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A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

By Joe Boot/ October 13, 2013

Series  Hebrews and the High Priesthood

Context  Westminster Chapel Toronto

Topic  Kingdom Of God

Scripture  Hebrews 12:18-29

We live in a time of social, political, and economic upheaval. Despite all this, God is sovereign.

Scripture:  Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon Notes:

  1. We live in a time of social, political, and economic upheaval.  Despite all this, God is sovereign.
  2. The kingdom of Jesus is established by the authority of God from heaven, attested to by Christ’s resurrection.
  3. The gospel is good news about the reign of Jesus Christ.
  4. Messiah’s reign and the supremacy of Christ is mediated to the whole world by His people (Luke 22:29; Rom. 15:12; Isaiah 49:6).
  5. By the death and resurrection of Jesus we may become subject to His reign as citizens.
  6. Outline: Two mountains, two blood types, two kingdoms.
  7. Recognizing the holy God of Sinai and His wrath against sin is necessary to for us to receive God’s grace at Zion.
  8. Salvation is the unmerited gift of God; the giving of the law to Israel at Sinai was an act of grace. 
  9. We are equally unworthy of God’s grace and salvation.
  10. Our natural condition is to hide our guilt with a façade of self righteousness.
  11. We are to come to the mountain of God’s city: mount Zion, where we’re brought before a joyful assembly before God.
  12. The blood sacrifices were brought to an end in Christ’s final atonement, when He bore our sentence of death.
  13. Abel’s blood type speaks death and vengeance to us.
  14. Christ’s blood speaks mercy, grace, forgiveness, new life.
  15. True meaning and purpose is found in serving the eternal plan of God.
  16. The Israelites, by their life and actions, rejected God’s will.
  17. If we reject the Word of God spoken by Christ, we will face more severe consequences.
  18. Now Christ’s voice, which shook the earth, shall shake not only the earth but heaven. This speaks of Christ’s sovereignty over all of history.
  19. Problems and difficulties in the world are evidence of this shaking. Only that which cannot be shaken, that which is built on God’s Word, on Christ, will remain (Matt. 7:24-27).
  20. While the shaking is happening, hold onto grace, for we are receiving a kingdom, a gift from God.
  21. Our response is to cling onto the grace of God, serve Him with godly fear, and no equivocation with the world. 
  22. Our God is a consuming fire, the Judge over history. 
  23. God is utterly opposed to evil, just as He is utterly devoted to mercy and grace in the Gospel.
  24. Left to ourselves, we are prone to sin just as Israel was.
  25. We are to be most thankful for being brought into Zion.
  26. In resurrection glory, Christ now wears the crown of cosmic kingship.
  27. Christ is Lord of every circumstance in our lives and so we are assured of safety in His hands.

Application Questions:

  1. What are the sure foundations of the kingdom of God?
  2. How is the power and authority of Christ manifest in the world?
  3. What is symbolized by the mountains, Sinai and Zion?
  4. Contrast the significance of Abel’s blood and Christ’s.
  5. In what ways are the kingdoms of the world undergoing cosmic shaking today?   How should we respond?
  6. In what areas are we prone to reject God’s will?
  7. How is the Lordship of Christ comforting to us?

Sermon Notes