Christ Put On
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23, 1890,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." Romans 13:14.
Christ must be in us before He can be on us. Divine Grace puts Christ
within and enables us to put on Christ without. Christ must be in the
heart by faith before He can be in the life by holiness. If you need
light from a lantern, the first business is to light the candle inside
it–and then, as a consequence–the light shines through to be seen of
men. When Christ is formed in you, the hope of Glory–do not conceal
your love to Him but put Him on in your conduct as the Glory of your
hope! As you have Christ within as your Savior, the secret of your
inner life, so put on Christ to be the beauty of your daily life. Let
the external be brightened by the internal and this shall be to you
that "armor of light" which all the soldiers of the Lord Jesus are
privileged to wear.
As Christ is your Food, nourishing the inner man, so put Him on as your
garments covering the outer man. "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ." It
is a very wonderful expression. It is most condescending on our Lord's
part to allow such an exhortation. Paul speaks the mind of the Holy
Spirit and the word is full of meaning. Oh, for Divine Grace to learn
its teaching! It is full of very solemn warning to us, for we need a
covering thus divinely perfect.
Oh, for Grace to practice the command to put it on! The Apostle does
not so much say, "Take up the Lord Jesus Christ and bear Him with you,"
but, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ" and thus wear Him as the garment of
your life! A man takes up his staff for a journey or his sword for a
battle–but he lays these down again after a while. You are to put on
the Lord Jesus as you put on your garments and thus He is to cover you
and to become part and parcel of your outward appearance, surrounding
your very self as a visible part of your manifest personality.
"Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ." This we do when we believe in
Him–then we put on the Lord Jesus Christ as our robe of righteousness.
It is a very beautiful picture of what faith does. Faith finds our
manhood naked to its shame– faith sees that Christ Jesus is the Robe
of Righteousness provided for our need. And faith, at the command of
the Gospel, appropriates Him and gets the benefit of Him for it. By
faith the soul covers her weakness with His strength, her sin with His
atonement, her folly with His wisdom, her failure with His triumphs,
her death with His life, her wanderings with His constancy.
By faith, I say, the soul hides itself within Jesus till Jesus, only,
is seen and the man is seen in Him. We take not only His righteousness
as being imputed to us, but we take Himself to be really ours. And so
His righteousness becomes ours as a matter of fact. "By the obedience
of One shall many be made righteous." His righteousness is set to our
account and becomes ours because He is ours. I, though long unrighteous
in myself, believe in the testimony of God concerning His Son Jesus
Christ and I am accounted righteous, even as it is written, "Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."
The riches of God in Christ Jesus become mine as I take the Lord Jesus
Christ to be everything to me. But, you see, the text does not
distinctly refer to this great matter for the Apostle is not referring
to the imputed righteousness of Christ. The text stands in connection
with precepts concerning matters of everyday practical life and to
these it must refer. It is not justification, but sanctification that
we have here. Moreover, we cannot be said to put on the imputed
righteousness of Christ after we have believed, for that is upon us as
soon as we believe and needs no more putting on!
The command before us is given to those who have the imputed
righteousness of Christ–who are justified–who are accepted in Christ
Jesus. "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ" is a word to you that are
saved by Christ and justified by His righteousness! You are to put on
Christ and keep putting Him on in the sanctifying of your lives unto
your God. You are, everyday, to continually more and more wear as the
garment of your lives the Character of your Lord.
I will handle this subject by answering questions. First, Where are we
to go for our daily garment? "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ."
Secondly, What is this daily garment? "Put you on the Lord Jesus
Christ." Thirdly, How are we to act towards evil when we are thus clad?
"and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."
And then I will finish with the consideration of the question, Why
should we hasten to put on this matchless garment? For, "The night is
far spent, the day is at hand: let us put on the armor of light."
I. May the Holy Spirit help us while we, in the first place, answer the
inquiry, WHERE ARE WE TO GO FOR OUR DAILY GARMENT? Beloved, there is
but one answer to all questions as to our necessities. We go to the
Lord Jesus Christ for everything! To us, "Christ is All." "He is made
of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and
redemption."
