you in praise. Because of Calvary's fountain, he took my place. And someday, some glorious morning, I shall see him face to face. ♪ Amazing grace ♪ ♪ Amazing grace ♪ ♪ God's amazing grace ♪ ♪ Amazing grace ♪ We've been joining some standing this morning. We'll sing hymn number 423, Joy to the World, the Lord is Come. Hymn number 423. And heaven and nature sing. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. No more let sin and sorrows grow. far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth. Amen. Thank you. May we be seated. I went to worship I've found his storerooms all filled with dust. I've bowed and altered. They turn to us. All worship only at the feet of Jesus, his love alone. My holy grail. The call of hope. Fortune made me a pilgrim to journey to fames promised heights. But as I climbed, the promise faded. and the feet of Jesus. will never fail. There'll be no other God before Him. Just Jesus only will never fail. filled us with empty shadows. Oh, promises that turn to light. ♪ Earth, veil and betray me ♪ ♪ You alone are truth and love alone ♪ and the feet of Jesus, his love alone, my holy prayer, help me in the hope. will never fail. He'll never fail. I heard a old story, how the Savior made one glory. ♪ When I repented of my sins and won the victory ♪ ♪ The victory of Jesus, my Savior forever ♪ ♪ He sought me and bought me with His own blood ♪ And though our love is weary, we've much to give. ♪ Of cleansing blood ♪ ♪ I heard a cloud is healing ♪ ♪ Love is cleansing, love revealing ♪ ♪ I will make the lame to walk again ♪ ♪ And cause the blind to see ♪ ♪ And then I cried, dear Jesus ♪ ♪ I will heal my broken spirit ♪ And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory. The victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew. He touched me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory. And I heard about the streams of gold beyond the crystal sea. ♪ And the old redemption story ♪ ♪ When sunsween day I'll sing out there ♪ ♪ The song of victory ♪ ♪ The victory in Jesus, he's my Savior for evermore ♪ He sought me and bought me with his relieving blood. He loved me ere I knew him, and though my love is dwindling, he wants me. Amen. Please remain standing as we go to the Lord in prayer for our offering. Yeah. Glad tidings of great joy, tidings of comfort and joy. Fear not, behold, I bring to you glad tidings of comfort and joy. Ages of waiting have reached an end when the herald angel appeared, saying, Peace on earth, goodwill to men, rejoice the Savior is here. glad tidings of great joy, tidings of comfort and joy. Fear not, behold, I bring to you glad tidings of comfort and joy. Ages of time now have come and gone since that night in Bethlehem. He's still today for all the world, and God sent His message again. Glad tidings of great joy, tidings of comfort and joy. Fear not, behold, I bring to you glad tidings of comfort and joy. Sing hallelujah, Messiah has come Let every nation proclaim He's Savior, Redeemer, the light of the world And Jesus is His name great joy, tidings of comfort and joy. Fear not, behold, I bring to you glad tidings of comfort and joy. Fear not, behold, I bring to you glad tidings of comfort and joy. Glad tidings of comfort and joy. Good, stand once again. We'll sing hymn number 429, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. God and sinners reconciled. Joyful, all ye nations, rise. Join the triumph of the skies with angelic host proclaiming. Lord, to Thee, O angels sing, Glory to the newborn King! Christ, my highest hymn adore, Christ, the everlasting Lord, We in time behold Him come, ♪ The Godhead sing ♪ ♪ Hail incarnate deity ♪ ♪ Jesus made with men to dwell ♪ ♪ Jesus, our Emmanuel ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ Hail the day-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Risen with healing in His wings, Mild He lays His glory by. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give and take and learn. Born to hear all angels sing. Hail to the newborn King! Whom the entire nation's proud, makes heav'n and sky a home, like this Amen. Thank you, maybe some day. Shall I take from your hand your blessings, yet not welcome any pain? Shall I thank you for days of sunshine, Yet brumble in days of rain, Shall I love you in times of plenty? Then leave you in days of drought. Shall I trust when I reap a harvest? But when winter winds blow, then down be done in me. In your love I will abide. Oh, I long for nothing else as long as you are glorified. Are you good only when I prosper? And true only when I'm filled? Are you king only when I'm carefree? And God only when I'm well? You are good when I'm poor and needy. You are true when I'm parched and dry. You still reign in the deepest valley. You're still God in the darkest night. Oh, let your will be done in me. In your love I will abide. Oh, I long for nothing else as long as you are glorified. So quiet my restless heart. Quiet my restless heart. quiet my restless heart. In done in me, in your love I will abide. Oh, I long for nothing else as long as you are glorified. Lord in my life be glorified. It's our honor to have the Carters with us, and I see a few more slid up the hill, or didn't slide down the hill anyhow, and so it's good to have you. Brother Carter, if you would come and preach for us this morning. Mrs. Carter's right here, keeping him in line, and so, Lord bless you. Well, praise the Lord. It's a blessing to be here today, and I'm at that I'm at a weird age. At that weird age where, yeah. So I'm at that weird age where I still think I'm young. And then I go to places where I know people that I knew when I was a kid who have kids that are married and have kids and are going to mission fields and stuff like that. then it makes me question my whole existence and whether I'm truly understanding who I am anymore and my view of myself as young becomes questionable. But I know it's true. I know I am. I am young. I look at myself every, it is my truth. I look at myself in the mirror every morning and say, you are young. This gray hair means nothing. So anyway, praise the Lord. We're blessed to be here. I just actually am still overcoming jet lag. We were on a missions trip and then a missionary retreat at the first of October through the most of October and then we got back and I was home two weeks and then went back to the mission field and took a couple on a survey trip. My oldest daughter actually and her husband on a