Thank you for that song, Matt.
Open your Bibles with me to Exodus chapter 39. Exodus, the 39th
chapter. I believe the Lord's given me
a message for you. I've been working on it a good bit of the
day yesterday and all day today, and I know it's important that
you hear it. We have a tendency, all of us
do, to lightly read Old Testament scriptures, particularly the
books of the law. Once we get past Genesis, we
tend to read through Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy real quickly. We just barely gloss over Leviticus
because we tend to look at those things as not having anything
to do with us. I want so very much for you and
for all whom I'm able to influence to see that the Old Testament
scriptures set forth the beauty, the glory, the person, and the
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In all the scriptures, our Redeemer
is set before us. Here in Exodus chapter 39, as
the construction of the tabernacle ended, Moses was inspired by
God the Holy Ghost to give us a description of the holy garments
that were made for Aaron. These holy garments were made
specifically for Aaron. And Aaron was required to wear
them whenever he went into the tabernacle doing service for
the people before the Lord. as Israel's high priest, whenever
he came into the tabernacle, he was required of God to wear
these specific garments. They're called clothes of service. So that's the title of my message
tonight, if you're taking notes. Clothes of service. Just told
you Bible's open here at Exodus 39. For the sake of brevity,
let's read just a portion of this chapter for now and pick
up highlights of the text as we go along. We'll look at more
of the chapter as we go along. Exodus 39 verse one. And of the
blue and purple and scarlet, they made clothes of service
to do service in the holy place and made the holy garments for
Aaron as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 30. And they made the plate
of the holy crown of pure gold. and wrote upon it a writing,
like to the engravings of a signet, holiness to the Lord. And they
tied unto it a lace of blue to fasten it on high upon the mitre,
as the Lord commanded Moses. Thus was all the work of the
tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished, and the
children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded
Moses, so did they. Verse 42. According to all that
the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all
the work. And Moses did look upon all the
work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded. Even so had they done it, and
Moses blessed them. Now these clothes of service
were very significant, and they're highly instructed. They're listed
by Moses on three different occasions, in Exodus 28, here in Exodus
39, and again in Leviticus chapter 8. Aaron was not allowed to appear
before the Lord God of Israel as God's high priest to do service
in the holy place without these holy garments. He had to have
these specific clothes of service. Without them, he could not function
as the priest of Israel. So the clothes described in this
chapter are vital to the priesthood, vital to Aaron's work as Israel's
high priest. We're told specifically that
they were garments of consecration, garments signaling consecration,
garments calling for consecration, garments displaying consecration,
and they're garments for the glory and for beauty. These garments were made, I repeat,
specifically for Aaron, to show forth the glory and beauty of
his work as Israel's great high priest. But they show more than
that. These garments are given to us here in these 43 verses
to show forth the glory and beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ, Israel's
true great high priest, our mediator, our savior, of whom Aaron was
but a type and a picture. Whenever you read the laws of
the Old Testament, whether you're reading laws with regard to the
ceremonies as we had before us here, Are laws given in the Ten
Commandments? The law of God was given to point
to Christ. The law of God was never intended
by God to be a rule of life, and we are all together free
from the law. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
fulfill the law, and by fulfilling the law, he ended the law's service. and all things he fulfilled it. And we look to him to see its
fulfillment. Actually, Aaron had two sets
of garments. This glorious apparel, which
he wore before Israel and before the Lord in his common daily
functions in the tabernacle. And then he had another set of
garments called holy linen garments. They're mentioned in verse 28,
more fully described in Leviticus 16.4. These holy linen garments
he wore only once a year. Just one day a year. And that
was on the Day of Atonement, when he went in with the blood
