Zechariah chapter three, and
we're gonna spend most of our time in verse five, but I'd like
to read verses four, five, and six. Zechariah chapter three,
verses four, five, and six. And he answered and spake unto
those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will
clothe thee with a change of raiment. What significant explanation
the Lord has for us in this verse of scripture, because the symbolic
taking away this garment is nothing compared to having our sin taken
from us. Anybody can change some clothes,
and often in religion, we go through a reformation, and it's
nothing more changing from this garment to that garment. But
the Lord Jesus Christ, in his great salvation, clothes us with
his righteousness, and in that, it is shared with us that our
iniquity is gone. It's been put on him, and he
has taken it away. Verse five, and I said, let them
set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the
Lord stood by. And the angel of the Lord protested
unto Joshua saying. Now we're gonna find out when
we get to that verse six that that word protested is not what
we think of a protest today. It's a very positive thing that
they were dealing with here. But let's go back here. We find
that this is Joshua. Joshua's the high priest. Joshua's
the high priest in Jerusalem at this time. And Joshua is before
the Lord and he's been accused. He's been accused by Satan himself,
and the one that brought the accusation has been shut up.
The Lord rebuke thee. That one verse, we have the Lord
mentioned, I think, three times in it, that the rebuke is going
to stand firm, and you have no part of him. He is mine. Well, this fair mitre that we
find in verse five, he said, let them set a fair mitre upon
his head. First of all, let's notice that
this mitre was set on his head. I remember reading about a king
that took the crown away from the person who was supposed to
crown him and put it on himself. And many people in religion have
that thought about their religion. I'll put it on myself. Well,
this fair mitre that was given to Joshua, as well as his clothes,
is he is not a participant in this ceremony. He is a recipient
of the robe and now he is a recipient of this fair mitre. It says,
let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair
mitre upon his head. Now this passage of scripture
here in the third chapter in particular, but Zechariah in
his fullness shares a great deal of encouragement for the church.
We find that the Lord is going to continuously deal with his
people no matter where they are and what time they are. He is
going to continuously deal with his people. He will find all
his lost sheep. He will place them in the church.
They will be a city guarded, a wall of fires about them, his
protective cares over them. He'll lose none of them. and
this is all brought out here in the book of Zechariah to our
great encouragement. We also find out that if we look
at Joshua, yes, Joshua the high priest, from a standpoint, we
will find out that Joshua would readily admit that he had never
gone through a day without doing something wrong. He had never
completed a day on a perfect scale, and yet we find that the
Lord would take away his filthy garments, and give him a garment
of righteousness, which depicts that his iniquity is taken away,
and then place a fair mitre upon his head, indicating that he
belonged to the Lord, and that his service is the Lord's service,
but he's going to continue in that service. Well, let's look
here. This word that's a fair miter is found several times
in the Old Testament, not many, six times, and two of them are
found here in this section of scripture in the book of Zechariah
chapter three and verse five. But there's a couple other ones
I want to read because the term diadem or royal diadem comes
into play. And we find that in a song that
we sing, a royal diadem. Well, turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Job in Job chapter 29. Job chapter 29. Job is speaking here. This is
one book. And I try to follow through everywhere
I go, and sometimes I make a mistake. I don't realize who's speaking,
but I went back here in this book of Job and found it. These
are Job's words. Job is bringing this, not one
of his rascal friends, but Job is speaking here. And in chapter
29 of the book of Job, we find in there in verse 14, chapter
29 and verse 14, we have, these words given to us that
has the same word that we find over here this fair miter that
word fair miter that word is used twice there miter miter
fair miter well here in the book of job chapter twenty nine verse
fourteen it says I put on righteousness and it clothed me my judgment
was as a robe and a diadem my Judgment was as a robe and as
a diadem. This fair mitre, now the mitre
is not what we see on the guy at Rome, that funny hat, that's
not the diadem. The diadem or this fair mitre
is really a wrapping that went around the head. And I've read
commentaries that said it was X number of feet long. Well,
I have to apologize, but the people in the Bible didn't use
the term feet, so we don't know how long it was. When they jump
in and make, it was a wrapping, and it was made of linen. It
was a very important covering that the high priest had and
the other priest had. And then go down with me, if
you would, to the book of Isaiah chapter 62. In Isaiah chapter
62, we have this word brought out again, Isaiah chapter 62,
and it's used in here in twice. Isaiah 62 in verse 3. Isaiah 62 and verse 3 thou shall
also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal
diadem in the hand of thy God Now he's speaking of the church
