The City of God
0 Amens
The City of
Hebrews 12:18-22
February 1, 2009
Series 3 Sermon 68
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 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, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Introduction
One of the main themes of the Epistle to the Hebrews is the fact that in Christ what we have in the New Covenant that He mediates is far superior to what could be had and experienced in the Old Covenant that was mediated to Moses. The writer has woven this truth throughout this entire letter and in various ways has told us that what we the church has in Christ is so much better than what any of us could have ever experienced in the Old Testament times.
One of the issues that was taking place in this early church that first received this letter was that persecution and trial was leading some to abandon the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ and to head back to Judaism. I want you to keep in mind as we move more and more into a time in our own world where biblical Christianity is shunned that all attacks on Christianity really boil down to an attack upon the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the Gospel true? Is the Lord Jesus who He claimed and the writers of Scripture claimed Him to be? This was the question in the first century and if the Lord does not come before then this will be the question in the 51st century.
Particularly in the first century some of the reasons for this seemed to be because of some lingering questions about the legitimacy of Christianity as a true religion. After all those in Judaism could point to thousands of years of history. They could point out that they had a God given revelation recorded by Moses. They could remind the Christians that they had priests that performed sacrificial duties and a temple where the sacrifices could be made an altar that God had commanded to be built. And they had a God given covenant complete with the presence of God handing that covenant to Moses and the people who left Egyptian bondage.
So the writer has had the task in this letter or as some see it, this sermon, to debunk all of the criticisms that mid-first century Judaism could level against Christianity. The first criticism is that the writer dealt with was the accusation that Christianity had no prophet like Judaism had Moses. Moses was the great prophet of the Old Testament and is highly revered by Jews and Christians alike. But Moses himself pointed to the day when a new prophet would arise. Listen to Deuteronomy 18:15-19.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Understanding full well that Deuteronomy 18 pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ the writer of Hebrews shows us that in the
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God's angels worship him.”
So in the first six verses of Hebrews the writer introduces us to the Great Prophet of Christianity who was prophesied of by Moses in Deuteronomy 19 but also informs us that He is the very Son of God, the exact imprint of His divine nature and the radiance of the very glory of God. He would also serve in a priestly role and as King as he is now seated at the righthand of the Father and is being worshipped and adored by angels. And He is much greater than Moses.
Then in Hebrews 3:1-6 the writer of Hebrews finishes off his point. Look at verse 1.
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
So Christianity has the greatest of all prophets. But Christianity does not have priests in the way that Judaism did. There is no one constantly offering burnt offerings to God. We know that God has created in the church a kingdom of priests. But what about the most important priest? What about the High Priest who would go into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and later the Temple once per year on the Day of Atonement to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people? Christianity does not have that annual sacrifice with a High Priest. But look at Hebrews 4:14-16.
14 Since then we have a great high priest (not just a high priest but a great High Priest) who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Our great High Priest is the Word who became flesh and rubbed shoulders with us. He is not aloof from us but lowered Himself from the glory He had with the Father to live among sinful human beings.) 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The Old Covenant gave no such command. The command for those in Christ is to draw near the throne of grace for help. The Old Covenant high priest went behind a curtain or veil to do his work and no one was allowed in but him. Ephesians 2:6 says about us and our great High Priest that we have been seated with Him in the heavenly places. That is why our great High Priest is far superior to the high priest of
So the question now that the practicing Jew would ask is why Jesus Christ who was of the tribe of
And in Hebrews chapter 6 and 7 the writer acknowledges this perceived problem and declares himself that Jesus Christ is not qualified based on His lineage to serve as an Old Covenant priest or high priest. In fact He is overqualified for that job. The writer uses the Old Testament to show that there would arise another who would be a Great High Priest who would continue forever. The problem with the Old Covenant priest was their inability to live forever. They kept dying. Then they would have to be replaced. But the writer knew his Old Testament and showed the church why Christ is superior as Great High Priest over Aaron. The argument is in chapter 7 but let me summarize. The Old Testament gives us the priesthood of the line of Levi with Aaron as the high priest. But before that we learn of another priest of the Most High God who resided in what would become
You may read that in Genesis 14 and just keep on reading until you find something more interesting. But wait. What is the significance of this seeming obscure event hidden in the pages of Genesis? Here is the point. The greater always blesses the lesser. This is why I don’t walk around blessing all of you after the service because in Christ we are all equal and my blessing would do you actually no good because in fact I am your servant. My blessing would mean a great deal to my children but not to you. So the greater always blesses the lesser thus Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. Also Abraham pays Melchizedek a tithe and the lesser always tithes to the greater.
