Follow Jesus
Hebrews: Jesus is Greater • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
How many of you have ever played Chess before? Now some of you might be a little weird like my wife and prefer Checkers instead, but Chess is a game that I grew up playing often with my Mom and it has been a game that I enjoy playing to this day because of how complex it it and how calculated you must be whenever you play the game. I will never say that I am good at the game because I know people who are and they are far better than I ever will be! But, did you know that in Chess, with all the various pieces, someone can “win” in 2 simple turns? There are so many different outcomes in the game of Chess that the possibilities are seemingly endless. It has been estimated that there are 10 with 40 zeros after it different combinations out there regarding the number of different possibilities in a single game of chess.
Chess is simple, yet insanely complex. The pieces all have a function and unique skill. The purpose, after all, is to capture the opposition’s King or to put them into “checkmate.” In this respect, the game of chess can be related to our lives. Our lives are simple, yet they are also insanely complicated. We go throughout our day with a goal in mind but we know that sometimes our plans get ruined by something or someone else. In a year like 2020, we know that lots of things have looked different than in years before. Just as there are quintillions and quintillions of moves in a game of chess, we know that there are an equal number of reactions, thoughts, and responses that people have in stressful situations and this year is no different! In a stressful year where there is confusion and disappointment that abounds all around us, what should we do? We should follow Jesus Christ. We must not get distracted by the various moves and options that we can take right now, instead, we must remember what Christ has done for us and dedicate ourselves to follow after Him.
This morning we are going to focus on how we can do exactly this: How can we follow Jesus Christ? By studying Scripture, considering the cross, following Jesus outside the camp and by having hope in a hopeless world. Consider where you stand before Jesus today. Are you following Him or are you just going through the motions? If this is where you are at today, my prayer is that by the end of our time studying God’s Word, that you would be moved to not just say the right words, but that your actions would imitate those of Jesus Christ. That you would follow Him wherever He is calling you to go today and for the rest of your life. If you do not know Jesus as Lord today, friends, today can be your day of salvation. Let’s read out of Hebrews 13
9 Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.
10 We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.
12 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.
13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace.
14 For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.
Study Scripture (9)
Study Scripture (9)
Last week we discussed the fact that Jesus Christ remains the same yesterday, today, and forevermore as Hebrews 13:8 clearly states. As a result of this, our message remains the same as well! Because of this, shouldn’t it be easy to detect what teaching is true and what teaching is false? It should be, but that’s not always the case, sadly.
According to Ligonier Ministries nearly 50% of Evangelical Christians, of which Baptists are a part, believe that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. This sounds nice to our world that doesn’t want to step on anyone else’s toes, but this doesn’t line up with Scripture, does it? Scripture states that we must not worship any other God than the one true God. Jesus Himself states that He is the way, truth and life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. A basic understanding of Scripture would tell you that Jews, who reject Jesus, and Muslims, who reject Jesus, are not drawing near to God through Jesus as Hebrews 7:25 states we must do in order to worship God.
Let’s look at another question in this study. Question 12 looks at the consequences of sin and states this: Even the smallest of sins deserves eternal damnation. How do you think people in the US responded to this question? Do you think more people agreed or disagreed with it? Do you agree or disagree with it? 66% of Americans polled disagree with this statement and say that some sins don’t deserve eternal damnation and separation from God. What does the Bible say about this, though? Is there a curve associated with our grade on judgment day?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Yikes, we have to be perfect! Is anyone perfect?
10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
So what is the consequence here, according to the Bible?
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So, Biblically, what does sin do? It separates us from God and makes us deserving of death and hell. How many sins does this take? According to the Bible, only one!
This is a message that many modern pulpits don’t want to talk about, much less preach on because sin makes us uncomfortable. We want to talk about the love of Jesus and how Christ’s death on the cross is the greatest display of grace in the history of the universe and we would all agree with this! But, if we don’t understand what the Bible says, we will be tempted to believe false things because they sound good and make us feel good, but they don’t align with God’s Word.
The preacher gives a stern warning in verse 9: Do not be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings. What does this exactly look like? On the surface level there must have been competing teachings about Jesus Christ because there were various kinds. There would have been the correct teaching and there would have at least been a competing teaching or multiple teachings competing against the orthodox teaching. Friends, are there various kinds of teachings about Jesus Christ today? Certainly there are! This is odd, though, because Paul notes this in Ephesians 4
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
There is one Lord, faith and Gospel message! There shouldn’t be various kinds, but there are. Therefore, what must we do? We must study Scripture to see what the Bible says rather than being led astray by a false teaching. Not only were there various kinds of false teaching but there apparently were strange teachings. Sometimes things can look strange and strange can attract a crowd and strange can dominate the headlines. However, strange teachings about Christ ultimately lead people astray. Therefore, we preach Christ crucified, as Paul hits on in 1 Corinthians 1.
