Anybody logged on yet? Just checking to make sure that the sound was working. Following the trick like last week. Hebrews chapter 12. We'll start reading in verse 18 down to verse 29 again. And we'll be, hopefully dealing with verses 25 and 26 this week.

It says, for ye are not come unto the mouth that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest. And the sound of trumpet and the voice of words, which voice that 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 touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with the dark. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion and under 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 saints 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 that of Abel.

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh 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 word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of the things that 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 godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. Now, this is the third week we've been looking at these passages, brethren, and wanna continue on if the Lord be with us here and speak on a few things here in verses 25 and 26 depending on how far we can get here and everything.

But as we've already seen in 22, that we are come to Mount Zion. And so we've already looked at this as the contrast between Sinai and Mount Zion. The contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant. That old covenant being the covenant of works that God had given to the people on Mount Sinai that old covenant that was a covenant that was never intended to make anyone righteous, never intended to make anyone holy, never intended to make anybody saved, okay?

It never was then, it isn't now, okay? That old covenant was given to the people, the type and foreshadow of the New Testament church, It was given as a type and a foreshadow. It was given as a foreshadow of better things. That old covenant was a covenant of works that was given to expose and to manifest and to condemn the natural man in his natural state, which is dead in trespasses and sin, but it was given to condemn us. It was given to show our inability that we are not holy. It never was given.

A lot of people think that the 10 commandments and the law and all those things was given that if somebody keeps those things, or if we keep those things and everything, then God will count us righteous. And that if we obey these things, then we are being right with God. We're standing right with God. Okay. I used to hear all the time from people as I was younger and everything that, you know, you just need to get right with God.

But what does that mean? Well, that means you need to start obeying the Bible, obeying what the Bible says. And if you get right with God, then you're going to have a right standing with God. But if you're not obeying the Bible, then you don't have a right standing with God. Okay.

And so that is basically the gist of what the, covenant of works was about was if you keep these things, then you're right with God. If you don't keep these things, you're not right with God. And guess what happened? You died. So do this and live. The wages of sin is death.

And how funny it is that all the people that still like to run back to Sinai and is preaching to their congregations, that they are still under the law and that they're still required to keep all those Old Testament laws and old covenantal things, that those who preach those things, they don't believe that you have to keep every one of them all the time. As long as you do a good job to keep doing that, because that's why Christ came, Christ died.

Matter of fact, I had someone one time in our church that even made that mention to me, they were kind of being drawn away into law works again. And, you know, we had some discussions about that. And I've given this person some stuff to go read and to check out, but their ear was being pulled by someone that they loved and everything. And therefore, while there was, you know, there wasn't any, you know, stopping them from what they were wanting to do. But anyway, eventually they came back and said, hey, I was wrong about all that. You're right about that and everything. But people are being told to go do that.

And this is what this person's thought was, as many are, is no, the Bible isn't telling us under the new covenant that we have to keep every law all the time and everything. That's what Jesus has sacrificed. Jesus' sacrifice was to cover any sin that we don't keep. Okay, any law that we don't keep. But if we do sin, we have a faithful and just advocate who will advocate for us if we do. If we sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive us of those sins if we confess those sins. So Christ's death covers those sins But all those things that we do keep, the Bible says that the law is given and all the law is to be kept and never to be broken. And so if you break it in one point, you've broken it in all. So you're not keeping any of it unless you keep all of it. You're not keeping any of it. So if you think that you're standing before God is based upon law keeping, You're never gonna be right with God, ever. You'll never be right with God.

And so, that's why we see in Hebrews, it talks about this as a better covenant. It's a new covenant. We've seen a couple weeks ago that the old covenant is vanishing away. Even Paul was saying that here in these passages. He said this is passing away. This is about to vanish and go away, okay? So at that time, there was already the closeness of the old covenant coming to an end.

There was signs and wonders that were being done in the earth that was showing forth the promise of that ending of the covenant that we see all throughout the Old Testament. God prophesying that the end was gonna come, that Messiah would come. When Messiah would come, he would bring an end to all this covenant. and that the new covenant would become manifest.

