Friday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on December 1, 2023 by under
Scripture: Hebrews 12:22-29 (NKJV)
12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Devotion
God remembered His covenant promise with Abraham and brought His Old Testament people out of slavery in Egypt. They were brought to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Mount Sinai was not their final destination, as if the giving of the Law was the reason for their exodus. The Law “was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made” (Gal 3:19). The Law revealed the knowledge of man’s sin so that they would look forward to the promise of forgiveness in Jesus. Galatians 3:24 says, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The Law which works repentance comes first, but the goal is the salvation which comes through faith in the Gospel.
Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai, is the final destination for God’s people. Mount Zion is the name of the mountain on which Jerusalem is built. And Jerusalem is the place where our Savior shed His blood to atone for the whole world. And yet, we must look further, “to the living God’s city, heavenly Jerusalem.” Our goal is the heavenly inheritance, a kingdom which is received through faith in the promise of “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” Everything in this world can be shaken by the accusations of the Law, but through the Gospel we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken.
Collect: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses, that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
