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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's go ahead and find our seats this evening Find a seat find a handle close to you turn to page number 375 Song number three seven five and we will open the service with work For the night is coming song number three seven five Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first work for the night is Coming work through the morning Work while the dew is sparkling Sparkling work mid springing Work when the day grows brighter Work in the glowing Sun Work for the night is coming When man's work is done So number three seven five on the second work for the night is coming Work through the Sun Phil bright is ours with labor Rest come sure and Give every flying minute something to keep in snow Work for the night is coming I mean When man works no more I'm gonna sing it out on the last but I'm gonna ask you guys to sing out on this Last one. All right. I know you guys are tired. Everyone's tired here, but we're here to praise the Lord Amen, so number three hundred and seventy five on the last work for the night is coming Under the sunset skies While their bright sins are Blowing work for daylight flies Work till the last beam To shine Work for the night is coming When man's work is Amen great singing welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Wednesday evening service We are so glad to everyone here this evening. Let's open the service with a word of prayer be your heavenly Father We love you. Thank you for a great day. You've given us Lord. Thank you for the Opportunity to be in your house this evening Lord and thank you for the midweek service And thank you for everything you just asked Lord for your blessing on the on the service We asked for the singing the preaching and the fellowship and we hope Lord that everything may be said and then this evening We bring glory and honor to name love you and in Jesus. Am I pray amen. All right, sir Page number 164 Song number 164 like I said, we're here to praise God right song number 164. So let's go ahead and praise him number 164 on the first praise him praise him Jesus our blessed redeemer sing His wonderful love proclaim Hail him hail him highest archangels in glory Strength and honor Give to his holy name like a shepherd Jesus will guard his children in his arms. He carries them all day long praise him praise him tell of his excellent greatness Praise him praise him ever in joyful song praise him praise him Blessed Redeemer for our sins he suffered and bled and died He our rock our hope of eternal salvation Hail him hail him Jesus the crucified Sound his praises Jesus who bore our sorrows love unbound Wonderful deep and strong praise him praise him Tell of his excellent greatness praise him praise him Praise him ever in joyful song sing it out on the last praise him praise him Jesus our blessed redeemer Heavenly portals loud with hosanna's ring Jesus Savior reigning forever and ever Crown him crown him prophet and peace and king Christ is coming over the world victorious Me unto the Lord belong praise him praise him Praise him tell of his excellent greatness Praise him praise him ever in joyful song Amen all right well Let's go ahead and take our bulletins look some of them announcements real quickly if you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand And one of our ushers can get one for you if you need a bulletin Just put your hand up, and we will get one for you And of course we're glad that you are with us for the midweek service If you if you look at your bulletins there You'll see our verse for this week Romans 5 1 therefore being justified by faith We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's a good verse there We like that you open up your bulletin. You'll see our service times Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. And we of course are glad We invite you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. And then our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. If you look at our soul winning times our main soul winning time is on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.. So we of course would love for you to join us on Those soul winning times and if you'd like to go soul winning there'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that tomorrow We of course are a family integrated church children and avatars welcome in the service however if you have a child That's been distracting during the service if you need some privacy would encourage you to use the mother baby rooms and daddy room as needed If you need to be baptized you can let us know on your communication card And we'll follow up with you if you look at the announcements and upcoming events of course this Sunday is Father's Day So we want you to make plans to celebrate Father's Day with us of course And we're gonna have a gift for all of the men and boys in attendance We'll have the BBC t-shirts that we'll be giving out so make sure you're here for that We'll also have special music on that day, and then next week is our red hot preaching conference We just want you to make a note of that June 20th through the 23rd. You're not gonna want to miss that And of course next week. We just want you to be aware that there will be no Wednesday evening service We're gonna have Thursday night service a Friday morning service a Friday night service We'll have of course the Sunday services So due to all of that all those services all that preaching there would be no Wednesday evening service So just make sure that you make note of that it'll be Thursday night Friday morning Friday night So make sure that you make plans to Attend and then of course we have our church picnic coming up on Thursday July 4th at 3 p.m. And we'd love for you to join us for the annual church picnic the address is there for you and we'll have a water balloon fight for the kids volleyball game for the ladies softball games for the men and teen boys and We'll have fireworks afterwards if you can help Bring a grill or if you can help grill we would really appreciate your help with that And we got a lot of sign ups for the write-off preaching conference and we appreciate that But we don't have too many sign ups for the church picnic. So if you can help us with grilling we would appreciate that Help with that and then in the back We've got the sign up sheets for the side dishes and desserts and also for the softball games So make sure you go back there and look at all of that choir practice. They'll have choir this Sunday at 5 p.m So that'll be the last Sunday before the conference. So make sure you make a note of that And then of course cleaning crew, we appreciate your help with that Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent in the service So they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin Birthdays and anniversaries for the month of June this week we had brother Adam and miss Kimmy Kessler's anniversary on June 10th and Onyx Othniel Johnson has a birthday had a birthday June 11th but the Ryan and Miss Sandra Gibbs have an anniversary today on June 12th and It's Yana Perez has a birthday on June 13th praise report money matters All of those things are there for you to look at and I think that's it for all of the announcements So let's go ahead and take our song books And we're gonna go to page number 160 page number one six zero and we're gonna sing Crown him with many crowns as we prepare to receive the offering this evening 160 crowned him with many crowns hanging out on the first crown him with many Upon his Heart how the heavily and Music Awake my soul and sing Who died for thee 160 let's sing it out on the second Behold his hands and side Visible above in beauty glorify No angel in the sky Can fully bear Downward bends is So In the Lord of life who triumphed or the Rose Victorious to the strike for those he came to say His glory Who died and rose on high Who died? Eternal life to bring and lives that death Good sing it out on the last One with father One with spirit Beyond To the Lord through endless days Oh Amen good singing we'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer Emily Father Lord We do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight Lord We pray that you'd bless the offering the gifts and the giver We ask that you meet with us as we take time to pray and of course as we open up your word instead Of the Bible together in Jesus name we pray. Amen You You You You You You You You Amen, all right Well, that's going to take our prayer sheets tonight If you did not get a prayer sheet on your way in