The preacher continues to talk about a contrast between grace and food. How we are saved and strengthened by grace, not by food regulations. What is this in reference to? In the Old Testament not only were there the Mosaic law regulations that people had to live by, there were also moral laws and dietary laws that the Jews were expected to abide by. This is hard for us to understand because you can be a Christian and eat bacon and cheeseburgers and not have any issues whatsoever because we’re not under those dietary rules like the Jews were. There is a temptation for things to be emphasized to an unhealthy level in Christian life. We overemphasize things and some people even think that they are saved just for doing external actions. The Bible shares that we are saved due to the mercy of God as Christ died on the cross.
Legalism has no place in the church of Jesus Christ. Yet, Satan would love nothing more than for us to turn legalistic and emphasize things to unhealthy levels and care more about the songs we sing, the color of our carpet, the style of clothes we wear and the Bible translation we teach from than the blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross of Calvary.
So, in order to fight against legalism and to avoid being led astray by false and strange teachers, we must study Scripture. Do you study Scripture on a regular basis? There isn’t a magical amount of time every Christian should do this each day, but it should be a spiritual discipline that we do consistently. The average American between 30-60 minutes watching TV each day, did you know that if you spent 15 minutes a day reading Scripture and started in Matthew 1, you would read the entire New Testament in 2 1/2 months simply by reading 15 minutes each day.
Friends, study Scripture - it is one of the best ways that we can spend our time!
Consider the Cross (10-12)
Consider the Cross (10-12)
In verses 10-11 the preacher transitions to talk the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Did you know that many people consider Jesus to be a great teacher but they reject what He did on the cross? This was the situation that some of these Jews would have been in. Perhaps they thought that Jesus was a very smart teacher but He was deceived or a false teacher because He claimed to be the Son of God. For these Jews, who were familiar with sacrifices and the process of participating in Yom Kippur at the temple. An animal would be brought to be sacrificed on behalf of the people and its blood would be shed. This is gruesome picture but verses 10-11 force us to ask a question. What would the priests do with the bodies of these animals?
If we look in Exodus 29, we find an answer to this question
14 But burn the bull’s flesh, its hide, and its waste outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
The carcasses had to be taken outside the city and be burned. Because there simply was not enough room in the city to dispose of this large amount of bodies and from a sanitary standpoint, it would have stunk and been extremely dirty due to flies and other scavengers coming to snack on the remains. Therefore, the bodies had to be taken outside of the city. What would the priest do with the blood? The blood would come into the holy of holies and be a part of the sacrifice for sin. The point that the preacher is making in these 2 verses is simple but powerful. Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself in our place, allows us to come and fellowship and benefit from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
In this sense, we see the importance of there being an offering for sin and for that offering be burned outside of the camp. Why must there be an offering for sin, though? Why couldn’t you or I do this by ourselves? After all, our world likes to think that people are good in and of themselves. If this is the case, why do we need Jesus to do anything for us? Romans 3 helps us better understand this reality
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.
28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
We are not saved because of works, we are saved by grace, through faith in Christ! The only work that will save is the sacrifice that took place outside of the camp. And we see in verse 12 that Christ suffered outside of the camp.
John 19:17-20 talks about this fact. Jesus was tortured inside of Jerusalem but He was not crucified inside the walls of the city, instead He was forced to go outside of the city to the hill called Golgotha. Just as the animal was tossed outside the walls of the city, so was Jesus Christ. He who knew no sin, became sin and suffered in our place. Why? Why would He do this? Some are baffled by this fact. Certainly we know that Jesus loves us and we know that this was a part of God’s plan as we see in passages like Acts 2:23 shares with us, but why specifically did it have to be the cross? The cross was a stumbling block for the Jews because Deuteronomy 21:22-23 shares with us that anyone who was hung on a tree was cursed by God and here was Jesus, suffering and hanging on a tree - what is your natural thought to this reality? This man was a false prophet and He is being cursed by God because He is dying via crucifixion! Yet, verse 12 shares with us that Christ did this so that He might sanctify the people by His own blood. What does this mean? It means that His suffering brings about salvation and sanctification. Friends, the blood of Jesus makes His people holy!
As Paul puts it in Galatians 3
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
Consider Jesus and what He has done for you. Consider the Cross this morning and look at how He offers you salvation and He has already purchased your freedom 2,000 years ago. His blood still speaks today, but you must place your faith and trust in Him. Have you done this today?
Go outside the Camp (13)
Go outside the Camp (13)
The final 2 verses give us 2 commands. The first one is a natural seg-way from verse 12. In verse 12 we see that Christ suffered outside the camp and died as His blood sanctifies His people. This is great news and many people stop here. Jesus died for my sins and I’m going to come to church and raise my hands and read my Bible and give back to Him in the walls of the church and that is it. Verse 13 throws a wrench in those plans as we see that we are called to go to Him and leave the camp behind. On one hand, we have to note what exactly the camp means, but we also have to ask ourselves if we are comfortable following Jesus wherever He calls us to go.
