One day, a bus driver was driving along his usual route. He didn't encounter any problems for the first few stops; a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At one stop, however, a big hulk of a man got on. He was 6' 8" tall, built like a wrestler, and his arms hung down to the ground. He glared at the driver and told him, “Big John doesn't pay!” Then he sat down at the back of the bus. The driver was 5' 3" tall, thin, and very meek, so he didn't argue with Big John. But he wasn't happy about it.
The next day, the same thing happened. Big John got on again, made a big show of refusing to pay, and sat down. It happened the next day, and the next, and the next. The bus driver began to lose sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him.
Finally, he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and a class on finding your self-esteem. By the end of the summer, the bus driver had become quite strong and felt really good about himself.
The next Monday, Big John entered the bus and again declared, “Big John doesn't pay!”
Enraged, the driver stood up, glared back at Big John, and bellowed, “And why not?!”
With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, “Big John has a bus pass.” (Ed Rowell, Monument, Colorado; www. PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes, people are afraid when they don’t need to be. I think some Christians are like that when it comes to their relationship with God. They think God is going to judge them for any little mistake; so, out of fear, they work themselves into a frenzy and then give up when they fail.
However, no believer needs to live that way! If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12, where we see the kind of relationship God wants to have with you and me who believe in His Son.
Hebrews 12:18-21 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” (ESV)
Now, this is NOT the kind of relationship God wants with His people. God does NOT want them to “tremble with fear” like they did when He gave them the Law at Mount Sinai.
At that time, a trumpet blared, fire flashed, and smoke consumed the mountain. The sky was darkened as God thundered forth His law. The people were so scared, they begged Moses to talk to God privately and then relay to them whatever God had said. They couldn’t even bear the initial order, which told them, “Don’t even touch the mountain or you will die.”
You see, that’s the nature of the law. It condemns everyone who violates it. The law says, “The soul who sins shall die!” (Ezekiel 18:4,20). And since all of us are sinners, there is no hope for us under the law. There is only the fear of punishment, because we know we have broken the law.
It’s like driving down the road when all of a sudden you see flashing lights in your rearview mirror. You were going a little too fast, and now you know it’s going to cost you. You’re hoping for mercy (a warning), but you fear condemnation (a ticket). That’s the way the law works. Only it is far worse, because There is no mercy under the law. There is only the “fearful expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:26), which paralyzes many people.
Billy Joel has written a lot of popular songs, which made his early albums massive hits. But according to an interview with New York magazine, Billy Joel has always been unsatisfied with his music. “I never felt as good as I wanted to be,” he said. “My bar was Beethoven.” Although Billy Joel performed his 100th show at Madison Square Garden just a couple of months ago (July 2018), he hasn’t released a new album in 25 years.
Why? He says it’s because of his critics, who have often savaged his music as sappy and shallow. Billy Joel said, “Because I studied music I was suspect to critics. To them you're supposed to be a diamond in the rough and polish yourself.” Well, apparently, Billy Joel's inability to overcome his internal and external critics has frozen his creativity. (“Why Joel stopped making albums,” THE WEEK, 8-10-18; www.PreachingToday. com)
His fear of condemnation stopped him from publishing any new songs, and that’s what the condemnation of the law does for many people. Their fear of it stops them from making any progress and keeps them in bondage to their sins.
But the good news is “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). When you come to Christ, who paid the penalty for all your sins on the cross, you no longer have to fear condemnation. So…
DON’T TREMBLE WITH FEAR any longer.
Don’t shake with a paralyzing sense of panic, because as a believer, you have not come to the Judge at Mount Sinai. In other words: You are no longer under the terrifying precepts of God’s Law. Instead…
TRIUMPH WITH FAITH,
Overcome with confidence. Prevail with certainty, because you have come to Jesus in Heaven, and you are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace.
Hebrews 12:22 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… (ESV)
Notice it says, “You HAVE come…” As a believer in Christ, your entrance into heaven is so sure, it’s as if it has already happened. You HAVE come…
Hebrews 12:23 …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… (ESV)
This is a description of heaven! There are “innumerable angels” (vs.22 says) along with “the assembly of the firstborn” – i.e., the church. God, the judge, is there, along with “all the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
You see, when you get to heaven, God will have completed His work of making you perfect, so you won’t have to fear His judgment. That’s because you HAVE come…
Hebrews 12:24 …to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (ESV)
You have not come to the Judge on Mount Sinai. You have come to Jesus in Heaven, who shed His blood for you on the cross.
The New Covenant is far better than the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant (the law) tried to motivate people with the threat of condemnation, but it never worked. The New Covenant, on the other hand, motivates people with the promise of unconditional blessing for anyone who comes to Christ, the mediator of that covenant.
Please, if you haven’t done it already, come to Christ today! Depend on Him. Trust Him with your life, and you can be as sure of Heaven as if you were already there!
