Putting on Christ

Uniforms have a purpose, don't they?

If you are a Downton Abbey fan, you know what uniforms play, what role they played in the 19th century Victorian manor household,

where each person had a particular dress code that related to their station and their role in life.

And though we might rejoice in the democratic overthrow of such social constructs,

so that we can come to church wearing a suit coat or blue jeans and not worry about it,

yet we still, even today, recognize the role that a uniform might play.

We see someone walking down the street in dark blue with a gold shield on their chest.

And when we see that person in uniform, we expect certain things from them, don't we?

We know who they are. That's a policeman.

And we expect that they are going to uphold the law, be helpful, be a serve, what is it, to serve and protect the community.

This is the role that they've been called to.

And even more so as we, or, you know, in other contexts, we see a similar thing.

If we see someone in military uniform, or we walk into the hospital and we see a long white coat,

we have expectations and we have these roles that we expect, that we, as we see a uniform, we think,

oh, now I know who this person is and I know what to expect from them.

What kind of uniform ought a Christian to wear?

Well, clearly, look around, at least today, it's not a certain kind of clothing, is it?

Praise God for that.

Right?

We have freedom to wear the clothes that we enjoy wearing.

But as we think about Christians in this world, there have been times when Christians would be known.

They would put on not physical clothing, but certain characteristics that would be known.

There's sort of the old saw, right?

Christians are people who don't drink or chew or go with girls that do.

Right?

Some of you are way too old or way too young to recognize that.

But in the 1950s, that was kind of a thing.

So, it would seem like the Christian clothing, so to speak, would be very simple.

Right?

To be like Jesus.

But isn't it true that that's a fraught concept today?

To figure out what it is that Christians ought to wear in our public persona, in our private life.

And it's hard.

And it's hard.

It's fraught today because we live in a time and place where it's challenging to know what does that look like.

Certainly, if you asked 10 people on the street in New Haven what the public perception of a Christian is,

they would talk about politics.

They would talk about hypocrisy.

They would talk about intolerance.

And they would talk about rigid moralism.

This is what our culture today expects.

When you say Christian.

And though we may protest that, in fact, it ought to be something different,

we struggle, even privately, with what is it that we are supposed to put on.

We don't want to look like those things.

But we know our own hearts.

We fear hypocrisy in our own lives.

We run from wanting to be known as Christians at times because we know that our past sins

and our present failures continue to haunt us.

And we wonder, how can we wear anything publicly?

I think often, in light of this, we take off our clothing altogether, so to speak.

We put off our Christianity and don't wear it at all.

We live a highly privatized faith where we don't talk to people about it

and we don't really seek to live it out.

Or sometimes we think, well, I don't know.

I don't know what these people think, but I'm going to try to please them.

And so we end up coming up with a different kind of clothing that will be more acceptable in our culture today,

but that may be veers from what the Bible actually says.

Why am I talking about all this?

Well, because as we continue in our series in the book of Colossians,

we're talking about clothing today.

That's actually the language that the Apostle Paul uses as he's instructing the Colossians in chapter 3

about how they are to live out their life in Christ.

If you want to turn with me in your Bibles, in the Pew Bibles, it's page 984, I believe.

We're going to look at chapter 3, verses 9 through 17.

And we're going to be asking ourselves the question,

what are the clothes of a Christian?

What is it that God has called his people to put on?

And how might we do that?

So let's first read the passage and ask for God's help.

Colossians 3.

I'm going to be focusing my message this morning on 12 through 17,

but I'm going to back up a little bit and start in verse 5

just so you get the context and the flow of the chapter.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you,

sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,

which is idolatry.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

In these, you too once walked when you were living in them.

But now you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge

after the image of its creator.

Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all.

Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,

compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another,

forgiving each other.

As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

to which, indeed, you were called in one body.

And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for this word.

Lord, thank you for the encouragement and the exhortation it is for us

to live as those who bear the name of Christ.

Lord, we confess how we need correction and instruction.

Lord, how we need encouragement.

How we need to remember what it is that you have called us to in Christ.

