A Perfect Fit - Exodus 28:15-43

[0:00] Oh, good morning, everybody. What a blessing. Welcome to Calvary Chapel Charlotte.! I was reading this morning in Psalm 90 again, just how the Lord is our dwelling place.

[0:16] ! And as it ends, He said, make us glad according to the days wherein you have afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil. I just think the Lord is so good that He recognizes that we are going to have days that have been afflicting, days that we look at and go, man, I don't want to remember that day. That was an evil day.

[0:36] And the psalmist here says, Lord, make us glad. Make us glad in proportion to how hard that was and whatever it was we were going through. God is so good. Let your work appear unto your servants and your glory unto their children, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.

[0:50] And as we go through this section of Scripture, we're just looking at the priestly garments and how again and again it says it's for glory and for beauty. For glory and for beauty. Let the glory of their children be upon us. Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.

[1:04] And establish the work of our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands establish it. And I have written there, there's no waste with God. Nothing's wasted with the Lord. Even the evil times and the difficult times is like, man, Lord, establish the work of my hands.

[1:19] Give me joy in response to the hard times. So, we have so much to worship him for. If you turn with me to Exodus chapter 28.

[1:31] We've been churning through the book of Exodus, line by line, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and we've come up to where Moses is on the mount, 40 days and 40 nights, receiving from God instruction and how to administer the nation of Israel.

[1:43] And the first thing God does is essentially say, after giving them the Ten Commandments at the base of the mountain, all of them, brings Moses up and essentially says, the first thing we're going to establish is who I am in relation to you and who you are in relation to me.

[1:56] He didn't give them, well, here is your government structure and here's how you run your schools and here's how I want you to distribute. No, he said the first thing is your relationship to me. How I relate to you and how you relate to me.

[2:08] And so, we looked at the construction of the tabernacle and how Jesus is just such a picture of him, such a shadow of Christ, points forward to the Messiah and the covering of the tabernacle, the instruments within the tabernacle and all of that.

[2:24] Then we got into the priest's clothing. And so, last week we had our intro to looking at the priest. We said, why a priest? And we said, there was a reason for that, that had changed from the beginning, essentially, of, well, not creation, Adam's fall, to now.

[2:43] Something changed. Something changed in the way God related to man. It was for the first time God said, I'm going to tabernacle. I'm going to dwell among you. I'm going to put my presence dwelling among men. Until then, he interfaced and met with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

[2:57] They worshipped him at an altar, but he didn't dwell with them in the way that he said, I'm going to put my presence among you. I'm going to dwell with you. And there's a high priest.

[3:07] The first person he kind of sets up is this high priest. And the first thing he does is he says, here is all of the clothing the high priest is going to wear. Here's what he's going to wear. Not even so much what he's going to do.

[3:19] Not even so much how we're going to administrate all of this. But this is what he's going to wear. This is what he's going to look like. Because, as we said last week, the clothes make the man. Aaron was high priest, but without that covering, he could not come before God.

[3:33] He could not come before God uncovered. And the scripture says that the high priest, he stands in glory and beauty and holiness. As in Exodus 28, verse 2, it says, You shall make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for glory and for beauty.

[3:49] So Aaron stands there as high priest for glory, for beauty and holiness. Psalm 69, I'm sorry, 96, verse 9. It's a lexic moment. Who worshiped the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

[4:01] Here before him, all the earth. So we looked last week at the ephod. That's as far as we got, as far as the priest's garment. And that was essentially like a tunic or a short jacket of some type.

[4:12] With like an apron that the breastplate is going to be hooked onto. Which is what we'll look at this week. The ephod had the shoulder pieces. And on the shoulder were these onyx stones, kind of like these shoulder caps.

[4:25] And they would be engraved with the children of Israel's names on them. And this would be the foundation of the garment. It would hold everything else together. Otherwise, they would just kind of all fall off. And we looked at how our high priest, Jesus, took upon his shoulders the responsibility of mediating between man and God.

[4:41] He took upon his shoulders, not just the names, but essentially took us upon his shoulders when he took the cross and went to the cross for us. Our faithful high priest. 1 Peter 2.24 says, Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree.

[4:57] That we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed. He took that upon himself. Not just our names, but our iniquity, our sin, our punishment.

[5:09] And without the high priest, God's presence would be inaccessible to Israel. Israel could not access God's presence without the high priest. God put his presence in the midst of the camp. And he put that courtyard around it.

[5:21] And he put the bronze altar and the bronze laver and the tabernacle and everything within it. But it wasn't like they could just go charging in. All right, let's go on in and visit. But without the high priest, God's presence would be completely inaccessible.

[5:36] And so why a priest? Like we said, because it's for the first time that God would dwell among his people. The tabernacle would house God's presence. And it was beautiful. If you remember, on the inside, it's purple, scarlet, blue.

[5:51] And it's just this beautiful picture. As you would look up and see the interior of it. Outside was covered with just some animal skin. You couldn't see anything. You could see the door into the tabernacle.

[6:02] And the door into the courtyard also had the blue, the purple, and the scarlet as well. But the tabernacle housed the presence of God, which the people were unable to see into. They couldn't look into that and see that beauty.

[6:14] But the high priest, he came from without the tabernacle. He came out into the presence of the people to represent the presence of God. They could look at the high priest. And they would see upon him the gold, the purple, the scarlet, the blue, the white linen.

[6:28] They would see what essentially would be the interior of the tabernacle. Coming out to man to express God's presence. And so all of the priests had some of the garments.

[6:40] But only the high priest, I mean all the priests had some of the garments. But only a high priest had all of the garments. So all of the priests would have a robe and they'd have a turban. They'd have a sash. It was all white. And then the high priest, he would have some things that were very specific to him.

[6:55] You'd have the ephod. That's just the, it's some type of tunic. They don't do a very good job with it there. They just make it this thing that goes around his middle. The breastplate is hooked too. There's the breastplate, the robe, the blue robe, the crown, the mitre, and then his coat that he would have.

[7:13] And so the high priest alone had the ephod, the breastplate, the robe, and the crown. And there's only one man who could wear that. All the rest of the priests couldn't. He couldn't take a day off.

[7:23] The high priest couldn't go, I don't want to wear it today. Here, Joe, you wear it today. I was like, okay, I'm going to wear that. And there was only one that it fit perfectly. Only one that it was a perfect fit. So would you pray with me?

[7:35] Lord, we thank you as we come to your word, Lord, as we've quickly recapped, Lord. Boy, we've come out of Egypt. We've come through the Red Sea. We've been in the wilderness receiving manna. We're on the mount with God. And you give the Ten Commandments.

