Let Us Go to Him Outside the Camp (Heb. 13:9-17)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. May the unprecedented, never repeated blessings of God be upon the individuals and families that are worshiping in the church, in their homes, and especially far out of state. We are coming towards the end of Hebrews 13. God is working right now and He is living. When that Word of God comes into us, that is the power of re-creation. The words of people cannot change people; only the Words of God can change our spirit, and may that blessing be upon all of you today.
The book of Hebrews is the content, the Word of God, given to the Jewish people who converted to Christianity but were shaking in their walk of faith. Why were they shaking? Why is it “only Christ”? They didn’t receive their answer, what does that mean?
At that time, in the Temple of Jerusalem, all the high priests were giving sacrifices, burning up animals, and doing great acts of worship, but the church was just telling them to receive grace and the Word of God, so they were shaken. They thought they needed to see something with their eyes but God is invisible and He gives His invisible Word, so it felt so lukewarm to them. That is the message God is giving today. It is a message God is giving to the people who have gone to church for a long time, but they are still shaken by their problems and have no answers.
A normal walk of faith is where we have a spiritual state where we hold onto, believe in, and relay Jesus Christ naturally but the members of the church lost hold of this, so this is the message God gave them. If these people do not come to the answer of why it must be only Christ, they are bound to fall into problems. Problems continuously come. There are problems you made for yourself and problems that are outside of your control. Even though I’m Christian and believe in Jesus, why do these things happen to me endlessly? It’s not that I didn’t receive God’s grace; I do receive grace, then why am I like this? That is the Word God is giving to you as the answer today.
1. Inside the camp
1) Judaism
(1) Those strengthened by eating ceremonial foods (Heb. 13:9)
(2) Altar – Have no right to eat (Heb. 13:10)
(3) Sin offering – Bodies outside the camp (Heb. 13:11)
We must go outside of the city gates. What this means is, there’s a camp the Israelites had set up centered on worship and sacrifices, and let us go to Him outside of that camp. That camp then turned into the temple built out of stone for the sacrifices, so God told the people, “let us go outside of the city gates.” The reason God said these words is because there were many different kinds of sacrifices in the Old Testament, but specifically the sin offering was given by taking an animal, taking it outside of the camp gates and burning it up completely. With the background of this Old Testament, God was giving the message of Jesus Christ Who was crucified on Mount Calvary, outside of the gates of Jerusalem.
2) Inside the city gate of Jerusalem – Temple
(1) Temple, Sacrifice, Priest (Heb. 13:10,11)
(2) Legalism
(3) Tradition – Without life
Because these people think they still have to give worship and blood sacrifices in the Temple of Jerusalem, they were still shaking. During these times, inside the city of Jerusalem, there was the Temple of Jerusalem where there were tremendous high priests that were giving sacrifices of great size and value. They were working so hard to keep the actions of God’s law, but all of that diligence was just religion.
3) Strange teachings (Heb. 13:9)
That’s why today’s message says, “Do not be carried away by strange teachings,” strange teachings pertain to doctrines taught by other religions. All the people who are sacrificing animals, do not be carried away by them. The worship you’re giving right now in Mark’s Upper Room, in this attic, is good for you to be strengthened by grace. The worship that celebrates the invisible God, that is what is beautiful. With the food and sacrifices and ceremonies themselves, we cannot satisfy our spirits.
(1) A different gospel – Curse (Gal. 1:8-9)
That is why in Gal. 1-8-9, Paul says if you know a different gospel, you will be cursed. but people know the gospel very weakly, they know it based on however they understand it, and it doesn’t matter how much they relay that gospel, that is a curse. We have to be in a state where we properly know, believe and relay the gospel accurately.
There’s a gospel centered on prosperity, always chasing blessings, or a gospel centered on unhealthy mysticism, wanting to see works, or a gospel that is legalistic and centered on the actions of people. Do not relay that kind of gospel. Relaying something isn’t the issue; you have to have the correct gospel and relay that covenant.
