TITLE: A Trip to Two Mountains TEXT: Hebrews 12:18-29 THEME: The believer should worship God with joyful reverence and awe.

What should motivate people to come to our churches when, by comparison, we have so little to offer?

How should the New Covenant impact how you worship God?

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21)

Hebrews 12:18-21 “18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,

Hebrews 12:18-21 “20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”[Ex 19:12-13] 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”[Duet 9:19]”

Exodus 20:16-23 “16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently..

Exodus 20:16-23 “19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish.”

Exodus 20:16-23 “22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.” 23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21) A. It was given at Mt. Sinai-

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21) A. It was given at Mt. Sinai- B. They kept a distance from God and the Mountain itself.

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21) A. It was given at Mt. Sinai- B. They kept a distance from God and the Mountain itself. C. God appears amidst gloom, darkness, storm and lighting

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21) A. It was given at Mt. Sinai- B. They kept a distance from God and the Mountain itself. C. God appears amidst gloom, darkness, storm and lighting D. When He spoke it loud and invoked terror

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21) A. It was given at Mt. Sinai- B. They kept a distance from God and the Mountain itself. C. God appears amidst gloom, darkness, storm and lighting D. When He spoke it loud and invoked terror E. They lived in fear of God

I.Unlike the Old Covenant it allows us to approach God (18-21) A. It was given at Mt. Sinai- B. They kept a distance from God and the Mountain itself. C. God appears amidst gloom, darkness, storm and lighting D. When He spoke it loud and invoked terror E. They lived in fear of God F. The blood of Abel called out for wrath and revenge (justice)

Question Do you think that if you really witnessed the scene I’ve just described to you that you might have a different view of worship than you have right now?

How should the New Covenant impact how you worship God?

II.The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24

Hebrews 12: But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect

Hebrews 12: to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

II. The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24 A. The New Covenant is given at Mt. Zion (in the New Jerusalem/Heaven).

Revelation 20:1-4 “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

Revelation 20:1-4 “3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ”

II. The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24 A. The New Covenant is given at Mt. Zion (in the New Jerusalem/Heaven). B. We can come near to God with a host of others.

II. The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24 A. The New Covenant is given at Mt. Zion (in the New Jerusalem/Heaven). B. We can come near to God with a host of others. C. We can come to Him joyfully.

Revelation 20: I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

Revelation 20: On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

II.The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24) A. The New Covenant is given at Mt. Zion (in the New Jerusalem/Heaven). B. We can come near to God with a host of others. C. We can come to Him joyfully: Mt Zion is a picture as a place of joy. D. We can come to Him boldly.

Hebrews 10:19-21 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.

II.The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24) A. The New Covenant is given at Mt. Zion (in the New Jerusalem/Heaven). B. We can come near to God with a host of others. C. We can come to Him joyfully: Mt Zion is a picture as a place of joy D. We can come to Him boldly E. We can come to Him having been forgiven through the blood of Christ.

II.The New Covenant allows us to come into His presence to joyfully worship Him (22-24) A. The New Covenant is given at Mt. Zion (in the New Jerusalem/Heaven). B. We can come near to God with a host of others. C. We can come to Him joyfully: Mt Zion is a picture as a place of joy D. We can come to Him boldly E. We can come to Him having been forgiven through the blood of Christ. F. We can come to Him by His grace through faith.

Romans 3: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

C.S. Lewis “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment … It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. "

C.S. Lewis “It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with …. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him."

How should the New Covenant impact how you worship God?

III.The New Covenant allows us to worship God for eternity (25-29)

Hebrews 12: See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[Haggai 2:6]

Hebrews 12: The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”[Duet 4:24 ]

III.The New Covenant allows us to worship God for eternity (25-29) A. We worship Him by listening to Him.

III.The New Covenant allows us to worship God for eternity (25-29) A. We worship Him by listening to Him. B. We worship in light of God’s eternal kingdom (cannot be shaken).

III.The New Covenant allows us to worship God for eternity (25-29) A. We worship Him by listening to Him. B. We worship in light of God’s eternal kingdom (cannot be shaken). C. We worship Him in reverence and awe.

III.The New Covenant allows us to worship God for eternity (25-29) A. We worship Him by listening to Him. B. We worship in light of God’s eternal kingdom (cannot be shaken). C. We worship Him in reverence and awe. D. We worship God as an all-consuming fire.

I Corinthians 3: By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw

I Corinthians 3: their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames

Phillip Yancey “…Rather, we need both/and Christians, people devoted to God's creatures and God's children as well as to God, and as committed to this life as to the afterlife, to this city as to the heavenly city.”

C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory” “Remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.”

C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory” “All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

Tim Keller “But Jesus Christ is walking proof that you will miss nothing. Nothing! It's all coming in the future. It's going to be unimaginably wonderful. There is no religion, no philosophy, and no human being who can offer this kind of future.”

Tim Keller “And as Christians our hope for the future is based on the historical fact of the resurrection. So if you are not a Christian, let me ask: Why wouldn't you want that? Even if you don't like different aspects of the Christian faith, why wouldn't you want this hope for restoration? You're not being honest with yourself if you don't want that.”