Well, I sure do thank you for
inviting me here. And it's been a pleasure to get
to know your pastor and his wife. And Brother Don wanted me to
tell you that he sends his greetings. And we pray, Lord willing, that
he can be with you again soon. Now I want to preach tonight
out of Exodus 28. But I want you to turn to Hebrews
8 with me first. Hebrews chapter 8. Now brethren,
if we're going to be accepted of God, we have to be as holy as God. Scripture says, God says it must
be perfect to be accepted. We have to be holy as God, perfect
to be accepted of God. Now one of the lies that is being
taught in our day, and I believe it's very subtle to some degree,
I think back in the days Brother Henry was preaching and Brother
Maurice, it was pretty clear cut if a man was a will worshipper
or he believed the sovereign grace of God. But nowadays, a
man who claims to believe the doctrine of grace will end up
slipping in at the end the lie that sanctification is partly
of Christ and partly of the believer. And that's not true. It's not
partly of Christ and partly of the believer. That's an offense
to us because Christ is our holiness. Hebrews 2 tells us He's the one
that sanctifies and He is the sanctification. He that sanctifies
and they who are sanctified are all of one. Hebrews 10.10 says
by Christ's will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all time. For by one offering He
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And then we know
1 Corinthians 1.30 tells us that it's of God that Christ is made
unto us sanctification. So brethren, our great High Priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is both the sanctifier and our sanctification. And that's what I want to speak
to you tonight about, our sanctifier and our sanctification. Now when
we get to Exodus 28, we're going to be looking at the high priest
and we're going to be looking at his garments. And what I want
you to see is that high priest and those garments typify the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now how do we get that? How do
we arrive at that truth? Look here at Hebrews 8 verse
1. Now of the things which we've spoken, this is the psalm, we
have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the
throne of the majesty in the heavens. A minister of the sanctuary
and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. Look down at verse 4. At the
time Paul wrote this, he said, there are priests that offer
gifts according to the law who serve unto the example and shadow
of heavenly things. As Moses was admonished of God
when he was about to make the tabernacle, God said, See that
thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee
in the mount. Because they're types. They're
pictures and types of heavenly things. Look at Hebrews 9 and
verse 6. He says, now when these things were thus ordained, the
priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God. But into the second went the
high priest alone, once every year, not without blood, which
he offered for himself and for the errors of the people, the
Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all
was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing. which was a figure, a type, for
the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices
that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience. We're told down in verse 22,
almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without
the shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
ease. but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true." Everything we're going to see about the high priest
and the tabernacle are pictures and types of the true high priest. His garments are figures of the
true high priest. So that's what we're going to
be looking at. He's in heaven right now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Now that's our warrant to say
that the high priest and the garments are pictures and types
of Christ. Now, let's go to Exodus chapter
28. And I want to look at three garments. We'll look first of all at the
robe and the coat. Then secondly, we'll look at
the hem of the robe. And then three, we'll look at
the miter. Alright, now the robe and the coat. Let's look at this.
Verse 31, And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of
blue. And there shall be a hole in
the top of it, in the midst thereof. It shall have a binding of woven
work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a
harbourgeon. that it be not rent. Verse 39
says, and thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen. Now the coat here of fine linen
was worn next to the body under the robe. It was right next to the body
and the robe went over the coat. The coat was made of fine linen
And this robe worn over the coat was all of blue. Now this white
linen, it pictures Christ being the perfect man. The perfect
man. The Scriptures tell us, Revelation
tells us, the white linen is the righteousness of the saints. That is, The Lord our righteousness,
it's Christ's righteousness given to His saints, towards those
He's made holy, to those He has sanctified. And see, for Christ
to be our holiness, He had to be a man. He had to be the perfect
man. He wasn't born of corruptible
seed like you and I. He was born of incorruptible,
that holy thing formed in the womb. No corruption like us. He's the only perfect man. Adam was created upright, but
he sinned and plunged us all into sin. Christ is the only
perfect man. And then when we look at this
robe all of blue that was worn by the high priest alone, it
was blue like the heavens. It was blue like the heavens.
Christ is also God come down from heaven. He's the perfect
man and He's God. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Now you think about that, brethren.
