Newness, cont. Putting On Newness.

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching from Sunday, March26th. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mystifications are my fault (or something like that). All verses are from NASB 1995. I added some scripture references to things that Mike alluded to, but did not actually quote the scriptures. See brackets [].

Newness, cont. Putting On Newness.

Manna in the wilderness: newness and oldness were only a day apart. Good one day; old, wormy, and rotten the next. [Exodus 16] Our hearts and minds get excited by newness. New projects are exciting. But, by about 3/4 of the way through a project, it gets hard because it now old, and you are tired of oldness. It is hard to get it to the end.

Hebrews 3:12-13
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

So, how does deceitfulness crawl into us? One day at a time. We are either encouraging one another, pressing in to newness each day. Or the heart will harden. And hardening can result from holding onto yesterday’s newness.

What was Israel holding onto in the wilderness? Yesterday, the things of Egypt. [Exodus 16]

Why does God recycle things back into our lives, our minds? So that He can make them new again.

The Holy Spirit is compared to the wind. [John 3:8] Does the wind blow from the same direction everyday? No. Is it the same wind each day? The Holy Spirit makes old, well-read scriptures new to us all the time.

Colossians 3:5-17
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,
7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

“Put on the new self”
“Put on a heart of compassion, kindness...” This list is like the fruit of the Holy Spirit [Galatians 5:22,23] The fruit of the spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives AND we have to also put on these things. Both our work and the Holy Spirit's.

Patience, compassion, forgiveness, etc. are all hard work. We have to put them on. Anger, lying, etc are not hard.

It is work to put on the things God wants us to put on.

[Added. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.]

We should not recognize the old creature, but be recognized as new creatures. I am called to be made new again. Just because I was new yesterday, does not mean that I am new today.

[Added. Ephesians 6:11
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Context - Ephesians 6:11-18). ]

Newness doe not just happen, it must be put on.

Adoption. We have all been adopted by God, but He did not “poof” [by magic] us. [Romans 8:15] We have to receive what He is doing. Each day. We have to receive adoption, put on the new self, put on the armor of God, etc.

The disciples had to “put on” being “fishers of men.” They probably did not realize what Jesus meant when H e called them, not even when was teaching or when He died. They probably began to realize when they received the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Then they had a new Helper to explain it to them, to show them how to do it.

Colossians 3:10-16
“Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge...”
“Put on the bond of unity”
“Allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts”
“Allow the word of God to dwell richly in us”

[Added. Matthew 9:16-17
16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk [new] cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”]

Are we putting on the old or the new?

Are we putting new wine into new, flexible, wineskins? Or are we putting old wine into old, stiff, inflexible wineskins? If we say that the old wine is good enough, we are unlikely to get new wine.

Prayer: Lord, what are you saying about newness and oldness? Lord, we ask you to speak to us again today. We thank you for speaking to us yesterday. Teaching us, reminding us yesterday. But we ask for it again today.

And help us to encourage and remind each other to hear You again today.

Remind us to live in newness, and not be satisfied with oldness.