Hebrews in chapter 12, from verse
18, the writer of this epistle, in speaking of the new covenant,
contrasts the two mounts, Mount Sinai and Mount Zion, where he
says, for ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched,
and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and
tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, which
voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken
to them any more, for they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch
the mountain it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels. To the General Assembly
and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant,
and to the blood of Sprinklin, 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 signifyeth
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 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. But we are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
and to the blood of sprinkling. Let's speak of better things
than that of Abel. What a contrast is set before
us between these two mounts. How terrible was the former mount. A mount that might be touched
and that burned with fire. It was black and dark. There
was a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words
which men could not bear. Those that were there at the
time when Moses went up into the mount and received the law
of God on tablets of stone could not bear the sight and could
not bear to hear the almighty voice of God. They could not
endure that which was commanded. What came down upon that mount
in the law was that which found mankind wanting. It brought down
condemnation from heaven. It found us all out. And that's
why that law was given to Moses to show unto men, to show unto
women, to show unto you and I, that in ourselves we are nothing
but sin. If God commands us to live a
certain way we cannot even begin to walk in obedience before him. Thou shalt do this. Thou shalt not Do that. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, thy mind and thy soul and we never have. Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself and we never do. We're guilty through and through
and we know it and therefore the mount from which this law
comes down to us is to us one that burns with fire. One full of blackness and darkness
and tempest. One from which there's a voice,
the sound of a trumpet that we cannot bear. Oh how terrible
is that mount. How terrible are its consequences. How guilty we are before Almighty
God as those who've fallen into sin. As those who've gone astray. as those who've rebelled against
his every word, even though he's the God who made us, even though
he's the loving God that gave man life, even though he put
mankind in a garden when he created Adam and Eve, full of goodness,
full of trees, full of fruit, Without any harm, without any
sin in that place, without any consequence of sin, without illness,
without poverty, without sorrow, He gave them a paradise to live
in. A paradise to live in. And to
walk before God in. And what did men do with what
God gave them? They turned against him. He gave
them one prohibition and the one thing he said not to do,
man must do. He couldn't help himself. He
had to go against the commandment of God. God gave him one thing
not to do and that's what mankind did. Eve took the fruit and Adam
fell in the same transgression. Persuaded of Eve, he ate the
fruit too. and they both fell. Sin entered
into the world and death by sin. And that one tree of which they
ate, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is here in
this chapter presented to us as this mount. They're one and
the same thing. The Mount Sinai, this mount that
might be touched but which burned with fire. was that from which Adam and
Eve took the fruit. Oh, it might be touched, that
tree might be touched, and certainly they touched it and they took
of its fruit, but what did it do to them? Sin entered, and
death by sin. It burned them with fire. It
was a tree that promised knowledge of good and evil, as the law
that came down from Sinai promised the knowledge of good and evil.
But the fruit of it, as with the fruit of this law from Sinai,
was to burn man with fire and to bring him into darkness, blackness,
tempest. It condemned. Because man disobeyed
the will of God as a wayward son, as a disobedient son I disobeyed
his father as the Apostle speaks of earlier in the chapter to
illustrate this because man went astray and disobeyed God so the
condemnation came down he took of that tree and it burnt him
with fire it burnt him with fire so earlier in the chapter The Apostle speaks, you've forgotten
the exhortation which speaketh unto you as children. My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou
art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? God the Father put man in this
world. and mankind went astray. He disobeyed. And the consequence of that disobedience
was the sin and the darkness that came in through that tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. Man was burnt with fire. But God's purpose for man, God's
purpose for Adam even, though he went astray, though he disobeyed,
Though the consequences of sin were cataclysmic, God's ultimate
purpose was to show love and grace and mercy to a people,
a multitude whom he would save. And because he loved, he chastened. He shows unto man his sin. He
gave the law at Sinai to teach us what we are, to remind us
what that tree of the knowledge of good and evil did, to remind
us what our disobedience brings in and to lead us unto God before
whom we must fall down guilty, pleading for his mercy. For those
whom God loves He uses the law as it were to chase them before
he brings them to another mount. In Galatians we read of the law
that before faith came we were kept under the law, shut up unto
the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might
be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. That schoolmaster was for a time,
but not forever. For those who never know Christ,
they never escape that schoolmaster. For those who are never brought
to know Christ, they never go beyond Mount Sinai. They never
escape its burning fire. All their experience of God is
to know of Him, as this chapter 12 in Hebrews ends, as being
a consuming fire. Outside of Christ, outside of
His mercy and love, if you never come to Mount Zion through the
Gospel all you will know is Mount Sinai's warnings and dread against
you all you will know is the darkness and the tempest the
burning fire and all you will know on the last day when you
come before Almighty God is that you stand before Him guilty and
you will discover that our God is a consuming fire but those
whom God knows as his own those whom he calls his sons those
who discover that the Lord's work upon their soul is but for
