Thank you sisters and again what a blessing to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ in our singing and that's certainly been an emphasis hasn't it in today's hymns all the way really through including the offertory and and the ministry and song there and that's fitting because we're we're really going to focus we have been focusing on the Lord Jesus in the tabernacle but we really get such a clear clear portrait of the Lord Jesus when we come to the high priest so we're in Exodus chapter 28 if you're just joining us for some time now we have been going through the book of Exodus on Sunday mornings and it's a very powerful and very important book and we're into that section of Exodus that deals with the tabernacle and the priesthood and We've been looking at various aspects of the tabernacle, the tabernacle furniture and various structural elements of the tabernacle and how they picture the Lord Jesus. We've been considering along the way some of the practical lessons as well that we can learn because we know from the New Testament that though we are not Levitical priests after the order of Levi or Aaron, we are New Testament priests. kingdom of priests there and we believe in the priesthood of all believers and so there's many practical lessons and powerful principles for the Christian life that can be noted as well as we study the tabernacle, as we study the priesthood as well. And so we come now to Exodus and chapter 28. Exodus chapter 28 and for our reading this morning we're going to read from verse 1 down to verse 14 and I'll invite you just to follow along quietly there in your Bibles as I read. The Bible reads, and take thou unto the Aaron thy brother and his sons with him from from among the children of Israel and that he may minister unto me in the priest's office even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. Thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. These are the garments which they shall make, a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broided coat, a mitre, and a girdle. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. They shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two ends thereof, and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod which is upon it shall be of the same according to the work thereof, even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. Thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel, six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. Thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial under the children of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. Let's ask for the Lord's help and the Lord's blessing this morning, shall we? Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to come again into your presence. thank you, Lord, that you've invited us to come boldly, Lord, not boldly on the basis of our own merits, Lord, or on the basis of our own achievements, but we come boldly by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We come to your throne, which is a throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And Lord, this is a time of need, we need you every hour, And we pray now that you would grant grace to the preacher and grace to the hearer, Lord, that we might receive what you would have for us this day. We pray that the Lord Jesus would be exceedingly precious to us, Lord, if we're saved. He already is, but may our hearts be warmed afresh with love for him and appreciation and thankfulness, Lord, and praise for all that you do on our behalf. so give us a glimpse of your high priestly ministry today Lord help us to understand what it means to rest in you and to trust ourselves upon your strength and we pray that you administer your word to every need and we'll thank you for what you will do in Jesus name, Amen. Exodus chapter 28 and chapter 29 deal with the institution of the priesthood. If you're following along in the reading there, you'll notice several references there to the priest's office. And so this was an Old Testament office within the nation of Israel and it was limited to the tribe of Levi and then the priesthood specifically was for Aaron and his sons. so a very special office, a very special role within the nation of Israel and within the worship system of Israel at the time. And so in Exodus chapter 28 we have the primary focus being on the clothing of the priests and there are a few verses that deal with the priesthood generally, but most of the chapter focuses on the garments of the high priest because he was the most significant priest, he was the representative of the people to God and the representative of God to the people. In one word he was a mediator between a sinful people and a holy God. It was only the high priest who had the privilege and the right to access the Holy of Holies, we've dealt with that haven't we, where the Ark of the Covenant was located, once a year on the day of atonement and so without the high priest and his ministry there would be no atonement for the nation and so it's fitting therefore that much focus and attention is placed on the high priest and then of course in light of New Testament scripture we can see the wisdom of the Spirit of God there because the high priest office of the Old Testament typifies the high priestly ministry and office of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, in many ways, as you look at the high priest, we can see Christ in his three offices, we can see him as priest, pictured in the ephod, we can see him as prophet in the Urim and Thummim, we'll get to that, Thummim, we'll get to that, and then king in the mitre and in the crown. In the Old Testament, there were three offices, prophet, priest and king and the Lord Jesus perfectly fulfills all those three offices, he is our prophet, he is our priest and he is our king. So, the priesthood was very important in the Old Testament dispensation and the role of the high priest absolutely critical, he served as a mediator between God and man. And as we mentioned, the focus is very much on Aaron's garments. You'll notice that there in verse 3, we will deal with the priesthood more generally. But to give you a little bit of a sense of the difference between the high priest as far as the clothing is concerned and the general priesthood, those two images may help you. You can see that the regular priests were arrayed in a fairly simple attire and they very much picture the priesthood of the believer. and we serve under Christ as our High Priest but you can see just in the difference in the clothing that the High Priest was very special. His role was very critical and the other priests