Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 688, the tune is Staincliffe,
418. Ye that pass by, behold the man,
the man of griefs condemned for you, the Lamb of God for sinners
slain, weeping to Calvary pursue. and ATA, Tune Steincliff 418. ? He that was born in Bethlehem
? ? The man of Israel ? ? The Lamb of God ? For sinners slain
with Him to Calvary pass you. She there, His temples crowned
with thorns, His praying hands extended wide, His faith in thee transmits them
to. The father may know it from his
son. O thou, dear sun, ringed sun
of God, O rose, thy power full, thin, and fair, Sprinkle on me thy precious blood. Help me to taste thy dying blood. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Oh, say does that star-spangled banner
yet wave Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the 13th chapter of the Epistle to the
Hebrews. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews,
chapter 13. Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers. for thereby some have entertained
angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds
as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being
yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honorable in all,
and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as ye have. For he has said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto
me. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace, not with meats. which have not profited
them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar whereof
they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the
bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest will see him are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the gate. 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. 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. Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief. for that is unprofitable for
you. Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in
all things willing to live honestly, but I beseech you the rather
to do this, that they may be restored to you the sooner. Now
the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing
in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren,
suffer the word of exhortation For I have written a letter unto
you in few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy
is set at liberty, with whom, if he come shortly, I will see
you. Salute all them that have the
rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. Grace
be with you all. Amen. May the Lord bless the
reading of his own precious word and grant to us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we desire as a company of poor
sinners to bow before thy great majesty to call upon thy great
and holy name. We desire that the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the sacred
fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon us. Oh, we pray, most blessed Spirit
of truth, that thou wouldst come and open the word of truth to
our heart, to our understanding, and grant the application of
it, we do humbly beseech thee, that it may be written, not with
pen and ink, but with the finger of the living God upon the fleshy
tables of the heart, that we might know the living
power of thy truth, that it may be indelibly impressed upon our
hearts and minds, We do humbly beseech thee, most blessed spirit
of truth, convince us of our sin and lead to Jesus' blood
and to our wandering eyes reveal the secret love of God. I do grant that this evening
we may feel the sacred presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. that
we may behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth, and that thou wouldst
enable us, as we've read in thy holy word, let us go forth therefore
unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Lord, may we be
given that grace to do that. and that may we be given that
grace to lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily
beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us,
look in unto Jesus. And as thy word declares unto
us, come out from among them, and be ye separate, touch not
the unclean thing, and I will be a father unto thee. and ye
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord God Almighty. Lord, enable us so to do. Enable us to worship thee. Enable us to follow thee. Enable us to let all fruitless
searches go, which perplex and tease us, but desiring not to
know, but to bleed in Jesus. Oh, we do pray that we may behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, that
we may behold the precious holy life that Jesus lived, and in
it, thy holy law fulfilled and honoured and magnified. And may we behold that sacred,
holy, sinatonic sacrifice of Calvary, to behold Him in our
wretched room, place and stead. And may we behold Him as He dies
for our sins and rose again for our justification. Oh, we do
thank Thee for these divine realities, these foundation truths of our
most holy faith, a Saviour who died for our sins rose again
for our justification, and is bodily ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at thy right hand. Oh, the glorious reality! For such an high priest have
we, who is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, help us
to cleave to him, help us to look to him, help us to cast
all our cares upon him. Grant that we may be favoured
this evening hour with those divine drawings of a heavenly
Father, drawing us unto his best beloved, an all-glorious Son. We do humbly beseech thee. We do thank thee for the sacred
glories of Jesus Christ and the fullness of that salvation that
is wrought out for his people. We thank thee for the bringing
in of everlasting righteousness in his glorious person. We thank thee for that holy sacrifice,
that precious blood that cleanses from all sin, as we've read together
in thy word, the blood of the everlasting covenant. Oh, gracious
God, we do thank thee for that precious blood. What is that
name that speaks for me in heaven's high courts above? and from the
curse has set me free. It is Jesus' precious blood. Lord, we do pray that thou in
thy precious mercy would remember us then as a church and as a
congregation, and remember us, O Lord, and work mightily among
us, and graciously remember those that are not able to be here
tonight because of other commitments. We pray that thou would be with
them in their journeys and bring them home in peace and safety.
