WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.720 Good morning once again, Redeemer family. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:05.759 My name is Sam Rapp, and I'm the student pastor here. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:19.199 Um if you've seen me preach here before, you've seen that I wear a sport coat, and that's because I want to keep up with the maturity of Russ, and I have a lot of I have pimples on my face still, so I want to like up myself to not look like a 16-year-old because I know I do. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:23.120 Uh so all that being said, I'm three for three with sport coats uh in my time preaching here. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:30.079 But uh, if you do have your Bibles, we will be in the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, and we're gonna be looking at verses 18 to 29. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:42.640 So a couple years ago, I went on a trip to California, and first half of the trip we spent in San Francisco going to coffee shops, eating really good food, kind of just walking through those really hilly, confusing streets. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:54.799 And then second half of the trip, we went up to Napa Valley, uh, and we spent the week or the spent the few days in Calistoga, which is this small wine country town, top of Napa Valley. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:01.200 I was like 21 at the time, wasn't a wine guy, but we were in wine country, which a lot of y'all are probably like wishing y'all were there right now. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:08.719 But we were up there and we were kind of just walking through the town, getting our bearings, driving around, understanding where everything was, where the grocery store was. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.799 And we looked right behind where we were staying, and there was this huge mountain. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.879 And we were like, man, like we were, you know, we're 21, we're in college, like we're gonna hike that tomorrow, right? 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.400 With no prep, no, no stretching, and we're just we're just gonna go for it, right? 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:23.680 And this mountain on the cover looked like Kennesaw Mountain, right? 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.359 Which is like a decent sized mountain, but like not a mountain mountain. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:28.400 You know what I'm talking about? 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.599 So we actually mountain, we're thinking, man, okay, it's probably gonna take like an hour and a half, hour, maybe, right? 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.400 Because I mean you can go hike Kennesaw Mountain, you don't have to bring a bottle of water, right? 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.159 You can just hike up, hike down, you're done, right? 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:38.959 Go back home. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:40.159 So we go up this mountain. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.280 It takes us 10 hours to hike this mountain, okay? 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.719 We leave at 9 a.m. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:46.959 We get back at dinner time, okay? 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:52.640 Listen, I brought a turkey sandwich in a chewy bar, okay, with a bottle of water. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.120 And that's all I had for 10 hours. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:02.079 So 25,000 steps later, I was crawling back to our rental car back at the bottom of the mountain, right? 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:08.800 Not only that, but we hiked through about four seasons of the year up this mountain, okay? 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.439 So first half, it's 75. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.240 Uh the wildfires are going through California. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:18.000 So the first half was like a burnt charcoal desert going up the mountain, right? 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.400 Second half was like 60, it was perfect. 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:23.599 Top of the mountain was 25 with a foot and a half of snow. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:23.919 Okay? 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.840 I don't know how y'all packed for that, but I I didn't have the wardrobe for that hike, okay? 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:48.000 But long story short, when we got to the top of that mountain and we saw hundreds of miles of Napa Valley right before our eyes, all of that pain, because it hurt, all of that pain, all of that low blood sugar that I was carrying, it was all immediately worth it when we had that view at the top. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:48.960 Why? 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.319 Because there is power and beauty in contrast, right? 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:01.919 Sometimes we have to see the darkness to truly get a glimpse of the light at the end, right? 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.840 And in my mind, I was expecting a view kind of like Kennesaw Mountain, right? 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:06.719 Which is pretty good, right? 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:07.680 Six out of ten, right? 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:11.280 You mean you see Buckhead, you see Stone Mountain downtown, right? 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:13.840 Those kind of big three things you see, and that's pretty good, right? 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:14.639 Don't get me wrong. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:26.639 But when I was up there and saw hundreds of miles of California valleys before me, it was like all of that, the hundred calories from the chewy bar I just ate, was all of a sudden feeling pretty good, right? 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:28.479 Everything was made worth it. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.360 And this is what God is doing in this passage, right? 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:44.400 He's painting an image for us of these two varying mountains that show us, man, one side the darkness and shadows of the law, and then the second one is the beauty of the heavenly city of Mount Zion, right? 