Pastor Lee Strobel talks about the time when, during a baptism service, he told those who wanted to be baptized to take a piece of paper, write down some of the sins they’ve committed, and fold the paper. There was a large cross on the platform, and he told them to pin that paper to the cross before he or one of the other pastors on staff baptized them. That’s because the Bible says our sins are nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ and fully paid for by His death.
In that service, one of the pastors baptized a woman, who later wrote them a letter. She said:
“I remember my fear. In fact, it was the most fear I remember in my life. I wrote as tiny as I could on that piece of paper the word abortion. I was so scared someone would open the paper and read it and find out it was me. I wanted to get up and walk out of the auditorium during the service, the guilt and fear were that strong.
“When my turn came,” she said, “I walked toward the cross, and I pinned the paper there. I was directed to a pastor to be baptized. He looked me straight in the eyes, and I thought for sure that he was going to read this terrible secret I kept from everybody for so long. But instead, I felt like God was telling me, I love you. It's okay. You've been forgiven. I felt so much love for me, a terrible sinner. It's the first time I ever really felt forgiveness and unconditional love. It was unbelievable, indescribable. (Lee Strobel, “Meet the Jesus I Know,” Preaching Today tape no. 211; www.PreachingToday.com)
Perhaps, you have a sin (or many sins) that weigh you down with guilt and shame. Please, believe that when you come to Jesus, you do not come to a judge who will condemn you for your sin; you come to a Savior who died for every one of your sins and wants to lift that weight of guilt off your shoulders.
So don’t tremble with fear any longer, because you are no longer under the terrifying precepts of God’s Law. Instead, triumph with faith, because you are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace. You haven’t come to the Judge at Mount Sinai. You have come to Jesus in Heaven! Please…
DON’T REJECT HIS INVITATION TO GRACE.
Don’t refuse Christ’s offer to you. Don’t excuse yourself from answering His gracious call.
Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. (ESV)
That is, don’t refuse JESUS. Literally, don’t beg-off His offer. Don’t ask to be excused from His invitation.
The Greek word for “refuse” is the same word used in Luke 14 where several people asked to be excused from a dinner party. One said, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused” (Luke 14:18). Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused” (Luke 14:19).
Don’t ask to be excused from the party Jesus has planned for you!
The February 19, 1930 issue of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette ran a story from Vienna, Austria about a woman named Corin Ward. Corin was a struggling actress, who received a phone call from an attorney one day, telling her that she had been mentioned in the will of a deceased client.
She met the attorney at his office, who told her that the will belonged to a man who wished to be known only as "Dr. Meszaros." Corin told the attorney, “I don’t know any doctor by that name”, and she wondered if there had been some sort of mistake. The lawyer was not surprised that Corin didn't recognize the name, but there was no doubt that Dr. Meszaros knew Corin.
According to the attorney, Meszaros lived in the same city as Corin and had fallen head over heels in love with her, but Meszaros struggled with debilitating fears, so he never worked up the courage to speak to the woman he admired from afar. Even so, he was unable to get over the woman who had captured his heart. Sadly, he died alone, but Meszaros left Corin every penny he had saved over the course of his life – all $50,000. (Adrienne Crezo, “7 People Who Died and Left Their Fortunes to Strangers,” Mental Floss, October 16, 2012; www.PreachingToday.com)
For whatever reason, Meszaros excused himself from a relationship with Corin. Maybe, he feared rejection. Maybe, he didn’t think he was good enough for such a beautiful woman. Whatever the reason, his excuses left him afraid and alone.
Please, don’t you do the same with Jesus. Don’t excuse yourself from a real relationship with Him. He will NOT reject you, and He values you so much that He died on the cross for you. All you have to do is answer His invitation to come to Him, and leave your fear and loneliness behind. Please, don’t excuse yourself from answering His invitation.
Otherwise, you will not escape God’s judgment.
Hebrews 12:25 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. (ESV)
When the Israelites refused God’s Law, He sent them into exile. However, if you refuse God’s grace, it can be a whole lot worse!
Hebrews 12:26 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.” (ESV)
When God thundered forth His law on Mount Sinai, the Bible says, “The whole mountain trembled greatly” (Exodus 19:18). There was a great earthquake; but someday, there will be a great universe-quake. God will shake not only the earth, but everything in the heavens, as well.
Hebrews 12:27 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. (ESV)
The sun will fall. The stars will be shaken loose, and the planets will careen out of their orbits. The only thing that will remain is the Kingdom of God and those who have answered Jesus invitation to be a part of that Kingdom.
Jack Hayford describes his experience with the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake. “On January 17, 1994,” he says, “10,000 freight trains seemed to be thundering through our house as the Northridge earthquake hit Los Angeles. When it was over, our family was safe and our home virtually untouched. Yet in the days following the disaster, I was gripped with a fear I had never known.
“After four days,” Hayford says, “I desperately sought God in prayer. ‘Lord, I can’t understand myself! I am not afraid for my life, and I am not in doubt of your presence and protection. Is there something wrong with me?’
