Admonition Podcast

If you would please turn your Bibles over to the book of First Timothy, chapter six, verse
twelve.

First Timothy six and verse twelve.

We frequently hear people refer to the phrase the good confession.

But what is the good confession?

What does it mean?

How does it affect us?

What does the Bible say about it?

These are all questions we seek to answer this evening.

So Paul begins in 1 Timothy 6, 1 through 12.

We read, starting in verse 11 and going through 16, but thou, O man of God,

Flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
meekness.

Fight the good fight of faith, laid hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called,
and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus,
who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.

That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which is in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and the only potent,

the king of kings, the Lord of Lords, who only hath immortality dwelling in the light
which no man can approach, unto whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and

power everlasting.

Amen.

Paul tells Timothy to lay hold of eternal life.

Now that phrase lay hold is very important.

For the men in here, maybe you've wanted to lay hold on one of your enemies.

That is a phrase that denotes that we have to hold on tightly.

You are not letting them get away.

In this context, he is telling them that we need to grab hold of this.

The eternal life that's being offered to us.

We must not let it go.

Because we have something special.

We have something worthwhile, something precious.

We have something, most of all, very much amazing.

And if we do that, we can have a relationship with our Creator.

We can have salvation through Jesus Christ, which ultimately leads us to a home in heaven.

We can have fellowship with the body of Christ.

And we should never let these things go.

So he says in first Timothy six and verse thirteen, quoting from the King James this time,
I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things, and before Christ, who

before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.

Now twice in these two passages in verse twelve and verse thirteen, Paul reminded Timothy
of the good confession.

He reminded Timothy of the confession that he had made, and that he had pointed also to
the good confession Jesus made.

Before Pontius Pilate.

So let's look at what is the good confession.

As we see in first, I'm sorry, I'm jumping ahead of myself, I'm not moving a hood.

Jesus made the fur the good confession.

Moving over to John 18 and verse 37, we see where Timothy is talking about Jesus going
before Pontius Pilate.

He stood before him, and Pilate asks him, Art thou a king then?

Quoting John eighteen and verse thirty seven, Pilate therefore said unto him,

Art thou a king then?

Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king.

To this end I was born, and for this cause came I unto the world, that I should bear
witness unto the truth.

Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Jesus was essentially telling Pontius Pilate, Yeah, I am a king.

But by answering the way that he did, he denotes something.

He says, Not only that he's a king, but he's a king of the kingdom of God, a spiritual
kingdom.

Not a physical.

This would imply that Jesus meant that he was the Messiah.

It would also mean that as the Messiah he would be the Son of God.

But before Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, he stood before the high priest in chapter
14, verses 61 and 62.

But he held his peace and answered nothing.

Again the high priest asked him and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?

And Jesus said, I am, and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power
and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Now when Jesus says, I am, he's not merely confessing that he was the Christ.

He was doing more.

He was declaring that he was God.

I am is what we have been given in the Bible for the name of God.

Aaron talked about this a little bit this morning, not to step on his toes.

But if we turn back to Exodus chapter 3 and verse 14, God says unto Moses, I am that I am.

And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent you unto me.

So Jesus says, I am.

You shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds
of heaven.

This is at a moment when most people would have broken and told a lie.

But Christ

was always honest.

So much so that this confession would have almost meant his certain death.

Jesus confessed what we know is the good confession.

Jesus stood before Pilate, the man who claimed to possess all power to release him or put
him to death.

Later he's told by Christ, You wouldn't have that power if it wasn't for my Father in
heaven, had made it so.

And yet he still confesses the good confession.

As Christians, this is the same confession we have made, and this is by the same
confession we're willing to live by.

Again, Christianity, being a Christian, is a job denotation.

We seek to be like Christ.

And if necessary, not only live by it, but die by the good confession.

But did you know that God confessed that Jesus is his son?

He made a good confession as well.

If we turn over to Matthew chapter 3, verses 13 through 17, we can read of the confession
God the Father makes about Jesus Christ.

It says, And I quote, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of
him.

But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Suffer it to be so now.

For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.

Then he suffered him.

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight away out of the water, and lo, the
heavens were opened unto him.

He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him, and lo a voice
from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Now if there was ever a question, even the tiniest doubt in the minds of those present,
that doubt is gone.

God spoke from the heavens.

And this should be in the mind of everyone that's heard this.

Jesus, though he was a man, was not merely a man.

Yes, he was one hundred percent man, but he was also one hundred percent God, and is the
Son of God.

God declares from the heavens for all those during that period and said, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

So later, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus appeared before Moses.

