is this transition from the old covenant to the new covenant not only physically because if you remember last week i mentioned to you how this book was written by paul my estimation by paul they're saying there's no sound oh i forgot to turn the microphone on everybody. You getting sound now? Somebody's watching. Let us know. You getting sound now? Okay. Well, we're going to keep on checking. That was my fault. I didn't have the microphone turned on. That's all right. Let's just keep on going. Okay.

So, as I mentioned last week, Paul was writing this letter to the Hebrews during this transitional period of time before the physical going away of the Old Covenant and the physical entering in or the manifestation of the New Covenant came now. As I mentioned last week, the New Covenant is an everlasting covenant. It has covered all the Old Testament saints and all the New Testament saints. But yet we are seeing that God is about to close the door permanently on the Old Covenant system. Mount Sinai, The Old Covenant people, Israel, as a nation, they were there for a reason. They were there for an allegorical reason.

God chose them as an ethnic people for a certain period of time and chose them to be judged at a certain period of time to demonstrate the Old Covenant, the insufficiency of the Old Covenant, so that we might see the new and better covenant built on better promises with a better mediator than Moses, okay? And so, by the way, that's one of the reasons why Moses couldn't enter in whenever they went into the, you know, I used to remember as a kid, I always wondered, man, Moses is such a great man and did all those things and went through all that heck with those Israelites and having to put up with them and everything like that. And they get to the edge of the promised land and God says, well, you can't go in. Can you imagine what was going through Moses' mind after all that and everything? But Moses was a type and a picture of the old covenant. He's a type and picture of the law.

And so there is no entering in. The law is not what justifies us. It's not what gets us acceptance before God. It can never give us rest, brethren. The promised land represented rest in Christ Jesus. The Promised Land represented us in the New Covenant, as New Covenant people, not being burdened by Sinai anymore, not being burdened by the fact that our bodies, our fleshly men and women that we are, our Adamic person cannot keep that law. Those thunderous commands from God cannot be fulfilled in us whatsoever. And Canaan represented a moving away from that covenantal system into a new covenantal system where there is rest. There is no covenant to keep.

Okay. And so whenever we move into the promised land or move into rest, we move into the fact that now we're not looking to Sinai for our acceptance before God, we're looking to Zion, where God is communing with us at the top of that mountain. And he has given us Christ Jesus, who has made now the ability for us to boldly approach the throne of grace, and to approach his presence, and to be with him, and to commune with him, and to hear from him directly.

And so we see this changeover in this covenantal system. And the Bible uses allegorical and symbolic language to describe this changeover. And I think, brethren, a lot of the New Testament things that we read is the preparation for this very thing. A lot of the language that is being used is apocryphal language, is prophetic language that is being used to describe this covenantal change that is about to happen.

God's gonna come down and destroy Israel. He's gonna come down and destroy the old covenant people, the old covenant system, and the old covenant worship and everything about that. He's gonna put an end to that. And in doing so, it is going to bring forth or manifest what was already there, the new covenant. and the better promises that Christ has secured by his death. So we've seen that that first part of this about Sinai represents the covenant of works and it's the inability of the flesh and it has to do with the bondage that we experienced in that earthly Jerusalem. But let's look today at Mount Zion. In the old covenantal system, the people were not able to approach unto God. They were not able to approach unto God. They had to stay at the base of the mountain. They couldn't approach the mountain. Only Moses was able to approach the mountain. However, we see a change in this new covenantal system. Now, we are able to go where God is.

We are able to be where God is and not be consumed. See there in verse 29, remember, our God is a consuming fire. And there has to be a change in this covenantal system from the old covenant being law and the new covenant being grace. There is a change in this covenantal system where now we as God's people are not under law, we are under grace. And in that grace system, the consuming fire of God, while he still is a consuming fire, we don't have to fear that consuming fire because we have communion. That's why he says that, look at verse 28.

Wherefore, we receive in a kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire. With reverence and godly fear. But look what he says, let us serve God acceptably. In the old covenant system, nobody could serve God acceptably.

That's why they continued to have to have sacrifices. That's why the priesthood was never ending. But yet the Bible says that when Christ came and provided himself as a sacrifice, that that sacrifice was once for all and that he sat down. Those priests never sat down. They stood and they constantly was doing those sacrifices over and over and over and over and over again.

