If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12, we're going to be finishing up this section together. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 25 through 29, and our focus this morning is going to be on verse 28 and 29. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 25 through 29, I'm going to be reading out of the NASB.

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 will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven. And his voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.

This 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. Therefore since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, 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.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that your word would be open to us, speak to us, convict us, reveal the things in our hearts and our lives, Lord God, that we may truly be able to give you worship that you deserve. May your word and your word only go forth.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As most of you guys know, yesterday we celebrated as a country the 20th year anniversary or remembrance of 9/11. Some of you may remember exactly what happened that day. Some of you may have been a bit too young for you to remember. It's just kind of a news to you, but those of you who remember, and I remember very specifically, I was in my house in Corona early in the morning and I got a phone call from one of my former students, high school students, and she was so distraught.

And it was so strange because it was like 7 or 7/20 and she was telling me that a plane hit the tower and it was just confusing, we don't know what to do. And I remember turning on the TV and the plane that hit it. And no one knew exactly what was going on, that at the minimum it looked like a horrific accident.

And then while the TV was on, we saw the second plane go into the second building and immediately we knew, okay, this was no accident. This was a orchestrated attack. And then there was news that another plane hit the Pentagon, another one was headed toward the White House. And so everything got shut down.

And we remember very specifically thinking that we're at war. We didn't know it was going to be just the planes, is there going to be an actual, you know, soldiers coming into the United States, is there going to be a nuclear bomb going off? And so there was a period of terror, literally, and so all the airplanes, so whoever was on in the sky flying, they just landed wherever they were at and then they were stranded for a period.

So all this security checks and stuff that we have to go through now has been implemented because of that. And again, you may remember years ago, we were able to go into Canada and Mexico without a passport, remember? We would just kind of go in with our driver's license, come back.

Then after that, they changed the law so that now we have to have a passport because they wanted to be a bit more careful with the border control. That's been 20 years. And so I remember very specifically the mantra of that time is, "We will never forget that we are under attack." And for the first time, at least in the history of the United States that I remember, again, you know, prior to Pearl Harbor, where American land was literally attacked, and we knew that there were terrorists outside of the borders of the United States, but the fact that they were able to come into this country and kill senselessly almost 3,000 people kind of gave it reality that if these people had their hands in a nuclear bomb, they wouldn't hesitate to use it.

And so that fear caused everybody in the United States to come together. And I remember very specifically that Republicans and Democrats, at least from what I remember, they've never really got along, you know, but nothing like it is today. But even back then, they were constantly bickering. And I remember very specifically in Capitol Hill, they stood arm to arm saying that, "We're at war with these terrorists and that you've attacked us, so now we're going to war." And that's what started all this war in Afghanistan and then into Iraq and war against terrorism.

But again, I remember the very specific mantra, "We will never forget." I think most of us will agree that we have forgotten, right? It's just a memory. And so every year when there's a commemoration, obviously it was the 20th year, so it was bigger than the previous years. But the reason why I say all of this is because that particular event caused people who went through that and saw that, caused us to see the world differently.

That this wasn't the same United States that prior to 9/11, you know, how we felt before and how we felt afterwards caused us to see. And it wasn't because evil was created by 9/11. It just kind of reminded us there are people who are willing to do that if you give them an opportunity.

So we need to be constantly vigilant and be ready. I say all of this because the Bible tells us that not just there's a physical war going on, he says we have an enemy who's the devil, who's like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And Paul says in Galatians or Ephesians that we are in this spiritual battle constantly at war.

And the moment that we forget that and we relax, that's when we are the most vulnerable. And we need to recognize the Bible clearly tells us that we're just passing through. This is not permanent. However great, however peaceful, however great the economy may be, this is all going to pass one day.

And that Christ is going to come in his full glory and judgment is going to come with him and he's going to shake the earth and only those that remain he will be with in eternity. I remember again back then after 9/11 a few months, maybe about six, seven months afterwards, I was on campus at UCI and I was sharing the gospel and I met this young man and I started to share the gospel with him.

