Do not refuse Him who is speaking

Sermon Transcript

Last week I shared with you about the one and only marathon that I’ve ever run. I told you that it was a trail marathon that I was woefully unprepared for, but determined to complete. I even told you about the aid station at mile 20, which the race organizers foolishly placed next to the lot where the runners parked, increasing the temptation to drop out and not finish. What I didn’t tell you last week was about one of the most significant factors behind me actually finishing the race, rather than dropping out: my wife Andrea.

When I arrived at the mile-20 aid station I was in a dark place. My legs were not properly conditioned for thousands of feet of elevation change and I was hurting. So, I sat down on a lawn chair at the aid station to compose myself. However, Andrea had the wisdom to know that the comfortable chair was a trap and that if I sat in it too long, I’d drop out and never finish the race. So, do you know what my dear wife did? She warned me. She warned me that remaining in that chair would devastate my desire to run the race to the finish. She warned me that the lawn chair that felt comfortable was actually a trap and would keep me from running the race of faith to the finish. She warned me.

The Christian life is like an endurance race on the narrow path of faith. While the entire race of faith is exhilarating, the ultimate joy is finishing; running to the end with faith intact and being welcomed into the eternal joy of our Master, Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. The problem is that the race of faith is full of mile-20-like moments. The narrow path of faith is full of dark, tempting, and simply distracting seasons in which we are tempted to coast on the path, then sit down, which can eventually lead to dropping out all together. What’s distracting or tempting you to coast right now? Like my experience with Andrea, God’s warnings make all the difference. God’s warnings are effective in the lives of genuine believers in Jesus. He warns us because he loves us and his warnings help us get up and keep running the race of faith to the end so that we can enter into the joy of our Master. His warnings make all the difference; they keep us running. The heart of our passage this morning is the final warning in Hebrews and what we do with it will make the difference between running the race of faith to the finish or not. Hebrews 12:25 – See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Do not refuse Him who is speaking. Do not refuse him who is speaking. See to it. To run the race of faith to the end, we must see to it that we do not refuse him who is speaking and drift away, failing to finish. Our passage this morning provides us with three compelling reasons why we must not refuse him who is speaking: 1. Because you’ve come to a greater mountain (vv. 18-24) 2. Because you’ve heard a greater warning (vv. 25b) 3. Because You’ve received a greater kingdom (vv. 26-29).

BECAUSE YOU’VE COME TO A GREATER MOUNTAIN (vv. 18-24)

Our passage begins with a contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. Do not refuse him who is speaking, don’t coast but continue to run the race of faith in Jesus because if you’ve already come to Zion; to a greater mountain.

Have you ever had the experience of starting a move in the middle and being completely confused about what’s going on in the story and what the point is? Reading the Bible can be a bit like that. We read about Sinai, Zion, and don’t really know what is going on in the story or what the point is. Here is the background: In the OT, when the Lord brought his people out of slavery in Egypt through the hand of Moses and brought them to Mount Sinai, he made a covenant with them. We know it as the old covenant. A covenant is a chosen relationship between two parties in which they make binding promises to one another, and there are blessings associated with keeping the covenant and curses associated with breaking it. A covenant is like a marriage. When the Lord established his covenant relationship with his Old Testament people, he brought them to a special location: Mt Sinai. And the location matched the covenant. Sinai was scary and access to God’s manifest presence was denied. Hebrews 12:18-21 – For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest [19] and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. [20] For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrify was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” Mount Sinai was an earthly mountain that could be touched. When the people of God approached Sinai, it was covered by a storm and gloom, which represented God’s might and power. Smoke was rising up from the mountain, which was shaking from a mighty earthquake. The earthquake, the fire, the darkness, the gloom, and the storm all communicated that God’s presence was manifested on the mountain because God is holy, he is a consuming fire, and his people are sinners. And since God’s awesome and holy presence was manifested on the mountain, the people, and even the animals, were barred from even touching the mountain or they would be killed. Even Moses trembled with fear. Why is the author of Hebrews bringing all this up? Because the location matched the covenant. The location matched the covenant. Old Testament believers could not draw near to God through the old covenant established at Sinai. It was terrifying and access was denied. The old covenant wasn’t permanent, it was preparatory for a new covenant made at a new, greater mountain.

You’ve come to a greater mountain. You’ve come to Zion. The difference between Sinai and Zion is the difference between paralyzing fear and extraordinary joy; distance and nearness. In the Bible Zion is closely associated with the heavenly Jerusalem. At the end of the Bible, in Revelation, we read about our eternal hope, Zion, the new Jerusalem. God will be there. We will be his people. He’ll wipe away every tear from our eyes. All sickness and sighing and sadness will flee away forever and we will dwell with God in unceasing joy forever. And if you have repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, get this: You’ve already come to Zion. You’re not there physically yet, but you’ve already come to Zion spiritually. Hebrews 12:22-24 – But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, [23] and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, [24] and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Oh my goodness, why would we ever refuse the voice of the One who has brought us to Zion? Why would we ever turn back on the narrow path of faith in Jesus? We’ve already come to Zion, spiritually. Through faith in Jesus, our home and citizenship is already in the heavenly Jerusalem; we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places spiritually. We’ve already come to Zion where innumerable angels and the dead believers who have gone before us are assembled in joyful worship. And every Sunday when we gather, we’re participating in that joyful worship gathering. And we’ve already come to Zion where God is and we have complete access to Him as our Father because we’ve already been made perfectly clean through the shed blood of our Mediator, our access granter, and our advocate Jesus Christ. You’ve already come to Zion, so don’t turn back now! Don’t refuse his voice now. The original recipients were tempted to go back to Sinai because remember that verse 18 said that Sinai can be touched. It’s so tempting to build your life around something you can see or touch. What touchable thing tempts you? Don’t refuse his voice for it because, though you can only see it with the eyes of faith for now, you’ve come to a greater mountain. Do not refuse Him who is speaking, first, because you’ve come to a greater mountain. Secondly….