survey trip and they're gonna be going to the mission field. My son's I started deputation already, and he's going to be going to the mission field. Anyway, I've been overseas six out of the last eight weeks. And I don't know what time it is in here, you know? And so in the middle of the night, just randomly, I wake up and think. And that's not a good thing. That's not a good thing at all. It gets worse, doesn't it? Yeah. You know what I mean? I have jet lag. Amen. Well take your Bibles to Romans chapter number 8 and I thought I wasn't going to use that but I'm definitely going to use it. I changed my mind. So we're in Romans chapter number 8. We talked in Sunday School about the issue of truth and understanding what truth is and where a rejection of truth leads us. And we saw that progression in Sunday school. If you weren't able to be here for that, I would encourage you to go back and watch the recording of that online. But we ended with this thought that when we reject truth, what happens is that we become adrift. James. Chapter number one, we're not gonna go there, but just for explanation, but James chapter number one tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, right? And he gives this illustration, he says, he's like a wave driven with the wind and tossed, right? He's up and down, he's unmoored from something that keeps him stable. And so this is often what happens when someone has rejected a foundational truth in their life. I personally believe that it's the root cause for most of what's called bipolar. up and down and up and down and the problem is there's nothing anchoring and sustaining a stable position, you see. And so James explains that in order to re-establish a stable position A person has to come to a grounding in faith and understanding faith gives them a place of footing or foundation, if you will, to reestablish stability in their life. And that's really the whole book of James addresses that concept. It starts off talking about the problem of being double-minded, being unstable in all your ways. like a wave driven with the wind and tossed and so forth. And then he grows through that book in that philosophy or that concept of how to eliminate that problem in your life. It's a very important book in understanding, but one of the things that happens then is that when a person unmoors from a foundational place of identity and security, they've released themselves from a truth, okay, from a place of truth, and that place of identity and security, it might be that they grew up in a Bible-believing, independent Baptist church that preached the word, and maybe they rejected the word of God, maybe they rejected the New Testament church or something along those lines. And now they're set adrift. and they've got to find some place to set their identity. They don't have it established any longer. Maybe it's they grew up in a family that had a particular stand or position or a sense of who they were and they reject their family and then all of a sudden now they have to find that place of identity. So it can happen in a lot of different ways, but it typically happens when there's a releasing of that which was foundationally held to as a young person. Now in our culture, the problem we have is a subtle philosophy that slipped in several generations ago. And this subtle cultural philosophy was that you should not indoctrinate children. Now, this is an actual lie that is told by leftists, if you will, that indoctrination of children into biblical things and in church and all of this is a bad thing because they're very actively trying to indoctrinate children, but they think it's wrong for you to do it. They don't think it's wrong to be done, by the way, okay? But what has gone on is you hear people make statements, and for years I heard people say little things that seem odd, Like, I don't go to church because when I was a kid, my parents drugged me to church, right? Well, they also made you go to school. They also made you eat your food, you know, your vegetables and stuff. And there are people that are like, I don't eat vegetables because my parents made me eat vegetables. And that's more reasonable, actually. I understand that a little bit more. But you understand, philosophically, it's a dumb argument. Because my parents also made me bathe, and my parents made me eat my vegetables, and my parents made me go to school, and my parents, there were many things my parents made me do, like clean my room, right? Now my wife makes me do that, but my parents used to make me do that. And so to say, well, my parents made me go to church, that's an odd statement, but really what it is is I'm rejecting the indoctrination of my parents. I'm rejecting God, I'm rejecting the church, I'm rejecting that philosophy, if you will, and I'm going to be my own person. The problem is, is what kind of person is that gonna be? Where is my identity now going to be rooted and centered for the future? And so what we have is a culture that bought into this idea of, well, I don't want to force God on my kids because they heard these type of things. So I'm not gonna force my kids to go to church, so we're just gonna not go to church. So now my kids are exposed to every worldly philosophy out there, and they're being indoctrinated in these worldly philosophies, and they're going to find some place to put their identity. And so because they don't have a grounding of truth to establish their identity on, they're going to put it on the shifting sands of culture around them. Now in Romans chapter number 8 we see three aspects of where identity comes from or how identity is established and it's important to grab these for understanding because our young people are looking for an identity. Everyone does. Everyone tries to figure out who am I? Who am I? How can I identify myself? And this culture is offering identities to them. Saying, pick this identity, pick that identity. Identify as this or identify as that. And young people are drawn to it because their parents are standing back saying, Hey, you just be whoever you are. We don't want to influence who you become and what you are. That's foolishness. If you have a child here today, you better be trying to influence the direction of their life and who they are. You better be. You're a parent. You're responsible. You're responsible. Now, they can reject it. They have a free will, okay? They may reject what they're taught, but you're responsible to teach it. You are responsible. God believes in indoctrination. Read Deuteronomy chapter number six. He believes in indoctrination, right? And so we ought to be teaching, but look at Romans chapter number eight. Let's talk about this issue of identity for just a minute. In verse number 12, do you stand when you read scripture? Let's stand. Romans 8, verse number 12 through 17. It says, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, whereby we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Father, I pray that you would help us this morning as we consider this portion of scriptures. the application that you've given for us today. Use it in our hearts today. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. You may be seated. So, you might read this and say, I don't see the word identity in there, and you'd be right. The word identity itself isn't in these verses, but the concept or principle of identity is, as he begins here in verse number 12 and 13, speaking about those who identify with the flesh. that the flesh is their identity, if you will. We're debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh, for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. And then the contrast, if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. So we have a comparison, if you will, of two different identities, the identity of living after the flesh and the identity of living after the spirit. And these two contrasts are what is, if you will, the big picture options that people have. It actually is only two options, but there are variations within these options, if you will, okay? So if I say, well, I want to live after the flesh, what can I identify as in the flesh? Well, you can identify with any sinful behavior you decide to make prominent in your life, right? Whether it's addiction, Whether it is, you know, sexual perversion of some variation, you know, I'm a homosexual, I'm a transvestite, I'm a this, I'm a that, you know, whatever, I'm a playa. That's a cultural option. It's a cultural option. And so that identity can become anything that's after the flesh. And then you have those that live after the spirit. Now, the after the spirit options are more limited. And I mean this in a very specific way. I don't mean that there aren't people that claim to be Christians who are liars and hypocrites and sinful in their behavior, because there certainly are. But those people are liars about living after the spirit. They're actually living after the flesh. They just put on the persona of living after the spirit. They're not really living after the spirit. There really is only one way to live after the Spirit, and that's to obey the Word of God and to follow His principles, His commandments, His law, and to exemplify that in your life. So if you're not doing that, no matter how much you go to church, call yourself a Christian, or put on that facade of Christianity, you actually are still living after the flesh. So these are your two options. You do whatever your flesh wants and desires, or you do what God wants. Those are the two roots of identity. Those are the two places. So a person can take their identity from their behavior, from what they do, maybe from their abilities. It's not uncommon for us as men to get together. And when you meet a new man, what's one of the first things you say? So what do you do? Where do you work? How do you identify is what you're asking. What's your identity, right? Are you a contractor? Are you a tradesman? Are you a white collar, blue collar? You know, what's your identity in that? And we often fix identity to what a person does, right? Or what kind of hobbies do you have? Right? You know, you ride motorcycles or, you know, you drive a big truck or, you know, you throw axes, which is a newer thing. I never, you know, anyway, it's kind of fun to throw axes. You're supposed to throw them at targets, though, and not at people. That's less fun. What do you do? What kind of abilities do you have? Did you play sports when you were in school? Right? Do you still? There's a lot of grown men that are still trying to recapture their youth, breaking their hips and stuff like that. Who's your friends? What kind of relationships? These are the ways that people find identity, right? What they do, where they're from, these type of things. And it all revolves around the flesh and the things of this world and the identity that is available to us based upon the deeds, actions, or abilities of the flesh. I want you to get this principle in your mind because what we're doing is we're trying to find a source of identification. When we try and find that source of identification based on the flesh, what we're trying to do is fill the void that is present in us. in some fashion, in such a way as to bring gratification or satisfaction to our heart about our position or standing amongst others in this world and also with God, right? We're trying to say, I'm okay. I'm an okay person, right? I'm fulfilled, if you will. We're trying to find that. Now, when you look in the scriptures in Genesis chapter number one, In Genesis chapter number one you see God creating everything and he uses a statement at the end of his creation, all through the chapter he says it was good, right? He saw that it was good and he created something else and he saw that it was good. Six times he says he saw that it was good and then at the very end of Genesis chapter one he says he saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good. So seven times he says it's good, it's good, it's good, it's good, it's good, right? In chapter number two, we get into a new phase, if you will. Now, chapter number two, sometimes critics will say, there's two different accounts of creation in the Bible. Chapter one is different from chapter number two. That's not the case. Chapter number one is like the big picture view, and chapter number two is the zoomed-in view, where God kind of focuses in on a more particular thing. And obviously, when you zoom in, you see some more details that you didn't see the big picture view, okay? So in chapter number two, he zooms in and he talks about creating Adam and taking the ground and forming him and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life and Adam becoming a living soul. And then he says as he goes through there, he begins to give Adam... responsibility. And so he gives them physical responsibility first to dress and keep the garden and then he gives