We are in Hebrews, beginning
in verse 10. He says, 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 for sin 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 we have
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 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. Now, Paul speaks here about having
an altar which they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. And of course, he is using illustrations
from the temple sacrifices and the sacrifices in the tabernacle
interchangeably here. and showing the difference between that which
is established with grace and that which is established by
religion. And of course, that is what he
said in verse 9. He said, Be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace. Now, grace is the message of
the Gospel. And grace is grace. It is not
a mixture of grace and works. Now that is what religion wants
to make the gospel, is a mixture of grace and works. Now they
know that the The law was the law and it was works oriented. Everybody knows that. This was
the works of the law. But what men try to do is take
the law, dress it up in a new suit of clothes and bring it
into the New Testament and say, That was the way the Lord dealt
with the people back then, but now what He's done is He's just
moved forward a little bit and made the law better so that men
can now have an ability to do these things. Whereas before
they didn't, now we do. And we're going to mix grace
and works together, but there's no mixture of grace and works. They can't mix, and that's what
He says here. For it is a good thing. that
your heart be established with grace and not with meats." And
of course that term, meats, it refers to the laws of the Old
Testament. It refers to not only the dietary
laws, but also the meats that were offered in sacrifice. And he says there, I don't want
your heart to be established with those things, but to be
established with grace. And what was his definition of
grace just before this? He said, Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today and forever. That is our doctrine. And we're not moved about. with
divers and strange doctrines. Do not be turned aside to something
else. Now I would say, and this is
not in a critical fashion, but just by observation, that many
of those who claim to be the followers of Christ today have
gotten caught up in divers and strange doctrines. They have
gone off into all sorts of things other than Christ. Brethren,
there's nothing else that we have to preach, nothing else
that we have to stand on, nothing else that we're interested in
other than Christ. And that's why this that we do
this morning is not something that's one of the things we do. It is what we do. This is the
manifestation of what it is that we believe. that Jesus Christ
laid down His life for us, and we do remember His death until
He comes again. And so that is to have your heart
established with grace, not with meat, which He said, have not
profited them which have been occupied therein. Now you can't
be profited by the works of religion. I don't care what it is. It doesn't
make a difference. If that's what your occupation
is, then you have missed it, if that is where your thought
process is. Because if your thought process is not occupied with
Christ and Christ alone, then you have got a mixture in your
mind and you have missed the point here. And that is what
he says. We have an altar where they have
no right to eat what is served at the tabernacle. Now, of course,
he is using an illustration here. The New Testament doesn't have
but one altar. There's only one altar in the
New Testament. It's not made out of wood, not
made out of stone, but it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our
altar. He is that one upon whom all
our sacrifices have been put. And we have no other. And so
we have an altar where they have no right to eat which eateth
the tabernacle. If a man is going to come holding
up some mixture of man's work and the work of Christ, then
he doesn't have any right to be eating off of that altar because
there is no place for people to eat around this table who
have a confidence in something other than Christ. or have some
requirement other than Christ. What is it that a man would desire? We sang it in that song there
a moment ago, Joseph Hart's hymn. And he said he didn't have but
one wish, and that wish was to be found in Christ. You know,
to be wrapped up in Christ. I mean, that's where He wanted
to be. That's what He said, you know. Everything that He wanted
was found there. And that's what Paul's writing
about here in Hebrews when he says, We have an altar where
they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. They've
got no place of standing. If you're going to serve the
law, serve the law. But you can't serve the law in
Christ. You can't do it. It just won't
happen. And so they don't have any right
to eat which serve the tabernacle. And then he uses another illustration. And he says, For the bodies of
those beasts, that is, those that were given in the tabernacle
in the temple worship, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. And
he's using that as an illustration because that was what they did
when they gave the offering, then they took that which was
left and they burned it outside the camp. And so he says here,
in the same fashion, wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify
the people with his own blood suffered outside the gate. Now that's a literal definition
there. I mean, that's a literal fact. that the Lord Jesus Christ was
not offered in Jerusalem, but he was offered outside the gate. He was outside the city. And
so he's using that and he's giving that illustration, but he's speaking
about it as he says, in the same way in which those offerings
by type and foreshadow were offered outside the camp, so too let
us go outside the camp. that is out from the religious
world, because remember who he is writing to here, writing to
the Jews. He said, don't be caught up in
these Jewish traditions, but he said, you've got to go outside
the camp. That is, you've got to go outside
the place where everybody is because that's not the norm. And dear brethren, it is a true
thing that religion down through the ages seeks to be the norm. And anybody that doesn't follow
that norm is considered kind of kooky. You know? I mean, you kind of like, what
they like, the word they like to use, well, they're cultic.
