Title: Of Men For Men
Text: Exodus 28:1-2
Date: December 15, 2019
Place: SGBC, NJ
Exodus 28: 1: [God speaks to Moses and
says] 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, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
2: And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for
beauty. (Ex 28:1-2)
Notice, it was God who separated Aaron to be High Priest
and his sons to be priests—And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother,
and his sons with him. Notice what
the priests were to Aaron the High Priest—they were his sons. Notice, from where God chose them—from
among the children of Israel. Notice,
why God separated Aaron the High Priest—[God says] that he may minister unto
me in the priest’s office. Notice,
God chose Aaron’s sons to be priests, but it is only Aaron the High Priest that
ministered to God in the holy of holies—that HE may minister unto me in the
priest’s office—everything Aaron did as High Priest, he did for his sons
who were priests—a picture of Christ making his people priests by his work on
the cross. Notice, what they HAD to wear
in order to approach God—And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy
brother for glory and for beauty.
We have the best commentary on these
two verses in Hebrews 5.
Hebrews 5: 1: For every high priest taken
from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may
offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
2: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of
the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 3: And by reason
hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. 4: And
no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was
Aaron. 5: So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but
he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6: As he
saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the
order of Melchisedec. 7: Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8: Though he were a
Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9: And being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey
him;
There are many religious groups today
who still hold to a priestly structure in their denominations. This exposes their ignorance of the bible and
of the work of Christ. Hebrews 9: 1-10
calls them carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation; figures
for the time then present, patterns of things in the heavens, and shadows of
good things to come. Jesus Christ came
into this world and fulfilled everything pictured in the Mosaic priesthood and
ascended into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of God. So the picture in our text is this:
Proposition: If we, who are sinners, would come
to God the Father then Christ the High Priest must be the one to represent us in
the presence of holy God.
Subject: Of Men for Men
GOD ORDAINED, SEPARATED AND CALLED
Hebrews 5: 4: And no man taketh this
honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 5: So
also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said
unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
It was God who ordained, separated and
called his high priest and his priests. God’s
High Priest, as well as his priests, were chosen, ordained, separated, and
called of God. Men did not choose who
would be the high priest. Nor did the high
priest chose to be high priest as a vocation.
He was ordained to this office by God himself
God our Father
chose Christ before the foundation of the world to be his great High
Priest. Even God’s own Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, did not make this choice by his own will. It was God his Father who chose him and made
him high priest.
John 8:54: Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my
honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he
is your God:
John 7:18: He that speaketh of himself seeketh his
own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no
unrighteousness is in him.
Likewise,
it was God who chose, ordained,
separated, and called his priests. Every
sinner saved by God has been made a priest unto God. That is who is typified by these priests. It was God who choose, ordained, separated and
called his priests. Sinners are certainly not better than Christ. If God’s own Son did not take this honor to
himself then we can be sure God did not leave it up to a sinner to take this
honor to ourselves.
1 John 4: 10: Herein is love, not that
we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
1 Peter 2: 9: But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light:
Ask King Uzziah if it is a good idea
to take this honor to yourself. When he
was lifted up in pride he tried to bypass the high priest and take the honor to
himself. God killed him for it.
THE PRIESTS WERE SONS OF THE HIGH
PRIEST
Exodus 28: 1: And take thou unto thee
Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him,
Remember, Aaron typifies Christ and Aaron’s
sons typify every sinner saved by God’s free grace. Christ Jesus is our Everlasting Father. Adam was our father. But Adam plunged us into sin and death and
ceased being our father. But Christ
Jesus saved his sons from sin and death.
He remains our Everlasting Father.
1 John 3: 1: Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Therefore, Christ Jesus is not only
our Everlasting Father, he also is our Everlasting High Priest—Hebrews 5:6: As
he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of
Melchisedec. Men who were made High
Priests died by reason of sin. Christ
lives forever as our High Priest because he is Righteous. He perfected the law forever. Death has no more claim on him nor on his
people. Here is the good news:
Hebrews 7:25: Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them.
Sinner, Christ is the only Father and
High Priest who can save. Come to Christ
today. He ever lives to make
intercession for them that come to him.
CHOSEN FROM AMONG MEN
Hebrews 5: 1: For every high priest
taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he
may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2: Who can have compassion on the
ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is
compassed with infirmity.
God chose his high priest from among a
particular people. He did not choose
Christ from among the non-elect people of this world. God chose his High Priest from among his
particular people. Christ was chosen from
among Abraham’s seed, God’s elect.
Hebrews 2:16: For verily he took not
on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
The reason God chose Christ from among
men is two-fold.
One, it was to represent his people to
God—For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things
pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Only Christ was born sinless. Therefore only Christ is the Head of his
people. Only Christ could make the
necessary offerings to God for his people.
This Christ did when he laid down his life on the cross perfecting the
law on our behalf, satisfying God’s divine justice for us Now, those for whom Christ died shall never
die.
Two, Christ was chosen from among men
so that he could know our infirmities so that Christ is able to comfort his
people—Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of
the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. Christ was made a Man and tempted in all
points as his people so that Christ could experience how weak our flesh really
is. On the cross he was touched with
every feeling that our sin causes, yet Christ never sinned himself.
Hebrews 4:15: For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore, Christ our High Priest
knows what we need and has power to comfort us.
Hebrews 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being
tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
THE HIGH PRIEST ALONE
Exodus 28:...that he may minister unto
me in the priests office.
Only the high priest entered the holy
of holies to minister unto God for the children of Israel. We cannot represent ourselves to God because
we are sinners. We cannot save ourselves
by our law-keeping. We cannot save
ourselves by our good works. We cannot save
ourselves by our will. We must be
represented to God by Christ our High Priest.
God demands it! Christ alone represented
his sons and ministered to God with perfect, holy, reverence in his heart.
Hebrews 5: 7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had
offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8: Though he
were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9: And being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey
him;
Christ suffered because he bore our
sins. This is why we see him in Gethsemane
offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto God
that was able to save him from death. We
have heard his prayers and supplications in the Psalms. But though he bore the sins of his people, make
no mistake, in his heart he was holy—he was heard in that he feared
It was only the high priest who could
enter into the holy of holies. He did it
once in the year, not without blood. He did
it representing a particular people. It typifies
Christ representing his people to God in the presence of God. When Christ finished redeeming us, he entered
into God’s presence in glory, not with the blood of a lamb, but with his own
blood. Christ is our perfection and
acceptance with God.
Hebrews 9: 24: For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25:
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into
the holy place every year with blood of others; 26: For then must he often have
suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27: And as
it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28: So
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Sinner,
we need Christ alone to represent us to God.
He is the only one God is pleased with.
Believe on Christ and continue trusting him to the end. What Christ did, every believer did in him.
THE NECESSITY OF HOLY GARMENTS
Exodus 28: 2: And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for
glory and for beauty.
Christ Jesus made these holy garments
for us. They represent the robe of his
righteousness and the inward holiness he is.
Hebrews 7:26: For such an high priest
became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens;
Through giving us faith in Christ, he
put his glory and beauty upon us and in us.
Revelation 19:8: And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints.
Do you know why I say we should dress
in our best attire each time we come to God’s house? It is to show forth that our entire gospel is
about how Christ has dressed us in the very best garments so that God will
receive us.
Revelation 5: 9: [Christ our High Priest]
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation; 10: And hast made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Psalm 45: 13: The king’s daughter is
all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. 14: She shall be
brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that
follow her shall be brought unto thee. 15: With gladness and rejoicing shall
they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.
Isaiah 61: 10: I will greatly rejoice
in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels.
Amen!