Put On Christ

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  Put On Christ

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  Well, my name is Kurtis Massey for those of you that are new. I'm the discipleship pastor, and here preaching on behalf of our preaching pastor Adam, who's out preaching in Texas. So we can be praying for him this morning and that worship service and the ministry taking place out there. And we'll take a little pause from 1 Samuel. Uh, but at the same time, some of those principles of 1 Samuel that we've seen, which is the fact that God honors and blesses humility, as we've seen in Hannah's life. We'll see a little continuation of that humility in the New Testament. The continuation of that theme...the things that God honors and blesses. And so why don't you turn to Colossians chapter three and we'll look at verses 12 through 17 this morning. Colossians chapter three, verses 12 through 17. And as you're looking and finding that in your Bibles, you know, I wanted to let you know about uniforms. You know, uniforms play a significant role in our society. You know, you look around in a crowd and you see someone with a police officer uniform. You automatically think that this is the person that's going to help us to bring about protection and service to members of society. If anything goes wrong, those are the people that you look to and you expect them to act...be characterized in a certain way. That's an extension of the government. Same thing with a firefighter or a person from EMT services. They're probably dressed in a certain way, a certain attire. And you know, immediately when there's an emergency, there's a fire, there's something happening...they're going to spring into action and help in a time of need. Their uniform plays a significant role in their character and what they do and how they influence society. And the same is true of the Christian. The only thing is, is that we put Jesus Christ on and we keep him on. Amen? There's never a time that you check out. That same police officer. He can go home after his shift is over, after he's worked his eight hours or 10 hours or 12 hours. Firefighters, you know, they, like, work all the time. I don't even know what their shift is. They don't even know their shift. They just in there all the time. I mean, it's a long time, but at the end of their shift, they can get home and they can take off those garments, and then they can kind of dwell without the responsibility of that service and that role. But for the Christian, we never get a chance to take off Jesus Christ. We never get a chance to check out. We don't get a chance to go to church and put Christ on only to Sunday afternoon. By the time we finish lunch, we've taken him off and thought about living the real life. God wants us, those who have been baptized in Jesus Christ, Galatians 3:27. You've been baptized. You have put on Christ. You've clothed yourselves with Christ. And what Paul is saying is that you've been clothed with him. You need to keep those clothes on. Keep Christ on. There should never be a time where your practice of life is divorced from your profession of faith. And that's what we're going to see even in this passage today as we look at what happens. Because when you're saved, you’re a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, says that if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things have passed away and behold, new things have come. And even in Colossians chapter 3, earlier in this passage, verses nine through 11, it lets you know that you've laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and you've put on the new self, and you've put on this new self which is being renewed to a true knowledge, according to the image of the one who created him. That's what happens when we're believers. We're a new creation...a new creature. We're now clothed with Jesus Christ and His character in its fullness. And our job is to live it out and keep it on, and not to ever take it off. And not only did God save us to be a new creation, he's called us to a new community, and we're going to see why it's vitally important that all of us are clothed with Jesus Christ as we dwell together as Christians here in the assembly.
  But let me read Colossians chapter 3, verses 12 through 17, and we're going to hear what thus saith the Lord. The text reads as follows. "So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other and whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. And let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."
  Let's bow in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we come now just thanking you for this opportunity to hear from heaven. We thank you that you are the God who speaks, and that this is the highest time in our Christian experience as to hear God speak in the company of the saints. I ask, Lord, that you would allow your Word to teach us, to rebuke us, to correct us, to train us up in righteousness. I pray, Lord, that you would allow anything that may be on our mind that would distract us from hearing from you, that it would be laid aside. I pray that you would grant divine unction to the preacher. Give me boldness, clarity, conviction to proclaim the truth of Christ before the hearers today. And I pray that your Spirit would empower our time, that we all might be trained up in the truth. We love you, Lord, and praise you for this precious, magnificent opportunity that we have. And we ask this in Christ's name. And all God's people said Amen.
