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174.
No fix our Ernest Gates, no holy Lord on thee, that with thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see 174.
Occasions.
Soul.
Desire. Let's get.
Holy Lord.
On me, love me, love me.
We all swear.
On may seem.
We begin with in Hebrews 12, verse 18 and cover that part of the chapter. I don't. I know we didn't go over all those verses, but I think it'd be nice to take up the last part of the chapter.
Hebrews 12 and verse 18.
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 the voice of words, which voice they that heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. But they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with the dark, and so terrible with the sight that Moses said.
I exceedingly fear in Kuwait the year come unto Mount Zion.
And out of the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, 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 of sprinkling.
That speak of better things than that of able.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not, who refused him that spake on earth much more? Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him and speaketh from heaven? Whose voice then shook the earth?
Now he is promising. Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receive a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
God is a consuming fire.
Just before we get into those last part, I'd like to make a few comments on.
Verse 15 says, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. It's so easy to.
00:05:03
Forget that we stand before God on the grounds of His sovereign grace.
Unmerited favor like you mentioned brother. Divine enablement, is that what you said? And it's just God that gives and gives.
Because of Walgreens.
But we tend to sometimes see things that are out of order and we tend to lay down the rules and regulations. And it's easy to get into that spirit of things. Don't say that we don't need correction. We do need correction, but rather than it should be done in the spirit of grace. And so it says diligently, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God.
How important that is, I think of, I think somebody mentioned that the other day that Paul told Timothy in the Day of Ruin.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Would think he would say things are slipping so badly. He'd say now, Timothy, make sure they stay in line here. No, that's not going to keep us.
Grace touches the heart, brethren, and the heart is the mainspring of Christian life. And so how important it is that we don't depart from the grace of God, that principle of the grace of God, because immediately.
There will be roots of bitterness that will trouble us.
And many will be defiled. And then he mentions Esau in verses 16 and 17.
And it mentions. I've kind of puzzled over this. Must there be any fornicator?
Or profane person as Esau? I don't know that we have any record in scripture of Esau committing fornication. What is the thought here?
To say the second adjective is profane person. What's being profane is treating that which is sacred as if it were common.
And that's what a fornicator does. He teaches, he he practices that those things that are sacred before God, the intimate relationship between a man and his wife is nothing more than something common.
That's a profane person, and a fornicator is the same but.
Esau treated his birthright. Remember how he came back from the field one day and he was hungry and faint and Jacob had some pottage and he says give me some of your pottage. So Jacob says, sell me your birthright. And what did Esau say? He says what good is my birthright?
No more than a bowl of potties. Give it to me. So he sold his birthright, that which was something that was God-given to be valued. He did not esteem it as anything valuable, and he sold it. And later on it came to the question of the blessing when his father was going to bless them at the end of his life.
That.
He lost it because he had despised his birthright.
He lost the blessing and it's interesting. If you look at Mr. Darby's translation, it helps to understand verse 17. He said he found no place of repentance.
Though he sought it carefully with tears, and that part, for he found no place of repentance, is in parentheses.
Because what he sought was not repentance. What he sought was the blessing. Esau never repented.
Therefore you have in the book of Malachi the Lord saying.
Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated.
People find that strange. Why would God say that?
It was because he was a profane man and he had no value for the things of God.
Evidently there was not any faith in Esau.
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Perhaps some have some thoughts related to that too. I find it very.
Challenging.
Brethren, the Lord help us, we live in a day of ruin like we were reminded and we need to be looking diligently less in not anyone fail of the grace of God.
I think that.
Bitterness.
And result from being offended.
And you know, it tells us in Psalm One 19165.
Great.
Peace have they who love thy law. Nothing shall offend them. You know, I read that and I thought, I like what I'm hearing, what I'm seeing.
Never be offended by anything or anybody. Well, how can this be?
Well, I believe it can be when we are enjoying.
The grace of God in our souls.
And we come to realize that you and I as believers.
We are smothered with kindness. We've been showered with blessing. It's all of grace.
We know what we are. We are children of God. We are sons of God.
We are part of the body of Christ. We're part of the bride. We know what we have. We have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What more can we ask for? We know where we're heading.
The glory shines before us, the blessed hope. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Well, I believe if we are in the enjoyment of these things that God by his grace has bestowed upon us, we're not going to be too concerned if somebody says something unkind or does something that.
Naturally speaking would hurt us. So I think we need to be careful, you know, that we don't fall from the enjoyment of the grace of God because if we do.
Get our eyes on.
Others, can you think about? You know I've been hurt.
And we lose sight.
Grace of God, we fall from grace and we become bitter and at root of bitterness can continue to grow.
Now you don't see a root, it's underground.
But that route is growing. It's going to shoot up. It's going to come above and you know we're going to see the result of that bitterness.
And tells us here that many.
