An Unshakable Kingdom (RTS-DC Convocation)
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· 42 viewsEvery facet of the Christian life is to be dominated by the reality of heaven.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Every facet of the Christian is to be dominated by the reality of heaven.
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. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 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. 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.
Sugar substitutes have been on the market for a long time. Back when I was a kid, the only sugar substitute option you had was Sweet-N-Low. But the pink stuff not only had a nasty aftertaste. It had saccharin in it. And the label on the package said that saccharin had been shown to cause cancer in lab animals. Then they developed Equal. Then, after Equal came Splenda. Next on the market came my sugar substitute of choice, a Stevia and Monk Fruit blend.
Here’s what happens to people like me who use this stuff for years on end. You lose your taste for sugar because the substitute starts to taste like the real thing. I’ve been using a sugar substitute in my coffee for so long, that if I have sugar in my coffee these days I can’t drink it. It doesn’t taste right. So the substitute has completely overtaken the real substance.
Here’s the deal. What we see in this passage is the ongoing concern of this Pastor that his people reject the substitute shadow of old covenant religion, and completely embrace their better new covenant reality. They had been living so long with the substitute shadow, than when real substance came it was hard for them to let go of the substitute. The substitute and the shadow is not better than the substance and reality. No matter how much Stevia/Monk Fruit sweetener I consume, sugar still tastes better. I can fool myself as much as I want, but it doesn’t change the fact.
The life situation of the people to whom this letter is addressed are being tempted to go back under the rules and regulations of the old covenant, the regulations for animal sacrifices and for worship, that their people had practiced for over 1,000 years. Now, in Jesus Christ, the reality has come. The shadow and substitute is no longer valid. The Pastor said in 8:13 that
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
God makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. They have tasted the reality. They need to throw out their Stevia or Splenda, and enjoy the taste of sugar. Here’s the problem. This sugar they’re supposed to be enjoying doesn’t always taste so sweet. Following Jesus is costly. They are catching hell for their life of faith.
And there is this pattern that the Pastor follows in his word of exhortation to the Hebrews. Every time he talks about how much better it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, how much better it is to be a part of the new covenant community, he follows it up with warning about how much worse it is if you reject Jesus.
That same pattern is right here in this passage. He has given us these pictures of the heavenly reality throughout the letter. And vv. 18-24 can be described as the climax of this heavenly picture he’s been painting. He tells them that life in God’s kingdom is lived in his presence, and it’s not a life of fear.
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. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 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.
So, your lives together brothers and sisters, are lives of no fear and festive joy.
Now right after he paints the last picture of the glorious heavenly reality comes the last warning in the letter. Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem is far better than Mount Sinai where the law was given. So if the people who were gathered at Mt. Sinai did not escape condemnation and judgement when they rejected God’s divine message back then, what do you think it’ll be like if we reject the better word?
So on the heels of no fear and festive joy are these three things. The no fear and festive joy life in God’s kingdom also means No Faking It. It means being Fixed on the Future. And it means that God’s Favor calls us to an attitude of gratitude.
No Faking It
No Faking It
In v. 25 he says see, or take care...
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.
I love what he’s doing, and I think that the Hebrews would’ve picked up on it. In the last verse of our text, v. 29 he quotes from Deuteronomy 4:24 which says,
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
In Deut 4:20-24, Moses is speaking to the Israelites who are about to cross over the Jordan river and take possession of the land that God promised to give them. Moses recounts for them the reality that the Lord had delivered them out of the iron furnace of Egypt and was going to give them possession of this good land. God had promised to dwell with his people in that place. Then Moses says in Deut4.23
23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.
Now the Pastor follows that same pattern of presenting the Lord’s glorious deliverance for them. Then he says, you also better take care. God is no joke.
There’s no faking it because you can’t fool God. You’d better not refuse the One who is speaking. Well, what does it look like to refuse or reject the One who is speaking? It can be very subtle. That’s the reason I use the word ‘fake’. All of the warnings in Hebrews are particularly directed toward having an outward appearance of faith, but an inward rejection of Christ; to confess Christ with your mouth but not believe in your heart.
Let me say this, not as new news for you, but for clarity. No liturgical practices or acts of service make us right with God. It’s not my self-sacrifice, it’s not my charity, it’s not my Bible reading, or my giving to the poor, or my decision not to use profanity any more, or my modest dress, or my friendliness, or any other law I can come up with that makes me good with God. I am right with God by one way and one way alone. Only by the sacrificial blood of Jesus covering my sins, washing them away. I come by the blood. Or, as the Pastor says in v. 24, we’ve come to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
The questions is, what’s the condition of our hearts. I say this to you in this seminary setting, because guess what? Seminarians can fake it too! We can deceive ourselves into living like growing in our knowledge of the theological subjects we study is by default commensurate with growing in our love for God and neighbor. I was a student here from 2000-2006. Do you know what drew me here? Yes, Reformed theology. But it was this phrase. “A Mind for Truth. A Heart for God.” I said, “that’s where I want to study to prepare for ministry.” I want to study at a place that’s serious about the Christian mind because it’s serious about cultivating the heart in love and devotion to God. Brothers and sisters, are we finding our hearts shaped more and more by the power of the indwelling Spirit to obedience to Christ and his Kingdom?
