Sailing Towards Spiritual Stability in Troubled Waters

Discover the anchor you've been searching for amidst life's relentless storms as Dr. Evans takes us through the book of Hebrews, revealing the cross as our beacon of hope. The latest installment of Biblical Talks is a profound exploration of faith's role in providing stability when the ground beneath us seems to crumble. We contrast the terror that gripped those at Mount Sinai with the peace bestowed upon us at Mount Zion, delving into how trials can amplify the divine voice, guiding us towards a steadfast kingdom that outlasts the world's fleeting chaos.

When life throws its curveballs, could it be a divine nudge towards growth? In this episode, we peel back the layers of God's communication through the turmoil, interpreting our struggles as labor pains before the birth of renewed strength and beauty. Dr. Evans shares with us the intricate dance of divine orchestration, where discomfort becomes a prelude to transformation, encouraging a detachment from earthly anchors to fully embrace the spiritual realm. We ponder the Biblical metaphor of a parent nudging an adult child towards independence and how God uses similar tactics to deepen our spiritual journey.

Join us as we journey towards understanding God's unshakable kingdom, a realm untainted by earthly instability, and how we, as believers, can find our footing within it. The story of Rahab and the fall of Jericho serves as a stark reminder of what it means to live under God's rule rather than the world's. As we conclude, we reflect on the purifying nature of God's judgment and how it shapes us for His eternal kingdom, urging us to maintain an eternal perspective and unwavering trust in the sovereignty of the Almighty. Tune into this enlightening conversation and let it fortify your faith and perspective amidst the ever-changing tides of life.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:32

Welcome to Biblical Talks. I am Michael Tolliver. I heard Dr Evans preach on the stability of the cross. He embarked on a penetrating journey through the book of Hebrews, which is a cornerstone text for understanding how faith can anchor us amidst the lavish sea of life. He skillfully maneuvered through the concept of spiritual upheaval and the divine message in hardships and the eternal stability offered by the new covenant through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This historic backdrop serves as a parallel today in our personal and societal storm that we are facing. The author Hebrews presents a stark contrast between the terrifying experience at Mount Sinai and the grace-filled promise at Mount Zion, which leads us to understand that it's through the cross believers are ushered into a realm that transcends earthly chaos. The cross and Jesus' sacrifice, as we will hear and learn, acts as a support of a new existence of anchor and spiritual security.

Speaker 1: 1:51

Dr Evan Sermon the Stability of the Cross, in which he talks about the analogy of natural disasters, which he's drawn a powerful comparison between our response to impending storms and the way we might approach spiritual shake-ups when the foundation of our lives quicken. He suggests that that is when God's voice is most amplified, which he's prompting us to seek a deeper meaning behind these troubles, which we are in A critical point in Dr Evans' sermon revolves around the concept of spiritual disconnection In the face of trials. God's intention isn't to cause distress for his own sake, but to use these disruptions as a strategy to give blessing and to realign us with the divine. The message is clear as Christians, we should seek wisdom and guidance from above, recognizing that our religion lies in with the eternal kingdom, one that is not prone to the fleeting nature of this worldly experience. This is a great sermon the stability of the cross in which we need to hear this in times we are living in. Let's listen to Dr Evans as he preached his sermon the Stability of the Cross.

Speaker 2: 3:28

Many years ago, looking at the world. It incited Marvin Gaye to write the song what's Going On? As he perused and saw all of the negative realities of the world, he raised the question what's going on? He couldn't quite answer it, but he knew that something was amiss that was bringing havoc on many dimensions within our world and our society. A question was posed to me by one of our members just a week ago when he asked me what's going on? What is happening in our world? As we look at the landscape of our society and the world in which we live, a day doesn't go by where there seems to be more calamity and more chaos, more confusion, more uncertainty. And there are many here who are looking at their own personal lives and looking at your own personal struggles, and you're raising the question what's happening? What's happening to me, my world, my life? Do you want to know what's going on?