[7:45] And now there's Moses alone with you 40 days and 40 nights, Lord. And he doesn't have anything to eat. Lord, he's there in your presence because man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

[7:59] And Lord, not one word that proceeded from your mouth did Moses think, well, that's not really important. I'll summarize. Lord, he took it all in. And he very faithfully then transcribed that and gave it to the people.

[8:13] And that has been passed down through generation, through generation, by the faithfulness of your spirit, working through faithful men and women, so that today we can hold in our laps the very word of God. And Lord, we're going to go through every word, line by line and verse by verse, because we count all of it, Lord, precious.

[8:29] Lord, we recognize our beautiful high priest is glorious and beautiful. And yet, Lord, you have magnified your word above your name. So, Lord, I pray that you would speak to us through your word, that you demonstrate that in our lives through spirit and power.

[8:42] Love you and thank you. Help us to see Jesus and to worship him in your name. Amen. All right. So, the mediator priest. The priest would stand between God and between men.

[8:52] He comes out from the presence of God to display the presence of God to man. And he goes in to the Lord. He goes into God's presence, bringing, essentially, the people with him, bearing their names upon his shoulders.

[9:03] We're going to see upon the breastplate, bringing the people before God. He's the mediator priest. Exodus 28, as we're in this week, right? Exodus 28, last week, you saw in verse 12, it was to bear remembrance of Israel.

[9:16] He was to bear their names on their shoulders for remembrance. Verses 15 through 21 is to bear the names of Israel on his heart. He's going to carry that on the breastplate. Exodus 28, verse 30 is to discern God's judgment.

[9:29] So, the mediator bears Israel their names for remembrance, bears their names on his heart, discerns God's judgment for the people, and then, lastly, to minister to the Lord in the holy place.

[9:40] Exodus 28, 35. This is our mediator priest, the one who goes between, the one who makes peace between God and man. So, you know, one size fits all, right?

[9:51] You've seen that. One size never fits all. I don't know who says that. It doesn't fit all. You know, you get a hat that says, one size fits all. And it's like, right between those two snaps, one's too big and one's too small. So, it's like, you either cut your hair more or let it grow longer.

[10:03] It's one or the other. It's never one size fits all. One size fits one, doesn't it? Jesus was that one man that fit this so perfectly. He's the only one who fit all of these garments.

[10:15] In John chapter 1, verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten of the Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. He has come forth from God's presence to declare him.

[10:27] There's only one. There's only one who can fit this. The garments of the Old Testament high priest, they are simply part of the tapestry of Christ. As we go through the Old Testament, the Old Covenant is simply part of the tapestry that's weaved together to show us Jesus, show us Christ.

[10:44] In Hebrews, Jesus is referred to 15 times as our high priest or as a priest, 15 times. Hebrews is going to be a great book to go through.

[10:56] I don't know when we're done with Revelation, which we got a ways to go. If we'll do Hebrews next or something else, but I mean, we're going to be in Leviticus eventually, and there's just so much in Hebrews explains to us all that's happening here in the Old Testament.

[11:10] But a temporary priest operates under a temporary covenant. An eternal priest operates under an eternal covenant. If you want, you can turn to Hebrews 7. You don't have to. I'm going to put some of it on the screen, but it might be a little much.

[11:22] I'll try not to go too fast. But in Hebrews 7, the writer of Hebrews is bringing up this priest, an idea of this priesthood. Well, okay, the book of Hebrews is written to Jewish believers who are struggling with this idea that, well, what do I do with my entire background, my entire heritage?

[11:41] I just throw it all out? What about all the Jewish covenants, and what about that? Maybe we can incorporate that back into this new covenant. Maybe we can follow Jesus and sacrifice.

[11:53] Maybe we can follow Jesus and keep the law. And so the writer of Hebrews is kind of laying out for them how Jesus has perfectly satisfied the conditions of the law. It wasn't wasted.

[12:04] It was fulfilled, right? But in Hebrews chapter 7, he brings up this man, Melchizedek, king of Salem. He was a priest of the Most High God who met Abram, or Abraham, when he returned after the battle with the kings, where he rescued Lot.

[12:19] And then he's going to go meet the king of Sodom to bring all the people back and all their stuff back to the king of Sodom, because he's defeated the other kings. Melchizedek comes out. And it says in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 1, Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, he met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings.

[12:38] That's Genesis 14, 18 to 20. And he blessed him. To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. First, being by interpretation, king of righteousness.

[12:50] He's saying the king of Salem. The interpretation of his name is, he's the king of righteousness. And also the king of Salem, which is king of peace. So he's the king of righteousness and peace. Without father, without mother, without descent, he just shows up, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.

[13:08] He also is part of that tapestry of Christ, of the cross. But made like unto the Son of God, he abides a priest continually. He says, hey, this is different than the Levitical priesthood.

[13:21] Those guys die. Right. This one, this priesthood, Jesus came not after the Levitical priesthood, but after this guy. We jump down to verse 11 in Hebrews 7. It says, if therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it, the people received the law.

[13:38] I mean, this is an amazing moment in history. The people are receiving the law of God. Oh, I know what it's for. Oh, of course. If I just keep all of this, I'll be righteous before God.

[13:49] Absolutely not. God didn't give a righteous law to an unrighteous people to make them righteous. God gave a righteous law to an unrighteous people to show them the way to righteousness, that it wasn't through themselves.

[14:01] They could not be righteous. What further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek? If perfection came by the law, why another priest? Why would he not be called after the order of Melchizedek?

[14:14] Jump down to verse 15. And it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arose another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

[14:30] Look at the difference. A commandment? Yes, it's beautiful. It's good. It's given by God. All that comes from God is good. Well, how much greater to be under a system that is an everlasting life?

[14:46] Not something I have to keep, just something I partake in. For he testifies, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110, verse 4. Jump down to verse 26.

[14:59] So this high priest, who is not part of the Levitical system, Jesus didn't come to the tribe of Levi. He came to the tribe of Judah. And yet he was a high priest. By what priesthood? Well, by an eternal priesthood. And the point is, because this priest, this such a high priest, it became us.

[15:16] It was appropriate for us. It was needful for us. It fit us so perfectly. Because we're not a people under a law. We're not a people under a temporary structure and system.

[15:27] We're an eternal people because of our eternal priest. And so it became us. It was appropriate that the eternal priest would result in an eternal people this priest is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens, and he needs not daily.

[15:44] Remember the morning and evening sacrifice that the priests are going to bring in Levitical system. He doesn't need to daily as the high priests under the Levitical system to offer up sacrifice.

