Transcript: Representing God with Humility and Compassion

Music The title of this message today is called Are You Clothed as God's Personal Representative? Well, we take this title from Colossians 3, verse 12, which states, Clothe yourselves, therefore, as God's own chosen ones, his own picked representatives, who are purified and holy and well-beloved by God himself, by putting on behavior marked by tenderhearted piety and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourself, gentle ways and patience, which is tireless and long-suffering and has the power to endure whatever comes with good temper. There are variations for this verse according to various Bible translations, which tell us to put on new clothing, which is the same thing as clothe yourselves as God's chosen ones. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 22 declares, put on the new nature, clothing, to the regenerate self, created in God's image, God-like, in true righteousness and holiness. You see, the command here is to put on the new nature or new clothing, which is totally opposite of the nature and character that we had before we came to Jesus Christ. So this is saying that professing Christians should put their former unsaved manner of life aside. The old self or man is the person the Christian was before their regeneration. That person was experiencing progressive, ongoing worsening in corruption because of desires that appeal to the physical senses. Lusts are deceitful because they promise real joy, but really fail to deliver it. We're going to begin this message today with the scriptures found in Colossians chapter 3, beginning in verse 12, which speaks of the character of the new man found in Jesus Christ. These are special virtues that God has assigned to those who come to Christ and endeavor to put on Christ, to live in Christ, and to know the love of Christ. Colossians chapter 3, beginning again in verse 12. Clothe yourselves, therefore, as Christ's chosen ones, his own picked representatives, who are purified and holy, well-beloved by God himself, by putting on behavior marked by tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourself, gentle ways, and patience, which is tireless and long-suffering and has the power to endure whatever comes with good temper. Verse 13. Be gentle and forbearing with one another. And if one has a difference, a grievance, or complaint against another, readily pardoning each other even as the Lord has freely forgiven you so you must also forgive verse 14 and above all put on love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness which binds everything together completely in ideal harmony and let the peace soul harmony which comes from Christ's rule act as an umpire continually in your hearts deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your mind in that peaceful state to which as members of Christ's one body you are also called to live. And be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always. Verse 16. Let the word spoken by Christ the Messiah have its home in your hearts and minds and dwell in you in all its richness as you teach and admonish and train one another in all insight and intelligence and wisdom in spiritual things as you sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs and make melody to God with his grace in your hearts. And whatever you do, no matter what it is, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in dependence upon his person, giving praise to God the Father through him. Hallelujah. But let's go up a few scriptures above what we have just read, which gives us insight as to the new spiritual clothing that we will wear as new believers, which represent the spiritual character and nature found in the new man found in Jesus Christ. Now the scriptures in 8 and 9, the scriptures that we are going to, tell us in order to live in this Christian way of life, we must put off the garments of our old man. Colossians chapter 3 verses 8 and 9 declare, But now put away or put off or rid yourselves completely of all these things. Here we go. anger, rage, bad feelings towards others, curses, slander, foul mouth abuse, and shameful utterances from your lips. Verse 9 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old unregenerate self with its evil practices. You see, Paul's admonition warns us that our old nature must still be dealt with in this life, even as we declare our allegiance and dedicate our lives to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The word put off means cast off or put away. We are commanded in these verses to completely rid all of these things, these sins, which defile the Christ-likeness in the new nature of professing believers in Jesus Christ. There's a true story of a man named Dr. George Sweeting, who wrote about the desperate need for honesty in our culture and lives today. Now, Dr. Sweeting was a former president and chancellor of the Moody Bible Institute, and also he was an evangelist for a number of years. He referred to Dr. Madison Surratt, who taught mathematics at the Vanderbilt University for many years. And before giving a test, this professor would admonish his class like this. Today I am giving two examinations, one in trigonometry and the other in honesty. and I hope you will pass both of them. But if you must fail one fail trigonometry There are many good people in the world who can pass trigonometry but there are no good people in the world who cannot pass the examination of honesty You see, dear listener, these sins in our old life will try to seduce us and deceive us every time. in apostle