The Clothes Make the Man - Exodus 28:1-14

[0:00] Good morning. You can turn in your Bibles to Exodus, Exodus chapter 28, as we continue to go verse by verse, line by line through the scriptures and through Exodus.

[0:12] ! So we've been very much knee-deep in the tabernacle and looking at as God is giving the tabernacle instruction to Moses, as Moses is 40 days and 40 nights on the Mount of God, the Mount Horeb there, or Mount Sinai.

[0:27] And God is laying out to him the means by which God would dwell among men, the means by which God would tabernacle among men, in which God said, I'm going to place my presence among my people.

[0:41] Little did Israel know when the Lord sent Moses back to Egypt to deliver them out, little did they know all that God had in store for them. And little did they have any idea what was ahead of them and all that God would do with the nation of Israel and then through that nation.

[0:57] But right now they're down below in the plain, sitting at the base of the mountain, and Moses is on top of the mountain, receiving these instructions from God. We saw multiple aspects of the tabernacle. We're not going to go through all of those.

[1:09] Last week, we looked at the courtyard, what the court is made up of, which would be the exterior, the boundaries, how it is white, fine linen, which represents purity and righteousness.

[1:23] It's a place of righteousness and purity that we are to enter into through one gate, one entrance. And the first thing we come face to face with when we come into that entrance is what? Well, it's the altar, a place of death and sacrifice, a place that was glorious, but also deadly.

[1:40] We saw how the scripture tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins, that God's means by which he would intervene in the lives of men to reconcile them costs blood, takes blood.

[1:57] At the altar is death and blood and fire, but there's also judgment, atonement, consecration. That's what we find at the altar. And we, under the new covenant, we don't go to that same altar that Israel goes to.

[2:14] We don't go and meet in an altar. That's not what we do on Sunday morning. You know, we'll talk for a little bit and afterwards we'll go out back to the altar. No, we're not that type of church.

[2:24] We don't meet at the altar, but we have a different altar because we are under an eternal covenant where Jesus entered in with his offering once for all, offered for sin.

[2:35] And Hebrews 13.10 says that we have an altar. Whereof they, meaning those of the old covenant, they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. The priests, and we're going to start looking at the priesthood today, the priests under the Levitical covenant, they were to partake.

[2:51] They didn't just facilitate, they also partook in the offerings. They were to eat them and drink them. They were to be partaking in that. But we have an altar that you can't get to by the law, that you can't go to through works and deeds and a physical calf slaughtered on the altar.

[3:08] We have an altar that we have a right to eat of, it's saying essentially, that we can go to because of our high priest. That's what we're going to look at today. And ultimately, as we go to the altar, it's an altar of death so that we then, through Christ, may go to an altar of life.

[3:26] We are to offer ourselves a living sacrifice. Because Jesus offered himself a dead sacrifice, but didn't stay dead. Three days later, he rose again. We then are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice.

[3:37] By the mercies of God, I beseech you, brethren, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. So the altar, the altar would be the place where man meets with God, essentially.

[3:53] And you see that through the Old Testament. We look at a couple of those spots, where the altar is a place where man meets with God. But it was to be tended not just by any man. This altar now at the tabernacle, this altar that's set up, is not just like an altar that Abraham built, or Isaac, or Jacob built.

[4:09] This is different. This is an altar that God has set up within the tabernacle, this place where God would meet with man. And it's not just to be tended by any man. It wasn't like a big line outside of, you know, lined up outside the tabernacle.

[4:21] It's like, okay, Eddie, hurry up with your sacrifice so I can get in there and do mine. And we just each go and do our own thing. And we just kind of go and administrate it as we please.

[4:33] The altar was a place where it wasn't just tended by any man, but a man of divine origin. A man who was divinely appointed the priest.

[4:44] He would essentially be the God-man. The man to represent God to the people, and the people to God. And chapter 28, before it starts in with all that the priest will do, the first thing it talks about is what he's going to wear, what he's going to look like.

[5:01] God is very concerned with, you know, how the priest is dressed. Now, he's not concerned, like, you know, if you got your tie on or not. But he's very concerned with this representative who will stand in the place before God, before the people, and before God on behalf of the people, and before the people on behalf of God.

[5:21] And there are essentially five garments that we will look at in chapter 28. We won't get through them all. We're hopefully going to get through verse 14 today, because I want to spend some time looking at the priest and what he is.

[5:34] But it's the ephod. The ephod is just essentially some type of, it seems to be like, almost like an apron or something. The breastplate, which is the, will be attached to the ephod.

[5:47] The robe, the miter, or the crown, or the hat. And then his coat. So these are the five things that we're going to look at. The high priest will have all of these things that he will wear, and all these things we'll go through and we'll look at them.

[6:04] But why? Why is God so concerned about this? Well, because the clothes make the man. In this instance, it's very much the case.

[6:15] So in Revelation 1.6, it says this, He has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. He's made us kings and priests.

[6:25] What does that mean? I think it means authority to rule and authority to draw near. Kings and priests. But why a priest? As I was studying this and began to look at, you know, the fact that the clothes make the man, and that there's going to be all these garments, it's like, well, why a priest?

[6:42] Why did they need a priest? Up until now, to date, as we've gone through it, Genesis and Exodus, the Old Testament men and women have never needed a priest. They didn't. They themselves would offer a sacrifice upon the altar.

[6:56] Genesis chapter 4, verses 3 and 4. Right in the beginning, Adam and Eve fall. Adam, it seems like the Lord teaches him how to have us come before the Lord to sacrifice. And who does he teach?

[7:07] His sons. And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And to Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof.

[7:19] And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Dot, dot, dot. And then we know what happens after that. Cain's upset because he didn't do it how he was supposed to. Well, where'd he learn that? He must have learned it from Adam, who learned it from God.

[7:30] So right from the beginning, here you have these two men bringing offerings. They didn't need a priest. Genesis chapter 12. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto your seed will I give this land.

[7:44] And there built he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. And then he moves and he goes to Bethel and pitches his tent. And there he builds another altar unto the Lord.