would serve under him and we will get to the other priests in due course but we're going to focus firstly on the High Priest as we progress through the chapter. And so there's a real beauty about the garments of the high priest. In fact, the Bible specifically says here that these garments were for glory and for beauty. And is not our Lord Jesus all glorious? Is not our Lord Jesus altogether lovely? How can we even begin to describe the excellencies? How can we even begin to describe the glory and the beauty of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? and so what a wonderful picture. There's a picture from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, we were able to do a tour through there and the Jews, having a fairly accurate understanding of these things, have put together garments there for the priesthood, that's the general priesthood there, you can see the sash around the middle, the girdle around the middle and so very interesting, of course they are trying to get the Temple rebuilt, that's their heart's desire, that's their aim, we know that that Temple is not going to be Jesus' temple, it's going to be Antichrist's temple. But nonetheless, there's much to be learned, it was helpful to go through there and to see the way the Jews, with their understanding, depicted these things because it gives you a good sense, I believe, mostly a good sense of what these things probably would have looked like. And so, as we've mentioned, the high priest role was very important within the Old Testament priesthood. He was the people's representative to God and God's representative to the people. Now, as I've mentioned, the high priest typifies the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, some types in the Bible are not altogether clear. Sometimes we have pictures. There's a bit of a difference, really, actually, between a picture and a type. A type, strictly speaking, must have a clear New Testament reference. But there are many other portraits and pictures we can see in the Old Testament, certainly. We can see Christ on every page, really. the Bible, the Bible is Christ's album as one preacher put it, but a type is where you have a very clear New Testament reference that looks back to an Old Testament event or an Old Testament person or an Old Testament item and so when you read in the New Testament Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, there you have a very clear type. You can go to the Old Testament and look at the Passover and see the Lord Jesus everywhere there. And so it is in the New Testament, especially in the book of Hebrews. It's amazing actually when you stop and consider all the references in Hebrews, the high priestly office and the high priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus is a major theme that is laced right through the book of Hebrews. So there you have reference there, Hebrews 2.7, to a merciful and faithful high priest, referring to the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 3.1, wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Hebrews 4.14-15, our new memory verses, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. I just love that picture. You think about the high priest passing into the tabernacle and how glorious that would have been and how you as a sinful Israelite could see there your representative going into the tabernacle on your behalf, there to present the blood on your behalf, there to secure your atonement before God, but how much more glorious is it as we gaze, as it were, upon our Lord Jesus as he ascends up into heaven and to see that our high priest does not occupy an earthly tabernacle or an earthly temple, but our high priest is there in heaven itself there to appear in the presence of God for us. What a wonderful thing, securing our eternal redemption, presenting his sinless and perfect blood on our behalf for our redemption because the blood that our Lord Jesus presented before the throne was not the blood of bulls and of goats that ultimately could never take away sin, but his own blood. So we have a crystal clear type of the Lord Jesus, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession for we have not an high priest, there's the reference again, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin, that should tell you that we have a sympathetic and compassionate high priest, isn't that good to know? Not a cold-hearted distant high priest but a high priest whose heart is touched towards you, he sees the burdens you bear he's there interceding on your behalf, you can come to him with confidence because he is a compassionate and merciful high priest. Hebrews 5, 5 and 10, again, references to the high priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6, 20, with the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus, made in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7, 26, for such an high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens. Hebrews 8, 1, now the things which we have spoken, this is the sum we have such an... high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens Hebrews 9 11 but Christ being come a and high priest of good things to come Hebrews 10 21 and 22 and having an high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water and so I hope you're going to see that you can see in the High Priest we have a loud and clear type of the Lord Jesus. Crystal clear type. And so as we look at the High Priest in the Old Testament passage here we're going to see the Lord Jesus. Well, with that in mind, and I'll also just note here that as we go, there will be some powerful principles that we can draw from the Levitical priesthood, okay, that apply to our high calling as church age priests. We are not Levitical priests, we understand that, the old system is done away in Christ, Christ perfectly fulfilled those types, those shadows, But there are principles, because we are called, are we not, a kingdom of priests, a holy priesthood. Every New Testament believer, every born-again believer is a priest before God. And so there are practical lessons, especially as we look at the priesthood generally as we go, but let's focus firstly on the high priest. So let's look this morning at two headings, just two, as we get into the chapter. Number one, the calling to the priesthood. calling to the priesthood. Look back at verse 1... Can you see God is separating to himself a special group of men to do his service there? even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron's sons." So notice there what I would call the separation to their service. The separation to their service. God divinely appointed Aaron