paul's epistle in romans chapter 6 beginning in verse 6 we read that jesus put these sins to death on the cross for us but yet we still need to understand that we now have the power and strength in the holy spirit in our lives to overcome them let's read that in romans chapter 6 beginning in verse 6. Actually, it's two verses we are going to read. We know that our old, unrenewed South was nailed to the cross with him in order that our body, which is the instrument of sin, might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. Verse 7, for when a man dies, he is freed, loosened, delivered from the power of sin among men. So we must know that the actual work of distancing ourselves from these sins is our responsibility, not the responsibility of Jesus Christ. He already did the work for us, amen? Before we were saved and came to Jesus, we could not separate ourselves from sin because these sins were a very part of our sinful nature. But when you came to Christ with a true and real salvation experience and repented of your sins and asked forgiveness, you were filled with the best gift ever that was God's Holy Spirit who is now your teacher, your guide, and your comforter. He is your helper. He inspires and opens up the holy word of truth to your spiritual understanding and gives you the supernatural knowledge of the depth of the word. Me too. The verb to put off is used in verse 9 to mean put away a garment away from you. Dear church, this garment represents our sinful nature which must be removed before we are able to resist sinning. And if we will reckon ourselves dead to sin as Paul commands in Romans chapter 6 verse 11, because of our identification with Christ, then we will have the power to distance ourselves from the individual sins mentioned in verses 8 and 9. Romans chapter 6, beginning in verse 6. We know that our old unrenewed self was nailed to the cross with him in order that our body, which is the instrument of sin, might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be slaves of sin. Verse 7, for when a man dies, he is freed, loosened, delivered from the power of sin among men. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, because we know that Christ, the anointed one, being once raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has power over him. Verse 10, for by the death he died. He died to sin, ending his relation to it once and for all. And the life that he lives, he is living to God in unbroken fellowship with him. Verse 11, even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God, living in unbroken fellowship with him in Jesus Christ. Let not sin therefore Or rule as king in your mortal short-lived perishable bodies. To make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions. Verse 13. Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members and faculties to sin as instrument tools of wickedness. But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to perpetual life. and your bodily members and faculties to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness. Verse 14. For sin shall no longer, any longer, exert dominion over you, since now you are not under law as slaves, but under grace as subject of God's favor and mercy. Hallelujah. Dear listener, putting off the old man is not enough. We must put on the new man or the new nature as well. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 24 declares, Put on the new nature, the regenerate self, created in God's image, God-like, in true righteousness and holiness. So Apostle Paul identified our responsibilities in this verse. We are to put on the new self or the new nature like putting on a new garment. The new self or a new man is the person the Christian is after he or she experiences regeneration. We put on the new man as we pursue the things of Christ rather than the desires of the flesh. God has created the new self, the Christian, at regeneration, after the image in the likeness of our spiritual father who is God himself. Righteousness and holiness mark out our new life rather than sensuality, impurity, and greed. Moreover, it is a life based on truth rather than on ignorance. In Colossians chapter 3 verses 8 and 9 the word again declares Put away and rid yourselves completely of all these things Anger, rage, bad feeling towards others Curses and slanders, foul mouth abuse and shameful utterances from your lips Do not lie to one another For you've stripped off the old unregenerate self with its evil practices In verse 10 we see to dress or clothe oneself is the exact opposite of to put on one's garments used in verse 9. And verse 10 declares, have clothed yourselves with the new spiritual self, which is ever in the process of being renewed and remolded into fuller and more perfect knowledge upon knowledge after the image and likeness of him who created it. Did you see that it is in the process of being renewed and remolded into a fuller and more perfect knowledge upon knowledge? Amen. So because the new believer who has come to Christ is one who has been given the Holy Spirit to lead, to guide and direct in putting on the new clothing or the new nature. And this is the personal undressing and dressing to do, which is each believer's responsibility with the help of precious Holy Spirit, who is also called our standby to lead us out of all corruption to become partakers of the divine nature We see in 2 Peter 1 verses 3 and 4 who called us by name and his own glory and excellent virtues. Verse 4, by means of these he's bestowed upon us his precious and exceeding great promises so that through them you may escape by flight from the moral decay, rottenness and corruption that is in the world because of the covetousness, lust, and greed, and become partakers or sharers of the divine nature. So we must give consideration, dear believers, to whom we belong. Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 declares and instructs us to set your minds and keep them set on what is above, the higher things, not on the things that are on the earth. says we must mortify or deaden or kill our old nature and set affections on things that are above and set our affection on those things that have eternal value and are everlasting. These characteristics of the new man are actually to be put on and made a very part of our being so that our outer man might match the desires and yearning of the new inner man. And, you know, again, I repeat, reiterate that these are spiritual virtues that we are speaking about. In Romans chapter 7, Paul describes the constant struggle. He had to conform his outer life to his inner desires. But this doesn't mean, however, at the time of his writing, the epistles, which make up practically the whole New Testament, that he is still struggling with these past sinful practices as some commentators say that he did. He did not. He had moved far beyond that to be able to instruct and lead us into this wonderful life of righteousness and purity and perfection in Christ. Hallelujah. In this chapter he describes it as a daily dressing with Christ-like qualities. well there comes a time when we have to ask ourselves precious ones what does my new spiritual clothing look like we have read in Colossians chapter 3 verses 10 through 17 the spiritual clothing that Apostle Paul said was necessary for the renewal of the believer in order to conform to Christ's image and likeness which will define the new Christian character that we now have and are still growing in. There comes a time in your growth as a believer that you recognize that God has chosen you to wear these new garments. And not only that, he demands it if you purport to belong to him. He has handpicked you every step of the way as you remain faithful to his precepts and ways to conform you inside out. Your part is to invite the precious Holy Spirit to help you to conform to his righteousness and holiness, because eventually in your conformity, you are called to be God's personal representative. One of the ways to conform is to fill your mind with the thoughts about the reality of God's deep, unconditional love for you. You must know he loves you dearly. He gave his beloved son Jesus Christ as a supreme sacrifice to die a horrible death on the cross in order to have you as his dearly prized precious child. And once you deeply understand the cost and sacrifice your dear Savior paid to have you belong to his family of love, You will have the confidence and freedom you need in order to develop and grow into these Christian virtues and character of your Redeemer. We do, however, have to take off our old clothing, dear ones. The old clothing that came with our package needs to be taken off because they are considered as ugly garment. We have such titles as pride and anger and bitterness and lust and greed, lying and worry and impatience that make up these garments. We need to confess these and repent of them in prayer to God. In Colossians chapter 3, we're told to put on forgiveness. We've covered that. But this in effect says that you should accept the forgiveness that God offered you when you repent. And let your gratitude for his forgiveness motivate you to obey his commands and forgive other people who have hurt you. Keep in mind, please, even when you don't feel like forgiving someone, you can always make the choice to start the forgiveness process despite your feelings feelings and then rely on God's help to forgive every step of the way. Practice, practice, practice doing according to the word of God. And remember, dear listener, this is a faith walk. And faith is truly necessary in your walk as a pilgrim through this lifelong journey on earth. Accepting God's forgiveness for your own sins, which you have repented of, will free you from guilt and shame and forgiving others who have sinned against you. And this all helps you in drawing near to your heavenly father. Nothing is more comforting than to feel his presence wrapped around you in knowing that he has forgiven you and you belong to him. We are instructed next to put on peace. In Colossians chapter 3 verse 15, as we have read before, the word declares, and let the peace, soul harmony, which comes from Christ, rule and act as umpire continually in your hearts and settling with finality all questions that arise in your mind in that peaceful state to which, as members of Christ's one body, you were also called to live. And be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always. well let us start by making sure that we have begun a relationship with christ as our lord and savior placing all of our trust in him and you can experience peace only when you are in right relationship with god through jesus christ dear ones this relationship can be broken because of our sin. Amen. But remember, Jesus has paid the price of sin for you. He paid the price for you personally. So whatever trials, discouragements of life in this fallen world that disrupts your sense of peace, do as you are instructed and pray for peace. Jesus will faithfully answer your request with peace that only he can give. My peace I leave you, my peace I give you, not as the world gives he promises Since God himself is your peace ask the precious