Subject 11 : The Tabernacle
[11-29] The Spiritual Meanings Hidden in the Garments of The High Priest (Exodus 28:1-43)
(Exodus 28:1-43)
“Now
take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children
of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s
sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And you shall make holy
garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. So you shall
speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit
of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that
he may minister to Me as priest. And these are the garments which they
shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a
turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your
brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. They shall
take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, and
they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread,
and fine woven linen, artistically worked. It shall have two shoulder
straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. And
the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the
same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and
fine woven linen. Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on
them the names of the sons of Israel: six of their names on one stone
and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth. With the work
of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall
engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall
set them in settings of gold. And you shall put the two stones on the
shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So
Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders as a
memorial. You shall also make settings of gold, and you shall make two
chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to
the settings. You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically
woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of
gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall
make it. It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length,
and a span shall be its width. And you shall put settings of stones in
it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and
an emerald; this shall be the first row; the second row shall be a
turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; the third row, a jacinth, an
agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a
jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. And the stones shall have
the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like
the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be
according to the twelve tribes. You shall make chains for the
breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. And you shall
make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the
two ends of the breastplate. Then you shall put the two braided chains
of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; and
the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two
settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the
front. You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of
the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the
ephod. And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the
two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the
seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the
breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a
blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod,
and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod. So Aaron
shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of
judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial
before the LORD continually. And you shall put in the breastplate of
judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart
when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the
children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually. You
shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening
for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all
around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does
not tear. And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple,
and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all
around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a
pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon
Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into
the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out, that he may not
die. You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like
the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And you shall put it on
a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of
the turban. So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the
iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all
their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may
be accepted before the LORD. You shall skillfully weave the tunic of
fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you
shall make the sash of woven work. For Aaron’s sons you shall make
tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for
them, for glory and beauty. So you shall put them on Aaron your brother
and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and
sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. And you shall
make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach
from the waist to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons
when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near
the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity
and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after
him.”
The Garments of the High Priest
Today
we will look at the spiritual meanings hidden in the garments of the
High Priest. These garments were to be clothed on Aaron and his sons.
Through the garments of the High Priest we will recognize by faith the
plan of God that has saved us from sin.
God
commanded Moses to consecrate his brother Aaron and Aaron’s sons that
they might minister to God as priests. And God also commanded Moses to
make their garments according to the pattern that He showed him.
In
verse 4, God said, “And these are the garments which they shall make: a
breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a
sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his
sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.”
First
of all, the High Priest had to wear the tunic and the trousers to cover
his nakedness. These garments were made of fine linen thread so that
air would circulate well and therefore prevent him from sweating too
much. The spiritual meaning of this is that the High Priest should cast
aside his own fleshly endeavors, and just serve God according to the
faith and grace He had given him already. The will of God, in other
words, would be fulfilled only when the High Priest cast aside his own
thoughts and devotion of the flesh and just gave the offering of
atonement according to the sacrificial system established by God with
faith. It was with this intention that God made the tunic and the
trousers of the High Priest as such and clothed him with them.
On
top of these garments God then clothed the High Priest with a blue
robe. And on the blue robe, he wore his ephod, and then placed the
breastplate. The breastplate placed on the bosom of the High Priest was
made out of a thick fabric folded double and artistically woven of gold,
blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, and its size was
a span in both its length and width. Twelve precious stones were placed
on this breastplate, and engraved in these precious stones were the
names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
He
then wore the turban made of fine woven linen. And the plate of pure
gold, on which was engraved with the words of “Holiness to the Lord,”
was put on a blue cord attached to the front of the turban. These are
brief descriptions of the garments, turban, and gold plate that the High
Priests wore.
Most
of the garments of the High Priest were made of gold, blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and fine woven linen. And so was the breastplate of the
High Priest. On this breastplate, twelve precious stone were mounted,
and into these stones the names of the twelve tribes of the people of
Israel were engraved.
