Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. I'm going to look at verses 18 through 24. I'm just going to deal with those verses tonight. I titled this message, What a Contrast. What a contrast! Now much has been said and revealed throughout the book of Hebrews from the opening verses, Christ being revealed as the Son of God. He's revealed as the express image of God. He is the central theme. of this whole epistle. In fact, He s the central theme of the whole Word of God. It all centers around Him. He is the center of God s eternal purpose. Listen to Ephesians 3, 11 According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord, all that God has purposed, He has purposed in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, the passage before us tonight is a summary of the message of Hebrews, and it brings us to a powerful, very powerful contrast, a contrast between two mountains Mount Sinai and Mount Zion two different mountains different results but the same God it's not two different guys same God and it's the same God who has not changed it's not as if God changed God's the same you notice how this THIS CHAPTER ENDED, FOR OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE. THAT'S HOW THIS CHAPTER ENDS. OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE.

NOW WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT THIS EPISTLE IS WRITTEN TO THE HEBREWS. AND THESE HEBREWS THAT HE WROTE THIS TO WERE SEPARATED BY MANY GENERATIONS from Mount Sinai. And this is important because what we have not experienced, we really cannot relate to, can we? Generations have gone by. There was a generation who stood at the foot of the mountain. They saw the mountain on fire, and the smoke, and the thunder, and the lightning. They saw all of that when the LAW was given. This generation didn't see that.

So He�s going to bring this SCENE before their EYES, and He�s going to make them REALIZE those who are tempted to go back. He�s going to bring this SCENE, and here�s the point, THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO? REALLY? THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO? You�re going to LEAVE, you�re going to LEAVE the Mount Zion where there�s PEACE and JOY and REST And God, where God dwells, and you dwell with God, and you want to go back to THAT? Darkness? Tempest? You see what He s doing? He s painting a picture.

He s taking them back somewhere, and He s painting a picture, and He says, This is what you re wanting to go back to, some of them. And He paints a beautiful picture here for them to really consider. Now the Apostle begins by telling them and us this night, tonight, he's telling us this tonight, where we have not come, where we have not come to. In verse 18, For ye have not come unto the mount that might be touched. Now here he gives a DESCRIPTION after this of this mount of Mount Sinai is what he does.

IT WAS A PHYSICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. IT'S STILL THERE. IT'S STILL THERE. You know that mountain still there? That mountain that God descended on, that smoked and burned? That's still over there somewhere. It's still there. It's a very real mountain on this earth. A MOUNTAIN THAT COULD BE SEEN AND TOUCHED, ALTHOUGH IF ANYTHING TOUCHED IT AT THAT TIME, It died. It died.

It's a place that burned, he says, with fire. And it's interesting that this chapter ends with, For our gods are consuming fire. God is that fire. Moses spoke to a burning bush, it was on fire. And here's a mountain on fire. And God is that fire. Our God is that consuming fire and He hasn't changed.

You don't want to meet Him outside of Christ because this is the God you're going to meet. You're going to meet God who is that consuming fire outside of Christ. You're not going to meet a God of mercy. You're not going to meet the God of grace. You're going to meet God whose wrath is going to burn you This is the God Jesus Christ dealt with on Calvary's tree. God of fire. That's who Jesus Christ dealt with on Calvary's tree.

And then here's another description of it. It's a place of blackness, darkness, tempest. That means a terrifying storm. That's what that means. You know it says in Deuteronomy 33 to from his hand went a FIERY LAW, that's what it calls it, a FIERY LAW, a law that will CONSUME YOU, it will consume you. And here's a revelation of God's AWFUL MAJESTY and HOLINESS going on, that's what's going on here.

And then there was a sound of a trumpet that, if you'll remember, it grew louder and louder. You know, a trumpet was used to summons. You know, that's what's going to be used to summons the dead. When the last trump shall sound and the dead will rise, a trumpet is going to be used and it's going to sound.

And I assure you, it's going to be loud and the dead are going to rise. it's used for to summons and then as the voice of words the giving of the 10 commandments was terrifying it was terrifying and such terror that the people begged that the word not be spoken to them anymore they said moses don't let him speak to us anymore What a contrast! I'll show you the contrast of this here in a few minutes. But they didn't want God to speak to them anymore. They were so terrified. That's the work of the law. It brings terror. Does it bring peace? The law doesn't bring peace. It brings terror. To a sinner it does. It brings terror.