(2) Message of the cross – Foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18)
1 Cor. 1:18 says that this message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They say, “Why do you keep talking about Christ and the cross when we come to church? Why don’t you talk about anything else? Why don’t you talk about the way to be happy, the way to succeed, or the way to help others? Why do you only talk about Jesus Christ?” This message of Christ seems like foolishness to those who are perishing.
(3) Useless if there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:14)
1 Cor. 15:14, there were some people who recognized that Jesus Christ died, but they did not recognize His resurrection. Do not be dragged by that kind of useless faith. If Christ was not raised again, then our preaching is useless. Your faith is also useless. We need to have, enjoy, and relay the complete gospel. He died on the cross and resurrected; what meaning does that have to me? Know this and relay this.
2. Out of the Camp (Heb. 13:13)
Heb. 13:13 says, “Let us then go to Him outside of the camp.” Cast aside everything that is centered on humans, including your legalism, religion, actions, and diligence, and go outside of that camp.
1) Blood of Jesus (Heb. 13:12)
(1) Suffered (Sin, Satan, Authority of Hell)
(2) Solved all problems (Jn. 19:30)
(3) Holy, justified (Heb. 13:12, Rom. 3:24)
In Heb. 13:12, it says Jesus also suffered outside the city gates to make the people holy through his own blood. Because only God is holy. Humans cannot be holy; we can only become holy through the blood of Jesus Christ. You can never become holy through your morals, ethics, or personality; no matter how many good or kind acts you do, you can never become holy. Only your faith of believing in Jesus Christ can change you from a sinner into one who is righteous.
2) Bearing the disgrace He bore (Heb. 11:13)
When they went outside of the camp to him, we go bearing the disgrace He bore. After Jesus Christ was sentenced to death, he had to walk to Golgotha bearing his cross and on that journey, he faced all this abuse and attacks, and this is the same disgrace we must bear. “If believing in Jesus is hellish like this, I should run away. I believe in Jesus Christ so I don’t have to go through things like this, but if they’re telling me to do this, I don’t want to go to church. I went to church thinking I could lay down my burdens, but they’re telling me to take more burdens.” If anyone thinks this way, I hope they will correctly know and enjoy Christ today.
(1) Regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ (Heb. 11:26)
In Heb. 11:26, when Moses was living in the palace of Egypt, receiving the greatest things, he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ and he ran out of the palace, and he ran into the stream of Mount Calvary’s cross. It doesn’t matter how high of a position you’re in, it doesn’t matter how many treasures you have, if you’re outside of Christ’s possession, you must throw everything away and leave, and because he was a prince who ran away from the palace, he was disgraced by all.
We should all do this as well. What does this mean? Now, we are no longer living by the standards of people, by legalism or religion, but now we are running with the grace of Christ. Let us let go of all our motives and standards and let us race only towards our motive of Christ. “If I evangelize and serve, then my children will be blessed,” throw away all your ulterior motives like that and only go before the motive of the cross of Christ.
With your actions, you cannot be regarded as righteous by God. Only the cross of Jesus Christ solved the problem of your past, present, and future entirely, but if you cannot understand this, you’ll keep falling into problems. Everything must be finished with only Jesus Christ, but because that’s not taking place, we fall into worry, fear and problems.
(2) Regarded as greater value than the treasures of Egypt
(3) Looking ahead to the reward (Heb. 11:26)
Moses went boldly into God’s covenant, why is that? Heb. 11:26 says Moses was looking ahead to his reward. All the glory, power, and money of the world aren’t bad, but it’s not the best. It’s not the real thing. So he left that in order to find the real thing God gave him. Looking towards God who is the judge and has given me this reward.
3) Let us go to him outside the camp (Heb. 13:13)
Now, we go outside the camp, to whom? To Christ.
(1) Message of the cross – God’s power (1 Cor. 1:18)
1 Cor. 1:18 says that the message of the cross is power for those who are saved. People who don’t know this will think money is power, they think education is power, they think knowledge or my honor is power. That’s strength, yes, but why is the message of the cross the power of God? Because only this can change our spiritual state. Only this can liberate us from the grips of sin, curses, disasters, Satan, and hell. Otherwise, we can never escape from that.
