Exodus Chapter 28 Verse 1

• Ok, literally so much just happened just in verse 1! First, God instructs Moses to “take” Aaron…that is significant for two critical reasons that I see. First, the High Priest is taken from among the people to represent the people.  An angel cannot stand in front of God representing mankind…  Only mankind can represent mankind and therefore, in that one factual statement, Mormonism is defeated, JW-ism is defeated, Seventh Day Adventism is defeated and and and…condemnation/accusation by the enemy against me is defeated! 
• Revelation 12:10 says that Satan stands as our accuser before God day and night and yet he cannot represent me…he is defeated. And yet there is One, only One, that not only is qualified as God to sit upon the throne of Heaven but also is fully qualified to represent me and you and all of mankind as High Priest forever!  Mediating between God and man…because only in Biblical Christianity does the High Priest of eternity come from among the people to represent the people.  For unto us a Child is born, a Son is given and the government will be upon His shoulders!  (Isaiah 9:6)
• Second critical thing to understand from what we just read is that the only Man to earn the Priesthood was Jesus. Aaron earned squat!  But because of the blood of Jesus, because of His sacrifice, because of His accomplishment, Revelation 1:5-6 says, “Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler over the kings of the earth.  To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen!”  The Bible calls you and me, and everyone who is in Christ today, kings and priests…
• And so this priesthood that we now have because of Christ is just that, not earned, just as Aaron did not earn the position he held for the Lord either, rather he was taken…just as we have been taken out of the grip of the flesh, sin, the devil and death and now are seated in the finished work of Jesus as priests forever. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who call you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  How do you enter that priesthood now?  Just like the line of Aaron…you’re born into it…
• Ok so I said two but there’s really more, I just didn’t want to scare you. HA! Aaron is spoken of and is taken but so are his sons but then look at the middle of verse 1, “that HE may minister to Me.”  I just want you to see this…Aaron is responsible for his sons…God doesn’t call them out separately…Aaron is the High Priest and therefore he is responsible for the priests…just as Jesus, (and I take great comfort in this), is responsible for me, this church, my ministry, my teaching…He has assumed responsibility for His children and that includes you if you have chosen Him!
• Also, anyone know anything about Nadab and Abihu? Things don’t turn out well for them at all, do they?  They would later end up arrogantly disobeying God’s ordinance laid out for them specifically and because of it, they would both die…BUT…here they are, called forth as priests.  Why?  Do you think God knew what would happen?  But, here’s the thing…two things actually…God is indeed the God of all time and yet He is also the God of the present.  I know that it is by grace alone that I stand…and tomorrow, well, all of us are one horrible decision away from losing it all…and just because God uses me now doesn’t mean that I have arrived…or anyone else for that matter.  Day by day…tomorrow, the day after the church hits 500 people, a thousand people, a million people…the day after a Harvest Crusade…the day after 3000 souls get added to the church, I still, day by day must choose to obey God and follow Him.  Just because He uses me today does not guarantee I am usable tomorrow…
• One more thing about this Aaron and his sons being referred to as one…unity is essential in ministry. John 17:23 says, “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”  That tells us three things about ministry.  1) We are incomplete on our own.  No public ministry can be rightly accomplished by one person. It’s just not God’s design. 2) Our witness is ONLY in unity with one another.  No unity, no witness. 3) God’s love is shared to others through unity.  And so, in the ministry we must as a ministry team and as a church among churches, as Ephesians 4:3 says, endeavor/strive/fight to keep unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is no ministry without unity.
• Look at this final thing…man there is almost a whole teaching just in the first verse, Aaron is a minister of the people, taken from the people, unto God. The ministry is unto the Lord! Aaron is to minister to the people, serve the people and represent the people, but why?  Simply because, and this is the reason for ALL ministry, simply because God desires relationship with His creation.  That is the only reason, cause and goal for ANY ministry.

Exodus Chapter 28 Verses 2 – 4

• Three times in four verses, I just want to point this out, we are taught, we are reminded and it is made clear that ministry is unto the Lord.
• Each one of these garments of the high priest will be described in detail in the remainder of this chapter but notice that God says to Moses, find gifted artisans and God fills them with the spirit of wisdom. What a gift to have a talent, but give it to the Lord…use it in the service of God….and there is a wisdom that God adds to your talent.
• And I love that the garments of the High Priest are for glory and for beauty, which I have endeavored to continue on…HA! But if you think about what people in the so-called priesthood wear now…all black typically…my how we have departed from the glory and beauty that the priesthood once was.

Exodus Chapter 28 Verses 5 – 6

• An Ephod is something like a sleeveless shawl. It would be over the robes of the High Priest.  And notice it is to be made out of the same materials and colors of the Tabernacle itself.  Why?  Because you cannot separate the High Priest from the Tabernacle.  Just as you cannot separate Jesus from the church.  The church is His children, His bride, His body…you can’t say, “I’ll have Jesus,” but then say, “I’ll not have the church.”
• Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “On this rock I will build MY church.” Ephesians 5:23, Paul wrote, “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church.”  Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”  Look, I’m not saying that the church is perfect like Jesus…we’re a mess!  As a whole…definitely a mess…but we belong to Him and if you want to be near to Jesus you have to be part of the church.  Revelation Chapter 2, John sees Jesus where?  Verse 1, in the “Midst of the seven golden lampstands.” Who does Jesus talk to in Revelation 2 and 3?  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
• It’s easy to love Jesus and not so easy to love the church…I get it…but we are His bride. Hey Matt, I love you man…you’re awesome…but I don’t ever want to be around April.  Good LUCK with being near to me!?  In fact, you just made you my enemy because April and I are ONE!  Hey Matt, you’re awesome man…looking good…but your kids….they remind me of my Korean friend…Ugh Lee!  HA!!  We got issues!!  Hey Matt, you’re awesome man…but your body is YUCK.  Yea, we aren’t going to be friends, HA!!  We are the bride of Christ.  The Children of Christ and the Body of Christ…you cannot have Christ without the church, sorry.
• I want you to know one of the most obvious and ridiculous strategies of the enemy and of the flesh is to turn someone sour towards the church…but the truth is…if you turn against the church, you turn against Christ.  That love your enemy stuff, He meant that…you come against the Spirit of the taking up your cross and following after Him…and that unity of Jesus with the church is seen in the garments of the High Priest being the same color, the same fabric of the Tabernacle itself. 

Exodus Chapter 28 Verses 7 – 14

• The High Priest bears the name of others. This is why he exists, number one, but also, this is the definition of ministry to God.  The definition of love is to seek the preference and well-being of another.  If you are not walking in love then you are not ministering unto God…its impossible that you are serving God who Himself is love.  And yet folks serve all the time at the church…all the time doing things for others…but its not ministry.  No one can serve two masters…you’ll end up hating one and loving the other…hating the church and loving your own righteousness…the priests bear the names of others before God and that is the only ministry unto Him.  It’s the aroma of Christ. It’s even His heart tonight…