[7:54] And he called upon the name of the Lord. So why a priest? What has changed that all of a sudden there has to be a priest? What has changed? The tabernacle represent the first time that God would put his presence among man to dwell.

[8:12] Tabernacle is the first time that God says, I'm going to dwell among you. You see, the offering that they would make, that Abraham would make, and Isaac and Jacob and Cain and Abel, the idea was it was to go and worship God.

[8:24] And yes, to present that offering to come between them and God, to cover their sins so they could worship. But God did not say, I'm going to dwell with you in this way. He didn't say, I'm going to tabernacle among you.

[8:35] Exodus 25. And the Lord said to Moses, Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Until now, man worshiped God, but did not dwell with God.

[8:46] God visited Abraham in his tent. Remember, he comes walking with those angels on their way down to Sodom and Gomorrah. But then what did he do? He left. He left. For God to dwell among man, there would need to be a specific something.

[9:00] There would need to be a mediator. Someone to stand between a holy God and sinful man. The priest, his role was not to keep man at a distance.

[9:11] It was not like, well, God's so holy. You're not coming anywhere near this place. No, no, it was bring men near. It was to draw them near. God says, I'm going to dwell among you. I want you to come near. But you can't just come trampling into my courts.

[9:23] You can't just come rushing in. Because of this separation, this thing of sin. There would need to be a mediator. Leviticus 16.

[9:36] The Lord reiterates at this point in Leviticus later on, kind of this idea of dwelling among them. He says, And this shall be a statute forever unto you, that in the seventh month.

[9:48] I'm sorry, this isn't the scripture in Leviticus. This is the scripture about drawing near. I confused the two. In this scripture, he's saying one of the reasons for the priest is so the people can draw near. That once a year, on that day, the priest shall make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

[10:07] It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and you shall afflict your souls by statute forever. So once a year, he would go in on the day of atonement to offer for the nation of Israel. He would get to go in the Holy of Holies with blood and incense.

[10:21] And he would offer there an offering before the Lord. Why? Because the Lord's like, I'm just too holy. You can't come close. No, no. Because he says here, that I may make atonement for you.

[10:32] The priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean. The priest was not to keep man at a distance, but to allow him to draw near. So the people brought their offerings.

[10:44] You and I, we would be the ones we'd have to bring our offering. And there at the side of the altar, we would slit the throat. You would slit the throat of your sacrifice. To understand the gravity of what it was costing you.

[10:56] But then the priest would take over from there, and he would administrate this thing. The people brought the offering, but it was the priest who received and administrated the office of sacrifice on behalf of the people.

[11:08] We don't come by this altar, do we? We come by the altar that Jesus came by. Jesus went to that altar once and for all, but the people also brought the sacrifice.

[11:18] In John chapter 19, the people cried out, away with him. Away with him, crucify him. The people brought their offering. They brought the sacrifice and said, crucify him.

[11:29] Here it is. Sacrifice him. And Pilate said, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priests answered and said, we have no king but Caesar.

[11:41] The priests were administrating the offering. And then delivered he, him, therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led them away. But who was the real high priest in that situation?

[11:52] Who was the real high priest administrating this offering? It wasn't those guys. Notice it says chief priests, plural. There's two high priests. Very weird. One political and one that was like of the people.

[12:04] And it was a messed up system by the time Jesus comes on the scene here. But the priest would administrate the offering, but the people would bring it. Hebrews chapter 9, beginning in verse 11, it says, But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

[12:36] So our high priest administered that sacrifice. Even though man brought him, even though the Levitical chief priests were standing there, it was our high priest who administered that sacrifice on that day of atonement.

[12:49] As the priest should have been in the temple preparing for Passover. Instead, they were there preparing the Passover, the Lamb of God.

[13:01] But only a priest was permitted into the holy place, and only the high priest was allowed into the holiest place of all. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8, if you would.

[13:12] There's too much to put up on the screen. If you want to understand the Levitical system, and the picture, and the shadow that it is of Christ, and our relationship with him, under the new covenant, read Hebrews.

[13:26] Hebrews explains the whole thing of, well, here's the Levitical system, here's what it means to us under the new covenant. But Hebrews chapter 8, we're going to begin in verse 1.

[13:37] We'll read the first six verses here together. And it says, Well, he had to, because he couldn't be a high priest.

[14:17] That's why he exists, to come and offer gifts and sacrifices. So he had to bring one too. Now, if he were on earth, he shouldn't be a priest, seeing that there are priests yet that offer gifts according to the law.

[14:31] He's saying, now, Jesus, according to the earthly system, he couldn't be a priest. He wasn't of the house of Levi. He didn't meet the requirements. So if he's a priest, it must be after a different order. It couldn't be after the Levitical system.

[14:45] And those priests, verse 5, serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. So everything we're reading about, this gives us authority. The New Testament here in Hebrews chapter 8, verse 5, gives us authority to look at the Old Testament and say, Hey, guess what?

[15:00] All of these things are a shadow of the real deal, of the heavenly thing. Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.

[15:12] And man, we've seen that all through this, where he says, Moses, do not fail to make this as I've instructed you on the mount. For see, saith he, that you make all things according to the pattern showed you in the mount.

[15:25] But now, now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry. By how much also is he the mediator, there's that word mediator, of a better covenant. He is the mediator of a better covenant.

[15:38] That word mediator, what does it mean? It means one who intervenes between two. It's one who comes in, the go between, one who comes between.

[15:48] But the purpose is for what? Well, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship. A mediator's specific role is to make or restore peace and friendship. To bring two back together, to reconcile the two.

[16:01] And here we see that Jesus, he has a more excellent ministry. Now, the priest in the old covenant, as we're going to see in the Levitical system, that's their job too, to be a mediator. To bring God and man together in this place where they got tabernacles.

[16:15] To dwell together. How much more has he obtained a more excellent ministry? Because he's a mediator of a better covenant. An everlasting covenant. The priest was to mediate to the people the life of God.

