The Danger of Drifting
Hebrews 1:1 – 2:4
May 31, 2015
As you know last week we began a new book study.
We are looking now at the great book of Hebrews.
If you weren’t with us last week, let me give you a little context.
• We don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews.
• We don’t know who the book of Hebrews was written to.
What we do know is that the people it was written to
Weren’t taking Jesus as seriously as they should have been.
It is clear that they had heard of Jesus.
It is clear that they knew of His message of salvation.
But it is also clear that their commitment to Him was less than acceptable.
Time and time again we have the writer warning them against
“drifting” or “neglecting” or “falling away” or “falling short” or “refusing”
He is constantly asking them to
“pay attention” and to “draw near” and to “be diligent” and to “hold fast”
TO SUM IT UP, WE ARE DEALING WITH EDUCATED APATHY.
People who know what is right,
But for some reason have failed to commit to it.
That makes this book so relevant to today.
We live in a country of social Christianity
(At least we certainly live in a region of the country like that)
People continually identify themselves as “Christian”
• It doesn’t seem to affect their morality
• It doesn’t seem to affect their faithfulness
• It doesn’t seem to affect their marriage or their parenting or their workplace
• But they take the name “Christian” none the less
I read an article on facebook this week about the heresy of what the writer called “worshiptainment” The desire to make worship entertaining, which is an obvious problem in America.
In that article the writer quoted A.W. Tozer in regard to the fact that our methods of entertainment based worship are “winning” people to Jesus.
Tozer commented:
“Winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ?”
Another preacher (Leonard Ravenhill) commented:
“If I were to ask you tonight, ‘Are you saved?’” You say, “Yes, I’m saved.” “When?” “Oh so and so preached, I got baptized and…” “Are you saved?” “What are you saved from? Hell?” “Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from lust? Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from lying? Are you saved from bad manners? Are you saved from rebellion against our parents?” “Come on what are you saved from?”
Those two preachers seem to grasp it.
We have a certain form of Christianity today
That doesn’t know what it was saved from,
And can’t tell what it has been won to.
It is a Christianity that knows all the facts about Jesus
It is a Christianity that can sing all the songs about Jesus
But it is curiously lacking any serious devotion to Jesus
And this is the precise problem of the Hebrews.
They have the right answers,
They just aren’t taking Jesus as seriously as they should.
They know all about Him, but they have yet to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus.
This letter is written to crush that apathy,
To show Jesus as the most important figure to life and salvation,
And to call the Hebrews to total devotion to Him.
And I don’t mind telling you that this letter is so real to me
Because of that message.
For I lived 11 years of my life under the same delusions.
Having walked an aisle and gotten baptized at 8 years old, I knew all the answers.
But it wasn’t until I was 19 that I fully submitted my life to Jesus.
• For 11 years I was content to sit in the shadows
• For 11 years I was content to be only cordial in my Christianity
• For 11 years I was “drifting” “neglecting” and in very grave danger.
It is that same danger we learn about this morning.
There are three main points this morning.
#1 A REALITY TO CONSIDER
Hebrews 1:1-14
We already covered the first four verses last week
As the writer introduced the greatness of Jesus.
We saw that Jesus is now the message of God.
God spoke “long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways [but] in these last days [He] has spoke to us in His Son.”
The reality is that God is speaking to us.
And He is speaking the most comprehensive and complete message
He ever preached.
Previously God spoke through prophets
And He spoke in different portions and in different ways
And while they all spoke the message of God,
None of them spoke the whole message of God.
But now God’s complete message has been presented.
That message is “in His Son”
John 1:17-18 “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
In other words, everything God ever wanted you to know,
He showed you in the message of His Son.
And the writer even told us a little about the Son.
He is The Selected Heir
“whom He appointed heir of all things”
He is the Sovereign Creator
“through whom also He made the world”
He is the Supernatural Radiance
“He is the radiance of His glory”
He is the Supreme Representation
“the exact representation of His nature”
He is the Strong Sustainer
“and upholds all things by the word of His power”
He is Sacrificial Savior
“When He had made purification for sins”
He is the Successful Priest
“He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”
He is Second to None
“having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”
And as we talked about last week, the writer’s point was extremely clear.
DON’T LET THE SKIN FOOL YOU
• When you see Jesus as a human
• When you see Him without any stately form or majesty
• When you see Him as a root out of dry ground
• When you see Him clothed in humility, taking the form of a servant
• When you see Him for a little while lower than the angels
Don’t let that fool you
He is still the sovereign & supreme Son of God, and He is second to none.
And He is the message God wants you to hear.
• He is more important than the Law
• He is more important than the prophets
• He is what God most wants you to see
That was the point.
Now the writer takes on an argument that is somewhat peculiar to us.
HE SETS OUT TO PROVE THAT JESUS IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS.
