The Hebrew Christians were being taunted by their estranged relatives, friends, co-workers, synagogue and governmental rulers. These relationships despised the Hebrew Christians for leaving the historic Jewish religion. As they followed Jesus Christ they heard discordant voices telling them; “you’re on the wrong path, you are headed away from Sinai and Jerusalem, you have left your heritage in Abraham and Moses, you have forsaken your nation that has had great blessing from God.”
The writer of Hebrews addresses these accusations in verses 18-29 and reminds the believers of what they have in Christ.
I invite you to study Hebrews 12, where we see the contrasts of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, two mounts, Sinai and Zion. terror verses reverence, and distant verses closeness.
Though these mounts are literal geographical and historical places, the author is using them to illustrate where a believer stands before God through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 12:18-21 “For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)”
Now, these verses do not describe the experience God wants with His people. God does NOT want believers to “be afraid and tremble” as they did at Mount Sinai.
At that time, a trumpet blared, fire flashed, and smoke consumed the mountain. The sky was darkened as God thundered forth His law. The people were so scared, they begged Moses to talk to God privately and then relay to them whatever God had said. They couldn’t even bear the initial order, which told them, “Don’t even touch the mountain or you will die.”
The point of this passage is that the basis of the law was to condemn everyone who violated it. The law says, “The soul who sins shall die!” (Ezekiel 18:4,20). And there is little hope under the law. There is only fear.
It’s like driving down the road when all of a sudden you see flashing lights in your rearview mirror. You were going a little too fast, and now you know it’s going to cost you. You’re hoping for mercy (a warning), but you fear condemnation (a ticket). That’s the way the law works. Only it is far worse, because There is little mercy under the law. There is only the “fearful expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:26), which paralyzes many people.
With the trip to Sinai, men and women came to see God’s holiness, they also were made aware of their sinfulness. The Law showed them that because of sin they could not see or approach God. That was the Hebrew believer’s past, now notice the difference in verse 22. (Note the major contrast with the use of the word but!)
Hebrews 12:22 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,”
The good news of the new covenant is that “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). When a person trusts in what Christ did for them, that He paid the penalty for all your sins on the cross, they no longer have to fear condemnation but are welcome to approach God.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminded them that …
- We Triumph in our Faith through Christ.
As a believer, we do not TREMBLE WITH FEAR as we come to the Judge like the Israelites did at Mount Sinai.
Notice verse 22 says, “You HAVE come…” this means that as a believer in Christ, our entrance into heaven is not only sure, but as if it has already happened and we are welcomed. Notice how he continues using the participle phrase, “You HAVE come…” into verse 23
Hebrews 12:23 “ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.”
This verse describes this declaration from heaven! With confidence, we are to come to God, because we are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace.
Verses 22 and 23 describe a picture of when believers get to heaven, God will have completed His work of making believers perfect. That means we do not need to fear His judgment.
Notice back in verse 22 there are “innumerable angels,” along with verse 23 “the assembly of the firstborn” – referring to all believers. And God, the judge, is there, along with “all the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
Hebrews 12:24 Believers HAVE come… “to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”
The Hebrew Christians are told that believers do not come to the Judge as they did on Mount Sinai. We have come to Jesus in Heaven, who shed His blood for our sin, granting us access to God.
This is the main reason that the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant (the law) condemned us for sin. The New Covenant, on the other hand, is a promise of unconditional blessing for anyone who comes to Christ.
This is the good news, if you haven’t done it already, trust Christ today! Depend on Him. Trust Him with your life, and you can be as sure of Heaven as if you were already there!
Pastor Lee Strobel told about time when he had anyone who had a hidden sin to write in on a piece of paper, and then fold the paper. There was a large cross on the platform, so he told them to pin that paper to the cross. That’s because the Bible says our sins are nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ and fully paid for by His death.
In that service, one woman, who later wrote them a letter said:
“I remember my fear. In fact, it was the most fear I remember in my life. I wrote as tiny as I could on that piece of paper the word abortion. I was so scared someone would open the paper and read it and find out it was me. I wanted to get up and walk out of the auditorium during the service, the guilt and fear were that strong.
“When my turn came,” she said, “I walked toward the cross, and I pinned the paper there. One of the pastors who were up front helping people, looked me straight in the eyes, and I thought for sure that he was going to read this terrible secret I kept from everybody for so long. But instead, I felt as if God was telling me, I love you. You’ve been forgiven. I felt so loved, and yet a terrible sinner. That day I felt forgiven and Gods’ unconditional love. It was unbelievable, indescribable. (Lee Strobel, “Meet the Jesus I Know,” Preaching Today tape no. 211; www.PreachingToday.com)
Perhaps, you know of a sin (or many sins) that weigh you down with guilt and shame. This passage is showing that every person who comes to Jesus, comes to a Savior who died for every one of our sins and removes the restriction that keep us from God and then He receives us just as if we never sinned.
