A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

Hebrews 12:25-29

We don’t have to look far to realize we live in a world that is shaking.

Every time you turn on the news, you see evidence of instability.

Israel has been locked in conflict with Hamas, and the Middle East still is on the edge of wider war.

Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine, bringing ripple effects across Europe and beyond.

Closer to home, our own nation feels unstable.

Political violence is on the rise, protests fill the streets, and division runs deeper than most of us can remember ever before.

The economy feels fragile, values are shifting, and people are left wondering, “What can we trust? What will last?”

But none of this should surprise us.

The Bible tells us that God allows shaking in this world—not to destroy His people, but to remind us what is permanent and what is passing.

Hebrews 12 draws us back to Sinai, when God’s voice shook the very earth.

Now we are told His voice will once again shake heaven and earth—not just kingdoms and economies, but the created order itself.

The things that can be shaken will fall away.

The things that cannot be shaken will stand.

And here is the good news for us tonight: in Christ, we belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

When the world trembles, God’s Word stands.

When nations collapse, God’s kingdom remains.

When everything else feels uncertain, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So the question Hebrews puts before us is this: how will we respond when God shakes this world.

Will we ignore His voice and cling to what will crumble, or will we hear His voice, hold to His kingdom, and worship Him with reverence and godly fear.

That is the call of our passage tonight: a warning we must heed, a shaking we must expect, and a worship we must offer.

When the world shakes, people instinctively look for something solid.

Some turn to politics, hoping that the right leaders will fix the chaos.

Others turn to money, thinking financial security will steady their lives.

Still others turn inward, trusting their own wisdom or strength.

But Hebrews tells us that stability doesn’t come from those things.

It comes from hearing and obeying the voice of God.

The first truth we see in this passage is a clear and urgent warning.

I. The Warning We Must Heed

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

The first truth we see in this passage is a clear and urgent warning.

Hebrews says, “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.”

Warnings in Scripture are God’s gracious stop signs on the road of life.

They are not meant to rob us of joy but to rescue us from danger.

Think about a parent calling out to a child running toward the street.

The warning is not harshness or being mean—it is a show of love.

But if the child refuses the voice of the parent, the consequences are tragic.

In the same way, God’s warning here is not casual advice.

It is a life-or-death matter.

That leads us to see first of all …

A. The Seriousness Of The Warning

To refuse God’s voice is to invite disaster.

The writer of Hebrews takes us back to Israel’s history as a reminder.

When God spoke through Moses at Sinai, those who hardened their hearts paid dearly for it.

Numbers 14 tells us that when Israel refused to believe God and rebelled, an entire generation perished in the wilderness.

If that was the result of rejecting an earthly messenger, how much greater the danger of rejecting the heavenly voice of Christ Himself.

Hebrews 2:3 asks,

Hebrews 2:3 KJV

3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Notice that word escape.

It means there is no back door, no loophole, no alternative route if we refuse God’s call.

This is not a warning about losing temporary blessings—it is about rejecting the only hope of eternal life.

It is sobering to realize that every time the Word of God is opened, we are not dealing with human opinions but with the voice of God Himself.

That means our response matters.

Every sermon heard, every passage read, every prompting of the Spirit either softens our hearts toward Him or hardens them against Him.

No one can remain neutral.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “The same sun which melts wax hardens clay.”

God’s Word will either melt your heart in obedience or harden it in rebellion.

And the warning of Hebrews is clear: refusing His voice is not just a mistake—it is spiritual suicide.

B. The Source Of The Warning

The voice we are called to heed is not an earthly messenger but the risen Christ who speaks from heaven.

At Sinai, God’s voice thundered from the mountain, but now we have His voice through His Son.

Matthew 17:5 tells us,

Matthew 17:5 KJV

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

God the Father was lifting Christ’s authority above all other voices.

He was telling us, “This is who you need to follow!”

Hear ye Him!

And this Bible in our hands is the very Word of God…we need to hear God and take head!