and his sons to the office of the priesthood. This was God's doing and God is the one, as we just note a principle here, God is the one who sets men aside for special service. Now, we don't have a priesthood today in the sense of a special class within the church, like the Roman Catholics wrongly think, but we do have men that are set aside for special service. Every believer is to be a servant of the Lord, but God does separate some men unto himself to live of the gospel and to be separated unto the gospel. There are New Testament offices, aren't there? We don't have the Levitical office anymore of the priesthood, but we do have the office of the pastorate. the pastor's not a priest, okay? So I'm not saying that, but we have a principle there of God separating these men unto himself for special service. So we could say they were separated divinely, and then we could also note that they were separated as a family. And this jumped out at me some years ago, actually, as I looked at this, and now and take thou unto the Aaron thy brother, notice this, and his sons with him. Do you see there that God separated not only Aaron to this very important work, but also his sons. And we know that children who are raised in ministry homes are not automatically going to be full-time pastors or missionaries or evangelists. But I do think there's a principle here when God calls a man, his family go with him. When God separates a man to ministry, when God calls a man to preach, just noting a biblical principle here, his family, his wife and his family, in a very real sense, are caught up in that call, are swept up in that call. And so it's important you understand that. If you believe you are called to special service, called to full-time ministry, you need to understand that it's not all about you, but it's a family affair. you've got to consider that by way of practical application there. So we see the separation to their service, God separated Aaron and his sons unto the Old Testament office of the priesthood. Note secondly what I would call the sacredness of their service and don't miss these words, they're very powerful, look back at verse 1 again, and take that unto the Aaron thy brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel that he may minister unto who? Unto who? Unto me, meaning the Lord, in the priest's office. That's interesting, isn't it? because I guess from a human perspective you would think well the high priest is there to minister to me, the high priest is there to serve me and yet from God's perspective he was appointing these men to special service that they might first and foremost minister unto the Lord, that they might serve the Lord. You know that really lifts service to the highest possible level doesn't it? when we see service as not being first and foremost for other people, but seeing our service as being for the Savior, seeing our service as being for God. This is a major emphasis in the passage. Let me just note the repetition of this theme. Look at verse 3. unto me. Verse 4, that he may minister unto me. Verse 41, that they may minister unto me. Chapter 29 verse 1, to minister unto me. Chapter 30 verse 30, that they may minister unto me. Chapter 40 verse 13, that he may minister unto me. Chapter 40 verse 15, that they may minister unto me. Do you get the message? your service is for the Lord. You say that's so basic, yeah but it's something we often lose sight of and that's why Christians sometimes throw in the towel, that's why Christians sometimes get discouraged because over time their focus has shifted from doing everything in the Christian life and everything within the local church as an act of loving service to King Jesus to the high priest there, the Lord Jesus, and at some point their focus has shifted from serving the Savior to serving people and when you make people your focus it's only going to be a matter of time before you get discouraged, disheartened, maybe even bitter. Why? Because when you're serving sinners, sinners will let you down and you're a sinner too. But it's just the reality isn't it? we need to come to view every act of service as being unto the Lord. That lifts service to a very high and sacred level. By the way, that should motivate you to serve. There's something wrong with flavour in modern Christendom today where Christians just want to be comfortable, many Christians don't want to sacrifice, many Christians don't want to work, many Christians and many of them are born, some of them are born again too and you're just happy to be on your way to heaven but you really don't want to exercise your spiritual muscles in the service of the Lord. Could I just remind you this morning that you were saved to serve. You were saved in order to serve your Savior. And we see that so clearly here in the office of the priesthood. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 23 and 24 read, and whatsoever ye do, that covers everything, doesn't it? Do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. Knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Do you think that could motivate you in your ministry today? So I just don't feel like it today, but could you do it for the Lord Jesus? I don't feel like driving to church today, but could you do it for the Lord Jesus? Could you do it for the one who loved you? Could you do it for the one who bled and died for you? Maybe that will motivate you. Maybe that might move you out of your position of comfort to do something for the Lord. there should be a heart in us as New Testament priests to do something for the Lord. This was a working office, these priests were appointed to labor, you think about all the hard heavy lifting they had to do, carrying wood, preparing the fire, think about all the work they had to do with those sacrifices and we just sort of read over that but think about actually handling all those big chunks of meat and actually having to deal with all of that. There was a lot of elbow grease going on here, there's a lot of rolling up of the sleeves, In some ways they had to be almost like a butcher. I mean just that you look at all the detail of what they had to do and think about the size of the nation of Israel and the amount of offerings they must have processed as priests. This was a hard-working role. As you see, it's not really about having a position in the local church. It's not really about having the prominence of the priesthood as it were. It's about being a servant of the Most High God and being a burden bearer and a worker for the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you a worker for the Lord Jesus? Are you a labourer for the Lord Jesus? Are