Our scripture reading this evening is Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. where he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more, where they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus. the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised saying, yet once more I will shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. So far we read God's holy word. The text begins at verse 18. I'll read that again, 18 through 24. For ye are not come, unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. For they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ, the text we consider tonight describes two starkly different pictures of approaching God, of coming into the presence of God. I'd like to describe that. I'd like the children especially to understand what this text is about. And children, if you can, try to put yourself into the camp of Israel as a child or young man, young woman in the camp of Israel at Mount Sinai. You have gone through Egypt and the 10 terrible plagues, ending with the death of the firstborn. And then having the Passover feast and coming out in the middle of the night and going away from the bondage, you came to the Red Sea and now you're trapped there. and Pharaoh is coming with his host, but the Lord opens up a way in front of you, and you go through the Red Sea with a wall of water on either side, and you come out the other side, you are saved. Pharaoh and his host are destroyed. But life on the other side is not easy. The first place that you come to that has water, the water is so bitter you can't drink it, Mara. It has to have a miracle to make it drinkable. And later on, they come to Rephidim, you did, and there at Rephidim, there was no water until Moses struck the rock. And then you had an abundance of water, but there was no food. And God had to supply food daily from the heavens, manna, which you could eat day after day. Three months of this now under what kind of shelters, what kind of tents they had, until they finally arrived to Sinai. And there you are, this mountain looming in front of you and the whole camp of Israel around you. And then your dad comes into the tent and he said, God is coming to meet us. In three days, God is coming down to meet us. And we have to get ready. All the clothes have to be washed. We have to sanctify ourselves to be ready for the Lord to come upon Mount Sinai to meet us. But he warns you don't go close to the mountain because anyone that goes on that mountain when the Lord is there will be stoned to death. Even an animal if it would come on the mountain must be killed. No one must come on that holy mountain when God is there. And so you carry out the things that are done. All the clothes have to be washed. You have to be sanctified, prepared for the Lord's coming. And the third morning you come out and Moses calls all the congregation together around Mount Sinai and reminds them, do not touch the mountain. You will be killed. You will be stoned if you touch that mountain. And then it happens. lightning, thunder, booming, such as you've never heard before. And on the top of the mountain, there is a thick cloud of smoke, black, black darkness. There is light, light fire coming out of it. And there is smoke rising up high into the heavens as far as you can see. And the mountain is shaking. The mountain is shaking and rocks are falling. And then there's a trumpet, the sound of a trumpet, much louder than what you could hear when people take a ram's horn and blow a trumpet sound out of that. This is a trumpet that sounds long and loud, and then a voice. A voice speaks, not the voice of Moses, not the voice of an angel, but God speaks. I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me, and so the commandments. But you are pressing against your dad. You can see your dad and mom are shaking with fear. And your dad grabs your hand and he begins to move away from the mountain. And you look around and you see that's what everyone's doing. They're running away from the mountain. And so they stand afar off in utter awe, but in terror. God came to meet them. That's one picture. The other picture is also a mountain, Mount Zion. On that mountain, there's a city all lit up. You can see people in it, carrying out their daily activities, and they're all happy. They're all happy. In fact, not only are there people there, but there's angels there. So many angels, you can't count them. And the throne is there. The throne of Jesus is there in the midst of the city. It's a place of joy. The angels are singing. The people are happy. They're living there together in that city before the throne of God. Those are the two pictures. Where would you rather go? To Mount Sinai every day? to the awe-inspiring but terrifying presence of God, or to the city? That's the two pictures. Why? What's this all about? Well, the text starts out with the word for. So that is giving us a reason, why is he saying this? It's a reason for something that he said earlier. And if we look at the context, we see their admonitions, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. looking, watching diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. So there's a warning there. Watch diligently, lest you fall into those kinds of sins. But now