Whatever, if it's not in keeping with... Well, brethren, we are
of a cult in a sense, the cult of Christ. But I'm not ashamed
to be associated with Christ. I don't want to listen to anybody
else but Christ. You know, we're not trying to
build a following. What we're seeking by the grace
of God is to be found in Christ. And if that's to be a cult, then
I'm glad to be one. I mean, I don't know where else
to go. I don't know what else to say. I don't know who else
I would want to be found in but Christ. And so they have no right
to eat of this. But let us go outside the camp.
We're not looking for a pat on the back. We're not looking for
people to say, oh, man, you all are doing a great job, you know,
and we want to invite you into the community of religion. No, we're not interested in that.
Now, we haven't set up a warfare, you know, like that outfit that
you mentioned the other day. We're not called to do something
ridiculous like that. We're not at war with anybody.
We just want to follow Christ. You know, we just don't want
to be identified with the religious world. We want to be identified
with Christ, and that's what He's saying here. Wherefore Jesus
also that He might sanctify the people with His own blood suffered
without the gate. Now, sanctification is a term
that's often used by many synonymous with growing in grace. That is,
they say when you are growing in grace, you are being sanctified. Well, dear brethren, God's people
are sanctified. I mean, Christ sanctified His
people. That is, He set them apart. He
has cleansed us. and He's cleansed us by His blood,
wherefore, that He might sanctify the people, not that He would
work on their sanctification or hope that they might become
sanctified, but He is their sanctification. And He suffered outside the camp,
and so He says, Let us therefore go unto Him. Now, He didn't just say, Let's
go outside the camp and be oddballs, did He? See, some people think that the
odder you get, the better it is. You need to do things that
make you odd. No, you don't need to do anything
to make yourself odd. You're odd enough as it is. If
you're a follower of Christ, believe me, in this world, you're
going to be an oddball. You can't help it because people
believe that you ought to conform under their ways or their thoughts
or whatever. But you see, God's people just
want to be conformed unto Christ. And so let us go forth therefore
unto Him. We don't want to just go outside
the camp and say, well, that bunch of nuts over there. No,
we want to be found in Christ. So we want to go to Him without
the camp, bearing His reproach. Now, they reproached Christ. Why? He said, and Brother Al brought
this up this morning, he said, I and the Father are one. He
spoke about a special relationship that there was between the Father
and His Son. And there is a reproach involved
in that because, you see, the Jews did not like that. Why? Because they felt like they had
a special relationship with God. Who was this usurper that would
come along and say he had an even more special relationship
with God? Now the world, and the religious
world especially, they believe they can have a relationship
with God anytime they get ready. They just figure, well, if I
decide to do it, I will do it. It's all up to men to do whatever
they want to do. And you see, whether they believe
it or know it, or whether they know that they do this or not,
they exalt the free will of men. And that becomes the altar upon
which they eat. And if you mention to those that
eat at the altar of free will that the choice is that which
is made by God, that's a reproach to them. They don't want to hear
that. Oh no! It's up to men. But you see, there is a reproach
involved in walking with Christ. And Christ was not ashamed to
stand before those men and say, I and the Father are one. Neither should we, by the grace
of God, be ashamed to say that the Lord has a people that He
loved from before the foundation of the world. Now we might not
know every day of the week that we're numbered among those people,
but whether or not we are or not, we do know He has a people.
And we're not ashamed to say that He has a people because
He said He had a people. He said, My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow
Me. He said, All that the Father
giveth Me shall come to Me, and them that cometh to Me I will
no wise cast out. So we do know that the Lord has
said He has a people. They belong to Him. And we bear
His reproach gladly. For here we have no continuing
city. But we seek one to come, a continuing
city. Now that, you know, men just
by nature think they have a continuing city. Everybody believes by nature,
I mean generally, I mean now there's some nuts that don't,
but most everybody believes that when they die they're just going
to all float off to some better place. And that, I mean, everybody
that dies, well he's in a better place now. Well, where does that
idea come from? It doesn't come from the Scripture. The Scripture doesn't indicate
that everybody is just going off to some better place. But
the Scripture does indicate that the Lord Jesus Christ has gone
to prepare a place for those whom He has loved, those for
whom He went to Calvary's cross, those for whom He has purchased
an eternal redemption. Yes, indeed. They are going to
a better place. And that's what he says here.
