Turn to the book of Hebrews chapter
12. Hebrews chapter 12. I titled the message, Refuse Not Him That Speaks from
Heaven. Do not turn away from Him Do not ignore Him who speaks
from heaven. You would think that when Almighty
God speaks, His creation would not refuse
Him, refuse to listen to Him, ignore Him. You would think that that shouldn't happen. Would God Almighty speak and
His creation refuse Him? He said in one place, I called
and you refused. I stretched out my arm, you wouldn't
have nothing to do with me. God does speak. Every day, all day, all night,
God is speaking. He's not silent. He's speaking. The Word of God starts out with
God speaking in Genesis chapter 1. God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And this epistle starts out with
God speaking in chapter one. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners, different manners, fake and time-past,
unto the fathers by the prophets, he spoke to them. God spoke to
them. And I pray God speaking to us
this morning. I know you are listening to me
speak, but I sure hope I'm not the only one speaking, my soul.
God's speaking. Listen. Give great attention
to the words spoken. God speaks. He speaks in mercy. He speaks in grace. He speaks
in warnings. He's not silent. God speaks. Let's look in verse
25. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh, for if they escape not who refuse
him that spake on earth, Much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from him that speaks from heaven." God has spoken in the past, as I said in Genesis,
in creation. He said, Let there be light,
and he created the heavens and the earth, and then when Adam
fell in the garden God spoke, He actually spoke at mercy, because
He spoke of the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ. He had
every right to annihilate Adam right there. God had every right,
as I wrote in a bulletin, it could have just as easily been
written, God against us. He could have annihilated Adam
and Eve. for rebellion, but he didn't. When Adam heard the voice of
God after he fell, he did not hear the thundering
and the lightning and the trumpet and the voice of words that they
heard at Mount Sinai, the giving of the law. The voice of God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day. Kind of sounds to me like, it
just sounds to me like things were just at ease. There
was no storm. There was no thunder, lightning.
It's just like he heard the voice of God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day. And I'll tell you why. Because God had already taken
care of the matter. You see, Christ is the Lamb of
God slain before the foundation of the world. This did not take
God by surprise. It's not something that disappointed
Him. This whole matter of salvation had already been taken
care of before God created the first thing, before He created
the first angel. There was a covenant made, and
Christ spoke in that covenant. He spoke on behalf of God's elect
as their surety, as their substitute, as their king. And when Adam fell, he heard
God's thinking. Adam, where art thou? He didn't hear God announcing
curses on him right off the bat. He just heard the voice of God
saying, Adam, just like you call him for your job. Where you at? Well, God knew where he was.
He wasn't asking for information. He was going to draw Adam out. And he heard the voice of God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day. He heard from God. God spoke
to him. The Apostle Paul, on his road
to Damascus, heard from heaven. He heard from heaven in Acts
26. And when we were all followed to the earth, I heard a voice
speaking to me. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke to
him from heaven. saying in the Hebrew tongue,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And there was another time God
spoke from heaven, Matthew 3, and lo a voice from heaven saying,
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Don't refuse Him. Don't ignore Him. Do not turn
away from Him. This is what Paul was writing
to the Galatians about. We've been going through Galatians.
You are turning away from Him. You are starting to refuse Him.
Now, don't do that. God speaks in creation. Look
over at Psalm 19. I said God speaks continually.
Listen to this. Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. What is that
knowledge? What is that speech? that God
is, that God is. There is no speech, there is
no language where their voice is not heard. Creation cries
out day and night to every nation, every tribe, every tongue under
heaven that God is. And that being so, you reckon
we ought to find out who He is? I reckon we ought to. Their line,
their rule or direction, their line has gone out through all
the earth and their words to the end of the world. God speaks, speaks in creation. He speaks in providence. Everything that's going on right
now is providential. And I know I've
said this, I've said this different times, something happens, something
maybe extraordinary happens. And I say, wow, that's so providential. Well, what is it? What is not
providential? Everything is providential. Everything that's going on right
now, God is speaking through. Whether it be the weather or
worldly events, it does not matter what it is. It's the providence
of God, and it has a voice. It has a voice. And then God speaks. Well, listen
to this. In Psalm 148.8, I've got this
written down. Fire and hail, snow and vapor,
stormy wind. I heard the storm going on yesterday
morning. Woke me up, thunder and lightning,
rain. I was laying there listening to the rain. It sounded so good. He says here, fire, and hail,
snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His Word. These things that are
happening every day, and he's speaking here about weather,
is the providence of God and it's fulfilling His Word. Says in Psalm 107, For he commandeth
and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof. All these things happen by God
commanding, God speaking. And they do His will, they fulfill
His word. And He speaks by His chastening
hand to His children. In Micah 6, 9, I read this to
you a few weeks ago, the Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and
the man of wisdom shall see thy name, hear ye the rod, the chastening
rod, and who hath appointed it? And then he speaks by his prophets.
Hebrews 1, as I read to you there earlier. It says in Hebrews 1,
God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets. God sent men, Isaiah,
Daniel, all those old prophets. God spake by them. The Holy Spirit
was in them, moved them, and when they spoke, they spoke under
the inspiration of God Almighty. God speaks by His Spirit. The
Spirit and the bride say, Come. I pray this morning He speaks
to us by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is
the speaker this morning, His children will be blessed.