And his immediate response, and this was a common response from a lot of non-Christians at that time, "How can I believe in your God when you say he is so loving? How can a loving God allow 9/11 to happen?" And that was his response. And it wasn't, he was not the only person that said that.

Anytime we would try to share the gospel that you probably have heard that too. If your God is so loving, why would he allow so much suffering in the world? And at that particular time because the whole world was shaken up by what happened, how can God allow that?

So I remember spending about 15 minutes trying to explain to him, the God or the gospel that you heard is an incomplete gospel. In fact, the Bible does not start out by telling us how much he loves us. The Bible actually starts out by telling us how angry he is with the sinful world.

He says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Wrath of God is being revealed against all unrighteousness." And as a result of that, if we die in our natural state that we're going to meet this holy God, then there's eternal judgment waiting. And so however tragic that may be or even more tragic things that you may have seen, the Bible says that's just a glimpse of what it means to live in this fallen world.

And the judgment that's coming is going to be far more terrifying than anything that you have possibly imagined in human history. The Bible tells us that that's the state that mankind is in. But the gospel comes in, the good news is that despite that, that God sent his only begotten son and absorbed the wrath that you and I deserved upon the body of Jesus Christ.

And he offers us that if we confess our sins, that he is faithful and just to forgive us of all our unrighteousness, that he will absorb that sin and give us eternal life and make us his adopted children. But when we understand the grace of God outside of the context of God's wrath, that question is the logical question that will come up.

If he loves us so much, why did he create hell? If he loves us so much, why does 9/11 happen? If he loves us so much, why are there so many people suffering? Why are there sex trafficking? If he loves us so much. We have preached the gospel in fear of how people would respond and as a result of that watered down the message of the cross to the point where it no longer makes logical sense.

And in the church we repeat it to each other so many times and it makes sense to us, but as soon as we go out on the street, we start challenging people and they start pushing back. We say, "Oh yeah, I never thought about that." But the problem is the majority of the people in the church never engage in the non-Christian world so you don't know what kind of holes you have in your logic.

God is not universally, unconditionally satisfied with mankind. If we don't understand this, the gospel itself does not make sense. That's why even in the text that we're looking at, after explaining the grace of God to us, that we're not going to Mount Sinai, but we're headed to Mount Zion where there's a celebration of angels and multitudes gathered together to worship him, he concludes that section by saying, "Do not refuse him." If those who refused him, who spoke from earth, had serious consequences, how much more if you refuse him who's speaking from heaven, who will shake not only the earth, but the heavens itself, that he will come and he will shake all things and bring judgment, how much more if we refuse him and just kind of nonchalantly continue to neglect and to just drift away from him?

So the proper response to grace that we were looking at is that we do not refuse him. We take his word seriously. We understand the grace that we have in Christ. And secondly, that we live for things that are not shakable. And then thirdly, the proper response to this grace is gratitude.

In verse 28, it says, "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude." The proper response is gratitude. So what I want to look at this morning is in this text, it says, "What is the gratitude of Christians based on?" It says clearly here, "Christian gratitude is not based on circumstance.

It's not based upon material blessings that come and go. It's not based upon good health. It's not based upon a good relationship, your business doing well." See, the world knows how to be gracious and to have thanksgiving. And so usually during thanksgiving, when you say, "Well, what are you thankful for?" "Oh, I'm thankful for this new house that we bought.

I thank you for my children who just got all As. I thank you for this stock that I invested in. It just went through the roof. I thank you for God answering my prayer who, you know, my brother, sister, mother, dad who was sick and they're not sick anymore." And so if we're not careful, our attitude of gratitude is no different than the rest of the world.

But he said, "Christian gratitude is based upon receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken." Eternal things, not things that come and go. For one period it's true and one period it's not. He said, "Our gratitude is based upon a kingdom that cannot be shaken." Daniel 2, 244, it says, "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.

