In 1986, Texas gem dealer Roy Whetstine was pawing through a Tupperware bowl of cheaply priced rocks at a mineral show in Arizona when he came across a lavender-gray, potato-size stone that looked a bit special. “You want $15 for this?” Whetstine asked the amateur collector. “Tell you what,” replied the collector. “I’ll let you have it for $10. It’s not as pretty as the others.”

Whetstine walked away with the world’s largest star sapphire, later valued at as high as $2.28 million! He planned to sell his 1,905-carat bargain in its uncut form for $1.5 million and put the profits in trust for his two sons, each of whom had given Dad $5 to bring back a little something from the gem show (Newsweek [11/24/1986], p. 75).

If you don’t know what you possess, you may disregard it or let it go for something worth far less. Esau did that—he didn’t appreciate the value of his birthright, which entitled him to the blessings of God’s promises to Abraham, and so he traded it for a bowl of stew. He gave away eternal blessings for instant gratification. Bad trade!

But that’s what the original readers of Hebrews were in danger of doing! Under the threat of persecution, they were tempted to abandon Christ to return to their Jewish faith. So the author here contrasts the terrors of Mount Sinai, representing Jewish life under the law, with the glories of Mount Zion, picturing the joy of life under the new covenant. He wants us to know that right living flows out of right knowing. If you know the riches that you possess in Christ, you won’t want to go back to the empty, fleeting pleasures of the world. John Newton put it this way (“Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken,” verse 4):

Savior, if of Zion’s city, I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in Thy name;
Fading is the world’s best pleasure, All its boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure None but Zion’s children know.

So the author does not want us to make Esau’s spiritually fatal mistake. He draws a sharp contrast between life under the old covenant and life under the new covenant. The feeling of the old covenant was terror and judgment. The feeling of the new covenant is joyous celebration with the saints and angels in the presence of God. There is still reverence, but the blood of Jesus has taken away the dread of judgment. The old covenant was physical and earthly; the new covenant is spiritual and heavenly. The old covenant put distance between the holy God and the sinful people. The new covenant invites us to dwell in the city of the living God through the blood of Jesus. So his message is:

If you have trusted in Jesus’ blood, you have not come to the terrors of the law, but to the joys of the new covenant.

1. If you have trusted in Jesus’ blood, you have not come to the terrors of the law (12:18-21).

These verses summarize the story of God’s giving the law at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:10-25). You may wonder, “Why would God reveal Himself in such a terrifying manner?” Even Moses, who had seen God in the burning bush, who had performed God’s miracles before Pharaoh, was full of fear and trembling. (The quote in v. 21 is not in the original story. The author may have been relying on Jewish oral tradition, or he may have included Moses with the people in their fear.) This doesn’t sound like the kind of warm, grandfatherly God that you’d want to cuddle up to!

The answer to that question depends on the answer to another question: “Why did God give the law?” Paul answers that question in Galatians 3:19 ff. He says (Gal. 3:22) that the law was given to “shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” He goes on to explain (Gal. 3:24), “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

By nature, we’re all blind to the extent of our sin before a holy God. We compare ourselves with terrorists and child molesters and think, “Sure, I’ve got my faults, but I’m not a terrible sinner!” And, we know that God is holy, but we don’t grasp what that means. But then the law comes in and shows us God’s absolute holiness. With Isaiah (6:5), we say, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah didn’t know that he had a dirty mouth before he saw God in His holiness. But the instant he saw God’s holiness, he was aware of his own sinfulness.

The route to Zion goes through Sinai, where we encounter the terrors of God’s law. His law should teach us two things:

A. God’s law should instill in us a fear of His holiness and judgment.

The scene at Mount Sinai was that of a severe thunderstorm, but it was far more than that. In addition to the darkness, gloom, wind, and flashes of lightning, there was the blast of a trumpet, which was probably a supernatural sound from heaven. The earth quaked violently (Exod. 19:18). Whether the people could understand the exact words of God’s voice from heaven or not, I don’t know. But it was such a terrible sound that they “begged that no further word be spoken to them” (Heb. 12:19). God had commanded that any person or animal that touched the mountain must be killed from a distance, either by stoning or by arrows (Exod. 19:12-13). Like Uzzah who was struck dead for touching the ark, so anyone who touched anything that had touched the mountain where God revealed Himself would die.

John Calvin opens The Institutes of the Christian Religion (ed. by John McNeill, [Westminster Press], 1:1:1) with this profound sentence: “Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” He means the knowledge that comes through Scripture. In the same section, he continues (1:1:1),

Each of us must, then, be so stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness as to attain at least some knowledge of God. Thus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and—what is more—depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone. To this extent we are prompted by our own ills to contemplate the good things of God; and we cannot seriously aspire to him before we begin to become displeased with ourselves.

He goes on (1:1:2) to show that the only way we get a clear knowledge of ourselves is to look upon God’s face. His holiness reveals our pride, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and sin. Until we have some understanding of God as revealed in Scripture, we flatter ourselves and think that we’re not all that bad. Calvin gives many biblical examples (1:1:3) of men who normally were “firm and constant,” but when they got a glimpse of God’s majesty and glory, they were “overwhelmed by it and almost annihilated.”

John Newton expressed the same idea in his well-known hymn, “Amazing Grace”: “’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” Charles Spurgeon went through the same experience. In his autobiography, he spends a chapter describing how the terrors of God’s law tormented him before he came to saving faith in Christ. Martin Luther knew the same thing. He hated God’s righteousness until he came to understand that God imputes His righteousness to us by faith alone.

In my experience of growing up in a Christian home, I knew very little of God’s holiness or my own depravity before I trusted Christ. But the more I have come to understand the holiness of God, the more I have recognized the sinfulness of my own heart. That drives me to the cross as my only refuge. And while the cross removes the dread of judgment, it should never remove our sense of reverence in the presence of the holy God.

B. God’s law should instill in us the need for His mediator.

At Mount Sinai, Moses and Aaron were the only ones allowed to go up the mountain into God’s presence. But the people could not draw near to God through Moses or Aaron. They were men with sin of their own. But Jesus Christ is our sinless high priest, who offered Himself as our sacrifice  (Heb. 7:26-27). As Paul wrote (1 Tim. 2:5), “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

The author’s point is that while the law reveals God’s holiness and convicts us as deserving of His judgment, Jesus is God’s mediator who paid the penalty for all that believe in Him. So, the route to Zion goes through Sinai, where we encounter the terrors of God’s law. But once you’ve arrived in Zion, why would you want to go back to Sinai? So after describing the place we have left, the author goes on to show the place where we’ve come:

2. If you have trusted in Christ, you have come to the joys of the new covenant in Jesus’ blood (12:22-24).

The overall feel of these verses is in stark contrast to the preceding verses. Instead of fear and separation, we have joy and inclusion. He lists seven joys for new covenant believers in Christ:

A. You have come to the joy of inclusion in the city of the living God.

The author describes the new place where believers have come with three terms. The first is Mount Zion. This was the name for the stronghold in Jerusalem that David conquered (2 Sam. 5:6-8). It became a synonym for Jerusalem (Ps. 147:12; Amos 1:2; Micah 4:2). It represents the place where God, the King, dwells with His people.

