[0:00] Hebrews chapter 2. If I were to ask you, what things did Jesus go through that would help him to sympathize with you?
[0:30] What things did Jesus go through? Huh? His daily life. Just his daily life. Everything he went through in his daily life. Okay. More specific? When someone dies.
[0:42] Someone dies. He had a relative die. Because you remember later on when you read about Mary, you don't read about Joseph. So he knew what it was like to lose a relative.
[0:54] He knew what it was like to lose a friend, Lazarus. He knew what it was like for somebody to lose a child, Jairus' daughter. He knew what it was like to have a traitor because of Judas.
[1:07] He knew basically anything we face in life, he faced. He knew what it was like when you teach somebody and teach somebody and teach somebody and they don't get it. Okay. Yes, he did.
[1:17] He understood that well with probably all of his disciples. So, how has knowing that, that he can understand all those things, how does it help you when your struggles you go through?
[1:38] You don't have any struggles? Okay. I'm moving over here because the lightning is about to hit. Jared? Right. Right.
[1:53] There's nothing we can go through that he hasn't already faced. Okay. He's acquainted with all our infirmities. He knows everything that we go through because he's experienced it himself.
[2:07] So, here in Hebrews chapter 2, they're continuing on, the writer is continuing on with the contrast between Jesus and the angels.
[2:19] And he's better than the angels. It says in verse 4 of chapter 1, being made much better than the angels. So, he's continuing that contrast and he's warning them about the fact that sometimes we can go through things and it causes us to drift away.
[2:39] The danger of drifting. Sometimes we go through things and the people here in Hebrews were facing a lot of things. They were facing a lot of challenges, a lot of persecution, a lot of, they had a lot of fears and they were in danger of drifting away because of their doubt, because of fear that they had.
[2:59] And Jesus, as the God-man, fully understood everything they faced. And he was also the answer to everything they faced. So, they're drifting, causing them to probably, you know, kind of drift away as they went and faced these different things that were taking place, persecutions and other things in their life.
[3:18] But, they're in danger of repeating the same things that many of their forefathers did. Look with me, chapter 2, beginning at verse 1.
[3:32] Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and even every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his will.
[4:12] How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The things that God has given to us according to his will. So, he goes on and he talks about the fact that, look, there were things that people faced in the Old Testament times.
[4:29] Your ancestors went in directions they should not have gone. They made decisions they should not have made. Be careful. Because if they neglected the things that were delivered by angels to the prophets, you have Jesus Christ who has been giving you these things.
[4:47] It says there, we have to give them more earnest heed. Verse 2, For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast in every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how are we going to escape if we neglect the word that was first given by the Lord Jesus Christ?
[5:10] Hold your finger there and go with me over to Corinthians. 1 Corinthians. Don't worry, that's just Chuck falling asleep.
[5:29] 1 Corinthians chapter 10, beginning of verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.
[5:58] But with them, many of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. He says, don't forget, your forefathers, they faced a lot of different things, but they often drifted away.
[6:19] They often went their own way instead of following what they knew was the right thing to do. And he says, they had gone through the Red Sea. They had a cloud leading them during the day.
[6:33] They had a pillar of fire leading them at night. They had water given to them out of the rock. They had manna given to them to eat. And yet they still went their own way.
[6:44] They forgot. God was not well pleased. Remember, there were times when they complained about everything. There were times when they got up to go in the promised land and came back with the report, and ten of them said, no, we can't go up there.
[7:03] They're too big. They're giants. We can't face them. They'll kill us all. He says, God was not well pleased. God has been doing everything for them, taking care of them, leading them along, and now they're to a place where it's like, no, we can't do that.
[7:20] We don't trust God enough to follow what he has. The writer of Hebrews is reminding them of their past.
[7:31] And he's saying, look, if they faced all these consequences because of their unbelief back then, what's going to happen when you have the words spoken by angels, not that one, verse 3, when we have that which was first begun to be spoken by the Lord?