Are going to be defiled. We don't deal with that route of bitterness, but I believe it's a matter of enjoying the grace of God in our souls.
There's two sides there too, somebody being offended.
Having grace and really being enjoyment of it, as you said, maybe we won't be offended or at least very shortly and be able to deal with it, but.
Weaken more, deal with the world saying things to us. But when someone that's one of our brethren, our family says something that can really hurt and that's harder to deal with. Someone that you expect to support you and surround you and love you and they do it. Maybe they're not being gracious and then we respond not being in the enjoyment of grace. Like you said, brother, Well, we got a problem there and maybe you can recover from it before it becomes a root. But there's a.
An expression I heard a long time ago, I don't know who taught it to me. And there's a brother back home. And I told him one day I said, brother, you're becoming like that. Get off my lawn, guy. Don't be that guy.
He says what do you mean? And I says that wagging finger thing in somebody's face and getting after him about something even if they need correction. That attitude is not grace. And you know what happens to that guy? And he says what I says the kids he yells at.
Run across his lawn all the more and the toilet paper his house on Halloween. All it does is get it worse. It doesn't help anyone because it's not great. And to get off my lawn guy, it's kind of a funny term, but he actually took it to heart. And there's a sense in which we don't want to be that if if we want to help somebody, don't do it like that. It won't work. It doesn't work with your own kids, doesn't work with your brother, and it won't work with the neighbors kids either. If you literally want them to keep off your lawn, there's another way to deal with it.
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And grace? Is it grace on both sides of those things if we act in an ungracious way and offend someone?
We're contributing to that. And if that person that's offended doesn't, isn't living in the good of grace, then this root can spring up. And I guarantee you that all of us know people in our families or relatives or even in meetings where this very thing is taking place and years later.
There's this angry, bitter person and you see a whole family affected. You see assemblies affected. You see things going on. You find out, well, I haven't talked to my brother in 10 years. Things like that come out. And this is what it's warning about. And you know, the Scripture also tells us don't give offense, don't take offense. And being in the enjoyment of grace helps with both sides. That doesn't it?
Probably use this verse for a lot of different things, but I've enjoyed Second Timothy.
Last chapter.
Verse 22.
Says the Lord Jesus Christ, be with thy spirit.
Or attitude.
You mentioned attitude, Sam.
And so really it would be that we would have the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if we had that and everything that we did.
These things wouldn't really be a problem, would they?
Sinking back, even.
Not to go too far, but the father of spirits that were mentioned yesterday.
So.
You know, in our personal lives as a father, we recognize what our children are doing much by their attitude.
And the way they behave. And so the Father of spirits detects our attitude and knows it too, doesn't he? So these things which which?
That we're speaking about now.
Most surely if we took on the attitude of Christ and walked in those things.
We'd be walking in a sense of meekness and loneliness, and there would be grace all around, wouldn't there?
Well, brother, if you offended me, said something to me.
And you really did.
Unmerited favor from me would be to treat you in a way that you don't deserve.
I might think you deserve to be responded to or really clamp down on, but that's what Brother Wally was saying about living in the good of the grace. And maybe it stings at first. You know, there's a sense in which when things happen, events happen. They can happen suddenly. So if I walk up behind someone and go Boo, they're going to jump. It's what you do next. And when something happens, somebody says something, something happens. You may be surprised by an anger flares up.
Or there's resentment. And then what do you do next? If you get help from the Lord and you're in the goodness of grace, you're going to go well, Yeah, OK, Well, maybe my brother had a bad day, maybe he's having a bad moment, maybe whatever. And then you don't go down that road and you treat them with unmerited favor.
The secret is to realize how much we've been forgiven, isn't it? Yes. And when you think of how much we've been forgiven, brethren.
It's like that parable, the likeness of the Kingdom, Matthew 18.
The first servant was forgiven 10,000 talents, an incredible amount of debt. He had no clue how much he owed. But then he goes out and gets a hold of a fellow servant that had a very small debt and he wants to choke him and he won't forgive him and he throws him into prison.
That's brethren, when we get resentful in our hearts is because we've forgotten how much we've been forgiven. Lord, help us not to forget.
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With what measure you meet up to others shall be meted unto you. Did I get that right? That one scares me.
Said a couple verses to that.
Spirit of the man is the candle of the Lord, we read in Proverbs.
It says having us in the heart of man makes this stupid. A good word maketh the glad. It also says a wounded spirit who can bear.
A wounded spirit is not a bad spirit. A wounded spirit is not an unforgiving spirit, Hannah prayed and said. I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
So these things are very real that the Lord values and we don't want to have dispersions and again, not taking anything away from the thought of the bitter spirit, but just like to add this to what our brother Bob brought out of Esau. You know Proverbs 2323 says by the truth and sell it. Not also wisdom and instruction and understanding. He saw as a picture of a man's soul.
