You want to turn in your Bibles
to Hebrews chapter 12. We're going to be there today.
I want to comment on a verse from
Hebrews chapter 12 that we read a couple Sundays ago. And this chapter has to do with
God's glory seen in Christ and all that He's fulfilled for them.
And it is a strong encouragement in light of all that has gone
before in the book of Hebrews concerning Christ's work and
concerning those that have believed in Him, concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself in His life and sufferings and death on the cross,
to run this race, this life we're in now is a race, it's a race
of faith, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ as the children
of God, gently and graciously and faithfully corrected in chastening
by God the Father. And the exhortation comes to
us in this chapter that we are to, in verse 13, make straight
paths for your feet. And verse 12, it says, lift up
the hands which hang down in the feeble knees. And I wanted
to read this to you. Don Fortner wrote this. He calls
this helping the weak. He said, this is a call for us
to help one another in such times of need. Eliphaz commended Job
because Job had helped his weak brethren. He says in Job 4, verse
3 through 4, behold, thou hast instructed many and thou hast
also strengthened the weak hands, thy words have upholden him that
was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. I like that,
I hadn't considered that. And then he goes on, he says,
we know that what Paul, the apostle, who apparently was the writer
of Hebrews, what he's primarily referring to and urging us is
to help one another. because this verse, Hebrews 12,
verse 12, is a quotation from Isaiah 35, which says, strengthen
ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them
that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance. Even God, with a recompense,
he will come and save you. That concept of vengeance from
God towards our enemies, that's throughout the Psalms, throughout
Scripture. And the purpose for that is that God would destroy
our enemies, which are our sins, and all those enemies that are
our enemies because of our sins by the engagement of Christ as
our captain. On our behalf, when he bore our
sins, our enemies became his, his very own, and he had to win
the fight over them, which he did in trusting God in submission
of obedience, giving himself for our sins. But then he goes
on, Don Faulkner goes on, he says, When our brethren are weak,
and when it appears that they are ready to quit the race, let
us refresh and strengthen them with love, sympathizing with
them, speaking comfortably to them, and bearing their burdens. That is what brothers and sisters
do for one another. It is called love." And I like
what he said there. He says, How we are normally
weak as sheep are weak, sheep are foolish animals, they get
themselves into the worst predicaments, and if it weren't for someone
who was a shepherd to come and rescue them, they would perish
by their foolishness. And this is us, he says, our
hands are weak, our knees are feeble, and how sluggish and
inactive we are in prayer. In hearing God's word, we are
weak and feeble and sluggish. In worship, in holding fast our
profession, in the performance of those things by which the
gospel of Christ is to be adorned, in all these things we are weak.
Here he's, Don is pointing out that we are to encourage one
another and we are to remember to do that. He also had another
point. He says, how much we ought to
pity a lame member of Christ's body. How much we ought to pity
a lame member of our family. It does not matter whether the
lameness is lameness because of his corrupt nature. or lameness
caused by his foolish and sinful behavior, or lameness caused
by the neglect of his soul. What are we to do? We are to
encourage them. And he goes on to talk about
that. So I enjoyed, I thoroughly benefited from that, from Don,
and I wanted to bring it up because it goes along with his chapter
here. But I want to focus today on what is said in verses 18
through 22, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 18 through 22. Now remember that this is the
climax, the point that's being brought together in a very quick
summary of all that has gone before. And what is used here
as the technique by which the apostle here brings the conclusion
to the book of Hebrews to a climax, the technique that he uses is
he draws from the very tangible and visible picture of the history
of the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. And that was a very vivid,
historical experience that that nation went through. And he describes
it in verse 18. He says, you are not come to
the mount that might be touched, that burned with fire, nor unto
blackness and darkness and tempest. You're not come to that. You
can hear, you can feel, you can smell, you can touch, you can
see those things almost from the words used here. He goes
on. Nor are you come to 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
anymore, because they could not endure that which was commanded.