him moral responsibility. And that moral responsibility is that he is to not take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so remember that's in Genesis 2 verse 17 if you want to look at it right there. But he said, the day you eat thereof ye shall what? Surely die. And then the very next verse, verse number 18, we often use verse number 18 as a marriage verse, right? But the context, remember that when Genesis was written, matter of fact, when all of the Bible was written, it wasn't written in verse style, right? I mean, like Moses wasn't writing now verse number 18, you know. He wrote it as a narrative. And so the narrative continues on. Punctuation matters a lot more than verse numbers. And so he says, the day you eat of it, you'll surely die. And then the very next statement is, it's not good that man should be alone. And then there's a colon there. And then it says, I will make and help meet for him, which is talking about marriage. But the statement, it's not good that man should be alone, had nothing to do with that he didn't have a wife. That follows. But it has to do with what preceded. The thing that would make him alone is when he died and became separated from God. Think about that. At one point, Adam was the only person on the face of the earth, and yet he was not alone. He wasn't going to be alone until sin. And sin had not yet happened. It's not good that man should be alone. So sin creates separation from God, but the consequence of that is being alone. Marriage doesn't solve aloneness. I've done counseling for over 30 years now. I've done a lot of marriage counseling. Some of the most alone people I've ever met in my life are married. Right? So just getting married, young people have this idea. I'm alone, but when I get married, I'll never be alone again. When you get married, you're like, could I please be alone? I'm kidding about that, but. But it doesn't cure aloneness. You can be alone sitting here today in this room full of people, right? Aloneness is not a result of not being around people. Aloneness is a result of being separated from God. And it's important to grab that. Now catch this view then, okay? So I'm gonna put like a tree here. My drawings are phenomenal. And I'm going to put a root down here because a tree has a tap root. And we're going to put this word loneliness here, right? And the fruit of this tree is identity. Identity. In other words, your identity is what other people or what you think of yourself and what you want other people to think of you. It's the thing you want people to see. who you are, right? But sometimes that identity, because of our sinful behavior, trying to cure aloneness, sometimes that identity becomes that fleshly persona of addiction or sexual perversion, or arrogance and pride, and all of those type of things. It's the identity that people see of us and that we try and portray. This is who I am. And so that people even commonly now, it's very common for people to publicly state their identity as their sinful behavior, right? I am gay. I am trans. I am this. I am that. And I'm going to get a flag and carry it around and wear it on my shirt or my hat or my whatever. I'm going to tattoo it on my body so everybody knows this is who I am. I've adopted this identity. And please catch this. Many, many, maybe even most of the people that get involved in this ideology are doing so because they don't have an identity of their own and they're trying to find one. And they're told, if you'll have this identity, you won't be alone anymore. This is a lie of Satan. You won't be alone. You'll be with all of us, our loving, accepting community. Right? Well, those Christians are hateful. They don't accept you. That's a lie, by the way. But we accept you for who you are, as long as who you are aligns with who we are, and then you won't be alone. Guess what? It doesn't work either. That's why suicide rates are insanely high amongst this perversion stuff. I mean, exorbitantly high. Why? Often, the key element or statement in regards to suicide has to do with, I don't want to be alone anymore. Nobody cares. Nobody loves me. Nobody accepts me. I'm alone. Actually, statistically, they say that the number one reason for suicide is depression. And the number two reason for suicide is loneliness. But then when you study depression, you find out that the number one contributing factor for depression is loneliness. Alone. This is a problem. And so the drawing that I had up here during Sunday school, if you divided this into two different categories, this would be sin in the world. And this would be sinful responses. All right, the drawing I had up there earlier would come off here, how we respond to being alone, how we're trying to solve the problem. And if you've, pastor asked me to bring books. And my brain has not been working the last couple days, because I mentioned I just got back from overseas, and I forgot. But one of the books that I have written in the past is a book called Emotional Pain. It's on dealing with emotional trauma. That's the things that have happened to us that aren't our fault, but have brought trauma into our life. Abuse, betrayal, conflict, death, disease, divorce, rejection, and so on. That would all fall under this side. Things that happen to us because of sin in the world, and then there's ways that we respond because of sin in our own way. All of this feeds into this issue of aloneness, which we try and cure by developing an identity to isolate ourselves or remove it from our life. Alright, does that make sense? Bunch of drawings put together. This is the world's attempt at solving the problem of aloneness. Substitute an identity based on sinful behavior. We see it in scripture many different times. Probably one of the clearest times we see it in scripture is when we see it over in the maniac of Gadara over in Mark chapter number 5. We won't turn there for the sake of time, but there in that passage, you remember when Jesus comes to the Gadarenes, he says, what's your name? And the man's response was? Legion, and he said, because we're many, right? Now, do you think, just think, put on your thinking hat for a moment, do you think that that mom, when she had that baby boy, looked at him and said, I think I'll call him full of devils? Maybe she did. I don't know. People are weird. I've heard some really strange names of late to be honest. But I doubt it. He wasn't really telling Jesus his name, his given name. He