wanted to take just a moment and highlight a couple of individuals and lessons that you may be interested or you may have the opportunity to go hear.
The theme at the Memphis School of Preaching Lectureship this week is teach all nations and certainly we are to be, as the church, we are to be about doing that.
But I know sometimes when you look at a schedule, which by the way the
the Yoke fellow that's back there on the table in the back has the schedule on the inside of it.
You may see some names that you're not familiar with and we're not always terribly in a hurry to go hear somebody we don't know.
But I do know a few of the folks speaking and so I thought I'd highlight a few folks that you may want to make time in your schedule if at all possible to go here just because I
know they will do an excellent job and I'm sure all the rest of them will as well.
Of course this afternoon we're going to have our singing here at 1.30 after the potluck.
We hope all of you will stay for the potluck.
There will be plenty of food, but also stay for the singing afterwards at 1.30.
But if you can't possibly sing enough in 45 minutes, then at 4.30 this afternoon, head over to Forest Hill for another 30 minutes of singing and that.
Auditorium is usually just about completely packed with no room to sit on Sunday evening.
So, if you want to enjoy singing with a completely full room of other Christians, that is a great time to do it, 4.30 this afternoon over at Forest Hill.
But then immediately following that, Brother B.J.
Clark is going to address how to answer life's greatest questions.
That, I'm sure, is going to be an excellent lesson.
I look forward to hearing it this evening.
On Monday, Wayne Rogers is going, a good friend of mine, is going to be teaching in the morning at 9.05 on who will teach all nations.
Since the theme is teach all nations, question is who.
Then tomorrow afternoon, whenever Brother Paul Sane preaches, if I have the ability to...
hear him, I'm gonna be there.
I've been listening to Brother Paul saying since I was about three years old, and he has always delivered masterful lessons.
He speaks tomorrow afternoon at 3 30 on about the origin and sin of denominationalism.
I expect that is going to be a great lesson.
Tuesday,
In the morning, Joshua Cantrell, who if you've not heard Joshua Cantrell, you are in for a treat.
He'll be speaking in the school building at the 11 o'clock hour on the theme of about the indestructible royal nation, speaking concerning the royal priesthood, the royal nation of
God's people.
And then at 3.30, Glenn Hitchcock.
He's another one I've been hearing since I was three years old, but he was a lot taller when I was three.
He's about six foot five.
And so when you're three, he's really, really tall, and he's still really tall.
But Glenn does a great job, and he has a lesson Tuesday afternoon at 3.30 on that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
And then Tuesday night, Brother Dave Miller is speaking on the dangers of socialism.
and that I anticipate will be a great lesson as well.
There's a number more on Wednesday and Thursday.
Thursday morning at 10 o'clock, if you would like to go meet one of the students that graduated from Tri-Cities with my wife and I, Wes Garland will be speaking at the 10
o'clock hour on how to fulfill the work of the church on Thursday morning.
So that's another one you might want to hear and then stay right after that for Ernest Benjamin.
who has always delivered great lessons on not to imitate pagan nations.
So all of these are great lessons.
I encourage you to look over the schedule.
If you're not sure who somebody is or if you should go, send me a text message and say, hey, is this gonna be a good one?
And the answer is it probably will be.
This morning, we've been discussing mountains.
If you haven't figured out from the last two weeks that I like mountains,
I like mountains.
You give me a choice between being in the mountains and being anywhere else on the planet, and I'll be in the mountains.
I love mountains.
But the Scripture speaks concerning mountains.
We noticed two weeks ago the mountains of the Old Testament and events that occur at some of those mountains, and then we noticed last week the mountains of the life of Christ.
and events that occurred in the life of Christ at certain mountains.
We're going to close up this series this morning with the spiritual mountains of the Word of God.
Spiritual mountains that we find within the text of Scripture that have a physical representation, but the message of the circumstances, not the physical, but the spiritual.
We're going to begin over in Matthew chapter 17, Mark chapter 11, where Jesus tells his disciples about the mountain of faith.
He's referencing in the direct context of both of these passages, though they're separate occasions, he's referencing the faith that one is to have in regards in the first century
to the miraculous works.
But we're gonna see this at a slightly
deeper level.
Matthew chapter 17, Jesus has gone up into the Mount of Transfiguration, which we discussed last week.
