So every day, you know this, though you may not think of it during the day, every day all of us use pictures to describe ordinary things of life. We use images. We use figures of speech. We use idioms to communicate something in a picturesque way. These idioms, these expressions may be picturesque, but they communicate truth, and we find them very helpful and vivid. You children here may know what I mean. You've probably heard your parents talk this way. People will say that they've come to a fork in the road. meaning they have a choice laid out before them. Or they'll say, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, meaning I don't know the answer yet, let's wait. We have an ESL class, an English as a Second Language class that's been meeting on Wednesday nights, and I like using idioms as I teach that class. And it was so fun the other day to hear one of my students say, something is fishy. It was an idiom that we learned. You might hear someone say that his life was in the gutter. Meaning Christ came in and brought you out of the gutter. You might hear someone say, oh, he just unloaded on me. He blew me away. Or he jumped down my throat. Our family often has joked about how people use images like these and then proceed it with a statement like, I was literally blown away. Oh, you weren't literally blown away. Or, I have literally come to a fork in the road. No, there's no fork on the road there in front of you. You've come to a fork in the road, but it's not literal. It's figurative. It's an image. The living God actually uses all kinds of picturesque speech to reveal truth about himself. We find that in the Bible from the beginning to the end. to reveal truth about himself, to reveal truth about us, to reveal truth about our relationship with him, about the church, about our drawing near to him. And that's exactly what we have before us today. I've been saying all along that the book of Exodus, this book is all about you. The Exodus of the Israelites is a picture of you. This is your life story told in images and in pictures. Now this is real history. This isn't just A story. This is real history. These things really and truly occurred. But God uses these recorded things, which happened to the people of God thousands of years ago, to be an everlasting picture of how he rescues people today. The journey of the Israelites is a picture of our pilgrimage. You see, we were bound in slavery, not in a physical country like Egypt. Their slavery, though, was a picture of ours. We were bound in slavery to sin and to the devil. And everything that happened to them as we've gone through the book of Exodus, everything that's happened to them, these things happened to us in our spiritual lives. We can see the seriousness, you see, of our lost estate. Their bondage in Egypt shows us how we couldn't have freed ourselves. It's all of grace. Their misery in Egypt reminds us of our misery without Christ. The Lord said that he came like an eagle and rescued them out of the hand of Pharaoh. He swooped down and dealt with Egypt and brought the Israelites to safety. As we looked at a few weeks ago, he's done the same with us. In Christ, he has come and rescued us from this present evil age and transferred us to the kingdom of light. We've been saved by grace through faith in Christ. And this isn't of ourselves, it's a gift from God. He is the one who came and rescued us. And God continues here in these chapters to use pictures to describe the unique privileges and role that they had in the world, and that we have. They're a kingdom of priests, and so are we, the New Testament says. They were a holy nation, and so are we. They were a king's treasure, and so are we. And now the Lord begins here in Exodus 19, prepares rescued people to hear what this God of grace, Yahweh, the Lord, what he requires of them and how he wants them to live in this newfound liberty. A few months ago, we began this look as they went out of Egypt. And a few weeks ago, we came to the place where they had been brought through the the trials of the wilderness, they've come to the mountain of God, they're back where Moses started with the burning bush. It was here that Yahweh told him to go down to Egypt and to bring his people to freedom, that he has remembered his promise to Abraham. It was here that Moses made all those objections, remember? No, no, no, Lord, I don't speak so well. No, what if they don't believe me? It's here where God said, you will go for me and you will bring this whole nation. And this is how you'll know that it is I who have done this because you'll bring this whole nation here to worship me. So Moses goes down, he comes before Pharaoh time and again. The plagues deal a devastating blow against a stubborn, unbelieving, rebellious king. And through the power of God, the people are free. And they start on their way to the promised land, but just like Satan comes running after the child of God who has turned to Christ, just like Satan comes running after the child of God thinking you still belong to him, Pharaoh goes running after the Israelites where they're up against the Red Sea. But they're safe, they're safe in the Lord's hand. Nothing can snatch them away. Neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor pharaohs, nor chariots can separate them from the love of God. Just like you, nothing can separate you from the love of God that he has for you. Absolutely the same is true for you. His love and mercy God wants to press this truth upon your heart and mind so that you'll