Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. I titled this message, We Have Come Not to the Law,
but to Christ. we have come to Christ. The apostle
started out in this chapter with us running a race, comparing
the believer's life as to an athlete running a race. And he encourages us To lay aside every weight and
the sin that does so easily beset us, and to run this race with
patience. To do it with patience. And it is a race that is set
before us. It is a particular race. It's not just any old race. It's a race prescribed of God,
and it's set before us. While we run this race, he encourages
us to look unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, the one who starts us in the race, and the one who
will bring our faith to maturity. He will end the race. He'll guide
us, as I read over in Psalm 48, even unto death. He'll guide
us all the way through this race. And he encourages us to look
to Christ and to consider him who endured such contradiction
of centers against himself, lest you be weary. He didn't quit. He didn't quit. And look what
he endured. Look what he endured. He endured
the wrath of God. And he says here to us, on over
in this chapter to lift up your hands that hang down and the
feeble knees, because the race gets tough. It gets tough. Trials make it tough, makes it
very difficult. That's why it encourages us to
endure chastening. He said, no chastening is joyous
at the present time, but to endure chastening because it comes from
the hand of our loving Father. And sometimes these chastenings
make the hands weak and make them hang down and make the knees
feeble. But it encourages us to pick
up the pace. You don't quit. That's why I said you don't quit,
because later on here, he speaks in verse 15, looking diligently,
lest any man fail of the grace of God. And from verse 15 down
through verse 17, he's speaking there of apostasy. Apostasy. You don't quit. Believers don't
quit. We can fall. One of the I don't remember which
one, David, who it was that said this, Rejoice not over me, O
my enemies, though I fall, yet shall I rise again. That's optimistic,
isn't it? I tell you what, there is no
room for pessimism in believing the gospel. Our God's on the
throne. How can we fail? How can we fail? He's on the throne. It's impossible. Actually, we've already won the
race in our representative, in Christ, in our brother, in our
substitute. The race has already been won. But you and I must yet run this
race. We have a cross to bear. We have
a cross to bear. But he encourages us with these
things in this chapter. And then here's another encouragement
in verse 18. encouragement. For ye are not
come unto the mount that might be touched." There was a real
mountain, a real physical mountain on this earth called Mount Sinai. It could be touched. It would
probably be the last thing you touched because God said anybody
that touches it is going to die at that time when he came down
upon it. Even a beast He said, even if a beast touches it, it
will die. And this is where God gave the
law to Moses, then Moses gave it to the people. And when this
happened, that mountain burned, it said,
with fire. That mountain burned. I can imagine
it in my mind, that mountain, when God came down on it and
God gave that law, that mountain was barren. Nothing lived on that mountain
where God gave the law. He said, if a bee... He said,
you set bounds about it. And tell the people, don't come
past those bounds. You come past those bounds, you're
a goner. If an animal touched that mountain,
it was to die. Be thrust through with a dart.
It was barren. I want you to look at this over
in Exodus 19. I'm going to read this whole
chapter. I want you to see this. Starting in verse 1. In the third
month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land
of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of
Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness, and there Israel
camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and
the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus
shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children
of Israel, Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and
how I bear you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people,
for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom
of priests, and in holy nation these are the words which thou
shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and
called for the elders of the people, and laid before their
faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the
people answered together and said, All that the Lord hath
spoken will we do, which shows two things. And they didn't know
themselves. Of course, another chapter over,
they say, don't let him speak to us again. And Moses returned the words
of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses,
lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear
when I speak with thee and believe thee forever. And Moses told
the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow,
and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third
day. For the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people upon Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that
ye go not up unto the mount, or touch the border of it. Whosoever
touches the mount shall be surely put to death. There shall not
a hand touch Well, I tell you what, when it
comes to the law and the sinner, there's no mercy. There's no
hope. There's no hope. There shall
not even a hand touch it. And he shall surely be stoned
or shot through, whether it be a beast or a man. It shall not
live. When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the
mount. And Moses went down from the mount unto the people. sanctified
the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the
people, Be ready against the third day. Come not at your wives. And it came to pass on the third
day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings
and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet
exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God. They stood at the in either
part of the mount, and Mount Sinai was altogether smoking. That mountain was on fire, smoking. God descended on it. God in his
holiness descended on that mountain, because the Lord descended upon
it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace,
and the whole mount quaked greatly. It shook. Can you imagine that
sight? And you want to go back under
the law? That's what he's saying to these Hebrews. That's what
he's saying to me. Don't be brought back under the
yoke of the law. Is this what you want? The fire
and the smoke and death. Is that what you want? No, that's not what you want.
