Jesus Gives Us Living Water

Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14. And we'll read through the end of the chapter. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy.

Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

See that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected.

He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, to a trumpet blast, or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded.

If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned. The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear.

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels and joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

At that time, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. The words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken, that is, created things, so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

You'll want to have your Bible open to Hebrews chapter 12. The Lord Jesus Christ is a great king. And by his saving work, he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of light and of love.

A kingdom that's already established in the hearts of his people and that he's coming back one day to perfect. And then it will be God's perfected people in God's perfected place.

A new heavens and a new earth with unspeakable blessings under the gracious rule of our sovereign Lord forever. I wonder if that's you. Has Jesus Christ already come and established his rule in your heart?

Do you recognize him as your Lord and Savior? If so, then what should be your response to God for giving you a place in his kingdom?

You should make his kingdom and righteousness your non-negotiable priority. Remember, we saw that in Matthew 6, 33. Our Lord said, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Don't let anything distract you from this priority. Indeed, to belong to such a kingdom demands that we keep its interests first in our hearts, our schedules, indeed in all that we do.

So if you belong to this kingdom, what should be your response? First, keep it first. Keep the kingdom first. Seek it first. But now today, as we bring this study on Christ our King to a conclusion, let's consider two further responses that are befitting of all of us who belong to this wonderful kingdom that Christ has brought.

You've got your Bibles open there too. Hebrews 12, 28 and 29, our text begins with a therefore. It's a summing up word of application. Here's the bottom line he's saying to us.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and fear, reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Now, here is both privilege and responsibility or duty. Indeed, our duty grows out of our privilege and it's our response to our privilege.

Since we are receiving this kingdom, that's your privilege. Therefore, here's your duty. Let's be thankful and let us worship God acceptably.

You see the basic structure of our text this morning. Privilege and duty. We'll look at each. And if we have any sense of the greatness of our privilege, then this twofold response will be our glad way of life.

And the more that you're gripped with your privilege, the more heartily you will give yourself to these two responses. So, before we look at the two responses, let's first notice a couple things about our privilege of belonging to this kingdom.

Two things about the kingdom of God that we belong to. First of all, it's something that we are receiving. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom.

Children, if you receive something, it's because somebody gave it to you, isn't it? You only receive what someone gives and that is true of this kingdom.

We are receiving a kingdom only because God is the one giving it to us. The Lord Jesus, in Luke 12, verse 32, says to his people who are so prone to worry, Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Don't be afraid. Your Father's pleasure is to give you the kingdom. That's his gift to you. And what a gift it is. And notice his heart towards you in giving it.

He's not giving reluctantly, but cheerfully. You ever had the pleasure of giving a great gift to another?

I said not receiving, but the pleasure of giving a great gift to another. If so, you know the meaning of Jesus' words, that it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

You know something about the pleasure of giving. Now you multiply that by infinity and you have the pleasure of your heavenly Father in giving you the kingdom.

He delights in mercy. He's taking pleasure to give you his kingdom, you his little flock. Now this gift has been on his heart for a long time.

You remember in Matthew 25, we looked at that passage where we're taken by Jesus' words right to the final judgment. And here we see all mankind that have ever lived and Jesus starts to put them into two groups.

Where they belong. On his left and on his right. The unbelievers and the believers. And the next words out of Jesus' mouth will determine the eternal destinies of these two groups.

And then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom that he has prepared for you since the creation of the world.

What a gift. Prepared from before the creation of the world for you. And it's his pleasure to give it to you. And as we step into that eternal, perfected kingdom, we will know that because of our sins, we deserve to hear what those on his left will hear.

Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire reserved for the devil and his angels. But that only because of our wonderful king himself being cursed for us, we are not cursed, but we receive the blessings forever and ever.

The blessings of our king, of his kingdom, have been won for us. It comes to us then, you see, as a gift. The kingdom of God is an inheritance.

An inheritance comes freely given by our Father to his believing family. And so how do we receive it? We are receiving a kingdom. We receive it as a free gift.

It's not something earned as a deserved reward of our performance. What a blessed gift, the kingdom of God. Do you remember King Herod?