just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one For you if you need a prayer list just put your hand up and we will get one for you and of course want to remind it the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card There's a place for you to write down a request Make sure you mark whether it's private or public if it's private only I will see it if it's public We'll put on the prayer sheet. You don't mark it We'll do our best to figure it out But we usually don't add those and of course we add the request in the order that they are received and they are removed After a couple of weeks, so if you'd like for it to be there longer, you'll need to fill out another Communication card and I'm gonna go ahead and take these requests to the Lord I'd like to pray out loud and I ask that you would pray with me in your mind in your heart And let's bow our heads together and pray Heavenly Father Lord we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family Lord and we begin with these requests regarding Salvation Lord we pray for miss Amy Cortez was praying for her son and for his salvation also miss Natalie Praying for her husband's salvation brother Ron praying for his mom and his family's salvation Miss Maria coulda Lima praying for Roma and Schuyler's salvation as well. Miss Christina Ortiz praying for her family's salvation Miss Doc my praying for her daughter and her family's salvation and Lord we ask for these individuals We pray Lord that you would help them to come to the place where they would be Willing and able to hear the gospel where they would be receptive to it Lord We ask that you do the work in their lives and we pray Lord that a soul winner that you'd send a soul Winner to communicate the gospel clearly to them. We also pray Lord for these Requests regarding physical financial needs miss Amy also praying for her son that he'd be safe in his new place Also for his Social Security application that it would be approved and brother Ron praying for work opportunities miss Maria Coulda Lima praying for housing for her daughter's family miss Andrea McQueen praying for her friend Suzanne's potential new employment and also brother John Cervantes praying for Brother Alex Rosales to be able to move to Sacramento and be part of our church Full-time brother Salvador praying for his finances and his work as well and Lord we ask for these individuals We pray that you would help them and be with them Lord We pray that you'd meet their needs and open doors for them and take care of these Needs that they're asking for then Lord We also pray for these that have requests regarding health for the Ron praying for his health miss Maria Praying for her brother-in-law Peter's healing from cirrhosis also miss Casey Taylor praying for her father's foot surgery coming up in late June and Miss Christine praying for her health for the Salvador praying for his health as well miss dogma praying for relief for her pain brother Edgar and miss Selena praying for Your Etsy to continue to be healthy and of course We continue to pray for our missionary Dave come and tell his wife miss angel as she battles breast cancer and Lord We ask for all of these individuals. We pray Lord that you would strengthen them that you would heal them if it's your will Lord We pray that you would give wisdom to the doctors nurses dealing with them, but we ask that you would just Heal them all and help them if according to your will Lord We also pray for these ladies in our church that are expecting miss Taylor miss Esther miss Ariel miss Rizel miss Rebecca miss angel miss Laura Beth asking Lord that we that you would give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues and No complications Lord we pray you'd help them and be with them and then Lord We pray for these that have requests regarding spiritual needs Jonathan and Teresa praying for God's wisdom and guidance in their lives and miss Brandy Barrett praying for Wisdom to navigate the changes taking place at her job whether James Villa praying for Help with depression and discouragement and miss Christine Ortiz praying for faith Sabra praying for his faith and walk with you as well what we pray for these individuals and Lord We pray you'd help them and guide them. We pray you to comfort them. We pray you'd be with them And that you would help them spiritually. We also pray for traveling mercies Miss Andrea McQueen praying for her friend Suzanne as she Travels and visits the Red Hot Preaching Conference and Lord we pray that you'd keep her safe as she comes we also pray Lord For these praise reports just want to acknowledge these praise reports miss Casey praising Lord for the salvation of her father also brother Salvador praying praising Lord for Celebrating 12 years here at Verity Baptist Church Lord We're thankful for brother Salvador, and we pray Lord that you continue to help them and bless them We thank you for the salvation of this Casey's father Lord And we just want to acknowledge when you answer our prayers and when you help us Lord we also pray for these requests regarding families brother James Villa praying for Himself as he deals with some family issues and brother Salvador for his family as well Lord we ask that you would help them and be with them and then we pray for these that have unspoken requests Miss Kimmy and Miss cricket my father brother Felix all having unspoken requests miss Natalie having an unspoken request For the Salvador miss dogma also having an unspoken request and Lord we ask for these individuals We pray that you would answer their prayers. You know what their requests are you know what they're asking for Lord We pray that you would answer according to your will and that you make that clear And then Lord we also pray for our church and our ministries the prison ministry and their families We pray for the work going on on the mission field in Manila and Pampanga be cool We pray for pastor stuck in his family that you continue to bless Those churches and the missions were going on and then Lord of course we pray for the red hot preaching conference coming up We ask that you would help us as we are gearing up and preparing for this conference Lord We pray that you'd keep everybody safe who's traveling From all over the country to be a part of this event we pray that That everything would go well that there'd be no problems Lord We pray primarily that the preaching of your word would speak to our hearts And then we would draw closer to you as a result we asked Lord for our church Did you continue to bless our church and help our church? We ask that you meet with us tonight as we take another portion of scripture and study the Bible together Lord We pray that you would speak to us from your word Lord We ask that you would just meet with us tonight in Jesus name. We pray amen Please open most of Hebrews 12 Hebrews chapter 12 if you didn't have a Bible, please raise your hand and unless you can bring your Bible Hebrews chapter number 12 we will read verses 18 through 29 Hebrews 12 verses 18 through 29 Hebrews 12 being in verse number 18 For we are not come unto the mouth 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 have heard and treated that the word should not be said spoken to them anymore For they could not endure that which was commanded and if so much as the beast touched the mountain it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart and So terrible was a sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake But here come unto Mount Zion and into the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem It's an innumerable company of angels 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 man made perfect And to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant into the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel See that you refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that speak 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 and this word yet once more Signifying the removing of those things that are shaken as if things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain 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. Let's pray Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening God I thank you for our church and permanence here as she please give us all ten hearts in the message and I see the pastor Please strengthen him and fill in her spirit. We love you in Jesus name pray. Amen All right, well we're there in Hebrews chapter number 12 and of course on Wednesday nights we've been making our way through the book of Hebrews verse by verse chapter by chapter and The book of Hebrews is actually a pretty lengthy