back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 7.11.2021
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We have a few announcements before we get started. 00:12:32.680 |
First of all, our fall Bible study that's starting 00:12:34.680 |
in September, the 12-week course on the book of Titus. 00:12:44.680 |
So even though you've been attending the same Bible study 00:12:49.680 |
we ask that you sign up because we wanna make sure 00:12:53.680 |
and the small group is prepared ahead of time. 00:13:04.680 |
So the sign-up needs to be going on right now. 00:13:13.680 |
So the Bible study itself in Titus is starting in September. 00:13:28.680 |
or you need a refresher to help you with that, 00:13:30.680 |
Pastor Mark is gonna be leading that starting from August 1st, 00:13:41.680 |
So again, if you know of someone that would benefit from that, 00:13:44.680 |
and it will help you a lot to be able to engage 00:13:51.680 |
or you know somebody that would benefit from that, 00:13:58.680 |
and you'll be able to sign up for that, okay? 00:14:06.680 |
not next Sunday but Sunday after on July 25th at 2.30. 00:14:11.680 |
And again, it is a quarterly meeting that is mandatory, 00:14:13.680 |
so if you cannot make it, please let us know ahead of time. 00:14:16.680 |
There's going to be a service fair, meaning it's-- 00:14:20.680 |
I think it's ever since we shut down and we got back up, 00:14:23.680 |
this is the first time we're having our service team 00:14:27.680 |
and members meeting live, and so it's not going to be online. 00:14:34.680 |
where you can walk around and see what kind of service teams 00:14:39.680 |
and what kind of things that are happening in the church. 00:14:43.680 |
because they're trying to recruit people to come help out. 00:14:49.680 |
This is what's happening in the elementary department. 00:14:50.680 |
This is what's happening in our outreach ministry 00:14:56.680 |
You know, there's actually a ministry for people 00:15:05.680 |
Usually people who come in a little bit older 00:15:09.680 |
and you'd be surprised to know how many people 00:15:11.680 |
are at the age of 40, 50, and a little bit older than that, okay? 00:15:16.680 |
So it's a presentation of those ministries that are happening. 00:15:19.680 |
So for members meeting, that's gonna be set up outside. 00:15:23.680 |
So please, if you cannot make it, please let us know ahead of time. 00:15:30.680 |
So if you are around the children or if you're teaching in any capacity, 00:15:37.680 |
and that's taking place on July 25th at 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. 00:15:42.680 |
And if you're one of those people that needs to be trained 00:15:50.680 |
So please mark that on your calendar as well. 00:15:54.680 |
We have a cafe night that's coming up on July 31st at 7:30, 00:15:57.680 |
and this is an outreach event that our outreach team, 00:16:04.680 |
And so in order to prepare for that, July 17th, 18th, 00:16:07.680 |
and then a big outing on the 24th, they're doing street evangelism. 00:16:14.680 |
and all of this is to prepare for this cafe night. 00:16:16.680 |
So you probably got one of these as you're coming in, 00:16:19.680 |
and this is so that you can have this with you, 00:16:21.680 |
and then you can, you know, share it with your friends. 00:16:31.680 |
if you could, again, just continue to keep in prayer. 00:16:36.680 |
that because of all the stuff that's been going on around us, 00:16:38.680 |
whether it's political or whether it's the pandemic or whatever, 00:16:42.680 |
we've at least sensed that there's a greater interest in the things of eternity 00:16:47.680 |
that the non-Christian world is more willing to talk about. 00:16:53.680 |
And so if you have people around you that are interested, 00:16:59.680 |
And also, again, if you would join us in prayer in preparation for that day as well. 00:17:09.680 |
And again, if you have physical offering, please, after the service, 00:17:16.680 |
if you are able to use other avenues other than PayPal, Venmo, 00:17:20.680 |
we want to encourage you to do that because we're having some issues 00:17:24.680 |
So if Venmo is the only avenue you have, we are accepting that. 00:17:26.680 |
But if you are able to do the other, we encourage you to use the other. 00:17:35.680 |
Gracious Father, we just want to thank you for your continued grace 00:17:41.680 |
Help us to worship you genuinely in spirit and in truth. 00:17:45.680 |
That whatever it is that we have gone through this week, 00:17:47.680 |
and I know that there are brothers and sisters who are suffering 00:17:50.680 |
through various illnesses, trials, Lord God, in their lives, 00:17:55.680 |
and some of us just the daily grind of going to work and taking care 00:17:58.680 |
of our children and just trying to survive from week to week. 00:18:02.680 |
I pray, Father God, that our worship would cause us, Lord, 00:18:09.680 |
that we would not be entangled with the temporary things of this world, 00:18:13.680 |
that we would be reminded again the hope that we have in Christ, 00:18:20.680 |
that we may truly worship you in our singing, our giving, 00:18:26.680 |
I pray that even this offering would be multiplied, given to you in joy, 00:18:34.680 |
that it may be used, Lord God, to expand your kingdom. 00:26:51.680 |
Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12. 00:27:03.680 |
And I'm going to be reading from verse 18 to 24. 00:27:20.680 |
For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched, 00:27:23.680 |
and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 00:27:27.680 |
and to the blast of trumpet and the sound of words, 00:27:29.680 |
which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 00:27:37.680 |
even if a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. 00:27:41.680 |
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, 00:27:46.680 |
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, 00:27:50.680 |
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 00:27:52.680 |
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, 00:27:58.680 |
the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 00:28:02.680 |
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, 00:28:05.680 |
and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 00:28:16.680 |
We pray for the weightiness of your word to strike our thoughts, 00:28:27.680 |
Ordain these times, Lord God, that we may see a glimpse of who you are, 00:28:31.680 |
