A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken First B Jackson 2020-02-16 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Good morning, everybody. How are you? Good morning. Would y'all stand with me and we'll sing em in from the vestibule. We're going to start off with Oh How I Love Jesus. Hymn number 92. Welcome and I'm glad you're here and thank you for filling in for me last week. I appreciate it. Oh, we had a blast. These folks can sing without with with if they can sing with me, they can sing with anybody. Come on. Alright, look at this sparse bunch. Come on, people. You're going to have to sing. We'll sing em in from out there. If we, if we get going, they'll come in and join. There you go. There is a name I love to hear I love to sing his word it sounds like music in my ear the sweetest name on earth oh how I love Jesus oh how I love Jesus because he first loved me it tells me of a savior's love oh oh how I love Jesus because he first loved me it tells me what my father hath in store for every day and though I tread a dark some path in sunshine all the way I love oh how Jesus because I he first loved me It tells of one whose loving heart can feel my deepest woe. It only sorrow bears the part that none can bear below. Jesus. Love how Jesus. How I love Jesus because he first loved me Thank you. Hymn number 688. Savior like a shepherd, lead us. Oh, next chapter in Hebrews, we're going to talk about that great shepherd of the sheep. So nice to have a shepherd like Jesus. Amen. Savior like a shepherd lead us much we need thy tender care thy pleasant pastures feed us for our use thy bolts prepare blessed Jesus blessed Jesus thou hast brought us Amen. Would y'all y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning. So, Monday nights at First B is happening. It's a good home sweet home. If you are looking for a place to just kind of belong and figure out more about this church or what's going on, Home Sweet Home, Monday night, 06:00. Carl will be preaching tomorrow night on humility and pride. The wisdom of humility and the foolishness of pride. Yes. Uh-huh. Oh, good old American meals. Meal, music, and a message every Monday night at 6PM. Happens at the same time as Awana. There is a program for kids, Awana is it and all the way from two years old up through fifth grade. It's a fantastic program pouring scripture into the lives of kids and I'm so thankful. Are y'all thankful for the well of scripture that was poured into you when you were little because you just don't keep doing that. For some reason, we don't tend to do that but to have that to draw on for the rest of our lives gives the Holy Spirit something to illumine, enlighten, and remind us of. So, I love Awana. Puggles, Cubbies, Sparks, and Truth and Trainers. There were Bible studies today for the middle school and high school girls and there's a children's church during the first service. Normally, there's a guy's service too but they didn't have one this morning. For precept studies, Jeremiah part one chapters one through 24. It's gonna be Thursday mornings, 09:00 in the morning, sharp, nine to eleven and they're into it but they're glad to help you catch up. So, Oh, fantastic. I saw it's there on chapter three right now and doing a lessons. Okay. Very good. Okay. Alright. Lesson three, chapters five and six. Okay, fantastic. Half a lesson at a time. So, women read the Bible and pray in Teton Valley, Idaho. If you're coming over the hill to church here this morning and you would like to, there's a group of ladies that gathers from 08:30 to ten at the Connell's Kurt and Cecilia Connell. Their home in Driggs and if you'd like to have more information, you can ask us and we'll get you that information. There was a baptism this morning. I wanna remind you, Ginger Eva was baptized this morning. It was a fun letting the redeemed of the Lord say so. It's really good statement that she's with Jesus. So, that actually is a picture from getting to baptize somebody in the Jordan River from the Israel trip last year. So, that's pretty fun too. The baby bottle campaign for Turning Point has started up. There are baby bottles out on the back tables out there. Grab one on your way out if you would. Fill it with your change and dollar bills and bigger bills if you want to and checks if you want to. They are hoping to keep it kind of within the parameters this year of the time frame. We tend to just have those things come in all year long and that's fine but they're trying to keep it to the next few weeks. So, baby bottle campaign for Turning Point has started and this is one of their big fundraisers for the year. If you can be a part of it, please do. Community groups. Community groups are starting this week. So, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. There are three different groups. If you wanna know more about it, if you'll contact us, we will get you more information. There's one that is gonna be meeting in Raptor J. There's one that's meeting less than a block from here right there and there's one that's meeting out north behind the airport but those are the three that we know about. What we're hoping to do is kind of establish a pattern of doing this, learn a few lessons, and then extend and make this offer after spring break more available to more people with more groups. We'd love to have one over in Driggs, maybe one in Victor which we kind of have that but we're trying to kind of get it get a beachhead established if you will on community groups. That's what