Hebrews chapter 12, we're looking
at verses 18 through 22. The Scripture says, For you 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 that they 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 were
to 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 are come to Mount Zion, and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and the
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 to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of Sprinkly, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."
I said to verse 22 because there's no way I'm going to get to the
end, so I've stopped at verse 22 this morning. We'll go to
verse 22 and then pick up Lord willing the next time. The title
of the message is, Come to Zion. Come to Zion. You who are believers
in Christ, you are not come to Mount Sinai. You are not come
by the law. You are come by grace. You who believe on Christ, you
have come by grace. These two mountains, these two
mountains that are given to us, are types of the only two religions
in all the world. You can put any name on any religion. You can put any name on the door.
You can put Baptist. You can put Catholic. You can
put Presbyterian or Pentecostal. You can put anything you want
on the outside of a building. You can call it the Church of
J.D. If you wanted to. Or the church of the Burnses,
if you wanted to. You can put anything you want
to on the door. But in truth, there are only
two religions in all the world. Works and grace. Works and grace. There are no
other religions. These two religions are completely
opposed to one another. They are completely opposite.
I don't know if you've ever taken two magnets and turned them together
against each other. You feel them repel against each
other. Well, that's exactly what these
two religions do, is they are polar opposites. They repel one
another. They repel one another. Scripture
says in Romans 6.14, Therefore, of faith, that by grace. I want you to turn there. I want
you to look at that passage of Scripture with me, because it's very interesting.
The interpreters, when they translated our Bibles, you'll notice that
those italic words are in the King James Version, at least.
And they're italics for a reason, because they were put there by
the translators to make it more, supposedly, to make it more understandable. Sometimes it takes away from
it. And I believe that this time it does. The Apostle Paul is
talking about salvation by promise, by faith, and in verse 16, if
you'll notice it, therefore, it is. It is is in italics. Therefore, salvation, justification,
is of faith and by grace. Faith is by grace. Justification comes by faith. The faith of Jesus Christ. And
it's realized by the faith that is given to us who are believers
in Jesus Christ. And Paul says, therefore, of
faith, that what? That faith of grace. That faith
of grace. Why? Why is salvation by grace? He says, to the end, to this
purpose, that the promise might be sure to all the seed. Is that not great? Salvation
is by grace so that it might be sure. Because if salvation
were of works, no one is sure of anything. of salvation, would there? When
would enough be enough? It would never be enough. Philippians
11 and verse 5, the Apostle Paul says, Even so then, at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
what? Grace. Grace. And if by grace, then no more
of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
You see, if one impinges upon the other, if you try to mix
salvation by works and grace, then work doesn't mean work. Does it mean grace? They lose
their meanings. I'll tell you, in false religion,
these two words are used often. But because of the mixture, they've
lost meaning. They don't mean what they mean.
Grace cannot have works, and works cannot have grace. They
cannot be mixed together. They're opposed. And so if we
go to our text, we see the apostle is putting together another picture
for us, the polar opposites by the use of these two mountains. He said, You are not come unto
the mount that might be touched. This is Mount Sinai. This is Mount Sinai, the first
mount mentioned In contrast to the Mount of Grace is Mount Sinai,
which always has reference to the law. That's on Mount Sinai. Now, if anyone thinks that he
is to be saved by works or accepted of God because of any goodness,
any act of religion or charity, Then friends, that person has
come to this mount that might be touched. He has come to Mount
Sinai. If you have purposed in your
heart to be accepted of God by some merit, you have come to
Mount Sinai. This is the truth of all free
will and works religion. that they suppose God to be much
like themselves, they suppose God must let them pass. This is the height of all arrogance
as to think that God owes us anything, as to suppose that
God wants to save a people and cannot save a people unless the
people give Him some sort of permission to save them. The
audacity. These are they who come to Mount
Sinai to the law. Men suppose that God will somehow
just pass by their sins. A man recently died, a man I knew had no interest in
the things of God. His life was spent continually
in turmoil and open sin without regret, without any desire to
come and worship. At his funeral, they put he went
home to be with his heavenly Father. What arrogance to suppose
such things. What arrogance. He made some profession as a
child, some decision, and now that he was leaning his entire
soul at the moment of his death on some decision that he had
made, and then God should somehow, supposedly, just overlook his
sins because of his great decision. No, that man's come to Mount
Sinai. Men who believe that salvation
comes by the will of man also believe that faith is a work
of man. As we just read in Romans chapter
4, we know this, that faith, therefore, of faith, that what? That faith by grace. But men don't believe faith is
a grace. Men don't believe that faith
is something that God must give. They believe faith has to be
something they possess and that they give to God. They deny the truth of the very
Word of God. Go to John chapter 1. John chapter
1 and verse 11. They deny the truth concerning
the salvation is by the will of God and not the will of man.