And as I've already said before in the other sermons, this old covenant, I mean, this new covenant is only new in the aspects of time, not in the aspects of eternity. Under the eternal realm of things, this has been the covenant all along. This is the covenant that God has made to save his people. And this covenant preceded the old covenant as far as the enactment of. God enacteded the eternal covenant, the everlasting covenant from the foundation of the world whenever he brought forth Christ as the mediator between God and man And as the surety and as the mediator between his people, he chose that people and give them to Christ.

In that union with Christ, the everlasting covenant began because Christ began at that point. And of course, this is in eternity. We're speaking in men's terms here, brethren. I don't know how to describe when a point happens in eternity where there is no time.

But there was a point, if you would, where Christ became the mediator and the surety for a people who was united and given to him as his seed. And as that surety ship began, whenever he began to stand for them, that's when the everlasting covenant began. He began to mediate that covenant. However, all through the Old Testament, that covenant was kept hid. That covenant was not manifested.

It was hidden in the types and the shadows of the old covenant. But God throughout the old covenant to his covenant people was saying, there is coming a time when this old is going to pass away and the new shall come. He said, heaven and earth is going to pass away and the new is going to come. And Christ himself talks about the ending of this old covenant and how heaven and earth is gonna pass away and the new is going to come. And so the warnings was given generation after generation after generation after generation that when Messiah comes, he will come again and judge that old covenant and he will end that old covenant and that old covenant will cease to exist because Christ has fulfilled all things.

And then now we enter in into this new state or this new period of time where the kingdom of God is manifest because we are his kingdom, we are his people. And as we've seen last week, we see that we are the city, the new Jerusalem, and he has tabernacled in us, that's where God now resides.

He doesn't reside in the tent of meeting or in the tabernacle in the wilderness or in the temple on the mount. He doesn't reside in buildings made with hands, he resides in the hearts and souls of his people. And then whenever we gather together, we build up or we come together as a body or as a tabernacle or as a house of God. Today we are gathered here, we make up the house of God. Wherever God's people gather together, there is the house of God. There is the tabernacle where God resides. There is the visible kingdom of God right there. Even though it's a spiritual kingdom, we are the visible representations of that kingdom, the servants of that kingdom with Christ as our king.

So we left off last week seeing that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, and wanna pick up with verse 25. It says, see that you refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised saying, yet once more I shape not the earth only, but also heaven." Now, brethren, I believe the person who is in view here in verses 25 and 26 is the Lord Jesus Christ. Matter of fact, this is a perfect example and proof that it was also the Lord Jesus Christ who was the one who was speaking to Moses back on Sinai. Because in the context here, we're talking about him speaking to them on earth whenever he was on Mount Sinai, whenever the earth was shaken.

But now he's talking about the one who is going to be speaking, who shakes not the earth only, but also heaven, who is bringing the judgment on the Old Covenant. Christ is the one to whom God has given all judgment to. Christ is the one who has been promised to come back and put an end to the Old Covenant.

And we see that in several places in the Old Testament. But we see here that this is linked to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the one who was the one speaking on the Mount. But it says here, it says, see that you refuse not him that speaketh. The Bible puts a great emphasis, and we've talked about this quite a bit, especially as it pertains to the unity of God in Christ Jesus, that Jesus is the word made flesh. And we've, just a few weeks ago, talked about the importance of Jesus being the one that anytime God is seen, anytime God is heard, that that is Christ Jesus.

Because there is only one way that we have communion, mediation between God, whether it be in vocal form, whether it be in covenantal form, whether it be in intercessory form, whatever the form might be, the only way that we have communion with a holy God and a holy God has communion with us and fellowship with us is through the mediator, Jesus Christ. So it says here, see that ye refuse not him that speaketh.

The reason that Paul is stressing this is he's bringing back and remember the backdrop here, brethren. These are Jews living in this transitional period between the covenants. Okay, the old covenant is still intact, vanishing away. The new covenant has now come and is being made manifest and is beginning to be preached throughout the region.

