifices offered, but Abraham is the first person recorded
to say something about using the word, lamb, the Lamb of God. He and Isaac, God had told him
to take Isaac up to the mountain and sacrifice him. And Abraham
told the young men, that went with he and Isaac on that three-day
journey to the mountain, Mount Moriah. He said, you all wait
down here with the burros. And the lad and I are going up
to worship God. We're going up to worship God.
We're going up to call on the name of God. We're going up to
come into the presence of God. And he took the wood and put
it on the back of Isaac and the fire He started up the mountain. And Isaac turned to him and said,
my father, we're going up to worship God.
Where's the lamb? There's no worshiping God or
coming to God or being received of God without a sacrifice, a
lamb, the blood. And that's when Abraham said,
Isaac said, where's the lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God. will provide Himself the Lamb. God will provide the Lamb up
here. And God will provide the Lamb
on the Calvary's cross. And God will provide Himself. He'll be the Lamb. And God will
provide Himself the Lamb as a sacrifice to Himself. It's all in Him. That's Christ, my boy! That's
what he said. That's Christ. And Lamb, the
Lamb of God all the way through the Bible, means the same thing
that Abraham labeled it right there. God will provide himself
the Lamb. That's what this Confess Christ
starts right here. Right here. And then secondly,
to confess Christ is to be identified with his gospel, with his people.
That's what we've been reading about here in Matthew 10, to
be identified with Christ and his people. People who profess
him, people who love him. It's to walk with his people.
It's like Ruth said to Naomi, treat me not to leave thee. Thy
people be my people, thy God my God. Where you live, I live. Where you die, I die. Where you're
buried, that's where I'll be buried. I want to be identified
with you. You're God. And you're people. That's God's people. And that's
what Paul said to young Timothy over in 2 Timothy. In 2 Timothy
chapter 1, Paul said to young Timothy, and this is what our
Lord said over there when he was reading Matthew 10 a moment
ago, about being ashamed of him. He says in 2 Timothy 1 verse
8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the gospel of the Lord. Don't
be ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
Now this whole world, this world hates the gospel of Christ. That's
what causes the division. It's not us they hate, it's our
gospel. And because they hate our gospel,
they hate you. People had no reason to hate
Christ. He went about doing good. Healed
the sick, fed the hungry, raised the dead. Went about doing good. But it's what He said. I and
my Father are one. Destroy this temple and in three
days I'll raise it up. I'm the bread. of life. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath life. He that believeth not on me shall
not see life." Oh, I'm the Redeemer. I'm the Messiah. I'm the Savior.
Salvation is through my blood. That's what they hated. Hated
that gospel. And Paul says to young Timothy,
don't be ashamed of the gospel. Listen, don't be ashamed of me,
his prisoner. Here I am in prison. Don't be
ashamed to be identified with God's people. with God, with
his gospel, with his word, with his people, with his servants,
with his preachers, with those who are being persecuted. Look
at verse 12, 2 Timothy 1, for the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed.
I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded He is able to keep
that which I've committed to Him, my soul, my redemption,
my all against that day. There's a tendency when we're
around highly educated people, powerful
politically, powerful people, important folks, religious folks,
we're intimidated. perhaps, and we are a little
careful about coming out and saying what we believe, whom
we believe. But don't be ashamed of the gospel.
Don't be ashamed of those who preach the gospel. Then he said in verse 16 of this
same chapter, 2 Timothy 1, The Lord give mercy to the house
of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and he won the shame
of my chains." This man, Onesiphorus, Paul was a disciple of Christ,
an apostle of Christ, a preacher of this glorious gospel of God
the great. And here was this man, Onesiphorus.
I don't know who he was. But Paul said, I'll tell you
this, he won the shame of me, and he won the shame of my gospel,
and he won the shame of my He identified himself with me. Identified
himself. And that's what Paul said over
here in 1 Thessalonians. Let's turn over there and look
at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. He gives the mark of the elect. You know, I said, first of all,
to confess Christ is to believe Christ in the heart. And then
to confess Christ by being identified with the people of Christ. In
1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4, Paul said, listen, 1 Thessalonians
1, Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God, for our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power, in the Holy
Ghost, in much assurance, in heart, in life-changing power. As you know what manner of men
we were among you. And you became followers of us
and the Lord. You weren't ashamed of us. You
became one of us. You became a follower. That's
the very next thing. Having received the Word in much
affliction. You want a part in the afflictions
of the Gospel. If this man is going to take
heat for believing the Gospel, I won't take the same heat. If
you're going to despise him, you despise me too. If you're going to despise God's
servant and what he preaches and my pastor, you despise me
too. That's what he's talking about. You became followers of us and
the Lord. And you took part in the afflictions of the gospel.
