LIVING ON A FAULT LINE
Heb. 12:25-29
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A Texan, a North Korean, and a New Yorker were walking down the street when they were approached by a reporter. “Excuse me,” he said, “Could I have your opinion on the current food shortage in Ukraine?”
2. The Texan said, “What’s a shortage?” The North Korean said, “What’s food?” The New Yorker said, “What’s ‘Excuse me’?”
B. ARE WE LIVING RISKY?
1. Imagine you’re driving down the interstate about 75 mph. You know your brakes are leaking fluid – you saw a puddle underneath your car this morning. It’s been 3 or 4 days since you checked the level of fluid. It’s very possible that at any moment, you could shove down the break pedal and nothing would happen – your car would be out of control! Would you continue to keep driving? Many do, because they don’t have the time or money to get their brakes fixed!
2. We’re going to talk about living on the edge, about taking chances we know we shouldn’t, of ignoring God’s boundaries and violating God’s best will for our lives.
C. TEXT
“25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.” Heb. 12:25-29
D. SETTING THE SCENE
1. California is notorious for its earthquakes, with nearly 7,184 of them taking place last year alone. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake hit with a magnitude 7.8 impact. It occurred along the northern end of the (San Andreas) fault, causing an estimated 3,000 deaths and destroying over 80 percent of the city.
2. https://geology.com/articles/san-andreas-fault.shtml
3. However, the section just north of Los Angeles hasn’t ruptured for more than 150 years, and the section east of Los Angeles hasn’t ruptured in more than 300 years.
4. The U.S. Geological Society has stated that there’s a 75% probability that a 7.0 or greater earthquake will strike Southern California within 30 years – during our lifetime. It sounds crazy, but...
I. SOME PEOPLE CHOOSE TO LIVE ON FAULT LINES
A. WARNED, BUT MOVE THERE ANYWAY
1. Earthquake scientists say that 2.4 million people live along the Hayward Fault (part of the San Andreas System) adjacent to Berkeley, Oakland and San Jose California. Satellite pictures show it running right through a football stadium at UC Berkeley! https://seismo.berkeley.edu/hayward/goole_earth_hayward_fault.jpg
2. Do these people not know about the earthquake potential? Yes, they do! One Palm Springs article said that “most locals don’t have earthquake insurance” [Desert Sun; 11-15-17]. If a massive quake hits, they’d lose their homes!
3. The USGS is projecting that a quake of at least 7.8 will strike, costing 1,800 lives and $200 Billion in destruction.
4. Yet despite all these warnings, people move into these areas, get jobs, build houses, and raise families. People like us from Texas – who’ve never been around earthquakes – perceive this as similar to becoming comfortable with a rattle snake running loose in your house!
B. LIVING IN SIN = QUAKE ZONE
1. What would it be like to live in California on a fault line? An earthquake WILL HAPPEN, it’s only a matter of time. Why would a person build over a fault line? It’s like tempting God - living with your life in jeopardy; at any moment the ground may open up and you be swallowed up!
2. Living in sin is exactly like that. We don’t know when our earthquake of judgment will hit, but it surely will. Will we continue to stay in the place of danger?
3. The Bible says, “11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” Eccles. 8:11, NKJV. Just because God HASN'T judged, doesn't mean He WON'T Judge!
II. WHY DO PEOPLE CHOOSE TO TAKE RISKS?
A. SIX REASONS WHY PEOPLE CONTINUE TO TAKE RISKS
1. 1st, they THINK: “God won’t condemn me; I’m an exception. God & I have a special arrangement.” That’s NOT true; God treats all people the same (Acts 10:34). He doesn’t give anyone a free pass. Judgment is universal!
2. 2nd REASON: “Christians exaggerate the danger. Yes, God IS holy, but He’s going to overlook my sin.” God doesn’t see the 10 commands as optional. If you’ve lied, stolen, disobeyed parents, used God’s name in vain, lusted, etc. – the Bible says you’re a sinner, and without true repentance you’re headed for Hell! “But I’ve only done one sin!” That’s all it takes. James said, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (2:10). So we fall into one of two categories: completely Innocent OR Guilty. Which are you?
3. 3rd REASON: “Others did it & got away with it.” Let's correct this -- they haven't gotten away with it. If you commit a crime, it may take weeks or months before the police track you down & arrest you. Just because you haven't been arrested yet doesn't mean you're going to get away with your crime! The Bible says that without genuine repentance, “every violation and disobedience [will] receive its just punishment” Heb. 2:2.
4. 4th REASON: “The thing I desire is worth the risk.” Sin is never worth the cost. The end of sin is always death. “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
5. 5th REASON: “I had to, to keep my friends” (peer pressure). Will you ditch God as your friend, for earthly friends? Gal. 1:10, “Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?...If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ” (1:10, RSV).