Lord, I ask for your help this morning, that, Lord, as we look at this word,

that you would use me and that your word would be clear

and that by your spirit you would apply it to our hearts and to our lives for your glory.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

What are the clothes of a Christian?

We're going to look at three parts this morning.

First, we're going to look at the foundation.

Second, we're going to look at the form.

And third, we're going to look at the focus of what it is that God has called us to put on in Christ.

So first, let's look at the foundation.

The foundation of what it is that God has called us to, what we are to live in,

is the new reality that Christ brings to our life.

We read back, look in your Bibles with me, in verse 10.

Right?

Verse 9 says that you've put off your old self with its practices.

All those things that were listed before says you had an old self that you have put off because of Christ.

If you remember back in chapter 2, Paul reminded us that we have died with Christ to this old life.

To this life that was controlled by sin and rebellion against God.

Verse 10 then says,

And we have put on a new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

The starting point for what we are to put on is the fact that Christ has made us new.

We are being restored to what we were meant to be as women and men made in the image of God.

That sin has marred that and ruined it for us.

But in Christ now, in the redemption that he is bringing into our lives,

he has fundamentally changed us so that we are now made new.

What used to be true of us is no longer fundamentally our essence.

You are different.

Therefore, be so.

How do we see some of these things played out?

Look with me in verse 12 again.

As Paul begins this instruction to live in particular ethical ways,

to have a certain kind of character,

he starts by calling them God's chosen ones,

holy and beloved.

And if you listen carefully to the passage we read earlier from Deuteronomy 7,

we are reminded that this is a special language that was used by the Jewish people in the Old Testament

to describe these are God's special people.

These are the ones that he has set his love on.

These are the ones that he has made his own.

These words remind us that he has chosen them,

that it was God's initiative towards them,

and that therefore they ought to be not proud,

but humble,

recognizing that God did so for no good reason,

that was in themselves,

but only by his good pleasure that he chose them.

Now, it also reminds us that God's dispossession towards them

is that they are beloved in him.

God has not simply coerced a bunch of people to serve in his army,

but he has sacrificially laid down his life to make them his own family.

And so he sets his love on them.

As a husband sets his love on a prospective wife,

saying,

that didn't come out right.

As a man sets his love on a prospective wife,

says,

I have chosen you to be mine.

This is what God has done for his people.

And it represents their role and their purpose.

This word holy,

which we usually hear in ethical, moral terms,

is actually a term that means set apart.

When you're not in the military,

it doesn't matter how you act

in relationship to the military standards and expectations.

But when you are brought in,

you are set apart,

and there is now an expectation

for you to act in a certain way

that is in accord with the new role

and the new identity that you have.

And God has now set you apart to be his.

You are now in my family.

Live like it.

Yes, it is ethical.

It is moral.

But fundamentally,

it's reflective of the character

of the Father God

who has made you his own.

So the foundation is not only having a new self,

not only being given a new identity

and a new relationship with God,

but verse 13 reminds us

that the foundation is based

in the very act of our salvation,

that in Christ,

God has forgiven us our sin.

The sin of rebellion against God

that has been lived out

in so many different ways,

listed in the earlier chapter.

Go back and listen to Pastor Greg's sermon

from last week

to think about all the things

that we are to put off

because they are not of God.

Paul reminds us

that these things were shackles

that bound us.

They were a cancer in our spiritual soul.

They bear a weight of guilt

that crush us.

And Christ came to set us free,

to set us free to pursue life

and holiness.

Godliness.

And godliness.

To set us free to finally be able

to do what is right

and to rejoice in it.

He pulls from what Paul reminded us

in chapter 2, verses 11 through 16.

That though we in our sin

stood before a holy God,

guilty of law-breaking

and of rebellion.

Christ came

and by bearing our sins,

he took that guilty verdict

and he nailed it to the cross.

You guys know that great hymn.

It's nailed to the cross

and I bear it no more.

It is no longer ours

and we are free from its penalty

and from its power.

Christ has forgiven us of our sin.

And finally, in verse 15,

we see that we have been called

into the peace of Christ.

The peace of Christ, as we'll see,

has both vertical and horizontal elements.