(2) In Christ- Wisdom, Knowledge, all the treasures (Col. 2:3)
Col. 2:3 says that in Jesus Christ are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The ones who discovered this gathered in Mark’s Upper Room as the Early Church. Paul let go of all of his diligence and religious and legalistic success as well as his honor at once. Other people might think, “If you believe in Jesus Christ, you have to let everything go,” but that’s a misconception. He simply regarded everything as rubbish for the sake of achieving Christ. You have to understand that Christ correctly in order for your walk of faith to begin. If you cannot understand this Christ, you’re bound to chase after the things of this earth, thinking that’s the answer. Even as people come to church, they devote and serve the church to satisfy their worldly motives. I hope you will discard all of this religious life.
(3) Enduring city- God’s kingdom (Heb. 13:14)
“For here, we do not have an enduring city,” meaning the city of Jerusalem, “but we are looking towards the city to come,” meaning the city of God. Now we don’t have the physical forms we see with our eyes, now we’re looking towards the Kingdom of God where Jesus Christ is controlling over this world invisibly, as well as the Kingdom of God we will go to afterward.
(4) Sacrifice, witness through Christ (Heb. 13:15,16)
Now, instead of gathering together all these priests and animals to give as sacrifices, let us give a sacrifice of praise to God. We sacrifice and give praise to God through the name of Jesus Christ because through Jesus Christ, all problems have been finished eternally; we don’t have to keep giving sacrifices. These are the fruits of the lips that confess his name. Why do we give a sacrifice of praise? The fruits of the lips that confess the name of Jesus Christ are worship and praise.
(5) Leaders – Confidence, submit, beneficial (Heb. 13:17)
Heb. 13:17 says, “obey your leaders and submit to their authority,” why is that? Because they’re telling you the words of God. Submit to them. Don’t submit to their human personality. “Because they keep watching over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden.” “Are you here again?” It’s not that I cannot show up, but it’s because they haven’t tasted Christ yet.
Someone who is addicted to drugs will keep doing it, but if someone doesn’t like drugs, they won’t like it when others do drugs around them. If someone has tasted Jesus Christ, then they will be happy if someone comes and relays the message of Jesus to them. Why does God tell us this word, “Do not worry”? Because you shouldn’t just sit and be worried, receiving the Word of God forcefully. You shouldn’t make it a heavy burden.
We are all standing before God, receiving God’s message. Even if you give a cup of water to a small child, your reward will not be forgotten in heaven. To anyone who serves an evangelist, they will have the reward of an evangelist. Do not forget to serve strangers as brothers. Worship should be joyful, your regional church meetings should be joyful, but if you think you’re stuck here and you can’t even leave, then you’re already failing.
3. Let’s go out into the world (Mt. 28:19)
He says, “Let us go out towards Jesus Christ outside of the gates where Jesus Christ died.” Once he died, he said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
1) World
He says to go out into the world, but to go out into the world, you must know the world. If you go out into the world without knowing the world, you’ll be dragged around by the world. What is the world? You need to know the world through the Bible. As soon as you’re born in the world, you’re living in a system of problems. That’s why there’s so much suffering. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means you’re in a state that is completely liberated from the system of problems. What does that mean? Let’s go back to the Bible.
When Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden, they did not have any shame, but the moment they sinned and were separated from God was the moment they felt shame and fear. They were in the exact same situation, but why was it a problem for them? Was it a problem because they were naked? The world tells them, “Yes,” but the problem will never be solved then. They were naked before they were separated from God, but it wasn’t a problem for them then, then what is the real problem? It’s being separated from God. The real problem is my spiritual state that is separated from God. Not having money isn’t the problem; being separated from God is. If you don’t have the answer in this, your walk of faith will always be hard.
Why is this disease a problem? Why is walking around naked a problem? Everything becomes a problem because we’re separated from God. Paul was content in poverty; that’s not a problem for him. Why do we keep following laws? Why do we keep following strange teachings? When did God ever say money was a problem? God says your problem is that you’re separated from God. You need to know the gospel properly. Why is a person a problem? You being separated from God is the source of all problems; you need to know the world properly.
