Identity Crisis Among God’s People

As I begin today’s message, I want to briefly remind you of a diagram I had shared with you in a previous sermon that illustrates Justification in its 3 parts of 1) Justification; 2) Sanctification; & 3) Glorification 

Its important to keep this in mind – that Sanctification is simply the daily, ongoing process of Justification, or as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:31, it is dying to self daily!

True acceptable obedience can, and will, only stem from a heart of love for God  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

If we don’t understand that, then Sanctification will be viewed and carried forth as legalism or it will be rejected as altogether unnecessary (liberalism). And we will never experience Glorification at Christ’s return!

So lets continue today’s message with this passage …

Ephesians 4:1-6  “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

God’s people have a unique calling by God, and as such, they are to walk in a manner worthy of that calling.

Quoting Leviticus 19:2, Peter wrote of God’s command to: “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

God’s people are to be different and distinct from the world for a reason and a purpose:

Reason: 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”  This passage also begins to highlight the purpose which we will explore more in the next verse.

Purpose: 2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation”

God’s people have a singular mission, which is to be active in the salvation of souls.

An Illustration: The armies of Alexander the Great were about to plunge into the Battle of Arbela. Greatly outnumbered, one Greek soldier fled in terror. Later, after the battle was won, the soldier was caught and brought before Alexander who sat atop his white stallion. That must have been an imposing picture. In Revelation, Jesus is pictured as coming on a white horse. For a brief second a glimpse of pity flashed over Alexander’s face then he asked the soldier his name. “Alexander” he replied.

The general paused for a moment, looking somewhat stunned, and then told him, “Either change your name or change your behavior.”

Were you bothered by what you saw this last year, and starting this year, the world’s condition, upheaval, and the US politics – from both parties? Ultimately those were spiritual, not political issues – caused by the lack of the Holy Spirit and the presence and working of other spirits.

We are simply seeing the gradual fulfillment of prophecy and the hearts of mankind growing colder as they reject and disregard the workings of the Holy Spirit.

To quote a truism – “but for the grace of God there go I/we”

Scripture says there is a much larger and more important war raging. We often refer to it as The Great Controversy between God and Satan. Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Sadly, in this battle, some may need to change their name if they don’t let God change their behavior.

Perhaps you’ve wondered, who are God’s people?  Scripture definitely points out that God has always had a visible, organized group of people – a church – on earth to both represent and present His character and truth to the world so they might turn to Him before it is too late! 

And while its not the topic of today’s message, if you want to know the Bible identifiers that clear identify why the Seventh-day Adventist Church is His final remnant church, please contact me or visit my web site – www.SalvationWise.org 

But Jesus also made it clear that He also has sheep, His people, who are not yet in His fold, His visible remnant church.

John 10:16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

They are His “sheep”, that means they have given their hearts to Jesus. They have salvation in Jesus. They simply have not yet learned Jesus’ teaching about His true church body and taken the steps to formally unite with it. 

When we think of or talk of worldliness, we could talk about many things: Music, Dress, Diet, Jewelry, Sabbath Issues, Money, Gossip, etc.

We could talk about a lot of growth issues, and it is important to learn what Scripture teaches about them.

But that is really pointless unless we know who we are, our identity. Reform without revival, is always temporary!

It’s like stripping leaves off a tree we don’t like. It’s pointless because they grow back. The axe has to be laid to the roots! 

Allow me ask you three questions, four actually, regardless of whether you are or aren’t yet a member of God’s last day visible remnant church.

1. If you are one of His sheep ….. Do you have an identity crisis? You can know simply by asking yourself if there is still worldliness you cherish in your life.  I’m speaking apart from the process of sanctification. With sanctification, we do not cherish sin, rather we despise it. Why should there be cherished sin in our lives when Scripture teaches that Christ’s grace is sufficient for victory?   

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”  Revelation 12:11

Are you aware that it is Christ’s expectation that His people overcome? But its only possible through His grace. And the reward for doing so is presented to each of the 7 churches of Revelation:  Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26, 3:5, 12, 21

2. Where did that worldliness come from?

Brothers and sisters, let me repeat, worldliness is simply a symptom of the real crisis – an identity crisis.

