White Garments Of Righteousness: How To Get Clean And Build A New Life

So here we are, fighting for our lives. We’re fighting a deadly opponent, and that opponent is addiction. We’re on a spiritual journey to defeat addiction. And I know each of you are at different points in your journey of overcoming addiction in Christ. There is no other answer to the addictions that we face, not in the intensity that we face it now. Only Christ.

All of you are at different points in your battle. Some of you don’t even know if God is really real, or if Jesus is really a living savior. Maybe you don’t even know if you really want to stay clean. A lot of you are just saying what we want to hear, and going through the motions. Some of you are even considering getting up and leaving, because your mad, or in pain, or playing the victim, and you want to go back to what’s familiar. And we’re gonna talk today, you and I.

Then there are those of you who have realized that you need God. Your eyes are starting to open. Your starting to see that lush, beautiful path of recovery opening up before you. You can hear the birds chirping along the road, you can feel the bright sun shining down, and there is hope in your eyes. Your starting to walk down that spiritual path, your mind is starting to open up, and your realizing that God is your creator. We’re gonna talk today, if that’s you.

Thirdly, we’ve got those who have taken the dive into the love of Jesus Christ. There are those of you here who are truly reborn. You’ve received Jesus as your savior. You’ve totally committed your life to Jesus. You’ve come to believe the Bible is the word of God. You’ve realized that you need to live an entirely new lifestyle of recovery and faith every week. Your going to AA, your going to NA, your working the steps, your reading your Bible and praying every day, your hungry for spiritual food, and your ready to move forward into maturity in Christ. We’re gonna talk today too.

And you’ll see as we go on, how all this fits into our scripture reading today, of the church Jesus counsels to receive gifts from Him. Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, Revelation 3:15-18 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

Jesus tells them that they are broken, pathetic and miserable. Sound a lot like addiction doesn’t it? But Jesus quickly offers the remedy: (Three things) Salve for your eyes, a white robe of righteousness, and refined gold. What does Jesus mean?

1. Salve for your Eyes

To the first group of men, those of you who don’t understand, you don’t get this God stuff, you don’t believe, I’m speaking to you now:

Jesus Christ will open the eyes of your heart. In and of ourselves, we can’t perceive spiritual things. We only see the physical, we only see this world. But Jesus will open your eyes. But I’d like to give you some knowledge to chew on in your mind first…

The question: “Does God exist?” is a great question. And God does not fear our questions. There is good evidence to believe that God exists.

Scientists tell us that the universe came into existence from a big bang several billion years ago. That may or may not be true. But if you do believe in a big bang, let me ask you this: Can a big bang explode into existence from nothing? Scientists tell us that before the big bang occurred there was nothing. And then suddenly there was an explosion that caused the universe. A fair question is: Who banged it? Who caused it? I would submit to you, that God is the most reasonable explanation for this universe’s existence. The Bible says that the universe was formless and void, and then God created.

Secondly, scientists admit that this world we live in appears to be finely tuned to allow for life to exist. A nobel prize winner once indicated that a single cell in your body is more complex than New York city. It’s true. Look around you at this world, there are stars in the sky at night. The Earth is just the right distance from the sun to allow for life. If you changed anything, moved the Earth a little closer, or a little further away, no life. If there was no moon, no life. If there was no Jupiter, to protect the Earth from asteroids, there would be no life. Without earthquakes, no life. Without lightning, no life. There are birds flying through the sky, animals walking along the ground. Plants and nature produce food just right for us to eat and survive. It’s insane. And they want to tell us that this is all random? It’s ridiculous. The best explanation for the complexity of life on Earth, is that God designed the Earth for us to live on.