Let’s Enjoy and Proclaim the Blessing of the Throne of Heaven (Heb. 12:18-29)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. Just according to the Word, may this worship be full of God’s blessings. The title of today’s message is, “Let’s Enjoy and Proclaim the Blessing of the Throne of Heaven.” The background of Hebrews is about the Jewish people who’d converted to Christianity after meeting Jesus Christ, but they were shaken by their legalistic ideology and the uniqueness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result, they take all the words of the Old Testament and use them to testify of Christ, so it may be a little confusing to you.
Even so, there’s another message God is trying to tell us. In other words, now that the Kingdom of God has become our kingdom by the gospel of Jesus Christ, let us enjoy it. Why is this message being proclaimed? All the things in Heb. 12:18-19: the mountain that cannot be touched, the burning fire, the trumpet sounds, and the voice speaking; these are all things that represented God’s existence in the Old Testament.
1. Mount Sinai (Heb. 12:20)
1) God
(1) God’s presence (Heb. 12:18-19)
Specifically, God resided on Mount Sinai but they couldn’t see him with their eyes, but these are the ways in which God expressed His presence. God is invisible, however, He expressed Himself visibly through the pillar of cloud, or darkness, or the trumpet sounds, etc.
(2) The people – Begged that no further word be spoken by God (Heb. 12:19)
Heb. 12:19 says the people begged not to hear the words spoken to them again because it was hard for them to hear God’s Word.
(3) Moses – Trembling with fear (Heb. 12:21)
Heb. 12:21 says that even Moses was trembling in terror. And if any of the animals go up to the mountain, they would die. So, the reason God is expressing all these things on Mount Sinai is because they used to tremble in fear before God. If a sinner meets God, they will die. There’s no creation that can meet with God, That’s why God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments to have a covenantal relationship with the saved people of Israel.
2) Law
(1) 10 Commandments – If you keep my covenant (Ex. 19:5)
In Exodus 19:5, it says, “Now if you obey Me fully and keep my commands,” there is a condition here.
(2) Kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6)
(3) A holy nation (Ex. 19:6)
It means, “If you guys keep the words of the law, then you will be my treasured possession, a nation of priests.” However, there were hundreds of nations outside of this, and in reality, this was a Word that the Israelites could not keep. Then, why do you think God gave them this Word? The people in the Old Testament misunderstood God’s Word. We could never be righteous before God by the law.
3) Israel
(1) Rely on the works of the law – Under a curse (Gal. 3:10)
Gal. 3:10 says that the acts of the law will bring us a curse. The law is God’s Word, however, the person who is trying to fulfill the law with their actions will, without a doubt, be cursed. It means the reason God gave us the law was not for the acts of the law, but the Israelite people misunderstood that. That’s why they were so afraid of a terrifying God and the law was such a burden to them.
Are there some people who have a harder time with their walk-of-faith the more time passes? It means you misunderstand God. That person is living a religious life and they are legalistic. The more you try to live your walk of faith with your actions, the more you will be pushed into curses. Why did God give us the Ten Commandments? The Ten Commandments have too much contained within them. Through the Ten Commandments, we realize that we’re sinners, so God gave them to us so we believe in God. However, our walk of faith becomes difficult if we lose hold of believing in God and only think, “Now that I’m a saved person of God, I have to obey His law.”
(2) Cannot become righteous (Gal. 3:11)
The walk of faith becomes more and more burdensome especially for people who have never heard the words of the gospel, but only the words of the law. Apostle Paul said he was blameless in regards to the law. He was someone who guarded and maintained his actions so perfectly, but he could never be righteous. The more he did that, the more curses and disasters followed.
(3) Believe in God through the Law
It is not by the law, but the righteous will live by faith. The reason God created the fruit of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, was not as a threat to say, “if you eat this, you die,” but legalistic people will see the Word of God that way. “Oh, I have to obey God’s Word, otherwise He will beat me half to death,” there are a lot of people who live their walk of faith like that, but God gave us the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, so that we can look at it and believe in God.
