Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, *I* also will confess him before my Father who is in [the] heavens.
The Lord has been preparing His messengers for a hostile world, promising them the Father's care. Now He turns to what they must do for Him: speak up for Him in front of others, and hear Him speak up for them.
The verse begins a new section of the chapter. It sets the Father's care beside something still to come.
From verse 32 to the end of the chapter, we have the importance of the confession of Christ, and the effects of it in this world. We have had the Father's care; we have now the Son's confession by and by. The Father's care we know upon earth, whatever may be the trial. The Son's confession of us will be in heaven, when all the scene of trial is over.
Confession starts where faith starts. It does not stop with the first words.
Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord, such a person confesses Him before men. This confession of Him is ever to increase, not only with the lips but in the conduct and the life. So every true believer is a confessor of Jesus as Lord, and the Lord in His day will confess him before His Father.
That rules out treating the promise as attached to one ceremony or a single public occasion.
Matthew 10:32 does not refer specially to the act of baptism. Our whole life should be a testimony for Christ. The Christian himself is "the epistle of Christ, known and read of all men."
The difficulty is never confessing Christ where nobody is listening. The Lord puts His finger on the exact place where courage fails.
The Lord sees the difficulties they will meet, and cheers them by saying, "If you confess Me before men, I will confess you before the angels of God." And notice how the Lord knows how to put His finger on the very point of the difficulty: "If you confess Me before men." It is not whether they could think of Him in their private rooms. Of course they could do that, if they cared for Him at all. But that is not it. Do they "confess Me before men?" Sadly, how often we cannot find courage to confess Christ openly "before men," when we can do it in private. But this is simply a test of how far the fear of man has more power over our souls than God.
Darby quotes the matching words in Luke, where the Lord promises to confess us before the angels of God. John's Gospel gives a real example of this failure.
Ungodliness betrays itself not only in the unwillingness of the heart to believe, but in the cowardice of the soul to confess the Lord (Rev. 21:8). So we see here that "many even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue." Their moral reason was this: they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God... But we must not forget this: "with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved" (Rom. 10:10). God makes much of confession of His Son.
What the Lord offers in return is not a payment but a naming, spoken by Him in the highest presence there is.
To be valued so greatly by the Father surely calls for a fitting response on our part — that response of fearlessly confessing Christ before men. He is far more than worthy of this. But this too will bring a response from the Lord Jesus, in confessing before His Father the one who confessed Him before men. Wonderful honour indeed given to the wholehearted believer!
The second half of the Lord's saying changes one word, and the change is easy to miss. It also leaves the door open to the one who repents.
But they must confess Christ before men. Whoever confessed Him before men, He also would confess before His Father in heaven. But whoever denied Him, He also would deny before His Father — He could not now say their Father — in heaven. Grace never sets aside the holiness of God, but shapes us to meet its conditions. At the same time, God's holiness does not set aside grace, which always receives the one who repents. The chief of the apostles gives us the illustration of this.
The appeal, then, falls on anyone still undecided.
Are there any of you who are hesitating between two opinions, and afraid to confess what you owe to the Lord? Oh, I once more urge you to be honest. Be open, be decided, confess Christ's name on earth, and He will not be ashamed to confess your name before the whole assembled universe.
- Cared for — the Father's care comes first, and it is ours on earth now. The Son's confession of us waits for heaven, when the trial is over.
- Confess with the mouth — it begins with believing and saying that Jesus is Lord. Then it grows in conduct and life, until the whole life is the testimony.
- Confess before men — private devotion was never the hard part. The words "before men" test how far the fear of man has more power over us than God. The rulers believed, but they stayed silent.
- Confessed by Him — the Lord Jesus will name us before His Father. He will not be ashamed to confess our name before the whole assembled universe.
- Or denied — denial meets denial, and the Lord no longer says "their Father." Yet holiness never cancels the grace that receives the one who repents, as the chief of the apostles shows.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will *I* also deny before my Father who is in [the] heavens.
Jesus is sending His twelve apostles into a world that will hate them, and He names the test that decides everything: does a person own Him in front of others, or disown Him? The warning raises hard questions — is this Peter's sin, and can a believer fall under it?
Verses 32 and 33 open the last part of the Lord's charge. They set earth and heaven side by side.
From verse 32 to the end of the chapter, we have the importance of confessing Christ, and the effects of it in this world… We have had the Father's care. Now we have the Son's confession, later on. We know the Father's care on earth, whatever the trial may be. The Son's confession of us will be in heaven, when all the scene of trial is over.
The Lord does not ask what a person thinks of Him in private. He asks about the moment when other people are listening.
It is not whether they could think of Him in private. Of course they could do that, if they cared for Him at all. But that is not the point. Do they "confess me before men?" How often we cannot find the courage to confess Christ openly "before men," when we can do it alone at home! This is a simple test of how far the fear of man has more power over our souls than God.
Silence can itself be denial. One writer points to leaders who believed but kept quiet:
Ungodliness shows itself not only in a heart that refuses to believe, but in a soul too cowardly to confess the Lord (Revelation 21:8). We see it here: "many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue." And the reason is plain: they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
How far does denying Christ go? One writer draws a sharp line:
To deny Christ, we understand to mean not a sudden fall into temptation, like Peter, but a total and absolute denial. It shows that, whatever a person claimed before, there had never been any reality in the soul… So here Christ will deny those who deny Him. That is, He will reject them finally and completely.
But what about the one who falls and then repents?
Grace never sets aside the holiness of God; it brings us into line with what that holiness requires. And God's holiness does not set aside grace, which always receives the one who repents. The leading apostle gives us the illustration of this.
Denial is not a small social awkwardness. It touches the honour of a Person, and of His Father.
Men do not stop to consider the solemn horror and dishonesty of denying the Son of God the rights that are His alone. This is not only an insult to Him, but also to His Father. The name of His beloved Son is precious to Him beyond all we can imagine.
So the answer is not revenge but necessity:
God would cease to be God, if He went along with the dishonour of His Son.
Look closely at whose Father is named on each side of the sentence.
Whoever confessed Him before men, He would also confess before His Father in heaven. And whoever denied Him, He would also deny before His Father — He could not now say their Father — in heaven.
The answer to fear is a decision:
Dear friends, stand forward for Him. Do not be ashamed to own your relationship to Him, your dependence on Him… confess Him before men, and act for Him, and live for Him in a godless world. He is not ashamed to call you brothers. Will you be ashamed to confess Him as your Lord and Master in front of the whole world? … Make the plunge, and trust God for the outcome. I know it by experience, that an open bold confession of being Christ's is more than half the struggle over.
- Test. The question is not what you think of Christ in private. It is whether you own Him "before men" — the test of whether fear of people has more power over you than God.
- Denial. This is not a stumble under pressure. It is a settled, total disowning — proof that there was never any reality in the soul.
- Grace. Holiness does not cancel grace. Grace always receives the one who repents — and the leading apostle is the proof.
- Verdict. Christ must answer denial, because to shrug at the dishonour of God's Son would mean God ceasing to be God.
- Courage. He is not ashamed to call you His brother; the open confession, made at once, is more than half the battle already won.