Hebrews 12:18-29 Be Confident

The speaker begins with a prayer and introduces the guest speaker, David Ingram. They discuss the main ideas from Hebrews chapter 12, such as running the race of faith and focusing on the Father's will. They also talk about the discipline of the Lord, which serves to correct, instruct, and protect. The importance of encouraging and lifting up others in the race is emphasized. The speaker mentions that the audience is a group of Jews who have embraced the gospel and are facing persecution from those who have not. The author of Hebrews urges them to be confident in their faith and reminds them of the superiority of Jesus over Jewish customs and religion. The speaker then quotes from Hebrews chapter 12, discussing how the Israelites encountered God on Mount Sinai and the fear and awe they experienced. The main point is that the audience should not turn back but remain confident in their faith in Jesus. Let me open in prayer and we'll begin. Thank you so much for coming. Dear Lord, thank you so much for this evening and we thank you that this is a day that you've made and thank you for helping us to be glad and to rejoice in it because of Jesus at the very core and center of it. We would thank you for your word, like you tell us in Hebrews 4.12, that the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, divides to the soul and the spirit joins to the merit, the discerner of the motives and intents of the heart. So with our hearts, dear Lord, we pray that you'd help us to take your word to our hearts so that we can pass it on to the hearts of everyone that we meet, greet and serve. Thank you for this evening. Thank you for your word. Pray your blessings upon us that everything we say and do would glorify your name. We pray these things to Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Thank you. And here's our guest speaker for this evening, his name is David Ingram. Alright, I was just talking about, we've got, after tonight, I think we've got three more weeks after tonight, so I think I can get chapter 13 in in three sessions. That's what my goal is. So we'll see. Picking up where we left off, alright, so chapter 12, remember, starts off with, Run the race of faith. You know, famous few verses, right? Therefore, since we are such a great cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race that's yet before us, right? Setting aside all encumbrances and the sin that so easily entangles us. Kind of got backwards there, that goes before, run with endurance the race that's yet before us. Fixing our eyes on who? Jesus. Why? He's the author. He's the first to do it. The one that can show the way how to do it. The author. And the what? The one, that finisher that can help us do it. The finisher that can help us do it. The author and completer, right? Ultimately judge all people. Yeah, ultimately judge all people. But the point is, he showed us how to run the race. Right? He showed us how to run the race. When he was on earth, right, what was he doing? He was always saying, Father, what's next? Father, I'm here to do your will. Show me your will, Father. As always, I'm here to do the Father's will. Over and over and over. I'm here to do the Father's will. And even in the garden, right? Father, are you sure? Even so, not my will, your will. Yeah. Because if it had been his will right then, it could very well have been. You know, I don't know, I want to go hang up on that tree. Right? That's not a pleasant experience. But no, no, the Father's will. So, if we're going to run the race, what do we need to focus on? The Father's will. Right? The Father's will. So, that's how we started Hebrews chapter 12. And then we got into, what was it, the discipline of the Lord? Embrace the discipline of the Lord. What he was telling us there was that as we run, we're going to encounter problems and challenges. And so, if we mess up, which, you know, hey, okay. I mean, a true confession time. I'm human. I mess up. Right? Anybody here, anybody in here cannot raise his hand. You're human and you mess up. I don't see any hands going up. Alright. Alright. I figured so. Right? We're going to mess up. But what he told us is, he told us, hey, the Father loves you. And when you mess up, if you don't immediately fess up and get up and get on with it, then he's going to get your attention. Whom the Lord loves, he what? Chases. Chases. Chases. Right? But we also looked at that word discipline and we said it's got three purposes. The first purpose was what? To correct. When you mess up, he corrects. And I don't know if I told you the story about the tithe. When I didn't pay the tithe that way. I did, didn't I? Yeah. Yeah. He corrected me. Alright. And boy did he. Right? I didn't think I could afford to pay the tithe and get the next time at the doctor's office. Pay the doctor instead. You know? Oh. Oh, I learned a lesson. Ask me if I've missed since. No. No. So you're telling me you don't think that was a coincidence. No, it was not a coincidence. When I sat down in that couch that day at 10 o'clock in the morning, I'm flipping through the channels and up jumps Tony Evans. And the first words out of his mouth are Malachi chapter 3. Does a man rob God? Does a man rob God? Oh boy, the Spirit of God just grabbed a hold of me. Said, talking to you. Gotcha. Gotcha. First purpose of discipline is to correct. The second purpose of discipline is to instruct. To instruct. Right? We talk about disciplines in the classroom, don't we? The discipline of reading. The discipline of doing your math, your homework. That's all discipline. And the purpose of that discipline is to instruct. Right? To teach. And the third purpose of discipline is to protect. And I ask the question, right? And I can tell you, because I've been there. When two-year-old grandson starts walking towards the curb, right? What is your response? Don't go there. No. You are, at the same time you're running towards him, you're yelling at him. Stop. Don't go in that street. Right? Why? Because we know it's a dangerous place for a two-year-old to be without someone there with him. Right? So the third purpose of discipline is to protect. So we did that. And the next week, which was last week, we said, continue the race. Get back in that race. Right? What do you all remember about last week? If anything. Pull out your hand out. Go ahead. What kept sticking with me was to lift up and encourage. Yes. Lift up and encourage. That's what you see. So it starts off, right? It says, therefore, right? If I recall correctly. It says, therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak. And I made the point that this is a marathon we're in. We're not in a sprint. And the marathoners tell you when they get to the 13-mile mark of a 26-mile race, they hit what's called the wall. And the first evidence of the wall being in existence for