Identity crisis!
Part 2
V23 n39
In last weeks
newsletter, we were talking about who it is that we identify ourselves with, or
in other words, who is it that we place ourselves in agreement with. After
having a mild stroke last week, I had to make a decision or choice myself, of
whether I would agree or disagree with the doctor’s and nurses and the counsel
that they gave me. To agree with them would bring about restored health, and to
disagree would bring about death.
Each
and every day here, we all have that decision or choice to make. It all comes
down to who we will choose to be the servant to. Jesus Christ came that we
might have life, and have it more abundantly. The
devil goes about seeking whom he may devour, for his purpose is to steal the
gift of God from us, that he may get us to commit spiritual suicide,
that we would die for eternity.
Romans 6:16, Do you not know that if you
surrender yourselves as bondservants to obey any one, you become the
bondservants of him whom you obey, whether the bondservants of Sin (with death
as the result) or of Duty (resulting in righteousness)? (
[To
whom ye yield yourselves] Can you suppose that you should continue to be the
servants of Christ if ye give way to sin? Is he not the master who exacts the
service, and to whom the service is performed? Sin is the service of Satan;
righteousness is the service of Christ. If ye sin, ye are the
servants of Satan, and not the servants of God.
The word doulos (grk
1401), which we translate "servant", properly signifies slave; and a
slave among the Greeks. and Romans was considered as
his master's property, and he might dispose of him as he pleased. Under a bad
master, the lot of the slave was most oppressive and dreadful; his ease and
comfort were never consulted; he was treated worse than a beast; and, in many
cases, his life hung on the mere caprice of the master. This state is the state
of every poor, miserable sinner; he is the slave of Satan, and his own evil
lusts and appetites are his most cruel taskmasters. The same word is applied to
the servants of Christ, the more forcibly to show that they are their Master's
property; and that, as he is infinitely good and benevolent, therefore his
service must be perfect freedom. Indeed, he exacts no obedience from them which
he does not turn to their eternal advantage; for this master has no
self-interest to secure. (from
Adam Clarke Commentary)
Each and
every day a person surrounds themselves with different thoughts and ideas.
However, to make things a bit more simplified, one should look at this in one
of two ways: our choices or decisions are one of two, to choose to be
spiritually alive by coming into agreement with God and His Word, or to come
into agreement with the devil, whose end result is spiritual death. Thus we can
see why Joshua said that we have to choose this day who
it is that we will serve.
God
in His grace and mercy, has made available to each and
every person this gift of spiritual life. This gift is available to one by and
through Christ Jesus. (Eph 4:7, John 17:3). There is no other way then that
which God has prescribed. (John 14:6, 1Tim 2:5). Any other way than that which
God prescribes would be the way of a thief and robber, and admittance into His
kingdom under false pretenses will not be allowed.
1Peter
Let’s look at some of Adam Clarke’s comments on these verses.
[These
are wells without water] Persons who, by their profession, should furnish the
water of life to souls athirst for salvation; but they have not this water;
they are teachers without ability to instruct; they are sowers, and have no
seed in their basket. Nothing is more cheering in the deserts of the east than
to meet with a well of water; and nothing more distressing, when parched with
thirst, than to meet with a well that contains no water.
[Clouds that are carried with a tempest] In a time of
great drought, to see clouds beginning to cover the face of the heavens raises
the expectation of rain; but to see these carried off by a sudden tempest is a
dreary disappointment. These false teachers were equally as unprofitable as the
empty well, or the light, dissipated cloud.
[To whom
the mist of darkness is reserved] That is, an eternal separation from the
presence of God, and the glory of his power. They shall be thrust into outer
darkness, <Matt.
[They speak great swelling words of vanity]
The word huperongka (grk
5246) signifies things of great magnitude, grand, superb, sublime; it sometimes
signifies inflated, tumid, bombastic. These false teachers spoke of great and
high things, and no doubt promised their disciples the greatest privileges, as
they themselves pretended to a high degree of illumination; but they were all
false and vain, though they tickled the fancy and excited the desires of the
flesh; and indeed this appears to have been their object. And hence, some think
that the impure sect of the Nicolaitans is meant.
