Good evening, brothers and sisters, what a privilege it is to be standing here again before you with the word of God open. The word of God that brings us to justification, the word of God that brings our sanctification and the word of God that tells of our glorification to come. So much. So much of the church today neglects this reliable word that we've been given And so it stands to reason that much of the church, therefore, has neglected the great salvation that we have been given. The gospel is the most obvious place where the word of God is missing. As Pastor Philip shared just a minute ago, certain churches will go and try to demonstrate the power of God and try to bless people. but they don't share the Gospel. There's no Word of God shared with people. How many Gospel presentations have we heard or read that wouldn't have converted Moses himself for the lack of the Word of God? How many conversion stories have you heard where there was no repentance from sin and a complete surrender of a person's life to Christ? Recently, a member of an extremely popular secular rock band told his conversion story to a Christian newspaper after writing a book describing his conversion experience and I wanted to share this with you. This is a quote. These are his own words describing how he found Christ. I got hooked on methamphetamines and did meth every day. I couldn't quit. I went to rehab and I just couldn't quit. I didn't even know I was coming back to Christ. I didn't even know I had Christ. I didn't know Christ was real. I knew that they said He was real, but I never experienced Him. So when I went to rehab, I couldn't quit the drug. I got invited to a church by a friend, and they took me in. The preacher was talking about how you can just go. All you've got to do is talk to God in your everyday life, and He'll be involved. If you just hang out with Him, all the bad things of your life will just fall out. So I went home, started snorting some drugs, and I prayed on drugs. I said, Lord, if you're real like that guy said, please take these drugs from me. Make them go away. Reveal yourself to me and all that. I think in a week or two, I got the urge to throw away all my drugs with the help of a friend. I was done. So he showed me he was real, and I was like, OK, now you're real. Now what? What do you want me to do? Cool. This is awesome. Now what? And that's when I left the band that he was a part of. Is that the story of our salvation? Is that the limit of our salvation, the gospel? That if we just hang out with God, all of the bad things in our life will fall out? That we can just go do some drugs and pray to God to reveal Himself to us? Brothers and sisters, if this is the whole story of this man's salvation, He is not saved from anything. He is not saved from His sin. He is not saved from the power of sin in His life. And He is not saved from the eternal consequences of His sin and the eternal judgment to come. If this is the extent of His experience and knowledge, I do not believe that it is judgmental to tell this man that he needs to hear the Gospel. I believe it is the responsibility of every true believer who hears this story to tell this man that he needs to hear the true gospel and accept the gospel. But this is not what has happened. This is one of the most celebrated conversion stories in the church in the past year. This man has written a book which ranked in the top 20 of the New York Times bestsellers list. He's gone on a book signing tour, has tattooed the name of Jesus across his hand, and he had a very touching interview with CNN. And it showed his life that is now full of all sorts of good things. But this man has no idea what salvation is about. He has no idea of the Gospel. And many, many Christians have gone along with him, hailing this conversion story as the power of God. But this is not the salvation that we teach and preach. And it is not the Gospel that is found on the pages of Scripture. If you'll open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 2, Beginning in verse 1, the writer says, 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 the 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. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for tonight. Lord, we thank you for the rain that you're giving us. We thank you for Pastor Phillip being here, Pastor Al being here, Lord. I pray that you would be with us at this time. Lord, help me to project, help me to be clear. Help us to be open to your word and to your great gospel, Lord. in Christ's name. Well, the writer of Hebrews had a very good idea of the greatness of our salvation, the one true salvation. And the context of our passage of scripture tonight is the whole of chapter one. The writer begins his letter by saying, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his son. And who is the Son of God? The writer goes on to define Him as the heir of all things in verses 1-4. The creator of all the worlds or ages. The brightness of God's glory in the express image of His person. The sustainer of all things by the word of His power. The one who purges our sins. The one seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. So much better than angels. And with a name more excellent than they. This is our Lord. And this is just the beginning. This was just in the first four verses. He goes on to say, either explicitly or implicitly, that He is God's Son, in verse 5. The object of angels' worship, in verse 6. He is God, in verse 8. He is Lord, in verse 10. He is Creator, in verse 10. He is Eternal, verses 11 and 12. He is Almighty, in verse 12. And He is Sovereign, in verses 12 and 13. Our great salvation was brought about by this Lord, who made Himself a little lower than the angels, as we read in Psalm earlier, while He spent time on this earth as a man, while retaining His divinity. But He is superior to the angels, and the author spells out just some of Jesus' superiority and authority over the angels. And this great Savior brought about our great salvation. Now, how