Hebrews 13:7-16
Part 4.
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp.”
I believe that it is not necessary to enlarge on what the camp is—we know what it is, and what it was in Paul’s time. It was a simple thing to define it then, but there is no temple or tabernacle at Jerusalem today. There is no priesthood going through the forms and ceremonies of Judaism in the City of Jerusalem, but even if there were, you and I would not be vitally concerned in it, for Jerusalem is thousands of miles away and we probably could never get there, so that in its literal application it would not concern you.
But there is that that answers to the camp, and I believe no intelligent and spiritual mind can fail to see what it is; it is what man has set up; it is done according to the mind of men; it is that that pictures and colors Judaism; it is going back to the elements of the law, the weak and beggarly elements of the world; and in some way or other you get a religion out of it that is not according to the simple, blessed truth of the revelation we have in Christ. It is taking tip the old argument of John 4:19-26, as to whether Mount Gerezim or Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship; the Lord Jesus set that aside long ago; He said, it is not a question of this mountain or Jerusalem; the hour is coming, “and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”
True worship is a spiritual worship, and must have Christ for its object, and it must be in submission to the Word of God.
To Philadelphia, the sixth of the seven churches, the Lord Jesus presented Himself as “He that is holy, and He that is true.” If you expect to be a Philadelphian and I trust you all do, I trust that that is the desire of your heart it must be in accordance with Him that is holy and true; it must be along a pathway that is characterized by holiness and truth.
“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” Yes, reproach goes with it. I have been criticized in times past for dwelling too much on the reproach side of things. I suppose that all of us are somewhat lopsided in what we have to say, and I am quite willing to plead guilty. But in this Scripture we do get brought before us very distinctly that there is reproach, and that the reproach of Christ in connection with the out side pathway. Have you in your individual life, young believer, tasted it? Have you realized it, and have you rejoiced in it?
Perhaps some one here says that we should not be thinking of that at all, whether we are bearing reproach or whether we are not. Per, haps so, but if so what did the Lord Jesus mean, in Luke 6:22, 23?
“Blessed (which means, happy) are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” Luke 6:23.
I will never forget the first time that Scripture was called to my attention, by an aged brother. I had just met with a very severe rebuff for seeking to speak to another person about the Lord, and I felt it very keenly; and this dear old servant turned to that Scripture, and said,
“Why you ought to be jumping and leaping for joy.”
“Far from it; I am not feeling that way at all,” I answered.
“You have a right to leap for joy,” he said
This impressed that Scripture on my heart, and I have never forgotten it.
There is a joy and there is a satisfaction in bearing reproach for Christ. How far do we know what it is? Have you gone forth unto Him, and are you bearing His reproach? Have you gone all the way? How far have you gone?
I believe there are those who have stopped at the halfway house. You have accepted Him as your Savior; and if asked if you were saved, you could give a positive answer. I was talking to a young man, and he said that he was saved; and I asked him a few more questions, and found that so far, he was stopping at the halfway house. There was not that full, complete clean cut of things; he was not willing to go all the way.
Speaking now to those who have reached the years of discretion and maturity in divine things, what reason do you give, young people, to the Lord for the fact that you are not found remembering Him in His death? I know that some of you do remember Him, but some do not—some are going on, and seeking to live their lives. They are not carrying out that simple blessed request:
“This do in remembrance of Me.”
What reason do you give the Lord Jesus for that? I trust you are not laboring under the delusion of a feeling of unworthiness which sometimes keeps souls away. Do not let that keep you away. If that were a sufficient reason for any of us to be kept away from the table on next Lord’s day morning there would not be a single person that would be remembering the Lord in His death. No intelligent Christian could partake of those sacred emblems, and say,
“I am taking these because I am worthy in my life and ways to partake of them.”
That is not the ground on which we partake, but on the ground of the worthiness of another, the worthiness of Christ. Yes, dear young person, you are washed in that precious blood, if you are one who has been washed and redeemed; if you are a member of the body of Christ as you are, if you believe the Gospel of salvation, and thus you have a right and a title to be at His table. And if you stop short of it, there is just that one measure in which you have refused to go all the way.