context here, Zechariah chapter 3 and we'll read the entire chapter. Please follow along in your copy of God's Word as I read. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel. Then he answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And to him, that is to Joshua, he said, see, I have removed your iniquity from you and I will clothe you with rich robes. And I said, let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and they put the clothes on him. And the angel of the Lord stood by. Then the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command, then you shall also judge my house and likewise have charge of my courts. I will give you places to walk among these who stand here. Here, oh Joshua, the high priest. You and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign. For behold, I am bringing forth my servant to the branch. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon the stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of Hosts. And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. And that day, says the Lord of Hosts, everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you. You may be seated. In the immediate context of this passage, it speaks to Israel. The immediate context is of God's work through Joshua, who is the high priest of Israel, representing the people before God and what God's plans are for his people, Israel, in removing their iniquity in one day. The point of this passage is that the only hope for Israel is the work of Christ, the angel of the Lord. But that's the same point for all of us. The only hope, the one and only hope for the entire world is Christ, the angel of the Lord. This vision shows that Christ saves his people and that Christ will save his people. But tonight we will confine ourselves to the first portion of this, possibly the first seven verses. We'll see how far we get, but I want us to see that we are saved by the work of Christ and we are saved for the work of Christ. We are saved by the work of Christ, His saving work, and we are saved for the work of Christ, that is, His serving work, serving Christ. Come to chapter three, we see first Joshua, the high priest. Joshua here represents not only the institution of the priesthood, but also the people of Israel. And as the saying is elsewhere in scripture, as people sow the priest, here it is. Joshua, the one who stands before God on behalf of the people, as we will see in a moment, is soiled. Just as Israel also is soiled by sin. This passage introduces us then to this Joshua, not the Joshua that follows Moses as leader of Israel, but the high priest who was instrumental and involved in the spiritual leadership of the people that come back from captivity during the rebuilding of the temple. He represented that spiritual office of the priest, while Zerubbabel would represent the political office of the governor. The name Joshua means Jehovah or Yahweh saves. Joshua is mentioned several places in scripture. He's mentioned, for example, in Ezra chapter 3. It speaks about his zeal in rebuilding the altar of God to offer burnt offerings upon it according to the law of Moses. We see in Ezra chapter 5 that they prophesy to the people, encouraging them in the work. In Haggai chapter 1 and verse 12, Joshua is mentioned along with Zerubbabel. And these are people who obey the voice of the Lord and begin rebuilding the temple as God has commanded. He's also mentioned in Haggai chapter two. As the temple begins to be built in Haggai, and some of the people who were older realize that this temple will be nowhere close to the former glory of the previous temple. Joshua is mentioned and specifically God says to Joshua that he is to be strong in this work. So Joshua was an important and prominent person at this time. So that's Joshua, the high priest. The second person that we encounter there in chapter three, verse one is the angel of the Lord. Now, when you encounter this title, the angel of the Lord, you see that Lord in all capitals, That's speaking of the angel of Yahweh, the angel of Jehovah. And when you encounter this angel in scripture, it's very obvious as you read that this is not simply an angel like the other angels. There's something different about this angel. One major difference is that if you look in the pages of scripture, other angels refuse to be worshipped. You might remember in the book of Revelation, on more than one occasion, John sees what's going to come. He sees the revelation through the messenger, the angel, and he bows down to worship at the feet of that angel who had shown him those things. And what happens? Well, the angel actually says, see that you don't do that. I am your fellow servant. So angels, Regular angels refuse to be worshipped. But the difference is that the angel of Yahweh, the angel of the Lord, receives worship and is identified as God. An example of that would be in Exodus chapter 3, when Moses encountered the angel of Yahweh, the angel of the Lord. Scripture tells us in Exodus chapter three, Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush. You know the story, what happens? It's the angel of the Lord though, that is said to appear to him. But as soon as Moses turns aside to see what's happening, Who is it that speaks to him? Yahweh. God speaks to him. So this angel is not just a typical angel. The angel receives worship and is actually identified as God. In fact, if we keep reading there in Exodus chapter 3, the angel of the Lord is there appearing to Moses in the burning bush. As soon as Moses turns aside, We see that the Bible tells us that it is the Lord, Yahweh, that speaks to Moses. And one of the things that he says is, I am the God of your father. The