When the Word of God comes into us with His grace, then the walk-of-faith becomes easy, but the characteristic of legalism is that I’m centered on myself, so we’re beaten half to death. The more we live our walk-of-faith, the more we are beaten to death. As we live our walk of faith, the grace of God should lighten our burden, but legalistic people will be more burdened. That’s why Christians relatively have more mental problems and pastors relatively have more mental problems. Is it because they don’t believe in God? It’s because they’re stuck in the law and the acts of the law. Even when we have announcements or church prayer topics, legalistic or religious people will go back to thinking, “Oh, how can I do this?” Everyone is centered on “me” and that’s why everyone steps out of the church, one by one. However, people who are centered on the gospel will realize, “God will give me the grace and strength to do this work.”
“How can I do Temple Construction? I don’t even have any money,” it’s always about “me,” they are saying, “I cannot do my actions.” The Bible never said anything like that, but that’s how you’ve misunderstood. The gospel says that God gives the grace to do the work He is going to do through me.
Therefore, we can never be considered righteous before God through the acts of the law. If people have lived their walk-of-faith for such a long time, but their faith life and church life feel so difficult, they have been oppressed by a religious life and legalism for too long. The characteristic is that they know too much of God’s Word, but they think, “How am I going to keep that Word?” That’s someone who does not know the cross well. They know Christ Jesus; however, they’ve lost the complete content of the gospel as well as the ideology. The author of Hebrews is giving the message of the gospel because the Jewish people were losing their faith and assurance in this gospel.
2. Mount Zion
So in Heb. 12:22, everything changes. In the past, they seemed to have a very terrifying God, “but you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God.” The covenantal people of Israel had received God’s grace and salvation, but they still lived by the law of Mount Sinai.
1) Hill of Jerusalem (Is. 10:32)
Where is Mount Zion? In Isaiah 10:32, it says it is the Hill of Jerusalem.
(1) Mount Calvary – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
The Hill of Jerusalem is also expressed as Mount Moriah and Mount Calvary. Abraham offered Isaac as a burnt sacrifice on Mount Moriah, and that’s where Jesus Christ our Lord died on the cross and resurrected in three days. Now, instead of being so obsessed with the law, it is about being obsessed with Jesus Christ, who finished everything (John 19:30), on the Mount of Zion, that is, Mount Calvary.
There are a lot of people who don’t understand the language of God. “In the Bible, it says that everything is finished, but why do I still have problems?” We have already received salvation and we have already become children of the kingdom of God, which means that God has already given us salvation and will continue to do salvation. It contains all the meaning that, God has finished all the problems currently, and God will continue to solve all the problems in the future. It contains the meaning of “We will enjoy the eternal and complete kingdom of God, but we will also enjoy the Kingdom of God on earth.”
God said to Joshua, “I have already given you the land you set your foot on,” but Joshua hadn’t stepped foot on it yet, so those two statements simultaneously exist. It is with this faith that we’re able to see what is being fulfilled in advance and we’re able to go. This is the language of God. It’s only possible for God because He transcends time and space. We cannot transcend time and space so whatever we can do is whatever lies before us.
(2) Cross – Death, Resurrection
There’s a conclusion that the covenant of the Old Testament is not sufficient, and that is why Jesus Christ had to come to die on the cross for my sins. If the Ten Commandments were written on a stone, how could we take that everywhere? You’re going to forget about it when you go to work. When computers were first inverted, we only had desktop monitors, so we couldn’t take them when we leave, but nowadays, cell phones can be utilized wherever we go. It means that the desktop monitor will no longer suffice; we have the cross, that’s the new covenant.
(3) New Covenant – Write laws in their minds and hearts (Heb. 8:10)
That’s why Heb. 8:10, the Lord says, “I will put their laws in their minds and write them on their hearts,” which used to be on stone. He will do that by giving us the Holy Spirit to teach us and remind us of the words of Christ. That’s the new covenant. We have received this new covenant, so why do you remain within the old covenant of the Old Testament? “Oh, I forgot, I didn’t know,” but God said, “I will be with you.”