But here, the peace that we've been called into,

first and foremost,

is peace with God.

Because our sin has been taken away,

because we've been made new,

because we've been brought into the family,

we now have a relationship with God

that is not characterized

by fighting and struggle and strife,

but by love and peace,

by submission.

So we see that the foundation

of this new life in Christ

is a new identity

and a new standing in Christ.

And this is what it means to be a Christian.

And the fundamental framework,

and it's not just here in Colossians,

it's throughout the New Testament,

is that we are to live in a certain way,

not to be accepted by God,

but because God has made us new in Christ.

And the ethical exhortations

for us to live in a certain way

are to be who God has already made us to be

in Christ.

You are dead in your sins and trespasses.

He has made you alive in Christ.

So put off the old that's dead

and put on what is new.

So that's the foundation.

The new life has a uniform

that comes with this identity

and this standing.

What does it look like?

What is this new way?

Well, friends,

there's a rich, rich painting here

of what it looks like to put on Christ.

Verses 12 through 16 show us what it means,

what the form of this life is to look like.

And it has two parts of it.

There's a character to put on

and there are patterns to be controlled by.

But one of the things that you will notice

most clearly,

and this is parallel to what we've seen

back in the earlier verses

in verse 5 and 7,

that sin certainly is something that we do.

But these actions that we do,

these things that come out of our mouth,

they ultimately spring from our hearts.

And that when Christians are commanded

to do things or to put on things

that are the uniform of the Christian,

we are meant to put on things

first and foremost in our heart

that is then expressed in how we live

and how we relate to others.

This is in direct opposition

to what we saw back at the end of chapter 2

where Paul condemns empty,

self-made religion with its rules.

Do this, don't that.

Don't do this, don't that.

Don't do that.

It's not this externalism.

But in fact,

this internal transformation of our hearts.

What does it look like?

Well, let's walk through these quickly

if we can.

We could be here for a long time

unpacking these wonderful words

and the richness of them.

But I'm going to try to give you

a portrait,

a painting of it.

What are we to put on in Christ?

Look with me in verse 12.

We're to put on compassionate hearts.

The word heart there is actually talking about our,

it's easier,

more literal translation is our bowels.

The very center of our being,

the very core of who we are

is meant to be one of compassion.

Compassion is one who seeks to understand

rather than simply to judge.

Compassion seeks to come alongside

rather than to exclude

or inflict.

It is this compassion that Paul appeals to

in Romans 12.1

where he says,

therefore,

as you have received the mercies of God,

offer yourself up as living sacrifices to him.

And those mercies of God

recount all that he's talked about

in Romans 1 through 11

about the work of Christ

in saving us from our sin.

God has been compassionate to us,

not treating us as our sins deserve.

The second thing that Paul says is kindness.

We are to put on kindness.

Kindness is a generosity

and a consideration towards others.

In the Greek version of the Old Testament,

it is what is translated in Psalm 34.8

that we are to taste and see

that the Lord is good.

It's the same word here,

that the Lord is kind.

That the basic approach towards someone

is to want to do them good

and to have a way of considering who they are.

The third thing we see in this list

is humility.

Interestingly enough,

humility in the ancient world

was almost always a negative term.

It talked about mean

and base servile types of activities.

It often was derided as a negative.

And yet in the scriptures,

God takes this idea

and he redeems it

and he fills it with something good.

Maybe you sit here today

and you think of humility

as someone who's always getting walked over.

Someone who never stands up for themselves.

Humility might be thinking poorly of yourself.

Like I'm no good,

I'm no good,

I'm no good.

And that that's what humility

is meant to look like.

But biblical humility

is actually not thinking more highly

or more lowly of ourselves than we ought.

It is actually to think rightly of ourselves.

To see ourselves as God sees us.

To recognize it

as human beings

created by an infinite creator God.

We are not the center of the universe.

We are not the most important thing.

We are not the greatest human being

that ever blessed the earth

or our family

or our discipline

or our school

or our workplace

or wherever else you want.

That we are not the greatest thing there.

And yet,

it does not mean that we are nothing,

but we are something in God.

And because of God.

This is humility.

humility.

