There shall come a day when the crown of the Lord shall rest on us. Made priests unto Him, “Holiness to the Lord” is written across our foreheads, speaking of the Spirit’s seal upon us. Naturally, we can become proud and leprous and filthy in our thinking and acting. But God puts a “fair mitre” on our heads and makes us clean. (Revelation 22:3-4; Zechariah 3:1-5)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon # 11746
11:00 AM on 9/8/2019

#Mind & Emotions

#Spiritual Life crown

#filthy

#forehead

#garments

#holiness

#priest

P. Schaller

Praise the Lord! Amen! Sit down! I don’t know what happened. Something came over me from my childhood!

Rev. 22, this morning, I was studying about the priesthood for the last few days, weeks. I study all the time. I love it. I just pray a lot and feed on the word all the time and these pastors do that too. We have this way of thinking. We could say it’s on our forehead. Turn to your neighbor and say what’s on your forehead? Is that a mole?! What’s on your forehead.

Rev. 22, congratulations to the Canadian that won the U.S. open. Virgil over here is rejoicing. I don’t know if he knows that. She won the U.S. open. Amazing woman. She did.

Vs. 3 no more curse. Let’s do it again. There shall be no more curse. Three times. There shall be no more curse and there shall be no more curse. Hallelujah. Horrible curse that came on us in Ge. 3 because of sin. Death came from sin. Losing things. Losing the garden. Losing our innocence sometimes we could say. Losing our mind. Losing our orientation. Losing our focus.

I’m telling this story. I was windsurfing off Cape Cod some years ago. I was a quarter of a mile off in the water. My wife was on the shore. I went out too far, maybe half a mile. A fog rolled in and I was in a thick cloud. I’m on my board floating in the water and don’t know where I am. I thought if I sail all the way, I might end up in Ireland. I don’t know where I am. I’m in the ocean looking for shark fins. Ever been lost? Have you really ever been lost? Wow. So I’m waiting and kneeling on the board and saying prayers and confessing my sin. I confessed more sin than I ever did in my life! Sins I never committed before! After a while, 20 minutes or something, the fog lifted, and I could see the land. Praise the Lord! I sailed in. I saw my wife on the beach with her finger up and her mouth is moving! Don’t ever do that again!

Do you know we are in a world where there is a lot of trouble on the outside and a lot on the inside. But there is a day coming when we are going to go to heaven. It’s going to be different because of what is on our forehead. Vs. 3. I’d like to say the Lamb of God and the throne of God will be on the earth and the servant shall serve him. There will be no more curse. Halleluiah. Have you tasted it? Do you realize what that would be one day? Nothing lost. No more lying, betrayal, no more fear. The wisdom of God and the mind of God. The day is coming. Vs. 4. The name of God, that’s important. What’s the name of God? There are many names of God. Yahweh Nissi, Yahweh Jireh, Ropheka, the Banner, God the Flag, God the way, God the Redeemer, God the Savior, God the Creator, God the Judge. There are many names of God in the Bible. His name is his nature and character. There is one part of his nature that eludes us because of the fall and what is on our forehead by nature. We have our self-life on our forehead, in our mind, our self, our life, me. Myself. Usually that’s how we live. My name is on my forehead. Thomas. My name is there. There is a day coming when God’s name is on our forehead. We’ll speak about that this morning for a few minutes.

Ex. 28, we will see this word “forehead” in this verse with the high priest, Aaron. Vs. 36. Here’s a plate. Also called a miter. On the plate is holiness to the Lord. Maybe we could say it’s a piece of jewelry. If you visualize a gold plate onto the forehead and engraved there is holiness to the Lord. This priest has his clothes and his clothes are very important in his ministry. His name is Aaron. Vs. 37. Ex. 28:37. It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead. I wonder what it means. When I’m born my first birth, my natural birth the world kind of puts something on your forehead. Identifies you. Your schooling, your parents, your experience. When we are born the first time, our sin is on our forehead. Our sense of identity, our guilt, our failure, our disappointments. Humanly a good thing but something is missing because it’s not holy. It’s human, natural. Because of the new birth, you are born of the Spirit. Christ has taken the old man and crucified him. When Christ was raised, you were raised with him and you are made new. You know how it is with clothes and people. Let’s talk about that. Clothes and people. Ever notice how much clothes mean to people, some more than others. They go to stores and buy clothes, the latest, the newest, the nicest. A little boy might want to wear a football uniform, a fireman uniform, a policeman uniform. A child might want to put on a costume and be an admiral on a ship. Children do this and adults, too. This priest is clothed a certain way and it’s not a game. God says you will come before me and be dressed and smelling a certain way.

