The Greatness of Mount Zion - Part 2

Well if you would take your Bible turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 we will be in verses 25 to 29 this morning in the message. Now last week we got started in this section of Scripture that goes together verses 18 to 29 and we covered verses 18 to 24. So this morning will really be a continuation of those verses. This is a part two, a part two of what I call the greatness of Mount Zion and just like last week I'll revisit the title of the message at the conclusion. But remember that verses 18 to 29 are considered to be by many the high point of the book of Hebrews. We can see it like this, chapters 1 to 11 build up to this point.

In his commentary on Hebrews our molar says that verses 18 to 29 are the climactic point the author had been building towards for the last 11 chapters. I believe he is right. It may be good for you to note that. I don't know if you write in your Bible or you take good notes but noting that verses 18 to 29 are the climax the high point of the book would be good for you. But the book of Hebrews is all about explaining and exalting the supremacy of Christ. We know that. Chapters 1 to 11 present Jesus and the New Covenant as better than the Old Covenant because the Old Covenant has been fulfilled in the New.

And with the coming of the New Covenant the Old is actually made obsolete. It is done away with. But that does not mean that we tear out our Old Testament. This does not mean that we disregard the Old Covenant. No, of course we study the Old while remembering that Christ fulfilled it all. And we are not bound to live by the Old Covenant but we're bound to live by the New. The Old Covenant was good. It was given by God but it was meant to be temporary and preparatory. It was not complete. It was even incomplete. The New Covenant fulfills what the Old Covenant pictured, what it promised, and what it anticipated.

As Christians we do not go to the Old Covenant. The ceremony sacrifices rituals and priests of the Old Covenant. We understand that those things were pictures and shadows of what was to come in Christ Jesus. We go to and we live by the substance which is Christ not the shadows which foreshadowed Christ. So in verses 18 to 29 we have the culmination of all the author was doing from chapter 1 to chapter 11. Again this is the climactic point the author had been building to all along. But we must keep in mind now that the author was not giving some kind of an impersonal theological treatise.

He was not giving some kind of an impersonal theology class on the person of Christ. He was writing to a real congregation, an imperfect congregation of Jesus in the time before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Many in the congregation were truly saved while some were professing to be Christian but they were not and there were some that were connected to the congregation that didn't even profess Christ and he was writing to encourage them not to go back to the Old Covenant and their former way of life in Judaism.

He was working hard to get them to remain true to Christ in the New Covenant and those who had not truly believed he was calling them to savingly believe in Christ. He was very very evangelistic and we have seen how they were pressured to go back to the Old Covenant because of the rejection and the persecution they were experiencing from the culture. So after he exalted the supremacy of Jesus and the New Covenant from chapter 1 to chapter 11 and in chapter 12 verses 1 to 17 he went on to encourage them to run their race of faith well and to look back at those Old Testament saints for motivation.

Last week we started to see the next steps that he took in encouraging them to run their race of faith well. Verses 18 to 29 he took them to comparison after comparison and he took them to a crossroads where they had to make a choice and we began this last week. The comparisons he presented were between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion, between the Old Testament law and Jesus as the fulfillment of the law, between the fear of judgment under the law and Jesus as the mediator of the New Covenant who provides forgiveness for those who believe.

They could go back to the Old Covenant and the law that was given on Mount Sinai that could have never provided salvation or they could go the way of Jesus. It was and is the mediator of the New Covenant and who provided perfect salvation and peace for them. So verses 18 to 29 are about going from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion and the greatness of Mount Zion. And our verses this morning verses 25 to 29 are about pressing them in their choice. The author was pressing them. He really pressed them hard and he did this giving them certain warnings, giving them certain motivations and these things were meant to help them make the right choice.

Now this is how we will move along in the message. I will remind us of what we studied last week, rather quick review, and then we will get into these new verses verses 25 to 29. This is all one message it all goes together. But again we had a part one and part two because of time. But last week we saw this call to look back to Sinai which is in verses 18 to 21. Now there is no doubt that the author was calling them to think back and to look back at what happened at Mount Sinai when God gave Israel their forefathers the law at the foot of Sinai. God did this when he gave them the 10 commandments through Moses. We know that.

And he described what happened as he did to present the contrast and comparisons and to show them the ultimate purpose of these events. He reminded them that at Sinai the people saw the mountain covered with blazing fire, great darkness and gloom, and how they heard the blasts of the trumpet and messages from God. And he reminded them that the people were so afraid and overwhelmed by what they saw and heard and experienced that they begged for God to stop speaking. And not only were they fearful of what they saw and heard, they were terrified of the mountain itself. If they touched the mountain, they died.

