Go public with your faith !

Matthew 10:32-33

Matthew 10:32-33, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Every day in a multitude of different ways God calls upon us to confess Jesus Christ before men. Consider with me about the different ways His call comes. V 26-31, The first characteristic of a true disciple is do Not fear the Men. Confess before Men. V 32, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. In view of God’s promise, power, and protection, what could be more reasonable for a disciple of Christ than to fearlessly

confess Jesus before men, no matter how hostile they might be? Any shame would be overcome by eternal glory. The heart of discipleship is to be committed to being like Jesus Christ, and to being like Jesus Christ. That means having to face a hostile world and to face it fearlessly.

In the midst of it, to be willing to confess before men Jesus as your Lord and have the confidence that He will do the same before the Father. The word translated "confess"(homologeõ) is basically one that means "to say the same thing".

The idea is that of openly, willingly, publicly declaring our relationship to Jesus Christ. We tell the truth openly and boldly and confess Him before men. The most obvious way is when we are required to openly proclaim that we have placed our faith in Him.

1 Peter 3:15, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

When someone asks us why we have hope in times of trial? Or why we are able to bear up under struggles?

Or why it is that we have joy? We are to tell them about Jesus. We are not to whimp out, shrug our shoulders, and say, "Oh, that's just the way I am, I guess." We are to tell them the truth! We are to explain that we have placed our trust in Him, and He is our Lord and Saviour.

We are to let them know that He is the reason for our joy in life. That's certainly one way that we are called upon to confess Him to men.

Romans 10:9-10, 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. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. How do you know a true Christian?

One who confesses Jesus as the Son of God.

How does he confess? With his mouth and with his life he makes that confession. That’s the mark of a true disciple.

1 John 4:15, Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,

God abides in him, and he in God. But there are other ways as well. One other way is when we are called upon to faithfully defend the biblical truth about Him. Whenever we hear someone saying that they believe something about Jesus that we know from Scripture is not true, or when they hold to some unbiblical speculations about Him, or even when they even openly deny the truth about Him

• we then "confess"Him before men when we say, "No.

What you say about Him is not true. Here's what the Bible says about Him. We say the same thing about Jesus the apostles said about Him, as their testimony is recorded for us in Scripture. This is another way we are to confess Him before men.

Another way we may be called upon to confess Him before men is when we openly claim His teaching as our guide and rule for life. People claim many different philosophers or teachers as their guides in life. But we confess Jesus to the people around us.

John 6:68, But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

We confess Jesus to men when we let them know that, as we walk the journey of life, we trust Him as our divine Counsellor and Guide. Now, those are ways that we confess Jesus before men with our words. But we are not to confess Jesus with our words alone, but also with our actions.

We confess Him before men, for example, when we take a moral stand as a result of our submission to Him. We may say that we have trusted Jesus as our Saviour. Many people are glad to do that - if that's all they must do.

But we make a loud and clear confession of Jesus before men when we willingly stand alone on an issue of principle

BECAUSE we have trusted Him and have submitted ourselves to Him.

• When everyone else around us is lying, and we as His followers speak the truth, then we are confessing Him before men.
• When everyone else around us is compromising, and we as His followers willingly standing strong and acting with integrity, then we are confessing Him before men!

We also actively confess Jesus before men when we live a life of obedience to His commands before them. A man may confess with His mouth that Jesus is His Lord, and yet deny that confession by not doing what Jesus commanded him to do.

Luke 6:46, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

When we obey Him, we are confessing Him as Lord through our obedience. I would even suggest that we also confess Jesus before men with more than just words alone. When we willingly accept the shame of His cross.

The Bible teaches us that the message of the cross is "foolishness to those who are perishing"

1 Corinthians 1:18, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The cross was a shameful thing an instrument of the most humiliating of executions inflicted upon only the most despised and rejected of criminals. It's a thing of great shame. What's more, the message that God's Son would become a man and die on such an instrument of shame for our sins is ridiculous nonsense to the "wise people"of this world.

But we confess Jesus to men when we willingly accept the shame of the cross because to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Revelation 2:13, “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. Not everyone will stick around when someone is being killed for their faith.

2 Timothy 4:6-10, For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 9 Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Demas, who identified with Paul, followed along, said he was a disciple, but when it got tough, and he was gone. True disciples confess the Lord in the face of any hostility at all.