[15:55] First for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once when he offered up himself. He did it once and then he exists there still. One, one man fits this.

[16:07] It's Jesus. Eternally there offering, having eternally offered that sacrifice. He now is our priest. Eternally. We'll never need to go back and say, I need to offer a sacrifice again.

[16:18] No. Maybe if my priest died. Maybe if I had another priest that came on the scene and said, well, you know, now through my system we're going to offer. But my priest still lives and he lives forever and his sacrifice is still accepted.

[16:31] And as long as I am part of that system, then I'm part of the eternal priesthood, the eternal system of that priesthood. He represents and mediates an eternal relationship between us and God, not a temporal one.

[16:44] Jesus, our high priest, stands in glory, beauty, and holiness, just like the Levitical priest. But he also stands eternal. He stands in glory and beauty and eternity.

[16:55] He's not going to pass off the scene. I mean, you might have had some favorite priest, maybe one of Aaron's descendants and he, you know, you grow up in his system, he baptized you as like a 10-year-old, you come to faith and you're there sacrificing at his tabernacle all the time and for 20, 30, 40 years, you know this man.

[17:15] He dies. The next priest, his son takes over and you just don't connect with him the same. He doesn't do it like his dad did and it's not the same all of a sudden, your relationship. Well, Jesus is glorious, he's beautiful, he's holy, but he's also eternal.

[17:31] It's an eternal priesthood so it's an eternal mediation. So before we jump into looking at this perfect fit, I'm going to play the video that's going to show, it's essentially he's going to read Exodus 28, the whole thing from beginning to end.

[17:44] It's only like seven minutes. It's much easier to see what we're going to talk about than to talk about it and try and have to see it because it can get a little confusing.

[17:55] So let's just watch this briefly and then we'll dive in here to the text. 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 and thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

[18:15] 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 and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

[18:32] And they shall make the ephod of gold of blue and of purple of scarlet and fine twined linen with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof and so it shall be joined together.

[18:47] And the curious girdle of the ephod which is upon it shall be of the same according to the work thereof even of gold of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen.

[18:59] 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.

[19:12] 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 alches of gold 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.

[19:37] And thou shalt make ouches of gold and two chains of pure gold at the ends of wreathen work shalt thou make them and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.

[19:49] And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it of gold of blue and of purple and of scarlet and of fine twined linen shalt thou make it.

[20:03] Four square it shall be being doubled a span shall be the length thereof and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones even four rows of stones.

[20:15] The first row shall be a sardius a topaz and a carbuncle. This shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald a sapphire and a diamond.

[20:27] And the third row a ligure an agate and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper. They shall be set in gold in their enclosings.

[20:39] And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel twelve according to their names like the engravings of a signet. Every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

[20:51] Undersporn Undersporn Ephod before it. And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate and the border thereof, which is in the side of the Ephod inward. And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the Ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the Ephod. And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof, unto the rings of the Ephod, with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the Ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the Ephod. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel, and the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, 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. And thou shalt make the robe of the Ephod all of blue, and there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof. It shall have a binding of woven work round about the whole of it, as it were the whole of an havergen, that it be not rent. And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet round about the hem thereof, and bells of gold between them round about. A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister, and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not. And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it like the engravings of a signet, holiness to the Lord. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre, upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts. And it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework. And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.

[24:05] And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him, and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou shalt make them linen britches to cover their nakedness, from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach. And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place, that they bear not iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever unto him and his seed after him.

[24:41] So that was a little long, but man, that helps me. I mean, God bless that guy who went to all the trouble to make that. So as we read it, hopefully it won't get us lost. What's he talking about? Is this the robe or the coat? Which is it? But again, when you watch that, it's like, that's not that complicated. I mean, it's not that difficult to do all that. But it's so specific. God is so specific. He's not complicated, but he's very specific. God's plans and purposes, they're not complicated. It's not that hard. I mean, how do I walk with the Lord? Well, he lays it all out. It's very specific. Not complicated, but it is specific. We don't get the option to just leave one of those.

[25:25] I don't want to be a person who reads his Bible. I'll just be someone who feels the Spirit. Or I don't want to be someone who's all about having to be led by the Spirit. I want to just read my Bible and logically plan this out. No, we have to do it God's way. God's way is always best. But let's jump in and verse 15, we will go through this text. We want to finish with communion because it's very appropriate today. But we read about the ephod. We read about the shoulder pieces and the chain that was to fasten it. And then he jumps in in verse 15 here. And he says, the Lord says to Moses on the mountain, you shall make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work. After the work of the ephod, thou shall make it of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it. So the breastplate of judgment.

[26:17] So, oh man, you know, and then they put the names of the children of Israel on it. It must be to judge them, to judge God's people. It was not to judge them unworthy, but to judge them worthy, to judge them righteous, right? Aaron is carrying this upon him as he comes into God's presence.

[26:35] They are now able, he's bearing them into God's presence as a breastplate of judgment, but not to judge them unworthy of God's presence. You see, all of God's judgments are for the sake of nearness. God doesn't judge anyone to, well, my judgment is to, I want to get rid of them. I'm so upset with them. No, well, we were, yes, sinners Christ died for us. All of his judgments are for the sake of nearness, is to access God's heart and to allow us to draw near to his heart.

[27:04] Romans 8 verses 3 and 4 says, For what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, judged sin, condemned sin, judgment. God sent his son for judgment of my sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law, so that I might be judged righteous, might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, not after a system of do's and don'ts and effort, but according to a new life, according to the Spirit. Again, that eternal priesthood.

[27:40] So the judgment is for the sake of nearness. Yes, God is a judging God, but it's not to keep his people away. It's to draw them near. He judges sin. The breastplate of judgment under the old covenant turns into the breastplate of righteousness under the new covenant. Ephesians 6 14 says that we are to gird ourselves, to stand having our lorings gird about with truth and having upon us the breastplate of righteousness. Under the old covenant, it's a breastplate of judgment, but it's a judgment that's not upon me. It's upon my sin, so that I can then wear a breastplate of righteousness under the new covenant. Verse 16, four square, it shall be being doubled. A span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. What's a span? Well, you kind of saw it in the picture there. A span is the length of a hand. It's how they'd measure. This is a span. So the names of God's people are going to go upon this breastplate, and Aaron's going to carry them on it. The names of God's people are going to be secured in a place that has been measured out by a hand. Isaiah 40 verse 12 tells us that the Lord has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. He's meted out the heavens with a span. Isaiah 41 verse 12, he meets out the heavens with a span. So the Lord said, let's see, how big is the universe? Yeah, about that big. It's a big hand. It's a hand that is measuring this place where God's people are secured. You and I are very secure in a hand. It's been measured out as well. In John chapter 10, where Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd, he says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Listen, if someone ever says to you, you can lose your salvation, you can walk away from your faith, it can be undone, well then scripture has just contradicted itself. For something to be eternal, it must be eternal, permanent. If it can be undone, it's not eternal. It's just very basic and very simple.

