I invite you to turn with me to the prophecy of Zechariah. As we read together and consider together one of the visions the Lord shows to Zechariah, chapter 3. Zechariah, chapter 3. Beloved, hear now the word of the Lord. Then he, that is the Lord, showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, Take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you. Then I said, put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua. This is what the Lord Almighty says. If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts. and I will give you a place among these standing here. Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come. I am going to bring my servant the branch. See the stone I have set in front of Joshua? There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord Almighty, and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. In that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree, declares the Lord Almighty. Beloved of Christ the Lord, we all know that there's something about a new suit or a new dress, a new change of clothes that makes us feel good, isn't there? Boys and girls, no doubt you are thrilled when you get a new pair of shoes or a new jacket and you simply can't wait to show your friends your new clothes, your new outfit. But you see, there's one new change of clothes that is far more wonderful, it's far more glorious than absolutely anything else. Anything that's in your closet today, anything that you can purchase off the shelf, off the rack at a department store. Nothing. Nothing can compare with the garment put on God's children, the garment put on those born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Boys and girls, you cannot buy these clothes at Kohl's or J.C. Penney. You won't find them at any other department store. These clothes aren't made of wool or cotton or a polyester blend or any other sort of physical material. The most glorious garment in which believers are dressed is the spotless, stain-free and stain-resistant, will-not-wear-out robe of the righteousness of Christ. In Revelation chapter 7, this robe is described as white, pure white. This robe is the gift of God's grace put on His children, put on those who cannot clothe themselves. You see, this is the comforting picture given in this vision to Zechariah in this third chapter. We might call it the portrait of God's cleansing grace. And this portrait, as we gaze at it, this portrait includes the courtroom setting. It includes the surprising ceremony. And it includes the abiding significant. What we find here, you might say, are things that movies are made of. There's a plot. There's an unexpected turn of events. There is a happily ever after, at least for some. This vision opens with a courtroom setting in progress. Verse 1 and verse 3, Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. Now this courtroom setting, which includes a judge, it includes a defendant, it includes a prosecuting attorney, this courtroom setting must be seen in the context of the return of many of the captivities from the Babylonian captivity. God had brought them back to the land that He had given to their forefathers and rebuilding was taking place. In fact, this Joshua, who was a high priest, along with Zerubbabel, began to continue rebuilding the temple of the Lord. I say that that way for a purpose. That rebuilding had been started, but then because of opposition, the rebuilding had stopped for about 14 years, and now they began to continue that rebuilding. And by rebuilding the temple of the Lord, they were working to restore the religious life of the people. But the work was interrupted again by their disgruntled neighbors. And by the time King Darius of Persia verified that his predecessor, King Cyrus, had ordered this rebuilding, God's people had lost heart. They had lost hope, thinking that very possibly God was not with them in this particular task. They needed encouragement. which the Lord gives them through all of Zechariah's visions. Zechariah prophesies in his prophecy of the comfort of God's plan for a future for His people. But with this particular vision before us tonight, it's clear that the nation is in need of cleansing. You see, even before being sent into captivity, Israel was deeply involved in idol worship and in paganism. It had become a way of life for them. And after 70 years in captivity, they were no longer worshipping idols, yet their gross sin had left them in a bad, bad shape. It had left them spiritually weak. And this was even true of the priesthood. This is evident in Ezra 10, verse 18, where we are told that even the sons of Joshua, the high priest, had taken pagan wives, unbelieving wives. You see, beloved, the high priest represented the entire priesthood. And the priesthood, in turn, represented all of the people, all of God's nation, His congregation, in their religious life. And the truth was, their religious life was a mess. It was in a shambles because of sin. And Joshua, the high priest, dressed in filthy clothes, represented this. He not only represented the priesthood, but also all the people. And these filthy clothes represent the stain of sin and guilt. And as we know, this is the teaching of Scripture, that sin and its stain are compared to filthy rags. Isaiah says in Isaiah 64, verse 6, But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags. Now we need to understand here with this vision that this isn't talking about worn out clothes. It's not talking about old clothes, but it's talking about filthy, dirty clothes in comparison to clean, spotless clothes. Joshua the high priest represents God's people who were called to be a kingdom of priests. They were called to offer themselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. They were called to be a showcase to