of the Paschal Lamb to make atonement for the children of Israel, portraying
the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. He was
robed in those spotless white linen garments, portraying the
infinitely meritorious obedience and personal righteousness and
holiness of our Savior. By these things, our Savior was
worthy. And he was able to undertake
and accomplish the marvelous work of putting away our sins
by the sacrifice of himself, by the merit, the power, the
infinite worth and efficacy of his precious blood. Made him
accepted with God and make us accepted with God. The garments
described here in Exodus 39 were specifically ordained of God
to show Aaron's glory and beauty to the people as he represented
and served them and God as the high priest. These garments are
given to us here in Exodus 39 as seven distinct pieces. In verse two, Aaron was given
an ephod to wear. In verse 5, a girdle. In verse
8, a breastplate. In verse 22, a robe. In verse
27, a coat. In verse 28, a mitre. And then
in verse 30, a holy crown. Let's look just briefly at each
of these things. I want you to look at them and
try to remember them. May God, the Holy Ghost, burn
the picture in your mind and upon your heart. You see, if
ever you come to know the one here represented, if ever you
see Christ in the glory that's here portrayed, you will trust
him. And for you who are gods, the
more clearly you see him in all his person and work as our mediator
and our great high priest, the more completely you will trust
him and be drawn to consecrate yourself to him. First in verses
two through four, Moses put the ephod on Aaron's shoulders. He
made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet and fine
twined linen. And they did beat the gold into
thin pieces and cut it into wires to work it in the blue. and in
the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning
work. They made shoulder pieces for
it. To couple it together by the two edges was it coupled
together. This effort was worn as Aaron's
outer apron. It hung over his robe. It was
made of two pieces, the breastplate and the back piece. These two
pieces of the ephod were joined together at the shoulders by
golden clasps, ouches, buckles. And those golden clasps were
set, had onyx stones set in them. Like Aaron's robe, the ephod
was made of gold. purple, scarlet, and fine twine
linen. The breastplate had in it the
stones that were engraved with the names of the 12 tribes of
the children of Israel, representing obviously the whole of God's
elect, the Israel of God. And in that effort also was found
the Urim and Thummim. The words Urim and Thummim simply
mean lights and perfections. All the light and perfection
of God is in Christ. And by the light and perfection
of God, Aaron guided the children of Israel and performed judgment
for the children of Israel as they went through the wilderness.
And by the light and perfection of God, God, our Savior, orders
our affairs and guides his people through this world. Try to get
the picture. Here is Aaron wearing this costly,
gorgeous robe. strapped over the shoulders,
held by gold clasp, is the gorgeous costly apron. Upon his heart
and shoulders hangs the breastplate. On the breastplate are the names
of the people he represents, the names of the people he serves. On that breastplate are the Urim
and Thummim, the light and perfection, by which he ceremonially served
them, representing Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who truly, with
the light and perfection of God, and with the light and perfection
of perfect humanity, served God and us as our mediator. What
does all of this mean? I know I can only scratch the
surface. I won't attempt to do more, but it certainly means
this much. The Lord Jesus constantly has
us on his heart. We say that. Little do we realize
that. The Lord Jesus constantly has
us on his heart. There's never a time, there has
never been a time when he did not carry you, my brother, and
you, my sister, on his heart. Before you knew him, since you
came to know him, and as you go through your pilgrims and
often neglect to carry him on your heart, still he carries
his people on His heart. He carries us upon His omnipotent
shoulders, the broad shoulders of infinite Godhead. He guides
us according to the light and perfection of His purpose of
grace toward us. We are the sparkling jewels of
His glory, the sparkling jewels of His beauty. Yes, I chose my
words on purpose. You who are gods, you who are
redeemed by the blood of Christ, you who are born of his spirit,
you are the sparkling jewels of his glory and his beauty. The glory of God is revealed
in the crucified Christ in the full accomplishment of salvation
for his people. by the sacrifice of himself.
