Hebrews

[0:00] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

[0:17] The great apostle derived much benefit through the knowledge that he gained before his eyes were opened to spiritual things.

[0:35] When I say open to spiritual things I mean the reality of the interpretation of much that constituted doubtless his study as a Pharisee and Hebrew of the Hebrews.

[0:52] He sat at the feet of Gamaliel which was a great educational feat in that day. He was schooled naturally speaking into one of the best educations of his generation.

[1:08] But my friends all those things he said that were going to him those he counted loss for Christ. And he was brought ultimately to see the distinction between the head knowledge of the truth and the heart knowledge of the truth.

[1:27] Those things that are learned in the head and those things that are learned by the patient teaching and sanctifying grace of the Holy Ghost.

[1:40] Well now his particular consideration here is that the Old Testament in the celebration of the Day of Atonement had with it some particular developments.

[2:07] Some of the sacrifices that were made on certain occasions. Yes they were part of the flesh of the beast or bird sacrificed that could be made of use in the feeding and the nourishment of the priests.

[2:31] Those of the Levitical order and so on. There were certain portions that were allocated by the command of God to certain responsible people who should have this, that and the other to take away with them from the altar of sacrifice.

[2:52] But the particular direction of the apostles in this area is the wonderful Day of Atonement.

[3:04] And on the Day of Atonement. And on the Day of Atonement the blood should be shed. And then as we read here the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp.

[3:22] And the whole body of that beast sacrificed should be taken out of the camp and consumed by fire.

[3:33] And the apostle uses that in this particular. He said, wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gain.

[3:46] Now we know in scriptural history that that was the fact. That Jesus went outside of the city of Jerusalem.

[3:58] The walls of that great and much honoured city. And he was sacrificed upon the cross without Jerusalem's gate.

[4:09] And that seems to be a very clear illustration of the type that is here before us. In wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate.

[4:27] Now that is something that we must bear in mind as we further consider the teaching of this text.

[4:38] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach.

[4:53] If our religion doesn't cost us something it's not worth much.

[5:16] A religion of the spirit will essentially occasion some sacrifice. Some forfeiture to us in the circumstances of our lives.

[5:35] You won't become a Christian without that profession costing something. And my friends the relative teaching here is that the cost to the Lord Jesus was great wasn't it?

[5:59] He went without the camp. And what happened without the camp? Well we could go into detail with respect to the awful sufferings which the Lord suffered in the behalf of his people.

[6:21] That they might be forgiven. That they might know that God was reconciled to them. That the punishment for their sins has been meted out upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[6:39] And in consequence of that they are forgiven forever and forever. Payment God cannot twice demand. First at the bleeding shoe at his hand and then again at mine.

[6:52] We must appreciate with regard to the blood-bought people of God that the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ is satisfaction to the need of God the Father.

[7:09] Holy as he is in regard to the reception of his people.

[7:20] Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood. Now we may think upon that period when the Lord Jesus Christ was sentenced.

[7:36] And when the awful scourge of misunderstanding, false accusation, everything as it were that seems to be opposed naturally speaking to that which was just and right.

[7:57] Think of him being crucified as a malefactor upon that accursed tree of Calvary. And yet he never was guilty of one sin.

[8:09] He never transgressed in any detail the will of God. He gave to his Father everything that his Father required for perfect acceptation.

[8:22] And yet he's crucified. Taken by wicked hands and slain as is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

[8:36] Well my friends with all the apparent misunderstanding and as it were the justice, the injustice of Christ's offering and sacrifice.

[8:54] As he laboured under the curse and bore the punishment for his people's sins. This was all part of God's plan that God should forgive his people's sins in respect of the perfect offering made by his only begotten son when he stood and suffered in the sinner's place.

[9:23] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp. Now when we think of what was in the camp in regard to the Lord Jesus and those things that associated with the worship exercised in Jerusalem, we see that it was necessary according to the will and purpose of God that Jesus should go without Jerusalem's gate.

