Don't Hide Your Identity

Another Mark of the Christian is they don’t Hide their Identity

2) A good Christian does not hide his Identity!

You are the light of the world; a city situated on a hill which cannot be hidden; (Matthew 5:14)

Jesus said that you could not hide a house built on a mountain in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Some people are in the church, but their acquaintances barely know that they are Christians.

But people can see a good Christian naturally! Even though sometimes I don’t say it, but people notice it.

See how one of the Lord’s disciples omitted his identity, but people noticed him: Matthew 26:73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”

But how does this recognition happen?

With the genuineness of living with Christ, learning from him and living like him, doing the things that please God. So how are we going to let our identities shine?

Let Your Light Shine Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We can’t continue to walk around and imitate what is going on in the world around us. For us to show the true mark of a Christian we have to walk like Christ. The Bible tells us that there was a glow to Jesus something you couldn’t explain unless you saw it for yourselves.

Matthew 4:12-17 tells us; Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15  “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16  the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

How many people are you going to lead to Christ if you talk the world walk like the world and look like the world. The only way we are going to be able to win people to Christ is to be like Christ and being like Christ is letting your light for Christ show through don’t hide it under a bushel as the Bible says. Let it glow brightly proudly and boldly.

How many confessing Christians do you know that live like the devil on Saturday and Christ on Sunday? That isn’t going to entice anyone to come to Christ. They’ll just say why should I, you’re no different from me. Are you different? Are you walking the walk that you talk? Or are you just like the world doing what ever you want to no matter who you hurt. You’re only concern is to satisfy your longings and desires. That isn’t the mark of a Christian. We need to;

2. Be like the disciples Matthew 10:25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

What does it take to be like the Disciples? We have to look and act like the Master the one who taught the disciples all they preached and taught. It is the same with you and I we need to speak and teach to others what the Master has taught us. By you not going out and spreading the Good News you are being selfish. You’re wanting to keep all the blessings to yourselves. Matthew 28:19 He wasn’t just suggesting that we do He was commanding us to go. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

When was the last time that you shared Jesus with someone if it wasn’t today or yesterday then that’s too long. We need to be doing it daily. There are circumstances that prevent us from doing so like being disabled. Unable to go anywhere because you are being quarantined with the virus. But if you are healthy and able you should be doing it. At your place of employment, when you’re at the grocery store, or when you’re in the long lines at the Postal Office. It doesn’t matter where you are there are so many people who need to hear the good news that Jesus saves, that Jesus provides, that Jesus rescues, that Jesus comforts. Just look at the opportunities to let your light shine out in a dark world that needs Jesus.

3. With the genuineness of living with Christ, Philippians 1:19-30  for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

That says wonders right there you see we have the hope of the Holy Spirit to help us live as Christ did. He is always there tugging at your heart telling you what is right and what is wrong. He is telling which way we should go in our walk with the Lord. But so many times we harden our heart to His leading, to His teaching, and to His correcting. We want to go our own way and forget about all the other people in our way. If they get hurt or destroyed it’s their fault for standing in the way of something that you want. That is the world talking and that is how the world acts.

Have you ever sat and pondered on how God feels about the way you’re living? Or have you thought about the way Jesus feels after all He has done for you and I? I know that He has had His heart broken over and over again and most people don’t care. You ask how I know that? It’s because they continue to live the same way they always have. It doesn’t matter to them.

What does it really mean to live for Christ? Jesus said this was the very reason He came to the earth. He came that we might have life and have it abundantly John 10:10. He came so we could truly be alive to God—that He would be our passion and joy. Paul had found this life, and he constantly proclaimed it. In Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul saw himself as no longer alive—he left his past life behind, and now Christ was his life and Christ alone. His life began when he was blinded on his way to Damascus, and he became a follower of Christ. Later on in Philippians 3 he recounts all the former thing he took pride in—his Jewish upbringing, following the law, and being a Pharisee, and yet, he says he counted it all dung—all nothing for the sake of gaining Christ. Christ was the beginning of his life and getting to know Him more was the continuation of his life. And one day dying would be gain because that would mean dwelling in the unhindered presence of Christ.

Is Christ your life? Is He your daily passion? Is He your hope for the future? In Philippians the opportunity to watch and study a mature Christian—Paul. He is somebody we should be modeling. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul says, Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. We can be sure that what we see here in Paul is not jut describing his experiences and emotions while he was in prison, but it is als prescribing how we should walk. It is a challenge to us to grow into spiritual maturity. Paul says this later in Philippians: “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you” Philippians 3:17. He taught them to follow his example, ant that example was a life truly lived for Christ and Christ alone. Let ‘s pray