************ Sermon on Matthew 10:32-33 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on December 20, 1998
Matthew 10:26-43
vs 32-33
"Acknowledge Christ Before Men"
Introduction
Topic: Persecution
Subtopic:
Index: 3480-3484
Date: 12/1998.101
Title: Stop Preaching the Name of Jesus!
Pastor Li (not his real name) stood in front of the chopping block, a Communist guard on each side of him. He trembled as they placed his right hand on the block and spread his fingers wide.
The officer in front of him ran his finger along the blade of the cleaver he was holding. Without lifting his eyes from it, he asked Pastor Li, "Will you stop preaching the name of Jesus?"
"No, I will not," answered Li. And he closed his eyes, waiting for the ax to fall. It did, and he lost his right thumb.
Five times he was asked to deny his Christ. Five times he refused. Five times he paid the price. Then, with nothing left of his right hand but a bleeding palm, he was set free.
This horrifying event happened some years ago during China's cultural revolution. And Pastor Li's story is only one of thousands of similar stories – stories about sacrificial faith, about the cost of discipleship, about the price of confessing Christ.
Pastor Li and millions of other Christians around the world – do you know what they are doing? They are taking literally the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:
(Mt 10:32-33) "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (33) But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
I If Acknowledge Christ ... (vs 32)
A Most of you probably realize that the original audience of Matthew's Gospel was Jewish converts to the Christian faith. These converts were having a rough time. They had been rejected, cut off, and disinherited by their Jewish families. They were no longer allowed to worship in the inner part of the Temple. They were persecuted for their conversion and faith. They were dragged in front of the Sanhedrin and forced to answer ridiculous charges. Their possessions and wealth were confiscated or destroyed. If they were in business, it was suffering because "good" Jews refused to have business dealings with them. If they worked for a Jewish employer they lost their job.
It is only natural that these converts began to waver in their faith. They wondered whether it was worth it to be a Christian. They wondered if the price they were paying was too high.
So Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wanted to encourage and build up these dispirited and wavering converts to the Christian faith. He wanted to assure them that they made the right decision in following after Christ.
B Tell me, what would you do if you were one of those Jewish converts to the Christian faith? Your job, perhaps you life, your worldly goods, your family, are all at stake. If asked, in such a situation would you confess or deny Christ, would you acknowledge or disown Christ?
The image that Matthew wants to raise in our mind is that of an earthly courtroom. As a Christian you have been dragged before the judge and are accused of being a Christ believer. How would you answer that accusation? Would you affirm or deny your faith?
Because of freedom of speech and freedom of religion this sort of thing will not happen to us in this country, yet in many places around our world it is against the law to be a Christ believer. In many nations Christians – like Pastor Li – are dragged before the judge on account of their faith.
C In such a situation Matthew has a command from the Lord. This is a command not only for those struggling Jewish converts, or for those Christians around our world who are being persecuted, but also for you and for me, for Christine and Steve and Vicky. "Acknowledge me," says Jesus.
What does it mean to acknowledge Jesus? To acknowledge Jesus is to declare that He, the second person of the triune God, has taken on our flesh and lived among us. To acknowledge Jesus is to count Him as your Savior from sin and your Lord in all of life. To acknowledge Jesus is to declare that you live for Him Who died for you, that you believe in Him, that you have faith in Him and His blood.
Jesus doesn't just say "Acknowledge me." He says, "Acknowledge me before men." There is no room here for a secret profession. Our acknowledgment of the Lord must be public, it must be out in the open, it must not be hidden.
"Acknowledge me before men." This means, like Christine and Steve and Vicky, we are to stand before God's people and publicly declare our faith. "Acknowledge me before men." This means that we witness to our neighbors and co-workers, our employees and customers; we are not ashamed to tell them about Jesus and that we live for Him.
I think of the Apostle Peter here. One day he was dragged before the Sanhedrin. He was questioned about his healing of the man crippled from birth. "By what power or what name did you do this?" he was asked (Acts 4:7b). Boldly Peter proclaimed: "by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth" (Acts 4:10b). Peter acknowledged Christ before men. He was not ashamed to witness to the Christ.
To acknowledge the Lord is far easier for us than it was for New Testament Christians. For when we publicly confess our faith, our relatives usually approve, the church receives us warmly, and the government neither persecutes nor kills us for our faith.
Confession is also easier now than it was at the time of the Reformation in the middle 16th century. Guido de Bres, the author of the Belgic Confession of Faith, was persecuted and imprisoned for his faith. Because he refused to retract his confession he was forced to live for 6 months in a dark hole into which human sewage was regularly dumped. Eventually he was hanged for his profession.
"Acknowledge me before men," says the Lord. Publicly profess your faith. Be witnesses to Christ in word and deed.
D Why is it so important to acknowledge Christ before men? Jesus tells us:
(Mt 10:32) Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (cf Revelation 3:5)
Matthew wants us to keep in our mind the image of a courtroom. However, now the courtroom is in heaven instead of on earth. You, a Christian, have died and are in God's heavenly courtroom. God is about to pronounce His judgment upon you.
If we have acknowledged Christ before men, if we have publicly confessed our faith in the Lord, if we have not hidden our faith, if we have been bold witnesses to Jesus Christ, then the Savior will step forward and, out of grace, He will acknowledge us before the Father.
