Preached To The Saints at Riverview Baptist the Morning of March 26, 2017
798 Santa Fe Pike, Columbia, TN 38401

Matthew 10:32-33 (KJV)   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.

That which makes a Church a “Church” or a Christian a “Christian” is that we have an uncompromising love for Jesus Christ. We love Christ because of what He has done for us. We love Jesus because of WHO He is. We love our Lord.

No Church wants to be known as Laodicea, the lukewarm Church that Jesus said

Revelation 3:15-16 (KJV) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

No one wants their Church to be spit out of the mouth of Christ. God has been good to every Christian. God has through Christ been given power, as the Scripture says …

John 1:12 (KJV) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Receiving Christ and loving Him causes us to be “born of God”.

1 John 5:1 (KJV)  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

Those who are born of God love Him Who caused us to be born. We are saved not by causing God to agree with us, but by our agreement with God in Christ.

Loving Jesus Means CONFESSING Jesus

Matthew 10:32-33 (KJV)   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.

The Lord calls those who are His to CONFESS Him before men. What does it mean to CONFESS Him?

The word translated “Confess” is the Greek ὁμολογέω homologeō which is a compound verb. “Homo” means “the same thing” and Logeo means “to speak or say”. Put these two words together

“Homologeo” means “To say the same thing about”

Every time you see the word “Confess”, “Profess”, or “Profession” in the King James Version of the Scripture the word “Homologeo” or “Homologia” is used, which is really the same Greek word. Salvation comes when we “Say the same thing” that God has said.

We are saved not when Christ agrees with us, but when we agree with Christ. Our Lord commands that we “say the same thing” that He says. We are to say this out loud, before others, and without shame. Salvation comes the day that we CONFESS Christ as our Lord, and agree with Him that “He rose from the dead”. One of the clearest of these Scriptures is:

Romans 10:9-10 (KJV)  That if thou shalt CONFESS (Homologeo) with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  [10]  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth CONFESSION (Homologeo) is made unto salvation.

When we CONFESS or SAY THE SAME THING That Christ Says
God, seeing our hearts, saves us.

We are to be confessors of Christ.

We are to “say the same thing” that our Lord has said.

The world will not like this!

• We Are To Agree With Christ Though All The World Disagree With Us. We are to take Christ’s side in every dispute, regardless as to what position this puts us in. Jesus told us:

Matthew 10:24-26 (KJV)   The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.   [25]   It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?   [26]   Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

We are to stand with Christ even when attacked for our faith. The Pharisees – the religious leaders of that day – said of Jesus:

Matthew 12:24 (KJV) … This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

The religious crowd mocked Jesus, saying that He cast out devils by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. The religious crowd will mock YOU.

If Christ was attacked for doing good, we who are Christ’s shall also be attacked for doing good. Do good anyway. Do God’s work even if all the world stand against you because you love the Lord Jesus. Say the same thing that Jesus said – HOMOLOGEO – regardless as to what others may say. Expect to be attacked, but do not fear them. His truth will stand in the end.

• What Jesus Christ Tells You, Do Not Hide It In Your Heart. Tell Others. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:27-28 (KJV)   What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.   [28]   And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

What Jesus whispers in love to you, tell others in love. He speaks to His people.

John 10:27-28 (KJV)   My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:   [28]   And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

The Holy Chain of salvation is:

His Sheep hear His Voice

His Sheep follow Him

His Sheep have eternal life

His Sheep NEVER perish

One link of this golden chain is attached to Christ, the other end to me. Christ speaks to me as I read His Word, as I pray, as I look upward, as I get into my prayer closet. My prayer closet can be in the middle of Walmart, or at the hospital as I wait on a dear member to be treated. I open the Book, read, stop, meditate, and ask. And Christ speaks!

What I tell you in the darkness – in private – speak in the light.
What I whisper in your ear tell to others.
Shout it from the housetops! Tell others.
My truths are not to be hidden for fear of others.
Do not fear them, but fear GOD Who can destroy!

The Devil says “Don’t rocks the boat. Compromise. Say nothing. Go along and you’ll get along. But Christ has spoken to His people. He has spoken on MARRIAGE:

Mark 10:6-9 (KJV)   But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.   [7]   For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;   [8]   And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.   [9]   What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Christ has spoken on SIN:

Luke 18:20 (KJV)   Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother.

Christ has commanded LOVE:

Mark 12:29-31 (KJV)  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:   [30]   And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.   [31]   And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Christ has spoken on HATRED:

Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)   For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:   [15]   But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

We will NEVER be at one with the world, dear Church, but we MUST be at one with our Christ. Jesus does not call us to a debate, but to HOMOLOGEO, to SAY THE SAME THING that He has said.

