NOTE: This is an unedited transcript and, therefore, contains imperfections and is not for publication or quotation in whole or in part by anyone without the express written consent of Pastor Conley. The audio tape of this message delivered September 21, 1997, is available and may be purchased from the Church.  Brackets    "[ ]" are used for parenthetical words and phrases spoken. Parentheses "( )" are used for words inserted by transcriber.

GARMENTS OF THE GODLY

Colossians 3:12-14

Dr. J. Drew Conley, Pastor

Tri-City Baptist Church, Columbia, South Carolina

Jesus Christ said "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you (That even) Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28, 29). So He says, "Stop worrying about what you wear." In fact, He tells us not to worry about what we will eat or what we will wear—these are things the world worries about—but seek first His kingdom and all these things will be added unto you. The world thinks a great deal about what you wear. There are whole industries that rest on it. Even in a day that perhaps is noted for its sloppy dress, the world still puts great premium on how a person dresses. We dress not only for protection from the elements and for covering, we dress for success. We dress to make a statement, and whether or not we dress to make a statement, we do make a statement by how we dress. We communicate in some measure what kind of people we are; what activity we are engaged in.

When someone invites you to a particular event, or over to their home, or to a meeting, one of your first questions is "What should I wear?" or "How should I dress?", because how we dress says what occasion we are going to, and as there is an appropriate dress for every occasion—for every kind of lifestyle—dress does have some degree of importance. But the scripture says that your dress on the outside is not nearly as important as the dress on the inside. In fact, Peter addresses the wives and says (I Peter 3:3): "[Your] adorning should not be that outward adorning of plaiting [or braiding of ] the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on apparel". It is not that you are not going to fix your hair, you are not going to put on jewelry, you are not going to put on clothes, but it is that that is not where your main beauty should be, it is not where the main attention of your adorning should be, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible.

When we come to the very last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, toward the end of that book we find that the saints are arrayed for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in white linen and God explains these are arrayed in the "righteousnesses of the saints." (Revelation 19:8). And what is interesting is that it is a plural, it is referring not to the righteousness of Christ in which we all must be dressed to enter heaven, but it is referring to the righteousnesses of the saints [that is, the righteous deeds, the righteous kinds of lifestyle that Christ produces in a life]. You see Christianity is not believing one thing and living another. Christianity is immensely practical, just as clothes are.

I would like to talk to you this morning about the garments of the Godly. We find these listed for us in Colossians 3 beginning in verse 12: "Put on therefore [as you would put on a garment], as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; 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." The garments of the Godly can be put on by only a select few. You have to be prequalified to wear these garments, and so let us look first to see who can wear these garments: those that can adopt these kinds of patterns of life, those that are capable of living this way are a particular class of people. You notice he says, "Put on therefore." In other words, what he going to tell us to put on, these garments we are to wear, these beautiful white linen righteousnesses that we are to dress ourselves in, are made possible to us [they are woven, if you will] by God Himself. "Put on, therefore"—the "therefore" refers back to what has come before—because "Christ is all, and in all." If you weren't here last week, that may seem kind of cryptic—kind of like a riddle. What it means is that Christ dwells in all who have received Him, no matter what their cultural background, no matter if they can read or write, if they come from a background that is downright brutal and bloodthirsty, or if they come from a very intellectual, cultured background, and in all of them, no matter where they come from, no matter how old they are, no matter what their nationality, Christ dwells in those that belong to Him, and it is His dwelling in them that makes possible putting off the old deeds that characterized the old life and putting on these garments of the Godly. Christ is all—He gives them the power, He is all they need to do this, and He is in all—there is not one person who has received Christ who doesn't have this capability because of the indwelling Christ. So "Put on, therefore": the first thing is that I have to be related to Christ, I have to have placed faith in Him, I have to have had this new birth, this regeneration, this being born again, this being transformed on the inside, or else all that follows is merely an effort that will be futile. This is not just about turning over a new leaf. It is not just about reforming your exterior. This is about changing who you are, and that is possible only if Christ is in you, and it is through Christ that you find all of these things available to you.

