I invite you to turn with me in your copies of God's Word to the tenth chapter of the book of Romans. The tenth chapter of the book of Romans. We'll begin reading in the fourth verse. Romans 10, verse 4. Hear the Word of the Lord. Paul writes, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law. The man who does those things shall live by them. But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven. That is to bring Christ down from above. Or who will descend into the abyss. That is to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Thus far the reading of God's holy word, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall endure forever. Let's pray once more. Heavenly father, we thank you for your word. Give us the ears to hear, the eyes to see what you are telling us in it this day. May all things be to your glory. May we be hearers and doers of your word. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. The title of today's message is the inseparable union of believing and confessing Christ. The inseparable union of believing and confessing Christ had every intention of continuing our studies of Elijah the Tishbite, but this was so deeply on my heart that we're going to pause that. One more Lord's Day here. There's three parts to today's sermon. And the first thing we want to do is just look at the scripture that we read, look at the text and understand the meaning of what Paul is saying. And then secondly, we want to specifically consider the great importance that Paul places in the text on confessing Christ. And then thirdly, we want to define what it means to confess Christ. So briefly, let's look at the text and talk its meaning to make sure of it. This section that we just read of verses 4 through 11 of Romans 10 is breaking into, I trust we're all familiar with, a extended argument on the part of Apostle Paul. And he's discussing the relationship of the Jews and the Gentiles in the economy of God's redemption. And in this context, Paul's really belaboring the point that the Jews, the ethnic nation-state of Israel, had rejected the gospel. And Paul's contrasting really their wrongful use of the law with its true intent. Because the true intent of the law, the fulfillment of the law, should have been pointing nation-state Israel to Christ. That's what he says there at verse four. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. And then he quotes Moses in verse five. He says, Moses writes about the righteousness, which is of the law. The man who does those things shall live by them. In other words, if you were going to seek your own righteousness, as the Jews were, that's what Paul accuses them of and rightfully so in verse three of the chapter. If you were going to establish your own righteousness, you would need to obey the law. You would need to fully obey the law. So Paul's reminding them here in verse five, as he quotes Moses, that that's the standard full obedience. It's the one who does the commandments who shall live by them. And then he contrasts that in verse six. He says, but the righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven. That is to bring Christ down from above. Or who will ascend into the abyss that is to bring Christ up from the dead? What does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. Now, Paul's quoting here. He says that, he says, what does it say? He's quoting here from Deuteronomy chapter 30. And I want us to turn there to see this in context. We understand what Paul is saying. Deuteronomy chapter 30, and let's start in verse 11. You have here the choice given to Israel, the choice of life or death. Deuteronomy 30 verse 11. It says, for this commandment, which I command you today, is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. I just want to pause there and note that this word translated mysterious, that's a good translation. The Hebrew word palah means something that is surpassing or extraordinary. It's actually the word that's translated miracles. When God talks about performing his wonders on Egypt, he's saying, this is, this is not surpassing. This isn't extraordinary. This word, this commandment, which I'm commanding you today. It's not far off. It's, it's not in heaven. He says, verse 12, that you should say, who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it. Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it. But the word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. So what's being said here? The commandment's not far off. It's not in heaven. You don't need a liaison to go up to heaven and bring it back down to earth for you to have it. You don't need a courier to go and fetch it for you. It doesn't have to come from a far country and undergo import taxes. You don't need remote hands to package it and bring it to you. To the contrary, the word is near you, very near you, verse 14. It's already in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. So as we go back to Romans chapter 10, Notice Paul proclaiming Christ from that mosaic passage. And notice in verse six how he says, it's the righteousness of faith that's doing the speaking in this way. Now, I believe that the gospel is in Deuteronomy 30 here, but Paul is revealing that in its clarity. The righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven? Now we just saw in Deuteronomy that the reason they would be ascending to heaven is to bring back the commandment so they could know what that is to earth. And the reason they would go across the sea would be to bring back the commandment so they could know what it is. And so Paul in verse six here is saying, do not see in your heart who will ascend into heaven. He's saying, don't say who will go for us on behalf of us as a courier to heaven to bring back the word Christ from above. He says, don't