The Call of the Sanctified Life in Christ

Well, if you would take your Bible, turn back to Hebrews 13. We did read verses nine to 16 because all those verses do go together. I'll refer to those verses, but we'll be in verses 12 to 16 this morning. I will turn to John 17 to read a few verses there to emphasize something that we have in this teaching. And I will turn and read 1 Thessalonians 5, a few verses there. Now, last week we covered verses nine to 12 and what I called avoid strange teaching and be strengthened by grace. We saw how the author called these believers not to be led astray by various kinds of strange or foreign teaching.

And this was a real and present danger for them in the life of their church. It appears that some in this congregation were being carried away by teaching that was foreign to the gospel and the word of God that they had been taught. And this strange teaching seems to have been centered on returning to Judaism and life under the old covenant. That is because he mentioned specifically those old covenant food laws and regulations. He then reminded them what they should have known. That is that those external religious rituals had no power to change their heart or the inside of the man.

Instead, they were called to be strengthened and established in the loving grace of God because no religious rituals or rules have the power to spiritually strengthen the inside of the man. He went on to point them to the fact that they had an altar that was much different than the altar in the temple or the old tabernacle. Their altar was Christ in the cross where Jesus gave himself as the once and for all sacrifice for sin. And then he spoke of the fact that Jesus is the once and for all sacrifice for sin, which is sufficient to save.

Unlike those old covenant animal sacrifices, Jesus' blood permanently satisfied the wrath of God for the sin of his people. Unlike those old covenant animal sacrifices, Jesus' blood permanently provides peace and forgiveness for those who savingly trust in him. So the author was calling those in this congregation now to run from those religious rituals and to be strengthened at the altar of Christ in the grace of God. Now, take a step back and notice something here, church. We know this is the practical in the closing section of the letter, but the author seems to go back to what he taught in the previous part of the letter. Think about it.

He returned to their theological problem, which was the fact that some were leaving Christ in the new covenant and they were going back to Judaism and under the old covenant and others were facing that temptation. And to me, notice what this tells us. Notice what this says for us in our day. We today must always be tied to and centered on Jesus, the gospel, living at the cross and personally being strengthened by God in the grace of God. Let me restate that.

This reminds me, this tells us that we must always be tied to and centered on Jesus, the gospel, living our lives at the foot of the cross and personally being strengthened by God in the grace of God. Fannie Crosby, the old hymn writer, understood this. That is why she wrote what we just sang, near the cross. I meditated on that all week. Listen to verse one. Jesus, keep me near the cross. There a precious fountain, free to all a healing stream flows from Calvary's mountain. And Luke Church, that is living life.

That is living a life that is tied to and centered on Jesus, the gospel, living at the cross and being strengthened by God's love and God's grace. Now, this morning, we pick up where we left off last week. And I wanna point out what the author is doing here, right here at verse 12 and verse 13. There is a transition at verse 13 when the verse says, therefore. The Legacy Standard Bible says, so. Now, the New American says, hence. That's a transition. Now, let me put it in my words. I'll explain the transition.

The author is saying, because Jesus died on the cross outside of the city to set apart his people through his blood, because we can go to the altar of Christ and because we can be strengthened by God in his love and grace, then let us live the sanctified life like we should. And that's what verses 13 to 16 are all about. The sanctified, the set apart life. This is all about the call to live the sanctified life. And the author was calling them to do certain things that are a part of the sanctified life. Now, let's read our verses. Verse 12 to 16. So Jesus also suffered outside of the gate.

That could read the city in order to sanctify, sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore, let us go to him outside of the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come through him. That's Jesus. Then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name and do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Now here, the author called them to do four things in their sanctified life.

Because Jesus suffered outside of the city, he called them to first bear the reproach of Christ, verse 13. Second, to see their true home, which is heaven, verse 14. Third, to persevere in praise to God, verse 15. And then last, to do good to others, especially the brethren, verse 16. And all of these duties and responsibilities were to be born out of the sanctified life. In one sense, notice this should happen spiritually, organically, naturally, but they were to be acted upon because they are responsibilities. So let's get started. Number one, the call to bear the reproach of Christ, verse 13, the call to bear the reproach of Christ.

Therefore, that's the transition, therefore, let us go to him outside of the camp and bear the reproach he endured. Now we can't understand what verse 13 means to us unless we understand what verse 12 means. If we were to understand what it means for us to go outside the camp and bear the reproach of Christ, then we must understand what it meant for Christ to go outside of the camp and to sanctify his people, sanctify us. It's actually simple. For Jesus to suffer and die on the cross as he did, that brought him great shame, great indignation and reproach. Now, let me explain this a little more.

