Series: Exodus
Title: For Christ’s Sons
Text: Ex 28: 40-43
Date: February 23, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
I keep reminding you that everything in
the ceremonial worship of God was typical of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is
not instructing us to make priests nor to adorn men with priestly garments in
our day. The carnal ordinances in Jewish
worship was God’s way of showing his people a type of true, spiritual worship
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have looked at Aaron the High Priest and
his garments. Today, we look at his son
and their garments.
Exodus 28: 40: And for Aaron’s sons…
Subject: For Christ’s Sons
Aaron’s sons were made priests unto God to picture God’s sons made
priests unto God by Christ our High Priest.
Revelation 1:
5:…Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6: And
hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and
dominion for ever and ever.
But Aaron’s sons, like us who are God’s priests, must have holy
garments. Their garments typify the
spiritual garments Christ is Himself for his people and the garments he puts on
his people
Proposition:
All who come to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are themselves priests unto God, adorned with spiritual garments made and put upon us by our Lord Jesus Christ
Divisions: Here are 4 characteristics of sinners Christ has made “an
holy priesthood” unto God.
CHOSEN BY GOD
Exodus 28: 40: And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt…
It was God who
chose who would be his high priest. God elected
his Son to be the High Priest of his people.
The sinner who hates God’s electing whom he will has to hate God electing
his preeminent Elect Son, Christ Jesus, the Son of God.
Isaiah 54: 1: Behold
my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I
have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2: He
shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3: A
bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4: He shall not fail nor be discouraged,
till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 5:
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out;
he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth
breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:..21: The
LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and
make it honourable.
Not only did God
chose the high priest, Aaron, God also chose who would be priests—Aaron’s sons. If you
are of God’s “holy priesthood” it is because God from eternity chose you,
elected you, and ordained you to be his own child. Salvation does not begin with man’s
will, but with God’s will. Salvation is not carried out by man’s will but by
God’s will. Men and women are not saved
because they will to be saved; we are saved because God from eternity willed to
save us. All who are truly born of God happily
confess that they are debtors to God’s sovereign grace alone.
“‘Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For Lord that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Thee,
But Thou hast chosen me:”
SAME GARMENTS
Exodus 28: 40:
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.
Each of Christ’s priests are
clothed with the same garments made by God through Christ fulfilling the law
for us. All the Lord’s priests are clothed with the same garments the same as all
the sons of Aaron were clothed alike.
Be sure to get the
significance of this. It does not matter what sin you may see outwardly in your
brother, not one believer can boast that he is more righteous or holy than
another. Every true believer is adorned
with the very same garments. We are
complete in Christ!
Nor can a believer boast that
he had anything to do with making these garments. Not one of Aaron’s sons had even a thread of
their own stitching. The garments were made for them and freely given. The believer cannot boast of our righteousness—we
have none of our own making. Our
righteousness is Christ himself and our garments are made by Christ himself—the
same goes for holiness.
Christ made this garment of
righteousness through fulfilling the law for each of God’s chosen people. Notice, it was God who made the garments through
Moses who pictures the law—God said to Moses, “And
for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make…” God
our Savior, Christ Jesus, was born of woman that he might be made under the law
that he might fulfill the law for his people and deliver us from it.
Galatians 4: 4:
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, 5: To redeem them that were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons. (Ga 4:4-5)
The apostle Paul said that if
a man is circumcised then he is a debtor to keep the whole law. Christ was.
Christ did!
Luke
2:21: And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child,
his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was
conceived in the womb.
Christ paid the debt to the
law in full in perfection as the Head of his people. He fulfilled the law in righteousness and all
his people fulfilled it in him. At his
baptism,
Matthew
3:15: And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Why did our Lord say “it
becometh us?” John did nothing. It was Christ being baptized. But John was fulfilling all righteousness in
Christ. By Christ fulfilling all
righteousness all his people fulfilled all righteousness in him. Christ was,
Colossians
2:14: Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Those who profess to believe
on Christ who insist that they must keep the law or they cannot be saved
have not truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 10: 3: For
they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness TO EVERY ONE THAT
BELIEVETH.