At this point someone may say, “Well so what. What does that have to do with anything?” Here is what it means. Abraham is the patriarch. All Jews who have ever been born proceed from Abraham. So as Abraham acts on behalf of himself and his family they all paid tithes to and received a blessing from this priest king Melchizedek including the future high priest of Judaism, Aaron. Look at Hebrews 7:7-10.
7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
The diligent student of Judaism would now say at this point, so what? What does that have to do with Jesus of Nazareth becoming a great high priest? The writer also mentions the one other time in the Old Testament that Melchizedek is mentioned. Remember he predates Aaron and the Levitical priesthood. The other time Melchizedek is mentioned is in Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is a prophetic Psalm written about the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen as I read it starting in verse 1.
1 The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." 2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from
The Messiah will be a king in the line of David and will be a priest but not in the line of Aaron. Let me give you the long and short of it. Because Melchizedek predates Aaron and because Psalm 110 comes after the Aaronic high priesthood is in place these facts effectively cancel the Levitical priesthood and we see how we can have a Great High Priest. That is why Christ Jesus could not and would not serve as a Levitical priest because He is too superior to do so. The writer has nothing against Aaron he just understands that after the Lord Jesus Christ the only thing Aaron can do is bow in worship before the Great High Priest.
Obviously a priest must have something to offer. A sacrifice has to be made. Now up to this time the writer of Hebrews has been on the defensive. But now he has the antagonist from Judaism who is questioning the authenticity of Christianity backed into the corner and now he effectively goes on the offensive. Look at Hebrews 7:23-28.
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
This Great High Priest would need like the former high priests of Judaism a covenant to mediate. The Old Covenant that was given to Moses and mediated by Aaron basically boiled down to this. If you walk in the ways of the Lord you will have blessing but if you don’t you will be destroyed. And if you read the Old Testament which I strongly encourage you to do, you will find that the best of those in the Old Covenant were covenant breakers and thus worthy of death. So this New Covenant that is mediated by the Great High Priest has to be better. It has to be able to accomplish what could not be accomplished by the Old Covenant and its priesthood. So look at Hebrews 8 with me to see what this New Covenant would promise. Look starting in verse 6.
6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: (Direct quote from Jeremiah 31)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. (They were covenant breakers and thus many were destroyed. So how is this new covenant better?)
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
(No longer is the covenant contingent upon faithfulness of the people in the covenant but it is contingent upon the work and will of God Himself. Over and over in this declaration the Lord says that He will do something to keep this covenant with His people and by the declaration that was made through the Prophet Jeremiah the Old Covenant with its sacrificial system was already a dead man walking. Look at verse 13.
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The writer continues his assault. He now turns his attention from the Prophet and the Great High Priest and the New and Better Covenant to the sacrifice that secures the promises in this New Covenant. Look at Hebrews 9 starting in verse 1. Notice that the writer acknowledges the glory in the Old Covenant.
