If you have a copy of God's word, I'd ask you to turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. And we'll read verses 25 to 29 this morning. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 25 to 29. 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. Amen. This is God's word. Let's pray. Father God, we ask once again for your blessing on the reading of the word of God, the preaching now as we come to this passage of scripture, the dire warning, but also the promise of the hope that we have of an unshakable kingdom through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Lord, I pray that you'd please bless the preaching in Jesus' name. Amen. The world that we live in seems at times to be falling apart. Would everyone agree with me? It seems like it's falling apart. Lawless mobs of people attack law enforcement. They block roads and burn buildings and destroy government property. They pull down statues of men who built our Western culture. They loot, they steal, they deface national monuments. Terrorists break into neighborhoods of peaceful citizens. They murder men, women, and children, even babies, in the most barbaric ways. And while this is happening, mobs of people here in America shout, Intifada, free Palestine. They celebrate the murder of people. Others murder the unborn. They hurl vile speech and hatred at anyone with whom they disagree, even to the point of justifying the deaths of young innocent girls at a Christian summer camp simply because they claim they're white, they're Christian, and their parents voted for Trump. So somehow they deserve it. With anyone with me, when you hear things like that, it just makes you absolutely disgusted. Can I get an amen? And when we hear things like this, and I know we've been, it seems like we've been inundated with this over the last few months. Maybe the last few years, really. We might be tempted to throw our hands up in the air Metaphorically and literally, in the face of such reckless hate and violence, we might say, what can we do? It seems that no matter who's elected, what laws are passed, the world continues on in its rebellion, its push towards anarchy and destruction. Do you know what I just described of what's going on today on our screens? We could be, this could also be said of America in 1968. I know some of you are old enough to remember those days. I'm not, I wasn't born yet, but 1968 wasn't a very nice year, was it? Lawless mobs in streets, people on campuses being shot and killed. Martin Luther King was shot and killed, so was Bobby Kennedy in 1968. If we were in China, 1948, we would say the same thing with the revolution of Mao and the millions who were killed. We could also say this of Germany, 1933, or Russia, 1917. In fact, it would be a fair assessment of the world of the Roman Empire, either in the 450s when the Goths came and hordes of barbarians sacked Rome, pillaged and burned and murdered, or even the time period of the writing of the book of Hebrews, the first century. It's only going to be a couple of years after this book is written when Jerusalem will be surrounded by Roman legions. It will be destroyed. A million Jews will die horrible deaths. The temple itself sacked, burned, not one stone left upon another. The point is this. The kingdoms of this world come and go. The kingdoms of this world rise and fall. Dictators and presidents, kings and emperors, they come and go. There are times of peace and plenty. We've enjoyed those times here. But there are also times of war, of destruction, of famine, of anarchy. And this has been the cycle of the kingdoms of this world, indeed this entire world system, since the kingdom of Babel under Nimrod. Indeed, even before the times of Babel, prior to that, in the time of Noah himself, imagine what the world was like in the time of Noah. It was so bad that God said, I'm going to destroy everything. And only Noah and his family survived. Why is this? It's because the world is under the curse of sin. Its kingdoms, beginning with Babel, which became Babylon, of course, which was also the prototype for subsequent kingdoms, have all been and are under the dominion and influence of the god of this world. We call him Satan. But something happened 2,000 years ago that changed that. Even so, this event was so monumental, so earth-shattering, that we still feel its effects today, and that event was Calvary. The cross made all the difference. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. Nothing is the same, and nothing ever will be the same. I believe that one of the failings of modern evangelicalism has been our failure to truly see the cosmic scope of what Christ did on Calvary. We've limited the gospel and the power of Calvary to a sinner's prayer. We've limited the power of the cross to a simple personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We've limited its power to a personal message for only the individual or within the confines of this church building or in your own personal homes or even what's going on in your own heart. But as we do this, we lose the meaning and the scope and the full impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I believe that as we come to the end of the book of Hebrews, this week and next week, we're going to look at chapter 12, verses 25 to 29 this morning. And the next week, we're going to look at chapter 13. I think I'm going to summarize the whole chapter. I believe it can be done. And that is this, that we, Don't want to see things so short-sightedly that the gospel only impacts me, a decision that I made to trust Christ as Savior, my own personal life. Rather, we want to pull back. Let's see the whole picture. What does the gospel do cosmically in time and space for the whole of creation, all of the things that God has made? beyond our own little world. Let's not be so short-sighted that we can only see our little piece of real estate. You see, because there is a new kingdom coming. This new kingdom is not of this world. Jesus said that clearly to Pilate when he was on trial. He said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this world. Jesus, when he first came, in fact, before him, even John the Baptist, as he declared the coming of the Messiah, what was his main message? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Christ had come the first time to judge sin on the cross, and in doing so, he judges our sin, but he also judges the God of this world. This is why he says to his disciples, I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven. That the God of this world has no more place in me. He is judged and passed out. And he's come to rightfully claim those that are his, his people. That which belongs to him through the new covenant. And through that, the right to rule all the nations. That is the kingdom. This is the sum of the last five verses, really, of the book of Hebrews, chapter 12. There is coming a kingdom which is unshakeable. When the king of kings returns to this earth, will you and I be found in him as citizens of that heavenly kingdom? And the question he asks here to the Hebrew Christians, will you be found as a citizen or will you be found outside of that kingdom? and therefore subject to the wrath and judgment of God. And so that is the title of my sermon this morning, The Unshakable Kingdom. Next week, we're going to look at the principles of that kingdom. The king is coming. He's coming to establish his kingdom. And while we are citizens of this kingdom, how then shall we live? So I've broken the sermon into three main parts. First of all, he says, do not refuse him who's speaking. Secondly, he says, he describes the shaking of Mount Sinai and the shaking of creation. Thirdly, he describes the unshakable kingdom for all who believe. So first of all, if you look there in verse 25 with me, we see the first main point that he makes here. He says, So first we see the speaking God of Mount Sinai. And again, just a quick review. from last week and the verses prior, we saw the two mountains. We saw Mount Sinai and we saw Mount Zion. On Mount Sinai, that's where the people came when they came out of Egypt. That's where they met God on the mountain. This is where he gave them the covenant, the old covenant, the Ten Commandments. And then he spoke there, the mountain shook. The voice of God was so tremendous that it was like a blast of a trumpet that they could not even hear it. It terrified them. The writer of Hebrews even describes that where he says that even Moses said, I tremble with fear. So, we come to Mount Sinai, we come in fear and trembling. We don't want to come to Sinai. He says, you want to come to Mount Zion. Mount Zion is the place of the great king. Zion is another word for the place of God's habitation. Jerusalem, the temple, that's where Zion is. And in Zion, we find the grace of God. In Zion, we find the great king who comes, and it is there that he establishes the new covenant. Sinai represents the old covenant of judgment, but under the new covenant, we have the grace of God. And so he says, we're not coming to Sinai, we're coming to Zion. And so he picks up on this theme and he says, again, verse 25, see that you do not refuse him who is speaking. This is talking about the voice of God on Sinai, that blast of the trumpet that is so fearful and terrifying that the people ran away from the mountain. They could not hear the word of God. Now this theme of God speaking really is one of the main themes of the book of Hebrews as well. Right back to chapter one, verse number one. Actually, if you'll hold your place there, if you're looking in Hebrews, you'll look back to chapter one, verse one, and hear what it says again. Just a review of the whole book, where we've come from and where we are. He says, long ago at many times and in many ways, God, what's the next word? Spoke. God spoke to who? Our fathers. That's the Jews, under the Old Covenant. By who? By the prophets. So we're talking about the prophetic word of the Old Covenant. But in these last days, who has He spoken by? By His Son. whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." He's bringing this all together now as a summary. God is speaking! He spoke in the Old Covenant to our fathers through the prophets. He spoke at Sinai. When he spoke, the earth shook. The earth rumbled. The people feared. And now he says here at the end, when you hear that same voice, don't reject it as our fathers did under the Old Covenant. Be that you do not refuse him who is speaking. You know this is one of the principles that we examine who God is. His attributes. One of them is that he's a God who speaks. He communicates with his people. It's his very nature. He communicates through the prophets and through his son and of course in our In our day, how do we have God's word? The inscripturated word of God, which speaks to us. And he drives this point home. The Jews to whom he's speaking, and to us here today in 2025, we've never heard that voice literally. We weren't there at Sinai. We didn't hear the very voice of God. But God is still speaking. This is the point that he makes even as he brings that allusion to the blood of Abel. He says the blood of Abel in his sacrifice, it still speaks. But Christ's sacrifice is so much