you a servant for the Saviour? Something wrong if there's no desire in your heart to serve because you were saved to serve. And I think, I understand you say, well I don't want to burn out. Yep, that's true but usually that's not most people's problem. Most people are rusting out, not burning out. True. And you don't want to be a Dead Sea Christian. Do you know why the Dead Sea is so dead? It has no outlet, no outflow, it just receives water but it doesn't flow anywhere. It's a great place to float in. We tried that out, it's an amazing experience actually, you just don't want to get that stuff in your mouth. but it has an amazing feel too. How did you describe it? I don't know, your skin feels amazing and real diehards get the mud and put it all over their face and you know, you can even buy mud packs in Israel, there you go ladies. Some of you who like your face masks and all of that, you know, cucumber on your eyes and to make your eyes shine a bit better and all that sort of stuff. But anyway, but the point, how did we get off onto that? The point is, the Dead Sea is dead because there's no flow through. And you do want to receive in the Christian life. And hopefully if you're coming to a good Bible preaching church, there's some inflow into your life. I hope so. That the stream of Scripture hopefully is flowing into your life through the pulpit ministry and other teaching and preaching ministries of the church there. But you must not only have the inflow in your life, there must also be the outflow. you need to find an outlet for Christian service and in this dispensation it's probably going to have something to do, not with a parachurch ministry, not with some government charity, but with the local New Testament church where our Lord Jesus' presence is, where his heart is and at some point you should make a decision to be a working part of the local church. That's part of being a New Testament priest. oh that's wonderful, I'm a priest before God, that means you get to work. That means you get to work for the Lord. I remember listening to an older preacher, I think he's now, he's probably in his 80s actually now, and he said when he was saved in the 70s, he said he remembers that there was, and this was a positive thing, he said there was a real emphasis on doing something for the Lord, finding something to do for the Lord, serving the Lord. And you know, we think we've got it tough now, Tell you what, on the clock back even in this church, a lot of men went out on Tuesday nights for visitation and did things that probably we would go, oh, we couldn't possibly cope with that. And I'm not being unkind, but I think that some of us need to toughen up a little. and be willing to carry a load for the Lord. And again, I understand the balance, we're not about working people to death, we're not about burning people out, but it would be good if we could serve the Lord, wouldn't it? So approach your service as being done for the Saviour. I believe the church at Antioch is a wonderful example of this, Acts 13.2, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted. You know, that'll help you not to get discouraged. You go, I put all those hours into that person, and they turned around and bit me. Or that person, I tried to invest in their lives, and then they just went out and blew it. Or they're not my friend anymore, or they turned on me. If that service was done to the Savior, it was not wasted. If you just did it for the person, it probably was wasted. So view every act of service as a service to the Lord. Sing in the choir as an act of loving service to the Saviour. Play in the orchestra as an act of service to the Saviour. Go soul winning as an act of service to the Saviour. Teach Sunday school as an act of service to the Saviour. Preach as an act of service to the Saviour. Clean the church as an act of service to the Saviour. Saviour, care for the creche aged children as an act of service to the Saviour, help in the kitchen as an act of service to the Saviour, minister in your home as an act of service to the Saviour. So what am I doing? I'm just at home as a mum. What do you mean just at home? You change nappies at home, you clean the house, you minister to your children and your husband, that can be done as service to the Saviour. every act of service... sometimes we divide our lives into sacred and secular. This is my sacred service for the Lord at church, but my work, my jobs at home, that's just stuff I have to do. No, we don't have a divided life. We have one life of service for the Lord and wherever you are, you can do whatever you're doing as an act of service to the Lord. That will infuse your daily activities with tremendous value. Now, not if you're sitting there wasting hours on some stupid Xbox game. That's not service for the Savior. But I'm saying, just doing your daily duties, yea, even approaching your employment with the right spirit, seeking to be a good testimony, that can be done as unto the Lord. Definitely. it might be a good testimony to your boss when he sees you doing your best and goes there's something different about this person. Not like one story I heard about a Christian boss who lived near a Christian University who didn't want to hire Christians because he found that sometimes they would take advantage of things and for example he had a young man come out of the bathroom once at his workplace and said he'd had a great time for about half an hour memorizing scripture on the boss's time. No, that's not not a good idea. memorize Scripture but not on the boss's time, okay, unless he allows you to do that with the kind of work you have, of course. All right, so you see there the calling to the priesthood. Now we get into the clothing, the clothing for the priesthood and as I mentioned, this is really the major emphasis of the chapter and in particular, the high priest garments. Now we're not going to be able to go through all the garments this morning, we're going to make a start on dealing with the garments and then that'll be something we continue in our next message. The clothing for the priesthood, let's consider a few points about that. two points in particular with some sub points underneath. Number one, the purpose of the priestly clothing. What was the purpose of the priestly clothing? Verse two and verse three. Can you see some purposes for the clothing there? The clothing, to put it very simply, the clothing consecrated the priests. Interesting. Think of our spiritual salvation clothing for a moment. Is it not our spiritual clothing in Christ that fits us to serve him? Without the clothing of Christ's righteousness, we are not fit to