Heavenly Perspective (Hebrews 12:18-24, Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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We're going to sing together this morning, and I'll read from Psalm 62.

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He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be shaken.

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On God rests my salvation and my glory, my mighty rock, my refuge is

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God. Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him.

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God is a refuge for us. I once was lost in darkness night, yet I thought

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I knew the way. The sin that promised joy and light had led to the grave.

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I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will.

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And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still.

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But as I read my hell -bound race, indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross.

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And I beheld God's loveless way. You suffered in my place.

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You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all

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I know is grace. I have cried since I was alone and lived so all might see the strength of the

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Lord. Often the pilot would kind of bank the plane and tell everybody on board, hey, look out to your left.

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You can see Mount Rainier peeking through the clouds. So the top of the mountain actually extended above the cloud line.

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And as you flew in, you could see this amazing sight. And our family very often would go to Mount Rainier, 14 ,000 foot mountain in Washington state.

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It is amazing. It is beautiful. These giant trees down at the base of the mountain.

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And at the base of the mountain, there is like a prairie of wildflowers just bursting with life.

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The mountain is covered with snow all year long. It's very beautiful and it just makes you want to go there.

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But I'll tell you this. There is one mountain on earth that I do not want to go to.

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You'd have to pay me to go to this mountain. I don't want to go there. It is called Mount Sinai.

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Mount Sinai is a terrible mountain. It is in the Arabian desert. No big trees, no prairies of wildflowers, no snow.

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It's just barren. The Arabian wilderness, just barrenness.

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And it's 3 ,000 feet high, but there's nothing really awe -inspiring about this mountain. The other peaks around it are higher.

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It is a terrible mountain. It's just dry and not much to do. The worst thing about the mountain though, is that at the base of it, there is what's called

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St. Catherine's Monastery, where 22 monks live. With their vow of celibacy, they just live there by themselves.

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And they have what is essentially an idol factory. Because this basilica is filled with idols.

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They have relics from all over the world. And people take pilgrimages to this place to encounter

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God in the idol factory. Not only that, they have a mosque right there next to the basilica, and all the religions of the world come there equally to approach

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God at the base of Mount Sinai. It's one place

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I don't want to go. And you don't want to go either. Because Mount Sinai, according to Galatians, and also today in our text in Hebrews 12, represents the law.

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It represents death. And we're going to see in the text that those who try to approach

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God by climbing Mount Sinai will fail and will die in the effort.

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But if you come by another mountain, a mountain called Zion, a new and living way, there is life and there is joy and there is refreshment.

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You see guys, in the Christian life, there will come times where you get weary. Your hands will begin to droop.

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Your knees will get weak. You'll grow faint -hearted. And you need to have a place to go to find refreshment for your soul.

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You don't need to climb this mountain or that mountain to encounter God. For God is looking for those who will worship

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Him in spirit and in truth. We can encounter Him on this mountain in the

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Word this morning to find strength for our souls. We have been studying the subject of discipline.

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Discipline. It's different from punishment. The principle of discipline is training.

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Sometimes God will allow difficult things to come into our lives, even painful experiences, because He's training us.

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He's making us more like the Son. In Hebrews 12, 3 to 11, we study the principle of discipline.

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But then in the following verses from 12 to 17 of chapter 12, we learn about the practice of discipline.

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God is the one who's disciplining us like a loving father disciplines a child, but we also must learn to practice discipline.

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We have a young football player here. He'd be willing to tell you that it takes discipline to play his sport.

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Self -discipline. You don't just eat candy bars all day and, well, maybe you do. I don't know. But you have to discipline yourself to become good at a sport.

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How much more is that true of the Christian life? The Christian life requires self -discipline and it requires church discipline.

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We learned about that last week. So we had the principle of discipline, the practice of discipline, but we're still thinking to ourselves, well, where do

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I get the motivation to do this? That comes from the perspective of discipline.

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Turn with me to Hebrews 12, verses 18 to 24. This passage will present to us two mountains, one called

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Sinai, the other called Zion. And we can encounter this mountain here this morning.

