The Gathering Surf City

Glad you're here this morning.

If this is your first time with us,

welcome. If it's your
second time with us,

you know what to expect.

So here we go.

We are in the last four
weeks of Hebrews now.

We've been in Hebrews since January.

It's been a fun book,

not so much fun all the time.

But I have thoroughly enjoyed taking
Hebrews apart and putting it back

together, gaining a better understanding
of who God is and what he's

done, but also of getting a glimpse of
God and how we need to know him,

how we need to pursue knowing him.

And that's where our text is today.

As I've shared with you before,

the object of our faith is sort of the
overriding title for this year.

Jesus is the object of our faith.

We fix our eyes on Jesus as we learned
in the beginning of chapter

twelve. He is the author,

the completion,

the finisher of our faith.

And so we make him our priority.

I've said over and over
again this year,

consider Jesus.

In the morning,

consider Jesus.

In the evening,

consider Jesus.

Everything in between,

consider Jesus.

So I'm going to ask a question this
morning before I read the text,

and just simply put it this way.

What are you going to waste
time doing today?

See, I mean,

think about it a minute.

We all get the same amount of time.

How we prioritize the youths
of that time is on us.

So what will we waste
time doing today?

Now, I would like to go ahead and submit
that this hour is not a waste.

Just so you know,

I want to let you know that we did
baptism last Sunday at 1245.

We baptized four folks
this Sunday at 1245.

We're going to meet and baptize again
today because folks keep responding

and keep saying we want
to be baptized.

So we're going to do baptism
again today.

So we'll meet at 1245.

If you want to be here for baptism,

just be on the beach at 1245.

If you want to be baptized,

be in the fellowship hall at 1245
and we'll walk over together.

Hebrews chapter twelve,

verses 14 to 29.

Here we go.

It's a long passage,

so you're just going to have to
either read it in your bibles.

If you don't have a Bible,

there might be one in the
chair around you,

or it'll be up on the screen.

Here we go.

Pursue peace with everyone
in holiness.

Without it,

no one will see the Lord.

Make sure that no one falls
short of the grace of God,

and that no root of bitterness
springs up,

causing trouble and defiling many make
sure that there isn't any immoral

or irreverent person like Esau,

who sold his birthright in exchange
for a single meal.

For you know that later,

when he wanted to inherit
the blessing,

he was rejected,

even though he sought it with tears,

because he didn't find any opportunity
for repentance.

For you have not come to
what could be touched,

to a blazing fire,

to darkness,

to gloom and storm,

to the blast of a trumpet
or the sound of words.

Those who heard it begged that not
another word be spoken to them,

for they could not bear
what was commanded.

If even an animal touches
the mountain,

it must be stone.

The appearance was so terrifying
that Moses said,

I am trembling with fear.

Instead, you have come
to Mount Zion,

to the city of the living God,

the heavenly Jerusalem,

too, to myriads of angels.

And here's my best,

my favorite little description,

a festive gathering to the assembly
of the firstborn,

whose names have been
written in heaven,

to a judge who is God of all,

to the spirits of righteous
people made perfect,

and to Jesus,

the mediator of a new covenant,

and to the sprinkled blood,

which says better things
than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not reject
the one who speaks.

For if they did not escape
when they rejected him,

who warned them on earth,

even less will we if we turn away from
him who warns us from heaven.

His voice shook the earth
at that time,

but now he has promised.

Yet once more I will shake
not only the earth,

but also the heavens.

This expression,

yet once more indicates the removal
of what can be shaken,

that is,

created things,

so that what is not shaken
might remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken,

let us be thankful by it.

We may serve God acceptably,

with reverence and awe.

For our God is a consuming fire.

The point of today's message is,

don't reject goddess.

Don't reject God.

Pray with me.

All righty.

Father, we thank you for your word.

And thank you that one of the first
things we learned in the book of

Hebrews is that you speak.

There was a time that you spoke through
prophets and angels and God,

you've spoken through your word,

and you've spoken by your spirit,

and you've spoken through
your creation.

And God.

You're speaking now,

God, we've got your written word.

We've got the living word.

Jesus. We've got these things.

