Conference: 1999
Table of Contents
Hebrews 2
Address—C. Hendricks
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Ernest Heade.
To the things which we have heard, lest at anytime we should let them slip.
For if the words spoken by angels was steadfast.
And every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?
Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will.
For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What his man?
That thou art mindful of him.
Or the Son of man, that thou visitest him.
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels.
Thou crownest him with glory and honor, and it set him over the works of thy hands.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.
For in that He put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
Crowned with glory and honor.
That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.
For it, it became him for whom are all things.
And by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings?
For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of 1.
For which 'cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
In the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee.
And again I will put my trust in him. And again, behold I and the children.
Which God hath given me, for as much then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood.
He also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to *******.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them.
That are tempted.
As you read through this epistle.
You are impressed with the.
Often quotes that are many quotes that he brings forward from the Old Testament.
Of course it's written to Jews.
And they would know these scriptures.
And how he brings them to bear in his teaching, for this is teaching ministry, How he brings these scriptures to bear upon the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.
And he is the Christ.
He is the Anointed 1 and these Old Testament scriptures predicting, looking forward to the coming of this one. He brings them forward as he unfolds this wonderful teaching.
There are a number of instances in this epistle where he warns those that had outwardly embraced Christianity. He warns them of the danger of going back to Judaism.
And giving up the belief in that Jesus is the true Messiah. There was always that danger.
They had to establish them in the fact that the Lord Jesus is infinitely better than all these others that they had put so much.
Trust in and whom they revered so highly, Moses and Abraham and these men of faith of the Old Testament, David, and so on.
So he starts out in this 2nd chapter. He also brings before us, as we had last night in the 1St chapter and again here in this chapter, that the Lord is greater than angels. Though when he became a man in the 1St chapter, he is greater than the angels, and when he comes into the world, the angels worship him. But when he became a man, as we learn in this chapter, he went lower than the angels.
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When he assumed humanity.
Well, we'll come to that.
Now the first verse. Here, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. He's referring now to what they heard from the preaching of the apostles, what they have heard of Christian light. We ought to give the most the more earnest heed, lest at any time we should let them slip.
And I think the other translation gives it. We should slip away from them.
Fall away from them. The danger all through this epistle is apostasy. It's not backsliding.
He's not talking about a backslider when he talks about those that might go back and and turn away from the truth. He's talking about one who abandons Christianity as the truth and Christ is the truth and goes back to Moses and to the leaders in the Old Testament that were so highly revered.
And so there was that danger to to let them slip or to slip away from them, these things that they have heard.
For if the word now he warns them, if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, the law was evidently given through the instrumentality of angels that's mentioned in numbers of times in Scripture given by the Let's look at Acts 7, for instance, where Stephen.
It's giving his message.
Which they answered by stoning him.
But in Acts Chapter 7, it was the last opportunity that Jerusalem had to to receive the Lord Jesus.
He finishes His message where He goes over the whole history of the nation of Israel with her in verse 51 of Act 7. You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost as your Father's did. So do ye. Now here was a man. He was speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit. So to resist Him was to resist the Holy Spirit, which they had done in the past.
Which of the prophets have not your Father's persecuted? And they have slain them, which showed before of the coming of the Justice One?
Of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.
Who have received the law. Notice this by the disposition of angels.
And have not kept it.
And So what he says here in Hebrews 2, Umm.
The words spoken by angels was steadfast, yes, and so they had received the law by the disposition of angels that have not kept it. They heard him up to that point, and when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, Acts 7. And they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing.
On the right hand of God.
You get it again in Galatians. I think it's the third chapter.
Galatians, chapter 3.
We can see what a prominent place the angels had in the former dispensation.
319 Wherefore then serveth the law?
It was added because of transgressions. Galatians 319 Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. So evidently the angels were instrumental in giving the law written by God, of course, to Moses, and then he to the people. All right, let's go back to Hebrews 2.
Verse 2 again for if the word spoken by angels.
Was steadfast. Now that's in contrast with the first verse of the 1St chapter. God, who had sundry times in many diverse manners, spake in time passed under the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.
It was not now through angels, not now through the prophets, but the Son himself speaking, and how serious to reject what has been given by the one who is the Son of God.
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If the word spoken by angels was steadfast in every transgression and disobedience received.
A just recompense of reward. How shall we escape we who have much further light?
We who have heard the word spoken by the Son of God Himself, not by prophets, not by angelic hosts, but by the Lord Jesus himself, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?
Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord.
And was confirmed unto us by them that heard him through the apostles.
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His own will.
So God has spoken in the Old Testament through the prophets and through angelic, angelic hosts, but now he's spoken directly he himself in the person of his Son. How shall we escape, he says, if we neglect so great salvation? He knew the danger there was with these Jews of.
Learning all this added light, being enlightened and and then going back, he speaks of that. Turn over to the 6th chapter for a moment.
That I'm going to read from chapter 5, verse 12, for when for the time, ye ought to be teachers.
You have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God.
And are become such as have need of milk.
And not of strong meat.
For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
Now, to remain in the Jewish state of things is to be a babe.
To mature into the Christian truth and light of Christianity is to be.
One that needs the strong meat, but he so many of them were still.
On the level of Jewish light they did. They hadn't really entered in to the full truth of Christianity and all that comes in through the Lord Jesus. Verse 14. But strong meat belongeth to them that are a full age. Those who are full age are those who have graduated from the infant state, which was Judaism, into the adult state, which was Christianity.
Even those who by reason of use says have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Not Chapter 6.
Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, the new translation gives that the word of the beginning of the Christ.
You get those. You get those things in the Gospels, especially the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
The Gospel of John has a unique place where it brings out Christian truth before Christianity actually had begun through his death and resurrection. But you have it in in in the teachings that come out in the Gospel of John.
Leaving the word of the beginning of the Christ, let us go on unto perfection. Let us go on. He's telling these Jewish believers unto that which is Christian light perfection.
Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works.
And of faith toward God. These are all truths that they had held in the Old Testament of the doctrine of baptisms. It should be the doctrine of washings. It has nothing to do with Christian baptism. It's an unfortunate translation. It's the doctrine of washings. They in the Jewish economy and ritual of things, they washed. They washed their their feet and their hands as the priests served. They were bathed all over. The sacrifices were washed and so on. That's what he's referring to.
All of those things and of laying on of hands, the laying on of the hands of the offer and the priest with the sacrifice and so on, and of resurrection of the dead. Notice the Jewish belief is resurrection of the dead. That's a very general expression. Christian truth is resurrection from among the dead.
Not of the dead.
Resurrection of the dead is just a general thought, and there are many in Christendom today that that's as far as they've been taught. That's as far as they understand one general resurrection at the end of time when all the dead will be raised. Resurrection from among the dead is Christian truth. That is when the Lord comes for us, He will raise those who believe in him in this present day. And the Old Testament Saints from among the dead and the rest of the dead who have no faith and died in in unbelief will remain in the grave. They won't be raised.