And Elijah I'm sorry, Jesus appeared with Moses before and Elijah before Peter, James, and
John.

So Peter writes, and he proclaims, Lord, it is good for us to be there, and suggested that
they build three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

But the voice came from heaven and made the record clear.

John 1 49.

I think I'm jumping around a little bit.

Having to catch up.

Matthew 16.

There we go.

Matthew 17, 4 through 5.

Then Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here, and if thou wilt, let
us make here three tabernacles: one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.

While he yet spake, you can almost see an interruption at this point during the
conversation, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

And behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well
pleased.

Hear ye him.

Not Moses, not Elijah, but Christ.

Then we see Moses and Elijah fading away.

The law of Moses and the prophets had served their purpose.

They had laid the foundation.

They were part of God's plan.

But now the work that they had done.

was leading up to what was coming to fruition.

Their work had brought history to the moment in which Jesus Christ would be crucified and
sacrificed.

Jesus would soon establish his kingdom in this world, but a kingdom not of this world,
that kingdom being the church.

So now let's look at the others who also made the good confession.

If we turn to John chapter one and verse forty nine, we read the excerpt of Nathaniel

Nathanael was willing to make the good confession.

And we read Nathaniel answered and said unto him, Rabbi, that being teacher, thou art the
Son of God, thou art the king of Israel.

Then we have Matthew chapter 16, verses 15 through 17.

We read of Peter himself.

Jesus asked his disciples who they believed him to be.

He wanted to know.

And Peter answered in Matthew 16, 15 through 17, he saith unto them, But who say ye that I
am?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon, Bar Jonah.

For flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven.

Jesus reminded Peter that this truth had been revealed to him by God.

And he's saying what a blessing it is to be able to make that good confession and stand
behind it as Peter was in the moment.

We also have Thomas, found in John chapter 20, verses 24 through 28.

Thomas had doubted that he was not present when Jesus first appeared to the apostles after
his resurrection.

But when Thomas stood before Jesus and saw the nail prints in his hands, he believed.

He saw the place where the spear had pierced his side, and ultimately proclaimed the good
confession as well.

So starting in verse twenty four of John chapter twenty, Thomas, one of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.

But he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails of the

And put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will
not believe.

That's a strong statement.

He wanted proof.

And rightly so.

God tells us earlier in the scriptures to prove the spirits.

After eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them, then came Jesus,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you.

It'd be startling to me if I have all the doors shut.

I have a private meeting with all my buddies, and then there pops in somebody out of
nowhere and says, Peace be still.

This is not like the surprise birthday party when you walk into the room and everyone's
there ready to yell at you.

You know everyone that's in the room, and Christ just seemingly appears there.

But then he says after he tells them essentially to calm down, he says to Thomas, reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my

side, and be not faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Thomas was willing after that point, and we don't see any indication from the scriptures
that he actually put his hands in there.

All we're told is the commands that he was given.

I would assume he obeyed, but I can't say for certain.

But he confesses something very strongly that we should all be willing to say.

Is he your Lord?

And is he your God?

Yes, we can call ourselves a disciple of Christ.

We can call ourselves Christians.

And I appreciate that.

I'm not asking whether or not you are a Christian, I'm asking if he is the Lord of your
life and is he the God of your life?

Now, what do I mean by that?

I mean when you must choose between the world and Christ on a daily basis, which one do
you lean towards?

Which one do you choose?

Do you choose the world or do you choose Christ?

When you make your plans to travel to speak with others,

Is God's presence at the top of your list, or is it an afterthought?

Far too many people serving Jesus and worshiping God treat it as matters of convenience.

Their service can be easily disregarded whenever something else more urgent or more
stressful comes up.

Being a Christian is not simply a matter of attending a worship service.

And it's not finding a worship service that pleases you because we're here to serve
Christ, not ourselves.

It's a matter of daily living.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

Saturday Sunday Do my decisions throughout the week demonstrate that Jesus is my Lord?

Remember we're told elsewhere in the Bible, you shall know them by their works.

Fruit of the lips only goes so far.

There is more to the good confession than merely uttering these words.

Yes, words are very important.

If they weren't, Saul probably would have remained named Saul.

But we see his name changed to Paul, because there was a shift in his entire life.

It's more than praying prayers, it's more than singing songs, it's more than sitting awake
through the sermon after you've had too much to eat.

It means sacrificing myself to the Lord.

Did you know that angels and demons even made the good confession?

Let's look at the angels.

Luke chapter two and verse eleven.