better and speaks so much better than the blood of Abel and the blood of the Old Covenant. For Sinai, for those who were at Sinai and heard the voice of God and heard him speak his commandments, yet they rebelled against him because they refused to listen, God spoke to them as well. But rather than forgiveness and mercy and grace, what does he speak? For those who will reject him, what are his words to them? They are wrath. They are judgment. They are eternal fire. And that is the consequence for those who refuse to hear him speak. The word, or I'm sorry, the phrase here, refuse him, is that you're not just refusing the message, you're refusing him who brings the message. Which brings us to the next point, and that is the speaking of God of heaven will judge that much more those who did not listen. Notice at the end of verse 25, 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. See, when you reject, listen, when you reject the message, or when you reject the messenger, So, for example, this morning, if you're hearing my voice, and I am giving you the Word of God, this is God's message to you, when you reject it, you're not rejecting me. You're rejecting God's message, but ultimately what you're saying is, I'm rejecting the God who sent that message. God, I don't want to hear what you said. Now, this really is best illustrated right from the scripture which is found in Matthew chapter 21. So if you'll hold your place in Hebrews, turn with me to Matthew. We'll briefly look there at the parable that Christ gives to the people concerning the vineyard. Matthew chapter 21 and verse number 33. Jesus speaks here, here another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them saying, they will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, this is the heir, come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They said to him, he will put these wretches to a miserable death and let out or lean out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits. of their seasons. Jesus said to them, have you never read in the scriptures the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. I therefore tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. What an interesting parable. And it really does illustrate well what he's saying here in Hebrews as well. You see, the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, the people would not listen to the prophets who were sent. Some they beat, others they stoned. They were of the same spiritual seed as Cain, as he mentions back in chapter 11, that Cain, who murdered his brother Abel, they heard the voice of God, but they rejected it. And this is the warning. How much more danger are you in who hear the word of God today? Under the old covenant, they were in danger and they lost the love and grace and mercy of God because they rejected him. But now you have a greater word. And who is that word? It is Jesus Christ himself. You don't just have the prophets. Now you have the real thing. Just as the owner of the vineyard said, well, I've sent all these servants. Maybe I'll send my son. They'll reverence my son. They'll respect him. But did they? No. They took him and murdered him. And cast him out of the vineyard. That's exactly what the Jews did to Jesus, isn't it? They rejected him. They handed him over to Gentile hands, and he was crucified. So this is the idea here, how much more you've heard the voice of God himself, not at Sinai, but the God of grace and mercy through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Mount Zion. You've heard that voice. How can you reject that voice? And I tell you, if they were judged, how much more will you be judged? And so then we see the second point, which is the shaking of Sinai. Back in Hebrews 12, verse 26, he says, 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. So we see, first of all, the voice shaking at Sinai. This is the contrast here of heaven and earth. Consider again what Sinai means, the import of it. When God spoke, the earth shook. We would call it an earthquake, of course. By the way, can you think of another time that there was an earthquake at the judgment of God? How about the cross? When Jesus died, the Bible says there was what? An earthquake. It's because God was judging sin. In the judgment of God, he spoke through creation to shake all of creation. It wasn't just a limited earthquake, by the way. I believe the entire creation was shaken at the moment of the death of Christ. Why? Because of the judgment of sin. That's how heinous sin is, how awful sin is that the Son of God himself had to be judged. And all of creation was shaken with an earthquake. But you know, this earthquake will be small compared to what is coming. because he now quotes from Haggai, the prophet Haggai in chapter number two. What a wonderful passage, by the way. Let's look over there at Haggai. Haggai is right before Matthew. So if you find Matthew, you've got Malachi, then Zechariah, and then Haggai. It's a little book, two chapters. This is what he's quoting from here in Hebrews 12. I'm going to read the first seven verses just to give us context here. Now this is the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. They are going to rebuild the temple, the second temple. And this is what God says to them. In the seventh month, on the 21st day of the month, chapter two, verse one, sorry. The word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai, the prophet. Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts. According to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, my spirit remains in your midst, fear not. So God is saying, I'm with you. I'm with you, I'm in your midst. Verse six, 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, and I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. This is the verse that the writer of Hebrews is quoting. And so Haggai's prophecy here concerning the time when God's promises are that the temple will be rebuilt and it will be filled with the treasures of all nations and that at that time he will shake all the nations of that day and that the latter glory of the temple will be greater than the first. And by the way, Solomon's temple, the first temple, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It truly was glorious. Why are you saying this? You see the second temple here? This new temple that you're building? I know it's a great, magnificent structure, but it's nothing compared to Solomon's temple. But I'm telling you that the temple I'm going to build will be So much better. So much more glorious than anything you've ever seen. And that's why, by the way, the writer of Hebrews, one of the main words that he uses over and over again, better, everything is better in Christ. The kingdom that is coming is better than anything that has come before. The temple that is coming is better than anything that has come before. And at that time, I'm going to shake everything. Not only the earth itself, but the heavens themselves will be shaken. Indeed, all of creation shaken in that day. And then, To explain what this verse means, the writer of Hebrews in verse 27 says this. 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. And the phrase yet once more means that there's still a future fulfillment of Haggai's prophecy. A removal. Not just of the temporal things, but a removal of the present world, the heavens and the earth. And the last phrase, in order that the things that cannot be taken away may remain, that is all the things that man has built. Every idol, anything that is defiling or corruptible in the present creation will be taken away. It will be destroyed. There's another term in the old covenant that he uses, and that is sifting. How many of you know how to sift things? You do that with, what do you use? A sifter, I guess, is that what you call it? Right? What's that? Yeah, the screen, yeah, the sifter, right? A bowl with holes in it. Sometimes the holes are big, sometimes they're small. And so you take that and what do you do? You shake it like this, right? You put the flour or whatever's inside and then you shake it. And then that which is good comes through, but that which is the, you know, the big seeds or the big clumps or whatever that you don't want to use, that remains, right? That's the only thing that's left in the sifter. But what comes through is the good stuff, the stuff that you need to use, the stuff that is not corrupted. Those other things that are left, they're the corruptible things. That's the idea here. God is literally gonna take the whole creation. He's going to sift the creation. Another analogy that Christ gives in the New Testament is at the time of the winnowing of the wheat, right? When you bring in the wheat and when the wheat is brought in, there's tears among the wheat. That is, there's false wheat that's in there as well. And what do they do? They winnow the wheat. They throw it up in the air. And what comes down? is the real wheat and what's blown away is the chaff, right? That's the idea. God's literally gonna take all the creation. He's going to throw it up, shake everything. What's going to come down? Everything that is incorruptible. The things that are eternal. And of course, the analogy there is about people. Those that are the professors, all of us who have professed faith in Christ, And he's going to find out who's true and who's false. I'm going to shake all things. I'm going to shake all of the nations. I'm going to shake all of creation. Maybe you've heard this analogy as well. We often say things like, you know, you can't take it with you, right? Everything here is going to be burned up anyway. I've heard that before as well. And there's truth in that. There is truth in that. The point is that the apostle's making here is that his readers should not build their hopes and lives on things that will eventually be destroyed when Christ returns. They should be building their lives on things that are eternal. And of course, Christ says this over and over again in the gospel. I immediately thought of Matthew 21, the parable of the man who built his house upon the rock, right? And you know the song. How many of you know the song from when we were in Sunday school? The wise man built his house upon the rock. The wise man built his house upon the rock. The wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down, right? The rains came down and the floods came up. What happened to that house? The house on the rock stood firm. Why? Because it was built on a rock. But then the foolish man, what did he do? The foolish man, the foolish man, built his house upon the sand. Rains came down, too. The floods came up. What happened to his house? His house went frash, or splashed, or whatever. We'll sing that this week with the children, by the way. Great song, great principle from God's Word, and it fits perfectly here with what God is doing. He says, I'm going to shake everything. And when I'm done shaking, we're going to see what's temporal, what was corruptible, what was false, and all of that will be taken away. But that which is true, that which is faithful, that's what he's talked about in Hebrews 11. Again, the faithful continue, run the race, don't give up, Because at the end, he's going to shake