He had his wife's daughter dance for him on his birthday and he promised her up to half of his kingdom. Not so our Father. Our Father has promised us the whole kingdom.

He gives us the whole kingdom. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. He takes pleasure in giving us his kingdom. So don't be afraid, little flock.

Have you received the free gift of God's kingdom by faith in his king's son, Jesus Christ? Notice something else about this freely given kingdom.

It's something that we are in the process of receiving. You see the present tense? Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom, it's going on right now.

We are in the process of receiving it. And that reflects the full teaching of Scripture on the kingdom of God. That it's both a present reality and a future reality.

That God's kingdom has already come to our hearts and it is still to come. Hence we pray, your kingdom come. There is still much more of the kingdom to receive.

We've already received it by faith now, but we will receive it by sight at our Lord's return. His kingdom has been established in our hearts. It will be perfected in a new world when He returns.

And so Hebrews 12, 24 says that we have come. We already have come. If you've come to Jesus Christ by faith, we, you're part of this.

We have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the city of the living God. We have come to that people of God that belong to Him.

By the new birth, we've already entered the kingdom. And we do belong to the Jerusalem that is above. That Jerusalem, that new Jerusalem that is to come down out of heaven into the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation 21.

We belong to that kingdom. We're already citizens of that heavenly kingdom. Paul says, we're already citizens there and we look for a Savior. from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies and make them like His glorious body.

We will receive the perfected kingdom. And so we're in the process of receiving the kingdom. Many of its blessings are already being enjoyed now.

But they are foretastes. They're appetizers of the greater feast to come. The streams on earth I've tasted, more deep I'll drink above.

No small part of the glory of this kingdom that we are receiving is simply that there's always more to come. Never at the end of it. Praise the Lord.

So that's one thing about this kingdom. It's something we are receiving. That's the privilege of believers. But secondly, it's a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

You see that in verse 28? Therefore, since we're receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And this is the chief point as we look at the surrounding verses about the kingdom of God that's given to us.

The point is being made by contrasting it with all that can be shaken. Verses 18 through 21 speak of a time when God came down to Israel on Mount Sinai and he spoke the Ten Commandments to them verbally, audibly.

And it was a terrifying experience. Verse 26 tells us that at that time his voice shook the earth. Indeed, Exodus 19, 18 records that the whole mountain trembled violently as God came down to speak to men on earth.

But verse 26 goes on to say here, but now he has promised once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.

Now on many occasions God has shaken the earth with devastating effects. some of you remember the San Francisco Bay Area earthquakes earthquake back in 89 more recently the earthquake in Haiti.

I mean, this is just to mention a few, there's always earthquakes going on around the world and then most recently in Nepal devastating effects. Scientists warn us that the big one is coming to California that it's just a matter of time with the pressure of the plates that is building and building.

Well, the Lord Jesus told us that great earthquakes would take place in various parts of the world and that they happen as warnings of the end that is coming when he returns.

So for hundreds and thousands of years these earthquakes have been a signal, a shot across the bow of this world, prepare to meet your God.

The judge is standing at the door. He's coming again. Prepare for judgment. Now consider this interesting fact about earthquakes.

There was a violent earthquake at the moment of Christ's death on the cross. You remember? It broke the stones in two and opened the graves and many came up at Christ's death.

And then there was a violent earthquake at Christ's resurrection as the angel came from heaven and rolled back to stone and sat upon it. And at the return of Christ there will be the greatest earthquake of all.

We could call that one the big one with all caps. There will be no Richter scale for that one. Revelation 16, 17 to 20 says, The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air.

The seventh and last bowl of God's wrath. And out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying, It is done. Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peal of thunder, and a severe earthquake.

No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth. So tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed.

God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.

Now someone says, Oh, this is just figurative language. Well, it's true that these are visions in the book of Revelations and there is much apocalyptic figurative language that is being used in the book of Revelation.

It's true that not everything there is literal. It's true that earthquakes may be and sometimes are used in Scripture as symbols of great upheavals of the society and of the world.

But let me tell you why I think that this is speaking of a literal earthquake. First of all, because some things are literal in the book of Revelation, like the return of Jesus Christ.