When Jesus was crucified, he was crucified as a convicted and condemned criminal. He was scorned by his own people, the Jews. He was treated with terrible contempt. He was ridiculed and reviled by his very own people on his way to the cross and as he was on the cross. We clearly see this in the crucifixion accounts in the gospels. Now, going back a little further, in Old Testament teaching and thinking, to be outside the camp meant to be excluded from the very place where God dwelt and his people.

That which was determined to be unclean, condemned and even cursed of God was to be put outside of the camp and excluded from God and the people of God. The book of Leviticus and Numbers are full of instances where certain things or people were put outside of the camp because they were to be excluded. Several times, people with skin diseases like leprosy and other bodily matters that made them unclean were put outside the camp. One instance that's very, very sobering and serious is found in Leviticus 10, four to five.

There, the bodies, the dead bodies of Nadab and Abihu were carried outside of the camp after they were killed dead by God for authoring unauthorized fire before God. They offered unauthorized worship before God. And if you know your book of Leviticus, you know that Nadab and Abihu were Aaron's sons. Now notice what this tells us.

Jesus in his suffering and death outside the city shows us that he suffered and died hated and despised by men. He was considered unclean and rejected by God. The Jews who were the people of God truly saw Jesus as cursed of God, unclean, unworthy of being inside of the city, inside of the city of God with the people of God and the work of God. Now why did he do it? Why did Jesus do this?

Outside of the city gate on the cross he paid the debt of our sins by suffering the agony of our hell on the cross and through the shedding of his blood outside of the gate on the cross he removed the sin of his people and made them holy or sanctified which means set apart unto God. Now remember this sanctification in verse 12 is positional sanctification or being set apart for God and unto God. Now that we understand verse 12 we can look at our call to bear the reproach of Christ. First off we must see that this is figurative language. We cannot literally go outside the camp to Christ and his crucifixion.

His crucifixion took place over 2,000 years ago and we can and we know that we cannot bear the very same reproach he bore so this is figurative but look at what this means. In coming to Christ to believe in Christ to be saved we are identifying with and spiritually going out with him on the cross. It is as if we were with him going to the cross because we embrace the cross we identify with Christ in the cross. So as Jesus went out of the city we go out of the city with him figuratively and spiritually. When we savingly believe in Christ we went out of the city to Christ and we continue to do so as we live the Christian life.

But notice how we go out in reproach. All the translations use this word reproach. In this word reproach it means public humiliation. It means to be disgraced. It means to be insulted and it's related to another word in the original which means to reproach, to revile, to insult or to speak abusively against someone. Now think about it. Jesus was put to death as one who committed great spiritual and moral sins. He died in reproach. He was the object of murderous contempt and scorn so he died in reproach. He was held up to derision or one to be made fun of as he suffered and died so he died in reproach.

He was ridiculed and reviled on his way to the cross and on the cross by his own people he died in reproach. So the author was saying to this congregation because Christ Jesus did all of that for them then they should be identified with Christ right there outside of the gate in all of his reproach. Barnes says here and I'm quoting, to be identified with him there, to follow him, to sympathize with him, to be regarded as his friend would have subjected one to similar shame and reproach. Now we know this original audience.

This was a Jewish congregation and if they accepted Christ savingly as the promised Messiah of God they would have lost their entire lives and they would have gained nothing in life but shame and reproach and most likely persecution on top of all of that. They would have lost their family. They would have lost their place in society. They would have lost their jobs and businesses. They would have lost everything. Most likely all they would have gained in the world would have been shame, reproach, and even persecution and for us today it's the same.

To be a Bible Christian it means to be willing to identify with Christ and to claim all of the promises found in the Bible to have a blessed and prosperous and wonderful life. To be a Christian in our day it means to be willing to identify with Christ and to be accepted by all in society especially the rich, the famous, the popular, the powerful. Being a Christian today means that we have our best life now, all of our life. That's not what the text says. To be a Bible Christian means we identify with Christ and his suffering and reproach.

We are to bear to identify with and embrace his shame and any shame and reproach that comes with being a Bible Christian and following Christ. Therefore, therefore we are willing to suffer because he did. We are willing to accept scorn, suffering, and shame because Christ did. We are willing to be a reproach and suffer reproach because he did if it be the will of God for us to do so. Christ our Lord did it to save and to sanctify us. We do it because we are sanctified unto him and for him and we can bear his reproach because we are being established in his grace.

