THE OVERCOMING LIFE
BY D. L. MOODY
RESULTS OF TRUE REPENTANCE
5. Confession of Christ.
If you are converted, the next step is confess it openly. Listen: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Confession of Christ is the culmination of the work of true repentance. We owe it to the world, to our fellow-Christians, to ourselves. He died to redeem us, and shall we be ashamed or afraid to confess Him? Religion as an abstraction, as a doctrine, has little interest for the world, but what people can say from personal experience always has weight.
I remember some meetings being held in a locality where the tide did not rise very quickly, and bitter and reproachful things were being said about the work. But one day, one of the most prominent men in the place rose and said:
“I want it to be known that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ; and if there is any odium to be cast on His cause, I am prepared to take my share of it.”
It went through the meeting like an electric current, and a blessing came at once to his own soul and to the souls of others.
Men come to me and say: “Do you mean to affirm, Mr. Moody, that I’ve got to make a public confession when I accept Christ; do you mean to say I’ve got to confess Him in my place of business, and in my family? Am I to let the whole world know that I am on His side?”
That is precisely what I mean. A great many are willing to accept Christ, but they are not willing to publish it, to confess it. A great many are looking at the lions and the bears in the way. Now, my friends, the devil’s mountains are only made of smoke. He can throw a straw into your path and make a mountain of it. He says to you: “You cannot confess and pray to your family; why, you’ll break down! You cannot tell it to your shopmate; he will laugh at you.” But when you accept Christ, you will have power to confess Him.
There was a young man in the West—it was the West in those days—who had been more or less interested about his soul’s salvation. One afternoon, in his office, he said:
“I will accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”
He went home and told his wife (who was a nominal professor of religion) that he had made up his mind to serve Christ; and he added:
“After supper to-night I am going to take the company into the drawing-room, and erect the family altar.”
“Well,” said his wife, “you know some of the gentlemen who are coming to tea are sceptics, and they are older than you are, and don’t you think you had better wait until after they have gone, or else go out in the kitchen and have your first prayer with the servants?”
The young man thought for a few moments, and then he said:
“I have asked Jesus Christ into my house for the first time, and I shall take Him into the best room, not into the kitchen.”
So he called his friends into the drawing room. There was a little sneering, but he read and prayed. That man afterwards became Chief Justice of the United States Court. Never be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: it is the power of God unto salvation.
A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him.
So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.
“Well,” said the chaplain, “you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right in the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don’t provoke them.”
For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked—
“By the way, did you take my advice?”
“I did, for two or three nights.”
“How did it work?”
“Well,” said the young man, “I felt like a whipped hound, and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed.”
“Well,” asked the chaplain, “how did that work?”
The young soldier answered: “We have a prayer-meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest.”
Oh, friends, I am so tired of weak Christianity. Let us be out and out for Christ; let us give no uncertain sound. If the world wants to call us fools, let them do it. It is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. Thank God for the privilege we have of confessing Christ.
There are five things that flow out of true repentance:
1. RTR Conviction
2. RTR Contrition
3. RTR Confession of sin
4. RTR Conversion
5. RTR Confession of Jesus Christ before the world