"The Tragedy of Neglecting Salvation"

Hebrews 2:1-4

Chuck Swindol -"If a sailor neglects just a few crucial duties, he can jeopardize not only his own life but the crew, the cargo, and even the ship itself. Say he is too tired to lower the sails or forgets to let down the anchor. or neglects to properly tie his knots while mooring the ship to the dock, then the boat will be in danger of drifting. All sorts of things could happen if he drifts off course. He could become lost at sea and die a slow death of starvation. He could run aground on the shoals. He could crash into the clenched fist of a coral reef, reducing his ship to flotsam and himself to shark bait."

Similarly, neglect of spiritual matters can have severe consequences!

Hell will undoubtedly be full of people who were never actively opposed to Jesus Christ, but who simply neglected the gospel.

Such people are in view in these four verses!

· They know the truth and may even believe the truth, in the sense that they acknowledge its rightness.

· They are aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus Christ but are not willing to commit their lives to Him.

· So, they drift past the call of God into eternal damnation!

This tragedy makes these verses extremely important and urgent!

(READ TEXT – PRAY)

INTRODUCTION: A Reminder of the Context

The warning not to drift grows out of the context of (Hebrews 1:1-14)

In chapter 1 the writer tells us that God's final revelation has been given in His Son Jesus Christ. He represents God's last word!

This makes Him superior to the prophets (vv.1-2)and to the angels (vv.3-14).

· This doesn't mean that the prophets or angels were unimportant. On the contrary, they are His Divine emissaries!

Hebrews 1:14 CSB

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?

(v.14) - The word “inherit” is significant here.

W.E. Vine - "…that which is received as a gift, in contrast with that which is received as the reward"

It is human nature to value more that we have worked for than what is given to us.

John MacArthur- "I will never forget the lady who came into my office one day, informed me she was a prostitute, and said, "I need help; I'm desperate." After presenting the claims of Christ to here, I said, "Would you like to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord?" "Yes," she replied, "I've had it." She was at the bottom and knew it.... I said, "Now, I want to you to do something. Do you have your little book with you that has the names of all your contacts?" When she replied that she did, I suggested, "Let's take a match and burn it right now." Looking surprised, she responded, "What do you mean?" "Just what I said," I explained. "If you really met Jesus Christ as your Lord, if you really accepted His forgiveness and are going to live for Him, let's burn that book and celebrate your new birth right now and just praise the Lord." "But it's worth a lot of money, a lot of money," she objected. I said, "I am sure it is." Putting the book back in her purse and looking me in the eye, she said, "I don't want to burn my book. I guess I really don't want Jesus, do I?" And she left. When she counted the cost, she realized she was not ready. I do not know what happened to that dear girl. My heart aches for her and I often think about her. I know that she knew the facts of the gospel and believed them; but she was not willing to make the sacrifice--even though what she refused to give up was worth nothing and what she could have had in Jesus Christ was everything!"

There are many such people! They know the truth, they stand on the edge of the right decision, but they never make it. They just drift.

These are the ones to whom this passage is speaking. The purpose of these four verses is to give such persons a powerful shove toward Jesus Christ!

In these 4 verses we are given three great reasons to receive salvation: the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the confirmation of God!

I. THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST – (2:1)

A. REJECTING WITHOUT CAUSE! – "For this reason (Therefore)..."

Based on Hebrews 1:1-14, Christ is the Son, the heir of all things, the One who made the world, the brightness of the glory of God, the exact image of His person, and the One who upholds all things by the word of His power. He purged our sins, is seated on the right hand of the majesty. He is better than angels, and greater than all. Even the angels worship Him and are His servants. He is forever and ever, anointed above all others, and the Lord of creation.

Christ's character makes rejection the most foolish act that a man could ever commit!

Jesus was God in the world. To reject Jesus is to reject God!

B. DRIFTING WITHOUT CONCERN!

There are two key words in (2:1): προσέχω and παραρυῶμεν

1. PROSECHO (προσέχω) - "to give the more earnest heed, to hold firmly to a belief”

The writer is saying that based on who Christ is, we must give attention to the things we've heard about Him!

2. PARARHEOMEN (παραρυῶμεν) - "drift away"

This word can be translated many ways. It can be used of something flowing or slipping past. It can be used of a ring slipping off a finger. It could even be used of something slipping into a wrong place. But it is most often used of something that has carelessly or thoughtlessly been allowed to slip away.

NAUTICALLY the word was used of a ship that has been carelessly allowed to drift past the harbor because the sailor forgot to attend to the steerage or chart the wind, tides, and current.