There are lapses in all our lives as Christians where we fail to live up to the standard. That is what forgiveness is all about. There will be lapses. Can you think of one classic individual who was a true disciple but lapsed into denying his Lord?

Of course. Peter. He denied his Lord.

Do you know what his reaction was? He went out and wept bitterly. His heart was broken because he knew the standard, and he was broken when he failed to live up to it. Imagine Timothy, the protégé of Paul, the finest that he ever discipled, the man who was to take over, the pastor who followed him into the church at Ephesus.

This incredible young man with all the talents and the gifts that God could ever give a young man.

2 Timothy 1:8, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

• Timothy had a lapse.
• Peter had a lapse.
• I have had them.
• You have had them.

But still, there’s a turning around. Timothy turned around. Peter wept bitterly, and he turned around. A true disciple confesses as Jesus as His Lord.

Philippians 2:11, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There are many aspects to what it means to "confess"Jesus Christ before men. Our confession is to be with our words. But it is to be with far more than just our words alone. It is to be with our whole life and with our whole heart attitude.

What it means to deny before Men? V 33, But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. To "deny"Jesus before men, means to disclaim our association with Him. It means that we know in our hearts that He has full claim to us, and that we belong to Him. Yet deny before men that He has any influence upon us and convey the impression that we don't really belong to Him.

I suppose an easy way of defining this is to say that we "deny" Him before men every time we have an opportunity to "confess"Him before men but refuse to do so. What is it that might tempt us to deny Jesus before men? If you read the passages that proceed these two verses, you see that Jesus Himself anticipated the cause.

The fear of men. V 26, "Do not fear them" V 28, "Do not fear them" V 31, "Do not fear them" There are several ways that the fear of men may cause us to "clam up"and deny Him. The first and most obvious way is through a violent and angry response from those who might reject the gospel.

Matthew 10:26, Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

God has drawn a limit to what the violence of men can do. They can kill our bodies but that's the worst thing they can do to us. They can't touch our souls. They cannot rob us of our eternal destiny.

Someone may physically attack us for speaking to them about Jesus. The type of persecution that we are more likely to receive in our culture is of a social nature. So, we may be tempted to deny the Lord before men out of a fear of open ridicule and scorn for our relationship to Him. We all hate being laughed at, or made fun of, or made the butt of jokes. Our Lord warned us that this would happen.

He told us that, if they called Him horrible names, they will call us names too (V 24-25). They even laughed at Him as He hung on the cross for sins. We may also be tempted to deny the Lord before men because of a fear that we will be misunderstood or misrepresented. People are very quick to misconstrue what they don't want to accept. We might fear that, if we confess Jesus before men, we will be made out to be something we are not such as religious freaks or fanatical kooks.

Another fear that may tempt us to deny our Lord before men is the fear of being thought of as "old-fashioned"or "out of step". This is usually a very polite form of ridicule.

If matters of faith are considered by our culture to no longer be 'relevant', then we might feel tempted to be silent about the Lord of eternity. The unbelieving world loves to hold up the most ridiculous or outlandish "preachers", or the most offensive "street evangelists"and make it seem like we are all screaming and shouting messages of hate.

We may be hesitant to confess our Lord out of a fear that people will put us in the same category even though God knows we are not. When you stand for Jesus Christ and confess Him, you sometimes find that others will not join you.

One thing that might tempt us to deny our Lord is the fear that we will have to stand alone. No one likes that feeling of being all on your own, or that everyone else is backing away from you. God DOES call us to stand apart from others but never alone!

Of course, there is always the fear that we might unintentionally offend others. That's always a legitimate concern.

We certainly don't want to hurt people unnecessarily. We should make sure that it is the message that offends; and not our manner or our discourtesy in the way we communicate that message. But there's no way around the fact that the message of the gospel IS an "offensive"one.

There's no way around the fact that Jesus'entry into this world as "the Saviour of sinners"is an insult to those who don't want to leave their sins or who don't think that they need to be saved. When we are called upon to confess our Lord, how do we overcome the fear of men that may tempt us to deny Him?

It would be hard to find a passage in the Bible where Jesus presents Himself in more exalted terms than in this one. He makes some remarkable claims about Himself in it. Think of it! He claims that God is His Father. Making Himself to be God's unique Son!

What's more, He claims that, as the Son of God, our eternal destiny hinges on whether or not He "confesses"us or "denies"us before the Father. This highlights the divine majesty and final authority of the One we are to confess before men.

