(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Man, Exodus chapter 28, we've been away from this for a couple weeks because of the holiday, but now we're jumping back in and if you remember we had just finished up in chapter 27 with the courtyard. We've been talking about the tabernacle, how it was built, the furniture of the tabernacle, we talked about the incense altar, we talked about the Ark of the Covenant itself, we talked about the candlestick, the table for the showbread, and we talked about how basically the whole tabernacle complex, including the courtyard around it, was actually about maybe 80% of the size of this auditorium, and then the tabernacle itself was even much smaller than that. But anyway, I don't want to re-preach all that material, but I want to remind you of something that we talked about a few weeks ago was sort of these concentric levels of holiness, right? So the courtyard is not as holy as the holy place, and then there's the most holy place. And if you remember in the most holy place, often called the Holy of Holies, or the holiest of all, in that place where the Ark of the Covenant was and the mercy seat was, only the holiest person would go there one time to the most holy place on the most holy day of the year, the Day of Atonement, and that's the only time that the high priest would enter there once per year, and he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, and so forth. Now, the significance of that is that the high priest going in there once a year, the high priest represents Jesus Christ. The Bible talks about how we have an high priest, and it is Jesus. In the book of Hebrews, this is very clear, and it talks about how back then they would go there once a year with the blood of others, but how Jesus Christ entered in once with his own blood into the holy place. So what's being pictured here, everything that's being pictured with the tabernacle, the animal sacrifices, the high priest, the clothing, it's all to point us to Jesus Christ. So the idea here is that there's only one Savior. You know, the reason only one person goes in there is because there's one Savior, and it's Jesus. He's the only way. He's the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by him. So that's why there's only one guy, the high priest. So the high priest represents Jesus. Well, look at verse number one of chapter 28. 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 priests office, even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. Now what's interesting is that it's not just Aaron who's the priest, he's the high priest, but it's Aaron's sons that are the priests, okay? And what is pictured here is that we as Christians, we are the sons, okay? In the New Testament we are considered the sons of God, and so we are the priesthood as believers. And this is an important thing to understand, that in the New Testament we don't have a certain class of people known as priests, we are all priests if we believe on Jesus Christ. And this doctrine is referred to as the priesthood of the believer. So the Bible tells us in the New Testament there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament the high priest and his sons that are acting as priests, they were mediators between God and the people. But in the New Testament there's only one mediator and that's Jesus Christ. So if Jesus Christ is the high priest, we're not under a Levitical priesthood, we're not the priesthood after the order of Aaron, it's the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek where Jesus is the high priest. So then who are the priests? Well you know the Roman Catholic Church or other false religions, they have their own priesthood set up, don't they? Where they say this guy is the priest, Father so-and-so is our priest, the Pope is a priest, the Archbishop is a priest, the Cardinals a priest, right? Is that biblical? Does the Bible have a New Testament special class of priests? Well in the Old Testament what made you a priest is that you're the son of Aaron. Aaron's sons are the priests. Now the tribe of Levi were not all priests. The tribe of Levi were ministers that would serve in the tabernacle and they would do service in the house of God, all of them. But it's only Aaron's sons that are the priests. So what is the New Testament equivalent of that? Well who is the New Testament equivalent of Aaron? Jesus, right? So if Jesus is our high priest, who are his sons? Every believer. All of us as believers. So you see how this Catholic priesthood makes no sense. Because if being a priest means that you're the son of the high priest, well guess what? We're all sons of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all his children and so in the New Testament there's only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, because there's us as priests and then there's our high priest and then there's God the Father and that's it. So this Catholic priesthood has no scriptural basis. Now you don't have to turn there but in Revelation chapter 1 the Bible talks about this. Of course 1 Peter chapter 2 says that we are a holy nation, we're a royal priesthood, we are a kingdom of priests. That's what the Bible teaches. But in the New Testament in Revelation chapter 1 it says in verse 5, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and have made us kings and priests unto God and his father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So Jesus has made us priests. Jesus has made us kings and priests. We are priests. Now you say well no no no it's it's you know the guy down with the collar backwards and the the funny hat and he dresses like mama and calls himself Papa and whatever. But here's the thing about that. The Apostles are not called priests in the New Testament. You don't see Peter, James, and John anywhere being referred to as priests do you? So this whole idea of the Catholics with their apostolic succession and saying well this guy is a priest because of apostolic succession, where do you see any of the New Testament Apostles being called priests? Or where do you see them ever ordaining priests? Why didn't Paul tell Titus oh well I left you in Crete so that you