It was all together on smoke and fire and quakes and when
the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder.
Isn't that what the law does? You know, the law doesn't hide
your sin. Love hideth the matter, doesn't
it? Does not love cover a multitude of sins? The law doesn't. The
law just puts it out there in the newspaper. We've had some
experience with it. It puts it out there in the newspaper.
It wants everybody to know it. It says it wants everybody to
read it. It hides not one blemish. It heralds it out there like
a trumpet. That's what it does. That's what
the law does. It says, And when the voice of
the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses
spoke, and God answered him by voice. And the Lord came down
upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called
Moses up to the top of the mountain. And Moses went up, and the Lord
said to Moses, Go down and charge the people, lest they break through
unto the Lord, to gaze. Curiosity. To gaze. And many of them perish. You
can't deal with God outside of Christ. He said, no man can see
my face and live. No man can see the face of God
and live. But Christ said, he that hath seen me hath seen the
Father. John said, we have handled the Word of life. We've touched
Him. In Christ, He can be dealt with.
In Christ, God can be touched. In Christ, God can be spoken
to. Outside of Christ, you're going to perish. You're going
to perish. And let the priest also which
come near to the Lord sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break
forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord,
The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for thou chargest
us, saying, Set bounds about the mountain, sanctify it. And
the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt
come up, thou and Aaron with thee. But let not the priest
and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest
he break forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people
and spake unto them. Now, I want to show you something
over here in verse 18 of chapter 20. Now, God gives the commandments
here, the Ten Commandments here in chapter 20. And when He gives
this, I'll show you something here over in Hebrews. And all the people saw the thunderings
and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountains
smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood
afar off. And they said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will
hear. But let not God speak with us,
lest we die. Do you want God to speak this
morning or not? I do. I want Him to speak to
us through that mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, but not through
Mount Sinai. No, we'd die if that happens.
We'll die. For ye are not now, let's go
back to Hebrews. For ye are not come unto the
mouth that might be touched. As I read, when this happened,
the mountain burned with fire. And it speaks of God's holiness.
It doesn't speak of grace. It speaks of God's holiness.
It speaks of God's justice, is what it speaks of. And it was
a very frightening sight, the law that was given there revealed
God's holiness and man's sinfulness. Because look on here in Hebrews.
For ye are not come unto the mouth that might be touched,
that burn with fire, unto blackness and darkness and tempest. That's what happens when the
law meets the sinner. You have blackness, darkness,
and tempest. The giving of the law offered
no hope, only curses and wrath. That's all it offered. The law on all those commandments
did not say, come unto me and I'll give you rest. It didn't
say that. It does not say that. The giving
of the law only revealed part of God's character. It revealed
the holiness of God, the justice of God, but only when we see
God in Christ do we see the fullness of God. Scripture says that the
fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily. Christ said, you've
seen me, you've seen the Father. That's what it said. It says
in Hebrews 1, turn back to Hebrews 1. In verse 3, "...who being the
brightness of his glory and the express image of his person."