So "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved." Paul uses three terms to describe this relationship with God through Christ. Three terms that demonstrate for us just how dependent we are on God to live in the way God is going to lay out for us. This is not the natural way man lives. This is not what we naturally incline to. Notice he first calls them the "elect of God". That word "elect" is a word over which many battles have been fought, but it quite literally means "chosen." You have been chosen by God. That was a choice that God made before He even created the world according to I Peter (1:20). We are chosen by God and ultimately the fact that we were chosen by God is to guarantee that our salvation will come to its ultimate goal because God guarantees it. God has laid hold on us. God has selected us. I Peter 1(vs. 5) explains that we are "kept by the power of God." I don't maintain my salvation by trying hard. God has saved me.

A person that is drowning who requires salvation [that requires being saved] must be saved by whoever saves him. He cannot save himself. That is the whole idea of being saved. If I could save myself, I wouldn't need a rescuer. So we are "kept by the power of God unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:5)—in other words, right now we are not enjoying the full measure of our salvation. You hear people say occasionally, "Oh, I tried that Christianity stuff, it didn't work." Well probably they were sold a bill of goods as to what Christianity was, but realize what you are experiencing now is not all there is. God is not just some kind of slick used car salesman who sells you a lemon and pretends it is a great dream car. God doesn't say, "Oh, it's great to be saved," and then hands you all that this life gives you. Now to be sure there are some great blessings in this life but, listen, if this is all salvation is about, we got a bum deal—but this is not all salvation is about. We are on a trek to glory, if you will, and there is a sense in which our salvation, while there is a positional aspect to it [in other words, we are saved, there is a point in time when we know we belong to God when we place faith in Christ and we have been justified and declared righteous], there still is this progress of getting closer and closer to God. There is this experiencing, "knowing," God. In fact, we have already talked in Colossians of this full knowledge of God, this plumbing the depths, so to speak, of what it means to be saved. It is a sad commentary on much of our Christianity today that it is mostly the new converts who are excited about their salvation. That tells us that they do not understand what salvation is, that it is not just that moment that you convert to Christ. Salvation is this grand process that God has laid out before time that culminates with a total glorifying of who you are [making you incorruptible; making you without spot and blemish; making you unassailable by death and by sickness and by all those things]—that is the ultimate purpose of God in your life. That is why God can say in Romans 8 and verse 28 "...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Then He talks about predestination, etc., but the point is that God has laid hold of you for a grand purpose and He is operating that purpose through our life, as the elect of God.

I love what the poet said: "Let me no more my comfort draw from my frail hold of Thee. In this alone rejoice with awe Thy mighty grasp of me." And so Peter says to those he writes to: "[You] ...are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season for a time], if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations." (I Peter 1:5, 6). The trials of life are many, and they are varied, and they are rough, and they are hard, and they hurt, but he says: "Look, it is only for a season, because you are kept by the power of God." "All we like sheep have gone astray" [Isaiah 53:6] and none of us seek God naturally. God seeks after us. God claims us as His own, and when He does, He never lets go. God has initiated this action; we owe it to Him. It is not that we are the best, the "cream of the crop", and we are the ones who are so smart that we figured out that we should receive this. No, God laid hold of us. God took the first action, and He did so with a purpose to fulfill. We are predestined; this is Romans 8:29 ["predestination" means the boundaries have been laid out ahead of time—this is what God is heading toward in your life]: "to be conformed to the image of (his Son) [Christ]"—to be like Christ.

If you muse on who Christ is and what He was like here on earth; the words that He said; the ways He handled people; His gentleness; the power of His life. That is the way God wants you to be, and it is not only the "wish" of God, it is the purpose of God. He has ordained you for that; He has called you to that; that is your high calling; and that is really what this passage—these garments of the Godly—is all about. It is learning to dress like Christ. It is learning to have the kind of character that Christ has. We are chosen.

Second, notice we are "holy." Now "holiness" is preeminently and fundamentally "being consecrated to God." It means a person belongs to God. We are consecrated to God and, therefore, we are set apart to Him, and set apart from the world. Holiness is not first of all "being pure"—that is secondary, that is resulting from belonging to God. The first thing you and I need is to belong to God. The first thing you and I need is to get back in contact with God. The first thing you need is to quit running from God and quit fighting God and be reconciled to Him, and belong to Him—be consecrated to Him and then the holiness of life will follow. For this holiness refers not only to our position, but to our character as well.

