Series: Exodus
Title: Christ our Holiness
Text: Exodus 28: 31-39
Date: Feb 2, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
God ordered Moses to build the
tabernacle and everything within it, according to the pattern he was shown in
the mount. Why? What did the tabernacle, the priests, their
garments and everything else mean?
Hebrews
8: 4:…on earth…there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 5: Who
serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished
of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make
all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
The Hebrew epistle gives us warrant to say that Aaron the
high priest and his garments were a figure of Christ.
Subject:
Christ our Holiness
Most in religion say that holiness/sanctification is
accomplished partly by Christ and partly by the believer. Is that an offense to a child of God? Why? It
is offensive because Christ is our Holiness!
Christ is both our Sanctifier and our Sanctification
Hebrews 2: 11:
Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12: saying, I will declare thy
name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
So Christ is our Sanctifier. Then we are told in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that of
God Christ is made unto us sanctification.
So Christ is both our Sanctifier and our Sanctification. 1 Corinthians 1:31 says the purpose is that “he
that glorieth let him glory in the LORD.”
So for a sinner to boast that man contributes to his holiness is to steal
Christ’s glory.
Proposition: Christ Jesus the Lord is the Sanctifier and the Sanctification
of his saints.
Division: We see what it took for Christ to be both in
the garments of the High Priest—1) The robe and the coat 2) The hem of the robe
3) The Mitre
THE ROBE AND THE COAST
Exodus 28: 31: And thou shalt make the
robe of the ephod all of blue. 32: 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 hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent…39: 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.
In order for Christ to be our
sanctifier and our sanctification he had to be the perfect, sinless
GodMan. That is what we see typified in
these two garments. The coat was worn next
to the body under the robe. The coat was
made of “fine linen.” The robe worn over
the coat was “all of blue.” Together
they typify that which Christ had to be in order to be our Holiness—that is,
perfect God and perfect Man in one person.
The “white linen” of the coat
speaks of Christ being the perfect Man. Christ is our Holiness because he is
the only perfect Man. As our Head, his
people are what he is. Therefore, we
read that the “white linen is the righteousness of the saints” (Rev 19:8). The white linen typifies the righteousness
of Christ by which he sanctifies his people making us his saints.
Our first head, Adam, sinned and
plunged all men into sin. Adam
represented all men. But the head of God’s
elect is Christ. He is the only perfect
Man. From conception to death, Christ
was sinless in heart and nature. Never
once was Christ’s nature corrupted. On
the cross he always remained holy even while he bore our sin in his own body.
This robe all of blue
was worn by the high priest alone. It was
blue like the heavens. It speaks of Christ
being God from Heaven. Christ Jesus is the
GodMan, Mediator
1 Timothy 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
What a word, my brethren! God so sovereignly, everlastingly, immutably loves
his elect that God came down himself to work out our salvation. That is who Christ is, the GodMan, Mediator. Therefore all Christ’s works as a Man are eternally
accomplished in the power of God so that they are eternally unchangeable. That is why this ephod could not be rent
in two. Christ’s works are eternal. They cannot be changed by any sin his people
commit. Christ accomplished our redemption
so that every believer right now HAS eternal redemption. We are not waiting to have such a high
priest, right now, “We HAVE such an high priest, who is
set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb 8:1). Our redemption can never be changed because
right now, “by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, HAVING
OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION for us” (Heb 9:12).
When Christ is formed in us
in regeneration, Christ is the holiness of our new man. It is then that “of God is Christ made unto
us righteousness and sanctification” (1 Cor 1:30). Christ alone perfected us by his will on the
cross and Christ alone makes us holy and separate in him in regeneration. Concerning Christ’s work for us on the cross,
sanctification is not by our will but “By [Christ’s] will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all…For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified”
(Heb 10: 10, 14). Likewise, Christ
alone makes us holy within in regeneration—"through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Th 2:13). The same as Christ’s righteousness alone
covers our nakedness, Christ’s holiness alone is our holiness.
THE HEM OF THE ROBE
Exodus 28: 33:
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: 34: A golden bell and a
pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round
about. 35: 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.
So we have seen that in order
to be our sanctification Christ had to be the GodMan. But how is his work applied to us so that we
are sanctified within? How does
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth come about? That is what we see in the hem of the robe.
The pomegranate, as we all
know, is a fruit. All fruitfulness in a
believer comes from Christ. Speaking of Christ
as the blessed man, the psalmist wrote, “And he shall be like a tree planted by
the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also
shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Ps 1:3). Do you know what
God calls Christ’s church? “A garden enclosed
is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an
orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits (SOS 4:12-13). It is Christ who
makes his people fruitful, “being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Php 1:11).
