Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: You want to know the best thankful expression you can give to God this week? Say no to sin. Say no to temptation. Say no to those acts that lead to death on a variety of levels. Live a holy and pleasing life. You and I ought to obey God, if for no other reason, because you and I are profoundly grateful for his grace. We're profoundly grateful for the grace of God.

Guest (Male): The lifelong process of knowing God never starts. And while it's tempting to conform our image of God according to our preference and imagination, it's important that we look to God's Word for an accurate picture of what he's like. Today on Focal Point, Pastor Mike Fabarez encourages us to adopt a high view of God. When we see God for who he is, we're moved to worship and obey. Today's message is titled "Seeing Obedience as an Act of Worship," and it's the final portion of our study called "Our Fight with Sin."

Pastor Mike Fabarez: And if we don't understand God biblically, if God becomes this buddy, this friend, this guy upstairs, this grandpa, we will never get the Christian life right, which is why we find—and it makes sense—that the writer of Hebrews would bring us to the last part of this chapter and say to us, you know, it has a lot to do with how you view God.

The end of chapter 12 has been dealing with this topic that was brought up and it started with this verse, that we need to throw off every encumbrance and every sin that so easily entangles us. We need to get rid of that. We need to fight this battle with sin. And we've all got our things that we trip up in and the transgressions that we fall into. And he says you've got to fix that. You've got to fight to be a godly person.

Well, it ends with this statement, if you'd turn there, in Hebrews chapter 12. He takes our view of God to the heights, if you will. He brings our perception of God and reminds us who we're dealing with here. Notice where this goes now in verse 25. He says, "See to it that you don't refuse him who speaks," which by the way is how the book of Hebrews started, wasn't it? God has spoken through the prophets in many portions, many ways, but now in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son.

His Son is the mouthpiece. His apostles explained him. The Word of God, the New Covenant, tells us how to live, not only to trust him and repent of sin, but how we are to conduct our lives. And he says don't refuse that. And he said, now he makes the comparison again, "If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth," and the context—just glance back up at it—was the Mount Sinai giving of the law.

When Moses got the law and the people said, "Wow, this is kind of a dreadful sight. This is amazing. This is scary. This is foreboding." This puts me at a distance with God. There's caution yellow tape all around this thing. He says if they couldn't disregard the Word of God in the Old Covenant, if they couldn't escape the punishment of that, he says, "How much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?"

Now that's a major statement because a lot of us think it's a lot more casual in the New Testament and there's a lot less foreboding feeling of, oh, I'd better get this right. The Old Testament, that was the Old Testament. And he says just the opposite here. No, no, now in the New Covenant, the ante hasn't gone down, the ante has gone up. Now all of a sudden it is a bigger deal if you disregard the words of him who speaks.

Let's jot down four reasons according to this passage we should obey God. I mean, that's what it gets down to. That's what this passage is all about and it ends this way. We've got to obey what God says. We've got to do it so that we can earn our way into heaven, right? No. Thank you. That's what religions teach. That is not what the Bible teaches. We are not doing good things to earn our way into heaven.

We are doing good things in this text for a number of reasons. Number one, he's got this authoritative voice. Look at verse 25. I mean, we can't refuse him. He is one who speaks with authority. He shook the earth, verse 26. I mean, when he spoke in the Old Covenant and he promises some kind of dominion over the future and he's going to shake not only the earth, but he's going to shake heaven too.

And then, if for nothing else, if you want to paint a picture of the God that is presented in this, you want to talk about a dreadful picture in verse number 29, he's described as a consuming fire. Not he was a consuming fire, he is a consuming fire. Let's jot this down. Number one, the flavor of this passage leads us to this statement: we must obey God because you and I recognize, number one, that he is the absolute authority.

We need to obey God because he is the absolute authority. He is presented this way in the text. And that again gets back to what we say all the time at Compass Bible Church, we need a high view of God. I mean, we could spend a lot of time on this, but we need to elevate our view of God. You will never obey someone you don't respect.