The
duty of the High Priest entailed the following: He had to take from the
congregation of the children of Israel their sacrificial offerings,
pass their sins onto these offerings by laying his hands on its head as
their representative, kill it, and give the blood of this sacrificial
offerings to God. In other words, the High Priest ministered to remit
the sins of his people by giving the offering according to the law of
God. On behalf of the people of Israel, the High Priest laid his hands
on the head of the sacrificial offering before God, cut its throat and
drew its blood, and put this blood on the horns of the altar of burnt
offering. He then took its blood into the Most Holy and sprinkled it on
and before the mercy seat. Then the dead flesh of the offerings shall be
carried outside the camp to be totally burned up (Leviticus 16:3-28).
This is how the High Priest gave the offering. In this way, by giving
the offering that pleased God, the High Priest fulfilled his role to
placate the wrath of God. The High Priest, in other words, fulfilled the
role of an interceder between his people and God.
Like
this, Jesus the Messiah has become the High Priest of the Kingdom of
Heaven, the Interceder between God and mankind. By receiving His baptism
from John the Baptist through which He took the sins of mankind upon
His body, and by giving up His body on the Cross and being sacrificed,
the Messiah has delivered the entire mankind from sin and death. In the
age of the Old Testament, it was the High Priest who gave the offering
that remitted the sins of his people, but in the age of the New
Testament, it was the Messiah who came by the name of Jesus and
fulfilled the ministry of the everlasting High Priest to blot out all
the sins of the entire mankind (Hebrews, chapters 7-9).
And
in this age of the New Testament, God has assigned the ministry of the
High Priest to the righteous who have been washed of all their sins with
the Truth hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. This is why
the gold plate on the turban of the High Priest was engraved with the
sign, “Holiness to the Lord.” Like this, the garments of the High Priest
clearly demonstrate in detail the gospel that washes away all the sins
of mankind.
The
robe of the High Priest was woven of blue thread. Above all, this blue
robe is related to the baptism that Jesus received. As the High Priest
wore garments that were woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, as
well as gold thread, His garments were magnificent and the four colors
were made clearly visible. At the hem of the blue robe, pomegranates
were woven, with golden bells attached at their sides. Verse 33 in the
main passage says, “And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of
blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between
them all around.” So when the High Priest entered into the Tabernacle
and gave the offering for his people, the people of Israel standing
outside would know that he was giving the offering by hearing the sound
of the bells.
All
these are related to the New Testament’s truth of the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, and they match with each other. What the High
Priest did was cleansing away the sins of the people, and it was to let
us realize the will of God to have him clothed in such garments and to
make him fulfill this duty. In the age of the New Testament, what do the
people of God who are today’s priests do to cleanse others of their
sins? For them to carry out this task, they must first themselves
receive the remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit manifested in the revelation of the blue, purple,
and scarlet thread. Like this, the garments of the High Priest clearly
show us the gospel that cleanses away all our sins.
And
secondly in this present age, we the righteous have to perform our
duties of priesthood to cleanse people’s consciences of their sins and
give them holiness. This is why a gold plate was made for the tunic of
the High Priest and the sign “Holiness to the Lord” was engrave into the
plate.
This
gold plate with the engraved sign of “Holiness to the Lord” was
attached with a blue cord to the turban that the High Priest wore on his
head. People could discern the High Priest at first sight; looking at
his head, they could see the gold plate and the blue cord clearly along
with the gorgeous outer garments made of the blue, purple, scarlet, gold
tread and fine woven linen. This shows us that the High Priest always
did the work of cleansing away sin with the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread.
We Must Obey the Righteous Judgment of God’s Servants
The
High Priest had to bear the names of the sons of Israel on the
breastplate of judgment over his heart when he entered the Holy Place.
Likewise we must also carry in our hearts the souls of the sinners of
the world who seek to receive God, and we must pray for them. God also
told Moses to place two precious stones, called the Urim and the
Thummim, in the breastplate worn by the High Priest. Verse 30 of the
Today’s Scripture reading says, “And you shall put in the breastplate of
judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart
when he goes in before the LORD. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of
the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.”
