Mount Sinai & Mount Zion | Hebrews 12:18-29 | Pastor Daniel Banna

Yes, Lord. Our boast is in you. Our glory is in the cross. Lord, we pray that you help us this afternoon to drink from the fountain of your word and be satisfied. Yours, the glory, and you alone.

Amen. Let's send our Bible to the book of Hebrews chapter 12. The epistle to the Hebrews chapter 12 beginning in verse 18. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness, and gloom and a tempest. And the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the side that Moses said, I tremble with fear. But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkle of blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. And the writer to the Hebrews end this section.

In fact, he ends the whole argument of his epistle with these words in verses twenty eight and twenty nine. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. And the book of Hebrews is a book of contrasts. Jesus versus Moses. Jesus versus the angels.

Jesus versus the prophets. The old covenant versus the new covenant. The priesthood of the old testament versus Jesus being the high priests. The sacrifices of the old testament versus the only sufficient sacrifice of Christ Jesus. He's writing to Hebrew Christians, to Messianic Jews who are familiar with the Old Testament.

In fact, there is more than 80 direct references in the old for the in the Old Testament, in the book of Hebrews. He's writing to us, gentiles, who should become more familiar with the Old Testament in order to understand better the New Testament. Unfortunately, many preachers today neglect, ignore the Old Testament. And even some have went so far as to deny even its authority. But we believe in the Old Testament as we believe in the New Testament.

Second Timothy three sixteen is a great verse. We know John three sixteen. There's another three sixteen. Second Timothy three sixteen. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for a proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

The apostle Paul give us another one. I love it. In Romans thirteen four, he says there, for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction. First Corinthians 10 verse 11. Now these things happened to them.

These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction. So as you read the Old Testament, know it is written for your instruction. It's written for your teaching. There are principles, values there that you that you better pay attention to them. Now as we affirm that all of the scripture is the word of God and the Old Testament God is the same God as the New Testament God, and it's written for our instruction, at the same time we say we are not under the Mosaic law.

We are not under the old covenant. That covenant was given to a nation, the nation of Israel. This is how God began when he gave the law. Hear, oh Israel. Hear, oh Israel.

It was given to one nation. The nation of Israel. Now, the goal of this epistle, the heart of this epistle is to show the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Above all, the supremacy of the new covenant over the old covenant. In Hebrews 12, the writer compares two mountains, two covenants, two systems of worship.

And how does he end that contrast? Remember verse twenty eight and twenty nine? Second part of verse 28 he says, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. Yes. Two different covenants, two different systems of worship, yet the same God.

And because it is the same God, the attitude in approaching him is exactly the same. How? In fear and trembling, in reverence and awe. Not any way different. It's the same.

Quite interesting. The writer of the Hebrews does not end this section by saying for our God is a loving God, compassionate, merciful, good. He is all of that, but he ends it by saying for our God is a consuming fire. To tell you that a loving God, a merciful God, a compassionate God, a good God, it does not mean you approach him lightly. Casually know it is the same way you approach him with reverence and awe, for he is also a consuming fire.

This is our god. We must pay attention to this, brother and sisters. There is so much confusion in the church how to worship. Same God, yet different system of worship. Even the early church had some confusion.

There are some false brothers who in teaching that we need to keep the law of Moses. We need to keep those commandments. Gentiles need to get circumcised, and Paul confronted them. Paul not did not even yield to them for a moment. In Galatians two, we don't have to open there, we see that Paul here speaks about he stood firm, the church stood firm against the teaching of those whom he called even false brothers who tried to bring the law into the life of the church.

Now if you are familiar with the Old Testament, you would know exactly what the writer of the Hebrews is referring to in this section we just read in Hebrews twelve eighteen to 24 and then verses twenty eight and twenty nine. He's pointing to that unforgettable story that is mentioned in Exodus 19 and I do want to take you there because it's very important to look at that story and see it in the light of what the writer of the Hebrews writes for us in this section. Three months after the Israelites left Egypt, They camped by Mount Sinai, and there Moses went up to the mountain and God spoke to him from the top of the mountain and he told him, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured nation. Moses told Israel these words and the people agreed and he they said, whatever God said, we will do. We agree.