And God loves this.

Isaiah 57, 15

reminds us that God

is high above the heavens

and yet he dwells

with those who are lowly in heart.

So not only compassionate hearts,

kindness, humility,

but also meekness

and gentleness.

Gentleness has to do

with a bit of how we carry out

what we do.

To do it with a softness

that does not do,

cause undue harm.

With a consideration

for one another

that is sensitive

rather than insensitive

to the needs,

fears,

concerns,

or vulnerabilities

of those around us.

That's what we see

is meekness

here in this translation.

Finally,

the last one is

patience.

Now we all know

we need more patience.

All you have to do

is get in your car

and drive in Connecticut.

And we know

we need more patience.

And if we have to go

to DMV,

Lord help us,

we know

we need patience.

But the patience here

is actually even

greater than that.

Because the patience here

is a long suffering

in the face of sin.

It is withholding

condemnation and judgment

in hopes of a better outcome.

When after the Israelites

had sinned against God

by creating an idol

and worshiping it

at the base of Mount Sinai,

when Moses demanded

that God reveal himself

to him again,

that he would see his face,

God said,

the Lord,

the Lord,

slow to anger

and abounding

in loving kindness.

This is the patience of God.

That he sees

our weakness

and our frailty.

He also sees

our proud

and arrogant

rebellion

and our willful

disobedience.

And he is patient

with us,

not wishing

that any would perish,

but that all would come

to salvation.

This is why

he withholds

his judgment

on this world.

Because he is

working

to redeem

more souls.

This is the patience

of God.

God.

And this leads us,

of course,

into what we see

in verse 13.

Bearing with one another.

We are not like

the football coach

that says,

here's the standard.

If you can't meet it,

you're off the team.

Period.

End of discussion.

But we are called

to bear with one another

and bear up

one another

towards godliness

in this.

And this is not

a Pollyanna view.

If you see

what he goes on,

he says,

look,

bearing with one another,

if one has a complaint

against another,

he's saying,

of course,

we're going to have

conflicts.

We're a bunch

of fallen people

living in community

together.

Of course,

we're going to have

complaints against

one another.

It's not a question

of if we will have

conflict.

It will be a question

of how we respond

to it.

what is it

that comes out

of our hearts

when we feel

like we've been

wronged by someone

else?

What will come

out of our hearts

when we disagree

with the decisions

that have been made

or when we feel

slighted?

How are we going

to respond

to the person

who says something

that we find

offensive or difficult

to hear?

to bear with

one another

is to not be

overly reactive

to those things

and to not fall

into black

and white

thinking

about how

we view

someone else

but to continue

to look

for the good

even as we

resolve conflict,

even as we have

to speak the truth

in love,

even as we have

to admonish

one another

sometimes,

we do it

in a way

that is forbearing.

And of course

this leads us

to the next

thing as well.

Bearing with

one another

and forgiving

one another.

Forgiving

is one of

the most

remarkable things

that Christians

understand

because

in Christ

we have been

forgiven

of our sin.

Forgiveness

means that

we do not

take the role

of judge,

jury,

and executioner

in someone

else's life.

We do not

stand in the

role of

taking vengeance

and inflicting

punishment on

someone else

for their sin

against us.

We can live

in a world

where we

misunderstand

forgiveness

a lot.

Let me

clarify a few

things.

If I go

to you

because I've

said an

unkind word

to you

and I say

I'm sorry

I said that

will you

forgive me?

And you say

yeah it

doesn't matter.

You have

not forgiven

me.

Maybe you've

born with

me.

Maybe you've

overlooked

my sin.

But if I've

done something

but if I've

actually sinned

against you

forgiveness

means that I

look you in

the eye

and I say

yeah that

was wrong

and it

hurt.

You deserve

judgment

for it

but because

of Christ

I am not

going to do

that.

I will not

take it out

on you.

That's what

forgiveness

means.

It doesn't

mean ignoring

wrong.

It doesn't

mean absolving

someone of any

consequences for

their sin.