When you face a problem, you say, “I don’t know,” but God said He will be with you. John 14:26 says, the Holy Advocate, the Counselor, will teach you and remind you of all things. That’s the gospel. The cross itself is not the gospel, but the message that is entwined with the cross is the gospel. If you don’t understand the gospel, even as you go to church, you will continue to suffer. You have to escape from that. The Jewish people in the Old Testament were so entrenched in the law; it was hard for them to believe in only Jesus Christ because they were still centered on “me.”
“Now that I’m a Christian, how can I act good?” That’s their standard. If they had gone into Buddhism, they would ask, “How can I be a good Buddhist now?” That’s a religious life. What is the gospel? Christ has finished it within me. Christ keeps the law and Christ has fulfilled the law. God calls us righteous, as one who keeps the law, by our faith in Jesus Christ.
2) Throne of heaven
(1) Seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
Eph. 2:6 says that God raised us up with Christ by the Throne of Heaven. You have to understand God’s expressions well. We are already seated in heaven, the spiritual world, and in the future, we will go. The fact that we’re already there means that we’re able to enjoy the Throne of Heaven on earth.
(2) Heavenly Jerusalem, thousands upon thousands of angels (Heb. 12:22)
The way this is expressed in Heb. 12:22 is, “You have come upon thousands upon thousands of angels.” The Kingdom of God is the heavenly Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where the Temple is, and the Temple is where God is. Now, on this earth, God’s Kingdom has come, and thousands upon thousands of angels exist here, beyond time.
Heb. 1:14 says the reason angels are important is that they serve those who will receive salvation. When we receive God’s Word now and hold onto it and pray, God’s heavenly angels run His errands. What are we talking about right now? We’re talking about spiritual things. We’ve never seen Jesus, we’ve never seen God the Father, we’ve never seen the Holy Spirit, we’re talking about spiritual things that we must accept by Faith.
(3) Church members, God, Jesus Christ (23-24)
Heb. 12:23-24 says that in this heaven, there are those who are already in heaven as well as Jesus Christ the Mediator. Why does he say this? Because through Jesus Christ, you have become children of God. You have to believe in that fact here on earth.
3) Kingdom that cannot be shaken
(1) Received (Heb. 12:28)
Heb. 12:28 says, “Therefore, since we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken,” and it says that all the visible things on earth will be shaken down and only the eternal kingdom of God will remain. We have already received God’s Kingdom, our lives are eternally living with the Triune God, connected to Him through prayer. So, if you guys don’t know what prayer is, you cannot live a walk of faith. Prayer is not trying to get something I do not have; it is about me becoming one with God. That’s how we’re connected through prayer.
(2) Received grace (Heb. 12:28, Heb. 4:16)
Heb. 12:28 continues, “Let us be thankful,” God’s grace must be upon us. We do not live our walk of faith by the efforts and works of the law, but by the grace of God, we can be faithful. Even if we talk about people, let’s say I’m in a situation where I’m in need of help and someone helps me, then I receive their grace. You are living by God’s grace. Christ is grace. It is not about your goodness, but by Christ’s goodness, you receive grace.
(3) Worship God acceptably (Heb. 12:28)
Every time we come to worship, you should not be asking, “How should I attend?” Those are people who have lived a religious, legalistic life, because they’re so stuck in their own actions. “What is the grace God will give me through today’s worship?” Now that the throne of heaven is ours, let us receive God’s grace through worship.
Worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, with a heart of joy. If you’re summoned to the White House, it’s not so you can be chastised, but it is so you can be rewarded. If you were being punished, you wouldn’t be called to the White House; you’d be sent directly to jail. If you’re called to the White House, they’re giving you a reward. Why did God call us to worship? It’s not so that He could tie us tightly with the law of His Word and threaten to kill us if we do not keep it. He is saying, “You cannot keep it, so that’s why I’m giving you grace through Christ.” God says He will rain the blessings of the Throne of Heaven upon us by the way Christ has made.