that we may remember who it is that we worship, 00:28:36.680 |
and that who it is, Lord, that we are hoping to come, Lord God, and redeem. 00:28:42.680 |
So we pray for your blessing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:28:45.680 |
I have a tendency, when I watch movies, it's hard for me to stay awake. 00:28:53.680 |
So I have, I think that part of the reason is I don't get good sleep, 00:29:00.680 |
And the other part of it is there's like something going on in my head constantly, 00:29:05.680 |
So as soon as when there's, you know, I get distracted, I tend to relax. 00:29:13.680 |
You know, so it's a running joke in my house whenever we watch a movie 00:29:17.680 |
to see how long it's going to take before I fall asleep. 00:29:19.680 |
You know, the good part of that is I can watch the same movies over and over again. 00:29:24.680 |
You know, remember when Blockbuster used to be open? 00:29:27.680 |
Like Esther would tell me to go pick up a movie, 00:29:30.680 |
and then I don't know how many times I would come back thinking, 00:29:32.680 |
like, "This movie looks good," and then she would just start laughing. 00:29:35.680 |
We just saw that four months ago, you know, and I just don't remember anything, you know. 00:29:42.680 |
But the bad part of it is I can't thoroughly explain to you any movie, 00:29:49.680 |
And I remember very specifically this movie, the movie Up. 00:29:53.680 |
And I forgot how old my children were, but our whole family went to watch it. 00:29:57.680 |
And I remember it started out well with this old man growing old together with his wife, 00:30:03.680 |
And then I woke up, and this crazy bird is on top of Grand Canyon with this balloon, 00:30:09.680 |
and for the rest of the movie, it's like, "What is going on?" 00:30:15.680 |
They were so riveted by this movie, and I couldn't even ask. 00:30:18.680 |
So the whole movie, I had no understanding what happened. 00:30:21.680 |
Something happened that caused this man living in the suburbs, enjoying his life, 00:30:30.680 |
So obviously I had to watch it again, and I said, "Oh, that was a crucial part that I fell asleep in." 00:30:34.680 |
Another movie that I remember very distinctly was the movie Inception. 00:30:39.680 |
And everybody said, "Oh, it was such a great movie." 00:30:41.680 |
Then I just remember every time they fell asleep, I fell asleep. 00:30:45.680 |
And then I woke up. It's like, "What is this? How many dreams does he have?" 00:30:49.680 |
And then recently we said, "You know what? Let's watch it again because maybe it will make more sense to me." 00:30:58.680 |
So to this day, all I know is it's about dream. 00:31:03.680 |
Something happens in the dream, and then there's this little thing that they turn at the end, 00:31:09.680 |
So I can't explain to you exactly what happened, but that's kind of what I remember. 00:31:14.680 |
So unless the movie is riveting, I usually have a hard time staying awake. 00:31:19.680 |
That's why I love AMC theaters because they have the recliner now. 00:31:23.680 |
So whenever I go watch a movie with them, usually I wake up with somebody angry 00:31:32.680 |
Well, I say all of this because the text that we're looking at in Chapter 12, Verses 18 through 24, 00:31:38.680 |
it presents to us two mountains, Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. 00:31:43.680 |
Mount Sinai is where the Israelites received God's commandment and the law. 00:31:48.680 |
So God comes and he speaks to Moses and he gives the law. 00:31:53.680 |
And so he's telling them, to these Jews, that you did not come to this mountain, but you came to Mount Zion. 00:31:58.680 |
And Mount Zion is representative of God's dwelling, God's place. 00:32:02.680 |
And so that's where they received the grace of God. 00:32:07.680 |
So the understanding of Mount Sinai is crucial. 00:32:14.680 |
what it is that he was trying to present for the past 11 chapters. 00:32:18.680 |
But because of the way that the gospel has been presented, 00:32:22.680 |
because New Testament, to be honest, is easier to understand because it's straightforward. 00:32:30.680 |
What is the gospel? The gospel is this. What did Jesus do? He died on the cross. 00:32:33.680 |
He shed his blood. So it is very straightforward. 00:32:36.680 |
The Old Testament is all a shadow. Just like the shadow, it's not clear. 00:32:43.680 |
But the shadow is the preparation so that when the reality comes, 00:32:50.680 |
But what happens is when you skip the Old Testament and you come just to the New Testament, 00:32:54.680 |
there are so many things that really don't make a lot of sense. 00:32:57.680 |
But because you hear it over and over and over again, you don't question it. 00:33:01.680 |
So one of the fundamental questions about the cross, 00:33:07.680 |
Because he loved us, he died for our sins. But why did he die? 00:33:13.680 |
Because when we forgive people, we just forgive. 00:33:16.680 |
He shed his blood for our sins. We don't shed blood for people. 00:33:20.680 |
Nobody practices that. So we heard the gospel, 00:33:24.680 |
especially if you grew up in the church, without ever really digging. 00:33:30.680 |
What was the shedding of blood? What was this drama of being crucified 00:33:33.680 |
dying and resurrected? What is the purpose of the church? 00:33:36.680 |
And so we have this very superficial understanding because we fell asleep 00:33:43.680 |
And so our understanding of the gospel, if I tell you, 00:33:46.680 |
if you ask me what the movie Up is about, it's about an old man, 00:33:50.680 |
you know, and he's lost his wife and then some crazy bird. 00:33:54.680 |
But that doesn't really describe. If I tell you Inception, it's about some dream 00:33:58.680 |
and then they have another dream inside of the dream and then they have many other dreams inside that dream. 00:34:02.680 |
Like that's about what I can tell you. So it's probably not wrong, 00:34:06.680 |
but it's not a good synopsis of the whole movie. 00:34:10.680 |
If you grew up in the Western church, the emphasis has been predominantly, 00:34:14.680 |
I would say 90, 95 percent of your understanding of your faith 00:34:19.680 |
strictly comes from the New Testament because it is easier to understand. 00:34:23.680 |
In fact, years ago, I was at a pastor's conference with about 3,500 pastors in the room. 00:34:29.680 |
And one of the seminar was that we need to preach the Old Testament. 00:34:34.680 |
