If you ever been so dirty, so filthy, that you were ashamed, embarrassed, anybody caught you
that way, just didn't want to be seen, didn't want anybody
to see you, if you have, you got some idea, of the picture
given us of Joshua in Zechariah chapter 3. In this passage Joshua
represents every sinner redeemed and called by God's grace as
he stands before the angel of the Lord. Now the angel of the
Lord in this passage is Jehovah himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that because this man
who is called the angel of the Lord is himself called the Lord
in verse 2. So this man, this man who is
God, the angel of the Lord, you know, of course, that word angel
usually in the scriptures does not refer to a spirit being.
Usually it refers to a man. He refers to one who is a messenger,
and our Lord Jesus Christ is preeminently the messenger of
the Lord. He is the word of God by whom
God speaks to and through whom God deals with men. He is preeminently
the angel of the Lord, most of the time in the Old Testament.
When you read the angel of the Lord, it is a pre-incarnate manifestation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember Manoah and his wife
saw the Lord do gloriously. They saw the angel of the Lord.
The Lord came to Abraham. And Abraham worshipped him and
heard his word, and the angel of the Lord spoke God's word
to him. Well, that's the same person here. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
this man who is God, the angel of the Lord, is our mighty advocate
and our effectual intercessor. This man who is our Savior, the
one who intercedes for us as the angel of the Lord interceded
for Joshua, who pleads with God for us, is himself the Lord God
Almighty. Now why is that so important?
That means that his intercession works. That means his intercession
is effectual. That means his intercession cannot
fail. If he undertakes for me, then
all is well. If he takes up my cause before
God, then all is well. Now I want you to hold your Bibles
open to this third chapter of Zechariah, verses 1 through 5,
and let me show you five things here about the marvelous work
of God's grace as we experience it. First, we see here a guilty
sinner. A guilty sinner before the bar
of God Almighty. And he showed me Joshua, the
high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. Joshua,
of course, is not that Joshua who followed Moses as Moses'
successor, leading the children of Israel into the land of Canaan. Turn back to Ezra chapter 10,
and I'll show you who this Joshua is. This Joshua is the high priest
who came up with Israel out of Babylonian captivity and was
a primary instrument of God in rebuilding the temple of God
in those days when Ezra served the Lord so faithfully. But before
Joshua could be an instrument of God, before he could be an
instrument fit for the master's use, his sin had to be dealt
with. Preachers everywhere call on
folks to serve the Lord. Serve the Lord. You need to start
serving the Lord. First thing that's got to be
dealt with is sin. You can't serve God until your sin is dealt
with. Now look here in Ezra chapter
10. Joshua and his sons had taken wives from among the heathen. In verse 18. And among the sons
of the priest, There were found that had taken strange wives,
namely the sons of Jeshua, that is Joshua, the son of Josedek,
and his brethren, Maseah, and Eliezer, and Jerob, and Gedoliah. These priests, while they were
in Babylon, had unlawfully and in direct opposition to God's
word, taken wives of the Babylonians. They had gone down and found
women who worshipped other gods, and they joined themselves to
them, and thereby they defiled themselves as priests, and thereby
they were corrupting the race itself. Here Joshua stands before
the Lord conscious of his guilt and conscious of his sin. We
read in verse 3, now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments
and stood before the Lord. Here is a sinner under conviction
of sin. Now, I'll leave it to the theologians
or those who think they are. to argue about whether we should
speak of awakened sinners, convicted sinners, and sensible sinners.
I'll let other folks argue about those things, but I know this.
If God Almighty ever saves you by His grace, He's going to cause
you to know your sin. There's no salvation without
it. It ain't going to happen. Zacchaeus must come down if he
comes to Christ. The prodigal must come to himself
if he comes to the Father. The woman at the well must have
her sin exposed, or else she will never drink from that fountain
of living water, which will cause her never to thirst again. The
publican must be forced to cry, God be merciful to me, the sinner,
or he will never go down to his house justified. And you must
have your sin so exposed to you that you will not deny it before
God. If God never shows you what you
are, you're going to hell. If God doesn't expose us for
what we are, we will perish. Religion, notwithstanding. Morality,
notwithstanding. The good opinion of family and
friend, notwithstanding. God must show us what we are. He must cause us to know our
sin, acknowledge our sin, and confess our sin. or we will never,
never know His grace. Turn back to Psalm 32. Psalm
32. You remember David and his sin
in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. David had taken Uriah's wife
Bathsheba and then he had Uriah murdered. And for nine or ten
long, long months, maybe a little longer, David's bones waxed old within
him. And finally, God came to him. Aren't you glad he won't leave
you to yourself? What mercy! The Lord sent his
prophet, and Nathan told David a story about a man who came
to town and this rich man went and stole another man's sheep.
