No Middle Ground

Transcript

GR 1728
6/29/2014
No Middle Ground
Hebrews 13:9-14
Gil Rugh

We are going to Hebrews 13 in your Bibles. There was an article in yesterday's paper that maybe some of you saw called the Daniel Plan, comes from Rick Warren's church. It's about wedding eating, exercise and whatever else you want to wed with it. Saddleback is the church, Rick Warren is using the power of his church, one of the biggest in the country, to impress upon his followers that their bodies need the same care as their spirits. That's a lie. Your body needs the same care as your spirit? I’d' like to know the verse that goes with that. People throw these things out and gullible Christians for some reason just think, that's wonderful. I'm mentioning this because it ties to what we are talking about in Hebrews where the focus is not on material things and physical things, it's on the spiritual. The Bible does not say the body needs the same care as the spiritual. In fact Jesus said, whatever you eat doesn't affect you spiritually. I don't care what you eat, you all have your own diet. Fine. The Daniel Plan, that's drawn from Daniel 1 where Daniel and his three friends as we know them—Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego—wouldn't eat the king's food. That had nothing to do with eating healthy. They were Jews, they lived under the Mosaic Law. The Law forbids certain foods and others were allowed. Daniel and his three friends are simply saying we are going to be faithful to our God of Israel in what we eat. Later in Mark 7 Jesus would say, what you eat does not go into your heart. He's talking about the inner person, and thus He declared all foods clean. Peter had a similar experience in Acts 10. God declared all foods clean. Does that mean God doesn't care if you get cancer or heart disease or clogged arteries? It's just not a biblical issue and it's a corruption of biblical truth to try to put these things together.

One Sunday afternoon 3,000 people came to a rally at Saddleback church to hear about the Daniel Plan from Warren and two of its creators—Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Mark Hyman who has taken care of Bill and Hillary Clinton. What does that have to do with spiritual things? I don't know. Here is a lady who thinks this is a good thing, she wrote a book Born Again Bodies. Think about that one, Born Again Bodies. Where in the world is the church going? This person who wrote the book says, Warren has an opportunity to change lives because his name and his fame and how beloved and admired he is. He could have a really large impact. I mean, this is a big article. Everybody is interested in diets. It's all about the idea of wholeness, a harmony of mind, body and spirit. Sounds like eastern religions more than it does biblical Christianity. On it goes. The secret sauce is faith, friends and focus. You have to give him credit, he is an entrepreneur. He was going to solve the world's AIDS crisis, then he moved on and he was going to solve mental illness and suicide because his son had committed suicide. Now he is going to solve our eating.

All this thing is not only outside Christianity, it invades as a corruption of Christianity. We come to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 is about the very issue, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that was anticipated under the Mosaic Law. And everything in the Mosaic Law was preparatory for the nation Israel to be ready for the coming of her Messiah, Who would be the ultimate high priest, prefigured by the physical high priests under the Mosaic Law, Who would offer the sacrifice that would do what none of the sacrifices given under the Mosaic Law could do—provide the salvation that could bring complete cleansing from sin and provide access to the presence of a holy God.

So we come to Hebrews 13. We are at the end of this letter which is referred to as a word of exhortation, a brief word of exhortation, he'll say in the closing verses. It's a long letter but it is brief compared to what could be said. And as you might expect at the end of a letter this extensive, he just summarizes in a very brief way. In the first paragraph, the first six verses, he just gave a series of exhortations. Here he is where we ought to be manifesting the transformation that Christ has brought about in our life as we honor Him. In verses 7-19, really, he gives a summary capsule of what he has focused on in the letter as he exhorts them, stay steadfast, faithful to Christ, committed to a life of grace, founded on the grace of God's salvation that continues in His work of sanctification that will culminate in His work of glorification. All of God's grace.

These local believers in this local congregation were wavering under the pressure. When a Jew converted to Christ, it cost him everything—family, friends, perhaps job. Persecution comes, not only from fellow Jews, but from Gentiles who were opposed to Christianity and life seemed very difficult. They are thinking of maybe returning to Judaism. He is showing that is not a possibility. You must stay the course and be faithful. And it's recorded because we must do the same thing.