Again in I Peter chapter 1, verses 14 through 16, Peter instructs us: "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves [not adopting as your pattern or mold of living that which is unstable and fleeting] according to the former lusts [former desires] in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy [not just in your mind, not just in your standing, but] in all manner of conversation [all manner of behavior]." Everything you do, everything you are, everything you think, everything you say, should be marked by the fact that God has laid hold of you, that God has rescued you, that God has claimed you as His own treasure and brought you close to Him. And just as friend marks friend, God has marked you, and that should be evident by everything that flows out of your life because we are holy.

Third, we are "beloved." We are loved by God. A past action with continuing results. Now everybody likes the knowledge that somebody worthwhile loves him or her—that is a feeling we all treasure. We know down deep we don't really deserve it from many people [if any people] but to know that somebody loves you is a great joy. I think that is one reason marriage can be so satisfying. You know there is someone who is going to stick by you no matter what. There is somebody who loves you "warts and all." Well, how thrilling then to know that God Himself loves me to the degree that He was willing to die for me. And more than that, He loves me with an everlasting love, a love that will not quit, from which "...neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature [no created thing in all the universe]"(Romans 8:38, 39)—none of it can cut me off from His love. That is an amazing thing. That is something that lifts your head up when you are bowed down with care. That is something that gives you songs in the night.

All of these terms of privilege, and at the same time terms of purpose, they were all used of Israel in the Old Testament and applied to believers in the New Testament. They all remind us that our salvation, our rescue from sin and self and Satan and all the destruction and death that that brings, that all springs from the initiative of God. You know, that is really critical for us in adopting the attitudes that follow. We need to realize we are what we are by the grace of God. We didn't deserve it—that God made the first move; that God laid hold of us—I do not deserve God's love. I am not worthy of His favor. He chose me while I was still an enemy, while I was still sin's slave. He claimed me as His own and for that reason I am a person consecrated to Him and marked by Him. He has loved me with an everlasting love that never will let go, and so my hope, my life, my change of character, all rest on His seeking me out when I was not seeking Him. Now, how then can I begrudge gracious treatment of other people when the treatment of the perfect God of heaven, the almighty God of heaven and earth, when He has treated me this way. When I understand that, then it becomes a lot easier. A lot easier from the heart to look at other people the way that we are going to be instructed to look at them and treat them.

Let's look at the wardrobe—let's look at these garments: "Put on, therefore...bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering." Put them on as you would clothing—keep putting them on. We have already seen we are supposed to put off some other things; so really our life is about stripping off the old ragged garments, the filthy garments, the old way of life, and putting on this new way of life. Just as clothing serves not only for warmth and protection, but as an appropriate garb for interaction with others, so these Godly traits that follow have largely to do with how we get along with people now that we are reconciled to God. There is a sense we wear clothes for the sake of other people. Right? It is also for our own sake so we won't be embarrassed or cold, but for the most part, we wear clothes out of respect for other people. We put on these character traits out of respect for other people. These deal with our relationships with one another because of our connection with God. The first term is "bowels of mercies"—a phrase that is not common in our day. We would say it this way: "Have a heart of compassion." The Greeks would say "bowels of mercies." The New Testament speaks figuratively of the inward parts of the body, the organs, as the seat of our emotions. So this speaks of a compassion, a sympathy, a pity, having an emotional feeling. We might say it is a heartfelt compassion that is deep and at gut level. You know, this is how we ought to respond to people. It is not that we see a need and say, "That need ought to be met, I want to do something about it" and nothing happens on the inside.

One of the first characteristics of one who belongs to Christ and who is putting on the garments of the Godly is that he has real, genuine feeling for the needs of other people. His heart is touched by the sufferings of others. This is not a cold indifference of others; this is not true Godly self-control. Sometimes people seem to pride themselves in not being moved by what people are going through: they are the rock, they are self-controlled, they can handle it. Well, it could be you just have a cold heart. It could be that you just do not want to squirm along with this other person, because when you get close to people who are hurting, you find you are hurting with them. Nor is this a quality of giving help to someone out of duty without feeling for them. When someone is severely injured they need urgent care and they need intense efforts to be made on their behalf. You know if you give that kind of help without carefulness, you can further injure them. When we give help to people without compassion, without this inner movement of heart on their behalf, we may in fact hurt them more than help them. You know what that comes off as? Condescension. It comes off like, "I pity you for going through this; I am going to reach down and help you up." It is very easy for us in the carnal mindset to adopt that kind of thinking. It is not so much a temptation with somebody we have known for a long time, but someone you have never met before who is needy, who is in trouble, you say: "Well, it probably serves him right. He's made a lot of bad choices." Just because someone has made a bad choice doesn't mean you shouldn't have a heart of compassion to them. In fact, most of our troubles come from bad choices, do they not? But "once the water's under the bridge, it is on down the river" and you have to do something about the current state. Just because the trouble you have is because of bad choices you have made does not mean that you don't need people to have a heart of compassion for you. So we are to put on first of all a heart of compassion. Our inattention, our preoccupation, our getting accustomed to the suffering of others, all boils down basically to selfishness, and they all interfere with the Christian demeanor and display of "bowels of mercies", a heart of compassion.

