5) Hebrews - Do not Neglect the Message
Notes
Transcript
“Be Reconciled to God”
Root of Fruit Sin addressed “Unbelief, Pride, Selfishness”
Gathering
Paint voting, Communication for October
Hand Out-Catechism - Reading Plan
Call to Worship
5 The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, f
hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven,
for all those whom the Father hath given unto him. (Heb 9:14, 10:14; Rom 3:25-26; g Joh 17:2; Heb 9:15)
Corporate Prayer -
Worship through Song
Scripture Reading
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Worship through Song
Worship through Song
Sermon
Prayer
Introduction
Introduction
Hebrews is often called a written sermon. It has many characteristics of pastoral care. Like many sermons it is filled with instruction but pastoral care is more than the transfer of information. It is more then the filling of the mind full of useful and profitable knowledge. There comes a point in pastoral teaching that there comes an exhortation, a call to action, in other words an invitation. If teaching only develops knowledge then it is just a scholastic endeavor. It fills the mind but does not effect the soul of a person.
There must always be a question that follows the instruction. “So what?” If there is no action it becomes foolish. If you recall the definition of wisdom is the practical use of truth and where does a person find truth. Anywhere that can stand before the word of God and not be burned away as waste. It can come from a minister, a parent, a newspaper, a book, or even a child. Sometime the little ones speech is filled with truth. Many time to our dislike.
But our call to action our invitation to respond must also be equally based in the truth. Applying false information can be deadly. To open a bottle of medicine that is mislabeled can be life threatening even if the bottle says it is true.
Hebrews is so rich with information that over the centuries there has been different conclusions to the outline of the book. Through out the majority of the first four chapters the author defends and develops the the fact the Jesus is superior to all things.
He uses a series of comparisons to bring this forward with the first four verses laying the foundation of the entire book with the exalted place, authority and work of Christ. The remainder of the first two chapters the author is showing how he superior to the angels.
Last week Josh finished up chapter 1 which is all exposition. He is communicating truth and information but has not up to this point asked for any response from the readers. As he has been building to this point he is passionate to the point that he breaks in the middle of this section to call the readers to respond. He gives an exhortation to stop and act. This is where we pick up the authors teaching.
Open with me to The beginning of Hebrews chapter 2.
1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.
We are going to focus on the first 4 verses of this chapter as they are a single thought.
Don’t Drift Away
Don’t Drift Away
1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.
For this reason can also be translated therefore. So because of what was presented in the previous section there is a response that that author is asking of the audience.
What is the reason that action must take place? Because Jesus is Jesus.
In verse 1 and 2 God speaks through him
In verse 2 God appointed him as heir of all things. God made the universe through him
In verse 3 Jesus is the radiance of God Glory and the exact imprint of all of God’s nature and He maintains and sustains all things by his powerful word. He fulfilled the priestly purification of Sins as the only Mediator to reconcile man back to God. He now sits at the right hand of God in the highest place of authority.
In verses 4-7 the angels worship and serve him
In verse 8-9 his reign over all will never end as the highest anointed.
In verse 10-12 He is unchanging, never fading, never waning
Verse 13 he will sit until there are no more enemies that have not been conquered.
Because of all of this. Because of Who he is, because of what he has done. There must be a response.
This is a very strong therefore is could also be translated as it is necessary to respond
And what is the response “to pay attention all the more to what e have heard”
Pay attention all the more
Pay attention all the more
The author uses a pair of words that can be used in a nautical sense. Later on he will use other words and imagery of being anchored.
The first nautical word here is translated “Pay attention or Pay closer attention” this comes from a word that can mean to moor a ship or to tie it up. If you have ever been out on the water in a boat and forgot to tie it up and secure it you find that you understand the meaning of this. Maybe you have never watched your boat float away and the helplessness of that. But maybe you have neglected to fully secure a load in your truck and watched your load fallout of your truck as you run down the road.