is our salvation great? Or what is so special about our salvation? Well, the writer here in chapter two gives at least nine different ways that our salvation is special. We're going to go through a few of these this evening, though, thankfully, not all of them. So what is so special about our salvation? Number one, our salvation is special because it is crucial. Our salvation is crucial. The writer says we must give the more earnest heed to it. And the words mean that we are unusually or extraordinarily holding on to something. We're holding on to the things that we have heard, the gospel, in a way that we don't hold on to anything else. Jesus said in Matthew, he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." You see, we are to deny ourselves. We are to take up our cross and follow Him. We are to love Him more than we love our husbands and wives and children, and yes, even more than we love our own life. We are to let go of this life and hold fast to the great God of our salvation. Paul tells the Corinthians that He, Jesus, died for us. That those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Jesus is our life now. And we are His servants. And this is in direct contrast with many other religions. Many other religions would teach that as long as you are sincere, and as long as it works for you, as long as you have faith, that's all that matters. And even some in the church have taking hold of this idea, the post-modern idea that if it works for you, it's fine. There is truth, but only as it is important to you and only as it relates to you. But the Word of God proclaims that it is crucial to believe this gospel and no other, because there is no other gospel. The writer says we must do this. This is not a decision to be made after we have become saved. This is part of our salvation. So many people today have been given a soft message of false hope because they never knew what they were deciding to do when they came to Christ. Before you begin following Christ, you must count the cost. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 14, Luke, recording the words of Christ, Jesus says, whoever does not bear His cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. And in verse 28, He says, for which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? Lest after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. He gives another illustration of a king going out to war. without preparation. And He says in verse 33, So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. This is all or nothing. There is no middle ground here. There is no middle ground here. You either hold fast to your possessions and your life, and you eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die, or you give everything up for Christ and you hold fast to Him. Look at Hebrews 10. Verse 23, the writer of Hebrews says, because we have the perfect High Priest who shed His blood, verse 23, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promised is faithful. Hold fast your confession. Why? Because it is sure. That is number two that we see in our section. Stay here in chapter 10, verse 23. But number two, our salvation is special because it is sure. At the end of verse 23, the writer says, For he who promised is faithful. We do not hold on to a Savior who is unfaithful, but faithful to himself and to his character and to his promises to us. Hebrews 13.8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is immutable. That is unchangeable and immovable. Look back at our section here in chapter 2, verse 1. The writer says, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. And you will notice who drifts away. It is not the Gospel that moves or drifts away, it is us. Back in the Gospel of Luke, in chapter 8, Jesus tells a parable illustrating man's fickleness, if you will. In verse 5, he says, a sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock, and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold. When he had said these things, he cried, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. The disciples later asked him, what does this mean? What do you mean by this parable? And Jesus says in verse 11, this parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. And these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. But here it is. Now, the ones that fell among the thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches and pleasures of life and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. In John's Gospel, he records Jesus talking with the people who do not truly believe in him. They followed Him for their physical, temporary needs to be met. And He turns to them in chapter 6 and verse 37, and He tells them, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that all He gives me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. Everyone in Him who believes in Him will be raised up. Jesus will leave no true believer behind. And it is to this hope that we cling. Jesus is sure in our Gospel. The salvation that we have is sure. The salvation to which we hold is special because it is sure. But praise God that our salvation is not sure because of our ability to hold on to the immovable Savior. Verse 39, He says again, of all that He has given Me, I should lose nothing. And verse 40, I will raise Him up at the last day. Jesus Himself holds us close to Him. And He is the One who keeps our salvation. He keeps us, but the evidence of that holding is our holding fast to Him. Our perfect and only Savior. Well, number three. Number one, our salvation was crucial. Number two, it is sure. Number three, our salvation is special because it is spoken by God. Did you see that in verse 2? The writer says, for if the word spoken through angels proves steadfast, who speaks through angels? God does. Angels never speak on their own accord. Throughout Scripture, it is angels who are sent, and it is translated in the passive voice for a reason. They don't send themselves. God sends them. And speaking of translating, the word for angel in the New