“Instantly,” Hayford says, “I sensed an inner whisper: ‘My son, there is nothing wrong with you. I allowed you to experience the depth of the trauma and fear that has gripped multitudes so that you might comfort them beyond their fears’” (Jack Hayford, How to Live Through a Bad Day: Powerful Insights from Christ’s Words on the Cross, 2002).
It is a terrifying thing when just a part of the earth shakes. Imagine what it will be when God shakes the entire universe!
Please, don’t excuse yourself from Christ’s offer to be a part of His Kingdom. Otherwise, you will not escape when God shakes the whole world and all the stars of place. Please, don’t reject Christ invitation to grace. Instead…
RECEIVE GOD’S UNSHAKEABLE KINGDOM with gratitude and reverence.
Accept His offer of grace with praise and wonder. Welcome His unconditional love with thanksgiving and awe.
Hebrews 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.
This is NOT a cowering fear in the presence of a powerful judge like we saw in verse 21. This is a reverential awe in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. It’s what the Bible means when it talks about “the fear of the Lord.”
Lee Eclov, a pastor in Vernon Hills, Illinois, describes it like this. He says:
I used to think that living in “the fear of the Lord” is like driving down the street while watching the policeman in your rearview mirror. But actually there's a better picture for the fear of the Lord. It's like a teenage driver who suddenly spots her father's car in her rearview mirror. Seeing him back there puts her on notice to be on her best behavior – to use her blinkers and stop at the yellow light, and to keep both hands on the wheel. But it also tells her that her father cares enough to follow her. It tells her that she's safe. Her father isn't trying to trap or trick her. He's trying to help her develop good habits; not just to be careful on this trip, but to obey the laws and stay safe until she gets home. She's driving on her own, but not completely on her own.
So it is for the people of God. The fear of the Lord means we live life with our heavenly Father always in our rearview mirror. We glance up and see his brilliant holiness but also his care and love. (Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; www.PreachingToday.com)
Oh, my dear friends, be grateful for such love! Accept it with reverence and awe.
Now, that’s the kind of relationship God wants to have with you! So don’t tremble with fear any longer, because you are no longer under the terrifying precepts of God’s Law. Instead, triumph with faith, because you are now under the tremendous promise of God’s grace. You have not come to the Judge at Mount Sinai. You have come to Jesus in Heaven! So, please, don’t reject His invitation to grace. Instead, receive it with gratitude and reverence.
Evelyn Bence, in an article for Christianity Today, writes about spending an evening at a shelter for homeless women at the invitation of a friend.
Her three hours at the shelter were not filled with dramatic scenes. From a corner of the large sleeping area, she helped serve dinner to 30 women who ate their substantial but bland meal, sitting cross-legged on their sleeping mats. Except for two boisterously irrational women, they talked little. By nine o'clock, many were bedding down for the night.
As Evelyn did the dishes, still within sight of the women, the word “homeless” took on a personal meaning. These women slept here, but every morning when they left, they had to carry their possessions with them.
“Suddenly,” Evelyn writes, “I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my nightgowns, for my very own pillow, for my hand-picked dining room chairs.” “Lord,” she silently prayed, “Thank you. Thank you – that I'm not one of them.”
Before she left, she asked the director of the shelter about some of the women that had caught her attention. The director explained that one of the women, Routy Rachel, had a Ph.D. in art history. Gradually her mind had slipped out of her own grasp. Ester, who had talked to herself all evening, was the mother of five children. She was a midwestern farmer's wife – until her life crumbled around her. The director didn't know much about Carol, who had lain on her back for more than an hour, reading her King James Bible. Marla, who had seemed sullen, was a trained soprano who occasionally enjoyed serenading the rest of the group.
Evelyn writes, “The women's stories unsettle me. Their paths had too much in common with mine. In a sense, I WAS one of them: A mother's daughter. Vulnerable. A sinner in need of grace… My thoughts have frightened me. My comfortable world, my secure home, is not guaranteed.
“At the sight of the outstretched hand of a city beggar, I have always grown uncomfortable,” she says. “But since I spent an evening at the women's shelter, I [realize that] I am uncomfortable because I see the beggar as myself – or my very own brother or mother or father. And I cannot think of a homeless or hungry woman in such personal terms without a reversal in the way I give my thanks.”
Now, instead of praying, “Thank you that I'm not one of them,” Evelyn prays, “Thank you for the grace you have shown to me and help me to mirror your grace to others.” She says that subtle change in attitude makes her want to reach out and reduces her discomfort around those who have less than she does. More than that, she says it surprisingly reduces her fear of a future that is unknown.
“Why?” she asks. To which she replies, “Because even though I know I have no insurance policy against war and famine or sickness, I know I have a God who does not forget his own. And for that,” she says, “I thank him also.” (Evelyn Bence, “Two Kinds of Thanks,” Christianity Today, November 1999; www. PreachingToday.com)
When you give thanks, don’t thank the Lord that you’re not “one of them.” Instead, thank the Lord for the grace He has shown to you. Then let that gratitude for His grace motivate you to reach out to others who are in desperate need of that grace just like you are.
