Did you know that when it is a new season, you will find out that you have outgrown many things. Some small, some big, some times you have outgrown people.
This is officially a new season, and new year according to God's calendar. So this is a time to examine your spiritual closet, friends, involvment, habits....etc...to see what you may have out grown. Begin to celebrate.
Now it is time for celebration. God wants to clothe you in a new wardrobe. A new life.
It is like a coat, as you grow, you will no longer be able to squeeze into it. You will have't to forward it on to someone else who may need. It is not that you aren't appreciative of the time you wore it and had. but when the NEW season comes....you won't be able to fit youGod has new garments of war, worship, praise, truth, and ministry for you to take on. You will have't to allow God to take off, strip off yesterdays decisions, plans, failures, company you kept, places you went....
Clothing matters. God wants to clothed you with the right clothing to represent him for the Kingdom
We are called to put on a new wardrobe.
The clothing industry has made huge inroads into the pocketbooks of consumers. If you don’t believe that to be the case, just think of your own familiarity with some of the following mottos:
You are what you wear.
Clothes make the man.
Dress for success.
To the degree that thanksgiving is present in your life, it is to that degree that you have realized and appropriated and appreciated the grace of God. Show me someone who has no heart for thanksgiving toward God and I will show you someone who has lost sight of God.
SUMMARY
We have been speaking of the new clothes the Christian is called to wear -- the clothing of...
- Truth-
- Kindness- A
- Unity-
- Thanksgiving- And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Colossians 3:15).
You remember the story. The sisters of Lazarus had sent word to Jesus that their brother was sick. They had asked for Jesus to come and to heal their brother. But Jesus had not come in time. By the time He did arrive, Lazarus was not only dead, but the funeral was over and he had been buried in a tomb.
Jesus ordered that the tomb be opened and then He called for Lazarus to come out. John 11:43 tells us that he who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Do you see it? He was dressed in grave clothes. He was dressed in that which represents death and rot and decay. Those clothes had been perfectly appropriate to his state. He was dead and that is what dead people wore. But then life came and those grave clothes were no longer appropriate.
How about you? Have you come to the new life that is in Christ? If you have not, then it will do not good to change the clothes of your outward life. It would be like putting new clothes on a corpse. You need to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, appropriating through faith what was accomplished upon the cross. You can trust in Him and enter into new life.
Most of you have already done that. You have been walking with the Lord for some time. But there are perhaps some of those old grave clothes still in place.
- Immorality
- Impurity
- Evil desires
- Greed, which is just another name for idolatry
Paul gives these as representative samplings back in verse 5 of our passage and perhaps some of those continue to adorn your life. I want to give you notice -- they CLASH with your identity in Christ. Time for a change of clothing.
Let’s do that right now. We are going to have a time of silent prayer. I want you to take that part of your life that has been clashing with your Christly character and I want you to take it to the cross. You are not telling God anything He does not already know. Just as He called out to Adam and Eve in the cool of the Garden, saying, “Where are you?” He is calling today. He is calling you to see your spiritual nakedness and to come to Him and to be clothed in that which He has prepared for you.
No-one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.' (Mark 2:21–22)
Zechariah 3:4
American Standard Version
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel.
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel.
Isaiah 61:3
To grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of theLord, that he may be glorified.
Isaiah 11:2-5
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
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