Sunday’s Sermons

Text: Hebrews 12:25-29                                                   4/6/08 p.m.

Thesis: All that is God’s is eternal; thank Him and do not refuse Him.

 

Intro: Let’s dive into our text tonight; Hebrews 12:25-29. Here’s where we are going: all that is God’s is eternal; thank Him and do not refuse Him.

 

Read Hebrews 12:18-29

 

I) Do not refuse the God who speaks (v. 25)

a)      The book of Hebrews has been about listening to God

i)        Hebrews 1.1&2 say, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”

ii)      Hebrews 2:1 says, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

iii)    Hebrews 4:4, “Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.”

iv)    I could go on but you get the point. God has spoken and we must listen to Him.

b)      With the word of God comes the responsibility to obey

i)        Verse 25, “for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.”

ii)      We are often tempted to believe that the worst form of pride is the pride of one person over another.

iii)    We can’t stand it when someone thinks they are better than us and we can’t stand to fell inferior.

iv)    Therefore, we believe that the pride of one person over another is the worst form pride but it’s not.

v)      The worst form of pride is when a person refuses God. We exalt ourselves over God and so we disobey God.

vi)    We fancy ourselves smarter or wiser than God so we turn from God and do our own thing.

vii)  Sin is not a misunderstanding of the rules. Our sin is the outworking of our pride.

viii)            God can’t give me what I want but I can. God doesn’t know what’s best for me but I do. God will make exceptions for me.

ix)    I know that’s what God said but what I say is what really matters.

x)      This is what it is to refuse God. It’s an attempt to remove God from His glorious throne so we can sit in his place. God won’t go for that.

xi)    God warned the people on Mt. Sinai. They disobeyed, they refused God, and they did not escape.

xii)  They came under his righteous judgment.

xiii)            Instead of the new covenant backing off a bit on the whole righteous judgment thing the new covenant ratchets the righteous judgment thing up quite a bit.

xiv)            If those people who refused God when he spoke from Mt. Sinai were killed by a plague, poisoned by snakes, swallowed by the earth, destroyed by fire, and died in the wilderness why should we expect less?

xv)  We should expect more. We’ve been given a greater revelation. God isn’t warning us from an ugly mountain.

xvi)            God is warning us from His glorious heaven.

xvii)          What’s the theme of Hebrews? Jesus is better.

xviii)        With better things comes greater responsibility.

xix)            Some will say, “It’s okay if I disregard God’s word I’m under grace. I’ll escape.” No you won’t.

xx)  If God punished those who trampled on his 10 commandments how much more will God punish those who trample on the blood of His perfect Son?

xxi)            It’s one thing to tear up a letter God sends you. It’s quite another thing to tear up the Son God sends you.

xxii)          When we refuse to listen to God that is exactly what we are doing. In our pride we are trampling on Christ.

xxiii)        Us refusing God is like the child who sticks his fingers in his ears and hollers jibberish so he cannot hear the commands of his parent.

xxiv)        He knows the authority of his parent, he knows his parent is making a command, and he deliberately refuses to listen.

xxv)          See to it that you do not do that to God. God in his great grace is warning us.

xxvi)        Watch yourself and your teaching. Be involved in godly biblical accountability.

xxvii)      Watch how you pray. Watch how you sing. Watch how you serve. Watch how you love God and others.

xxviii)    Are you refusing God some where? Are you refusing to listen to him? Are you refusing his forgiveness and grace to change?

xxix)        Are you refusing to listen to God by refusing to get into the Scripture? In our pride have we found something better?

xxx)          Let us boldly approach the throne of grace because God has told us to.  He has given Christ to perfect us.

xxxi)        He has given the Spirit to strengthen us. He has given us Scripture to guide us.

xxxii)      He has given us everything necessary to obey. In faith go to God knowing that he is able; clinging to the fact that Christ gives all that you need.

xxxiii)    Or in pride stay where you are clinging to the fact that you are incapable. Know this

II) The God who speaks will shake heaven and earth (vs. 26 & 27)

The day is coming when God will rise up against all pride and in vindication of his great name put down all enemies, exalt the throne of David, and make [His Kingdom] the center of worship and allegiance for the nations (FF Bruce, 364).

a)      God has done it before

i)        This shaking is judgment.

ii)      When God shook Mount Sinai he was drawing a line between his holiness and the people’s sinfulness.

iii)    He was judging them and making a distinction between his holy self and the people in need of guidance and purification.

iv)    He spoke then and his voice caused an earth quake on the mountain.

v)      God did it before and he’ll do it again

b)      God has promised he will do this

i)        Verse 26, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised”

ii)      We live in the age between what God did then and what he will do in the future.

iii)    These are the days awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promise.  God cannot lie. It is impossible to stop the coming judgment of God when

c)      Everything will be shaken

i)        Verse 26, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”

ii)      Call it a sifting, call it a winnowing, call it a testing by fire, call it a shaking, it does not matter. All are references to the idea that God will one day test all things and only the things that pass the test will remain.

iii)    This day of judgment promised by God is coming and it is the day of Christ’s return.

iv)    With the 2^nd coming of Christ comes the joy of his redeemed people and the establishment of his kingdom.

v)      And with the 2^nd coming of Christ comes testing.

vi)    There will be some things that pass and some things that fail.

d)     Everything will be shaken so that only the things of God will remain

i)        Verse 27, “This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of all things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.”

ii)      The destruction and deterioration of things is the product of God’s judgment.

iii)    The fact that our bodies wear out and die is the product of sin.  The fact that our families fall apart is the product of sin.

iv)    The erosion of the body, relationships, and even creation itself is because of man’s attempt to reject God.

v)      All that is born out of a refusal to listen to God will be shaken and removed.

vi)    All that is connected with Christ who said, “Behold I have come to do your will” (Heb 10:7) will remain.

vii)  Everything that you are and everything that you care about will one day be shaken by the judgment of God.

viii)            Your life, your family, your dreams, everything you have wanted and everything you have attained will be tested.

ix)    Only the things done for Christ will remain. Only the things of faith will stand the test.

x)      Only in Christ do we have hope in this life and the next.

xi)    Verse 28, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot by shaken.”