That's no figure of speech. He's really coming. Secondly, Revelation compares this earthquake to all the other literal earthquakes in history.

It says, Never in all the history of man on earth was there ever an earthquake like this one. That's a historical reference.

And thirdly, it's not only spoken of here in the book of Revelation, but in many different parts of Scripture, this coming earthquake. And fourthly, physical catastrophes are part of God's curse upon man and his environment.

Witness the global flood. That was no figure of speech. It happened. It was a judgment upon man and this world in rebellion and it affected his environment.

And so this final shaking of heaven and earth is part of God's outpoured wrath against a world in rebellion against him. It's what one commentator called the complete dislocation of the universe.

Ever had something out of dislocated? Rendered useless? This is the dislocation of the whole universe. So I don't believe we need to back away from a literal earthquake.

It may mean and probably does point to a lot of other things that will be shaken but we're told here of this great earthquake. I believe Revelation 6 is another mention of it where he says I watched as he opened the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake.

The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair. The whole moon turned blood red and the stars in the sky fell to earth as late figs dropped from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.

The sky receded like a scroll rolling up and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Again we have this catastrophic earthquake shaking mountains and islands from their places and a heavens quake shaking stars from their places.

And that's just what our text here in Hebrews 12 26 mentions that just as the Lord shook the earth when he came down on Mount Sinai so he says once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.

There's to be an earthquake and a heavens quake removing mountains and islands on earth and stars from their places in the heavens.

Jesus says the heavenly bodies will be shaken Matthew 24 29. So it's against this backdrop of this great last shaking of heaven and earth removing all that can be shaken that we are told that we're receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Does that have some comfort? It's meant to and it's meant to be seen for the great thing it is as it's compared with the shaking that is coming to this world. once more verse 26 says once more.

Now that speaks in other words there's not going to be any more more after that. Just once more. This is the last of the shakings ever to be done. God is saying I've done a lot of shaking down through history but once more I'm going to shake.

And verse 27 says these words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken. That is created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

This is quite a shaking. He will shake so hard that everything that can be shaken will be removed. Wow what all would that include?

Well he says created things. Created things. Not only on earth but also in the heavens. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my word will not pass away.

all that is merely temporary that will be shaken. It can be shaken and it will be. John says this world and its desires is passing away.

The world in its present state under the curse of sin is passing away so that the one seated on or John says at the end of Revelation 21 4 that the old order of things has passed away.

when Jesus comes it will pass away and he who is seated on the throne that is our King Jesus said behold I am making everything new.

Peter says when Christ returns the heavens will disappear with a roar. The elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Heaven's destroyed.

The earth destroyed. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth. The home of righteousness. You see there's a divine purpose to this shaking.

Verse 27 tells us that. All that can be shaken will be shaken and removed so that. That's a phrase of purpose. So that what?

Why is God shaking things so hard that everything will be removed so that all that cannot be shaken will remain? shaken. He wants to have a universe where there is nothing left that can be shaken.

That is his kingdom. His unshakable kingdom. That will never perish, spoil, or fade.

And that's the kingdom we are receiving, brothers and sisters. A kingdom that cannot be shaken. So, brothers and sisters, the stars may be shaken out of the sky, the mountains may be shaken off the earth, the islands shaken out of the sea, but nothing can shake his kingdom out of me or me out of his kingdom.

Nothing can shake King Jesus off the throne, nor his people who are seated with him there in the heavenlies. Indeed, the gates of hell cannot prevail against this kingdom.

Though all hell should endeavor to shake, I never, no never, no never will forsake my people. We sang it. A kingdom that is unshakable.

This great nation of ours can and will be shaken. Other kingdoms will be shaken and destroyed, but not his kingdom. God is within her.

She will not fall. God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar. Kingdoms fall. He lifts his voice. The earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. His kingdom cannot be shaken because he cannot be shaken.

You remember the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel chapter 2? It was a dream that stole sleep from him and bothered him terribly and he called his magicians and astrologers and he said, I want you to tell me the dream I had and its interpretation.

But king, you always tell us the dream and we give you the interpretation I know and you guys are shysters and you tell me things that how do I know if it's true or not? By this I will know that you have supernatural powers.

