Please follow my logic as I move to another illustration – There are tens of thousands of preachers, pastors, priests and ministers today, talking about some aspect of their religions. Out of those tens of thousands you can be sure that there are thousands of different opinions and faiths. And what is being expressed by each of them, comes out of their minds and hearts – their books and their faith. They are not creating their faith as they speak, they are stating what they already believe.
Take my message as an example. I sat meditating over our scripture for about half an hour before I jotted a few notes down on my paper. I started with five points, then I thought about this introduction, and finally more and more pieces of the sermon came together in my mind. And now the words that I’m sharing with you are flowing out of my faith, my meditations and my cogitations. I am not creating or feeding my faith or my theological position through this sermon. I am expressing my theology and my faith to you today.
After thirty years of Bible study and serving my Saviour, I am convinced that salvation from sin is by the sovereign grace of God. The forgiveness of sin, and the cleansing of sin are things which only God can do. And He does these things – in all of their various forms – purely out of His will. There is nothing that you and I can do to encourage, entice, bribe or force God to save us. We cannot demand God’s atonement, nor can we make ourselves so wretched that God must in pity reach down to help us. Our sin is so noxious, so despicable, so stinky, so putrid, so completely contrary to God, that nothing but grace can move God to save the very best of us.
So I reiterate – nothing that you have ever done, or could ever do, induced Christ to save you. Your faith didn’t make God sit up and take notice of you. Your sorrow or repentance didn’t save you or force God to save you. Your baptism, your church membership, your tithing or support of missions did not wash away your sin. None of those things, or anything else, made God redeemed your soul. The grace of God came before any of those other things.
Now, going back to my illustration, what came first, life or the feeding of that life through eating? What came first, my words or the ideas behind my words? What came first, confessing Christ before men, or the reason for that confession?
Our scripture today is closely related to another in Romans 10 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” There are thousands of misguided people who mistakenly think that Romans 10:13 says that by praying – by calling on, or confessing the name of Christ, they are saved from their sins. That mistaken faith should be destroyed by Paul’s next statement – “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed.” Sadly it is not destroyed as it should be. The believing must come first, or the calling means nothing. And before the faith, there must be the regenerating grace of God. Only the living person eats, thinks, calls, confesses or preaches.
With that in mind, I would like you to think about our Lord’s comments in verses 32 and 33. Remember that these words were given to the Lord’s Apostles in the context of prophesied persecution. Technically, we might say that the Lord’s meaning was limited to those people and those circumstances. But since there are a number of similar scriptures in different contexts, I find no difficulty in saying that these words apply all of us here this morning. “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.”
About what is the Lord talking? What is this Confession?
The original word which the Lord used here was “homologeo” (hom-ol-og-eh’-o). It is a compound word made up of “logos” (“word”) and another meaning “together.” You could say that “homologeo” (hom-ol-og-eh’-o) means “to speak in unison” – “to say together.” In the context of our scripture Christ said, “Whosoever shall identify with me before others, him will I publically identify before my Father which is in heaven.” And then to make His point perfectly plain, He reversed the thought – “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” The word “deny” in Greek means “reject,” “refuse,” “abnegate” and “disavow.” Can I legitimately say, “whosoever shall not publically identify with Christ, him will Christ reject before the Father which is in heaven”? Assuming that to be true, how many people here this morning will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, because they have not publically confessed Christ? I am not saying that by confessing Christ, people are saved from their sins, but people who are saved from their sins are willing to publically confess Christ.
Let me reemphasize the importance of this Greek word, by giving you some other verses where it is used. Reversing the order of our text, I John 2:23 says, ”Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth ‘homologeo’ (hom-ol-og-eh’-o) the Son hath the Father also.” Can we conclude that unless you have acknowledged the Son, you have no relationship to God? Does I John 4:2-3 say the same thing? “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” “Whosoever shall confess “homologeo” (hom-ol-og-eh’-o). that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” “Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.”