And that kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put an end of all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever." How much confidence do we put in the United States, in any kingdom? Maybe our family, our bank account. No, Christian gratitude is based upon things that are eternal, His kingdom.

Hebrews 1, 8 it says, "But of the Son, He says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is of His kingdom.'" I mean, right now there's just so much uncertainty. Is the housing market going to crash or not? How about the economy? The inflation is through the roof.

How can the stock market keep going up the way it is right now? So everybody's predicting maybe the economy's going to crash. Are the Republicans and Democrats ever going to be able to come together? I mean, the chasm between the two, it seems so far out that the logical conclusion to this seems like some kind of a divorce.

So is the United States going to be able to come together at some point? There's a lot of things that are more personal to you, your family, your health, your school, this pandemic. And so many things that are uncertain. And our emotion, if our hope is attached to these things, will go up and down, up and down based upon the local news, based upon your stock market, based upon your health and how your children are doing.

But he says here, the natural response, the correct response to God's grace is gratitude. In Isaiah 40, 28-31, it says, "Do you not know, have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, he increases power. Though youth grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength." What does it mean to wait for the Lord? Just sit and do nothing?

Does it mean wait for the Lord? It's like, don't do anything, don't move, don't say anything, just stay still. Well, the wait for the Lord here is related to the term in John chapter 15 when it says, if you want to bear fruit, to remain in me, to be connected to him, to rely on him, to continue with him.

So to wait upon the Lord basically means to not to anchor yourself to anything else other than God and his promises. And those who have anchored their faith, anchored their life, anchored their joy in God, he says, they will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles.

They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary. When you read the prophecies of the Old Testament and the New Testament, they are not simple predictions. They're not predictions. God is not in his omniscience, looked way down in history and he saw the unfolding of human history and he just wrote it down and said, "Hey, this is what's going to happen." That's not prophecy.

That's the way you and I may naturally think, but prophecy in the Bible is basically God telling us what he's going to do. You see, if you've been in the political circle for any period, you probably lost confidence. Those of you who are new to voting and following politics and next politician comes up and says, "I'm going to change the world.

You don't have money. I'll give it to you. Your business isn't working. It's because of this guy, but when I come in, it's going to change. Our lifespan is going to be longer. All the other countries are going to respect us. We're going to defeat all the other." They make promises like they're Jesus himself, but if you've been in the political circle long enough, they say all of these things and some of them may be very sincere, but once they get in to the office, every single one of them realize just how daunting this task is.

They realize that they don't have as much control as they thought. The problem seems always simple until you actually try to deal with it. I want you guys to remember that. This is kind of a side point. If you have a lot of opinions on things that you haven't ever really done yourself, I would say be humble because every politician that before they go into office, somebody's like, "Just do this, one, two, three, and four, and everything will be great." But I think once they go in, they realize it's not as simple as they thought.

The government is way more dysfunctional than they could possibly imagine. You have two groups in power who is actively trying to destroy one another and they say, "I'm not going to deal with that. I'm going to be true to it," but it's harder than they think. They get in there and their human nature steps in and they're afraid that if they say the wrong thing or not do the right thing, then they're not going to be elected for the next time that election comes.

They work very, very hard to politically stay safe so that they can get elected the next time and that's the problem. Whatever the reason is, whether they deliberately lied or whether they had good intention, once they get into power, they realize that they don't have a lot of control, even over themselves.

I can tell you that next Sunday I'll see you and I guarantee I'm going to be here. Now I may fully mean it, but I can't guarantee you because I may get in a car accident today. I may have a heart attack. I may just change my mind. I'm not sure.

I'm determined today, but tomorrow I wake up and say, "Ah, forget it. I don't want to do this anymore." Anything that is created, anything that man promises is not on solid ground. That's why in the book of Titus, the text that we're studying together, it says in verse 1 and 2, "Paul, a bondservant of God, apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and knowledge of the truth which is according to Godliness in hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago." That this salvation was given to us by an almighty, omniscient, omnipotent God who cannot lie.

