The Confession
of a Christian
But a
confession of faith does not need to be confined to formal worship
service. In fact, it should never be
restricted to a group effort on a Sunday morning. A confession of faith can and should be made
by individual Christians in a variety of situations outside of these four
walls. Whenever you tell anyone about
what you believe, whom you believe, or why you believe it, you are making a
confession of faith that is just as powerful and just as important as those
confessions you are making right here.
In fact, the main way Christians are to be identified in this world is
by their confession of faith.
Peter was Not a
Background Christian
Consider
some of the confessions of faith found in the pages of Scripture: Nathanael,
one of Jesus’ original disciples, confessed on the first day he met his Lord, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are
the King of Israel” (John 1:49).
Martha, brother of Lazarus, confessed on the day Jesus raised her
brother from the dead, “I believe that
you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world” (John
11:27). Thomas, another one of
Jesus’ disciples, after seeing Jesus in the flesh after he rose from the dead confessed,
“My Lord and my God” (John 20:28)! And Peter, possibly the most famous of Jesus’
twelve disciples, once said, “You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). But that is not the only confession of faith
that Peter spoke. Later on he makes another
remarkable confession at a time when most people were leaving Jesus
behind.
Jesus
had been talking to the people about the Bread of Life. And he made it clear that no one could go to
heaven except through faith in him. Many
people who heard those words didn’t like what Jesus said because it excluded so
many people from going to heaven - those who may have been nice and friendly
and loving on the outside, but those who did not believe in Jesus as their
Savior. And so even some who had claimed
to be his disciples picked up and left.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?”
Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter
answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We believe and know that you are
the Holy One of God.”
What a
courageous confession by Peter! Others
were grumbling against Jesus, complaining about Jesus, leaving Jesus, and even
planning for Jesus’ death. But that did
not keep Peter from saying what he firmly believed: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life. We believe and
know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Peter was not a background Christian.
He did not try to fade into the background, out of view, hiding from
criticism and scrutiny, even when everyone else was starting to hate
Jesus. Peter stepped forward. He confessed boldly and unashamedly. He was unconcerned about the consequences and
undeterred by the attitude of others. He
was not shy. He knew who his Lord was
and he was not afraid to confess it. Peter spoke up.
Are We
Embarrassed Christians?
Of
course, that wasn’t always the case, was it?
Remember when Jesus was on trial before the chief priests of the Jewish
people and Peter was standing in the courtyard outside? To be fair, it was a dangerous situation:
Jesus had been arrested in the middle of the night, he was being accused of
blasphemy, and they were trying to get the death sentenced passed. Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples, which
meant that he would be considered a close associate to the one who had been arrested
just hours before. And so when someone
asked Peter that night if he knew Jesus, Peter denied it. All he wanted to do was fade into the
background, to warm himself by the fire and not be noticed. And when someone else pointed out that he had
been with Jesus in the past, Peter denied it again! And once more, for a third time someone
confronted Peter with the fact that he must know Jesus because Peter was from
Galilee and for a third time Peter refused to speak up. In fact, he called down curses on himself to
“prove” that he didn’t know who this Jesus guy was. Peter was not bold there in that courtyard;
he was not proud of who he was and the one he called “Lord.” He was scared, he was intimidated, he was
embarrassed.
Are you
a little embarrassed to be a Christian sometimes? Especially in those situations when you are
in a group of people who do not share your same faith? It’s hard to speak up, isn’t it? It’s difficult to firmly and boldly and
unashamedly confess your faith in exactly what the Bible says without
apology. It could be at work when you
are surrounded by coworkers who do not care about what Jesus says. It could be in school when the majority of
your classmates are bashing everything about Christianity. It could be in a conversation with your
neighbors across the street who aren’t into this “organized religion”
thing. It could be with a couple of your
relatives who just don’t want to hear it from you anymore. It’s difficult to speak up in those
situations. And so sometimes we’d rather
be “background Christians” - hiding out of view, hoping not to be noticed, not
stepping forward, not speaking up.
But
listen to these biting words that Jesus says about those who do not speak up
for him: “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” (Matt.