We are, therefore, always on his heart, always on his shoulders,
always under his care, under his watchful eye, always in his
hands. We are perfectly, totally safe
beyond all reach of any foe. Now, look at verse five. Here's
the second thing. Moses was commanded of God to
gird Aaron with the girdle. This was not just the ordinary
girdle worn by Aaron's sons, the other priests. This was the
curious girdle of the ephod. And the curious girdle of his
ephod that was upon it was of the same according to the work
thereof of gold, blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen
as the Lord commanded Moses. Verse 29 tells us it was a needlework. The girdle speaks of our Savior's
readiness to serve the needs of his people for the glory of
God. We're told that righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins. And our Lord Jesus, when he stepped
forth as our surety before the world began, he said, lo, I come
to do thy will, oh my God. when he condescended to come
into the womb of the Virgin, where God the Holy Ghost prepared
a body for him. He said, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O God. And when he broke his mother's
womb and came forth from the womb, he says, Lo, I come to
do thy will, O my God. That which was written of me
in the book, in the book of God's decree, in the book of God's
purpose, that's what I come to do. What will is that? The will
by which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Christ came here to die in our
stead as our sheriff for the glory of God. that we might forever
dwell with God in union with his person in the perfection
of holiness, righteousness, and purity. Imagine that. That's
why God made this world. That's why God does everything
he does in this world for the saving of our souls to the praise
of his own glory. Luke tells us, our Lord tells
us rather in the gospel of Luke, he shall gird himself and make
them sit down to meet and will come forth and serve them. Can that be true concerning the
king of glory? Did he indeed gird himself? and calls us to sit down at his
table and him serve us. That's exactly what he does.
While he was in this world, our Lord Jesus took a towel. He girded
himself and he knelt down before his disciples and washed their
feet, dried them. as a servant would do to those
who are above him. Our Lord Jesus condescends to
meet our needs as he sees fit for his glory. He is ever ready
to serve his own. In the book of Revelation, chapter
1, we're told that our Lord stands in the midst of his churches,
girded about the paps with a golden girdle. He stands in the midst
of the seven churches. Those churches representing all
true gospel churches, representing assemblies just like this one,
the one in Danville, largest of all, wherever they are, at
any time in the world, always walking in the midst of the churches.
with his paps girt about with a golden girdle, always ready
to serve the needs of his people. The Lord God commanded Moses
to make the girdle just as he did the ephod. It shall be of
the same according to the work thereof, we're told in chapter
28. The girdle of the high priest was of the same materials and
the same splendorous colors as the ephod we read about. That
indicates in picture that our Savior's present priestly work
in heaven. Our Savior's present work, as
well as his work which he performed upon the earth, is according
to the perfection of his character as the God-man, our mediator. Though glorified, Christ is still
Jehovah's righteous servant. He's still Jehovah's righteous
servant and his service is not complete until then come at the
end when he presents the kingdom to the father in the perfection
of his holiness. He has gone into heaven there
to appear in the presence of God for us. Having obtained eternal
redemption for us by the shedding of his own blood, he now appears
in the presence of God for us to make intercession for us perpetually,
to intercede on our behalf. John sees this when he said,
my little children, these things write I unto you that you sin
not with such a God as our God. with such a Savior as our Savior,
with such salvation as He has given us. Don't sin. Don't sin. Don't ever find an excuse for
sin. And if any man sin, as you all
know, we do, you do, and I do. Don't despair. We have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He was the
propitiation for our sins. That's not what it says, is it?
He is the propitiation for our sins. His sacrifice, having atoned
for our sins, continually avails at the throne of God. Here's
the third thing. Verse eight, down to verse 21. Moses put the breastplate on
Abraham. Verse eight, he made the breastplate
of cunning work. Like the work of the effort of
gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twine linen, it was
four square. It was in perfect symmetry. Verse
10. And they set it in four rows
of stones. On it were all these magnificent
stones with the names of Israel engraved upon them in these four
rows. Verse 14. And the stones were according
to the names of the children of Israel. 12, according to their
names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his
name, according to the 12 tribes. Verse 21. And they did bind the
breastplate by his rings under the rings of the ephod with a
lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the
ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the
ephod, as the Lord commanded Moses. Now I can't say much about
that, but turn back to chapter 28 for just a minute. This is
what we're told in verse 30 of Exodus 28 about this breastplate. Thou shalt put the breastplate
of judgment, the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon
Aaron's heart. The Urim, the Thummim, the light
and perfection. the breastplate with the names
of his people shall be upon his heart, always as he does service
for the people before God in the holy place. Always on his
heart is the light and perfection and the names of the children
of Israel when he goeth in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear
the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before
the Lord continually. Not only does this breastplate
upon Aaron's chest portray our Savior's constant love and care
for us, it speaks of our constant, perfect, immutable acceptance
with God in him. Here's Aaron. is walking around
as comfortably in the holy place as I walked into this building
tonight. As comfortably as I walk into my house when I get home.