In a similar passage, Jesus contrasted the greatness of His majesty with the wickedness of the age in which we are to testify of Him.

Mark 8:38, For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” How foolish it would be to be ashamed of the Lord of holiness and glory before a generation that is adulterous and sinful? How foolish it would be to deny our Saviour before men, when He promises to come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels?

We will be tempted to deny our Lord to the extent that we take our eyes off of Him and focus on the hostilities and objections of people instead. By contrast, we will be emboldened to confess Him to the extent that we take our eyes off men and keep them focused on His divine majesty instead.

How crucial it is, then, that we remember the truth about our glorious Saviour? How crucial it is that we keep our eyes on the glorious Son of God that we preach, and not on the men to whom we are to preach Him? Jesus takes away all middle ground.

We cannot be on both sides of the fence at once. If we belong to Jesus, then we must - we absolutely must - be willing confess ourselves as His before men! Consequences for Eternity. The first promise Jesus makes to the disciples.

Whoever confesses Him before men, He will confess before His Father who is in heaven. Are you willing to stand up and confess Jesus Christ? If you will He will confess you before the Father who’s in heaven.

What does that mean? That means He will say to God, on the day of judgment, “This one belongs to Me.”

He will affirm His loyalty to you, as you have affirmed your loyalty to Him. Now, this is the way our Lord is looking at true discipleship. This message should have pierced deeply into the heart of one named Judas Iscariot, for he was the false among the true.

You can tell a true Christian because they are willing to confess Christ. There will be lapses, times when they fail, but the pattern of their life will be a willingness and a desire to be more like Christ, and if need be, to be treated even as He was treated.

That kind of a person the Lord will confess before the Father. Imagine the wonder of someday standing before God and having the Lord Jesus Christ say, “This one belongs to Me.” What an incredible thought. What a marvellous promise.

It’s kind of a double loyalty. When we are loyal enough to Jesus Christ to speak His name in the midst of any situation, He will speak our name in the Father’s presence. It doesn't matter what we may suffer on this earth. It will never matter what men may do to us. No experience of suffering upon this earth will ever come close to the glory, and

the thrill, and the eternal joy, of having Jesus Christ claim us as His own on that great day of judgment! We will never regret any suffering or shame before men so long as we will be able to hear the Lord of glory look upon us in response to our faithfulness, turn to His Father - and before the holy angels and say, "I confess this one to be Mine, Father.

Before all of heaven, I testify that this one belongs to Me and that I will claim this one to Myself forever!" But He also says that whoever denies Him before men, He will deny before His Father in heaven. Think of that!

• Can you think of any greater horror than to stand before the Son and have Him deny you before the Father?
• Can you think of a greater horror than for Him to point to you and say, "Father, I deny knowing this one"?
• How can we expect Him to confess us as His own then, if we will not confess Him as our own now?

• How dare we expect Him to claim us before the Father, if we continually, habitually deny Him before mere men?

A picture of the judgment and how it might be. This is the judgment of the sheep and goats at the end of tribulation, the judgment of the nations. The Lord comes and sets the sheep on His right hand, and those are the ones who love Him and know Him. The goats on the left, those are the ones who don’t know Him.

Matthew 25:34, Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Jesus says, “These are mine. Come and inherit your kingdom.” Now, they were the ones that confessed Him.

They were the ones who confessed the lordship of Christ.

How did they do that? They did it by their mouth. Romans 10. They did it before men, Matthew 10.

How else they did?

Matthew 25:35-40, for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ You confess Christ with your mouth. That’s the public affirmation of your faith. You confess Christ before men no matter how hostile they might be, and that shows your genuineness. You confess Christ by your actions. By living in the world that you manifest to His people His own heart of affection.

1 John 4:15-16, Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known

and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. You will confess Christ by

• feeding someone who’s hungry
• giving someone water by quenching the thirst
• giving a home to a stranger,
• clothes to someone naked,
• visiting the sick, and
• calling on the prisoners.

How does this fit? This is a manifestation that you are like Christ. Because that’s how He would respond.

Do you confess Christ with your mouth? Do you confess Christ before men, no matter how hostile they are? Do you confess Christ in your lifestyle by reaching out as He reached out? By loving as He loved. By caring as He cared.

The credentials of a true disciple are not only the power of God, but the compassion of God.

