My mother at age 40 found out late in her pregnancy that she was having twins. The story goes that when she called my dad at work, he fell off his chair. There were already three other children in the family ages 9, 8, and 5. My oldest sister (the 9 year old) was thrilled. She ran around the neighborhood yelling, “We beat the boys, we beat the boys.” She had two brothers and now she would have two sisters. The girls would outnumber the boys.
The word twins mean “two ones.” My sister and I were dizygotic (fraternal), not monozygotic (identical), meaning we developed from a separate egg. Sometimes unidentical female twins are called sororal twins whereas unidentical male or male/female twins are called fraternal. Although twins - living, breathing, and growing together in the womb for 9 months - we both had separate and distinct personalities and DNA. We were very different from each other.
The novelty of having twins is dressing them alike. Being the great seamstress she was, my mother made our clothes. She designed dresses, skirts, blouses, lined coats and capes, etc. And, you guessed it - two of everything made identical. At a young age, it was cute. But the cuteness wore off as our personalities and likes grew apart. I remember asking my mom if she would simply buy different material for each of us and still use the same pattern. It didn’t work. We rebelled on our first day of high school. We had the same winter coats and would refuse to be seen at our lockers together.
As a twin, I found myself over the years struggling for my own identity. Many people would get our names mixed up and call me Kathy instead of Karen. We didn’t look alike and had different interests, but the mistake was made. I knew that I was unique and different from my sister. Our lives did separate after high school when my sister moved away to attend college and live in another state and I stayed in Nebraska.
For years, I also searched for my godly apparel as a believer in Christ. The Lord led me to the Seventh-day Adventist Church after coming out of several other denominations including Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, and Evangelical Free. Each of these churches was filled with a wardrobe of teachings that they believed were “truth.” As I continued to plead with the Lord to help me understand the Bible, I could see that these churches’ clothes were uncomfortable and were not the right doctrinal fit. I didn’t want to be seen wearing them.
The SDA Church has a separate and distinct way of dressing. Just learning about the truths of the Prophecy, Three Angels’ Message, the Sabbath, the State of the Dead, the Sanctuary Message, Baptism, the Health Message, Dress Reform, etc. outfitted me with new garments. I remember how I felt after listening to Pastor Ivor Myers message entitled “The Blueprint.” I wanted to skip down the aisles of the church shouting, “I know now why I’m a Seventh-day Adventist.” It was so thrilling to discover that in the 1844 message all the articles of the Sanctuary (which had been removed by the Catholic Church during the Dark Ages) had one by one been replaced by the Reformers’ light – with the final piece being that of the Ark of the Covenant and the Sabbath Truth. The commandments and testimony of Jesus were endowed to the end time remnant to proclaim. As the SDA Church, we had been outfitted with the full garment of light.
Ellen White states in Evangelism p. 233.3 –
“The Lord has been pleased to give His people the third angel’s message as a testing message to bear to the world. John beholds a people distinct and separate from the world, who refuse to worship the beast or his image, who bear God’s sign, keeping holy His Sabbath – the seventh-day to be kept holy as a memorial of the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Of them the apostle writes, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
Why then are we chasing after and coveting the attire of these other churches? We may have grown with them for a time in the womb of Christianity, so to speak, but we are not identical. We are very different from each other. The Bible tells us in Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” As the Ecumenical Movement continues to grow and more denominations seek to unite in raiments of apostasy, we must stand with the robe of Christ’s righteousness wrapped around us and proclaim that we are not part of them. We have a separate and distinct biblical personality, clothing, and message. The Catholic Church considers ecumenism to be a vital mission of their church. They want us to dress alike as they have their school children dress in the uniforms of conformity. The Beast of Daniel 7 is on the move disguised in sheep’s clothing.
In Esther 5:1-2,
“On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.”
Esther was able to approach the king with confidence after spending three days not eating or drinking with her attendants and the Jews in Susa. She had not only put on her best royal robes but had also put on Christ’s robe of righteousness. She was dressed as a representative of the Heavenly King and willing to die for this cause. It was Jesus’ robe that saved her and her people.
In these end times of Bible prophecy, Jesus counsels the Church of Laodicea to
“buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see'“ (Revelation 3:18).
Will we stand as Christ’s remnant church and put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil in the evil day? Along with His Robe of Righteousness, Jesus gives us amazing protective clothing (Ephesians 6:11-17) to help us stand for His Truth:
The helmet of salvation
The breastplate of righteousness
The shield of faith
The sword of the Spirit
The belt of Truth
The shoes of the Gospel
The cloak of zeal (Isaiah 59:17)
We cannot pretend to dress in the same fabric as other churches. Our garments must be those of the full truth of the Gospel and the Three Angels’ Messages. Our Lord is counting on us to finish the work. He was joyous at the birth of each of His children and wants us to be in heaven with Him. We are not twins, either identical or fraternal, with the apostate churches. We must recognize our true identity and dress accordingly in Christ. He is waiting for us to do so.
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Karen M. Phillips is happily married to her husband, John, and enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren. She is a Human Resources Manager, an ASI Mid-America Officer, and a Bible teacher. Together they support their world-wide ministry – HeReturns. She writes from Omaha, Nebraska, USA.