Our Spiritual Clothes - From Rags to a Robe

-Introduction

-In last week’s bulletin article, I made reference to the fact that we associate certain

  things with special occasions and holidays.

            -Of course, there are variations from family to family and individual to individual.

            -Yet, there still seem to be some common denominators.

-As addressed in that bulletin article, it seems that clothing is a common denominator

  for the Easter holiday.

     “With Easter’s approach, the Spring clothing lines are in full swing at the stores.  We’ve

      moved from the darker colors of winter clothing into the bright and vivid colors of the

      new season.  As God’s creation begins to give us renewed displays of color, the stores’

      clothing displays then follow suit (pardon the pun please).  So it seems that the colorful

      clothing culminates on Easter Sunday.  Amy and I have left the ‘new clothing tradition’

      behind us.  We rarely purchase new attire for ourselves.  However, even without any new

      additions to the closet, we still search out something a little brighter on Easter Sunday. ”

-That article ended with this statement:  “Yet, with all of this ‘talk’ regarding clothing, we

  haven’t talked about the most important clothing of all.”  That’s what I want to address now.

-Zechariah’s Vision

-When it comes to the Old Testament, Zechariah is one of the more difficult books.

            -Within it, we find that Zechariah received a series of visions which were recorded in

        figurative language similar to that of Revelation and portions of Daniel and Ezekiel.

-Zechariah wrote as the Babylonian Captivity was coming to an end.  A remnant of the

  people had been allowed to return to Judah and the construction of the temple had begun.

  However, due to opposition, that work had ceased after the laying of the foundation.

            -Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14-15 makes mention of the roles of Haggai and Zechariah in

        instructing and motivating the people in continuing the construction of the temple of

        God.

      -So, we would have Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah working at about

        the same time.

-Now, notice the initial message of Zechariah - Zech 1:2-6 - a call to repentance.

            -This reminds me of Ezra’s prayer in Ezra 9 when he heard of the people’s

              continued sinfulness - Ezra 9:5-15.

-Now, let’s notice the fourth vision of Zechariah which involved the high priest, Joshua.

            -Zech 3

            -As the high priest, Joshua would represent the people.  He is standing before the

              angel of the LORD with Satan also there accusing him (see Rev 12:10).

            -Zech 3:3 - Joshua was clothed in “filthy garments.”  

                        -This is quite a contrast to the clothes specified for the priesthood (i.e. Ex 28).

                        -Dirty clothes are used various times in the scriptures to represent sin. 

-The message of the vision seems clear:  Even though the people had sinned and the

  priesthood had been corrupted, God (by His mercy) was granting them a time of

  restoration. 

-Therefore, Zechariah was clothed with “a change of raiment” (Zech 3:4).

                        -Notice, forgiveness is being represented by the changing of these clothes.

                        -Zech 3:5 - mitre - part of the priests’ clothing - This seems to signify the

            returning of dignity to the priesthood. 

                        -However, there were some conditions that needed to be met - Zech 3:7.

                        -But notice, (This is very important for a proper understanding of this passage.),

                   these things were taking place in view of the fact that the Branch (Jesus) would

             come (Zech 3:8).

            -Because of Him and through Him, these new garments were available.

            -Through His blood, ultimate forgiveness would be offered.  He, as our High

              Priest, would forever make intercession for man.

            -Heb 9:14-15 - Thanks to the blood of Jesus, we can change out of sin-stained garments

                                   into new clothes.

-Isaiah 61

-Although Isaiah is often times called God’s prophet of doom and gloom, it is important to

  realize that his inspired writings contain glorious glimpses into the blessings made

  available through the Gospel of Christ.

-Isaiah 61 is one of those glimpses.

            -vs 1-3 - Luke 4:16-21

            -vs 4-9 - time of rebuilding (the church would be established and would grow), the

                         Gentiles would be a part of the process, the everlasting covenant would be

                         established, the seed would be acknowledged & recognized

            -vs 10-11 - The Christians composing the church would rejoice.  They would do so

                             clothed with the garments of salvation - covered with the robe of righteousness.

            -Again, these are blessings that would be realized in the times of the Gospel - the times

              we are fortunate enough to be living in.

-The Cleansing Blood of Christ

-Yes, forgiveness was available to those who lived under the Law.

-Yet, it was temporary in its nature as it served its purpose until the coming of Jesus - His

  perfect sacrifice and the better covenant.

            -Heb 10:1-4

-But, as we’ve already seen, when Jesus shed His perfect blood, it flowed back to those

  who had lived in accordance with the Law and washed their sins away.

            -It is only through the blood of Jesus that our spiritual clothes can be clean.

            -Without the blood of Jesus, we stand in rags stained with sin.

-The book of Revelation, within its figurative language, gives us a depiction of scenes of

  worship before the heavenly throne.

            -Rev 4:4

            -Rev 7:9, 13-14

-Summary & Invitation

-Even though we are stained with sin, God offers us a new robe of righteousness - the

  garments of salvation. 

            -We need to make sure that we put that robe on by obeying the Gospel of Christ.

            -Believe (John 3:16, 8:24), Confess that faith (Matt 10:32, Rom 10:9-10),

              Repent (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30), Be Baptized (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16)

-Just as we are careful with our kids (or even our own selves) with new clothes, we need to

  be careful with the spiritual clothing God gives.  Let’s not get our robes stained with sin.

            -Jas 1:27

            -Yet, with all clothes, no matter how careful we may be, we still get them dirty.

-Such is the case with us spiritually.  We cannot be perfect.

                        -That’s why we need our spiritually clothes washed as well.

                        -1 John 1:7-9

-If we stray away from faithfulness and back into sinfulness, then we once again have

  stained clothes.  But, if we’ll confess those shortcomings, repent of them a2nd pray for

  forgiveness (Acts 8:22-24), then they’ll be washed white as snow.