be comforted and encouraged This all of this is a picture of your life. And now they are here at the foot of Mount Sinai The Lord has told them to come to them And they've been instructed as we saw a few weeks ago before we begin some Christmas messages That they are to be ready to meet him They are to prepare They're to consecrate themselves They're to wash their clothes, a symbol of their needing to be cleansed. Husbands and wives were to be abstaining from physical intimacy, a form of fasting to fix their hearts on the Lord. They were consecrated by Moses. And now they're ready, as ready as they'll ever be, at the foot of the great mountain, Mount Sinai in the desert. As I said, as we began this morning, the Lord uses these images here to communicate truth about your life. God reveals here that they came to a mountain. They came to a mountain. In the Bible, mountains are used as pictures of an encounter with God, of our closeness to heaven. A mountain is a picture of stability and constancy and permanence and immovability. They've come to a mountain. And as we heard earlier in the service today, the church, the new Israel has also come to a mountain, the church of Jesus Christ. You have come to a mountain today as well. As we saw earlier in our scripture reading during the call to repentance, you've come to a different mountain. And the contrast between their mountain here in Exodus 19 and your mountain in the book of Hebrews is absolutely essential. in understanding your relationship with God. The contrast between these two mountains is absolutely essential. So first of all, this morning, what mountain did they come to? What mountain did they come to? Well, it was Mount Sinai. It was a literal mountain. It was very real. an actual mountain. It's still there on the Arabian Peninsula. Though there's some debate about which peak exactly it was, the children of Israel could see it there before them. And it was at the base of that mountain that the whole nation gathered. They were promised a visitation from God after three days of preparation. They would see something of his glory. They would hear him, verse nine, speak to Moses, that they would know this was the Lord's servant. Now the manner in which the Lord came to his people is important because it revealed so much about himself. Let me begin by saying this must have been terrifying. Verse 16 says, they were all trembling. Everyone in the camp trembled. They were shaking with fear. Even Moses was afraid. We know that from the book of Hebrews. The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, I'm trembling. It isn't often that we're so afraid that were literally shaking. I can think of a few times where I've been shaking. I remember one time I was almost hit by a truck on my bicycle in my seminary days. I was at a stoplight and I put my foot on the pedal to go forward. The light turned green. My foot slipped off the pedal. I was like, I hope nobody saw that. I put my foot back on the pedal and a semi-truck came flying through on the red light. My foot hadn't slipped. I don't think I'd be here today. I was shaking. I remember one time one of our boys was a toddler here in Florida, and we were getting out of the car to go in a house, and a lightning bolt hit so near to us that he started flailing his arm. I did, too. It was so close. We were trembling. Word of God says the Israelites were so afraid, they were all shaking, they shook with fear. Little ones would have been clinging like Velcro to their parents. Families were surely huddled together. I think even the most confident, cool teenagers, you know, the ones there with their sunglasses on and hanging out with their friends, I'm sure they were speechless and trembling as well. You see, everything about that mountain told them they were in the presence of Yahweh, the Lord, the God who is. What they saw with their eyes, what they actually heard with their ears, what they smelled. what they felt communicated to them the awesome glory of God. They were in the presence of one far greater, far more powerful than they were, far more holy, far above them. You see, Yahweh was uncovering something about himself. Revealing means revelation, means an uncovering. Yahweh was uncovering something about himself. He was revealing himself to them. He was establishing or about to establish his authority to tell them how to live. In all of this, he's confirming his servant Moses as well. He was showing all the people, two to three million of them, that he was not like them. He's not just a big guy upstairs. He's not some spiritual pal. No, he is the king of the universe. The one who made us and all things. The one before whom one day we will all stand and give an account. The one who himself would later say through his servant in Hebrews 10, it's a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. He communicated that through these forces of nature, natural forces, presented all together in a supernatural way. There was fire, symbolizing the purity of God's holiness. There was thunder and lightning, revealing the power of God. There was smoke and the thick cloud that billowed like a furnace, pointing to the mystery of God's presence. There was a trumpet blast. Why? Because he's the king. And it became louder and louder, symbolizing his approach. There was a trembling even of the mountain, A shaking to strike anybody with pride or confidence that they even thought they might have had. I don't know how many of you have been in an earthquake. I've been in them. I lived