One of the lines of the song
we just listened to is, indignant justice stood in view, to Sinai's
fiery mount I flew. That mountain, the mountain cried
with frowning face. No, justice cried with frowning
face. This mountain is no hiding place. And I think that we'll get some
idea of what all that means from this passage of scripture I just
read. I've entitled this message Sinai
and Zion contrasted. That's what we read of. We read
of Mount Sinai where the giving of the law was and Mount Zion
known as the church. Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God. Now, other than Mount Calvary, the place of the cross, the mountain
that towers infinitely above all other mountains, the most
significant mountain, although I guess in elevation it's not
that high, but it's glorious. Other than Mount Calvary, the
two most significant mountains in the scripture, Our Mount Sinai,
that's where God gave Moses the law. And Mount Zion, it was a
physical hill in Jerusalem, also called the city of David, but
it's used to refer to the church of the living God, as we're going
to see from this passage of scripture. Mount Sinai and Mount Zion contrasted. And the writer to the Hebrews
contrast them. And let me say at the outside
said that this is a contrast between long race when we read
of these two mountains. Now look in verse 18 of Hebrews
chapter 12. For you are not come unto the
mount that might be touched physically. Mount Zion is a spiritual mountain.
But this is a mountain that could be touched. Would you turn back
to Exodus chapter 19 and let's see what the writer of the Hebrews
is referring to. Exodus chapter 19. Verse 10, Exodus 19 verse 10. And the Lord said to 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, the place of the giving of the law. And thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about saying take heed to yourselves that
ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it. Whosoever
toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. There shall not
a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through,
whether it be beast or man. It shall not live when the trumpet
soundeth long. I think of the shrillness of
that trumpet. They shall come up to the mount,
And Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified
the people and they washed their clothes. And he said to 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 mountain, 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. And they stood at the nether
part of the Mount and Mount Sinai was all together on a smoke 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. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake and God
answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai on the top of the Mount. And the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the Mount. And Moses went up and the Lord
said unto Moses, go down, charge the people as they break through
into the Lord to gaze. And many of them perish." Now
that is what the writer of the Hebrews is referring to when
he talks about this time at Mount Sinai. Now turn back to Hebrews
chapter 12. Verse 18, thank God for this. You are not come unto the mount
that might be touched and that burned with fire and orange of
blackness and darkness and tempest in the sound of the trumpet and
the voice of words, which they that heard entreated that the
word should not be spoken to them anymore for they could not
endure that which was commanded him so much as a beast touched
the mountain. It should be stoned or thrust
through with a dart. And so terrible is the sight
that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Now this represents
the law, the place where God gave the 10 commandments. And
the first thing that he points out about it is it burned with
fire. All it could do is scorch you. And then he speaks of the blackness
and that word actually means the gloom, the gloom of a storm. This is not a joyous place. It's
not a happy place. It's a place of gloom. And then
he speaks of darkness. You could not see. You know,
when I thought of this, I thought of John's statement in John chapter
one, where he said the law was given by Moses, but grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ. Now the law, we love God's law
because we see Christ has kept it for us. We have nothing to
fear of God's law in that sense. But the law of God without the
gospel doesn't give us any light as to the true character of God. It shows us part of his character,
but it doesn't give his full character. The law was given
by Moses and we love God's law, but grace and truth, as opposed
to what the law demonstrated, grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. But when it comes right down
to it, we do not see through the law. All it is, is darkness. And then the writer says, a tempest,
a tornado, a hurricane, the earthquaking. Can you imagine how terrifying
that was when they saw this going on at the top of the mountain,
when the Lord came down and there was shaking and a hurricane and
tornado and a tempest, they're both scared to death. Then we
read in verse 19, and the sound of a trumpet. And that's not
the brass trumpet that we listened to today. This was a shrill,
loud sound. Can you imagine what that must've
sounded like, the loudness of it? And they were scared to death
as they heard this. And this is interesting, the
voice of words. You could hear the sound of words,
but you didn't really know what they meant. You heard the voice,
you heard the sound, but there was no true understanding. And if all I see is the law,
there's no true understanding of God. I have the voice, but
not the meaning of the words, but look what it says in verse
19 in the sound of the trumpet and the voice of words, which
voice they that heard and treated 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 should be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
Now, dart, when it says they could not endure that which was
commanded, it means they couldn't bear that which was commanded.