Why is he saying that? He's telling us you can bank on it. That his promises were not just predictions. They're not wishful thoughts. He's telling us this is going to happen. So if you believe that, anchor yourself to that. If you don't believe it, obviously you're not going to anchor yourself.

And that's what separates believers and unbelievers. True believers versus posers. You can say it, but your life and joy and hope is not really anchored in that. Hebrews chapter 6, 17, and 19, it says, "In the same way, God desiring even more to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie." Two things.

His purpose and what he says cannot be changed because God cannot lie. We who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope that's set before us. Hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil.

Christian gratitude is anchored in this hope. Our Thanksgiving isn't something that we try to look up every Thanksgiving time, like, "Oh, what am I thankful for? I'm thankful for my children, I'm thankful for this weather, I'm thankful for our leadership, I'm thankful for the church." And we're thankful for all these things that if we're not careful are just temporary.

Ultimately, the core, the foundation of Christian gratitude is God and his kingdom that is unshakable. It will not change, even if the economy crashes. Maybe you just bought a house and the housing market tanks. Maybe you bought cryptocurrency and it goes to zero. Maybe you've been putting money into your retirement and the stock market just tanks.

Maybe the US government, because communism is rising, is no longer going to be the superpower and communism begins to come in. God forbid. But even if our worst nightmares happen, our anchor is secure in Christ. Our gratitude cannot be shaken. See, in Luke chapter 10, 17 to 20, Jesus sends out the 70 disciples, two by two.

They come back skipping and rejoicing. It says, "The 70 return with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.'" I mean, imagine that, okay? So put yourself in their shoes. These are just commoners, fishermen, they weren't people of prominence. So the first time they were practically experiencing spiritual power, demons were shaking at their presence when they were praying.

"Lord, even the demons are subject to your name." And Jesus said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy, and nothing will injure you." Imagine that excitement.

Imagine if you came to Jesus excited about casting out demons and he says, "Scorpions," like all the stuff, the satanic things that he's going to throw at you, "I've given you authority to overpower them." Can you imagine that? If Jesus said that to me, I would be walking through scorpions just to test this out.

You know what I mean? It's like, "Fight me." It's like, "Oh, look at that." But he says, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." As exciting as that may be, it is temporary. It is temporary.

God was, Jesus was trying to train them to rely on him, but the rejoicing should not be in the fruits of your ministry because they come and they go. Just like money, they come, they go. Security comes and it goes. Relationship will come and it goes. Whatever that is here, once God shakes things, nothing is permanent.

And you know, if you've lived any period of time, when you're young, anything good, you feel like you're going to have it forever. You live a little. There's a reason why older people are more jaded, right? Because they've known your joy at one point. And so older people are filled with disappointments.

So you don't see young people who are grizzled. It's usually old men who are grizzled. You ever see, this is just off tangent for a little bit. There's reasons why your parents don't have a lot of friends. They had a lot of friends when they were young, just like you.

They had freshmen gatherings, sophomore, sister appreciation nights, brother appreciation. They all just like you. And they were hurt. Somebody disappointed them. Somebody moved away from them. Their heart was broken. The job that they were promised wasn't given to them. The government disappointed them. And so year after year after year of disappointment, after disappointment, after disappointment, and then one day you wake up, it's like, I don't trust anybody.

And if we're not careful, even when somebody comes to Christ, it's like, well, let's see. Let's see how long this lasts. That's years and years of disappointment from this world, from people, from economy, from politicians. And he said, that's true because the Bible says don't rejoice over that. Because when it gets shaken, all of it will remind you it's temporary.

The reason why we get grizzled is because we place our confidence in things that we shouldn't have put confidence in. He said, rejoice, if you're going to rejoice that your name is recorded in heaven. C.S. Lewis in his book Weight of Glory says, "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea, we are far too easily pleased." Let me ask you a tangible question.

