Hebrews chapter 1 Hebrews chapter 1 starting in verse 1 this is found on page 1372 in the pew Bibles Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 page 1373 when you found that in your copy of God's Word would you stand with me for the reading of God's Word and I'm gonna read Chapter 1, verse 1 through chapter 2, verse 4. And this is what Holy Scripture says. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophet, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. Who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. that when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels, He says, who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire? But to the Son, He says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will fold them up, and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape? if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. And this is the word of the Lord. Thank you. You may be seated. An article dated October 3rd, 2019, bore the title, Grounded Ship Drifted Off Course While Officer Viewed Music Videos, report says. The article described an investigation into the accident of the MV Priscilla, which ran aground on the Pentland Scarys, which are islands off the coast of Scotland. It ran aground on July 18th, 2018. It was discovered in the investigation that on the date of the accident, the officer of the watch took over at 2 a.m. Shortly after this, he turned on the ship's autopilot and began to watch music videos on his phone. And he may have also fallen asleep during this time. When he eventually realized that he was off course, he did not take corrective measures. Those measures necessary to avoid accident and the MV Priscilla ran aground on the rocks. Though none of the sailors on board were injured, his failure to pay attention, his failure to heed, caused incredible damage. While we might shake our head at the folly of this man's inattentiveness at the wheel of the ship, There is a dangerous inattentiveness that many professing Christians fall prey to today. Inattentiveness to the message of the gospel. Many professing Christians today turn on the spiritual autopilot and drift into the rocks of apostasy and unbelief. I had us read from the beginning of the book so that we could orient ourselves again to the point of this book and the message of this book. The message, of course, is that Jesus is superior, that Jesus is better. The author of Hebrews in the first four verses points out that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God and is superior to the prophets. He proceeds from this to speak of how Jesus is superior to the angels. First of all, speaking of how Jesus is superior to the angels in his deity, he quotes seven passages from the Old Testament to reinforce this point. That Jesus is the divine son and angels are his worshipers. That Jesus is the divine sovereign and angels are messengers and ministers. And Jesus is the divine creator and angels are created beings. and that Jesus is the divine co-equal with God, and angels are servants. Having mentioned that angels are servants who are sent forth to minister to those who will inherit eternal life, the Spirit-guided author of Hebrews is moved to speak a word of warning. And I want to give that warning that he gives this morning. simply stated, there is an urgent need for earnest heed. There is an urgent need for earnest heed. The author of Hebrews first tells us that there is an urgent need for earnest heed because of the danger of drifting. Because of the danger of drifting, That is, those who do not give this earnest heed will drift away from the gospel. Notice what he says here, therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard. And speaking of this earnest heed, there is this note of urgency, we must give the more earnest heed. to the things that we have heard. What things does he have in mind? Well, he's thinking particularly here of the truths of the gospel, the truths that are expressed in the life and ministry and teaching of Jesus, but also the truth and ministry of the angels, as they are heirs of eternal salvation. This presses upon us the truth, brothers and sisters, that there is a difference between hearing and heeding. There is a difference between hearing and heeding. We must give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard. Some of you know, probably, or could guess how many times in my mind that I announce a hymn title or a scripture reference. Maybe you don't know, But there is a minimum of three times that I will announce a hymn number and title and a passage reference. A minimum of three times at the beginning of a message. Why? Because I know myself. And I know the first time it flies by I might not catch it. And I might not even catch it by the second time. But by the third time hopefully I will catch it. And at that point It's time not only to simply hear, but to heed and be opening the hymn book to the assigned song, right? Or to the Bible to the assigned passage. There's a difference between hearing and heeding. But the hearing itself presses upon us a great responsibility to heed that truth. We must give greater attention to the gospel. That is earnest heed. Serious, intentional heed. As I was thinking about this passage, I was thinking about giving more earnest heed. And thinking about the various means that we might have for staying awake. As far as I know, as far as I know, throughout high school and college, university, I never fell asleep in a single class. Not once. I had all kinds of different techniques to keep myself awake, but I didn't actually fall asleep in a class. I did, however, fall asleep one time at a youth retreat. This was a winter youth retreat, and it was a very warm room. I was sitting close to the wood stove, and as the preacher was talking away, the room was warm, and I started to drift, and I started to nod, and the next thing I knew, the preacher, who was known as a little bit of a wild man anyways, he had jumped up on the table that I was sitting at, He had grabbed one of the mittens that was sitting by