I please Almighty God to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's
turn to the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 13, and
we'll read verses 13 and 14. The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter 13, and reading verses 13 and 14. 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. It would be good if we are constantly
reminded of such a great and wonderful truth as these verses
spell out to us in very simple words. And yet here we have this
statement by the Apostle Paul as he comes and tells us, let
us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his
reproach. the Church of God, down through
the ages, have had to go out. They haven't been able to stay
in their little cosy position. They've had to go out. And we have, of course, the great
and glorious picture of the Saviour himself, who went out and was
crucified without the city wall. And therefore, we should not
think that we in our little lives can just somehow escape such
a word as this. It should be something which
should be an encouragement to us, something that we desire
to do, because it's not just going out and having a wander
around and just enjoying the scenery. tells us, let us go
forth therefore unto him without the camp, unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if we realize what the Lord
Jesus Christ did when he did go without the camp, what happened
to him? We know that he was crucified
at Mount Calvary outside the city wall. And so we are encouraged
therefore to come, to go forth therefore unto him without the
camp bearing his reproach. We can perhaps think of the term
camp as a dwelling place. Like it was in those days a dwelling
place where Jesus was but he went outside of the city wall.
He had to leave the comfort of the city and in one sense the
church of God today had to go out we're not allowed to just
continue hiding away as it were people who sometimes say well
I'm of course I'm a private Christian and I don't speak about the things
of God well that doesn't testify well at all it indicates that they have no
real desire for spiritual communion with the Saviour. Because as
by faith we're able to go out unto Him without the camp and
to realise that in that position we are favoured then to recognise
union and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. And surely
that should be our desire. Sadly, we live in a day where
these things are not thought about very much and all we think
about is the comfort of our natural life. But as the Apostle Paul
wrote when he addressed the Philippians, he wanted to enjoy fellowship
with the sufferings of the Saviour. And by faith, if we go out, therefore
unto him without the camp. You see, it's a great favor to
enjoy fellowship then with the Lord Jesus Christ as by faith,
by faith we view the Lord Jesus Christ suffering, suffering in
our place. Yes, as the hymn writer said,
bearing all incarnate God could bear, with strength enough and
none to spare. It's hard for us, even with our
little minds, to comprehend what the Saviour endured, but to realize
He did endure and He suffered greatly. We know that was so
by the utterances that were made There is a record of just those
few, and we know that when he was in Gethsemane, he's gone. Knowing what was before him,
what did he say? What did he cry to his father? If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. What do we see there? We see
the enormous love of the Savior. to unworthy sinners. We have to surely come and say,
what a Saviour should suffer so much to save a wretch like
me. And so, Gethsemane. And then
of course down in the Judgment Hall, what reproach He endured
there. What abuse He endured there. Not for his sins, but for our
sins. We have a great and glorious
Saviour who did his Father's will. He did not fail. He carried it out to the nth
degree. Yes, he endured greatly. He suffered greatly. It's hard
for us to imagine, isn't it? There he was on the cross and
his father hid his face for those three hours of darkness which
brought forth that cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Again, right from eternity, He'd
never be forsaken. And now, in order to redeem his
church, he had to suffer that separation between him and his
father. Well, we're thankful indeed that
Lord Jesus Christ did not fail. And it's good, you know, sometimes
if we're able, therefore, to meditate on these things, and
have some little understanding and some right perspective of
the cost of our salvation. And surely therefore we can perhaps
appreciate a little then why the Apostle comes and says, let
us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his
reproach. We don't like to face reproach,
do we? We don't like to face opposition,
we like to be accepted, we like to walk on calmly, and yet you
see the Word of God declares to us so very clearly, ye are
my witnesses, we are on the earth, not to enjoy ourselves, we're
on the earth for that great purpose, to glorify
God. It's good you know sometimes
we're able to recognise that purpose. Because it does put
things then in a right perspective. And therefore if we do find that
we are reproached for the name of Christ, we can realise it's
a blessed place to be in. Especially as we may recognise
how undeserving we are of any favour because of all our sin,
because of all our opposition to God. Again, just pause and
think of your and my opposition to God and the ways of God. How often we've opposed God. How often we've walked in an
opposite direction. How often we've been disobedient
to God. But the Lord hasn't cast us off. He hasn't cast us away. No, he's had mercy upon us because
he's loved us. It shows forth, doesn't it, something
of the great and deep love of God himself in redeeming our
soul that he was willing to suffer so greatly. And therefore, it's
a good place to find ourselves in, without the comfort, perhaps,
of our own environment, and find there we are. We're bearing his
reproach. We've gone forth unto him. We're not alone. We're not alone. The Lord never leaves his people. He never forsakes them. Sometimes
we might feel it is so. But he tells us very clearly
that he'll never leave us nor forsake us. Therefore we can
boldly say the Lord is my helper. He is my helper. And it's good
again if you and I can trace that out in our lives to realize
God has helped us and therefore come to that position. He who
has helped us Hitherto will help us all our journey through. It's
a wonderful confidence, isn't it? It's not in our own strength. It's not in what we've done.
