The Words Once More
The sermon emphasizes the removal of created things to make way for what cannot be shaken, highlighting the importance of spiritual value and Divine order.
T. Austin-Sparks emphasizes the significance of the phrase 'once more' in Hebrews 12:27, illustrating how God removes the shakable, such as the Temple and priesthood, to reveal the unshakable, which is Christ. He reflects on the destruction of Jerusalem, where the once seemingly invincible structures crumbled, demonstrating that reliance on earthly systems and traditions is futile. Sparks argues that God desires a direct connection to the spiritual rather than the cumbersome religious machinery that obscures true divine engagement. Ultimately, what remains after the shaking is a pure, spiritual relationship with Christ, who serves as the High Priest and the essence of God's house. The sermon calls for believers to embrace a spontaneous, life-driven order rooted in the Divine.
Text
The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken - that is, created things - so that what cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:27 NIV)
In the destruction of Jerusalem - toward which the Letter [to the Hebrews] pointed - the whole earth was shaken so far as Jewry was concerned. The Temple, as the focal point of that whole world, crashed even with the ground. The priesthood, as gathered up in the high-priestly order, passed away. The temple service ended, and the nation ceased to be an integrated and unified people. These were things capable of being removed. And yet how long they had stood! What forces they had withstood! What confidence there was that they could never cease to be! How assured they were that God was so bound up with it all that it could never be destroyed and cease to be! How they fought and clung to it to the last terrible extremity! But it was of no avail. God was no longer wanting the framework and earthly system, which had taken so much room, and energy, and expenditure, before the really spiritual was reached. The percentage of spiritual value was so small after all, and spiritual interests lay so far along the labyrinthine ways of religious machinery and tradition, that it was not worthwhile. The means to the end was not immediate, that is, there was far too big a distance between the means and the end. There was no immediate touch with the real Divine requirement, and there was far too much that was intermediate. And so it had to go, and, rather than preserve it, God Himself shook it.
What remained after the shaking was just that, and that only, which was Christ in a spiritual and heavenly way: Christ in heaven, and here by His Spirit, the gathering point, or occasion of assembling; Christ in heaven the High Priest and Sacrifice; the order of God's house here a purely spiritual and heavenly one - not formal, arranged, imposed, imitated, or material. Order grows out of life, and if that Life is Divine, and unchecked, Divine order will be spontaneous.
Sermon Outline
- The Shaking of Created Things
- The destruction of Jerusalem as an example
- The removal of the Temple and the priesthood
- The end of the temple service and the nation's unity
Key Quotes
“The percentage of spiritual value was so small after all, and spiritual interests lay so far along the labyrinthine ways of religious machinery and tradition, that it was not worthwhile.” — T. Austin-Sparks
“The means to the end was not immediate, that is, there was far too big a distance between the means and the end.” — T. Austin-Sparks
“Order grows out of life, and if that Life is Divine, and unchecked, Divine order will be spontaneous.” — T. Austin-Sparks
Application Points
- We must prioritize spiritual value over material and earthly systems.
- Divine order is spontaneous and grows out of life, not from imposed or material structures.
- We must be willing to let go of intermediate material and focus on the real Divine requirement.