But Christ, his was a one-time thing for all times. And whenever he says all times, I believe that means Old Testament all the way through New Testament times. It's for all times. So everybody under that Old Testament system, they were saved exactly like we're saved by the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Now, again, I want to point out that why Christ did come in time and why Christ's work on the cross is what is the grounds of all of our justification before God and our standing before God Brethren, it was finished and declared before the foundation of the world. It was manifested in time, but it was set and recorded and completed and good as done before the foundation of the world.

Now, it says here, but ye are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, Now, we already talked about it a little bit last week, but let me reiterate. Mount Zion, or the word Zion, just means peace, a city of peace, Mount Zion. And so Jerusalem, city that was set up on a hill, it represented this new covenant. However, the old covenant Jerusalem, the physical city, the physical mount, the physical people and the physical temple that was there, that represented an old covenant system, but typologically, we now see a new Jerusalem, a new mountain, Mount Zion, and a new tabernacle. Not that of the old covenant system, which was a physical bricks, a physical walled city on a physical hill.

Okay. In a physical land. But now we see the kingdom of God represented in the spiritual reality that it actually is. It is a spiritual city on a spiritual hill in a spiritual land. Okay. and the spiritual people that make up this spiritual tabernacle in the middle of this city. So we see that these people of God are the city, are the hill, are all these things. They represent the place where God dwells.

And I hope to maybe bring that out this morning. It says, you're coming to Mount Zion, And notice, again, I pointed it out last week, I'm gonna point it out again this week. But ye are come. It's not you will come. It is ye are come. For a long time, I used to believe and preach that this was talking about future, a future time, a future heaven that's somewhere out there in the distance, that it's talking about a future apocalypse.

But this is talking about something that has happened now. It is talking about an apocalypse, but it's not the apocalypse that everybody thinks it is. It's the apocalypse of God's judgment upon the old covenantal system. That's what's being shaken. Heaven and earth are passing away. That's the judgment of the old covenant system.

And I think we'll see that when we start reading some of these verses here in just a little bit. And it may even be next week before we get to that. But let's look a few things here. Hebrews chapter eight, if you would. Hebrews chapter eight. Look with me at verse six. Hebrews eight and verse six says, but now have he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord."

Now that's the manifesting, okay? The covenant was made of old. The book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews, the Holy Spirit, the author of all the books in the Bible, has made it clear that this is an eternal covenant, an everlasting covenant. So we know that it's before this. We're talking about the manifestating of this and then the physical ending of it, okay?

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Brethren, remember, those are the things that separated us or separate us from relationship with God. Our unrighteousness separates us from relationship with God. Okay? Relationship. Communion with God. And maybe relationship isn't the right term that I should use. Whenever I mean relationship in this context, I mean communion with God. Not relationship as far as union is concerned.

I preached yesterday about union and how we are united in a vital union with Christ, meaning that we are His He is our progenitor. His life is our life, and we are his seed multiplied, okay? Everything is made with its life in itself, or with its seed in itself, and it reproduces after its own kind. We are reproduced after Christ spiritually, in the spiritual realm. We are spiritual children of God. And so when I say relation, I don't mean in that we are always children of God. We have always been children of God before the foundation of the world.

I meant in communion wise. They shall not teach every man their neighbor, excuse me, verse 12, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. If that's the case, then communion with God can be had because God is not a, placing the emphasis on their iniquities, he's removed those iniquities, and therefore in removing the iniquities, he removes the barrier that keeps the communion from happening, right? In that he saith, a new covenant he hath made the first old.

Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. So here we go. We see right here that it hasn't happened yet, okay? Physically, it hasn't happened yet. The old covenant is still intact. The old covenant system, the old covenant people is still intact, but yet we're in this transitional period between the old covenant, the new covenant being manifested, and the people of God are now beginning to see this unveiling of Jesus this unveiling of the covenant, they're beginning to see what types and foreshadows of the Old Testament was now talking about as Christ has taught the apostles, taught those first disciples, explained how he is, the volume of the book, it's about him, how he has began to explain these things, and that how all of this is culminating in the glory of him. The old covenant was to show us our inability so that we would look to him. The new covenant is about him coming with better promises and providing the salvation that is outside of the hands of man, but they don't have anything to do with, why?