In verses 7-9 which we've already considered together, he gave three commands in the present tense, meaning this is something they must be continually doing. First command was “remember,” we might say, be constantly remembering three things. Those who led you, these are those who brought the Gospel to them and led them to Christ and got them established on the way of faithfully serving Him; who spoke the Word of God to you, they were the ones who brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them; and then grounded them in the truths of the Word that were to shape their lives. Consider the result of their conduct. These are those that God had used in their lives but now they are gone, they are deceased. But you remember how they led you, what they taught you, the course of their lives, they were faithful to the end.

And then the second command is given, “imitate their faith.” That is saving faith, a faith that is rooted and founded in Christ alone and His finished work. It's a faith that endures, the pattern of their life faithful to the end. They have run their course that God set before them and they were faithful. You imitate their faith, you pattern your life after the pattern of their life so that your life can be a pattern for those who follow you. Imitate their faith, be constantly imitating their faith.

And the third command is the beginning of verse 9, “do not be carried away.” We have it as five words, it's just one word in Greek, a compound word—be carried away. You must not allow yourselves to be carried away by all kinds of doctrine. Already in the early days of the church you had this issue, corrupt teaching coming in and pulling people away from the truth. And one of the manifestations that your faith in Christ is genuine is that you stay faithful to the truth. One thing that happens, the entrance of false doctrine. It reveals who is genuine and who is not. That's what he is going to be saying as we summarize here.

The statement in verse 8 we noted, Jesus Christ yesterday, today the same and forever. He does not change, His person and His work is final and eternal. That is an encouragement to stay the course. There is nothing to add to what he has done. There is nothing that can be taken away from it. Why would you contemplate trying to mix what he has done with Judaism? Or the Levitical system? It is not mixable. He is the same, He is the one and only high priest. You cannot go back to the high priest of Judaism. That would be a denial of the truth that He is the one and only high priest, He has offered the one and only sacrifice. How can you go back to Judaism and its repeated sacrifices? That would be a denial of the truth of Christ. And to see what is emphasized here what is true throughout Scripture—there is no middle ground. Well, people say, I think they are probably saved, I think their faith is in Christ, but they are confused and they are into these things. Jesus said, “you are either with Me or against Me;” you are not partly with Me and partly against Me, you are not partly trusting Me and partly trusting something else. So he is going to summarize by making that point, particularly in the verses before him. The truth concerning Christ does not change. Some leaders have passed away, Jesus Christ is the same. Two thousand years have gone by since Christ suffered and died, and nothing has changed. Oh, cultures change. Nothing has changed. He is the only Savior, He is the only high priest, He is the only way of salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Nothing has changed—superficial things, the way we dress, the gadgets we have, nothing relevant to our salvation, the life that God has provided for us has changed.

Verse 9 says, “it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods.” That becomes a foundational issue. Your inner person is strengthened by grace. That's why I read you this article. This is demonic doctrine, it doesn't come from the Bible. It comes from man. And where does man get it? From the spirit world, that as though if you were eating right and exercising right you will be more spiritual. It's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods. That's not the spiritual issue. These Jews like to go to something physical and if I can touch something tangible and it looks like I'm being spiritual. This is a constant battle.

Back up to Hebrews 7, reminders. Verse 11, “now if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, what need was there for the Bible to talk about a coming priest after the order of Melchizedek?” The point being, the Levitical priesthood could not provide perfection. Therefore God had to promise that He would provide a priest who could. Verse 12, “when the priesthood is changed there is a change of the Law.” You talk about going back to the Mosaic Law, you understand that's no longer operative. There has been a change of the priesthood. The priesthood and the covenant that go with it are inseparable. The Mosaic Law is nothing without the priesthood because it was the ministry of the priest and the sacrifices he offered that enabled people to have access to God. When he changes the priesthood, he changes the covenant. So down in verse 19 we are told, “the Law made nothing perfect.” Couldn't do it. Now why would you be talking about going back to the Law? Your works could make nothing perfect. Why would you be talking about wedding works as though it makes you more spiritual? Only Christ can accomplish what we need.