Speaker 2: 4:52

In Hebrews, chapter 12, the author is writing to Jewish Christians who are raising the same question what's going on? They're about to enter into the most climactic time that this generation has experienced, as Jerusalem is getting ready to be besieged by Titus and his army, the temple is about to be destroyed and the dark clouds have begun to move in. He writes later on in the book that some had been imprisoned, some had had their property confiscated. Imprisoned, some had had their property confiscated and they were raising the question about their reality. What's going on? What is happening here, and how do we respond to the chaos that seems to be bubbling up all around us? That is the setting of the book of Hebrews. The author of the book of Hebrews has spent the whole book talking about the excellent seeds of Jesus Christ. He's been exalting Christ over the religious systems of the day, particularly Judaism that they had been a part of and many were thinking about going back to, because this Christian thing for many of them was not working. It wasn't answering the question what's going on? So the author speaks to them in a contrast in chapter 12, to drive home the answer to the question what's going on?

Speaker 2: 6:51

Living in our world today? Things are being shaken to its core. Terrorism, of course, has changed the way we live. The financial markets have robbed all of us to some degree many of us to devastating degree of our retirements and the security of our future. Even a decent, paying job and life as we had known it is not the same. We want to know what's going on. Families are in disarray, psychological trauma is at an all-time high as people are finding it more and more difficult to cope with the realities of life as we are finding it, and so much of it is happening so quickly, unexpectedly. Things that used to look solid, things that used to look concrete, are now made of stucco. They're not solid anymore. We can't bank on it. It's in the midst of that kind of environment that the author of Hebrews has a word for you and me today, and it is, of of course, connected to the cross.

Speaker 2: 8:18

He has made a contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. You see, on Mount Sinai, when God spoke to Israel in the Old Testament verse 18 they came to a mountain that can be touched into a blazing fire, to darkness and gloom and whirlwind. A blast of the trumpet verse 20, not even a beast could touch the mountain or it would be stoned. When God came down and spoke prior to the giving of the 10 commandments, it says all hell broke loose. I mean, it was a sight to behold, as the mountain was smoking and quaking and God had come down to read out his law, and all of those environmental aspects happened To let the people know how serious a moment this was. This was a very serious moment and God's presence on that mountain shook the whole mountain so that the people ran away and said we can't listen to this, it's too much. It's what happened at Mount Sinai when Moses was about to give the Ten Commandments, or God was about to give the Ten Commandments. Verse 21 says it was so terrible a sight that Moses said I am full of fear and trembling, I'm terrified by God showing up this way. But then he flips it in verse 22. But you have come to Mount Zion.

Speaker 2: 10:04

He's talked about Mount Sinai, how terrifying a presence of God made in that environment. But he says to Christians that's not your mountain, that's not the mountain you're hanging out at. These mountains are spiritual symbols. He says you come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, a myriad of angels, general assembly, the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, the God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and here it is, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, to the sprinkled blood that's the cross, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. He says you've moved to a new city. You're operating in a different environment. You're operating in a different environment. You are living in a different realm. You're not living at Mount Sinai, where there is terror and fear and trembling and insecurity and where your roots are being uprooted. That's not your home. That's not where you live if you're a believer in Jesus Christ. Why that's not where you live if you're a believer in Jesus Christ? Why? Because he has said that the cross, that is, the blood of Jesus, has orchestrated a new arrangement, a new covenant. A covenant is a binding commitment that you are operating under the umbrella of a whole new realm, a whole new way of life that has been orchestrated by the blood of Jesus. That is the cross, which is the mediator, the means through which the new covenant operates. That is this commitment that God has to you.