Second, you have come to the city of the living God. Hebrews mentions the city more than any other New Testament book. This is “the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (11:10). It’s the city that God prepared for the Old Testament saints who died in faith without receiving the promises (11:13, 16). And while we now dwell in it spiritually, there is a sense in which it is yet “to come” (13:14). City conveys a sense of orderliness and security against the enemy. It’s a place where needs for food and water are met, and where there is fellowship with others.

But this is not any city; it’s the city of the living God. In Hebrews 3:12, the author warned us, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” In 9:14, he wrote that the blood of Christ would “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” As opposed to ritualistic, legalistic religion, through Christ we enter into an abiding relationship with the living God.

The third term the author uses to describe the same thing is the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the holy city that John saw, “coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2). He goes on to say that it represents God dwelling among His people, and promises that when it comes down, God will wipe away every tear, and there will no longer be any death, mourning, crying, or pain (Rev. 21:4). The fulfillment of these promises awaits the second coming of Jesus.

B. You have come to the joy of myriads of angels in festal assembly.

Most scholars understand “general assembly” (NASB) to be connected with the myriads of angels. The Greek word was used of a festival or celebration. It points to the angels joyously worshiping God, and the fact that we join their chorus of praise. This, too, is something to which already we have come, and yet the full experience remains in the future. We have come to it in the sense that when we worship God in the joy of our salvation, the angels join with us (1 Pet. 1:12). But in the future, as John saw (Rev. 5:11-12),

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

While we cannot begin to experience anything that glorious on earth, I challenge you to work at your worship. Apathetic, ho-hum, “worship” is sin! It shows that we don’t understand the majesty of our God, and we are not focused on His great salvation that He lavished on us by His grace. Shake off your apathy and ask God to fill your heart with His joy. You’re joining the angels in chorus as you gather with the saints to worship!

C. You have come to the joy of the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

Of the nine New Testament occurrences of firstborn, seven refer to Jesus (Matt. 1:25; Luke 2:7; Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:5). Once it refers to the firstborn in Egypt (Heb. 11:28), and here (a plural) it refers to the saints. The term emphasizes our rights of inheritance as God’s children. Natural families have only one firstborn. But in God’s family, as F. F. Bruce puts it (Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 377), “All the people of Christ are the ‘firstborn’ children of God, through their union with Him who is The Firstborn par excellence; their birthright is not to be bartered away, as was Esau’s.”

D. You have come to the joy of a Judge, who is God of all.

Most Greek scholars translate the phrase in that manner. But you may wonder, “How is it a joy to come before an all-powerful Judge who knows your every thought and motive?” There are three answers to that question. First, the author was writing to a persecuted church. They could rest in the fact that one day God will judge all their enemies who do not repent. No one will get away with anything. When God judges wicked Babylon, the saints are encouraged, “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her” (Rev. 18:20).

Second, we can rejoice that God will reward everything that we have done for the name of Christ. Even a cup of cold water given in His name will be rewarded (Matt. 10:42). And so, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Gal. 6:9).

Third, we can rejoice that we have come to the Judge, who is God of all, because living with that awareness will cure us of the sin that damages us and others. Who would commit a crime while standing before the judge in court? While God will not revoke our salvation because of our sin, He will discipline us severely (Heb. 12:4-11). At His judgment seat, all our wood, hay, and straw will be burned. We “will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). We can rejoice to serve such a Judge, who disciplines us for our good!

E. You have come to the joy of the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

This refers to all of the saints who have died and gone to heaven. They have not yet received their new resurrection bodies, which awaits the second coming of Christ, but their spirits are made perfect. They are absent from the body, but present with the Lord. For them, all temptation and sin is over. They are completely righteous in Christ, and will be throughout all eternity. Although we are still in the body, fighting against sin, we are one with these saints, and one day soon we will be with them in heaven.

F. You have come to the joy of Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.

Although I must be brief, this is the best of all. We have already considered this in previous studies. The author uses His human name, Jesus, because it is as a man that Jesus shed His blood for our sins. As God, He is the only one who can mediate between the Holy Father and us as sinful creatures.

Note one other nuance here. In Greek, there are two words for “new.” One means “new in quality;” the other means “recent.” (Some Greek scholars doubt that the words had this difference in the NT, but others see a distinction.) This is the word meaning “recent,” and it’s the only time that this word is connected with the new covenant. Perhaps the Hebrews, as with most of us, were resistant to anything new. Change is difficult. You can almost hear some of the old guard saying, “Why do we need this new covenant? The old one is good enough for us!” But the author is saying that the new is better (8:6). The old is obsolete. Finally,

G. You have come to the joy of the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Some understand this to refer to Abel’s sacrifice, but in Genesis 4:10, God tells Cain that Abel’s blood “is crying to Me from the ground.” So I understand it here to mean that whereas Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance and justice, Jesus’ blood, sprinkled on the believer, speaks God’s word of forgiveness and mercy to the guilty sinner. This is the last of 12 uses of the word “better” in Hebrews. Jesus’ blood is better than our blood, which God demands as the penalty for our sin. It is better than the blood of bulls and goats, which never could atone for sin (Heb. 10:4). If by faith, you are sprinkled with His blood, you have the joy of knowing that God has forgiven all your sins!

Conclusion

So the question is, “Where are you living?” Are you living on Mount Sinai, trying to earn acceptance with a holy God by keeping His law? If so, you should be in terror, because it is impossible to meet the demands of His holiness. If you have trusted Christ, you are living on Mount Zion. Two applications:

First, stay focused on what Christ has done for you. In a similar context where Paul is warning about the dangers of legalism, he wrote, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). That’s where all of our treasures lie! Don’t forget it! “Keep seeking” implies a lifelong quest. If you lose sight of the benefits of Zion, you may be tempted, like Esau, to trade your treasures in Christ for the world’s empty pleasures.

Second, maintain the biblical balance between familiar fellowship with the Father and reverential awe of His holiness. We are to draw near to His throne to receive grace for our every need (Heb. 4:16), but we also need to remember that “our God is a consuming fire” (12:29).

Several years ago, Marla and I, along with our son Daniel and one of his friends, attempted to climb Mount Windom, one of Colorado’s 14ers. We were within sight of the top when a thunderstorm moved in on us. The only place we could go was to lie between some of the boulders and pray that we wouldn’t be struck by lightning. We knew that many people have died that way, so it was a scary experience.

A couple of years ago, Marla and I were in another thunderstorm on top of Bill Williams Mountain, west of Flagstaff. But this time, we weren’t afraid. Instead, we were reveling in the awesome display of God’s power. The difference was, we were inside the lookout tower, which is grounded with lightning rods. Although the lightning was crackling around us and the thunder was booming, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

If you are at Mount Sinai, you are in grave danger before the holy God, because you’re exposed to His judgment. But if you are on Mount Zion, you are secure because the blood of Jesus has covered your sins. You can revel in God’s holy presence without fear of His judgment! Live on Mount Zion!