When Jesus speaks through His Word, His people must listen with submission, not negotiation.

why is that so important?

Because there is much at stake!

C. The Stakes Of The Warning

To refuse Christ’s voice is to face judgment, but to receive it is to enter God’s kingdom.

There is no middle ground between those who hear and those who refuse.

John 12:48 warns that the word Christ has spoken will judge in the last day.

John 12:48 KJV

48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Every time you hear the Word preached, you are either softening your heart to God’s voice or hardening it against Him.

In 1980, Mount St. Helens gave repeated warnings before its eruption.

Scientists and officials urged people to leave, but many ignored the call.

When the mountain blew, everything in its path was destroyed.

In the same way, God’s Word warns us today—not to harm us, but to save us.

To ignore His voice is to perish.

To heed His voice is to live.

The warning is serious, but it leads to the reason behind it.

Why should we take God’s voice so seriously.

Because His voice does not only warn—it shakes everything that can be shaken.

II. The Shaking We Must Expect

26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

God’s voice not only warns—it shakes everything that man thinks is secure.

From the beginning of Scripture, when God speaks, creation trembles.

At Sinai His voice thundered so powerfully that the mountain quaked and the people begged for it to stop.

That was not just a dramatic moment in history—it was a preview.

Hebrews reminds us that God has promised an even greater shaking still to come.

What happened at Sinai was only the beginning.

That brings us to the prophecy of this shaking.

A. The Prophecy Of The Shaking

Verse 26 recalls God’s voice at Sinai that shook the mountain, but points to an even greater shaking still to come.

Haggai 2:6 says,

Haggai 2:6 KJV

6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

This reminds us that what we see in our world today is only a preview of what God has promised.

Do not be surprised when the world trembles—God told us it would happen.

But there is a purpose to it…it is for a reason!

B. The Purpose Of The Shaking

God does not shake the world randomly, but intentionally.

Verse 27 explains that He removes the things that can be shaken, “as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”

In other words, the temporary needs to fall away so the eternal may be revealed.

1 Corinthians 3:13 tells us that fire will test every man’s work of what sort it is.

1 Corinthians 3:13 KJV

13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Trials and shakings are God’s way of sifting our priorities and exposing what truly lasts.

Let every shaking drive you to cling to what is eternal, not what is earthly.

C. The Permanence After The Shaking

When the shaking is over, what is rooted in Christ will remain unshaken.

Colossians 2:7 says,

Colossians 2:7 KJV

7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Only what is rooted and built up in Him will be able to stand.

It is so important that we not neglect our time with God.

God allows the unstable things of this life to be stripped away so that our hope rests only on Christ.

Build your life on Christ, because everything else is temporary.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, countless buildings crumbled to the ground.

But those built on stronger foundations withstood the tremors.

The quake revealed what was temporary and what was solid.

In the same way, God’s shaking reveals whether our lives are built on sand or on the Rock of Christ.

This is true of the trials that we experience in this life as well.

When trials come, it shakes us to our core.

But we find that the frivolous falls away, and that which truly matters stands firm.

If the shaking of God is certain, then the question becomes: how should we respond.

Hebrews answers that by pointing us to worship—not shallow, casual worship, but reverent worship that is rooted in grace and gratitude.

III. The Worship We Must Offer

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

When God shakes the world, the right response is not fear or panic, but grateful, reverent worship.

Notice four things in these two verses:

Look first at:

A. The Gift Of The Kingdom

Verse 28 reminds us that “we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved.”

This is not a future possibility but a present reality for every believer in Christ.

Notice the word “receiving.”

It is both now and not yet — we already share in its blessings, and yet we look forward to its fullness.

Unlike the kingdoms of men, this kingdom is not built on fragile foundations of wealth, power, or human achievement.

Empires rise and fall.

Nations crumble.

Even our own lives are fragile and temporary.

But God’s kingdom is eternal, unshakable, and indestructible.

Daniel saw this truth when he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2.

