If not, then I'll ask you to turn with me to chapter 2 of Hebrews. We're going to read the first four verses of chapter 2, the book of Hebrews. A couple of thoughts this morning, perhaps by way of introduction, just some things that occurred to me as I was trying to prepare for this day and for the Lord's message that he would have us to hear. A couple of years ago, we got to go to Hawaii, Skinners and Welches. And we went up there and remember when we got to Maui, we went to the beach and, you know, you're thinking of swimming. You're thinking the kids, of course, are thinking of going swimming. And as we got there, we saw the signs. It was too dangerous to swim. And signs were posted out saying that the tides were such that it would be very dangerous for you to swim. So as you looked at the signs, then you looked in the water, and there were people in there swimming. And so I don't know what all or how dangerous it might have been, but even it seems, as I recall, if I recall correctly, those signs were out I think most every day, not every day that we were there. But those signs were there to give warning. to warn people of the dangers of going into the water. And there are warnings all through our life, we drive down the road as you drove here this morning, no doubt there were signs maybe that you've seen a thousand times and so it didn't register, but there are warning signs along along the road warning you of possible dangers that you need to avoid. There are warning signs on medicine bottles when you take prescriptions. There are warnings that you should not take other things with this kind of medicine or shouldn't operate heavy machinery if you're under the influence of this particular drug. There are warning signs all around us. There are warning signs every day of our lives. Some of them we heed and some of them we don't. But the scripture is very similar in that it comes with warnings. And this morning, that is what we are going to look at is the warning sign, the first one that the writer of Hebrews gives us. And there are warning signs here that must be dealt with, that must be examined in our own hearts, because God, I believe, is attempting to warn his people in the writing of Hebrews of the dangers of something. Not only is he trying to warn his people, but he's trying to warn those that are lost. He's trying to give them a warning. This morning, we come to this chapter again, this this book again of Hebrews, and we come with a very sobering thought. We come with a very sobering, reverent heart, I hope, to listen to the warning. But there is something about warnings that we must understand. A warning sign, once you have read it, it transfers the responsibility to you and to me. Once you've been warned, it's no longer the responsibility of the one providing the warning. It is your responsibility and my responsibility to heed that warning. To consider whether or not we are at danger of suffering the consequences that the warning sign gives. Certainly, at a very high level, we have all through the scriptures this warning of God's judgment that is coming to the world and the grace and the mercy that is found in Christ. But the warning is this. If you do not find grace in the eyes of the Lord, as Noah did, you will be as one outside of the ark of safety. You will be one upon whom the judgment of God falls. Rather than being one upon whom the grace of God falls. But one or the other, you will be you will find yourself in that state. So this morning, as we look at this scripture, we need to understand that this warning is a serious thing. And let's read these first four verses before we say anything else. 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 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 diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. Hebrews. Is a book, as I have referenced in the past, that has a number of these warning signs, and this is the first one that we come to. The first word of this verse, therefore, refers back, of course, to what has come before. And we've spoken upon that first chapter of the majesty, the glory, the superiority of Jesus Christ. And the writer set that up. And I mentioned multiple times that that was a foundation upon which the rest of Hebrews was going to be based. But to leave Hebrews after reading just chapter one would be to us to miss the point, I think, of Hebrews. You see, would you remember that the books of the scripture, they were not divided into chapters and verses when this was written. The readers, the original readers of this letter, did not see a division between the end of verse 14 in chapter one and verse one of chapter two. They just kept reading. And the word, therefore, refers back to what we have already looked at, and that is the gloriousness, the majesty, the superiority of Christ. And it is this word, therefore, refers us back to that. And it basically is telling us I'm not finished yet. The writer's telling us there's a reason that I have said what I have said, and this is it. This is in part the reason that I said it's almost as if if we were to leave with chapter one and not move on into chapter two or to pick and choose these various verses, it's almost as if we would get up and leave in the middle of the writer writing and speaking. And he'd almost be as if he is saying with this word, therefore, to wait, I'm not finished yet. There's a reason that I've been talking about the Lord Jesus