We need to realize that God who speaks to us is not Dr. Laura, who gives us advice about good living. He is the creator of heaven and earth. He is the authoritative one. Even his Son, who we picture as gentle Jesus, meek and mild, is one who speaks with a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. That's what my Bible says. And if when he speaks and says, "Don't think those thoughts anymore," do you think that's a suggestion? It's not a suggestion.

When he says, "Let no unwholesome word," is that just kind of a nice thing to do, I guess, if you're around church people? That's what the Bible says. That's the authoritative one who when he speaks shakes the earth and will one day shake not only the earth but the heavens as well. We've had a lot of motivation in Hebrews chapter 12 to say no to temptation. This, I think, he ends with a punch. It's the biggest one of all. He is the absolute authority and when he speaks, we should listen.

Isaiah chapter 6. I've shown you this passage a few times, but please remember that Isaiah had no problem pointing out the sins of the people in the first five chapters. Just like you and I have no problem pointing out the sins of other people, right? We're good at that. Watch the news tonight and you'll go, "Oh, what a jerk. Look at that scum, sinners." We're good at that.

And I'm not saying Isaiah was that, but he pointed out a lot of sins about a lot of other people in the first five chapters. Come to chapter 6 though, things change. The priority of his introspection, his evaluation, turns on himself. And I assume that Isaiah was more righteous than a lot of people. But look what happens to him. Verse number 1: "In the year that King Uzziah died."

King Uzziah, heard of that guy. Remember him? Became the king at what age? 16. He was the king for 52 years in the southern kingdom, the tenth king of Judah. Which, by the way, because of his long and prosperous reign, and he was a godly man who changed a lot of things, reformed a lot of things in the country, the country became much like Laodicea, rich and wealthy and thought they were in need of nothing. And they became complacent ethically.

And though he was off to a great start and had a great career, unfortunately, King Uzziah's reign did not end well. It ended with some pride and hubris in his heart and he walked into the temple thinking he could hang out with God. "I don't need to be a priest. Who cares if I'm a Levite or not? I'm from the tribe of Judah, I can do this." And of course, the Bible says there was a great earthquake, that Josephus ties to that great earthquake at the end of Uzziah's reign, and it was not good.

His life didn't end well and the people, unfortunately, had followed suit. They got casual with God. So this is significant that it's the year that King Uzziah died, and there are some adjustments that need to take place. Verse 1: "I saw the Lord seated on a throne." He sees him high and exalted. We need a high view of God. And the train of his robe, which by the way is the ancient Near Eastern sign of your majesty.

It's kind of like the weddings, right? How long can my train be? That's supposed to be your picture of majesty. And for a king, it was the robe of authority. And his, I mean, you want to talk about a train of his robe, look at this, it filled the entire room, filled the temple. And above him were seraphs. Do you know what seraph means, by the way? I know you know it's a type of angel, but do you know the class of angel what the word means?

Seraph. Look if you've got your study Bible, hopefully there's a footnote there or you've got something in the margin. The word seraph in Hebrew means to burn. Does that sound familiar? To burn. The burning ones were flying around the presence of God on his throne. Each had six wings: two they covered their face, two they covered their feet, with two they were flying. And they called out to one another, "Love, love, love is the Lord Almighty." Is that what it says?

I know we think of him that way and I'm not saying he's not loving. I'm just saying when the angels, the seraphs, the burning ones see God, when they dwell in his presence, the first attribute that comes to mind is not love or compassion, it's that he is holy. You know what holy means, right? Separate, different, set apart. Transcendent is a word I like to use. He is different. He is high and exalted, he's not like us.

He's holy other. He's completely different. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty and the whole earth is full of his glory." In this vision we see reflections of his glory in a lot of places. At the sound of their voice, the doorposts and the thresholds, guess what word we find now? Shook. Do you see the images that come up over and over again? Fire, burning, smoke, and shaking. This is authoritative picture. And the temple was filled with, hey, no surprise, smoke.

"Woe to me," I cried, "for I am ruined," Isaiah said. "For I am a man of unclean lips." Now it's easy to criticize the 11:00 news criminals that we see. Easy. But sometimes it's hard to decipher our own sin unless, of course, you have a high view of God. And the problem with us is we live among a people that are sinful and we often think fighting sin is not that big of a deal because I'm a lot better than they are.

