Adapted from a Greg Nance sermon https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/church-clothes-greg-nance-sermon-on-church-general-157241?ref=SermonSerps

2. Jesus spoke to them again in
parables, saying:

14. God blessed them and said to
them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill
the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the
sea and the birds in the sky and over every
living creature that moves on the ground.”

16. The Lord God made garments
of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

18. Noah, a man of the soil,
proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he
drank some of its wine, he became drunk and
lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father
of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his
two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth
took a garment and laid it across their
shoulders; then they walked in backward and
covered their father’s naked body. Their faces
were turned the other way so that they would
not see their father naked.

19. When Noah awoke from his wine and found
out what his youngest son had done to him,
he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of
slaves will he be to his brothers.”
He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May
God extend Japheth’s territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

23. she took off her widow’s
clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise
herself, and then sat down at the entrance to
Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she
saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she
had not been given to him as his wife.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a
prostitute, for she had covered her face.

25. Make pomegranates of blue,
purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the
robe, with gold bells between them. The gold
bells and the pomegranates are to alternate
around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear
it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will
be heard when he enters the Holy Place before
the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will
not die.

27. “Make linen undergarments
as a covering for the body, reaching from the
waist to the thigh. Aaron and his sons must
wear them whenever they enter the tent of
meeting or approach the altar to minister in the
Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and
die.

29. But you are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of
him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. Once you were not a people,
but now you are the people of God; once you
had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy.

30. a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession,

31. Then I heard what sounded
like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing
waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”

32. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of
God’s holy people.)
Then the angel said to me, “Write this:
Blessed are those who are invited to the
wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added,
“These are the true words of God.”

33. Then I saw “a new heaven
and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away, and there was no
longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for
her husband. And I heard a loud voice from
the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place
is now among the people, and he will dwell with
them.

34. They will be his people, and God himself will be
with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe
every tear from their eyes. There will be no more
death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old
order of things has passed away.”
Righteous acts of God’s holy people
a bride beautifully dressed for her
husband.

35. And do this, understanding
the present time: The hour has already come for
you to wake up from your slumber, because our
salvation is nearer now than when we first
believed. The night is nearly over; the day is
almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light.

36. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime,
not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual
immorality and debauchery, not in dissension
and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about
how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
clothe yourselves with the
Lord Jesus Christ

37. So in Christ Jesus you are all
children of God through faith, for all of you
who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.

38. So I tell you this, and insist
on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as
the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
They are darkened in their understanding
and separated from the life of God because of
the ignorance that is in them due to the
hardening of their hearts. Having lost all
sensitivity, they have given themselves over to
sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity, and they are full of greed.

39. That, however, is not the way of life you
learned when you heard about Christ and
were taught in him in accordance with the truth
that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard
to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful
desires; to be made new in the attitude of
your minds; and to put on the new self,
created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness.

40. Since, then, you have been
raised with Christ, set your hearts on things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand
of God. Set your minds on things above, not
on earthly things. For you died, and your life is
now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory.

41. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to
your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you
once lived. But now you must also rid
yourselves of all such things as these: anger,
rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from
your lips.

42. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken
off your old self with its practices and have
put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here
there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or
free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

43. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and
dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience. Bear with each other and forgive
one another if any of you has a grievance
against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave
you. And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called
to peace. And be thankful.

44. “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor
hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

45. So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot
nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my
mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not
realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind
and naked.

46. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in
the fire, so you can become rich; and white
clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful
nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so
you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest and repent.