Going Out To Jesus

We're singing, first of all, to God's praise in Psalm 84.

Psalm 84, that's on page 112.

And we're singing verses 1 to 7.

How delightful are your dwellings, O Almighty Lord, to me!

For your courts my soul is yearning, in your house I long to be.

Heart and flesh cry out aloud, for the true and living God.

Even sparrows find their dwelling, and the swallow builds a nest.

Near your altar, Lord Almighty, where her offspring may have rest.

Blessed whose home is your abode, they are ever praising God.

These verses to the end of verse 7.

How delightful are your dwellings.

How delightful are your dwellings, O Almighty Lord, to me!

For your courts my soul is yearning, in your house I long to be.

Heart and flesh cry out aloud, for the true and living God.

Even sparrows find their dwelling, and the swallow builds a nest.

Near your altar, Lord Almighty, where her offspring may have rest.

Blessed whose home is pure abode, they are ever praising God.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, those who have a pilgrim's mind.

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Let's join together now in prayer. Let's call upon the Lord in prayer.

Lord God, Almighty our Father in heaven, we come to address you tonight as our God,

as we always do when we come to worship you. For we acknowledge that you are our God,

and we give thanks that you take us as your people in covenant with you.

We bless you tonight for this renewed opportunity we have to gather together in praise and worship,

to call upon your name and to come to hear your word. And we thank you, Lord, for all that you mean

to us as we prepare once again to remember the Lord's death in the Lord's Supper. We give thanks

for your wisdom and kindness in providing us with such a means of grace, a means and an ordinance

that accompanies the regular preaching of your word. And it sets forth the beauty and the

sufficiency, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask, Lord, that as we prepare for it and

as we anticipate tomorrow coming to sit at the Lord's table again, may we find, Lord, the preciousness

of the Lord and of his death made clear to us once again and made indeed increase in our estimation.

We ask, O Lord, that we will know of you meeting with us, of the calling of your Holy Spirit upon us

to draw us to yourself. And we ask that each one who comes and intends to come to the table

will come, Lord, not trusting in themselves or fearful because they find themselves unworthy.

Help us to come trusting in you as our foundation. Help us to come believing in the worthiness of the

Lord and that it is our responsibility and privilege to show that we accept that worthiness

by coming to do as he requires. We thank you, Lord, today for all the blessings that we receive from you.

And we ask that you would help us as we confess our inability to number them. Help us, Lord, to

therefore conclude that it shows your worthiness to be praised. So bless us here, we pray tonight,

and bless us as a congregation at this juncture once again. And we thank you, Lord, that we can look

back upon many times of blessing in the past, that we can recollect the ways in which you have blessed

us and kept us and helped us hitherto. And we pray that we may draw strength from this renewed occasion,

and especially from the Lord's Supper itself again. And enable us, Lord, to be encouraged and encourage

us one of another as we come together. We thank you that your people form a spiritual family that you

have called together, that you feed as they come together to worship under the Word and as they

come to sit at your table. O Lord, our God, we pray that you would dispense to us the blessings that

have accrued through the death of Christ. And we pray as we come to remember him in his death,

that we may, Lord, truly meet him in the power of his risen life, that through your Holy Spirit,

O Lord, you would draw near to us and show to us once again our great need of all that is set out on the

table representing the Lord in his death. Lord, we pray that you would encourage us and enable us to help

one another as we come on this pilgrimage that we've been singing about, a pilgrimage that goes on until

we come to the heavenly Zion, until we come to appear before God. And we pray that our time in this world may be a

time when we'll use all the means you have given us, O Lord, to progress in that way, to find strength

for the journey, to cope with all the difficulties and overcome them as we come with our desire tonight,

Lord, that as we lay our concerns before you, so you'd assure us that you are able to meet us and meet

all our needs. Bless, we pray, any whose thoughts tonight are on coming to the Lord's table tomorrow

for the first time. We give thanks that there are such among us, Lord. We pray that you would encourage

them. We pray that they may find, even through this time of worship this evening, further confirmation

to the comfort of their hearts. We ask, O Lord, that you would speak to them and draw them.

And we pray that we may rejoice in seeing others joining the number of your openly professing people.