If the proper response to grace is gratitude because we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, how much of our rejoicing in Christ comes anywhere close to when your sports team wins a championship? Is it even close? Is it even a tenth of that? Because winning a championship in your favorite sports team is the mud pie.

Is the mud pie. It's a game. You're not any richer for that. Your life doesn't change for that. Your children aren't better because of that. But it's just, it's not wrong, it's not sinful. Just mud pie. In relation to our worship before God, when we think of what he has given us, what has been sacrificed in order for you and I to be here to worship him, does it even compare?

In Psalm 1611 it says, "You will make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever." If you believe that statement, you will anchor yourself to the statement and live and invest based upon this promise. Because ultimately the greatest satisfaction, the greatest refuge is found in the unshakable promise of Christ.

Because the king is unshakable, so therefore the kingdom is unshakable. That's the basis of Christian gratitude. Not because my friends love me, not because I have better health, not because economy is doing better, not because the right person is in leadership, but because I have a king whose rules over a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

If we understand that, if we embrace that, he said, "Well, what does this gratitude lead to?" Well, he says, "Therefore since we receive the kingdom which cannot be shaken, 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." The grounds in which we have gratitude is an unshakable kingdom.

But once we have gratitude, he says, "It leads to by which we offer to God an acceptable service." The word for service here is the word "Liturgo." So if you've been here for a while, you know that I've given this message probably about two or three times in the church.

The most prominent word for worship in the Greek is "proskeneo." Proskeneo basically means to be prostrated. It's kind of a scene of somebody bowing down and kissing the feet of the king because you're in awe of something greater than you. And that's the most of the times when you see the word worship in the New Testament, it's that word proskeneo, prostrated, surrendered, right?

It's just you are beyond what I can imagine, and that's proskeneo. The second word is the word "sabomai." Sabomai basically means to have reverence, internal reverence and awe toward God, right? So when the Bible says, "Render more than your garments, but your very hearts," that's what he's referring to, that proper adoration ought to be more than just external service.

The word here, "Liturgo," has an idea of the actual service. In the Old Testament, in the Septuagint, the word that was used here to describe the service at the temple by the priest was the word "liturgo." In the New Testament, that word is described as our Christian living, as an act of worship, and that's what's described in Romans 12, verse 1.

That same word was used here, and it says, "Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship, liturgo." So if gratitude is what leads to acceptable service, ingratitude is what leads to unacceptable service.

You understand what I'm saying? So at the core of everything that we do, if it is not an overflow of appreciation of what God has done, so therefore, I volunteer to give worship through this way. And if you're doing this, "Oh, I got to do this? I got to do that?" That's not worship.

That's not worship. You know, I've been in Bible studies where, I mean, I probably had -- I remember one time I was in Bible study in Garden Grove, and I went to somebody's apartment, and I could tell not a single person there wanted to be in the Bible study.

None of you were there, so don't worry, okay? And I could tell as soon as I walked in. They wanted to get that over with. Even before we started, get it over with because they had plans to do something. They wanted to have a game night. They wanted to do this and that.

And so I'm like opening up the Bible study, and like right off the bat, I'm like, "Oh, my gosh. This next hour and a half is going to be torturous." Sure enough, right off the bat, just a glazed look. And if I said anything that looked -- sounded like I was going to go a little bit longer than -- you know, it's almost like anger in their eyes.

I could have literally just mumbled for the next 30 minutes, and it would have made a difference just as long as it was short. And it was just torture, torture for them, torture for me. I've given sermons like that at churches where people are flipping through magazines while I was preaching, you know.

And usually I would try to mix up the sermon and try to get their attention, but I just had no desire. I made it harder and more boring. You don't care anyway. Yeah, I got to fix that. But there's the difference between a worship that is given out of gratitude versus something that you're like, "You better do it.