The author is saying because of who Christ is and the message that he brought, a person is to secure themselves to it to attach themselves to the message of the Gospel. But not only is a person to tie themselves to the message of salvation that was promised in the old testament by the profits and brought to the world by Jesus and that continued through the apostles and eye witnesses, the person is to pay attention all the more or to a greater extent. He cannot emphasis this enough. This idea of connecting and living with much attention and care to make sure the person is tied to the right thing. It doesn’t matter how good your knot is if what you tie of to is not secure.
And what are they supposed to pay close attention too? What they have heard.
We have heard
We have heard
This points back to the message of the Gospel that has been given to them at some time already. This isn’t a new message it is the one that has already been presented and established.
Drift Away
Drift Away
What does the author warn will happen if the message is neglected? They will drift away. This is the second nautical term. It brings the idea of a ship drifting past a harbor due to inattention or neglect. Perhaps charting the wrong course, miss judging current or winds. The idea of missing the place to secure the vessel by half hearted efforts.
He starts the argument that a person should not neglect the message because of the one The Message is About the Character of Christ.
The author is giving this warning which is the first of five warning passages that speak to the need to follow and obey the message of salvation.
This verse is the main focus of this section each of the following verses are modifying and developing this idea.
The Deserved Payment
The Deserved Payment
2 For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,
The “if” used here is not a possibility but a certainty. It might be better translated as since the message was spoken. The author is referring to the Law that was given to Moses on Mount Sinia.
It has been Jewish tradition and biblical tradition that the angels had a role in the delivering of the law. We see this in
2 He said: The Lord came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; he shone on them from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.
and
17 God’s chariots are tens of thousands, thousands and thousands; the Lord is among them in the sanctuary as he was at Sinai.
As we have seen before the message was not from the angels but we see that they were part of the giving of the law. This was what lead to the over worship of angels that was addressed last week and how the Jews were giving the angels the worship ment for God alone. He says this message was spoken through them and it was legally binding.
The author will use the greek word here multiple times to describe something a valid or dependable, reliable, and securely established.
6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.
14 For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start.
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
17 For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living.
Each of these are describing something that is secure and valid because of its legal nature and in the case of the law given by God himself. The perfect just judge.
Then we see that every transgression and disobedience recieved just punishment.
Transgression: To step over the line. This is a willful act where we see the line, we know the line and we step over the line. There is a point in your child where you know they know what is the correct thing to do and they willfully transgress or step over the line anyways. This is a sin we commit to do what we know is wrong.
Disobedience: Means imperfect hearing. It is hearing only what we want to hear. It is ignoring the neglect of following and responding to the words of God. These are described as acts of omission.
These include the active and passive sins of man and both of them receive the same result just punishment.
We do not like justice unless it is pointed at someone else. We want fairness when we sin and justice when someone else sins. But Since God is just then his judgement are always right.
We look at the old testament and have ever sat down and actually looked at how harsh the penalty was for things that we let run around our streets in full acclamation. God has not changed and the penalty for disobedience was perfectly right even though we do not like it.
The word just here is only used in Romans in
8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
It is translated as the word deserved.
And the word for punishment is actually used in an atypical way. The word for judgement is usually used in a positive way for payment.
So the author is saying that the punishments of the law were deserved payments for the sin committed against God’s Law.
And if this is true the author asks a rhetorical question
How will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Warning- Do not neglect the message!
Warning- Do not neglect the message!
Hebrews 2:3 (CSB)
3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? ...
He asks them if the message of Christ is that he has came and been given the payment that we deserved then how will we escape if we neglect or ignore that message.
This is tied back to drifting away and this is describing what that looks like, so hopefully you have started to ask the question, is the author is addressing Christians or non-Christians.
If he is addressing Christians then he would have to be addressing backsliding or the loss of salvation. If he is speaking to non-Christians then he is speaking of apostacy or the rejection of the faith in Jesus.
If a person either has faith or not, is saved or not, is justified or not then it would be unlikely that the author would be speaking to Christians since they would not have to worry about escaping the judgement as Christ has already taken care of that for the believer. A believer can neglect sanctification which many do. These are the backsliding or the purely immature and don’t take the steps needed to more forward very fast or very intentionally. He cannot be talking about loosing salvation as that would be contradictory to other scripture such as.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
So it is unlikely a believer. But it cannot be someone who has never heard the message because you cannot neglect or ignore what hasn’t been presented to you. It is most likely that he is speaking to unbelievers in the congregation of Jewish Christians.