everything. Is he going to find you faithful? Are you going to be part of that which remains? The third and final point is the unshakeable kingdom for all who believe. Notice verse 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, for our God is a consuming fire. The unshakable kingdom is the same as the city of God, which he refers to in chapter 11. He says that the kingdom is like a city. It's another way of speaking of the rest to come. When the people went into the promised land, they had the rest. But he said if that was their true rest, why did they speak of another rest? That's because that wasn't the true rest. The rest was yet to come. And the rest is yet to come. This is not the end. We have another kingdom coming. And there's nothing that can stop that kingdom from coming. And there's nothing that can stop that kingdom from triumphing over all the kingdoms of this world. This is what Daniel in his prophecy sees. He sees all the kingdoms of the world there. Each one of them is represented by a different animal in one and another in different metals. But then at the end of that vision, what does he see? He sees a stone not made with hands, like a mountain that comes and literally crushes all the other kingdoms and fills the entire earth. referring to Haggai's prophecy again. He describes God's kingdom as destroying all other kingdoms and establishing his everlasting kingdoms. Now we have two responses here. Because if we believe that these things are true, in the text he says, you therefore will be what? Grateful. Grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And so I say to you this morning, Let us be grateful, first of all, for the grace of God. Since we have received God's grace, and through faith in Christ and his finished work, we've already been made citizens of this eternal kingdom, we should first be grateful for these things. We're part of the kingdom of God's people. By the way, I love hearing you pray. I don't want to inflate you too much, Brother Bill, but one of the things I hear when you pray is, thank you. God, thank you for all the things. Thank you. Thank you. Grateful. Gratefulness. Thankfulness. Right? Grateful for what God has done, not just the temporal blessings, but his eternal kingdom of which we've been made citizens and which we've already received certain aspects of that kingdom. Gratefulness. Gratefulness to have received his grace See, we're part of the kingdom of God's people. As Paul says, we are the temple of the living God. 2 Corinthians 6, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. That's covenant language, by the way. Therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord. You see, we're not part of this world in that sense. We're citizens of another kingdom. And we look for the time when Christ will come to establish that kingdom. We've been purchased by Christ. As the apostle says, Peter says this, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Let us be grateful. Let us be thankful. We're citizens of a heavenly kingdom which cannot be shaken. Our lives should therefore be lived as offerings of gratefulness and thankfulness. And then lastly, he says, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe. Just as the people were in awe of the greatness of God at Sinai, they trembled with fear We must always keep in mind that God is still the same. As he says at the end of this passage, for our God is what? A consuming fire. He still is a consuming fire. We therefore must always worship him appropriately, with reverence and with awe. We never come flippantly before God. Our worship is not to be characterized by worldliness. It is to be holy. Just as we are to be holy, we are to be distinct, and our worship should be worthy of the King of creation, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We must be reminded that the gospel is not just for unbelievers. This is for you and I today. We must be reminded of the reason of the gospel. It's not just to save you from hell. But it is to make you and I citizens of another kingdom, an unshakable kingdom. And we are to live as citizens of that kingdom and declare the righteousness of the Lord through our lives and through our speech. Because Christ is coming and he will shake all of creation. And in that day will we be found standing, faithfully following him. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the scripture. Thank you for the warning, but thank you for the blessed promises. What beautiful promises we have here in the word of God. You've not left us here to our own devices, but Lord, you have an unshakable kingdom of which you are already ruling and reigning and which we demonstrate in the things that we do and say in our everyday lives. But we look forward to the time when you will come to fully establish that kingdom over all the nations of the earth. In that day, as you said, you would rule with a rod of iron. We will rule and reign with you. We look forward to that, Lord. So no matter what we're going through at this time, as the writer of Hebrews has encouraged us not to give up, keep running the race, because we will receive the prize. We will receive the promise of the unshakeable kingdom. We look forward to that, Lord. Please help us to walk worthy of it. Now, Lord, I pray that you please bless all that are here, all that are under the sound of my voice. I ask, Lord, that you please answer the prayers that we have prayed, especially for those who are sick among us. Lord, I pray that your name would be glorified in us and through us as we leave this place. I pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.