And if so much as a beast touched 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 see the
picture? God is painting the picture here through the apostle
that the mountain of Sinai, where God gave the law to Israel, was
a terrifying sight. The whole mountain shook. The
mountain was on fire. It smoked. There was a storm,
lightnings and thunderings. There was a sound of a trumpet
that was heralding. It was declaring through this
blast of this trumpet the certain condemnation and doom of all
that heard it. And the words that proclaimed
and exposed the people in their guilt and helplessness, there
was no place to hide. They were told to stand back,
not look, don't come near, don't touch, all those things. And
if anyone touched, they were to be killed or stoned. And so it's a terrifying sight,
isn't it? Now, this is the technique that
the apostle by the Spirit of God has led to bring Hebrews
to a climax and close. On the one hand, he paints this
vivid picture of the history of the giving of the law at Sinai.
And on the other hand, he paints an even more vivid picture. But in this picture, it's not
darkness and blackness and a terrifying storm and sounds of a trumpet
condemning, pronouncing the oncoming doom and judgment that was coming
upon them because of their sins. It wasn't proclaiming what God
demanded of them that they could not meet. It wasn't proclaiming
their certain death. No, this vivid picture God is
about to declare here in what follows is the most glorious
of all pictures. It's in order to shore up, in
order to encourage, in order to strengthen them in the race
of faith, Yes, in this life we endure even the chastening of
our Father's hand, but His chastening hand is a hand to be welcomed,
a hand of love, a hand that shows the evidence of our adoption
as His sons and birth as His sons by the Spirit of God. Because
that chastening of God, which comes through the preaching of
His word, which comes through the affliction of our conscience
and the loss of the sense of His presence, and we feel like
all is dark and we can't see the gospel that we once believed
and loved and all those things trouble us immensely. And the
providence of God in our life where afflictions come and trials
come and disappointments and frustrations and weaknesses uncovered,
sin is made bare and the nakedness of ourselves before God is exposed
and we have nowhere to hide. And we're left there in this
sense of fear, and yet God comforts us because He directs us and
brings us to Christ the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, to
His blood, to His righteousness. And that's what He's about to
do here in the next verses that follow. He's going to take all
of God's comfort that comes through chastening and direct us to the
closed place of the bosom of our Father. And it's been said
that if you're chastened by your father, impress yourself. into
his bosom because there the rod will not feel so painful and
it will not be so severe because God himself is the one who holds
us dear and brings us close through his chasing. What a comfort that
is, what a place of safety, a place of assurance, a place of peace
and rest, joy and love even under the hand of God in our life.
But what he does here is he tells us now, you have not come to
all that we described a moment ago, to Sinai, to the frightful
giving of the law. Because it was frightful, it
was terrifying. because it pronounced our guilt.
It exposed our nakedness. We had no obedience to God. We
were naked in our disobedience before God, and like Adam in
the garden, we hid when we heard the voice of God. That's what
the law does. It proves that there's no one on earth who can
come to God in themselves. We cannot come in what we are.
We cannot come by what we do. We cannot bring something to
God that he can accept because all that we are in ourselves
is sinful. And God's law itself pronounces
us to be guilty. And under his condemnation, That's
what the law tells us. And it was given by God. So it's
not something that we have to say, well, it was just given
by a man. No, it was given by God. And he gave it to us for
a long time. There was a period of over 1,400
years when the entire nation of Israel had to live under that
law until Christ came. And that's the good news. That's
when not the darkness and blackness, but the light and immortality
that Christ made, gave by his own work on the cross, was made
known in the gospel. And I use those words from 2
Timothy 1. I'll read them to you. He has
saved us. God has saved us by his power.
He has called us with a holy calling. not according to our
works, not in consideration of anything in us. Total lack of
works in the consideration of God's grace towards us. He does
not consider our works, doesn't consider our sins, in fact, in
a qualification for us to come. He says here, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Do you see the contrast? Light, life, immortality, all
brought to light through the gospel by the Lord Jesus Christ
according to God's eternal purpose. Now that's the picture he's about
to paint here in Hebrews chapter 12. The way the law was given
reflects the character of the law. The character of the law
when it comes to guilty sinners. What is it? The whole mountain
of Sinai was on fire. When a sinner attempts to come
to God, when we attempt to come to God in ourselves with our
own answer, by an answer we can come up with, or by a work we
can do, or with our own sorrow, or our own tears, or any kind
of repentance, even our faith, if we try to come to God that
way, God appears to us only as a consuming fire and darkness
and blackness and tempest because God is hidden from us when we
come to him in ourselves. There's only one way we can come.
