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HOLY HELP FOR THE HOPELESSREQUIRES THAT WE PAY ATTENTIONHebrews 2:1-4 INTRODUCTION All of us regularly need to be reminded to pay attention to what’s going on. My family finds it important to regularly remind me to pay attention to the road while driving, rather than looking at the scenery. I regularly must remind my children to pay attention to my instructions so they will do what I ask, when I ask, in the way that I ask. Wives regularly request that their husbands pay attention to them. Teachers consistently inform their students that they should pay attention. In all of these exhortations to pay attention the reason for paying attention is to avoid bad things happening and to obtain some benefit. My family wants me to pay attention to the road so we don’t crash but arrive safely at our destination. Wives want husbands to pay attention so they can have a meaningful and fulfilling relationship. Teachers insist that students pay attention so they don’t fail but understand the material and get good grades. We all need to be reminded from time to time to pay attention to what really matters because it is easy for us to get distracted, to ignore what really matters. In this letter to the Hebrews, the author, after spending the first chapter explaining the superiority of the Son, interrupts his explanation and gives an exhortation. He tells these people that they must pay more careful attention to what they have heard. There is something valuable, the word of God given to them through the Son, that they must be careful to pay attention to. The implication is that they are in danger of not paying attention. He wants them to pay attention to what they have heard so that bad things won’t happen to them and good things will happen. “What they have heard” refers to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the message that explains the sinfulness of human beings, God’s anger against humans because of sin, God’s provision for human sin in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the necessity of humans responding to this message in repentance and faith. It is this message that these people are in danger of disregarding and it is this message that they must not disregard but pay more careful attention to. This is critical to understand: they are to pay attention to who Jesus is and what he has done not to who they are and what they have done. It is very interesting that the two verbs in v. 1, “pay attention to” and “drift away” are used most often outside the Bible in nautical settings. A ships’ captain is to guide his ship into port by paying attention to make sure it does not drift off course into the rocks that line the harbor. It is an excellent word picture of the kind of intense scrutiny and concentration that is required to make sure that something bad doesn’t happen, that is, run aground and/or sink and that something good does happen, arrive safely in port. We’ve seen the harm that can come when a ship's captain does not pay more careful attention but drifts off course in the grounding of the oil tanker “Exxon Valdez” which ran aground in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and dumped millions of gallons of oil into these pristine waters, killing all the fish and wildlife that lived there and fouling the waters for decades to come. In these four verses the author makes clear why it is that all of us must pay more careful attention to what we have heard. MAIN POINT We must pay careful attention to the gospel of Jesus because…I. Jesus is more trustworthy than everyone and everything (v. 1b, “therefore”) Verse 1 begins with “For this reason” or “therefore”. The first reason to pay more careful attention to the gospel is because of what the author said in chapter one. The point of chapter one as we’ve seen the last two weeks is that Jesus is better than prophets and angels. Therefore, if what God said through prophets and angels is important, how much more important is what God said through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The point of the first chapter is that the Son, Jesus Christ, is better than and greater than and more trustworthy than everyone and everything else. He is God and he is with God. He became man and by his obedient life and death became great David’s greater Son, being crowned as king over the people of God and being given a kingdom that will never end. He is the end and the fulfillment of the entire OT. He is the glorious bridegroom of the church. He sovereignly controls all of creation, including angels, manipulating each part of creation to fulfill his purposes. It is because of who he is: the only faithful God who took on human flesh and made purification for sins and now sits at God’s right hand waiting for all his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet—that we must pay more careful attention to what we have heard. There was a commercial on TV many years ago for a financial consulting firm. It showed two people sitting at a table in a crowded, noisy restaurant talking about financial investments. As one of the people said, “My broker, who works for …the name of the company…says…” the entire restaurant would immediately become completely quiet and all the people in the restaurant would lean towards the two people, listening for what was going to come next. Then the voice of the narrator would come on and say, “When this company talks, people listen.” The point of the commercial was that this financial company was so superior to every other company that whatever it said people would do. People paid careful attention to the words of this company because it excelled very other company. You would be a fool to not listen to this company and to listen to any other company. That is the exact argument that is being made in chapter one and is the first reason for our being told that we must pay more careful attention to what we have heard in 2:1. When Jesus Christ speaks, we need to listen because he is better and more trustworthy than everyone and everything else. Only a fool would ignore this greatest of all persons and this best of all possible news. So don't be a fool, pay attention. We must pay careful attention to the gospel of Jesus because…
