“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
Chapter 19 of Exodus begins with the statement that the children of Israel were now in their third month after moving out of Egypt.
By the way, let’s take just a little rabbit trail here before we go on, and discuss something that I think is important for us to note.
As I chose my wording for that opening sentence, I almost said that the children of Israel ‘escaped’ from Egypt. I caught myself and changed that, and I don’t want to pass on from here until I explain why.
The children of Israel did not escape Egypt. They went out. They were delivered by the mighty hand of God, and with Moses leading they simply left. It’s not an escape when your captor no longer has the power or the inclination to hold you.
If you read Exodus 19:1, you will note that it says, “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt…”
Can you see why it’s important to be careful how we repeat what the Bible says? There is an old hymn that talks of the blood of the Lamb being ‘spilt’. These days we would say ‘spilled’, but the meaning is the same. The problem with that is, it makes it sound like an accident; or at the very least, that someone else had the power in themselves to make it spill out.
The truth is, Jesus deliberately poured out His blood to atone for your sins and mine. It was planned from eternity past, and He did it on purpose for you. It wasn’t spilled. Always remember that.
Now let’s get back to Exodus 19 for a moment.
It was in the third month after they went out, and they came to Mount Sinai, also called in the Bible, Mount Horeb.
This is where God came down to meet them; more specifically, He met with Moses there, and gave the Law. First God gave instructions to Moses for the people, regarding their preparation for His meeting them there.
There is a lot to be said from those early verses of Exodus 19, concerning our approach to God and remembering who it is we come to, and also the fact that He was coming to talk to them, and to give something to them. They are not told to say anything; to ask anything; just to prepare themselves and be there in attendance to Him. We could say much about this, but it is not our primary focus today.
For now, go with me to Exodus 19, and let’s read verses 10-25. (read)
As we leave here now and go to our text of study, I’ll ask you to be mindful of the awesome nature of events these people witnessed at Horeb.
We talk a lot about the failures of the children of Israel in the wilderness, and if we are wise we see those things as lessons and warnings for ourselves. But let’s ease up on them just a bit today and take note of the unfathomable power they witnessed, as God came down to the mountain.
Thunder, quaking of the earth, and this would be just plain eerie, the sound of a ram’s horn trumpet that kept getting louder and louder. Now please, tell me that you wouldn’t be shaking in your boots if you were there.
And does this make you think of anything else you’ve heard of from scripture?
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” I Thessalonians 4:16
So this is not some allegory; some symbolic reference, Christians.
There really will be a trumpet blast, and I believe it will be heard the world over, and I think this should help us get an idea of how hardened the hearts of men are and will be then, that they will hear that, witness the disappearance of millions, and yet continue to reject God.
It will be a real sound, a real blast, and the precedent set for belief in a literal trumpet blast is that it was heard two months to the day (the third month) after the children of Israel went out from Egypt, as they stood near the Mountain that God shook.
A man recorded it in history. We will hear it again.
SINCE WE RECEIVE A KINGDOM
Going to our text now, I want you to see that we receive a kingdom.
Various commentators I researched did not pause to make anything of the use of the word ‘receive’, or as it is in your other translations, ‘receiving’, but I thought it was noteworthy that every use of the precise Greek word, here translated ‘receive’ in Hebrews 12:28, denotes a personal sort of giving and accepting. The first part of the word is ‘para’, which means ‘beside’.
You may remember hearing the Holy Spirit referred to as “Paraclete”, which means to come along side to give aid and encouragement. Jesus used the word in John 16:7 when He promised to send the ‘Helper’, who would guide them into all truth (vs 13). There is a closeness implied. A nearness.
So here in our text we are given a sense of God coming near to give us something.
He came to Sinai to give the Law. He warned Moses that the people were to stand back and not so much as touch the mountain. But now, He has come near to us to give us a kingdom. Not call us to it, not require us to sign some sort of citizenship agreement, not to tell us how to earn it, and not to bestow some honorary membership, as the Queen of England did when she knighted Bing Crosby. He came along side as Friend, and gave us a kingdom. We have it now.
We are citizens in full standing, and not just citizens, but joint owners and rulers in it by His Grace and by His doing.
So let’s study our kingdom and learn more about our eternal home.
A KINGDOM WHICH CANNOT BE SHAKEN
1. The Kingdom was promised
In Daniel 2 we read of the dream of the king of Babylon and Daniel’s interpretation of it. The major kingdoms that would shape history are represented in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; a study in itself. In verse 44 Daniel says an astounding thing that could only have been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit of God.
“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”
Now we could enter into a very lengthy study of what is meant by the Kingdom of God and the various references to the Kingdom throughout the New Testament. But I want to stay in the context of what the Hebrews author is saying here, so let’s just go to some verses here in chapter 12 and see how he describes this Kingdom we have received.
