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Mike McInnis

God is a Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12
Mike McInnis June, 16 2024 Audio
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Hebrews Series

The sermon "God is a Consuming Fire" by Mike McInnis addresses the sovereignty of God and the weight of His holiness as described in Hebrews 12. The preacher emphasizes that God is not simply intervening in human affairs but orchestrating all circumstances according to His divine will. He contrasts the Old Covenant, exemplified by Mount Sinai, with the New Covenant established through Christ, who is the definitive prophet and mediator. Specifically, McInnis cites Hebrews 12:28-29, asserting that believers have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, highlighting the assurance believers have in Christ amidst life's uncertainties. The doctrinal significance lies in the call to recognize God's consuming holiness and to approach Him with reverence, understanding that salvation is grounded not in human efforts but in God's gracious choice in Christ.

Key Quotes

“God never intervenes. God designs the circumstances.”

“We've been brought not, the gospel does not bring men to the law. The law brings men to the gospel.”

“If you don't learn those two things, you will perish. If you have any notion that you have any self-worth before Almighty God, then you shall perish.”

“For our God is a consuming fire.”

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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I'm truly blessed today in the words that Brother Al shared
with us. It is oft times when we're beset
by the troubles that surround all of the men of this world
that we forget sometimes who it is that controls circumstances. We often speak about circumstances. And you know, sometimes men say,
well, God intervened in this circumstance or that. God never
intervenes. God designs the circumstances. And so it is not, God is not
looking at some big control board up in heaven seeing what's happening
over here and what's happening over there and adjusting this
and doing that to bring things to pass. But he is that wise
master builder who controls all things. And he brings all things
to pass according to the good pleasure of his will. He is a
sovereign God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And he
has given us the privilege today to be in this place. to hear
his word, to praise his name, a privilege not enjoyed by all
men. And we must never take for granted
the great blessing that we have in seeing Christ as who he is,
not some weak-kneed savior who pleads and hopes that
somebody will listen to him. But he's one who came as the
angel came to Joseph and said not to be afraid to take Mary
unto him for a wife. He said she's going to bring
forth a son. He said thou shall call his name
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. And none shall
perish for whom Christ has shed his precious blood. Oh what a
glorious Savior he is. We've been looking here in Hebrews
chapter 12, and we're looking in the whole book, but we're
now in chapter 12. And as I said last week, this book
cannot be taken one verse at the time, it must be taken in
the context in which it's given, the whole book. And of course
the whole book begins with the substance of what the book is
about. God, who at sundry times in divers
manners, in times past, spake unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. Now that is the message of the
book of Hebrews. It is wrapped up in it. And Paul
does not deviate from that theme throughout this book. He's, of
course, writing specifically to the Jews which were scattered.
Peter speaks of them. Peter writes to them, those who
were scattered throughout the regions. Because when Jerusalem
was besieged, and of course before that, when Christians began to
be called out from among the nation of Israel, they were persecuted
and driven out. They lost their property rights,
and so they were scattered Everywhere the Lord told them that it would
be such he said go ye therefore and teach all nations And of
course, that's what they did Not necessarily by choice, but
they did that just like Jonah. He went to Nineveh The Lord told
him he was going to Nineveh and he said no, I'm not going to
Nineveh But he went to Nineveh because the Lord said he was
going to Nineveh. He didn't go by the means he
planned to go. He went and bought a ticket.
He thought he was going the opposite way on a ship, but the Lord had
already reserved his passage to Nineveh in the belly of a
fish that he'd prepared. And the Lord doesn't prepare
something and then not be able to use it. He prepared a fish
specifically to swallow Jonah. And so it was necessary that
Jonah be at the right place at the right time when the fish
would swallow him. And of course, men often overlook
the fact that the only thing that saved Jonah's life was the
fact that the fish swallowed him because he would have drowned. in that water had it not been
that the Lord had prepared the fish for that very reason. And so the Lord's will will be
done. He's going to accomplish His
purpose in the heavens and in the earth. And that's a glorious
thing. That's a time for rejoicing for
the people of God. We need not fear, dear brethren,
what men shall do to us or what shall happen to us, because God
is on the throne. And He's the King of kings, the
Lord of lords. And He has spoken unto us in
these last days by His Son. Now you often hear these supposed
prophets running around writing books and telling people, Well,
maybe the last days are coming. Well, dear brethren, the last
days have been here since the time of Christ. This is the last
time. There's not coming another. This
is it. And so, in these last days, this
is the time. This is the day of salvation.