You have no idea how important your thoughts are. Even if two people are looking at the same situation, a legalistic person will say, “How can I do this?” That person remains on Mount Sinai. How do the people who have moved over to Mount Calvary respond? They will say, “What kind of blessings and grace has God prepared to do this work through me?” That’s the gospel. By Christ, we have met God. We did not meet God by our good actions, and even when we became children of God, that was God’s work by His grace.
People who are burdened and oppressed by their burdens in the world, please come out of that quickly. If there are people who are oppressed by their role in the church, please come out of that legalism quickly. That’s why people get mental diseases, because they’re so oppressed. The reason Jesus Christ came to those who are weary and burdened, in Matthew 11:28, is because we need His grace. That heavy burden will be taken by Jesus Christ. He will be with us with grace to do His work.
How can we do world evangelization? I can’t even persuade my own daughter. She’s only 12 years old, but no matter what she does, she talks back. It’s almost like I’m looking at myself. It’s crazy how she does exactly what I did when I was growing up, even though she never saw me. The one thing that’s different between her and me is that even while she’s complaining, she does everything she’s told. That’s the difference between her, a child of the kingdom of God, and me, a person of the kingdom of Satan.
“How can I make my daughter into a person?” The very fact that I would be trying to do that means that I’m living irrelevant to the gospel. All I can do is pray for God’s grace to be upon her. “How can we evangelize the world?” That makes no sense, but God tells us to do it. That’s why we’re so oppressed. We feel like we have to do it because it’s God’s Word, so we go crazy. That’s legalistic people.
What happens if someone has the gospel? They will change into thinking, “God has to give me grace and strength to do this work.” So we don’t have a heavy burden; we are excited. We are so excited to see what kind of blessings, grace, and strength God will give us to do His work as we come to worship.
I hope you will enjoy the gospel. God is doing it. That’s why He gives us grace, and may we enjoy this freedom. If this sermon is a burden to me, that’s terrible. If the work of the world is an overwhelming burden to you, that’s not good. For a legalistic or religious pastor, this is a burden because it is work. However, if we think, “What Word is God going to give us today?” then we’re different.
What’s my center? The difference between religion and the gospel is whether I’m centered on myself or on the Triune God. The difference is, “How am I going to raise my child?” vs.
what kind of daughter has God prepared?” There’s a difference between someone who says, “What is the Word God has given to my business?” and someone who says “How can I run my business?” That person will die later on, usually by cancer, because we cannot move giant conglomerates by human strength.
Even if we do, that leads to death. But the one who has the gospel is different because God is moving. If you’re excited to see what blessings God has prepared for your business to do world evangelization, save the church, and to raise the next generation, then you’re excited. That’s why God gives the word of Hebrews to the Jewish people who converted to Christianity but were floundering in their legalistic ideologies.
What is the action? Is the action first or grace from Christ first? Legalistic people will retort, “Is grace all you need?” But that’s someone who makes an enemy of the cross. If this was something we could do on our own, there’s no need for Him to bear the cross, and that’s why the Lord did it. The one who believes in this is righteous. The one who is righteous is living on this earth, enjoying the blessings of the throne of heaven, and that’s our walk of faith.
3. Blessing of the throne – My things
Now the blessings of the throne of heaven are mine. However, legalistic and religious people will think physical things are everything. If we believe for a long enough time, we should have physical blessings in return, but that’s their own standard. They’ve heard something that doesn’t align with the Bible. Material things are a tool that God will move for the spiritual things. God existed, and He spoke with His Word, “Let it be,” and that’s how all the physical things appeared. Because the invisible things existed first, the physical, visible things were created. That means God will give you the things you can see for the things you cannot see. For you, first seek His Kingdom and His righteousness.
What is God’s Kingdom? “But if it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you,” [Luke 11:20]. Even before you run your business, pray for the kingdom of God to be established. Why? Because the Kingdom of Satan exists too, so you need to know what comes first. If you say, “How can I work well?” That’s what the world says. First, pray for the working of the Holy Spirit and God’s kingdom to be established.
