For example, there was a time that the public school taught students, that when you applied for a job, you should dress up in your best clothes for the job interviews.
Today, it is not unusual to see young people go to a job interview in clothes that look like they wore them to bed last night, and they got up without combing their hair, and went and applied for a job.
Many of the public schools are doing a bad job of teaching students how to dress for job interviews.
ALSO, many of the churches also are doing a bad job of teaching Christians how to dress properly.
The Bible clearly states, that we as Christians, have some things in our lives that we SHOULD PUT ON, and there are some things we should PUT OFF.
We need to very carefully study the Word of God, to see how we can look our very best for the Lord.
Some things should be so OBVIOUS, that we should not have to preach on them, but we find it necessary to do so.
Illus: Some folks remind me of the two young lawyers that graduated at the University of South Carolina. They both applied for a job at a large, very prestigious, law firm in Charlotte, North Carolina.
When they arrived, they were impressed with the layout. They told the very distinguish looking receptionist, that they had come to apply for the two job openings in the firm. She notified the senior partner of the firm that the two candidates had arrived. He said to the receptionist, “Send them in one at a time”.
The first young man, Billy Ray, walked into his office, and he saw all the beautiful furniture and the marble floor, and he was impressed. He looked at the senior partner of the firm, and noticed a cut over his right eye, and that he had no ears. All he had was two holes on the sides of head. But he did not say a thing.
The man behind the desk said, “I want to thank you for coming to Charlotte to be interviewed for the job, but to be a lawyer in this firm, you have to be very observant. Look around the office and tell me what you see?”
The young lawyer looked around at all the beautiful furniture and the marble floor, and he said, “I see that you do not have any ears!” The senior lawyer became very angry, and ordered him out of the office.
Billy Ray came out, and told the other young lawyer, “Billy Joe, whatever you do, do not say anything to him about his ears, he is very sensitive”.
Billy Joe walked into the office, and he also notice the beautiful furniture and the marble floor. The senior law partner said to him also, “I want to thank you for coming to Charlotte to be interviewed for the job, but to be a lawyer in this firm you have to be very observant. Look around the office and tell me what you see?”
Billy Joe looked around again, and saw all the beautiful furniture and marble floor, and said, “I see your contact lenses”.
The senior officer said, “That’s great! You have great perception. What made you notice that from there?” He said, “Because, you don’t have any ears!”
Now there are some things in the scripture that are so obvious, we cannot help but notice them.
Such as, the fact that the Word of God clearly reveals, that there are some things we are to PUT ON as Christians, and there are some things we are to PUT OFF.
I. SOME THINGS WE ARE TO PUT OFF
Look at verse 7-9. We read, “In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”
We have already covered these verses in the previous sermon in this series.
These are the things we should get rid of in our lives. When we wear these things as a Christian, they are unbecoming to us.
Illus: Have you ever seen one of those shaggy, dirty, hippies walking around town?
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE A PERSON LIKE THAT?
The thing I think of is this; I feel so sorry for some Mom or some Dad. How embarrassed they must be, to have to claim such a person as their child.
Likewise, when we as Christians put on these things that are unbecoming to us as the children of God, what a terrible embarrassment they must be to our heavenly Father.
We, the children of royalty, SHOULD NOT PUT ON:
• Anger
• Wrath
• Malice
• Blasphemy
• Filthy communication
• Lies
How unbecoming these things are to us. These are things we should PUT OFF.
But there are-
II. SOME THINGS WE ARE TO PUT ON
Look at verses 12-17, we read, “PUT ON therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things PUT ON charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God RULE IN YOUR HEARTS, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
In these six verses, we have a list of things that we, as Christians, need to PUT ON.
Let’s look at this list. These are things that are BECOMING TO US.
Look at verse 17, We read, “PUT ON therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved….”
(1) BOWELS OF MERCIES
We live in a heartless society.
That is, people do not care about you, what they care about is how they can use you for their own selfish gain.
Illus: One lady told someone that a certain lady was her best friend. But what she did not know, was that this so called best friend, had said all kinds of bad things about her behind her back. And she will continue to be her best friend, as long as she serves her purpose, but once she no longer serves her purpose, she goes on her hate list.
We live in a society where people use each other for the wrong reasons. But how unbecoming that is if we as Christian wear that garment.
Illus: One man was thrilled, when a man told him he was going to come by his house to visit with him. The man was excited that this man cared that much about him. But when he got there, he found out the man did not come to see him because he cared about him, he came because he was wanting to sell him on the idea of being an Amway distributor under him.
God wants us to have “bowels of mercies”, which means we have a heart filled with compassion for people.
Illus: Dr. J. Vernon McGee, said, “I find that much of the time I am simply a number.”
But sometimes, we even feel that we are less than a number.