We will obey. Moses went back and he told God what the people said and God told Moses to go and consecrate the people for on the third day, I will appear to them. And he set strict boundaries around that mountain. No one even can come and touch it, lest be lest they die. Now in verse 16 of chapter 19 of the of the book of Exodus, we read these words.

On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trampled. Lightnings, thunders No. Remember, these people are coming out from where? From Egypt. There's not much, by the way, thunders or lightnings in Egypt.

I don't know how familiar they were with that. I looked it up. Egypt gets about an inch of rain a year. Chicago gets about 40 inches of rain. So they are not very very familiar.

So now there are thunders, lightnings, people are trembling, people are in fear. In verse 17, then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Remember, they could not come any closer. If anyone touches the mountain, will will be put to death. That is the scene.

Verse 18. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like a smoke of a clint and the whole mountain trembled greatly, like a side of a great volcano, fire, shaking, thunders, trumpet sound. Verse 19. And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder. Now we know trumpet sound can be a call for war. A tremble sound can be a call to celebration, but this was no war. This was no celebration. These are the trumpets we read about in the book of Revelation, the trumpet of judgment.

God here is showing himself as the judge, as a holy one. He wants to tell people, hey. You are worshiping a god who is holy, who is the judge of the whole earth, and you cannot approach him in any casual way. There are standards. There are protocols that I set that you must keep.

You must worship me according to my protocols. That's what god is trying to tell here the people. Verse 20. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. What a theophany.

What a theophony. Even Moses said, I tremble I tremble with fear. Listen, Moses has encountered God before, but never in this way. Never in this way, I trembled with fear. The in the next chapter, God gives Moses 10 commandments and the whole law.

So we have two mountains. Yeah. Mount Sinai. The writer of the Hebrews tells us there's another mountain, Mount Zion. You have not come to Mount Sinai, but you have come, believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You have come to where? To Mount Zion. Don't go back to Mount Sinai. Stay where God wants you to be in Mount Zion. Mount Sinai is the mountain of fear and trembling, the mountain of the law, the mountain do not come near, the mountain if you touch, you will be put to death.

You have not come there yet. Many Christians today, many, I say, they want to take us back, trust me, to Mount Zion. To Mount to Mount Sinai. They want to take us to Mount Sinai. They want to bring the Mosaic law into our life and our worship.

They want to us to keep the Sabbath. They want us to observe Jewish festivals and holidays. They want us to follow some dietary laws. They want us to create the commandments that no one ever succeeded in keeping except the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to keep those commandments?

You know what the scripture says about those in Galatians three ten? Paul tell us cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law. So if you try and you know you are not going to succeed then you are under a curse. You have come to Mount Zion. Don't try don't try to go back or bring back to us, Mount Sinai.

You can't just pick and choose which commandment to keep, either all or none. And since you cannot keep all, then why try to go back there? Paul warned against such teaching. In Colossians two sixteen to 17, that's what Paul says, let no one he's talking to the Colossians church. Many false brothers have went from Jerusalem going everywhere teaching these false teachings.

Oh Gentiles, you must get circumcised. Oh Gentiles, you must keep this and this and this and this. Paul tells them, let no one judge you in food or drink, what you eat, kosher or not kosher or drink. Or with regard to a festival, oh you must keep this holiday pass over or not. A new moon or a Sabbath, oh you must keep the Sabbath Saturday.

These are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ. Why cling to the shadow when you have the substance? Believer, why cling to the shadow while you have the substance that is Christ Jesus? You have been set free. Why you want to go back into a yoke of slavery?

Why you want to go back to the law of judgment? Slavery, death, after you have known Christ, after you have known grace, after you have known liberty in Christ Jesus. He continues in Colossians verse twenty twenty three by saying, if you died with Christ, why are you still living under regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. These are human teachings.

We have no power to restrain the flesh. There are two stories that I love. One of them in the gospel of Mark, you have to go there. Jesus is called there, chapter five. He's called to heal a little girl who was sick.

On his way there, he got a report that she's dead. She died. That he continues his way to that house. He takes with him couple of his disciples, among them is Peter. He let everyone leave and he enters the room where this little girl is lying dead.

You know what did Jesus do? He did something that Jewish people would never do. She's dead. Jesus takes her by the hand. He's holding a dead body.

You can do that. Don't touch. But Jesus does something different. He held her by the hand and he told her, Talitha, come here. Little girl, I say you I say to you, arise.