Fixed on the Future
Fixed on the Future
In other words, are we living now with our eyes firmly fixed on the future? Israel at Mt. Sinai gave lip service in response to God’s word. God’s voice was so powerful at Sinai they begged that no further messages be spoken to them. The same verb that’s translated as ‘beg’ in v. 19 is translated as ‘refuse’ in v. 25. The use of this word in v. 19 to indicate the people’s urgent request that God not speak to them directly and his re-use of it in v. 25 to warn against rejecting God’s message highlights the fact that Israel’s urgent request eventually morphed into outright rejection of the Lord. Why did they reject the Lord? Because the dominant factor in how they assessed life was their current condition. How quickly did their rejoicing over being delivered from Egypt turn into grumbling and complaining? There’s a food problem and they say, “Moses you brought us out here to die.” They get to the promised land and Moses sends spies in to spy out the land. They came back after 40 days and said, “we were like grasshoppers compared to the people of the land.” Then they said, “It would’ve been better for us to die in Egypt or in the wilderness. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land so we can die by the sword? Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt” (Num. 14:2-4).
The message is, don’t have that kind of rebellion define y’all. Life in God’s kingdom is dominated by this heavenly reality.
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 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.
That means we are to have a faith that is firmly fixed on the future. It doesn’t mean that we live in denial of the problems and issues you’re facing right now. It means that we understand those things to be temporary; things that will be removed and done away with.
Look at what he says in vv. 26-7…
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.
He borrows words from the prophet Haggai,
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.
He’s saying, you’ve got to get your mind wrapped around what’s real. When God said, “yet once more” he was making it clear that he’s going to shake up this whole deal. He’s going shake up the entire creation. You’ve got to live now with your faith fixed on this future hope because God is not content to let his creation continue forever dominated by sin and depravity. When God created the world he pronounced a benediction. He proclaimed a blessing. He looked at all that he had made and saw that it was very good.
Why do we press into this broken world with the priorities of the kingdom? Why do we commit to and strive to be on mission representing the King and the ways of his kingdom? Why to we apply his word to bring healing and hope in a messed up world? Is it because we think the road is going to be smooth and easy? Is it because we think we’re not going to face resistance and conflict? No. It’s because our eyes are firmly fixed on the future and we know that our King is not content to let his creation continue forever dominated by sin and depravity. We know that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
So the Pastor reminds us that the world as it is is not the final chapter. There is going to be a final doing away with all of the mess. Hughes:
[T]his final shaking of both heaven and earth is necessary for the purging and eradication from the universe of all that is hostile to God and his will.
Some things are going to be shaken and removed, and some things are not. What’s the purpose of God’s shaking up the world? He says he’s going to remove the things that are shaken in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Some things aren’t going to get jacked up by God. The things that cannot be shaken, the things that remain are those things which are connected to the redemption that Jesus Christ brings.
God’s Favor
God’s Favor
It’s only by God’s grace that you can have that perspective. The last ‘f’ is God’s favor. It’s only by receiving God’s unmerited favor that you can live now fixed on this future promise.
Here’s another pattern we see in Hebrews. Every time the Pastor issues a warning, he doesn’t leave them down in the dumps, feeling miserable. He always ends the warning with an encouraging word. He believes that their faith in Christ is genuine. So he believes that they’re going to respond to God’s word. He believes that they’re not going to turn away from God, but that that they’re going to turn away from their sin.
So he says, what we’re called to do is have an attitude of gratitude because God’s favor enables us to live a life of worship in his presence. The things that cannot be shaken will remain. Therefore, he says in v. 28-29
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.
Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This is an exhortation to hold on to the grace of God because we’re dependent on it! Here’s the idea. Christians are those who are by grace receiving an unshakable kingdom. So, let’s hold on to that grace because we’re dependent on it.
Having a faith that is fixed on the assurance of God’s future promise makes a difference in the here and now because people who have that faith are receiving right now the unshakable kingdom of God.
To [Jesus] the kingdom exists there, where not merely God is supreme, for that is true at all times and under all circumstances, but where God supernaturally carries through his supremacy against all opposing powers and brings man to the willing recognition of the same.[1]
[1]Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1958), 50.
This is the kingdom we’re receiving. The supernatural work of God carrying through his supremacy against the forces that oppose it! Notice this. The writer doesn’t say that since we are building the kingdom of God, let us hold on to grace, or let us be grateful. We can be tempted to think that we’re out there working for the Lord, helping him build his kingdom. The Pastor says, you ain’t building nothing. God is the one who is building his kingdom. You’re just a debtor to grace because you get the blessing of receiving the kingdom now. That’s why it’s an unshakable kingdom. It’s not dependent upon you.
When Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples, right before he predicts Peter’s denial he says to them
28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, 29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
My Father assigned me a kingdom, Jesus says to his disciples. And I’m assigning it to you so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.
And the imagery there Jesus is using is from Daniel 7:13-14 where Daniel says,
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This is the kingdom we have received family. The one that will never be destroyed. Where all peoples, nations, and languages will serve the king. May he be pleased to let us come along for the ride as he advances it in our day!
