Jump Start # 480

Hebrews 12:25 “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 will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from Heaven.” 

  Twice in the closing section of this chapter the writer of Hebrews uses the expression, “See to it.” He does it here in our verse and he said it in verse 15, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God…” See to it—we might say, “look after it,” or, “get about it.” See to it carries responsibility.

  Our verse is a reminder to take serious the warnings of God. Do not refuse Him who is speaking. Two apparent reasons, first, He is speaking from Heaven, which means He is divine. Secondly, He is warning from Heaven. We tend to pay attention to warnings. The skies look threatening and you turn on the TV and there are weather warnings in the area. That grabs our attention. You start your car in the morning and red warning lights flash on your dashboard—that grabs your attention.

  He is wanting the warnings from Heaven to grab our attention. The context of our passage takes us to when God will “shake heaven and earth.” This is reference to the end of the world. God has warned what will happen. We know, because God has said. The world will end the way God said it would. There won’t be an environmental mishap that wipes out humanity, nor an invasion of aliens, nor a nuclear war that destroys all life—that’s not what God says. The end begins with the coming of Jesus. There will be Christians alive when He comes. There will be a resurrection of all dead. The earth will burn up. Paul and Peter tell us many details about this.

  The emphasis of the Bible is not the manner in which the world will come to an end, nor the total destruction that will take place but the preparation of the righteous to spend forever with God. The end of the world is not the end of us. We shift to a different place and a different realm—the eternal.

  Throughout the N.T. God warns about this. He warns about not being ready. He warns about being caught unprepared. He warns…does anyone listen?

  That’s the thought of our verse today. See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking…now why would someone do that? Could it be that they don’t like the message He said? Could it be that they don’t want warnings, they only want promises? Could it be that they are tired of people telling them what they ought to do? Could it be that they think no one tells me what to do?

  Whatever the reason, don’t refuse Him. Don’t refuse what He says. Don’t refuse to take action.

  Have you ever given much thought to what the first day in eternity will be like? It will be so different from our routines here. First, there is no getting up to get somewhere else. There is no where else to go. You won’t need to turn any lights on—it will never be dark in Heaven. You won’t need your medicine in the morning, you won’t age, be sick or diseased.  Everyone in God’s family will be there. No one whose name is in the book of life will be missing. No one will be late, no one will have other commitments, we will all be there. All of us—God’s family. People we have worshiped with for years and years. They will be there. Christians we have met from other places—they will be there. Some we will not have seen in years, maybe our parents or grandparents. There will be those we heard about but never met. Some preachers from years ago, many who died before we were born, but we heard about their good work and their love for the Lord—they will be there. There will be tons of folks that we never met, but it will seem like we’ve known them forever. Christians from other centuries, and other lands, some who have endured great things for the Lord. There will be those that we came to know through reading the Bible—the heroes of the Bible, they will be there. The Daniel. The Timothy. The Abraham. Amazing!

  Everyone who is there will want to be there. No one sleeping, bored, or wishing that this would get over so they could do what they wanted to do. That spirit won’t be there. I expect there will be many smiles, many hugs, and many tears of joy. And unlike the holidays or other occasions, this setting won’t end. We won’t have “closing songs and closing prayers.” There is no closing. I expect Heaven to be bright—has to be, Jesus is there and it doesn’t need any sun light. I expect it to be beautiful, because God is there. Heaven is a reflection of God, it is His home. Just as our homes are a reflection of us, His home is a reflection of Him—perfect, beautiful and never ending. I don’t know what it will sound like, but I tend to expect the singing to be the best I’ve ever heard. Angels, lots of angels. Angels everywhere.

  There will be some who are missing. Those who chose to ignore Jesus all their life. Those who walked through life being sour and making life miserable for everyone else. Those who are selfish and mean. They’re not there. Heaven will be safe. You won’t have anything to fear. No locks on the doors, no security at the gates, no weapons, no police force to seek out the bad—the bad won’t be there.

  And of course, then there is Jesus. He’s the one responsible for getting us there. He’s the one we’ve thought about, sang about, studied about all of our life. There He is—looking for You. Not too busy in meetings or paper work or talking with the really important people—no, looking for you because He has wanted you there ever since you were born. He has blessed you, watched you, forgiven you, and guided you. Now you are together with Him. Amazing.

  All of us comes back to our verse today, “see to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking…” You don’t want to miss Heaven.

  We are one day closer!

  Roger