Romans chapter 13, mark that and let's read the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul is talking about how that one day that we are going to change and that we are going to experience something that we have experienced slightly here in this life, but not the fullness of it in this life. Now I want you to listen if you will, I'm gonna read 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in verses 1 and in verse 1 and 2. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly desiring To be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. We'll go ahead and add the third verse. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked this morning. I want you to think about that heavenly attire. Now, I don't know if you've ever really looked at that second verse, but he talks about putting on a house. Let's read that second verse if we can for just a minute. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. Now Paul is not saying that we are literally going to wear a house. The clothing that you and I have today and probably in some form or fashion, your clothing this morning is marked. And when I mean marked, it's identified. And I, whether it is, I'm throwing out some of the more common ones that maybe the younger generation, the Nike, the Adidas, and the Under Armours, or maybe yours is, I don't even start naming names, because I may get on the wrong end of the spectrum of what's appropriate or not appropriate. But what I want you to notice is this, is that if an attire comes from somewhere, there's a label that goes upon that so that you might know where it comes from. And that's what I've really been thinking about this week is, when you woke up this morning, and I don't want to confuse you with your physical clothes versus the spiritual, but I'm fairly convinced that I can say this with certainty. You had a choice what you wanted to wear to church today. Now you might've chose it based off the weather or based off what time of year it is and what colors are natural, but we have choices. Now something that people really don't want to probably discuss enough is that in our lives for God, we have choices. Now I wanna pause right there for just a minute because I wanna step aside to those that are unsaved. For those of us that are saved, we have a choice that we can put on all of these things, these righteousness and these armor or all of these things that represent Christ. But if you're here this morning and you are unsaved, you do not have any of these things. It's not like that you have access to them. You have to get saved and then these things become part of your life. But there is a heavenly attire that Paul said, he said, you know, one of these days what we have here, we're going to lay it aside, but you know what? We're not going to be naked and being unclothed. He said, I'm going to give you something that you're going to wear eternally. Let's admit it folks, things in this life change. Clothing changes, it wears out, and it's not just so much styles, but seasons, and all these things happen in that things change with what we are clothed upon. Listen, if you will, what he says in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter five, he's talking about how that one day you're gonna lay aside what you have on this earth, and it's gonna be compared to what you have or it's gonna be different than what you have in heaven. That's a very core belief of what we have. What you're gonna get in heaven is gonna be somewhat different, excuse me, of what you have here in this life. But if you want to with me this morning, I wanna go back to the book of Romans now if you mark that. And I wanna look at the book of Romans chapter 13 and I wanna skip down to the 14th verse. but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me stop right there for just a minute. Folks, it does not get more heavenly than Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is as heavenly as you can get. That's heaven. Heaven in its fullness is Christ coming down to this earth, taking on the form of a man. He was still heavenly. He took on the form of a man. Paul said in Romans, he said, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, by doing that, he said, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Paul said that there's a temptation that we have in our lives. And he said, and in this temptation that we have in our lives, he said, what are we going to choose to do? One of the things that I've really had. really pondering on my heart quite a bit this week. And I'm gonna read this. You don't have to turn back and read it to you, but I want you to see if you can identify what you put on. So as I get ready to read you a verse in just a minute, I want you to think about this. You put on Christ Jesus, or what is the alternative to putting that on? It would be something else. I began to read earlier in the week from the book of Genesis, chapter eight, where in the days of Noah, there was a flood. that in the days of the flood, I want to read you this verse if I may, Genesis chapter eight, and I'll read the seventh verse. But he said he sent forth a raven. That was the very first bird that he let go was a raven, which went to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Doesn't say anything about the raven returning. It said the raven left and the raven wouldn't come back. Now I want you to notice this. Ravens are considered unclean birds. which means they will eat anything. Anything that's living, anything that is dead. They will eat anything that is clean or anything that is unclean. They are