At the birth of Jesus, the angel proclaimed, and I quote, For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Now, what about the demons?

There are several occasions in Scripture in which demons made this confession.

We're going to look at one example, which is found in Mark chapter 5, verses 6 through 7,
and ultimately verse 13 as well.

This was the occasion involving legion.

A man was possessed by so many demons that the chains that they would hold him by could
not hold him.

Approximately 2,000 swine ended up violently running down a steep place off a cliff and
were drowned.

All of those demons had been dwelling within one man.

When they saw Jesus, they immediately pleaded with him.

They begged him, and they confessed his identity, and we see it written here.

But when they saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, he being the one filled with
all the demons.

Jesus wasn't even up to him yet, and they knew of his presence.

We see in verse seven, and cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee,
Jesus?

Thou son of the most high God.

I I adjure thee by God, I am begging you that thou torment me not.

Skipping down to verse thirteen, and forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the unclean
spirits went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place

into the sea, and they were choked by the sea.

This helps us later understand why James later wrote in James two nineteen, Thou believest
that there is one God, thou doest well.

The demons believe and also tremble.

Where does that put the atheist?

They have less belief than even the demons.

But here we have an example of two thousand plus demons immediately admitting the good
confession that Jesus Christ is Lord and God.

There will there are people in this world that will tell you that belief or faith alone is
sufficient.

That is wrong.

There are people who will tell you that you can be saved by, and I quote, faith only.

But let's look at the same passage in James chapter 2, in verse 24.

I can kill that idea with one verse.

That's all it takes.

James declares in James 2 24 ye see then that by works a man is justified, and not by
faith only.

Faith only doctrine?

Out the window.

Done.

Defeated.

One verse.

Doesn't take much.

It is one thing to say that you have faith, and it is a totally different thing to have a
faith that is in practice.

Because that's what faith is by definition, is belief in obedience, in action.

Did you know that this confession, this good confession, is made unto salvation?

Romans ten ten says, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Now I want to point out that there is a discrepancy in the new international inter in the
NIV.

My words will come out.

And some other translations of which we need to be aware.

The NIV and some other modern translations use a process of translation that we call
dynamic equivalence.

It's a fancy term, but rather than attempting to take the word from the Greek language and
translating it specifically into the English language, the translators attempt to believe

what they believe is the meaning of the verse and put it into the verse instead of word
for word.

So instead of a word for word translation, you're giving a thought for thought
translation.

Does anybody see the danger in that?

It's a rhetorical question.

You should shake your heads yes.

I don't know about you, but I don't want a man's thoughts standing between me and the Word
of God.

Do you?

You can shake your heads like this.

Because when they do this, they can insert their interpretations or thoughts into God's
words for me.

They can dilute it, and we want pure truth.

Here's an example of how doctrinal biases can be entered in the Bible a person reads when
this method of translation is used.

The NIV, and I I forgot to add the slide here, but the NIV uses Romans ten in this way.

And I quote the NIV for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.

And it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Do you see the distinction between the two?

I hope we do.

There's a very important word that has been changed.

And when you change even a single word, you change the meaning of the entire passage.

Romans 10 10 says, With the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

Well now, what does what is the word unto matter?

It's a small word.

It's very big word.

Every jot, every tittle, every dot in an I, crossing of a T, all of that is important in
God's Word.

The word translated unto in the Greek is the word ace.

Epsilon, iota, sigma.

That's E-I-S, if we're anglicizing it.

One biblical dictionary defines ace as a proper preposition meaning into, to, in, at, on,
by, near, amongst, or concerning.

When used with an infinitive in the sentence, it denotes purpose and sometimes result.

Notice I say sometimes result, not always result.

In other words, when Romans 10 10 says that the confession is made unto salvation, that
means that that confession is made towards the progression of achieving said salvation.

It is a step up to the top of the ladder.

It is not the top wrong.

The confession is part of one's movements towards salvation.

It does not teach that confession alone immediately completes the entire process.

I have a note here from Thayer's Greek lexicon.

It defines ace with words such as, very similar to what we saw of the English dictionary
into, unto, towards, for, and among.

So why does that matter?

It matters because there are lots of other places in the Greek text where you are going to
see the word ace, Epsilon, Ioda, Sigma.

One of those passages is Acts two thirty eight.

Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Now taking this in context, we're going to leave off the end part.

Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

That was for those that were present in the time.

The word translated for in Acts 238, for the remission of sins, is that same Greek word
ace we just went over.

Many people, because they want to teach salvation by faith, only claim that Peter was
saying, Well, be baptized because your sins have already been forgiven.

