Our God Is A Consuming Fire - Hebrews 12:25-29 Draft II

Welcome:

Welcome in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. All things are from Him, through Him, and to Him. To Him be glory forever.

Announcements:

Congregational Meeting Next Sunday following the service

Amazon orders for Health For Her - See GN. (Order need to be here by next Sunday)

[Maybe include?] Sunday school start time and picking up the sanctuary after worship

†CALL TO WORSHIP Hebrews 12:28-29

Pastor Austin Prince

Minister: Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken,

Congregation: let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God acceptable service with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You are the Lord; Creator, Sustainer, and the Ruler of all things. You are our Lord, the God who gave His own Son for our salvation; who has called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. Come, O God, inhabit the praises of your people. Send the Spirit that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. Receive our worship, as you receive our prayer.

†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #314

“God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”

†CONFESSION OF SIN

based on I Tim. 1:15; I Pet. 2:24

Each week we confess our sins before the Lord. We don’t want to think about sin in vague generalities or merely the presence of bad feelings in our lives. We want to specifically name the unbelief in our hearts, minds, actions and intentions with the name that God gives to them. We should not give them soft and sympathetic names but see them for what they are before a holy God—see them as sin. Of course, it is then that we can see what it is that God does with Sin through Christ. We must know that it is He that can take those specific and vile things away. We must stand before Him in humility and also in awe.

Minister: Man is humbled, and each one brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.

Congregation: Forgive us our sins, O Lord. Forgive us the sins of our youth and the sins of our age. Forgive the sins of our hearts and the sins of our hands. Forgive our secret and our whispering sins, and our presumptuous and our careless sins. Forgive the sins we have done to please ourselves, and the sins we have done to please others. Forgive us the sins that we know, and the sins that we know not. Forgive them, O Lord. Forgive them all, through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, ESV)

You may be seated

CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE Psalm 123

Elder Steven Hoffer

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

†HYMN OF PREPARATION #321

“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly”

SERMON Hebrews 12:25-29 // Do Not Refuse Him

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Blessed are you, God of all creation. You spoke in the beginning and all things came to be. You spoke, and your word came to dwell among us, full of grace and truth. Bless this place where we would hear your voice. As the word is spoken, may our ears be attuned to you. As the word is spoken, may you speak to us. Amen.

TEXT Hebrews 12:25-29

Hebrews 12:25–29 ESV

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.

AFTER SCRIPTURE

The ordinances of the Lord are sure, and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.

Intro

The book of Hebrews is a sermon that has been climbing for twelve chapters toward a summit. From the first sentence—“In these last days God has spoken to us by His Son”—the preacher has pled with us: Do not drift. Do not grow dull. Do not harden your heart. Keep listening to the voice of Jesus.

Now in these final verses of chapter 12, everything crescendos. This is the landing point of the whole sermon. And here is the final note of the argument:

“See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.”

Remember who is speaking: The radiance of God’s glory. The One who made the world and upholds it by the word of His power. The One who sat down at the Father’s right hand after making purification for sins.

Some of us hear God’s patience and mistake it for indifference. We think, “If God were displeased, something would have happened by now.” But God’s patience is not permission. His silence is not approval. Patience is mercy — and mercy is not forever.

To press this into our hearts, Hebrews gives us four movements:

A warning. A shaking. A kingdom. A fire.

Let us take them in order.

I. A SOLEMN WARNING — DO NOT REFUSE THE SON (v. 25)

Verse 25 begins:

“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.”

This is a lesser-to-greater argument.

If ignoring the voice of God at Sinai brought judgment, how much more serious is it to ignore the voice of Christ — the One greater than Moses, greater than angels, greater than priests, the One who now speaks from heaven?

The most dangerous thing you can do with the gospel is nothing. Drift is refusal.

Douglas Wilson puts it well:

“Our tendency is to assume that the New Covenant is more user-friendly and tolerant of contempt. This is precisely the opposite of what the Bible teaches.”

The New Covenant is overflowing with mercy — but that mercy makes unbelief far more serious.