We need to stop with that. You have a high view of God and you will have the kind of introspection that Isaiah had to say, "You know what? I've got problems too and I am a sinner before God. I am ruined because of my sin before God. I'm a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, Yahweh Almighty." Obviously this was a vision, not the reality.

One of the seraphs, the burning ones, flew to me with a live coal. That's what you would imagine them having in his hand. He's the burning one, he's got a live coal in his hand, no problem. Which he had taken with tongs from the altar. Altar was a place where they barbecued their animals in the worship, right? That's the picture on earth at least. With it he touched my mouth and he said, "See, this has touched your lips and your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for."

And that's what we were celebrating last week. It is great that we have forgiveness in Christ. Does that free us then from service? Does that free us then from being righteous people? No. As a matter of fact, God's got something he wants us to do. In this case, he's got something for Isaiah and he says, "Who am I going to send?" He heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom am I going to send, who's going to go for us?"

And Isaiah didn't say, "Well, I don't know, that's another night out this week and I'm really not sure I have time for that. I've got a lot going on with my family," which I hear all the time, by the way. Can't serve the Lord that way, I'm busy. He says, "Here am I, send me." I recognize my sin, I understand the authority of God. You are high and exalted, and if you say something, I'm ready to do it.

That's what this passage is all about in Hebrews chapter 12. God is the absolute authority and Christ when he speaks, he's not Dr. Laura, he's not another opinion, he's not your mother-in-law telling you what to do. It is God Almighty. And I don't know what your sin that so easily entangles you is, whether it's materialism, lust, greed, power, I don't know what it is, but whatever your thing is that comes to mind when I said, "What's that sin that always trips you up?" you've got to realize that it's God speaking to you about that. The ultimate authority. Maybe we need a view like Isaiah had of God, a high view of God.

All right, we're on to point number two, the second observation. Verse 25: "See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not," circle the word, "escape when they refused him who warned on earth, how much less will we," and it's assumed, it should be, it can be repeated if you want just for the sake of clarity, "how much less will we escape if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?" Here is a statement about God that carries through from Old Covenant to New Covenant, and that is simply this: that there are consequences for disobedience and you and I ought to fear that.

Number two on your outline: we ought to obey God, if for nothing else, because we fear the consequences of disobedience. If in the Old Testament there were penalties for sin, do you think there are not penalties in the New Covenant? There are penalties in the New Covenant. Now wait a minute, I thought we were forgiven. We've been through all this. Yeah, you are forgiven and grace forgives us, but there are consequences for sin.

Look up in the chapter, chapter 12 told us that God is so loving he doesn't let us get away with sin. And I know that's exactly the opposite of what we're taught in 21st-century evangelical theology. We're taught he loves us and he lets us get away with it. He doesn't let us get away with it. He loves us so much that he disciplines his children. If he says it's true about us—think that through—that if I don't discipline my son, I hate my son, and that if I love my son, I will discipline him diligently. That's what the Proverbs say.

If that's true of me and my children, the Bible says it's certainly true of God. And the point is God is going to respond when you and I sin, because he loves us and he knows that sin—for a variety of reasons in this passage, let's just give you one real quick. Verse number 1 in chapter 12. You have your Bibles open? Look at verse number 1. "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race that's marked out for us."

If there's a path for me to walk, a course for me to run, and there's a finish line there, and if I get to that finish line, I accomplish all that God has for me, I don't want to get hindered or entangled in anything that will keep me from seeing that realized. And at the end of your life, you don't want God to say, "Well, here was the course I had for you, but you only got to here because you kept tripping up." You want to see your spiritual potential fulfilled.

Why does God respond to our sin? Because he cares about stuff like that. Do you respect your Father enough to know that there are consequences for disobedience? I know you may not believe in spanking—I've said this a hundred times—but God does. You may not think that it's loving to always discipline your children or to be a disciplinarian as a father, God believes in that. And he loves you so much, he's going to bring consequences into your life for sin.