[10:02] That that great offering that he made, the satisfaction that he rendered was not in the confines of religious practice known for generations within the walls of Jerusalem.

[10:22] But he necessarily went out of the gate. And I want you to consider this this evening first of all.

[10:36] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp. Without the camp. My friends, there's much that takes place in the professing church of Christ, which we might term to be bodily exercise.

[10:57] That is things that can be accomplished by human effort. And you think of the Christian world, you think of the way that Christianity is professed in many places, it's just the exercise of nature, so to speak, with the purpose and object of worshipping God.

[11:32] But the Apostle Paul, when he was a Pharisee, he exercised his religion to a great degree within the camp.

[11:48] That is, he was using his intelligence, he was exercising his physical energies in the persecution of the church, which he, the true church, in a religious zeal.

[12:13] But how opposed all that was taking place in his heart and in his life, how opposed it was to the glory of God and the furtherance of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

[12:31] But when the Lord met with Paul on the Damascus Road, all those things that he had been involved with and wherein he thought God's service was being fulfilled, they all had to go.

[12:52] And he had, as it were, to separate himself from the mere religiosity of fleshly exercise and realize that what is of the flesh is flesh and what is of the spirit is spirit.

[13:09] And there is a distinction between the two. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them.

[13:23] The things of the spirit are spiritually discerned. And my friends, we've got to be continually cautious with respect to our judgment of those things which are profitable, God-honoring, and which are edifying to our souls and those other things that can so easily, as it were, take a satisfying judgment in our own hearts and in our own lives.

[14:00] We become satisfied with coming to chapel, reading our Bible, attending to prayer at the bedside before we retire for the night and other very convenient and can be very profitable exercises if the Lord is in it.

[14:18] But if the Lord is just observing, so to speak, what we can do in the flesh, then it is form. It is a fleshly exercise that has so little, if any, advantage in it.

[14:39] But now the text says, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate, without the gate.

[14:52] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. There's a going without.

[15:06] There's a separating in spirit from those things which may satisfy a formal religious inclination that may give, as it were, much pleasure to people of a natural sense that they attend to these things and consider in consequence that they merit the favor of God and in their hearts rest upon the formality of religious practices.

[15:44] Oh, we must be so careful that something that is attainable by the flesh is not, as it were, the foundation of our religion and the exercise of our hearts with respect to the world that is to come.

[16:08] Formality in religion can be a terrible snare to think that we're right when we're wrong.

[16:20] the great thing in spiritual exercise is that it must come from above, that it must come from above.

[16:34] Every good and every perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights with whom is no variable or ness neither shadow of turning. My friends, it's the blessings of heaven that cause the exercises rightly attended to in religion to be of profit to our souls and to the honor and glory of the Lord.

[17:00] Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp. You see, it's unto him everything that is profitable is a going forth unto him.

[17:15] Christ is in it. Christ is in it. Oh, we do want those blessings that have, as it were, the fullness of the benefit for Jesus' sake.

[17:30] We do want to reap, as it were, the harvest of divine blessing, the sowing of which Christ has done for us in his life and by his death here when he was here upon the earth.

[17:49] Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp, without the camp. I've already quoted that what is of the flesh is flesh and what is of the spirit is spirit, and those that are of the flesh do not understand those that contend for the spirit.

[18:14] Because there is a gulf between the two. What is of the flesh is flesh, and what is of the spirit is spirit. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God.

[18:27] They are foolishness unto him. And my friends, even in the congregation, there can be a distinction between those that come together and worship God in the spirit and those that come together and exercise themselves in the flesh.

[18:47] What I'm contending for this evening is the spiritual nature of true worship. It's leaving, as it were, the camp and going after Christ.

[18:59] Then let us, therefore, go forth unto him without the camp. Things to be left behind, things as it were to be in the spirit of them separated from.