He calls it Mount Zion, in verse 22, and ‘the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels”. So we can rest assured that he is not speaking of a physical kingdom, but a spiritual one.
As we go on, bear in mind that the Holy Spirit is telling us that we have come to this place. We have been brought near, according to Ephesians 2:13, by the blood of Christ. We’ll look at that a little closer in a minute.
So although our eyes of flesh do not see it, and because of our preoccupation with this world we are seldom consciously aware of it even after we have learned the truth, our spirits, which have been joined to His Spirit (I Cor. 6:17), now share kingdom company with these listed here.
The general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. We take that to be a reference to those who belong to God through faith; those who are still here and make up the true church. We are members one of another, all enrolled in heaven, although not there yet.
But there is even better news.
We have come also to God, the Judge of all. Not the judge of us, but the One who judges all things perfectly.
We can rejoice in this, that our sins have been judged in the flesh of our Substitute and Redeemer, and by His blood we have been made clean to be in the presence of the Judge of all, unjudged.
In fact, He will in the end give judgment over to us.
I Corinthians 6:2,3 “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we shall judge angels?”
On this point William R. Newell says, “God does not cease here as the Judge of all. But that He should commit to redeemed creatures the position and qualification of judge of other creatures, shows how complete was Christ’s work for us; not only ‘no condemnation’; but made judges!”
Next we see that we have come also to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. That would be those who have gone before.
Now I should be careful here to point out that being made perfect does not mean that they have received their glorified bodies. I believe the scriptures make clear that they are spiritually there, in heaven, in the presence of God. In that sense, they have been made perfect, or complete, in that they are secure and happy there and their waiting is done.
But the end of chapter eleven of Hebrews indicates that they are waiting for all of us to get there, when the whole church, universal, will be gathered together before the Throne.
“And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
So if Chapter 11 verse 40 says they wait for us before being made perfect, and chapter 12 verse 23 says they are made perfect, that can only mean that they are secure in their blissful home, but like we, they wait for the redemption of the body.
Nevertheless, we have fellowship with them in that positionally we are as secure in our place in heaven as they are who are actually there and gone from this world.
Now that is not an invitation to do some Dionne Warwick ‘thing’ and try to communicate with Moses and Elijah, or great grandpa or the favorite aunt who has passed away. It is simply an assurance that when we responded to the call of God in faith, our place with those already there was established forever.
In Samuel Stone’s hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation”, there was a fourth verse which is now missing from many hymnals. Probably most.
It went, “Yet she on earth hath union with God, the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.”
In the infinite wisdom of the hymnal gurus it was decided that the word ‘mystic’ smacked of spiritualism, and might encourage the aforementioned ‘Dionne Warwick’-type activity, so they left that verse out in the newer hymnals and we rarely see it anymore.
This provides me opportunity to address an issue that disturbs me deeply.
That the widespread and seemingly growing attitude in our present day, is that it is better to ignore a difficult point or passage of scripture, or a point of doctrine that requires contemplation and understanding, than to confuse the poor ignorant masses with them.
Instead of erasing verses from the hymns, or dancing the wide step around difficult passages of scripture, why not give people credit for a little intelligence, and teach them what is being said, so that their Christian walk and experience might be deepened and enriched, instead of kept tepidly boring and shallow?
Now this removal of one verse from a hymn is, on the surface, a small thing to be sure. But I just believe it is indicative of a very serious problem; that leaders and teachers, being too lazy to learn, stop being able to teach.
So we have churches full of spiritual babes who come and hear the same, simple, basic stuff, week after week, year after year, and it is no wonder that their Christianity after a fashion is gray, and boring, and just generally uninviting.
I can understand what the hymn writer meant by ‘mystic sweet communion’, and I can understand what Penelope meant here in Hebrews 12:23 when she wrote “to the spirits of the righteous made perfect”, and I’m going to just believe that I don’t have anything over you, and you are intelligent enough, and spiritual enough to handle the truth yourself.
Now I’ll jump down from my soap box and go on; but Christians, if you find yourself under the ministry of a man who will sidestep the difficult doctrines or the hard sayings of scripture because either he is too lazy to study or he thinks you can’t handle it, you turn and run from that place just as fast as you can, and find a place where the whole counsel of God is taught, and you can be brought to a place of being excited about the Bible again.
Moving on then, the writer to the Hebrews indicates clearly that part of the nature of this kingdom we have come to, is that in the spirit we do indeed share company with the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Don’t pray to them. Do not ask to see them. They’re happy where they are and they are perfectly content to wait for your eventual arrival.
Now we come to how we got here. How we come to this kingdom. Jesus, blessed be that name which is above all names, is the mediator of a new covenant.
That is, He is the One who goes between. “…there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Tim 2:5)
As mediator of a new and better covenant, He sprinkled us with His own blood to make us fit for the Father’s presence.