But I love the passage in First Kings 21 about a man that refused to sell. He bought the truth, you might say, and sold it not.
Reading corporate verses in First Kings 21 about Nabar.
I believe to have brings before us the distinction between the birthright and the blessing. Bob already mentioned the blessing is that material thing and Esau.
Was devastated that it was taken from him and he wanted a revenge on his brother for taking it from him. The birthright he couldn't have cared less. So when Aboth when Ahab comes to Naboth because he wants his vineyard and verse two AF speaking and Ebola saying, give me thy vineyard that I may have it for a garden of earth because it is near into my house, and I will give thee for a better vineyard than it. Or if it seemed good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. What? How more reasonable could you be?
I'll give you a better piece of property or I'll give you hard cash for it. Very reasonable proposition.
Neva said they have the Lord permitted thee that I should give the inheritance of my father's?
That's the birthright that connects with the inheritance.
Remember that in Luke 15 Don't leave, where the older son was so put out with the largesse and his father to his younger brother. He said, Thou never gave us me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.
Father excluded.
We wanted the material blessing, but he didn't want it in association with his father. I believe that's a great burden for us here. The great contrast. How could you value something so greatly and value so something else so closely related, so little? I believe it. Naboff is a happy picture of the opposite of Naboff or opposite of Esau. Sold for a very small price. Naboth would not sell, and it cost him his life.
What's our inheritance then?
Naboth had had something that he got from the Lord. It wasn't just happen chance. It wasn't something to buy and sell or trade.
We have something in association with the Lord Jesus, don't we?
Hi.
I think I made a mistake brother, and I think I.
Suggested we go ahead and it wasn't the mind of the Lord.
So I want to go back to.
Verse.
14.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
That beautifully connects with our second verse.
Which we went over in our first reading.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.
I really enjoyed the hymn that was given out the beginning.
I think the Lord wants us to be occupied with Him.
We need to see this inheritance, don't we? We need to see him.
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It's not a it's not a question of do's and don'ts. I know that's not what our brethren are saying, but.
It's his person. You can't see him if there's quarreling or we're not peace and holiness.
We had him very much before us this morning.
His Holiness.
The beauty of His Holiness that's in Psalms.
You can't have peace without righteousness.
And I would think that righteousness is connected with holiness. Maybe somebody can.
And I'll find it too, or give the distinction between the two. But there's one thing that we see here is that.
Without.
Holiness.
No man shall see the Lord. What does that mean?
I believe that this has to do with our fellowship with the Lord.
I don't think it has to do with our eternal salvation.
But you know, it's been said, there's nothing stronger.
Than the bond of relationship.
But there's nothing more fragile than the threat of communion or fellowship. And so if we allow sin in our life, you know, it can be just a little sin, it's going to interrupt our enjoyment of the Lord.
And with respect to seeing the Lord and being conscious of His presence.
Knowing that he is with us.
It's very important.
I believe that.
We follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Enjoy the Lord's presence, joy, fellowship, communion with the Lord.
This is what brings happiness and joy into our souls. You know we can have peace.
But I think.
Even we might have a subtle peace in our souls that all is well for time and eternity.
I'm not happy. Why is this? Because I'm not enjoying fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
The apostle John in the first epistle he spoke about how our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son.
Jesus Christ.
And then he goes on to speak of these things. Have I written unto you that your joy may be full?
Fellowship.
Fellowship.
With the Father and with the son. It requires holiness.
Is that the right thought?
But it all connects then with the following verses, verses 18 where we read brother and I think that is so important. He contrasts 2 Mounts Mount Sinai and verse 18 through 21 and then Mount Zion verse 22.
Through.
24 And it's good to see the contrast between law.
And grace and look at it verse 18 ye are not come unto the mouth that might be touched. There's always the tendency to.
Return to the principle of law and responsibility.
But to realize that's not where we've come to verse 22. You are come unto Mount Zion.
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That's great. And so he contrasts these two. It's interesting.
Verse 18 seems to refer back to the giving of the law in Exodus 19. If you go back there and notice how the people.
Put themselves It was their decision to put themselves under responsibility toward God on the principle of law.
Chapter 19 of Exodus and verse 8.
And all the people answered together.
And said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
So they put themselves under.
Law, the principle of law, and immediately.
The Lord says, set bounds around the mountain. Take heed to yourselves, verse 12 That you do not up into the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever touches the mount shall surely be put to death.
Pretty scary, frankly speaking. And so that's Mount Sinai. And then in the next chapter you have.
The 10 commandments, the law given and.
That's not where we've come to, brother. Oh, how wonderful to realize that's not where we've come to.
We've come to Mount Zion.
The beautiful place of grace. That's where we stand before God. That's the only place we can stand before God.