  Well, as we've seen in this text, Paul is giving really the character of Christ. And I've titled this morning's sermon "Put on Christ". Put on Christ because it's our desire, and it's the commandment of God that we put Jesus on. Be clothed with him completely, never to take him off. And what Paul has done is he's writing this letter to the Colossians. He recognizes that this is a group of saints that Epaphras really was able to share the gospel, and a lot of them were built up in truth. But as much as they were built up in truth, they had other people telling them that, hey, you can be a Christian, but you also can take these traditions. You can be a Christian, but you also got to have these rituals. You can be a Christian, but you also gotta, you know, do these kinds of things in order to truly be holy and pure. And Paul was saying, no, Jesus Christ is supreme. He's letting them know that Jesus Christ is over everything. In chapter 1 he says in verse 15, he is the invisible God and the firstborn of all creation. So Jesus Christ is God, true God, and therefore he is supreme because he's over everything. He said that he's also not only supreme because he is the creator and is over everything. He says that he's over all things pertaining to the church, and that's only fitting. Christ is over the church being the head because he is the Redeemer, purchased her with his own blood. So Jesus Christ is head over all creation and he's head and ruler of the church. But the question Paul wants to get them to in chapter three is, is this Christ over you? Is he over your heart? Yeah. He's over creation. Yeah, he's over the church. But is he ruling and reigning in your life? Is that what's happening on a day to day basis? Or do we just say praise him because he's the Lord on high? But is he the Lord down low when it comes to the things of your life? And as he transitions into the beginning portion of chapter 3. He says that if you've been raised up with Christ, you need to keep seeking the things above. He says that's where your affection is. Your allegiance is there. Everything in your desires are there. So your life needs to reflect that down here. You set your mind there. And guess what? Your life needs to be hidden with Christ in God so that when people see you, they see who?...when they look at you? They see who? Christ. All right. We lost an hour. We're just trying to get it all energized before we get the Word in. I'm just trying to stimulate you to love and good deeds right about now. That's what that is. But when they see you, they see Christ. That's what Paul is letting them know in this great epistle of Colossians. And therefore they had to kill certain aspects of their life, and he gives that list all the way from verses 5 through 9 there. Verse 5 to 8, he talks about all these vices and things they need to kill. But then he transitions and he tells them who they are. And as he lays this out, he's going to give us three ways that we need to ensure that we put on Jesus Christ and keep him on. Three ways that we're going to see this. How to make sure that when you get up in the morning, from the time you wake up to the time you pillow your head, that you're clothed with Jesus Christ completely, that there's never a time where you take off those clothing of righteousness and lay them aside. You lay your sins aside, you kill them, but you be clothed in Jesus Christ. And we're going to see that in three specific ways.
  And the first thing that we see, the first way to make sure that we put Christ on and keep him on, is that you need to consider your 'position in Christ'. You need to stop and consider your position in Christ before you even get out to start your day. You need to consider the fact that you have a spiritual union in Christ, and that spiritual union gave you a spiritual standing before God that is different than unbelievers across the world. And the first feature of that position is that you have been chosen. You have to consider the fact that you have been chosen. Verse 12, it says, so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved. You know, Paul starts this phrase to emphasize the gracious initiative of God in salvation. God was the one doing the drawing to men and women unto himself. It's an amazing act that God made the first move. Every person that has ever believed in God, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, was a direct result of God moving with divine mercy and drawing them to himself. It's an amazing thing. You cannottake my word for it. You can look at this with your own eyes. Why don't you go left into Deuteronomy? Let's go back to the Torah, the writings of Moses. You can go back to Torah. It's the last book of the Torah. And look at chapter 7. Deuteronomy chapter 7. And, um, this is God talking to, talking about his people. And chapter 7, verse 6, you see these words written. He says, for you are a holy people set aside for the Lord your God. And the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession. Out of all the people who are on the face of the earth. Now get this friend. There were all kind of nations on the earth at that time, and God chose Israel. It's amazing. He could have chose all of the ites in the Old Testament, right? The Amalekites and the Amorites and all those I just call them ites because I can't keep up with all of them. The Hittites and the Gershonites and the Abbasites and the the IT ites. I mean, it's a whole bunch of ites in the Old Testament. And out of all those ites, guess what? God says this will be my people. He Eventually named them Israel. But God said he set his affection, chose them for himself. And then when he chose them, he showed them his law. He showed him his ways, showed him his love, raised them up in affection. And even in verse 7 it says that the Lord did not set his love on you, nor chose you, because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were fewer than all of the peoples. But because the Lord loved you, and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers, and the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. God did that because he was motivated by love. He says, I'm going to allow you to be my people. God chose them. You'll