Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER UNIVERSITY MIKE BICKLE A Biblical Overview of Eternal Rewards Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse I. REVIEW: PRINCIPLES OR PREMISES MENTIONED IN OUR LAST 2 SESSIONS Tonight we are going to look at heavenly garments as part of our heavenly rewards. They are glorious, beautiful, and they are very diverse. This is a point that I am going to be emphasizing a number of times tonight. Just a quick review, in our last two sessions we looked at fifteen principles, or you could say premises, related to eternal rewards. I want to review six of those fifteen very briefly just to get our minds around this, particularly as we look at some of the details of eternal rewards. A. Principle #1: Eternal rewards are expressions of God s grace His generosity. Number one, eternal rewards are expressions of God s grace. We are clear about that from the Bible. It is God s generosity. We take one step of obedience, and He gives us a mile of reward. I mean the extreme generosity of what He gives us, we could never, ever, with understanding, actually think we earned them in any kind of realistic way. B. Principle #2: Eternal rewards are given according to works our faithfulness. Principle number two, though we do not earn them, and though God gives us far more than we could ever earn, He does give us eternal rewards related to what we do. He responds to the way that we loved Him in this age. Not just an emotional telling Him, I love You, I love You, but actually walking it out in faithfulness and diligence in our assignment before Him. C. Principle #3: We compare Scripture with Scripture to gain insight. Principle number three we will use tonight. We compare scripture with scripture to get more insight on eternal rewards. For example, we will see what God says a number of places in the Scripture about garments and that will give us insight into how God views garments for billions and billions of years. Because God never changes, how He views garments now gives us insight to how He views garments forever and forever. D. Principle #4: We gain insight from the natural God s handiwork is seen in creation and society. 28 Consider the lilies of the field 29 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field will He not much more clothe you? (Mt. 6:28-30) Principle number four, we gain insight from the natural realm. We do not gain full insight, but some insight. David said he looked up at the sky and saw the handiwork of God. He saw the thumbprint of God s beauty and His activity in creation. We could look at society; that is part of the natural realm. Because people are made in the image of God we are image bearers. Though fallen image bearers, we are image bearers what people do and how they reflect core and common values throughout history gives us some insight into what is the image of God being expressed in and through us. It is an imperfect picture, but it does give us a hint. I love this in Matthew 6, talking about the natural realm. In verse 28, Jesus said to look at the lilies. That is, go stare at them and study the lilies. There are many, many types of lilies actually. There is not just one type of lily. In verse 28, Jesus said that Solomon, the wealthiest king of Israel and the wisest and the most creative and gifted could not array himself better. His garments could not compare to them because the lilies had beauty and diversity beyond Solomon s scope and grasp.

2 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 2 Verse 30, Now if God so clothes the grass and the flowers, then He went on to say, and they fade away, they burn up in a moment. Here is the phrase, Will He not much more clothe you? Now this promise that, Will He not much more clothe you? reaches far beyond this life. When Jesus said that Solomon in his creativity, his wisdom, his wealth could not come up with a wardrobe that could rival the lilies because of the Father s handiwork in creation, I could imagine Jesus smiling and saying, Will He not much more clothe you more than even the lilies that Solomon could not rival? I am imagining the wardrobe in the New Jerusalem that the saints will have as much greater than the lilies which was much greater than Solomon s. So whatever Solomon s wardrobe was, we know that God will much more clothe us, much more than that. So that is a hint. That is not a direct statement, but it is like I imagine the Lord would say, Just go think on that for a while. Imagine where this might go. Do not imagine this promise is limited nor fulfilled in completion in this age, not even close. E. Principle #5: Eternal rewards are glorious beyond anything that we can imagine (1 Cor. 2:9). We must be careful not to reduce eternal rewards to something that we can easily imagine. They are commensurate with the glory of the King and the eternal city; they are befitting of royalty and express His beauty. The glory of the daughter in Psalm 45 is symbolic of the Bride of Christ. 9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9) 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9) The fifth principle I want to review, and each one of these we spent a bit of time on already, is that eternal rewards are far more glorious than anything we could imagine. Paul said that it has never entered the mind of a person the glory, the measure of the glory. So whatever you are imagining of the thrones and crowns and garments and food and fellowship and relationship, whatever you imagine is far lower. Those rewards are far greater than you could ever imagine. Our imagination comes up far short. So we must be careful as we think on eternal rewards that we do not reduce them to something that we can easily imagine because their glory is beyond our reach. So whatever you think, it is greater than that. Eternal rewards are commensurate with the King of glory because we are relating to Him and He is the author of the rewards. He is generous. He is smart. He is wealthy and very creative. So whatever the rewards are, they are commensurate with His personality, His wealth, and His skill. They are commensurate with the New Jerusalem, the environment of the city that we will live in forever. A glorious, diamond-like city with a people who are rewarded in a way that fits the environment of the city. The rewards are befitting of royalty. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood; you are the aristocracy of the eternal city, for real. That is kind of a cute little statement, but it is real. You are literally the royal family. Whatever the King gives His royal family, the rewards are in that vein, it is in that mindset, and they express His beauty. F. Jesus imparts beauty to His people in various ways, including heavenly garments (Isa. 61:1-3). Moses prayed for God s beauty to be seen on God s people (Ps. 90:17). Isaiah spoke of putting on beautiful garments (Isa. 52:1) and compared them to a bride adorning herself (Isa. 61:10). 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me 3 to give them beauty for ashes. (Isa. 61:1-3) 17 Let the beauty of the LORD be upon us, and establish the work of our hands. (Ps. 90:17) 1 Awake Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments. (Isa. 52:1) 10 He has clothed me with the garments of salvation as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isa. 61:10)

3 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 3 Isaiah 61, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Jesus would say, to heal broken hearts, to liberate the captives, to preach the gospel to the poor. He actually gives twelve details of what the Spirit on Him is to do. One of them that is often overlooked is verse 3, to give beauty in the place of the ash heap of broken lives. He gives beauty. He does not just allow us to see it; He imparts it. The eternal rewards are one way He imparts His beauty. Garments are dynamically connected to beauty. Beauty is bigger than garments, but garments are deeply connected to them. In Psalm 90, Moses prayed along this very line. He said, Let the beauty of the Lord be on us. Not just character, yes character, the beauty of holiness, but let the beauty of God be on us as well. I have no doubt that this is connected in part to our heavenly garments. It is interesting that the very next phrase Moses said was to establish the works of our hands, because we will see in a moment a very well-known verse that the garments of the Bride are related to her works. The beauty of her garments is related to her works. Moses was putting beauty and works together right here in Psalm 90. Isaiah spoke of putting on beautiful garments. Then he compared those beautiful garments to the way a bride adorns herself on her wedding day. Isaiah 52:1, O Zion, put on beautiful garments. Now that has a twofold application. We put on garments, spiritual garments, in this age in character by embracing humility and kindness. Do not imagine that is the end of the story! The garments of kindness, beauty, humility, compassion that we put on in this age are manifested actually as heavenly garments in the age to come. Because, as I have said over and over in the first three sessions, eternal rewards are Jesus expressing how He feels about the way you loved Him in this age. Eternal rewards are not about earning anything nor it is about being over anyone. Although there is an element of ruling, that is not the reason. People do not want to rule so they can over someone; they want to rule so they are working in close proximity to Jesus on something that is dear to His heart. Isaiah 61:10, He has clothed me with the garments plural of salvation. Obviously, there are spiritual truths of being justified by faith, but it does not end there. The garments are beyond that, although they certainly begin there, and that is the foundation of them in spiritual truths of what Jesus did on the cross for us. It has an outward, a fully outward expression, in our body, our garments, our dwelling place, the glory of God in our resurrected body, etc. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness in a way that a bride adorns herself with jewels. Now there is no day on which a woman is more careful about her garments than on her wedding day. I think that is one of the reasons Isaiah focused on this. There is no greater attention, there is no greater willingness to spare no expense, than on the wedding day. That is the day they give their all. The Lord is saying through Isaiah, The garments you will have well, think on these lines. They will be glorious beyond what you are imagining. This gives us insight into the beauty of them. G. Principle #6: Eternal rewards are given in varying measures. Believers will differ from one another in the measure of God s glory expressed in and through them. Thus, each will have a varying measure of God s glory in their garments according to how they lived (Rev. 19:8). The realm of the resurrection includes more than our body. It includes garments, thrones, crowns, and more. 41 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:41-42) As I said in other sessions, so I will not spend much time on it, eternal rewards are given in varying measure. Salvation is free, and everybody gets access to the city and are in the family automatically by faith as a free gift because of what Jesus did for us. Our function in the city and our life in the city has a connection to the way we

4 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 4 responded to Jesus after He freely gave us His salvation. Paul said that as one star differs from another star in glory, so also the resurrection of the dead. It is not just the resurrected body. I believe the whole realm of the resurrection, the garments, the crowns, the thrones, in all the dimensions of the resurrection there are varying degrees of glory. All we have to do is look at creation and we see God s personality, His creative personality. There are millions of species of birds and fish and flies and flowers. I mean, just everywhere there is so much diversity. There are animals and plants that humans do not know anything about; they are on the backside of a mountain. Nobody will ever see them. God might say, Because I am that creative, I did it, because that is who I am. I did not do it only so that somebody would see them, I do it because I am creative. Well, His creative genius and diversity do not stop when we get to the resurrection. Without any element of sin to limit our experience, the creativity of God will be released in a way beyond anything we could imagine. H. There are eight references in Revelation concerning spiritual garments (Rev. 3:4-5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13; 19:8, 14). I assume, and I think this is a fair assumption, that