here you will be a crown of glory in the hand of Jehovah and a
royal diadem in the hand of Elohim and What a statement is made
here with relationship to God's care of the church and its exaltation
in Christ, being lifted up and spoken of with such dear terms
as this, this royal diadem, this special headdress that is given
and is spoken of here. It was given to Joshua. It was
given to the high priest there in the Old Testament. And one
more time, Well, it's here in our reading in Zechariah, excuse
me. There's another time mentioned in Isaiah, but I'm gonna prefer
to go on to other things. Here we have that Zion's glory,
this royal diadem that is given. Now, this fair mitre is not a
turban such as might be worn by just anybody. There was nobody
but the priests that wore this fair mitre, this diadem, this
turban. That speaks very highly of who
gets to wear this. The church gets to wear it because
they have been created as king priests. It's a very special
headdress that is given. This headdress is primarily for
persons and kings. That is for princes and kings. This is a royal thing. This is
an item that sets people apart. They can be easily identified
by this. They are not just everybody,
but they are a very special place. This word is synonymous with
the technical word that was used to cover the head of the high
priest in the Old Testament of Aaron, and then later his sons,
and so forth. This is a fair turban. This is,
it is only for the church. The church is prescribed to receive
this royal diadem. The church is prescribed to receive
this royal turban, this fair miter. Now, as we stop and think
about the position that Joshua had as a high priest, and yet
his garments are dirty and filthy, and God came and placed upon
him this clean robe that was given to him, and in it he explained,
your iniquities are put away. Now, I don't believe there was
a day in the service that Aaron ever had, of all those years
that he was a high priest, from the time it was instituted to
the time almost entering up into the promised land, there's 38
to 40 years that he was the high priest there, in Israel, there
wasn't a day that he could say, I've completed my task. There
wasn't a day that he could say that I have done the best. I've done everything exactly
as I should. There wasn't a day that he completed
everything that should be done. And there wasn't a day that went
through his mind that he had, even in his greatest service,
his mind wandered from the Lord God of heaven. As a human being,
that happens. Now we find that even though
all of those things were happening with him, God was pleased to
restore to him this robe and he was pleased to put this fair
miter upon his head. Now we're going to take a little
rabbit trail right here. I want to bring out just a thought
about here just a moment. Would you turn with me to the
book of Lamentations again? The book of Lamentations. We
have read this passage of scripture a number of times here in Lamentations
chapter, Jeremiah, Lamentations. They're in Lamentations chapter
3 and verse 22. Jeremiah, excuse me, Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 3 and verse
22. Now there's something said here
that just struck me that because every day God's people go through
their life and they find out that they're not doing things
exactly like they should. We're gonna get over to the disciples
here in just a moment because they give us a great illustration
about this. We don't do what we should, even though we know
we should be doing it. We can't always do what we should. And we find out in Lamentations
chapter 3, now this applies to Joshua there as the high priest,
when he's given that new robe and that fair miter, he's still
in the absolute favor of God. Even though yesterday he didn't
perform his service. He might have got mixed up in
his words. He might have quoted something
incorrectly. And that's just mediocre stuff. I'm talking about from the heart
level that he didn't do everything that he knew he should do. And
yet, the next day, you know what he gets to put on? This same
robe and that fair miter. He may lay down and go to bed,
but the next day, he's in the same position that he was. God
did not remove him from that position. What encouragement
it is to the church. to find out that even though
Joshua being a man and being the high priest and not performing
as he should, the next day he has that robe of righteousness
and that fair miter and he's in the position before God as
he was the day before. Here in the book of Lamentations
chapter 3 and verse 22 it said, it is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed because his compassions fail not. Now this
took on new significance when I looked at this passage of scripture,
they are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Every
day we get up, we still have that clean robe of righteousness
and we still have that fair miter. Every day is new. His blessings
to us are new every day. Yesterday's mistakes, yesterday's
misquotes, yesterday's thoughts, yesterday's everything. And today,
thy mercies are new every morning. Turn with me back to the Psalms,
if you would. That is going to be Joshua's
blessing. That is going to be the church's
looking at this and say, you know, I saw him yesterday. and today he's in that wonderful
robe and fair miter and in the service of the most high God. God did not strike him dead because
of his imperfections yesterday. What does it say in the book
of Malachi? I am God, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. You come out of it still wearing
a robe of righteousness and a fair miter that was given to you.