When you have come to Christ for pardon and justification you are not
to go elsewhere for the next thing. Having begun with Jesus you are to
go on with Him, even to the end, "for you are complete in Him,"
perfectly stored in Christ, fully equipped in Him. "It pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." Every necessity that can
ever press upon you between this life in the wilderness and yonder sea
of glass before the Throne of God will be found in Christ Jesus!
You ask, "What am I to do for a vesture which will befit the courts of
the Lord? For armor that will protect me from the assaults of the foe?
For a robe that will enable me to act as a priest and king unto God?"
The one answer to the much-including question is, "Put you on the Lord
Jesus Christ." You have no further need. You need not look elsewhere
for a thread or a shoe lace. So, dear Friends, I gather from this that
if we seek an example, we may not look elsewhere than to our Lord Jesus
Christ. It is not written, "Put you on this man or that," but, "Put you
on the Lord Jesus Christ."
The model for a saint is His Savior. We are very apt to select some
eminently gracious or useful man to be a pattern for us. A measure of
good may result from such a course, but a degree of evil may also come
of it. There will always be some fault about the most excellent of our
fellow mortals and as our tendency is to caricature virtues till we
make them faults, so is it our greater folly to mistake faults for
excellences and copy them with careful exactness and generally with
abundant exaggeration! By this plan, with the best intentions, we may
reach very sad results.
Follow Jesus in the way and you will not err. Let your feet go down
exactly in His footprints and you can not slide. As His Grace enables
us, let us make it true that, "as He was, so are we in this world." You
need not look beyond your Lord for an example under any circumstances.
Of Him you may enquire as of an unfailing oracle. You need never
enquire what is the general custom of those about you–the broad road
of the many is no way for you. You may not ask, "What are the rulers of
the people doing?" You follow not the fashion of the great, but the
example of the Greatest of all!
"Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ" will apply to each one of us. If I
am a tradesman, I am not to ask myself–On what principles do other
traders conduct their business? Not so. What the world may do is no
rule for me. If I am a student I should not enquire–How do others feel
towards religion? Let others do as they will, it is for us to serve the
Lord! In every relationship in the domestic circle, in the literary
world, in the sphere of friendship, or in business connections, I am to
"put on the Lord Jesus Christ."
If I am perplexed, I am bound to ask–"What would Jesus do?" And His
example is to guide me. If I cannot conceive of His acting in a certain
way, neither must I allow myself to do so–but if I perceive, from His
precepts, His spirit or His actions, that He would follow such-and-such
a course–to that line I must keep. I am not to put on the philosopher,
the politician, the priest or the popularity hunter–I am to put on the
Lord Jesus Christ by taking His life to be the model upon which I
fashion my own life.
From our text I should also gather that we are to go to the Lord Jesus
Christ for stimulus. We want not only an example, but a motive–an
impulse and constraining power to keep us true to that example. We need
to put on zeal as a cloak and to be covered with a holy influence which
will urge us onward. Let us go to the Lord Jesus for motives. Some fly
to Moses and would drive themselves to duty by the thunders of Sinai.
Their design in service is to earn eternal life or prevent the loss of
the favor of God. Thus they come under Law and forsake the true way of
the Believer which is faith.
Not from dread of punishment or hope of reward do Believers serve the
living God–we put on Christ and the love of Christ constrains us. Here
is the spring of true holiness–"Sin shall not have dominion over you,
for you are not under the Law, but under Grace." A stronger force than
Law has gripped you–you serve God, not as servants whose sole thought
is the wage–but as children, whose eye is on the Father and His love.
Your motive is gratitude to Him by whose
precious blood you are redeemed. He has put on your cause and therefore
you would take up His cause. I pray you, go not to the steep sides of
Sinai to find motives for holiness–but hasten to Calvary and there
find those sweet herbs of love which shall be the medicine of your
soul. "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ."