Verse 11 said, He, speaking of the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who came down from heaven, who became a man, The Scripture says,
"...He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name." Oh, there it is. Preacher, see?
As many as received Him. You see? Then He gave them the
power. Oh, that word means right. It
means a right. As many of you as receive the
Lord Jesus Christ by faith, you have the right to be called the
sons of God that believe on His name. But how do we have this
right? How is it that we come to believe? How is it that we
received Him and others have not? Verse 13, which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. Simply, plainly, it is the will
of God that gives us spiritual life and faith. It is by the
grace of Almighty God that we receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is by the grace and will of God that we are born again of
the Holy Spirit of God and not the will of man. Is that not
simply stated? Not of blood. My son will not
go to heaven based on me. on my kinship with Him, as the
Jews believed." The Jews believed that. They believed, well, I'm
Abraham's son, so I'm going to go to heaven. No. Not what it
says. Not of the will of the flesh.
I can be desirous and I can be very sincere in a decision concerning
religion. But if I am trusting in my own
will, to save me, then I have come to Mount Sinai. I've come
to a mount of law and works. And it's not of the will of a
man. In other words, my will can't save you. I long for you
to be saved. But my will can't save you. My
will can't give you life. Whose can give you life? Who is it that gives life? It is the will of God. The only reason I believe is
the will of God. Because God willed it so. The
only reason you believe is because God willed it so. And the only
reason I still believe is because God willed it so. And if I shall
believe all the way to my grave, it is because God willed it to
be so. It is of the will of God. People will point out many Scriptures
on 316 and say, well, God loved the world. See, God loved the
world, assuredly. He told that all men should not
die. Scripture says that He's not
willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.
And I'd say, Amen. If you know who any are, do you
know who the any are? You go back to the text, He's
speaking to believers in Christ. He's speaking to you who have
been born again of the Spirit of God. He is not willing that
any of His elect should perish. For God so loved the world, both
Jew and Gentile. Not every Jew and Gentile without
exception, but both Jew and Gentile. The world. Now, of all nations
and kindreds and tongues and tribes and people, I'm so thankful
God is not limited to His salvation to just one country or one race
of people, but yet His salvation by His will is to the whole world. I'm speaking about people in
nations and tongues. That's what the Scripture tells
us in Revelation chapter 5. This is the song of the elect.
This is the song of God's people. He says in verse nine, And they
sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and
open the seals thereof. For thou was slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood. Out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation. Oh, yeah. For God so loved the
world. Yes, he did. He loved His elect
who were in the world. He's always loved His people. God is not willing that any of
His people should perish. And therefore, salvation must
be by grace. Now, He saves them not because
they were willing, not because of some goodness or value in
them that God saw in us. We come to repentance and faith in Christ
because God was not willing that we should perish. If you've come
to faith and repentance, if you've believed on Christ, that's because
God was not willing that you should perish. Does that not
sound good? Is that not wonderful to your
soul? That God was willing! And because God was willing,
you shall not perish! I promise to everyone who's come
to Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai. All who refuse to come to Christ
as dog sinners, hopeless, helpless, and unworthy of anything but
hell, then you're coming to the wrong mountain. You're coming
to Mount Sinai. Well, notice something about
this Mount Sinai. First of all, that this mountain
might be touched. Remember that God told Moses
to set up barricades around Mount Sinai. And He said, if anyone
were to touch, to lay his hand on the mountain beyond the border
that was set up, then he was to be killed. The mountain was
holy. It was God who came down in their
presence on that mountain. If any unholy thing were to touch
that mountain, it would be thrust through and stoned. Thrust through
with a spear or stoned to death. All works religion can be touched.
Now, if you want to know the difference between grace and
all works religion, it has to do with this matter of touching.