Come back to Colossians, you'll see another example. Same kind of issues with a little different twist are the constant battle. Colossians 2:20, “if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why as if living in the world do you submit yourselves to decrees such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which all refer to things destined to perish with use in accordance with the commandments of teaching of men? These are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion, self-abasement, severe treatment of the body. They are no value in dealing with fleshly indulgence.” We're dealing with sin. They are of no value. Can we understand that? How do people get caught up in this? Well, I want to be more spiritual, I wanted to serve God at a higher level, so I joined the Daniel Plan so I would eat right and exercise. Did you ever read Colossians 2? These have the appearance of wisdom but they are man- made religion, self-abasement. They are foods, they have nothing to do with spiritual needs, spiritual accomplishment.

Back up to Galatians 3. Notice how the chapter begins, “you foolish Galatians.” I mean, Paul could be very direct under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You Galatians are fools. “Who has bewitched you?” It's like you've come under the spell of someone “before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. I taught you the truth of the Gospel. This is the only thing I want to find out from you, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit are you now perfected by the flesh?” Something is wrong. I mean, constantly mixing things like this. I want to be more spiritual, at a higher level so I'm going to eat better. And thousands of people turn out, people buying into this plan all over. We are drawn to physical things and that's the devil's plan because it corrupts the truth. It is not God's plan. That's the point. Down in verse 19, “why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions until the seed would come,” that's Christ. And it was only operative until Christ came to prefigure what He would do. It never did provide salvation.

You have to come to Acts 15. We are going to get to Hebrews 13, and it is review so we will not be going into depth there. But these are the foundational things. Acts 15 we have the Jerusalem Council. Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren that unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved. Now note these men don't deny that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, they don't deny He was the Son of God, they don't deny He died on the cross, they don't deny He was raised from the dead. That's not what the Jerusalem Conference is about. They say in addition to that you have to keep the Law. Paul writes to the Galatians, ‘when you say that, you've created another Gospel that is totally different than the Gospel he presented.’ And in Galatians 1 he says, ‘I don't care if an angel from heaven preaches that, he is cursed to hell. There is no room for that variation.’

I say that because we sometimes (comes with Roman Catholicism) use that because they have built a system based on the pattern according to their own writing of the Levitical priesthood, where they have a high priest in the pope and the whole order of priests under him and the sacrifice that can only be offered by the priest. We sometimes think, well, they believe in Christ, we agree with them. They believe in the virgin birth, they believe He is the Son of God, they believe He died on the cross, they believe He was raised from the dead, they believe He is alive. They must be saved. No, because they believe, that is not enough. You have to go back to the system of earthly priests, or physical sacrifice in the mass. That's worse than the Jews going back to the Law, at least they had biblical authority for that. This is just something created by man that he thinks would be like that. And it gets a huge following. The Jerusalem Council settled the fact, we are saved by grace. Verse 11, we believe we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus. That is true for Jews, that's true for Gentiles. That's the point. You can add nothing, you can take away nothing.

Come back to Hebrews 13. We're ready for verse 10. “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.” We have an altar, and the contrast is going to be with those who do not have a right to eat at this altar. We have, they do not have is the contrast in verse 10. We have an altar, they, the ones who were involved in the Levitical system have no right to partake of the benefits of our altar. The altar stands as representative of all that takes place there. That's where the high priest offers the sacrifice, that's where the blood of the sacrifice is presented to provide access to God. We believers who are operating on the basis of grace, verse 9, we have an altar. He'll talk about this in verses 11-12, he's going to connect it to the Day of Atonement which was and continues to be to this day the most important event in Israel's life—Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the day of propitiation. We have an altar stands for the high priestly ministry of Christ and all that He accomplished there.

Come back to Hebrews 4:14, “therefore, since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” You say we have a high priest, that's part of our altar. He is the high priest, it is His sacrifice that provides access to God. That's the point. We have an altar, we have a high priest, we have the sacrifice. Over in Hebrews 8:1, the main point in what has been said is this, we have such a high priest. We have this high priest, and connected with that of course is the ministry of the high priest. He is to offer the sacrifice, which Christ did. The Old Testament things, Hebrews 8:5, were a copy and a shadow of what God would do in Christ. You go back to shadow or the copy, that's not the reality. God never saved anyone on the basis of the Mosaic system, He always saved people on the basis of His grace and their faith. Israel lost sight of that as people today do—Protestant, Catholic. They think they go through the motions, they go to church, they perform the ritual; therefore, they are saved. You read Isaiah 1 when God says to Israel, “quit bringing those sacrifices to Me, they are offensive, it's a sacrilege, you are trampling my courts.” Why? They didn't come with hearts that have been transformed by faith in God. The sacrifices, therefore, are more than worthless, they are offensive. Reminder of the statement in the Old Testament—for those who reject God's Word, even their prayers are an abomination to God. We have a high priest, we have the sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:11, “when Christ appeared as high priest, He entered through a greater, more perfect tabernacle.” The Jews are still trying to connect themselves to that physical tabernacle, that physical altar with the physical high priest. We have a high priest who serves in the very presence of God. Verse 12, “not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood He entered the Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal salvation.” That's it. There is a finality to it. You add anything to this, you are an offense to Almighty God; you take anything away, you are an offense, cursed to hell, anathema. On it goes.