Covered with a consciousness of His love and fired with love to Him in
return, you will be strong to be, to do, or to suffer as the Lord God
may appoint. Need I say never find a reason for doing right in a desire
to win the approbation of your fellow men? Do not say, "I must do this
or that in order to please my company." That is poor life which is
sustained by the breath of other men's nostrils! Followers of Jesus
will not wear the livery of custom or stand in awe of human censure.
Love of commendation and fear of disapprobation are low and beggarly
motives–they sway the feeble many– but they ought not to rule the man
in Christ.
You must be moved by a far higher consideration–you serve the Lord
Christ and must not, therefore, become the lackey of men. His Glory is
to be your one aim! And for the joy of this you must treat all else as
a light thing. Here we find our spur–"The love of Christ constrains
us." Beloved, the text means more than this! "Put you on the Lord Jesus
Christ," that is, find in Jesus your strength. Although you are saved
and are quickened by the Holy Spirit so as to be a living child of the
living God, yet you have no strength for heavenly duty except as you
receive it from above. Go to Jesus for power! I charge you, never say,
"I shall do the right because I have resolved to do it. I am a man of
strong mind. I am determined to resist this evil and I know I shall not
yield. I have made up my mind and there is no fear of my turning
aside."
Brother, if you rely upon yourself in that way, you will soon prove to
be a broken reed. Failure follows at the heel of self-confidence. "Put
you on the Lord Jesus Christ." I charge you, do not rely upon what you
have acquired in the past. Say not in your heart, "I am a man of
experience and therefore I can resist temptation which would crush the
younger and greener folk. I have now spent so many years in persistent
well-doing that I may reckon myself out of danger. Is it likely that I
should ever be led astray?" O Sir, it is more than likely! It is a fact
already! The moment that a man declares he cannot fall, he has already
fallen from sobriety and humility!
Your head is turned, my Brother, or you would not talk of your inward
perfection! And when the head turns, the feet are not very safe. Inward
conceit is the mother of open sin. Make Christ your strength and not
yourself–nor your acquirements or experiences. "Put you on the Lord
Jesus Christ" day by day and make not the rags of yesterday to be the
raiment of the future. Get fresh Grace. Say with David, "All my fresh
springs are in You." Get all your power for holiness and usefulness
from Jesus and from Him alone.
"Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength." Rely not on
resolves, pledges, methods, prayers. Lean on Jesus, only, as the
strength of your life. "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ." This is a
wonderful word to me because it indicates that in the Lord Jesus we
have perfection. I shall in a moment or two show you some of the
virtues and Graces which are resplendent in the Character of our Lord
Jesus Christ. These may be likened to different parts of our armor or
garments–the helmet, the shoes, the breast-plate. But the text does
not say, "Put on this quality or virtue of the Lord Christ," but, "Put
you on the Lord Jesus Christ." He Himself–as a whole–is to be our
array!
Not this excellence or that, but Himself. He must be to us a sacred
overall. I know not by what other means to bring out my meaning–He is
to cover us from head to foot. We do not so much copy His humility, His
gentleness, His love, His zeal, His prayerfulness as Himself. Endeavor
to come into such communion with Jesus Himself that His Character is
reproduced in you! Oh to be wrapped about with Jesus–feeling,
desiring, acting as He felt, desired and acted! What a raiment for our
spiritual nature is our Lord Jesus Christ! What an honorable robe for
men to wear! Why, in that case our life would be hid in Christ and He
would be seen of us in a life quickened by His Spirit, swayed by His
motives, sweetened with His sympathy, pursuing His designs and
following in His steps!
When we read, "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ," it means, Receive the
whole Character of Christ and let your whole character be conformed to
His will. Cover your whole being with the whole of the Lord Jesus
Christ! What a wonderful precept! Oh, for Grace to carry it out! May
the Lord turn the command into an actual fact. Throughout the rest of
our lives may we be more and more like Jesus that the purpose of God
may be fulfilled wherein we are "predestinated to be conformed to the
image of His Son."
Once more, observe the specialty which is seen in this garment. It is
specially adapted to each individual Believer. Paul does not say merely
to one person, "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ," but to all of us,
"Put you on the Lord Jesus
Christ." Can all the saints put on Christ, whether babes, young men or
fathers? You could not all of you wear my coat, I am quite certain–and
I am equally certain that I could not wear the garments of many of the
young people now present. But here is a matchless Garment which will be
found suitable for every Believer–without expansion or contraction!