book and not only is it a lengthy book, but there's so much in the book of Hebrews that we've Really taken some time to study this passage tonight We find ourselves here in Hebrews chapter 12 will begin in verse number 18 and we will finish chapter 12 tonight And that'll leave us chapter 13 And then that'll be another book that we've finished on a Sunday night We'll be finishing up The book of Numbers and it'll be after the red hot preaching conference that we finish up the book of Hebrews and then we'll start Another portion of Scripture and of course study it together as we do here verse by verse chapter by chapter and just to Give you a little bit of context for what we're gonna see here If you've been with us as we've been studying the book of Hebrews, you know that there is a theme there There are multiple themes in the book of Hebrews but one of the main themes of the book of Hebrews is the fact that Jesus is better and what we've seen is a comparison of Jesus and many things specifically From the Old Testament in the Old Covenant because of course the book of Hebrews The reason that it's called the book of Hebrews is because it's written to first century Jews that are Christian believing Jews. They're ethnically Descendants of Abraham and that's why they're Hebrews But they are Christians and the purpose of the book of Hebrews is to help These first century Christians and it's good for the first century Jewish Christians But it's good for us as well even today to understand how it is that the Old Testament correlates the New Testament and for them how to transition out of the Old Testament into the New Testament and as a result of that teaching Throughout the book the writer of the book of Hebrews has Highlighted how the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant how Jesus is better than those things and I'll just remind you of these Things quickly, you don't have to jot this down, but we've as we've been going through the book of Hebrews we've been identifying these things and I've got nine of them so far and what we've learned is that Jesus is better than the prophets if you remember We learned that from Hebrews 1 1 God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake and time pass By the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son So though he had spoken by the prophets before Jesus is better than the prophets and he's now speaks through his son We also learned that Jesus is better than the angels Hebrews 1 for the Bible says about Jesus being made so much better Than the angels we saw that Jesus is better than Moses Hebrews 3 3 for this man Referring to Jesus was counted worthy of more glory than Moses We saw that Jesus is better than the Sabbath day Hebrews 4 3 for we which have believed do enter into His rest enter into rest. And of course the rest of Jesus is better than the rest of the Sabbath day We learned that Jesus is better than the high priest Hebrews 4 14 seeing then we have a Great high priest that has passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God We saw that Jesus is better than Abraham Hebrews 7 4 now consider how great this man was Unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of these spoils and we know of course that was Melchizedek or an Old Testament Appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ we saw that Jesus is better than the Levitical priesthood Hebrews 7 9 Levi Also who received tithes paid tithes in Abraham to Jesus We saw that Jesus is better than the old covenant Hebrews 8 6. He is a mediator of a better Covenant the Bible says we saw that Jesus is better than the tabernacle Hebrews 9 11 The Bible says a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, so there's been this theme how Jesus is better and we haven't talked about that recently because we Got into Hebrews 11 and Hebrews The the first part of Hebrews 12, so we've lost maybe sight of that theme and I want to remind you of that Because what we're gonna see in this passage verses 18 to 29 is again a comparison of how Jesus is better How the New Testament is better than the Old Testament and specifically what the writer of Hebrews is going to do for us is he's going to Compare two mountains and these mountains represent the old and the new covenant What we're going to see is that Mount Zion is better than Mount Sinai We're going to see a comparison and a contrast of Mount Zion and Mount Sinai and we'll see that Mount Zion of Jesus is better than Mount Sinai of Moses and actually before we're done tonight We'll add a couple of more Jesus is better statements to our list of nine by the time We're done with the passage tonight. We'll have a list 11 things now You're there in Hebrews chapter number 12 And I'd like you to look down at verse number 18 and notice how the passage begins It says for ye are not come and this is the writer of Hebrews speaking to the audience of Christian Jewish believers who's primarily written to although we know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable to all of us But he's telling them he are not come he's saying there was another group That did come to this mountain, but that group is not you He says ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched And what I want you to notice there when the Bible says unto the mount that might be touched the idea There is that you have not come to a mountain that is physical a physical mountain in a Physical location that you can go to that you can touch with your hands and what he's going to explain He says there's this earthly mountain But then there's this heavenly mount and he wants to compare the two he says for ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched and what I want you to notice is That though he does not name it by name he doesn't say the mountain I'm talking about is Mount Sinai He doesn't have to because again if you remember the audience that he's writing to is first century Jewish Christians Jewish believers and these Individuals though they are saved and they are believers. They would have been raised in the Jewish culture They would have been raised in the Jewish religion and they would have no problem Gathering what event it is that he's talking about now you might if you're not familiar with the Old Testament But they would not because notice what he says here in verse 18 I'm gonna I'm gonna show it to you and then we're gonna come back to it but he says for you're not come unto the mount that might be touched and He begins to describe it. He says that burned with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and Tempest he says in verse 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which voice They had heard and treated that the words should not be spoken to them anymore for they could not endure that which was commanded And if so much as the Beast touched 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 now again He doesn't give us the name of the mountain but he describes this mountain He says you did not come to this mountain and then he says what he does, you know What mountain I'm talking about the one that burned with fire the one that that was full of blackness and darkness And tempest and there was a sound of trumpet and it was so scary that even Moses said I see only fear and quake and of course the first century Jewish Believer would have understood that he is referring to a very well-known Event that took place in the Old Testament and this of course has to do with the event when God Met with the children of Israel on Mount Sinai, and I'd like to show this to you Just real quickly keep your place there in Hebrews chapter 12. That's our text for tonight But go with me if you would to the Old Testament book of Exodus Exodus chapter 19 and look at verse number 11 Exodus chapter 19 and verse 11 in the Old Testament Of course, you've got the book of Genesis and then you've got the book of Exodus Exodus chapter number 19 Now when you get to Exodus do me a favor and put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're gonna flip back And forth we're gonna go back and forth between the two Between Exodus and Hebrews and I'd like you be able to do that quickly Exodus chapter 19 Here's the event that he's referring to Exodus 19 and verse number 11 The Bible says this and be ready against the third day for the third day This is Moses speaking to the children of Israel The Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai So we know that this is an event that took place on Mount Sinai How do we know that the writer of Hebrews is referring to this event? Well, look at verse 16 and it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and