April 18 Sermon: A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

As we look at Hebrews 12:18-29, think on these questions:

1. Have you ever experienced a natural event that made you feel unstable or fearful, like an earthquake or a powerful storm?

2. How does the concept of two mountains, Mount Sinai and Mount Zion, illustrate the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant in Christianity?

3. What is the significance of worshiping God with reverence and awe, especially in light of the assurance of receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken through faith in Christ?

Transcript:

Have you ever felt the earth move? In some parts of the world that question would be answered in the affirmative by nearly everyone. For us folks who reside in the upper midwest it is something that we have never felt and likely never will feel. I’ve never experienced an earthquake but roughly 20 years ago I was meandering through an Office Max building in Sandusky, OH. I had made the trip across town to get some office supplies for the church office and while I was making my way through the story I literally felt the ground under my feet move. It freaked me out. Something that was supposed to be stable was moving. It made my legs wobbly for a moment and my mind went all over the place. Was this an earthquake? I didn’t know earthquakes could happen in northern Ohio. Was there an accident of some kind? Did a truck or something hit the building? Was there an explosion somewhere? I looked around and didn’t see anyone else and just in case the whole thing was in my head I didn’t say anything to anyone. I’m not sure how much time passed but I was back there at another date and I experienced the same thing. I had the same feeling of instability and this time I was confident that the short quake was in fact real. This prompted me to ask some folk about it. The first couple acquaintances I asked about it though it to be strange and kind of treated me like I was a little loopy. Finally, a friend of mine was able to give me the answer I was seeking. Across the road from store was a quarry and they would use dynamite to loosen the rocks. I felt this happen several times following this and I can still feel that feeling of instability that was caused when the blasts would cause the earth under my feet to move.

‌As we land in the last part of the twelfth chapter of Hebrews we see that we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. What God gives to us in our salvation in Christ in sure and secure and this is the hope that gives us peace and hope.

‌And so as we navigate this passage we will break it down into three points.

‌The first thing that we see is that there are two mountains. The author of Hebrews has been contrasting the old covenant made with Israel and the new covenant in Jesus throughout this book. We’ve seen that the temple was but a picture of the actual things in heaven and this general idea is continuing but this time in contrasting Moses at mount Sinai and Mount Zion. The idea here is that Mount Sinai was filled with fear and rules and there was great fear over the presence of God that was there. But we will see that Mount Zion symbolizes the grace we have in Jesus and this is so much better.

‌Secondly, we are to hear the Word and take it seriously. While the idea of the two mountains expresses the idea of fear versus grace this does not mean that we take the commands of God less seriously now. In fact, the author of Hebrews says that we should listen intently because the message is a message from heaven.

‌Finally, we see that we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This is an amazing message for us because it means that we can have confidence in the grace that God has given us. But again, this does not mean that we are able to be lackadaisical about the things of God. Instead, this sure confidence we have in God should lead us to worship him with the reverence and awe that our amazing and holy God deserves.

‌And so we start off our first point with verses 18-22 this morning.

‌As I look at how our passage starts out for today I am reminded how there is a continuity throughout this book. Everything is connected and there is an argument being made that just flows. To prepare for preaching through Hebrews I have read through it at least 50 times from beginning to end and each time I am impressed by the way the whole book works together and calls back to what was before. One argument after another using imagery that the people hearing this would understand.

‌Once again we start out here with Old Testament imagery and notice that the author is telling them that these are things that can be touched. The point that is being driven home is that these are things of earth. They were from God but they were earthly representations of heavenly things. We’ve seen this idea throughout the book of Hebrews and I’m struggling to keep coming up with a fresh illustration of what this is like but I think I got another good one this morning. I think we’ve all seen a good cover band. They are talented and when they play the song you might get excited to hear your favorite being played but it isn’t the same. It’s just a representation of what the actual band would play but it is there and it is front of you and accessible to you but if you had the opportunity to hear the actual band play you would choose naturally choose to see the actual band play. Several years ago my favorite band had several bands that they influenced do a cover album as a tribute to them. As much as I enjoy the new takes on some of the songs it still isn’t the same. I’ll fire up the actual song long before I take a listen to the cover and I’d travel hundreds of miles to see the actual band and might not even care to see a lot of the bands on the tribute album.

