Dr. Wayne A. Lawson
The Word Ministries, Inc. of Oklahoma City
Preached on Monday October 9, 2006
Opening night of Revival
Tabernacle of Praise
Ardmore Oklahoma
SCRIPTURE: ST. MATTHEW 16:13-16
13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
TITLE: IDENTITY CRISIS
++++Are you unsure of your role in life? Do you feel like you don’t know the real you? If you answer yes to these questions, you may be experiencing what is known as an identity crisis. Theorist Erik Erikson coined the term “identity crisis” and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts people face in development. According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. Researchers have found that those who have made a strong commitment to an identity tend to be happier and healthier than those who have not.
§ Those with a status of identity diffusion tend to feel out of place in the world and don’t pursue a sense of identity.
§ In today’s rapidly changing world, identity crises are more common today than in Erikson’s day. We have so much more competing for our attention.
§ Exploring different aspects of yourself in the different areas of life, including your role at work, within the family, and in romantic relationships, can help strengthen your personal identity.
++++The sad reality my brothers and sisters is the fact that the Church is also experiencing an Identity Crisis. Somewhere between the first century church and the 21st Century Church we have lost our identity.
§ Those with a left wing view of the Church insist that 9-11 was ordained by God. A little over 2,000 innocent Americans that lost their lives due to the most Horrific Terrorist attack know on the soils of our nation. They say that God was angry because of our nations Homosexuality – high divorce rate – sexual promiscuity – unethical business practices – unjust wars - Because of God’s anger he sanctioned the events of 9-11
§ Those with a Right Wing view of the Church insist that God is concerned with our riches and prosperity. Nature of God has been reduced to the Genie in the Bottle approach. God is only concerned about our Mercedes Benz – big house on the hill – annual cruise – independently wealthy - and if you don’t have these things something is wrong with your Christianity
§ Those that hold this middle ground view of the Church insist that everyone is going to heaven. Makes no difference how you behave or what you believe - whether you go to church or not. As long as you pray and recognize some type of higher power than you are on your way to heaven.
++++There is so much going on in our churches today that we are no longer concerned with understanding the very nature of God. Yes….the Church is in the midst of an Identity Crisis
§ At a church some weeks ago that boasted of over 50 different Ministries in Operation
What does the Church look like today: PRAISE TEAMS - PRAISE DANCERS - MIME MINISTRIES -- MASS CHOIRS – YOUTH CHOIRS – ADULT CHOIRS – MALE CHOIRS – MISSIONS GROUPS - WOMEN’S MINISTRIES - MEN’S MINISTRIES - TAPE MINISTRIES - SOUND MINISTRIES - SICK AND SHUT IN MINISTRIES - PASTOR’S AIDE - PUBLIC RELATIONS MINISTRIES - BUILDING MINISTIRES - KITCHEN MINISTRIES - FEEDING MINISTRIES -- BUS MINISTRIES and certainly the list of ministries goes on and on. Yet those in our own households, neighbors, and friends are still unsaved. JEREMIAH 8:20 “THE HARVEST IS PAST, THE SUMMER IS ENDED, AND WE ARE NOT SAVED.”
++++There is no wonder there is an Identity Crisis in the local church today. In our text for examination, we find the disciples of Christ were also locked into an Identity Crisis some 2,000 years ago. In our modern culture there is more and more confusion over just who Jesus is. It seems that even the church cannot agree on who Jesus is. There are more and more theories that seem to come up about who Jesus was. More and more documentaries are being made to discover who Jesus was and virtually all of them slide their agenda into the mix and distort the identity of Jesus.
++++Who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Jesus is still asking us this same question today. The fact is that until you decide what you are going to do about Jesus, your life will never be settled.
§ Until you answer this most important question, you will never know true satisfaction in life.
