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The Removal of Things that Are Shaken Hebrews 12:25-29 Grace Fellowship Church February 8, 2009 Series 3 Sermon 69 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. 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. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. Introduction The natural tendency of people, even Christians, is to refuse authority. Especially the unconverted will balk at those in positions of authority. You have heard as I have people call police officers names that are not appropriate. The sight of a uniform will cause some to become angry and rebellious. Others will speak evil of government officials and not think twice of the consequences. Some will speak evil of those in authority over them and not even consider what they are doing. This is why the Bible has to give us so many admonitions to understand and correctly honor God given authority. Our natural bent is to kick against that authority and try to do what we want instead. The highest sinful human ideal is to be captain of your own ship and do things your own way in everything that you choose. The problem with this is that God has set up authority in the world for our benefit. Starting with the building blocks of society the Lord has set up authority in the home. Children are to obey and honor their parents who are in authority over them. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands who are in authority over them. Husbands are to sacrifice themselves to honor and take care of their wives and children under the headship and authority of Christ. Families are to come under the leadership and authority of the elders of the church. The elders are to serve the flock under the headship and authority of Christ. All of us are to come under the authority of the government that is installed by God in the nation in which God has placed us. Government is to be under the authority of God Himself and a righteous government will govern according to Scripture. The reason for this is because God is the highest authority in the universe. He has set the boundaries for authority on earth. So for any one of us, whether we are children, wives, husbands, church members, elders, or government officials, to overstep the boundaries that God has set up in the world is to sin against God. It is to refuse to hear the voice of God in the world. It is turning a deaf ear to what God has said. You have many within the church today wondering whether the Bible is the work of men or might it be the work of God. The writers of the New Testament had no doubt that what they were writing and what had been written in the Old Testament was the work of God. And the true Christian will have no doubt about the Word of God either. This attack on Scripture is just another attack on the authority of God in the world. We have warnings throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews about refusing what God has said in Scripture. In Hebrews 1 the writer affirms that God has indeed spoken to us in the past by the prophets of the Old Testament Scriptures. But in these last days has spoken to us by a greater authority and that is His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ gave that message to the church and it was written down by His hand picked apostles. I want you to turn to Hebrews 2 and look with me at verses 1-4 for the first warning. 1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Now turn over to chapter 3 and look at verses 7-18. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. A refusal to hear and heed the Word of God is proof positive of unbelief. As Christians we are to submit ourselves to the Word of God and when we do not submit ourselves we are in outright rebellion against God. Because of the indwelling sin within us all the moment God speaks the war with the flesh begins. Our sinful desires rise up against God and His Word and only through the power of the Holy Spirit will we ever be able to bring ourselves in conformity to God and His Word. Left to our natural tendencies we would sink further and further into sin and ultimately destruction. God has spoken or revealed Himself in two ways. Psalm 19 gives us both ways. “The Heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows forth his handiwork. Day to day they pour forth speech and night unto night shows forth knowledge.” This is referred to as general revelation. God has revealed Himself in what He has created. But verse 3 of Psalm 19 is very telling about how human beings react to this self revelation of God in creation. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. The Apostle Paul picks up on this in Romans chapter one through three as he brings all humanity to the same dreadful point and that is dead in and enslaved to sin. What he says in Romans 1 is that although what can be known about God is evident in the creation sinful man has twisted that knowledge and made it sinful worshipping the created thing rather than the Creator. This is man’s natural state. The speech that pours forth from the handiwork of God is rejected and then man refuses to hear what the creation is screaming. But there is another more specific revelation that is called Special Revelation. This is how God has revealed Himself to sinful people in a very special way. He has taken His immeasurable glory and power and put it into human language. Listen to Psalm 19:7-11. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect , restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. This is God revealing Himself to us in the Bible and this is special or specific revelation. I want you to understand the condescension of God in giving us this special revelation. When King Solomon was dedicating the Temple in Jerusalem that the Lord allowed him to build listen to what Solomon says in 2 Chronicles 6:18. "But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built. In other words God is so big that all of the universe that He has created can not contain Him. He overflows all of His creation and now He has chosen to put His character, His glory, His revealed power into something as simple as human language. And God has done so not for His benefit but for our benefit. I think of instances in Scripture where a prophet is given a vision of the Lord and the prophets words are unable to adequately capture what their eyes have seen. In Revelation 1 the word “like” is used 8 times in describing what John saw as he was taken to Heaven and given the Book of Revelation. It was a voice like the sound of rushing waters. His feet were like burnished bronze. I wonder how long John had to think about that before he wrote it. The glory and majesty of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ was so great that John could not adequately in human language describe what His feet looked like. Imagine writing a love note to your wife and trying to describe her feet. Honey your feet are like….well feet with painted toenails.” Human language fails us. Even those with the highest gifts of eloquence and wordsmithery fail at describing the glory of God with mere words. When Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up and the train of His robe filling the temple he has to use a Hebrew word three times to try and describe what he saw. The seraphim that encircled the throne of God would repeat over and over, “Holy, holy, holy.” “Qadosh, qadosh, qadosh.” If you take the time to do a word study on the Hebrew word qadosh you will find the definition to be of course holy, sacred, without defilement, and apartness. One scholar who I think is on to something said this word is the “mysterium tremendum” or the great mystery. It is a word that we look at and it should produce reverence and awe in us. We struggle at saying what the word means because human language is inadequate in communicating the glory of God. If the heaven and the highest heavens can not contain Him then how can words? The answer is they can not. But this is how God has chosen to specially reveal Himself to us. In John 1 the Lord Jesus Christ is introduced to us as who? The Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. And John tells us that no one has seen God at any time but the Word, the Son of God, has revealed Him to us. And then the writer of Hebrews gives us chapter 1 verse 1 where the Lord has spoken fully and finally by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Understanding all of this is so important as we get to our passage today. To ignore what God has spoken is to ignore God. To ignore God is to say to the most powerful and glorious Being in all the universe that you are really the one in charge and not Him. It is in essence taking the forbidden fruit and eating it all over again. So when we get to our command in verse 25 we should be shocked that this command should have to be written to us. We should frightened at the prospect that we would even consider violating the command here. But what we are really shocked at is the warning. Look at verse 25. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. 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. There are two phrases in verse 25 that should drive us to tears and great fear. Because of the sinfulness within us all it is possible that we could do these two appalling, atrocious, evil, rebellious things. The first is in the first sentence. Look at it again with me. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. The second phrase is in the second sentence in the last part. Look at it with me. 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. First we need to ask who the speaker is? There are two locations for this speaker. Look at verse 25. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. 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. The warning sounded on earth and the warning is sounding from heaven. Verse 25 has two present tenses (happening right now) and one past tense (has already happened). Look at verse 25 closely. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. 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. The same person is speaking and warning now is the same person who spoke on earth past tense. But when was that? Specifically the warning sounded at Mt. Sinai as Moses and the children of Israel heard God audibly give the Law. But what happened? Look back at verses 18 and 19. 18 For you have not come to what 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. The reaction of the people of Israel to the voice of God when He gave them the Law was to say to God, “Do not speak to us anymore! Talk to Moses and he can tell us what You said.” And of course as you read through Old Testament history it seems to be one story after another of people refusing what the prophets of God told them to chase after their own fleshy desires. On Sinai God spoke and the mountain quaked. And God is speaking once again. Specifically He is speaking to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at verse 24 to see what is being said. 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. The voice of the blood of Abel cried out from the ground to God Genesis 4:10. But now the blood of Christ that has been sprinkled cries out with a better word. But there is more to come. Look at verse 26. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” And what we find in the next few verses should be comforting to some but very frightening to others. When God descended down to Mt. Sinai the earth trembled. The mountain spewed forth fire and smoke. There was lightening and thunder all around. The ground underneath the people trembled at the presence of the Lord. The people and Moses were so frightened by this display of the glory of God they hid themselves and yet in their sinfulness wanted to peek at the Lord. They begged God, “Don’t speak to us again!” But there is a promise in verse 26 that God’s next shaking will involve not just the earth but also the heavens. In verse 27 the writer tells us what that means. Look at verse 27. 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. This is both hope for some and fear for others. For those who have heard and heeded the Word of the Lord there is hope for eternal redemption and for vindication for the trials and persecution and suffering they have endured for the sake of Christ. For those who have held fast the faith there is great joy and anticipation as the Lord prepares to shake not only the earth but also the heavens which will remove all things that are shaken or that have been made. The old creation will be done away with and the new creation in Christ will shine forth like the sun. The old creation is a temporary thing but the new creation in Christ which includes all of His redeemed people from the beginning to the very end will not be moved when this great shaking takes place. There will be vindication for some but for some there will be great fear and judgment as for all eternity those who are shaken will experience the full wrath of God as He punishes those who have refused His Law and shunned His grace. The warnings of God’s wrath are horrible. Anyone who hears the warnings should run to Christ and to the blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Listen to Revelation 6:15-17. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said* to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Listen to Revelation 14:17-20. 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles. Listen to Hebrews 10:31. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So we have to ask ourselves a very important question this morning. When the wrath of God comes will be a part of those who are not shaken or will we be part of those who will be removed and experience for all eternity the awful wrath of God? The answer to that question is in verse 25. And that is where I would like to spend the rest of our time this morning. Look at verse 25 with me again. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. The Greek word for see in verse 25 really separates the sheep from the goats. It divides those who will not be shaken from those who will be removed. This is the very last warning of the Epistle to the Hebrews. So let’s understand exactly what the writer is telling us when he says, “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.” The word for see is a command. It is in the present tense so it means to do this now and not later. It is not a one time action but a continual action for those who would heed the warning. The command itself is very frightening. We are to see that we do not refuse him who is speaking. We already know that Him who is speaking is God speaking through the Lord Jesus Christ. And what is crying out is the blood that He shed on the cross that has now been sprinkled on the mercy seat in Heaven. When the writer uses the word see in verse 25 he is not merely saying listen to the words that are being spoken. He is saying listen with the intention of obeying. There should be within our hearing of the Word of God an attitude of humble obedience to what God has commanded. I see this in my children at times. Sometimes I will speak to them and I can tell by the look on their faces that they have pretended to hear but have not heard at all. Sometimes I can tell that they have heard but by their attitude and demeanor it is obvious that there is no happy heart ready to obey. And then there are times when I say something to them and they are so ready to obey that they hurry off to do whatever it is I say. Parents when you get that last eagerness to obey think on these things often. Our command this morning is to hear the Word of the Lord with the intention of not only hearing but also obeying what God has commanded. The blood of Christ that is speaking is screaming to the world to repent of sins and run to Christ alone for salvation. That is obedience to the Gospel call. To those who have been redeemed the call of the blood of Christ that has been sprinkled is to walk in humble obedience to the Word of God. The Apostle James has some important things to tell us about God who is speaking here. Turn over to James 1. Look starting in verse 18. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. We have been saved by God’s grace and He has called us to repentance and faith in Christ by the Word of truth. God has spoken. But that is not all that God has said. He is continually speaking and will continue to speak and those who are redeemed will hear and heed the Word in a certain way. Look at verses 19-25. 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James’ warning is clear. You can not rightly call yourself a Christian if you are merely a hearer of the Word and not obedient to the Word. Folks it is a frightening thing to hear someone whom you believed to be a Christian say to you that they know what the Bible says but they are still going to continue to violate the Word of God and do what they want to do and believe that they are eternally secure because at some point they started calling themselves a Christian. Many people are trusting in a whole lot of things other than Christ for their salvation. Maybe you are this morning. Maybe you are looking back to a time when you were a child or teenager or even a young adult and you made some sort of decision and you are banking on that decision to secure your eternity. I believe that when God calls us to Himself we most willingly and happily come but the Bible never points us to a time when we made a decision. The Bible gives us warnings like we have this morning. Christian, see that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. And that is the measuring stick for whether or not you are in the faith. Because I don’t care how many sinner’s prayers you have prayed or how many times you have been baptized or how many churches you have joined or whether or not you homeschool your children if you are not living in active obedience to Word of God by faith in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit you are not a Christian and when the Lord shakes the earth once again and also the heavens you will fall into His hands of wrath and not under His shelter of grace. God in Christ is speaking this morning. The Word of the Lord is going out. What will you do? Will you obey the Gospel for the first time and repent of your sins and turn and run to Christ Jesus and be sprinkled with His blood? Or will you remain in the hardness of your heart and continue in your sin and ultimately find yourself in a place where you are begging the rocks and the mountains to collapse on you to hide you from what can not be hidden from and that is the wrath of God. I urge you this morning as we prepare our hearts to have the Lord’s supper that you examine your own heart and life and see if you have a heart that desires to hear the Word of the Lord and obey it or if you have a stubborn unbelieving heart that desires the deceitfulness of sin. If you do, today is the day of salvation. Only God can grant repentance and faith so seek Him while He is speaking. Look to Christ and be saved from your sin and from the wrath of God that is coming. Christ is our only hope. He is our only refuge. He is our only way of salvation from the wrath of God that we all deserve because of our sin. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts Let’s pray. Lord’s Supper 1 Corinthians 11:27-28. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for [5] you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [6] 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.