Discussion Questions

1. How can we know if we are balanced between the fear of God and the love of God?
2. Why is legalism more comfortable in some ways than living in the presence of the holy, living God?
3. What are some practical ways to shake off apathy in worship?
4. How, practically, does one “keep seeking the things above”?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Thanks to the profusion of frivolous lawsuits, we now may enjoy the lunacy of ridiculous warnings on various products. A hair dryer warning label wisely advised, “Do not use while sleeping.” A portable stroller warned, “Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage.” A package of fireplace logs intoned, “Caution: Risk of fire!” A dessert box pointed out, “Product will be particularly hot after heating.” A snow sled label stated, “Beware: Sled may develop high speed under certain snow conditions.” We used to have a fold-up windshield screen to block the sun while our van was parked. It wisely advised, “Do not drive with screen in windshield.”

We can thank the litigation-happy lawyers for injecting these bits of humor into our daily lives! But the downside of such ludicrous warnings is, they may make us ignore legitimate warnings. And there are some warnings that we ignore to our peril!

God’s warning of eternal judgment for those who reject the gospel is the most perilous warning in the world. The author of Hebrews was concerned that some of his readers, who had professed faith in Christ, were in danger of abandoning Christ under threat of persecution for the more comfortable old Jewish rituals. And so he issues a repeated, final warning to urge them to persevere in their professed faith in Christ. His message is really a repeat of what he said in Hebrews 2:1-3:

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

He argued in a similar manner in 10:28-29:

Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

These are arguments from the lesser to the greater, and that is the force of our text. If those under the old, inferior covenant incurred God’s judgment for their disobedience, how much more will we be judged if we neglect God’s provision in Christ? If the signs of God’s presence were frightening when He shook Mount Sinai, how much more frightening will it be when He shakes the entire creation? But “since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken,” and since “our God is a consuming fire,” the only proper response is to persevere in faithful, reverent service to Him.

In light of our great privileges and our great God, we must serve Him with obedient, grateful, and reverent hearts.

We have great privileges; we have a great God; and therefore, we have great responsibilities.

1. God has given us great privileges.

Throughout this epistle, the author has repeatedly shown the superiority of Christ and the new covenant over Moses and the old covenant. If you possess something of superior quality, why would you want to give it up and go back to something of inferior quality? We can sum up our privileges here under two headings:

A. God has spoken to us from heaven through Jesus’ blood.

“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven” (12:25). First, to clarify an interpretive matter, some argue that there are two speakers here: Moses, who warned Israel on earth; and, God, who warns us now from heaven. But since verse 26 indicates that the same voice that shook the earth then is the voice that speaks now, probably God is the only speaker in both instances. So the contrast is not between Moses’ voice and God’s voice, but rather between God speaking on earth at Mount Sinai then and His speaking from heaven now.

The author begins the Book of Hebrews, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (1:1-2). God’s Son is His supreme and final way of speaking to us. But, in particular, God has spoken to us through the blood of His Son, “which speaks better than the blood of Abel” (12:24).

When the Jews heard God’s voice thunder at Sinai, they were so terrified that they “begged that no further word be spoken to them” (12:19). The same Greek word used in that verse (“begged”) is used in verse 25 (“refuse”). The author sees the Jews’ request at Sinai as a parable of their hardness of heart toward God that led to their ingratitude and disobedience in the wilderness (Philip Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 556). They begged not to hear any more of God’s voice, and look what happened to them. But now, God has spoken in a greater way, through His Son, and even more through the blood of His Son. “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking” now!

The word translated “refuse” is used in Luke 14:18, 19, in the parable of the slighted dinner invitation. The man made great preparation and sent out invitations to come to his dinner party, but he received lame excuses in response: “I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.” “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.”

God’s invitation in the gospel, to forgive all your sins and to give you eternal life, if you will respond, is the greatest invitation in the world! What more could He do than to send His own Son and shed His innocent blood as the penalty for every sinner who will believe in Him? Since the gospel is the greatest privilege imaginable, to refuse it is the greatest sin imaginable! We who have received God’s gift in the gospel should count it as our greatest possession, far above anything this world has to offer!

B. God gives us a kingdom which cannot be shaken.

The idea of God’s kingdom is not a major theme in Hebrews. The author mentioned it in 1:8, citing Psalm 45:6, “But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.’” But while the word “kingdom” is not used, the concept is certainly behind his references to “Mount Zion,” “the city of the living God,” and “the heavenly Jerusalem” (12:22).

There are several things to note about this kingdom. First, we have already received it, and yet it is still to come in its fullness. “Receive” is a present participle, implying that we are in the process of receiving this kingdom. We have already come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and the heavenly Jerusalem, and yet in another sense, we have not come to this city in its final form. That awaits the second coming of the King. The word “receive” means that we do not work to merit this kingdom. It is a gift that God freely bestows on all that believe.

In 12:28 he says that it is “a kingdom which cannot be shaken.” This means that it will outlast all earthly kingdoms. Because it is God’s kingdom, it will remain “forever and ever” (1:8). Every earthly kingdom that has been established has eventually fallen to other, more powerful, kingdoms. The history of the world is that of the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms. Men such as Alexander the Great have devoted their lives to establishing these kingdoms, only to die and have their kingdoms broken up. The only kingdom that will endure is the kingdom of God. We are privileged to be members of this kingdom by His grace. Even if we are persecuted to death, God’s eternal kingdom cannot be shaken, and we are heirs of it through faith in Christ.

So, God has given us great privileges. As we saw in our last study, we should not forget these great privileges that we inherit in Christ, so that we do not let them go for the world’s bowl of stew, as Esau did. But there is a second major theme in our text:

2. God is a great God.

The God who speaks to us through the gospel is the same God who spoke to Israel at Mount Sinai. Two themes bring out God’s greatness in our text:

A. God is great because His voice will shake both the earth and heaven.

When God spoke at Mount Sinai, the earth shook violently (Exod. 19:18). The author of Hebrews refers to that event (12:26), but then alludes to a prophecy from Haggai 2:6, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” Some argue that this refers exclusively to the spiritual events during the first coming of Christ, in which the Jewish rituals and outward religion were shaken and the spiritual kingdom of the church was established. While there may be an initial fulfillment of the prophecy in Christ’s first coming, I agree with those who understand the final fulfillment of this prophecy to relate to Christ’s second coming, when all of the kingdoms of this world will be shaken into oblivion. After reporting his vision of a great earthquake (Rev. 11:13), John goes on to say, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).

God’s shaking of the earth and heaven is a frequent image in the Bible to refer to the final judgment in the day of the Lord. In Isaiah 13:13, the Lord says, “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger.” Isaiah 24:18-21 prophesies,

Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare; for the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken asunder, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again. So it will happen in that day, that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth.

Revelation 6:12-17 reports,

I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Revelation 16:17-19 reports a final terrible earthquake:

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

In Matthew 24:7-8, Jesus predicted of the times just before His coming, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

So when a huge earthquake off the coast of Sumatra causes a tsunami that kills 150,000 people all around southern Asia, we who were spared should view it as a birth pang of coming events. When a woman goes into labor, it tells her that the culmination of her pregnancy is near. Get ready, the baby is coming soon! In a similar manner, the birth pangs of devastating earthquakes tell the inhabitants of this world, “Get ready, the big event is about to happen! Some day soon, God will speak and the earth and all heaven will shake as they have never shaken before.” All that will remain is the kingdom of God and of His Christ. Make sure that you are in submission to the King of the universe before He speaks that terrible word of judgment!