[29:51] I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man's able to take them out of my Father's hand. It's a pretty big hand that's measured out the universe that holds us and says, oh, you're not going to perish. No matter how much you run around on that hand and go crazy, you're never going to find the edge of it. The names of God's people are going to be secured in a place measured by a hand.

[30:20] There'll be a span. And thou shalt set in settings of stones, even four rows of stones. The first row shall be sardis and topaz and carbuncle. The second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

[30:35] And the third row, a ligure, an agate, an amethyst. And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, a jasper. They shall be set in their enclosings of gold. These stones upon which the names of God's people will be put. Foundation stones, essentially, which they are resting upon. It's the exact same foundation stones we see in Revelation chapter 21. John sees new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. He sees the walls. He said the walls of it was like jasper, like a diamond.

[31:10] In the city, pure gold, like under clear glass. Don't know what pure gold that looks like glass is. I can think in my mind, I just picture like glass with a golden tint. Whatever that is, pure gold, like glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. And then he goes through, and these are the exact same foundation stones that are there.

[31:36] And the 12 gates, there are pearls, and they have the names of the apostles on them. And the streets of the city were as pure gold. And I saw no temple therein for the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. So the place where God will dwell, where God will eternally abide, the tabernacle, the tabernacle with men, is the same foundation here as these stones. There's a verse tucked away in Malachi chapter 3. I love this section where the Lord's speaking through Malachi, speaking of those who are faithful to him. He says this in verse 16. He says, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. Man, what do you talk about with your family? What do you talk about with fellow believers? Is it just the weather? Is it just business? Is it just what's going on? Man, I talk about the Lord. And the Lord hearkened and heard it. He's listening.

[32:28] God listens. Oh, there's another one. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord. And that thought upon his name. Is that crazy? God writes that down. He's thinking upon his name again. They're talking about him again. Write that down in the book of remembrance.

[32:46] And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. Amazing. God's going to write down remembrance of when we speak of the Lord, think of the Lord, and then he says, those are like my jewels. God's work is a work of value. It's a work of permanence. It's also a work of judgment. These stones, this is a value. It's permanence. They're not going anywhere. They're to be always upon the breast of the high priest. But it's a work of judgment as well. Judgment again, not against us, but on our behalf, a judgment for us. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, this is a good chunk of text and throw it up there anyway. Beginning in verse 11 says that there's no other foundation that we can lay other than that which is laid, which is Christ. We can only build on Jesus. That's kind of the point of the book of Hebrews. The writer's saying you can't build on anything other than Jesus. Now, if any man build upon this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, or hay, or stubble, well, every man's work shall be made manifest. You're going to see what his work is made of because the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. We've talked about that with faith.

[34:01] Faith, in its very essence of what it is, has to be tried. Faith does not exist without being tried. Well, I trust in God, and then something comes along and I don't trust him. Well, then your faith was tried and you don't trust him.

[34:13] But what are we going to build on it? God wants us to build works that are valuable, that have permanence, that are works of judgment, that are judged righteous. Now, have you ever built with gold, silver, or precious stones? No, I haven't. That's going to take a long time, too. Man, you know, I've saved up enough money for the first row of gems. Let's keep going.

[34:43] It takes a long, long time to build with that. Man, wood, hay, and stubble. Three little pigs tried that. You can build quick. There's a lot of people out there that are building quick with wood and hay and stubble. But man, how quickly it falls, too. Is it a work of value and of permanence? Well, that's what God wants our work to be, and that's what he's displaying here with the stones that are upon the breast of the high priest. And the stones, verse 21, shall be with the names of the children of Israel, 12 according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, like on a ring. Every one with his name shall be according to the 12 tribes. So each stone is separate. Each stone unique. Each one's beautiful, but each one's a part of the whole.

[35:36] Take one out, and all of a sudden, something looks what? Like it's missing, like something's wrong. Man, you take that stone out, though, but it's beautiful. It's unique, but it needs to be a part of the whole to be able to get the full picture. Each stone was chosen individually, chosen out.

[35:56] It was shaped, it was crafted, it was sanctified, it was engraved on, it was named. Each one was set in its place, but each one needs the whole to see the full picture of what it's for.

[36:10] Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul goes through the section of talking about the body and being set in the body. In verse 3, he says that we are to endeavor. You know, we don't work for our faith.

[36:22] We work it out with fear and troubling. This is something he says, endeavor. Work towards this, guys. To keep unity at the cost of everything else? No, no, no. To keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Our unity should be based on the peace that we have, first with God, and then with one another because of Christ, and then it's through the Spirit.

[36:43] But there is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. It's one. One whole. And yet he says, individually, each one of us is given grace, is given a measure of grace, a gift, a calling. We're chosen, we're shaped, we're engraved, we're named, we're set.

[37:02] We're given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. It's a beautiful thing. You say, I'm separate. I'm unique. I'm beautiful. Yeah, but you're part of the whole. You're part of the whole. You cannot become part of the body of Christ and not be part of the body of Christ, right?

[37:18] So each one of these stones, as beautiful as they are, they are. It was for a place and a purpose God set them in relation to those around them. And you shall make upon the breastplate chains at the end of the wreath and work of gold. And so now we're getting to the connections. We've looked at the breastplate, which is going to hook to the ephod. And it's going to do that by hanging off of the shoulder pieces, by these chains of gold, a wreath and work of pure gold. They're woven together.

[37:44] So the breastplate is going to be united with cords, and they're pure gold. And we've talked before about gold is what? It's refined. It's tested. It's something that has gone through a process to prove itself. So the breastplate shall be united with cords to the ephod that have been tested and tried. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1, verse 7, that our faith, the trial of our faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, just like gold, our faith is tried and tested, might be found under the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Our faith is something that's to be tested and tried, but it's likened here to gold.