So Luke Church, the call of the sanctified life is the call to identify with the reproach of Christ, being willing to accept reproach for being a Bible Christian and following him and obeying his word if that is his will. And you know Church, it's easy to dodge the suffering and reproach of Christ and still be a Christian today. All you have to do is change the message of the Bible. That's what all of these popular figures do. That's what these politicians do. These sports figures do. That's what these actors and actresses do that claim to be Christian.

See, you just make sure your Christianity makes room for homosexual and lesbian Christians. You just make sure your Christianity does not condemn any sexual immorality. You just make sure your Christianity makes room for other religions to get to heaven too. You just make sure that your Christianity is only a message of hope, love, acceptance, and inclusion and never a message about any kind of condemnation. But Luke Church, the very minute you declare what the Bible says about sin, about the world's sin, about how people live their lives, you will experience the reproach of Christ.

Again, Christ our Lord went to the cross to save and to sanctify us and because we are sanctified unto him and for him, we gladly embrace, we gladly accept and embrace the reproach of Christ if it be his will that we do so. This is the call of the sanctified life. Next, number two, the call to see the true home of the believer. The call to see the true home of the believer. Now this will be much shorter than verse 12 and 13. As a matter of fact, some commentators combine verse 14 with verse 13. But this is what we have here. One word. Why?

Why these Jews in this congregation should have been willing to go outside of the city and identify with the reproach of Christ? Well, it's simple. Jerusalem was not their home. The nation of Israel was not their home. Nowhere on earth was their home. Heaven was their home. And this is something the author wrote about and taught them before. In chapter 11, when he was describing how the Old Testament saints of God lived by faith, in verse 13 he said that they all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them far off and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

He was showing them that those Old Testament saints longed for a better country that was a heavenly country, which is what Abraham did as he looked forward to the heavenly city. And notice what he says about their earthly home in the verse and their heavenly home. He says, for we have no lasting city, which means the earthly home they had was temporary. Then he says that they were to seek a city that is to come, and the implication is heaven, which is the eternal permanent city and home. And church, notice what this means to us. It's just the same for us as it was for them.

Our country, our state, our city, our physical home, those things are all temporal. Those things are not permanent. Heaven is our true and permanent home if we are a born-again believer. And there are two facts we must accept and live out.

If we die and leave this earth, all of our possessions, we live behind. You see, all of us are just like Job. Job said in Job 121, that we are born into the world naked and in death we leave the same way. We will die and we will leave this earth and we will leave all of our possessions behind. Second, Jesus may return at any moment before we die, and if he does, as believers, we leave all of this behind, the earth, our home, our possessions, our investments, everything, we leave behind. Now, what's my point? The earth is temporary. Our earthly home is temporary. Heaven is our eternal home.

But look, if you're not born again, you have no hope of heaven. If you're not born again, you have no hope of heaven. I love what one commentator says here, and I'm quoting, people love to look for earthly security, but the best earthly security is insecure. Let that ring in your ear, folks. People love to look for earthly security, but the best earthly security is insecure. But this brings me to something I think we all need to think about it. Think about, does this mean that we are to live detached from this world and the realities of life? Think about that.

Does this mean that we are to live detached, unhitched from this world and the realities of life? Some do, kind of like this monastic way of living. Well, the answer to that is no. Wherever God in His providence has placed us, we're to be salt and light in the world, Matthew 4, 13-14. We are to be His ambassadors, His representatives, 2 Corinthians 5.20. But look, we must live the principle and the standard that Jesus gives in John 17, that great high priestly prayer. I want to read verses 14-16, and I will explain the principle and the standard. It's rather simple.

Jesus is praying to His Father about His disciples, and by extension, all of His people. He says, I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Now, this is the principle, this is the standard. God expects us to live in the world, but not to be of the world, all while knowing that this world is not our home. We are pilgrims, we are exiles, we're just traveling through.

So this is the call of the sanctified life, and that we live here knowing that this earth is not our home. Heaven is our true home, heaven is our permanent home. Next, number three, the call to persevere in praise to God. The call to persevere in praise to God. Now, look at verse 15, some of you need this more than you know. Through Him, that's Christ, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Now, before we get into what this meant for them and us, we need to see the old covenant Jewish background and context. That certainly could have come to their minds.

