"Seeking The City To Come"

Seeking The City To Come  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Intro:

Augustine in His work “City of God” argues that throughout Scripture the City of Babylon, which represents the City of Man is set juxtaposed to the city of Jerusalem which represents the City of God.
Babylon, the City of Man will be eventually destroyed but Jerusalem will prevail for all eternity. Babylon represents the world system that man is building and implementing in the world. And Jerusalem is the Kingdom of God that is currently a spiritual reality that will eventually come to fulfillment in a new heavens and a new earth for all eternity.
It should be of no surprise to us that much of what Augustine says is derived right out of the Book of Hebrews. The whole of the book of Hebrews is showing how Christ is supreme over, not only a fallen world but the Old system of religious practices derived from the Mosaic Law code.
Christ’s sacrificial work goes beyond what the Levitical priesthood could do under the law. They only foreshadowed Christ but Christ fulfills our redemption and sets us in the Kingdom context of the city of God. Look at verses 10-12 as Hebrews makes this point by making a comparison between the old system and the Sacrificial Work of Christ.

I. The Sacrificial Work (10-12).

Here in this section of our text there is an illustrative contrast being made between our spiritual position in Christ as our great high priest and those who were under the Levitical system of the Mosaic law code.
The Levitical Priest served on behalf of God and sacrificed the animals that were brought to them by the people and then they would roast the portions over the fire. Some would be given to the people for their family to eat and a portion would be given to the Priest to eat.
But here in verse 10 of our text we see Hebrews referring to an altar that the Old Testament Levitical priesthood have no right under the law to eat from.
The reason they don’t is because they did not offer the sacrifice on behalf of New Testament believers. Christ alone has done that once and for all time for us as His covenant people.
On the Day of Atonement the bodies of the sacrifices were taken outside of the camp and burned up after their blood was offered as atonement for sin (Leviticus 16:27). All of this was part of the rituals associated with the Day of Atonement.
This is what Hebrews has in mind here in verse 11. This ritual had to be done every year under the Levitical system. This is because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). All they could do was cover the sin of the people for a period of one year.
Like the sacrifice of old which was taken outside the camp, Christ too was taken outside the gate of the city as part of the sacrificial ritual of sanctifying His people by His own blood shed on the Cross.
The Cross was a place of sacrifice and suffering in the place of sinners. For the wages of sin is death and Christ paid the wages of our sin on our behalf. His blood is referencing His death which paid our dept and satisfied God’s righteous wrath due to our sin forever.
Christian if we have no understanding of the Old Testament Sacrificial system and the role of the Levitical Priesthood we are probably not going to understand the implications of the Sacrifice that Christ has made on our behalf.
We will be tempted to reduce our Christianity to being about doing good deeds and possessing and demonstrating moral character. I would submit to you that many of the world’s religions are capable of doing such things in the world.
But biblical Christianity has it’s foundational roots down into the substitutionary work of Christ on our behalf. The Blood atonement of Jesus Christ is one of the hallmark distinctions of Christianity over and against all the world’s religions.
The payment made for us as He died in our place and removed God’s wrath by satisfying the righteous demands of the law forever and reconciling us to God in covenant relationship is paramount to the Christian faith. This is the essence of the gospel and you don’t have biblical Christianity without it.
As Christians we talk about things like grace, peace, love and mercy of God and the context by which we encounter those aspects of His covenant fidelity is through what Christ has done.
The gospel is the basis of our covenant hope as the people of God. Christ has ministered before God on our behalf and He continues to do so in an ongoing manner. His death, burial and Resurrection are the matters of first importance for the Church (I Corinthians 15:1-9).
As we live the Christian life we live in light of the gospel. When I was in junior high the science teacher had a prism and when light shinned through it the colors associated with light would break down and you could see the color components of light being reflected.
Christian, the gospel shines through the theological prism of the Scripture to reveal the glorious components of the handiwork of God in working redemption for us. His glory is on display in the details in how wondrously and beautifully He worked it for us in Christ.
And Scripture is declaring His greatness and the glory of Christ’s sacrificial work but it is also declaring our Sacrificial response to it. Lets look at verses 13-16 in bite size pieces as we see two basic categories of our response in application. The First category deals with, Bearing His reproach in verses 13-14:

