"THE WELL DRESSED CHRISTIAN!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

COLOSSIANS 3:12-14

1. IN ORDER TO PUT ON APPROPRIATE CLOTHING WE MUST REMOVE OTHER ITEMS:
1. My daughter Keri as a child was the clothes changing champion of Albany. I have seen her change clothes as many as 4 times a day. But one thing she never did was to put on one dress over another. The one came off, then the second, or third or fourth went on.
2. Now, you can see that I'm wearing a pretty weird vest. It has some pretty ugly things stuck to it. Let's see: These are the things Paul mentions in the text. What "Wicked Wardrobe" does he mention?
1. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires. This includes all forms of pornography, adultery, fornication, illicit fantasies and cravings.
2. Greed, which is idolatry. Always wanting more. Like that person mentioned in Ecclesiastes, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income." Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV).
3. Anger, rage, and malice: that is, uncontrolled, hostile, bitter, vengeful, hateful animosity, and seething wrath toward others.
4. Slander, and filthy language. This includes such things as ethnic insults, gossip, dirty stories with sexual content, flippant jokes about God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, and talk that discourages rather than builds up others.
5. Lies. This includes lying by pretense which is hypocrisy, lying by telling half-truths, lying by exaggerations, lying by misleading innuendoes and all other forms of dishonesty and deceit.
3. Man, anyone dressed up in that stuff is wearing garments unbefitting the disciple of Jesus. These things
1. Ruin our witness.
2. Dampen our devotional life.
3. Nullify our worship.
4. Hinder our prayers.
5. Harden our hearts.
6. Darken our days.
7. Wreck relationships.
4. We need to strip ourselves of the old so we can wear the new. A young man, due to some act of valor which saved the king's life, was elevated from beggary to the position of king's factotum,. The young man was seen several times sneaking into a remote room in the palace, entering and locking the door behind him. Some of his detractors went to the king and told him they thought the man was up to no good. The king summoned the man, in whom he had great confidence, told him the accusation and asked him the reason for his strange behavior. The young man chuckled and invited the king to accompany him to the room. When they got there, he opened a bag and pulled out a ragged pair of pants, a torn shirt and worn out shoes. He said, "These are my old clothes. I wore them in my former life, before you so kindly gave me a position here. I frequently revisit this room to keep in mind how I used to live so I can more fully appreciate how I now live. I took off these old clothes to put on the new ones you have provided."
5. We all have old clothes to take off. And since this jacket doesn't fit too well, and is covered with grimy sins, I'll just remove it and cast it aside.

I have to do that in order to become a well dressed Christian. But that is just the beginning.

2. IN ORDER TO BE WELL DRESSED CHRISTIANS WE NEED TO PUT ON THE RIGHT GARMENTS:
   
1. They say, "Clothing makes the man." I don't think so! Rather, "Clothing says something about the man." And while it is true that you can't judge a person by what they wear, you can know something about them by what they wear. If it is immodest, it says something. If it is extremely flashy, it says something. If it is bizarre it says something.
2. The Christian needs to wear certain items of "clothing" which can be seen by others and by which we are identified as true followers of Jesus Christ. Others may wear some of these items, too, and not be followers of Jesus, but one who is truly a disciple must clothe himself or herself in these garments.
3. Let me put on this new garment and note that there are some nice things sticking to it. Let's see what these things are that make this a "Worthy Wardrobe."
1. Compassion: that is, to have tenderhearted pity, a deep feeling of concern for the distress and troubles and hurts of others.
2. Kindness: this is an active goodness in word and deed; one that extends a hand to the fallen, that offers help to the helpless, that overlooks flaws, faults and failures in others.
3. Humility: that is not maintaining an elevated estimation of our worth or ability, or not being haughty or snobbish or superior to others. It is not thinking others ought to defer to us and give us honor and prominence and never disagree with us since we are always right.
4. Gentleness: that is being mild rather than harsh and hard with others. Gentleness doesn't vent its irritations at people or things.
5. Patience: that is, endurance under difficult times and slowness to anger when others do vexing things.
6. Forgiveness: acquitting others who wrong us just as Christ acquitted us. It's being as gracious to them as we want Him to be to us.
7. Love: Not just mushy, romantic, chemistry, but genuine brotherly love, affection, good will, and benevolence.
4. Let me tell you, anyone dressed up in those garments is wearing clothing fully befitting the disciple of Jesus. Those who wear them
1. Live lives that bring no regret.
2. Maintain a clear conscience toward God and man.
3. Build strong healthy and lasting relationships.
4. Become more responsible and upright citizens.
5. Leave the world a better place because they were here.
6. Manifest the likeness of Jesus for others to see.
5. One little girl sets the good example for us. Her name is Bambi. She was baptized one day, and the next day she put on her finest church dress and went next door. The neighbor lady asked, "Why, Bambi, how come you're so dressed up?" Bambi said, "I'm all dressed up so people will ask me why I am dressed up and then I can tell them that yesterday I was baptized. Then I can ask them to give their hearts to Jesus, too." Not only was that neighbor won to Christ, but several others, too. When people see you all dressed up in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience forgiveness and love they will have a godly curiosity - and you will have grounds for inviting them to get all dressed up like that, too. That's just what a well dressed Christian does. That's what a well dressed servant of Jesus looks like.

Let's listen to Paul, "The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light." Romans 13:12 (NLT). The only way to get rid of our evil deeds and live in the light is to align ourselves without condition to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Satan will accuse us but God will defend us, remove our filty rags and clothe us in white robes. We read, "Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. Satan was there at the angel's right hand, accusing Jeshua of many things. And the Lord said to Satan, 'I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from a fire.' Jeshua's clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. So the angel said to the others standing there, 'Take off his filthy clothes.' And turning to Jeshua he said, 'See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.'" Zechariah 3:1-4 (NLT). He'll do the same for all who stand before him in faith. Your garments are filthy, but God gives you fine new clothes. So, off with the old - on with the new. There's a clean wardrobe waiting if you come to Jesus. He'll cleanse you of all the old things and establish you in the new. He'll take off the soiled garments and replace them with white robes of righteousness. No question about that. The question is: Will you let Him do that, and will you let Him do it today?

Bambi from Knight, Up To The Minute Illustrations.

Return To New Testament Sermons

Return To Archive

Return To Home Page