The City of God

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Is following Jesus really worth it?

We’re near the end of a series on Hebrews and if you’ve been with us during it, you’ll know that that’s the question of the book. Because, just to remind you, Hebrews was written to Jews who’d become Christians and, as a result, faced massive hostility from their fellow-Jews. I know of a Jewish woman today who became a Christian, and her family disowned her, held a funeral for her, and now basically treat her as dead – they’ll have nothing to do with her. And that’s the kind of treatment these ‘Hebrews’ were getting. Which meant that many of them were wondering, ‘Is following Jesus really worth it, if this is what it can cost, if this is the kind of hard time he lets you go through?’ And some of them had already packed in their profession of faith in Jesus. And others were on the edge of doing so. And you may be able to relate to that, thinking back to some time in your Christian life. Or it may be exactly what you’re facing right now in your Christian life. Or it may be what’s stopping you becoming a Christian – the thought of what it would cost among your family, back in your home country, or whatever.

Well, to make their lives easier again, these Jewish Christians were tempted to go back to Judaism. ‘After all,’ they would have told themselves, ‘We could still relate to God the Old Testament (OT) way – through the priests and sacrifices. And we’d actually belong again, rather than being socially out on a limb as complete misfits.’ To which the book of Hebrews says:

• First, those priests and sacrifices pointed forward to Jesus – so now he’s come and died for sins, you can only relate to God through him (that’s the bulk of chapters 1-10);
• And second, you shouldn’t be looking for a way to belong comfortably in this life – because for the follower of Jesus, belonging comfortably is for heaven, not for here and now (that’s especially chapters 11-12)

So chapters 11 and 12 are about the second of those themes – heaven. And the take-home message is, ‘Yes, following Jesus is worth it – because heaven will far outweigh the costs of getting there – the costs of hostility to us, of the ongoing fight against sin, and of keeping going in faith when you feel like packing in, when you feel perplexed and disillusioned by the circumstances God is letting you go through.’ And so before the parting shots of Hebrews 13, Hebrews 12 ends with a final vision of life beyond this life. So let’s turn to Hebrews 12.18-29. And what God says here to believers in Jesus is:

Firstly, REMEMBER YOU BELONG TO HEAVEN (vv18-24)

Look down to Hebrews chapter 12 and v18:

For you have not come to [and the next bit is about the Israelites meeting God at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19):] what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven… (vv18-23)

So vv18-21 are about that meeting at Mount Sinai. And the point it’s emphasising is that it was so tangible: a mountain that could be touched and stuff that could be seen and heard and smelt. Which puts in a nutshell one of the big attractions, for these Hebrews, of going back to Judaism. It’s that it had so much that was tangible. Like a real, solid temple where you went to meet with God. And sacrifices being offered for you before your very eyes. And a holy land and city where you could really feel you belonged.

And v18 says, ‘You who trust in Jesus have not come to that. You haven’t come to tangible things like that in this life. Instead, you know that Jesus has risen from the dead to show that there’s life beyond this life. And that’s where the vast majority of the blessings of being a Christian lie, and it will be more tangible – more real and solid – than anything here and now.’ That’s what v22 onwards is saying:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… (v22)

So what exactly is that saying? Well, in the OT, Jerusalem was the spiritual capital city for God’s people, perched on Mount Zion. And Psalm 122 tells us how they used to go up to Jerusalem for spiritual get-togethers (‘festivals’) and those were the times when instead of feeling scattered and vulnerable out there in the world, they felt this great sense of belonging and security together. And the prophets took up that picture and said, ‘That’s how it’ll feel at the very end of time when God’s Messiah wraps up history – when instead of being scattered and vulnerable in an unbelieving world, God’s people will finally be together and secure and there won’t be anyone to be hostile to them any more.’ So the prophets talked about heaven as the new Jerusalem, the new Zion – and that’s what Hebrews does here, too. And it’s emphasising the society of heaven, the wonderful experience it will be of living in a population made up 100% of believers – and believers who are finally perfect, who no longer rub you up the wrong way at all and who are a dream to be with.

