you me. and still somewhat to this day, I very
much enjoyed the Looney Tunes. Do you remember
the Looney Tunes? Now, not the baby ones so much
where they were running around in diapers, but
the actual Looney Tunes before that. Bugs Bunny,
Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd. You remember them? There's
one particular scene where the whole concept
of the cartoon is Elmer Fudd is hunting and he's
hunting Bugs Bunny. And then even Daffy Duck
gets on board and he's hunting Bugs Bunny. And
then there comes a moment in the scene where
Elmer Fudd is standing there with his shotgun
loaded, ready to go. And Bugs Bunny and Dappy
Duck are standing side by side. And Elmer Fudd
points his shotgun at Bugs Bunny. And Bugs Bunny
says, it's duck season. And Dappy Duck says,
no, it's rabbit season. And Bugs Bunny says,
no, it's duck season. They go back and forth
and back and forth. And after about six times,
he's pointing at Bugs Bunny. And Bugs Bunny says,
it's rabbit season. And Daffy Duck says, no,
it's duck season! And Elmer Fudd shoots him in
the face. That's one of my most favorite scenes
from Looney Tunes, and it's kind of comical because
in that heated moment, Daffy Duck forgot that
he was a duck and that he was arguing for rabbit
season, and suddenly he's arguing for duck season,
and then he gets shot in the face. But quite
a bit more serious than that is that recently,
a systematic review and meta -analysis, that
means an over... broad view of looking at nearly
13 ,800 individuals aged 10 to 29 found strong
links between identity confusion and symptoms
of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.
Another study identified that identity confusion,
that is to say not knowing who you are, and uncertainty
during adolescent are consistently associated
with lower psychological psychosocial adjustment,
including increased anxiety, loneliness, aggression,
delinquency, substance use, and depressive symptoms.
Research around identity stress using tools like
the identity distress scale shows that distress
about long -term goals, career choices, and friendships
correlates with higher likelihood of anxiety,
depression, and even mental health treatment.
A survey conducted by Lenovo revealed that nearly
46 % of Gen Z Americans report leading a double
life, presenting different personas online versus
offline. This disconnect is linked then to anxiety,
loneliness, and depression. I could go on, but
I think you get the point. Knowing who we are
and how our choices line up with who we are is
an absolute necessity if we're going to be mentally,
emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually
healthy. And that is not the state that we find
the world in today. That's a fact. So even in
this room, there may be people who are struggling
with identity issues. Who am I? And if you're
a young person, it's all the more likely, but
the reality is it could be all the more likely
if you're in a relationship with your husband
or wife and struggling in that relationship,
or if your health is in jeopardy. or if your
choices surrounding your entertainment have wobbled
slightly into the realm that you think you're
now being entertained by things that you don't
necessarily even agree with, and so on. We're
going to see today a people whose identity essentially
had almost been erased, and then we're going
to see the solution that is proposed. It comes
from a unique place in the Bible, and I'm going
to explain to you why it's unique as we go there
and look at it. But we are working through the
book of Judges, and if you would kindly then
give me a little who to holler amen as we go
to Judges chapter 5. Amen. This is the word of
God, what we're about to read, and it is a unique
piece of the word of God, which you will not
find anything like it anywhere else, even in
the word of God. So what we're about to read
is the first part of the song of Deborah and
Barak, as your Bible probably subtitles it. We
remember that Deborah was the prophetess. She
sat under the tree. She judged Israel, at least
the people that could come to her. She also prophesied
on behalf of God. It was Deborah who told Barak,
gather an army. It was Deborah who told Barak
to go to face the massive army of Jabin under
Sisera. And he did do what she said. As long
as she would come along with him, he was willing
to do that. So Deborah and Barak, now it says,
Deborah and Barak, the son of Abinoam, sang on
that day, saying, So what we're about to read
is a song that is attributed that they sang it
on the day of the victory. They have just wiped
out the enemy army and freed Israel from oppression
of decades. So for the first time ever, the people
of Israel, some of them, never in their lifetime
have they seen it. They could walk on the road
freely, not be afraid of being molested or killed.
Never in their lifetime have they seen they could
just go get a job and work for an honest wage.