God. So we have truth among us.

God, help us to listen.

Help us to pay attention.

God, I thank you for what you want
to accomplish this morning.

Because truth is,

we can't even conceive of all
that you will do today.

So God help us to simply be surrendered
and sacrificed that we might hear

and obey.

And we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. So that's the question today.

What are you going to do?

How are you going to waste
your time today?

I mean,

if you think about it,

because a couple of the things that
I want us to look at today,

because the library is changing
its shape and form,

I went back and got a couple of books
that were in my library and now

they're back in my library because they
were in this library for years.

But I want us to consider what
we're looking at right here.

We have seen in chapters one through
ten and a half and eleven and half

of twelve.

Now God has made the case for who he
is and what he's done and how he's

pointed us to Jesus,

how he has simply said,

this is what you need
to be focusing on.

Not that,

not that,

but focus on Jesus.

Pay attention to Jesus.

Right, because it's in Jesus that
what God is saying to us.

It's in Jesus that I have accomplished
the promise,

the work,

the provision for your redemption
and your salvation.

So now you need to focus your lives.

And this is God speaking
to all of us.

I'm not saying you.

I'm saying me too.

God is saying,

now focus your lives on Jesus.

Who is it that you're
paying attention to?

Who is it you serve?

Where are you invested in
your everyday life?

What are you going to waste time doing
today that doesn't have something

to do with Jesus?

I mean that.

Okay? Pursue peace with
everyone in holiness.

Without it,

no one will see the Lord.

All right,

so let's put that sentence
back together.

Pursue peace.

Pursue holiness.

Pursue those things.

Don't make excuses for
sin in your life.

We've already seen that in
the book of Hebrews.

We get the forewarnings,

and I'm going to get to
that in a few minutes.

But what he's saying is,

pursue peace and pursue holiness,

because without pursuing
those things,

you will not see it.

Doesn't say you're gonna
always find peace.

Guess what?

I have unrest in my life at times.

There's sin in my life at times,

so.

But I'm supposed to pursue those things
with the goal of reaching them.

Make sure that no one falls short of the
grace of God and that no bitter,

no root of bitterness springs up,

causing trouble and defiling many.

What's he talking about right there?

He's talking about division.

He's talking about the body of
Christ at odds with itself,

see?

Because in Christ,

what do we see in the book of acts?

We see there was unity.

They were in one accord.

What happened when the body of Christ
was in unity in one accord?

Thousands and thousands heard the message
of the gospel and responded.

You see,

one of the things that makes the body
of Christ weak today is all the

division in it,

see? So be careful of that kind of division
that causes bitterness among

us. Make sure there isn't any immoral
or irreverent person like Esau.

You know what?

I think I could appeal.

I shouldn't say that Esau is such a
sort of out there kind of example.

You know,

Jacob and Esau.

Esau is the hunter.

He's the one that makes the beef
stew that daddy likes to.

Right?

Daddy says,

go make me some stew.

So mom and Jacob get into it,

right? We can fool him,

right? But what happened
before that?

What happened before
that was Esau said,

you, Jacob.

All right,

let me go back and read this.

Make sure there isn't any immoral
or irreverent person like Esau,

who sold his birthright in exchange
for a single meal.

We know the story,

right? Jacob and Esau.

Jacob is the one cooking.

Esau trades his birthright for stew.

You know that later,

he wanted to inherit the blessing,

but couldn't inherit the blessing.

What is he referring to right here?

This is selfishness.

This is division.

This is immorality.

This is behavior.

So, aside from my rendition
of this story,

forgive me,

but here you go.

What do you choose first?

What do you choose first?

Do you choose self first?

See, that's what Esau did.

That's why he calls him immoral.

You see the point there?

And like I say,

I mean,

this is such a big passage.

I could have preached four weeks,

1234 weeks on this passage.

And breaking this down.

What we realize is,

is that we are Selfish People.

This is the sin of the garden.

This is choosing me over goddess.

And so he goes into the Old
Testament covenant,

the old covenant,

in the next passage,

in verse 18.

For he says,

for you have not come to
what could be touched.