And listen, in verse 20, If a beast so much as touched that mountain, it was to be thrust through with a dart, a spear, it was to be put to death, even if a beast touched it. And Moses himself, now listen, Moses spoke to God, he spoke to God in the burning bush. He spoke to God several times in Egypt when God told him the different plagues. God spoke to him over these different plagues. Moses spoke to God many times but here it says that Moses said, I exceedingly.

He wasn't just a little afraid, it's not something that just scared him. I EXCEEDINGLY, BEYOND MEASURE, BEYOND COMPREHENSION, I EXCEEDINGLY FEAR AND QUAKE, SHAKE. He was literally standing there shaking. He was so scared. I've never been so scared that I stood and just shook all over. I've never been that scared. Moses said, I EXCEEDINGLY, fear and quake.

Here's what Sinai represents, a law no one can endure. They said, Yes, we'll keep the law. Yes, we'll keep his word. No, you won't. In fact, when he spoke, you said, Don't let him speak again. Not to us. Moses, you stand between us and God. somehow represents a law no one can endure no one can keep it represents a place of fear with no comfort we do not when this all happened back in deuteron exodus i think it's exodus 19 back when all this happened we do not read of one ounce of comfort from that situation Sinai represents a place of death.

He said if anybody touches it, they'll what? Die. What did that woman with the issue of blood say? If I can but touch him, I'll be made whole. Big difference, isn't it? That leper said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And he said, I will. And you know what he did? He touched him. or the power of a touch.

We cannot even conceive the power of a touch. You're in sorrow, someone takes their hand and just puts it on you, doesn't even have to say a word, just the power of that touch. But here, if the mountain is touched, even if a dumb beast, an ignorant dumb beast touches that mountain, it's to be killed. it's to be killed. It represents a place that reveals God's holiness but gives no power, no power to meet its demands. The law demands but gives no power to meet the demand.

Paul asked this question to the Galatians in Galatians 4.21 Tell me, Paul says, tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, ye that desire to go back under the law, tell me this, tell me, do you not hear the law? You see, they so far removed from it, they lost that. Do you not hear the law? Do you not hear its demands?

THE LAW AT NO TIME MAKES A SUGGESTION! It's not a suggestion, it's a DEMAND! DO THIS OR DIE! DO IT AND LIVE! DO YOU NOT HEAR IT'S THREATS? Oh my! It's just one threat after another. One threat after another. SINAI IS A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE PLACE FOR SINNERS! DON'T HANG THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ON MY DOOR! Oh, hang the Gospel, not the Ten Commandments, that's a death sentence! That's a death sentence! THERE IS NOTHING THERE AT SINAI FOR ME BUT CONDEMNATION. That's all there is, is condemnation.

And it reminds me, when I was looking at this, it reminded me what it's going to be like in that final day of judgment. Turn over to 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3. Verse 7. BUT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WHICH ARE NOW BY THE SAME WORD ARE KEPT IN STORE RESERVED UNTO FIRE AGAINST THE DAY OF JUDGMENT AND PERDITION OF UNGODLY MEN. Do you realize that right now this world, this earth is preserved against a day of fire and judgment? GOD GAVE NOAH A COVENANT CALLED A RAINBOW THAT HE WOULD NOT DESTROY MAN AGAIN WITH WATER, HE WOULD NOT FLOOD THE EARTH.

THE NEXT TIME HE'S GOING TO DESTROY IT WITH FIRE AND NONE OF IT'S GOING TO BE LEFT. NONE OF IT'S GOING TO BE LEFT, IT'S GONE. EVERYTHING THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS EARTH IS GONE. SUN, THE MOON, STARS, GONE. Everything. I can't even imagine what that day will be like. If they feared and quaked, if Moses did and the people did, and it's just from the sight of the mountain being on fire, what will it be like when the whole world's on fire?

I just want to get people by the collar and say, WAKE UP! This is REAL! This is REAL! You want to get these young kids and just, you know, the world has them. And you want to say, stop, what I'm telling you is the truth. Do you not hear the law? You that want to be under the law, he said, do you not hear its demands, its threats?