§ Until you answer this most important question, you will never know true peace in life
§ Until you answer this most important question, you will never know joy in life
§ Until you answer this question, you will be in an Identity Crisis yourself
§ Your life will be filled with one crisis to the next Crisis to the next
++++In a world of conflicting voices and competing claims, sometimes it is hard to know who we really are – let alone who we are in Christ Jesus. This is true for communities, individuals and Christencom.
§ What does it mean to call ourselves Christians?
§ What does it mean to be called the Church?
§ What are the core beliefs, values and practices that define and shape us?
§ And how do we live more fully into this unique identity?
++++Do you know why you’re here today? Do you know who you are? If I were to ask you, "Are you a Christian?", I have no doubt that you’d answer Yes. You see, this would be the expected answer. But then I ask, "Why are you here?", and I’d probably get a variety of answers. The most simplest answer would be “because this is my church,” but let me tell you, this is not the proper answer. This is not your Church. We have so much dissatisfaction among members of the Church today because we have an Identity Crisis. We have forgotten who we are in Christ. You see, this isn’t your Church, but each and every one of you are the church.
§ This isn’t a place where you just come
§ Church isn’t a place where you come
§ You are the Church when you come together
§ Wherever together might be, in the name of our Lord Jesus.
++++People join and leave churches on the basis of how a church supposedly "makes a person feel". I would like to suggest that we cannot let a mere feeling control or subvert the function of the church in our lives." Let us look at our worship time as a time not to "feel good" but as a time for caring – sharing – loving receiving each other in God’s name. Is the church suppose to make us feel good or is it suppose to be the other way around? Being in God’s presence is not primarily a time where I "feel good", but a time where I worship God and respect His authority in my life as my Savior and Lord. Isn’t worship primarily a time that is suppose to be centered and focused on God and what He has done for me through Christ?
++++St. Matthew 16 is a critical turning point in the ministry of Jesus Christ. By this time he has been preaching for many months. He is well-known to the nation of Israel. His fame has spread far and wide. The common people have embraced him. They have seen his miracles and heard his teaching. And the word has spread from village to village, "Have you heard about this man Jesus?" Along the dusty roads of Galilee men discussed him and wondered who he really was.
++++When we come to Matthew 16 it is clear that Jesus has now been rejected by his own people. His fate is sealed. The shadow of the cross looms overhead. And even though the common people heard him gladly, they did not know who he was. They liked him – but did not worship him. To them he was a great teacher and a great miracle-worker, nothing more.
So Jesus, in the midst of growing opposition and surrounded by crowds of people who liked him but did not understand him, in the rising turmoil that would lead eventually to Golgotha -- it is here that he did an unusual thing.
§ He took his disciples and left the nation of Israel.
§ He went north out of Israel into Gentile territory,
§ To a place called Caesarea Philippi.
++++It was here on this dusty road where the first gallup poll was taken. Jesus already knew the answer to the question that he would pose. He wanted his disciples to acknowledge what other people were saying. So they gave him the four most popular answers about who Jesus is.
§ Some say John the Baptist (that was Herod’s answer)
§ Others say Elijah (that was very popular because the Jews expected Elijah to return)
§ Still others, Jeremiah (he was the greatest of the later prophets)
§ One of the Prophets (that is, he was a spokesman for God)
++++Even if they were wrong, you have to give them credit. At least they were wrong on the right side of the issue. They did not stray too far to the Left or to the Right. At least they knew that Jesus wasn’t a bad man. One commentator said that when the common people gave these answers they were like “a moth hovering around the light. They were fascinated by what they could not understand.”
§ You might decide that Jesus was and interesting teacher
§ You might decide that Jesus was a revolutionary who resisted the social tyranny of His day
§ You might decide that Jesus was self-deluded who self-proclaimed His deity
++++All these different people had their opinions about who Jesus was. What the men of that day were doing was comparing Jesus to other men. You can’t compare Jesus to any other man. Jesus Christ is no ordinary man.
§ You can take every great man and stand right alongside him another great man.