They were trapped. and now on this day they have
been set free. And Deborah and Barak are attributed
with this song on that day. Now before I go any
further on this, I want you to understand that
this is believed to be some of the oldest writing
in the Old Testament. So the Hebrew that we have
for this is written in such a way that it sort
of predates in its structure even the books that
come before it. Now we do know that the Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all
of that had been reframed into Greek and Septuagint
and then existed in both. And so that caused
a modernization of that language. But some of
the language that's in these verses that we're
about to read is so old that the best scholars
of Hebrew that we have today have a hard time
interpreting it for sure. There's a couple of
places in particular that that happens, and I'll
try to point them out to you. I think there's
only one in the first 11 verses, but we'll see
them over the next couple weeks as we look at
the rest of it, okay? So then Deborah and Barak,
the son of Abinoam, sang on that day, saying,
verse 2, that the leaders led in Israel, that
the people volunteered. Bless the Lord. In other
words, because this happened, that the leaders
stepped up and did what they were supposed to
do, that the people volunteered to do what they
were supposed to do, bless the Lord. Praise the
Lord. Now that first phrase there, bless the
Lord, is kind of unique in Hebrew. There's sort
of two instances of it. One of them is you bless
an underling, someone who has been, who's done
for you, a servant, somebody who works in your
fields or whatever. And that is to say that it
lifts you, you lift them up in a way. You help
them in some way. Maybe you pay them a little
more. You pat them on the back. You encourage
them with a word of encouragement. That's that
kind of blessing. That's not this kind. And the
other is to just focus your eyes on that thing
or that person and recognize their greatness.
And then out of that, to respond, to do something.
Not just to look and say, wow, that is a beautiful
star in the sky. in your mind, but to respond
to seeing that beautiful star in the sky. So
you can bless that beautiful star in the sky
according to this verse if it doesn't stop with
just looking at it. Does that make sense? So
if you just look at it and go, whoa. We were
playing softball on Thursday night and we were...
standing out there, I think it was after one
of the games, getting ready to pray or whatever,
and I looked up and I saw the moon and I pointed
it out to somebody else and I said, wow, look
at that moon. And she said, yeah, I saw that
and that's incredible. And we're standing there
talking about it. We were blessing the moon under
this sense, okay? Now, I went on to bless God
because God is the maker of the moon and God
let us see such an incredible thing and so on.
And so did she because she's a professing Christian,
even committed to come to church here at some
point. But the bottom line is, We understand
she is saying because these people stepped up
and made this difference, because they did this,
bless the Lord. Now that makes this a completely
unique piece of literature. Not only is it already
the oldest text or one of the oldest texts that
we have translated into the Old Testament, but
on top of that, in its day, it is a unique ode.
It is a unique song. The songs were all about
the people who did great deeds. So if the song
was about Deborah and Barak or about Deborah
or about the leaders or about the people who
volunteered, then it would have been the same
kind of song that others were singing in other
cultures, in other faiths, etc. But it was not.
It was unique because they did something incredible,
no doubt about that. They responded in faith
to the Lord, but their virtues are not extolled
because they responded. Because they responded
to the Lord. Rather, the Lord is. So where does
the credit lie in the entire song? It lies with
the Lord. She is saying, Barak is saying, that
the leaders led in Israel, that the people volunteered,
bless the Lord. Let him get all the credit. So
the song in its pronunciation in the very first
verses is saying, this will all be about God
and what God has done. Verse 3 then says, Hear,
O kings, give ear, O rulers. In other words,
those people who are out there who have a lot
of authority yet, kings, governors, rulers of
the surrounding lands, etc. He says, I, to the
Lord, I will sing. I will sing praise to the
Lord, the God of Israel. So she, Deborah, he,
Barak. calling them to recognize that the people
are not taking credit. They're not saying, we
are an awesome and powerful people, we can repel
you, our armies are greater than yours, anything
like that, but rather that God did this, God
is going to get the credit, and we are singing
about God. Verse 4, Lord, when thou didst go
out from Seir, when thou didst march from the
field of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens
also dripped, even the clouds dripped water.
Now that second part of that, verse there, the
earthquake, the heavens also dripped, even the
clouds dripped water. That is one of those places
where the Hebrew is very difficult to translate
into English. But the New American Standard,
as I have it, and you may have something slightly
different there, usually found in the prepositions
or in who did the what, right? But the bottom
line is, it's saying, God caused miraculous intervention.
We already know that the chariots were bogged
down in the mud and that's how this smaller sized
army was able to defeat them in the lowlands
where they would prefer not to have fought them.
They defeated them because God perhaps had an
earthquake, perhaps had a mudslide, perhaps had
heavy rains, all of that picture there. Verse
5, the mountains quaked at the presence of the
Lord. So we have a recognition that God's power
and authority when he shows up is so great. This
Sinai at the presence of the Lord, the God of
Israel. And so that Sinai, of course, you know,
has symbolism. We're not actually necessarily
at Sinai here, because Sinai is not actually
right by the promised land, right? But it has
symbolism, a moment of contact with the Lord.
Do you remember what amazing thing happened on
Sinai? What was handed to the Israelites on Sinai?