Speaker 2: 11:51

The commitment that God has to me is mediated through the blood of Jesus Christ, orchestrating a different kind of arrangement that God has with his people, that he does not have with the world at large. It is mediated by the blood of Christ, which speaks he says in verse 24, better than the blood of Abel. You remember, abel was killed by Cain and the Bible says that his blood spoke out from the ground. What did Abel's blood call for? Abel's shed blood called for justice. It called for justice. God then, when the blood spoke out, went to Cain and he claimed justice or judgment on Cain. The blood spoke judgment, but he says that's not this blood that I'm talking about. I'm talking about the blood of Jesus Christ, which mediates a whole nother arrangement that God has with you and me that comes through this new covenant, which is the arrangement that God has with you and me as believers in Jesus Christ. It's a whole different arrangement than God has with the general public. It's a different arrangement. It's a new covenant. It's a fresh way of dealing with us Now, having established that the cross, the blood of Christ, is the mediation.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Jesus and his blood is the mechanism through which this new arrangement works. He then answers the question what's going on? Cause? Okay, I'm believing in Jesus Christ, I believe in the cross, I believe he died for me, I'm under this new covenant, but my stuff is still messed up. My life is still in shambles, things are still not going right, even though I'm attached to the cross and I'm attached to this new arrangement. What's the connection to Jesus, the cross, the mediation or mechanism through which this, a special connection with God, comes, and my circumstances, because my circumstances still aren't good, still aren't good.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Verse 25. 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 we escape. Who turn away from him? Who warns from heaven? His voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying yet once more. I will not shake only the earth, but also the heaven. The expression yet once more denotes the removing of things which can be shaken as of.

Speaker 2: 14:47

He keeps using the word shaken. If your world is being shaken, if you're all shook up because of what's happening in the world or what's happening in your world and you are being rattled by it, shaken, you know you're being shaken. When it's keeping you from sleeping at night, that thing is shaking you. You know you're being shaken when you're living in insecurity and fear because of what's happening in the world or your world and you're being shaken. You know things are shaking you when that which was stable, that which was okay, that which was seemingly on solid footing, is now causing you to be afraid and insecure and unstable. Guess what he just said. He said when the shaking occurs and you're part of the new covenant, you're part of the attached group to the cross, he says do not refuse him who is speaking. Okay, don't miss that. You know what he just said. If your roots are being shaken, god is talking. Do not refuse him who is speaking. When the mountain quaked at Mount Sinai, they refused him who was speaking. God was trying to say something, or God was saying something, and they said we don't want that. You remember I was at grandma's house when it was thunder and lightning outside and she made you cut off the television and the radio and then she would say God is talking and you would be thinking I wish he'd be quiet because he messing up my's, messing up my entertainment. The world is shaking and, as a result, your world may be shaking because God is talking.

Speaker 2: 17:14

On bad weather days or with the anticipation of bad weather days, we are most apt to turn and tune into and focus on the weather man or weather woman. On bad weather days or anticipated bad weather days, when you hear or anticipated bad weather days, when you hear a hurricane is coming, when you hear a tornado could be in the vicinity. When you hear bad storms are headed this way, you then focus in on the weather every other time. You may just kind of overhear the weather every other time, you will. You know, you'll kind of get it, not get it. You know, I just want of overhear the weather Every other time, you will. You know, you'll kind of get it and not get it. You know, I just want to hear what the temperature is. Is it going to rain? You just kind of listen. But when you hear it's going to be bad, now there is focus in on the weather because the weather is going to be so shaky, it's going to be so impactful. Now you want the details. Now you want detailed information on how to orchestrate, how to manage this weather that is coming our way. When people in Florida hear that there are hurricanes in the Atlantic or in the Gulf that are staring up in Jamaica or Cuba or Haiti, well, it may be a little ways off, but they're tuning in because things are getting shaky. And they're tuning in because they know they're going to have to board up some stuff and they're going to have to treat this differently than just a rain shower. They understand that this is a shaky situation.

Speaker 2: 19:03

When God allows or causes things to be shaken, nationally or personally, he says do not refuse him. Who is speaking? Grandmama wasn't wrong. God is talking, and the worse the shaking is, the louder he's speaking, the worse the shaking is, the more he's screaming. He says when things are shaky, god is speaking. Now, what is he saying? That's the question. What is he saying? How can I interpret the language? I just see the events. I don't know what the vocabulary is. How do I know what his word is when there is so much disruption, time after time after time, bigger and bigger and get bigger, and I'm being affected more personally than ever. Verse 27. The expression yet once more Denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Speaker 2: 20:31

Turmoil begins to take place in her belly.

