Would you turn to Hebrews chapter
13? I've entitled this message Without
the Camp. Without the Camp. Now let's read
this passage of scripture together. I'm going to read from Hebrews
chapter 13, verse 9, down through verse 14. Be not carried about with diverse
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. Remember,
the priests were forbidden to eat this sacrifice. And the writer
of the Hebrews says we can. 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." Without the camp,
what was the camp? Well, the camp was the tabernacle. The high priest went in with
the blood divided into the holy place and the holy of holies
in the courtyard with the duties of the priest going in there.
Surrounding the tabernacle were the children of Israel, generally
estimated some two million people at that time. in the wilderness. That was the camp. But you couldn't have lepers
among those people, could you? They'd spread their contagious
disease. They had to dwell outside the
camp. We read in Leviticus chapter
13, verse 46, all the days wherein the plague shall be in him, he
shall be defiled. He's unclean. He shall dwell
alone without the camp, shall his habitation be. Without the
camp, that's where the lepers stayed and the unclean. And it was without the camp that
the sin offering was burned up. The priests were not allowed
to eat of this sin offering for the Day of Atonement. They were
forbidden to eat it. They would eat all these other
sacrifices. But this sacrifice, they were
not allowed to eat. And they would take that dead
animal with its gun, and they would burn it outside the camp
as a polluted thing. And as a matter of fact, the
men who burned it in order to get back into the camp, they
had to be ceremonially washed and bathed before they could
be considered clean. They were unclean, having any
kind of contact with that beast until they were washed and then
they could come back into the camp. Now, in Christ's day, Jerusalem
was the camp. That's where the temple was.
That's where the presence of God was. And Christ was not crucified
in the city of Jerusalem. We read where he was made to
go outside of the city of Jerusalem, and he was crucified on a garbage
dump called Golgotha, the place of the skull. He was not crucified
in the camp. Now, in the context of this passage
of Scripture I just read, the writer to the Hebrews was talking
about how dietary laws, what you eat, what you drink, doesn't
make any difference. Let your heart be established
with grace, not with these meats. Now, what he's talking about,
two things. First, the clean and the unclean things under
the law. Remember, when the Lord appeared
to Peter in Acts chapter 10, he said, arise, Peter, kill and
eat. And he was talking about all
these unclean animals that were unclean under the Levitical law. And Peter said, not so, Lord.
Nothing's ever entered my mouth unclean. I'm not going to do
that. And the Lord said, what God has cleansed, don't you call
it common. Now they were always trying to
bring in these dietary laws and saying you'll be more pleasing
to God. Now you're saved by grace, true,
but you're more pleasing, you're more accepted. You come a little
closer if you eat the right things or refrain from eating those
things. Now the other issue with regard to eating was animals
that had been sacrificed. There were some people who said
you shouldn't eat animals that had been sacrificed. They were
used for defiled purposes. You ought to stay away from that.
There were other people who said why? What difference does it
make? I mean, they're just, the idols
are false gods anyway. Food's good. I mean, even if
it's a piece of filet mignon, I'll eat it if it was sacrificed
to an animal. I mean, they were making an issue of this. Some
said you're more pleasing to God if you don't eat. Others
said, no, you're more pleasing to God in reality if you do eat.
You show more spiritual maturity that way. So they were making
this issue of eating or not eating. The point being, by eating or
not eating, you can be more pleasing Now, the writer to the Hebrews
says, don't let your heart be carried
about with these meats that have not profited them, that have
been occupied there, and let your heart be established with
grace. But that does not mean that the believer is not interested
in eating. He says in verse 10, we, speaking
of every believer, we have an altar. Whereof they have no right
to eat which serve the tabernacle. These priests were forbidden
to eat of this sacrifice that we're allowed to freely eat of. Now the altar is another expression
for Christ crucified. He's the altar. He's the sacrifice. He's the priest. And by faith
we feed on Him. He is our necessary food. I can't live off my works. I
must live off of Him. I can't live off man-made religion,
the husks of man-made religion. I get nothing out of it. The
only thing that gives me any hope, any joy, any peace, is
knowing that when Christ Jesus said, it is finished, my salvation
was accomplished. Now, that's good food. That's
my breakfast. That's my lunch. That's my dinner.
That's my appetizer. That's my main course. That's my dessert. That's what
I eat off of. That's what I delight in. who
so eateth the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks his blood.
