“A Change of Clothes!”

Well, a good Thursday morning to you. We're just a few days away from our Christmas celebration, and tomorrow night we're going to focus on the

Savior's birth at the Christmas Candlelight Service at our church. It starts at 7 o 'clock, and it'll be a time of some good music.

We'll be singing carols together. There'll be instruments being played and some special groups singing and so forth, children singing, and readings,

Christmas readings, and the Scripture readings, and of course the devotional, all centered on the theme of our

Savior's birth. So if you're in the area, I encourage you to come join with us tomorrow evening at 7 o 'clock for the

Candlelight Service. Well, today in our Bible reading, we're in Zechariah 3 -4 and Revelation 16.

I see in Zechariah 3 a glorious picture of what takes place in redemption.

It's a vision that Zechariah receives from the Lord, and in this vision is

Joshua the high priest. Now, let me clarify who this Joshua is.

When you read Joshua, you right away think of this Joshua who fit the

Battle of Jericho. He has a whole book written with his name on it. Well, that's not that Joshua.

This is the Joshua who is the high priest after the exile. So remember, the people of Judah had been taken into captivity in the

Babylonian captivity. The Babylonians were overthrown by the

Medes and the Persians, and eventually, so 70 years after the captivity began, the people are allowed to leave, and as many as wanted to, could go back to Jerusalem and back to Judah.

Many, many did, including Joshua. This Joshua who is in the priestly clan, and he's the high priest.

He was the one involved in the book of Haggai in the rebuilding of the temple, but it took some time for that to take place.

Here in Zechariah 3, you see a picture of the unworthiness of the man to do anything for the

Lord. Here's the picture, here's the image. Zechariah says, the

Lord showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.

The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. Notice, it's the Lord that rebukes

Satan. This notion that you and I have the ability to rebuke Satan is not a biblical thing.

He says, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this, that is

Joshua, a brand plucked from the fire? As is every follower of Jesus, a brand plucked from the fire.

When the Lord in his grace plucks us from the fire, what does he do?

He goes on to describe this situation with Joshua. He says, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel.

As are you and I in our natural state, clothed with filthy garments, utterly unworthy to stand before the angel of the

Lord, before the Lord God of hosts. We're not worthy in ourselves. We're cloaked in filthy garments.

That doesn't stop our gracious God, because in verse four it says, the

Lord answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him.

To him he said, to Joshua he said, see, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.

There, my friend, is a picture of what Jesus does for you and me as a sinner.

He, in his death on the cross, took our iniquity upon himself. He, God, made him,

Jesus, sin, who knew no sin, and he did so for us so that we might be made righteous in God's sight, so that the righteousness of Christ may be imputed to us.

To put it in this very vivid language, as the prophet sees here, the

Lord, in his grace, when we come to faith in Christ, he removes our iniquity from us, and he clothes us with rich robes, clothes us with the robes of righteousness.

We're also, in our Bible reading plan, reading through the book of Revelation, and in Revelation the image is the saints are clothed in robes of white.

They're not our robes, they are the robes of Christ's righteousness that has been imputed to us, and the righteous works that we are then able to do because of the imputed righteousness of Christ upon us.

This is a glorious picture of God saving, redeeming grace, taking sinners who are trapped and soiled by their sin, and removing their iniquity from them, and clothing them in the pure raiments of righteousness.

The Lord goes on to say, let them put a clean turban on his head, so they put a clean turban on his head, and they put clothes on him, and the angel stood by.

Here is this glorious picture of being fully equipped by God's grace to serve a holy and righteous

God, raiment changed by the grace of God. I trust you have had this change of clothes in your life.

Our Father and our God, we are grateful today for your grace and your kindness. We thank you for our

Savior, the Lord Jesus, who took our iniquity upon himself, who has made sin for us, that we might be made righteous in your sight.

We thank you, Father, for your amazing, saving grace. Lord, bless these thoughts to our hearts, we pray, and we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.