[38:25] It's precious. It's valuable. Colossians chapter 3, Paul writes, it says that above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. It's the thing that brings it all together, binds it together, bound together with faith and love. Paul says our relationship to Christ, our relationship to one another is bound together with a faith that's tested and a love that secures us, just like those gold chains. 1 Corinthians 13, 13 says, and now abides faith, hope, and love, these three. And the greatest of these is love. Love. Brings it all together. Just as our high priest here in the Old Testament, that picture, that foreshadowing of Christ, everything was bound together by these pure, tested, valuable chains. Man, that's what we are, guys. We are held by his love. We're bound in this thing by a faith that you know within yourself would fail if it wasn't for him. It's not me. I don't have a faith that's worth anything. It's the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, bound together with faith and love. You shall make, verse 23, upon the breastplate two rings of gold. So this is the top connection. Now I want to look at the, essentially, the bottom connection like that video showed us. Two rings of gold, and she'll put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate, and you shall put the two wreath and chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate, and the other two ends of the two wreath and chains shalt thou fasten in the two settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. So you're saying, you're gonna hook it from here, and you're gonna hook it from here. The breastplate of judgment is to be tied to the place of memorial and remembrance by cords that have been tested of faith and love. The breastplate of judgment is tied to the place of memorial by cords of faith and love, right? In our relationship with

[40:24] Christ, that place of our judgment is tied to a place of memorial, as we're gonna take communion this morning. We remember that. We come back to that. We are bound to that place of memorial and remembrance by duty, by works, by law. No, by memorial and remembrance, by faith and love. And I love communion. I love coming to communion. You know, when I was a kid, I had some crazy thoughts like, oh, no, if I take communion, it says in the Bible somewhere, if you're not worthy, something bad's gonna happen if you take communion, and I know I'm not worthy, so I'm gonna die, or get sick or something. Nobody's worthy. Just the idea is you don't come to communion flippantly. You don't come to communion and say, you know, it doesn't really matter. I know I'm in sin. I don't really care.

[41:08] I'm just gonna, whatever. You know, we come because not that we are worthy, but because he's worthy. And so I come with a knowledge not that I'm worthy, but that I'm accepted in the beloved.

[41:21] So these rings, they shall be hooked to the shoulders and hooked to the ephod. And then the lower part, verse 26, you shall make two rings of gold, and she'll put them upon the two ends of the breastplate and the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward, and two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. That'd be the sash above the belt. And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof, under the rings of an ephod with a lace of blue. That it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, above the sash, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. The breastplate of judgment, bearing the names of God's people upon the high priest's chest as he goes in to minister before the Lord. That breastplate of judgment was never to be separated from the priest, never to be apart from him. He didn't lay that aside. You know, this is getting a little heavy, carrying all these names, all the names of the children of Israel, all the names of the people of the world. I'm going to set that aside. No, it was never to have separation. It was never to be apart from the garments of the high priest. It was bound by cords of blue, heavenly cords, and the golden cords. Value and tried. Romans 8.35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? I tell you, Jesus is never going to set aside your name from off his chest, from off his heart.

[43:03] And there is no scissors strong enough to cut the cords. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. And that's usually what we're worried about, the things to come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing is going to take me out of that hand. She'll be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, the breastplate of judgment bearing the names of God's people, which is upon the heart of the high priest continually, as he ministered before the Lord, was never to be separated from the high priest. He never ministered without the names of God's people upon his heart.

[43:45] Romans chapter 6, Paul tells us that in our oneness with Christ, we've gone down into death with him. We've been buried with him in baptism. For if we have been planted together in his death, we shall also be then in his resurrection. Where Jesus goes, we go, essentially. For if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. You see, the names of God's people, they would be bound by cords of blue and gold, scarlet and purple, to the chest of the high priest. And Aaron shall bear the names, in verse 29, of the children of Israel, in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in under the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. God's people, they were not left to be presented alone before the presence of God. Well, you just go in before God and see what happens. Hope you did good. Hope it works out well for you. God's people were not left to be presented before God alone. They would only come before God with the high priest. And they could only come as he bore them upon his heart.

[45:09] One man was chosen to represent all, wasn't he? One man going in, bearing all the people upon his heart. One size does not fit all, but one man does. One man fits all. Galatians 2.20 says, For I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

[45:38] Jesus fits perfectly. He fits every situation perfectly. He fits every person perfectly. He fits every story and life perfectly. Hebrews 9.28, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.

[45:54] One man was chosen to represent all. And the high priest alone is able to carry this burden. Nobody else could carry this burden upon his heart. Only the high priest. So God's people, as they came into God's presence in type, in representation with the priest, the priest would bear God's people in. They would be carried into God's presence. They didn't walk in. One carried them in.

[46:18] They would be near at heart. And they would be part of a memorial and remembrance at all times as God brought them before, as the high priest brought them before God in the Levitical system. How much more our high priest who lives continually before God in his presence. Man, did you just march into God's presence?

[46:36] God, here I come. No, we were carried into God's presence. We are near to God's heart because we are upon the heart of the high priest and the heart of Jesus.

[46:48] And we are forever to be part of memorial and remembrance. So the people drew near to God in presence only after they did what? Drew near to the priest's heart.

[46:59] The first place they had to come was near to the priest's heart before they could come into God's presence. You know, Jesus would say in Matthew 15, his indictment against the people, he says, you draw near to me with your mouth, but your heart is far from me.

[47:15] Man, what a picture that is now. What a context that is. That the high priest, he slips over his head and he puts upon his heart the names of the people. Before that, he could bring them into God's presence. They had to draw near the priest's heart.

[47:28] And Jesus says, if you'd only draw near my heart, man, I'd bring you into God's presence. If we would draw near the heart of Jesus, we can go into God's presence. And here you have Israel at that time thinking if we could keep the law.

[47:42] They'd turn the law into a system of righteousness and works. And how many times do I think that I'm coming into God's presence because of something other than being near the heart of Jesus?

[47:58] Usually it's because I've been doing pretty good. Man, you know, I haven't lost my temper in a while. I've been reading my Bible and, you know, I haven't had a lot of cookies. So, Lord, this is going to be a good week.

[48:09] You know, and you get up this morning, you step in cat puke and you see a cockroach and everything just kind of goes downhill a little bit. People of God would always be upon the heart before God in a holy place and part of a memorial because of the priest.

[48:25] Without the priest, the people couldn't experience that. But because of the priest, they could lay in their tents at night knowing, hey, the high priest, I'm upon his heart.

[48:35] He's bringing me before God into a holy place and I'm part of a memorial. He did the work. He just walked in and carried them in. Verse 30, and you shall put in the breastplate of judgment. I'm not going to say it like how that guy said it.

[48:48] I don't know. Urim and Thummim. That's how I call it. Upon the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart. That's kind of what people think they are.

[49:00] A stone maybe, black and white. It just means lights and perfections. Nobody knows what these things really were. It's lights and perfections. Whatever it is, it can go in the little pocket here into the breastplate.

[49:12] He shall put them in the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually.