You tell me what I dreamed and also tell me the interpretation and if not it will be your life. Oh, they complain.

No king has ever asked his wise men for this. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods and they do not live among men. Well, God did live with his people and he revealed it to Daniel.

Daniel then went and told the king and saved the necks of these astrologers. He said, O king, you saw an enormous dazzling statue.

There was a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, feet of part iron and part clay. And while you were watching, O king, a rock was cut out of the mountain but not with human hands.

And it rolled down and it struck the head of this statue and it pulverized it to dust. And like chaff on the threshing floor in summer, the wind swept it all away, leaving it without a trace.

But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. You had any dreams like that lately, kids?

King Nebuchadnezzar did. God was talking to the king. He had a message for the king. And he wanted it written down so that thousands of years later, boys and girls, moms and dads would understand something about the kingdom of God.

Here it is in Daniel chapter 2. The dream, it's recorded for us. And now Daniel gave the interpretation. Each part of the statue represents a kingdom.

The head of gold represents you, King Nebuchadnezzar, and your great Babylonian kingdom. And after you will come another kingdom, and another kingdom, until finally there will be a kingdom partly strong and partly weak with a mixture of kings over them.

In verse 44, Daniel 2 says, in the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people.

It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. Well, that's the kingdom established in Jesus Christ.

and one day that kingdom will be perfected. That is the rock that was cut out of the mountain, but not of human hands, that crushed all the other kingdoms of this world, and itself grew into a huge mountain that filled the whole earth.

There was no place where there was planet that there wasn't this kingdom. A forever kingdom, an unshakable kingdom, an eternal kingdom.

And brothers and sisters, this is the kingdom that we are receiving. Let me hurry on then to our duty. If that's our privilege to receive and be receiving this kingdom that cannot be shaken, what is our duty?

Well, there's a two-fold response expected of us. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. Kingdom people, thankfulness, to God's goodness, for his goodness in giving us the kingdom is our response.

It's a kingdom of righteousness and of peace and of joy in the Holy Spirit. It's a kingdom of light and of love, of forgiveness and of freedom.

It's a kingdom of security, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. This king, ruling over this king, he's mine and I am his and he is mine.

Oh, what peace that brings to my heart. Security. And this kingdom and my place in it cannot be shaken because it's based on the finished work of the Lord Jesus himself.

He's the mediator of the new covenant, as our passage says, whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Abel's blood called for vengeance. Jesus' blood calls for forgiveness. That's why we will not be shaken out of this kingdom.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So to be in his kingdom is to know perfect righteousness, perfect security, perfect peace, perfect joy forever.

So if you're a citizen of this kingdom, if you are receiving this kingdom that cannot be shaken, you ought to be one of the most thankful people on the planet. Your middle name ought to be thankfulness.

Paul says overflowing with thankfulness, unable to contain it, unable to hold it in. We are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

When all else is shaking, we won't be. We won't be. When everything else is giving way and all that men treasured and trusted in is failing them and every other ground is sinking sand, what will it be worth?

What is it worth now to be found standing on Christ the solid rock? In a kingdom that cannot be shaken. When all else is shaking and falling apart and men's hearts are failing them for fear and all that they live for is proving ineffective to deal with their greatest problems, how blessed we are to belong to the kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Someone was asked, how are you doing, brother? brother? Well, all around the shaking, all around the edges is shaking, but my center is holding firm.

Building on the rock, is that what represents you? You're in the kingdom, you're built on Christ, the kingdom where our Savior reigns and he reigns over everything in heaven and in earth.

That's all that concerns me. And when the kingdoms of this world are crumbling around them in a moment, men enter eternity and they wake up to the fact that they've lived for the wrong kingdom, then we will be entering the perfected kingdom forever and ever.

And when God shakes the heavens and the earth once more for the last time and all outside the kingdom, as Revelation 6 says, says, all of them outside the kingdom are calling for the mountains and rocks to fall upon them and to hide them from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the lamb.