we're looking for. Nursery volunteers. I'm looking for Clay Irwin but a nursery volunteers are needed and this is primarily during the 09:00 service. If somebody shows up here and needs to have childcare, we always provide it but I was going to ask you to sign up today. If you would, sign up today and help Katie Davis as our new nursery coordinator and you could help her spread the load because the ones who are doing it are currently hogging the blessing and they're doing it almost every okay? So, we are trying to help extend the love further out, you know? Blake also said, I want to put a picture behind that and he had a picture of a really sad child throwing pennies into a wishing well. No, I'm just kidding. We we have happy children. We have happy children. It's not a bad thing to do but if you would, sign up today. We'd appreciate it. Having folks that will sign up does spread the load like I said and doing that service occasionally would be good. Clay is actually our moderator right now and here he comes in right now. Would you grab a mic from Blake on the way up here? Or or from Scott on the way up here? Or from Tanya. Hey, we got mics all over the place. Timing is everything. Good morning. I'm Clay and I am wanting to talk to you about the nursery. If you were to get up, there's a sign up sheet in the back. If you were to get up and sprint there right now, you would be second on the list because I'm already on the list. I'm not going to ask you to do anything that I'm not going to do. So, we need help in the nursery. Katie Davis is down there faithfully and she is a young, beautiful mom and we want to keep her that way. We don't want to wear her out putting too much on her. So, if you can volunteer for a Sunday, a Sunday a month, twice a year. It really doesn't matter because every little bit you help with volunteering just helps that group down there last that much longer, which is good for everybody. Okay? So, anyway, the list is in the back to sign up. I don't want people to go rushing out to to get there. Just single file. And and remember, you're second on the list to me. Alright. Thank you, Clay. Clay is serving as the moderator right now at First Beast. So, he's on the elder board and the board of trustees. There was a discovery class. If you want to schedule a discovery class, we will do one anytime you want but the norm is for it to be between services on the third Sunday of the month and Gary Geek is usually the one. He's an elder and he's one of the guys who is leading that service. It helps you to know more about the church, beliefs, background, vision, ministry, but also helps us get to know you a little bit better too. So, if you want to do that, that discovery class is third Sunday of each month and Tanya has an announcement too. Okay, you all remember that the Women's World Day of Prayer happens every year and the churches spread it out and it is our turn this year to host again. So, I've got a few things. I would like to ask for y'all to do. First of all, pray please for that and then women of Zimbabwe which is the focus country this year have sent their prayer request and we'll learn about those on that day but if you would pray for our community to get involved, for people to come, and then, I would love to ask you if you would like to make sweet potato cookies or cornbread, please let me know because the recipes were sent by the ladies in Zimbabwe and we would like to participate. It's a nationwide international thing that we'll all be doing at one time. Masso may not according to the time zone but we'll all be in this together and so we would love to have you. We would love to you to invite your friends and to just pray with us. Thank you. So, So, gets to be our turn about once every five years or something like that, four, five years. So, thank you very much. Talk to Tanya if you wanna know more about that and if there's anything else I've forgotten, is there anything else I forgotten? Alright. Well, then, glad tidings to you. Would you stand and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song. Of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story because I notice true it will be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love Amen. Thank you. Oh, as the deer. Wait a second. We got one more. As the deer. Panted for the water. So, my soul longeth after the hymn number five forty eight. Beautiful. Yeah. Musically even. Hymn number five forty eight is As the Deer. You desire and I long to Y'all can be seated. I'm gonna invite the frontline team forward. Would y'all pray with me? I'm gonna invite actually Carl up forward to and Brian. We're gonna sing a song called Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So. God, would you give us this day, lord, the joy of your salvation. Would you restore to us the joy of your salvation? I pray lord that we would be able to say with David that we are redeemed. I know that my redeemer lives with Job. I pray that you'd take all that we have this morning, all that we have within us, everything that we will lay on the altar. Everything. Pray that you would take it and you would do your will with it. If it's our time, if it's our skill, if it's our thinking, if it's our relationship, to another person, would you take that lord and do with it what you will? Would you advance your kingdom as we humble ourselves before you and as we resist the devil, as we stay sober and vigilant. Lord, would you confirm, perfect, and strengthen, and establish us. We're casting our