Sermon Tone Analysis

How many people remember a children’s story that was written in the mid 1800’s by the Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, entitled, The Emperor's New Clothes?

Allow me to give you the short version of the story and then we’ll move on.

EXPLAIN THE BASIC GIST OF THE STORY TO THE CROWD

I spoke 2 weeks ago, on the subject of the Ekklesia of Jesus and I mentioned at that time, that I was going to be revisiting this topic over the next couple of weeks or so.

(Which, if I may remind you, is always subject to change, based upon the unction and leading of Holy Spirit!)

Anyway, this morning is an indirect continuation of that topic.

And what I mean is this.

I am talking about the Body of Christ, but a very specific aspect of it.

Today’s message is entitled, “Clothe Yourselves” and it stems from a passage found in the book of .

Now, before we jump into that passage and read it, let me show you a few pictures this morning and as you see them, you tell me what they make you think of, OK?

SHOW SLIDES

Carpenter

Right, that I am a carpenter, or a handyman, right?

Now, let’s say that you see me with

Doctor

Fireman

Baseball player

Astronaut

Police officer

Burglar (IRS representative)

Soldier

Preacher

OK, so my overall point is this, when we see certain outfits, uniforms, or articles of clothing, we automatically label them, or assign them to a certain type of person, or occupation, correct?

If you are an officer in the military and you are wearing your dress uniform, there are standards that one must go through in putting them on and how they should look, right?

If you are an officer in the military and you are wearing your dress uniform, there are standards that one must go through in putting them on and how they should look, right?

It’s not open to interpretation for the individual.

The same way with any other professional job, the employer sets a dress code and it is expected to be followed.

(Like when I worked for the hospital or Benchmark.)

Even when you go all the way back to the Levitical priesthood and that of the High Priest, God gave specific directions on their attire and how they were to be dressed in the book of Exodus: a breastpiece, a priestly vest, a robe, an embroidered shirt, a turban, and a sash.

Only gold and fine linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool, were to be used for making these clothes.

Even today, within church buildings all over the country, like the slide that I just showed with Reverend Graham in it, people have a preconceived idea as to what a PREACHER is to wear and what they should look like.

And if you take it one step further, many people will go out and buy a whole new outfit, specifically for one church service a year, because that is what is the norm and accepted.

In other words, we can tell a lot about a person, by the what they wear.

Now, please do not take what I just said and run with it, as an excuse to judge others, or look at them as lesser of a person, because of what you see them in.

As we don’t know the circumstances of someone’s life and their background, right?!

But, what I am saying is this.

If you know me and you are fairly familiar with me and my life and you know that I have the means to show up somewhere in clean, neat clothing, not expensive, but just clean and neat and yet, whenever you see me out somewhere, I am wearing dirty looking, torn and just very unkempt looking clothing, you would assume rather quickly that I am a lazy, messy person, right?

The way that you CHOOSE to openly portray yourself, that is, the attire in which you want others to look at you wearing and the manner thereof, says something about an individual.

Our society and culture today thrives on showing as much of ourselves to others, as we possibly can.

Social media is full of the infamous “selfies” with young men and women taking and posting photos of themselves that really enhance and portray some aspect of their anatomy through some “skimpy”, to say the least, articles of clothing!

The point is, you and I choose, to a certain degree, to present ourselves before others in such a way as to represent and say something about us.

Whether through a regulated choice, like a work uniform that is mandatory, or through our own personal choice of attire.

Large and in part, you and I choose what we want to put on, correct?

I am a 50 year old man and I choose what I am going to put on every day, my wife doesn’t do it for me.

When I was a boy, my mother would help with color matching, but even then, as long as it was clean and neat, she would let me pick out things that I wanted to wear to school or church.

Well, today we are looking at a very similar subject and of how and what we choose to wear, but looking at it from the spiritual aspect.

And in doing so today, I am going to show the outfit that a Kingdom Ambassador is to wear!

In the story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor’s New Clothes, we can see a picture of open pride and also of deception.

The emperor was very prideful and boastful about the way in which he appeared before his subjects.

And in the midst of his pride and arrogance and narcissism, he opened himself up to deception, which is exactly what happens in this story.

The two tailors come into town and promise that they make the most elaborate and delicate and pristine outfits that anyone had ever seen, by creating materials, that were so fine and precious, they couldn't be seen by people who were either unfit for office or were particularly stupid.

So, not only was the emperor and his staff deceived, because of pride and not wanting to be labeled as “stupid”, by the “world’s” standard, but even the common people in the city, played along so that they were not looked down upon as “unwise” in the ways of the world!

It was only through the honest and humble eyes of a CHILD, that the truth came out.

And even when the TRUTH began to be declared by all who were present, the emperor went on to keep up the facade, so as to keep himself from looking like he had been deceived!

Now, take this same story and let’s apply it to the world we live in today and see how many “emperors” there are all around us!

That is, those who are deceived and living in deception and “wearing” certain garments so as to look a certain way, but not wanting to change what they are wearing, because they don’t want anyone to know the truth about their lives.

