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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Outside the Camp.


"So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach."--Hebrews 13:13.  The Hebrews writer speaking of that which Christ did for us and what we must do in response.  Hebrews 13:11 tells us what the custom was regarding the sacrifice. The blood was shed and the bodies of the sacrifices were burned outside the camp.  Jesus was taken outside the city gates of Jerusalem to be crucified.  His blood was shed and now we must go to Him to come into contact with that blood outside the camp.

Outside the camp.  The camp is where the people lived.  That which was to disposed of was taken outside of the camp.  Christ was taken outside the camp that was Jerusalem.  In the eyes of those who crucified Him, He was that which was to be disposed of outside the camp.

Outside the camp.  It's to Christ that we must go.  We must go to Christ outside the camp.  When Christ went to the cross, as I said before some saw Him as that which needed to be disposed of.  What one needs to consider when deciding on whether or not to obey the gospel is he/she willing to follow Christ outside the camp and be seen by the world as that which needs to be disposed of?  What I am alluding to is what Christ said to His disciples in John 15:20: "If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also." Do we dare to go to Christ outside the camp?

Outside the camp.  Going to Christ outside the camp involves commitment. It involves a commitment to bring others to Christ outside the camp.  Of course this means we must go to those in the camp.  As a Christian, the camp is a scary place sometimes.  Attempting to draw others to the saving blood of Christ outside the camp may bring rejection and persecution. However, we must take encouragement in the fact that there are those who are longing to leave the camp, they just don't know how to do it or where to go. Some don't even know there is LIFE outside the camp.  Not just life but eternal life.

Outside the camp.  For the Christian, life outside the camp is eternally better. Is life outside the camp always easy? I think I have shown that it's not always easy but the benefits make the hard times more than worth it. So I leave you with this, if you have not obeyed the gospel and have yet to go to Christ outside the camp, today is the day to do so.  For those of us who are living outside the camp under the protective nature of Christ and His cleansing blood, do we dare and are we willing to go back into the camp to bring others out? May we never forget Matthew 28:18-20.  Will you go outside the camp?

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