God himself has to bring us through the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's
what the law does. And these two covenants, the
first one, by coming to God, conditioned on our obedience,
that's the old covenant. That's the law covenant. That's
a covenant of works. Compared, contrasted to the new
covenant, where we're given all things because of Christ's obedience
and his bloodshed, That's the new covenant. All blessings,
and only through that, through Christ giving himself for our
sins, come to sinners through that covenant. And it was made
in his blood. And so these two things are said
in contrast. The sounds, the visible sight,
the smell, everything that they could taste, touch, see, and
smell, everything then. was to reflect the intimidating,
condemning, killing law of God when it meets with a sinner who
dares to approach God that way. Remember in the Garden of Eden,
what did God say? Let me read that to you in Genesis
2. Ever since the beginning of time,
even Before sin entered into the world, God gave this strong
warning. He says in Genesis 2, verse 17,
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die." That's exactly what it means
to try to come to God through the law, through our own personal
obedience, through our own personal worthiness, or by an answer that
we can bring to God to justify ourselves. To do that is equivalent
to doing what God forbid. Do not Do not try to come by
the law, because by the law is what? The knowledge of sin. The knowledge of good and evil. That's what the law is to us.
Don't do it. And God warned Adam and Eve in
the beginning, do not do that. And what happened? They did that. They looked at this. It was appealing
to their pride. Eve looked at that tree and she
said, it looks good to me. She desired it because it would
make them wise. And she saw that it was good
for food and pleasant to the eyes. She took it. She ate it. And then she gave to Adam with
her and he ate. And this is what happened. The
eyes of them both, in chapter three, Genesis 3-7, the eyes
of them both were both opened and they knew that they were
naked. They had no obedience. They were
clothed in their own shame, naked. And they sewed fig leaves together.
They tried to cover themselves. Didn't work. They made themselves
aprons. And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam
did what? He and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord. the Lord God amongst the trees
of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and he said, where
art thou? And Adam said, I heard thy voice. That's what they did at Sinai.
They heard his voice in the garden. I was afraid. That's what happened
at Sinai. Because I was naked. That's why
they were afraid. That's why sinners are fearful
before God. And I hid myself. That's the
work of God's law. It exposes us as guilty. It leaves
us without a hiding place. It shows that you can't come
to God that way. And it shuts our mouth. and it
shows us our utter weakness. God has to step in. God has to,
in mercy and in his wisdom, find a way to deal with sinners so
that he doesn't consume them, because that's his character
and nature. And that way is what? The Lord Jesus Christ. I am the
way, Jesus said. I am the truth, the way to the
Father, the truth of how God can justify the ungodly, and
the life, the life of God. All of that's through only one
thing, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, in Hebrews chapter 12
and 18 and 19 and 20, it shows us this is the conclusion of
the law. Now, in other places, the apostle would write it this
way, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight. But here, he paints the picture
by the giving of the law and draws the same conclusion by
the scene that strikes our senses, our sight, and our smell, and
our touch, and all those things that happened back in Sinai.
Because that's the nature of the law. It's terrifying. It's
damning. It's killing. And we can't come
that way. And God, in his mercy, proves
this to us because we're hard-headed. We're ignorant and arrogant. and we need God's law to show
us that we're guilty and helpless and hopeless unless God does
something. And that is the good news of
the gospel. That's the light from heaven
that shines through the darkness and parts the clouds, that removes
the fire and the smoke with the light and joy and peace that
comes, how? Through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So now we're going to look at
this in verse 22. We're going to start in verse
22 again. He says, but you are come unto
Mount Zion. Now, Mount Zion, as we read last
time in Psalm 48, is a great place. It's a city of God. It's
the place where God is praised. It's the mountain of His holiness.