The Ten Commandments, right? So they had this
massive, they weren't allowed to go up on the
mountain unless they'd be destroyed. Right? That
kind of thing. God's presence was there. So what
she's saying, the symbolism in the song, what
he's saying, the Sinai, this moment of contact
with God at the presence of the Lord, the God
of Israel, amazing things happened. We'll just
take it that. Verse 6. In the days of Shamgar,
the son of Anab, in the days of Jael, the highways
were deserted and travelers went by roundabout
ways. And we talked about this. a couple of weeks
ago and looked at this text. We won't get into
it too deep here, but just realize that the peasants,
the ordinary people of this society, were no
longer able to function in their roles. They
had the supreme identity crisis, not just that
they were having trouble figuring out who they
were, but even if they could figure out who they
were, they couldn't do it. Okay, verse 7. The
peasantry ceased. They ceased in Israel. There
it is laid out for you very clearly. Until I,
Deborah, arose, until I arose a mother in Israel.
Now, she's not taking credit for what happened,
but she's setting the time, the moment in time
in which Deborah, on behalf of God, began to
speak to Israel. That's when things started to
turn or started to change. Verse 8. New gods
were chosen. Then war was in the gates. Not a
shield or a spear was seen among 40 ,000 in Israel.
That is to say, soldiers did not have weapons.
Did not have shields. Armies could not resist.
They couldn't resist the oppressors because all
their weapons and armor were taken away. Nine.
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
the volunteers among the people. Bless the Lord.
In other words, I love that people stepped up
and did what God was supposed to do. The commanders
of Israel, the volunteers, it was awesome. My
heart goes out to you. And she doesn't stop there
and say, I love you because of what you did.
I praise you because of what you did. No, she
calls them. To bless the Lord. So you did an
awesome thing. Now if you did an awesome thing,
if that's who you are, bless the Lord. That's
what she's saying. Verse 10, two verses left
for today. You who ride on white donkeys, you
who sit on rich carpets, and you who travel on
the road, sing. So now, she's saying, those who
are blessed, those who have much, those who are
in prosperity, rulers, etc., recognize the Lord.
So if you manage to make it through this time
when Israel was losing everything and you're
still wealthy, bless the Lord. If you're from
outside the kingdom, if you're a king that doesn't
know Israel's God, nonetheless, recognize who
God is and that God did this, bless the Lord.
So she's making an appeal to everyone who has
wealth to bless the Lord. But notice this, the
very specific word there, sing. And so very simply
put, without getting into it too deeply right
there, if you know who God is, sing. That's what
she's saying. Verse 11 and the last one for today
out of the song. At the sound of those who divide
flocks among the watering places, in other words,
as business gets going again, at the sound of
those who divide the flocks, there they shall
recount the righteous deeds of the Lord. So all
the people will be doing what? They'll all be
talking about what God did. Not so -and -so fell
11 men, so -and -so took out 30 men, so -and
-so brought down two chariots, right? Not so
-and -so left his wife and family behind and
sacrificed his life on the battle and honoring
him, but rather the righteous deeds of the Lord.
The righteous deeds for his peasantry in Israel.
In other words, his poor, his people who were
not doing well, his people who were hurting and
crying out. Then the people of the Lord went
down to the gates. And this last phrase is hugely
important. Then the people of the Lord went down
to the gates. So what they're saying is, so the
gates were where business was conducted. So there
was kind of a big room there, the wall on both
sides, gate, room, gate. And the gate would be
open and people would sit in the gate and they
would talk business. They would make trades.
A farmer comes, sells. His agriculture and somebody
in the city would buy it from him and so on.
Or someone so and so offended so and so they
would come to the gates to get justice. And so
what she's saying is, what he's saying is, the
people of the Lord now are in the public eye.
The people of the Lord are governing the business.
The people of the Lord are setting the standard.
And when the people of the Lord turn back to
the Lord and they turn others back to the Lord,
the standards of the Lord become the standards
of society. Not because we're living in a theocracy,
but because the people of the society recognize
that God alone is God and they now know their
own identity in God. This old and kind of hard
to decipher text we've looked at today, and we'll
look at some more of it over the next couple
weeks, and we may see some places where it's
a little bit hard to handle because of that.
We saw one today. Note that the... State of affairs
was that the common people had ceased their work.
Crops were no longer to be planted. Where did
those fields come from? Where did the seed come
from? Now, obviously, we know God created it,
but I mean, how did they get it? They took the
land while the crops were already growing. And
then now this is generations later and the crops
have fallen to the ground and growing again and
fallen to the ground and growing again. And now
they're failing to plant crops in the land that
God has given them because they are hiding. They're
not walking the roads. They're hiding. They're
waiting for the next time that they themselves
would be victimized. Every woman who was in the
middle class and below in Israel was living in
fear that a soldier would raid her hometown,
rape her, and start offspring of half -breed
society. Every man was fearing for the lives
of his wife and children because he couldn't
do anything about it if somebody came. It had
been stolen from them any security, any identity.
Now we know that part of the problem was because
they were following false gods. They had begun
to follow the same gods as the people who were
persecuting them. And so as they were focused
on the false gods, they were not focused on God,
and the false gods could do nothing for them.
Surely the middle and upper classes were having
greater success even in following the false gods.