Speaker 2: 20:36

Turmoil begins to take place. Anguish begins to manifest itself. Pain becomes the order of the day. It's labor. It hurts, she's in anguish. It hurts, she's in anguish, and what's causing the pain is that the baby is talking. The baby is speaking Now. The baby is not speaking words that are intelligible, but the baby is sending a message. And the message of the baby is. I want out. Get me up out of here. I want to leave here. I don't want to be here anymore. Do you know what the message is? The message is a message of separation.

Speaker 2: 21:45

There is a separation occurring from the mother and the separation is painful. Something is being removed from the womb and the change hurts. Stick with me now. The pain means it's time for a change. Are you listening? You just showed up. The pain means it's time for a change. A change is being orchestrated and the pain is the indication that it's now time for a change. In fact, the closer the labor pains get, the closer to the change you are. So if the labor pains are still a long way away, it may hurt, but it ain't time way, it may hurt, but it ain't time. Those pains must get closer together, become more painful, for the change to occur. There is a separation occurring, but it's good news. In a bad situation, it's painful. We can't say it's good news. In a bad situation, it's painful. We can't say it's not painful, it hurts. We can't say it doesn't hurt. But something powerful and wonderful is coming down the pike. A new life is coming down the pike and the pain is introducing. It's time for the new life. It's time for the manifestation Throughout the Bible.

Speaker 2: 23:55

When God was ready to do something special, different, unique and typically wonderful, it would be introduced. Through a painful scenario, god would create or allow anguish and pain to introduce the new scenario. Now I know your question. It's my question too. Why? Why? Why I got the bees this way? Why? Why can't he just introduce it and the baby just slide out? Why we can't? Why we can't just just, just, just, you know, have the new things show up and not have to go through labor? You see, when God is ready to do something new, he knows. More often than not we are not ready for what he wants to do. We are not ready yet. So he must make us ready, he must set it up so that we want him to make the change his way. And we're going to cooperate with the program, because it's too painful to stay where we are, because, trust me, when that labor pain hits, hearing you cute when you're pregnant don't matter. Make me uncute, because this hurts too bad. It's time for a change.

Speaker 2: 25:38

When Israel was crossing the Red Sea they only cross because God blocked them in and there was no way out. He got Pharaoh on one side, he got the Red Sea on the other side and they are stuck and guess what? They saw death. I'm gonna die, we're gonna die. Why have you let us out here Now? Of course, when they were there, they wanted to be out. Now that they're out, they say let's go back.

Speaker 2: 26:07

So God had to force the issue by creating turbulence so that he could birth. The next thing he wanted to do Over and over again, including the cross. Before there was the life, there had to be the death. And this has created another arrangement, the arrangement that God now has with you and me called the new covenant, which is predicated on the cross, jesus being the mediator or mechanism through which this is funneled. The cross, the life that the death of Jesus Christ, the blood shed. He says the blood. That is the cross. That is the means by which God operates this new mechanism. It is the flow of his provision. It is manifested through the cross. It includes him speaking provision. It is manifested through the cross. It includes him speaking and shaking things. And In order, what is he doing? It says as of created things.

Speaker 2: 27:31

Verse 27 says so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. To put it another way God is eroding one realm in order to expose another realm. He is eroding the earth in order to manifest heaven. Why must God erode earth for us to see heaven? Because we're too attached. We are too attached, and so he must shake us loose from the thing we are attached to in order to take us to the place he wants us to be. So he creates discontinuity we call it Disconnection, destabilization In order to remove us from our loyalty to earth, so that we can see the movement of heaven to earth, so that we can see the movement of heaven.

Speaker 2: 29:19

If you and I are attached too attached to this earth and this world, and God wants to. You know it's like when you're a teenager they get 18 or 20 or 21, or even, especially, when they get 25, 26, 27,. They're still too attached. You're still buying the food, you're still paying the condo, you're still paying all the utilities, and they're sleeping and eating. And then they're in their 30s. You know they too attached.