Maybe it'd be nice to go back to Psalm 78.
This principle of why why Mount Zion stands for grace, I think it comes out in this chapter.
It's it's a song here that recounts a lot of the history of Israel by Asaph and starting with.
I'll start with verse.
6.
No, let's see.
Verse 66. This is referring to the time of Eli the priest.
When the Tabernacle was in Shiloh and Jerusalem wasn't known to be the center yet, but it says in verse 66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts, and they put them in a perpetual reproach. Moreover, he refused the Tabernacle of Joseph.
And chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high places, like the earth, which he had established forever. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfold, and so on in verse 72.
He so he fed them according to the integrity of his heart.
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
You see the Lord taking away the blessing from one place.
Because of their failure and instead of the Lord.
As it were, rejecting Israel totally, he introduces something new here, a new tribe to be the one to praise him. And it was referred to Judas name meaning praise and so.
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I I think that fits in with with Mount Zion in our chapter. You have first the failure under law.
And what what that does is it opens up the ability for God to open up in free grace, unmerited favor.
Openly to all because it's been proved that man in his previous trial has failed. No one has succeeded.
No one can complain about God now if God gives undeserved fail favor.
This is the, this is the wonderful thing about what he does here in Judah. And he blesses and he, he calls this place Mount Zion, and he gives them a new start, a new center on basis of grace. So it's a picture, of course, but the principle holds in the Old Testament. That is what and the fullness of grace could come out in the New Testament.
After Israel had failed. And so it's it's, it's a beautiful demonstration here of the what the fullness of what God does. And of course, in our chapter, it's not only just law and grace, but it's earth and heaven. I think it's even more distinctly in our chapter, it's when man fails on earth and they reject his son, his son exalted into heaven. And then God does even a better thing.
And that's what Hebrews is about, the better things. And it's on the basis of grace, of course.
And so.
Another verse that in Zechariah in the Old Testament.
I think it's Zachariah.
I can find it.
Around the 4th chapter maybe?
It's the word. It's uses expression and grace. Grace to it.
Yeah, it is. It's right there. It was written. We're supposed to have been in my Bible.
Verse six I'll start with. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord, and is a rubble, saying, not by might, nor by power, but my by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts, Who art thou, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain.
And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting, crying.
Grace, grace unto it.
Beautiful expression here we we we quote the verse about not by might and power and, and rightly so, and and the salvation of souls and the preaching of the gospel. But it's also a picture of.
Elijah and Moses kind of ministry of grace and of might and power.
To convert people to be followers of the Lord. And so when that fails, God says, OK, got one more trial, yet I got one more better way of doing it. Grace, grace to it.
Sold its birthright for a morsel of meat, he said. I'm going to die anyway, So what does it matter?
Most of the meat is a very tangible thing. You're hungry, your food, you eat it. Birthright is sort of less tangible thing and the very our nature goes off to that which can be touched and seen and heard. It naturally craves that. And you know, children are like that. They have things that they cling to and they don't want to give up.
And these Israelites, these Hebrews, that was their tendency to to cling to that which that they were familiar with. That was, as it says here come to mountain that might be touched, burned with fire during the blackness and darkness and Tempest the sound of the trumpet and voice of words which voice they had heard and treated them and so on. So there was a there was a real tendency to go back to that like that Mosul of meat that and and treat the things that.
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God had provided skipping a lot of verses, but it speaks of Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, to a lot of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Abel's blood clot for vengeance for as Christ pull out on the mercy seat as that which allows us to approach God in the 10th chapter of Hebrews that speaks of.
Thereof treating.
Umm counted the blood of the covenant with you was sanctified and unholy thing.
I'm not sure there. Oh yeah, it is exactly in King and J&D. It says a common thing not to value it. And so there was a real danger I think with these.
The writer of the book of Hebrews assumes reality, but allows for mere profession. So I think it's important to see that when we read the book of Hebrews that although he is assuming reality throughout it, he leaves room for that there might be just mere profession, a danger that those things that God had provided would be treated as common and revoting back to that which the.
Natural man hankers after.
God put men through the test.
And I believe the Jewish nation was indeed a test plot.
Of humanity.
See if there would be some good in man in the first man. And so we find that man might say takes the stage and he says all that the Lord has said will we do? How presumptuous but the performance.
Is absolutely horrible.
The first man cannot produce any good for God.
There's no good in the flesh, and the law appeals to the flesh.
So what does God do? I believe in the Old Testament in a sense. God is passive and he lets man have his way.
With a performance, but it's.
No good. So the curtains are pulled on man's performance and now God becomes active.
In Grace and his son might Say, takes the stage.
And we see how that God, through his Son, performs.
Which is absolutely beautiful.
And it's all of grace. We come into an enjoyment.
Of salvation, forgiveness of sins justified by His grace.