This matter of earthly, physical things. False religion always
has to do with the outward things. With outward things. In other
words, false religion says touch not, taste not, handle not. Which has to do with carnal things
such as food or acts or exercises of religion. I remember when I was a child
on the playground, we were out there playing, and I saw this
little girl. We had just got done. I went to this little private
school, this little, you know, little Christian school. And
I remember watching this little girl go around with her little
Bible, and she had a list of all the names of the students
in our classroom. And she'd go around, and she
would start talking to them about Jesus. And she would say, you
need to accept Jesus or you're going to hell. She was really
adamant about it. And she would bug them until
they just said, yes, leave me alone. And so she'd check it
off. And I remember her walking around, that's another one saved
for Jesus. That's a little girl. I can expect
that from a child. But that's exactly what false
religion does. Quite a few people yesterday
walking around the neighborhood, checking off on their list, that's
another soul for Jesus, another decision for Jesus. What are
they looking at? They're looking at an outward
action of a man and they say, that's enough. You just got to
do this and do this and do this and then God will save you. This is still what men do, the
religious world does, exactly what that little girl did. But all they're doing is making
people twofold more a child of hell. False religion does nothing more
but make a dead sinner a twofold more. In other words, it binds
more chains on the soul. That's all it does. When a man
is preaching law and works, do this, do this, do this, do this,
don't do this, what he is doing is chaining up the dead soul. He's putting more chains and
sin upon that man than he could possibly bear. The Apostle Paul testifies to
these false worshippers in Colossians. Go over to Colossians chapter
2. Colossians chapter 2 and beginning
verse 20. Paul says, Wherefore, if you
be dead with Christ, in other words, if you died with Christ,
if your sins were removed when Christ died, He said, wherefore,
if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, now
that means the law. He's speaking of the law. The
rudiments of the world. Why, as though living in the
world, are you subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste not, handle
not, which all are to perish with the using. Are the commandments
and doctrines of who? Men. These are the commandments
and doctrines of men. Why are you subject? If you be
dead with Christ, you are raised with Christ, you are seated with
Christ in the heavenlies, why then would you undertake anything
under the law? Christ is the end of the law.
Why then would we take? This old man loves law. The pastor told me this one time.
He said, be very careful when you preach concerning the law,
because the whip of the law feels good to the backs of the people.
And it will feel good in your hands. The law. If you're dead with
Christ, what have we to do with the law? Nothing. What has the law to do with us? Nothing. If Christ has already satisfied
the law, then what has the law to do with us if we're in Christ?
Why then would you try to take it back? And believe me, it's
our nature to try to take it back. This old man constantly
is trying to take it back. Put more chains on ourselves.
Put more instructions on ourselves. Well, I just got to do this.
I just got to do this. Verse 23, which things have indeed
a show of wisdom. I'll tell you what, that sounds
a lot of our. A lot of our taking on of the
law sounds wise. It sounds wise. which have a show of wisdom in
will worship, in humility and neglecting of the body, not to
enter any honoring to the satisfying of the flesh. If a man were to
take one law, by the time he's finished, he'll have a hundred.
It never satisfies. Are you satisfied? Is your salvation complete? Are
you still trying to add something to it? Has Christ finished the
work? Are you still trying to finish
the work? If you're trying to finish the work, you've come
to the wrong mountain. You've come to Mount Sinai. If a person was dead with Christ
from the law, why then are we subject to things? Touch not,
taste not, handle not. Jesus was derided by the Pharisees,
if you remember, about washing hands. Is there anything wrong
with washing hands before you eat? Anything wrong with that?
I like to wash my hands before I eat. I don't like all of the
things that I've been touching, and I don't like to get sick.
So I know that there are germs and I like to wash my hands,
but the Pharisees said, you must wash your hands before you eat.