[49:28] Takes whatever these things are and he puts them in there and he bears the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. And they would use these things to determine God's judgment, God's will.

[49:39] Lord, what do you judge in this instance, in this situation? Within the heart of the priest was the judgment and will of God for his people. It was within his heart.

[49:52] At the heart of our relationship with God is judgment. Not judgment on us, but judgment on our behalf. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.

[50:06] At the heart of my relationship with God is judgment. Judgment upon him who was made to be sin. That we might be judged righteous, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[50:18] At the heart of our relationship, at the heart of relationship we have with our high priest is judgment. He places it in the breastplate, in his heart, having been judged righteous.

[50:30] Verse 31, And you shall make the robe of the ephod, all of blue. You can see the robe there. Kind of the foundation piece. And there shall be a hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof.

[50:42] And it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole, as it were a hole of a habergen, that it be not rent. In other words, it just slips over your head. You know, we all got our, you don't wear a t-shirt, you just cut a hole in the top of your fabric and pull it over your head.

[50:55] It's going to ravel. It's, so you hem it. But the high priest's robe was a heavenly robe. It was blue. It was never to be rent, never to be torn.

[51:06] It was always to be whole. Psalm 22, 18 says, They part my garments among them and they cast lots upon my vesture. You wonder what the psalmist wrote his, thought as he wrote that.

[51:17] You know, what in his mind he was saying, like, I feel torn apart. But wait, the high priest's robe isn't to be rent. Jesus, our high priest, was taken and crucified in John 19.

[51:34] When the soldiers crucified him, how many soldiers were there? Four. when they had crucified him, they took his garments and made four parts for every soldier and also his coat.

[51:48] Now the coat was without a seam. Ooh, it's a nice coat. Woven from the top throughout. And they said, therefore, among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which said, they parted my garments among them, my vestures, they did cast lots.

[52:08] You see, the high priest's garment, his robe, his heavenly robe was not to be rent. And Jesus fulfilled perfectly his role as high priest and his robe was not rent in that moment.

[52:21] This garment has some very interesting items that hang off the bottom of it. It says, and beneath, upon the hem of it, you shall make a pomegranate of blue and purple and scarlet round about the hem.

[52:36] I'm sure, whatever, because we're going to find that the spirit of God is just enabling these people to skillfully make this stuff in the middle of the wilderness. Remember, they plundered Egypt. So they got lots of gold and silver and cloth.

[52:48] They plundered them. God had prepared ahead of time for this tabernacle. And he's going to gift them with all kinds of skills. So my guess is they looked a lot fancier than that.

[52:59] But pomegranates, these little knobs of fabric, and a golden bell and a pomegranate. Oh, I'm sorry. And bells of gold between them round about.

[53:10] Verse 34. And a golden bell and a pomegranate and a golden bell and a pomegranate upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron the high priest to minister and his sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out.

[53:24] So you're going to hear that, that jingling of the bells that he die not. They die not. Funny, if you read, if you read like Hebrew commentaries, people who write about this, but they're not believers.

[53:38] Some of their ideas about what all the things of the tabernacle mean are kind of comical and kind of sad because they don't see Jesus. He's like, well, that's just because they didn't want the priest to sneak up on the deity and then the deity kind of like just spooked.

[53:51] He's like, oh, oh, shoot. Well, next guy, there goes another priest. I was sleeping. And I was like, no, I don't think so. But it's a pomegranate and a bell.

[54:04] We are gifted with the fruits of the spirit, aren't we? We have the fruit of the spirit and the gifts of the spirit. They go together. If you just have the gifts, they kind of go clang, clang, clang. Maybe you've been around churches or ministries like that.

[54:16] Lots of gifts, but not a lot of fruit. Where's the love? They're meant to work together and they make a beautiful sound of what? It's the sound of life. That they would always hear the priest moving as he's moving about the courtyard, as he's going in and out of the tabernacle.

[54:30] The sound of life is continual. It's constant. John 10, 10. I am come that they might have life. They might have it more abundantly. Life and fruitfulness, the sound of life and the fruit of life, life and fruitfulness was to be found where?

[54:48] In the hem of the high priest's garment. In the hem. Matthew chapter 9, Jesus is in Galilee. He's come back into the Galilee region and one of the rulers of the synagogue comes running.

[55:01] He's like, my daughter, she's 12 years old. She's lying at the point of death. She's almost dead. Please come and heal her. And there's a big crowd there. A little girl who has had brought life and laughter and joy to that home is now at the point of death.

[55:15] Someone else in that crowd, it says in verse 20, behold, a woman which was diseased with an issue of blood, 12 years, came behind him. So here's a little girl about to die who's lived a life, 12 years of joy and life.

[55:29] And here's a woman who for all intents and purposes has lived a life of death for 12 years. She can't go into the temple. She's unclean. Anybody who touches her is unclean. Her family's ostracized from her. She's alone.

[55:39] And she came behind him and touched. Where did she touch? The hem of his garment. Man, if I can just touch the hem of the high priest's garment, if I can touch Jesus's garment, I know what?

[55:52] I'll get life. There's life found in the hem of the high priest's garment. For she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. And Jesus turned to him about.

[56:03] And when he saw her, what did he say? Daughter. You're this little girl, this daughter lying at the point of death for 12, this little 12-year-old girl. And this woman who's been nobody's daughter for however long.

[56:15] And Jesus says, daughter, I see you. Be of good comfort. Your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Such a picture of Jesus. Such a foreshadowing of the tapestry of Christ in the Old Testament here.

[56:31] The sound of life, life and fruitfulness was to be found in the hem of the high priest's garment. For Jesus came to give us not just life, but life more abundantly. Verse 36, And you shall make a plate of pure gold.

[56:45] You shall grave upon it like the engravings of a signet. Holiness to the Lord. And you shall put it on a blue lace that it may be upon the miter or the crown or the turban, whatever that was, upon the forefront of the miter it shall be.

[56:58] And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things. Which the children of Israel shall hollow in their holy gifts. So they're going to bring these gifts, all of these things to the altar.

[57:11] They're going to bring their gifts as offerings. And Aaron will bear that. Are those gifts wicked? No, but they're sinful people going before God.

[57:23] And what we bring to God is all that we have of ourselves. And the high priest was to bear that before the Lord, to be accepted before the Lord. And Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hollow in all their holy gifts.

[57:39] It shall be always upon his forehead that he may be accepted before the Lord. God's holiness, holiness to the Lord was to be continually upon the mind of the high priest.