II. Drifting away is always a possibility (vv. 1c & 3a) The opposite of paying careful attention is stated in v. 3. Neglecting or ignoring what we have heard, or in the words of v. 3, “this great salvation” is the opposite of paying careful attention. What is interesting here is that the opposite of paying attention is not an assertive, willful denial of the truth of the gospel but simple apathy towards it. The result of ignoring or neglecting the gospel of Jesus is that we drift away from Christ. Like the ship on its way into the port whose captain ignores the charts that show where the sandbars and reefs are and so runs aground. We drift away from the gospel of Christ not by some grand act of unbelief but by being distracted by other things and thus neglecting what once was precious to us. The word translated “ignore” in the NIV is only used 3 other times in the NT. In Matthew 22 we have the perfect illustration of what it is like to ignore or neglect this great salvation. This is a parable that Jesus told concerning the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding feast that a king prepared for his son. He sent his servants to tell those who were invited to come to the banquet because it was ready. However, those he invited refused to come. Why did they refuse to come to this great party in honor of the king's son's wedding? They paid no attention to the invitation, Jesus says, because each one went off, one to his field and another to his business. Luke records a similar parable in which the people invited reply like this, “I’ve just bought a piece of property and must go look at it. I’ve just bought five yoke of oxen and I’m going to try them out. Please excuse me. I just got married so I can’t come.” Those who were invited didn’t pay any attention to the invitation because they were paying attention to something else. The something else they were paying attention to was not some great, sinful thing but simply the ordinary things in life. The people who were invited to the wedding feast of the king's son were more impressed with property and marriage than they were with the greatness of the king and his son and the joy of being at the Son's wedding. I can’t tell you how many times I have observed this in professing Christians. People drop out of living the Christian life not because they consciously reject Christ but because they consciously pursue some other seemingly benign interest. More people have walked away from Christ because they got a new job than because they got a new mistress. Let me be clear at this point. What we neglect is Christ and his gospel. We neglect this great salvation, not religious activities. We drift away when being loved by God through Christ, when having sins forgiven and being promised eternal life does not appear to us as something great. You can neglect this great salvation and keep coming to church, though that is not usual. Usually, the behaviors that a person used to do as an expression of his or her faith in Christ: regular church attendance, reading the Bible and praying, attending a small group, talking with others about Christ, giving money to missionaries, having other Christians over for dinner, slowly drop out of the person's lifestyle because the salvation of Jesus does not appear great any longer. The reason they have drifted is because they have ignored Christ and have been paying attention to deer hunting or a new house or a new baby or their favorite football team or a new job or getting good grades or saving money or spending money or gambling or pornography or drinking or having sex with their boyfriend or… Everyone is paying attention to someone or something and so if you are not paying attention to Christ, then you are going to pay attention to something else. If you neglect Christ and fill your heart and mind with something else you will drift away from Christ. You will ignore the invitation to this amazing wedding banquet of the Son of God because your car is way more interesting to you. I want you to notice something very important in these verses. Notice that the author uses the pronoun “we”. “ We must pay more careful attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away…” “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” As the rest of this letter makes clear the people to whom this author is writing are under extreme temptation to turn away from Christ. However, he does not view the possibility of their drifting away from Jesus as something that is only possible for them, as if they are in some unique category of professing Christians. By including himself in the warning he addresses to them he is letting us know that the possibility of drifting is open to everyone who has heard the gospel and professes faith in Christ. The author himself acknowledges that he must pay attention or he will drift away. He will not escape if he ignores such a great salvation. Does this mean that this author believes that true Christians can become non-Christians? Do these verses teach that true Christians can lose their salvation? The short answer is no, he does not believe that true Christians can lose their salvation. Let me show you how he indicates that true Christians cannot lose their salvation. I'm going to give you two lines of argument that the author uses. First, if you’ll look down in chapter 2 to v. 13. At the end of v. 13 we are told that Jesus says the words of Isaiah 8:18, “Here am I and the children God has given me.” Then he goes on to describe what Jesus has done for those children whom God has given him. He shared in the humanity of those children God gave him in order to destroy the devil and set us free from death. He was made like us in every way so he might make atonement for our sins. These children whom God gave to Jesus are also called Abraham’s descendants in v. 16. In other words, the point here is that there is a group of people whom God has given to Jesus and for