II. The Sacrificial Response

Bearing His reproach (13-14): 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
The use of the term “therefore” is a connective to the context of verses 10-12. Since Jesus suffered for us outside the gate to ransom us for God through His blood sed on the Cross for us; let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured.
The term “reproach” is the idea of rejection that results in disgrace. And where did the reproach come from for Christ?
It came from the city of man. The political and religious powers in the world and the self centered assertions of fallen man done in defiance of God. Christ’s reproach came from that system that rejects God’s Messiah and sovereign right to rule over His creation. Christ knew this when He willingly came into this fallen world to suffer the curse of sin and death on our behalf.
Because Christ did that let us then go to Him and bear the same reproach from the world (vs.13). Meaning that we should willfully embrace identifying with Him even if we will be rejected in disgrace by the world.
Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh were sentenced to death back in 2009 in Iran for the crime of spreading the gospel. They were handing out Bibles and were arrested.
They were put in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. At one point they were brought back before the judge and asked if they would stop evangelizing. They said they wouldn’t stop.
The judge said they could just go back to prison and have more time to think it over. They said back, oh we have already thought it over and we will never stop preaching.
These are two women who know what it means to bear the reproach of Christ in the world. All the martyrs for the sake of Christ and the gospel are great examples of this to us as the Church is increasingly ostracized and persecuted in the world.
Probably the biggest threat to us not being obedient to bearing the reproach of Christ is that in American Christianity we have creatively customize the message to be of no offense so we don’t have to bear the reproach of Christ in the world.
We may talk about Christ like He was a martyr dying for a cause but not a sacrifice dying for payment for sinners before a Holy God.
We tell ourselves that it is more likely that our hearers may want to join us in a quest to be better people as to build better communities in society. The only problem is that is not what the Bible teaches about the gospel and man’s primary need. And we forget often that God is the one who opens blind eyes and regenerates the dead. And He does it in accord with His gospel. It is His design.
And I get it. We don’t like reproach in the world. I understand that but know this, that if the world rejects you in disgrace over bearing the reproach of Christ, you haven’t lost much.
Verse 14: For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Bearing the reproach of Christ in the world is a hard thing to endure with joy if all your hope is anchored in this world.
If all your hope is anchored in this world you are probably trying to convince yourself about now how what Hebrews is saying can’t be true. This is usually were the hard hitting and clear teaching of Scripture dies the death of a thousand qualifications in our own minds.
Remember we have no lasting city here because it will all one day be shaken and only the eternal aspects of the Kingdom of God in Christ is the only eternal hope.
So there are two truths that encourage and challenge us to bear the reproach of Christ.
The Blood Atonement of Christ by which He purchased us for God (11-12).
And second, the temporal nature of this fallen world (14).
The second category of our sacrificial response is seen in verses 15-16 which is, Continuing in our worship of God. Look at verses 15-16:
Continuing in Worship (15-16): 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Offering up the fruit of our lips as a sacrifice of praise to God.
Sharing what we have with one another.
So much I could say here but just remember they had nothing. They had left under persecution and had lost it all. They had lots to be heart broken over. But Hebrews makes worship to God and ministry to one another the priority.
And that was about all these early Christians had in the world anyway. Worship and clinging to one another in community for their needs to be met.
Worship and service to one another, Hebrews says such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Because both are Kingdom dynamics in the life and ministry of the Church. Life in the Body of Christ is about worship to God and ministry to one another.
God is the one who created it to be this way. The gospel has worked this dynamic into the covenant community of the Church. Today we come to this table to remember that very thing.

Conclusion

This table reminds us of what God has done. He has provided a Lamb once and for all time. It is not the meat of a sacrifice but the bread of God’s provision in Christ.
His body broken and His blood shed to atone for sin. This is not a meal where we celebrate our performance. But the performance of Christ on our behalf.
Unbeliever, Believe the gospel for your salvation.
Believer the Apostle Paul issues a warning to the Christians at Corinth in preparation for the celebration of Christ in I Corinthians 11:27*
Let us examine our hearts before the Lord. Let’s Pray!
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