Now there is a very similar story, so similar in the book of Acts chapter nine. Peter is called to a city where a dead girl, where a girl died. She was also a young girl. Now Peter remember, he remembers what Jesus did. He was with him there.

He has entered the room where the girl is dead. He let everyone leave. He entered the room and look what he says in verse in chapter nine verse 40. That's what Peter did. And Peter, he knelt down and prayed and turning to the body he said, Tabitha, arise.

And she opened her eyes and we show when she saw Peter, she sat up and he gave her his hand and raised her up. Can you see a difference? Peter could not touch her when she was still dead. He just looked at the body and told her arise, but when she's alive, oh now she's kosher. Now I can hold her by the hand.

You see, Peter was still way to go to become like his master Jesus. Way to go. He needed to look at his master and say, Lord, I need to follow you, but no, he was still following the tradition. Even in Antioch, Paul had to rebuke Peter when he was compromising the truth of the gospel by not eating with the gentiles. He needed that rebuke.

So we need to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, not tradition. So Paul writing also to the to the Galatians chapter two, he says this this things in verse 18, he say, if I rebuild what I tore down, I rule myself to be a trans a transgressor. And then to the Galatians, he tell them these very harsh words that seem to be offensive to some. He tell them, are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

After receiving the gospel, being transformed by faith, worshiping God in a spirit and truth, Do you want to go back to that external, carnal, slavish system of worship? Do not touch, do not do, do not eat. Don't bring that stuff to the Christian worship. Don't bring this to the Christian lifestyle. Now I want to insert something here about worship because many people by the way, as you know, associate worship with what?

With singing. We've said that before. Right? Many times. And that's, by the way, this is very new relatively phenomenon.

I guess someone started saying this and everyone else start following. So that's why, you probably you notice, we don't call our singing team a worship team. We call it what? Praise team. Because this is what they are.

They are praise team. Now we should absolutely worship as we sing, but worship is much more than just singing. It's a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle. Warren Wiersbe defined worship in his book, Real Worship This Way.

He says worship is the believer's response of all that they are. Mind, emotions, will, and body to what God is and says and does. We know the verse in Romans twelve twelve one where Paul appeals to the believers to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Singing is only small part of that worship. Now as I said, we don't call our singing team a worship team.

We call them a praise team. Right? That's why you never heard us calling someone a worship leader either. You know who's the who's the real worship leader? It's the Holy Spirit.

There's no one else can lead our worship but the Holy Spirit. We are in trouble if man is leading our worship. It is the Holy Spirit of God that leads every part of our worship, not just in church. As I go home, I need to offer my body a living sacrifice wherever I go. That worship human leader can take can be with me.

Can't be. So that even the whole terminology, my friends, are wrong and we need to correct it. The Holy Spirit alone can be and is the worship leader who should be leading our worship, not just a church, but wherever we go, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices acceptable to God. Now in Hebrew, the word worship is shakah, which literally means to bow down. That's the word.

Just remember, worship means to bow down, to kneel before the Lord, and that our lives should be categorized by really daily kneeling down. Not necessarily physically, but our heart bowing down before God as I come to church, as I go to work, as I eat dinner, or as I drive my car, all my my car, my life should be categorized by this kind of worship bowing down to God in adoration and respect. But now, the right of the Hebrews tell us this, you have not come to Mount Sinai, but where? But you have come to Mount Sinai. Which mountain do you desire?

Which mountain do you desire? I desire and I pray all of us desire Mount Zion, the city of the living God. Not an earthly mountain, not an earthly city, but the heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual mountain where God dwells. What the writer of the Hebrews is telling us is this, if you go back to the old system of worship represented by Mount Sinai, you are going back to condemnation and death, as clear as it can be. Now some don't want to take us back all the way to Mount Sinai.

That's the first group. We are coming out to a second group. They want to take us only halfway there. Not all the way keeping the regulations and the Jewish commandments, Allah's and do and don't do, don't touch and don't eat, and observe the Sabbath, observe Passover. No.

No. No. You will take us only halfway there. They want us to keep the physical rituals, a physical altar, a priest with fancy garments, incense, candles, statutes, icons, positions, traditions of man. And yes, they might defend their system by referencing some some teachings of some of the church fathers and often you hear that when you talk to them.