You know the story. And David said, let's kill him.
That man doesn't deserve to live. He's not fit to walk on God's
earth. Let's kill him. And that faithful
prophet stuck his finger right in David's face and said, you're
the man. All David had to do was stick
a post-it note on his head and he was gone. He'd go. But he said, thou art the man. And David's immediate response
was, I have said. And God's immediate word was,
the Lord hath forgiven thy sin. Now look at what David wrote
that night before he went to bed, Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now watch this. When I kept silence, when I refused
to acknowledge and confess my sin, my bones waxed old through
my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was
heavy upon me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
Stop and think about what I'm telling you. When I refuse to
confess my sin, God's hand lay heavy on me, my bones waxed old
through my roaring all the day long. Now watch this. I acknowledge
my sin unto thee. And my iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. And thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin. If we confess our sin, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Now let me try one more time
to tell you what that's talking about. Confessing your sin is not trying
to sit down and name your sin. I hear preachers talk about folks
come to the Lord and say, well, you can't have the bread and
wine if you have any unconfessed sin in your life. Well, when you start making lists,
I'm telling you, you don't know what sin is. You don't know what
it is. You don't know what it is. Sins,
Skip, is what we are. You and me. Your wife and mine. Your children and mine. It's
the horrid evil that's in us. David said, when I confessed
it, thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Iniquity, transgression,
sin, iniquity, failure to measure up to that holiness that God
is and God reveals. Transgression. Kicking down the
fences. Trampling underfoot every word
of God. Transgression. Saying I'll have
my way. Transgression. Breaking every
word of God. Sin. That's what I am. That's what I am. To confess your sin is to stand
before God Almighty and rip open your heart With the tender light of His
omniscience shining in it. With the bright beam of His righteousness
shining before you. Hiding Method. It won't do you
one speck of good to confess your sin to me. It won't do you
one speck of good to confess your sin to this church. Preachers
in churches, too, I think they somehow get a sort of delight
in listening to folks talk about how evil they are, which makes
them feel like they're good. But it won't do you any good to confess
your sins and your acts of evil to me or to this congregation.
You may as well go confess them to some fellow with a black robe
and a dog collar around his neck. It won't do you any good. It
won't do you any good. Oh, but to confess your sin before
God. That's where Joshua is. He stands
before the Lord God aware of his sin. John Flavor once wrote,
Christ is not sweet until sin is made bitter. And Flavor was
right. Though Joshua was of the priestly
line, he was a sinner still. He was chosen of God and sat
in the priestly line, but still he was a sinner. He stood before
the Lord in the filthy garments of his sin. When Joshua stood
before the Lord in the filth of his sin, he was speechless. The law was
given that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may
become guilty before God. I'll tell you what God does when
He makes you see what you are. He'll shut you up. You quit having excuses. You
quit trying to justify yourself. You quit trying to declare what
you are. You'll just shut up. Just shut up. Martin Luther said,
the recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation. And he
was exactly right. He said, sinner is my name. And sinner is my surname. I have
no other name but sinner. That's me. There's no hope for
a man, no hope for a woman, no hope for any child in this assembly
until God Almighty brings you to know your sin. No hope. And I'll tell you what I pray.
for my child and now my children in the flesh, and for you, the
sons and daughters of my brothers and sisters in this assembly.