was telling Jesus his identity. This is who I am. I'm full of devils. And that's exactly what Satan wants people to do today. It's what he wants you to do. It's what he wants these young people to do. It's to accept an identity based on sinful behavior that is offered from the world as a way to cure your aloneness, as a way to not any longer be alone. And so often that's exactly what we find when we deal with addiction. In our church we have a the hope addiction program that we produce and we have over 500 churches that use it but we also have residential homes and I do weekly counseling with those that are in our residential homes and it's constant that it's like I tried to fit in with the crowd you know I wanted to be like everybody else and so I started smoking marijuana and I started doing this and I started doing that and before long The sin that's in the world brought trauma in their life and anchored those behaviors into their understanding or their thought that this is a way to cure my aloneness is through partying and being around people and having fun. And what they find is that it only brings more and more destruction until it becomes their identity. and it destroys their life. Please understand this is what Paul is speaking about here in Romans chapter 8 when he says don't live after the flesh because if you live after the flesh ye shall die and when you die because of the sin of the flesh you're alone. That's exactly what he says in Genesis 4. It's not good that man should be alone. Being alone is the fruit of following after the flesh, doing the things of the flesh. It's important to understand that. And it's necessary to grasp this principle that if aloneness is actually the result, not of the people around me, and not of the things that have happened to me, Not of the way even that I think. Those all contribute to the feeling of aloneness and magnify it, if you will. But if it's not produced from that, then I can't solve it by addressing or looking at those issues either. Please catch this. The way you cure aloneness is by making right the relationship with the one you were separated from. That is God. You have to restore your relationship with God to cure aloneness. And this is a very key point. It's something, young people, you really need to grab hold of and understand. You're never going to find a fulfilled identity in the flesh, ever. The only way to find a secure and fulfilling identity is in the one who made you, in your creator. And so you have to restore a right relationship. Now, there's a lot of factors that go into when we talk about relationship. And when I'm dealing with young people in this particular area of issue of aloneness, loneliness, which is a big problem, which is contributing factor in all of these identification areas, the first thing that I talk to them about is this. I'm going to just give you a couple quick points. grab hold of this, okay? Number one, you need to start looking for places in the scriptures to identify where you see yourself. You see your expression of how you feel, okay? What a great song service. Man, the choir special, the other specials, they were just, they were awesome. It was a blessing to me. It was nourishing to my spirit, amen? And I identify with those songs. I identify with them. But you know, there was a point in my life I didn't. And I learned this, there was a while back, there was a car that pulled up next to us. This was, I don't know, a decade or more ago. And you know, they had their music going on. And it was that, you know. and my car is shaking, and I'm getting angry because we're stuck at this light, and I'm thinking, what is wrong with these people with this music that's just, like, got to be blowing their eardrums out. I mean, like, hurting my ears, and I'm not even in their car. You know what I'm talking about. They do that in Kansas City, too. And so I'm thinking, what's wrong with him? And I start telling God about it, you know, because I believe in the Bible, using Bible methods. And one of the methods in Psalms is imprecatory prayer, you know. And that means, you know, you pray for harm against people you don't like. That's what that means, really. So, you know, dear God, Blow their car up. Blow their speakers out. Make it stop, God. And so as I'm thinking about this, and you might think I'm joking about that. I'm not actually joking about that. I was like praying, God, make their music stop. It's horrible. And I started talking to God about this, about this music. I'm saying, why would anyone ever listen to that music? And it was like the Lord spoke to me and said, because they identify with it. And that's what music does, or that's what it is, actually. Music is an expression of the soul. And you can tell the condition of your soul by the music you identify with. Think about that. That's a little scary. Because there's people that identify with music that's very angry, and the reason is because they're angry. And they don't know how to express it, And they see that expression there, so they identify with it. And then what happens is, over time, you identify with the music, and then you begin to identify with or as the music. Had a friend in school, as a high schooler, I remember freshman year, no, sophomore year, I'm sorry, We hung out, and we talked, we played sports together, and then went back my junior year, and I didn't even recognize him. We hadn't seen each other. That was before cell phones and social media, kids. And so we didn't see each other all summer, because he lived out on the other side of the country, on the other side, and we were on this side of town. And I came to school, and he shows up at school. He's like wearing a trench coat in western Kansas, all right? He's wearing a trench coat, black boots laced up, you know, all the way up his calf. He's got black hair. He didn't have natural black hair, but his hair's black. It's over his eyes. He's wearing black fingernail polish. This is in the 90s, all right? And he had started listening to grunge. And he came to school, and he was reflecting that. It wasn't who I had seen the year before. But he was always an angry kid. I mean, that was one of the things about him. He was mad about stuff, you know? But he found this music that reflected how he felt inside, and then he began to reflect it. And that's what happens with music. You've got to be careful. I'm trying to get that thought across and understand, because he was