There's not coming another one. This is it. In this time, the
Lord has spoken unto us by His Son, Jesus Christ. And so it
would do us well that we pay heed to what He has said. And not just have what He said
in word, but what He has said in the demonstration of the redemption
that He wrought for us on Calvary's cross. I'm going to begin reading
here in verse 18. Now, we read some of this last
week, and of course we've read the whole chapter, but we'll
begin there. For ye are not come unto the
mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor
unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of
a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated
that the word should not be spoken to them any more. For they could
not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. But year come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect. and to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh, for if they escaped not who refused him that spake
on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from
him that speaketh from heaven. whose voice then shook the earth.
But now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more,
signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of
those things that are made. that those things which cannot
be shaken may remain. Therefore, we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is
a consuming fire. Now, as we look at this and keeping
in mind what the whole theme of this book is about, and he's
making a contrast here and he's showing how much greater are
the words that Christ has spoken and the message that Christ has
brought as he has sent the gospel into the world to be declared
unto those whom he would call out Now the gospel is sent to
the whole world, but the purpose of the sending of the gospel
into the world is to call the people of God unto himself. To bring life and immortality
to light. through the gospel. Now the gospel
doesn't give man life. The Spirit of God alone can awaken
a man. The Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
And so it is that unless a man is given life, as Paul speaks
about it, he said to the Ephesians, you hath he quickened, that is,
you hath he made alive, which were dead in trespasses and sins. That's the only way that a man
will ever come to a place where he believes those things that
Christ has spoken is if the Lord gives him an eye to see it. Because
dead men can't see. Dead men can't call on the Lord.
Dead men will not do that. We think of Lazarus as he lay
in the tomb. Lazarus had no power whatsoever. He was dead. He'd been dead for
four days. They said, don't open that tomb
because he has been there long enough, he's starting to stink. The Lord said, roll it away.
And then he spoke these words. How did Lazarus hear? He was
dead. Can dead men hear? No, dead men
couldn't hear. What did he say? He said, Lazarus,
come forth. Now he made Lazarus alive, did
he not? Because Lazarus couldn't have
hurt him if he didn't make him live. And that's the same way
that the Lord calls sinners unto himself. They're going their
way. They don't care anything about
what I'm saying. It's just stuff. They might go to church and they
might do all sorts of things. They might be preachers, they
might be deacons, they might be all sorts of things, because
men can go through the motions of religion quite easily. All
of us were born with a religious nature. We're not all born with
the same religious nature, but we all have some religious nature
to us. But that's not what I'm talking
about. Because what happened to Lazarus must happen. If a man is going to come to
a place of faith in Jesus Christ, he must be made alive. And only the Spirit of God can
do that. I can't do it. But when the Spirit
of God has made men alive, then the gospel brings life and immortality
to light. See, the gospel is sent to inform
us what Christ did. It doesn't make us believe, but
as we have been given life and we hear, maybe for the first
time, that Jesus Christ died for sinners, that's good news.
That's not good news to everybody. Everybody doesn't wanna hear
that, but a sinner that knows himself to be a sinner, he says,
man, that's good news. Thank God Jesus Christ died for
sinners, and as such I am. Oh, that the Lord might deliver
me. And so, he says here, you're
not come to a mountain that might be touched. Now, what is the
mountain that might be touched? That was Mount Sinai. You could
walk up to it and you could put your hand on it. I mean, it was
dirt, it was there, they could see it. He said, you're not come
to any mountain that you can see. What did he say here in the 11th
chapter? He said, faith is the substance
of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. And we've
not come to a mount that can be touched. Now the Hebrews,
these who's writing to, they came to a mountain that might
be touched. when they went around Sinai and Moses was taken up
into Sinai and the clouds and the fire, you know, surrounded
that. Even so much as it says, Moses
exceedingly quaked. He was afraid. So terrible was
the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. That was the
mountain that could be touched. That was where the law was given.