And he has come back down and we know from that text that three of the disciples went with him, but the rest of the disciples remained down off of the mountain and did not go with
Jesus to the top of the mountain.
When you find there in the passage that they come
Jesus and the other disciples come back to the disciples that left behind.
They had been dealing with the crowds, they had been dealing with the people, and there was a man who had a son and the son was demon possessed and they were unable to cast out
the demon.
And so they address this with Jesus and they question about this in verse 14, and when they had come to the multitude, man came to him kneeling down to him and saying, Lord,
have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
So I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation.
How long shall I be with you?
How long shall I bear with you?
Bring him here to me." And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, Why could we not cast it out?
So Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief.
For assuredly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for
you.
However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
When the disciples come to Jesus and they question him as to why they have been unable to cast out the demon that this child had,
Jesus says the problem isn't the demon, it's you.
Jesus says this problem is because of your unbelief.
And then Jesus makes a statement.
He said, if you had the faith of a mustard seed, you would say to this mountain, go and cast yourself into the sea or move from here to there and it would do it.
Now as we pause for a moment and consider a couple of details.
Number one, this is occurring in a time in which God is miraculously working through the actions of the apostles and Jesus and will be consistently part of the discussion moving
forward into the time where the Holy Spirit is giving the gifts of the miraculous deeds to the early church.
And so we understand the context of those events are different than our context today where those deeds are no longer continuing, but.
Jesus did not say that the reason they couldn't do this is because they didn't have enough of the Spirit in them.
And He didn't say that the reason they were unable to do this is because God's miraculous deeds weren't sufficient for the task.
The reason that Jesus said they were unable to do this is because their faith was lacking.
Jesus makes this point.
Jesus said, you had faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move.
And nothing will be impossible for you.
Jesus is making the point to the disciples that the problem you have
is your faith in God's ability, your faith in God's power, your understanding of God's control over the universe.
You might ask, you might wonder, where in all the Old Testament Scripture did anyone who was a servant of God tell a mountain to move and it did it?
Where's Jesus getting this from?
Where is the example of the power of an individual that Jesus is saying if you simply had the faith you ought to, this would occur?
And I would suggest to you it's not in the movement of a mountain, though that was an appropriate example for them standing there.
But what about a prophet who says, it's not going to rain until I say so?
Elijah would tell the northern kingdom of Israel and Ahab, it's not going to rain because of your disobedience to God, because of the way you have departed from God, it's not going
to rain until I say so.
And for three and a half years it doesn't rain.
Not one day in the northern kingdom of Israel until
Elijah says so.
Now, was that Elijah's power?
No, that was God's power.
And yet, because of Elijah's confidence in God's power, Elijah could speak and the rain would cease.
Because of Elijah's confidence in God's power, Elijah, having had no rain for three and a half years, could dump water on top of an altar again and again and again and then pray to
God one time that fire come down from heaven and it consumes the altar.
Jesus' point to the disciples is, it is your faith in God that is lacking.
Turn over to Mark, chapter 11.
Mark chapter 11 and in verse 20, we read, now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
If you know the background of this, earlier, back in verse 12, they passed by a fig tree.
Jesus, being hungry, went to the fig tree and yet there was no fruit on it.
So Jesus cursed the fig tree.
And the next morning they passed by and they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter remembering said to him, Rabbi, look the fig tree which you cursed has withered away.
They're astounded because Jesus placed a curse on a fig tree that seemed to be entirely healthy the day before.
The next day they go by it and it's dried up and dead.
And Peter is astonished at this, so much so that he draws Jesus's attention to it, lest perhaps Jesus miss it.
And notice Jesus' response.
Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God.
For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,
he will have whatever he says.
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them." Now Jesus is no televangelist.
Jesus is not teaching, nor is there anywhere in scripture that teaches if you just wish
Longingly enough, the things that you desire will come to pass and you'll be rich and famous and everyone will adore you." That's not what Jesus is talking about.
Jesus is talking about faith in God.
Jesus is talking about the confidence that His disciples were to have that God would act on their behalf and that when they spoke, God
would act.