[19:16] And going to that where Jesus is and where the blessings of God from Jesus freely flow.

[19:27] now let us, therefore, let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp. Without the camp.

[19:38] Bearing his reproach. It may be that some of you from time to time come into contact with people who have a very strong influence to religion and they're very zealous in the exercise of religious practices.

[20:06] But when you contend for the things that are of the spirit, when you contend for the life of God and godliness in the profession of the name of the Lord, then you find they don't understand.

[20:29] And so often they become critical. They say, well, you're an old Calvinist. And they try and, as it were, pigeonhole you with those who they contend against and consider to be too narrow-minded and too particular in their approach to religious profession.

[20:55] Well, my friends, the narrowness of the cross, if I can put it that way, identifies the rightness of going forth unto Christ without the camp.

[21:14] That is, seeing a means that God sanctifies and uses to the benefit of his people and yet not in any way to be in self-praise or personal commendation by those things that we attend to.

[21:40] We go without the camp. And what is there without the camp? One thing without the camp to me that is very attractive and I'll just mention it as I pass, you know, the accessibility of all to Christ as he suffered without the gate is a great feature of that divine appointment when he should suffer without Jerusalem gate.

[22:13] Lepers were not allowed in the gate but lepers had access without the gate to those who were ready to communicate a favour to them.

[22:32] And my friends, what a wonderful thing it is when you think of the leprosy of sin and how unworthy we all are in that sense to enter into the gate.

[22:45] The Lord Jesus suffering without the gate is the remedy for the malady of sin. He has the power to cleanse lepers and, as it were, to reinstate them into a healthy and a pure condition.

[23:04] well now let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, without the camp. Yes, sacrifices have to be made, separations and distinctions have to be acknowledged.

[23:20] A Christian is different from the people of the world and it's a sad thing when that distinction is not visible in the practice of a Christian profession.

[23:35] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp. Jesus is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.

[23:47] Well, let us go forth unto him. We shall bear some of the things that he was called upon to bear when he was here in the flesh.

[23:59] Men didn't embrace him. They didn't follow him. They didn't credit him. There were many within the gate that were ready as it were in Pharisee pride to attempt to show him up as an imposter, one who was not worthy of the following that he received.

[24:26] But nevertheless, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. Christianity solicits reproach.

[24:39] And we must expect if we're true Christians seeking to follow the Lord and to emulate his example in those ways wherein he has set before us the right way, we must expect to suffer reproach, bearing his reproach.

[25:05] Now there's nothing that can commend itself to a believing soul more than to realize this personal characteristic in the life of the Lord, his reproach.

[25:29] Not let us go forth there unto him without bearing reproach, but bearing his reproach for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, because as it were, the light of our profession is Christ shining through us, making himself known to the world about us by the sincere, honest, and humble profession we make of his holy name and his cause here below, his reproach, bearing his reproach.

[26:14] Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. It hated me before it hated you. there is a reproach in true Christianity and while he is despised of men, we mustn't expect to escape from time to time those despisings which the world exercise toward the true people of God.

[26:46] God now the apostle Paul, he knew a great nature of what he was writing when he wrote this epistle to the Hebrews.

[27:00] You think of what he suffered in Ephesus and the Philippi and again in Thessalonica those cities which as it were were very near to his heart as the Lord had used his ministry to their advantage and he was very much united to the people in the brotherhood and fellowship of the gospel.

[27:28] He could address them in most affectionate terms and he could warn them that they would suffer in consequence of the profession that they had made.

[27:43] They would as it were taste of that bitter cup of reproach that associates with a faithful discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[27:56] Now let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp. yes we're going in the right direction if we're going unto him something very attractive to the people of God is to be in any ways identified with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the burden of the text.

[28:26] Let us go forth unto him unto him and my friends can you consider any disadvantage in your response to such a gracious exhortation as is contained in the text.