[16:28] That's what he does. He comes and he mediates life to the people. And to God, the faithfulness of the people. The faithfulness of the people. Yes, the faithfulness of the people to come and faithfully carry out the sacrifices and ordinances as God has called them to.

[16:44] Not the perfection of the people. And we're going to see this as we go through Exodus 28. I guess that slide is going to get a little chopped up. But the mediator priest is all through this chapter as we go through it.

[16:58] We're going to see that he bears the names of the sons of Israel. Exodus 28, 12. We'll get to that one today. Bear the names of the tribes of Israel. Discern God's judgment.

[17:09] Minister to God in the holy place. And bear guilt from the holy things. And we'll see next week what all that means. But he is the mediator. This is the point of all this. This is why God is setting up this priesthood.

[17:21] The person who embodies the priesthood for Israel. This person who is the high priest. This guy back up there. There's our high priest. This person who will embody the high priesthood.

[17:36] He's going to die. He's going to change. Eventually, Aaron's going to pass off the scene. And Eliezer, his son, will take the place. His place. But in essence, and ultimately, the high priest will never change.

[17:50] It's not like, well, now that I'm high priest, you know, we've got a new administration around here. And I'm going to do things different. I don't want to do a morning and evening sacrifice. I'm not a morning person. I don't really have to take time in the evening.

[18:02] I'm going to be an afternoon priest. And we're going to go and do all of it in the afternoon. Because that's just, I mean, it'll get done just the same. We'll have the lamps lit. We'll make sure. No, he has to do everything exactly the same.

[18:12] He has to dress exactly the same. Essentially, the person who embodies the priesthood will ultimately change throughout the years. But the priest will never change.

[18:23] For he will be the same yesterday, today, and forever. The high priest must continue in his service the same. He'll swap out the person. It's not like when Israel would get a new king. Well, this one's righteous and this one's not.

[18:35] It's Hezekiah. And it's one of the others. One of the Jeroboams. They're all bad. No, the high priest would have to consistently administer in the things faithfully as they are laid out.

[18:50] He doesn't get to change. Each priest is to simply be a continuation of the never-ending priesthood of God. He doesn't get to change the things he does or do them differently.

[19:01] He simply steps into a role that already exists. It's already there. Hebrews 7, 17. For he testifies, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

[19:15] We may take a little time to look at Melchizedek next week. But that was Melchizedek, king of Salem, who comes to meet Abraham after the battle when all the guys were, when Lot and all the guys from Sodom and Gomorrah were taken by those ten kings.

[19:29] Chetal and Mazor? I can't remember his name. But then the king of Salem comes and he offers bread and wine and it says he's a priest. And so here we see that Jesus is after the order of that priesthood.

[19:40] Not a Levitical order, but a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And they truly were many priests. Speaking of the ones we were just talking about. The ones under this system in the Old Testament. Because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.

[19:54] But this man, because he continues forever, he has an unchangeable priesthood. Not only does he continue in the office of priesthood, he continues as the priest forever. A temporary priest operates under a temporary covenant.

[20:08] An eternal priest operates under an eternal covenant. We have an eternal priest. It's no longer a temporary covenant because he is eternal. For the law makes men high priests which have infirmity.

[20:22] Doesn't mean like they're sick. It just means they're infirm like us. They're mortal. They're sinners. Makes men which have infirmity. They're not going to last. But the word of the oath, which was since the law.

[20:32] And that is old King James, old English way of saying it was before the law. The oath existed. The promise existed to Abraham before the law. It makes the son who is consecrated forevermore.

[20:46] Not only is our priest eternal. He's the son. And he's our brother. Jesus, the eternal high priest. He steps in and intervenes between the two.

[20:57] Between God and man. Why? To make peace and friendship. To make peace and offer friendship. He steps in and does this work. In the divinely ordained eternal priest.

[21:11] Right? This man who is divinely ordained. But now eternal. Both man and God meet. And they are reconciled. John chapter 1.

[21:21] In the beginning was the word. And the word was who? Was God. He was God. Fully God. Divine. With God and was God. But the word became a man.

[21:32] The word was made flesh. And dwelt among us. Why? To dwell with us. To tabernacle. We beheld his glory. The glory of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace and truth. For the law was given by Moses.

[21:45] But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son. Which is in the bosom of the Father. He has declared him. For what purpose?

[21:56] To dwell with us. In peace and friendship. Not to keep us away. Maybe some of you have come from a. An order of religion that had a priest in it.

[22:10] Maybe you were a part of that. Did that priest make you feel close or far from God? Man you look at that and you're like holy cow. Like oh that priest.

[22:20] He goes up behind the thing. And opens the gold thing. And then the other gold thing comes out. And then he does something else with some other things. And like man. And then he comes down to us. And we can get a little close.

[22:30] Not too close. Man. He must be. If he can't get close. He's the priest. How can I get close? No no no no. Now the priest made possible the presence of God.

[22:42] Among the people of God. By drawing them near. By calling them near. He said come near. He shouldn't keep you away. If a priest or someone who calls himself a priest.

[22:53] Is causing you to pull away from God. And make you feel like there's distance. Well he's not doing his job as a priest. But we are not under a system where there is priests. We have a priest.

[23:04] As we said. An eternal one. So the priest. He made possible the presence of God. Among the people. By bearing both the iniquity of the people. As mediator. Before God.

[23:15] Specifically the priest. As we're going to see. Is to bear the iniquity. Of the people. As he goes into the presence of God. And then he bears to the people. The holiness of God.

[23:25] That's what he does. He allows us to come into God's presence. Now. Exodus 28 verse 1. Why a priest? Because God desires to dwell among men.

[23:39] And to do so. There must be a mediator. Someone to represent God to man. And man to God. Take. Unto you Aaron your brother. Says the Lord.

[23:50] To Moses on the mountain now. And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother. And his sons with him. From among the children of Israel. That he may minister unto who? Unto me.