These people who are still in their minds entangled with the old covenant teachings, just as many of us have in our past when coming to the doctrines of grace, still entangled by traditions of men, the wisdom of men. I mean, even to this day, I still struggle with the traditions of men and the things that were ingrained in me and that was taught in me and indoctrinated in my mind growing up. And those things the Lord begins to teach as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so Paul here is saying, seek that you refuse not him that, or refuse him not, him that speaketh." If you would, turn with me over to Hebrews. Paul says this in a couple other places in this book. See, he's telling these believing Jews, listen, Christ is the definitive word on all this stuff. We spoke about that a little bit, I think, the first week in this study. Christ is the definitive word on this.

You know, they didn't want, in the old covenant type and shadow, they said, Moses, we don't want to go hear what he has to say. If we go listen to what he says, you know, we're going to die. So you go for us and you come back and you tell us what God has said. And so now we actually have that. We have the man, Christ Jesus, who the Bible says, I only speak the things which I have seen and heard. Coming and telling us something, but what did the Bible say whenever Jesus came?

That his people received him not. That no one was listening to his testimony. They disregarded his testimony. And so the thing was is these Judaizers and these Jews throughout this time, They were hearing this new message of the new covenant, but yet they weren't believing it. And the reason that they weren't believing it is because they weren't the sheep of Christ.

His sheep heard his voice and they followed him. And so Paul here is once again, reminding the sheep, listen to your shepherd, listen to your shepherd. There's the admonishment. Now listen, just because Paul was admonishing, commanding, directing, making imperatives, doesn't mean it was conditional. His sheep will hear His voice and will follow Him.

And just because there's an admonition to do that, doesn't mean that it's conditional, that by our free will, we can choose to do it or choose not to do it. Because in the time of God, and his work and his power on us coming, his people will be willing in the day of his power.

Paul on the road to Damascus, he even made that claim. He said, you know, I was going about zealously doing all these things thinking I was serving God, but I really wasn't serving God. I was doing all these self-righteous things. Then all of a sudden I was stopped in the middle of what I was doing. and all my law-keeping, and all my self-righteous activity." And he said, whenever it pleased the Lord to reveal Christ in me, guess what happened?

Paul wasn't the same ever again. He changed, he turned. He repented of that old way of thinking, and he turned and began trusting on Christ alone as his righteousness, as we see in Romans 7 and 8. He began seeing Christ as his righteousness, knowing Christ is the one who has done everything for him. And so now he is coming and telling these people that's in the same position.

Listen, I know what you've been hearing. I know what you've been hearing. I know what you've been hearing, but listen, don't be like those who heard the voice and turned away. Don't be like those who heard that voice that shook the earth and turned away.

What happened to the ones that turned away? Well, we know that after they left Mount Sinai, and they had the commandments, and they had the law, and they had all this stuff, and after God had done all those things, as God began to move them closer to the promised land, they stood on the edge, they looked over, God had already said, it's yours, you already have possession of it, go in and take it, I've already secured everything that is needed for you. What did the people do?

How many people believe God out of all of Israel? Two. Two people out of millions of people believe God that that was true. And so two people out of a million people was the only ones who was given to say, we can go in and take that land because God has already given it to us.

We can go in and rest in that land. Everyone else was saying, well, wait a minute. Are you not seeing what we're seeing people? Look at that. There's giants in there. There's all kinds of armies that are gonna kill us. This is not gonna happen. And so they doubted. And so a million people, And just think about that and try to equate that to what we see today.

How many churches are out there today? Thousands. Well, just in Joplin itself, there's over 100 churches probably here in town. Within the four states area, there's probably thousands of churches out there today. How many of them are preaching the gospel? And if you look at it, you say, Well, how can those people be right whenever so many people here are believing something else?

I would think that the majority would be right. How many times have we heard, well, oh, we have to believe that because look down through history, this confession, this confession, this confession, this confession, this confession, this confession, this theologian, this theologian, this theologian, this seminary, this seminary, they're all saying the same thing, so that must be orthodox. we should probably stick with the majority. But yet the Lord has always had a remnant of people who have believed his word. And that remnant has always been less than the whole. They were standing at the edge of the promised land. Two people said, God has said, that's ours. God has said, enter in to that rest. A couple of million people or a million people, however many it was that came out of Egypt, they said no. So what happened? What transpired after that?