WHY?
Because the writer wants you to understand that
The message of Jesus is more important
Than the message of the angels.
Jews understood angels to be the mediators of the Law.
Listen to Stephen before the Sanhedrin
Acts 7:53 “you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
Paul said:
Galatians 3:19 “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”
And even in chapter 2 the writer of Hebrews will say:
Hebrews 2:2 “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,”
Angels were those who first spoke the Law.
They were those who brought it to Moses.
That was reason enough for the Jews to hold the Law in high esteem.
Not only was it God’s message, but it was delivered by the angels.
Therefore, in order to show that
The importance of dealing with the message of Jesus,
The writer wants you to know that Jesus is God’s message,
AND that Jesus is greater than the angels.
So let’s examine his argument.
And while we could spend a great deal of time with his proof of why Jesus is greater than the angels, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you don’t have a problem with that.
So instead of dwelling on it,
Let me quickly show you the writer’s reasoning.
He gives 4 ways in which Jesus is superior to the angels.
1) HE IS SUPERIOR IN PEDIGREE (5)
(He is Son, they are Servants)
“For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?
Quoting from Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7,
He points out that God said to the Son what He never said to an angel,
And that is that He called Him a Son.
Already you see the distinction: sons outrank servants.
2) HE IS SUPERIOR IN PERSON (6)
(Worshiped Vs. Worshipers)
(6) “And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
“AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”
This again ought to be an obvious distinction.
God ordained that the angels should worship the Son.
3) HE IS SUPERIOR IN POSITION (7-12)
(Creator vs. Created)
Notice in verse 7 that God “makes His angels”
In other words, they are created beings.
But in verse 8 notice what He says of the Son “But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever…”
And in verse 10, ‘You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands”
And you get the point.
Angels are created, but the Son is Creator
Again, He obviously outranks them
4) HE IS SUPERIOR IN PURPOSE (13-14)
(He Rules, they Render Service)
When did God ever promise to let the angels rule supreme?
God did not send them to rule, God sent them “to render service”
And so again we see the distinction.
The Son is higher than the angels
And everyone is clear on that this morning.
• He is the Son, they are Servants
• He is Worshiped, they are Worshipers
• He is Creator, they are created
• He will Rule the world, they will serve the saved
Jesus is higher than the angels
And therefore His message outranks the message of the angels.
Everyone is clear on that reality.
Let me show you then why the writer wants you to know that.
A Reality to Consider
#2 A WARNING TO HEED
Hebrews 2:1
“For this reason”
• Since Jesus is God’s Message
• Since Jesus outranks the angels
• Since His message is more important than their message
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”
The writer uses some very interesting words here.
“pay…attention” is one word in the Greek – PROSECHO
It literally means “to hold to”
It was also translated “give attention to” or “beware”
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
1 Timothy 4:13 “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”
But primarily it was a Greek word used of
The dedication and commitment it took to bring a ship to land.
And the writer says that special attention needs to be given to this:
“much closer” is the Greek word PERISSOS
Which means “beyond measure; exceedingly”
Now you put that all together:
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard”
Since the message of Jesus is greater than the angels
We had better really make sure that we hold on to that message.
WHY?
“so that we do not drift away from it”
“drift away” is PARHARHEO
It means “to flow past”
It spoke of a ship whose captain was not paying attention
And was allowed to flow past the harbor without being guided in.
DOES HIS WARNING MAKE SENSE?
This message of Jesus is the most important message you will ever hear,
And it is vitally important that you focus and grab hold of it,
And make sure that you don’t just drift past without dealing with it.
Let me put it another way.
• Suppose you were in a boat in the middle of the sea, and it is your hope that some day your ship will make it to New York harbor.
• If you just let go of the wheel, and never adjust the sails, and never control the rudder, but instead decide to stay below and take a nap…
What are the odds that your ship will actually
Make it into the harbor at New York, and will pull up to the dock?
It won’t happen will it.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SAME URGENCY
IN REGARD TO YOUR SALVATION?
I know we talk a lot about the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD (and rightly so)
• God does choose His children
• God does predestine them
• God does call them
• God does justify and sanctify and glorify them
But also in Scripture we see time and time again
That there is a RESPONSIBILITY that MAN also holds.
• Man must still recognize his sin
• Man must still repent of his sin
• Man must still place his faith in Jesus Christ
• Man must still submit his life to Christ
• Man must still trust Him until the end
I know the two don’t easily mesh in the human mind,
And that’s ok because God’s thoughts are above ours.
But it is important for you to know what the writer is talking about.
If you just sit back and do nothing in regard to your salvation,
Don’t expect that your ship will just someday end up in heaven.
I’ve told you before, but I firmly believe this.
That someday when eternity is upon us,
There will be many people who will wake up in hell
Absolutely shocked that they are there.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
Do you hear their shock?
