A Better Mountain

Welcome Online & Visitors

OFFERING

Ladies Discipleship on Tuesday nights, see Autumn for details!

This Saturday - Elim Conference - THEME - Need you to come and sign up to bring something for breakfast. Arrive between 8:30-9.

Operation Christmas Child Packing Party Nov. 22nd After Church

Introduction

In Scripture the number two has some significance.

There are Two Trees in the garden

There are Two Children born to Adam & Eve

Two Women That Bear Children To Abraham

Two Tablets

Two Tabernacles

Two Covenants

Two Witnesses

And today we are going to look at two mountains.

Main Text

Hebrews 12:18–29 NLT

You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.

Why Should We Lay Aside The Weights And Sins That Keep Us From Running Our Race? Why should we endure the discipline of God and pursue holiness? Because we have come to a better mountain!

This is the culmination of the entire book of Hebrews. This is the big point that he’s been aiming for. He wants his audience to understand this one point:

We Have Come To A Better Mountain

Why Does He Believe This? Well he’s given us that information all along. Coming to Jesus is better because He is…

A Better Revelation

Better Than The Angels

Speaks A Better Message

Better Than Moses

Offers A Better Rest

A Better Deliverance

Better Than Levi

A Better High Priest

Offering A Better Sacrifice

A Better Cleansing

Through A Better Covenant

Built On Better Promises

He Invites You To Run A Better Race

To End Up At A Better Mountain

This is the the end of his main message and he is summing everything up in this big idea. The mountain we have come to is better. Now this might not mean much to you, but mountains in the Bible hold a lot of significance.

When you wanted to meet with God, you went up on the mountain. In fact, the ancients looked at this for almost all their false gods as well. They would build altars “in the high places” as the Bible tells us. Those high places were considered special, sacred. And in Jewish culture, none was more sacred or special than Sinai. That is where God met with Moses.

Let’s compare the two mountains.

I. We Have Come To A Better Mountain

To understand why it’s a better mountain…

Mount Sinai:

It Could Not Be Touched (v.18)

There Was Fire, Darkness, Gloom And A Whirlwind (v.18)

It Was Loud (The Sound Of A Trumpet v.19)

God’s Voice Terrified People (v.19)

If The Beasts Touched It, They Were To Be Stoned (v.20)

Moses Trembled (v.21)

Mount Zion:

It’s The City Of God (v.22)

The Heavenly Jerusalem (v.22)

The Joyful Assembly Of The Angels (v.22)

The Assembly Of The Saved (God’s children v.23)

You Have Direct Access To God (v.23)

Jesus Is The Mediator Of This New Covenant (v.24)

No Animal Sacrifices, Because His Blood Brings Forgiveness (v.24)

But More than Comparing These Two Mountain, he’s actually using language and constructing this description in such a way that we are forced into comparing the two covenants in our mind.

IMAGE

The Old Covenant:

Law, Commandments and Judgment

Resulting In Condemnation & Separation From God

Made With Only Israel

Brings Fear, Trembling & Distance From God

The New Covenant:

Grace, Forgiveness & Fellowship

Resulting In Justification, Sanctification, Glorification & Life Access To God

Made With All Who Trust In Him

Brings Peace, Joy & Eternal Hope

The New Covenant Is Just Better! And if you are a Christian, that’s the mountain you’ve come to, a mountain where you can draw near to God, not be terrified of him. You have come to the mountain where you can call God, Father.

Now, this isn’t just a theme for Hebrews. This is a theme throughout the Bible. There were two trees in the Gardne.

But there is one thing in particular that this passage points out that we cannot miss…

II. God Speaks To Us Directly

Notice how the comparison changes in verses 25-27. He goes from comparing the way we draw close to God through the Old and New Covenants to the difference in how we hear from God in the two covenants.

In The Old Covenant, God Spoke And We Shuddered. If you read the account of this in Exodus, you see that the people beg for Moses to be a mediator between them and God. Mount Sinai was so terrifying that they did not want to have a personal relationship with God.

In one sense they were probably more concerned in upsetting God than drawing near to Him. They were scared, so they may have been thinking, “how can I make sure I don’t upset this God?”

So when the covenant was made, they quickly agreed, even though they lacked the power to obey the law. They were scared. It makes sense.

In The New Covenant, God Speaks And We Listen. There is no need to run from this Mountain. Mount Zion invites us to come close in joyful celebration. We are invited into the party. We are the bride. We are the guest of honor at this feast. So when the Lord speaks, we listen. He is our beloved.

God Hasn’t Changed, But We Have! This is the ultimate idea. God doesn’t change, we are told that in the next chapter, Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. But we have changed! Under the clouds of judgment, we did not feel safe to draw near to God and listen to his voice. But now, under the clouds of grace, we can boldly approach his throne and ask him for whatever we need!