[24:01] Unto me. The Lord says. In the priest's office. Even Aaron. Nadab. And Abihu. Eleazar. Ithamar. Aaron's sons. Those who are to minister unto God.

[24:13] Aaron. His name means light bringer. Nadab. Generous. Abihu. He is my father. Eleazar. God has helped. And then his youngest son. Ithamar. You know. There's like. Yeah. Land of palms.

[24:24] But I think maybe Aaron named him that. Thinking of the promised land. Thinking of. Man. Someday. Someday. We're going to be there. These are the men. Who are chosen to minister. Unto God. The priests of God.

[24:36] They had to be from a specific family or lineage. Couldn't just be anybody. They had to be chosen from among those. Whom they would minister to. No strangers. And his ministry.

[24:47] This priest. Would involve man. But it would be to the Lord. So the priest. Our priest. Jesus. From a specific family and lineage.

[24:58] Chosen from among those he would minister to. And his ministry would involve man. But be to the Lord. For when the fullness of time was come. God sent forth his son. Made of a woman.

[25:10] Made under the law. Specific lineage. Chosen from. Out from among those he would minister to. To redeem them. Under the law. That we might receive the adoption of sons.

[25:21] You say well. He ministered to us. No he ministered to the Lord. On our behalf. Even as the son came not to be ministered unto. But to minister.

[25:32] And give his life a ransom for many. So Aaron and his family. These sons. Why were they chosen? They must have been super special. I mean he's Moses' brother. Right? Yeah.

[25:42] But before. You know it's interesting. Before God uses someone. Like the people through history. You think. Wow look. God used that man. Mightily. But before he used them. Who were they? Nobody knows. Because he didn't start using them.

[25:54] Who is David? Before God called him. We've never heard of David. Ever. If it wasn't for the fact. That the Lord had called him. So who are these men? Aaron and his family.

[26:04] They were not chosen. Because they were anything special. It wasn't because of some special thing. But they were special. Because they were chosen. They were not chosen.

[26:15] Because they were special. But they became special. And they were very special. Because they were chosen. We're told in 1 Peter chapter 2. That we in time past. We were not a people.

[26:26] We couldn't even say we were of the nation of Israel. We're just Gentile hodgepodges. But we're now the people of God. But should not obtain mercy. But we've now obtained mercy.

[26:37] Why are you? How are you the people of God? Because you're so special. I've obtained mercy. Because I'm so special. No. Not at all. I'm special. Because God has chosen me to be one of his.

[26:49] And he's given me his mercy. Boy that makes me special. These men were also not chosen. Because they were faithful. Aaron. Oh Aaron. A couple.

[27:01] A couple chapters from now. He's going to be making a golden calf. And saying this is your God. That brought you out of Egypt. Not yet even consecrated to be high priest.

[27:12] God is ordaining this now. Knowing what Aaron's going to do. Nadab and Abihu. They're going to get fired from their office of priesthood. When they go in and offer strange fire. God sends fire and burns them up.

[27:25] They were not chosen because they were faithful. But they were chosen to be faithful. God chose them and says I expect you now to be faithful. Paul would say the same thing to Timothy.

[27:35] As he's writing in 1 Timothy. He says I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. Who has enabled me. For that he counted me faithful. Putting me into the ministry. Counted me faithful.

[27:46] See he counted Paul. He said Paul you're going to be faithful. No no no. That means counted among the faithful. He said Paul I'm going to pick you up. And I'm going to put you among the faithful. There. I now count you among the faithful.

[27:58] I'm going to enable you to do this. I'm going to put you into the ministry. In the same way we are not chosen because we're faithful. So at the times when you're not faithful. Oh man. I can't draw near to God.

[28:09] God didn't ask you to draw near because you're faithful. But now that he's called you near. He wants you to be faithful. And you shall make verse 2. So Aaron is going to be covered with holiness.

[28:23] With glory. And with beauty. You shall make holy garments. And they shall be glorious. And they shall be beautiful. God starts now with the high priest. Because without him there's no other reason for any other priests.

[28:35] The high priest is the one we start with. Hebrews 2 verse 9 will tell us that we see Jesus a little lower than the angels. But now crowned with glory and honor.

[28:46] Aaron shall be covered in holiness, glory, and beauty. We too are to put on the same thing. As we put on Christ. We are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[28:58] Holy, glorious, and beautiful. And make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the desires thereof. And you shall speak, verse 3, unto all that are wisehearted. Whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.

[29:11] That they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him. That he may minister unto me in the priest's office. So Aaron's ministry did not just rely upon his abilities.

[29:22] For him to effectively accomplish his role, he's going to have to rely on someone else. He has to rely on others' abilities to support, cooperate, and gift along with him.

[29:36] Ephesians 1.17 says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that he may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him.

[29:47] As God says here to Moses, Hey, I've filled those who are going to serve in this capacity with the spirit of wisdom. And have given them a wise heart.

[29:59] So Aaron's role very much relied on others. Couldn't do this alone. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, He says that the spirit is given to profit to every man with all.

[30:13] It's for everyone's profit. It's not just, well, I'm the high priest now. Not me, but Aaron. Hey, hey, hey. I'm the special one. No, no, no. It's to profit everybody. But all these works that one in self same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will.

[30:27] We don't get to pick. We're special because he picked and gave us. For as the body is one and as many members and all the members of that one body being many, many members are one body.

[30:40] So also is Christ. So the work of the wise hearted and the spirit filled is for the equipping of another. God says, hey, I'm going to give some that are wise hearted and spirit filled to equip Aaron.

[30:55] Aaron, otherwise, I'm the high priest, but man, I don't have any of their garments. And boy, if I tried to make them, I need someone. I need someone who's spirit filled and equipped for this.

[31:05] But it was for the work of another. And it's very possible that our life's calling, our life's work may very well be to equip another. Because that's what a priest does.

[31:19] And we are kings and priests unto God. The spirit of wisdom and revelation that we pray God gives us may not be for us. It may be equip us to serve another, to equip another.