It's God's place of dwelling, God's place of rule, the place
where there is peace. and rest in God's work alone,
because His work is beautiful. It says in Psalm 48, verse 2,
it's beautiful for situation. When you look on the city, Mount
Zion, it's gorgeous beyond description, unfathomably, unspeakably, incomprehensibly
beautiful, because the beauty of that city is the beauty of
the Lord Jesus Christ in our nature, fulfilling God's law,
meeting every demand of His justice by the sacrifice of Himself in
complete submission for the worst of men, ungodly sinners, to bring
them to God, to remove their sins from them and to clothe
them in that obedience of His that brought us to God and saved
us from our sins. That's the beauty of it. And
this is what it speaks of in Psalm 48, verses one and three. It's the joy of the whole earth. All of God's people could not
be happier, because sinners could not be happier than when they
hear that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. and
to know God. When Adam hid, when the mountain
was in blackness and darkness and tempest and clouds and thunderings
and lightnings, what did it say? You cannot know God this way. Don't attempt. Don't think you
can know God or come to God or approach God or see God this
way. You cannot. This is not the way. You need to go to Christ, you
see. And that's the way, that's the one we see the Lord in. That's
the way we know God. That's the way he speaks to us
is through his son. That's the way we know him. That's
the way we can approach him. That's the way we find peace
and rest is through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He's our
refuge. So I'll read it again. Psalm 48, verses one and three.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of
our God, in the mountain of his holiness, Beautiful for situation,
the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the
north, the city of the great king. The great king is Christ. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. God himself is our refuge, and
every believer in that city is a stone, and in that city are
many mansions. God is known in them. That's
where we dwell. God dwells in us, we dwell in
him, all by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our refuge. And so we see
these things laid out in the Psalms and here in Hebrews chapter
12 that we are not come. Notice it says you are come. You are come. How did we come? What is our present state? Is
it we hope to come to? No, he says you have come. You
are now come. This is our present enjoyment.
This is the way things are. How did we get here? How do we
know that we have come? Well, we got there because we
were brought. We didn't bring ourselves. Someone
had to bring us. And who brought us? And where
did we come to? Where is Zion anyway? We were
brought by God the Father. He taught us and we were brought
to Christ. And having been brought by God
the Father to Christ, what do we have? We have everything that
is His. Notice, I'll read this in John
chapter six. He says this, Jesus himself said
this here in John chapter six. He said, no man can come to me
except, remember, he's the way, the truth, and the life. He's
everything. No man can come to me except the Father which has
sent me draw him irresistibly graciously and with almighty
power, bringing us to Christ. Like we sang a minute ago, but
God, if it hadn't been for him, we would remain dead in our sins.
So no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me
draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written
in the prophets and they shall all, they shall be all taught
of God. You see, everyone, every man,
therefore, that has heard and learned of the Father comes to
me. There we go. We see here, the
work of the Father is to bring us to Christ. And He does that
by His Spirit, through His Word, the Gospel. And having been brought
to Christ, we're given eternal life. On the last day, He's gonna
raise us up. Christ Himself will. We've been
given to Christ, brought to Christ, we'll be raised up with Christ
on the last day. And we're raised up now by His
Spirit in looking to Christ. It's all God's work. So that's
the way we come. We come to Christ and coming
to Christ we have all that is his. We come to the city, Mount
Zion. We come to the place of God's
dwelling, the place of God's design, the place where God's
glory is known, the place where God himself is known, the place
of refuge, the place of salvation. It's all Mount Zion. And then
he goes on here. He says, we've not only come
to Mount Zion, but we've come to the city of the living God.
And what is this city? Well, we read this in Revelation
21. Beautiful, without parallel. It's beautiful, unfathomably
beautiful. Even the words in Revelation
fall short. because they're describing a
spiritual city using physical terms. And how can we understand
spiritual things by these physical things? All we can say is it
must be grand, it must be glorious. Remember when God made the earth,
what did he do? When he had finished everything,
it says God looked upon all the work that he had made and he
said, it is very good. That's what God is doing in Revelation
21. He's coming to the end of time
and time is closed. Time is no more, and he presents
his people to himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, having washed them
in his own blood, he presents them to himself in the dress
of his own beautiful righteousness. Having been made perfect in the
offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, he presents them to himself and
he describes them. all-glorious, the bride of Christ,
all-glorious, having the glory of God, like a city coming down
out of heaven, with all the glory of God, the light and the glory
of God. Amazing, isn't it? Okay. So the city is the gospel church. It's the church of Christ. He is the foundation of it. True
believers are those who inhabit it. And in this city, if you
were to look back at Revelation 22, it says there's a river that
flows out of the throne of God. He says in verse Chapter 22,
verse 1, He showed me a pure river of water, of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb, and in the midst of the street of it, this is that city,
and on either side of the river was a tree of life, and it bear
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month,
and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. There
shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb,
and his servants shall serve him there. And they shall see
his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads." This
is the end. This is the consummation. This is what God has been doing
all these years, throughout time. Before time, He purposed it and
designed it. In time, He fulfilled it. And
at the end of time, in everlasting ages, when time is no more, and
Judgment Day is over, then He's going to bring that glorious
city to the manifestation of all of the onlooking universe.
