Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Matt. 10:32.

This verse is part of Christ's counsel to His disciples by way of encouragement in face of persecutions they will be called upon to endure. The confession involves our coming out as Christ's followers under all circumstances and in face of all hazards. It includes every kind of confession involving the whole course of one's life.

We are not to let other men influence us to the contrary, not even members of our own household. To please men rather than God is to submit to a multitude of lords, all sinful, weak mortals. It is a small thing to be judged by man's judgment in comparison with the judgment Christ will render before His Father in heaven. Let us not fear the opposition of those who are aroused by the Christian stand we take. If we are going to triumph with the truth, we can find no better time than now. Many a Christian young man drafted into the Army has been called upon to stand alone, to suffer ridicule and disdain, even court martial, because of his firm position of obedience to the Commandments.

Let us not become apologetic about what we believe. The Christian faith is not a frail thing. We are to enter courageously into a personal witness to Christ, to do it with the firm belief that there are those who listen to us who will take us seriously and desire to know the truth. It is not as difficult or as unacceptable to others as we sometimes think. Let us not make our religion an exclusive thing, but the guiding and the main thing in life. Increasingly we are to set Christ before us. "In all thy ways acknowledge him."

When Christ has become an experience we are bound to let others know it one way or another. This cannot be kept secret. The more we are partakers of Christ's righteousness, purity, integrity, beauty of character, the more we are enabled to witness to it. What a crucial issue it is—whether Jesus will confess or deny us before the Father and before the angels in heaven