1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). (Now listen to what the writer says about these sacrifices that are offered.) According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
Here is the Old Covenant in a few sentences. Day after day and year after year sacrifices are continually being offered for sin. Daily sacrifices to atone for the breaking of the Covenant and sins of the people and then the highest day on the sacrificial calendar the Day of Atonement. But what these sacrifices screamed at those who would hear is the weightiness and cost of their sin and that this sin was never fully paid for because every time they turned around another animal was being sacrificed. Day after day the bleeting of sheep and the cutting of throats and the blood that was poured over the alter and it never could make the vilest sinner clean. But we have verse 11 and following.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
What the Old Covenant could not do with a multitude of sacrifices the sinless Son of God who is the Great Prophet, the Great High Priest, the Mediator of this New and Better Covenant did when He sacrificed Himself once and never again. Look at verses 23-28.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
And finally the writer puts the final nail in the coffin of the Old Covenant in Hebrews 10 verses 14-18.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The sacrifice is finished. When the Lord Jesus Christ cried out from the cross, “It is finished” it really was. In that single solitary sacrificial act on the cross He paid the price for all of the sins of His people for all times. By His life He kept all of the covenants of Scripture and fulfilled them and set in motion the New and Better Covenant and now He mediates that covenant between God the Father and His people seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession on our behalf. We have a Great High priest who has secured our standing before God and because of Him and His work we have been declared righteous before God and in Him we are perfect.
And in our passage this morning we are reminded yet again what a Savior we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are reminded first where we have not come to. Look at Hebrews 12 starting in verse 18.
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
The writer calls to our minds the events of Exodus 19. One of the most terrifying events recorded in the Bible is when God descends down to
They had already been given the order not to even touch the mountain or they would die. Then as the event is taking place the Lord warns Moses about this again and tells him to remind the people not to break through the boundaries that had been set up and attempt to gaze upon the Lord. Because if they did the Lord would break out against them and kill them for their disobedience. At this event the Lord spoke audibly to Moses and to the people and I want you to hear their reaction when the Lord gives them the Ten Commandments. This is Exodus 20:18-19.
18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."
Mt Sinai was a terrifying situation. It was not one of joy and happiness in the presence of God. It was not a wonderful thing for the people to know that God was among them. They and Moses were terrified at what their physical bodies could experience. The warning over and over was to stay back lest you die.
But the warning of the New Covenant is altogether different. Because of the work of the Great Prophet, the Great High Priest, and the Great King the warning is this. Come to Jesus Christ so that you may live. Those who stay back will perish. Those who believe and come near will have everlasting life.
In Matthew 11:28 the Lord Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Jesus said in John 6:37, 37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
God in the flesh commands men, women, and children no matter their race, economic standing, their upbringing, or their current belief system to drop everything and come to Him and Him alone for life eternal.
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross Matthew 27:50-51 tells us that the veil that covered the Holy of Holies and separated it from sinners was torn from top to bottom proclaiming to us that the way to God and salvation had now been accomplished. The sins of those who will come to Christ have been forever and completely paid for and will never be remembered by the Lord again. The Old Covenant sacrificial system with its constant reminder of sin had been eternally done away with. The Law was fulfilled and grace and mercy has come. The Apostle John said it this way in John 1:17.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In Hebrews 12:18-21 you have a very frightening event and the writer proclaims to the church that we have not approached that mountain. We have a better mountain to approach with better promises and a better covenant secured by the greatest of all sacrifices sufficient to save all that God would save and more. Look at verse 22.
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 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, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we have come to the
We will be among those who have been made perfect by the blood of the Lamb and will be in perfect eternal fellowship with one another as we behold the face of our Savior. Angels will stand in awe of a human being who has been redeemed beholding the face of their Savior for the first time. We will be like the blind man from birth who Jesus healed and the first face he saw was the Savior’s. “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace.”
This is why we can endure and hold fast our confession. This is why as we have seen already in chapter 12 that we can endure discipline and affliction as the Lord readies us for eternity. This is why we can both submit to and be actively involved in church discipline. This is the fuel for holy living. This is the fuel for evangelism. This is the fuel for all that God calls us to do.
Let me ask you this morning, have you come to Mt Zion? Are you part of the glorious throng of sinners made perfect by the blood of Christ through faith in Him alone? Have you forsaken your religion, your sin, your ideas, your hopes and dreams, and aspirations in order to hold nothing but Christ? Have you let go of your plans for your life for God’s plans for you?
Are you listening to the blood of Christ sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat that speaks louder and better than the blood of Abel?
The Bible commands all men, women, and children everywhere to repent of sin and believe the Gospel. And this morning that is the command for you. If you have not repented and trusted in Christ by faith and in Him alone for salvation then you have not come to
Let’s pray.
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