Lightning and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud So that all the people that was in the camp trembled and and look it's easy for us to read this And to just kind of read past it But I always think that you should put yourself in the story put some flesh To the words that we are reading consider this that there was a day when Moses came to the people and he said Be ready against the third day because in three days the Lord is going to come down He would point at this mountain this physical literal mountain Mount Sinai And he would say the Lord is going to come down in the sight of all the people upon You see that mountain Mount Sinai the Lord is going to come down and then three days after that announcement is made verse 16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders imagine waking up to a mountain full and you hear the thunders and you see the lightning and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of a trumpet Exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled and Moses brought forth the people out of the camp Notice it to meet with God and they stood at the nether part of the mount And Mount Sinai was all together on a smoke Because the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole Mount quaked greatly and when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed Notice these words louder and louder Moses spake and God answered him by a voice I mean get this picture in your head you wake up one day and and there's thunder there's lightning the Mountain that you're camping at the foot of is on fire and the Bible says there is smoke It's on fire the smoke thereof ascended the whole Mount quaked greatly the mount is shaking There's an earthquake on this mountain and not only that but there's a voice of a trumpet Now they would have been used to hearing the voice of a trumpet But when the voice when a trumpet is blown by an individual no matter how good of a trumpet player They are it's going to come to an end because of course in order to blow a trumpet You've got to use your breath and you're going to run out of air at some point But the Bible says that there was a voice of a trumpet that sounded long and the longer it went It waxed louder and louder. It was a supernatural sound and Moses spake and then here's the Worst part last part of verse 19 and God answered him by a voice And here on Mount Sinai and this is not something that people often think about and I think sometimes we read these passages And we just kind of read past them. But on Mount Sinai the Bible says that God met with the children of Israel and that God spoke audibly to the children of Israel and they heard his voice This is what the writer of Hebrews was referring to keep your finger right there in Exodus We're gonna come right back to it. Go back to Hebrews chapter 12. Look at it again verse 18 for ye are not come He says you I know you're aware of that mountain But that's not the mountain that you've come to So now the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt they came to that mountain But that's not the mountain that you are come to he said you are not come Unto the mount that might be touched you didn't come to a physical mountain that they could touch they could touch it They weren't supposed to but they could touch it and that burned with fire He says nor unto he said you've not come to a mountain that you could touch you've not come to a mountain with Blackness and darkness and tempest and a sound of a trumpet we saw there in Exodus that it Sounded long and waxed louder and louder He says there in verse 21 and so terrible was the sight that Moses had I exceedingly fear and quake And here's what he's going to do. He's explaining this mountain that Represents the old covenant says that's not the mountain you've come to that's the count mountain of the old covenant But you know what he is highlighting for us is this that the mount Mount Sinai On the day that the children of Israel met with God it pictures and it illustrates The old covenant or the Old Testament and what it illustrates for us is that it was intimidating It was scary It was an intimidating sight to see the blackness and the darkness and the tempest and the to hear the sound of the trumpet that waxed louder and Louder and and to see the smoke there of ascend and to see the whole Mount quake greatly It was an intimidating sight But not only was it intimidating I want you to notice in verse 19 we see in verses 18 through 21 that Mount Sinai that represents the old covenant was Intimidating but in verses 19 and 20 we see that it was not only intimidating. It was also incomprehensible look at verse 19 and the sound of the trumpet The sound of the trumpet was impressive the voice of a trumpet sounded long the Bible says in Exodus 19 19 and waxed louder and louder But that wasn't the most intimidating part the Bible says in verse 19 the Bible says in Exodus 19 19 and in Hebrews 12 19 in Exodus 1919 it says and God answered him by a voice in Hebrews 12 19 It says in the sound of the trumpet look at it and the voice of words God spoke audibly they heard the voice of words which voice notice what it says they that heard Intreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore for they could not endure that which was commanded and If so much as a beast touched the mountain it shall be stone and thrust through with a dark I want you to notice here That when the children of Israel an entire nation Camped at the base of Mount Sinai Had God come down on the mount and met with God and God opened his mouth and spoke audibly to them their response Because of the intimidation Was that it was incomprehensible and what I mean by incomprehensible It's not that they could not understand it like it was Gerbil or they couldn't make sense of it is that they did not want to hear it because it was so intimidating The Bible says that God opened his mouth and the voice of words which voice that they heard The Bible says which voice they that heard and treated the word and treated means they asked What would you ask if God spoke to you? We've got all sorts of Charismatics and Pentecostals going around telling us that God speaks to them God said this to me and God said that to me. What would you say you because this is what we're told, right? Well, I heard God speak and I asked him for this and they treat like odd Like he's some sort of genie and he's gonna give you three wishes if you rub a bottle or something Problem is they've been drinking a bottle. That's probably why they're hearing voices But here the Bible tells us that when they heard the voice they Intreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore You know, the truth of matter is this if you ever heard God speak you'd ask him to stop talking to you God ever spoke to you. I'm not about audibly Here the people they heard the voice and they that heard the voice and treated That the word should not be spoken to them anymore. Look at verse 20 for they could not endure that which was commanding God spoke And when he spoke his commands Were so intimidating and so incomprehensible that they literally asked God. Could you please stop talking to us? Go back to Exodus 19. Look at it verse 18. We're looking at Mount Sinai Exodus 19 verse 18. Look at what it says Mount Sinai was all together on a smoke Exodus 19 18 Because the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace and the whole Mount quaked greatly verse 19 and when the voice of a trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder Moses spake and God answered him by a voice. I Want you to notice that if you go over to Exodus chapter 20 and verse number one Understand the context here. God is speaking to the children of Israel audibly, he's speaking to them with a voice and and you might not Have made this connection in the past and I want you to see it here that the Bible tells us there in Exodus 19 and verse 19 and When the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder Moses spake and God answered him by a voice Look at verse 20 I asked her to look at chapter 20 But look at verse 20 of chapter 19 real quickly and the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the Mount and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount and Moses went up and the Lord sent him to Moses go down charge the people lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze and many of them perished He said you you're this was holy ground They cannot come and try to get a look at what's going on here verse 22 and let the priest also Which come near to the Lord? Sanctify themselves lest the Lord break