Rev. David Holwick ZF Matthew 10 series
First Baptist Church [very well received - many decisions]
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 15, 2006
Matthew 10:32-33
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"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him
before my Father in heaven.
But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him
before my Father in heaven."
I. What would you confess to?
A. Different meanings of confession:
1) Admit to a crime or sin.
2) Avow a belief.
a) Early Christians were called "confessors."
b) Identifying with Jesus is the first mark of a disciple.
1> Basic Christian confession: "Jesus is Lord."
2> Paul's creed:
"If you confess with your mouth, `Jesus is Lord,'
and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9-10
B. Different ways to get a confession.
1) Current debate over torture.
a) Torture can produce confessions - true and phony.
b) It turns out many of the security scares after 9-11
were due to false confessions under torture.
2) Confessing your faith may seem about as painful.
C. For or against him, we must take a stand concerning Jesus.
1) He offers two choices: acknowledge him, or disown him.
II. How do we acknowledge Jesus?
A. Before men.
1) Acknowledging Jesus is not a secret in-your-heart thing.
a) True Christians are public Christians.
b) Admit to others what you believe.
2) Witnessing is a duty of every Christian.
a) Not everyone is a minister or a missionary, but
everyone should be a witness.
b) It is encouraging others to follow God by believing
in Jesus his Son.
c) Do you know what to say to people?
B. Acknowledge Jesus in your daily life.
1) Acknowledging Jesus is not just standing on a street corner
with a big Bible.
2) We can acknowledge Jesus in everyday life.
a) Stand up for Christian morals.
b) Give God glory in ordinary events.
One day Ron Hutchcraft was in a dentist office.
He saw an old friend with his wife, both in their 90s.
Her health was really deteriorating.
Because it had been raining, the old man asked the
dentist if he could help them get in their car.
The dentist came back in, really touched by what had
happened.
When he went out with George and his wife, it wasn't
raining anymore.
And George said, "Isn't it great that the Lord stopped
the rain long enough for us to get out to the car?"
Then he just looked heavenward and said, "Thanks,
Father."
That is acknowledging Jesus.
#19655
III. Denying Jesus - from Judas to Peter to us.
A. Judas is the ultimate example of denying Christ.
1) Apostasy: denying the faith he once claimed as his own.
a) Judas was sorry he betrayed Jesus, but that's all.
2) Modern people can do this, too.
Michael Shermer is an example of one who tasted salvation
and walked away.
He is the publisher of Skeptic Magazine and a short while
ago was seen on the PBS special "The Question of God."
The day after the broadcast, he participated in an online
discussion where he was asked of his "faith background."
He answered, "I became an evangelical born-again Christian
in 1971 and became an agnostic in 1977.
I attended Pepperdine University to major in theology, but
switched to psychology and there discovered science.
By the time I graduated from a graduate program in
experimental psychology I had abandoned religion."
Dr. Shermer came to Christianity and found it undesirable
after a short six years.
#28471
B. Peter is more common example of disowning Jesus.
1) He failed in his faith, but still believed in Jesus.
a) Under pressure, he didn't want to admit he even knew
Jesus.
b) Perhaps you've been put on the spot like this, and
mumbled your way out of it.
2) After losing his courage, he repented and came back.
a) He remembered Jesus' words, and wept. Matt 26:75
1> Of course, Judas wept too.
2> The difference is that Peter came back.
b) He was faithful to his Savior to the point of death.
3) Promise of 2 Timothy 2:13:
"If we deny him, he'll deny us;
but if we are faithless, he remains faithful."
I have always been intrigued by the contrast of denial
and faithlessness.
Apparently a genuine Christian can fail Jesus but
still be saved.
Can a real Christian deny Jesus?
This has been debated from earliest times.
Some say you can lose salvation; others say those who deny
Christ were never really saved to begin with.
The results remain the same -- those who are in denial
are doomed eternally.
But Paul adds this reassuring thought: Jesus cannot
disown himself.
