A Christian is an awesome sight – unless naked!
The New Testament often urges believers to ‘dress themselves ’, and it’s not referring to togas, sandals, and jewellery, but invisible spiritual clothes.
‘Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering…’ Col 3v12
1 Peter 5:5: ‘All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because 'God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’ 1 Pet 5v5
‘Put on the whole armour of God’ Eph 6v11
These are powerful images. If we could have our eyes open so we see like God, it would be an awesome sight when a believer dressed as above walks into a room. Like Joseph’s coat of many colours, the Christian would be radiant, glowing with all these extraordinary qualities…so needed by the world.
There are other clothes.
‘…remain in the city until you are clothed with power from on high’ Luke 24v49
Oh! How we devalue ‘power from on high’ – the power of the Holy Spirit. Dumanis, from where we get dynamite. The apostles, deacons, and everyday believers in the New Testament were used in power.
• The apostle Peter healed the cripple by the gate ‘Silver and gold I have none, but what I do have, I give to you, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk’ Acts 3v6
• The deacon, Stephen, ‘did great wonders and signs among the people’ Acts 6v8,
• An everyday believer: ‘there was a certain disciple in Damascus named Ananias…laid his hands on Saul and said ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road …has sent me that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit’. That Saul was the apostle Paul who brought the gospel to Europe.
It’s worth looking at what Peter said: ‘…what I have, I give to you…’. Peter was clothed in the power from on high, the power to heal.
If that’s not enough, the New Testament goes further and tells us that we who believe are clothed with Christ Himself, not just His qualities of tender mercies, kindness, humility, and meekness, as if they can be separated from Him, but also with power from on high.
‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ’ Rom13v14
‘…for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.’ Gal 3v27
So…a Christian so clothed is an awesome sight. But not if naked.
Imagine the tragedy, then, of the following words found in the Book of Revelation in a letter written from Jesus to the church in Laodicea:
‘You say I am rich…but you do not know that you are poor, wretched, and blind, and naked…I counsel you to buy from Me…white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed…’ Rev 3 v 17,18
It is easy to forget that the New Testament writers above were urging the believers to ‘clothe themselves’. What for any sane person is an automatic, habit-ingrained practice – getting dressed in the morning with physical clothes needs also to become our spiritual practice in Christ.
‘And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone. If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that Your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’
Bitterness, anger, resentment, jealousy, envy, selfish ambition, sexual and material lust, love of money and power…all these, if we allow an entrance, so easily become what others see clear as day. Jesus said, ‘And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone. If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that Your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’ Mark 11v25,26
Having dealt with anything that we should not be clothed in, we need to ‘put on’ all the above, or, to use the image in the passage in Revelation ‘buy from Me…white garments…’ The wonderful thing about purchasing things from heaven is that they are free!
Isaiah saw it hundreds of years before Christ: ‘Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and you who have no money, come buy and eat…’ Is 55v1, and Jesus Himself said, ‘Freely you have received, freely give’ Mt 10v8…which is precisely what Peter did with the blind man by the gate.
‘And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone. If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that Your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’ Mark 11v25,26
‘Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering…’ Col 3v12
1 Peter 5:5: ‘All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because 'God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.’ 1 Pet 5v5
‘Put on the whole armour of God’ Eph 6v11
‘…remain in the city until you are clothed with power from on high’ Luke 24v49
‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ’ Rom 13v14
‘…for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.’ Gal 3v27