And he asked all the pastors, how many of you are currently preaching out of the Old Testament? 00:34:41.680 |
And so he asked us to stand up and I happened to be one of maybe six or seven people. 00:34:50.680 |
But I was also very surprised that out of 3,500 pastors who preach on a regular basis, 00:35:00.680 |
And so the point that he was trying to make is the same point that I'm trying to make this morning. 00:35:04.680 |
That when we have a superficial understanding of Mount Sinai, 00:35:08.680 |
you may be able to articulate Zion, his grace. 00:35:11.680 |
You may be able to articulate the gospel because you've heard it, you've memorized it, you sang it, 00:35:16.680 |
but you don't understand the depth of what it is that we have in Christ. 00:35:21.680 |
So I actually intended to have this sermon in one sermon about explaining the Mount Sinai 00:35:31.680 |
But I felt like I'm not going to do it justice if I just skim through Mount Sinai. 00:35:35.680 |
So I wanted to make sure that we studied this and what he's referring to. 00:35:40.680 |
And then we'll get to what when he says we didn't come to Sinai, we came to Zion, 00:35:44.680 |
so that we'd have a better appreciation of what we talk about next week. 00:35:51.680 |
He said you did not come to the first chapter 12 verse 18 to 21. 00:35:54.680 |
For you have not come to the mountain that can be touched and to the blazing fire 00:36:00.680 |
and to the darkness and the gloom and whirlwind. 00:36:05.680 |
He's referring to God coming to give the law. 00:36:09.680 |
And the way that he describes it is blazing fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind. 00:36:17.680 |
Again, if you grew up in the Western Church, when we think about the presence of God, 00:36:22.680 |
when Jesus comes, I'm going to walk to him, I'm going to sit on his lap, 00:36:27.680 |
And so we have this lovey-dovey feeling of the presence of God. 00:36:32.680 |
The Old Testament Jew did not have that same view. 00:36:36.680 |
Their starting point at Mount Sinai was terror, gloom, and whirlwind. 00:36:42.680 |
And to the blast of the trumpet and the sound of words, 00:36:44.680 |
which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 00:36:51.680 |
Think about how often we talk about how God spoke to us or we want God to speak to us. 00:36:57.680 |
The Jews, when they heard God's voice, begged that God would stop speaking 00:37:03.680 |
because they were so terrified of his presence that even when he spoke, 00:37:10.680 |
Please ask God to stop talking to us directly. 00:37:16.680 |
For they could not bear the command, if even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. 00:37:22.680 |
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I am full of fear and trembling. 00:37:26.680 |
Now prior to this event, it's not like the Israelites had no relationship with God. 00:37:37.680 |
But this is the first instance where God from heaven is physically coming 00:37:43.680 |
and making his physical presence known in the nation of Israel at Sinai to give the law 00:38:00.680 |
As soon as he shows up, there is fear and terror. 00:38:06.680 |
In fact, if you can show the picture that comes up. 00:38:10.680 |
I want you to see the outline of the mountain. 00:38:18.680 |
But if you can see, I want this picture because this is what's being described for us in Hebrews. 00:38:23.680 |
And I'm going to jump to the Old Testament to show you what the author of Hebrews is referring to. 00:38:29.680 |
And so I want that image because that's the image that's embedded in Israel's history. 00:38:39.680 |
This is God physically presenting himself to the nation of Israel. 00:38:45.680 |
He's referring to what's taking place in Exodus and Deuteronomy. 00:38:51.680 |
So it came about on the third day when it was morning. 00:38:55.680 |
If you look at that picture, you would naturally think that maybe it's dark because it's at nighttime. 00:39:00.680 |
The only reason why it's dark is because he said God's presence came. 00:39:08.680 |
That's an accurate picture because the Bible describes darkness fell. 00:39:12.680 |
In fact, remember when we had Dr. Harris here, the darkness and the glory, 00:39:16.680 |
he describes at the third hour when God wanted to inaugurate his new covenant, 00:39:21.680 |
remember what happened, darkness fell on earth. 00:39:24.680 |
And he was veiling his glory because sinful man cannot be in the presence of this holy God. 00:39:32.680 |
And that's how the covenant, the first covenant of the law, 00:39:36.680 |
when it was given, darkness and terror falls upon them in the morning. 00:39:41.680 |
That there were thunder and lightning, flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain, 00:39:47.680 |
and a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people were in the camp trembled. 00:39:53.680 |
There wasn't this celebration, God is drawing near to us, let's all gather together to go watch. 00:40:00.680 |
Soon as they saw God's glory coming upon Mount Sinai, terror falls upon them. 00:40:08.680 |
They were afraid that they're going to die because of this presence, verse 17, 00:40:12.680 |
and Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at a foot of the mountain. 00:40:17.680 |
Now Mount Sinai was all the smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. 00:40:22.680 |
And the smoke descended like the smoke of the furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 00:40:29.680 |
I want you to look at the next pictures that I have up here. 00:40:34.680 |
This is an actual picture of where they believe that it's Mount Sinai. 00:40:40.680 |
So I don't have time to go over the details, but there's plenty of documentaries, 00:40:44.680 |
or you can go on Google and look this up, YouTube, and look at videos, 00:40:48.680 |
because it's well documented that they believe, and it's very convincing, 00:40:52.680 |
that this is the mountain that is being referred to, Mount Sinai. 00:40:56.680 |
If you look at it, it looks like there's two mountains. 00:40:59.680 |
You have the one in the front and one in the back. 00:41:04.680 |
It's just that at some point, the color changes. 00:41:09.680 |
The top of the mountain is black, and then at some point in the middle, it's light. 00:41:14.680 |
So it's the same mountain. Let me show you the satellite picture of that mountain. 00:41:20.680 |
And so, because secular archaeologists are also intrigued why that would be there, 00:41:26.680 |
up on that mountain, because they don't see any other mountain, any of that, 00:41:31.680 |
