58 Hebrews 2: Teaching/Preaching

Listen or Drift?

The last time we were in Galveston with my brothers family. We set up this tent and had this kite. We took all the kids in the water. We are playing in the water and next thing I know is the only thing we see is this kite that if flying high. The tent was completely out of sight. What was amazing is we how we had drifted so quickly because we took our eyes off of where we were supposed to be.

When we take our eyes off of Jesus we can drift so quickly:

I have had relationships with people who were the most passionate people about Jesus Christ that I have ever met that took their eyes off of Jesus, have lost their marriages, lost their families.

This can happen in a major way or it could happen in a subtle way

Think about those times in your own life where Jesus was great in your life and now you know you are supposed to read the Bible but it is only a check mark on the check list.

Jesus wants us to not just be a follower of him but he wants us to be life long followers.

If we are going to do this we have to listen to what he says. Notice I said listen and not hear.

Are you a good listener?

What if I asked your spouse this questions what would they say?

Today I want to challenge us to listen to Jesus so that we don’t drift away.

The first reason we need to listen closely is because:

1. Ignoring Jesus has consequences (1-4).

The first of five warning passages

Hebrews 2:1 NASB95

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

What have these believers heard? They were mostly Jewish Converts who had believed Jesus but they were on the verge of leaving Jesus and going back to their old religion. Doing things like they did before without Jesus

They have heard that Jesus is the final revelation.

They have heard that he is greater than the angels and worthy of worship.

The truth is that these believers are a lot like us they like the benefits of salvation but not the responsibility of it.

Just like when we were in Galveston we were in danger of drifting away, they were in danger of living a life where at the end instead of Jesus being bigger in their life he would be smaller in their life.

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

― D.A. Carson

Hebrews 2:2–4 NASB95

For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

Greater Privilege = greater responsibility

We don’t know if people were being tempted to slip away or if they had already begun to slip away. We can see that because they were viewing Christ as less than who He really is, they were being tempted to turn away from Christ. Here, of course, the warning is against being carried away from the gospel of Christ by apostatizing and going back to Judaism.’ They were not just thinking of leaving Christ. They were thinking about leaving Christ and going back to their old ways.

It is interesting that in verse two the author does not downplay the greatness of Angels. The word spoken through them proved unalterable. Christ is that much greater. If what the angels spoke is important, how much more important is what Christ speaks. There are consequences for drifting back to Judaism. ‘The judgment facing those who turn their backs on Christ must be greater than any punishment experienced by Israel in OT times.’ The audience gives this warning so the audience can see the seriousness of God’s judgment if they will not persevere and lapse back into the old weaker system of Judaism.

Application:

“. . . if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?”

The author does not spell out what the penalty is for drifting. But would it not be sad if that at the end of your life you had a smaller version of Jesus than you do right now because you did not listen to him. Instead of looking forward to your heavenly inheritance you get into heaven because you are saved by grace but you are not excited about it.

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible C. The Danger of Negligence (The First Warning) 2:1–4

But when the winds of trouble come, the things of Christ are left far behind, even out of sight.”

The second reason we need to listen closely is because:

2. Jesus is the only one to bring ultimate hope (5-9).

There are a lot of different things people look to hope in.

Money

Success

Fame

Fortune

All these things hope is only temporal and does not last. Jesus brings ultimate hope.

God made man Really good

Hebrews 2:5–6 NASB95

For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him?

The reality is that it is so easy to look to Man for hope. Did we not see that this year in the presidential election people were looking to man.

We see it in Hollywood, look at the super bowl and people who put their hope in Tom Brady.

The author is attaching great importance to scripture

He is quoting out of the Psalms.

The author also wants us to see that the ultimate man is Jesus

Hebrews 2:7–8 NASB95

“You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And have appointed him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

God made us in his image and we have been rulers over this earth. But even the best man among us has failed. We have seen evil men do horrendous things, but Jesus is the ultimate man who rules the right way.

Hebrews & James B. Because Jesus Is the Central Actor in God’s New Plan (vv. 5–9)

The term son of man referred to the ideal man. Jesus frequently used this title to refer to himself (John 1:51). Since Jesus was the ideal man, this psalm was fulfilled in him.

In Jesus we can experience what we were created for because of Jesus accomplishment.

Hebrews 2:9 NASB95

But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Jesus was made lower than the angels

he experienced death and suffering

His death displayed Grace

Application:

The last reason we need to listen closely is because:

3. our God helps us walk the walk (10-18).

He will help us when we are tempted (10-18).

Least severe

12 isn't it amazing that he is not ashamed of us

He will make us holy

What Jesus dies for us

How great is out God

a. He pioneers our salvation

Hebrews 2:10–12 NET

For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, and so he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.”

11 Author/pioneer of our salvation dig into this

He makes us holy

How great is out God

Shares their humanity 14

Hebrews 2:13–14 NASB95

And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.” Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

Hebrews 2:17 NASB95

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Priest

Propitiation

How great is out God

b. He defeats death so he can free us from death.

Hebrews 2:14–15 NASB95

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

How great is out God

c. He helps us

Hebrews 2:18 NASB95

For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Could you picture Scarlett drifting in Galveston without me. She would have died. But I was able to bring her back to our tent. Isn’t it beautiful that God helps us in our temptation.

What ever struggle or temptation you are going through right now God can help you and not only can he help you he will. It does not matter how ugly or bad your situation is right now he wants to aid you right here right now.