It's a confidence in what Christ has done. A confidence in his
promises, which are yay and amen. They never fail. What God has
said comes to pass. And therefore what an encouragement
it should be to us tonight to realise we have such a statement
as this. Let us go forth, go forth unto
him without the camp bearing his
reproach. What a mercy then that we have
a God who looks down from heaven, and deals with us in love to
our soul. Yes, it's a great mercy, isn't
it? And it's a great favour to realise that we have such a saviour. Such a saviour. Words can't express,
can they, what the Lord's done for His people. What He's done
for you and what He's done for me, if we are His children, those
who He's loved with an everlasting love, in redeeming our soul,
the enormous cost, the enormous cost, how willing was Jesus to
die that we fellow sinners might live. Yes, the willingness of
the Saviour. Again, just ponder the willingness
of God. The second person in the Trinity,
the creator of all things, was willing to lay his glory by and
come down and suffer and bleed and die so that you and I might
be favoured to receive the wonderful blessing the forgiveness of all
our sins, every sin, and be able to say, I'm clean, just God,
I'm clean. Not because of any virtue in
ourselves, but because of the glorious virtue of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What a mercy, what a blessing
then to have such a Saviour. Let us Go forth therefore unto
him without the count. Well, the Lord knows whether
you and I are willing to do just that. He has to forsake all,
to take up our cross daily and to follow him. It's a privilege. It's a wonderful blessing. And
when we think the result is eternity in glory. The poor things of
time, which often we value highly, we'll have to leave behind. We can't take any possessions
with us when we die. We brought nothing into this
world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. So therefore, what a wonderful
blessing it is to possess the grace of God. and to have that
humble confidence that it is well with our soul, and therefore
to not be ashamed of the Saviour, but to be willing to go forth
to Him and to bear His reproach. We might think on the face of
it, well this is not going to be easy, this is going to be
really hard, The blessing is, it's fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what the Apostle Paul
so craved after. Fellowship with Christ. Fellowship
with his sufferings. He knew the value of it. It wasn't something which he
disdained. He prayed for it. He desired
it. And the Apostle, as you may read
his life as he gives us an account in the Corinthians, of all the
things he had to suffer, yet he was glad, he was thankful
that he was counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. Well, I wonder tonight whether
we counted a favour and a blessing to suffer with the Saviour. And so we have this word here
tonight. Let us, you and me, every true believer, go forth,
therefore unto him without the camp. Yes, we may have to leave
our friends, we may have to leave the comfort of our homes, the
comfort of our churches, but the blessing is that we go forth
unto him. That's the secret. We're not
going into somewhere where we should be alone, where we have
to battle and fight our way through. No, we should be with Him and
to know that He has already conquered. What a consolation and what a
blessing. So here tonight, may we heed
this gracious exhortation. Let us Let none of us think that
we're outside of this word us. Indeed, let none of us want to
be outside of this word us. But may we each come within it.