Whoever puts on the Lord Jesus Christ has put on a robe which will be
his glory and beauty! In every case the example of Jesus is admirably
suited for copying.
Suppose a child of God should be a king–what better advice could I
give to him, when about to rule a nation, than this–"Put on the Lord
Jesus Christ"? Be such a king as Jesus would have been! No, copy His
royal Character! Suppose, on the other hand, that the person before us
is a poor woman from the workhouse–shall I say the same to her? Yes,
and with equal propriety–for Jesus was very poor and is a most
suitable Example for those who have no home of their own. O Worker, put
on Christ and be full of zeal! O Sufferer, put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and abound in patience! Yonder friend is going to the Sunday school
this afternoon. Well, in order to win those dear children to the
Savior, "put on the Lord Jesus Christ," who said, "Suffer the little
children to come unto Me, and forbid them not."
In His sacred raiment you will make a good teacher! Are you a preacher
and about to address thousands of persons? How better can I advise you
than that you put on Christ and preach the Gospel in His own loving,
pleading, earnest style? The preacher's Model should be His Lord. This
is our preaching gown, our praying surplice, our pastoral robe– the
Character and Spirit of the Lord Jesus–and it admirably suits each
form of service! No man's example will precisely fit his fellow man,
but there is this strange virtue about the Character of Christ that you
may all imitate it and yet be none of you mere imitators.
He is perfectly natural who is perfectly like Christ. There need be no
affectation, no painful restraint, no straining. In a life thus
fashioned there will be nothing grotesque or disproportionate, unmanly
or romantic. So wonderfully is Jesus the Second Adam of the new-born
race, that each member of that family may bear a likeness to Him and
yet exhibit a clear individuality. A man advanced in years and wisdom
may put Him on and so may the least instructed and the freshest comer
among us! Please remember this–we may not choose examples–but each
one is bound to copy the Lord Jesus Christ.
You, dear Friend, have a special personality–you are such a person
that there is not another exactly like you and you are placed in
circumstances so peculiar that no one else is tried exactly as you
are–to you, then, is this exhortation sent, "Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ." It is absolutely certain that for you, with your personal
singularity and peculiar circumstances, there can be nothing better
than that you array yourself in this more than royal robe. You, too,
who live in ordinary circumstances and are only tried by common
temptations–you are to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ"–for He will
also be suitable for you.
"Oh," cries one, "but the Lord Jesus never was exactly where I am!" You
say this from lack of knowing better, or from lack of thought. He has
been tempted in all points like as you are. There are certain
relationships which the Lord Jesus could not literally occupy, but then
He took their spiritual counterpart. For instance, Jesus could not be a
husband after the flesh. Does anyone demand how He could be an example
for husbands? Hearken! "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the Church and gave Himself for it." He is your Model in
relationship which, naturally, He never sustained but which, in very
deed He has more than fulfilled. Wherever you may be, you find that the
Lord Jesus has occupied the counterpart of your position, or else the
position is sinful and ought to be stopped.
In any place, at any hour, under any circumstances, in any matter you
may put on the Lord Jesus Christ and never fear that your array will be
unsuitable. Here you have a summer and winter garment–good in
prosperity as well as in adversity. Here you have a garment for the
private chamber or the public forum, for sickness or for health, for
honor or for reproach, for life or for death. "Put you on the Lord
Jesus Christ" and in this raiment of worked gold you may enter into the
King's palace and stand among the spirits ofjust men made perfect!
II. Secondly, trusting to the Holy Spirit, let us enquire WHAT IS THIS
DAILY GARMENT? The Lord Jesus Christ
is to be put on. May the Spirit of God help us to do so! We see how the
sacred Garment is here described in three words. The sacred titles of
the Son of God are spread out at length–"Put you on the
Lord–Jesus–Christ." Put Him on as Lord. Call Him your Master and Lord
and you will do well.