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:51.840 He's reminding us of the darkness and horror of Mount Sinai to then give us the glory of Mount Zion. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:55.919 So with that being said, we're gonna dive into this text. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:06.400 And my hope for us this morning is to just simply let the word of God speak for itself, for the word of God to just invade our hearts and speak to us and move in and get all up in our business. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:11.280 Um, so with that being said, I'm just gonna pray for us and then we'll just dive head first right in. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:12.960 All right, let's pray. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:16.160 Uh, Father, thank you so much for your grace to us in Jesus. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:22.000 I thank you, uh, Lord, for the opportunity to come here freely as a church. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:26.720 Uh, Lord, when there are brothers and sisters on the other side of the world not getting this. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:38.319 Uh and so I pray, Father, that as we sit under the counsel and reading and teaching of your word, Lord, that the Holy Spirit would just open up our hearts and knock down our walls. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:49.920 And Lord, that your word, which is alive and active and dark, sharper than any double-edged sword, would just pierce into our hearts and will give us comfort and peace in Jesus. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:52.000 And we ask all this in his name. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:52.959 Amen. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:00.319 So again, we're in Hebrews 12, and I'm just gonna read for us the first three verses, verses 18 to 21. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:16.800 So the word of God says this for you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:22.480 For they could not endure the order that was given, if even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:28.000 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:29.920 So I'll be honest, let's talk for a second. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:37.040 When when Russ told me what I was preaching on, and that's what I read, I laughed out loud at my desk in the office back there. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:38.720 And I was like, is this a joke? 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:42.399 Um, because man, I mean, you read that and you're like, oh, this is the word of the Lord. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.160 I mean, all right, we're going for it. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:45.360 So let's talk. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:50.399 Let's talk first about what these passages are doing, right, so that we know what they're not doing. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:50.800 Okay? 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:55.920 So the first mountain, Mount Sinai, is what is what's being given to us here, right? 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:01.120 And remember, this passage is basically painting an image between these two mountains, okay? 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:05.839 And these are probably two of the three most important mountains in the Bible, right? 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.600 Mountain number three is coming, it's at the end. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:09.360 Y'all just get a sneak peek there, all right? 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:15.759 The first mountain here, Mount Sinai, is the mountain that Moses climbed to receive the law, right, back in Exodus. 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:16.879 He climbed this mountain. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:21.680 You see in the text it was thunderous, it was scary, it was dark, it was gloomy. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:25.120 And he received this law, which was good, right? 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:30.399 It was good and it was holy and it was helpful, it was perfect. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:35.680 And it showed the Israelites how far they had to go to reach holiness, right? 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.040 It basically created this gap between them and God. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.519 But the thing about the law is that it didn't give them the power to do that, right? 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.399 It just gave them a law, it didn't tell them how to do it, right? 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.319 If any of y'all got kids less than five, tell them not to eat a cookie right after this, all right? 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:52.879 And what they're gonna do, all they want is a cookie, right? 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:57.360 This law did not give us the power to achieve it, right? 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:04.959 All this does is dig this canyon between us and God, but it doesn't build the bridge for us to cross that canyon, right? 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:10.959 And this law is what came down from Mount Sinai, and this law had crippling demands, right? 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:17.759 I don't know if y'all have ever felt like this, but this is kind of what it makes me feel like to live under the law, right? 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.000 It's exhausting, it's it's crippling. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:22.000 You feel like you're never enough, right? 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:26.800 You kind of feel like God is up there in heaven, like scoffing and scowling at you, right? 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:29.360 That's what it feels like to live under the law. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:34.879 And man, you think, man, okay, if I if I check off these boxes, then maybe God will be happy with me, right? 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:41.920 That's what it feels like to live under the law, and that is a weight that, man, Jesus does not want us to live under, and that's good news. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.560 But we do see here that this mountain is scary, right? 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:48.959 This mountain was dark, it was gloomy. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:55.519 The words that describe it are a blazing fire with earthquakes, gloom, and darkness. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.639 Those are not words that are happy, right? 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.319 And this is what the Israelites came out of Egypt for, right? 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:07.600 Remember, just before they received this law, they were living in slavery under Ramses, right? 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.279 Pharaoh, enslaved, and this is what they came out to? 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:14.399 This dark, scary, condemning mountain. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:27.199 And Mount Sinai was so scary, in fact, that even Moses, who remember, gigantic Bible figure Moses, right, who we see probably as kind of superhuman, my man was afraid at this mountain, right? 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:36.399 And so, right after that, right after they received this law, the Israelites looked at Moses and were like, dude, we don't want anything to do with God anymore, right? 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:37.120 He's scary. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:40.799 So they were like, man, you go talk to Yahweh and you tell us what he says, right? 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.840 You'll be the messenger, we'll just stay back here at arm's length, right? 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.600 That's how scary it was. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:46.960 Why? 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:54.399 Because this holy presence of God on this mountain apart from Jesus is frightening. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:00.080 And we see that this fear that filled them did not drive them towards holiness, right? 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:07.200 All it did was show them what holiness looked like according to the law, but it didn't tell them how to do it and give them the power to do it. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:10.720 So much so that 40 days later they worshiped the calf, right? 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:16.000 Right after they saw Yahweh on this mountain with this tablets. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.320 But the good news for us is that it doesn't end there. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:21.120 Let's look at verses 22 through 24. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:23.919 Y'all can smile now, it's about to get lighter. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:48.639 Uh but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the innumerable angels and festival gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:55.039 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.960 This mountain's a lot sweeter and brighter, isn't it? 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.000 It makes you want to smile a little bit more. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:07.440 The image in these verses is full of beauty and majesty, right? 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:14.080 And that's something we see in the Bible, is that God uses imagery a lot because it stirs up our guts to have a feeling, right? 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:20.080 And this is what we see is that we have already inherited this city. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:25.039 This isn't just some distant idea, right, that's coming in the future, right? 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:28.799 It says in this text that we are enrolled in this heavenly city. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:36.639 Just like y'all signed up for this church service and your name was on that list, so is the same with Mount Zion. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.960 You are on the sign up genius list for Mount Zion, right? 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:45.679 And it's ours because we are sons and daughters of King Jesus, right? 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:47.840 We are enrolled in this heavenly city. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.720 We haven't received this inheritance right now. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:53.840 This is right here, right now, grace, right? 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.879 And this is what the writer of Hebrews is saying here. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.480 He's saying, Man, we're not stuck in the same shoes as Esau. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:02.240 You remember that story just right before this? 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:04.559 Russ hit on it last week. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:10.000 Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup, right? 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:14.399 He sold his birthright because he was hungry, right? 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:26.799 Back in that story, but also because he was living for the passing pleasures of the world, so much so that he gave up his inheritance, which means a lot more in 3000 BC than it does now. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:33.759 But what we see in this text is that unlike Esau, we don't control our destiny with a bowl of soup. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.519 Praise the Lord for that. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:40.399 You never really realize how much value is in food until you lose it, right? 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.720 Until it's like right out of arm's reach, right? 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.039 So I was at Disney World this past week. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:48.159 We were staying at the Swan Hotel, okay? 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:54.480 Uh and first of all, just by the way, Disney was limited to 35% capacity, but there were still two hour-long lines. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:55.919 So y'all just do the math there. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.960 I don't know if that's still 35%, but it felt big to me. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:02.159 Uh but it was the first day, we're exhausted from driving, right? 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.799 It's like 6:30, uh, we're getting ready for dinner. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.919 The girls have all figured out their meal, they're getting sushi. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:14.799 I'm not a sushi guy, so I'm like, all right, we'll find plan B, which turned into plan, you know, Q or R at that point. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:21.279 Uh but we get began on the Disney app, which was not as intuitive as I feel like it should be for a company like that. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:27.120 But we're on the we're you know, in the room trying to order, we're sitting on the couch, me and my brother-in-law, it's like just us two, right? 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:31.679 There's like all eight of them had their meals, but me and my brother-in-law trying to figure this out, right? 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:43.600 So we try to place this order on this restaurant uh that was like walking distance, uh, and basically like we would get to the checkout of the ordering, and it would all of a sudden say, We're sorry, we could not complete your order. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:45.759 That is just that's something when you're hungry. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:46.320 I'll tell you that. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:48.159 That is something to read when you're hungry. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:48.799 Amen. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.519 So increasingly frustrated, we went downstairs. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:55.519 I mean, that took four or five tries of failing XX, right? 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.080 So we go downstairs, we look at the restaurants, right? 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:07.039 The restaurant that looked pretty good uh had like a two-hour wait to where you couldn't even order online until this certain gap, which I think was like 8 45. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.799 And at the time, remember, it's 7 p.m. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:10.080 So we're like, ooh. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:14.720 So we go to this other restaurant, which is where the girls were ordering. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:15.919 It was the sushi place, right? 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.200 And this isn't the kind of sushi place that like is a sushi place, right? 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:20.720 That has like fried rice. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.799 This is the kind of sushi place that like doesn't even have a bowl of rice that you can order, right? 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.240 Like, I'm talking about like they have like raw tuna, and that's it. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:28.879 That's all they got. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.440 I mean, at that point, I was like, I'll take white rice and bean sprouts at this point, right? 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:35.440 Like, I'll take whatever you got. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.080 And again, this sushi restaurant has sushi. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.240 So if you're like me, that was not the answer. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:46.399 So, like, man, we don't want that, so we go on to DoorDash, right? 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:56.399 Because he has the dash pass, so we of course went on the door on DoorDash and found a couple restaurants, every single one we would order, get to the end, and sure enough, you guessed it. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:58.960 It said you're out of range for every restaurant. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:04.000 There were restaurants like a seven-iron away from the hotel that still said out of range. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.240 And we were like, I don't know how this adds up, right? 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:10.960 So finally, we open Uber Eats, right? 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:12.399 You know the feeling, right? 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:17.039 You you you go through Uberetz, you're closing out, it goes through, right? 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:20.639 And then you swipe the card, and then food's on your way, right? 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:23.519 We got Antoine bringing us our food in 30 minutes. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:30.080 But this was the kind of thing where, right, you know, like on Uber Eats, you can pay the extra dollar fifty to get them to deliver it straight to you. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:31.759 I made the mistake of not doing that. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:35.679 So we had Antoine bringing meals to other people before us, right? 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:41.440 And so he was at this restaurant, this other dude's house for 20 minutes, and I'm up there refreshing, refreshing, refreshing. 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.919 We're in the lobby, upset, right? 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:49.519 That was a long way of saying uh our salvation is not dependent on a bowl of soup, alright? 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:56.639 So, all that being said, the good news is that we are not building our salvation on a bowl of soup, right? 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:59.759 And let's be human just for a second, okay? 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:07.120 I was at the point where if you put a bowl of lentil soup before me, y'all, birthright would have been gone. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:08.240 I'm just gonna tell y'all that. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:12.080 Like, inheritance like Esau would have been out the door for that bowl of lentil soup, right? 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:13.759 That's where I was at. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:16.879 But again, that's the good news. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:26.960 Is that our salvation, our inheritance, our enrollment in the heavenly city is not based upon our feelings, our faith, our strength, right? 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.440 So let's let's think about it this way. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:34.720 This is what it might feel like in comparison to being under a law, what it feels like to live under grace. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:36.639 These are just a few things that came to mind. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:38.240 Confidence. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.080 Security in Jesus' grip on you. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:52.799 Freedom to move towards godliness, not to earn your standing before Jesus, but because of your standing with Jesus. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:58.000 See, our faith is not about how strong we're holding on, just hoping we don't let go, right? 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:04.960 Our faith is built upon Jesus holding deeply and strong onto us, not letting us go. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:07.120 And that's good news. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:11.360 Let's look back into verse 40 24 really quick again. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:20.639 Verse 24 says this, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, into the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.480 So let's think back all the way to Genesis 3, right? 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.639 Adam and Eve, they're in the garden. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:29.440 Man, you read, you read Genesis 2 and 3, right? 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.679 Every time you're like, man, maybe they won't eat the fruit this time, right? 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:34.399 And every time Genesis 3 rolls around, they eat the fruit, right? 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.399 Every time you're like, no, Eve, why? 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:45.200 So they eat the fruit, and then sure enough, God's like, hey, you're gonna have a son, and this son is gonna crush the head of the serpent, right? 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:49.120 He's gonna crush the head of the serpent, and this curse is gonna be wiped away, right? 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:51.519 So sure enough, Adam and Eve have a couple sons, right? 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:53.519 They have Cain and Abel. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:55.120 And so we've got to think for a second. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:00.080 If you're Adam and Eve and you had this son, you don't know about the redemptive plan of Jesus yet, right? 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:01.840 That's that's a long time in the future. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:06.960 All you know is that you have a son now, and God promised that your son would crush the head of the serpent. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.759 So you're thinking, man, maybe Cain's the guy, right? 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:14.240 Maybe Cain's the one that's gonna do this thing, but what does Cain end up doing? 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:23.039 If you remember this story, you you remember that Cain, instead of crushing the head of the serpent, crushed the head of Abel in a fit of jealous rage, right? 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:30.240 This firstborn son that you had, who was supposed to be the redemptive savior in your mind, right, all of a sudden murders your other son. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:37.119 This verse in Hebrews says that the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel, right? 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:38.079 Why? 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:50.160 It's because Abel's blood on the ground in Genesis 4 was calling out for condemnation, was calling out for vengeance and revenge to take place for his death. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:54.079 But what does the blood of Jesus speak for us in this text? 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.480 It speaks forgiveness, right? 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.960 Jesus' blood is crying out for your forgiveness to the Father. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:08.160 It's crying out for your chains to be broken, for your idolatry to be crushed, and for your forgiveness and reconciliation with Jesus. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:11.839 And this brings us to the last section of this passage. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.240 So verses 28 and 29. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:21.359 It says this Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.480 And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:29.440 For our God is a consuming fire. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.240 So the book of Hebrews, we've been going through it for a while. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:40.319 But this book is, was likely given as a sermon to a group of Jewish Christians, right? 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:45.039 And that these Jewish Christians were living in a world that was dominated by Rome, right? 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:50.480 I mean, superpower, world superpower beyond anything we could even begin to imagine, right? 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:52.720 And what does this writer say? 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:57.200 That there is only one kingdom that will stand forever, right? 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:58.640 And that's not Rome. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:02.160 And to these hearers, that would have been unimaginable, right? 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:05.920 He's saying that, man, even Rome is gonna fall one day. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.880 And for these people, that was unimaginable. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:11.200 But I want to ask you guys this. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.720 Do you know anyone now that's afraid of Rome? 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:17.279 I mean, you go there as a tourist now. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.240 Nobody's afraid of Rome anymore, right? 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:29.279 In the 1940s, no one could imagine a world, especially if you lived in Europe, where Adolf Hitler was not the world's superpower leader, right? 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:37.440 In the 1600s, if you lived within a hundred miles of the Mediterranean, you could not imagine not living in the world of the Ottoman Empire, right? 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:50.079 Stalin, Genghis Khan, Nebuchadnezzar, Ramses, all of these powerful men ran the world at various points in history, right? 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:53.039 And we're not still living in their regime, are we? 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:58.079 Unimaginable that their kingdoms would fall, especially in the time where you were living under it. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.480 About as unimaginable as the Titanic sinking. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:01.519 Y'all remember that? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.200 Have y'all ever seen that movie, right? 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:05.279 You're like, Leo, don't get on the boat, dude. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:06.640 I promise it's gonna sink. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:09.519 And what does the Titanic do every time you watch that movie? 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:10.079 Right? 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:11.200 It sinks. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:18.640 But the good news is we have a kingdom that cannot and will not be shaken. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.359 The walls of Mount Zion, the heavenly city, will not fall. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:26.720 Even if you go around it seven times like Jericho with horns, right? 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.640 That thing is not gonna fall, right? 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:30.240 And that's good news for us. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:43.200 Because there will be a day that comes when America will fall, when Europe will fall, when Russia will fall, all these nations will fall on their knees before Jesus one day because his city will not fall. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.559 His city will stand, and that is good news. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.279 So, what do we do with this? 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.000 What do we do with this word, with this text? 00:20:52.240 --> 00:21:03.920 The writer of Hebrews does, as per usual, a great job following some meaty verses with two very straightforward and simple applications, and these are straight from the scripture. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.720 So, verses 28 and 29, they say this. 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:11.440 Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:17.440 And then number two, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.200 And acceptable worship does not mean a life of legalism. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:22.640 Guys, hear me. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.119 This does not mean a life of legalism. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:35.279 Acceptable worship, according to Psalm 51, what David says right after he commits adultery is the only offering acceptable to God is a broken and contrite heart, right? 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.880 The only acceptable worship to Jesus is just being willing to receive him. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:48.720 And so my encouragement for us this morning is to move back to him this morning and worship. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:54.079 Not out of a place of, man, like I need to come with the right heart or mindset to him, but just coming. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:58.240 Remember, living under grace with freedom, right? 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.160 With peace with your Savior. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.720 And this peace comes not from Mount Sinai, right? 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:08.240 This peace comes from Mount Calvary. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:10.960 That's the third mountain that we see. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.440 It didn't end at Mount Sinai. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.440 It will end at Mount Zion, but only because of Mount Calvary, right? 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:26.000 Where Jesus climbed that mountain, took his cross with him, was nailed to it for your sake, so that you didn't have to bear that cross for yourself, right? 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.000 That's what Mount Calvary did for us. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:34.960 And because of that, this canyon that we were living across from God has been bridged, right? 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:36.960 Hallelujah. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:49.839 This mountain of darkness and fear, Mount Sinai, has become for those who are enrolled in the heavenly city, those who have received and committed to Jesus as Lord has become Mount Sinai. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.920 The one of freedom and reconciliation and light. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.279 So we're no longer in the shadow of Mount Sinai. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.240 We are no longer under the law. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.480 But we are now under grace. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:10.160 Jesus says that it is for freedom that he set us free. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.319 So let's walk in that freedom this morning. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:13.599 Let's pray together. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:20.000 Father, we just praise you for sending Jesus on our behalf. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:27.680 Lord, we recognize that He is Lord, that every nation will fall and bow before Him one day. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:44.319 We recognize that, Lord, Jesus, in your Lordship, that you also came down as the form of a man to reconcile us to yourself, to bear our pain, our suffering, and Lord, free us from the jail cell that we were living in. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:59.440 And so I pray, Lord, that we would not uh be condemned to living in the law anymore, but that for those of us who are weary and tired and uh looking at you, the Father, thinking that you're mad, I pray that you free us from those thoughts. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:08.319 I pray uh Lord for all of us in here that we would just recognize the deepness of your grace through Mount Zion and Mount Calvary. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:09.440 Thank you for your word. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:12.240 I pray that it would speak to us further this week. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:14.640 Uh Lord, as we come to the table to receive it. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:17.680 Uh we love you, ask all this in Jesus' name for your sake. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:18.480 Amen.