40 years, those people, because they did not believe God, wandered in the desert. 40 years, they wandered around in the desert and couldn't enter in. And they wandered and they wandered and they wandered. And God said, everybody from this age down will enter in, but everyone from this age up, you're gonna die in the wilderness. Those people did not hear God, they did not believe on God, and they did not enter in into rest, therefore they died in unbelief. They were not given to believe. They were not given to trust. Therefore they were given to wander. And they died in unbelief.

Now Paul is equating that. He's saying, listen, don't be like those who heard the voice, who knew the promises, but did not enter in. Look at Hebrews chapter two. In verse one it says, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? So here Paul starts out the letter saying, listen, you need to pay attention to what's being said. Listen to who said it. We had one who came and spoke the words of God, the very words of God. Christ was our Messiah. Christ is our Christ. Jesus is our Christ. He is our Messiah. He is the anointed one of Jehovah as the Old Testament prophesied. This is the man who is coming to be our savior.

It's just that he didn't save us the way that we thought he was gonna save us. His kingdom wasn't what we thought his kingdom was gonna be. We're looking for a physical kingdom. He didn't come to bring a physical kingdom. He's looking for a spiritual people. We thought he was coming for an ethnic people, a national people, a physical people, but he isn't. We thought he was coming to dwell within tabernacles built by hands, but he wasn't. We thought salvation was gonna be from our physical enemies, but it wasn't. The salvation was from our spiritual enemies, death and sin and hell.

Paul is saying he came and spoke the words of God. He explained to us what all of that old stuff was about. If you don't believe me, look back at chapter one. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets. hath in these last days.

So that tells me that the last days are already here. They started when Jesus died. They started when the old covenant went away, or when the old covenant was going away, the last days began with the death of Jesus Christ. That's the last days. The last days till what? The last days till the old covenant ends. The last days, they were in the last days at that time, waiting for that covenant to come, for Christ to come back and judge Israel, to judge the old covenant and to put an end to it, to bring in the desolation.

So, God who at sundry times and in diverse matters in these in this time has passed, spoken to us by the prophets, hath in these last days, spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." So here we see that Christ is the one by whom God speaks. Therefore, everything that was shared and preached to Paul, to Peter, to John, to Matthew, to Mark, to James, to all those apostles, and then that first church that Christ had gathered together and delivered the faith to them, the body of doctrine to them, Christ spoke the words of God. It was God speaking to them. So that's why Paul, in chapter two, verse one, says, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by the angels was steadfast and every transgression disobedient received a just recompense and reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard it." Remember, Paul wasn't with them whenever Jesus said it. However, Paul was with Jesus for three years in Arabia being taught by Christ.

But he is saying, listen, don't take my word for it. I know that I'm the Johnny come lately here. Take their word for it. They was the one who actually walked with Jesus whenever he said these things. It says, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with divers, miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.

So we should be listening about this coming judgment. Look if you would at chapter three, verse seven. It says, wherefore as the Holy Ghost sayeth today, if you will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness." Paul's referring back to that time whenever they didn't listen and they provoked God in the wilderness, right? It says, when your fathers tempted me, proved me and saw my works 40 years. Just a side note, brethren, this right here shows the beautiful graciousness of God.

Those Israelites stood at the edge of the promised land. They did not have faith. They did not trust in the Lord. They did not go in into rest. And so they believed upon themselves and therefore God made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years. But do you know that even though God made them wander for 40 years, that during that time period, that he fed them, he watered them. The Bible even says that their shoes didn't even wear out, that they had given, the shoes that they were wearing lasted for 40 years.

Can you imagine that? How long does a pair of shoes last you guys? Mine don't last very long. I go through shoes pretty quick. But can you imagine walking through a desert, wandering around in a desert, for 40 years with the same pair of shoes, and they not wear out. They're dead some good leather. Or is that a mighty God, right? Mighty God.

He says here, harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me, proved me, And so my works 40 years. Wherefore, I was grieved with that generation and said, they do always err in their heart and they have not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest. Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God."