As comfortably as I walk into my office. He's in the holy place. He's standing before the veil
where no man is allowed to go except the man ordained of God. And he can only come in with
this gorgeous array on him. Aaron comes in accepted of God. Wearing what God requires and
God provides. The names of God's elect, you
see, are known to our great high priest. They're engraved upon
our Savior's heart. Our names cannot be erased from
his heart. He says, I know them. I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. For them
he makes intercession. Read the 17th chapter of John's
gospel again and read about his intercession, how he prays for
you. He says twice, I pray not for
the world. I pray for Matt Vincent and Dwayne
Iams and Don Fortner. That's just what he said. I pray
not for the world. but for them which you have given
me. I pray not for the world, but for these people for whom
I'm responsible. I pray not for the world, but
for those whose names are engraved upon my heart. And what you read
in John 17, understand as something ongoing continually. I don't pretend to know how our
Savior intercedes for us, I don't pretend to know if he speaks
words or does not speak words, but this I know. His intercession
as our high priest is a constant, uninterrupted intercession on
our behalf. He intercedes for his people
personally. He prayed, he said, Peter, I
have prayed for you. Satan desired to have you, that
he might seek you as witness, but I have prayed for you that
your faith failed on. Don Fortner, I have prayed for
you. He prays for you, my brother,
for you, my sister, personally, individually, and he prays for
his people collectively. What he seeks for one, he seeks
for all. As he bestowed all grace upon
one, he has bestowed all grace upon all his own. And his intercessions
are always effectual. He said, Father, I know that
thou hearest me. I needed to hear him say that.
Didn't you? I know that you hear me. He said,
I didn't say this for your sake or my sake. I said it so these
folks here would understand you hear me. He prays for us continually,
personally, collectively, and effectually. Can you see your
high priest yonder in heaven, your name written on his heart? Not only are you my brother,
my sister, beyond the reach of any enemy, in Christ, you're
beyond the very influence of any foe or any evil. There shall no evil happen to
the just. But pastor, you don't know what I'm going
through. No, I don't. But he does. But you don't know
what pain my brother is having. No, I don't. But he does. But you don't know what struggles
I have. I don't, but he does. And this is what he has promised.
There shall no evil happen to the just. What a consolation
this is to this poor sinner. The Lord God Almighty always
sees me and only sees me in his son as a sparkling jewel. shining
gloriously in Him. That's the way He sees us. That's
the way He sees us. In His eyes, I shine with all
the brilliance of Christ Himself. Is He perfect? We're perfect
in Him. Is He accepted? We're accepted
in Him. Does He live? We live in Him. that there is in heaven's glory
before the dazzling brilliance, brightness, and purity of the
white light of God's holiness, this fact. God sees things as
they really are. I've said this to you repeatedly
in the past year. I've said it in our congregation
at least once a month for the past year. God sees things as
they really are. Mitch, He doesn't just pretend
that you're holy. He doesn't just pretend that
you're righteous. He doesn't just pretend that
you're without sin. God declares that you're holy,
righteous, pure, without sin, because He's made you so. God sees us in the beauty and
glory of his son. The more brightly the light shines
upon the diamond, the more it sparkles with radiance. He has
set us as a seal upon his heart. What grace, what joy, what peace
I find here. What a cause for wholehearted
devotion and consecration to our Savior. I find any lack of utter devotion
to Christ in me utterly inexcusable. And the same is true of you,
old and young, men and women. If we're gods, if this is what
Christ is to us, and what he's done for us. This calls for utter
consecration to him. He died for us, that we henceforth
live not to ourselves, but in him that died for us and rose
again. Yesterday I was corresponding
with a preacher, talking about pastoring. And this young preacher
said to me, he said, it's not reasonable that I should sell
my house and give up my job go past the church and not know
what any security, what they might do in the future. And this
is what I wrote back to him. I can almost give it to you verbally.
