December 3, 2023 by P. Kevin Clancey
1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah 4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. 6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord , Who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah (Psalm 46:1-11, NKJV)
So dear ones, you had turmoil this week, somewhere in your life. There was some stress, some turmoil. Some of you had just a little bit, some of you had a big bit. That’s just the way it works. Be still. Come into this place and be still. Be still doesn’t mean don’t stand up, lift your hands and sing exuberant praises to God. It means still that rat race that’s going around in your head. Alright? What about this and what about that and what about this? And instead, turn your focus to King Jesus and know that he is God and he is good and he wins. So let’s worship him.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his great mercy. He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3, NKJV)
You have gotten a new birth into a living hope. And so, dear ones, come and take communion tonight, and just punch somebody in the arm and say, have some hope, all right? Have some hope. We win. We win. And Christ has already won. So let’s look upon Jesus tonight, the author and perfecter of our faith, the author and perfecter of our hope. Come and be thankful.
All right, Hebrews chapter 12 verses 18 through 29. For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire and to blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore for they could not endure what was commanded.
And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I’m exceedingly afraid and trembling.
But you have come to Mount Zion to the city of the living God and the heavenly Jerusalem to an enumerable to the General Assembly and the Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” 21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18-25, NKJV)
See to it then 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 has promised saying, yet once more I once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.
Now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are to be shaken and of things that are made that the things that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaking, let us have grace by which by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
25 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, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 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. 28 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. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:25-29, NKJV)
God may the words of my mouth and meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord our rock, our strength and our redeemer.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in your sight, O Lord , my strength and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14, NKJV)
So the two main themes that run through Hebrews are right here now at the end of chapter 12 and they’re the themes of comparing the old with the new. And then the second theme is that of warning. Hebrews is the book of warning. Don’t ignore this. Don’t ignore this. Don’t reject this. This is a great offer. Pay attention.
And both those things show up here at the end of the letter one more time. And now the contrast is between Mount Sinai and the law of the old covenant and God’s presence at that old covenant. And then Mount Zion, the promise of eternity.
And so we have this contrast and he says you’ve not come to Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai was scary man. There was lightning and there was smoke and there was thunder. And the mountain was unapproachable and God was unapproachable and and the Mount Sinai is telling us and the Old Testament is telling us That God is holy.
This is not a false picture of God here These pictures of God we have in Isaiah where Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up in Ezekiel where he he sees this incredible vision of God and his majesty These pictures of God we get in the Old Testament these awesome pictures of God. They are true. He is holy He is unapproachable.
He is powerful. He is awesome and Scary because he’s unapproachable Because of our sin and his holiness. It’s like no Moses you go for us We don’t want to go. I Know that people still they’ll go to like charismatic meetings and people be falling all over the place. They’ll be like, oh, that’s scary All right, anybody ever go to one of those meetings ago, that’s scary All right.
It’s scary when power shows up It’s scary and then you sit there for a while and if you’re like me, you’re like that’s scary But I think I’m gonna get me some of that But that’s later that’s Mount Zion, this is Mount Sinai And so God is unapproachable. He’s he’s he’s unspeakable in his glory. He’s he we can’t get to him He’s powerful he’s right he’s true he’s God Almighty and yet in our sin Moses you got to go talk to him for us We can’t do it you can’t do it
But the author of Hebrews says that’s not the case with us. There’s a now a better mountain than Mount Sinai It’s Mount Zion And what’s the difference between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion is God changed as God no longer Holy has got no longer powerful. God no longer awesome. No, he’s all those things But what he also is now is approachable.
Why? Because he became a man. He became a man in Jesus Christ. He became one of us, and therefore we can identify with him, and he identified with us in his baptism. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized. John recognized that. He’s like, what’s going on here? You should baptize me. I shouldn’t be baptizing you. And Jesus says, let it be that all things might be fulfilled. I’m completely identifying with the human race, so that when I go to the cross, as fully man, I can fulfill all that God desires to be fulfilled.
God made him who knew no sin to become sin. What was that like? For the Holy Son of God to become sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV)
I’ll tell you what’s going on in Gethsemane. Jesus saying, let this cup pass before me. I have no doubt as a man that the physical torture of the crucifixion was very much on his mind. And any one of us would have said, I don’t want nails, and I don’t want to be hanging up on a horrible piece of wood, gasping out one breath after another, with my back bloodied from a cat and I, I mean, it was a horrible, torturous death.