Tell you what, I pray for you. Tell you what, I pray for your
children, for our children. My God, whatever it takes, Make
that young man right there to know his sin. Whatever it takes. And know your son. Whatever it takes. Whatever it
takes. Because without you knowing your
sin, you'll never know our Redeemer. Here's the believer, polluted
with personal sin, fallen and defiled. Now this is an instructive
picture. Look at where Joshua was, what
he was, and learn something about yourself. The believer is here
described as a priest, standing before the Lord, standing before
the angel of the Lord. Now understand this, my brother,
my sister, we are priests. We are priests unto God. Now,
I have absolutely no use for Roman priest, Anglican priest,
or Mormon priest. You can laugh at them, poke fun
at them. I don't care what you do with them. They're not worth
any respect of any kind whatsoever. None whatsoever. Don't give them
any. Don't give them any. They're
blasphemers. Blasphemers. Every man who calls himself an
intercessor between you and God is a blasphemer. The blasphemer. I have no regard for such. But
every believer is a priest. God says you're a holy priesthood. 1 Peter 2. You're a royal priesthood. Now what on earth does that mean?
In Revelation 1 we see this word of blessing and praise to our
Savior. Thou hast made us kings and priests
unto God and His Father. To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. What does that mean, priest?
How can it be said that I'm a priest, that you're a priest? Now, if
you were at all familiar with what's commonly spoken of in
our area, just in case you don't know, we live right around folks
who delight in the Southern Baptist traditions. And they talk about
the priesthood of the church. If you kept up with the controversy
when they talked about whether or not they ought to ordain women,
they said, we believe in the priesthood of the believer. We
believe in the priesthood of the believer. And what they mean
by that is this. We believe we have the right
to do anything we want to and call it worshiping God. We can
believe whatever we want to and call it believing God. And we
can act any way we want to and call it serving God. That's not
what priesthood of the believer is. That's called rebellion in
the name of religion. What is the priesthood of the
believer? The priests were a family of men and women, chosen of God,
who constantly lived about the holy things, whose men served
in the temple, making sacrifices and providing for the trimming
of the lamps and all those things, but the whole family of the Levites
were God's priests. And we are God's priests. Priests are men and women who
have access to God through God's sacrifice and are accepted of
Him as they serve Him all the time. Priests are men and women who
have access to God through God's sacrifice and they're accepted
of Him as they serve Him all the time. Put that in shoe leather. Priests
are a people who are chosen of God. They're chosen of God and
accepted of Him through the sacrifice that represented Christ our Savior.
And they're accepted of Him as they offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. Turn to Romans chapter 12, and
I'll show you exactly what Paul makes of this. Romans chapter
12. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, I beseech you by the mercies of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice. I'm calling on you,
my brothers, my sisters, who have experienced God's free grace,
I'm calling on me, having experienced God's free grace in Christ Jesus,
Present your bodies a living sacrifice. Not one time, continually,
constantly present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable
unto God. What? You mean lay Christians? You come to God Almighty and
present Him your body, your life in this flesh, A living sacrifice? Holy? Holy? Acceptable to God? You've got
to be kidding. No, it would be blasphemy if
it weren't the truth. Holy because of a substitute. Acceptable because of a sacrifice. Now watch it. which is your reasonable
service. Most reasonable thing there is
on this earth is for you and me, who have been redeemed by
the blood of Christ, washed in his precious blood, robed in
his righteousness, saved by his grace, Most reasonable thing
on this earth for us to give ourselves up in the totality
of our lives to serving his interest and his glory. Just your reasonable
service. Your reasonable service. Joshua,
the high priest, was standing before the angel of the Lord.
That is, standing to minister before the angel of the Lord.
And every believer is a priest actively engaged in the service
and ministry of Christ. Not all of God's priests are
pastors and preachers and missionaries and evangelists and elders and
deacons. But all of God's priests, all of God's priests are in the
ministry all the time. They serve the holy things all
the time. They are all about the temple,
serving the temple in the house of God. Like Melchizedek, we
are appointed priests of the Lord forever. And this is what
that means. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever
we do, we are God's temple. Wherever you are, my brother,
my sister, You're at God's altar, wherever you are. I'm not saying
you ought to be, I'm saying you are. You're at God's altar. Doesn't
matter whether you're laying flooring on your kitchen floor
and smashing your thumb, or whether you're standing up here preaching.
