WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.600 This week we're going to be continuing in our study of the book of Hebrews. 00:00:04.600 --> 00:00:10.240 And while I was thinking about this passage, a story came to mind that actually happened 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:15.320 ! in my and Catherine's life years ago when we lived in North Carolina. It was before we had kids. 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:20.260 And well, actually, Catherine was seven months pregnant with Jacob when this happened. But 00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:27.980 we were asked to chaperone a senior trip for the school that Catherine worked at. And it's 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:33.560 interesting to look back now, why in the world would they ask us to do that? Because at the time, 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:39.439 we were about six years removed from being high school seniors ourselves. And so they're asking 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:45.920 us to go and chaperone this trip. And so we went and we were having a good time and quickly realized 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:52.200 why they asked us to chaperone this trip. Because the more mature adults who were on the trip were 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:57.679 the first ones to get kicked out of go-karts. They had more fun on the trip than any of the other 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:03.299 students were having. And you know the adults that I'm talking about, that when they are chaperones 00:01:03.299 --> 00:01:07.680 and they go on a trip like this, they're the ones who instigate things. They're the ones that get 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:14.840 things going, Chad Hicks. But they're the ones who are able to really get and enjoy the kids and have 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:21.480 that fun with them. But we all enjoy that time. But it quickly realized that one of the parts that 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:28.180 became very stressful for me during this trip was when they gave me a whistle and put me on lifeguard 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:34.359 duty at the beach. And so they said, you know, go out there to the beach. We were in the outer banks 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:41.040 of North Carolina and the sea and the ocean is pretty rough there. And they said, go out there and make 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:48.659 sure that the students don't go too far out. I'm like, okay, that sounds simple enough. But when you have a 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:55.479 big of a group like that of senior boys and girls that are on the trip, everybody's trying to impress 00:01:55.479 --> 00:02:00.479 somebody. And so everybody's trying to push the boundary a little bit to go a little bit further 00:02:00.479 --> 00:02:06.699 out. And I kept having to yell for these students to say, come back in, come back. And I was waving 00:02:06.699 --> 00:02:12.120 at them saying, move over this way, stay right here, come back in a little bit closer. And it finally 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:16.500 got to the point where they were out so far, they couldn't hear me. And I realized why they gave me a 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:22.979 whistle. So I'd whistle and tell them to stay closer, to come back. And finally just got fed up 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:28.520 with it. And I had everybody come back in, blowing the whistle saying, come back in. And I said, guys, 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:34.280 let me explain something to you. There's these things in an ocean that are called currents. And if you're 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:40.520 not paying attention, they're going to take you out further. If you go out past the point where you can 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:45.939 stand and plant your feet on the ground, if you go out to that point and you're just treading water, 00:02:45.939 --> 00:02:50.539 these currents are going to take you. They're going to take you further away. They're going to 00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:55.199 take you further out. And before you realize it, you're going to be so far out there that it's going 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:01.859 to be really difficult for you to come back in. It's going to be really difficult for you to be at a 00:03:01.859 --> 00:03:09.219 place where you can actually make your way back in. I told them, you have to pay attention to where 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:14.759 you are. Otherwise, before you even realize it, you're going to be so far gone, it's going to be 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:21.560 difficult to get back. In fact, much of the warning that I was giving these high school seniors, 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:26.120 much of this sounds like the first verse of Hebrews chapter two, where it says, 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:34.539 therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:41.180 Without doing anything at all, except for treading water, these students were drifting away. 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:48.980 And it's the same in our Christian life. Drifting often happens very easily and often undetected. 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:57.319 And for this reason, we must pay attention so that we don't drift away from what God has called us 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:04.640 to do. And so as we begin thinking about that this morning, I would like to invite you to follow along 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:12.000 as we read these first four verses of Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two, verses one through four 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:21.219 says this, therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away 00:04:21.219 --> 00:04:28.339 from it. For since this message was declared by the angels proved to be reliable and every transgression 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:36.779 or disobedience received a just retribution. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:43.560 It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard while God also 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:49.559 bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed 00:04:49.559 --> 00:04:57.679 according to his will. And so in this passage, we see several warnings that should 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:03.740 be clear to us this morning. We see several warnings that the author is giving to us that 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:09.259 that should be something that sinks into each of our lives. And so the first warning, the first thing 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:17.860 that we see in this passage is the danger in drifting. The danger in drifting. Therefore, we must pay much 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:25.160 closer attention to what we've heard, lest we drift away from it. One of the things that we often say 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:30.400 when it comes to studying God's word and one of the things that's important in our reading of God's 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:35.540 word and understanding what it says is whenever there's a therefore in scripture, we want to stop 00:05:35.540 --> 00:05:42.560 and pause and think about what it is there for. Whenever you see that therefore, think about why it's placed 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:50.760 in this passage. And so this therefore causes us to go back and think about what was just communicated 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:58.719 in chapter one. In chapter one, the author wants us to clearly see who Jesus is. We talked about this 00:05:58.719 --> 00:06:04.939 last week. Last week, we mentioned all the things we are told about Christ just in a few verses right 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:11.439 here, just in these first few verses, we are reminded that Christ is the Son of God. He's the revelation 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:17.719 of God, the fulfillment of God's revelation in the Old Testament. He's the heir of all things. He's the 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:24.100 agent of creation, the radiance of God's glory, the expression of God's nature, the preserver of all 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:30.820 creation. He's the purifier of God's people. He's the mediator for God's people. We are told that 00:06:30.820 --> 00:06:38.960 clearly that Jesus is the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah who came to seek and save the lost. 00:06:40.020 --> 00:06:46.280 In chapter one, we are reminded over and over again that Jesus is better than anything and everything in 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:53.099 this world. Chapter one is all about us trying to get a clear picture of who Jesus is. That's why we 00:06:53.099 --> 00:07:00.500 said several times that when discipline becomes drudgery or when our reading of God's word becomes 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:07.279 done more out of obligation and more out of just habit and forcing ourself to do it, sometimes it's 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:14.879 good to pause for a second. Go to Hebrews chapter one. Read through Hebrews one and be reminded of who 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:21.560 Jesus is and fall in love with him over and over again as we catch a glimpse of his glory. 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:29.620 There is no command in chapter one. It's just all adoration. It's all about who Christ is. And now 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:36.620 in chapter two, we understand in light of who Christ is, what it is that we are supposed to do. 00:07:36.699 --> 00:07:41.920 And understanding of who Christ is, now we're going to see what we're supposed to do. It is, 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:49.520 chapter one is, this is who Christ is. Therefore, this is what you are called to do. 00:07:50.280 --> 00:07:56.580 Al Mohler says it like this. He says, given the superiority of Christ over the angels and his 00:07:56.580 --> 00:08:05.759 identity as the divine son of God, Jesus both demands and deserves to be heard. We are told in 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:12.579 chapter one that our great and glorious savior speaks. And now we are commanded to make sure 00:08:12.579 --> 00:08:19.019 that we listen to what he says. Chapter one was all about who Christ is, this great and glorious 00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:26.060 savior who speaks to us. Now we're told to make sure that you pay attention and listen to what he says 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:32.220 to you. The first command given in the book of Hebrews is this. We must pay much closer attention 00:08:32.220 --> 00:08:40.560 to what we have heard. And we've heard that Jesus is better, but there's a difference between hearing 00:08:40.560 --> 00:08:46.399 something and understanding something. There's a difference between just hearing something and 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:53.560 understanding something. And wives feel free to amen this. There are things that we hear all the time, 00:08:53.560 --> 00:09:00.100 but just because it was loud enough to be audibly heard. And just because we may acknowledge the words 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:07.100 enter our ears with a, uh-huh does not mean that we pay much closer attention to what was said. 00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:14.220 And so we have to look at this passage and understand that yes, Jesus is speaking, but it's more than just 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:22.139 having the ability to hear the words. It's letting those words sink in and paying much closer attention 00:09:22.139 --> 00:09:29.860 to what is said. Because here's the thing. Most of us, we don't have a problem with the 00:09:29.860 --> 00:09:37.220 listening part. We are all listening to something. And the question becomes, what are we listening to? 