Ex. 30, the fragrance is a recipe concocted of the spices, in 30, 34, 35. That nobody is ever to make anything like it. To smell like this. Ex. 30:38. It gives a recipe, whoever made unto that to smell like that shall be cut off from his people. This priest was to be unique and anointed with this smell. He is to minister, and nobody can copy it. It’s unique. When you are born again, you have a new life. There’s nothing like it. You can’t copy it. I can imagine someone meeting a group of believers and someone says I’d like to be like them. And make an effort to copy it and they can’t. It has to be born in you. Christ born in us. It’s unique. The Scripture says put off the old man and be clothed with humility. Put on the new man and be clothed, – these are my words, – as the priest in the Old Testament had a fragrance and ministry and something on his forehead that made him a wholly minister unto God. You have that. I could say that all the rest of the morning and that’s a good message. You have that. You have that. It’s in your forehead. You have a capacity to think with God. You have a capacity to have a new way of thinking. Being born again, not of the flesh but born of the Spirit. Not of man and the will of man but we are born of the will of God. God so loved us he sent Christ so Christ would be born in us so we would have a ministry. The forehead and what is going on in our mind is different than what is happening in the mind of the natural man. His mind doesn’t have a clue. 1 Cor 2:16 we have the mind of Christ. You are with me. Thank you Lord. Didn’t we get it. We got it all. Didn’t we get it all.

Ex 28:38, It’s a uniform and I love the colors in the O.T. for the priest and his ministry, – royal blue, scarlet, gold trim, and a turban and a gold plate here and handsome dressed and decked out. We are not caring about what we are looking physically but how God allows us to approach him. We are able to approach God because of our new birth. We have power with God.

Go to the story of King Uzziah in 2 Chron. 26. I hope you are with me. What does that got to do with me? We’re getting there. King Uzziah was good 99% of the time but he messed up at the end. Turn to your neighbor and say are you going to mess up at the end? They said, no. That sounds like Peter. I will not forsake you. Oh? Really? I don’t know actually. I don’t plan on it. I make every effort to be here. I make every effort to be available and walk in this unique life, but it happens to people. Uzziah is doing really good and then he becomes strong. Vs. 16. When did it happen? When he was strong. Do you think success might be a problem for people? Are you happy that you failed a lot? Do you think success could be a problem? It is. You might say the thing is to succeed. It may be but actually failure can be good for us. Now we need God. This king when he was strong, his heart was lifted up. What did he say in his heart when it was lifted up? We don’t know but make it up. His heart is lifted up and what did he say to himself? I got this. I can do whatever. I’m okay. I’m standing. It’s obvious how great I am. I got this covered. When his heart was lifted up, that’s when that pride came in. It led to his destruction. What does it say in Proverbs? Pride comes before a fall. By humility are riches, wealth, and honor. Sometimes success is just the beginning of the fall. Can you believe it? It happens. Look at these people who have all the money and reputation and they do ridiculous things. How could you? What are you thinking? You can’t control the human heart if over your forehead is “sinner.” Me, myself and I. Shame and guilt and fear. Me, myself. Here I am. I need something else over my forehead. I need something else over my forehead. He went into the temple to burn incense in vs. 16. The priest went in after him in vs. 17. He said you can’t do this in v. 18. You have to leave. You have no right to be in the temple burning incense. The king is proud and arrogant. I can do whatever. Then what happened? Put your hand onto the forehead and feel for bumps.