Speaker 2: 29:58

You must set up a system of things to create it uncomfortable for them to be there. See, as long as they are comfortable there. And no, you ain't going to say nothing, you're going to keep paying the bills You're going to keep paying. Their car note. You know they get to sleep in while you get to go to work. Why should they change? Why should they move out? Why should they take responsibility? You have made it too easy for them to grow to the next level. So you must create some disconnection, discontinuity, uncomfortableness. Now you may not have to say a word. All you have to do is create the scenario and you will be speaking loudly. Your point will be inextricably clear. They will get the message. And if they don't get the message, you have to turn up the heat. You have to create a disconnect.

Speaker 2: 31:00

He says do not refuse him. Who is speaking? When God creates discontinuity in your life and in your world, like he is creating in our world, he is speaking. He is saying something particularly to us who are part of the new covenant. What he is saying is I want to disconnect you from things that are created from this earth in order that I might reveal the eternal things.

Speaker 2: 31:38

Now he doesn't mean take us to heaven. That's the ultimate discontinuity when you die, because that takes you to heaven. So he transitions you into another realm. He knows we are so attached to earth. We're so attached to earth. You know, everybody wants to go to heaven. Nobody wants to die to get there. Well, even before we get to heaven, god creates discontinuity on earth in order to bring us to a new level of experience, spiritually with him, spiritually with him. And that's why God does not often, always get rid of the inconveniences we are going through, until we start refusing him who is speaking.

Speaker 2: 32:27

See, as long as you're saying no, lord, no, no, god, no, not now, god, no, no, let's wait God, you're refusing him who is speaking, which means you're too attached. And as long as you're too attached, you're not getting the message, which means he must turn up the heat. So God creates disconnect, discontinuity. When you're in an earthquake, if you are attached to the earth, you're going to shake. If you're in an airplane, you're not, because you're not attached. God wants to flow, by means of the cross, the blessings of the new covenant, that is the commitment that he has to you and all of its many manifestations. But in order to do that, he must disconnect you from that which is inconsistent with this covenant, with this arrangement, with this relationship that we ought to be having with God. I love what he says here. The expression yet once more denotes the removing of things which can be shaken. Yet once more. This is a quote from Haggai, chapter 2.

Speaker 2: 33:59

The author of Hebrews is quoting the Old Testament. Let me read Haggai, chapter 2 so that you can hear what he's reading from, or quoting from, when he writes in Hebrews, chapter 12. In Haggai, chapter 2, this is what it says in verse 6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, once more, in a while, a little while, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth. Well, that's what the author is quoting. Says the Lord of hosts. Says the Lord of hosts, the silver and the gold is mine. Declares the Lord of hosts, I will shake the nations and they will come up with the wealth of all nations and I will fill this house with glory. Says the Lord of hosts, the silver is mine, the gold is mine. Declares the Lord of hosts. Now, that's very interesting.

Speaker 2: 34:54

The author in the New Testament is quoting from the Old Testament. In the verse where he is quoting from God says I am going to shake here's what he says and I am going to shake the nations so that they give up their gold and silver. See, now, you like the word shaken. See, shaking is okay now, as long as you're not the one being shook. He quotes it saying God is going to shake things up in order to transfer things over. That's what he says in Haggai, chapter 2. He's shaking things up to transition things over. It's like when you grew up with those old piggy banks and you would shake the stuff that had been deposited so that you could now use the money from the piggy bank. He says he wants to shake it over and shake it out. Shake something loose from one realm in order to deliver something to another realm. This is good news from the cross.

Speaker 2: 36:06

Today, the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross mediates a new arrangement God has with every Christian and with his church. That new arrangement is called the new covenant. The new covenant is the commitment that God has made to you. God has said that through the cross. By means of this new arrangement, the new covenant, god is going to flow to you his goodness, but he will flow to it by first disconnecting you from that which would be blockages in the arteries of your spirit. He says what God is after is he's removing the created things because you're too attached, I'm too attached, and he says as long as we are attached to earth, you won't see heaven, you won't see the eternal things, you won't see the things that are coming from God because you're too attached to them coming from men. Some of the great memories in my life have come out of crises where heaven had to step in because earth couldn't fix it. Earth couldn't fix it and God would not allow earth to fix it because he was talking. He was talking, he was speaking, god had something to say. Therefore, verse 28.