Whether this world does well or not, they’re stuck in a system of problems. From the moment they’re born, they’re stuck in problems. From the moment they’re born, they’re stuck in thinking that being naked is shameful and scary and embarrassing, and no matter how much they try to wrap themselves up with fig leaves, their problem isn’t solved. They have to wrap themselves with the leather that comes from the blood of Jesus Christ for the eternal problem to be solved. If you don’t know this world and you run into the world, you’ll fall into it.
(1) Me, physical things, success center (Gen. 3:5, 6:3, 11:4)
What is the world like? Satan is controlling the entire world so that everyone is falling into “me,” physical things, and success, and he shoves them into that trap, saying “You are God, you are the standard. What you see, money is everything. You can succeed as much as you want without God.” This is how Satan has dug this trap from the beginning to make us fall as soon as we’re born.
(2) Superstition, fortune-telling, religion (Ac. 13, 16, 19)
For the people who are stuck in these traps, he completely covers them up with superstition, fortune-telling, and religion. It doesn’t matter how religious we are, we cannot escape. As long as you do not have the answer that makes a problem not a problem, we cannot escape. It doesn’t matter how hard you try or how diligently you serve a religion, you’re completely enslaved by Satan.
(3) Satan, idolatry, mental, physical, afterlife, future generation suffering (Jn. 8:44, Eph. 2:2,
Mt. 11:28, Ac. 8:4-8, Heb. 9:27, Mt. 27:25)
Satan and sin already existed before humans because an angel existed, was corrupted, and sinned before God. Because the problem existed from long ages past, before humans were created, He planned our salvation from long ages past. This Satan is attacking us invisibly even now. When does this end? The minute he is trapped in hell, but he is racing towards you with lies and temptations.
I hope you will hold onto the covenant that all problems are finished on the cross. Why is a problem not a problem? Because the problem was finished on the cross and the Lord is with us right now, then God is going to give us an answer to the problem, and God is going to show you His plan in this problem. If you don’t have that faith, then your faith is bound to shake back and forth. It doesn’t matter how hard we try, it’s not going to work. Only through Christ alone are all problems finished.
2) Blessing of the throne
(1) Triune God (Word, power, salvation)
The Triune God is forever with me. Even right now, through the problem, God gives me the answer through His Word. That’s the system we live in right now. That’s why it’s only Christ. The devil is deceiving you even now, he says, “If you get this disease, you’ll die,” but the disease is irrelevant to you if you believe in Christ, because as long as our spirit is with God. The disease is God’s plan, Then the issue is finding God’s plan. Whether you get better or not, that doesn’t matter to you. If God wants to make me better, He can do that.
Paul had a disease, but it wasn’t a problem, because “My grace is sufficient for you.” Why do you change the standard of your faith and your life on earth to be physical? Do not preach a different gospel. That’s why you’re not able to overcome the mental problems. When someone faces a mental problem, their whole heart collapses, even though we’ve been completely liberated through the cross of Christ. If there’s a great problem, God has a great answer, and we have to enjoy that through faith. But if we have “barely Christ” instead of “only Christ,” then we cannot overcome the problem and we’ll be in a spiritual state that has no choice but to be depressed and to have panic attacks. They’ll say things like, “It doesn’t work even if I believe in Jesus.” Even though they don’t believe in Jesus, they say it doesn’t work. Do not chase another gospel. Why do you believe in something else and say you believe in Jesus? That’s what he’s saying today.
I’m beginning to yell without meaning to. This is not voluntary, the Holy Spirit made me do it. My personality is low; if my personality were a little better, I’d be able to speak better, so I hope you understand. That’s why it comes as physical diseases as well. If you’re traumatized enough, then it will come to you as a physical disease. And then people say, “I believe in Jesus, why am I diseased?” You must believe in Jesus properly. He finished all problems. It doesn’t matter what situation, it’s not a problem because as evidence that He is with me and guiding me right now, John 14:26, the Holy Spirit, the Counselor will teach you of all things.
