This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Ignite the Light Ministries radio and podcast. It is our mission to help listeners develop a deeper relationship with Jesus by sharing what the Bible says and what it means. We aim to encourage and equip you to serve others, share the gospel, and reflect Christ in every aspect of your life. I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd.
Thank you for tuning in. For this Sunday, we're going to be talking about Colossians chapter 3, verses 12 to 17. It is the clothes of Christ.
So if you have your Bibles, you can feel free to go ahead and turn there. Colossians 3, chapter 12. No, Colossians chapter 3, verse 12. There's not a chapter 12.
Okay, so there I was. I was 10 years old. my aunt was going to get married and we were going to their wedding.
Now, my mom had told me, you need to go find your suit from the last wedding we were at and try it on. See if anything still fits. And I'm 10 years old. I'm thinking, what a waste of time that is. You know, I have this G.I.
Joe who needs to save the world. But when his commander in chief is stuck looking for a suit in some closet, you know, he can't do that. And the wedding, it's an entire three days from now. I'll try it on in the car.
Okay, I'll do it.
So I go and I reach deep into the past of my closet and pull out this suit. And I unzip the thingy and I put the suit coat on and, oh, it doesn't fit. You know, what am I going to do? Like the suit jacket, it's coming up to like my elbows, you know. And it's not a good look unless you want to see my weird pool noodle kid arms.
My shoes are crumpling my feet in like a little sheet of paper. And the jacket, it just doesn't fit.
So nothing about this suit is working. Nothing fits. And I'm panicking. What am I going to do? My mom comes in and sees me standing there with this little tiny suit on that doesn't fit.
I look like a monkey with a rat. She takes one look at me and she just starts laughing. You know, but I'm a 10-year-old on a mission. I'm taking this very seriously. Mom, what are you laughing at?
You know, I can't go to the wedding looking like this. Aunt Stephanie's going to think that you left me in the dryer again. But once my mom collects herself, she's like, have no fear. for we will go to men's warehouse. And I just look at her like, what men's warehouse?
What is that? And so we go to men's warehouse and I get fitted with this brand new suit. I was 10 years old. It was a rental. I was 10 years old.
The suit is sleek. It fits excellent. It's got a little splash of red that kind of ties it all together. Man, I looked the way a new car smells. I had no business looking as fire as I did for 10 years old.
But before I knew about the new, I was still in the closet of the past trying to make the old fit. And it didn't. Not anymore. And if we are in Christ, we cannot expect our old ways of thinking, our old ways of acting, our old ways of speaking to fit us any longer. Because we've grown up, church.
We've been given a new humanity, a kingdom perspective.
Now, there are some who will go to the closet and try to make the old ways fit. Rather than putting off the old ways, make excuses. But we need to be putting off the old and putting on the new. The question is, what are we going to wear? What does this new humanity look like?
so as we've been going through colossians we've learned that christ is god's ultimate expression of grace he is key to our spiritual maturity so we must be clinging to christ we put off the old and put on the new the last section was talking about what the old suit looked like you put off Greed, sexual immorality, rage, malice. You read the list long enough, you'll see your name on it.
So put off the old, but what is this new?
Well, that is today's section.
So Colossians, it was written by Paul while he was in prison, written to the church of Colossae.
Now where Paul was in this church was about a thousand miles apart. Paul did not start the church. This cat Epaphras started the church. He was a coworker of Paul's. And so he made that thousand mile journey all the way to Paul where he was to bring this letter back to the Colossian church.
And he went there and told them about their Gnostic heresy they were dealing with. It was 2,000 miles round trip. This letter is a miracle.
So without further ado, Colossians 3 verse 12. We're going to do a clean read through and then we're going to talk about it. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And then over all of these virtues, put on love, which binds them together in perfect harmony. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Since it members of one body you are called to peace and be thankful Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom through psalms hymns and songs of the Spirit singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. All right.
So this text reveals to us four distinct sides or facets of this new humanity we're to be putting on.
Now this new humanity looks like living like Christ, forgiving like Christ, thanking like Christ, and thinking like Christ. Living, forgiving, thanking, and thinking like Christ.
So let's look at living like Christ. And that's verse 12 to 14. As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience over all these be putting on love.
So all these things, compassion, kindness, humility, these are all dimensions of love.
Now love probably best summarizes all of them.
However, you can be patient and a little unkind. You can be kind and a little ungentle.
So there's nuance there that he's hitting on that is important, but love is what ties them all together.
So I think you have kindness and that's like the shirt. You have gentleness, and that's like the pants. But love is this giant overcoat that goes over all of the virtues and ties them together, cinches up everything.
So all of these items are not virtues that we perform in isolation. Let's think about it. How can I be kind unless I have someone to demonstrate my kindness to? Can I really claim to be a loving person if there's nothing around me to love? I can't demonstrate that virtue.
And Paul is talking to the entire church. He's not talking to one person.
So compassion, kindness, humility, these are all virtues to be carried out in a corporate setting. It's an environment that we are to be creating for the benefit of the person sitting next to you. Be kind because you love your neighbor. Yeah, he's addressing the entire church. Our community ought to be one of love, compassion, kindness, humility.