That did not happen at Mount Sinai. That happened in a manger
in Bethlehem when God came into this world in the flesh. "...who being the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person." Christ
said, he that has seen me has seen the Father. Now, I just
read to you Exodus 19 there, and what happened, what they
saw, what they heard, and they exceedingly feared and quaked,
and the mountain was shaking, and it was burning in blackness
and tempest. That's what happened in the giving
of the law. Now look what happened when the
Son of God was given over in, I think it's Matthew chapter
2. It might be Luke. I wrote down
Matthew, but let's see. I'm thinking that's Luke 2. Let
me look at Luke 2. Well, let's go to Matthew 2.
Let me see if that's it. I might have wrote one down.
The angel. When the angel came. Here we go. In verse 11. And when they were coming to
the house, they saw the young child, the shepherds, they saw
the young child. with Mary, his mother, fell down
and worshiped him. And when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, frankincense
and myrrh. Well, that's not the one I want.
That's not where that's a good one, though. That's a good one. I think it's still I still think
it's in Luke. I had Matthew, I was reading
through Matthew last night. Doing part of this, Matthew.
Matthew chapter 2, or Luke chapter 2. Here it is. I got it. I got it. I even underlined
it. In verse 9, And lo, the angel
of the Lord came upon them. You can tell that the Lord uses
sinners to preach the gospel, can't you? It doesn't take long.
Just give them a few minutes in the pulpit and you'll know.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. And the glory
of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not. Behold, I bring you
what? Good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people." That's what happened when God came into
this world incarnate in the second person of the Trinity, in His
Son. It was good news. It was good news. For unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord." Big difference, isn't there? Big difference between
the giving of the law and the gospel. Works, grace. Big difference. The Israelites
said they would do all that was commanded them until they heard
what was commanded. And they said, don't let him
speak to us anymore. Don't let him speak to us anymore. I turn
back to Hebrews chapter 12. Now it says in verse 19, And they
heard the sound of the trumpet, the voice of words, which voice
they that heard had treated that the word should not be spoken
to them anymore. They didn't want to hear that
anymore. They couldn't put up with it.
You see, the law reveals sin. Christ puts away sin, but the
law reveals sin. When the Lord gave the commandment
there in Mount Sinai, it says here in verse 20, for they could
not endure that which was commanded. You know what I thought of? Never
dawned on me before. But when they heard those words
commanded, Henry in his Bible lesson says that they heard the
Ten Commandments. It was the Ten Commandments.
When he said, Thou shalt not, you know there's a group in there
that thought, I've already done that. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. They had already broken. They had already broken the law.
They knew it. And what I thought of was that
woman who was caught in adultery. They brought her to the Lord.
And He said, you that are without sin, you cast the first stone. And beginning with the eldest,
they went out one by one. And here they heard the commandments.
And it says that they could not endure, they could not endure,
they could not do that which was commanded. They knew they
had already broken it. Had to. There had to be many
of them standing there. that outwardly they'd already
broken. And even inwardly, because he
said, Thou shalt not covet. It was not just all externals.
It was also internal. He said, Thou shalt not covet
your neighbor's wife, his property, or you shall not covet those
things. Well, they did. How many times did
they say we'd like to go back to Egypt? Man, we had a better,
it was so much better in Egypt. We had the garlic and the onions
and, you know, all that. They were slaves. But they coveted what the Egyptians
had. Well, that voice of words, it
just condemned them. They just couldn't handle it.
