“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 seven 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 a 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 seven o 'clock for that candlelight service. Well today in our Bible reading we're in Zechariah chapters 3 4 and Revelation chapter 16 and I see in Zechariah chapter 3 a glorious picture of what takes place in 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 and so 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.

Filthy Garments Removed and Replaced with Rich Robes

Here in Zechariah chapter 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 and 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, it's not a biblical thing. Anyway, 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. It 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.

But that doesn't stop our gracious God, because in verse 4 it says, the Lord answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And 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.

White Robes, Imputed Righteousness, and Service to God

You know, 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.

And so 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, I 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. And 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. Now, Lord, bless these thoughts to our hearts, we pray, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Have a good rest of your Thursday. I trust the Lord will bless you.

Good day.