The Book of Hebrews 12:25-29 Him who is speaking

Good morning. We're going to be venturing into the book of Hebrews here. We're actually completing chapter 12. Chapter 13 is ahead of us, and that's the last chapter. And so we're here in the last several verses of chapter 12, verses 25 through 29 in the book of Hebrews.

Now, I want to issue a caution. This passage is intense. Hebrews had intense warnings several times. We've seen that before. This is another one with intense warnings. We've seen it before here, for example, in chapter 5, verses 11-14. It starts off like this, "...concerning whom we have much to say, and it is hard to explain..." Well, we get this. "...since you have become dull of hearing."

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God." So he's given a warning, a tough warning before, and here again in the next chapter, Hebrews 6, 4 through 8. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God. But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. intense warnings.

We went over this some months ago now. But now here in this passage, we're going to see intense warnings again. This is inspired scripture. The author was not joking or going overboard. This is exactly what was needed. So the intense warnings were apparently necessary. At the same time, however, we're also going to see that the intensity of the warnings is consistent with grace.

The message that we in the church are not under law but under grace is stated differently than the Apostle Paul would write, but it is clear in this passage. The other thing is that grace and, as we'll see in this passage, gratitude are both underscored in Hebrews. The word grace shows up seven times. We're going to see it yet in chapter 13, and so this is not conflicted with a grace message, even though it is intense.

And we'll see here in just a minute. One of the things that the author does is to talk about back then, and he refers particularly to the time of the giving of the law and shortly thereafter, he talks about now, and then he also talks about the future. And it's still yet future for us. We'll find the author of Hebrews addresses these believers by going back to the time of the Old Testament and also talks about what is coming upon the world. And what we're going to do, since he just touches on some things, is provide a little bit more detail. And things that are described in the Old Testament prophets are referred to and also kind of brought together in the book of Revelation are some of the things we'll be looking at.

If these believers who are in the body of Christ want to make their Hebrew identity primary, in other words, I'm first of all a Jew, right? And by the way, there are some Christians who like to do that. They're like, oh, I'm a messianic Jew or some such term. The reality is their Hebrew identity, if they're Christians in the body of Christ, is secondary. There's neither Jew nor Gentile.

But there are some pretty scary things in their past, and that's what the author of Hebrews is pointing to, and some really scary things in the future. What the Bible spells out for the future of Israel, yes, there is the coming millennial kingdom, but there's a seven-year period of time that gets intensely worse and worse, especially for Israel. Very scary times. But it will take that.

Right now, Israel is largely an agnostic atheist country. Largely agnostic atheist. But in the end, at the end of that seven year tribulation period, all Israel will be saved. They will realize This is impossible. The whole world is coming down upon us. Only God can save us. They will realize that, and there will be a national regeneration in the midst of the... It's often called the Battle of Armageddon, but it's really a campaign of Armageddon. There will be a national regeneration of Israel. But it's those scary things that will bring them to the Lord. The picture for Israel gets much, much better in the coming millennial kingdom. But the author of Hebrews is underscoring the terrible time beforehand.

Now you have this slide, and I think it's good for us to just step through it. This is the picture that we get looking in the first coming, in Christ's first coming, back to the time when he came as recorded in the four Gospels. And so that looks back almost 20 centuries here.

Now we're in what's called the Church Age. We're in the age where the ethnic difference between Jew and Gentile is secondary, and all those, whether Jew or Gentile, who believe are saved by faith. We have at the end of the Church Age, and I hope it's today, the Rapture. I'm really looking forward to the family fellowship meal and visiting with Jim and Rachel Poole. I'm really looking forward to that. But if we don't get finished here because the Lord takes us all home, I'm okay with that.

Now, then there's a seven-year tribulation period. It is so clear that it's a seven-year tribulation period that Orthodox Jews teach a seven-year tribulation period, at the end of which Messiah will come. Some years ago I was talking to a rabbi here locally, and he said, yes, when the Messiah comes, we will ask, is this your first or your second time, right? So, and then what we will say is the second coming, okay, is the second coming when Christ will come to earth from heaven with angels, with all of us, okay, And the Old Testament saints, Jew and Gentile, will be resurrected.

And that will be the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. We will be with Him. At the end of that time, there'll be a new heavens, a new earth, and the eternity, or the eternal state, as it's sometimes called.

So that's the quick outline. What the author of Hebrews does is in this passage he points to this tribulation time when things are shaken, right? There's a whole lot of shaking going on, right? And he also points back to the time of the giving of the law.