God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. So the angel of Yahweh, the angel of the Lord, is clearly identified as God in the Old Testament. And again, we're talking here about the Old Testament. So he's identified as God, and yet there are times when he's also said to be with God, which might seem confusing to us. We saw this, for example, earlier in Zechariah chapter one, verses 11 to 13. In that passage, you have Yahweh, Lord in all capitals, and you have the angel of the Lord, and they're talking together. Now that might seem confusing, but it makes sense within the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. That is, that within the being that is God, there are three co-equal and co-eternal persons, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you see this idea of the angel of the Lord, who is God, being with the Lord, who is God, it's not just an Old Testament concept. Some of you Bible readers might have memorized John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. So here you have the Word who is said to be with God, But the word is also said to be God, just as the angel of the Lord is God, and yet is said to be with the Lord or with God. How's that possible? It's possible within the context of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. And in this passage, or in the book of Zechariah, whenever you see this, the Lord and the angel of the Lord, you have God the Father and God the Son. You have the angel of the Lord speaking to the Lord. But often within the book, you simply have the angel of the Lord identified as the Lord. So, all of this, to summarize that, the angel of the Lord is not a typical angel, but is what is called a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, an appearance of Jesus before he took on flesh as a human being in Israel in first century. This is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. So, you have Joshua the high priest, you have the angel of the Lord, Christ, and the third person that is mentioned here in chapter 3 verse 1 is much more sinister. You see in chapter 3 verse 1, he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. Some commentaries and commentators that I read this week on this passage seem very hesitant to identify this Satan as the Prince of Darkness himself. And I'm not sure exactly why that is, even after having read what they have to say. I feel no such hesitation. In fact, In the Hebrew, it's actually THE Satan. As you read this, it says, he sees that Joshua the high priest is standing before the angel of the Lord and THE Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. Now, some of you might know what that word Satan means, but it's essentially the adversary. This is the adversary of our souls, Satan himself. So here is Joshua the high priest, the angel of the Lord, and here is Satan, and what is Satan doing? He's standing at his right hand to oppose him. This Satan is the very same adversary that accused Job of only serving God because he got good things as a result of it. And this is the same Satan that is spoken of in Revelation chapter 12 as the great dragon, the serpent of old, the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world. That Satan, by the way, is also described in that same passage, the next verse, as the accuser of our brethren, who accuse them before our God day and night. And that's exactly what Satan is doing here. As you see in verse one, he said, to oppose him, but specifically the opposition is against the high priest, Joshua. Satan is accusing or opposing Joshua. And it is important that we realize that there actually was a legitimate reason to accuse and to oppose Joshua. Joshua, we see in verse three, is clothed with filthy garments. Now, it's one thing to face a false accusation, right? You can say, well, that's not true. I didn't say that or I didn't do that. But it's quite another thing to be opposed by someone who knows exactly what you did wrong and you have no defense. And that's what state Joshua is in. In this vision, Joshua is clothed, verse three, in filthy garments. I looked at several different translations of this word and every single one that I could find used that term, filthy. I think we understand the difference between something being messy and something being dirty. And I think we know the difference between something being dirty and something being filthy. Here, Joshua, the high priest, who was to represent the people before God, is clothed in the priestly garments, but those garments are filthy. John might remember several years back when I went and I bought a PlayStation for him and Claire. We bought some used controllers. And I thought, well, I'll buy these used controllers. It'll be cheaper than buying brand new ones. I think I might have bought a couple of them. and they were just in plastic bags, and I got them home, and one of them was absolutely disgusting. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned this thing, and it's still, no matter what I did, when I picked that thing up, I would see more nasty filth and food and everything just all over this. And I finally ended up taking that controller back, not because it didn't work, but because it was nasty. It was filthy. Well here, that was a nasty, I didn't want to hold that thing, it was disgusting. But as disgusting and filthy as that controller was, it doesn't really even describe the depth of nasty filthiness of Joshua's garments here. I looked this up in the original languages and the root word, the root of this word that's translated filthy is actually dung. It's like Joshua's robes, his priestly garments, are covered with excrement. Years back, when I was a teenager, there was a man in our church that had purchased a farm about a year or so prior to this date, and he said he needed some help out at the farm. And so, I went and worked there. And he had not cleaned his barn for about a year that he had had possession of that farm. And he had cattle, he had pigs, he had fowl, and there was so much of that nasty stuff. In fact, the one area, I think I've told you about, some of you about this before, When I walked into this one room of the barn, I actually walked up into the barn instead of down into the barn. Because there was so much of, shall we say, what comes out of the south end of a northbound cow, that it was actually, you had to step up into, and once we cleaned it out, we found that it actually, you had to, once we had the whole thing cleaned out, there were actually two steps down to go into that room. It was nasty. It was filthy. And working under those conditions, I smelled horrible. And even though I would change before the ride came to take me home, or else if I didn't change I would have something to sort of protect myself so I wasn't getting that all over the seats of the car that I was going to be in, it was still disgusting. And here is the man who is supposed to stand before God in these ceremonial garments that are to represent his purity before God. And those very garments are actually covered with excrement. I remember years back, my home church, We had a school at the church during the week and so because of that, one of the doors to the main offices would be open and people could come in. And one time, this man who was not in his right mind came in and decided to just sort of camp out and sleep there in the church on the furniture there. And this man was not in his right mind and he was homeless. He did not have control over his bodily functions, and he hadn't showered. And I remember that that place, you could actually smell, after the man had left, you could smell for about a week. And they cleaned and disinfected and everything. And as you have these ideas in your head, or you hear these stories, there's a sense that's kind of the idea here. Joshua, the high priest who should have stood before God, clean, clothed in these priestly garments, is instead standing before God, not just covered with a little bit of dust or mud that splashed up when he was on his ride on the horse over. No, he's covered with excrement. And so, Satan has legitimate reason to accuse him. Of course, that defilement of his robes is symbolic. It's symbolic of the defilement of sin. And Joshua's defiled status is the same defiled status of the Israel that he represents. That defilement of the garments is meant to symbolize His defilement and the people of Israel's defilement by sin. But it isn't just Joshua and Israel who are defiled by sin, is it? This is the condition of the entire human race. We don't think of our sins that way. Our sins are cute and easily forgivable in our minds. But in God's eyes, they're disgusting. Isaiah chapter 64 verse 6, all our unrighteousnesses are as filthy rags. The proverb in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 12 would say, and this is a perfect description of today's world, there is a generation that is pure in its own eyes and yet It is not washed from its own filthiness. Yes, friends, sin is defiling. It is filthy. It is nasty. And the fact that we don't see sin that way shows our own hardness of heart and our own lack of spiritual understanding. Satan gets it, though. He gets that Joshua is defiled and thus accuse him. Though Joshua is clothed with filthy garments and he is personally and ritually defiled, someone stands up to defend him. And who is it that stands up to defend Joshua? It's the angel of the Lord. Look at what he says in verse two. The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? I chose Jerusalem and I plucked this brand from the fire. I saw a YouTube video a few years back and some of you might have seen this video as well. This poor little girl, she opens up her Christmas gift and she receives this little flying toy fairy for Christmas and she winds it up and the first flight of this toy fairy goes directly into the fireplace. It goes into the fireplace and it's immediately consumed by the fire. There's no plucking that toy fairy out of the fire. But in this, in this scenario, the angel of the Lord says, I have plucked this brand, Joshua, Israel out of the fire. Now, certainly God had taken his people from the captivity. and from the fire of judgment that they had faced when God brought Assyria and then God brought Babylon as his instruments of judgment. But I think there's more being said here than the fact that God has saved his people even though they went through those fires of judgment. I think the angel of the Lord Christ is saying that Joshua, though he faced certain destruction, and though he was deserving of ultimate judgment, had been saved, spared from that judgment from Christ. We look at the book of Jude, I think we see something of the idea here, spoken of by Jude when he speaks about how we should look at those who have not trusted in Christ. He said in Jude 22, and on some have compassion making a distinction, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. The idea that mankind is headed to this destiny of hell apart from grace. We who are witnesses join God in this rescue mission, as it were, to pull people, to snatch them out of the fire. And this is what Jesus says that he's done for Joshua. And brothers and sisters, this is what Jesus has done for us. What distinguishes us from the sinners that we see around us who do not come to church and do not follow Christ? What distinguishes us from them is not our greatness, our piety, something awesome inside of us. What