forth upon them and Moses sent him to the Lord The people cannot come up to the Mount Sinai for thou charges us sayings that bounds about the mount and sanctify We're gonna talk about that in a minute and the Lord sent unto him away get thee down and thou shalt come up Thou and Aaron with thee But let not the priest and the people break through to come unto the Lord lest he break forth upon them and Moses went down Unto the people and spake unto them look at verse chapter 20 verse 1 remember that when the Bible was originally given to us was not given in Chapter divisions and verse divisions we thank God for that and praise the Lord for it, but this is all within context Exodus 20 verse 1 and God spake all these words saying and what we have For the rest of the chapter here Exodus chapter 20 is a famous chapter what we have is the Ten Commandments I am the Lord thy God Which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage thou shalt have no other gods before me Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the waters under the Earth thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them for I the Lord thy God I'm a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth Generations of them that hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep me my Commandments I shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless to take his Name in vain remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy six days shall thou labor and do all thy work But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work Thou nor thy son nor thy daughter a man servant or thy maid servant or thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea and the sea and all that in them is Rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day and and hollowed it verse 12 honor thy father and thy mother That thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor his man servant nor his maid servant nor his ox nor his ass Anything that is in thy neighbors that is thy neighbors and all the people saw Thunderings and lightnings and the noise of trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it They removed and stood afar off. Here's what I want you to understand when the Ten Commandments was given I Don't care what movie you've watched When the Ten Commandments was given it was not given it Moses did not go up on a mount Privately with God and came down with Ten Commandments and they said look look at these no, when the Ten Commandments were given God spoke them audibly and the people heard it and it was quite a show and as a result of What they saw and what they heard What they said about this mountain was that it was intimidating and That it was incomprehensible When they heard these commandments, they literally said please stop talking to us In fact, they make a request. We'll see it here in a minute They asked can you just talk to Moses and Moses to tell us what you said? Keep your place there well, actually look at verse 18 real quickly Exodus 20 verse 18 and all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw It they removed instead of far off verse 19 and they said unto unto Moses look at it speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die They heard God give the Ten Commandments You know what? The response was we can't hear this It was intimidating. It was incomprehensible. I Want you to notice thirdly go back to Hebrews 12. We'll come back to Exodus 19 here in a minute Not only was it intimidating and not only was it incomprehensible, but it was also Inapproachable we were 20 For they could not endure that which was commanded Now we know that what was commanded was the Ten Commandments by the way, they Heard God speak the Ten Commandments and though there was quite a show going on It was the commandments that they said we don't want to hear this. And by the way, people are saying the same thing today. I Mean can you think of the the craziness of the fact that we live in a country that Literally says we do not want you to post the Ten Commandments in a courthouse I Mean the Ten Commandments the foundation of all law of all the earth They said no, we don't want we don't want a List of Commandments in a courthouse that says thou shalt not steal thou shalt not kill Say why Because of the same way today people look at those Commandments and they say we do not want to hear What God has to say? Let not God speak with us Lest we die Notice it was intimidating and comprehensible and it was in approachable. Look at Hebrews 12 and verse 20 for 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 a dart And so terrible as a sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake go back to Exodus 19 We already read it, but look at it look at again real quickly verse 11. They were not to approach They were not to touch they could touch it as it was physical, but they were not to touch while God was there It was holy ground Exodus 1911 and be ready against the third day for the third day The Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai verse 12 and thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about saying take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mount or touch the border of It whosoever touches the mount shall be surely Shall be surely put to death. Look at verse 13 there shall not in a hand touch it But he shall surely be stoned or shot through whether it be beast or a man It shall not live when the trumpet soundeth long. They shall come up to the mount So notice he says don't touch it. I Don't care if it's an animal who doesn't even understand what's going on and accidentally touches if anybody touches beast or man They're gonna be thrust through they're going to be killed. They're gonna be put to death and here's what Mount Sinai tells us about the old company Is that it was intimidating? Isn't that true? I mean the Ten Commandments themselves are intimidating but then when you realize that the Ten Commandments are not the only Commandments in the Bible and There's all these books in the Old Testament with hundreds and hundreds of Commandments that we are told It's an intimidating thing to me it's interesting because Jesus comes on the scene and he takes the hundreds of Commandments that are in the Old Testament. Of course, they've already been Dialed down they've been brought down to filter down to these Ten Commandments But then Jesus comes in the New Testament and he even breaks those ten down to just to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and love thy neighbor as thyself and But the the Commandments of the Old Testament they're intimidating when you think well, how am I gonna keep track of all this and And it's incomprehensible. Some of it is so difficult and so scary that you think I don't even want to hear this and It's in approachable. See the Old Covenant what it said Was stay back Is that what the temple said? Isn't that what the tabernacle said? The tabernacle said not everybody can come Only the Levi's only the priest and even of the priest even of the Levi's only the priests can come in And and even of the priests only the high priest can cross the veil Into the presence of God the Holy of Holies and even the high priest he can only do it once a year One guy once a year can enter into the presence of God the Old Covenant Stated It said God is unapproachable He's inaccessible You can only come to him through the certain location through these certain individuals and it was limited and limited and limited That's what the writer of Hebrews is expressing to us. He says you're not come to that mountain He said I want you to remember that mountain it was intimidating it was incomprehensible it was Inapproachable go back to Hebrews chapter 12 Then I want you to notice the mountain that he compares it to He does a compare and contrast. He compares it and he contrasts it for us in verses 18 to 21 We saw Mount Sinai and If you're taking notes, maybe you can write in parentheses earthly the mount that can be touched But then in verse 22, he begins to compare it to a different mountain look at it But ye are come Said you didn't come to that mountain. That's the old covenant mountain. That's the mountain that Moses came to He said let me talk about the mountain you're come to if you're a believer if you're a New Testament Christian but ye are come unto Mount Sion and Unto the city of the Living God notice it the heavenly Jerusalem. This is a heavenly mountain He said this is the mountain you came to I want you to compare and contrast these two mountains Mount Sion was intimidating incomprehensible They could it wasn't that they couldn't understand the