They'll be educated, comforted. You'll learn. He speaks by His Word. God does
not speak to us apart from His Word. He's given us His Word. Make watch of the Word of God.
Sit down and read the Word of God. He speaks out of His Word. He speaks to us by His Son. As
I read to you there in Hebrews, half of these last days spoken
to us by His Son. Christ said, as I hear, I speak.
No one can say, God has not spoken to me. As soon as you wake up, I saw
the fact that you were waking up, that you can get up, that
you can go outside and you see all creation, you see what's
going on. God's speaking. God's voice is in it. His voice
is in it. Then He speaks by the blood of
sprinkling, as we read earlier in Hebrews. that blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It speaks. It still speaks. It still speaks. It still cries
for mercy. It still pleads for mercy on
you and me, on His people. He speaks through the gospel.
Paul said, you were called by, God called you by our gospel. The preaching of the gospel is
God speaking. This is serious business. If this is of God, and I pray
it is, God's speaking. God is speaking. He's speaking by His Spirit.
speaking by His Word, speaking by His preacher, speaking to
His people. God's speaking. Now, see that
you refuse not Him that speaketh. How do we refuse Him? First of all, we refuse Him by
ignoring Him. Have you ever ignored someone? Have you ever had someone ignore
you? I know you have. You've done both. Both have happened. I've ignored people and people
have ignored me. That's what it is to refuse that
person. You ignore him. It's to ignore his warnings.
It's to ignore his call. God commands all men everywhere
to repent and believe the gospel. There's a general call that goes
to the preachers of the gospel throughout the world. And men and women are responsible
when they hear that call. And then we're refused by neglect.
Over in Hebrews 4, he says to be careful. Don't let those things
slip, which you've heard. Don't let them slip by neglect
and give no attention to them. You know, you be like the person
who comes in and hears and leaves and forgets what he heard. Don't
neglect it, he said. Don't let it slip. And then we
refuse when we reject His Word when it's preached. I think it's the Pharisees, it's
written, they rejected the counsel of God against themselves. A sinner says guilty. A sinner says, Lord, you're right. I am a dog. I am a dog, and I
don't have any right asking for the crumbs that fall from your
table. You're right. It's taking sides with God against
yourself. Now, it says, See that ye refuse
not him that speaketh? For if they escape not, who refuse
him that spake on earth? When God spoke on Mount Sinai,
the children of Israel refused Him. And what happened? They died
in the wilderness. How many times did God bring
judgment on them over those 40 years? The serpent that bit them? They died in the wilderness.
They escaped not. Listen, there have been billions
of people live on this earth. I mean billions. There's like,
what, six and a half or something like a billion now? There are
billions that live on this earth. Not one. Not one will escape
or be overlooked. Not one. If they escape not, who refuse
him to stake on earth much more, much more shall not we escape. You know, I remember Henry saying
this once, and we've said it several times. The Word of God
is full of warnings. That's what we presume. We don't
want to presume upon the grace of God. We don't want to do that
at all. And that's what he's saying here.
He's giving warnings. Don't just assume or presume. How much more
shall we escape if we turn away from Him that speaks from heaven? Our Lord came down from heaven. He said He came down from above,
down from heaven. And the message He brought is
from heaven. It's from heaven. And our Lord
went back to heaven. He died on the cross, rose again,
and went back to heaven. And he's seated at the right
hand of the Father. How much more weight is laid
on this generation when the gospel is preached? The message of the gospel, when
it's preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, is God speaking
from heaven. Our Lord said this in Mark 4.24,
He said unto them, Take heed what you hear, with what measure
you meet it shall be measured to you again, and unto you that
hear shall more be given. So 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." And he's writing
these Hebrews. And there's no doubt they're
having the same problems that the Galatians had. Judaizers
came in, you've got to keep the law along with believing on Christ
in order to be saved. And he's saying here, see that
you don't turn away from him and turn back to those beggarly
elements. Don't turn back to the do's and
don'ts. Because if you do, You're not going to escape His
judgments. There's no hope outside the ark. There is no hope outside
of Christ. Whose voice, in verse 26, whose
voice then shook the earth. When God spoke on Mount Sinai, that mountain shook. It shook. It was an earthquake. And there was a voice of thunder
and lightning. and trumpets, and the voice of
words. And when that happened, that
whole mountain shook. But now He promised, this is
a promise, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but
also heaven. I want to read to you out of,
I've got this marked, out of Haggai. This is where this is
written. This is the first time it's promised.
In Haggai chapter two, he's quoting this. For thus saith the Lord
of hosts, it wants, it is a little while, or any little while, and
you know that's all this life is. It's just a little while. I was thinking yesterday, I was
thinking, if I live to be 80s, in my 80s, that's not long. That's not long. Adam 900 some
years, Methuselah, look how long they lived. Even that's not long. Look how fast that went by. It was in a little while, and
I will shake the heavens. and the earth, and the sea, and
the dry land. And what he's making reference
to here really is the coming of Christ the Messiah. Because he says in verse 7, And
I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall
come. Who is that? Who is the desire
of all nations? God has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation under heaven, and the desire
of that people is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's Him. So this is in reference to the
coming of Christ, His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection,
it shook heaven and earth. And this word yet once more signifies
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
that are made. God's going to shake things up.