All their wealth would have been worth less and
maybe even made them a target from time to time,
but it was not worthless and maybe even gave
them something to cling to. Some promise of enduring
this horrible season. And I submit to you that
all that was happening there was that the wealthiest
of people were splitting their affections between
false gods and mammon, but not turning to God.
The wealthiest people, of course, could make
it expensive to challenge them. They could hire
bodyguards. They could buy weaponry from brigands
and so on. And they could maybe even marshal
some protection for themselves. But God's people
had lost the only protection that really matters.
Three points in this text, then, that I want
you to see in a conclusion. The first one is
that God is getting the glory. God is getting
the glory. It is God that defeated the army.
Just as it was with Gideon, where he took it
all the way down to 300, he had Barak round up
10 ,000, go up on the mountain where fighting
chariots might have made some sense, and maybe
10 ,000 men might have taken out an army of chariots
in the mountains, but they probably wouldn't
have sent all the chariots if they were in the
mountains. And they sent it down off the mountains
into the lowlands where fighting an army of chariots
does not make any sense, and they were sure to
be massacred. And yet, God fought on their behalf
and they destroyed that army. Really, you could
say God did. Because we have repercussions of
earthquakes. And we know that they were bogged
down in the mud and heavy rains and so on. As
I mentioned before, the song is unique among
period odes because it gives God the glory rather
than any human hero. Now, is it not very possible
that Deborah or Barak could have been the subject
of the song? I mean, he was already resisting.
We looked at that last week. Then he's called
out to resist face -to -face. A great army, there's
no chance he could defeat. Should he not be considered
a great hero? Well, yeah, he probably is a great
hero of the faith. He trusted God mostly. He
did call Deborah out to go with him. Could Deborah
not be the great hero? She's the first female,
other than possibly Eve, in the Bible that just
really shines as an example of what it means
to follow God. The song could have been about
her, and it would have matched all the cultural
norms of her day. But it's not. The song is unique
among periods of odes because it is about God
who gives the victory rather than any human hero.
God is getting the glory. The people by and large
give God the recognition, and they're doing so
for his character, for who God is. And when you
give God recognition for who God is, that has
impact on who you are. You could say that it
becomes who I am. I am a person who gives God
the recognition that he deserves. And when people
did that, the gates then were occupied. And notice
that it said, among the flocks, at the watering
holes, etc., recounting the righteous deeds of
the Lord, the righteous deeds for His peasantry
in Israel. And then the people of the Lord went
down to the gates. And so in the gates, among
the flocks, among the herds, everywhere, the
people of the Lord recounting the righteous deeds
of the Lord. Do you recount the righteous deeds
of the Lord in your workplace? Do you recount
the righteous deeds of the Lord when you're shopping?
Do you recount the righteous deeds of the Lord?
In your school? The righteous deeds of the Lord
have repercussions throughout all history. From
long before you and I were ever thought of by
anyone but God Himself. Do you recount the righteous
deeds of the Lord? If we did recount the righteous
deeds of the Lord, if everything that we do that's
good became about what God has done, and we recounted
the righteous deeds of the Lord, then that would...
begin to mend our identity. It would begin to
give us an identity. I am one who recounts the
righteous deeds of the Lord. I submit to you
that those of us who do not recount the righteous
deeds of the Lord, those of us who do not ensure
that God gets the glory, when you receive praise,
when people say how strong you are, how creative
you are, how beautiful, how handsome you are,
how wonderful you are in some way, do you say
to God be the glory? God is the author of many
great things and you too are authored by the
great God of the universe. You too are awesome
in your way. and talk good about them, but not
good about them for good's sake, but good about
them for God's sake? Do you recount the righteous
deeds of the Lord? I submit to you that the church
has an identity crisis because the church is
living in the world, and just as we talked about
Gen Zers having two identities, one, they're
on social media, and this is them at... Disney
World and them doing their projects and their
arts and their crafts and everything that they're
doing out there in their short skirts or in their
muscle shirts or in the gym and then the rest
of the time there they are being who they actually
are or maybe that's who they actually are and
the rest of the time they're faking it. I don't
know which one's fake or if it's some combination
of the two, but the bottom line is if you claim
to be a Christian and you are not recounting
the righteous deeds of the Lord, then you have
an identity crisis. And identity crises are very
Say that again. Identity crises, that's how you
say it, are very dangerous. They yield mental,
spiritual, emotional, and psychological damage.
You struggle with anxiety, loneliness, aggression,
delinquency, substance abuse, depressive symptoms,
because you have an identity crisis. And you
go to the doctor, and the doctor gives you a
diagnosis, and the diagnosis locks that problem,
which is a symptom of your identity crisis, into
your life forever. Do you have an identity crisis?
Or is God getting the glory? When people give
God his proper place, God's people will move
to the forefront. And they will guide and they
will shine. I worked two secular jobs after I
got saved really full time. And in both of those
jobs, even though I maybe wasn't the best person
on the job, God kept pointing people in my direction.