Let us, every one of us, go forth therefore unto him without the
camp bearing his reproach. And the apostle then gives a
very good reason for this. It's a glorious reason. Four,
here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Well, the Apostle Paul was able
to give a good testimony to this end. Well, tonight, as we stand
before God, can we indeed say, here we have no continuing city?
We may be able to, Acknowledge. I know that's true. We don't
have a continuing city. We know we won't stay on this
earth. It's evident all around us. So many deaths we've all
experienced recently. And death is indeed on the road. So we know that here we have
no continuing city. But it's good if we can carry
on with what the Apostle says, but We seek one to come. Well, God knows tonight, if I
was to ask you each, are you amongst those who are seeking
one to come, a city to come, a heavenly city? Are you seeking
it or are you not? Well, my friends, God knows. You know and God knows. No one
else knows. No one can look into someone
else's mind. It's only God who knows the truth
of these things. But what a blessing it is if
we are amongst those who truly are seeking one to come. You know, we can read about Abraham
in the 11th chapter. And we're told with him, for
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. That was the testimony of Abraham. Is that our testimony tonight? You may have to say, well, I
don't think it is. I don't think I can really say
that. Well, it'd be a blessing if you desire to be able to say
it and if you pray that you may be able to say it that you may
have that desire to say that you may be found looking for
that city which is of course a heavenly city it is heaven
itself, it is glory it's a wonderful place which hath foundations
whose builder and maker is God a perfect place something that
you and I cannot really understand. A place where there is no sin,
no arguments, no disagreements, a place where we are with the
Saviour and with the Church of God and that, not just for a
time, but for eternity. And as I've said sometimes, we're
in time now. But time will end for every one
of us. And we shall then be in eternity. And what a blessing that will
be if we are found in that place of glory. You see, the alternative
is to find ourselves in that awful place of hell eternally. Both places are eternal. One is wonderful, and one is
terrible and we don't get to glory because of any merit in
ourselves we don't get to glory because of what we've done we
get to glory because of what Christ has done that's why The
Apostle was able to write such words as this to go forth without
the camp bearing his reproach. Because the Saviour has gone
before us. He's fought the battle. And what
a battle it was. What a battle it was. Never passed
that over. Realised what he had to endure.
No tongue can tell. But my friends, he did endure. and he endured so that you and
I might be set free. The words in John's gospel tells
us, if the Son therefore shall set you free, you shall be free
indeed. It's a wonderful freedom. It
is an eternal freedom. Yes, it's not an eternity in
hell. It's an eternity in glory. Well, the apostle goes on to
explain, as Abraham was seeking this better country, he said,
but now they desire a better country, that is, and heavenly. You and I desiring a heavenly
country. The Lord took us from this earth
today. How will we feel? How will we
respond? Will we say, oh, I wanted to do that. Oh, I wanted to do
this. Oh, I wanted to carry on there. Are we desiring a better country? Are we truly willing to forsake
all and to follow Him? Because this better country isn't
heavenly. perfect peace and happiness and
that forever. There's no tomorrow. There's
no night. It's forever in one eternal condition
of light. And the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is all the light in Emmanuel's land. Well, again, it's hard
for us to understand, isn't it? never be tired, never want any
sleep, always be alert, always be able to praise and to thank
our God and to commune. What a wonderful prospect surely
it is to the Church of God. It's very hard for us really
to comprehend such a situation because here we are, earthbound
on this earth. And the things of time take a
grip of us. And we are in time, but then
we shall be in eternity, in that heavenly place. And this is the
wonderful blessing carrying on in the 11th chapter of the Hebrews. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God. Not ashamed to be called their