What's Paul saying here? He's saying, don't go back to that old system. See, this whole book is being written to number one, show the superiority of Christ over Moses. To show the superiority of the new covenant over the old covenant. And number three, to show the superiority of the work of Christ versus the law. Grace over the law. Grace is a free gift, the law only is condemnation to us. It says, take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily why it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

What does sin say? What is the deceitfulness of sin? A lot of people think that sin is being deceitful in the aspects of, ooh, look at all this evil stuff you're missing out on. You could do all this evil stuff. Look at all this, you can drink and smoke and look at nasty things and all that kind of, that's what sin is enticing you to do.

And I'm not saying it isn't, brother, but there's more to sin than that. Sin also is enticing you to say this, You don't have to trust on Christ alone. Look at the law. He's given you these laws to do. If you'll just keep these laws, you'll be all right.

See, sin also entices us back to self-righteousness because self-righteousness ultimately is the sin of sin. to think that we can be as God, to think that we can be accepted on anything that we can do. So the allure of sin is not just into vile, wicked things that we perceive as vile and wicked, but is being drawn back into thinking that we can serve and obey God in keeping that old covenant. that this man that is of the flesh that cannot produce anything righteous and that cannot please God can please God. We think that he can do that.

And so Paul here is saying, take heed lest any of you depart from the living God with a heart of unbelief and go back to that. Look at chapter four and verse one. He says, let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. I'm gonna make a little side note here. I used to teach this. I heard this taught to me. Continue to still hear this in pulpits and from friends and family all the time. Aha.

There you go. The doctrines of grace is wrong. Because here it says that the gospel was preached. But it didn't profit them because they didn't mix it with faith. They heard the gospel. See, whenever I would ask the question, well, how come that you heard the gospel and you're saved, but that person there heard the same gospel at the same youth camp or at the same revival or the same, you know, Sunday morning meeting or whatever, that person heard it and they didn't believe, they went out unbelieving. How is it that the gospel turned your ear and your heart to God and not that person? Well, because they didn't mix it with faith.

There you go, there's your verse right there. It didn't profit them because it wasn't mixed with faith. Well, brethren, the reason we say those things, the reason I said those things in the past was because I was ignorant of faith and how faith works. This would be a really good time to do a plug for a book, but I won't do that. Faith doesn't work that way.

We do not control faith. Faith is a gift of God. And that gift is worked in us by God. And it's worked in us to the measure that God determines. Faith is a gift. And if it is a gift, therefore it wasn't in our possession. We can't just anytime strum it up. Okay, so that means it's foreign to us. It has to be given to us. Therefore, we are at the hands, at the mercy of the one who can give us faith. Second of all, if we don't have it and we can't control it because it's worked in us by God, again, we are at the mercy of God who does the working.

This is the work of God that you believe. Okay, well, if it's the work of God, can I tell God when to work? Can I tell God when to get into action? The Bible says known unto God are all his works. from the beginning of the world. God knows what his works are, and God knows how to do those works, and God will accomplish all that he has purposed, he said. So if God is gonna accomplish all that he has purposed, if he knows the works that he's supposed to do, and the Bible also, by the way, principle that you really need to get under your belt here, is the Bible also says, who has been his counselor?

You know what that means? That means who are you to sit and tell God how to do his work? None of us can stand and tell the almighty, you need to get into work over here. You need to get in, but you need to give him some faith. That guy's not got any faith. Or you need to give me some faith. I want to get out here and do some work for you today. You need to get my faith going. Who are you to tell the almighty how to do his job? If it's not ours to possess, it's not ours to work, it's not ours. It's not ours. It's his. It's his work. It's his gift. Therefore, we are at His mercy to do with it.

So this verse in chapter 4 verse 2 when it says it did not profit them not being mixed with faith is not an imperative for you to mix faith with something the command, the exhortation, the admonition, it's not an imperative. It's not a command for you to get into action with your faith. It's a statement of fact. Faith was not mixed with the command.

Only whenever faith is mixed with the command does the child of grace accomplish that which God had done. Hebrews chapter 11, where it says, let me turn over here. Hebrews chapter 11, where it starts off and it says, By faith, Abel did this, by faith, Enoch did this, by faith, Noah did this, by faith, Abraham did this, by faith, Sarah did this, by faith, Abraham, or Isaac did this, by faith, you know, Rahab did this or that, whatever it was, all down through there, everybody doing something by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. The natural man, you know how they preach that, how I used to preach that?