commandments that they did not want to hear them And in some ways they couldn't understand them and it was in approachable I said don't come near don't come to the mount if you touch the mountain you're going to die and when they establish the tabernacle And they establish the temple they put a wall around it and they said you can't come not anybody can just waltz in here It has to be a certain tribe a certain thing It has to be on certain days has to be certain Sacrifices and even walking into the Holy of Holies in the presence of God. It's only one man once a year is allowed to do it period inapproachable That's Mount Sinai What about Mount Sion Mount Sion by the way is heaven It's heavenly Jerusalem It's the city of the Living God Why don't you notice that number one? It's accessible Look at verses 22 and 23 and what the writer of Hebrews does in verses 22 and verse Verse 22 and verse 23 is he gives us a quick description of the multitudes in heaven He's explained to us the people that are in heaven Look at what he says Hebrews 12 22 But ye are common to Mount Sion unto the city of the Living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to he says here are the people Now how many people can approach God at at the Mount Sinai? No one one guy Moses Because he was allowed to How many people can approach? Mount Sion look at it. He says He says there in verse 22, but ye are coming to the Mount Sion unto the city of the Living God the heavenly Jerusalem And to look at it an innumerable company of angels Says you want to know how many people are on Mount Sion? Versus how many people are in Mount Sinai? Well Mount Sinai, no one if you touch it you die one guy Moses because he represents the law But he says Mount Sion. He said you've got an innumerable company of angels Did you got so many angels up there? You can't even Can't even number them, but that's not it. Look at verse 23 To the General Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn What is that? Well, we know that the innumerable company of angels, of course is heavenly beings angels The General Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn is New Testament believers And we talked about this I think on Sunday night in numbers, and I'll just bring it up quickly That in the New Testament when somebody gets saved God's will is for them to be part of a local Assembly of believers a New Testament Church There is no universal church There is no church that houses all believers because a church is a local assembly But one day in heaven on Mount Sion in the city of the living God there will be for once a Universal Church because all believers will be gathered together the General Assembly of the Church of the Firstborn So look People say well do I have to go to church if I'm saved well You don't have to go to church if you're saved, but once you get to heaven guess what we're gonna be doing all day long We're gonna be in church So why don't you start liking church because God likes church, and if you don't like church. I don't like you To the General Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn Look at it which are written in heaven They're saved individuals who else is there well Let's not forget this person and to God the judge of all the earth Excuse me and to God the judge of all Of course God is there and to the spirits of just men made perfect So what's the multitude in heaven? Angels and innumerable company of angels New Testament believers the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn God God the judge of all and then this group of people called the spirit of just men made perfect What is that? Well? I I believe that that's just referring to Old Testament saints Because you got the angels there you got God there you got the New Testament believers there who else Would the spirits of just men made perfect be I I think it's just a reference to Old Testament believers So here's what the writer of Hebrews is telling us Mount Sinai Don't touch it or you die only one man gets to go up And that's just because he represents the commandments He's literally gonna come down with ten commandments and all throughout the Bible Moses represents the law It's Unapproachable Mount Sion He says that's accessible There's angels and New Testament believers and God is there and Old Testament saints He said there's a multitude of people there and it is accessible and not only do we see the multitude of people and Why it's accessible, but we see the means the means to heaven and why it is accessible in verse 24 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling notice notice it that speaketh better things than that of Abel I Remember that the theme of the book of Hebrews is what that Jesus is better Now what we're learning about is that Jesus's mountain is better than Moses's mountain Mount Sion with Jesus is better than Mount Sinai with Moses But we also see here in verse 24 that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant and this is how We have access to Mount Sion This is why we have access to the Mount Sion and to the blood of sprinkling Because the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we are saved by the blood of the Lamb and notice We see that the blood of Jesus is better that speaketh better things than that of Abel So we see that the blood of Jesus speaketh better things Than the blood of Abel. Well, what is it that the blood of Abel spake or spoke keep your finger there? Go back to Genesis chapter 4 just real quickly Genesis chapter number 4 it's interesting because He says that the blood of Jesus is speaking and he says and what the blood of Jesus is saying it's better than What the blood of Abel is saying and he's telling us that the blood of Abel said some things What's interesting is when you go back to the story of Cain and Abel you find That the blood of Abel was speaking Genesis chapter 4 look at verse 8 And Cain talked with Abel, you know the story Cain and Abel twins One gets envious of the other Cain kills Abel and Cain talked with Abel his brother They came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother Notice the words here and slew him and the Lord said unto Cain Where is Abel thy brother and he said I know not am I my brother's keeper and he said What is thou done? And notice what God says to Cain The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground The blood of Abel was speaking Now, what is it based off this context that you think the blood of Abel was saying? Cain slew his brother Abel and God is speaking to Abel and asking him. Where's Abel thy brother? And of course he gets disrespect he gets an attitude from Cain. Am I my brother's keeper and He said what is thou done the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground You know what? I think the blood of Abel's was crying to God. We don't know I mean He doesn't tell us but I think that the blood of Abel was crying out for justice Justice If we're gonna hear the blood of Abel as Cain takes the life of an innocent His innocent brother and he takes the life of Abel and the blood of Abel cries out to God It's crying out for justice. It's crying out guilty It's saying Cain is guilty Cain is a sinner and I want justice So the blood of Abel cries you know what the Bible tells us in Hebrews you can go back to Hebrews and to Jesus Hebrews 12 24 the mediator of a new covenant and to the blood of Sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel and it's not that Abel's blood is special the idea here is that Abel's blood is Calling out and saying all the same things that any other man's blood would say because we're all Sinners and we're all sinful and the wages of sinners death and the blood of anybody who's been Killed or murdered in a violent way would cry out for justice and cry out for guiltiness and say Cain is guilty And I want justice But you know that Jesus was also killed You know that Jesus was also sacrificed and Jesus was also murdered But the blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel because the blood of Abel cries out Justice and the blood of Christ cries out Justified The blood of Abel calls out guilty and the blood of Jesus calls out forgiven We see The blood of Christ is better than the blood of Abel It speaketh better things than the blood of Abel because the blood of Abel calls out for justice and for guilt and the blood of Christ calls out for justification and forgiveness And we see that the blood of Christ Is better and that's why we have access That's why there's so many people in heaven That's why there's all these people up there in heaven the General Assembly of the Church of the first