It doesn't

mean

that we

don't stand

up and

protect one

another when

wrongs are

being done

but it does

mean that we

do not stand

in judgment

and bring

condemnation

to others

and the only

reason

why we can

let go of

that

is because of

what God has

done in

Christ.

to forgive

one another

is to say

yes you did

sin against

me but I

am not going

to hold that

against you

and in

hopeful

trust that

God is at

work and

that he can

rebuild this

relationship and

restore trust

I'm going to

engage with

you.

Why?

because that's

what God

does with

us.

Think about

this my

friends.

How offensive

has your sin

been to

God?

Has he

brought final

judgment against

you?

Has he brought

the rightful

punishment that

you deserve

for your

rebellion against

him?

For your

disregarding

him?

For you're

not treating

him as the

God of the

universe who

deserves our

worship and

our praise and

our adoration and

everything that we

have because

everything we

have has come

from him in

the first place?

Has God

treated you like

that?

In fact he

hasn't.

He's done the

very opposite.

He sent his

very own son

to take the

very punishment

that you

deserve upon

himself in

love so

so that you

might be

forgiven of

your sin.

This is why

Jesus tells

us that we

are to forgive

70 times 7

for one

another.

And why even

when we go to

one another to

confront sin we

must go first

taking the log

in our own

eye.

A recognition

of our own

sinfulness and

our own desert

of punishment.

judgment and

the way that

God has so

graciously and

mercifully dealt

with us so

that we can

deal with

others.

This is the

meaning of the

parable of the

unforgiving servant

who is forgiven a

great debt and

then turns around

and refuses to

forgive the

small debt of

one who owed

him.

love.

And friends of

course this is

the greatest

expression of

love that we

have.

This is the

final thing that

Paul tells us to

put on in verse

15 or in

verse 14.

Above all these

put on love

seeking one

another's good

as God defines

it is what love

is.

It is not a

warm feeling.

It is not a

romantic episode.

It is seeking

the good of

others above

your own.

And seeking

that good not

as you define

it nor as

they define it

but as God

defines it.

This is Jesus

love for us.

Laying down

his life for

sinners.

A physician

coming for the

sick.

A lover

coming to

reclaim a

wayward spouse.

A shepherd

finding a

lost sheep.

A friend to

walk with us.

Jesus

confronting the

rich young

ruler in his

misunderstanding.

Jesus

bringing hope

to the woman

caught in

what feels like

terminal

uncleanness.

Jesus bringing

hope and

clarification to

Samaritan woman

who has wandered

far from God.

Jesus speaking

to Peter

after the

resurrection.

After Peter's

betrayal of

him and

restoring him

gently.

This is love

not that we

love God but

that he loved

us and sent

his son as

Greg read

earlier.

Friends what

would it look

like if the

church was

characterized by

these things?

What would it

look like if

Christians were

known to be

people like

this in the

world?

what a

beautiful thing

it would be

if this were

the uniform

that we

actually wore.

And we know

that the world

will not always

be impressed

by that.

But still

we know it

would be a

beautiful thing.

So not only

are we to put

on these

character qualities

but we're also

to put on

controlling patterns.

verse 15

and 16.

Verse 15

talks about

the peace

of Christ.

The peace

of Christ

is this

standing before

God that we

have but

Paul says

it is to

rule in

our hearts

and he

applies it

in our

community

to which

indeed you

were called

in one

body.

Pastor Greg

covered a

good bit of

this last

week in his

sermon.

That as

Paul is

giving these

exhortations

they're not

merely

individual

but they're

also and

maybe even

primarily

corporate

exhortations.

That we're

to do this

not as

individual

people but

as a

community

of people

that we're

to express

these

characteristics

to one

another.

together.

That we

would gather

together as

people who

humanly would

have nothing

in common

and who

would have

conflict with

one another

and not

just to come

together and

to tolerate

one another

or to have

a cold

frigid

distance

but to

actually have

an embrace

to embrace

one another

in the peace

of Christ.

To look at

someone with

whom humanly

I don't know

anything except

for the image

of God and

the redeemed

image of

Christ in

that person

and to look

at them and

to say we

are together

in one body.

Do you guys

know the movie

Remember the

Titans?

I know it's

old.

