All right, Paul, the author is
giving us something here. Wherefore, seeing we are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us. looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down on the right hand of the throne of God. And now
verse 18, For ye are not come unto the mount that might be
touched, and that burn 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, anymore, for they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch
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. But you are come
unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than
Abel. See that ye refuse not him that
speaks. For if they escape not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape if we
turn away from him that speaks from heaven, whose voice then
shook the earth. But now he hath promised, saying,
Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this, yet once more, signifies
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
which are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve
God acceptably, with reverence and with fear, for our God is
a consuming fire." What a passage of Scripture! A hard one. I put
in a lot of mental sweat this week on this passage of the Scripture. So let's come at it like this,
by this means of introduction. That is, by now, in our Christian
life, our church attendance, and our study of the Bible, we
have come to know that the book of Hebrews was written toward
the Jew with a contrast of the old and the new economy. And the proving of the excellency
of the new over the old. The author never loses sight
of this throughout all of the book and in fact he gives us
many examples and proofs of it throughout the epistle as we
move through it. Now the purpose of these declaration
and exhortation was in order to convince the Jew who had espoused
the gospel way of worship and the gospel of Christ to continue
and to persevere to hold fast in the gospel way and not be
shaken out of it. Owen put it, to abide constant
and faithful therein. And this has a double prohibition
under those Jews in that particular time and era. Number one, the
exhortation is they must not return to Judaism, which would
amount to apostasy on their part. They were not to return, for
Judaism came to an end with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, Judaism has no
saving sacrifice. And to reject the sacrifice of
Christ is to be without one. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
26, If we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the
truth, that remains no more sacrifice for sin, only a judgment and
fiery indignation awaits such. But then there's a second thing
as well. Not only must they not leave
the gospel and return again unto Judaism, but they must not mingle
Judaism with Christianity. They must not bring over. They ought not to try to mix
up together the two. In other words, they could not
bring their circumcision or their ceremony or their days or their
Sabbath over into Christianity. The reason being that all of
these were shadows of things that were to come and have come. Colossians chapter 2 verse 16
and 17. And they were to cease with the
death and resurrection of our Lord. Now, consider this point,
if you will. Christianity cannot be mixed
with any other religion upon the face of the earth. And those
Jews who sought to Judaize Christianity just as there are those in our
day who are trying to Christianize Judaism. As an example of these
two things, we have an example of how it worked in the case
of the Apostle Paul. Paul shed the skin of Judaism
to count all that he once held dear as done for Christ and for
the gospel. And our administration for this
is rooted in two things. Number one, the deep devotion
that he had once for Judaism. Nobody ever was more entrenched
in Judaism than was Saul of Tarsha. and he held a Pharisee position
on it which was the strictest of all. He was at the head of
his class and had a fanatical attachment to the religion of
Judaism and yet God freed him. And then secondly, how quickly
He embraced Christianity and understood that Judaism had been
superseded by the new and the living way. As a result, Paul
called the former Judaism in Galatians 4 and verse 9, weak
and beggarly elements of bondage. And with all of his being, the
Apostle Paul resisted allowing the Judaizing of Christianity,
defending the Gospel against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Now it's hard for some people
to shake their religion, even if they grew up in one that is
not of the right sort. Still there are strands of it
that attach to us along the way. And they fall off very slowly
in the case of some. That's why I admire the grace
of God in the Apostle Paul that he so quickly threw off his Judaism
and espoused Christianity. But now, with that being said,
Let's come to chapter 12 of the book of Hebrews and try to get
