SERMON OUTLINE:
• (1). Mount Sinai: the mountain of fear (vs 18-21).
• (2). Mount Zion: the mountain of faith (vs 22-24).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• If there is one word in the English language that is sure to cause a debate when spoken,
• It is the word is “greatest.”
• In fact, you can take almost any two people,
• And you can always stir trouble by using this simple word.
• i.e. Ask a football fan who was their teams greatest player;
• And they will debate one another for hours.
• i.e. Ask two car enthusiasts what is the greatest car ever made;
• And they will eagerly debate their opinion.
• i.e. Whether it’s the greatest politician, the greatest singer or song,
• i.e. The greatest movie ever made?
• i.e. The greatest preacher or hymn ever written.
• There is something about that word “greatest”
• That stirs something inside of us,
• And we will passionately defend our point of view.
• TRANSITION: One of the themes of the book of Hebrews is “The greatest”
• And when compared to the competition, the answer is always Jesus!
• i.e. Jesus Greater Than Angels (1:4-2:18)
• i.e. Jesus Greater Than Moses (3:1-6)
• i.e. Jesus Greater Than Aaron (4:14 to 5:10)
• i.e. Jesus Greater Than Melchizedek (7:1-17)
And because Jesus is ‘The Greatest’ and has achieved through his death & resurrection the greatest rewards;
• In the second half of this letter the writer talks about:
• A Greater Covenant (8:1-13)
• A Greater Sanctuary (9:1-28)
• A Greater Sacrifice (10:1-22)
• The Greatest Principle: Faith (11:1-40)
• The Greatest Encouragement (12: 1-13)
• The Greatest Activity: Worship (13:10-21)
Now this morning I have been asked to speak on:
• Hebrews chapter 12 verses 18-29.
• Which I am going to title ‘Grace Is Greater Than The Law’.
• There are 613 commands or laws in the first five books of the Bible,
• These five books are also known as the books of the law,
• Because they contain the laws and instruction given by the Lord through Moses;
• To the people of Israel.
• The most well-known of these laws are what we call ‘The Ten Commandments’
• As found in Exodus 20:1-17, and then at Deuteronomy 5:4-21.
Ill:
• There is a great book called: ‘The Year of Living Biblically:
• One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.’
• By A.J. Jacobs.
• He is not a Christian but a Jew;
• And took on the challenge of trying to follow every single rule in the Bible;
• As literally as possible.
• The book is insightful, challenging and at times very funny,
• And read through the eyes of a Christian;
• It will make you appreciative of all you have in Christ.
• TRANSITION: Every believer in Jesus Christ is not under Law;
• But under grace!
• And believe me, being under grace is so much greater than being under the law!
Ill:
• In an old Dennis the Menace cartoon,
• Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson's house,
• Their hands full of cookies.
• Joey says to Dennis, "I wonder what we did to deserve this."
• Dennis answers, "Look, Joey. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice,
• But because she's nice."
• TRANSITION: I think of that cartoon as a simple picture of grace:
• God saved us not because we were nice and deserved it;
• But because he is nice and he loves us!
Some critics of the bible try to make out the Bible teaches two Gods:
• An Old Testament God who is a God of wrath and terror;
• And a New Testament version God who is a God of love & forgiveness.
• Whenever I hear that I wonder if they have read a Bible!
• All the characteristics/attributes of God revealed in the Old Testament;
• Are also revealed in the New Testament.
• The difference (if difference there be);
• Is the work of Jesus on the cross fulfils certain Old Testament situations;
• And the outcome, the result of that is New Testament blessings.
• In these verses before us this morning;
• We do not have two different Gods,
• But the same God.
• And the writer brings to our attention;
• The old way people used to approach God by the Law and self-effort;
• And the new way made possible through faith in Jesus Christ.
Note:
• The writer in this letter to the Hebrews is going to teach his readers by contrasts:
• We quite often when confronting an unfamiliar object,
• Set it against the familiar.
ill:
A child asks, “What is a zebra?” We reply,
“Oh a zebra - it’s an animal, sort of like a horse, but it’s not as big as a horse,
& it has stripes like a tiger all over, but they are black & white not black & orange.
• The adult has used both comparison & contrast,
• To explain to the child what a zebra is like.
• As long as the child knows what a tiger & horse is like,
• He or she will be able to get a good idea about what a zebra is like.
In a similar way the writer to the Hebrews:
• Compares and contrasts Judaism and Christianity,
• The Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
He does it by using representative images, 2 pictures of mountains:
(a).
• Mount Sinai (physical mountain).
• It is also known as Mount Horeb.
• The Protestant reformer John Calvin took the view that Sinai;
• Was the eastern side of the mountain and the western side was called Horeb.
(b).
• Mount Zion (spiritual mountain).