there will be many different types of garments, many. It is God s personality. When we look at the Old Testament, we see how God commanded different garments. There is great diversity and color. I believe there will be many different types of clothing. You will have a vast wardrobe. Some will have a far more diverse wardrobe than others, because our garments will, as we will see in one of the foundational verses in a moment, Revelation 19:8, that the wedding garments are corresponding to the faithfulness of the saints in this age. I believe they will be diverse in design. I love to say that you are not going to have just the basic white gown t- shirt forever for billions of years. It is not like God made this glorious city with diamonds and jewels, then He said, Oh, I forgot clothing! So, it is all the same white garment. That is it. No, He did not forget. I believe they will be diverse in fabric, brightness, coloring, fragrance, design, etc. II. WHITE GARMENTS: BRIGHT AND DAZZLING A. White garments are mentioned on six occasions (3:5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:14; 19:14). It seems that there are different types of white garments ones that all believers receive related to the gift of salvation, and various garments given to some believers according to their faithfulness. I assume that there will be different types of clothing with unique design, fabric, brightness, coloring, fragrance, etc. Revelation speaks of white garments (Rev. 3:4-5, 18), white robes (Rev. 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13, 14), and fine linen that is bright and white (Rev. 15:6; 19:8, 14). I assume that there are some distinctions between robes, white garments, and the fine linen. The white garment is a common term that is mentioned in the book of Revelation on six different occasions. The term, white garment, has more implications than might meet the eye at a quick read. So do not see the common term and say, Got it, and just move on. It seems to me, and I think it is pretty clear, there are many types of white garments. Again, not just one classic white garment, standard, and a couple billion saints all have the same one forever. I believe that all believers receive a white garment of sorts related to the gift of salvation. I believe there are various garments related to this term called white garments that only some believers will get related to their faithfulness. So I believe it is a term that has a lot of diversity. There are vast implications to this one term.

5 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 5 B. We consider two words that describe heavenly garments leukos (white, bright; Rev. 3:5) and lampros (bright, radiant, white; Rev. 19:8). The Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon translates leukos as white, light, bright, brilliant (of sunlight or metallic surfaces). Leukos speaks of the shining garments of angels or Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt. 17:2; Mk. 9:3; Lk. 9:29). We will consider two words that describe heavenly garments. Leukos is the Greek word for white, but it is also translated a number of times as bright. When it says white garments, particularly when it speaks of the heavenly realm, it means bright garments, not only white. Bright is the stronger idea. It is white, but there is a brightness to it. I do not believe that the garments are only white. I believe the predominant idea is the brightness of the glory of God, of which the seemingly dominate color is jasper-like. It says that God is jasperlike in His appearance, this bright, diamond-like appearance. The New Jerusalem has this jasper-like brightness of glory, but many hues of color in context to the jasper brightness of that diamond white-like glittering-diamond manifestation of the glory of God. So this word, leukos, does mean white. It is often means white, like a white fence. If they were talking about a natural, white fence, it does not mean bright. When talking about a heavenly object or being it almost always associates it with brightness. So that shifts the meaning to more than what naturally meets the eye. It can mean brilliant. It can mean light. It can mean bright. It could be light garments or garments of light. That is how the words, white garments, could be translated. So the word white is a big word with movement in it. It is inclusive when relating and describing something in the heavenly realm. Leukos speaks of the shining garments of an angel. Leukos speaks of the white shining garments of Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. I have several verses there. It says they were shining, glittering. The whiteness was dazzling. So it is more than what might meet the eye in a quick reading. III. RECEIVE HEAVENLY GARMENTS AS A REWARD (REV. 3:5; 19:8) A. Heavenly garments will be given according to the saints obedience and righteous acts (Rev. 19:8). Each believer will receive clothing that expresses the quality of their devotion to Jesus in this life. 7 and His wife has made herself ready. 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev. 19:7-8) Let s look at a couple of the verses that say clearly that we receive heavenly garments as a reward. One of the main, foundational passages on this subject is Revelation 19:7-8. The heavenly declaration, Rejoice and be glad, verse 7, because the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. So the context is the marriage supper of the Lamb. The first statement is the Bride, the wife the saints has made herself ready That almost takes us aback, like, Okay, she did? I thought it was the grace of God? Then quickly the balancing statement: yes, she did make herself ready, but it was granted to her by God, by the grace of God, by the power of God, to be arrayed in fine linen. Here we see it clean, bright. Brightness has massive room for diversity and color and beauty and different measures of the glory of God. You know there is not just one light bulb, like just a 100-watt light bulb. There is a million-watt light bulb; I just made that up. You know, there are all kinds of different light bulbs, not just one. Then it goes on, the voice of the Lord from heaven defines it clearly and says, as it were, Let Me be clear; the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The fine linen on the Bride is related to, corresponds with, her faithfulness on the earth.

