Marching Upward to Zion, Part 3

If you have your Bible, Hebrews chapter 12. This is our last sermon in the 12th chapter. Next week we'll begin chapter 13 and finish this long journey through the book of Hebrews. And today we're gonna look one more time at that fifth and final warning that the writer of Hebrews gives to the audience in whom he's writing. And so we need to understand that as he writes this letter, he does not know who in the congregation truly is a possessor of the Messiah or just one who professes his commitment to the Messiah.

He doesn't know that. And so all throughout the book, he gives these different warnings, five of them in particular, and this is the fifth one. And with each warning comes a growing intensity about what's going to happen to those who refuse to follow what the Lord God says.

And in this warning, he wants them to understand that they need to come to the all-sufficient, all-supreme King of the universe. Because everything about the book of Hebrews centers around the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so because he is so supreme and so sufficient, you need to give your life to him and follow him. In fact, he says in verse number 25, see to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. And so all throughout the book, he wants the hearers to examine their lives.

Examination's very important. He wants them to examine whether or not they truly are followers of Christ. If not, they need to come and follow him. And in this last warning, he makes a contrast between two mountains. One is Sinai and one is Zion. Sinai represents human achievement. Zion represents divine accomplishment. Sinai represents man's work. Zion represents God's work. Sinai is all about the law. Zion is all about grace. And so he compels them to come, to leave the old covenant and embrace the new covenant.

Do not refuse the one who is speaking. And as he gives these warnings all throughout the book, he also helps them understand not just that they need to examine their lives, but their lives need to be lived in expectation of what's going to happen next. That is so important. In fact, in chapter one of Hebrews, the second verse, he says Christ is the heir of all things.

Because we are joint heirs with Christ, we then become heirs of all things of his. He also says in chapter two, verse number five, that there is a world that's going to come. What world is that? And then he says in chapter nine, verse number 15, that there's a promise of an eternal inheritance to get the listeners to realize that there's an inheritance that's going to come and it lasts forever. But what is that inheritance? And then in chapter 11, he talks about Abraham, how he was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.

What city is that? And then in chapter 13, in verse number 14, he says we are seeking the city which is to come. So the book of Hebrews is not just about examination, it's about expectation. Living in expectation of what God's going to do next. This is absolutely, incredibly important. And so the writer of Hebrews says very clearly these words. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven.

And his voice shook the earth then, but now he promised saying, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. This expression, yet once more, denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things, said those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer, excuse me, to God, an acceptable service with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. He warns them of the judgment of God, that that judgment's going to come.

And therefore, they need to be able to embrace that which is unshakable versus that which is shakable. Now, all of us know about the earthquake, the 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, that as of this morning has killed over 29,000 people. And probably it will grow even larger as the days progress. Almost 100,000 people have been injured. And I thought about that. And I thought about the number of earthquakes that happen around the world every year. And there are 500,000 earthquakes that happen every year on the planet.

100,000 of them can be felt quite readily. There are 10,000 earthquakes in Southern California every single year. Some of them we feel, others we don't. But isn't it interesting that as the earth orbits around the sun, it's spinning on its axis. And as it spins, it always is trembling and shaking. The second law of thermodynamics is very important because it tells us that everything is degrading.

Everything is getting worse. It's not getting any better. And it's leading to something that's very, very significant as it comes to our text in Hebrews chapter 12. And you think of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria and realize how severe it was. And people always ask the question, well, where was God when that happened? How come those kind of things take place? Well, there's an answer in the scriptures to that that's very, very important. It's found in the 13th chapter of Luke. And the Lord says these words in Luke chapter 13.

He says, now on the same occasion, there were some president who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. That's a question that arose that says, why is it these Galileans were going to worship and Pilate would cut them up and offer them along with their sacrifices? Why would something like that happen? And Jesus said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? Were they worse sinners?

Were they the worst of any kind of sinner that's ever lived as to why they would suffer this fate while going to worship? He says, I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. This is this. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. The Lord takes two specific examples that everyone would know. One was a natural disaster, a tower falling over, killing 18 people who just happened to be walking by.