Illus: A lady asked a little boy one day, “How old are you?” And he thought and he said, “I am three”. The boy had a little brother, who was less than a year old. The woman asked, “How old is your little brother?” The boy thought for a moment, then he said, “He doesn’t have a number yet!”
That’s the way we feel. Sometimes we are a number, and sometimes we don’t even have a number yet.
But Christians should have LOVE for people. It is becoming to them.
Also, their life should demonstrate-
(2) KINDNESS
The word for KINDNESS in the Greek, carries with it the idea of sternness.
Illus: We grandparents have to have this kind of kindness toward our grandchild. For example, some grandparents will tell their grandchild not to do something, and the grandchild goes ahead and does it anyway, and the grandparent just makes a disgusted look with their face, and forgets about it.
Well, actually that is not the kindness Paul is talking about. The kindness that Paul is talking about, is shown when we can see wrong in the life of others, and we deal with it sternly, but in a kind way.
Sometimes you can see adults correcting children around the church, and they do it in such an unkind way.
This is unbecoming to Christians.
(3) HUMBLENESS OF MIND.
It is so unbecoming for Christians to think too highly of themselves.
God cannot get any glory out of their lives. What glory is to be gotten from of their lives, they are taking all for themselves.
(4) MEEKNESS.
Meekness is not weakness. Humility shows that we have a spirit of meekness.
Some people will say things to sound like they are meek, but in actuality, it is a front.
They are very proud, and they are ego driven.
A life of meekness comes from a HUMBLENESS OF MIND.
(5) LONGSUFFERING.
This is the Greek word, “Makrothumia”, which means “Long burning”.
Illus: Have you noticed that you can throw some pine limbs on a fire, and they burn immediately. But you can find some old hard oak, or hickory, and place it on the fire, and it burns a long time.
We are to be “long burning”.
(6) FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER.
This is the word, “anechomenoi”, which means to hold back.
Christians sometimes have to put up with things that we do not want to put up with.
Illus: Someone might have a bad habit, or an irritating behavior, and we would like to tell them what we think of them. But if we are going to be the child of God that He wants us to be, there are many times we will have to restrain ourselves.
(7) AND FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, IF ANY MAN HAVE A QUARREL AGAINST ANY: EVEN AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, SO ALSO DO YE.
There are times when people have legitimate complaints. Paul says we may have, “…A Quarrel against any…”. What are we to do? He says, “…Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
(8) AND ABOVE ALL THESE THINGS PUT ON CHARITY, WHICH IS THE BOND OF PERFECTNESS.
Paul is saying to Christians, whatever you do, PUT ON CHARITY. Charity is LOVE.
There is nothing that can be more Christ-like in our lives, than a heart of love.
(9) AND LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE IN YOUR HEARTS, TO THE WHICH ALSO YE ARE CALLED IN ONE BODY…
Notice, we are to put on the peace of God. Why? It is to rule in your heart.
That is, peace is the umpire of our soul. If you do not have peace, it is because your life is not right with God.
(10) AND BE YE THANKFUL.
Also, we are to put on GRATITUDE.
Anyone can find fault, but a Christian who wants to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, will wear the cloak of gratitude. It is unbecoming not to wear this cloak as a Christian.
(11) LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY IN ALL WISDOM; TEACHING AND ADMONISHING ONE ANOTHER IN PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING WITH GRACE IN YOUR HEARTS TO THE LORD.
There are Christians that talk much about the Bible, but they know so very little about the Bible.
Illus: They can hear a preacher on television preaching a sermon that has nothing to do with the Word of God, and they think it is the greatest thing since Swiss cheese.
This is not becoming to them as Christians. Everyone else can see their ignorance, but they cannot see it themselves.
This is why Paul said, “LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY IN ALL WISDOM”.
Once we acquire that wisdom from God’s Word, then we share with others, “TEACHING AND ADMONISHING ONE ANOTHER IN PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING WITH GRACE IN YOUR HEARTS TO THE LORD”.
(12) AND WHATSOEVER YE DO IN WORD OR DEED, DO ALL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS, GIVING THANKS TO GOD AND THE FATHER BY HIM.
There are gray areas of our lives at times, when we do not know what will bring glory to God.
Paul gives us a standard to measure everything we do. He says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, DO ALL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS….”
If you can not do it in the name of the Lord, you should not be doing it.
Conclusion:
A high school graduate is not ready to face an employer with dirt on their face, wrinkled clothes, and their hair not combed.
Also, we as Christians are not ready to face the lost world that we want to win to Christ, unless spiritually we are properly dressed. There are-
I. SOME THINGS WE ARE TO PUT OFF
II. SOME THINGS WE ARE TO PUT ON
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach some of his sermons on Youtube. Just type the words Youtube Lykesland