Because at that point, it can't be lost. If salvation is outside of your hands and my hands, our sinfulness can't foul it up and lose it. Because if salvation has anything to do with what we do, a condition we do, number one, the condition that is required, whatever we do to obtain or to complete that condition is never gonna be sufficient for God. It will always come up short of the glory of God. Your obedience on any level, to any law, to any degree is always gonna come up short of God's righteousness.

So even your attempts at keeping the law, which you cannot do, your attempts at keeping the law come up short and are a sin. That's why there's better promises built on a better mediator. The mediator isn't now the law because the law could never mediate justification. It can never mediate righteousness. It can never make anybody perfect because of the weakness of the flesh.

Therefore, because of the weakness of the flesh, Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh, that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ. And now that we are the righteousness of God in Christ, we can ascend that mountain where the Holy of Holies is now at the top of this mountain.

That's what that represented in the Old Testament, Sinai, God was on top of the mountain, that was the Holy of Holies. Whenever the tabernacle was built in the wilderness, and there was that Holy of Holies where they had to go through, that represented the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain represented the Holy of Holies. Whenever they built that temple, whenever they went through that big veil and went into the Holy of Holies, that represented the top of the mountain. That's where God dwelt. God's presence was in there.

Nobody could go in there. If me or you was an Israelite back then, whether it was in the tent of meeting, or whether it was in the tabernacle, or whether it was in the temple, none of us would ever have been able to go in where God was. We never could.

The only one that could go in there was the high priest. And he could only go in there after he had cleansed himself and made sacrifice for himself. Because he, like us, was a Soiled person, okay? So he was the only one that God allowed in there that was representative of Jesus Christ.

The only one that could approach into heaven, the only one who has seen God at any time was who? Son of man. Who is the only one that has ever been able to approach under the throne of God? Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He's the only one that has been in the presence of God and lived. But yet when Christ came, he has now opened up the veil.

You ever wonder why whenever Jesus died, that veil in the temple of God that separated the holy of holies from everything else in the temple, why that veil ripped in two and the Bible says it ripped from the top to the bottom. It didn't rip from the bottom to the top. It wasn't like someone was down there at the bottom and ripped it up. No, it ripped from the top to the bottom.

Why did God do that? It was symbolizing that because of Christ, there is now no separation between God and his people. That now the way has been opened where we can approach unto God and commune with God and know him and him loving us, we loving him.

There could be true service to God, not like the service of the old covenant, where it was always incomplete, but true service, which is faith. God gives us faith. And that faith is what we serve God with. We serve God with the faith that God gives us. That is the way that we serve him. That's why all throughout the New Testament, when it talks about these new commands and it talks about walking by faith, it talks about walking in obedience, it talks about walking in the spirit, all these types of things. It's talking about faith, that's how we serve God, is our worship and faith towards Christ Jesus, our trust and reliance on Christ Jesus. That's the service to God. And that was opened up, that's why the veil was rent. There is no more division. we are able to boldly go into the throne room of God by Jesus Christ.

So that's what we see here. He is made, and Paul here is saying, listen, the old is about to decay and vanish away. It's about that time, brethren. He's warning these Hebrews. It's about that time. Judgment is fixing to come on this old covenantal system. Heaven and earth is about to pass away. Look if you would at Hebrews chapter nine and verse 11.

It says, but Christ being come, a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, that place where God resides, that place where God dwells, having obtained eternal redemption, having obtained eternal redemption. Okay, so our redemption isn't just a timely redemption, it's an eternal redemption. The Old Testament saints were redeemed, just like we were redeemed, Verse 13, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Now, brethren, there's a lot of things that I can say there, but one of the things that whenever Christ gives us the Spirit of God, and he begins to teach us, especially as we begin to hear the gospel and believe the gospel, and Christ teaches, grows us in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, it purges our conscience from dead works.

What's Paul saying here? Remember what Paul is doing. He is warning these Jewish believers and Gentile believers, as we now are reading it, he is warning believers here The old covenant is about to be judged and go away. It was insufficient for righteousness. All it was there for was to show our inability. But it's about to be judged and go away. The covenantal people that was of old is about to be judged and go away. If you do not believe upon Jesus Christ, you will be judged with those old covenantal people that are not believing.