[31:32] My life's work, your life's work may very well be that God's like, I want to use you to equip another. The priest's service was for the benefit of the people, but it was ultimately to God.

[31:44] Right? Because God says, this is to me. The same way Jesus says that he came down from heaven, not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him. So the benefit was to the people.

[31:56] The benefit that we derive from Jesus serving the father is great. The benefit's all on us. Did Jesus benefit? I mean, he says he did.

[32:06] He says that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. But like, guys, I know it's in my heart. And my guess is you got a lot of that in your heart. We're the ones who benefited, right? Because he served the father so faithfully.

[32:18] So ultimately, the more effectively the priests served God, the more effectively he benefited God's people. You see, the more effectively he fulfilled his role to God, the more effectively then he would benefit the people.

[32:35] If you reverse that scenario, it gets kind of messy. If you take your focus off of God and you put it on the people you're serving or the people you want to serve or you want to help, and all of a sudden you're focused on the people, everything now changes.

[32:50] And all of a sudden you're trying to, well, I don't want to make them upset. And I got to try and what do they really need? I'm trying to figure this out. And before you know it, it's just kind of messy because we're not effective.

[33:01] Neither is the priest effective when he's ministering unto people instead of unto God. He ministers to God for the benefit of the people. And these, verse 4, are the garments.

[33:12] These are the garments which you shall make. A breastplate and an ephod and a robe, embroidered coat, a mitre and a girdle. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me and the priest's office.

[33:26] So all the priests have some of this, and only one of the priests has all of this. All of the priests are going to have some of this. They all have a coat, a sash, the girdle, the headpiece, and breeches or holy garments or underwear.

[33:40] They wear pants under all that. The high priest has particular garments that are his and his alone, though. He alone has the ephod, which is, I don't know, nobody really knows exactly what it is.

[33:54] It's the thing that holds the breastplate together. I think it has more. We'll see a little later. I think it has a little bit more to it than just that. They make it kind of looking like an apron. The breastplate, which is where the stones with the 12 tribes are, the robe, and then the mitre or the crown.

[34:09] It will be a gold. It will say holiness unto the Lord that will be upon his forehead. I have a video for us. We will just watch the first part of this that covers the text we will be in today.

[34:21] It really helped me to watch this. Be like, oh, oh, oh. So. And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

[34:40] And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And these are the garments which they shall make. A breastplate and an ephod and a robe and a broidered coat, a mitre and a girdle.

[34:54] And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet and fine twined linen with cunning work.

[35:11] It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof, and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod which is upon it shall be of the same according to the work thereof.

[35:23] Even of gold and blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones and grave on them the names of the children of Israel, six of their names on one stone and the other six names of the rest on the other stone according to their birth.

[35:42] With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. Thou shalt make them to be set in outches of gold.

[35:53] And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

[36:07] And thou shalt make outches of gold and two chains of pure gold at the ends. Of wreathen work shalt thou make them and fasten the wreathen chain.

[36:17] We'll stop there. It's going to go into the breastplate. So that'll kind of help as we go through this to kind of see, oh, that's what he's talking about. What is an ouch of gold? It was just old English. It's a setting, essentially.

[36:29] That's the setting it will set in. So these are the garments which you shall make. A breastplate and an ephod, a robe, a broidered coat, a mitre and a girdle. Again, it's not complicated. It's not, even as you go through it, it's like, what is all that?

[36:39] It doesn't go together that complicated. But it's very, very specific, just as a tabernacle was. It's not super complicated. So the priest was not a priest in name only. The clothes made the man.

[36:51] He could not minister without being clothed in holiness. He had to be. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron, that he may minister unto me. Without those, he wouldn't be allowed to minister.

[37:04] We, too, are to put on holiness. Colossians 3, verse 12 says, Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, as the chosen of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another.

[37:21] If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness, or the thing that binds it all together, holds it all together, that which makes it complete and whole.

[37:36] God's desire is for a man to be equipped and clothed so that he may minister and serve. That's God's desire. Our service is first to who? It's first to God.

[37:47] And then that will express itself in service to man. But we serve God first. We are clothed in righteousness so that we can approach God, and we serve him. And by serving him and focusing upon him, we then, that overflows into our service to men.

[38:02] Behind the scenes of this glorious work of God, so as the priest ministers day by day, and he's wearing all of this, behind the scenes is the person who is weaving all that, the person who is engraving all of that.

[38:17] Behind the scenes of God's glorious work, and behind the scenes of all of God's glorious works in this world today, is the faithfulness of those who operate in a heart of humility, and who are spirit-filled, and who are willing to do that on behalf of another, to equip another.

[38:35] In 1 Peter, Peter again tells us to be clothed with humility, to put that on. Verse 5, And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

[38:46] And they shall make the ephod, the, whatever that ephod, here's another kind of view of the ephod, what it might look like. I think it's more like that one on the left that has more to it, just from the description.

[38:58] And they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, fine twined linen with cunning work. Ephod, it means shoulder cape, or mantle, or apron. No one knows quite exactly what it looked like.

[39:11] But what are they going to make it? Well, we've seen some of these colors before, haven't we? We're going to weave this together. We've seen the blue, the purple, and the scarlet. In Exodus 26, it was the covering for the tabernacle, what it was to the first layer that was to be covered with, blue, purple, and scarlet.

[39:25] In Exodus 26, it was also the veil that separates between the holy and holies and the holy place, and also was the entrance into the tabernacle. Exodus 27, blue, purple, and scarlet makes up the door into the court.

[39:39] But did you see what was added? We've seen the fine linen as well, right? In the courtyard. Fine linen means that which has been bleached white, or made white. But what was added here to this? Gold.

[39:52] Gold. The priest alone will wear a garment that's made with gold in it. 1 Peter 1.7 says that the trial of your faith being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[40:15] Talked away back in Proverbs. The writer of Proverbs writing to his son, he says, receive my instruction in Proverbs 8, verse 10, and not silver, knowledge rather than choice gold.

[40:26] For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. To wisdom, not gold. Gold, that which is tried, which tested, and which is worthy.