That's the one who has life. If you don't do that, you have
no life in you. You live off Christ crucified. The only thing that makes you
live before God is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You eat of the sin sacrifice. Now, the people under the law
were forbidden to eat of the sin sacrifice. Isn't that interesting?
They were forbidden. But the writer to the Hebrew
says we can. This is what we feed on, this
is our necessary food, Christ Jesus and him crucified, he's
our justification, he's our sanctification, he's the object of our faith,
he's our hope of heaven, we preach Christ crucified. Now unto the
Jew, he's a stumbling block. Unto the Greek, the intellectual,
He's foolishness, but unto them which are called, called by the
irresistible, invincible grace of God, Christ, the power of
God, and Christ, the wisdom of God. Now, He is our food. We're not concerned about these
Jewish dietary laws or eating food that's sacrificed to idols
or not sacrificed to idols. That's not an issue. That doesn't
mean we're not interested in eating. We have an altar. that
we can eat from that they have no right to eat. And I just read
that passage from Leviticus chapter 6, verse 30, where the priests
were forbidden to eat the meat of the sacrifice for sin. Other
sacrifices they ate of, but not this sacrifice, but we do. Notice the language. We have
an altar, verse 10, Hebrews chapter 13, where they have no right
to eat, which serve the tabernacle. Those who believe law have no
right to eat of this sacrifice. If you believe in salvation by
works in any measure to any degree, if you believe that your standing
before God is some way dependent upon what you do, the gospel
is not for you. You are forbidden to eat. But
if the only hope you have is the life The death. The resurrection of Christ. If
that really is your only hope, you're called upon to eat of
this meal. The only food we can live on
is Christ and Him crucified. It's all that does us any good. Look in verse 11. Hebrews chapter
13. For the bodies of those beasts
Whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin. Remember, he would take that blood and come into the
Holy of Holies with that sin sprinkled upon the mercy seat.
He take that blood in, but the body of that beast, the priest
didn't eat that. Whose blood is brought in the
sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the
camp. The dead body was considered
unclean. It was to be burned, not on an
altar, but as rubbish. It was to be burned outside the
camp where the unclean dwelled. And whoever burned it had to
wash his clothes and bathe himself before he could return back into
the camp. Now, what's the point? What's the point? This presents a powerful and
a disturbing picture of the totality of Christ's sacrifice for sin. Such was the reproach and the
degradation suffered by the Son of God for sin that those animal
sacrifices that prefigured Him were treated as polluted and
as loathsome and as unclean. And perhaps this gives us some
little bit of insight into what Paul meant when he said, For
he hath made him to be sin. For us, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Those animals
were treated as unclean. Now, when the Lord Jesus was
crucified, we read in Matthew 27, verse 32, and as they came
out, this is talking about when he came out of the city. As they
came out, they found the man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him
they compelled to carry the cross. Now, our Lord died outside the
camp. He had carried his cross through
the streets of Jerusalem in the midst of the howling mob. But
once he got outside the city, he fell beneath the loaves. And they picked up that cross
and they put it upon a black man by the name of Cyrene from
Africa. And I don't think that man had
any idea at first what a great privilege he was given to carry
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he suffered without the gate
and how he suffered. He was forsaken by God. I mean,
you don't know what it's like to be forsaken by God. But he
was completely forsaken by God. He was treated as polluted and
unclean and untouchable. He was forsaken by men. All of his followers left him. And he suffered the full equivalent
of eternal hell. That's what he suffered. Although
he never sinned, he felt all the shame, all the degradation,
and all the uncleanness of sin. He suffered body and soul. I don't understand how that works,
nor does anybody else. He never sinned in His person,
yet He experienced everything of sin, though He never sinned
in His person. And He was burned under the wrath
of God. Now, He did this without the
camp. The Lord, where the lepers were. that great type of what sin is. Now, why
did he do this? Well, obviously, to fulfill the
type. But look what the writer says
in verse 12. Hebrews chapter 13, Wherefore,
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate. Why did he do this? That he might
sanctify. That he might make holy. That's what the word means. That
he might declare to be holy the people with his own blood suffering
without the gate. Now turn back to Hebrews chapter Verse 6, verse 5, verse 4. Let's start there. I think that's
a good place. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin. Thou hast had no pleasure, thou
hast had no satisfaction, and didn't satisfy the justice of
God. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it's
written of me, to do thy will, O God. And above, when he said,
Sacrifice and offering, and burn offerings, and offering for sin
thou wouldst not, neither hath pleasure therein, which are offered
by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come, to
do thy will, O God. He takes away the first, that
first covenant, those first sacrifices, that he may establish the second
by the which will. Which will? God's will. He said, I came to do thy will.
