The Greater Salvation

The Preacher in Chapter 1 has been directing the gaze of the congregation toward the heavens and exalting the Son. There are no commands for the Church. WE are not told to do anything. The whole chapter is a declaration and celebration of God’s final word to the world - Jesus Christ the Son of God. The Chapter begins, “God after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his Son.” Chapter 1 in a nutshell is the utter stupendous celebration of the Son of God. Hebrews 1 is all about the final word of God, Jesus Christ.

Now he takes an abrupt shift to redirect their vision away from heaven and toward earthly matters. He has been urging them to look up to see the exalted son; now the Preacher is exhorting them to look around, toward the character of their own lives, towards the danger of drifting away.

Tubing down the Comal river with Students

Tidal pull that would suck you in if you drifted too far to the left when coming out of the shoots.

Big Idea: Ignoring Jesus has catastrophic consequences.

Note: Starting with the word therefore, signifies a conclusion to come.

Hebrews 2:1–4 ESV

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.

NOTE: The Argument given is that if God at one point in History revealed himself through the law given by angels how can we now neglect the word of God. God never negotiated the law, what do you imagine the cross of Christ was all about. If the word of God proves to be true, then disobedience deserves a just punishment.

How many Christians are Hostile towards the Justice of God. (understandable for the unbeliever/enemy of God)

If you are so hostile or angry against the idea of the justice of God it may be a strong evidence that you are not converted, because that attitude is inconsistent with a believers heart. Because if you have come to the realization that you are a sinner and need to be reconciled to God you know that you must be reconciled before the throne of Christ’s righteous judgement.

The writer is now say who can stand in the presence of God? We have been saved of the wrath that is to come. God has appointed a day on which he will judge the world, and on that day he will pour out his wrath on those who have not repented and been reconciled to God.

We live in a day and time when a vast majority of Church people and Christians do not believe that there will be a judgement day of God. What do we believe in then, peace of mind, prosperity, or is it that we are saved from the justice of God.

1. Pay attention so that you do not drift into indifference

NOTE: IF the Son is the one of incomparable splendor as we read in chapter 1, then the readers must pay more careful attention to the message of Salvation they have heard, lest they drift away.

Apparently there were pressures upon them to cause them to compromise the truth of the gospel.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION The Coming End of Christian America

America is still a "Christian nation," if the term simply means a majority of the population will claim the label when a pollster calls. But, as a new Pew Research report explains, the decline of Christianity in the United States "continues at a rapid pace." A bare 65 percent of Americans now say they're Christians, down from 78 percent as recently as 2007.

The de-converted are mostly moving away from religion altogether, and the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated—the "nones"—have swelled from 16 to 26 percent over the same period. If this rate of change continues, the US will be majority non-Christian by about 2035, with the nones representing well over one third of the population.

In what remains of the American church, reactions to this decline will vary. Some will see it as a positive, revealing of what was always true. America was never really a Christian nation. What we're seeing is less mass de-conversion than a belated honesty. Others will respond to this shift with sadness, alarm, or outright fear. If you believe that your religion communicates a necessary truth about God, the universe, humanity, the purpose of life, and how we should live it—well, then a precipitous decline in that religion is an inherently horrible thing with eternal implications for millions

INDIFFERENCE: a neutral attitude to God that is as dangerous as hostility. It is condemned as a rejection of God’s love and his word.

Indifference Towards God

a) No desire to seek God

Romans 3:11 ESV

11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

b) Refuse to heed God’s word

Psalm 81:11 ESV

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.

c) Refusal to respond to God’s discipline

Jeremiah 5:3 ESV

3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.

* We drift when we ignore God’s warnings

Parable of the Wedding feast

“He sent his servants to call all those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.”

Matthew 22:5–7 ESV

5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

For those who ignore God’s salvation there is no hope

NOTE: The Greek word for drift away occurs only here in the NT. The idea is is that “otherwise, we may as well be like a ship which drifts past the harbor to shipwreck.”