[40:40] And here we see the high priest will be covered with all of these. He will be clothed in gold, that which is tried, tested, and worthy. Blue, that which is of the heavens. Purple, royalty, scarlet, redemption, and white linen, clean, and righteous.

[40:55] The high priest alone wears all of this. And the ephod, verse 7, shall have two shoulder pieces thereof, joined at the two edges thereof, and so it shall be joined together.

[41:10] So you can have a front and a back, essentially, and it's going to be joined by these shoulder pieces. And again, here kind of is our idea of maybe what it might have looked like. The shoulder pieces joined the entire garment together.

[41:21] They were integral to that. Verse 8, and the curious girdle, or the sash, whatever that would be, of the ephod, which is upon it, it shall be of the same according to the work thereof, gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twine linen.

[41:34] It also will be this girdle. That means, a curious girdle means something embroidered. It's a sash or a band that's been embroidered. It's going to bring this whole thing together.

[41:44] It's going to tie it all together, isn't it? Makes me think of Ephesians chapter 6, verse 14, that we are to stand therefore in having our loins gird about, belted, belted truth.

[41:55] Truth brings it all together, doesn't it? Man, you remove truth and it kind of gets sloppy, right? Take your belt off. The older you get, the more you need a belt. You take the belt off and it gets a little sloppy, right?

[42:07] You take away the truth and it gets really sloppy. It's really messy. Truth binds it all together. It's the thing that holds it together. And it also, it's gold, blue, purple, scarlet.

[42:18] It's tried and tested, the truth is. It comes from heaven. It's royal. It speaks of redemption and it is clean and righteous. Buy the truth and sell it not. Verse 9, you shall take two onyx stones and grave on them the names of the children of Israel.

[42:34] Just as we saw in that video, he's engraving it. Onyx is black, right? Black. So you can engrave on it these names and the only thing you're going to see on this black backdrop would be these names engraved on it.

[42:47] Engrave. The word engraved means to cut, to cut something in. There's a scripture that speaks about that. Scripture in Isaiah that talks about engraving. That we too are engraved upon the priest.

[43:05] Isaiah 49, 14 says, but Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me and the Lord has forgotten me. Israel is declaring this because of their troubles, because of the situation they're in.

[43:17] The Lord responds and says, can a woman forget her nursing child? That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Now that's possible, I guess, right? I forgot my oldest once.

[43:32] Okay, we were new parents. I buckled her into her little, you know, car seat in the house and we got everything ready. We got our coats on. We went out to the car and I said, I forgot something. And I went back in and I got her. But, I really forgot her.

[43:46] But I forgot her. My wife didn't. But could a woman? Could a woman forget? I guess it's possible. Maybe you've experienced that. Maybe those have forsaken you and forgotten you who shouldn't have.

[43:58] Maybe there are relationships that should never have been broken, but they have. The Lord says, that's possible. They may forget. He says, but I will never forget you. I will never forget you.

[44:11] Behold, I've graven you upon the palms of my hands. And he says to Israel, thy walls are continually before me, meaning I know the state you're in. I know if your wall is broken down or not. I know. I have engraven you on the palms of my hand.

[44:23] And again, King James, I think King James gets a bad rap because there's been too many King James only people out there like, it's got King James or nothing. And that's just silly. I prefer King James.

[44:34] I mean, you can't say King James only and then go to somewhere like, you know, Thailand and be like, here's the King James. You can't translate it like that. It doesn't work. But I like King James and I like the flow.

[44:45] It's written in a way that allows you to memorize and just, it's what comes to my mind. So that's why I teach out of it. And I like sometimes the old English because it's silly, but then so specific sometimes.

[44:57] In the King James, it says in verse nine, and thou shalt take two onyx stones and grave them on the palm. I mean, grave them, the names of the children of Israel and graved.

[45:08] Man, I just like that. You shall grave them, the grave. This makes me think of in first Corinthians 15 where we read, oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where's your victory?

[45:21] Where's, the grave thought it had victory? Oh no, no. Jesus said, I got this. And he engraved, he engraved that victory in the palm of his hands. The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ and for all of eternity that victory, us, are engraved in the palm of his hands.

[45:44] Because the grave, because Jesus engraved that there, the grave was overcome. I just like that. I think that's kind of cool sometimes. But, but I get it, you know, if reading the King James is too piratey for you, thee and thou, and it's just what I'm used to.

[45:59] Read your Bible. Just read your Bible. Whatever version, read your Bible. You know, the Holy Spirit were promised by Jesus that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. Truth. This is the only self-correcting thing out there.

[46:11] The self-correcting doctrine and knowledge that you could ever partake in. You could go, you could learn something completely wrong in your field of expertise or whatever and years later realize, I've been doing this, this way for years.

[46:24] They taught me wrong. But this is self-correcting. If we seek him, we'll find him and we seek him with all of our hearts. Right? We can trust that he'll guide us into all truth. So if you're reading something and the Lord's like, and your heart is to seek him and find him in the truth, he's like, you know, there's something better.

[46:39] He'll lead you to something better. He'll narrow that down for you. Read your Bibles. Verse 10. Six of their names on one stone and the other six names of the rest on the other stone according to their birth.

[46:51] So Reuben, Simeon, Levi, all the way down. The 12 tribes, 12 sons. With the work of an engraver in stone, the engravings of a signet, like on a ring, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel and thou shalt make them to be set in settings of gold or in the King James.

[47:11] Ouches. Ouches of gold. But you know, engraving hurts. Engraving is permanent, it's painful, and it's particular. You're not gonna undo, you engrave something on a stone, you can't undo that.

[47:22] Oh, you can wipe it out, but you can never return that stone to the state it was in. It's permanent. It's a permanent change. Jesus will bear for all of eternity what has been engraved on his hand.

[47:33] It will never go back to what it was. He will bear those scars and he still does. Painful. If you hear that stone, you're going, ouch. Setting ouches. Ouch. It hurts. It hurts to be cut on.