‌The author of Hebrews is calling the people to stay with their new faith in the Lord Jesus not just because it’s better but because it is true and what they were following in the old covenant was just an image of the heavenly reality.

‌And so, we read that in Christ we do not come to those representations that can be touched and are earthly things. The fire and the tempest and the sound of the trumpet were earthly things that were experienced in the Old Testament. And these things were so grim that those who saw and heard these things begged that God would no longer interact with them in this way. The people could not bear it. This had a purpose. God was holy and they could not approach him and as we read here in this passage not even animals could touch the mountain without being stoned. This seems like a strange limitation but the point was that the mountain was set apart and God was meeting them there. They couldn’t just flippantly approach God. We have seen in Hebrews how the way the temple was set up showed the holiness of God. The same idea is in play here and we see that even Moses who was appointed by God to interact with him on behalf of the people trembled with fear at the mountain.

‌But we see a very quick switch here in the first part of our passage. This mountain has a contrast. The people who have faith in Christ and not approaching Mount Sinai. Instead they approach Mount Zion and the city of the living God. They are approaching a mountain that they have been given access to by the work of Jesus on their behalf. It is not a mountain of fear and trembling but a mountain that is about God’s mercy. And we see this when we read about Jesus. Notice what it says here about who is at this second mountain. The first mountain had Moses as the mediator and he trembled with fear. Mount Zion has a different mediator. It has Jesus and the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

‌Now this is kind of an off reference to Abel but if you know the story of Cain killing his brother. God told Cain that the blood of his brother called out to him for vengeance from the ground and so the author of Hebrews using a contrast for us again. The blood of Abel called out for vengeance but the blood of Christ shed for us cries out a message of forgiveness for the people of God. The message of Mount Zion is mercy through Jesus. The word of Mount Sinai was law and condemnation because they could not come to God on their own. The word from Mount Zion is that the blood of Jesus has been shed to give you access to this mountain and so come freely.

‌And so we have seen the two mountains and now as we move on to our second point we will see that while there is mercy and grace at Mount Zion that does not mean that we do not take the commands of God lightly.

‌We are told that we must listen to the one who is speaking. Even though it is a message of grace this does not mean that it is not an urgent message. If God is speaking, we are to listen. If the message of the law was to be heard and obeyed how much urgent should it be to hear and believe the message of deliverance from God.

‌The people were judged for refusing the message from Mount Sinai. And this was not the final message. It was from God but it was delivered through Moses. We are meant to understand now that now God is speaking through the Lord Jesus to us. Remember how the book of Hebrews began.

‌‌God spoke through the prophets in times past but now we have Jesus and we have the message of salvation in him. The message of the book is coming full circle. We need to listen with great attentiveness to the Son of God for that is the true message of salvation.

‌In the Old Testament the ground shook at the sound of God’s voice but in Christ something greater has happened. Not only has the earth been shaken but the heavens have been shaken. The message of salvation in Jesus changes everything for it is the ultimate message that we were waiting for. Everything has changed because of what Jesus has done and the author of Hebrews tells us why this is. At Mount Sinai the earth shook but the work of Jesus to save his people even shook the heavens and it changed everything. It it so that everything that cannot be shaken would be all that remains.

‌You get the imagery here. It’s like when you shake something around to get to the things that are heavier. You shake the things that don’t matter to get down to what you really want. The work of Jesus shook everything and took away the earthly things that were just pointing to Jesus in the first place. That is what is eternal. It is like shaking that is done if you were to pan for gold. You shake the dirt and remove the stuff that doesn’t matter to get to the treasure. And we read here that this treasure that we have in Christ cannot be shaken and that brings us to our third point as we look at the final two verses in our passage.