Don't curse my Lord and brag on me. Because we're one. That's to confess Christ. And
then thirdly, to confess Christ is to walk with Christ in obedience
and integrity. Honest in integrity, in a godly
walk in this world, wherever you are. Let it be known, you're
a son of the King, a daughter of the King. 1 John, let's turn
to 1 John chapter 1. You know, somebody said one time,
a man may be an honest man, not be a believer. But a man can't
be a believer and not be an honest man. There are plenty of honest
men, you know, outwardly honest, they're reliable, their word
is their bond. They brag about that, my word
is my bond. That's the way it ought to be. But there are a lot of men like
that that aren't believers in Christ. But there are no believers
in Christ that are not honorable, honest, and truthful. They just
are. Because if any man is in Christ,
he's a new creature. 1 John 1, verse 6. Listen. If we say we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. That's fellowship
with Christ. Fellowship with the Father and
the Son. And the blood of God's Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 2, verse 4, listen. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments. Well, he's a liar. Truth's not
in him. But whoso keepeth his word in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know that we
are in him. He that saith he abideth in him
ought himself also to walk as he walked." A man may be an honest and truthful
man and not be a believer, but a man cannot be a believer and treat people miserably. He
can't do it. He is honest, he is truthful,
God's made a change in his attitude and heart and walk. And then
to confess Christ, it's to confess Christ in here, in heart, spirit
and soul first. And then it's to confess Christ
by identifying with the things of Christ. And then it's to confess
Christ by walking as Enoch walked with God, to walk with God. To confess Christ is to continue
to confess Him. Did you notice that verse 22
back there in Matthew 10? He that endureth, he said verse
22, and you shall be hated of all men for my sake. But he that
endureth to the end, end of what? End of this life shall be saved. And over in Colossians 1, listen
to this, Colossians 1, and we've experienced people making professions
and joining the church and claiming to believe the gospel. We've
experienced people even preaching the gospel. And now they not only don't preach
it, they don't even worship God. They don't even identify with
the people of God. They don't even go to the house
of God on the Lord's Day. Well, such are not confessing
Christ. It says here in Colossians 1
verse 21, And you that were one time alienated, enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body
of his flesh through death to present you. He's going to present
you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight. If you continue
in the faith, if you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled and be not moved away for any reason, whatever
the reason. Somebody came along that looked
better than Jesus, I guess. Something came along that was
better than life, I guess. Someone came along, or something
came along, an opportunity came along that was more important
than knowing Him. That can't be, because there's
no one as important as He, no one more beloved. My beloved
is altogether lovely. What's your beloved more than
any other beloved? Well, if you've got a year and
a half, I'll tell you. Or a lifetime, I'll try to tell you. Me be drawn
away, away from Christ, His people, His gospel? Walk out here in this world without
hope, without God, without Christ, without peace, without rest,
without joy? God help us, how could that be
so? Having tasted the Word of Life. Having walked with Him, leaving? It's impossible. It's impossible. It can't be done. That's where
John explained it. He said, I tell you why they
left. They never were of us. I tell you why they don't confess
Him now. They never did confess Him. I tell you why they don't
worship Him now. They never did worship Him. I
tell you why they don't... I tell you why they don't preach
the gospel now, they never did. He said they went out from us.
That it might be clear that they never were of us. Because if
they had been of us, and of Him, and in Him, they'd have never
departed. Impossible. And then fifthly,
what is it to confess Christ? It's to confess Christ in baptism. You see, this is the way the
believers in the New Testament confessed Christ. They followed
the Lord in baptism. I have searched in vain through
the Word, and I can't find any scriptures that indicates that
anyone ever came to the front of a building to confess Christ. I can't find
anywhere that anyone came to a designated altar to seek the
Lord, find God. I can't find anywhere in any
of these glorious revivals under the apostles preaching where
they call for the raising of people's hands. Nor did I see
in this Word anywhere them giving someone the sinner's prayer. I'm preaching on the sinner's
prayer tonight, but nobody told him what to say. That was spontaneous. That came out of the depths of
our crowd under the, oh God, be merciful. I can't find anywhere anyone
signing a card or going before a board of elders or going to
an inquiry room, but I find people confessing Christ in baptism.
Turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, listen. Here's
when Peter preached the gospel of Christ at Pentecost. And the feature of Pentecost
was not the wind or the tongues. It was the gospel of Christ.
The glorious good news that God had made this same Jesus whom
you crucified to be Lord in Christ. And when they heard this, They
said, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said,
verse 38, repent and be baptized. And down in verse 41, then, when
they heard, when they believed, then they that gladly received
His Word were baptized. See that? Acts chapter 8, turn over there
a minute. And I could go all the way through the book of Acts
I'm not going to take the time to do that. You know this is
true. Acts 8 verse 12. Acts 8 verse 12. But when they
believed, this is so important that we get this in its proper
order. When they believed Philip, what was Philip doing? Preaching
the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ.