We don't have here a continuing city. We're not looking for one.
I don't want a continuing city here. I don't want to live around
in this place forever where people are bickering and fighting and
killing each other and hating each other and going through
all this stuff. despising the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, I do not want to be here. This is not my continuing city. We are looking for one to come.
We have not here one. We seek one to come. By Him,
therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. Now, we do offer a sacrifice
unto God with which He is well pleased. That's what it says.
He said, 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, to communicate,
forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Now God
is well pleased not in the sense that He is expecting something
from us and He says, Well, they got it, so I'm well pleased with
them. But He is well pleased with the praises of His people. He is well pleased with the thanks
that they give unto Him because that is that which He says He
delights in. He delights in the sacrifices
of praise. That is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks to His name, speaking thanks to Him. Now, that's what
prayer is. One of the parts of prayer is
giving of thanks. I mean, you can't properly pray
if you don't thank Him for the things that He's done. And that's
the thing with which He is well pleased, even as the Lord Jesus
gave thanks. Remember, one of the first things
that is recorded that He gave thanks to the Father for is,
Father, I thank Thee that thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babe." Now, isn't that
an amazing prayer? I mean, that prayer wouldn't
go over very big in most religious circles, would it? Huh? I mean,
the Lord Jesus Himself is saying, Father, I thank Thee that You've
made these people blind, but You've revealed these things
unto the to the poor and the hawk, the lame and the blind,
those that know themselves to be sinners. He said, I thank
you that you showed these things to them. And so it is that with
such sacrifices God is well pleased to do good and to communicate,
forget not. Now, brethren, that's what we're
called to do, is it not? To do good? I mean, isn't that
what the Lord Jesus Christ did when He was in the world. Now
we know His purpose for coming into the world was to redeem
His people. But His example as a human being
was what? He went about doing good. I mean,
that's what we're called to do. We're not called to go out here
and stir up trouble. We're called to be doers of good. And to communicate, that is to
give of the things that we have. to communicate whatever that
be, time to help other people, our money to help other people.
I mean, that's one of the reasons the Lord has given us the ability
to work is not only to provide for our own needs, but to provide
for the needs of others. That's what He says in the Scripture.
And that's what He means, to do good and to communicate. That is to spread it around.
That's what the Lord sent us here to do. Not just to consume
it upon our own lusts, but to do good and to communicate, forget
not. For with such sacrifices God
is well pleased. The Lord is pleased with His
people because He causes His people to walk in conformity
with the way of Christ. And Christ went about doing good
and giving of such things as He had. Now the Lord Jesus Christ
was not a wealthy man in earthly terms, but He gave them such things
as He had, did He not? I mean, He withheld nothing,
but He provided for those that were with Him. You reckon the
disciples ever went hungry? Now they might have thought sometimes
they were going to, but did they? No. Because you see, when the
Lord is with you and you're with the Lord, it's impossible to
perish. It's impossible. They couldn't
have perished in that boat. I've heard men preach it. Well,
what if they hadn't called on the Lord? They'd all went down
with the ship. No, they wouldn't all went down with the ship.
I mean, the Lord put them out there in the boat and went to
sleep because He was going to show them His deliverance. And so the graciousness of God
to demonstrate His deliverance to His people is manifested here
right in front of us as He sent us and gave us these things to
take in remembrance of Him. You know, that's a pretty simple
thing right there. There's not any flowers on the
table. Because it doesn't need to be. There's not any mood lighting. Because it doesn't need to be.
It's just bread and wine. It's those things that represent
the body and the blood of Christ. Because that's the only thing
God's people need. It's not a thing in the world
else that we can add to it. There's nothing we can put with
this. It's not fancy fare. I mean,
you know, it's just plain. But there it is. And the Lord
said to Do this. And He said, as often as you
do it, you will remember. That is, you showed the Lord's
death. You manifested. It's made plain to you in flesh
and blood that He gave Himself for us.