Would you stand before God Almighty
accepted? Would you now draw near to the
Holy Lord God and find acceptance with Him, forgiveness from your
sins, eternal salvation? Or are you just playing games
and seeking to delude yourself with a little religion and religious
activity? Which is it? Do you care for
your soul? If you would stand before God,
you must somehow or another have a priest, a holy priest. not one of these pretended religious
fellows who calls himself a priest. A man, silliest thing on this earth
to imagine that a man is going to make you accepted with God,
or you're going to draw near to God by some man. That's not
going to happen. That's not going to happen. Those
of any religious organization, no matter what the name, who
call themselves priests, mediators between you and God Almighty,
would just deceive your souls. But you better hear me. You must
have a priest. You sure enough must have a priest.
A priest that God will accept. A priest whose intercession God
cannot deny. A priest with a sacrifice. that
will satisfy God's holy justice so that God in justice can forgive
you of your sins. A priest who can do business
with God in the holy place and do business with you as a man.
A priest who is both God and man. Now that priest is Jesus
Christ the Lord. Oh, God, give you grace now to
run to him. God, give you grace now to believe
on him. God, give you grace now to trust
him. Jesus Christ, the God-man, is
that priest who is accepted of God, for he's appointed of God. He is that priest whose sacrifice
the Lord God Almighty cannot refuse. whose intercession must
prevail. And he is a priest sitting on
a throne, a keen priest, the priest who is carrying over Jesuit,
the priest who is carrying in God's Zion, Jesus Christ the
Lord, given power and dominion over all flesh so that he can
give eternal life to as many as the Father has given him.
Let's look at this priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is typified
in Aaron, the first great high priest in the nation of Israel.
Turn with me, if you will, to Leviticus, chapter eight. Leviticus, the eighth chapter. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and
the anointing oil, and the bullock for the sin offering, and two
rams, and a basket of unleavened bread, and gather thou all the
congregation together under the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. And Moses did as the Lord commanded
him. And the assembly was gathered
together under the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And Moses said to the congregation, this is the thing the Lord commanded
to be done. And Moses brought Aaron and his
sons and washed them with water. And he put upon him the coat
and girded him with the girdle and clothed him with the robe
and put the ephod upon him, and girded him with the curious girdle
of the ephod, and bounded unto him therewith, and he put the
breastplate upon him. Also he put in the breastplate
the urim and the thummim, and he put the mitre upon his head.
Also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the
golden plate, the holy crown. as the Lord commanded Moses. And Moses took the oil and anointed
the tabernacle and all that was therein and sanctified them.
And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times and anointed
the altar and all his vessels, both the labor and his foot,
to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing
oil upon Aaron's head and anointed him to sanctify him. And Moses
brought Aaron's sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them
with girdles, and put bonnets upon them, as the Lord commanded
Moses. And when Moses was commanded
of God to anoint Aaron as Israel's high priest, and his sons to
serve with him in the priesthood, God gave Moses these very specific
commands that we have read. There were certain specific things
that had to be done exactly as the Lord God commended, because,
you see, this man Aaron was to represent the Lord Jesus Christ.
Indeed, the only reason Aaron existed, the only reason for
the priesthood The only reason for the sacrifices was that they
might portray and give a progressive revelation of Him who is to come,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. Let me give you
several things comparing Christ and Alan, and then we'll look
at one specific passage in these 13 verses we've read. First,
Alan was called of God. to be the high priest. And the
apostle tells us in Hebrews, no man makes himself a priest,
but he that is called of God. Our great high priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is that one who was called and ordained of God
to be our priest. As in verse two, the Lord said,
take Aaron. So the Lord God declares, I've
exalted one chosen out of the people. I laid hell upon one
that is my kid. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only priest there is between God and men. Now, please forgive
me if I appear to be less than gracious with regard to these
peanuts who call themselves priests, these deceivers, these charlatans,
these apes, these men who would rob God of his glory and take
the place of God in your heart. Jesus Christ alone is mediator
between God and man. We do not pray to Mary, we do
not pray to the angels, we do not worship Mary, we do not worship
the angels, and we sure don't pray to some man or to some pretended
priest before men. But rather, Jesus Christ is that
one mediator between God and man, the God-man. And we approach
God by Him, not by moving our feet, not by doing something,
not by walking down to the front of a church or going to a confessional
booth. Right where you are, come to God by faith in Christ. Do
nothing, just believe Him. Come to God in your heart. Faith is an act of the heart.