We enjoy a relationship with God as our Father. It's all of grace.
And yet we find that the Jew would revert to that which.
He could not.
Do. In fact it tells us here they could not endure that which was commanded.
And so we find in Christianity, God is introducing that which is entirely.
Separate from Judaism, and yet here are these ones that want to adhere.
To a religion.
It only condemns him.
And that they cannot.
Carry out.
And we see the contrast between this.
Mount.
Sinai.
It's a place to be feared and.
What a contrast, though, to Mount Zion, where we find that it reaches up, you might say, right into heaven. We have reference to the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God, and so on.
That's where Grace puts us, you know.
Grace does that for you and me that the law never could. Race elevates us and puts us in the glory. We don't deserve it, but that's what God has in mind because.
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He's the God of all grace.
It's wonderful to see the contrast, I believe.
Setting of fear, haven't they? That's the context of verses 18 to 21.
And what a sorrow it is to be under that cloud of fear continually.
When?
Race has been made known and we have grace. I was at a funeral a while ago.
And the person who took the service, I guess he was a designated priest. It was a Catholic system and.
The man made this comment. He asked everyone in attendance that we would pray for Peter.
In the.
Days and weeks and months and years and decades to come. Pray for the deliverance of his soul.
That's the that's the system of fear. Just as a footnote to that story, his daughter remembers the Lord with us every Lord's day, and she rejoices in it.
She's moved on to Greece.
The leaders of Israel.
The attention around the Lord Jesus Christ and.
In John's Gospel, 11 Said, What do we?
They said the Romans are going to come and take away our place and our nation, and so they sold their birthright.
For their place in their nation, which they soon lost.
They sold their birthright for a hill of beans.
And if these Jewish believers were to turn back to that, they would be doing the same thing.
They would be selling.
All that they had been brought into.
And the blessings of Christianity.
Back to.
What amounted to a hill of beans?
I can put it that way. I don't mean to be profane in the way I take it up.
We as believers have been brought into many privileges and blessings.
And there's a very practical warning for our souls and the exhortation.
We can sell our birthright.
For a moment of pleasure.
You mentioned a fornicator.
We can sell our.
Privileges.
The place that is ours at the Lord's Table.
Those things that belong to every believer.
For a moment of pleasure.
We may lose those privileges for the rest of our time here in the government of God.
It's a solemn thing.
It's not the direct teaching of the chapter, but it's a very practical application for us.
Living in days like that, where that which is sacred is treated as common.
The place of a man and a woman in Scripture is very clear, very distinct, and the effort to try to destroy those differences.
Is profanity is what it is. It's it's terrible and we need to keep to God's principles, his precious word. Oh, how wonderful it is.
But I'd like to get down to these verses, brethren, and verse 22 forward.
Ye are come. Here's where we are come to brethren. And if you'll notice in the King James and also the Darby, there are 8 distinct things that are mentioned and they're separated by the word and.
00:50:13
I'll just read it here and put emphasis on the end because I think that shows how this is to read. Ye are come unto Mount Zion grace like we have been mentioned and.
Unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
And to an innumerable company of angels.
To the General Assembly.
And Church of the first born, which are written in heaven.
And to God, the Judge of all.
And to the spirits of just men made perfect the Old Testament believers.
And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and.
To the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
So here's where we've come to, brethren, and to me it's something to meditate on these different things that we have come to in Christianity.
Bob, do you want to distinguish what those different things are, at least some of them. And and don't put the question back on me.
But but I do that, but I just make this one comment. It really throws covenant theology out the door, doesn't it? I mean, that's one one of the ways that you could view it. The distinction between the just been made perfect, the Church of the the Church of the first born and so on. These are different families, as it were, but I'm not I I.
Whatever you want to put it my lack of.
Knowledge in these things. I'll have to stand beside you brother and say the same thing.
But we can make a few comments, perhaps of something we understand. I find it very interesting. The city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
Well, we have.
Revelation chapter 21.
About that city of the living God.
I find that extremely interesting to think about. I don't know that I understand that much about it.
But there are distinct.
Descriptions from verse chapter 21 from verse one to seven is about the heavenly Jerusalem in the eternal day, whereas when you come to verse 9 forward down into chapter 22 verse five, you have a heavenly Jerusalem in the millennial day.
Because it speaks about the nations of the earth. There's no nations mentioned in eternity that's millennial. And it speaks of gates and walls of the city. There will be no need of gates and walls in eternity because righteousness dwells. There's no sin in existence.
So it's interesting to think about. I have to admit my own limitation on that. Others can help out, perhaps.
I think it ties back to Chapter 11 as well.
And verse 10, where he looked for a city which hath foundations, his builder and Maker is gone.
Jerusalem was about to be destroyed.
This is God's.
You might say final appeal.