We've not come to that. Because dear brethren, there's
no life in that. See a man, the law won't do a
man a bit of good. If it would, wouldn't be anybody
in jail. Doesn't the law say thou shalt
not steal? Does that stop men from stealing? No, of course it doesn't, why?
Because the law's weak. through the flesh. See, what
the law does is it shows men what they are by nature. That's
the only thing the law can do is condemn a man when he knows
it right. Now a lot of people, they look
at the law and say, yeah, you know, I love the Ten Commandments.
I love them so much I even got them wrote on a sign out in my
front yard and I'll go by it and I'll say, yeah, you know,
I'm doing pretty good. But them old folks down the road, you
know, they don't do it. But buddy, we do. But we love
the Ten Commandments. Now brother, we're not against
the law of God. The law of God is the law of
God. It'll never change. And it's a whole lot more than
the Ten Commandments. But you know, some people think
that that is the law of God. I mean, that's the sum total
of it. The Lord Jesus He summed it up
in two things. He said, thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy
mind, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. In this,
he said, all of the law is given. Now when you look at that, how
many people keep the law of God? I mean, do you look at it and
say, well, man, I've done that. Because you see, there's no such
thing, the law does not allow partial obedience. Men do. Well, he's doing the
best he can. You know, Lord, I've always tried
to do right. I've shared with you many times,
my old neighbor, he was an old man, older than I am now, if
that's possible. But he was, He didn't have a
lot of years left in his life. And I asked him one time, I said,
Mr. Dalbo, what is your hope for entering into the presence
of God? And he said, well, I've always
tried to do what was right. I told him that ain't good enough. Because in the first place, that's
a bold faced lie. I mean, any man that would go
before God and say, Lord, I've always tried to do right, is
a liar. He's spitting in the face of
God. And no man is going to say that. No man's gonna say anything
when they come into the presence of God. John walked with the
Lord Jesus Christ for three years. He was a disciple whom the Lord
loved, yet he said when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ upon his
throne, he said, I fell at his feet as a dead man. Daniel said, all of my beauty
was turned in me into corruption. Job said, I've heard of thee.
by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, and
I hate myself, and I repent in dust and ashes." See, that's
what happens when men are brought into the presence of Almighty
God. Oh, that the Lord might teach us who He is and who we
are, because if you don't learn those two things, you will perish.
If you have any notion that you have any self-worth before Almighty
God, then you shall perish. And if
you don't believe He's an absolute God, then you will perish for
sure. As John Newton said, he didn't
know but two things on his deathbed, what a great sinner he was and
what a great Savior Christ is. Dear brethren, it would be my
desire, my hope, my whole engagement with you is that you might come
to know those two things. But I know that you can't, except
the Spirit of God teach you. But we're not come to that mountain
that might be touched. We're not come to the mountain
where you can be taught the truth of God. Now, a lot of people
think you can teach people the truth of God. Now, you can teach
people the Bible. In fact, you can memorize the
Bible. I wish you would. Everyone in here. You know, you
need to memorize as much of this book as you can. The day may
come when you're not able to have access to it. David said,
thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against
thee. What did he mean? Did he mean he just by rote memory
put things in his mind? No, he said he took them to his
heart. And he said, oh Lord, write thy word upon my heart,
engrave it there. Such is the work of the Spirit
of God in men. But we're not come to that mount
that might be touched, the sound of trumpet. But we are come unto Mount Sinai,
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. See,
we've been brought not, the gospel does not bring men to the law.
The law brings men to the gospel. Do you see that? The gospel doesn't
come to men to bring them to the law. But the law comes to
bring men to the gospel. Because you see, when a man sees
the law and he knows himself to be condemned by it, then he
comes to believe in Christ. That's the only way it happens.