[Those that were clean escaped] Those who, through
hearing the doctrines of the Gospel, had been converted,
were perverted by these false teachers.
[While they promise them liberty] Either to live in the highest degrees of spiritual good, or a freedom from the Roman yoke; or from the yoke of the law, or what they might term needless restraints. Their own conduct showed the falsity of their system; for they were slaves to every disgraceful lust.
[For of whom a man is overcome] This is an
allusion to the ancient custom of selling for slaves those whom they had
conquered and captivated in war. The ancient law was,
that a man might either kill him whom he overcame in battle, or keep him for a
slave. These were called servi, slaves, from the verb
sevare, to keep or preserve. And they were also
called mancipia, from manu capiuntur,
they are taken captive by the hand of their enemy. Thus the person who is
overcome by his lusts is represented as being the slave of those lusts.(from Adam Clarke Commentary)
The
only real liberty one can have, is by being identified
with Christ. Thus why Paul tells us to stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has made us free. (By being in full agreement with God
and His Word). Do not again become entangled with the old ways and
nature of the flesh. As Paul said, that we should be followers of him, as he
followed after the pattern set by Christ Jesus.
People who imitate other people, will find themselves in an identity crisis, as we can see from the following scripture.
Acts 19:13-16, 13 Then certain of the vagabond
Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the
name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which
did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I
know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on
them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of
that house naked and wounded. (KJV)
Certain of the Jews who went about practising
exorcisms. Vagabond has a very bad acceptation among us; but,
literally, vagabundus signifies a wanderer, one that
has no settled place of abode. These, like all their countrymen, in all places,
went about to get their bread in what way they could; making trial of
everything by which they could have the prospect of gain. Finding that Paul
cast out demons through the name of Jesus, they thought, by using the same,
they might produce the same effects; and, if they could, they knew it would be
to them an ample source of revenue; for demoniacs abounded in the land.
The whole verse in that manuscript reads thus: Among them were also the
sons of Skeva, a priest, who wished to do the same:
for they were accustomed to exorcise such persons. And entering in to the
demoniac, they began to invoke that Name, saying, We
command thee by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth, to go out. And the evil spirit
answered, and said unto them, Jesus I know, etc. It has been often remarked
that in our Lord's time there were many of the Jews that professed to cast out
demons; and perhaps to this our Lord alludes,
see note at <Matt. 12:27>
Notes
from Matt. 12:27: And if I by Beelzebub
cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore
they shall be your judges.
[By
whom do your children cast them out?] Children, or sons of the prophets, means
the disciples of the prophets; and children or sons of the Pharisees, disciples
of the Pharisees. From <Acts 19:13-14>, it is evident there were
exorcists among the Jews, and, from our Lord's saying here, it is also evident
that the disciples of the Pharisees did cast out demons, or, at least, those
who educated them wished to have it believed that they had such a power. Our
Lord's argument here is extremely conclusive: If the man who casts out demons
proves himself thereby to be in league with and influenced by Satan, then your
disciples, and you who taught them, are all of you in league with the Devil: ye
must either give up your assertion, that I cast out demons by Beelzebub, or
else admit this conclusion, in its fullest force and latitude, that ye are all
children of the Devil, and leagued with him against God.
Envy
causes persons often to condemn in one, what they approve in another. (from
Adam Clarke Commentary).
As we can see, those sons of Sceva had a real identity crisis when it came to using the Lord’s name. As we can recall from last week’s newsletter, that many said that they were doing many wonderful works in His name, yet, He did not know them. Christ and Christ alone is the power and wisdom of God. Do you have an identity crisis today?
That you may know Him,
In the service of Jesus
Christ.
Larry Gazelka