One commentator called them the intellectually convinced. But they are spiritually dead. They have heard the message. They may actually believe the message but believing it is true does not lead to salvation. It is by faith through grace that a person is redeemed not by agreement with truth.
There are times when I have met with people that they are convinced that God is real, that Jesus is real, that they are sinners, that Christ dies for that sin, That he was raised on the third day and conquered death. They believe all of that but they are not ready to give their life to him. They are not ready to give up their life that they currently have.
They have counted the cost and they have determined that the cost of giving up the sin in life life is to costly to give up for Saving life in Christ. They see all of the sinful areas of their life that they know they have, they see their idols and choose to worship created things instead of the creator.
The idols of work, or drugs and alcohol, or hobbies and passions, of unbiblical sexual relationships. All of these are too important to give up so they continue to drift by the saving message that is so close to giving them everything for the cost of nothing of value. Their current life is to important to give up for the new life promised by the living savior.
This is a warning to us today as well.
There is a reality that must be warned about. There are different levels of punishment. And in scripture these is a warning to those who actually know better.
In Matthew Jesus warns that the towns of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorizin that greater punishment would be to them than Sodom and Gomorrah. These town has seen the most miracles and Jesus had spent much time in them and they still rejected the message.
Mark warns the scribes
38 He also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.
And in
28 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
These is a principle of harsher punishment for the more you have seen and heard. The more you have been witnessed to and testimony given the harsher the penalty.
This is not something we should trifle with
This what Spurgeon wrote of this passage.
Hebrews Exposition
The punishment for disobeying the word spoken by angels was death; what, then, must be the penalty of neglecting the great salvation wrought by the Divine Redeemer Himself? He who does not give earnest heed to the gospel treats with disdain the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will have to answer for that sin when the King shall sit upon the throne of judgment. Trifle not, therefore, with that salvation which cost Christ so much, and which He Himself brings to you with bleeding hands. If you have until now trifled with it, and let it slip, may you now be brought to a better mind, lest by some chance, despising Christ, the “just penalty” should come upon you. And what will that be? I know of no punishment that can be too severe for the man who treats with contempt the Son of God, and tramples on His blood. Every individual who hears the gospel, and yet does not receive Christ as his Savior, is committing that atrocious crime.
In the end a person does not have to be openly opposed to the Gospel. Just like a business or any other endevour just neglect, will ruin it. A person does not even have to hate God or to disbelieve, all they have to do is to see the secure post that we are to tie our lives to, to trust that it is the safest port and to secure themselves to it through faith in Jesus Christ as lord and savior.
There are many who live as if they are Christian. They like this world. They like the care and safety or the fellowship or the way it makes them feel. They will come and participate and be involved and will still slowly drift into hell as they watch the message of the Gospel slide by day by day.
Hebrews: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Character of Christ
Most people do not go headlong and intentionally into hell. They drift into it. Most people do not deliberately, in a moment, turn their backs on God or curse Him. Most people just slowly, almost imperceptibly slip past the harbor of salvation out to eternal destruction.
This is the second reason given not to drift away and that is the reality of the consequences of ignoring the gospel of Salvation.
The Testimony of the Message
The Testimony of the Message
Why is the rejection of the Gospel such a big deal. Because of who gave the message and who confirmed it.
Hebrews 2:3–4 (CSB)
... This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.
The salvation had its beginning when spoken of by the Lord. This message was confirmed to the author and this group of Jews by those that heard him. This is one of the pieces of evidence that leads people away from this letter being written by Paul. This sentence does not make scene with respect to his direct witness. The message came and the apostles and other believers had brought the message to them.
Verse 4 starts with a compound word that is only found here in the New Testament. It is translated into “at the same time God also testified”
It is the idea that God testified along with the eye witnesses that were confirming the message of Christ. God was at work with them as they spread the message. God confirmed the testimony of the apostles and early disciples through four ways.