These
precious stones of the Urim and the Thummim meant literally “light and
perfection.” In other words, God had given a bright heart to the High
Priest in order to judge the people of Israel righteously and correctly.
God had given authority and wisdom to the High Priest so that he might
judge what is right and wrong in the lives of His people. And the High
Priest had the duty to decide what is right and wrong in the spiritual
lives of the Israelites.
Also
in this age, God gives the same ability to each servant of God in order
to judge what is right and what is wrong as well as to discern whether
or not one has received the remission of sins. Within the God-given
ability, His servants make sound judgment on what is the true gospel,
what is the real remission of sin, what is the righteous way that God’s
children should live, and whether anyone is born again or not.
Therefore, all the people of God had to obey his judgments and
leadership. They had to realize that refusing to accept the sound
judgment of the servants of God was the same as refusing to accept the
will of God. So the people of Israel had to yield to the judgment of
God’s servants, like today’s High Priests.
Likewise,
in this present age, God has entrusted the duty of judging “right and
wrong” to His servants. As such, we must respect what the leaders of His
Church are doing and unite our hearts with their works. We must realize
that it is only proper for us to follow their correct judgments and
leadership by faith from the bottom of our hearts. We should not just
think, “He is doing that just because he has been assigned as a High
Priest, but he is the same as us in the end.” Some people might think,
“I don’t like the character of my pastor! His personality is so
overbearing; his decision will also be tyrannical. So although I believe
in the gospel that he is preaching, I cannot agree with the decisions
that he makes in his ways of thinking. I can also have a different
purpose from his.” People may reach wrong conclusions by looking at the
High Priests from their carnal point of view. But such mistaken judgment
must be avoided.
We
must obey the servants of God who believe in the blue, purple, and
scarlet thread as salvation as we obey God. Why? Because their judgment
is not made from their own thoughts, but it is made according to their
faith that pleases God. Put differently, because the judgment of today’s
High Priests is made in the light and truth of God, it is God’s
judgment and His decision. If their decisions are made without any undue
influence from their own small thoughts, but are made based solely on
the Word of God and according to their faith in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, then the judgment that they reach is correct. If such
decisions do not deviate from the Word of God and His will, then we must
believe that their decisions are God’s decisions.
Like
this, the office of the High Priest is critically important for the
people. In this present age as in the age of the Old Testament, the one
who leads the people of God is none other than the High Priest. In
Israel, there was no other king who could lead the nation apart from the
High Priest. Because the political system of Israel was actually
theocratic, its entire population followed the decisions made by the
High Priests. Now in spiritual affairs, the people of God must also
believe in the guidance of the servants whom God has appointed in His
Church as the Word of God and follow it. And the High Priests must
decide everything according to the will of God, all based on His Word
and in His providence.
The
garments of the High Priest give us many lessons indeed. We must first
know the spiritual meanings of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and
the gold thread that were used to make them. We have already learnt the
truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Through the garments of
the High Priest also, God has told us just how necessary and important
the truth hidden in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the faith
that believes in it really are. These treads are the essential raw
materials that show the remission of the sins of the people. That the
Lord came to this earth, was baptized, and shed His blood manifests that
only the gospel of the water and the Spirit remits all the sins of
everyone throughout the whole world. As the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread has taught us that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the
Truth that gives us our perfect atonement, we must all reach the correct
knowledge of its meaning. If we truly know this correctly and believe
in it, then we will be forever cleansed of our sins and receive eternal
life. We must, therefore, have the faith that believes in this clearest
Truth fulfilled by the gospel of the water, the blood, and the Spirit.
We Must Defend Our Faith in the Blue, Purple, and Scarlet Thread
If
we do not truly have such exact knowledge of and unyielding faith in
the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, then we cannot defend the genuine
gospel, and, what is worse, this gospel may even be corrupted. Religions
of this world can change themselves as time passes by. But through the
colors of the garments of the High Priest, God has shown us the absolute
unchanging Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. Through the
garments of the High Priest, through all the utensils found inside the
Tabernacle, and through the pattern of the offerings given in the
Tabernacle as well, God is making the perfect manifestation of His love
and plans for us. As such, we must staunchly defend our faith in this
everlasting Truth that has come to us as the gospel of the blue, purple,
and scarlet thread. What must never change even as times change is our
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This faith is the one
that believes in the eternal salvation manifested in the blue, purple,
and scarlet thread.