could ordain priests in these different cities so that you could set up confessional booths and so then you could absolve people of their sins. You don't see anything like that. What you see is elders being ordained, bishops being ordained, you see preachers, pastors being ordained, leadership being ordained, but you don't see priests being appointed. And you know the Bible says no man taketh this honor unto himself but he this called of God as was Aaron. You have to be appointed by God to the priesthood. And there's an Old Testament priesthood, Aaron and his sons, there's a new testament priesthood, Jesus and his sons. That's what the Bible teaches. This Catholic stuff is just a made-up fake title of priests. Now because of the idea of the Catholic guy being called a priest, some people when they hear the word priest they just immediately just think Catholic. You know like for example we have a street just one mile away called Priest Road and somebody said hey you know this streets Catholic but I'm thinking no this is my street. And you know I walked into a hospital and I parked in the clergy parking spot and they said hey are you a priest? I said yes I am. Because I am a priest and so are you. After the order of Melchizedek buddy. What not after the order of Babylon because they're not of Levi. They're not even, what order are they up? Hey I'm a priest after the order of Melchizedek. I'm under Jesus my high priest but you know they're of the order of Babylon. They're a bunch of Babylonian priests is what they are. Mystery Babylon okay. Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth and all this pagan mumbo-jumbo that they have it's not found in the Bible. It's not found in Scripture. It's a bunch of hocus-pocus that they borrowed from Eastern mysticism and borrowed from the devil. So anyway I just want to make that clear. Now here's the thing when we read this chapter in Exodus 28 and we read about the priests garments these are some pretty elaborate garments. You know you've got a lot of colors, you've got a lot of embroidery, precious stones, gold, you got a hat, you got all this stuff and here's the thing. This is what the Catholics are trying to recreate with their funny hat, with all the the shiny garments and all the bright colors and things. What they're trying to do is simulate this. You understand that? The Greek Orthodox Church is trying to simulate this. The Catholics are simulating this to try, hey look I'm wearing the outfit ergo I'm a priest. Folks you're a priest if you're saved. They're not saved. They're not a priest and they can wear the fanciest outfit known to man and that doesn't make you a priest. Dressing up like a priest doesn't make you a priest and no one should be wearing this outfit by the way because we're in the New Testament and if you think about it dressing up guys and calling them priests and putting them in elaborate rich garments like this in a way it's kind of a Judaizing if you think about it because isn't it kind of taking us back onto the Old Covenant or Judaizing us or saying you know oh we need a priest and everything well what's the pattern oh oh let's turn to Exodus 28 wrong we're in the New Testament New Covenant you don't see John and Peter and James putting on a bunch of gold and bright green and shiny silver and and emeralds and pearls all these it's not relevant physically in 2019 no one should dress like this in 2019 period the purpose of the high priest in the Old Testament dressing this way was to point us to Jesus Christ it's sort of like when we're reading the New Testament we come to the parables of Jesus and you've probably often heard the term parable defined as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning who's heard that definition before an earthly story with a heavenly meaning it's something that we can physically relate to fishing or farming or a woman who's in the kitchen and she's baking and she's leavening dough you know these are the kind of things that God uses to teach us things because they're things that we can understand we understand dough and well we don't because we're men but the women you know they understand the leaven and they understand what it's like to lose stuff in the house and go searching for the lost coin and everything and we as men we understand fishing and farming actually we don't because we've lived in cities our whole life but some men understand those things but God uses illustrations of things that we do every day or we've seen or we understand to illustrate a spiritual truth and you can't take those illustrations too far eventually they're gonna fall apart no illustration is perfect because the illustration is a shadow and just as if you looked at my shadow it's not my exact shape but it gives you the idea of what I'm shaped like but it's gonna be a little bit skewed because that's the nature of what a shadow is well the Bible says that the law of God the tabernacle the priesthood were a shadow so they point us to Christ you know if you follow my shadow eventually you're gonna end up at me right because the shadow emanates from me so if we follow this shadow we're gonna end up at Christ but we cannot see exactly what Christ looks like from a shadow right so that's where we get into the four Gospels then we get a much clearer picture than the shadow we read the epistles of Paul we read the book of Revelation we're getting a clearer picture than the shadow of the Old Testament but the shadow still points us to Christ the shadow still teaches us something about right we can learn about Christ from the shadow okay and that's what this is it's like a parable in the sense that it's an earthly thing that has a spiritual or heavenly meaning so you know when you see there's a breastplate that has 12 precious stones on it you say what's that for what's the point of that well what does the Bible say let's read this it says in verse number two and thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty so what is the purpose of Aaron's garment it's for glory and for beauty the point of Aaron wearing this outfit is that nobody else wears this outfit the word holy if you actually go to the root of what that