our contextual bearing as to the text that we have read in
our hearing today. In this, the apostle exhorts
them to persevere in the gospel way and to hold firmly to their
profession of the Lord Jesus Christ. to not despise the gospel
because of the dreadful consequences that had come upon them for espousing
it. And in this book, the apostle
delivers several very strong and at times lengthy exhortation
useful to them in their Christian life, and he shows the difference
between the legal and the gospel dispensation. And we notice something
in verse 16 and 17 that we did not read, but let's take a notice
of it now. And that is the example of the
Old Testament character Esau. And it says here in verse 16,
And verse 17, lest you become like that fornicating apostate
Esau, who for one marsal of meat sold his birthright. For he says, you know, how that
afterward, when he would have received the blessing, he was
rejected, for he found no place of repentance. This refers to
Esau selling his birthright for a mess of pottage or a kettle
of stew. The account of this you have
in the Old Testament book of Genesis chapter 25 and verse
29 through verse 34. He sold his
birthright, which he had by being the firstborn son of Isaac. And in the old economy, there
were many blessings that attached themselves unto the firstborn. Many advantages went with being
the firstborn son in a family. And he saw the things belonging
to him as his birthright, just as Reuben forfeited his by the
incest that he committed. You find that in 1 Chronicles
chapter 5 and verse 1 and 2. Now one of the great blessings
he exchanged for a temporary fix or a temporary cure, a present
satisfaction, because at the time he was weak and he was faint. And with that he lost the blessing
of being the firstborn son. Now he sought it back with tears,
and with begging. He was seeking to be reinstated. He begged the Father that he
might reinstate him in the blessing, but was rejected, for he found
no place of repentance. And this you find in Genesis
chapter 27. I could not help but think of
those described in Hebrews chapter 6 and verses 4 through 6, to
whom it is impossible to renew under repentance who once had
the privileges named in verse 4 through verse 6 and then fell
away or cast it away because by that act They had crucified
the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. Thus Esau is brought forth as
an example of an apostate to be avoided. And then see the
life of Esau from then on. What became of him? He is called
a profane person. And looking up the meaning of
the word profane in the scripture, an adjective, I think, coming
from two words that are combined together, one, to go, and two,
the threshold. So it means to go across a threshold
or to cross over. In short, it describes a person
or a thing that has no relationship or affinity unto God and so we
call him Esau the apostate and he stands as a warning like that
pillar of Saul. He had despised and sold his
birthright and therefore lay under the consequences. Even
so, in Hebrews 10 and verse 29, a great punishment awaits those
who have trodden underfoot the Son of God, who have counted
the blood of the covenant an unholy thing and have done despite
under the spirit of grace. We may look at that again later. But coming now to verse 18, Hebrews
12 and following. First thing you notice is the
word for. For the particle for makes some
connection or some conclusion or some exhortation or signs
a reason and is not restricted to the example of Esau, but is
in line with the whole drift of this epistle, and especially
those exhortations to continue in the gospel way, based upon
the excellency of the gospel over the law and the legal anew. and a better way. It is not meaning
that one is good and another is better, but that one has fallen
or passed away and the other has come in its place. And the
truth here is that Christ, in appearing in the world, has ushered
in the better and the former is done away in the appearance
and death of Christ. You see that in Hebrews chapter
8 and verse 13. The first is waxed old. It is decayed. It is ready to
vanish away. In other words, it is near vanishing. It is made to disappear. Or as
it is in the last verses of chapter 12, they're being shaken and
removed as we read in our text. Now, concerning verse 18 and
following, the Puritan Thomas Goodwin put it like this. The
apostle is on a comparison, and so he is. And in so doing, we
notice that he uses metaphors or similes or figures of speech. But first, let's find the contrast,
looking first of all at verse 18. Negatively, for you are not
come unto the mount that might be touched. Now, what meaneth
this come here? You are not come to the mountain
that might be touched. I take it to refer to their profession
of Christ and their embracing and profession of the gospel. You have come, but you have not
come to the mountain that might be touched. You have come, and