step back a moment and think, what's Hebrews all about? It's about these Hebrew Christians who confess Jesus to be their Savior, but now, because of the persecution, they're beginning to wonder and beginning to doubt whether Jesus really is the Messiah and whether they ought to maybe just go back to their old ways of Judaism and worship Jehovah that way. And the text that we consider today really is bringing the whole of the book of Hebrews to a climax. That message that Jesus is the better mediator of a better covenant, of a better covenant than what they had in the Old Testament, this graphic description showing the two, life under the old covenant, life under the new covenant, and where this is going, that's the point of the text that we considered tonight. To convince them not to go back to Judaism, but to hold fast to Jesus Christ and the salvation that he has earned for his people, so much better than the Old Testament. Zion or Sinai, those are the two places you can meet God. Let's examine this text then under the theme, Approaching God, in the new covenant. We'll look at it from that perspective, approaching God in the new covenant. But then the first point will be compared to the old, and that will examine Sinai. And the second point is experienced now, and that's the second part of the text that has to do with the description of Sinai, of Zion rather. And then finally, realized in Christ, the mediator, that's the last verse, verse 24. So approaching God, first of all, we compare approaching God to what they had in the Old Testament or covenant of God. Approaching God at Sinai. And this is what this is all about. Notice that verse 18 starts out, for ye are not come to, and verse 22, but ye are come. So it's approaching, it's coming to someone. The word that is translated to come unto is used seven times in the book of Hebrew And almost always it has the idea, well, every time it has to do with coming to God, either for worship or prayer. I'll give you a few examples. Chapter 4, 16, coming boldly to the throne of grace. 7, verse 25, Jesus is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. Chapter 10, 22, let us draw near unto him, come unto him. That's the idea. God called Israel to him, to come unto him and to meet with him. That is recorded in Exodus chapter 19, and there God first called Moses aside and spoke to Moses and said, this is what I want you to tell the people. Remind them, first of all, that I have just brought them out of Egypt and then said, now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people. for all the earth is mine and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation so Moses went back to the people of Israel told those words to them and the idea was will you keep his commandments will you keep his covenant and the people said yes we will so Then Moses went back to God and told him that, and the Lord said to him, in verse 9, Exodus 19, 9, Moses, lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak unto thee, and believe thee forever. Moses told the people that again. Now further instruction is found in verse 11. Be ready against the third day, for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. Now we all know that God appears to people in different ways. He appeared to Moses at the burning bush, and the purpose there was to show Moses, Israel is like this bush, but it's never consumed because I am in the midst of it. He came to Abraham in the form of a man and sat down and had a meal with him, covenant fellowship, and made the beautiful promise, you will have a son. He appeared to Joshua at before they attacked Jericho as a man with a sword ready to instruct Joshua on how to fight. God can appear different ways to his people in order to convey a certain message. And now think of how God comes here. It is clearly with signs of wrath and judgment. That's inescapable. Fire. Fire is a picture of God's wrath. We know of hell, that's an eternal fire. This is God's wrath that is being set before them. Lightning and thunder, another sign of God's wrath in the scriptures. Darkness and a cloud, signs of the wrath of God. This is how the day of the Lord is presented, a day of darkness and clouds. The sound of a trumpet summoning them, not a sweet sound of a flute or a violin, a trumpet, come to me. You have been summoned to come before the Lord. And then the voice of God speaking the law to them. So terrifying, says the text, that even Moses who was accustomed to speaking with God, Moses who dared to stand in front of Pharaoh and say, let my people go. Moses is shaking with fear, so terrified. God is a consuming fire. holy and righteous, too pure of eyes to behold iniquity. His holiness is a consuming fire against all sin. It absolutely is. So the warning clearly to the people is, do not take my law, my covenant, casually. His people had already rebelled against Him, and they would do it again in the wilderness. God comes with these signs of judgment to show them what they could expect if they disobey, what they deserve if they disobey. God was teaching them, I am not an idol that you can take down off the shelf and worship when you want and then put Him back. I am not a God who winks at sin or will simply let things go in the camp. God is holy. He is almighty. He is