means and you look up mentions of holy throughout the Bible holy means set apart and you'll see scriptures where God uses those interchangeably holiness and being set apart what does it mean to be set apart it means unlike anything else different set apart not just common or everyday holy the holy garments for the priest is basically to distinguish him he is dressed unlike anyone else no one else is wearing what he is wearing and the idea behind that is that Jesus Christ is without equal there's no other Jesus there's no one else there's one Savior one high priest one mediator between God and men so all these bunch of costume party Catholics you know they're posers there's only one folks Jesus now Jesus he doesn't have to wear a breastplate with 12 stones and these different things because here's the thing he already just inherently possesses glory and beauty he already inherently possesses holy he doesn't need a sign on his head that says holiness to the Lord because he has that holiness intrinsically as who he is it's his being the priest though does not inherently possess these qualities of holiness glory beauty he is a human being his righteousnesses are as filthy rags so he has to dress up basically to picture Jesus so he has to put on an outfit that makes him look different than anyone else because Jesus is different than anyone else he has to have a sign on his forehead says holiness the Lord because Jesus Christ is holy because it's only through Christ's holiness and God's righteousness that we can be saved we can be brought nigh to God and he has to put on these breastplate of righteousness because he's not righteous in and of himself Jesus is righteous in and of himself that's why he didn't die on the cross wearing all this stuff he is all this stuff this stuff is a shadow of the real thing and the real thing is the person Jesus Christ that's the real thing so we see here the holy garments are for Aaron for glory and for beauty and thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister unto me in the priests office and let me emphasize again that when God gave the plans for the tabernacle he does not give you all the information you need to build one he says you must build it according to the pattern that I showed you in the mountain and here with the clothing he says that he put wisdom into the hearts of specific people that they would make this clothing so reading Exodus 28 you cannot recreate this outfit and believe me many people have tried and people have recreated this they've done drawings of it paintings of it or even a physical replica and wore it and they preached a sermon hey this is what it looked like it's impossible to know exactly what it looked like from this description you cannot read this description and recreate this you you could get close you could get in the ballpark but God specifically called certain people you think of bezel eel and how God put in him the knowledge of exactly how he wanted this stuff to look and then Moses has shown a model here's what it's supposed to look like Moses here's what the tabernacle is gonna look like here's what the courtyards gonna look at he saw the real one in heaven make it according to the pattern the purpose of this book is not an instruction manual on how to make the priests garment for us today in 2019 it is only so that we can take away the spiritual picture the spiritual application because you cannot recreate it from this text even if you look at the the name well it's got the 12 stones listed okay but here's the thing those 12 stones is that the same stone that we think of today with that a lot of times stones kind of change names you know do we really know exactly what a chrysapras is and a chalcedony and these different you know that there are theories about these things but it's hard to know for sure because it didn't come with a picture there's no pattern so don't get too caught up in trying to recreate this stuff or or get too caught up in the physical of what's being described it's better to go for what's at the end of the shadow Jesus that's what we're looking for when we study the book of Exodus and we read this now Jesus Christ is a perfect picture or is pictured perfectly by Aaron the priest in the sense that Aaron was the mouthpiece of Moses now go back if you would to chapter 7 because remember we're talking about the high priest tonight and his garment and Jesus is the high priest so let's look at why the high priest is a great picture of Jesus in Exodus chapter 7 the Bible says in Exodus chapter 7 verse 1 and the Lord said unto Moses see I have made thee a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet thou shalt speak all that I command thee and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh that he send the children of Israel out of his land and if you remember the what was the whole purpose of Aaron even coming along on this whole venture was that Moses said I'm not a good speaker I can't speak well and then God said to Moses well I know that your brother Aaron can speak well so take him with you and he'll speak and I'm gonna talk to you and then you're gonna talk to him and so he says here in Exodus 7 you know I made you as a god unto Pharaoh and Aaron's your prophet well stop and think about this if Moses pictures God if Moses representing God Aaron is his mouthpiece well where does Jesus Christ fit Jesus Christ is God's mouthpiece think about that Jesus Christ is God spokesman because what is the Bible say in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 God who at sundry times and divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son God spoke to us by his son Jesus Jesus is the spokesman just as Aaron was the spokesman for Moses so why did I mean why did Moses need a spokesman I don't think Moses needed a spokesman I think he's just saying that because the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 7 that Moses was mighty in word and indeed in the land of Egypt so according to Acts chapter 7 Moses was already a great speaker in Egypt he was mighty in word indeed he was brought up in all the learning of the Egyptians and he was a sophisticated educated well-spoken man