even see this truth if you turn in the New Testament. Turn to go right in your Bibles and go to Ephesians chapter 1...Ephesians chapter 1. You will see this truth revealed in Scripture as well. Many people like Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3 because it says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Can I get an Amen on that? Amen. We love that. But how do we get all of those precious promises? Well, you see, in verse 4 it says just as he...what? Chose us in him, Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world. Before God said, let there be light and there was light. He said that he has chosen all of those that he would bring to himself in salvation, both before the cross and after the cross. It's an amazing truth. And he did it that we would be holy and blameless before him. You see, God did this because this doctrine of election that we have. God chose people to save, and he did it apart from any merit or work that they would have. But he was motivated by his love. And the reason that this is important is that it takes the attention away from any merit that we would have, any human effort that we would bring to salvation. And it places the emphasis on the power and the promises of God. It doesn't mean that you were a mere robot, right? No one just was robotic and just came to the point where they said, oh, I guess I will place my affection on God. That's not how he did it. He showed you his love and his forgiveness and the depth of his character and compelled you to come and be drawn to him. And any believer that knows, you realize your life, even if you weren't, you know, killing people and you weren't robbing banks, even if you weren't doing gross sexual sins, you knew that you were living a life apart from God, and he moved upon your affections and drew you to himself. It's an enormous reality in the life of the believer. It's a grace. And what happens is it exalts the grace of God. Just as Ronald read earlier in Romans 8, God foreknew us, and that foreknowledge, meaning that he had an intimate relationship with you even before you were born, knowing that he would bring you to himself. And he predestined us, and he called us. He justified it, and he glorified us all. One theologian said this about this doctrine of election. He said, this doctrine crushes human pride. It exalts God. It produces joy and gratitude to the Lord. It grants eternal privileges and assurance. It promotes holiness and makes one bold and courageous. For one who has been chosen by God for eternal life has no need to fear anything or anyone. End quote. That's it. You're secure. You know that God placed his affection on you and that helps you to understand this position. So being chosen of God, it saturates your soul with so much grace that it helps you from going from one extreme to the next. On one extreme, you could be, you know, having a bad week or a bad day, and you're just in sin and you're like, man, how in the world I call myself a Christian? You've been chosen of God. He did that. And once he established you and placed you in his hand, there's by no means will anyone snatch you out? It keeps you from being weak and saying, there's no way that I can be called a child of God. And then it also keeps you from that other extreme to where you can be conceited in righteousness. You done had a good week. You done had a good day. And you're like, boy, I am the man in Jesus Christ. No one. That's an oxymoron. I am the man in Jesus Christ. How about Jesus Christ is the man. He's the God man that made it possible. So you see how that happened? Being chosen of God keeps you from going on any end of that spectrum, because you know that you're God's child. You're secure in him. He chose you for his own glory. But it doesn't go. It doesn't stop there. It goes further to say that not only have you been chosen of God, you're holy. This term literally means to separate, to set apart. It's sacred. It's used to describe the angelic hosts that are in the heavens crying out, Holy, Holy, holy to the Lord. That's you Saint. That's why you called saints...a holy one. It's not that people need to pray through you to get through something in life. We're not that kind of saint. Saint just means God's people, his holy folks that are set apart. That's your position before a holy God. He's holy. And so his people gotta be. What? Holy. Same thing he mentioned to Israel. You are to be holy because the Lord your God is holy. That's your position. And you've got to fully embrace that if you're going to put on Jesus Christ.  The moment you stop forgetting that you’re holy and called to be holy is the moment that you will stop reflecting the full character of Jesus Christ. You're holy, holy people. Even in that passage that I mentioned in Ephesians 1, when you get down to the latter part of verse 4, it says that we will be holy and blameless before him. You know that Jesus Christ is called the Holy One in Mark chapter 1 verse 24...the Holy One. You know, as a believer...well, you know, this holiness is supposed to aid you in living up to your calling that you get from Jesus Christ. But I would love it if people, you know what if they, instead of calling you a Christian, called you a Holy one? Would that phrase match your character in your life? The people at your work be able to say, man, you know what, man? I got this joke I want to tell, but yeah, but I don't know about Bob. He probably don't want to listen to this because he's a he's a holy one. He's holy. He has certain things that he just don't like to talk about or with your family on certain activities they do on the weekend or friends, people in your neighborhood, would they say, man, we would like to include you, but we know you're holy and we don't even want to tarnish you like that. Would they see you that way, a Holy one, or would they say, man, join the club? What do you mean? What do you mean? Tell me you holy...you Christian now all of a sudden. Or is that the consistent pattern of your life. Paul is about you saying this is your position. So let your practice be commensurate with that position of holiness, because you see, if you don't regard yourself as holy, you won't regard God as holy. And