Both of these were given to you in salvation. Here in the book
of the Psalm, Psalm 59. Psalm 59, we have this passage
of scripture given to us by the Psalmist. Psalm 59, verse 16. I can imagine that once in a
while, Joshua, the high priesthood, Nobody knows the mess I made
yesterday Nobody knows what went through my mind yesterday But
it was enough if God was counting iniquity But he's not I have
this robe today, and I have this fair miter today. And it is never
taken away from any of his people. In the book, the Psalms, Psalm
59 and verse 16, the scriptures share this. It says, but I will
sing of thy power, yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the
morning. Now mercy has to do with, it
always has to do, real mercy always has to do with sin. God
not giving us what we deserve. I will sing aloud of thy mercy
in the morning, for thou hast been my defense and my refuge
in the day of my trouble. What a blessing, and that's what
we find Joshua as an illustration of this very point. The highest
person in the temple worship has these issues in him every
day. Just as the Apostle Paul said,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Jesus Christ came to die for sinners of whom I am chief. And
yet the next morning, when Paul woke up, he could say, his mercies
are new every morning. His goodness to me is new every
morning. It never changes. Yesterday was
a wreck. Today, I still have the robe,
I still have the minor, he has left it with me. Well, turn with
me one other time here in the Psalm, Psalm 143. Psalm 143. In Psalm 143 verse 8, Psalm 143 verse 8, cause me to
hear thy loving kindness in the morning. Yesterday was a wreck. I went to bed as a wreck. I didn't
sleep much. Guess what? Thy loving kindness
in the morning. For in thee do I trust. Cause
me to know thy way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto
thee. Joshua, the high priest, the
most visible person in the temple worship, he is brought out here
before the Lord and accused by Satan of this filthy, dirty robe. And God said, well, we'll give
him another one. We'll give him a clean one. stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. So he did and put a
fair miter upon his head. Now this is brought to a head
when we begin to look at some of the disciples in the New Testament
and nobody including Abel down to this very day nobody is without
the same problem that these disciples had and yet the Lord always comes
to them with peace. Turn with me if you would over
to the book of Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. In Matthew
chapter 26, it shares with us something horrific
for anybody to ever do to the Lord. And yet every disciple,
everyone, Matthew chapter 26 verse 56.
Matthew chapter 26 verse 56 it says, but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets
might be fulfilled, then all the disciples forsook him and
fled." Now I bring that right back to Joshua, the most visible
person. in the temple service, the most
visible person in the tabernacle service, the most visible one
of all, every day was clothed with fine linen and had a fair
miter on their head. Joshua, every day, he could go
to bed one day and absolutely say, yesterday was the worst
day. I was carrying that blood and tripped on myself and spilled
it all over. I don't know if that ever happened.
But the things that he did as being a human being, but as being
a child of God, that robe was never stripped from him. And
that mitre was never relieved of him. Every day he got to wear
the same. the righteousness of Christ,
and, as we find, the helmet of salvation. They were not taken
from him. They were not stripped off of
him. Even though he went through life as a human being and made
mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake, he still got to
wear that robe of righteousness and that helmet of salvation.