serve such a high priest. We'll talk more about that in a moment. The purpose of the priestly clothing. So, firstly, they were for glory, verse 2. For glory. And of course, that speaks to us of the matchless glory, the indescribable glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is all glorious. The garments were for beauty. There was beauty here. Don't we see in the world a deterioration in the area of beauty? In fact, the further sinful man gets away from God, the less beauty you see. The more you see darkness, the more you see ugliness, the further churches drift away from the Word of God and the pattern of the Word of God, you have a loss of beauty. There's a loss of beauty today in a lot of worship. Crash, bang, thrash, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. No, is that not the case? Dark, lights, flashing, what's that? What's happened? Well, there's a loss of beauty. In fact, as you go through the chapter here, as I was really just studying this chapter this week, if there was one word that really stood out to me to summarize the whole chapter, it was holiness. What a spirit of holiness permeates the priesthood here. What a spirit of holiness permeates the worship of Israel. It was a sacred thing. These were set-apart men. Men who were called to a high calling. There was beauty and holiness here. Beauty. Speaks of the indescribable beauty of Christ's character. He is altogether lovely. Not only were these garments for glory and for beauty, they were for sanctity. They were for holiness and for consecration. You'll notice that verse 2 calls them holy garments. You'll notice that verse 3 says that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him. That word consecrate comes from the same root word, the same Hebrew word. So you have the word holy, You have the word consecrate, both come from the same root word, means to be set apart. The garments there gave these men distinction, it set them apart. You would know the priests by their clothing. Now we know that as New Testament believers, we don't have a specific uniform like the Old Testament priesthood, but the garments of our salvation should set us apart, shouldn't they? The garments of a holy life, we had to put on certain Christian values and Christian character traits in the New Testament, that's the garments of the New Testament priesthood. And we will note later in the chapter that on a very practical level, The clothing was for modesty purposes also and of course while we don't have a set uniform, the principle of modesty applies in the New Testament church for sure, we'll talk about that another time. So they were for glory, they were for beauty and they were for sanctity. They're described as holy garments and these garments would consecrate, same root word, set apart Aaron and his sons for sacred service. So again to summarize, the priests were consecrated by their clothing. Are you with me this morning? Do we need the air on to wake you up or you're all okay? Consecrated by their clothing. What does consecrated mean? Set apart. Holy. And so that was absolutely important. Without that clothing they were not fit for service in the presence of a holy God. And you cannot serve the thrice holy God of eternity unless you're clothed in Christ's righteousness. You cannot become a priest serving in the presence of God, as it were, until you are washed, cleansed in the blood that takes the sin away, and clothed in Christ's righteousness. That's how you become a New Testament priest. I love the way it's described in Isaiah 61 verse 10. Isaiah 61 verse 10 reads, Notice these words, clothed me with the garments of salvation, what a beautiful picture, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels, it's a wonderful and it's a beautiful picture there, the consecration of the believer, when you get saved not only does God erase your sin debt, he clothes you in his perfect righteousness. Before we're saved We're naked, at best we're clothed in the filthy rags of our own righteousness. Isaiah 64 verse 6, we are all as an unclean thing there. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. You know when you get saved, there's a wonderful exchange that takes place. Your sin is placed on Christ, his righteousness is placed on you. He takes your rags and gives you his robe. Can you see that wonderful picture there? Before you're saved, you're in your sin there, you're in the filthy rags of your own righteousness, but the day you get saved is the day that you have the righteousness of Christ imputed to you by faith. By faith there, you can receive Christ's righteousness and be cleansed and be clothed. Have you experienced that this morning? Have you been cleansed from your sin and clothed with the robe of righteousness? That'll all happen in an instant when you turn in repentance from your sin in your own way, your own religion, and turn in faith to the Lord Jesus. Faith is the hand that receives the garment of salvation. Faith is the hand that receives the gift of salvation. Faith is the hand that receives forgiveness of sin and at the moment there the soul turns to Christ in faith, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ that He died on the cross, that He was buried and that He rose again. At that very moment where your faith is placed in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone for your salvation, at that very moment, at that very second, your sin is cleansed and you are clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We come then to the particulars of the priestly clothing. And now we get into the specifics of the high priest's wardrobe, we could say. I think we are gonna need just a little bit of air, even without the air conditioning moving. Okay, it's getting stuffy in here, so just down low, just get the air circulating a little bit so that we have some oxygen injected into this sleepy scene. I understand it's a busy time of year, we all get tired so I won't scold you for that, but the truth of the priesthood of the believer should thrill you, it should excite you a little bit. This is not boring. To be a priest, it's a big deal. To be a priest of God is a big deal and keep that in mind. Okay, the particulars of the priestly clothing. Let's look at this picture or artist's impression of the High Priest and the various garments that he was to wear and it'll help us as we go through the chapter. Starting from the head we have the golden crown here which which was engraved with the words holiness to the Lord, you have the mitre which is like a headdress, then you have the onyx shoulder pieces, okay, you have the ephod which is this apron like garment that would go over the top of the robes underneath, you have the breastplate, we'll get to that God willing next week, you have the blue robe, And on the bottom of that blue robe, there were bells and pomegranates, and then of course the white inner robe. So if you're working from the inside out, the priest would first put on the white inner robe, and then he would put the blue robe over the top of that, and then this apron-like ephod, there with its girdle around the middle there and then the breastplate and then of course the golden crown and the mitre on top. Verse 4 gives us a list of the high priest's garments and these are the garments which they shall make, a breastplate, that's one, and an ephod, two, and a robe, three, and a broided coat, four, and a mitre, five, and a girdle, six. So six items of clothing for the high priest here. Well, we only have time this morning to look at the ephod. And the ephod is described from verse five to verse 14. So verse five to 14 is focused the ephod, the ephod, that apron-like garment that was to go over the top of the blue robe. Let's look at some specifics about the ephod in the text. Notice firstly the fabric for the ephod. Now, Look at the various components or the makeup of the fabric for the ephod and this was a carefully, beautifully woven garment and it was made up of gold. Now what's very interesting is this was actual gold thread. Turn over to Exodus 39 for a moment, Exodus chapter 39 and you'll notice Some further detail on this, Exodus chapter 39 and verse 2 and 3. Would you read it with me on the count of two? One, two. And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twine linen. And they did beat the gold into thin plates and cut it into wires to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen with cunning work. Can you see that ladies? How many of you here ladies here sew? It's a wonderful skill to have. We should make sure our younger ladies learn that as well. wonderful, wonderful seal to have. And so here you have actual gold. beaten out into plate form and then cut down to wires and then that gold, like a gold thread, is then sewn in to this beautiful fabric with the blue, the purple, the scarlet and so it's really hard to get a proper, I think, you know, I don't really think we can get a proper impression of what it must have looked like but you can get a bit of a visual picture in your mind hopefully with the imagination God's given you. And so we know in the Bible that gold is a symbol of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you see that? As you look at the fine white linen there, the fine twine linen, it's a picture of the righteousness of Christ, the character of Christ, but can you see that right through, as it were, intertwined right through the Lord's character, you have this golden thread, And the Lord Jesus' deity, his godhood, permeates everything about him, doesn't it? He's the God-man. God manifest in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3.16. The blue, we've talked about that. These are dominant colors, aren't they? When you think about it, gold, blue, purple, scarlet, fine white linen, these are the dominant colors of the whole tabernacle, aren't they? We see them all over the place. But here in this beautiful tunic, this apron-like garment that would go over the top of the robe, we have what we call the ephod. We have gold, we have blue. We've talked about that before. Blue symbolizes our Lord Jesus' heavenly origin and his present position at the right hand of the Father. He's the Lord from heaven. The purple, we've talked about that before, speaks of Christ's royal nature and his kingly splendor. He is not our Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings. The scarlet speaks of Christ's blood atonement. Scarlet is a rich red tone. A beautiful picture there of the suffering and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood that was shed. And then of course the fine white linen there speaks of the perfection. the purity and the sinlessness of Christ's character and then all of these colors were woven together with cunning work... cunning work and that word cunning means skillful... So this was a masterpiece and it's not our Lord Jesus indescribable, there's none like him. Because he is not a created being, he is the creator. There is none like him. He is unique and so all the colors are woven together with cunning work signifying the perfection and we've noted this before, I love this point, the balance of Christ's character. As you look at the life of the Lord Jesus, nothing is out of place, nothing is out of balance. Sometimes we are not entirely balanced, in fact probably none of us are completely balanced. But when you look at the Lord Jesus, you don't see any inconsistency. Nothing is out of place. Nothing is out of kilter. Everything is perfectly balanced. We have a wonderful Savior there who is consistent in his character and in his attributes there, all woven together, one Christ, all the various aspects of his person pictured there, or at least some of the aspects of his person pictured there in those colors, the five colors there. I do love this quote, try and pay attention to it, read it on the screen as I read it for you. Referring to the Lord Jesus, IM Haldeman says, compassionate, sympathetic, going among the outcast and the worthless, among those sick in body, sick in soul, in daily contact with leprosy of body and leprosy of mind, uncovering pollution and shame and iniquity at every step. And yet, even as the sun that reveals the mud, the mire, the slime and corruption, and is unstained by them, so he ate with publicans and sinners and shone more resplendently pure because of the contrasted evil and wrong revealed in them. That's our Lord Jesus, none like him. He says he is unique, same author, there never was anything like him before, there has never been anything like him since. He is as a white rose surrounded by scarlet poppies, as a smile of love against a scowl of hate, as a song above discord, as a shaft of light in the blackness of a starless midnight. That's our High Priest, the Lord Jesus. Notice another feature of this ephod in verse 7, notice the join in the ephod. So this indicates that there were two pieces to the ephod, it's like an apron really, and you had the front panel and you had the back panel and then those two panels were joined at the shoulder. Okay, and without trying to stretch this too much, I just wonder whether we see a picture in those two parts of the ephod of the twofold nature of Christ. He is both man and God and joined together into one person, the God-man. united there, human and divine. Then