not a clean bird, they are unclean. So that means no matter what had been out there for all of those days during the flood, that raven would go out and it would feast on that, even if it's what you and I would consider something we would never think about. Let me tell you what else he also did. but he also sent forth a dove from him because the difference is a dove will not feast on the things that a raven will. Now I want you to follow with me for just a minute. You remember how I said you can put on Christ or we can put on the worldliness or evil? Our fleshly desires are like that of a raven. We go out and if we're not careful, we consume the things that are unclean. But the dove, the Bible says that the dove went out. When it would not find anything, it returned. Why? Because the dove wants to eat grains. It wants to eat things that are living. But not only that, but notice what happened. The dove went out into the same environment, the same elements, but it could not find satisfaction for its needs. So you know what it did? The dove came back to the ark. You know what that ark is a symbol of? It's an ark which is a symbol of Jesus Christ. The dove understood and it had a nature that there were things that he could find in Jesus that he would not find. The raven was satisfied with whatever it could find. No matter how nasty or how polluted you might call it, the meat in the feast that it was going to find, the raven was satisfied with that. The dove went out and said, wait a minute, this is not clean. This is not what I want. I want to find what I have in Jesus Christ. For all of you that are saved, you're going to agree with this statement. You will find something in Jesus Christ you will not find out in the world. But the world is, we're like ravens, we go out in the world and we consume these things and they're, I don't know of a word I can use, but it's nasty, it's corrupt. But the dove came back because there was provisions made in the ark. Well, it said, so he sent forth the dove to see the waters were abated off the face of the earth, But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. She returned him to the ark. So it talked about how that finally when the dove went out, he knew that when the dove would bring back that which was life, that it was beginning to understand that there are things that are out there that are clean, that you can consume. So for a while there was just evil, but there's coming a day where there's gonna be clean. And I'm telling you that because I wanna get back to Romans if I can for just a minute. Paul says that we should put on Christ Jesus. Listen to what he said, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Romans chapter one tells us Paul's talking to the saints here, so he's not telling them that this is what you gotta do to be saved. That is a true statement. He's saying, but to the saved people, He said, you must make a choice. You must think about what you need to do. And he said, put on. So today I want to ask you something. If I was to ask you what kind of designer clothes you have, and I don't know if that's a right phrase to use, but when our clothing is labeled with names, I want to ask you this. Are you putting on Jesus Christ? You know, I learned a long time ago that one of the things that people like to do is they want people to see the name tags, it's just style, it's fashion. But they want people to see the name tags because they want to see that what they are wearing, whom it came from, or who it belongs to. Folks, the question I ask many people in the world today is this, do people see what we are wearing, our actions, our deeds, and our lifestyle, are they seeing Jesus Christ? So when I said there's a heavenly attire this morning, it just means that are we choosing every day to put these things on? For he tells them, he said, put on. So I'm not in the fashion loop and I think you probably catch that pretty quick. But if you would start throwing names out of certain fashions and styles, and I would ask somebody, how do you know what this purse looks like? Or how do you know what these men's shoes look like? They're like, well, I know that's what they are. They have a look or a style about them. I ask myself, when I start thinking about that, what does Jesus Christ look like? If people were to look at you, how can they identify you with Jesus? And the answer is, folks, they see you doing the same things Jesus has done. They see you loving and living in your kindness and compassion, standing for the truth and doing these things. It is an image that of Jesus Christ. And we see that it's important that for us, for those of us that have been saved, that we find out today is that the world that they might be able to see Jesus in us. I want to read if I can in the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians, I'll read to you if I may. Chapter 3 and in verse 12. Put on therefore as the elect of God. Make a choice. Put them on. Put on therefore, as this is Colossians chapter 3 and 12, Holy and beloved, bows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind. You ever wonder what that is? Humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And he said, when you put it on, let the peace of God, which rule in your hearts, do that which also you are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Today I thank God that every one of you made a choice. And I know you made a lot of choices already this morning. But you made a choice to be here. You put on those very things that we can experience God in that respect and in that way. I want to read if I can in the book of Isaiah. I want to turn over and read if I may. Isaiah chapter 61. And listen to what we read in the third verse. to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the trade that's going on here, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that that might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Skip down to the 10th verse. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Why is our soul, listen to what he said, our soul joyful in God? For he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He said, you know, there was something that you were needing in your life and you could not provide and cover yourself. But what did God do? He provided us, he said, the garment of salvation. He said, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, as a bride adoreth herself with her jewels. You see this morning, Isaiah is giving us a very clear picture that there is a heavenly attire. There's a heavenly wardrobe. People don't have to look at the name of the tag to say this is what they're wearing. This is the name or the line, you might call it, that they're buying from. They can see by what it is. My question would be this. If Jesus were to look at us today, would we be guilty of wearing heavenly attire? Would we be guilty today of wearing the things that we should? So I go back to a question I asked a little earlier. What does it look like? This morning, what does your day look like? Yesterday, what did your day look like? The day before that, what did your day look like? That the world seen the very fact that you wore the things of Jesus. Our lesson in the book of Romans chapter 13 said, put on. Put on. You probably recognize that very phrase from the book of Ephesians where Paul said to do what? To the armor of God. Listen to what Paul said. He said, he gives us that encouragement that we should, the sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians in the 11th verse said, finally, my brethren, be strong with the Lord, the power is mine. The 11th verse said, put on the whole armor of God. You know, Rome was a powerful nation. But what they had to also understand is that even in their power, there was still a weakness that they needed to put on something that was stronger than them. And that's why he said, put on the whole armor of God. You know, there's something I learned about, I don't say I learned, but there's something I've grown to understand about a soldier. That if they want to complain, or if they want to say that this armor is not sufficient, or they don't like it, or it costs too much, or it's not stylish, maybe that's the word that people might want to use, it's not stylish, then they can have a choice. They can take those things off. But I'll tell you this, folks, it is never advisable to live any portion of our life without being clothed and wrapped in Jesus Christ. So a soldier, if they're going to battle, they would have to trust this armor. And he said, put on the whole armor of God. Why would a soldier never argue about putting on the armor? Because putting on the armor is the difference between life and death. And pause with me for just a minute and follow with me here. Do you know what the difference between putting on Jesus is? It is the difference between eternal life in a place called heaven in the place that we call death and a place called hell. There is a difference if you are clothed. Remember in the very beginning that we talked about, put on ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, make no provision for the flesh. He said, put on, which means you have these things exactly the way that God desired for you so that you might be safe and secure from all of these harms. Romans chapter 13, where we're reading it. Go back a couple of verses to the 12th verse. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. He said, you know, sometimes we call it, this is the word we use, we like to layer, layer clothes. So that way, if you start getting hot or if you wanna put something on, you kinda, it's adjustable in that sense. He said, but if you want to be able to put on Jesus Christ, he said, it's not about layering and putting them on top. He said, you gotta get rid of some things in your life. Folks, if you're ever gonna get saved, you gotta let go of yourself. You've got to let go of your wishes, your desires, your ambitions. You have to let go of those and say, I want to be clothed in Jesus Christ. For Romans chapter three in verse 12 tells us, said the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. He said, but we're not going to stay in that state without anything, but let us put on the armor of light. For verse 14 is we've read to you, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. and make not provisions for the flesh. Let's talk about that for just a minute. What does it mean to make provisions for the flesh? The other day we come across the idea or the understanding of it, it's like a boy told that he couldn't go swimming but he took his swimming trunks and his friends asked him, said, why are you taking your swimming trunks? And he said, well, in case the temptation's too hard and I have to get in, at least I'll have what I need. And the point would be this. How many of us make provisions for the flesh? We wonder why we do it, but yet we put it right in front of us where it's accessible. Folks, let's just go a step further than that. Let's be pretty straightforward. There's some things in life we need to be disciplined to stay away from. Discipline to say that those things are not what we need or those