Hebrews 12:18-29 “Unshakable”

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How Jesus is greater than anyone or anything else.

And today we come to the powerful conclusion of the sermon.

Yes, there's one more chapter next week and there is great stuff in there.

But it is more of a P.S. than part of the main argument of the written sermon.

And what you'll see this morning is that the writer gets a bit fired up.

I'll be honest with you, I probably will too.

I've been looking forward to this particular passage since sometime last year when I was planning this sermon series.

And that's just fair warning to you that I'm pretty excited about it.

I told you last week, I'm warning you again.

Just reading it here in a moment should get your heart pumping, okay?

Remember where we are.

We're running by faith in things that we can't see with our eyes yet.

But we're enduring because we're looking to Jesus.

And then we pick up reading at verse 18 of chapter 12.

Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said,

And I tremble with fear.

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,

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,

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,

and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

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.

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.

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.

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,

for our God is a consuming fire.

This is the word of God.

Let's ask for his help.

God, we do so need your help.

God, we need you to open our eyes this morning that we would see wonderful things in your word.

Not just that.

God, you know that we need you to change us inside out.

Don't just help us to see and know things.

Help us to grasp with the depths of our being the wonders of who you are and how you love us.

Make us new people.

Bring us into new relationship with you today.

By your word, by your spirit.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I brought an object lesson for us this morning.

It's not real pretty.

A lot of dirt.

I also have a helper for us.

Charlotte is going to come up and help me a little bit.

Because you see, you get this ball of dirt.

And, well, there's all sorts of things in there.

But show us what happens when you shake it.

Charlotte's really strong.

So she's going to shake it up for us a little bit.

Yeah?

Shake it harder?

Really, really hard?

Oh, man.

There's a lot of stuff coming off of that, isn't there?

Okay.

Hold on.

Let me see.

Let's get it out and see.

Ooh.

What's all that stuff that came off of it?

What do you see in there?

Dirt and leaves.

Dirt and leaves and sticks just kind of hanging.

What's that?

Play-Doh.

Ugh.

Play-Doh just kind of chunking up.

What color is the Play-Doh?

Green and purple.

Green and purple.

Ugh.

But you shake it.

And the harder you shake it and you kind of beat it around a little bit,

it just kind of breaks off all over the place, doesn't it?

It's not really sticking together anymore.

I tell you what.

That's a lot of Play-Doh.

Let me clean it up for you before I give it to you, okay?

Brought this towel in here to finish the job because Play-Doh is kind of messy.

But hold on.

What's that?

What's that under all the Play-Doh?

A rock?

A rock.

Huh.

There's all sorts of stuff in that big ball of dirt, wasn't there?

Okay.

I tell you what.

I'm going to give you this rock to keep with you during the sermon, okay?

And what I want you to do is I want you to keep shaking it while I'm preaching, okay?

Because I think if you just keep shaking it enough, stuff will keep breaking off and falling all over.

I want you to see if it disappears like all that other stuff, okay?

Can you keep the rock for me?

You keep the rock and just shake it for us and we'll check back in and see how it's going, okay?

Thank you, Charlotte.

She'll come back up in just a minute.

We'll check in on the rock.

I can still feel my hands shaking as I tried to grip a bat walking to the plate in the high school state championship baseball game.

I was usually really confident.

I played a lot of baseball and my whole life had been that.

But all of a sudden, this was different.

The guy was throwing like 90 miles an hour.

Never seen that.

I didn't know if I could keep up with that.

To be honest, I'd never tried.

And if I didn't, we might lose.

And what would that say for me?

I'd be exposed as not good enough.

I can still remember those same hands shaking, sweating, nervous as I prepared to propose to my wife years later.

I was pretty sure that she liked me.

I mean, I'd been a pretty good boyfriend, I thought.

But she was so amazing.

I mean, what if she finally wised up in that moment and realized how far she was out of my league?

And what if the person who knew me best, rather than pulling me in, pushed me away?

That was still a possibility.

