Matthew 10_32-33       Stand Up For Jesus

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


STAND UP FOR JESUS



     "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?



=========================================================================

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

=========================================================================



Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick

Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Free Web Help generator