the only true God. And the holiness of God and the sins of the people put a distance between the two. The mountain had to be fenced off, no one may approach, even God warned, even if a priest would come through the barrier, he must be stoned to death. And the fact that God is at the top of the mountain and the people are at the bottom of the mountain, there's a great distance between them. God is on his holy throne, the people at the bottom, a great distance from him. The Old Testament or covenant would keep that distance, wouldn't it? Even when God had a temple and when God put his name there and he lived in the most holy place, there was always the reminder there is a distance between us and God. He lived in the most holy place. The priest could go into the holy place, but the people had to stay outside the temple of God. They could not enter into his house. And only once a year, the high priest alone could go into the most holy place with the blood of the sacrifice, reminding, as Hebrew says, reminding the people the way into the most holy place, into God's presence, is yet closed. It's closed. So what's the point that's being made to the Hebrew Christians? You have not come to Mount Sinai. As Christians, as those who are believing in Jesus Christ, you have not come to this. This is not what your covenant that you now have is. When you confess that Jesus is the true Savior, that He saves you from sin and death by His atoning work. That's not the Old Testament covenant. Do not go back to that. Christ did not lead you there. Christ does not lead you to a God of vengeance, a God coming in wrath and judgment, holding people off, distant from Him, presenting himself with such a vision that the people run away in terror. And the law, the law that demands, keep my law and then you live. But if you do not, this is the judgment, the terrifying judgment you will experience. That's not Christianity. That's not what Jesus has brought you to. You have not come to Mount Sinai. Verse 22 then says, but big letters. There's two ways of saying that word in the Greek. One is a smaller way. This is the big one. But in contrast, you would not Come to that, but you have come unto Mount Sinai, Mount Zion. And that's how you experience approaching God now. Let me explain the language a bit and the format of these verses 22 and following. It's all introduced with the words, ye are come unto. And the idea of that tense of the verb is, you have come here before and you are still there. You are come, you're there, you're standing there. That's the idea. And then it lists eight separate items to which they come, in order to give a fuller picture of the new covenant and the salvation that they have. Eight different things to which they have come, and each one of those eight things is separated by the word and. All right, so let me just go through the verses here a minute and show that that's the way this is, because there is something I need to make a change in the way that the King James puts it. But verse 22, ye are come unto what? Mount Zion, that's one, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, so that's the second thing. and to an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly. You have to put that with it. The first words of verse 23 really go with 22. Again, verses are man-made divisions, and this was a wrong one. So, because the word and, again, is separating all these things. So, to an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly, and we'll have to look at that word because that's a very hard word to translate. It really isn't a general assembly. It means, it's the Greek word only used once in the whole New Testament, so that's another problem, but it's the word from which we get an English word not very often used, panegyric. And a panegyric is a speech that praises someone. So what you have to understand here, there's an innumerable company of saints that are praising someone. That's the idea. Okay, so that's the thing that they say. Then they come to the next thing, and to the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and finally, to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. So, verses 22 and 23 have six things that we come to Now we'll cover that here in the second point of the sermon, and then we'll leave verse 24, the last two things you come to, Jesus and the blood, because those are a little different. And that has to do with why we come to all these other things is because of Jesus and the sprinkling of the blood. But immediately we see a tremendous contrast. Sinai is a picture of terrifying judgment that brings fear. Israel running away. By contrast, everything about Mount Zion is beautiful. It's welcoming. It's inviting. So let's examine the six things to which ye are come. First of all, Mount Zion. Ye are come to Mount Zion. Mount Zion is a figure that points us back to the Old Testament. That's obviously being a picture, not a literal mountain that we're coming to. But looking back at the Old Testament and seeing the place of Zion there, that's what we must do. Zion was the high point within the city of Jerusalem. It had two mountain peaks. On one of them, the temple was built, Mount Moriah. And on the other one, David built a palace and later Solomon. Zion is absolutely