Before the Mountain

Pastor Jason will be back in 2 Corinthians next week, but I'm excited to preach for you this morning. I always enjoy the break from my normal duties to be able to share God's Word with you.

So this morning we are going to be looking at the book of Exodus. I want to invite you to turn there now. Exodus chapter 19. Exodus 19. We're going to take the whole chapter this morning.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

But before we dive in, there's a few things we need to know. First, we should know something about the timing of our passage. Exodus 19 begins about three months or three new moons after the people of Israel had gone out from Egypt.

So they had been traveling through, you had many dangers, toils and snares. They finally, after three months, have arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai and they encamp there.

And they are going to be here at the foot of Mount Sinai for the next 10 months and 20 days. So they'll be there for a good bit of time. And all the things that happened here before the foot of Mount Sinai, this is going to be recorded over the next 59 chapters of the Bible.

So all the way through the end of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and then the first 10 chapters of Numbers. So this is a pretty significant amount of time.

I want you to note that. You should also note the location of the passage. This passage takes place at Mount Sinai. We really aren't sure where Mount Sinai was.

There are a few options. One is a Jebel Shrbal, which is, it's on the west side of Sinai. You can see that on your, I think it's on your left.

That's an option. We also have another option, Mount Korcom. That's a contender. That's a bit north, though. It's in the wilderness of Paran.

But the more traditional view is that Mount Sinai is modern-day Jebel Musa, or the Mountain of Moses. And that is in the southern part of the Sinai wilderness, the wilderness of Sinai.

And you can see that. That's at the bottom of the slide. And you can see it's pictured there. Toward the top, there's St. Catherine's Monastery.

And that was built about 500, the middle of 500 A.D. And that's still standing, believe it or not. So it's pretty amazing. So that's the location of the passage.

And then I also want you to notice the pattern of the passage. In our passage, you know, the people, they encamp at the base of Mount Sinai.

But God calls Moses to go up the mountain. And he does this three times. So Moses goes up the mountain. God gives Moses a message. And then Moses is sent back down the mountain.

And he's supposed to share that message with the people. That happens three times. Up, message, down. Up, message, down. Up, message, down. So I really want to let those three trips shape our time together this morning.

So I'm going to read one trip up the mountain. I'll stop. We'll consider that trip. And then we'll move on to the next trip. And lastly, I won't really have points this morning.

But instead, I'll have more of like a summary outline that is designed to help us really understand what's at the heart of each of Moses' trips up and down the mountain.

Okay. I think that's enough introduction. Let's go ahead and dive in. We're going to read our first section, which is in Exodus 19, 1 through the first part of verse 8.

And I think it's important for you to note that this trip here is really about obedience to God. So keep that in mind as we read Exodus 19, chapter 19, verse 1.

On the third new moon, after the people of Israel had gone out from the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness.

There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel,

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you up on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among the peoples, for all the earth is mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.

All the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Would you pray with me once again this morning? Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word.

I pray that you would make it plain to us as we read it and study it together. I pray that your spirit would speak to us through your word, that you would bring us to faith in Christ, and that you would bring us to honor you with our lives.

I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so at this passage, the people of God, they're encamped before the mountain. But Moses, he goes up the mountain to meet with God.

And as he goes up, God called to Moses out of the mountain. God had some really important things to say to Moses, specifically about obedience to God.

He started by giving the reason for obedience. The reason for obedience. Maybe you've tried to give some instructions to a five-year-old, something I've had to do a few times.

What do they usually ask when you do? Why? Why? And then you give them an answer, they say, why? And then you give them another answer, they say, why?

God cuts straight to the why here at the beginning. Why should God's people obey him? Maybe as a way to make themselves acceptable to God. Maybe as a way to earn God's favor.

Maybe that's why they should obey God. Well, the reason is given in verse 4. Verse 4 says, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you up on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

God's people should obey God because they've already experienced God's saving grace. God rescued his people from Egypt. Like a mother eagle, he fought the armies of Pharaoh, and he carried his people to safety.

God didn't require his people to obey him in order to earn the right to his saving mercy, in order to get access to his saving mercy. No, he started with saving mercy.

The reason for obedience is thankfulness to God for the saving mercy that God's people have already received. But God spoke more than just about the reason for obedience.

He also talked about the requirement of obedience. In this chapter and in the chapters that follow, God was establishing a covenant, a solemn promise with Moses and with the people of Israel.

And in the ancient world, when two parties entered into a covenant, they would list out the terms of the covenant. You know, you promised to do this, I promised to do that.