To the believers in Jerusalem, that was a temporal abode and it was going to be destroyed in the government of God. Abraham looked for a permanent dwelling. He looked for something that God had founded. City is a place where people live, and he was looking for something that was permanent, founded by God.
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Not the tent that he had here that got picked up and moved from place to place while Jerusalem on earth was about to be destroyed. And he directs their thoughts to a permanent abode above. And of course, in Revelation, we have specifically more the aspect of of the church brought out. I think maybe with Hebrews here, it's more the aspect of a permanent abode. It's never going to change. It's founded by God. It's the city that Abram looked for.
However.
While he understood it, we don't know, but here it's presented to them. Leave Jerusalem behind, you've got a better permanent abode above.
I've often wondered, Steve.
Where Abraham got to know about that city? It does say in Acts Chapter 7 that the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham. We don't know much about what he saw in that appearing.
When it was when he was still in Mesopotamia.
But perhaps he must have seen a city, and he was looking for that city.
And that's why he always lived in a tent. He was a rich man, 318 servants. It's a pretty wealthy man, but he never had anything more than a tent. And that interest find out really challenging. Are we looking for that city brother, or are we looking for a city down here?
Everything down here, we find at the end is going to be shaken. That city is not going to be shaken. It has foundations that were built by God.
It's rests on Christ. It's not going to be shaken.
Has any been built in that state for 2000?
What's that? Hasn't he been building that city for 2000 years? I think it's built, brother built, and it's headed this way then.
Isn't it going to be in the sky above the earth?
Both in the Millennium and in the eternal state.
Well, that's interesting point. I take it that in the millennial day there will be a distance because sin will still be in the earth. That's why there's a need of walls and gates. But you don't read about walls and gates in the eternal state in the first verses. And there doesn't seem to be distance there because it says the Tabernacle of God is with men.
And he shall dwell with him, so there is no need of distance.
To say, I know I struggled with this years ago. I remember going to Gordon Hayhoe to try and understand what the difference was. And he says you, you can't mix the two together. In a way, this is taking up a different aspect of things in Revelation. And so this is a permanent abode above in contrast to the temporalness of this earth below. And it's called the heavenly Jerusalem, just as in Galatians.
Jerusalem, which is above, is the mother of us all, is not exactly the same as what we get in Revelation, which is very specifically the church and millennial glory. And so I can't say I understand it all. I wish I did better. But I do think there is a distinction in those things though. Jerusalem is the name in each one, right? One is above, one is here, the city of the living God. The other I think is a church and in the millennial glory and administration.
Hebrew does not take up church truth.
It doesn't take up the fullness of the Christian position. As we mentioned earlier in the readings, you only have father mentioned one time in this book. It's not the subject is the father of spirits. It's not that relationship. So you do have to have only company though. I think that's just the point that the spirits adjustment they made perfect. It's all the heavenly company we know from Ephesians three of every family in heaven. It's not only the church, it's the holy Jerusalem. Revelation is clearly the church.
But here it seems to be expanded beyond that all those that would have a heavenly portion. And so as we consider that that the apostle presumably fall. But the unnamed prophet of the unnamed writer of this of this epistle is addressing Jews still believing Jews, but not in the fullness of the Christian position. And so even, you know, go down further. We have the innumerable company of angels. Well, that's a very Jewish character of things we.
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See it in these different expressions as have been brought out.
But I, I do think that there's something that relates to, it's called the heavenly Jerusalem. And so.
How to do that? I, I. I'm not sure.
Well, if we say something.
Like if somebody mentioned history.
Nick had talked about history and enjoying history back when the soldiers were coming back to this country. They had parades in New York and the newspaper might say something like the city turned out to greet the troops. Were they talking about the buildings? No.
People and when we see this Jerusalem that represents the church.
The church is going to be a resurrected group of people that have bodies. They're not going to just float in the sky empty. Seems to me that that which represents the church is because the church is dwelling in a city that God built and it's going to float in the sky. I mean, I don't see that as a far stretch of anything.
And why would the other part not have gates? Well, when you don't need gates, you remove them.
I've really enjoyed thinking about this innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly. We know that the angelic hosts are part of God's creation.
And superior to humankind because when the Lord Jesus became a man, it says in Hebrews 2 he was made a little lower than the angels. So very interesting.
I like to ask people if you have ever seen an Angel.
And.
I get, look, I'm kind of a questioning look. It's something that you don't really know. Have you or have you not? I think we probably have.
Because they appear as humankind.
Two angels and the Lord came to Abraham in Genesis 18.
Abraham prepared them a meal.
And they ate it. Did you know that angels eat food?
There you have it. I find that very interesting to think about.
Remember our brother I sometimes visited in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He wasn't gathered with us, but like to go over and share the things the Lord with him and.
He says, you know, brother, I always am careful about.
Somebody that comes to my gate and knocks.