We have a joke in Bible school I tell. I was preaching about deception and it got very serious. It was a great class and I had all these precious Bible college students. It was really coming through and they are humble and listening and serious, and I said the way you know if you are deceived or not is there are two little bumps come on your forehead and some of the students were like (touching their forehead)! They go like this (push their hand back on their head). Look at what happened to him. He said in vs. 19. Leprosy rose up in his forehead. What happened? His pride. He’s now angry with the priest. As he was angry with the priest, leprosy. Leprosy represents sin, defilement, and contamination. Contagious. It’s a neurological disorder. It’s very serious. We read and know about it. This leprosy represents sin. And it came where? His forehead. It’s already there. I read this piece from Martin Luther. He was a Catholic monk and when he was serving as a monk, he said I did not love God. I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners and secretly if not blasphemously and certainly murmuring greatly was angry with God. Not knowing God was a kind Father, a God that brings us close. I didn’t know him that way. Luther found he couldn’t …. they transferred their affection to Mary and other various saints. It was to them they would love and pray. If God is not the loving Father, I have a wrong concept of God. I will believe in God, but who do I pray to? The saints. They are kind and gracious and humble. I can pray to the saints who pray to God. Why? Because I have the wrong concept of God. I would not pray to saints if I pray to God. Why would I look to a saint if I have Jesus Christ? God humble. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. If you see me, you see the Father in Jn 14. I am humble and caring and broken and here for you. I draw close to you.

This idea here that changed for Luther when he began to see God is a God who shares and gives us his righteousness and glory and wisdom. As a monk, he wasn’t worshipping the right God. It’s not enough to know God as the Creator and judge. Only when God is known as a loving Father, is he known the right way. Because of my sin, I get so guilty and I’m afraid God would not love me and accept me. We teach eternal security here because it’s biblical. Maybe half of the Christian world doesn’t believe in eternal security. They don’t have the same mind we have as a God as a loving Father. How can a loving father forsake his child and condemn us when we sin and are guilty. Wouldn’t he provide for us and give us his grace, his person, his son so we could be secure in that love. God is our loving Father and the name of God, the right name of God, the name of God, the amazing God, the Almighty God, the humble God that is our calling. That could be on our forehead. That’s what I need. Zech 3, this is a great story here, text, Scripture. To know the historical context of this chapter is important. The Jews have gone into captivity and the temple burnt down. The city of Jerusalem destroyed. The priest and people driven out of the country and they are coming back to Israel. Now we see this picture, Zech 3:1. Wow. This message is important. What I’m about to say right now relates to that guy that survived an overdose. You can be sure he feels lousy and saying next time I might die. What am I going to do? I got at my right hand, Satan. I am made in the image of God, born as a child of God and living in a garbage heap. I’ve been destroyed. I’m being destroyed. My drug addiction is going to bury me. This is a perfect profile for what we’ll read. It’s the same high priest as Aaron, standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to do what? Resist him. The guy wakes up from his overdose and Satan is at his right hand to bury him. You messed up again. You are going to die. You’re going to hell. You have no right. I’m going to bury you. Over your forehead is “drug addict.” That’s who you are. Satan is there to resist him day and night.

Vs. 2. There is a story about John Wesley as a child. Did he have 17 sisters and brothers? 12 or 18 children in that family. 18 children. One mother. This is in England. 18th century. House is on fire. He’s a little baby. Someone goes in and saves him and carries him out. A little child is carried out of a burning house and he always said I am a brand plucked out of a fire. The context isn’t John Wesley. It’s Jerusalem. It was destroyed and brunt by the Babylonians. You can’t take Jerusalem away from God and his plan. I have chosen Jerusalem as a brand plucked out of the fire. It can have another meaning. Joshua my high priest is plucked out of the fire like us and that guy that overdosed. I don’t know about his future. I’m going to call him this week. He’s not a regular member here. That’s part of his problem. Part of his problem he’s not coming often. He’s in and out. And I know he hates himself for who he is. I’d like to say to him and everyone like him and myself too, Satan would like to say you don’t have anything. God rebuked Satan and said run away, Satan, I’m coming at you. I have a man of God here.