Christ in such a beautiful and marvelous way. It's because there's a warning that I want to give you. There's a warning that you must be aware of. There is a danger today. There is a danger for everyone that is here and everyone in the entire world. If we do not heed the warning of the word of God. There are multiple warnings, and this one that we want to look at today is important for us to see. And I want to go through these verses and we'll go through them this morning in as briefly or as long as the Lord would have us to. But as I thought about this again as the beginning of this verse, the therefore, it's it's very rarely the things that come before the therefores in Scripture that we have a problem with. It's usually the things that come after the therefore. Every one of us, I believe, probably in this room today would agree with what the writer has said about Jesus Christ, that he is the creator of the world. That He is the Son of God. That He is the deliverer of us and the deliverer of our souls. The salvation of our souls. We would believe that. We agree with that. Even some of you, perhaps, that are here and lost, you might agree with that. But it's not just the things that come before therefore that we must contend with. It is the things that come after therefore. It is the warning that is going to come. So this morning, as we go through this, let us reference back to the majesty and the glory of Christ. And if it is true what was said in the first chapter, then it must follow that things will be affected in our life as a result. If Jesus is who the Hebrew writer claimed him to be, then it only makes sense that it would have an impact on our life and on yours. So many people today are confused about the new birth. They think that it is not something that is a moment or it's not something that is a change and a miraculous working of the Holy Spirit in the heart. But if Jesus is who he said he is, if God is who the scriptures say he is, then it only bears to reason and to logic that we would be impacted by such a truth as what we've heard. I ask us all, how have we been impacted? How have we been changed? In 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, it says, But the day, and this is sadly how the day of the Lord is going to come upon many. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. If that is true, Peter goes on and says, seeing then that all these things, everything shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness if What we have said about Christ is true. If the elements of the earth, as the scripture bore witness, are going to melt in a fervent heat one day, what manner of persons ought we to be? You see, this thing of Christianity is something that impacts us and impacts our life every day. It changes us at the beginning and it makes us new creatures. And from that point forward, we are changed. We wrestle with this sin and we wrestle with this flesh, and that is exactly why the Hebrew writer is giving us this warning. We wrestle with it. Yet inwardly, our souls have been delivered from it and there is a warfare that is going on. Those of you that are lost, you are outside of this grace that we speak of. And the warning sign for you and the warning to you is that you neglect this salvation at your eternal peril. Brethren, those of us that have been saved If what we say we believe about the Scriptures is true, and I believe that it is, I believe that you believe that it is. Then what manner of men and women should we be? What manner of father and mother should we be? What manner of employee and employer should we be? What manner of student should we be? What manner of teacher should we be? What manner of person should we be? If these things are true. Therefore, what comes after is where Christianity puts on its boots and walks in the truth upon which we have been based on the word of God. Therefore, we ought, it says. I don't know about you, but to me. That word odds often in our use of the word is almost more like a suggestion than a command. But even in the English, if you look it up, it means it's a command. It's something that is said that must be done. But often we hear you ought to go do this or you ought to go do that. And many times it's not a command that people are giving us. They're saying you should. Maybe you ought to think about. The word, although in Greek matches with what the actual English means as well, and it means must. Therefore, we must. The word appears in the New Testament that was translated a hundred and four times, three out of four of those times it was translated must. This is not just a suggestion that the writer is giving us this warning that he's about to lay it to give and to level. This is not something he says you should maybe you ought to think about doing this must be done. Therefore, because of what we know about Christ, this must be done. He's not, again, just saying that it's an idea that you should consider the direct translation, I believe, from this Greek is often given as it is necessary. It is necessary for us. To proceed in such a way of what we believe is true. But I believe, again, too much of Christianity today is looking at the word of God, not only too much of Christianity, but I think you and me, we look at the word of God often as a suggestion. But the 10 things that God prescribed to Israel in Exodus were not called the 10 suggestions. Called the 10 commandments, the statutes, the