(v.1) could be translated this way: “Therefore, we must diligently anchor our lives to the things we have been taught lest the ship of life drift past the harbor of salvation and be lost forever.”

Men don't dive into hell; they have more of a tendency to drift into it!

The picture is not of an ignorant or unbelieving sailor but of a careless one.

C. HEARING WITHOUT COMMITMENT! - "...to what we have heard"

Luke 9:44 CSB

“Let these words sink in: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

(CSB) - “Let these words sink in…”

(NIV) – “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you…”

(NKJV, NASB, NRSV) – “Let these words sink down into your ears…”

It's not enough to just hear; you need to let it get inside of you for it to make a change in your life!

English explorer William Edward Parry and his crew were exploring the Arctic Ocean. At one point they endeavored to move further north, so they charted their location by the stars and began a difficult and treacherous march north. They walked hour upon hour, and finally, totally exhausted, they stopped. Taking their bearing again from the stars, they discovered that they were farther south than they had been when they started! They had been walking on an ice floe that was moving south faster than they were walking north.

I wonder how many people think their good deeds, their merits, their religiousness are taking them step by step to God, when in fact they are moving away from Him faster than they are supposedly walking toward Him!

A person should never be satisfied with religious feelings, with coming to church, with being married to a Christian spouse, or with church activities. Unless you have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, you are drifting into hell!

II. THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT! – (2:2-3)

The Greek here for “if” assumes a fulfilled condition, not a possibility. The meaning in context is that the work spoken by angels was absolute and steadfast!

A. THE PUNISHMENT – (v.2)

If you broke the law, the law broke you! There was no escape. If a person committed adultery, worshiped false gods, or blasphemed God, he or she was stoned.

The law was inviolable; punishment for breaking it was sure and certain.

THE POINT: If no one got away with breaking the covenant brought by angels, no one will get away with breaking the covenant brought by the Son!

Two words are used here for sin:

1. παράβασις – “transgression”

In the noun form, it means to have stepped across the line, as a willful act. It is an overt sin of commission—of intentionally doing something we know to be wrong!

2. παρακοὴ – “disobedience”

Carries the idea of imperfect hearing (lit. ‘to fail to hear’). Disobedience deliberately shuts its ears to the commands, warnings, and invitations of God. It is the sin of omission—doing nothing when we should do something.

One is active sin, the other is passive, but both are willful, and BOTH “…received a just punishment!”

B. THE PRINCIPLE! – (v.3)

Punishment is always related to knowledge. The more we have, the more severe our punishment!

(Matthew 11:20-24) (Mark 12:38-40) (Luke 12:47-48)

According to Jesus, there are degrees of BOTH judgment and punishment.

(Hebrews 10:28-29) – “How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve…”

The person who knows and understands and believes the gospel, but drifts away from it, will experience the severest punishment there is!

· That is why we must never give up on people who drift away from church! – (Luke 15:1-7)

· It is also equally important that we never be the cause of someone leaving – (Matthew 18:6)

The third important reason for accepting Christ is:

III. THE WITNESS/CONFIRMATION OF GOD! – (2:4)

NOTICE the PROGRESSION in (vv.3b-4):

· “…it was spoken by the Lord” – (1:2)

· “…and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him” – (Acts 5:12)

· “At the same time, God also testified…”

From a compound participle in the Greek, “συνεπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ θεοῦ”

Sunepimarturountos, according to Ellingsworth, “is emphasized by its position, rarity, complexity, and length.” The meaning is “to bear witness at the same time together with,” and in this context it means that God joins the witness of the early preachers to confirm the truth of their witness by performing attendant miracles concomitant with their preaching of the gospel.

o “…by signs and wonders” – (John 10:38)

o “…various miracles” – (Acts 2:22) (Romans 15:18-19)

o “…and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit” – (Acts 10:44-48)

o “…according to his will.” – (Acts 10:44-48)

ALL THE TRINITY AFFIRMS THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL!

CONCLUSION

First: Absorbing what we have heard is more essential than seeking something new!

We don't need a new book or a new tape or a new seminar nearly as much as we need to apply what we already know.

Second: Obeying God's deliverance plan is still the only means of lasting satisfaction in life!

As someone once said, the wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator. Those whose sails catch the wind of God's Spirit and whose hands are on the helm of God's truth are those who safely find a harbor of peace.

Third: Neglecting God's deliverance plan inevitably leads to inescapable consequences!

John 14:6 CSB

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.