They were not taken away from him. Well, the disciples, every
one of them fled, even though they all said, we will not do
that. Everyone, but the scriptures were fulfilled by doing this.
What? The Lord would go this path by himself alone. But the disciples, everyone,
let's just look at a couple of verses. It says here in Matthew
26 verse 31. Matthew chapter 26 verse 31,
it says, Peter answered and said unto them, Though all men should
be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow thou shalt
deny me thrice or three times. And Peter said unto him, Though
I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also
said all the disciples. They believed they could do that.
I don't believe any of them thought that I am capable of doing this,
even though just recently they said, is it I? Is it I? Is it
I? They honestly said we will be
able to do this, and yet we find that every one of them said it,
and Peter is just the spokesperson for the church in that point.
And every one of them denied the Lord, and everyone left him
at this moment to fulfill the scriptures. Do you know the most
glorious thing about this whole thing? Turn with me to Matthew
28. The Lord Jesus came to his 11
disciples after all that fiasco. They had a bad day. They had
a bad evening. Peter even warmed himself over
the coals of those folks and denied the Lord. The rest of
them did too. He is just the spokesman. He's
the illustrating the point for us. Joshua, every day he did
something stupid or foolish or had nonsense go through his mind. You know, the worst time for
me to have nonsense go through my mind is when I'm praying.
Something comes up, what nonsense. And you know what? I'm so thankful
as the Lord Jesus knew what was gonna happen here in Matthew
chapter 28 and verse 19. Go ye therefore. He didn't say, I'm going to have
your head on a charger. He didn't say, I'm going to have your robe.
He didn't say, I'm going to have your miter. He didn't say any
of that. He came and said, peace be unto you. Every day is a new
day. Peace be unto you. And then,
go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo,
I am with you always, even until the end of the world." Now, I
realize that there's only time you won't be with me, but I'll
be with you, and I will not strip you. I will not take away my
righteousness, and I will not take away my helmet of salvation.
You will wear that the rest of your life. It's given to you. I put it on you." That's what
he did to Joshua the high priest. He did not strip him. He said,
your iniquities are gone. Isn't it wonderful to wake up
every morning and say, my iniquities are gone. My iniquities are gone. Yesterday was a wreck. I don't
want to live that day over again. Well, here we are again. Yet,
the robe is never taken away from us. Look with me if you
would. John 20, John 20. What an encouragement it was
for those people in that day, as well as it is in this day,
to read about the high priest and the problems he had. Well,
I can relate to that. I know that. He's the best there
is, and look at that. He has the same problem I have,
and that's his humanity. But the Lord never took that
robe away and he never took his turban away. This is for the
church. This is not for the world. I
don't give these out to the world. I don't give fair miters out
and I don't give my robe of righteousness out to the world. I give it to
the church and I give it for time and for eternity. I will
never recall that. I will never take it back. It
belongs to them through the covenant of grace. I will be new to them
every morning. They get up and have a fresh
start. We may blow it again, but we have a fresh start every
day. And here in the book of John,
John chapter 20, John chapter 20, and there in verse 21, John chapter
20 and verse 21, then Jesus said to them again, what words? There's no words like these words
to the church when they've just had a bad day. when Peter, James,
John, and the rest of those disciples came to the conclusion of what
they had done the night before. When they came to the conclusion
that they had left the one they said they would stay with. They
had left the Lord. They had denied him. In fact,
we read about a man that cursed and said, I never knew him. And
then, then Jesus said to them again, Peace be unto you. As my father has sent me, even
so send I you. I don't hold a grudge. I'm not
holding this against you. I have your robe in place. It's intact. Your righteousness
is intact and your fair turban is intact. Your fair miter is
intact. Your robe of righteousness is
intact. I don't take that from you. This
is the contract, I've supplied it, I will never take it away.