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:46.180 What are we listening to? We all listen to something. We all make provisions to, to listen to what we 00:09:46.180 --> 00:09:53.220 think is important. For example, if we want to listen to a concert, then we buy tickets and we make every 00:09:53.220 --> 00:09:58.960 effort to travel to wherever the concert is. If we want to listen to the news, then we make sure that we 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:04.980 turn on the TV at just the right station at just the right time, or we pay for a streaming service so we can 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:11.740 watch the news whenever we want to watch it. If we want to know what an author has to say about something, 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:18.360 then we purchase the book or the subscription that allows you to download the book and to listen to it. 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:24.340 And if you go into my office, you will realize that a lot of provisions have been made for me to hear what 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:29.240 different authors have to say about those things. Catherine would probably say too many provisions 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:33.980 have been made for, for me to listen to what all these authors have to say. And I just want to say, 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:38.220 if you're ever in my office and Catherine is in there, don't say, have you read all these books, 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:42.980 Brett? Because she, she tells me that all the time. I don't need to buy any more books until I read the 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:50.120 ones that I have. But we, here's the thing. We make provisions for what is important for us. 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:56.779 We make the effort to listen to what is important for us. How many of us have gone out of the way and 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:02.639 changed plans and made every effort to be near a TV or a radio on Saturdays during the fall? 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:09.240 We make those extra efforts to make sure that we listen and are able to hear what it is that is 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:16.299 important to us. The list goes on and on. We all listen to something and we make plans for our 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:21.839 listening. And we buy things to go to places and do all sorts of things to make sure we hear what we 00:11:21.839 --> 00:11:28.859 want to hear and are not distracted from it. So how does all of this compare to our listening to God's 00:11:28.859 --> 00:11:37.439 word? Are we as intentional with listening to his word as we are with so many other things? Unlike with 00:11:37.439 --> 00:11:42.959 many things that we're listening to, there's a, a warning that goes along with not listening to God's 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:49.940 word. There's a danger that we're reminded of here that if, if we don't pay much closer attention, 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:55.280 if we don't listen to God's word, then there's a real danger that the author is communicating to us 00:11:55.280 --> 00:12:02.019 here. And that is this, that we tend to drift away from it. We tend to find ourselves drifting away from 00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:08.639 it. You see, it's not just people who are paddling in the wrong direction that will never reach their 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:16.120 desired destination. It's also people who aren't rowing at all. It's not just people who are paddling 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:22.399 in the wrong direction that will never arrive at their desired destination. It's also people who are 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:29.199 doing nothing, who aren't paddling at all, who aren't rowing at all. There are only two options in the 00:12:29.199 --> 00:12:35.860 Christian life where either sell forward in faithfulness or we can drift backward into faithlessness. 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:44.840 There's no such thing as, as standing still in the Christian life. Now, to be clear, someone who is 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:51.419 truly saved, who is truly a Christian cannot ultimately lose their salvation. Although they may have 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:58.960 periods of disobedience or what sometimes we call is backsliding. However, we are given this warning to 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:05.519 examine ourselves. Michael Kruger knows, he says, there's a danger that we may think we are 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:14.259 believers but end up proving by our estrangement from Jesus that we never really knew God. If the 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:22.659 message last week was to see Jesus clearly, if the message last week of chapter one is to see Jesus for 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:28.740 who he is, that he is better than everything, if it's to see him clearly, then the message this week 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:38.740 is to listen to him carefully. See him clearly, listen to him carefully. We must listen to the truth so we 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:46.539 don't believe a lie. We must be well grounded in God's word. We must be firmly planted in God's word with 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:54.039 our feet in his word to make sure that we don't drift from it. And so as we continue, let us continue 00:13:54.039 --> 00:14:02.259 listening to the truth that is declared in this passage. So that being said, the next warning that I want us to see is 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:09.399 really a statement about God's character, about who he is. And the next thing that I want us to clearly see this 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:18.839 warning is to clearly see that God's justice is unchanging. His justice is unchanging. Verse 2 says, 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:37.460 What we see here is that God holds people accountable. And this isn't a new attribute of God. This isn't 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:42.700 something that just developed here at the time of this writing. This is something that has always been 00:14:42.700 --> 00:14:51.540 the case. It has always been who God is. God is a just God. His justice is