So let's take a look at that. Here's Hebrews 12, 25, reads like this, See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking, for if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven." So, the meaning of the Greek here is literally, you all must see, as in being aware and observant. There's a tendency in the English translation, you know, see to it, but actually this word see is emphatic. It's see and be aware, and it's emphasized there.

The other word that comes up is this refuse. It means to avoid, reject, or shun. And apparently it was necessary to give this warning because at least some of the audience, the Hebrew audience, the Hebrew Christian audience, was actually shunning God's message. If you can imagine that. Shunning God's message. And he says, see to it that you don't do that, okay? That's a dangerous thing to do.

What we have as a positive exhortation is in 1 Peter 2.2, like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. So there's the positive statement. That's what he's wanting them to do.

Here we have at the beginning of Hebrews, the first three verses, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers, so God spoke in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days. And by the way, are we in the last days? Yes. Those were the last days and we're in the last days. And these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. And let's make a note here. When God created, how did He create?

He spoke, okay? He spoke. He spoke, and it says repeatedly, starting in verse 3 of Genesis 1, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26. He spoke. God said, okay? And He created by speaking. So, multiple times now, let's look at verse 3. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by what? by the Word of His power. God carries things out by speaking. God is a God of communication. God communicates. God deliberately communicates. And not only does He deliberately communicate, He does so with great intent and purpose. God's Word is inspired and not accidental.

Now the words did not escape, refused and warned. Moses gave many warnings and cautions to the Israelites, telling them the blessings of obedience to the law and the many curses that would result from their disobedience. He repeated it again in the book of Deuteronomy, but early on he gave many cautions and warnings to the Israelites. The Israelites refused all those many warnings to the point that an entire generation had to die.

And in some instances, there were great numbers. Here is a picture of the Khoras rebellion in number 16. An entire generation had to die without escape in the desert before any could enter the promised land. They did not escape. They refused, even though they were warned. And one of the things that comes out of this is grace doesn't mean no consequences. That's why this warning is given. It's not that we're under law or that something like the law of Moses is applicable to us. But grace doesn't mean no consequences. As a matter of fact, that's something to ponder is what do we think grace is? What do we think grace is? These believers were not Jews who were under the Law of Moses. Were they Jews? Yes. But they were not under the Law of Moses. They were tempted, however, to fall back. They thought, well, I'll just pick this one. Let's do the sacrifices. We'll just go back under the sacrificial system. You don't get to pick.

The Law of Moses, you do the whole thing. All 613 laws. 365 no's. Don't do this. All the rest, things you've got to do. They were tempted to fall back under that temple sacrificial system. They figured that's something I can do, right? Even living under grace for us does not mean that there are no consequences. Give you some intense examples. Did Ananias and Sapphira, Acts chapter 5. You've covered that in the Acts Selected probably, right? Did they escape the consequences? No. Lord took them home early. Did some of the believers in Corinth get sick and some die? Yep. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Was that during the time of grace? Were Ananias and Sapphira under law? No. Were the Corinthians under law? No. Even with grace, it doesn't mean no consequences. As we pointed out last week, Motive means an opportunity. That sounds like something you see on a lawyer show or a detective show.

But it's key for the believer. Grace is our motive. Grace is our motive for doing things, not a reason to be just sloppy and careless. Grace is our motive. The means, three E's. These are right out of the New Testament and especially right out of Paul's letters. by God's enabling, energizing, and empowering. And finally, the opportunity is that the good works that God has prepared beforehand, that we might walk in them. Motive means an opportunity.

Now let's look at verse 26, Hebrews 12, 26. And his voice, it's God's voice, shook the earth then back in the giving of the law. But now he is promising yet once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. When God's power and presence were made evident there at Sinai, it was for those people who were in that area, that little geographical region, a very intense experience.

As a matter of fact, overwhelming. They begged, pleased, let's not hear from God's voice anymore. We just can't handle it. It was overwhelming to them. But that was just a little geographical area. If you were over in Egypt, you probably didn't hear it. You probably didn't see anything.

Hebrews 12, 19, and 20, God said, if even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. That was God's voice. Those who heard that begged that no further word be spoken to them. Not again, please, no! It's overpowering and overwhelming. But that will be nothing compared to what's coming up.