In Hebrews 9:19 we read, “For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you’.”
This was symbolic, a foreshadowing of the reality, that the blood of Christ applied to us and also to the mercy seat in heaven would bring us to God and God to us.
Now I just want to clarify this statement, “which speaks better than the blood of Abel”.
In Genesis 4:10 when God confronts Cain concerning his murder of Abel, He says, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”
The blood of Abel cried out for justice. The blood of Christ brought justice for all, and by it we stand perfect before God.
2. The Kingdom is in you (received into your heart by faith)
Well, the writer to the Hebrews gives us this description of the kingdom we have come to. Not a mountain, shaken, smoke-covered, inducing fear and trembling, but a heavenly and holy place to which we are invited to draw near.
We have to take note also though, that the Kingdom is within us. Observe again, that verse 28 says we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken. We have come to it, but it also has come to us.
When Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit down, He indwelt every believer and brought the Kingdom of God into our hearts.
In Luke 17:21 Jesus said, “…the kingdom of God is in your midst”. That can also be translated, “…the kingdom of God is within you”, as the King James does.
Christian, you carry the kingdom of God with you, in your heart. You received the kingdom as a gift, and you received it by accepting that gift into yourself.
3. The Kingdom will remain
Look at verse 27 and see that when God said, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven”, He talked of the ‘…removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things…’
This brings to mind II Peter 3:10-12
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”
And back in Hebrews it says, “…the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”
Christians, rejoice in this, that you have received into yourself, and been yourself received into, a kingdom which cannot be shaken or destroyed, but will endure forever.
The God who shook Horeb with the sound of His voice, will once more shake all of creation in destruction, so that which cannot be shaken will stand out as that which glorifies Him.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again here; this world we walk in, the things we see and touch, the things we tend to put so much value in, are not the reality. They are the shadows. They are the myth.
The eternal kingdom we have received is what is real. Again, I invite you to step outside on a clear night. Drive to a location out of town if you have to, to get away from artificial light. Look up into the stars and as you gaze at them and wonder at the vastness of space and all the planets and moons and stars that reflect back God’s glorious light…
…remember that you will outlive them all. Because God is going to shake creation once more, and all that will be left will be all that matters. All that will be left will be that which cannot be destroyed.
CONSUMING FIRE
The author ends his discussion of this unshakeable kingdom with the declaration that our God is a consuming fire. A rather ominous and sobering thought; especially after being blessed by the wonderful things that have been said about us and what lies in our future in the previous verses.
It is interesting also, that he says we should show gratitude by faithful service with reverence and awe, and then links that admonition to this phrase. “Our God is a consuming fire”
This is not the only scriptural reference to God in this way. I gave you a list on your outline. The writer may have been thinking of Deuteronomy 4:24 when he said it, as Moses was warning the people to obey all that God had commanded and to reject idolatry, then said, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God”.
We do a lot of talking and debating and ruminating about the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this passage from Hebrews used in connection with that doctrine specifically, but let’s just take a short look at that as we come to a close.
We have been told here that we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels, to the company of the spirits of the righteous who are there now awaiting our arrival, and to the very presence of the Judge of all. And we have come, we have been brought where we are, by the sprinkled blood of the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.
Then the writer goes on, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to declare that we have received a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, tying this declaration to those things he has said previously.
To say that there is any way that I can be responsible for losing my salvation, for going back into an unsaved condition, to lose eternal life and heaven, is to say that the sprinkled blood of the covenant was insufficient.
It is to say that Jesus is an inadequate mediator, and it is to say that this kingdom can, indeed, be shaken.
Every man, woman and child in all of history who has responded to the call of God through faith and received spiritual birth from above, and been adopted into His family and promised heaven, will be gathered in and not one will be lost. If even one could or would be lost, the entire kingdom of heaven would be shaken, and the promises of God would be void.
But that is not the case. He Himself has said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
God is indeed a consuming fire, Christians. He will, in the end, consume all adversaries. The fire of His wrath will burn against all injustice and unrighteousness, and this sin-blackened creation will melt with intense heat.
But you have received a kingdom; one that cannot be shaken; and I’ll end with one of my favorite quotes from C. S. Lewis. “You shall live to remember the galaxies as an ancient tale”.
Therefore let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. Bless Him. Praise Him. Glorify Him in your heart and in your walk. You have been given access by the perfect blood of the Redeemer, who has brought you to the Father and stands as your mediator, and He is able to preserve you there forever. Internalize this truth, ask Him by the enlightening power of His Spirit in you to give you a fuller sense of what it all means for you, and then let the knowledge of these things revolutionize your approach to service and worship.
You have received and have been received into an unshakeable kingdom. Let your confidence in that produce multiplied grace and magnified gratitude in your heart.
Deut 9:3; Is 33:14; 2 Thess 1:7; Heb 10:27, 31