10:32-33). Oh, that’s not good… I guess it’s more than just a personality
issue: I can’t blame my silence on my shyness.
And I guess I don’t have an excuse just because I’m uncomfortable in a
situation. And I guess I can’t just brush
it off as an unfortunate weakness in my character. If I do not speak up for Christ before
others, why would he bother speaking up for me!
“Hey,” Jesus himself says, “if you don’t want to admit that you’re a
Christian after all I’ve done to make you one, then I don’t have to be your Christ. I can leave you alone if that’s what you really
want. I can cut off all ties with you so
that you don’t have to associate with me anymore. If you’re too embarrassed to stand up for me,
then why am I wasting my time on you? I
might as well tell my Father to take your name off the books if that’s really
the way you feel...” Not speaking up for
Jesus is a serious offense to the honor and glory of your God. It is an affront to his love and an insult to
his sacrifice. Would you continue to be kind to someone you
had sacrificed so much for but someone who constantly distanced themselves from
you and claimed to never even know you?
After a while, wouldn’t you just stop bothering with them at all?
Jesus is
Someone to be Proud of
Thankfully
your Lord does not stop “bothering” with you.
He doesn’t cut off ties with you.
He doesn’t just leave you alone.
How could he after all he’s been through for you? How could he after all he’s given up for
you? When no one else wanted you, he
did. When no one else could possibly
repair the damage you had done, he did.
When no one else was willing to put in the time and the effort and the
sacrifice to win you back, he did. He
bloodied himself for you before you even knew who he was! He gave up his life for you before you were
even alive! He made you his own dear
child when you were still his enemy. He
sacrificed everything for you! And you
didn’t ask him to do it, you didn’t pay him to do it, you didn’t even know he
was going to do it. And so Jesus is not
going to turn his back on you now! He’s
invested way too much time in you to drop you on the spur of the moment. He’s invested way too much pain in you to
just walk away. He has fought for
you. He has won for you. He has been watching out for you before you
were born. And he still speaks up for you
today when you need it the most.
When
Satan stands before God and accuses you, your Jesus speaks up, “No, they are
not guilty. I was the guilty one. I paid the price. I took the death sentence. They cannot and will not be held
accountable.” And whenever we pray to
our God, Jesus once again speaks up, “I present to you their prayers,
Father. Hear them for my sake. Listen to them because they believe in
me. And answer them according to your
love.” And when that Last Day arrives
and the Judge sits down on his throne, Jesus will speak up for you once again
with the gavel in his hand, “I have written your name down in my book of
life. You are not guilty. You are free.
I have granted you the right to enjoy the glories of heaven for the rest
of eternity. And no one can overrule my
decision.” Your Lord does not hesitate
to speak up for you. Because he loves
you. He is proud that you are his own.
Everyone Should
Know
And
that’s something to be proud about, isn’t it!
The fact that the Lord is proud of you should fill you with pride! What a gracious God! What an amazing Lord! What a truly incredible Savior we have who
would do that for us and think that of us and say that of us! We truly are blessed to have Jesus himself on
our side who loves us so much! We truly
are blessed to be Christians!
So speak
up. Everyone should know that. Everyone should be fully aware how proud you
are to wear that name “Christian” and to carry that name “Jesus.” Not only because that is who you are, but
also because that is who you want others to be.
Because Jesus didn’t just die for you, did he? His words of eternal life aren’t just for
you, are they? No, he has died and has
risen for everyone! He has preserved his
Word and wants to share that word of Truth every human being who has ever
lived! So speak up! Let them know about your Savior because he’s
not just your Savior. He’s their
Savior too. But it will do them no good
if they don’t believe it.
Speak
up. Not in a way that’s “in your face”
but in a way that shows the face of Christ.
Speak up. Not in a way that
intrudes but in a way that invites.
Speak up. Not in a way that
sounds like you are apologizing but in the way Peter himself did. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life. We believe and
know that you are the Holy One of God.” Can
we make that confession together this morning?
Say that together with me if you would: “We believe and know that you
are the Holy One of God.” We believe and we know that. But will we
speak up so that others believe in him too?
Amen.
“Praise be to the
Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.” - Psalm 41:13
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