The Most Essential Confession

Introduction:The title of the message is: The Most Essential Confession, but what do I mean by CONFESSION? The dictionary defines CONFESSION in the following ways:

1. A formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime: he signed a confession to the murders.

2. A formal admission of one's sins with repentance and desire of absolution, especially privately to a priest as a religious duty.

3. A humorous intimate revelation about a person's private life or occupation, especially as presented in a sensationalized form in a book, newspaper, or movie.

4. Confession of faith - a statement setting out essential religious doctrine. Such as, a Protestant confession of faith.

5. The Confession of a religious body or Church sharing a confession of faith: leading figures from every Christian confession.

6. A statement of one's principles: his words are a political confession of faith.

None of those definitions come close to what I will be talking about in this sermon. The Most Essential Confession is a confession that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. You own up to the reality that you follow Jesus Christ before others. I’ll tell the world that I am a Christian! So, then, to confess our faith, is to say in the hearing of others that we believe Jesus is the Son of God.

As I read through these two verses, I saw three truths:

1. Public confession is essential.

2. Public denial is costly.

3. Confession or Denial – which will it be?

With that as our outline lets jump into our text together.

I. Public confession is essential – 10:32

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

The very first thing I want to drive home is this, that a public confession of Jesus Christ is essential to anyone who believes that they are a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Colin Smith writes, “The word ‘acknowledge’ (or confess) in the Greek is homo = ‘one’ plus logeo = ‘word.’ It literally means “to be of one word.” To confess Jesus is to be of one word with Him, to say what He says.”

There are two confessions in verse 32. What are they? First, there is…

A. A confession before men – 10:32a

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men,

Considering the truth that nothing happens to Christ’s followers apart from the Father’s will, how important is it for Jesus’ apostles/disciples to confess Him before men, and to do so publicly?

One author said, “Since God protects us, there is no excuse for not publicly confessing Him.”

Next, I want you to underline the word “whoever” in this verse. What does that word mean? It means anyone, or any individual. Please don’t limit God’s ability to save mankind.

It was the Apostle Paul who said in Romans 1:16,

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

And later in the book of Romans Paul writes in chapter 10, verses 9-10,

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

O beloved, please make sure that you have confessed Jesus Christ before men. Publicly confess Jesus Christ to all those in your sphere of influence. Acknowledge aloud that you belong to Jesus Christ. Tell your Family members, your friends, and the people you work and play with. Tell them that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. Don’t ever try and hide your Christianity.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Confesses Me before Men

I remember hearing Dr. Billy Graham state on many occasions that, “Every person Jesus called in the New Testament, He called publicly.” He also said that the New Testament word Jesus used often was, “Come”.

What about those of you reading this book. Have you made a public confession of your faith before men? I tell people all the time that baptism is a public confession, especially if baptism is done in a public setting, like at a lake, or a swimming pool. People watch you get baptized; they hear you share your personal testimony of how you came to faith in Christ. Yes, when you are baptized you are publicly proclaiming your faith. As you stand in the water you are declaring that you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change.

A public confession may not be easy, but it is essential. Sometimes it may bring laughter. Other times we may have people tell us that we are using Jesus Christ is a crutch. That Christianity is for weak people. We can be mocked, and even persecuted for naming the name of Jesus Christ. It may happen, and then again, it may never happen to you. But you still must make a public confession of your faith before men.

Is there enough Evidence to convict you?

When I was a teenager there was a question asked in our youth group meetings. The question was, “If you were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Would the prosecuting attorney have enough public evidence that you are a Christian to convict you?

I want to say three things very clearly:

1. There are NO secret agent, Christians.

2. It’s time for Christians to come out. Make yourself known.

3. Go public with your faith.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “What Christ is to you on earth, that you will be to Christ in heaven. I shall repeat that truth. Whatever Jesus Christ is to you on earth, you will be to him in the day of judgment. If he be dear and precious to you, you will be precious and dear to him. If you thought everything of him, he will think everything of you.”

I believe that every person must make public confession of their faith. If I get the opportunity to lead someone in receiving Jesus Christ, I will tell them to go and tell someone in their family about their decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

B. A confession before God – 10:32b

him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

The “him” here is all those that confess Jesus Christ. The person who confesses Jesus Christ before men will also be confessed by Jesus before His Father in heaven. How good is this to know? Jesus Christ will speak our name before His Father.

Do you want your name acknowledged before God the Father? I do!

II. Public denial is costly – 10:33

33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Temporary Denial

What about Simon Peter? Scripture tells us that on the night that Jesus was arrested that Peter had a young girl proclaim, “You are one of his followers” but he denied it. Peter denied that he knew Jesus Christ three times. And when he heard the rooster crow, he remembered that Jesus told him that he would deny Him. Peter went out and wept bitterly. Peter’s denial of Jesus wasn’t long-term. Peter did repent. And in John chapter 21, Jesus Christ appeared to Peter after His resurrection and called Him to shepherd His sheep. Peter become a pillar of the early Church.

Denial can happen out of fear, but one doesn’t need to stay there. Please make sure that you as a follower of Jesus Christ don’t deny Jesus before men. Stand up and be counted as a follower of Jesus Christ.

The hymn writer penned,

Stand up, stand up for Jesus you soldier of the cross.