We are not a great big church, in case you hadn't
noticed. We're not running 150 to 2 ,000 people
today. But the reality is, all over the state
of Ohio, people are pointing people in our direction.
And truthfully, all over the world. Why is that?
How does that make any sense that 30 adults and
20 or 30 children would get worldwide notice?
That doesn't make any sense, except if we have
something to say, except if we have some glory
to give to the God of the universe. And it allows
people, little churches like our church, did
you know that the most recent, not currently,
actually it's still true currently, the most
recent two Southern Baptist presidents of the
Southern Baptist Convention, which means that
they essentially are the president over tens
of thousands of Southern Baptist churches all
across the United States, both come from churches
that have less than 150 in membership. What are
we waiting for? Let us be people who decry the
enemy and praise God. recounting the righteousness
and power of our God, lest we should have a real
identity crisis. Well, the people in this story
had a real identity crisis. Many had forgotten
who they were, who God was. Before they heard
this song, before they heard the story of God's
conquest, before they were forced to measure
God against all other things that were working
to identify them, they may have felt secure in
their understanding of the way the world worked.
Even though they were... afraid that someone
was going to come into the village and rape all
their women and take all their children into
slavery and steal all their money and harvest
all their crops. They were afraid to go into
the field with a bag of seed because while they
were out there, they might be picked off by a
group of brigands or whatever. Even though they
were afraid of all of that, they were secure
in their understanding of the way things work.
They would call Baal God. They would go to the
temple and take part with the temple prostitutes
and make donations in order to try to get Baal
to bless their field so they could go out in
the field to raise crops. They had a secure understanding
of the way the world works, but they were just
wrong. They just didn't get it. They may have
felt secure in participating in various activities
that seemed to add something to them, that seemed
to enhance their identity. But when God enters
in, he challenges everything. As a people, they
had already chosen. You go back to Joshua chapter
24, and Joshua challenges them toward the end
of his time, ruling over them. Joshua is the
book immediately to the left, and I'm flipping
there, and I'll be there for a second, so if
you want to go with me, you're welcome to. Joshua
24, beginning in verse 14, it says, Fear the
Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. And
put away the gods which your fathers served beyond
the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. And
that word Lord there is Yahweh, the creator God.
And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve
the Lord, that is to say, if you don't want to
have your identity being, I follow God, I serve
God, I am God's man, I am God's woman. He says,
then choose for yourself today whom you will
serve. whether the gods which your fathers served,
which were beyond the river, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
And the people answered and said, Far be it from
us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other
gods. For the Lord our God is he who brought
us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt
from the house of bondage and who did these great
signs in our sight and preserved us through all.
the way in which we went, and among all the peoples
through whose midst we passed. There we go. And
the Lord drove out from before us all the peoples,
even the Amorites, who lived in the land. We
also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.
Joshua said to the people, You will not be able
to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is
a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions
or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve
the foreign gods, then he will turn and do you
harm and consume you after he has done good to
you. And the people said to Joshua, No, but we
will serve the Lord. And Joshua said to the people,
You are witnesses against yourselves that you
have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve
him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore
put away the foreign gods which are in your midst
and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of
Israel. And the people said to Joshua, We will
serve the Lord our God, and we will obey his
voice. So Joshua made a covenant with them that
day, and made for them a statute and ordinance
in Shechem. Joshua wrote those words in the book
of law of God, and he took a large stone, set
it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary
of the Lord. Joshua said to all the people, Behold,
this stone shall be for a witness against us,
for it has heard all the words of the Lord which
he spoke to us. Thus it shall be for a witness
against you, lest you deny your God. Then Joshua
dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
You see, the people, as a people, had already
decided, had already submitted, had already come
into contact with the living God. They had already
seen Him do amazing things. Have you come into
contact with the living God? Have you already
seen God do amazing things? And yet, if you can
persist, if you can struggle in an identity crisis
after having experienced that, then I'm just
going to say that you're just getting what you
deserve. You're just getting what you've chosen
for yourself. You're not choosing God above all
things, not allowing yourself to be informed
by God above all entities, not allowing yourself
to be shaped by God as the people they had already
chosen. But by now, they were wandering to and
fro, often dying in their ignorance. But by Judges
4, the people could not use the roads that God
had given them. Generation after generation,
as they did just what they thought was right.
It says they did what was right in their own
minds. They did just what they thought was right.
They were pushed and drifted so far away from
God. And now in this song, we see that God is
redefining them. He's redefining them as a people
who follow God alone and trust God alone. We
don't trust each other like we trust God. We
don't trust money like we trust God. We don't
trust false gods like we trust God. We don't
look for sustenance or enjoyment or success or
strength or endurance in anything else. We follow
God alone and trust God alone. We praise God
with our whole hearts. He was saying, praise
God with your whole heart. Bless God, bless God,
bless God. Praise God with your whole heart.