But I think that God let this cup pass before me was even more than that. He knew he was going to drink the dregs of humanity. He knew that he was going to swallow it up, and therefore when he was crucified, that would be crucified with him.
The Bible says, we have been crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And then it says, the life I now live, oh, it still is, I am still living. But now I live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself for me, who died for me.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, NKJV)
We all have an instinct that scammers, con artists play upon and it’s the too-good-to-be-true instinct, right? Have you gotten the e-mails from the Prince of Abu Dhabi? Listen, I’m this prince and I have $1. 5 billion and I’m going to give it to you, but I just need access to give it to you to your bank account. Wow, $1. 5 million and you give all your bank account information away and they take all your money, and you never get $1. 5 million.
People call on the phone and they try to scam you. My wife who’s like the sweetest person, she hates injustice and phone scams. So she’ll just say, tell me about that and then she’ll put the phone down and let them talk and talk and talk, and she’ll clean the refrigerator and then at the end say, no, I’m not interested. She says in that way, she says they’re calling less people, and she feels like she’s helping other people, or she’ll keep calling them back to just to tie up their line. Isn’t she ornery? I like that about her. That’s a side of her I like. Yeah, that’s a good thing.
So anyway, but the too-good-to-be-true, right? I’ll tell you another too-good-to-be-true. If you don’t think you pay enough taxes, then I want to tell you here’s a way you can pay more taxes. Play the lottery. Play the lottery. That’s paying more taxes. Oh, no, but I’m going to win. No, you’re not. You’re not going to win. You’re just going to pay more taxes. If you want to pay more taxes, I won’t stop you. In fact, really, there’s another way besides paying the lottery. You could pay some of mine. I’m good with that. Pay more taxes if you want.
But no, we’re going to play. My dad used to say this. He used to say, Kev, when I win the lottery, I’m going to buy you that shirt. I said, Dad, I’d rather have the $5 a week you spend on lottery tickets. I’ll get to that shirt. church quicker. Nah, I’m gonna win the lottery and buy you that church. He was a Democrat, he liked paying more taxes, so it’s all right, he didn’t mind.
So, all I’m saying is, this thing that it’s too good to be true, well why does that instinct exist in us? Because in one case, and only one case, it’s true. It’s true. God made him, who knew no sin, to become sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV)
Wait, all my sin, all my shame, all my brokenness, for all your goodness, for all your holiness, for all your light, for all your forgiveness, for all your love, will you do that for me? Yeah, I’ll do that for you. And just so you don’t forget, eat bread every week. Go through a ritual every week, and be fed by that ritual, and never forget the one time that it’s too good to be true.
And so, we don’t go to Mount Sinai, we go to Mount Zion. We go to the holy mountain of God, and what do we meet there? We meet myriads of angels. Christmas time, angels start coming into the scene, right? Now, God created two orders of beings to be his image bearers to share in the rulership, actually, of the universe. He made the angels, spiritual beings, and then he made physical beings, humans. And we both become sharers in God’s eternal plan throughout the universe, angels and humans.
And so, we go at Mount Zion, and that’s where our angels are there, and we. get to hang out with the angels. The angels are like us in many ways, in that they have free will, they have responsibility, they’re in relationship with God, but they’re different from us in many ways. They don’t have our bodies. They don’t have our physicality. They don’t have the Son of God as one of them. He’s one of us. He became one of us.
And somehow, I think, if I understand the Bible correctly, we actually kind of get a higher rank than them, ultimately in eternity. But you get to meet your guardian angel. You get to meet that person who watched over you. Sidney, you’re going to meet your guardian angel. He’s going to have bandages. He goes, this is when you’re going to fall off that horse and I took one for you.
We will go where there are myriads of angels, and they’ll be impressive. They’ll be impressive. How many of you have seen an angel? I’ve seen what I thought might just be glimpses of light and stuff, but I know people who have seen full-blown angels. It always cracks me up when an angel comes and visits somebody in the middle of the night. Their typical first words are what? Fear not.
And they ought to say, I just think that we ought to correct that. They ought to say, stop being afraid, because it’s too late. You get waking up at night and there’s a flaming sword and this big white winged creature. Fear not. Okay, I just wet myself, but yeah, I’ll try. They’re awesome.
And we go to Mount Zion where there are myriads of angels and we get to see how they helped us and aided us and aided in the message as messengers of God and all the different assignments they had.