Lift high His royal banner it must not suffer loss.

William Barclay shared three ways in which it is still possible to deny Jesus Christ, and then he provided some commentary as examples. Here are the three ways:

(1) We may deny him with our words. It is told of J. P. Mahaffy, the famous scholar and man of the world from Trinity College, Dublin, that when he was asked if he was a Christian, his answer was: ‘Yes, but not offensively so.’ He meant that he did not allow his Christianity to interfere with the society he kept and the pleasure he loved. Sometimes we say to other people, practically in so many words, that we are church members, but not to worry about it too much; that we have no intention of being different; that we are prepared to take our full share in all the pleasures of the world; and that we do not expect people to take any special trouble to respect any vague principles that we may have.

Christians are to be Different.

As Christians, we can never escape the duty of being different from the world. It is not our duty to conform to the world; it is our duty to be transformed out of it (Romans 12:1-2).

(2) We can deny him by our silence. A French writer tells of bringing a young wife into an old family who had not approved of the marriage, although they were too conventionally polite ever to put their objections into actual words and criticisms. But the young wife afterwards said that her whole life was made a misery by ‘the menace of things unsaid’.

Christians must not be Silent.

There can be a menace of things unsaid in the Christian life. Again and again, life brings us the opportunity to speak some word for Christ, to utter some protest against evil, to take some stand, and to show what side we are on. Again and again on such occasions, it is easier to keep silence than to speak. But such a silence is a denial of Jesus Christ. It is probably true that far more people deny Jesus Christ by cowardly silence than by deliberate words.

(3) We can deny him by our actions. We can live in such a way that our life is a continuous denial of the faith which we profess. Those who have given their allegiance to the gospel of purity may be guilty of all kinds of small-scale dishonesties and breaches of strict honor. Those who have undertaken to follow the Master who bade us take up a cross can live a life which is dominated by attention to their own ease and comfort. Those who have entered the service of him who himself forgave and who bade his followers to forgive can live a life of bitterness and resentment and variance with others. Those whose eyes are meant to be on that Christ who died for love of men and women can live a life in which the idea of Christian service and Christian charity and Christian generosity are conspicuous by their absence.[1]

Actions are Required.

Christians are called to an active faith, to a living faith, to a real faith. Our walk must match our talk. To confess Jesus Christ means that we take on the character of Jesus Christ. We are honest, we serve, we forgive, and we are generous. We seek to glorify God in word and deed.

Jesus Christ made it very clear in verse 33,

33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Dr. Tony Evans writes, “Again, this is not referring to salvation in eternity but deliverance in history. If you’re a covert follower of Jesus, there will be negative repercussions; you can expect prayer requests to be denied in history and loss of kingdom rewards in eternity.” (Evans, Tony. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (p. 1472). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

I’m not sure that I agree with Tony Evans that this is not speaking about eternity, but history. I read it literally, and it sure sounds like we either confess Jesus, or He will not confess us before His Father in heaven.

The Phillips translation reads verses 32-33 like this,

“Every man who publicly acknowledges me I shall acknowledge in the presence of my Father in Heaven, but the man who disowns me before men I shall disown before my Father in Heaven.

This brings us to our final point, which is…

III. Confession or Denial - which will it be? – 10:32-33

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

How do these two verses relate to those of us who live in the Twenty-first Century? I would say that they have everything to say to us. Have we publicly confessed Jesus Christ before men? Have you gone on the record of being a follower of Jesus Christ? Do we talk about Jesus Christ? Are we living for Jesus Christ? Does He have first place in all areas of our lives? Here are a few ways to confess Jesus Christ. These are some things you can do today:

1. Tell someone in your immediate family that you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

2. At work tomorrow tell a co-worker that you are a Christian, and if they ever want to talk about Christianity that you would love to sit down with them.

3. Tell your BFF (Best Friend Forever) that you have received Jesus Christ into your heart and life. Invite them to make the same decision.

4. Take the step to be baptized – publicly declare your faith.

5. Ask your pastor to share your testimony in front of the church. A testimony that doesn’t glorify sin but glorifies Him.

The emphasis of Matthew 10:32-33 is upon CONFESSION. I don’t want to focus on the denial of Jesus or being denied before the Father. No, I want us to focus in on the CONFESSION of Jesus Christ before men and being CONFESSED as a follower of Jesus Christ before God the Father.

Conclusion: Go and publicly CONFESSJesus Christ before men. Go on record (here on earth) for being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Never hide or be ashamed of your faith in Jesus Christ.

1. “Therefore” (10:32) - Considering what we have already read, “about who to fear” – confess Jesus Christ publicly.

2. Don’t put off telling others that you are a Christ follower. Tell someone today if possible. Tomorrow at the latest.

3. Refuse to deny Jesus Christ. Use every opportunity to stand up for Jesus Christ. Make your faith count.

4. The cost of denial is too costly. Never go there. Never ever go there.

5. Desire to hear your name mentioned before God the Father, by God the Son.

6. Remember that there is an eternal consequence for denying Jesus Christ. Eternal separation from God.

7. But also bear in mind that there is an eternal consequence for confessing Jesus Christ too. Acknowledgement before God that you are a follower of Jesus, His Son.

[1]Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., pp. 452–453). Saint Andrew Press.