Testament is angelos, which means messenger. The word itself means that they are simply messengers carrying a message from God to man. They don't come up with the message on their own. They don't have the message to bring that they made up. They come to us from God. In chapter one of Hebrews here, just looking back a couple of verses, verse 13, the writer says, 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? God said this to Jesus. Sit at My right hand. He would never say that to an angel. Jesus is the Son of God. He is God Himself. And an angel is just a messenger from God sent to minister, as the writer says here, to those who will inherit salvation. That's us. Angels are even called ministering spirits because that's what they do. They minister on behalf of God. They never minister on their own accord and they never bring a message apart from the one that God has sent them to proclaim. Remember that salvation does not come to angels. They only proclaim it. In fact, they don't even fully understand it. Peter says in his first epistle, in chapter one, In verse 10 he says, Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not to themselves but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. things which angels desire to look into. The angels desire to see this. They wonder what this is all about, what the grace of God is all about. And they're merely speaking as God leads them to speak. At the beginning of Luke's gospel, he describes the prophecy of the birth of John the Baptist to his parents. And the angel tells Zacharias, his father, what will happen. And Zacharias does not believe, but questions the message brought by the angel. And Zacharias says, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in years. And remember, they were both older and she had been barren. And the angel answered him after he questioned him, I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. Gabriel did not send Gabriel. God sent Gabriel. God sent him with this message. Who was it that foretold the salvation to come throughout the Old Testament beginning with Genesis 3, 15 and going all the way through Malachi? It was God. Whether He spoke audibly Himself to His messengers, through an angel, through the angel of the Lord, whatever it was, God spoke our salvation to us from the beginning. And the writer here says that the angels spoke because it was God speaking through them and it is steadfast. He says, for if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward. The word if here is probably better translated since or because of. Because the word spoken through angels proved steadfast. And why has it proven steadfast? Because it came from the Lord. The Word of God is true and steadfast. Not one jot or tittle will pass from the Word of God. The word steadfast here carries a legal connotation. When people purchased land, they validated the sale. They guaranteed it. It was steadfast. It was legally binding. And that's the word used here. The Word of God is legally binding because He, the Lawgiver, proclaimed it so. So our salvation is special because it is crucial and it is sure and it is spoken by God. But also, fourthly, our salvation is special because it is exclusive. At the end of verse two and beginning of verse three, the writer says, every transgression and disobedience received a just reward. How shall we escape? The word is clear. God by no means clears the guilty. Exodus 34, 7 and Numbers 14, 18 say the same thing. So what makes us guilty? Look at the words used here in Hebrews 2. The writer uses the word transgression and the word disobedience. Transgression is the act of going against the law of God knowingly and willingly and purposely. You're stepping over a clear line that God has drawn. This would be comparable to a presumptuous sin. A sin with a high hand. A high-fisted sin. God, I am doing this against Your will. I know better, but I'm going to do this. There's no excuse for this type of sin. However, the word for disobedience here is the word which means bad hearing. Transgression was a willful act of disobedience This word is bad hearing. The idea here is that you purposefully choose not to hear. You block your ears so that you don't have to know what God says, so that you don't have to obey. Hey, if I don't hear Him, I don't know that it's a sin, right? However, ignorance is not an excuse either. God sums it up nicely in Leviticus 5, 17. He says, If a person sins and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, Though He does not know it, yet He is guilty and shall bear His iniquity. There is no excuse for this type of sin either. Whether you consciously and willfully disobey or whether you consciously prevent yourself from hearing, God holds us accountable to His Word. But who would sin in this way? I mean, who would sin against the Holy God of the universe in this way? Every one of us would and every one of us does. Every human being who has ever been born who was not also God has sinned in this way. Paul writes to the Romans, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good. No, not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All, as we went over in Sunday school this evening. In fact, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached to the elders and the scribes and the high priests, that there is no salvation in any other person than in Jesus. For there is no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved. None. Our salvation is exclusivistic. And only by grace, through faith in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, can we be saved. And only for God's glory. Paul gives a strict warning to the Galatians regarding the exclusive message of the gospel which brings our great salvation. In fact, Paul says it twice in his short section. In verse 8 of chapter 1 of Galatians, he says, But even if we or an angel from heaven preach to you any other gospel than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. And of course, we know that no angel from heaven would preach a gospel contrary to the one that Paul had preached because they don't preach their own gospel. They don't have their own message. But he says it again. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. This is important. This is crucial. This is exclusive. However, even though it is exclusive. Number five, our salvation is special because it is neglectful. Say what? Didn't you say it is crucial, and it is sure, and it is spoken by God, and it is exclusive? There is no other gospel? How can it be neglectful? How can we forget about this? Look at verse 3, here in Hebrews 2. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Sinful men will reject the gospel. Every one of us would have rejected the gospel if it had not been for the powerful working of God to open our eyes to see the truth of His Word. The meaning of this Word emphasizes the carelessness with which the Gospel is rejected. Not only does someone say that they don't want the Gospel, they say that it doesn't even matter. I don't care. Have you ever heard that before? What a sad thing to say. I've heard someone say that recently and I can't imagine a more sad It's one thing to hear from somebody that it doesn't even matter what God says. It's one thing to listen and to make your own decision, but just to thumb your nose at God and say that you're not going to listen. Pray that God would keep you from that. Pray that God would soften your heart and break you before Him, that you will never be careless about His commands and His Gospel. was warned before he even began prophesying to Israel that this was the condition of man. Ezekiel records what God told him in chapter 2 of his book. He says, Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet. And I heard Him who spoke to me. And He said to me, Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. They and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day, for they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God. Ask for them whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are a rebellious house. yet they will know that a prophet has been among them." The people were rebellious and they were either going to listen or they were not, right? That was the only two choices. We'll look over in chapter 3, verse 4. Then He, God, said to me, Ezekiel, son of man, go to the house of Israel. Speak with My words to them. For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to those of the house of Israel. Not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to me. For all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted." The fact is that the people were not going to listen. Ezekiel was warned that this was the type of people that he was going to go before. They were going to neglect this message that they heard. But the warning that God gives to Ezekiel in chapter 2, again, God says, you shall speak My words to them whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. The people who were going to prophesy were going to reject this message. They were going to neglect it. They were going to reject the prophet. They were going to reject God. But you, Ezekiel, do not do that. You are responsible for how you respond and you are responsible to take this message to these people in obedience to my commands. This message of salvation is neglectful because it is offensive to people. Paul tells the Corinthians in the first chapter of his epistle, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. A little further on, he says, for Jews, request a sign. And Greeks, seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block. And to the Greeks, foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. This salvation that we have is special. It is unique and we are thankful for it. The world would rather not hear it because it is foolishness to them and they will not hear it unless they are called. They would rather reject it and neglect it. But each of us has the responsibility to preach it, to teach it, to spread it all over the world as it was intended. And not only does the world want to neglect it, but people who call themselves believers neglect it. Just look at the gospel presentations out there in the tracks and in the training classes and the one we looked at at the beginning of the service tonight. Just concentrate on the positive. Don't offend anyone. Just tell of God's love. But we must not be afraid of offending people with the Bible when we are spreading the gospel, because the Bible tells us that people will reject it. And those that don't reject it will accept it. and they will have believed the one true gospel that will bring them into the very presence of God when He chooses to call us home, as opposed to a false gospel that will lead them to hell. Oh, let us not neglect the salvation that has been granted to us by grace. Let us be reminded that it is sure It is crucial. It is sure. It was spoken by God. But it is still neglectful by the world. Well, there are many other things that he has to say about our Gospel, our great Gospel that we have been blessed with. But that's all we have time for tonight. It's not because you have become dull of hearing as the Hebrews had been. But we're getting close to running out of time, and you can come back next week and hear the other four. We've seen that our salvation is crucial, it is sure, it is spoken by God, it is exclusive, it is neglectful. And next week we will see more about this great salvation that we've been given. Dear Heavenly Father, what a blessing it is to be here with your people tonight. God, what a blessing to have your salvation given to us. God, none of us deserves Your grace, Your mercy, Lord, but we are thankful for it. We praise You for it, God. Keep us from neglect. Keep us from being lazy. Help us to see Your great grace toward us, Lord. Bring it to mind through this week. Help us to share it with others and help us to be humble and broken before You. I pray that You would go with us tonight. Help us to get home safely. Lord, thank You for this rain in Christ's name. Amen.