III) We must be grateful and worship (v. 28)

a)      Be grateful because ours is a kingdom that cannot be shaken

i)        Mambrino Baptist Church, we are a thankful people because the most important thing to us will never be taken from us.

ii)      We have a king and his name is Jesus Christ. God has already transferred us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col 1.13)

iii)    Those that listen to the God who has spoken to us through His son have been made eternally a member of the unshakeable kingdom.

iv)    Everything around us changes. We live in a world of instability and insecurity.

v)      How do you know the bridge you are on during your commute home won’t collapse? You don’t.

vi)    How do you know that routine doctor’s visit won’t reveal a terminal illness? You don’t.

vii)  How do you know the person you love will be there tomorrow or the money you are depending on is going to be there in 20 years? You don’t.

viii)            Since this world is unstable headed toward God’s great shake down it is crucial that we anchor ourselves in the everlasting, unshakeable, and unending kingdom of Jesus Christ.

ix)    Hebrews 6:19 tells us that Jesus is the sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.

x)      In heartache, in difficulty, in persecution, and in death.

xi)    In joy, in prosperity, in smooth sailing, and in life we have Jesus, the kingdom of God, and that cannot be shaken.

xii)  The only proper response is gratitude. When you lose something be intention to remind yourself of the kingdom of Christ which can never be lost

b)      Let us worship God with reference and awe because he is a consuming fire

i)        The God who speaks has revealed to us who He is. In response to Him we are to offer to God acceptable worship.

ii)      Romans 12:1 should be playing in your head right now.

iii)    “I appeal to you brothers by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

iv)     Call it life, call it worship, or call it service it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we understand we’re not just talking about what we do on Sundays.

v)      All of life must be worship. All of life must be service for the cause of this unshakeable kingdom.

vi)    And as we live this way we must do so with an attitude of reverence and awe.

vii)  If you want to see to it that you do not refuse him who speaks then you must devote yourself to cultivating a heart full of reverence and awe for God.

viii)            Where there is reverence and awe there will be listening.

ix)    Reverence is a type of fear.

x)      One of my many jobs in high school was working at the city hardware store. I stocked shelves, swept the floor, ran the cash register, made screened windows, and cut glass.

xi)    When I first learned to cut glass the most important thing I was told was to never stop fearing the glass.

xii)  The minute you get comfortable with what you are doing, the minute you stop consciously thinking about the potential that glass has to cut you is the minute you’ll get cut.

xiii)            One day I got in a hurry and lost all reverence for that big sheet of glass. I nearly cut the cuticle off of my right thumb. Talk about bleeding.

xiv)            As Christians we must cultivate a reverence for God or eventually we’ll stop listening. We’ll grow comfortable with him and his words and we’ll start to reject him. We sin because we stop fearing God.

xv)  Read those hard things in the Old Testament. Read what happened to the people who lived in Canaan during the conquest under Joshua.

xvi)            Study God’s work of creation. Think of the largest star and the smallest particle knowing they are all his handiwork and they all fit in the palm of his hand.

xvii)          You and I have got to make time to be reverent. We’ve got to cultivate a healthy fear of the power of God.

xviii)        Awe is being overwhelmed with the size or power of God.

xix)            It’s a healthy thing to feel what it means to be small. We run from those moments when we taste our own mortality but they point us to God.

xx)  Go and peer into the depths of the Grand Canyon. Go and ride a boat as close as you can to Niagara Falls.

xxi)            Mediate on Hebrews 12:18-21. Go to the terrifying image of God in all his glory on Mt. Sinai.

xxii)          We must be full of reverence and awe because God is a consuming fire.

xxiii)        Hebrews 10:26&27 say, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

xxiv)        If we keep on listening to God. If we hear the call of Christ to come to him and find rest. If we hear the invitation of Christ to come with him boldly to the throne of grace there is every reason to be grateful.

xxv)          Live a life of worship cultivating reverence and awe.

xxvi)        But know this. The loving God of all grace and mercy who has showered his love upon those who listen is the same God of all justice and wrath who will shower his judgmental fire upon all those who reject him and refuse to listen.

xxvii)      If you have lost the spirit of gratitude today is the day to begin afresh with repentance and faith in Christ.

xxviii)    If you have lost the spirit of fear today is the day to begin afresh with belief in the consuming fire of God.

xxix)        It is a terrible thing to fall into the wrathful hand of God. If you pridefully stand by yourself outside of faith in Christ God’s wrathful hand is your future.

xxx)          But it is a glorious thing to rest in the strong hand of God. If you humbly listen to God and hear his call to trust Christ your future is with him in a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Listen to the God who speaks.