Turn with me, if you would, to
the 12th chapter of the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12. Before we look at verses 18 to
24, I'd like to ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, as we assemble ourselves
together this evening, we lay before you, our very being, and
ask you, according to your mercy and compassion and grace, speak
to our hearts. Lord, help us. I pray that Christ
might be exalted. Lord, I ask, according to your
good pleasure, Call your people out of darkness. Encourage those
that you've given life. Help us this evening, we pray.
In the name of our precious Savior, Amen. The Scripture says that without
faith, it is impossible to please Him. Because without faith, there
is no belief in Christ. If there is no belief in Christ,
it is impossible to please God. The Scripture says, for he that
cometh to God, he that approaches God, must believe that he is,
not that he exists. The devils believe that He exists. What the Scripture sets forth
that He is, is that He is all that He says He is. He's God
Almighty, Ruler, King, Heaven and Earth, the I Am. He must believe that He is and
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. So believers, come to Christ. They approach God. I want to
speak tonight for a few minutes on this thing of approaching
God. You know, just a moment ago we
asked the Lord's blessing. We approached the Lord. We called
upon the name of the Lord in all of His glory and honor The
Scripture sets forth that we can boldly, that is, with confidence,
approach God in our substitute mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's look at what the
Scripture says about approaching the Lord, about coming to the
Lord. The Scripture says in verse 18, Hebrews 12, For ye are not
come, unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with
fire, more unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest." I want
us to hold your place right there. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
19. Exodus 19. Almighty God was going to speak
to the people through Moses. And he called Moses unto himself
on Mount Sinai. And the scripture says, and I
won't read the whole chapter if you'd like to, it's very much
of a blessing. The Scripture says in Exodus
19, verse 19, it says, And when the
voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder,
Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord
came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mount, and the
Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went
up. Look at verse 12. God told Moses
concerning approaching Him on that mountain, "...Thy shalt
set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves,
that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it, whosoever
toucheth the mount." shall be surely put to death." Now, here's
the thing that we know. There's Mount Sinai where the
law was given. That mountain, it was a physical
mountain. Verse 18 back in Hebrews 12. It says, "...you're not come
unto the mount that might be touched." It was an actual mountain.
And it could be touched, but under the penalty of death.
coming up to that mountain where Almighty God gave the law, there
was no mercy. You come and approach that mountain
outside of a mediator, outside of Christ. Almighty God is a
holy God. That mountain the Scripture says
back in verse 18, we're not coming to that mountain that might be
touched, that burned with fire, nor into blackness and darkness
and tempest. We don't come, we don't approach
God according to the law, by ceremonies and rules and regulations
that we're required to keep because we can't keep them. There is
nothing that we have ever done in ourselves that is acceptable
in the sight of Almighty God. Man by nature, ignorantly thinks
that he can approach God on his own merit, by his own will, by
his own works, by his own way, by his own thoughts. If anybody
came and touched that mountain, God Almighty allowed Moses to
come up. There was a picture of Christ,
the Mediator. God told Moses, He said, if a
man, a woman, or an animal touches that mountain, kill him. Couldn't even touch it. Approaching
God. That place where the Scripture
says it burned with fire, blackness and darkness, tempest that which
set forth the holiness of God. Listen to Psalm 18.11. He made
darkness His secret place, His pavilion round about Him were
dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Let me ask you
this. What man knows how to approach
God? What man born of Adam would dare
approach unto Him that makes darkness His secret place? I think about when the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world, born of that virgin, and the
Scripture says, the light shone round about and shepherds were
told, good tidings, great joy. given unto you this day, city
of David, a Savior, Christ the Lord, light and beauty. But here's
the law. It's darkness and fire, burnings
and tempest. It's God's right. God's purpose
to cause His Shekinah to dwell in darkness that He might not
be exposed, seen, beheld, except according to His pleasure to
reveal Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
19, the Scripture says, and referring back, I could have read that
whole 19th chapter of Exodus. This is talking about what happened
back in that 19th chapter. It says, and the sound of the
trumpet That was the first time I looked it up. That was the
first time that there was ever a sound of a trumpet sounded. That's the first time they ever
heard the sound of a trumpet was that day. Blast of a trumpet
sound. It was the voice. It was the
voice of God. I'll show you that in a minute.