Why is there a problem? God told you He would guide you through that problem. Even if you face a crisis, God promised to remind you and teach you. Unbelievers don’t have this, they have to solve this on their own, but you cannot; your spiritual state cannot be resolved. Even if someone goes to church, if they do not conclude in “Only Christ,” their spiritual problems aren’t resolved. When people come to church, they hear this incomplete gospel, this shaking gospel, then they say the church isn’t an answer and leave, even though they’ve never heard the gospel correctly. They’ve never once heard the complete gospel that’s in the Bible. They’ve heard a mixed gospel, a different gospel. Jesus is Jesus, but He is an incomplete Jesus; it means they have not known the meaning of the cross. They say the words of the doctrine, saying “Jesus died for my sins.” But Gal. 2:20 says that Jesus’s death on the cross was my death, and Jesus ‘resurrection is the life living in me.
(2) Life (Gen. 1:27, 2:7, 2:1-18)
Now I am living with Christ, so why is this a problem? God is with me, then why is this a problem? It’s only a problem because you receive a weak gospel. If you proclaim a weak gospel, then you’re blocking God. Know the correct gospel and wait. Do not use it as an instrument; know and enjoy the correct gospel, fully. The problems of the world do not end with death; they go on with us eternally whether in heaven or hell. If suicide were the solution to all problems, anyone could commit suicide when they face a problem, but even after life on Earth ends, our spirit suffers eternally in hell, and that spiritual state is relayed to their next generations, too.
But if you properly believe in Jesus Christ, God promised to bless your next generations for thousands of generations. He’s talking about the correct complete gospel, the gospel that is satisfied with Only Christ. The gospel where the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Why is God lacking for you? Why do you believe in a God who doesn’t solve all problems? It is not that gospel. The gospel God gave us is complete. You have to enjoy and relay this gospel. To the Jewish Christians who believed in Jesus Christ but they didn’t completely believe in Only Christ, God is giving the answer as the solution to all their problems.
In order for this to happen, you must enjoy the gospel. The one who is seated at the throne of heaven is with me forever and always, and I can entrust everything of mine to Him. When you communicate with God through prayer, then you receive spiritual strength. It’s not a matter of whether my business can do well. The real issue is, does your spiritual state gain strength from God or not? You keep looking at the wrong problem of whether it’s working or not. Go into the spiritual state that is with Jesus Christ.
This has no choice but to work out when the Lord is your Shepherd. Is the Lord your Shepherd? Then you lack nothing. Then why do you keep saying not having money is a problem? Why do you say disease is a problem? David was chased his whole life and suffered for years, but he said it was not a problem, why? Because he had the correct gospel. When Moses ran away from the palace, he wasn’t running away, but he saw something greater.
(3) Transcend (Gen. 1:3, Ps. 103:20-22, 1 Pt. 2:9)
Because God is the one who transcends everything, our prayers to him transcend time and space. At this time, receive God’s Word. When you hold onto that and pray, then God is going to work upon every field related to you.
(4) Unprecedented, never repeated – Me, church, job
Even before you go into the field from Monday through Saturday, God is sending His angels and His Holy Spirit to work upon that field. This work is invisible to our eyes, so give this sacrifice of praise. People come to church and say, “Hey, there’s nothing here,” but there’s nothing else we need other than Christ. They say, “Oh, we come to church but you don’t even give us food,” but money and food are all within Christ. Your success and everything you need is found within testifying of Christ to the world. Not knowing that is the problem. Once your eyes open to see this, your life is over. This is the gospel we must receive, enjoy, and relay.
If you don’t have this, no matter what method you use, it won’t work. It doesn’t matter how many different things you try, it doesn’t matter how many people gather, how many rich people gather; it’s not going to work. This gospel is the power of God. The members of the Early Church didn’t have any education, they didn’t have any possessions, but they conquered the world.