now he said oh I'm not a good speaker but you know what he was coming with a lot of excuses wasn't he but I think the reason why God allowed it to play out that way so that Aaron would be his spokesman is to show us a picture of how Jesus Christ is the Word of God right he's the word made flesh he is the spokesman so if you stop and think about it when we look at Genesis chapter 1 for example and we see that the the world is spoken into existence right the Bible says that by God's Word he framed the world right and here's the thing by the Word of God he made the world but then it also says in the New Testament that he made all things by Jesus Christ and in Colossians chapter 1 the Bible couldn't really be any clearer that Jesus Christ is the creator why because he's the one who says let there be light he's the spokesman he has spoken unto us the Word of God which is why his name is called the Word of God and so Aaron pictures Jesus because Aaron's the spokesman Jesus is our high priest so that's a parallel right there now back to Exodus chapter 28 it says in verse number three and thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted whom I've filled with the spirit of wisdom so again these are special people that are being given an ability to know how to make these garments exactly the way God wants them made that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister unto me in the priests office now what's the purpose of being a priest it's to do what to minister what does minister mean to serve well what is our purpose of being a priest we're to serve so God didn't save us to just sit around and just talk about how great it is to be saved and it isn't this great we're saved we're supposed to serve God being a priest you say oh cool I just found out I'm a priest well the good news is you're a priest but you have to work now you know if you're gonna claim that oh I'm a priest well okay are you serving are you ministering there's a ministry that's a you say no no that's where the pastor is the one who serves a deacon he's the sir that's what deacon means servant okay but hold on a second I thought we establish the priesthood of the believer you know what that also means every believer has work to do because every if every believer has the position of a priest that's not just a title that goes above your door or something that you know the Bible says he that desire at the office of a bishop desire with a good work and if you are gonna be a priest right as every saved person is automatically a priest according to the New Testament then that means there's a job associated with that so you need to spend your life serving God so we often talk about the priesthood of the believer as hey isn't it great we have direct access to God right we don't have to go through the confessional booth or go through a man you know priesthood of the believer means there's one mediator between God men the man Christ Jesus Jesus said in that day you shall ask me nothing he said you'll ask in my name and you'll receive you'll pray to the father I'm not gonna pray the father for you he said you're gonna pray to the five paraphrasing but he says you're gonna pray to the father and so we pray to God the father directly in the name of Jesus we boldly approach God the father okay that's what we emphasize with the priests of the believer but the flip side of the priests of the believer is we have a responsibility with privilege with rights come responsibilities well we have the right as a priest to boldly approach the throne of grace and prayer but we also have the responsibility to be a part of the ministry of God's house and to get to work for the Lord right to be preaching the gospel and to be laboring in prayer and in the ministry of the word and to serve God to praise God so don't just go living your life for yourself this year in 2020 all the things that you want to do and you got your goals and your ambitions and your plans hey seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness in 2020 and all these things shall be added unto you why because the most important thing about you is that you're a priest you say I'm a plumber you're a priest I'm an electrician I'm a priest you're a priest we're all I'm just so excited about being when I put myself in there the point is you know what what is our identity we're here on this earth to serve Christ number one number two everything else is number two number one is serving Christ and so that's part of being a priest is we are not our own we're bought with a price and we need to glorify God in our body and in our spirit which are gods so we need to minister in the priest's office now in order to minister in the priest's office the essential thing is the garment right I mean that's what this whole chapter is about you've got to wear the garment and in fact the garment is so important if you don't wear the garment and then you do the work of the priest you die now look what the Bible says it says this in multiple places but we could jump down for example to verse number 42 it says thou shalt make them linen breeches breeches our pants britches to cover their nakedness from the loins even under the thighs they shall reach 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 unto the altar to minister in the holy place that they bear not iniquity and die so he's saying look wear these clothes or die everybody see that or you die it shall be a statute forever unto him and a seat after him so what's the Bible teaching here here's the thing salvation is like a garment okay the Bible uses this illustration over and over again or this parable of the garment representing salvation you know the Bible talks about how when the people get to heaven in Revelation they're all issued white robes okay there that's important and then we have of course the idea of being clothed in God's righteousness or God's righteousness being a covering for our sin nakedness represents our sinful condition and then clothing represents covering up our sin with God's righteousness now when did clothing become a thing well if you remember in the Garden of Eden they're naked right Adam and Eve are totally naked