say that. Don't say in order to obtain this faith, I need to get Christ who is in heaven to come down. I need someone to go and fetch Christ and bring him down. And until Christ comes from above, I cannot obtain the righteousness of faith. Paul's saying, don't say that. It's not true. Get that thinking out of your head. And then Paul fleshes out the second half of the Mosaic prohibition in verse seven, or who will ascend into the abyss? Who will go on behalf of me into the depths of the earth and bring Christ up from the dead? Moses had spoken in Deuteronomy 30 of going across the sea, but as Paul reveals the gospel from this mosaic utterance, he rewords it to be of Christ coming from the dead. In the depths of the earth, the abyss, the sea, you see the similarity of those things. So what is Paul saying in verse 7? He's saying, don't say I need someone. who can descend into the pit and bring up Christ with him from the dead. And until then, I cannot know the word. I cannot be saved. Are you living as though Christ hadn't been made flesh and come down from heaven? Are you living as though Christ hadn't been raised from the abyss and you need to go and get him? Paul saying, don't, don't say that. Do not say this within your heart. What does it say? Verse eight, the word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. Notice the nearness of the word here. This is the contrast. It's not in heaven where you need a liaison to go get it. It's not under the earth. It's near you. Deuteronomy very near you. It's the beauty of the gospel. You don't have to go somewhere. You don't have to get someone to go there on your behalf. The word of faith that we preach is near you. Stop making excuses. Stop looking for someone who will make the gospel accessible to you. And I want to pause right there and ask the question, are you doing that today? Children, are you doing that today? Are you looking for someone who will make the gospel accessible to you? Are you waiting for someone to bring Christ to you, to make you believe? That's the weighty question here, verses six and seven. And Paul is strongly warning against it. He's saying, don't fall for that. It's a trap. Stop waiting for someone to bring Christ to you. The word is already near you. It's in your mouth and in your heart. What word? The word of faith, which we preach. And now we arrive at the pinnacle of Paul's argument in verse nine. If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and you could render that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, God has raised him from the dead. You will be saved. You don't need someone to bring Christ to you because you already have the word of faith, which we preach. You already have the word and what remains left to do is to believe it and to confess it. You need to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. This is what brings you unto salvation. You will be saved. Verse nine is hitting both sides, if you will, of the incarnation. Because when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, what are you really doing? You're saying that the man, Jesus, that first century rabbi, was more than a man. You're saying that he's Lord. You're ascribing divinity. You're confessing that the word was made flesh. What is that? That's saying that Christ has come down from heaven. Dealing with the issue in verse six, Christ has already come down from heaven. When you say that Jesus Christ is Lord, you are saying the word was made flesh. You don't need to go and get Christ, he's already come, and now you need to confess that. And then, that's the first half. The second half is that you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. You don't need to bring Christ up from the dead. You don't need someone on your behalf to go and curry him back from the dead. He's already done that. You need to believe and confess that that has occurred. So Paul's dealing with the objections, the issues in verse six and seven by verse nine on both sides. And then in case his listener misses the point, he doubles down in verse 10 and repeats himself for with the heart one believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now in verse nine, Paul goes with the order of Deuteronomy, starting with the mouth and then with the heart. Moses had said, the word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart. Paul goes with that order in verse nine. But then here in verse 10, he flips it around and he gives the order in which the newborn believer experiences salvation. It's the heart believing unto righteousness. And then as a result of that belief, it's the mouth confessing unto salvation. And then verse 11 for the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Well, that's a brief introduction of the verses. We moved to our second point, which is the great importance of confessing Christ. As we've seen, as we're going to see, really, there's an inseparable union here between believing and confessing Christ. I trust you see it in the verses, but let's expound on it. Think carefully with me on verse 10 here. With the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Now, God knows our hearts. He knows our hearts better than we know them. He knows what we think. He knows our innermost thoughts. God does not need for us to say aloud something with our mouth in order for God to know what we're thinking or what we believe. He doesn't need that. He knows our innermost being. And yet despite this, Paul says that with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Now, this should be something that every one of us is very interested in today. See what Paul is saying here by inspiration. He says that with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Well, if this is indeed so, this is not optional for a believer. This