• The text makes it clear that the writer is not speaking here of the literal Mt. Zion;
• Located in Jerusalem.
• Rather he is speaking in spiritual terms;
• This mountain is symbolic, it is a spiritual place that we shall by faith,
• It is referred to in verse 22 as the “heavenly Jerusalem”.
• And we are to note the contrast between:
• Mount Sinai (a physical mountain).
• Mount Zion (spiritual mountain).
(1). Mount Sinai - The Mountain of Fear (vs 18-21).
“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’”
Ill:
• On summer night during a severe thunderstorm;
• A mother was tucking her small son into bed.
• She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice,
• "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?"
• Smiling the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly,
• "I can’t dear, I have to sleep in Daddy’s room."
• A long silence followed. Then a shaky voice saying,
• "Why, the big sissy!"
• TRANSITION: Fear and trembling is the backdrop to this case in point.
• This illustration is taken from the Old Testament (Exodus chapter 19):
• When God gave the Hebrew people (children of Israel) the law.
Ill:
When Moses led his people to the foot of Mt. Sinai;
According to Exodus chapter 19 verses 18-19 this is what they saw.
“Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
• Now the situation is very tense and dramatic.
• The mountain is encircled with dense clouds,
• There are earthquakes, thunder & lightening.
• It is a frightening situation,
• And the Hebrew people were naturally terrified!
• And so they should!
• They are learning a very important lesson
• That people cannot approach God any-old-how.
• They can only approach God on his conditions and they must not get this wrong!
Ill:
• Mount Sinai was untouchable, unapproachable;
• It was off limits to the people.
• So much so that God commanded Moses to set up a boundary around the mountain
• A bit like a crime scene where you have all that ‘do not enter’ police tape.
• And if a person (or even an animal) touched the mountain;
• They would die. They would be struck down!
(2). Mount Zion - The Mountain of Faith (vs 22-24).
“ But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ 27 The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’”
Ill:
• Faith is central to all of life.
• For example, you go to a doctor whose name you cannot pronounce;
• And whose degrees you have never verified.
• He gives you a prescription you cannot read.
• You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen before.
• He gives you a chemical compound you do not understand.
• Then you go home and take the pill according to the instructions on the bottle.
• All in trusting, sincere faith!
• TRANSITION: We (Christians) come to Mount Zion - The Mountain of Faith.
• And God’s grace demonstrated through the person of Jesus Christ;
• Has made such a dramatic contrast as to how we can approach God.
• We are not coming to Mount Sinai,
• Which is unapproachable and out of bounds.
• Instead we are coming to Mount Zion.
• And we can approach this mountain (and therefore God),
• Without fear and this privilege is ours because of Jesus.
Ill:
• The film Schindler's List;
• Chronicled the heroic efforts of a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler.
• Through his unselfish activities,
• Over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved,
• From what would have been certain death in Nazi concentration camps.
When Schindler found out what was happening at Auschwitz:
• He began a systematic effort to save as many Jews as he could.
• He discovered that for money, he could buy Jews to work in his factory;
• Which was supposed to be a part of the military machine of Germany.
• On one hand he was buying as many Jews as he could,
• And on the other hand;
• He was deliberately sabotaging the ammunition produced in his factory.
• He entered the war as a financially wealthy industrialist;
• By the end of the war, he was basically financially bankrupt.
• When the Germans surrendered,
• Schindler met with his workers and declared that at midnight they were all free to go.
The most emotional scene of the film is at the end;
• When Schindler says good-bye to the financial manager of the plant,
• A Jew and his good and trusted friend.
• As he embraced his friend,
• Schindler sobbed and said, "I could have done more."
• He looked at his automobile and asked,
• "Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this."
• Taking another small possession he cried,
• "This would have saved another one. Why didn't I do more?"
• TRANSITION:
• The Hebrew people of the Old Testament as they approached the Mountain of Fear;
• Would have said to themselves; “Why didn't I do more?"
• I could have kept more laws, I could have given more time, more money etc.
• Because the emphasis was on them.
• In contrast the Christian points to Jesus Christ and says:
• God could not have done any more!
• And the emphasis is on Jesus Christ!
• i.e. John chapter 3 verse 16:
• “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…”
• We are accepted not on our merits but on his!
• Therefore we come in faith and not fear!
I like the way the writer of this letter describes how we approach God:
• The writer uses six different phrases.
• In relating how we come to God.
• #1: “You have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem”.
• #2: “You have come to the assembly of joyful angels”.
• #3: “You have come to the judge of all men”
• #4: “You have come to the spirit of righteous men”
• #5: “You have come to the mediator of the new covenant”.
• #6: “You have come to the place of sprinkled blood”.