And we pray, O Lord, that this may be an occasion when we will have such rejoicing,

when we will be able to say that the Lord is indeed at work among us. We ask for your blessing to be

with those tonight who have challenges and difficulties in their lives that they may feel

they cannot share with others and come to open their hearts to others. We pray that you would bless

them and pray that you would draw near to them to encourage them, O Lord. We pray that you'd bless

those who mourn the passing of loved ones. We ask, Lord, that you would draw near to them,

those who have come in this past week to lay to rest the remains of loved ones. We ask,

Gracious One, that you would bless them and comfort them and show to them your ways and give to them

what we are unable to give ourselves, that comfort and consolation that derives from the energy of your

Spirit, from the work of grace in their hearts. We pray, too, for those who are ill. We pray for those

who are seriously ill tonight, those who are laid aside and appear to be approaching the end stage of

life in this world. Gracious Lord, bless them, we pray, with the grace required, that we all require

to take that great step out of time and into eternity, out of this world and into that world to come,

out of this world where we know you but faintly compared to being in your presence in eternity.

O Lord, our God, we pray that even as we come to remember them before you, you would help us to

consider ourselves, too, so that we may realize that our days, too, are fast hastening on.

We thank you that you have given us such means as the Gospel and the Lord's Supper,

so that we may be strengthened and may be prepared by your Holy Spirit's ministry

for that time for ourselves when it comes also. Bless, we pray, all who are preparing for worship

tomorrow in the various congregations in our presbytery and throughout the church, throughout

the world. Indeed, O Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit may be active on the Lord's day and may

draw many to yourself. We pray that many will come to regard this coming Lord's day as a day of liberty,

a day of deliverance, and a day of being ushered into the freedom with which Christ makes us free

and brought to those wonderful places where the Lord Himself presides and feeds His people.

So, we ask that you would continue to bless us as a congregation, bless our young people once again

as we pray for them, for our children, for our young ones, for our young adults. Remember them,

we pray, as they witness the table of the Lord and all that is said in regard to it and all that is done

laid on their young hearts, we pray. Give them even through witnessing such things for themselves that

they may come to have that desire in their own hearts, that they too will join the number of

your people, that they will turn their back to living for this world and will come to look forward

to being servants of Jesus Christ. Remember, we pray each and all who at this time, Lord, are preparing

for also to preach your word. We ask that you'd bless them here in our own midst, be with Scott at this

time and be with all others, Lord, like him who are preparing and training for gospel ministry.

We ask that you would continue to provide for them and to encourage them each and every day.

And so, go before us now, we pray, O Lord. Hear us in this our prayer and continue to bless us

through this service for Jesus' sake. Amen.

We'll sing once again to God's praise, Psalm 63 this time. Psalm number 63, that's again in

Psalm 63. O God, you are my God alone. I seek your face with eagerness. My soul and body thirst for you

in this dry, weary wilderness. I've seen you in your holy place. Your power and glory held my gaze.

Far better is your love than life, and so my lips will sing your praise. Psalm 63, the verses 1 to 8.

Again, we stand if you can to sing.

O God, you are my God alone. I seek your face with eagerness.

My soul and body thirst for you in this dry, weary wilderness. I've seen you in your holy place.

Your power and glory held my gaze. Far better is your love than life, and so my lips will sing your praise.

I'll bless you, Lord, throughout my life. And raise my hand to you in prayer.

My joyful lips will sing your praise. My soul is fed with riches fair.

Upon my bed, I lie awake. And in my thoughts remember you.

I meditate throughout the night. And keep your constant love in you.

Because you are my help alone. In shadow of your wings I'll sing.

You hold me up with your right hand. Do you, O God, my soul will cling.

Let's read God's Word together now from the Epistle to the Hebrews.

And chapter 13, the last chapter of that letter to the Hebrews.

So that's Hebrews chapter 13.

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

Let brotherly love continue.

Keep your life free from love of money.

Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings.

For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

Therefore let us go out to him outside 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 then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of our lips that acknowledge his name.

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.

Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things.

I urge you the more earnestly to do this, in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep,

by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good, that you may do his will,

working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,

to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.

Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.

Grace be with all of you.

And again we pray for God to bless to us this reading of his word.

And before we turn to a few verses from this passage, let's sing again to his praise.

This time we're singing in the Scottish Psalter, on page 382.

That's Psalm 107.

We'll sing verses 1 to 8.

Praise God for he is good, for still his mercies lasting be.

Let God's redeemed say so, whom he from the enemy's hand did free,

and gathered them out of the lands from north, south, east, and west.