The other was a planned massacre of those who went to worship. And the Lord's answer is quite remarkable. He never says, you know, you probably need to pray for those who lost their loved ones because I'm sure they're really suffering right now.

Or maybe we should gather some money together to help those who are suffering. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't do those things. I'm just saying it's very interesting how he answers it. He answers it from an eternal perspective, not a physical perspective. You see, we look at things on a natural plane, on a temporal plane.

God looks at them from eternal plane. We look at physical suffering, he looks at eternal suffering. We look at physical pain, he looks at eternal pain.

He weighs everything in light of eternity. We weigh everything in light of what's going to happen to me physically, my loss, my pain. And Christ directs them above to help them understand that when judgment comes, when calamity comes, when disaster comes, as Isaiah 26, verse number nine says, God is known in his righteousness. The only way to know the righteousness of God is within the framework of his judgments. We forget that. We misunderstand that. And so what the warning is about is very significant to us today when we look at Hebrews chapter 12.

Because he says in Hebrews chapter 12, 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. In other words, there's going to be a shaking. There's gonna be a shaking unlike the world has ever seen. And you need to be aware that this shaking is going to come. Now he quotes from the book of Haggai. That's very important. Remember, he's writing to a Jewish audience. Very familiar with the Old Testament.

That's why he doesn't say, remember the prophet Haggai. Or remember when the psalmist said, doesn't say that. All throughout Hebrews, he just quotes the verse. Why, because they're well-versed in the Old Testament. They know what it says. And they would know about the shaking of the earth that's going to come. They would know that. And so in the book of Haggai, in the book of Haggai, the second chapter, the sixth verse, Haggai, along with Zechariah, is encouraging the Jews to begin to rebuild the temple.

The first temple, as you recall, was destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar came in in 586 BC. And so he's encouraging them to rebuild that temple. As he does, verse six says, chapter two, for thus says the Lord of hosts, once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. That's where the writer of Hebrews gets it. The sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations and they will come to the desire of the nations. And I will fill the house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

Who's the desire of the nations? Well, that's the Messiah. Malachi 3.1 calls him the messenger in whom the nations delight. And so the prophet Haggai is prophesying about this great shaking that's going to take place. When it does, it says, I will fill this house with glory. Now that's very important. Why? The book of Ezekiel, chapter 43. Ezekiel says, the spirit and the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. Very important, because earlier in Ezekiel 8 to 11, he saw the glory of the Lord depart.

He saw the glory of the Lord rise up, move outside the eastern gate, cross over the Kidron Brook, rise up the Mount of Olives, go over toward Bethany and depart. Interesting, quite ironic that when our Lord came and the glory of the Lord dwelt among us, he would leave Bethany, descend the Mount of Olives, cross over the Kidron Brook, enter the eastern gate for the king of glory had arrived. But they didn't recognize the king of glory. And because they didn't recognize him, they crucified him. Which of course was a part of the plan of God anyway.

But Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord filling the house of the Lord. It says in verse number seven of Ezekiel 43, he said to me, son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. So Ezekiel knows about the glory of the Lord returning to the temple. Haggai is encouraging them to build the second temple so that the glory of the Lord will fill the house and God's presence will be there.

But he says, I'm going to shake the heavens and I'm going to shake the earth. Well, what is that? When does that happen? How do we know about this? Well, the book of Joel teaches us. Joel chapter two, Joel chapter two says, verse number one, blow a trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm on my holy mountain.

Let the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. Surely it is near. What is the day of the Lord? It's a phrase used 19 times in the Old Testament, six times in the New Testament. It's an eschatological term, an end times term, referring to a specific time in which God intervenes in human history for judgment. And Joel tells us, it's a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. In verse 10, he says, the earth quakes and the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness.

The Lord utters his voice before his army. Surely his camp is very great for strong is he who carries out his word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, who can endure it? In other words, it's a rhetorical question. Answer, no one, but it's coming. The day of the Lord, when the Lord himself will shake the earth. The writer of Hebrews is referring to the book of Haggai, knowing that there's going to come this shaking of just not the earth, but the heavens as well. The prophet Isaiah would speak about this.

