Hebrews 12:18-29 English Standard Version
A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly[a] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 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. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 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 may remain. 28 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, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
This verse introduces us to the Christian goals of being grateful and worshiping God acceptably and reverently.
But how exactly can we show that such aims have become a reality in our lives?
The answer is provided in part in the following chapter: we are to love one another, show hospitality to strangers, remember those who are in prison, and maintain sexual purity within marriage (Hebrews 13:1-4).
These attitudes of gratitude and worship are founded upon and a response to all of the previous twelve chapters in the book of Hebrews. The writer has made it clear that he is writing to those who have already come to hold firmly to Christ.
In other words, they have acknowledged their sin, they have embraced Christ as their Savior, and they have been included in the family of faith. They have been given a place in “a kingdom that cannot be shaken”—a perfect, eternal realm that will inevitably encompass the whole renewed world when its King returns.
So worship does not precede kingdom membership; it reveals it. It is because we are members of that kingdom that we live lives of gratitude and worship.
God’s commands are not a list of regulations that allow individuals to make themselves acceptable to God and to one another. Our lifestyle is an evidence of our life. These godly behaviors do not create the life. They simply reveal it.
God will never exhort you to do something without providing you with the resources to be able to fulfill it.
When He says He wants you to love others, care for the stranger, and remember the prisoner, He also provides the grace that enables you to do it. You are called to genuinely care for people because He, the Lord Jesus, looked on people and saw them as sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34).
You are called to a life of purity because you were bought with “the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19).
What, then, are your actions saying to your friends, to your neighbors, to your family, and to your entire sphere of influence—no matter how big or small?
Be known for your “God is always going to be first.”
Be known for your steadfast belief in living according to Biblical Principles.
Be known for your gratitude.
Be known for your worship.
But do not finish reading this and simply determine to be more grateful, more worshipful, and more obedient. Finish it rejoicing that you have been given “a kingdom that cannot be shaken,” ruled by a King who “cannot be defeated.”
It is as you look at Him, and not at yourself, that you will find yourself filling with sheer gratitude and desiring to worship Him throughout all of your life.
We are receiving the triumphant and glorious victory of God in his Kingdom.
We will join with the angels and the saints of old and live with the Father forever in victorious and never ending joy.
But this Kingdom doesn’t just begin when Jesus returns.
This Kingdom has started now in his Church, his people, those in whom God’s will is cherished and obeyed. So our worship should be filled with awe that the holy God of Israel is also the lowly God in Jesus who has redeemed us and made us to be a holy people unto himself.
What else can we do but reverently worship with heartfelt thanksgiving, wonder struck awe.
Verse 28 of Hebrews 12 is the culmination of a process, which starts in Psalm 110, in that King Jesus must sit by His Father, the Ancient of Days.
Verse 27 gives us the lead into verse 28:
Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain KJV.
This speaks to the process we go through to see ourselves in the “receiving” of that Kingdom in v28.
For us to receive the Kingdom Jesus needs to receive it first, for which Daniel 7 shows us very clearly.
God gave Him Dominion, power and a Kingdom.
Jesus in Psalm 110, revealed by Peter in Acts 2, is at the Right Hand of the Ancient of Days to see the completion of the restoration of all things, in the earth and in the heavens.
This establishes the program of God.
For that to happen there has been removal by shaking.
I believe we are in a season of preparation, and v28 of Hebrews 12 tells us.
There comes a time when we are preparing to be in place to receive the fullness of the Kingdom. Where we see King Jesus rule in our lives bringing harmony, bringing a resolution to issues which we have long left dormant in our being.
What He needs to reveal are the building blocks of our calling. We are much more than working, eating and sleeping, and the weekend social times, even church meetings. Even things which can be so mechanical. We could have been regularly teaching and preaching, now we are finding time to reflect and write.
What I see is we are being prepared for greater trials before us, and persecution. I see a great harvest ahead too. However the world, and many of those who live in sin and wickedness will transform into the image of that wickedness. What God does when He removes from us, is strengthen that which remains. What remains is Kingdom! This Kingdom is ruled in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!
What God is building in us, which cannot be shaken are the pillars of truth and faith which will bring in the last harvest, come with Jesus to judge the earth.
For so long believers have been the tail and not the head.
This is the preparation time, and this part is coming to an end.
John 14:1-7 English Standard Version
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;[a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
A new Way is ahead. …
A new season is ahead. …
A new live is ahead. …
A new Truth is before us. …
A new Lifestyle is before us. …
In the name of God, the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 110 English Standard Version
Sit at My Right Hand
A Psalm of David.
110 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,[a]
in holy garments;[b]
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.[c]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs[d]
over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 