There’s a group of angels who simply fall down before the king Day and night because he’s so awesome and we think what a horrible job that would be no It’s a it’s a great job because here’s what I think happens. I think they stand before King Jesus They stand before the father they stand before the throne and they see an aspect of God’s incredible glory and it’s so overwhelming They fall to the ground.
And then they’re laying there and they look at each other and go So we get up, yeah, let’s get up and they get up and they look and then there’s another aspect of his glory And it’s like wow We get to hang out with them. Not only are there myriads of angels but there are at Mount Zion the Saints who have gone before us made perfect Those whose names are written in the book of life those who God has perfected before us and Dear ones there will be a greeting committee of those who you will find out your first grade teacher.
Who you didn’t even know was a Christian? but who prayed diligently for every child in her class and She will be part of the welcoming committee That’d be awesome. I had a crush on mrs. Grant My first I don’t know if she was a Christian. I know mrs. Payne was though and she prayed for me She was my third grade teacher. I know that and you’ll get to see the people who? Who cared for your soul and you’ll get to meet your relatives who went before you.
I’ll get to meet my great Grandmother who I never met but who took my mother to church every week Because her parents my grandparents didn’t take her to church And my mother just had such fond and wonderful memories of her Baptist grandmother. I remember one time I told the Baptist preacher in Oakdale. I said my mom She was a Christian and she prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me She prayed for me. She prayed for me.
She got taken to the Baptist Church every week by her grandmother and he looked back at me and said, didn’t hurt her none either, did it? And it didn’t. It put great things into her life. And I get to meet my grandmother, my great-grandmother.
And I get to see my little Irish, my little French grandmother, my little French Catholic grandmother who prayed for me all the time and who called me honey boy as her only grandson. And my sisters were jealous. My sisters were jealous because my grandma just called me honey boy. And they’ll to this day go, oh honey boy. And I said, it’s not my fault I was the favorite. You should have tried harder.
And I’ll get to see my grandma. Say thank you that I was your favorite. I think there’ll be a greeting committee. I think, I believe your beloved pets will go before you. So Steven, all those horses and dogs you’ve loved through the years will just be there to greet you, all happy and excited. There won’t be any chickens. No love for the chickens. Any cat lovers here? Yeah, you’re out. They’re not making it. So horses, dogs, you know, the good ones, they’ll be there.
But next it says what? We see God the Father and we see God the Son. I’ve told you before, this was the one that blows me away, right? This is the one that in two weeks I’ll turn 65 years old. I used to think that was old. I don’t think it’s old anymore, but I used to think that was old. In two weeks I’ll turn 65. And I do, and I will say that ever since I probably hit my 60th birthday, I’ve thought more about death than I did before. Just because, you know, you realize the hourglass, you don’t know how much sand is left in it, but it’s probably more than half over.
I have not done a vigorous job of taking care of myself. I think 120 might be out of the picture. I don’t want to speak unfaith, but I’m just saying. So whatever, whatever time I got left, I just want to be fruitful and faithful. But here’s the thing. I think there’s going to be a greeting. I think I’ll see my mom and dad. And I’ll see my grandma and my great grandma. And I’ll see people I love. And I’ll see people I led to Christ. And I’ll see the people who prayed for me and led me to Christ.
And there’ll be hugs and greetings. And then that crowd’s going to part, right? And then I’m going to see a white robe. And if I read Revelation chapter 1 right, it is going to be a pretty overwhelming experience. Eyes that blaze and feet like bronze and hair. Just incredible light. Life coming out of the light, coming out of life, just flowing. And incomprehensible love. And I’m just going to be undone. I just know it. I don’t think I’m going to be able to hold it together. I’m not going to be like, J-Dog, it’s not going to happen.
And I hope and I believe that what theologians call the beatific vision, the beauty of Jesus, will heal me, finally and complete, right? And I’ll get up. And even though I’ll know that I’ve sinned, it’ll be like, it’s well. It’s good. I finished the race. I’m not going back.
By the way, I’m just saying. I’ve always told my wife, you know, I wouldn’t mind, you know, if you’ve got to pick the way you’re going to die. Most people don’t, but I said, a massive cardiac while I’m preaching an evangelistic sermon. You know, and if I hit the ground, unless the Lord tells you to pray for my recitation, just let me go. All right? If the Lord says, you know, he’s done, just let me go. All right? Anyway, that might be traumatic for you, but I might be kind of awesome. Who knows?