a time as a means of chastening to bring them as the schoolmaster
does unto Faith. For those whom God loves, the
law is but a schoolmaster. It's but for a moment. And they
don't continue to come to that mount. They're brought to another
mount. Which is why in the next chapter
in Galatians, having spoken of the law as a schoolmaster, Paul
there also speaks of the two covenants and the two mounts. tell me he says ye that desire
to be under the law do you not hear the law for it is written
that abraham had two sons the one by a bondmaid and the other
by a free woman but he who was of the bond woman was born after
the flesh but he of the free woman was by promise which things
are an allegory for these are the two covenants the one from
the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For
this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, an answer to Jerusalem which
now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry thou
that travailest not, for the desolate have many more children
than she which hath a husband. Now we brethren, as Isaac was,
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 sayeth 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 children of the bondwoman, but of the
free. If you know anything of Mount
Zion, anything of God's grace, anything of the love and mercy
of Christ you will know that you are born of the free woman
born of God born through the gospel born a citizen of Zion
of heavenly Jerusalem of that Jerusalem above which is free so the Apostle Galatians sets
before us just what we read of in Hebrews and chapter 12.
The context you see throughout Hebrews is to show us the differences
between the covenants. The new covenant versus the old
covenant. The priesthood of Christ compared
to the old Levitical priesthood. The one sacrifice of Christ once
and for all contrasted with the many sacrifices and offerings
of the priesthood that they gave under the law. The gospel and
the new covenant contrasted with the law and the old covenant.
Grace contrasted with works. Faith contrasted with law. Chapter 12 follows from chapter
11. Chapter 11 sets before us faith. What faith is and those that
lived and walked by faith presented to us as a multitude, a cloud
of witnesses who witness unto us of the faith that they were
given through the gospel and of the life of faith and the
salvation that comes through faith. Those who followed Christ,
the forerunner. Those who looked unto Jesus,
the offerer and finisher of faith. The captain and chief and end
of faith. The one who lived by faith before
them. The one who went to the cross
by faith. The one who suffered and died
for them by faith. The one who they follow on by
faith. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it
the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which
he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts, and by it he being dead, yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated,
that he should not see death, and was not found, because God
had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony,
that he please God. But without faith it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him by faith. The Apostle goes on to set before
us example after example of those patriarchs of old who lived and
walked by faith. Those who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, whacked valiant
in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. women received
their dead raised to life again and others were tortured not
accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection
others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings yea moreover of
bonds and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn asunder
were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about
in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented
of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth and these
all having obtained a good report through faith receive not the
promise god having provided some better thing for us that they
without us should not be made perfect what a testimony they
are what a people these were they lived by faith they suffered
for it Many lost their lives, stone sawn asunder, slain with
the sword and in their lifetime the promise that they looked
to, the promise of the coming of Christ, the promise of the
Saviour the promise of salvation the promise of salvation through
the messiah didn't come about in their lifetime they lived
and walked by faith they suffered these things they looked forward
in time to these things but they didn't see them But they still
lived and believed and trusted that these things would come
about. They knew that God was faithful. They knew his promises
would come about. And they knew that all their
hope and salvation was tied up in them. And here the writer
writes to us now who live the other side of the coming of Christ. Christ has come. The promises
have been fulfilled. The Messiah has come and he has
died for his people. He has shed his blood and he
has risen again. Then he says, wherefore seeing
we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily
beset us and let us with patience run the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He's
come. and we know what he did, then
like them let us by faith look unto him who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Oh what
a sight to set before the faith of the believer, looking unto
Jesus. The Old Testament saints walked
by faith and they looked through the promises to a Messiah they
did not yet know. Here he's come and the believer
here is exhorted to look under him, look in the gospel to Christ
and don't go from him and from faith. and away from the grace
and the love of God. Back to that which is in the
past. Don't go back to Mount Sinai. Don't go back to that mount which
might be touched. That which you can see with the
natural eye. That which doesn't require faith. That which demanded works. Don't
return to the carnal things of religion. Don't go back to the
old covenant when God has brought in in the gospel the promise
that that old covenant pointed to. The law was given for a season. It was a schoolmaster until faith
came. But now faith has come, we're
no longer under the schoolmaster. We're not come to that mount. We're not come to that law. We're
not come to that law to guide our walk or our life. We come
unto Christ. We're called by faith to look
unto Jesus, the offerer and finisher of our faith. We come unto Mount
Zion. Unto Mount Zion. Ye are not come
unto the mount that might be touched and that burned with
fire, nor unto blackness and darkness and a tempest and the
sound of a trumpet and the voice of words. Which voice they that
heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them
any more. You're not come to that mount.
