Warning: Do Not Drift from the Truth
Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted
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1 This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course. 2 For if the message of the law spoken and confirmed by angels brought a just penalty to every disobedient violation; 3 then how would we expect to escape punishment if we despise the very truths that give us life? The Lord himself was the first to announce these things, and those who heard him firsthand confirmed their accuracy. 4 Then God added his witness to theirs. He validated their ministry with signs, astonishing wonders, all kinds of powerful miracles, and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which he distributed as he desired.
There is so much to unpack here, but let me first say that chapter one was the foundation for Paul’s statement in verse one of chapter two: “This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.”
What is the “this?” It’s that Jesus is God. Where before, God spoke through prophets or angelic messengers, in these last days He has spoken to us directly by His Son, Jesus the Christ, Who is God. That is the crux of the good news. In fact, John wrote that if anyone denies that Jesus is God in the flesh, they are of the anti-Christ spirit.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
And because God is His own witness, it’s crucial that we are ALL THE MORE ENGAGED AND ATTENTIVE to the truths we’ve heard. In the NKJV, it’s phrased “the more earnest heed,” which means “to hold firmly to a particular belief.” Now remember that Paul is speaking to the Hebrews and comparing HOW the Law was given and how the gospel of the kingdom was given. The Law was given by angels and the gospel of the kingdom by Jesus, God in the flesh.
Heed is also a nautical term that “means to hold a ship in a direction, to sail towards…to hold on one’s course toward a place.” What is the final destination? Salvation according to verse 14 of Hebrews 1. Salvation is complete at the resurrection of our bodies at the return of Jesus Christ. We are to pay attention to the truths spoken of through our Lord with our eyes on the resurrection! But in the original language, the word “truths” used in TPT is things in the NKJV, which imply not just things spoken but also “a reference to an entity, event, or state.” It’s the totality of the Word spoken and events occuring that we are to pay attention to.
1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
Drift is a significant word for us. It means “figuratively to slip away, suggesting a gradual and almost unnoticed movement past a certain point. It’s a gradual giving up of “one’s belief in the truth.” Being engaged and attentive prevents us a gradual and almost unnoticed slipping away from the Lord.
Engaged and Attentive
Engaged and Attentive
Engage is an interesting word. It means “to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons).” It’s an action verb not passive at all. It comes from two words “en” and “gage.” En here is “in.” Gage is where it gets interesting. It’s “something, as a glove, thrown down by a medieval knight in token of challenge to combat; Archaic. a challenge; Archaic. a pledge or pawn; security.” The origin of gage was wage as in “to wage war; to engage in a struggle.”
Being engaged in your faith is to be actively engaged in the war, the struggle, the challenge to the enemy’s influence and rule in the systems of the world.
Attentive is being observant, aware, and my favorite, “directing the mind to an object.” Again, this is an active not passive process. It’s NOT going to church on Sunday mindlessly listening to a sermon and plunking your tithe in a bucket. True faith requires engagement and attention. These two things prevents an unknowing slipping away.
12 So fight with faith for the winner’s prize! Lay your hands upon eternal life, for this is your calling—celebrating in faith before the multitude of witnesses!
How Can We Escape Punishment?
How Can We Escape Punishment?
2 For if the message of the law spoken and confirmed by angels brought a just penalty to every disobedient violation; 3 then how would we expect to escape punishment if we despise the very truths that give us life? The Lord himself was the first to announce these things, and those who heard him firsthand confirmed their accuracy.
I love how the NKJV says, “how shall we escape if we neglect so GREAT a salvation.” Neglect means “to not think about, and thus not respond appropriately to…to disregard, to pay no attention to.” It’s the idea of being CARELESS. You can be careless from neglect, which is rooted in a low regard toward the object.
I prize my marriage and cherish my husband; therefore, I am not careless. We as a couple pay attention to our marriage and relationship through both little things and big things. We get each other’s coffee, we spend time together, we cooperate with one another, and we allow each other to influence the other. This requires ACTIVE ATTENTION AND INTENTION. It’s not by accident. And it’s not motivated by a rule or regulation or even fear. It’s motivated because I both love and like my husband. He’s my favorite person in the whole world. Pondering redemption realities is sourced from love and increases experiential love.
However, if we are careless in our salvation realities, it is a promise for He is faithful that there will be no escape from a just penalty. And, again, there’s no excuse because the Lord Himself first announced these things and those who heard Him firsthand, His disciples, confirmed their accuracy. And then Father Himself added His witness by “validating their ministry with signs, astonishing wonders, all kinds of powerful miracles, and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit (v. 4).
Listen to TPT commentary:
As translated from the Aramaic. This appears to be a quote from Deut. 32:47. The Greek is “how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation.” There are six significant warnings in Hebrews: (1) Here in 2:1–4 we are warned not to drift away from the power of our great salvation. (2) In 3:7–4:13 we are warned about failing to enter into the faith-rest life with the failure of the Israelites in the wilderness as an example. (3) In 5:11–6:12 we are warned to be devoted to the full assurance of our hope until life’s end. (4) In 10:23–39 we are warned of not sinning willfully after we have received the truth. (5) In 12:1–17 we are given the warning of God’s correction as our faithful Father. (6) In 12:25–29 we are warned not to close our hearts to the voice of the One who speaks from heaven.
Confirmed by Angels
Confirmed by Angels
Real quick, I want to touch on the angels’ roles in the giving of the Law.
2 And he said:
“The Lord came from Sinai,
And dawned on them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
And He came with ten thousands of saints;
From His right hand
Came a fiery law for them.
53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
The word saints is not the best translation because it implies believers. It’s actually qodes in the Hebrew with is holiness. You could translate this “holy ones.” We know that these were angelic beings.
14 Enoch, the seventh direct descendant from Adam, prophesied of their doom when he said, “Look! Here comes the Lord Yahweh with his countless myriads of holy ones. 15 He comes to execute judgment against them all and to convict each one of them for their ungodly deeds and for all the terrible words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
The point is that angels will never compare to Jesus Christ, Himself. We have been given a greater revelation in His Son and with that comes greater responsibility to stay true to Him. He is the Way, the Life, and the Truth. No angel ever was, is or will be.