Be His servant in everything! Submit every faculty, every capacity,
every talent, every possession to His government. Submit all that you
have and are to Him and delight to own His superior right and His royal
claim to you. Be Christ's
man–His servant, under bonds to His service forever–finding therein
life and liberty. Let the dominion of your Lord cover the kingdom of
your nature. Then put on Jesus. Jesus means a Savior–in every part be
covered by Him in that blessed capacity. You, a sinner, hide yourself
in Jesus, your Savior who shall save you from your sins. He is your
Sanctifier driving out sin and your Preserver keeping sin from
returning.
Jesus is your Armor against sin. You overcome through His blood. In Him
you are defended against every weapon of the enemy. He is your Shield,
keeping you from all evil. He covers you all over like a complete suit
of armor so that when arrows of temptation fly like a fiery shower,
they may be quenched upon heavenly mail and you may stand unharmed amid
a shower of deaths. Put on Jesus, and then put on Christ. You know that
Christ signifies "anointed." Now, our Lord is anointed as Prophet,
Priest and King, and as such we put Him on.
What a splendid thing it is to put on Christ as the anointed Prophet
and to accept His teaching as our creed! I believe it. Why? Because He
said it. This is argument enough for me. Mine not to argue, or doubt,
or criticize–the Christ has said it and I, putting Him on, find in His
authority the end of all strife. What Christ declares, I
believe–discussion ends where Christ begins. Put Him on, also, as your
Priest. Notwithstanding your sin, your unworthiness, your defilement,
go to the altar of the Lord by Him who, as Priest, has taken away your
sin, clothed you with His merit and made you acceptable to God! In our
great High Priest we enter within the veil. We are in Him. By faith we
realize this and so put Him on as our Priest and lose ourselves in His
accepted Sacrifice.
Our Lord Jesus is also anointed to be King. Oh, put Him on in all His
imperial majesty by yielding your every wish and thought to His sway!
Set Him on the throne of your heart. As you have submitted your
thoughts and understanding to His prophetic instructions, submit your
action and your practical life to His kingly government. As you put on
His priesthood and find Atonement in Him, so put on His royalty and
find holiness in Him.
I now wish to show the description given in Colossians 3–from the 12th
verse. I will take you to the wardrobe for a minute and ask you to look
over the articles of our outfit. See here, "Put on therefore"–you see
everything is to be put on–nothing is to be left on the pegs for the
moths to eat, nor in the window to be idly stared at. You put on the
whole armor of God. In true religion everything is designed for
practical use. We keep no garments in the drawer–we have to put on all
that is provided. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, tender mercies, kindness." Here are two choice things–mercy
and kindness–silken robes, indeed!
Have you put them on? I am to be as merciful, as tender-hearted, as
kind, as sympathetic, as loving to my fellow men as Christ Himself was.
Have I reached this point? Have I ever aimed at it? Who among us has
put on these royal robes? See what follows–these choice things come in
pairs–"humbleness of mind, meekness." These choice garments are not so
much esteemed as they should be. The cloth of one called,
"Proud-of-Heart," is very fashionable and the trimmings of Mr.
Masterful are much in request. It is a melancholy thing to see what
great men some Christians are. Truly the footman is bigger than his
master!
How some who would be thought saints can bluster and bully! Is this to
put on the Lord Jesus Christ? Point me to a word of our Lord's in which
He scolded and tyrannized and overrode any man! He was meek and lowly,
even He, the Lord of All–what ought we to be who are not worthy to
loose the laces of His shoes? Permit me to say to any dear Brother or
Sister who has not a very tender nature–who is naturally hard and
rasping, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ," my Brother, my Sister–and
make not provision for that unfeeling nature of yours! Endeavor to be
lowly in mind that you may be gentle in spirit.