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Until after the 1000 years are finished of the Lord's reign, so Christian truth of the resurrection is from among the dead, and the general Jewish light that they had was resurrection of the dead.
And then he says, and of eternal judgment.
That was this vague teaching and belief of judgment that would come, which would be eternal judgment.
He says leaving the principles, leaving these things now, he doesn't mean that he that they were to give them up, abide with those teachings only they were to make progress. They were to graduate from the infant state to the mature state.
So he says, this will we do if God permit. In other words, he will go on to what pertains to full growth. Now notice verse 4 of chapter 6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened. Now he's referring to these Christians, Jews who had embraced Christianity, had embraced receiving the Lord Jesus as the true Messiah. They were enlightened.
Now, he says, it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift.
The heavenly gift has to do with Christian truth.
And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Now that's a that's an expression that is.
Has stumbled many, they said. Well, if they have received the Holy Ghost, they must be truly saved. No, not necessarily.
There are two words in the New Testament.
Of for a communion, one word means communion and the other word means partakers of something.
Outside of yourself, the thought of communion is a joint participation in it. Now, if that had been the word that was used here, that we were made.
Brought into the communion of the Holy Ghost, then we'd have a real problem of of of the the idea that you could be saved and lost again. But he says we're made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Is that one who comes among the Christian company and outwardly embraces Christianity.
And moves among Christians who are real. You may not be real yourself, but you're a partaker of the Holy Ghost. In that sense, that is your you're a partaker of the sphere where the Holy Spirit dwells.
And everyone of us who is brought up in a Christian home is in that sense a partaker of the Holy Ghost. Doesn't mean they've been born again, doesn't mean they've been sealed by the Spirit of God, doesn't mean they have eternal life, but they are in the sphere where the Holy Spirit dwells. And so there are partakers of the Holy Ghost in that sense. And it's a most solemn thing to be in that sphere, to be brought up in that sphere, especially today, the Holy Spirit dwelling on earth in the assembly.
And if you move in that circle, you are a partaker of the Holy Spirit, whether you've been born again or not.
Judas Iscariot, in a sense, in the in the sense I'm Speaking of, was a partaker of the Holy Spirit because he he cast out demons and he did miracles just like the rest.
But he wasn't the Lord's.
So you can you can come that close to the reality and miss it.
And that's why it is so essential and important that you're not just an outwardly a partaker of the Spirit and of the blessings of the Spirit of God, but that it's a vital thing with you that you've been born of the Spirit, you've been born again, and you've been sealed of the Spirit of God and that he dwells in you.
So he says it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. They even maybe had done miracles like Judas did and.
What does it say if they shall fall away, if they shall apostatize, if they shall renounce Christianity and go back to Judaism? He says. It's impossible to renew them again to repentance.
So he's not talking about a backslider here. If he was, then if, then this passage would teach those that say this is a backslider that if you slide back and fall away from the Lord, get out of fellowship, it's impossible to renew you again to repentance. But that's not true. A backslider can be renewed. He can repent, he can be restored to fellowship, but one who is an apostate, and that's what you have dealt with here.
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In Hebrews.
It's impossible to renew them again unto repentance.
Seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of God, afresh their people crucified him. An apostate is one among the Jews is one that finally comes to the conclusion the leaders of my nation.
Were right when they crucified Jesus. He was an impostor. He was not the Messiah, and I take sides with them. So he is in him in his own heart crucifying. He's adding his Amen to what the Jewish leaders did to the Lord Jesus when they rejected him. So it says, seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame.
So what Hebrews is constantly talking about and warning against is apostasy.
A renouncing.
Of Christianity and going back to Judaism most solemn thing with one has had all the light and the truth of the heavenly gift and and and the and the been brought into the sphere where the Spirit of God is working and operating by these miraculous signs in that and maybe even do some of those things you remember the verse where the Lord said some will come to me and say, Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have done many mighty works and.
Will say, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.
All right.
Let's go back to Chapter 2.
Again, with those comments before us, verse 3, I'll read it again. How shall we escape?
If we neglect so great salvation.
Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His own will.
For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak. The world to come is what we call the Millennium. When the Lord will reign here for 1000 years, He will come back with His assembly, with His Saints, and establish His rights in this world.
But he's not subjected that scene, that coming scene, that coming Kingdom is not subjected to angels.
But to a man.
To a man, just as going back to Genesis 1 and 2.
He placed that whole earthly creation under a man, Adam. He was the head of it, and all was placed in subjection to Him. The Lord Jesus is that second man. That last Adam, the first man failed and surrendered everything.
The second man, the enemy attacked him just like he attacked Adam.
Lust of the flesh And when Eve saw that the tree was good for food, lest the flesh and pleasant of the eyes, the lust of the eyes and a tree desired to make one wise the the pride of life, she took it, and she was deceived by the serpent.
He listened to, she listened to him and she was deceived, but Adam was not. And she took the the fruit and she gave it to her husband. She sort of stepped back and said to the serpent, you talked to my husband, you talked to Adam. He's the head. But she didn't do that. So the sin came into the human race when the woman got out of her place and when man allowed her to do that.
When he was right there, because it says she took of it and gave it to him who was by her, he was right there and.
Sin came in, so the human race fell.
It's very beautiful.
In Genesis 2.
In Genesis 3 after the fall.
He asks Adam what happened, and he says the woman whom thou gave us to be with me, she gave me of the fruit, and I did eat.
Then he asked the woman what happened. The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. And then he talks to the serpent. He said, because that was done, This cursed art thou above all cattle, and so on.
He says his most profound thing, the first promise in the Bible of a coming Redeemer. He says the seed of the woman shall crush thy head, and thou shalt crush his heel.
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The seed of the woman. He introduced sin into the human family through the woman.
God says he counters this by saying I'm going to introduce the Redeemer who will crush your power.
Through the woman.
The very one you used is the very one I will use to defeat you.
And so we have that developed in this chapter very beautifully.
Verse 5 again.
Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak?
But one in a certain place testified saying.
What is?
That thou art mindful of him.
Or the Son of man, that thou visitest him.
Thumb made his Tim a little lower than the angels.
Thou crownest him with glory and honor.
And it set him.
Over the works of thy hands.
Thou has put all things in subjection under his feet.
All things turn back to Psalm 8. He's quoting the Old Testament all the time here in this epistle, building his Christian teachings based on Old Testament passages.
Psalm 8 This is a Psalm that looks forward to.
To that coming day.
When the Lord will reign.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.
Who has set thy glory above the heavens in that day? How exodus thy name in all the earth in that day. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. It won't be necessary in that day to say, Know the Lord, For all shall know me. From the least to the greatest all shall know me.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of the thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars.
Which thou hast ordained.
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the Son of man, that thou visitest him, for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.