Even if an animal who could not understand these things touched the mountain, it was to be stoned to death. This situation was so terrifying and so overpowering that Moses was afraid and he was closer to God than any man. And remember the purpose of these events besides the giving of the law to the people of God. First these things happened to demonstrate to the people that God did exist in great unapproachable holiness and power. Second these things happened to instill in them an absolute terror and fear of God. God was holy, they were sinful in every way, and because of their sin, God was unapproachable.

If they did approach God, they would die. Then third these things happened to give them the perfect law of God that they could never keep, which in turn reveal the absolute holiness of God and their utter sinfulness. Remember John MacArthur taught us that the ultimate purpose of these things was to prove to the people the unquestionable unapproachableness of God. That's a mouthful, but it's really hitting the mark. This is all about the unquestionable and unapproachableness of God. And today, if one is not savingly in Christ Jesus, they are figuratively at the foot of Sinai.

That person is accountable to God through the perfect law of God that was given at Sinai and explained by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. And if they die in that place, they have no hope, none at all, and I will explain more of what that looks like later on in the message. Then we saw this call to look forward to Zion. We see this in verses 22 to 24. Now there's no doubt here that the author was calling them to look ahead into eternity to the heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.

And he said in verse 22, "You have come to Zion, you have come to Zion, the heavenly city Jerusalem." So some of who he was writing to here had truly been saved. And he gave them a few details about the heavenly Zion to help them see what they were looking forward to. It is the city of the Living God with a great gathering of angels and a great festive gathering obviously in worship of the Living God. And it is the city of the assembly, the enrolled in heaven. The assembly are the redeemed children of God, the children of the firstborn, the firstborn being Jesus.

They are enrolled in heaven in that their names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Also this is the city of God, the judge of all. At Sinai to go into the presence of God meant death and judgment. But in the heavenly Jerusalem the opposite is true. The assembly of the firstborn whose names are enrolled in heaven they can enter into the presence of God and live, and they do. Simply to go into the presence of God at the earthly Sinai was to die, but as the redeemed to go into the presence of God in the heavenly Zion is to live. And it is the city of the righteous who are those saints of God who were before them.

This certainly would have included those Old Testament saints that he wrote about and talked about in chapter 11. We know that as the Hall of Fame of the saints of God. And this is the city of Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant. Jesus was and is the mediator or the go-between between a holy God and sinful man. On the cross he made the way so that sinful man can be redeemed and put into a right relationship with the unapproachable God. And also this is the city of a better blood. The blood of Jesus was and is better than the blood of righteous Abel. Abel's sacrifice of blood was acceptable to God because Abel worshiped God by faith.

But Abel's blood sacrifice could not provide atonement for men and man. Abel's sacrifice couldn't even provide atonement for his own sin. But Jesus' blood was and is sufficient to cleanse the sins of all whose savingly come to him and believe. And this call to look forward to this heavenly Jerusalem was the opposite of everything these Jews had ever been taught for generations since the time of Moses. You see for them to be Jewish meant to view themselves and their history everything that they understood in light of and through Mount Sinai.

But unlike at Sinai under the New Covenant God meets with his people in the heavenly Jerusalem but not in fear and judgment and unapproachableness like at Sinai. At the heavenly Zion his people can do and will approach him through the better blood of Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant. For us today I'm speaking to believers right here. Verse 22 applies to us. Notice that God takes what we have been learning here and he says to us but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem. Do you see that? And look church, I'm talking only to the redeemed right now.

This earth is not our home although we reside here. This earth is not our home spiritually. We have come to Mount Zion and one day we will arrive. We will arrive. So let's live looking forward to that day. Maybe you need to meditate on these things. Maybe you need to study these things more. Maybe you need to cultivate that ability to look forward to this day so as to yearn for our true home, our true home. Now last week I concluded the message by altering the title. I will do that again. I've titled these verses "The Greatness of Zion" but we should see that this is also the dread of Sinai and the dread of Zion or the greatness of Zion.

Let me restate that. I have titled these sermons "The Greatness of Zion" but we should see this as the dread of Sinai and the dread of Zion or the greatness of Zion. It just depends on who we are. For us as believers we see the greatness of Zion but for those who have not savingly believed this is awful. The loss will be judged by Sinai and the loss will be judged by Zion as well. They will be judged by the perfect law of God that was given at Sinai and Galatians 3.10 says, "Curse be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them." That is because the lost are not under grace.