you know what happened when people don't regard God as holy. Just ask Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus chapter 10. Or we can look at Eli's sons that we saw in 1 Samuel. You don't regard God as holy. God has to deal with you. But if you're a believer, you've been chosen of God and you're holy. Not only that, you're beloved. That beloved is a term of endearment. It's an affectionate term. It means that if you are beloved by God...you are the object of his divine affection, his unconditional, unfailing, everlasting love. That's what you are. You're beloved. The people of Israel were objects of God's love in the Old Testament. As I mentioned in Deuteronomy 7, he said he set his love on them, and it wasn't because they were mighty or numerous, but it was because he loved them. He loved them. That love that is sacrificial and unconditional and expecting nothing in return. That's what God gives to his people and both the church as well as the Old Testament saints. They were able to be objects of God's love. And in Ephesians 1:5...I just read 4, that next verse says, in love he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. And it was all according to his intentions and his will. That's an amazing thing. This love is one of affection because we're children of God. We're children of God. Some of you are parents and you know how it is with your children. You have a natural affection that goes beyond anybody else's kids, right? Even on their worst day. You have a love for them, you know. That's why they stay alive, right? They alive today...even on their worst day. Because they your kids and because you have love for them. I'm alive today because my mom loved me when I was a knucklehead. You know? That's what happens. But it's that love. And that's the same thing that God has for you. Even when you're out of step, out of character and out of his will, he has an unfailing love for you. You've got to remember that. Not only is that a love of affection, it's a love of protection. God protects you with that love, even as he writes Zechariah 2:8. It says, for the Lord God of hosts, he says, after the glory he has sent me against all of the nations who were trying to plunder Israel and said, if you touch them, you are touching the apple of my eye. You realize that all these pagan nations, you touch those people, you touch the apple of my eye. That's my people. God protected them, gave them all the things that even they don't deserve, just simply because they were his chosen folks. It's amazing. You know, the believer's position is based on the fact that everything else flows out of this passage from that. Because, see, we're about to see some things that God expects of you. He expects his character to be to be on display. But you need to recognize your position that you're chosen, holy and loved by God in order to be able to fulfill all those things that this passage is demanding...keeps you in its proper perspective. Or else you're going to be doing these things in your own works and in your own strength, and it will not be done Christ's way. But if you do. That means it's only because of your position is right before God chosen, holy and beloved. That's the principle that God would have us to see through Paul's pen right here in Colossians 3. And that's what helps us to understand how to put Christ on. You've got to realize that you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people after God's own possession.
  And once you realize that position, then you can move to the next aspect, which is your 'practice'. And that's the second feature that we'll see as to how we put on Jesus Christ. After you consider your position, now you've got to carry out your practice of Christ likeness. Got to carry out the practice of Christ likeness. And we'll see that in verses 12b through 14. You see your position, influences practice. Your calling, influences your conduct. And what is that practice? Well, we see it here in the bpart of verse 12, that that practice of Christ likeness is seen in Christ's character. He's about to list five virtues in verses 12 that really are the opposite of those vices that gripped your life in verses 5 through 8 of Colossians chapter 3. But if you look in 5 through 8. Look at those things that used to grip your life...those vices: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed. And even down there in verse 8, anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech. He says, those are the vices that used to grip your life and the old self and the old man. But he says, now, if you're going to practice Christ likeness, you need to lay aside and kill those vices and be clothed with these Christian virtues. Now these are the virtues. These are the character, the fruit of Christ's life that needs to be on display each and every day. And the first one he says here, is put on a heart of compassion. That 'put on' it really could be said, clothe yourself. And as I mentioned earlier, you clothe yourself and you keep those clothes on. You don't ever have a wardrobe change in Christ Jesus. Amen. You'll never get a chance to be like, you know what? Let me go and take these Jesus clothes off. Somebody done made me mad on the interstate. I just need...Jesus, I just need 10 seconds to take these righteous clothes off, yell at them, honk and do a little something, something else. And then I'll put these clothes of Christ back on. He says, no, no, no, no. Put the clothes on and keep them on. And how do you do that? This is in the context of brothers and sisters in the household of God. He says, put on a heart of compassion, put on a heart of compassion. You put them on and keep them on. And I gotta say, this, man, because some people, they talk about their salvation in past tense. You ever heard somebody talk about their salvation? It's back in what happened in 1985. Like, boy, yeah, I got saved back in 1985 and it was great. Well, I mean, I tell you, I was just I was on fire. I was reading my Bible. I mean, I was memorizing verses left and right. What Romans what I got you Galatians got you. I mean, Ephesians. Got you. They were just all. I mean, they had outfits, you know, and it's back in 1985. But Jesus wants to know