Hebrews 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29  For our God is a consuming fire.

It is a very foolish thing to reject God’s Word. God raised up Moses as a leader of the nation of Israel.
God gave Moses authority in the nation. Moses was given his direction from God and he needed to step out in front of the nation and lead them according to God’s will. For the most part he did that. Those who fought against his leadership paid with their lives.
His task was not an easy task. Being a godly leader is never an easy task. There is much opposition to God’s truth. The point of a godly leader is that he follows God. He cannot be a people pleaser.
There was a very true comment made recently regarding our situation in Canada. The comment was: ‘our politicians are not leaders. They are followers. They follow the polls. They follow public opinion. They only do what they do in order to get re-elected’. In fact the reality is that they do not even follow public opinion. They do not care what the people want. That is clear from the Trucker Convoy 2022. The people who set themselves up as the face of Canada are being led by men like Klaus Schwab. He is a leader, but he is an evil leader. Those following him have no backbone. They are power hungry and have seared consciences. They have chosen a path of wickedness.

Proverbs 24:1  Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2 For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

Those verses and others describe men like Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates and many others including our PM and much of his cabinet. They are evil men and women who study destruction. Their lips talk of mischief. Klaus Schwab has praised our PM for being part of his club. That is not something to be proud of, although our PM is quite proud of that. God warns us of those type of people. Don’t envy them. Don’t try to be a part of their evil system. It seems the entire government system is scrambling to be in that system.
Moses was a leader who followed God. He was governed by the fear of the Lord. That is what a true leader is. He is not a supreme leader, but he is a man who knows the true God and follows Him. He does not wait to see if the people are onside. He leads because God tells him to lead. He is willing to face abuse at the hands of rebels.
God warns us here in verse 25 that there was a consequence to rejecting Moses’ words. There is greater consequence to rejecting God’s Word. Moses did not always follow God’s Word. He could not enter the promised land because he disobeyed God in a very important matter. You can read about that in Numbers 20.
Jesus Christ always did the will of His Father. He was and is without sin. He spoke plainly and He spoke with authority. He is 100% trustworthy. Those who reject God’s Word will be held accountable before Him.
We may have doubts about what some person says. However, when God’s Word says something, we would be wise to believe and follow It.
In verse 26 we are reminded that when God spoke in the Old Testament the earth shook. God made reference to His Words to Haggai in this verse.

Haggai 2:6  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

There is a further demonstration of God’s awesome power coming. We see It in so many ways, but He refers to one final demonstration of His power in judgment. Not only will the earth shake, but it will be burned up with fire. God will establish new heavens and a new earth.
In verse 27 God declares that those things that can be shaken will be shaken and removed. It is such a foolish thing to live on this earth as if this earth will remain forever. We need houses and cars, etc. However we need to hold these things loosely, understanding that they are not ours to keep and we will not be here forever. We are only here for a short time. We need to be prepared for the time when we will leave this earth. Unless we listen to the Lord and are saved according to His Word, when the end comes, it will not be good. Only those who listen with the intent to obey what God has to say, will be safe when He shakes the earth and the heavens.
God is certainly shaking things up right now. Canada has not done well under God’s shaking. Many professing Christians have shown who they truly are. They have proven to be frauds. They have accepted the governments’ ungodly dictates and promoted them.
God tells us that only those things that cannot be shaken will remain. God cannot be shaken. Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit cannot be shaken. God’s Word cannot be shaken either. All the saints that are in heaven at the time of the end cannot be shaken. All the lost will be shaken and will be cast into the lake of fire. They will be in torment for all of eternity. This is very sobering and should be taken very seriously by all.

Revelation 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

In verse 28 God reminds those who are saved that we need to have grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. We have talked of that before. The casual nature with which so many think they can approach God is not Biblical. We need God’s grace which is His strength to serve Him faithfully in such a manner that it is acceptable to Him. Those who are saved are not in some political arena where we are trying to appease the people. We are in a spiritual warfare where our Commander has provided us with all we need to be victorious. We are saved to be victorious. We are saved to glorify our Saviour and Lord.
In verse 29 God reminds us that He is a consuming fire. That is not the message that New Evangelicalism teaches. It teaches that God is a push over. It teaches that God is a fun-loving god who is not nearly that holy.
I listened to part of a resignation speech of a politician yesterday. He rightly stated that our political systems are broken. He is a lost man and does not understand why they are broken. He stated that we are too polarized. He bemoaned the fact that there is no middle ground. The problem with today’s politics is that there has been no right or wrong for a long time. Everything has been compromise. The result of that has brought us to where we are today. We now have a dictatorship. We are quickly seeing that any dissenting voice is being silenced by threats of job losses and financial losses and loss of freedoms. People are sitting in jail in Canada right now simply because they hold an opposing view to that of the government.
What is needed today as at any time is for people to turn to this God that is a consuming fire and trust in His mercy. His consuming fire is a purifying fire for the saved. It is a destroying fire for the unsaved. God often shows us in the Bible that He is a God of love. However, in our text He is not emphasizing that fact. He is emphasizing the fact that we (those who are truly saved), need that godly fear of Him. That is not a crippling fear. That is a holy fear that spurs us on to listen to Him and follow Him faithfully.
Today is the Lord’s Day once again. Our church is open to preach the Word of God and challenge the hearers to listen to what God has to say. We are not the only true church, but we are one of a few. There are far more false churches than there are true churches. Where will you be today?
God is giving us these words to challenge us to listen to Him and follow Him faithfully. That is the place of blessing. That is how we can help others to see the importance of knowing the true God now.
The world has put most of the people into a crippling fear. Businesses and citizens are afraid now of taking off the mask. Some restaurants are saying they will keep the passport demands for now because people are afraid to come into a restaurant if they know there will be people in there who have not had the deadly shots. A recent statistic states that less than 1% of people have died from the virus. Over 3% have died from the shots. That is not including the number of miscarriages that have taken place as a result of the shots. That is just for now. The dangerous side effects of the shots will continue on for years to come. The number of deaths and other adverse effects will continue to mount. Most people do not believe this but that is because they are ignoring the facts. Do some research. Pfizer has just released some material that shows the dangers of their shots. They wanted to withhold that information for 75 years but they were forced to release some of it.
It is by far superior to live in the fear of God, who is merciful and gracious, than to live in the fear of man who is evil and destructive.
Pastor Bartel