It's a spiritual thing. And Christ is the priest who
gives us acceptance. Tear your burden to Him. Tell
your soul to Him. Tell your need to Him. Confess
your sin to Him. Confess your need of grace to
Him, and you'll find grace in Him, and the forgiveness of sin
in Him. Second there, Aaron was ceremonially
washed. Notice in verse 6, that before
the priest came, they must be ceremonially washed with water,
and thereby he was ceremonially purified. I wonder why this was
specifically given. The priest must continually wash
himself. Before anyone can be anointed
as priest, he must be ceremonially washed. Because the Lord God
would have us to understand always that the type falls infinitely
short of him whom he represents. Jesus Christ needed no washing. He needed no purification. He
is the holy, spotless Lamb of God. He is that one who is worthy
in and of himself, both as a man and as God, to stand before God
Almighty because he is perfectly holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sinners. And then thirdly, Moses put special
holy garments, these garments of the high priest upon Aaron.
He did so by God's command. These garments, holy garments,
were made specifically as the Lord God prescribed. You can
see them in verses 7, 8, and 9. Moses took the coat, that
robe, that gorgeous priestly robe, put it on Aaron. He put
the girdle on him. The robe and the effort, the
breastplate and the mitre, Those holy garments were put on Alan. They were put on him to symbolize
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done and is doing for us as our
great high priest. But the Lord Jesus didn't wear
the ceremonial garments of the priesthood. He did wear that
woven garment of one piece. upon which the soldiers cast
lots. But these ceremonial garments of the priesthood, he did not
wear. Our Lord Jesus, rather, is the one who made for us the
garments of salvation. He is the one who made for us
a robe of righteousness and puts it upon us. And then, fourthly,
Moses, as you know, symbolizes the law. Well, Moses, symbolizing
the law of God, that golden plate, the golden crown on the priest's
head. Now I've looked at that credit
many times and wonder, how come? Larry, there was never a priest
in Israel who was also a king. Never one. Never one. Never was
a high priest in Israel who was also the king. The Lord Jesus
Christ, however, is a priest on his throne who sits upon his
throne as the great high priest and king in Zion. And he is crowned
king by virtue of his priestly accomplishments, as we're plainly
told in John 17 and in Philippians 2. So that our Lord Jesus earns
the right as a man to sit as priest upon God's throne. throne
of the universe. He is king in Zion for the glory
of God and for the saving of his people, who is also our high
priest, who wears our names upon his heart and makes intercession
for us before God. And then fifthly, look at verse
12. Aaron was anointed with the holy
oil as God's chosen priest. So the Lord Jesus, as a man,
had the Spirit of God poured upon him publicly in the most
demonstrative manner. When he was baptized, as he went
down into the water and came up out of the water again, the
Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and stayed
on him. And this is how John the Baptist
said, I knew who he was. The Lord God said, you'll see
the Spirit descending upon him and abiding on him. He was filled
with the Spirit above measure. God gave his Spirit to him as
a man because this man has that special anointing of which we
have a portion and a part because of him. But he was filled with
the Holy Spirit to do the work he came to do as our great high
priest. And then sixthly, In verses 24,
25, 26, and 27, Aaron was consecrated to God as Israel's high priest. He is here ceremonially consecrated,
consecrated by sacrifice, consecrated by the application of blood to
him, consecrated by the holy oil, the Lord Jesus Christ, our
great high priest. how he consecrated himself to
the work. Before ever the world was, he
set his heart upon us, determined to have us, and finally in the
fullness of time came as a man to redeem us, and at the appointed
hour he took our sins upon him and died in our womb instead