Then he turns to another contrast. After describing Mount Sinai, and all the blackness, and the tempest, and the fire, and all that was going on, and the death, anything touched it would die. Then he says here in verse 22, But! I like that word. It brings in the contrast. But!

You are coming to Mount Zion, Now we're told where we have come. He's really painting a picture for these Hebrews. This is where the gospel has not brought you to the law. It has not brought you to Sinai. It's brought you to God in grace and in mercy. Now we're told where we have come, the contrast is as GREAT as light and darkness. You know that? The contrast between Sinai and the Gospel is as different as daylight and dark. It's that different.

It's like going from a VIOLENT STORM to PERFECT CALM. You remember the disciples when they were in the boat and they were about to lose their mind and they went back and they woke the Master and they said, ìCarest thou not that we perish?î And He stood up and the wind was boisterous, the boat was being filled with water, and He said, ìBe still.î He commanded the wind and the waves to be still, and there was a dead calm. That's how much difference there is between the two. The LAW, the law is that storm, the law is that lightning, but our Lord, our Lord speaks peace. Through His blood and righteousness, He speaks peace. That's a big difference. That's the difference between Sinai and Zion. It's from burning fire, blackness, thunder, to peace and rest and a CITY FULL OF LIFE! I'll show you this here as we get down to it. But it's a CITY FULL OF LIFE! It's a FESTIVE CITY! It's a JOYFUL CITY! FESTILE! A lot of joy going on in it. What we have come to, he says, is Mount Zion, the City of the Living God, Heavenly Jerusalem. This is not an earthly mountain but a spiritual reality that we've come to, the Church of the Living God.

Now he's describing the Church of the Living God as a city, as Jerusalem. that Jerusalem that s above, not the ones over there in the Middle East. He s describing here the Church of the Living God, the CITY, listen, the CITY that Abraham looked for, remember? Whose Builder and Maker is God. This is the CITY right here, this is the CITY, the dwelling place of God with His people. It s not on a mountain called Sinai, it s Mount Zion, it s the CHURCH! Mount Zion is the Church, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the DOOR, He is the GATE into the CHURCH, the CITY of the Living God. We are that city, we are that city.

And an innumerable company of angels, innumerable, can't be counted, we are surrounded You know, when God created the heavens and the earth, He's going to create Adam, but He's going to have a people out of Adam's race. He's going to mold him and make him just like his son. And He created this heavenly host, angels, for one purpose. The one purpose I'm going to give you, I can't claim to know the mind of God to watch over you. I believe and I know we don't really realize it most of the time because we never think about it, which is all right, because our thoughts should be on Christ. But this room is full of angels.

You know, when I preach, I'm looking at this group right here, but there's a crowd in this room. Do you believe that? There's a crowd in Israel, and you know what? They're rejoicing, and that really, really encourages me to preach. That really encourages me to preach Christ, because when I preach Christ crucified, they REJOICE!

I mean, they REJOICE right now, more than we do. We ought to rejoice more, but boy, they know Him. Paul said, we know a part, we preach a part. But someday that which is a part is going to be done away. And then we'll worship and rejoice just as much as they do.

If not more, I don't know. I don't know if you could do more, but as much as they do. I know that. Never alone, never alone. You know, there may come a time when you are laying or lying in a hospital bed All alone, nobody else in the room. And you may feel alone, but I promise you, if you can just think on this, you're not alone. They're at the top of the bed. I'm not exaggerating. They're at the foot of the bed. They're at the side of the bed. They're hovering over the bed. It's like a canopy over the bed.

And they're watching over you. You're God's child. And they've been given responsibility to watch over you. And they're going to watch over you. They've been watching over you before you ever believed the gospel. Long before you ever believed the gospel. And when you was out there like an idiot, and your life could have been taken so many times, they didn't let it. He shall give his angels charge over thee, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. You say, that belongs to Christ. That belongs to us, too. That belongs to us, too. And then he says here, "...and to the general assembly...