They are under law and if they have not kept God's law perfectly in word, deed, thought, attitude, and motivation, they will be judged accordingly. And they will also be judged by Jesus who is in Zion and the redemption he provided on the cross. In Acts 17 when Paul was preaching to the Athenians on Mars Hill in verse 31 he said, "He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed." This means that God has appointed Jesus as judge but it also means that those whom he does judge will be judged in righteousness.

That means his judgment is right and they will be judged according to the light and the truth they have received. Simply those who have heard of Christ, they've heard the gospel, and they have heard of eternal life in Christ yet they have turned away. They will be judged according to that revelation. So they will be judged by Zion as well. Just let that sink in now. The loss will be judged by Sinai and they will be judged by Zion as well. But now we come to verses 25 to 29. This is the third point in our outline.

Verses 18 to 21, this call to look back to Sinai, verse 22 to 24, the call to look forward to Zion, and verses 25 to 29 are about this call to look up to Jesus. This call to look up to Jesus. Now let's get to our verses. Verse 25 to 29. You'll see the transition. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking, for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warned from heaven.

And at that time his voice shook the earth but now he is promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. So continuing with this outline, number three, the call to look up to Jesus. Number three, the call to look up to Jesus. And we've just read this in verse 25 to 29.

But if we look at verse 25 along with verse 24 we see quite a lot. We see a call to look to Jesus. We see a call to look to Jesus who is speaking and we see a call to look up to Zion where Jesus, his mediation and his blood is speaking. So I want us to look at verse 25 and then look at 24. I know I'm taking them out of order but you'll see what I'm aiming at. Now I'm gonna read it from the Amplified. You read along.

Verse 25, "See to it that you do not refuse to listen to him who is speaking to you now." Verse 24, "Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, uniting God and man into the sprinkled blood which speaks of mercy, a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel." Now before we get into the details of what we see here, I want to call your attention to our great, great responsibility right here. We are to look to Jesus who is speaking but I'm not referring to Jesus speaking through a sunset, a waterfall, the lake or the deer woods. He is speaking through his person, through his work, through his word and these circumstances.

I'll repeat that. He is speaking to us today and has been speaking through his person, his work, his word and the circumstances we are in and studying these things. We are to look to Jesus who is speaking as the mediator of the new covenant which unites the holy unapproachable God with sinful men and men. He is speaking through the mediating work. He is speaking as the mediator. We are to look to Jesus who is speaking through his blood which is the only blood that can provide redemption for sinners. He is speaking through his blood. His blood that he shed on that cross is speaking. And for the believer we hear his voice. We hear these things.

They resonate within our minds and hearts through and because of the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. We hear these things. We hear his voice so we worship in great, great submission and humility and later we will see how this leads us even to Christian service. Before the unsaid, you hear his blood. You hear his mediating work on the cross. You hear Jesus. You hear his work on the cross. You hear his word and the Holy Spirit of God is convicting and convincing you of sin and calling you to come to him, you see. But let's look at this call to hear him speaking and then we'll look at some more contrasts, even warnings.

And these things are meant to bring us to a crossroads. They were meant to bring them to crossroads. And these things are even great motivations. They were for them and they are for us. Now this call here wasn't his very strong. It was actually a warning. He warned them not to refuse him who is speaking. You see that? The amplified says, "See to it that you do not refuse to listen to him who is speaking to you now." And the depth and breadth and seriousness of this warning can be seen in the language. When he said, "See to it," this is a verb. That's an action word and it speaks of a continuous action.

The command, the call, and the idea here is to see to it, to be watchful, and to always keep a serious and watchful out for. And this is a warning. He was calling them to always be watchful and very serious and keeping an eye out for something, but for what? Refusing to listen to the one speaking. And this refusing, it means to avoid, even to shun. It simply means to refuse. Now think about this original Jewish audience. They were Jews. They knew their Old Testament and they knew of how their Jewish forefathers refused to listen to God. After their forefathers left Egypt in Egyptian slavery, their forefathers tested God 10 times.

And as a result, they were forbidden from going into the promised land. They refused God. They refused the voice of God over and over and over. They shunned and they avoided the voice of God. They shunned and they avoided the commandments of God over and over and over. This means they refused and shunned God. Think back to the original congregation. The author said, "See to it that you do not refuse to listen to him. Who is speaking to you now?" Well, how was Jesus speaking to them? This original congregation. We've seen it. We've seen how. He was speaking to them as the mediator between them and God.

He was speaking by and through the New Covenant that had been explained to them thoroughly. He was speaking through His blood, which provided salvation and peace with God for them. He was speaking through the words of the author of Hebrews, who was working so hard to help them understand these things. And the Holy Spirit of God was speaking to them in all of these things. Folks, this may not have been seen at first glance, but God was speaking to this original congregation and these people in many ways. A lot. A lot. So look at this warning.

