In his sermon titled 'Get Up On a High Mountain,' Scott Brown explores the metaphor of mountains in the Bible, starting from Genesis and culminating in Revelation 21:10. He emphasizes the unity of the Bible, illustrating how mountains serve as metaphors for sacred spaces, God's presence, and spiritual truths. The sermon identifies 14 specific mountains, each representing different aspects of God's kingdom—from the Garden of Eden to Mount Zion. Brown discusses the importance of understanding these metaphors to grasp the Bible's unified message. He also addresses contemporary issues like the mental health crisis among Gen Z, suggesting that spiritual refuge and truth can be found on God's mountain. The sermon encourages believers to bring their families to the mountain of God, both in their homes and churches, despite their imperfections, as a foretaste of heavenly joy and refreshment.

Please open your Bibles to Revelation 21 and find verse 10. Revelation 21 verse 10. This is the inerrant, all-sufficient, sweeter than honey word of God. Revelation 21 verse 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.

Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for teaching us through these things of mountains. Take us to the mountain, Lord. I pray you take this congregation to your mountain, your holy mountain where all the fruits and the rivers of living water flow and that you would come and take these things and move our hearts to embrace them, to obey them.

Amen. Please be seated. So Revelation 21 10 tells us that an angel took John to a very great and high mountain. This is the final mention of mountain in the Bible. Revelation 21 and 22 is a recapitulation of really important gospel metaphors that occur from Genesis all the way to Revelation.

They explain what we have in Jesus Christ exemplified on a mountain. And the focus here is just on one verse where we find this last mention of the word mountain. And of course it occurs along a long line of very rich testimonies of this mountain throughout Holy Scripture. And this mountain tells us much about our life on earth and it also draws us to so desire heaven as well so that we would while we're living in this world we would look at heaven and we would say oh Lord your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven everything on this mountain is meant for earth everything on earth is meant to draw you to this mountain so you have this holy city verse 10 which is on which is on a great and high mountain as we move through this we learn that the city is the mountain, the mountain is the city, the bride is the mountain, All of these metaphors are like a mashup of metaphors that really mean the same thing. And he's carried away, John is carried away.

This is not a new thought, this is not new language. It's all found in the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 2, Ezekiel 3, Ezekiel 11, Ezekiel 43. Ezekiel was lifted up on a great and high mountain. That's the whole subject of Ezekiel chapter 40 through 48. So all this language speaks of what we might call sacred space.

God provides sacred space for his people on earth and in heaven and the church is God's sacred space as well. People so minimize the importance of local churches, but it is the sacred space of God's people. And God is describing these sacred spaces in language of temples and peoples and buildings and churches and mountains and Jerusalem and Zion, all these metaphors are jammed up to really tell us various facets of this diamond, which is the kingdom of God. So this is a metaphor, remember what a metaphor is? All your children need to know what metaphors are.

A metaphor is a picture, it's an angle, it's a way of seeing something. It's a way of looking at something physical that points to something else in the Bible, at least spiritual. And now why is this important? Why are we camping out on this one word, mountain? Now they tell you that you're not allowed to have so many points in a sermon, but today I really only have two points.

What does the Bible say about a mountain? And what are the mountain peaks in scripture? I'm gonna identify 14 of them. If you have an outline in front of you, you'll see that. Why is this so important?

I think first of all, it teaches us about the nature of the Bible. Our whole faith rests on the Bible, this testimony of Jesus Christ. But what we learn from this study, this walkthrough of mountains, is that the Bible is a unity. As we trace this metaphor of mountains from beginning to end, I hope it becomes clear that the Bible is not just a pile of literature thrown together. Even though there are 40 authors, there are 66 books, they are written over 2, 000 years, they are written by shepherds and priests and scholars and peasants and fig pickers and military generals and fishermen and prophets and Even a cup bearer, even though you have this Diversity you have one message that runs through It's it's it's a unity.

There's a consistent message that runs through and one thing leads to another one of the things that We need to understand about our Bibles is the law of first occurrence when you have the first occurrence of something you have the beginning of something that continues And perhaps you could speak of the last occurrence. So we're gonna walk through this from the first to the last occurrence of the book, in this book called The Bible, and its testimony about mountains. You'll see just a very rich tapestry, a very beautiful harmony. I hope you see the beauty of the Lord in his imagery here. The Bible goes from perfection in Eden to perfection in heaven.