Secondly, we are to put on "kindness." This is sometimes translated "goodness" and has the idea of a harshness that has been mellowed into a kind and generous nature. It is like a fruit that is finally ripe instead of bitter, and it is just as sweet as it can be. Jesus Christ used this word when he said, "My yoke is easy." (Matthew 11:30). The yoke of the Pharisees, the burdens they placed on people were too heavy to be borne, and they would not lift a finger to help them; their yoke would "rub people raw" as they tried to move in the traces. Christ says "My yoke is easy"—my yoke fits, my yoke is not harsh, it is not going to tear up your shoulders. He says, "It is going to be exactly fitted to you." I like the way Alexander Maclaren described this particular trait, or how to develop it: "Cherish a habit of good will." How do you respond to people? It is very easy to drift into a sort of cynicism toward people, kind of looking for the bad motives for what people do, seeing the kind of irony in how "stupid" people can be. [I have been trying to teach our son not to say "stupid", but I use the term for the same reason I teach him not to say it.] We sit back and look at folks and say "People sure can be dumb". Faculty members particularly look at students and say, "How could you waste all that space between your ears?" But, we need to cherish [put a high premium on] a habit of good will toward people, of thinking kindly toward other people. Instead of letting the way they look, the way they act, or the lack of sense they use, and adopt this sort of critical, looking down on everybody, smart aleck kind of response towards people—that is not Christlike—we are to show kindness.

Maclaren notes even in his day, and we see it today: "The prudent hypocrites who get on in the world by greasing the ways by flattery and smiles, teach us the value of the true thing, since even a coarse caricature of kindness wins hearts and disarms foes. This kindness is the most powerful solvent of ill will and indifference." You ought to try it sometime if you are having trouble with a particular coworker, or you are having trouble with a neighbor, try some kindness. When you try to share the gospel, you will find this goes a great distance. Just to have a kind disposition towards people, especially when they can read in your eyes and read in your whole demeanor that this is not put on, that this is the real thing, that this comes from the heart, that you really have a genuine interest in people. Let's not adopt the excuse, "I'm not a people person."—then you are not a Godly person, because Christ was interested in people, and He was kind to them and good to them. What an investment in the kingdom of heaven we make when we treat people kindly, and there are all kinds of good fruit that comes from that.

And then, "humbleness of mind"—quite literally, a lowliness of mind—thinking of yourself in a lowly manner. Now the Greeks cared little for this quality, and therefore it is no surprise that our modern Western culture seems to care little for it as well. When they referred to it, it was always an undesirable trait. It was Christ who elevated it to a status of virtue. It is as one man put it, "the antidote [the cure] for self love that poisons relationships: humbleness. Only by pride comes contention." There is such a thing as false humility, and I think that is one thing that everybody despises—that sort of cringing, servile spirit that is really little more than thinly- disguised envy, and is often only a means of gaining control of others—that is not humility. True humility is not pretending you lack abilities and the assets you have, it is recognizing from whom you have them. Paul said to the Corinthians, "What hast thou that thou didst not receive? (now) if thou has received it, why dost thou (glory) [boast] as if thou hadst not received it?" (I Corinthians 4:7). There is not one thing you have of value that God did not give you. Even if you worked hard, God gave you the energy to work hard. You say that is being excessively argumentative. No, there are hospitals full of people more talented than you are that cannot do what you are doing—not because they do not have the talent, not even just because they do not have the opportunity, but because they are stricken—you could be stricken too. It is further understanding why you have the abilities you have.

