Five Unshakeable Things

Five Unshakeable Things

Hebrews 12:25-29

In October of 1989, an earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay area. It resulted in devastation, destruction, death and fear. It lasted for only 15 seconds but caused 7.5 billion dollars worth of damage, say nothing of lives lost and injured.

Some of those folks lived in homes built on landfills! Didn’t Jesus warn us about such things?

We’re not used to quakes in this part of the country (Midwest) even though they are prophesied in Matthew 24:7 as one of the signs of our Lord’s coming and the end of the age. Jesus said they would occur in “divers places” (KJV).

There are six literal earthquakes recorded in the Bible;

1) Mt. Sinai (Moses & Israel, after the Exodus in the Wilderness)

2) Mt. Horeb (Elijah’s cave experience, I Kings 19:11)

3) During the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1)

4) At the time of the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:51)

5) At the time of the Resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28:2)

6) That which freed Paul & Silas from prison (Acts 16:26)

Isaiah mentions eathquakes as being a form of judgment that God sometimes uses (29:6).

The Book of Revelation predicts many to come in the last days (8:5; 11:13; 16:18).

Every year there are some 500,000 detectable seismic or micro-seismic disturbances that occur around the world. Of these, 100,000 can be felt and some 1,000 cause some kind of destruction in either lives or property.

Worth in intensity: Alaska, 1964. It was 8.9 on the Richter scale.–equivalent to an explosion 100 times greater than a nuclear bomb of 10,000 megatons.

Worst loss of life: China, 1556. 830,000 died. In 1976, in Peking, 650,000 died and 780,000 were injured.

In the U.S., more than 70 million people live in regions that are high to moderate risk areas. Highest rist areas: San Francisco, Los Angles, Memphis, Tenn, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Anchorage, Alaska, and Charleston, S.C.

THERE ARE THINGS OTHER THAN EARTHQUAKES THAT ARE BEING SHAKEN TODAY—shaken with terrific force. Instituions are crumbling right before our eyes...

• families

• marriages

• churches

• government leaders

• politicians

Then there are things which tend to be more personal in scope:

• terrorism

• crime rate

• death of a loved oned

• betrayal of a frined or spouse

• loss of a job

• disease

BUT ENOUGH TALK OF THINGS THAT ARE SHAKEABLE! Let’s focus together on some unshakeable truths. The Bible speaks of at least five things that are so solid, so strong, so secure, that nothing can cause them to crumble

1. GOD’S NATURE

Malachi 3:6: “I am the Lord; I change not.”

Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”

All that God is, He has always been; all that He has been and is, He will ever be.

This has reference to His character, His essential being, which is love, holiness, faithfulness, power, wisdom, and so much more!

What peace this brings to the heart of a child of God—to realize that ouR heavenly Father never differs from Himself!

He is always in a receptive mood. He doesn’t have office hours. He loves us as much today as when we were first born.

In thIs world where men forget us, change their attitudes toward us, revise their opinions of us for the slightest cause, isn’t it wonderful to know that we have a God who does not change?

He is Available. He is Accessible. He is Awesome!

2. GOD’S THRONE

Thrones symbolize power, authority, leadership. Hebrews 12:23 refers to God as the “Judge of all.” The throne He sits upon is an everlasting, unchanging one.

Ben Franklin: God governs in the affairs of men and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, neither can a kingdom rise without His aid.

This throne not only represents authority, but it also is a place of prayer where we can come boldly, in the name of Jesus, offer our praises and bare our souls. We can be sure that the One who sits there has the desire and ability to meet our needs. And it is a throne of grace as well (Hebrews 14:6)Hebrews 4:16

I love watching kids. God sure does speak through them.

Two little guys were playing out in their backyard with a football. As they tossed it back and forth, one of them threw it a bit too high, and it became stuck on top of their house. One of the little boys asked, "Do you want me to climb up there and get the football?" The other replied simply, "You’re too small to do that...

...but I know who we can get."

"Let’s go ask our Father - he’s big enough to get it done for us."

And, with that, they went into the living room where their father was and asked him to get their football down. Then, they did a remarkable thing......they went outside and waited with confidence for him to do as they had asked.