After God’s Kingdom is established and we follow in, that’s when physical blessings follow. These are the blessings of the throne of heaven we’ve received, but people think life on earth is everything or working hard is everything, and that’s how they die. The blessing of the throne of heaven is not simple; you need to enjoy this well.
1) Triune God (With)
(1) God the Father – Word
(2) God the Son – Salvation
(3) God the Holy Spirit – Works
2) Word – Prayer
(1) Within me – Gen. 1:27 (God’s image), Gen. 2:7 (Breath of life), Gen. 2:1-18 (Blessing of
Eden)
Genesis 1:27, God created us in His image, which means we were created to live by God’s will. “The image of God” means we’re not actually God. God is the actual Thing and we are His image. As a result of that image, we have the result of ruling over, subduing, and conquering, and being abundant. That’s why I must first enjoy the blessing of the throne of God being with me.
Then what happens to me? I will receive the strength to conquer the world. We are meant to live with this blessing, and that’s why in the Garden of Eden, God breathed His breath of life, which means the power of His Holy Spirit must be upon us. We do not live by our mental strength, but that’s what religion, ethics, and morals say. But for us, the Spirit of God must be within us to get the blessings of ruling and conquering over the Garden of Eden.
Within this is the family as well. Being able to rule over and bless your family comes as a result of being united with the throne of the Triune God, and you cannot conquer your business well with your methods, either. You have to be blessed so that God will control it. That’s the image of God. God is doing it, but He does it through us, and that’s why we are His image. What is the image of the devil? The devil is the center and they are doing whatever work the devil is doing. The characteristic of that is, “You are God.” Instead of saying you’re God’s image, he says you are God. He says, “You can’t do whatever you want, you can run your business and you can work as if you are God, without God.” That’s the devil.
Genesis 3:5, “If you eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you can be like God.” They have already gone into the path of destruction, and as time passes, they will be destroyed like the Tower of Babel. Abraham came into the land of the covenant, and the more time passed, the more God worked upon him. It was just him and his wife, but God gave the answers of having descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky. He had nothing, but God worked upon him enough so he could win wars. That wasn’t by Abraham’s actions, but God regarded Abraham as righteous because of his faith.
The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are the same God, but they’ve misunderstood Him in the New Testament. Even in the Old Testament, they had the Exodus by grace, but they were stagnating by their actions. God gave you this to have faith in God; God gave you Christ so you could live a life of righteous faith in Christ, but instead you stay in legalism. That’s the word God is saying to the religious, legalistic Christians now.
(2) Field of my life (Ps. 103:20-22, Ac. 1:8, 2:1-4)
God says, “If you change this gospel, even 1%, you will be cursed.” There are many enemies of the cross because they’re centered on themselves and their own righteousness, so even in the church, they do everything that is opposite from the cross. It’s God’s will to change this, then you will come to life. You do not come to life by your actions, but by believing in Jesus Christ, you enjoy the blessings of the throne of God. Before you work, you enjoy the blessings of prayer to establish God’s Kingdom in your field. If the next generations are not able to enjoy this, they will be dragged as captives to the world.
(3) Me, church, field – Word
Some people say they are afflicted when they come to church, and they’re afflicted because they should be. When we come to church, we should receive God’s Word, the church is where God’s Word comes upon us. Some people say, “If I stay by myself, I want to kill myself,” but I have to communicate with God’s Word. Being separated from God means we’re separated from God’s Word. We believe the words of people so much, but that’s evidence that we’ve become separated from God. We have to believe in God’s Word. The actions of humans come out within God’s Word. When you go to your business and school fields, God’s Word must be there. That’s what you must confirm.