You're not come now today to that mount, believer. But ye
are come unto mount Zion. Ye are come unto the City of
the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn
which are written in heaven, 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. Ye are come here. But ye are come unto Mount Zion. Now. Ye are come now unto Mount
Zion. Not ye will come to Mount Zion. Not ye will come into the city
of the living God. Not ye will enter into heavenly
Jerusalem when you pass from this world into the next. Not
ye will come to an innumerable company of angels or to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn. Not ye will come into heaven
and before God and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Not
ye will in the future come unto Jesus. or unto the blood of sprinkling,
but ye are come. Ye are come now. This is where
the believer by faith comes now. Every day, every moment, this
is his walk. This is his pathway. This is
your pathway, believer, when you wake up in the morning and
when you lay down your head in bed. Ye are come unto Mount Zion. Ye are come unto the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You're come to an
innumerable company of angels. What a place to come to. And
what a contrast between this covenant and this place and the
old covenant and the old place. What a contrast between the gospel
and where it brings lost sinners, free faith in Jesus Christ, with
religion which but condemns and brings those in its reach to
be burned with fire. If all you know of God, if all
you know of the scriptures, if all you know of religion, It's
the old Mount Sinai. It's that mount from whence the
Lord came. If all you know is the outward,
that which may be touched, if all you know is your attempts
to live before God righteously, according to His law and testimony,
then all you'll know in your soul is darkness, blackness,
tempest, and ultimately the burning of fire. all your experience
of God is that he is a consuming fire but if God has put faith
in your heart as he put faith in Abel's heart as he put faith
in Enoch's heart as he put faith in Noah's heart and Abraham's
heart if he put faith in your heart to see that which cannot
be seen by nature to believe that which the natural man cannot
believe. To believe in a God who sent
his Son into this world to die for sinners. If God has put faith
in your heart to look unto Jesus by faith, and to see the one
that for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
and despised the shame and having endured rose again and sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God if God has put faith in
your heart to see him and believe on him and know him then you
will know what it is each and every day to come by faith not
unto that old mount, but unto Mount Zion, and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and unto an innumerable
company of angels. You'll know what it is to come
here, and what an exhortation this is to us and our faith. As we journey through this world,
and as we are tempted to see that which can be touched, and
to react merely to what we can see and hear and feel in this
world. To look outside of this world
and to look outside of time and to look outside of the natural
senses by faith unto these eternal wonders and glory. This is the reality. This is
that which will last forever. Which is why the apostle then
goes on to speak of the shaking of this earth. He concludes the
chapter by saying whose voice then shook the earth? At Mount
Sinai when the law was given there was a great voice and it
shook the earth. But that voice that shook the
earth then will shake it again through the gospel and all that
was given at Sinai, all that is in this earth, all the sin
and condemnation of men will be shaken away. And what will
last is that which came down through the gospel at Zion. And
there will be nothing else. And unless you've got that that
comes down from Zion, and unless God's given you the faith to
look unto Jesus, the offer and finisher of faith, the mediator
of the new covenant, who shed his blood for sinners, unless
you have that, you have nothing. 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 signifyeth the removing of those things
that are shaken, as of 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. Yes, through the gospel he will
speak. and he will speak in a way that
shakes both heaven and earth and all that is made all that
is temporal will be taken away and if all you've got is this
earth and this world and its religion Or if all you've got
is the outward form of Christianity, or the outward words of the law,
or your outward obedience and worship of God, when the shaking
comes it will all come to nothing. The wood, hay and the stubble
will be burnt up in the fire. And unless there's that which
is gold given of God, nothing will be left. But that which
God gives, that which God brings to life through the Gospel, that
which the Spirit of God brings forth as He puts faith in the
heart of believers, to look unto Mount Zion and to come through
the Gospel to the City of the Living God, to heavenly Jerusalem,
that which is wrought of God. lasts forever. Wherefore we receiving
a kingdom which cannot be moved. If God has brought you by faith
to this mount and this city and this kingdom, nothing will take
you away from it. It cannot be removed. You cannot
lose it and you cannot be lost. But everything outside is in
the fire. But what a place we are brought
unto. What a place the believer comes
unto. Having been delivered from the
condemnation. Having been delivered from the
condemnation of the law against his own sin. Having been delivered
from Sinai. He's brought unto Mount Zion. Unto Mount Zion. What a mountain
to come to. A mount that extends up into
the heavens. A mount which if you're brought
up you will never come down. A mount on which God reigns. A mount which is eternal and
everlasting. A mount from which proceeds grace,
and the mercy of God, and the love of God eternally for his
own. Oh what a mount this is. And
we come there now. Every day that the believer walks
through this world, no matter what's going on around him, no
matter what persecution he may feel, no matter what trials he
may have to endure, No matter how he falls and stumbles, he
can, as it were, close his eyes and open the eyes of faith and
look up into that which is eternal. Through the eyes of faith, he
knows that every day and every moment he has come by Christ
and His grace unto Mount Zion. and he's come unto the city of
the living God. Wherever he may be in this world,
whatever city he may live in, or village, or wilderness, he
knows that he has a country and a city of which he's a citizen.