The sound of the trumpet. And the voice of words. God actually
spoke. He spoke the Ten Commandments
and then wrote them with his finger, which voice they that
heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them
anymore." That sound of the trumpet, that voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that was the voice that John heard on the Isle of Patmos. He said, I heard a voice as a
trumpet behind me. That was the voice that's going
to signal At the end of this world, the trump of God is going
to sound. And the Scripture sets forth.
They heard that trumpet, that blast, that shrill, that heart-piercing
sound. And there was that mountain,
and it burned, and it was dark, and it was smoke. God allowed
Moses to come up. Paul says that's not the way.
We're not come to Mount Sinai. Oh, how thankful we are that
there is a way unto God. That voice that those people
heard. They heard and treated that the
Word should not be spoken to them anymore. That's what they
told Moses. They said, Moses... This is in
Exodus 20. They said, Moses, you go. You go talk to God. Don't let
God talk to us. We don't want to hear his voice
talking to us. They knew they needed a mediator. They need a substitute. They
know that they could not deal with God and live. No believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ even considers, doesn't want to. I don't want to approach
God on my own merit. I don't want to approach Him
on my own goodness because I don't have any. I know something of
what I am. Approaching God according to
the law. I need One to speak for me. I need One that has my best at
heart who is God. I'll approach Him. I need a substitute. I cannot bear the weight of the
law's yoke. It requires more than I can answer
for. It shows me myself by the law. That's when I know what
I am. I read those commandments of
God. You start, I shall love the Lord
thy God all your heart. I can't do it. I can't do it. Scripture says
forth, Moses, he was speaking, he went up and it says, for they,
by verse 20, could not endure that which was commanded. And
if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it should be stoned
or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight
that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." You know, I've got to look these
words up. You know that. I want to know.
When he said, I exceedingly fear and quake, I just copied down
what Mr. Strong said. This is, I exceedingly
fear. It says, I exist frightened out
of my wits. That's what it means. I exist
frightened. Can you imagine Moses going up
on that mountain and approaching God? And hearing that voice,
and seeing that fire, and the Scripture says it burned with
fire, and it was darkness. The smoke, the sounds, the voice
of God. And He said, I, exceeding fear,
quake, I trembled. Oh, the horror of dealing with
Almighty God Himself. But thanks be unto God for His
mercies in Christ, the Mediator between God and men, the Man,
Christ Jesus. We just saw how we don't approach
God. You don't come by Mount Sinai.
You don't come approaching God in absolute holiness and approach
Him in your ungodly state. He's a consuming fire. But verse
22 says, But ye are come unto Mount Sion, unto the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels. to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to God the judge
of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to
Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel." I
was reading over these notes today, and I was looking at those
last few verses there, and thinking to myself, what a marvel of God's
grace that Almighty God would tell His people how they do approach
Him. How that God Himself is the way
of approaching unto Himself. That God Almighty has sent His
Son the mediator, the substitute, the federal head. And that God
accepts His people in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus. How do we
approach God? Well, we first of all, approach
Him being chosen as His bride. That's Mount Sion. That's the
church. How do we approach Him? We approach
Him for He Himself everlastingly loved us. And chose to show mercy
to us. Chose to show us compassion. Chose His people out of every
nation, kindred, tribe and tongue. Called us His own. Named us to
be His. How do we come? You come unto
Mount Zion. The city of the living God. That
heavenly Jerusalem. Not the one overseas there. Not that physical city. There
is a true city of peace. At Mount Sinai, where the giving
of the law, God demanded righteousness, but He provided no way for Adam's
race to perform it. This is the fault of trying to
approach God according to Mount Sinai, the law. We're commanded
and bound to obey. But there's no provision to do
it. But if you approach God, and trying to obey, He'll kill
you. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified. This is the law of God. It's
holy and just and good. I've said before, there's nothing
wrong with God's law. It's the expression of God's
character. but to try to approach Him in
obedience? The disobedience in trying to
approach Him is certain death. Thanks be unto God that we don't
approach God according to the law. Rules and regulations and
exercising of wills and stuff. I'm telling you, Trying to approach
God according to your own will is certain death. I'm telling
you, God will put you in hell. God Almighty is going to judge
everything that is not absolutely holy. Oh, but we've come to Messiah.