So their explanation is, at one point, there must have been a volcanic eruption 00:41:36.680 |
that caused that mountain, just the top part of it, to be black. 00:41:41.680 |
So since then, they've gone up to test these rocks. 00:41:44.680 |
And if you can turn to the next one, this picture you probably can't see too well, 00:41:48.680 |
but you'll see that the top of it is dark, and then right next to it, it's more light. 00:41:54.680 |
And so they were able to study the rocks, and they broke it up and found out 00:41:57.680 |
that it's not volcanic ash at all, because if it's volcanic, 00:42:02.680 |
It's only dark on the surface, meaning that the only logical explanation 00:42:06.680 |
is something external burned these rocks, and it stayed. 00:42:14.680 |
Now that's not directly connected to what I'm about to say, 00:42:18.680 |
but it is intriguing that we have physical evidence of all that is mentioned here. 00:42:23.680 |
And along with that, if you watch the documentary, they'll tell you that 00:42:27.680 |
at the bottom of Mount Sinai, God made borders, 00:42:34.680 |
And at that archaeological site, they found piles and piles of rocks 00:42:38.680 |
all around to make borders so they couldn't come through. 00:42:41.680 |
And it is at that mountain, when Moses comes up and he comes down, 00:42:45.680 |
Aaron and the Israelites made an altar to the golden calf. 00:42:50.680 |
They found an altar at the bottom of this mountain, 00:42:52.680 |
with an altar with images of golden calf on it. 00:42:56.680 |
And that's also the mountain where Elijah goes and hides in the cave, 00:43:03.680 |
So there's more than enough evidence to show that this is the mountain 00:43:09.680 |
And the fact that God's glory shone up up there with blazing fire, 00:43:14.680 |
and that it burned up the mountain, and that it still remains there, 00:43:23.680 |
Exodus 19, 12-13 says, "You shall set bounds for the people all around, 00:43:28.680 |
saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border.'" 00:43:35.680 |
"Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 00:43:38.680 |
No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. 00:43:53.680 |
And God actually tells them, "If you come to me, you will die, 00:44:05.680 |
Exodus 19, 22 says, "When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, 00:44:10.680 |
Moses spoke, and God answered him with a thunder. 00:44:12.680 |
The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, 00:44:15.680 |
and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 00:44:19.680 |
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 'Go down, warn the people, 00:44:21.680 |
so that they do not break through to the Lord's gates, and many of them perish. 00:44:25.680 |
Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, 00:44:29.680 |
or else the Lord will break out against them.'" 00:44:31.680 |
To break out means to have disease or even death sentence. 00:44:37.680 |
So the priests preparing and consecrating themselves, 00:44:40.680 |
nobody drew near to God casually because it meant death. 00:44:47.680 |
Again, in Exodus 20, 18-19, "All the people perceived the thunder 00:44:51.680 |
and lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. 00:44:55.680 |
And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance." 00:45:00.680 |
They didn't run to it, they stood at a distance. 00:45:03.680 |
"Then they said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself, and we will listen, 00:45:07.680 |
but let not God speak to us, or we will die.'" 00:45:10.680 |
If you remember the scene when Moses is up in the mountain, 00:45:13.680 |
as God is commanding him to lead the nation of Israel, 00:45:18.680 |
And God says, "If I show you my full glory, you will die. 00:45:21.680 |
But because you have asked," he says, "I'm going to cover you, 00:45:27.680 |
So you're going to see a glimpse of my glory, partial glory, 00:45:33.680 |
But that glory, that reflection of that glory of God, 00:45:43.680 |
And when he came down and started to speak to the nation of Israel, 00:45:46.680 |
they were terrified just by the reflection of that glory on Moses' face. 00:45:57.680 |
Put a veil on you," because they were terrified of his presence 00:46:08.680 |
"Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, 00:46:12.680 |
and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. 00:46:15.680 |
We have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives," referring to Moses. 00:46:20.680 |
Now, why should we die, for this great fire will consume us? 00:46:28.680 |
they didn't automatically think, like, "Oh, if we go there, we're going to live." 00:46:32.680 |
They said, "If we go to God, we're going to die." 00:46:40.680 |
If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. 00:46:44.680 |
If we keep hearing from God, we're going to die. 00:46:47.680 |
Think about that from the New Covenant perspective in Western Christianity, 00:46:53.680 |
God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life. 00:46:57.680 |
And so whenever we hear anything harsh, we automatically, 00:47:04.680 |
Whenever there's a warning about God's holiness, 00:47:07.680 |
it's like, "It doesn't fit the gospel that I know, 00:47:13.680 |
because the starting point in the Western church doesn't allow the judgment of God. 00:47:22.680 |
It is clear in the Scripture, because this is the way God presented himself. 00:47:28.680 |
who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, 00:47:33.680 |
Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says, 00:47:36.680 |
then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, 00:47:43.680 |
You know, when I was in college, I was a Bible major, 00:47:47.680 |
so I spent four years in undergrad studying the Bible. 00:47:51.680 |
Then after I graduated, I went to seminary and spent a couple more years studying the Bible. 00:47:55.680 |
So a minimum of six years I was studying the Bible. 00:47:58.680 |
So when I came out, obviously I thought I have a good grasp of the Bible, 00:48:02.680 |
learned systematic theology, how to do exegesis, 00:48:06.680 |
went through the different parts of Scripture. 00:48:09.680 |
But it wasn't until I started preaching through the Bible 00:48:12.680 |
I realized how superficial my understanding of the gospel was. 00:48:16.680 |
I started, first of all, and the reason why I started preaching through the Bible 00:48:20.680 |