They strayed in deserts pathless way, no city found to rest.

And so on through to the end of verse 8.

Psalm 107.

Praise God for he is good.

Praise God for he is good.

For still his mercies lasting be.

Let God's redeemed say so, whom he from the enemy's hand did free,

And gather them out of the lands from north, south, east, and west.

They strayed in deserts pathless way, no city found to rest.

For thirst and hunger in them face, their soul when slates them pressed.

They cry unto the Lord, and he them frees from their distress.

Them also in our way to walk, that brightest he did guide,

That they might to a city go, wherein they might abide.

So that men to the Lord would give grace for his goodness then,

And for his works of wonder done, and to the sons of men.

Let's turn down this evening to a verse or two we find in Hebrews 13.

We're going to look at verses 13 and 14.

We can read at verse 12.

Well, these verses on the immediate context there, as you can see,

Recreate for us a very important scene in the New Testament.

That, of course, being the scene at Calvary, the scene of the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is something, as these previous verses show, that fits in and indeed fulfills what the Old Testament ritual showed,

When the bodies of these animals that were devoted to God,

Those that were brought into the blood, brought into the holy places by the high priest,

The bodies are burned outside the camp.

That's something that goes back to the Acts of Exodus 29, verse 14,

Exodus 29:14

Where the Lord gave instruction that that was to be the ritual.

The bodies were to be burned outside of the camp, because they were regarded as unclean.

The blood was used in the ritual of blood shedding and sprinkling of blood and so on,

Prefiguring the death of Christ.

And that was done, as it says here, outside of the camp, outside the gate, it says there in verse 12,

As far as Jesus once, as he fulfilled that Old Testament ritual.

So, Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people.

Therefore, let us go out to him outside the camp.

So, he's using different words there, outside the gate, outside the walls of Jerusalem,

Literally, as where the cross was situated, not inside, but outside the city,

Which is really now taking us back, as it were, to the scene at that moment.

Because the Word of God is what it is, a very reliable word to us,

As it brings us and describes to us and recreates the scene to us,

What it's really doing is taking you and I back, as if we were standing there

And watching what was happening with the crucifixion of Christ.

It's just as real, it should be just as real to us,

As if we had been standing there literally on the occasion it took place.

And as it's placing us here at the scene,

So, it's actually calling on us in a spiritual fashion

To do what was done then by going out to the cross physically.

Those who were actually going to stand in the vicinity of the cross or nearby the cross.

And spiritually, that is what it's calling on us to do,

To actually come to associate with Jesus,

Come to actually stand by the side of Jesus crucified,

Come to actually show that this Jesus, this cross, this death,

Is the death that is so vital and valuable to us,

That we go and stand by it in terms of embracing it spiritually for ourselves.

And that's why the Hebrews are addressed here.

The Hebrews were obviously facing some difficulties

In following their faith in the Lord,

Probably through the persecutions that they were suffering.

And it appears that some might have even had the idea

That it might have been better going back to the Old Testament ways after all.

And that it would be better to have something that you could see physically

Rather than have the spiritual sight by faith of the cross and of Christ as a person.

And the writer to the Hebrews is assuring them that that is not the case.

That we have the advantage, that we have the benefit of looking back on this

That has happened historically at Calvary.

And therefore we can come to that as the way in which God has revealed in Jesus

His love for His people by giving Him to the death that He died on the cross.

And that's really what we're anticipating, of course, remembering tomorrow at the Lord's Supper.

So that there's a real way in which, a very real way in which spiritually the Lord's Supper too

Is actually itself as it sets out for you there, the bread and the wine that's used in the Lord's Supper.

In a sense that too is taking you back to Calvary.

Taking you back to what you find even in these verses in Hebrews 13.

And it's placing you there so that you're saying,

Well, I see this in front of me in the Lord's Supper.

I know what it represents.

And it's so precious to me.

And as I do this, and as I reach out and take the bread,

And as I reach out and use the wine and take the wine,

Well, I am associating with this Christ.

I'm identifying with this Jesus.

I am saying about these elements and what they represent,

Especially in the death of my Lord.

That is where I'm taking my stand.

That's where I want to be found.

And that's where I want to be seen as one of His people.

So, there are two things, briefly, I want to just take from the passage tonight.

First of all, there's an emphasis on leaving the city,

Which would be Jerusalem, literally.

Leaving the city to go out to Jesus.

And secondly, looking forward to the city where Jesus now is.