laws of God. This word is giving us this warning that is coming is something that is based upon the reality of Jesus Christ, and it is something that must be done. It's not just a good idea. It is something that we must do. The word of God is the very word of God. It is inerrant. It is sufficient. It is the very thoughts and commands of God, and so as we look at this This warning that I haven't even spoken about and probably won't until the very end today to define what it is. But first, I want to make sure we understand this warning that we're about to hear. It's based upon what we believe about Jesus Christ, what manner of persons we ought to be as a result. And it is something that must be done. We must heed this warning. We must do that in our hearts and in our minds and at times even in our bodies as we believe and as we follow Christ, where he has us to go. Those of you that are lost, this is true for you as well. You must heed the warning, no one else can heed it for you. No one else can can apply the truth to your heart other than God himself. And you must believe that you you must see that this is something that must be done. This is not optional. This is not something some can decide to do and it's OK and others can decide not to do and it's OK. These are the commands of God. Therefore, Because of what has come before, we ought, we must. I believe in several other English translations, it does use the word must, not just you ought. And again, maybe splitting hairs, but to me, the word ought, the way we use it in our everyday vernacular, our everyday jargon, doesn't bring with it the same sense of command that I believe the Greek actually brings out. You must do this. Not just a good idea, it is something that we must do. What must we do? To give heed more earnestly. To give heed. This is the beginning of the warning. What does this mean? It is the structure of the Greek, the words to give heed. And more earnestly, each set of those words comes from two different Greek words. And you literally you boil it all down. And I'm sure you understand this very plainly as well from the English. We must pay attention. Must give heed, that's what the word means to pay attention, to care for, to be concerned about. must pay attention. One of Satan's greatest tools is to distract us with things of this life and our own cares, our own desires, our own will, This is one of Satan's most effective tools against God's people. The Hebrew writer knew it and he wrote them and he laid this foundation of the first chapter and said about the gloriousness of Jesus Christ. And he says, therefore, because of this, we must pay attention. We must pay attention to these things. Well, instead of being distracted with the cares and things of this life, as Satan would love and his effective tool that he uses to distract the minds of men and women with all kinds of silly ideas and cares and concerns. Have you ever woken up one day and realized by the help of God, maybe I have been terribly distracted by fill in the blank? I've been terribly distracted by my job. I've been terribly distracted by my desire for leisure and comfort. I've been terribly distracted by something. And we're all we all fight this. But I'll tell you this. The idea and the concept here is to pay attention and our attention spans, I'm afraid, are minuscule. They are shrinking, it seems. There have been a number of studies done, and according to some, the past ten years, most adults' attention span has gone from twelve minutes, which is sad enough as it is, but from twelve minutes in 2000 to five minutes in 2013. And I don't have a hard time believing that. Shrunk from twelve minutes to five minutes. You know what this means? This means within five minutes, I've probably lost some of you already. And it means every five minutes after that, I may lose you again. And that is somewhat humorous, but it is also a great concern of mine and any preacher, because the word of God is being spoken. The idea that we cannot pay attention to it is is is sobering to the very depths of my life and my bones to think that for five minutes we can't concentrate upon what God is saying to us. But it's true. I believe our attention spans are dwindling. We think of other things. Even now, our minds are distracted by the things of this world and silly little concerns. There's one thing we must be concerned about, and that is what came before the therefore Jesus Christ and what that means of who he is. I don't believe that this is a mistake, by the way, I don't believe that it is something that's just happened as a natural result of our culture, but you know what five minutes is? It's about the average span of a commercial break on an average television show. Five minutes, what's it going to be in another 10 years with Facebook and Twitter and the computer and the phone, all that beeping at us multiple times, every time another study said about 30 times an hour, people generally are checking their email. I'm guilty of this as well, but the distraction that the attention span of our culture, is alarming because it is crept in to the church. It's crept into the very study and consideration of the word of God. And you know what? You are completely 100 percent free to be distracted and there's nothing anybody can do about it. It's your choice. It's not mine. You are reading the warning sign, and what I meant to say earlier and didn't is the scary thing about warning