In Hebrews 10:4, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.” Verse 10, “by this will we have been sanctified,” that word is coming up in a moment in Hebrews 13. “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Verse 14, “for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Verse 18, “now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer offering for sin.” It is offensive to Almighty God that people go and have a priest supposedly reoffer in an un-bloody way the sacrifice of Christ in what is called the mass. That's demonic, it's not biblical. People in that system are not saved, they are lost for eternity. There is no mixing. You say, why limit it to Catholics? They are just an example of what is going on today. Most Protestants are just as lost, they don't know what is up and what is down. The appeal of Catholicism, it has the form, the ritual, the physical, a priest you can talk to and see and touch; a sacrifice you can touch, physical presence with the majesty and the sense. You have nothing. Christ is the only One.

Come back to Hebrews 13. We have an altar which those who serve the tabernacle have no right, no authority to eat. Note what that says—those who are involved in the Levitical system are cut off from the benefits of the ministry of Christ as their high priest and His sacrifice. They have no right, no authority. We've seen the warning passages in Hebrews, this is driving home how important this is. You go to be part of that system, you have no authority to partake of Christ and His sacrifice. This is serious business. These are not people converting to some pagan religion that the Romans had. This is the Levitical system established by God and given to Moses on Mt. Sinai 1500 years, roughly, before the letter to the Hebrews is written. But it served God's purpose. You cannot tell God, I'm going back to that. That was a preparation for the coming of Christ. When you go to that, you are denying what God says, that Christ is the only high priest, the only sacrifice.

So you see there is no mixing. We have an altar, those who serve the tabernacle in the Levitical system, have no right to partake of it. That's why we have to be careful. Well, these people if they are saved, can't they go back to Judaism and say I'm going to take the pressure off. I still believe in Christ, I still believe He is high priest, I still believe He is sacrificed and when I go to the Levitical high priest I will be knowing that the true forgiveness comes in Christ and these sacrifices are . . . God says, no; God says, no, you can't partake of Christ and His benefits if you are part of that system. I mean, we need to be clear on this. We have things like evangelicals and Catholics together. That's like evangelicals and Judaizers. I mean, you cannot do it, you cannot do it. And I'm using Catholicism because it is so evident and broadly known. We look and say, let's look at what we agree on. No, let's look at what we disagree on.

That's what he is saying here. We believers have an altar, the high priest and his sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Those who serve the Levitical system have no authority to partake of it. It's either or. So now we're going to give an example, drawn from the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16. We were back here earlier in our study of Hebrews so we're not going to go back and spend time there. I would encourage you to read Leviticus 16, keep it in your mind. It is the most important day for the Jews, the Day of Atonement. It makes the news with Yom Kippur. He's going to talk about what happens there. It's a very brief summary because he just wants to pick up the points of connection. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. The Day of Atonement, the high priest, the highest day in Israel's year where he goes to represent the nation. He brings in a young bull and he offers that bull, presenting the blood before the altar of God as sacrifice for his own sin because the high priest in the Levitical system is a sinner. We saw that earlier in Hebrews. He has to offer a sacrifice for himself before he is acceptable to offer one for the people. Christ didn't have to, He had no sin. That's the pattern, he offers the young bull. Then he takes a goat and offers it, putting its blood before the altar for the sins of the people. Then those bodies of the goat and the bull are carried outside the camp of Israel and burned. There is no sacrificial meal, there is no opportunity to share as in some of the other sacrifices where they could eat of that sacrifice, symbolizing their partaking. It is burned outside the camp, that's the point he is going to emphasize. They couldn't eat of it and that connects we have an altar, and they can't eat of it. They couldn't partake, eat of this sacrifice.

Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people. Remember I told you back in Hebrews 10 we would see that word sanctify again in Hebrews 10:10, “by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Now we read therefore Jesus also “that He might sanctify the people through His blood.” Blood has to be shed. “The wages of sin is death;” the soul that sins shall die. That sacrifice indicates that bloodshed was to represent me. Again, the animal, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. How did God save them? We already studied that in Hebrews. Because they placed their faith in the God who is the Savior, and He saved them because they placed their faith in Him and the provision He would make for them. Everybody was saved ultimately on the basis of the finality of the sacrifice of Christ and His ministry as high priest. So it has always been by grace through faith, it has always been because Jesus Christ would come and serve as high priest and make the sacrifice that only He could make.

Therefore Jesus also that He might sanctify the people, cleanse them. We get the word holy, saint, sanctify from the same basic word with the idea of set apart, here in the context to cleanse them so that they can have access to God through His own blood, not the blood of bulls and goats. The Son of God was also son of man, serving as high priest, offering His own body as sacrifice.

“Suffered outside the gate.” We're not going to take the time, but you go to the end of the gospels we are told that they were crucified outside the gate, Christ was crucified outside the gate. He is outside the camp of Israel, depicting His own rejection. He is cut off, He is bearing the sins of the world. And so He is an object of reproach, He is cut off from the people. It goes back, all these connections in the Old Testament. Someone who blasphemed was to be taken outside the camp and stoned to death. The Jews, their reason for wanting Him crucified, He said He was the Son of God, thereby making Himself God. He has blasphemed, He is taken outside the camp, He is rejected, He is the object of scorn and ridicule and hatred, reproached.

Come back to Isaiah 53:3, what a great prophecy anticipating the death of Christ. “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised. We did not esteem Him. (Verse 5) but He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquity, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. By His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each has turned to his own way. The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” He is despised and rejected of men, His own people consider Him a blasphemer.

So back to Hebrews 13, He suffered outside the gate. Now here is the application to the people. Why is he reviewing this? So, verse 13, “let us go to Him outside the camp bearing His reproach.” Outside the camp, that picture of His being rejected, the object of scorn, abandoned, His own people want nothing to do with Him. And what is he calling these who claim to be believers? Let's follow Him. What does that mean? Bear His reproach.

Back up to Hebrews 12. He used this exhortation earlier in verse 1, just the last line—“let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.” Being crucified was a humiliating way to die. The Old Testament pronounced a curse on the one who is hung on a tree. It was such a despicable way to die the Romans would not allow a Roman citizen to be crucified. Despising the shame, let us follow Him outside the camp, be willing to leave the safety and security of the Jewish nation, the seeming comfort and acceptance in their worship system. You have to be willing to become a follower of Christ, that means reproach, that means disgrace, that means rejection. What an honor to bear the reproach of Christ.

Look in Hebrews 11, talking about Moses, verse 25, “choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ.” There is our word reproach, same thing we are talking about in Hebrews 13:13, “bearing His reproach.” When Moses committed himself to God, an identification with God and God's people, he had to bear reproach, rejection, scorn. Same idea. What a privilege to be identified with Christ. Easy for us to admire these men of Hebrews 11 and say, yes, these Jews ought to take the stand. Then we find ourselves withering before family members, friends. Well, you can't leave your religion, we grew up here, we've raised you in this. We begin to think, can I make adjustments? Why does everybody think negatively? Jesus Christ said you can't be My follower unless you are willing to bear the reproach, the shame, the rejection.