Every believer wears the same garments—the
Lord our Righteousness.
CLOTHED BY ANOTHER
Exodus 28: 41: 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.
Every priest had these
garments put on them by another. Those made
priests unto God do not put Christ’s garments upon our own selves. They are put upon us by another. Due to our sin-nature, we not only needed
Christ to make us righteous, we needed his blood to make us holy. We need Christ formed in us. Only Christ can do that work.
Each priest had a coat
put upon him—these coats were like the coat worn by our Lord Jesus, all of one
piece, woven from top to bottom. That
coat represents the righteousness of Christ freely imputed to us the moment God
brings us to believe on Christ.
Psalm 132:9: Let
thy priests be clothed with righteousness…16: I will also clothe her priests
with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy…
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress:
Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
Bold shall I stand in thy great day
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame"
Also, by the hand of another,
there was put upon every priest a girdle. Girdles were huge belts that held up the long
robes that men wore, while adding strength and support to the body when engaged
in labor or travel or battle. We are
told that our Lord Jesus Christ, as our great High Priest, is “girt about
the paps with a golden girdle” (Rev 1:13). In the new birth when Christ is
formed in us, Christ gives each of his redeemed his girdle of faithfulness,
truth, and love. His faithfulness gives us
strength and faithfulness. His truth
makes us walk in truth. His love makes
us love. So as we labor in the cause of
Christ, as we travel through this land and as we fight every battle Christ is
our Strength and Support who keeps us faithful, walking in truth and love.
By the hand of another, each
priest was given a bonnet, or a turban, to distinguish the priest from
others for glory and beauty. Christ
has created us anew by his work on the cross and by creating a new man within
us in the image of God in his righteousness and holiness. By the Spirit he continually renews us in knowledge
after the image of him that created us.
Therefore, in Christ, with his garments on we are glorious
and beautiful in his own eyes. The Lord Jesus says to every regenerated believer,
“Thou art all fair, my love; there is no
spot in thee…Thou hast ravished my heart” (Song of Solomon 4:7, 9).
Psalm 45: 13: [it is because] The king’s daughter is all
glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
Psalm
149:4: For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek
with salvation.
All this work upon
Aaron’s sons was the work of another. It
is typical of the Holy Spirit who “anoints us, consecrates us and sanctifies
us, that they minister unto me in the priest’s office.” Until anointed,
consecrated and sanctified we cannot serve God. But once Christ is formed in us
and we wear all his glorious, beautiful attire then we minister unto God in the
priest’s office.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also,...are…an
holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
NONE BEAR
INIQUITY AND DIE
Exodus 28: 42:
And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the
loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: 43: 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 for ever unto him
and his seed after him.
With Christ’s
garments on, not one child of God shall ever bear iniquity and die.
Psalm 132: 10 For thy servant David’s sake [for Christ’s
sake] turn not away the face of thine anointed.
It is not a question of what we are
entitled to by our person and works, but of what Christ is entitled to by his. He is entitled to have every saint with Him
for priestly service Godward. By
Christ’s righteousness and holiness the believer can never again be charged
with iniquity before God’s judgment seat nor can we die. When
Adam sinned we became naked in sin. No
amount of fig leaves could cover our nakedness.
But Christ has covered our nakedness.
This covering was necessary when they entered the holy place to minister
because we can only approach God with Christ’s covering on. But blessed God with that covering on and
having Christ as our High Priest, we are welcome to God’s presence.
Hebrews
10: 19: Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, 20: By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21: And having an high
priest over the house of God; 22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water.
One last thing. Notice, this was a statute for ever, unto
Aaron and his seed after him—that is, as long as that priesthood continued.
Since Christ is High Priest after the
order of Melchisdece—with no beginning of days or ending of days—Christ and his
seed—Christ and those he made priests—shall be covered and shall never bear
iniquity and shall never die for all eternity!
Amen!