boy and all these Old Testament Say why are they there? Because the blood of Christ speak of the better things than the blood of Abel So we see that Mount Zion is accessible and we see that not only that Mount Zion is Understandable if you remember When God spoke at Mount Sinai, he said don't talk to us But notice what the writer of Hebrews says for those of us who have approached Mount Zion verse 25 see And I would say that this is probably advised that every Christian should take See that you refuse me see that ye refuse not him that speaketh As of course talking about God See that ye refuse not him that speaketh When the Word of God speaks to you How do you respond? Do you refuse it? I? Mean if God spoke to you audibly if God spoke to you on a mountain you say if God spoke to you on a Mountain said I'd like you to do this and I like you to do that you and I would all say well Yeah, of course. I mean we would do it We know that's not true because God actually spoke audibly to some people and they said stop talking But you know what God speaks to you through his word Do you respond or do you refuse when God says go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature Do you respond do you refuse? When God says be not drunk with wine wearing his excess but be filled with the spirit do you respond or do you refuse? When God says bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be me in my house Do you respond or do you refuse? Because There's New Testament believers the exhortation for us is see that ye Refuse not him that speaketh for they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escaped If we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven He says you and I have a higher level of responsibility You say why is that and I don't have time to develop this I got to finish this thing up, but here's why because unto who much is given much shall be required And you know what we have that they did not have we have the Holy Spirit of God We have the anointing of the Spirit that leadeth us in all truth We have the Spirit of God that helps us to understand the Word of God The Bible says that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned They're spiritually see the Bible is spiritually understood and the natural man cannot understand the things the Spirit of God when God Speaks to natural men the response is we don't want to hear that Take those commandments off that wall. We don't want to read that That's the response of the natural man But you and I are the regenerated man We have the Holy Spirit of God We have the Holy Spirit that leadeth us in truth and it teaches us the Word of God so we have a much higher level of responsibility to not refuse him that speaketh For if they escape not who refused him to speak on earth Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. I Was just reading in the book of Proverbs just this morning Proverbs chapter 3 The Bible says that if you Internalize the commandment if you keep the law of God if you write it in your heart He says it'll give you a long life. It'll give you peace. It'll be easy. He says it'll give you He said if you have mercy and truth, it'll give you favor with God and men See there are benefits to following the Word of God, but if you refuse the Word of God, there are consequences as well And if they suffer the consequences how much more you Who have been given so much So we see that Mount Zion is accessible. It's understandable and I like you notice thirdly tonight verse 26. It's continual See the old covenant was temporary It's been done away But the new covenant is eternal with verse 26 Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he have promised saying yet once more I shake not the earth only But also heaven and this word yet once more signify the removing of those things that are shaken I Want you to notice what he says he says the things that can shake He said there's coming a day when my word look at verse 27 and this word Yet once more signify the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made That those things which cannot be shaken may remain So what is that talking about? Notice this phrase as of things that are made you see that there in verse 27 as Of things that are made. What is that creation things that are created things that are created if It's made. It's created if It's wood. It's created if it's steel. It's created if it's iron. It's created if it's whatever whatever material it's created and here's what he's saying and This word yet once more signify it the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made He says look there are things that I'm gonna shake God says I'm gonna shake them and I'm gonna destroy them what things the things that are made Everything on this earth, you know that everything on this earth will one day be shaken and burnt and destroyed everything I don't care how nice your house is. I don't care how nice your neighborhood is. I don't care how nice your car is It doesn't really matter It'll be shaken and it'll be destroyed it's temporary Look at verse 27 and this word yet once more signify the removing of those things See if you read the Bible you would get this in your head that everything on this earth will one day disappear disappear And this word yet once more signify the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made that those Things which cannot be shaken may remain You know, there are some things that cannot be shaken And the things that cannot be shaken will remain He's talking about the temporal versus the eternal Here's what he's saying you and I better learn to live for the eternal Look at verse 28 wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Here's what he's saying because you and I came to Mount Zion we better live for the eternal and not the temporal and If you're confused, he says if you're confused, well, what is eternal and what is temporal? What will be shaken and destroyed one day and what will actually be a value and last for all eternity? Here's how you can tell he tells you in the past. Here's how you can tell if you can shake it It's trash You understand what I said to you Well pastor you understand the reason that I work so many hours and I don't go to church all night Or I don't go soul-willing right? I don't do this or under that because I want to purchase this drive expensive vehicle and in this Ferrari and blah blah blah Yeah, but if you can get in it and you can shake it it's trash Well, you understand the house that I live in it's so expensive yeah, but if there's an earthquake and it can shake it's trash Try shaking the soul of an individual Try shaking the eternal value and investing the Word of God try shaking the value of praying for the souls of individuals There are things that are eternal and they are worth our life Well, what's worth living for and what's not if you can grab it if you can shake it Don't live for it Because he says 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 see receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved Let us have grace Whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Just to finish up we'll finish this chapter it's got to be done When the Bible says there that we are to serve God Acceptably with reverence and godly fear the idea is this that God wants you. Here's what he's saying To not waste your life. You ought to serve God with your life You ought to invest in the things that cannot be shaken You ought to invest in the things that cannot be shaken give your life for the things that cannot be shaken But he said when you serve God make sure you serve God acceptably With reverence and godly fear, you know The Bible says in John 4 24 God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth God does not accept all worship Not all of it is acceptable to God We've spoken at length of in regards to that when we've spoken on the separation and holiness Let me just finish verse 29 so we can be done with this chapter verse 29, I think is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It's just a statement And it's a powerful statement all it's an on its own But when you when you understand the context of the chapter that we've just portion scripture we just looked at It's even more amazing He says for our God is a consuming fire Our God is a consuming fire there are lots of ways that people interpret this and I won't argue with anybody on their interpretation of it, but I'll give you my interpretation of it and It's based off the contacts He said you have not come to a mountain that shakes You've come to a mountain that doesn't shake So why are you living for things that shake? Why