This would mean even faithless Christians still belong
to their Savior.
We may need to repent with tears, but we can still come
back.
C. In between Judas and Peter.
1) Not outright denial, but a slipping away.
a) Substituting moralism for a relationship with Jesus.
In his novels, John Updike often portrays the spiritual
bankruptcy of many modern Americans.
They deceive themselves into thinking that disbelief is an
intellectual achievement.
In his book, "In The Beauty of the Lilies," the major
character ends his life in disbelief.
Updike says when the character dies, "He slipped away as
an unmoored boat on an outgoing tide."
Interestingly, this character is a Presbyterian minister,
Clarence Wilmot.
Princeton-educated, he has all the right credentials but
is lacking one essential one.
Rather than depend on God's Holy Spirit to lead him into
the mysteries of faith and revelation, he falls prey to
the temptation that comes to us all:
he substituted MORALISM and RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY for a
genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.
The preacher leaves the ministry and has no passion for
anything except for sex, which becomes a substitute
for God.
#20783
b) Substituting philosophy for Biblical truth.
Two years ago a real Presbyterian minister named John
Killinger wrote a book titled "TEN THINGS I LEARNED
WRONG FROM A CONSERVATIVE CHURCH."
The first thing he rejected was the authority of the Bible.
To him it was words about God, not from God.
Because of that, he has now abandoned most of the beliefs
that regular Christians have.
He says his God is a limited God, just like people are
limited.
Killinger's biggest regret is that he once witnessed to
his father.
He slipped some evangelistic tracts in a birthday present
for his dad, who wasn't saved.
Today, Killinger doesn't believe salvation is that
important.
There are many ways to God and hell doesn't exist.
#28203
IV. There are many ways we can disown Jesus.
A. By our actions.
1) When you act like the world, you deny Jesus.
2) Many Christians bring shame on their Savior.
3) What kind of image does your lifestyle make?
B. By our words.
1) Our ordinary conversation either witnesses for Christ and
righteousness, or for evil and unrighteousness.
2) Our words either confess or deny that Christ is our Lord.
C. By our silence. [1]
1) This may be the most common denial of Jesus.
2) We don't want to look bad in front of other people.
a) Christianity has a negative connotation to many.
b) We are called the "American Taliban" by critics.
c) Even in the Foley scandal, homosexuals are trying to
put conservative Christians in a bad light.
3) A silent witness, isn't a witness at all.
Some years ago Lorne Sanny was with the Billy Graham team
in a crusade.
During that crusade a businessman came forward one night
and received Christ as his Savior.
The following Sunday night the businessman went to a church
that he sometimes attended.
After the service he walked up to one of the leading elders
in this church and told him, "I was at the Billy Graham
meeting last week out at the ball park.
I went forward and received Christ."
"I heard about it and I am delighted," the elder replied.
Then the businessman asked the elder, "How long have you
and I been associated in business?"
"About twenty-three years, I think."
"Have you known Christ as your Savior all those years?"
"Yes, I have," the elder answered.
"Well, I don't remember you ever speaking to me about
Christ during those years," the man said.
The elder hung his head, and the man continued, "I have
thought highly of you.
In fact, I thought so highly of you that I felt if anyone
could be as fine a man as you and not be a Christian,
then I didn't have to be a Christian either."
This elder had lived a good life before his friend, but he
had not taken the added step of openly identifying with
the One who enabled him to live that kind of life.
#26820
V. Owning Jesus today.
A. Make a personal commitment to follow him.
1) Admit your sins against God.
2) Ask him to forgive you through Jesus.
3) Start living for him day by day.
B. Stand up for Jesus.
A popular email tells of a professor of philosophy at the
Univ. of Southern California who was a committed atheist.
His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire
semester attempting to prove that God couldn't exist.
At the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say to
his class of 300 students, "If there anyone here who still
believes in Jesus, stand up!"
In twenty years, no one had ever stood up.
It was not because every single one had lost their faith, but
because they knew the challenge that was coming next.
