HAVE YOU DENIED CHRIST

HAVE YOU EVER DENIED CHRIST?

In our world [and these last days] it is not uncommon for both women and men to deny Jesus Christ. What a shame this is! What a tragedy it is for their eternal well being. Perhaps YOU have denied Jesus Christ without even knowing that you were doing so; this could be true with many as there are several different ways in which we can deny Christ. Let us examine the ways that Jesus Christ can be denied.

The most obvious way in which Christ can be denied can be seen in the denial of the apostle Peter: (Matt. 26:69-75) “Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. ⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. ⁷¹And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. ⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. ⁷³And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. ⁷⁴Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.” This is of a verbal denial, did Peter know different than the words he spoke? We have the assurance of his own words to prove that he knew better: (Matt. 16:16) “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” What made the difference? The answer is simply CIRCUMSTANCES. Did Peter regret his denial of Jesus? Sure he did, that is why he “went out wept bitterly”; which led to his repentance!

Even in the day and time of Peter he did not stand alone in denying Jesus Christ. At about the same time the Jews also denied Jesus; I’m referring to the time just prior to the crucifixion of Christ: (John 18:40) “Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.” Luke records this for us: (Acts 3:14-15) “But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; ¹⁵And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. So we see one way in which Jesus can be denied; but there are others!

Some may confess Jesus verbally, yet deny Him by their practices: (Titus 1:16) “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” To deny God is to also deny Jesus as Jesus is God: (John 1:1) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” By their “works” many are denying Jesus to this very day.

Some deny Jesus Christ by their doctrine: (2 Tim. 1:8) “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,” This could be closely related to the verbal denial of Christ; but it could also simply be by omission [I.e. failing to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Son of God].

Those who deny Christ could and should be labeled as an antichrist: (1 John 2:22–23) “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. ²³Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” The word “antichrist” really explains itself.

Before closing I would also like to mention the consequences of denying Jesus. The consequences of denying Christ are very grave and eternal, therefore I feel compelled to make note of them! From the above scripture [1 John 2:23] we learn that if we deny Christ we don’t even have God as our Father. Friends, be very careful in all of your actions so as not to deny Jesus Christ, the Son of God.