What he references here, this shaking, the whole lot of shaking going on, the shaking is from Haggai chapter 2. We went over some of these verses including Haggai in our Bible survey class just a couple weeks back. Haggai 2.6 says, For thus says the Lord of hosts, Once more in a little while I am going to shake the heavens and the earth and the sea also and the dry land. Later on in verse 21 in Haggai chapter 2, speak who is a rubble, governor of Judah, who's in the lineage of Christ, saying I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.

So this is yet to be fulfilled prophecy. So there are a number of other Old Testament and New Testament tribulation terms. We won't take the time to go over those. But there is actually a very long list of terms specific to the tribulation in the Old Testament and in some cases in the New.

So he says, I will shake heaven and earth. This part of verse 26 refers to the coming seven year tribulation period, which could start tomorrow, especially if the Lord comes for us today. Great trauma will come upon the earth and even the heavens will be shaken and put out of order. People will be frightened by the phenomenon that they see on planet earth as well as what's happening in the sky. The moon will turn blood red. The sun's light will go out. There will be hundred-pound hailstones falling from the sky. The stars will be darkened. It will be a wild time. People won't like what they see up in the sky. People will not like what they see happening here.

The coming tribulation period is so clear in the Old Testament that the Orthodox Jews who don't even have the Book of Revelation, that don't have Jesus telling what's called the Olivet Discourse, they see a seven-year period of great trouble on the earth at the end of which the Messiah will come.

It is abundantly clear that that's what's ahead just from the Old Testament and reinforced and given additional information in the New. God says, I will shake heaven and earth. Like I say, it could start tomorrow. One of the things to take note of is the Bible actually has three heavens. You ever hear of seventh heaven? No, that's Islamic. There's three heavens. The first heaven is the one that the birds fly in.

So here's an example out of Genesis 1.20. God said, let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens. That would be an example of that first heaven. It's the atmospheric heaven. The next one is the astral or astronomical heaven. And this goes from the atmosphere out to the limits of the universe. I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens.

Genesis 22.17. This is out of the promise to Abraham.

And now the third heaven. This is one that the Apostle Paul wrote of in 2 Corinthians 12, 2 and 4. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven, also known as paradise. And so this is the third heaven. So the Bible teaches three heavens, and Paul even says that the third one is the third, right?

So what we see here in Hebrews, when he talks about shaking the heavens, it's the first heaven, the atmospheric heaven, and the second heaven. From above the atmosphere out to the limits of the universe, those two heavens will be shaken. And where will they be shaken from? The third heaven, where God dwells. What's going to happen is we're going to be taken up to be with the Lord. And I'm not sure time means quite the same thing, but shortly thereafter, in earthly terms, heaven, the third heaven, will become the war room. The third heaven will become the war room. It is a heavenly attack upon the earth for those seven years. Now we have a set of supplements that you're welcome to take. I'll be getting those up on the website, so if you have the ability to just print off of the website, that's preferred because we have a limited number.

But here is an outline of the Book of Revelation showing the timing of the rapture and showing the tribulation. The tribulation extends from Revelation chapter 6 to Revelation chapter 19, providing sequence and detail that the Old Testament does not provide, and especially in reference to the church. So that's out there. Here is the outline of the seven seals, you know, seven trumpets and seven bowls in Revelation. And so it gives those in order and the references and everything. And so you can feel free to take advantage of that. We also have, and this is a repeated question, what about, you know, when's all these different groups going to be resurrected?

And so we have a, it's a simplified handout. I used to have a handout I made available and Nancy says it looks like a wiring diagram for the space shuttle. So I've simplified it, right? So this is the simpler version, okay? And so that's available for you to take a look at as well. We also have a supplement on the pre-tribulation rapture. So anyway, feel free to take advantage of that. I will get those uploaded so that you can download those from the website as well.

Okay, let's look at Hebrews 12, 27. This expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken of created things that is the created world right so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain what's he mean by that let's talk about it the created world will be shaken to prepare for the Millennial Kingdom that's what it's talking about it will be a seven-year period of horrible times but it will take that for in the end all Israel to be saved it will take that for the great many atheists and agnostics in Israel to suddenly turn to the Lord in mass. To suddenly turn to the Lord in mass. They will realize, you know, we may be strong and smart and all that, but only God could save us. And guess what? Only God will save them. Okay? That's the only way it's going to happen.

Just to get an idea, here is on the right a map of Israel. And at the same scale, here's Denver and the surrounding area at the same scale. And so what you see is Israel isn't that big. And especially when you realize how narrow Israel is. Now, to give you some kind of an idea, if you were to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee, the Sea of Galilee, that would be about like traveling from Denver to Colorado Springs.