That's which will. By God's will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Perfectly completed. Never to
be repeated. Once for all. That's what he
accomplished by his blood. Now, who are the people? He did this that he might sanctify
the people. Well, it's everybody he died
for. It's his elect. It's those who believe. And notice
he did this once for all. It doesn't sound very progressive
to me. Does it to you? People talk about progressive
sanctification, how you become progressively more sanctified.
This doesn't have anything to do with progressive sanctification.
It says once for all. Now, listen to me. When Jesus
Christ, the Lord, died. God said regarding everybody
he died for. They're holy. They're holy. They're sanctified. And they can't get any more holy
than they are. Do you believe that? I believe that. Both he that sanctifyeth, here's
who is sanctified, the ones he sanctifies. Both he that sanctifieth,
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For the witch cause
he is not ashamed to call them brethren. He is not ashamed to
own me as his brother. I am sanctified in Christ Jesus. I am holy. Now, in John chapter
17, verse 17, the Lord Jesus said, Sanctify them through thy
truth, thy word. is truth. And here he says that
we're sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
And you know what that tells me? Sanctification by Christ
is the truth. That's the truth. The blood of
Christ tells me the truth of the true, holy character of God. He will not let sin go unpunished. He's a just God and He'll never
let sin go unpunished. Even when sin is found on His
Son, He forsakes Him and He kills Him and He dies under His wrath.
That's how holy God is. Oh, this also tells me of the
love and grace of God that He would give His Son for me, for
sinners. The blood of Christ tells the
truth of the true character of man. If you want to know your
true character, don't look within. Don't look at the things that
you've done. Look at the cross. That's the truth about you. That's
the truth about me. If God withdrew himself from
you, you would put him out of business. That's what they did
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what you do. That's what
I do. You know, you find out the truth
about a man when he hears the gospel. That's when you find
out what he really believes, whether or not he really loves
you. Oh, I love the Lord. Well, tell him the gospel and
see if he loves that. He said, well, no, I don't want. Yeah,
I know, I know. The truth. The blood tells the
truth of salvation sanctified by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the complete salvation. Look in verse 13 of our text,
Hebrews chapter 13. Let us go forth therefore unto him without
the camp bearing his reproach. Now what is the path we follow
to get to him? Without the camp. Without the
camp. You see, he's not in the camp. Wherever there's law, Wherever there's law, He's not
there. What do you mean by law? If you
believe that your salvation is in any way dependent upon what
you do to make it work. If you believe in free will.
If you believe in salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments.
If you believe God's done all He can do and now it's up to
you to do your part to make what He did work. If you believe He
has done it all, but it's up to you to accept or reject what
He did in order to determine your destiny, you believe law. You believe works. That's salvation
by works. Any part of salvation is ultimately
dependent upon you. That's in the camp. That's law. That's works. And He's not there. He's not there if you want to
find the living God, if you want to find the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's not in a camp. He's not in human religion. He's
not in man-made religion. He's not in works religion. Those
are the folks who wanted him crucified. Now, this camp is
not our home. He said, let us go, therefore,
unto him without the camp. That word go forth is also translated,
let us come to him. It's translated depart. It's
translated escape. It's translated get to. So whatever
it is we're doing, get to, going to, coming to, escaping, departing
to Christ. You know, you leave something
to get to Him, don't you? In order to get to the Lord Jesus
Christ, you know what you've got to do? You've got to leave the camp.
You've got to leave the camp. If you stay in the camp, you
won't have it. Let us go therefore to Him. outside
the camp. Now, this is the life of the
believer, getting to Christ, escaping to Christ, departing
to Christ, coming to Christ, going to Christ, laying hold
upon Christ. And it's done without the camp. You want to love it that way,
don't you? I love it that way, without the camp. And notice
he says, we're to do this bearing his reproach. That's a reference to the offense
of the cross. Bearing his reproach, that word means defamation, bearing
his defaming. I tell you what, the camp defames
him, don't it? The camp has no love for him.