they're not ashamed they don't think anything of it the man and his wife they're both naked and not ashamed is how Genesis chapter 2 ends well once they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they realize they're naked they hide themselves and then they so themselves big leaf aprons okay this is a plant based garment right a vegan garment and they sew together fig leaves into an apron God rejects that garment and he outfits them with coats of skins skin comes from an animal skin comes from an animal that you killed the animal dies and then the skin makes the clothing well here's what that pictures that pictures the fact that Jesus Christ the Lamb of God died in order to provide our clothing a lamb was killed to provide Adam and Eve's clothing coats of skins and the idea is that Jesus Christ dies and provides us with the robe of righteousness with the garment of salvation now there's a parable in the book of Matthew where there's a great wedding feast and he's got the wedding for his son and people are invited there are a couple of parables they're similar to this you know where people are invited and they don't come they make excuses and that represents the Jews you know the Jews are invited and they don't come he came into his own his own received him not so then of course he says go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled go get the poor the maim the blind but there's a great statement in the book of Matthew in this parable of the wedding feast where he says bring them in and he says good and bad so he didn't say hey only invite the good people he said no bring good and bad people so that my wedding could be furnished with guests and and the wedding is salvation I mean the wedding is going to heaven the Jews are offered the kingdom of God the Jews are offered salvation the Jews are offered eternal life they rejected it now obviously many of them accepted it but as a nation as a whole the majority rejected it okay those are the people who didn't show up at the wedding the people who do show up at the wedding that are accepting the invitation the Bible is clear to tell us that it's both good and bad people why because bad people are invited to why because you don't earn your way to heaven by being good you earn your way to heaven by accepting the invitation of a free gift which is not earning it at all how do you get into heaven you accept the invitation what's the invitation whosoever will let him take the water of life freely that's the invitation you accept the invitation you show up you're saved good or bad then there's a guy in the wedding who doesn't have a wedding garment on and if you remember the master comes up to him and says friend how cameest thou in hither not having a wedding garment and the Bible says he was speechless and he says hey bind him hand and foot cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and ashing of teeth okay what does that represent that represents the guy who's not saved he's not been washed in the blood he's not wearing the robe of righteousness he's not wearing the garment that Christ's death on the cross provided everybody understand Jesus Christ died on the cross and there's a spiritual garment obviously it's not literal we're talking a parable here the clothing is the difference between salvation and being cast in outer darkness you got the garment on in that parable you represent the guy who's saved right the guy who doesn't have the garment is not saved he gets thrown into outer darkness now did it say oh it just turned out all the bad people didn't have a garment on no the wedding was filled with people good and bad one guy didn't have a garment it doesn't matter whether he was good or bad that's not the point the point is he didn't have a garment everybody understand that guy thought he was saved he thought this is cool I'm here right you know he's wearing I I guarantee you that guy was not in the nude he didn't say hey how'd you get in here naked there's kids around what are you doing you're nude no no the guy wasn't nude you know what he's wearing he's wearing his own thing hey I'm gonna do my own thing I'm gonna wear my own clothes I'm he's like whoa buddy where's the wedding garment you better have the robe that God provides and you don't try to provide your own outfit of oh well I got I got nice clothes too you know he his little tuxedo or whatever he wore wasn't nice enough and so he's cast out and that's a picture of look if you're not saved through Jesus if you don't have your faith and trust in Christ if you're not wearing his righteousness you're cast out the Apostle Paul said not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith so the righteousness has to be Jesus's righteousness that we put it on we wear it so the priest's garment you know you could say hey in order to be a priest you got to have a certain garment on well you know that's the way salvation is right there's a garment of putting on Jesus's righteousness now what's interesting though is that the high priest's garment is not an animal-based garment it is a plant-based garment okay now why is that why is it that as we read this we see in Exodus chapter 28 the material that is mentioned what you could say there in verse 42 we could look anywhere but verse 42 is where we just looked thou shall make them linen britches to cover their negatives linen is not an animal-based garment this is not coats of skins this is not pants of skins these pants are made out of linen the efod is made out of linen linen is a plant-based garment now what do plants represent plants represent works okay the animal skin represents the substitutionary death of an animal representing Christ substitutionary death to provide us with the covering for our sin the plant-based garment is works okay so for example like we talked about Adam and Eve they sought to cover their nakedness with a plant-based garment that's them trying to do works and God says that's not gonna work we need the lamb and then he gives him that okay then that's the first that's like the first Bible story right I mean Adam and Eve what's the second Bible story Cain and Abel what do we have Cain brings a plant-based