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We don't have to go anywhere. We don't have to fly halfway around the world. We can go to this mountain through the

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Word of God. And as we do, it changes our perspective of life when

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God opens our eyes to see things from his Holy Word. Let's read it. Verses 18 to 24.

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Follow along, guys. Get to Hebrews 12, 18 to 24. You can use your smartphone or if you have a

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Bible. 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.

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For they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.

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Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear.

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But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living

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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 sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

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Now, one of the key words as we dive into the text is the fourth word in the first sentence.

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For you have not come. Verses 18 to 21 sets up a contrast.

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You have not come to Mount Sinai. Now, to understand what the author is saying here, we have to have familiarity with the

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Old Testament, and particularly the book of Exodus. You guys remember the story of the Red Sea?

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When God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites came out through the blood of the Passover lamb, come out of slavery, and into the promised land eventually, they crossed the

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Red Sea, but first they must spend 40 years in the wilderness, and they grumble all along.

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They grumble about lacking food. God provides manna. They grumble about lacking water.

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God splits the rock and brings water forth from the rock. They grumble at every turn, but in chapter 19 of the book of Exodus, something interesting happens.

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They come to a certain mountain called Sinai, or Horeb, and there at the mountain,

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Moses alone is invited up. Now, later Moses will be sent back down to get

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Aaron, and Aaron can go back up with him, but there on that mountain, of course you know the story, the

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Israelites receive the Ten Commandments, and Moses comes down, and he ends up smashing the commandments because the people have made a golden calf.

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You know the story, but let's look at Exodus 19 verses 16 to 21. It's in your notes, or you can turn back there.

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Recognize in that 19th chapter, something terrifying happens when

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Moses is called up the mountain. It says, Exodus 19 verse 16 to 21, 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 trembled.

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Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

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Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

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The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly, and as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder,

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Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the

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Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up, and the Lord said to Moses, go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the

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Lord to look, and many of them perish. So here's the scene.

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They're on Mount Sinai. God sets a limit around the mountain. He shows what is the starting point of this mountain, and they're to mark that off, and the people are told, if you so much as put a toenail over this line onto the mountain, you die, and that's a pretty scary thing to hear.

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God will kill you, and in fact they were to stone that person to death, or shoot them through with arrows.

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Don't go near the mountain. You're not able to climb it, and if you try, you die, but more terrifying still, when

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God appears on that third day, there is thunder and lightning.

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Many of you have pets that when it thunders outside, they'll start to shiver and shake, and they want your attention, right?

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Well, imagine a thunder that just shakes you to the bone, and lightning, and then this thick darkness, and fog, and then the mountain itself is a ball of fire, and then in the quiet, all of a sudden, a trumpet begins to sound.

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Some invisible angel blowing an invisible trumpet, but it's so loud, and it grows louder, and louder.

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It's shaking you to the bones. The Israelites begin to tremble, and then the mountain itself begins to shake.

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An earthquake on the mountain. It becomes this deep, dreadful scene, and Exodus 20 tells us the people, they back off.

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There's none of them who even are wanting to test their curiosity to see what God is like, and so God visits with Moses on the mountain.

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The point here is that by Mount Sinai, no one will come to God.

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You see, on that mountain was given the law, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not steal, make no idols, no other gods before him, honor your father and mother.

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All of the 10 commandments were given on that day, plus a number of other laws regarding life in Israel from Exodus 20 to 24.

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You see, the law is unable to save anyone. If anybody tries to come to God by obeying the law, they will find themselves broken against it.

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It's written in stone. Second Corinthians chapter 3, verse 7 says, the ministry of death written in stone, with reference to the old covenant.

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Mount Sinai represents a ministry of death. No one can climb that mountain, and yet this is the pursuit of all mankind, trying to be good enough to earn

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God's acceptance, trying to keep the law, and hoping that maybe one day God would find a person righteous.

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It's a vain pursuit, and God terrifies the people, lest they think they can come that way.