[7:51] He said, what happens if we go against that which was spoken by the Lord? If they faced all of that. Notice chapter 2, verse 1, begins with, therefore. He's linking what he's just talked about in chapter 1 about the angels and about the things that have happened, about who Jesus is.
[8:09] Remember verse 8? But under the sun, he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of the kingdom. He's talking about how Christ is preeminent in everything.
[8:22] Therefore, don't forget. Therefore, follow along with what he is doing. He says, look, give serious attention to the things that Christ has said.
[8:36] He said, if you gave serious attention to the things of the Old Testament, things of the Torah, things of the law, don't neglect what Jesus has told you.
[8:49] And he gives a good illustration because he says there in the end of verse 1, he says, which we have heard, lest we, at any time, we should let them slip. I talked about that a little bit last week.
[9:01] The word slip, you know, kind of floating along. Picture a boat on a stream or a river that hasn't been anchored or tied off.
[9:13] And it's just, there it goes. Going by, he says, we have times when we don't even notice. We haven't put our anchor down and we're losing our valuable things because they're just floating along and we don't even hardly notice.
[9:31] He says, be careful. Don't let them slip. Don't let them get past you. Jesus has told you so many things. Do not allow them.
[9:43] Anchor yourself in the truth of what God has for you. You know, when we get careless with the truth, then we start letting things slip.
[9:55] When we get careless with the truth, then things start getting by us. You know, we don't look at God's word and say, this is what it says, this is what it means, this is what I'm going to do, and then things just kind of slip by us.
[10:09] You need to be so careful. It says, in the Old Testament, God used angels to reveal truth to his people. What's the verse I was looking at? Acts, I think.
[10:24] Or, yeah, Acts chapter 7. Look at verse 53. Just hold your finger there. Acts chapter 7, verse 33. 53.
[10:37] Acts chapter 7, verse 53. Paul talks about that. He says, not Paul, Luke, verse 53. Who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.
[10:51] He's talking about the people, the Jews. They received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it. A lot of the prophets were visited.
[11:02] Remember, we talked about recently, I'm trying to think where I talked about it. I don't know if it was here or in a morning message, but we had, you know, Michael, who was the chief angel under charge of all the armies of heaven.
[11:20] And you had Gabriel, who was the messenger angel and others that work with him. He said, they received messages. They received what God wanted them to have. But now, you have kind of let them slip.
[11:34] He says, look, be careful because, in verse 2, every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. How many times when you go back and we watch in the Old Testament, people did things and God brought judgment?
[11:52] Children of Israel, how did they wind up in Babylon? Because they neglected to do what God had told them. They went their own way. We've been talking on Wednesday nights about Elijah.
[12:07] How did they wind up with the 450 prophets of Baal versus Elijah on top of Mount Carmel? Because Ahab had let things slip. He's supposed to be God's, he's supposed to be the king of God's people and he's helping build altars to Baal.
[12:23] He let things slip. He did not hold on to the truth. Here in the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews is saying, look, Christ is superior to all of that.
[12:35] Do not let things slip that Jesus has given to you. God's provided salvation. He spoke of the good news of the gospel to his disciples.
[12:46] The disciples passed it on and people who originally received Hebrews then got it come to them. Remember, we talked about the fact that it wasn't from the apostles that the writer of Hebrews but from those the apostles taught.
[13:01] had given it to the Hebrews. Look at verse 3 again. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
[13:19] You ever give somebody the gospel and they seem like they're intent, they seem like they're listening, they seem like but when you get all done they say no.
[13:36] Yeah. Oh. How shall we neglect, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? See, unlike a lot of people of their day, the people here, the Hebrews that are being written to, they had the privilege of knowing the truth about Christ.
[13:58] I think of Earl being here Wednesday night, Earl Myers, missionary to Mexico and telling us about the fact that there's 225 different dialects in Mexico and talking about the fact that there's 52 different culture groups and of those 52 culture groups, Mexico is right next to the United States, right?