are you living for things that can be held and can be shaken and can be destroyed? He said you're wasting your life when you do that He said you should serve God acceptively, and then he says here's why our God is a consuming fire Let's run a couple verses just just Three verses or two verses actually and and and we'll finish up go to Matthew chapter number 12 Matthew chapter 12 For our God is a consuming fire. What does that mean? I believe what it means and within the context of this passage. I think what the writer of Hebrews is telling us Is that God does not want to share you? And God does not want to share me God doesn't play well with others When something is offered to God he wants to consume it He wants it all for himself He's a consuming fire I'll give you an illustration of this in Mark chapter 12 verse 29 Mark 12 29 and Jesus answered him The first of all the commandments is hero Israel the Lord our God is one Lord in verse 30 and thou shalt Love the Lord thy God Not good Now so I love the Lord thy God how much How much do you want us to love you how much of a commitment? I'm glad you asked he says and also love the Lord thy God look at it with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and With all thy strength This is the first commandment Now if God wants you and I to give him all our heart and All our soul and all our mind and all our strength sounds like he pretty much wants at all What's left God nothing our God is a consuming fire Our God is a consuming fire Remember the book of Hebrews was written to first century Jews Christian believers who have been raised in Judaism they would be very familiar With the Old Testament sacrificial system in fact he's been talking about that He's going to talk about in verse chapter 13 And he's talking about Mount Zion and the establishment of the Old Covenant and the sacrifices But a Romans chapter 12. I know you know those first, but let's just look at it Romans chapter 12 If you were to look at the very first sacrifice described in the book of Leviticus Many years ago we preached through we went through chapter by chapter through the entire book of Leviticus For those of you that were with us if you remember the first ten chapters are just a little The first section of the book of Leviticus is just an in a structural manual For the Levitical priest on how to do certain Sacrifices and all the different sacrifices are outlined how to do them and whatever you remember the very first the very first sacrifice in Leviticus chapter one Was a burnt offering Now of all the other sacrifices They were allowed the Levitical priests were allowed they had to kill it and they had to do certain things to it They were allowed to keep certain parts for themselves. That's how they actually got paid So they were allowed to cut certain parts of meat off Of certain animals and keep them and they would eat them and their families would eat them and they would live off the altar most sacrifices Except for one the burnt sacrifice the first sacrifice why because the burnt sacrifice was to be completely consumed The whole thing was to be burnt up and given completely to God I believe this is the terminology that the writer of Hebrews is saying here when he says our God is a Consuming fire. I personally believe that the writer of Hebrews is the Apostle Paul. You may disagree with that I want you to notice what Paul says in Romans 12 and verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God That you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service Paul tells us that we are to present our bodies a Living sacrifice and if you were to ask the apostle Paul, well, which one? Which one of the sacrifices because there's multiple sacrifices in the Old Testament. Is it a meat offering? Is it a peace offering? Wait, what kind of sacrifice is it? I think that the writer of Hebrews would say it's a burnt sacrifice It's a sacrifice that is completely consumed by God Why? Because our God is a consuming fire You know, let's just be honest There's two types of Christians in this world I'm talking about real people that are saved. I'm talking about people that say they're saved and they're not saved Of the people in this world that are actually saved that's a minority right The narrow way not the wide not the broad way not the wide gate There's already a small number of people that are actually saved on this earth in comparison to everyone on this earth There's a minority of people that are actually saved but out of the people that are actually saved. There's an even smaller minority of people who say My life is completely consumed by God Because most Christians I'm trying to play church. I'll give God Sundays and if I'm a really good Christian, I'll even give him a Wednesday night But God says I want it all I want you to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart All thy soul with all thy mind with all thy strength Well God you want it all yes Because our God is a consuming fire It's about I didn't have a word of prayer Emily father Lord we do love you And we thank you for this great passage of Scripture Lord help us not to be people that are taking hold on things that shake On things that can be shaken And things that can be destroyed It's a fool's errand To live your life for things that will burn up But help us to live for that which is eternal The things that we cannot grab hold on The souls of men The preaching of the gospel the preaching of the word prayer. These are the things that are worth Investing in and worth living for Lord I pray you'd help us to get it. I Know that many Christians will never experience it. I think most Christians unfortunately will never experience it But Lord if there would be one or two in this room There just be a remnant of people in this room And father I'd like to be one of them Who would say I give myself completely to God I Think it'd be well pleasing to you because our God is a consuming fire Lord help us to do it Help us to live for you In matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray Amen We're gonna have brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song Just want to remind you of a couple of things first of all please don't forget that this Sunday is Father's Day, so please make sure you're with us on Father's Day, and of course we're gonna have the T-shirts for all of the men and the boys that are in attendance I'll be preaching a sermon of course geared towards the father So I want to encourage you to be here for that and then we'll have special music from the men's ensemble as well And so you're not gonna want to miss it and then next week So we just want you to be aware this time next week There will be no church service because of the red hot preaching conference Thursday night Friday morning Friday night Of course Sunday morning Sunday night, so make sure you realize that don't forget about that And then of course if you can help us and signing up for the annual church picnic picnic We appreciate your help, you know sign up sheets in the back, and you can look through that But specifically if you can grill Help us grill or bring a grill we could use your help with that So please make sure you fill out a communication card if you're able to help with that if there's anything we can do for you Please let us know why brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song Amen Let's grab our song books and turn to page number 303 Song number 303 And we will sing my faith looks up to the song number 303 sing it out on the first Faith looks up to thee O Lamb of Calvary, Savior Divine, Now hear me while I pray, Take all my guilt away, O let me from this day be holy. O Lamb of Calvary, Savior Divine, May Thy rich praise impart, Strength to my fainting heart, My zeal inspired, As thou hast died for me, O may my love to thee, Good woman, change us, be a living fire. While lives are bays I tread, and griefs around me spread, Be thou my guide. The darkness turned to day, White sorrows, tears away, Nor let me ever stray from thee, As I sing it out on the last When an life-transient dream, When death's cold sullen stream, Shall we roll? Blessed Savior, then in love, Fear and distrust removed, O bear me safe above a ransomed soul. Amen. Great singing. Of course, before we dismiss, I just want to say that if you have any questions about salvation, baptism, or church membership, that Pastor will be at the door, and we'd love to talk to you, direct you to someone who is trained to do that as well. Brother Matt, would you dismiss it with a word of prayer? Dear Heavenly Father, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.