Now they have forgotten that we do not follow the church fathers. We don't build on a foundation laid by the church fathers, but we build on the one foundation built by the prophets and apostles and Jesus Christ himself as the cornerstone. Now I'm not minimizing the importance of the church fathers when I say that. Absolutely not. Because there's so much we can learn from them.

Now after making his case, the apostle end this comparison with this great command. Let us offer to God, verse 28. Let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. Now this is not just the God of the Old Testament. It's not just the God of Mount Sinai.

No. No. No. No. This is the God of Mount Zion.

The God of Mount Zion is also a consuming fire. He's the same God. And let me tell you grace and approachability does not mean we treat worship lightly. Mount Zion is not an excuse for casual flippant irreverent worship. Which lead me to the third group.

The first group, you want to go takes back all the way to Mount Sinai. The second group, let us go only halfway, take some physical elements and apply them in our worship. But we have a third group. A third group who probably, I'm sure, dislike so much about the other two groups to now let us come and create our own group, a different group. And the church and and the evangelical church is so guilty, I would say, in believing and in following this group.

Much of the evangelical church, I believe, is guilty of casual first worship. We We don't want that. We don't want that as then go to completely a casual worship. There's a lack of awe, lack of reverence, lack of fear of the Lord in our worship. You see they have replaced priestly garments with undershirts.

You've seen it. They have replaced the altar with a stage. I'm not saying a public, no, it's a stage. They have replaced incense with smoking machines and flashing lights. They just replaced everything because we hid everything there, let us create all new things, a human invention, thinking this is what God really wants.

No, God abhors it. God hates it, and I will show you. Is it true? We are children of God. Is it true?

That you are loved and God is merciful and compassionate and good, but don't also forget that God is a great king. And if you are a child of God, then you are a prince. So you better act like a prince or princess in the presence of the Lord. That's the way that's the way God wants us to be. I pray that everyone who entered this door will notice right away that the God we worship is really a king and lord.

And what Paul spoke about in first Corinthians 14 verses twenty three twenty four would always be true when we come together as a church. Paul there, again you don't have to open, describes the order of the church. And listen what he says in verse 23. The whole context is a church service. He says, if therefore the whole church comes together like we have come together today and all speak in tongues and outsiders or unbelievers enter, would they not say that you are out of your minds?

But listen to verse 24. But if all prophesy and an unbeliever outsider enters, if they enter, remember the church is for the saints. The church is for edifying the body of Christ. The church is to worship our God and king, yet unbelievers are very very welcome. If you are unbelievers today, we want you to feel very welcome.

Every moment we welcome unbeliever. We are open to everyone to come and attend. But I want every unbeliever when they come here to know that the God we worship is king and lord. Listen to what he says after word. If an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all.

He is called to account by all. The secret of his hearts are disclosed and so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. That's what one what we want the result to be. And I hope, I really hope and pray that if anyone in this place today and and hears the word of God preached, they will fall on their knees and declare, truly, God is in this place. God is in place.

Now I will take you very briefly to Leviticus 10 verses one and three as we wrap up the message. Very sobering and solemn account we read there. I want you really to pay attention, at least if you have not paid attention so far, pay attention to this part. It's so important. As we talk about worship in the third groove that unfortunately many evangelical churches have adopted.

Now Nadeb and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censor and put fire in it and laid incense on it incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord which he had not commanded. Just one chapter earlier, if you read it later, you will see how God responded when the people of Israel offered true worship. Fire of God descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifices as a sign that God is pleased with that offer, with that sacrifice. Now in chapter 10, something strange happens. The two sons of Aaron, the priests, offered to God unauthorized fire.

They took colds not from the altar or they should have taken it according to Leviticus sixteen twelve. They introduced human fire. Not from the altar but the human fire. They brought man made methods to God's worship. God said do it this way.

They thought we are clever. We are creative. Let us bring our own worship. Verse two. Let's continue.

And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord. At the earlier, the fire of God came and consumed the sacrifices. God is pleased. This day, the fire of God came and consumed who? The two priests.

God's judgment. God's wrath. God's anger. Is this harsh? Is it severe in our standards?

Absolutely. It's very harsh. It it is very severe. God does not make mistakes. For God, this was a very serious matter.