Isaiah chapter 13, Isaiah chapter 13, verse number six, wail, for the day of the Lord is near. The day of the Lord, time in which God intervenes in human history for judgment. It's different than the day of God. It's different than the day of Christ. It's the day of the Lord. He says, it will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore, all hands will fall limp and every man's heart will melt. They will be terrified. Pains and anguish will take hold of them. They will writhe like a woman in labor.

They will look at one another in astonishment, their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel with fury and burning anger to make the land a desolation and he will exterminate his sinners from it for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light. Thus, I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.

I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of his burning anger. There's coming a day in which the rite of Hebrews refers, there's coming a day in which the heavens and the earth are going to shake because God's judgment is going to come and be poured out on mankind. And all throughout the Old Testament, God gives warning after warning after warning.

Now, the listeners in the book of Hebrews would understand these warnings. They would understand Isaiah chapter 23 when it says, verse number one, I'm sorry, Isaiah 24, verse number one, behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts it, its surface, and scatters its inhabitants.

Verse 19, the earth is broken asunder. The earth is split through. The earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack for its transgression is heavy upon it and it will fall never to rise again. So what happened in that day, the day of the Lord, that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high and the kings of the earth on the earth. They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon and will be confined in prison. And after many days, they will be punished.

Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion in Jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders. So all throughout the Old Testament, Book of Zechariah, Haggai, Joel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the prophets warn concerning the day of the Lord. It's also called the day of vengeance. It's called the day of wrath that's going to come upon the nation, upon the world, upon the heavens. And so when the writer of Hebrews says, there's coming a time, if you think the shaking at Mount Sinai was bad, that caused everybody to tremble and to live in fear, you just wait.

There's coming a shaking that is so severe, it shakes both the heavens and the earth. Now it's important to realize that when, before that happens, there is a progression of shaking on the planet. Revelation chapter six says it this way. Verse number 12. Remember, there are six seals that span the Book of Revelation or the day of the Lord or the tribulation. Those seven seals span the entire time. When the seventh seal is broken, seven trumpets blow. When the seventh trumpet blows, seven bowls are poured out upon the earth.

They happen in rapid succession at the end. But the seven seals spanned the tribulational period. Very important to realize that. It says that in verse 12 of chapter six, 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 to the earth as a 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 its place.

Every island, every mountain is moved out of its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand. Quite interesting that they know the kings of the world, every slave man, every free man, everyone who exists knows it's the wrath of the lamb.

How do they know that? Simply because there are no atheists that have ever existed. They don't exist. Everybody knows there's a God and they live in fear. You go over to Revelation chapter eight. It says, when the lamb broke the seven seal, verse number one, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given to them. Why was the silence in heaven for about a half hour? Because nobody could believe what was about to happen next. Another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer and much incense was given to him so that he might add to it the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar, which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand.

Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth. And there followed peals of thunder, sounds and flashes of lightning and a shaking, an earthquake. When you come to chapter 16, chapter eight, you have the seven trumpets that blow. And when you come to chapter 16, you have the bowls that are poured out upon the earth. It says, these words, in verse number eight, the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.

Men were scorched with fierce heat and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues and they did not repent so as to give him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom became darkened and they gnawed their tongues because of pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and they did not repent of their deeds. So the psalmist said that God is known by the judgment he executes. God is best known in his judgments.

And so sure enough, they blaspheme the name of God. Why? Because they recognize who it is who's doing this. It says in verse number 18, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and there was a great earthquake such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth. So great an earthquake was it and so mighty that the great city which is Jerusalem was split into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath and every island fled away and the mountains were not found.

In Revelation six, every island moved, every mountain moved. In Revelation 16, every island flees away. That means it's out of existence and not one mountain was left to be found. A great shaking, huge hailstones about 100 pounds each came down from heaven upon men and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail because this plague was extremely severe. God is warning man about the ultimate shaking that has yet to happen but it's coming and he does it through series of earthquakes and trembling and shaking upon the earth, helping them realize that judgment's going to come like Christ did in Luke 13, unless you repent, you will likewise perish.

