Don’t You Refuse Listening To The Voice Of God
Shared on February 28, 2024
How do you think God will judge those that deny Him. In the last study of this series, the writer warns of the day when the voice of God will shake all things. Join Pastor McCrary in this week’s study as we study of the peril of denying God.
Introduction
From the days of Cain and Abel, to the days of Noah, to this present age, God has called on man to repent. God desires to dwell with mankind but we must remember that God will never dwell with sin. So, we should to listen to the voice of God, right? We should get off the pathway of eternal condemnation and get on the path to righteousness.
Yet, as we have seen throughout this series, not all people have heeded the gospel of God. God’s gospel is a saving word that is able to guide us to salvation. Sadly, many have taken the steps towards condemnation by neglecting the word of God. Neglecting the word of God can lead to one despising the Word and eventually blaspheming the Spirit.
As we will see in our study this week, whichever path you choose, there is a final destination. One of those destinations is with the Lord while the other destination is away from Him. My hope is that you would rather be with the Lord for everlasting life!
The final study of my series – The Six Great Warnings – will cover scripture from Hebrews 12:14-29. The writer of this epistle makes one last plea to those who had not heeded the gospel to do so. The writer warns of a frightful day that approaches that we must get ready for.
At the Voice of God
I want to start this study off by taking a look at Hebrews 12:25-28. The writer stated, “see that you do not refuse Him who speaks (Heb. 12:25).” This one statement covers all of the studies we have had in this series. I have repeatedly stated that the goal of this epistle is to encourage people to be attentive to the voice of God.
In that same verse, the writer once again referenced those that “did not escape” in the past. This is a reference to the “evil generation” that refused the Promised Land (Deut. 1:34-38). From last week’s study, you may remember Korah’s rebellion and those that God consumed. Now pay close attention to the writer stating that they did not escape the voice of God when it shook the earth (Heb. 12:26). What is the writer talking about here?
The earth shook
Has the voice of God ever caused the earth to shake? It has! Let’s take a look at some moments that the voice of God shook the earth. Afterwards, we will determine what it means when the voice of God shakes the earth.
1 . In Genesis 7:11, during the Great Flood, scripture states, “all the fountains of the great deep were broken up”.
2. In Exodus 19:18, Mount Sinai “quaked greatly” when God gave the children of Israel His law.
3. In Numbers 16:31-32, the ground split beneath Korah’s rebellion and swallowed them up.
4. In Matthew 27:50-51, the earth quaked when Jesus died on the cross.
5. In Matthew 28:2, when Jesus rose from the grave, there was a great earthquake.
So, what did these earthquakes signify by the sounding of the voice of God? Well, the Great Flood occurred due to the wickedness of the people. Genesis 6:5-7 shows us that God had determined He would destroy man and all living things from the face of the earth.
Korah and those that were destroyed with him died because they rebelled against God. I didn’t mention Sodom and Gomorrah, but the earth also shook during its destruction. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their wickedness. So, the shaking of the earth at the voice of God signifies God’s judgment.
With that in mind, you may wonder about Mount Sinai shaking at the giving of the law. You may also wonder about the shaking of the earth at the death and resurrection of Christ. The earth shaking in those moments pointed to future judgments.
The children of Israel faced future judgments from God based on if they lived in obedience. The death and the resurrection of Christ points to the future generation of we who live in this present age. What will those that lived during this age be judged by? We will be judged by whether we lived in obedience to the way of Christ.
All things will shake next time
We will see that writer quoted scripture from Haggai 2:6. “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land.” So, rather than the voice of God shaking just the world, the next time God’s voice will shake everything.
In Isaiah 45:23, we read that because God’s word went out, every knee will bow and every will confess. We remember that God’s word went out through Christ to the world, right? So, all things will come into God’s judgment and there will be no excuse!