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And so I have bad news to deliver. None of you, I, none of us, can climb

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Mount Sinai. None of us will keep the law perfectly, and any of us who try to come to God that way will find it to be death to us.

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The soul that sins must die. The wages of sin is death, and all of us are lawbreakers.

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Sin is lawbreaking. And so we see in verses 18 to 21 a reference to this story.

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It refers to Exodus 19, and it's there for a reason. It's there for the point of contrast.

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Mount Sinai stands fixed in Arabia as a picture of death to any who try to come by their own merit, by law -keeping.

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But it's there, and I said, look at the word not in verse 18.

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You have not come that way. This contrast sets up the good news of what follows, and what follows changes our perspective to see things that we otherwise could not see.

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You see, Mount Sinai is still in Arabia. You can go there, and you can smell the death in the little swinging smoke pot that the priest swings back and forth in the monastery of Saint Catherine.

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It's dead, barrenness, empty, lifeless religion.

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But let's read on. But you have come to Mount Zion.

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Let's start there and take what follows one by one. There's eight of them. The first is Mount Zion. You have come to Mount Zion.

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When David, who was a type of the coming Christ, Christ is the son of David, when

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David came to the Jebusite city of Zion, he conquered it and set up the kingdom of God in that place.

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Israel found its home on Mount Zion. But see, this image of Mount Zion where David built his kingdom, it grew in the

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New Testament to refer to more than just that physical mountain. And here in our text, it refers to that spiritual, unseen mountain, the mountain of God.

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In Revelation, we learn about the 144 ,000, Revelation 14, one to seven.

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We learn about the 144 ,000 who belong to the Lamb, who are standing on Mount Zion.

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It's an invisible mountain. These have been martyred because of their testimony, and now they're on that invisible mountain.

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They're on Mount Zion. And here in our text, it says, you have come to Mount Zion. But we didn't go anywhere, did we?

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There's a little mountain just about, you know, a tenth of a mile from here, which we like to climb sometimes,

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Mount Laurel, with a radio tower on top. It's not much of a mountain. As we sit here this morning, we are right before Mount Zion, an invisible mountain.

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We're separated only by the veil of death. When we breathe that last breath, we step right into the presence of God, onto that invisible mountain, and into the city of the living

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God. And that's the second thing, the heavenly Jerusalem. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 21.

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In this life, you will face trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world, says the

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Lord. And there's coming a day when all the struggles of this life come to an end, and we enter into the new

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Jerusalem. Let's look at Revelation 21, verses 1 to 4. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

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For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

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And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

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And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

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He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their

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God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

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There's coming a heavenly Jerusalem, and we can't see it now. It's just behind the veil.

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It's covered in clouds like Mount Rainier in Seattle. You can't see it, but it's there, that mountain just beyond us.

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This morning, we see it in the text, but look at the third thing. There at Mount Zion, invisible to us in the heavenly

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Jerusalem, yet as real as any of us as we sit here this morning, are an innumerable host of angels.

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Now, if we just stopped right here in the text, we might think that the comparison is between Sinai, which was terrifying, and it kind of woke the people up, and the invisible heaven, which is terrifying, and you guys need to wake up and pay attention.

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Be terrified because there's a mountain called

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Zion. Be terrified because there's a new city. Be terrified because there's angels, and one angel in Isaiah 37 killed 185 ,000

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Assyrians. That's how strong these angels are, so be terrified, but that's not the point of contrast.

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Notice what it says these angels are doing. It says, we have come to the innumerable angels in festal gathering.

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That word festal means there's like a festival, there's a feast, there's a celebration.

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The Bible tells us that the angels in heaven celebrate when even one sinner turns to Christ.

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There's a party in heaven. This is not a terrifying scene. This is meant to be an exciting scene, something that's glorious and beautiful, somewhere you want to go.

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Innumerable angels. Brothers and sisters, do you realize that there are angels around us right now?

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In Hebrews 1 14, it says, are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit eternal life?

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We who believe in Christ have inherited eternal life, and he is guarding us.

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He is protecting us. There are angels here this morning. Guardian angels.

