A Tale of Two Mountains
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Sermon text: Exodus 19:1-20:11
God’s people are treasured
Dt. 7:7-8 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers
God’s people have a mission
They were not to be a people unto themselves, enjoying their special relationship with God and paying no attention to the rest of the world. Rather, they were to represent him to the rest of the world. -Douglas Stewart
1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
God’s people live in a covenant
The thunder and the earthquake were signs of his power. The dark cloud was a sign of his mystery, showing that there are aspects of his being that we cannot penetrate. The fire was a sign of God’s holiness, his bright and burning purity. Fire both attracts and repels. We are drawn to its warmth and beauty, but at the same time we are kept away by the danger of its burning. So, too, we are attracted to the beauty of God’s holiness but at the same time repelled by its power to destroy us. - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes
Mt. 22:36-40 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together in a desperate attempt to cover up their sin, and human beings have been trying to dress themselves up for God ever since. In one way or another, nearly every religion involves some form of self-purification. The world religions are all so many different ways to wash our own clothes as a way of getting ready for God. But we can never clean up well enough for God. He is perfect in holiness. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes
God’s people need a mediator
John 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward
John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
One mountain was dark and stormy; the other is a city of bright and shining joy. One mountain was a place of fear and danger; the other is a place of peace and safety. On one mountain the angels blazed with fire and blasted with noise; on the other they form a welcoming party for a celebration. One mountain was designed to keep people away; the other was designed to draw them close. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes
Heb. 12:18–24 For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them… 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.
Discipleship Questions:
Sermon text: Exodus 19:1-20:11
God’s people are treasured
Dt. 7:7-8 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers
God’s people have a mission
They were not to be a people unto themselves, enjoying their special relationship with God and paying no attention to the rest of the world. Rather, they were to represent him to the rest of the world. -Douglas Stewart
1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
God’s people live in a covenant
The thunder and the earthquake were signs of his power. The dark cloud was a sign of his mystery, showing that there are aspects of his being that we cannot penetrate. The fire was a sign of God’s holiness, his bright and burning purity. Fire both attracts and repels. We are drawn to its warmth and beauty, but at the same time we are kept away by the danger of its burning. So, too, we are attracted to the beauty of God’s holiness but at the same time repelled by its power to destroy us. - Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes
Mt. 22:36-40 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together in a desperate attempt to cover up their sin, and human beings have been trying to dress themselves up for God ever since. In one way or another, nearly every religion involves some form of self-purification. The world religions are all so many different ways to wash our own clothes as a way of getting ready for God. But we can never clean up well enough for God. He is perfect in holiness. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes
God’s people need a mediator
John 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward
John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
One mountain was dark and stormy; the other is a city of bright and shining joy. One mountain was a place of fear and danger; the other is a place of peace and safety. On one mountain the angels blazed with fire and blasted with noise; on the other they form a welcoming party for a celebration. One mountain was designed to keep people away; the other was designed to draw them close. -Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes
Heb. 12:18–24 For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them… 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.
Discipleship Questions:
- When God came to the mountain, people trembled and stood far off because of His holiness.
- How is our approach to God different than theirs?
- How is it similar?
- God refers to His people as his treasured possession… Do you feel and believe you are treasured by God? Why or why not?
- How are you engaging God’s mission?
- Is there anything you feel compelled or convicted to do in order to engage more?
- Of the first 4 commandments, which one stands out to you and why?
- Based on the second commandment, do you think it’s appropriate for pictures or movies to portray God or other heavenly beings? What about Jesus?
- What are the the similarities between Jesus and Moses as mediators? How are they different?
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