This is God's work. Look at it! God Himself sees
no spot in her. All the people of God, made glorious
and beautiful by the Lord Jesus Christ, wedded to Him. brought
into union with him, God himself dwelling in them, and Christ
dwelling in them. They know him, his spirit in
them. There's no more sorrow, no more
tears, no more judgment, no more accusation, no more charges,
only justified ones, sanctified ones, glorified ones, having
the very glory of Christ given to them, their bodies even made
like to his glorious spiritual body, Philippians 3.20. Okay,
so it's in this present time, this is what we are. We're brought
to this. We see it now by faith, and having
seen it now by faith, we have what we see. Faith is the present
substance of things hoped for, isn't it? It's the evidence of
things not seen. God tells us, he gives us the
grace of faith, and we possess it now. You are now come to this. When you're running this race
of faith, and you're enduring the afflictions of all of your
life, and the struggle with sin, indwelling corruptions, and the
fears and doubts within, and the persecutions and troubles
without, keep your eye on the city. That's God's gonna do it. He's gonna finish the work, and
you'll be brought to Him in perfect perfection that Christ has worked
out at the cross. In this city, everyone has access
to God all the time by the blood of Jesus. In this city, there's
no more charges. We're free from the arresting
law and justice of God. We're free from condemnation.
We're free from the bondage of the law. We come to God not by
ourselves, but we come in the Lord Jesus Christ. And God doesn't
consider us in ourselves. He only considers us in Christ. What a glorious truth that is.
This is where God dwells. These are the people God protects.
And this is where God puts his defense. And that's why in Psalm
18, we were studying this on Thursday, when the Lord Jesus
Christ describes his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his
high tower, his salvation, his trust, all those things, he says
is God himself. Who can penetrate? God as a defense. Who can come against one? God
himself is the shield for that one. No one. Jesus holds his
people in his hand, and he says, my father is greater than I.
No one can pluck them out of his hand. And so he defends this
city. He protects it. He dwells in
it. He rewards them with the reward
of all of those heavenly and spiritual blessings which are
in Christ Jesus. He's given us all spiritual and
heavenly blessings. Again, this is in contrast to
that vivid display of God's terror and wrath and certain doom that
appeared at Sinai because man in his sinfulness cannot come
to God. We have to be brought in Christ.
And that's why he describes to us this beautiful city. He says
in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 22, you are come to Mount Zion,
the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem means
a vision of peace or they shall see peace. This is what Jerusalem,
where how do we see peace? What is our vision of peace?
Christ and Him crucified. The King, because He not only
was crucified, but He was exalted. He's called the Prince of Peace,
because He made peace by His own blood. And all the members
of this city are the sons of God, and therefore sons of peace. I mean, children who have been
reconciled to God by the blood, the death of his own son. They
enjoy spiritual peace now. They all have this peace. We
enjoy it by faith now. Remember Romans 15, 13? Joy and
peace in believing. and we will have everlasting
peace hereafter. This city consists of saints
who are cemented together. How? What is that bond between
us? It's love. What is the bond of
our union with the Lord Jesus Christ? What is that that will
not allow us to be separated from Him? It's His love. that
cementing bond between the members of Christ's body and between
Christ himself and us is the love of God. And it's the same
as the river of God that flows out of his throne. It's the eternal,
everlasting love of God in Christ. And so this is all true of that
heavenly Jerusalem. It's well fortified because Christ
is the rock of it, the refuge and salvation of it, the high
tower and fortress and the trust of all those in it. And they
are all safe and protected and blessed because of his power.
And he's all around it. He himself is the salvation of
it. Can we ever really get our hands around it? The words just
fail, don't they? But we like to hear them anyway.
I want to hear them. Jerusalem was God's choice. It's the city that was chosen.
