Among the remarkable sayings of our Lord, His statement that "whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8, 9) strikes at the heart of the Christian witness.
In these words the Master divides the human race and nominal Christendom into just two classes—those who confess Christ, and those who deny Him. At first glance it may appear to be a superficial distinction. We may be inclined, all too quickly, to classify ourselves among those who confess Christ, and completely miss the much deeper meaning involved.
One of the most enlightening comments on this text is found in The Desire of Ages, page 357: "He who would confess Christ must have Christ abiding in him. He cannot communicate that which he has not received. . . . A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him, whatever the profession. Men may deny Christ by evil speaking, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the pursuit of sinful pleasure. They may deny Him by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behaviour, by the love of their own opinions, by justifying self, by cherishing doubt, borrowing trouble, and dwelling in darkness. In all these ways they declare that Christ is not in them."
Thirteen separate and distinct ways in which we may deny Christ are listed in this quotation. Near the head of the list is "evil speaking." Let us think of our words for a moment. The muscle tone in our tongue is probably better than in any other part of the body. We give it more exercise. The number of words we speak in a day may be anywhere from four to seven thousand. Little wonder that James said: "If
any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2). The wise man adds: "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise" (Prov. 10:19). The value of right conversation is set forth in Counsels on Health, page 416: "Let your words be select; this will close a door against the adversary of souls. . . . His [God's] angels are ever by your side, making a record of your words, your deportment, and the manner in which your work is done."
Evilspeaking
Ellen G. White labels evilspeaking as a denial of Christ (The Desire of Ages, p. 357). The apostle Peter says: "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile" (1 Peter 3:10). In this matter of evil speaking the speaker is hurt even more than the hearer, for "evilspeaking is a twofold curse, falling more heavily upon the speaker than upon the hearer. He who scatters the seeds of dissension and strife reaps in his own soul the deadly fruits. . . . The sin of evilspeaking begins with the cherishing of evil thoughts."—Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 176, 177.
"Closely connected with Christ's warning in regard to the sin against the Holy Spirit is a warning against idle and evil words. The words are an indication of that which is in the heart. . . . But the words are more than an indication of character; they have power to react on the character. Men are influenced by their own words."—The Desire of Ages, p. 323.
Foolish Talking
Perhaps a temptation more common than evilspeaking is that of foolish talking. This also is a denial of Christ. The wise man has said, "The thought of foolishness is sin," (Prov. 24:9). Jesus Himself warned, "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matt. 12:36, 37).
"All frivolous words, all lightness and trifling, are enticements of the enemy to deprive you of spiritual strength. Brace yourselves against this evil, in the name of the God of Israel."—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 133. And in Messages to Young People, page 129, we read: "Those who profess to believe the third angel's message often wound the cause of God by lightness, joking, and trifling."
This does not mean that Christians should be sullen and constantly grim. The true Christian is radiant, happy, and enthusiastic. He is cheerful and optimistic. His good humor is wholesome. His inner life is incongruent with the shallow trifling and ribald joking so common in the world today. We do well to remember that "a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Prov. 25:11). In Testimonies, volume 3, page 109, it is stated, "Words unfitly spoken will be the reverse. Their influence will be like desolating hail."
"If Christ is abiding in the soul there will come forth from the treasure house of the heart words which are pure and uplifting; if Christ is not abiding there, a satisfaction will be found in frivolity, in jesting and joking, which is a hindrance to spiritual growth and a cause of grief to the angels of God. The tongue is an unruly member, but it should not be so. It should be converted; for the talent of speech is a very precious talent. Christ is ever ready to impart of His riches, and we should gather the jewels that come from Him, that, when we speak, these jewels may drop from our lips."—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 173..
Justifying Self
The pride of one's own opinions and the justification of self is another form in which we may deny Christ. This touches a sensitive spot in our lives. While it is commendable to be unyielding when it comes to principle, it is a virtue to be somewhat flexible with regard to opinions.
The apostle Paul strongly admonished the early believers in this matter: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Phil. 2:3). "Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits" (Rom. 12:16).