Jesus would teach his disciples in Matthew chapter 16, whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
Whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus is passing authority onto his disciples and they are going to function as the apostles and leaders of the church and he is telling them that their faith must be such
that when they ask they know God will act.
struggle.
that Jesus points out in the lives of the apostles is a real struggle for us today.
Not in miraculous deeds, but in faith in God to do what He's told us He can do if we will do what He's told us to do.
How many churches doubt that they can grow?
How many churches doubt that they can reach the lost?
How many churches doubt that they can actually sit down with someone and teach them the gospel and that person being receptive to it will be obedient to the gospel?
How many churches doubt that there will ever be a second generation in that congregation that is raised up faithful to God?
Because all they've ever observed is a generation that is raised up and departs from God.
How many individuals will doubt that there can be such a thing as a righteous nation?
I would suggest to you the problem is not God's ability to make it so.
It is their faith to do what God commanded to make it so.
Over in 1 Corinthians, Paul as he is writing to the church at Corinth, dealing with and in the context of the miraculous gifts.
will use this same idea but establish that the greatest thing that we are to have as Christians isn't a faith that could move mountains, but rather the love of God.
He says in chapter 13 and verse 1, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I have become a sounding brass and a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
You go down to the end of the chapter and you read verse 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am
known, and now abide faith, hope, love, these three.
But the greatest of these is love.
If we understand that faith in God,
is a comprehension of His power, His greatness, His glory, His ability, His strength.
then what is our love?
Our love is to be an outpouring of His love.
John will write over in 1 John chapter 4 that one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
How do we learn from this?
What do we learn from this?
Number one, that faith is more than just believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Faith involves more than that.
Faith is something that grows from being small and having a basic understanding of God and His will that should develop into a full understanding of God and His will.
and that we should be growing our faith.
But we should also understand that God is not bound by our limitations.
Which one's harder?
Casting out a demon or moving a mountain?
For God, there's no difference.
Which one's harder?
Creating the world or moving a mountain?
For God, there's no difference.
Which one's harder?
Reaching the lost with the gospel or moving a mountain?
For God, there's no difference.
So which one will we have faith enough to participate in?
and believe that it can be done.
But then consider this, the mountain of God's plan of redemption.
Over in Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah will prophesy concerning one who's coming.
And we know from what Jesus tells us that the one who was going to come was John the Baptist.
But over in Isaiah chapter 40,
And in verse one we read, yes comfort my people says your God, speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has
received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.
Jesus directly attributes that phrase to John the Baptist.
He says, John is the fulfillment of this, but notice that the message is to Jerusalem of comfort.
The message is to God's people, you've been judged, you've received the recompense of your sin, you've received double for all of your sins, now God has restored you faithfully to
Himself.
And now God declares, voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.
The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah tells us in this prophecy that God is going to send a messenger ahead of the Messiah.
He's going to send a messenger ahead of the one who is the king.
And the job of the messenger is to make all the mountains become flat, make all the valleys get raised up and become flat, take all the curvy roads and make them straight.
He's not talking about the physical roads.
He's not prophesying about the quality of the roads that the Roman government's going to build.
He's talking about the hearts of men.
Brethren, you will rarely meet the person who is perfectly ready to hear the gospel.
They've already studied everything they need to study.
They've already read everything they need to read.
They have no misconceptions.
They're just waiting on you to show up to tell them you need to be baptized in water and then they're going to go do it and say yes.
That's not how life works.
And it's not how it worked when God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ.
God said John's going to come and John's going to make some changes.
God is going to produce some dramatic differences in the world through John.
So much so that the entire nation is described as going out to hear John.
We need to be reminded that the mountain of people's lives
can be converted to the straight path of God's instructions.
But it's not easy, and it doesn't happen in a day.
We need to take the time with individuals whose lives may be quite a valley, whose twists and whose turns in their character might need a whole lot of straightening out.
And we need to be patient enough to make those paths straight so that the Word of God can be spread.
We should never look at an individual and think that person's just too far gone to hear the gospel.
But we should also understand that it is the power of the Word of God to convert hearts and minds and not us.
If we are confident that we are good enough to change hearts and minds, we misunderstand our role.
Paul would write concerning the preachers of the first century,
He said, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase.
We need to be reminded that it is our role to teach and to preach and that the mountain of God's plan of redemption will be enacted.
