You Be You<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Don Carpenter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2021 Bible Reading Challenge<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou Be You\u201d This phrase is often quoted by Facebook prophets, preachers, and self proclaimed experts of self help virtue. This phrase is often used to embolden people to reject anyone else\u2019s judgment and boldly and publically embrace their own choice, expression and even sexual identity. But wait??!!? What does the Bible say about our personal identity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is actually the subject of Jonah 1:1-9. Jonah was a prophet. He didn\u2019t want to be a prophet. God called him to a people he hated. He didn\u2019t want to go. He didn\u2019t want to be a prophet. He ran away from who he was. Just because Jonah was upset with who he was did not change who he was. So while God called him north, he ran south and sailed *souther*\u2026 So God followed him and sent a storm. The pegan sailors knew that some god was mad and they cast lots to figure out whose god was mad and the lot fell on Jonah. Immediately they wanted to know who he was\u2026 what was his identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonah 1:7\u20138<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hmm. What was Jonah going to do? It was at that point Jonah began to come face to face with his identity. He was not his own. He had to embrace the fact that as a believer he was not his own. His identity belonged to the One he served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Corinthians 5:17<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke 9:23<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We must first embrace our own old identity, as Jesus said, \u201cif any man will come after me, let him deny himself . . . \u201c We must embrace it and deny it, then by faith accept our spiritual identity in Jesus Christ. The analogy is given, for purposes of illustrating, of a fifteen year old, unmarried and pregnant girl. Abortion is not an option and the girl has made the decision to give the baby up for adoption. Should she see the baby prior to giving it up or not. One might suggest it would be easier to have the baby and leave the hospital without have seen him and avoid the trauma of separation. That would seem easier, but would she have faced the reality of the situation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you ever try to give away something you never had? Without seeing the baby, there\u2019s a sense of unreality about the situation. Of course, she\u2019s carried the baby in her womb, but there\u2019s a difference between that and holding the baby and owning him. Once the young mother has held the baby and owned and loved him for a day or so, and then given him to the adoptive parents, the reality hits with full force. Then it\u2019s possible to go through the grief process, the separation anxiety or whatever sense of loss the mother experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My point is, when it comes to our humanly achieved identity, each of us needs to ask the question, \u201cHave I owned my \u2018baby,\u2019 or is there still a sense of unreality about the identity out of which I live?\u201d For us to accept our new identity in Jesus Christ, each of us must define our humanly achieved or fleshly, worldly identity and look it squarely to understand what we must lose if we are to live out of our true identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must \u201close our baby,\u201d which has been in the formation stage for a lifetime, if we\u2019re to know the joy and blessing of our new identity as accepted and dearly loved children of God in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve \u201cowned my baby,\u201d the identity I\u2019ve held of positive performance-based acceptance, of being a good pastor, of performing well as the preacher and receiving the acceptance I get from \u201ca job well done\u201d or \u201ca great sermon,\u201d that handshake of affirmation at the back door, of pleasing other people which is all a part of my past identity. I own it and I\u2019ve given it up and I receive the identity of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n __<\/p>\n\n\n\n So as Jonah came face to face with his sin, he had to embrace his identity as a believer. Tonight as we dig into this powerful story. Let us realize that as believers we are not our own. We have a new identity. Only then can we live out the Facebook admonition, You Be You.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah 1:9<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah\u2019s flight is stopped by the questions from the heathen crewmen. He hears them, and in so doing shows the first indication of overcoming the human impulse to hide. He is no longer simply one of the crowd. Jonah\u2019s hopes for anonymity were dashed by the hopes of the sailors to identify the cause of the storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now his claim is open to being challenged by the pagans. They were in no doubt that the gods were capable of rescuing them if only they could find the right key, that is, the right god, and the cause of the storm. In putting Jonah on the spot, the pagan sailors were putting his God on the spot. It is they who force the issue. Jonah appears to have been happy to let the storm do its worst, but the pagans will not accept this and Jonah, in extremis, is forced to declare himself as one who \u2018fears\u2019 the Lord. His claim will now be put to the test.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 102.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I Am One Of The Chosen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A Hebrew<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Genesis 24:7<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father\u2019s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am an Hebrew\u201d\u2014that meant a lot. The Hebrews were known to be monotheistic; that is, they worshiped one God, never an idol. They had no other gods before them but worshiped the God who is the Creator.