The Unshakable Kingdom
Pastor Marty Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 5:06PM Hebrews 12:25-29. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on September 03, 2017.
Today we will finish this chapter as we look at the importance of believers in Jesus living each day by faith in Him. Last week we were reminded of the heavenly city in which we have citizenship. In this last passage, the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are receiving an unshakable kingdom. As we close out this section, I pray that you are able to see both the wonderful grace of God that we have been given, and the amazing responsibility we have to keep trusting Jesus, no matter what we may face in this life.
Don’t refuse the voice of the Father
By itself, vs. 25 begs the question, “What voice is being referenced?” However, as you move back through the passage it is clear that the voice of God is what we are talking about. If we tie the Old Testament allusions to the earlier references that God disciplines us as a Heaven Father, then it becomes clear that Christians are being told not to ignore the voice of God. Even today, we can be guilty of ignoring or refusing to obey the voice of God. But, before we get into what that can look like, let’s first deal with this exhortation to obey God’s voice.
We are reminded of those who rejected God’s voice under the Old Covenant and how they did not escape His judgment. They did hear an audible voice while they were at Mt. Sinai. However, the majority of God’s Word was given to them by the prophet Moses and confirmed by the amazing signs and wonders that God did among them. That first generation that came out of Egypt heard the voice of God and even embraced it by agreeing to a covenant with God at Sinai. Yet, they did not follow God through the desert in faith. Most of them perished in the wilderness, not because they lost faith one time or in an instance, but because they continually refused to trust God all along the way. His judgment was sometimes a quick and instantaneous thing such as when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up in an earthquake’s rift, or the many that died from the fiery serpents, or those who perished in the deception of the Moabites. The testimony of Scripture is that most of them did not walk by faith and complained with unbelief. The majority perished by simply growing old and dying in their unbelief. Later generations of Israel who were not at Sinai to hear “The Voice” had to make a choice. Were they going to listen to the Word of God’s voice that had been recorded or were they going to refuse to listen to it? We are in the same position. Though we are not under the Law of Moses, we have heard the record of the New Covenant that God has made clear through His Son Jesus. Jesus was the Voice of God and He guaranteed that His Holy Spirit would speak through His Apostles to direct His Church. This has all been recorded faithfully for us. We have a choice to make. We either believe it, or refuse and go on in our disbelief. All generations are accountable to the record of the God’s voice. On top of all this, if we walk in faith and trust God’s Word, He speaks to our hearts by His Holy Spirit and leads us through the wilderness of this world. So the point is clear. Be like Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, rather than like those who refused to believe and perished. Physically hearing God’s Word is not enough to save us. We need to put our faith in what it says.
Verse 26 then reminds us that God is shaking the heavens and the earth with His New Covenant through Jesus. Just as the voice of God shook Mt. Sinai, so the earth would be shaken by the Gospel. But, more than that, God was also shaking the heavens. The devil and his angels were being told that they would be cast down into the Lake of Fire, and the Church would be raised up in their place and even higher. Now this part about shaking the heavens and the earth is a quote from Haggai 2:6. Its point is that God would shake things to remove that which can be shaken and replace it with something that would be permanent. It would be easy to see this shaking as something that started and ended in that first year as the disciples went out into the world. However, when we think through what the Scriptures say about the removal of the old order, on earth and in the heavens, then we can recognize that the shaking started in the first century and will continue until Jesus comes back and concludes removing the old. Yes, the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel passed away in that first century and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Church were set up. But, this shaking is not over. Throughout the New Testament we are given a sense that all that God has promised is both now, and not completely yet. God has much more to do in this shaking that even involves the restored state of Israel and the Jewish people. The key to this point is to recognize that in Jesus we are a part of what is going to remain. Why would you try to go back to that which will not remain, the Law of Moses or the world, and refuse that which will remain? The shaking has begun to knock down the shakable things of this world and that which cannot be shaken has begun to take its place, but it is not yet completed.
So we are told that believers in Jesus are receiving an unshakable kingdom. By faith in Jesus we have a part in that kingdom that cannot be taken from us. As Joshua and Caleb led the next generation into the Promised Land, so we can rejoice at the 2nd Coming of Christ and the inheritance that will be made manifest at that time. When all the nations of this world have fallen, the Kingdom of Jesus will remain. We should not be arrogant at such words because we stand by faith in God and by His grace, not by our own power. So the unshakable kingdom is here, at least in our hearts, but not complete. The book of Revelation is about the completing of the Kingdom of God. Just as Israel could not survive its continual refusal to listen to God’s voice, the nations of the world today (America included) cannot survive their refusal. Think about it. Is there any nation on the earth today whose government makes every decision based upon what will please Jesus Christ and God the Father, based upon God’s Word? None do so, not even the United States of America. So I fear for our country as I watch the federal government, state governments, and local continuing to reject the leadership of Jesus and going their own way.
Let us walk in grace
Surrounded by this sea of unbelief, it would be easy to doubt God’s Word and seek compromises with the world and our own flesh. The whole point of this chapter has been to strengthen our faith so that we can continue to walk in the grace of God (vs. 28). It is called grace because we cannot obtain it by obeying a list of outward commands. It truly is a gift of God to those who repent of their sins, and put their faith in Jesus. It is also called grace because we give to others what God has given us, love, forgiveness, and the offer of salvation.
To those first century Jewish believers (the book is called Hebrews for a reason) the temptation was to quit following the grace of Jesus and go back under the Law of Moses. However, there was no going back in God’s eyes. The Old Covenant was fulfilled and had served its purpose. It was time for the New Covenant and the faithful would hear the voice of God and leave the spiritual Egypt behind in order to follow Jesus, who is greater than Moses in every way. Today many Jews continue to cling to the Old Covenant hoping to find salvation in it. But salvation can only be found in God. For most Christians the problem is not trying to go back to the Law of Moses, although some do struggle with this. Instead we are often tempted to create a kind of Christian Law, by which we attempt to justify ourselves through outward conformity, rather than through inward transformation. The point is not so much what you turn back towards, but what you are leaving behind in order to do so. If God is going east and you turn back and go west, then you are headed away from life. Don’t turn your back on God and His amazing grace. Other Christians turn towards a kind of intellectual trick that says we can live anyway we want because we are under grace. They turn grace into a license for immorality. This too is a refusal to follow God. The New Covenant has not removed the need for living out the righteousness of God. Rather, it has provided a safe platform on which we can become more and more like Jesus as His Word transforms us from the inside to the outside.
Thus verse 28 mentions acceptable service. Though some versions use the word “worship” it intends worship in the sense of everything we do to show God’s worth. What makes our life acceptable? I believe the Holy Spirit’s continual reminder in these passages of those who didn’t believe under the Old Covenant reveals it to us. Acceptable worship is to do what God says to do. It is to obey and to do so from a heart broken over its sin and overflowing with thanksgiving to God for His mercy. Acceptable worship is to walk by faith in Jesus and trusting His Word. No, not just the parts that we think He said. Jesus guaranteed that the Holy Spirit would guide the Apostles into all truth. They faithfully recorded what Jesus taught and what the Spirit taught them. We are accountable to those words.
It is also acceptable because it is done in reverence and godly fear. Why does passage end with such a fierce verse? “Our God is a consuming fire.” At Mt. Sinai, Israel was instilled with the fear of a slave towards a master. But at the cross we are instilled with the respect and healthy fear that a child should have towards their father. We should always be aware that no matter how close God draws us to His side and no matter how much He loves us, He will not put up with rebellion, unbelief, and refusal to obey. His very nature of being a consuming fire requires us to approach with understanding. In fact, it is worth contemplating that the same fire that is able to burn up all our sin and make us a refined product that is 100% pure, can also consume us in judgment. Faith is what makes the difference. So let’s fully follow Jesus. And let’s not do so as we imagine him or want him to be. Let us hear the word of the Lord and say, “Yes, Father. I hear and want to follow you!” Let's not trade an unshakable kingdom for that which cannot last, and a heavenly birthright for the temporary pleasures of sin.