The English Standard says, "See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking." Kenneth Boost in his translation says it like this, "Constantly be seeing that you do not disavow him who is speaking." Again, the Amplified, "See to it that you do not refuse to listen to him who is speaking to you now." I say it like this. The author was saying, "Be very careful to always be on guard so that you do not come to a place where you refuse to listen to Jesus who is speaking. Always be on guard so as to be listening to and obeying the voice of God." Now question here, just think about this.

What would have happened to those in this original congregation if they refused to listen to Jesus and how he was speaking to them? Many of them would have apostatized. They would have gone back to Judaism. And we learned that those who truly apostatized have no hope. They would have taken the highway to hell, folks. They would have walked away from Jesus, the gospel, the new covenant, and salvation in eternal life. Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. The stakes were high. But another question, more personal, let this sink in. What will happen to you if you refuse to Jesus and how he is speaking to you now?

What will happen to you if you refuse to listen to Jesus and how he has been speaking to you for days and weeks and months? What will happen? Now we come to more warnings, more contrasts in certain outcomes that were meant to be motivation for them as they came to their crossroads. First, notice this escaping God's judgment and wrath. Escaping God's judgment and wrath. We see this in the second part of verse 25. "See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven." The author took them back to the Jews of the Exodus I mentioned earlier. He was reminding them that their forefathers did not escape judgment from God when they refused to listen to God when he spoke to them at Sinai and so many other times. And notice how this was to be a great, great warning for them. If their forefathers refused to listen to God and obey the voice of God when they heard, then it would be even worse for them.

Their forefathers heard from God at Sinai, but this congregation, they were hearing from God from Mount Zion. And on top of that, they had their forefathers to learn from. At the very least, they should have looked back into their history and said, "I don't want to do what our forefathers did." So this is a warning to escape God's judgment and wrath. This was a warning to make sure to be watchful, not to refuse to listen to the voice of Jesus as he warned them from Mount Zion. And look church, this is not a popular message. This is not a popular way to preach. This is not going to make us feel warm and fuzzy.

This will not make Facebook Christianity happy. Doesn't Facebook Christianity just make you want to kick something? But those who ignore and reject the gospel call, those who hear the voice of Jesus, who come to him and be saved, they refuse his voice. They will not escape God's judgment and wrath. The judgment and wrath of God for refusing the voice of Jesus and the gospel is far worse than the judgment and wrath the Exodus Jews experienced. Remember, remember, men and women are judged according to the amount of light and truth they receive. Second, the new world that is to come, verses 26 to 27. The new world that is to come.

He says, "At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he is promised, yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. This phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken. That is, things that have been made and ordered that the things that cannot be shaken may remain." Now here he was making another comparison. He mentions how God shook the earth at Sinai and then he moves to when God will shake the earth at the end of time. Your Bible may footnote this, but here he is referring to the prophecy scene in Haggai chapter 2. And what he is saying here is simple.

The end of the world will be much greater and more awesome than what took place at Sinai. Now notice what is to take place. The author says that in heaven there will be a great shaking. Now this is not an earthquake, but a heaven quake. William McDonald uses that word heaven quake. Grab my attention, it's true. This will certainly be a shaking of the heavens above even the entire universe. In this shaking there is going to be a removal of things. This removal of things speaks to the fact that the things that can be shaken or earthly things they will be removed. And in this shaking there will be a renewal of things.

The things that are not earthly will be renewed. And this is the new heaven and the new earth. Summarizing what MacArthur says here, the author was pointing them to a future and a final shaking of the entire creation heaven and earth. God will remove all that is temporary and that which can change. And this will pave the way for the eternal and unshakeable kingdom of Christ. And notice church, he was contrasting for them the old world that would pass away and the new world that would come. He was showing them that the old world would be done away with in the new world and the new kingdom would be forever.

Look folks, all these climate extremists who tell us that we're gonna destroy the earth, we're gonna destroy everything, they don't know. They do not know. Now men can mar the earth, men can mar the creation. That's as a result of sin now. But the earth will last until God destroys it. The text says it. So when you hear these climate alarmists talk about destruction and destruction, ignore that. Don't worry about what the climate alarmists say about the earth's destruction. We better worry about what God says about it. Third, a call to be grateful and worshipful.

Verse 28, "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence in all." Here we see a transition. He says, "Therefore," we can say it like this. He was saying, "since we have all these things presented to us, let us make sure we react in the way that we should." But remember now, he was writing to some who were genuinely born again. In verse 22 he said, "But you have come to Mount Zion." This does not pertain to the lost is my point. And what he was saying here is simple.