looking for something to express. And what he found was an identity that he invested himself in. And he began to see himself as this. Okay, which was an expression of his fleshly, sinful feelings, and that became his persona. Okay, now, music does that, and this is important. Let me get back to I really enjoyed the song service, because it reflected what I feel inside. And you need to be thinking about that. And one of the ways you can find a proper identity, instead of going to the world to find a place you identify with, go to the scriptures. Remember, all of the Psalms are songs. God did that on purpose. They express all kinds of emotions and feelings and from anger, David expresses anger in the Psalms, to joy, from frustration and depression even, to jubilance and God is so great and even the imprecatory Psalms I mentioned just a minute ago where David basically says, dear God, kill that person and kill their whole family and break down their house and pile it with manure so that everyone knows that they're a bad person and they did me wrong. That's kind of a paraphrase but it's not far off. That's in the Psalms, kids, right, where you learn to be a good Christian. You read that and you go, well, Christians should never feel like that. Well, how haughty you are. Christians feel all kinds of ways. But here's what identity with Christ does. It helps us take those feelings and go to the scriptures and find that expression and then look for God's answer that's given, and that's always given in the Psalms. I can find how I feel, but I also find an answer from God for that problem as well. And so what happens is when I find that identity in the word of God, I begin to see God's answers for my feelings and problems. Instead of reinforcing the negative feeling, which is what the world's music does, the word of God takes that feeling and says, I see how you feel and I understand it. And you know what? I'm touched with the feelings of your infirmity and I wanna help you. Here's an answer for that problem. And I begin to identify with God. I begin to identify with his word. I begin to identify with his answers. And that's what takes those psalms from, everyone's against me, no one's for me. Why art thou disquieted, O my soul? Why art thou cast down? To, I will glory in God. It's that transition from that sinful feelings because of the things that have happened to me, instead of responding in a sinful way, my sinful feelings become exposed by the Word of God and I begin to respond in a godly way because I identify with the Spirit instead of the flesh. This is important. You have to learn to identify with the Word of God if you're going to have an identity in God. Once you identify with the word of God, you need to spend time meditating on his word. That's the second thing. This is how you build relationships, by the way, in case anyone's wondering. Say, what do you mean by that? All right. You ever go to a preacher's meeting? This doesn't happen in churches normally, just in preacher's meetings. You go to a preacher's meeting, and you meet that preacher that only talks about himself. And it's like, you're the sounding board for what he's saying, but you never get to get a word in edgewise. It's just like, me, me, me, me, me, me, my, my, my, my, my, my. And you're like, oh, yeah, that reminds, oh, well, brother, it's been good to talk to you. And he's off, right? That's how a lot of people treat God. It's a one-sided conversation. They let God dialogue, or not dialogue, but monologue, if you will. Maybe they read a scripture or two, and this is God's monologue, and now it's my turn, and I'm gonna tell God, blah, you know, and there's never a dialogue. There's never a give and take in the conversation, right? You don't build relationships when there's only monologues. Build relationship through dialogue. You know, how are you? You tell me. And then you're like, well, how are you? And I tell you. And back and forth. And that's part of building relationships, OK? It's important to understand it works the same way with God and with people. And if you're only looking to find someone to tell stuff to and not looking for someone that you're actually willing to let tell back, then you're not actually investing yourself in a relationship. So don't be surprised when you feel alone. No one will listen to me. Start listening to them. That's usually the problem, by the way. Start listening to them, and then they'll be open to listening to you. It's a big part of it. Okay? But it's the same when we come to the word of God. So when I read my Bible, I'm looking for some place that expresses or I identify with something that stands out to me, that speaks to me. I'm looking for God to speak to me, right? But then I want to spend time thinking about what he's saying and processing that, and that's called meditation, right? And Joshua 1.8 says, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, right? That's the place of meditation. And then he says, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. That's the purpose of meditation, meditating to implement, to do, right? And then he says, for then thou shalt make the way prosperous and thou shalt have good success. That's the promise of meditation, success. And if you invest that same way in your communication with other people, you'll have better relationships with them. listening to what they say, and thinking about it instead of having that conversation. This is frustrating conversations when you can tell they're not really listening to what you're saying. They're just waiting for you to stop so they can say what they want to say. That's frustrating. Like, listen to me. And I don't want to talk to you because you don't listen to me. And then that person goes away and says, no one wants to talk to me. Yeah, because you don't listen to anybody. I'm being mean, aren't I? It's true, okay? It's true, it's part of the problem. You wanna develop a relationship with God, you've gotta listen to him, you've gotta think about what he's saying, and then you need to respond to him. Prayer, right? Prayer is a beautiful picture of communication, and it's applicable, if you will, we won't go into all that, but it's applicable if you'll pay attention to it, it's applicable to marriage relationships and communication as well. You can always take, The spiritual truth and reverse engineer it to apply to the physical problems. The spiritual truth is a solution that needs to be applied to the physical problems. You just have to evaluate it. Reverse back to that issue. So this identity problem, this aloneness and trying to find an identity to cure my aloneness, to solve me being out here and isolated because of my sin, Instead of repentance and seeking God, we dive further and further into our sin, hoping that eventually, even though it hasn't worked so far, eventually, somewhere down there, we're going to find that satisfaction and comfort and calmness that we're pursuing. But you never will. Only if you seek God. Only if you recognize that identity, true identity and comfort comes from Him. Now look back to our passage here in Romans chapter number eight. Because he gives this contrast of the flesh versus the spirit in verse 12 and 13. And verse number 14, he says, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, son of God, that's an identity. That's an identity. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. In verse number 16, the spirit of itself, the spirit itself, beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Notice the connection there then between verse number 14, if you are led of the spirit, you are the son of God, and then verse number 16 where he says that the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. In other words, I see myself as a son of God, but God also sees me as his son. connection here between these two. It's my true identity and it comes from my relationship in God through Jesus Christ. Not what I have done, but who He has made me. This is important. My identity is not about the things I've done. Man, I'm so glad. I'm normal. I'm a normal failure of a human being. Well, you shouldn't talk about yourself as being a failure. I am. In my flesh, I fail. I mess stuff up. I've done lots of dumb stuff. I am so thankful. Listen, one of the things you learn as you get to a certain age, like I'm at a certain age at this point now, where there's some people I don't really want to see, not because I don't want to see people, but because I've done some dumb things I don't want to be reminded of. Anyone see that person? I'm like, oh man, I was such an idiot. What did I do? I'm glad that's not my identity. I mean, the things that I've done, I've done, but that's not who I am. I am a child of God. I am a son of God. And not only do I see that, but he sees that, and his spirit bears witness with my spirit. That's where assurance comes from, by the way. Assurance isn't just about a memory or a feeling. Assurance is a knowing. That calmness of fellowship that comes from knowing Him and having that assurance or speaking to your spirit from His spirit and He's saying, you're my child. That's a wonderful thing. Look on to verse number 17. He says, and if children and heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. So catch this. My identity doesn't come from my behavior. My identity comes from my relationship with God. And my future is determined by that. And by the way, your future is determined by your identification, whether it's with the flesh or with the Father. Your future is determined that way. Because if you continue to pursue identity after the flesh, here's what you're going to find. Destruction and death. misery and sorrow and continuing so. But if you identify with the father, you identify with the spirit, you identify as his child and you recognize that he identifies as your father, that's a wonderful, awesome thing. And then you find out that because he's my father, I have an inheritance laid up for me and I'm headed somewhere because of God being my father, I have that identification as one who has a place in heaven. and an inheritance among the saints. That's me. I grew up in a Christian home, and I'm thankful for that. My dad started churches in western Kansas as I was growing up. Started a number of churches out there. My dad was from Western Kansas. He got saved as a child, actually, out in California in an independent Baptist church. And then his family moved to Scott City, Kansas. And he grew up there. And there wasn't an independent Baptist church there. And so they were just out of church. And his dad was very worldly. He was a drunk. all the things that come along with that lifestyle. And when he went to college, he went to Barton County Community College on a track scholarship out in Great Bend. And that's where he met my mother. And they got married. And after they got married, they decided they wanted to go to church together. And her family went to an American Baptist church. And so they went there, and my dad from being a kid out in that independent Baptist church in California had a King James Bible and didn't use it, but he had one, and he started going to Sunday school there at the American Baptist Church, and he got mad because they weren't reading out of the real Bible, and he didn't even know anything, you know, I mean, he just knew that what that guy was reading wasn't the real Bible, and he wanted to go to a church where they read the real Bible, and so they end up at an independent Baptist church. And God changed their life and they went into ministry and all that. My dad's identity became a believer that walked with God and a preacher and all that, right? And he saw this big contrast. I'm getting somewhere, okay? He sees a huge contrast between how he grew up and the life he saw growing up, the identification with the flesh. And his commitment to Christ and the life he now has, the life that he received from his fellowship with the Father, right? There's a big contrast here. He was really a first-generation Christian. I grew up in a preacher's home. I grew up going to church. Listen, from the time I was just out of the hospital, I was in church my entire life. I know how to sleep on church pews really well. Right? I grew up going to youth rallies and youth camps and preacher's meetings and all of that type of stuff. I've been around the Bible and around church my entire life. I'm going somewhere, hold on, hold on. That didn't give me an identity with the Father. And a lot of people I grew up with, who grew up the same way I did, no longer identify with the father. Because growing up a certain way doesn't make you that. That's that. My wife didn't grow up in a Christian home. Your assistant pastor's wife, her mom was the reason my wife got into church. Her parents wouldn't let her go to my wife's family's house because they weren't Christian. And so the only time she