offering of the increase of the ground his works he tilled the field that was his job and he produced fruits and vegetables God rejected his plant-based offering why because that can't make an atonement for sin our own works are not good enough you can't work your way to heaven okay Abel brings what the lamb he brings the fat of the lamb the blood of the lamb the firstlings of the flock he brings the animal-based offering and his offerings accepted why because his offering represents Jesus Cain's offering represents our own works now if you stop and think about it the high priest represents Jesus Christ okay he he's not a substitute for himself you know he what you know what he's clothed in there with linen there that's his works because the only one whose works are worth a hill of beans are Jesus I mean think about it because like our our righteousnesses are as filthy rags what about his righteousness his righteousness is on point and so Jesus Christ if you think about it you know he didn't just die on the cross for us before he died on the cross he lived a perfect life the Bible says he went about doing good the Bible says we shall be saved by his life okay he lived the perfect life that none of us could live and when Jesus died on the cross it's not just that our sins were imputed unto Jesus but it's that Jesus is righteousness is imputed unto us that's why Jesus didn't just come down from heaven and just die on the cross the next day I mean we could have right I mean God could have just said okay I'm sinning my son and then Jesus Christ comes down and he dies on the cross you know a week after getting he could have just done the Passion Week right show up for Palm Sunday curse the fig tree do a few that you know what I mean do a few things do a miracle whatever and then die on the cross no he is born and lived the complete experience and he lived a perfect life and he went through everything you know also so that he could feel what we feel we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin so we have Jesus Christ born as a baby living a perfect life and he did good works not only did he abstain from sin he didn't just not sin he also did good things and those good things are his righteousness his works and that's represented by his linen garment here the high priest wearing a linen garment meaning his works now the other priests are wearing a linen garment as well because we're clothed in Christ's works so I'm not against you wearing a plant-based garment today okay you know we're we're plant-based we're animal based but what's one of the laws in the Bible that's one of the most made fun of laws isn't it don't the atheists love are you wearing a mixed fabric garment who's heard atheists bring that up fools idiots because you know what and hey don't be offended by that the Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God I pity the fool who says there's no God but the point is look God had that rule don't mix and he did by the way he didn't just say don't mix any fabric that's how the atheists quote it you know what the Bible actually says don't make a garment of linen and woolen together that's what he said he didn't just say don't wear cotton poly blend he said because help me out what's polyester isn't polyester like synthetic like plastic or something I mean and then cotton is plant-based so wouldn't it be fair to correct me if I'm wrong Oh Dow textile expert wouldn't be wouldn't it be safe to say that both cotton and polyester are both non animal based materials so if I'm wearing a cotton poly blend there's nothing animal based about that everybody understand he didn't want them to mix linen and woolen together because you don't mix Christ substitutionary atonement on the cross with your own works it's not faith plus works its faith okay so look if you wear a linen garment or if you wear a cotton garment or a hemp garment or whatever you're into you hippie you know if you wear a plant-based garment you know one way you could look at that is a picture of well it's works but I'm putting on his works my works are no good my works are like a fig leaf apron that's not a durable garment okay his works are what the linen garment represents putting on Jesus works so the high priest wears it because he's wearing his own works in a sense now obviously the high priest is just a human being like us but he pictures the real high priest Jesus who had his own works so there you go with the linen and if we were an animal based material then the picture would be being clothed in the substitutionary death of cry we're saved by his death so basically if you're wearing the animal based we're saved by his death if you're wearing the linen based you're saved by his life plant-based were saved you know it's all pointing us to Christ but there's no mixing is there we don't want to mix because we don't want to misunderstand and think oh it's my works it's my rights no no it's Christ's work that gets us safe not our own deeds that we've done so that's the significance of linen in the Bible is it's a plant-based fabric and so it has to do with works and then the animal base has to do with the substitutionary atonement of Christ and you say well I found some holes in in these parallel you're gonna find holes in it all day long why because every parable has holes in it if you take every parable to its to its most radical conclusion they're all gonna stop making sense at some point you know I mean you can't just say like oh well we're supposed to be fishers of men what's the hook represent you know what does that what's the net what do I do you know you can't go too crazy with that you know he's using it to make certain points about so hey you know the parable of the sower so I'm just gonna go to helicopter and dump gospel tracks because it's a lot like sowing seeds the sower sows the word so I'm gonna just paper the city eventually any parable is gonna make no sense like for example you know the kingdom of Heaven's like a pearl of great price a man finds it he sells all that he has to find it you know does that mean we buy our way into heaven no so you don't want to take parables and just make them mean whatever you