Title: WE HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZION Hbr 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, Hbr 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are
1WE HAVE COME TO MOUNT ZIONHbr 1222 But ye are
come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, Hbr 1223 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 men made
perfect, Hbr 1224 And to Jesus the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
2- The purpose of this message is to proclaim boldly
once again the glorious nature of the Church of
God Zion unto which you and I have been
called. The Church is called Mount Zion and this
is the city of God. In fact, the church is called
the heavenly Jerusalem and to fully comprehend
this, we must be familiar with Revelation 21
where John describes the nature of the New
Jerusalem
3Began on the day of Pentecost
- The city of God, New Jerusalem, started here on
the earth on the day of Pentecost. This Zion had
120 souls initially filled with the Holy Spirit.
It grew exponentially in the following years. It
is this church I want to focus on today, this
Mount Zion and some of its characteristics and
the challenge for us today.
4Isa 5920 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion,
and unto them that turn from transgression in
Jacob, saith the LORD. The above verse makes it
clear that the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, was
prophesied to come to Zion and turn sin away.
Indeed, Messiah has come today and has purchased
our souls from perdition through His death,
burial and resurrection. Thus, we must emphasize
the immeasurable preciousness of Mount Zion as it
was the blood of God which was the purchasing
medium.
5. THE CALL TO MOUNT ZIONJer
314 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the
LORD for I am married unto you and I will take
you one of a city, and two of a family, and I
will bring you to ZionWe remember the story of
Abraham. He was given the call alone in the
beginning. Then his family and Lot joined him and
from this one man came thousands and millions.
Such is the nature of the call to enter Zion. It
is given on an individual basis and then keeps
growing to an ever wider circle of people. Rev
79 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne, and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, and palms in their
handsRev 710 And cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb
6The church is Gods House
- Now coming back to what the apostle John saw
concerning the New Jerusalem, there are many
spiritual truths to be drawn. - Rev 213 And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God.
7- The first important truth here is that the church
is Gods dwelling place. The verse above keeps
repeating this. This leads me to make a very
serious point to reject or ignore the church is
to reject and ignore the Lord Himself. We know
that when Jesus sent out His disciples two by
two, he said - Mat 1012 And when ye come into an house, salute
it. - Mat 1013 And if the house be worthy, let your
peace come upon it but if it be not worthy, let
your peace return to you. - Mat 1014 And whosoever shall not receive you,
nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that
house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
8- The church being the House of the Lord, where His
presence dwells in a mighty way, we should look
forward eagerly to fellowship with Him together
with the family of God. King David, who himself
is credited with being the founder of the OT city
of Zion or David, loved the House of God - Psa 1221 A Song of degrees of David. I was
glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the
house of the LORD. - Furthermore, the Psalmist says
- Psa 8410 For a day in thy courts is better
than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents
of wickedness.
9The preciousness of the church
- In addition, John notes that the city was filled
with precious stones of all sorts. It must have
been a feast to the eyes to see its beauty. - Rev 2111 Having the glory of God and her light
was like unto a stone most precious, even like
a jasper stone, clear as crystal - Rev 2119 And the foundations of the wall of the
city were garnished with all manner of precious
stones. The first foundation was jasper the
second, sapphire the third, a chalcedony the
fourth, an emerald - Rev 2120 The fifth, sardonyx the sixth,
sardius the seventh, chrysolite the eighth,
beryl the ninth, a topaz the tenth, a
chrysoprasus the eleventh, a jacinth the
twelfth, an amethyst. - Rev 2121 And the twelve gates were twelve
pearls every several gate was of one pearl and
the street of the city was pure gold, as it
were transparent glass.
10To appreciate this revelation further, we need to
juxtapose these precious stones with that of the
record of the book of Exodus 2815-21 17 And
thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even
four rows of stones the first row shall be a
sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle this shall be
the first row. 18 And the second row shall be an
emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19 And the
third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and
a jasper they shall be set in gold in their
inclosings. 21 And the stones shall be with the
names of the children of Israel, twelve,
according to their names, like the engravings of
a signet every one with his name shall they be
according to the twelve tribes.
11The Breastplate of the High Priest
12THE BREASTPLATE OF THE HIGH PRIEST
13THE MEANING OF THE PRECIOUS STONESWe like
Ruben, are the sons of God we hear the Word of
God like Simeon we must be attached to Jesus
like Levi we will praise Him in the church like
Judah the Lord will be our judge and acquitter
for thats what Dan means we will wrestle with
the powers of darkness and the flesh and overcome
like Naphtali we are Gods troop or army as Gad
happy are we in the church like Asher but we are
also Jesus and each others servants in the
church like Issachar God will increase us as
Joseph and, finally, the Lord will make us sons
of His right hand for thats the meaning of
Benjamin.
14THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES
- It is vital to remember that the foundations of
Zion have the names of the twelve apostles of the
Lord. This is why we preach to all who would hear
that the only salvational doctrine that can grant
us access into the church is the teaching of the
twelve apostles. - Rev 2114 And the wall of the city had twelve
foundations, and in them the names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb.
15THE BLESSINGS OF ZION
- Isa 3510 And the ransomed of the LORD shall
return, and come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads they shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing
. shall flee away. - Isa 23 And many people shall go and say, Come
ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his
paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. - Isa 3019 For the people shall dwell in Zion at
Jerusalem thou shalt weep no more he will be
very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry
when he shall hear it, he will answer thee - Joe 223 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and
rejoice in the LORD your God for he hath given
you the former rain moderately, and he will cause
to come down for you the rain, the former rain,
and the latter rain in the first month