To a blazing fire,

to darkness,

gloom, storm,

to the blast of a trumpet
and the sound of words.

What is he referring to there?

Remember the people at the
base of the mountain?

What'd they do?

God's speaking on the mountaintop.

They hear the thunder.

They hear the rumble.

Moses has gone up there.

They figure he's dead.

I. What do they do?

They pick a cow.

We'd rather worship a golden cow than
worship God on a mountaintop.

And I love that scene in there.

This is one of my favorite things
to say about that scene.

Moses comes back down the mountain,

he confronts his brother,

and he goes,

what have you done?

He says,

I don't know.

We threw the gold in the fire
and out walked his cow.

I'm looking at that.

I'm going,

whoa. But what he's saying is,

is that,

you know what?

The people were so scared of God that
even Moses himself trembled at the

confrontation that was
there at Mount Sinai.

Then he goes on to say,

instead, you have come to Mount Zion.

All right,

so this is us in the new covenant,

to the city of the living God,

to the heavenly Jerusalem,

to myriads of angels,

a festive gathering to the assembly
of the firstborn whose names have

been written in heaven,

to a judge who is God of all,

to the spirits of righteous
people made perfect,

and to Jesus,

the mediator of a new covenant,

and to the sprinkled blood that says
better things than the blood of

Abel. So now,

here's where we want to stop for a minute
and consider what all is being

said. God's running it
down for us now.

All right?

From the beginning of the book of
Hebrews all the way through,

what we've seen is the
people of God,

who in places served God,

who rejected God,

the covenant,

the sacrificial system,

the law,

the priests,

all those things.

And he said,

no, look,

pay attention to Jesus,

because now,

aside from all those things,

Esau, Abel,

Abraham, Moses,

everything that we saw
in chapter eleven,

all of those things,

instead, we have something
more than they have,

because we've got Mount Zion,

we've got the city of
the living God,

we've got all these descriptive
things,

and we've got the mediator,

Christ of the new covenant,

into his sprinkled blood,

which says better things than Abel's
blood and all the blood of the

sacrifices of the Old Testament.

So I look at this thing and I go,

all right.

And I've been working on it this week
with really the idea of choice.

So I want to ask you a question,

and this was a thing that was presented
to me years and years ago.

If you were to examine the
time you spend in a week,

how much do you,

how much time do you
spend pursuing God,

pursuing holiness,

pursuing the things of God?

All right,

let's get a little pickier.

Now, I tell y'all,

I don't like to do lists,

but I'm gonna do one.

You ready?

How much time did you spend
watching tv this week?

Did you spend more time watching
tv than you spent pursuing God?

How much time did you listen to,

let's say,

political rhetoric?

Did you spend more time listening to
that than you did pursuing God this

week? I went back to,

like I said,

the library back there,

and I pulled this book off.

I used to order this book and
give it away by the case.

It's called the Pursuit of
Holiness by Jerry Bridges.

It actually says there's over
a million of them sold,

and I probably got half of them.

But basically,

this, the title of the book comes from
this verse that we're looking at,

the pursuit of holiness.

Jerry Bridges wrote this,

and he said,

you know what?

He said,

it's time that we stop making excuses
for the lack of holiness in our

lives. He actually says,

romans 614 is the first chapter.

For sin shall not be your master because
you are not under the law,

but under grace.

See, this is one of those classic
books that I studied years ago.

Now, this is not my
actual copy of it.

This is just a copy that
was in the library.

But the truth is,

if we're not pursuing holiness,

what does it say?

Pursue peace with everyone
and pursue holiness.

Without it,

no one will see the Lord.

Folks, this is an expectation
of God.

Indeed, it's a command of God
that we pursue holiness.

Now, how much time will you spend pursuing
holiness versus how much time

do you spend wasting your pursuits?

Then I pulled this one out.

I was surprised to find this
one still in there.

This one.

This one does have my name on it.

It's even got some of my old
sticky note on the front.

And to be honest,

it's not much of a book anymore.

But when you flip through it,

you can see where I underlined and
highlighted and all these things.

This is called the knowledge.

Knowledge of the holy by aw Tozier.

Knowledge of the holy.

And basically what Tozier
says in this.