3) Age
(1) Save the church (Ac. 1:1-8, 2:1-47)
Now, we must save the church. It’s been a long time since churches have started to close and shut down, because the next generations are not going to church. All of these great stone buildings the adult generation built up are being sold off because the next generations are not going to church. You have to hold onto God’s message to know why they’re being sold. We have to relay the accurate word, we have to relay the accurate ideology of the gospel. That’s not by human effort.
This gospel is being tainted as well as Jesus Christ’s blood on the cross, but as that disappears, the efforts and righteousness of man come up more and more. Then, in the churches, God’s sovereignty disappears more and more and man’s sovereignty and efforts rise more and more. It’s not about God’s absolute Word, but churches are changing to say, “It might be this or that,” then the church no longer has a reason to exist, and God has no reason to stay. I hope you will acknowledge God’s sovereignty, I hope you will acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty. Whether this happens or that happens, acknowledge God. People who don’t acknowledge God’s existence will say, “Why did this happen?” and they will give other reasons, but God has allowed this within His sovereignty, so I hope you will find your answer with God.
When the absolute sovereignty of God is exalted in the church, then the ideologies of the devil cannot come in. If we elevate the Word of God as the absolute truth, then the ideologies of humans cannot come in. But if the churches aren’t able to do that, then we’ve come into an age where the churches are no longer necessary. If there are any people listening to the message, thinking, “Oh, I don’t agree with that word,” it’s not about saying, “Oh what is the Word God is giving me today?” but they’re scaling up the word in their mind. They have their own sovereignty in their mind, and there is no sovereignty of God. That’s why they fail. If the church is a gathering of people like that, then the church will close.
(2) Save the field (Mt. 28:18-20, Mk. 16:15-20)
We are within God’s Word, before God’s absolute sovereignty, following the grace of the throne of heaven, enjoying the gospel to save the field. Not surviving in the field, but saving the field. How do people who have the gospel pray? The Bible tells us to save the field. The Bible tells us to save the world. Just like the prayer earlier today, we’re told to save the world as the light and salt. Then, the person with the gospel will pray, “Give me the strength to save the world, God.” A legalistic person will say, “I cannot save the world” because they are centered on themselves, then they will keep receiving answers of not saving the world, or answers where their business cannot save the world. Even though they’ve studied so diligently, their answers will be such that they cannot save the world with them. That’s why the gospel is so important, acknowledging God’s absolute sovereignty.
(3) Save the future generation (Jn. 21:15-18)
God’s Word is absolute, I receive that Word and I enjoy it with faith in the gospel to save the future. “If we’re a different generation, how can we save them?” God said He would do it. First, pray. Why do we pray? Because the Holy Spirit must work for the Kingdom of God to be established. People say, “If we just pray?” Prayer is everything. If you pray in the name of Jesus Christ then the Holy Spirit establishes God’s Kingdom and that’s what He told us to do first. First pray that this kingdom is established within me and then within all the fields. Once you go there, you can confirm the answers of God’s Kingdom. That’s how we run our business, that’s how we study, and that’s how we live in the world to save it.
Conclusion
1. Scheduled prayer
All you have to do is set a time in the morning and enjoy this a little bit.
2. Continuous prayer
Moment by moment, whenever you think about it, enjoy it.
3. Enjoy and relay the blessing of the throne
Let us be the ones to relay this, then without a doubt, the blessings of relaying it will come. I hope you will have victory this week.
Prayer
Let us pray with the Word God gave us today, the prayer that is bound to receive answers.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Prayer
God, we thank You. We thank You for allowing us to enjoy the blessing of the throne of heaven by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Before our actions, allow us to receive Your grace. Allow us to see the works God will do through faith.
We pray that You will bless the offering so it may be used to save the church, raise the next generation, and save the world. We pray that You will work with the answers of the economy of light so that this offering may be used for the Temple Construction that will save. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray that You will bless the newcomers that they will enjoy and relay the blessings of the throne of heaven by faith. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unlimited love of God, the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of the people of God, all nations, and the remnants, who desire to enjoy and relay the blessings of the throne of heaven, be upon their businesses, studies, and ministries, from now until forevermore always, amen.