They couldn't keep that which was commanded. Have you ever
learned that you cannot keep the law? You cannot keep and I cannot
keep one commandment. And if you think you have, you
demonstrate that you have no understanding of God's holy law.
If you have any understanding of God's holy law, you know this,
I can't endure it. I can't keep it. Not one commandment. Have you ever really, have I
ever really understood this? I've not kept one commandment
one time. Surely you've kept it once. No,
I haven't. Nor have you. His law is exceeding broad, exceeding
holy. And all we demonstrate, if we
think we've kept one commandment, even one time is that we don't
understand the law. We don't understand the character
of God. We don't understand our own sinfulness. They could not
endure that which was commanded. And here's the, here's the main
point of the law. All it could do is kill you.
If you touched it, you were put to death. Now while you're turned
to Galatians chapter four, God's holy law. Verse 21. Tell me you, the desire to be
under the law. Do you not hear the law? Do you
not hear what it says? Four, it is written. Now, if I was writing this, I
know what I would have done. It's written. Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Thou shalt not take his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy. Don't make any idols. Thou shalt
not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt
not steal. Thou shalt not covet. I would
have brought the law out, but Paul doesn't. Look what he says. This is amazing. For it is written that Abraham
had two sons, one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. Now you remember the story. God
had promised to Abraham, you're going to have a son through Sarah. Some 15 years have passed. They
still haven't had a son. Sarah comes up with this genius
thought. God can't do His will unless
we do our part. His promise won't come to pass
unless we do our part. We've got to do our part. Now
here's what I want you to do. Hager, my bondmaid, go into her
We'll do our part because obviously it's not happening with me. Go
into Hagar and we'll have a child and that will be the way God's
promise can take place. But verse 23, he who was of the
bond woman was born after the flesh. There was nothing supernatural
about this birth. But he of the free woman was
by promise, the promise of God. This woman had already gone through
the time of life. It was impossible for her to
have a child. This was a supernatural birth. Looking to the supernatural
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, which was much more supernatural
than this is. He was born of a virgin. Now look at verse 24,
which things are an allegory For these are the two covenants,
the one from Mount Sinai, which genders to bondage is Hagar,
for this Hagar is Mount Sinai. Now, what's the significance
of that? You doing your part to enable
God to do his part is Mount Sinai. That works. You know, the belief
that God loves you. Christ died for you. God, the
Holy Spirit is calling you, but you have to let him save you. You have to call upon his name
before he can do anything for you. You need to come up with
faith first. There's something you need to do to make this work. That's Mount Sinai. You believe
that? That's Mount Sinai. That's what
Paul says. Now, what do we know about Mount
Sinai? All it does is kill. It can't do anything else. If
you approach God, if I approach God based upon my works in any
way to any degree, all that's gonna do is kill me. I'm gonna
go to hell if that's all I have. Now, Mount Sinai, the place of
the giving of the law, we love God's holy law. I wouldn't in
any way speak disrespectfully with regard to God's law. And
the reason I love it is because I know I've kept it in Christ.
Somebody says, well, I try to keep the law. No, you don't. You say you do. You might even
think you do, but you don't keep the law. You've never kept one
commandment one time. And somebody says, well, I partially
kept it. Partial obedience is disobedience. Don't, don't give
it any more credit than that. The only way I honor God's law
is to look to Christ only as my obedience before that holy
law. Now he said, you've not come
to Mount Sinai. Aren't you thankful back to our texts in Hebrews
chapter 12. Verse 22, but you are come. to Mount Sinai and all I can
do is kill. You try to come to God in Mount
Sinai, you'll be put to death. That's all I can do. But you
are come unto Mount Zion, 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. Now, Zion is the opposite of
Sinai. In Zion, you can't be burned. You can only be blessed. It's joy, not gloom. It's light,
not darkness. It's peace, not tempest. The sound of the heavenly choir,
as opposed to the shrill blast of the trumpet and the voice
of words. Come and welcome. Not stand afar
off and don't dare touch it. Come and welcome. These are God's words to every
believer who comes in the name of Christ. and welcome. You look on that hill of Sinai,
did you see anybody alive? No, it didn't have any inhabitants,
did it? Oh, Zion is filled with inhabitants. Now, let's look
at this description. He says in verse 22, you are
coming to Mount Zion I love the song we sing from that psalm,
glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion city of our God, the city
of David, Zion. It's a true hill, but it's spiritual. It represents something, not
that mountain that could be touched, that you could touch it physically,
but it'd kill you in doing it. But this is the heavenly Jerusalem. You've come to Zion. Glorious
things of thee are spoken. Zion, city of our God. You're coming to Zion under the
city of the living God. I love the way the Lord is called
the living God. Now there are a lot of false
gods preached. That's just so. The only living
God is the God who is described in this book. All of the attributes
of God, the character of God, is made known in this book. And any God I hear preached that's
not like this God is a non-existent God, is a false God. A God that cannot save, a God
that can't do anything, a weak God, a pygmy God, the figment
of man's depraved imagination. But this is the living God, the
city of the living God called the heavenly Jerusalem. I love that. the heavenly Jerusalem. This city is the heavenly Jerusalem.
