Turn with me in your Bibles please
to Galatians chapter 3. When my girls were growing up,
so many times I heard this phrase from them when we was getting
ready to go somewhere, I don't have anything to wear. That old
closet pull. But it was not that particular
thing they'd want to wear, I'm sure. But they'd say that to
me, I don't have anything to wear. Well, what we're going
to talk about tonight is last Wednesday night we talked about
what the Lord wore, some of the clothing He wore when He came
to this earth and then as He left this earth and was back
in glory. Tonight we're going to put on
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to talk about garments
that belong to us. And I think it'll be a blessing
to you. I hope it will. It was a blessing to me in my
study. But here in Galatians chapter
3, let's begin with verse 16 of Galatians chapter 3. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds, as of
many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which
was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that
it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of the law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to
Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law?
It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith, For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Note that phrase. Have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female.
For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
Then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. He tells us here that we put
on Christ, put on Christ. Another passage, Paul tells us
in Romans chapter 13 and verse 14, put you on the Lord Jesus
Christ and fulfill not the, may not provision for the lust of
the flesh. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I'm here to tell you something,
you can't put on what you don't have. Now, if my daughters would
have said, we don't have anything to wear, and the closet was empty,
that would have been a true statement. But you can't put on anything
that you don't have. If Christ is not in you, if you
are not in Christ, you can't put him on. You can't put him
on. And I don't know how to explain
putting on Christ. The scripture doesn't give us
anything about that. But this I do know. Of Him, of
God, the Father, are you in Christ Jesus? Of Him, are you in Christ
Jesus? The amazing, eternal covenant
of grace God the Father chose the people. The Son is the surety
for those people. The Holy Spirit regenerates and
calls those people to the Son. The Father draws them there.
All of us are ruined sinners because of Adam's fall. We're ruined. Nothing we can
do about it. We're sinners before holy God.
There's nothing within us that could merit any favor from God
Himself. If there was, then it would be
of worse. So the Lord made Himself surety for us. He redeemed us
with His own blood. And that redemption calls for
the forgiveness of sins. That very fact that I was a sinner,
I'm being redeemed. I'm forgiven. He reconciled us
to God by His blood, the blood of Jesus Christ. We are made
to be the righteousness of God in Him. He's reserved for us
an inheritance in Him. You see, the promise that we
read about here in Galatians chapter 3 is all about one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The seed, not as of many, but
of one, Paul says. There's one person, Jesus Christ. And the promise was made all
the way back in Genesis chapter 22. Remember when Abraham took his son up on the
mount and God had called him to sacrifice his own son. And
he went up there and he took the wood, the fire, and he bound
his son, laid him on the altar, and raised the knife and was
ready to kill his own son. The Lord stopped him. And he
heard something, looked behind him, there was a ram caught in
a thicket. And he used that ram as a substitution for his own
son. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done for us. God gave his own son in substitute
for each one of us because we had no hope without him. We had
no way to God without him. We had no life of God without
him. There was no truth to know without
Jesus Christ. And so when he came off, when
Abraham came off that mountain, the angel of the Lord spoke to
him again. And the angel gave him this promise
that we read about here in verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. And he said, not to seeds, as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. which is Christ. The promise
was made. And because of that promise,
because of Jesus Christ, the seed, verse 22, the scripture
has concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe. Aren't you glad
the Lord was faithful? Aren't you glad that he set his
face as a flint? Aren't you glad that he said
he must go to Jerusalem and there to be crucified? Aren't you glad
that he did go? Aren't you glad that even in
the garden he cried, Lord, if this cup could pass from me,
nevertheless, not my will, but thy will. He always did the will
of his father. By faith of Christ, we have this
promise. By faith of Christ, we have the
ability to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 23, and this
faith, he says, but before faith came, we were kept under the
law, shut up unto faith which should afterwards be revealed.
This faith is by revelation. It's not something you can muster
up. It's not like some tell us that
if you had faith as a grain of mustard and seed you could move
this mountain. Faith comes from God. Faith is a gift of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. It's the gift of God. We'll never
have faith until God gives us faith. And in verse 24, Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that
we might be justified by faith. Made righteous, the righteousness
of God in him, justified by faith. Before God, if I stood before
him in myself, there's no justification for me. None. None. All my righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. There's none good, no not one.
None that doeth righteous. None that seeketh after God.
But because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, we are justified
by faith. Made just before God. God looks at us, He sees His
Son, because we're in Christ. He sees His Son and He justifies
us. Verse 26, for you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. We're all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. We're baptized into Christ, verse
27, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ. We're all one in Christ, verse
28. There's neither Jew, Greek, there's
neither bond, the free, there's neither male nor female. You're
all one in Christ Jesus. That's those, those that God
elected, those that God chose in eternity past. You're Abraham's
seed, verse 29, and heirs according to the promise. The elect, the
chosen, are put into Christ. That's a pretty safe place to
be, isn't it? Think about it. In Christ. Oh, I know, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. That's good. That's good. That's
wonderful. But also, you're in Christ. You're in Him. You're in His
all that He is. He is all and in all. You're
in Him. Let's run just a few verses here
with just for a few moments. We're going to look at quite
a few scriptures here. Let's start with 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And as we look at this, let
me just say this, that all this is the sovereign will, the sovereign
purpose of our God. You're not in Christ by chance. You're not in Christ by decision.