You Who Believe Are Valuable – Loved Of God
Is God Valuable To You?

Matthew 10:30-31 (KJV) But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.   [31]   Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Oh how God loves us! Oh how Jesus loves us!

Jesus tells us not to fear those who can only kill the body, but to fear God our Father. But we are also to remember that we are of great value to God. He has numbered the hairs of our head. He knows the smallest things about us. And God paid the greatest price for us.

He gave His Son for us.

Jesus said John 15:13 (KJV)   Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus laid down His life for us. He willingly went to Calvary, being punished for our rebellion, being beaten for our failures. Jesus died a criminal’s death though Pilate could find no fault in Him. Barabbas – a convicted murderer – was released whereas the crowd cried out for Jesus “Crucify Him”. The Bible declares the love of God in that wonderful text:

Romans 5:6, 8 (KJV)  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. [8]  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The Father held us in higher esteem than He did His only Begotten Son.
Christ held us in higher esteem than His own life.
How do we who are saved honor our Lord?

Matthew 10:35-36 (KJV) For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.   [36]   And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

We are told hold Christ in the highest esteem.

There are a large number of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other idolators who come to Christ every year as missionaries reach out to them with the glorious Gospel of Christ. Many of these are forsaken by their families, rejected, and some even killed because they call on the name of Jesus. But they all have the same attitude that the Ethiopian Eunuch had when the Evangelist Philip told him of Christ:

Acts 8:32-37 (KJV)  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:  [33]  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.  [34]  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?  [35]  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.  [36]  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?  [37]  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

This is what it is to confess Christ. It is easy to join a Church, easy to speak well of Christ, but will you do as He says? The Eunuch believed on Christ “with all thine heart” and so was baptized as soon as possible. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:21 “baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God”.

As a Pastor I have had two strange questions put to me about baptism. Someone asked to be baptized in private, on a non-Church day. Someone else living in sexual sin with her boyfriend asked to be baptized at the Church. I refused both requests. Why? Because baptism is a confession of Christ, a confession of a good conscience before God. I cannot baptize someone in active sexual sin. And baptism is a public profession of faith in Christ. Jesus commanded we be baptized, and so to confess Christ is to be baptized PUBLICLY!

Confession Of Christ Is To Love Christ FIRST

Matthew 10:37 (KJV)   He that loveth father or mother more than me is NOT WORTHY OF ME: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is NOT WORTHY OF ME.

Christ demands not our left overs, but our fervent love.

We are to love Him more than anything else. He gave the most for us. God expects us to love our families, and to honor our parents. But we are to love Christ more.

In a sense none of us are worthy of Christ. He alone is worthy. But Jesus calls us to love Him with our whole hearts. He does not demand that we forsake our families. Christians should be the best parents. He does not demand that we forsake our businesses. Christians should be the best employees. But Christ demands that we are to love Him more than all others. If we love Him more, we will love our families more. If we love Him more, we will love our businesses more. When we love Christ more, confessing Him before men, then we are best blessed.

Matthew 10:38 (KJV)   And he that TAKETH NOT HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOWETH AFTER ME, IS NOT WORTHY OF ME.

The Great Pastor C.H. Spurgeon once wrote:

“What Christ is to you on earth, you will be to Him on the day of judgment. If you thought everything of Him, He will think everything of you.”

Jesus calls those who are His to “take up his Cross and follow after Him”. Jesus declared:

Matthew 10:39 (KJV)   He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

We are called to lose our lives in Christ. Confession of Christ is to say the same thing about Jesus. He is our Shepherd. He is our King. He is our Lord. He is our Savior. He is the One Whom we trust and follow. He is our Christ. I want you to read His words with me one more to time:

Matthew 10:32-33 (KJV)   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.

Years ago in West Tennessee a man visited our Church. At the end of the service he whispered in my ear, “How long has that fellow been coming to this Church?”. Surprised I said “A long time – he is one of our Deacons”. The man whispered, “I work for him – and never knew he was even a Christian”. What do you think Christ thinks of this?

If we confess Christ before men – before this world – then He will stand up and confess us before the Father in Heaven. He will say “this one was with Me on the earth. This one love Me, and He is mine, Father, He is mine!” And to these who have received Him as Lord and Savior He shall receive us to glory as Children of His Kingdom.

But the coin has a flip-side. If we deny Christ before men – refusing to confess Him – He will deny us before the Father in Heaven. What does that mean? A flippant faith that only acknowledges Christ when it convenient will not be blessed of God. We are called to serve Christ wholeheartedly.

If God is God, serve Him.

If you think the idols are gods, serve them.

But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

Because we love the Lord.

Do you?