BECAUSE YOU’VE HEARD A GREATER WARNING (vv. 25b)

Do not refuse him who is speaking because, secondly, you’ve heard a greater warning. Hebrews 12:25 – See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. A few moments ago I mentioned that when two parties enter into a covenant, it involves blessings for keeping your promise and curses for breaking it. In the Old Testament, when God entered into the old covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai, he warned them that if they broke the covenant, if they refused his voice, and turned to other gods, then they would receive his curses. Listen for a moment to a sample list of what those covenant curses were and see if you notice what they all have in common. The list: Disease, confusion, frustration, crops that fail, drought, infertility, defeat before your enemies, and exile from their land. Do you notice what these curses all have in common? They’re all earthly, temporary curses. They were earthly and temporary curses, pointing to something eternal. And Israel did refuse his voice. They did not escape the earthly curse of disease, defeat and exile. How much less will we escape the eternal curse that comes to all who refuse and reject the one who took on flesh and lived a righteous life on our behalf, died on the cross in our place for our sins, rose again victoriously on the third day to give us eternal life, and now warns us from the right hand of the Father in heaven to not turn away? How much less will we escape if we reject and refuse the voice of him who warns of an eternal curse from his throne in heaven? We won’t! So do not refuse him who is speaking. As an aside, this verse really does blow up the false and heretical idea that the God of the Old Testament was different and more severe than the God of the New Testament, doesn’t it?! We NT believers have heard a greater, eternal warning from heaven. Do not refuse him who is speaking! Keep trusting in Jesus, keep repenting of sin, keep walking by faith. Do not refuse him who is speaking, first, because we’ve come to a greater mountain, second because we’ve heard a greater warning, and finally…

BECAUSE YOU’VE RECEIVED A GREATER KINGDOM (vv. 25-29)

The final reason why we must not refuse him who is speaking is because through faith in Jesus you’ve received a greater kingdom; a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Remember, Sinai shook at God’s voice of warning. Well, another shaking is coming. Hebrews 12:26-27 – At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” [27] This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. “The quote in Hebrews 12:26 is from the OT prophet Haggai. The prophet promises that the Lord’s voice that shook the earth at Sinai, will one day shake heaven and earth. This is a reference to the final judgment before believers in Jesus come physically to Mt. Zion. In verse 27, notice that the author clarifies what is going to be shaken and not remain on that day: things that have been made. Everything that is unreliable and impermanent, that belongs solely to this present creation will be shaken and gone on that final day, so that what is reliable and eternal will remain. It’s all gonna be shaken! Isn’t that a relief?! All the things that we tend to be gripped with anxiety over – money challenges, career challenges, house challenges, health challenges – it’s all going to be shaken so that what is eternal will remain. What a relief. We can rightly be concerned about those things, but we don’t have to live in fear, be overwhelmed by anxiety, or let our mind and time be consumed by them.

Now, this raises a really important question. If we’re not spending our time being anxious or even thoughtfully consumed by what will be shaken, then what are we going to do with the minutes and hours that we spend mentally entertaining fears, anxieties, and worst possible scenarios? We’re going to be grateful. Hebrews 12:28-29 – Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, [29] for our God is a consuming fire. We’re going to spend that time being happy in God, being grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and offering God acceptable worship. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?!

Now, you may have noticed that word “acceptable.” We are to offer God acceptable worship. Sometimes we get the idea that God is so desperate for worship that he’ll take whatever he can get from us. However, since God is happy, he’s not desperate, and since God is holy, we have to worship God on his terms, not ours. Acceptable worship can be broadly defined as worshiping God in the ways that God prescribes in his word. However, in our passage offering God acceptable worship is narrowly defined as worshiping him with reverence and awe because he is a jealous God, a consuming fire. Outer space is scary. However, an astronaut can enjoy it with reverence and awe from within the safety of a proper spacesuit. Since we have come into the safety of our Savior Jesus Christ, since we have come to a greater mountain, since we have heard a greater warning, and since we have received an eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken, do not refuse his voice. Do not turn away from God who is speaking. Instead, worship God with your hearts fully engaged, with your minds consumed with awe, and your voices lifted loud in reverence. Offer acceptable worship to your holy God because you’re safe in Christ.

CONCLUSION

A warning can make all the difference. Though my one marathon was difficult, though I was woefully unprepared for all of the elevation gain, though I was in a ton of pain, and though the lawn chair at mile 20 felt amazing, I did finish. It was Andrea’s warning that made all the difference. She warned me because she loves me and her warning was effective. Her warning kept me running. God’s warning makes all the difference. His warning keeps us running the race of faith. Receive the warning: do not refuse him who is speaking. Do not turn away from Christ and don’t coast. Instead, run the race of faith with endurance because you’ve come to a greater mountain, you’ve heard a greater warning, and because you’ve received a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Take a minute. Heed the warning. Don’t refuse his voice. Repent and believe.