We have here no continuing city,

But we are seeking the city that is to come.

The one that is to come in heaven.

So, in a sense, it's a tale of two cities.

The city of Jerusalem, which represents, really,

All that's associated with rejecting Christ.

With putting Him outside.

With not wanting to be associated with Him.

And spiritually, you can relate to that,

Because, in a sense, that's what this world is.

That's what the world in which we love is.

That's what worldliness itself is.

That's what our natural condition and our fallenness and sinfulness wants to do with Christ.

And what it's saying here to the Hebrews is,

Well, you've got to leave everything that's associated with opposition to Jesus,

With enmity against Jesus,

With rejection of Jesus.

You've got to walk away from that.

And you've got to go to Himself.

And you've got to take and embrace His death as the basis of your new life.

And as I say, that's what, in a sense, is actually done in the Lord's Supper.

Every time we have the Lord's Supper and we partake of it,

We're reenacting, if you like, that walk out to Jesus

And taking all that it means to us in His death,

All that He means to us to ourselves, yet again.

Now, you notice here,

Therefore, in verse 13,

Let us go out to Him.

And therefore, there ties up the previous verses for us.

This is the conclusion, having stated what He said there in the previous verses.

Therefore, seeing this as the case,

Let us go to Him outside of the camp and bear the reproach He endured.

And as I said, Jesus was placed outside.

And that itself is symbolic.

Because it's really as someone rejected by the authorities of the time, literally,

Rejected as a possible Savior or Messiah.

He is placed outside.

They don't want Him.

That's not…

He doesn't fit with their expectations.

He doesn't actually measure up to what they regard or think a Messiah should be.

He has come.

They've heard Him.

They've seen His miracles.

They've done all…

They've had all of that in terms of their advantage and their privilege.

And still, by and large, most of them say,

No, He's not for us.

We don't have any king but Caesar.

That's what you find written in the gospel records, of course.

But when we think about Jesus being placed outside,

and the cross being placed outside,

and the death of Jesus taking place there,

that, of course, in the teaching of the Bible,

is something that represents His being made a curse by God Himself.

Everything that was associated with being crucified was regarded as cursed.

And in Paul's letter to the Galatians,

you'll find that mentioned in chapter 3,

that Jesus was made a curse for us.

For it is said, it is written,

Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree or is hanged on the cross.

That's what that means.

And so, when you think about Jesus outside the walls of Jerusalem,

at a distance from Jerusalem,

outside of the camp,

outside of those that rejected Him,

placed outside,

primarily it's to be thought of as an act of God.

Because what happened was,

of course, that God,

having laid our sins upon Him,

regarded Him in our place,

as the one to bear the penalty of sin,

the penalty that was due to sin.

And as we go, therefore,

and remember where Jesus died,

and what that represents,

that it was outside,

we'll see in a moment how that

actually connects as well with

His own words on the cross.

My God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Why am I outside?

Why am I actually out of your favor?

Why have you rejected me?

Why have you forsaken me?

And that itself is something you carry with you

to the Lord's table,

because the Lord's table,

in a sense, as we said,

is something of a reminder,

or even a reenactment of this scene,

as if you are physically going out to Him.

Spiritually, that's what you're doing.

When you come to take your place

at the Lord's Supper,

you're really saying,

this is where I must be.

This is where I want to be.

This is what my remembrance of Him is about.

I remember Him,

and I love Him as the crucified one,

as if He were still hanging on the cross.

You take your place

at the side of the cross,

in the vicinity of the cross,

and you accept that as God's basis

of new life of righteousness for you.

So, He's saying,

let us go to Him.

Let us go out to Him.

Let's go to where He is.

What you do, in other words,

privately in your heart by faith,

that's what you're doing

when you embrace Jesus.

This is the Jesus you're embracing.

Not any modern versions of Christ

where certain parts of the Bible

are just excised or cut out

that don't seem to fit the thoughts of today.

You take the Bible at face value.

You take what it tells you about the Lord.

You embrace the Lord

as described in the Word of God,

which you regard as reliable and accurate

as to who He is

and what He has done

and why He has done it.

And you say,

that's the Lord that I need.

That's the Savior I need.

That's the Savior I embrace.

That is the Savior I love

to remember as to His death

by doing it in the Lord's Supper.