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They're invisible. You can't see them, and so sometimes this world gets scary with that diagnosis or with this difficult situation at work or whatever it is, and you're beginning to get discouraged.

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Your hands are starting to get weak, and your knees are knocking. Gehazi felt that way.

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Gehazi was the assistant to the prophet Elisha, and in Elisha's day, the enemy came against him to kill him because he kept telling their secrets.

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He was a prophet after all. He knew things. They wanted to kill him, so they were surrounded by the enemy, and there sat

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Elijah, peace like a river. How did

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Elijah sit there before an advancing army who was there to kill him and have peace like a river?

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What was he seeing? Well, Gehazi didn't see it because Gehazi was squirming.

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Gehazi was shaking in his boots. Gehazi was trying to plead with Elijah, let's get out of here.

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Why are you at peace? And Elisha just stopped, and he prayed, father, open his eyes that he may see, and there in an instant,

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Gehazi's eyes were open, and he saw in the surrounding hills chariots of fire with mighty angels and drawn swords surrounding the countryside, and this little puny army of mere men advancing against him, and now

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Gehazi saw what Elisha saw, innumerable angels, and so Elisha prayed.

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God used those angels to strike down the enemy with blindness, and they were led captive to Israel.

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You see, God is all -powerful, and one angel can strike down 185 ,000 troops of the enemy.

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These angels are all around us all the time. What have we to fear? That's good news, but it's only getting better.

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Let's look at the fourth. It's building now, in climax, to this glorious vision that should change how we see the world and everything around us.

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So we saw, first of all, a mountain. That's cool. Everybody here likes mountains, right? We get to go to a mountain.

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We get to go to the heavenly new Jerusalem where there's no tears. We're going to the new

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Jerusalem. That's exciting. We're going to see these angels that are now invisible to us.

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That's exciting, but let's read on. The fourth thing, and two, the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

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That word assembly in Greek is ecclesia, alternately translated church.

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The church of the prototokos, the firstborn. That word prototokos, the firstborn, refers to the preeminent one, the firstborn son.

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It refers to Christ, the beloved of the father who inherits all blessing, whose inheritance is shared with his church.

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Here we have the invisible church. Now, it says in our text that the names of the assembly are enrolled in heaven.

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Their names are written in the Lamb's book of life, the names of the church.

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You know, when I was a Floridian some 17 years ago before moving up north,

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I thought that New Jersey was the armpit of the country. Sorry.

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You know what I thought about New Jersey? I thought it was this deep blue state where there were nothing but pagans, just dark, wicked.

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But, you know, last night I got a phone call from my buddy Bill Luebkamen, pastor of Calvary, Marlton.

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He said, we don't have enough communion cups. You guys have any extras? I said, sure, I'll bring some over. So I went over to his house and gave him some of these communion cups, and as I was driving home,

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I just thought about how faithful that brother is. Salt of the earth.

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This guy, he started a radio station to proclaim the gospel through this region, and our brothers and sisters at Calvary Chapel Marlton, they love the

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Lord. They worship the same Christ we do, and then I look out at you guys. I say, you guys are as strange as me.

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Strangers in this world. Yeah, it's a deep blue state, but the longer

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I've lived here, the more I've seen the Spirit of God is still working here too, and there is a remnant people, and it's not a few.

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There are many who belong to the invisible church. See, the visible church, theologically speaking, refers to a local congregation of believers.

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It's us. We know whose names are written in an email list, but there is an invisible church which refers to every true believer on earth whose names are written in the

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Lamb's Book of Life. Names enrolled in heaven, and every time you walk around Walmart, you're passing someone from the invisible church.

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You just don't know it, and now that I've been in New Jersey for a while, I recognize the church here is strong, not weak.

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Oh yeah, we're outnumbered. We get that. That's what we're expecting, right? But few are chosen, said our

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Lord. The road that leads to destruction is wide, and many choose that easy way.

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The road, the straight and narrow, few there be that find it. So yeah, we're outnumbered, but we are strong.