What you think about God is the
most important thing about you.

What you think about God
is the most important.

So how do you focus on who God is?

Because when we get to this
next section right here,

this is where I want to remind you
of the warnings of Hebrews.

The first warning of he.

I'm not walking right there.

Somebody told me last week,

when I started pointing it out,

they said,

I didn't hear it until
you pointed it out.

So I'm walking around it now.

The warnings,

right? The warnings of
the Book of Hebrews.

There are four.

Like four and a half.

Cause there's a little bit of
a warning in chapter ten.

But the first one was don't drift.

Remember the surfing illustration?

If you don't pay attention
to where you're paddling,

the waves will take you with them.

Folks, if we,

as the body of Christ,

as followers of Jesus,

as those who are seeking and pursuing
the peace of God and the holiness

of God,

if we're not paddling
in that direction,

guess what?

The waves in the world
will take you with it.

You will find yourself in a place
that you don't need to be.

And quite honestly,

as a follower of Christ,

you don't want to be.

The second warning of the
Book of Hebrews was,

don't rebel against God.

Well, don't rebel against God like
his people did in the wilderness.

What did they do?

They chose a cow over God.

We want to go back to Egypt.

We like the food we had there
by the Nile River.

God, I know you've promised
all this stuff,

but we'd rather go back to
where we're comfortable,

to where we have all of the
things of the world.

Folks, I'm going to be honest
with you right now,

and I'm not being honest.

Somebody always told me,

don't say that,

because that means you're lying.

Everything you said before that.

So let me just be transparent
a minute.

My fear is,

is that a lot of the body of Christ
is busy choosing the world over

choosing the things of God.

Keith Green sang a song
years ago called,

you want to go back to Egypt.

How many of y'all are old enough to
remember Keith Green in that song?

He said,

and there's a line in
there that says,

eating leeks and onions by the Nile.

Ooh. What?

Breathe.

You're dining out in style.

See, I want you to consider
the things that are pure,

worldly, and figure out what
is it you're choosing.

What is it I'm choosing?

Are we choosing worldliness,

or are we choosing godliness?

You see,

are we compromising with the sin and
the system of this world because

Satan's in charge of that?

And when we.

There it is.

See, it sort of takes the steam
out of me when I do that.

Don't be rebellious against what
God has set before us.

The third warning was,

don't believe wrongly.

The warning is apostasy.

Believe what God has revealed about
himself and what he's done right,

not.

Not what the world would
say about it.

See, this is the one where I say the
world is actively rejecting God,

actively rejecting God's design,

actively rejecting what God has
said about certain things.

Remember last week I said,

you know,

that the world is trying to destroy
the whole concept of God and his

design. By what?

By destroying the family?

By. By.

By destroying truth,

by destroying history.

You see,

the world stands in
opposition to God.

Don't choose the world.

Which leads us to the final warning.

See to it that you do not reject
the one who speaks back.

In the beginning of Hebrews,

he said,

the Lord has spoken.

God has spoken through
angels and prophets.

And now he speaks through his son,

Jesus, who is the heir
of all things,

the radiance of the glory of God,

the exact expression of his essence.

He is creator.

Jesus is creator.

Jesus is sustainer.

Jesus is the king of kings.

Jesus is the highest priest.

The covenant points to Jesus.

The law points to Jesus
sacrificial system.

All points to Jesus.

And yet we are very
easily distracted.

He says,

don't reject the one who speaks.

For if they did not escape
when they rejected him,

who warned them on earth,

even less will we if we turn away from
him who warns us from heaven.

His voice shook the earth
at that time.

But now he has promised
yet once more,

I will shake not only the earth,

but also the heavens.

See, that's kind of
a subtle promise,

that if you put your trust in
the things of this earth,

it's all going to be destroyed.

Things we can count so hard
on in the earth around us.

See what I mean?

His voice shook the earth
at that time.

That was Mount Sinai.

But now he's promised,

I will shake not only the earth,

but the heavens also.

This expression yet once more indicates
the removal of what can be

shaken, and that is the
created things.

God's creation is going to be shaken
so that what is not shaken might

remain. So what's not shaken.