whom Jesus has died. These people are the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that he would have more descendants than there are stars in the heavens. These people are the children of Jesus and his brothers. This recalls Jesus’ words in John 6:38-40 where he says, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all that he has given me but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus promises that he will save completely all those whom the Father has given him. None of them shall be lost. Who are all those whom the Father has given him? All those who look to him and believe in him. Which leads to the second line of argument that the author to the Hebrews uses to let us know that he does not believe that true Christians will drift away. Look at 3:14. “We have come to share in Christ, if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first.” Everyone who shares in Christ holds firmly to Christ until the end. If a person does not hold fast to Christ until the end, they never shared in Christ to begin with. Saving faith always perseveres and so no true Christian will fail to hold fast to Christ until the end. So why does he include every professing Christian which includes all true Christians in his admonition in 2:1-4, if he doesn’t think that a true Christian can drift away? He includes all because the evidence that you have true faith is that you pay attention. Every true Christian hears the exhortation of 2:1-4 and says in his or her heart, I must pay more careful attention to Christ because the worst thing that could happen to me is for me to ignore such a great salvation and so drift away. The warning becomes the means of preserving true faith. The hymn writer had it right when he said that our hearts are “prone to wander,” even the hearts of true Christians. Therefore God puts these exhortations in his word to turn our hearts back to him. Every time you turn back because you heed this warning is evidence that you have come to share in Christ. Here is key question we all need to ask ourselves regularly: Do Jesus and his salvation appear as great or greater to me today as they did a year ago, ten years ago? Do I think about and find joy in Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the hope of eternal life, the way I once used to or more? If the answer to these questions is no, then you need to pay more careful attention to Christ and his great salvation. We must pay careful attention to the gospel of Jesus because…
III. Drifting is dangerous (vv. 2-3a) The reason that drifting is dangerous is because those who drift away from Christ become subject to God’s just judgment. Let me show you the various ways this danger is demonstrated in this passage. First of all, the point of contrast that the author aims to make is with the OT law. The “message spoken by angels” that was “binding” and which mandated just punishment for those who violated it is the law given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. This law is recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In the Scripture reading we heard one example of a man who broke the third commandment, taking the name of the Lord in vain and saw how he was justly killed for his breaking of God's law. Throughout the OT we hear God telling the people of Israel that the reason he is going to destroy them is because they have not kept his laws. They have worshipped other gods, broken the Sabbath, murdered the innocent, stolen from their neighbors, committed adultery, etc. Therefore, God justly destroys the nation for their "transgressions and disobediences." So v. 2 is describing God's judgment on Israel for breaking his law. Second, in v. 3 the author makes the point that if God was so determined to punish those who ignored his message delivered through angels how much more will he punish those who ignore his message given through his Son? God hated it when people ignored the word he delivered through mere angels, how upset do you think he is when people ignore Christ, his Son and his great salvation? Third, the fullness of the threat here is captured in that word "escape". It is used most often in the NT when referring to God's judgment at the end of all things. Jesus tells the disciples in the context of describing the final judgment that they are to keep watch and pray so that "they might escape all that is about to happen and ….stand before the Son of Man." In Rom. 2:3 Paul says, "So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?" Then in I Thess. 5:3 he says in reference to the return of Christ, "While people are saying 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come upon them suddenly… and they will not escape." My dear friends, do not miss what we are being told. If you neglect Christ's salvation and thus drift away from him, God will send you to hell. You will stand before the God whose throne lasts forever and who treats stars like worn out clothes without Christ. This one who "made purification for sins" will not have made purification for your sins. You will stand before the judge, guilty, without any way to appease his just anger against you except to spend eternity suffering his anger against you for ignoring his Son and the great salvation his Son has purchased for all who believe. What pleasure that currently is occupying your attention now can compare with the suffering that will be yours forever? There is a day coming when you will regret that you paid so much attention to your children or your home or your job or Packer football and paid no attention to Jesus Christ. There is a day coming when you will remember that you sat in this church and heard me warn you to stop neglecting Christ, to pay attention and you will be overcome with regret and remorse. You will know that you did not have to go to hell. You could have escaped this horrible judgment if only you had listened and paid attention to Christ. I beg you, do not treat what I am saying with indifference. You young people, do not leave this room without resolving to pay attention to Jesus. You men who can hardly contain your impatience for me to end so you can go watch football, do not leave here without crying out to Christ to save you. You moms who long for obedient, well-mannered children far more than you long for Christ, do not continue to ignore him out of concern for your children. You will not escape God's justice if you neglect the Son of God and his great salvation. We must pay careful attention to the gospel of Jesus because…
IV. We know the gospel is true (vv. 3b-4) This final reason to pay attention appeals to the personal experience of these people. In essence he is saying you should pay attention because of what happened when you heard the gospel the first time. You once knew this message was true and you banked your life on it so don't stop now. Then he gives them three ways they knew this gospel was true. First he returns again to the primary authority of the gospel. This message of the gospel was delivered through the Son, not through angels. Jesus came into the world to announce that God was willing to accept lawbreakers into his kingdom not because of anything we have done but because of what he has done. Jesus announced that God is willing to be the God of the disobedient because he fulfilled all the conditions of the covenant for those who trust him, who pay attention to him. They know this message is true because they know the Son delivered it. Second, he says that this message that was first announced through Jesus was confirmed to them by those who had heard Jesus speak. In other words, just like us, neither the author, nor any of these "Hebrews" had personally seen or heard Jesus. They were not among the company of over 500 who had seen him raised from the dead. However, they had heard the message of Christ through those who had seen and heard Christ. Notice that the reason they know the gospel they first heard was trustworthy was because these eye-witnesses to Christ confirmed the message to them. What does this mean? The apostle Paul fully describes what this means in the opening two chapters of 1 Thessalonians. Turn there with me. Notice in v. 3 Paul says that he and his companions know that God loves the Thessalonians and has chosen them. How does he know this? "Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but with power, with the HS and with deep conviction… You became imitators of us and of the Lord Jesus. In spite of severe suffering you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. You became a model for the believers in Macedonia and Achia… you turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his Son from heaven." Then in 2:13, "We continually thank God because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." The confirmation of the truthfulness of the gospel that Paul preached to the Thessalonians was that their lives were transformed by the message. The confirmation that the men who heard Jesus gave to the Hebrews was the transformed lives of the Hebrews. They changed through the message that was spoken to them. They believed in Christ and their lives were transformed. This is how the message was confirmed through the word of those who preached to them. The point at the end of v. 3 is that the message preached by those who heard Jesus had an effect in their lives. That's how they know it is true. The third reason they know it's true is that in addition to the effect which the testimony of the witnesses of Christ had in their life, God also bore witness with the message of these preachers by signs, wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit. The author is not saying that they became convinced of the truth of the gospel through these miracles. They became convinced of the truthfulness of the message through the message itself preached and its effect in their lives. What the author is saying is that God added these visible evidences to support the witness of the word of those who first preached the gospel to them. The last clause, "according to his will" does not refer to the gifts of the Holy Spirit alone but to all four of the things listed in v. 4, signs, wonders, miracles and gifts. The reason I know this is because in the Greek the pronoun "his" is masculine and goes with the masculine noun, God, not with the neuter noun, Holy Spirit. The point is that God determines when and where signs and wonders and gifts of the Holy Spirit are going to be added to the testimony of the word preached to bear witness to that message. Those who try to teach that miracles must necessarily accompany the preaching of the gospel ignore this clause. God is in charge of sending the signs and the sign gifts. The confirmation of the truthfulness of the gospel is primarily found in the power of the gospel itself to transform lives, not in miracles which may or may not accompany the preaching of the gospel. What the author is saying is this: you should pay attention to the word of God concerning Christ that is being preached to you because you know that it is true because it changed you. As Peter says, "you were born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For all men are like grass and all their glory like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and flower fades but the word of the Lord stands forever and this is the word that was preached to you." Friends we must pay attention to this message of the cross. The message that your sins are forgiven and you are given eternal life not because of anything you have done but because Jesus Christ obeyed the law for you, suffered the death due you, and was raised from the dead for you. This is what should preoccupy you. This is what you must spend your time thinking about, relying upon, and growing in. You know it is true because it changed your life. You know that this word, first delivered through the Son and then spoken to you by another human being is the power of God for salvation to all who believe because you believed and thus you were transformed by this simple message. We must pay careful attention to the gospel of Jesus because…
© Copyright 2006 John Swanson.
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