things are harmful to us. We must separate from those things. He said, make not provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. Sometimes we invite evil to come into our life. And sometimes we invite the world to come up on us. And we, instead of taking Jesus Christ, he said, sometimes we do these things. He said, make no provision for the flesh to fulfill The lust. You know, if we're going to fulfill the things that are there, remember, the lust are just the cravings and the desires that we have in this fleshly life. Sometimes it's cravings and desires for materialism. Sometimes it's craving and desires that people have for power and prestige. And the list goes on and on of all the things that people desire. But let me ask you this. Do you desire Jesus Christ more than anything else? Preacher, that's a pretty hard question to answer. Preacher, that's not something I really don't know if I have the answer to that. Folks, my prayer this morning is this, is that God would help us to have a heavenly attire that we desire to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and put on those things. For I'm gonna read, if I may, Matthew chapter... Verse 22. The king is gonna come to see the guest in the 11th verse. Jesus speaking here. He's talking about the readiness of people to be a part of a kingdom. Now I wanna tell you something, in the beginning when we talked about putting on the house that we read to you there in 2 Corinthians and in Romans chapter 13 about putting on you the Lord Jesus Christ, What we're understanding this morning is this, that if we want to go certain places, we must be dressed. Maybe our title this morning should have been dress code. I don't know. But dress code means you've got to have on certain attire before you can enter in. I want to be very plain about something this morning. Not just anybody and everybody gets to go to heaven. It's those that are clothed in Jesus Christ. His works, His life, His righteousness, His rose. Remember when we said how that He, in Isaiah, how He talked about He provided these things? Look what we read in Matthew 22 in verse 11. And when the king came to see the guests, he saw a man that was not fit, he said. He had on not a wedding garment. He said, friend, he said, there's a celebration that's about to happen. And he said, how could you And he said unto him, friend, how comest thou into hither not having a weather garment? And because he wasn't properly attired for this, he said, this celebration's not for you. He said, this is for people that are properly attired. Please, if you hear nothing else, I want the unsaved world to hear this. Folks, there's coming a day that there's gonna be a celebration for the children of God. I believe that. I believe there's coming a glorious gathering together of every saint from the north, the south, the east, and from the west. We're gonna gather together, and one of these days, there's gonna be a great joy. But the problem is, there's gonna be others that's gonna wanna participate. He said, but wait a minute. If you're not clothed for this event, he said, you can't stay here. He said, so he said to the king, to the servants, bind him hand and foot and take him away. In other words, the person's going to want to be there at the wedding, but the problem is they're not clothed. They're not properly clothed with what they should have. Remember what we said, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what we talked about being that heavenly attire. He said, put on Jesus Christ. And he said, bind him hand and foot. He said, and take him away and cast him in the outer darkness. And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Our scripture here in the book of Matthew talks about how that when the king came that there were people that were not ready. And that if you didn't have on the right garments, you were not going to be able to stay there. And I want you to know today is that, that if, if a garment, let me say this right, I want to say this carefully. If a garment is required, if a garment had to meet certain specifications, do you think that God would have looked at the human race and said, now come up with it on your own? Or do you think he would provide it for you? You see today, when it comes to these certain requirements of what it takes to enter into heaven, you know, it would be, how sad would it be, and it would be a total, it would be a total, I guess you would say, I guess the word I'm looking for is, how sad would it be today that we would be able to not have these things? What a tragedy that would be. But listen to what he said, he said, I'm gonna require certain requirements, he said, but I'm gonna give to you what you need, but you've gotta put it on. Today I want you to know, and I'm gonna close in just a moment, that you must have and you must be clothed with Jesus Christ. And that's why when we read to you there in the very beginning, in the book of 2 Corinthians, that Paul talked about the importance and the necessity for us to be clothed with him. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. You mean to tell me that we can be clothed with heavenly things. Yes, that's gonna happen in heaven, but you also can experience that now and here upon this earth. Today my question would be this, do you have a heavenly attire on? If not, what a wonderful opportunity you have right here, right now. to be able to clothe yourself in Jesus Christ. It's not just something that you're covering yourself in. You cover yourself with someone, and that's Jesus. I want us to get a song this morning.