in so doing, you have not come to that mountain that burned
with fire, and that quaked, and that shook, and that smoked,
and a voice terrified the people. Now, from verse 18, you are not
come, look to verse 22, but you are come instead unto Mount Zion,
that is, Zion, and unto the city of the living God. You have not
approached a tangible, material, physical mountain on earth which
is touchable and ascendable. Now, let us understand. What
we have in this paragraph is a comparison of the two economies,
the mosaic and the gospel, or the Christians. And they are
represented here by two mountains in this place. Now that makes
us think of Paul's allegory back in Galatians 4.21-26 where he
used an allegory to illustrate the two covenants from Sarah
and her son, and from Hagar and her son Ishmael, and in Galatians
4 and verse 24 the apostle writes this, For these are the two economies,
allegorize that is, the one from Mount Sinai, which genders unto
bondage, the other Jerusalem, which is above, and which is
the mother of us all." Now why does Paul give that allegory
in Galatians chapter 4? He gives it to persuade them
to hold on and continue in the gospel way, in the gospel administration
of the eternal covenant of God. For they were escaping the rigor
and the curse of the law. So in saying, you are not come
to the mountain that might be touched, though he does not mention
the mountain by name, is it not very clear from what follows
that he refers to Mount Sinai where the law was given. In saying,
you're not come to Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion is essentially
the same thing as the apostle Paul saying in Romans chapter
6 and verse 14, you are not under the law, but under grace. You have not come to the mountain
that might be touched, but you have come unto Mount Zion. Now, Moses, in the Old Testament
Scripture, and we read in Exodus 19 and verse 16, that all the
people in the camp trembled at what they saw and they heard.
What did they see and hear? Well, a trumpet blast, thunder,
lightning, smoke, clouds coming down over the mount, fire on
the mount, the mount shaking and quaking, and the worst of
all, that thunderous voice of God speaking unto them out of
heaven. God did this in order that he
might validate in their mind the law, to impress upon them
that He was a God great and terrible, as Moses writes in Deuteronomy
10 and 17, the great and terrible God, that God was too terrible
to be approached except there be a mediator and except there
be one to propitiate God in behalf of sinners. The law, you remember,
slays all that are under it. Galatians 3, 10 through verse
13. Paul calls the law 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. There are two verses there in
that chapter. Paul calls the law a ministration
of death in verse 7. And down in verse 9 he refers
to the law as a ministration of condemnation. And by the way,
2 Corinthians chapter 3 there contains one of the great contrasts
in the New Testament between the law and the gospel. But now let's turn the corner
at verse 22 unto the end of our text for this morning. And the
contrast with verse 18, where in verse 22 and following, using
again metaphors, he describes the Christian or the gospel economy
saying that embracing the gospel, professing Christ, they had come
to Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem. Paul also spoke in
his allegory in Galatians 4 and 26 of Jerusalem which is above
and is the mother of us all. Jerusalem which is above. For he contrasts in verse 25
the Jerusalem which now is the earthly one, meaning that existing
city in Jerusalem which was in bondage with her children. And in verse 26, the Jerusalem
which is above, free, and is the mother of us all. Now here's
a point to consider as we come back to Hebrews chapter 12. That
is, that all of these names and all of these places, all of these
incidents were very well known to the Jews to whom this epistle
was written. They knew Mount Sinai. as being
where the law was given. And they knew Mount Zion and
Jerusalem were the most important places in their religion. Jerusalem being the holy city
of God and Mount Zion the place where the temple of God did stand
to which they had great reverence. So the apostle uses these emblems
of the Christian dispensation. as John Brown put it, under the
emblem borrowed from the old economy. And in verse 22, let's
begin there by reading at the words in that verse that said,
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, to God the judge of
all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and the capstone
to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant and the blood of
sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Now, this is a summation under
those figures of Christianity, what they share in who have come
unto Christ. There is the heavenly Jerusalem,
an innumerable company of angels, the General Assembly of the Church