God has not changed, but the light we have received has.

Rejecting Christ is worse than rejecting Moses because Christ is the climactic revelation, not because the New Covenant deity is more severe.

Illustration — The Smoke Alarm vs. the Fireman

Imagine a child ignoring a smoke alarm. Foolish, yes — but survivable.

Now imagine a child ignoring a fireman who is carrying him out of a burning house. That is fatal.

It is one thing to disregard a warning. It is another to refuse a rescuer.

Rejecting a shadow is one thing. Rejecting the substance—the Son—is another.

And yet it is possible to sit in church week after week unmoved.

And it is a more serious thing to sit in church week after week unmoved than it was for an Israelite to wander in the desert.

This warning is not meant to terrify God’s children. It is meant to wake them.

Why such seriousness? Because the world is not merely noisy — it is shaking.

II. A WORLD THAT WILL BE SHAKEN (vv. 26–27)

Verse 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.’”

Sinai shook the mountain. Zion shakes the cosmos.

This promise comes from Haggai 2. Israel had returned from exile and rebuilt the temple. But the older generation wept — it looked so small compared to Solomon’s. Their glory felt gone. Their future felt fragile.

And God responded:

“I will shake the heavens and the earth… and the desire of nations shall come.” “The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.”

Empires rise and fall. Temples rise and fall. Nations rise and fall.

Pop stars, or presidents, or jobs. All is movable. All is fragile.

Even the heavens will be rolled up like a garment.

Everything human beings build — everything — is temporary.

Ozymandias and the Myth of Permanence

Percy Shelley’s poem describes a giant statue in the desert, broken in pieces. On the pedestal:

“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

And around it — nothing but sand.

This is the destiny of every human empire. This is the future of every cultural achievement. This is the final chapter of all human glory.

This is not to discourage us from building. This isn’t fatalism. It’s to realize that, like Jesus said, anything not build on the rock will break and pass away. You must hear the voice of Christ calling you to Himself.

Snow Globe Theology

Imagine God shaking a snow globe. All the temporary things — false hopes, fragile kingdoms, sinful habits, earthly securities — are shaken loose and fall away.

What remains is what belongs to Him.

And Hebrews proclaims with joy:

“We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

So:

Do not stake your hope on things destined for collapse. Do not try to build your own permanence.

Christ alone is unshakable. Christ alone is the Rock of Ages.

“Do not refuse Him who is speaking.”

In response to this, there are two things this text calls us to do: Give thanks and to worship. First, giving thanks…

III. GRATITUDE FOR AN UNSHAKABLE KINGDOM (v. 28a)

After the thunder of warning and shaking comes a gentle command:

“Therefore let us be grateful…”

Not terrified. Not paralyzed. Not anxious. But grateful.

The Greek literally says:

“Let us have grace.”

Gratitude is not something you squeeze out of your willpower. Gratitude is grace recognized. Grace overflowing into worship.

Why gratitude?

Because you are receiving a kingdom. Not building it. Not earning it. Not negotiating for it.

You inherit it.

Not: Let us try harder or let us work up some gratitude.

But: Let us have grace and be grateful. Because gratitude is the fruit of grace.

Christians are grateful not because we woke up cheerful this morning, but because God poured grace into our veins, grace into our lungs, grace into our souls.

And this grace is lavish. It’s not thin —it’s an ocean.

We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are given power as princes and priests.

You have, right now:

– the Spirit of adoption – the power of prayer – the power of repentance – the power of sanctification – the power to fight sin and the flesh – the power of hope

Think of an appliance going berserk—a mixer tangled in its own cord, knocking things off the counter. What stops the chaos?

You unplug it from the wall.

The Holy Spirit has unplugged sin’s dominion over you. Not just forgiven the guilt, but broken the power.

The Spirit has indeed “unplugged” sin’s ruling power

This is kingly power. This is resurrection power. This is Spirit-wrought power.

