Two Mountains

September 23, 2012

Lesson: Hebrews 12:18–29

Key Verse: Hebrews 12:22

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Introduction

Our key verse reads: “But ye have come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God. Mount Zion speaks of God’s people who have been sanctified in Christ their King. His Word exhorts His people to be Holy as He is Holy: “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 20:7). The Apostle Peter reminds us that we have been drown out of the darkness of sin to the light of Christ: “for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Pe. 1:13–15). The Apostle Paul exhorts us to put on “bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another;” being so enabled to do so “as the elect of God, holy and beloved” (Col. 3:12–13).

Mount Sinai speaks of God’s Law, which judges man as to his righteousness; Esau being an example of those who reject God. There is this warning: “looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Heb. 12:15–17). This mountain does not belong to us; for if we were to “fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame” (Heb. 6:6)

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The Terrible Mountain—Hebrews 12:18–21

Esau faced the terrible judgment of God. He had despised his birthright as the firstborn for food, saying, “What profit shall this birthright do to me?”—selling his birthright to Jacob. “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:32–34). Matthew Henry wrote that Esau “was rejected of God: He found no place of repentance in God or in his father; the blessing was given to another, even to him to whom he sold it for a mess of pottage. Esau, in his great wickedness, had made the bargain, and God in his righteous judgment, ratified and confirmed it, and would not suffer Isaac to reverse it.” Let us not take the grace of our Father in heaven for granted; taking our eyes off of Christ, allowing the temptation of fleshly desires to guide our thoughts and actions. We have been given a birthright, and inheritance. By gift of faith, we have looked to Christ, embracing Him, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Eph. 2:13–14). Shall we then despise Him who shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and the gift of eternal life, by turning to the filthy desires of our hearts?

No! “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and voice of words, which voice they heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (for they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake).” The blackness and the darkness of God’s judgment upon those who reject Him is most horribly designed as “which voice they that heard should not be spoken to them anymore.” Matthew Henry comments: “Upon that mount there were blackness and darkness, and that church-state was covered with dark shadows and types: the gospel state is much more clear and bright. It was a dreadful and terrible dispensation; the Jews could not bear the terror of it. The thunder and the lightning, the trumpet sounding, the voice of God himself speaking to them, struck them with such dread that they entreated that the word might not be so spoken to them anymore. Yea, Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake. The best of men on earth are not able to converse immediately with God and his holy angels.”

Discussion: How is the judgment of God upon the wicked illustrated?

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The Glorious Mountain—Hebrews 12:22–24

As children of God redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, we do not fear the righteous judgment of God; for Christ has taken upon Himself our transgressions and satisfied the judgment on our behalf. Therefore, “But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the innumerable company of angels.” Scripture here emphasizes the truth that God has chosen a people called a city in which He abides. We are citizens of a heavenly nation: He shows how much the gospel church represents the church triumphant in heaven, what communication there is between the one and the other. The gospel church is called mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free, in opposition to Mount Sinai, which tendeth to bondage, (Gal. 4:24). This was the hill on which God set his king the Messiah. Now, in coming to mount Zion, believers come into heavenly places, and into a heavenly society” (M. Henry).

We belong to the “household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19–22). Our sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit whereby we are being built up in Christ and His righteousness. Thereby we witness to the truth that we have been justified in Christ: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8–10).

The Spirit further teaches us the nature and being of the Church, of the congregation (the gathered, called out people of God), of which Christ is King and Head: “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” We look to Christ Jesus alone, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5–6).

Discussion: What is revealed in these verses of the nature of the true Church?

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The Kingdom of Grace—Hebrews 12:25–29

We are to be careful not to listen and heed to the voice of the Lord; “For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” The Lord shook the earth in the giving of His Law, by which His people saw that they were sinners, those who have transgressed His Law (as we also were). Now the voice of the Lord thunders the Gospel penetrating the earth and the heavens. “And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” The Gospel cleanses both the soul of men and of nations.

John Calvin understands this voice of thunder, teaching us “that the voice of the Gospel not only thunders through the earth, but also penetrates above the heavens. But that the Prophet speaks of Christ’s kingdom is beyond any dispute, for it immediately follows in the same passage, “I will shake all nations; and come shall the desire of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory.” It is however certain that neither all nations have been gathered into one body, except under the banner of Christ, nor has there been any desire in which we ought to acquiesce but Christ alone, nor was the temple of Solomon exceeded in glory until the magnificence of Christ became known through the whole world.”

We, being saved by the grace of God in Christ who ransomed our souls, have entered in His Kingdom; “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.” We are called upon to serve our Lord who has given us the Spirit to enable us to do those deeds, express the Gospel in His words, to grant us understanding through His Scriptures. Therefore, let us “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God; and it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psa. 100:1–3). We are his people, by grace through faith, and all is given that our boast is in the Lord alone.

Discussion: How are we to live in the kingdom of our Lord?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2012 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.