WARNING AGAINST REFUSING GOD

Hebrews 12:14-29

Key Verse: 12:25

“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”

In the previous passage we learned that God disciplines his children to produce a harvest of righteousness, peace, and holiness. Hardship for Christians is an opportunity to grow in the image of Christ. There are five warnings in Hebrews-warning to pay attention (2:1-4), warning against unbelief (3:7-19), warning against falling away (5:11-14), warning to persevere (10:19-25), and warning against refusing God (12:14-29). The final warning is significant because there will be no more warnings. There are many warning signs on the roads to prevent accidents. God gives many warnings because he loves us like parents warn their children. We have to take God’s warnings seriously because they provide safe journey to our eternal home. If we disobey God ignoring his warnings, we cannot escape God’s judgment in the coming eternal kingdom. Let’s listen to Jesus our eternal high priest carefully and enter his kingdom. I pray that God may open our spiritual eyes to give thanks to him and worship him acceptably with honor and respect.

PART I BE HOLY AND FAITHFUL TO INHERIT GOD’S BLESSINGS (14-17)

Look at verse 14. “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Here the author emphasizes spiritual maturity. Once we are saved by the blood of Jesus, we have to grow in maturity. Verse 14 defines our spiritual growth in two ways. First is our relationship with others. Many Christians were treated badly and their property was confiscated and they were scattered all over the world to keep their faith. How could they live in peace with all men with this terrible injustice and mistreatment? They should have fought back and expressed their anger toward their enemies. But the author encourages them to make every effort to live in peace with all men. Even Jesus said, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” How can we accept this passage? Division comes due to people’s rejection of Jesus. This is our dilemma. Should we condemn the world and exclude ourselves from the world? No, we have to go to the world and share the message of hope. Though the world is sinful, it is our mission field. We have to change people with the love of Christ. Jesus saved us to bring people to God from their sinful life. Therefore, we should not make everybody our enemies once we become a Christian. If we do that, soon all UMCP students will become our enemies. That’s not good. One man began to make everybody his enemies starting from his parents and all other people around him after he studies the Bible. He became a condemning machine that nobody wanted to be around him. We must do our best to live in peace with all men. How? We must remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. As long as we remember the grace of God, we can live in peace with all men. Do not miss the grace of God in your life. Apostle Paul preached the gospel of peace to all kinds of people because he remembered the grace of Jesus by saying, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Cor. 15:10a) The message of peace came to all men because Paul did not miss the grace of God in his life.

Second is our relationship with God. Since God is holy, we have to be holy to have fellowship with God.  Without holiness no one will see the Lord. No sin can stand in God’s presence. Holiness is a character building project in our spiritual life. These days nobody greets with, “Be holy.” They greet, “Have a lot of fun or be cool or chill out.” Most T.V. commercials promote sinful pleasures. Many colleges teach students techniques to get good jobs but they do not teach how to become a better person. Character is far more important than ability. New York governor Elliot Spitzer was an able prosecutor and administrator but he lacked character. How can we pursue holiness in such a bad environment?  It is essential for us to pursue a holy life to study and practice the word of God imitating the life of Jesus. God chose Israel to become a holy nation but they became a sinful nation. (Isa. 1:4) They could not endure God’s blessings and went into exile to Babylon as POWs. God wants us to be holy to imitate his character so that we may inherit his blessings. Verse 15 gives us a warning that one who misses the grace of God may become like a bitter root whose infidelity to God affects others. Here a bitter root refers to idol worship or false doctrine based on Deut. 29:18. We must turn away from a false doctrine of idol worship. Otherwise, we will affect other people like a bitter poison. Such a person would be godless like Esau. 

Look at verses 16-17. “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.” There are two kinds of unfaithfulness. First is sexual immorality. Sexually immoral person is unfaithful to their marriage partner and their vows. To be holy we should avoid sexual immorality. Second is unfaithfulness to God’s covenant. For example, Esau did not value his birthright. He was godless and unfaithful. He despised his birthright, God’s blessing as the oldest son. He traded his birthright to his younger brother, Jacob, for a bowl of soup. Esau valued food for his stomach more than God’s blessing. He was impatient when he was hungry. He said in Genesis 25:32, “’Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said. ‘What good is the birthright to me?’” Jacob said, “I got you.” Jacob was shrewd and Esau was foolish. Esau was not dying and he exaggerated his situation because of his hungry stomach. What a fool Esau was! Do not be like Esau. Do not even think about selling your inheritance right. Esau was out of his mind. He sold his inheritance right as the oldest son for the temporary gratification of a single meal. Later, he wanted to inherit his father’s blessing by saying, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” (Gen. 27:38) Then Esau wept aloud.  Isaac could not reverse his blessings to Jacob. The condition established by a past action was irreversible. There was no place for Isaac to reverse or change his blessing. There is no change of mind. Selling God’s blessing for temporary comfort will bring irreversible judgment (Heb 6:6). What is the spiritual lesson we learn here? We should not forfeit our inheritance right as God’s children for the temporary pleasures of this world. By the blood of Jesus we received God’s covenant to become the children of God. God kept our inheritance in heaven. But if we are unfaithful to God’s covenant, we might find our inheritance privileges irrevocably lost as were Esau’s. Do not forfeit your inheritance for temporary pleasure. We must be faithful to God’s covenant to inherit God’s kingdom. If we step outside of God’s will, we are outside the context in which he will bless. Esau’s example teaches us that it is important to have right value system. Let’s value God’s blessing more than food or money or any temporary pleasures the world offers.