That means believers don’t have to tremble with fear any longer, because we are no longer under the terrifying precepts of God’s Law. Instead, we can triumph through faith, because we are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace. Believers never have to come to the Judge at Mount Sinai. We have come to Jesus in Heaven!
But there is a warning, don’t refuse His grace and return to the old ways of religion. Note this advice in…
Hebrews 12:25a “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks.”
- DON’T REJECT GOD’S GRACE.
On the day at Mount Sinai they were warned to not come, But now, people are told not to refuse JESUS. Literally, do not refuse to come to Him and His invitation for a relationship.
Verse 25 uses the Greek word for “refuse” which is the same word used in Luke 14, where several people asked to be excused from a dinner party. One said, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused” (Luke 14:18). Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I need to go examine them. Please have me excused” (Luke 14:19).
A woman named Corin Ward was a struggling single lady, who received a phone call from an attorney one day, telling her that she had been mentioned in the will of a deceased client.
She met the attorney at his office, who told her that the will belonged to a man who wished to be known only as “Dr. Meszaros.” Corin told the attorney, “I don’t know any doctor by that name”, and she wondered if there had been some sort of mistake. The lawyer was not surprised that Corin didn’t recognize the name, but there was no doubt that Dr. Meszaros knew Corin.
According to the attorney, Meszaros lived in the same city as Corin and had fallen head over heels in love with her, but Meszaros struggled with debilitating fears, so he never worked up the courage to speak to the woman he admired from afar. Even so, he was unable to get over the woman who had captured his heart. Sadly, he died alone, but Meszaros left Corin every penny he had saved over the course of his life. (Adrienne Crezo, “7 People Who Died and Left Their Fortunes to Strangers,” Mental Floss, October 16, 2012; www.PreachingToday.com)
Meszaros excused himself from a relationship with Corin. Maybe he feared rejection. Maybe, he didn’t think he was good enough for her. Whatever the reason, his excuses left him afraid and alone.
People do not need to do that with Jesus. Jesus made it so there is only one excuse that will keep people from a relationship with Him and that is to refuse HIM, see this in…
Hebrews 12:25 “For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven.”
No one will escape God’s judgment outside of Jesus covering their sin. Under the Old Covenant, the people who refused to obey God’s Law, either died or they were sent into exile. However, under the new covenant for those that refuse God’s grace through Jesus, it will be a whole lot worse!
Hebrews 12:26 “whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”
When God gave His law on Mount Sinai, the Bible says, “The whole mountain trembled greatly” (Exodus 19:18). There was a great earthquake; but someday, there will be a great universe-quake. God will shake not only the earth, but everything in the heavens, as well.
Hebrews 12:27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
We know from the book of Revelation, the sun will fall. The stars will be shaken loose, and the planets will careen out of their orbits. The only thing that will remain is the Kingdom of God and those who have answered Jesus invitation to be a part of that Kingdom.
“On January 17, 1994, Jack Hayford told his account of the earth quake, he said, “10,000 freight trains seemed to be thundering through our house as the Northridge earthquake hit Los Angeles. When it was over, our family was safe and our home virtually untouched.”
Jack said it’s a terrifying thing when just a part of the earth shakes. (Jack Hayford, How to Live Through a Bad Day: Powerful Insights from Christ’s Words on the Cross, 2002). Imagine what it will be when God shakes the entire universe!
Outside of Jesus there will not be an escape when God shakes the whole world and all the stars out of place.
- We are part of GOD’S UNSHAKEABLE KINGDOM so we come to Him with gratitude and reverence.
Everyone that believes comes to Him and will receive His offer of grace. In return we offer an attitude of praise and wonder for His unconditional love.
Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
No longer does a believer cower fear in the presence of a judge like we saw in verse 21. Verses 28 and 29 refer to a reverential awe in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. It’s what the Bible means when it talks about “the fear of the Lord.”
Note verse 28 and 29 well! It says that our God is (not was) “a consuming fire.” The God of Zion is the same God as the God of Sinai; God has not changed. He demands that sin is dealt with before we approach Him. He provided for our sin through Jesus Christ. Any attempt at any other way is to refuse Him. Those who come to Jesus, the result is that…
- God’s people serve and invest in His unshakable kingdom!
- We should want to continue obeying the Lord Jesus Christ because…
- Believers don’t tremble with fear because we are no longer under the terrifying precepts of God’s Law.
- Believers have been able to triumph through faith, because we are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace.
- Believers do not come to a Judge at Mount Sinai. We have come to Jesus in Heaven.
- In awe of Jesus, we serve Him with gratitude, reverence, with thanksgiving.