look at the girdle of the ephod, so we're focusing in now at that belt or sash that was worn around the middle. And the girdle was for the purpose of holding things together, it was like a belt really, it functioned like a belt. And so it was made of the same materials as the ephod itself, of the gold, the blue, the purple, scarlet and fine twined linen. Typically, the girdle symbolizes Christ as the servant of the Father. Okay, because the girdle speaks principally of service. it's something that a servant has. To gird yourself is for the purpose of serving and so our Lord Jesus Christ is seen here as the servant of the Father. And did not our Lord Jesus come not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Matthew 20, 28 and Mark 10, 45. And you really get a wonderful picture of the servanthood of our Lord Jesus when he washed the disciples feet. I mean, what an amazing demonstration of Christ there as the servant of God. Isn't that amazing that our Lord Jesus came to be a servant and his greatest act of service was carrying our sins to the cross, wasn't it? And bearing them for us. So the girdle, an important piece of the wardrobe of the high priest. So typically the girdle symbolizes Christ as the servant of the Father but practically as we look at that girdle represents some important truths for the believer because there was a girdle, not only for the high priest, but a girdle for the regular priests as well. And so let me give you four points about the girdle, some practical points about the girdle as it relates to us. The first one is this, number one, it represents the believer, surprise surprise, as a servant. Okay, the belt there, the girdle was used to to tie the robe to one's waist so that the individual could move about more freely. And we see that, for example, in Exodus 12, 11, where they were to eat the Passover with their loins girded. Why? Because they're about to leave Egypt as pilgrims. We see there in Luke 17, verse 8, the picture of the servant girding himself in order to serve. And so, certainly, as we think about a practical lesson for us, the girdle represents the believer as a servant, and that ties back into the point we made earlier, as priests, as New Testament priests, we are called into God's service, we are saved to serve. Okay, second practical lesson from the girdle, it represents the believer as a soldier. So the girdle represents the believer as a servant. It represents the believer as a soldier. The girdle was also used for military purposes. That's why we have reference there in Ephesians 6 14, pardon me, to the loins being girt about with truth. And so as a soldier in the army at that time, you would have a girdle to to pull your robes together, to hold things together so that you would not be tangled up as you went out to fight and so the girdle speaks of the believer as a soldier. We've been called into the army of God to battle for the Lord and the girdle that we wear is the belt of truth, the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the truth of the Word of God. what a powerful thing in the battle. And then, as we think of a third practical lesson, it represents the believer as a sober-minded pilgrim. Read the verse on the screen there with me, on the count of two. One, two. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be holy in all manner of conversation because it is written be holy for I am holy.' Can you see that this picture of girding is a picture of the need for a sober mind. Gird up the loins of your mind. That's a very important instruction, isn't it? Because our minds can become very undisciplined, can't they? Our thoughts can just drift, just like a flowing garment that's just drifting around and getting tangled in things. And the instruction here is, gird up the loins of your mind, pull your thoughts together. And it speaks of a sober-minded believer, a believer who is focused on obedience to the Lord, a believer who is focused on a holy life, a pilgrim life, And we need sober-minded pilgrims in our day, believers who will have their minds under God's control, believers who will bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Pull your thoughts together, those thoughts that sometimes dominate you, fearful thoughts, all the worry and all the... it's not just lust is it? Lust is a battle in the mind but it doesn't stop there. Obsessive thoughts on things and worrying and fretting and all these things. No, the instruction is that as believers we are to gird up the loins of our mind and so the girdle is a reminder that we are servants, the girdle is a reminder that we are soldiers in the battle and the girdle is a reminder that we are to be sober-minded as believers. It's important that we learn as Christians to think right because right living flows out of right thinking and wrong living flows out of wrong thinking. That's the reality. fourth practical lesson from the girdle. Number four, it represents the believer as a separated pilgrim. So, it represents the believer as a servant, it represents the believer as a soldier, it represents the believer as a sober-minded pilgrim, and it represents the believer as a separated pilgrim, that's the whole picture we see there in Exodus chapter 12 verse 11, Why was that instruction given? Well, they were about to leave Egypt. They were setting out on a journey. They weren't staying in Egypt anymore. And the day you got saved is the day you left the world. You are called to a pilgrim life. We no longer have our roots down here on this earth. This earth is not our home. This world is not our home. We're just passing through. our citizenship is in heaven and that should translate into daily practice and into the outlook of our lives. We're not really investing all of our time and talent and treasure into the things of this life, but we're investing into the things of eternity. We see ourselves as pilgrims, we need to return in our day to the pilgrim mindset. And that's a life of separation from the world, a life of walking the narrow path with the Lord. 1 Peter 2 11, dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, so we're not making it up, a New Testament believer is viewed by God as a pilgrim. A pilgrim is moving from one place to another. A pilgrim is not someone who's staying in one place or making home in one place. A pilgrim is on a journey to a destination and that is the picture of the Christian life. We're on a journey through this world. We hold the things of this world loosely because our destination is the celestial city, isn't it? Heaven. And as pilgrims we are to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Okay, so there's a