God laid out Israel's covenant terms in verse 5. Obey my voice. Keep my covenant. God's people were required to obey God. God didn't free the Israelites from Egypt and then just unleash them out on their own.

That wouldn't be good for them. That would have just resulted in a new bondage, bondage of a different kind. No, when God freed Israel, he brought them into his kingdom, into his household, under his care.

So they must obey God and submit to the commands of God because God is their master. God was their master and king. God spoke about the requirement of obedience.

He also spoke about the results of obedience. The results of obedience. If Israel would obey God, God said in verses 5 and 6, You shall be my treasured possession among the peoples, for all the earth is mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There's a lot packed into each of those phrases, so I want to try to break them down for us.

First, let's consider a treasured possession. You know, this was a term that referred to a king's private stash of personal treasure. You know, something that was really valuable to a king.

Or, you know, maybe it's kind of like a kid when they have their kind of like their special box under their bed. All their really, really valuable stuff.

I think I had some Michael Jordan cards. I think I had a ball of gum that I kept chewing and adding to. These were really special to me in my special box.

But God means something deeper than that. You know, what is really valuable to a king who has all the treasure in the world. That's what Israel would be to God.

His most valued possession. They would be precious to God.

They would also be God's treasured possession among the nations. And this means that they would be witnesses to the world. As God's people obeyed God, they would show the world what God was like.

They would show the world what God loved. They would show the world what God hated. They would show the orderliness of God, the justice of God, the mercy of God.

They would be witnesses among the nations. But this also says they would be a kingdom of priests. God's people would be priests. All of God's people, not just one of God's people.

And this means that the entire people of God, this kingdom of priests, they would all have the benefit of access to the king. They would have access to God, everyone.

And lastly, they would be a holy nation. They would go from this little kind of group of nomadic families kind of rummaging around in the desert.

They would become a settled nation with the one true God dwelling in their midst, a holy nation. And all this, as we consider all these results, you know, all these good things that would come as the people of God obeyed God, this helps us see something about the nature of God's rules.

I mean, the rules of Pharaoh, they were selfish and exploitative and burdensome, and obedience to Pharaoh resulted in misery, bad things for God's people.

But the rules of God, these are good and just and life-giving. And so obedience to God would result in the goodness, goodness for God's people.

It would result in unmatched blessing. Blessing would come as people, as a result of people obeying God. Well, this first trip also underscores the scope of obedience.

The scope of obedience is also emphasized. You know, Moses was told to relay God's exact words to the people of Israel. The people were told to obey all the words that God had commanded.

And the people committed to uphold all that the Lord had spoken. So what was the scope of obedience? All, you know, all of it. All that the Lord would command.

God's people didn't get to pick and choose which commands they wanted to follow, which commands they liked, which commands they wanted to kind of skip over.

They were called to obey all that the Lord had spoken. As you consider this first section this morning, this first trip of Moses, I wonder what God might want to impress upon your heart about obedience.

Maybe you need to be reminded of the reason for obedience. You know, a couple of months ago, I remember reading about a guy named Adam, or Scott Adams, rather.

Scott Adams, he was the creator of the Dilbert comic strip. Scott developed an advanced form of cancer, and he was dying. And he was kind of considering Christianity on his deathbed.

And his understanding that he kind of gave in an interview, his understanding of what Christianity was, he said, if I've lived a good enough life, I'll wake up in heaven.

You know, if I do what God wants me to do, if I obey God's rules, then I can receive God's mercy. But that confuses the reason for obedience.

Christians don't obey God in order to receive God's mercy. God starts by showing us mercy, mercy through his son, the Lord Jesus, who died to save us from our sins and to gather us under his wings.

And we receive that mercy not by obeying God, but by believing in Jesus, by trusting in the finished work of Jesus. And it's only after we have received mercy from God in Christ that we can seek to really obey God's commands.

You know, this obedience needs to spring up out of thankfulness for the saving mercy we've already received in Christ, not as a way to earn God's mercy to us in Christ.

Gratitude must be the primary reason for Christian obedience. Maybe that's something God wants to impress upon your heart this morning. Or maybe God wants to teach you about the scope of Christian obedience, the scope of obedience, you know, all that God commands.

Some voices today are working really hard to narrow the scope of Christian obedience. They are making their living trying to convince Christians to disobey or disregard God's commands, to narrow the scope of obedience.

You know, progressive Christian politicians want to convince you that the Bible has nothing to say about abortion or so-called gay marriage or transgenderism.