[57:51] He was to always continually to have holiness upon his mind. On behalf of who? The people of iniquity. Romans 12, 2 tells us that our minds are also to not be conformed to this world but transformed that we may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

[58:10] We are to have upon our minds the holiness of God. The bearing of the people's iniquity, the priest was to bear essentially their iniquity, didn't defile the priest, but instead sanctified the people.

[58:25] What have you brought to Jesus that was full of iniquity? What sins have you laid at his feet? If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and do cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[58:37] Has Jesus ever been defiled by your sin? Doesn't matter how big it is, how black it is, the high priest sanctifies it and cleanses it. You will not defile Jesus.

[58:50] Remarkably, we can come with the worst of worst. A lot of times people will turn away from Christianity because I can't accept that that person is going to heaven. That that person, why can't you?

[59:01] Don't you understand how great and how big and how amazing our God is? That he could cover that? The high priest is not defiled by the people's iniquity, but instead it sanctifies the people and what they bring.

[59:14] A holy priest allows our offering, our offering from a heart of iniquity, from people of iniquity to be accepted. We can offer ourselves as living sacrifices, which is our reasonable service.

[59:24] God can take my life that you don't need to know everything that's been brought to the cross. He can take that life and he can use that life and say, now go share with other people.

[59:35] Remarkably, we can be accepted. The word accepted means to find favor or satisfaction. The people would be accepted before the Lord.

[59:46] They would find favor. They would find satisfaction. The presence of the high priest allows for favor, acceptance, and grace in the face of the people's iniquity. In the face of the high priest, he carries that.

[59:59] His presence allows for grace instead of the consequences of our sin to rest on us as he bears that before the Lord. The Lord doesn't see the high priest come in and sees the people represented and go, oh my word, it's all that iniquity and boom.

[60:14] No, he says, oh, I accept you. I accept that. I'll accept that because of sanctification and the word was made flesh that dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

[60:30] When we come to the high priest, he takes our iniquity and we receive grace and truth. And you shall now, speaking now of the rest of the priests, here you had Aaron and now you got his minions, the other priests.

[60:44] They had a purpose too. And now she'll embroider the coat of fine linen. Now she'll make the miter of fine linen. Now she'll make the girdle of needlework. And for Aaron's sons, you shall make coats and you shall make for them girdles, belts, bonnets shall you make for them for glory and for beauty.

[61:02] This picture shows his belt colored. I don't think it was. I think they wore all white. It just was embroidered. It was just, all priests shall be clothed in white from head to toe.

[61:16] None were to be without that. Revelation chapter 3, speaking to the church, writing to the church of Sardis, Jesus, writing through John, says, I have a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments.

[61:32] They haven't spotted their garments. And they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy. It's not because of what they've done. Worthiness comes through another. He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment.

[61:44] And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. The glory and beauty of the priests was the fact that they were unspotted. Their glory and beauty was to be clothed from head to toe in white.

[61:58] It was holiness. Give unto the Lord the glory due his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. We are to come before the Lord in holiness. You know, even the high priest who was always to minister before God with the garments of the high priest, there was one day of the year where he came before God.

[62:17] One day where he set aside his garments. He set aside his glorious robes and just came in the white robes. One day of the year on the day of atonement, he would stand before the Lord clothed only in white.

[62:32] See, to make atonement, he would first set aside his glorious robes before he came and made atonement for the people. Philippians chapter 2, it tells us that Jesus, he made himself of no reputation.

[62:45] He set aside his glorious robes, took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, became obedient unto death, and for the sake of our atonement on that day, he went to the death even of the cross.

[63:05] Once a year, the high priest sets aside his glorious robes so that he can go in and minister for atonement for the people. Verse 41, and you shall put them upon Aaron your brother and his sons with him.

[63:17] You shall anoint them and consecrate them. That's next week. We'll get into the priest's consecration and offerings and sanctify them that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. Did Aaron do this on his own?

[63:32] He say, all right, thanks for the instructions, Moses. I'm going to go figure this all out. I got this. No. Aaron was clothed by another. He was called by another.

[63:45] He was anointed by another, set apart by another. He was to serve another. None of this did Aaron take to himself and could he do himself? All of this was on behalf of and by way of another.

[64:00] First Corinthians 6, 11 says, and such were some of you. Those are all the things we were talking about that Jesus cleansed at the cross. The were some of you. We don't need to know each other's were some of you because we are washed.

[64:14] You are sanctified. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. By another. You've been called by another, clothed by another, anointed by another, set apart by another, and now you serve another.

[64:30] Couple more verses, guys. And you shall make them linen breeches. Love the King James. Breeches. Like shorts. You know, nice big Bermuda shorts.

[64:42] And you shall make them shorts, linen shorts, to cover their nakedness. From their loins, even under their thighs, they shall reach. They could not serve uncovered. They had to be covered. They had to have purity within as purity without.

[64:53] The unseen as well as the seen would be covered with white. Must be clean. Must be covered. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.

[65:05] I pray, God, your whole spirit, inward, soul, inward, and body, outward, be preserved, do you have a part in that? No. That was by another.

[65:16] I didn't do that. I didn't sanctify myself wholly, spirit, soul, and body. I can't preserve myself blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[65:28] The unseen as well as the seen is sanctified. It's covered. And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons when they come in under the tabernacle of the congregation or when they come near under the altar to minister in the holy place that they bear not iniquity and die.

[65:46] It shall be a statute forever unto him and his seed after him. Guys, we made it to the end of that chapter. Wow. Aaron, you and your sons, you're to come in, Aaron, and you're to come near.

[66:00] You're to come without shame because you're to come covered. Your iniquity must be covered, Aaron. Come in, come near, and come without shame. The unseen inward, the unseen inward iniquity, it was covered to prevent death.

[66:16] It removed death. Aaron, this shall be a statute unto you forever, that you bear not iniquity and die. God's desire is that man would not bear iniquity and die. Don't bear iniquity and die, Aaron, but that the priest might bear that iniquity in God's presence so that man might live.

[66:36] Priest was to come covered, clothed, and robed, called, consecrated, and anointed by another, standing in representation before God so that man might live and that our iniquity might not lead to death.

[66:50] He ends here and says, this shall be a statute forever. Something's perpetual. It'll never end. This is a perpetual statute. You can't just decide, I don't feel like it today. Thank the Lord, our high priest, who doesn't die, also doesn't quit in his ministry.

[67:04] I don't feel like doing this today. A perpetual state, a perpetual statute, a perpetual priest, a perpetual people for a perpetual tabernacle, that we are forever to be dwelling with God.