about present day Christianity. Present day Christ likeness. Are you excited about Christ today and walking in truth today? And that's why he says, put it on and keep it on. This heart of compassion. This heart of compassion really is means you have mercy and pity and tenderness toward someone who's suffering. And what you do is this this person, this mercy and pity, ought to lead you to act on their behalf. There's a lot of people that says they have compassion, but when they're thinking about compassion, they're thinking about, you know, just, uh, you know, looking at someone else and saying, oh, my goodness, I have compassion. I wish I could do something for them. Maybe they see pictures of little kids starving in a third world country on television and they say, oh, I just feel so sorry for them. I have so much compassion. That's not necessarily compassion. Your compassion ought to lead you to action. It's one thing to have pity and mercy, but the compassion of Christ leads you to act on behalf of someone else. Jesus had compassion because it compelled him to act on others behalf, even to come out of the heavens, to act on behalf of sinners. Even the crowd, as you see, Mark 6:34, when Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them.  It's a deep movement of the inner part of emotion. And he said he was like as they were like sheep without a shepherd. And so therefore he began to teach. He realized they didn't have a shepherd. So he said, I'll be your shepherd. And not only was he their shepherd, he was the good shepherd that gave his life for the sheep. That's the compassion that Jesus has. And he had that for us. My question is, do you have that compassion for brothers and sisters in the house of God. You see them in situations that are calling for mercy and help. Do you walk by or do you show them love? I would pray that we would have compassion for our city. I'm grateful that we had a chance to have that how to share the gospel without freaking out class...help you to have confidence in doing that because we got a city that needs to hear about Jesus. We'll go out and share the gospel and door knocking, and we'll go out there and engage with people. Do you realize there are folks out there that that don't know about Jesus Christ? It used to be a day where everybody at least was going to be in church at Christmas, Easter...might come around Thanksgiving when family around, but people are not even in church these days, haven't been raised. They need to hear the gospel. The compassion in us should overflow in showing that to them. And not only that, we should do that with one another. There are people that God is sending to this church. They don't know much about the gospel. We should be moved to act on their behalf. That's Compassion that God wants us to have, and even kindness is another virtue he puts in there. This Greek word combines the idea of goodness, kindness, and generosity, and it's found all through the Psalms when it refers to God and His character. Because this is what he did, he expressed his goodness even at the face of the sin of Israel. I love Jeremiah, he was the weeping prophet. He only preached to a hard hearted, stiff necked, rebellious people. But even in Jeremiah 33:11 it says, for the Lord is good, and his loving kindness is great. He says, for I will restore the fortunes of the land. Even though Israel was hard hearted, weren't doing what they should. God says I, and my lovingkindness is great, and I'm still going to give you what you don't deserve. Do people get what they don't deserve from you in the congregation? They're brothers and sisters that aren't really worthy of your kindness, but out of the overflow of your generosity of goodness, you extend it to them. That's what God wants us if we want to put on Jesus Christ and be a household that he appreciates and loves and affirms, and not just in the house of God, but even in your own house. I've seen some parents who've had hard hearted, obstinate, rebellious children, and they've tried every trick known to man to get their child to act right. They've done everything to choke the life out of the child in order to get them to act right. But that's the very opposite of what God does, right? Because even in Romans 2:4, it says it's the kindness of God that leads you to repentance. God wasn't choking the life out and saying, you better repent. You better repent. You repented because you were amazed by the depth of his kindness, even when you were a sinner. Even when you were a sinner, dead in your sins, Christ died for you. That's Romans 5:8. But God demonstrates his love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It was this kindness that was moved us to say, man, I must repent and love this God. And he says, If I've done that to you, you should do that for one another. In the household of God demonstrate kindness to one another, even when they don't deserve it. Humility...this is not having a high estimation of yourself, but it is esteeming others as greater than you. It wasn't cool to have this term in the Greco-Roman era, and in fact, the Greeks didn't even have this word in their vocabulary. They were like, we don't even want to use this. They put it out of their literature, out of all their poetry books. They was like, we don't even want to be associated with humility because it was rugged strength. It was rugged determination. But Jesus Christ comes on the scene, and he made this an attractive characteristic and virtue because he is the epitome of humility. Realize that he is meek and mild and humble. And just remember, meekness is not weakness, and kindness is not spineless. And Jesus Christ, was both of those. And even in Philippians 2, it says that although he existed in the form of God and did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but what did he do? He emptied himself, taking upon the form of a bond servant being made in the likeness of men. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. That's amazing humility. God himself looks like a regular human being, goes to a cross and he dies to the very creatures he created. It's amazing love and humility. He says, If I've done that and given you an example to follow when you're clothed with me, I've given you the capacity now to walk in that humility with one another. Look, we're going to have ministries together that we're going to be planning. You're going to have your idea. Somebody else is going to have their idea. Who do you think idea is going to be the one that you're going to appreciate the most?...it's yours because it originated with you, right? I don't know about you, but my ideas are always the best ideas. Every ministry meeting I come to, I'm like, my idea should be the one. Let's choose the way I said it. I thought it. This is how it should go. This is the way it should be. But can we exist that way and be one body in Jesus Christ? Yes or no? We have to demonstrate humility, showing preference, saying, I desire this and I'm passionate about it, but I'm going to give preference to your idea so that we can be harmonious and do this ministry that God called us to do. Ministries are coming up...VBS, summer camp. You know, you got life group ministries. Hey, let's do this for event week. How about this? You can fight over an event week. Mess around...the one thing that should unite you together divides you. We can be that way in Jesus Christ. But he says, demonstrate humility to one another. Be willing to lay your life down, even in your marriages that should exist. Some folks say they can't even be on the same page when they try to figure out what they're going to have for lunch after church. You done just left the worship service filled with the Spirit...arguing over lunch. What you want to eat? It don't matter. You choose. I choose this. Why you want to eat that? Before you know it you can't even eat lunch. Forget filled with the spirit. It's just gone, gone, gone. See your spirit. See you gone. That's a joke. The Spirit lives in us. That was just a joke. He didn't leave us and come back. But humility is what we should have. Humility. Humility. Humility. I love what someone said in our small group one time. He said, you know what?...God is so concerned about us demonstrating this aspect of Jesus Christ that either you will find humility or humility will find you. God is so concerned about that road being well worn in your life, that road of humility because Jesus went down that same road, right?...the path of humility. He wants you to go down that road. So either you're going to find humility and humble yourself, or are you going to be humbled by the Almighty because he wants you to understand that characteristic of Jesus Christ. Demonstrate humility to one another. He even says gentleness. This is the opposite of arrogance and self assertiveness having a consideration of others. This is really saying I'm willing to waive my right to be angry with you. I could be angry. I could be frustrated, and I could lash out my venom on you, but instead I just want to waive that right and be gentle instead. I mean, when was the last time you waved that right to be angry with another brother or sister in the body of Christ because you were concerned about the harmony that existed among us? That's like Jesus, right? It says, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Forgive them. They know not what they do. That gentleness of Christ, knowing that some of those will be very much his disciples. Forgive them. They know not what they do. And I say that in the King James for the dramatic effect. But at the end of the day, that's what we should have, is that gentleness of Christ and the patience, that ability to suffer long. That's what that term means. It means that you can suffer for a long period of time and still not go back into the old self. And some people say, man, I can suffer but 2 or 3 strikes and you're out. That's not how God says we ought to be. Suffer long. You ought to have a long temper. It ought to take a whole bunch for someone to arouse your anger. And even then you say, nope, you're not going to cause me to sin. Just because you sin, we're not going to compound it and sin again. That's the patience of God. That's what it means to still put on Christ, even when you've endured wrongs and someone has exasperated you. Instead of flying into rage or desiring vengeance, you put on the patience of Jesus Christ. That's what it means to put on the likeness of his character and practice Christ likeness. And we do that in his character also in his forgiveness, he says, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. That bearing with one another, it's mutual forbearance. You see, here in the Colossian church, there were some people that were new to the body, and they had been in some of the pagan clubs, if you will. They were partying and drinking sexual immorality. They were cursing and swearing. They were stealing. That was all a part of their life. And they had just got saved. And they're coming to the church. And guess what? Those Colossian Christians had to deal with those newbies. They were like, man, they still cursing, they still drinking, they smell like alcohol. But guess what? God says that that's what you got to do is bear up with one another. They're going to be some people in our church that God's going to bring that are just new in Christ. Can you bear up with them until they mature up? I mean, they're going to still have some language that's messed up. I think I'm like, oops, my bad. That slipped out. It might even smell like something. They're going to have all kind of tendencies. Can you bear up with them? I mean there's some folks that that just they so fresh and saved.  