B. God is great because He is a consuming fire.

Verse 29 refers to Deuteronomy 4:24. Moses warned Israel in verse 23 to watch themselves, so that they would not forget God’s covenant and fall into idolatry. Then he added, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Like the earthquake, the image of fire is a frequent picture of God’s powerful judgment. I can only mention a few. In Isaiah 33:14, the prophet writes, “Sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” He also says of those who have transgressed against God, “For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched” (Isa. 66:24). Jesus cited that verse as a description of hell (Mark 9:48).

In a similar way, the prophet Zephaniah writes (1:18), “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.” In Zephaniah 3:8, the Lord says that He will assemble the kingdoms, “To pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.” John the Baptist said of Jesus (Luke 3:17), “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Some try to dodge the implication of these verses by saying that the God of the Old Testament was a God of judgment, but the God of the New Testament is a God of mercy. But He is one and the same God! The author of Hebrews calls the God who is a consuming fire, “our God.” The God of Sinai is the same as the God of Zion. Peter tells us (2 Pet. 3:9) that God “is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” But keep reading! In the next verse (3:10) he continues, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” These things are a merciful warning for unbelievers (Heb. 12:25), but for we who believe, they are a promise (Heb. 12:26), because they usher in the “new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).

Thus God has given us great privileges. Our God is a great God, whose voice shakes earth and heaven, whose fire will consume every adversary. It follows, then…

3. We have great responsibilities: to be careful to serve Him with obedient, grateful, and reverent hearts.

There are four responsibilities here:

A. We must be careful not to refuse Him who is speaking.

“See to it,” means, “Watch out! Be careful!” The author used the same command in 3:12, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” It means, “Pay attention, because if you don’t, you could fall into the same sins that engulfed Israel in the wilderness.”

Do you take care about your spiritual life? Are you on guard about spiritual dangers that could dilute your devotion to God? Do you live in light of the coming judgment? Jesus used this same Greek word when He warned (Mark 13:33), “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time [of judgment] will come.” He goes on to warn that perhaps He may come suddenly and find us asleep. Then He concludes, “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” (Mark 13:37).

B. We must serve God with obedient hearts.

“Do not refuse Him who is speaking.” He is alluding to Israel’s disobedience in the wilderness. They faced some hardships, but rather than thanking God for delivering them from slavery in Egypt, they grumbled and threatened to go back to Egypt. They should have joyfully endured any trials, trusting that the God who had delivered them would now sustain them. The Hebrews were facing persecution. Would they entrust themselves to the faithful God who had delivered them from bondage to sin, or would they grumble and turn back to Judaism?

How is your attitude when God sends trials into your life? Do you grumble and turn back to the world? Or, do you obediently persevere in serving Him, knowing that He cares for you?

C. We must serve God with grateful hearts.

“Let us show gratitude.” The KJV translates the phrase literally, “Let us have grace.” It may mean that, in the sense of not abandoning God’s grace in Christ for the legalistic old covenant. But the phrase is an idiom that means, “be thankful” (Luke 17:9; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:3). There is a connection between the two concepts. If we have experienced God’s grace, we should be thankful. Our service to God is never an attempt to “pay Him back” for His grace, which is impossible. Rather, it is the overflow of a heart that gives thanks “for His indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

D. We must serve God with reverent hearts.

“We offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.” F. F. Bruce (Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 385) comments, “Reverence and awe before His holiness are not incompatible with grateful trust and love in response to His mercy.” God is our loving Father to whom we are invited to draw near (Heb. 4:16), but He is also “a consuming fire” (12:29). Probably most Christians in our day err on the side of being too chummy and casual with God, not on the side of reverence and awe. We should hold these truths in balance.

The word translated service means worshipful service. It always refers to that which is done for God. Paul uses the noun in Romans 12:1, when he exhorts us, “by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” The idea is to offer to God, out of reverence for who He is, every aspect of our lives. Does reverence for God motivate all that you do for Him? It should!

Conclusion

Everything hinges on knowing who God is and what He has done for us by His grace in Christ. He has given us great privileges, by speaking to us from heaven through Jesus’ blood, and by giving us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. He is the great God, whose voice will shake both earth and heaven. He is a consuming fire. So we have great responsibilities: we should take heed to serve Him with obedient, grateful, and reverent hearts.

Discussion Questions

1. When we’re so bombarded by the world, how can we keep our focus properly on God and His kingdom?
2. How can we know if we have the proper balance between God’s kindness and His severity?
3. To what extent should we emphasize God’s judgment (as against His love) when we witness?
4. Since believers do not fear final judgment, is the fear of God a legitimate motive to avoid sin? How does Matt. 5:27-30 apply?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Perhaps you’re wondering why I would spend an entire message on a single verse that is fairly easy to understand, a verse that most churchgoers would agree with. Let me explain.

Over the past 40 years, our culture has taken a U-turn away from the Christian view of marriage and sexual morality that was prevalent before that time. While divorce and sexual immorality are not new, they used to be frowned upon and marital faithfulness was viewed as desirable. But beginning in the 1960’s, our culture threw off Christian standards and openly embraced “free” sex and easy divorce. Openness toward homosexuality began to make inroads, so that now it is widely promoted as a way of life that should not only not be condemned, but be accepted as normal.

It would be naïve to think that the church is insulated from these powerful cultural trends. Frances Shaeffer observed, “People drift along from generation to generation, and the morally unthinkable becomes thinkable as the years move on” (cited by Erwin Lutzer, The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage [Moody Press], p. 57). It is a commonly known fact that the divorce rate among evangelical Christians is no different than that of our culture at large.

Also, evangelicals are not doing well in the area of sexual purity. Leadership ([Winter, 1988], pp. 12-13, 24), a journal for pastors, commissioned a poll to determine how common is pastoral indiscretion. They found that since entering local church ministry, 23 percent of pastors had done something with someone other than their spouse that they considered sexually inappropriate. Twelve percent admitted to having extra-marital intercourse. Among those who were not pastors, the figures doubled! Also, 20 percent of pastors admitted to looking at sexually oriented media at least once a month, and that was before the internet! I assume that the numbers have not gotten better in the ensuing years.

Because of the importance of godly marriages as the foundation of our church and society, our text is extremely important. The connection with the preceding context is that love of the brethren (13:1) must start in the home, between Christian couples. To practice biblical love, husbands and wives must guard themselves against sexual infidelity. To restrict sex to marriage was a novel idea to many in the first century. Men often had mistresses or could go to temple prostitutes. To call people to lifelong fidelity to a single spouse was radically counter-cultural. It has become so again in our culture. We have an opportunity, through moral purity and godly marriages, to shine in the darkness around us for Jesus Christ. We can sum up our text:

Since God ordained marriage and sex within marriage, He will judge those who practice sex outside of marriage.

