Outside the Camp

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"This spake He of the Spirit, which they who believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7: 39).

"Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. 13: 13).

In the Gospel of John, we have in Christ the presentation of that which is entirely new upon the earth. The religious system that existed before the coming of Christ — before "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" — is set aside in view of the introduction of Christianity. In the first chapter the law of Moses gives place to "grace and truth" which "came by Jesus Christ." In the second chapter the Jewish temple is set aside by "the temple of His body. "

In the third chapter "earthly things" give place to "heavenly things." In the fourth chapter the failing waters of this present passing life give way to "the fountain of water springing up into everlasting life," and Jerusalem-worship is set aside for the worship of the Father in spirit and truth. In the fifth chapter, the whole legal system with the pool, the angel and the sabbath is set aside by the all-powerful voice of the Son of God.

In the sixth chapter the natural bread, sustaining natural life, is thrown into the shade by "the bread which came down from heaven" to give and sustain a new and heavenly life. The seventh chapter brings rivers of living water into this dry and barren world. The eighth and ninth chapters bring the light of life into a world of darkness and death. In the tenth chapter the Christian flock takes the place of the Jewish fold, and finally in the eleventh chapter, the Son of God, acting in the mighty power of resurrection life, annuls the power of death and the grave.

We will look at these two systems — the old and the new — under eleven points in that which follows. ONE