He says, and these old covenantal people that are infiltrating your churches, Galatia and everywhere else, and are coming in and saying, you must go back to the law of Moses. You must keep the law of Moses. Yes, believe on Jesus, but you also have to keep the law. You also have to do this. You also have to, and bring you back into bondage of the law.

Paul is saying, listen, don't listen to them, those things that they are trying to get you to do are only going to be dead works. And Paul himself, being a man who has experienced this exact same thing, I was burdened down with dead works, but that which I thought was gain to me, I now count as loss.

Those dead works in my mind, I have mortified the deeds of the flesh. I put to death the deeds of the flesh, because the deeds of the flesh cannot please God. And so I've mortified them. I put them to death. I'm dead to the law. I am dead to that old covenantal system. I am dead to that. I now live in Zion. And as a member of Zion, we are under the free woman. In Zion, we are free. We are not under the covenantal system over here. We are under the free woman. We are not in bondage. We are free.

And so Paul is saying here that Jesus offered himself without spot to God, and by that, he says, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. He says, and for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by the means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were made under the first Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Now, brethren, who are the ones who are the recipients of this internal heritage? They that are called. And who have we learned are those who are called? I know my sheep, I call them by name.

2 Timothy 1.10 or 1.9, we are saved and called with a holy calling, not according to our work, but according to his purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Well, what was that? Well, if we go back to Ephesians chapter one again, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved, or who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places, Well, who are they? Well, that's the children of God, the saints of God, the children of God, that eternal united seed of Christ. That's who it is. That's who it is.

And so he noted, and if you notice here, though, he says, and for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal, eternal, eternal inheritance. See, this inheritance was already lined out for us before the foundation of the world. So Christ is the high priest of good things to come. He's the mediator of the New Testament. He is not brethren, still mediating the old covenant. Because we just read the old is ready to vanish away and it did. Look, if you would, in chapter 10. Chapter 10. Verse 14, it says, four by one offering. He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That are sanctified.

What does that word sanctified mean? Well, modern religion has redefined the word sanctified to mean to make holy. And they have now defined sanctification as the process of becoming more holy, where the Bible uses the word sanctified, not as to become more holy, but to be set apart for holy use. That's the definition in the Bible. Get your concordance out, look up every place that the word sanctified is used, and you will see that it has to do with a separation of a group of people for a specific purpose. God has sanctified us in Christ Jesus, that is election. God elected us. What does that mean? That means God has chosen a specific group of people and set them apart from all other people. That's what sanctified means.

I'm a sanctified person. Now, I don't mean this facetious and I don't mean to be too jokey about everything, but I can fully say that I am a fully sanctified person. But now Larry can attest, him and his family can attest that in some places that means completely different. That they believe that some people preach and teach that they can be fully sanctified in the sense of this modern religious notion that I've become more and more holy. So a fully sanctified person in that understanding would say that I've become perfect.

But here, the Bible does teach that the spiritual children of God are perfect and have been set apart for God that we might be for Him vessels of honor that we might show forth and put forth the glory of Christ that we might be for the declaration of His salvation. He has set us apart for His use. He has set us apart to be the vehicle in which we worship God, which we glorify Him in His salvation. Now the vessels of dishonor God has made to glorify God in His righteous judgment.

You can see all that over in Romans 9. Don't need to get into all that, but let's continue on here. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws in their heart. and in their minds, and I will right them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering of sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised." See, those brethren were worried that you're saying that we don't have to keep the law?

You're saying that we just go about and live our life and he's the one that's going to work in us and do all the things that's required? He's the one? We just have to trust that he's going to do all that? That's what he's saying, and he's even coming to the point where he's saying, listen, you're even gonna experience, your conscience is gonna say, is this right? Is this right? Is this right? And what's he saying right here?

He's saying, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience. Our conscience is gonna say, that's not right. Our heart is gonna tell us you've got to do something But brethren, remember that the heart is deceitfully wicked above all things, you can know it. But do you see what Christ's death has done and what the new covenant is representing?