Holy Spirit to make you aware of his constant presence with you and let that awareness give you peace strong enough to overcome any stressful situations you go through Strive as never before to faithfully live the way God calls you to live in in every part of your life since faithful choices leads to life that is free of anxiety and hopelessness and fear. We are instructed next to put on kindness. Can we do this without our helper called Precious Holy Spirit? No, certainly not. There will be nothing lasting in anything we try to do in our own physical efforts. Putting on kindness leads us to rather looking out just for our own interests, we begin to look out for the interests of others. Ask God to help you notice when people need encouragement, comfort, or help in some way. And then take advantage of every opportunity that God brings your way to respond to their needs with kind words and actions. keep in mind that God showed kindness to you by having mercy on you and sending Christ to die for your sins so you could be saved and also in Colossians chapter 3 verse 12 we are instructed to put on humility just as Christ humbled himself to leave heaven come to this earth as the innocent lamb of God to die for our sin we should follow his example by giving up our rights when it comes to serving others pride as you know is opposite of humility serving others out of love for Jesus Christ is humility dear ones ask God to reveal pride that may be preventing you from developing humility confess the sin and repent of pride if he shows it to you and realize and let go of your selfish ambitions so you can join the Holy Spirit as he leads you in the powerful work of helping others by being his personal representative. Again, in Colossians 3, verse 12, we are told to put on compassion. Ask God to help you notice the needs of his people around you. Ask Him to give you the desire to help them so you can reach out in love instead of just a sense of duty. Reflect on your own life in the various ways you have personally suffered in the past. Ask God to show you how you can help other people who are currently suffering and going through troubles and trials so you can extend His love and His compassion in their lives. Learn about the needs of the people around you. Listen to the things that they have to say. Pray for them as the Holy Spirit leads you. And we are also told to put on patience so we reflect on our lives and consider the many ways that God has been patient with us. We can all say, God has been very patient with me. Let holy gratitude of what he has done in your own life regarding his patience with you. Let it arise. Holy gratitude. I've thought of the many times myself, the many times that I was in error, that the Holy Spirit didn't zap me like a crispy critter. and I praise him for his love and his patience with me as I was conforming to his will. Pray for the Holy Spirit to make a difference in the lives of people around you and develop patience as you make sacrifices to build stronger relationships and further the opportunities for others to grow and build the character of Christ in their lives. And we're told to put on joy. We've just finished a message called The Importance of Having a Cheerful Heart. You can access this teaching by going to our website called ShiningLight7Ministries.com. Go to the audio storehouse section where you can access that message. Dear listener, we live in a world today in this year of 2023 where many awful things are going on to actually destroy this world and more so God's precious masterpiece called mankind. These can all be distractions, but we are told to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ who is the author and the finisher of our faith. The things of the world and its pursuits can bring you clothes of happiness that you can temporarily wear, but as many as you know, they do not bring you true joy in the end. They inevitably fade away, leaving you feeling naked and desperately searching for the next thing that can cover you with a sense of happiness for a while again. And that's how it works. It only lasts for a little while. But true spiritual joy that God will clothe you with has the power to last no matter how your circumstances might change. you can put on joy when you've responded to God's love by putting on the other virtues as well and once you experience the many ways that these virtues make your life beautiful you will really truly begin to enjoy life in Christ hallelujah and lastly we are instructed to put on love the greatest of these is love we are told in the Corinthians The love of God is the bond of perfection, holding all the other virtues of Christian life together so they can reach their divinely intended goal. That goal is perfection. And we know in the Greek that perfection is maturity, growing in maturity. Dear ones, please know that what we have discussed in these articles of spiritual clothing is God's divine workmanship in the life of the believer. It is only in these ways, through the mandates in scripture, that we can achieve what he ultimately desires for each and every one of his dear children, and that is to grow in the maturity and wisdom to where we all become his personal representatives or ambassadors for the purpose of spreading the good news, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us all press onward and upward and never disappoint our precious Lord and Master who willingly divested himself of his glory to come to this earth to die a horrible death on the cross for each and every one of us personally. Let us never forget it. Amen.