And this passage is saying ‘That’s your future.’ But actually v22 doesn’t just say, ‘You will come to that one day.’ It says, ‘You have come to that.’ Because as the Bible sees it, being part of a church fellowship here and now is a foretaste – albeit an imperfect one – of the fellowship of heaven. And in v23 where it talks about the ‘assembly’ of those who are in heaven, ‘assembly’ (as the ESV footnote tells you) is actually the word for church – and church just means ‘assembly, ‘gathering’ (which is why the church isn’t this building, it’s the people gathered in the building). And the point being made here is not that heaven will be like one, eternal church service (hymn after hymn, song after song) – it won’t. The point is that any church gathering – like this one today, or your Home Group or other small group – should give you some foretaste of what heaven will be like.

So, eg, I remember talking to a teenager on the Scripture Union summer camp I used to lead. And he said to me on the last day of the camp, ‘Being in a place with Christians in the majority and Christians setting the tone has been amazing. It’s made it so easy to be a Christian and I’ve really found my feet again as a Christian. I guess this is something like what we’ll experience in heaven.’ And I don’t think he’d ever read Hebrews 12. But he certainly understood what Hebrews 12 is saying. It’s saying that our fellowship together is meant to be a foretaste of heaven. It’s saying that coming on a Sunday or to your Home Group or small group, or on a weekend away, or just to a social, is meant to relieve you of the pressure and down-drag of being out there, often in a minority of one, in a world that’s giving you ever discouragement against living for Christ.; it’s meant to encourage you that you’re not in the Christian life on your own, and that there are plenty of other sane and sensible and head-screwed on people who believe what you believe (despite the world saying – or implying – that you’re an idiot to believe it).

And that’s why you need fellowship and why the discipline of regular attendance is such a spiritual ally. And it’s also why you and I must work at making the fellowship as good as we possibly can for our fellow-Christians. So the wrong attitude is to come along here or to your small group thinking, ‘What can I get out of this?’ The right attitude is to come along thinking, ‘How can I contribute to making this a foretaste of heaven for my fellow-Christians, so that I help send them back into this fallen and difficult world encouraged to live another week for Christ?’

So, church fellowship at its best is a foretaste of heaven and should leave us thinking about heaven all the more and looking forward to heaven all the more and believing that heaven will far outweigh the costs of getting there. That’s the point of the end of v22 which talks about:

innumerable angels in festal gathering… (v22)

And ‘festal’ means celebrating, partying, because it’s such a fantastic place to be. Richard Baxter was a Puritan writer in the 1600’s and his book The Saints’ Everlasting Rest is the best attempt I’ve ever read at describing what heaven will be like. And in one chapter he imagines a believer newly arrived in heaven and just beginning to take it in – and realising as a result how feeble his view of it had been on earth, and finding himself ashamed that he ever questioned whether following Jesus was worth it. Let me read you some of it (and bear with the sometimes slightly old fashioned language):

From [heaven] the saint can look behind him and before him. And to compare past with present things must raise in [his] soul an inconceivable esteem and sense of its condition... To stand in heaven and look back on earth, and weigh them together in the balance... how must it transport the soul, and make it cry out, ‘Is this the purchase that cost so dear as the blood of Christ? No wonder... Is this the final goal of believing… and of the Spirit’s workings? Have the gales of grace blown me into such a harbour? ... O blessed way, and blessed end! Is this the glory which the Scriptures spoke of, and ministers preached of…? I see now the Gospel is indeed good tidings... Is my mourning, my fasting, my sad humblings, my heavy walking, come to this? Is my praying, watching and fearing to offend God come to this? Are all my afflictions, Satan’s temptations, the world’s jeers, come to this? O my vile nature, that resisted so much, and so long, such a blessing! Unworthy soul! Is this the place you came to so unwillingly? Was duty wearisome? Was the world too good to lose? Could you not leave all, deny all, and suffer anything for this? Were you loathe to die, to come to this? O false heart, you almost betrayed me… and lost me this glory! Are you not now ashamed, my soul, that you ever questioned that love which brought you here... and misinterpreted those providences, and resented those ways which have led to such an end? Now you are convinced that your blessed Redeemer was saving you as well when he crossed your desires, as when he granted them; when he broke your heart, as when he bound it up. No thanks to you, unworthy self, for this received crown; but to the Lord and the Lamb be glory for ever.’