perfect. In the Old Testament, 00:14:51.640 --> 00:14:59.100 the nation of Israel would experience this all the time. You see these cyclical nature of this pattern 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:04.620 that was taking place of God blessing the nation of Israel, them taking their eyes off of him and 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:10.020 turning to the things of this world, becoming dull of hearing, not listening, not paying much closer 00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:15.559 attention to what they were told. And then they start drifting away and God sends judgment. He sends this 00:15:15.559 --> 00:15:20.100 judgment to bring them back. And all of a sudden, they realize that, hey, we need to repent and we need to come 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:26.519 back to God. And so they repent and they turn to him and God continues to provide. You see it over and over again 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:32.500 throughout the Old Testament. And if you want to see a really clear, condensed place where you can see this happen 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:39.100 over and over again, just look at the book of Judges. The book of Judges is fascinating. In fact, it's a book 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:45.000 that I would love to go through on Sunday mornings at some point where we see this taking place over and 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:52.779 over, where the people are crying out for God's deliverance. They repent and God sends a Savior. 00:15:52.920 --> 00:15:58.659 He sends this judge to save his people. And all of a sudden, they start praising God and blessing him 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:04.800 for this salvation. But before long, they start taking their eyes off of God. And the shiny things of this 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:10.699 swirl become more and more attractive. And they start following after them. God sends his judgment. 00:16:11.319 --> 00:16:16.599 And they cry out in repentance and ask for a deliverer. God provides. And you see this happening 00:16:16.599 --> 00:16:25.659 over and over again in the book of Judges. We think oftentimes, and the problem is we often think 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:32.120 about God differently now. We find ourselves thinking about the God of the New Testament being 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:36.419 different than the God of the Old Testament. We think about the Old Testament God is just all about 00:16:36.419 --> 00:16:42.740 wrath and judgment. And the New Testament God is all about grace and love. But listen to this very next 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:47.980 verse. And we'll get into it more in just a moment. But it says this, how shall we escape if we neglect 00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:57.620 such a great salvation? The point here is clear that if we reject the message of Jesus, we too will be held 00:16:57.620 --> 00:17:04.819 accountable. The cross not only speaks about our sin, but it also speaks about God's holiness. Not only does 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:11.460 it speak about God's love and his grace and his mercy, but it also speaks of his justice and his wrath. 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:18.559 Because he is perfect in his justice, he can't ignore sin. You see, God doesn't exalt one of his 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:25.220 attributes. He doesn't exalt his love and his grace and his mercy at the expense of his justice and wrath. 00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:32.900 But no, we see all of those coming together at the cross. This should be a sobering reality for us. 00:17:33.860 --> 00:17:42.240 What this means is that apart from Christ, we are all objects of God's wrath. Apart from Christ, 00:17:42.860 --> 00:17:52.140 we're all subject to his justice, his perfect justice over sin. Probably as clear as anywhere you'll find in 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:58.360 scripture, you see this in Ephesians chapter 2, where it says, and you were dead in your trespasses 00:17:58.360 --> 00:18:04.220 and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the 00:18:04.220 --> 00:18:09.460 power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:15.200 lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:25.299 nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Because God is just, we can be assured that a price 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:34.080 will be paid for sin. This is not only a sobering thought for us in our walk with Christ, it's a 00:18:34.080 --> 00:18:41.759 reality that should cause us to run to Jesus. It's a reality that should cause us to say, God, I need you 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:48.019 more than anything, but it's also a sobering thought for us to think about the billions of people in the 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:57.960 world with no access to the gospel. What are we going to do about that? How are we going to use our lives 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:06.480 to tell others about Jesus? Try and think of it like this. If your son or your daughter or someone 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:13.920 you dearly loved was on the other side of the world in grave danger, you would do everything you 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:20.380 could to help them. You would do everything you could to make sure you would help them. 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:27.299 Money would be no hindrance to you going and taking care of them. Time would not stop you from going. 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:34.860 Safety or a lack of concern, none of those things would stop you from doing everything you could to help 00:19:34.859 --> 00:19:43.559 them. But let me tell you that every single person with no access to the gospel is someone's son or 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:52.359 daughter who is as precious in their parents' eyes as your kids are in your eyes. And so we must live 00:19:52.359 --> 00:20:00.319 with a sense of urgency of getting this message to people who have never heard the name of Jesus. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:06.379 The final warning that I want to bring our attention to in this passage is this. 00:20:07.539 --> 00:20:15.200 Do not neglect the gospel. Do not neglect the gospel. Do not neglect the greatest news the world 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:23.379 has ever heard. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:29.320 the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard. While God also bore witness by signs and wonders 00:20:29.320 --> 00:20:37.760 and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. The author is 00:20:37.760 --> 00:20:45.480 wanting to make something very clear to us. This message of salvation is clear. It's trustworthy. 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:54.299 It is reliable. Not only is this message great, but this message is absolutely true. And he does this by 00:20:54.299 --> 00:21:01.599 declaring several things about this message. He says it was first declared by the Lord. This message is 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:09.740 so important, so life transforming that Jesus himself declares it. That Jesus himself comes to share this 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:15.460 message. Think about it in our own lives. If there's something that is really important to us, 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:22.440 that we want to make sure is clearly communicated, we don't send somebody else. We go ourselves. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:29.079 And Jesus is coming. He's declaring this message first by himself. But then it also says it was 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:37.680 attested to us by those who heard. Those apostles who were with Jesus heard from him these words are now 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:44.039 testifying to the validity of it. If this were something that they were making up, 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:50.039 if this were something that they just came up with, then they wouldn't have laid down their lives for 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:58.039 this message. But they saw and heard with their own eyes and ears this message and are now bearing 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:06.619 witness to it. But we also see that this message was attested to it. It was, it was, God used many signs 00:22:06.619 --> 00:22:13.839 and miracles to confirm this message. We read about many of those miracles and those signs as we read 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:18.199 through the gospel accounts, as we read through scripture we see about it. But also I want you to 00:22:18.199 --> 00:22:23.619 consider the words of John at the very end of the gospel of John, where he says this, 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:30.579 Now there were also many other things that Jesus did, where every one of them to be written. I suppose 00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:37.799 the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. And so what we see here very 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:45.259 clearly is that the many signs and wonders were done to show the validity of this, to give it this 00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:52.979 credibility. But it also says this message was also confirmed by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed 00:22:52.980 --> 00:23:01.200 according to his will. You see, God has gifted each and every one of us, each and every Christian in 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:08.900 some special way that allows us to bless the body, to bless the church, but also the world around us, 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:16.980 to use those gifts in powerful ways to bring his name, honor, and glory. And one of the things that 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:25.000 reassures us most in our faith is when we see the spirit at work in believers' lives around us. 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:31.640 It gives us boldness and it gives us confidence in the gospel message. This is one of the reasons that 00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:38.620 I love to read Christian biographies of missionaries and reading about how God used their lives, 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:45.120 used their giftings that he gave them to accomplish his purposes. It gives us assurance. It gives us 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:55.179 the ability to say, this is what we believe. This message is true. This message is great. It's 00:23:55.179 --> 00:24:01.979 incredible. Now, what are we going to do with it? What are we going to do with this message? This passage 00:24:01.979 --> 00:24:10.959 tells us to pay close attention to it and not neglect this great salvation that's being talked about. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:19.740 What the author is telling us to do should be easy. This command here should be easy. This is the 00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:26.420 greatest news the world has ever heard. This is the news that brings us joy more than anything else in 00:24:26.420 --> 00:24:33.460 this world. This is the news. This is the message that transforms our life like nothing else can. This 00:24:33.460 --> 00:24:40.340 is the message that takes us from death to life. And now the author says, how can we escape if we neglect 00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:48.439 such a great salvation? How can we escape if we neglect this? The answer is we can't. The answer is there is no 00:24:48.439 --> 00:24:56.959 hope apart from Christ, but the command should be easy. The author is saying, don't neglect the greatest 00:24:56.959 --> 00:25:06.839 news the world has ever heard. Yet all too often in our lives, we trade the greatest news for things that are 00:25:06.839 --> 00:25:15.899 here today and gone tomorrow. All too often we trade this message that brings hope to us when nothing else 00:25:15.899 --> 00:25:22.599 could bring hope. Oftentimes we trade this message that transforms not only our lives here in this world, 00:25:22.679 --> 00:25:29.419 but transforms our eternity. And oftentimes we trade that message and we start focusing on things that are 00:25:29.420 --> 00:25:36.759 only here and now. That in a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, 50 years from now, 