It is now bringing us back into communion with God where we lost communion with God in the garden. Whenever we were in the garden in our first Adam, He had communion with God. Now that doesn't mean he was a spiritual live person or anything like that, but he had communion with God. There was a oneness there with God in the fact that God had a relationship and had some sort of a communion with Adam. But that communion was lost whenever sin and death came into the world. Whenever Adam sinned, transgressed God's law, God pushed them out of the garden, out of Eden, that represented the holy of holies, in my estimation. That represented the holy of holies. And now man was outside the communion of God, and the old covenant was given, not to restore that communion with God, but to show that man could never achieve communion with God. without a mediator.

Because man by himself will always, like Adam, choose himself. Will always choose self-righteousness. Adam showed the law was given that the offense might abound. God give Adam that law to show that natural man cannot abound, cannot do anything, cannot ascend, cannot be like me, cannot do anything.

Satan thought he could ascend the throne of God. God showed him. That's not true. That's not happening. Adam thought, I can be as God. What did God do? I'm gonna show you, you can't be as God. You can't even keep one single command. Much less 700 and however many. 10 couldn't keep 10 commands. much less 720. Anyway, so we see that we see that this covenant can never produce, this covenant produced. This covenant separated men from communion with God. This communion has brought, or excuse me, this covenant has brought us back into communion with God.

And so the whole redemptive plan the whole redemptive picture, is getting God and man back into communication, but it's not, as Ian Thomas says, to get every man back in there. And he's not doing it by us showing everybody who God is. It's by Christ. He is the mediator between God and man. Look with me, if you would, at Galatians chapter four, verse six.

Galatians chapter four and verse 26 We read these verses last week, but I want to go back and look at this one verse here So the the new mountain sign Zion the city of peace Who is the king of peace Jesus, right? We go to Zion, there is peace. You go to Sinai, there is not peace. Nobody can have peace at Sinai. We go to Zion, there is peace. But what caused that peace?

We just read it. Don't let this trick you. Don't think it's a trick question or anything. We just read it. What made it where there's peace in Zion? that Christ by His blood has perfected and removed the iniquity. Remember, it was the iniquity, the transgression that separated us from the communion with God, from us entering into the holy place, for us being the place where God can reside. That separated us. But because of Christ's blood, He removed the transgression. He removed the iniquity. So if there is a removal of iniquity and a removal of transgression, therefore there is no wrath, that's propitiation. There is no wrath of God to fear. What's there left? Peace. There's peace. Now, what does it say here in verse 26?

But Jerusalem, which above is free. which is the mother of us all. We are all free born children, wrapped in a slave bound body. And because of that, there is consternation. There is a war between the flesh and the spirit. between Isaac and between Ishmael, between Jacob and between Esau, between the old covenant person and the new covenant person. For it is written, rejoice thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry that thou travailest not for the desolate hath more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now.

Nevertheless, what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not of the bondwoman, but of the free. So stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Don't go back to the old covenant system. Don't look for the renewal of the old covenant system. There's so many of these dispensationalists and Zionists that is wanting to bring back this old covenantal system and thinks that it's still going on. And Christ here, through Paul, Christ himself, as we'll get to eventually, Christ himself said there's gonna be an end to this.

Look with me if you would at Philippians. Got a few more verses here I wanna read, then we'll be done. Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three, look at verse 20. It says, now unto him that is able. Oh, I'm in Ephesians. Look, Philippians. Philippians three. I did say Philippians, right? I stopped on Ephesians.

Philippians 3.20.

For our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I did some studying on this verse, brethren, this word conversation. And I actually learned something this week about this. And I've had something wrong here as it pertains to this word conversation in the context of this verse specifically. Now, I'm sure all of us here know and probably could attest that we have heard and learned that the word conversation, when used in the Bible, speaks about our walk, right?

Our manner, our mannerism, okay? Our walk. But did you realize that this word conversation here is the only place in scripture where this particular word, at least the Greek word behind it that we get our, we get the English word conversation from it, but the word behind it, this is the only place that it's found. And it doesn't mean your walk or your way of life. Now, all the other passages in scripture, we have thought rightly, that that word conversation does mean your walk or your way of life. However, I used to think this verse meant our conversation is in heaven or our walk or our main to do.

And it was speaking of Christ obedience that he has presented before. God, and there is nothing against that as far as the truth of the matter. Christ's obedience is what's been presented to God, okay? He ascended back to God and he presented his sacrifice to God, right?