Remember Alison in the USA and return her in peace and safety
at the appointed time. And oh Lord, we do pray for any
and any trouble or trial or perplexity or sorrow or sadness or bereavement,
that thou would support them, sustain them, strengthen them,
help We pray for any in darkness, that thou wouldst bring them
into light, and any in bondage, that thou wouldst bring them
into liberty, and any that are far off, that thou wouldst make
them nigh, in and through the glorious person of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. Remember our brethren,
the deacons, who give grace, wisdom, and help in all their
responsibilities. Undertake, Lord, for each one.
We do humbly beseech thee. and work mightily, powerfully
and effectually among us, as a church and as a congregation.
Send out the light and glory and power of the gospel into
this village, in the surrounding villages and hamlets. Bring our
sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth. O
Lord, as promised, I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy
her poor with bread. O Lord, let thy hand be upon
the man of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest
strong for thyself. We do humbly beseech thee that
there may be signs that shall follow the preaching of the word,
that precious souls may be gathered into this sanctuary, and that
we may see this house of prayer filled with longing, hungry souls
pressing into the kingdom of heaven. O Lord, do hear us, we
pray thee. Thou hast said, open thy mouth
wide, and I will fill it. Lord, we wait for thy appearing.
We wait for thy holy arm to be made bare. We wait for the outpouring
of the Spirit of God upon us. For until the Spirit be poured
from on high, Lord, nothing can be done without thy Holy Spirit. Oh, do be gracious unto us. Do
bless us, we do humbly beseech thee. We pray thy blessing upon
the little ones and the children that meet with us, that thou
wouldst graciously bless them in their young and in their tender
years and bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ. We pray
for our young friends that they may be brought to faith in Jesus
Christ and become followers of thee. and of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises. Lord, let thy work
appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children,
we do beseech thee. Fulfill that wonderful promise.
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest
make princes in all the earth. Cause the prodigals to return.
Lord, we long for that day. that day of rejoicing and there's
joy in heaven over one sinner that repented. May we be favoured
with that joy here to see those that have wandered away may come
back with a longing desire to worship thee and to follow thee. We pray most gracious Lord that
wisdom and help may be given to parents in all their responsibilities. We pray that those remember all
in the midst of the journey of life and graciously bless them. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
bring forth those that stand on the brink and cannot seem
to venture forth. We pray that thou wouldst constrain
them by thy love to follow thee and to serve thee. in their day
and in their generation. Remember those of us that are
now in the evening time of life's journey and prepare us for that
great change that must soon come. We do humbly beseech them. Prepare
me, gracious God, to stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the
work perform, for it is all of grace. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst so work among us here as a church and
as a congregation and work in the little causes of truth up
and down the land and make bare thine holy arm and send out thy
light and thy truth and return in thy power and in thy glory
as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. O Lord we do pray that thou in
thy precious mercy wouldst be with those of us that know the
fierce temptations of satan we pray that whether the enemy comes
in like a flood as a roaring lion or as an angel of light
we pray to be delivered from his power and from his influence
i was promised in my word that when the enemy comes in like
a flood the spirit of the lord will lift up a standard against
him Oh, we look to Thee, O Lord, to preserve and keep us from
all evil and from all unrighteousness. Lord, we do pray that Thou wouldst
help us to live as we ought to live, to do what we ought to
do, and to be fruitful unto every good work and word and way. Oh,
do hear us, Lord. humbly beseech thee and do bless
us in this way. Make us a fruitful people. Remember
all thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the
walls of Zion. Set them free. Set them at liberty. We thank thee for every mercy
of thy kind providence. Thy mercies are new every morning
and great is thy faithfulness. We thank thee for our house of
prayer. We thank thee for the open Bible. We thank thee for Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday and today and forever. Forgive all our
many sins. Touch one's lips with a live
coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1013. The tune is Jackson's 163. There is a family on earth whose
father fills a throne, and though a seed of heavenly birth to men,
they're little known. Hymn 1013, tune Jackson's Christ, our heavenly Father,
is God of Israel's home. Thou mercy of heaven and earth,
? Heaven and earth is full of His
glory ? ? Heaven and earth become one with
thine ? ? Make thee the prophet's son ? ? All men and earth as
one divine ? and countenance before. God is the King who reigns above
? And we can call it home ? ? The cradle of kids of Israel ? ? Endless light to the truth ? But when the king himself falls
ill, his flames are set afloat. Who pray alone, the Lord pray
alone, They can't help it at all. and the home of the brave? Greatly feeling today the Lord's Gracious helper, direct your