four years in California. The terrifying ones are the ones that come in the middle of the night. You don't know how long it's gonna last. I've been in earthquakes in Haiti, not long after the big one. They're terrifying. The Lord gave repeated warnings not to approach, not to come beyond the barriers. And he repeated it again and again. He knew their tendency toward rebellion. He knew the human tendency to disregard what God says. He knew the people better than Moses did. You see, the Lord was showing them that there is this vast gulf between him and his people. He was holy, they were not. He was the creator, they were the creatures. He's the God of the universe, they were his people. We call this the creator-creature distinction. There's a vast gulf, and there had to be one to approach for them, a mediator, a man of God's own choosing. That's interesting, right? There is only one way. to God through Moses, the mediator. People object to that today about Christ, don't they? It's so narrow-minded. There's only one way. Yes, God said so. As here, there's only one way, through Moses, the mediator. They couldn't just go to God any old way they please. They could have said, you know, Moses, I don't believe you. I'm gonna go right up there myself. They didn't object. They didn't complain. They didn't say the Lord was narrow-minded. They understood. They understood from all of this visible signs that they couldn't just saunter into his presence however they wanted to express themselves. No, they had to take great care to come the way he prescribed. It was a scary sight. It was petrifying. And it was to strike fear in their hearts at the mere thought of disobeying this great God, who was about to reveal his commandments to them, which is what occurs in chapter 20, the next chapter in the Ten Commandments. You know, these truths about God that are revealed here about himself are still true today. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's still awesome and terrifying as he revealed here at Mount Sinai. If we had the curtain pulled back between this world and the next, this is something that we'd see, which is why Isaiah and John and others fell on their faces when they saw the glory of the Lord. And many of these things will be repeated at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when he returns in all of his glory. There'll be trumpets and clouds and shaking, which is why the book of Revelation says in chapter six that on that great day, the kings of the earth, the princes and generals, the mighty and the free will all cry for the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand it. Everything about that mountain told them they were in the presence of Yahweh, the Lord. Everything. So what about us? I've been saying that Exodus is the story of our lives, which is true. But like Paul Harvey used to say on the radio, in a moment, you're going to hear the rest of the story. Because that mountain isn't the whole story. What does that have to do with us? Well, we've come to a mountain, all right. But as Christians, we've already gone past Mount Sinai. You saw this morning in your Bibles and on the screens and in the bulletin before you, Hebrews chapter 12. that which we read for the call to repentance. We've come to a mountain as well. We've come to a mountain today as the church, as those who profess faith in Christ. The New Testament says we stand at the foot of a different mountain, right? That's what we heard this morning, verse 18. We've come to a mountain that's not one that can be touched. That is, we're not coming to a literal mountain range somewhere on earth. As Christians, verse 22 says, we've come to Mount Zion. Zion was the name of the mountain where Jerusalem was built, but we've not come to a physical Mount Zion. That mountain was a picture of the real mountain, the spiritual mountain, further described as the heavenly Jerusalem. We've come to the city of God, to the assembly of the citizens in heaven. And how is that mountain described? In God's word, by the same God. How is that mountain described? Well, it isn't a petrifying sight. It isn't a scary sight. This mountain that we've come to isn't burning with fire and full of darkness and gloom and storm. There isn't a terrifying blast of the trumpet. We aren't trembling with fear as Moses was. No, the word of God says we've come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. We've come to the same God, to the judge of all men, and we must still approach, verse 28 says, in Hebrews 12, with reverence and awe, and worship him appropriately, acceptably, because our God is a consuming fire, and he's in charge, he is the Lord. But something has radically changed. Something is very different now. And what is that? It's the presence of the great mediator, the one that Moses was just a shadow of, that Moses was just a picture of. We've come to the great mediator, Jesus Christ. We have come to him, the one that Moses pales in comparison to. We've come as those who have their names written in heaven. We've come as those who are covered in the righteousness of Christ. We have come consecrated or sprinkled with his blood, as we read this morning, sacrificed on the cross. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. But our blood hasn't been shed. It's been the shed blood of our substitute, of our mediator, the one who died on the cross. And so we come with joy, singing praise to God. Because in Christ, God has, so to speak, hushed the loud thunder of the law. Because of what Jesus has done on our behalf, the terrifying flame of Mount Sinai has been quenched. God himself has washed us in the blood of Christ. We've been brought near by the blood of Christ. We're on our way to heaven and that way has been secured. We don't stand in the shadow of Mount Sinai. We're past that. We stand in the presence of the Lord himself on Mount Zion. And get this, we stand, though we cannot see them yet, we stand in the presence of believers who've gone before us, those who've died in the Lord, those who are with Him now in heaven, those who are singing praise to God. They trusted Him before us. We trust Him now, and our praises fill the sky as they're mixed and mingled with theirs before the throne of God and with all the heavenly host. See, this is your life. If you're a Christian, if you're a believer, if you have faith in Christ, if you've said, I am a sinner who needs a savior, I have only one hope and that is in Christ, this is all about you. This is where you are with God. You're not at a fork in the road. You're not in the gutter. No, you have come to Mount Zion to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. Doesn't that just lift up your head? It should. It should. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians, a lot of Christians today are apt to see their relationship with God as one that looks more like Mount Sinai rather than Mount Zion. And they walk around in a continuous state of despair and gloom. Thinking that God's trumpet of judgment is going to personally sound for them. And they'll be consumed. They say that they trust in Christ, but they act like they've never gotten past the law. And their relationship with God is as though they've never tasted of the grace of God, as though their sins have been washed away. Oh, how we need the law of God. Yes, it is good. The law is good. As the Apostle Paul says, he praises God. The law is good. It showed us our need for Christ, and it is now our tutor to show how we should live according to God's commandments. But so many Christians live as though their sins have never been washed away. You see, if the angels rejoice in our salvation, how much more should we, the recipients of grace, we should rejoice with them even today before God, preparing our hearts for that great union. When the new heavens and the new earth are brought to us, we are gathered up with all those who've gone before us. So as we close today, what shall we now do What shall we now do? I want you to ask yourself something. Before which mountain do you stand? You see, all through the Bible, God shows us from his perspective that he divides humanity with one great swath down the middle, just one. There's the sheep and the goats. There's the wheat and the tares. There's the good fish and the bad fish in the net. There are those in the kingdom of light and those in darkness. There are those walking the narrow road and those who are walking the wide road on the way to destruction. There are those who have been found and those who are still lost. There are those who've been brought near, those who are far from God. There are those who are still at the base of Mount Zion or the base of Mount Sinai. There are those who are at Mount Zion today. You see, your relationship with God is either one of law or of grace. You're either at Mount Sinai, full of fear and trembling and uncertainty and judgment with God's wrath hanging over you, hoping you'll measure up by your obedience to the law, hoping you'll do enough good to pass on Judgment Day. You're either at Mount Sinai, full of fear and uncertainty, or you're at Mount Zion. sprinkled with his blood, sprinkled by the once for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, covered with his righteousness, with salvation and forgiveness secured, part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Those who've come to Christ, who've come to Jesus, the mediator, the one who is the king of the kingdom that cannot be shaken. What a contrast. Where would you rather be? Where would you rather meet God? I call you today, if you're still at Mount Sinai, and not cried out to Christ, you need to come today to Mount Zion. You need to come to Jesus. See to it, as we heard this morning, that you do not refuse him who speaks, because once more God will shake not only the earth, but all of creation. when the Lord Jesus comes back. Are you ready for that great day? You can be ready today. You can leave this place ready to meet the Lord. That chapter 19 ends. So Moses went down to the people and told them. What a great picture of Christ our mediator who came down from heaven not just to tell us but to give us his life as a sacrifice for our sins. Praise the Lord. You can go home justified today right with God washed and purified gathering with all God's people every Lord's Day at Mount Zion. Thousands upon thousands in joyful assembly. This promise is yours. Call on the name of the Lord, Jesus said. Call on the name of the Lord. God's word says, call on the name of the Lord and you'll be saved. Praise be to God. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we cry out to you today and pray that you would come and visit us as we cry out to you, the one who filled your servants with your spirit to write the very words of God and all the promises belong to us. We cry out to the name of the Lord. You will rescue us. Have mercy on us today, Lord. Strengthen and fortify your people. Build us all up in the faith. Come and visit us today, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.