You're not in Christ because you come forward. You're not
in Christ because you make a profession. You're in Christ because God
Himself put you in Christ. That's the only way to get there.
The only way. Jesus said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We are in Christ. That's what
I want us to see here in these few verses that we'll read. In
verse 22. 22, for as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. In Christ, that's where
life comes from. 2 Corinthians chapter 2, 2 Corinthians
chapter 2, verse 14. 2 Corinthians 2.14 Now thanks be
unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ. The victory is in Christ. Life
is in Christ. Victory is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.17 Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things have passed away,
all things have become new. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passing away,
all things are becoming new. Have you found that in your life? In your Christian life, the longer
you live, the more you see of things that have to be put on.
The more that you see of things that need to be put on. That's
the passing away. And all things becoming new.
The new things. We're the new creation of His. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, and where's that found? In Christ. In Christ. Spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. All in Christ. Chapter 2, verse
6. and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. In Christ. That's the place to
be. You're in heavenly places. Wherever
He's seated, you're seated with Him. We're in Him. Wherever He is,
that's where we are. He's on His throne, we're there
with Him. Chapter 2, verse 10 of Ephesians. For we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. We're His workmanship. He's the
one that does the making of it. He's the one that's made the
new creation. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. And then look at verse 13. But
now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. He is reconciled. He's brought
you to God. We couldn't get to God on our
own. No way. So the Lord Jesus Christ has
brought us to God. Philippians chapter 3. Philippians
chapter 3. Next book over. Philippians chapter
3, verse 14. Paul says, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God And where's it
found? In Christ Jesus. I pressed toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. And it's
in Christ Jesus. That's the only place I can go.
It's in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy
chapter 1. What I'm trying to do is show
you that everything we have is in Him. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 4.
I'm sorry, verse 14. Verse 14. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus. Grace, faith, love, it's all
in Christ. It's all in Christ. One other
verse about in Christ I want us to look at, and that's 2 Timothy
chapter 1, verse 9. And this one is very familiar
to us. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 speaking
of Jesus Christ who has saved us and called us with an holy
calling not according to our works but according to his own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began and you look at the latter part
of verse 10 The last three words, and that's where we found it.
When I came to the service that first time with Peggy, the gospel
was preached. I didn't quite agree with what
it was saying. I had 40 years of free willism
to back me up. And then I kept coming. And I found out, as I studied
those scriptures, I wrote them down, went home and studied those
scriptures, I found out what Pastor Donnie was talking about
was right. I'd been totally wrong for 40
years. And now, some 10 years, the Lord
has shown me what real faith, grace, what real grace, mercy
and love is. And I found out. All this is
in Christ. You see, God's put the elect
in Christ. He's clothed His people with
Himself. Job said, I put on righteousness
and it clothed me. Isaiah was speaking and writing
in Isaiah 61 and he says, He hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation and the robes of righteousness. Now that's the
kind of clothing I'd like to have. I don't think you can get any
prettier, glorious clothing. But it all comes from Him. And
by the way, it all is Him. It all is Him. And then one day, in the book
of Revelations, it tells us we're going to be wearing white raiment. righteousness, holiness, purity
for all eternity with the Lord. Think about it. God is the one
who clothes his people. Adam and Eve had sinned. God took the coats of animals
and covered their nakedness. He clothed Adam and Eve. Remember the demoniac of Gadara? who was up in the tombs, the
cemetery, and he was cutting himself, yelling and carrying
on, and breaking chains. They tried to hold him with chains.
They couldn't hold him with any chains. Then the Lord came along. And after the Lord got through
with that demoniac, you find him sitting, clothed, and in
his right mind. That's what God does for his
people. Remember the prodigal son? He had wasted his substance
on righteous living. And he came to himself, came
to that thought that, you know, my father said, he has everything.
I don't have anything. I'll just go home and tell my
father that I've sinned and I'll just be a servant of his. The
service will fare better than I am now. Do you remember what
happened? On his way home, his father spotted
him out of the distance, ran, fell on his neck and kissed him,
and then called for his servants to put on him the best robe. Put on him the best robe. The
father clothed his son. I'd like you to turn with me
to this one in Zachariah. That's the Malachi is the last
book of the Old Testament, Zechariah is the one just before that.
Zechariah, chapter 3. And did you notice that the father
put the best robe on his son? Not just anything. It wasn't
just some old cloth to cover up his filthiness and nakedness
because he'd been there with the hogs. He put on him the best robe. The best! That's what the Lord
did for us. He put us in Jesus Christ. We
have on the best robe there is. Nothing can be like it. Zechariah chapter 3 beginning
in verse 1. The Lord showed me Joshua, the
high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan
standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said
unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath
chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake
unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair
mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head and clothed him with garments. God does the clothing. God puts the clothes on. I can't
tell how this is done. I can tell you some of the things
about it, but I can't tell you how God does that. But God does. Whether I understand it or not,
God does. And even if I believe it or not,
God does. God does. And when He commands
us to put on Christ in Romans chapter 13, with His commands
comes His enablements. I don't know how to do it. There's
not a how-to book on this. Well, they got a lot of how-to
books out there, don't they? How to do this, that, and the
other. There's not a how to on this because our sovereign God
does the doing of it. He's the one who purposed it.