God. Well, on the other side, are
we ashamed of the glorious Saviour and his glorious work and his
wonderful plan? Are we ashamed to acknowledge
that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness? Do we have tonight a good hope
of eternal life tonight not tomorrow tonight do we have a good hope
of eternal life a good hope to believe that it is well with
our soul you see we're constantly being tempted by the devil to
say well of course there's plenty of time yet you needn't worry
about these things they may be good but you've got time to think
about them you don't have to think about them now well the
Word of God tells us today if you would hear His voice Harden
not your hearts, not tomorrow, but today. What a blessing, therefore,
if we are favoured then to be found like that and realise then
this great and glorious blessing is ours. Wherefore, God is not
ashamed to be called their God. Surely that's a tremendous thought,
isn't it? To think that the Almighty God
The Creator of all things is not ashamed to be called their
God. Well, how do you react to that
tonight? What's your reaction? To think
of the greatness of God in willing to be called our God, your God,
my God. And we do need to have a personal
relationship. It's not an unknown God. We won't arrive at the gate of
glory and never have had any contact with God. We will not come there and be
a stranger. No, we shall be ready to go and
to be with Christ, which is far better. We would have left indeed
this world of sin and sorrow. We left then this city of destruction. Remember that account of Christian
and the pilgrim's progress. When he left the city of destruction,
there were plenty of people that tried to stop him, to restrain
him, to stay. where he was and not run away
seeking that celestial city. And we're given that vivid picture
of a Christian putting his hands to his ears and running as fast
as he could and crying out, life, life, eternal life. That's what
he was seeking after, eternal life, not the life on this earth,
not life in this city of destruction, which will very soon come to
an end, but eternal life. Truly he was indeed seeking that
city, and he was one who was able to say, for here we have
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Now this great and
glorious Saviour, he's gone to prepare a place for his people. He's not ashamed to be called
their God, and he's prepared for them a city. Indeed, the
Lord Jesus says himself, doesn't he, that he's gone to repair
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there, ye may be also. Again, just ponder that great
truth. We read it in the 14th of John. It's a familiar passage. But
yet to really ponder and think the truth of it, the depth of
it, that Almighty God, the Saviour of sinners, has gone to prepare
a place in glory for us, for you and me. And we have there,
again as the Apostle says, a reserved place a reserved place. No one else can take the place
prepared for God's children. Unworthy as we are, God has prepared
a place and He's reserved a place in glory. So when we leave this
earth, it won't be to just float around. No, we should be with
Christ which is far better. And that, eternally. Oh, my friends, what a wonderful,
wonderful blessing that is to think that the day will come
for all of us when we shall leave this earth. That's certain. What, of course, is not certain
is where each of us will spend eternity. Abraham knew, as he journeyed,
that he was looking for that city which hath foundations. And we're told, with regard to
the worthies that have followed that pattern, they desired a
better country. You may think, well, I like it
here on this earth. Well, there is a far better country. A far better country. You and
I, we all get older, don't we? We all have ailments. We all
have sicknesses. In glory, no such thing. Because there's no sin. Perfect,
perfect condition. And that forever and ever. It's a wonderful consideration. I think it was John Owen who
said on his deathbed, his dying words were, eternity, eternity. He was on the brink and he was
looking forward to the glory of eternity. And it's something
which, again, because of our finite nature, We cannot really
understand eternity. There is no end. Time is no more. Eternity just goes on forever
and ever and forever. And the blessing is if you and
I are safe with the Saviour, what a wonderful, wonderful blessing.