them is their hands start to droop. Now, when your hands start to droop, you don't run very well. Try running sometime with your hands at your side. I've seen it done by people playing around, right? It's funny looking. And by the way, they have trouble running, right? And then on top of that, the knees start to wobble. You get rubber legs. And so what's he saying? He said the word the hands that are weak and the knees that are wobbly. Not yours, but the. In other words, we're in this race together. And if someone you see needs encouragement, go alongside them and encourage them and pick them up and help them continue the race with you. That's the main thing. That's a gold star right there. Now, I told you I had this fresh on me, right? I told you about my example with my son and daughter-in-law. And I've got to tell you, we saw them over the weekend. Or was it Friday? I guess it's Friday. They came in Friday for just that long. And their whole demeanor and countenance was changed. Why? Because they had been the day before. I remember, hey, I told you this last week. Last week, last Wednesday, they went through mediation. And they reached an agreement and it was over. But while they were going through it, let me tell you, we had to step in and help those wobbly knees and those weak hands. That's what this race is all about. We're in this thing together. And if I need help, I need you helping me. If you need help, I need to help you. So that's the first four lessons. Now we're going to get to the last lesson in Chapter 12. Be confident. Because of all this, you can be confident in some things. And again, remember, he's writing this letter to a bunch of Jews. So he didn't write it to us. He wrote it to a bunch of Jews who had come out of a Judeo background where they had grown up going to synagogue and going to temple. And all the trappings that go with that and all the new moon celebrations and all the observances and, you know, all the different feasts and festivals and all that. That was part of their heritage. That's what they grew up with. And they grew up being told that their righteousness or their relationship with God was based on what? Say it again. Works. Works. Law. Works. What they did. Would you like to have your righteousness with God based on what you do? No. That's an easy answer, isn't it? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Oh, my. So this group of Jews had heard the gospel, had received the gospel, and because they were no longer participating in the Jewish practices, the Jews that were still participating were starting to persecute them one way or another. Exclude them. Don't do business with them. As we know, the Apostle Paul was on a rampage. He was going out to do what? He wanted to take them to jail and run them through due process, and if it ended up being stoning, he was going to stone them. Right? I mean, so there's this pressure on them because of their faith, and there is an encouragement from those that had not joined in yet to come back to where they were. And that's the reason the author writes the letter. He's making the case, no, what you have received in Jesus is far superior to anything you could ever get out of your Jewish customs and religion. Far superior. And we've already been through that entire book now almost, but it's one chapter after another talking about how Jesus is superior. Right? He's superior. So because of all that, he wants to remind them one more time, you can be confident in the faith you have. There's no reason for you to turn back. No reason to even consider turning back. And I'm going to tell you why, and it swings this. For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched into a blazing fire, and to darkness, and gloom, and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words, which sound with such that those who have heard beg that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command that even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I am full of fear and trembling. But you've come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, to heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirit of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel. See to it then that you do not refuse him from speaking, for those who do not escape when they refuse him who warn them on earth, much less will we escape and turn away from him who warns from heaven. And his voice shook the earth then, but now he is promising, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. This expression, yet once more, denotes removing those things which can be shaken as uncreated things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we have received the 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. So, the old has gone. Be confident, the old is gone. The old is gone. What did God give on Mount Sinai? The law. The Ten Commandments. And what did God demonstrate on Mount Sinai? Let's look at Exodus 19, because in essence what you just read here comes out of Exodus 19. And I thought it would be good to just walk through the entire chapter of Exodus 19. I know it looks like a bunch, but it's just packed. It's just packed. Alright, so, who has the voice to do it tonight? In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. I'm out. Alright, I want to focus on one piece right here. Look at this. What did he say? He said, You shall say to the house of Jacob, You yourselves have seen what I, look at that word, circle I, I did. Now, circle I, how I bore you on eagles' wings, and I brought you to myself. Right? God is saying, look, this is all about me. This is all about me. And, since I did that, I've already got you at this point, do you not think I can get you where I told you I was taking you? Is that not correct? Alright, Susan, pick up. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and said before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak to you. Okay, again, what's he going to do? He's going to come, he's going to speak. Don't miss the fact he speaks. Okay, keep going. Here, let me back up. So that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord also said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain. So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people and they washed their garments. He said to the people, Be ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman. So it came about on the third day when it was morning that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain. And a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. And they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. And it ascended like the smoke of a furnace. And the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain. And Moses went up. Then the Lord spoke to Moses. Go down. Warn the people so that they do not break through to the Lord today and many