And has crowned him with glory and honor. Now Satan was an Angel, and he was the highest 1 And when God created Adam and set him over this whole earthly creation, Satan was intensely jealous of that.
He immediately set himself to spoiling it, which he did right away. He came in and he spoiled it.
But the second man.
The last Adam.
He could not. He attacked him in the wilderness with the same temptations. If thou be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread. Satisfy your hunger. He was hungry after 40 days fasting.
And the Lord said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
And then he goes on with the same kinds of temptations that he had given to Eve, and she fell for it. But the Lord Jesus rebuked him in every case.
He is the victor. Well, let's go on. In Psalm 8, what is man? Thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man that thou visitest him. Verse 5. Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou has put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen. Yeah, and the beasts of the field, creation under Adam.
And then it ends again with the same thing it begins with began with, O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Now going back to Hebrews 2, this is what he's quoting from.
Verse 6 Again, But one in a certain place that Psalm 8 testified, saying, What is man? That thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man, that Thou visited him, Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crowned him with glory and honor, and it set him over the works of thy hands. That was true of Adam the first man. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under.
But now we see not yet all things put under him.
But now he applies this to the second man, to the Lord Jesus. But we see Jesus.
Who was made a little lower than the angels? Why? For the suffering of death.
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Crowned with glory and honor.
That's used in a little different sense now. In the glory he's on high. He's crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.
He was made a little lower than the angels. He came into humanity. He became one of us that he might.
Taste death for every man he might pay the penalty for the transgression that came in through Adam and Eve.
For it became him God. It became him God.
For whom are all things?
And by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect?
Through sufferings.
He was made perfect in resurrection, He went through the death of the cross, He suffered those awful sufferings and putting our sins away. And now he's been made perfect, the head of a new creation.
Risen from the dead, made perfect in resurrection glory through sufferings.
He went through those sufferings, bore the judgment that your sins and mine deserved, and now there he is, the head of a new order of things.
And he's there because he's gone through sufferings.
Now, verse 11.
For both, he that sanctifieth, that's the Lord Himself.
He's the sanctifier, and they who are sanctified, that's us who believe we're the sanctified ones are all of 1.
We have the same life, we have the same nature.
We have the same father.
We are one with him.
Are all of 1.
For which causes not ashamed.
To call them brethren.
Brethren.
Remember in John 20, in resurrection, he said to Mary Magdalene. He gave her that wonderful message. Go to my brethren.
And tell them, I ascend unto my father, and to your Father, to my God, and to your God.
What a message. He puts them in his own place, before the Father and before God.
He calls them brethren.
And here it says he's not ashamed.
To call them brethren. We're one with him, Lord Jesus, are we one with Thee, O height, O depth of love.
There's a teaching in Christendom which is wrong, that the Lord united himself to man.
In humanity, when he became Incarnate, that is wrong.
One verse in John 12 proves it's wrong.
Let's read it rather than me quote it.
We'll come back here to Hebrews in a moment, but let's just read this verse. It's so John 12.
Verse 23.
And Jesus answered them, saying, the hour has come.
That the Son of Man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you.
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die.
It abideth alone.
But if it die.
It bringeth forth much fruit.
If the Lord Jesus had abode alone, not died.
These truths that we're looking at here, that we're now one with him, would not be so.
His death formed the foundation.
For the many to the abundant crop to be produced, if it died, it bringeth forth much fruit.
So we are united to Him in resurrection.
Not before.
Not before the resurrection. He was made perfect, as it says here and.
We are now one with him.
I'll read verse 10 again. For it became him, God, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things?
In bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of 1.
For which 'cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
In the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee.
And again.
That's a quote from the 22nd Psalm, and again I will put my trust in him.
Again, that's a quote from Second Samuel.
And again, behold, I and the children which God hath given me. A quote from Isaiah chapter 8.
He's quoting from the Old Testament, putting these things together to show how that now in Christianity, there's a fulfillment of these things that goes far beyond anything that they had ever thought of in the Old Testament.
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For as much then as the children.
Are partakers of flesh and blood.
He also himself likewise took part of the same.
That through death.
He might destroy him, annul his power, him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death.
Were all their lifetime.
Subject to ******* deliver them.
Deliver them from Satan's power.
Defeat Satan and know his power. Destroy him.
As to his power and deliver those who were under his sway.
Those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetimes subject to *******. We do not fear death as Christians. The Lord has gone into death. He's come out in glorious triumph in resurrection.
He's the first fruits.
Afterwards, those that are Christ that is coming, he the first fruits.
Boys, would you listen?
He's the first fruits.
Afterward, all of us will be taken home in resurrection power.
Again, verse 14.
Important that we repeat these verses.
And that we understand the immensity of the truth that is being presented here to these Jewish believers.
Or I should say more accurately, these Jewish professors, many of them believers. Not all, though.
For as much, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, we all partake of it.
He also himself likewise took part of the same He came to where we were in order to save us. He had to become one of us.
Wonderful truth.
He also himself took part of the same that through death.
He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death.
Were all their lifetimes subject to *******? We don't fear death now. Death is ours. Look at First Corinthians 3. First Corinthians chapter 3, verse 21.
Therefore, let no man glory in men.
For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death.
Or things present, or things to come. All are yours. Death is ours.
And here Christ.
In Christ is God's.
Turn back to Romans 8, Romans 8.
Verse 38. The end of this glorious chapter. Verse 37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.
Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Many of our brethren today.
In Muslim lands and communist lands are paying what we call the supreme sacrifice by giving their lives because they belong to Christ.
Death is ours. It is not some awful tyrant that we fear. He has gone through it and come out in resurrection power.
And so there's this, there's this sense of victory for those who were his if they put us to death.
Those that go to martyrdom, they're just ushering that person into the presence of the Lord.
And awaiting the resurrection day in His presence, death is ours. How wonderful that we do not fear that awful.
A power that Satan wielded over us all the years before we got saved.
He who had the power of death. He uses death to keep man from even thinking of what's going to happen to him after he passes over and goes through the article of death and has to meet God on the other side.
Verse 15 now Hebrews 2 and deliver them.
Who through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to Bondi *******. Now we have to correct the translation again in verse 16. It's wrong.
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It's not just, it's not just a slight thing. This is wrong. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels. That's not what it says in the original.
Verily he took not hold of angels by the hand.
That is, He did not espouse the cause of angels, but whose cause did he espouse, He took on him.
By the hand is the thought, the seed of Abraham. He did not die for angels.
Those who have sinned, who are angels, there is no redemption for them.
There is no salvation provided for them. They rebelled against God in which followed Satan. There is no there are those that teach that universal reconciliation. There's a day coming when even the devil himself will be reconciled. That is not the teaching of Scripture.
The death of Christ does not avail for angels.
It only avails for those who partake of flesh and blood, which He himself took part of, that he might save us.