And so you see,

as you remember the Lord's death,

you are remembering Him

as He is represented and shown here,

crucified for you,

placed outside,

made a curse,

bearing the sin of His people,

meeting the penalty

that God must visit sin with.

Let us go out to Him.

You've done that already.

You've taken the biggest step already

in going out to Him spiritually

by accepting Him

as He's offered in the Gospel.

And it's a natural progression

of that step

to actually come to the Lord's table

and remember Him there.

In a sense,

that's part of the going out

you've already done.

You've already come

to stand by the cross,

to accept,

to embrace this Christ,

to place your trust,

your confidence,

your faith in Him.

And you're showing that now outwardly

by coming once again

to the Lord's table

or by coming

for the first time

to the Lord's table,

to the Lord's Supper.

I remember Abraham

in chapter 11 here of Hebrews.

We find him described there

in chapter 11,

verses 8 to 10,

as somebody who obeyed

when he was called

to go out to a place

that he was to receive

as an inheritance.

And he went out

not knowing where he was going.

By faith he went to live

in the land of promise

as in a foreign land,

living in tents with Isaac

and Jacob,

heirs with him

of the same promise.

But you see,

what he's saying is,

by faith he obeyed

when he was called

to go out.

There's a going out

in association

with trusting in Christ.

There's a going out

from this world,

a going out from

the life that we had

as we were born

into this world,

the life of the fallen sinner.

We go out from that.

We go out from the world,

from the values of the world,

from what the world sees

as important.

And we walk out

from that

to the cross of Christ

and embrace him

and say,

no, this is where

I take my stand.

This is my foundation.

And this is where

we find represented

in the Lord's Supper

that going out

that's already taken place

in your heart

when you came

to embrace the Lord,

to stand by his side,

to leave

the city of this world,

if you like,

to go to him.

And you see,

it's also saying,

bearing the reproach

that he endured.

The older translation

has bearing his reproach.

It comes to pretty much

the same thing.

What is the reproach

that he endured?

Well, it's the stigma,

it's the shame,

it's all that's mentioned there

at the beginning

of chapter 12,

for example,

where in verse 3,

you consider him

who endured from sinners

such hostility

against himself

so that you may not

grow weary

or faint-hearted.

It's all that's associated

with the humiliation,

the shame,

the hostility

of sinners

against himself

as it's mentioned there.

That's what he experienced

for you.

That's what he did for you.

That's what he took

to himself for you.

And when you come

and realize

that going out to him

is not going to be

something different

and kind

from what he did for you

because that reproach

that he met with

is the same in kind

as his people meet with

as they make it known

that they've gone out

from the world

and come to the cross.

Bearing his reproach,

being prepared willingly

to come by associating

with Christ,

to be thought of

by the world

as no longer fit for purpose

for their company.

It's something that

in being rejected

by the world

follows the pattern

the Lord himself

experienced

in his own going out.

And so he's saying

bearing his reproach,

the reproach he endured,

the reproach the same in kind.

Just think of how willingly

the Lord went out

to the cross

for you,

for his people.

Just think of how he

committed himself

wholeheartedly

and fully

and was not deflected,

not even for a split second

from going out

to that cursed death

of the cross.

Early on in his ministry,

Satan had attempted

every way he could

and that's quite considerable.

in that temptation

that you find

mentioned in the Gospels,

Matthew 4,

what was the devil's attempt?

What was he trying to do?

What was his aim?

What was his purpose

in that temptation of Jesus?

Well, you can actually

see it even from

one of the three temptations

that are mentioned

when the devil said to him,

all of these kingdoms,

as he took him to see

all the kingdoms of the world,

all of these will I give you

if you fall down

and worship me.

What is that about?

It's the devil saying

to the Lord,

look, you don't have

to go through the cross,

you don't have to go

through the difficulties,

you don't have to go

through the trials

that you're presently enduring.

Here you are

in the wilderness,

you've been here

such a long time,

you're starving,

you're hungry,

you could easily

turn these stones

into bread,

as he said

in one of the other

temptations.

Why go on with that?

Why not just do

what I say?

Why not just do

in obedience to me

and I will give you

everything you want?

You see,

there's the powers of evil

ranged against

the Son of God

in our nature

and in His life

of obedience

for His people.

These are the amazing,

unfathomable challenges

that He faced

from the devil.

None of us

has been through

such incredibly

complex

and deep temptation,

but He dismissed him.

He was determined

at every step

that He would die

the death He came

into the world

to accomplish.