Look at that, that's the faith hall of fame. Look at all those things. Those mighty warriors of faith. They put their faith in the action. They mix faith with the command of God. God told them and they did it. Now God's telling you now you go out and do it. No, they did that because God worked faith in them. It was a testimony.

That Hall of Fame is not the Hall of Fame to show off those men and women. That faith Chapter is to show off the work of God in causing a natural man or a natural woman who does not have faith, how God can control a person and give them faith to do what they in their selves cannot do. There is no way that all those men and women would have done the things that they would have done if God had not first given them faith, and second of all, exercise that faith in them. It was God's work that is to be glorified in Hebrews 11, not theirs.

It's God. Christ in them is their faith. So whenever we come here to this and it says, for unto us the gospel preached, For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Wait a minute, you mean my believing and entering into rest was a work that was finished from the foundation of the world? Absolutely. Well, how's that? How's that? It hasn't happened yet. How's that? You're telling people to enter in, so that means it hasn't happened.

So how was it finished from the foundation of the world? Because God has predestinated it. God has declared it. God has decreed it. Even though we're in time and this time is being manifested and spread out and unfurled like a flag to reveal the whole thing, it was already accomplished in eternity. Eternity is not confounded or it's not constrained by time. Time is our stuff. Eternity is God's. He dwells in eternity and he has already declared it. It is already His. So how are they not mixed with faith? Because God didn't declare it to me. How was it mixed with faith with those? Because God declared it to me.

Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.

For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Now, brother, again, this is talking about the coming judgment of Jerusalem. Look who he's talking about here. those who have trodden underfoot the son of God and have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and have done and have done despite under the spirit of grace those men even though they knew this was messiah killed him anyway Those who knew this was the anointed one of Jehovah because of all the signs and the wonders and the fulfilled prophecy, they knew that this was their king.

But what did they say that day? Whenever Pilate came forth and said, behold, your king, what did they say? What was the linchpin? What was the thing that sealed? And I say sealed in our understanding and man's look at it. What was the thing that sealed their fate as far as the covenant is concerned? Whenever they said, we have no king but Caesar. Can you imagine that?

The covenant people of God who have had the oracles, have had the ordinances, who have had the prophets, the miracles, all the things of God, God didn't show himself to any other nation. God didn't show himself and give himself to any other nation for all those thousands of years to them and them only did he give himself. And his presence. And his mercy and his grace and his care.

To all those other people, he didn't do that, but to them. He give them all those things and now these people stood knowing that fits the bill of our Messiah, but he's not coming the way we wanted him to come. He's not providing the kingdom that we want. He's not providing the salvation that we want. We are not being put on the pedestal that we think we should be put on. We reject that king.

We have no king but Caesar. Can you imagine? Can you imagine Christ standing there hearing the chants of that crowd of all the mercy and grace that he had showed them and all of their fathers and their fathers before them. And for them to stand and to say, we have no king but Caesar.

That's what Paul's bringing them back to. He's bringing them back to that. Listen, our fathers and our fathers before them and our fathers before them put to death the prophets. That makes us the generation that was spoken of in the Old Testament that God's Messiah was going to come back and judge. He's coming back to put an end to this world that we know.

Be on guard. Be careful. Don't go back into that system. Don't continue to identify with that system because it's fixing to be put under. We are that prophesied generation of his return. He is coming again, and He is not going to turn a blind eye. He is going to put an end to this thing. And all those that's going to be a part of it, those who trodden underfoot the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, vengeance is His.

Look, if you would, at Matthew chapter 17. Verse one, it says, and after six days, Jesus take Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with them. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. And while he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him."

Wait a minute, what about Moses and Elijah? I mean, Moses is the greatest, and Elijah is the greatest of the prophets. Moses is the lawgiver, Elijah is the prophet of all prophets. Maybe we should hear from them. Matter of fact, let me make a little booth for them. Remember the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths. Let's make a little booth and a tabernacle that we might worship Moses and Elijah.

And what did God say? God said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Notice he didn't say he was well pleased with Moses, and he didn't say he was well pleased with Elijah, although the Bible clearly says that Moses was a great man. Although the Bible says that Elijah was a great prophet, he says, I'm pleased with my son. And then it says, hear ye him.