It goes from one temple to another perfect temple. It goes from one city to another city. And All of these speak of redemption. So the first reason I think it's important is it helps us to understand our Bibles. We've really seen that particularly in men's Bible study.

When you're reading Revelation, you're all over the Bible because the language is all over the place and you can't really understand Revelation unless you understand the rest of the Bible. But the second reason these mountains are important is God's mountain is a mountain of refreshment. It's a refreshing mountain. When you go to this mountain, your whole life has changed. When you go to this mountain, your your thinking is healed.

When you go to this mountain, You get injections of truth and love and joy. When you go to this mountain, you see a picture of confidence, confidence in God, and you're unshakable as that mountain. It keeps you from falling into despair. And so I hope that a vision of this mountain will refresh you. This mountain is the joy of the whole earth.

Now I know that God's people from time to time struggle with happiness, with confidence, with joy, with a sense of security. I know that happens and the Lord, but the Lord rescues his people on that mountain. And I read an article this week that just broke my heart, which talked about alarmingly high rates of mental illness among Gen Z. That's people in their late teens to their early 20s. And 42% this article said that 42% of these people are dealing with a mental health condition.

85% of the respondents of Gen Z say they're worried about the future. The majority are dealing with daily emotional distress. One in five are seeing a therapist. 57% are taking medication. Nine out of ten Gen Z adults are diagnosed with mental health issues related to anxiety.

Eight out of 10 say that they struggle with depression. 90% say they are at a disadvantage compared to previous generations. 66% don't feel that they're financially stable. What a heartbreaking thing, especially when you know there's a river of the fountain of the water of life flowing out of the mountain of God. When you know that there's a mountain of all the abundance of God to teach you, to change your mind, to help you, to comfort you, to show you the way in which you should go.

That's that mountain. This mountain is God and what a blessing it is to know God and to have him. Because on the mountain of God we're drawn into this kingdom of joy of everlasting hope. We need this mountain and I think that's why understanding the mountain is really, really important. Of course it's important because it's in the Bible.

What we find as we go through this, you'll see it, what God provides, when God provides a mountain, He's actually providing himself. You'll see in the language of Scripture that not only does God create a mountain and draw you to a mountain, but God is the mountain. God is the mountain himself in biblical literature. So, there are many things that are said about mountains and The first thing is that God will take down every mountain lifted high above God. Every high mountain and every high hill of man will be destroyed.

Ezekiel six verses, Ezekiel six and seven, I just read this this morning. God takes down the mountains of man's pride. He says, son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. And say, oh mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord, I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. And he says, he says, when I destroy man's mountains, they will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuse, and their silver and their gold will no longer be able to deliver them.

Well, this is what God does to the mountains that man creates. This means that you don't have to worry about the kingdoms of the world, because God is gonna do business with them in his own time You don't have to worry about them one bit But but Most of what's said about mountains in the Bible is positive It speaks of beauty and refuge and joy and strength and consolation. And I hope that as we finish today, you'll never be able to read the word mountain in the Bible again, the same way that you did today, before today. And you'll say, oh, take me to that mountain. I want that mountain, I wanna be on that mountain.

So I'm gonna walk you through several things the Bible says about mountains. In Psalm 48, This mountain is a mountain of beauty. It's a mountain of joy. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. In the city of our God, in his holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.

God is in her palaces. This mountain is a mountain of beauty and joy. In Psalm 46, it's a mountain of refuge and strength. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, Well, there's a river whose stream shall make glad the city of God.

God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. This is a mountain of refuge and strength and there's a river of joy flowing out of it. In Micah chapter four, verses one and two, the mountain is the place where you are taught how to walk.

Micah 4. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow to it and many nations shall come and say come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob He will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion the law shall go forth and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem the mountain Is the mountain where you are taught How to walk in this world. This is one reason so many of your people are depressed. They've not been taught how to walk They've not been taught what's true About God and about themselves and what the solutions he's given are. In Isaiah chapter 2 it's a mountain of fellowship.

You bring your friends with you. There's stream, there's a picture in Isaiah 2 of the people streaming to the mountain of the Lord And this happens in the latter days, as it says in the text. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow to it. Many people will come and say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways and we shall walk in His paths.