It is His will and He will do His pleasure. You know, when you put on Christ,
I don't know exactly how that's done, but I do know what God's
people look like. when they put on Christ. The
scripture does tell us at least that much. You remember when
Lazarus was in the tomb and the Lord said that he was the resurrection
and the life and that they would see his glory. And he walked
up to that tomb and told them to roll away the stone. Oh don't
do that. He's been dead four days. He'll
stink. and wrote away the stone and
he called Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth. That's what salvation is. He
that was dead came forth. And when he came forth, you remember
what he told the people around him? He told them to take off
those great clothes, loose him, let him go. That's what I've
needed. Ever since the Lord revealed
to me the truth and delivered me, I have needed for Him daily
to take off those gray clothes, to loose me and let me go. And you know how He does it?
Through the preacher who stands here Sunday morning, Sunday night,
and Wednesday night. And we come in here and we receive
the comfort of the gospel. But we also, Jesus said, now
are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
That's how he cleans us. That's how he dresses us. That's
how he puts Christ, puts us in Christ. And we put on the new
man. According to Ephesians chapter
4, Ephesians chapter 4, I'd like to read these passages to you,
but I don't think we're going to have time. Ephesians chapter
4, mark it down. Ephesians 4, 12 through 32. Read that. But in verse 24, we
are to put on the new man who is created in righteousness and
holiness. Put on the new man. who's created
in righteousness and true holiness as opposed to false holiness,
which there's a lot of. True holiness. He has made unto
us sanctification. That's the same word, holiness.
He's made unto us holiness. But on the new man, he says,
Paul says in Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 17, That
new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
him. We begin to know some things. Begin to learn some things. I
learned what grace really was. And I ain't over it yet. Every time I think about it,
every time I study about it, it's just more wonderful. The grace of our God for us. Put on as the elect the mercies of God. Put on charity,
he tells us. These are things, if you look
at a believer, here's things you might see.
True holiness. Righteousness. Charity. Love. Mercy. Well, the attitudes tell us what
they are, don't they? Blessed are the poor, for theirs
is the kingdom of God. The first one that was poor was
our Lord as he left glory and came to this earth. And then
tells us, blessed are the poor. Poor in spirit. Poor in spiritual
things. Don't see anything in themselves. They see it all in Jesus Christ. Put on charity. But on the whole
armor of God in Ephesians chapter 6. Turn with me there if you
would. Ephesians chapter 6. We will
read this passage. In Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 beginning
with verse 11. Paul says, put on the whole armor
of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. May I say to you that the first one to put on the whole
armor of God was the Lord Jesus Christ. And I can prove that
to you. Go with me to Isaiah chapter
59. Hold your place there, we're
coming back. Isaiah 59 Isaiah 59 and let's begin with verse
16 And he saw that there was no
man, God is looking here, and wondered that there was no intercessor,
therefore his arm brought salvation unto him. And his righteousness,
it sustained him. And he put on righteousness as
a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head. And
he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and he was clad
with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly
he will repay. Fury to his adversaries, recompense
to his enemies. To the islands he will repay,
recompense. So shall they fear the name of
the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the
sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of
the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Who is it? And the
Redeemer shall come from Zion. That's who it is. He put on the
armor first. This armor that we read about
here. Look at verse 14 of Ephesians chapter 6. Verse 14. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth. He is the truth. And having on the breastplate
of righteousness. He is the Lord, our righteousness. And your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. He is our peace. Above all, taking
the shield of faith, He was the one who first had faith, and then gave us faith. Wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,
and take the helmet of salvation. He is salvation. There's salvation in no other.
And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He is the word of God. But on that armor you're putting
on Jesus Christ. You're putting on the new man. If there was a way that we, by
our own power, could put on Christ, you know what we'd do? We'd be
bragging about it. Look what I did. Look how good I am. Look how
holy I am. Look how wonderful I am. Now
we'd be bragging about it. But all the glory goes to God.
That's why He does the putting on. He does all the work. He does all in salvation. One more time, from 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 30. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who has made unto us wisdom. righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Amen. Thank you, Father, for your word. Thank you for showing us that
your people are in Christ Jesus. There is, in our thinking, no
better place to be. May we put on Christ. May we
dress like Him. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Jesus Christ is all I need. All I need. All I need. He is all I need. All my plea. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and love. holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure. He is all I need. We'll see you Sunday morning.
Pastor will be back. Good. That was so good, so good. Thank you for all you do. It's the same. It's the same. It's the same. Translated. Yeah, I told him,
just, you know, and he walked up to me and told me this. And he said, Jesus? Yeah. And
that's what the whole thing was all about. I don't know. I don't know. Ready? Go. and our colleagues at IHSC have
been working on these constructions for over 40 years.