Deny

Deny (by David Peterson)

While in Capernaum, Jesus addressed His 12 disciples before sending them out into the world. Jesus warned them that the world would be hostile to them and they will be like sheep subjected to wolves. Then, in Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus states: “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

While Luke 12:8-9 echoes these same warnings, Jesus informs His followers of the rewards of acknowledging Him as Lord. Jesus goes on to also warn of the consequences of denying Him as our Savior.

Pastor Alistair Begg once wrote: “When the Bible speaks of fools and folly, it is referring not to mental deficiency but moral perversity … First, we deny God’s existence (Psalm 14:1), and then we deny life’s values.” Begg refers to Psalm 14:1 that quotes what the corrupt fool said in his heart that there is no God. As an abominable deed, when we deny God then the entire fabric of our world will fall apart.

Hymn writer, Will Lamartine Thompson wrote “Jesus Is All the World to Me” in 1904. This powerful admission to Jesus as our Lord and Savior addresses denial in stanza 3:

Jesus is all the world to me,

And true to Him I'll be;

Oh, how could I this friend deny,

When He's so true to me

Following Him I know I'm right,

He watches o'er me day and night;
Following Him by day and night,
He's my friend.

A truly faithful believer realizes the strength and might of Jesus and denial of this truth is unfathomable.

Let us Pray: Resurrected Jesus, teach us to follow you through thick and thin, highs and lows, and in times of want along with times of abundance. Help us remember that you are with us always! Amen.