the center of Israel's life, especially from a religious point of view. The Psalms, which we've been singing and others extol the virtues of Mount Zion. Zion is God's dwelling place. It is the place where the throne is set. We sang of it, the throne of Messiah, David's throne, Solomon's, but a picture of Jesus' throne of judgment. God speaks of his unchanging love for Zion. It is a beautiful city, well-situated. One of the Psalms says, it's the joy of the whole earth. Salvation and blessing are found only in Zion. Zion is a believer's chief joy so that we could sing with the saints of old. My heart was glad to hear the welcome sound. Let us go up to the house of the Lord. there are set thrones of judgment, Zion. We come to the most beautiful place, God's dwelling place. So that first of all, we come to Mount Zion. Secondly, we come to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, a city. As compared to Sinai, a mountain in the middle of the wilderness, a dry and thirsty place where there was hardly anything living, snakes and other poisonous animals, but nothing beautiful about it at all. Here we have a city, a city with homes, a city with life. Everything is well provided for. They don't have to scratch around for food. It's the city of the living God. And that tells us something. He's the living God. And right away, as we saw this morning, it's the covenant that comes into view. The life of the city is God's own covenant with his people. It's a place of joy, a place of peace and enjoying fellowship. Added to that, it's the heavenly Jerusalem. That, of course, is the name for the church, Jerusalem. But the emphasis there and here is not on the people, but the fact that it's God's dwelling place. He abides there in covenant fellowship. And we get a sense of that if we turn to Revelation chapter 21. where John sees a vision. I saw a new heaven and a new earth, where the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea, and I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem. coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So you see that mixed figure there, a bride adorned for her husband, a city coming down, the new Jerusalem, that's the church. But the emphasis is, this is where God dwells with his people. And if you read further in Revelation, it describes this city, beautiful city, streets of gold, and God and the Lamb are the light of the city, heavenly Jerusalem. Third, and ye are come to an innumerable company of angels in a general assembly, in a panegyric angels, not simply standing about but angels enjoying a tremendous celebration. Again, go back to the book of Revelation and listen to their praise. Revelation chapter five. Verse 11, and I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands, over 100 million angels, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. the praise of the angels. There were angels at Sinai. God gave the law to Moses. God wrote the law on the stone tablet and he passed that to the angels who gave it to Moses. Angels were there. There's an indication perhaps that there were 10,000 angels there. But here, it's innumerable. You can't count them. And they are all praising God, praising the Lamb, who had accomplished His finished work. He had ascended into heaven. He's sitting on the throne, and the angels cannot stop praising Him. That's the third thing you come to. Fourth, you come to the church, the firstborn whose names are written in the book of light, written in heaven rather, written in heaven. Literally, it's the church of the firstborn ones, plural. It's not firstborn. If you just read singular, you might think, well, it's referring to Jesus. And it is indirectly, but firstborn ones, all the people in the church, Our firstborn, now the firstborn had a special place, a place of honor in the family, and a place where he absolutely deserved the inheritance. That's the main thing. Esau sold his birthright, but the birthright had the inheritance in it. All of these members of the church are firstborns. They all have the right to the inheritance. Not only that, but the firstborn in Israel, remember, had to be purchased, because God, when He redeemed Israel out of Egypt, He said, you are Israel, you are my son, and all of the firstborn I claim for mine. So in order for you to keep your firstborn in your own home, you will have to pay me money to purchase him, and the Levites then will fulfill the task of the firstborn doing the service of the temple. In this picture, everyone is a firstborn. They are all serving God, no need for the Levites. They are purchased by God, they belong to Him, and they are serving Him in joy in God's temple. That their names are written in heaven obviously points to election, to the fact that their names are written in the book of life, And for the Jews now, how important was it that their names be written in those lists of genealogies that would trace their line back to Abraham? Oh, my name has to be found there. But for these people, their names are written in heaven. They cannot be lost. the fifth thing, and to God, the judge of all. God is present there. Obviously, this is His work. This is what He has planned eternally. He has accomplished it through Jesus Christ, and He is enjoying His work. It's the eternal Sabbath of