Sermon 3206. 'The Church of the First-born'

(No. 3206)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1910.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 30, 1862.

"The general assembly and Church of the First-Born, which are written in Heaven." Hebrews 12:23.

PAUL had just been giving a brief description of the great gathering of the children of Israel around Mount Sinai, "the mountthat might be touched, and that burned with fire," like a huge volcano. He had vividly portrayed "the blackness, and darkness,and tempest, and the sound of trumpet, and the voice of words," and the frightened multitudes standing, trembling, at a distance,and even Moses, their great leader, so alarmed that he cried out, "I exceedingly fear and quake." Paul intends that descriptionto teach us the effect that the legal dispensation can produce-it can alarm and condemn-but it cannot save! You who are underthe Law of God, you who are trying to win God's favor by your good works. You who fancy that human merit can bring you salvation,look to the flames which Moses saw and sink, and tremble and despair! You who think that you can live as the Law requiresand so attain to everlasting life, may well stand shivering and trembling before this Almighty, though invisible God whoselightning blazes before your eyes and whose voice of thunder must alarm the most stout heart! Terrible is the plight of theman who has to depend upon what Sinai can give him-he is wretched in life, he shall be troubled in death, he shall be lostforever in eternity! "By the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified." "As many as are of the works of the Law are underthe curse." "By Grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest anyman should boast."

Having given that description of Sinai by way of contrast, Paul now brings out the much more pleasing picture of the Gospeldispensation. Christians shall also have their great assembly! There is a mountain upon which all those who are under Graceshall one day gather-a mountain that does not smoke, for it is Mount Zion-the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem!There will be words there, but they will be words of sacred song and names of holy gladness. There may be trumpets there,but they will be the silver trumpets that will proclaim the eternal jubilee. Moses will be there, but no longer fearing andquaking, for when he comes to that mount of God, he will forget all his fears and rejoice without ceasing in the Lord hisGod. Believers are the multitude whom no man can number, who will assemble upon that glorious mountain to keep the everlastingholy day! Happy indeed shall we be when, by Grace, we come to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, whose namesare written in Heaven-when we shall see that sight which was revealed to John in Patmos-a Lamb standing on the Mount Zion-andwith Him those who have His Father's name written on their foreheads, who follow the Lamb wherever He goes and who are withoutfault before the Throne of

God!

The first point to which I am going to draw your attention is the description given of Believers as the Church of the First-Born.Next, I want to remind you of what is said about their enrolment-they are written or enrolled (as the original reading rendersit) in Heaven. And then, thirdly, I shall have something to say concerning their great general assembly, when all the righteousshall be gathered to Christ, to be parted from Him no more forever.

I. To begin then, from our text it seems that BELIEVERS IN CHRIST ARE DESCRIBED AS THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST-BORN. I shall tryto make my remarks, as I utter them, self-examining, so that you and I may question ourselves to see whether we belong tothis general assembly.

By the term "first-born" is often meant, in Scripture, the most excellent, the chief. Jesus Christ, because of the excellenceof His Character, is said to be "the first-born among many brethren," "the first-born of every creature," "the firstborn fromthe dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence." So, although Believers are, by nature, the child-

ren of wrath, even as others, yet, after Christ has renewed them, they become the excellent of the earth in whom should beall our delight. Point me out a man who makes a profession of religion, but who is a drunk, and I will tell him at once thathis profession is a lie! Show me another who says he is a follower of Christ, although he oppresses the poor, defrauds thelaborer of his wages, is a covetous man who cares only for himself and shuts up his heart of compassion from his needy brethren-andI hesitate not to ask, "How dwells the love of God in him?" If the "Grace" we profess to have does not make us better thanothers, the sooner we get rid of it, the better! "What do you do more than others?" was the question of Christ to His disciples."If you lend to them, of whom you hope to receive, what thanks have you? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as muchagain." Of Christians there is something to be expected that is not to be looked for in others-they profess to be twice-born,and to have God dwelling in them, as Paul says to the Corinthians, "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and thatthe Spirit of God dwells in you?" Christians profess to be heirs of Heaven and members of the mystical body of Christ, soshall they talk and act as the ungodly do, and demean themselves as those do who have never received this new and higher life?God forbid! When Divine Grace comes, it lifts us up and keeps us up! And makes us new creatures in Christ Jesus, so that theevil things in which we once delighted, we do not so much as name, while anything that is virtuous or of good repute we pantafter, that we may exhibit it to the praise of His Grace who has called us according to the counsel of His own will.