They still got the fires of hell...they smoking...I mean when they come to church, you know. But can you still say, you know what, I know that you're a new Christian, but come alongside of me and follow me as I follow Christ. That's what it means to bear up with one another. Can you do that, believer? Because that's what it means to put on Christ. People can talk about it, but can you be about bearing with one another? Dealing with each other's inadequacies, shortcomings instead of having the fleshly tendency rouse up. And then, he says, forgiving one another. I think he puts these together because you've got to do that. Bear with one another and forgive one another. Whoever has a complaint, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. He says the gospel ought to come on display in your life. It's the gospel. You see, God has allowed us to be detached from our sins, and therefore Christ paid for that, gave us forgiveness and kept us from hell and condemnation. He says, I forgave you as far as the East is from the West. You should forgive each other that very same way. There should never be anything that should separate you from your love for one another. Forgiveness. Forgiveness, Saints...forgive. I council so many times I see marriages, I see families, I see even singles. One thing that is a reoccurring theme is a lack of forgiveness. Can't let it go. But you don't know my life, pastor....you don't know what I have to deal with each day. Forgive. But you don't know what they like when they get home. Forgiveness. But you don't know what it's like to serve alongside of them in ministry. Forgiveness. God wants you to forgive. It means going and acknowledging the fault. Being willing to forgive. Making that exchange and putting it to bed. Putting it to rest and never to bring it back up again. That's the forgiveness that God would have us to demonstrate. Let's do that for one another and do that by putting on his love. In verse 14, it says, beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. One theologian put it this way, he says, in keeping with the motif of putting on clothes. Love is the belt or the sash that pulls all these things that are just mentioned together. It's like it's the one thing that pulls all those virtues together is love. Love does. Love is a priority. It's a priority because it's the greatest commandment. Right? Matthew 22...love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and then love your neighbor as yourself. It's the greatest commandment. Everything revolves around love. So much that if you do anything apart from love, it amounts to nothing. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, you can speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if you don't have love....guess what? It's a big fat zero. Zero...amounts to nothing. God can use it, but it's no credit to your account because you didn't do it motivated by love. So love should motivate us in everything. Every genuine born again believer bought by the precious blood of Christ. You're chosen, holy and beloved of God. He's demonstrated his unconditional, unfailing, undying love towards you so that you can demonstrate that towards all of those in the household of faith. And that's why love is a priority. Live a life that's sacrificial.
  Well, those are the two ways that we've seen thus far as to how we can put on Christ and keep him on. Make sure that you know your position of Christ. You carry out your practice of Christ likeness. The third one is this. It's to commit to the 'priorities' of Christ. Verses 15 through 17, it says, these are new priorities that we have now that didn't govern our life prior to our union with Jesus Christ. And the first priority is this you gotta prioritize the peace of Christ. Prioritize his peace. The peace of Christ...let it rule and reign in your hearts. There's a couple of aspects of this peace. There's peace that the believer gets with God because his sins have been forgiven. That's like what Romans 5:1 says, that therefore, having been justified by faith, we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's vertical peace. But I think there's a second aspect of peace, which Paul is referring to here. And that's the peace that now can be experienced and expressed amongst all of believers in all of life circumstances. Life or death. False teachers abusing the church. Financial uncertainty. Conflict between believers. He says you can still have peace. I'm sure there's a situation in your life right now that you're thinking, it's no way that I can have the peace of Christ. You can have and experience His peace. He says, let it rule and reign. You've received that peace at the moment of salvation. Let it rule and reign over your heart. That rule, it's the Greek term. It literally means an umpire. An umpire that would that would officiate the games back in the Greco-Roman era. And as I think of umpire, I go back to my 1985 days when I was playing baseball. That umpire used to sit behind that plate, had the mask and all of his gear, and he would call balls and strikes. I wasn't the best batter back in the day, and I kind of was put off by the fact that he would call the strikes with great accuracy and animation. Strike one. I mean, he would get excited. I'm up there all timid. Stay right. Two. Strike three. You're out. I mean, some parents would get all excited. I was a poor kid back in the day. Like, oh, man, you got to make me feel bad. I done struck out. Now the ref is like, you know, making me feel bad. And I noticed that he wouldn't do the same thing for a ball. He was, like, not passionate. He'd be like ball. Ball one. Ball two. Ball three. Ball four. Take the base. I mean, it was just simple, but he was an umpire officiating that game. And I think about Jesus Christ when it comes to issues in your life. He's just like that umpire. I got a financial stress and strain, pastor. Jesus says...peace. I got issues in my marriage, pastor. Jesus says...peace. My kids, they're not listening to me. What am I going to do? Jesus says, peace. Be still. Peace. Let the peace of Christ rule and reign. It doesn't mean that the obstacle or the challenge or the conflict with the believer disappears. But it does mean that the peace of Christ can rule and reign in that. I can be peace filled and passionate about Christ, even when I engage in that conflict, or that trial or that circumstance. Let the peace of Christ rule over your heart. Call it just like that umpire. Peace. Peace. Even says not only should the peace of Christ rule and reign, he said, let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you. That means that you ought to be in the scriptures, reading, memorizing, meditating on the Word, listening to truth, being in Bible study, getting all you can possibly get. You see, I'm amazed that even when Paul was commanding this or the believers by letting the Word dwell richly in them. They didn't have a copy of the scriptures. They