Before we look at the verse, note that Satan tries to get us to go to extremes on one side or the other. If he can’t get us to move towards sexual promiscuity, he tempts us with asceticism. Asceticism is the idea that you attain godliness by denying yourself certain things that are not prohibited in Scripture, whether food, certain comforts, or sexual pleasure in marriage. The apostle Paul strongly condemns asceticism in Colossians 2:16-23, where he concludes (v. 23), “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” In 1 Timothy 4:3, he warns against “men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.” So we need the balance of Scripture to avoid extremes.

1. Marriage, including the sexual relationship in marriage, is to be held in honor among all.

The word honor means precious or valuable. Paul uses it of “precious stones” (1 Cor. 3:12). Peter uses the word to describe the “precious blood” of Christ (1 Pet. 1:19) and God’s “precious and magnificent promises” (2 Pet. 1:4). “Marriage bed” is a euphemism for sex in marriage.

A. We should honor marriage because God ordained it at creation.

Marriage is honorable or precious because God instituted it in the Garden, before sin entered this world. Before that, He concluded that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18), and so He created Eve for Adam. Since marriage comes from God and was begun with the first man and woman, it should be held in honor among all. Note further:

(1). All three persons of the Trinity honor marriage.

God the Father honored marriage by instituting it in the Garden. God the Son honored marriage by performing His first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11). He also confronted the loose divorce practices that had evolved in Jewish society and reaffirmed God’s original intent in marriage (Matt. 19:1-9). God the Holy Spirit honored marriage by inspiring the apostle Paul to write that marriage is an earthly picture of Christ and His church (Eph. 5:25-33; see also Rev. 21:9).

(2). Honorable marriage as ordained by God is a covenant between a man and a woman for life.

God created one woman for Adam, not many women and not a man! While God tolerated polygamy in the Old Testament, you cannot find a single example of a harmonious polygamous marriage. It always created problems. Also, while God tolerates divorce under certain conditions, it always reflects the hardness of the human heart (Matt. 19:8) and God states plainly that He hates it (Mal. 2:16). As for the idea of homosexual “marriage,” there is no biblical basis for it, in spite of the attempts of some to justify it. Homosexuality is uniformly condemned in the Bible as sin (Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10).

It is important to affirm that biblical marriage is a lifelong covenant relationship (Mal. 2:14). The sexual union is to be restricted within the bounds of that covenant relationship. To engage in sex outside of marriage is sin.

I want to mention several ways that we dishonor marriage and then some ways that we can honor marriage.

B. We dishonor marriage…

(1). By viewing celibacy as more spiritual.

Paul makes it clear that celibacy is a special gift from God that enables a person to remain single and control sexual desires so that he or she has more time to be devoted to the Lord. But he readily acknowledges that not all have this gift (1 Cor. 7:1-2, 8-9, 32-35). As we’ve already seen, he specifically condemns those who forbid marriage (1 Tim. 4:3).

But in spite of Paul’s warning against those who forbid marriage, the early church developed the view that it is more spiritual to be celibate. Origen, an early church father, had himself castrated so that he could be free of sexual temptation. Augustine, who had a concubine and a son with her, thought that he had to give her up and devote himself to celibacy to follow Christ. I think it’s sad that he did not marry her. He viewed sex in marriage as a necessary evil to procreate children, but not as God’s gift to be enjoyed. The Roman Catholic requirement that priests be celibate furthers the view that celibacy is more spiritual. Martin Luther broke with that unbiblical view when he married a former nun and extolled the blessings of marital love.

(2). By saying that homosexual “marriage” is valid.

I’ve already commented on this, but let me add that we do not hate homosexuals by proclaiming God’s holy standards. Sin of any kind always damages those who engage in it. If I saw someone blindly running toward a cliff, the loving thing to do is to yell, “Stop!” We do not love people if we do not warn about the dangers of all sexual sin. Paul wrote (1 Cor. 6:18), “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.” We dishonor God’s institution of marriage and we do not practice biblical love if we do not proclaim His standards of sexual purity.

(3). By following our culture’s no-fault divorce practices.

I realize that many Christians have been divorced, and that if you could, you would turn back the clock and do many things differently. I do not want to add to your grief and pain. But I must set the biblical standard back where it belongs. As God’s people, we must reverse the trend of the past 40 years. People should be able to look at Christian marriages and marvel that we have stayed together and worked through difficulties because of the covenant that we entered into before God.

(4). By marrying an unbeliever.

Many Christians do not even consider it a sin to marry an unbeliever, and yet God calls it an abomination (Mal. 2:11). Paul makes it clear that we are not to be bound together with unbelievers and that we are only free to marry in the Lord (2 Cor. 6:14; 1 Cor. 7:39). Since marriage is to be a picture of Christ and the church, it destroys that picture to enter into marriage with an unbeliever. I’ve had professing Christian young women tell me that they’ve prayed about marrying an unbeliever, and “feel a peace” about doing so. But it is never peace from God, because He does not give His peace when we sin. You and your children will suffer the consequences if you enter into such a marriage.

If you are already married to an unbeliever, Paul instructs you to remain in that marriage, if possible (1 Cor. 7:12-16). Perhaps God will be gracious in converting your mate. But stories of how God worked to convert an unbelieving mate never justify sinning by entering such a mixed marriage in the first place (Rom. 6:1-2).

(5). By having sexual relations outside of the marriage covenant.

This is the main point of our text. Note that the two parts of the second half of the verse correspond to the two parts of the first half of the verse. “Fornicators” (single people who have sex) dishonor the institution of marriage. “Adulterers” (married people who have sex with someone other than their spouse) defile the marriage bed. (For some strange reason, the NIV reverses the commands at the end of the verse and adds the word “all” before “sexually immoral.” This confuses the symmetrical structure of the verse.) The Greek text omits the verb, which must be supplied from the context. Some versions take it as indicative (“Marriage is honorable…”). But in light of the commands in the context, it should probably be understood as exhortation, as in the NASB.

We’ve seen that we should honor marriage because God ordained it at creation. We dishonor marriage by saying that celibacy is more spiritual; by saying that homosexual “marriage” is valid; by following our culture’s no-fault divorce practices; by marrying an unbeliever; and, by having sexual relations outside of marriage.

C. We honor marriage:

Here, we could go through the same list as in the previous point and state the opposite. We honor and affirm marriage by viewing it as just as spiritually fulfilling as celibacy, depending on one’s spiritual gift. We honor it by holding firmly to heterosexual marriage as God’s only option. We honor it by staying committed to our mate and working through difficulties, rather than bailing out. We honor marriage by entering into it only with a committed believer, so that we can raise our children in the Lord. And, we honor marriage by abstaining from sexual immorality. But I want to focus on two things:

(1). By guarding ourselves from sexual sin.

No Christian deliberately jumps into sexual sin, but as Leadership ([ibid., p. 12) reported (in 1988), among subscribers of Christianity Today magazine who are not  pastors, “45 percent indicated having done something they considered sexually inappropriate, 23 percent said they had had extramarital intercourse, and 28 percent said they had engaged in other forms of extramarital sexual contact.” Clearly, this is a major area where Satan hits believers! It is not enough to sit here and agree with God’s standards for sexual purity. We must have a strategy to guard ourselves from falling.