the wood stove to dry out, and he whacked me across the face to wake me up. My glasses went flying, and I think he actually felt pretty bad about this afterwards. And maybe that is why I never fell asleep again. I was afraid of some maniac jumping on a table and hitting me with a glove. I don't know. But there were different ways that I would fight against sleep. And maybe those of you that have driven long distances have your own techniques. Maybe you listen to different music, and then you change over and listen to talk shows, and maybe from there you go to chewing on licorice, or maybe it's gum. For me, I get tired driving back and forth across, and for me, I get some sugar-free gum, and I chew on that gum coming across town. And that's one of my ways that I'm intentionally trying to stay awake and give heed so that I am not going to drift away into sleep. There's a great urgency to be alert while you're driving on the 401, as I'm sure you all know. But as urgent as that is, there's a greater urgency that we must press upon ourselves to not be distracted and drift away from the gospel itself. And this, brothers and sisters, will take great intention in this distracted age. It really will. You and I know that we are in one of the most distracted ages in all of human history. We wake up and there's social media waiting for us. carry our phone with us, and we get notifications here, there, we get notifications from every group, and every email chain that we're on, every different social media thing that we're connected with, and there's always these things that are appealing to us to distract us. These things in themselves, many of them, may be harmless, but there is a real danger in becoming distracted and drifting from the Gospel itself. This warning, by the way, is not... This warning to give earnest heed is not just to make the preacher feel better about his message. I've had many people fall asleep in my sermons, and it will happen again. That's not what this is about. This is about the great spiritual danger for those who will not give this kind of heed to the truth of God's word in the gospel. The danger is that you drift away. I know that some of you in here are King James readers and you know that in your translations it says we need to give them more earnest heed that lest we should let them slip. But you King James readers also will notice that the word them is in italics. That's a word that is supplied by the translators to help the flow of thought but is not found in the original. Without that word, the King James would read that we need to give them more earnest heed lest we let slip. That word in the original has the idea that's used in nautical or shipping context to speak of a vessel drifting away. It was also used occasionally in the kind of context of someone perhaps wearing a ring and that ring slipping off their finger. So it could be used both of you drifting or something drifting from you, but the practical effect is that there is a distance between you and that. If you fail to give earnest heed to the truth of the gospel, you will drift away. Like the ship that's carried by the tides off of its route that misses its destination, If you do not give the more earnest heed, you will be taken by the tides of this life and you will drift away spiritually and miss the destination of final salvation. We'll get to that in a moment. Like a ring slipping off one's finger, the precious treasure of the gospel will be lost through neglect and inattentiveness. It's not just the author of Hebrews that makes this point. This is a point that resounds through scripture. In 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 and 2, Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you. unless you believed in vain. Paul makes the same point as he speaks to the Colossians when he says, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sights. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard. The path to heaven is not a path of coasting. It's not a path of drifting. Those who are God's people are kept by the power of God through faith. Faith that comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God, failure to regularly, intentionally, and attentively grasp the truth will result in drifting away. This is not to say that you save yourself, but to tell you that the path to heaven is the path of perseverance. Those who take seriously the warning passages of scripture bear witness to the reality of their faith. The person that says, like my friend Mike says, oh, I prayed a prayer once, and today gives no attention to God's word or to church or to anything related to his spiritual life, but it says, oh, I prayed a prayer once, that's exactly the kind of person that this speaks to. Those who take seriously the warning passages of scripture bear witness to the reality of their faith. So the author's first point, and I must hurry, there is an urgent need for earnest heed because of the danger of drifting. Those who do not give this heed will drift away from the gospel. Second, there is an urgent need for earnest heed because of the reality of judgment. because of the reality of judgment, those who drift away from the gospel will face certain judgment. Look at it with me in the scripture verses two and three. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape? if we neglect so great a salvation." This conditional sentence is found in part of a rhetorical question, a question that's asked for a fact, not because there's any uncertainty about what's going on. Those who drift from the faith face a terrifying prospect of judgment. Here's how the author argues the case. The context is the superiority of Christ over the angels. He's going to resume that in a few verses. And he says, if the word spoken through angels proves steadfast, and it did, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? As I thought about this word spoken through angels, proving steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience receiving a just reward, my mind immediately went to the story of Lot. Some of you might remember that story. Lot had dwelt in the well-watered plains near Sodom. And after a while, he came to find himself dwelling in Sodom. a place of great wickedness, a place that Lot should have avoided. And not only did Lot find himself living in Sodom, he found himself sitting in the gate of Sodom, which meant that he had a position of some authority within Sodom. God sent his angels to declare the warning to Lot, that God was going to destroy Sodom. And you might remember the story. Lot lingers and negotiates on the very verge of judgment. The angels actually have to grab his hand and his wife's hand and grab his daughters by the hands and drag them out. Remember what the angels had said, don't look back. And as they were dragged from Sodom, Lot's wife looked back. And every transgression and disobedience received that just reward, just as the angels had said, don't look back. She looked back and she turned into a pillar of salt. And the past and the scriptures actually urge us to remember Lot's wife. She looked back. Their message proved steadfast. Judgment came. Every transgression and disobedience received a just reward. Remember Lot's wife. The author of Hebrews probably has even more in view than simply that event. The author of Hebrews probably refers to the entirety of the Old Testament law itself. Deuteronomy 33.2 mentions that God shone forth and came with 10,000 of his saints, it says in our translations. But that word literally means holy ones. It says that he came with a fiery law. Acts chapter seven, we are told that the Jewish people received the law by the direction of angels. and have not kept it. Paul to the Galatians tells us that the promise was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now the Bible doesn't go into all of the details of how the law, the activity of the angels and exactly what part they had in the giving of the law. But it does fit with the fact that they are messengers and ministers. You look at each of those Old Testament offenses and there was a particular punishment that came from a particular transgression. Every transgression and disobedience received a just reward. If that is true, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation. Those Old Testament, that Old Testament law had a system of consequences, of punishment for sin, and in very dramatic ways at times, like Lot's wife, you see this just reward, this just penalty coming down. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? We talk about salvation, ask someone, are you saved? Natural question would be from what? And maybe as Christians, we don't often think about that, saved from what? Throughout the Old Testament scriptures, you see different references to salvation, salvation from difficulty, salvation from distress, salvation from enemies, But the greatest salvation that is needed by humanity is salvation from the power and penalty of sin. If it was certain that those who did not take heed to the angel's message would face the penalty that came as a result of that, How much more so those who do not give heed, who let slip the gospel of salvation from sins, power, and penalty? We don't like to think about that too much. We like to be more positive in church and think about all the pleasant things. Far be it from us to dwell upon such passages as he who believes in the Son has everlasting life. But he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abides upon him. This, my friends, is the condition of every person coming into this world. The wrath of God abides upon them unless they have believed in Christ. If you think that the fate of Lot's wife was bad, that's nothing compared to the fate of those who neglect so great a salvation. The author of Hebrews here is reminding us that for those who will not heed, there will be hell to pay. to neglect so great a salvation. How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? And the answer is we can't. There is no escape. The only escape is found in Jesus Christ. The only escape comes through believing in his gospel and holding fast to that gospel. And if we do not come to God on God's terms, we will face God's judgment. I hear what Paul says about that day. And as I often have said, we'll all get our eschatology corrected one day. This is what Paul said about that day that is to come. He says this, there's a day coming when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God. And on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, these shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. This is what awaits those who neglect so great salvation. Oh, friends, do not drift from the gospel. Do not simply take it for granted and drift from it. If you drift from the gospel, you will face certain judgment. Give the more earnest heed. Third, there is an urgent need for earnest heed because of the greatness of salvation. Because of the greatness of salvation. If I could state this positively, those who drift away from the gospel will miss a great salvation. Yes, saved negatively from the wrath of God, saved from the power and penalty of sin, but saved to eternal life. Saved to joy eternal. saved to that precious state of glory. Friends, how great is salvation? I love what Peter tells us. He tells us there's a great inheritance awaiting for God's people. That it is unfading. It's eternal. It's reserved in the heavens for us who are kept by the power of God. And I love to think about that because this idea of the eternal unfading inheritance is, it lasts forever, but it's unfading. That is, it never diminishes. And I often think about this, right? Even with the best of earthly pleasures. I've given this illustration before. I'm going to give it again. The best of earthly pleasures our enjoyment of them fade over time. There's a reason why people who live in Niagara Falls don't go down to visit the falls every day. They've seen it over and over and over again. If you had a season's pass for Canada's Wonderland, and you went every single day of the season, year after year, over time, even that, would become boring. There's