Filthy Clothes

Filthy Clothes

By Pastor Jim May

We are going to have a very special guest in our service next Sunday. I hope all of you will put on your best suit of clothes. This guest is very well-liked by many, and hated by some. He is extremely wealthy and is considering making a huge donation to our church, so let’s treat him well. Be cordial and make sure that he feels welcomed into our midst. I have learned that he has heard of our story and would like to come by and see what our church is doing. So when he arrives, put on a smile and be your best.

No, it isn’t the President, nor is it a senator or representative and he is not a prominent local business man. .

Now if we knew for a fact that the President and his entourage were going to be here next week, you can bet that the church would be bursting at the seams with people who wanted to come and see what he had to say. Cars would be lined up from our parking lot, filling our into the parking lot across the street, and lined up down both sides of the highway for a half mile in every direction. If you didn’t get here hours before service started you probably wouldn’t be able to get in at all. And if you came late, you’d be very disappointed because you couldn’t even get into your own church for all the visitors.

If the president was coming, we’d do a lot of cleaning and fixing up, even more than we have already, so that we could make a good impression. If the President was coming, every radio and TV news channel would be here to record his speech. If the President was coming, there would be very few emergencies that would outweigh the opportunity to meet him in person and shake his hand.

But the President isn’t coming, so don’t get excited. But the one who is coming should excite you even more because he is the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He is here for every service, to see what His church is doing.

Many churches and ministers have begun to treat the church as though it was a social club instead of the House of God. Most don’t bother to put on their best clothes anymore. There are many people that have developed the idea that it’s not necessary to dress up to go to church. It’s all about comfort

No, I don’t believe it’s necessary to wear a suit every time the church doors are opened, but I do believe that we should present ourselves the best we can in honor of the God that we serve. I would no more go to church and stand before the people dressed casual than I would do go to the White House for a State Dinner with the Queen of England. It never ceases to amaze me that we have more reverence, more respect and more manners around men of high rank, than we do in the presence of Almighty God in his own house.

But I’m not really here to talk about what you wear to church. I’m not going to try to tell you how to dress, what to wear and not to wear. I will let the convicting power of the Holy Spirit deal with your heart. That way you can’t get upset with me for laying down a dress code.

I want to show you something in the Word of God that talks about what we have on. But it isn’t really talking about the clothes you are wearing. It is talking about the spiritual clothes that you have on everywhere you go, all the time.

Did you know that, if you are Born Again and saved, that you occupy the office of the priesthood?

1 Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:"

Not only are you a priest, but you are more than that. If you consider what you are capable of doing as a priest, then you would know that you are a “High Priest” right now. Your aren’t the Great High Priest, but you have an access to God that only the High Priest of Israel had in the Tabernacle of the Old Testament. Since you are a High Priest, it will be good for us to know just exactly how we measure up to God’s standards.

Hebrews 4:14-16, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."