‌Notice what our response is to be. Gratitude. We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. In Christ, the ground beneath our feet in unshakeable and immovable. It has been shaken down to the treasure and that treasure is Jesus and he is ours and we are his.

‌We are heirs of God and so we are recipients of the kingdom. What a blessing this is. Most of the things that we desire and value are temporary aren’t they? Our possessions that we work so hard for can burn or be destroyed or even lost to time. Even the relationships we value can be lost. It is all fleeting and a vapor. Every last one of these things can be shaken. Including ourselves. That is why the blessing we have in the Lord Jesus is the most valuable thing you have. It is the pearl of great price. It is the treasure that is to be sought. It cannot be taken from you because it isn’t dependent on you. It is dependent on God and he has done everything to bring you into relationship with himself.

‌That is what we have had spelled out for us so clearly in the book of Hebrews. Jesus has paid the price. He has shed his blood. He has risen and passed through the heavens and he has taken his seat at the right hand of the Father. His kingdom is unshakeable.

‌And so, we respond in gratitude and the author of Hebrews lets us know that this isn’t simply having a good feeling about it. The gratitude we have for receiving this kingdom that cannot be shaken leads us to worship. And the beauty of it is that it allows us to worship. We can boldly go before God and worship him. We know that our sins have been paid for and we go before him with a clean conscience.

‌But at the same time, this does not mean that we just go before God flippantly. Again, there is a gravity to this. Just because we not relate to God in grace instead of through the law doesn’t mean that we just do things as we please. We are commanded here to worship God with reverence and with awe. We do this when we conform our worship to scripture and we worship God in the manner which he commands us. These final two verses let us know that worship is serious business. Our God is a consuming fire this is a quote from the book of Deuteronomy and it reminds us of the holiness of God. Fire cleanses and purifies and the author of Hebrews wants us to understand that even though we are receiving the kingdom that cannot be shaken and we have received it by grace it is still very important how we address God. And so we come before him in reverence and awe understanding the splendor and majesty of his holiness and how blessed we are not only to be saved by his grace but also understanding that we are his children and heirs of his kingdom.

‌This is such good news and it shows us the mountain that we have journeyed. Having arrived at Mount Zion we are at the pinnacle of God’s grace, mercy, and love and we now worship him in Spirit and in truth with reverence and awe.

‌And so with these truths spelled out we come away with two applications to challenge us as we step away from here this morning.

‌The first application is a question. Which mountain are you climbing? Are you trying to climb Mount Sinai? Do you believe that your salvation is dependent on you and on your ability to keep the law? This is so easy to do. We can even say that we believe that we are saved by God’s grace and still think we need to climb the mountain of the law on our own. As we read today that mountain was untouchable. Even the animals that touched it were to be stoned because it was set apart and holy. No matter what we do we can’t climb that mountain. If we try to save ourselves we will be destroyed by our stubborn insistence that we can merit righteousness on our own. Instead we are called to go to the mountain of grace. Through the gospel we know that Christ has climbed the mountain for us and made us holy and righteous in God’s sight. There is peace and great joy when we daily rest on that great hope and trust the voice of God in holy scripture that tells us that it is finished and we have salvation in Christ.

‌Secondly, worship God in grateful adoration. Because you have been united to Christ in his death and resurrection you are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. I think we struggle to truly grasp not only the gravity of this truth but the beauty of it. No matter how your life is shaken. No matter how the ground quakes beneath your feet when you are in Christ you have the treasure that will remain. What an amazing truth this is. In a world where everything seems to be shaking you have Christ and he will not let you go. In his death and resurrection he has climbed the mountain of the law for you and brought you to Mount Zion. And so may we come before him and worship him for who he is with reverence and awe. For there is no other response to give. We literally owe him everything and so we fall at his feet offering our worship and our lives.

‌May God through the power of the Word and the Work of the Holy Spirit grant us a desire to worship him that our lives might bring all honor and praise to him for our God is a consuming fire.