So we're talking tiny here. The whole world will be focused on this little tiny country. There will be overwhelming odds, if odds counted, that Israel would be crushed. Crushed. If even some fraction of the world's armies came upon Israel, it would be overwhelming to them.

But we, in the body of Christ, will be taken home to be with the Lord. We, in the body of Christ, will be taken home to be with the Lord. So what does that mean? We can count on going through tribulation in this life. This is not a promise that you won't go through tribulation. We may go through terrible things, but it's all by God's design. But we will not go through the great tribulation when earth and heaven will both be shaken. We won't go through that. And by the way, this is described in the Book of Revelation as well.

We have a program with NASA where they're watching these things. This one will be unavoidable. They're watching asteroids and large meteors and things of that sort. This one will be unavoidable. It's going to hit. It's going to happen. And so we have this time, this tribulation time, seven year tribulation. It's coming up. Maybe soon. Maybe real soon.

And because I have the blessed hope that I'll be taken out to be with the Lord, I hope it's real soon. Let's look at verse 28. Hebrews 12, 28. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. reverence and awe. One of the distinctions we have to make is Gentiles, Israel, and the Church.

The Millennial Kingdom will have a place for saved Gentiles. Oh, by the way, nobody's going to enter the Millennial Kingdom who isn't saved. There may be some born later, during that time, who will choose not to believe. They better not be very vocal about it. The Millennial Kingdom will have a place for saved Gentiles, for saved Israelites, and we of the church, all of whom are saved.

And by the way, here in the church, it's not who comes to church that makes you a part of the church. It's believing right now. It's believing so that God makes you a part of the church. That's the distinction. Nobody gets saved by coming in these doors by itself. Saved only by faith.

The Millennial Kingdom will have both those living in bodies like the ones we have now, there will be people walking around in bodies like we have now, as well as resurrected saints including us. You imagine, I mean, here's this situation where you've got a whole bunch of human beings, And then you've got a bunch of resurrected saints just walking around. Oh, hi Noah. Abraham, good to see you. Right? Yeah, like that. Paul, you know I've read a lot of your letters. Right? That kind of thing. Resurrected saints walking around. It would be just normal, everyday stuff.

We in the church will receive the kingdom Differently than any other group of people this passage talks about receiving the kingdom and Do we receive the kingdom? Yes, but we receive it differently. This is the point I think it'd be good for Christians to get in their minds is Different groups will receive the kingdom in different ways Let's talk about that living Gentiles as in these present bodies.

Okay will then be among the nations and They'll be among the nations relating to Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That title is not just a general title. It is His title as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the Gentile nations. That's the title they will relate as to Christ.

They will see Christ as the Jews' Messiah. As a matter of fact, an Old Testament passage says that the Gentiles, eight Gentiles will grab a Jew and say, take me to your Messiah. They'll say things like that because they'll see the Messiah as the Jews' Messiah. The Jews will be the world's priests to take people to the Messiah. The living Jews, that is those in bodies like this, will dwell in the land as the world's priests served by the world's Gentiles.

It says people like the Egyptians and other ones that are currently and have been enemies of Israel will say, Hey, can I watch your flocks? Can I take care of your vineyards? Right? Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, people that are trying to, you know, like Hamas trying to wipe out Israel, They'll come up and say, man, can I just take care of your flocks and your vineyards? Can I watch over your orchards? And the Jews will say, sure. Right? The living Jews will dwell in the land.

That's their part of receiving the kingdom. As the world's priests, served by the world's Gentiles, and Christ will be their long-promised Messiah and King. That's my Messiah. That's my Messiah. Christ the Messiah will be our bridegroom. And you might have noticed in the song that we sang this morning, the third verse. Waiting for our bridegroom. Having the blessed hope. Anticipating His coming.

We will rule and reign with Him on this earth. Imagine, here are these people all resurrected, and ruling and reigning with Christ, and having places of authority. Jesus told the disciples, you will be over the tribes of Israel. And by the way, the Israelites right now don't know what their tribe is. But they'll find out. Because the Messiah will tell them. You're with this one. You're with this one.

This is a map showing the perimeter of what Israel will be. I showed you the one showing how small Israel is. This is how large Israel will be based on Genesis 15, 18 through 21, in which God told Abraham, this is the land, I'm promising you. Not just the tiny land of Israel, but all the way to the Euphrates River, encompassing what is now about eight nations. And then in Ezekiel 48, it gives the division of that land by tribe. Really amazing. A radically different world as soon as seven years from now.