They didn't just enter on their own. There's a border that you
can't get across here. This nation and city God is describing
here, you can only get in it one way. It's through the blood
of Christ. He's the way. and we can't be
there unless we're legal. unless God has adopted us and
made us his sons through that spiritual birth. And so he brings
us in by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is called a heavenly city
because it's not of this earth. The design of it came from eternal
design by God. The building of it was by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He laid the foundation in his
blood and his spirit brings us into union with himself in the
preaching of the gospel. Our citizenship, is in heaven,
it says in Philippians 3, verse 20, and we are members of it
because we were born from above, born of God. In Colossians 3,
it says, if you then be risen with Christ, then seek those
things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand
of God, and set your affections on things above, not on things
on the earth, for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you appear also with him in glory. Therefore, now, while you're
walking, mortify your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness,
which is idolatry. You see, keep your eyes on glory. Keep your eyes on Christ. and
lay aside the weight that so easily besets us here. Lay aside
that unbelief, pursue Christ, and lay hold on Him, and all
these other things, put them to death, because you've died
with Christ. Everything about this city is
God's doing. It's God's city, it has God's
beauty, and we are that city. We always want to think of it
as an abstract, outside of us thing. No, this is God's people
in Christ. It says also here in Hebrews
chapter 12, you come to an innumerable company of angels. Now, angels
in scripture, there are some things about angels we don't,
a lot of things about angels we don't know. But here, God
tells us we've come to an innumerable company of angels. First of all,
the angels are God's army. Think of it coming into the king's
presence, and there, in the king's courts and in his palace are
all of his army. That's the angels. We've come
to an innumerable company of angels, the army of God. It says in Psalm 103, bless the
Lord, ye his angels, notice, that excel in strength, that
do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his words. Angels
are mighty. They are the mightiest, the strongest
of all of God's creatures. Psalm 103, verse 20. They are
the mightiest of God's creatures. And they do God's commandments.
They're just servants. They serve God. Whatever he says,
they do it. And it's mighty. And this is
the company. This is the army. This is God's
host we've come to. We've been brought to this host,
this army. We've been brought under their
protection. God has commissioned them to
serve his people. We've been brought into that
relationship with these angels. now, even now in this present
life. There's many things about angels.
Remember in Luke 16, when Lazarus, the beggar, died, what happened?
It says that it came to pass, Jesus said, the beggar died and
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. So what do the
angels do? They bring God's people into
the presence of God. They bring them to Christ at
their death. That's what God says. The angels
do that. That's a mighty work, isn't it?
Not only that, but it says in Genesis 28, when Jacob dreamed,
remember he had his head there on that rock. He saw a ladder
that was set up to heaven. The top of the ladder reached
heaven and the angels of God were ascending and descending
on it. And then later in John 1 51,
Jesus said that you will see heaven opened and the angels
of God ascending and descending upon the son of man. So the angels
of God, their mission, their commission of God. based on Christ's
redeeming work, is to serve his people. And so, based on Christ,
at his behest, his command, he sends them into this world, they're
spiritual beings, very mighty and powerful, and they're able
to serve Christ by serving his people. Now, if that's what angels
have been given to do, how do we serve Christ? In the same
way, by serving his people. And so they're not only servants
to Christ, servants to Christ for his elect, but he says here
in Hebrews 1, verse 13, the angels, he says about them that they
are ministering spirits, serving spirits, sent forth to minister
or serve them who shall be heirs of salvation. The elect of God
are the ones who will inherit salvation. So that's what the
angels do. Before we're saved, after we're
saved, and then at our death, he brings our body. He brings
us into not only our bodies, but our souls. Somehow, I don't
understand it, but they're mighty enough to find God's elect because
Christ tells them who they are. He tells his angels, these are
mine, and they watch over them. serving Christ. He says in Psalm
91, verse 11, he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep
thee in all thy ways. And we know that was fulfilled
when Jesus in the wilderness was tempted by Satan. The angels
came and ministered to him after that temptation. Not only that,
but they rejoiced. They joined the chorus of heaven
whenever a sinner is turned to Christ. by the Word of God. It says, I say to you, Jesus
said, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repented. God did the work, and look at
what God has done. He's brought this poor sinner
into his presence, bowing before him, thankful in his heart. He
isn't coerced into this. He's brought happily into the
presence of Christ. pouring out his tears upon his