Now that word, I believe it's in the Greek, it means this, it's a FESTAL GATHERING. It's a gathering where there's a lot of festivity, of JOY! It's just JOY! If we could see OUR LOVED ONES WHO HAVE GONE ON BEFORE US, THAT WE WOULD BE SO JOYFUL RIGHT NOW, WE WOULD BE SO JOYFUL FOR THEM IF WE COULD SEE THEIR REAL HAPPINESS AND HOW JOYFUL THEY ARE, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THAT WORD MEANS. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS STILL TALKING ABOUT THE CHURCH, BUT IT'S TALKING ABOUT THEIR FESTIVE GATHERING. HAPPY. HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.

As my grandson said when he was riding that horse for the first time, he was about three years old, and I was on it and had him on it. We was going around a circle and he goes, I'm happy now, I'm happy now. And it was all laughing, the crowd just laughing. He was just shouting, I'm happy now. We don't know what real happy is until we get there. It'll be happy perfected.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CHURCH. That's a called-out body of people, it means an assembly of the firstborn. You know all God's children are firstborn? Every one of them are firstborn. As He is, so are we in this world. But every one of God's children, I believe, and I believe it's what they're saying, are firstborn.

You know why? Because the firstborn got everything, didn't they? Didn't they get the double portion? Are not all things yours in Christ? Are we not as He is? All of us are firstborns. They are called firstborn because they are one in Christ. We are one in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says their names are written in heaven before you were born into this world. Your names, every one of them, every one of God's children, their names were written in heaven. You know, I have a birth certificate at the courthouse in Huntington, West Virginia, that tells where and when I was born. And I have in the court of heaven a birth certificate. That says where and when I was born. Where was I born?

From above. Christ said you must be born again to Nicodemus. That meaning is this, you must be born from above. Because Nicodemus said how can I enter the second time into my mother's womb and be born? I'm not talking about being born again from beneath because you come out the same way. I said that in a message that I preached years ago back when I was pastoring Hurricane Road Race Church. And a man called me, he tried to take me to task on it.

I said, if we were born again from our earthly mothers if we could if we could be born again from our earthly mothers we wouldn't be any different we'd just be just as sinful just as wretched he called me said no you wouldn't no i wouldn't that's what he said no i wouldn't i would do things a lot a lot of things differently you know you don't have you don't argue with fools you don't do it answer not a fool according to his folly lest you be just like him that's what Solomon said That s an argument, there are some things you re like, you know, there s nothing here to work with. But I told him, I said, No, we will come out just as sinful. We may do things in a different sinful way, but it ll still be just as sinful. If I was to do it over again, and I say, I wouldn't do this again, I wouldn't do that, I would be so self-righteous, you couldn't stand me.

That's how it would come out. It'll come out in self-righteousness or just absolute depravity, but it's coming out. It's coming out. WE ARE CITIZENS BY BIRTH. WE ARE BORN FROM ABOVE. WE ARE CITIZENS. And we need to realize this first now. I AM A CITIZEN OF THE CITY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD BEFORE I AM A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Because if the laws of this country cross the Word of God, guess who's gonna win? By God's grace, guess who's going to win? It ain't going to be this country. It ain't going to be this country.

My citizenship is above. And the Constitution, and I think the United States has the greatest Constitution on Earth, but this one surpasses it. This one right here surpasses it. Not even comparable. So if anybody ever asks you where you were born, just tell them from above. I mean, they'll think you're a nut anyway probably, so go ahead and give it to them.

And we've come to God the Judge of all. The Judge of all. God's not changed. Do you know He's still Judge of all? He still is. But now in Christ we have access to the Judge of all without fear. without a slavish fear like they did at Mount Sinai. Don't let him speak to us again. You see, the judge is no longer our condemner. Is that a word? Well, it is now. He is our father. He is our father.

And to the spirits, here s what we ve come to, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Now you go read the history of Israel, you know they were not just men made perfect, they were fallen into idolatry. In fact, before Moses came down off the mountain, they made a golden calf and worshipped it. But the spirits of just men made perfect, all who are there are JUST, they ve been JUSTIFIED by the blood of Christ, and they are PERFECT.