In verse 28, be grateful. Be grateful. These church saints of Jewish ethnicity had, as we do, a lot to be grateful for. Like Ephesians 1, 3, and 4, which is really only the start of the sentence, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. That's before God said, let there be light. We were chosen. Isn't that amazing that God's priority is to choose us in Him before He said, let's make anything. That is really astounding. That we would be what? Holy and blameless before Him. Holy and blameless before Him. That's why we can say, How beautiful is the body of Christ? Because that's where we're headed.

Predestined to be conformed to His image. Do you ever worry about predestination? Like, oh no, everything's predestined and God controls everything and every breath I take and every move I make. But what's predestined is not every breath you take and every move you make. What's predestined is you'll be conformed to His image.

And that's beautiful. That's beautiful. All we have is by God's mercy and grace. Being grateful is our only response. Being grateful is our only response. Be it mercy, grace, or blessing, or anything that we earned or deserve, there is no possible way to pay it back. God does not want us to try to pay it back. He wants for us to be grateful.

That's it. We sang recently this song, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and you might have noticed we changed the last line. Because the song that was written demands my soul, my life, my all. No it doesn't. He doesn't want it. It's his. His soul, his life is all. Jesus Paid it All is another one that we sing, and we've changed the words right here as well. It was originally written, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Nope. His grace and love to show. Yeah, we'll do that. Can you imagine if somebody gave you a present and then handed you the invoice? What? Here's the payback schedule, right? It is a present, a gift entirely, not something that we can owe or pay back. We could never even begin to pay anything back. We don't have anything to do that with. It has to be all of grace.

Now this last verse, for our God is a consuming fire. What's that all about? Consuming fire refers to God's judgment out of His absolute holiness and absolute justice. even though we won't be physically present during the tribulation period, we should regard it.

There is a tendency, especially for us from the background and perspective that we have, there's a tendency for people to write off portions of Scripture based on misunderstanding. Oh, that's the Old Testament. That doesn't matter to me. Or, no, I'm not going to be here during the tribulation period, so I can just ignore all that stuff. There's a tendency to kind of set aside chunks of scripture. Oh, that Sermon on the Mount, that wasn't written to me, so it wasn't written to me, I'm not going to pay any attention to it.

But the reality is all scripture is inspired and profitable, right? All of it. And so we should regard it. We should pay attention to what is written. Even we in the church will have our works judged by fire. That's different from saying we're going to be judged by fire. Our works will be judged by fire in order to determine what remains and is rewardable for eternity. As 1 Corinthians puts it, gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble. The gold, silver, and precious stones will remain. The wood, hay, and stubble will be what's gone.

Now, one of the key things here, we ought not to be presumptive about grace. People may feel that God's grace means God's just not as uptight as he used to be about sin now that Christ died. You know, hey, hey old buddy, right? Now that Christ has died, even Oprah Winfrey, at her last show, had him sing Amazing Grace, and she actually liked it. But I think she doesn't understand what that grace means.

Some have even thought, it's my job to sin, it's God's job to forgive, so we're both happy, right? Nuh-uh. Romans 6.1, shall I sin that grace may abound? May it never be, right? And grace has infinite magnitude. and more dimensions than just forgiveness of sins. We will be learning about grace for eternity. It's that massive. What people tend to do is they tend to say, well, grace is just this, and grace is just this, and an awful lot of people think God's just not so uptight as He used to be, or God's gotten a little soft and sloppy about the issue. No, He has not.

But Ephesians 2.7, We will be spending eternity learning about God's grace because He's going to show. That means to visibly demonstrate. He's going to visibly demonstrate grace into the rolling ages of eternity. And we're going to be gasping. Wow! Wow! Did you see that? Wow! And 10,000 years goes by. Wow! Like that.

So to think grace is just God getting sloppy, or God just not being as uptight, is a real misunderstanding of what grace is. Grace is so massive and has dimensions to it that we're barely scratching the surface when we're here on planet earth. We're going to see shortly in Hebrews, strengthened by grace. Strengthened by grace.

Ever think about that? All right, let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for, yes, your most amazing grace. And thank you also for these serious warnings, too. At times, we could fall into some of these things if we fail to understand what's being said. And we thank you that you've written things, even these intense warnings, because you love us. Thank you for your immense, immense love for us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.