Now, this is a picture of people saying, let's go to that mountain and they're taking their friends with them. They're saying, do you have any idea what's on this mountain? It's a mountain of delight. It's a mountain where they teach you the law of God. In Ezekiel chapter 20 verse 40 it's the place of welcome, where God welcomes you, where God accepts you.

The Lord dwells on this mountain. Isaiah 20 verse 40, for on my holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there, all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, he shall serve me and there I will accept them. Here on that mountain God receives his blood-bought children. He accepts them. In Ezekiel 36 we're told that the mountain, Mount Zion, is a restored Eden.

Ezekiel 36, 35, this is the land that was desolate. It has become like the Garden of Eden, and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited. It's restored Eden at the end of the age. In Exodus 15, verse 17, it's the mountain of inheritance Where God gives his children and everlasting inheritance Exodus 15 17 You will bring them in the land and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance and there the Lord shall reign forever and ever in Psalm 36 verse 6. It's the place of God's righteousness your righteousness is like great mountains.

In Psalm 65, verse six, the mountains are a declaration of power. Whenever you see a mountain, think of God's power, who established the mountains by his strength, being clothed with power. In Isaiah 87, verse one, we learn that God loves his mountain. Of course, God does love himself, but he loves his mountain His foundation is in the holy mountains The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob Glorious things are spoken of you. Oh city of God In Isaiah chapter 40, it's the place for you, behold God.

And in Isaiah 40, through the prophet, God is commanding his people to get up on a high mountain. That's really what I'm hoping to do today. Oh, Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain, oh, Jerusalem. You who bring good tidings, lift up your voice, be not afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, behold your God.

Behold your God. We need God. We need his instruction. We need his comfort. We need his acceptance.

We need his consolation. We need all these things from God. And the only way that you get them in the right measure is from God. And so, what the Bible says about mountains helps us to learn how to read our Bibles, and to understand that the messages of the Bible are a unity. There's no contradiction among all these authors across all these hundreds and hundreds of years of writing, people who didn't even know one another.

And they had a unified message. There's nothing like the Bible. There's no other piece of literature that exists in the world today like the Bible. Nothing written over such a long period of time, nothing written by so many different kinds of people in so many different eras, but it's a unified thing. It's such an amazing thing.

I want to take you now to 14 mountains, 14 specific mountains that are in the Bible. And the first is the mountain garden of Eden, the mountain garden of Eden. We learned something about this in Ezekiel 28 verses 13 through 16. We know that the garden of Eden, the garden came out of the waters. It arose out of the waters and there was a river that flowed out of that mountain and so Eden is a mountain garden temple it's all those things together in scripture We don't have time to run through all that, but we will by the time we get through Revelation.

But the mountain of Revelation 21 10 is the Garden of Eden restored, and it's a well watered garden. But in this garden, Satan was cast out. He was cast out of God's mountain in Ezekiel chapter 28 the The devil was thrown out of the garden, I believe, before the temptation of Adam and Eve in that garden. And Satan's fall is depicted in Isaiah chapter 14 and also Ezekiel 28. And these two passages, they're explaining the satanic power behind the king of Babylon and the king of Tyre and he's really explaining the demonic power behind these nation-states And we need to always recognize that there's often demonic power behind the nation states.

That's the way it is. But here we learn that their days are numbered. In Ezekiel 28 verse 11, Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord God, you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, the Sardius, Topaz, diamond, barrel, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.

The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. Does that sound familiar? These stones and things like that? Verse 14, you were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones.

You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you. And then in verse 16, therefore I cast you as a profane being out of the mountain of God. This is God throwing the devil out of his holy mountain. That's what God does on his mountain. He removes everything that's unclean, everything that defiles.

So the first mountain is this mountain garden of Eden. The second mountain is the mountain of safety, the mountains of Ararat, the mountains of peace and safety, Genesis 8, 4. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the 17th day of the month on the mountains of Ararat, and the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. And so what you find here on this mountain is the fulfillment of the promises of the rescue and the safety of God's people, God's true church, Noah's family in this case. And the ark lands and his family waits for the waters to recede.

God took Noah out of his home, out of a broken world and lifted him up on a high mountain and it was a mountain of safety it was a mountain of peace it was the mountain of the olive branch on that mountain you have God's provision of safety and it'll be completed in heaven. And then third, the third mountain, the mountain of provision, this is Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah and its legacy can be read about in Genesis chapter 22, particularly verses one, one and two and continuing. This is where God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. This is also the location of Solomon's temple.