How
could we actually let this gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread that we believe in ever change? If God tells us that He has saved
us from sin with the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread,
then this is the truth. In the Old Testament, God blotted out the
iniquities of sinners with both the laying on of hands and the
bloodshed, and today, in this age also, He has fulfilled the perfect
remission of sin for us with both the baptism that Jesus received from
John the Baptist (Matthew 3:15) and His death on the Cross. With the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, God has blotted out the iniquities
of all the sinners of the entire world.
How
reassuring this is! Gold denotes ‘faith’ in the Bible. Therefore, the
gold thread used along with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread for the
garments of the High Priest refers to the indispensability of our faith
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because God has established
the method that blots out all our sins and has not permitted it to
change, even as we face difficult circumstances at times, we are still
at peace. This is also because of the Truth manifested in the blue,
purple, and scarlet thread that God has shown us.
The Waistband of the High Priest
Among
the garments of the High Priest was a waistband. This band, worn by the
High Priest on his ephod, also was made of gold, blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and fine woven linen. The band of the ephod is a symbol
of strength. As the Bible says, “Stand therefore, having girded your
waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”
(Ephesians 6:14) the waistband of the High Priest refers the power that
comes from the faith in the gospel Truth. It tells us, in other words,
that the faith that believes in the Truth of the blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and the fine woven linen enables us to be saved from all
our sins. Hence, it is all futile to believe in other pseudo-gospels
apart from what is manifested here in the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread and the fine woven linen.
Those
who are lacking in the flesh can also be washed from all their sins
perfectly by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given
by the Lord, for the sins of the world were all passed onto Jesus Christ
by the Truth of the remission of sin fulfilled by God (Matthew 3:15;
Leviticus 16:1-22). Therefore, those who believe that the works of Jesus
manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread has saved them can
be reassured even if their flesh and willpower is weak. When we dwell in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ the High
Priest of Heaven has given to us, who shall then separate us from the
love of Christ? His perfect salvation can be ours only when we believe
in the Truth revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the
fine woven linen.
For
the priests to carry out their priestly duties, they must not follow
any other man-made doctrines apart from the sacrificial system shown in
the Tabernacle. Likewise, today’s servants of God should not allow the
different gospels that deviate from the true gospel to take root into
the lost souls (Galatians 1:6, 9). Those who preach such pseudo-gospels,
no matter how well they give their sermons, cannot offer any help to
the lost souls for they do not bear correct witness to God’s gospel of
the water and the Spirit which is manifested in the Tabernacle. They are
swindlers and false teachers. When it comes to believing in Jesus
Christ the High Priest of Heaven as our Savior, we cannot fail to
acknowledge the sacrificial system of the laying on of hands and the
bloodshed manifested in the Tabernacle system. We must realize that
there are many pseudo-gospels in this world. Also, no matter who is
preaching the gospel, if anyone is preaching the Truth of the gospel of
the water and the Spirit based on the Word of God, we must then hear and
believe.
One
of the reasons why today’s Christianity has so many problems is because
there are so many spiritual swindlers claiming to be fulfilling their
priestly duties well even as they do not know the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. The first step to become the true priests before God is
to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only those who
have this faith can give proper offerings to God. Like this, those who
know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are able to
truly love everyone. What do you think God’s Church exists for? I can
say to you that God’s Church exists to spread the gospel of the water
and the Spirit to sinners.
