The Best-Dressed Person in Town

Introduction

This morning I want to take a closer look at Zechariah. Zechariah appears in 520 bc as a prophet to the Jewish exiles who returned to the promised land from Babylon. But the story of Zechariah really begins back in 586 bc, when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took most of its people back to Babylon (2 Kgs 25:1–21).

In 538 bc the Persian king Cyrus allowed these exiled Jews to return to their land and to begin rebuilding the temple. The Book of Nehemiah identifies Zechariah as part of a priestly family that returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel the governor and the high priest Joshua.

Zechariah’s name means “whom Jehovah remembers.” He is identified as the son of Berechiah, whose name means “Jehovah blesses,” and his father was the son of Iddo, whose name means “the appointed time.”

When we look at this combination of names, with such significant meanings, it suggests the encouragement given to the remnant that had returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. God certainly remembers and blesses at the appointed time. Another significant attribute of the book of Zechariah is that it contains more messianic prophecies than any book other than Isaiah.

The first chapter of Zechariah the Lord gives Zechariah a warning that He does not want the Israelites to turn from Him the way they had before the Babylonian captivity.

(1) In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, (2) “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. (3) Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. (4) Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. (5) Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? (6) But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’ ”

In the Old Testament times, the Lord often spoke with his prophets through visions and dreams. The book of Zechariah records eight visions given to Zechariah by the Lord and we are going to look at one of them in chapter 3:

Zechariah 3:1-5

(1) Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (2) And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” (3) Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. (4) And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” (5) And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

Joshua is the High Priest and is a representative of the priesthood and the people of Israel. The Israelites have once again turned away from the Lord and are dirty in His sight. However, the Lord has it in mind to cleanse them and make a vessel of honor out of these wayward people. When Joshua first appears in this chapter he is dressed in filthy garments. God promises to change his raiment and dress him in robes of glory.

This passage is really speaking about the change the Lord can make in every life that comes to Him by faith. Today, I want to zero in on the last phrase in verse 4. God says, “I will clothe you with pure vestments.” The King James version translates this as a change of raiment, but the word implies much more than that. (H4254) makh-al-aw-tsaw'. It is from a root that means “to take off” and the usage here is that it a piece of clothing that is taken off in ordinary life, it is a garment indicating something special.

There is an old saying that goes, “The clothes make the man.” I don’t know if that’s true, but the fact is, cloths can tell us a lot about a man or a woman.

I would suspect that each person here gave some thought to what they were going to wear to church today, although in a lot of churches these days that may not have been much of a concern. But generally, we dress to suit our activities, or we dress to make a certain impression.

Each year a lot of different organizations spend a considerable amount of time deciding who is the best dressed man or woman of the year. Even politicians choose who they think is the best dressed senator or representative each year. While the world may overly concern itself with what a man or a woman wears on the outside, God is far more concerned with what a person wears on the inside.

In the book of 1 Samuel, the Lord has rejected Saul as the king of Israel and is seeking his replacement. He orders Samuel to bring Him the son’s before Jesse so that he may review them:

1 Sam. 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.””

Spiritually speaking, every person, those in this congregation, those watching on-line, and those out in the world is wearing one of three types of garments. I am going to examine those types of garments, and as I do, I want you to examine yourself to see which type you are wearing.

If you see that you are dressed in less than heaven’s best, then today is the day when you can come to the Lord for a change of wardrobe. This morning we are going to take up the subject of The Best-Dressed Person In Town. Through a study of scripture, we are going to discover these three types of spiritual garments. The first is:

I. The Stained Garment of Sin

Verse 3 tells us that Joshua the High Priest stood before the Lord in “filthy” garments. He was dressed in dirty, filthy rags. He is a picture of every person who is lost in sin. The Bible tells us that our own goodness, or the clothing of our soul if you will, is nothing more than the filthiest of rags,

Isa. 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

In fact, the word in verse 3 that is translated as filthy (h6674, s’y, “so”) appears nowhere in the Old Testament other than this chapter. That is because it describes a particular kind of filth that I can’t even discuss in polite company. It is enough to say that if you imagine the worse kind of filth you can think of, you probably have it right.

The truth is in our natural state, mankind is filthy in the sight of God.

When the Lord looks at the lost sinner, He sees one who is totally unfit to stand in the presence of the Lord. He looks at a person who is defiled, unclean and totally unable to approach the Lord. This is the stark reality of sin and what it does to the sinner. It renders us unfit to approach the Lord. It defiles us and makes us thoroughly unclean in His sight. Sadly, every person born into this world is in this condition.

There is not a person born into this world that is free from the stain and blight of sin, even the smallest baby is touched by the awful stain of original sin.

Lets take a look at what the Word of God says about what sin does to its victims.

· Renders the sinner spiritually dead – Eph. 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

· Separates us from God – Isa. 59:2 “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

· Prevents prayer and worship – Psalm 66:18 “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

· Dooms the sinner to an eternity in Hell - 2 Thes. 1:8-9 “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (9) They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”

· Will cause the sinner to hear the most awful words that will ever fall upon the ears of any man - Matt. 7:23 “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, this is your life I am talking about today. If you have never been saved and are dressed in the garments of sin, I implore you to come to Him today. Do not wait until a better time, because there is not a better time.

