“EVERYONE THEREFORE WHO SHALL CONFESS ME BEFORE MEN, I WILL ALSO CONFESS HIM BEFORE MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. 33 BUT WHOEVER SHALL DENY ME BEFORE MEN, I WILL ALSO DENY HIM BEFORE MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN.”
When you take into consideration who is saying these words, you must consider them some of the most serious and solemn words ever spoken.
It is Jesus talking. The Lord and Creator of the universe. The One who spoke all things into existence.
He is the One who provided our salvation by the shedding of His own blood. He is the one to whom God the Father has given all authority in Heaven and on earth.
He is the one to whom God the Father said “sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
He is the one to whom God the Father has said “Thou art the same and Thy years will not come to an end.”
With all that in mind, consider that He has made a wonderful promise here, but also a very ominous warning.
First, the promise. “Everyone...who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before my Father...” Imagine that, if you can! You have left this world and are now standing before the throne of the Most High God. You are in a position to be judged, and the truths of your life will either usher you into eternal life in His presence; empowered and glorified; ruling and reigning with Christ without end, or, you will be cast from His presence eternally, to suffer in darkness, experiencing all the lusts and desires of life without a brief second of satisfaction, without end.
The angels are silent. Then, Jesus steps forward and says, “This is one of the ones You gave Me, Father. He turned from sin and placed his trust in Me for salvation. He freely confessed Me before men, telling them about Me so they might be saved, and living a life filled with Me and led by the Spirit so that his very actions confessed Me before all who witnessed. He is a faithful servant who has completed his task.”
Then, the warning. “...whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father...” You don’t even want to imagine that! But we must.
The angels are silent. Then, Jesus steps forward and says, with a sadness that only Divine Love can experience, “I never knew you. You heard of Me. You were taught of Me, but in order to follow your lusts and serve yourself you continued to deny me. When others told you about Me you joked or you outwardly rejected them; and by so doing, rejected Me. I called to you often, but you denied Me. Father, I do not know him.”
It will not be out of meanness or spite that Jesus denies anyone, but because He is truth and cannot deny Himself. What spectacular extremes we see here! The King of Glory will be our final and fairest judge; and that right He earned with the price of His own blood.
Will He confess you before His Father?
(Romans 10:9-11)