cares on you, all of our anxieties we cast on you. Would you keep us lord from mending that line and bringing it back. We're casting it out there. God, I also pray that as we have come to the time of an offering here, that you would take what we put in these plates. And that you would use it to do your kingdom's will. Your son's will. Your will. That you would advance the kingdom by your good gospel lord. May the redeemed who are gathered here put all in and would you do your work through that, lord? I pray that you'd do it this morning. In Jesus name, would you fill us with your joy? Would you let us overflow onto a desperate, dark, hopeless, surrounded. Amen. You let me out of the desert and brought me into streams, a river of living water. Turned my bitter end to sweet and all my burdens are lifted. They took the shackles off my feet. There's no sound out of there, the captives set free. So then the redeemed of the Lord say so, sing on the promises and vermour. Pour out your thank you from this and let it overflow. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. And there is joy in the morning. The springing up in my soul, there is life worth living. Because he calls me his own. And there's a hallelujah after sweet victory. And there's no sound louder they hunt a captive set free. No, there's no sound louder they hunt a captive set free. So let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Sing on his promises evermore. Pour out your thankfulness and let it overflow. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. And you are my deliverer. You are my deliverer. The freedom I'm living in. You are my deliverer. You are my promise land. You are my deliverer. The freedom I'm living in. You are my deliverer. You are my promise land. Oh, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Sing of his promises and were born. Pour out say so. We had a baptized baptism here this morning in the in the first service and the pool is still full. So, if you are a believer in Jesus, I'm gonna give you an opportunity before the end of the service today and if I don't, remind me, okay? I don't wanna ever forget that. The pool's full. What hinders you from being baptized, right? If you are redeemed of the Lord, say so and this is a good way to say it. So, there it is and I'll jump in. I don't I don't have another set of clothes but I'm going home after this. So, y'all are too, right? That's the way this goes. This morning, we're gonna be starting in Hebrews twelve fourteen. If you've been here for the past month, I have started the sermon with verse 14 for three Sundays back, two Sundays back, and then you had a missionary speaking last week. I'm gonna use it as a ramp this week to get up to the rest from 18 through 28. So, 14 through 28 is what we're gonna cover today and fourteen and fifteen says, pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Actually, I went to from this verse, this next part of it, see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God especially this, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, I hit this, see to it that no one come short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and that right there kinda demanded a topical sermon and so, the last time that I preached which was two weeks ago, I did this and I talked about how when married or premarried, premarital counseling or marital counseling, come to me and they are asking me to marry him or they're saying, hey, there's some stuff going on that we need some help with. I always draw this little diagram. God's love and truth is available to individuals. You know, the first stage of relationship up there. God has been relating to father, son, Holy Spirit forever throughout all eternity past and he at some point created individuals and decided, hey, I can relate to them but it's decided it's it's not good for him to be alone. Relationship is important and it's a great opportunity. God knew that experientially himself and he gave us the opportunity to have relationship with other people and the we is God's workshop and then, what comes out of that place where we overlap with other individuals, the relationship, whether it's a marital relationship or whether it's a friend or whether it's just teacher, student, whether it's any kind of relationship, that place of the relationship of two people is where God does his most profound work. The overflow from that relationship has an effect on everyone else around it. So, that's good. Little pretty picture. God's designed for marriage. This way, always draw it out for people but if you experience this, you will find out how hard it is to stay in the we and sometimes we will retreat within our own psyche into this inner room and that's what I talked about quite a bit actually two weeks ago. The inner room is a place where we all can go and feel sorry for ourselves. Pout. Fill up on all the ways we've been mistreated or our life is not going the way that we want it to. It is not the place of gratitude. It's not the place of humility. It's not the place of being in awe of a life transforming, awe inspiring God. It's a place where we just feel sorry for ourselves and we retreat from other people. Mike says this often to the youth group. He says, Christ works in community and the devil works in isolation and we can isolate ourselves away from other people in that inner room. Well, after showing the diagram, I went through this and I talked about how we live in past, present, and future. In the past, I feel like I did a okay job of presenting a method for going forward and forgiving people. Recognizing that God stands ready to forgive you. He is lean grace. The word means a leaning toward with unmerited favor. God's grace is his unmerited favor and he's leaning towards you and wants to give his love and forgiveness and with that in mind, I went over the past for sins that I've committed against God and others. I take a full account of what I have done. The words and actions that are thoughts that are sinful. I grieve that. I have I have to take the time to feel the sping of it. How my sin hurt God and others and then, the what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So, ask God to cover it and he does and then, receive that forgiveness. That's the hardest part of that first set. Receiving God's forgiveness, confess where it's appropriate and possible. And if you do that and you stand forgiven and you can know that with blessed assurance, it is a much easier place for you to be able to forgive other people. Forgiving people, forgive people. Hurt people, hurt people but forgiven people, forgive people and so for sins that have been committed against me, I can let those things go by following this. Full account of the wrong that was suffered, grieving that, and then, making a choice to forgive. Now, I feel like I covered it. I'm I'm doing it again but because y'all had a missionary speak last week. It's been two weeks, I'm reminding you. Making a choice to forgive, it is a willful decision. It's saying, lord, I'm willing. Help me with my unwillingness. Lord, I believe. Help me with my unbelief. I'm willing. I can't forget the way that you can. I can't throw it in the sea of forgetfulness and remember it no more but my standard is to forgive just as you and Christ have forgiven me. So, help me. I'm making the choice today to forgive and then you let go of any expectation for restitution. I just did it again. I feel like it covered it that time too. In the present, you can stand forgiven. I did not cover the future very well. I ran out of time in both services. I covered it but this, like I said, was for my marital premarital talk and the hope is that that will be able to come back together. We'll be able to go forward. So, this is all about going forward while trust is being rebuilt and it's about going forward and staying together in the we but I wanna acknowledge that biblically, there are times when people have sharp disagreements and they do part. There are times when it is the right thing to move on and biblically, I was not ready to preach that sermon today. It's coming and I want for you to pray for me because I feel like it's an essential thing. There are other options because Paul says, in as much as it depends on you, you live at peace with all men. Make sure your heart is right before God and that your door is open for forgive and that you've extended it, that you stand forgiven, that you've extended it even if someone else doesn't accept it. So, I'll cover that. It'll be either next week or the week after but would you pray for me that I'd be able to deliver what God has for us. That that that sermon about forgiveness really touched the nerve two weeks ago and I heard from a lot of you and so I wanna I wanna be faithful and come back to it. I'm gonna preach Hebrews today. I got this this week too and while I was trying to do the forgiveness sermon, sometimes things just won't come together. Have you all ever experienced that? You can't make it happen. It's just not happening. I was putting in the study but it just wasn't happening and this is what I got yesterday. Ray, hope all is well. We'll be gone next two Sundays. Going to see our daughters. Be praying for you as you close out the glorious chapter 12 and I said, thank you lord for that word. So, that's what I'm doing. It's closing out chapter 12 but what he was saying is and this sentence is what the reason I put it up there. With Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, the kingdom that can't be shaken which leads to worship and reverence and awe and he said, I'm fired up just writing that. That is an encouraging text. Love you and thanks for preaching, living the gospel. Thank you. God is good and I appreciate your prayers. Somebody after the first service said, I'm going to watch what I text you because I don't want to see it on that screen. That guy's not here this morning. So, if he's not Facebooking it, y'all don't tell him. Anyway, Hebrews twelve fourteen through 28 says this, pursue peace. Pursue. It's active and it's a command. Be pursuing peace, continuous action. Be pursuing peace with all men and be pursuing sanctification. Now, sanctification is not an easy process. Sanctification requires some pain. It requires some discipline and we've covered that quite a bit here lately in Hebrews. Pursue it. It says, lean into the pain of submitting your will to the God's will and allowing him to transform and sanctify the renewing of your mind. Pursue peace. Pursue sanctification. Be pursuing and it's active and imperative and then, there's a heightened form of Greek right here that says, see to it. It's rhetorical. See to it is also a command form. I've talked a couple of times about hortatory subjunctives and we'll get to one of those and and where it's a command but it's softer because it's including me in it. It's including the speaker in it. See to it then, see to it, make sure, pay close attention, see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. Paul says, if anybody comes to you teaching any other gospel than that which I have preached which is the free grace of a bific offer from a guy who's leaning towards you. A god who's leaning towards you. If anybody comes and says, you can earn that salvation. If anybody comes to you and says that you can buy or purchase that salvation, let him be anathema, Paul says. Completely cut off. Galatians one eight and nine. If it's a gospel of works, it is not a gospel of grace. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. That's both for salvation and for sanctification. Both. See to it. Two, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and that's the one that led me to the forgiveness theme of that topical sermon and it'll bring us back around because we don't want a root of bitterness springing up which is gonna happen. It's gonna happen. We're human beings and we're gonna eventually offend one another and hurt each other but see to it that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by it then many be defiled. That's that fourth part where the whole of everybody around us is affected by our relationships. We're at the C to it still. It's the third clause there. See to it. So, it's a command. See to it that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau. Now, is this advocating shunning? Actually, the word for immoral right there is fornicator. Pornos, it's it is see to it that there be no fornicator or godless person like Esau. It's I think it is metaphorical here but I do wanna mention that that's what it says. See to it that there be no fornicator. I don't think it's advocating for shunning. I think this is a direct message presented to a lot of people at one time and saying, don't fall into Esau's error. And Esau's error, see to it that there be no one who is more concerned about the flesh. Who sold his own birthright for a single meal. He wanted to see it. He wanted, he could smell it. He wanted to taste it. He wanted to take it in and he was seeing something that was an incredible temptation and he was willing to give up an intangible right that was his and he did give up that intangible blessing. It was a future blessing but it was a blessing and it was his and he gave it up. See to it that nobody goes for the fleshly thing. Instead of the spiritual thing and this sets up below. This is going to be old covenant, new covenant, old covenant, new covenant. See to it that there be no fornicator or godless one among you. Like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal for you know that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. Do you know, how how does it feel to make a bad decision? Once you've made a bad decision, how do you make up for it? You can go to God and ask for forgiveness and he will forgive you. There's no doubt about whether he'll forgive you. But when you make the bad decision, it changes everything and if your attitude like Esau's was, for you know that even after when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected for, he found no place for repentance. He did regret but he did not repent. He did regret his bad choice but he didn't repent of it. He didn't change his mind. Though he sought for it with tears, the it is referring to the blessing. He sought after that blessing and he wanted it back and you tricked me and I've been mistreated. He went immediately into his little inner room. And he felt like he deserved better than he got but he made the choice to get what he got. So, This is a tough passage. This sets up This sets up the rest of this. I wanna make sure that was not me actually. For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched into a blazing fire into darkness and gloom and whirlwind. So, all of that before and especially that part about Esau saying, consider your way. Submit your will to God and consider your way. Consider the blessings that you, first century Jewish background, believers in Jesus, consider your way. Don't go back to this ritualistic, legal stuff that was a shadow of things to come and pointed towards Christ with its sacrificial system and he is the ultimate sacrifice. Don't go back to that. Don't go back to that. You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire. This is a description of Mount Sinai where God gave the law. It's a description that I normally would put Exodus up here in the passage but I didn't this morning. Excuse me for that but you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire and the darkness and gloom and whirlwind. This is where we aren't. It's where they weren't in that first century Jewish background. He said, this is not where you are. You're not back at Sinai. Where the mountain can be touched, ablaze and fire, darkness, a gloom, whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. Do y'all remember that from Exodus when the people said, it is too much for us to bear. We cannot handle this and even Moses was between them and God. It's too much. We can't take this on. The weight of all of it. The shaking that was happening. For they could not bear the command. Even if a beast touches this mountain, it'll be stoned. This is a holy place and y'all are unholy. You can't even approach it. Even your beast can't approach it. That was something back from Exodus and it was so terrible. So terrible was the sight that Moses and Moses is their hero. Moses is always lifted up. Even the writer of Hebrews never mentions Moses in a bad light. He says, Moses was a servant. Christ is a son. Moses was a faithful servant. Christ is a beloved son. So terrible was the sight that Moses said, I am full of fear and trembling and they thought everything good about Moses. You haven't come to this. We, this is where we aren't. Old covenant. This is where you're not but you have come to this. This is where you are. You have come to Mount Zion, not Sinai. Sinai was where God gave the law and told them what they were lacking. Told them all the ways that they were falling short. Zion was actually Mount Calvary. Coming to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the myriads of angels, and to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. The saved, the redeemed, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Were they made perfect because of their works or were they made perfect because of, let's go forward. Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant because Jesus had no sin debt of his own. He could offer his perfect life to anyone who would put their trust in him and he says that he will transform by his spirit. Anyone who will submit their will to him and accept. His payment for their punishment. And Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood. This is the blood of the new covenant. So, it's comparing and contrast in the two. It's saying that this revealing of the old covenant was incredibly memorable because of the power of God that was displayed. But it's about to go further than that and to the Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant to the blood that was sprinkled and that blood speaks better than the blood of Abel. If you remember back to the heroes of the faith, right off the bat, Abel was mentioned. His offering was more acceptable. His offering was acceptable and his brothers was not. If you remember the story of Cain and Abel, Cain slew Abel out of jealousy, out of being in his inner room, out of self righteousness. Abel's blood still speaks. Hebrews 11 says, and this is a callback to that to say, but Christ's blood speaks even louder and forever. Speaks better than the blood of Abel. So, this is not the old covenant. You have gotten past that old covenant is old and the new covenant is the way, the truth, the life. So, with that in mind, here's the last warning in the book of Hebrews and I've had four of these, right? We have one, two, four, six, and ten. Wait a second. I have five of these. Two, four, six, ten, and there's one in 12 and this is it. See to it, another heightened form of imperative. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. Notice the capital H, that's God who is doing the speaking. It's not the writer of Hebrews. It's not me. It's not the person reading this out but see to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. If you go back to chapter two and chapter three and even chapter four, when he's talking about the wilderness generation, he says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts like you did in the rebellion, like your fathers did in rebellion. Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord and he's directing you in his still small voice to walk out one of the works that he has for you to do in gratitude for what he has done. Walk in those steps and don't harden your heart. See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they, those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth. This is that wilderness generation again. This is talking about the old covenant After Sinai walking through the desert, if those did not escape, when they refused him, they did not make it into the promised land. When they refused him, who warned them on Earth, much less than will we, this is, it was first century Jewish background, folks. It's us today too. And it's a strong morning. It's an echo of chapter 10 where it says, to remain faithful firm till the end. Much less will we escape, who turn away from him who warns from heaven. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the father. He's interceding for you. He's made propitiation for your sins. He's offered you this life and if you have accepted him, stick with him and don't go back to that. Much less than will we escape, who turn away from him, who warns from heaven. And his voice shook the earth then, that's Old Covenant at Sinai, back to that generation but now, he has promised saying, to quote from Haggai too, yet once more, I will shake not only the earth but also heaven. You thought that was a display of God's power. What is coming is gonna be more than that. It's an argument from the lesser to the greater in rhetoric. His voice shook the earth then but he has promised saying, yet, once more, I will shake not only the earth but also heaven. Haggai two six, prophet from the prophets, for thus says the Lord of hosts, once more in a little while and I'm gonna shake the heavens and the earth. The sea also and the dry land. There's not anything that won't be shaken except for the very kingdom of God. 21 says it again, speak to Zerubabel, governor of Judah saying, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth and so the writer of Hebrews says, this expression, yet once more, from that quote denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken. I've said it multiple times that the Old Covenant basically is, here's the law, it's on you. You're going to fall short. Here's the new covenant. It's on Jesus. Trust in him and stick with him. This expression, yes, once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken. Are there going to be any works that