didn't have scrolls. They were going off memory. They were going off the apostle's teaching. They had to meditate on these principles and recall it at the moment that they needed it. And that's why I think he even goes as far as to say, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. He said, that's how they had the Word of God is they listened to a song. And it was the truth of God set to music so that it would be a melody in their heart to train them up in righteousness. It's amazing. But is the Word dwelling richly in you, because if you put on Christ and keep them on, the Word has to saturate your thinking. How much are you in the Word? How are you doing on that New Year's resolution that you set? Is the Word of God still richly in you? And if someone was to take a tour of your heart where the Word of Christ dwells, would it look like the Biltmore Estate state where it's rich, things are put in order. Every resource is stewarded and used properly. Or would it be like an episode of hoarders where it's just like everything is thrown in there, not ever utilized. Another verse, another sermon, another passage. Just store it all up. Maybe one day I'll pull it out and use it. He wants the Word to dwell richly in you so that it can come out you, so that you can minister effectively to one another. And he says, do that in these songs. I don't think he's making a case to say the type of music we need to have, but I think God likes and enjoys variety. Psalms like the Psalter. Hymns like the hymns we've sang or like the Greek style in that day. Spiritual songs, like the one that Hannah did when she realized the goodness of God in giving her a child. Songs...Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that should be the melodies of our heart. And then the last priority there. Not only the peace of Christ and the Word of Christ, but it's also that the name of Christ would be exalted. Verse 17 says, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. I think that Paul didn't want to come out with a list of all kind of do's and don'ts. He says, I'm going to give you one principle. Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Really, what he could have said is that anything that you do is going to either honor or dishonor Jesus Christ...now to do it.  That should be your guiding principle. I'm about to send this email to this person. Wait a minute. That ain't going to honor Christ. Let me go and delete. I done had some moments where I just had a text and it was long. I was going into it. I can't believe in such and such. And I thought, you know what? This ain't going to honor Christ. Delete. Backspace that thing. Backspace it. Backspace it. Don't forget to backspace. You might accidentally hit send. And it goes. Trust me. Speak from experience. But it should be all to glorify the name of Jesus Christ. That's your guiding principle. You see, you don't put on Jesus Christ just to have another religious activity. You put on Jesus Christ so that a. God would be honored in worship, and then b. that we would experience one body of believers here walking on one accord. And if we do that, Christ would be exalted in this house. You're walking in his likeness. Loving his ways. Praising his name. And you do that giving thanks through him to God the Father. Well, your calling should influence your conduct, and our practice should very much match our position. As you look at how you operate after hearing this rich, rich text, I have just some things that I would challenge you to consider. And that's this.
  Thank God daily for choosing you. If you're in Christ, just thank him daily. Thank him daily. Give him praise that he chose you out of all the people of the earth. He chose you and brought you to himself. Called you to be holy and share in his holiness, and then love the people that God chose for himself. How do we love those people? Being patient, forbearing, forgiving, gentle all those folks in the body of Christ. They are worthy of you demonstrating that aspect of Christ's character. And then as you identify Christ's character in the scriptures, display it, have your mind renewed in the scriptures, and then live it. That's what you do. You don't look for the Scripture verses just to say you've done your reading for the day, but look and say, how can I imitate the character of Christ and then do it among the body of believers? You know, you can do that in multiple different ways. Sick newborn child, someone has surgery, a widow. Find ways to imitate that character we just talked about and display it in the life of the believers. But if you're here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you can't do any of this. You can't do it all. Mainly what you need is a relationship with him. There's no way you can practice Christ likeness apart from Jesus Christ. And if you don't have him, we'd love to be able to share with you what that is like. It means that you need to recognize that you're a sinner worthy of his wrath. But if you repent and turn to him, you can be a recipient of his love. You too can be walking in the holiness and the beauty of what we just recalled. But for the rest of us, let's put on Jesus Christ and let's keep him on. Let's pray to that end.  
  Jesus Christ, thank you for dying for our sins. Thank you for giving us your righteousness to live out. I thank you for the fact that you've brought us not only to yourself, but you've brought us to a body of believers. May we live this life to the fullness of your glory by living in a manner that's worthy of you, being intent on one purpose, and that's striving together for the sake of the gospel, living out humility, gentleness, and patience. Help us to bear with one another. Lord, help us to forgive. Help us to put on the new man the new self that is in the likeness of Christ, and not those deeds of the flesh. Lord, help us to make it our ambition that we'll be killing sin, lest it be killing us. But as we do this, Lord, unite our hearts together with you and with one another, so that we would be the people you've called us to be. Various backgrounds, various denominations, but we're one in Jesus Christ. We love you and pray your blessings upon this time. In Jesus name, Amen.