feet, as it were, and washing his feet with those tears, and
his hair, worshiping Christ, kissing the feet of the Son,
and he does it gladly, and the angels are so happy with us. We know also that the angels
join God's saints to hear the gospel, and they rejoice in hearing
it, in 1 Peter 1, verses 10 through 12. The angels will also gather
together with Christ when he comes again. When the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is now in glory, when he comes in all the glory
of his visible, glorified body at the end of time, the angels
of God will come. He's the captain, they're the
army, and they come with him. Can you imagine what that's going
to be like? The holy angels, heaven's army, coming to get
Christ's people. He says this, when the son of
man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him,
then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and judge his people. Then it says, then he shall send
his angels and gather together his elect from the four winds
from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven, wherever they are. God's angels are going to find
them and bring them to Christ at the end of time. He compares
them to the wheat, and the angels are the reapers. He says they're
going to reap. They're going to reap what God
has sown in the earth. Through the gospel, Christ has
saved his people, and they are wheat, and they'll be gathered
into his barn that we brought into the mansions of glory to
be with Christ. He not only will gather them,
but he'll separate from that field all the tares. He'll take
them out and burn them. The angels will. And so that's
the end of time. He says in Matthew 13, Jesus
said, the harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are
the angels. He also says this. He says, whosoever
shall confess me before men, Him shall the Son of Man also
confess before the angels of God." These holy and very powerful
beings were created by God to serve Christ and his people.
The Lord Jesus Christ is going to say, these are mine. These
are mine. The ones you hear on earth as
sinners confessing themselves to be sinners saved by the grace
of God because they heard God's word and they've been brought
to trust in Him alone. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to say, that's mine. Did you hear that? You see that?
That's one of mine. And they're going to rejoice
with Him. A lost sheep brought in, a prodigal son, a found coin. And the angels of God are rejoicing
over that and they know them. I'm going to serve that one because
he's Christ, purchased by His blood. Amazing, isn't it? Now, when
the law was given, it was given by the ministration of angels.
And we know that the problem is, is the law, but we can't
come to God that way. But men who continue to try to
come by the law, you know what they do? They worship devils
who were fallen angels. Amazing. Amazing, so in 2 Thessalonians
1 verse 7 it says, to you who are troubled rest with us when
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They don't
know God's grace and mercy and they don't believe Christ because
they've never seen themselves to be sinners and seen his glory
in saving sinners. Verse 9 of 2 Thessalonians 1,
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he, Christ,
shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired
in all them that believe because our testimony was believed by
you in that day. There it is, innumerable angels. Can you see it? This is where
we are. This is what we've been brought
to. This glorious mountain of God's holiness, beautiful for
situation, the joy of the whole earth, where God is praised,
the city of God, the people of God, the place where God dwells,
His design, His work, His building, the foundation where Christ Himself
was laid in His blood. We built upon Him, brought in
by the Spirit of God to Christ by the will of the Father. Born
of God, there we are. And he goes on. It gets better.
He says you're brought to the General Assembly in Hebrews chapter
12. To the General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn. The General Assembly, what is
that? It's not just the local churches here and there throughout
the earth. But it's every believer ever
saved in any place on earth throughout all of time brought together,
whether Jew or Gentile, because they were brought near by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of them are God's elect.
All of them were given the spirit of God. All of them have life
from God and believe Christ. They all have the same God, the
same Lord, the same faith, the same baptism, the same spirit. They're brought into one body.
They're the General Assembly. Not the assembly of the Jews
who gathered in the feast days. We're talking about the Church
of God out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation redeemed
by the blood of Christ. Not only that, he goes on in
Hebrews chapter 12, not only the general assembly, but the
church of the firstborn. Now the word firstborn here is
plural. It means not the firstborn meaning Christ, who is also called
the firstborn in Colossians 1, but the firstborn. You know what
a firstborn was? A firstborn was the one who had
all the blessings, who had the inheritance, who had the high
privileges, who was the preeminent, prominent one in the family.
That's the one people look to. That's the one the parents were
most pleased with. This was my firstborn son. And
so the firstborn got all the, everything. We are the ones,
every believer is called a firstborn of God. We're adopted, we're
born, we're given his spirit, we're made heirs of God, given
the inheritance that Christ himself has given. We're the firstborn.