We unite to be God's people. We stand together
and we see somebody straying. We call them back.
We see somebody struggling. We lift them up.
We deny the efforts of redefinition by the peoples
around us. That's what they needed to do. Stop
with the false gods being pushed on you. Stop
with the world's teaching. Stop with the internet
telling you this is what you need to be. Or you
just need this and you'll be healthy. Or you'll
just need this and you'll be strong. No, follow
God alone. Praise God with all your heart. Unite
with God's people. Deny the efforts of redefinition
by the people around them. Recount the victories
of God. Has God won the day? You darn well better
believe that God has won the day. And if you're
choosing to go against God, you're choosing to
lose. And that doesn't make any sense. To know
that he is the ultimate victor and to choose
to lose, that's ridiculous. It certainly results
in an identity crisis. And now she's calling
them... He's calling them, recount the victories
of God. Serve the greater good. Do what's right.
Stop hearing from God what you should do and
then finding other things to do instead. Just
do what's right. Give of themselves. Remember
how we talked about the volunteers and those
who came out. That the leaders led in Israel.
That the people volunteered. That was the standard.
Serve the greater good. Give of yourselves to
minimize the suffering of others. And if everyone,
even those who are suffering, give of themselves
to minimize the suffering of others, suffering
will be gone. It will be overcome. Show faith.
Show courage. Show diligence in the face of adversity.
And then more as God sees fit as we grow a little
bit more, a little bit more in the Lord. So the
three points that I wanted you to see then were
one, God is getting the glory. Two, the people
had a real identity crisis. And three, God was
redefining them as a people who, and I listed
those things for you. I will list them again
in a moment. You know what the solution is to
a real identity crisis? A real identity. The
solution to a real identity crisis is a real
identity. And a real identity happens when a
person makes a bold choice. They look at the
sum total of who they are. Naturalism says that
you are nothing more than the product of your
experiences. That your next decision will be
the sum total of everything that you've done
so far in your life and the new impetus, whatever
it is, the new circumstances that arise. It'll
be linked to whatever you did before, whatever
results you got before, etc. And you'll just
decide. You're not even free. You don't really
get to choose anything. God says otherwise. God
says, if you believe, Jesus said to those Jews
who had believed in him, come follow me, and
then you shall know the truth, and the truth
will set you free. You have a real identity crisis?
What you need is a real identity. That comes
after a bold action, after a bold step. One place
that the field of psychology and theology meet
up is the need for identity. In the Bible, all
the things can generally speaking be related
to the new identity in Christ that God wants
to give you. You can come to Christ and receive
a new identity. Jesus said, in fact, that you
shall not see the kingdom of God unless you be
born again. What does that mean? It means get
a new identity. In the New Testament, so many
times the word metanoia, which is the same Greek
word that psychologists use to talk about getting
a healing or a rendering of your identity to
solve these identity crises that we're talking
about. The systematic review and meta -analysis
of nearly 13 ,800 individuals aged 10 to 29 found
strong links between identity confusion and symptoms
of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.
Another study identified that identity confusion
and uncertainty during adolescence are consistently
associated with lower Psychosocial adjustment
including increased anxiety, loneliness, aggression,
delinquency, substance abuse, and depressive
symptoms. Research around identity distress using
tools like the identity distress scale shows
that distress about long -term goals, career
choices, friendships correlates with higher likelihood
of anxiety, depression, and even mental health
treatment. International students and cultural
identity gaps. A study of 171 international students
found that a mismatch between how students see
themselves and how they express themselves existed
and is linked to greater depression, especially
when combined with a culture rate of stress.
That's stress out of your culture. Adulthood
and major life disruptions. Among U .S. veterans
facing difficulties reintegrating after deployment,
nearly half, 49%, experienced identity disruption,
which was tied to more severe PTSD symptoms,
lower life satisfaction, and reintegration struggles.
In broader adult contexts, identity disturbance
marked by an unstable sense of self may be exacerbated
by anxiety, social media, job stress, blurred
life boundaries, particularly during the COVID
-19 era, which is to say from COVID on. Here
is the reality. We live in a day when everybody
who is not truly Christian, who is not truly
following the Lord and receiving a new identity
in Christ, is struggling with an identity crisis.
You need to realize that the solutions have been
laid out in Scripture. for that identity crisis.
You need to allow yourself and to work to help
others to receive an identity that will last
for an eternity. Like Joshua said to them before
they got to this point, choose who you will serve.