The “golden bell” shows us how this work is
accomplished in his children. We read "it shall be upon Aaron to minister.” The gospel we
preach is concerning Christ’s ministry. “The
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28; Mr 10:45). From God’s right hand, Christ is still ministering
to us through the preaching of the gospel. We read of the bells on the hem of the
high priest’s garment “and his sound shall be heard.” The gospel is Christ’s sound. The gospel shall be heard. Before whom?
“When he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he
cometh out”, that is, before the people. So before the LORD in heaven and
before his people the gospel shall be heard.
The purpose for this was “that he die not.”
So we see that the golden bell represents the preaching of the gospel
of Christ by Christ our High Priest through his messengers, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom
knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe” (1Co 1:21). To a regenerated child of God the gospel is a joyful
sound like the sound of little tinkling bells.
“The angel said unto them, Fear not, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, for unto you is born a Saviour which is CHRIST THE LORD” (Luke 2:11).
The golden bells were upon Aaron as he ministered. The gospel we preach is concerning the
ministry of our great High Priest, Jesus the Lord. Christ ministered to his people, accomplishing
our redemption from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us. As our resurrected High Priest, Christ continues
to minister to his people, accomplishing our sanctification through the preaching
of the gospel, which is the preaching of his faithfulness. Paul declares this plainly in Galatians 3.
Galatians 3: 2:
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law,
or by the hearing of faith? 3: Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit,
are ye now made perfect by the flesh?...5: He therefore that ministereth to you
the Spirit, and he that worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6: Even as Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Ga 3:5-6)
Christ is he that ministers to us the
Spirit. Doing so Christ works the
miracles of regeneration, repentance and faith in his people. Does Christ do this work through the
preaching of works? Or does he do it
through the preaching which declares his faithfulness to save his people? He does it to us through the same gospel by
which Christ brought Abraham to believe.
That shows us that sanctification is not through the preaching of the
works of the law because Abraham was sanctified 430 years before the law was
given at Sinai. Our sanctification is
through the hearing of Christ’s faithfulness.
Through the preaching of the gospel, Christ ministers to us the Spirit
working the miracles of sanctification and belief of the truth. That is how we are sanctified.
This gospel we preach is delighted in by the heavenly
host the same as it is by us—"His sound shall
be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he
cometh out, [before the people].” God the Father rejoices in the
sound of Christ’s gospel before him and so do his people.
Think
of this brethren: as the gospel is preached the Lord God and all the host of
heaven rejoice in it, as real as we do in the earth! The Lord God and his saints in heaven, as
well as his saints in earth behold Christ and rejoice in him as the gospel is
preached! All eyes are on Christ!
The
purpose of the bells on the high priest hem was “that he die not.” Some say the bell was so the priests would
know that the high priest had not died when he went into the holiest of holies. But there was no way the high priest would
die because he typified our successful sin-atoning High Priest. What then does it mean when it says “that
he die not?” The continual tinkling
bells made it impossible for the priests to forget the high priest. It pictures how God will not allow Christ to die
in the minds and hearts of his people. The
apostle Peter said God will have us “put you always in remembrance of these
things, though ye know them, and be established in the truth.” (2 Pet 1:12) This is why Paul said, “Christ sent me not to
baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Cor 1: 17). This is why Paul said, “I determined not to
know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). As this joyous sound goes forth, “We speak
wisdom among them that are perfect: we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor
2:6-7). If you hear and rejoice in the
sound of this golden bell, God says you are blessed.
Psalm 89: 15: Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they
shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. 16: In thy name shall they
rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 17: For
thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall
be exalted. 18: For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is
our king.”
THE
MITRE
Exodus 28: 36: And thou shalt make a plate
of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet,
HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 37: 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. 38: 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.
Here we behold why
Christ is our Holiness before God. The
signet on the miter read “Holiness to the LORD” typifying Christ our Holiness. Verse 38 says it was upon Aaron that he might
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.”
Believer, Christ has made us
priests unto God. He has created a new
holy man within us. Yet, the sin of our
flesh makes all our spiritual sacrifices to be covered in sin. But do not miss this, God says our sin-tainted
gifts are still “holy things” to God. How
can that be? It is because on the cross,
Christ our High Priest bore the “iniquity of the holy things…that they may be accepted before the LORD.” Therefore, all our service to God is fully
accepted by Christ
1
Peter 2:5: Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.
Therefore, to you who are sanctified
children of God, to you in whom God has made Christ sanctification, to you who
look to no one but Christi for sanctification and all things, here is the
application.
Ecclesiastes
9:7: Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart;
for God now accepteth thy works.
Amen!