[28:44] Oh the nearer to Christ we live the more benefit we receive and there's everything in him to faith that is attractive commendable and solicits as it were not only the admiration but the desire of a Christian spirit to be found in the spirit and way of the master.

[29:13] let us therefore let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach bearing his reproach the Lord Jesus Christ makes it abundantly plain that a relationship a right relationship with Christ will solicit reproach from the world.

[29:43] The world don't understand the church. The world don't understand those that will make sacrifice for the truth's sake. They don't understand the value that the people of God put on those religious exercises that are indeed made precious to their souls.

[30:08] Now the manner of life through Christianity is to call forth reproach and as the life of Christ called forth reproach in a great measure an inexpressible measure when he was here below because was there any that suffered more than he suffered?

[30:36] Was there any that endured more than he endured? what he endured? No tongue can tell to save our souls from death and hell.

[30:49] But my friends, there is such a spirit when we see the excellency of Christ and feel the preciousness of that salvation that was accomplished by him without Jerusalem's gate.

[31:03] there's there's this spirit all hail reproach and welcome shame if thou remember me. Oh if we have the blessing of the Lord in our hearts what is the reproach of the world comparatively?

[31:25] The comparative reproach of the world, yes, it may find its expression in the pain of the flesh but coupled with the pain of the flesh if the reproach is our going forth unto him without the camp, my friends, the blessing of the Lord far outweighs and excels the cost that may be incurred by our faithful testimony of the name of Jesus in our life, in our walk and in our conversation.

[32:03] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp. There'll be a cost but it's a cost that's well worth pay, well worth pay.

[32:15] The flesh suffers, yes, and how great have been the sufferings of some of the saints when we think of what the world has done to them because of their faithful testimony to the cause of the Lord.

[32:33] We don't know now whether the comparative peace that has been enjoyed by the Christian church in our nation and among the nations of Europe is to continue much longer.

[32:50] There seems to be threatening clouds on the horizon that make us tremble as to what we might live to see and what we might live to suffer before the end of our days.

[33:02] But nevertheless, my friends, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp. Let us remember that the blessing of the Lord maketh rich.

[33:15] The presence of the Lord in the heart can cause us to endure hardness as good soldiers of the Saviour.

[33:28] Let us therefore go forth, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, without the camp, bearing his reproach.

[33:39] for here have we no continuing city. For here we have no continuing city.

[33:55] Whatever we've got and whatever we might be called upon to lose in consequence of a faithful testimony of our profession, my friends, it is not of much duration.

[34:15] It's only for a little while, isn't it? Only for a little while. That's all it can be for a little while. If they were allowed of God to take our life from us as martyrs to the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, well, the little bit of life, with all its pains and sorrows and difficulties and trials, I say that could be denied to us, but we have a continuing city.

[34:49] No continuing city here, but there's a city out of sight. There's a city, a continuing city, a city that will endure forever more.

[35:02] now, this is a great assertion in the truth of comparative values, comparative values.

[35:17] if we have Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm. The storm may take things from us, but those things which are promised to us are everlasting, everlasting.

[35:42] we have no continuing city. No. And sometimes as we go out of the camp and bear the reproach of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are painful separations and sacrifices entailed.

[36:07] Woe unto you, when all men speak well of you, is scripture that so often comes to the mind of those who are enduring hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

[36:25] It's not easy. You see, the scripture comes very close. If we love our father and mother more than we love Christ, we cannot be his disciples.

[36:38] We've got to, as it were, be willing to leave everything for Jesus sake, knowing that these earthly things are but temporal and the things that are promised to us in the truth and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ are everlasting, everlasting, ever continuing.

[37:04] We have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come. Now, I cannot begin to identify those things that the Lord in his sovereignty brings into the experiences of his people wherein they are caused to make extreme sacrifice according to the will of God.

[37:41] But I'm going to use Joseph as an example this evening. You know, he's a favourite of mine in the Old Testament is Joseph. he was obviously a favourite son of his father.