That tells us God so sovereignly, everlastingly, immutably loved
His people that God came down Himself to work out our salvation
for us. So our Lord Jesus Christ is God
and man. That means everything He accomplished
is eternal. All the work He accomplished
for His people is eternal. We have redemption. And that's
a blessed thing. But it's even more blessed to
know it's eternal redemption. Nothing can change it. No sin
we commit can change the eternal redemption Christ has accomplished.
Nothing can change it. We have such a high priest. We
have such a high priest who right now is set at the right hand
of God. And it's not by the blood of
goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in one time
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. It's
eternal. Now, secondly, I want us to see
here the hem of the robe. First of all, we see in the robe
and the coat that Christ is the perfect God-man. In order for
Him to be our holiness, He had to be God in human flesh. Perfect man. And that's who He
is. Now, how are we going to know
Christ is our holiness? We're saying He's our sanctification,
He's also our sanctifier. Now look here at the hymn of
the robe, verse 33. And beneath upon the hymn of
it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and of purple and of
scarlet round about the hymn thereof. Now when you see these
colors blue, purple, and scarlet, that's how you're going to see
them throughout Exodus. It's always in that order. Blue,
purple, scarlet. Heavens. He's God. Scarlet, he's
man. He shed his blood. And you put
blue and scarlet together and you get that royal color purple. He's our king priest. That's
who he is. Now watch this. And on this hymn,
bells of gold between them round about. A golden bell and a pomegranate. A golden bell and a pomegranate
upon the hymn of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron
to minister. And his sound shall be heard
when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord and when
he cometh out. when he's before the people.
That he die not. Now, as you know, a pomegranate's
a fruit. of pomegranates of fruit. And
all fruitfulness in a believer is produced by the Lord Jesus
Christ. All fruitfulness in a believer
is produced by Christ. Psalm 1-3, He's the blessed man. And the Scripture says, He shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth His fruit in His season. And when it was the season of
His love, He brought forth you who believe as His fruit. His fruit. His leaf also shall
not wither, and whatsoever He doeth shall prosper. That's Christ
Jesus, our great high priest. Now Christ ministers to His redeemed
through the preaching of the gospel. And He makes us bear
fruit through the preaching of the gospel. Do you know what
God calls His church? Do you know what God calls Christ's
church? In Song of Solomon chapter 4
and verse 13, He says, The plants, thy plants, are an orchard of
pomegranates. That's what His people are, an
orchard of pomegranates. I'm sitting here looking at an
orchard of pomegranates. That's what you are. The fruit
of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which
are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Now, since the pomegranates typify
the fruit that Christ produces, what do these bells picture?
What's the picture in these bells? Well, verse 35 says, it shall
be upon Aaron to minister. Christ came not to be ministered
to, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. That's why He came. And it says,
in His sound, the high priest's sound, Christ's sound shall be
heard. His sound shall be heard. The gospel of Christ shall be
heard. when he goeth in unto the holy
place before the Lord, and when he comes out before the people,
that he die not. That the remembrance of Christ
and Him crucified never dies in the memory of His people,
in the heart of His people. So the golden bell represents
the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. And that preaching
is by Christ, our High Priest. through his messengers. When
you come into this place to hear the gospel preached, I want you
to think of it this way, and always think of it this way.
When the gospel is being preached, Christ Jesus, our prophet, priest,
and king, is preaching through his earthen vessel. That's who's
preaching. It's Christ preaching. And if
you hear the word of God and are blessed in your heart, it's
because Christ made that word effectual in your heart. You
wake up in the morning sometimes and you're tired, or you get
off work on Wednesday night and you're tired, you don't feel
like coming. Let us ask ourselves this question. If I knew the Lord Jesus Christ
was going to be in that pulpit preaching that gospel to me,
would I miss that? He is. Right now from heaven's
glory, Christ is preaching through His minister as real as He preached
the gospel when He walked this earth. For after that in the
wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's
not just in the first hour He gives you faith, that's from
the hour He gives you faith all the way to the last hour. We're
saved through the preaching of the gospel. Now to a regenerated
child of God, this gospel is a joyful sound. You can almost hear those little
tinkling bells on the hem of the high priest's garment. A
joyful sound. The angel said, fear not, I bring
you good tidings of great joy. That's what the gospel is to
us. It's good tidings of great joy because unto you is born
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. This golden veil was upon
Aaron as he ministered. As he ministered. The gospel
we preach is all about the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the word we preach, the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
ministered to His people when He walked this earth. And through
His blood, He accomplished redemption for His people from the curse
of the law by being made a curse for us. And right now, His throne
in glory, He's ministering to His people through the preaching
of the gospel, ministering the Holy Spirit to us by whom we're
regenerated and sanctified. So He's our righteousness and
our sanctification. He's our redeemer and our redemption. He's our sanctifier and our sanctification. Now go to Galatians 3, I want
you to see this. Galatians 3, I'm actually going to read something
in chapter 2, but look here in Galatians 2.20, Paul said, I
am crucified with Christ. Don't you love that in the first
person? I am. I am. I was on that cross brethren. And if you believe Christ, you
were on that cross. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I. But Christ liveth in me. We're
talking about holiness. We're talking about sanctification.
