When I spoke to you about your role as priest, I ended by telling you to “put on your clothes.” God wants you to look like a priest in every way, but especially in your spirit.
Signifying the foundational significance of priestly attire, God defined what a priest would wear before he ever defined what. a priest would do.
In Exodus Chapter 28, God told Moses:
Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
Exodus 28:2
When you accepted salvation, you became a king and priest before God.
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Why do you try to wear the “clothes” you wore before meeting Christ?
In Zechariah Chapter Three, we read about a high priest who did not clothe himself in glory and beauty.
He wore filthy garments (Zechariah 3:3). Here’s what God said to do:
Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Zechariah 3:4
God clothes you in His righteousness. He gives you His glory and beauty.
You are a priest. God expects you to…
Put on your clothes.
God wants to take away your iniquity. He wants you to put on the right clothes.
You’re called to serve the Most High God. You must dress appropriately.
I’m speaking primarily about spiritual apparel.
First, I want you to understand that, before you put on your priestly attire, you must…
Take off your old clothes.
Apostle Paul teaches that we must intentionally put off, like a garment, the “old man” (Colossians 3:9).
And, in Ephesians Chapter Four, he tells us to
Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Ephesians 4:22
You see, on our own, we cannot connect with God.
Here’s what the Prophet Isaiah says:
We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah 64:6
After receiving Christ, you become a priest with God. Why do you want to wear rags, when you could wear the righteousness of Christ?
The Pharisees had a similar problem. They wore a cloke for their sin (John 15:22). That refers to a spiritual garment, not a physical one.
According to Apostle Paul, you can “wear” covetousness as a garment (1 Thessalonians 2:5).
You can also clothe yourself with evil things, such as maliciousness (1 Peter 2:16).
Could you be like the Church of the Laodiceans? Here’s what Jesus says to them:
Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Revelation 3:17
They were in the church. They were supposedly filling the role as priests before God. But God saw them as naked.
They had no clothes on at all!
Sometimes, your spiritual apparel might seem good to you when it isn’t.
Here is what you have to do:
Put on your clothes.
In Psalms, God says,
I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
Psalm 132:16
Salvation changes things. You put on salvation when you receive the New Birth.
God’s not asking you to run out to the department store to buy new clothes, so you can go to church.
I’m talking about spiritual things. Here’s what Apostle Paul says:
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:23-24
What you are is more important than what you wear.
The priests wore physical clothes that were holy. But what can you gain from holy physical garments if you have a corrupt heart and mind?
Wearing the right physical clothes won’t help very much. God mentioned this to Prophet Samuel in First Samuel chapter 16:
Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
You must get the right heart before you can enter God’s presence.
Fortunately, God makes this possible through Christ. Here’s…
What God has done.
You don’t have to wait for a skilled seamstress or tailor to make your priestly attire. God has done a glorious thing for you.
Jacob, after he encountered God, promised to serve him…
If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Genesis 28:20
Guess what? God clothed Jacob. God will clothe you, if you’ll let Him.
Prophet Isaiah says,
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness…
Isaiah 61:10
Salvation makes you righteous in God’s eyes. A physical garment can never do that for you.
After receiving Christ as your Savior, God does His part. You must…
Do your part.
We have the responsibility to clothe ourselves. The Psalmist says.
Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.
Psalm 132:9
We’re clothed with the righteousness of God, but we must live righteously.
It’s our job to…
Put on
…some things.
Notice the words of Apostle Paul in Romans 13:14:
Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 13:14
It’s your job to put on Jesus. You must intentionally do it. If you “put on” Jesus, you will have a restraining force in your life.
You must also adorn yourself with Christ-like qualities.
Paul tells us to…
Put on therefore, …bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another…
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Colossians 3:12-14
See? Of course you should wear appropriate physical attire. But you must understand the importance of spiritual attire.
Colossians Chapter Three tells us to..
Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Colossians 3:10
In the same chapter, Apostle Paul tells us to…
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Colossians 3:12
See? God wants you to adorn your soul and spirit in priestly attire.
Here’s how Job puts it:
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Job 29:14
You look good in the clothes God has for you. You are a priest. You are royalty.
I want you to realize that, when The Lord tells you to put on your clothes, He’s not telling you to do something He won’t Himself do.
He [The Lord] put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
Isaiah 59:17
Respond
Physical and spiritual apparel glorifies ourselves and our God. It empowers us. Today, God wants you to put on your clothes.
Come before God and the lost, dying world in the glory and beauty of your priestly attire.
Our garments are for glory and beauty. I will talk about this next.