[47:43] It hurts to be engraved on. It's very particular, too. This wasn't just like, yeah, just do whatever. It's very particular. The names that are written on there are very particular.

[47:56] Luke 24, 39, Behold, my hands and my feet, as Jesus appeared in the upper room to his disciples after the resurrection. See that as I myself, handle me and see, for spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me have.

[48:09] What was the proof? What was the proof? How do we know this is you, Jesus? Check out my engravings. Look at what is on my hands. 1 Peter 2, 9 says, But you, you and I, we are a chosen generation.

[48:23] We are a royal priesthood. We are a holy nation. A particular people. Peculiar people. Why? So that we can just sit back and go, look at my priestly robes.

[48:37] Check it out. I don't know what an ephi is, but I got one. No, that we should show forth the praises of him who's called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. That we should go forth and execute the office of priesthood.

[48:49] That we should go forth and stand between men and God. Not because they need us to. Like, you can't worship God without me. No, but we can call them near and say, hey, come, come. In a sense, I represent a better priest that you can go to.

[49:03] You see, the stones by themselves, just like Aaron in a sense, they're nothing special. They're just stones. I mean, onyx, I guess, is kind of cool. Could be valuable, maybe. But it wasn't special until it was chosen, until it was prepared, and then it was set in its special role in the shoulder, in the ouch of gold, in that setting.

[49:23] And he also has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be special because we've been chosen and prepared and set in a special role.

[49:34] We should be holy and without blame before him in love. It's our setting, love. We're set in a setting of love. Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.

[49:50] It's very particular. We don't just go, well, I wonder how this, no, he tells us how it's going to work, that we should be children, that we should be children of God according to the good pleasure of his will. The last three verses for today.

[50:05] And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel.

[50:16] And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. And thou shalt make settings of gold and two chains of pure gold. See the chains at the ends of wreath and work shall you make them and fasten the wreath and change to the settings.

[50:34] Wreath and work. The word wreath and means a cord, a rope, or something braided. Braided in gold. Ecclesiastes 4.12, a threefold cord is not quickly broken. A cord of gold that holds this whole thing together.

[50:48] For what purpose? I mean, that's kind of cool. He's got cool little stones on his shoulders. Why does he bear those? Why are they there? You shall bear the two stones upon your shoulders, stones of memorial unto the children of Israel.

[51:04] And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial. The high priest shall continually lift up, in a sense, upon his shoulders the names of God's people in remembrance to the Lord.

[51:17] Every time he goes before the Lord, that's what's on his shoulders. That's what he's carrying, the names of God's people. He's lifting them up on his shoulders, bearing them before the Lord. Today, our high priest does the same thing.

[51:31] He ever lives to make intercession for us. And he's able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. As he sits there at the right hand of the Father, ever lifting up, ever bearing our names before the throne.

[51:43] Saying, hey, Father, in my role as priesthood and service to you, I bring this name. And as we saw, Wednesday night, the accuser of the brethren Satan goes, oh, darn it, that one didn't work either.

[51:54] And he tries to bring another one, and Jesus says, no, no, no, no. I got that one engraved here, and I'm bearing it. I'm bearing it on my shoulders. So the high priest shall continually lift up the names of God's people in remembrance to the Lord.

[52:07] The high priest is to take part in memorial and remembrance when he comes before God. He's always to take part in memorial and remembrance. 1 Corinthians 11, 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes.

[52:24] The high priest takes part in memorial and remembrance. Next week, we're going to do communion. Just this whole section, every week, we could have done it. We're just going to build it all up until next week. Then we'll build it all up again and do communion again.

[52:36] I love communion. The high priest was to take part memorial and remembrance. As it says here, you shall bear the names before the Lord on your two shoulders.

[52:48] The high priest would carry God's people upon his shoulders. He would bear God's people upon his shoulders in service to the Lord. And Jesus, bearing his cross, went forth into the place called the skull.

[53:05] You see, all we like sheep have gone astray and we have turned everyone to our own way and yet the Lord has laid on him. He laid it on him, the iniquity of us all. The shoulder piece was the foundation of the priestly garment.

[53:19] Without it, it would fall apart. It tied it together. Two gold chains that held the front and back together. The shoulder piece is the foundation of our faith, guys. What Jesus took upon his shoulders and he went to that place of sacrifice as he bore us, essentially, our names, as he bore that cross.

[53:36] That is the foundation of our faith and who we are. Remove that and the whole thing falls apart. We'll be holy and righteous people before God. How? Come before God. How? How?

[53:47] How am I going to do that? We'll just be a good priest. Be a good little boy. And, you know, how can we come if Jesus doesn't bear that? The shoulder piece was the foundation of the priestly garment.

[54:00] It held everything together. It's what holds us together, guys. You see, we preach Christ crucified under the Jews a stumbling block, under the Greeks foolishness, but under them which are called, under the special ones.

[54:16] Oh, we're so special. Yes, we are because Jesus did that for us and we've responded to that and we've been called. Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

[54:28] Our high priest took upon himself us. He lifted us on his shoulders. He bore the burden of us upon his shoulders as a mediator.

[54:43] He is the one who's intervened so that he can restore peace and friendship with God. We can come to God with peace and friendship because the high priest will continually bear upon his shoulders our names.

[54:56] 1 Peter 2.24 says that he, his own self, by himself, bore our sins in his own body on the tree. That we being dead to sins should live under righteousness by whose stripes you are healed.

[55:11] And he's done it all for us. Clothed in blue, heavenly, purple, royalty, scarlet, redemption, white, righteousness, purity, and gold.

[55:27] We are of great worth to God, guys. He would put all of that into us, bear that on his shoulders, and turn around and say, now come. Come into the presence of God. God wants to dwell with you.

[55:37] Our high priest, the divine man, stands in ministry as the mediator of fellowship between us and God. He stands there now continually, and without the high priest, guys, without the high priest and the Levitical system or the new covenant, God's presence would be inaccessible.