We've come to the place of God's mercy to His Son, where His body
We come to Christ. The One who satisfied all of
the demands of God's law. Obeyed God. Satisfied righteousness. Established by His own work and
merit. And that righteousness imputed
to His church. Mount Zion. The city of the living
God. Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels. I got to thinking about the mercy
of God in the entering in into the innumerable company of angels. These angels, the Scripture says,
are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation."
These angels that are ever present with God's people, 2 Kings 6,
16. Remember when Elisha's servant
saw the Syrian army around him? And he called Elisha and he said,
Master, we're surrounded. And Elisha prayed and asked the
Lord to open up his servant's eyes. And the Scripture says
that the eyes of his servant were opened and he saw the host
of the chariots that were all around it, the Syrians. And Elisha says, fear not, for
they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
The protection that Almighty God sends through this innumerable
company of angels. I know that right now, there
is a world that's right here, right now, that we don't see. I know that the servant of Elijah
didn't see it. I know we don't see it. But where we come, we're
brought together as His bride to Mount Sinai. Verse 23, "...to
the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written
in heaven." That general assembly. Mr. Gill says this concerning
that phrase, the general assembly. He said it's the mass meeting
and universal companionship of all of God's people. some of God's people that have
gone on to glory. Years and years and years. They
were here, now they're gone. But we're still in company with
them. We're here right now on this
earth, but we're all Mount Zion. We're all together in that general
assembly, the church of the firstborn. which are written in heaven,
whose names were written in the book of life, the Lamb's book
of life from before the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus
Christ, who in that day shall present all that the Father has
ever given Him. Hebrews 2, verse 13, Behold I
and the children which God has given Me. That General Assembly. In that place, in that day, that
we will all be together. And where we come, we come to
God, the Judge of all. Almighty God, who shall, according
to His everlasting purpose to show mercy and grace and compassion,
who has judged to show mercy to His people. to give us the
glorious sonship, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. God Almighty, the Judge, that
as I mentioned a moment ago, who allows His people to enter
into His presence with boldness, with confidence and assurance
into the holiest by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. One
day a year, on the day of atonement, the high priest, just one day,
one day, you know the tabernacle, how the tabernacle, it had the
outer core, it was all open, like a sky. And then that tabernacle,
and I told you about how big that tabernacle was, about as
big as from this wall just about to the end of this row of pews,
not the last two stockings, just about that wide. About two-thirds
of it. And there was the veil. And out
here in this outer part of the tabernacle, that was the tabernacle
of the congregation where all the priests could go into that
congregational part. And that's where they had to
show bread, and it had the candlestick, and it had the golden laver. But then there was that veil. Every day of the year, on the
Day of Atonement, and not without blood, that sacrifice of two
lambs, those goats, one of them was slain, and that blood, you
know, that blood was the blood he was going to go into, that
Holy of Holies. That other goat was the one that
the high priest put his hands on, a scapegoat, and it was led
out into the wilderness, to a place uninhabited. One day a year. And that high priest could go
in with that golden censer and that blood and sprinkle that
blood, approach God. He said, I'll meet you between
the cherubim. That mercy seat was the lid that
went on top of that ark. And those cherubim and their
wings, the Scripture says they touched. God said, I'll meet
you right there. There's a glorious picture, those
cherubims, the glorious heavenly setting forth of the character
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the mediator, as the substitute,
as the bearer of the sins of His people. That's what the cherubim
set forth. And God said, that's where I'm
going to meet you. And how do we approach God? How does Mount
Zion approach God? The One who has given that glorious
overseeing by those innumerable company of angels, that general
assembly, the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven
that comes to God, the Judge of all. And we now as priests
unto God in Him. We approach through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That blood that was shed. That
blood that covers. That blood that He sees and He
said, I'll pass over you. You know, I think how that people
must have felt when the Lord Jesus Christ died. That veil
that was rent, that was a picture of His flesh. And what? What was the access into the
very Holy of Holies? What was the access into that?
It was through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
when He died and that veil was rent from top to bottom, when
His body was rent, when His blood was shed, there's the access. There's the merit of the access. How do we enter? Not Mount Sinai. Not going up there in the smoke
and the darkness and the words of the law that we couldn't keep.