However, this word conversation here is not a word that means our walk or our manner. The word here has to do with citizenship. The word here has to do with a governmental system. And I was just blown away whenever I realized that, and it's not found anywhere else. It says, for our conversation or our citizenship is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glory's body according to the workings whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Now, brethren, listen, and this just came to me in looking at this this way. If you remember, we've talked about this before, and I even mentioned it a little bit in my sermon yesterday.

The child of grace that is born from above has been made subject to vanity. It just told us here that the fleshly man is always gonna persecute the spiritual man. Esau is always gonna be after Jacob. Ishmael is always going to be after Isaac. But the Bible says that this one born from above, this spiritual seed of Christ, he is inside of this fleshly man and he had been subjected to vanity unwilling or not willingly. but in hope.

And if you remember a few weeks or a month or a few ago, I preached about that. And I preached about how we were subject to hope. And what was the hope? The hope was the redemption of this body to with the adoption of this body, the changing of this body, God taking this body and putting off this body of flesh and putting on that heavenly body. And that we become one man. the inside and the outside without sin. Here it says, for our citizenship is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior. But what are we doing looking for the Savior in this citizenship? The changing of our body.

So part of the hope, and I mentioned this yesterday in my sermon, that our union with Christ Jesus, our eternal union with Christ Jesus is the foundation for biblical assurance. Okay, not the assurance that the modern theology teaches, that assurance of things that we do outwardly, our works or anything like that. I'm talking about biblical assurance. The biblical assurance is foundation or founded in the work of Christ. And it is testified by the spirit of God. The testimony of Christ is our assurance. And Christ has testified that we shall be like him.

That was the hope in the garden. Adam thought he could be as God. However, now brother, whenever I say we're gonna be like him, I'm not talking about that we're gonna be deity like Christ. but we are gonna be glorified in the fact that we are gonna be without sin, a body that is whole.

And that citizenship is in heaven. That city is in heaven. And it is coming down in the new covenant. Now this new body, we won't receive until we die, end but hang with me here look if you would speaking of this spiritual people though let me get back to where is that here the spiritual people makes up the habitation of God go if you would to Ephesians chapter 2 So we just learned that our citizenship is in heaven, but look what Ephesians chapter two starting in verse 19 says.

It says, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but here it is, fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and are built. So now he's moving into an illustration. He's illustrating us as a people by a building, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. in whom ye also are builded together for, here it is, habitation of God through the Spirit. Ye are now come to Mount Zion. Brethren, the dwelling place with God is with his people. I shall be their God, they shall be my people. I will be with them and they shall be with me. Jesus prayed that we would be one as He is one. We are together. This is talking about a spiritual kingdom, not seen with the eyes. It's a spiritual people, covered by flesh, but still a spiritual people. And when we gather together, we make up this spiritual building, the spiritual temple.

Look, if you would, at or I can read it real quick if you don't want to turn in Isaiah chapter 60. Verse 14, the sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet and they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Okay? So here we see that we are the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

But notice it says that we are a building that is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

Now brethren, in that exact same letter, just a few places down, Paul writes this, verse 17. or verse 16, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with the might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness. That breadth, and length, and depth, and height, that's building terms. In 2 Chronicles 3, in verse 8, It says, and he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, 20 cubits, and the breadth thereof, 20 cubits, and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 600 talents. So here we see that the house, the length and the breadth and the width were the same, and he overlaid it with gold.

Look in Revelation 21. In verse 16, we see the same imagery. But notice, if you would, starting in verse 21, It says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of the heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And so as we go down, he says, in verse nine, and there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven plagues, and talked with me saying, come hither, I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, Mount Zion, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." So when he went to take John to show him the bride of Christ, he showed him a city on a hill, descending, coming down out of heaven from God.

Having the glory of God and her light was likened to the most precious, even like Jasper Stump Anyway, it talks about all that, but notice if you would with me, down here at verse 16. And the city lieth four square, and the length is as large as the breadth, and is measured, and he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs, and the length and the breadth and the height are of it equal. And he measured the wall thereof, and 140 and four cubits, 144 cubits, 144 cubits. According to the measure of a man that is of the angels and the building of the wall as it were of Jasper and the city was pure gold, like under glass.

