God's Superior Messenger (Part 4)

 

Lesson Two

God’s Superior Messenger

Heb. 2:1-4

 

Theme: Christ is Superior to the Angels as God’s Spokesman and Revealer (1:4). Therefore, we must seriously listen to Him, carefully obey His counsel, and diligently nurture the great salvation we have in Him.

Lesson:

An Admonition: Heed Christ’s Word and Don’t Drift away from Him (Heb. 2:1–4).

                                                    i.     This admonition encourages us to pay attention to God’s Word spoken through Christ and to obey it (Heb. 2:1, 3). God does not sit idly by and permit His children to rebel against Him. He will continue to speak and, when necessary, He chastens His own.

1.     The admonition is written to believers, because the writer includes himself when he writes “we” (2:1, 3). The danger here is that of neglecting our salvation.

a.      Neglect (2:3) means to be careless of or make light of.  It is to be inattentive or show no regard for Christ and His great salvation.  It is an act of ignoring Christ and NT truth!

b.     The words “if we neglect” refer to believers neglecting spiritual graces (Heb. 10:25), and allowing themselves to drift by New Testament truths while tempted to go back to OT temple worship and sacrifices.

c.      Please note that the author did not write “rejecting” but “neglecting” (vs. 2:3) He is not encouraging sinners to become Christians; rather, he is encouraging Christians to pay attention to the great salvation we have received from the Lord.

2.     This is significant because the author warned these believers, including himself, about neglecting salvation and losing out on the opportunity to reign with Christ (see Phil. 2:12, 13). The great salvation, the same as mentioned in 1:14, cannot be a reference merely to justification because this salvation was first . . . spoken by the Lord (Heb. 2:3). Justification was spoken of in the Old Testament (see Gen. 15:6); but it was the Lord who first spoke of His followers inheriting His kingdom and reigning with Him (see v. 10; Luke 12:31, 32; 22:29, 30).

3.     Christ and His teaching require our complete commitment and adherence!

                                                  ii.     This admonition encourages us to guard against the possibility of drifting from the Lord (Heb. 2:1). Because of the greatness of the Giver and because of the greatness of His gift, we who have heard the gospel must give more serious attention to it.

1.     There is always the danger of drifting away from Christ and slipping back into an anemic form of Christianity. This means drifting into apostasy!

2.     “Lest at any time we should let them slip” (Heb. 2:1) basically signifies allowing ourselves to gradually slip away from NT teaching and truth.  We can drift away from the Lord!

a.      A boat might drift and be carried downstream past safe harbor if the crew members neglect to watch their position. Just as a boat can drift away, so a Christian can drift away from Christ. We are encouraged to pay far more careful attention so as not to lose our bearings. To what are we to pay attention? “To the things which we have heard,” referring to the full message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. We must consider our ways—examine ourselves for drifting—and act on what we have heard.

b.     Such careful attention requires work, but this labor keeps us from drifting away from Christ. Too many people have a casual attitude toward Christian truth today. Do we pay as close attention to Christian truth as we do to our LES each month, our stocks, or the sports results?

c.      Drifting is always easier than maintaining the same position. Christians today also have subtle influences that could cause us to drift from Christ. We must pay careful attention to our faith and be prepared against temptations. We might think we are well anchored in our faith, but a hidden, slow-moving current of temptation or harmful attitudes could carry us away from shore without our even noticing it. Such change happens gradually and undetected. This message of Hebrews is appropriate for Christians today: Pay attention!

3.     Later (Heb. 6:19), the writer uses the illustration of an anchor to show how confident we can be in the promises of God. More spiritual problems are caused by neglect than perhaps by any other failure on our part.

a.      The book of Hebrews calls us to pay attention to the truth we have heard so that we won’t drift away into false teachings.

b.     How do Christians drift away?

                                                                                                                i.     We may become careless or complacent in our devotion to Christ.

                                                                                                              ii.     We may backslide into sin we formerly had rejected.

                                                                                                            iii.     We may compromise our morals and disobey Christ’s teaching.

                                                                                                            iv.     We may neglect Christian service and thus become inactive Christians.

c.      The currents of temptation pull strongly at Christians. In order to resist, we must pay attention to Christ. Listening to him means not merely hearing, but also obeying and taking action on what God calls us to do (see James 1:22-25). We must listen carefully and be ready to carry out his instructions. Don’t become a drifter. –The Life Application Commentary Series 

4.     We neglect God’s Word, prayer, worship with God’s people (see Heb. 10:25), and other opportunities for spiritual growth, and as a result, we start to drift. The anchor does not move; we do.