attention to Hebrews chapter 13 and we'll read verses 12,
13 and 14 for our text. Paul's epistle to the Hebrews
chapter 13, reading verses 12, 13 and 14. Wherefore Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gain. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for here have we
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. We've often said concerning the
epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle was exhorting them to continue
in the faith. They were, the Jews in particular
in the early church, suffered great persecution from their
own families. They were cast off and counted
as the offscouring of all things because they were the followers
of Jesus Christ. And many of them were ready to
give up and to turn back. He gives that exhortation here
in the Hebrews unto these Jews to, he says,
we are not of them that turn back unto perdition, but of them
that believe unto the saving of the soul. We know the Lord's people do
come into various things, things that would turn them aside. And
often you find in those things Satan is behind. And what the
Apostle here is driving home to these Hebrew believers is
to be found following Jesus Christ. As he says here in verse 8, Jesus
Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. And the exhortation
to them was, be not carried about with divers, that means diverse
and strange doctrine. You know friends, doctrine is
exceedingly important. Indeed I would endorse Martin
Luther's words, doctrine is heaven. The sacred doctrine of truth
centered in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what
feeds our souls. The Lord Jesus is the bread of
heaven. The Lord Jesus is the water of
life. The Lord Jesus is the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. And the exhortation here to these
Hebrews is be not carried about. You know, You get pulled this
way, you get pulled that way. Someone believes this, someone
believes that. And you can soon get turned aside. I always think of that solemn
word in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when the apostles said, marvel
not, that even Satan is turned into the angel of light. what is the apostle alluding
to there in the corinthians the ministry of the word he's actually
alluding to ministers and he says we shouldn't marvel
that there are false teachers there are those preachers that
are not sent of god there are those preachers that are not
truly anointed of the spirit there are those preachers that
shouldn't be where they are But they're sent by Satan. And they appear as angels of
light. They're very plausible. And we can soon get carried away
by their plausibility. And so here, the exhortation,
be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. For it
is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. That's
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the love of God, grace. What does grace mean? Grace actually
means, the word means the free unmerited favour of the eternal
God. That's what grace means. The
free unmerited favour of the eternal God. We cannot merit
God's esteem or favor. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But in our Lord Jesus Christ,
there is a grace sufficient to save us from our sins. Only in Jesus Christ. He says here in verse seven,
remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken
unto you the word of God, whose faith follow. This is the exhortation. Whose faith follow? Considering
the end of their conversation. What? Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday and today and forever. And then this same truth follows
on in verse 9. After that, Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday and today and forever, be not carried about
with diverse and strange doctrines. true doctrines of the gospel
center in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. I so
often said to you that in the epistles the apostle he makes
it very clear it probably stands out most clearly in the epistle
to the Ephesians and he speaks of doctrine he speaks of experience
and he speaks of practice but he constantly uses these terms
In him, through him, under him, by him, it's all in Christ. You
can go to Pentecostal churches and they'll speak of great experiences
that they've had. Wonderful experiences and people
stand by and say how wonderful, how beautiful, how precious to
have such experiences of that. But so often they're totally
devoid of Christ. An experience devoid of Christ
is not an experience worth having. Everything must centre in the
glorious person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Everything. Our experience, has
it brought us closer to Christ? Our doctrine, does it centre
in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
same yesterday and today and forever. Upon this rock I build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,
be not carried about with divers or diverse and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace. Peter, in his epistle he says,
but grow in grace. That is the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. But grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You know, you can have a huge
amount of knowledge, Christian knowledge, biblical
knowledge, not speaking against us, but you can have all lots
and lots of knowledge without grace. And you know what the
Bible says? The apostle, when he writes to
the Corinthians, knowledge puffeth up. Knowledge puffeth up. And what
he means is just a head knowledge of religion. It puffs us up with
pride. Knowledge puffeth up. But grace
humbles. Grace humbles. It does. Grace, by the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by the divine power and work of the Spirit in the
heart, we're brought to acknowledge our sinfulness. We're brought to feel our sinfulness.