signs, as I said, is it transfers the responsibility to you. But after we get done with this thought today, we must all walk out that door considering ourselves warned and the responsibility will have transitioned to each one of us. But our attention spans are a detriment to us. And I don't want to harp on this and sound like some old fogey up here saying you shouldn't have phones and you shouldn't have a television. I'm telling you, our attention spans, though, have been dwindling. And to think that we can lose the concept of the need to focus an attention upon God. Has a direct impact upon our ability to listen and to respond. There's another, there's a detail that I don't know how, I'm certainly no psychologist, scientist of any sort. One of the things that I read about was talking about a focused attention span. The ability to literally focus upon one thing and not have your mind distracted by something. And you know what the average focused attention span of an average person in our country is? Eight seconds. You know what the average attention span of a goldfish is? Nine. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, I mean, a goldfish can concentrate on something longer than you and I can. Sounds, feels might be somewhat humorous to think about it, but make no mistake, this is a concerted effort of the enemy of our souls to rob us of our ability to focus, To think, to dwell upon God. You know, what I would encourage you to do as you read your Bible and you pray, perhaps in the mornings and the evenings and the afternoons, some of all, whatever your time is, lose the phone. Lose the TV, lose the radio, lose it. You need nothing but your open word of God and your quiet heart before him and your attention. Your focus. Take heed, pay attention. This is no mistake. Parents, teach your children how to think, how to be a way and to focus upon God. The gadgets, the toys, the things that distract our attention. ought to be looked at for what they are. But, you know, we look at them as it's just a product of our culture. Preacher, what are you talking about? Everybody's got a phone. I'm not talking about having it or not having it. I'm telling you, the reality is we have a very poor attention span. And as a result, we very rarely focus upon God. And by not focusing upon God, we are not heeding the warning that the Hebrew writer is giving us. Pay attention. Pay attention. Not only are we distracted by these things in the world, but you know what else I think distracts us? And I've come to call this the Sunday morning fog. And it happens to me and it happens to all of us. But I wonder, I do wonder how many Sunday mornings have been sacrificed on the altar of Saturday night. I wonder how many times we drag into church tired and weary and unable to think and unable to focus and unable to commit ourselves to true worship of God because we're simply too tired. We're too exhausted, we're worn out, and we're all thinking, every one of us, that after 24 hours on Sunday, we go right back in to the rat's wheel. And we come in on Sunday morning and we're tired and we're weary. And I believe this is true for all of us. But I want to caution you against that. If the first time that we've thought about Sunday morning is Sunday morning at ten oh five a.m., we're missing the point. We're not focused. We're not paying attention. We're just we're just coming in because like lemmings, that's what we're supposed to be. God, help us to pay attention. to not allow Saturday night to interfere with Sunday morning, to not allow our own hearts, our ability to pay attention, to be sacrificed on the altar of entertainment of this world. So what the Hebrew writer is saying, therefore, take heed. Pay attention. How many of you parents have been at your wit's end with your children? You just say if you just pay attention. And I wonder how many times my heavenly father, though he wouldn't get to his wits end, he looks at me, no doubt many times and shakes his head and says, if you just pay attention. You see, this is not all that complex. It's not all that complicated. Preacher wants it to be so he can sound very bright and smart and multiple levels above everyone else in the room spiritually. It's really not. We should be paying attention, are we or are we not? Take heed. But you pay attention. Those of you that are lost. Pay attention. Pay attention to the reality of the condition of your soul. You can't work up the suds, you cannot work up conviction, but if God has dealt with you, you must come to him and pay attention. Those of you that are saved, you must come to God and pay attention. Let me ask you this. If we're all honest in the room, how many times you've been in prayer and find yourself nodding off to sleep? Must pay attention. God, open our eyes to the reality of this warning. Therefore, we ought to give heed and not only heed, the more earnest heed, especially. Most especially, heed, pay attention. You know, I thought about athletes. I remember in high school, we had a very successful tennis team and I was part of that team. And before every match, we would get on one another, go to bed the night before. Athletes make sure they get a good night's rest before the big game tomorrow. Students make sure they get a good night's rest before the big test. Businessmen make sure they get a good night's rest before the big presentation. Isn't the least we can do to get a good night's rest before coming in the