For the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand? My brother and sister, you will stand. You will be found standing in that day dressed in the righteousness of Jesus.

in a kingdom that cannot be shaken because there's no wrath where Jesus is Lord. He suffered the wrath for me that I might enjoy unspeakable glories forever.

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like me his praise should sing? Receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, who like me should be thankful? That's the idea.

no wonder Billy Bray, that drunkard Cornish miner over in England or Wales, whichever it is, when he got saved he was so full of joy that he went down the street, henceforth, Half dancing, half leaping.

After all, he was the king's son. You're living like the king's son. Is there any thanksgiving in your heart that you're the adopted son of the king and he's given you this whole kingdom?

Can't help it, he said, about the strange way he walked. One foot seems to shout glory and the other answer is amen. So he went down the street, thankful, thankful.

He's the king's son. He's receiving this kingdom that cannot be shaken. It's reason enough to make you thankful and to keep you happy and thankful for all eternity.

Should that not at least make us thankful for the remaining years here? If it's going to keep us thankful forever there, there is enough in this matter of receiving the kingdom to keep us thankful every day of our lives.

To give thanks to the Lord always. Indeed, in everything to give thanks. Because no matter what is or is not happening to me, the greatest thing is happening.

I am receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And so make your whole entire life to be a thank you to God for the place in his kingdom.

Gratitude is the heartbeat of God's kingdom. It's the music that can never be silenced. after all, an eternal kingdom deserves eternal thanks.

That's the first response due to those who belong to this kingdom. Secondly, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

Worship is another response to God giving us the kingdom. I ought to seek the kingdom first, I ought to be thankful, and I ought to worship God acceptably.

Receiving the kingdom is to make worshipers of us. And notice, we can't worship God acceptably unless we worship him with reverence and awe. Don't settle for less.

God isn't. What is it, then, that gives us a sense of reverence and awe and worship? Well, it's a combined sense of who God is and who we are. He is God, we are not.

He is great, we are small. He's the creator, we're the creature. He's the potter, we're the clay. He's the master, we're the servant.

He's holy, we are sinful. He's majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders.

And in Jesus Christ, he is the savior, and we are the saved. And he is love, and we are the loved ones. And he is the king, and he has given to us rebels a place in his kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Amazing love, amazing grace, amazing faithfulness, amazing, awesome God. You see, the truth is, is that everything about God is awesome.

If we will just go further than scratching the surface. Have we lost our sense of awe before our God?

Our hurried and shallow world is not in awe of God. They're bored with God. God is the great irrelevant. they're yawning and tired of God.

And this God says to his rebellious world, be still and know that I am God. Stop your hurried living and be quiet and think about who I am.

be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted on the earth. I'm bringing my kingdom here.

And we cry, oh God, unite my heart to fear your name, to stand in awe of you and to worship you with reverence and awe.

Realizing who it is that we're coming to drives out flippancy in worship. It strikes reverence and awe in our hearts and it makes us, makes our worship acceptable.

I wonder if we've come to terms with the facts of this verse that tells us that there's some worship that is not acceptable to God. people are offering it but God's not accepting it.

God tells us about this unacceptable worship in his word. He says all worship that is without faith in Jesus Christ alone is unacceptable.

We are the true circumcision who worship by the spirit, who glory in Jesus Christ and put no confidence in the flesh. That's the worship that's acceptable. Only that which is in Christ alone for salvation.

Unacceptable worship is all worship without the heart. These people come near to me with their mouth and they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. Worthless unacceptable religion.

All worship that's without the word of God. Their worship of me is vain. Their teachings are but rules taught by men, Jesus says. It's worthless. It's not accepted in heaven.

Don't care how much is going on. If it's not according to the word of God, we must worship in spirit and in truth. All worship without a holy life of love to God and neighbor is unacceptable worship.

I desire mercy, not sacrifice, God says. And here in this passage, we see another kind of worship that is totally unacceptable to God.

And it is worship without reverence and awe, where there is no fear of God before our eyes, no sense of respect for his presence, that we are standing before the Almighty, the Holy One.

So since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.

He is after all the judge of all the earth. You've come to him. He is the one who's coming to shake both the heavens and the earth. He is coming to consume this present world as we know it with fire and to call all men to judgment.