a reason why they're building new rides all the time. Because our enjoyment of it fades over time. And here's the amazing thing about the inheritance, that salvation that awaits us in glory. It never fades away. Each day is better than the last. And only an infinite God can provide for us such a salvation. Oh, friends, why would you neglect the gospel? Why would you let them slip? Why would you drift away when what awaits for those who hold fast to the gospel and are held fast by God is a great and eternal inheritance reserved in the heavens? Listen, many A cheesy country song has been written about someone who leaves a romantic relationship and wanders off in all the harm and ruin and sorrow that befalls them. But why would we leave the greatest relationship with the greatest and most eternal and glorious benefits? Why would we neglect that salvation? Oh, friends, there's an urgent need for earnest heed because of the greatness of salvation. Those who drift away from the gospel will miss that great salvation. And listen, we got to hold forth both as we speak to those people in need. We got to hold forth the terror of judgment, but we also hold forth the glory of the salvation that awaits. Both are true. Why would you miss this great salvation? But let me give you one more. There is an urgent need for earnest heed because of the certainty of the gospel. Because of the certainty of the gospel. Those who drift away from the gospel dismiss divine truth. Those who drift away from the gospel dismiss divine truth. Look at it with me here. Verses three and four, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, that's speaking of Jesus, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. The gospel message is so great, not only because of what it helps us to escape and what it provides for us, but because it is certain. It is testified by the most trustworthy of witnesses and the most powerful of evidences. Consider these great witnesses, how foolish it would be to drift away given these witnesses. How foolish it would be to drift away to yawn at this testimony. First of all, the author of Hebrews tells us that the Lord Jesus testified of this, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord. It certainly was spoken by his works. It certainly was revealed in his life and in his death and in his resurrection. But it was also the first message on his lips after he came out of that period of temptation in the wilderness. You remember what he said? He said, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Why would you doubt the witness of the son of God? The One who is Himself, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Apostles, those who heard Jesus, bore witness to what Jesus said. Trustworthy witnesses heard this message and passed it along to others. And in a sense, that apostolic ministry continues as it is passed on to others who are faithful to the Word. It was confirmed by those who heard Him. It's confirmed today by those who believe the Word of God. The Lord Jesus proclaimed it. The apostles proclaimed it. Those who are faithful to their message today proclaim it. And then the scripture says that God Himself bore witness. God Himself. He not only spoke through the Son, but He confirmed the Gospel of the Son. God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. The miraculous that attended the proclamation of the gospel in the early church served to bear testimony to the reality of this message. This is not a cheap conjurer's trick. This is not just some sleight of hand that was happening. These were divine, supernatural miracles. And in this way, really, you have the entire Trinity bearing witness to the truth of the gospel. It began to be spoken by the Lord Jesus, God the Father himself confirming this, and the Holy Spirit working through gifts and miracles The point then is this, that this is no mere human invention. This is divine truth. When I went to Northland, there was a student who I've told you about before and I'll probably tell you about again. And he had some very dramatic stories to tell. One day he told a story about how on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, He found himself being pursued both by gang members and the police. And somehow both sides were shooting at him with Uzi submachine guns. Quite a story. Another time we're sitting in class and there was a guy who had actually served in the military. He had served in Bosnia. The wind gust blew the window shut suddenly. Bang shut. And John, Not the storyteller, but John, the one who had served, was immediately under his desk taking cover. Just the reflex of having served in combat. Afterward, this other young man came up to him. Oh, I know exactly how you feel. I've been under fire many times. Another story this guy told was there was a young man whose engagement had been broken off. So the storyteller came up to him and said, oh, I know exactly how you feel. I've been engaged, I think it was three or four times, and they've been broken off every time. The fascinating thing was that when he told the guy that he had been engaged three or four times, he was 19 years of age. Over time, it became apparent that this guy had more stories than Walt Disney. And while they were entertaining, they were probably old waltz stories had more of the ring of credibility to them. And over time, whenever this guy started talking and telling some story about his past, people kind of just tuned him out. Stopped listening. Didn't really care what he had to say. It was a sort of background noise at that point. Unless perhaps they wanted to be entertained by what story he had to tell. And maybe, you know, maybe you know someone who has a tendency to tell stories and your response can only be, under those circumstances, cool story, bro. But we can't do that with God. Every word is true and it is blood earnest. You cannot respond like this to Jesus. You cannot respond like this to the apostolic testimony. You cannot respond like this to the Father. You cannot respond like this to the Spirit of God. And so, there