It might be an Angel.
And they come unaware, and so they are very real, part of God's creation.
And the scripture speaks.
The women cover their heads when they pray for prophecy.
Not merely when we're gathered in assembly.
Thankful our sisters are careful to do that, but it's any place where you pray or prophecy.
You to cover your head because of the angels. It says not only the sisters cover their head but the brothers. Be careful that they have their hats off when they pray or prophecy.
And the angels learn in us. Let's just look at that verse in.
Ephesians chapter 3. I find it very interesting.
After three of Ephesians and verse.
10.
Speaking about the mystery of the church, and it says to the intent that now.
Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places.
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That's the angelic hosts might be known by the church.
The manifold wisdom of God. So the angels are observing us here this afternoon. I'm sure there is angelic hosts here that are observing us and they learn in the church the manifold wisdom of God. They don't have the Holy Spirit to teach them like we do.
But they are present, and I find that very interesting to think about. We've come to this innumerable company of angels.
Whether you mentioned that we are lower now, but in that day we will be above them.
And when it says, Know ye not, you shall judge angels.
There's a future day that's just unbelievable. We've been told that it's beyond our thoughts, so it's beyond our imagination what God has prepared for us. He gives us little windows into these things that we might see them and this innumerable company of angels.
Know ye not you shall judge angels. Wow. I mean, there's all kinds of things that are just marvelous. When we see that city, that new city, we see the description of revelation and so forth. The beauty of it, it can't even begin to describe probably the reality of it, but we get a little picture of what we've come to. And as you mentioned earlier, far better, so far, better, so far above, so way beyond anything that had to do with what the law had.
When we were in Brazil, this last visit heard a very touching story of a sister.
Who was in need and she's gathered now.
But at that point she was in a denomination that was very strict about tithing and helping poor. And she was married to a husband that was abusive and no provider. And so she had her children and they often went days without food and they made these campaigns of.
Providing food for the needy and she never had the courage to tell them that she was one of them, but they.
Required of their congregation each to give 10% and so she gave her 10% one day.
When her children were hadn't eaten for over 2 days they cried and she told them the Lord will provide.
And she tucked him into bed and went into her room and prayed.
And a little while later, a man knocked on the door.
And delivered 5 bags of groceries and set them on the there and said these are for you.
Then he left.
They lived a month on that food.
My wife said was he an Angel?
Said I don't know.
Very likely was an Angel.
If he wasn't an Angel, he was sent by the Lord. And my comment at this is that the Lord uses angels today for those of us who are heirs of salvation, and has been commented they observe in us. But in Hebrews in chapter 26, it says, For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak?
Our verse here that we're going over distinguishes the place of angels.
And we were commenting about the.
The city.
To me, the concept of city has the concept of administration that that Abraham didn't participate in all his lifetime and he looked for that city. The Millennium will be that city of administration through the Saints, not angels. That's my comment on it.
Yes, and today he uses angels in administrative affairs, doesn't he in in government circles to influence. It's interesting in the book of Daniel, if you go to Chapter 9 and 10, we don't have time to go to it now, but you'll find in both of those chapters, an Angel appears to Daniel. Chapter 9, he's praying and he gets his answer immediately, Gabriel.
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Comes to him and gives him the prophecy of the 70 weeks, which is such a tremendously helpful key to understanding prophecy. But in chapter 10 he prays and he doesn't get his answer for three weeks.
What happened? Why the delay? When he appears to Daniel, he says I've been with the Prince of Persia and now that I'm going again, I'm going to the Prince of Greece. It was the time when the Persian Empire was changing to the Grecian Empire, and God had his angelic hosts in position in those things to take care of his interests. So I think that is very.
Helpful to see that God controls things. People think they're in control.
Brethren, it may appear that way, but behind the scenes?
Our God is in control and he uses angelic hosts today. Like you say, Doug, it's in the millennial day. He's not going to use the angels. It's going to be persons, people.
You asked a question, Bob. Has anybody ever seen an Angel? Ask John Levin. He was rescued twice, many years apart, by the same man.
The same man.
Saved his life in a riptide and years later delivered him from a situation asking the same man and then disappeared before he could thank you.
He said he told me when he told me the story, he said I know what one of my guardian angels looks like.
Ask him sometime.
Take a minute to summarize the chapter that we've had before.
It would be helpful to pull it all back together.
Brother Steve.
Let's start it out. I think we had a little outline given to us earlier that.
We have the path of faith and all the witnesses through that path in Chapter 11.
And it was going to have to be the path that they would walk now was not going to be things as we have in this chapter touched and seen and so on that they found under Judaism, but they were going to have to walk by faith. The Lord Jesus is given as the perfect example of that faith. And not only that, that he's the author and finisher. He's not only an example, but he's the leader in that He's the architect of that very path itself as well as its completer.