That was scary.

Many of us, many days, just kind of coast through life without shaking and trembling.

Maybe you're used to living that way.

But at the same time, we're in an unstable world, aren't we?

Maybe there's some scary experiences that you're going through or that you see around you.

Maybe it's the need to prove ourselves worthy that can all of a sudden make us shake when we don't see it coming.

Or when the bar is suddenly set really high.

We are especially shaken when all of a sudden we encounter the real God.

This passage opens by contrasting two ways of relating to God.

That's really what the verbs that say you have come or you have not come, that's what they mean.

How do you relate to God?

The first way is represented by the mountain you can touch, Mount Sinai,

where the Ten Commandments were given to God's people.

Let me read you just a bit of the background

of this passage out of Exodus 19.

This is right after God brings his people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea

and they come to the foot of Mount Sinai where God tells Moses,

I'm going to meet you there.

Here's what it looks like when he does.

There were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain

and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God

and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

Now just get this picture.

Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke

because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln

and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

The creation is shaking.

As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder,

Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder.

Then in chapter 20,

when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning

and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking,

the people were afraid.

Yes, can you understand?

And they trembled and they stood far off

and said to Moses,

you speak to us and we'll listen,

but don't let God speak to us lest we die.

The people stood far off

while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

You see what was going on?

Suddenly people who had felt pretty good about themselves most of the time

a leader who had just stood toe to toe

with the most powerful people in the world,

performing signs and wonders before them.

All of a sudden they are shaking and trembling in fear.

Hebrews highlights seven aspects

of this way of relating to or worshiping God

right here really fast.

The physical mountain that they were kept from touching.

A blazing fire that keeps them back.

Darkness that seems to weigh on them.

Gloom.

That's the spirit they feel.

The storm.

The thunder worse than you've heard in summers in Alabama, I'm sure.

A trumpet blast that is loud and startling.

A frightening voice.

A frightening voice.

So frightening it leads people to beg not to hear it again.

Everyone is shaken.

Terrified.

Even their mediator, their leader, Moses.

The emphasis as I read it,

it's on the people being kept at a distance.

Far off, right?

Far off, out of fear and for their own protection.

Now to be fair to Moses and the Israelites,

they're not wrong about their distance from God's holiness, are they?

God himself is the one who says,

any man or beast who touches the mountain will be killed.

Would you stay far off?

Just to be safe.

Further, being shaken to the core is what tends to happen to people in the Bible

when they encounter God.

I mean, even as righteous a guy as Job,

he was a pretty holy guy,

but he begins to see God for who he is

and he feels small and despises himself

and repents in dust and ashes.

The great prophet Isaiah sees God high and lifted up

and what does he say?

Woe is me!

Unclean!

I'm unclean!

What about the apostle Peter?

Pretty great guy.

He pleads in desperation.

Depart from me.

I'm a sinful man.

That's what happens to even the best of us

when we encounter a holy, holy, holy God.

Someone has to intervene between us and him.

Get him away.

I can't be near him.

In this case, it's Moses.

And he's trembling himself, isn't he?

He's the representative.

See, many of us navigate life

based on performing well enough to measure up.

And then we encounter the holiness of God

and we're shaken.

There's no Play-Doh exterior that holds on in the shaking.

The dirt and the sticks, they don't cling anymore.

All of a sudden, the things that seemed pretty decent start falling off.

And many of us hate that feeling so much.

Either consciously or subconsciously,

we start to relate to God the way these people did at Sinai.

How's that?

Keep your distance, right?

It's safer, really, just to observe church every once in a while.

It's safer, really, just to know some things about Jesus

and to talk about praying.

That feels safe.

It's safer, isn't it, just to bring God up

when we've been doing well or feeling spiritual lately.

So, now maybe I can talk about God.

After all, if it's based on my performance,

deep down, I know that I don't measure up.

I'm finally faced with something harder

than a 90-mile-an-hour fastball.

The majesty of the Creator.