All right. You’ll see the Father. Jesus will take you to the Father, and all that glory, and all that power, and all that majesty, and everything that scared them on Mount Sinai, you’re gonna see, and you’re gonna be like those angels, and you’re just gonna fall down, and you’re gonna go, that is awesome. God is so much more powerful. He is so much more loving. He’s so much more holy. He is so much more extravagant than I ever could have thought or imagined. His light is so bright, and yet I can see. His glory is so immense, and yet it fills me. His love fills me like liquid gold, and His presence, and you’ll think, you know, and they used to say, and I don’t think eternity is going to be a perpetual worship service, but when they used to say that eternity was going to be perpetually in this presence worshiping God, I thought, how boring will that be?
And now I realize that wouldn’t be, now it’s not gonna be boring at all. I mean, I’ve had taste of that. I’ve been in worship settings where it’s like, oh my God, I could, I could just keep singing. I could keep being here forever. That’s where we’re going, dear ones, to Mount Zion. Why? Because you’re such a good person. No. Sorry. Because God made him who knew no sin. to become sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV)
And there’s something about putting our faith in Jesus that makes us ready for that encounter with what Hebrews calls the consuming fire. And if we don’t have Jesus, then we will encounter that consuming fire, but we will not experience it as liquid love. We’ll experience it like Mount Sinai. It will be terror, it will be unapproachable, and we will call upon the mountains to cover us up.
Listen, the gates of hell are not locked from the outside to keep the damned in. They’re locked from the inside to keep God out. How do I know that?
Because God always pursues people, and people in their shame and sin run away from God. The first instance, Adam and Eve. Does God abandon them because they sin? No. They go to the garden. He says, where are you at? What do Adam and Eve do? They hide.
What do you do when you sin? Immediately go and pray and have your quiet time? Or do you like, yeah, I’ll get to God later. I want to stay mad at my spouse for another hour. I don’t want to forgive them yet. God says, forgive your spouse. No. I want to stay mad. It kind of feels nice to be mad at them. Jerk. No, forgive them, and then be with me.
I remember my friend, Dave Wainscott, one time he had a fight with his wife, and he had to go off to this meeting, right? And this was a powerful experience. He was going off to the meeting. They hadn’t reconciled with his wife. And he turned on the radio, and it was on K-Love. The minute he turned on the radio, he hears the DJ on K-Love say, turn around, go back, and apologize to your wife. So, he turned around, went back, apologized to his wife, and then he went to his meeting.
I heard another guy say the same thing. He actually interviewed that guy. He went and found that Caleb DJ. He said, what the heck? And he said, oh, yeah. He says, that was the weirdest thing. He said, I was just going to get ready to play another song. And I felt like the Lord said, you’ve got to say this. And so, yeah.
Another guy had a fight with his wife, and he was going off to a big revival meeting. And so he leaves all huffy and mad at her. And he goes off, and the Lord speaks to him and says, go back and be reconciled with your wife. Go back and apologize. Go back and make things right. He’s like, fine, I’ll do it after the meeting. And the Lord spoke to him and said, so you’re going to go to the meeting without being reconciled to your wife? Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it later.
And God says, OK, you go to your meeting, but I’m going to stay at home with your wife. He’s like, oh, I don’t want to go to my meeting without God. So he turned around. That’s what we do when we sin. We hide, shame, blame, right? God pursues us.
But if you run away from God and you don’t want him, you want to push him out of your life, that doesn’t mean that when you die, you’re not going to encounter this consuming fire. You’re just not going to like it. Don’t ask for happiness and peace apart from God. There is no such thing. You’ll get what you want. God, I don’t want you.
OK. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. That’s true of our lives as well. All the baggage that we carry that wasn’t in Christ is going to be shaken off of us. In fact, a lot of the troubles that we experience in our life right now is exactly that process of shaking us down. It’s a process of shaking us down. It’s God will use that to prune you.
I can’t imagine any bush liking being pruned. taken place, but afterwards when there’s an abundance of life and growth because of it, it’s like, oh, OK. So don’t run away from the pruning. I know we all want to run away from pain, but I really think life is more like this. Pick your pain. Right? Pick your pain.
It’s a pain to get in shape physically. It’s a pain to be out of shape. Pick your pain. It’s a pain to be reconciled to your spouse. It’s a pain to live in a house where there’s no reconciliation. It’s a pain to be a diligent parent and not to be lazy and to take responsibility for the original sinners that you created, that you beget. It’s a pain. But you know what? If you don’t, it’s a bigger pain. Pick your pain.