Again, Christ is the vehicle, is the one in whom God has not only revealed himself, but has revealed the testimony about himself. And that testimony is in Christ Jesus, about Christ Jesus. And Christ Jesus is the one whom God sent to give that testimony. God is testifying about himself. by manifesting himself in the man Christ Jesus. So that as the man Christ Jesus, the testimony of himself might bring glory and honor to Christ Jesus. You see the unity of the Godhead there? Who is the one who brings that testimony to us?

The comforter who Christ promised, I will come again to you and bear that testimony. I will share with you all things that are true. I will lead you into all truth. I will comfort you with the gospel, with the truth, with what God has said, because I only speak those things which I hear and see from him. This is my beloved son.

Hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, arise and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only." So Jesus here is the one who is speaking the words of God and we should pay attention to him because God said, hear ye him. One more verse, Acts chapter three, Acts chapter three, look at verse 22. Thought we were gonna get on down into verses 26 and 27 this morning, but I don't think we're gonna get there. Acts chapter three, look with me if you would, down to verse 22.

For Moses truly saith unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." So brethren, even Moses himself says, don't listen to me, listen to him. Don't listen to what I have to say, Because the only thing that I can say is going to bring condemnation to you. Listen to what he says. It says, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after as many as have spoken have likewise foretold of these days.

Now, this is in Acts, brethren. This is right after Christ's death, resurrection and ascension back into heaven. What Paul has already told us is the last days, he said, these are the days foretold. What days? The days foretold when Moses ceases to speak and Christ is the only one to be heard. The end of the old covenant, the beginning of the new. The end of the old heavens and the earth, the beginning of the new heaven and the earth. as we'll see Lord willing next week.

All right, anybody got any questions or comments? We are to listen to Christ. The gospel is the message of Christ. The old covenant, brethren, is just a message of death and condemnation to us. So as a pastor, as a friend, as a father, as a husband, as a brother, Why would I want to preach to you to go back to that system? Number one, it's gone. It's dead. But if you go back to that, as Paul says, do you not hear what the law says to you? If you go back to you who want to be justified, you who want to base your standing with God based upon that, you know what it says into you?

It says, keep it all. or be guilty of it all. And if you can't keep it all, you're gonna be guilty of it all. And there will be a just condemnation. If you desire to have your judgment underneath that covenant, you will endure the judgment of that covenant. The judgment of that covenant is do this and live. Don't do this and die. Or this covenant, which is the covenant of grace. this has been done for you, live. Not an exhortation, not a condition, not something for you to work up and make a willful choice to accept. It is something that's freely given to you. All right, anybody got anything? All right.

I want to remember all those over in Oklahoma and wherever else the tornadoes may have hit. We had a lot of friends that was affected by a tornado in our old hometown that I grew up in, where the kids and I lived before we moved here. It was a tornado over the last couple of days, and so be in prayer for all those families involved and those helping with the cleanup. all that kind of stuff. All right, let's bow and have a word of prayer.

Father, we thank you for the day and we thank you for the grace and the mercy that's been given to us in Christ Jesus. We thank you, Father, for the word of God who has been given to speak to us the things of God. And Lord, may you give us a heart to always hear what he has to say, and that you may give us a heart and a mind to rest in the things that he has said. And Father, Lord, we thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ that bears the testimony of what Christ has done on our behalf. And Lord, may we ever preach and teach and stand on that gospel and in that gospel. Lord, we thank you for all the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus. We thank you for all the glorious fellowship that we have, not only with you, but with the brethren that you've given like faith to.

And so, Father, we just pray that each time that we gather, we gather truly in your name, under your power and authority, and that your spirit will teach and guide us and direct us in that worship that our hearts and our minds might be lifted to you as we worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord God, we just pray that you'd be with all of our brethren here as they leave this place today, that you might keep them safe this week and that you might bless and minister to them and grow them in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for all those who are listening or will listen. Lord, we pray that you might edify them and that there might be a comfort to them whenever the gospel is being preached. And again, Lord, I pray that all these things that we have said and done today has been of the truth and has been to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. For it's in his name that we pray, amen.