Galatians 6:7: "God is not mocked, a man is going to reap whatever he sows." And God will ensure it in the lives of his children. Fear the consequences of disobedience. Look at verse 26 now in Hebrews 12. "At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised once more I will shake not only the earth but the heavens as well." The words "once more" indicate the removing of things that can be shaken, that is, created things.

Did you catch that? Everything that is created will be removed, including your body, and you'll get another one that is immortal at that point, will not have an end to it. And the world, your job, the values of this world. And what does the Bible say? And Jesus said this over and over and over again, didn't he? He says, "Don't invest on the planet." What are you doing investing here? Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.

God's all into pleasure and power and riches. He's all into that. Do you hear the stuff that's being preached in the name of God? That it's all about your capacity to realize your temporal fulfillment here and now? It is not about that. The world is going to be trashed. Why in the world would I make it my purpose to be rich, healthy, and famous down here on earth? Makes no sense. I want to be famous in the kingdom of God.

I would like to be rich in heaven. I would like to have pleasures at his right hand forever, the Bible says. So I'm all into that, I'm just into it in another place, at least we should be. And the world's constantly saying, "Well, how about some here and now?" No, I'm not interested in that. It's not about this world. Our treasure should be in heaven because our heart is in heaven. The world's going to soon be trashed.

Verse 28. End on a good note here. "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken," your relationship with God if you are a genuine follower of Christ, you've repented of your sins, you've put your trust in God, you have Christ as your mediator, you're acceptable before God because of what Christ has done for you, that's never going to go away. And the Bible says because of that, "Let us be thankful, grateful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire."

You and I ought to be thankful people. How does that relate to obedience? Well, I think you can see it, can't you? If you are truly grateful for what someone has done for you, if you are indebted to someone for what they've done for you and they say, "Hey, do this," see, I'm more apt and more prone to be a follower, to give my deference to, to obey someone who I feel a great amount of gratitude for. As a matter of fact, I call it being indebted. I'm indebted to you.

And that's the last motivation we have here. It's a motivation of gratitude for the grace of God because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Jot that one down, number four. You and I ought to obey God if for no other reason because we are profoundly grateful for his grace. We're profoundly grateful for the grace of God. And if you're saying, "Well, this says worship," circle the word there in verse 28, "and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe."

If you open your New Testaments and look for the word worship in the New Testament, you'll find it 80 times. 80 times. Only 11 of those times will you see the Greek word in the Greek New Testament that translates into worship that we see here. It's not that it only appears 11 times in the New Testament, it appears another 10 times in the New Testament, but it's not translated worship. It's translated—are you ready?—service. To serve him. And that's the word here.

And the Bible says—if you want to see another reference to this, go to Hebrews chapter 9, right across the page or a page or two ahead of this. Here's the same exact word that we translate worship in this passage. Verse number 14, Hebrews 9:14: "How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God," Christ now is our offering, our atonement, our substitute.

"How much more will he cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death," this is about righteousness now, "so that we may," what's the word? Serve. Same word that translates worship in our passage. "Serve the living God." The point is in our passage, because the context is about living righteous lives and saying no to acts that lead to death—sin, I mean—he says you need to worship God. And it can rightly be translated worship.

Half the time it's translated worship, half the time it's translated serve. But let me show you the connection in one last passage, Romans chapter 12. Familiar passage to you. This passage ties it all together. Romans chapter 12. This is what we're talking about. This is worship. To live a life in light of his grace, knowing we have something we didn't earn, don't deserve, that we have secured for us in heaven, and as a response, I'm going to live for God.

Romans chapter 12, look at verse number 1. "Therefore," after all that's been said in this book so far in Romans, he says, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy," that's the first cousin of the word grace, "because he's so good to us in light of our sin, offer your bodies as living sacrifices." Now that's a little different than a dead sacrifice. Quite a bit different. It's a sacrifice that says I'm here to live for you, not just to die for you.

A kind of life that is holy and pleasing to God, which by the way, here's our phrase, "this is your spiritual act of worship." And you thought it was singing a song. Worship includes that. That's a thankful expression. But you want to know the best thankful expression you can give to God this week? Say no to sin. Say no to temptation. Say no to those acts that lead to death on a variety of levels. Live a holy and pleasing life.

And stop being like the world, verse number 2: "Don't conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is." And here's a description of the kind of life we've been talking about for the last eight weeks, a life that is good, pleasing, and perfect. That's his will for you. And it doesn't include all the compromises that seem to cloud and corrupt the edges of our lives. Let's be godly people. That's your act of worship.

My prayer for this series and my real concern as I jotted it down, what do I want to see God accomplish? Obviously, I want us to expend more effort on saying no to sin. I hope that's happened for you. I hope you've said because of our study in Hebrews 12, I am now fighting sin more vigorously. You understand that grace doesn't let me off the hook. I'm going to fight sin.

Secondly, I've been praying that God would make you and I more dependent on God in our fight against sin. I hope that's been the case. I mean, we are doing this not on our own, but God throughout this passage has told us he's willing to help us and empower us and provide us a way out of every single temptation we face. And lastly, of course, and the most obvious, I hope that there has been more victory over sin.

And maybe you need to look at the rest of the list. Maybe there's not enough effort, maybe there's not enough dependence, maybe there's not enough openness and honesty with you and your spouse, your family, your friends about the struggles that you face. But the goal is to be more victorious over temptation. I hope that in some way the last two months have helped you do that. And I praise God for the 12th chapter of Hebrews. But there's one more chapter to go. Let's pray together.

God, thanks for this great book. Thank you so much for the wonderful reminder that we need to be fighting against temptation and sin in our lives. God, your Word is not an opinion, it's not an invitation, it's the voice of the living God who created us. And even in the person of his Son, who we picture sometimes so lowly, is no longer a lowly servant coming to bear the sins of the world. He is one who speaks as though a sword is coming out of his mouth to penetrate our hearts.

And when he speaks, we need to respond. And God, we thank you for this lofty view of God that the 12th chapter of Hebrews ends with, so that we can stand back and say, "Wow, we do need to take this serious. We need to be serious about our fight against sin. We need to do our best to say no to temptation. We need to be ready because we understand the consequences. We recognize that this is our spiritual act of worship."

That you are a God that is not wasting words here when you give us instructions about life. God, and I do pray just one last thing, there wouldn't be a person here that misunderstands what we're saying in chapter 12, that there's some way we earn our way into your favor. We don't. This is all a response to being people who have received this kingdom that is unshakeable. And because of that, God, we want to live godly and holy lives.

This world's passing away, that's clear, that's unmistakable in your Word. So God, change the way we live, give us more victory, more honesty, more effort, more dependence in our struggle against sin. In Jesus' name, amen.

Guest (Male): We're closing out our study in Hebrews 12 today, called "Our Fight with Sin," with a message on seeing obedience as an act of worship. Revisit any part of this series or pass it along to someone you know at focalpointradio.org or on the free Focal Point app. This month we're also offering a book called "Making a Difference: Impacting Culture and Society as a Christian" by R.C. Sproul.

It's a convicting book at what faith looks like outside the church doors—in your neighborhood, your job, the ordinary corners of your week. Sproul makes the case that following Christ was never meant to stay private and offers clear biblical instruction for representing him well. Request your copy when you give to Focal Point this month. Call 888-320-5885 or give at focalpointradio.org.

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Sign up to become a Focal Point Partner today at focalpointradio.org or by calling 888-320-5885. And if you're a new listener, we'd love to send you a free copy of Pastor Mike's brand-new booklet called "Battling Sin." Just contact us for the first time at focalpointradio.org. Well, I'm your host, Dave Drewy, inviting you back next time for the start of Pastor Mike's next study called "Counter-Cultural Christians," coming up Thursday on Focal Point with Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. You know, it's an honor to be with you every day, helping you explore the depths of scripture. But I want to be clear, no amount of Bible knowledge is ever going to save you. Be sure where you stand with God. Get in touch with us. We'd love to pray with you and for you. Visit us today at focalpointradio.org. We look forward to hearing from you.