want the Bible says as a thorn goes up into the hand of a drunkard so is a parable in the mouth of fools so a parable can be twisted to teach all kinds of crazy stuff so we have to use the clear statements in the Bible to tell us how to understand the parable you say well how do you know Pastor Anderson that you know that you're right about the linen and everything here's how I know because the Bible has clear statements that say we're saved by faith not by works clear statement then I take that concept that I got from the clear statement it's all faith it's not works then I take that back to Adam even I'm like oh okay you guys made something a lamb died over here it's a no-brainer at that point see what I'm saying so we don't just make up a meaning to parables or symbols or types what we do is we use clear statements in the Bible and that is what interprets the parable for us now you say well what's the point of the parable what do we need a parable for we got all these clear statements hang parables just tell me what's going on and you know the Apostles they thought the same thing you remember when they said that to Jesus you know why speak to him in parables you know or or why don't you just tell us plainly that's what a lot of people said right now obviously in the New Testament one of the purposes for the parables was so that some people would understand and some people wouldn't you know it was like a code in a sense but here's a big reason for all this symbolism I mean look why do we even have the book of Exodus in our Bible you know why do we have all this stuff why all the parables why all the symbols because the thing about symbols and parallel or parables or parallels figures shadows is that they don't just tell you what the facts are they do it with style and what it what a parable does for you or what typology or symbolism does for you is it's more for your heart than your brain see all my brain needs is Ephesians 2 8 & 9 as far as just what's the doctrine you know all I need is Hebrews 1 1 to tell me that Jesus is a spokesman for God I got it done move on but parables illustrations symbols they help us understand the truth on a visceral level everybody understand what I'm saying where we feel it emotionally so you go to church right and a preacher gets up and uses an illustration to do what to reach you emotionally he could just stand up here and just give you the facts hey we're saved by faith we're not saved by work you know but when you see an animal who's ever been present when an animal was slaughtered in your presence okay isn't that a little different than just hearing about it look I was an adult the first time I ever saw an animal slaughter I was in my 20s I believe I was what was it 2008 I think so I was like 27 or something and I saw a pig slaughtered in Hungary with my father-in-law who's Hungarian very proud of being Hungarian believes that Adam and Eve were Hungarian as well and they spoke Hungarian in the Garden of Eden but anyway and so does every other Hungarian think that by the way because Hungarians are really into being Hungarian but anyway I was there and you know he's really excited to show me this because this was a traditional thing that they do and and and I'm telling you it was intense if you're if you're not used to it and you're standing next to this 300 pound animal or whatever getting just killed and bloods coming out like a garden hose I mean it's intense now if somebody just told me oh yeah this is how they slaughter animals they slit the throat blood comes out you're just kind of like okay all right but when you're when you see that it's it you you actually are being reached on a different level now does everybody understand what I'm saying so here's the thing God could just tell us I'm holy I'm glorious I'm beautiful okay but what does he do he shows us something that can give us a shadow of understanding you know by building a tabernacle by building a courtyard by having the priests garments and by massacring animal after animal and just killing and blood and the liver and the kidneys and the fat and the burnt offering and everything hey you know what those people back then when they saw that stuff in the tabernacle they're seeing something that can help them appreciate the gospel on a different level so when we read about being a fisher of men or the parable of the sower we understand those truths now on a different level does everybody understand what I'm saying so so you know when we read about illustrations and stories they reach us in our heart and we feel things instead of just knowing facts we actually understand it on a deeper level I mean how many times has somebody explained a biblical parable to you or so and they just clicked with you and you're just like wow now I really you know I always knew that but now I get it now it really clicked with me you know sometimes people call this an epiphany where you're just like oh now I get it and you know when you got saved yeah you understood that it's by believing you understood that Jesus died on the cross that he rose again but here's the thing look I got saved when I was six years old don't you think over the years I've come to greater levels of understanding of like wow this is what Jesus did for me or this is what it means to be saved or this you know where things just clicked or you had an epiphany you're reading the Bible and it's just like oh wow well here's the thing when I had that moment of just wow it's it's usually not when you're just reading a clear statement like for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him you know now I'm sure a lot of people have had a lot of emotional experiences with that verse and had a lot of epiphanies with that verse but you know when you grow up in church you get saved when you're six years old you know you read Ephesians 2 8 9 it's like okay yeah I mean that's that's a great proof text to show someone look here's something that's plain for you to see but when you're really experiencing the mountain peaks of Bible study after being saved for 20 years 25 years 30 years when you have these just moments of revelation I'm not talking about something extra