If the hallmark of a Christian is to be like Christ, then you ought to manifest Christlikeness in your relationships.

• I worry about people who say they are Christians, but I don’t see Christ.
• I don’t see attitudes and actions and words that radiate Christ, and I wonder.

They gang around the church a little bit. They can come and sit and kind of survive the service and leave. They can look at the world dying, going to hell around them, and they don’t have any concern. They just don’t seem to care.

They are indifferent. They are not like Christ. Christ could see a crowd and all He could do is weep over them. Christ could see an injustice, and He would want to make it right. Christ saw somebody hungry and want to feed him.

Christ saw somebody thirsty and want to give him water. Christ saw somebody who was sick and wanted to touch that individual. Certainly, I am the first one to admit that I am not all I ought to be, but I see a progression in my life for which I thank God.

I ask you to look at your life. There’s a cost. Open confession, and if you are willing to do it, then he will confess you before the Father. He will say, “That one’s mine. Genuine.” If by your life and your lip you deny Him, then He will deny you.

The inventory belongs to you.

Conclusion

There have been many times when we have had the opportunity to profess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Many times, when we have had the chance to take a bold stand for Him or profess the truth about Him but have failed to do so.

We became afraid of men. While we may not have openly "denied"Him, we have often refused to confess Him as clearly and as forthrightly and as actively as He has called us to. Paul's first missionary journey. He and Barnabas were appointed by the Holy Spirit to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world. Many people

heard the message of the cross and believed. But the two missionaries met with opposition from the Jewish leaders everywhere they went. They went to Antioch in Pisidia, and many heard the gospel and believed both Jews and Gentiles. But it wasn't long before the Jewish leaders began to blaspheme Christ and to oppose the missionaries stirring up many people against them.

So, they left and went to Iconium and again began to preach the gospel. But once again, the unbelieving Jews poisoned the minds of the people against them to the point that a plot was formed to stone the two missionaries to death. So, when they became aware of it, they fled to another city called Lystra.

No sooner do they arrive at Lystra than God heals a crippled man through Paul. As a result, the whole city was turned upside-down with amazement. They went so far as to believe that Paul and Barnabas were gods and began to worship them.

The two missionaries quickly corrected the people and preached to them the truth about Jesus, calling them to worship Him. As Paul spoke to the people of Lystra and preached to them publicly about Jesus Christ, calling them to place their faith in him. Paul noticed a mob form around him. They were shouting and shaking their fists at him. Paul's co-workers were in a

panic. All around him was chaos and confusion. He felt himself grabbed and shoved into an open area. Suddenly, BAM! - he felt a sharp and vicious blow to his head. The force of the blow was so powerful that he was thrown to the ground, and he felt the earth slam against his face. He hardly had time to think about what was happening when BAM! He could barely breath.

As he lay on the ground in pain, he could hear the shouts of blasphemy and cursing from the crowd. As he saw from the corner of his eye the figures of angry men gathering up large stones, he realized what was happening. Paul thought to himself, "They are stoning me! I am going to die!"

The Bible tells us that the Jewish leaders who had followed the gospel missionaries into town had successfully persuaded the people of Lystra to kill them. As the heavy stones beat against Paul's body in rapid succession, he began to lose consciousness. He felt his body jerk and roll with each blow.

The stone-throwers were becoming shadowy figures in his eyes; and their shouts and curses were becoming muffled sounds in his ears. With what little bit of consciousness he had left, Paul's mind drifted back to something that had happened long ago.

As a young man, Paul had stood by and watched as a Christian named Stephen, a leader in the early church, and powerful preacher of Jesus Christ was stoned to death in Jerusalem. A false accusation had been raised by the Jews against Stephen. Yet, he boldly stood before the council of the Jewish leaders and proclaimed Christ. Paul was there.

He remembered how the leaders were filled with rage against Stephen. He remembered how they rose up against him, drug him bodily out of the city, and began to cast deadly stones at him. Paul himself had hated the gospel that Stephen preached. He now remembered how he stood with the Jews and consented to Stephen's execution. How he even watched their cloaks for them as they picked up the stones to mercilessly hurl at the preacher.

But Paul also remembered how bravely Stephen died for Jesus. how as he testified, he turned his eyes up to heaven and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" How as they stoned him, he committed his spirit to the Lord.