of them perish. And let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves or else the Lord will break out against them. Moses said to the Lord. The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you warned us saying set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it. Then the Lord said to him. Go down and come up again. You and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord or he will break forth upon them. So Moses went down to the people and told them. Now, what impression do you get with that? God's holiness. God's holiness. That's why, right? That's why they can't break through or touch or be anywhere close. Because. Let's see. Anybody here holy? Oh, come on. We all are. Positionally. Right? But boy, in terms of our daily conduct, maybe not so much. Right? Man, I'm telling you. Holiness. God is dead serious about his holiness. Sin cannot be anywhere close to God. Can't happen. Yet God allowed Moses to come up and called Moses to come up. That's correct. And so, you know, his holiness must have extended on Moses and Aaron to allow them into his presence. That's what I call grace. Right? And mercy. And mercy. Not giving us what we deserve. There you go. Yeah. Gold star. And that's right. And that's the way you come today, isn't it? Yeah. That's the way you come. If you don't see it. There's no other way to see it. We come to God by his grace and his mercy alone. Alone. So. What was to happen? Oh, I bet. What did God demonstrate? You said his holiness, but also his power. His power. If that didn't get your attention, I don't know what would, right? I flat don't know what would. His power was on display. So what was to happen to any person or beast who touched the mountain? They would die. Right? The people who witnessed this feared for their lives. What about Moses? What did he say in response to their fear? Look at Exodus 20, 18-20. Somebody else? Susan's already worn out her voice. All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, speak to us yourself and we will listen. But let not God speak to us or we will die. Moses said to the people, do not be afraid for God has come in order to test you and in order that you fear him may remain with you so that you may not sin. So what's the purpose of the test? To build us. To do what? Build us. To build us, okay. To build perseverance. To build perseverance? To educate. To educate? Do you think it's all direction? I guess. Right? What does the test reveal? What you know. What you know. Exactly. What you know. Now let me ask you a question. Does God already know what you know? So why is God testing you? So we'll know what we don't know. Okay, so what we need to know. Right? Right? That's the reason we get the test. So that we can have a full understanding. So. Also, that not only is there power and holiness but there's an understanding of human nature. If you tell Moses, because they don't tell the people not to come up. Moses was like, well we already told them, we set the boundaries. He said no, you go down and tell them. Remind them. I know these people. They're going to want to try to come up and I don't want them to die. There you go. That's a good point. That's a good point. I'll give you a gold star on that. I like that observation. Yeah. Yeah. So. Alright. The people who witnessed this spiritualized, what did Moses say? He said don't be afraid. God is testing you. Now I want to make a point here. You need a healthy fear of God. Why do you need a healthy fear of God? He said it right there, Moses did, in verse 20. So that you won't sin. If we ever saw sin the way God sees sin, do we? We struggle with that, don't we? We kind of, we're surrounded by it, aren't we? It becomes like a bunch of noise that doesn't have any impact on us anymore. Am I right? David, sometimes we look at our lives and compare ourselves to the people around us. And that's the wrong thing to do. We need to compare ourselves to what God says is righteousness. Because if we look at the people around us, we're going to think, man, I'm in pretty good shape. And that's just the thing of the truth. You don't need that false. What's the word I'm looking for? False sense of security. False sense of security. Thinking, well, if I compare myself to the guys I work with, I'm okay. But we need to compare ourselves to what God says to know where we're really at. That's right, that's right. But isn't it true that on the sun rise, God was distant and terrifying to the Jews before Christ came? That's correct. He still was there for Christ's kingdom to those who had not received him. And that's what this lesson is about, by the way. You're getting ahead of me, but we're going to get there in just a second. Go start. Absolutely, absolutely. See, again, what the author is doing, he's saying, be confident in the faith you have. All right? He's reminding them of what they were in and what they've come out of. Right? So the next question, what's the purpose of the law? To make us all aware that we're what? Sinners. Sinners in need of a savior. What is the only thing that the law can do with a person's life? Can the law save you? No. The only thing it can do is what? The opposite of that. Convict. Convict. Condemn. Make us aware. Make us aware. That's what the word of God is anyway. The word of God is like the mirror, right? Yes. You read. Open that awareness. Oh, I don't quite measure up to that. Right? Make you aware. But it does lead us on the right path, too. It can. It can. The purpose, again, was to make you aware of sin. And to make you aware that you needed a savior. That you couldn't achieve righteousness by yourself. It's not possible. It's just not possible. So. Why can believers be confident and not live in fear? Because of what Jesus has done for us. That's true. And what he says. But in relation to what we just read here. Right? The Jews, their knees were knocking. As they considered God's power. They considered his holiness. They considered all about him. They feared him. But why is it that we can be confident and not live in fear? And I'm going to give you a little fun answer. Because Mount Sinai ain't our mountain. Is it? Mount Sinai isn't our mountain. Praise his name, right? You don't want to go to Mount Sinai? Not really. No. That's not our mountain. So let's see what our mountain is. That's the next thing the author tells us. You've come to Mount Zion. And to the city of the living God. The heavenly Jerusalem. Myriads of angels. And it goes on and on. So I've got a little comparison chart here. Alright? So let's fill in the blanks and let's just rejoice a minute. This mountain of Sinai. Versus the mountain of Zion. Mount Sinai represents which covenant? The old. Zion represents which? New. Which do you prefer? Mount Zion. Go ahead and check the box. I'll take the new, thank you. Mount Sinai symbolizes the law. Right? No one can be