wasn't because of an example that I saw or somebody told me that that's the way to preach. 00:48:27.680 |
You know, after preaching three, four years topically, 00:48:30.680 |
every week the greatest struggle was, "What am I going to say about discipleship this week? 00:48:37.680 |
What am I going to say about prayer? What am I going to say about word?" 00:48:40.680 |
So after about three years of preaching with the same group, 00:48:43.680 |
either I have to move church because I ran out of material, 00:48:46.680 |
or I'm going to have to repeat these same sermons over and over again. 00:48:50.680 |
And then I remember Chuck Smith, I was listening to a seminar, 00:48:54.680 |
and they said, "We're just going to preach the Bible. 00:48:57.680 |
We're just going to open up the Bible in 1 Timothy." 00:49:02.680 |
And I remember very distinctly I started with the Gospel of John. 00:49:05.680 |
After that I moved to the Philippines, and then I went to Galatians, 00:49:12.680 |
and then I went to study the Book of Romans, and then to Hebrews, 00:49:16.680 |
and eventually I made it through the majority of the New Testament, 00:49:19.680 |
and then I started jumping through the Old Testament 00:49:21.680 |
because I was running out in the New Testament, 00:49:23.680 |
and then I just started preaching through the Old Testament. 00:49:25.680 |
And it wasn't until about four or five years into the study, 00:49:29.680 |
systematically, verse by verse, through book by book, 00:49:32.680 |
and I began to realize my theology has completely started to change. 00:49:36.680 |
And the primary thing that was starting to really be highlighted, 00:49:41.680 |
even after six years of Bible education at seminary, 00:49:51.680 |
And I really felt like I got punched in the face, like, 00:49:56.680 |
If you take systematic theology, you talk about the attribute of God, 00:50:05.680 |
But to the degree that the Bible punches you in the face about this attribute, 00:50:12.680 |
and how every other attribute, everything that I know about the Bible and the Gospel, 00:50:20.680 |
It stems from understanding the law, why the law was given, 00:50:24.680 |
and proper view of who God is, and in view of that, who I am. 00:50:32.680 |
and why I have so much problem in the Western church, 00:50:35.680 |
and again, this is not unique to the Western church, 00:50:38.680 |
but part of the reason why is because we're still at the center. 00:50:42.680 |
We view God as a supreme being who is so enamored with us, 00:50:49.680 |
that even though we won't articulate it that way, but He's our servant. 00:50:53.680 |
And so we receive Him and reject Him based upon what He does for me. 00:51:06.680 |
What does this small group have to do for me? 00:51:18.680 |
Because the whole purpose of the law is to teach us that you are dead in your trespasses, 00:51:23.680 |
and so that you may see how utterly sinful you are. 00:51:32.680 |
So you remember, Israel's history was God in heaven. 00:51:35.680 |
They were speaking to Him, and all of a sudden He comes to Mount Sinai. 00:51:38.680 |
And this is the closest that the Israelites have ever seen Him physically. 00:51:46.680 |
But now they're seeing a physical picture, and the first encounter with Him is absolute terror. 00:51:56.680 |
So imagine that that God that they saw at Mount Sinai, 00:52:02.680 |
now at the end of Exodus, say, "I'm going to come near. 00:52:06.680 |
I told you you can't even come to the bottom of the mountain, but I'm going to come. 00:52:18.680 |
So if the Israelites were afraid to even hear His voice, 00:52:21.680 |
can you imagine what this did to the nation of Israel when God said, "I'm going to come to that tabernacle"? 00:52:28.680 |
If a God that I saw from a distance terrified me, 00:52:32.680 |
and God set it up so that all 12 tribes were equal distance to this tabernacle. 00:52:41.680 |
was a concentrated presence of God that they saw from a distance, 00:52:44.680 |
where they didn't even want to hear from Him. 00:52:48.680 |
Imagine what that did to the nation of Israel. 00:52:51.680 |
That's why in 2 Corinthians 3, 7 and verse 9, 00:52:54.680 |
Apostle Paul calls the ministry of Mount Sinai as ministry of death, 00:53:03.680 |
I guarantee you, nobody casually came to the tabernacle. 00:53:09.680 |
Because the tabernacle reminded them of death. 00:53:17.680 |
And if you've ever seen a physical set up of a tabernacle, 00:53:24.680 |
The tabernacle was not huge. It was not the size of a city. 00:53:27.680 |
It was probably the size of maybe our building. 00:53:32.680 |
And they had to constantly sacrifice, day after day, 00:53:35.680 |
for every sin committed by over a million people. 00:53:40.680 |
So you can imagine how many animals were being slaughtered. 00:53:48.680 |
And all of this reminded them, this is what you deserve. 00:53:59.680 |
And God deliberately showed this to mankind, to Israel. 00:54:03.680 |
And that's why the author of Hebrews is telling them, 00:54:06.680 |
you can draw near because God's not calling you to Sinai. 00:54:10.680 |
Because if He calls you to Sinai, you will die. 00:54:21.680 |
There's a reason why it says in Proverbs 8.10, 00:54:23.680 |
"Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 00:54:28.680 |
In the Western world, if you grew up in the Western church, 00:54:33.680 |
and you've heard the gospels exclusively through the Western pulpit, 00:54:42.680 |
The fear He's referring to is talking about reverence and honor. 00:54:49.680 |
doesn't fit the gospel of the Western church. 00:54:53.680 |
Because He loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life. 00:54:59.680 |
And so because we've exclusively heard the gospel that way, 00:55:07.680 |
He's not talking about being terrified in the presence of God. 00:55:14.680 |
That's exactly what it means, to be terrified. 00:55:17.680 |
To be terrified of the presence of God is the beginning of wisdom. 00:55:21.680 |
Why is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom? 00:55:24.680 |
Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of our salvation. 00:55:28.680 |
Until you recognize who it is that we have offended, 00:55:32.680 |
until you recognize who it is that you will meet outside of the blood of Christ, 00:55:42.680 |
The beginning of wisdom, the beginning of salvation, 00:55:45.680 |
is recognizing that the one that we have offended 00:56:00.680 |
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, 00:56:05.680 |