Under the old covenant, the Jews made many different sacrifices and offerings. And there were five principal offerings under the Mosaic law. The burnt offerings, we see that in Leviticus 1 and 6. The grain offerings, we see that in Leviticus 2 and 6. The peace or fellowship offerings, we see that in Leviticus 3 and 7. The sin offerings, we see that in Leviticus 4 and 6. And the guilt offering, Leviticus 5, 6, and 7. Now, some of these offerings were blood sacrifices, but some were bloodless sacrifices. And all of these sacrifices and offerings were meant for a purpose, but only one relates to this sacrifice of praise in verse 15.

And that is the old covenant peace or friendship offering, which is seen in Leviticus 3 and 7. The peace or friendship offering was a voluntary sacrifice, brought by one who wanted to express their thankfulness to God, or to fulfill a vow, or to simply worship in praise and thanksgiving to God. Now, this is my point. These Jewish Christians had a concept of offering voluntary sacrifices to God simply out of worship, simply out of praise and thanksgiving. And it is likely that they thought of that offering when they heard or read this call to persevere in praise to God.

But, those old covenant peace or fellowship offerings were not for the purpose of producing peace and fellowship with God. They were for the purpose of preserving their relationship with God and expressing praise and thanksgiving to God voluntarily. I'm kind of loosely quoting Albert Barnes here. The person offering the peace and fellowship offering stood before God as a friend of God in a right relationship to God, and they were expressing praise and thankfulness to God for favors received or a vow fulfilled, or they just wanted to express their love for God, their praise to God, and his acceptance of them.

So, for these Jews, offering a sacrifice of praise meant something. They had a means by which they could do this under the old covenant. But notice what the author was calling these new covenant believers in Jesus to do. He strongly emphasized that by Christ and through Christ, they were to offer up sacrifice of praise. This through him is in the emphatic, which adds emphasis. And this offer up, it means to carry, to bring even, to put upon the altar, and it is the word or phrase they used for offering sacrifices. So, they were to offer up, not an animal, they were to offer up, not grain, but a sacrifice of praise by and through Jesus.

Through Jesus, they were to offer a sacrifice of praise to God. But think about something. If they were not to offer something like an animal or grain, if they were not to bring something in their hands to offer up, what were they to offer? You see, coming empty handed would have been strange for these Jews. So, what were they to offer up? Themselves. But themselves in praise. You see? They were to offer up themselves in praise, in thankfulness, and in worship.

Instead of offering blood, an animal, a grain, such things like that, as new covenant believers in Jesus, they were to offer themselves upon the altar of Christ, in praise to God, through Jesus, who went outside of the city to save them and sanctify them. You see? Paul had this in mind in Romans 12, verse 1. You know the verse. Where he says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And in saying your bodies here, Paul was speaking of all that the body stands for. He was speaking of the total person.

So, notice how this applies. By and through Jesus. And because He sanctified us by His own blood, we offer praise to God each Sunday. We do this each time we meet for worship. We do this when we come to small groups or to Wednesday nights. But that's not what the text says. The text doesn't say that. The ESV says we do this continually. And Amplified says, through Him, therefore, let us at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise. This might sound strange to you. Thursday I spent quite a bit of time studying through all of this. Got up real early Friday morning and spent quite a bit of time meditating and studying and writing.

All of this. And Friday afternoon I went deer hunting. And you know what I did? I lived this verse out. I just praised the Lord all the time.

I was singing the verses to near the cross. I was singing the verses in my heart and in my mind. I was thinking about how good God's been to me, how he saved me. I just praised God. I praised God. Now I didn't cheat coming to church. Some people substitute a deer stand for church, which is absurd. But what am I trying to show you? All that afternoon while I was enjoying nature, I was living what we see here. I was continually offering up praise to God. I didn't get a deer. I saw some but they were just a little too far. But I praised God anyway. I got to go. Now look at the contrast.

For those Old Covenant Jews, those offerings were made at determined times and places. But for the New Covenant believers in Jesus, the offering of oneself in praise and worship is to be done at all times, continually, at any place. As one commentator said it, since a loving God is working out his purposes all the time, there are no circumstances in which we should not be offered. Now church, this is convicting. This is convicting. Since our loving God is working out his good and perfect purposes all of the time in our lives, there is no circumstance, there is no time that we should not offer praise to him. If we lose our job, we praise him.