of the Firstborn, the God the Judge of all, the Spirit of just
men made perfect, and the chief blessing, the Mediator Jesus
Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant and between God and
men. There is a stern warning in verse
25, a strong exhortation based upon what has already been said. And it is this, see that ye refuse
not him that speaks. In other words, the exhortation
is, look to it. Look out to it. See that you
refuse not the speaking one. See to it that you do not turn
away from the one who is speaking, the shaker of heaven and of earth. Now, I think it gets harder from
verse 25 on in unto our passage today. For there are three mentions
of one who speaks, who has spoken or is speaking. As in Hebrews
1 verse 1 and 2, God in time past has spoken unto the fathers
in divers way by the prophet, but has spoken unto us in this
last day in His Son. Again, in Hebrews chapter 2 and
verse 3, we read, So great salvation, which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto those that heard it. What
a powerful contrast we have in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 28
and verse 29. and that between the two covenants
as respects punishment and apostasy. Some, John Brown among them,
have taken the view that all three who speak in verse 25 there
refer unto God. The author of the revelation
of both the law and the gospel. To say it another way, the same
one that spoke and shook Sinai is the same one that speaks through
Christ and brings a greater and a more extreme shaking, more
extensive and more far-reaching as well as far-lasting. Let's hear the last part of verse
25 again. For if they escape not who refused
Him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape. if we turn away from him that
speaks from heaven. Now, there are several such admonitions
of this sort to be found in the Hebrew epistle. But in our text,
one spoke on earth, one spoke from heaven. And our first thought
might be, well, this is a contrast between Moses and between Christ,
one of them on the earth earthly, the other one of them the Lord
from heaven. Moses, an ordinary man, born
after the ordinary fashion, and Christ the God-man. We might
think that the contrast consists in that. But with John Brown,
Calvin, John Owen Pink, that he that shook on earth, he that
spoke from heaven, is one and the same. God. And this seems
to be, in better keeping with the overall context, and the
things that are around it. That it was the same being whose
voice at one time shook the earth, establishing and giving the law,
whose voice has now spoken and shakes the heaven as well as
the earth. Here is a small portion of what
John Owen wrote and I'm quoting. It was one and the same person
whose voice shook the earth and under the gospel shakes heaven
also." This not only establishes the fact that God instituted
the law, was the author of the law, but that Christianity is
by the word of God the new and the better way. In other words,
it's what one calls a divine religion. That the first speaking
established an earthly economy, and that economy exclusively
for the Jew, for the Jewish nation throughout its economy. And the
second speaking established a spiritual and an everlasting economy. We look at verse 26, whose voice
then shook the earth. But now he hath promised, saying,
Yet once more shall I shake not the earth only, but also the
heaven." Now here we have another contrast in this verse, both
of them in regard to the shaking voice of God. The contrast being
then and now. in that verse of Scripture, then
and now. And the reference in verse 26
is a passage, though not verbatimly quoted, from the Old Testament
prophet Haggai and the second chapter in verse 6 and verse
7. At reading that passage in Haggai,
at first sight, it may appear that it has reference to something
in the day, in connection with their rebuilding of the temple,
that their enemies would not hinder or stop them from the
work but that God would shape the whole political and social
system of the surrounding nation of their enemy. But it is clear
in Hebrews that the apostle uses it and applies it to the erection
of that system of gospel worship brought in with the appearing
and death resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Thus, look at
verse 27, and this word yet once more signifies the removing of
those things that are shaken as of things that are made. Now, we need to connect that
with verse 26. Let's see if we can agree on
this point, that the apostle uses the words of the prophet
Haggai to be relevant to the subject under discussion in Hebrews
chapter 12, else why cite it or quote it. That the word or
expression or the phrase or the saying once more. Once more. When God said once
more, it signifies a former shaking and another shaking. And it also
signifies the removal of those things that are shaken. Now if I understand it right,