the nations around them of God's mercy and grace upon them. As well as the kingdom of priests, they were called to uphold each other before God to pray for one another. But the character of Israel's holiness and priestlyness was violated by her guilt and sin. And therefore, in this courtroom setting, as Joshua the high priest, dressed in filthy clothes as he stands before the angel of the Lord, there's another standing there. Satan is also standing there at his right hand, as the text says, to accuse him. Satan stands there before the judge as the prosecuting attorney, accusing Joshua, and therefore all of God's people, of being unfaithful, sinful, guilty, unworthy of any leniency whatsoever, and only worthy of punishment. Throw the book at them. Give them everything you've got. But notice something here. Notice Satan's rather ingenious plan. You see, Joshua the high priest, standing before the Lord, is to remind us of the most important day and ceremony in the religious life of the Old Testament church. We were reminded of it this morning. The Day of Atonement. On that day, which came only one time each year, the high priest would enter into the most holy place, the Holy of Holies, behind the curtain where the Ark of the Covenant could be found with the mercy seat of God to enter into the very presence of God. And there, in that holy place, in the presence of God, the high priest, fulfilling his most important function as a mediator for the people to God, as a go-between the one who tried to bring God and the people together. He would go to God on behalf of the people. He would sacrifice unto the Lord for the people, confessing the sins of the people, laying those sins, as it were, on the head of the scapegoat. And with a sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat, He made atonement for the sins of the people of the entire nation. And through this, peace and fellowship were restored to the people with God. And the cause of their separation and alienation with God, namely their sin, was symbolically removed. That day of atonement, beloved, is explained in Leviticus chapter 16. I encourage you in the next day, maybe even tonight, to read Leviticus 16. But we also read there in that chapter in verse 4 about the importance of the high priest's clothing. He is to put on the sacred linen tunic with the linen undergarments next to his body. He is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. The high priest, Even though sinful himself, and even though making a sacrifice of atonement for his own sins too, he was to be a symbol of the holiness and the purity that is required to come before the Holy One. So do you see what Satan is trying to do here? Do you understand his accusation? His accusation is against all of God's people, to be sure, as represented by Joshua, but also against the priesthood, those who were to represent the holiness of Israel. But ultimately, he goes right to the top as his accusation was against the high priest himself, the one ordained and anointed by God to that office. The one who was to mediate for the people through sacrifice and intercession. Satan hoped to disqualify the high priest for his own sin. And that would be like a domino effect. He would also incriminate the priesthood, which would also incriminate the whole nation. And by doing this, he would be successful in wiping out the high priesthood. And therefore, there would be no one to mediate for God's people. There would be no one to sacrifice the sacrifice of atonement on their behalf. There would be no one to intercede for them because no man is without sin. And they would be lost in hopelessness with no means of being reconciled, brought back into favor with God. But praise be to God, the Lord Himself intervenes on Joshua's behalf. In verse 2 we read, The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now, Scripture shows us that God's rebuke is a powerful rebuke. Psalm 76, verse 6 says, At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and the horse were cast into a deep sleep. Psalm 80, verse 16 says, They perish at the rebuke of your countenance. As well, we know that Satan could not stand up against the rebuke of Jesus when he said, get behind me, Satan. The evil spirits could not resist him as Jesus would cast them out of people and send them fleeing. When the Lord rebukes Satan here, he is, in a sense, wiping him and his accusation completely away as if to say, Satan, you have no leg to stand on. Why? Because I, the Lord, have chosen Jerusalem. I have snatched this burning stick from the fire. Boys and girls, that's how fragile we are. We are sticks in a fire. A stick in a fire doesn't have a whole lot of hope, does it? If the fire gets at it, it will burn quickly and it will be nothing but ashes. That's how fragile we are because of our sin and misery. This one is snatched from the fire, spared. Joshua and the people are acquitted. The charges were dropped. Not because Satan's accusation is false. Not because they are sin and guilt free. Indeed, they are sheep that have lost their way, that have gone their own way. Not because they are worthy are they acquitted, but because of God's electing grace. God had refined His people in the fire of captivity, yet He rescued them from complete destruction. And although her sin was not yet wiped away, the Lord Himself would cleanse His chosen nation and make it a holy and a glorious nation. Beloved, with the courtroom setting of this vision, the Lord, through Zechariah, is teaching the remnant of Israel as well as all believers from every age, including you and me. He is teaching us that our contest is not with any particular nation or with any particular people, but our contest is with Satan. He is our spiritual enemy. Young people, he hates you. Satan wants you to think that he loves you, that he has your best interest in mind, that he has your best for this life, your enjoyment in mind. But he hates you. He is the one who seeks to accuse us unto eternal death. That's what Paul says in Ephesians 6, verse 10, describing whom our contest is with. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And one thing that we must make no mistake about, beloved, is that Satan is not short of evidence against us. We're not sitting on the fence, as it were. The evidence is piled high. If an attorney was to walk into a courtroom, he wouldn't be able to carry the files of evidence against you and me. Apart from Jesus Christ, we are guilty. We are clothed with the filthy clothes of sin. But the Lord is also teaching His children here that there is a remedy. The Lord Himself stands to defend His children, those whom He has called to be a kingdom of priests, those whom He has called to stand before Him in righteousness and holiness. God has elected from before the foundation of the world a people to be holy and blameless before Him, a people for whom in all of life God's will and God's glory would be their desire and be their delight. Ask yourself that. Is God's will my glory and my delight? These He has determined to snatch from the fire of sin, Satan, and eternal death. You see, no one can make an accusation against His chosen people. Why? Because of what the Lord does for them. Paul says in Romans 8, who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is He who condemns? And the expected answer to these questions is that no one, not even Satan, can bring a charge against or condemn God's elect with a charge that will stick because God justifies His people. God is the one who makes your state and mine as if we had never sinned. We see this in this vision in his surprising cleansing ceremony of Joshua. Verses 4 and 5, The angel said to those who were standing before him, Take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you. Then I said, Put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by. Notice the attending angels are told by the Lord to remove Joshua's filthy clothes. Joshua isn't told to take them off himself. The angels are told to take them off. No one, not even the high priest, could remove his own sin. No one, not one of us, can pay the debt of his sin or cleanse himself from the guilt of sin. The catechism is absolutely correct when it says we daily increase our debt, even as believers. As those born again by the blood of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit. Sad to say that's true of you and me as well. If you don't believe it, then take some time at the end of each day and reflect back. Think back over the day how you may have talked back to your parents. Or how you may have said a nasty word to or had an evil thought about someone else. Or how you may have committed adultery or murder in your heart. Or how you may have told a little white lie to make a customer or your teacher happy. Or, and you can fill in the blank, yet our comfort here is that just as Joshua the high priest who was to wash himself, and who was to put on all these clean clothes in order to stand before God on behalf of the people, just as in this vision he stood before God in filthy clothes and God did not cast him away, our comfort is that even though our sins testify against us every day, and even though we offend our holy God every day, yet He still allows us to come to Him every day pleading for His mercy. for Jesus' sake. Why? Because ultimately, He has removed all of our filthy clothes of sin. That's what the text says. That's what the Lord Himself says when He explains what this removal of filthy clothes means. He says, See, I have taken away your sin. That's the most glorious word from the Lord about the forgiveness of sins and the removal of the guilt of sin. He has taken away our sin. But guess what? There's more. We might say, well, what more could there be? That's enough, isn't it? That's great. But there's more. The Lord replaces the filthy clothes with rich garments. These were garments that were reserved for special occasions and special honor. Young people, a Christmas dinner. When you buy a new gown and you rent a nice tux or a junior-senior banquet or the new garments for a wedding ceremony or the garments reserved for a special occasion like meeting the president or a king or a queen. These are garments, you see, that symbolize glory. These garments symbolize the white robes of the righteousness of Christ. They symbolize that one is cleansed from sin, justified by the pardoning and cleansing grace of God with the promise, the guaranteed promise of sanctified being completely cleansed one day in glory. This surprising ceremony, and I call it surprising because no doubt to Joshua it was a surprise. And in a sense it ought to be a surprise to you and me because we do not in any way deserve such mercy and grace from our God. This surprising ceremony is what we call imputation. Imputation sounds like kind of a rough word, but it's a beautiful word. Using the symbolism of clothing, it's exactly this. God takes off of us our filthy clothes, which represents sin and wickedness, and He takes the glorious garment of Christ, which is His righteousness, us, and He puts it on us. And it fits each one of us perfectly. He makes it our very own through the gift of faith. You see, we can't take off the old, nor can we put on the new. We are totally dependent upon the grace of God. But what an awesome promise to His people here you see you see beloved the Lord despises Joshua's filthy clothes he hates Joshua's sin he hates your sin he hates my sin but he didn't put Joshua away he put the clothes away God separates his children from their sin he prevents their sin from eternally separating them from