When
we believe wholeheartedly in the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread revealed in the Bible, we will be saved from our sin and become
sinless. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, true
peace is found in our hearts, and because we live in this peace, we can
never depart from God. We believe in the perfect gospel, live by faith,
and then we will enter the Kingdom of the Lord and live in it. Our Lord
has led us to peace, and by leading all the people of the world to God,
just as the golden plate on the front of the High Priest’s turban
engraved, “Holiness to the Lord,” He illuminates them with the true
light of the remission of sins. God has therefore entrusted us with the
works that enable them to also receive the remission of their sins. God
has entrusted those of us who believe in the gospel of the blue, purple,
and scarlet thread with the same duties of the priests of the Old
Testament.
We
are so thankful to God for allowing us to do such precious works in His
perfect light of truth. When I first heard this gospel Word from God I
was overwhelmed with joy. And while I read the Bible, this gospel came
across so clearly. After then my spiritual eyes were opened, and the
Holy Spirit in me has taught the Word of God to me in detail. I came to
know that all the passages of the Bible clearly witness that the gospel
of the water and the Spirit is the only true gospel that God gave to us.
In the age of the Old Testament, this gospel was manifested as the
blue, purple, and scarlet thread. In the age of the New Testament as
well, all the Apostles and the Bible writers told us that Jesus had
received the baptism and shed His blood to perfectly save us from sin.
For us to wear the tunic of salvation, we must believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit; it is not by giving our prayers of repentant
that we can receive the remission of sin from the Lord. The gospel of
the water and the Spirit is the only true and perfect gospel.
The
High Priest had to wear the garments that were made deliberately as God
had ordered. If the High Priest, bothered by the cold wind, had thought
that there was no need for him to wear the tunic that God had made for
him and instead put on another thick tunic arbitrarily, he would have
been put to death immediately. If the High Priest had entered into the
Most Holy Place wearing only the tunic made of just fine woven linen,
then he would also have been killed. He had to wear the blue robe and
the ephod woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
When
we follow exactly the way God has planned, the Lord walks before us,
leads us, and works in everything of our lives. God planned to send the
Messiah for us and He has also revealed this plan to us. If we believe
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and follow God’s plan, He will
work in our lives. This is why it is not by some acts on our part that
we can receive the remission of sin, but it is by believing in God’s
plan of salvation manifested in the gold, blue, purple and scarlet
thread used for the garments of the High Priest that we must receive the
remission of our sins.
What
we the priests of God must do is to believe in what God has planned for
us and follow it accordingly. This is the genuine faith. Serving God by
making all kinds of petty plans of our own is not the proper faith in
God. When it comes to our efforts to spread the gospel of the water and
the Spirit overseas, this too, is not achieved by doing something
particular through our own man-made schemes and devices, but it is
achieved by His help that is given to His people through their faith.
This is the will of God. When we do something with faith, then the rest
is taken care of by God. When we know the will of God and spread the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, God touches the hearts of those who
read our books, brings them to their awakening, makes them believe in
this gospel of the water and the Spirit, and corrects their mistaken
thoughts so that they may believe. And they, in turn, also come to
spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
To Spread the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit, We Had to First Believe in It Wholeheartedly
I
said the spreading of the true gospel is not achieved by us doing
something somehow, but it is achieved only when we serve it by faith in
unison with the will of God. It is not by our own efforts and devotion
that souls are converted, but it is when we seek God’s will by believing
in His works and the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the
providence of God is fulfilled. It is by faith that we must serve the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. In this present age also, we need
the same faith as that of the Old Testament’s time. Now in this age, as
before, the children of God must spread the faith of the blue, purple,
and scarlet thread.
We
must believe in and spread the scarlet thread as well as the purple
thread, but we must first know what is manifested in the blue thread
first—that is, the baptism that Jesus the Messiah received. When we
spread the truth of the blue thread to the lost, we find that they can
understand the whole picture of the Truth more easily and have faith in
it confidently. Why? It is because Jesus the Messiah took upon the sins
of the entire mankind onto His body by being baptized. When people, by
believing in the baptism of Jesus, come to know that Jesus has washed
away all their sins, they then inevitably come to acknowledge that He
also died on the Cross to pay off all their sins. In other words, people
come to believe in the scarlet and purple thread only when they know
and believe in the mystery of the baptism that Jesus the Messiah, the
real substance of the blue thread, received from John the Baptist. They
come to truly realize, “Ah, He took upon all our sins by being baptized.