Since you have received, since you see and understand all these things, make sure you react the way you should. Putting this in my words, he was calling them to show gratitude, thankfulness, worship, and grace to God for these great blessings of grace in Christ. And he was calling them to offer to God acceptable worship. Only the true believer can do this. Now we can get spiritual gratitude, thankfulness, and worship, and grace to God, but how do we understand what this is? How do we understand what this is? We are supposed to offer gratitude, thankfulness, and worship, and grace to God. Well how do we get what this is?

Look folks, acceptable service to God and worship of God is explained in the scriptures. Simply we worship God and we serve God and we respond to these things according to what we see in the scriptures. I mentioned Facebook earlier. My Facebook feed is rather limited. I usually use it to look at tractors and bushogs on marketplace, but lately I have noticed some of these posts by some of these famous, famous quote-unquote worship leaders giving us instructions about how to worship. I have the name of one of them right here in front of me who was popular in the 90s, and you know when I saw that I thought I do not need Michael W.

Smith to tell me how I'm supposed to worship. He may be right, he may be wrong. Really and truly I don't care what he says. I care what the book says. You see church, you don't need Michael W. Smith to tell you. You need a faithful pastor who will take you chapter and verse through the scriptures and let the scriptures tell us how we should worship and serve our Lord. You see? Fourth, the warning of God who is a consuming fire. Look at the last verse, rather short verse 29. "For our God is a consuming fire." Now this verse seems like it's just tagged on the end. It's short, it's rather brutal.

As a matter of fact, it's not very inviting, but notice what the author is saying here. He is warning them again, and this was and is a very stern, a very harsh warning. I love how John MacArthur puts the thoughts of the original author in his words. I like to do that, so when I run across one who does that, I just love it. He says the writer is saying something like this, "Some of you have come to the edge of full acceptance of Christ. Don't go back to Judaism now. Only judgment awaits you at Sinai and even worse judgment in refusing the offer of Zion.

Don't be consumed by God's fierce unrelenting fire of judgment." Now think about this language of fire and God being a consuming fire. He had just reminded them of Sinai, and at Sinai, God literally manifested himself in fire and smoke. And these things were symbols to them of certain realities. The fire at Sinai is a symbol of the reality of God. God is fire. God is a fire of judgment and wrath against sin, and this is what the original readers who had not come to saving faith risk. They risk being judged by God who is a consuming fire.

And get this church, this image of God as a consuming fire that judged the unrepentant sinner is not the image of God that endears people to him, that endears people to the church, and endears people to us. This does not attract a crowd, but it's truth. This is who God is, not just what he does. And if we do not warn the lost that they are running the risk of falling into the hands of an angry God who is a consuming fire, who will judge them according to his righteous wrath, we are misrepresenting who God is. We are not being honest with the lost. So look at what we have here. He called them to look up to Jesus who was speaking to them.

God spoke to their forefathers and he was speaking to them. And we have seen this morning that he was saying and is saying quite a lot. Now I want to begin to close by reading two verses and just making a few short comments. Verse 25, maybe look at it in your copy of God's Word. I'm going to read it from the Amplified. "See to it that you do not refuse to listen to him who is speaking to you now.

For if those sons of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to him who warned them on earth revealing God's will, how much less will we escape if we turn our backs on him who warns from heaven." Church this is a serious warning given to the lost from Jesus in heaven. "And he calls from his throne in Zion, he calls from his throne in heaven for the lost to come to him and be saved." You see that? And get this, the lost who died refusing Christ and salvation deserve this judgment. The lost who died refusing Christ in the gospel, in refusing eternal life in Christ, they deserve this judgment. Now verse 28.

Look at verse 28 in your copy of God's Word. "Therefore since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe." Church this is a serious call given to the believer from Jesus on his throne in Zion. From his throne in the New Jerusalem he says come to him and worship. He says for us to come to him and worship and great awe reverence and service to him because we have a kingdom waiting for us in eternity, a kingdom we have received.

Get this, the redeemed who receive his kingdom and who go to be with him in his kingdom throughout eternity, we don't deserve it. We don't deserve it. We never will deserve it. We never will deserve it. We never will deserve it. Whereas the lost deserve their judgment. So again the thought of the message. This is all about the greatness of Zion, but we could call this the greatness of Zion versus the dread of Mount Sinai or we could call this from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion.

I'm so thankful that by and through his grace I have gone from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion and because of his grace I can see the greatness of Mount Zion and I can serve him and worship him and love him and look forward to the day when he takes me to the heavenly Jerusalem. Let's pray.