because of his determination to save us, consecrated to God
as our high priest, and he still consecrated to the work. He is
still seeking whom he will. He is still seeking out a people
for his namesake. He is still interceding for us
in heaven. He is still ruling in heaven
for us until at last he will bring us and present us spotless
before him in his own glorious righteousness. Now, if you will,
turn to Leviticus 21. Let me show you one thing about
Avon that is not found here. Leviticus 21. Now just Mark verses 21, 22,
and 23. Abram had to be a man without
a blemish. You see that? No blemish in him. No blemish in him. Doesn't mean that he had to be
a good-looking man. Doesn't mean he had to be a strong,
handsome man. What it means is that he must
be a man with no physical modeling, no obvious blemish, no disfigurement,
nothing missing. He must be a perfect man, a blameless
man. Why? No man having a blemish
could offer any offering in the holy place before God. Because
he who would put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself must
be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He's
the only one, Wes, who can bring you and me to God. He's the only
one who can stand in our stead before God. If he would offer
a sacrifice for our sins, he must have no sins of his own
for which to atone. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
the one who fits the bill. He is that holy man who is the
God-man, our great high priest. Now, there are many, many things
about Abram and his priestly garments that are instructive
and symbolical. I can't begin to give you an
exposition of all of them. But I want us this morning to
focus our attention on Leviticus chapter 8 and verse 8. And we
will come back to this, the Lord willing, tonight. Leviticus chapter
8 and verse 8. And he put the breastplate upon
Aaron, and he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. Now I know how those words are
correctly pronounced, Urim and Thummim, but that sure sounds
odd to me, so I'll continue to say Urim and Thummim. The word
Urim means light. It is always used in the plural. No such thing as a singular Urim
in a singular sense. It's given here, even in the
plural. The word Tummim means perfections. Again, it is always
in the plural. And there's a lot of speculation.
I've read a good bit of stuff. about the Urim and Thummim. Tradition
passed down through history is just tradition and lots of speculation. I'll leave that alone. We're
not told at all in any way in Scripture precisely what the
Urim and Thummim were. We're just not told. And I presume
since we're not told, it's because God didn't want us to know. We're
not told, so we won't speculate about it. But whatever the Urim
and Thummim were, they were placed by Moses, by the hand of God's
law, in the breastplate of the high priest, where were inscribed
the names of the tribes of the children of Israel upon those
twelve stones. This Urim and Thummim is given
for specific reasons. And this much we know from the
word of God. We're going to look at three or four texts. First, the Urim and Thummim were
placed along with the twelve names of the tribes of the children
of Israel in Aaron's breastplate. They were worn by God's high
priest when he was in the holy place, representing the people
of God. And they were worn there so that
through his intercessory work, the high priest might give God's
direction to his people. They were worn to give direction
to the children of Israel, and they were worn specifically to
settle matters of judgment and of justice. Let's look first
at Exodus 28. Exodus 28, in verse 30. The Lord says thou shalt put
in the breastplate of the judgment, the urim and the thummim, the
lights and the perfections. And they shall be upon Aaron's
heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear
the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before
the Lord continually. Now let me see if I can give
you a picture of what happened on the Day of Atonement. When
Aaron was about to take the Paschal Lamb into the Holy of Holies,
as he entered into the outer sanctuary of the tabernacle,
he was wearing these gorgeous priestly garments that all Israel
saw, the breastplate, the ephod, the mitre, all those things.