But then consider as well the mountain of earthly power.
Sometimes we imagine
that if we could just get the world's governments to cooperate, we would be so much more successful with the gospel.
And scripture makes it quite clear that is not going to happen, nor is it necessary.
In Ezekiel chapter 6 and in verse 1 we read, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, set your face toward the mountain of Israel, and prophesy against them.
Now, God is not telling Ezekiel to walk up to one of the mountains and start talking to the mountain.
So who are the mountains of Israel?
They're the government.
They're the leaders.
They're the people who have set their hard face against God and it said, will not change.
And God tells Ezekiel, you go set your face toward the mountain of Israel and prophesy against them and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God.
Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, and to the ravines, and to the valleys, Indeed, I even I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high
places.
Then your altar shall become desolate, your incense altar shall be broken down, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols, I will lay the corpses of the children of
Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around."
the altars, in all your dwelling places the city shall be laid waste, and high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and may desolate, your idols may
be broken and may cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished."
God tells Ezekiel, you go speak to the mountains of Israel and you tell them I'm coming for them and I'm going to judge them.
You turn over to the book of Revelation and time and time again in that book that is figurative, it's visionary in its principles, but the picture of mountains are all through
it.
In Revelation chapter 6 and beginning in verse 12, I looked and he opened the sixth seal and behold there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and
the moon became like blood and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the
mountains.
And they said to the mountains and 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 his wrath has come and who is able to stand." As God here pictures his judgment on Rome.
The judgment on a nation that was persecuting his people.
The judgment on a nation that looked as though it ruled the world and nothing could topple it.
God says, have something else you might need to know.
And that is that when I come for this nation, the mountains are going to get out of the way.
Every obstruction that they think is their protection is going to crumble before what I bring against them.
And they're going to cry out for the mountains to fall on them because of my wrath.
And it won't help.
You go over to Revelation chapter 8.
The second angel sounds something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea.
we ever seen that image before?
Yeah.
It's Jesus's picture.
The mountain burning with fire is thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood.
It's a picture.
It's imagery.
But what's it saying?
There's nothing standing in the way of God from doing what He said He would do.
If there's a mountain in the way, He'll pick up the mountain, He'll light it on fire, and He'll throw it in the ocean.
And then half the ocean will turn into blood.
What's that bring to mind?
The judgment of God on Egypt and the river turning to blood?
God's saying, I've done it before.
I've judged a nation that thought they were untouchable before.
I've judged a nation whose king said, who is this God that I should listen to him?
I've done it before, and I'll do it again.
But then consider Revelation chapter 16.
Revelation chapter 16.
Verse 17, "'Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, is done.
And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and a great earthquake, and a mighty and great earthquake had not occurred since men were on the earth.'" This imagery is, by
the way, and language is Old Testament language for the fall of a nation.
Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of wine of the fierceness of
his wrath.
Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found, and great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talon.
Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great."
And again, you've got the Egyptian imagery brought forward of God's judgment on Egypt coming forward to God's judgment on Rome.
And God's saying there's nothing that's going to stand in the way.
You think your islands, you think your mountains are your protection.
They're not going to stop me.
Then consider Revelation chapter 17 as God pictures the
the city that is so filled with evil.
As he pictures Rome here as the woman who is the harlot sitting on top of this great beast from Daniel's prophecy.
We find in
Revelation chapter 17 in verse 9, here is the mind which has wisdom, the seven heads or seven mountains on which the woman sits.
There are also seven kings, five have fallen, one is and the other is not yet come, and when he comes he must continue a short time.
The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven and is going into perdition.
The ten horns which you saw are ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings of the beast.
This is all imagery from Daniel.
But John is telling the Christians, because they're familiar with the prophecy, they know what Daniel prophesied about, and he's telling them God's going to judge the woman who is
the city that sits on seven mountains.
It's Rome.
and God is making it clear.
There's nothing that will stand in my way.
There's no earthly power that can stop me.
Now as we take that lesson and we understand, there's no earthly power that can stop God.
Why then do we allow earthly powers to stop us from doing what God said?
There is no nation under heaven where the gospel cannot go and should not already be going.
And there is no ruler and no authority that should give us pause about preaching the gospel to the entire world.
But then consider the mountain of the Lord's house.
