09/09/2026
Highlighted Verse: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)
Thought: These words of Jesus are thrilling, challenging, and sobering. What we do with Jesus has ultimate significance. Many Christians have had such a strong conviction of the truth of these words that they have chosen to be martyrs rather than deny Jesus. When Polycarp of Smyrna was burned at the stake in the second century for his faith his last words were, “For eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” When Paul Miki was crucified in Japan in the sixteenth century his last words were, “I tell you plainly: there is no other way of salvation except the way of Christ.” In the twinkling of an eye these men went from excruciating pain to eternal glory and pleasures forevermore, and their witness caused thousands of others to confess Christ before men.