This new humanity we are putting on fosters a new community the world's never seen.
So how do we apply that?
Well, I encourage you to pick up a role. See, every object on this list is in service to others. There's no place in the church for mere consumerism, and there's no dead weight on the body of Christ.
So I'd ask, how are we serving our community in Christ? That is living like Christ. Living like Christ is loving in a way that serves the body.
Now let's look at forgiving like Christ.
So verse 13, it says, bear with each other and forgive one another. If you have any grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. Bear with each other. This could be said as be tolerant of one another. Be tolerant of our differences.
And then when that fails, forgive. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And how has the Lord forgiven us? Again and again and again. God forgives us with new mercies every single day.
That is how we forgive like Christ. The translation says if any of you has a grievance, forgive.
Now the Greek more directly says a complaint. Not just a grievance, it could be a complaint. Paul doesn't even specify is this complaint justified. Just that we forgive like Christ if we have a complaint.
Now, sometimes I think we conceptualize forgiveness as something we only have to do if we've really been wronged. No? You ever had a sibling? I haven't. But I've had annoying friends.
I had one that she would sit there in the library as I'm studying, and she would just chew this gum and just, like, smack her lips. I'm like, oh my gosh, you just want to hit her with a sock full of pennies, but you don't do that. And that's a complaint that I have. She hasn't wronged me in any way, but man, it's annoying. I've got to complain.
And Paul's saying complaints, big or small, we forgive, we be tolerant of one another again and again and again out of love for our neighbor.
Now, on the flip side of that, when we've really been wronged, when we've really been hurt by somebody, Paul is not saying be naive.
Sometimes when we forgive, it's wise for us to set up new boundaries with people, especially in cases of abuse. A Christ-like forgiveness is not a naive or unwise forgiveness. It is a forgiveness that seeks the best path forward instead of holding a grudge. This is how we forgive like Christ. Live like Christ.
Forgive like Christ.
Next, we're going to look at how do we thank like Christ. It says, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace, and be thankful.
So Paul is addressing the entire church. It important to touch on again So this peace of Christ ruling in our hearts is in regards to how we interact with other people It is not a personal individualistic peace that comes from knowing Christ Now that exists, but it's not what Paul's talking about here. We are called to peace as members of one body.
So we have the responsibility to the people sitting next to us to be peacemakers.
Now it says, rule in your hearts. Paul is saying that we are to let this peace of Christ for one another be a principle that rules and reigns in our hearts. We are to let the peace of Christ change us from the inside out.
Now this isn't simply, it's good to have peace, therefore I'm going to begrudgingly change my behavior so that I'm seeking peace. Rather, it's a heart change to where now I find peace with my neighbor as the most desirable thing to seek. Our behavior and actions, they will rightly follow. But the focus is on a heart change. And now we will seek peace, not out of obligation, but out of joy with that heart change.
So then it says here at the end, and be thankful. And be thankful for what? And be thankful, period. Be thankful. It's a command and it's not contingent on anything.
Be thankful, church. This command is dependent on nothing. You know, I find that I am the most miserable when I'm comparing myself to other people. God, you know, why can't I just be smart like this person? God, Lord, like, why couldn't you have made me more confident?
Like this person, God. God, could you have made me a couple inches taller? Because I haven't got to get a running start to even hit the thermostat. I've got to kick off the wall and try to hit that thing. But why couldn't you have made me like this, God?
And a thankless heart is insatiable, covetous, envious, miserable. A thankless heart will ruin everything. In Psalm 139, God tells us, I praise you, God, because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know that full well. Fearfully and wonderfully made you are.
So be thankful for the life that God has given, because we only get one. The grass, church, is not greener on the other side. It's going to be greener where you water it.
So I encourage us, make it a practice to wake up each and every morning with joy and thank God for the blessings he's put in your life. Live like Christ. Forgive like Christ.
Thank like Christ.
Next, let's look at how do we think like Christ? Verse 16. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
So the message of Christ, the word of Christ, let it dwell in you richly. That's the gospel. The kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe. Let this gospel and the teachings of Jesus dwell in you and let it saturate every day.
So we have three dimensions here. We have teaching, we have admonishing, and we have singing with gratitude in the various ways that he describes it. And again, we do all these things corporately. It's for the benefit of our neighbor. The message of Christ, it dwells with us, teaching.
It dwells with us as a teachable head knowledge. There's a cognitive aspect to the faith.
Now, it dwells with us also in our actions, in a practical daily life that we can be corrected on. But it also dwells with us, as Wayne so wonderfully demonstrates, in an artistic expression of worship. The message of Christ, see, is this all-encompassing thing to the human experience.
So to think like Christ is to let the word of God be the source of all knowledge, wisdom, the basis for how we act, and the inspiration for every work of art and worship.
So here's how to apply that. The Bible is the inspired word of God. It is the thoughts of God revealed to us.
So to think like Christ, we must be daily reading the thoughts of God given to us in the Bible.