Vs. 3. In the Hebrew, the word “filthy” is a very bad word. If you’ve ever been homeless or been with homeless people sometimes they urinate themselves or worse soil their clothes and smell. Some of them. I’m not on them as a group of people. Everyone is an individual and separate, and our people do a good job reaching out to people and help people. I’m one decision away from that slide. I make an effort and that’s why we are saying this. What kind of clothes did Joshua have? Remember I said at the beginning of the message, we like to go to Walmart or Marshalls or some store. We like to go and buy something and get dressed up. This is the other side. This is a man who has defecated himself and he’s a priest. He’s a Christian, we could say. He’s a Christian and is to have dignity. God is my glory and the lifter of my head. He puts it in us. Our dignity, we have his name on our forehead. This is the other side of it. Wow. Sad. I’m also happy because we have a living God who says, no. That man is my priest. I’m not giving up on him. That man is my guy. That’s the guy. Satan, keep your eye on him. He’s coming at you. Satan, what have you been doing? Going throughout the earth. Have you considered my guy, Joshua? He stinks. He’s filthy. He’s like trash. I’m burying that guy. What do you think of that guy? Now I can be known to be the God of all grace. Now I can show you who I am. I’m a loving Father. I’m a Father who will not forsake his children. I’m a Father who forgives people of their sin. I’m a God that calls them by name, puts their name in the book of life, gave them my Son so he could be seated up on a rock higher than himself. I’m almighty God and there is none like me. In your world, you bury these people. You destroy them. You shame them. You condemn them but my world is heaven. My world I give them the Holy Spirit and in my world I teach them the word of God and love them more and build them up and encourage them. I speak comfortable to them. I’m a God not like you think I am. I’m a heavenly Father.

Jesus told us pray our Father, who art in heaven. Our heavenly Father. People believe in God but have the wrong God. They don’t know this one. This is the one that loves you and won’t give up on you. Vs. 4. Take away the filthy garments from him. Clean him up. Take those clothes and burn them in the trash. They are no more his. Clean him up. Wash him down. Vs. 4. I will clothe you with some clothes you can enjoy. They represent your dignity. You’ll rise up and say God is my Father. Jesus told the parable about the prodigal son that came home. Get the fattened calf, put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. The fallen nature of man doesn’t know who God is. In Isaiah, God is saying who is like me? I think it’s 20 times. I know not any other. Show me. Then he speaks to the idols. He says speak. He talks to the idols sarcastically. You are nothing. You are dust. You can’t change a human heart. After the 9:00 service, a brother sat for coffee and he said the woman was a drug addict and woke up in her vomit. She was arrested and in prison. They put her in a cell with a bathroom and drain and she was lying there saying, God I want to die. Kill me or cure me she said. She was in there for a period of time. They let her out to go before the judge. She’s waiting for the crack cocaine addiction urge to happen in her body. She said it’s going to come and hit me in a half hour. It didn’t come. An hour later, it didn’t come. Three hours, the whole day, it didn’t come. Wow. Couple days later, she went before the judge and said you wouldn’t believe this. It’s over. I’m done. He said I’ll let you go. If you ever show up in my courts again, I’ll throw everything at you. You’re free. I don’t like when judges do that but in that case, I believe it was God. The woman had a message and the judge believed her and went away free. That’s grace on many levels. That’s God hearing the cry of the prisoners.

I want for your forehead a ministry. I want holiness to the Lord. Could you please wake up and realize I hear your prayers. I respond to your being. I’m moved by your love. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. My soul blessed God. What is man that you are mindful of him? What would it mean to you that I have anything to give you? I have nothing to give you. I gave my Son so you can minister to me and stand in my presence. So you can know me and draw near to me. That’s it. Vs. 5. There he is all cleaned up. He got that thing on his head. There he is standing there. Satan is defeated and runs away. That person is saying yeah, I got it. Yes, I got it. I hope you feel that way. I hope you and I feel that way at different times in your life. You are not your defeat. You are not your sin. You are not to be buried. You are not to be living in filth. You are to learn to live before God and walk before God and have something going on before God and not ourselves. That’s fun sisters and brothers. That’s the holiness of God. That’s why I come here. That’s why I love hanging out with you guys. All of it is too good. Plain straight up great rodeo stuff. I love the rodeo. This is God’s rodeo. I love when something is going on with power and freedom.

God is a living God, not a dull, boring, empty God that condemns people. I know who you are but follow me. I’ll lift you up. Stop your whining. Here’s some shots at he end. Put your helmet on and your seat belt on. Stop your whining and selfishness and complaining and negativity. Stop your cursing and unbelief. Stop your self-introspection. I got freedom, joy, praise, Jesus Christ, a ministry, love in my heart, and a message. I got a message. I got a message. I got a message.

Amen.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.