God’s judgment is going to shake everything! If you go up and you shake a tree, you can expect whatever is loose to come falling down, right? The same will happen at the voice of God. In Hebrews 12:27, the writer speaks about how some things will shake loose while others will remain.
Now, if you go up to a fruit tree, you would hope that some fruit falls down towards you. However, in this case, you don’t want to fall down when God shakes all things. No, you should desire to remain. As the writer said, whatever falls is falling for removal. Whatever falls loose at the judgment of God will fall to everlasting condemnation.
Prepare for the Day of the Lord
Everyone will face God’s judgment! This even includes believers. As I have explained in the past, the sincere believers will face a different judgment than those of sin.
The sincere will be called out of the world to join Christ and receive their heavenly reward. This means that the sincere believer is of those things that can’t shake loose at the voice of God. So, are you now wondering to yourself: what must be done in order for me to be able to remain?
Stand on a solid foundation
God has taught us how we can withstand the shaking of His voice. To see this, let’s take a look at Matthew 7:24-28.
Jesus said to the disciples, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” To be clear, it is not simply enough for one to “hear” the sayings of Jesus. I want to put emphasis on the fact that Jesus said that one must “do them”.
As I often say, one must be attentive to the word of God. Attentive: to be mindful, observant. The one who is attentive to God’s voice will be obedient to His word. When you are obedient to the word of God, then you stand on the word of God as your foundation of faith.
On the foundation of God’s word, one will down to nothing! The storms of life cannot knock you down. The devil won’t be able to knock you down if you’re standing on that rock. More than that, God will not knock you down if you’re standing on the rock of Christ!
In 1 Corinthians 3:11-12, Paul wrote about facing God with your foundation being Christ. Paul wrote “for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation, Paul wrote that their work will be clear before the Lord.
God will judge us and if anyone’s work endures, he will receive a reward (1 Cor. 3:14). If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:15).” Even if your works aren’t great, so long as you are building on the foundation of Christ, you will endure. As we have seen, the salvation of sincere believers is sealed.
Don’t build on a weak foundation
As for those that refuse to listen to the voice of God, there can be no salvation. Jesus said to the disciples, “everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who his house on sand (Matt. 24:26).” Guess what happens to a house built on sand? It falls down.
At the sound of the voice of God, when all things shake, you had better hope that you lived being attentive to His voice. The Day of the Lord is spoken of through the prophet Amos. In Amos 5:4, the Lord called on Israel to seek Him and live. If they chose not to seek Him, the Lord said, “woe to you who desire the day of the Lord (Am. 5:18).”
The Day of the Lord is pictured as a dark day where trouble is on every side and there is no way out (Am. 5:19-20). Jesus repeatedly taught that those who are cast away from God are cast into the outer darkness. Those that are cast away, Jesus taught, will weep and gnash their teeth (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). You do not want to be shaken loose from God and fall into eternal condemnation.
How to Hear the Voice of God
I hope this leaves many of you wondering, “how can I hear the voice of God?” If you’re asking this question, you’re asking the right question. The first place I will have you turn to answer this question is to 1 Peter 5:5-9. This is a passage of scripture where Peter writes about submitting to God.
Humble yourself under God
You will see Peter start this thought off by calling for younger people to submit to their elders. Peter then quoted, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” This thought came from a lesson that Peter learned from Christ (Matt. 23:11-12).
If you study scripture, it is made clear that God does not give place to the prideful. Let us remember that Jesus said that the meek are those that are blessed and will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). With this in mind, Peter said that we should “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God (1 Pet. 5:6).” If you desire to hear the voice of God, you have to first start off by humbling yourself.
Many are unable to hear the voice of God today because they are too prideful to hear Him. You see, pride can make you believe that you don’t need God. So, if you begin to believe in your heart that you don’t need God, why would you ever try to listen for Him? Many choose not to listen to God because they don’t think they need to.