They've made it a religious law. So that you would not defile
yourself in case you touched a dead body or in case you accidentally
touch something unclean. They said, oh, you got to wash
your hands and then you'll be clean. Carnal. You see how carnal
that is? How carnal is this? That men
say you have to eat the Lord's table in order to be saved. Is
that not carnal? Men say you have to be baptized
in order to be saved. Is that not carnal? Then you've
come to a mountain that might be touched. Come to a mountain
that might be touched. It's not what goes in a man that
defiles him, Jesus said, it's that which cometh out. You see,
we have a heart issue. We have a problem with the inside
of the man, not the outside of the man. You clean that up all
you want to. That doesn't change the inside. Men are drug addicts and drunkards
and fornicators, adulterers. They commit sins because of their
own heart. It's not the drug. It's not the
beer. It's not the alcohol. It's not
the prostitute on the street. It's the heart that's the problem. Men are always saying, go do
this and then you'll be safe from all of this temptation.
It's a lie. Unless God gives you a new heart. All of those things are impossible
to leave. Men think that, you know, I've
known drug addicts in my family. I've known people who are addicted
to those things. And those things are horrible.
I'll tell you, they destroy lives. But it's not the drug. I'll tell
you what, you can lay all the drugs you want to on that table.
I don't have any interest in it. I have no desire in it. The drugs themselves can sit
there. They themselves are not evil. But yet men attack them
as though they're evil. It's not that they're not the
problem. The problem is within the man.
The problem is a heart issue. It's a sin problem, and no matter
what you do on the outside, you can't solve a sin problem. You can change all you want to,
you can stop doing drugs, you can stop drinking, but that doesn't
change the fact you're a sinner. And so then all who are trying
to save themselves by doing have come to Mount Sinai that might
be touched. Well, what happens when you touch
it? You die. God who came to Sinai came in
the glory of His holy justice, and everyone who touched that
mountain died. When you come to Mount Sinai,
you don't find anything but blackness and darkness of sin. Therefore, you who would think
to come to God by words, hear the voice of Sinai. What happened when they heard
the voice of God speaking those ten commandments to them? The scripture says they begged
not to hear his voice again. If you ever hear the law of God,
you'll never desire to hear it again. Not without a mediator. They said, Moses, Moses, we can't
stand to hear it anymore. You go up for us. That's the only way they could
hear it, by Mediator. The only way they could understand
it was by Mediator. Why would any man come to the
law? Why would any man try to add
his works to save his soul when the scriptures are plain and
clear? That if you try to obey one part
of the law, then you are under the whole law. But praise be to God that we
who are saved are saved by another mountain. We are saved by a mountain
that cannot be touched. We are saved spiritual with spiritual
salvation, not by carnal works. We are come to Mount Zion. Look at it in verse 22 of our
text, it says, But you are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city
of the living God, to heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels. This mountain was a type of God's
salvation by grace. Because this is where the atonement
took place on Mount Sinai. You remember the atonement. You
have the temple. Inside the temple was the holiest
of holies. And that's once a year He would
take those two goats and He would slaughter the goat of the one.
He would catch his blood in a basin. And He would take His hands and
He would put His hands on the other goat. And He would confess
all the sins of Israel. And that goat was to be taken
out and put in the wilderness, never to be seen again. This
is a picture of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our salvation. We are come to Him. When you
come to Mount Sinai, you come to Christ. You come to salvation,
not by works, but by grace. You come to salvation by a substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ represents
both of those goats. Both the scapegoat and the offering. God in grace took all the sins
of His people and imputed them to a son. What does that mean? I don't have the time and I don't
have the ability to explain the completeness of this. All I know
is this, that all the sins of His people were charged to Christ
in such a way that He Himself said, that they were His own.
Go to Psalm 69. Psalm 69 are the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Psalm 69, verse 1 says, Save
me, O God! For the waters should come up
into my soul. I sink in deep mire where there
is no standing. I am come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat
is dry. My eyes have failed while they
wait for my God. For they that hate me without
a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that
which I took not away. O God, Thou knowest what? My foolishness. And my sins are not hid from
Thee. My sins became His own. Not in any way to impede His
righteous being. Not in any way to make Him unrighteous. But yet, He suffered under the
wrath of Almighty God for my sins. He died. His blood was shed for
the single purpose to put away the sins of His people forever. The sins of His people who have
come to Mount Sinai, we come by a substitute. We come with
no works of our own. God forbid that we should come
with anything of our own. But come. Because everyone who
comes to this mountain finds mercy. Everyone who comes seeking
mercy finds mercy. Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain
for sinners. As you come to Mount Zion, we see Jesus who had all our sins imputed
to Him. And we see His blood offering
in our place And as I behold on the cross where Jesus died,
I behold the holiness of God that even where sin was found
in His Son, He could not withhold His justice. And God having taken our sins,
imputing them to Christ and executing his son for our sins. You know
what the scripture says concerning God and Christ? He's satisfied. When you come
to Mount Zion, you come to a mount where God is satisfied. Mount
Sinai, God is never satisfied. There's never enough you can
do. But all who come to Mount Zion, we have this peace. We
have this rest. That you have come to the living
God. When Christ died for my sins,
what was the voice that he spoke? What were the words that he said?