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Prophets (Jonah\/Micah), electronic ed., vol. 29 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am a New Creature <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Corinthians 5:17<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I Belong to the Savior<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 6:19\u201320<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I Fear The Lord<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fear – Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In one sense the prophet ignores the question concerning his occupation. He does not say that God has given him the task of going to Nineveh; he is escaping still from his vocation. Yet in another sense he has stated it by saying that he \u2018fears the Lord\u2019. In one sense he does fear the Lord, for he is an Israelite, one of God\u2019s covenant people. Yet again he does not fear the Lord, for he is running away from him. He also overlooks the question about where he is from; only the reader listening in at this point knows that he comes from the presence of the Lord.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Rosemary A. Nixon, The Message of Jonah: Presence in the Storm, ed. Alec Motyer, Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2003), 101.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The LORD – Jehovah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah had not been asked about his religion, but he volunteers the information that he is a worshiper of (or \u201cone who fears\u201d rsv) Yahweh, the maker of sea and land. Smith-Goodspeed has \u201cI stand in awe of the LORD.\u201d The combination of the two parts of his answer may be taken in either of two ways: (1) since he is a Hebrew, he must therefore be a worshiper of Yahweh, or (2) he is a Hebrew, and in the restrictive sense, one of those who worships Yahweh. The first of these two is more likely. Yahweh is the personal name of the God of Israel, and is generally represented in English translations by \u201cthe LORD.\u201d (jb is an exception in this respect). \u201cThe LORD\u201d is a title, whereas Yahweh is a name, which might seem to favor using a name approximating in sound to Yahweh in a modern translation<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Brynmor F. Price and Eugene Albert Nida, A Translators\u2019 Handbook on the Book of Jonah, UBS Handbook Series (Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1978), 61\u201362.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If, however, one is to employ the expression \u201cLord,\u201d it is important to combine features of importance and control, that is to say, a term should suggest that the person involved is a very important individual and that in some senses he governs or controls individuals who address him as \u201cLord.\u201d An equivalent in some languages is simply \u201cruler\u201d; in other cases, \u201cmaster\u201d; and there are some situations in which the closest equivalent indigenous term is \u201cleader.\u201d More frequently, however, the equivalent expression is \u201cchief.\u201d1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Brynmor F. Price and Eugene Albert Nida, A Translators\u2019 Handbook on the Book of Jonah, UBS Handbook Series (Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1978), 62.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tNot man<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tNot another god<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\tNot the devil<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exodus 3:13\u201314<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I Fear The God of Heaven<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In apposition to the name Yahweh, which is placed in an emphatic position, is the descriptive title God of heaven. This title occurs mainly in late books of the Old Testament, but also in Genesis 24:3, 7. Heaven is the dwelling-place of God, but this expression God of heaven also suggests the supremacy of Israel\u2019s God over all rivals. As God of heaven, he is also concerned with the earth, since he made the sea and the dry land (the Hebrew order here, as against tev), which makes up its surface (Gen 1:9, 10), and hence controls the storms. The writer leaves us to infer the lack of logic in Jonah\u2019s position; how could he hope to escape such a God by traveling westwards?1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Brynmor F. Price and Eugene Albert Nida, A Translators\u2019 Handbook on the Book of Jonah, UBS Handbook Series (Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1978), 62.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Creator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 115:15<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ye are blessed of the LORD Which made heaven and earth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 146:6<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Which made heaven, and earth, The sea, and all that therein is: Which keepeth truth for ever:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nowhere To Hide<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 139:7\u201310<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He Is All Powerful<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Chronicles 36:23<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 John 3:20<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He Is Merciful<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 136:23<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Who remembered us in our low estate: For his mercy endureth for ever:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are born again, you are not who you once were!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 6:9\u201311<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than hiding from or fighting who God is transforming you to be, embrace who you have become and YOU BE YOU!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exported from Logos Bible Software, 7:52 PM September 28, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You Be You Pastor Don Carpenter 2021 Bible Reading Challenge \u201cYou Be You\u201d This phrase is often quoted by Facebook prophets, preachers, and self proclaimed experts of self help virtue. This phrase is often used to embolden people to reject anyone else\u2019s judgment and boldly and publically embrace their own choice, expression and even sexual identity. But wait??!!? What does … Continue reading You Be You!<\/span>