6 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 6 Now remember I have said this every time, but it needs to be said over and over, ninety-nine percent, 99.9% probably, of our righteous acts are very small and often unnoticed by anybody or by very few people. So do not imagine righteous acts means the day the martyr dies. No, that is a big one, but that martyr s life might have been filled with decades of small, little statements, acts of service, being diligent and faithful to their assignment, unrecognized, unnoticed, un-applauded, unappreciated, but faithful. Because, you see, the Lord valued what they were doing. Those are the acts of righteousness, the deeds. Most of them are very, very small deeds. Jesus said in Matthew 10:42, If you give a cup of cold water, He said, surely I will not forget that, the smallest deed, if you do it in My name because you love Me. 1. Made herself ready: John emphasized her personal response of love to Jesus her devotion was not forced on her. She voluntarily chose love expressed in her faithful and diligent acts. So we see this tension: she made herself ready. The tension is in but God granted it. Well, which is it? Is it her response or God s sovereign grace? Which is it? It is both. It is not either/or. When it says that she made herself ready, John the apostle writing the book of Revelation is emphasizing the personal response of love to Jesus. In other words, she was not forced to obey. She did it as voluntary love. She prepared herself. John said that she did it out of love, in an overflow of love. She saw who He is and said, I want to respond. I do not care what it gets me in this age. As long as it moves Him, I am doing it. So he wanted it emphasized that she was not forced. It was small, voluntary acts of servanthood. 2. It was granted: There is a theological tension between the bride preparing herself (19:7) and being granted garments (19:8) by the power of grace. Our garments are related to both the righteous acts of Jesus done for the saints and righteous acts done by the saints. All of the righteous acts in our life are wrought by the Spirit or by the work of God s grace in us. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. (Eph. 2:10) So there is the tension between the bride preparing herself and it being granted, because our garments are related both to the righteous act of Jesus done for us on the cross and to the righteous act of the saints done in response to the free grace of God. He did righteous acts for us and then, in a response of gratitude, we do righteous acts. We respond back to Him, and they are the righteous acts of the saints. All of our righteous acts are wrought by the Holy Spirit inspiring us, even just a whisper of inspiration. They are the evidence of the grace of God working in us, so much so that Paul said Ephesians 2:10, We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We are His workmanship. He ordained that we would do multitudes of small, little acts of service: kind words, helping, giving money, giving energy, serving in little, out-of-the-way places. They do not have to be out of the way every time. You might be serving in a prominent place, but it is the act of serving. We are His workmanship; it is the grace of God working in us. Nobody on the last day is going to have the idea that they did it alone. At the same time the Lord in His generosity would say, Yeah, but I want to highlight that you really did do it. You responded. Yeah, some was My grace. Yes, I am generous in how I evaluate you, but you did say yes to Me thousands of times in small ways. I want you to know I value that part of the story. The Lord is not nervous that somebody might get credit for loving Him. He actually loves the idea of that. He wants to magnify the love that we showed to Him. It moves Him that the bride chose to do this.

7 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 7 3. Acts: The word is plural suggesting many specific acts done by the saints. This is distinct from the imputed righteousness of Christ a singular righteousness (Rom. 4:22-25; 5:15-19). Now notice in verse 8, it is the righteous acts, plural. The plural suggests these are specific acts done by the saints. This is distinct from the imputed gift of righteousness which was the singular righteousness. It is not the plural acts of righteousness; it was the work of righteousness that was imputed to us by Jesus death on the cross. The point being, here in Revelation 19 it is talking about what the saints do. Some theologians want to remove that. Most do not, but some do. They want to say that this is all just the cross. Yes, it is all the cross and the grace of God, but it is also our response to it, and the Lord honors that response. We will have garments in the age to come related to our response. It really matters what we do. Really, it does. B. Walking with Christ in white is one reward for being faithful. The reason for receiving these white garments is given for they are worthy. This makes it clear that this reward is for personal faithfulness and acts of righteousness as in Revelation 19:8. No person is worthy of salvation, which is freely given only through faith in Jesus and based on His worthiness (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7). 4 You have a few who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. (Rev. 3:4-5) We are still in the book of Revelation, on heavenly garments, on the white garments. Now we know they are bright garments. They are not only white, but the word can be translated bright as well. It can have many different hues of color, like in the city there is that bright, jasper-like, diamond-like glory of God with many other hues of color mixed in and other glorious and beautiful ways throughout the city. Jesus said in Revelation 3:18, I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire and buy from Me white garments that you may be clothed. He is not urging them to buy salvation. He is urging them to buy garments that are distinct from the free gift of salvation of which certain white garments are associated with that. Again, I believe there is great diversity within this large category called white garments. Now when Jesus said, Buy these garments, it just troubles some theologians. Like Jesus, You have gone too far. I mean You mean well, but You went over the line this time. Don t You understand the reformation truths, Jesus? Justification by faith. Jesus would say, I am not talking about that; that is free, I gave that to you for free. I am saying there is something distinct from that. When He says buy, He does not mean earn. He means engage in the Godordained process described in the Word of God in order to acquire those garments. Invest yourself in a costly way. Again, we cannot earn because, if we do a step of obedience, we get a mile of blessing which could never be construed as earning in the presence of God. It does correspond, we do buy, in how we invest ourselves in a costly way and acquire garments that are distinct from the automatic garments that every believer gets freely as the gift of righteousness. Jesus says in Revelation 3:4-5, in a different occasion, to the church at Sardis, in verse 4, You have a few believers in the city of Sardis that have not defiled their garments. They shall walk with Me in light. Then He went on and said this really strong phrase, for they are worthy. In other words, they have responded in an appropriate way to the grace of God. They are not worthy compared to Jesus worthy. That is not the conversation. Rather, they have responded in an appropriate way to the grace of God.