Now, dear Friends, you can make this a test by which to try yourselves. What is your life? What fruits do you bring forth?If you bring forth thorns, surely you are brambles! If you bear the grapes of Gomorrah, surely you belong to Sodom's valley!"Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?" If the stream is foul, what must the fountain be? If the outsideof your cup and platter is filthy, what must the inside be? If that which men see of you is foul, how foul must you be whereonly God can see you? We are, none of us, better than we seem, but we are, all of us, far worse than we think! May God tearaway every veil which hides us from ourselves, that we may see ourselves even as we are in His sight!

So you see that God's first-born are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation," "a peculiar people, zealousof good works," who seek to adorn the Doctrines of God their Savior in all things.

But the term, "first-born," has a second meaning in Scripture. The first-born, under the old Mosaic economy, were chosen byGod for Himself. When He smote the first-born of Egypt, He set apart for Himself all the first-born of Israel. He might haveselected the youngest of the family, or the second, if He had chosen to do so, for God does as He wills and, "He gives notaccount of any of His matters." You may ask Him why He does this or that, but He deigns not to answer your inquisitive orimpertinent enquiries. He is not disturbed by your questions. He never gives the reasons why He chooses any man unto salvation.That He does choose them is clear enough from Scripture, so clear that even such an unbeliever as Bolingbroke said to Mr.Whitefield one day, "Let it be taken for granted that the Bible is true, then no other Doctrine but Calvinism can be true,for the Bible teaches it from beginning to end." Certainly, if men's minds were not willfully perverted, they must read thisTruth of God in such words as these, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I willhave compassion. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy." And what says theScripture when the sinner begins to quibble at this Truth of God? "No, but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shallthe thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why have You made me thus? Has not the potter power over the clay, of the samelump, to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" It is a fact that God has ordained unto eternal life a multitudethat no man can number! And just as the first-born among the Jews were typically elect, so the saints become saints as theresult of the Divine decree passed long before the earth was created. When as yet this world and the sun and moon and starsslept in the mind of God like unborn forests in an acorn cup, even then had the Almighty written the names of all His chosenin the Lamb's Book of Life and fixed the place, the date, the very momentwhen they should be born-and when they should beborn a second time-when they would come to Christ and so find salvation and everlasting life! This Doctrine is far from palatableto men, but, inasmuch as it glorifies God and makes man to be but as a grasshopper before the Eternal, we delight in it, andhumbly bow before the Sovereign Disposer of all events and say, "It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him."

Then, thirdly, the first-born were inheritors of great privileges-of which we cannot just now speak particularly, but willdo so further on-and they became so entirely by birth. The rights of the first-born lay only in his primogeniture-not in hisstature, not in his comeliness or beauty, not in his mental capacity, not even in his moral virtues. If he was as lame asMephibosheth, yet, if he was the first-born, he could not be disinherited! Or if, instead of having the to-

wering stature of a Saul, he was as diminutive as Zacchaeus, yet, if he was the first-born, neither his parents nor all thecourts of law could reverse the rights of primogeniture! So, Beloved, all those who are Believers in Christ, who are knownto men by their excellence of character while God knows them by having chosen them by His Grace, are in time brought to realizetheir privileges through the new birth which is worked in them by the Holy Spirit. If we are born only once, we must die twice-butif we are born twice, we die but once-and after that one death which is not really death, we enter into eternal life! Regenerationmakes us actually the children of God, just as adoption makes us virtually the children of God. By regeneration, we becomereally and truly heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ-and our right to Heaven, to all the blessings of the Covenant ofGrace, and to the promises of God-arises from this new and heavenly birth! Heaven is the inheritance of the children of God,not a possession purchased by their money, or won by any deeds that they have done. This heritage is the birthright of allwho have been born-again, born from above. So the question for everyone of us to ask is, "have I experienced this new birth?""Except a man be born-again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." "That which is born of the flesh is flesh," and only flesh."And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit." And as Heaven and all the other blessings of the Covenant are spiritual,we cannot possess them until we are "born of the Spirit."

The first-born, then, had certain rights because of their birth. And the first-born, spiritually, have certain rights becauseof their newbirth. May the Lord help you all to make sure work here! I pray you do not take it for granted that all is wellwith your soul, nor treat this question as though it were of little account. On the fact of your being born-again, or notbeing born-again, must hang your everlasting destiny! Live and die unregenerate, and unutterable woe will be your eternalportion. Pass from death unto life and all the glories of the Paradise of God become yours by a promise which death and thedevil, himself, cannot break! Have you passed from death unto life? How can you tell that? "By their fruits you shall knowthem," is our Lord's own test! Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you trusting alone in Him? These are vital questionsand if you can truly say-

"My hope is built on nothing less Then Jesus' blood and righteousness"- and if that hope is accompanied by the faith whichworks by love and purifies the heart and life, then you are one of the children of God! And in that fact you may well "rejoicewith joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

Now, fourthly, upon the first-born, more than upon any others, God was pleased to multiply the types of redemption in orderto show to us very plainly that the heirs of Heaven are a redeemed people. First of all, the great majority of the first-bornwere redeemed by blood. In the dark and dreadful night, the destroying angel is let loose with noiseless wings and with asharp sword that never misses its mark. He is speeding from house to house throughout all the land of Egypt, and from thefirst-born of Pharaoh upon the throne, to the first-born of the slave women behind the mill, they fall dead! And Egypt's wailgoes up to Heaven in an exceedingly bitter and piercing cry. But throughout the houses of the Israelites a different sceneis being witnessed. The doors are shut, a roasted lamb lies upon the table and men and women stand around it, girt as fora journey, with their staves in their hands-and they eat in haste. There is a first-born child in his mother's arms, or afirst-born male who is grown up, yet they show no sign of trepidation, though it is well known that, on that night, the first-bornare to die! Why are they so calm? Had you been present, an hour or two ago, you would have seen that the father, when he slewthe lamb, drained the warm lifeblood into a bowl and, as his children gathered about him, he said to them, "Come, follow me."And taking with him a bunch of hyssop, he went to the outside of his door, and smote the lintel till it was crimsoned withthe blood of the lamb. And then he sprinkled the posts on either side so that the blood-mark was all about the door. "Andnow," he said, "my children, we are safe, for when God sees the blood, He will pass over us, and our first-born will not beslain-the blood will make them secure." In like manner we who are the first-born of God are saved by the blood of Jesus! Canyou, Friend, by faith say, "My confidence is in that blood alone"? Has it been applied to your heart and conscience? Has itspoken peace to your soul? Does it cleanse you from all sin? Do you now rejoice that there is no condemnation to you, as youare in Christ Jesus, and He has endured the whole of the Divine Wrath that was your due because of your sin?

But lest we should not learn this great Truth by one type, God has given us another. In the course of two years, over 22,000children were born to that large population, and these had not been redeemed by the blood of the paschal lambs, for they werenot then in being. So another method was adopted-a Levite was to stand in the place of each first-born

male child and God accepted the Levite, and allowed the child to remain in his father's house. Here was a symbol of the greattruth of Substitution, but the privileges which appertained to some of the Jewish first-born in the type belong to all thespiritual first-born children of God. Christ is the Levite who stands before God in our place and who there ministers forus, and honors His Father's Law, and fulfils its every jot and tittle on our behalf. There were 273 first-born Jewish childrenfor whom no Levite substitute could be found, so five shekels per head had to be paid to Aaron and his sons as redemptionmoney for them. And, in like manner, the Divine plan of Redemption is very rightly set forth by the Apostle Peter when hesays, "You know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ,as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot."

Put these three things together-redemption by blood, redemption by substitution, and redemption by purchase- and you willthen have a very clear idea of what Atonement in reference to the first-born means. Any one of the three will be sufficientfor the enlightened saint, but the whole together will reflect a beautiful light upon the Cross of Christ-and in that lightwe may clearly see how He bore our sins in His own body on the tree and brought in everlasting Redemption for all His chosen.Let each one of us put these questions to himself or herself, "Am I redeemed with the precious blood of Christ? Did He standas Substitute and Surety for me? Am I bought with the price that He paid for His people on the Cross? For, if not, I cannotbe numbered among the first-born, for all the first-born must be redeemed in this way."