He is a consuming fire. That's a quote from Deuteronomy 4. The God of Israel in Deuteronomy 4 is the same God today. He's your God. You've got to deal with the same God.

Sometimes thankfulness does not strike awe and reverence in us. So we're given another little help along the way.

Remember who I am. I'm a consuming fire. Sometimes we need to remember that to approach him with reverence and awe. But it's receiving the gift of the kingdom that ought to motivate us toward reverent and awe worship.

Do you see that here? Since we're receiving the kingdom, this is the outflow of it. This is the only acceptable response. This is what it ought to create and motivate in our lives when we realize what it cost our king to give us this kingdom that cannot be shaken.

He had to face this consuming fire of God's wrath for our sins. The black spiritual from the south, were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when he cried, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Were you there to see what it cost the Son of God to welcome me into his eternal kingdom?

Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, to worship with reverence and awe that Jesus had to appear with my sins before the consuming fire, that I might never have to appear before that wrath of God.

Yes, receiving this kingdom as the free gift through the work of Christ leads to the only fitting response of thankfulness and worship with reverence and awe.

That is acceptable before him. Oh, then worship him, brethren. This call to acceptable worship is not just something we do here for a couple hours a week. Yes, it includes this, but it's so much more because by the blood of Jesus, we have been made a kingdom of priests to serve our God.

And so all day, every day, we are to worship him with reverence and awe. All of life is to be an act of worship in which we serve our Lord.

As Romans 12, 1 says, that as a result of God's mercy shown to you, receiving the kingdom, offer up your bodies as living sacrifices, pleasing to God, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual act of worship.

worship. It's your fitting response of worship. So as you get up in the morning, you're presenting your body, you're to be worshiping God all day long, and so you say, Lord, here, I present as my offering.

It's a living sacrifice. It's part of my worship that in the new covenant we must make to this God worship, acceptable, reverence and awe. God, for all the mercies in Jesus, I am now presenting to you my body today.

Take my ears, my eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet. Take all that I do today and let it be holy and pleasing in your sight.

I'm going to work to work for you today. I'm going to take care of these children for you today. I'm going to school for you today. This is my spiritual act of worship.

We're presenting, this is the worship as well. Not just what we do here, but what we do the whole of our life, wherever we go, whatever we do, as worshipful service to our God.

Well, there's a warning in our text. Verse 25, see to it that you do not refuse him who speaks, because if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

So today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. If you don't enter the kingdom of God, it will be all your fault.

It will be because you refused his word of invitation and command, saying, repent and believe. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, and I will give you my kingdom.

And you will never get done receiving. Just come. Don't reject this word. Those that rejected him when he spoke on Mount Sinai didn't get away with it, and neither will you, the writer is saying.

He's still the same consuming fire. Rather, do as the thief, who when he was dying there beside the Lord Jesus on his cross said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

There's the cry for mercy, and nothing to offer, no righteousness, a life of crime. We're getting what we deserve, but Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

He has come into his kingdom, sinner. He is upon the throne. He is mighty to save. He is able to save all who come unto God through him because he always lives to intercede for them.

So go to him. go to him and receive his gracious salvation and receive this wonderful kingdom that cannot be shaken.

What good news as we see the kingdoms of this world crumbling. May the Lord help us to be thankful. May help us to worship him today and every day.

with reverence and awe. And if you're not in the kingdom, may you get in today. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, you reign over all. Your kingdom is established in heaven and nothing can upset it.

And we are so thankful for sending the Lord Jesus to rescue us from this dark and miserable kingdom of Satan and to bring us into the kingdom of the Son you love where there is righteousness and forgiveness and security and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for all the things that we learned about our Savior. A great prophet to teach us, a great priest to die for us and plead for us, and a great king to rule over us and defend us.

now make us thankful and make us to worship you acceptably until that day we look upon you face to face and worship you with unsinning heart and unsinning lip.

Receive our worship today as we bring it through the Savior. Accept it for his sake. Thank you for the blood of cleansing. Thank you that this gospel of the kingdom is offered to one and all this day.

Bring many into the kingdom. we ask for the eternal praise of our King Jesus and in his name. Amen.