And it's not of this world. It's not fleeting, it's not passing. It's not here one day to collapse
the next day. And it's not full of sin and
rebellion and sorrow and sickness and warfare and violence and
fear. It's that city full of righteousness.
It's that city in which the saints dwell. It's that city in which
the Lamb of God reigns upon His throne. He's come unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. He knows of Jerusalem here below. He knows of God's dealings with
the Jews of old and how God met with them and how they went and
built this city and how the temple was in the midst of the city
and how outwardly that portrayed the people of God and the presence
of God with his people. But the believer knows that there
is a heavenly Jerusalem, an everlasting Jerusalem, one that's above,
where there is no sin, but only righteousness. Where the Saviour
is not crucified, but where he lives and reigns in glory forevermore. In Jerusalem here below, that
city, And that people that should have received Jesus when he came,
they took him and rejected him and crucified him outside of
the city. And that tells us all we need
to know about this world and its religion and where it leads
you. And where that Mount Sinai and
its law led the Jews of old. They took Christ and they murdered
him. They pierced the Prince of Life.
They took him outside the city and crucified him. But the believer
comes unto another city, the city of the living God, heavenly
Jerusalem, a city that he knows he will be a part of forevermore. When this world is no more, and
when his frail life upon this world is over he will be there
in that city to live and reign forever with Christ his Saviour. The believer is come unto an
innumerable company of angels an innumerable company of angels
those angels and messengers that God has who serve the living
God and serve the church and his people that innumerable company
of angels who go forth to watch over God's people and protect
them and help fight the battles against the enemies of darkness
for them oh how these angels work for the good of God and
his people when trouble comes our way when
opposition comes our way when men rise up against us and we
feel like we are surrounded and we feel like we face a multitude
and we're so few in number to stand before them let us never
forget that there's a greater number in heaven we have an innumerable
company of angels with us right now this day in whatever our
circumstance. Oh believer wherever you are
you might say well I'm on my own There's no place around here
that I can go to talk with other believers who believe the gospel
as I've been shown it. I'm on my own, there's so few
that seem to understand these things. And the churches in the
town and the towns around here all preach another gospel. They
don't preach these things. I'm all alone. But you're not
alone. You're not alone. By faith you
come unto Mount Zion, the city of the Living God, heavenly Jerusalem
and an innumerable company of angels. They're all there with
you now. You're not alone. We're also come to the General
Assembly and Church of the Firstborn which are written in heaven.
The Church of God. comprised of those on this world
now who've been brought to faith and brought to life from the
dead by the gospel and all those past saints who've died in faith
knowing that Christ is their Saviour. What an assembly this
is, the Church of the Firstborn. how Christ died for his people
and was raised again from the dead he was born again from the
dead first he's the firstborn and they are brought to life
through him and how everyone for whom he died is gathered
with him and their names are written in heaven and wherever
you are child of God however alone you may feel This day,
this hour, right now, this is to whom you come. This is where you come. You come
into this city, this heavenly Jerusalem, to these angels and
to this church. And with them, your name is written
in heaven. And we come to God the judge
of all. To God the judge of all. And
unlike those who've only come through Mount Sinai, who've only
come through the law who've only come through the world and its
religions who only come bringing their own works and will and
their own self-righteousness unlike those who come in their
own strength the people of God knowing that that law found them
out knowing that they have no strength knowing that they have
no righteousness of their own knowing that they are nothing
before God but guilty sinners they come to God the judge of
all knowing that his judgment has been passed upon another
in their place if his judgment came upon them they'd be burnt
up with fire as with all others but they know because of Christ
and his gospel that his judgment came down upon Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant whose blood was shed for them that they might
be washed clean and come before God just, holy, righteous. The offer here takes us on a
journey, as it were. We're first brought to the mount.