PART II THE FINAL WARNING (18-29)

Verses 18-21 refer to the old covenant given to Israel on Mt. Sinai. After the Exodus, God gave his people the Law. When the Law was given, the holy mountain shook and made a thunderous sound. For the Law of God was so holy and holy that the mountain could not endure, but became shaky and smoky. It was an awesome and fearful state. He spoke with fire and people could bear his holiness. They begged that no further word be spoken to them because they could not bear what was commanded. God put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy. Sinful people could not approach God any longer because God is holy.  Even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” The Old covenant was based on the Law and if anyone violates the law, they were punished. All Israelites who rebelled against God were perished in the desert.

But God gave us a better covenant because we could not endure the heavy burden of the Law. The new covenant is based on God’s grace through the blood of Jesus. Look at verses 22-24. “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and is the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Now the author reminded his readers of a greater blessing to come to the heavenly city which is the city of the living God. The heavenly city is totally different than the frightening Mt. Sinai. It is not a place of fear and trembling but a place of peace and love. Who lives there? We can see thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly. They praise God with joyful sounds. We will see our forefathers whose names were written in heaven. Here the term “church of the firstborn” may mean the assembly of those whose inheritance rights are already won. They have already gone on to the heavenly regions where the angels are. Ancestors of faith such as Enoch, Abel, and Noah have gone to the heavenly city because their names were written in heaven as the firstborn.

Now let’s think about the new covenant with Jesus. In the new covenant Jesus is our mediator. Jesus is our high priest who went into heaven. He hears our prayers sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus sprinkled his blood to forgive our sins. Because of the blood of Jesus we can come to God, the judge of all men. Here the author contrasted the blood of Jesus with the blood of Abel. The blood of Abel called vengeance because Cain shed his innocence blood. But Jesus’ blood calls for forgiveness. Jesus offered his blood as a living sacrifice once for all to wash away our sins as white as snow. Because of Jesus we can inherit the kingdom of God. Because of Jesus, we can worship God. Because of Jesus our names are written in heaven. We received the new covenant through Jesus. We have greater privileges than were ever available under the Old covenant. Let’s praise God who blessed us to live under the new covenant. Tommy remembered the grace of God and decided to accept God’s call for mission.

Look at verse 25. “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?” We received God’s abundant blessings under the new covenant. Greater benefits also involve greater warnings. Now God is speaking, so there is no chance of escaping if we ignore his warning from heaven. The contrast between the two covenants is now focused as a contrast between a warning given on earth and the one that issues from heaven itself. Since the one who refused the Old Covenant did not escape, how could those of the New Covenant who turn away expect to do so? The author warned the Jewish Christians in 2:3, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” There is no escape if we do not listen to Jesus who now sits at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. This final warning is based on two spiritual realities. First is the certainty of God’s inescapable judgment. No matter what men may say, there will be God’s judgment. Those who are saved will receive the eternal life and those who are not saved will receive the eternal punishment at the Lord’s Day. Second is the security of the inheritance. Our heavenly inheritance is kept in heaven. It is sure and certain that we will inherit the heavenly as our reward. We should listen to Jesus because our inheritance is secure in heaven. Look at verse 26. “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” This passage is based on Haggai 2:6.  The Point is that all created and temporary things will be removed. Where is the glory of Rome today? The glory of the world will be gone like the flowers. Revelations 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” This passage shows is the remaking of the heavens and the earth. Look at verse 27. “The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken-that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” What is thing that cannot be shaken?  It is the word of God. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8) We have to Hold on to what endures. We have to hold on Jesus. The eternal kingdom Jesus would bring cannot be shaken. It is not movable.

What is the result of the life of faith? Look at verse 28. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” When we live a life of faith, and run the race, and fight the good fight, we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Therefore, it is important to worship with respect and honor and give thanks to God always. If we fail to do so, we will consumed by fire. A believer who departs from his magnificent privileges will invite God’s retribution. In conclusion, God blessed us to have the new covenant through the blood of Jesus. I pray that we may listen to Jesus’ word carefully and follow his will by faith. May God bless us to worship him with thanksgiving and honor and glory! Let’s read the key verse 25.