And so He's saying

to you tonight,

I have done all this

for you,

and now

you're doing this

for me.

You're doing this

in response to

my going out

to the cross

for you,

crucified there

for you,

made a curse

there for you,

leaving the approval

of the camp,

leaving the approval

of the city,

and going out

to the cross

and to the curse

and to the stigma

and to the shame

of the cross.

Remember they said

about Him

when He was crucified,

come down from the cross

and we will believe you.

You made yourself out

to be someone,

the Son of God.

Now we'll believe you

if you come down.

And of course

they didn't understand.

But you understand.

You understand

why He just couldn't

come down

from that cross,

why He was committed

to the death

of the cross.

It was so that you

and I would be saved,

would be redeemed,

would be brought

to have eternal life.

And now He's saying,

let us go out to Him

bearing the reproach

He endured.

After all,

supposing we were

to suffer

all of our Christian lives,

the kind of suffering

that you find

even in those

who are solely persecuted

in other parts

of the world today

above what we actually experience

in whatever persecutions

we have.

But supposing you had

all of that persecution,

it's a small cup

in comparison.

with what Jesus suffered.

And when we think

of going to bear

His reproach,

bear the reproach

He endured,

that reproach

that we experience

will never measure up

to the reproach

that He experienced.

because all of what He suffered,

He suffered

in all its intensity

so that we would be delivered

from the curse

of God.

So let us go out to Him

bearing His reproach.

Again,

if you cast your mind

back to chapter 11

where it speaks

to the same of Moses,

Moses also by faith,

when he was growing up

in verse 24,

He refused to be called

the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

choosing rather

to be mistreated

with the people of God

than to enjoy

the fleeting pleasure

of sin.

And then look next

what it says.

He considered

the reproach

of Christ

greater wealth

than all the treasures

of Egypt.

for He was looking forward

to the reward.

That's an amazing statement.

Here was Moses brought up

in Pharaoh's palace,

brought up with access

to all the riches

of Egypt

that would be given to him

were he to remain there,

were he to continue

as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Instead,

what did he do?

He walked away from that.

He went out from that.

And he went out

to align himself

with the persecuted people

of God in Egypt.

But that's not the only thing.

it says,

though the language

that's used there

is most interesting

and significant.

He considered

the reproach of Christ

suffering for his God,

he considered that

greater riches

than all the treasures

of Egypt.

In other words,

what's that saying to us

is here is Moses saying

about all these treasures

of Egypt,

yes, I can have that.

I don't want them

because suffering for God

is of greater value.

And that's what it's like

when you come out

on the Lord's side.

The Lord is convincing you

and laying on your heart

the same fact.

The sufferings that I endure

and I may need to endure

as a Christian,

even if I don't know yet

what they're about,

they have a value

which all the treasures

of this world

can never give you.

because they are

sufferings for him.

They are bearing

his reproach.

They are part and parcel

of following Christ.

And you might be saying tonight,

well, I wish I could do that,

but I would rather wait

until my faith

is somewhat stronger.

I'm not sure I can just

cope with that yet.

Maybe here and that's what

your thought is

of going to the Lord's table

and maybe even

you're coming to

the Lord's table

having been there before

and still lamenting

your, what you see

as your weak faith

and you're saying

you're tempted

by the devil perhaps

or your own mind

is saying,

well, maybe I shouldn't

go this time

the way I feel about myself.

Maybe I should just

stay away this time.

Well, listen to what

Matthew Henry says

in a wonderful book

called

The Communicant's Companion.

You say your faith is weak,

pious affections are cool and low,

your resolutions unsteady,

and therefore you keep away

from this ordinance.

That is like a man should say

he is sick,

and therefore he'll take no medicine.

He is empty,

and therefore he'll take no food.

He is faint,

and therefore will take no cordials.

This ordinance was appointed chiefly

for the relief of such as you are,

for the strengthening of faith,

for the inflaming of holy love,

and the confirmation of good resolutions.

In God's name, therefore,

use it for these purposes.

Pine not away in your weakness

while God has ordained strength for you.

Die not for thirst

while there is a well of water

beside you.

He meant by that the Lord's Supper.

A well of water to refresh you.

A source of spiritual food

to strengthen you.

A means of comforting you

so as to console your heart.

Well, that's what Matthew Henry was saying

going outside the camp

to Him bearing His reproach.