He would say, "I am going to drop this piece of chalk.
If God exists, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting
the ground and breaking.
Such a simple task to prove that he is God, and yet he can't
do it."
And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of
the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces.
Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman who happened to
get enrolled in the class.
He was a Christian, and he had to take the class because it was
one of the required classes for his major.
For 3 months that semester, he prayed every morning that he
would have the courage to stand up no matter what the
professor said or what the class thought.
Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped.
Finally the day came.
The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still believes
in God, stand up!"
The student stood up as the professor and class stared at him.
The professor shouted, "You FOOL!! If God exists, he could keep
this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"
He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out
of his fingers, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg,
and off his shoe.
As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away, unbroken.
The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk.
He looked up at the young man and then walked out of the
lecture hall.
The young man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front
of the room and share his faith in Jesus for the next
half hour.
300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for
them and of his power through Jesus.
It's a great story.
However, it's probably not true - I contacted USC about it
and they denied such a professor taught there, or that they
had any classes that large.
A little more research brought me to a story that probably IS
true.
It just so happens that in the 1920's at Allegheny College, PA,
a professor named Dr. Lee didn't believe in prayer.
Every year he would hold up a glass flask and challenge anyone
to pray that it wouldn't break if he dropped it.
A student named Richard Harvey volunteered and prayed.
The professor dropped the flask and it rolled off his shoe to
the floor without damage.
The class cheered and the professor stopped his annual lectures
against prayer.
The website TruthOrFiction.com has confirmed with Allegheny
college that Richard Harvey was a student there and that
Dr. Lee was a professor.
Richard Harvey's son, a minister in Toccoa, Georgia, confirms
that the story was told by his father on many occasions.
After I put this story on the internet, I received this email
from Rev. Joe Gentzler of Columbus, Kansas:
Dear Pastor Holwick,
In the fall of 1965 I was a freshman at the College of
the Sequoias in Visalia, California.
I had signed up for a required political science class.
The instructor looked about the room and remarked, "I see too
many students have enrolled for this class.
I think I know what to do.
You all need to know that I am an atheist and believe all
Christians to be fools.
If, during the term of this course, I determine that you are
a Christian, I will immediately fail you from the course.
If you are a Christian I would advise you to get up and leave
my class."
At this I immediately got up and walked out of the class.
The thing that startled me most was that there were only six
of us who walked that day.
As we were walking to the administration building to change
classes I realized I should have stood up and called for
others who believed in Christ to follow us out.
The Lord has long since forgiven me for my lack of courage
that day.
I pray others will be able to stand fast when they are
confronted with such a challenge to their faith.
#4080
C. Jesus reciprocates.
1) He will acknowledge those who acknowledge him.
2) He will disown those who disown him.
3) What will he do with YOU?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] This three-point outline was derived from the Preacher's Outline and
Sermon Bible for Matthew 10:32-33, WordSearch version.
# 4080 "Have You Stood Up Lately? [with variations]," by Daniel Altman;
emailed by Ron Martinson, November 21, 1996.
#19655 "God All Over Your Day," A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft, #3802,
August 8, 2001.
#20783 "An Unmoored Boat On An Outgoing Tide," by Dr. Julian M. Aldridge, Jr.,
Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com, November 11, 2001.
#26820 "I Don't Remember You Ever Speaking To Me About Christ," by Lorne
Sanny, Discipleship Journal #7, Jan-Feb 1982.
#28203 "How To Abandon Historic Christianity In Ten Easy Lessons," by
Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., President of Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, http://www.pfm.org/bptemplate.cfm?section=breakpoint~
_home&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&contentid=13229,
August 2, 2004.
#28471 "The Problem With Christianity...," by Dale Fincher, A Slice of
Infinity: Ravi Zacharias International Ministries;
http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/; October 5, 2004. Some is derived
from "PBS: The Question of God" discussion transcript, Sept. 16, 2004.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11912-2004Sep10.html
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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