Then up the mount we go to the city, heavenly Jerusalem. Then
we see the innumerable company of angels and the church. And
then as we're brought through this into the center, we see
God, the judge, and the spirits of just men made perfect by Him,
through His own Son, Jesus. the mediator of the new covenant
and through the blood of Jesus. We come to the city and we come
through the church and there at the heart is God who sets
before us his Son. Why are just men made perfect? because God judged his son and
shed his son's blood. So we see these spirits of just
men made perfect as it were sandwiched between God the judge of all
and their saviour Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. They're
wrapped up in him. There's God the judge standing
on one side but on the other side there is their hope and
their saviour, Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and his blood. When God asks them to give an
account for themselves, they answer, I have nothing and I
am nothing, but I believe on my son Jesus. I believe in his
covenant and I've been washed by his blood. He came in the
gospel and he gave me faith and he sprinkled his blood upon me
and I trust and rest in that blood because that blood speaketh
better things than the blood of Abel that blood came in the
gospel and spake unto me it spake unto me and I heard it speaking
in the gospel I heard it speaking unto my soul peace and forgiveness
and life and righteousness I heard through the blood of Jesus Christ
and it's speech salvation and it's the speech of that blood
that brought me unto him it's the speech of that blood that
brought me unto him it's because he shed that blood
that that blood could speak It's because he laid down his life
that that blood was shed. And having died in the place
of his people, having taken their sin upon him, having taken the
wrath and judgment of God upon him, having come before God the
judge of all and stood there as the guilty sinner, that blood
was shed to wash that people clean. To wash that people clean. And that blood speaketh better
things than the blood of Abel. What does the writer mean here?
Well he takes us back to the beginning of chapter 11 where
he said that by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain. Abel believed God by faith and
he offered up a sacrifice the firstborn of the flock unto God
knowing that that actual sacrifice wouldn't save him but he believed
that God would give a sacrifice and he trusted and rested in
the sacrifice of God that God would give in his place to take
away his sin but Cain who brought his own works hated Abel he hated
Abel's faith and he hated Abel's gospel and he put Abel to death
and he shed Abel's blood and the blood of Abel cried out
from the ground and cried out but this is the truth and this
is my hope By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Abel's blood was shed, he was
put to death because of his faith. Just as these others of whom
we read in Hebrews 11 were put to death because of their faith,
they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword, they died because of their faith and Abel died
because of his faith. And the blood of Abel and the
blood of these cry out unto this guilty world that there is a
God before whom we must stand. and their blood speaks of their
faith and their trust in the God who would send a sacrifice
for sin. And that sacrifice is Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant. Moses mediated the law, the old
covenant. Jesus came with the new covenant. He came with a covenant that
didn't demand that we do in order to be saved, but he came with
a covenant that said that God has done it all. you fail to
do, you fail to keep the law, you fail to walk in obedience
to God but God sent his own son Jesus as the mediator of a covenant
which says I will justify the ungodly, I will take their sins
away, I will blot their sins out, I will wash them clean in
the blood of Jesus Christ and when he died and when his blood
was shed, that blood began to speak and it continues to speak
and it continues to speak today from heaven if you will but hear
it if God opens your ears to hear the blood speaks and says
that in this blood there is the forgiveness of sins This blood
was shed for the remission of sins. This blood was shed to
ransom many. This blood was said shed to save
the souls of all for whom Christ died. It speaks better things
than that of Abel. Have you heard its speech? Have you heard him who speaks
from heaven? Have you heard this speech of
the blood of Jesus speaking from heaven? That there is salvation
in none but me. But if you're washed by my blood
you will be brought now unto Mount Zion. and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of Sprinklin,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Have you heard
this blood speak? Have you been brought to this
place? Are you by faith looking unto Jesus, the offerer and finisher
of faith? If you are, then my friend, look
up in hope, because you've not come to a mount that's dark and
black and full of fear and dread. no matter what your outward circumstances
are, no matter how terrible things may appear to be outwardly in
this world, no matter what you may suffer for the sake of Christ,
no matter how many may reject you or laugh at you or mock at
you, by faith you are come to this mount, this city, this people,
this company, This God, this savior, this Jesus, this blood. Oh, what a place to be. Oh, what
a salvation. Oh, what a savior. Oh, what a
mediator. Oh, what blood that washes away
every transgression and causes the believer to stand before
his God righteous. but ye are caught unto Mount
Zion. Amen.