They argue that Christians are free to come to their own conclusions on those issues. That's a narrowing of the scope of obedience. Or some progressive Christian pastors want to convince you that what the Bible seems to teach about God's created order,

or roles for men and women in the church, or sexual ethics, these were all the result of patriarchy and ignorant thinking. That's a narrowing of the scope of obedience.

But Christians should seek to obey all of God's word, or as Jesus said, to obey all that he commanded.

Well, let's move on to our second trip this morning. Our second trip is found in verses, well, the second half of verse 8 through verse 15. And this trip will really highlight the holiness of God.

So let's read this second half of verse 8. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you,

and may also believe you forever. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them.

Today and tomorrow, let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.

No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people. And they washed their garments. And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day.

Do not go near a woman. Well, in this second trip, after Moses told God that the people agreed to obey all that he had commanded, God told Moses that he was going to reveal himself to his people in a special way.

That's what verse 9 said. Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever.

Up to this point, God had focused his special presence in a particular way. Only Moses could behold the presence of God. Only Moses could hear the voice of God as Moses was meeting with God.

There was a private event between God and Moses.

God's people, although things are about to change, God's people were about to behold God for themselves. God says that he would manifest his presence in the form of a thick cloud.

And God's people were going to hear God for themselves. God would still speak to Moses, but it would be in a way that would allow everyone to listen in on what God was saying.

And when the people saw the cloud and they heard the Lord speak to Moses, they would know that Moses really was speaking on behalf of God. God was coming to his people.

But in order for that to happen, the people would have to prepare themselves. You see, God is holy. He is perfect and pure, without fault or blemish.

And as God planned to approach his people, he gave his people some instructions, some important instructions, on how to prepare to receive God in his holiness.

And in those instructions, as we look at them this morning, we'll learn more about the holiness of God. We'll learn, for instance, that the holiness of God requires consecration.

The holiness of God requires consecration. Moses was told to consecrate the people of Israel. To consecrate means to make holy or to make acceptable to be close enough to God.

In order to be consecrated, the people needed to be, well, first they needed to be cleansed. The people were supposed to wash their garments in preparation for God's arrival.

Now, this isn't just about dirt. You know, like maybe, Jewel and I, we have a care group over later. Our care group is going to come to our house later tonight.

And I'm going to get rid of all the dirt. You know, I'm going to clean my house. I'm going to prepare for people to come over. I don't think there's much dirt.

But if there is, it's going to be gone. I do have small kids. Okay, so I need to prepare for people by getting rid of the dirt. But with God, as God calls his people to wash their garments, you know, something much deeper is taking place.

This act of washing, it was a physical way of expressing a spiritual reality. You know, it's a way of expressing the reality that God's people were polluted, polluted by sin.

They were not pure. And in order to be approached by God in his holiness, their sins must be removed. They must be purified. They must be cleansed.

And this truth needed to be acknowledged through the act, the physical act of washing their clothes. But there was a second act, the second aspect rather of consecration, and that was readiness.

You know, twice, God told Moses that the people must be ready, be ready. Readiness involved intentional preparation. It involved expectation.

People of God were to be ready. And there's a third act of consecration, and that was devotion. This comes at the end of verse 15, when men are told not to go near a woman.

This is a command that husbands and wives should not be intimate with one another, because consecration involved wholehearted devotion to God, setting aside oneself for God and for God alone, not even setting aside yourself for your spouse.

So cleansing, readiness, devotion, you know, God's holiness required these things, because God's holiness requires consecration. God's holiness also requires boundaries.

God's holiness requires boundaries. We see this in verse 12. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it.

As God manifested his presence on the mountain, the people of God could not go up on the mountain or even set foot on the edge of the mountain.

Even after the people were consecrated, they still had limits on how close they were allowed to get. They had to respect the holiness of God by respecting the boundaries God had given them, only approaching God in the ways that God had deemed appropriate, okay?

God's holiness requires boundaries. And lastly, God's holiness requires judgment. Judgment. We see this in verses 12 and 13. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.

No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. Anyone who violated God's holiness by transgressing the boundaries God gave must be put to death.

Human or beast, if anyone, anything touched the mountain after God's holy presence had manifested on it, they must be killed. They should be shot or stoned, shot with arrows or stoned.

And that's what that could be done at a distance. You know, if a person or animal, they transgressed God's boundary and they wandered up onto the mountain, and another Israelite could execute them from a kind of a safe distance without following them up the mountain and bringing God's judgment upon themselves.

God desired to share his holiness with sinful people. And he desired to allow his people to approach him, to be with him. And then he graciously provided instructions for how they could draw near.

But if his people disregarded his boundaries and dishonored the holiness of God, God's judgment must be suffered. God is too holy to allow sin to go unpunished.

