September 13, 2015
Scripture:
Scripture:
Let’s look at John 12:24. His death on the cross brought forth much fruit. We can now come into blessing and life because of it. Well might we give thanks!
Hymn 323 - There’s a Friend for little children
We’ve been going through a series called “Jesus is my…” We have discussed how Jesus is my Saviour, Lord, and Shepherd.
Today we will talk about Jesus being my High Priest. This is something that is not often thought about. So many religions have priests. You can see places that have their own god, just made of stone, with their own priests. But God’s people have a Hight Priest. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the scriptures we have a type and truth about our Priest.
Exodus 28:1-8
God is talking to Moses about Aaron. Aaron and his sons were to be the priests. Aaron in particular was to be the high priest. This is a type. Everyone who knows Christ as their Saviour can function as a priest.
Aaron was to have glorious and beautiful garments. God told Moses how to dress Aaron because he was going to be in the presence of God ministering for the people. He was to represent the people to God.
Some of Aaron’s clothes were blue. The breastplate was on an ephod, and Aaron wore a mitre on his head. Because he was representing God’s people to God, his garments had to be glorious and beautiful. They were made of blue and purple cloth that was finely made. These garments were made by wise people who had the spirit of wisdom in them.
All the pieces of clothing have a typical meaning. It is a picture of our High Priest. The linen is a type of His humanity when He came in the flesh. The gold shows His perfectness, and the blue is a heavenly colour. When you look at these and the other types we get here, they make a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus.
This is what Aaron wore when he was in the Holy Place, and in the Holy of Holies, in the cloud in God presence. His outfit must have looked beautiful. The camp was certainly not as nice.
This is all a picture to understand our High Priest. The names of the Children of Israel were engraved on the shoulder pieces,representing all the people of the congregation in glory and beauty. That is what the Lord, our Hight Priest, is doing for us right now.
Ephesians 4:1-6
In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul teaches us doctrine; in these last three he will be more practical. We need to be able to sit in our position in the heavenlies, though, before we can walk and stand. We are always sitting, but once we understand that position, we walk and stand in the practical outworking of it. Therefore, Paul besought the Ephesians to walk worthy of their “calling” (Darby Trans.), and prayed that they would be strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man. We need that for our daily walk.
Paul was in prison because he was walking worthy of our calling. He doesn’t command us to walk worthy, but rather quietly beseeches us to. We are seated in the heavenlies with Christ; are we walking—living—worthy of that? Our actions are our responsibility; how do we behave and interact with others? We have been called out of sin, and now must walk in a heavenly way. This is not impossible, because the work for our salvation has already been accomplished. The Spirit can empower us; and if Christ is dwelling in our hearts by faith, obedient walk will flow out.
Verse 2 shows us that we don’t need to be powerful, but rather we need to be meek and lowly, and to forbear one another in love. We need to search our ways; the flesh is selfish, and this is selflessness. Seven qualities are brought out here: lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, love, unity, and peace. It’s like the fruit of the Spirit. The Lord had all these qualities; and we are to be like Him, and have His mind in us. We can do this through the help of the Spirit of God. It’s an exercise.
If we are lowly and meek, it will help with forbearing others; especially if they are walking in lowliness and meekness, too. Still, it’s a challenge for us all.
Verse three is a critical verse to the ground of gathering. What is the unity of the Spirit? That which has been brought together by the Spirit of God. This unity is holy, true—He is the Spirit of both—and divine. We are not called to keep the spirit of unity, but rather the unity of the Spirit. We are not called to keep the unity of the Body, either: it is a unit, and all believers are part of that Body, whether or not they are walking in truth. However, we can’t walk with other believers if they aren’t walking in holiness, truth, and following the Scriptures. Keeping the unity of the Spirit is both a positive action and an exclusive stand. We don’t fight with others, but we can’t walk with them. It’s an individual exercise, but it pertains to the assembly and encompasses so much of our behaviour.
Different things keep us from walking with others. Others have their own organization, unity, and place; and therefore aren’t keeping the unity of the Spirit. They register their buildings and property for monitary and tax reasons. We pay tax, because to register in this way we would have to take a name other than the name of Christ, which would not be keeping the unity of the Spirit.
We need the unity of the Spirit; not the spirit of unity, for we could be united over wrong things! The first believers had all things in common, but it was with the Lord’s mind. As soon as we register to become part of an organization, we leave the truth that we are trying to keep.
This unity of the Spirit is blessed. The Lord gathers His own around Himself, and that’s how we have Him in our midst. Others may register their churches, but that’s only one factor. Are they living by the truth? In holiness? We would love to have larger crowds come, but not if we are not keeping the unity of the Spirit, for then we would lose the One that matters most: the Lord. To be there would be contrary to His person and His truth. You can see, this is a serious Scripture about why we meet as we do!
Hymn 198 – There is a name we love to hear
Prayer