Hebrews 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Not only did Jesus Christ go outside of Jerusalem to give His life a ransom for many, those who are truly saved are also invited to go outside the camp. The world is not the friend of the true child of God.
I John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
True Christians do not fit into the world’s system. We live in the world. However, those who are truly saved have been given a different mindset to that of the world. We are not a part of the paganism of the world. The past 100 years are not a good picture of what true Christianity should be. If we look at the time that Jesus Christ was on this earth, we see that Herod tried to have Him killed as a young child. We see the Pharisees tried to have Him killed and they demanded He be crucified. They hated Him. He did not fit into their mold and they were deluded into thinking their mold was the true one and Jesus was the imposter.
The apostles also did not fit into the philosophy of the world. They were accused of turning their world upside down. The world has determined that they are right and those who do not follow its pattern are wrong. At this point it is not just true Christians who do not fit in. It is anyone who does not hold the government position.
Our own P.M. has set himself up as the truth. Anyone who does not agree with him is the enemy and he has been able to convince not just his own party but the entire Parliament that he is right. The opposition to him is so feeble that it is laughable. There is no true opposition to the system that he is bringing into this country. He is a puppet of the WEF and he is enjoying his “acting” position.
God calls His children to come outside the camp. God’s people cannot be His voice if we are intertwined with the wicked system of our world.
Isaiah 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
We need to understand that there is a reproach for those who are true children of God. There is still a “benefit” to be called a “Christian” today. That is because the general term “Christian” has been so corrupted that much of it cannot be identified with the Bible.
Biblical separation is important for the cause of Christ. The message of the cross is far too important to muddy it with the world’s philosophies. We are coming up to the world event called “Easter”. Easter has nothing to do with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That important event was stuffed into a pagan festival, rather than keeping Jesus Christ outside the camp, where He needs to be.
I fully believe in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had to come to this earth as a man and He had to suffer and die on the cross for our sins. There is no salvation outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is abundantly clear that Jesus would die on a certain day and He would be in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights and rise again. Those who stop to think know that Friday (good Friday) to Sunday does not equal 3 days and 3 nights. Nowhere does God say that those 3 days and nights were a figurative number that could be shortened by man if he so chose. Chocolate bunnies and chicks or eggs have nothing to do with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who love God and choose to hold to what He says, will suffer reproach. However, as we suffer reproach, we will also be able to show people the blessing of God’s salvation.
Everything we have witnessed over the past two years and that which is coming in the near future should be waking up God’s people to see the need to join the Lord Jesus Christ outside the camp.
Verse 14 tells us that we do not belong to this world. We live here and we are called to be witnesses here, but we are not home here. We are just passing through. Our home is in heaven. We need to understand that we should not be heavily invested in this world, because the world is using those investments to cause people to bow to its system. When a person spends most of his energies to build a worldly empire, it hurts to walk away from that. Riches are not evil. God does bless some people with the ability to make money and to build factories, etc. The danger comes when the money and the factories become our gods. Paul was directed by God to remind us:
I Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Most people will be anywhere else but in a good church today. They see no value in the house of God. Many will attend some type of social religious event, but few will allow God to lead them to the truth. The philosophy of this world has a tight hold on many.
God blessed the nation of Israel in the days of Solomon with the skills and the materials to build the Temple. That Temple was the envy of the pagan nations around her. Yet, due to the sin of the nation of Israel, God opened the gates of Jerusalem and of the Temple and allowed the Babylonians to plunder that once holy structure and it was destroyed.
Later Ezra was led by God to build a second Temple and king Herod spent over 40 years rebuilding that Temple. Yet Jesus told the disciples that that Temple would be destroyed. The upkeep of that Temple was not more important than God and His truth. God’s truth is paramount.
The apostles did not spend their time in the Temple. They were commanded by Jesus Christ to build churches. Interestingly, all the first century churches that Jesus spoke to in the book of the Revelation did not last. The people got away from Jesus Christ and the world took over.
The good news is that in the midst of compromise, God has always had His remnant. His remnant will not be part of the world’s system.
We may not see many saved by honouring God. We need to remember again that God warned in the days of the apostle Paul that there would be a falling away in the last days. We cannot use that as an excuse, but we must understand that if preaching the truth faithfully is not moving people to repentance and salvation, there is no command of God to change the message to try to attract more people. God is still working in the hearts of wicked sinners. He is all powerful, but He does not force anyone to be saved. He makes it abundantly clear that people must be saved. Those who reject Him will be held accountable to Him. It is better to suffer reproach for knowing and serving God than to miss out on God’s blessings in the here and now and suffer the wrath of God for rejecting Him.
Pastor Bartel