You see, when you are presented with the TRUTH, it forces you to do one of two things; fess up and change and repent and turn, or keep on with the lie and deception and see how long you can ride it out!

TRUTH demands action!

And when I am talking about those who are “wearing” the garments of DECEPTION, I am not just talking about the lost sinners all around us.

I am speaking about men and women who attend our EKKLESIA, our church gatherings, every single week!

We have many, many people in and around our daily lives, as well as in the churches we attend, who are living in deception, that is, they are living apart from the TRUTH of the Bible and thus with active sin in their lives.

And yet, they either are too deceived to see that they’re spiritually naked and bare before God and others and not wearing the garments they think they are, or they have been exposed to the TRUTH, but they still choose to live in the realm of deception, because of fear or complacency and keep up the facade of their life!

Just like the emperor, they choose to walk on in the deception, and yet knowing the truth, they exchange it for the lie and they worship the creature, rather than the creator!

Look at exactly what Jesus said about this very thing to the church of Laodicea in ,

And please understand from this point on, that when I am talking about garments within this message, I am speaking on a spiritual level and not physical garments, OK?!

It is important that everyone here, or who is watching this message, realizes that we are prone to the deception of the enemy, if we ever even incrementally slip from the FULL TRUTH of the word of God, we become prone to the devil’s deception!

The Word of God says this about our enemy, the devil, in ,

The devil can come to us as an angel of Light and those who serve him, will come as false workers and deceivers and false apostles of Jesus.

If we do not guard our hearts 100% against the lies of Satan and his messengers, according to the Word of God, then we become open to and vulnerable to his deception and the sin and corruption that comes with it.

I listened to the testimony the other day of a gentlemen who was in a pentecostal service several years ago, for the first time, as he was raised in another denomination.During this service, he said that a message being given in tongues broke out and then someone began to give an interpretation of the message.

(As is correct according to the Bible.)

As this took place, the people all began to clap and cheer and praise the message as it was interpreted.

The man said that at one point in the message, he recognized the word “excrement” in Arabic and then he began to pick up on other words in Arabic and realized that the person was giving a message in Arabic and that the interpretation that was being given, was not even close to what the man was saying.

The man was cursing God directly in Arabic and the other man’s interpretation was not even in the ball park as to what was being said and all the while, the people were cheering it on!

“Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” and in this disguise and the way in which he presents himself to us as appearing to be TRUTH, if we are not listening to Holy Spirit and what He is saying and lining up the word of God with what we are doing and saying, then we become fair game for deception!

As the devil comes disguised, CLOTHED, as an angel of light, we can become deceived and clothe ourselves in the old sinful nature that we once were apart of, as Paul mentions in the passage that we are looking at today.

In , the Apostle Paul shows us the NEW LIFE that we are to be living in (not expecting to be in one day, but rather, living in it now as a present reality!).

And the way in which Paul explains this, is likening it to that of someone who is exchanging their garments, their clothing, from one style to another.

In verses 1-9 Paul speaks of the “old nature”, the “old you and I”, before salvation came to us through Jesus and what we once looked like, is not to be what we are to look like now.

Paul reminds us that we have a NEW LIFE with Christ and that our minds, our thoughts and desires are to be focused on heaven, where Jesus is and not here.

Do your desires and cares and concerns look like heaven or earth?

In verses 5-9, Paul speaks of the “old garments”, the “old clothing style” , that we are to shed, to take off, as part of this NEW LIFE that we have in Christ Jesus.

,

In the OLD LIFE, we wore the garments of :immorality, impurity, lust and evil desires, greed and idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander and filthy language and lying and deceitfulness.

Paul explains that these were all part of the old clothing that we used to wear and that made us LOOK like the world and the OLD LIFE that we were a part of.

He says that we have put off the old self and its practices, if in fact, we are truly children of God through salvation.

And when any of these things are active in our lives, it is like we pick up and put on our old, filthy, stinky clothes that we once wore and don them again!

It is by these old garments, that the world identifies us and identifies with us and calls us one of its own.

Paul goes on to say in verses 10-11, that we have a new line of clothing that we are to be wearing.

He says that this NEW line of clothing will and should, gradually make us look like our Creator.

Just like when people wear the clothing of their idols in our natural life, so that they can identify with them and hopefully receive the complement from someone of being told, “Man, you look like .......!”

What could be a greater complement, than being told, “Man, you look like Jesus”?!!!

Paul also mentions that there are no BRANDS, or LABELS with these clothes that divide or separate us any longer: no Jew or gentile, no circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free.

In other words, we are all to look exactly the same, without regard to any petty differences.

Christ is all that matters.

We are to look like Him, period!

It is like going to the clothing store and going through all of the garments and all of the name brands that people wear and that they identify by and throwing them all out in the garbage.

The only line of clothing that we are to wear for all eternity, is the “JC” line of clothing, so that we all should reflect and bear His glorious image!

So, what does the “JC” line of clothing look like?

What are the NEW garments that we are supposed to wear?

Well, in verses 12-15, Paul shows us these garments and explains what wearing them will feel like.