Therefore, since we are receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken,

let's be thankful.

What are we being thankful for?

That we're receiving the kingdom.

You're hearing the message of hope.

You're hearing the message
of eternity.

You're hearing God's communication of
who he is and what he's provided

for, the message of redemption,

the message of salvation.

So what is our response
to all these things?

Last chapter.

In the beginning of this chapter,

it talked about discipline.

It talked about obedience.

It talked about correction.

How do we respond to discipline?

Do we respond to discipline
by rebelling against God?

Or do we respond to discipline by
pursuing peace and holiness?

You see?

Cause God pointed out the difference
between their mountain and our

mountain. Mount Sinai
is not our mountain.

What's our mountain?

Our mountain's the kingdom
that cannot be shaken.

You see?

And so we get this promise of God.

And then I ask this morning,

Nick and I reflected
on it a minute ago,

how much do we really trust God?

I mean,

seriously, or is there a percentage
of trust that we place more in

ourselves than we do God?

See, that's the challenge.

Don't reject God.

Don't reject the promises of God.

God's not shaken.

God's kingdom is not shaken.

I can be shaken,

but he cannot.

So if I placed my hope,

trust in everything that I am,

in who he is,

then guess what?

I'm unshaken because I'm in him,

in Christ,

you see?

And that's what God's giving us.

And I look at this thing
and I'm like,

wow.

I thought about dividing this passage
up and taking us all the way

through the end of October,

and I was like,

nope. This is the summary.

This is where God kind of gives
us the instruction,

points out what was,

points out what is,

and then tells us,

be careful,

be careful who you follow,

be careful what you believe,

and be careful how you behave.

I tell the story of living
in Baltimore,

in the Baltimore area.

They came up with a citywide campaign
one time to try to make the,

make the city better.

And so they passed out these
bumper stickers.

You'd see them all over Baltimore
on the bumper sticker.

They'd just say,

believe. Just believe for something
better and it'll happen.

Really?

If I just believe something
better is going to happen?

No. Isn't there a response
to what God expects?

See, a couple weeks ago,

I preached on the father's
expectation.

We're going to get to
it in chapter 13,

actually.

So they came out with a
second bumper sticker,

and I think it was somebody probably
that had a sense of humor like me,

because it was pretty sarcastic,

because the believe bumper sticker
was followed by the behave bumper

sticker.

Behave, folks.

The world encourages
us not to behave.

The world's encouraging you to forget
what it means to follow God.

You see,

God's called us to holiness,

to righteousness.

We're supposed to show a lost and dying
world what it looks like to

follow an eternal,

holy, righteous.

God comes down to trust.

Do I trust what he said?

Do I trust who he is?

And then how do I order my
life to live that trust?

How you going to waste
your time today?

Got a couple of book
recommendations.

Right? Pursue holiness.

Pursue peace.

Without it,

no one will see God.

If you don't know Jesus
this morning,

that's the starting point.

You need Jesus.

I would point you to Jesus.

Okay.

If you know him,

you know your shortcomings.

I know mine.

I know when I fail,

goddess, it comes back to confession
and repentance.

See, if you've got distractions in your
life that are essentially sin,

then you need to get with
God about that.

Maybe you know God and you pursuing
him just as hard as you can.

Well, yay.

I'm glad you are.

Just keep on.

It's a marathon,

not the hundred yard dash.

Okay, we're going to
sing one more song,

give you the opportunity
to respond to God.

I'll stand here and pray with you about
anything you want to pray about,

but really,

the response is between you and God.

So let's pray together.

God, we thank you and praise you
for who you are and God,

what you're doing.

God, I thank you that
your word's true.

And even if I get tongue
tied about it,

God, you already have communicated with
us the things that are important.

So, God,

I would pray that you
help us see you.

God, that we see.

Jesus, we seek.

Jesus, we pursue peace.

We pursue holiness.

God, we quit making excuses
when we fall short.

God, we seek the righteousness that we
are not mastered by sin because we

are covered by grace.

God, help us to behave.

Help us to behave.

Thank you that you expect better of
us than we expect of ourselves.

So, God,

help us,

we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen.