Andrew Fountain - The Unshakable Kingdom of Love (Hebrews pt.12)

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Sermon notes - The Unshakable Kingdom of Love (Hebrews pt.12)

• Where we are in Hebrews

• the last 11 messages

0. Grateful for the Kingdom

• Let’s start by reading the last few verses of Ch 12 (which we touched on last time)

Hebrews 12:18–29

18. For you have not come
    • to something that can be touched,
    • and to a burning fire
    • and to darkness
    • and to gloom
    • and to a whirlwind
    • ¹⁹and to the blast of a trumpet
    • and to a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more.
      • (²⁰For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”)
      • (²¹In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.”)
22. But you have come
    • to Mount Zion
    • and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem
    • and to myriads of angels
    • and to the feast-gathered assembly of the firstborn sons, who are enrolled in heaven
    • and to God, the judge of all
    • and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made fully perfect,
    • ²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
    • and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s did.
       
25. Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking!
    • For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth,
      • how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?
    • ²⁶Then his voice shook the earth,
      • but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.”
         
27. Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain.
28. So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom,
    let us give thanks,
    and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe.
29. For our God is indeed a consuming fire.

adapted from NET Bible

• 18–24:
  • v.18–21 is the old Kingdom/Creation
  • v.22–24 is the new Kingdom/Creation
  • Note that they are both in existence right now
• 25–26:
  • The final warning in the book, but it turns into a promise
• 27–29:
  • When I was 17 and thought I knew everything…
  • Final modivation to hold on to the invisible
  • give thanks
  • worship (describes in a moment)
  • God is still awesome – difference between being terrified and awestruck —we have nothing to fear
  • Apparently there are people who for fun are lowered int an active volcano in a protective suite.
  • If you are protectied, the volcano is awsome and scarey, but you are not in danger.
    • But if you are not protected...
• Hebrews is all about replacing the old Kingdom with the New
• But a Kingdom requires three things:

• What he’s going to do now is to replace these three categories
  • Can you guess?

Hebrews 13

1. New Rules for Behaviour

1. Brotherly love must continue:
   Two examples of real love:
   2. Do not neglect hospitality,
      because through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.
   3. Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them,
      and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment.
   Two examples of false love:
   4. Marriage must be honoured among all and the marriage bed kept undefiled,
      because God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.
   5. Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have,
      because he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.”
      ⁶So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

2. New Government:

• Good Leaders:
  • reflect on the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith.
  8. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!
• Bad Leaders:
  
  9. Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings.
     Because it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, which have never benefited those who participated in them.

3. New Worship:

• Follow Jesus who replaced old worship:
  10. We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat from.
      ¹¹Because the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.
  12. Therefore, to sanctify the people by his own blood, Jesus also suffered outside the camp.
  13. We must go out to him, then, outside the camp, bearing the abuse he experienced.
      ¹⁴Because here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
• Sacrifice of Praise and Love:
  
  15. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name.
      ¹⁶And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have,
      because God is pleased with such sacrifices.

New Government—segue to a request:

Concluding prayer:

20. Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Handwritten ending

22. Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, bear with my message of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you briefly.
23. You should know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you.
24. Greetings to all your leaders and all the saints. Those of Italy send you greetings.
25. Grace be with you all.

adapted from NET Bible

• v2 Hospitiality: Explain it practically
• v3: prison & torment + those in other parts of the world
• v4: promise made to Joshua can apply to us
• v17: what does it mean to submit to leaders?
• v:
• Note the “because’s
  • Note especially that the “because” is something invisible
• Anarchy?
  • There might be a temptation for the readers to think that because we all relate directly to God through Jesus now rather than through a priesthood, that we don’t need leaders
  • He is concerned to point out that in the New Covenant, there is still a leadership
  • But it is one of example
  • And the example should not change since Jesus does not change
• Are you a member of the kingdom that will not be shaken?
• What Would Jesus Do?
  • Who remembers this craze?
  • Does not always apply (e.g. Should I get married. WWJD?)
  • But overall, it is a very good test question, provided we know the answer
  • The answer is that he would love, self-sacrificially

Updated on 2017-05-02 by Andrew Fountain