I said, if you prefer that security, I understand it perfectly well.
If you prefer that security to the blessed privilege, and high
honor of preaching the gospel of God's free grace, I fully
understand. I recommend you stay where you
are. Oh, God, our Savior. The fact
that He's our Savior calls for utter consecration to Him, regardless
of cost, regardless of consequence. just giving ourselves to Him.
Now watch this. Did you notice that the Lord
God made special arrangements to attach the breastplate to
the ephod in such a way that the breastplate could not be
loosed from the ephod, hanging it on broad shoulders of the
priest, clasped with these golden clasps. The breastplate of judgment
speaks loudly and beautifully of the everlasting salvation
and absolute security of God's elect in Christ Jesus. He who
is our Savior is a Savior worthy of implicit trust. Worthy of
implicit trust. I have made it my purpose and
my determination in the 50 years I've been preaching the gospel
of God's grace, never to make known to men any need I might
have. I just don't do it. I make them
known to God my Savior. And I'm going to tell you what
I've discovered. He provides everything I need all the time. I know I look awfully skinny
to you folks who knew me before, but I'm not doing that any meals.
I'm eating good. I don't own a thing. I get along
just fine. How come? I'm the servant of
this one who is my high priest, who is the king of the universe.
The fourth garment Aaron wore was a robe. Moses clothed Aaron
with his priestly robe as God commanded. Verse 22. This was a robe, the ephod, the outer apron worn
under the ephod. It was the robe of the ephod
worn under it. It had a hymn of golden bells and pomegranates. And he made the robe of the ephod
of woven work all of blue. And there was a hole in the midst
of the robe as a hole of an aborigine. with a band round about the hole,
that it should not rend, couldn't be torn. And they made upon the
hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and they made bells
of pure gold, and put bells between the pomegranates upon the hem
of the robe, round about between the pomegranates. A bell and
a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe
to minister in. as the Lord commanded Moses. This robe of blue, woven with
gold and purple and scarlet, was made of fine linen. All these
things portray our Lord's divinity, his royalty, his blood, his purity. The robe represents the righteousness
of Christ. It is that with which Christ
himself is clothed. and that with which he clothes
us. It's a robe covering the whole man from head to foot. You remember when the prodigal
came home, the father said to his servant, bring hither the
best robe and put it on him. This is the robe I prepare for
him. This is the robe he puts on us. The robe of Christ's perfect
righteousness. It is ours because we have been
made the righteousness of God in him so that we stand before
God righteous as he is righteous, holy as he is holy. We have this
righteousness imparted to us because in him we have, or imputed
to us because in him we have obeyed God perfectly and imparted
to us in the new birth being made partakers of the divine
nature. This robe we wear has in the hem of it bells and pomegranates. If you could split the pomegranate
open, you'd find it was in a red liquid full of seeds, speaking
the fruitfulness of our Lord's atonement. And the pomegranates
were sewn between golden bells on the hem of the garment. Now
I've heard, folks, who like to speak things that sound fanciful,
that are not according to Scripture, they say, so that they'd know
when everyone went into the Holy of Holies, God hadn't killed
him. There wasn't a chance of that
happening. There wasn't a chance of that happening. He went in
there with God's blood, of God's lamb, at God's altar, by God's
order. No chance God was gonna kill
him there. But the Scriptures make it clear. He's to wear these
bells and pomegranates that he die not. That doesn't mean that
he might die with the bone. What that does mean, if he comes
in like nag dabbing a bayou with something other than what God
prescribes and God gives, he'll surely die. So here's Abraham
going about his business at the table of showbread, at the golden
candlestick, going about his business in the holy place. And
as he moves around, all the time he moves, it sounds like a man
dancing inside the holy place. You hear the bells ringing. You
hear the bells ringing. You hear them ringing so commonly
you get accustomed to it. So commonly that you don't hear
them. But the bells are still ringing.