Oh, that the Lord might write it upon a heart. But we're come
to Mount Zion to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem. We're speaking about the eternal
God who rules in the heavens, who has sent his son into the
world to save sinners. You see, that's the heavenly
Jerusalem is that place that's inhabited by those for whom Christ
died. Oh, what a glorious place. Who
are they? We've been brought to Mount Zion
to an innumerable company of angels, of messengers. That doesn't
necessarily mean angels in the sense that people
think about, you know, angels flying around in heaven, although
it may have some reference to that, but I believe more importantly
What he's saying here, we've been brought to an innumerable
company of messengers. We've heard the gospel there,
brethren. We've been blessed. See, the Lord didn't do this
thing in the corner. He didn't hide this. The gospel
of Jesus Christ is not a secret. It's done in the open. Christ
said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto me. He draws his people. He causes them to hear. They
see him on the cross and they say, Lord, I saw one hanging
on a tree in agonies and blood who fixed his leg with ice on
it. As near his cross I stood. Sure
never will with my latest breath shall I forget that look. He
seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word he spoke. Oh, what a glorious Savior he
is that he calls men to himself and he causes them to see. How
can two thieves be on a cross and both of them be cursing and
carrying on and casting in the Lord's face his inability to
save his own self and then all of a sudden something comes over
one of them? And he says, oh Lord. He said,
when thou comest into thy kingdom will you remember me? And the
Lord said, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. What
happened? Did that man just make a decision
to follow Christ? No, the Spirit of God came upon
him and gave him eyes to see. And he couldn't look upon any
other and he couldn't desire anything else but to say, oh
Lord, help me. Just like blind Bartimaeus, when
they said, be quiet, he cried out the louder, oh Jesus, our
son of David, have mercy on me. Or the woman who tremblingly
came and touched the hem of his garment. But you see, they had no other
place to go. They were shut up to his mercy
and they knew that they could not help themselves. And he helped
those. Brother Al brought that up as
men often say, well, you know the Lord helps those that help
themselves. Well, dear brethren, if you can
help yourself, then you don't need the Lord. The Lord doesn't
help men that help themselves. He turns men away that seek to
help themselves. Pharisees thought they could
help themselves. He said, you're a generation of vipers. No, the Lord doesn't help those
that help themselves. He helps those that can't help
themselves and that are brought to that place where they know
that. To the General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, how did the names
of God's people get written in the Lamb's Book
of Life. Now I know there's a lot of preachers
will tell you, well the Lord's sitting up there, He's just waiting
with a pen in His hand, and He's wanting you to believe, and whenever
you believe, He's gonna write your name in there. Well dear
brethren, the scripture says that those names were written
in there before the foundation of the world. Now you don't have to like that.
You don't even have to believe it. That's what he's talking
about here. He said, their names are written
in heaven. Who are they? Who are those people? Whose names
are written in heaven? Is it those whom God looked down
through the annals of time and he said, well, that one's gonna
believe and that one's gonna believe and I'm gonna write his
name in here? God's not a reactor. You see,
men react to things. I mean, you come hit me in the
face, and more likely, the first thing that's gonna come into
my mind is gonna be, I'm gonna wanna hit you back. Now, hopefully,
by the grace of God, maybe I might be able to subdue that, or the
Spirit of God in me, maybe, I don't know. But that would be my first
reaction, wouldn't it? I mean, we react to things. And
a lot of people think God's the same way. God doesn't react to
anything. You see, God purposes all things. Men often say this, well, God
gives every man a chance to be saved. Well, dear brethren, salvation
is not by chance. If you're waiting on a chance
to be saved, you'll never be saved. Salvation is by the purpose
of Almighty God who called men out of darkness and into the
light. It is for them whom Christ came into the world. It is them
of whom we speak here. whose names are written in heaven. Do you believe? Are you a believer? Why is that so? If it's true, it's because God
gave you the faith to do so. If it is, he gave you eyes to
see. Oh, what a glorious privilege that is. To the General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge
of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. How do men become just before
God? Because He determines it to be
so. And those whom he has justified,
he has sent his son into the world to pay their sin debt,
that before the law they might be justified, that he might be
just and the justifier of them which believe in Jesus. See,
he doesn't justify them because of that, but he justifies them,
or he causes their justification. because it pleased him to do
so. Now, dear brethren, some of these things, these are deep
things, but they're true things. And whether you choose to believe
them or not, it doesn't make any difference. The truth of
the matter is that Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners, and
no one will be saved apart from that. And he calls men to believe. And if you believe, it's because
he called you. And he gave you faith. He opened
your eyes that you might see. And to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant, to the blood of sprinkling. They speak of
better things than that. In the law, it says that by the
blood, sins are remitted. Now the Jews
thought that every time they offered one of those bulls or
goats or whatever, and they shed that blood on that altar, they
thought, well, this is offering for our sin. But see, it never
was really sufficient, why? Because the next year they had
to go back and do the same thing over and over again. And it could
never, could never satisfy their conscience because they always
knew that they'd have to make another offering. But you see,
in the blood of Christ is an offering made once for sinners.