If you haven't

seen it you

young people go

see it.

It's a great

movie.

It's about an

integration of a

football team.

Black and white

football team.

And it's

particularly focusing

on two of

the characters

lead football

players on

each team

one white

one black

and how they

develop a

friendship even

though they

have no prior

opportunity to

do this.

Now they do

this over

football right

but near the

end spoiler alert

I'm just going

to tell you

near the end

the white

defensive captain

is in a car

accident and he

goes in the

hospital and his

friend his

friend Julius

comes in to

visit Jerry

and Julius is

black and he

walks into the

hospital and

walks into the

room and the

nurse says oh

no you're not

allowed in there

only Ken's

allowed to go in

there.

And they

developed such a

friendship and

such a recognition

of the humanity

in each other

that Jerry looks

out and says to

the nurse Alice

aren't you blind

don't you see

the family

resemblance

that's my

brother.

Friends that's

what the church

is meant to be.

We look at each

other and we

say you are my

brother and my

sister and I

embrace you as

such.

This is what it

looks like when

the peace of

Christ rules in

our community.

Not only is the

peace of Christ

to rule in us

but the word of

Christ is to

dwell in us

richly.

Paul says that

if there is to

be a controlling

rule an

authority greater

than ourselves

that binds us

together it is

the word of

Christ.

Christ.

And that

certainly meant

in Paul's

time the

declaration of

what God had

done for us

in Christ.

I think today

we see that it

means this as

that declaration

has been recorded

and codified and

preserved in God's

word in the

Bible.

It is to dwell in

us richly.

It is to be the

center of our

feasts and our

conversations.

It is to be the

thing that we

meditate upon and

what fills our

mind.

It is to be the

thing that comes

up regularly in

our conversations

with one another.

Paul says we are

to let it dwell

richly in us

teaching and

admonishing one

another.

That is reminding

one another,

informing one

another of the

content of God's

word, sharing

with one another

what it is that

we are learning

about God from

God's word and

then encouraging

one another to

continue to know

God more in the

midst of it.

And though we

live in a fairly

academic community

and many of us

think about deep

theology and that's

wonderful, it's

great, but recognize

that he says

teaching and

admonishing one

another and how

else do we do it?

By singing.

What a wonderful

thing.

This is not

ours in the

library, but this

is singing the

songs and the

psalms and the

hymns.

And don't get

hung up on those

words.

They're not

technical words.

It's meant to be

a collective word

to say all the

words, all the

ways that we can

sing the truth

about who God

is.

It's why we sing.

Have you ever

thought how weird

it is that

Christians sing?

But we do.

We sing because

it reminds us.

It's a gift from

God in a different

way for us to

learn and to

speak God's

word to one

another about

who God is,

about how we

are to live,

about how we

respond to him.

So God's

word dwells in

us richly in

our community.

It dwells in

us individually

as we read and

memorize and

meditate, as we

follow reading

plans.

It dwells in

us richly as we

pursue this in

small groups,

together, whether

it be formal

weekly or

bi-weekly groups,

or whether it

be the informal

meetings over

coffee and

meals and in

our homes, where

we get to talk

about the

richness.

And not only

that, but we

get to sing.

We get to sing.

I don't know, in

my family, we

started, a couple

years ago, we

started singing

grace as we

ate meals.

Praise God

from whom all

blessings flow.

Our God, our

Father, once

again, thank you

for our

blessings.

Thank you for

our blessings.

Amen.

We sing these

songs together, and

they root themselves

in our heart, and

they shape us.

And this is what's

to rule.

Because, remember,

it is God's word

that tells us who

God is, and what

it means for us to

be in Christ.

Christ.

So, friends, if

this is true, then

how do we put it

on?

How is it that we

put on these

character qualities

and these patterns

in our lives?

Well, we're to do

everything, whether

in word or deed, in

the name of Jesus

Christ.

Remember, then, what

uniforms are meant

to do.

They give us an

identity, we know

who we are, and

they give us a role

or responsibility, who

we represent.

And that's what the

name tells us.

To do something in

the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ is

to say, I'm with

him, or he's with

me, but however you

phrase it, I'm with

him.

