A Hill to Die On
A Hill to Die On
Are there any hills you’re willing to die on? Most of us have things we feel pretty strongly about.
Maybe you’re convinced toilet paper should always roll over the top. Maybe the middle cinnamon roll is obviously the best one in the pan. Maybe you’ll defend candy corn against all criticism. Maybe you believe that if someone says, “I don’t care where we eat,” they lose the right to veto the restaurant. And perhaps you know that Heinz is the only real ketchup.
Those may be fun hills to defend, but there are other hills that really are worth dying on. Protecting your family is worth taking a stand for. Living with integrity matters. Defending the truth of the gospel matters.
The bigger question is: How do you know which hill is worth dying on?
You can spend your entire life taking stands on things that ultimately do not matter and will not last. What if, when everything is said and done, you discover you were dying on the wrong hill?
Hebrews 12:18–29 takes us to two mountains and forces us to consider what we are building our lives upon. There are plenty of hills we could spend our lives dying on, but they are not all equal.
1. Come to the Right Mountain
The first mountain in Hebrews 12 is Mount Sinai. The passage takes us back to the experience recorded in Exodus 19, when Israel encountered the presence of God after leaving Egypt.
Hebrews describes a mountain surrounded by blazing fire, darkness, gloom, a storm, the sound of a trumpet, and a voice so overwhelming that the people begged for it to stop. They had been warned that even an animal touching the mountain would be put to death. The scene was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
Mount Sinai Reveals the Holiness of God
Mount Sinai played an important role in Israel’s history. After crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites came to Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments and God descended on the mountain in a mighty display of His power.
The people were afraid because they were encountering the presence of a holy God.
The separation between a holy God and sinful people is beyond our comprehension. A barrier had to be established around the mountain because the people could not simply approach God on their own terms. If they crossed that boundary, they would die.
It was literally a hill to die on.
Years later, it is possible to climb Mount Sinai without facing that prohibition. Standing on that mountain today does not carry the same warning Israel received. But what happened there still teaches us something essential about who God is.
God’s holiness is more than moral goodness or perfect righteousness. He is infinitely pure. He is completely other. There is nothing else remotely like Him, and even our best human words struggle to describe His glory.
Think about the brightest object we regularly see: the sun. It is so bright that staring directly at it damages our eyes, and its energy can burn our skin.
Yet astronomers have identified stars vastly more powerful than our sun. R136a1, for example, produces an almost incomprehensible amount of light and energy. If something with that kind of power replaced our sun, life as we know it could not survive.
Even that is only a small picture of what Scripture communicates about the glory and holiness of God.
God was not being cruel by keeping the Israelites away from Sinai. He was preserving them.
The problem was not that God was evil. The problem was that humanity is sinful and God is holy.
We Cannot Climb Our Way to God
Sinai teaches us that we should never treat God’s holiness casually.
If even Moses trembled in God’s presence, what makes us think we can simply approach God on our own terms?
It is easy to compare ourselves with other people and conclude that we are doing fairly well. We tell ourselves, “I’m not perfect, but I’m not that bad.” We think about our mistakes but balance them against our good intentions. We hope our good deeds will somehow outweigh the bad.
Hebrews tells us that will never be enough.
Trying to reach God through our own goodness is like trying to climb Sinai. We will never make it.
But Hebrews does not leave us at Sinai.
Mount Zion Offers Something Completely Different
Hebrews 12:22 begins with a remarkable statement: “But you have come to Mount Zion.”
Notice what it does not say. It does not say that believers might come someday if they work hard enough. It does not say they can come if they prove themselves worthy.
It says, “You have come.”
For those who belong to Jesus, something has already been accomplished.
Mount Zion represents the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Instead of terror and separation, there are innumerable angels gathered in celebration. There is an assembly of God’s people who are enrolled in heaven.
At Sinai, people tremble.
At Zion, there is celebration.
At Sinai, the warning is to stay away.
At Zion, God’s people have been welcomed into a joyful assembly.
And yet the God we meet at Zion has not become less holy.
Hebrews calls Him “God, the judge of all.” God has not lowered His standards. He has not stopped being just. The difference is that those who come to Zion are no longer depending upon their own righteousness to meet His standard.
Jesus Brings Us Near
Hebrews says that believers have been made perfect. How?
We have come “to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.”
Jesus is the reason we can be there.
Under this new covenant, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice. Those who genuinely trust Him are no longer seen merely according to their own merits. His blood cleanses us from sin.
Hebrews says that the blood of Jesus “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
After Cain murdered Abel, Abel’s blood cried out from the ground for justice. Jesus’ blood speaks something better: mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing.
His blood provides a way for sinful people to come near to a holy God.
That is the difference between Sinai and Zion.
You do not bring yourself to Zion.
Jesus ushers you in.
So which mountain are you pursuing?
Are you still trying to prove yourself to God? Are you trying to become good enough? Are you hoping your good deeds will outweigh your bad ones?
Stop climbing Sinai. It is a hill to die on.
Come to Zion through Jesus. That is a hill to die for.
2. Listen to the Right Voice
The contrast between the two mountains leads to an urgent warning:
“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.”
That takes us back to Sinai. God spoke there, and the people begged for Him to stop.
God is still speaking, and this time we need to listen.
But listening means more than hearing what God says. Hebrews warns us not to refuse Him.
Hearing Is Not the Same as Obeying
You can regularly attend church, know the Bible, understand a sermon, and even agree with what you hear while still refusing to do what God says.
That is one of the great spiritual dangers we face.
The problem is not always misunderstanding.
It is not always disagreement.
Sometimes it is simply refusal.
Hebrews says that if those who rejected God’s warning on earth did not escape the consequences, we should not expect to escape if we reject the One who warns from heaven.
When God speaks, we are called to respond.
Everything That Can Be Shaken Will Be Shaken
Hebrews then gives us the reason this matters.
At Sinai, God’s voice shook the earth. But God promises that another shaking is coming—one that will involve not only the earth but also the heavens.
The things that can be shaken will ultimately be removed so that what cannot be shaken will remain.
That should change the way we think about what matters.
There are many things in life that seem solid and secure.
Your career can be shaken.
Your possessions can be shaken.
Your health can be shaken.
Your plans can be shaken.
Governments and political powers can be shaken.
Things we build our lives around can disappear far more quickly than we imagine.
A day is coming when everything temporary will be shaken loose, and that shaking will reveal what we have actually built our lives upon.
Which Voice Is Shaping Your Life?
There are plenty of voices competing to tell us what matters.
Culture tells us.
Political tribes tell us.
Friends tell us.
Social media tells us.
Our phones constantly invite us to listen to one more notification, one more video, one more opinion, one more distraction. You can pick up your phone intending to check one thing and suddenly find yourself watching everything from someone power-washing a driveway to an old television clip to a string of cat videos.
Eventually you put the phone down and wonder, “What was I doing?”
You were listening.
The question is whether the voices getting most of your attention are actually worthy of shaping your life.
God has always been speaking the truth we need to build our lives upon. He spoke at Sinai. He spoke through the prophets. He spoke through the gospel writers and the disciples. He continues to speak through His Word.
And His truth establishes us so that when the shaking comes, we are standing on something that will remain.
What voice defines success for you?
What voice tells you what you need in order to be happy?
What voice directs the way you use your money?
Your time?
Your relationships?
It is not enough simply to hear the truth. We must not refuse it.
Listen to the One who speaks from heaven. When everything else is shaken, His Word will stand, and lives established upon that Word will stand with it.
Centering your life on God’s Word is a hill worth dying on.
3. Worship with the Right Heart
With the picture of everything being shaken still in view, Hebrews tells us how to respond:
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”
That response is important.
Not fearful.
Not anxious.
Grateful.
Everything else may shake, but the kingdom of God will not.
Receive the Unshakable Kingdom with Gratitude
Notice that Hebrews says we are receiving this kingdom.
We do not earn it.
We do not build it.
We do not sustain it.
We receive it as a gift of God’s grace.
When you realize you have been given something you desperately need, could never earn, and will never lose, gratitude should naturally follow.
That gratitude becomes worship.
Hebrews tells us to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.”
Acceptable worship is not primarily about getting every element of a church service exactly right. It is about responding to God in a way that appropriately honors who He is and what He has done.
We worship with gratitude because of the grace we have received and because God has given us a future that can withstand every shaking.
Worship with Reverence and Awe
Our worship should also be filled with reverence and awe.
That means approaching God with respect and a proper understanding of His holiness.
We do not come casually.
We do not come flippantly.
We do not come half-engaged.
Living under grace does not mean God has become merely a celestial buddy or that His holiness has somehow diminished.
Grace means access to Him has been made possible.
And when we understand who He is and what it cost to bring us near, that grace should drive us to our knees in wonder.
Worship Is a Whole-Life Response
This is bigger than what happens during a Thursday or Sunday church service.
Worship is a whole-life response to the goodness of God.
It belongs in our minds and hearts throughout the week.
Worship is meant to become who we are, not simply something we do.
Hebrews closes this section with a striking statement:
“For our God is a consuming fire.”
That is not meant to make believers live in terror, but it should make us intentional. It should get our attention. It should awaken us to the seriousness and greatness of the God we worship.
And notice the first word: “our.”
He is our God.
We belong to Him.
The God who is a consuming fire is also the God who pours out compassion upon His people.
This is part of the tension and beauty of the gospel: you are completely safe in Christ while standing before a God of immeasurable holiness.
Because you have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, do not respond with casual Christianity.
Respond with a grateful heart.
Respond with a reverent life.
Respond with awe-filled worship.
Find the Hill That Will Still Be Standing
The question is not whether you are going to worship something.
You will.
The question is what you are going to worship.
The events of September 11, 2001, gave the world a painful reminder of how quickly the things we spend our lives pursuing can become insignificant. Once the planes struck the World Trade Center, presentations, quarterly numbers, promotions, and career ambitions suddenly mattered very little to the people trapped inside.
People called the ones they loved.
People prayed.
When everything started shaking, people suddenly understood what mattered most.
The tragedy is that sometimes it takes a shaking to teach us what we should have known all along.
There is only one adequate focus for our worship: our holy God.
Do not waste your life dying on hills that will not matter in eternity.
Find the hill that will still be standing when everything else has been shaken and fallen away.
Plant your feet there.
That is a hill worth dying on.
SERMON DETAILS
Speaker: Jeff McNicol
Series: Greater Than
Sermon Title: A Hill to Die On
Date: August 30, 2026
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Hebrews 12:18–29
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