Wherever you are, you're at God's altar. At God's altar. Whatever your calling is in this
world, You're called to serve God. You're
called to serve God. You're calling, you know, folks
talk about being called. You know, I get notes all the
time, folks who want to come here and put on a concert, they
call it a concert, put on a hoochie-coochie show and call it gospel singing,
say we've been called to Christian music. Ain't nobody been called
to Christian music. I've been called to be a Christian
psychiatrist. Ain't nobody been called to be
a Christian psychiatrist. Maybe I ought not say any more
than that. It just ain't so. I said that so you get the implications.
What's his calling? What's your calling? Your calling
is whatever it is God's put in your hands. Whatever it is. God has put In my hands, the
responsibility of preaching the gospel. It's my responsibility
to honor Him in doing it. He's gifted me with some measure
of ability in that regard. It's my responsibility to give
myself wholly to honoring Him in that work. God forgive my
failure. But your calling is right where
God's put you. Look at 1 Corinthians 7. I want
you to see this. 1 Corinthians 7. Religion does things just exactly
opposite of what scripture teaches. I mean, not occasionally, all
the time. All the time. The whole structure
of religion is exactly opposite of what God teaches. What happens
when a young man, God's pleased to save him. He calls him by
his grace, especially if he'd been real mean. Especially if
he'd just been a real rogue. Oh, you're going to go to Bible
college. You're going to go to seminary. You'll be a preacher. You'll
be a preacher. Oh, I believe the Lord's called me to preach.
I'm going to go preach. And he sets his heart on it. Sets his
mind on it. And he's embarrassed if he can't
do it. Gets frustrated if he can't do
it. And the world's full of frustrated preachers. But what's your calling? Look at this, 1 Corinthians 7
verse 20. What ought you to do if you're a plumber and God saves
you? What ought you to do if you're a teacher and God saves
you? What ought you to do if you're a school teacher and God
saves you? What ought you to do if you're a carpenter and
God saves you? Let every man abide in the same calling wherein
he was called. Just keep on driving nails. Keep
on soldering pipes. Keep on selling insurance. Keep
on teaching arithmetic. That's exactly right. Just keep
on doing it. Art thou called being a servant?
A slave? Oh, that's not very noble. That's not a good thing for a
Christian to be. Don't pay any attention to that.
Care not for it. Don't care about that. But if
thou mayest be made free, use it. Now this is how Paul concludes
this whole thing. In chapter 10 verse 31. Whether
therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. Our number one concern in life if we're His, ought to be God's
glory. And if we're His, He's going
to make it, number one. I promise you. He may break both your arms,
both your legs, and break your back. He may take your wife and
your children and everything you've ever thought you labored
for. But if we're His, He's going to make His glory our number
one concern. I promise you, He's going to
do it, because it's right. It's right. Now notice where
Joshua stood to minister. He stood before the angel of
the Lord. We are priests whose service
is acceptable to God only through the mediation of Christ. Between
us and the thrice holy God there is a mediator, the angel of the
Lord, and it is a blessed thing to stand and minister before
Christ. Because God would never accept anything done by us on
his own merits, but he accepts everything done by us upon the
merit of Christ. I'll embarrass Celeste a little
bit. Last two weekends, you did entertain Kim again last weekend,
didn't you? Bob and Sally had Bruce at their
house the last couple of times they've been down here. That is just as accepted with
God, just as fully, just as honored, just as commendable as when Aaron,
on the Day of Atonement, took the blood of a paschal lamb with
sweet incense, entered in behind the veil, and took blood, and
put it on the mercy seat, and God Almighty danced around in
His glory. Just as acceptable. You be a
preacher, any service in the name of Christ,
God accepts for Christ's sake? Not any, all. What did he say? If a man will offer so much as
a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple as God's servant,
he'll not lose his reward. Is that what he said? That's
what he said. Our prayers, our praises, our
sacrifices, Our visitations, a cup of cold water, a kind word,
all accepted of God because of Christ, because we're his priests. But Joshua stood before the angel
of the Lord, and as he did, he was clothed with filthy garments.
You see, though he was God's priest, Joshua was fully conscious
of his sins. He wore the garments of the priesthood,
but they were worn and tattered and filthy. He had been down
in Babylon. He had married a Babylonian woman.
