I. Today we begin a three-sermon series on worship.
II. Explanation of Heb.12:28–29 “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.”
A. “A kingdom that cannot be shaken”: this is a strange way of talking about our salvation. There are so many ways to refer to our wonderful salvation. Why does our author refer to it here this way? We can understand when we look at the verses preceding this:
1. Hebrews 12:25–27 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 [referring to when God spoke to them through Moses], much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven [referring to God speaking through Jesus]. 26 At that time [i.e. the time of Moses at Sinai] His voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” (quoting the prophecy of Haggai 2:6) 27 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.
a. So, there is a great day coming (the day of Christ’s return) when the heavens and the earth will be shaken. And only the things which cannot be shaken (the things which are part of the new heavens and new earth — Rev.21:1ff.) will remain.
2. It is in this context that we are told, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken...”
a. Everything in this world can be shaken. Marriages can be shaken. Families can be shaken. Friendships can be shaken. Finances can be shaken. Health can be shaken. Countries can be shaken. Self-images can be shaken.
b. But there is a kingdom which God has set up — the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, where He shall reign forever and ever. And that kingdom cannot be shaken.
c. And God calls to us to enter into that kingdom and make it our home, our eternal home.
d. And as citizens of that kingdom we dwell secure, because no matter what else happens, that kingdom cannot be shaken.
B. Gratitude: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken...”
1. The gratitude here is gratitude for the wonderful gift of an unshakable kingdom.
2. It’s not like the gratitude of saying thanks for the sweater grandma gave you for Christmas which you don’t like.
3. It’s more like the gratitude of your grandma saying “We’ll pay for your college education.”
4. Is gratitude a duty? Sure, but for a gift like this, it’s so much more than a duty.
5. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” (Ps.48:1)
C. Worship: “and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship”
1. Acceptable worship = worship which is well-pleasing to God, the kind of response He’s hoping for
2. We are in a conversation with God. He acts, we respond. He speaks, we respond. There’s back and forth.
3. Worship is a response to what God says and does.
4. And here worship is our fitting response to saving grace.
5. Worship should be THE first response to saving grace.
6. In saving grace He is the One acting and we are the ones receiving.
7. In worship we are the ones acting. He is our audience. In a worship service, the congregation is not the audience, God is the audience. The congregation is the performers, performing worship before a watching, and hopefully enjoying God.
D. Reverence and awe: “let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe”
1. When we realize who God is, we are gripped, engaged, and focused in our worship.
2. Reverence and awe are about as contrary to our culture as you can get.
3. Our culture wants everything to be light and casual, laid-back. The word of today is “chill.”
4. But our culture has no reason for reverence. As far as they’re concerned, it’s just us!
a. But that's the difference about being here in the context of the church. Here we understand that there is a holy, all-powerful, mountain-shaking God in our midst.
b. That’s why we fall on our knees!
5. And so awe and reverence aren’t just the right attitude, it’s naturally the way you feel when you stand in the presence of such a Being.
E. Consuming fire: “for our God is a consuming fire.”
1. The exhortation begins with a call to be thankful for receiving an unshakable kingdom and ends with a reminder that God is a consuming fire.
2. This is tough stuff. By this statement, has the author taken away what he’s previously given?
3. How about you? Does the description of God as a consuming fire ruin the party for you?
4. What makes it even stranger is what the author has just said in Hebrews 12:18–24, where he contrasts the old and new covenants:
a. 18 [referring to Mt. Sinai] For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 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, 23 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, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
b. Here he specifically says that we have NOT come to a blazing fire. And then a few verses later he says that God is a consuming fire.
5. F. F. Bruce explains, “He who descended on Mount Sinai in fire and spoke to his people from the midst of that fire still consumes in the white heat of his purity everything that is unworthy of himself.”
6. We no longer come to God at Mt. Sinai, but we still worship the God of Sinai. And He’s still a consuming fire.
7. It’s as if the author doesn’t want us to have a relationship with God where we are terrified with fear. He wants us to have joyful celebration as recipients of His marvelous grace. However, he doesn’t want us to forget who this God is who has shown us such grace.
8. Part of the point is that whereas God is a consuming fire, He has instead graciously given us an unshakable kingdom.
9. But another part of it is to show us that being gracious doesn’t mean God is not jealous.
a. God is jealous for our affection. He is jealous of the allegiance we give to others. He is jealous of the delight we have in other things and other people but not in Him. He is jealous of how seriously we pursue some things while being so casual about Him. He is jealous of how some things grip us so intensely but we are bored with Him. He is jealous of how excited we get about some things but how unexcited we are when we worship. He is jealous of how we look for love in all the wrong places and don’t look for love in Him.
10. God has been so gracious to us. but no matter how gracious God shows Himself to be, He is never One to be trifled with.
III. Conclusion
A. The visible church is the earthly theater of God’s grace, where the community of the recipients of God’s grace joyfully and reverently gather in His presence to declare His glory, listen to His word, seek Him in prayer and meet Him in the Lord’s supper.
B. It’s the place where the people of God “rejoice with trembling!” (Ps.2:11)
1. That’s a strange combination, isn’t it? Rejoicing with trembling.
2. And the next verse has a strange combination too: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” (Ps.2:12)
3. Here the appropriate response to the Son (Jesus) is kissing, a symbol of fondness and affection. And yet it is clear that it is not a casual kiss, for the consequences of not kissing are dire.
C. Regarding worship, the question isn’t: What am I getting out of it? The question is: What am I putting into it?
1. The question isn’t: Does it make me feel better? The question is: Am I pleasing God? Am I responding to His goodness and grace in the way He would want me to?
2. The question isn’t: Do we feel like going to church today? The question is: Has God not graciously called me to be a part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken? And Has He not called me to gather with the other citizens of that kingdom to offer Him worship, with reverence and awe?