God tells Abraham, take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and offer him there as a burnt sacrifice. And God provided the sacrifice. And Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide as it is to this day. In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. On that mountain, when you come to that mountain, when you come to that mountain here in this earth, on this world, when you come to Jesus Christ, you have a provision made for your sin.

God has provided for your sin. On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. Come to that mount, come to that mount. It's the death mountain. The fourth mountain, the mountain of God's voice, the mountain of God's presence, Mount Sinai.

In Exodus chapter three, verse one, this is called the mountain of God God commands Moses to go on to the top of the mountain and no man shall come up it's interesting this mountain is configured a little bit like the temple You have the lower plains where the people were able to come and then you have the midsection of the mountain where the 70 elders and the priests could come and then you had the top of the mountain only where only Moses could come. There are degrees of holiness. It's a picture of sanctification. It's a picture of progressive sanctification and that only the Holy will see the Lord. And holiness is by the blood of Jesus Christ.

This is the mountain of God's voice where the law is given. And then the fifth mountain. These are two mountains. It's the mountain of blessing and cursing, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. This is in Deuteronomy chapter 27.

Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are two mountains once 2, 900 feet the other was 3, 100 feet and they stand opposite one another with a great valley in the midst and God God told Moses to tell the children of Israel to go up on these two mountains and on Mount Gerizim they would recite the blessings of obedience and on Mount Ebal they would cite they would recite the curses upon those who reject God and the people are down below in the valley. And those who visited there say that these two mountains and its valley between is like an antiphonal amphitheater. And you can hear very, very well, there are people who visit there and they recount testing it. And there's some just particularly very interesting testimonies of people who've gone there. One, J.W.

McGarvey in 1879 went there and he tested it and he had some on one mountain, some on the other, and some in the valley and they could hear perfectly the blessings and the curses. Moses commanded the people on the same day saying, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse. Cursed is the one who makes a carved and molded image and abomination to the Lord. Cursed and all the people shall answer and say Amen. Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt, and all the people shall say amen." So this was how it worked, and all the people in the bottom would say, Amen.

This is the mount of cursing and mount of blessing. Joshua repeated this in Joshua chapter eight. You know what it's like, you know the blessings of obedience, You know the hardships that come upon you in disobedience. That's all, this is a declaration of that. This is to tell you that there is a mountain of blessing for God's people.

And then sixth, there's the mountain view of the land of Canaan. It's known as Mount Nebo or further up Mount Pisgah. On the last day of Moses' life, when Moses was 120 years old, his strength had not declined at 120. And God tells him to go climb a mountain and die and So he goes to the top of the mountain and he dies He looks over the promised land God had withheld the promised land from him because he was angry with the children of Israel. There was a moment he fell into sin, and he, and so God told him, you will not enter the land.

Moses wanted to enter the land, and He begged God more than once to let him go in. And every time God said no. And so God told him on the last day of his life to go up to the top of Mount Pisgah and to look over the land of Canaan. Look over at Moses, this is where you cannot go. And on that mountain, God took Moses to the real promised land He took him to heaven This is the mountain view of the land of Canaan.

And like Moses, you know that you've been forgiven and that God will transport you to the promised land for all eternity. Seventh, the Mount of God's Power, Mount Carmel. The Mount of God's Power, Mount Carmel, First Kings 18, 16 through 46. Here Elijah meets with 850 idolaters who hate him 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets or sent and 600 prophets of Asherah. And it was a duel.

It was a contest. God, Elijah was there to prove that God was the king of the mountain. And so there on Mount Carmel, Elijah, he covered this altar with gallons and gallons of water to just to make it very plain that if God was going to do this it would have to be God. It wouldn't be a little spark, it had to be a lightning bolt from heaven. And this was the mountain of God's power and God came down and licked up that altar with all of its flowing rivers of water all around it.

And the prophets of Baal were scattered and killed. And then the prophecy of Elijah came true, and clouds stirred up, and there was hard rain. It hadn't rained for three years. Eighth, the mountain of judgment and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2 verses beginning in verse 1, blow the trumpet sound an alarm in my holy mountain.

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming for it is at hand Verse 3 the land is like the Garden of Eden before them and behind them is a desolate wilderness and Then in verse 28 and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. And also on my men servants and maid servants I will pour out my spirit in those days and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoke the Sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance as the Lord has said among the remnant whom the Lord calls. Here in Joel 2 is a prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost that's recorded in Acts chapter 2 And it speaks first of all of the destruction of the works of darkness, and that is God unraveling the powers of darkness on the cross.