All the sufferings,

whatever they may be,

small or great,

are part of God's program

of your sanctification,

of your improvement,

of your consolation,

of your eternal happiness.

Let us, therefore,

go out to Him

outside the camp.

And now, briefly,

secondly,

we find here

looking forward to the city

where Jesus now is.

For here we have no lasting city,

but we seek the city

that is to come.

And if you think of that literally,

in those days,

the writer was talking there

about the camp

or the Jerusalem,

the city of Jerusalem.

He's saying,

you can remain there,

it's not going to last.

And of course,

Jerusalem was destroyed

virtually by the Romans

in 70 A.D.

But when you come to apply

this spiritually,

what is it really saying

to us spiritually?

It's saying,

this world is not going to endure.

Living for this world

is going to be a disastrous

decision on your part

and a disastrous choice.

So when you leave this world

and you leave everything

that's associated

with rejection of Christ

and you go out to Him

and you come to the Lord's Supper

as itself an extension,

if you like,

of that going out to Him,

what you're saying is,

well, I'm seeking the city

that is to come.

I'm seeking the city of heaven.

Not seeking in the way

that you don't know much about it,

but seeking it

because God describes

something of it for you

in His own Word

in the Scripture.

Because everything you have

in the city of this world

is fleeting,

not only fleeting,

but uncertain,

uncertain to fall.

It looks stable,

but it's resting

on the fault line

of God's judgment

and it's not going to last.

And that's why

you've left that city.

That's why you've gone

out to the cross.

Because you're convinced

that to be in this world

and to belong to this world

spiritually, morally,

is going to be caught up

in the destruction,

the terrible destruction

of God's judgment.

But to leave that city,

to leave that condition,

to leave that state,

to go out to Jesus,

to associate with the cross,

to trust yourself to Him,

to embrace that crucified Christ

as crucified for you,

that's to show

that you are seeking the city

that is to come.

And you want to express that

on this occasion anew

by going to take this communion

yet again

or for the first time.

You're not saying of yourself,

I'm worthy of this.

You're not saying of yourself

that I can do this.

I have the strength

to do this myself.

I can manage this on my own.

It's just something

I want to do.

You're not saying that.

You're saying,

He has done it for me.

He's done everything I need

to make me right with God.

And it's the least I can do

now to go to the table

to show that my trust is in Him,

that I'm looking forward

to the city that has foundations

as builder and maker is God.

And that's why it says

we're seeking one to come.

You see, again,

going back to chapter 11,

it's such a wonderful chapter 11,

isn't it?

All these examples of faith

and different ways

in which their faith was expressed.

In verses 13 to 16,

I often read this

when we come to funerals,

especially funerals

of the Lord's people.

These all died in faith.

Chapter 11, verse 13,

These all died in faith,

not having received

the things promised,

but having seen them

and greeted them from afar

and having acknowledged

that they were strangers

and exiles on the earth.

For people who speak thus

make it clear

that they are seeking

a homeland.

And if they'd been thinking

of that land

from which they'd gone out,

they would have had opportunity

to return.

But as it is,

they desire a better country.

That is a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed

to be called their God,

for He has prepared for them

a city,

a lasting residence,

an eternal abode in heaven.

And all the way through

these few verses,

you can see various things

that tie in with what we're seeing

here in Hebrews 13.

They're seeing things

by faith from a distance.

They were not yet in the city

that is heaven, of course,

but they were looking forward to it.

They're making it clear

that they are seeking a homeland.

If they'd been thinking

of the land from which

they'd gone out,

they would have an opportunity

to return.

That's how it is for yourself,

by going to the Lord's table,

by doing what you're doing

in obedience to Christ,

you're actually making clear,

I don't want to return

to the world.

I don't want to return

to what I was.

I don't want to return

to my lost condition.

I don't want to return

to my unforgiven state.

I don't want to return

to that position I had

where I was either at enmity

with God consciously

to myself or not.

I don't want to return

to that.

That's in the past.

That's the city

that's going to be destroyed.

That's where God

has taken me out from.

But I'm looking forward

to that city that is to come.

The city that has foundations

of which He is builder

and maker.

Therefore,

I want to go to the Lord's table,

not because I'm good enough

in myself,

but because it shows

that I love Him

who is good enough.

And that He's done all this

so that I could come

and look forward

in faith and hope

to that city

that has foundations.

