My Winter Jacket

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to begin by talking about some scripture in the book of Colossians, but before we do that….

When I get up in the wintertime and I decide that I’m going to go out and shovel snow off of my deck, I put on my winter jacket. When you put on something, it means to wear it. In the scriptures, we want to put on the new man of God by becoming what He wants us to be inside of our hearts. He’s causing a change inside each of us by His grace and we want to put on those new attributes that He has created in us just like we would put on a jacket.

To put on actually means to make it part of one’s appearance and behavior. Instead of being mean or unkind as we were in the past, we now want to put on the teachings of the Christian faith. We want to walk in true love towards God and our neighbors. God is taking a sinful person and through faith and forgiveness we become different then what we used to be.

Our behavior changes from the way we used to live. The relationships that we had with others in the past changes. Just like I put on my jacket in the morning, we want to make sure that we put on the new qualities that Christ is creating in our lives.

Col 3:12-13 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

The Scriptures clearly teach us that God loves and cares for us. He wants us to be reconciled with Himself, and that is why He sent his Son, Jesus Christ to save us. He washes our sins away through faith and trust in what Jesus did for us at the cross. Now, as a converted Christian, we are supposed to put on bowels of mercies.

Bowels of mercies means the seat of pity and tenderness. It’s the deep or remote parts inside of your heart. Merciful people are pitiful and tender. Somebody who has pity feels sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering and misfortune of somebody else.

Think about watching a child as they ride their bicycle down the road and all of a sudden they fall down and get hurt. Pity is what causes you to run up to them and pick them up and give them a hug.

James 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

1 Pet 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

We are supposed to be forgiving with each other in the church, just as God forgives us. People should apologize and feel bad about what they’ve done, and own up to their mistakes. When they do, You are supposed to forgive them.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, there was a fornicator, who Paul wanted removed from the church. The reason why those measures happened is because they were puffed up. They didn’t feel bad about what was going on. They weren’t sorry about it at all and actually thought it was acceptable. They were glorying in their shame.

Have you ever heard people sit around a table and boast about the evil things that they are doing? That is not a good thing. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. God wants to show us mercy and compassion, but we need to recognize sin and admit the truth that what we’ve done is wrong.

We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need, and we should be able to do that with others within the church as well. We must be able to admit the fact that we made a mistake, so that we can get forgiven and correct the issue at hand.

Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Matt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

God wants us to be kind with each other. Someone who is kind has good or benevolent features. They are decent in their nature and disposition. Kind people are considerate and helpful in nature and are generous. They genuinely care about other people. Kindness is showing that you care about other people, and not causing harm or damage to them.

Psalm 145:8-9 The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Because these are the qualities of God, we want to put them on every morning and wear them in our hearts and in our minds.

The Apostle teaches us to be humble in our mind. If you are humble you show a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. A humble person is someone who knows that they are not perfect. They are marked by meekness in their behavior.

Matt 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

A truly meek person will always turn to God for direction. They trust in the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. Only through meekness can we submit to the things of Christ. Moses was referred to in the scriptures as one of the meekest of all men. Look at his obedience to God and how God used him.

Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Somebody who is humble in their mind will humble themselves before God. When you are humble, you are meek and submissive. Like I said, that leads to obedience to God and His teachings. The opposite will be in opposition to God. It’s being proud, haughty, and arrogant. In that state, they fight against the things of God in their own hearts and minds. That’s why the apostle teaches to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may lift you up in due time.

The Apostle teaches us to be long suffering. Long-suffering means that you have or you show patience in spite of troubles that are caused by other people towards you. It means to patiently endure lasting offence or hardship that other people put you through. The last definition says it’s long and patient endurance of injury, trouble or provocation.

Our study verse continues at verse 13 saying….forbearing, one another and forgiving one another.

The literal meaning of forbearance is to hold back. For example, you are upset that one of your kids was misbehaving. They should be punished for what they have done. That’s called justice. But they are apologetic and truly feel bad about what they’ve done. Forbearance is not imposing a punishment that is rightly due to somebody.

Here’s a good example of forbearance and forgiveness.

Matthew 18:21-35 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

In this passage, we see forbearance, and we see forgiveness. To forgive means to stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone for an offensive flaw or a mistake. It’s to stop feeling angry at others because of what they’ve done wrong to you. When people do something wrong to you it hurts. It certainly makes you feel angry and resentful. These are natural feelings when you get hurt.

Think of two kids that are walking down a hallway at school. One of the children decides to trip the other so they fall down. The one that was trippped stands up quickly and yells at the other person who did it. That’s a natural response when somebody does something wrong to you. It resulted in an open rebuke. Instead of turning around and punching the child he rebuked him. That is called forbearance. In order to get forgiven for the wrong we’ve committed we have to apologize to those that we have hurt. There has to be an apology or admission of fault in order for forgiveness to take place.

Think of it like this.

Before you make a box of macaroni and cheese, you have to boil some water. Before we have forgiveness for our faults we first have to apologize and confess to others. If there were no apologies required, then everybody would be automatically forgiven, and there won’t be any need for a judgement day. That is not the case because confession is mandatory toward God and others. The reason why people don’t apologize is because of pride, which God detests.

The scriptures teach us that we first must confess sins in order to be cleansed from our sins. When we confess, we can be forgiven by God and others. True forgiveness will forget past events and reconcile with others.

When you forget what other people have done, you cease to feel resentment against them.

Verse 13 says if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

A quarrel is a heated argument and disagreement. It is an angry dispute or altercation that results in a temporary or permanent break in friendly relations.

It hurts when other people sin against you. That’s why you’re supposed to rebuke them. How can you forgive people who don’t apologize. In order to be forgiven with God we need to apologize and confess faults to Him. That is how we are supposed to do it with each other in the church.

You are supposed to forgive the person from the heart and reconcile with them. This means to forget what has gone on and return to the relationship that you had in the past. If you can’t reconcile with a brother that you have wronged, how is the love of Christ in them?

Jesus teaches us to be merciful, to confess faults, to forgive each other, and to reconcile relationships. These are the ways of Christ. These are the things that He taught and does for us. He wants us to show these qualities to the world.

Today, when you get up to put on your jacket, remember to put on the things of Christ and what he taught. Wear them in your heart and your mind for all of society to see.

I think that’s we’re going to stop right now, but Lord willing, we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then bye Bye, everybody.♥️

tlkjbc.wordpress.com