Romans 8 says:

“The Spirit himself bears witness that we are children of God… and heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” (Rom. 8:14–17)

God has made you not only forgiven, not only adopted, but an heir of an eternal kingdom.

You possess an unshakable kingdom not by merit but by mercy.

Rise into gratitude.

And what kind of grace do we have? And in what amount? We have lavish grace. And what does grace do with our little selves and our weak flesh and our small talents, it grants to them more grace. It works in us to will and to do God’s good pleasure. It blesses our homes, he uses our voice in evangelism, our meager poetry into songs of worship, our small efforts into great building up of the body of Christ. Refuse to live as if you got the “short end of the stick.” Refuse to measure life by what you lack instead of what you have received.

You are drenched in grace.

“Let us have grace.” Let gratitude be your instinct and reflex. Let thanksgiving become the atmosphere you breathe.

Gratitude is the antidote to fear and complaint

When you know you are receiving a kingdom, when you know God is leading history toward glory, when you know your future is secure and your destiny is glorious, then:

– Complaint dries up – Worry loses its strength – Anxiety is challenged – Envy fades – Cynicism weakens – Worship becomes natural

So “let us have grace.” Let us be grateful. Let us live like a people who know what we have been given.

IV. LET US OFFER ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP (v. 28b)

Grace leads somewhere. It flows into something. It is not static.

It leads to worship.

If gratitude is absent, worship becomes hard. If thankfulness dries up, the songs seem heavy. If the kingdom feels small, the heart feels cold.

But grace awakens worship.

Hebrews says:

“Let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe.”

Two words shape Christian worship:

Reverence and awe.

Not terror. Not dread. But trembling joy. Festal gladness wrapped in holy wonder.

We come boldly because Christ cleanses us. We come humbly because Christ had to cleanse us.

Boldness without swagger. Confidence without arrogance.

This is why we sing hymns like Wesley’s:

“My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.”

“Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown, through Christ my own.”

Boldness is possible only because grace has made sinners into sons.

But Hebrews adds the guardrails: “acceptable worship.” Which means there is such a thing as unacceptable worship.

Cain learned that. Nadab and Abihu learned that. Israel learned that.

Acceptable worship is worship as God commands, not as we prefer.

This is the heart of the Reformed conviction called the Regulative Principle:

– We worship the true God (1st commandment). – We worship the true God in His appointed ways (2nd commandment). – We do what God commands in worship. – We do not invent what He has not commanded.

Which means:

– We read Scripture. – We preach Scripture. – We sing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. – We pray. – We confess our sins. – We gather on the Lord’s Day. – We receive the sacraments. – We rest in Christ.

We worship not as consumers but as children. Not as inventors but as recipients. Not as designers but as disciples.

Reverence. Awe. Joy. Gratitude.

This is Zion’s liturgy.

“Why is worship reverent? Because of the God we approach.”

V. OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE (v. 29)

Hebrews ends with a sentence that lands like thunder:

“For our God is a consuming fire.”

The God of the New Covenant is not less holy than the God of Sinai. He is the same consuming fire.

But here is the good news:

The fire of judgment has fallen on Christ.

The fire of propitiation has satisfied God’s wrath.

The fire of holiness now sanctifies, disciplines, and purifies God’s children.

Hebrews 12 has already told us:

“God disciplines His children for our good.” (Heb. 12:10)

So the fire is no longer against us— it is for us. It purifies without consuming. It corrects without destroying. It burns away what cannot remain, so that what is of Christ might endure.

“Our God is a consuming fire.” This is not a truth directed only at the unholy—those outside of Christ, those who embrace sin and reject salvation. We must also recognize that God is a consuming fire for His own people. The church must never approach Him casually.

Think of the difference between hearing that a neighbor has committed adultery and discovering that your own spouse has done so. The offense is the same, but the relationship changes everything. The closer the covenant bond, the more devastating the breach.

In the same way, when God speaks this word to His church—our God is a consuming fire—the covenant relationship intensifies the weight of the warning. He is a jealous God; He will not allow His people to chase after other loves. And yet, astonishingly, we are not consumed, because Christ was consumed in our place.