But then he said, you are witnesses against yourselves
because you choose God, but actually you will
serve the false gods. I'm going to say it as
plainly as I possibly can. If you are concerned
in your life, one day, day by day, week by week,
listen to me very carefully here. If you are
concerned about money, you are in danger of an
identity crisis. If you are concerned about sports,
you are in danger of an identity crisis. If you
are concerned about your own personal development,
I want to grow, I want to get better, I want
to get a better education, I want to be stronger,
you are in danger of an identity crisis. If you
are concerned about what your spouse does in
their spare time or the way they talk to you,
you are in danger of an identity crisis. Shall
I go on? If you are worried... concerned or apprehensive
about things of this earth that will go away
when we reach heaven, you are not only in danger
of an identity crisis, you have an identity crisis
to which you must respond by, as the song of
Deborah and Barak tells us, follow God alone
and trust Him alone. Praise God with your whole
heart. Unite with God's people. Deny the efforts
of redefinition by the people around you. Recount
the victories of God incessantly. Serve the greater
good. Give of yourselves to minimize the suffering
of others. Show faith, courage, diligence in
the face of adversity and anything else that
God decides to add to you. And hear me now, and
absolutely nothing else that God has not decided
to add to you. Our identity is not based on our
current personal preferences or what we think
is right. It is not based on your best understanding
of the present circumstances. Your identity is
based on what God says you are and that alone.
When light was lingering just out of sight, God
said, light be. And light leapt into existence.
When you are lingering just outside the city
gates where He wants you. When you're just outside
sharing the incredible stories of God. When you're
just outside making God your number one focus.
And God says to you, come now. Come into the
light. Come to the gates. Come to the forefront.
Risk it. Take a bold action. And you refuse.
You instead embrace the identity crisis. You
diagnose yourself. and lock in your own failings
going forward. You say, I'm not good enough.
I'm not strong enough. I'm not capable. God does
not care if you're good enough, strong enough,
or capable enough. He cares whether you will
answer the call. Are you coming or not? When
Jesus comes and the trump shall sound and He
has prepared a place for all of us, it will just
be a question of whether you will come. That's
it. And in that moment, if you're thinking, but
there's a date, but there's a schedule, but there's
a calendar, but there's money to be earned, but
there's a job to do, but I'm busy, I'm tired,
I'm exhausted, I'm fatigued. I've got mental
struggles. So -and -so said to me, I've just
got to solve this problem first. The Trump only
sounds once. And he calls once. And if he calls
once and the Trump sounds once and you don't
go in that moment because of any of these other
things, you don't go. After the boldness to accept
this reality about yourself that Jesus is going
to redefine you completely from the bottom of
your feet to the top of your head and everything,
anytime, anywhere that you can ever possibly
influence is going to be redefined by the new
you, by being born again. That's what it means.
A new identity. And if this new identity is...
Oh, you know, pieces of the old identity, pieces
of what so -and -so said you should be like,
and things that you like, your personal culture.
My dad always liked cars. My dad always liked
football. My dad always liked overtime, whatever.
If that's who you are, that is not a new identity
in Christ. You have to be ready. To make that
bold move to choose Jesus above all of that.
There's got to be a moment in time in which you
say, everything that I am, everything that I've
become, however I got here, I don't even know,
all that I am, I put it on the altar. Jesus,
make me new. That's what it means to be born
again. Then, if he chooses to use part of your
history, if he chooses to use part of your culture,
if he chooses to use part of your success in
finances or your success in work or whatever,
if he chooses to use that, then you, with some
apprehension, says, For those who stand, take
heed lest they fall, right? It says work out
your salvation with fear and trembling. Why?
Because if you take those things from your old
life and add them into your new identity and
God didn't say do so, then you are jeopardizing
your new identity. So you work out your salvation
in fear and trembling because here's a new thing.
I really haven't dealt with this yet. What do
I do with it? Okay, I focus on God. I follow
God alone. I praise God with all my heart. I
unite with God's people. I deny the efforts of
redefinition by the people around me. I recount
the victories of God. Oh, by the time I got there,
this thing doesn't even belong. I throw it away.
I don't sell it to somebody else because it probably
doesn't belong for them either. I throw it away.
It's gone. I drop it. I let go. I drop all things
that would hinder me as I run the race for Christ.
And you'll run into new things. And every time
you run into a new thing, you've got to make
a choice. Is it part of my new identity or not?
Everything you eat, everything you do from now
on, every intentional choice you make becomes
part of your identity. Remember naturalism? You're
only making the decisions based on everything
you've experienced at this point. You really
aren't free. Now you're free in Christ. To add
it or not, to use it as an impetus to subtract
something or not, you have to make those decisions
as you go forward in Jesus. In the Bible, In
the New Testament in particular, Jesus' message
was essentially repent for the kingdom of hand
is near. That's how he started. The kingdom of
God is at hand. Repent. Repent. What is the word
for repent? It's metanoia. Again, it's the same
Greek word that psychologists use when they talk
about getting a new outlook on life. Thinking
differently now. Deciding about things differently
now. That's what it means to be born again. Metanoia.
56 times in the New Testament. 22 of those times
in your Bible you'll find it translated as repent.