That's what He's saying. I'm going to shake things up. And He did. When our Lord came
into this world, He shook things up. The Jewish state was shaken up. The ceremonies, the sacrifices,
the political and the ecclesiastical state of the Jews, it was shaken
up. He got rid of the priesthood,
the ceremonies, the tithes, the pictures, all that. All that
was shaken up and done away with. Because he's the fulfillment
of them. They didn't want to let it go. That's typical of
us, isn't it? We get something that we think
is absolutely necessary, got to have it, and we don't want
to let it go. That's the way they felt about those things. And he shook them up. He got rid of them. All of that
was removed, because it could be. If it can be removed, it
will be, and ought to be. Those things were established
for a time, and they had a voice. God spoke through them. He spoke
through the types and the pictures. He spoke through those things.
When the real came, the Lord Jesus Christ, these things are
not needed anymore. So he got rid of them. And this
word yet once more signifies the removing of those things
that are shaken as of things that are made, that those things
which cannot be shaken may remain. Oh, my. What are those things that
cannot be shaken? First, the true kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It cannot be removed. It's an
everlasting kingdom. His kingdom, it says, is an everlasting
kingdom. It's the kingdom of Christ. It's
the priesthood of Christ. It's the kingship of Christ.
It's forever. It is forever. It cannot be shaken. It cannot be removed. Now those
types of pictures, they were removed. Here are some other things that
cannot be shaken or taken away or removed. Our redemption in Christ, it
cannot be removed. Our justification in Christ,
it cannot be removed. It cannot be shaken. It's solid. Our adoption, all the blessings
that we have, all the blessings that we were given in Christ
before the world began cannot be removed. Everything outside
of Christ will be removed. Everything in Christ cannot be
shaken and cannot be removed. You see, that covenant of works has been removed. It's gone. But that covenant of grace that
was made in eternity between the Father and the Son concerning
His people, that cannot be removed. It cannot even be shaken. seeing we have a kingdom which
cannot be removed. The kingdom of Christ, of which
all believers are a part of, that kingdom cannot be removed.
Therefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved or removed
or even shaken. Not in Christ, it can't. Then
let us have grace. Maybe a better rendering is this.
Let us hold the gospel of the grace of God and continue therein,
not mixing anything with it. Therefore, we receive in a kingdom
which cannot be moved. Let us have grace. And this is
where it starts. If you don't have grace, You're not going to serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear. It starts with grace. Every believer is a work of grace. And your life throughout this
journey here on this earth is a work of grace. Oh, to grace how great a debtor
I'm daily constrained to be. He said, let us have grace whereby
we may serve God, not ourselves, but serve God, serve him with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. We have been going through Exodus, and when God brought the children
of Israel out of Egypt, there was a cloudy pillar by day and
a wall of fire by night. which was light and warmth to
the children of Israel, but utter destruction to the enemies, to
the enemies of God. Our God is merciful. Our God is gracious. Our God is longsuffering. Our God delights to show mercy, and our God is a consuming fire. Outside of Christ, this is who
you have to deal with. Outside of Christ, you are not
dealing with a merciful God. This is what, I wonder if I could
just get this across, outside of God's mercy is in Christ.
God's love is in Christ. God's grace is in Christ. God's
favor is in Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. He didn't say it about anybody
else. But he's well pleased with all those in his Son. I know
that. But outside of Christ, God is
not merciful. God is not gracious. God is not
loving. I'm telling you, hell is not
the love of God. Hell is not an expression of
God's love to the people. It's His wrath against sin, against
rebels. The Word of God says that God
hateth the workers of iniquity. He doesn't just say he hates
iniquity, he hates those who work it, who perform it. Outside of Christ, you are going
to deal, every man, every woman, outside of Christ is going to
deal with a consuming fire. The only people saved in the
flood were those in the ark. That's the only ones that survived,
the wrath of God. The flood was just a small example. Now listen. The flood was just
a very small example of the wrath of God. His wrath was kindled but a little. Hell is the full-blown, unmitigated,
wrath of God, unleashed wrath, no mercy, no mercy in any way,
shape, or form. Outside of Christ, God is a consuming
fire, and this is taken from Deuteronomy
Chapter 4, verse 24. For the Lord thy God is a consuming
fire, even a jealous God. Even a jealous God. He has no
rivalries. He will not tolerate rivalry. He will not tolerate idolatry. Let me summarize this and I'll
close. Give great attention to the gospel
when it's preached. I know we can't comprehend the
seriousness of this hour. All that can be removed will
be. So don't put your, don't set
your heart on these things. They come, they go. And then last of all, God is
gracious. God is merciful. God is love. God delights to show mercy, but
never forget Outside of Christ, he is a consuming fire. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Give great attention when his
word, his gospel is preached. Give great attention. For it
is the Lord speaking from heaven.