See, next, we are to put on longsuffering and forbearance. Some men
have no patience with others–how can they expect God to have patience
with them? If everything is not done to their mind they are in a fine
fury. Dear me! Whom have we here? Is this a servant of Mars, or of the
Fire God? Surely this fighting man does not profess to be a worshipper
of Christ! Do not tell me that the man lost his temper. It would be a
mercy if he had lost it, so as never to find it again! He is selfish,
petulant, exacting and easily provoked! Has this man the Spirit of
Christ? If he is a Christian, he is a naked Christian and I would urge
Him to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ," that he may be fully clothed.
Our Lord was full of forbearance. "Consider Him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you become wearied and
faint in your minds." Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and bear and
forbear. Put up with a great deal that really ought not to be inflicted
upon you–and be ready to bear still more rather than give or take
offense.
"Forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel against any, even as
Christ forgave you, so also do you." Is not this heavenly teaching? Put
it in practice! Put you on your Lord!
Have you fallen to loggerheads with one another, and did I hear one of
you growling, "I'll, I'll, I'll—-"? Stop, Brother! What will you do?
If you are true to the Lord Jesus Christ you will not avenge yourself
but give place unto wrath. Put the Lord Jesus on your tongue and you
will not talk so bitterly! Put Him on your heart and you will not feel
so fiercely! Put Him on your whole character and you will readily
forgive–not only this once, but unto 70 times seven! If you have been
unjustly treated by one who should have been your friend, lay aside
wrath and begin again–and perhaps your Brother will begin again, also,
and both of you, by love, will overcome evil. "Put you on the Lord
Jesus
Christ."
"And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfection." Love is the belt which binds up the other garments and
keeps all the other Graces well braced and in their right places. Put
on love–what a golden belt! Are we all putting on love? We have been
baptized into Christ and we profess to have put on Christ–but do we
daily try to put on love? Our Baptism was not true if we are not buried
to all old enmities. We may have a great many faults but God grant that
we may be full of love to Jesus, to His people and to all mankind!
How much I wish that we could all put on, and keep on, the next article
of this wardrobe! "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to
which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." Oh, for a
peaceful mind! Oh, to rest in the Lord! I recommend that last little
word, "Be thankful," to farmers and others whose interests are
depressed. I might equally recommend it to certain trades people whose
trade is quite as good as they could expect. "Things are a little
better," said one to me–and at that time he was heaping up riches.
When things are extremely well, people say they are "middling," or a
"little better." But when there is a slight falling off they cry out
about, "nothing doing, stagnation, universal ruin."
Thankfulness is a rare virtue–but let the lover of the Lord Jesus
abound in it. The possession of your mind in peace, keeping yourself
quiet, calm, self-possessed, content–this is a blessed state. And in
such a state Jesus was–therefore, "put you on the Lord Jesus Christ."
He was never in a fret or fume. He was never hurried or worried. He
never repined or coveted. Had He nothing to worry Him? More than you
have, Brothers and Sisters. And did He not have many things to distress
Him? More than all of us put together! Yet He was not ruffled but
showed a prince-like calm, a Divine serenity. This our Lord would have
us wear.
His peace He leaves with us and His joy He would have fulfilled in us.
He wishes us to go through life with the peace of God keeping our
hearts and minds from the assaults of the enemy. He would have us quiet
and strong–strong because quiet–quiet because strong. I have read of
a great man, that he took two hours and a half to dress himself every
morning. In this he showed littleness rather than greatness–but if any
of you put on the Lord Jesus Christ you may take what time you will in
dressing yourself. It will take you all your lives, my Brothers and
Sisters, to fully put on the Lord Jesus Christ and to keep Him on!
Let me say again that you are not only to put on all these garments
which I have shown you in the wardrobe of the Colossians, but, more
than this–you are to put on all else that makes up Christ Himself.
What a wardrobe is this! "Put on Christ," says the text. Put on the
Lord Jesus Christ for daily wear. Not for high days and holy days only,
but for all time and every time! Put on the Lord Jesus Christ on the
Lord's-Day but do not lay Him aside during the week. Ladies have
ornaments which they put on occasionally for display on grand
occasions. As a rule, these jewels are hidden away in a jewel case.
Christians, you must wear your jewels always! Put on the Lord Jesus
Christ and have no case in which to conceal any part of Him. Put on
Christ to keep Him on!