Speaker 2: 37:57

Since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, the cross of Jesus Christ has resulted in a new arrangement with God. Watch this now. That has transferred you don't miss this to an unshakable kingdom. Let me say that again the cross of Jesus Christ. When God saved you, forgave you and made you one of his own, he also transferred you. You have received a kingdom. A kingdom is a rule. You're under a government that cannot be shaken. That is not subject. Listen to this, to what's happening around you. That is not limited to what you read in the newspaper. If you're only looking at the stock market pages, if you're only looking at the banking systems, if you're only looking at the recession, if that's all you are seeing, you will be shaken, you will be shaken. And if your cry is, what is the government going to do? What's the president going to do? When are they going to fix this? That's the wrong question. If God's doing the shaking, if God's doing the shaking, you're raising the wrong question.

Speaker 2: 39:45

God is concerned that you don't refuse him who is speaking. God is concerned that you don't refuse him who is speaking. The question now is God, what are you saying to me or to us, through all of this turmoil and turbulence in our lives, being as though I am attached to the cross underneath the new covenant and therefore have been placed in a kingdom or under a governmental regime that does not shake. Now, what does this mean? It means you shouldn't be reacting like everybody else is reacting because you're not part of their kingdom. You you operating with a different king. You're not part of their kingdom. You're operating with a different king. You're operating with a different rule, you're operating under a different authority. So you ought to be shaken, that is, you're not to be destabilized.

Speaker 2: 40:46

Well, what am I supposed to do when my world's falling apart? One don't refuse him who is speaking. Look, if your world is falling apart, say Lord, you're talking, I'm listening. Okay, lord you're talking, I'm listening. The nation's falling apart. Lord you're talking, I'm listening. I want to hear what you have to say to me or to us in this situation. What are you saying? Watch this. Let us show gratitude, thanksgiving. When things are shaky. Now, what is our propensity? When things are shaky? Complaining, fussing and cussing, getting mad, getting ticked off, which is all refusing him who is speaking. You should be thankful he talking to you. He's speaking, and the worse the inconvenience and discontinuity gets, the louder he's talking. He says Lord, I want to establish gratitude now that I have access to the cross and part of this new arrangement and I'm under another kingdom, so the rules outside of the kingdom don't control what's happening inside the kingdom, inside the rule of God. Let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Our God is a consuming fire.

Speaker 2: 42:31

When the walls of Jericho fell down, the Bible says and Rahab's house stood, everything around her crumbled. Everything around Rahab crumbled. The kingdom she was a part of called Jericho crumbled, it says. Her house, which was embedded into the wall, it says stood. So that meant all the wall fell except for one piece of the wall and that was a piece where her house was. Why? Because she was part of an unshakable kingdom.

Speaker 2: 43:09

Yes, we must be responsible. Yes, we must take care of our business. Yes, we have obligations to meet. But God is talking, he's screaming and I predict he will get louder. The more the culture disconnects from him, the louder he's gonna talk. Which means the more the culture disconnects from him, the louder he's going to talk, which means the more trouble there will be. But that's not our kingdom.

Speaker 2: 43:42

So, yeah, you're going to be a little. It's going to be uncomfortable, it's going to be like turbulence on a plane. It's going to be. That's not a good feeling when the plane's jumping all up and down and the pilot has to get on and says we are in rough air. That is not a comfortable place to be. But you're still flying above the situation and you are to look at it through the lens of the eternal perspective, the eyes of God, not the eyes of other people who are as shook up as you are, because our God is a consuming fire. It's like the boy who was on the plane and he is playing in turbulence. The lady sitting next to him, an older lady was all shook up and just nervous as could be, and the blue boy is playing in the turbulence. They're both in the turbulence but he's playing and she's scared and she says well, how can you play at a time like this? And his answer was my father is the pilot. When you know who's in the cockpit, it changes how you react to the turbulence. They're going to be turbulent. Turbulence doesn't feel good.