Does that make any sense?

Not when we take it contextually and we look at the actual meaning of the word.

Ace never, ever, ever, ever, ever.

How many times do we have that?

Ever means because of.

So we can scratch that idea from our books.

It does not look backward.

Ace is a word that looks forward unto something, it indicates movement.

Progression towards and that's very important to remember.

Something else that we should remember because it's very important.

Christ is willing to confess those that are willing to confess him.

Let's look at what Jesus said in Matthew ten, verses thirty two through thirty three.

Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my
Father which is in heaven.

But we have a distinguishing here.

Whosoever shall deny me before men, will I also deny my f before my Father, which is in
heaven.

Excuse me.

The confession we make is not merely composed of the words we speak.

It's composed of the actions we take.

It includes the life that we live.

Our confession is one that has eternal significance.

Jesus says, if we confess him, he'll confess us.

But if we don't confess him, if we deny him, he'll deny us.

That has eternal ramifications for all of us.

What horror would it be to die, stand before the judgment seat, to kneel before God, and
to hear him say what's quoted in Matthew 7.

And verse twenty three And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Let me be clear, there is absolutely nothing in this world.

There is no one in this world that is worth hearing these words.

Every one will confess Christ.

And we see that as presented in Philippians two verses nine through eleven.

Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every other
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in

earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of the Father.

Every tongue is going to confess.

Whether you believe me or not, now you will confess.

When we stand before our Lord in judgment, I promise you there will be no atheists.

There will be no doubt.

There will not be a single person who no longer believes.

Today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day of mercy.

Today God is long suffering, thank God, and He's being very patient with us.

But the time of judgment is coming when every tongue will profess.

Luke chapter six and verse forty six says, And why call ye me Lord Lord?

And do not the things which I say.

It is not good enough simply to call him your Lord and your God.

If he actually is, our actions outside of this building will profess that on a daily
basis.

They will see how we are different as Christians.

It is not good enough to simply come to church every Sunday, every Sunday evening, and
every Wednesday night.

This is not a job where you punch the punch card.

This is who you are.

Another warning we get is Matthew chapter seven verses twenty one through twenty three.

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Now I've been told by many people that there's such a thing as a sinner's prayer.

And if I just say that prayer, I'm good.

Tell me, how does that stack up with what Christ tells us here?

It doesn't, does it?

It's a rhetorical question again.

But he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven, many will say unto me that
day, Lord,

Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?

In thy names have we not cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then I will profess unto them I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

So a question I want us to ask today is

When will we confess him?

Notice I did not ask if you would confess him.

You will confess it.

You will.

Whether you believe it or not, you will.

The question is when you will confess Christ.

Will you confess him now in obedience to be saved?

Or will you confess him in judgment in fear of what's about to happen?

Because today you have the choice.

In the day of judgment, which could be even as early as tomorrow.

We don't know.

We're not told that time.

The choice will no longer be available.

Second Corinthians six and verse two says, Today is the day of salvation.

For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I
succored thee.

Behold, now is the accepted time.

Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Hebrews three and verse fifteen.

While it is said, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the
provocation.

Today, if you would come to him, confess that he is the Son of God, having repented of
your sins, turned away from that life of sin, to make him Lord of your life, you're

willing to change that way upon that confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and
are baptized for the remission of your sins in his name, that enters you into his kingdom.

That allows you to come in contact with the blood of Christ, which washes away all of your
sins, because it enables us to experience his death, his burial, and his resurrection

ultimately coming up out of the water.

We see that in Romans chapter six, verses three through six.

Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized unto his death?

Therefore, and when you see the word therefore, you always have to back back up to the
verse before and see.

What that word's there for.

Because so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death.

Because of this fact, we are buried with him by baptism into death, he says.

That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the
likeness of his resurrection.

Knowing this,

That our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and
henceforth we should not serve sin.

That brings us back to Acts two hundred thirty eight, that baptism is for ace unto the
remission of sins.

It's part of the process that gets you there.

First Peter three and verse thirty two, the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also
now save us, not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good

conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And when you've done that, God's willing to add you to his kingdom.

And we see that in Acts two forty seven.

Praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved.

So would you come?

Will you give yourself to him?

Is he truly Lord of your life or up until this point has it simply been lip service?

You know the answer to that.

God knows the answer to that.

Please do not leave here tonight with anything less than certainty about your salvation.

So tonight I ask if you have a need to make the good confession, we stand ready and
willing to help you make that decision as we come together, as we stand and as we go.