The holiness of the lawgiver.

The justice of the judge.

And I start to get the sense

that the one who knows me best

wants me to keep my distance.

Mostly wants me to know that he's way out of my league.

I'm unworthy of being with him.

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

Charlotte, you still shaking?

Yeah.

Okay, she's working on it.

If you can relate to any of those feelings,

a feeling like God might want you to stay far off,

that you're so unworthy of him

and he's so far beyond you,

you may have even heard us say some of those things this morning

because they're not untrue, are they?

Not entirely.

But God actually wants to change those feelings for you today.

He wants you to experience him very differently.

See, Hebrews says you have not come to that mountain.

In other words, that is not the relationship

that you have with God,

that he desires for you to experience with him.

The Greek says it actually emphasizes this.

The very first word of this whole section is not you have come.

Verse 18, not you have come.

Verse 22, but on the contrary,

you have come.

Where?

To Mount Zion.

Now, maybe that in itself doesn't mean a lot to you.

But we're going to get a seven-point description

of this other way of relating to God

that is entirely in contrast with the first.

What is the feel, the atmosphere,

the experience of coming to this mountain?

Well, it is the heavenly city.

Not merely the created earthly one you touch here,

but the place that God made for his people

to find peace and rest forever.

However, countless angels are there

in what can only be understood

as the most exhilarating party

that you have ever been to.

That's what festal gathering means.

We don't use those words.

It means they are in joyful celebration

all over this mountain

with the assembly,

the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven.

Now, Jesus is often referred to as the firstborn,

the one who receives the inheritance,

who leads the next generations.

But now, on the mountain,

it's the whole assembly of his people

who get that treatment

because their names are written in heaven.

They're heirs to the kingdom, if you will.

This is from earlier in the chapter,

the cloud of witnesses that has gone before us, right?

They are there rejoicing with the angels,

celebrating all on the mountain.

And then, and then incredibly,

who else is at your party?

There's God himself.

God himself is there,

the judge of all.

Now, that's a turn, isn't it?

How does that fit with all this good news

and celebrating that's going on?

The judge has shown up to ruin the whole thing.

This is our great fear, right?

Judgment.

Shaking.

I'm gonna fall apart.

I'll be ruined.

Except,

except that in this case,

God is here indeed as the judge

who will set all things right

and yet,

we are safe

because the people there

are spirits of the righteous

made perfect.

So, there's nothing

for the judge to hold against them,

to hold against us.

How can that possibly be?

The holy judge is there.

This must be the group

that finally got it all right,

got it together

and performed well enough

to impress the judge.

Is that what happened?

No, you know better than that.

You've read Hebrews.

That's not what's happened.

But before we get to the next two things,

I wanna recognize the tension here.

This is the same God.

He's there in judgment.

Majestic.

Holy.

Just.

There's on this mountain too

fire,

lightning,

thunder.

And yet,

what's the atmosphere?

The atmosphere,

even in spite of that,

there's joy over gloom.

There is wild celebration

instead of darkness.

The people are actually

right there

with the judge,

aren't they?

Instead of far away from him.

What is going on?

How is that possible?

There's a greater mediator here

on this mountain.

Verse 24.

Jesus is there.

The mediator of a new covenant.

In other words,

the representative

who did not tremble

or shake

before the presence

of the holy God,

but walked,

bearing our sin

into the holy place

to take God's wrath

towards sin

upon himself.

Right?

And then he rose

to be our living representative

in the holy place

because he brings us

into a new relationship

with God.

He,

Jesus,

has hushed

the law's loud thunder.

He has quenched

Mount Sinai's flame

toward us

because he took

that wrath

in its fearsome fullness

upon himself.

He has washed us

with his blood.

He has brought us

nigh to God.

Amen?

And he does that,

of course,

by his blood.

His blood is there.

The sprinkled blood

that speaks

a better word

than the blood

of Abel.

Interesting.

God told Cain

when he killed

his brother Abel

that the blood

of his brother

cried out to God

from the ground.