You want to be a member? You better do it. You want to serve? You better do it." So he says, "It is by this gratitude, recognizing what it is that we have in Christ, is what leads to acceptable worship." That's why what God wants is a cheerful giver, not just a giver, not just the amount, a cheerful giver, because he wants an act of worship.

In Psalm 104 to 5, "As I enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks and bless his name, for the Lord is good. His loving kindness is everlasting and his faithfulness to all generations." You know what's interesting? In Luke chapter 17, 17 to 19, that's the story that Jesus gives about he meets 10 lepers, and then he tells the 10 that they're begging, "Lord, please, please heal us, heal us." And Jesus says, "Go, show yourself to the priests at the temple." So if you remember the book of Leviticus, it says that in order for the lepers to enter back into society, the lepers had to be examined by the priests, and the priests have to give a stamp of approval saying that, "Okay, the healing has taken place." And once they are approved by the priests, then they're able to come back into worship and into regular society.

Jesus says to the 10 lepers, "Go and show yourself to the priests," and on their way, they all receive healing. Nine of them continue to go, and they just disappear. One of them, if you remember, he comes back, and he thanks Jesus. But here's the interesting thing about this.

If you look at verse 17, it says, "Jesus answered and said, 'Were there not 10 cleansed, but the nine, where are they? Was no one found to return to give glory to God except the foreigner?' And he said to him, 'Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.'" All 10 of them were made well.

Why does he say to just that one that returned? What about them? Clearly, he's not talking about just his physical healing. His gratitude that he returned back to give God the glory was evidence of true healing. That's what he means here. Gratitude is the proper response in which we give acceptable worship.

Isn't that exactly what it says in John 4:23? "An hour is coming, and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshippers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." God is not looking for the smartest people.

He's not looking for the most disciplined. He's not looking for the most gifted. He's not looking for the hardest worker or the most experienced. He's looking for true worshippers, people who recognize what they have in Christ, people who've seen and experienced the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so all that they do is a response to that. He's not looking for the smartest people. In fact, remember the Corinthians? They're all trying to be one up each other. Oh, Peter. Apollos is the smart one. Paul is the hard worker. Peter was the first leader. Remember how Paul addresses them?

Not many of you were smart. In fact, God chose you because you were dumb. That's kind of humbling, right? And that's the modern translation. That's basically what he was saying. You guys are all trying to one up each other, trying to be so smart. You were chosen because you were dumb.

You're trying to be somebody in the church. God chose you because you were nobody. You forgot that? And you're trying to be somebody in the church, and that's what's causing all this division. Remember, stay dumb for Christ. That's modern translation, right? God's not looking for the smartest. Not to say you can't be smart.

Not to say you shouldn't work hard. But the primary thing that he's looking for are people who have been affected by this grace. And you respond by gratitude. And by this gratitude, you serve him and you worship him in spirit and in truth. But the greatest struggle that you and I have is the constant, constant distraction from this world.

John Piper in his book, Hunger for God, we read that as a church. He says this, "The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison, but apple pie. Is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world.

It is not the X-rated video, but the prime time drivel of triviality we drink in every night." There's a constant distraction that makes the things that are glorious just mundane. A habit. Why did we come here this morning? Because it's Sunday. That's what we do. That's what we've been doing.

What are you doing Wednesday? It's Wednesday. It's Bible study time. That's what we do. The word holy literally means to be set apart. When we typically think of holy, we think morally holy. But the word in itself simply means to be set apart. That's why in the Old Testament, God would take a bowl and dedicate it to the temple and it became holy.

A bowl became holy because it was set apart from that which was common. You would take an animal, it was like just hanging around with all the other animals, and all of a sudden you set it apart as a sacrifice to God and then it became holy. So no one was able to touch that because once it was set apart, it belonged to God.

It's no longer common. So that's what the word holy means. So everything that we do that just becomes a habit is no longer holy. It's just common because it's just habitual. Worship is not something that we give because you showed up. Worship is something that we give because we've been affected by His glory.

