Hebrews 12:25-29 - Homiletics

The final appeal.

The body of the Epistle seems to conclude with these verses, Hebrews 13:1-25 . being of the nature of a postscript. The solemn warning which they utter breaks forth abruptly. It drops like a thunderbolt out of the sunny sky of Zion.

I. OUR NEW TESTAMENT PRIVILEGES .

1. God speaks to us from heaven. ( Hebrews 13:25 ) At Sinai, and while the Jewish dispensation lasted, God spoke as it were "on earth," by an earthly mediator, Moses; and largely by means of material forms, which were only "copies" ( Hebrews 9:23 ) of the great spiritual realities. But now God speaks "from heaven,"—from his home at the heart of the universe, and therefore from the heart of truth; and by his Son, the Divine Mediator, who is "in the bosom of the Father." The whole Epistle is clasped together with the emphatic declaration—in its opening sentence ( Hebrews 1:2 ), and here at its close—that the Lord Jesus is the Prophet of the new covenant.

2. God has removed the things that were shaken. (Verses 26, 27) It was only "the earth" that shook at Sinai. And that convulsion speedily subsided. Indeed, the Jews became lulled into the delusion that the Levitical institutions would never be overthrown. But Haggai predicted ( Haggai 2:6 , Haggai 2:7 ) that the shaking which was to accompany the introduction of Christianity would affect "the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and all nations." It would do greatly more than produce alteration in the outer form and state of the Church. It would grasp its very heart and life—flooding it with the noonday light of spiritual truth, and with the abundant grace of the Holy Ghost. The movables of Judaism, which had been "made" at Sinai—the tabernacle, the priesthood, the ritual, the sacrifices, the festivals, etc.—were "shaken" and "removed" when the Church "came" to Zion. Judaism was only a scaffolding, set up temporarily with a view to the erection of the permanent structure of Christianity. Its ceremonial was the mere husk of religion; and when the husk rotted and perished, the kernel still lived and became fruitful.

3. God has given us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. (Verse 28) Believers in Christ" receive" the kingdom of Heaven; they are not only subjects in it, but kings. And this kingdom is the finished work of God—the Divine masterpiece. Everything connected with it is stable. Nothing that is loose or perishable can adhere to it. It is built upon those great facts and truths, which the convulsions that overturned the Levitical system could not disturb. The "things which are not shaken remain;" e.g. the character of God, the moral nature and responsibility of man, the dark fact of human guilt, the doctrine of acceptance by sacrifice. Christianity has solved the problem of sin, in relation to the life of man; and therefore it "cannot be shaken." Throughout all time the way of salvation, the encouragements to believe, the rule of duty, the principles of the Christian life, the fruits of holiness ( 1 Corinthians 13:8 , 1 Corinthians 13:13 ), will be the same. And what a joy to live, as we do, among these abiding realities! The kingdoms of the world pass away; but Christ's kingdom "shall stand forever" ( Daniel 2:37-45 ). Systems of philosophy cease to be; but the truth as it is in Jesus endures. Denominations disappear; but the Church continues. Political establishments of religion are shaken; but national religion remains. Creeds decay and wax old; but the Bible possesses an indestructible vitality. The heavens anti the earth shall pass away; but the kingdom of the saints cannot be moved.

II. THE RESPONSIBILITIES WHICH THESE PRIVILEGES INVOLVE . We must:

1. Obey the voice of God. (Verse 25) That voice speaks to us in the Scriptures, and in the pleadings of the Holy Spirit within our souls. But in our time earth is "so full of dreary noises" that our weak hearts are sorely tempted not to listen to the words of God. There is the voice of the philosophic thinker, of the political leader, of the social reformer, of the scientific teacher, of the newspaper editor, of the popular novelist. But none of these voices are prophetic. The man who can speak with authority regarding some department of physical science is not on that account entitled to deference when he discourses about God and the future life. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, the Loges, by whom God now speaks from heaven, can instruct us concerning the spiritual universe and the way of salvation.

2. Cherish gratitude for the kingdom. (Verse 28) "Let us have grace," i.e. gratitude. To cultivate the spirit of thankfulness is the very essence and sum of Christian duty. When God in his mercy invests us with the kingdom, what can we say, but just "Many thanks"? "I will take the cup of salvation;" "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable Gift."

3. Devote our lives to the service of God. (Verse 28) For, while the saint is a king, he is at the same time a servant; indeed, he is a servant because he is a king. The service is involved in the kingdom. The entire life of the Christian is to be that career of devout consecration which is the natural outcome of the grace of gratitude. And, while thankfulness is the secret motive of the service, its befitting spirit is "reverence and awe." The believer's manner and tone are not to be flippant or frivolous; but grave, chastened, solemn.

III. WARNINGS BY WHICH THESE RESPONSIBILITIES ARE ENFORCED . This passage is an earnest admonition. It opens with an arresting "Beware" (verse 25); and it sounds three notes of warning.

1. From Hebrew history. (Verse 25) When God spoke by Moses and the prophets, "his people would not hearken to his voice;" and thus they were constantly drawing down punishment upon themselves. If, then, they escaped not who spurned the less adequate revelation made by the heaven-descended God, how may we hope to escape, if we turn away from the full-orbed revelation made by the heaven-ascended Son of God?

2. From Hebrew prophecy. (Vols. 26, 27) God has no other "Yet once more" to promise to the world. That was to be the last "shaking" of the Church which should accompany the introduction of the gospel. "It is the

last hour" ( 1 John 2:18 ). The final overthrow of types and forms is proceeding. God has done all for us that he can do. He has given us the "eternal gospel." To reject it were to attach ourselves only to the passing and perishing.

3. From Hebrew theology. (Verse 29) The words of this verse fitly close the prolonged strain of exhortation. They are borrowed from Deuteronomy 4:24 ; and the apostle, in citing that passage here, reminds us that the Divine character is not one of" those things that are shaken." If the God who spoke at Sinai was just and severe, the God who dwells in Zion is not less so. For the very reason that God is gentleness and love and mercy, he must be "a consuming fire" to all who are essentially alien to him. Sometimes, when this warning word is quoted, it is softened after this fashion: " Out of Christ God is a consuming fire." But such a gloss is unwarrantable. For God is never out of Christ. Christ is the manifested God. It is not so that God the Father is all justice and severity, and God the Son all tenderness and grace. Christ the Redeemer is "a consuming fire." The most dreadful declarations about the doom of the impenitent which the Bible contains were made by him.