We turn to Hebrews 12:22:
But ye are come unto mount Zion.
Yesterday we were mainly occupied with that aspect of the heritage which is found in the scene, the counterpart to what God gave to man in the creation. We saw that God Himself took in hand to bring into being, for His own satisfaction and pleasure, something concerning which He could say without any reserve, “It is very good.” Having completed that, He put man into it and made it man’s inheritance.
The counterpart of that is found in the first two chapters of the Letter to the Hebrews. There is the beginning, as the Book of Genesis begins with One; then the working out of the whole scheme and plan of redemption and new creation in Christ and through Christ. The second chapter of the letter, and the second type of Genesis, brings man on the scene: “What is man… Thou madest him… to have dominion over the works of Thy hands.”
So the believer is brought into something that God has comprehensively consummated in His Son. It is the heritage of faith.
We are not spending any more time on that aspect. This evening we move on to the second phase, where this word comes into the picture. Again, the whole matter of a heritage is in view. The phrase arrives there with this word in its clause: “Ye are come.”
What God has offered to us in Christ is this marvellous new position, with its marvellous new inheritance, as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. Then it follows: “Ye are come to Zion.”
We were saying that Zion is an inclusive and comprehensive conception. Zion is a very comprehensive name. It means that in which God’s full thought and purpose are found, and a people who are joined to Him, who are taking the value of what He is and what He has done.
Zion, spiritually interpreted, is Christ and His people in all the good that God has perfected in redemption and new creation. Taking up the inclusive significance of Zion, we went on to see in its history the light that it throws upon the spiritual Zion to which we are come.
Zion is the symbol of His transcendent victory. As Zion represented the great victory of the great king, David—the stronghold which stood out against him and tested his faith and power as nothing else did, and which he then took and made his abode, the site of his palace—it symbolised the transcendent victory of the greatest king of the old dispensation.
That is carried over here to the Zion to which we are come. This Letter to the Hebrews sets forth the strength of death which stands against the Lord in the first place: human nature, death, and him that had the hold on death—that is, the devil. In a very few words in this letter, all that is seen to be nullified:
That through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
In Zion, ye are come to that.
Now we proceed with two more features of that to which we are come, by the grace of God, and that is offered to us for our apprehension. As we know so well from many Scriptures, Zion in the Old Testament became the place which always represented the place of God’s dwelling. The Lord dwelt in Zion; Zion represented His dwelling-place. The Lord speaks out of Zion. It is His habitation.
Dear friends, we must draw very near to this matter in all its practical bearings, and not just contemplate it as some set of beautiful ideas, truths, or things that are in the Bible. These are not only grand and glorious truths, doctrines, and teachings; they are, every one of them, a tremendous challenge to us.
They are set forth in order to find us out—whether we really are children or citizens of Zion; that is, whether these things are true of us. There are great demands here for us. When we speak about Zion, remembering all the time that this is Christ and His own, which we are supposed at least to be, and that Zion is the Lord’s dwelling-place, we touch upon something of tremendous practical importance.
For you and I know very well that the one thing which perhaps more than anything else governs our interest, governs our lives, is how to find the Lord and how we can be sure of finding Him. You agree that that is an important matter, do you not? To be in touch with the Lord, to know just how we can be sure of finding Him—that is a very important matter indeed.
If we do not know that, we are certainly at a loss. Life will be all awry, in confusion, weak and defeated, if we are not really in touch with the Lord.
Where is the Lord? Remembering that Zion is a collective conception, it is not just a matter of so many unrelated and unconnected units and individuals. Zion is altogether a collective conception in the Word of God. It is the Lord’s people together with the Lord Himself.
There is a mutuality of life in the Lord. That is where you will find the Lord. I do not mean that the individual cannot find the Lord alone; he can. Neither do I mean that, if you have not the facilities or fellowship with the Lord’s people, the Lord will not meet you in some special way. He will.
But the normal way is the way of Zion, that is, the way of spiritual fellowship in Christ. It is absolutely essential to our life that we have some kind of relatedness with the people of God which brings us into a touch with the Lord that is more than that which we can have individually and apart.
This is essential. In some way, whether in a locality or not, we must have a relatedness—a vital connection, a powerful and positive union—with the people of God of a spiritual kind, on the basis of Christ.
Not that we are a society in existence on some agreed basis of teaching or practices, but that we are a people based upon Christ, Who is our only concern. It does not matter one little bit about the institution or the particular framework. The thing is that we are based upon Christ.
Where Christ is wholly and fully apprehended, honoured, exalted, recognised, and acknowledged as the Son over God’s house, there we shall find the Lord. We shall find the Lord in a very special way.
It would be our testimony, if that is true of us, that whenever it is possible for us to enjoy that fellowship, we come up and meet the Lord, and the Lord meets us. There is something more of the Lord afterward than there was before.
Everything that the devil can do in earth or heaven to stop that, he will do. By every trick and cunning device, he will try to keep you away from it. Somehow, he will frustrate it if he possibly can. Dear friends, over this whole matter there is such a need for vigilance.