is definitional of what it means to come to Christ and to identify with Christ. And notice carefully the language in verse 10. You don't confess Christ with your heart. You believe with your heart, you confess with your mouth. And here's the point, and please listen to this carefully. You don't really believe something in your heart toward God until you are willing to say it out loud to man. With the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now, saying something out loud is not a magical incantation that procures your salvation, lest anyone be confused. And those who might teach that are missing the entire point. The proof of your heart believing unto righteousness is made by the confessing of your mouth. And what this means is that if you've never confessed Christ with your mouth, you have very good reason to wonder if you have ever believed Christ with your heart. A believing heart produces a confessing mouth. And so if you're loitering at the threshold of confessing Christ, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for someone to bring Christ to you? Paul is commanding you by God, stop this. Stop making excuses that don't exist. The word of faith that we preach is near you. It doesn't need to be retrieved from heaven, nor from the abyss. It's in your mouth and it's in your heart. You know it. It's not Paul law. It's not mysterious. Believe unto righteousness. Confess unto salvation. Concerning these verses, Charles Hodge writes this, quote, those who are ashamed or afraid to acknowledge Christ before men cannot expect to be saved. The want of courage to confess is the decisive evidence of the want of heart to believe." Do you see this inseparable union of believing and confessing Christ? Friend, a believer is a confessor. You have not really believed Christ if you have not confessed Christ. Well, as we contemplate the great importance of confessing Christ, allow me to give you a further persuasion for obeying my text. Confessing Christ is not only necessary for your salvation, but it is the reason that God created you and it is your final destiny. Live how you may. Philippians 2 verse 9. Turn with me, please. This is that great Carmen Christi, the great hymn of Christ, and we're breaking into the middle of it. Philippians 2, verse 9. After the humility of Christ, his humbling himself, his emptying himself, therefore, Philippians 2, 9, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth. And notice this carefully. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father. Every tongue. There's an audible aspect to this. Do you get the impression that confessing Christ is meant to be the great business of life. Jesus Christ was exalted to this end that every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, if the first time that you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord is the occasion spoken of here in Philippians 2, friend, you're in trouble. Do not wait till then to confess him. But rest assured, this passage here, the hymn of Christ to Philippians 2, is teaching us that all of human history is culminating in this, a confession with the mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Well, I trust that that shows us the great importance of confessing Christ. We move now to the third point. What does it mean to confess Christ? In other words, how does that work itself out experientially? What does confessing Christ with your mouth look like? Well, it was not Paul's intent in chapter 10 of Romans to go into details on that point. He's assuming a familiarity with what he's saying and he continues his line of argumentation regarding the nation of Israel. But as we compare scripture to scripture, one of the clearest places that it is fleshed out for us is in the very beginning of the New Testament church in Acts chapter 2. And I would ask you to turn there with me to Acts chapter 2. And really for the remainder of the sermon, we want to apply what Paul is saying in Romans 2, 10 in light of what Peter says in Acts chapter 2. Let's start in verse 36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Look at that. Jesus is Lord in Christ, the confession of Jesus, the Lord. And when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you and to your children and to all those who are far off as many as the Lord our God will call. Now Peter's answer is very instructive to us. If a reformed seminary graduate were asked nowadays, what should I do to be saved? The standard response would be something like repent and believe the gospel. That's not Peter's answer. Peter's answer is repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, why would he answer it this way? Here's why baptism is an essential part of confessing Jesus Christ. You see, confession is how you demonstrate your believing heart. And so what Peter's really saying here is he's saying, repent and believe in such a way that is demonstrable to both God and man. When he says, repent and be baptized, Peter is saying, repent and believe in your heart and show that you have believed in your heart by confessing with your mouth. What's up? a very healthy practice for the candidates of baptism to confess their faith with their mouth. We practice that here at Covenant Baptist Church. After all, how can you make your confession of Christ to the world if you cannot make it to the church? Peter's response here in verse 38 of Acts 2 makes it very clear that baptism is not this optional add-on that you maybe do after you've confessed Christ. Instead, baptism is one of the principal ways by which you confess Christ. This is why we speak of confessing Christ through the waters of baptism. And as we work this out, there's another very important thing that we don't want to miss in Acts chapter two, and that's this. The baptisms in Acts don't occur in a vacuum. The church didn't just baptize them and say, okay, you've confessed Christ, great, go on your way. Look at verse 40. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them saying, be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his words were baptized. And that day, about 3000 souls were added to them. What does that mean? 3000 souls were added to them. Added to who? To the church in Jerusalem. They weren't baptized and forgotten. No, they joined the church. They were added to the church. And notice the repetition of the language in verse 47. Let's back up, verse 46. Continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Notice that, added to the church. That's the biblical terminology. Added to the church. Those who were being saved were added to the church. So there's an inseparable chain of events here in Acts. All those in Acts 2 who repented were baptized. And all of those who were baptized were added to the church. If you were in Jerusalem and you wanted to know who in Jerusalem has repented of sin, how would you know? You would look at those who had been added to the church. And if you wanted to know who's not repented, who's not right with God, it's those who have not been added to the church. Now, as Baptists, we spend a lot of time making sure that everyone understands something that is very important, and that is, salvation is not in baptism, and salvation is not in the Church. And the Catholic Church wrongfully teaches that. We reject that. Scripture does not teach that. Salvation is not in baptism. Salvation is not in the Church. It's in Christ. A sinner does not convert to the Church. As the Catholics talk of it center converts to Christ, but friend do not allow the error of the Roman Catholic church. Excuse you from the weight of what Peter is saying in acts to repent and be baptized is how you believe and confess Christ. Nobody gladly received the word in Acts 2 who did not also become baptized and joined the church. You have not confessed Christ if you have not been baptized and joined the church of the living God. Have you done this? Have you confessed Christ? Have you been baptized? Have you joined his church in the local assembly? And if not, what is holding you back? You're not waiting for someone to bring Christ from heaven, are you? You're not waiting for someone to bring him from the abyss, are you? The word is near you. It's in your heart and in your mouth. Are you holding back because you're ashamed of Jesus? Are you ashamed to own him publicly? Are you afraid to appear before God and man and angels and demons and say, I am on the side of Christ? I make confession of Christ unto salvation. Friend, an unconfessed crisis, a saving was Christ. And your confession of Christ is nonexistent when you willfully neglect either baptism or uniting with Christ's church. Now, perhaps you're ashamed. Because you spent so much of your life having not confessed Christ. Perhaps you've loitered on the threshold and you're afraid to enter in. Maybe you say, I'm ashamed. I'm embarrassed to do this now. It's been too long. I'll just leave things like they've been. I cannot confess Christ with my mouth now. I cannot join the church. Friend, turn with me back to Romans 10. Let's look once more at verse 11. The scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. The only shame that you have to fear is the shame of having not believed and by extension confessed Christ. There's, there is no shame in confessing Christ. The only shame is in not confessing Christ, not believing Christ. And if you have not confessed Christ now, you are, you are in shame now and you will be in shame for eternity. In other words, Paul is using this issue of shame here, not as a deterrent, but as a means to compel you to believe and to publicly confess Christ, to believe with your heart and to confess with your mouth. The time to confess is now. You know, if you're not a part of the body of Christ, wind the clocks forward to when your family is weeping at your casket. What will they say? He never confessed Christ with his mouth. She never confessed Christ with her mouth. Well, more important than that, think about what you will hear when you appear before God. What will He say? He's not left us to wonder what He'll say. Turn with me to Luke chapter 12. We could have just as easily made this. The text. To start with Luke 12 verse 8. Also, I say to you. Whoever confesses me before men. Notice that this is public. Whoever confesses me before men, him the son of man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. Notice the contrast here. There's no neutrality here. You don't either, you can't say, well, I haven't confessed Christ, but I also haven't not confessed Christ. I haven't, I haven't denied Christ. No, you either confess Christ publicly before men or you deny him. And he says that either he will confess you before the angels of God, or else he will deny you before the angels of God. And he says that that will be determined by whether you have confessed him before God and before man. If you don't confess Christ, he'll say, you didn't confess me. Why should I confess you? You didn't confess me publicly. Why should I confess you publicly? And so what God is commanding you to do is to repent and confess Christ through baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins while there is time. That is what Peter urged his guilty audience unto. Now, perhaps you're a Christian who has been baptized. You profess Christ, or you did once upon a time in baptism, But you've not been added to a local church. It's the language in X to being added to the church. Well, as I read scripture, I fear that this is no less serious. Are you, are you robbing your baptism of its meaning? Do you make a mockery of