God. that he is judge should not be a cause of consternation to any of God's people. Yes, he is a judge who condemns the ungodly, but it's actually a comfort for God's people because the elect are judged in and through Jesus Christ. God declares them to be righteous, to be worthy of a place in his kingdom. Romans 8, there is thou therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Or verse 33 of that chapter, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. We do not need to fear that God is judge. In fact, we can say with the Belgic Confession that that judgment is actually a comfort to us. A comfort. It's most desirable. This is Article 37 of the Belgic Confession. That last judgment is most desirable and comfortable to the righteous and the elect because then their full deliverance shall be perfected. And there they shall receive the fruits of their labor and trouble which they have borne. Their innocence shall be made known to all and they shall see the terrible vengeance which God shall execute on the wicked who cruelly persecuted. and oppressed and tormented them in this world. No matter what men judge, our judge is God. God the judge is on Mount Sinai. Number six, the spirit, we are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. This clearly is heaven. It's where the saints are from Abel all the way on They're in heaven. Their bodies are not yet there. Their souls are there. The spirits are there, and they await the day of the resurrection of their bodies. They're there because they have been justified by Jesus Christ. That's why it says the spirits of just men, just men. They're declared righteous. God declares them that because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There's no terror there. No one is running away. God declares, you are righteous, you have a right to live in my presence, not at a distance, right in my presence. Amazing. They've been made perfect. And made perfect is the same word used so many times in the book of Hebrews that says, no, not made sinless, that's a different idea, but made perfect means made complete. brought to the goal that God has in mind. And now you think about that. Every single person that God has chosen and redeemed. God has a goal, a purpose for that individual, for every one of you. God has a purpose. There is a place in heaven for you, your place, your function, and all of the things of this life are preparing you. Especially troubles. and sorrows and hardships. They're preparing you for your place in heaven. They've been made perfect. God has brought every one of them to the goal, and there they are in heaven. They're confident. They belong there. They have a function. They have a place there. Every single one knows that. No one feels inferior. No one looks down on anyone else. Everyone there has their perfect place in heaven. What an amazing picture of heaven. Perhaps the most fitting word is simply welcoming, welcoming. Nothing compares to this. The treasures of this world and the joys of this life are nothing compared to that. Even the best of lives in this world have some sorrow, some pain, and they all inevitably end in death. When this life, this earthly life, with its joys and treasures and pleasures attract or flesh, when the philosophies of this world or political movements or some religion may attract, then think of that picture. Think of that. So welcoming. Set your heart on that. This is what you have coming. But now if you're thinking, wait a minute, The second point is about experiencing the coming now, and I've been describing all something that sounds like what is coming later. But understand, that is true. We do not have all of that in perfection, but we have all of that in principle. We have Mount Zion, God's dwelling place, His church. God dwells with His church. The Spirit is in us. We are the temples of the Spirit of God. We are dwelling with God and He with us. We are the firstborn ones whose names are written in the Book of Life. We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ. God has declared us to be righteous even while He condemns the ungodly reprobate. Jesus is on the throne. Innumerable company of angels are at His command. He sends them out for the salvation of His church. We saw that already in chapter 1. Do you not recognize what you have? You have free access to God. As we said early, you can come boldly to the throne. It's not a throne on Sinai. It's not a throne with lightning and thunder and black clouds. It's the throne of grace. You may come boldly to that throne of grace. You fellowship with God. You fellowship with God through his word, through the preaching, through the written scriptures. You have a foretaste of everything that this text talks about. You have a foretaste. This is the word to the Hebrew Christians. Sinai, that's a picture of judgment, terrifying judgment. Set in a waste, howling wilderness. Do you want to go back to that? That's not where the gospel of Jesus Christ brings you. Rather, you are come to Mount Zion, Mount Zion. But the best is yet to come because verse 24 says we have come to Jesus. We have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling. Jesus, beautiful name, Jehovah Salvation. God, the son, humbling himself, taking on the form of a servant that he