In this world, don’t run away from it. Embrace it. Some things are hard. There’s a lot of good in the midst of the hard, but some things are hard. But that is stuff that can’t be shaken. The discipleship we have in Jesus. What did I say a couple weeks ago? Our goal is Christlikeness. We are growing into Christlikeness. That’s what can’t be shaken. Everything else will be shaken. Everything else that can be shaken away will be shaken away.
And what will remain is what we have done in Him. And I got some insight on this, right? Because it’s in the book. And here’s the most important thing that’s going to remain. How well did you love? That’s the biggie. That’s the biggie. That is Christlikeness. How well did you love?
And so, we have in Hebrews chapter 12, the theme of warning once again. If God held accountable those who received the law from Sinai, how much more will He hold accountable those who refuse Zion? Don’t refuse. And that’s a one-time thing. Yes, come to Jesus, be a person of faith. But it’s kind of a daily thing too, right?
God sends out invitations every day. Step into this. Go here. Dig deeper. Pursue more passionately. There’s invitations that are continually before us. And God is always inviting us to step in to Zion. And to step in in the things that will not be shaken and will remain. And to worship Him with thankfulness and holy awe.
I think the church goes back and forth, right? Martin Luther said we’re like a drunk man on a horse.
We fall off one side, we overcompensate and fall off on another. I grew up in a church tradition that really stressed off in terms of its architecture, in terms of its liturgy, in terms of its accoutrements, right? Stained glass windows, candles, magnificent architecture, priests in funny outfits. Everything spoke of holy and different.
Now the problem that I had in that environment was I got the fact that God was big and magnificent and mysterious. I didn’t get the fact that He wanted to be my friend. And then these young life hippies came onto campus and said, Hey man, Jesus is cool. He wants to be your friend. Be born again and you can hang out with Jesus, have a relationship with Jesus. And I drank that up like a thirsty dog in a bowl.
But there’s a mistake on that side of the thing too, right? It’s like, don’t forget who you’re having a relationship with. Mount Sinai. and I, remember? Lightning, power. I mean, sometimes, you know, it’s like my wife and I were in the Methodist church, and we were like, hey, let’s be chill. And then kids would leave their Coke cans on the communion altar. And there was something about that. I was like, no, don’t do that. That’s holy space. That’s holy space. Don’t do that.
There ought to be some. There still ought to be in those of us who, what a friend we have in Jesus, also can sing, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. And both are true. Both are true. And so we worship him. He’s our friend. We know his name is Jesus, but he has another name, right? It’s Andy. Andy walks with me. Andy talks with me. Andy tells me that I’m his own. We hang out with Andy in the garden. I come to the garden, and I hang out with Andy. That’s so true.
But we also bow before him. There have been times where I’ve just felt like I’m just holding Jesus’ hand and going through life. There’s been other times where I felt like Jesus said, hit the floor. Put your face on the carpet. Assume the position. You know what I’m talking about? I remember I was in front of the congregation doing this. And the Lord said, put your nose on the carpet. And I thought, that is very undignified. My little tuchus is going to be in the air. So the pastor shouldn’t look like that in front of the church.
And all I heard was, put your nose on the carpet, man. Just worship me. Bow down. Yeah, I’ll do it. Just want to let you know, I compromised. I laid flat. You get what I’m saying, right? We worship him. Sometimes I’ll go to these meetings, and it’s like they’re great, and they’re exciting. But do people know who they’re encountering? I mean, I just think when we see him, we’re going to go.
And we go, yeah, oh yeah, holy, holy, holy. And so we worship him, but that is, it’s not singing our favorite songs and getting the chills. It is coming with adoration. The word worship literally means what? To bow down before him. We humble ourselves before him.
When we sing these songs about God, when we sing these songs about Jesus, we’re exalting him and lifting him high and humbling ourselves in reverence and awe, and he’s building in us things that cannot be shaken, for he is a consuming fire. You will, every human being will experience that fire. And it will be the fire of purification, refinement, holiness, and love that will cleanse you for all eternity and make you well, or it will be the fire of judgment.
But that fire is gonna consume you. And so the book of Hebrews says, don’t take this lightly. Pay attention. This is life, and it’s in no other name. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ (Numbers 6:24-26, NKJV)
Go in that peace to love and serve this merciful, powerful, wonderful, loving, holy God, revealed in Jesus Christ, our King and our Lord. Amen? Amen. Good.
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