They were baptized, both men and women. And in Acts 16, Lydia was baptized,
a Philippian jailer. Well, this is the way that New
Testament believers confess Christ's baptism. And let me tell you
this, only believers were baptized. Did you notice, then they that
received his word, believed his word, were baptized. And those
who heard Philip preach the gospel of the kingdom of God and the
things of Christ, they were baptized. The Bible doesn't teach adult
baptism. It teaches believer's baptism.
There's no age set. Well, brother man, how old should
a person be? Old enough to answer this question
for himself. And an infant can't answer it.
Old enough to answer this question. I preached on it recently. The
eunuch. Seeking the Lord, riding along in the chariot, reading
Isaiah, reading essential things about the Messiah. Philip got
up, sent by God, preached Christ to him, preached the gospel to
him. How long they rode, I don't know. But he preached the gospel. And then they came to a body
of water, and the eunuch said to Philip, having heard the word,
having believed the word, having heard of Christ and believed
Christ, he said, here's water. Why can't I be baptized? Here's what, may I be baptized?
Philip said, you may. If you believe with all your
heart. You believe this God, you believe
God, you believe His Word, you believe Christ. Abraham believed
God, he believed His Word, he believed Christ. You believe
these things, you may. Do you? Can you answer that question? He answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Philip said, stop this
charity. Well, how are believers baptized?
They are baptized as our Lord was baptized. Turn to Matthew
3. They are baptized as our Lord
was baptized. Here is the scripture. Matthew
3, verse 13, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John,
to be baptized of him. Matthew 3, verse 13, John forbade
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, comest thou
to me? And our Lord answering said, Suffer it to be so now,
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Our Lord was
circumcised to fulfill all righteousness. Our Lord went to the synagogue
on the Sabbath day to fulfill all righteousness. Our Lord did
everything the Jews required, God required of the Jews throughout
the whole Old Testament to fulfill all righteousness. And here our
Lord comes to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He's
representing us. He does what God has commanded. Then He suffered him. Now watch.
And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water. And lo, the Spirit of God descended
like a dove and lighting upon him. How was he baptized? In
a river, by immersion, came up out of the water. How was the
eunuch baptized? Well, look at John 3. Turn to John 3. How did John
the Baptist baptize people? John chapter 3, verse 23. Look
at this scripture. John 3, 23. And John was baptizing
in Enam. John 3.23, near to Salem. Why was he baptizing there? Because
there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
You need much water for a baptismal service. This won't do. A fountain
won't do. You need much water. That's the
reason John hunted a river. Baptism is a burial. How was the eunuch baptized?
Well, you know, you heard me preach from this. And they both,
Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water. And he baptized
him. And when they came up out of
the water, Philip was taken away. Turn to Romans 6. Baptism. Here's what it is. Romans 6. This will give you a lot of understanding,
a lot of light. It's a baptism. A burial. Death, burial, and resurrection.
Romans 6. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? Romans 6.1. God forbid. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many as us
were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto his death?
He died. He was buried. Therefore we are
buried with him by baptism unto death. in the dead, that like
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life. For we've been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be
in the likeness of his resurrection. That's what baptism is. And when
people who confess Christ or baptized. They're saying, when
he died, I died. When he was buried in a tomb
on a rock, a stone rolled over it, buried. And one day the stone
rolled away and he came out glorified. I died. And here I'm showing
with him, I was buried. And I'm rising to walk in newness
of life. I belong to Christ. The old man's
dead. Put away. Buried. See, this is what the Pharisees
had trouble with. Let me show you this, and I'll
quit. In Luke chapter 7, this is the reason John's baptism
gave them fits. It's a baptism of repentance.
Baptism, we're saying in baptism, I'm a sinner, I deserve to die.
Christ died. He took my judgment. I deserve
to be buried out of sight, put away. and be raised to walk with
Christ in newness of life. This old sinner is not fit to
live. We need a new creature. That's what I'm confessing. Well,
that's what John's baptism was. In Luke 7, verse 29, and all
the people that heard John, publicans, publicans justified God. Justified God? Yeah, they said,
God, what you say about us is true. Your condemnation of us
is true. We justify you. When you speak,
you're right. Being baptized with the baptism
of John. But the Pharisees, the religious
people, the lawyers, what were they rejecting? They rejected
the counsel of God against themselves. They said, we're not sinners.
We be not born of fornication. We're not subject to death. No. We reject that. And so they
would not be baptized with John. That's what baptism is. His death
was under the judgment of God for my sin. And that's what baptism
represents. His resurrection is our resurrection.
I'm crucified with Christ, buried with Christ. Nevertheless, I
live, risen with Christ. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. And this is serious. Confessing
Christ in baptism is saying to this whole world that I belong
to Him. I'm His. I confess Him in here,
my mouth, my walk, my association, my identification. I belong to
Him. You ever been to a restaurant
under new management? We're under new management. Got a new owner. Belong to Him.