It is finished. He died and they buried him in
the tomb. When they buried Him, they buried
Him with my sins. My sins were buried in the tomb
of Christ, never to be seen again. Because when He rose again, He
rose with incorruptible flesh. He rose again without sin, having put it away forever. I
love Jeremiah chapter 50 and verse 20. It tells me that God
cannot find my sin. God cannot find my sin. Even God who searches cannot
find my sin. Because Christ has fully paid
for every one of them. Everyone who comes to this mountain,
we hear the voice of our Savior saying, it is finished. you sinners,
poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Come, Jesus ready
stands to save you, full of pity, joined with power." I want to come that way. I come
that way. I come seeking mercy. And everyone
who comes to Mount Zion, we come to the city of the living God.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is no longer in the tomb. He's alive. He's
alive. He controls all things so that
everything that happens in this world happens according to His
will. Are we suffering? Do we have trouble? Are we sorrowing? Is it not the
will of our Savior that this is happening to us? You bet it
is. I've come to Zion, the mount
of the living God. And I know this, that Christ
who died for me and rose again from the grave is seated at the
right hand and He is doing all things for my good. I'm not called to understand
that, but I'm called to believe that. I do believe that. Therefore, if we have come to
Mount Zion, we should set our affections not on earthly things,
but on heavenly things. All of you are citizens of the
United States. But truly, that means nothing
to us who have come by Zion. We are citizens of a heavenly
kingdom. As we grow in grace and knowledge
of Christ, we should not grow more rooted in this world, but
less rooted. The closer that time comes, we
should be less rooted in this world. looking forward to being
with Christ. We've come to a city whose builder
and maker is God. This is not our home. This place
is not our home. We should be expecting a glorious,
heavenly home. Jesus said, I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go to prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Set your affections on things
above, not on things of the earth. If you come by Zion, our affections
should be set in heaven. Our affection should be set on
the person and work of Christ. And lastly, we have come to a
mountain, and this is peculiar in our text. It says, to an innumerable company
of angels. Friends, I know very, very little
about angels. I don't know much about them.
The Scriptures in the Old Testament reveal much more than the Scriptures
in the New Testament concerning angels. All I know this is in
Hebrews chapter 1. You want to read it? Hebrews
chapter 1 verse 14. It says concerning angels, "...Are
they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them
who shall be heirs of salvation?" I know this. Angels are my servants.
They are sent to minister, to serve God's people. How? By doing our will? No. By doing the will of God. They
are holy beings ready to do the will of God. Do you remember Elisha when he was
surrounded by that Syrian army? And he was calm. He had no trouble. He wasn't worried about these
guys at all. And his servant goes, what in
the world are you doing? Shouldn't you be scared? These
guys, they want to kill you. They want to take you. And he
said, Lord, let him see. And all of a sudden, he was surrounded
by legions of angels. That's why I'm not scared. My
God who sends these to minister at His will protects us. I know
you get that foolish notion of guardian angel. That doesn't
have anything to do with that superstition. But I know this,
that angels are beings that surround us and they desire to look into
the things that you know. Isn't that something? That angels
who are holy beings, they still desire to look into these things
of grace because they have no idea what it is. Know you not that you shall judge
angels? Friends, there's a lot of things
we don't know. There's a lot of things that
God has not fully revealed to us. But all who come to God by Jesus
Christ know this. I believe you can take comfort
from this, that we have an innumerable amount
of help. God is our helper. Do you have trouble? Yes, you
do. Do you have troubles and sicknesses
and trials? Yes, you do. But you have more
help than you have troubles. You have more help than you can
possibly imagine. You who have come by grace, through
faith in Jesus Christ alone. I pray that God blesses to us.
We're dismissed.