§ You can take a Shakesphere and marvel at his skill and the plays which he wrote. But right alongside Shakesphere you can put a Tennyson and admire the beautiful poems which he composed.
§ Or you can take a Charles Spurgeon, the great magnificent preacher that he was. But you can stand right alongside him a Jonathan Edwards who could preach with such power that men held the pews and shook afraid they were going to slip into the pits of hell.
§ You can take an Alexander the Great who conquered worlds in his own day and wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. But right alongside him you can put a Napoleon who almost had the whole world in his greedy grasp.
§ But there is no one to stand alongside the Lord Jesus Christ.
§ Jesus Christ is Unique.
§ Jesus Christ is Supreme.
§ Jesus Christ is the name that is above every name.
§ There is nobody like the Lord Jesus Christ.
§ There are a lot of people who want to compare Jesus to men
§ They want to acknowledge His greatness but they do not want to acknowledge Him as the Savior of the world.
++++That might be okay for you this evening. But I stopped by to let you know who Jesus is to me.
-- ELOHIM -- Had to talk to Jonah and I found out that God is my ELOHIM – Transcendent, Mighty and Strong.
-- EL SHADDAI - God All Sufficient. I had to talk to Paul for a little while. Paul tell me about that Thorn in your side that would buffet you. Paul said I asked God three times to remove, and I found out that God’s Grace is Sufficient for Me. He is my El Shaddai, He is my all sufficient
-- JEHOVAH-JIREH -- The Lord will Provide. Had to find out that God always Provides. This is why the Old Testament writer said – I was young but now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor His seed beg for bread. Perhaps you have never been there.
-- JEHOVAH-ROPHE -- The Lord who heals. Sometimes we misunderstand who God is. Implies spiritual, emotional as well as physical healing.
-- JEHOVAH-NISSI -- The Lord our Banner. In the Old Testament Biblical era, whenever God’s children found themselves in the middle of a battle. They would look for the Bearer of the Banner. Wherever the Banner was that is where the people would go. God is my Jehovah-Nissi, wherever He Leads Me I will Follow. I had to learn the battle is not mine, it’s the Lord’s
-- JEHOVAH-SHALOM -- I had to talk to Daniel. Found out that he is the Lord my Peace. He provides that Peace that surpasses all understanding.
-- JEHOVAH-M’KADDESH -- The Lord who Sanctifies. He is able to make you Holy, able to Clean you Up and Turn you around.
-- JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU -- The Lord our Righteous. I understand that our Righteousness is just as filthy rags. Oh but I am glad, in that great getting up morning, God will look at me through the eyes of Jesus, He will be my Jehovah-Tsidkenu.
++++But whom say ye that I am? - Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ.” Peter was saying that Jesus is the anointed One. You are the One that all the Old Testament scriptures had predicted would come.
§ He is the saving seed of Genesis.
§ He is the sacrifice of Exodus.
§ He is the Lamb of Leviticus.
§ He is the star of Numbers.
§ He is the promised prophet of Deuteronomy.
§ You are everything that the Old Testament said the Messiah would be.
§ Peter puts Jesus on the Throne of the Universe. "You are the Son of the Living God."
§ Jesus, you are no mere man - You are the Son of the Living God.
§ That is the confession that makes all the difference between your Eternal Destiny.
§ Who you believe Jesus is and who you are willing to confess Jesus is, makes all the difference in the world.
§ Who do you believe Jesus is?
§ What is your personal confession about the Lord Jesus?
-- Stopped by to let you know that our nation may in the midst of an identity crisis
-- Don’t know if we are one nation under God or not
-- Society is in the midst of an Identity Crisis
-- Everybody coming out of the closet
-- Sometimes it appears that the Church is in the midst of an Identity Crisis
-- Until we are able to answer the Question - Who do you say that I am
The Church will continue to struggle with her identity.
I am Glad today for the Bible Believing Churches that are still making a difference
I am Glad today for the real Church that is not afraid to stand up and make a difference
(Close)