It is not simply repent and turn away from sins,
but repent and turn to God. And when you repent
and turn to God, the Bible says God shows up,
He makes you new. And then in being new, repentance
becomes a thing. Every time something else new
comes and tries to redefine me, every time something
else comes and tries to pollute my identity,
rather than allowing an identity crisis, I choose
Jesus again. I look to God again. Not just to
look to God, but to bless Him. To talk about
Him. To recount His deeds. To praise Him. To
sing. If you can't talk about God, get yourself
a praise song and don't open your mouth unless
that's what's coming out. Either talking about
God or that praise song. Get yourself a Bible
verse and every time you're talking, relate that
Bible verse to everything you're talking about.
That will bring to an end. your identity crisis
because you'll be mounting an offense out of
who you now are. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians
5, 17, that all old things have passed away and
everything has become made new. And whatever
is not made new to fit into your new identity
has passed away. It is by definition old. It's
gone. Let it go. Romans 12, 1 and 2 talks about
the ongoing renewing of our mind. I get that.
submitting ourselves to God, which is our spiritual
act of worship. And I submit to you that Deborah
and Barak had no idea of those phrases or the
words that would be used that Paul would write
to the Romans many years later. But if Paul did
know what Deborah and Barak had said, he knew
that we were to follow God alone and trust and
praise God with our whole heart, unite to be
God's people, deny the efforts of redefinition
by the people around us. That's what it means
when it says, do not be conformed to the ways
of the world. We were to recount the victories
of God. When you're sitting alone in the dark
despair of a difficult moment, recount the victories
of God and let who you are be informed by that
rather than by your own impressions of what you're
going through. Serve the greater good. And we
can hear him saying, don't walk away. James writes,
I believe, don't walk away from that mirror,
but rather be found as a doer, not just a hearer
of the word. Serve the greater good. Give of
themselves. to minimize the suffering of others,
show faith, Paul says, overcome evil with good,
show faith, courage, diligence in the face of
adversity, and more, but only as he sees fit.
Too many supposed Christians forget that Jesus
used the term metanoia. It's the same term that
psychologists use to refer to coming to think
about everything in your life differently than
you do. And this is when they teach metanoia.
If you go to a psychologist, this is when they'll
teach it. When your life is crushed. When you've
got almost nothing left. When your identity is
broken and you can't figure out who you are,
they'll say, what you need is a metanoia. You
need a metanoia. You need a new way, a new reality,
right? You need a new way of perceiving everything
and thinking about everything. And Christianity
is that. And without that, there's no Christianity.
A new way of thinking about everything. Metanoia.
And only a person who receives a metanoia and
adjusts to the new normal will ever be healthy
ever again. Everyone else will always be stuck
in whatever happened in their past. You've had
a tragic event. You can think about it right
now. It'll probably flash in your mind. You'll
probably see it as if it were happening again
right now. You can be stuck in that event or
you can live with a new way of looking at life
that says that God alone will define me. Jesus
simply said, Metanoia, for the kingdom is at
hand. If you are standing at the door to the
kingdom of God, please understand that it includes
methanoia. It may take time, but your entire
way of thinking about things, your whole identity
must be rewritten, centered around not who you
used to be or even who you are now, but who He
is. And that's what it means to be born again.
If you have had an experience with the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you've come to Christ for salvation,
if you felt the ground shaking, the pits of your
gut filled with His Holy Spirit, knowing that
you were approaching the living God, fearful
that he wouldn't accept you, and you've been
accepted. If you've come to Christ for salvation
and for lordship, then it's time you realized
the highest priorities of your life are following
God and trusting him alone, praising God with
your whole heart, united to be God's people,
denying the efforts of redefinition by the peoples
around you, recounting the victories of God,
serving the greater good, giving of yourself
to minimize the suffering of others, show faith,
courage, diligence in the face of adversity,
and more. as he sees fit. If you make that bold
choice to be born again, your born again nature
will include those things. And out of that boldness,
God will get the praise. You will praise him.
Others will come to praise him. God's people
will move into the light. God's people will be
the people doing the business. They will be the
ones looked to. They'll try to celebrate us for
our deeds and we will not allow it. We will redirect
all the praise that we receive to the God of
heaven. We will use our platforms to recount
his mighty deeds. If indeed you have been born
again. At this point in time, I cannot even say
to you as Joshua did, if this is too difficult,
if this is too challenging, Then serve whomever
you will. I can't say that to you. Because it's
akin to telling you to go to hell. And I won't
do that. I will rather say. Choose the God of
heaven. Choose Jesus Christ his son. Await his
next coming. Be found faithful. Literally divorce
yourself. Die. Die to your old self. Let all
those things be gone. Let them all be old. And
in yourself. in your new self, that all your
days, day in, day out, decision by decision by
decision, be without fear, anxiety, depression,
or struggle. Because you, among a world full
of people who have an identity crisis, have no
identity crisis. Because you have a new identity.