Acknowledgement and Denial
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Big Idea: We must take seriously our need to honor God
Acknowledging Christ is to be acknowledged by Him.
Many sins can be forgiven, but one cannot
The Holy Spirit empowers believers to speak boldly
Last week: The leaven of the Pharisees: Hypocrisy.
Big Idea: If we properly understand God, we will not fear men.
Hypocrisy will be revealed, in this life or at the final judgment
We should not fear those who can harm our bodies, but the one who has eternal power
God is aware of everything and values us greatly.
This week:
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,
but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,
for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Big Idea: We must take seriously our need to honor God
Acknowledging Christ is to be acknowledged by Him.
Many sins can be forgiven, but one cannot
The Holy Spirit empowers believers to speak boldly
How we are saved: Includes confession of Christ:
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Simple, yet not always so easy. Jesus says everyone who acknowledges him before men (implying an honest confession) will be acknowledged by him, and the inverse is true as well
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,
but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
Salvation itself is wrapped up in the idea that followers of Christ are not secret believers
In the end, Jesus will gladly claim those who are his and speak for them
The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
The one who conquers: the one who wins the battle.
Is there any grace here? What if someone denies Christ to save their own life, or to save them from ridicule, but repents and turns back?
If only we had an example of someone who did that, and we do: Peter
Scripture gives us strong warnings about being ashamed of Jesus, or denying him, and so on:
if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
false teachers ultimately deny Jesus by denying him or his teachings:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
Yes, scripture is full of warnings about denying our faith or denying Jesus, and one of those strong warnings is the story of Peter and his denials.
He wanted to have a lion’s heart to defend Christ.
He was bold when Jesus was popular.
But when Jesus was under trial, Peter caved. He denied Christ
Peter also had godly sorrow for this: He wept bitterly.
He was restored.
His restoration was prophesied by Jesus
Jesus told Peter he was praying for him.
Jesus prays for all true followers
So if a true follower sins, including denying Christ, there can be restoration.
The strong warnings of scripture must be taken very seriously. We do not want to be among those who deny Christ.
However, the warnings do not leave a believer without hope. None of the elect, those who are truly chosen by God to receive salvation in Jesus Christ, are ever lost. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit. None of them can be lost.
Yet the warning is still there. You are promised eternal security in Christ if you are a true believer, yet you are still warned not to sin (including the sin of denying Jesus).
Peter’s example is a grave warning and a gracious hope. A grave warning to not deny Christ, or to think we are above sin. A gracious hope that even very serious sins can be forgiven. Peter had a great gift. Jesus prayed for him, that he would be restored.
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Jesus prayed for Peter. (this should be very reassuring, because Jesus also prays for us)
Jesus told Peter he would turn again. repent is to turn. Peter repented of his belief in Jesus when he denied him. He turned away (even if it was momentary), yet he repented (turned back), just as Jesus promised.
What was the means of this repentance?
A gift from God. What is this gift called?
Godly sorrow, or godly grief:
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
A few weeks ago we had a D6 lesson on the godly sorrow that David experienced, and upon his repentance, Nathan the prophet told David that God had put away his sin.
Godly Sorrow is the same gift Peter was granted.
Being properly chastised, and feeling proper sorrow over your sin is evidence that you have not sinned to a point of total failure in the faith.
The opposite may also be true, no sorrow, or continual denial of your sin and offenses against the Holy God may also be proof that you are not truly in the faith and never were to begin with.
Sadly, I have had conversations with people who claimed to be in Christ, but denied that clear sins were sins, and showed no signs of being sorry for those sins. One gets concerned in those situations, because this may be an indication that they are not truly among the elect.
So in these two verses about acknowledging Christ, we have very strong warnings, not to deny Christ in our words, our deeds, our life, and yet I would be remiss not to offer you the comfort of the example of Peter, and the Lord’s graciousness towards him.
What would we do if someone betrayed us? Would we pray for them like Jesus does for those he loves?
Godly grief is a gift from God. I have seen people weep over their sin. In those moments I am more sure of their status before God than I am over people who never admit to fault.
So we should not be denying Jesus, but even that denial, if we receive the gift of godly sorrow or godly grief for that sin, it can be forgiven. But there is one sin that cannot be forgiven.
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
The question everyone had on this verse is: “What is this blasphemy? Here are some examples of blaspheming the Holy Spirit
Attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to evil, or to Satan. Some had already done this, such as the Pharisees. (You cast out demons by Beelzebub)
Knowing, through revelation of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Son of God, and calling Jesus the devil
RC Sproul:
A Walk with God: Luke 61. A Warning against Blasphemy (Luke 12:8–12)
Many theologians link blasphemy against the Holy Spirit with blasphemy against Christ in this way: when a person has become aware of the true identity of Jesus through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, if that person then calls Jesus the devil, that is the unforgivable sin.
However we look at this, it isn’t a sin that someone merely walks into. No one simply walks into Mordor, and no one simply walks into Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It is unforgivable because it is so intentional, not done by accident, or in a heated moment of passion later repented of. The one who has blasphemed the Spirit has so totally rejected good and embraced evil they cannot be saved.
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
The one who knows the truth about God but denies it is guilty of blasphemy.
Acknowledging Christ is to be acknowledged by Him.
Many sins can be forgiven, but one cannot
The Holy Spirit empowers believers to speak boldly
And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,
for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
This part is used by many as an excuse for the teacher or preacher not to prepare their lesson or sermon. They will say “The Holy Spirit will give me what I need”. But this is a violation of the intent of this, and takes it out of context. What is the context? If you are put on the spot, being challenged by authorities regarding your faith, then the believer will receive an assist from the Holy Spirit.
Scripture records the speech or sermon of Stephen, empowered by the Spirit as he made his defense before being the first Christian Martyr. Then there are the many stories recorded in Foxes book of martyrs, and today voice of the Martyrs records modern examples of Christians being put to the test, proving this promise of Jesus to be true, that the Holy Spirit gives a special empowerment by the grace of God to believers under duress.
Even those who may have denied at one time, as Peter did, can be emboldened as Peter was. Remember what Jesus said to Peter: “When you have turned (back to me), strengthen the brothers”.
So God can use even those who have failed, or maybe he especially uses those who have failed and turned back, to give others the courage to serve fearlessly.
May we take both the warnings and the promises seriously and consider them so that we can serve our good God well.