might become one with his brethren, that he could take upon himself their curse, their guilt, and go the way of punishment to endure that terrifying wrath that was pictured there on Sinai, he would go through that, he would be put to death. In perfect obedience, he laid down his life and endured that wrath and finished that wrath for his people. By this, he restores his people back to righteousness and to life. They have a place in the covenant. They belong there because of Jesus' atoning death. He's the mediator of the new covenant. Now, think of how all the things of Hebrews are coming into focus here. The very first sermon that we heard on this was in chapter eight. Look at this. Jesus, the better mediator of a better covenant. That's the theme of the book. And now it's coming out here again. A better covenant, why? Because it's not any longer a covenant where God proclaims from Mount Sinai the law, keep this and do. But it's a covenant where God takes his law and writes it upon the hearts of his people. He writes it upon the hearts of the people so that they want to keep that law. So that they have the ability to begin to keep the law. And the covenant is so much better because God says, I will no more remember the sins of my people. I will not remember them. Jesus is the mediator of that new covenant. The old covenant is inseparably bound up with the law. The old covenant failed and had to be replaced, not because there was something wrong with the covenant. but because the people could not keep it. And so God brought the new, the new covenant realized by the mediator, Jesus Christ. And ye are come unto Jesus, the new, the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling, the blood of sprinkling, That's the atoning blood of Christ. And how many times haven't we dealt with that in the book of Hebrews? The sprinkling, Moses taking the hyssop and a bowl of water and blood and sprinkling the law and the temple, the tabernacle and the people, cleansing them with blood It was the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat when the high priest went out on the great day of atonement in the most holy place, blood, seven drops of blood sprinkled there to come into God's presence. Christ accomplished all of that with his blood. opening the way into the most holy place, not the temple's most holy place, but God's own dwelling place through the veil, which is his own flesh, tearing his own flesh on the cross. He opened the way into God's presence, sprinkling of blood. And the people are cleansed. Because the blood is so much better than the blood of Abel that was shed. Abel's blood called for judgment and vengeance, and that will be done, the vengeance on the ungodly. But the blood of Christ is cleansing blood. You have come to the blood of Jesus. That's why we can go to Mount Zion. That's why we can go into the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem only because of only through Jesus and his blood, not the keeping of the law that will not bring us into the presence of God. but only the blood of the mediator of the new covenant. That opens the way into God's gracious presence. This is where you are, Hebrew Christians. You are come to Mount Zion. And so where are you? People of God, where am I? Where are we? We too have been purchased with the blood of Christ and brought to Mount Zion. Having now been shown what this means and the beauty and the glory, is it not an incentive enough for us to devote our whole life to God, so that fathers go off to work, not seeking unrighteous mammon, but the riches of the kingdom, so that wives and mothers are not pursuing things, houses filled with beautiful furniture and appliances and clothes, but they're seeking the beauty of the kingdom. So that we, as we go to school, are not going there simply to enjoy life, but to know God better and how we may serve Him. Life with God is not about fun. It's not about pleasure. It's not about things. It's about Mount Zion. What are we living for? We are come to Mount Zion. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, glorious art thou, glorious is thy work, thy way, and what thou hast determined for thy church is almost beyond believing. It is so wonderful. But we believe it. We know it's true. The Bible is true. The faith thou has given us embraces it. And how easily we forget. Keep it in front of us, Lord. Make us to live for this, for that eternal church and kingdom and city and not for the things of this life. Help us, apply it to us, we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen. Psalm 87B, Psalm 87B, Zion founded on the mountains, God thy maker loves thee well. Let's sing all the stanzas of 87B. ♪ I have wandered on the mountains ♪ ♪ But I've been here once before ♪ ♪ He has chosen me most precious ♪ ♪ In the eyes that lead to love ♪ ♪ God so sent me ♪ ♪ To where all thy hope I reach ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? When the Lord shall crown the nations, sons and daughters each shall see, born to endless life in Zion, and their joyful song shall ring. in me. Blessed Zion, all our fountains are in thee. Praise ye the Lord, ye hosts above, in yonder heavenly high. Then bless the Lord, ye saints below, who in his grace The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.