Jesus Christ is the true God and the Savior of all mankind. This is the
very Truth!”
To
many people, the faith of the purple thread, that Jesus is God Himself,
is realized afterwards. From the moment we began believing in Jesus as
the Savior, we had professed, “Jesus is the absolute God,” but this was
merely an abstract conception. It was only later when we came to have
such concrete faith in our hearts. When we receive the remission of sin
by believing in the baptism and blood of Jesus, then we came to have
such faith that Jesus is God Himself, the living One who helps us and
works in our lives, and our faith in Jesus gradually grows. As such, for
people to receive the remission of sin, they must believe in the gospel
of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread set by God.
What Must Today’s Priests Serve?
What
did the High Priests do in the Tabernacle? What did they reveal through
the sacrificial system? They manifested the truth that the Messiah
would blot out all our sins with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread.
The servants of God in this age also should succeed to such duty and
ministry. They are blotting out the sins of people with the gospel of
the water and the Spirit.
Countless
people try to put together their own version of gospel. Such a gospel
can neither be biblically sound, nor save anyone at all. They are
experts at borrowing man-made doctrines from here and there and fitting
them together. But the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not
something that has been made by fitting various Christian doctrines
together.
It
is by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that people
receive the remission of sin without fail. The Word, in other words, is
the only benchmark of salvation. Washing away people’s sins is only
achieved according to the standard set by God. This standard is the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Outside the true gospel of salvation
no one can be remitted of his or her sins and receive holiness. To be
washed of all sins before God and receive holiness is possible only by
believing in Jesus who came by the baptism in the Jordan River and the
blood of the Cross as the Savior. For people to be remitted from all
their sins, they have to believe in Jesus Christ who came by the blue,
purple, and scarlet thread as the Savior exactly like this. There is no
other way for them to receive the remission of sins.
And
the servants of God who have become His priests must believe in the
genuine gospel made of the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread used
for the garments of the High Priest. If they do not believe in this
Truth, they cannot then be qualified as His servants. They are merely
the religionists of the world. Of the countless religions of the world,
they are only serving their own respective religions devised by
borrowing only the name of Jesus. The real servants of God must have the
faith that believes in Jesus Christ who came by the water, the blood,
and the Spirit as the Savior. Therefore, they should testify His baptism
to make their correct faith explicitly manifest and shine God’s light
of Truth clearly. Only those who do so are the servants of God and the
ones who have been saved before Him.
Those
who leave out the baptism of Jesus, His Cross, or the fact that He is
God Himself, as well as those who preach such knowledge only as a matter
of theory without faith, are the servants of the Devil who have nothing
to do with God.
Today,
there are countless “so-called Evangelicals” in this world. They claim
that whoever believes in Jesus can be cleansed of all their sins by
faith, and thus become sinless. At first, I thought they were also
preaching the Truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, but in time
I came to realize that this was not the case. They are not preaching
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, thinking and believing that the
doctrines made up from their own thoughts were of the true gospel.
Although they call themselves “Evangelicals,” they only pursue their own
selfish and earthly welfare, whose only objective is to satisfy their
own desires.
There
are many so-called Priests even now on this earth. But why do they
refuse to accept the true gospel that can enable them to become really
holy? Fundamentalists are proud of their confidence in the Word itself.
But the fact is that even such people are not the conservatives
actually. When the Word clearly manifests the gospel of the water and
the Spirit, why do they leave out the baptism of Jesus from their faith?
Remember that Nadab and Abihu died when they offered profane fire
before the Lord God. When these priests did not give the offering
according to the way that God set for them, fire came out of God and
burnt them to death (Numbers 26:61).