There are several others who are unable to hear the voice of God because they doubt God is talking to them. The funny thing about doubt is that doubt can also be built on pride as well. There are many that truly believe that God doesn’t talk to them from a place of stubbornness. If you don’t believe God is talking to you, you’re not going to try to listen to the sound of His voice. Two things: You do need God and God is talking to you. Humble yourself and you will hear Him.
Be sober and vigilant
Peter then wrote that one must be both sober and vigilant because the devil is on the prowl (1 Pet. 5:8). A lot of times we take this verse and put all of our attention on the devil. However, the true focus in this scripture is the believer.
Yes, Satan is on the prowl to see who he can devour and take away from God. However, notice how quickly Peter turned his attention back to the believer. Peter wrote, “Resist him (the devil), steadfast in the faith (1 Pet. 5:9).”
While the devil is out and has the desire to take us from God, Peter said to resist (counter) him with faith. Faith calls on us to trust in the Lord. Rather than letting the devil have all of our attention, we should remain focused on the Lord.
Satan does not want you to be able to hear the voice of God. So, what does he do to block out God’s voice? He keeps us a whole bunch of noise. Too many of us are distracted by all of the devil’s noise and it blocks us from being able to hear the voice of God. You and I must learn how to be sober (calm) and vigilant (attentive) for His word.
As Psalm 46:10 says, be still and know (trust) that He is God. We often look for God to talk to us in a very loud way, but as God said to Elijah, He is that “still small voice” (1 Kgs. 19:11-13). Those who are attentive to His voice will be exalted.
Coming Before Mount Zion
As we begin to come to a close of this study, let’s take a look back at scripture from Hebrews 12:14-17. Let us note the call to pursue peace and holiness with all people (Heb. 12:14). On that same note, we will see that the writer cautioned about any root of bitterness growing in them.
Compared to the other studies we have had in this series, this is a bit of a change. What is the change? The writer is talking about the behavior one should have towards others. This is a verse that reminds me of Paul saying, “as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people (Rom. 12:18).
So, why did the writer speak about the behavior of a believer? If we take a look at Hebrews 12:18-24, we will get our answer.
The writer stated, “For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest.” I don’t know if you recognize the mountain that is being spoken of but the audience of the Jews would. At that mountain, those who heard to voice of God trembled and begged not to speak with Him.
This is a reference to an event I referenced earlier in this study. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses brought the children of Israel to Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, the Lord desired to make a covenant with the children of Israel and give them His law. Exodus 19:16-25; 20:18-21 covers the event that is being referenced.
When God gave His law to the children of Israel, scripture tells us there was thunder and lightning. God descended upon the mountain in fire and smoke ascended from the mountain. As I mentioned earlier, there was a great earthquake and it shook Mount Sinai. The children of Israel trembled in great fear and told Moses to speak with God for them.
Now, when the children of Israel went before Mount Sinai, they went being ignorant to the way of God. In Hebrews 12:22, the writer tells his people that they aren’t going as a people before Mount Sinai. In fact, Mount Sinai is not the mountain they are going before.
The writer warned, “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” The heavenly Jerusalem speaks of New Jerusalem which is shown in Revelation 21:2. New Jerusalem is a part of the new heaven and new earth prepared by God.
So, the Mount Zion being spoken of in Hebrews 12:22 is a reference to what will be in eternity with the Lord. Only those who walk by faith will be able to stand before Mount Zion. Those who walk by faith ought to be walking in the love and peace of Christ.
While there was ignorance of God before Mount Sinai, there will be no ignorance of the Lord at Mount Zion. You see, those that stand before Mount Zion will have heeded the gospel. Those that stand before Mount Zion are those that will have gained salvation.
This is a good note for us to close this series of studies on. Our goal should be to walk on the path to glory so that we can gain salvation and stand before Mount Zion. If you’re not on the path to glory, heed the warnings of this epistle and get off the path to condemnation. You do not want to be of the number of those that are shaken and fall into condemnation.