The scriptures teach us that the manifestation of the Spirit [that is, the gifts He distributes to individuals within the church], the abilities that you have are given to every man for the profiting [that is, for the edifying] of all the other people. You did not get your talents for yourselves, you did not learn what you do, you did not have that native ability, or the spiritual gift given to you just so you could bask in your success, just so you could have a better lifestyle than someone else. No, you were given those things to be used for other people. It is a stewardship, and in this brief time of stewardship compared to eternity, you are laying down a record for which you will be judged by God: "How did you use what I gave you?" So the index of your success is not how many cars you drive, or how big your home is, or what your income level is, or what kind of investments you have made, and what you have left to your children; no, the index of your success is how well did you use what God gave you to the advancement of His kingdom—the investments in the lives of people instead of things. All the things are going to burn up. That is a poor investment, by the way, to invest in something you know is going to burn up—that is dumb!—and yet it is interesting how the smartest people in the world do the dumbest things: they invest in what is passing away, and fleeting, and burning up.

We understand in humility that the abilities we have come from God and that they are for the purpose of others, and we also understand that those talents and abilities are far insufficient to make ourselves acceptable to God. What difference does it make that you are more talented than the person next to you or the guy across the street? What difference does it make that you have more or less money? What difference does it make that you hold a job that has more influence and more responsibility? What difference does it make when it comes to standing before God? Not a dime's worth! It really doesn't make any difference at all. It is like a man bragging that he is 6' tall instead of 5'8" and, therefore, he has a better chance of reaching the stars. When you are talking of the distance to the stars, being 6' or 5'8" doesn't really matter—does it?— and yet you would think that all these minor differences matter. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23), and even "...our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

I often quote Maclaren, to a fault I guess, but he is such a wordsmith. He says, "You may be clever and brilliant, may have made books or pictures, may have stamped your name on some invention, may have won a place in public life, or made a fortune, and yet you and the beggar who cannot write his name are both guilty before God." It really doesn't matter when it comes to the most important things. Before God, every honest man must cry: "God, be merciful to me a sinner." So it is humility that makes us esteem others highly, for they are made in God's image, and they are loved by Him, and He died for them. Philippians 2:3-4: "Let nothing [nothing, not one thing] be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." But, you say, "How can I do that if he is less talented?" Because talents really don't matter about a person's worth. "How can I do that if he is not as wealthy as I am?"—because wealth doesn't matter when it comes to a person's worth; you esteem that person better than yourself in that Christ, Himself, died for you. When you think about it, if a person dies for you, what is he doing? He is esteeming your rescue more important than his life. Christ treated us that way. It almost sounds blasphemous, but there is a sense in which God is more humble than any man because God was willing, although He is the absolute perfect one, to die for man—despite all the flaws, despite all the corruption, despite all the hatred leveled toward Him. Philippians (2:5,6) says: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" who humbled Himself unto death to save us.

And then, "meekness". Meekness is that gentleness that is willing to suffer injury rather than inflict it. We might call it "controlled strength." Proverbs tells us "Better is he that ruled his spirit than he who taketh a city"; and "He that hath no control of his own spirit is like a city broken down and without walls." The strongest man is the one who can keep himself in check and under control. One who has the ability to harm others but choses not to—in fact, is willing to be harmed by others rather than to harm them. There are situations in which the scripture specifically calls us to exercise this attitude: when we are restoring a fallen brother we are to exercise meekness, considering ourselves lest we also be tempted.

We are to be very careful about how we come down on those who are even sinning as we try to help them back, because we must recognize that in our flesh dwells no good thing and that we could very well be in that same state in one day, maybe, and are going to need someone in meekness to help us out of the pit. We are to use meekness when we are defending the faith against the attacks of unbelievers [2 Timothy 2:24-25: "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves"]. You know, people really are opposing themselves. They may be brash, they may be hateful, they may treat you wrong, but they are really opposing themselves, they are just hurting themselves. They are like a person who is in mortal pain who just thrashes against the doctors and nurses who are trying to help them. They are like a person drowning in a lake and fighting the person who is out there to rescue them. The person who is there to rescue them does not need to go off in a huff and say, "Okay, drown!" He recognizes that this person is in desperate straits, he doesn't really understand the situation, he is opposing himself, and so in meekness he saves him anyway. He says (continuing in 2 Timothy 2:25), "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." See, it is not just a problem with human nature, it is a problem with Satan who dominates them—Satan who has blinded them. And so when we often want to respond with hatred, with force, when we are ill treated, when we are scorned, when we are maligned, when we want to turn that scorn back on them, we must remember the true state of these folk. We must remember that when a person behaves that way, he is not merely dominated by sin, but he is dominated by Satan—he opposes himself. We must recognize that we, ourselves, have been in that same condition.

