In Hebrews 12:26-29, we are given a poignant picture of what is happening in the world today:

         “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 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.”

         Previously, we discussed how everything is being shaken. Nations, governments, and all other institutions are being tested for a great purpose. That purpose is to remove everything that can be shaken, so that what is left is solid and can be built upon. The Lord is about to build a new world, and it can only be built on a foundation that will last. 

         We are told in I Corinthians 3:11-14 what this foundation is—the only One who can pass the test and remain through the times we have entered:

          “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

         “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

         “each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 

         “If any man’s work which he has built remains, he will receive a reward.”

         God’s plan for all things is revealed in Ephesians:

         “In all wisdom and insight 

         “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 

         “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth” (see Ephesians 1:8-10). 

         The main reason we are here—and for the work God is doing in us—is so we can be conformed to the image of His Son and abide in Him. As someone has said, we are not called “human doings” but “human beings.” What we become is far more important than what we do. When we are conformed to the image of Christ and abide in Him, our works will be His works. We know His works will remain through what’s coming on the world to test the works of men.

         The verse after the above-quoted text is: “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (I Corinthians 3:15). Institutions can be good and do good works, including those God prescribes, such as taking care of the poor and teaching His ways. However, if they are done for the Lord but not with Him, they will not stand through the shaking now beginning. 

         One reason we were given the Scriptures was to discern the works of God from all others. Is there a single institutional church that is not vastly different from the biblical church? We can build things for God with the best of intentions. He will bless them as much as He can, but He will bless many things He will not inhabit. We have now reached the time when every plant the Father did not plant will be rooted up (see Matthew 15:13). So, we must look beyond what He is blessing to what He is inhabiting.

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