• They were religious
• They were committed
• They just knew their ship was headed for the harbor
But they neglected something vitally important
Jesus said, “I never knew you”
And because of that they did not make it to heaven.
Luke 13:22-29 “And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.”
Do you see how shocked they will be?
• They knew all about Jesus
• They saw Him work His miracles
• They had a front row seat to His ministry
• He ate and drank in their presence
And yet they were cast into hell because Jesus said,
“I do not know where you are from”
They were knowledgeable people, religious people, but people who never really got to know Jesus, and they are shocked to be in hell.
On the other hand no one in heaven will be shocked to be there.
(Grateful sure because they realize they are unworthy…but not shocked)
• These will be the ones who had denied themselves and taken up their
cross and followed Jesus.
• These will be the ones who turned from sin and trusted in Christ and
forsook the world and looked to the eternal kingdom.
• These will be the ones who suffered the reproaches of Christ on this
earth and thus verified their faith.
• These will the ones who endured with Christ until the end.
And they won’t be shocked to be in heaven.
They will be like Paul:
2 Timothy 1:8-12 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”
I hope you see the point.
The writer of Hebrews says, “we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”
In other words, you had better listen again to the message of Jesus.
• You had better go over it again.
• You had better make sure that you have done what Jesus requires.
• You had better read it again, listen again, double check it.
Paul said:
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”
Peter said:
2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
Make sure you are real, because there are many who aren’t.
There are many who are just drifting
Reality to Consider Warning to Heed
#3 A QUESTION TO ANSWER
Hebrews 2:2-3
Now here the writer asks a very important question,
And one that you should heavily consider.
“if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty…”
That is another reality he is reminding you of.
He is talking about the Old Testament Law which was “spoken through angels”
And this Old Testament Law was “unalterable”
It didn’t change, it was rigid. It was black and white, wrong and right.
And “every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty”
And that was true too.
THE LAW WAS BOTH STEADFAST AND SEVERE.
Deuteronomy 28:15-18 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.”
Deuteronomy 28:45-46 “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. “They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.”
The word that the angels brought did not fool around.
It was steadfast and severe
It was impartial and strict
AND WE ALREADY LEARNED that the message of Jesus was more important than that…correct?
So…
“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?”
“neglect” translates AMELEO
It literally means “to be careless”
It ranks right up there with not paying attention to what you have heard
And allowing your ship to just drift by.
I’ll show you another place this word is used:
Matthew 22:1-5 “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”‘ “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business,”
There in verse 5 it is translated “paid no attention”
They neglected the invitation.
It doesn’t say they flat out rejected it
They just sat the invitation on the kitchen bar
And failed to ever do anything with it.
And that is the problem with the Hebrews.
• They weren’t necessarily rejecting Jesus
• They weren’t hostile toward Him
• They just weren’t doing anything with Him at all.
They were neglecting His invitation of salvation
They were not paying attention to His call of obedience and trust
And the writer is SEVERELY CONCERNED that they would do this.
THEY ARE NEGLECTING GOD’S MESSAGE OF SALVATION!!!
How do I know it was God’s message?
“After it was 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 gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
This gospel message of salvation:
• THE LORD SPOKE IT (read the gospels and listen to His pleas)
• THE APOSTLES REPEATED IT (read the epistles)
And incidentally, it cost them dearly to preach this message
• THE FATHER TESTIFIED TO IT (look at the miracles the apostles worked)
The miracles they worked were God’s way of making sure you knew that their message was from Him.
• THE HOLY SPIRIT AIDED IT (through those gifts He gave them)
DO YOU SEE THE POINT?
This message is God’s message, He cares deeply about it.
He wanted to make sure you heard it.
Now here is that question you must answer:
If God would punish you severely for failing to listen to the less important message of the Old Testament, do you really think He’ll let you escape for failing to listen to the more important message of Christ?
And now you see why the writer is saying:
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”
• Do not neglect…
• Do not ignore…
• Do not procrastinate…
• Do not treat as unimportant…
• THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
And I have to tell you that I have talked to more people
Than I care to name who do just that.
(The “I’ll do it some day crowd”)
• People who know the truth
• People who have heard of Jesus
• People who even seem to think it is true
But people who (for whatever reason)
Refuse to step out and submit their lives to Him.
Do not assume that on the Day of Judgment
God will see that you always meant to do it, you just never did,
And that He will be ok with that.
Paul said it like this:
2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
Later the writer of Hebrews will say:
Hebrews 3:7-12 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”
And that is the warning.
• It is the danger of not treating Jesus as important as you should.
• It is the danger of procrastinating spiritual matters.
• It is the danger of neglecting to follow Jesus.
IT IS THE DANGER OF DRIFTING
(it will cause you to miss the harbor)