8 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 8 For, He who overcomes, verse 5, will be clothed in white garments. Again, these are the white garments that we just looked at in verse 18, a couple verses later, where He said to buy them, acquire them in the Godordained process which is just interacting with the Lord and obeying by responses of humility, being diligent in our servanthood, generosity, purity, the simple ways of love, the small acts that express generosity, humility, purity, servanthood, those kinds of ways. C. We are to buy garments (Rev. 3:18); this is distinct from the free gift of salvation. Jesus exhorts us to buy garments to engage in the God-ordained process of acquiring them. Buying does not imply earning, but investing ourselves in a costly way by expressing our love to acquire garments. 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold and white garments, that you may be clothed (Rev. 3:18) Now Jesus makes it clear that the reason for receiving the white garments is that they are worthy. This is a key phrase to qualify. These are the words of Jesus. He does not want this confused with the gift of righteousness. It does not contradict it and is not to be confused with it. He is talking about something different than that. That is why He used these strong words in Revelation 3, Buy these garments. These garments are for the people who are worthy. He is wanting believers to make a strong connection that their deeds matter. He is not nervous about that. He wants them to know that the way they love Him now will be expressed by Him at that time. One of the ways He expresses this is by the garments He gives. The Scripture is clear that no person could ever be worthy of gaining salvation. That is not even a thought that anybody with the most basic Bible knowledge could confuse. When Jesus is talking about being worthy of white garments, He is meaning us responding in an appropriate way. Then it is appropriate for the Lord to give those white garments that are distinct from the common garments of salvation that everybody gets, as there is a vast array of garments. Again, I believe this strongly that you will all have a wardrobe that I think will shock you. Some of you will have a wardrobe beyond anything you could imagine. Solomon was outdone by the lilies, and Jesus is going to outdo the lilies that outdid Solomon. He would say, Much more will I clothe you, much more. IV. SCRIPTURE GIVES US INSIGHT INTO GOD S THOUGHTS ABOUT GARMENTS A. Jesus garments: We gain insight into heavenly garments by considering His garments. 2 He was transfigured before them His clothes became as white as the light. (Mt. 17:2) 2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment. (Ps. 104:2) 13 with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. (Rev. 1:13) 8 All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia. (Ps. 45:8) 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved. (2 Cor. 2:15) Let s look at some of the scriptural insight we have. Again, Scripture gives us insight into God s thoughts about garments. What does God think about garments? This is very brief and is not comprehensive by any means. Because God never changes what He thinks about a subject, though there may be a different application throughout all of eternity, we know that His design and His creativity and His wisdom and His values never change. His ability to have creative design is what I mean. I think that as we consider different garments in the Scripture we can get some insight, though only hints. We cannot get definitive details of what it all looks like, but we can see a kind of a canvas so we can, in our imagination, paint a picture, though we cannot get really close. We can know there is a lot more there than a lot

9 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 9 of people are imagining. Again I challenge you to imagine because it has never entered your mind what He has prepared. It is beyond what you could imagine, and that is glorious. Then Scripture tells us to think on heavenly things. One preacher said that if you do not think rightly about heaven, you will not ever think about heaven. You have to think rightly about heaven to think on heaven. Most people think, Cloud, harp, floating, white robe, got it. No, no, there is so much more than that! I like clouds and harps and garments. I do like those, but it is much more than that. Matthew 17, at Jesus transfiguration, when He was transformed He had not gone to the cross yet. He appeared to Peter, James, and John, and they got a glimpse of His glory, the glory that He possesses forever. His face transfigured, Matthew 17. You can read the whole text. It mentions His face changed, shining brightly. His clothes are white as light. Now that is one of the references where white means brightness, dazzling brightness; that is in Matthew 17. Look, Mark and Luke also develop it as shining and dazzling garments. The word used is white garments, but it is more than just basic, plain white. In Psalm 104:2, the psalmist declared in worship to God, You cover Yourself with light like a garment. That is, The garment around You is light and glory. So when God designed garments for Himself I am sure that is an inadequate way to say it they were garments of light. Now in Romans 13:12, Paul said to put on the armor of light. He meant spiritual truth. Put on spiritual truth in this hour, this age. I believe that armor of light has an application bigger than spiritual truth in this age. I think that we have garments of light, these white, multifaceted garments by which every believer has a different measure of the glory of God related to their acts of service to the Lord, their righteous acts. It is not only serving, but also standing for truth, standing for Jesus. You know we are in an hour of history where it is becoming more and more unpopular to stand for what the Bible says. A lot of believers are getting more and more silent on important issues, because there are other believers in the workplace or in the cafeteria who are mocking them because they are standing for what the Lord says. Beloved, stand. Stand! That