How pained we often are when we know that someone needs the time of fellowship. They are in desperate need of it; their spiritual life is crying out for it. Then, under a movement of the Lord in their hearts, they intend to take advantage of the opportunity; but through lack of sufficient positiveness and watchfulness, some little thing arises, some circumstance or trick, something happens, and they decide that they are not to be there after all.
Oh, there is to be a fight over this matter. This is not going to be had cheaply. Zion is always represented as something very precious. We may speak about that at another time and in another connection, but you do not get precious things cheaply. They do not come to you without cost. You have to be prepared to pay a price for precious things.
We are not talking about foundation now; we are talking about this heritage of faith. If there is one thing that this Letter to the Hebrews makes clear and emphasises, it is that the men in that great caravan from Abel onward towards the inheritance were characterised by persistence and determination not to miss the inheritance, whatever it cost.
Abel shed his blood. Abraham left his country. Moses left Egypt behind, with all its advantages and learning. These men counted the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. They recognised the tremendous importance of Zion in principle and therefore fought for it, letting everything else go for it.
To find the Lord in this way, we are going to have to be very, very positive in our attitude over this matter of relatedness and fellowship. Do not make any mistake about it, dear friends: the devil will, by hook or by crook, destroy the place of related life in Christ if he can. He knows what he is doing. He will mar the glorious purpose if he can; that has always been his object.
Yes, we find Him in our own room alone, praise God. Yes, we find Him far away in some remote place where we have no Christian fellowship; the Lord will meet us. But we must not, even so, as individuals in remote places, accept that we are unrelated, that we are just individuals.
Let us remember: Zion is something to which we belong, but we are not all Zion, either individually or in local companies. Zion is something very much bigger than ourselves.
A further thing about Zion was and is that, in the old literal representation, it was the seat of government, the place of the throne.
In this Letter to the Hebrews, you have that tremendous movement, almost in one clause: having tasted death for every man, He ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Ye are come to the throne, the government, Christ and a heavenly people. That is, they come to the governmental seat and instrument of the Lord.
Zion is a governmental conception. His throne is in Zion. His sovereignty operates in relation to Zion. That is only saying in figurative language that, when the Lord has something after His own heart, something that satisfies His heart according to His Son, Jesus Christ, God is tremendously jealous about that and puts His sovereign power into action in relation to it. It is there that His throne is.
It may not always appear to us, according to our human ideas of sovereignty and government. Sometimes it may seem that the enemy is on the throne. It may appear as though the Lord has taken His hands off, as though He is not looking after things. But do not make any mistake about it.
It has been like that many times in the history of the church. It seemed as though the devil and his kingdom were running riot and swallowing up everything that was of the Lord, so that the testimony of the Lord disappeared in what we call the Dark Ages.
That is as far as faith goes. When the Lord comes back, He comes back to greater fullness than He had before. The Lord never does vacate His throne. The Lord never does give up Zion.
The story of Hannah in the Old Testament is a marvellous story of God refusing to give it up. Yes, it may fall on bad days, and Eli’s sons may ruin the land, but God does not give up. The dark, long period—seventy years—may look as though nothing is happening, yet He does not give up.
His sovereignty is marvellously at work in relation to Zion. In itself, that could occupy all the time we have: to see how God sovereignly and secretly works in His sovereignty in relation to Zion.
Do we desire to have the Lord really, ultimately, and supremely on our side? Do we want to be related to the throne, the sovereignty, the government of the Lord, and the mighty providential overrulings of the Lord in relation to an end which He is seeking? There is the place of His throne. It is centred in Zion.
It is there that we find the focal point of the Lord’s real concern and the real determination of God to have what His heart is set upon. You will recall, perhaps, some of those words from the prophets on this matter. When Zion had seemed to be eclipsed, the Lord came back.
In Isaiah 62, it is the Messiah Who is speaking:
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness go forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burneth.
This is the Lord speaking: “I will not take rest. I will not cease.” He comes back.
Do you really want to be in line with the movements of God, secretly but very positively moving toward His end, ruling and overruling, bringing all things under that providential government? Then have your heart in Zion. You will find that it works out like that.
You may not see it in the stages, but with the long view, when you come to the end of a long period and look back, you will have to say, “Had it not been the Lord Who was on our side, when men rose up against us, they had swallowed us up quick.” Had it not been for the Lord, this is something that can only be attributed to God.
Yes, the Lord is jealous in His sovereignty for Zion. His throne is there. In a word, Christ is going to be vindicated. We can say that He has been vindicated, but He is going to be vindicated fully and finally. His life and His death are going to be vindicated to the uttermost in the end.
It is wonderful. You see the two bounds of Zion in the Word. As we pointed out yesterday, the first reference to Zion comes on the victorious side of the Red Sea victory. Pharaoh, his hosts, and Egypt were overthrown in a mighty victory. Then they sang the song, and in the song they spoke of Zion.
