Acknowledge Christ Before Men

"Acknowledge Christ Before Men"

So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father Who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father Who is in heaven." Matthew 10:32-33

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)
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.

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.

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 each of us 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.

"Acknowledge me before men," says the Lord. Publicly profess your faith. Be witnesses to Christ in word and deed.

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)

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?

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. 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.

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.

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.”