We have all the privileges of sons, but not just sons. We're
put above the angels. The angels are servants. We're
the firstborn of God. and it's all by the blood of
Christ. Amazing, isn't it? Firstborn, purchased by his blood,
chosen by God, we're given the firstfruits of his spirit. We're
equally sons of God. Everyone in God's family is a
firstborn, equally loved, equally united to Christ. We all have
an interest in him. We all share the same privileges
and honors and dignity and shall enjoy the same inheritance, every
redeemed sinner. Given all this, we're called
the firstborn. And then it says, and we're brought
to God, the judge of all. What does that mean? Well, you
know what it says in Romans chapter eight. If God be for us, who
can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? The judge of all has justified
them. And who is he that condemns?
Christ, who's seated on heaven's throne, died for them, and rose
again, and now sits and makes intercession for them. We're
brought to God, the judge of all, the place of security and
safety, because no one can charge one. God justifies for whom Christ
died. And then it says here also, we're
not only brought to God the judge of all, but to the spirits of
just men made perfect. Everyone in heaven has been made
perfect. They were made just in the righteousness
of Christ. They were made perfect in the
offering of Christ. Both are true. What does it mean? It means that there's no spot,
no fault, no blame. Not the hint of sin. No lack
in their righteousness. It's a full and complete righteousness. They've been absolutely made
mature in the righteousness and the perfection of Christ for
them. And then verse 24, and to Jesus, the mediator of the
new covenant. The old covenant, Moses was the
mediator. In the new covenant, Christ,
the son of God. We're his household. He's going
to build us and keep us, save us to the uttermost. No one can
take us from his hand. He's the son of God. Not only
he knows what God's mind is, he knows how to fulfill it. As
man, he himself came in obedience and did it absolutely perfectly,
perfectly trusting God. And He pleads for us. He defends
us. He will not let anyone take our
inheritance from us. Then it's the New Covenant. Everything
promised in that New Covenant, He gives to us. He's the administrator
of it. It was His blood that removed
our transgressions and secured all blessings to us. And then
it says we're brought not only to Jesus, the mediator of the
New Covenant, but to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better
things than that of Abel. Remember Abel? Cain killed Abel. What did God say in Genesis chapter
four? I think it's verse seven. He
told Cain, the blood of your brother cries to me from the
ground. The blood cries. What did Abel's
blood cry? There's been a murder here. He
did it. He deserves to die. afflict his
conscience, bring him to judgment, avenge me of my brother." That's
what his blood cried. But what does the blood of Christ
cry? There's been a murder here, but it was God's design in order
to save a people for himself. He laid his life down. His blood
not only was shed on purpose by him out of love, but it was
shed to wash them of their sins, to remove the blood guiltiness
of their crimes, to clothe them in his righteousness. to justify
them, not to cry for vengeance, but for blessing and inheritance,
not to afflict their conscience, but to cleanse their conscience
from dead works, to bring them to God, not to send them out,
estranged from God forever, even to raise them from the dead.
This is what God says the blood of Christ does. This is what
we're brought to. This is what God compels us to
run this race by faith. Do not forsake him who speaks
these things from heaven. If they did not survive, who
rejected what was spoken to them by him on earth, think of what
it would be like for all those who reject this glorious salvation
that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. See how we're comforted here?
You see how we're compelled to come to Christ through this vivid
display that's much more vivid and glorious than Sinai, but
is presented to the eyes of our faith, the senses of our faith.
because God has given us that gift to see God in his glory
in the death and righteousness of his son and our salvation
by him. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for
your goodness. Truly, the blessings you have
given to the Lord Jesus Christ for your people with him are
unfathomable. We cannot comprehend, we cannot
truly speak of them adequately, and we just fall so far short. But we're not surprised, because
our God is infinite in His understanding, and design, and His grace, and
justice, and mercy, and truth, and righteousness, and faithfulness,
and holiness, and all that He is, and all that He is as God. All that you are as God, you
are in our Savior, and all that he is to us, we are complete
in him. There's nothing lacking. So it's
no wonder that we must stand amazed without the ability to
speak of these things adequately. But help us, Lord, to lay hold
by faith upon him. Bring us to him. Don't let us
fall. Don't let our sin cause us to slip. Keep us with the
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our God, and our hope. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.