is considered an act of righteousness. I do not mean be belligerent, but do not back down because there is a group of people, even believers, who are dismissing the Word of God because they imagine they are more loving than God is. Do not go there. Be clear, be kind, be sweet, but be strong, and the Lord will write it in His books. It might develop your wardrobe a little bit more, and that might shock you. In Revelation 1:13, Jesus had a robe. It says a garment down to the feet. It is a robe reaching to the feet, so we know it is a long robe. We know it is a robe that paralleled the high priestly office. There are a lot of implications to this, but I just want you to see that it is long and it has symbolic meaning of His function. Meaning, it declares His function. It is not just pure symbolism; it is a robe that depicts His function. In the age to come you will have garments, all different types and shapes, some of which will depict your function and your role just like this one. It was not just a robe that reached the feet. It was girded about the chest with a golden band. So I am imaging that it has a beauty and a design to it that is stunning. I do not think it is just a simple little gold band, you know, like a one-inch gold band. Okay, got it; the gold band is in place. This is Jesus! I mean He is a clothing designer equal to being a songwriter and a musician which is equal to being an architect, a scientist, a poet, a King, a Bridegroom, and more and more. Anyway I like this, the chest with a golden band. That is another facet of the beauty of heavenly garments. I am expecting all kinds of beautiful facets to the heavenly garments in the age to come. Psalm 45 is talking about the Messiah, which we know is Jesus, but in Psalm 45 in the Old Testament times they did not know this. They declared in worship, All of Your garments are scented. They are fragrant. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 tells us the very fragrance of Christ will be in us and on us; that is the meaning of this.

10 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 10 That is, God smells it and God sees it in us and on us. There is quite a fascinating study about fragrance in the New Jerusalem. There are a handful of verses, Genesis to Revelation, on this subject. Heaven is not just filled with beautiful sights; it is filled with beautiful music, beautiful fragrances. I do not know, but I think probably at every dinner you will have live music and fragrance and beauty besides wonderful food. I do not know if it is every meal, but many meals I am assuming. That is the atmosphere of that city. Dining is one of the rewards, dining with the Lord. Now everybody eats, but I believe that some will dine with the Lord the overcomer it says in a way that goes beyond the average privilege of everyone in the city. I am getting ahead of myself here; that is for another session. 1. Isaiah wrote about the Messiah s garments (Isa. 6:1; 59:16-17; 61:10; 63:1-5). 1 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne and the train of His robe filled the temple. (Isa. 6:1) 1 This One who is glorious in His apparel? 2 Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? 3 I have trodden the winepress their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. (Isa. 63:1-3) Isaiah wrote about the Messiah s garments. The reason we are looking at His garments well, there are a lot of good reasons to, but I am skipping all the good reasons the reason tonight is that it reflects what our garments might be like because it is the God who is the author of the creative design of the garments, who never changes, who is giving us garments. So here we are getting insight into what kind of garments He might make. That is the subject we are on right here in this part of the teaching. In Isaiah 6, the Lord was sitting on a throne. We find out from John 12 that, in Isaiah 6, Isaiah was actually looking at Jesus, the Messiah. We find that in John 12. The train of His robe filled the temple. Do you know how big the train of His robe must be to fill the temple? You know, I have seen some of the royal ceremonies, coronations, different ones on documentaries of some of the royal families. The train of their robe on some occasions is like, Oh my goodness! Well, the robe of Jesus has that kind of diversity to it. Look at Isaiah 63:1. Do not miss this, verse 1. Isaiah declares this One who is glorious in His apparel. Do not miss that phrase. His garments are glorious! That was one of the first things that Isaiah mentioned when he was recording this encounter with the Messiah. His garments were beautiful. They were glorious, and they were powerful, not just beautiful to look at. I believe they are glorious in design and fragrance and features and fabric and everything else. Then he went on to say that He was traveling in the greatness of His power. That is the next phrase, though I do not have here in the notes. I want you to catch this. He is glorious. Wow, His apparel, His garments, are glorious. Then Isaiah went on to say, Why are Your garments red? He said this in verse 3. I do not want to get off on this subject, but he is talking about this in context to the second coming, when He is marching up to the city of Jerusalem to liberate them at His return. They are surrounded by the nations, the armies of the earth. Jesus says in verse 3, I have trodden the winepress. It is the blood of the enemies of Israel as they are surrounding the city of Jerusalem in Zechariah 12, 14; Joel 3; Zephaniah 3 and a bunch of other places; the nations are surrounding Israel. Jesus, the greater David, comes marching up to the city to liberate the city at His return. Their blood is sprinkled on His garments. He says, I have stained all of My robes. My point here is not what Jesus does on the second coming; that is a glorious subject for another day. The point I want you to mention here is see the robes are plural. He does not have a robe, He has robes, and they are beautiful. He has many types of garments. So if that be true of Him, I believe there will be reflections of that truth and expressions of it to His Bride.