The camp disagrees with him. Now, I was thinking about this
in light of this, let's go there forth to him without the camp
bearing his approach. I was thinking about preachers,
bearing his approach. Preachers studiously study on
how to avoid offending people. That's one of their biggest objectives.
Let's don't offend people. Let's keep them happy. Religious people under the name
of charity never enter conflict with anybody to get along with
everybody, and they overlook differences in the name of unity. We can get along with everybody.
We can get along in the camp. We don't have to totally leave
the camp. I want to ask you a question. Is that the religion of this
book? Let me read you some scriptures.
I want you to think about these. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
5. You have to feel a whole lot more
comfortable with the lepers outside the camp. I do. I'll cast my
lot with those settlers. You know, that's where the Lord
is. That's where the Lord is. Outside the camp. And look what
our Lord says in Matthew chapter 5, verse 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake. Now, is this talking about somebody
who's persecuted for feeding the poor? And doing good works
and helping people, is that what our Lord is talking about? You'll
be persecuted if you do. Now, I'm all for those things
and we ought to do those things, but that's not what the Lord's
talking about. He's talking about those who are persecuted for
righteousness sake. The righteousness of Christ. That's what they're persecuted
for. Let's go on reading. Blessed are you when men shall
revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake." Why? They don't believe in good
works. That's a wicked bunch of people, a bunch of antinomians
talking about there being only one righteousness. What's wrong
with them? Watch out for those people. The Lord says, Rejoice
and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for
so persecuted they, the prophets which were before you. Look in
Matthew chapter 10. Verse 34, Think not that I am come to send peace
on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. Now remember, these are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ. For I am come to set a man at
barriers against his father, and the daughter against her
mother. And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Now,
I can't help but thinking some people will protect their family
members even if they don't believe the gospel. You know what that's
doing? That's loving father or mother
more than him. Verse 38. And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
He that finds his life shall lose it, and he that loses his
life for my sake shall find it. Turn to Luke 6. Verse 22. Blessed are you When men shall hate you and when
they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach
you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day and leap
for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in like
manner did their fathers under the prophets. But woe unto you
that are rich, you have received your consolation. Woe unto you
that are full, you shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now,
for you shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you when all men shall
speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets. One other scripture, 1 Peter
chapter 4. Verse 12, Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange
thing happened to you out of the ordinary, but rejoice in
as much as your partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when
his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding
joy if you be reproached. For the name of Christ, happy
are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part he has evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. Let us go forth to him bearing
his reproach. Now, in going to him without
the camp, The worldly camp will call you
a self-righteous, judgmental, narrow-minded, bigoted idiot. Wear that badge proudly. The reformed camp will call you
divisive and a vile antinomian, someone who doesn't care anything
about good works. Wear that badge with honor. Don't be one, but wear that badge
with honor. The intellectual camp will call
you a fool. The charismatic camp will call
you dead. No life in his religion. The
free will camp will call you a fatalist. and a hyper-Calvinist
and all those things. But do you know all that is a
badge of honor according to the scriptures. I want to close with
one scripture. Turn to Acts chapter 5. Now, in verse 26, then when the captain
with the officers and brought them without violence, for they
feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And
when they brought them, they set them before the council and
the high priest asked them, saying, did not we straightly command
you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's
blood upon us.' Then Peter and the other apostles answered and
said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers
hath raised up Jesus, whom you slew, and hanged on a tree. Him
hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior,
for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And
we are His witnesses of these things, and so also is the Holy
Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him." And when
they heard that, they were cut to the heart. and took counsel
to slay him. Let's read in verse 41. They said some things that Galileo
said, or one of the high priests said, to leave him alone and
see what God would do. Verse 41. And they departed from
the presence of the council rejoicing. that they were counted worthy
to suffer shame for His name. We rejoice if we're healthy,
wealthy, and wise. We rejoice if we've got plenty
of money in the bank and no trials. We rejoice when everything's
easy and everything's going downhill. They rejoiced when they were
counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. May God give us
that kind of rejoicing. Let us go therefore to him without
the camp. You see here we don't have a
continuing city. We're seeking one to come. Without
the camp, and this is one thought that I love thinking about, who's
without the camp? The Lord and the lepers. That's
who's outside the camp, the Lord and the leopards. Let's pray.