People don’t write like that these days, do they? Which is why, as C.S.Lewis said, we need to read the old books.

Look down to v22 again:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all… (vv22-23)

Which is a reminder that even believers will finally meet God as Judge. Now don’t misunderstand that, because the very next bit reassures believers that they will meet God as forgiven people. Just read on: we have come ‘to God the judge of all…’

and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (vv23-24)

So Abel was murdered by his brother Cain in Genesis 4, where God says to Cain,

‘your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground’ (Genesis 4.10)

Ie, Abel’s blood was crying out for God to bring judgement on Cain for his sin. Whereas Jesus’ blood shed for us on the cross speaks a completely different word – it says, ‘You can now be forgiven all your sins, even though you deserve judgement for them.’

So putting those pieces together, believers will meet God as Judge – but they’ll meet him as forgiven people. So it won’t be for judgement in the sense of possible condemnation and rejection, but for judgement in the sense of evaluation. God’s question to those trusting in Jesus won’t be, ‘Shall I accept you and let you in after all?’ That question has been settled by the cross. God’s question will be, ‘How well did you love me and serve me as a forgiven person?’ And I take it that’s included here in this vision of heaven to remind us that the more commitedly and consistently we live for God now, the more we’ll look forward to meeting him in heaven, because the less we’ll have to regret and be ashamed of, and the more we’ll be able to hear him say at the end of the day of our lives, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’

So, remember you belong to heaven. Then the next point – on the same life-beyond-this-life theme – is:

Second, KEEP BELIEVING WHAT THE GOSPEL SAYS ABOUT THE END OF EVERYTHING (vv25-27)

Look on to v25:

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking[that is, God speaking to us in the gospel of his Son’s death and resurrection. And remember he’s talking, especially, to those on the edge of turning away completely and decisively from the gospel.]For if they [that is, the largely unbelieving, God-rejecting generation of Moses’ day] did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.[And again, remember: this warning is so severe because it’s addressed to people on the edge of completely and decisively rejecting the gospel – it’s not addressed to the ongoing sinfulness of those who are trying to press ahead in trusting and obeying Christ.]At that time [ie, in Moses’ day] his [God’s] voice shook the earth, but now he has promised [and this is a quotation from the prophet Haggai],

Now we can’t unpack all the detail there. But seeing the wood for the trees, it’s simply saying that when God wraps up history through Jesus’ return, there will be a shake-up – ie, a judgement – on a cosmic scale. And it will, v27, ‘remove’ certain things – ‘things that have been made.’ Now elsewhere, the Bible says that, beyond the day of judgement, there will be a new creation. So believers won’t be disembodied spirits floating around on clouds. We’ll have resurrection bodies in a totally transformed physical creation. (and I preached on The Life of the World to Come in a sermon on 24 March 2013). So v27 isn’t saying, ‘There won’t be a physical creation at all beyond Jesus’ return.’ But it is saying, ‘This present creation is going to come to an end.’ The point being that we should therefore sit loose to it and to all the stuff and possessions of this life that seem so secure and unshakable – but aren’t.