11 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page People sought to touch Jesus garments to experience His power (Mt. 9:21). Just a point in passing is that people during Jesus ministry wanted to touch His garments because the power of God would be released when they touched His garments. Now we know that the power in His person, but it is also associated with His garments, like Elijah and Elisha whose garments even had relationship to the power of God. You know, Paul talked about the handkerchiefs they prayed for and people got healed. I do not know how all that works, but there is a dimension of power that is associated with these heavenly garments. Well, the Lord had earthly garments, but there was power and glory in His apparel. B. Angels garments: We gain insight into heavenly garments by considering the angels garments. 6 clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. (Rev. 15:6) 5 a certain man [angel] clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold! (Dan. 10:5) Let s look at the angels garments ever so briefly. There is more in Scripture than this, but I had limited space for it in my notes here. I went and squeezed a few in. The angels have bright linen garments, and they have bands around their chest, not all the angels, but some of them. I am assuming the golden bands are different than Jesus. There are probably many, many different types of designs for the golden bands. Again, our creative God, I do not think He just has one size fits all. That is not His style and that is not His leadership pattern in Scripture. In Daniel 10 a certain angel it says man but it is clear in the context it is an angel was clothed in linen. His waist was girded with gold, while the other angel s chest was. C. High priest s garments: The priestly garments give insight into the value that God has for garments and how they speak of spiritual things. God designed them to be beautiful and to show the glory of a sacred position. God gave directions for the priests garments (Ex. 28:1-43). There were distinct parts, including breastplates, ephods, robes, tunics, turbans, sashes, hats, trousers, coats, girdles, and crowns. The colors of their garments included gold, blue, purple, red, and white. 2 You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty 4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash 40 You shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. (Ex. 28:2-4, 40) There is diversity of design and beauty in the garments for the high priest in the Old Testament. Look what it says in Exodus 28. This is God speaking. He is speaking to Moses, like the audible voice of the Lord coming to Moses. Moses, verse 2, make garments for your brother Aaron. Here is the phrase I want you to see: I want the garments for glory and I want the garments for beauty. This is God s idea. It is not like He came to Moses and said, Hey, thinking of a uniform. What do you think? Should we go with something standard or something elaborate? No, Moses did not have a thought. I don t believe he did. It was totally God s idea. He wanted garments that depicted the glory of the station or the office that Aaron was to stand in. It is the glory of God, but it is reflected in a person. He said, as it were, I want garments that make clear the station that he has in My kingdom, his assignment. I want him to have garments that express My beauty. I do not just want garments; I want beautiful garments. I do not just want beautiful garments; I want garments that depict the honor and the glory of the station that the servant of the Lord has. Then, look, He went on in verse 4. He said, Now when you make the garments, make sure there is a breast plate, an ephod, a robe, a tunic, a turban, a sash, hats, on and on. He gave a few more I did not put here. He says it again in verse 40, it is for glory and for beauty. That is, I want it to signify the glory of the station

12 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 12 that I have given them. I want others to see the garments and understand their position before Me, and I want them to be beautiful. I have in the notes here that there were distinct parts of the garments: trousers, coats, girdles, robes, breast plates, tunics, hats, crown, on and on. If it was so in this age, my assumption is that surely it will be so in the age to come. The priestly garments had different colors gold, blue, purple, red, white, and others. If true in this age, I believe a very fair assumption is that it is in the age to come. D. Saints garments: We gain insight into heavenly garments by considering the garments of saints. 9 A great multitude clothed with white robes 14 These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 7:9-14) 14 The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him. (Rev. 19:14) 43 The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Mt. 13:43) 13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; Her clothing is woven with gold. 14 She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors. (Ps. 45:13-14) Last, the saints garments. Again we only find hints of God s creative design and the way He thinks about garments. You can read a couple of them there yourself for the sake of time. I just want to mention Matthew 13, The righteous will shine forth as the sun. That is not just the resurrected body; I believe it will be the body, but I believe it will relate to the garments as well. That is that dazzling brightness which has diversity of glory in it. Then, speaking of the Bride of Christ and the symbolic language in Psalm 45 we already looked at Psalm 45 where it said that His garments were all scented; they were fragrant in the same psalm, looking