And.
He had an object before him, the joy that was set before him. And it's really the same with us. We're not going to be able to go on that path without Christ as the object before us and then he takes up.
Those things that might hinder us from going on in that path, and if we're not willing to resist those things, then he will come in and chase him where he needs to.
That we might be kept in that path of faith and with that object of Christ before us. And so that's his corrective ways with us and.
That we have an effect upon one another in that path. We're not in it alone. We're not in this race alone. And then he.
Brings before us a warning of those who would abandoned that and go back and be a profane person and there was really not going to be as taken up in chapter 6, renewal to repentance or an apostate when we turn back.
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And then he brings before them the things that they left behind, you know, and him. 113 In our hymn book on Calvary, we've adoring stood is only the second-half of that hymn. The first half starts on Mount Sinai, and it really is a hymn of Hebrews 12.
And so we see those things that they're leaving behind in Judaism and all their fear. And then he opens up heaven. He starts with Mount Zion, and he goes higher and higher and higher up into heavenly things till we come to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and then all the way back down to the earth again where his blood was shed. And so it's a wonderful ark, you might say, that goes all the way up into heaven.
And then?
Back down again and closes with.
A word of warning.
That we won't escape if we don't heed that One who speaks from heaven. He spoke on earth once, but now he speaks from heaven by the Spirit of God, and we need to hear what he has to say and obey it. And that goes back to chapter 2. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? They needed to listen.
Not only in connection with salvation, but that city and Judaism was about to be obliterated from that land, from Jerusalem.
You might say it was dead at the cross, but the corpse was about to be buried and he was really seeking to cut the apron strings that they were holding on to to Judaism, and they needed to listen if they did not.
They would not escape.
There are those things that can be shaken.
And there are those things that cannot be shaken in verse 27.
Everything material can be shaken and will be shaken.
But we receive in a Kingdom that cannot be moved or cannot be shaken.
Of brethren, these things that we have in Christianity are solid. Lord Jesus said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. So that's the importance of building our lives on the revelation that we have now in Christianity.
There are those things that cannot be shaken. How wonderful. And I see.
The way things are going in this world, it is incredible the changes in these last few years. I say what's going on?
Dear young people, build on those things that cannot be shaken. If you're going to build on things that can be shaken, they're not going to last very long. They're going to soon be gone. So he says verse 28, wherefore we receive in the Kingdom which cannot be shaken, Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.
With reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
Lord help us, brethren.
On the ground of grace, we can continue.
We can lay hold on that which cannot be shaken.
Why does it close with?
Our God is a consuming fire.
Has not changed morally and change of dispensation.
He is what he is morally, always what he has been and always what he will be.
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And we don't want to forget that, that though we're under grace and all the things that have been presented to us, He still is a holy God that we serve.
Heuristic and Christianity. But if you reject Christianity, that's that's the God that's left to you.
In Isaiah 33.
Verse 14.
Speaking of the earthly Zion, the sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling hath surprised the hypocrites.
Of the overrun of the Gentiles, won't they? But the Lord will come in glory. Who among us shall dwell with the consuming fire? That's not hell, that's the Person of God.
How could you be at home there?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting claims?
He that walketh righteously.
And speaketh.
Uprightly that despises the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from the holding, taking a hold of bribes, but stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing of evil. He shall dwell on high. The fortresses of the rocks shall be his high retreat. Bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. Thine eye shall see the King in his beauty. They shall behold the land that is far off.
That's that's going to be for earthly people, isn't it wonderful? But they're going to be at home.
Our God is a consuming fire. Awesomeness.
Of the.
Holiness of God has been greatly lost.
Today in the Church.
A sense of awe. We hear the word awesome misused often.
But God is awesome.
We have peace with God in our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be at home.
Far off a reminder of Abraham waiting for that city.
Builder and maker was gone.
In a while, I thought.
When you go back to the Old Testament.
It speaks about God speaking from heaven. They didn't want to hear his voice anymore.
And then this verse 25 in the end says, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
Well, I'll wait a minute. He was on earth and I finally laid hold of it. That oh, what's the sense?
There's a resurrected man that speaks from heaven.
That's the one to listen to. He's there, my righteousness as a risen man.
I thought this word promise was kind of strange in verse 26. Now he hath promised yet more. I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. That doesn't sound like a very good promise, but there's a reason he's going to get rid of all that's not of God.
In certain by constancy.
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Or day trade quickly.
Quickly to return.
And destroy.
Of fresh snippers.
Or teach me quickly to return.
However, dear to which were declared by knowing Lord.
Which was detained my spirit here.
Where my good life, Saint George?
Ride my Savior set me free.
To look at the long and great party.
Promise, my Savior.
Set me free.
Till I have all the one.
And wait for thee.
I'm distracted and wait for.
Thee.