I saw a missionary from the cold north the other day and he was wearing
a coat of moose skin which he had worn among the Red Indians. "It is a
capital coat," he said. "There's nothing like leather. I have worn it
for 11 years." In the arctic region through which he had traveled he
had worn this garment both night and by day–for the climate was much
too cold to allow the taking off of anything. Brethren, the world is
far too cold to allow our taking off Christ even for an hour! So many
arrows are flying about that we dare not remove a single piece of our
armor even for an instant. Thank God we have in our Lord a Garment
which we may always wear. We can live in it and die in it–we can work
in it, rest in it and, like the raiment of Israel in the wilderness–it
will never wax old.
If you have put on something of Christ, put on more of Christ. I dare
not say much in commendation of apparel here in England, for the
tendency is to exceed in that direction. But I noticed, the other day,
the remark of a missionary in the South Sea Islands. He stated that as
the heathen people became converted they began to clothe themselves.
And as they acquired tenderness of conscience and delicacy of feeling,
they gave more attention to their clothes–wearing more and of a bettor
sort.
However that may be as to dress for the body, it is certainly so as to
the arraying of the soul. As we make spiritual progress we have more
Graces and more virtues than in the beginning. Once we were content to
wear only faith, but now we put on hope and love. Once if we wore
humbleness, we failed to wear thankfulness–but our text exhorts us to
wear a full dress, a court suit–for we are to "put on the Lord Jesus
Christ." You cannot wear too much of Him! Be covered from head to foot
with Him. Put on the Lord in every time of trial. Do not take Him off
when it comes to the test. Quaint Henry Smith says that some people
wear the Lord Jesus as a man wears his hat which he takes off to
everybody he meets.
I am afraid I know persons of that kind–they wear Christ in private,
but they take Him off in company–especially in the company of the
worldly, the sarcastic and the unbelieving. Put on Christ, intending
never to take Him off again. When tempted, tried, ridiculed, hear in
your ears this voice, "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ."
III. My time fails me, and I must hurriedly notice, in the third place,
HOW ARE WE TO ACT TOWARDS EVIL IN THESE GARMENTS? The text says, "Put
you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfill the lusts thereof." By the flesh is here meant the evil part of
us which is so greatly aided by the appetites and desires of the body.
When a man puts on Christ, has he still the flesh about him? Alas, it
is so! I hear some brethren say that they have no remaining
corruptions.
I claim liberty to believe as much as I like of a man's statements as
to his own personal character. When he bears witness concerning
himself, his witness may or may not be true. When a man tells me that
he is perfect, I hear what he has to say but I quietly think within
myself that if he had been so, he would not have felt the necessity of
spreading the information. Good wine needs no compliment and when our
town once holds a perfect man within its boundary there will be no need
to advertise him! Goods that are puffed probably need puffery.
Brethren, I fear we have all very much of the flesh about us and
therefore we need be on our guard against it. What does the Apostle
say? "Make no provision for the flesh." By this he means several
things. First, give no tolerance to it. Do not say, "Christ has
sanctified me so far, but you see I have a bad temper naturally and you
cannot expect it to be removed." Dear Brother, do not make provision
for thus sheltering and sparing one of your soul's enemies! Another
cries, "You know I always was a good deal desponding and therefore I
can never have much joy in the Lord." Don't make room for your
unbelief! If you find a kennel for this dog, it will always lie in it!
"But," says another, "I was always rather fond of gaiety and so I must
mix up with the world." Well if you cook a dinner for Satan, he will
surely take a seat at your table! This is to make provision for the
flesh, to fulfill the lusts of it. Do not do so, but slay the
Canaanites–break their idols, throw down their altars–and cut down
their groves. Moreover, give sin no time. Allow no furlough to your
obedience. Do not say to yourself, "At all other times I am exact, but
one time in a year, at a family meeting, I take a little liberty." Is
it liberty to you to sin? I am afraid there is something rotten in your
heart.
"Ah!" cries one, "I only allow myself an hour or two occasionally with
questionable company. I know it does me harm but we must all have a
little relaxation and the talk is very amusing, though rather loose."