biblical I'm talking about when you read the Bible it's usually something that's more of an illustration or a parable or a story and it just clicks with you how Joseph is like Jesus and now you appreciate Jesus more you realize David is like Jesus and then you appreciate Jesus for you Aaron pictures Jesus now you have a greater appreciation and some of the greatest moments in my life have been just reading the Bible and just receiving that illumination of reading something and just being like wow you know discoveries in the Bible right you know and while some of you are screaming and cheering and getting the most excited in life about a ball being thrown around like the guy today when we were out soul winning and he said hey I'm sorry I don't have time to listen to gospel because I'm watching a game right now it's a really close game oh well if it's a close game then by all means you know let's just forgo hearing the gospel and getting out of hell and going to heaven right but here's the people get excited about things they get you know they go backstage at a rock concert you know they're just because they get to meet their star or their hero right but man I've had some pretty exciting experiences just reading my Bible and and when you learn something and you see something and something clicks and you're reading a Bible story that you maybe heard like 20 times before a hundred times before and then all of a sudden you you realize I get it and I'm not talking about just on a mental level but on a visceral level like standing there watching the animal be slaughtered right you know where you're like whoa now I get it you know you have those moments when you're reading the Bible and usually it's in a more obscure passage it's in a more darker saying or a parable or an illustration right so we don't want to get this idea oh forget all this stuff you know what this stuff helps us appreciate Christ in a new way I mean I can get up and tell you hey here's what the Trinity is here's what the doctrine of justification is here's what it means to have eternal life here but when you read about these garments and tabernacle animal sacrifices you know what different things are gonna click for you at different times and I think you could walk out of here even though you already saved maybe five years ago ten years ago twenty years ago you could walk out of here saying wow I have a whole new appreciation for salvation now I understand salvation from a new angle or now I have a greater appreciation for who Jesus Christ is okay because it's something that is on a visceral level of something that we can connect with not just hear about it in its most abstract forms but actually have something that's more tangible to our actual lives you know like things like clothing food drink work that we perform whatever so these passages are great passages they're important and they all point to Jesus now this is why the Jews they miss it if you're not looking for Jesus it's all gonna go right over your head now a lot of people and I'll close on this thought you know a lot of people think that the Jews believe in the Old Testament don't they oh the Jews believe the Torah I mean if I had a nickel for every time I heard that I'd be a wealthy man but you know what Jesus said he said well if you believe Moses you would have believed me but if you believe not his writings how she believed my words and you say well I don't know if that's I meant okay well case in point what's the book of Exodus about why is it called Exodus what does Exodus mean you're leaving Egypt right what's it about it's about how they were what what were they in Egypt slaves they're in the house of bondage right okay so what did the Jews say to Jesus in John chapter 8 we be Abraham seed and we were never in bondage to any man how say ye then you shall be made free you know what they're doing there they're letting it slip out that they don't actually believe Exodus isn't that what they're doing they're letting that slip out by saying well we were never in bondage it really because your entire Torah that you proclaim as your most exalted scripture are called the books of Moses and they're all about Moses leading you out of Egypt we were never in bondage to any man you know what they're saying we don't believe the Bible and you know what if you talk to today's Christ rejecting Jews you know what they'll tell you they don't believe that the Hebrews were ever slaves in Egypt they don't ask them go to your Jewish scholar go to your rabbit hey we've done it we talked to the rabbis we asked him about Bible stories we asked about Genesis we asked about creation evolution big bang we were making our marching design film folks they don't believe the Torah at all and that's that's the book that they claim is the most inspired by God is is Genesis through Deuteronomy they don't believe in it even to the point where they don't even believe that they were even in bondage to any man and they have all these theories about how you know well we just think maybe you know the Jews spend some time in Egypt not the Jews of course they back then they're called the Israelites or the Hebrews but they'll say you know we just believe that you know they migrated from Egypt into Canaan you know around like you know 1300 BC or you know they they have just this watered down they don't believe in the ten plagues they don't but what did they say we're never in bondage to any man they miss it folks so don't don't go to the Jews to figure out what Exodus means go to the New Testament to figure out what Exodus means Jesus is on every page the spires have order prayer father we thank you so much for this chapter Lord we thank you for this book and we thank you for our identity in Christ as priests Lord help us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith were called and help us to walk worthy and do the works do the ministry of the priesthood we don't have to work to be saved we're already saved we can't lose our salvation we're secure and sealed under the day of redemption but Lord help us to please you by being good priests and doing the work that you've given us to do and in Jesus name we pray amen