God is Speaking

Boudreaux’s first assignment was to a military induction center, and because he was a good talker they assigned him the duty of advising new recruits about government benefits, especially the GI Insurance to which they were entitled.

Before long, the captain in charge of the induction center begin noticing that Boudreaux was getting a 99% sign up rate for the more expensive supplemental form of GI Insurance. This was odd, because it would cost these low income recruits $30.00 per month more for the higher coverage, compared to what the government was already providing at no charge.

The Captain decided that he would not ask Boudreaux directly about his selling techniques, but instead he would sit in the back of the room at the next briefing and observe Boudreaux’s sales pitch.

Boudreaux stood up before the latest group of inductees and said, “If you has da normal GI insurans an’ you goes to Iraq an’ gets youself killed, da governmen’ pays you beneficiary $20,000. If you takes out da supplemental insurans, which cost you only t’irty dollars a mons, den da governmen’ gots ta pay you beneficiary $200,000!”

“NOW,” Boudreaux concluded, “which bunch you tink dey gonna send ta Iraq first?”

The world like’s great talkers! God loves great listeners!

11 year old Grace Bedell’s letter to Abraham Lincoln/ Abe’s reply

(Highlights February 2006 article)

Nevertheless her letter, written in October 1860, kept making Abraham Lincoln think. On November 7^th, 1860, he was elected President of the United States. On his way to Washington, D.C., his train swung by her home town of Westfield, New York. Nothing could stop little Grace from going to the station to see if she could get a glimpse of President Lincoln. She got more than she bargained for, though! When Lincoln got off the train, he asked if his friend Grace Bedell would come up to him. The crowd parted, and as Grace approached the President, a fully bearded Mr. Lincoln gave her a kiss!

What a great image of a great man- also a great listener!

The author wrote to proclaim the greatness of our Savior and the greatness of our salvation, and to warn us not to give up during our great struggle

There are also at least 5 warnings in the book of Hebrews:

2:1ff The Danger of drifting away from our salvation commitment

3:7ff The Danger of hardening our hearts through unbelief

5:11ff The Danger of not growing in Christ; being content with immaturity

10:26 The Danger of willfully sinning when we know better

Today’s text has the last major warning in the book:

The danger of refusing to listen to God

Exposition

V. 25 a God is speaking- Are we listening?

So many distractions…Radio, TV, Computer, Loud Places

V. 25 b Turning from grace is worse than turning from law

Not listening to law was bad; not listening to grace is inexcusable!

This refers us back to verses 18-25

The Christian has not come to Mount Law, but to Mount Grace-

Not Mount “I can,” but to Mount “Christ did”

Those who broke God’s law constantly faced the ramifications of their disobedience

I think the author was beside himself as he wrote this:

“Brothers and sisters in Christ: we used to have follow hundreds of Old Testament laws. We had to remember what foods we could and couldn’t eat, what we could and couldn’t do on the Sabbath, what made us clean or unclean, when we could and couldn’t come to the Temple, what offerings we had to bring, which offenses were worthy of death. And even though it was all supposed to be in the context of loving God and loving each other, we never really got it until Messiah came!”

“Now that Jesus has come we understand that He has done what we couldn’t do, and all we have to do now is draw near to Him, hold fast to our faith in Him, and stir one another up to build His Kingdom together!”

“Brothers and sisters, there is no escaping our judgment if we can’t accept this Jesus, this grace, this simple plan of salvation.”

“If we refuse Him, if we turn away from Him, the only option left is sin, death, and Hell.”

V. 26-27 Whole Lot of Shakin’ goin’ on!

When Moses and the people were gathered around Mount Sinai the mountain shook at the voice of God- and the people were terrified!

Verse 26 tells us that the next time God shakes it won’t just be the earth but also heaven

The Bible speaks of three things as “heaven:”

First there is what we call the sky

Second there is what we call the universe

Third is the place where God and angels and believers dwell

That’s what Paul meant when he spoke of being caught up to the third heaven, probably hovering between life and death after one of the beatings he received

Here’s he’s talking about what we call the universe

Now it’s amazing how many times you turn on the television and see scientists talking about how it’s inevitable that eventually our sun will burn up, the world’s going to get hit by some chunk of space debris, or how the ozone won’t last the way we’re going

I don’t know how it will happen, or when it will happen, but I know that the Bible said those types of things were going to happen long before our computer models and satellite systems started making us worry

“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” -Revelation 6:12-14

Now there’s good news for Christians- those things will happen after the church has been raptured off of the earth

More good news is that the Bible says God will create a new Heavens and New Earth a while after that- both free from the effects of sin- that’s what I call an extreme makeover!

More good news is that the same Bible that says the things of this universe won’t withstand shaking tells us that there is something that cannot be shaken

V. 28-29 The Kingdom of God cannot be shaken or burned

What’s in Heaven is secure there!

If you have received Jesus and become a born again Christian, you are going to go to Heaven when you die

All of the stuff we take so seriously down here will be shaken and burned up

You never see a u-haul behind a hearse, do you?

Now an easy application is that since people are the only thing from earth that will be in Heaven, the investment we make in the lives of other people to influence them for Jesus is of utmost importance

You make an eternal difference every time you share the gospel- everything else is temporary

Now this is all about perspective

Some legalistic preachers will use these verses to speak against all kinds of things:

Enjoying your career Making money

Reading a book Taking a vacation

Enjoying fine arts Watching television

Going out to dinner and a movie Going to a sporting event

Being in a bowling league Having a hobby

Flying a kite

“HOW CAN YOU FLY A KITE WHEN THE WORLD’S GOING TO BE SHAKEN AND PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HELL!!!”

Let me just tell you where I’m at in my walk with Christ and as a shepherd of souls-

I am weary of uptight Christians who never seem to enjoy life now bludgeoning others with verses every time they seem to be enjoying life

These are great verses here-

The words of wise Solomon are also great:

“I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor- it is the gift of God.”

-Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

And here’s Paul:

“Therefore if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations- “do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using- according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” -Colossians 2:20-23

And so we have a challenge: to let heavenly priorities guide our earthly living while avoiding the extremes of legalism and hedonism

“Blessed are the balanced.” Warren Wiersbe

Application

1. Don’t take your stuff too seriously

A lot of times the things we think we own really own us- and the time we spend maintaining them keep us from Kingdom endeavors

The fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. -I Corinthians 2:13b-15

2. Prioritize your life around what really matters

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33

Life is short- make as big a dent on the lost-ness around you as possible!

3. Listen when God speaks

Get away from the distractions and spend time with Jesus

Have the spirit of a learner- like Abraham Lincoln!

4. Give One-Seventh of your time to rejuvenation

God ordained a day of rest every seven

Too many people in the church are running on empty

You are the most valuable resource you have- take care of yourself

Take a vacation this year, go fishing a lot, read a good book, take your Pastor to a Redskins game

5. Have grace

Look again at verse 28

When you think about how much you blow it, receive grace from the Lord!

It never runs out!

Part of having grace is giving grace also- cut others some slack- stop being so judgmental

The saddest thing I experience as a Pastor is when one group of people in the church judges another- those young people don’t come as much as us, they don’t give as much as us, they don’t serve as much as us

Cut ‘em some slack! By the way, you are wrong about it anyway- Across the board we have the servingingist, givingist people around!

Have grace!

6. Serve God with reverence and godly fear

This verse 28 is remarkable, because it teaches something that is gotten wrong all the time in our churches:

Grace is not inconsistent with reverence and godly fear

What does it mean to fear God?

I believe it boils down to this: those who fear God respect the limits he has imposed on us for our own good

“If our souls were properly ordered, we would love our limits, not despise them.” Ken Meyers

Let’s Pray!