He was wearing it all. But somewhere inside there, we're
told plainly in Leviticus 16 that he took off those gorgeous
garments and put on the holy linen breeches. And then he took
the blood into the Holy of Holies and made the atonement before
the Lord for the children of Israel. He came back out, takes
off those blood-stained holy linen garments and puts on this
gorgeous priestly apparel again. so that he comes out now upon
the basis of atonement made and blesses the people. But we're
told here in Exodus 28 30 that in that breastplate Aaron wore
the Urim and the Thummim and bear the judgment of the children
of Israel. As he goes in before God, he
goes in with a sacrifice. bearing the judgment and wrath
of God for the children of Israel. He makes the sacrifice and comes
back out, and on the basis of justice satisfied, he lifts his
hands, wearing the lights and perfections, and he says, the
Lord bless thee and keep thee. And the Lord make his face to
shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. So that on the basis
of justice satisfied, by blood atonement, the blessing of God
is given to those for whom the atonement was made. The Lord
Jesus Christ went into the holy place with his own blood, bearing
the judgment of his Israel, bearing the judgment of a specific people,
and having been accepted in the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us, now he blesses us. pouring out his spirit upon
the people for whom he makes intercession, for whom he died.
Now then, turn to Numbers chapter 27. Numbers 27. Joshua is going to take over.
And here in verse 21, Moses again is giving instruction for things
with regard to Israel after he's gone. And we're told he, Joshua,
verse 21, shall stand before Eliezer the priest, who shall
ask counsel for him after the judgment of the Urim before the
Lord at his word. At his word, that is, at the
word of Eliezer the priest who asked judgment before the Lord
with the Urim. So that at the Lord's word, they
shall go out, and at the Lord's word they shall come in, both
he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation."
So that when Joshua, this mighty deliverer, was directing the
children of Israel, the high priest would go in and ask the
Lord, are we to move, and where shall we move? And through the
yin, the light, which is what is mentioned here, the Lord gives
direction. And he says, go here, camp there,
stay here, stay there, or don't move at all. So that at the Lord's
word, direction is given. And we, the children of God this
day, must seek direction in all things and be moved in all things
at the Lord's word. Through Christ our Redeemer.
Children of God, hear me. Hear me. People today want counsel. And
I know what most folks want. They go to a counselor because
they want him to tell them what they've made up their mind they want
to do. Hear me. We have a counselor. We have
a counselor. His name is Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God. Go to him for counsel. seek counsel
from him, and he'll give it. He'll give it. People ask me
all the time, well, how do I know God's will? That's not a problem.
That's not a problem. It really isn't. The problem
is submitting to God's will. Lindsay Campbell, if you and
Don Fortner seek the will of God, he'll show us his will.
It's exactly that. We may walk apprehensively, or
we may walk confidently, but as we seek His will, He shows
us His will, directs us in His will, and we walk in His will
for His glory. So that our lives are to be directed
by His will, not by our passions, not by our pleasures. Oh, what
the God people would learn. This world was made for our pleasure. God didn't make the world for
us to have fun. God didn't give you that woman
because He gives you pleasure. That's not it. That's not it. God has made us for His glory. And we who believe find pleasure
in our souls in seeking to live for His glory according to His
will. How did the man find pleasure,
contentment, satisfaction? Our Lord said, He said, I have
bread to eat. You don't know anything at all
about bread. It just kind of makes up for everything
else. Bread gives me satisfaction. But what was it, Dave? Doing
the will of my father. And I promise you, children of
God, nothing will satisfy your soul as you live in this world
like walking with God, seeking his will by the light of his
Son revealed in his Word. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your
paths. And that's the best counsel I
can give you. That's the best counsel I can give you. Seek
God's will. Seek grace to do it. And you
will. You will. You'll honor him. All
right now then, turn to Ezra chapter 2. Ezra 2. Sometime during the Babylonian
captivity, The Urim and Thummim were lost, and they were never
recovered. So that Israel, after the Babylonian
captivity, never had the lights and perfections to guide them
again. Oh, what a loss. Look what Ezra tells us in Ezra
2, in verse 63. And the Tushitha, that is, Governor
Nehemiah, said unto them, that they should not eat of the most
holy things, till there stood up a priest with the urim, with
lights, and the thummim, the perfections." With those words,
the Holy Spirit showed the deficiency and the imperfection of the Levitical
priesthood. He shows the great need of another
high priest after the order of not after the order of Aaron,
but rather after the order of Melchizedek, a great high priest
over the house of God. And with them, God would give
with him both the Urim and the Thummim. With this priest after
the order of Melchizedek, this great high priest who supersedes
Aaron and Levi and all the priests of the tribes of Levi, stands
one with whom is light and perfections, and he fulfills all that's required. And Moses knew it. Moses knew
it. One more text. Look in Deuteronomy
chapter 33. We read it earlier. Deuteronomy
33. Verse 8. And of Levi, he said, let thy
thumb and thy ear be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove
at Mesa, with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah. Now let me give you a good translation
of that. Well, not a translation, a paraphrase.