So read your Bible daily and let the mind of God change every aspect of your life to the benefit of the church, to the benefit of your neighbor. I remember when I was a kid, I used to have this toy. It was like a little robot. It was called RoboSapien. I don't know if that's anything that yelled.
Probably not.
So it was this little toy called RoboSapien. And he had a remote, and you could tell him what to do. You'd say, dance.
Well, he didn't say it. He just pressed a button. And then he'd do a little dance. Or you could press a button and have him walk around. I used to have him chase the dog around until he was shaking.
It was terrible. We all have a past.
so but this robo sapien you know if you pulled his battery pack out oh man it didn't matter what button you're pressing he ain't doing nothing he's just sitting there like this you know uh you're waiting for something to happen and it ain't happening see christ is the true vine and we have to be connected to him as well if we're not connecting with christ daily When we come to worship when we come to participate in the things of faith we not connected to Christ man You going to feel like this It just not going to click Christ is the true vine He is our source of spiritual energy So this is living, forgiving, thanking, and thinking like Christ.
Now, tying it all up here, verse 17, and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Simply put, do everything for Christ. Live, forgive, thank, and think like Christ for Christ. This is the new humanity. This is what we are to be putting on.
We put off the old. This is what we are to be putting on. If all that is too hard to remember, put on Christ. Simply put, put on Jesus. But that's a tall order, isn't it?
It's kind of a lot to ask. I mean, how can I live like Christ? I mean, have you read about him? Like, he led this perfect life. He did it perfectly.
How am I supposed to forgive like Christ? You know, he forgave me. There's things I've done. I don't know if I could forgive somebody like that. How am I supposed to forgive like Christ and to think like Christ?
His mind is perfect. How do I think like Christ? At least all the time. That's too high of an order, isn't it? That's too high of a call for Paul to ask that of us.
I won't be able to do it. Not like Christ, at least.
Well, there I was. I was five years old. And my dad is a firefighter. He's a man's man. If there ever was one, I don't know how many lives he's saved.
But I remember five years old there in the kitchen. He had these big honking work boots. that, you know, he'd take them, put them on and run into a burning building. And so I saw these boots and I thought, I'm going to get in those boots. And I could jump in and I pull them up to my armpits and I kind of waddle up to my dad and I look up at him and I say, Dad, I'm just like you.
Now, my dad didn't, sorry, my dad didn't look at me and say, take those off. Those don't fit you. You're just a kid. Like, that's, you look ridiculous. Take those boots off.
And my dad didn't say that. I said, dad, I'm just like you. And he was beaming. He looked down at me. That's my son.
That's my daughter. He wants to be just like me. Not a daughter. I'm not a daughter. That's my son.
He wants to be just like me. He said, yes, you are, son. You are just like me. And I'm going to help you grow into those boots one day. And man, he did.
Those boots fit me now. I use them to weed eat. But I put on a different pair of boots now, and I run into the fire ministry, and I'm the first in my family to do it.
So I want to encourage you, church, if you're trying to put on the work boots of Christ and you're looking at them, well, these things don't fit me. They're too big. My feet are sliding around. The work boots of Christ, they don't fit me. Church, don't spend all your time looking at how it doesn't fit to where you miss your father in heaven beaming down at you saying, that's my son.
That's my daughter wanting to be just like me. And I love him. I love her. I'm going to help you grow into those boots. You see, it's not about us.
It's about Jesus. It's about our father in heaven whose love outpours for us. and he loved us enough so that he would go to the cross for us. Ezekiel 36, I want to hammer this home. I will give you a new heart.
This is God speaking. I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit in you. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. It's God's work on us that grows us.
He loved us enough to send his only son, Jesus, to pay for our sin by dying on the cross and rising again three days later. Romans 5, 8 says God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is a free gift. And Jesus does not deny or excuse our sin or pretend it's not there. He acknowledges, yes, there is sin here.
And he says, let me take that burden. Let me take that weight off of you and give you my righteousness. It's the free gift he offers. and he invites us into a loving relationship with our creator. If we turn from our sin, believe Christ died for us, this is salvation.
Do you know it? Do you have it?
So if not, I encourage you as we close in prayer, pray this prayer with me. All right, bow your heads as we close in prayer. Dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and I'm sorry. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins, defeating death and rising again three days later in victory. Please forgive me.
I ask you to come into my heart and become the Lord of my life. You're the boss, Jesus. I want to follow you starting today. In Jesus' name, amen.
Now that's not a magic prayer by any stretch of the imagination, but if that's the reflection of your heart or if that's something you need to reaffirm, please stay and talk to somebody because we are a community. We do life together. We bear each other's burdens together. Please don't try to do it alone. We're in this together.
Hey there. I hope this sermon has enriched your day. If you like this message, I want to personally invite you to join us for Sunday worship. We have two locations in Virginia, Trinity Methodist Church in Concord and Mount Comfort Methodist Church in Appomattox. Come join us Sunday morning at 945 and we will help you get connected.
As always, I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd. Thank you for tuning in.