distinguishes us is Christ's mercy. That he has snatched us out of that fire. And so the Lord rebukes Satan. I've chosen this one. I've taken this one out of the fire. Joshua was clothed, verse three, with filthy garments and was standing before the angel. Then he, that is the angel, answered and spoke to those who stood before him saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And he said, see, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. Though Christ, the angel of the Lord, has rebuked Satan, the obvious signs of Joshua's impurity still cling to him. How then can he stand in the presence of a holy God with these filthy, sin-stained robes? Well, in a very picturesque action, the angel of the Lord takes away those filthy garments. Those garments that signal the impurities of Joshua, the impurities of the people of Israel. Those garments that even signal our impurities. He takes those away. And as he says, this represents the causing of iniquity to pass from him. By the way, there is a connection that some of you might have noted as we read. In verse four, Christ said, see, I've removed your iniquity from you. In verse nine, speaking of what Christ would do in the future, he said, I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. And so there's an obvious plan of God to save his people, Israel. But his plan to save his people, Israel, is accomplished in the same way that he saves us, his people. We are sinners. What will we do with our sin? And of course, there are many people who feel the weight of their sin or begin to feel the weight of their sin, and they say, well, I'm going to pretend like I'm not a sinner. or I'll turn over a new leaf. I'll do better going forward in hopes that maybe God will accept them. But the problem is that doesn't deal with the filth of sin. It has to be taken away. It has to be removed. The glorious thing is that Christ takes those filthy garments and he gives rich robes. He takes those filthy, sin-stained garments and covers us with garments of salvation which symbolize His own righteousness. How can sinners stand before a holy God? Our sins, God cannot look on them. They disgust Him. They're nasty. They're as nasty to Him as excrement-covered clothes would be to us. How can we stand before a holy God? That sin has to be taken away. But then, we must be holy and righteous to stand in God's presence. Even if that sin were taken away, we would still have to be clothed in righteousness. And we're sinners, we can't earn that or accomplish that on our own. But Jesus has. And in this beautiful and symbolic gesture, the angel of the Lord Christ takes away that filthy garment, those nasty clothes, which symbolize his unrighteousness and his sinfulness, and clothes him with new and rich robes. All of the filthy garments are taken. And they are completely replaced with a whole new set of clothes, literally from head to toe. As you see, in verse five, let him put a clean turban on his head. I think the word in the King James is mitre. It's the same word, just an old English word for a turban that the priest would wear on their head. Clothed from head to toe. We sing that song, don't we? My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross. Here, the angel of the Lord Jesus has all of that sinful, sin-stained garments taken away so that he may be completely clothed with clean and rich garments. Of course, this reminds us something that we see with greater clarity as we look at the New Testament. Turn with me, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Some of you may know this passage already, but I want you to see it again. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18. Verse 17, Paul says that if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Verse 18, now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing or reckoning or putting on their account, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Why? For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That glorious exchange wherein our sinful robes, our sin-stained robes are given to Christ, and He wears them, taking our sin upon Himself. He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and we, having trusted in Him, are covered with His perfect record, His righteousness. Even in the Old Testament, there were glimpses of this, like we see in Zechariah chapter three. There's a similar thing that's spoken of another glimpse of this great work of God in Isaiah chapter 61 verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Why? For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has, listen to this brothers and sisters, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. The very thing that we need to stand in God's presence is righteousness. And yet in and of ourselves, we cannot earn this, we cannot buy it, we're sinners. What hope do we as sinners have to stand in the presence of a holy God Our hope is to be covered with His own righteousness. And so it is in this glorious saving grace of God that He, Christ, takes our sin upon Himself so that we might receive His righteousness put on our account. The very thing that God demands of us, God provides for us in Christ. This is the gospel. not that we can work our way into God's favor, not that we can turn over a new leaf, not that we can clean up our sin-stained garments. Our only hope is found in the angel of the Lord Christ taking those garments from us and giving us the fresh garments of salvation. Then God looks at us and He sees the very righteousness of His Son. Let me quickly look at the next couple of verses, verses six and seven. But the first five verses very pointedly remind us that we are saved by the work of Christ. The next two verses, and I'll mention them quickly, remind us that we are saved for the work of Christ. We're saved by the finished saving work of Christ. We're saved for the ongoing service of Christ. Joshua, of course, is the high priest representing Israel. The angel of the Lord, having saved the priest and cleansed the priest and reestablished the priesthood in righteousness, now recommissions him. Of course, there is an immediate relevance for the nation of Israel. God says, Verse seven, thus says the Lord of hosts. By the way, here's evidence again that the angel of the Lord is more than just an angel. The angel of the Lord admonished Joshua saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts. If you will walk in my ways and if you will keep my command, then you shall also judge my house and likewise have charge of my courts. And I'll give you places to walk among these who stand here. The point is that these, This priesthood, having been cleansed, now has responsibilities and privileges that come as a result of faithfulness in their responsibilities. The implication, of course, is that a lack of faithfulness will forfeit some of these privileges, but it will not take away the status that they have before God. But there is a point For us, it's not just about a point for the priesthood, for we too are a royal priesthood before God. As Peter tells us. It's a reminder to us that God saves us so that we might serve Him. God saves us so that we might serve Him. I've mentioned before the college president of the Bible College that I went to. He had quite an interesting way with words. And he said that the Lord has saved us so that we might serve him. He said, otherwise we would have baptisms and shootings. He said, once people were baptized, we just shoot them. And then the way to go, the way they go to heaven. And that's the end of it. And his point was that our Christian life doesn't just end at baptism. God has saved us for a purpose of serving him. Notice the order though. First salvation. first cleansing us from sin and clothing us in righteousness and then service. We see this order, of course, in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 to 10. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. That's the order. It's not by works of righteousness. We're not saved by our works, but we're saved for works. God who saves us by his grace intends that we would serve him by his grace. We see the same truth in Titus chapter two. Listen, as I read this passage, Titus chapter two, verses 11 to 14. for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Notice this, grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works." In other words, brothers and sisters, we are saved to serve. Salvation is not just about getting fire insurance. God saves us so that we might serve him. Again, hear the words of Paul to Timothy. That grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. We're saved to serve. We're called to salvation and we're called, those who have been saved are called to live right. But what happens when we fall? What happens when we fail? We see it in the very same passage. When Satan would stand before God to accuse us, even rightly can accuse us before God. The angel of the Lord pleads for us. The angel of the Lord says, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. Is this not a brand that I have plucked from the fire? That same one who has died for us and has the right to condemn us intercedes for us. That's the precious truth that we considered last Sunday morning. I spoke about it a little bit this Sunday morning, but Jesus intercedes for us as our priest king. And so this passage, and we will continue looking at this next week, Lord willing, but this passage reminds us, brothers and sisters, that we are saved by the work of Christ. It's not our righteousness. We are sin stained. We need righteousness that is not our own. We're saved by the work of Christ, taking our sin and giving us his righteousness. We're saved by the work of Christ and we're saved for the work of Christ. So brothers and sisters, are you serving? First, are you saved? Are you trusting in your works or his? Are you trusting in your righteousness or his righteousness? We remind you that if you're trusting your righteousness, you stand in filthy rags for all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. If you're trusting in his righteousness, praise the Lord. I'm so happy that you are brand plucked from the fire. It's time now to walk in his ways and keep his commands. It's time to do what he has called you to do by his grace and may he be glorified as He is at work through us. So, brothers and sisters, again, we're saved by the work of Christ and we're saved for the work of Christ. May God give us the grace to glorify Him. Our final hymn is a hymn I think that is very fitting in keeping with the passage that we just looked at. It's number 181, 181, His Robes for Mine, 181 in the Black Hymnal. If you would, we'll stand together as we sing this. 181 in the Black Hymnal, His Robes for Mine. ♪ His robes for mine, O wonderful exchange ♪ ♪ Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered neath God's rage ♪ ♪ Draped in his righteousness, I'm justified ♪ ♪ In Christ I live, for in my place he died ♪ ♪ I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost of death ♪ Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God. Bought by such love, my life is not my own. My praise, my all, shall be for Christ alone. His robes for mine, what cause have I for dread? God's daunting law, Christ mastered in my stead. Faultless I stand, with righteous works not mine, Saved by my Lord's vicarious death and life. I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God, but by such