saved. Mount Zion symbolizes what? Grace. Grace. There's a gold star for you tonight. Anyone can be saved. Isn't that good? Yes. We're going to check off on the grace side again, right? Let's look at attributes. On Sinai. Sinai represents commandments. Judgments. Condemnation. Oh my. Zion on the other hand is forgiveness. Atonement. And what? Salvation. Salvation. Pray for the Lord. I think I want to stick with Zion. Is that okay? Keep going. Look at the contrast. Mount Sinai is not touchable. You can touch it. But it's not approachable. Mount Zion is approachable. But not touchable. We can't touch it. It's heavenly. We can't touch Mount Zion. But we can approach it. How? By the grace of God, right? Steady up the grace, King. Yeah. Yeah. Next one. Mount Sinai. Is forbidding. And terrifying. I can't even fathom. Knowing what I know. What it would be like to go to hell. But I can tell you. I don't want to know. Because what I've read about it isn't good. It's terrifying. Mount Zion on the other hand. Is inviting. And gracious. Jesus said it this way. He says, come unto me. Right? All ye who are what? And I will do what? Give you rest. Now, he said, come unto me. Was that just the ones I specified? I'm going to call out your name and you can come? No. No, what was it? Whoever will may come. Right? Whoever will may come. Come unto me. Why? Continue, Ron. Because my yoke. My burden is life. Because it's giving. Yeah. Giving grace. It's a giving grace. Giving love. And by the way, remember? We've studied this before. Remember, they would take two oxen and they'd yoke them up together. Right? And they'd take the young ox and yoke him up with the experienced ox. And the experienced ox knows the ropes. The young ox all he knows is, get up away. You know, we're kicking. Whatever he might do. No. When you get under Jesus' yoke, not only is he showing you the way, he's enabling you to go. Right? He's pulling the load. The reason with two oxen is to make the load easier, right? He says, my yoke's easy. That means he's taking the whole load almost, right? Your part's hardly anything in that. So. Oh, Breck, I'm sorry. We'll go back to the chart here. All right. Inviting and gracious. Sinai is closed to all. Why? Because no one can fulfill the terms for all have sinned. Zion is open to all. Why? Because Jesus Christ has fulfilled the terms. And anyone can come to God through him. Sinai, covered by clouds and darkness. Zion is the city of light. By the way, I like light. You don't like light? I like light. I'm not a fan of darkness at all. Sinai, there's judgment and death. Look at Psalm 133 before we answer the question on Zion. Somebody read that. Oh, life. Life. Life. Life. Forgiveness and life. Forever. There's not just any life, is there? It's a glorified life. And we don't have a clue what that looks like yet. Other than to look at what Jesus was or is today. It's a glorified life. And we don't have a clue what that looks like yet. Other than to look at what Jesus was or is today. And what Jesus was or is how he's portrayed in the word. That's the only clue we've got. It's going to be good. Through him. Through him. Good point. Through him. All right. Let's look at the occupant or the location. Sinai is on earth. I'm sorry. I don't want to stay on earth. When it's time for eternity, where do I want to be? With God. Where is that? Heaven. The city of the living God. That's where Zion is. Now we're going to look at the occupants. On Sinai, ultimately, you have Satan and his demons in hell. Versus Zion, myriads of angels who never fell. Myriads. Myriads of angels who never fell. On Sinai, you have all who reject salvation. From Zion, you have all who are saved. Church of the firstborn. Enrolled in heaven. Including those Old Testament saints. Remember, we talked about that in lessons past. The Old Testament saints. They look towards the cross. They didn't understand it fully, but they knew God had said. Right? They knew God had spoken. That he had said, there will be a Messiah. Who will come and take away the sins of the world. And they look forward to the cross. And we're on the other side of it. And we look back to the cross. And we say, thank you, Jesus. For you saved my life. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice. Right? I forgot how that song goes, but I'm getting close. I love that old hymn that we sing. What was that? In the cross of Christ thy glory. Glory, glory, the rest of time. Yes. I remember that one. Isn't it good? Yes. In the cross of Christ thy glory. Towering over the rest of time. Isn't that right? Yes. Okay. Occupants. Ultimately on Sinai. All who experience judgment. Do you all want to experience judgment? Not that kind. No. But in Zion, we have God. The judge of all. We're on the right side of the line. Right? Because he sees the righteousness of Jesus. Exactly. Thank the Lord he does. Yeah. And finally in occupants. All who see no value in the blood of Jesus. Are in Sinai. Unfortunately, we still have plenty in this world. Who line up there. And we need to do something about that. We'll be praying. And sharing. In Zion, you have Jesus. The mediator of the new covenant through his blood. Now, how's that for a comparison? And if the author is driving home the point again. I'm going to say it one more time. Be confident guys. Be confident. Your mountain is not Sinai. Your mountain is Zion. And look at the difference. Why would you want to go back to Sinai? And the answer is there's no reason to go back to Sinai. Alright. Finally. Be confident because the future is glorious. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. I told you, right? God's speaking, right? We escape when they refuse him who warned them on earth. Much less will he escape. We escape and turn away from him who warns from heaven. His voice shook the earth then, but now he's promising. Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. The expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things. So that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude. Of which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. So first there's a warning. Don't ignore God. Now. How do we ignore God today? Busyness. Busyness. Number one enemy, don't you think so? I heard a lady that was teaching and she said, you know, she'll like drive by the gas station when she's on a quarter of a tank, you know. And she thinks, oh, I'll do that later and I'll do that later. And we sometimes do that with our spiritual tank, too. We're so busy about what we're doing, you go right by God and you think, oh, well, you know, I'll spend time in the Lord or I'll pray. You know, I'll get around to it. But what happens is eventually your tank runs out of gas and spiritually you can run out of gas, too. You know, if we're not spending, if we're not intentionally going to God, then we will neglect going to God. We kind of put him on the back burner. You know. Stuff gets in the way. Yeah. Your well is dry. Yeah. Yeah. What's another? I like that. I've got some other thoughts, too, on how you can ignore God. What's another way? Do your own thing. Do your own thing versus what? His will. That's a gold star. It doesn't feel very good, though. Not the gold star I'm saying. It doesn't feel very good when you get there, right? And you've done your own thing and not His will and then it just spills. And then you recognize what you've done. There's no worse feeling than the feeling of missed opportunity. Right? That's a horrible feeling. Like when you serve to be seen. Oh, yeah. Your mode is wrong. Not to serve for love, but to be seen. Because no matter what you do, if you're doing every job there is and you're doing it to be seen, you're wasting your time. It should be service out of love. Absolutely. Or not even that. Mary and Martha. She was doing good. She was serving. She put the serving ahead of the relationship. Yeah, so a lot of times the things you do are not bad. They're just not best. And back to your point, that was a missed opportunity, wasn't it? I don't think Mary regretted one second. The fact that she didn't help Martha. I don't think she regretted one second. She might have gotten a year full later, but I don't think she would have bothered. Yeah. Doing your own thing. Versus his will. Another way of saying it is ignoring what he says in his word. Right? I think, guys, this is... Rubber meets the road. Yeah. Because what do we struggle with a lot? That's pretty open-ended. That's pretty open-ended. It is. It can be different for everybody. But I'm thinking in terms of believers in general, and I've said this before, this tongue gets us into trouble. Right? He's very specific about how you ought to use your tongue. And one of the sins we commit the most, and I say we, I'm talking about us as a whole. Right? Is we have a critical spirit that manifests itself in things we say. Yeah. And when we do that, we elevate who? Ourselves. Ourselves. And that's what? Pride. Pride. Yeah. Pride. I think one of the things when we get too busy, the first thing we neglect is the word. Yep. Because you've got to sit down and you've got to open the book and you've got to read. And it's neglected. Do it later, you know. And that's dangerous territory. Yeah. And the connection to listening and talking. Yep. You're doing all the talking, but you're not listening to him respond. That's right. And then denying the fact that he's talking to you, but it's really you're not listening. You're too busy. You're like, God, thank you for everything you do. Thank you for everything. Okay. And you stop. Yeah. All right. Well, when he comes back, I'll still be right here. Yeah. And then he doesn't talk to me anymore. He does. He just stops. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You don't stop from listening. Yeah. You go on, but he desperately wants to talk to you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, we do see, David, when we do get in his word and study his word, it builds us up. Absolutely. And you can tell the difference in a day. Yeah. You've heard me say this before. I'll say it again. You have to get in it to live it. That's exactly right. If you don't get in it, you're not going to live it. You have to get in it to live it. Okay. And so we beat that one to death. Don't ignore God. All right. What did God shake his fine iron house? Well, remember what shook? It was the earth, the mountains. And how do you do it? With his voice. My goodness gracious, right? If you don't think God's voice is powerful, right? First of all, it was his voice that did what? Spoke. And what happened? There was life. The world came into existence, right? His word's powerful, right? Yeah. Yeah. So he spoke on Sinai and the mountains shook, right? And what happened to those who refused to heed his warning at Sinai? They didn't enter something. Remember, he's taking... No, get this, get this. Yeah, here you go. Here, right? What's he doing in Sinai? He just... We didn't read the whole story. If you read the whole story in all the context you see, he's reminded them that I'm the one... Matter of fact, we did read part of that, didn't we? I'm the one that took you out of Egypt. Yeah. I'm the one that parted the water, right? I'm the one, I'm the one, I'm the one, I'm the one. All right? Now, I'm going to make a covenant with you. And if you will believe in me, then I'm going to take you to the promised land. The land that I promised your forefather Abram. The land of Canaan. But what happened when they sent out the spies? They came back and 10 of them had a negative report. And the people joined in with the 10. And they're going, did you bring us out here to die? That's about the fifth or sixth time they've asked that question. Did you bring us out here to die? And the question that begs to be asked is, how big is your God? How big is your God, right? So, well, that's your point. The fact is, they didn't enter the promised land. Right? What promise does God make us during the future? Okay, we're going to look at Haggai 2.6. Chris? The Lord says, O Lord of hosts, once more and for a while I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and also the dry land. So this is a prophet speaking back in the Old Testament, saying that there's going to be a day when the heavens and the earth are going to shake. And so this passage of scripture here in Hebrews is referencing that prophecy. Again, what is the author doing? He's saying, be confident. The future is glorious. Remember what God's promised. I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth. In Revelation 6, 12-14, John continues that pattern of prophecy. And he actually reveals what he's seeing in a vision. What does it look like? Somebody read that. I looked when he broke the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell on the earth, and the fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it was rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their place. I don't know if John's going to get into this in his sermon series, but I sure hope he does. Let's see what he has to say about all this stuff. You know, I'm loving this sermon series. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, so, what's he going to do? He's going to shake both the heavens and the earth. What will be removed? Every physical created thing. Every physical. Remember, there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth, right? We're about to get to that. Sorry about that. Every physical created thing. What will remain? The only thing that's going to remain is that which is eternal. Take your finger right here. Point right here. That's me. I'm going to remain after he shakes the heavens and the earth. Why? Because I'm eternally His. The future's glorious. What will happen to those who refuse to heed God's warning from heaven? All right. It's easier that you don't refuse Him, right? He's speaking. Again, God's speaking. He spoke through the prophets. He's speaking right now. If you just look outside and see what's going on, He's speaking, isn't He? All the calamity and the war and all that's going on. He's speaking. He's speaking. He said it was going to come to this. It's coming to this. So, what happens if you refuse to heed God's warning from heaven? Well, how much less will we escape and turn away from Him who warns from heaven? It isn't Canaan that they're not going to get to enter. It's the heavenly promised land that they're not going to get to enter. If you refuse His offer of eternal life by grace, right? By His grace and love. If you refuse that offer of eternal life given by the blood of Christ. If you refuse that, just like the Jews at Sinai refused to believe they didn't get to go into Canaan. If you refuse to believe what He's offering to you now at salvation, you're not going to get to go into heaven. The heavenly promised land. But now, again, the author's writing to a bunch of Jews who've already believed. And he's saying, remember, the future's glorious. You're going to get to go in. So then there's this encouragement. We will not be shaken. Why? Because we heard His voice and we received His gracious, loving gift of eternal life. That's the reason we're not going to be shaken. Because we heard, we believed, we received. If that's you, raise your hand. Right? Praise His name. Okay. What will we receive? Now we get to Revelation 21, 1-2. This is the reason you can be confident that here's your future. Somebody read our future, Revelation 21, 1-2. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. That's our future, guys. That's our future. And that's glorious. So what should be our response since that's our future? Gratitude. Gratitude. That's why Gratitude is one of my favorite songs right now. Don't you love that song? I love that song. I'm going to keep a heart. I don't know the song you're singing. I don't know about that title. That's why I said, I'm going to keep a heart. I can do it. You can do it. I'm trying to think how it starts. I have one response. I've got just one response. Yeah, I know that one. I was about to be shocked that she didn't know the song. Well, she knows the song. She's got to be reminded of it. I didn't know the name of it. Yes, Gratitude. Right? I have nothing to bring except a song, right? A praise. An offering of praise. Nothing. I can't bring anything except Gratitude. Gratitude. That's because we don't have a clue. I mean, even the scriptures, we just don't have a clue what we're going to receive, what it's going to be like. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. So, our response should be Gratitude, expressed through worship and service to our God. Worship and service. How do we show our Gratitude? By singing His praises and by saying, Here I am, Lord. Send me. Use me. Every how you choose. I'm yours. Finally, a reminder. Don't hesitate to choose Mount Sinai. Don't hesitate. Why? Because God will judge all who choose Mount Sinai. Because the wages of sin is death. For our God is a consuming fire. Our God is a consuming fire. Amen. But, hey, our future is glorious. We can be confident. So, reflection question. Do I truly express Gratitude to God for my salvation in the way I worship and serve Him? Like I say, get in front of the mirror. Ask yourself, Is this me? Do I truly express my Gratitude to God in the way I worship and serve Him? What do I need to do better than expressing my Gratitude? Would you like to express some Gratitude? Sure. Yes, definitely. First of all, Jesus, that's for sure. I'm going to do a diagram on the board for us today. This is going to be on your final exam. I'm kidding. You're only getting an A+. So, David likes to give gold stars, but I like to give you an A+. So, here is a heart. And we see that there are multiple. Can you see that? Yeah. Okay. So, basically, there are some circles inside this heart. And God, David, likes to call these the circles of life. And just like in the movie, The Lion King, there's a circle of life. This is a circle of love. And of course, Jesus Christ is at the very center of this. And the only way that Jesus Christ can be center of this heart is the fact that you come to grips with God's Word. You know, God's Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It divides to the soul and the three joints of the marrow, to the discerner of the motives and intents of the heart. Proverbs 23.7 says, If a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So, how do we begin the process of thinking with our hearts? And of course, David has touched on that very, very well. Because in the book of Hebrews, we address the issue of what is it that brings glory to God? You know, it's someone who chooses to live a life with Jesus Christ as center. And that's Galatians 2.20, that we are crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, we live, yet not us, but Christ lives in us. In the life we live, we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. So, how does that happen? See, it's a transaction of the heart. So, Ephesians 2.89 says, For by grace shall we be saved through faith. And the thought of ourselves is a gift of God, not a voice that any man should boast. Because we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus. It's a gift. And as we look in perspective of really what Hebrews is talking about, the only way that we can apprehend or receive that gift is by faith. See, that's why faith is so important. Faith is being certain of that which we do not see and being sure of that which we hope for. And what we hope for in life is to live a life that is significant and purposeful. See, God gives us purpose in life, right? And of course, the purpose in life, Romans chapter 8 is really a good way to get that purpose in mind. And we see that the purpose in mind in Romans 8.28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. And then verse 29 says, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined for us to be conformed to the image of his Son Jesus Christ. So, he also says in verse 30, For whom he foreknew, he also called. And those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified. See, now the whole idea is God has created us for his glory. He's created us in his image, like Genesis 1.28 talks about. Because we're created in his image, Now, what this means is that every person, every human being is valuable and precious to God. Both believers and non-believers. You know, there are two books of generations. One is the generation of Adam, in that every human was born. And then there's the generations of Jesus Christ. That's called the Lamb's Book of Life. Now, we who trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, are in that Lamb's Book of Life. So, because we're in the Lamb's Book of Life now, what he wants us to do is to be who he wants us to be. Now, the world out here, this is the world. Well, we'll make this a microcosm. You see, part of this world touches this heart. And the world has in mind what we do in life is we're doers. And we want to be what we call, we want to live a life of performance. We become doers of doing good. And that's called altruism. So, all of us want to do something that is good for society and the world. Some of us are lawyers. Some of us are pharmacists. Some of us are engineers. You're a smart one for the engineers and the nurses. There are some physicians around. But all of us are doing what we think is good. The thing is, is that we're measured by that. In other words, when we live this life, the world around us, this world here, measures us by what we do. Does that make sense? That's true. So, we feel like our value then is based upon performance, upon achievement, upon what I call an IQ, an intelligence quotient. It's very interesting that the intelligence quotient that we have when we enter the 7th or 8th grade is going to be the same when we finish our education. Mine was very low when I started, and it was still low when I finished medical school. So, you know, it's very interesting. What is it then that does the thing that causes us to be an accomplished person in life? Now, does this identify us? What we do, is that our true identity? According to the book of Hebrews now, it's not our true identity. Because this living, being a doer, is living on Sinai. Mount Sinai is all about the law. And all about the law is about doing that, which is good. Now, Moses got, when he started up the mountain, he got 10 coming down. And the problem is that the people down at the bottom, waiting for him to bring the law down, broke the first three, even before he got down to the bottom. So, he broke the 10 commandments. So, God had to start all over again. But the people asked God, and he said, well, you tell us what you want us to do, and we'll do it. So, he gave them 603 more. So, there are 613 laws that are given to the nation Israel. The promised, chosen people. And they all are doers. Now, they're not believers, but they're doers. They're probably some of the most gifted people that have come onto the planet Earth. And we don't like Jewish people because they're so smart. The world doesn't like them anyway. Some of the most Nobel laureates in the world were because they were Jewish people. And my heroes in medicine and heroines in medicine are Jewish. They're all the smart ones. They'll finish top of the class, that type of thing. But you see, what that does, though, if we're doers, that means that we live comparatively, competitively. We walk by sight. As a consequence, our value systems are warped. And because they're warped, what happens is it misleads us into thinking that this is the most valuable thing in the world. So, God does something wonderful. God says something. He sends his son to go to a cross to die for us. To show us that the law no longer is the way to go. He says there's a better way. And the better way is Zion. And in Zion, now, the only way to get there is by the blood. Life is in the blood. And the shedding of blood makes atonement for our souls. You know, so now we realize, hmm, if that's the case, then it is. Then we realize that now God is into something that's transformative in life. So what he says is, if you enter into this Zion, he says that being a doer is not the most important thing. He says, I want you to be who I want you to be. You know, Romans 8, 28, 29. And what I want you to be is I want you to be conformed to my image, not man's image. This is man's image over here. To be doers. But God says, I want you to be who I want you to be. And that's to be like Jesus Christ. So far, making sense? Yes, sir. Now we realize that now, if that's the case, and it is, then there's a different standard that God gives. Man's standard is down here. God's standard is up there. See, because now he says, is it IQ that's so important? No. Because of Zion, spiritual quotient is the most important thing. And what we do in our life is we're building the spiritual quotient by taking God's word seriously. God's word is living and active and sharper than any to a distort, divides to the soul and the spirit, joins to the mirth, and discerner of the motives and intents of the heart. And the only way that the heart can change is by feeding it with God's word. I have the privilege of working with medical students, and I ask them if they want to spend time with me, there are 86,400 seconds a day, and I say, what I would like you to do is I would like you to commit to me 900 seconds a day. 300 seconds to read God's word, that's five minutes. 300 seconds to journal God's word, and 300 seconds to pray that it become a reality in your life. How do you think the medical students are doing? That's a commitment now. Tom's shaking his head. Teresa's shaking his head. You know doctors. Okay, so these guys aren't making me raise. But you see, their intentions are very good, so commitment is not the thing that helps us to walk with God Lord. The thing that helps us walk with the Lord is grace. Now how do we get grace? God gives grace to who? A plus infinity. See, that's Proverbs 334. God mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble. Now with humility comes wisdom, and that wisdom here, the doing of wisdom is called Proverbs 8. And he describes it very clearly in Proverbs 8, 12-14. This is the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon says, please Lord, give me your wisdom. So God says, okay, I'll give you my wisdom, but also I'll give you everything else thrown in. He becomes the smartest king that ever lived, the richest king that ever lived, the most gifted king that ever lived, the smartest and wisest king that ever lived. Now there are seven points here that God gives. He says, wisdom I give lives with knowledge, discretion, counsel, sound judgment, understanding, and power. Now he says, what the Solomonic wisdom is, is all about quantitative wisdom. It's measurable. And it's measured by how smart they are and how they govern the world. He's saying, okay, is that all there is? Now if that's all there is to living the world of wisdom, he says, is that measurable? Can you shake that wisdom out? When God shakes the world, is that wisdom going to be shaken out? See, this is IQ. It's not going to work. So God says, okay, now if you have physical wisdom, I'm going to give you my wisdom from above. So my wisdom from above is, David 2-17 says, first of all, pure, peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, full of good fruit, impartial and sincere. Now, what he's saying here is that