stand? Only those done in Jesus name. Only those done through the spirit of God. Everything else is wood, hay, and stubble. There will be nothing that remains of all our earthly selfish works. Yet, once more denotes removing of all those things which can be shaken as of created things. All of our minds best inventions will be shaken. They are not eternal things. So, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. The purity of the relationship of a believer and God, Jesus. Cannot be shaken. What can separate us from love God? I'm convinced neither death nor life, principality, nor powers, heights nor depths. Nothing can separate us from love of God. That can't be shaken. So that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, we've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and placed into the kingdom of light and it cannot be shaken. Peter calls it our incorruptible hope. It says, then, let us show gratitude. Be thankful for what God has done. If we go into our inner room and say, I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough. God didn't give me enough talent. I just am pitiful. If we live life in that place and we see the things that God has not done for us. We cannot see from that place the things that he has. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude. Be thankful for this is God's will concerning you in Christ Jesus. Be thankful in all circumstances. Let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God what? What do we have to offer God? Through our gratitude, we can offer an acceptable service with reverence and all. When you are in the place of thanking God for what he has done and what he is doing, though we may be inching along in sanctification. When you're thanking him for what he's doing, he will be leading you into what he has for you For our God is a consuming fire. So, the refiner's fire is often mentioned of gold and that fire burns off all of the dross, burns off all the nasties, all the stuff that floats to the top and it gets scooped off and it's a painful process but what God is doing is applying heat and discipline and he is refining us through that fire. If we find ourselves in a place where we can't be thankful for what he's done, we're gonna find ourselves stagnating and fallen. This is urging us not to fall away. You don't have an old covenant where it's all on you. It really is on Christ. It really is. So, stick with Jesus. Stick with the incorruptible hope. Stick with this kingdom that cannot be shaken. Don't be tempted like they were to avoid persecution and go back to something that was less dangerous. So, these are the commands from today's passage. Just from 14 to 28, these are the commands. They're the takeaways, I think, from today. Be pursuing peace with all men, not just half of them, not just the ones that agree with you politically, not just the ones that agree with you theologically. Be pursuing peace with all men. That will require a lot of grace. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and see to it that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble. They're gonna spring up. Don't let em cause trouble. Be angry but sin not. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. Forgive and forgive well. See to it that no one falls to Esau's error and that specifically, like I said, the word fornicator there speaks to fleshly desire versus spiritual desire. See to it that no one falls to Esau's error and see to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. That's capital H. That's not see to it that no one refuses what Ray is saying. See to it that no one refuses him who is speaking and it is Christ through his spirit, through his word speaking. See to it that you do not refuse him of speaking and let's all, that's the hoardatory subjunctive I was talking about. It brings me and you and the writer of Hebrews and everybody together. Let us all, all of us. Let us all show gratitude. Because that's the way that we can offer any valuable service to God. I think this is gonna dovetail perfectly with Carl's sermon tomorrow night because the the wisdom of humility versus the foolishness of pride. Pride takes us to the place that say we deserve more and humility admits that we have received far more than we deserve better than we deserve. Would you stand with me? I'm gonna ask Florine to and Scott to come forward. We had a baptism to punctuate in the in the first service. We're going to sing Rock of Ages because it all happened right there at the cross. Would you stand and sing? Hymn number three forty two. Thou must save and thou alone in my hand no price I bring simply to the cross I cling while I draw this fleeting breath when my eyes shall close in death when I rise to worlds unknown and behold thee on thy throne rock of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in thee Amen. And now, the benediction today is let your conversations be always full of grace If you've received grace and you've taken it in freely, then, freely breathe it out. Grace, let your conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone. God, would you do that in us this week? Would you give us the words and the right time to say them in the situations we find ourselves, may we have your spirit leading us in how we express your grace and your love to a lost and dying world around us. Would you give us confidence in our unshakable God and your unshakable kingdom and be calling people into that protection. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.