presence of God so that we might be able to pay attention instead of just walking through the fog in our life? If you had any idea how many darts and arrows are piercing my own heart right now with these words. You understand, I'm not speaking these things in anger. I'm speaking them in great conviction of my own soul. Pay attention. Take care of yourself so that you can pay attention. Don't expect to stay up until three in the morning on Saturday and six hours later, head on to church and think you're going to be able to pay attention. It's just true. It's just true, we must pay attention. Athletes, as we said, they get a good night's rest. All these people, they make sure they get a good night's rest. We heard I don't know about you, but we heard a message last Sunday that has continued to move me throughout the week about not quenching the spirit of God. And in order to do that, we must pay attention to the warnings of Scripture. We must give heed to these things. How often, though, is Saturday night left Saturday night left us desperately susceptible to an inability to focus, concentrate, meditate and pay attention to the movement of the Spirit of God. I truly believe, after studying and thinking and praying, so much has been lost among God's people simply due to the lack of our ability or willingness of both to pay attention. Pay attention as things began to change. Things began to be substituted for the actual working of the Spirit of God, as man's wisdom and his words began to be substituted for the very word of God. As our children were allowed to become products of this culture rather than products of the God of the Bible, we weren't paying attention while this happened. But now the warning has been given. The warning's been read, the sign along the beach has been read, and now if you get in the water, it's your risk, it's your responsibility. Now that God is warning us in his word, our ability, our desire to heed him is up to us. But what must we specifically pay attention to? The things which we have heard. That's what Hebrews says. Give heed most earnestly to the things which we have heard. You know, for most of you, there's no doubt in detail and a deeper to varying degrees for all of us, there is always more to learn about the word of God. You know what? For most of you, the fundamental truths of the gospel, you know, It doesn't. You don't need me. I've been in places where I needed to back way up and begin to lay brick by brick the foundation of the gospel. But, you know, for most of you, even you that aren't saved, you have an idea and understanding of the gospel message. You're lost. You're a sinner. You know that the spirit of God convicts and he deals with you and he lets you know that beyond any doubt, not because the preacher said it, but because he said it. You know this. You know that he convicts you. You know that he comes and he draws you towards repentance and faith. And what? You? No. The preacher? No. The church? No. Christ. The therefore. The reason that we talk about all of this. You know these things. You don't need a new understanding or a new doctrine. You don't need me to explain, most of you, the fundamental foundational topics of the Christian faith. You know them for the most part. And the Hebrew writer does not say, pay attention to a new doctrine that is coming. What is he saying? Pay attention to what you've already heard. I remember talking with several or a couple of my those a couple of brothers that were also preachers, we were much younger then, and I remember the frustration sometimes that we would feel of having to come up with some kind of thing to grab the attention of people. To make people interested in listening to what we have to say. And you know what? There isn't anything new that I had to bring to you. And it is not that we are to pay attention to something that you don't already know. You're supposed to pay attention, as am I, to what I already know. I'm not supposed to look for some new thing. I'm not supposed to look for some new doctrine, because as you recall, how has God spoken to us in these last days? Through Jesus Christ. And through no other will he speak to us, because we are in the last days, Christ Jesus, the Lord, is how God speaks, what God speaks and through whom God speaks and specifically with the Spirit of God as he brings it to us. Once you have heard the truth, you are now responsible to listening and it is not new to you. Pay attention to what you have heard. Your struggle and mine. is about being obedient to that which we have already heard. And to have faith in that in which we know we are supposed to have faith. Pay attention to this, he says, to what you've already heard. Not to some new thing, but because God has spoken and he's spoken to us fully in his son and we know what he has said. Those who are saved, we often, though, look for something outside of that, some new thought, some new teaching, some new preacher that would be able to garner the attention of people. And I'll tell you, that won't last very long either. Pay heed. Pay attention to the things that you already know. This is, by the way, why regular attendance with the church is important. It's important to have this truth continually and ever before you. So that you might pay attention to it, not to some new thing. But to what you already know is true. You know, if we are to pay attention and oftentimes in the life of a child of God, let