Jerusalem means she shall see peace. It's not that earthly
city, that place they call the holy land is anything but holy.
But this place is holy. Listen to these scriptures from
Revelation 21, 2 and 10. And I, John, saw the new Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,
the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God to heavenly
Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels." Now, we don't
know very much about angels. I realize that. They're beings
created by God and the scripture says they're of greater power
and might than we are. We don't know much about them.
I do know this, there are angels here tonight. We can't see them,
but wherever the gospels preached, there they are. And I love the
way Paul called these angels the elect angels. The only reason they didn't fall
with Satan is because they were elect. God prevented it from
taking place. You know, people, Talk about
election like it's not fair. I've never heard anybody say
it's not fair for some angels to be elected and some not. But
there it is, the elect angels, an innumerable company of angels. Verse 23, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.
Now, the church is called the General Assembly. Now, what that
word means is it's a festival. It's a festive place. It's a
place of joy. The General Assembly, the festive
place. People in it are happy. You see,
the people in this city have no sin. This is the way it's
right now. We're in this city and we're
happy in Christ, but in ourselves, as long as you're still a sinner,
you're still going to have problems and trouble. And, uh, but the
way this general assembly coming down from heaven, the church
of the firstborn, it's a festive place. Everyone there loves being
there and they love being together, singing the praise of the lamb.
You see, there'll be no sin there. There'll be no sin. There'll
be no reason for conflict. There'll be nothing but joy in
that heavenly place. To the general assembly and church
of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. You know, the Lord
said to his disciples, in this rejoice not that the devils are
subject to you. but rather rejoice that your
names are written in heaven. You're right now, my name's written
in heaven. You see, there's something called
the Lamb's Book of Life. It's got the names of all of
God's elect in it. And this General Assembly, this
festive a crowd who love singing the praises of the Lamb, their
names are written in heaven. Now, this is the church role
that I want to be on. You know, we don't have a church
role in this church. You know why? I don't see it
in the Bible. I don't see any example of that.
And the thing about a church role here on earth, Let me tell
you about the church role here on earth. People are taken off
that role, and people are added to that role. You know, every
now and then, the people of non-attendance, or the people get in trouble,
let's expunge them from the role, and all the new people, let's
add them to the role, and it goes up and down, but this role
never changes. It's an exact number, and that's
the role I wanna be on. the general assembly. As far
as a physical church role, anybody that's a believer is a member
of the church. It's that simple. If you believe the gospel, you're
a member. If you don't believe the gospel, you're not a member.