but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." 00:56:16.680 |
Like that's what He said, "No, fear, honor Him who can kill you in hell." 00:56:24.680 |
Think about how often we make decisions and we compromise 00:56:29.680 |
because we're afraid of what other people are going to think of us. 00:56:33.680 |
We're afraid of the consequence in this earth. 00:56:38.680 |
But He said if you're going to be terrified in anything, 00:56:40.680 |
be terrified where you really should be terrified. 00:56:45.680 |
but there's consequence in eternity who can send you to hell. 00:56:51.680 |
If any fear is going to guide you in your decision, 00:56:54.680 |
if any fear is going to cause you to make certain decisions and live a certain way, 00:57:01.680 |
That's why Mount Sinai is essential in understanding Zion. 00:57:06.680 |
Without understanding, grace is just a free gift. 00:57:14.680 |
That's why when Apostle Paul introduces the gospel in Romans 1, 00:57:19.680 |
he says the wrath of God is being revealed against all unrighteousness. 00:57:29.680 |
R.C. Sproul describes the word wrath in Greek as orge, 00:57:32.680 |
where we get the word orgy, is unbridled passion. 00:57:39.680 |
And he describes the word wrath there as God without constraint, without mercy. 00:57:51.680 |
He says that in the end, all that we have seen about the wrath and the terror of God, 00:57:58.680 |
all of that, all of that was tempered because he knew his son was coming. 00:58:06.680 |
But on the day of judgment, all of that will be behind. 00:58:13.680 |
the idea of hell doesn't fit Western Christianity. 00:58:17.680 |
So the way that hell is described is hell is a place where God withdraws himself. 00:58:33.680 |
Hell is a place where the grace of God has been withdrawn. 00:58:36.680 |
It is the full display of his glory without constraint, 00:58:45.680 |
So heaven is a place where we see the full degree of his grace. 00:58:49.680 |
And hell is a place where we see the full degree of his glory in his wrath. 00:58:55.680 |
And both places is magnificent and terrifying because of God. 00:59:02.680 |
That's why John Newton says in his song, "Amazing Grace," 00:59:11.680 |
He's like, "Oh, because we're under grace, there's no fear in our hearts." 00:59:13.680 |
He said, "No, it's the grace of God that caused me to fear." 00:59:18.680 |
Because it's the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of salvation. 00:59:27.680 |
Charles Spurgeon, in his autobiography, has a whole chapter dedicated 00:59:31.680 |
to saying God's law tormented him before he came to saving faith in Christ. 00:59:37.680 |
It was because he understood what it meant to be in the presence of God 00:59:45.680 |
Martin Luther, the whole Reformation, Protestantism, 00:59:52.680 |
And he describes his salvation as hating righteousness, 00:59:56.680 |
recognizing that he could not appease God with the law, 01:00:01.680 |
which caused him to see that that's what grace was. 01:00:10.680 |
And it's because his idea of the gospel doesn't fit hell. 01:00:20.680 |
Again, the reason why it doesn't fit him is because his very understanding of the gospel, 01:00:25.680 |
his very understanding of God himself, he fell asleep. 01:00:30.680 |
He doesn't realize the primary person that has been offended is not the world, 01:00:41.680 |
When we're younger, we'll run to mom or dad because we assume that they can protect us. 01:00:47.680 |
So if you go to a playground and there's a bully, we run to mom and dad because mom and dad's bigger. 01:00:53.680 |
When we grow up, we're stronger than our parents at some point, 01:00:57.680 |
so we can't run to them, so we run to the police. 01:01:02.680 |
Or maybe they're too far, so you'll buy a gun. 01:01:05.680 |
Whatever that may be, fear of something that may harm us, 01:01:09.680 |
so when we are afraid, we go to something bigger and stronger to protect us. 01:01:17.680 |
What caused the greatest fear and greatest terror was God himself. 01:01:24.680 |
So who do you run to if God's the one that you're afraid of? 01:01:31.680 |
knowing that that's where life is, but that's also where I'm going to be destroyed? 01:01:44.680 |
If God's the one that causes the greatest terror, 01:01:51.680 |
we've heard the gospel through the Western channels where God has been presented 01:01:55.680 |
because we're marketing the gospel to get as many people through the door. 01:01:59.680 |
And the deception of Western Christianity is that so many people have come through the door 01:02:04.680 |
not knowing who God is, and when Jesus says, "They will say, 'Lord, Lord,'" 01:02:10.680 |
and He says, "I never knew you. You didn't know me." 01:02:13.680 |
That's how He was going to describe, "You did not know me." 01:02:17.680 |
You regurgitated the gospel. You said the right things, but you didn't know me 01:02:26.680 |
He's not unconditionally in love with rebellious sinners. 01:02:38.680 |
Yeah, vengeful. That's what it says. That's what the Bible says. 01:02:45.680 |
So if your paradigm was created simply by the New Testament preaching of the gospel, 01:02:53.680 |
and you jump through all the difficulty, "I don't want to know this wrathful God. 01:02:58.680 |
I don't want to know this scary God. I want to get to the new God of the New Testament," 01:03:03.680 |
you can easily miss what Christ has done on the cross. 01:03:09.680 |
That's why Isaiah 6, verse 5, this holy man, as he is being prepared to be sent out to represent God, 01:03:16.680 |
it wasn't enough that he got the message correct. He needed to know who God is. 01:03:22.680 |
It's not enough that you study, then you can regurgitate and tell you, "I got this, and then I'm presenting it to you." 01:03:28.680 |
A representative of God needs to properly understand God Himself. 01:03:32.680 |
That's why God doesn't just give him the words. God reveals His glory. 01:03:38.680 |
As soon as he's in the presence of God, in Isaiah chapter 6, verse 5, he says, "Woe is me. Woe is me." 01:03:46.680 |
You know what the word "woe" means? Literally, it means, "I'm undone. I'm dead." 01:03:52.680 |
That's what that means. "I'm dead. I'm not going to survive this." That's what that means. 01:03:58.680 |
And this is a man that God handpicked to represent Him, and His response in the presence of God is, "I am dead. 01:04:05.680 |
I'm a man of unclean lips from the people of unclean lips." 01:04:08.680 |
Meaning, He knew that He was being called to open His mouth to present God. 01:04:12.680 |
But how can I use this dirty mouth to present this? That's what He meant. 01:04:18.680 |
So fear and terror fell upon Him. And it's not just Isaiah. 01:04:23.680 |
In every instance, whether it was the disciples, John in the book of Revelation, 01:04:29.680 |
elders at the throne of God, the angels, the holy creatures, 01:04:35.680 |
in the presence of this holy God, covering their eyes to veil themselves from His glory 01:04:41.680 |
because they were terrified of His presence, were circling His throne saying, 01:04:50.680 |
Every instance that a human being, a sinner in the presence of this holy God, is terrified. 01:05:01.680 |
But that's what He means that you did not come to Mount Sinai. 01:05:05.680 |
Because to a first century Jew, they didn't have to be taught to be terrified by God. 01:05:12.680 |
Their whole experience with God was terrifying. 01:05:15.680 |
There's a reason why they wouldn't pronounce His name. 01:05:19.680 |
And if you read the Old Testament, they changed His name Yahweh to Adonai 01:05:24.680 |
because they were afraid that they were going to break one of His commandments 01:05:30.680 |
So He said, "Just in case." I don't know if that's what God meant, 01:05:32.680 |
but just in case, we don't want to mess with the law. 01:05:35.680 |
I remember Adab and Nebihu, God gave them specific instructions 01:05:42.680 |
And because of that, the holy fire comes and consumes them and they die. 01:05:47.680 |
So imagine, so you know what, we're not going to get this wrong. 01:05:53.680 |
So to this day, you probably heard the name Jehovah, Yahweh. 01:06:03.680 |
Because the Hebrew language doesn't have vowels. 01:06:06.680 |
And they didn't pronounce it for so many years. 01:06:09.680 |
We're guessing, is it Yahweh or is it Jehovah? 01:06:13.680 |
But that's the reason why we have Jehovah and Yahweh. 01:06:23.680 |
have reverence, be terrified, take this seriously. 01:06:28.680 |
In fact, they have to be told exactly the opposite. 01:06:39.680 |
But remember the progression, the whole progression of the gospel 01:06:47.680 |
And then that terrifying view of Sinai, God says, 01:06:50.680 |
I'm going to come in the tabernacle, get ready. 01:06:53.680 |
So you better believe they took every command seriously. 01:06:57.680 |
Touching of the poles, presenting the measurements, 01:07:00.680 |
where they're supposed to go, where they're not supposed to go, 01:07:04.680 |
what sacrifices they're not supposed to make. 01:07:07.680 |
And they bring a tainted animal, and as a result of that, they die. 01:07:10.680 |
And they break any commandment, they would die. 01:07:12.680 |
So it wasn't just, oh, we made a mistake, God forgives us. 01:07:15.680 |
No, if you did that, you came and touched the holy things 01:07:22.680 |
So I guarantee you people did not casually come into the tabernacle. 01:07:28.680 |
My guess is every time they needed to go to the tabernacle, 01:07:34.680 |
And maybe they probably didn't take their children either, 01:07:37.680 |
because just in case any of the kids run into a place 01:07:40.680 |
where they're not supposed to go, and they die. 01:07:51.680 |
The priest is supposed to come. He's supposed to lay his hands. 01:08:06.680 |
Presence of the tabernacle was so terrifying. 01:08:09.680 |
My guess is that they took that very, very seriously. 01:08:16.680 |
That's why at that tabernacle, when they went to the temple, 01:08:19.680 |
and from the temple, he sent this Holy Spirit in us. 01:08:26.680 |
And then that Spirit that is in us, that they were so terrified of, 01:08:35.680 |
And that's what Apostle Paul means in Corinthians 3 and 6. 01:08:40.680 |
You have a church who is divided, not taking sin seriously. 01:08:47.680 |
Do you not know that you are the temple of God, 01:08:53.680 |
So when a Jew heard this, that terrifying scene, 01:08:59.680 |
that God that you were so afraid of in tabernacle, 01:09:17.680 |
You see, somebody who does not understand this 01:09:21.680 |
is not going to understand the weightiness of worship. 01:09:27.680 |
Worship is somewhere we come, we sing some songs, 01:09:33.680 |
We've made it so casual, make it easy as possible, 01:09:38.680 |
we have this weightiness of what it is that God has called us to do, 01:09:42.680 |
and most people don't understand in our generation 01:09:45.680 |
that we're approaching a holy, holy, holy God. 01:09:48.680 |
And the only reason why you and I are not consumed 01:09:51.680 |
is because if you're a child of God, we are covered by the blood of Christ. 01:09:56.680 |
And the only one that could have saved us from that wrath of God, 01:10:05.680 |
And it is that that covers it, that that He's referring to in Mount Zion. 01:10:10.680 |
People ask me, "Why do you keep wearing a suit?" 01:10:16.680 |
I've had people tell me, "This is California, hang loose, man. 01:10:27.680 |
Short and stocky people don't look good in anything. 01:10:38.680 |
In fact, I don't like it. I like being comfortable. 01:10:41.680 |
I wear it because I recognize what it is that God has called me to do. 01:10:54.680 |
And I'll tell you, if it's my opinion, I'll tell you it's my opinion. 01:11:00.680 |
I've been called to declare what the Bible says, even if it offends you. 01:11:10.680 |
And so I want to make sure that what I do physically, mentally, and spiritually 01:11:26.680 |
As a church called to the presence of God, we don't have dress codes at our church. 01:11:32.680 |
Because I don't think saying you have to wear this and you've got to do this, 01:11:38.680 |
But I encourage you to examine when we come to church, 01:11:43.680 |
do we recognize the God that we came to worship? 01:11:48.680 |
Are we coming to church because it's just a gathering for me? 01:11:51.680 |
What am I going to get? Is the sermon going to be good for me? 01:11:54.680 |
How much of our attitude reflects the God, the almighty, holy, holy God 01:11:59.680 |
that we have come to honor and thank for covering us with the blood of Christ? 01:12:05.680 |
Somebody who doesn't understand Mount Sinai takes his own sin lightly. 01:12:12.680 |
Our whole doctrine is based upon a cliche, a bumper sticker. 01:12:20.680 |
So our whole understanding of salvation is by a bumper sticker, 01:12:23.680 |
or for cliches, or little things, or blogs that we've heard. 01:12:28.680 |
A man or woman who doesn't understand who God is takes his sin lightly. 01:12:36.680 |
Because not recognizing that this is his very breath that we are handling. 01:12:44.680 |
add to it or take away from it, do not turn from it to the left or to the right. 01:12:50.680 |
And a man or woman who does not understand who God is takes the church lightly. 01:12:59.680 |
We're at the center. We don't exit. We never say this out loud. 01:13:02.680 |
But that's our present. Everything is evaluated based upon what does it do for me? 01:13:09.680 |
I guarantee you nobody walks into the tabernacle saying, 01:13:11.680 |
"The priests, they're not reaching out to me." 01:13:14.680 |
I guarantee you nobody walked into the tabernacle thinking, 01:13:21.680 |
They came in making sure that they followed the rule, 01:13:28.680 |
The church is the temple where God dwells collectively in us. 01:13:36.680 |
Is our casual nature toward church and worship 01:13:43.680 |
Do we take the collective coming into the presence of God as if it's convenient? 01:13:55.680 |
1 Peter 3.18, it says, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, 01:14:05.680 |
With all the yelling and screaming and marching and rioting about wanting justice, 01:14:10.680 |
but the greatest injustice that the world has ever seen is Christ crucified. 01:14:22.680 |
the only true innocent man who died, died for unjust sinners. 01:14:35.680 |
We serve him, we worship him because of the greatest injustice 01:14:49.680 |
Just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God, 01:14:53.680 |
having been put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. 01:14:59.680 |
Let me--I want to end with a practical application. 01:15:05.680 |
There's reasons why we have--as you're walking through, 01:15:07.680 |
I don't know how many of you guys noticed, there's essential books. 01:15:10.680 |
We have three essential books that we ask all our members to read. 01:15:14.680 |
And the reason behind it, Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul. 01:15:19.680 |
Now, I rarely recommend books because I'd rather have you be saturated with God's Word. 01:15:25.680 |
But we recommend this as fundamental in the church 01:15:32.680 |
that Western Christianity has about who God is. 01:15:36.680 |
He's not a holy bellhop servant like we call him and then he comes running, 01:15:40.680 |
"Oh, he didn't answer my prayer." Maybe God's not real because he doesn't serve us. 01:15:46.680 |
I think R.C. Sproul does the best job that I've read 01:15:52.680 |
So even if you read it, if you read it superficially 01:15:54.680 |
or you didn't really digest it, I highly recommend 01:15:59.680 |
And any part of it that you don't understand, 01:16:05.680 |
The second thing is the Gospel According to Jesus. 01:16:09.680 |
Now, there are other books that you can read for this, 01:16:13.680 |
Gospel According to Jesus, knowing who God is 01:16:21.680 |
It's not just like God just like, "Oh, you know what? 01:16:23.680 |
I took sin very seriously, but since my son died, 01:16:26.680 |
I don't care about sin anymore in the New Testament." 01:16:35.680 |
but this is true probably of everywhere else. 01:16:38.680 |
That's just where I am, so that's what I'm referring to. 01:16:46.680 |
What does a sinner who's been covered by the blood of Christ 01:16:49.680 |
having a personal relationship with this Holy God look like? 01:16:53.680 |
That's what this book helps us to understand. 01:16:57.680 |
parable after parable, to help us to understand, 01:17:02.680 |
I had a wonderful plan for your life, forgive it!" 01:17:07.680 |
And so, again, this is why this is essential. 01:17:10.680 |
So if you don't understand this or maybe disagree with this, 01:17:12.680 |
you're probably going to have a lot of problems 01:17:16.680 |
You're going to have a lot of problems with the way 01:17:26.680 |
why the preaching and teaching is a certain way at our church, 01:17:32.680 |
And there are other books that you can read on this, 01:17:41.680 |
we're going to want to know that he didn't just say, 01:17:47.680 |
"and face the lost, and try to figure out how to do it." 01:17:51.680 |
Imagine that God, who gave so much intricate details 01:17:53.680 |
how the tabernacle and temple was to be built, 01:18:03.680 |
He gave us intricate details of what we ought to follow, 01:18:12.680 |
And so all of these things are described in the New Testament 01:18:17.680 |
And so if we're going to approach this holy God, 01:18:19.680 |
even though we're covered by the blood of Christ, 01:18:30.680 |
So if we're going to build a church that honors God, 01:18:36.680 |
And I think he does the best job in doing this. 01:18:38.680 |
So this is probably one of the more drier versions, 01:18:41.680 |
because if you're looking for a novel to fall asleep, 01:18:47.680 |
you're going to require to be committed to this 01:18:52.680 |
And again, the reason why we practice church membership, 01:18:56.680 |
the reason why we're so slow in establishing leadership 01:19:02.680 |
it all helps you to understand it from this book. 01:19:05.680 |
So these are the three essential books, right, 01:19:10.680 |
because it'll help you to understand your faith, 01:19:16.680 |
And all of this so that we do not turn from his word 01:19:23.680 |
that we don't view God based upon the prejudices 01:19:30.680 |
So much of Christianity is evaluated, received, 01:19:34.680 |
and rejected based upon what we think is fair. 01:19:39.680 |
When we do that, we place ourselves above God. 01:19:55.680 |
All of this is so that we can understand Zion better 01:20:15.680 |
Let's take a few minutes as, again, our worship team comes 01:20:25.680 |
to allow the word of God to dwell in us richly, 01:20:29.680 |
to not to superficially follow Christ from a distance, 01:20:33.680 |
that the Christ and the gospel that we profess 01:20:43.680 |
but the God that I worship is the God of the Bible. 01:20:47.680 |
So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us. 01:22:11.280 |
- Why don't we all stand up for the closing praise? 01:24:11.360 |
♪ Who can teach the one who knows all things ♪ 01:27:16.360 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for your mercy and for your grace. 01:27:37.360 |
that your word would go forth and will not return 01:27:45.360 |
so that we would live for eternity and not for temporal things. 01:27:52.360 |
to long for the presence of Christ, Lord God, 01:27:55.360 |
as he is our mediator, Lord, in the new covenant. 01:27:58.360 |
Lord, I pray that you would richly bless us this week, 01:28:02.360 |
that we may magnify you in every way, in word and deed.