Signs and wonders: These were miracles that cannot be explained by the laws of nature. They brought astonishment to the onlookers of the miracle.
Next is the gifts from the Holy Spirit. these gifts were given according to the will of God. They were given for confirmation of the testimony of those who had heard the Lord.
If you go through the life of Christ and the beginning of the church and the apostolic ministry was filled with miracles that confirmed the message that they were spreading.
Due to the past tense of the word confirmed and the fact that the author did not discuss the miracles as still confirming the message. This implies that the miracle gifts ceased when there were no more original eye witnesses. By that time what was confirmed completed, what needed to be said. No more confirmation was required. The miraculous gifts are healing, miracles, tongues and the interpretation of tongues.
We see people who claim to be faith healers or able to speak in tongues but these are contrary to the word. For instance tongues today for the people who speak them however they were for unbeliever benefit not the believers.
22 Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.
The non miraculous gifts as seen in Romans and 1 Corinthians are shown to have continued past the apostolic age and continue to today.
We no longer need these signs and wonders because everything that is testified about is still confirmed by God however it is not by signs and wonders but by the scripture of truth.
Is it possible for people to be healed today, or to have miracles unexplained occurrences, or to have information passed over a language barrier. Yes but these are not gifts given to people. They are actions of God that still bring him glory but are not the same as what was seen in the early church.
Benjamin Warfield, the great Bible scholar, said, “These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the church. Their function thus confirmed them distinctively in the apostolic church, and they necessarily passed away with it.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
The author presents three reasons not to drift away from the message. The first is given in chapter 1 and that is that the message is speaking of the amazing and perfect character of Jesus Christ.
He then says if who Christ is isn’t enough then here is what is at stake if you neglect or ignore this message. That you will experience the fullness of God’s wrath. You will stand alone with nothing to show, nothing with merit and a whole lot of I wish.
Then he said if that isn’t enough you have heard of the miracles that are happening from people you trust and from multiples of witnesses. That God intervened to confirm this message.
This is the same warning today. Are you intellectually convinced that this is all true but have not actually come to a place of repentance and faith. Do you count the cost and still justify all of your actions that you know are not what God wants but you still continue to choose the idols of this world, the pleasures of this world over giving your life over to Christ.
Then these reason apply to you today. And maybe just maybe you have this feeling that you must address this soon. Please come to me or someone in the church and we can walk with you through this. That you don’t have to wait another day to tie your ship to the most secure message in the world. The saving message of Jesus.
And what about the church of believers. There is a tension here as well about the way we live. That as examples for unbelievers do we live according to the word in obedience. Do we make it easy for someone to believe they are saved by our sloppy Christianity. Do we neglect the reading of the word, fellowship with believers and the service of our lives. Maybe you know that you are a believer but you just have not been very proactive with your sanctification and you would like that to change.
I would encourage two things above all else spend time in his word and in his community, with other believers who will help guide and hold accountable the calling that we have. This is more than bible studies. These are potlucks and dinners and spending time with one another and asking questions and working through the answers.
Sometimes we may ask ourselves with Christ being so amazing why would anyone reject him. Well first we must recognize that it is God who calls men to himself and without that a person will never turn to God on their own but I also believe that we think to highly of ourselves and start to do things our own way and in the process we profane the message that Jesus brought.
We are not to be creative. We are to be faithful. When you look at the times the people were creative with worship, giving, sacrifice, honor, the word, the interpretation of the word, the application of the word then the wrath of God comes on them.
The writer is not a first generation witness. These thing have been confirmed through them. And to this day we are also to teach and preach the things that the apostles preached. Fathers, Mothers, Teachers, elders, pastors, and any brother or sister in christ does not have the privilege of being creative only obedient and faithful.
We are to teach the message of Christ on the Cross for the salvation of sinners and to pray for God to soul to be repentant and to be saved.
Prayer
Communion
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Prayer
Song
Closing
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heav'nly hosts
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
Amen
Blessing/Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.