It cried out

for justice

upon Cain.

God told Cain

that he would

certainly be cursed

for shedding

his brother's blood.

What word

does the blood

of Jesus

speak?

Father,

forgive

them.

Mercy

in place

of judgment.

Meaning

that Jesus

bears the curse

so that not only

the soldiers

who nailed him

to the cross

but did not know

what they were doing

but also

we whose sins

held him there

on the cross

would get what?

Blessing

instead of curse.

A better word?

You like that one better?

Amen?

Blessing,

mercy,

forgiveness

is what his blood

speaks to us.

Are you surprised

at this point

in Hebrews

that Jesus

is greater than?

That Jesus

is better?

I hope

you're not

missing that message.

Are you surprised

that it is Jesus

who makes

all the difference

at how we relate

to God?

See,

that's what happens.

The tenor of things

on this mountain

is not this fearful

distance from God

but this joyful

nearness

to him.

you've come

to the mountain

into the city

where God

himself dwells

and you've come

there through the blood

of the eternal

son of God.

No wonder

there's a party

going on,

right?

Who else

would you want

to be with?

This is what

you were made for.

Joyful nearness

to God

and you're

invited in.

God issues

that invitation

to this party.

But there's a warning.

Verse 25.

See that you

do not refuse

him

who is speaking

in Hebrews.

God speaks.

Remember the sermon

started

by reminding us

that in these last days

he has spoken

to us how?

By his son.

That's his great word,

his final invitation.

See that you

don't refuse it

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.

God then promises

to shake

not only the earth

but also

the heavens

in that great day

still to come.

there's going

to be a great

shaking

and only

the things

that can't

be shaken

will remain.

You see

what that means?

It means

friend

if you have

never

trusted

Jesus

run today

to the one

who is

unshakable

and fix

your hope

to him.

He is the

only safe

place.

None of us

measures up

on our own

and yet

you don't have

to run away

from God

you can run

to Jesus

and he brings

you near

to God

safely

so you just

say Jesus

rescue me

Jesus

anchor me

Jesus

hold me

and he will

he will.

Maybe you've

called yourself

a Christian

for a long

time

and you've

been living

distant

from God

for just

as long.

You've been

right there

kind of at the

foot of Mount

Sinai

you know a lot

of good

things that

God's people

are supposed

to do

and you figure

you'll just

try to do

most of them.

You say

you've trusted

Jesus

but you live

as though

you have to

tiptoe

around God

to avoid

his gaze

most of the

time

only talk

to him

when you've

been on

your best

behavior

lately.

Don't

refuse

him

who is

speaking

don't

stay at

a distance

when he

is urging

you

to draw

near.

Perhaps

it's because

you're thinking

that Jesus

is for

after you

die

when you

actually need

him while

you live.

Maybe

you're

realizing

right now

Jesus

for you

has been

a moral

example

but that's

really it

and you realize

that's actually

not enough

for me.

Even with a

great example

I'm not

holy enough

and you realize

that you need

Jesus to be

a bloodshed

sacrifice

for you.

Let me be

as clear as I

can for all

of us.

It's sobering

but you and

I were

created.

We're things

that have

been made.

which God

promises

will be

shaken

and removed

along with

the rest

of the world

as we

know it

leaving

only

the things

that cannot

be shaken.

If that

doesn't

get your

attention

I don't

know what

else to

tell you.

We are

things that

have been

made.

Jesus

was not

made.

He has

always

been.

Therefore

let us

be

grateful

so

grateful

for

receiving

a kingdom

that cannot

be shaken.

God

sends

Jesus

and we

attach

ourselves

by faith

to the

one who

lives

and will

hold

no matter

what shaking

happens

we've

got to

be

connected

to him.

Friends

we

must

must

cling

to

Jesus.

Charlotte

you've been

shaking for

us?

You want to

come on

back up?

Ooh

that's

really

good.

You did

a lot

of

shaking.