The major element in this strategy is to maintain a close daily walk with Christ and a close relationship with your mate. If we drift from the Lord and are not spending consistent time in the Word and prayer, we become vulnerable to temptation. If we grow distant from our mate, we are more open to temptation. In the Leadership survey, 78 percent of the pastors who failed morally said that the main factor was physical and emotional attraction. Forty-one percent listed marital dissatisfaction.

As I’ve repeatedly emphasized, all sin begins in the mind. This means that to guard ourselves from sexual sin, we must judge it and turn from it the moment it enters our minds. Jesus made this point graphically when He said (Matt. 5:27-30):

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Jesus did not mean literally to maim yourself, but He did mean to underscore the serious nature of mental lust. If you do not cut it off, Jesus says that you’re going to hell! To obey Jesus’ words, you need to avoid watching TV programs, movies, or videos that tempt you to lust. Devise ways to block pornography from the internet. Be accountable to another brother in Christ.

Also, to guard yourself from sexual sin, memorize Scripture, which transforms your mind. Psalm 119:9, 11 states, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word…. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”

Another piece of the strategy is to put a fence around your marriage. If you go to the Grand Canyon and don’t want to fall over the edge, either stay behind the railing or don’t go near an edge where there is no railing. Putting a fence around your marriage means that you do not enter into a close friendship with a member of the opposite sex. These relationships often start innocently enough. “We are able to talk as brother and sister.” Beware! If you find yourself as a married person attracted to a member of the opposite sex, cut off any contact and avoid any situation that could lead to temptation. Don’t go near the edge!

Let me add one other way to honor marriage that is implied by our text:

(2). By enjoying the totality of the marriage relationship, including the physical relationship.

“Marriage bed” refers to sex in marriage, and it is not dirty. D. H. Field writes (The New Dictionary of Theology [IVP], ed. by Sinclair Ferguson, David Wright, and J. I. Packer, p. 638), “The history of the church betrays a far less positive attitude to sexuality than the Bible’s.” He goes on to talk about the early influence of ascetic idealism. Then he says, “With very few exceptions, patristic and medieval writers condemned the sensual pleasure of intercourse as sinful. Their attitude to marriage, too, was at best ambivalent.”

But the Bible affirms the pleasure of the sexual relationship in marriage, both for men and women. Solomon instructs his son to let his wife’s breasts satisfy him at all times, and to be exhilarated with her love (Prov. 5:19). The Song of Solomon extols the joys of sex in marriage for both partners. Paul tells both husbands and wives that they do not have authority over their own bodies, but their spouse does, and that they have a responsibility to meet the sexual needs of their mate as a preventative to immorality (1 Cor. 7:2-5). Sarah refers to sexual relations with her husband as having pleasure with him (Gen. 18:12).

Sex in marriage is directly related to the interpersonal relationship. God designed it that way. There must be mutual sensitivity, caring, and respect in the relationship between husband and wife as the foundation for the enjoyment of the sexual aspect. But I am emphasizing what Paul states, that it is a God-given preventative against sexual sin (1 Cor. 7:2). I once counseled a couple where the husband had fallen into adultery. He and his wife had not had sexual relations in over ten years and she assumed that everything was just fine! He was really angry about this, but he hadn’t said anything. When a neighbor woman became friendly, he fell. Sadly, the couple eventually divorced. It all could have been avoided if they had followed the clear teaching of Scripture: “Stop depriving one another” (1 Cor. 7:5).

Our text issues a strong warning:

2. God will judge those who practice sexual immorality.

Many Scriptures hammer home this warning:

1 Cor. 6:9-10: Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Eph. 5:5-6: For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Rev. 21:8: But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Many other Scriptures give the same warning (Matt. 5:27-30; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:4-7; Rev. 22:15). While believers do not need to fear God’s eternal judgment, Scripture is clear that if you habitually practice sexual immorality, you may not be a genuine Christian (1 John 3:7-10). If you are a genuine Christian, God will discipline you severely if you engage in sexual sin (Heb. 12:5-11).

While He forgives us when we repent, He does not necessarily remove the consequences of our sin (see the life of David, 2 Sam. 12:10-14). He may forgive your sin, but you contracted a sexual disease that could be untreatable or fatal. Some will protest, “But we’re under grace!” But the book that was written to explain God’s grace also warns (Gal. 6:7-8), “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” But I want to end with this good news:

3. God will forgive those who repent of their sin and trust in the blood of Christ.

Immediately following Paul’s warning against God’s judgment on sexual immorality, he adds these wonderful words, “And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). Neither homosexuality, adultery, nor any kind of sexual perversion are beyond God’s forgiveness. First John 1:9 graciously promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Paul calls himself the chief of sinners, and yet he found mercy at the cross (1 Tim. 1:15-16). You can experience God’s forgiveness and gift of eternal life if you will turn from your sin and trust in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

The late comedian, George Burns, used to say that he could remember the time when the air was clean and sex was dirty. Biblically speaking, sex has never been dirty in the context that God ordained for it: in lifelong covenant marriage between a man and a woman. That’s the right place for sex. The wrong place is outside of such covenant marriage, where it incurs God’s judgment.

If God’s Word is true, our culture is in moral darkness. But when the darkness is greatest, the light shines the brightest. If we will maintain God’s standards of moral purity, He will use us to shine in this dark world with the good news of God’s forgiveness and with the news that sex is clean in God-ordained marriages.

Discussion Questions

1. How can we demonstrate God’s love for homosexuals and yet His wrath against their sin? Do you start with love or wrath?
2. What are some other ways (than those in the message) that Christians can plan not to fall into sexual sin?
3. Can a true believer be “addicted” (enslaved is the biblical word) to sexual sin? (Matt. 5:27-30; Rom. 6:17-18; 1 John 3:7-10.)
4. How would you counsel a single person who wants to be married, but cannot find a suitable mate?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

I confess that the first twenty or so times that I read our text, it seemed to me to be a disjointed, random bunch of verses. I could not see any unified theme. But the more I meditated on these verses, I came to see that there is a common theme, namely, the danger of false teaching and the true antidote to it, namely, the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The author was concerned that his readers would be “carried away by varied and strange teachings” (13:9), including returning to Judaism. So he calls them to remember the godly teachers who had spoken the word of God to them (13:7). Even though these men had now died, Jesus Christ, whom they preached, is the same yesterday, today, and forever (13:8). His grace (13:9) and His sacrificial death on the cross (13:10-12) are at the center of sound doctrine. Jesus and His death on the cross have become our altar, which supercedes and replaces the Jewish altar in the temple. Therefore, we must turn our backs on Judaism and every other religion and hold firmly to Christ and the cross (13:13). If such faith leads to hardship, rejection, persecution, or even death, keep in mind that we are not living for rewards in this life, but for the reward He has promised us in heaven (13:14). That is the flow of thought here, as I understand it. He is saying,

To avoid being carried away by false teaching, imitate the faith of godly leaders and hold firmly to the centrality of Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death, and the promise of heaven.