You see, it's God's grace that gives us warnings about his impending judgment. He didn't have to give us a warning. He didn't have to give 120 years warning to the citizens of Noah's day but he gave them 120 years of warning before the floods came and so when you come to Peter's epistle, Luke 2, 2 Peter chapter three, he talks about the day of the Lord again. Oh, by the way, did you know that there are 27 New Testament books? I'm sure you knew that, right? Of the 27 New Testament books, 23 emphatically speak about the return of the Messiah.

Yeah, 23 of 27, two of the remaining four speak about it indirectly. The only two books in the New Testament that don't speak about the return of Christ, Philemon and 2 John, or excuse me, 3 John. Only two books. Now think about that, 25 of 27 New Testament books speak about the second coming and people say that eschatology is not that important.

It's all gonna end the way God wants it to end. It's not that important. If it wasn't that important, 25 of the 27 New Testament books wouldn't have said anything about it. Oh, by the way, just for reference sake, of all the questions asked of Jesus, of all the questions asked of Jesus that I recorded in the Bible, there is one that has the longest answer and that one that has the longest answer deals with the second coming.

You tell me the second coming's not important? Of all the answers he could give, he could say it very quickly, just run right through it, but no, the Olivet Discourse is the longest answer given to any question asked by the Lord because the end is as important as the beginning. If Genesis 1 is important, the book of Revelation's important. If Revelation's not important, Genesis 1 is not important. You can't say 1 is important and 1 is not. Or you can't say 1 is literal and 1 is not. You can't do that because that means you're inconsistent and you've gotta be consistent throughout your biblical hermeneutic in terms of how you interpret Scripture.

If there are 24 literal days in the book of Genesis, which there are, they're not 24, they're not six periods of ages, there are six literal days, so too the book of Revelation is literal. Meaning that all 254 usages of numbers in the book of Revelation are all literal, none of them are symbolic. Very important, why? Because Jesus wants you to know he's coming again and he wants you to know the events surrounding his return and all that's going to take place, why? Because it's all about the warning of impending judgment because unless you repent, you will likewise perish.

You need to know he's coming again. And so Peter says it this way. The day of the Lord, verse 10 in 2 Peter 3, 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. It's different than the day of the Lord.

Man has his day, Satan has had his day, now God will have his day in the eternal state. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat, but according to his promise, we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. In Matthew chapter 24, which is that long answer to the one question asked by our Lord, he says, immediately after the tribulation of those days, Matthew 24, did not happen in 70 A.D., it's impossible for that to take place.

How do we know that? Because the events parallel with Revelation chapter six and following throughout the book of Revelation. And because Revelation was written in 96 A.D., not before 70 A.D., how do we know that? This is where my replacement theology guys get it all wrong. They don't know the history, very important. John was exiled under the reign of Domitian. He ruled between 81 and 98 A.D. It was Vespasian who ruled before 70 A.D. So you have to understand the history of when John was exiled to Patmos to realize that Revelation is a later writing, not an earlier writing.

So Revelation, or Matthew 24, could not have taken place before 70 A.D. because all that parallels with the events of Revelation six through chapter 19. So it says in verse number 29, but immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on clouds of the sky with power and great glory, and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other.

There is coming a shaking, in which the writer of Hebrews so eloquently states, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. This 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. In other words, there's coming a day, it's called the day of the Lord, a day in which there will be many shakings that take place, that include the islands being removed, the mountains being removed, and people dying, and yet there's coming one great shaking at the end of that time, at the end of the tribulation, at the end when Christ comes in all of his glory, and by the way, the glory of the Lord will fill the house, and the glory of the Lord will reign on top of Mount Zion.

Why? Because Zechariah 6, 12 to 13 says that the Messiah will build his temple. Messiah's gonna build his temple. The Jews believe today that they're going to build the third temple, right?