What does this mean, that Jesus acknowledges us before the Father? It means that Jesus says to God:
I died for that person. With my blood I have ransomed him from Satan and have redeemed him from slavery to sin. That person is forgiven. That person cannot be judged or condemned because I was judged and condemned in his place.
I ask you, my brothers and sisters, can Christ say this about you? Can He acknowledge you before the Father because you have acknowledged Him before men?
E It should be clear by now that Christ is not talking just about a brief ceremony in a worship service. Profession is not something we do in a worship service and then we are done with it. Oh no, not at all! The public act before God's people is just one of the ways in which we acknowledge the Lord. For, each and every day the Lord sends us endless opportunities to acknowledge Him. And, each and every day He send us countless people to whom we can testify. We are to acknowledge Christ before men in the church, at school, in the home, at work, at play, on vacation. We always are to confess and acknowledge Christ before men. And, we are to do so until every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven."
II If Disown Christ ... (vs 33)
A We know from church history that some of the early Christians were tempted to conceal the real allegiance of their heart before men. They were tempted to hide their faith. Some of those early believers decided that confession was simply too risky so they kept their faith hidden. They wanted to protect their families, save their possessions, and keep their jobs. So they were Christians in secret. These people tried the impossible: to combine faith in Jesus with a good reputation in the world. About these people the Apostle John sadly concludes: "... they loved praise from men more than praise from God" (Jn 12:43).
Once again we have to return to the image of the courtroom. You, a Christian, have been dragged before the judge and been accused of being a Christian.
The judge turns to you and asks, "How do you plead: guilty or not guilty?"
You swallow hard. You know if you say the truth your life, your family, your possessions, your job, are all gone. So, you decide to hide your faith and keep your Christianity a secret.
Some argue that since God sees and knows all things, it is not wrong to hide your faith and practice your Christianity in secret. But, congregation, there is no such thing as a secret faith and a hidden Christianity. God wants others to see and to hear about your faith. Jesus wants us to acknowledge Him before men.
B In the second verse of our text Jesus warns us against attempting a secret faith. He warns us against not acknowledging Him. Jesus doesn't want any believer to neglect a public profession of faith. Jesus wants us to wear our Christianity boldly. He wants us to fight against wrong, evil, and injustice. He wants us to always speak out boldly for what we believe and why. He wants us to never act ashamed or embarrassed about knowing the Lord. He wants us to never neglect missions, evangelism, and witnessing. He wants our Christianity, our faith, our confession, to be out front – obvious to and for all. He wants us to be like Pastor Li.
When we refuse to do this, when we refuse to acknowledge Christ before men, when we neglect to publicly profess our faith, when we never once witness to others about the Lord, when we try to have a secret faith, we disown Christ. "Disown" isn't my word; that is the word used by Christ.
I can't help but think of Peter here. I mentioned him as an example of someone who acknowledged and confessed Christ before men. But I am sure we all remember the time when he was too ashamed to confess Christ before men. Remember? Jesus was arrested and dragged before the Sanhedrin. Peter followed "at a distance" (Lk 22:54). Three times, while he was warming himself in front of a fire, Peter was asked about his relationship to and with Jesus. And, three times Peter denied even knowing the Lord. Before men, Peter disowned Jesus.
C What is so terribly wrong with disowning the Lord? Jesus tells us:
(Mt 10:33) But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Or consider the words of Jesus in Mark 8:38
(Mk 8:38) If anyone is ashamed of me and my words ..., the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.
Again we are to call to mind a courtroom scene. Again the courtroom is heavenly, before the Father's throne. And again, you a Christian have died and God is about to pronounce judgment upon you. But first, before He does this, God looks to Jesus. And Jesus, He turns His head away, refusing to acknowledge you as His own.
If we won't acknowledge Christ, Christ won't acknowledge us. If we refuse to speak up for Christ, if we refuse to witness, if we act ashamed of Christ, if we refuse to publicly profess our faith, if we think we can get away with a secret faith, then Christ will disown us and will be ashamed of us.
If we disown Christ before men, the way Peter did, then Christ will have to tell the Father He has no relationship with us. Then it will be for us the same way as it was for the five foolish virgins who came late to the wedding banquet because they had to search for oil. Remember how they knocked on the door and asked to be let in? But the bridegroom said to them: "I tell you the truth, I don't know you" (Mt 25:12). That's what Jesus will say to us when we appear before the judgment throne if we have not confessed Him before men: "I don't know you." This means that Jesus did not die for us. This means there is no forgiveness, no ransom, no redemption, for us.
Conclusion
My brothers and sisters, I beg you to acknowledge Christ before men. Don't try to hide your faith. Don't try to be a Christian in secret. Don't be ashamed of the Lord. Listen to the words of the song:
Lord Jesus, can it ever be,
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On whom my hopes of heaven depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His Name.
(old P.H. #457)
Instead, proclaim your faith from the roof tops. Witness to all who will listen. Publicly profess your faith in the Lord.
What about you? Do you acknowledge the Lord before men or have you disowned Him? Listen again, dear people, to the words of our text:
(Mt 10:32-33) "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (33) But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.