He was a priest, but he was a fallen priest, and he knew it. And yet,
he stood before the Lord, though he didn't speak a word. It is
as though he said, foul, I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior,
or I die. I can relate to this. More often than not, as I stand
here and try to lead you in the worship of our God, try to pray,
lead you in prayer, try to instruct you in the things of
God, I see such personal corruption
in me. that I know myself utterly unfit
for what I'm about to do. Totally, totally unfit. Totally, totally unfit. But I've lifted my hand to God
and I can't go back. What do I do? When I'm weak,
than I have one who is my strength. And when I am nothing, He's my
everything. When I can do nothing, I rely
on Him for everything. When I'm filthy and have no other
cleansing, I stand before the angel of the Lord for cleansing. Do you remember that laver that
stood between the altar and the entrance into the Holy of Holies,
entrance into the tabernacle, into the Holy Place, and then
into the Holy of Holies? Do you remember that labor? Do you know
who it was made for? Do you know who that labor was
made for? Oh, that was made for the Canaanites to come over there
and wash their hands in. No! Oh, that was made for the
common people to come and wash whatever they took. No! No, that
labor was for dirty priests. It was for the priest to come.
And every time, as they went about the service of God, to
wash their hands in that labor, acknowledging their own corruption,
looking to Christ for cleansing, so they stand before God accepted
of Him. This is what I'm getting at.
When you're most vile and most corrupt, don't give up your priesthood
but use it. Wash in the laver of Christ's
blood and draw near to God. But then there's a malicious
adversary here. Look at verse 1 again. Zechariah shows us here a malicious
adversary ready to destroy Joshua. There is Joshua the high priest
standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at
his right hand to resist him. From the beginning God made his
angels to be ministering spirits to minister to those who shall
be the heirs of salvation. And Satan, that mighty anointed
one, that great, great angel, that high, powerful spirit being
to whom God had given so much, refused to be made the servant
of man. And he led a revolt in heaven.
And he caused one third of the heavenly host to be drawn away
in his revolt unto everlasting destruction. And as soon as man
had fallen, Satan heard the Lord God declare that he would be
destroyed by man, crushed under the heels of a man. Even our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and by him, crushed under our
heels too. And so the Lord cast Satan out. And he'd been in a rage ever
since. He'd been in a rage. Revelation 12 verse 12. Because
he knows he just has a short time. He is a mighty adversary. He's too smart, too strong, too
crafty for us. I've heard fellas, you know,
a lot of times fellas talk way beyond themselves, but I've heard
fellas in religious circles say, I'm so sure I'm saved I can swing
over hell on a grapevine and spit between the devil's eyes.
He's too much for you. You stand foot to foot with Apollyon,
you're going to fall. He resists the conversion of
sinners in the beginning. And he resists God's people constantly
accusing them as well. Satan is our adversary. He comes here to accuse Joshua
of sin. He knows when we're most vulnerable. He doesn't come to accuse Joshua
of sin when he's got new garments on and he's clean and spotless
and going about his daily task as a priest. Oh no, he comes
to Joshua when he's filthy and says, look at you. priest of God? You fix to go
into the holy of holies and expect God to accept you? You filthy wretch! God'll never
have you! And Joshua is most likely right
there to say, you're right. You're right. I'll give it up. He tried to make Joshua question
the goodness and faithfulness of God by pointing to Joshua's
corruption, as if my corruption has something to do with God's
character. As if my failure has got something to do with God's
faithfulness. As if my sin has got something to do with God's
holiness. Oh no. The fiend of hell stands to resist
you and me. And he does so with great ease.
But hear me child of God. He cannot resist our savior and
our advocate. He has been cast down. Now is the prince of this world
cast out. Now listen to me. Turn to Romans
chapter 8. If you are in Christ, Satan's accusations fall on deaf
ears in the court of heaven. If you are in Christ, Satan's
accusations fall on deaf ears in the court of heaven. Have
you considered my servant Job? Yeah, he serves you if you want
to get out of here. God didn't hear him. Said, let's see. It's
full of deaf ears. If you're in Christ, Bob Duff,
whatever Satan accuses you of falls on deaf ears in the court
of heaven. Well, why do you keep stressing
that? See that it falls on deaf ears in the court of your own
conscience. See that it does. Look here,
Romans chapter 8, verse 32. He has spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Now, look
back here in Zechariah. Here's a mighty advocate, anxious
to save this man Joshua. Verse 2. And the Lord said unto
Satan, The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath
chosen Jerusalem rebuketh thee. Is not this a brand plucked out
of the thigh? Here's a picture of our Lord
Jesus making intercession for his elect. Satan is our adversary,
but Christ is our advocate. Joshua didn't say a word. Joshua
didn't do a thing. He stood in silence before the
angel of the Lord, and the angel of the Lord pleaded his cause.