Still, this grace must never make us casual about our sin or sluggish in hearing His voice. If anything, it should stir us to pursue holiness with greater urgency, gratitude, and reverence.

This is why Hebrews can say:

“Boldly approach… with reverence and awe.”

The gospel does not cool God’s holiness— it brings sinners safely through it in Christ.

Examine your pride

So Hebrews urges us to consider:

– What have you taken credit for this week? – What blessings have you treated as self-earned? – Where are you walking as though life is your own and not a gift of grace? – What are you standing on that is not the foundation of Christ?

We stand because of grace. We worship because of mercy. We live because Christ bore the fire.

CONCLUSION — HEAR, HOPE, THANK, WORSHIP

The whole message of Hebrews 12 comes down to this: God is speaking—now.

Will you hear Him?

Because everything in this world is shaking. Kingdoms shake. Plans shake. Our certainties shake. But the shaking is not meant to destroy you—it is meant to detach you from what cannot last so that you may cling to what will.

And what will remain is Christ and His kingdom.

If you belong to Him, you are receiving—right now—an unshakable inheritance. Grace is not thin; it is the atmosphere you breathe, the strength in your bones. It makes gratitude possible and worship filled with humble awe. It turns wavering sinners into confident sons and daughters who can approach the throne boldly.

So do not refuse Him. Do not numb yourself to His voice. Do not anchor your hopes in things already trembling.

Lift your eyes to the One who endured the fire for you, who stands immovable when everything else gives way, who shakes the heavens and yet holds His people steady.

Hear Him. Trust Him. Thank Him. Worship Him.

†HYMN OF RESPONSE #313

“Angels, from the Realms of Glory”

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Leader: Lift up your hearts!

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!

CONFESSION OF FAITH - The Nicene Creed (p.852)

INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE

The meal which we are about to celebrate is a feast of remembrance, communion, and hope.

We come to remember that Jesus was sent into the world to assume our flesh and blood, to become God with us, that we might be redeemed. We come to have communion with this same Christ who has promised to be with us even to the end of the world.

We come in hope, believing that this bread and this cup are a pledge and a foretaste of a new heaven and a new earth, where we shall behold God—A kingdom that cannot be shaken.

In his earthly ministry Jesus praised those who provided for him, saying, I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Now here, for us, is the bread of life given; let all who hunger come and eat. Here is the fruit of the vine, poured out for us. It is for all who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his church. Let all who thirst come and drink.

Let’s pray together:

PRAYER

Congregation: Most righteous God, we remember in this meal the perfect sacrifice offered once on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world. United with Christ in his suffering, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, trusting in the power of God to triumph over evil, we wait in joyful hope for the fullness of God’s reign. Send your Holy Spirit upon us, we pray, that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless may be to us the communion of the body and blood of Christ.

Grant that, being joined together in him, we may attain to the unity of the faith and grow up in all things into Christ our Lord. And as this grain has been gathered from many fields into one loaf, and these grapes from many hills into one cup, grant, O Lord, that your whole Church may soon be gathered from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Congregation is seated.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND SHARING OF THE SUPPER

“Eat and drink.”

Mark 14:22-25

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

†OUR RESPONSE #567

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE

The Lord of peace Himself gives you peace; at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Grace Notes Reflection

God, who once shook Sinai, now speaks through His Son—and this word, this greater and final word through the Son, will bring about the shaking of all things, even heaven and earth. Anything built on human strength will crumble, and only Christ’s kingdom will remain.

The urgent call is this: do not refuse Him who is speaking. Instead, receive the great mercy of the One who speaks to you. Receive not an idea or an abstraction—not the law’s loud thunder but the voice of the Son, the Substance rather than the shadow. Receive Christ, and receive Him with reverence and awe, for that is the only fitting response. God is still a consuming fire—not to destroy His children, but to purify them.

This text presses us to ask: What am I clinging to that will not last? Is His voice the one I cling to today? Is there anywhere I am refusing to hear Him?