So, eg, back in chapter 10, we saw that some of the Hebrews had lost possessions and even homes for their faith. And that’s not desirable. But here chapter 12 is saying to them ‘Look if it comes to that – or has come to that – remember that what you’ve lost was going to be taken from you anyway in that great final shake-up.’ So, eg, Tess and I are blessed with a wonderful family house. And for that very reason, I’m constantly telling myself to sit loose to it – so that if, eg, we thought God was leading us to ministry elsewhere – whether elsewhere in Newcastle or training pastors in Africa like friends of ours – we’d be prepared to leave that house. We wouldn’t regard it as something unshakable, non-negotiable.

And the same kind of thing can be said about money, can’t it? I wonder how many of us, in thinking about this Gift Week, have struggled with the apparent unshakableness of money. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t save for our future needs and those of our dependents – I believe we should. But those of us who know or suspect we have more than enough saved, did we struggle with the thought that giving out of that was to lose security, to lose that financial cushion between us and uncertainty that we so instinctively love to have? But the question is: what will that thinking look like in heaven? From the vantage point of the end, what things that we think of as secure will in fact be shown up as insecure? And what goals that we’ve pursued will be shown up to be at best, trivial; and at worst, false?

Keep believing what the gospel says about the end of everything and you’ll avoid those pitfalls of false perceptions and priorities.

And the final point here – still on the same life-beyond-this-life theme – is:

Third, LIVE AS PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO HEAVEN (v28-29)

‘Do you believe in this vision of heaven? Do you believe that, through Jesus’ you’re going there? Well in that case,’ says Hebrews, ‘Live as someone who’s going to heaven.’ Look down lastly to v28:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (vv28-29)

Now ‘let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken’ means ‘let’s reckon on our future in heaven in a way that really affects our morale and our attitude here and now.’ And I’ve learned so much about that from the most senior members of this church – not least Moyra McQuillin who’s just gone to be with the Lord, and who in her increasing physical decline was looking forward to that (eg, it’s great to think she’ll now be able to see again, having become all but blind). Because where the unbeliever in the shoes of those seniors might be full of resentment about poor health and only able to look back on what’s been and what’s slipping away, the senior saints among us exemplify this attitude of looking forward and reckoning on what’s to come beyond this life, and of therefore being joyful and grateful in a way that humbles me who has far less to put up with day by day. So v28 again:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship… (v28)

And unlike Christians generally use it today, the New Testament (NT) almost never uses that word ‘worship’ to mean what goes on when we meet as church (‘congregational worship’). Almost without exception it uses it to mean our service of God, 24/7, in every area of life. And that’s what it means here, as we’ll see in chapter 13. Because chapter 13 says some very specific things about what serving God in every area of life looks like. And chapter 12 v28 is saying: serving God rightly now is motivated by knowing we’ll be with him in heaven then. It’s saying, ‘Let’s reckon on our future in heaven… and thus serve him rightly now.’ And for just one example of that, have a sneak preview of Hebrews 13.5:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have… (13.5)

And, being ‘grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken’ (12.28) is the key to that, isn’t it? Because if I know God’s going to give me this fantastic inheritance in the end, I won’t see it as my life’s goal to accumulate as much as I can now. I won’t try to make heaven on earth for myself, when I know that real heaven is ultimately going to be given me.

So, is following Jesus really worth it? Is it really worth the cost of the hostility we may face? Is it really worth the cost of the ongoing fight against sin? Is it really worth the cost of ministry and sacrifice – not least financial sacrifice? And is it really worth keeping going in faith when God has allowed hard circumstances which you would never have chosen for yourself? Is it worth serving a God who doesn’t grant us protection or immunity from the many sadnesses and sorrows and sufferings of this fallen world?

Well, Hebrews says, ‘If you weigh up the costs versus blessings of being a Christian only taking into account the here and now, you’ll always find yourself tempted to say, ‘No.’ But if we weigh up the costs versus blessings taking into account not just the here and now, but heaven and hell as well, the answer will be a ‘Yes’ that enables us to keep going, whatever it is we’re going through.

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