a few verses later, not only are the Messiah s garments fragrant, but the daughter s garments, the royal daughter, the Bride of Christ clearly depicted here in this Messianic psalm, Psalm 45, the royal daughter is all glorious within the palace. Everything about her within the palace is glorious: her garments, her crown, her throne, her food, her station. Everything about her has the glory. Then the Spirit highlights that her clothing is woven with gold. Again I would assume that this will be depicted in heavenly garments in many, many different, creative ways for every person to have a different look and possibly even feel. I do not know that for sure. It seems like that is the testimony of God s leadership in history. She shall be brought to the King here it is in robes with many diverse colors is the idea. V. GAINING INSIGHT FROM SOCIETY ABOUT THE DIVERSITY OF GARMENTS A. We can gain insight from society seeing elements of God s handiwork in the common responses of people in various cultures since humans are created in God s image. We can gain insight, but only hints. I like hints because I like to think. I cannot be sure, so I do not want to press details at a level that is beyond what the Scripture states. I want to take the hints and say, Holy Spirit, I just want to imagine more rather than just neglecting the subject like so many do. I want to think on this using the Bible and even using Your handiwork through human culture. Because, as I said, people are image bearers of God. Again, fallen image bearers in all that people do, and not all that the culture reflects is from God. There are elements throughout all of cultures, all through history, that are common. Some of those elements reflect the image of God in them. Because there are so many people, so many cultures, so many generations, the common theme is the thumbprint of God on them. There are quite a few things like that, like nobility of love that is in every culture. We could go on and on, but that is another subject for another time.

13 Session 4 Heavenly Garments: Glorious, Beautiful, and Diverse Page 13 One of these subjects is the diversity of garments and the meaning of garments in every culture, from the tribal cultures to the aristocratic families of Europe, from the cultures of Asia to the Latin Americas to the islands. They all have such diversity of garments that all speak about honor and status and responsibility in the culture. They depict achievement and reward. This is something every culture has in common. The application is different, but they all have this in common. I look at that and I ask, Why? My answer is that it is the thumbprint of God in the human spirit to seek garments this way, and it is a reflection of the image of God because we are going to be this way in the age to come, far beyond what we imagine. There is a great science though that is probably not the best term, but in knowing what to wear, when, where, and why. Garments are a massive subject. I just go with the basic long sleeve shirt and black pants, you know. I just stick with that for now. My wife tells me I need to branch out a little bit. 1. Garments can give insight into someone s personality and accomplishments, as well as their function, status, or office, and express cultural identity or membership in a valued group. Garments can give insight into someone s personality, their accomplishments, and their function or station in life. That is very obvious. 2. Dress says who you are, how you want to be seen and related to, and what you represent. A picture is worth a thousand words; clothing is not neutral, but well planned, with a message. Garments say who you are, how you want people to see you and relate to you, what you represent, who you want to impact. A picture is worth a thousand words. Garments are not neutral. We all know that. This is obvious, but I just wanted you to think, Yeah, that is very obvious, because I think some of this is reflected in the age to come. I do not know exactly how, but it is a big subject, not a small subject. Clothing is not neutral but it is well planned in the cultures of history all over the earth. The clothing has a message in it. B. Clothing styles are as varied as there are people, purposes, and cultures. Clothing is an important part of relationship and communication. By wearing special clothes at a wedding, we communicate our value of the people getting marriage and acknowledge their wedding as an important event. By wearing a suit for a job interview we communicate to a potential employer that we value the opportunity and will be aware and diligent in our work. By wearing black clothes at a funeral, we communicate that we recognize and share the grief of the mourning family. Clothing is an important part of relationship. I believe in the age to come clothing will send a message in relating to one another. Clothing is a communication tool. For instance, by wearing special clothes at a wedding you communicate the value you have in the people being married. You communicate the value of the ceremony, the vow they are making. Your garment there has some statement about what you think about them and the covenant they are making. You wear a suit at a job interview. You are telling the potential employer, Hey, I value the opportunity you are giving me here right now, giving me a half hour to talk to you. I want you to know I pay attention to detail. I want you to know I am diligent, I am aware, and I am attentive. It is a good time to polish your shoes before you go in there. He is going to look right at your shoes. You don t want him to say, Man, no! You do not even pay attention to detail! You are communicating something.