Come back to Matthew 10 and there are passages on this in all the Gospels, but we'll just take two. Jesus knew how to thin out a crowd. We have all kinds of promotions for growing churches. Jesus had a plan for thinning them, He did it with the followers He had during His earthly ministry. Verse 28, do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. This is serious business. These Hebrews receiving this letter are afraid of coming persecution, the suffering, the cost and perhaps death. We need to remember what Jesus said, “don't fear those who can kill the body,” that's all they can do. You better fear the God who has the power to destroy your body and your soul in an eternal hell. Verse 32, “everyone who confesses Me before men, I will confess him before My Father who is in heaven; whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” There is no middle ground. Jesus said, “he who is not with Me is against Me. Do not think I came to bring peace on the earth, I did not come to bring peace but a sword. I came to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” A man's enemies will be the members of his household. What happens when you became a believer? Some of you experienced it. It split your family, your parents or your kids. They don't understand. They say, we raised you right. I have people call, their college students have come here and gotten saved and they are crying on the phone. They were going to get baptized here and we raised them and they were baptized. What is happening? The line is being drawn between being religious and being a follower of Jesus Christ. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Now note this, “he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” There is no middle ground. You either fully identify yourself with Christ, place your faith in Him, no one or nothing else, and follow Him or you are rejected. Can it be any clearer? They knew what it meant to take up your cross. This was humiliation, rejection, scorn, everything the world would count valuable. You are nothing. “He who has found his life will lose it, he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” Do you think the cost is too much to follow Christ? You better think of the cost of not following Him. You better fear the One who can destroy your soul as well as your body in hell. That's the point of Christ. Well, we like to talk about love,and, yes, the greatest demonstration of love is this, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Woe be to the person who turns his back on that demonstration of love, the sacrifice of God's own Son.

Come back to Hebrews 13. Let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. Don't expect people are going to speak well of you or your church. How many times people say, why do people have a negative view of us? We know why, if they are not followers of Christ, why would they think well of us? We didn't go to John 15, but Jesus said, “if they hate Me, they'll hate you; if they believe My word, they'll believe your word about it. Don't think a servant is above his master. Why should you get better treatment than I do?” Yet somehow we think, if we're Christians and they see, at least they'll respect us because . . . They will not, they will hate you. What did they do to Christ? Three years and they decide they can't take it any longer, we have to be rid of Him. They had been plotting long before that how they might rid themselves of Him.

Then a reminder, we go outside the camp, bearing His reproach. I lose everything—my respectability, the honor of people, I'm treated as . . . Wait a minute. For here we do not have a lasting city, we are seeking the one to come. What a trade. I'd rather have the earthly Jerusalem with its physical priesthood and its physical altar. God has promised us an eternal city, a lasting city.

Come back to Hebrews 11, concerning Abraham, verse 8, “when he was called he obeyed, going out and not knowing where he was going.” Verse 10, “he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Verse 13, “all these died in faith without receiving the promise, but they saw them and welcomed them from a distance and confessed, we are strangers, we are exiles on the earth.” They are clear, they are looking for what God has promised. They could have gone back to their homeland, but they held onto the promise of God. They desire a better country, a heavenly one. God is not ashamed to be called their God, He has prepared a city for them.

Over in Hebrews 12:22, “but you have come (you who have placed your faith in Christ) to Mt. Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem with myriads of angels, the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. To God the judge of all, the spirits of righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” The New Jerusalem is a promise to us, we have a city. It's not what I have lost to become a follower of Christ, it is what I have gained. Well, I lost my friends, I lost my family, I lost my job, I've been persecuted. Paul could talk about losing his health, his physical suffering. But what did he lose? Nothing of value. Peter would write, “seeing all these things are going to be burned up, what kind of people ought you to be in all godliness and holy living.” I mean, where is our focus? We think, we want to balance things. Jesus said I am not looking for followers who will balance things, I'm looking for followers who will be 100 percent committed to following Me, to bear My reproach, scorn, humiliation, hatred, and arrive to receive all that I have promised to those who love Me.

Be careful, you are not saved by trying to live through a life of suffering. That's not the point, the point is you must place your faith fully in Christ. He is the only high priest, He has offered the only sacrifice. And when you have truly done that, you will follow Him. That clears the air. I'm on my way to a city that He has prepared as a dwelling place in the presence of His Father. I will dwell, therefore, eternally; I have an inheritance prepared and stored up there for me by the God who owns all; I have wealth beyond imagination; I have lost nothing to follow Christ, I have gained everything. I am now a son of the living God, an heir and co-heir with Christ. Is anything too costly to be identified with Him, to follow Him? You let go of everything and take hold of everything in Him.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your grace, the salvation by grace, a life lived by Your grace, our trust and confidence in Christ and Christ alone, our eyes fixed firmly on what You have promised. Lord, may we consider as nothing the trials of this life, the difficulties, the opposition, even the loss of friends and family. When we take hold of Christ it is a high honor to be His slave. Use us to honor Yourself, individually and as a church. We pray in Christ's name, amen.