It seems like the church doesn’t have any programs, right? But Christ is the program and for those whose eyes can see this, their eyes will be open, but for the people who don’t have the eyes to see this, they’ll say, “We don’t have this, we don’t have that.” What kind of programs do you think the early church had? Think about it, why do we need many programs? There wasn’t anyone for these programs in the early church, but they said, “All we need is the cross,” so let’s do that today as well.
The more you attach, the more you lose the power of the cross. It seems that the efforts of man will help, but never. That’s why only the gospel, the gospel is enough, the gospel makes you happy. And that’s why we testify of this gospel. America is weak in this because there are so many powerful people, because there are so many established and developed programs, but that’s what diminishes the cross.
Let us not do that. It seems like this is right, but with time it’s a curse. I’m a witness of this. You don’t know me, I’m a witness of myself before God, before Satan, and all of my family. All I have is only Christ, and God opened the rest of my life. I had no money, but I had everything. Paul’s confession is my confession, it’s a gospel where nothing is a problem. Is having a lot of money a problem? Never, because I use my money to save lives.
Is poverty a problem? Why could poverty be a problem? Inside of me is Christ who has everything. If I’m in poverty, there’s a reason for that. There’s a reason they went into the wilderness for 40 years, but the people there all died, saying, “Why don’t we have this? Why don’t we have that?” Stop weakening this gospel of the cross. Stop attaching other things to the gospel. God Himself came to earth as a human being and died on the cross, why is this lacking for you? I have to have and enjoy this complete gospel, and relay that. Then without a doubt you’ll stand as a witness; no matter what happens, it doesn’t matter, why? Because God’s plan is being fulfilled. We have to have this gospel.
You are all unprecedented, never-repeated people. If you hold onto the gospel, you’re incomparable to anyone outside the church. Do not compare this church to any other church; it is a unique church. Do not compare yourself to anyone else, because if you have the gospel, there is something God is doing through you. There is a work that God is doing through this church, and there is a business you are running that only you can do, if you enjoy this gospel. Otherwise you keep comparing yourself, “Why is my business like this when the unbelievers are doing better?” Then you’re being dragged along. Do you think God made a mistake?
Everyone has different talents, everyone has different characteristics and personalities, but there is something only they can do. If God does everything, do you think God doesn’t have power? God can do everything. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand anything.
3) Age to save
(1) Church
(2) Field
(3) Future generation
Now, we must save the church, the field, and the future generation, with what? You cannot save them with your words. Only with the message of Jesus’ death on the cross and the resurrection can you save people. Only at that time will the problems of Satan, hell, and sin depart; otherwise, you cannot change this spiritual stream that affects your whole family line.
Conclusion
Let us conclude the Word.
1. Throw away the law, religion inside the camp
Throw away the legalism and religion that is inside the Jerusalem temple that only focuses on the form of religion.
2. Mt. Calvary, only Christ outside the camp
Now go outside the Temple of Jerusalem to Mount Calvary where we only hold onto the cross of Christ.
3. Enjoy through prayer the blessing of the throne
Now, let us enjoy through prayer the blessing of the throne of God being with us. Every time we face a problem, enjoy this, enjoy this every time my heart shakes.
4. Let’s go and save the region and nation through evangelism
Let us experience that the One Who is unchanging is working and with us now. Then, with this evidence, we go out to save the region and the nation. If you don’t have evidence, how can you save? You can just memorize something and relay it, sure, but you don’t have evidence. Jesus told you to stand as a witness, not with your own diligence. May this blessing first come upon you this week.
Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word God gave us.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Prayer
God, we thank You. Thank You for making us into children of God by the goodness of the cross, where Jesus died on the cross and resurrected for our sins. We believe the incident Jesus fulfilled on the cross finished all our problems of our past, present, andfuture. Now, I believe He is with me and with the working of the holy spirit, He will use me to save my church, my field, and the world. We pray our offering will be used wisely, and we believe God will guide us with the economy of light. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all of the people of God, all the multi-ethnic peoples, and the remnants who desire to enjoy, have, and relay only the gospel of Jesus Christ, be upon their businesses, studies, and ministries, be with us now and forevermore always, amen.