And it's sufficient. And it's efficient. You see,
it's sufficient to cleanse them from sin. And it's efficient
in that it cleanses them from sin. He has obtained eternal
redemption. He didn't try to get it. He didn't
hope to get it. He got it. And every sin, every
one, for which Jesus Christ paid the price, the price is paid. That's glorious thought. Dear
brethren, you know, a lot of people think, well, we're gonna
stand before the Lord and we're gonna give account of each one
of our sins that we've committed. First place, you don't know how
many sins you've committed. I mean, you can't even name a
tenth of them. But it's not about the sins,
it's about the sin. See, sinners are sinners not
because of the sins, but because of what they are by nature. David
said it, he says, in sin was I conceived. Dear brethren, That's what we
are. Sin is what we are. But Christ
is the Savior. And He saves sinners. And He calls sinners. And He
says, come unto me, all you that labor. and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart." That's just a general statement. That's a sincere command to those
who know themselves to be sinners. Come unto me. I mean, can I get men to come
to the Lord? No. If I could, somebody else
come along and get them to go the other way. See, the problem
is if you can decide to believe, you can decide not to believe. But the glories of the salvation
that's in Jesus Christ is it is permanent. See, it's not based on what the
man does, it's based on what Christ did. Oh, what a glorious thing. To
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
spanked, what is the new covenant? You know, the Lord uses these
terms for our sake as the old covenant and the new covenant.
There's the Old Testament and the New Testament. But you see,
the New Testament is old. The new covenant's older than
the old covenant. Now that doesn't make any sense
to men, but the fact of the matter is that the Lord determined all
these things before the world was. And he determined,
he gave the Old Testament in order to set up things so that
he could reveal what the new covenant was. He said, I'm gonna
write my name, my laws into their heart. and they shall be my people
and I will be their God. He didn't say, I hope I'm gonna
get a people. See, a lot of people look at
it like, well, you know, God created the world and he's just
hoping he'll have some people that believe in him one day.
No, that's not it. He created the world and he created
all things to be exactly like he would have them to be. And
he called the people unto himself. and he sent his son to die for
those that are his. Oh, what a glorious thing. To
Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Remember, we read
about Abel over here in the 11th chapter. Don't remember exactly where
it's at, Anyway, says he offered, in fact,
you know, Abel, he offered the first blood sacrifice that we
have any record of in the scriptures. And I know there's people that
say when the Lord clothed Adam and Eve with the skins in the
garden that he slew some animals and did that. Maybe. It doesn't tell us that. It just says he clothed them
with skins. I mean, if he made the animal, he could have made
the skin, could he not? Concluding with it, I mean, I
don't know, I mean, but I know that the first blood sacrifice
that's shown to be offered in the scripture is offered by Abel. And the Lord had respect unto
him. That offering, why? Because he had respect unto Abel.
See, he received the offering because he had respect unto Abel. Cain didn't like it. He said,
well, that ain't fair. He said, Lord, you need to have
as much respect unto me as you did unto Abel. He said, if you
did do the right thing, I mean, what can you complain about?
See, men don't have any excuse. Men don't have anything to blame
God for. I mean, if the Lord said, do
this and live, and you didn't do it, what can you blame God
for? The men will say, well, that's not fair. You gave this
man this and you didn't give that to me. What the Lord does for somebody
else doesn't have any bearing on you. See, every man must stand
before God. And you got no excuses. Neither do I. I have no excuse. But by the grace of God, I have
a Savior. I have one who's told me in His
Word that He died for wicked men just like myself, and that
He paid my sin debt, and that He made me clean before His throne. And I believe Him. Do I always
have that in my heart know, but I always have the assurance that
He's the Savior, because I can't believe anything else. Like Peter of old, he said, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. See, that's what faith is. It's not deciding to follow
the Lord one day and deciding not to follow him the next day.