This word s interesting, it s interesting. You see, this word here, PERFECT, speaks of COMPLETION. I m perfect in Christ MY STANDING BEFORE GOD AND CHRIST IS PERFECT. I'M NOT PERFECT RIGHT NOW. I HAVE A CORRUPT BODY. I HAVE THAT OLD NATURE STILL WITH ME. BUT HERE THIS PERFECTION SPOKEN OF HERE IS WHEN THE BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT ARE UNITED IN GLORY. WE HAVE THAT NEW BODY. NOW WE'RE PERFECT! NOW WE'RE PERFECT!

IT'S ALL COME TOGETHER. and Jesus, verse 24, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant without verse 24 everything collapses, everything collapses without verse 24 because everything rests upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Mediator of the New Covenant HE'S THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. THERE'S ONLY ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. AND IT SAYS MEN, NOT MAN. HE'S THE ONLY MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. AND HE'S THE MEDIATOR OF THIS NEW COVENANT, THIS COVENANT OF GRACE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WORKS. NOT MY WORKS. I MEAN, SALVATION IS MY WORKS. Not mine, but His. And the foundation, listen, He is the foundation of our access to God. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. He's the reason Zion exists. Moses mediated the Old Covenant at Sinai. CHRIST MEDIATES THE NEW COVENANT at Zion. That old one is done away with. The old covenant was written on stone, cold, hard stone, and it was put in that ark. That new covenant is written on the HEART! It's written on the heart.

And we have come, it says, to Jesus. Emmanuel, God with us. We've come to Jesus, the one who has saved us from our sins. He has saved us from our sins. You know, I wish we would sit down and meditate more on the Word of God, meditate more on what these things mean. Ask the Lord to give you a deeper understanding of what these things mean, not just what I call a SURFACE UNDERSTANDING or an INTELLECTUAL UNDERSTANDING, but where it is just a very part of you. It just permeates your whole being.

And to a better word or speaketh better things, it says, than that of Abel's blood. Abel's blood cried for vengeance, someone said. Christ's blood, Christ's mercy. But I think this also, I think this fits. I think it may mean this, the blood of Christ speaks better things than the blood of that animal sacrifice that Abel offered, because it's the blood of the Son of God, it's not the blood of an animal.

And Israel was sprinkled with the blood of an animal, that's Sinai, and it ratified that covenant. We read that not too long ago. But believers are sprinkled by the blood of Christ, whose blood ratified the new covenant of grace. It's ratified. It's sealed. It's sealed. Without His atonement, there is no new covenant. There is no access to God. This is interesting, going through Exodus and going through Hebrews. You know, Hebrews is basically a summary of the Scriptures. It's a summary of the Old Testament. That's basically what Hebrews is.

Now, in closing, so the question is, what have we come to? What have we come to tonight? Well, not terror. Were you afraid to come here tonight? Were you looking forward to coming here tonight? Not terror, because you know why perfect love casts out fear. As Christ said to His disciples, it is I, be not afraid. That wasn't said at Sinai, but here the Lord says every week it is I. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. We've not come to condemnation.

We haven't come to that because it says in Romans 8.1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Paul wrote this, he says, you are dead to the law through the body of Christ. You're dead to that law. That law has nothing. It's dead. You're dead to it. It doesn't exist for you any longer. The terror of it, the threats of it are gone. Gone.

We've come, listen, we've come not to a mountain that burns with fire, but we've come to a city, a city. We've come to a family, God's family, God's children. We've come to a mediator, better than that of Moses. We've come to the Son of God. We've come to a better covenant, covenant of grace. WE HAVE COME TO BETTER BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE SON OF GOD, NOT THAT OF AN ANIMAL. WE HAVE COME TO A BETTER HOPE. OUR HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS' BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. I was going to say the rest of it, but I know I messed it up, so I m going to leave that alone. WE HAVE COME FROM LAW TO GRACE. From fear to peace, from death to life, that's where we have come.

Remember, the people begged that the Word not be spoken to them anymore. They begged that the Word not be spoken to them anymore. We, on the other hand, BEG that the Word would be spoken to us every week. Lord speak. Speak to us today. the word of the gospel spoken to us is a word of reconciliation, it's a word of comfort, it's a word of peace, it's a word of rest. Who would not want such a word to be spoken to them continually? Well, I can tell you who, a rebel, a rebel, but not God's children, not God's children. Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. All right.