They just didn't want to hear it no more. When they heard the
voice of words, they didn't want to hear that voice again. How much different is that than
the gospel? Tell me one more time. Tell me
the old, old story. I want to hear the gospel again
and again and again. I want to hear God speak in grace. I want to hear grace pour from
His lips again. Are you here this morning because
you want to hear God speak one more time? Lord speak, thy servant heareth. I tell you, when a sinner hears
the gospel, that sinner wants to hear it again and again and
again. No sinner ever heard the gospel
under the power of the Holy Spirit and say, don't let that Don't
let Him speak to me again. No. If God speaks to your heart,
my heart in power, in grace, we want to hear it again. And
again, and again. We want to hear, come unto me,
all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. I
want to hear that again. I want to hear it again. They didn't want to hear it again
because they could not endure the law. They couldn't handle
it. We can't endure the law, the command. We can't keep the
law. We can't even drive the speed
limit. We can't keep God's law. We can't keep the law that we
come up with, that we make. It's in us to break it. It just
rouses up that old nature. Don't go in that room. Now when
we leave here, don't go in that room. You wouldn't believe what's in
there, but don't go in there. Come hell or high water, you're
going to go in there. It's just our nature. When we
have a command not to do something, it's our nature to do it. When the boys were little, they
was in little league, and I was helping coach little league football.
And this gentleman that he was the head coach, he got on this
kick and going to come up with a bunch of rules and regulations.
He said, I'm going to make a bunch of rules and regulations. I said,
you're going to make a bunch of headaches. I said, because
you know they're not going to do them, and we are not going
to enforce them. I mean, you're not going to take
that list because you're constantly going to be just you know, chastising. I said,
man, keep it short. I said, keep it as short as you
can. Because you're going to just
make them want to break it. Somebody's going to break it.
It's constant discipline. That's our nature. And when God
gave the law, He gave the law, that already broken. And He said, without shalt not,
There's a nature in us that says, oh, yes, I will. Oh, yes, I will. But, oh, thank God for that. But here come unto Mount Zion. You come to the You come to Mount
Zion and to the city of the living God and to the heavenly Jerusalem,
and all these speak of the people, the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You've not come to this earthly
Jerusalem that's under bondage. You come to the Jerusalem, that
new Jerusalem, which is free. Now, that new Jerusalem, don't
look for buildings. You're it. You and I are the
new Jerusalem. We make up the new Jerusalem.
The city of the living God, don't look for skyscrapers. You are
the city of the living God. He's speaking of a people, not
speaking of buildings. And the city of the living God
is the church of Christ. It's the foundation of that city. He's the foundation. You come
to Mount Zion, city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and
all these refer, refers to the people of God. The place where
God dwells. God dwells in His people. He dwells in you. Now, there's no way to come to
any of these places or be a part of them without
coming to Christ, who's the King of the city, the King of that great city.
He's our David. He's the King. and unto an innumerable
company of angels. You would not believe how full
this room is this morning. I'm serious now. I'm not being
spooky here. I'm serious. There is an innumerable
company of angels with us this morning. And even though you
and I in this flesh, we, as best we can, worship God, We have
to rest our minds and come back and try to pay attention for
a little while, then we lose it. They're not losing it this
morning. They rejoice at the preaching
of the Lord Jesus. There is an unseen host here
this morning rejoicing at the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ,
an innumerable company of angels. So don't look at these empty
seats. I read that from somebody. I
didn't come up with that. I read that and that made me
want to come this morning and preach because whether we have
two or three here, I've got an innumerable company of angels
rejoicing over the message. That makes preaching a little
more motivating. that do rejoice at the preaching
of their Lord. This place is a lot more full
than we think. And to the general assembly in
church of the firstborn, someone wrote this, the church of the
firstborn, everyone in the church is a firstborn. Everyone born
of God is a firstborn. I thought that was good. But
you come to the General Assembly and church, the true church now,
listen, you come to the true church of the living God. This is not a type. This is not
a picture. This is real. This is the church
of the living God. the church of the living God
that we have come to. They are assembled in the mind
of God. They've always been in the mind of God, the purpose
of God. They are assembled in Christ. And someday, someday,
we will all be assembled there together before our Lord, just
as our sister is this morning. with the church of the living
God, which are written in heaven." You know, the names are already
written down. He's not writing them down as we go, or as time
rolls on. He's not writing them down and
erasing. Oh, this matter was settled a
long time ago. Christ's land slain before the
foundation of the world. No, to the General Assembly and
Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, in the
Lamb's Book of Life, and to God, the Judge of all. They said, don't let him speak
to us. They took off. They wanted distance. Here's what they wanted. They
wanted distance. They wanted distance. Let me listen. Listen to Hebrews. 10, 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." We literally
have access to the judge of all the earth. Do you have access? You don't
have access to the county judge. Just really, just try to walk
in there tomorrow. Who are you? Who are you? We have access to the judge of
all the earth. We have access to come into his
presence through the blood and righteousness of Christ and to
pour out our hearts before him. Talk to the judge. That's access. To the judge of all the earth
and to the spirits of just men made perfect. We not only have
access to these, to God, to the judge, but also to the spirits
of just men made perfect. We have a real communion with
justified men and women. This is a communion, this is
a fellowship that the world knows nothing of. We have a special
fellowship. We have a special fraternity.