We're brought to feel the corruption of our heart. Jerry Meyer says,
doesn't he, heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Who can tell? Really there's only one people
that can really tell and that is those that are taught of the
Spirit. They can tell, they confess,
they're sinful. You know friends, as we get older and more deeper in experience. Some people speak as though as
you get older and deeper experience and Christ is made more precious
etc. Well that is true, but there's
an equality in divine teaching. There's also a sense of our own
emptiness. We have a deeper sense now of
our own emptiness than ever we did in our early days. Our own
poverty, our own sinfulness, the awful corruption of our heart.
So that at times you have to cry out, can ever God dwell here? Am I really a child of God? I feel to be so sinful. Can you
echo in your heart the language of the dear Apostle when he writes
the 7th of the Romans, O wretched man, that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? You feel a sense and a realisation
of your sinfulness. And you feel more and more the
need of the precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from
all sin. And that is what gives you the
appetite for the preciousness of the blood of Christ and the
preciousness of his righteousness and the fullness of his grace.
Because you feel your need of it. You feel your need of Jesus
Christ. You feel your need of His righteousness. That, my beloved friends, is
how we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. By that deeper knowledge of ourselves
and that deeper sense and need of His salvation and the deeper
sense and need of His precious blood that cleanses from all
sin, that's what it is to grow in grace. You feel deeply the
sense of your own fallen condition. Now here, the Apostle, he says,
like I come back to that point, he's speaking to the Hebrews
and they claim unto the Old Testament rites, sacrifices, practices,
etc. They were steeped in them. They were steeped in them. And
many of those believers in the early church caused a lot of
trouble in the church because they wanted to keep circumcision,
they wanted to keep this, they wanted to keep that, they wanted
to keep something else, they wanted to keep the Jewish Sabbath,
etc. But the Apostle Paul in particular
was the foremost in saying no. We don't keep to those old practices. That was the Old Testament, that's
the law. And he says here, we have an
altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
That's the tabernacle worship or the temple worship. We have
an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the
tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
of sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the gate. The reference of course is made
to the sacrifices and offerings and the taking of them without
the camp to burn them with fire. And he says that is typical of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood. We know from the
record in Holy Scripture that when the Lord Jesus was condemned
to die in Jerusalem that they led him without the
gap, without the camp, without the gate. There was a place where
the Jews usually executed people. They excommunicated them and
then they executed them. And that's where Jesus was taken
to that place of naked justice. He was falsely condemned to die by the Jewish elders. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. They hated me without a cause,
the word of God says. Now my beloved friends, we shouldn't
be surprised if we're hated without a cause. If we're hated because
of our belief in Jesus Christ, if we're hated because we love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth, if we're reproached
for that. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp. It was really that verse that
dropped on my spirit this morning as I was searching through scripture
for a text and I was actually thinking that I was going to
be preaching the book of Psalms and I was searching through the
book of Psalms. And then this word just dropped upon my spirit,
let us go forth therefore unto him, unto Christ, without the
camp. He was speaking here of organised
religion among the Jews and that they were to remain
separate from it. It was something very hard for
them to do, but he says we must. Let us go forth therefore unto
Jesus suffered without the camp. We're to go without the camp.
We're to bear his reproach. Let us go forth therefore unto
him. You know, friends, we have to
lose things. Sometimes we have to lose friends.
