The Kingdom That Cannot be Shaken
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Here is the point: What we are witnessing foreshadows a cataclysmic shaking of creation that will ultimately leave one thing that cannot be shaken-the Kingdom of God. Our lives are to be ordered and defined by our relationship to the unshakeable kingdom of God. If you are part of this unshakeable kingdom then you will endure whatever threatens your way. What is this unshakeable kingdom like?
A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of. 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.
The first century audience, facing great oppression and persecution, needed to be reminded that this world was not their final home. They lived in the Roman Empire but were part of a Kingdom that would make Rome appear to be a speck of dust in the universe. So our writer contrasts the kingdoms of this world with the kingdom of our God. Only the kingdom of God can stand forever because it exists upon the authority of its Eternal King. The basis for the unshakeable kingdom is found in its King. We've all watched with interest these days the conference being held in Bonn, Germany to decide the political fate of Afghanistan.
Some talk through the past weeks has suggested returning the exiled King Mohammed Zahir Shah to his throne. Political observers admit that this is only symbolic, that the king would serve as a titular head of a government that he would have no power to control. But when we refer to the King who rules over the eternal kingdom, we are not speaking of a titular head, a symbolic monarch like that found in the United Kingdom. We are referring to one who exercises kingly authority in the minute details of his kingdom.
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To see this, I call your attention to the pronouns of our text. He does not idly pass the centuries upon a celestial throne that has no concern for the smallest details of his people. But He actively engages His might to carry out His purposes in His kingdom.
The verb tenses help us at this point. Just as the present tense was used in Sinai, what he has spoken through His Son continues to call for our constant response 1: The gospel keeps on speaking! Those who would be part of the divine kingdom continue listening to the gospel, finding it to be meat and drink, discovering direction and purpose, and the deepest satisfaction in life. We must never get the idea that the God of the Old Testament was one who warned and the God of the New Testament is different, never warning, only empathizing and consoling. The same God is revealed in both testaments!
His warnings demonstrate both his attitude toward sin and his mercy to sinners, calling for sinners to repent and follow after him, whether in Old or New Testaments. His promises have been made and will be kept thus the perfect middle indicative verb showing this.
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His authority continues in the future shaking "not only the earth, but also the heaven. So when we begin to despair under the weight of the world's opposition or trials or vexations, let us remember that our King actively works in his kingdom.
The scenes depicted for us reveal ones of judgment. We are taken back to the Israelites that confessed their allegiance to the Lord, only to balk and rebel and disobey at virtually every turn.
I believe the ancient pastor has in mind those Israelites that heard the Lord speak from Sinai, who saw the power of God displayed in mighty ways, and yet "whose bodies fell in the wilderness" due to unbelief 3: They decided to refuse Him who warned them either a reference to Moses' mediatorial warnings, or more likely, the voice of God speaking from the cloudy mountain And "they did not escape. If those hearing from Sinai did not escape divine judgment, how much greater accountability for judgment will we have who have heard from Zion-the gospel of Jesus Christ?
God alone is righteous enough to demand our obedience to his perfect law, for it is a reflection of his moral perfections. Created in his image, we have the moral responsibility before God to follow after him in every respect. Righteousness that characterizes him ought to characterize all humanity.
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But we have rebelled against him! His righteousness demands legal retribution for our sin, and so he speaks and warns and shakes the very foundations of our existence, calling attention to the stark reality, "for our God is a consuming fire. The God of Sinai is the God of Zion-the God who commanded obedience to his law provides the only means of righteousness through his Son. To "refuse Him who is speaking," demands that you meet him, not as the welcoming Father but as the Righteous Judge.
We bow in thanksgiving and worship before him, or we discover him to be "a consuming fire. This might go against the common portrait of God in our day but it stands true to his holy nature. Righteousness demands justice-or else it is not righteousness. Justice is measured against the size and scope of the offense against righteousness. To refuse to obey the law of God meets with the certain consequences of judgment; but to hear the gospel, and know the gospel as God's only remedy for man's sinfulness and answer to his judgment, and yet to refuse Him who is speaking through the gospel , calls for greater judgment.
That is precisely where the shoe fits the foot. Those who were contemplating backing away from the gospel that they had professed were only ensuring greater judgment for refusing the wondrous gospel of Christ. What are you doing with the gospel of Jesus Christ? If you have ever been in an earthquake, the feeling of complete helplessness never quite leaves you.
This is the third service in a series of four based on Hebrews. The overall theme of the series is "Christ as the Mediator of God's Grace. As mentioned last week, it is often helpful in a series of messages to convey continuity by including certain parts of the liturgy each week in the same pattern. Opening Sentences from Isaiah Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.
Greeting from Revelation 1: Sung Response of Gratitude: So then the church was not an afterthought as some vainly teach.
So they approached Jesus and asked when the kingdom was going to come Luke Therefore, do not be discouraged by the defects you see in yourself. The ascension of Jesus is told in this language: We worship through our lips-offering sacrifices of praise to God, "the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" Heb It is to "God" our Sovereign. Problems and difficulties in the world are evidence of this shaking.
I would like here to inject the statement that Paul made in Acts We hear a great deal of talk about a born-again Christian. If you are a Christian you are born- again. Let us look at the fact of being born again. Where are those who are born-again? Those who are born anew see the kingdom of God. If the kingdom does not exist how can one be born anew? Jesus further said, when Nicodemus questioned him about the new birth that: So if there it not a kingdom, of necessity there is no new birth.
False teaching gets people into queer predicaments. By our study of the word of God we have learned that there is one body. That body may be referred to as a church or a kingdom. More proof is not needed but we shall speak now from the Book of Hebrews: He did not say it had been nor did he say it would be.
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We turn now to the 12th chapter, verse 23, of Hebrews. I read this about the return of our Lord: We shall be caught up in the air to meet the Lord and so we shall be forever with the Lord. No room for a reign with Christ on earth. Those that teach that the kingdom is still future say that the righteous will be raised and a thousand years later the wicked will be raised.
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There cannot be a thousand years inside of one hour. Then to add to that, Jesus said four times in the 6th chapter of John that the righteous would be raised at the last day, verses 39, 40, 44, After the last day we shall have eternity and there will not be a thousand year reign of Christ after the last day.