And when God says something, we better as a church listen and obey. But praise God, God does not deal with us in this way today. But there are principles for us in this story and every other story we learn that we must really take to our lives, learn from it. God abhors. Let me put it this way.

God abhors whatever strays from his word. God rejects human inventions in worship. And today, the church is plagued with the human invention. It's plagued with human invention. Now they might not say it, but their actions just say that.

Their actions say, let us help the Holy Spirit. It seems to be he cannot do his job. We need to be more creative in our worship so we can win souls to Christ. Yes. You might be able to fill the pews, but you might not be able to add one soul to the kingdom.

Let me tell you what comes next to those churches that embrace human invention in their worship. You You want to know what comes next? Today, they claim to worship Jesus. What would not be long before they do exactly what Israel did at the foot of Mount Sinai. Did you remember what they do?

While Moses was still up on the mountain speaking with God, what were the people of God doing Israel? Exodus 32 verse one, They said to Aaron, we don't know what happened to Moses. Make us a god with a small g. Aaron gave in. He made a golden calf, something they could see, they could touch, they could worship, and yes, shame on a leader who listens to the word of the people more he listen than he listen to the word of God.

Shame on a pastor who would obey the culture more than who obeys the word of the Lord. And what does happen next? What do you expect to happen when true biblical worship is replaced with man made culturally driven worship. Moses came down and he looked from the mountain. He saw the golden calf.

He saw the people dancing. He saw people exposed and out of control. In Exodus 39 32 verse 19, he says he shattered the tablet of stones. He destroyed the calf and 3,000 people fell dead on that day. The day God gave the law is the day these people chose to worship the golden calf.

Now it won't be too long. It wouldn't be too long that churches replace true per worship with human invention and build a golden calf and dance around it. That's the next step. Build a golden calf and dance around it. That's the next step.

Human inventions would lead just to that. What's the solution? What is the way forward? The only way to revival in the church today is return back to the word of God, to make his word supreme, to see God's glory in everything, to humble ourselves, to admit he knows better. His ways are higher.

His wisdom is perfect. He must not add to his word, neither subtract from it. We're not called to invent. We're called to follow. Not follow other churches, and that's the problem.

That's the catastrophe. Smaller churches follow larger churches. They see what seem to be success in number. They follow their system, their methodology, their inventions. No.

No. No. No. We're called to follow Christ. Follow his word, not other churches.

Man made worship is an imitation. It's an ugly imitation of true worship. If it fills the heart, it fills the heart with just substitutes. And once the heart gets used to the fake, unfortunately, it becomes resistant to the real. When you are used to syrup, milk, taste bland.

When you are used to sugar, fruit becomes sour. And when you are used to flashy, emotional, man centered, man invented worship, you lose your appetite to a truth, to reverence, to the simple power of the word of God. The Samaritan woman just said, the father is seeking worshipers who worship him in spirit and in truth. That kind of worship God is seeking in spirit, that means spiritual worship from the heart, not external rituals. Yes, it does engage the emotions but it's not led by the emotions.

It's led by the spirit of Christ, the true worship leader. It's a truth. It's in a truth. It means worship shaped by the truth of scripture and the spirit will never lead a kind of worship that contradicts the truth of God's word. Never.

This is the acceptable worship God is seeking. That is what pleases him. All other worship is smoke. It may be impressive. It mister emotions but it brings no glory to God and no benefit to man.

So I would end with this. Let us do this. Let us fill let us fill our sensors today with coal, with fire from God's altar, not from man's fire pit. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for who you are and for what you have done.

We thank that you are so loving. Yes. You are compassionate. You are merciful. You are a good god.

You are slow to anger and patient, but you are also holy. You are reverent. You are you are consuming fire. So we thank you that you are our friend. Yes, you call us friends.

And we can approach you as a friend and as a loving God. But hold hold Lord, help us never forget that you are also the great king and lord. Lord, we want to honor your friendship but we want also to submit to your kingship and lordship in our life. Lord, we pray that our life will continually be led by the spirit. Continually be in spirit and truth for we recognize that the father is seeking such worshipers.

Lord, yours is the glory. Yours is the honor. Yours is the praise. Oh, help us truly. Abide by your word and reject any human invention that it might look good to us.

That you despise. Let us truly honor you in the way we worship you according to the clear instruction we have in your word. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.