Not that way. How do we enter in? We enter
in by the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord. That's what verse 22,
into the spirits of just men, made perfect. Just men. Justified men. Made perfect. of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, brought to that place where the Scripture says that
in that day we'll be without spot, without blemish, justified
in Christ right now, but still plagued with the presence of
sins. There's coming a time, that phrase,
into the spirits of just men made perfect in His presence. where all God's people are going
to be at one time. And then to Jesus, verse 24,
the Mediator of the New Covenant, the New Testament, and to the
blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. The Scripture says that we are
come. Now look back at verse 22. But
ye are come unto Mount Sinai, not Cain, as I said before. Many times we speak of coming
to the Lord, and I know how we think. We think in past tense,
you know, I came to the Lord. There was a time when the Lord
first revealed Himself to me, and we think back on when we
first heard, when we first began to hear. I guarantee you, when
you talk to a believer, you're not going to find an hour and
a day, and there was a time in there when we were drawn to Him
and our heart was made alive and we heard and we believed
and we confessed Him. But we don't look in the past.
It's not that we came. It says, but ye are come unto
Mosiah and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
We come. He that cometh unto Me. Continually coming. Always coming. He that cometh to Me, the Scripture
says, I shall in no wise cast out. They come by faith right
now. Right now is the day of salvation. We'll come to Jesus. The mediator. The go-between. The reconciler. He who is answering
always. The mediator of the new covenant.
A covenant of grace, mercy, whereby He satisfied all the demands
for righteousness that God revealed to Moses. This is what the Lord
told Moses. This is the standard. This is
how I'm going to be approached. I'm going to be approached in
obedience. I'm going to be approached in
holiness. I'm going to be approached in
absolute righteousness. And the people said, don't let
God talk to us anymore. Don't. You talk to them. I don't
hear it. I can't hear it. If God talks
to us, we're going to die. But here's how we approach God.
Through the mediator. That new covenant. All that was demanded of God's
people according to the law, He obeyed. And His righteousness
earned on His own merit, imputed to every believer, charged, we
come to Him. And to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." That blood of
sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Two thoughts here in closing. was going to sacrifice his sacrifice
unto God. What he did was he took a lamb
and he approached God according to God's way through a sacrifice. And when he approached God according
to that sacrifice, His brother Cain was angry with him. And Cain killed Abel. He murdered
him. There was going to be Cain who
was going to try to approach God on the best that he could
do. He brought his vegetables. He
was a farmer. And he brought the best, I'm
sure, of all of his vegetables and fruits. And God wasn't pleased
with his sacrifice. It was the best that he could
do, but God will only be approached through the shedding of blood.
That which pictures his Son. And Cain killed Abel. And Abel's
blood was sprinkled. No doubt about that. Abel's blood
was sprinkled. And Almighty God heard the blood
of Abel crying for vengeance. That's what that sprinkled blood
cried for. Vengeance. Vengeance. But the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood of sprinkling that
speaketh better things than that of Abel, His cries for pardon
and mercy for His sake. But secondly, That sacrifice
that Abel gave of the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice,
it spoke of Christ in a picture, in a type. Oh, but the blood
of his sprinkling was the actual shedding of his own blood. It
spoke a better thing. What a picture with Christ! It
was the actual putting away of guilt. The type was beautiful,
but the fulfillment of that type. Better things than that of the
sprinkling of the blood of Abel. How do we approach God tonight?
How do we approach Him? Do we dare think of approaching
God? approaching Him by the keeping
of the law. We admit, as I said a moment ago, the law is holy,
and it's just, and it's good. And God's people love God's law.
There's not one part of God's law that we don't love. Loving
Him, honoring Him, honoring our neighbor. Not one part that we
don't respect. But the problem is we can't keep
it. The problem is that God's going to have to judge us if
we try to approach Him on keeping His law. God's holy and just
and good. How do we approach Him? We approach
Him in one that has satisfied Him. We approach Him through
the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here we are tonight. And we can rest. We rest. He is our Sabbath. He is our
day of rest. He is our perpetual Sabbath.
You know, the law had one day that was a Sabbath day. It was a day of rest. We have
a perpetual Sabbath. He is our Sabbath every day.
And we rest in Him and we approach God on His merit, in His merit. in His name by His shed blood. And that blood that covers our
sin, covers our guilt. God Almighty has pardoned us
for His sake. Approaching God? Yes, we do. But we approach Him in Christ
for His sake. Amen. Okay, Gary. Rock of Ages, square for me,
let me hide myself in Thee. Let the water and the blood The
Apostle Paul said, one time he said,