At the beginning of the journey, Zion took up the note of victory—the note of the Lord’s absolute sovereignty. Let Egypt exhaust herself, and let Pharaoh resort to his final device; in the great sea the Lord buries them. That is victory, and after that victory Zion comes into view.
What is the last mention of Zion? Revelation 14:
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion.
That great victory at the beginning was based upon the lamb of the Passover. It was the victory of the Lamb. Here, at the end of the whole Bible and the whole story, is the Lamb upon Mount Zion: victory through His blood. This is sovereignty.
It is good to take final visions, final pictures, final representations. How is it going to be in the end? What will it really be like? Whatever it is today, how will it all work out? What will be the final and ultimate conclusion of the whole matter? The Lamb upon Mount Zion—that is the picture.
It will be like that, dear friends, however we may be feeling about it today. That is presented to faith: ye are come to that absolute sovereignty of the Lamb upon Mount Zion. Ye are come to Zion.
One more thing: Zion was the focal point of fellowship. Fellowship on the basis of what God had done was represented in that dispensation and centred in Zion.
It is found in one little phrase: “Zion, the city of our solemnities.” What were the solemnities? They were the feasts. It could be translated, “the city of our festivities,” the place where they came together and had a good time.
How they loved to go up to Zion! How they lived all the year round for the time to go up! Whenever it was thought of and remembered, it lifted the heart. Even away in Babylon: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” The songs of Zion and the thought of Zion brought a sense of festivity and delight.
Dear friends, surely there ought to be a little more of this about us, do you not think so? Our coming to the Lord Jesus, all that He has done for us and offers to us, all that He has brought us into and placed us in—all that Zion means of spiritual inheritance for us—ought to make us a people of a more festive character.
Not superficially, emotionally excitable, or noisy, but a people who are enjoying themselves together in the Lord. I think we do have just a little taste of that when we come together at these times, do we not? We come here and spend a day or two together, and there is something good about it. Many look forward to the next time. Good—good to have this fellowship.
But that is really Zion in practical experience and outworking: we ought to live more continually in the good of Zion. “Ye are come.” For us, it is not some distant prospect, not something toward which we are going, or to which from time to time we go. Zion is ever present.
If we were really in the good of all that the Lord Jesus is and has done, together with His people, we would be a happier people. We would be an affected people—the city of our solemnities, if you like, the city of our festivities.
This is Zion. I am so concerned, when saying all these things, that they do not remain merely good, pleasant, true ideas, conceptions, doctrines, and teachings.
If you knew the background of these times together, you would know that this is not just picking upon subjects or addresses. It is a real exercise, deep and long before the Lord, that the right thing should be said; that every time we come together there should be something to do with the hour, something of that vital character which relates to the hour—God’s thought for the time.
We have no interest in anything other than that: something for God’s people in this day according to God’s mind. It is not just to fill up a conference with messages and teaching, good, bad, or indifferent. Unless it is from God to us, showing us that God is seeking to recover the idea and conception of Zion in His people, it has missed the mark.
His heart has always been set upon Zion. It is there that His heart is satisfied. He must have Zion. In other words, He must have that which is a blessed, corporate, connected representation of what He has done and has given in His Son. There He finds that He is satisfied.
So He would have us occupied with that which occupies Him; that the things which He desires should be our desire and our concern. They are essential to our life—essential to our life. Take these things as life-and-death matters, for they are.
If you really are set upon the Lord, you will see that these details, which are presented in symbolic language, are very, very practical. We are always afraid of symbolic language because it can somehow get people into a mystical atmosphere. But these things are positively practical.
As I said this morning, the matter of relatedness and fellowship contains tremendous issues. Do not make any mistake about it: your life depends upon it; your spiritual life depends upon it. The devil knows that too, and he will spoil this whole thing if he can, in some way or another.
Oh yes, he hates Zion with a bitter hatred. If the earthly Zion, or Jerusalem, has been the focal point of the contest and conflict of the nations and the ages from its inception, that is only an illustration in the temporal and material of something that is very much more true in the spiritual and heavenly. This thing is contested. This thing is hated. This thing would be destroyed.
But remember, as we are represented as having come, this is a present thing to faith, to be taken not as something now being made, but as something completed in Christ and offered to us.
So do not go away thinking of Zion as a thing. Do not contemplate Zion as an object or a fact. Remember: Zion is Christ in Person, in the value of all His work, in His people.
That brings it very close to us. The person even next to you—that is Zion. Then it becomes the one next to you, and all the others. It is very, very practical.
Oh, that Zion should be in our hearts, because it was in the hearts of the people of old. If it was so much to them as a temporal thing, and at most a transient thing, how much more ought the real thing—of which the earthly was only a poor picture—to be real to us?
Since it is so much more a matter of life and death, ought it not to be of far greater value to us: to be cherished, watched over, cared for, and explored for all its wonderful possibilities?
Ye are come unto mount Zion.