Sometimes we have to lose very dear friends. But because we
are dear, to the truth of God and the ways of God. You know
the apostle it seemed to strike me rather earlier today as I
was meditating in these words and he says in the epistle to
the Ephesians and he speaks there verse 22 Ephesians chapter 4
verse 22 that you put off concerning the former conversation the old
man which is corrupt according to the deceitful us would have
put it off and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and then
in verse 24 he says that you put on the new man which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness. There's a
putting off and there's a putting on. And he's speaking here in
this way to Christian believers. Put off concern in the form of
conversation. It's what he's saying to these
Jews. The old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness, following Jesus. Here in the Hebrews he says,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus. It's the only way you can do
it. looking on to Jesus, casting all your care upon him for he
careth for you. You know, it's not easy for human
nature to set aside these things that cleave to our flesh. But we have to lay them aside.
They're weights, they're weighing us down. In a sense, as it does
in other places, he's speaking of the Olympic runner. Now the Olympic runner, he divests
himself of everything that will hinder him in running fast. So
he doesn't have a great heavy coat on, or lots of garments,
he lays them aside. And he wears as little as possible,
so that he can run as fast as possible. And this is the illustration
the Apostle uses in the Word of God. That's what we're to
be like. There are things that will hinder
you in the journey to heaven. There are friends that will hinder
you, friends that are not true believers, friends that are not
true followers, that will hinder you in the way. And again, my
mind was very much drawn in meditation and in 2 Corinthians chapter
6 and the apostle he says in verse 14 be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness
and what concordeth Christ with billions or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk
in them. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. And then we have this word of
exhortation, wherefore come out from among them. This is exactly
what the apostle is saying to the Hebrew believers that they
were to come out of that Old Testament church and all the
Jewish rites and sacrifices and ceremonies, come out from among
them. And the call of course is to
us as Christian believers to come out from among them. And be ye separate. We're to
separate. From all those who love not our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth, we're to separate. Wherefore, come out from among
them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you. See these wonderful promises.
There is a divine command to come out and separate, but then
there's a wonderful promise attached to it. I will receive you, and
will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. Let us go forth therefore unto
him, bearing his reproach. You'll be reproached. Of course
you will. We're sure to be reproached by
the world, and by the religious world as well. We'll be reproached. but were to go forth unto him
bearing his reproach. There's nothing to be ashamed
of, to be approached, reproached for the name and the witness
of Jesus Christ, no. Or that the Lord would give us
that grace to separate from worldliness. from carnal religion, separate from that which is not
of the Spirit, separate from that which is doctrinally
unsound. And this is a divine call to
the Lord's people, to separate from those things that are not
sound, that are not solid, that are not of the Spirit. They may
appear to be, Wherefore come out from among
them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you. You'll be reproached for Christ's
name, but the Father says, I will receive you. And we'll be a father unto you,
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. What a divine call that is, isn't
it? Wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without
the gate. He was despised and rejected
of men. And we shouldn't be surprised,
my beloved friends, if we are despised, and rejected of men. Your Lord and Master was. He
was set at naught. His claims were set at naught.
He's the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He's the Holy
One of Israel. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth, and yet still he was crucified. Still he suffered
and bled and died. Still he was falsely accused
by the men of this world. wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the gains. Let us go forth therefore unto
him. There's another thing that the
apostle is saying here to these Hebrew believers, maybe a word
in season to us, he's saying you won't find and you won't
find peace and you won't find salvation in the Jewish Church,
in the tabernacle worship. You won't find it there, that's
what he's saying. So you've got to come out, you've got to separate
from these things. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the without the cap, bearing his
reproach. We're to bear his reproach. For here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. It may be there's something that
is attracting you and drawing you perhaps away from real religion
and real true doctrine and real true experience and is drawing
you aside. But you know friends, if it does
it will draw you aside from Christ. It will. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the camp. Without the blessing of this
world and the religion of this world and the ways of this world.
Without the camp. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. You know, we read in the chapter
11 here in the Hebrews, and we read of Abraham in verse eight,
by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and
went out, not knowing whether he went. by faith is sojourned
in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in
tabernacles Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise
for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder
and maker is God are we looking for a city that hath foundations
whose builder and maker is God through faith Also Sarah herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was past age because she judged him faithful at promise.