Romans 12:11–13 ESV

11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

DON’T BE A SLOTH

* We drift when we ignore what we have heard

This verse introduces the difficulty for the readers. Apparently they had hear the gospel, however, they were ready to desert Jesus for some other lesser replacement for their Salvation. The writer is horrified at this prospect.

The importance is strongly placed on what we have heard, the readers are urged to pay closer attention. This is the first of many warnings throughout the book of Hebrews. The author understands that he is dealing with a situation which could empty the gospel of all its essential meaning. He is not thinking of a deliberate refusal to heed the gospel, but of an almost helpless slipping away - literally to flow past like driftwood in a river. This is why he uses the words to drift away.

Hebrews 2:2 ESV

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

RETRIBUTION: To exact retribution on someone is conceptualized as repaying that person. Retribution is the concept of paying in kind. The prophets speak of God’s just punishments for injustice and idolatry, upon both Israel’s enemies and Israel and Judah themselves. The day of the Lord will be a day of retribution against God’s enemies. We should trust in God to bring just retribution against those who have wronged us rather than seeking to effect it on ourselves.

NOTE: The warning that the writer is giving is the reality that to neglect the great Salvation He has given us will bring about the wrath and retribution of God.

THE FAITHFUL MANAGER

Luke 12:43–46 ESV

43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

Jesus is exhorting his disciples to stay awake and dressed for action, keeping their lamps burning so that they may open the door when the master comes. Obviously this is talking about the return of Christ. Jesus say’s blessed are the servants who he finds awake when he comes. He also warns them that if you knew the hour that he was coming you would make sure that you had everything ready and in order, but, since you do not you must make sure you are ready.

Peter is asking Jesus if the parable is us or for all? Jesus had just told them a parable and asked the question, who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time.

The stronger warning Jesus gives is that for the one who knew the masters will and did not get ready or listen to the master will be held more strictly accountable.

Jesus is talking to those who supposedly are Christians, however, he is warning that if they take their status as his servants for granted and start acting like the world, he will put them with the unbelievers.

Fair Punishment

This carries a huge implication for understanding the Justice of God. Romans 1:18-23 declares that humanity has been given enough knowledge of God to be held accountable before Him on judgement day.

But, what Jesus is now saying how much more accountability will their be for those who have sat under the gospel - maybe even under the best ministries for years and years - and yet have not acted in faithfulness on the gospel.

What about those who have not heard the gospel? My answer is that no one will be judged for revelation that they have not been given, however, all will be judged according to the truth that they have access to.

NOTE: With this verse the author begins to stage the argument.

Hebrews 2:3 ESV

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,

THE PREACHER NOW ENTERS AS A DEFENSE ATTORNEY

2. Pay attention so that you do not neglect such a great Salvation

Note: The author highlights a GREAT SALVATION, I believe that the question of “are you saved” is so mis-understood and over expressed in our culture. If you ask someone if they are saved they must know what they are being saved from. A child cannot come to Christ until they understand what they are being saved from, which is the wrath of God.

The provision that God has made for everybody can be summed up on one word - SALVATION. But what does this word mean? Does it mean simply that if we are saved we get to go to heaven when we die, or does it mean being religious, going to church and saying our prayers, reading our bible?

We can illustrate its meaning by reading the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-7.

The sheep was away from the shepherd, unhappy, wandering, outside the fold and in danger; then the shepherd searched for and found the sheep, placed it on his shoulder and once again the sheep was happy and safe. This is a faint picture of the meaning of salvation, which provides for the complete restoration of the sinner. It is the provision that God has made for bringing us back into fellowship with Himself and into the safety of the fold. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the writer of Hebrews uses two qualifying words when speaking of salvation? First he says it is a “great salvation”, but more than that, he speaks of “such a great salvation”.

NOTE: The problem is not knowledge, the hearers know their moral obligation. The problem lies deeper, in the will. The grind of daily trouble and fatigue has chipped away at their faith. They know what the gospel is; they just do not trust it any longer.

