To Which Mount Have You Come?

Q: What does the Bible say about coming to Mount Sinai vs Mount Zion?

Hebrews 12 teaches that believers have not come to Mount Sinai, which represents the law and condemnation, but to Mount Zion, representing grace and acceptance through Christ. In Hebrews 12:18-25, the author contrasts Mount Sinai with Mount Zion to illustrate the difference between the law and grace. Mount Sinai, where the law was given, symbolizes fear, condemnation, and the inability of humanity to meet God's standards. Conversely, Mount Zion represents grace, access to God, and the fulfillment of the law through Christ. Believers are exhorted to approach God with confidence, knowing that through Christ, they have direct access to God, unlike those under the law who were driven to fear and condemnation.

Q: Why is the concept of Christ as our mediator important for Christians?

Christ as our mediator is essential because He bridges the gap between humanity and God, enabling believers to approach God with confidence and assurance. The importance of Christ as our mediator is heavily emphasized in Hebrews 12:24 and throughout the New Testament. As the one mediator between God and men, Christ has fulfilled the law's requirements on behalf of believers (Romans 8:1-2). His sacrifice allows us to approach God with boldness, knowing our sins are covered by His blood. This understanding brings comfort to believers, assuring them that they are accepted in the Beloved and can draw near to God without fear (Hebrews 10:19-22). Without this mediation, we would remain under the weight of the law's condemnation, but in Christ, we find grace and access.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of total depravity is true?

The doctrine of total depravity is supported by scriptures that show humanity's inability to meet God's righteous standards without divine intervention. Total depravity posits that as a result of the fall, every part of human nature is affected by sin, making it impossible for individuals to come to God through their own efforts (Ephesians 2:1-3). This is demonstrated in Romans 3:10-12, where Paul states that none is righteous, no, not one. The law reveals our true nature and incapacity to meet God's demands, leading us to seek a mediator, which is precisely what Christ offers us. The awareness of our depravity drives believers to rely solely on Christ's righteousness rather than their own (Philippians 3:9), reinforcing the necessity of divine grace for salvation.

Q: Why is it significant that believers have come to the city of the living God?

Believers’ arrival at the city of the living God signifies their acceptance into God's eternal kingdom and fellowship with Him and the saints. The significance of believers coming to the city of the living God, as described in Hebrews 12:22-23, is profound. This 'heavenly Jerusalem' represents the ultimate hope and destiny for believers, signifying acceptance into God's family and the communal aspect of salvation. In this city, believers are seen as fellow citizens with the saints, granted access to God and His holiness. This calling underscores the unity of the church—both on earth and in heaven—as one body under Christ, where all believers share in the eternal rewards and fellowship with God. It offers the assurance of belonging and the profound peace that comes from being reconciled and accepted by our Creator.