Is evil a relaxation to you? It ought to be worse than slavery! What a
trial is foolish talking to a child of God! How can you find pleasure
in it? Give no license to the flesh! You cannot tell how far it will
go. Keep it always under subjection and make no space for its
indulgence. Provide no food for it. Carve it no rations. Starve it
out–at any rate, if it needs fodder–let it look elsewhere.
When you are allotting your provision to the body, the soul, the
spirit–allot nothing to the depraved passions. If the flesh says,
"What is for me?" say, "Nothing." Some people like a little bit of
reading for the flesh. As some people like a little bit of what they
call "rather high" meat, so do these folk enjoy a portion of tainted
doctrine or questionable morality. Thus they make provision for the
flesh and the flesh takes care to feed on it and to give its lusts a
meal. I have known professors whom I would not dare to judge, dabble
just a little in matters which they would forbid to others but they
think them allowable to themselves if done in secret.
"You must not be too exact," they say. But the Apostle says, "Make not
provision for the flesh." Do not give it a morsel–do not even allow it
the crumbs that fall from your table. The flesh is greedy and never has
enough–and if you give it some provision it will steal much more. "Put
you on the Lord Jesus Christ," and then you will leave no place for the
lusts of the flesh. That which Christ does not cover is naked unto sin.
If Christ is my Livery and I wear Him and so am known to be His avowed
servant–then I place myself entirely in His hands always and
forever–and the flesh has no claim whatever upon me!
If, before I put on Christ, I might make some reserve and duty did not
call, yet now that the Lord Jesus Christ is upon me, I have done with
reserves and am openly and confessedly my Lord's. "Know you not," says
the Apostle, "that as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put
on Christ?" Being buried with Him we are dead to the world and live
only unto Him. The Lord bring us up to this mark by His mighty Spirit
and He shall have the glory of it.
IV. If this is the case and we have, indeed, "put on the Lord Jesus
Christ," we will thank God evermore. But if it is not so, let us not
delay to be arrayed in these garments. WHY SHOULD WE HASTEN TO PUT ON
CHRIST? A moment is all that remains. It is dark. Here is armor made of
solid light–let us put on this attire at once–then the night will be
light about us and others beholding us will glorify God and ask for the
same raiment. With so dense a night round about us a man needs to be
dressed in luminous robes. He needs to wear the light of God. He needs
to be practically protected from the darkness around him.
"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ," moreover, for the night will soon be
over and the morning will soon dawn. The rags of sin–the sordid robes
of worldliness–are not fit attire for the heavenly morning. Let us
dress for the sunrise. Let us go forth to meet the dawn with garments
of light about us. "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ," for He is coming,
the Beloved of our souls! Over the hills we hear the trumpet sounding!
The heralds are crying aloud, "The Bridegroom comes! The Bridegroom
comes!" Though He has seemed to tarry, He has been always coming post
haste. Today we hear His chariot wheels in the distance. Nearer and
nearer is His advent.
Let us not sleep as others do. Blessed are they who will be ready for
the wedding when the Bridegroom comes! What is that wedding dress that
shall make us ready? Nothing can make us more fit to meet Christ and to
be with Him in His glory than for us to put on Christ today! If I wear
Christ as my garment I do great honor to Christ as my Bridegroom. If I
take Him for my glory and my beauty while I am here, I may be sure that
He will be all that and more to me in eternity! If I take pleasure in
Jesus here, Jesus will take pleasure in me when He shall meet me in the
air and take me up to dwell with Him forever.
Put on the wedding dress, you beloved of the Lord! Put on the wedding
dress, you brides of the Lamb and put it on at once, for behold He
comes! Haste, haste, you slumbering virgins! Arise and trim your lamps!
Put on your robes and be ready to behold His Glory and to take part in
it! O you virgin souls, go forth to meet Him! With joy and gladness go
forth, wearing Himself as your gorgeous apparel, fit for the daughters
of a king!
The Lord bless you, for Christ's sake! Amen.
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– Romans 12; 13:8-14.