Therefore sprang to her even of one and him as good as dead
so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand
which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith not having
received the promises by having seen them afar off, and we're
persuaded of them. It's a wonderful thing, you know,
my beloved friends, when we are persuaded. It's a wonderful thing
to have a gracious persuasion. It's like the Apostle says in
Romans 8, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor powers, nor principality, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, persuading. It's a very precious thing to
have a gracious persuasion and to be willing to separate and to be willing to follow Jesus,
to follow Jesus. You see, he says there in Hebrews
in chapter 11 verse 13, these all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded
of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. See our godly forefathers, Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. They were strangers on the earth.
They were separated from See when the Lord called Abraham
out of Ur of the Chaldees, and he went out into a place which
he should after receive, he went out not knowing whether he went,
he went in faith. And the just shall live by faith,
and we must live by faith. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they'd
been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire
a better country. That isn't heavenly. Wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God. For he hath prepared
for them a city. He hath prepared for them a city. What a wonderful truth that is. God has prepared for them a city,
a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Wherefore Jesus also that he
might sanctify the people with his own blood. And as it says
in verse 20, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, the blood of the everlasting
covenant. It's the blood of, I love the
way that the apostle John writes that, no doubt under the divine
influence and inspiration of the spirit, the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin. from all sin. It's only the blood
of Christ that do that. It's likened to the blood of
God. That holy human nature that the
Son of God assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary, it was his
own personal human nature. In it, the Son of God suffered,
bled and died. for the sins of his people. The
Son of God in his divine nature could not die. But when he took
into union with his holy, this holy human nature into union
with his divine nature, it was his own personal human nature. Jesus, the Son of God, it was
his personal human nature. And in it he lived. And in it
he fulfilled the law. He lived here upon earth for
33 years. He fulfilled and honoured and
magnified the holy righteous law of God and in so do bringing
in everlasting righteousness for his people. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead, our Lord Jesus. I love the way the Apostle
puts that, our Lord Jesus. It's a personal relationship,
our Lord Jesus. That great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's what the blood
of Jesus is. It's the blood of the everlasting
covenant. I do love those lines of Joseph
Irons, in the hymn 1156, and how beautifully he speaks of
the blood of Christ. What sacred fountain yonder springs
up from the throne of God, and all new covenant blessings brings,
tis Jesus' precious blood. What mighty son paid all my debt,
when I a bondman stood, and has my soul at freedom set, tis Jesus'
precious blood. What stream is that which sweeps
away my sins just like a flood, nor lets one guilty blemish die? It is Jesus' precious blood. The Apostle Peter in his first
epistle, he speaks of the precious blood It's the blood of Jesus, the
son of God, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Let us go forth therefore unto
him, in him is life. I love that hymn, I think it's
one of William Gadsby's, in union with the Lamb, from condemnation
free, the saints from everlasting world and shall forever be in
union with the Lamb, in union with Jesus Christ, in communion
with Jesus Christ. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the cap, bearing his reproach, For here have we
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. May the Lord add
his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 950 to the tune Tremellin, two hundred and fifty. What object's this which meets
my eyes without Jerusalem's game, which fills my mind with such
surprise as wonder to create? Hymn nine hundred and fifty,
tune tremellin, two hundred and fifty. ? To the wilderness which meets
my heart ? ? Where love, O Jerusalem, is found ? He fills my life with songs of
light and sound of true hope remain. Who can it be that grows beneath the
cross of mercy? Whose song of help in times of
death and glory may demand. Is this the hour? Can this be it? The prophets' hopeful tone? Shepherds, transgressors, mumbo-jumbo,
And though their cries be slow, Yes, now I know, to see, to see,
to see in the spotless sun. that in humanity to die for crimes
that I have done. Oh, close that sight of the people, To sinful souls
like me, I pray this I ? Embrace the world ? ? And sing in praise
of me ? ? I fear His cross ? Thank you,
he too Until with earthly joy I own his breast Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each both now and
for evermore. Amen.