1. False teaching is a perpetual danger for God’s people.

The author warns, “Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings” (13:9). We live in a day when evangelical Christians minimize the importance of sound doctrine and even speak against it as something that divides us and goes against Christ’s commands to love one another. The emphasis today is on coming together where we can agree, rather than dividing over doctrines where we disagree. To say, “I’m right and you’re wrong” over doctrinal matters smacks of pride and intolerance. It will earn you the unwelcome labels of “fundamentalist” or “separatist.” The concept that any religious teaching may be universally true or false runs counter to the modern mindset.

We view religious or spiritual views as a matter of preference, not of truth. Pastor Leith Anderson told of a visitor to his church who said that he liked Reformed Theology, the inerrancy of Scripture—and reincarnation. Although Anderson explained that reincarnation is unbiblical, the man didn’t alter his theology (cited in Gene Edward Veith, Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture [Crossway Books], pp. 175-176). Truth was reduced to personal preference: “I like vanilla, you like chocolate. But neither is right or wrong.”

A 1991 George Barna survey found that only 23 percent of evangelical Christians expressed a strong belief in absolute truth. Among the American public the number jumped to 28 percent! (Cited by James Dobson, Dec., 1991 newsletter.) If only one-fourth of evangelicals hold a strong belief in absolute truth, then the idea of avoiding false teaching is not going to be of much concern.

But the New Testament is filled with warnings against false doctrine. Jesus warned, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Paul warned the Ephesian elders to be on guard for savage wolves, and then added (Acts 20:30), “and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” He warned the Galatians about men who were preaching a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). In Colossians, he warned against being taken captive by philosophy and those who imposed rules about food and drink and the observance of certain days (Col. 2:8, 16). His pastoral letters frequently mention sound doctrine and warn against false teaching (1 Tim. 1:6-7; 4:1-3; 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 2:16-18, 25; 3:6-9; 4:3-4; Titus 1:10-16). (See also, 2 Pet. 2-3; 1 John 2:18-26; 3:7; 4:1-6; 2 John 7-11; Jude; Rev. 2-3.)

Although the Hebrews knew exactly what the author was referring to in our text, we do not. It may have been Jewish regulations about clean or unclean foods, or some Jewish sacrificial ceremony, such as eating the Passover lamb, that was supposed to have benefited the partakers. The force of the imperative indicates that some were already being carried away with this teaching and needed to stop. Perhaps it was the same thing that the author referred to in Hebrews 9:9-10, where he said that various sacrifices offered could not make the worshiper perfect in conscience, “since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.”

John Owen (An Exposition of Hebrews [The National Foundation for Christian Education], p. 436) points out that the Jews put so much weight on these foods because they were associated with the Jewish altar. Taking them away declared that their altar, which was the center of their religion, was of no more use. The Judaizing Christians thought that somehow the use of such food had a place in establishing or confirming the heart, perhaps even in the matter of salvation. But such practices were of no benefit because they pulled the Jews away from the only means of salvation, namely, God’s grace in Christ.

The main point to note here is that Satan has always infiltrated the church with false teaching that invariably dilutes or digresses from God’s grace in Jesus Christ. If we buy into the modern idea that doctrinal truth is a personal preference of minimal importance, we join these early Hebrews, in danger of being “carried away by varied and strange teaching.” To deny the vital importance of sound doctrine makes us prime targets for the enemy’s attacks.

2. To avoid being carried away by false teaching, imitate the faith of godly leaders.

“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (13:7). Scholars agree that the author here is referring to past leaders who have already died. In 13:17 & 24, he refers to current leaders. But in 13:7, they are told to consider (Greek = “to look at again and again”) the result or outcome of these past leaders’ way of life, implying that they successfully finished their course. Considering how well these men lived, we are to imitate their faith, which implies both their faith and conduct. But the author wants us to see that faith in Christ (chapter 11) is the basis for Christian conduct, so that our behavior is not just outward conformity to rules or rituals. As Paul puts it (Gal. 5:6), “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”

These men “spoke the word of God” to the Hebrews. God’s Word is the only source for sound teaching. Yet we live in a day when very few pastors devote themselves to teaching God’s Word in a systematic way. Many evangelical churches, in an attempt to reach the unchurched (“seekers”), have abandoned teaching through the Bible verse by verse, for fear that some of the difficult doctrines may offend people. They aim the church service at giving the “customers” what they want: topical messages on how to have a happy life. They avoid talking about sin or judgment or anything controversial. In many cases, their messages could have come out of Reader’s Digest rather than the Bible! You should evaluate any teaching by the criteria, “Does it explain the text of Scripture in its context and apply it to my life?”

One other application comes out of verse 7: Read the biographies of godly Christians. I’m not talking about the biography of some sports hero or movie star who claims to be a Christian. Read about the Reformers or other great preachers, who proclaimed God’s truth in previous times. Read about missionaries who braved all sorts of difficult conditions to take the gospel to remote places. I have gained more from reading such biographies than from any other source outside of the Bible. (I have a bibliography, “Reading Christian Biographies,” in print or on the church web site. There is also on the web site an article I wrote on the benefits of reading biographies, “Mining for Gold.”) But we must move on to the main antidote to false teaching:

3. To avoid being carried away by false teaching, hold firmly to the centrality of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death.

Verse 8 seems out of context, but I believe the author put it here in a somewhat abrupt manner to make a point:

A. Godly teachers come and go, but Jesus Christ remains the same forever (13:8).

That is the point when the verse is joined to the previous context. Sometimes people become so enamored with some godly man or his teaching that they are devastated when that man dies. The author is not diminishing the value of sound teachers, but he is saying that after the teachers die, Jesus Christ remains solid, steady, and unchanging. Verse 8 also relates to the following context, in the sense that the unchanging Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for our sins is the perpetual antidote to false teaching. “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2) was the sum and substance of Paul’s teaching. That must be our focus, also.

In chapter 1, the author cited from Psalm 102 some verses that referred to God, but he applies them to Jesus Christ. In contrast to the earth and the heavens, he states (1:11-12),

“They will perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed, but You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.”

F. F. Bruce (Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 395) points out other instances of words that were originally addressed to the God of Israel, but are “taken over and applied to Jesus without any sense of incongruity.” He adds (pp. 395-396),

Yesterday Jesus “offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death” (5:7); today He represents His people in the presence of God, a high priest who is able to sympathize with them in their weakness, because He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (4:15); for ever He lives, this same Jesus, “to make intercession for them” (7:25). His help, His grace, His power, His guidance are permanently at His people’s disposal; why then should they lose heart?

Many sermons have been preached on this wonderful verse, but we must move on:

B. God’s grace through Jesus Christ is at the heart of sound doctrine (13:9).

“… it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace…” Invariably, false teaching goes astray on the doctrine of God’s grace. The error of the Judaizers, whom Paul confronted in Galatians, was to add the need to be circumcised to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone. They could have argued that circumcision was a God-given command that predated the law. But Paul said that to add circumcision or anything else to the gospel of God’s grace is to incur eternal damnation (Gal. 1:6-9)! To add human works or merit or indulgences or penance to Christ’s death on the cross as necessary for salvation is to commit the Galatian heresy. As the Reformers clearly taught, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We dare not add human works to God’s all-sufficient grace.