There's nothing in the Bible about church membership as far
as what, of course, I'm not saying taking away from the importance
of the local church. It's very important and I want
to be in a gospel church, but as far as that church role thing,
it just doesn't feel right, does it, when you think of the Lord's
rolled in heaven, the general assembly and church of the firstborn
whose names are written in heaven. And look at this description
of these people whose names are written in heaven. Well, first of all, it says to
God, here's where you're coming. You've come to the general assembly
with the church of the firstborn who's, which are written in heaven
and the Lamb's book of life and to God, the judge of all. Now, somebody says, how can that
be a good thing? It is, and here's why. Every
believer stands before God. This is the way God sees them,
and if this is the way God sees, that's the way it is. Just before
me. Having never sinned. Justified. Perfect before the
law of God. That's God's judgment. I love
that scripture in Colossians 1. 22 and it says you're holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now if I'm that
way in his sight, that's the way I am. Holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in the very sight of God. Now his judgment of the unbeliever,
it's just, isn't it? But he's the judge of all. Shall
not, I love what Abraham said to the Lord, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? Yes, he shall. Yes, he shall. All the time, God is good all
the time. He does right all the time. He's
perfect all the time. He is who He is. He's the living
God. He's the judge of all. But look
at this description of the believer in verse 23. This is the description of everybody
whose name is written in that rule book in heaven. The Spirit. of just men made perfect. Now that's a description of every
believer, the spirits of just men made perfect. Now let's talk about this word,
the spirits, for just a moment. Do you know a lost man that does
not know the Lord does not have a spirit? That is what died in
the fall. In the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. That's what died. He has a soul,
he has a body, but he doesn't have a spirit. He doesn't have
spiritual life. He doesn't have a spiritual nature. Now, maybe you noticed a couple
of weeks ago in Hebrews chapter 12, I think it's verse, Nine, furthermore, we've had
fathers of our flesh, which corrected us and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather being subject to the father of spirits?
The father of spirits. That's him being the father of
the spiritual nature that you have. God is spirit. These are the words of the Lord.
John chapter four, God is spirit and they that worship him must
worship him. How? in spirit and in truth. It's only the spiritual man,
it's only that which is begotten of God that actually worships
him. Paul said in Philippians chapter three, verse three, we
are the circumcision which worship God, how? In the spirit. A lost man can't worship God.
He doesn't know who he is. He doesn't even know what worship
is. It's only the spiritual man that worships God. The spirits. Every believer has
this spiritual nature that loves God, that believes the gospel,
that understands the gospel, that hears the gospel, that rejoices
in Christ. Every believer does. evidence of having this spiritual
nature. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. We
look only to Him. He only is our righteousness
before God and we have no confidence in the flesh. None. The spirits and I love this second
description of a believer, the spirit of just men. I imagine the best way to describe
this would be Lott. Brother Lott, if we didn't have the New Testament,
if you read the account of his life, you know what you would
conclude? He wasn't even saved. That's what you would conclude.
There's nothing good about him that you read. I mean, he even
lingered in Sodom. And the Lord took him by the
hand and pulled him out of Sodom, the Lord being merciful unto
him. But what does Peter call him in 2 Peter 2? Just Lot. Justified Lot. That righteous man. and he had a righteous soul. The spirit of just men, justified
men. I'll tell you who this justified
man is. It's that publican in the temple crying, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And the Lord said regarding that
man, I say to you, that man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. The spirits of just men made
perfect. You know, right now I'm not perfect
because I'm still around. I'm perfect in Christ. But when
I die, that is when I'm going to consider, I'm going to be,
I'm going to experience perfection. I can't experience it now. Somebody
says, I'm not perfect. Well, I know you're not. You
don't even have to say that. I'm not either. I mean, good
grief. We're anything but that in and of ourselves. But in Christ
Jesus, right now, I'm complete. And one of these days, when I
close my eyes in death, that very moment, I'm going to wake
up in the very presence of Christ, perfect. The spirits of just
men made perfect. How were they made perfect? By
one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And then he says in verse 24, we've come to Jesus. Mediator of the New Covenant. Now that Old Covenant is Mount
Sinai. I don't have anything to do with that. Do you? I mean
all that does is burn us, kill us, scorch us. No salvation there. But we've come to Jesus the Mediator
of the New Covenant. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And the reason
we can be accepted in this new covenant is because of him. He
is the, he brings sinful man to a holy God and they come and
meet in him. That's how I can be accepted.
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. Now that new covenant's
the covenant of grace. Look back in Hebrews chapter
eight, verse six. But now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry By how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if
the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second. For finding fault with him, he saith, behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I'll make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." That's
the covenant that he's the mediator of. Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they
continued not in my covenant. I regarded them not, saith the
Lord, for this is the covenant that I'll make with the house
of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their
hearts. That's not talking about the
10 commandments. That's in everybody's heart. Everybody's born, Romans
2.16 says that the law written in the heart of every natural
man. That's talking about the laws
of the new nature. I'll put my laws into their mind
and write them in their hearts. And I'll be to them a God and
they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother saying, know the
Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest for
I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities.
Will I remember? No. And the reason he doesn't
remember them, there's nothing there to remember. Christ is
the mediator of this new covenant, put them all away and they are
gone. And back to Hebrews chapter 12,
we've come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. And here's
the last thing he speaks of when he speaks of Mount Zion. We come to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. The blood of sprinkling. Well, let's talk just a minute
about the blood of Abel. What did it have to say? Now,
you remember the story. Abel comes into God's presence
with the sacrifice that represented the sacrifice of Christ. He knew
that that animal sacrifice didn't save him. He knew what it pointed
to. And Cain comes in disobedience, bringing his works, the best
he could produce. I'm sure he felt good about what
he was bringing God. They bring them both on the altar
and the scripture says, God had respect to Abel and to his offering. Now, Abel couldn't be separated
from his offering. But God had respect. Now, you know what it is to be
disrespected. It's a terrible feeling. And
we love respect. And the God of glory actually
had respect to Abel and his offering. And if you're a believer, the
God of glory has respect to you through the offering. But you
know what it says about Cain and his offering? To Cain and
his offering, he had not respect. You see, Cain proved he didn't
respect God bringing that offering in the first place. He just demonstrated
his ignorance of the character of God, his own sinfulness. He
had no respect for God bringing his works into the presence of
a thrice holy God. And God had no respect for him.
Now the scripture says Cain's countenance was fallen. He was
upset. And God said, why is your countenance
fallen? If you do well, you'll be accepted. If you bring the right sacrifice,
you'll be accepted. But if not, sin lieth at the
door. That's the first time sin is mentioned, and it's with regard
to bringing the wrong sacrifice. So Cain and Abel have a talk. It was actually an argument.
And I know what that argument was over. Cain was angry that
God had respect to Abel and his offering and had no respect to
his. He said, this is not fair. And I can imagine Abel saying,
look, you know, our father taught us you can't come into God's
presence apart from the sacrifice of the coming Redeemer. That's
the only way we can come. We're far too sinful to come.
Abel says, I don't agree with that. Abel says, well, that's
the truth. You can only come by the blood
and I can just see Cain saying, blood, I'll show you blood. And
he killed his brother. I don't know what way he did
it. I don't know if he bashed his
head in, but I know his blood flowed into the ground. Maybe
he tried to hide the body after that, I don't know. And God comes
to him and he says, Cain, where's your brother? Well, Cain lied. Cain was a murderer. He said,
am I a brother's keeper? I don't know. And that's when
God said to him, your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. What did he cry? Vengeance. Punishment. Guilt. What does Christ's blood cry?
The blood of sprinkling. I like the way it's called the
blood of sprinkling. The blood of sprinkling has to do with
the application of the blood. Now false religion has me being
the one who applies the blood. Christ died for you, but you
got to apply it or it won't do you any good. No, that's not
the way it works. The blood of sprinkling is where
the priest sprinkled the blood on the broken law and on the
Ark of the Covenant. It has to do with the application
of the blood. This is Christ applying the blood to you. The
blood of sprinkling speaks better things than that of Abel. What
did Abel's blood cry? Vengeance. What does the blood
of Christ cry? Forgiveness. justification, pardon,
the way God can be just and justify the ungodly. And don't you love
the way when he closes this description about Sinai, the last thing he
speaks of is the blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that
speaks better things than that of Abel. Now, you've not come. Mount Sinai. If you do, you'll
be put to death. But you've come unto Mount Zion,
the city of the living God, to heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn
which are written in heaven, to God the judge of all, and
to the spirits of just men, 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 April. Let's pray. Lord, we're so thankful that
you've shown us in your word that to try to approach you in
our works will cause nothing but death. And Lord, how we thank you for
Mount Zion. Lord, how we thank you that by
your grace, you've saved us and made us the spirits of just men
made perfect. How we thank you for the blood
of our Redeemer that makes us perfect and clean and holy in
your sight. Lord, give us the grace to trust
thy dear son. and the glorious salvation that's
in him. Deliver us from looking to ourself
for anything, but cause us to look to thy dear son. And Lord,
enable us to preach this message, glorying in this message. In
Christ's name we pray, amen.