The following teaching was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, at the Friday night prayer and prayer service held on June 4, 1982. The title is, Put on Jesus Christ, and the scripture reference is Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 17. 

It was the theme that I wanted to think with you about for a few minutes this evening. Some of us were studying Colossians 3 about a week ago and that very theme emerged right out of it. You might like to turn to that with me.

Colossians chapter 3. In fact, it's one of the themes that runs all the way through the New Testament. I don't know if you've noticed it before, but in several very key passages, The instruction, in fact, the command is to put off the old nature and to put on the new nature.

It speaks of it almost as if it were a set of clothes. Put off your old clothes and put on your new clothes. Put off your old nature, put on the new nature, which is, as a matter of fact, Jesus Christ.

It is saying, in essence, put on Jesus Christ. And in Colossians 3, let's just take a look at this passage together. If you then have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you once walked when you lived in them, but now put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man that cannot be these distinctions among us, but Christ is all and in all. Put on men as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

And above all these put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in the one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teach and admonish one another in all wisdom and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your heart to God and whatever you do in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Put off the old nature, put on the new nature.

The old nature expresses itself in what Galatians calls the works of the flesh. It doesn't use that phrase here in Colossians, but it's saying exactly the same thing. The old nature expresses itself in the works of the flesh, in sinful works.

It expresses itself in this very ugly list of things, fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and so on. That's what I used to be like, apart from Christ. Were it not for Jesus, that's all I would be like.

Now, I might be able to cover that up to some extent and look better than that socially but if the truth were known that's what I'm like. That's what I am apart from Jesus. That's my old nature.

And when you become a Christian you don't fully lose that. It still hangs around and it still keeps trying to express itself and there's a battle between your old nature and your new nature. A lot of people are thrown by that.

They expect that when you come to Jesus, everything's going to be perfect. Lasts about three minutes. I was talking with a woman this morning, and she said, I heard on one of your tapes, and I was so glad to hear it, that you said a few weeks after you become a Christian, you feel like you've gotten worse.

She said, that's what I feel like. Why is that? I suggest that because for the first time your standards have really begun to be raised.

They haven't gotten there, but they're moving in the direction of the standards of God himself. And suddenly it really matters to you. Suddenly you're beginning to see yourself as God sees you.

If you saw that all at once, if you really saw what you're like as God sees you, it would kill you. You couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand it.

but you begin moving in that direction and suddenly you see how really incredibly awful you've been all your life and you're horrified at it and so as ugly as it looks and as painful as it feels that's a good sign that's a sign that God is working in you your old nature doesn't just disappear it's still there and it keeps trying to assert itself and now really rather than everything being resolved now the battle is really joined, you see, between that old nature and something new which wasn't there before, the new life of Jesus, your new nature. And Paul describes that in the book of Romans as warfare. You remember the passage, he says, I don't understand myself.

The things I want to do, I don't do. The things I hate, I keep doing. There's a warfare going on.

There's a battle inside me. And yet, here in Colossians, we're commanded. This is not an option.

This is not for the few who were elected divestry. This is for all of you. Put off the old nature.

Put it off. As a dirty, filthy, worn out, useless garment that you've outgrown. Put it off.

and put on the new nature. The new nature expresses itself, again, in Galatians, as what we call the fruit of the Spirit. And again, that phrase isn't used here, but it's talking about the same thing.

Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, love, forgiveness, and so on. Put on the character traits of the Lord Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit.

Now I want you to think about that for a second. This is the fruit of God's Spirit. This is the sort of character trait that will be produced in you if the Holy Spirit is living in you.

Right? The fruit of the Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is alive in you, then you can expect to see Him manifesting Himself somewhat like Jesus.

Right? That sounds like it's all His work. It's the work of the Holy Spirit.

It's what He does. It's the fruit of the Spirit. And yet what we were just commanded to do was something very vigorous, something active.

You do it. You put on these character traits. I don't know if that raises a question in your mind is it God's work or is it your work is it what God's spirit does in you or is it something that you are to do and that is an utterly false dichotomy the answer to the question is it is totally the work of the Holy Spirit and it is totally something that you do I might put it to you this way in Jesus Christ you now have a new power to do this and it's up to you to do it should I say that again?

in Jesus Christ you now have a new power a new resource the Holy Spirit is living inside you and therefore you now have the ability to put on these character traits to begin acting out this lifestyle in contrast to the way you used to be. There's a really remarkable structure to the passage that I've just read you. Look at it very closely with me.

Verse 3, it says, if you are in Christ, if you have been raised with Him, if you are, in fact, a Christian, verse 3 says, you have died. you have died now it may not have felt that way but that's the way it is your old life has died when you came to jesus christ what was symbolized in baptism is in fact the reality of your experience in baptism you were buried and then raised up again spiritually that's exactly what's happened to you if you've come to jesus christ your old independent self has died Okay? That's verse 3.

Verse 5 says, Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. You have died, therefore, put to death. Got it?

You have died, that's true, now, therefore, carry that out. Put to death as a deliberate act of your will, as a matter of self-crucifixion. what pertains to that old dead life.

You have died, therefore put to death. In verse 10, you have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. You have put on the new nature.

Verse 12, put on then, as God's chosen ones, all these lovely things, compassion, kindness, lowliness, and so on. You have put on the new nature, therefore put on. You have died, therefore put to death.

You have put on, therefore put on. Do you follow me? The truth of the matter is you truly are, you really are a new creature in Christ.

Nobody may have noticed, you see. But you are. Therefore, put on the lifestyle that is appropriate to that.