If we get the promotion, we praise him. If we enjoy health, we praise him. If we struggle with sickness, we praise him. If we have plenty of money, we praise him. If we struggle with poverty, we praise him. If we have friends and family, we praise him. If we do not, we praise him. Just keep going on and on. This is where I want to turn to Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5. Some of you need the whole message just for this. Verse 15, especially verse 18. See to it that no one pays anyone evil for evil. That's convicting. But always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. You see that? Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Now look, church, in all circumstances, all the time, continually, we are to give thanks to God in all things, praising his name. You might say, Pastor, it's hard to do that when I'm suffering. This is who we should be. This is what we should do. This should be who we are. This should come out in our speech. Notice the last part of the verse. It's a quotation from Hosea 14 verse 2.

This kind of thanksgiving and praise to God through Jesus should come out in our conversation because this is who we are. This is what we do. This is what we say. So this is the call of the sanctified life to continually offer up the sacrifice of praise to God through Jesus. Last, number four, a call to do good to others. The call to do good to others. I do want to read that verse too. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Now here the author carries on with what he called them to do back at verse 1.

In those six demonstrations of Christian love, we saw they were to first continue in love for the brethren, or love for one another in the church. Well, here in verse 16, he is saying that out of the sanctified life should flow doing good and sharing what one has. This was a call not to neglect these duties and he actually calls them sacrifices. Now notice that the ESV uses the word neglect. And the neglect, it means to forget and to no longer care for. So he was calling them not to forget, to do good, and to share. He was calling them not to neglect and care for doing good and sharing.

And this term to do good, it means what it says, doing good. And this sharing here, it means fellowship, association, community, and communion. So the author was calling them not to forget to do good and to share among themselves within the fellowship and the community of the believers. He was calling them not to neglect, to do good, and to share among themselves. I like what one writer said here, it signifies sharing with others such things we have, money, goods, and of course those intangibles, those intangibles that make up fellowship. The Amplified captures this well.

It says, do not neglect to do good, to contribute to the needy of the church as an expression of fellowship. For such sacrifices are always pleasing to God. But notice what else he says. He goes on to say that such sacrifices are pleasing to God. I wonder how many of God's people are not pleasing to God because they do not make the sacrifices to do good and share. I wonder how many of God's people now, true born-again Christians, are not pleasing to God because they do not make the sacrifices to do good and share in meeting the needs of the saints around them. Physical needs, intangible needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs.

But think about it, the church, this is the sanctified life. The sanctified life is not neglecting to do good and to share among the saints. But we need to continue a little here. Does this remind us of some verses we should know? The first and second great commandments, Matthew 22, 37 to 39, Jesus says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. We know Mark adds strength. This is the great and first commandment, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. We know this, but love for God and love for our neighbor, those are inseparable.

If we are lacking in love for our neighbor, that proves our love for God is lacking. If we are lacking in our love for God, we will be lacking in our love for our neighbor. And notice how this relates to the sanctified life here. Loving God and living the sanctified life in Him will organically and spiritually and naturally produce a willingness to do good and to share with the saints as a sacrifice unto God. And if one does not sacrifice unto God by doing good and sharing among the saints, well, their sanctification is stunted, their sanctification is flawed, it is lacking.

So this is the call of the sanctified life, the call not to neglect doing good and sharing with the brethren. Such sacrifices are pleasing to God. But one more thing, this is good. If we are doing good and sharing with the brethren out of a love for Jesus because we're living the sanctified life, then three are pleased. First, God is pleased. Second, those who are on the receiving end of the good and the sharing, they're pleased. And then third, we are pleased because doing good and sharing as we're living the spirit-filled, sanctified life, oh, that's pleasing and it brings great joy.

Luke Church, do you realize that if you have a congregation that's fleshing this out, there's great joy among the brethren. You show me a bunch of grouchy, grumbling, stingy people and I'll show you people who don't share and don't do good among the fellowship of the believers. Now in closing, this is all about the sanctified life in Christ. This is all about being set apart to God and unto God, living in that sanctification. Why did Jesus go outside of the camp? To save us and to purchase our sanctification.

And if we are living the sanctified life as we should, we will be about bearing the reproach of Christ our Lord, seeing that our home is in heaven, not here on earth, persevering in praise to God all of the time in all circumstances, doing good and sharing with the brethren, therefore pleasing God and others.

That is the title of the message, The Call of the Sanctified Life in Christ. The Call of the Sanctified Life in Christ. Let's pray. We will commit these things to the Lord.