We are, therefore, to "sanctify the Lord God in our hearts: [I Peter 3:15] and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in [us] with meekness and fear". Now sometimes we can share the gospel in an arrogant way; we can share the gospel in such a pushy kind of a way; we can share the gospel as if we are the only righteous people on earth and it was by our pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps, and that is exactly the way a lot of folk who do not know the Lord feel that our attitude is. They say it like, "You think you are better than everybody else; you think you've got the corner on the truth." And let us understand that would be a natural response to the way a lot of folk act, and even if you are not acting that way, that is the way they often interpret it, and that is sometimes why they mistreat you. That is exactly what Peter is talking about in using meekness and fear as you give your reason. He is in the context of suffering for well-doing. He says, that is okay if the will of God is for you to suffer for well-doing, so be it. If you are a happy person, God will bless you for that.

And then "long suffering." While the natural man is often insensitive to the suffering of others, he is very sensitive to their slights, and this is what this term deals with. The new man is to be quick to have compassion on people and slow to take offense. This term literally means "long tempered." In other words, if you say "I have a short fuse", you are saying "I haven't let the Holy Spirit get ahold of me yet." If I am short tempered, it means God is not in control and it means that I have left off a piece of clothing God says I ought to be wearing. Long tempered is used exclusively in regard to people, never circumstances. It is not just that you are long- suffering with the fact that you have not had enough money for the last two years. No, your long- suffering is to be in dealing with the irritation that people bring into your lives. I have heard pastors say on more than one occasion that pastoring would be great if it weren't for the people—that is not really a good attitude. It reflects a lack of long suffering. This is to be a patient endurance of injuries that others inflict. It means you exercise a forbearance towards people who are demanding or irritating; you don't retaliate nor concern yourself with fighting for your rights. Long suffering never forgets the unlimited patience of Christ towards us. I Timothy 1:15-16 "...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." One commentator puts it this way: "This is the spirit which never loses its patience with his fellowman. Their foolishness and their unteachability never drive it to cynicism or despair. Their insults and their ill treatment never drive it to bitterness or wrath."

By the way, all these garments, all these qualities, are fruit of the Spirit. In other words, they express the very character of God, and they are all demonstrated in the life of the Lord Jesus. He exercised compassion and kindness when He saw the multitudes. He saw they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. He was moved with compassion and, thus, he healed their sick. At the feeding of the 4,000 He had compassion on those who had continued for three days with Him and were hungry and faint. He had compassion on the two blind men on the way to Jericho—he restored their sight. And it is not without significance that the hospitals and ministries to the weak and wounded were founded by Christians. Christ demonstrated humility and meekness. He said "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." [How can He offer that kind of rest? How can the God of heaven, who is perfect, offer that to people? He says,] "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; [learn what I am like] (for) I am meek and [I am] lowly of heart, and (ye shall) [you will] find rest unto your souls. (For) my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).

If you want to minister to people the way you need to minister, you have to be a meek person, you have to be a kind person; you have to be a humble person, or you will actually be like sandpaper against them. You will actually "rub them raw" even in your efforts to help them because you lack this quality of Christlikeness, humility and meekness; and what about "long- suffering"? I don't know know if there is a better definition of long suffering than the way Christ put up with the disciples with all their shenanigans, all their failure to understand; and what about his persecutors when he was reviled? He reviled not again.

Now what about the manner in which these garments must be worn? We have looked at the wardrobe itself; we have looked at the prerequisite for the people who can wear these clothes. The manner in which they must be worn: "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." (Colossians 3:13). To forbear one another means you are waiting with composure under injury or provocation. You keep your head even when you are injured, even when you are provoked. You know a wounded animal is a very dangerous animal, and a wounded person becomes a very hurtful person, and yet forbearance—this very Godly garment—the manner in which we wear these garment—has composure even under injury and provocation. It waits until the offending person comes around and expects that to happen. It means there are no caustic remarks, or sarcastic replies, no sharp retorts, no seething irritation, nor is it merely pretending a sort of cool- headed aloofness or studied courtesy [that is, you are not just treating people right because you have learned to do this]. No, it is a genuine composure when you are hurt, and when that which is done should irritate you.