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:46.620 will not matter whatsoever. And so let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Let us not neglect this greatest 00:25:46.620 --> 00:25:53.340 news the world has ever heard. The author saying this message of the gospel is true. He's saying this 00:25:53.339 --> 00:26:01.059 message of the gospel is great. This message of the gospel is exclusive. Believe this message. Give your life to 00:26:01.059 --> 00:26:10.179 dwelling on this message and share this news with everyone. The message that we are clinging to, the message 00:26:10.179 --> 00:26:20.720 that we're holding on to is that we serve a God who is just and his justice requires, it demands that a price be paid for 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:30.860 sin. And the hope that we are clinging to is that Jesus paid that price for all who believe. For those of us who place our 00:26:30.860 --> 00:26:39.880 faith and our trust in Jesus, then what he accomplished on the cross counts for us. Here we are reminded that our 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:48.559 salvation is not only great, but it is absolutely true. Not only must we never lose sight of that in our own wall, but we must never 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:55.000 lose sight of the fact that we are given to a mission to take this news to a lost and dying world. 00:26:55.679 --> 00:26:58.339 And so as we close, I want to ask you two questions this morning. 00:26:58.879 --> 00:27:02.339 First question is this. Have you believed this before? 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:06.399 Have you believed this message before? 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:10.099 Have you understood this message before? 00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:15.439 How shall we escaped if we neglect such a great salvation? 00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:17.299 And the answer is we can't. 00:27:17.379 --> 00:27:20.119 We don't escape apart from Jesus. 00:27:20.339 --> 00:27:23.139 Have you given your life to this message before? 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:29.339 Have you stopped trying to save yourself and realize there's nothing you can do to save yourself 00:27:29.339 --> 00:27:33.119 and giving your life to Jesus and say, Lord, I need you. 00:27:33.719 --> 00:27:35.859 I believe this message. 00:27:35.859 --> 00:27:38.779 I want to give my life to this message. 00:27:39.579 --> 00:27:42.439 And so I want to encourage you, if you've never done that today, 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:44.500 do that today. 00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:47.240 Come down after the service. Talk with me. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.159 I would love to have that conversation with you. 00:27:49.639 --> 00:27:52.439 Go find someone that maybe you came with today. 00:27:52.500 --> 00:27:55.679 Maybe a parent. Maybe someone who invited you and say, 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:57.599 how can I know Jesus? 00:27:58.139 --> 00:27:59.419 How can I believe this? 00:27:59.459 --> 00:28:01.919 What do I need to do to give my life to him? 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:11.920 But the other question that I want us to ask ourselves is for those of us who have placed our faith and our trust in Jesus. 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:16.779 And that question is, what are you doing to spread this message? 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:21.720 What are you doing to make sure that everybody hears this message? 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:32.259 What are you doing to make sure those loved ones in your life that you deeply care about that maybe live across the street or in your neighborhood or or across town or across the world? 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:37.019 What are we doing to get this message to those who do not believe? 00:28:38.140 --> 00:28:41.900 How has this message changed your life? 00:28:43.019 --> 00:28:47.240 May we think about those things and genuinely answer those questions. 00:28:47.240 --> 00:29:01.380 Father, I thank you so very much that you have changed our life, that you have given us a message worth sharing, a message that changes our life and sets us on a new mission. 00:29:01.900 --> 00:29:11.900 And so, Lord, as we think about this book of Hebrews, as we're reminded over and over again in the first chapter, Lord, that you are greater than anything in this world, 00:29:11.900 --> 00:29:19.460 that you created it, you sustained it, you gave your life for us, Lord, help us to see you for who you are. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:21.600 Help us to catch a glimpse of your glory. 00:29:21.900 --> 00:29:23.840 And so that we say, God, I want more. 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:25.680 I want to see you more. 00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:28.580 I want to magnify your name. 00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:34.100 I want to catch a glimpse of who you are and understand that there's so much more yet to be seen. 00:29:34.099 --> 00:29:41.859 And, Lord, I pray that as we think about that, that we would give our lives to that. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:53.199 That this first command we see here, this therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it. 00:29:53.399 --> 00:29:55.879 Lord, help us to pay attention to you. 00:29:56.539 --> 00:30:00.980 Help us to see you clearly and listen to you carefully. 00:30:00.980 --> 00:30:11.200 If you're working and moving in someone's life, Lord, I pray that you give them the boldness and courage to step forward to say, Lord, I need you. 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:17.839 Lord, may you continue to work in our lives to say, God, here's my life. 00:30:18.420 --> 00:30:22.140 Take it and use it for your honor and for your glory. 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:24.980 We ask all this in Jesus' precious name. 00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:25.700 Amen. 00:30:26.660 --> 00:30:27.980 I want to invite you to stand. 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:29.799 We're going to sing a song of invitation. 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:34.940 If God is speaking to you this morning, won't you respond as we stand together and sing?