But this idea of works salvation is ingrained in the fallen human heart. I’ve talked with people who have sat under my preaching for months, and when I ask them why God should let them into heaven, they reply, “Well, I’ve always tried to be a good person and not hurt anyone.” God’s grace means that He chose us totally apart from and in spite of anything in us (Rom. 11:5-6). Even saving faith is His gift (Phil. 1:29). As Paul wrote (Eph. 2:8-9), “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So all of our salvation, including our faith, is God’s gift according to His unmerited favor.

Thus the author shows the centrality of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death by showing that He is unchanged and that His grace is at the heart of sound doctrine. He goes on to show a third aspect of the centrality of Christ:

C. The Christian faith centers on Jesus Christ and His death on the cross (13:10-12).

These verses are not easy to understand, although the overall point is fairly clear. He is repeating the truth that he has emphasized before, that Christ is superior to the Jewish sacrificial system, because He fulfilled it. Probably the Jews that were trying to draw the Hebrew Christians back to Judaism were saying, “We still have the altar in the temple where we offer sacrifices as our people have done since the days of Moses. But, you Christians have no such altar. So how can you say that Christianity is superior to Judaism when you abandon such a central thing as the altar?”

To answer this taunt, the author replies, “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.” “Serve” means “worshipful service” and could refer to the priests, who offered the sacrifices, or to the Jewish worshipers who brought sacrifices to the temple. The author is saying that as long as the Jews brought their sacrifices to the temple, they were missing God’s true altar, namely, His Son who gave Himself as the complete and final sacrifice for our sins. We who have trusted in Him for salvation feed on Him by faith as our true food and true drink (as Jesus taught in John 6:48-58).

Then (13:11), he takes an analogy from the Jewish sin offering, particularly on the Day of Atonement. The worshipers were allowed to eat some sacrifices, but they were not permitted to eat the sin offering. After the blood was sprinkled on the altar, the carcass had to be taken outside of the camp and burned. The author then (13:12) applies this to Jesus, who “suffered outside the gate,” shedding His blood “that He might sanctify the people.” (Sanctify here is used, as it was in 9:13 and 10:10, 14, to refer to cleansing us from sin at the time of our salvation.)

Thus his point is that Jesus Christ and His death on the cross is our altar, far superior to the Jewish altar, because He fulfilled it. In a spiritual, not material, way we feed on Him by faith, even as the Jewish priests used to feed on some of the sacrifices. But unless a person abandoned Judaism and its literal sacrifices and trusted in Christ as God’s supreme and final sacrifice, he had no right to come to the Christian “altar,” which is Christ.

It is a perversion of these verses to construct physical “altars” in Christian churches and to offer the body and blood of Christ as a perpetual sacrifice, as is done in the Roman Catholic mass. Communion is a commemoration of the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Heb. 10:10, 14). He does not need to be offered again. Our altar and our feeding on Him are spiritual, not physical, and are by faith in His finished work on the cross.

D. Jesus Christ demands exclusive allegiance (13:13).

The author applies this by saying, “Let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” To the original readers the message was clear: You must leave Judaism to follow Jesus Christ. You can’t hang onto your old religion and just “add Jesus” to the mix. You must leave the old and turn exclusively to Jesus, even if it means suffering reproach.

Paul wrote (1 Cor. 1:18), “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” A few verses later (1:23-24), he added, “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

People are not offended if you remove the cross from Christianity. It’s a good system of morals. Everyone can get behind good works and loving others. But the cross confronts and offends human pride. Sinners don’t like to hear about the necessity of shed blood. But without Christ’s shed blood, without the cross outside the camp of man’s religion of works, there is no salvation.

Thus the author has shown that false teaching is a perpetual danger for God’s people. Imitating the faith of godly leaders is one safeguard against it. The main antidote, though, is to hold firmly to the centrality of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death. But he adds a final antidote, which is also a reminder of earlier lessons:

4. To avoid being carried away by false teaching, hold firmly to the promise of heaven.

The connection with 13:13 is, “If you should bear reproach for the sake of Christ, remember that it is His reproach. Our reward is not here, but in heaven.” So he continues, “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” The Jews boasted in Jerusalem as the center of the earth as far as worshiping God went. Perhaps the Jews were trying to entice the Hebrew Christians back into the Jewish fold by saying, “We have Jerusalem, but you have no such glorious city!” The author says, “Oh, but we do have a city! Ours is the same city that Abraham and the patriarchs were seeking, that heavenly city that God prepared for them and us” (11:13-16).

Much false teaching puts the focus on the present, or on false claims about heaven. Islam, for example, promises suicide martyrs a better life in heaven, with beautiful virgins to satisfy the man’s lusts. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons also have false views about heaven. Other false teachers say, in effect, “Forget about heaven. What good is religion if it doesn’t give you the good life here and now?” The “health and wealth” heresy is of this sort.

Biblical Christianity clearly offers the peace and joy of knowing God here and now. We can rejoice that our sins are forgiven and we can enjoy all of the good things that God provides in this life (1 Tim. 6:17). As believers, all things belong to us (1 Cor. 3:22; 2 Cor. 6:10). And yet Paul also wrote, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). Hold firmly to the hope of being with the risen Christ Himself in heaven, and you will keep yourself from many errors.

Conclusion

To recap: Sound doctrine always is founded on the word of God (13:7). It centers on and exalts the unchanging Christ (13:8). It revels in God’s grace, not in any human works for salvation (13:9). It feeds on the death of Christ on behalf of our sins (13:10-12). It separates from all that do not exalt Christ and it glories in the reproach of the cross (13:13). It puts all its hopes in the rewards of heaven, not of this life (13:14).

As editor of the Emporia Gazette, William White received many articles from aspiring writers, but he returned most of them to their authors with rejection slips. One disappointed and bitter author wrote to White, “Sir, you sent back a story of mine, but I know that you did not read it. As a test, I pasted together pages 19 and 20, but the manuscript came back with those pages still stuck together. So I know that you turned down my article without even reading it.”

White sent a brief reply: “Dear Madam, At breakfast when I open an egg, I don’t have to eat it all to determine if it’s bad.” (From, “Our Daily Bread,” [3/93].)

You don’t have to wade through all of the religious writings in the world to tell if they’re good or bad. What does it say about Jesus Christ? What does it teach about the way of salvation? If it proclaims Jesus as eternal God in human flesh and faith in His sacrifice as the only way of salvation, it is sound. Don’t be carried away by anything else. Let your heart be established in God’s grace.

Discussion Questions

1. How can we know which doctrines are essential and which doctrines we can allow different views of?
2. How can we know which Christian groups or denominations to work with? Where do we draw lines of separation?
3. What is the biblical relationship between faith and good works? Why is it essential to insist on salvation by grace through faith alone, apart from works?
4. Why does the message of the cross cause offense? Should we in any way try to soften this offense? If so, how? If not, why not?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation