Confess Christ!
Chuck Sligh
May 5, 2019
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.
TEXT: Matthew 10:32-33 – “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
INTRODUCTION
SHOW VIDEO: Where Does Your Boldness End?
Let me begin today by asking you a question: If you were arrested on suspicion of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? The only way anybody can know that you’re a Christian is if you confess Christ. If you did that, when an investigator asked your friends and co-workers, “Did Mr. So-and-So ever indicate that he was a Christian?” they would say, “Oh yeah, we KNEW he was a Christian because he was open about it.”
The title of my message today is “Confess Christ!” Every person who comes face to face with Christ must do one of two things about Him—either CONFESS Him or DENY Him—There’s really no neutral ground. You might tell me, “Well, Pastor, I don’t confess Him, but I don’t deny Him either.” That’s impossible, for Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 – “He that is not with me is against me…”
God wants every believer to openly confess Christ before others. What does it mean to confess Him before others?—To confess Christ means to identify yourself with Jesus Christ by openly acknowledging him by life and lip. (REPEAT)
I want to talk about that today. I want to talk to you about three reasons you should confess Christ, three reasons people may not confess Christ and some practical ways you can confess Christ.
I. FIRST, YOU SHOULD CONFESS CHRIST BECAUSE THE BIBLE ASSUMES IT AS A NATURAL RESULT OF TRUE FAITH.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 107:2 – “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed…”
The most natural evidence of a genuine conversion to Christ is a willingness to confess Christ as your Lord and Savior. It’s something you will do naturally, joyfully, gladly, if Christ is in your life and if you are still in love with Jesus. Nowhere does the Bible sanction a secret and silent believer.
In John 9 is the story of the man born blind whom Jesus healed. When he returned able to see, people naturally asked him how he could see. He didn’t say, “Well, now that’s private. I keep those things to myself.” He didn’t say, “I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings or offend anybody, so I’ll have no further comment about that.”
How could he keep quiet about such a wonderful miracle? His real response is recorded in verse 11: “He answered and said, A man… called JESUS made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash’: and I went and washed, and I received sight.” (John 9:11)
Well, the Pharisees were upset over this miracle because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, so they set up court to gather evidence (and they did this on the Sabbath, I might add!). First, they hauled in this man’s parents and said, “If this is your son who was born blind, how in the world is he now able to see?” Trying to stay out of trouble, they said, “He’s of age; ask him yourself.”
So, they called him in and said, “Give God praise, because we know this man, Jesus, is a sinner.” I love his answer because he wasn’t afraid to call confess Christ. He said in verse 25 – “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” His theology on Christ’s divinity wasn’t nailed down yet, but one thing’s for sure: he confessed Christ openly and without hesitation—just like you and I should!
II. THE SECOND REASON YOU SHOULD CONFESS CHRIST IS THAT IT IS GOD’S ORDAINED MEANS OF REACHING THE UNSAVED WITH THE GOSPEL.
The spread of the Gospel depends upon you and me continually confessing Christ. This has been Christ’s plan from the dawn of Christianity.
The world—even many of your friends and loved ones—would tell you to just keep your religion to yourself; it’s a private thing; hide it in the privacy of your own home—but don’t take it to the market place; don’t go seeking converts—let them come to you—“Don’t call us; we’ll call you” idea. Well, why don’t we listen to what JESUS said?...
• In Jesus’s Parable of the Great Supper, when the original invited guests would not come to the supper, the lord said to his servant: “…Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [persuade] them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23), a parable Jesus told to illustrate our witness.
• Later Jesus commanded, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations [make disciples in all nations], baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19)
• He said before His ascension, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
We ought to confess Christ to others so that they can hear the truth of salvation and believe in Christ.
Illus. – My dad was great at this. He’d get on an elevator and ask people coming in after him: “Goin’ up or down?” and when they’d tell him, he’d say, “No, I mean when you die” and right there, he’d confess Christ and witness. He’d pick up hitchhikers and once he was speeding too fast to get out, he’d say, “Where ya’ goin’?” and when they’d tell him, he’d say, “No, I mean when you die” and then he’d confess Christ and share Christ with them.
