See
that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused
Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him
who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised,
saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once
more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of
things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by
which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a
consuming fire. Hebrews 12:25-29 NKJV
Though
not entirely unexpected, I am still nonetheless curious as to why so many are
exhibiting surprise at the violence we are seeing not only around the world but
now, obviously, here at home as well. I
am convinced that the reason some are being taken by surprise is that they may
have held the mistaken belief that the conflicts we are seeing are simply
disagreements between cultures or religious beliefs which some feel compelled
to radicalize. I would like to suggest
that this view may be a little shortsighted in that it ignores the fact that we
are told without question that there is a war going on all around us that we do
not see, and that is the war in the heavens.
For we
do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV
My
question for you today is simply this; “do you really believe a war between
heavenly forces in the heavenly places would not spill over into our
world?” While we may not be able to
visibly see what is going on around us, it certainly makes sense that we would
see the effects manifested in some way in our dimension. I would further suggest that the closer we
get to the end of this age, and the more intense the battle between the forces
in the heavens gets, the greater the effects in this world will be. Does it not then make sense that the
increasing violence we are seeing now is a reflection of that escalation?
I
believe the fact that the writer of Hebrews chose to quote from the Old
Testament book of Haggai concerning the shaking of the heavens and the earth is
a clue that there is yet a future time where God will again shake His creation
in order to reveal Himself as God in such a way as there will be no question as
to what is happening. There is no doubt
in my mind that the “perilous times” in which we are now living is simply proof
that this time has arrived, and in fact, will steadily get worse. In the book
of Isaiah we are even told that the heavens, as we understand them, will be
completely changed and actually rolled up to reveal the awesome power of a
mighty God over His creation.
All the
host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a
scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as
fruit falling from a fig tree. Isaiah
34:4 NKJV
The
purpose, however, is not to only reveal Himself and His power over His
creation, but to also reveal that which cannot be shaken to the disbelieving
world. This is, of course, the kingdom
of those who have chosen to accept the gift of salvation offered by the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. While
we might naturally be concerned with what we are seeing occur almost on a weekly
basis, the truth is that we are promised in the passage from Hebrews that we
are part of a kingdom created by God that will be untouched by the shaking He
tells us will come. Ray Stedman puts it
this way in his teaching on this passage from Hebrews;
Jesus answers his
frightened disciples again and again: "Be not troubled." "Let
not your hearts be troubled." "Be not afraid." "Fear not,
for I am with you."
This is the word
which cannot be shaken today. What should our response be? The writer of
Hebrews says two things: First, "Therefore let us be grateful" --
grateful hearts, praise and thanksgiving to God that we have a place to stand
when all around is being shaken.
Has your home been
shaken this year? Mine has. And it is great to have a place to stand which
cannot be shaken. What praise rises from my heart to God for the unshakable
things which cannot be removed!
When everything else
begins to rock and shake, when our foundations are trembling and there is
upheaval on every side, how grateful we ought to be for things which cannot be
shaken.
Having
grown up in Southern California, I have experienced my share of earthquakes and
the feelings of helplessness you have when you realize you have no control over
what is happening. One of the things I
realized from experience when subjected to shaking such as an earthquake is
that your first reaction is to try and grab something solid to hang on to, as
if that is going to help somehow. As I
thought of this, I could not help but notice this portion of the passage from
Hebrews;
“Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by
which we may serve God acceptably”
How
do we serve God acceptably? In this time
of shaking, many will look for something solid to hang on to. If we as part of the “kingdom which cannot be shaken”
appear to others as having something to hang on to, is it not a perfect
opportunity to “serve God acceptably” by sharing the good news of the Gospel of
Christ?
Simon
Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon
Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who
is in heaven. “And I also say to
you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates
of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:16-18 NKJV
The
rock Jesus speaks of here is the statement by Peter that Jesus is the Son of
God. Anyone who confesses their sins and
asks for forgiveness believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God becomes part
of this rock, the “kingdom which cannot be shaken”. The shaking we see was prophesied by God
thousands of years ago as a sign of the end of the age. Time is running out for those who refuse to
believe, and become a part of the Kingdom of God. Have you made your choice yet? If so, rest in the knowledge you cannot be
shaken by all that is happening around us today.
Keep
watching.
PS. As I was finishing this post I came across
another on the same subject written Friday by Alf Cengia, a contributor to the
Omega Letter and someone I respect greatly.
I have included the link so you can read his perspective as well.