Satan was the first created being to practice self-justification. How readily fallen man followed in his folly is seen by the way in which Adam and Eve sought to justify their departure from God's command. The devil would make it appear more virtuous to justify self than to admit error when faced with censure, reproof, or criticism. On this point the devil confronts men with one of his most subtle temptations: "When God's messages of warning are brought home to the conscience, Satan leads men to justify themselves, and to seek the sympathy of others in their course of sin."—The Great Controversy, p. 500.
Love of Our Own Opinions
We are also denying Christ in the love of our own opinions. A personal testimony in Testimonies, volume 3, page 244, directed toward one steeped in the love of his own opinions, emphasizes this point: "You are arbitrary. You have a set will of your own to maintain, and although the opinions of others may be correct, and your judgment wrong, yet you are not the man to yield. You hold firmly to your advanced opinion, irrespective of the judgment of others." Describing the attitude of one of the brethren, the servant of the Lord says that when he "has formed an opinion, and expressed it in his family or in the church with considerable confidence and with some publicity, he is then inclined to make it appear that he is right by every argument he can produce. He is in danger, great danger, of closing his eyes and violating his conscience by his persistency."— Ibid, vol. 4, p. 239.
One of the problems at the root of the love of one's own opinions is illustrated in the following story. In one neighborhood quite a tumult was created by a cat and dog fight. Finally the dog chased the cat up a telephone pole. There it perched, while the neighborhood children watched. When called to supper the children went to their respective homes, each one feeling very sorry for the cat on top of the pole. Throughout the evening, young eyes peered many times through the window in the darkness to see whether the cat was still there.
In the morning, rushing to the window, the children were surprised to see that the cat had remained on top of the pole during the entire night. They were hurried off to school and had little time to think about it again until they returned in the evening and to their great surprise they found that the cat was still on top of his perch. They became very sympathetic. The poor cat had had no food or water. Why didn't it come down? They called it, they coaxed it, but the cat remained where it was. Finally, they persuaded their parents to do something to rescue the cat. The fire department was called. With truck and ladder a line-
man climbed to the rescue. As he was carrying the cat down the ladder, he was heard to say: "The only thing wrong with this cat is that he has never learned to back down."
Unity in the Church
There are occasions where it is virtuous to know how to back down. There is in this principle a secret of church unity: "There have ever been in the church those who are constantly inclined toward individual independence. They seem unable to realize that independence of spirit is liable to lead the human agent to have too much confidence in himself, and to trust in his own judgment rather than to respect the counsel and highly esteem the judgment of his brethren, especially of those in the offices that God has appointed for the leadership of His people. . . . Those who are inclined to regard their individual judgment as supreme, are in grave peril. It is Satan's studied effort to separate such ones from those who are channels of light, through whom God has wrought to build up and extend His work in the earth."—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 163, 164.
If one examines carefully the thirteen points mentioned in the quotation from The Desire of Ages, he is constrained to exclaim: "Who is sufficient for these things?" How utterly hopeless is our self-righteousnessl How much we need a new sense of our dependence on the indwelling Christ! We flee to the foot of the cross, there to confess our natural waywardness and crown Christ King of our lives. Only through Him can we receive the gift of victory.
Victory Is Ours in Him
"Now thanks be unto God who always leads us forth to triumph with the Anointed One, and who diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14, a literal translation).
"When you are forgotten or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you smile inwardly, glorying in the insult or the oversight, because thereby counted worthy to suffer for Christ—That is victory.
"When your good is evil spoken of; when your wishes are crossed, your taste offended, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you take it all in patient, loving silence—That is victory.
"When you are content with any food, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God—That is victory.
"When you can lovingly and patiently bear with any disorder, any irregularity, any unpunctuality, or any annoyance—That is victory.
"When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or to record your own good works or to itch after commendation; when you can truly love to be unknown—That is victory.
"When, like Paul, you can throw all your suffering on Jesus, thus converting it into a means of knowing His overcoming grace; and can say from a surrendered heart: 'Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities. . . . I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake (2 Cor. 12:9, 10)—That is victory.
"The perfect victory is to 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ,' and thus to triumph over one's self (Rom. 13:14)."
—Our Reminder, vol. 11, No. 5, October, 1947.