How with his dying breath, he prayed for those who were killing him. Paul could never forget the courageous love for Jesus that he saw in Stephen's dying face. Now here he himself was being stoned in the same way as Stephen had been and perhaps soon to meet the Saviour that Stephen bravely stood for.

Soon, he heard nothing - saw nothing - felt nothing. Everything went black. After a time, as he slowly opened his eyes, Paul didn't see what he expected to see. He thought he would see the smiling face of His beloved Saviour Jesus in heavenly glory.

Instead, he saw the agonized faces of his friends huddled around him. The surroundings looked different. He heard someone shouting, Paul is still alive! He is moving!" Paul hoped that it was one of his friends who was saying that!

And when he heard someone else say, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you for hearing our prayers!"then, he knew he was safe. Barnabas'face suddenly appeared over him. Barnabas affected a smile.

Paul struggled to push himself up. Paul staggered to his feet. Wobbled dizzily and straightened himself out and with great pain. But with great determination on his face began to limp his way slowly back into the very town of people who had just sought to murder him.

Acts 14:20, "he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe" To the very next city on their missionary journey. There, they preached the gospel and made many disciples.

Acts 14:21-22, And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” I have thought much about Paul's courage. I have wondered what you or I might have done if we had we been in his situation. Would we have given up as soon as we had gotten up?

Would we have said, "If people have this much of a hatred for the gospel, then I am going to find another line of work." If people walked up to us after all that and said, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?".

What might we be tempted to say? The fact is that we live in a world that is very hostile to the message of the gospel. Jesus has told us that we will be hated by all for His name's sake (V 22). We will be delivered over to councils and brought before rulers and authorities as His witnesses (V 17-18).

He warned that we will be called derisive names because of Him (V 25) Some of us will even be delivered over to death because of our association with Him (V 21). Jesus knew that, in such an environment, we would be tempted to deny that we are His.

Jesus expects us to keep our eyes on the eternal prize and stand faithfully for Him no matter what the cost.

Jesus lets us know that if we will not stand for Him on earth, we cannot expect Him to stand for us at the judgment seat of heaven. Not all of us have been courageous like Paul.

What will happen to us? Another apostle gives us reason for hope when we prove cowardly before men. The apostle Peter denied our Lord horribly. He had boasted that He would never deny the Lord.

Matthew 26:33, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will not deny You"

But it wasn't long afterward that Peter denied Jesus. In fact, he denied Him three times. He didn't just deny the Lord out of fear of men! He denied the Lord out of fear of little girls (V 69-71) He dared to curse and swear; saying with an oath, "I do not know the Man!"(V 74).

Now given all that, what right would Peter have to expect that the Lord would confess Him before the Father?

Wouldn't Peter be right to expect the Lord of glory to look upon him and say, "Father, I do know the man!"

Could anyone do worse than Peter? Yet, the clear testimony of the Scriptures is that the Lord forgave him. Even before he denied Him, Jesus told him that he would do so. The Lord told him that He had prayed for him.

Luke 22:31-32, And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

When the Lord rose from the dead, the angel told the women at the tomb.

Mark 16:7, But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” Specifying the very disciple that had denied Him! Both Luke and Paul tell us that the Lord made a special post- resurrection appearance to Peter privately.

Luke 24:34, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

1 Corinthians 15:5, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

Then the Bible tells us that Peter, one who denied the Lord went on, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to become a great leader of the early church. One of the most esteemed of the witnesses of our Lord, and eventually a martyr for Christ. Being given the honour of being crucified for the Lord that He had, at one time, denied (John 21:18).

Peter denied the Lord, but he didn't live a life of continual denial of the Lord. He repented of his denial and was forgiven wonderfully. We can have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Peter. The cowardly disciple who denied the Lord will be gladly confessed by the Son of God before the Father on that great day of judgment. He may have denied Him, but he repented and went on to confess Him.

There is always hope for those of us who, in fear of men, fail our Lord and deny Him but who then confess our failure to Him, repent of our denial, and then go on to bravely confess Him before men in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But better yet, let us see to it that we never deny Him. Instead, let us seize the opportunities He places before us. Trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit, let us boldly confess Him before men as our Lord and Saviour.

What is your response to those lapses?

Do you weep bitterly?

Is there a certain brokenness?

Do you ask His forgiveness?

1 Samuel 2:30, Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honour Me I will honour, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.