6. 6th REASON: “I didn’t have time to make a good decision.” God tells you to decide NOW – so that when the test comes, you won’t fail.
B. ARE YOU QUAKE RESISTANT?
1. In the spiritual realm, areas which are liable to collapse/ be shaken, when judgment falls, must be rooted out or they will destabilize our whole lives!
2. Earthquakes can come in lots of ways to our lives:
a. An Accident
b. A Bad Decision
c. Family Problem/ loss
d. Job Termination
e. Physical Health Breakdown, etc. Often they're something we can do nothing about.
3. ILLUSTRATION.
a. In Mexico City was a 13-story apartment building called Nuevo Leon. The building had hydraulic stabilizers in case of earthquake, but they broke and remained unrepaired for 2 years.
b. Then, unexpectedly, on Sept. 19, 1985, a devastating earthquake shook Mexico City. The 13-story building began to sway. Without hydraulic stabilizers to cushion the shocks, the building continued to sway until finally a third of it broke loose at the foundation and fell over sideways.
c. Another third came crumbling down, floor on floor, crushed like a tin can. Only one third was left standing. For fifteen days rescuers dug through the rubble to search for survivors.
d. Unfortunately, for most, the results of neglecting the inner defects were tragic. Our lives are going to be like that building: we will be shaken. Only what's built on the Rock of Jesus Christ will stand! [Green, Illus. for Biblical Preaching, p. 348 (#1289)]
III. ARE YOU LIVING ON A FAULT LINE?
A. EX. OF RICKY BEHAVIORS FOR THE CHRISTIAN?
1. DABBLING WITH SIN.
2. NOT TAKING IN REGULAR SPIRITUAL NUTRITION.
3. Not having a SOLDIER MENTALITY –> “I’m in a war zone, so I need to constantly be armed and ready to fight.”
4. Allowing a SELF-PLEASING SPIRIT or a compromising attitude
B. A SPIRITUAL QUAKE IS IMMINENT – Judgment Day
1. Acts 17:31, “[God] has SET A DAY on which He will judge the world in righteousness through [the] Man whom He has appointed,” NASB.
2. THE DATE IS SET. IT IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING. WE DON’T KNOW WHEN IT IS, BUT WITHOUT CHRIST – EVERY MOMENT WE ARE LIVING IN JEOPARDY!
C. ILLUSTRATION
1. In the early morning of Dec. 28, 1908, an earthquake totally destroyed the flourishing and extraordinary beautiful city of Messina, Italy, and 84,000 people died.
2. Only a few hours before the devastating earthquake, which laid Messina and the surrounding districts in ruins, the wicked inhabitants had passed a series of laws overturning godliness and instituted wicked behavior in its place.
3. Messina’s local newspaper, “Il Telefono” had published on Christmas Day, a defiance to Almighty God. In parody, they dared the Almighty – if He existed – to make Himself known by sending an earthquake! And in 3 days the earthquake came! The city was leveled and the inhabitants judged! [John Lawrence, Down to Earth [Wheaton, Ill.; Tyndale, 1983], p. 51]. God is not mocked!
4. Are we listening to God’s warnings? Are we persisting in sin, rebellion, and compromise? Are we repenting & humbling ourselves before God?
5. “If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?” Heb. 12:25.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: WHAT DOES A ‘SHAKING’ FEEL LIKE?
1. A man who was in the great earthquake of Charleston, S.C., says that he had the strange experience of feeling that he had nothing to stand on or to hold on to. He looked at the most solid structures and they were toppling and falling. He rushed out into an open space but the firm ground was heaving. He looked to the great forest trees and they were swaying like reeds in a storm. The hills were reeling. The sea was rocking in a raging tumult.
2. It was only when he looked up and saw the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy that his eyes rested on something that was standing firm! [A. H. Mecklin in 7,700 Illus. #1257]
3. So it is, when everything is giving way, we should look up to God and His eternal kingdom, which cannot be shaken!
B. ILLUS.: A WORLD-SHAKING GOD.
1. During an earthquake a few years ago the inhabitants of a small village were very much alarmed. One old woman whom they all knew, was surprisingly calm & joyous. At length, one of them said to her, “Mother, aren’t you afraid?”
2. She said, “No. I rejoice to know that I have a God who can shake the world!” Paul Lee Tan, Encyclop. Of 7,700 Illus., #1258]
C. THE CALL
1. Will you repent NOW of your weaknesses? Let’s come to the altar area and confess to God. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9.
2. Let’s trust in Christ and ask Him to make of children of God, and give us overcoming power to be faithful until the end! PRAYER