few practical thoughts for you that I hope will be a blessing to you as we think about the picture of the girdle. Then notice another feature of the ephod, the stones of the ephod. Verse 9 through 14. And thou shalt take two onyx stones and grave on them the names of the children of Israel, six of their names on one stone and the other six names on the rest on the other stone according to their birth, With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. Okay, I'd like to give a little more attention to this because it presents a really precious picture, so we might come back to this, I think, in our next message because our time's out, but just to quickly summarise, you have there these two shoulder pieces, okay, and you basically have two gold settings, that's what the word ouches mean, it doesn't mean ouch, I hurt my foot, okay. it's like a gold setting or a clasp and in those gold settings were to be placed two stones, one on each shoulder and on one stone you would have six of the tribes, remember there's 12 tribes in Israel, six of the tribes in birth order, okay, on one stone and then six tribes on the other stone. And the High Priest would carry those stones representative of all of Israel upon his shoulders into the presence of God. As we think about our Lord Jesus, our High Priest, I hope that we can see some some pictures there. Aren't you thankful that if you're saved your High Priest carries you? In fact the picture is very clear all of the work must be done by the High Priest. He carried the names of the children of Israel into the presence of God and that's the only way we can have access to the presence of God really, is to rest in the almighty strength, to rest in the finished work of our High Priest he carries our names with him into the presence of God and they were there for a memorial meaning that not only were they there as a memorial before God but they were there to be a constant reminder to the high priest, we could put it this way, the high priest would not forget the names of the people of Israel as he served in the holy place and the Holy of Holies. And it presents a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus, who never forgets his own. We're always there, as it were, upon his shoulders, and as we're going to see, upon his heart, in the breastplate. That's the picture, carried on the shoulders of the shepherd. And that's important for salvation. If you're here today and you think you're going to get into heaven by your own efforts, you're wrong. The picture here is very clear. You must come to rest entirely upon the Lord Jesus. Jesus alone, as the high priest, can carry you into the presence of God and make you right with God. It's not only important for salvation, it's important for Christian living. You say, I just don't think I can face... I don't know how I'm going to get through this next season of Christian service, or I don't know how I'm going to live the Christian life. Rest on the shoulders of your great high priest. Let him do the work for you. Let him carry you. because everything in the Christian life must rest upon our Lord's strength. He's our High Priest, we're on his heart, on his mind, and he represents us before the presence of God. So as we conclude here, we'll delve back into that a little bit more next week, but are you cleansed by Christ's blood and clothed in his righteousness? If you're not sure about that, I trust that today you will receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. As we think about the role of our high priests as believers, if you're saved here today, perhaps we could conclude with these beautiful words from an old hymn. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea. A great high priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, tongue can bid me thence depart. I hope you're thankful this morning for your wonderful precious and all-powerful High Priest. Thank you Lord Jesus that you are indeed our great High Priest we thank you that you have not passed into an earthly temple on our behalf but into heaven itself there to appear in the presence of God for us We thank you, Lord, that you did not take the blood of bulls and of goats that ultimately could never take away sin into heaven, but you presented there your own sinless, all-sufficient blood. We thank you that you are there ministering for us, that you are our advocate with the Father, you are our mediator, you are our high priest. and we thank you Lord that you send down blessings upon us as our high priest and that we can have a close relationship with you knowing that you are there to represent us and Lord though we cannot see you at this time yet we know that you are active in that heavenly temple for us just as very often the Old Testament saints wouldn't necessarily see the high priest for a lot of his activities and yet with the bells on his robes they could hear him moving about on their behalf within the tabernacle and Lord how we thank you that we through your word can as it were hear your footsteps in heaven on our behalf and know that you are moving on our behalf. So bless us Lord we pray if there be any here who have not yet Receive you as their Saviour, we pray that today they might make you their personal High Priest. With every head bowed, every eye closed, is there anyone here this morning who would say, Pastor, you asked that question before, are you cleansing the blood and clothing Christ's righteousness? I'm not sure I can say an absolute yes to that, but I would like, I'd really like to know for sure. that I belong to the Lord Jesus, that I've settled that, so that I can say yes to that question. If that would be you, would you just raise your hand? No one's looking around, I'd just like to pray for you and then after the service I can show you from the Bible how you can know for sure you have been cleansed in His blood and clothed in Christ's righteousness. Anyone at all? Would you raise your hand if that's you? Pastor, pray for me, I want to know for sure. that the Lord Jesus is my Savior, my High Priest. I need my sins to be cleansed. Yes, amen. Thank you. I need to be clothed in his righteousness. Thank you. You can put your hand down. Thank you so much for putting your hand up this morning. Anyone else? Pastor, pray for me. I need the Lord Jesus as my Savior. I want to know for sure that I've been cleansed from my sin and that I'm on my way to heaven. Anyone else this morning? anyone else. Lord we pray for the hand that has been raised and we thank you for what you're doing there we just pray Lord that each one would come to that personal relationship with you we pray in Jesus name, Amen.