is an urgent need for earnest heed. because of the danger of drifting, because of the certainty of judgment, because of the greatness of salvation, and because of the certainty of the gospel. Let me drive this home for us, my friends. This message was not given by a street preacher on a random corner talking to anyone and everyone who walked by who may or may not have a religious background. This message was given to a group of people, a community of professing believers. This message was given to those who had professed faith in Christ. This is who he was talking to. He was talking to people who knew what time to stand during the church service and sit during the church service. He was talking to people who knew the words of the songs. He was talking to people who knew where to find the passage in their scrolls. He was talking to people who are professed Christians. He was talking to people like us. There are many reasons why people come to church. There are many reasons why people even join a church. One of the things, I was speaking to someone recently who's in a Christian school, and who was a teacher of a Christian school, and he said, it's amazing about the unbelief in this Christian school, and he says, much of it comes through the parents. And the reason he said that is because the parents so much wanted their kids to have this benefit of a private Christian education and the prestige that they thought would come with it that they actually lied about being believers. The school had a policy that at least one of the parents had to be a believer and they would lie about being a believer. They would claim to be a believer because of the benefits that they thought would come through having their child in the school. And though the social benefits may become less and less as time goes on in our society, over the past years, many people have joined churches and made professions of faith because of what they thought they could get. They could get some friendship, might be able to get some business acquaintances, they get free food once in a while. I mean, there's all kinds of things that they thought they might be able to get. but never really had the heart of the matter. And some even may have for a time fooled themselves into thinking that they had it. They had an emotional experience, their mommy told them that they were saved, something happened, they went to the front, whatever the case may be, they prayed a prayer. They had an experience. But as time went on, he became more and more cavalier, more and more careless about the gospel. May that not be you. If you do not give that earnest heed, you will drift away. This warning is for all of us. I'll conclude with a story. On our traveling in deputation, got to meet a lot of pastors. And I, for the most part, enjoyed meeting people, but some people I really hit it off with, some pastors really connected with. And there was one pastor named Toby. He pastored a church in Michigan. And man, the first time I talked with this guy by phone, it just, yeah, I really enjoy this guy. and met him in person, and it was, yeah, really enjoyed the time that we spent together, discussing different things about church and the gospel, and really enjoyed my time with him and the time at that church. This pastor had a blog, and after having visited that church, I would check in with the blog that he had from time to time, see what he had to say because though he wasn't always the most grammatically correct and sometimes he had his punctuation all wrong, he actually was a very gifted writer. And I enjoyed reading what he had to write. But I began to notice over that time of distance where I was not there since I had been at the church, I began to notice as I read that blog that he seemed to be holding the doctrines that he had professed to believe with a looser and looser grip. He seemed very interested in writing about all kinds of fascinating things, but his trajectory of his writing and his disposition in writing seemed to leave this to one side and talk about all of this other stuff. And again, if you have a blog, you write whatever you want to write about, but I just noticed that something seemed to be left behind. Eventually, I remember reading a blog article that he wrote, and I thought, this is not good. He wrote about having a meal with family members, and some of his family members were members of the Jehovah's Witness cult. And he said that a certain amount of time had been spent debating ideas and theology at this event. I mean, none of us like conflict. That much is true. But what made me concerned is that Toby wrote in his blog, I'm never gonna debate or argue about religion again. I thought, wait a minute. You're a pastor. You're someone to whom was entrusted the word of God. You are someone who have this divine mandate, as Jude said, to earnestly contend for the faith that was delivered once and for all. How is it that you as a pastor are saying, I'm never gonna debate religion and never gonna argue about religion again? Yes, there's a time and yes, there's a place and yes, there's a way. But to make this pronouncement, I'm never going to do it again. But that pronouncement was a sign of an inward slide that had been going on for some time. And it wasn't long before Toby had drifted away from the faith itself. And he left that church because He just didn't really believe and care about the gospel anymore. That was a pastor. That was a man that had a privilege of a theological education. It was a person that was mentored by faithful men. It was a person that had great giftedness in preaching and had great effectiveness in his ministry. And he drifted away. Brothers and sisters, we need to give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest we would drift away. Our hope in this is ultimately the God who keeps us. It's ultimately His grip that is able to keep us from falling. But the fact that it is His grip that keeps us from falling should never move us to complacency in our walk. Brothers and sisters, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?