And they are, but they're not gonna build it for the Messiah, they're gonna build it for the anti-Messiah. Zechariah 6 is the fourth temple, verses 12 to 13, which the Lord himself will build, and his glory will dwell in that temple, and his feet, as he says in the book of Isaiah, will dwell, the soles of his feet will, I'm sorry, Ezekiel 43, the soles of his feet will stand on top of Mount Zion, and rule and reign over his people, Israel. It's a promise that God has given. And after he does that, after the millennial reign of Christ, there'll come a shaking that will destroy all heaven and all earth, and there'll be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells.

But it's interesting to note that part of Israel's worship centered around the belief in the God of the universe, which establishes their well-being, so they will never be shaken. It says in Psalm 16, these words, I will bless the Lord who has consoled me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me, because he is at my right hand. I will not be shaken, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely.

And then over in chapter 55, verse number 22, cast your burden upon the Lord, he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Over in chapter 62, it says, my soul waits in silence for God only. From him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold I shall not be greatly shaken. He repeats it again down in verse number six. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I shall not be shaken. On God, my salvation and my glory rests. The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

So important. Psalm says in Psalm 112, praise the Lord. How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who really delights in his commandment. Verse six, he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever. Proverbs chapter 10, verse number 28, the hope of the righteous is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked perishes. The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but ruin to the workers of iniquity. The righteous will never be shaken. So the Hebrew audience reading the letter written to them by the writer of Hebrews understands what it means to never be shaken because of the Old Testament.

They understand of a great shaking that's going to come because the prophets that prophesied about that. So they would know these things, you see. So it's important for us to realize that God has a progressive amount of judgments that will come. They happen today sporadically. There are hurricanes, there are tornadoes, there are earthquakes, there are fires, and they're judgments that come from God to warn you of the impending judgment that's going to come, to help you understand that the physical suffering is not near what you need to worry about, but the eternal suffering of lost souls, to get you to think about your eternal destiny, not be preoccupied with your physical opportunities.

And as the day of the Lord draws, there will be progressive shaking and fire and earthquakes, the judgments of God upon the earth. Why? So man will begin to realize the end is coming. We read in Revelation 6, as well as Revelation 16, that they would blaspheme the name of the Lord. They would not repent, even though they knew it was the God of the universe, the Lamb in His wrath. They knew that, but they would not repent. But the King is going to come, set up His kingdom, and there will be a shaking.

So he says, the writer of Hebrews, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, which is Mount Zion, it cannot be shaken, it's the city of the great King. Zion represents, as we told you, the authority and glory of the Messiah. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude. Let's be thankful that we're a part of an unshakable kingdom by which we may offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and all, for our God is a consuming fire. That's what He is, a consuming fire.

And that's how He ends His fifth and final warning to His audience. He wants them to know that this is going to happen. They would know because they read the Old Testament. We know because we can go back and read the Old Testament, and we have the book of Revelation that explains to us the coming end and how it all unfolds before us. We can see those things, we can read about them. Some of you might say, well, I don't want to be a part of the shakable kingdom, I want to be a part of the unshakable kingdom.

How do I do that? You can't stay at Sinai. Can't climb the mountain on human achievement. You got to go to Mount Zion, Mount Calvary, Mount Moriah, the mount where Christ's work was accomplished for you. That you might embrace what He did, His finished work on Calvary Cross, and come to Him and bow in submission to His Lordship and follow Him, because our God is a consuming fire. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for today and the opportunity to give us a study of Your Word. How great it is to know that You so clearly map out the future.

It's not ambiguous. It's very clear. It's very concise. We wanted to make sure we understood it. Because Lord, like the Apostle Paul said, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. And He knew. He knew the fierce anger of His God. He knew the coming wrath of God. He did all He could to persuade men to give their life to Christ. Today, there being one among us, Lord, we persuade them. Come, come today to the King. Come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. The place where Jesus is, where God the judge is, that will forgive you of your sins and take you into His kingdom, the unshakable kingdom of God.

We pray all this in Jesus' name, amen.