2 Cor. 6:2 “For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

II. The Strange Garment of Self-Righteousness

The Lord gives a command for the filthy garments to be removed from Joshua, and for new garments to be placed upon him. What we see here is a work of the Lord in this man’s life. It is a blessing when the Lord removes our filthy, sin-stained rags and gives us a new suit of clothes. However, it is another thing altogether when we try to do it ourselves.

Our world is filled with billions of people who have tried to take care of their filthy garments themselves. They have sought to trade their dirty, filthy garments for ones of their own design. This is a problem that is as old as man. In the Garden of Eden when man brought sin into the world, Adam and Eve sought to cover their nakedness by garments of their own making. They made themselves garments out of fig leaves. Without a doubt they looked good enough in their own eyes, they thought they had the solution, but in the eyes of the Lord, they were as naked as they could be.

I am convinced that most people know they should live cleaner lives than they do. I am just as convinced that most have an inward desire to be in a relationship with God. I believe that most people, even if maybe just in the back of their mind, believe in The Lord and know that someday they will face Him in judgment. They have a void in their hearts, and they want it to be filled. As a result of that desire many people turn to religion. That is, they will start going to church.

Others seek the self-improvement method. They will turn over a new leaf. You know, they will stop drinking or smoking or swearing. They will give up all that stuff that sinners do. In other words, they will construct themselves some garments of fig leaves. Sadly, this will never work. Regardless of what a man does to the outside, he can never change the inside. When the Lord looks at us He sees as we really are. Not as we think we are. Not as others think we are. He sees the truth about us.

Heb. 4:13 “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Since this is true, the self-righteous person, the religious person, the person who lives a good life, and the person who cleans up his life, will never please God and they are all headed to the same Hell as the rank sinner. There is no difference between the atheist and the most religious person in the world if that religious person has never trusted Jesus.

There is no difference between the worst serial killer the world has ever seen and the best church member you have ever seen, if that church member is not saved. You have to understand that religion will never save you. You have to understand that sitting on a church pew will not save you. You have to understand that trying to be a righteous person, outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ will never save you.

Here is the problem with religion, or with turning over a new leaf. The problem is that all of these merely treat the symptoms and not the problem. The problem is not what a man does. The problem is what a man is. Man is a sinner, and no amount of cleaning up the outside will fix the problem in the sinner’s heart.

In fact, Jesus indicated that there were problems that came along with a man trying to clean up his own life

Matt. 12:43-45 ““When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. (44) Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. (45) Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.””

There is no way the flesh can sustain clean living. Even if it could, it could never erase the stain of sin. There is only one remedy and that is salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Titus 3:5 “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”

The change will never be produced from within, but it must be produced from above. However, those who come to God His way find the cleansing their souls so desperately need.

Isa. 1:18 ““Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

If you have been trying to be a good person to please the Lord, you might as well stop trying. You will never do it. Jesus Christ has already pleased God for you. If you will trust Him for your soul’s salvation, He will make you pleasing in the sight of the Lord. It isn’t being good that gets a person into Heaven. It is being saved. Are you religious, or have you been redeemed?

III. The Stunning Garment of Salvation

These verses tell us that the Lord took away Joshua’s dirty, filthy garments and gave him a glorious change of clothes. He gave him a suit of clothes that would allow him to stand in the presence of the Lord. This is a picture of what the Lord will do for every person who rejects his sins, shuns religion and comes to God on the basis of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When an old dirty sinner comes to faith in Christ, some very wonderful things take place. The Bible describes this event as a “new birth.” The believer is said to be a “new creature”, 2 Cor. 5:17. There is such a drastic change which takes place that the new Christian is called a “new man”, Col. 3:10. What happens is a spiritual mystery, but God takes away the old, dirty, filthy garments of our sins and He clothes us the garments of the righteousness of Christ, 2 Cor. 5:21. He takes away our sins and gives us the righteousness of His Son, the Lord Jesus.

This was the case with a man by the name of Abraham, Gen. 15:6. It is also the experience of every person who places his or her faith in Jesus, Rom. 4:24. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, the Lord transforms our lives. He takes the conviction of our sins gives us the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. Because of our sins, we were barred from His presence. The best we could produce would never allow us access.

There is one requirement to enter the gates of Heaven: perfection. I don’t know about you, but I am not perfect, and I cannot achieve perfection. However, when you receive Christ, God transfers the perfection of Jesus Christ onto you. Even though we are far from perfect, the Lord sees us as though we were. He says that we are “justified.”

1 Cor. 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

That means that in His eyes we are perfect. He sees us as being as righteous as His Son. He looks at us and says, “You are dressed in a manner that makes you worthy to enter my heaven!” When the redeemed arrive at that city, the gates will open, and we will be ushered into the presence of God because we are washed in the blood of Jesus and we are worthy to enter.

Conclusion

The best-dressed person in town today isn’t wearing an Armani suit or a Christian Dior dress. The best-dressed person is that one who is saved by the grace of God and is dressed in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus shared a parable in Matthew 22:1-14 that warrants our attention this morning. This parable speaks to the notion that a person must be properly attired to enter the presence of the Lord and to be accepted by Him. I wonder, when the Heaven’s list of the best-dressed people is updated, will your name be on that list? What kind of garment is your soul clothed in today? If you cannot honestly say that you are saved by the blood of Jesus, you need to make that decision today.

Don’t be caught wearing the stained garment of sin, don’t continue to be one of those pretenders who are wearing the Strange Garment of Self Righteousness. Come before the Lord wearing the Stunning Garment of Salvation.