A man don't have, what can he do? He must cast himself on the
Lord. And that's what I would say to
every person under the sound of my voice. Seek the Lord while
he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not
pass me by. Is that your prayer? Is that
your desire? I believe that's the true thing.
If it is, the Lord will not pass by. The Lord will leave none in the dust who earnestly seek
His face. He said the bruised reed he would
not break, and the smoking flax he would not quench. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh, for if they escape not who refuse him that spake
on earth, speaking of Moses, much more shall not we escape
if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Moses came
speaking the law, and if men perished, who didn't listen to
him, and this was just carnal stuff. I mean, he's just telling
them just the basic stuff, having to do with the world, how to
live in the world, and all of those things. He said, if you
didn't, if those that refused him perished, how much more will
it be that if we refuse him, it speaks from heaven? Who is
it that speaks from heaven? Jesus Christ, he's the spokesman
of God, he's the prophet of God. There's not another one. All
these people that's come down through the years saying they're
speaking, they're spokesmen for God, they're liars. There's one
spokesman for God, and that's Jesus Christ the righteous. And
he has come declaring the righteousness of almighty God in the earth. whose voice then shook the earth,
but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifieth
the removing of those things that are shaken." What can be shaken? Those things
that are not on the foundation. Another foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ the righteous. and anything not built on that
foundation will surely be shaken and will go to the dust. That those things which cannot
be shaken may remain. What are those things that cannot
be shaken? Those that are hidden in Christ. He is the foundation. See, we're not just built on
the foundation, we're in the foundation. That's what Scripture
says, that He chose us in Christ from before the foundation of
the world. How'd we get in there? He put us in there. Wherefore receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved. Dear brethren, this is the everlasting
kingdom of which we speak. The kingdom of Jesus Christ.
He's the King of kings, the Lord of lords. So he has a kingdom. Belongs to him. And he's made
us heirs and joint heirs with him in that kingdom. Wherefore
having received the kingdom which cannot be moved, may we have
grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear. See, we have been created, the
scripture says, in Christ unto good works. Now, men often get
the cart ahead of the horse. And they think that the good
works will influence God and then he'll have mercy. No, that's not the way it works.
You see, God has mercy on men. He shows them the truth and He
gives them a heart and mind to follow Him. And the good works
follow. If you're in Christ, you've been
created unto good works. That's the whole purpose for
which you're living. That we may serve God acceptably. How's acceptably? In Christ. With reverence and godly fear.
And listen to this. For our God is a consuming fire. Now we don't try to scare men
with the fires of hell. There is a lake of fire, the
scripture says. And death and hell itself will
be cast into that lake of fire along with the devil. And the
scripture says everyone whose name was not written in the book
of life. they're going to be cast into
that lake of fire. Now that's not what I came to
tell you. That's an awful thing. And that's not what he's talking
about here. Our God is a consuming fire. See, nothing can stand
before Almighty God. And that's why we urge men to
seek him while he may be found. To call upon him while he is
near. because he is a consuming fire. And you know, just like
these wildfires and stuff sweep through these dry places and
just—you know, a fire is an amazing thing. I remember as a kid, not
a child per se, but a young man, and one time we were going to
burn this field off, and it had a bunch of old broom sage in
it. We got that fire started and
the wind picked up. And I mean in just, I didn't
time it, but it wasn't, it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes
that this fire went completely across this 40 acre field. Just
whoosh. And fire was shooting up in the
air 10 feet. And that's nothing. compared to what this is speaking
about here. Our gods are consuming fire.
Dear brethren, think not that you shall ever stand before God
and give him any reason, or that you shall somehow plead
your case before God. There is no pleading of the case. Christ and Christ alone is that
one who is our advocate. If he does not plead your case,
you shall perish. But he is an advocate for sinners,
and he can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
having been tried in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Oh, what a Savior he is. Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Mike McInnis
About Mike McInnis
Mike McInnis is an elder at Grace Chapel in O'Brien Florida. He is also editor of the Grace Gazette.
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