I'm identified with

his family.

I represent him, and

that's to whom I

belong.

How do we do

this?

How do we put it

on?

Well, friends, we

have to wrap this up

by looking at the

whole chapter, right?

Because putting this

on doesn't mean to

try harder to be a

little more patient

this week.

To put this on

doesn't mean to

try harder to be a

little more gentle

with one another.

It's not that we

shouldn't try to do

that, but that's not

going to get us

there.

It's not going to

get us there at all

by far.

No, we first have to

go back to the

foundation that we

now have in Christ

and to remember that

foundation.

And then we go all

the way back to

chapter 3, verses 1

and 2, and the

sermon that Pastor

Nick preached two

weeks ago.

This really should

have been one really

long three-hour

sermon that all wraps

it up together.

We didn't do that to

you.

But how do we do

this?

If then you've been

raised with Christ, you

now have this new

foundation, how do we

live?

We fix our minds.

We set our eyes on

things above where

Christ is seated.

Great English Puritan

Thomas Chalmers wrote

this book that you all

need to read, The

Expulsive Power of a

New Affection.

How is it that we are

transformed and changed?

Not by trying harder to

do better, but by

loving something more

than the thing we

loved before that led

to the patterns that we

lived in.

We love our sin because

in the short term it

gives us something that

we want, but in the end

it's death.

And what Christ gives us

is something greater for

us to set our affections

on.

And as we see him, he

will root out our love

of sin and he will bring

instead his life to us as

we meditate on who he is.

So let us close briefly by

meditating and thinking

about Christ for a minute.

That we might arouse our

affections for him, that we

would be blown away again at

what a savior we have.

Think of Christ in his

humility who left all the

privilege and power of

heaven and humbled himself

and took on the form of a

man and made himself a

servant and suffered and

died for us.

Think about Christ in his

gentleness as he walked

this earth the way that he

dealt with the broken, the

outcast, the grieving.

How he was only rough with

those who were arrogant and

proud.

Think about his patience with

us.

That he continues to allow a

fallen world to exist so that

he might redeem fallen people

like you and me.

Think about Christ and his

forbearance.

He does not blow up at us at

the end of the day when we

fail again to put our dishes in

the sink.

He does not blow up at us again

when we allow the car to run out

of gas again and have to be

rescued.

His forbearance does not give in

to frustration.

And his forgiveness, he does not

treat us as our sins deserve.

He does not say continue in our

sin, but he says in your sin I

will bear the weight and I will set

you free from it.

He does not use our past sins

against us as a weapon.

But he says as far as the east is

from the west, so far I have

removed your sins from you because

Christ has borne it away.

And his love for us, how he loves

us, how he delights in us, how he

sings over us, how he speaks truth

to us, how he doesn't allow us to

get away with sloppy, careless,

selfish living, but how he confronts

us to save us from those things.

And how in his confrontation, he

lovingly woos us and walks with us

and enables us.

Do you know the power of being

loved by someone who really believes

that you can be something better than

what you were?

Christ is the greatest one who knows

what he has called you to be, what

he's redeemed you to be for all who

are in Christ.

And friends, when we sit and behold

Christ, when we look at these things,

we can treat one another with the

character and the patterns that we

see in this passage.

I can be different towards one

another, but towards others because I

look at Christ, because I remember how

he has dealt with me in my sin, and

because I remember that if he's dealt

with me in my sin like that, that's

how he's dealing with John in his sin

like that.

And if God is being gracious to John,

who am I to be condemning and hate-filled,

to be frustrated and despairing,

rather than being compassionate, kind, humble, gentle,

patient, bearing with and forgiving one another

out of love, that my brother might know the life in

Christ that God has given him.

Friends, can we put this on?

Can we put on these clothes and be known for who we are in

Christ?

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for this word.

Lord, we do pray, Lord, that you would help us to obey this

command to put on Christ in all of his manifestations,

in all of his character and patterns.

Lord, help us.

We pray for we so easily look to other things,

cling to other things, want to try to do this in other ways,

Lord, help us to put on Christ for your glory.

For your name's sake, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.