could be around her friend was if she went to her house or went to church. And so she went to church so she could be with her friend. And God changed her life because of that. And man, praise God. But, you know, it's one of those things where she's a first-generation Christian. And our kids grew up in a pastor's home. And I'm telling our kids, and my wife's telling our kids, listen, you're not a Christian because you grew up in this home. This isn't your identity unless you choose to make it your identity. Please get that? This isn't your identity just because you grew up in church, kids. You may be sitting here, and you grew up in a church, and you grew up in a home that's Christian, and you're like, well, I'm a Christian, and I don't care for this churchy stuff, and as soon as I get a chance, I'm going to go out and do whatever I want. That's because you're not really have an identity in the Father. You don't have an identity in the Father unless you choose to have an identity in the Father. You can grow up in church and identify with the flesh. And there are all kinds of people that still identify with flesh, even preachers, who don't really walk in the Spirit. Their identity is in the things of their flesh, and maybe it's in their abilities, and they followed certain abilities that led them into ministry, and ministry is a great place for narcissists, by the way. There's a certain amount of either notoriety or public persona that can be had, and a narcissist loves that. The best preachers are usually the ones, and this is just my opinion, this is my subjective truth, The best preachers are usually the ones that don't really enjoy being up in front of people. When someone really enjoys being up in front of people, it's probably a problem. But our identity, even for preachers, cannot be, that's my identity, I'm a preacher. Because that goes away. There's gonna come a point where I can't do this. My identity has to be, I'm a child of God. He's my Father, and His Spirit bears witness with my spirit. And I have this relationship with Him, and I developed that relationship with Him, and I have an inheritance waiting, not because of what I do, but because of who I am. My identity does away with all those things that happen to me because of sin, or the ways that I've behaved because of sin. And when I pursue that path of walking in the Spirit, in truth, God gives me an identity that is secure. Any identity that you take on outside of Him will fail. Any identity you take on that is the result of the pursuits of your flesh, the offerings of this world, It will fail. It will bring you misery and sorrow. But when you find your identity in Christ, and in your relationship with him, this is a firm foundation. That's why David constantly in the psalm says, he is my rock, my fortress, my strong tower, my shield, my defender. Why? Because he was secure. Most people struggle with insecurity. The reason is because they struggle with where their identity is, who they are. In this world, it's always going to be tossed to and fro, up and down with the waves of the sea. But in Christ, we can stand secure and know who we are in Him. Bow our heads this morning. Father, you are wonderful. Your truth is everlasting. Your spirit, the fellowship of your spirit is so sweet. And I thank you, Father, for that fellowship. I thank you that your spirit bears witness with my spirit and with all of those who walk in the spirit. Lord, I pray that if there's someone here today who doesn't identify as a child of God, maybe their identity is still in their behaviors, maybe it's in their abilities, maybe it's in their work or their desires, But they don't have an identification with you like they ought to. Pray that today they'd get that straight. Maybe they need to get saved today. Maybe they're saved, but they've grown up in church and they just don't even know anything else. And they haven't yet made the conscious choice to pursue you and set their identity in you. Pray that they would do that today. Lord, this world wants to give them so many false and fake identities, but in you they can have that security and a knowing of who they are, who you are. Pray that they would choose that over the flesh. In Jesus' name I ask. Let's all stand. The piano is going to play. Maybe God spoke to your heart about something today in Sunday school or in this morning worship service and you need to respond to the Lord. The altar is available to you. You can kneel where you are if you feel that God would lead you in that way, but why don't you do what God would have you do today. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. Though none go with me, still I will follow. I will follow, though none go with me, still I will follow, no turning back, no turning back. The world behind me, the cross before me. Lord, still in your heart today, I encourage you to come, whatever your need. You're here without Christ as your Savior. Let him take my wounds, share them with you. That you can know that you're saved on your way to heaven. Whatever your need, would you come? No turning back. No turning back. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. Amen. It's good to be in the Lord's house today. Make it and be here with us. Brother and Mrs. Carter, if you would go ahead and make your way to the back. There's a table just there in the entryway. You stand in front of that. People and shake your hands as they leave. We have teen Christmas party December 2nd. We have Christmas missions offering December 3rd. Cantata on the 10th. Match the Pirate Program on the 17th, Ladies Christmas Party on the 18th, and then Christmas Eve, of course, we'll have our regular morning service, and then Christmas Eve candlelight service in the afternoon at one, and so you mark all that down, plan to be with us. Now we'll be breaking for lunch, coming back at one, and Brother Cardo will speak one more time, and so if you can stay and be with us, I know it will be a blessing to you. Let's go to Lord and word of prayer. Lord, we love you and we thank you for your many blessings. Thank you for the things that we've heard today. I pray that you'd help us to receive those things, think they're on, and Lord, might we amend our living accordingly that you might be honored and glorified in our lives and in our hearts. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. We pray that you go before us in all that we do. We ask these things in your name, amen. you