Speaker 2: 44:59

He closes with this phrase, and I close with it our God is a consuming fire. What does that mean? Our God is a consuming fire. Why does he want you to know that when they put an animal on the altar, god instructed them to consume the animal with the fire. The animal would be consumed, it would be burnt up. Consumed, it would be burnt up. The purpose, however, of the consuming was to render judgment in order to free the nation up for forgiveness, in order that God could continue with blessing. There would be judgment in order for there to be purification, in order for there to be purification, in order that there might be blessing, judgment, purification, blessing. That was why there was the consuming of the sacrifice. Our God is a consuming fire. Judgment, purification, blessing. I've said it before, I'll use it again.

Speaker 2: 46:10

You get up in the morning and you go into work or come into church and you want to iron your clothes. You plug the iron in and you turn it on and it gets hot. You pull up the ironing board and you lay your clothing out and you apply heat to your clothing. Why? Why, you want to make your clothes hot. Why don't you put all that fire on your clothes? The reason for the fire is to remove the wrinkles.

Speaker 2: 46:52

See, you're not trying to be mean with the consuming fire of the iron. You're not trying to be mean. You're not hating on the clothes. You know, I know smoke be coming all up from the clothes, but you're not. Your goal is not to burn the clothes. Now, if you do, you don't know what you're doing. Okay, because your goal is not to burn the clothes. Now, if you do, you don't know what you're doing. Okay, because your goal is not to burn the clothes. That's not your goal. But your goal is to set fire to the clothes.

Speaker 2: 47:20

And it is a consuming fire, but what it's meant to consume is what does not belong. It's not meant to burn up the clothes, it's meant to consume the wrinkles, and the consuming fire of the iron consumes the wrinkles, removing the wrinkles as you go over the clothing with the ironing board. And there's a good reason why you're doing this and that's because you plan to put it on. You're going to wear that and you know you can't wear that with the way it's looking, because if you wear that with the way it's looking, it's going to make you look bad If you wear it without consuming it first. And since you don't want to look bad going to work and coming to church, you put a consuming fire on it, not to hurt it, but because you want to use it. You want to do something with it. So you consume what does not belong by the use of fire, purifying it of its wrinkles because you want to put it on and display it.

Speaker 2: 48:34

Our God is a consuming fire. He renders judgment on what does not belong and that's painful In order to remove it, because he wants to wear it and use it and allow it to be a blessing To you. The cross has now given you a new arrangement with God, placing you in a kingdom that does not shake In spite of the shaking around you. Therefore, in the midst of your shaky situation, as bad as it is and as close. As the labor pains are apart, let us show gratitude.

Speaker 2: 49:26

Right now, you may not have steak and potatoes, but praise them for hot dogs and baked beans. Right now, you may not be making the money you want, but thank you. There's still a roof over your head, clothes on your back and you're not walking. Let us. This is not the time to complain. This is not the time to cuss and fuss, because God is talking. This is the time to bless his name, render service, knowing that our God is ironing some wrinkles and when this thing is right, he gonna dress up in you and you gonna be blessed because God almighty is wearing you and he's going to be able to do some things for which he alone will get the glory.

Speaker 2: 50:18

And then there will come that one day when there will be the final shaking, when the whole world will erupt. That's because Jesus is getting ready to break the clouds. Come back and call his children home. He's going to shake stuff up. First, let's call the day of the Lord before his ultimate entrance. What I'm saying to you is God is shaking stuff up because he's saying something. Do not refuse him. Who is speaking? Who?

Speaker 1: 50:52

is speaking this sermon. The stability of the cross is a reminder that, through the trials we face, we are being shaped and prepared for a greater destiny, One that is secure Because we are in the hands of a sovereign God. This journey through the lands of Hebrews is an invitation to embrace change, to see the beauty into transformation and to live with the assurance that we are part of an unshakable kingdom. Thank you for listening to Biblical Talks Podcast and have a blessed day.