Our time flies so quickly that I am afraid the other two divisions of my discourse will have to suffer. But I must remindyou, as I promised to do, that the first-born, having been redeemed, had very special privileges. First, they had a doubleportion of their father's goods. Hence, Elisha, who was, in the prophetic sense, the first-born of Elijah, pleaded with himas his spiritual son, "I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." Now God is good to all men, and His tendermercies are over all His works, but His special favor is reserved for the called and chosen, and faithful ones whom He hasredeemed. The first-born also had the privilege of priesthood in the old patriarchal times, and every true child of God ismade a king and a priest unto God, to offer daily, spiritual and acceptable sacrifices through Jesus Christ. The first-bornwas, in many respects, a ruler over the whole household-and Christ, the great First-Born-is the supreme Ruler over His Church,and we, in and through Him, are made rulers over many things. And He bids us ascend the throne and reign with Him as God'sfirst-born, kings and priests unto Him forever.

II. Now, secondly, and but very briefly, let us enquire WHAT IS MEANT BY THE ENROLLMENT OF THE FIRST-BORN?

Moses had to set down the names of the Jewish first-born. And we find that right down to the Apostles' age, there were somewho were very busy about what Paul calls "endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying whichis in faith." But, dear Friends, there is an enrollment about which we should be greatly concerned. There are certain nameswritten in the Lamb's Book of Life and it should be to you and to me a matter of solemn interest to enquire if our names arewritten there. Is your name, is my name, inscribed upon that secret, sacred roll of the elect of God? We cannot scale theheights of Heaven to search the pages of that sealed book, nor can we discover the secrets that the Most High has recordedthere. It is impossible for us to read our names there, yet there are certain evidences by which we can tell whether theyare or are not there!

First of all, do you think they are there Are there not many here who must truthfully say, "No, we have no reason to thinkthey are"? When the muster-roll of our troops is called, if you are there, you can hear the names and the men's answers. "JohnSo-and-So?" "Here, Sir." "Thomas?" "Here, Sir." "Here, Sir." "Here, Sir," and so it goes all down the ranks. Now, supposeit could be possible for an angel to read from this pulpit the muster-roll of the redeemed? Do you think that he would readyour name, and that you would be able to answer, "Here, Sir"? "No," you say, "unless I tell a willful lie, I dare not saythat I think my name is in the Lamb's Book of Life." Well then, if your own hearts condemn you, remember that God is greaterthan your hearts and knows all things-so how much more must He condemn you!

Possibly there are some who say, "We hope our names are written there." So I ask you, dear Friends, are you like those whosenames undoubtedly are inscribed there? Have you the faith of Abraham, or something like it? Do you desire to have such holinessas Paul craved? When you read the record of a good man's life, do you feel that your life is in conformity with his? For character,character, CHARACTERmust, after all, be the great ground of judgment! And if your life is not like the life of the saints,how can you hope to find your name recorded where their names are written?

Again, all the elect have their names written beneath the name of their Lord, the Lamb. So, are you trusting in Christ? Areyou resting in Him? Is your life linked with His? Do you feel that there is a bond that cannot be snapped, which binds youand Christ together so that no one and nothing that can possibly happen shall be able to separate you from the love of God,which is in Christ Jesus your Lord? Very well then, if this is the case with you, rest assured that your name is in that book!But, "without Christ," you are without hope! Separated from Him, it is certain that your name is not written in Heaven, asone of "the general assembly and Church of the First-Born."

I ask you another question, are you really a child of God? Can you say to Him, "Abba, Father"? Is God your Father? Have youlearned to trust Him as His children trust Him and to love Him as His children love Him? Do you depend wholly upon Him? Doyou seek to submit yourself entirely to His will and to walk in His Way? For, if you are not a child of God at all, certainlyyou are not one of His first-born!

I must also ask, Have you passed from death unto life Has there ever been a vital change in you-such a change as can onlybe worked by the Holy Spirit? I do not mean such a change as some silly people talk of seeing, sometimes, when a man is dying.There may have been no sign of Grace whatever in the man, yet someone said, "I saw such a change come over him, his face lookedso different." Very likely it did, but it is not a change of face that is needed, but a change of heart! It is no physicalchange, but a mental, moral, spiritual, Divine change that is worked in regeneration! Let not any one of you be satisfiedunless you have unquestionable evidence that this change has been worked in you by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit,for unless you are born-again, your name will not be found written upon the roll of God's first-born!

Now, in closing, let me remind you that to all these first-born of God, whose names are written in Heaven, the day is comingwhen they shall be assembled around the Throne of God in Glory. What a meeting that will be! There shall not be one unholyperson there, for they shall all have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb! How happy they will all be! There shallbe no tears in any eye, nor a groan in any spirit, nor a single note of sorrow on any tongue, for the days of their mourningshall be ended forever! How united an assembly it will be! There shall be no heresy, no schism, no discord, no coldness ofheart-they shall all love even as they have been loved! What a vast assembly it will be! And when ten thousand times ten thousandmeet together there, what a shout of sacred joy it shall be when they lift up hallelujah upon hallelujah! John says, "I hearda voice from Heaven, as the voice of many waters." You may have heard the sea roar in the fullness of its strength. Possiblyyou have heard the mighty Atlantic Ocean booming on the shore when lashed to fury by a storm. Such is to be the grandeur ofthe singing before the Throne of God in the general assembly and Church of the First-Born-only it is not merely to be likethe voice of one water, but of many waters-oceans piled upon oceans, the Atlantic upon the Pacific, and the Arctic and theAntarctic, and all other oceans piled upon these! And such shall be the music of the saints! Such shall be the song of theblessed when they see their Father's face without a veil and pour out their vast volume of praise "as the voice of many waters."

Let each one of us ask himself or herself, "Shall I be there?" If anyone says, "I fear that I shall not be there," let himcry mightily unto the Most High to pull him out of the horrible Pit and to set his feet upon the Rock and to establish hisgoings. Sinner, you will either be there or in that dreadful place where the wailings shall be more terrible than the cryof men in a battle or the shrieks of women in a massacre! You will either be up there in Glory or else down there where darkness,death and long despair sit on their thrones of woe! Fly, Sinner, fly away to Christ! His wounds, like clefts in the rock,are open to the doves that need a shelter. Fly, Sinner, fly! The avenger of blood pursues you! I hear the sound of his feetclose behind you and he is about to strike you dead! But the City of Refuge is near at hand, standing with open gates readyto welcome you! Fly, Sinner, fly! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." "He that believes and is baptizedshall be saved." To believe on Jesus is to trust Him. To be baptized is to be immersed in water upon profession of that faith.

I dare not alter my Master's commission-"Go you into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believesand is baptized shall be saved: but he that believes not shall be damned." There is no other alternative! Turn or burn! Believeand be saved, or disbelieve and be lost! May God, in His mercy, make the choice for you, Sinner, this very hour, and leadyou in the Way everlasting. And unto Father, Son and Holy Spirit shall be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HEBREWS 12.

After giving a long list of the heroes of faith, the Apostle adds-

Verses 1-3. Therefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesusthe Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, andis set down at the right hand on the Throne of God. For consider Him-[See Sermon #1073, Volume 18-a honeyCOMB.] Look to Him,look at Him! Study Him-know all you

can about Him-meditate upon Him-

3, 4. That endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. You have notyet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. It has not yet come to that with any of you who are now here. You have notshed your yet blood for Christ, for these are not martyr days-so can you be wearied and faint? If you run with the footmenand they weary you, how will you contend with horses? We ought to be ashamed of ourselves if we grow weary in a race thatis so easy compared with that of the men and women who laid down their lives for Christ's sake!

5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord,nor faint when you are rebuked by Him. Both these states are wrong-either to think nothing of chastisement or else to faintunder it-we are not to fall into either evil, but to keep the golden mean between them.

6. For whom the Lord loves. The Greek word is a strong one and means, "whom the Lord tenderly loves"-

6. He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. Everyone does not receive the same measure of chastise-ment-but hewho has the largest share of the love of God will feel the most of His chastising hand. Are you not willing to take that portionand to be among the Lord's tenderly loved ones?

7. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?God had oneSon without sin, but He never had a son without suffering. And the Son who was without sin was the "Man of Sorrows and acquaintedwith grief."

8. But if you are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons. If you are withoutchastisement, you may bear the name of sons, but you are not really so-you are mere professors.

9. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather bein subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live?Should we not give Him reverence when we are chastened, instead of murmuringand complaining against Him, thus calling Him to account at our judgment seat? Oh, yes, let us be in willing subjection toHim, and the more willingly subject we are, the less painful will the chastisement be. Our most bitter sorrow will be foundat the root of our self-will-and when our self-will is gone, the bitterness of our sorrow will be past.

10. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their ownpleasure; but He for ourproft, that we might bepar-takers ofHis holiness. Is there no way for us to "be partakers of His holiness" but through chastening? It would seem so from the wordingof this verse! The Lord, as our loving Father, makes use of the rod that He may make us to be truly holy.

11. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous,How could it be? It would lose the very nature of chastening if therewere joy in it.

11. But grievous: nevertheless afterward-[See Sermon #528, Volume 9-CHASTISEMENT-NOW AND AFTERWARDS.] These are truly blessedwords, "nevertheless afterward"-

11-13. It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby. Therefore lift up the hands whichhang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the

way; but let it rather be healed. [See Sermon #2543, Volume 49-LAME SHEEP.] Come, children of God, do not be despondent becauseof your tribulations. You are in a race, so run even while you are smarting from your chastisements! Still run, and keep onrunning until you win the prize!

14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. [See Sermon #2902, Volume 50-

HOLINESS DEMANDED.] The holy God can only be seen by holy eyes.

He must make us like Himself before we can see Him.

15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the Grace of God. Seeming to have Divine Grace and yet not really having it.

15. Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many are defiled. [See Sermon #940, Volume 16-the

WINNOWING FAN.] Sin is a bitter thing and a defiling thing and

unless we look diligently, it will grow in our hearts like the weeds grow in our gardens after a heavy rain-it will springup before we are aware of it.

16. Lest there be any fornicator. Fornication was far too common in the early Church, but it was not thought to be sin bythe great mass of the heathen! But, oh, what a defiling sin it is!

16. Or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. He was thus guilty of spiritual fornication,preferring his meat to his Maker, thinking more of one morsel of meat than of his birthright.

17. For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place ofrepentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. He could not get his father to change his mind concerning Jacob. Onthe contrary, he said, "I have blessed him; yes, and he shall be blessed." His many tears availed not-they were not repentingtears, but only selfish ones. He did not repent that he had bartered his birthright for a mess of pottage-he regretted thathe had lost the blessing, that was all.

18-21. For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness,and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the Voice of words; which Voice they that heard entreated that the word shouldnot be spoken to them any more: (for they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touch the mountain,it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear andquake). We have not come to that mount of terror, for we are not under the Law but under Grace-we have come to a very differentplace from that.

22-24. But you are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerablecompany of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the First-Born, which are written in Heaven, and to God, the Judgeof all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinklingthat speaks better things than that of Abel. [See Sermons #211, Volume 4-the voice of the

BLOOD OF CHRIST; #708, Volume12-THE BLOOD OF ABLE AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS; #1888, Volume 32-THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING (FIRSTSERMON) and #1889, Volume 32-THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING (SECOND SERMON).] We are

come to that blood, and it is that blood which has made such a change in us! We may rejoice together, now, and we ought todo so if we are all one in Christ Jesus.

25-29. See that you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shallnot we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks from Heaven: whose Voice then shook the earth: but now He has promised,saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth, only, but also Heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifies the removing ofthose things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore we,receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have Grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godlyfear: for our God is a consuming fire. Not "God out of Christ," as some say, but God in Christ! God is a consuming fire anywayand we should each one pray, "Consuming Fire, Refining Fire, go through my heart and purge me of all that can be consumed!Holy Spirit, drive out of me all that can be shaken and removed, that only Your abiding Kingdom may remain in me, and Yoursshall be the praise and the glory forever! Amen."