Drifting Away

INTRODUCTION

This section introduces the 1st of 5 warnings about falling away from the faith.

This is one of the major themes in this book.

It is a book about persevering in the faith despite difficulties and hardships.

Drifting is a real difficulty for any of us.

What is so dangerous about drifting is we rarely realize that it is happening

And we are going to talk about that tonight, and how we can avoid this error in our lives and spare us from real danger.

Hebrews 2:1-4

Heb 2:1 “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

What must we pay closer attention to?

The revelation given to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

We must pay close to attention to what God is saying to us today or we will drift away.

What does it mean to drift away?

I want you to imagine standing on a bridge over a stream of slow moving water. And the water is moving so slow that you can barely tell that it is moving.

And as you are watching this water slowing peacefully flow downstream a leaf falls into the water and you can see that leaf now begin to be carried down the stream further and further from you. And pretty soon that leaf gets all the way out of sight and it is gone.

How do we drift away?

A carelessness mind which may be occupied by other things and is not aware it is losing ground.

The danger highlighted is that of a great loss occurring unnoticed. The cause is not taking seriously the words spoken to them.

Drifting is a possibility for anyone and we must not think we are beyond that capability in our own lives.

I just read devotional from Adrian Rogers this morning about backsliding or drifting away

He referenced King David who let his walk with God slide to the background.

If it can happen to a man of God like King David, it can happen to any one of us!

What is the danger of drifting?

Heb 2:2 “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty”

The real danger in drifting away is the penalty or punishment that comes along with it.

Lets read Heb 1:1-2 again

Heb 1:1-2 “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”

Two kinds of communication: One in the OT through the prophets and through signs and miracles and another through the Son of God today.

Why did God send prophets to deliver His message to them in the OT?

Most of the time they were corrective messages because they were living in disobedience.

Or they were prophetic declarations about what would happen if Israel ignored what God was saying to them.

But there were also words of instruction or exhortation of how they we’re supposed to live in relation to God and other people.

And most of the time Israel ignored these words.

This is why Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They grumbled against God, and did not want to obey God, and wanted to even turn back to their old lives and go back to Egypt.

This is also why they were exiled to Babylon. It wasn’t because God could not protect them. It was because they ignored what God was saying to them.

What happened to Israel? They were punished because they ignored what God was saying.

The entire wandering generation died in the wilderness. All of them but Caleb and Joshua because they were the only two who were faithful.

Here is the point: If God punished people in the OT because they refused to listen to prophets who delivered God’s message, how much more will He punish us today if we ignore His even clearer communication that is written down in black and white on the pages of Scripture.

When we do not pay close attention to what we have heard, we begin to drift away from God.

This is why it is so vital to know what it is God is saying, so we can obey it.

We must not think that God will let us slide for whatever reason if he did not let the children of Israel slide who were His chosen people to represent Him to the world.

Heb 2:3 “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,”

The message of salvation was confirmed by those who heard it for themselves

It was first spoken by the Lord and then confirmed by those who heard

This is speaking of the apostles who walked with Christ

Peter, John, James and others heard the message of salvation through Christ Himself.

They were eye witnesses who seen and heard the message of salvation

And what they heard they passed it on to us

Generation after generation this message has been passed down eventually coming down to us.

The idea is one of a courtroom with testifying witnesses standing before us confirming the message that has been passed down to us

But not only the apostles BUT

The message of salvation was confirmed by God Himself

Hebrews 2:4 “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.”

Signs and wonders

Virgin Birth

fulfilled prophecies

Miracles

healing people

making paralyzed people walk

raising the dead

Gifts of the Hold Spirit

God poured out the miraculous to bear witness to the truth of the gospel

APPLICATION

How can we help people who are drifting?

One way is spending time in the Word of God

This must be a pattern done

But reading is not enough, we must pay more careful attention to the things heard (from the Son). This would suggest the frequent reading or hearing of the four Gospels, which contain the actual words of Jesus, and a repeated and careful reading of the further exposition in the Epistles.

To neglect or ignore these is to be in deadly danger of drifting away from essential truth, and losing, by default, the great salvation which the Son has brought

People must have an accurate theological understanding

How we think about God will determine how we live for God

God’s Judgement

Sin always has a cost

The sin of commission

1 John 3:4 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”

The sin of omission

James 4:17 “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

The Authenticity of Christ

Our faith is not a myth that just came about

It has been confirmed by eye witnesses with written documentation bearing witness to what was seen and heard.

These men gave their lives for this message and I do not know anyone who would give their lives for a lie!

Not alone the apostles, but the thousands of martyrs who have died throughout history.

It has also been confirmed by God

The signs and wonders that were witnessed by the apostles

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit

One of the great evidences of the Holy Spirit today is the church

Not the four walls around us

But the lives who have been radically transformed by Jesus Christ

These things continue to bear witness to the genuineness of our faith

Eli had his first gospel conversation Sunday

It was ordained by God