The holiness of God requires judgment. God then gave his people three days, three days to prepare for his arrival. And then he also gave them a warning signal to look out for.

If you hear this, you know that I'm approaching. And God said before he would come down upon the mountain, they would hear a trumpet sound. And this was really strange to me, a trumpet sounding.

I searched all over trying to figure out where in the world this trumpet came from. What is this trumpet? Where does it come from? I really couldn't find a satisfying theory.

I think Pastor Jason's theory made the most sense. It's probably an angelic trumpet. Angels are playing this trumpet. That makes the most sense to me.

But either way, the point is, when the people heard the trumpet blast, the people should then stand before the mountain, taking care not to touch it.

And as they did that, they would experience the holiness of God for themselves. So that's all the instruction God gives, God gave rather. Moses took that instruction.

He came back down the mountain, and he told the people all these things. That ends our second trip. And before we move on to our third trip this morning, I think it's important for us to kind of pause and to ask what lessons we might need to learn about God's holiness from this second trip.

Maybe you need to be challenged that God is holy, that he is supremely other, that he is perfect and pure, that his holiness is a consuming fire, and that dishonoring the holiness of God brings God's judgment.

This is not a modern distortion or invention, but it's a timeless truth, this judgment of God that is tethered to the holiness of God. Maybe you need to be challenged by that this morning.

Or maybe you're already very aware of God's holiness. Maybe you're also very aware of your unholiness. You're very aware of your sin, and you wonder how in the world could you ever be with a holy God?

Well, this passage reminds us, and I want to remind you, that God is holy and gracious. Though God's people were not holy, God made a way for his people to experience his holiness, instructions and warnings so that God could draw near to them.

And God has made a way for all the unholy people in this world to stand before him. And that way is the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Through faith in Jesus, you, even you, can stand before God. God is holy and gracious. Or maybe this morning, you need to be confronted with the truth that God's holiness requires boundaries.

Many today want to teach that there aren't really boundaries to God. that in fact there are really many different ways that we can approach God.

Some people teach something called Christian inclusivism. This is the belief that all religions lead to Jesus. So being faithful to whatever religion you find yourself in, that is just like being faithful to Jesus.

And as long as you're faithful in whatever religious system you're in, and as long as you have good intentions, you will make your way to Christ.

That's a removal of boundaries in this Christian inclusivism. But there's other things. There's also this already reconciled theology. Already reconciled theology.

This is the belief that when Jesus died and rose from the dead, he showed us that the world was already reconciled to God. There are no boundaries between humanity and God.

Humans are the ones that keep trying to separate themselves from God, but in God's eyes, we're already reconciled to removal of the boundaries of God.

But neither of these lies, Christian inclusivism, or already reconciled theology, neither of these things are true. God's holiness requires boundaries.

Sin separates us, actually separates us from God. And the only way for us to approach God is faith in Christ. We have to honor the boundaries that God has set before us.

Let's move on to our third section, our third and final section this morning. This is Exodus 19, 16 through 25. And I think this section is all about mediators for God.

And I'll explain that as we go along. But first, let's read verse 16. On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud blast, a loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord, and look, and many of them perish.

Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.

And the Lord said to him, Go down and come up, bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.

So Moses went down to the people and told them. Well, after the three-day preparation period was over, God approached his people. They experienced the presence of God, the word of God, and communion with God in a deeper way

than they ever had before. But even still, our passage makes very clear that they didn't really experience these things fully. They experienced them rather in a filtered way, a mediated way.

Let me show you what I'm talking about. First, the presence of God was mediated. The presence of God was mediated. You know, the presence of God came to them in an earthly, filtered form.

Okay? God appeared to them, but it was in a thick cloud, in thunder, in lightning, in a fire on the mountain, in plumes of smoke, in angelic trumpets, and in earthquakes.

It was the presence of God, but it came in a mediated form, filtered form. The word of God was also mediated, came to them in a mediated form.

God spoke, and all the people could hear him, but God didn't speak to them. God spoke to Moses. And although the people could hear that God was speaking, I'm not really sure they could actually discern what God was saying.

You know, as Moses spoke to God, verse 19 says, this angelic trumpet blast kind of grew louder and louder. It says that the people heard God answer Moses, but it was in thunder.

Okay? Verse, actually in the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 12, it tells us that what the people were actually hearing when all this happened, it actually made them a little bit miserable.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

And they kind of, as they heard it, they were kind of begging, you know, no more messages. They don't want to hear anything else. Nothing else should be spoken to them.