When you put these things next to each other, and in contrast to each other:
• They ought to make us appreciative of our position in Christ,
• We don’t approach knees knocking, teeth chattering, scared & unsure.
• Think of the simplicity and the speed, how instant;
• Even this morning how easily we can come before God into his presence.
• These verses remind us that we can approach God,
• The same God (not a different God) as we read about in Exodus chapter 19!
• We take it for granted, for us at times we get casual.
• For us at times it’s no big deal, we have always had this freedom.
• But don’t forget what those in the Old Testament went through.
Ill:
• If you could travel back in time just 200 years and imagine trying to explain;
• To someone of that period of time, that in 200 years from now we would:
• Not only have a man on the moon, but space travel is no longer a big deal.
• Surgeons could perform open heart surgery.
• Email, video conference with someone on the other side of the world.
• We take it for granted,
• They would probably find it impossible to believe you.
• Imagine talking to some of the Hebrew people regarding how you worship God.
• They too would find it impossible to believe you!
Note:
• So often with grace, comes abuse!
• That is we take things for granted,
• We let our guards down, we can if not careful allow our standards to drop.
• So notice what the writer of this letter tells us:
• This New Covenant is much better than the old:
• It is far greater and it is far more superior than the old covenant.
• But it is also much easier for us to abuse.
• When running on grace,
• We can shorten our stride and cut a few corners, slow down to a trot.
So the writer is telling his readers:
• Now just because there is a new arrangement,
• It doesn’t mean there has been a change in management:
• So we are reminded that:
• “Our God is (still) a consuming fire”.
• The picture, the symbolism of fire used in the Bible usually spoke about:
• Judgment, refinement, & purification.
Quote George McDonald:
“Our God is a consuming fire, love wants the object of its love to be lovely,
when there is that which is ugly about that which is beloved.
There is a desire to deal with the ugliness,
Our God is a consuming fire in the sense that he is desperately concerned to shower his love upon us and as he does he wants us to be transformed into his image, into his loveliness,
but the consuming fire must destroy that which is opposed to him”.
So the writer reminds his readers of a strange paradox:
• Our God is unapproachable, yet approachable.
• He is a consuming fire yet a God of grace
• He is a God of judgment, yet a God of love
• And because he is God and he is our God:
• We should not pick and choose between his attributes:
• Or just focus on those attributes that appeal to us.
Ill:
• Healthy human relationship between a child and their parent,
• There should be both respect and love.
• i.e. “Our Father” (intimacy), “Hallowed be your name” (respect)
• So we enjoy a new arrangement,
• But there has not been a change in management,
• So we must always come respectfully!
Our new arrangement is all because of Jesus (vs 24):
24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
• Abel is a character from the first book of the Bible;
• (Read about him in Genesis chapter 4).
• Abel was killed, stabbed to death by his brother Cain,
• And this verse tells us that his blood cries out from the ground for justice.
• Note: the contrast:
• Jesus blood cries out from heaven;
• Not seeking justice but announcing mercy for sinful, rebellious people.
• Abel’s spilt blood made his brother Cain feel guilty (and rightly so);
• It drove him away in despair.
• But Jesus blood frees us from guilt and despair;
• And it draws us near, opening up the way to God.
So you and I come to Mount Zion - we can Approach God.
• You are unique, no other part of God’s creation can appreciate him like we can.
• We are “Above the animals” we are the pinnacle of his creation.
Quote:
• The Westminster Catechism says:
• “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”.
• That is your reason for existing, your number one purpose on planet earth,
• “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever”.
ill:
• The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
• They both miss out, his ability to read does not benefit him.
• Now in the same way the Christian who does not worship God.
• Has no advantage over the creature that cannot worship God.
• You and I are in a unique position,
• We can know God, we can enjoy God and we can worship God.
Conclusion:
• If you are trying to get right with God on the basis of what you do,
• Then you are still at Mt. Sinai.
• Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile,
• To try to approach God by our works is to come to Sinai;
• And you will discover that your works will never be enough to save you.
• When a person (Jew or Gentile), puts their faith in the blood of Jesus;
• Poured out on the cross.
• Then we come to God on Mt. Zion.
Quote:
• John MacArthur.
• (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews. p. 410)
• “Every man or woman will be judged based on one of two bases.
• Either they will be judged by the law or by grace;
• By their works or by Christ’s work;
• By the provisions of Sinai or by the provisions of Mt. Zion.
• God has two sets of books.
• In one is recorded the names of all those who have rejected God,
• In the other the names of those who have accepted Him through his Son, Jesus Christ
• (Rev 20:12).
• The saved are in the book of Life, sometimes called the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 13:8).
• Those who whose names are in this book;
• Will be judged by what Christ has done on their behalf.”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=QvAGYCqlyhmfI0mr6NP1DO6L5mnzyA7M