[67:18] Hebrews 7, 3, but he was made like unto the Son of God, our high priest, and he abides a priest continually forever. In Revelation 21, John is writing of the culmination of all of this, of the tabernacle, of Jesus laying aside those garments and coming to tabernacle among us, so that we might then bear not our iniquity, but his life and come into his presence.

[67:48] John 21, John says, I saw the holy city in New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

[68:06] It's almost like it's finished, but it's finished was on the cross. So I was like, it's culminated. It's fulfilled. The tabernacle of God is with men. We're finally there. And he will dwell with them.

[68:18] And they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. I didn't put it there, but you know what comes next? And God shall wipe away all tears. In Hebrews chapter 9, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are a figure of the true, but unto heaven itself.

[68:39] He didn't go unto something that we made for him. And guys, we're not making anything for him now. We're not building a kingdom for him to come and take over. His is the kingdom. We're looking for him to come and set up his kingdom after he first comes and takes us out of here, wraps things up, and then we return to set up his kingdom.

[68:58] Which are the figures of the true, but he went into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. He goes on our behalf. Having therefore brethren, we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, because without the high priest, God's people cannot draw near.

[69:26] Well, then here's our verse. This is one we're going to memorize by the time we're done with this section. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

[69:40] You see, Jesus is our faithful high priest. Jesus wore the garments of the high priest to bear iniquity for the sake of his people. Next week, we're going to look at consecration of the priest and sacrificing.

[69:53] Well, that'd be a good day for communion. Yes, but I want you to understand that Jesus, when he went to the cross, bore every single one of these garments of the high priest. He did not wear a beautiful ephod, but they put on him a robe for mocking.

[70:07] It says they put on him a scarlet robe and mocked him, said, hail king of the Jews, the soldiers, and beat him. Then they took the robe off and put his own garments back on it. Jesus didn't have any precious gems on his shoulders, but as a faithful high priest, he carried that cross.

[70:21] He carried us on his shoulders. Jesus had no breastplate with Israel, the names of Israel on his heart, but he carried every single heart of mankind, every single person upon his heart.

[70:35] Every name was on his heart of mankind. This high priest, he had a seamless robe that was not torn, but it was stripped away at the cross.

[70:45] Jesus didn't have the delicate sounds of bells on his garments. As Jesus laid aside his heavenly garments to stand there at the day of atonement, the only sound was the sound of the hammer ringing on the nails.

[71:13] Jesus did not wear a fine crown with a gold on it. He had a crown of thorns jammed into his head. He had no headpiece that said holiness to the Lord.

[71:25] He had written above his head in mockery, King of the Jews. And he had nothing to cover his nakedness, no shorts. But instead he bore my sin and hung there in my shame.

[71:40] Jesus is the perfect high priest. And Jesus wore every single one of these garments on that day of atonement. Jesus had no urim and thummim, but he was light and he was perfection.

[71:56] And from his side, God's judgment was brought forth. From his side, it is finished. As the spear went in, from his side came the water and the blood.

[72:08] In life, cleansing, redemption. You see, our iniquity must be covered to remove death.

[72:20] And Jesus took all that upon himself as our faithful high priest. Because we are dead in our sins and the uncleanness of our flesh. But he's quickened us.

[72:32] He's given us life, the same life that Jesus has. Having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, was covered.

[72:45] Iniquity must be covered. The list, I don't want to know what my list was. The things I remember are enough. And that list, that's all covered.

[72:57] It's been blotted out. Which was contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. One man fits all.

[73:09] Our high priest is a perfect fit. We take communion this morning, the guys will pass it out, you know, these guys will play. You know, we were to be forever linked as God's people now to memorial and remembrance.

[73:25] We are forever linked to this memorial and remembrance. We remember his death because he lives. We're not remembering somebody who's still dead, somebody that we liked a long time ago and he's passed off the scene.

[73:37] No, he still lives. He lives for us. It's his cross, but it's our iniquity. It's my sin. God's people would to forever be linked to memorial remembrance so that why?

[73:49] So we could come in, so we can come near, and we can come without shame. I don't know what you're carrying this morning. I don't know what constantly comes to mind. I don't know what you have in your life. You're like, Lord, can you touch this and heal this?

[74:01] Can you cleanse it? Just reach out. It's in the hem of his garment. Just grab his garment this morning.

[74:12] Whatever it is, he cleanses it. You can't defile Jesus. The glory and beauty of our high priest is the glory and beauty of the cross, and that's what we remember this morning.

[74:23] Lord, we thank you so much as our faithful high priest bearing in your body our sin, Lord. That picture, Lord, as we've read this morning of the high priest and Moses writing all of this down, and eventually they're going to do this word for word, stitch for stitch, golden ring for golden ring.

[74:42] They're going to do this perfectly and place it upon Aaron. And maybe Aaron's going to be standing there going, I wonder why we're doing it this way. I wonder what this is for. And you know, he's going to get used to that.

[74:53] He's going to minister daily in those same clothes and that outfit, and he's just going to kind of get used to it, and it's going to lose some of maybe its meaning, or maybe he's not going to think, why the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate?

[75:05] Why do they have their own special place? Why don't we see them? Maybe he's going to not think so much about those things anymore. And Lord, maybe we've gotten comfortable and we've gotten used to our eternal high priest.

[75:17] We don't recognize the beauty and the glory and the holiness and the value that we have in you. So Lord, we come again to the place of remembrance, where again, Lord, we hear not the bells, but we hear the sound of the nails, the ringing of the hammer on the nails.

[75:33] We hear again you crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Oh, Lord, I thank you that I will never cry that myself, because I'll never perish.

[75:46] We love you, you are beautiful, and you are glorious. In Jesus' name, amen. The garments of the high priest are simply part of the tapestry of Christ, just a shadow of the cross.

[76:00] We get the substance, not just the shadow. Jesus, as our faithful high priest, preparing to bear us on his heart, about to go to the cross, would look at his disciples and say, hey, guys, I got something for you.

[76:24] They should have been like, Jesus, what can we do for you? No, I got something for you. As kings and priests unto God, we're only as good as what we're clothed with. Without that, we're nothing.

[76:38] Aaron and his sons, they could only minister because of what they were clothed with. We're only as good. So it's not about what we bring. Man, just let Jesus clothe you. Romans 13, 14, put you on the Lord Christ.

[76:50] God's instructions, they're not afterthoughts. They're not half-hearted. They're not off the cuff. They're simply a part of his plan to dwell among his people. God's instructions in our lives, they're not afterthoughts.

[77:02] They're the plan, they're the method by which he wants to dwell with us. Amen? The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord be gracious unto you.

[77:12] The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless you. Enjoy some fellowship and have a blessed week. God bless you.

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