His Voice Directs Us. Not only is He speaking directly to us, he is directing us by his voice. We are those that are led by his Holy Spirit. The Spirit speaks and we listen.

Jesus is giving us ongoing instructions. The Author warns us of what may happen if we do not obey them in verse 25.

Don’t Refuse To Listen - This is why this warning is so poignant, now that we are at Mount Zion, why would refuse to listen? Well that goes back to what the author has been talking about throughout this chapter.

We Have Weights

We Have Sins

We Withdraw From God’s Discipline

Or, to look ahead into the next chapter

We Have Bad Theology - This is the danger of false doctrine. When we have bad theology, it blinds us and deceives us. It keeps us from drawing near to God.

Example - I know some people don’t believe that once you become a Christian that you don’t need to confess and repent anymore. I’m under grace, I don’t need to deal with that. It’s under the blood, they might say. But the truth is we do need to confess and repent. To confess means to agree. You must agree with Him that your sin is actually a sin. Remember sin is deceitful, it will convince you that what you are doing isn’t really that bad or that it’s good. “I’m not lying, I’m just stretching the truth,” we might say. But the truth is we need to repent. We need to turn from sin. We need to cast them off as the Author of Hebrews tells us to do. “So don’t be attracted by strange, new ideas,” the author says in the next chapter.

So when the Spirit brings up your sins, whether through His voice or through the written word, you need to listen!

Remember what the Author of Hebrews said much earlier in the book…

Hebrews 3:15 NLT

“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

Be Careful To Listen. We need to pay close attention he says. Be careful not to disobey God’s voice when he speaks to you. By his command to be careful, we can safely deduce that this means its easy to ignore his voice. It’s easy to distract yourself from it or to miss it.

A Second Shaking Is Coming - In the Old Covenant, God’s voice shook the earth, but now he is promising again to shake the earth with his voice. And this shaking will remove things that are not eternal, things that are intended to be destroyed. The shaking that is coming will turn this world on its head. That’s the voice of the one we serve. He can reorder the world with just one word. After all He created the world with the sound of his voice, he will also recreate the world in that same way.

And on a personal note, I can tell you, He has shaken my life when he’s spoken to me. But in that shaking, he’s set my feet on solid ground so that I’m no longer shaken. That’s why we can rejoice that the kingdom we are receiving is unshakeable. When we trust in Him, we are put on a rock that shall never be moved!

So with this in mind, what is our application to this grand message? It’s a simple one, but profound. He says…

III. Let Us Be Grateful & Worship

Gratitude Is The Attitude Of A Christian! He says be thankful. Contentment and gratitude is one of the big keys to life. Often, I have found myself anxious or angry at something when all I really need to be is grateful.

Gratitude Is The Backbone Of The New Covenant - Because of what Christ has done, because of the fact that we can now draw near to God, because we can now hear the Voice of the Beloved calling to us, we should be grateful. Don’t reject his voice, be grateful that you can hear it!

Worship Pleases God -

We Must Worship Him With Reverence - Holy fear and awe or godly fear, these are all the same ways to describe how we should live now in light of what God has done for us. Aside from a healthy does of gratitude in our hearts, we should remember that God is not our “buddy”, he is still God and he should be worshipped accordingly. Do not make the mistake of demeaning God in your approach to Him.

Just by nature of the exhortation to please him by worshipping him with holy fear, the idea is being communicated that we could worship God in ways that do not please Him. He is not looking for just any old worship. He’s looking for worship that is reverent. We should treat God in a manner of respect and admiration, love and honor.

Our God Is A Consuming Fire - This is a call back to Deuteronomy 4:24, and is meant to reinforce to the reader that God hasn’t changed. We don’t believe in “sloppy agape”. Just because God has shown us grace does not mean that we should keep on sinning. NO! It means that we are grateful for that grace and now by the power of the Holy Spirit we turn to Him.

This idea of worshipping Him with reverence is reinforced by the fact that our God is still a consuming fire. Do not approach him carelessly or with lack of respect. Come to Him boldly, but with reverence.

Albert Barnes in his commentary on the Hebrews says this about this verse…

Hebrews Chapter 12

It was the same God who was served. There had been no change in his attributes, or in the principles of his government. He [is] no more the friend of sin now than he was then; and the same perfections of his nature which would then lead him to punish transgression would also lead him to do it now.

The Same Fire That Consumes Is The Same Fire That Purifies - For those that are irreverent, the fire will consume, but to those that draw near with faith, the fire purifies. Remember the goal here is our holiness. God is making us more like Him.

Decision