The people heard enough of God's word so that they could tell that God was speaking with Moses, but they would still need Moses to tell them what God actually said.

They could hear the word of God, but it was still in a mediated form. It needed to be mediated to them through Moses. And lastly, communion with God was mediated.

By communion, I mean something deeper than presence, you know, something more than the presence of God. Communion of God is like fellowship with God, closeness with God.

Verse 20 says that the Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, which is pretty incredible, the Lord on top of the mountain, his presence on top of the mountain.

And who does God call to come up to meet with him on the top of this mountain? You know, is it all the people? No, it's only Moses. Moses went up to commune with God alone.

The people of God were still at the base of the mountain. And in fact, God told Moses to make sure that the people stayed back at the base of the mountain so they wouldn't come under God's judgment.

God did say in verse 22 that future priests would be allowed to approach him if they were properly consecrated. But Moses seems to have been really confused by this, maybe just kind of confused as I might be, because he reminded God as God said that, you know, no, God, the people aren't allowed to come

up to the mountain. But God made things really plain in verse 24. He told Moses to go back down the mountain and to bring Aaron back up with him.

You know, these two could commune with God and that would kind of pave the way for Aaron and his sons to serve as priests who would then commune with God in the future.

Still, Moses went down and he told the people, they, the normal people, they would have to stay back. Communion with God would be mediated through a select few.

And that ending to the passage, that seems a bit at odds with the beginning of our whole passage way back in the first trip of Moses. You know, back in verse 6, God said that God's people would be a kingdom of priests.

You remember that? And that meant that they, all the people, would have full access to God. They would all be able to commune with God. But here, all aren't allowed.

It's only a few. All are kept at a distance, being warned not to break through. So they were experiencing God's communion, but at a distance.

It was mediated to them. The promise of God creating them to be a kingdom of priests was not yet fulfilled. And that's because the people still had some problems that they had to deal with.

You know, they still had an obedience problem. They would not honor the terms of God's covenant. They would not keep all that God had commanded.

This will become really clear later on in the book of Exodus. They had an obedience problem. And because they had an obedience problem, they also had a holiness problem.

They could not fully approach God without suffering his judgment. So the promise of a priestly kingdom would not be realized until these problems were addressed.

And that would not happen until God sent down another figure, his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was sent down, he came down, to address the obedience problem with God's people.

Jesus lived in full obedience to the Father. Father. He fulfilled God's requirement for obedience as a representative for God's people. He was upholding the terms of God's covenant on our behalf.

And furthermore, he was teaching us how we could then follow him and walk in obedience ourselves. That's what Paul says in Romans 8. Romans 8.

3. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

Jesus came down to address the sin problem. And Jesus came down to address the holiness problem. He came to shed his blood so that God's people could be completely cleansed from sin by his blood.

And he came to bear God's judgment for our sin, dying on the cross in our place, bearing the wrath of the Father that we deserved. And after three days, three days later, he rose again and he revealed himself to many so that believers could stand before our holy God

without fear of condemnation. That's what Paul says in Ephesians 1. In him, in Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his glory.

Jesus addressed the holiness problem. And because Jesus addressed these problems, he is able to be a better mediator, a mediator that removed the barrier between God and his people.

In Jesus, the presence of God is fully experienced by God's people. That's what John 1 says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth.

In Jesus, the word of God is fully heard by God's people. That's what it says in Hebrews 1. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son.

And in Jesus, communion with God is fully enjoyed by God's people. That's what it says in Hebrews 10. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain,

that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Jesus, God the Son, came down so that through faith in him, we could be raised up. No longer just before the mountain of God, but fully with the Lord.

That's what it says in Hebrews 12. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

For they could not endure the order that was given. If a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to

innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.

I'm going to invite the worship team to come back up and lead us in a closing song, and as they do, I want to invite you to join me in prayer once again.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your Son. We thank you for sending Jesus to be obedient on our behalf. We thank you that he came to die for our sins so that we could be cleansed from all unrighteousness.

We thank you that through faith in Jesus we can be forgiven, and we can draw near to you. Father, this morning as we reflect on this passage, we pray that you would teach us to obey you.

Pray that you would teach us to obey you out of thankfulness for the mercy that we have already received in Christ. We pray that you would give us hearts that want to obey all your commands, and help us to trust that your ways for us, your commands for us, are good.

good. And Father, I pray that you would help us to appreciate your holiness, help us to honor you as holy, help us to respect the boundaries that you have given us, and help us to trust that in Christ your holy judgment is satisfied.

Be glorified in us now as we sing. It's in Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.