Glory, the word in and of itself, means weighty. That's what the word literally means. That when we beheld His glory, we saw something that was very serious. It was something very weighty. So the word holy and the word glory, the word in and of itself, causes us to be set apart from everything that is common, everything that is habitual.

I mentioned this to you before. I don't like wearing suits. In fact, I have friends who think I'm weird for wearing suits. I don't like wearing suits. They say, "Just take it off. Don't be so legalistic." If you've ever met me during the weekday, nine out of ten times I have a black t-shirt on with a jean or a gray one.

I have about 15 of those. To me, it's just a waste of time to think about what I'm going to put on. So it's the easiest thing to do. So even on Sunday when I put suits on, the only thing that enters my mind is, "What didn't I not wear last week?" That's the only thought that enters my mind when I choose which suit to wear.

Why do I wear it? I've had somebody tell me, "Hey man, calm down. This is California. Hang loose, buddy." Because I don't want Sunday to be common. I don't want the handling of the Word of God to be common. I don't want our corporate worship to be no different than when we went to watch a movie at AMC.

It should be different. It should be set apart. We shouldn't walk in here like you walk into any assembly. This is not just any assembly. This is a gathering of the ones who have been set apart to worship a holy, holy, holy God. It should not be common. It should not be pedestrian.

And so when we recognize who it is that we worship and His glory affects us and it causes us to be grateful and this gratefulness causes me to pursue sanctification, pursue love, that's what the Bible says that He is doing. He is actively looking for people who will worship in spirit and in truth.

That's what He's looking for. But here's something weird. He said, "Okay, His grace affects us in this way." But then here He ends it with, "To give an acceptable service with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire." That's a weird way to end the response to grace.

Consuming fire. Is He talking about like a campfire? At least very soothing? Enjoy His fire. Get your marshmallow ready. Because we worship in gratitude because He's given us grace in His unshakable kingdom because our God is a campfire. That's not what it means. He said we ought to give God our gratitude, acceptable worship because of His grace, because our God is a consuming fire.

Consuming fire in the Bible refers to His judgment, His holiness. And almost like, huh, that's a weird way to end that. If your understanding of grace of God was outside of the understanding of the wrath and the holiness of God, then the natural question that you probably is asking, why does a loving God do all of this?

Just like that non-Christian. Why would a loving God cause us to say He's a consuming fire at the end of telling us how gracious He is? See, His grace and His love must be understood in the context of His wrath and His judgment or else His grace is just cheap grace.

Let me conclude with this. In Philippians 2, 9, 13, it says, "For this reason, after Jesus has humbled Himself and was crucified on the cross, for this reason also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So then, so then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure." I don't know how many conversations I've had with people who said, "That cannot mean this." Because it doesn't fit the gospel that they've embraced.

It doesn't fit the idea that they've created in their own head about who God is. Why would He tell New Testament, New Covenant people who have been washed in the blood of Christ to work out your salvation in fear and trembling? Possibly, the gospel that you have heard was not complete.

Possibly, the idea that you have of God wasn't complete. The grace of God has to be understood in the consuming fire of God. And that's why He says, "Considering this grace, do not refuse Him who is speaking from heaven because as He shakes the earth and the heavens," and we recognize that at the end of this, we have been given a kingdom that cannot be shaken, that by it we give Him gratitude, which is the basis of acceptable worship in spirit of awe and reverence because our God is a consuming fire.

Do not take the grace of God for granted or else you will turn the grace of God into cheap grace and nothing more. Amen? Let's pray. Again, as our worship team comes, let's take some time to seek the Lord. If we have made the things of God common, our walk with God habitual, if the mud pies in our life bring more satisfaction than the glory of God, let's take some time to pray and ask the Lord, "Lord, search me and know me.

See if there's any hurtful ways in me. I want to worship you in spirit and in truth," and ask the Lord's help to remain in it. So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.