The Danger of Drifting

A Sermon on Hebrews 2:1-4

INTRODUCTION:

Today I would like to share a story with you about two men who were fishing in a river above a dam which was close to where they both lived.

They were catching fish, sharing stories and were just having a great time together but they weren't paying attention to their boat and how it was drifting downstream at a dangerous speed.

By the time they realized this it was too late. The current was too powerful for them to change direction and soon they went over the dam to their deaths.

This can be the same with our spiritual life too.

Drifting isn't something that just happens in an instant. It is a gradual process that happens over a span of time.

I would best describe it as a bucket that leaks out of its fullness.

It reminds me of fall season with colder weather that changes how trees and leaves no longer receive their life giving juices.

Those leaves are drying up and in time will fall and drift away.

The same thing is true of us spiritually. The life-giving juices of the Holy Spirit begin to leak out of our bucket because of our lack of focus on the Lord Jesus Christ.

One day you will fall and drift away just like a leaf.

This is the path of a drifter! The Greek word for drift is paraheo and it means to flow past and glide by.

Don’t be a drifter. Be a Disciple

Many Christians say that eventually they will give Christ everything but, before you know it they have...

stopped going to church,

they have forsaken their first love, or

they die of a tragic accident such as those two men.

The river that they were on was headed to destruction and if only they would have noticed the warning signs of..

turns back,

danger ahead, or

wrong way.

God is saying the same things to us today. Danger ahead, turn back & turn to him.

Let’s see what God says about this idea of drifting away from our faith...

Let’s read Hebrews 2:1-4

Hebrews 2:1–4

“1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

BACKGROUND: This is the first of four warnings in the epistle of Hebrews.

First of all we see the Faithful warning.

The warning is not to drift away from the revelation of God's Son Jesus.

It was written to 2nd generation Christians and it was written for us today as a warning not to drift away from Jesus Christ and to take our relationship with him seriously so we wont fall away.

The first verse in chapter two begins by saying "We must pay the most careful attention".

We should really LISTEN to God and not merely just hear him.

It's like saying we hear our parents but, that doesn't mean we listen and do what they told us.

We hear our spouses but, that doesn't mean we listen and do what they tell us.

God wants us to really LISTEN! He wants us to hear his voice and obey him.

He gives us warnings for our benefit. He tells us not to go down the road we are going.

Not because he doesn't want us to go on a joy ride but, because he is all-knowing and he knows where that road ends.

It ends in our destruction and demise. In the first chapter of Hebrews it speaks about the superiority of God's son.

That Jesus is much better than anything the world can offer them.

You see these people were starting to turn back to Judaism, to their old way of doing things.

You see Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God but, these people were so wrapped up in religion that they couldn't see that.

I love how Hebrews 1 verses 2 and 3 beautifully portray the character of God.

It says that He is the "Heir of All things, brightness of his glory, exact representation of his being upholds all things by the Word of his power, made purification for our sins and sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high!

Do we make provisions to listen to God or are we caught up in the busyness of life that his voice gets drowned out?

That is a dangerous stream to follow.

Eventually we will stop reading the Bible as much, lose our desire to pray,

not enjoy fellowship with our church family, and even lose remorse over our own sin.

One pastor had recently baptized 10 new members to his church. After a couple of weeks, he invited all of them to his home for dinner. They were not only excited about their new lives in Christ, but now they were being invited to the pastor’s home for dinner. It went, as you would expect, all having an enjoyable time all the way through dinner.

And after dinner, they congregated in the living room. It was at this point that he asked them an unexpected question.

He asked them if they would like for him to predict their future for the next three years. They were puzzled, but all said ‘Yes.’ And this is what the pastor said. According to statistics,

1 of you will drift away from church due to a divorce

3 of you will get your feelings hurt and leave the church

1 will experience a tragedy that shakes your belief and you will leave

2 of you will fall down morally and the shame will make you leave

2 will just lose interest and drift away and only 1 of you will remain, being a happy and productive Christian’

This prediction startled them, and all of a sudden, one of them asked, ‘What can we do to change that?’ The pastor had been praying for them to ask that question, so he replied,

you can choose to not let any of you go. You can begin right now to form a bond among yourselves.

You can decide to band together to help each other.

You can learn how to not only know each other, but to care for each other.’ And from that night on, these people did just that.

They met with each other, studied and learned about the Bible together; finding out what each other’s needs were; and helping each other when a problem came up. And three years later, only one person had left the church.

And that was through his going home to Heaven.

Hebrews 10:25 says "not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching"

This means that we need to take advantage of every opportunity we have to meet together to help build community in the church so we can strengthen each other's faith.

Next we see the Faithful Witness

Verse 3 asks us this question: "How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?" and I ask you what makes this salvation so great?

It's great because God has forgiven me of my sin.

It's great because of what it has done in me with the transformation of character by providing power over sin.

It's great because God has told me he will never leave me nor forsake me.

It's great because it gives me a hope for all eternity.

Dare we lose all this, through neglect of so great of a salvation?

If those of a previous age received revelation of a far less means as they did in the Old Testament with Angels revealing the law to Moses

how shall we escape by neglecting our savior?

We need to have the disciplines of grace such as prayer, fasting, bible study, and fellowship.

Remember this is the book of Hebrews that holds the great hall of faith chapter.

Listing all the saints who have come before us and were heroes in the kingdom of God and have confirmed this so great of a salvation.

Now I want you to picture two buildings.

The first looks amazing, and has Corinthian columns and graceful architectural lines. Half of it is removed.

Now in the second building, half of the new structure is built so that the two stand now side by side, and making a contrast so marked in favor of the new, over against the old, that it only requires a glance to see the difference.

Then as we look at the recent building, with its majestic pillars, lofty walls, spacious chambers, broad windows letting in floods of light, we wonder how we ever could have been satisfied with the ancient structure.

The reason was that there was nothing better in sight, nothing to measure by, contrast with and over-tops it.

Now a glance shows the second to rank far above the first in every respect.

Now place sanctification by the side of regeneration

The power, the height, the majesty, the fruit of a Christian who is walking in sanctification is never seen to greater advantage than when placed in a church by the side of those who are only regenerated.

We are called to grow in spiritual maturity!

What a difference there is between peace with God, and the peace of God,

between love and perfect love,

between life and abundant life,

between having a measure of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit.

Listen to the message of those who have received this great salvation and confirmed it to us!

Finally, the author tells us that God himself bears witness by signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The greatest spiritual sign that causes the world to wonder is a clean heart

the greatest miracle is a transformed life.

The greatest gift is that of (agape) love that only comes from God.

God never withholds His best from those who give their all. In the fall the leaves come to the ground and are tram-pelled.

but now it’s winter most of the leaves are crumbled ... fallen to the ground ... and all the trees are barren!

Where are you at spiritually? Are you still green because your relationship is at full bloom?

Or have your leaves started to turn and drifting is just around the corner?

Or maybe you have become disconnected from the tree altogether and you are experiencing the bareness of winter?

The answer is in your focus. Paying attention to the author (Jesus Christ) of your great salvation.

Obeying His word! Listening to the witness of those who confirm this great salvation.

And best of all by allowing God to bear witness through the Holy Spirit of His divine love ...

Altar Call

Maybe this morning you are feeling God's Spirit tugging at your heart for the first time.

Maybe you are on that road heading to destruction.

I invite to come to Jesus, come to the cross.

Trade your sorrow for his joy,

trade hell for heaven;

trade your shame for his forgiveness.

Maybe your hear today and you say "Pastor Scott, I have known the Lord for a long time now but, I just don't feel as close to him as I have in the past.

I have a word for that person. God hasn't moved, you did.

He has been right by your side all this time. I invite anyone to come to the altar and receive his grace and his mercy.

He took the prodigal son back and he will take you back with open arms.

Make a choice today in whom you will follow.