And so he says, well, if we back up there in verse 19, it says,
then the same day at evening being the first day of the week
when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled
for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith
unto them. Now, if he was a religious preacher, he'd have railed on
them, and until you start double tithing, we're not gonna forget
this. But he steps in the midst and says, Peace be unto you. I'm not holding it against you. What great encouragement the
Lord gives us through Joshua and through men in that position
when he says, I will not retract this. So this fair miter, now,
Isaiah 59 and verse 7 is only for the church. The church is
prescribed to receive the very best headdress. It's not for
everybody. It's only for royalty. And we're
not royal by birth, physical birth. We're made royal by the
spiritual birth. We're king priests. We're made
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. He has made
that. He will not retract that. He
will not put us back in the position that we were in. So here in the
book of Isaiah chapter 59 and verse 17. Isaiah chapter 59 and
verse 17. Isaiah 59 and verse 17 We look
here and we find these blessed words Jesus was going to share
with us through the Spirit Isaiah 59 and verse 17 the scriptures
say for the iniquity Oh 59 not 57 59 verse 17 for he put on righteousness as a breastplate
and a helmet of salvation upon his head, and he put on the garments
of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with a zeal as a cloak."
Now, this is speaking of the head. This is the high priest. This is the one that we have
as a high priest. As those people in their religious
form had Joshua as the high priest, He had this wonderful robe, he
had this fair miter, and he was before the people as an object
and an object lesson. Here we have the Lord saying,
I have a helmet of salvation, I have a breastplate of righteousness.
And then we come to the New Testament and say, he gives that. It's
not something that he keeps to himself, but he gives that. So
let's jump over to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter
6. Ephesians chapter 6, and they're in verse 17. Wherefore, verse 13, let's look
at verse 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole
armor of God. that ye may be able to withstand
the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt with the truth. And who dresses us? We have to say that. Who dresses
us? Same person who dressed Joshua. Same person who gives us a robe
of righteousness. Who dressed Adam? Who dressed
Eve? Who stripped them of their own
self-righteous fig leaves and put on this robe, the skin of
animals? That was God. They were recipients
of it, not participants in it. Stand, therefore, having your
loins girt with the truth and having the breastplate of righteousness
and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet
of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. Take the helmet of salvation. What fair miter, what wonderful
turban does the Lord give to his people? The helmet of salvation. no greater, and it will not be
retracted from us when we have a bad day. We may feel like he
should, but he won't, because he's promised it from eternity.
And one other passage, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 8. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 and verse 8, we have this mentioned too. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a
helmet, the hope of salvation. The absolute salvation that God
gives to all his people. So this helmet, this turban,
this fair miter is not for everyone. He didn't make one for everyone.
If he made one for everyone, everyone would be saved. But
he didn't. It is only for those blood-bought,
chosen, king-priests of God. And even though we messed up
terribly, it's still ours. He still looks upon it within
its purity and in its holiness because he's the one that accomplished
the righteousness and he's the one that accomplished the salvation. And he gives it to his church
freely and will not retract it. I am God. I change not. And my mercies are new every
morning. Yesterday is gone. Serve the
Lord with gladness today. And if you mess up, I don't take
your robe and I don't take your turban. I don't take your fair
mitre. And so Joshua is given this. What a display. The highest office
that was in that temple. garments like the rest of us,
splattered with sin, and given a robe, pure white linen, and
a fair mitre that spoke of his special place with God. And here we have that given to
the church, a fair robe. here in white, the righteousness
of Christ, imputed to us, and that fair helmet of salvation
that's given to everyone. It's a royal crown. It's a royal
diadem. It's a fair and glorious addition
that God gives to us. The breastplate of righteousness
and all those, that helmet of salvation, royal diadem. How
glorious is that, that God would give it to us. He started with,
The first one ever saved, he continues to give out these very
special robes and this very special headdress to every one of his
elect. He puts it on us, imputes it
to us, covers us, and he will never say, I'm going to kill
you. He will always say, peace be
unto you. I will not remember yesterday.
Alright, we'll stop there.