baptism? When you're baptized, you're added to the local assembly, but are you a part of the local assembly now? Is your baptism as meaningless as a man's wedding ring when he doesn't live with his wife? Are you living as though you had never been baptized at all because you are not added to the church? Christ confessors identify with Christ's people. If you're not identifying and confessing Christ's people, you're not confessing Christ. Christ's people join with Christ's people. There in Hebrews, it says that Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers. Can you call yourself a Christian if you're ashamed to call us your brothers? There are no churchless Christians in scripture. And if this is you, I urge you to join the church's number. And by that, I don't just mean to darken the door of a church building and warm a pew. The biblical phrase there in Acts is having been added to the church. And just because you're in proximity to a pulpit does not mean you've been added to the church. Join yourself together and be faithful unto death to the church of God. Now it's true. No local assembly is perfect yet. But don't make those imperfections of God's church to be an excuse for your own disobedience. God's not going to look kindly to that. God deals with each one of us according to our acts and deeds. He's going to deal with us according to our obedience or our disobedience. There's no victimhood status in the courtroom of God. Well, I want to encourage those who have been baptized and who have been added to the church and who remain faithful with God's people. If you've confessed Christ publicly in baptism and you've united with his local assembly, take courage. Those who confess Christ continue to confess and proclaim Christ for the rest of their lives. We don't stop confessing Christ. It's not a one-time thing with baptism and then we're done. We continue to confess Christ. We don't stop. We confess him in the church and we confess him in the Coliseum. And Christ understands the importance of that. He has baked into the very DNA of how the church behaves a regular rhythm of corporate confession of Christ. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11. at the institution of the Lord's Supper. We'll just read verse 26. It's a familiar passage. He says, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. What is that? That is the public confession of Christ. That the word was made flesh. and died and rose again. And so Christ has built into our regular rhythms this corporate confession. He knows that we need that. We don't stop confessing Christ. We continue it. As often as you eat this bread, you proclaim the Lord's death. The Lord's Supper is observed by baptized believers who have been added to a local church. There's no getting around that in the book of Acts. They repent, they're baptized, they're added to the church, and then they break the bread. And what is Paul saying here? In the previous verse, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. In this context of the baptized believers who have confessed Christ in baptism and who are covenanting together, added to the church, Receive the new covenant in my blood. We drink the blood of the sacrifice. And by doing so, we proclaim our high priest. We confess our high priest who was accursed and pierced for our salvation. We confess Christ. Every time that we partake of that sacred ordinance, we confess and proclaim Christ until he comes. Oh, may that be true of everyone gathered here today. Will you not join with us in our corporate confession of Christ? If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus. and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, this searches our hearts. Lord, for those of us who have confessed you publicly, this takes us back to our own struggles with this, with our own fears of this, with the difficulty of going from not confessing Christ to confessing Christ. And we know that this does not come by flesh and blood. We cannot confess that you are the Christ by flesh and blood revealing it. These are things that are divinely given to us. Lord, for those who need to confess Christ publicly, for those who need to do so through baptism, for those who need to do so by being added to the church, Lord, we pray that you would give them the grace and the renewed zeal to do this. Lord, for those who have not believed in their heart that Jesus is Lord, and that you have raised him from the dead. May they believe that word that is not far from them, but that is already in their mouth and in their heart. They know these things. They don't need a liaison to go and get Christ for them from above or below. The word that we preach, the word of faith is before them. May they believe, and then having believed, may the proof of that be in the public confession of Christ. And Lord, for those of us who have confessed Christ, may we continue confessing Christ. We thank you for the blessed ordinance of the new covenant in Christ's blood, by which we proclaim his death until he drinks it with us new in the kingdom. Oh, Lord, may all those who gather with us join with us in the confession of Christ. May they not limp between two opinions. May they not be on the threshold of indecision. May they emphatically and with all their life say, I am with Christ and his people. May they not leave it ambiguous. At their funeral, whether they had confessed Christ faithfully, consistently, But may they, with all their heart and soul and mind and strength, confess Christ. May that be true of every one of us. You search our hearts, Lord. You know our frailty. You know that we have feet of clay. But give us the strength to say with Peter, you are the Christ. You, Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in the name of our mighty King. Amen.