But if we're not, my friends, What a solemn and terrible, terrible
consideration. What a sad, sad lot will be ours. And there's no escape. No escape. If you and I leave this earth
without that personal knowledge that Lord Jesus Christ died upon
that cross at Calvary to take away all our sins, my friends,
there's no hope. and we shall spend eternity in
that terrible place with the devil can you imagine it? can you think about it? how awful
it must be no turning back no possibility No possibility. We have that illustration, don't
we? In the Word of God, spoken by the Lord, the rich man and
Lazarus. The rich man enjoyed all the
blessings of this life. They were nothing, really. And
they soon vanished away. And he died. And he lifted up
his eyes in hell. And that place of eternal burning,
where the worm dieth not. And on the other hand, there
was a beggar called Lazarus, and he died. We're told he was
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, that place of true happiness
eternally. And the rich man cried out, please
send someone to tell my brethren how terrible it is what an awful
place this is and the result was he was told
they have Moses they have the word of God and if they won't
believe that then they won't believe someone even if they
came from the dead How true that is. How important it is. And so, you and I tonight, may
we each realise the Word of God is true. It tells us there is
a heaven. It tells us there is a hell. And we are not to trifle with
the things of God. We're not to think they're not
important. They are important. They're the most important things
that you and I have to consider. The eternal state of our soul. To have the wonderful evidence
that this blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, has died on
that cross at Calvary to take away our sins. Well, have you
a good hope that it is so? If you haven't, my friends, let
us not pretend. Let us not be deceived. The Word
of God tells us, be not deceived. God is not mocked. We have the
wonderful truth. All of us here tonight are wonderfully
blessed to have the Bible to read, which tells us the whole
truth. There are billions in the world
who do not have this wonderful benefit. Can you imagine dying
and ending in hell, knowing that you were told the truth, but
you ignored it. You ignored it. You said in your
heart, I would not have this man to reign over me. I'm going to continue pleasing
myself. And then you see the Lord comes
and calls you from this earth. and you fall into that eternal
abyss of hell. Well, my friends, it's a terrible
thought, isn't it? But yet, on the other hand, what
a glorious place it is to be found in heaven, and how exceedingly
humbling it is to realize that we don't deserve it. We don't
deserve it. We deserve to end up in hell. And why don't we? Because of
the love of Christ to unworthy sinners. Not that we loved God,
but that he loved us. He touches our heart. He turns
our feet from going in a hell direction. He turns us in an
opposite direction to go in a heavenly direction. It is the blessed
and glorious work of the Spirit. Well my friends, tonight may
we ponder these things and realize the wonderful truth that the
Apostle says, let us go forth therefore unto him without the
camp, bearing his reproach. However costly that is, however
difficult that is, it's only for A very, very, very short
time. A very short time to bear the
reproach and then glory. If we try and avoid any reproach
in this life, then we shall bear eternal punishment in hell. And then as he says, for here
have we no continuing city. We don't, any of us. None of
us have a continuing city here. But what a blessing if, by the
grace of God, we do seek that one which is to come, so that
we can truly praise and honour and glorify our God. Well, we should be thankful that
we have a word like this tonight. And the Apostle goes on to tell
us By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise
to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks to his name. Again, let's be clear about this.
It is the fruit of our lips. Some people think they can get
by and get to heaven without saying anything. and they hide under a cloud and
they say, well of course I'm not given to speak about the
things of God really and I don't really say very much. Well, the
Word of God doesn't encourage you at all in that position. And the Apostle tells us here
very clearly, by him therefore The Lord Jesus, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. And we can think
of this in these terms. A sacrifice means it costs us
something. In the Old Testament, they sacrificed
animals, didn't they? The animals didn't just turn
up. They had to give those animals for a sacrifice. And it cost
them. sometimes they were expensive
animals because they had to be a perfect animal they couldn't
be any old animal it had to be perfect and they had to give
those and that was a sacrifice and it may not have been easy
naturally but yet that was the command of God and here we're
told here by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise
continually If God has touched your heart and my heart, if God
has convinced us of our sin before our Holy God, if the Holy Spirit
has directed us to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and if
we've been found by His grace, looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith, we have great cause to praise God, to praise God
continually. That is, the Apostle spells it
out, the fruit of our lips, the words that emanate from our mouth,
giving thanks to his name. And then he says it's about to
do good and to communicate. Forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. Remember the words, those that
honor me, I will honor. And those that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. They're not my words. They're
the great and true words of God. He is to be lifted up. He is to be honored and glorified. And the believer who is saved
by God's grace would desire to praise and glorify and honor
their God for what he's done for such unworthy sinners. Well, here we have these words
tonight. Let us think upon them. Don't
just go home and forget about them and think, well, that's
irrelevant. All these words are very, very
relevant to us. Let us, you and me, go forth
therefore unto him without the camp. Yes, leaving our comfort
zone, bearing his reproach. It's a privilege to suffer for
his sake. For here have we no continuing
city. Let us not forget that, but we
seek one to come. And I hope all of us, by God's
grace, do seek that heavenly city. By him, therefore, let
us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good and
to communicate, forget not. For with such sacrifices God
is well pleased. Amen.