We don't have time to go into this in depth, though it would be worth our time to do so.
Isaiah chapter 2, Isaiah will prophesy about the mountain of the Lord's house.
In Isaiah chapter 2 and in verse 1, we read this.
the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and
all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.
For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.
Neither shall they learn war anymore." Turn over to Daniel chapter 2.
In Daniel chapter 2, as Daniel is interpreting the dream that Nebuchadnezzar saw.
as God is giving this knowledge to Nebuchadnezzar.
In Daniel chapter two, Daniel will speak concerning the Lord's house that will be built up.
In Daniel chapter two, beginning in verse 33, we read, this image was of fine gold, or verse 30,
verse 34, you watched while a stone was cut out without hands which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces then the iron the clay the bronze the
silver and the gold were crushed together this image is representative of one world power after another and God says I'm going to build up this stone and it's going to destroy all
of them and he says
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floor.
The wind carried them away so that there was no trace of them that was found.
And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
This is the dream.
And now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
You, O King, are a king of kings.
For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory.
And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of heaven, he has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all.
You are the head of gold."
But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, and as much as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything.
And like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of the iron shall be in it.
just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay, and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men, and they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
And in the days of these kings...
God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people.
It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
And as much as you saw the stone which was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God
has made known to the king what will come to pass after this.
The dream is certain, and its interpretation is...
Sure.
Daniel will tell Nebuchadnezzar, God of heaven is going to set up a kingdom and it will never be destroyed.
And Isaiah calls it the mountain of the Lord's house and Joel calls it the mountain of the Lord's house.
If you turn over to Acts chapter 2
In Acts chapter 2, says in verse 14, but Peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to
you and heed my words.
For these are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day, but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions.
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on my men servants and on my maid servants I will pour out my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy.
I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
Be saved
Men of Israel, hear these words.
Jesus of Nazareth, a man, attested to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know.
Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God you have taken with lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the
pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
Peter says the thing that was prophesied by Joel is the thing you're witnessing right now.
The thing that was prophesied by Isaiah and by Daniel was the thing they were witnessing right then.
As God established His kingdom, His church.
In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
And He said to Peter that He would give to Peter the keys of the kingdom of God.
And as Peter stood there in Pentecost and preached that first gospel sermon, he opened the doors to the kingdom.
For those who adhere the gospel, repent of their sins, be immersed in water for the forgiveness of those sins, and then be obedient to God.
over in Hebrews chapter 12.
The Hebrew writer is writing to these Christians that are considering going back to the law of Moses, considering going back to their old ways.
And he says to those Christians, you strengthen the hands, verse 12, which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be
dislocated but rather be healed.
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled, lest there be any fornicator
or profane person like Esau for whom who for one morsel of food sold his birthright."
For you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
For you have not come to the mountain which may be touched, that burned with fire, and the blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so
that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore." The Hebrew writer is telling these Christians, you didn't come to Mount Sinai?
You didn't come to the place where God spoke and you visibly saw the smoke ascending from the mountain and you heard the voice so much that it caused them to fear and say, we don't
ever want to hear the voice of God again.
He says, that's not what you've come to.
He says, for they could not endure what was commanded.
if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.
And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.
But you have come to the Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly of the 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 the blood of the
sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
What's the Hebrew writer saying?
You didn't come to Mount Sinai.
You didn't come to a mountain on fire.
You didn't come to the voice of God speaking and causing you to fear and tremble that you would lose your life that very moment.
you came to the assembly of the body of Christ and it's greater than that mountain in Sinai.
and its mediator is better than Moses and its salvation
is incomparable to the blood of bulls and goats.
The mountain of the Lord's house has been established and it's no physical mountain.
It's a spiritual people of God, the church, the body of Christ.
And there is no greater power that exists on earth than the church of God.
And there is no greater assembly that exists on earth than the people of God.
And there is no greater salvation on earth than what is had by the people of God.
So if you're here this morning and you're outside the kingdom of God, you're outside the place of salvation, you're outside the church where salvation is found, you're outside the
thing that Christ came and shed His blood to purchase.
Repent and die to sin in a watery grave of baptism to be born into the kingdom, the assembly of God.
If you have need of the invitation, why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing.
You and me Lord, I
you