All the kingdoms of men were like fragile metals that would be crushed, but the kingdom of God was a stone cut without hands that became a mountain filling the whole earth.

This is the kingdom that Christ has given to His people.

Luke 12:32 says,

Luke 12:32 KJV

32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

That means God delights to give us what we could never earn.

It is not by our striving but by His grace that we inherit this kingdom.

And because the kingdom is His gift, no enemy can take it from us.

Satan cannot destroy it.

Death cannot end it.

Time cannot wear it out.

This is why Paul could say in Philippians 3:20,

Philippians 3:20 KJV

20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

We are already citizens of heaven, even while we live on earth.

So live like citizens of heaven, not captives of earth.

When the stock market shakes, when governments collapse, when health fails, when the world trembles, remember that your citizenship is in a kingdom that cannot be moved.

And what a gift that is!

It is the foundation for our worship — we bow before the King who has given us His eternal, unshakable kingdom.

The Second thing we ought to notice here is:

B. The Grace To Serve

The text says, “Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably.”

Grace is not just what saves us; it is what enables us to serve.

Philippians 2:13 teaches,

Philippians 2:13 KJV

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Without grace, our service would never be acceptable to a holy God.

Ask for grace before you attempt to serve, because God’s work must be done in God’s strength.

But He gives us what we need to do what He wants us to do.

The third thing we should pay attention to here is:

C. The Gravity Of Worship

We are to serve God in our worship “with reverence and godly fear.”

Reverence means holy awe, and godly fear means deep respect for who God is.

Psalm 89:7 declares,

Psalm 89:7 KJV

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

Worship is not casual entertainment—it is a sacred encounter with the living God.

Why? Because the last thing we need to look at here is:

D. The God Who Is Fire

Verse 29 concludes, “For our God is a consuming fire.”

This is not a different God from the Old Testament—it is the same holy God, jealous for His glory.

Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “

Deuteronomy 4:24 KJV

24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

He burns away what is false and purifies what is real.

Worship must always remember that the God we approach is holy, not tame.

A.W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Low thoughts of God lead to light worship of God.

But when we see Him as consuming fire, our worship is marked by reverence, gratitude, and awe.

In the Old Testament, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord, and they were consumed (Leviticus 10:1–2).

They thought they could worship God on their own terms.

God reminded Israel that true worship must always be on His terms, not ours.

Worship that pleases God is worship that honors His holiness.

The author of Hebrews ends this section with worship because that is the only proper response to the God who shakes heaven and earth.

So the question remains: when the world trembles, will we tremble in fear, or will we bow in reverence before the God who gives us a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Conclusion

The message of Hebrews 12:25–29 is very important.

First, we have a warning we must heed: do not refuse Him who speaks from heaven.

Second, we have a shaking we must expect: God will remove what is temporary so that only what is eternal remains.

Third, we have a worship we must offer: grateful, reverent service to our God who is a consuming fire.

When everything around us trembles—nations, economies, and even personal security—God is showing us what really lasts.

The kingdoms of this world rise and fall, but His kingdom endures forever.

The voices of this world are loud, but only one voice matters—the voice of God speaking through His Son.

The pleasures of this world fade, but worship that flows from grace and reverence remains.

C.T. Studd once wrote, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

That is what Hebrews is telling us here.

Everything else will burn away in the shaking, but what is rooted in Christ will endure.

In 2011, a massive earthquake struck Japan, causing buildings to collapse and the ground to split apart.

But when the dust settled, one village remained standing because its homes had been built on deeper, stronger foundations.

The quake did not create strength—it revealed it.

In the same way, the shakings of this world reveal whether we are built on Christ or on something that cannot last.

Tonight, the Lord calls us to hear His voice, to cling to His kingdom, and to worship Him with reverence and awe.

Do not refuse Him who speaks.

Do not cling to what will crumble.

Instead, receive the grace He gives, live with gratitude, and worship the God who is both Father and consuming fire.

When the shaking comes—and it surely will—you will find that in Christ, you cannot be shaken.