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TEXT: Hebrews 12:18-29
SUBJECT: Exposition of Hebrews #17: New Covenant Blessings and Responsibilities.
The believer's life is lived under discipline. God's discipline, which is both taxing and painful. But the efforts and pain do not leave us limp. The disciplined life is the happiest of lives--and the most productive. About it, vv.12-17 tell us: it is an encouraged life, a holy and peaceful life, a life lived in concern for others.
How can this be? Two reasons follow. The first of which is:
The unique blessings we enjoy under the New Covenant, vv.18-24. A "covenant" is an arrangement of some kind; a system under which we operate. In Scripture, it is the way in which God and His people relate to each other.
This New Covenant is introduced by way of contrast--by what it is not. "For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of the trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: `And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with an arrow'. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, `I am exceedingly afraid and trembling')".
With these words, the Old Covenant is described. What is it? It is the arrangement imposed on Israel at Mount Sinai--the Mosaic code. Who gave it? God. How did He present it? With an overpowering majesty. The details:
1.It was issued from a mountaintop--a place evoking awe and mystery. Standing at the foot of El Capitan, one feels both thrilled by its height and also dwarfed by it. This was doubly true of the Israelites who had come from the low and flat lands of northern Egypt. Never had they seen anything like Sinai.
2.The mountain was on fire. Fire itself is hypnotic in its effect. But more: this fire never went out; it burned for forty days and forty nights. The Israelites knew what it represented: the presence of God. Moses had seen it in the burning bush--now the whole nation was made "eyewitnesses of His majesty".
3.The mountain was ringed with black clouds, adding to its foreboding mystery.
4.The mountain was swept with powerful winds suggesting the might of its Divine Resident.
5.From the mountain came a trumpet blast so loud that it shook the earth. Kings were announced by the blowing of horns. What sort of King merits this kind of flourish?
6.The Voice. It spoke with such sacred force that the nation begged off hearing it. The gods of Egypt had muttered through their prophets, but the God of Sinai spoke with a voice superhuman.
7.The Mountain was so fearsome that even Moses trembled in its presence. Moses, the man who once led the armies of Egypt to victory. Moses, the man who stood up to Pharaoh. Moses, the man who "knew God face-to-face" and spoke to Him as "a man speaks to his friend". Even Moses was terrified in the Presence of such majesty.
8.So holy was this place that no one else could approach it. Even the wandering goat must be killed if he stepped foot on Sinai.
The hymn has it right:
"In ancient times didst give the Law
In cloud and majesty and awe".
What was the Old Covenant's effect on the people of God? Did it bring them to God? No, it kept them away. Did it make them holy? It did not, as the Golden Calf episode makes clear. Did it give life? No, "their carcasses fell in the wilderness". It gave the knowledge of God's will, but not the power to do it. It produced nothing but fear.
If we were partakers of this Covenant, we'd never be encouraged or holy, peaceful or caring.
But we have no part in the Old System. It "became obsolete, grew old, and vanished away".
It was replaced with the New Covenant, vv.22ff. "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel".
1.Mount Sinai was in the wilderness, a place of wandering, privation, and death. We have entered the "promised land". Not its frontier, but it capital city, "Jerusalem". Not its outskirts, but the center of its life: "Mount Zion" on which the Temple was built. This means that we are no longer kept away from God by a fence (as at Sinai), but have unlimited access to Him and His grace.
2.Mount Sinai was the camping place of an ungodly people, a people who swore allegiance to God, but never quit their idols. A murmuring people, a defiant people, an immoral people, a people of unbelief. But we're not in their company. Our fellowship is with a better class: unfallen angels and redeemed humanity. With the former, we share the service of God. With the latter, we share the benefit of Christ.
3.Mount Sinai was a place of judgment. There God evaluated His people and found them guilty. We come to "the Judge of all" too, but--for Christ's sake--He finds us innocent.
4.Mount Sinai had its mediator, Moses. We have ours: "Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant". The "blood" of His covenant "speaks better things than that of Abel". The blood of Abel demands for retribution. The blood of Christ demands for remission.
"Forgive them, O forgive they cry,
Forgive them, O forgive they cry,
Nor let that ransomed sinner die".
And so, the first reason to live a godly life, though under pressure, is because of the unique blessings we enjoy under the New Covenant.
Is there a second reason? There is:: The unique responsibilities we bear under the New Covenant, vv.25-29.
"To whom much is given, much will be required". Because Israel was more blessed by God than any other nation, it was obliged to serve God better than the nations. Because we are more blessed than Israel was, we are responsible to serve Him as they never could.
Two contrasts are drawn. First, God's voice, vv.25-27. "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised saying, `I shake not only the earth, but also heaven'. Now this `Yet once more' indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain".
At Sinai, God's voice shook the ground. Those who disobeyed it paid a heavy price: "they did not escape". But this was not the last time God's voice would shake things up. In Haggai 2:6, He promised to shake--not just the earth, but heaven as well. This He will do on the Last Day. Consequently, if the voice that shook earth must be obeyed, how much more the voice that shakes the whole universe to pieces?
The second comparison is a kingdom, v.28. "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear".
The kingdom of Israel was temporary. In time, God's justice shook it to pieces. Our kingdom, however, is permanent. When all is shaken, it remains firm. Because of the superiority of Christ's kingdom, His subjects must live in His joyful service.
A summary statement follows: "For our God is a consuming fire". Because He is, we must serve Him with a godly reverence. Not to earn His favor or merit our salvation, but because He deserves it.
"Thou art worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory
and power and honor".
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