God. Our comfort, beloved, is that God reconciles Himself to the chosen sinner, but not to His sin. As the Bible clearly teaches, God removes our iniquity as far as the east is from the west. He remembers our sin no more. He will no longer hold it against us. He will never again, beloved, stick our sin in our face and say, remember when you did this to me instead he removes it and he covers the shame of our nakedness with new clothes now we must not overlook the new turban given to joshua here this was an extremely important part of the high priest clothing in exodus 28 verses 36 to 38 we read 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. Holiness to the Lord on his forehead. Joshua is given a new turban. Congregation, simply put, this means that Joshua and the high priesthood he represents were fully restored by God. Completely restored to office. God cleansed him and he was restored to represent the people before God. To bear the guilt of the people in the most holy place. That they too might be cleansed through the sacrifice of atonement offered by the high priest. And notice the charge given to Joshua and the priesthood in verses 6 and 7. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua. This is what the Lord Almighty says. If you will walk in My ways and keep My requirements, then you will govern My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. You see, this is a call to new obedience. This is a call to the priesthood to represent, to reflect the goodness of God in holiness and righteousness, to demonstrate for the people, to be examples for the people they led of how to keep the commandments. Every aspect of their lives must demonstrate obedience and love to God for His cleansing work. As well, they were charged to be faithful in the carrying out of their priestly duties, which included, as Paul says in Acts 20, verse 28, taking heed to all the flock. And the promise to them would be that the priesthood would continue as they represent the voice of God, upholding and promoting righteousness in His house, maintaining oversight in the temple courts, and maintaining the good order of worship. In other words, beloved, all of God's precious gifts that are given to you and me today as well are given to serve the purpose of His glory and His worship. And His forgiving grace promises believers free access to His throne. And as the Lord symbolically restores the priesthood in the life of Israel, at this point in history, He then goes on to tell how important their task is as He explains the abiding significance of all of this. In verse 8, the Lord, speaking to Joshua the high priest and his associates sitting in front of him, no doubt referring to the priesthood, says, they are men symbolic of things to come. I am going to bring my servant the branch. Very simply, we know from the teaching of Scripture this is a clear reference to Jesus Christ. Zechariah refers to the branch again in chapter 6, Isaiah in chapter 4, and Isaiah in chapter 11 says, shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And along with this, in Revelation 22, verse 16, we read, I, Jesus, am the root of the offspring of David. The stem of Jesse is talking about the humiliation of David's house being cut down. The majority of the tribes being stripped from David's line because of their sin and wickedness. But it wasn't altogether dead. God promised there would always be a son of David onto the throne. And indeed, a stem grows, as it were, and becomes a branch. The branch begins in humiliation and it grows to exaltation and glory. This is a picture of Jesus Christ and His states of humiliation and exaltation, which we professed earlier. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. His humiliation and His exaltation. He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, and shall come again to judge the living and the dead. But the priests and their priestly work pointed forward to this branch. Their work of mediation, of going to God on behalf of the people with sacrifices and prayers of intercessions were shadows of the work of Jesus Christ, and that's why their task was so important. But Jesus is also referred to as the stone. Again, in Scripture, He is the cornerstone the builders rejected. Many would reject Him. Many reject Him today. All those who reject Him will be crushed by this stone. Yet God engraves an inscription on this stone, which means this stone is set apart as a precious, as a costly stone. It is a worthy stone because on it and it alone, the house of God, the church of Jesus Christ, and our salvation rests on this stone alone. Now what does it mean that there are seven eyes on that one stone? Does it mean that the stone has seven eyes? If that's what it means, then it most likely is referring to the fact that Jesus Christ is filled with the fullness of the Spirit with wisdom and honor and might. In Revelation chapter 1, we read about the seven spirits who are before His throne pointing to the fullness, the divinity of the Spirit. Or does it mean that this stone is being looked upon by seven eyes? If that's it, then it may refer to Zechariah 4 verse 10 where he speaks of the seven eyes of the Lord which range throughout the earth. Or does it mean that the eyes of all of God's people look expectantly upon the Messiah? I don't know. I simply don't know. There are good arguments for each one of those things. And each one of them makes sense. It's hard to know for sure. But we do know from this text that the branch's purpose will be to remove the sin of this land in a single day. Do you hear the words Good Friday there? Remove the sin of this land in a single day. Pointing ultimately to when Jesus Christ comes again. The second time, the final time. Beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilling all of the priestly work and all the sacrifices that pointed to Him, offered Himself once for all as a once-for-all sacrifice on Calvary's tree. His work is completed. And it never again needs to be repeated as the work of the priests of old needed to be repeated over and over again. He is the one great and final high priest spoken of in Hebrews 7 who was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens, who does not need daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once for all when He offered up Himself. All the days of atonement, all those many years before Christ, could not permanently remove the sin of the land, the sin of the people, your sin, or mine. Together with the high priest Joshua, representing all of God's elect people, including you and me, together with Him, we have our filthy, sin-stained clothes removed. Taken away. Forever. and we are clothed with the robes of glory. Because in His active obedience, Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled all of the righteousness of the law of God. He was perfectly obedient. He never sinned. For you and for me, He did that. And in His passive obedience, He was clothed with our sin. Our garments taken off of us, put on Him as He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. He suffered, He suffered in our place. Jesus Christ has given to His people His purity, His holiness, and His righteousness, which alone can stand before a holy God. Without these things from Jesus Christ, not one can stand before a holy God. And the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus cleanses us unto eternal glory. That's how abiding it is. Verse 10 says, In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree, declares the Lord Almighty. Sitting under the vine and sitting under the fig tree is evidence of peace. We have peace with God eternally through our Lord Jesus Christ. But we're not called to sit there alone, beloved. We are called to go into all the world and preach the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, inviting in Jesus' name, inviting the world to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. The rich garments of Christ's righteousness and glory are not simply temporary clothing. These will not wear out. They will never become out of style. But God's people are fitted with these robes for eternity. That's the abiding result, beloved. For eternity. But now, it's not just for then. It's for today too. Today. You see, just as Joshua was restored to office, we who have been given new hearts, been born again by the power of the Spirit, and who have been given new hearts to understand this new justified relationship with our God, we are restored to service. And beloved, we are to be sensitive to Christ's desires. To that which pleases Him. That's our job. That's our calling. That's our duty. In gratitude, that is what to motivate us and drive us all of our life long. We are to be conscious, constantly thinking of that which pleases our Lord Jesus Christ, whether in the classroom, on the athletic field, in the office, every moment of our lives. Beloved, the rich robes of Christ is that wedding garment that is necessary to feast at the eternal wedding banquet. God has snatched His people out of the fire of hellish destruction, which was their just reward. That's what we deserved. And with His forgiving grace for the sake of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sin, He has cleansed His church. He has washed her in the Savior's blood and clothed her. Each of His people, there's enough righteousness of Christ to go around. He's dressed us with the garments of Christ. That's the beauty of justification that God takes from us that which we needed taken away. And He gives to us freely that which we need given to us to stand before Him. The beauty of justification that God looks on us and He sees us not as we were, but as we are, dressed in the robes of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And, beloved, that too is what the world is to see in you and me. When we do sin, beloved, in the world's eyes we cast shame upon the name. In our own way we stain those robes of the righteousness of Christ. Yet our comfort is still in His blood, which cleanses us from all unrighteousness. What comfort that God's pardoning grace alone cleanses you and me unto glory. This is the believer's comfort. Without the rich garments of Christ's righteousness, one is still clothed in his filthy sin and guilt-stained clothes. That is the clothing of hell. But for those who repent of their sins and rest in the satisfaction of Christ alone, they receive the confidence of the cleansing hand of God and they receive the garments of heaven. You see, we will all stand before God one day, face to face. What will you be wearing? Oh, beloved, the grace of God that not only opens the way into His presence, but makes us fit to enter His presence. May we be humbled by the great faithfulness of our Heavenly Father. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, once again, as we come before You, we praise You for Your Word, Your incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, and the salvation that is ours only through Him. Heavenly Father, may we not downplay His work. May we not downplay that blessed thing we call imputation, that He has taken our sin upon Himself and given to us His righteousness and holiness. Father, may there be nothing greater to us than that precious gift. And may that be reflected in our lives as we strive to live for You in holiness and righteousness and obedience. Father, indeed we fail. Indeed we fall. But our hope is indeed in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Hear our prayer, O Lord. Give to us joy as we leave this place, joy that fills our hearts forever and ever. Amen.