[14:23] Of those 52, there was what, at least eight that still do not have a Bible in their own dialect. We have been greatly privileged to have the Word of God.
[14:36] With that privilege though comes great responsibility. We have the privilege of knowing the Word of God, hearing the Word of God. What are we going to do with the Word of God that we have?
[14:52] Rather than cherishing it, a lot of times, we disregard it. And rather than cherishing it, a lot of people treat it with contempt these days.
[15:03] Matthew chapter 22. I'll read it to you. You don't have to turn there. Matthew chapter 22, beginning at verse 2, it says this, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, but they would come not.
[15:25] Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner, my ox, my fatlings are killed, all things are ready, come unto the marriage.
[15:38] But they made light of it, and went their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. The king has prepared a wedding for his son.
[15:50] God's preparing a wedding for Jesus. The church is the bride. And he says, I want you all to come to it. But there are those who are saying, nope, I don't have time, I don't care.
[16:03] You know, they're not willing to come for the wedding of his son. He even sends a message and says, again, my son's getting married. I've prepared a banquet for you.
[16:15] I've prepared all this for you. You just show up and you've got free food. You just show up and you've got free drink. Just show up and they're like, and they made light of it.
[16:28] In verse 5, Matthew 22. And they made light of it. How did those invited to the wedding make light of the king's message?
[16:42] How did they make light of it? Well, they didn't think it was important. They didn't think it was really something that mattered all that much.
[16:56] They didn't think the king was inviting him, but the king didn't have enough authority to even bid them to come to the wedding. And even if he says, I've got all this stuff for you, they really didn't care.
[17:10] They made light of it. Now, what does that have to do with what we're reading? Verse 3 again says, how shall we escape if we neglect? That word neglect, and the word used in Matthew for made light of, same word.
[17:29] Same word. If we neglect, if we make light of. Huh? I'll do it someday.
[17:43] Yep. Someday when I don't have anything better to do. Good. Yep. Someday when I don't have anything better to do, we'll talk about maybe showing up then.
[17:56] The banquet's ready now. Everything's ready now. Well, I'll show up someday when it's more convenient for me and you can fix me a meal then. Yeah. That's right.
[18:11] Don't boast yourself for tomorrow. You don't know what a day's going to bring forth. He says, oh, how are we going to escape if we neglect, make light up, so great salvation.
[18:24] By disregarding Christ, they're closing their eyes to all the evidence that is around them. We've talked about that in here before. today's a nice, sunny, bright day outside, well illuminated by the sun, well warmed up by the sun, and we look out there and evidence of God's creation is everywhere, but people make light of it.
[18:53] Oh, no, God didn't create it. It happened with a big bang. It happened by this or that or the other thing. it just amazes me what people will believe happened instead of just saying God created it.
[19:09] This big bang happened and everything went out and everything started happening like this, that, and the other thing and everything, instead of saying God said, let there be light. There it is. God has given us everything we need in order to see what he has done.
[19:30] He's given us the creation. He's given us his word. He's given us Jesus Christ. He's given us so many different things. In addition to what Jesus spoke, he gave people to carry that message.
[19:43] The apostles took that message and went out to others, and they saw others saved, and they took the message. And here we are today. What's our job? To take the message, to go out.
[19:55] And then it says there in verse 4, he said, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will.
[20:08] He gave them miracles and signs and wonders. We talked last week. He gave signs and wonders because the Jews wanted what? A sign. He gave miracles.
[20:21] Why? To help the Greeks, the Gentiles, to understand that this was actually coming from God. And then he gave, he said, their gifts of the Holy Spirit.
[20:32] So the Christians would go out and help share the gospel of what God has done. So he says, be careful about drifting off in directions you do not need to go.
[20:45] let me help you, he says, be delivered from doubt. That's going to be the second thing. Be delivered from doubt. Any of you own a boat?
[21:00] Huh? I got a kayak. You got a kayak? Okay. That might not quite work. Michelle Condon. Michelle Condon's always been an interesting person to me.
[21:11] Do you know that Michelle Condon has a captain's license? Yeah. Yeah. She has a captain's license. Think about it. If you're a sailor, what kind of captain do you want on your boat?
[21:28] Think about that for a second. If you're a sailor, what kind of captain do you want in your boat? Somebody who knows how to steer it and make it go right.
[21:41] Okay. See, I don't, I'm very little, anytime I've been on a boat, it's somebody else, you know, doing the driving. So when you go like coming up to Ellsworth Harbor here, you know, all those buoy things are out there and stuff, someone who knows what those buoys mean and stuff, you want somebody who knows what they're doing.
[22:04] You want somebody who knows how to handle things. Look with me beginning at verse five. For unto us the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak.
[22:19] But one in a certain place testified, saying, what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownest him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of thy hands.
[22:37] Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that that he had put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that would not be put under him.
[22:49] But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.
[23:04] For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons into glory to make the captain of our salvation perfect through sufferings.
[23:19] Jesus is the captain of our salvation. He knows the way. He knows how to get us where we need to be. He knows the obstacles. He has faced them all.
[23:31] He has been through them all. And he knows what we need to have. So through his teaching of this writer, he's laying a foundation for us to remain committed to Christ.
[23:44] Don't drift away. Stay committed to Christ. He's the captain of our salvation. He knows what needs to be done. He knows the direction.
[23:55] He knows what to avoid. So what's the first thing he's pointing out here? The first thing he's pointing out is the preeminence of Christ. The preeminence of Christ. Again, in contrast to the angels.
[24:08] There are lots of prophecies in the Old Testament that refer to the angels different things. But there is not a one that refers to them ruling in the future.
[24:19] Look at verse 5 again. He says, For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come wherever we speak. They're not going to be in charge.
[24:29] They're not going to have the ability to be in control of everything that takes place. Look at chapter 1 verse 8.
[24:42] He says, But unto the sun he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of thy kingdom. Look at verse 13. It says, But to which of the angels said he at any time sit on my right hand till I make thine enemy thy footstool?
[25:00] The answer there is none. He hasn't made that to the angels. He's made that to his son, Jesus Christ. So the angels are not going to have rule. Christ is preeminent.
[25:14] Chapter 1 there, he starts quoting from the Old Testament. Something they'd be familiar with, very familiar with. And he says there in verse 6, But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him?
[25:35] He's quoting from Psalm 8. David wrote that. Nobody, none of the angels are going to have that position.
[25:48] In Genesis, I don't have time to go there. In Genesis 1, 26 to 28, talking about God's creation, he created humans in his image, gave them responsibility for ruling over the earth at that time.
[26:04] Now man hasn't lived up to that. Why? Because of sin. Adam fell into sin, and there was, you know, the curse was put on and everything.
[26:15] And he says there in chapter 2, verse 8, he says, middle of the verse, he says, He put all in subjection under him.
[26:28] He left nothing that is not put under him, but now we see not yet all things put under him. Not all things have been put under him yet.
[26:39] He says, man hasn't done it. Again, you don't have to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning at verse 45, it says, And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul.
[26:53] The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward, that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy.
[27:06] The second man is, do you know what it says after that? The second man is the Lord of Heaven. The second man is the Lord of Heaven.
[27:18] The first man came, was supposed to rule the earth, sinned, and wasn't able to. The second man, second Adam, the last Adam came, he is the Lord of Heaven.
[27:31] He can rule no problem whatsoever. He's in charge. He came to fulfill the purpose of what God had for him.
[27:43] He came to fulfill the purpose that God had for mankind. He came and gave his life so that we could have eternal life. He came and gave his life so that we could be able to rule over this earth.
[28:03] And I'll stop there. It's quarter past, so I'll stop there. We'll pick it up next week from there. Let's have a word of prayer. Thank you. Thank you.