FF Bruce and David Allen note that the camp in context of Hebrews 13 refers to the established fellowship and ordinances of Judaism. There is so much tradition and focus for these Jewish Christians on doing things, keeping dietary laws and maintaining the law in general that they, even as Jewish Christians, can be tempted into forsaking what they should do and staying in the camp because it’s all that they have ever known. Friends, the preacher of Hebrews has spent 13 chapters arguing this point: Jesus is greater and Jesus is necessary. If you learn nothing else from our study of this book, know this: It is impossible to have a right relationship with God without Jesus Christ.
In reference to our context, what does it look like to go to Jesus outside of the camp? Perhaps you’ve always been involved in church and this is your family. Praise God for that reality! However, we have to remember that it’s not primarily about us. It’s certainly not about me or you as individuals. It’s all about Jesus Christ and we are called to go to Him. To leave everything else behind and follow after Him. We must follow after Jesus’ example and go where He calls us to go and do what He commands us to do regardless of the result. As verse 13 states, we bear His disgrace. What does this look like? It means that we don’t look for hope and satisfaction from other people, even other Christians, rather we find safety and satisfaction in Jesus Christ. We run to Him outside of the camp because His arms are wide open and we find grace when we seek His face.
So, where are you at today? Are you still inside the camp and more concerned about your appearance, traditions, and other relationships that you fail to run to Jesus Christ and follow Him, or are you being convicted today, maybe for the first time, to leave all that behind and go to Jesus. Friends, turn your eyes upon Jesus today.
Have Hope (14)
Have Hope (14)
Our final verse gives us a second piece of application as we see that we seek the enduring city to come. Did you know that Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean world for nearly 1,500 years. The Roman Empire experienced the highest of highs of any nation/empire in the history of mankind. In many ways the Roman Emperor was the most powerful person in the world for however long he was ruling. The Roman empire has left a lasting mark on the world, and understandably so as it dominated the ancient world for hundreds and hundreds of years. With that said, did you know that many people have no idea where the Roman Empire was located? Many people couldn’t name more than 2-3 Roman Emperors and most people today would be unable to tell you anything about their technological achievements. Maybe you’re wondering where we’re going with this today. The early church lived in the context of the Roman Empire. They were the big bad dogs on the block and they ruled accordingly. Likewise, we find ourselves in the United States of America. Land of the free and home of the brave. We happen to be the big bad dogs on the block and we are the most powerful nation in the world and we certainly let other people know all about that fact. How long has the United States been in existence? 1776. That’s less than 250 years. The Roman Empire existed nearly 6x as long as the United States has and generation by generation, people continue to forget about that empire and the great achievements they made for the betterment of mankind.
Friends, our nation, our presidents, commanders, soldiers, businessmen and women will be nothing more than a footnote in the history books when it’s all said and done. This is not meant to be offensive to our veterans, leaders, and presidents, it’s just what the history books tell us. Even the good’ole USA will fade away one day. To some of you, this is upsetting, but if you are a born-again child of God, this should not upset you, it should give you reason to celebrate. Why? Because we follow after Jesus and we seek the enduring city to come. We live with a reality that this world is not all that there is and that one day, the things that we know and love will cease to exist and they will be replaced. Church, we have hope because we know what is awaiting us is infinitely greater than the things that we experience here and now.
Because of this, we must have hope as we march on in this world. Even if we experience suffering and persecution, we can endure it because of who we are following: Jesus Christ. We run to Him, we leave the camp of our comforts behind, and we long for our heavenly, eternal home.
Where are your eyes fixed at today? Even in such a time as this, there is reason to have joy, happiness, and hope. The reasons to have those things is not in our circumstances, rather it’s primarily based upon what happened 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross the death that I deserved to die, raised 3 days later and ascended back on high where He is preparing a place for me and anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord and places their faith and allegiance in Jesus Christ.
If you have done this, if you belong to to Jesus, you should be the most hopeful person on this planet right now!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Even with that in mind, we are prone to second guess and weigh our options. Just like in the game of Chess, the game of life presents us with many different choices. Friends, we must choose what we will do with our lives. As Joshua said in Joshua 24:15
15 But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship—the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”
Will you strive to save possessions and find your satisfaction in what you can do with your hands or instead will you lay all of that aside and follow after Jesus Christ?
Following Jesus is not easy. It’s not for those who desire the easy way out. But, following Jesus and His plan for your life is the greatest thing that you can possibly do! Prayerfully consider this week how you can follow Jesus. To quote the great reformer Martin Luther with his hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God,
“Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.”
God’s Kingdom is forever, you can take that to the bank. As Followers of Jesus Christ, we must live our lives accordingly because this world is not all that there is, we’re just passing through. Invite others to join you in this journey thanks to what Jesus did for us on that old, rugged cross.