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We are part of a worldwide church that has believers in every country on the planet, in every state in the

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United States, even California. Do you realize California may have the most evangelical

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Christians out of every state in the country, and they're grossly outnumbered, but there are many born -again evangelical believers there.

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We're so much stronger than we think. I was watching God's Not Dead Part 4, which just came out.

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It should be out in video soon, but the scene I love the most is when this arrogant senator was trying to trample out the homeschool movement, and he's talking trash to the protagonist, and he treats him like a flea, like we're just going to crush you.

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We already know what we're going to do, and he brags about how he has an approval rating of 83 percent. But the

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Christian, the evangelical protagonist said, don't you know Diocletian tried this, and Napoleon tried it, and Hitler, and Stalin, and Mao Zedong, but here we are.

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And that is the message I want us to hear. Listen, they've tried to overcome the church for 2 ,000 years, but Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church.

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He will build his church, and it cannot be defeated, and he will come for his church.

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He's coming for his own. We're a part of it. It's beautiful, and it's only just now building.

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Let's look at the fifth. You've come to Mount Zion. You've come to the

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New Jerusalem. You've come to the angels. You've come to the church, and to God.

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We can stop right there. The most miraculous verse in the

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Bible, the biggest miracle in the Bible to me is Genesis 1 .1. In the beginning,

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God created the heavens and the earth. Look at the mountains. Look at the trees.

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Can you hear the rustling of the leaves this morning because we have the doors open? The God who made all of these things by his breath, speaking it into existence, is with us.

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And we would tremble with what comes next, the judge of all, based on the contrast set up in the preceding verses.

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That's scary, right? We're going to stand before the judge of all, but no, this is presenting the judge is our father.

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The judge loves us so much that he gave his one and only son. This is love.

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Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave his son as an atoning sacrifice.

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Greater love has no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends.

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That's what God has done. He's sent Jesus for us as a loving father. Then it says next, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

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Didn't we just cover that? Isn't that the church? No, actually this refers to the old covenant believer.

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Look back with me at Hebrews 11, 39 and 40. We're coming out of the hall of faith there, where you have this list of all the amazing saints that went before Christ.

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So Moses and David and Daniel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all of the

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Old Testament saints. It says in Hebrews 11, 39 and 40, and all these though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised.

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Since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

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If you write in your Bible, circle that word perfect, and draw a line over to verse 23 of the 12th chapter.

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All the spirits of the righteous made perfect. You see the connection there?

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You see, the old covenant was only a type and shadow of the reality that we now experience.

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Prior to the shedding of Jesus's blood, all they could do was offer animals. But the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin.

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They were waiting on the completion, which is Christ himself crucified, risen.

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And now that Christ has accomplished that, everything is complete. Moses and David, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they are now complete with us, covered by the blood.

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So this refers then to them. Just on the other side of that veil, when we step in to heaven, we'll meet

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Samson and ask him what that was like. Isn't that an amazing thought? That we're going to get to sit down with King David and talk about what that was like to conquer the

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Jebusite city and set up Zion. But the climax only begins now as we get to verse 24.

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And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.

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There was a mountain called Sinai, which represents the law. And if any of us try to climb it, we die.

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It's a terrifying mountain and you should be terrified of Sinai because no one will climb it.

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No one will be good enough to reach God. But there is one who conquered that mountain.

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His name is Jesus. We were told in Genesis 22, on the mountain of the

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Lord, it will be provided. Jesus kept the law perfectly. He alone, typified by Moses, could go up that mountain keeping the law.

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But then he took the cross up another mountain, representing Zion, and died the death that we deserve.

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We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins.

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And not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. Meaning people from every ethnic group on earth, the church.

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We have this advocate, Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. It is a covenant in his blood, which brings us to that last expression in verse 24.

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And to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

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Guys, if you haven't heard anything I've been telling you this morning, don't miss this. Cain killed

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Abel. Should have been his brother's keeper, but he took a stone and killed his own brother.

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And Genesis chapter 4 verse 10 says that the blood of Abel called out from the ground.