Because all the time he's in there. He's in there doing that
by which God accepts his people perpetually. And this is reason
for song and joy in our hearts. We, God, in perpetual acceptance. In perpetual acceptance in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Fifth, Moses was commanded to
put a coat on Aaron. This was not the coat we commonly
think of, as we commonly think of it, but it was an inner garment.
It's described in Exodus 28, verse four, Verse 39, and again
in Exodus 39 and verse 27. This special embroidered coat
of fine linen along with the linen britches were Aaron's undergarments. They probably were not commonly
seen by the people. I rather doubt that Moses actually
put these on Aaron, but here he's commanded to make a public
display of them to Israel and to us. When Aaron went in one
time a year, he took off this gorgeous priestly apparel, the
robe, the bells, the pomegranates, the breastplate. He takes off
everything and puts on these white linen garments to go in
and make atonement at the mercy seat. These white linen garments,
of course, speak of our Savior's perfect righteousness, His perfect
purity. We're told in Revelation 19,
8, that we're given fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness
of the saints. And the word righteousness in
that passage in Revelation 19 is in the plural. And many suggest
that this is talking about we go to heaven both with Christ's
righteousness and ours. No, no, no, no. is talking about
the righteousnesses we have. The righteousness of obedience
and the righteousness of a holy nature. The righteousness made
ours by our obedience to God unto death in the person of our
substitute. And the righteousness made ours
by the imparting of the divine nature, this new man in us that
cannot sin, with which we shall live forever before God in the
new creation of the new heavens and the new earth. I see three
things. First, our need. If we come to
God, if we would be accepted of God, we must have the complete
clothing of righteousness. You must be justified and you
must be sanctified. You must be made a new creature
in Christ. And second, Christ is our supply. All that I need, all that God
in all his purity, justice, and truth can require of me, I have
in Jesus Christ the Lord. And I see our covering. Those
linen britches, those white linen britches made to cover the priest's
nakedness, the righteousness of Christ covers our nakedness,
our sin, as we walk with God in this world. Look at verse
28. Moses was also commanded of God
to put a mitre of fine linen on Aaron's head. This mitre,
this turban made out of fine linen was a symbol of both honor
and humility as God's high priest. We won't look at it tonight,
but in Zechariah chapter 3, you have a picture of it. Joshua, God's high priest, had
been taken captive in Babylon. And he had married a Babylonian
woman. He had defiled himself. And Satan sought to accuse him. And the angel of the Lord stood
by. And this is what he said. He said, he said, take off his
filthy garments and put clean garments on him. And he said,
put a mitre on his head, crowned him as the priest of God. And Joshua silently takes to
himself what the Lord Jesus gives him by almighty grace. God has
given us his own dear son, the helmet of salvation. The mitre
made of white linen like Aaron's robe portrays our perfect righteousness
in his son. One last thing, Moses put a holy
crown on Aaron's head so that in verse 30, they made the plate
of the holy crown of pure gold and they wrote upon it a writing
like to the engraving of a city. holiness to the Lord. Moses, the law, puts this crown
upon Aaron's head. And the Lord Jesus, having finished
his work of redemption for us as our high priest, ascended
up on high, and the Lord God set on him the crown of universal
monarchy. And the crown by which he rules
the universe is holiness to the Lord. And He puts His crown on
our heads. And as we walk before God and
seek to serve Him, and we seek to do His will, let me tell you how to look at
it. Are you watching? I'm done preaching
now, and I'm fixing to go home. I want to walk down these steps
here. And I'll go to the back of that yonder and I'll greet
you and I'll take that pretty blonde. We'll go home and sit
down at the house and may have a glass of wine or hot chocolate
or something and visit for a little bit and go to bed. And this is
what all of it says, all the preaching, the preparation, walking
down these steps, going home, driving down the road. Holiness
to the Lord. Holiness to the Lord. Holiness
my soul. God has made us in Christ that
holiness without which no man shall see the Lord and he stubs
it on the totality of our lives so that God now accepteth thy
works. Amen.