Man fell into sin from an outside source, Satan.
Had tempted him and led him astray.
Not so the angels. And so there is no salvation held out in scripture for angels. So it should read Verily He took not, He took not hold of angels by the hand.
But he took hold of the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things seed of Abraham are those that have faith.
Those that believe Abraham was the man of faith.
Father of the Faithful.
He took hold of the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things?
It behooved him.
To be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.
In things pertaining to God.
To make again, it should be corrected not reconciliation here, but propitiation.
For the sins of the people, there are two instances.
Reconciliation should be propitiation in Hebrews 2.
And if you turn back to Romans 5.
In Romans 5 verse 10 for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. That's correct. That's the right word, reconciled. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the IT ought to be the reconciliation.
The word reconciled in the previous verse is the verb, and this is the noun of the same word, not the atonement. Atonement and propitiation are the same thing. They've got these two passages, just backwards, the enrollments. It ought to be the reconciliation, and in Hebrews here it ought to be to make propitiation for the sins of the people. What's that alluding to? It's alluding to the great day of Atonement in Leviticus 16, when the high.
With blood went into the holy place once a year, and only once could he dare enter into that place in a cloud of incense and with blood. And he sprinkled the blood before the altar and upon it.
And it made propitiation it it met the eye of God. As the cherubim looked down upon that altar, upon that mercy seat, they could see the blood. That blood propitiated God.
Glorified Goddess to the whole sin question.
I like this definition of propitiation. Listen to it carefully.
Propitiation is that aspect of the work of Christ by which all sin is met.
For the eye of God to behold.
And to see it is met and judged. Propitiation is meeting all the claims of God's holiness with respect to sin, so as to maintain untarnished that holiness while acting in grace. Now God is free, because of the blood and the mercy seat, to act in grace towards mankind.
Because he has been propitiated.
That is Christ's work.
Has met his holy eye.
And he is glorified by what Christ did on the cross. That's the most important aspect of the work of Christ. It's what he did before God. And for God next comes to us. The next is the thought of substitution. He bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
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That substitution, we usually put that first as though that's the most important. That's not the most important, is the blood on the mercy seat, the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. He is the propitiation for our sins before God. When God looks upon the blood, he doesn't see our sins anymore. They're gone and He's been propitiated. So this ought to read verse 17 again.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him.
To be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God. To make propitiation for the sins of the people.
For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor.
Them that are tempted. Now it says He was made in all things like unto his brethren. But there is a qualification to that in the 4th chapter, and I'll turn you to it now in the 4th chapter, verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.
Let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are now. We have His temptation, when it says in all points He was made like to man. That means He became a true man, spirit, soul and body. In all points he's a full man.
But when it comes to temptation, it says but was in all points tempted, as we are yet without sin. But you'll notice the word yet is in italics. It makes you think it means yet without sinning. But that's not what it means. It means yet without. It's not not the yet. It means He was tempted in all points as we are sin apart or without sin. There was no sin in him. There was nothing in him to respond to the temp.
He was that holy one of God. So that's The only exception to his humanity. It was in a different state than ours. We have humanity in a sinful fallen condition. He has humanity in a holy condition, sin apart. So his temptation came from without, from Satan. He had no inner urge to sin.
He had nothing that was not according to God in his holy nature, sin apart.
Now let's just in a few minutes, let's just go on the few verses in the 3rd chapter. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling?
How? That's a contrast with Judaism where they had an earthly calling, an earthly land that they were going to. Now these Christians are partakers of the heavenly calling. Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. As the apostle, the Lord Jesus is sent from God, and he's speaking to us from God. He's the Synth 1.
He's representing God to man, and as the high priest, he's representing man to God.
Man to God he is both.
The apostle was like Moses. Moses spoke the word of God to Israel, to the people.
And Aaron was the one that represented them in a priestly character to God. So the Lord is.
He fulfills both of those offices. He's the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him as also, Moses was faithful in all his house. His house refers to God's house. Moses was a faithful servant in God's house.
For this man.
Referring to the Lord Jesus now was counted worthy of more glory than Moses.
Inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. But we saw that in the 1St chapter that He made all things, He made the world's, He upholds all things by the word of His power. He's the Creator, He's the one that made the house.
Moses was merely a faithful servant in the house. Christ was a son over the house, as he goes on to say.
He that built all verse 4 again, but every house for every house is builded by some man, but he that built all things is God.
So the end of verse 3 is I'll read verse 3 again. For this man Christ was counted worthy of more glory than Moses.
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For as much inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house.
For every house is builded by some man, but he that build all things is God.
And Moses fairly was faithful in all God's house, his house, Oregon, God's house.
As a servant.
For a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after.
But Christ.
As the son over his house, it says his own house. And that's true. It is his house because he is God. But it's God's house he's talking about all the way through. The contrast is Moses was a faithful servant in God's house. Christ was a son.
In God's house, Christ as a son over God's house, whose house are we?
How can he be over God's house if he is not God himself?
It's God's house and he is God the Son, as we have this so beautifully brought out in these chapters, the glory of this person.
He was faithful in all God's house.
Moses was now Christ as a son.
Over his house.
Take the word own out. It sort of sort of Mars the thought it's God's house he's talking about all the way through Christ as a son over God's house. Whose house are we?
We constitute the House of God, not what Solomon built in the Old Testament, which was a building of stone and beautiful things and that, but this house is is built by God and it's composed of people.
We are.
God's house, whose house are we? And then he says.
If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope.
Unto the end, and there's a lot of warnings in this third chapter about.
He goes back to the nation of Israel. They left Egypt. They were delivered from the House of ******* and from the power of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
And many of them didn't make it to the promised land. They didn't make it. They fell in the wilderness through unbelief. And this is the danger that he's bringing before these professing.
Jews that if they don't continue, if we hold fast the confidence rejoicing of hope firm unto the end, if they don't continue, they won't make it either.
If they're real, they will continue. It's not, it's not teaching here that you can be truly saved and then lost again. But you can be a professor. You can be a partaker of the Holy Spirit in the outward sense and still not be real.
And fall in the wilderness, as Israel did through unbelief.
Unbelief. The important thing is do you believe? Do you? Do you have personal faith?
Not your parents faith, not your mother's faith, not your father's faith, not your brother's faith or your sister's faith. Do you personally believe?
That the Lord Jesus is God the Son.
If you believe that.
You are part of God's house. You have eternal life. You are sure of heaven.
And you won't fall in the wilderness like so many Israelites did. It's a thrilling book.
Hebrews 86 hymn #86-O. Lord, thou art seated above the heavens on high, Thy gracious work completed, for which thou camest to die. To Thee our hearts are lifted.
While pilgrims wandering here.
For thou alone are gifted are every weight to bear.
Crowns as Rewards
Outside the Camp
Address—C. Hendricks
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
John 7 start with a verse in John 7 verse 37.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the Scripture have said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given.
Because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
And a verse in Hebrews 13.
Very well known verse.
And verse 13.
Let us go forth therefore.
Unto him without the camp.
Bearing his reproach.
I'd like to.
Speak tonight on the.
What it means?
To be without the camp.
What is the What are the characteristic truths that.
Define the camp.
What is it? Where to be outside of Go forth to him outside the camp?
The Epistle to the Hebrews deals with that subject very fully, though I'm not going to speak much from Hebrews tonight, but rather from the Gospel of John.
John's Gospel is.
Is that gospel which unfolds to us the truth of Christianity before it came to be in fact in historically existed?
Let's look at some of the chapters in John. We start with the first chapter, and we'll see what characterizes Christianity and what characterizes Judaism, which is the camp. In Hebrews, the camp is Judaism.
And there's that which answers to it all around us. And let's look at what is characteristic of the true Christian testimony and what was characteristic of the Judaism of the Old Testament, that the Epistle to the Hebrews is written, as you know, to the Jews to bring them outside of that old order of things that they were so attached to.
And to give them to.
Take their place outside of that established religious system which was for man after the flesh.
And Judaism is just that. Now, there's much that is in Christendom today.
That savers of that same thing.
And so we, we call that the camp. Actually the camp is Judaism, but there's that which answers to it in Christian circles, which is actually worse than Judaism because it's that which has gone, that's which Christians have gone back to, that the Epistle to the Hebrews and other scriptures were written to call them out of that.
Unto Christ, who was outside the camp.
So that which?
Is like the camp, and the only way we will know what it is and what the difference is, is to compare scriptures. We'll just look at a few scriptures in John 1.
Verse 17. Very well known scripture. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Two names are mentioned in that verse, Moses and Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus himself.
And there's two basic principles that are mentioned in that verse. The law is 1 which man naturally tends to gravitate to the law. This do and thou shalt live. It's a principle of doing. Man wants to do something. He wants to feel good about himself, so he wants to accomplish some work that will please God, to give him some status, some standing, some acceptance before God. That's the principle of.
Law. Principle of works.
All false religions are on that principle. They may take different shapes, wear different clothes, so to speak, but they're all on that same principle of works, principle of law. The law was given by Moses. You remember they said about the Lord Jesus. We know that God spake to Moses, but As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
They knew that the Law was given by Moses. He was their leader, and He's the one they highly revered. And that's what we have the Lord is saying here. The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. You'll only really know the truth, the truth about yourself, the truth about God.
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Through the grace that came by the Lord Jesus. So we have two principles. We have two heads.
You might say, look Moses heading up the legal principle of of works and law, and you have the blessed Lord.
Coming in grace and truth, bringing in Christianity.
Verse 10 Back up a minute.
He was in the world.
The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. The Creator came into the world first. Verses of this gospel tell us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made the Creator of all things. Nothing has come into existence which has come into existence without Him.
He is the originator. He is the creator.
He was in that world that he had made. The world was made by him. The world knew him not.
We're in a world, and don't forget it, young people, we are in a world that does not know him.
We're living in the.
Last part of this century.
And most young people.
Don't know him.
In this country.
It's sad to say, but that's true.
The world knew him not. That was true then, it's been true ever since, It's true today. But there were those that were His own, those that were in a special relationship with himself, and that was Israel, the Jews. And so the next verse covers them. He came unto His own.
And his own received him not does not say they did not know him.
In Mark 12, when the Lord sent, when the father sent the son, they said, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize upon the inheritance. They knew who he was.
He says in John 7, I believe it is. You both know me and you know whence I am.
Their conscience knew him.
Their will refused him and would not submit to him. He came to his own. His own received him not the world didn't know him, but his own wouldn't receive him.
Wouldn't have him, but beautiful, but as many as received Him. Now that's each one of us who have received Him. You're either a part of that world that that did not know Him, or a part of those that did not receive Him, or you are one of those that received Him. How do we receive him? Not by works, but by faith, by believing As many as received Him to them gave He power, the right, the authority.
To become children of God. I believe John always speaks of children of God.
It says in our translation Sons of God. Paul uses sons of God and children, but John always speaks of children of God, those who have been born of God and have come into the family of God not by adoption but by birth. And that's what John speaks of. He gave power, as many as received him to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name.
Now in the Old Testament.
You could be a member of the people of God.
You could be an Israelite and all you had to to do. In fact, you didn't have to do anything. You just had to be born into this world as a Jewish or a Jew and you were a part of that people.
The truth of the new birth was not explained in the Old Testament. It wasn't even insisted on. To be a member of that chosen nation, Israel, you simply had to be naturally born into it.
Verse 13 here says something different which were born not of blood.
When that speaks of your being connected with your earthly parents, you're born of blood.
You are.
A part of them they.
Begat you. He begat you. Your father and your mother conceived you. Now this, this birth that he's talking about is not a birth of blood. It's not that you are a member of the family of God, because your parents are.
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No, there's something more needed than that. Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. Someone else did not will it for you. You can't will it yourself to be saved. I don't like the the bumper sticker that I see or the on the advertising boards. If you've tried this and that, try Jesus.
Jesus is not a religion that you can try.
If it was a religion you could try it. I've tried this and that religion and now I'm going to try this.
You cannot get into the family of God by trying Jesus. It has to be God working by his sovereign grace in your soul, producing faith and a new birth.
Which were born not of blood. It's not because your parents are saved, nor of the will of the flesh, your minister or someone that has spoken to you about the Lord, whatever it might be.
Cannot will it for you, can't bring you in.
They can only present you with the gospel and turn and and direct you to the one that can save you, the Lord Jesus. But it's a work of God.
Nor the will of the man. You can't will it for yourself and someone else cannot will it for you.
But of God born of God.
This is something that originates from God.
You need a new life.
Not an amended life. Not a reformed life.
But a new life, an altogether new life, a divine life, what you have as born of your earthly parents, are into a certain niche of society.
Or you can even join a church that's not going to bring about the new birth.
You cannot do anything yourself.
To be born again. This is a work of God in the soul. The Spirit of God works in your heart.
And God works.
And turns you to him, brings about conviction. And there is.
Faith and life communicated both at the same instant. I do not understand. We do not understand the insurance and outs of new birth.
But it's an essential, absolutely essential. You have no part in the family of God. You're not in it unless you've been born of God.
Now that's different from Judaism. Now if you see a church in Christendom that has a mixed multitude, some are born of God and some are not.
Some are saved and some are not, and they're all members of the same church.
There they have membership in it. Of course, membership in a local church is not is not according to scripture, but I'm just using terms that are quite familiar and are used all the time in Christian circles.
But you can't. You can't get into it by any effort of your own or any effort of someone else's, or because your parents are there. No, this is an individual thing between your soul and God.
I want to ask each one of you here tonight, have you been born of God?
As God so wrought in your soul to bring about a new life, the very life of Christ himself.
Without that, you haven't even begun.
In the path of faith.
Which were born not of blood.
Nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You see, in Judaism you could be a Jew, you could be a godly Jew who was born of God, and you could be an ungodly Jew that was not born of God, but you were just as much a Jew as the other one.
And that's, that's the way it is in many Christian circles. And whenever you see a Christian group, those that call themselves Christians that have that kind of a mixture in their fellowship, and yet they're all part of the same fellowship, part of the membership of that same church, that's that's the camp in principle.
That's what Judaism was. They did not insist on the new birth.
That was not insisted on in the Old Testament.
The Lord brings it out.
So there's this difference. You have to be born of God to enter the family of God in the 2nd chapter of John. We're going to move on in the 2nd chapter of John, the.
18th verse Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, What signs show us thou unto us, seeing thou doest these things?
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Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple.
And in three days I will raise it up and said the Jews 46 years was this temple and building in wilt thou reared up in three days. But he spake of the temple of his body here the Jewish temple that was at Jerusalem is being replaced by the temple of his body. It's not a religious temple. It's not a place where you can go and worship and offer sacrifices and do the the religious ritual that.
Was associated with Judaism.
But it's being linked with and identified with one who died and rose again.
His temple was his body. He died. He said. You destroy me, you put me to death, and in three days I will raise it up. Christianity begins with the resurrected Christ, the one who went into death. He went into death for our sins. Here he's speaking about the wickedness of man to put him to death. Destroy this temple, he said, and in three days I will raise it up.
Verse 22 clearly explains his meaning when therefore he was risen from the dead.
His disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
Now in the next chapter we have a, you might say, an expansion upon this subject of the new birth. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man, be born again. There you have it again.
He cannot see the Kingdom of God. If you haven't been born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. It's it's a sphere which is which is foreign to the life and nature that we have as born of our earthly parents. It's a spiritual sphere and it can only be entered and seen when one is born of God or born again.
Nicodemus did not understand him. He was a ruler of the Jews. He had never heard of this before, though he should have had some knowledge of it if he had read his Old Testament scriptures properly, but it wasn't clearly brought out as it is in the New Testament.
How can a man be born when he is old? He said. Can he enter the second time into his mother's woman be born? Amazing how stupid a question someone like Nicodemus who was very learned and educated and well taught in the Jewish scriptures.
How he could ask such a question?
Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water. Now he amplifies the word again born again, born of water. He was using the word of God, and that's a figure of the of the of the word of God. The water is to be born of water.
Is to be born of the word of God. Peter says that being born again.
I won't turn to it, but I'll quote from it first. Peter one being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
So the water is the type of the word of God here and of the Spirit. Spirit is the agent. The water is that which He uses. The Word is that which He uses in bringing about this new life.
He says they If you haven't been born of water and of the Spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
You can't see it nor enter it without the new birth.
He explains that which is born of the flesh is flesh. You can train it, you can educate it, you can give it every possible earthly advantage. It's still flesh.
And some of the worst flesh is found in the universities by the professors that are teaching that which is destructive to ones faith, if he has faith.
Anti biblical teachings and trying to.
Bring in man's thoughts.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
It partakes of the nature that which is born of. It partakes of the nature of the Source. If the Source is flesh, it produces flesh. If the Source is the Spirit, it produces spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee.
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Ye must be born again. Notice notice the change in the.
The pronouns here he says, Marvel not that I said unto thee, he's talking to Nicodemus. But now he, he amplifies that and he says, he doesn't say thou must be born again, That would be Nicodemus. But he says you must be born again. You Jews who are trusting in your natural birth, they could say we have Abraham for our father.
And they boasted in that, and the Gentiles couldn't say that they had nothing. They could boast in of that kind. And the Lord is telling Nicodemus that will not do.
Ye, you Jews, must be born again.
You need a new life wherever a.
The new birth as such is talked about John 3.
John.
He came to his own, His own received him not, but as many as received him so on.
James one first Peter 1 he talks about new birth.
Because the Jews needed to hear that truth. They were trusting in their birth as Jews.
And they thought that gave them an advantage and made them the people of God.
And the Lord tells them, Peter tells them, James tells them that you come into that by the new birth.
Now he doesn't tell the Gentiles they had to be born again. He uses another expression. They had to be quickened. They were dead in trespasses and sins. Now quickening is giving life. New birth is giving life. They're the same operation of the Spirit called something different. One addressed to Jews, the other addressed to Gentiles. Same operation of the Spirit, the communication of divine life to man.
So he says you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
And thou hearest the sound thereof, but can't not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
New birth is something we do not understand. It's a sovereign work of God and it comes to the soul when he believes in Christ and he has life and faith at the same time.
Nicodemus was puzzled. How can these things be? He says.
The Lord says, Art thou a master of Israel? A teacher of Israel knows not these things.
And then he has this most profound verse. I believe it's the most profound verse in the New Testament.
Verse 11.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, I.
An individual person.
We speak.
That we do know.
And testify that we have seen.
And you receive, not our witness. Notice how it's changed to the plural.
The Lord Jesus here is speaking as a divine person in the Trinity.
The We as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
All three persons enveloped in that we we speak, that we do know.
When we say things, we can say, well, I know this or I know that you've learned it, but nothing, No one of us knows anything intuitively as God does. Only God can say we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and you receive, not our witness. Then he goes back to the singular If I've told you earthly things and you believe not, why you need to be born again just to enter the earthly Kingdom, let alone the heavenly Kingdom.
How shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
So now he's going to go on and tell about the heavenly things, and now he speaks about eternal life.
A term which is connected with our heavenly associations and relationship with Him.
No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Now that's essentially, that's basically the same nature that we received when we're born again, but now it's called eternal life. It's given a, it's given a fullness of meaning in John's writings.
This is life eternally says in John 17 that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom not has sent.
Eternal life consists in it the knowledge of the Father in the Son.
But it's a communication of a new life.
That most wonderful verse for God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting or eternal life.
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Now in the 4th chapter.
Just to move on quickly.
We have water, again mentioned.
The Lord asked this Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Jesus saith unto her. From verse 7 cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, and he asked her, Give me to drink.
The woman says to him, How is it that thou being a Jew, ask his drink of me, which I am a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Here was a soul, a single soul. It says he must needs go through Samaria. There was a soul there to be spoken to and to be brought into the light, this Samaritan woman.
Jesus answered and said unto her, verse 10 If thou knewest the gift of God.
If you only knew God as a giver in the Old Testament. And there's another basic difference between Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism, God was requiring of man obedience to the 10 commandments, a perfect law, perfect law, not no flaw in the law.
But man could not keep it, did not keep it, could not keep it, would not keep it.
But here he says, if thou knewest the gift of God, not God asking something of man, not God requiring something of man now, but giving.
If you knew God as a giver.
And who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink. Thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Now in the 3rd chapter, the water is a symbol of the Spirit of the Word of God, which the Spirit of God uses in the new birth here the living water, the flowing water, is a symbol of the Spirit of God himself.
The woman saith to him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. You remember that first verse we read in John 7? Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
This may he of the Spirit, Spirit of God.
Signified by that living water. Here it's water from within the soul. Water from within the soul in John 7 is water flowing out in testimony.
Now, Judaism didn't have this, didn't offer it, didn't bring it.
But it was a it was a law system.
It was rules and regulations.
Thou shalt have no other gods but me.
Thou shalt not make an image of anything in heaven and earth and bow down to it. Graven image. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
That was the only one of the 10 commandments that was ceremonial.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth. And then we have the five.
Last commandments thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.
Lust. And when they heard that, they said all that the Lord has spoken. We will do and obey good.
Good teaching.
Used to hang up in schools.
The law.
God's requirements for men, man after the flesh.
They don't allow it anymore.
So we have a lawless society.
But there's something higher than that.
And that's Christianity, not God, requiring obedience and holding out the promise of life to the obedient 1.
But God giving life.
Giving life that we had in John 3, and here we have it in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The woman says to him, verse 11 Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with the well as deep. From whence then hast thou that living water?
You see, John's Gospel is a complete contrast between Christianity, these truths we're looking at, and Judaism.
From which?
These Jews had to be delivered.
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself and his children, and his cattle?
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but the whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him.
Shall never thirst.
It's not this kind of water that he's talking about.
It's the water of the Spirit.
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The water that I shall give him shall be in him.
A fountain of water, I believe it reads more correctly, springing up into everlasting life.
An internal eternal source of joy, refreshment and communion. Producing worship.
An entirely different kind of worship than they had in Judaism.
And so this goes on into that.
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hit her to draw, and then he asks her to call her husband.
She says I don't have one.
He lets her know they don't knew all about her life.
That was truly said, I have no husband. Thou has had five husbands and the man that you're living with is not your husband.
And that's focused now, truly.
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and then she turned the subject into worship.
And he tells her that the worship that she was doing, her fathers were doing, the Jews were doing, even at Jerusalem, is set aside now by a new order of worship altogether, produced from the heart of the soul that has been born again, that has been sealed by this dwelt of the Holy Spirit as the source and power of worship.
The organ, the piano, the orchestra, all of those kinds of instruments that were used in the Old Testament in their worship have absolutely no place whatsoever in Christian worship.
Christian worship flows not from a dead piece of wood or some kind of mechanical instrument. It flows from a living soul that's been born of God and indwelt of the Spirit of God.
Jesus says to the woman, Believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain Samaria, nor yet in Jerusalem worship the Father.
You worship, you know, not what we know, what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. In that one sentence, he says to her.
God never owns Samaria but Jerusalem. But now he goes on beyond both of those. And he says the hour cometh, and now is when the true worship worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Worshipping with the musical instrument is not worshipping in spirit, and it's not worshipping in truth.
The one that sits at that organ and plays so beautifully may not even be born again.
May not even have life, may not be sealed by the Spirit at all. And yet they can do it so beautifully.
Because they know how to play well.
But the worship that God is looking for in this present day is worship in spirit according to the nature of God Himself.
And in truth, according to the revelation that he has been pleased to make of himself in the New Testament.
That's not the kind of worship they had in Judaism. But when you go into places of worship today, what do you see?
You see anything from a piano to an organ to musical instruments to a whole orchestra.
All patterned after Judaism.
That's the camp in principle.
And we're told to go forth unto him outside the camp, and you see a mixed multitude, those who are not born again and those who are, those who have not the Spirit and those who do, and they're all part of the same church.
It's a mixture, it's confusion. It's a mixture of Judaism and Christianity.
But the worship that goes on in those places is not normally Christian worship. I'm not saying they're not individuals there that are truly saved and that worship in their hearts.
Worship in their souls, in their spirits to God. Yes they do. And God values that and he sees that and he owns that. But the system that they're a part of?
Is not Christian.
It's Jewish.
Or even worse, Pagan.
There's much of paganism.
All you have to do is go into a some of these.
Some of the churches.
That cost millions and millions of dollars to erect and you'll see plenty of paganism as well as Judaism in those places. Christian worship is little known in this so-called Christian nation of ours.
True worshippers shall worship the Father.
Spirit and in truth.
For the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Are you a worshipper?
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God is a spirit.
And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit.
And in truth.
And it's so beautiful. I'm not going to go into the rest of this chapter. He reveals himself to her as the Messiah. She becomes an evangelist, goes into the town, comes to a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ and the souls are one for him.
Now going on to the 5th chapter, we have a picture of Judaism with this man at the pool of Bethesda.
He's helpless. He knows how he can get healed. All he has to do is when the Angel troubles the water, is to get up and get down into the water. He has to do something. That's the principle of Judaism. This do and thou shalt live.
He has to keep the law, whatever it is.
And the angels were connected with that. We were talking about that a bit last night in Hebrews, how much importance the angels had with the the, with the Judaism establishing it and so on. And then there was the Sabbath day that had to be kept and could not be violated.
The whole thing is there. And what's the contrast? The voice of the Son of God.
Which thou be made whole. I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool, But while I'm trying, another comes and steps down before me.
Take up thy bed and walk.
Rise, take up thy bed, and walk A word from the Son of God.
The Son of God is here now to displace that whole Jewish order of things.
And what did it bring? It brought the hostility, the enmity, the wrath of the Jewish leaders down upon him.
And the more true you are to Christian principles and to Christian worship and to Christian truth, the more you will feel the wrath of conventional religion.
Conventional religion gives a place to the first man gives a place to the flesh.
And so there's no reproach connected with it.
But when your attitude towards the world and all of its beautiful religious ceremonies, sweet sounding music and all that, when your attitude is such as to give credence to that support to it.
It does not reproach you.
But when your attitude is to.
Totally disown it.
Because it's not true Christianity. Then you'll feel.
The reproach.
Bearing his reproach, let us go forth unto him.
Outside the camp, burying his reproach.
As long as you give the world its place in having its religion, whatever form it might take that gives a place to man in the flesh.
There's no reproach.
You're accepted.
When you refuse that.
And stand outside of it. With Christ there will be plenty of reproach.
In the 6th chapter you have the setting aside of the.
The bread that was rained down from heaven, that gave life and and supported life.
Before you, you have that which is, which typifies that. You have the natural bread, and then you have the Lord Jesus as that which is typified by the manna, the bread of God which comes down from heaven. He's the one that gives life. He's the one that sustains life and maintains it in contrast with the natural realm.
And then in this 7th chapter, we've already read.
That wonderful verse.
37.
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.
He that believeth on me is the Scripture is said. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This was the 8th day of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was the only feast that had eight days, I believe. And this was that last day, that 8th day. And they had gone through the whole thing. And he stands there and becomes a new center now, and he draws souls that are not satisfied with that religious system that they had just gone to Jerusalem to celebrate.
They, they, they, some of them were going away and they were not satisfied. Their souls were not fed. It was, it was a, it was an emptiness there.
And he says, if any man still thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
He's the source of life, He's the source of refreshment, He's the source of blessing. He's the source of everything that is from God.
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And he gives the Holy Spirit.
And then those souls that have drunk of that.
The Spirit of God flows out in blessing, rivers of living water flowing out, and two others round about. We become now a witness wonderful. In the 4th chapter, the Spirit dwells within to produce worship. In this 8th, 7th chapter, the Spirit dwells within to produce service and testimony to those roundabouts.
In the 8th and 9th chapters we have Christ as the light of this world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
We can say in a word, Judaism was a system of laws given by Moses. Christianity is.
That which is a person, a living person that we have come to know and are attached to.
Now, the best illustration of what I've been saying here tonight is in the 10th chapter, and let's just look at it quickly.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, the sheepfold is Israel.
The sheepfold, it's an enclosure. That's what Judaism was. Judaism. The Jews were not told go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. They weren't told that at all. They were to maintain strict separation from the nations roundabout. They were an enclosure.
And.
He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold. What's the door? Well, it's the proper way of entrance into the sheepfold. There were many, many, many scriptures in the Old Testament that told how the Messiah, the coming Redeemer, would enter into that nation. He had to be the seat of David.
He had to be born of a virgin, he had to be heralded by John the Baptist, by his forerunner, and he had to be born at Bethlehem.
Many, many many scriptures.
He entered in by the door, but he then enters not in by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as the thief and a robber. There were numbers of others that had come false. Messiahs professed to be messiahs, but they didn't qualify as such. They didn't come according to the Scriptures.
The God ordained way, but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the Porter openeth. Spirit of God opened that door to him. He entered in the proper way. Born of the Virgin.
And heralded by John.
To him the Porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice.
Now, in this sheepfold, it's all Jewish. The sheepfold is all Jewish. Those outside of that sheepfold are Gentiles. But not all in the sheepfold were saved. Not all were his sheep.
So it says.
The sheep hear his voice, that is those who are his sheep.
And he calleth his own sheep by name.
And leadeth them out. He leads them out of the sheepfold into the blessings.
Of Christianity.
He calls them by name.
And when he put forth his own sheep.
He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice is he. Christianity is not an enclosure.
It's not a confinement like Judaism was.
Boarded in by a fence and a strict rules of law that they had to keep.
Or come under the judgment of God.
Now Christianity is the sheep free to follow a shepherd.
The shepherd of the sheep, a person now.
Has come in to lead these Jews out of Judaism.
That's what Hebrews is written about.
Let us go forth unto him.
Outside the camp. So he comes into his sheepfold, calls the sheep by name there, and they follow him, and he leads them out.
Stranger will they not follow, but that will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. Now this is the second use of the word door. The first use is the door of entrance into the sheepfold, according to the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
He entered. He fulfilled all of those scriptures that spoke of his first coming.
There are many.
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And they were all fulfilled in one person.
The probability it's been figured out by mathematicians that no probability, the probability that all of those scriptures pretending to his first coming being fulfilled in one person is so astronomically low that it would be an utter impossibility to for it to happen by chance.
Now he says I'm the door of the sheep.
Until the shepherd came, for any of the sheep to abandon Judaism and get out of the sheepfold would have been apostasy and would not have been of God.
There were others that came, false messiahs, and they led certain sheep out and they all perished. It came to nothing.
That's referred to in the book of Acts.
For the sake of time, I'll not turn to it, but he hear the true shepherd. He goes into the sheepfold, comes, enters in according to the scriptures of this of the Old Testament, finds his sheep, calls them by name, they follow him and he leads them out of the sheepfold, which is Judaism.
He says all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep, my sheep he's talking about, did not hear them. Now he uses the word door in a third sense.
The second sense he's the door of exit from the sheepfold.
To himself, the Shepherd.
And now he uses the door verse 9 in the Christian sense I am the door this time it's the door of entrance into the blessings of Christianity. I'm the door by me if any man enter in.
He shall be saved.
And she'll go in and out in fine pasture. Going in is John 4IN for worship. Going out is John 7 out for service.
And find pasture.
Christianity is liberty. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The sheep are not confined. They're not in a constricted place, in a sheepfold, A fenced place that was Judaism. They're free to follow the shepherd on the on the mountains and over the green hills and so on.
Let's go down to verse 14 for the sake of time. I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep.
And am known of mine. Isn't that precious? If you're one of his sheep, he knows you.
He knows you by name.
In fact, he says he calleth his own sheep by name and leads them out.
I believe based on this, and I'm not pressing this, but I believe that when he comes for us, he'll call our name.
And we'll hear it, and we'll go.
To meet him in the air.
I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved first time that word is used. Saved in the Christian sense, He's brought into the blessedness of being in fellowship with and in an association with the shepherd.
He shall be saved. He should go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I am come.
That they might have life.
And that they might have it.
More abundantly, or I think abundantly is more correct. Just leave the word more out. It's not that the Saints in the Old Testament had abundant life and we have it. More abundantly, they had life and we have the abundant life. Life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Life in association with a risen glorified man in heaven.
That's Christianity.
Heavenly people united to that man in the glory.
And indwelt by the Spirit here born of God, sealed by the Spirit, True worshippers. Not a system that man after the flesh can have a part in, but one has to have a new life and a new relationship.
With the Shepherd.
Verse 16 And then we close.
And other sheep.
I have.
Which are not of this fold. These would be Jews, These would be Gentiles.
This fold is the Jewish fold. Now. That's us who believe now.
Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. And there shall be 1 flock it ought to read.
One shepherd. The way the King James translators translated that, it spoils the whole passage.
The fold refers to Judaism.
We gentiles are not brought into the fold of Judaism, but there's one flock.
The Jewish sheep taken out of the fold of Judaism into the flock, and then the Gentiles associated with them as well.
One flock.
In the next chapter, the 11TH chapter.
We have the Lord Jesus as the resurrection and the life.
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Hazardous come forth and he brings him forth and one day that's going to happen for all of us. It's going to call us home.
He is the resurrection and the life. Well, all of these things bring out so beautifully.
In the Gospel of John, true Christianity in contrast with Judaism.
Which is a system of do's and don'ts following a man, Moses the Lawgiver, we follow another man.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the one who went into death for us, rose again and exalted, and was exalted to the right hand of God and going to bring us there shortly.
Well, there's much more in John's Gospel, as we know, but it's just beautiful to see how that it presents to us Christian truth before it came to be, in fact, in time.
1st Reading
2nd Reading
3rd Reading
Hebrews 2
Attachment to Christ
Fathers, Young Men, Children