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God asked him, Cain, where is your brother? I hear his blood crying to me from the ground.

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His blood, the blood of Abel, speaks the same message as Sinai. Certain death, judgment, vengeance.

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Consider it. He was slain by his own brother and his blood seeping into the ground is crying to God, avenge me, avenge me.

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God, if you're just, you cannot let this happen. You must crush Cain. He must pay for his sin.

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He must die. But the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

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The blood of Jesus cries out not vengeance and mercy and justice. I mean, vengeance and justice, but mercy and forgiveness of sin.

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It is a better word because the blood of Jesus spilled from him from the cross. It was not taken in an ordinary way.

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It wasn't a murder in that sense. Jesus says no one takes my life.

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I give it willingly through the hands of lawless men. He goes to the cross.

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His blood pours out to the ground and it speaks a better word to the father.

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It pleads on our behalf. Forgive them father. They know not what they do. It says it is finished.

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The price of their sin is paid for and atoned for. Blood has been shed.

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Now let them go free. It is a better word for us. It is invisible.

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I can't show you the blood of Christ, but I can preach to you that the blood of Jesus was shed on behalf of sinners like you.

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Did you come in here this morning fearing God? Were you terrified of the coming judgment?

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Do you know that you can't climb Sinai and so you stay back from God, away from that line?

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I'm here to tell you this morning by the word of God there is a new and living way, a different mountain, not

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Sinai but Zion. You are welcome to the heavenly city where the angels stand in assembly.

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The church assembled, enrolled in heaven. The saints of old are there and you are welcome there by the blood of Jesus.

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You need only to come. I know you can't see the way but you can see by the eyes of faith.

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Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This world was made by the invisible word of God and you can see the evidence of it.

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He's made a bridge for you to believe this good news. Maybe you came in this morning not yet believing in Jesus.

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He's calling you. Believe.

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Come to Mount Zion. His blood has already paid the price of your sin.

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If you'll believe, this is the good news of the gospel.

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If you want to think about in closing, what is the difference between Christianity, true religion, and all the religions of earth?

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Think of it in terms of two mountains, Sinai and Zion.

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You don't want anything to do with Mount, which one? Sinai. Just testing you there because you can't climb it.

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Sinners cannot approach that mountain. You touch that mountain and you die. But Zion is a free gift, a heavenly city through the blood of the lamb.

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Which one will you choose? Come to Mount Zion.

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Let's close in prayer. There could be some here, you've never, you've never come.

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This is your opportunity to do that. In your own heart, just pray these words to God, the creator and the judge of all.

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Come to him in your own heart, just the quietness of your thoughts. He hears you. Say this,

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God, I am a sinner. I deserve to die.

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I cannot keep the law. I cannot climb Mount Sinai, but I believe in Jesus.

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The new and living way. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins.

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I believe his blood was shed for me. It speaks mercy over me, forgiveness.

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So I come to Jesus. God, please welcome me to Mount Zion, to the new

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Jerusalem, to the innumerable angels in festal gathering, to the church of the firstborn whose names are enrolled in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the saints of old now made perfect, to Jesus, and to the blood that speaks a better word.

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I come to you in faith. I leave all my sin behind.

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Any hope of climbing Sinai, I leave behind. I come to Jesus this morning.

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Save me, Lord. Take me. I am yours.

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In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. If you did that, maybe you're listening on line and you just prayed that prayer, or maybe you're here this morning and you just prayed that way, please let myself know or one of the elders.

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We want to get you a Bible and encourage you to keep walking by faith. And for all of us who've been walking and we know these things are real, be reminded.

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Let it change our perspective. So let's stand and let's sing. Worthy of every song we could ever sing.

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Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe.

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We live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name.

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Jesus, the only one who could ever save. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe.

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We live for you. Live for you. Beside you.

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Open up my eyes in one. And show me who you are and fill me.

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Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever save.

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Worthy of every. Beside you.

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Eyes of firm foundation.

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Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

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For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

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But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.

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Now, this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery.

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She is Hagar. Now, Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present

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Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children, but the

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Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother.