Sermon Tone Analysis

Today if you have brought your Bibles turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12.

If you don’t have a Bible I want to encourage you to follow along because we will have God’s Word provided for us on the Screens behind me today.

You may be here today and say why is God’s Word so important for us to look at?

Because God’s Word feeds are hungry souls, because God’s word brings about salvation to those who are desperate and needy, because God’s word points out the fact that we are all sinners in need of a Savior, and God’s Word is our hope even today in 2023.

Martin Lloyd Jones the famous English Pastor once said and this was back in 1950’s I quote, “Men’s opinions have taken the place of truth, and the people in their need are turning to the cults, and are listening to any false authority that offers itself to them.”

This is why we must turn to the truth of God’s Word.

Oh how we so desperately need it even more so in our day.

My one plea for you today is that you do not refuse the one true God who speaks to you today.

Don’t refuse the salvation He offers.

Do not turn a deaf ear to God’s Word today because for some eternity hangs in the balance.

Today I want to talk to you about the tale of Two Mountains.

This is very different from the old book written by Charles Dickens about the tale of Two cities.

This tale tells us about the reality of two very different scenes, all very real.

In fact, the imagery that we are going to see today of these two mountains brings us a wonderful picture of the theology of salvation that Paul says to us in Romans 8:15.

In verse 18 of our text today we come to Mt. Sinai.

Even though our author here does not mention this mountain specifically it is implied that this is the mountain he is referring to.

At Mt. Sinai Moses climbed the Mountain to receive the Law of God for Israel.

The Lord commanded Moses to warn the people of Israel not to go up to the mountain or to touch it lest they die.

(Exodus 19:12) They could not touch the mountain because God’s presence consecrated the place and set it apart from the sinful people.

It was here at this place that we see and understand how frightening and terrifying this experience truly was for them.

There are three major distinctions about Mt.

Sinai that we need to understand today.

1.

First the author tells us this, “For you have not come to.”

If you are a Christian today you have not come to this very fearful encounter to God.

Rather our worship centers on a mountain place or sanctuary that is so much better than Sinai in both mood and reality.

On the other hand the Israelites come to this place, this Mountain of blazing fire.

The point here today is that God is gracious to us through His Son Jesus, however God’s holiness is also very real and lethal to those who remain in their sin and refuse to listen to God and His Word.

Turn from your sin today and trust in Christ.

2. The second distinction is that Mt.

Sinai is a mountain of fear and terror.

The actual display of God’s glory was so terrifying visibly, physically, and audibly.

Several weeks ago Jennifer, Jaida and I were over in the Midland Mall and a 4.5 earthquake hit and the lights went off and everything shook in the store.

It was visibly frightening.

The Israelites witnessed on this one day something that reminds us of a volcanic eruption.

There was a blazing fire, there was darkness and gloom and a tempest.

The mountain itself was wrapped in smoke and trembled greatly because the Lord had come down on it in fire.

The other characteristic that we see in verse 19 is that the mountain resounded with a very loud trumpet blast, one that grew louder and louder with every blow.

All of this points us to God’s power and holiness.

So that, this was a place of awe and terror for Israel.

In Exodus 20 we see how the people felt.

This was such a terrifying place that the people wanted Moses to speak to them because they thought if God continued to deal with them they would die.

This scene was so terrifying that even Moses himself whom God spoke too face to face, trembled himself in fright.

3. The third distinction is that this mountain represents the Old Covenant.

God’s people had come to this very terrifying place, but the author of Hebrews wants us to know today that this mountain is not the place Christians have to come too.

This word not is the key to understanding the difference between our experience as believers with God, and the Israelites experience with God.

Why?

Because not draws a huge contrast between the old and new covenants.

The claim that Christians have come to Mt. Zion would have been a real tough statement for the original audience.

The Hebrew people defined themselves through the history of Moses and Mt.

Sinai where God had given them the law.

But, this is the point the author wants us to see here by portraying the horror and dread the Israelites faced.

When Jesus came he ushered in a new covenant.

This new covenant is gracious and merciful.

God’s ultimate purpose was not that His people live in perpetual fear.

We begin to now see this as we come to verse 22.

This is where everything takes a huge turn.

In fact, we feel a very warm sense of confidence and security as we read about this second Mountain.

The mountain of Zion.

You may be here today and say Pastor why in the world do we need to know about Mt.

Zion?

Why is this so important for me today?

Well just like the first mountain let me give you 3 specific distinctions that we must understand about Mt.

Zion.

1. First, the author here tells us, “You have come.”

This phrase is the exact opposite of what we saw in verse 18.

This is speaking of a salvation already come and has been offered to those who would believe.

Those who belong to Christ are already citizens of Mt.

Zion.

Let me ask you today do you know for sure that you belong to Christ?

Has he changed your life?

Has he changed the way you talk, the way you think, the way you live?

The author here is not calling them to a new status but to appreciate the joy and peace that are already theirs because they know Christ.

We as believers in Christ can now draw near to Christ and worship him.

So, the mountain to which we as new covenant believers have come too is named Mt.

Zion which is the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

2. The Second Distinction, Mt.

Zion is a place of joyful celebration.

We see here several different descriptions of what heaven will be like for those who are believers.

First of all heaven is the city of the living God.

The presence of the living God sets this city apart from all its earthly foreshadowings.

Mt.

Zion is also the heavenly Jerusalem.

We read in Revelation that there will be a new heaven and new earth and a new Jerusalem will come down to earth.

John writes about what he sees.

So, all of these phrases direct are attention away from earthly circumstances to see the heavenly city where we are already citizens.

We now turn the page and see who we will worship with in heaven.

We will worship in celebration with the thousands upon thousands of angels.

We will also worship with the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

In one sense the author is pointing us back to those faithful saints who he mentioned back in chapter 11 who have gone on before us.

But in another sense the assembly of the first born is so much more than that.

The people then and believers today that are united in faith are part of this assembly.

If you are a believer today than we are part of this congregation.

We come to verse 23, and this is important that we take time to address this.

We have come to God himself the judge of all creation.

There will come a day in which all human beings will be judged wether you agree with me or not, a day is coming.

For those who are righteously judged on account of their sin and never knew the salvation of Christ, this day will be a day of horrible terror.

In fact, eternal hell stands on the other side of that day.

But for those who have turned to Christ in faith and repentance, this day will be a day of wonderful glory.

We will be met by a merciful God who will welcome us home.

In fact, the author of Hebrews here talks about this day as if we were already there.