It’s through people who openly confess Christ before others that the Gospel spreads. Now your style may not be just like that, but everyone should stand and be counted when called upon to confess your Lord!
III. THE THIRD REASON YOU SHOULD CONFESS CHRIST BECAUSE OF HIS EXAMPLE.
1 Peter 2:21 says, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps”
Remember, every aspect of the cross was ordained by God. When Jesus died for us, He died OPENLY—not in secret. He was not ashamed of His act for us. It was as public an act conceivable!
He suffered on the cross for us—for ALL to see.
If you’re ever fearful to confess your Lord openly, just get a fresh glimpse of Golgotha—that should wipe away your hesitancy! Just get a view of Christ on the cross—humiliated and shamed before a crowd of onlookers, an event recorded in the four Gospels to be read by generations of people down through history. If He could confess us before millions throughout history, surely we can to confess Him to the small circle of influence we have.
APPLICATION
So, there you have three biblical reasons you should confess Christ. In a minute I’m going to share some practical ways we can confess Christ, but first I want you to consider why you might draw away from confessing Christ.
I can think of three reasons people don’t confess Christ:
1) First, because they have nothing to confess.
You may call yourself a Christian, but not be truly born again. It’s hard to stand for Christ if He is not truly your Savior. What should you do?—Repent of your sin and trust in Jesus for your salvation.
2) A second reason people don’t confess Christ is because of sin in their lives.
A believer who talks like the world, acts like the world, and has the world’s values knows and then declared his allegiance to Christ—he just might be a laughingstock to his friends and neighbors. You can’t go out and get drunk on Saturday night, go to church on Sunday and go to work on Monday and BOLDLY stand for the Lord. You might be able to pull the wool over fellow believers’ eyes because they may not discover what a hypocrite you are, but your lost friends will know.
So, you have two choices: You can just keep your mouth shut or a better option would be to repent and live for God with all your heart and THEN go and tell your friends that God has changed you and you’re not going to do the things you know God does not want you to do anymore—and then consistently stand for the Lord. Then the might believer you. But if you do, you’d better commit yourself to God’s house and His people and His book, because you’re going to be tested. But with God’s grace you CAN stand for Christ.
3) A third reason people fail to confess Christ openly is fear of people’s opinion.
But Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” God wants to give you the power to be BOLD for Him. Stand for Him! Be BOLD for Him! Don’t be ashamed!
A. So, let me share with you four practical ways you should confess Christ openly:
First, start your Christian life by openly confessing Christ with your LIPS.
We saw earlier that a willingness to confess Christ is an indicator a person is saved.
Illus. – Whenever I preach about this, I immediately think of Susan’s daddy, Sydney Robertson —a lost man almost his whole life. Literally on the bed hospital he died on two weeks later—he trusted in Christ as his Savior.
Now you’ve got to understand, this was the quietest man I’d ever met. Until you got to know him, you felt uncomfortable around him because he was so quiet, you didn’t know what to say. You’d find yourself babbling on and on because it’s just you talking while he just listens with rarely a comment in return.
But when he found Jesus and was saved, I never saw such a remarkable change take place in a man’s personality in all my life. He was still somewhat quiet about normal things, but he became animated and joyful about the Lord and his newfound faith in Christ! In fact, he confessed Christ to every nurse, doctor, intern, candy striper and visitor who stepped foot in his hospital room. At least one time, he called out to complete stranger walking down the hall and said, “Hey, I got saved this week. You need to be saved too!” I mean, he couldn’t HELP it! He was like that cripple man Jesus healed. It would have been unnatural for him not to be excited about what Jesus had done for him, and that’s the way it was with Sydney.
Christian—DON’T BE AFRAID TO STAND UP AND CONFESS CHRIST! Paul said, “...I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…” (Romans 1:16a)
Second, confess Christ before others through WATER BAPTISM.