You keep looking at verse of the tribe of Levi, he said,
let thy summum and thy urim, let your lights, your perfections
rather, and your lights, O God, be with your Holy One, Christ
Jesus, whom thou, O Levi, with the rest of the tribes of Israel
didst tempt at Mesa and strive at the waters of Meribah. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the one of whom Moses speaks. Our Savior
and our Redeemer is that Holy One. He is the Holy Lord God,
the Holy Man. In fact, the words here in Deuteronomy
33.8, thy Holy One, might quite literally be translated this
way, the man, thy Holy One. Christ alone fits the character.
He is the man. He's God's Holy One. conception
and birth, we see him given. Unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a son is given. As a
son he's born, as a son he's given rather, as a man he is
born of Mary's womb. Mary was not in any way the mother
of God. Mary worshipped him as God, who
was the man-child in her womb. That man was born of Mary, God
the son was given. He is the Holy One who came forth
without corruption, without defilement, who lived without corruption,
without defilement, perfectly obeying God's law in His nature
and in all His deeds. He's the Holy One, the Man God's
Holy One. And thus, the Lord Jesus Christ
is suitable as the priest for His people. Let me look at one
more text with you. Turn with me if you will to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. Let's start at verse 24. I'll
give you this and let you go home
and mull it over. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, because he continues ever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Since this man, the Lord Jesus,"
I said Hebrews 2, didn't I? I meant Hebrews 7, excuse me.
Hebrews 7, 24. It's kind of hard to find it in Hebrews 2. Hebrews
7, 24. This man, the Lord Jesus, because
he continues ever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore? Wherefore? Since he has an everlasting,
immutable priesthood. A priesthood never to be succeeded
by anyone else. He is able also to save, let's
see if we can make this a little more personal, you to the uttermost,
who come to God by him. Come on to God now. Oh, come
to God right now. We're coming to him. I'm coming
to it right now. Come to God by him, by the merit
of his blood, by the merit of his righteousness, through faith
in him. He's able, because he's God,
sitting on his throne forever, and he's a man touched with the
feeling of our infirmities. To save them to the uttermost,
to come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. For such an high priest became
us, was necessary for us, this is just what we needed, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher
than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests
to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for
the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests,
which have infirmity, But the word of the oath which was since
the law maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore. Not only is Christ that holy
one spoken of in Deuteronomy, he is also that holy one of Israel
whom they did prove at Mesa and with whom Israel strove at Meribah. And so the Lord gives this plea
to you. He is our God. We are his people,
the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand. Today, if
you will hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the provocation
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Your fathers,
they ate manna in the wilderness and despised the manna. God gave
them honey out of the rock and they despised the water. Or God
gave them water out of the rock, excuse me, and they despised
the water. They longed to go back to Egypt. They longed for
theses and hardened their hearts. And therefore they perished in
the wilderness. And now God condescends and says,
you don't harden your hearts. Come to God by this priest and
in him find one who has satisfied the justice of God for you in
him. find the light of life to give
you direction. In him find perfection now and
forever. Amen.