Have we forgotten Who called us and who we are called to be?

Do we need to change our name, or will we seek grace to change our ways?

Perhaps your being tempted right now to ignore this message and the Holy Spirit’s conviction through it.

Perhaps your content to say “but I’m a “faithful” church member”, I pay tithe, I … well, you fill in the blank.

Jesus addressed similar thoughts the people had in Luke 3:8-9,

“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves,`We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Heritage can be a tremendous blessing, when rightly considered and applied. But people aren’t born into the church, but you can be reborn into Christ.

Jesus also told a parable of the Wedding and the Robe in Matthew 24:1-10-14.  The first part of this parable describes how the nation of Israel rejected their calling. Israel was to have been a blessing to all the other nations because of their calling and identity as God’s chosen people. They were to share the plan of salvation with the world!

But as His special treasure, they were not to have experience in the worldliness around them, or worship the foreign gods because there is only one God.

They gradually lost sight of their Identity, they lost their desire to be sanctified by grace, and their mission became blurred.

Worldliness crept in.

Eventually, God’s call went out to others, to everyone actually.

“So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. ¹² “So he said to him,`Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?‘ And he was speechless. <sup>13</sup> “Then the king said to the servants,`Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Jesus was teaching that regardless of your past sins, everyone is invited or called to be a part of God’s kingdom and mission. Everyone is offered forgiveness, redemption, and the wedding garment that Christ purchased with His blood.  The garments represent Christ Righteousness (Rev 3:18; 19:18; Eph 5:27). Perhaps I’ll have a future opportunity for my follow-up sermon “Why the Bride Wore White” to address that topic more. But please understand, while everyone is given the opportunity, it is only those who respond appropriately to God’s gift who are then chosen by God!

In the parable, the King came to a person who was given a robe, a wedding garment, but had either forgotten or neglected to put it on, or chose not to. When he was asked about it he was speechless – what could he say? 

In Matthew 7:22-24 Jesus describes what many will try to say:

“Many will say to Me in that day,`Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ <sup>23</sup> “And then I will declare to them,`I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock”

Doing what would otherwise be considered right/good, without understanding why we are doing it and without knowing the Savior we should be doing it for is compared to lawlessness!

While Jesus said “if you love me keep my commandments” in Luke 4:16, please understand that we cannot truly love Him without first having some understanding and experience of His love for us! “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 Jn. 4:19

In Matthew 24:37-39 Jesus made a comparison between the conditions in people’s hearts in Noah’s days and at the second coming:

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ “and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Its not wrong to eat or drink the right things. It’s not wrong to be equally yoked in marriage and raise a family.  But it is wrong when these otherwise normally good things take precedence and interfere with or distract us from our identity, our sanctification, and our mission!

God is still looking for, and waiting for, a generation that seeks His kingdom and righteousness first and foremost!

That is the generation He will equip to finish the work!

Will you be that generation?

For God’s people, identity crisis and worldliness can come in from a sense of complacency, from business, from pride (self-focus), and from taking our focus off of Christ, His sufficient grace, and His/our mission and identity.

3. So how do we get rid of our identity crisis and worldliness?

After Peter presents his “ladder of sanctification”, he writes:

“For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹ for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”   2 Peter 1:9-11

A simple answer to question #3 would be:  “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

So we can re-claim and embrace our identity as Jesus’ sheep, His people. We must be intentional to stay connected to and focused on Jesus to continue our growth in sanctification, and in completion of our mission.

In all 3 of his wilderness temptations Satan tried to destroy Christ’s self-identity, and consequently His mission. … “If you are the Son of God” (Matt 4:4, & 6); “If you will fall down and worship me” (Matt 4:9);

Fortunately, Christ knew His identity, and His mission!

When your identity is in crystal clear focus there simply isn’t time or room for distractions from or worldliness in your mission, your calling.

Its true, this world needs Jesus. But it’s also true, so do His people!

#4) Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1-6  “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called …”.   Will you make it your choice to keep your name, but change your behavior by remembering who you are – a son/daughter of God – and your calling and keep them certain through God’s abundant grace? 

Benediction:  Hebrews 13:20-21  “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, ²¹ make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”