So it's the same imagery we see here, brethren. In the Old Testament, we've seen the house of God was covered, its breadth and length and depth were the same. and that it was covered in gold. We see in the book of the Revelation where Christ's redemptive work and the revealing of the new covenant is displayed. We see the city, which is the people of God. Length and breadth and depth is the same, covered with gold. And we see in our text back in Ephesians, the same thing. While you're in Revelation though, turn to Revelation chapter 14, and look at verse one. Revelation 14, one.

He says, and I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 having his father's name written in their heads. And in 21.2, we just read, and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And the measurement was the same, 144 cubits to the measure of a man that is of the angel. So brethren, we see this and the foundations of the wall of the city were given all these illustrations of diamonds and gold and jewels and all kinds of things like this. But if you'll notice in verse 22, he says, and I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamb is the light thereof.

I think we're gonna see that some of this has to do with covenantal language as well as we move on. I just wanted to bring your attention to that so that whenever we get to that, you'll remember that. All right, now, look if you would with me at Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25 and look at verse 23. It says here.

The land shall not be sold forever for the land is mine and ye are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the land of your possession, you shall grant a redemption for the land. So. We are strangers and sojourners where we are now, but in the old covenant system, but in the new covenant system, we are citizens. We just read that we are citizens there.

You remember I asked or mentioned something a long time ago, and I've mentioned it a few times, how weird it is that the Bible always tells us that we are pilgrims and strangers just passing through. and that we have all these songs about, you know, I'm heading to my heavenly home or I'm ready to go home. I'm thinking about home, you know, ready to go home, you know, and we talk about all this imagery of going home. And the Bible says that we have a home, which is in heaven, that we are not here, but not of this earth, but we are from there, just like Jesus said in John 17, you know, But yet none of us have ever been there. All we've ever known is this time.

But yet our spiritual man came from there. So it's talking again about this spiritual people. It's describing a spiritual people. And here, the spiritual people down here and in this old covenantal system, We don't find citizenship here. We don't find hominess here. We're just strangers. We're pilgrims.

Listen, I love going over to Delaware like we did yesterday. And listen, I've been to that church hundreds of times, especially whenever my uncle was preaching there. And it's a wonderful place. I could tell you where everything is just about in that church because I've been there so many times.

I can point out, I'm not a member there and I can point out Somebody came and said, hey, do you know where the bathroom is? Yeah, I know the bathroom's right there. There's some back there. You know where the preacher's office is? Yeah, if you go through that door right there and hang a right and then hang another right, the preacher's office will be right there. Matter of fact, if you go outside and go out that door, there's a door right there. You'll go right in the pastor's office.

I know that, but you know what? Whenever I'm there, I don't feel like I'm at home. I don't feel like I do whenever I'm here or whenever we had a meeting house. that we was at all the time, I didn't feel there. Why? Because that was our place of meeting. I felt at home there. When I go to Coahuila, I know where everything's at. I know everybody very well there, but whenever I'm there, I still feel like I'm a guest here.

Now, they don't make me feel that way, but I feel that way. Why? Because that's not my church. This is our church, and I feel more comfortable here with us than sometimes I do with even good friends we've had for many years. Well, brethren, that's kind of how it is.

For us, this man inside has this home feeling because that's where he came from. And that's his place of residence. And he's been subjected to vanity and to a world that's not his. And that's not where he comes from. And definitely is not in tune with who he is in Christ Jesus. back in Hebrews chapter 11. It says it this way. Hebrews 11 and verse 10. I'll start in verse eight.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went but By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, through faith, oh, excuse me, excuse me, through faith also, Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Now, brethren, it says they have not received them or the promises, but they were saved, right? What was it that they had not experienced? They hadn't experienced this new covenant. they haven't experienced the new covenant.

For they say such things, declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they may have had opportunity to have returned, but now they desire a better country. That is unheavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, and he hath prepared for them a city. Okay, so I think this also points to this new city, this new mountain, the city of New Jerusalem, which we are and we have come to. As we are born from above and we are brought into fellowship with other believers, we are come to Mount Zion.

Now, who are the Church of the Firstborn? And the spirits of just men made perfect. Well, I believe all those are one and the same people. We have come to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven. Our names have been written in heaven. We are in heaven now, spiritually, whenever we come together. The General Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn, I believe, speak of the same people.