We have a fraternity that the world knows nothing of. A real
communion, a real fellowship of spirits, of just men made
perfect. The spirits of just men made
perfect. We have something in common. We have one in common that we
love, that we believe, that we worship. This room is not mixed with people
who worship Buddha and this one and that one. We worship the
Lord Jesus Christ. We love the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ. We follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
We drink his blood and eat his flesh by faith. We have something
in common here. We have a brotherhood here. And best of all, here's the hub
of it all, and to Jesus. We've come to Jesus Christ, God's
Son. We've come to Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant. That old covenant is gone. Now,
don't try to connect the two. Don't try to join the two. They
don't work. That old covenant is gone. All
of its ordinances, all of the types of pictures, it's gone.
We've come to Jesus Christ, the mediator of that new covenant,
that covenant of grace. There is no fire. smoking, blackness,
tempest with that covenant. Now that's with the old one,
the one of works. We've come to Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Come into Him in faith. Knowing
your real need of Him. Knowing He's able to save us
to the uttermost. Then we come unto God by Him.
And to the blood of sprinkling. As we have already looked at
in this book, that the blood of bulls and goats did not put
away one sin, not one, but the blood of Christ has put
away all our sins. All the sins have always elapsed
from all ages. Put it away. To the blood of
sprinkling, this is the blood of atonement, this is the blood
that cleanses from all sin. That blood of bulls and goats
under the Old Testament could not put away sin. They had to
do it year after year after year. This was only done one time.
And the reason being, he got the job done. He got the job
done. The key here is this. We come
not to the law, but to Christ our Redeemer. The mediator of
that new covenant. And there's a blood of sprinkling.
whose blood speaketh better things than that of Abel. Abel's blood,
you know what his blood did? God said, your brother's blood
cries to me from the ground. It cried for vengeance. The blood
of Christ cries for mercy, forgiveness, grace. That speaks better things. His blood speaks better things
than the blood of the sacrifice of Abel. That sacrifice had to
be offered again, even though it was a type of Christ. Abel
believed on Christ. He saw through the type. Yet the sacrifice that Abel offered
did not put away Abel's sin, but the blood of Christ did.
His blood did. It's speaking better things than
that of Abel. Oh, we've come. Let me read this
again before I close. For ye are not come unto the
mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, north
of blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet,
and the voice of words, which voice they that heard, entreated
that the words should not be spoken to them any more, 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 a dart. And so terrible was the sight
that Moses had I exceedingly fear a quake, but you have come."
Here's the encouragement. You have come unto Mount Zion. You've come to the church, the
people of the living God. You've come to the real, not
the type. And unto the city of the living God and the heavenly
Jerusalem, which all these speak of one thing, the people of God,
and to an innumerable company of angels. to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven, and to
God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel."
Oh, this is what we've come to. We've come to the Lord. We've come to Jesus Christ. We've come to Him who only can
save from sin. That's the one we've come to. You don't want to go to the law.
You don't want to go to Mount Sinai. Don't think you're more
brave than they are. If you did that, you'd be more
stupid than they are. We've come to Christ. We've come to Christ.