And we are "forgiving." There are two words for forgiveness in the New Testament: one has the idea of "sending away" or "canceling a debt"; the other one, which is this one, is the verb form of grace. Therefore, it has the idea of bestowing a favor unconditionally. It gives accurate insight into the true character of Christian forgiveness—it is not deserved, it is not earned, it is given freely according to the pattern Christ established in forgiving our sins. Notice we are to be forbearing one another and forgiving one another. That tells me that all of us need for others to treat us this way, and we need to treat others this way. It is a mutual need of everyone for people to forbear with us and to forgive us. Why are there so many church splits? Why are so many families torn apart? Why are there so many relationships in havoc?—because they do not understand that there must be a mutual forbearing and a mutual forgiving for it to work. We all need it. You may think a great deal of certain people in this congregation, but there is going to come a time when you will have to forbear, and there will come a time when you will need to forgive.

"If any have a quarrel"—that word, "quarrel" is not just speaking of a brawl, actually it quite litterally means "a blame", a "cause for complaint", a "debt that needs to be paid." The verb form speaks of being dissatisfied with someone, finding fault with them. Have you found fault with anybody? Ever been dissatisfied with anybody? "Yes, I've been dissatisfied with everybody, including myself!" Right? By definition, we are dissatisfied, because we all fall short, and this particular term translated "quarrel" most often refers to errors of omission—it is what people aren't doing that bugs us so much. Well, if there is anything like that, then you need to be forbearing and forgiving. How much should you put up with? How much are you expected to forgive? Well, let me answer with another question. How much and how often do you want Christ to forgive you? That is exactly the way he put it: "If you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you." Is there anything you want Christ to leave outside the scope of His forgiveness in your life? Then that is the measure of how you forgive others: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Christ's pardon of you should soften your heart to pardon others. What could you possibly forgive that goes beyond what Christ has forgiven you? And so this forgiveness is offered in the words of John Eddy "fully and freely, once and forever. Not pardoning seven times and declining to pardon seventy times seven. Not insulting him that injured you by a rigid exaction of humiliating apology, not stinging him by a sharp and unexpected allusion to his fault, not harboring ill will, but forgetting as well as forgiving. Not indulging in a secret feeling of offense and waiting for a moment of quiet retaliation, but expelling every grudge from your heart by an honest and thorough reconciliation as Christ forgave you." Now that involves self-denial, that involves death. Christ's forgiveness was painful, it was full, and it was forever, and it is the pattern to which we must adhere.

We end with the common style of these garments: "Above all these things, put on charity [or love] which is the bond of perfectness." On top of all these or the most important of all—it can be taken either way. Love heads the list of the fruit of the Spirit. Love is clearly important to all the apostles. In Philippians 1:9 Paul says: "This I pray that your love may abound more and more in all knowledge and all judgment." Peter says in I Peter 4:8: "Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover a multitude of sins." In other words, if you're having trouble forbearing and forgiving, maybe the problem is you just are not to the place of loving people like you need to. Galations 5:13: "Use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." I Thess. 3:12: "The Lord make you increase and abound [overflow] in love one toward one another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you." And Christ Himself said to His disciples (John 13:34-35): "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, [that you are learning me, that you are following me] ...that ye also love one another." And, of course, in that brilliant passage in I Corinthians 13: If I have not love, my gifts, my sacrificial deeds, are all worth nothing—for love is greater even than faith or hope, according to the last part of that passage.

If you don't have a genuine love for God, and therefore for people, all these other lines of conduct have no root—it is the bond of perfectness. It is not only the grace that binds believers together, it is the grace that binds all of these qualities together, it is their common denominator, and it is their full expression, it is their perfection, it is their completeness. It keeps all these attitudes and expressions of Christlikeness from being fragmentary and shallow, rather constant and deep. It makes them the spontaneous overflow of your heart—like a spring of water that never runs dry no matter how often someone drinks from it. It is no wonder then that Augustine said: "Love, and then do what you will."

(Colossians 3:14:) "Above all, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Are you dressed? Are you dressed in the garments of the Godly? Perhaps the problem goes right back to the beginning: You are not even qualified to wear these things yet; you are not even capable of it, because you do not know Christ as your Savior. Or perhaps it is that you have never put a great premium on dressing the inner man; you have been more worried about "what you shall wear, what you shall drink, wherewithal you shall be clothed" rather than worried about the garments Christ would have you put on. May we be arrayed with the garments that heaven has woven; may we bring glory to Christ.

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