all of the things that we give with salvation are important into our heart. The moment of salvation. And that includes 1 Corinthians 13, 4-8. And all you women know this one. Your love is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs, does not delight in evil, rejoices in the truth, always protects, always hopes, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. And this kind of love never fails. A non-failing love. This is what he gives us. Okay. Now, what that does, though, is it sets the stage for everything else that comes forth. See, it's also at the time that we receive Jesus as Savior, he gives us the fruit of the spirit. Galatians 5-22-23. Which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, general self-control. Okay, now, with this is 16 qualities. With Galatians 5-22 there's 9 qualities. And then he also gives us this wisdom from love, which is another 8. So there are 31 qualities that God gives us the moment we choose to have Jesus enter our heart. Now he says, I want you to cultivate those. Now, by cultivation of those processes, now he's saying that SQ is built through an intelligence, through an emotional portion. The emotional portion in life is called the emotional portion. It's through the Holy Spirit. God gives salvation through the mediation of Jesus Christ. God the Father initiates it. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now we realize that the three tribes of God, we have Jesus Christ the Savior, we have God the Father, who initiates that love. So that's John 3-16. And then we have the Holy Spirit, who is our tutor in life. The tutoring in life is all about the emotional portion of having something that we have that reaches and touches the world. Now, God says God mocks proud mockers but gives grace through the humble. So one of the major qualities of the Holy Spirit is humility. So he's saying that, now who is the least humble of all the disciples? Who would you say the least? Not counting Judas Iscariot. So who is the least humble of all the disciples? The guy that walked on water. Yeah, that's an A+. So yeah, it was Peter, the guy that walked on water. But it was Peter that said to Jesus, I'll never deny you. Remember that moment? And he said, I'll never deny you. But Jesus says to Peter, before the crows you're going to deny me three times. Now, after he denies Jesus three times, he's wept because he failed Jesus. Now here's a failure just like us. We all mess up. And Jesus looks him up after he's resurrected. He meets him on the seashore. After Peter goes fishing, catches 153 huge fish. And Jesus, he realized that Jesus on the shore had told him to go put the net on the other side of the boat. And so Jesus meets him on the seashore. He's cooking fish already for Peter. And Peter, he asks Jesus three questions. And the questions, the key to these questions is he asks Peter, do you love me? And the word he uses for love is agape. The first two questions are agape. The last one is phileo. Peter, that's one of the three best friends that Jesus had. And so, even though he doesn't understand, because that question was answered by Peter with phileo every time. He doesn't understand that God is asking him to agape. But Jesus still, in spite of the fact that Peter doesn't understand. He says, please feed my sheep, feed my little lambs. And now we realize that the emotional quotient in life is all associated with humility. But also, it includes the thing called hesed, which is loving kindness. And hagyos. Hesed is loving kindness which is grace. And hagyos is being set apart for God's purpose and plan for us. That's the word for sanctification. So now we realize that the emotional quotient in life is all about how we're going to live life here on earth. And you've already heard part of this already. So we have to choose to be humble, right? That's Peter saying in 1 Peter 5.5 You know, God mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble. So he says in verse 6, humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares for us. So the challenge now is the process that is led by hagyos. To be set apart. And this is the part of chapter 13. And because God, Jesus says in the upper room, he says, The new commandment that I give you, that you love one another, is that I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples. We have this kind of foot washing love for one another. Now, the whole process now, chapter 13 of Hebrews is going to tell us, Now how is this best done? When you want to be a foot washing disciple, and you foot wash people, and they are going to stomp on you, and throw you under the bus, so to speak, and call you bad names, and persecute you, and malign you, falsely. What are you going to do? See, the next three weeks we are going to find out. But, the clue is, 2 Peter 1.5-10 To be diligent, to add to your faith, virtue, which is the courage to excel, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness, brotherly kindness, and finally, to brotherly kindness, the God they love. When you do these things in increasing measure, your life will be neither unfruitful nor unproductive in the Lord. But if you don't do those things, you are nearsighted and blind, and you have forgotten that we ourselves have been forgiven of our many past sins of unbelief. So therefore, be all the more diligent to add to your faith, so you do not stumble, so you do not fall, and you will have a rich reward in the King of Heaven. Because we are all headed to Zion, the place of grace, the heavenly. And the language of heaven is praise. Glory be to God. What a wonderful moment that will be. And we get to be there together. That's going to be great. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you so much for this time together to reflect upon your goodness and grace. We thank you that as we looked into the chapter 12 of Hebrews, it is talking about the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, who is going to shake out everything that needs to be shook. And the only thing that remains is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Help us to continue to take your word to heart, because your word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It divides to the soul and the spirit, showing to the marrow the discernment of the motives and intents of the heart. So help us to love you with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and help us to trust you with all our heart. To realize that the secret and mystery of life is Christ in us, the hope of glory. To help us all to have the courage to proclaim you, teaching and admonishing everyone with all wisdom, so that we would be able to present everyone that we meet, greet, and serve to be perfect and complete in Christ Jesus. We pray these things for Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Thank you so much, everyone. To be continued.