And having power over sin and death, putting sin, death to death. But it's also the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And this is all spoken of as coming from the mountain of the Lord, from Mount Zion, from Jerusalem. And then ninth, the mountain of temptation this is the temptation of Christ Satan's attempt on a high mountain was foiled The devil took the Lord Jesus Christ to a high mountain, to a very high place. And then Jesus said to him after being tempted, Then Jesus said to him, away with you Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve.

Then the devil left him and behold angels came and ministered to him. The devil came with a fraudulent, perverted mountain, a mountain of pride, a mountain of human achievement and pride, human power and influence. The devil wants you to be the greatest influencer in the world. God wants you to be the greatest influencer in the world. God wants you to be the greatest disciple.

And God, the Lord Jesus Christ tells the devil, you cannot, you shall not worship here. Be gone. And the devil was thrown off the mountain of God. Again. 10th, the 10th mountain.

The Mount of Authority, the Mount of transfiguration, the Mount of the Authority of Jesus Christ, Matthew 17. This takes place on Mount Tabor or Mount Hermon, whatever it is, these were the places where the pagans celebrated Zeus and Hermes and Artemis and Bacchus, and the Lord Jesus Christ is on this mountain and God says this is my beloved son, hear him, don't listen to the superheroes of your day, listen to my son. And while he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. And when his disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.

This is the mountain of the authority of Jesus Christ over all the powers and the principalities. All the fake stories, all the ridiculous things that people present in this world. Jesus Christ, His word stands. The 11th mountain, the mountain of blessing. This is when the Lord Jesus Christ went up on a mountain and he taught the multitudes in Matthew chapter five, verse seven.

This is the manifesto of the king. The king is on his mountain and he is speaking words of life. He opens up the law of God and in many ways it's a little bit like Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim because Jesus, he speaks of the blessings. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The blessings on the mountain of God. The people of God on the mountain of God, hearing the King of Kings on his holy mountain, speaking words of life and beauty, the most unforgettable words in literature, the Sermon on the Mount. The people are amazed. At the end of it, they're shocked because he had authority, not like everybody else, not like the scribes and the Pharisees and all the hot communicators of the day.

The 12th mountain, the mountain of suffering, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane. In Luke chapter 22, this is a garden that oversees the city, overlooks the city, gethsemane. Coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed. Jesus often went to the Mount of Olives to be alone. Here, his disciples followed him, and he asked them to pray that they might not fall into temptation.

And he prayed earnestly And he said to his father, if it is your will, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. But then we read this agony. Verse 44 in Luke 22, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

In the Garden of Suffering on the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, this is where the restoration begins. This is where the suffering servant takes on the suffering that his children deserved. He took the suffering that we should have experienced. We're the ones that should have been slapped. We're the ones that should have been spat upon.

We're the ones that should have been made naked. We're the ones that should have had the walkers by saying, oh, he is such a loser. We're the ones, we're the ones that should have experienced that, but he did. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, he sweat blood. This is why the salvation in Jesus Christ is so sweet because he takes your punishment from you.

This is the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Christ's willingness, his eagerness to drink the cup, the cup of poison, so that he would give the fruit of the vine to his children in the Lord's Supper. Gethsemane means oil press, where the oil is pressed. In the 13th mountain, the mountain of crucifixion, Golgotha, the place of the skull, Mount Calvary, it's called all those things. You can find it in Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19.

And on Mount Calvary, on Golgotha, on the place of the skull, on that mountain, on that mountain, the Lord Jesus Christ said, "'Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. On that mountain, Jesus Christ died, and then he was buried, And then he rose again. What a mountain. And then the 14th mountain, the last mountain. The mountain of the church, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion, Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 22. Now you can go to one mountain or another. Actually you're only going to one or two mountains. There are only two mountains. There's the mountain of God and there's the mountain of man.

But here in Hebrews chapter 12 22, We have this reality of God's people. The loving kindness extended to God's people. He says, but you, but you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Now, I'm gonna stop right there. He's talking to people who are alive today.

He's talking to you and me. He's talking to the people who are listening. You have come to Mount Zion. You have come to the city of God. You've already come there.

It's not just off in the distance. It's not some ethereal, spiritual, disembodied experience. You have come to the mountain today with your body, with your mind, with your spirit, with your people. You have come today to an innumerable company of angels. Angels just aren't in heaven, they're everywhere.

To the general assembly of the church, That's us, the assembly of the church, the ecclesia. We are the assembly of the church. We have come to the assembly of the church. And by the way, if somebody says they're a Christian and it hasn't come to the assembly of the church, you should question whether they're really Christians. Because Christians come to the assembly.

They come into the Ecclesia, into the body of Christ. To the general assembly, general assembly and church of the first born, who are registered in heaven. On earth names registered in heaven. To God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect, including all those that already died, to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel. Of Abel.

So what does it mean to come to the mountain? What does it mean to come to the Lord? It's a mountain of beauty and joy. It's a mountain of refuge and strength. It's the mountain of instruction.

It's the mountain of fellowship. It's the mountain of being welcomed. It's the mountain of a restored Eden, Eden, it's God's righteousness. And it's the mountain of safety and provision in God's presence and blessing and Canaan and God's power and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the rejection of the devil and Christ's authority and his voice in the world. It's the mountain of blessed, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So there you have The mountains, 14 mountains in the Bible, and many, many things that are said of those mountains. I hope you'll never forget that mountain and all of its beauty every day. You can bring heaven down. You've already gone to that mountain. Bring everything on that mountain down, on earth as it is in heaven.

So let me just close with some applications. By faith, bring your children to the mountain of God in your home and in the gathered assembly of the saints. Now your home is an imperfect home. It is an imperfect mountain, it's an imperfect temple, it's an imperfect household, and so is your church. But that doesn't mean that you should despise what happens there, because God has given it to you so that you would be the one who pointed to that mountain, that great mountain in heaven, that everlasting source of refreshment and joy.

Bring your children to the mountain of God. Take them where God has worshiped. Take them where the word of God is revered. Take them away from wherever God is not revered. Take them away from that mountain.

Say what Jesus said, be gone Satan. Get out of my mountain. Let no clean thing pass between your children. The problem with the mountain of your home and the mountain of this church is that it is an imperfect glory. But God has designed that you would use your home and your church as a foretaste to do everything you can to sweeten the love of God in your family and in your church.

It's so imperfect here, isn't it? It is sweet, but it is imperfect. But we don't want to despise the shadow, because we know where the shadow turns. You know, I've been encouraging us as a church for many weeks to enjoy the world, to enjoy your home. This world is your home.

It's not your final home. There's another home in heaven. But this home here has started an eternity. The Bible makes it very clear. When you believe in Jesus Christ, you've stepped into eternity.

And so I've been encouraging us to enjoy the home, enjoy the sunsets, enjoy the waters, the animals, enjoy the mountains, let the doors and the lights thrill you, let them be like lures to heaven. Enjoy the grass, enjoy all the things that God has put around you, because this world is your home, but it's there to point you to heaven. And the church is the same way. You know, don't despise what God has said is good in its imperfect form. Well, God obviously so desires to refresh his children on his holy mountain where there are rivers and fruits and all manners of beauty.

There's a reason we love mountains. You know, I've been, I've seen many mountains in my lifetime and they're absolutely stunning. You just want to stop and stare at them. In the Sierras, in Alaska, in various other places, I've seen mountains that are just absolutely stunning. They're beautiful.

But sometimes the clouds get between you and the mountain. But don't let the clouds get between you and that mountain. It's not necessary. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believes on him is not condemned. That he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light nor comes to the light lest his deeds be reproved. But he that does the truth and comes to the light, his deeds will be made manifest that they are wrought in God.

Who will ascend unto the holy mountain? Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved. Would you pray with me? Father, your word is just so stunning. It's so beautiful.

Thank you. Thank you for giving it to us. To teach us the way things really are. I pray that you would use it to lift any out of any despondency, any heartbreaking thing that's come upon them, that they would have their eyes fixed on that mountain and all of its blessings, Let the blessings flow on your people, Lord. And I pray that even today, we would be found being a blessing to all of the people that are in this assembly today.

I pray you'd also bless the families. Oh Lord, that they would have such little kingdoms of heaven, such mountains of holiness, such new Jerusalems in their house, and that their children would be so thrilled to live in such a house. Amen. Just take a couple of moments of silence to meditate.