[37:59] And the love that existed between Jacob and Joseph was very, very precious to Joseph beyond doubt.

[38:13] And the beautiful spirit in Joseph, a Christ-like spirit, he sought to please his father. And when his father gave him an expression of his desire that he should go forth to visit his brethren, we find that Joseph obeyed.

[38:38] And he went and he searched until at length God used the means of a stranger to direct him to his brethren. for now, what did he find in his brethren?

[38:55] He found a spirit that was contrary, absolutely bitter, envy, and jealousy. And jealousy is as cruel as the grave.

[39:09] And you know, in your knowledge of the Old Testament scripture, what a painful experience Joseph was the receiver of.

[39:26] Treated not in thankfulness for what he brought to them, but in bitterness because of their jealousy over him.

[39:38] And they sold him into Egypt, sold him into the hands of the Ishmaelites who took him down into that awful experience of misjudgment in the house of Potiphar, an innocent lad, exposed to terrible temptation, but kept by the power of God, a good example to those who are young, and the subject of temptation is the defense which Joseph made.

[40:12] How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God? It's a wonderful principle. And so he eventually found his way.

[40:25] But look at the reproach that relates to Jesus Christ, unfolding, as it were, in a prophetic way, to that which Christ ultimately would receive when he came here into this earth, in the flesh.

[40:52] Why? In his brethren, there didn't seem any love, there didn't seem any love, and from the love of his father's house, he had to experience the bitterness of the attitude of his brethren, and he had to go out, as it were, into a foreign land, and there to suffer all sorts of experiences.

[41:19] But if you read Joseph and think of Jesus Christ, there is a wonderful connection between the two experiences. And my friends, this is the reproach, this is the place, as it were, where the people of God learn somewhat of the cost to Jesus Christ of their salvation.

[41:51] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for here have we no continuing city. this is not a permanent dwelling place, this is not our home, this is not our rest, we're on pilgrimage, and the Lord has reserved a better country, he's given promise to us out of the fullness of his love, of a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker his guard, is built to last, to last, and to last forever.

[42:35] Now the transient experiences of this present time, compared with the permanency of glory, surely sets before us the wisdom of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and not to count the cost as it were, and withdraw because of the suffering that must, the suffering cost that must be made, but following the Lord, the singleness of eye and purpose of spirit, accepting the cost, in whatever way the cost may come to us, in that sense, embracing the cross for Jesus sake, because at length there is the promise of a city continuing, a city continuing, a condition which is absolutely free from those things that we have experienced as painful and trying and difficult while we have been here in this temporary habitation, this temporary habitation.

[44:07] Well, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come, we seek one to come, and my friends, is this true of you and is this true of me?

[44:27] Abraham, instead of Abraham, he looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

[44:38] Abraham was a rich man, he had very much, as it were, to give comfort to the flesh, but he was not captivated by the temporal things, he was free as it were, in the exercise of faithful to look for higher things and better things than this present world had to offer, and there is a sense in which the reproach of the name of Jesus Christ is a constant reminder to us that this is not our rest, this is not our rest, we're in, in a sense, in an enemy's land, and there is a sense in which the world cannot accept us, because we're not of the world, we're not of the world, and it's a sad thing if the world think we are of the world, it's a mercy if God has given us sufficient grace to be strangers, and pilgrims on the earth.

[45:43] Well, I hope you've been able to understand my babblings, I'm not able to put things out so clearly as some, but nevertheless, I said before you, in a sense, this choice this evening, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, continuing city, but the pleasures of sin just for a little while, and then what, and then what?

[46:24] Oh, my friends, may God give us wisdom and grace to choose the better part, and then we shall be happy eternally.

[46:37] Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[47:08] If unto Jesus thou art found, a crowd about him will be found attending day and night. A worldly crowd is in thy ears, and crowds of unbelieving fears, to hide him from thy sight.