Now, the faithful witness of
Christ, His pastors and His sheep, those that He's called
out, always point one another to Christ. This question I want to ask you
this morning is, to which mount have you come? To which mount
have you come? First of all, for the believer,
we need to understand where it is that we have not come. We
begin here in Hebrews 12, 18. For ye are not come unto the
mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto
blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet. and
the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that
the word should not be spoken to them any more. For they could
not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake." Now you know this is Mount Sinai. This is
the mountain where God gave the law to the children of Israel.
Now, Scripture says here we haven't come to that mountain. Not believers. Mount Sinai represents the whole
law of God. The Lord commanded the children
of Israel that they couldn't come near that mountain. Their
beasts couldn't touch the mountain unless they would die. You and
I can never come to God in any shape, form, or fashion in the
law or by the law. When they beheld the mountain,
they beheld the wrath of God toward sinners. You remember,
the Lord told Moses, tell them to go sanctify themselves, separate
themselves from everybody, and wash themselves, and make themselves
clean, and be ready for the next morning. And boy, they went and
separated themselves and washed and they were ready to come up
to see the Lord. And they woke up the next morning
and the mountain was on fire and quaked and it scared them
to death. It scared them to death. That's
the law. And that's you and I attempting
to come to God in the law. The law declares the heart of
natural man is black. It declares we are in ourselves
darkness. The law declares the tempest
of God's wrath against those who are under the law. The law
declares loudly as a trumpet that we can't keep it, we can't
satisfy the justice it demands, and we cannot remove the sin
which it declares that we are. When a sinner hears the law of
God by God's grace, just like the children of Israel did, we
cry out for somebody to mediate between us and God. But it takes
God's grace causing us to hear that law. Before we hear that
law, we'll be like the children of Israel were when they separated
themselves and washed their clothes and cleaned themselves up. They
thought they really could come to God. It took them waking up. It took the morning coming, the
dawning day to come. Like it takes the grace of God
in the heart of a sinner to dawn on him, to open his eyes and
behold, he can't come to God in that law. That law declares
us guilty. It wasn't given for any other
reason than to declare us guilty, that our mouths may be stopped
and we might cry out for somebody to mediate between us and God.
And that mediator is Christ Jesus the Lord. There's one mediator
between God and men, between God and His chosen elect people. There's one mediator, and that's
Christ Jesus. And the scripture tells us that
he's fulfilled the law entirely on the believer's behalf. Listen
to Galatians 3.13. Christ hath redeemed us. He paid the ransom price. He
laid down His own life and paid the redemption price of shedding
His own blood. And He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. Being made a curse for us. That's substitution. That's Him
laying down His life in our place. Being made a curse in our place. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on the tree. The believer who by the
Holy Spirit comes to Christ has not come to the law. He comes
to Christ alone and Christ has fulfilled the righteousness of
the law as our representative and as our substitute. He's fulfilled
the justice and the righteousness of the law so that the law is
fulfilled in us who trust him by faith. What the law could
not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. Now, so we see brethren, Scripture
says clearly, you've not come to that mountain. You didn't
come to the law. But here now, secondly, understand
where it is that the believer has come. Hebrews 12, 22. But ye are come unto Mount Zion. Now that earthly place that was
called Mount Zion is a type of heaven's Zion where Christ sits
at God's right hand. And it's a type and picture of
the church of God, of our brethren. You who believe have come to
God's mountain. You've come to Christ Jesus the
Lord, and you have direct access to God. Look back with me at
Hebrews 10. I want you to connect to Scripture.
Look back at Hebrews 10 and follow with me. I'm going to read a
little bit of Scripture here, but just follow along with me
here. Hebrews 10 11. Every priest standeth daily. Do priests still stand daily
in our day? They do in the Catholic Church
and in the Protestant Church. There's men who have exalted
themselves to the same position. Wouldn't they call themselves
priests? But they are for all practical purposes. Every priest
standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, Christ
Jesus the God-man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he had
said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now, where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. If they're
gone and they'll never be brought up again, There's nothing else
to offer for them. Nothing else to offer. Now listen.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness, liberty, assurance, confidence
to enter into the holiest to God's presence, to go to Mount
Zion, by the blood of Jesus, there's our confidence, there's
our assurance, by a new and living way. We've got a new way to go
there now. Not by earthly priests, not by, not through an earthly
lamb, not through an earthly temple, by a new and living way
which He hath consecrated for us. He dedicated this way for
us who believe. Through the veil, that is to
say, it's His flesh. That's the way. And having a
high priest over the house of God. You have a personal high
priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true
heart. Let us draw near with a true
heart and full assurance of faith. That doesn't mean Try to muster
up the full assurance. That means if you've got faith,
you've got full assurance. You can draw near. Don't be hesitant. Having your heart sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Now,
connect this with Hebrews 12.18. Look over there. Hebrews 12.18. For ye are not coming to the
mount that might be touched. But look at verse 22. But ye
are coming to Mount Zion. Draw near. Come with full assurance. Come with confidence. Draw near.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. The
Hebrew writer said that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. The Lord said this, Your body
is the temple of the Lord. He said that where two or three
are gathered together, He'll be there in the midst of them.
And He said this, If a man loves Me, and he'll keep My words,
and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him and
make Our abode with him. He said, You are accepted of
God in the Beloved. So you can come to Him. You can
come to God. You can come into His very presence,
into His throne of grace, to Mount Zion. Now look here, this
is where else we've come, verse 22. Unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem. This mountain is called the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You're no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household. of God. We have a father. He has a son who is our elder
brother. We're brothers and sisters. We're
in his household. And not only this, but within
that house, within that city, we're citizens of that city.
And he says, Right here in Hebrews 13, 14. Look over there. This
is not the city of Jerusalem on earth. But the writer is not
speaking of an earthly Jerusalem. Look here at verse 14. Hebrews
13, 14. For here, where do you think this Hebrew letter was
written? Or where do you think these Hebrew breads were? Do
you think they went in and out of that earthly city, Jerusalem?
Well, the writer says, but here we have no continuing city. We seek one to come. We're looking
for one to come. In Revelation 21-2, And I, John,
saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And he says, You've
not come to Mount Sinai. You've come to Mount Sinai, the
city of the living God. You've got citizenship. Citizenship
by Christ's blood of that city. Heavenly Jerusalem. And he says
here, verse 22, and you've come to an innumerable company of
angels. What a reason to lift up the
hands that hang down and the feeble knees. Do you remember
Elisha when he went out there to battle and they were sitting
there and his folks, his men were terrified and he said, there's
more with us than there are with them. And they looked, and the
Lord made it so they could see, and round about them was just
a host of angels to fight the battle all the way around. The
Scripture says, the Hebrew writers began in Hebrews 1.14, and he
said, Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation? God has given His
angels charged to look out for His elect, take care of His elect.
And it's an innumerable company of angels, the Scripture said.
Christ our Lord has given them charge to protect us. These are
the angels that will gather His elect from the four corners of
the earth when He tells them to. Do you think He's going to
allow one thing to happen to you? Now listen, verse 23. And you've come to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and
to the spirits of just men made perfect. This world's preachers
tend to use church membership like the Pharisees did. Do you
remember when the blind man, they called his parents and they
brought him to him, and his parents were afraid to say anything contradictory
to what they said because they knew that the Pharisees had said,
if anybody goes with these folks, you get kicked out of the synagogue.
We'll take your name off the church roll. Well, whoop-dee-doo,
take my name off your church roll. My name's written somewhere
else. It's written with indelible ink
of Christ's own blood, and you can't take my name off that membership
roll. Our church membership was written
in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. You're a son of God, a member
of the church that he purchased with his own blood. That's what
he's saying. The church in heaven and the
church on earth are all one in Christ Jesus, our head. Now,
listen to this now. This chapter began with this
word. Look back there, Hebrews 12, 1. Wherefore, seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Now, listen
to that. Seeing we are compassed about
with a great cloud. That's a spiritual thing, a cloud
of witnesses. And here he tells us, you've
come to spirits of just men made perfect. Look over at Luke 15
with me. Luke 15. When a sinner repents,
believes on the Lord, you rejoice, don't you? You who believe the
Lord, do you rejoice if a sinner repents and trusts Christ? Well,
you're not the only one. Look at Luke 15. Listen to this
parable. The Lord said, let's start with
verse 4. What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one
of them, doth not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after
that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me, for I found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner." Where? In heaven. Over one sinner that
repenteth more than over 99 just persons which need no repentance.
Look down at verse 10. Likewise, I say unto you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth. Do you think you came here to
worship today with just a handful of folks? If they ask you and
say, how many folks did y'all have in attendance today? We
couldn't count them all. Abraham was there, Isaac was
there, Jacob was there, Isaiah was there, Peter, Paul, James
were there. We couldn't count them all. And
an innumerable company of angels were there. This church is the
church in heaven and the church on earth. Though those saints
that have gone before us are perfected forever, perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ, they're as much a member of God's
church and God's Christ body as you are right now. That's something to think about.
That's a reason to pick up the hands that hang down and the
weak knees. Look at Hebrews 12, 23. And here
is where else you've come. You've come to God the judge
of all. Moses said, Be it far from thee
to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked,
and that the righteous should be as the wicked. That be far
from thee. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? You've been judged. by God in
Christ Jesus. If you trust Christ alone, you've
been judged by God in Christ. When He came to His Son on the
cross and His Son was burying your sin in His own body on the
tree, God poured out your judgment, eternal judgment on His Son.
And Scripture says, Romans 8, verse 1 says, There is therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, to them
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect. It's Christ that
died, yea, rather that's risen again, who's seated at the right
hand of God. Can anything separate us from
the love of God? We're more than conquerors. More
than conquerors. What is that? More than a conqueror. You're more than a conqueror
through Christ who loved us. So, can anything be laid against
your charge? King Saul came out to fight David
one time. Because he heard rumor David
was speaking against him. You ever have anybody come out
against you because they heard rumor you were speaking against
them? And David said, who am I? Well, who have you come out
against? A dead dog? A flea like I am? And he said this, the Lord therefore
be judge and judge between me and thee and see and let him
plead my cause and deliver me out of thine hand, David said.
King Hezekiah was sick and the Lord had restored him. And he
said, like a crane or a swallow, I just chattered and chattered
and chattered. I mourned like a dove. Mine eyes failed looking
upward. And he said, oh Lord, I'm oppressed.
Undertake for me. What shall I say? He said, after
his health was... He said, what shall I say? I
don't have words to express it. He hath spoken unto me, and himself
hath done it." I asked him, Lord, just undertake for me. And he said, and he has. He's
done it. Folks say, well, if you're not
down there teaching that the believer is still under the law,
how then are you governing that church? How are you disciplining
that church? I'm not. As last time I checked,
when a witness is brought to a witness stand, they don't go
to the judge's bench. They go to a witness stand and
they tell what they've seen and what they've heard. They don't
try to run the show in the courtroom, do they? Whose government is
the church, whose shoulder is the government of this church
on? It's on Christ's shoulder. Who's the counselor of his people?
Christ is. Who's the high priest? Christ
is. Who makes intercession for his
people? Christ does. What I'm saying is what the Hebrew
writer is saying. The Hebrew writer didn't say,
when you're weak and you're feeble, lay aside every sin and the weight
that so easily besets you and look to me. He said, look to
Christ, look to the author and finish your faith. He didn't
say when you're weak and feeble and weary and about to faint,
consider me. He said, consider Christ who
endured such a contradiction of sinners against Himself. He
didn't say, when you're rebuked, when the Word comes forth and
it begins to grate against you and rebuke you. He didn't say,
just remember now that I'm just telling you what you need to
hear because I love you. He said, remember, God chastens you as
a son. He didn't say, make straight
paths for your feet and come to me now so I can counsel you
and tell you what you ought to be doing. He said, make straight
paths for your feet. You've not come to the Mount
Zion. You can come to Christ. Go to Him. Go to the Savior.
Go to your Father. Go to Him and worship Him. Oh, what a price was paid to
give us access to Him. What price was paid that we might
have boldness to come to His throne of grace? What price was
paid for that? And it says here, what did Jude say? To the only
wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. That's dominion. He's the judge
of all. Paul said, not for that we have
dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy. For
by faith you stand, by looking to him you stand. I just want
to help you and point you to him. I want to help direct you
to him. God's true messengers point sinners away from men to
Christ. You have come to the judge of
all the earth. Shall he not do right? Are you
faint? Are you weary? Are you oppressed
by your sin and by sinful men? Then let your cry be the same
as Hezekiah's. Lord, I'm oppressed. Plead my
cause. Undertake for me. I believe him. I believe that his people, when
they cry, they'll hear him say, I've done it. I've done it. Even
if some scoundrel is still oppressing us and trying to yoke us, if
he speaks in our heart and tells you, I've pledged your cause. I've done it in my son. You're
redeemed. You're mine. That's what gave
those saints power to sit on a cross and be burnt or to be carried to the gallows and hung.
That's what enabled them to say in their heart of hearts, I won't
accept release. I won't accept being let down
from here. I won't renounce my Lord. It's
because when they cried out, Lord, plead my cause. He answered
them in their heart, I've pledged your cause. You're mine. You're
coming home. And there's peace there. There's
great peace there. Well, let's look here. Verse
24, and you come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than
that of Abel. More substantial than I am standing
right here before your eyes, more real than I'm standing right
here before your eyes, You who believe are the objects
of the personal care and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Personally. He is your personal
media, your personal daisman between you and Almighty God. The New Covenant is everlasting
and it's yours. Christ Jesus is the mediator
of it. And it's an ordered covenant
because it was put into the hands of the Son of God before the
world began. It never has been out of order.
If it had been left in our hands, it would have been out of order
from the beginning. It's always been ordered. And it's absolutely
sure because it is ratified in His own blood. Because He's risen, you're risen. Because He's seated at God's
right hand, you're seated at God's right hand. Because His
work is finished, your work is finished. Because He ever liveth,
you have life eternal. He ever liveth to make intercession,
to speak on your behalf. That's what the Hebrew writer
is saying. Christ's blood speaks to God for your sin to be forgiven. And so it is. Christ's blood
speaks to God for you to be kept from the evil of this world.
And so you are. Christ's blood speaks to God
for you to be His eternal possession. And so you are. Christ's blood
speaks to God for you to behold the glory which He had with the
Father before the world began. That's the one thing that our
Savior prayed for. Father, I will, that they be
where I am, that they might behold the glory which I had with you
before the world began. You think he's going to be disappointed?
You think the Father is going to leave his precious son disappointed? You're going to behold the glory
he had with the Father before the world began. You remember
how the book of Hebrews began? God, who at sundry times and
in different manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son. And now He says to you and I
here in verse 25, See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. I want to say one thing here
before I close. There is a gap. in which the
enemy of righteousness is attempting to assault in our day, which
is far, far worse than homosexuality or any of the other immoralities
of the day. Those things are like decoys. They're like decoys placed out
there to draw the preacher's attention and everybody's attention
to those things. And there's a gap that's not
being stood in that's far worse than that one. The scribes and
Pharisees set themselves in the position of Christ. If you needed
to pray, you had to go to them. If you needed counsel, you had
to go to them. If you needed to confess your
sin, you had to go to them. And the same thing has happened
in Protestant churches in our day. The same thing. I'd like to cut the cord on every
prayer hotline I could and tell men, go to Christ. Go to Christ. The Lord said, woe unto you scribes
and Pharisees. You won't go in yourself and
you're trying to prohibit them that are trying to go in. We've got enough obstacles between
us and Christ. We don't need another man standing
up and saying, you've got to come to me. The Hebrew writer
is saying, go straight to Him. Go to Him. When we pray, what
a blessing to know we have direct access to our God because of
the blood of our Redeemer. Oh, what a blessing! What a blessing!
To have brethren and to have pastors which the Lord has given
is a great blessing. You can go to your brethren anytime,
you can come to your pastor anytime. That's not what I'm saying. You
know that's not what I'm saying. But true brethren and true pastors
are going to do one thing for you. When you come to them, they're
going to be helpers of your joy. They're going to remind you of
these precious promises. They're going to remind you of
these things Christ has done. They're not going to take you
back to Mount Sinai. If they do and start threatening
you with taking your name off of church. I had a poor sinner
call me. Desperate sinner call me. And
this is what he said. I can't go to my pastor. I can't
go to him because I end up feeling bad. I end up feeling terrible. What a terrible thing. And I said, but here's who you
can go to. You can go to somebody a whole
lot more in charge and a whole lot more forgiving and merciful
and gracious than your pastor. You can go to God yourself. You
can go to Christ Jesus the Lord. Cast yourself on his mercy. This 12th chapter is for that. It's telling us you're not under
the law, but you're under grace. You've not come to Mount Sinai,
you've come to Mount Zion. Not to an earthly Jerusalem,
to heavenly Jerusalem. Not to a city made by man's hand,
but to the city of the living God. Not to a denomination or
a building or a place men have raised up, but to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn. You head of a better savior than
any earthly judge God has ever given. You have come to God our
Savior, God our Judge, protected by angels, rejoiced over by His
angels, and the perfected saints in His presence. And you indeed
that have heard Christ speak, make sure, don't refuse Him that
speaks. Don't refuse Him that speaks.
Look unto Him. He's the author and finisher.
I tell you what, brother, that's reason to lift up these old sinful
weak hands and these old wobbling knees and make straight paths
for the feet. Go straight to it. Straight to it. All right.

To Which Mount Have You Come?

What does the Bible say about coming to Mount Sinai vs Mount Zion?

Why is the concept of Christ as our mediator important for Christians?

How do we know the doctrine of total depravity is true?

Why is it significant that believers have come to the city of the living God?

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To Which Mount Have You Come?

What does the Bible say about coming to Mount Sinai vs Mount Zion?

Why is the concept of Christ as our mediator important for Christians?

How do we know the doctrine of total depravity is true?

Why is it significant that believers have come to the city of the living God?

Sermon Transcript

About Clay Curtis

Comments

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