Baptism is not a DENOMINATIONAL matter; it’s a SCRIPTURAL matter. It’s not a matter of salvation either. Like the thief on the cross, if you’re saved and you never get biblically baptized, you’ll get to heaven all right—but you’ll have to apologize to Jesus for not standing for Him and confessing your faith in His work on Calvary to others.
You see, that’s what baptism is; according to Romans 6, baptism is a public confession of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. (DEMONSTRATE) I’ve said many times that baptism is like a wedding ring: I wear a wedding ring to publicly confess to every woman I meet that I’m taken—I belong to someone. I wear this ring GLADLY. I’m PROUD to let people know I belong to Susan Sligh. I want people to wonder who the lucky woman is who married me! I wear a wedding ring as a public confession of my marital condition.
Now if I refuse to wear it, it doesn’t mean I’m not married anymore; it just shows that I’m ashamed to publicly identify my marital status. It’s the same thing with baptism. Baptism tells people of your spiritual status—where you stand. Baptism says “I BELONG to someone—Jesus Christ, and I’m not ASHAMED of it. I want to confess to everyone that I believe in Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection that bought my salvation.”
In the book of Acts when people were converted, they IMMEDIATELY confessed Christ by water baptism on the SAME DAY THEY WERE SAVED. They were swift to take their stand and declare their confession in Jesus Christ. Just as these believers immediately openly confessed Christ by being baptized, so should you! If you’ve been saved, but never been scripturally baptized, God help you to take your stand and publicly declare your faith in Christ through water baptism.
A third way to confess Christ by THANKING GOD FOR YOUR FOOD before meals.
Some people call this “saying grace” and others call it “saying the blessing.” Whatever you want to call it, it’s biblical and it’s a way to confess Christ openly. Now to be honest, it’s not a commandment of Scripture, but I think it significant that Jesus always gave thanks whenever He ate a meal. And it mattered not to Him if He were in a home with just His friends or in an open field before thousands of strangers. Jesus wasn’t afraid of confessing His thanks to God by asking the blessing for the food He ate before he consumed it.
Some of you do the “drop and divert” method of saying the blessing: (DEMONSTRATE DROPPING NAPKIN AND WHILE PICKING IT UP QUICKLY SAYING, “JESUS, THANK YOU FOR MY FOOD. AMEN.”)
Folks, don’t hide your faith—LET IT SHINE! Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” (Matthew 5:14-15)
Fourth, confess Christ by YOUR LIFE. – Matthew 5:16 – “ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
You should not only confess Christ with your LIPS, but also with your LIFE. One way we make Christ known is by what we ARE and what we DO.
Remember, our lives reflect on Him. A Christian who lives an ungodly life is a poor reflection of Jesus Christ. And a Christian who is unloving or negative or selfish and self-centered is a also a poor reflection of Jesus Christ. The BEST CONFESSION we can have is to live a holy, loving, obedient life. Someone who is changed by God and becomes a person of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, faith and self-control is a POWERFUL witness for Christ.
Paul said of the Corinthians, “Ye are our epistle [letters] written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” (2 Corinthians 3:2)
You might be the only Bible some people will ever read. Are you a living confession of Jesus Christ to others?
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – A story is told of a great surgeon who performed a delicate operation on a patient who had been thought incurable. – Afterward the patient told the surgeon, “As long as I have a tongue in my mouth, folks will hear of you and what you’ve done for me.”
And you and I who have had our sin-sick souls healed by the Great Physician ought to have the same attitude. When you confess Christ before others there is a deep, indescribable joy within that radiates a love for Him. Confession of Christ is a BLESSING. If you know Christ as your Savior, may you be faithful to confess our Lord.
Matthew 10:32-33 – “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
And if you are not sure of your eternal destiny, why don’t you come to Christ now. (END WITH A BRIEF APPEAL TO THE LOST IF PRESENT.)
