This is your daily reminder. God has not run
out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome
to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome back, February
the 25th. We are in Hebrews chapter 12 today
in our reading plan as a church body and here
on the podcast. I want to give you a little...
insight into what has happened. This is going
to be a great episode. I am very excited about
what Hebrews chapter 12 is going to teach us
today. The reason I know it's going to be great
is because I've already done this once before.
I tried my best to record, so I do this a little
bit in advance, right? A couple of days in advance,
I will try to prepare and plan and record, and
then hopefully I can schedule it on the days
that the reading plan follows. Well, I recorded
this one a couple of days ago, and honestly,
as I was listening to it again and I was reading
it again and flowing through it again, it just
didn't hit right. So I thought, I'm going to
redo it. So I scrapped it, deleted it, and now
I'm redoing it. So Hebrews chapter 12 with fresh
eyes today. I hope and pray you read the entire
chapter. I want to read a few verses just so
that you know the book of Hebrews, great book
in the Bible, the author we do not know. It does
not explicitly say who wrote the book of Hebrews.
We do know it was a believer in the first century
trying to help the Jewish people or the Hebrew
people understand Jesus is better. He's the better
way. The Old Testament sacrifices, Jesus is better.
The Old Testament blood, Jesus is better. The
Old Testament priest, Jesus is better. The Old
Testament prophets, Jesus is better. It's a great,
great book of the Bible. In chapter 12, it falls
into these last couple of chapters of the book
of Hebrews. If you know much about it, maybe
you've been a big fan of Hebrews chapter 11.
It is the hall of faith, as is called quite a
bit, story after story of Old Testament believers
and their faith and what actually saved them,
right? It was their faith. It was not their works.
It was their faith. And we read of the stories
of all those faith moments. Then chapter 12 begins,
and it begins with, since we're surrounded by
this incredible cloud of witnesses, those who
have gone before us that put their faith in the
Messiah, that through their acts of faith were
reconciled to God. Those great heroes of the
faith, we are surrounded. They're cheering us
on. It's like we're in a stadium and they're
cheering us on and saying, hey, don't let anything
slow you down. Just keep going, keep going, keep
going. As I look in Hebrews chapter 12 today,
I want to focus in on the last part of the chapter.
Because I want to make sure there's some clarity.
But also, this week we're really focusing and
anchoring everything into Haggai chapter 2. Well,
Haggai 2 is quoted in Hebrews 12. Kind of an
important thing to know. Now, as I said before,
sometimes the Bible is really difficult to read
and understand because the Old Testament prophets
may have been speaking of something that... That
would happen very quickly in their day. Also
something that could happen far away. I know
that tomorrow's reading, we're going to be in
Isaiah chapter 40, which again has some prophetic
undertones. There's some things that happen right
away. There's some things that happen much later.
Some things that Jesus would come the first time.
Jesus would come the second time. A lot of pieces
that it's hard to understand because the timeline
doesn't exactly line up as it is written. There's
pieces that are future, pieces that are past.
pieces that are present, all of those elements.
So I want to encourage you today in Hebrews chapter
12, I'm not asking you to go and dig up every
single timeline moment and when this has happened
and when this is going to and when it has, all
those things. What I want us to understand today
is that God speaks, He reveals to us, Himself
gives us new mercies every day. So I want to
look at a mercy that I believe He's given me
today, and I'm thankful for it. It's found...
In the last half, again, of Hebrews chapter 12,
verses 18 and following. Now, from verses 18
to 21, what you'll see is it's referring to the
Old Testament, specifically in the book of Exodus.
Over in chapter 19 of the book of Exodus, you'll
see a moment where God is speaking to the people,
talking about the mountain is a holy place because
God's presence is dwelling on the mountain. And
he says in there, if anybody, if an animal, That
is not a threat that is haphazard. That's saying
God's holiness doesn't need to be messed with.
We are not a holy people on our own. We only
are holy because God would make us holy through
the blood of his son. As you read that passage
of Scripture today, I hope and pray you read
all of Hebrews 12. Great chapter. Again, read
the whole thing in context. I want to help explain
this little piece right here from verses 18 down
through the end. It talks about, in these first
couple verses, the moment in the time when Moses,
and he's getting the law, and he's getting the
understanding and God's speaking, explaining
what holiness really is. And so he does that
from verses 18 down through verse 21. And then
he continues on. He changes. There's a little
bit of a tone shift that we see from verses 21
into 22. So I want to read some of these verses
today. I want to explain a little bit of that
before I read it. Now I'm going to read a little
chunk of Scripture. Bear with me. Here we go.
Beginning at verse 18 of Hebrews 12. For you
have not come to what may be touched. A blazing
fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and
the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words
made the hearers beg that no further messages
spoken to them. For they could not endure the
order that was given. Even if a beast touches
the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so
terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble
in fear. So those are verses 18, 19, and 20 and
21. And in those texts, it's saying there was
a moment where even the people hearing what God
was saying, the law that was given, the requirement
for holiness is not reachable on our end. We
can't get there on our own. Even the people hearing
it were shouting, please, no more. We can't take
anymore. We're so far away from this holiness.
We can't get there. That's what he means. That's
what's being said. If we were to understand what
true holiness is and realize how far away we
are. I think we would have a better perspective
as to how much we need to lean into the Lord,
right? That's what we need to be doing. So that's
happened. Then he says in verse 22, the tone
shifts. Listen to what he says. He says in verse
22. But you have come to Mount Zion and the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 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,
and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood. that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel. Here's what he's
saying. It's to us now. We have come to this
new place, and it's unlike any city on earth.
This is the Zion. This is the city of God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and we're made perfect. How?
By the blood of Jesus. That's how we're made
holy. By Jesus' blood, a better blood than Abel
even shed. It's the best blood that is ever out
there for us. It's the only blood that makes
us holy. And now we are called to that. So what
happens next in the following verses is really
where I want to camp out today for this new mercy.
Listen to what it says in verses... 25 and following,
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.
This is a understanding of scripture that gives
us a picture of authority, right? You won't listen
to a little child very much, right? If a little
child comes up and gives you advice, you're not
going to say, oh, I should take this advice.
because they're a little child. Now, if you have
a parent and that parent shares with you something
to do, you're going to listen a little bit more
to that parent because they have authority. Think
about the different positions in the world. A
police officer. They have authority, right? We're
going to listen to them when they say, hey, pull
the car over. When they say, show me your license.
You're not going to argue and complain and fight
because they have authority. You're going to
listen to them and obey them more than you would
just some random person that says, hey, show
me your driver's license, right? If a kid says,
hey, show me your driver's license, you don't
feel inclined to do that. But if a police officer
says it, you listen a little bit differently,
a little bit more intently. Imagine a king. If
a king or a president or someone... political
power was to tell you something, you're going
to listen a little bit closer. This goes far
beyond all of that. This is God Almighty who
is speaking from heaven. We need to listen to
him. If while we were on earth in Mount Sinai,
in the area where Exodus 19 took place, if you
were killed for touching the mountain, how much
more afraid should we be of the voice of God
himself, the voice that is speaking to us? We
need to pay attention. Now he goes on and he
says this. 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 remain. 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, for
our God is a consuming fire. As I look through
the Scripture, here's what I know. There are
times God shakes things. There are times He brings
earthquakes. I looked through the Scripture,
and I saw that when the law was given way back
in Exodus 19, there was an earthquake. When Jesus
was crucified, there was an earthquake, Matthew
27. When Jesus rose from the dead, there was
an earthquake. He's going to shake it again.
He's going to shake the world, also the heavens.
And the only thing that will remain is what is
unshakable. finally stand, and it's the things
that are eternal. We're going to hear some more
about that in our reading tomorrow in Isaiah,
but I want to make sure that we understand today,
it's not going to be your church attendance that
stands. It's not going to be your church vocabulary
that stands. It's not going to be your better
language that stands. It's not going to be your
works that stand. It's going to be his works
through you. It's going to be his word that's
going to stand. His word is going to prevail.
The things that won't be shaken are eternal things.
Now, I like to make sure we understand. I'm not
saying that your baptism date is not going to,
it doesn't matter. It does matter. It matters
because that is a symbol of an eternal thing.
But that's not going to, just because you got
baptized, just because you went underwater or
got sprinkled or whatever, it's not going to,
that doesn't get you into glory, right? It's
the process of putting your trust and your faith
in Jesus and what he did on the cross. His blood
is better than any other blood. His is the best
blood. It's the only thing that makes us holy.
We have to be holy in order to be in his presence.
The way we're holy is by being found under the
blood of Jesus. As I read through Hebrews, as
I read through our text today, I can't help but
think when he shakes everything, if he were to
shake your life right now, and everything that
doesn't look like him, doesn't sound like him,
doesn't point to him, doesn't give him glory,
if anything in your life is shaken and actually
crumbles, what is left? What is left in your
life after he shakes everything? My encouragement
to you is to do a self -assessment. Find out,
God, if you were to shake my entire life today,
what remains? If you were to remove everything
that doesn't connect to you, what is still standing?
And my encouragement is, if you can point to
things that don't stand, then go ahead and remove
those things. Get rid of them. Leave only the
things that honor him and glorify him in all
he does. You know, this text seems a little bit
intense. It seems a little bit heavy that God's
holiness is so powerful and so scary and so frightening.
But, you know, we sometimes will look at grace
and we'll say, well, we get grace for that. We
get grace for that. We get grace for this area
of my life that I really like to spoil myself
here. I really like to emphasize this to my kids
over church or over the body of Christ or over
Scripture reading or whatever it may be. I enjoy
doing this over praising and worshiping Him.
You realize, as it says in Hebrews, that we are
to let us offer to Him acceptable worship. Now,
I would love to dive through the Scripture today
and tell you what acceptable worship is, but
that's for another day. episode. But I want to
encourage you today, find out what's acceptable
worship to God and give him that. Don't give
him unacceptable worship. Unacceptable worship
is stuff that you can produce. If you are honest
with yourself today, how are you worshiping God?
How are you leading your family to worship God?
How are you going into this relationship with
him? How are you walking with him? How is he
walking with you? If he shakes your life today,
what remains? My encouragement is go ahead and
get rid of the things that won't.