How can they go on believing what is preached when everything around them seems to deny it?

The congregation has apparently placed the gospel on trial and found it wanting.

* We neglect our Salvation when we question His word

Can we trust God and His word? Did God really do what he said he was going to do?

NOTE: The Lawyer counters with the challenge to examine God’s track record.

We question whether the God we believe in is a just God..... The only just God is the God who is concerned about evil, that is the only just God.

How do we know if the Old Testament was valid? Because every time God’s peopled failed to obey it, they paid the price and “received a just penalty.” (2:2) The argument here is not that God’s people are like cattle hemmed in by the electric fence of the divine law, and they know that the law is activated because every time they try to cross it they get a jolt of punishment.

The argument is that God’s law is like the wisdom of a parent to a child about what makes life good and whole. The proof of the validity of such wisdom is that when the children follow the parents’ guidance, life is full of joy, but when they do not, their foolishness becomes painful and tragic. Now if the Old Law was valid and true, the logic of the lesser to the greater, how much more is the new “law” of the gospel, that is now written on our hearts which is the message of Salvation in the Son, valid and true.

Do you respond to the greatness of your salvation? Or do you treat it the way you treat your last will and testament, or the title to your car, or the deed to your house? You signed it once and it is in a file drawer somewhere, but it is not a really great thing in your mind. You rarely think about it. It has no daily effect on your life. Basically you neglect it.

When you neglect your Salvation what are you neglecting?

You neglect being loved by God.

You neglect being forgiven.

You neglect the sacrifice.

You neglect the free gift.

You neglect the removal of God’s wrath and the reconciled to God.

You neglect the indwelling Holy Spirit and the fellowship we have.

You neglect the radiance of God’s glory in the face of Jesus.

You neglect the inexhaustible treasure of God’s promises.

The point in verses 3 and 4 is not only that Salvation is great, but that it is true.

Of course it could not be great unless it were true. But the focus here is not on how great it is to be saved, but how sure you can be that it is great to be saved.

THERE ARE TWO REASONS THAT YOU MIGHT NEGLECT SOMETHING

That is it is not really that great so you neglect it and spend your time and energy on something that you think is really great.

That even though it might be really great, you may not have access to sufficient evidence that it is really great.

(In the first case you may know the Salvation, but you don’t think it is so great.

In the second case, you neglect it because you don’t know the Salvation.

What is so Great about Salvation?

*It is not about us and all about Him.

Salvation represents God intervening into Human History - Salvation is the complete theme of the OT and NT. God is a God of Salvation.

1 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Israel’s concept of Salvation was rooted in the historical exodus. The momentous occasion was an opportunity to witness “the salvation of the Lord” firsthand. (Moses leading the people by the mighty hand of God) This was represented in words like deliver or save.

In the NT the Greek verb Sozo “to save,” and the noun “soteria,” salvation is used for the concept of “rescue,” “deliverance” or “salvation,” and even “well-being” or “health.”

All Scripture points to the person and work of Jesus Christ, not what we have done but what He has done for us that we could not do for ourselves.

NOTE: Don’t neglect so great a Salvation, because if you do, will there be any escape from judgement? That’s what the writer is asks. So, being a Christian is a very serious business.

You need to decide today that you are not going to neglect the eternal joy in God - which is what the goal of this Salvation is. We will gouge our eyes out before we would allow ourselves to be lured away from such a great Salvation.

3. Pay attention so that you do not fall into Destruction

When you consider the word “drifting,” it means to float by. It’s what a piece of bark or leaf does in a river. It floats by the boat that is being rowed up stream. It takes no life and no motion to float by. One needs only to do nothing, and you will float by.

Hebrews says that if we do not vigilantly pay closer attention to the Word of God, we will float by - we will drift away from God’s Word. We all know people that this has happened to. Some are in this room this morning. Some are listening to the live stream online. There is not urgency in their life. No vigilance. No focused listening or considering or fixing the eyes on Jesus. And the result has not been a standing still, but a drifting by.