I have already made reference to Romans 10:9-10 – “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.” I’ve already suggested, but I want to stress the point once again – to “confess” is to verbally and honestly express a very special union or agreement. In another place the Lord Jesus used this same Greek word – “will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” John the Baptist “confessed (the truth), and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.” This word even goes on to a very special use in Hebrews 13:15 – “By (Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” “By (Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips thankfully confessing to his name.” Again what did the Lord say in Matthew 10? “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.”
Who are the people which should make this confession?
Again the immediate context suggests that it is the twelve disciples – the Apostles. But I think that we can say that anyone who would like to have their names united with the name of Christ in Heaven, should be willing to confess Him on earth. “Whosoever” is one of the most wonderful words in all the Bible. In and of itself, it doesn’t exclude anyone, depending on the context. “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”
Sadly, the negative side of whosoever is just as true as the positive side. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.” “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Obviously, not everyone will be inclined to confess Christ – particularly before a firing squad. But the promise of God is that everyone who does will have his name confessed in Heaven. Not everyone should be baptized, but those who say that they have been born again will make that very special confession.
And Who is it that we are to confess? Christ Jesus.
I spent a few moments on Thursday debating how to answer my question: “Who is it that we are to confess?” I decided on “Christ Jesus,” but Christ Himself actually said, “Whosoever shall confess ME before men.” Is that little difference silly on my part? No, because the “Christ Jesus” of the Mormons, for example, or the Christ of the Catholics, is not the Christ of the Bible. Christ Jesus said “Whosoever shall confess ME before men.”
There are a myriad of divisions within Christendom, and in many of them there are different opinions of Christ. The Mormons for example believe that Christ and the Devil are brothers – offspring of God the Father. But that is not the Christ of the Bible. The Catholics teach the virgin birth of Christ, but then they make His mother to be of equal or greater importance in salvation than the Saviour. That is not the Christ of the Bible. The Christ of the Jehovah’s Witnesses somehow denies all that the Christ of the Bible says about Hell and eternal judgment – they must be different Christs. The Muslims believe in a man named “Jesus Christ” but he is certainly not the Christ of the Bible. And then we come to the many varieties of liberal Christendom, who deny the deity of Christ or His miraculous abilities, or any of another dozen of things..
The meaning of Jesus’ words to His disciples was not much different than it is in the context of today. “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.” Are you willing to identify with Jesus Christ who is the eternal Son of God? Do you confess the Christ who was born of a virgin, as Isaiah, Matthew and Luke tell us? Do you identify with the Christ who raised the dead, healed hundreds, and fed thousands? Do you confess the Christ who died, was buried and rose again after seventy-two hours in the grave? Are you willing to identify with Christ the circumcised Jew? What if He was olive-skinned and hooked-nosed? “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.”
Where is the greatest benefit of this confession? In Heaven.
“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.” Remember that Christ was speaking to His disciples in the context of persecution. Remember, too, that I suggested a few weeks ago that we should expect the same sort of treatment that Jesus’ first disciples received. In one sense Christ came not to bring peace on earth; He came not to bring peace but a sword – trouble. It’s not here on earth, in the midst of pain, poverty and persecution where we want to be blessed. Our seventy, eighty, ninety or a hundred years in this world are only milliseconds compared to the billions and trillions of eons in eternity. Christ is the King of an eternal kingdom. It is called the “Kingdom of Christ” and the “Kingdom of Heaven.” That is where we should want our name to be uttered. That is the place where we want to be united with Christ.
But I return to where I began this message. Only those who are willing to confess Christ before men in this world, will have their names confessed eternally in Heaven. How many times, and under what circumstances have you denied Christ before men?
We have people here this morning, who want us to believe that they are children of God – Christians. But those same people have refused to confess Christ in baptism. In some ways I consider that to be the first and foremost way to confess the Lord. If someone will not endure that “shame” then we might assume that they would not endure the shame of a firing squad or hanging. Consider again the absolute seriousness of Jesus’ words – “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also 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.” Are you willing to confess Christ? Have you, and do you, often confess Christ?