this word shaken is from a root word with a meaning of a vibration. It can mean to rock, it can mean
to make waves and to disturb and to topple and to destroy. So that in this sense, it shows
the weakness and the instability and the temporary nature of that
which is shaken and is removed. Because it is something made,
the purpose of the shaking is to remove that which is shaken. Now, on the other hand, in the
last part of verse 27, the things which cannot be shaken may remain. The shaken thing is what Thomas
Goodwin called a proverbial speech, describing the passing away of
Judaism and the bringing in of a better hope, as in Hebrews
7 and verse 19. Now the question is, what are
the things that cannot be shaken? What does this refer to? What
does the apostle mean and intend by it? It seems that verse 28
settles the question. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, that the things which cannot be shaken
might abide, the things which are unshakable and cannot be
moved, we receive a kingdom unmovable. It cannot be shaken. It is unshakable
and it is immovable. It's the same word shaken that
you find in Acts 27 and verse 41. Remember when Paul was on
the ship? Great storm they encountered
day after day. and night after night. And we
read here in Acts 27-41 that the forepart of the ship stuck
fast. That is, the ship at last ran
aground. And it remained unmovable. And Luke speaks of the two halves
of the ship. The first one came to rest upon
a ground and was unmovable, while the hinder part of the ship broke
all to pieces and debris went all over the ocean. Even so,
while Judaism was shaken and removed, the spiritual kingdom
of God or of Christ, Christianity, the church of the living God,
which is the ground and the pillar of truth, the bulwark of the
truth of God in the world. The Lord promised, you remember,
that the gates of hell slash Hades shall not prevail against
the church. I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. a kingdom that cannot
be moved, that which is unshakable might remain. In the book of
Daniel chapter 2 verse 44 and verse 45, the God of heaven shall
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and it shall
stand forever. I won't turn there and read them,
but you see much the same thing in the Psalm 93 and 1, 96 and
10, that the world shall be established, that it shall not be moved. Now
one thing is sure. that the apostle must draw his
argument that Judaism was to be abolished from the Old Testament
Scripture. This is the only way to approach
them and to persuade them and to convince the Jew. In fact,
as soon as I had that thought, I read Thomas Goodwin's words,
quote, the setting up of this immovable kingdom of Christ was
the issue and the mark of all of the prophets that have been
since the world began, unquote. Everything in the Old Testament
is moving toward this great event of the appearing of one in the
world. To which we might add, all done
before it was in preparation for the bringing in of the new
and the better way. Remember what Paul says, why
was the law given? Why it was a schoolmaster unto
Christ for us. You'll find that in Galatians
3.24 through chapter 4 And verse 7, the law was our schoolmaster. The word is pedagogue. Child
trainer is actually what it means, a wonderful emblem. Now in the
end of verse 28, since we have received a kingdom which cannot
be shaken, there will never be while time lasts. any radical
change in the gospel. For Christ ever lives to administer
it. There will never be a new thing
like that done as long as the world is standing. Christ ever
lived to administer it. And since this is true, the apostle
exhorts, let us have grace. Some see this as an exhortation. Have gratitude. Be thankful.
Serve God in fear and in reverence. Cleave to the unshakable kingdom,
the kingdom of God. Live unto God and unto Christ. Now, there's a final warning
in verse 29, for our God is a consuming fire. You'll read that in Deuteronomy
4, verse 24, where Moses spoke that in the hearing of the people. Our God is a consuming fire. All is relevant unto this, and
especially appropriate unto the apostate. Remember, He is a consuming
fire and a jealous God, Moses said in Deuteronomy, as Moses
warned those who forget the covenant. Forget not the covenant, for
our God is a consuming fire and is a jealous God. And Paul brings
that forth here in this place. Our God is a consuming fire. One verse. In closing, Hebrews
10, 30 and 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God, and especially fearful for the apostate, for
his end will be awful and will be dreadful. Those who come and
make a profession and say they have espoused Christ and then
become apostates await awaits them a judgment very harsh and
severe. Our God is a consuming fire. Let us hold to Christianity and
the gospel of Christ, for it is ordained of God, instituted
by Christ, brought into being by His appearing in the world.