The
High Priest was put to death if he did not wear even his tunic as set
by God (verse 43). No matter how diligently sinners bring the blood of
their sacrificial offerings into the Tabernacle, it means nothing unless
they had first laid their hands on the animals’ heads. Without this
faith that believes in this laying on of hands, through which they had
confessed their iniquities and passed them onto their offerings, their
faith is futile regardless of how much they might have believed in its
blood. No matter how frequently the High Priests brought the blood,
lifted up the veil, entered into the Most Holy, and sprinkled the blood
on its mercy seat, if they did not come in by wearing the “blue” tunic
set by God, they would then be put to death. Therefore, all the
sectarians must throw away their old ways of faith and return to the
true gospel that can lead them into “light and perfection,” that is,
“the Urim and the Thummim” (Exodus 28:30).
God
is pleased by those who, though insufficient, believe and follow His
Word and His will. This is why God has called us who believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. And God has entrusted us with the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. When we unite together and spread
the gospel by faith, God allows us to carry out marvelous works
continually.
We
believe that the providence of God will soon be wholly fulfilled.
Truly, we are really happy before God. In our flesh, we have many
shortcomings. I think I am the worst of all. If I confess myself frankly
before you, my face would turn all red because of so many shortcomings
in my human side. My insufficiencies are not temporal. As time goes by,
the more I serve the gospel, the more I realize just how insufficient I
am before God. And looking at our co-workers, I see that they are also
insufficient like me, but thanks to the grace of God we all still serve
the gospel. God has made us believe that He works in us, so that we may
serve and follow Him by believing in the gospel of God and His plans.
It
is through us, who are insufficient, that our Lord is glorified. The
more we are insufficient, the more the gospel of the water and the
Spirit shines in our hearts—it is because of this that God is glorified.
When we recognize ourselves to be blameless and the more boastful we
become, God then begins to feel uncomfortable. This is the will of God
who wants to receive praise through us, the insufficient.
You
and I are so insufficient. Just how insufficient are we? Beyond all
description! However, everyone feels his or her own insufficiencies
differently, as the depths of the ocean or the river are different from
that of a washbasin. Those who truly know that they are immeasurably
insufficient love the Lord more, for they know that they had been
enormously indebted to the Lord. Those who are well aware of their
insufficiencies and believe that their immense debts have been written
off are bound to love the Lord much more. This is why they cherish the
Lord’s gospel more, taking so much greater pride in it and following it
even more. But those who do not know their own insufficiencies love the
Lord less, for they think that the debts that have been remitted were
only small and that the Lord expects too much from them just for writing
off such small debts.
How
then can these people who know very little of their shortcomings come
to realize just how great their insufficiencies actually are? This
cannot be forced upon them. But as they serve the gospel by believing
that it is God’s will for them to serve it even though they are
insufficient, their shortcomings will be revealed more in time, and the
more they are revealed, the deeper their love of God will become.
It
is of no use for us to know our insufficiencies only theoretically. We
can only recognize our insufficiencies when we face hard times while
trying to serve the gospel actually. This is why the more we serve the
Lord, the more precious He becomes to us. It is because of the Lord that
we can be bold, and it is because of Him that we are glorified. We can
live by faith and devote ourselves to the blessed works because of the
Lord. Were it not for the Lord, you and I would be nothing.
John
the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
God has given us the remission of sin and the blessed opportunities of
serving this gospel. Our existence is only to be used as instruments to
spread the gospel, and the Lord alone is the One who is to receive
glory. The fact that the Lord uses us as such instruments is in itself
something to be extremely grateful for.
We
give our sincere thanks to God for giving us this blessing of carrying
out the duties of the High Priest. Jesus is the heavenly High Priest for
us and the Great Shepherd. His servants are small shepherds. You and I
have become the small shepherds who follow after what the Great Shepherd
has done for us. You and I must believe in the Word of God exactly as
it is, act according to the Word as it is, and follow it as it is
written. We must serve exactly as the Lord has done. We must imitate
exactly as the Lord has done, believe and follow Him accordingly. What
we must do is to believe and follow as He has commanded us and planned
for us, and to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The right
faith before God is to accept His Word in its purity and preach the
gospel of the water and the Spirit by believing in it.
We give our wholehearted thanks to our Lord who has become our own High Priest.
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