It's not disconnected people. This is a group, and this is a group, and then this is a group over here. I'm even somewhat of the mind to say that the innumerable company of angels And you know, I'm not dogmatic here. I believe that could also be talking about all the saints of God, because we are all messengers. The word anglios there means a messenger. We are all messengers of God, but I can also believe that it speaks of an innumerable company of angels. The Bible says that whenever the church comes together and meets, that the angels attend and look on, right? I think it could mean that.

But it says, and to God, the judge of all and the spirits and to the spirits of just men made perfect. So these people are men who have, as we read a while ago, been made perfect. He has perfected them that are sanctified. We are set apart when we come here, brethren, as the church. and we gather in church capacity. We are set apart. We are gathered together and set apart from everybody else.

Matter of fact, that's what the word ekklesia actually referred to. It was a called out gathered assembly. And in that Greek terminology and Greek understanding, there was other terms for assemblies. There was other terms for groups or gathering. But the word ekklesia that Jesus chose to use, this is my ekklesia, he chose to use that because that word and that word only had a connotation of a group of people who are gathered out of another group of people, and they're gathered together for a specific purpose, and that is a purpose to govern. And what is the church given to do? It's given to govern. We are a citizenship within a citizenship. We have been gathered out and gathered together so that we are to govern the ordinances and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so he used the word ekklesia to refer to that gathered assembly. Whenever we gather here together, we're set apart from the world. And in here, the Bible says that God has promised his presence with us. And in that presence with us, we also worship him. Now there's a lot of places in the scripture that I could go to to show you where the word Angel is used as it pertains and speaks of the saints of God, but I won't do that for the sake of time.

So brethren, in closing thoughts here, what is this vision that we're seeing? And I'm hoping to go further in this study the next few weeks, but what do we see here in Hebrews 12? I believe what we see here is not the contrast between earth and some abstract heaven, but actually we are seeing the contrast between the old and the new covenant and the going away or the ceasing of the old covenant, Jerusalem, and the old covenant, Israel, and the manifesting or the revealing of the new covenant, Jerusalem, new covenant Israel, and that being the Lord's people in their gathering. Now, Lord willing, next week, I hope to kind of start taking up some of these images that we see in the Old Testament, and specifically as it pertains to down here where it says, verse 25 down through 28, where it talks about heaven and the earth and the shaking and that which cannot be shaken, I really would like to get into that because that was a really interesting study that I've gone through in studying this whenever the Lord brought me through studying some of these things and eye-opening and really I should say earth-changing in the fact that my view of a lot of things changed because my vantage point has now been shifted because of seeing some of these things.

And so I'm kind of excited to share that with you guys and hope that that is received as well as it was in my heart and in my understanding as well to help me understand other things. It's helped me understand a lot of things in the scripture. Not fully, not complete, still confused on a lot of things, but it has helped me out. And I just pray as I grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, leads me in the growth and grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, that these things will become more clearer and come together better. And if there's a place for correction and rebuke, I pray the Lord will keep me from error. But anyway, I'm kind of excited to go through that little room maybe in the next week or so as we go through. Anybody got anything that you'd like to add, comment on?

Had a good time yesterday, glad all of us got to go. All those that are not here today, my boys are all not able to be here today. Heather was not feeling good today, and so she's not here, and the kids, so we pray for them and everything. But it was good to have fellowship with everybody yesterday and have a time of worship, hearing God's word. All right, well, if nobody has anything, any prayer request or anything, let's bow.

Lord, thank you once again for this day, and we thank you for your gospel. Thank you for Christ, and we thank you for all that you are for us. And in us, we thank you, Father, for the opportunities that we have together, together as your people. Father, we thank you for the time that we had fellowship yesterday, for the safety you give everybody in their travels. We thank you for the messages that we heard from all the brethren, for the time around the table that we got to sit and visit, Catch up with those that we love that we haven't seen in many years and to meet new brothers and sisters in Christ who love the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Father Lord, I just pray that everybody was blessed and edified by you. And Lord, we just thank you again that you continue to speak and minister to your people. And we just ask Lord that you'll be with us as we leave today and give us safety and travels. And it's all in Christ's name that we pray these things. Amen.