Turn over to Micah. Micah chapter 7. Let me show
you something. Put yourself right here. Micah
7 verse 8. The prophet says, Rejoice not
against me, O my enemy, when I fall. He didn't say if
I fall. when I fall. A thousand times
a day I fall. You might not see it. I do. Rejoice not against me, O my
enemy, when I fall. Watch this. I shall arise. The righteous man falls, what
did the book say? Seven times in a day. And the
Lord raises him up. I shall arise. Rejoice not against
me when I sit in darkness. The Lord shall be light unto
me. I'll sit right here. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord because I sinned against Him. Now watch this. Until He
plead my cause. The Lord rebuked the old saint. Now, when I hear the Lord Jesus
say that, I have to kind of scratch my jaw and wonder, why did he
do that? Is he yielding ground to Satan? Michael the Archangel clearly
is referring to this passage. Michael the Archangel, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not bring against Satan
a railing accusation, but rather said, the Lord rebuked thee.
Why? Did he have power over him? Of course he does. He cast him
out. He's God's devil. Well, why then does he stand
here with Joshua? And he says, concerning Joshua,
to Satan, who's standing here to accuse him, the Lord rebuked
me. Oh, Satan, the Lord. I'll tell
you why. Because he is here declaring
the basis for Joshua's benefit of the Lord forgiving his sin.
What is it? The Lord rebuked me. Because
I said it. I said it. I'm his advocate. I've borne his guilt. I've borne
his sin. I've made him righteous. I said,
the Lord rebuke thee. And the law cannot say otherwise. Because the law agrees with me.
I satisfied it. Man goes to court. You know,
you see these things on television and you see it. Circus, they
call courts out in California with all that goes on and that
stuff. Those lawyers, they get before a jury and they'll plead
and they'll be passionate. You remember that thing with
O.J. and what was that fellow's name,
Cochran? If the glove don't fit, you must acquit. If the glove
don't fit, you must acquit. If the glove don't fit, you must
acquit. Almost think he's cheering. That's because he's a passionate
lawyer with not one shred of a foundation to stand on. All
he can appeal to is passion. That's all he can appeal to.
But a lawyer who goes to trial with a client before a judge
and no jury. He doesn't get real passionate. He doesn't get real emotional.
You know what he does? He walks up to the judge, and
he either begs for mercy on behalf of his client, or he says, your
honor, they're the facts. Now, what do you say? They're the facts. That's it. It's facts. It's facts. And when
the Lord Jesus says to our accuser, the Lord rebukes thee, he says,
God Almighty, in his holy justice, cannot charge this man with sin
because I redeemed him. If we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's the propitiation
for our sins. When our Lord said, The Lord
rebuke thee, he said, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the
Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. The Lord rebuke
thee, because this man, he's the object of God's everlasting
love. God chose him. When he said,
The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, our substitute, our advocate,
our savior, silences our accuser by the immutability of God's
grace. He says, is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire? When I read that, I thought to
myself, what kind of an argument is that? Well, it's a good argument. I plucked him out of the fire,
and I ain't about to change. And he's a brand plucked out
of the fire. Did you ever go pull anything out of ashes? Did you? Go pull anything out
of a house that had been burned or a barn that had been burned?
You want to set it out in the air for a long time because it
stinks. And it's dirty. And what the
Lord's saying is, I ain't done with him yet. He's
mine. He's mine. And I'll get the rest
of it another day. Take away his filthy garments.
I caused your iniquity to pass from you. Come, put a clean raiment
on this man. Even righteousness. And set a
fair miter on his head. Crown him a king and a priest. And you know what that miter
got written on it? You can read it next in chapter 28. Holiness
to the Lord. so that Aaron can bear before
the Lord the iniquity of the holy things.