It looks

just like

I gave

it to

you.

You didn't

get anything

else off

of it?

Even with

all this

did you

shake it?

Did you

shake it

hard?

And what

is it?

That's the

same rock I

gave you.

Just the

same, huh?

You know a

little play-doh

on the side

but it's a

rock.

You did a

great job.

Thank you

for your

help.

This is a

picture of

the solid

rock of

Christ.

We have

received this

kingdom that

cannot be

shaken.

Maybe you

know from

world history

that even

the greatest

kingdoms

eventually

crumble and

fall when

shaken.

The Roman

Empire around

the time of

this written

sermon fell.

Perhaps

during today's

sermon some

are feeling

shaking in

the USA in

ways that we

haven't before.

Listen, if

Christ tarries,

it will fall

too.

There will

be economic

danger.

There will

be political

danger.

danger.

There may

even be

physical

danger.

But the

kingdom of

Jesus, no

matter what

else comes,

will never

be shaken.

You want to

give your

neighbors,

your kids,

the next

generation,

something that

they can count

on and hold

on to and

that you know

life's going to

be there for

them?

Give them

Jesus.

That's the one

they can count

on.

God.

Because listen,

how does it

end?

Our God is a

consuming fire.

He still is.

That hasn't

changed.

He will shake

and consume.

And so we

worship him with

reverence and

awe because of

his holy

greatness and

because of his

great holiness.

holiness, this

fire of who our

God is would

certainly consume

us on our

own.

But because of

the Lord's

great love, we

are not

consumed.

Because Jesus

is so perfectly

holy himself and

gives himself in

our place, we

can draw near

without being

shaken, without

being burned.

He makes all

the difference.

He is a sure

and steadfast

anchor for our

souls, the

greater rest, the

greater sacrifice,

the greater

priest, the

only man not

made.

So he can

bring us to

and keep us in

the presence of

God, on the

joyful mountain of

God, in the

safety of God

forever.

forever.

He can and

will do that.

And so that's

something to look

forward to, right?

Absolutely.

Forever.

But according to

this passage, it's

actually something

more than that.

It is something to

live in right

now.

It's this verb

tense that

means, yes, you'll

be there forever,

but you have

come already

to this

mountain and

the great

celebration and

the blood of your

Savior cleansing

you before God,

the judge.

You have an

unshakable

kingdom led

by an unshaken

king with an

imperishable

inheritance, an

unfading crown

of glory in an

invulnerable

place through

his unfailing

love.

You have

that.

See, his

kingdom that

cannot be shaken

means the

life of heaven,

the life of

eternity is

already alive

in us.

By our union

with Christ,

the kingdom,

he says, is

already in

our midst

its righteousness

and joy

and peace

in the Holy

Spirit.

Mine are

keys to

Zion City

where beside

the king

I walk

today.

So,

so tell me

practically,

pastor,

how, how do

I live

unshaken

when everything

I hold dear

seems to be

shaking?

well, when

diseases ravage

me and

those I

love,

the unshakable

kingdom says

my greatest

disease, the

sin of my

soul that

runs all

through me

has been

forgiven and

cured so that

I will live

forever no

matter what

happens.

when financial

disaster hits

and I begin

to wobble,

the unshakable

kingdom says

my greatest

debt has been

paid once

and for all

so my good

shepherd will

make sure I

have everything

that I need.

When I'm lonely

or persecuted,

I lean into the

family of God

that I've been

welcomed into.

When I'm weak

and unable to

handle the task

before me,

I draw on the

power of the

Holy Spirit

already present

in me.

It happens

over and over

and over in

all these

situations.

How do I

live unshaken

when I'm so

fearful about

life all

around me?

It's just

been a few

years, Will,

there was a

pandemic and

then more

terror attacks

and then wars

and then there's

all this unrest

and division.

Are you kidding

me?

There's no

stability anywhere.

What's next?

I'm worried.

Friend, if God

is for us,

who can stand

against us?

You have come

already to the

mountain with

Him and He

won't let you

go.

When you're

shaken to your

core, and you

will be.

The loss of a

loved one,

professional

failure,

a child

wandering,

divorce,

depression,

dementia,

you feel like

you're drowning,

you think you'll

be utterly

destroyed,

and the

unshakable

kingdom says

nothing can

separate you

from the love

of God in

Christ Jesus

our Lord.

Lord, you

are more

than conquerors.

You possess

a kingdom

that cannot

be shaken.

That's why

we say

with Jim

Elliot,

he is no

fool who

gives what

he cannot

keep to

gain what

he cannot

lose.

When you've

got the

unshakable

kingdom

because of

your trust

in the

unshakable

king,

no one

and nothing

can take

that away,

and you

become more

and more

eager to live

that way

right now,

to live

in that

joyful

nearness

to that

God,

to be with

him as

often as

you possibly

can,

worshiping

him with

overflowing

gratitude.

I mean,

there's got to

be even

more than

that,

right?

You're not

just a little

thankful.

It's like

every part

of me is

grateful.

How else

could I

worship?

I don't have

to come in

here to do

it.

It flows

for me

every day,

dancing in

the aisles

with holy

awe.

How is

it that I

can know

this God?

Praise

Jesus.

Brothers and

sisters,

we have

come

already

to the

kingdom

that cannot

be shaken,

to Mount

Zion,

to the

rock of

Christ.

On

Christ,

the solid

rock,

I stand.

All other

ground is

sinking

sand,

and there

will be

plenty of

chances to

experience that,

to be shaken

in this

world.

The waves

of persecution,

of pain,

of problems

in life

will threaten

to wash

you away,

but listen

to the good

news.

You are

not there

desperately

trying to

climb up

to that

rock to

get to

the top

of that

mountain.

You're not

scrambling

as the

waves wash

over you

to find

footing for

your feet,

some solid

ground that

will hold

you.

No,

we have

come to

Mount Zion.

On

Christ,

the solid

rock,

we stand

with innumerable

angels,

with the

firstborn

enrolled in

heaven,

with God,

the judge

of all,

making all

things right,

including our

struggling spirits

that he has

already made

perfect.

Thanks to

Jesus and

his blood

speaking blessing

to us,

you're already

there on

that rock.

Y'all,

Jesus is

greater than

anything else

that we

might hope

would hold

us.

The entire

earth and

heavens will

shake one

day, but

you have

already received

the kingdom

that cannot

be shaken.

God,

praise you,

thank you,

you're holy

and you're

gracious.

Everything

else is

sinking sand,

be warned.

Don't grab

on to

something

else,

but on

Christ,

the solid

rock,

you stand.

You will

not be

shaken

because he

will not

be shaken.

Thank you,

Jesus.

Thank you,

Jesus.

We want

to thank

him

together now.

I want

to give

you a chance

to draw

near to

him,

even in

this moment

as you

hear him

saying,

this is

how you

come.

You come

through me.

As we

have our

worship team

come back

up and

as we get

ready to

stand and

sing this

last song,

we're also

going to

have some

of our

elders and

men and

women on

our prayer

team.

They're going

to come

down front

and they'll

also be in

the back if

that's more

comfortable for

you.

They'd love a

chance to

pray with

you for

just a minute.

sing about

Christ,

the solid

rock on

whom we

stand and

maybe for

the very

first time

in your

life you're

saying,

that's the

one I

need.

Please

come,

we'd love

to pray

with you.

Or maybe

you've been

there and

you've been

standing on

him and

you realize

you haven't

been able to

find him

lately and

life's hard

and you felt

like you're

going under

or you know

something that's

coming up and

you'd like us

to pray for

you because

it's coming

in the future.

We would

love to be

able to do

that.

Let's

stand together

and sing and

I invite you

to go ahead

and start

coming forward

or back and

we'll just

take just a

quick minute

to pray with

you even

as we sing.

For more

information,

visit us

online at

southwood.org.