Note: The Judgement facing those who turn their backs on Christ must be greater than the punishment experienced by Israel in OT times. The writer says more about this in 10:26-31

Hebrews 10:26–31 ESV

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

How will you escape?

How can there be any escape for those who ignore the terms of that earlier Revelation?

How will you escape if you neglect such a Great Salvation?

You think God was blood thirsty in the Old Testament?

God opened up the earth and swallowed people, brought fire down from heaven, flooded the earth. People say boy I’m glad we don’t live in the Old Testament picture of God. Many people today would rather hang out in the New Testament and reject the Old Testament. If God rained down His wrath on people who received His word through angels, prophets, and Moses, what do you think He is going to do to people who had that Word brought down by His very own Son.

Now He has provided a greater way. How will you survive if you neglect such a great Salvation. That should keep us awake at night.

What happens when you neglect your yard, or your cars, or your house. Those things may seem in a messed up state, however, consider the grave consequences of neglecting the great Salvation of God.

A. There are some questions to Which there is no Answer.

How deep is the bottomless pit?

How wide is space?

How long is eternity?

How will we escape if we Neglect so Great a Salvation

This is a question that prompts other questions.

What is Salvation?

A. Salvation is deliverance from the Penalty of Sin.

a. Once heel and judgement loomed ahead.

b. Once, every moment moved you closer to destruction.

c. Now, every heartbeat brings you closer to heaven.

B. Salvation is the deliverance from the power of sin.

a. once you were a slave to habits and lust.

b. Now you are free to conquer in the power of God.

C. Salvation is the deliverance from the presence of sin.

a. Now surrounded with sin’s reality.

b. Man moans about it but chooses it, revels in it, wallows in it.

WE ALL NEED SALVATION BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL SINNED

We fall into destruction when we follow the way of the “I” instead of the way of the “Cross”

Alister Begg (Senior Pastor of Cleveland’s Parkside Church, and the voice for truth for Life Christian radio)

Without the preaching of the Cross every day we will quickly move to faith plus works as the foundation for our Salvation.

From what do we escape if we accept this great Salvation?

How Shall we Escape?

a. There is no Escape

b. Even God doesn’t know an escape for man

Picture standing at the judgment regretting your neglect.

But the man who accepts Salvation escapes the following

The guilt of the past

The fear of the future

Hell

Lake of fire

Tribulation Period

Earth’s most awful war

The judgment of the Great White Throne.

CONCLUSION

The Great Escape - Escape to Jesus

It’s Easy to Reject Jesus Now

In the classic Russian novel Eugene Onegin, a jaded aristocrat Onegin, meets an innocent young girl in the countryside. The girl, Tatyana, writes him a letter, offering him her love. Onegin does not reply. When they meet again, he turns her down: the letter was touching, he tells her, but he would soon grow bored of marriage to her. Years later, Onegin enters a St. Petersburg party and sees a stunningly beautiful woman. It is Tatyana. But she is now married. Onegin falls in love with her. He tries desperately to win her back. But Tatyana refuses him. Once, the door was open: she offered him her love. Now it is shut.

For many of us, it is easy to reject Jesus now. Like Tatyana's letter to Onegin, his offer is touching. But we believe we will be happier without such a commitment. We worry he will cramp our style, so we move on with life and leave him in the spiritual countryside. One day, the Bible warns, we will see Jesus in all his glory, our eyes painfully open to his majesty. We will know in that moment that all our greatest treasures were nothing compared with him, and we will bitterly regret that decision. But it will be no more unfair than Tatyana's rejection of Onegin.

If we accept Jesus now, we will live with him forever in a fullness of life we cannot imagine. If we reject him, he will one day reject us, and we will be eternally devastated and separated from the great love story of all time. The choice is ours to make!