Our holiness is Christ in you. And Christ lives in His regenerated
people. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. The same One
who loved me and gave Himself for me lives in me. And I don't
turn to the right unless He makes me turn to the right. And I don't
turn to the left unless He makes me turn to the left. I don't
do anything except what Christ living in me causes me to do
by His power and His grace. So He's my sanctifier and my
sanctification. Now look down at Galatians 3.2.
Paul said, This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit
by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Did you
receive the Spirit by the works of the law, by you doing something
to receive it, or was it through the hearing of the gospel of
the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ? Are you so foolish
having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Now look at verse 5. Remember
our text said these bells were going to be upon Aaron as he
ministered Now look at this, verse 5. He therefore that ministereth
to you the Spirit. Who's that? That's Christ. That's
our high priest. He ministers to you the Spirit. It says, and he works miracles
among you. He regenerates his people and
brings a stubborn hearted rebel to believe on him willingly.
That's a miracle. Now look at this. Doeth he it
by the works of the law or by the hearing of the gospel? Does he do it by the works of
the law or by the hearing of his faithfulness? Even as Abraham
believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. That
shows us that sanctification is not by the works of the law.
Because Abraham was sanctified and made righteous 430 years
before the law was given at Mount Sinai. How was he sanctified? Through the preaching of the
gospel, Christ ministered the Spirit to him and created a new
man within him wherein Christ was formed and he was holy. And that's why he believed on
Christ and why God imputed the righteousness of Christ to him.
Now this gospel we preach, brethren, it's delighted in by the heavenly
host. The Lord God and the whole heavenly
host is delighted in as much as it is by us. Right here. He said there in our text back
in Exodus 28, He said, verse 35, "...It shall
be upon Aaron to minister, and his sound shall be heard when
he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he
cometh out before his people." God the Father rejoices in the
sound of Christ's gospel before Him. The angels and the whole
heavenly host desire to look into these things. You've come to Mount Zion. You've
come to the spirits of just men made perfect. And as we hear
this gospel preached, that whole heavenly host right now is rejoicing
in Christ. Their eye is on Christ. And as
we hear this gospel preached, our eye is on Christ. Heaven
and earth, wherever His gospel is preached, heaven and earth,
our eyes are on Christ the Lord, Christ the High Priest. You think
of this, brethren, that's an amazing thing to think of, that
wherever the gospel is preached, all the saints in heaven and
all the saints in earth are looking at the same one, the Lord Jesus
Christ. What was the purpose of this
preaching? Look here at the end of verse 35, that he die not. That he die not. Now some will
say that the bell was so that the priest when he would go into
the holiest of holies, they could hear the bell tinkle and they
would know that he had not died. I just can't go with that. Let
me tell you why. There was not any remote possibility
that a high priest would ever die because he pictured our successful
great high priest who entered in and made atonement for us. He would never die because then
he wouldn't picture Christ. What does it mean then? It typifies
the truth that God will not allow Christ's ministry to die in the
minds and hearts of His people. If they weren't even interested
in listening, if they weren't even interested in Aaron the
high priest, they couldn't help but hear him. Wherever he was
ministering in that tabernacle, they heard him, jingling, wherever
he went. And God's going to have the sound
of His gospel go forth, glorifying His Son, so that for you and
I who He's made to believe, we never forget the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, Peter said, I'll put
you always in remembrance of these things, though you know
them and though you be established in the truth. I've heard those
points, Brother Kevin preached. They rejoiced my heart as much
to hear them again as they did the first time I've heard. What
is it? The Gospel is putting us in remembrance. Putting us in remembrance. Something
we already believe. Something we already know. Christ
Jesus our righteousness. Christ our holiness. That's the
purpose of the Gospel. Look at Psalm 89 and verse 15. Psalm 89, 15. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. Can you say amen to that? Blessed
is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord,
in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice
all the day, and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou
art the glory of their strength, and in Thy favor our horns shall
be exalted. For the Lord is our defense and the Holy One,
the Holy One of Israel, our King. Our King. If you hear this Gospel
tonight and you rejoice in it, you're blessed. You're blessed. You hear people all the time
every day when you meet people, if they found out you believe
the Gospel or if they found out I'm a preacher, it's blessed
this, blessed that, have a blessed day and all that. I'm blessed. And you're blessed because you
hear the joyful sound. You hear the joyful sound. Now
lastly, let's go back to Exodus 28. And let's look at this mitre. Now here's where it's all wrapped
up. We saw first of all, in the robe and the coat, Christ is
the perfect, holy God-man who worked out the salvation of His
people. We see He is the sanctifier because
the pomegranates are the fruit He produces through the joyful
sound of the Gospel. And when He brings us to behold
Him, here's what we behold right here. Exodus 28, verse 36. Thou
shalt make a plate of pure gold, engrave upon it, like the engravings
of a signet, holiness to the Lord. And thou shalt put it on
a blue lace, that it may be upon the miter, upon the forefront
of the miter it shall be." You get the picture, the miter was
like a crown, and there's this blue lace there, and there's
this pure gold, and it's engraving in it, and it says, holiness
to the Lord. Now look at verse 38. And it
shall be upon Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity
of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow
in all their holy gifts. And it shall be always upon his
forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord. So you have
this mitre. It says, holiness to the Lord,
typifying Christ our holiness. Christ our holiness. And it was
there so that the high priest would bear the iniquity. He would bear the iniquity of
the holy things, which the children of Israel... The children of
Israel would separate out a lamb. They would hallow a lamb. They
would examine him and make sure he had no spots or blemishes
in him so he pictured Christ. And they would bring that lamb
and offer that lamb as a holy gift. As a holy gift. Now, Christ has made you and
I priests unto God. By His blood, He's made His people
priests unto God. That's so that we can hallow,
we can separate that which God has given us and use it as a
holy thing for God's holy use in the ministry of the gospel,
in sending forth the gospel. But listen, though He's created
a new holy man within us in which is no sin, Though He's done that. We have this sinful flesh so
that every holy gift that we offer to God is tainted with
sin. It's tainted with our iniquity.
Everything that we attempt to do in the service of God is tainted
with sin. I'm sitting here preaching the
gospel and there's enough sin in me preaching this gospel to
send me to hell. for eternity. You're sitting
here hearing the same thing. How then are we going to be made
perfect to be accepted of God? How is our service and our works
going to be accepted of God? Verse 38 says, Christ, our High
Priest, bears the iniquity of the holy things which the children
of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts, and it shall
be always upon His forehead that they may be accepted before the
Lord. You see, all our gifts are tainted
with sin, but God still calls them holy gifts. How could He
call them holy? Because Christ bears the iniquity
And he presents them to God perfectly holy. Look over at 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. Our service to God is as fully
accepted as Christ is. Now don't miss that. Anything
a believer does in the name of Christ is as accepted with God
as Christ Himself is, because Christ is our holiness. Look
here, it's 1 Peter 2 verse 5. Ye also, as living stones, are
built up a spiritual house. That's what the tabernacle pictured.
It pictured you and I who He sanctified and built up. Look
at this. You're a holy priesthood. For
what purpose? To offer up spiritual sacrifices. And how are they accepted? Acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. That's what verse 38 of our text
says. Everything we do is accepted
of God because Christ, our great high priest, is our holiness
who bears the iniquity of the holy things so that He presents
them to God and they're accepted. They're accepted. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
9 and I'm going to wrap this up. And I'm going to show you
what the good news is. If you're sitting here tonight
and you can hear the gospel, and you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and He alone is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, If you can sit here and say without a doubt,
He is my holiness. Apart from anything I do, Christ
is my holiness. Here's the good news for you.
Here's the good news for you. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 7. Go thy
way, eat thy bread with joy, drink thy wine with a merry heart,
for God now accepteth thy works. Which works? All of them. All
of them. That's the good news. Thank you,
brethren.