Now, we could think of

what it says there

in verses 11,

verses 13 to 16

of chapter 11,

as using all the means

available,

and same here

in chapter 13,

we're seeking the city

that is to come.

What does that mean?

Essentially,

it means using every means

that God has given us

to make our way towards it,

to actually finally enter it.

Not by our own merits.

That's on the merits of Christ.

But we're using everything

God has given us

so as to progress

on that journey.

And one of the wonderful things

that God has given us,

the ordinance of the Lord's Supper,

is designed to strengthen us

for that journey,

to strengthen our hope,

our faith,

our belief in Him.

Think of the banquet

that's awaiting

the Lord's people

in glory,

the marriage supper

of the Lamb,

as the book of Revelation

calls it.

And you can think, really,

of the Lord's Supper,

if you like,

as the starter course

for that great banquet.

We're coming to this world

just to take the starter.

It's a wonderful starter,

especially for all

that it represents.

But as you come

to take the Lord's Supper,

as you sit there

and eat this starter course,

if you like,

what it's saying to you is,

well, isn't the banquet

going to be magnificent?

If the starter is this good,

what's the main course

going to be like?

And when you come

to take that starter,

you're really feeding

your own hopes

and your own faith

of sitting at

that marriage supper

of the Lamb

whenever that day will come.

And so going out,

going out and taking

the Lord's Supper,

coming out on the side

of the Lord yet again

or for the first time,

is really an indication

that you're looking

forward to that

marriage supper

of the Lamb.

You're saying to the Lord,

thank you, Lord,

for this starter course

that you've given me.

It's sufficient for me

as long as my life

remains in this world.

But I long to have

the main course in heaven.

And this starter course

gives me a taste

of what that main course

is going to be like

when I see you

face to face,

when I'll be in

your very presence,

when I'll sit down

and when you will wipe

every tear from my eyes,

when you will lead me

to living fountains of water

as my pastor in heaven,

but I want to experience

something of it,

something of a foretaste,

however small,

while I'm in this life.

And I want to do it

in the way Jesus himself

has designed

in this Lord's Supper,

anticipating the marriage supper

of the Lamb.

I'm sure you've read,

most of you at least

have read The Pilgrim's Progress

probably more than once.

And you may recall

that when

The Pilgrim Christian

came to the point

where this burden

that was strapped

to his back

fell off,

it rolled down the hill

into a sepulcher,

recreating the scene again

of the Lord's cross

and death

and followed by

the resurrection,

that's where he lost

his burden,

that's where all the burden

of his guilt

and his sins fell off.

And it says then

that Christian rejoiced.

He sang.

And this is what he sang.

Thus far did I come

laden with my sin,

nor could aught else

ease the grief

that I was in,

till I came hither.

What a place is this!

Must here be the beginning

of my bliss?

Must hear the burden

fall from off my back?

Must hear the strings

that bounded to me crack?

Blessed cross!

Blessed sepulcher!

Blessed rather be

the man that here

was put to shame

for me.

This do

in remembrance

of him.

May God bless these

thoughts on his word.

we'll conclude

by singing to his praise

in Psalm 119.

This is from the Scottish

Psalter, Psalm 119,

at verse 172.

My tongue of thy

most blessed word

shall speak and it confess,

because all thy commandments

are perfect righteousness.

Let thy strong hand

make help to me,

thy precepts are my choice.

I longed for thy salvation,

Lord,

and in thy law

rejoice.

So on down

to the final verse,

I like a lost sheep

went astray,

thy servants seek and find,

for thy commands

I suffered not

to slip out

of my mind.

These four verses

in conclusion.

my tongue

my tongue

of thy

most blessed

word

shall speak

and it

confess,

because

gates

our

lerin

sons

our

Palestina

Só 8

Thy peace that are my choice.

I long for thy salvation, Lord,

and in thy glory rejoice.

O let my soul, your bondage child,

give praises unto thee,

O let thy judgment, gracious,

be helpful unto me.

I like a lost sheep went astray,

Thy servants seek and find,

O thy commands.

I suffer not to slip out of my mind.

I should have said,

if there are any visitors with us

who are communicants in full communion

with their own congregations

and in good standing,

they're very welcome to come

and join us at the communion table tomorrow.

And if you want to take a token with you

just to show the elders

that you have a token to go to the table,

we'll be pleased to do that for you.

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God the Father,

and the communion of the Holy Spirit

be with you now and evermore.

Amen.

Amen.