Again, back in verse 3, the passage says, your life is hid with Christ in God. That's where your true life is. Not here amidst all of these earthly relationships.

Your true life, your real life is hid with God, with Christ in God. Okay? And the passage ends, verse 17, And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Your life is hid with Christ in God, therefore do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. You have died, therefore put to death. You have put on, therefore put on.

Your life is hid with Christ, therefore do everything in the name of Christ. I could summarize that whole thing. In fact, I could summarize the entire Christian message, the message to Christians as this, be what you are.

Be what you are in Christ. Be what, be who you are in Christ. You now have a new power resident inside of you.

You are able, not in your own strength, but in the power of God to do things that previously would have been totally impossible to you. You have died to your old way of life. Therefore, you can put that to death.

You don't have to go on doing those ugly things. You have put on a new life, even though nobody else has ever noticed it. You now have a new power to begin living accordingly.

Your life is truly hid with Christ in God. Therefore, you can do it. Do you believe that?

You can do everything in the name of Christ to the glory of God? You probably won't. But you can. You probably won't. But you can.

You have unlimited resources at your disposal. you can do anything that God tells you to do by the power of Christ. To the extent that you'll open yourself up to it, take advantage of it, allow Him to express Himself in and through you.

But you see, the key is, He's not going to do that automatically. It involves your vigorous will. It involves a daily death to self.

Jesus said, if anyone would be My disciple, let him take up his cross daily. Daily. There are things every single day that you've got to deliberately crucify.

And if you don't, they're going to rear their ugly head just as if that's the way it has always been, you see. But by the inact of your will, you can put that to death because you have the power of God living inside you. You can put on the very character traits of the Lord Jesus.

This is not a mind game. This is not a matter of convincing myself that I am or I have or I can do what I really can't. Instead, it's a matter of discovering what Scripture says I really am and beginning to live accordingly. Discovering what Scripture says I really am and beginning to live accordingly.

Who I am in Jesus. What I am in Jesus. what I'm able to do in Jesus.

In Ephesians chapter 4, that's to the left. Starting with verse 17, it says this, Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do. In the futility of their minds, they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them.

Now the word Gentiles in that context doesn't just mean non-Jews. It means pagans. Those who don't know the Lord.

Those who don't know the Lord are in ignorance. You see, they don't know. And therefore they cannot be.

but you don't have to live like that anymore you're not darkened in your understanding alienated from the life of God they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness but you did not so learn Christ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus and then the very same thing put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your minds and put on the new nature created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Because you are not in darkness, because you are not in ignorance, because you're not lost in the futility of your minds anymore, you now can put off and put on. got it some of you are looking at me very strangely let's look at one more passage over in Romans chapter 13 still to the left in fact the very same imagery of coming out of darkness into light Romans 13 and verse 11 besides this you know what hour it is how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

The night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

In the New English Bible it says, let Jesus Christ Himself be the armor that you wear. Give no more thought to satisfying the bodily appetites. Put on Jesus Christ.

Put Him on. In one of the many versions of the famous story of the man in the iron mask. You know, there are lots of different versions of that.

One of the versions of that story is more like a fairy tale, really, than some of the others. It has the king being an incredibly, unbelievably ugly man. So ugly that people couldn't stand to look at him.

And so he hid himself away in darkness. And then one of his court advisors told him that there was a very beautiful young man in his kingdom and suggested, why don't you have a life mask made of that man's face and wear that mask? It will be obvious to everybody that it's a mask, but at least it will be more lovely than your own face.

And the king thought that was a good idea. And so he had a mask made of this very beautiful young man and he began to wear it. He wore it 24 hours a day, day after day, month after month, year after year.

And then sort of like the beauty and the beast, at one point he fell in love with a young lady. And he really wanted to ask her to marry him, except he knew that underneath that mask he was so ugly that she would be utterly horrified. And yet he was kind to her and he gave little expressions of his love and soon enough he won her heart and was emboldened to ask her to marry him.

And she accepted. And after they were wed, she asked him, would you please let me look at your face? And he said, no, it's so horrible, you would never be able to stand me again.

And she said, I've come to love what's inside of you, not what you look like, but because I love you, I want to see your real face, not just that mask. And so finally, against his better judgment, he took off the mask for the first time in years, only to discover that his own features had grown to fit the mask, and he now looked as lovely as that young man whose mask he wore. That's just a fairy tale.

But it's a rather profound fairy tale. Because what the New Testament is saying to those of us who are Christians is we can put on the mask of Jesus. See, at first it will feel as if you are simply play-acting.

You're doing things which are not really you at all. I mean, you want to be angry! See?

But you know that Jesus in that instance would be gentle and would be forgiving and would be compassionate. And so you put on the mask of acting in those ways. It doesn't feel right at all.

You're play-acting, you see. But that's exactly what it tells you to do. Put on Jesus Christ.

Act as if you were He. And you know what you're going to discover? When God Himself takes the mask off, And you know when that is?

When you see Him face to face. You know what Scripture says? We shall be like Him when we see Him as He truly is.

That in the process of living out that play acting, our features are going to grow to fit the mask. That's not our doing. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

but it involves our deliberate choice. It involves an act of our will. So, put off the old nature with its practices and put on Jesus Christ.

Let's bow our heads together. Father God, as an act of our will, we would deliberately this night put to death, crucify that which is of this earth, that which is of the old nature. And we know we're going to have to make that decision day after day.

We pray for Your grace and Your strength that you would help us to make that decision to put off the old nature with its practices and to put on Jesus Christ. Help us to help each other to grow into his mask for your great namesake. Amen.