[55:53] We would not be able to access God's presence without our high priest today. And that high priest will live forever so that we can forever come into God's presence.

[56:06] We will end with this verse. Looking back again, Leviticus 26, let's look at this now in a new light. Look at it from the standpoint of your high priest of the new covenant. God would say to you, I will set my tabernacle among you.

[56:21] I want to dwell with you. And my soul shall not abhor you. That makes sense. His soul doesn't abhor you. I want to draw near to you, but I can't because you're such sinners.

[56:33] Oh, wait. I'm going to bury your names. I'm going to bury your engraving. My soul will not abhor you, and I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people.

[56:45] Have you experienced that? I am the Lord your God, and I have brought you forth out of the land of Egypt that you should not be their bondman. And I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you go upright.

[56:58] Isn't that what he did? He took us out of bondage. He took us out of Egypt. We don't bow to that anymore. We don't bow to the things of this world. We don't bow before sin and before the flesh. No way.

[57:09] We can stand up out from under the yoke. His yoke is easy and his burden is light, and he's made us go upright. And now he would say to us, say, go! Go! Go forth as lights in this world, as priests, in a sense.

[57:23] No, not priests, like other religions would say. We need a priest. But as those who bear the message of mediation, the message that says God is in the world reconciling through Jesus, reconciling men unto God.

[57:39] Christ is in the world reconciling men unto God. Be reconciled! Be part of this. It's so special. And that that high priest would carry upon his shoulders you and me as he went to the cross.

[57:54] I don't know if you've experienced that today. I know most of you. But not all of you that well. Have you allowed the high priest to step in in mediation between you and God?

[58:08] Have you allowed him to be the one that would essentially take God's hand in your hand and say, hey, let me introduce you? Because it's the only way. There's no other way we're going to come. You're not going to make up your own system.

[58:21] The priest is there for all of eternity. Jesus stands there ready to receive all, but also to reject all who would not come by way of the cross.

[58:31] and those of us who have come and this morning, remember who you are. Remember the blue that you are seated in the heavenlies.

[58:42] Remember the purple that he has made you a king. Remember the scarlet redemption, kings and priests unto God. Remember the white, the robes of righteousness you've been clothed in.

[58:57] Remember that you are of great worth. That there's gold. God looks at you as gold. He tests our faith. Why, God? Why does it feel like I'm forsaken? Oh, I will never forsake you.

[59:08] He says, I'm not going to forsake you. I'm not going to forget you. No, no, no. But I'm going to weave gold into your life. I'm going to weave such worth and value. And your faith is going to be a beautiful, beautiful thing.

[59:22] He loves us. He's compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in mercy, and is quick to forgive. So, Lord, we come to you, Lord, as we end this study, Lord, and just thank you for this section of scripture, Lord.

[59:37] Thank you for this time to look at a priest, Lord, to look at the one who ultimately, Lord, would be the priest, Lord, who would be the fulfillment of all of these high priests that generation after generation for Israel, a man would step into that office.

[59:53] He would step into that which has already been prepared for him, that role of priest. And he would point forward to the one who would come and be the priest. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for engraving us upon the palm of your hands, Lord.

[60:07] Thank you for taking the pain and the permanence of the effect of my sin. Oh, Lord, so that you could then mediate life to me. So that I could go forth, Lord, and I don't have to live a dying sacrifice.

[60:21] I can be a living sacrifice. I can now give what I never could before. I can give my life to be used, to equip, and bless, and edify, and serve others, Lord.

[60:34] And so, Lord, I pray this morning, Lord, if anybody's wrestling with that, their worth, their value, if they're questioning who they are, Lord, that they would, again, just look to the cross, and we'd remember this morning, Lord, that we are your special, peculiar, particular chosen people.

[60:52] We love you so much. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your compassion. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, God wants to equip us as kings and priests unto God.

[61:03] He wants us to be equipped. He wants us to be prepared. That we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. why, that we should show forth the praises of him who's called us out of darkness into that marvelous light.

[61:15] We minister to God for the sake of people. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him.

[61:32] I'll tell you this, the more wisdom and revelation you receive from God and the knowledge of him, the more equipped you'll be to serve people. And so, as we close, we want to pray that God equips my brother Caleb.

[61:49] He's heading off to Liberty this week, Liberty University. It's been such a blessing, such an awesome friend and brother. He was in my youth group at another church many years ago, and so to see him now as just the awesome young man he is.

[62:02] There are so few today young men who want to live lives with the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him. And I believe Caleb is one of those. So, let's pray for him.

[62:14] And then we will close. But if you need prayer, if you're wrestling with where you stand with the Lord, and I would love to speak with you and pray with you. And this verse here is a prayer.

[62:24] Paul is saying, I'm praying this. And if you need prayer that God would fill you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation, find someone to pray with. I'll pray with you. But, Father, we thank you so much, Lord.

[62:35] We want to pray this for Caleb, Lord, that you would fill him, Lord, with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you, Lord. That his relationship with you would grow by leaps and bounds exponentially, Lord, as he walks by faith into this next season of life, Lord.

[62:49] That, Lord, you've already prepared something for him. Just like the high priest, he steps into a role prepared. Lord, we know that before the foundations of the earth, Lord, you have prepared good things for him to walk in, Lord.

[63:01] And, Lord, I pray that, Lord, as he goes off to school, Lord, you would reveal yourself to him in a deeper and mightier way and that you, Lord, would be his defender and his Lord. And, Lord, I pray that for all of my brothers and sisters here this morning, Lord.

[63:13] Fill them, Lord. Fill us today, Lord, with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. Lord, that we would come into a deeper relationship and understanding of you in our lives, of your love for us, of the work you've done on the cross, that you removed our sins as far as the east is from the west.

[63:29] How far is that? Well, just spread out your hands. And that's what you did. You spread them out east to west on the cross and our sin was removed. So, Lord, fill us, Lord, that we can go out and serve you in a way, Lord, that would tell others of that great love.

[63:45] We thank you and praise you. Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[63:56] God bless you. Let's put it in.