It Starts Small

This morning I am continuing my writing about Aaron’s robe in Exodus chapter 28. Yesterday I wrote about the symbolic importance of linen. Linen represented us giving up all control, desires and doing our own thing our own way. There’s another bit of symbolism in Aaron’s robe: the bells.

³³ And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: ³⁴ A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. ³⁵ And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not. Exodus 28:33-35

The linen represents our rest in Christ and the bells represent our profession of Christ. When we received Christ, we begin to profess Christ. We ring the bells for Christ.

⁹ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

We confess what is in our hearts. If we have hate, selfishness, and pride in our hearts, that is what we speak and what our actions testify to. If we are not confessing Christ as our Savior, we do not have a Biblical faith. The faith that does not lead to confession will not lead to heaven. Jesus tells us several times we must confess with our mouths:

³² Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. ³³ But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33

When we confess Jesus before men, Jesus confesses us before our Heavenly Father. When we deny Jesus before men, Jesus denies us before our Heavenly Father. In Short, Jesus tells us, if you do not ring the bells down here, I am not going to ring the bells up there.

³⁸ Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:13

Jesus tells us that we are not to be ashamed of Him. It leads to a vital question, an important question I have had to confront myself with: DO I think I am truly saved if I have no desire to confess Jesus to others? Jesus tells us, no bells, no life. Deny Jesus and he denies you. Confess Jesus and he confesses me.

We need to put on the robe and rest in him to be able to sound the bells for him. No robe, no bells. Just wearing the robe is not enough. Just wearing bells is not enough. A man who wears the robe, but refuses to confess Jesus is deceiving himself. A man who wears the bells but not the robe is deceiving himself. It’s only through Christ can His work and the gospel be done. We can work it through our own sweat, nor can we just live a life that does not confess Him Lord and Savior. To enter into the presence of God, we need both the robe and the bells.

We need to ring the bell in all we do. It’s easy to go to church and confess Christ to others. But what about outside of church? In our homes, work, recreation, while getting coffee or other areas we meet people? A real salvation desires to ring the bell of Christ in all we do and everywhere we go. Confession without belief is hypocritical and belief without confession is being a coward.

Belief with confession is a true Christian. The confession does not save, it is our faith that saves. Confession shows our faith. Faith gives the fact of salvation and confession gives the feeling of salvation. A lack of joy in our lives is a lack of ringing the bells.

Looking back is always a look forward. I had this really confusing three or four months last year. As I started my discipleship journey, I got fooled into believing someone’s religious moment was real. It still confuses me, but looking closer, I experienced great joy sitting down and sharing what I was learning with this person. When we ring the bell of Christ we do experience a pure joy in our salvation. Even when I shared not so great things like being trapped by fear or discovering the root to my sin was my unbelief. Those moments of sitting down with a cup of coffee or cold glass of mountain dew, I found great joy in sharing what I was learning. When I get into deep conversations with my kids about our faith, I am filled with an amazing Joy.

Last night my youngest daughter and I were talking about possibly going to Israel next January. It led to a conversation about Jesus and God’s chosen people. We were asking open ended questions and that led to a conversation about “clean” and “unclean” food. When we finally parted ways, I left the conversation just full of joy.

So often before I made the choice to pull the death clothes off and start this discipleship journey, I felt lost. I treated the will of God as some sort of hidden treasure that I had to find. I was full of doubt that God could ever use a horrible sinner like me. I would never be good enough, but all along he was building a testimony in me. Because he knows yesterday, today and tomorrow, he knew at a certain point, I was going to get to a place where I said enough was enough. I never thought I would have anything to say or share with others. I was not a learned woman. I knew the basics, but never really sought to learn beyond it. God set me on a path, His path, and in the middle of healing and rest, he started to show me His will. All these “things” and circumstances surrounding my existence are a testimony to others of his powerful love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

I think we wait for a Paul moment in our lives. We wait for the grand miracle to happen. We wait for lightning to strike us and an audible word or calling, but really, it comes down to a choice. A choice to stop wearing leather and wool and sweating. To rest in our Heavenly Father and let Him work himself through us. It’s only then we can truly ring the bells.

We all have experience wearing wool and leather. It’s our deliverance from sweating God wants to use to show others his power and love. His power to help us overcome the consequences of wearing leather and wool and his victory in our lives is how we can ring the bells for Christ. Our healing from sufferings and pain is a way we ring the bells for Christ. Our forgiveness and giving forgiveness is a way we ring the bells for Christ. We can only ring the bells when we are wearing the linen robe of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

Are you wearing linen and ringing the bell? or are you wearing wool and a sounding brass?