me ask you this question. How many people do you know that you can think of in your mind right now stopped paying attention and they're no longer in church? And let me ask you this, did they like that leave? Some of them, perhaps I can think of one. I say most of them, you know what it was? I'm a little tired. I'm not going to go back to Bible study. It's Wednesday or Sunday night. I'm going to I'm going to lay out of that. Or maybe it's Sunday morning, even, you know, I'm going to go I'm going to miss today. I'm not going to pay let me I'm not going to pay attention today is basically what we're saying. That's why it's so important, because it's it's to pay attention to the things we've already heard. And that's what we do here. Because we bring to our awareness the things that we know about God, the therefore, as it leaps, leaps off the page and goes beyond the knowledge of Christ into our lives after the therefore, we are to pay attention to it, because as with tendance, it's Sunday morning is slack. Sunday night is slack. It gets easier and it gets easier and it gets easier. And I'll just tell you this, you're in a great danger of being distracted. You're going to be distracted. Not paying attention. That's why the Scriptures tell us to not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. Why? Seeing the day of the Lord approach. If what we said is true. What manner of persons ought we to be? Be warned, take heed. Why? Lest at any time. I've already kind of insinuated this, but the meanings found here is is, in fact, you look up this word, it's it's at any time, it's once ever, any time, it's just if at any moment the idea here is that whether you have been a Christian for 50 years or one day, You are at risk of losing your attention to the things that you've heard. You're not at risk of losing your salvation. Spirit of God seals that. This is about your life. This is about godliness in your life. That is an evidence of the reality of conversion in the soul. But it comes to us and it says, lest at any time, I think sometimes we think, well, you know, you look at me, your brother Douglas, we've been preaching 20 years or more. We're not going to slip. Yeah, we will. You want to know how? By stop by not paying attention to the things that we've heard, lest at any time. At any time in your life, at any moment, whether you've been in church a thousand times or one time, it's the same. There's no one above this. None of us in this room are above the ability to stop paying attention and to slip. According to King James translation that we'll talk about momentarily, but it's at any time. What do you, by the way, have of late been walking close to God or not? How many of you how many how many times in your life have you felt a special sense, maybe a great sense of the closeness of God? And maybe you've been able to walk that way for days and weeks, not without sin, but just close to the Lord. When you do sin, it bothers you, it convicts you. You get up on your knees and you repent and you ask God to forgive you and you get back up and you walk with him again. And maybe you walk that way for a time and then a very brief amount of distraction comes in your life and you wake up one day and you think, how did this happen? Lord, you were close. Now you feel so far away. And it's as if we look at him and say, God, where did you go? I remember when I was at a fair. It's a small boy in Missouri. I remember how old I was. It's pretty small. I was walking and I could see my dad in the corner of my eye. I knew he was there. Lots of people at this affair. You know, a bunch of people running around Springfield, Missouri. I could see him in the corner of my eye. I was walking around and all of a sudden something grabbed my attention and I was looking at it for just a moment. And I looked back and my dad was gone. I didn't know where he was. And I remember feeling very afraid and fearful. Where did he go? All these people going 100 miles an hour everywhere. They're not looking at me. I'm just this little kid in the middle of this mass of humanity. And my dad's gone. He was just right there. Where did he go? How many times do we feel that way spiritually? God, where'd you go? And he looks at me and my dad knew where I was the whole time. He saw me. I didn't see him. God looks at us and He says, not where I went, it's where your attention went. You took your eyes off me and put it upon whatever it was. Your attention span is the problem. You know what I think? I think everybody in this country can be diagnosed with ADD. I think slowly everybody is getting diagnosed with ADD. Every one of us. Attention deficit disorder, it's not a disorder, it's called sin. It's called the human condition. We're trying to explain it all the way and give me an excuse for not paying attention to the things of God and things of life and the things of eternity. Give me an excuse. Our culture is already there more than willing to give you an excuse if you want one. lest at any time you should let them slip. And that's where we want to end, of course, today. Here it is. Here's the consequence. This one sentence in the scripture, one sentence has such eternal significance to our life. And this, at the end of it, is the consequence. You're going to let it slip, according to the King James, but the Greek It's translated, not we should slip, means to flow by, to drift, to wash away. I want to read to you from the ASV and the ESV. This is how they have this verse. Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we heard, lest happily we drift away from them. The ESV, therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. There's nothing terribly doctrinally wrong with the word. Let it slip. But it doesn't give the sense, I believe, of what the Greek actually said. You see, it's not the truth that moves. It is you and it is me. The truth of God's word, the psalmist says, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. You and I, although I think sometimes in our religious arrogance, we can claim to grab a hold of the truth and we hold on to it. And then we look at this verse and say, sometimes we can let that slip. That's fine, I suppose. However, what's actually being said here is if you don't pay attention, you're going to drift away. The truth is not going to move. You are. And I am. I'm not going to change the truth by the way I act, the way I think, the way I behave. The truth is the truth and the things which we have heard are stable things. They are the rock. But if we don't pay attention, we're going to find ourselves drifting away. And I want to tell you this. If you don't find yourself. Every day, to some degree or another. correcting your course on this river of life, the current is going to take you away from the truth. It's not going to take you towards it. This culture that we live in is as ungodly as it's ever been. I don't need to tell you that you know this to be true. If we're not constantly course correcting, if we're not paying attention, it's as if we're headed down the Niagara Falls and the falls are just shortly up there. But maybe there's a safe path that we can go to get to shore if we're not paying attention. If you, by the way, were rushing down the river towards the falls at Niagara, would you take your eyes off and go, my, look at what a beautiful bird that is. Look how beautiful that tree is. Boy, those falls, they're lovely. No. You would in desperation be trying to get to shore. You want to know what you and I are when we get distracted to the things of this world? We're just happy as can be, flowing down the river of life, drifting away from God because we're not paying attention. Because we're not paying attention. If we don't pay attention, we will drift away And as I thought very in closing or shortly here in a moment, I thought, you know, this can be said to always be true. So in the world, some even among God's people might be offended if you came to them and said you're drifting. You're drifting. You don't know the truth of the matter. It's probably true for every one of us in this room. To one degree or another. We've drifted. We've allowed our focus to be elsewhere. We've allowed our eyes to rest upon things that just don't matter, that if we don't pay attention, the Hebrew writer is imploring these believers Therefore, give the more earnest heed to what you have heard, because at any time you might drift away. Of those people that you thought of earlier, when I asked you how many people you might know that have drifted away and are no longer in church, how many of them do you suppose thought that they would? I remember we had a lady come in out of nowhere, She got saved, baptized her. I was talking with her about, you need to come to church, you need to be in Bible study, you need to mature. She says, Oh, I'm never, I'm never leaving. What God's done, I'm never leaving. And it wasn't very long. I drifted. I wonder how many of us have been allowed to drift. Because we've not loved one another enough to say you're drifting. But how many of us would let our child drift into danger without warning them? How many times has God brought this reality to me? You're drifting. And you're drifting not because of some complicated circumstance of life. You're drifting not because life is more difficult now than it used to be. You're drifting because you're just not paying attention. Those of you that are lost, you're drifting further and further from God, perhaps. Don't expect God to pay you any more attention than you pay him. He will, in his grace and mercy, he reaches out to you. The brethren, these last comments I want to make this morning is that we must pay attention. We are traveling down this river of life and we're traveling it together at this time. We're traveling it for one purpose and one cause, and that is the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ in this world, period. You place our thoughts and our concerns upon anything else, we're going to drift. It's inevitable. We pay attention to other things. We're going to drift. It's just inevitable. Warning signs have been read for all of us. Responsibility now passes from the one giving the warning to the one being warned. Maybe you've been here today and I did lose you after five minutes. Maybe I lost you at some five minute period or interval between then and now. I don't know. But I know this, that the warning of God must be taken more seriously than any other warning that we can be given. Because it is given from God to man. And he didn't even owe us that. He didn't even owe us this warning, but he gave it. Have you heard the warning? Or have you been too distracted by other thoughts? Maybe you're just too tired. I don't know. I hope none of these are the case. I hope we have heard and that we will heed the warning here. And that warning is to pay attention so that we will not drift away.