                                                iii.     This admonition encourages us to avoid the penalty for spiritual neglect and indifference (Heb 2:3).  You see, if disobedience to a revelation transmitted by angels was severely punished, indifference to the salvation brought by Christ receives even greater punishment.

1.     If the people who heard the message delivered through angels (Old Covenant) were justly punished when they disobeyed the Law, how can NT believers expect to escape punishment when we neglect the even greater message delivered through the greatest Messenger, the Son?

a.      We cannot suppose there would be no penalties for infractions against the New Covenant (Heb. 10:25-31). If we lose sight of the ultimate victory and deliverance that was promised to us in connection with the Son’s own final victory, we should expect retribution (Heb. 12:25). The nature of the punishment is not spell out, but it would be unwarranted to think he was talking about hell.

b.     But, still how much greater responsibility do we have today who have received the Word from the Son of God!

c.      In Hebrews 2:2, “transgression” refers to sins of commission, while “disobedience” suggests sins of omission.

2.     The story is told of the pastor who preached a series of sermons on “the sins of the saints.” He was reprimanded by a member of the church. “After all,” said the member, “sin in the life of a Christian is different from sin in the lives of other people.”

“Yes,” replied the pastor, “it’s worse!”

3.     We have the idea that believers today “under grace” can escape the chastening hand of God that was so evident “under Law.” But to whom much is given, much shall be required (Luke 12:48).

                                                iv.     This admonition includes supernatural testimonies to confirm that the Gospel preached by Christ and the apostles was authentic (Heb. 2:3-4). 

1.     Not only have we received the Word directly from the Lord, the Son of God, but that Word has been confirmed.

a.       God Himself authenticated the message by signs and wonders, and with various miracles (Heb. 2:4).

                                                                                                                i.     Signs were those miracles of the Lord and of the apostles which signified spiritual truths. For example, the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1–14) formed the basis of the discourse on the Bread of Life which followed (John 6:25–59).

                                                                                                              ii.     Wonders were miracles which were intended to arouse amazement in the spectators; the raising of Lazarus illustrates this (John 11:1–44). The apostle in Acts 3 also.

                                                                                                            iii.     Miracles were any displays of supernatural power which contravened the laws of nature. These miracles were performed by the Apostles (see Mark 16:17–20; Acts 2:43).  The miracles witnessed to and confirmed the Word was true.

b.     Gifts of the Holy Spirit were special abilities given to believers to speak and act in ways that were completely beyond their natural abilities so that they may minister in the church (1Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11). The words according to His own will indicate that these miraculous powers are given out by the Holy Spirit as He chooses. They are sovereign gifts of God. They cannot be demanded by men, or claimed in answer to prayer, because God has never promised them to all.

2.     The purpose of all these miracles was to attest to the truth of the gospel, especially to the Jewish people, who traditionally asked for some sign before they would believe.

a.      There is some evidence that the need of confirmatory miracles ceased when the NT became available in written form. But it is impossible to prove conclusively that the Holy Spirit never duplicates these miracles in other ages.  

b.     Today we have the completed Word of God; so there is no need for these apostolic miracles. God now bears witness through His Spirit using the Word (Rom. 8:16; 1 John 5:1–13).

3.     Too many Christians today take the Word of God for granted and neglect it. In my pastoral ministry, I have discovered that neglect of the Word of God and prayer, publicly and privately, is the cause of most “spiritual drifting.” I need not multiply examples because every believer knows that this is true. He has either experienced this “drifting” or has seen it in the lives of others.

 

b.     The next time you sing “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” recall that the composer, Robert Robinson, was converted under the mighty preaching of George Whitefield, but that later he drifted from the Lord, He had been greatly used as a pastor, but neglect of spiritual things led him astray. In an attempt to find peace, he began to travel. During one of his journeys, he met a young woman who was evidently very spiritually minded.

“What do you think of this hymn I have been reading?” she asked Robinson, handing him the book. It was his own hymn! He tried to avoid her question, but it was hopeless, for the Lord was speaking to him. Finally, he broke down and confessed who he was and how he had been living away from the Lord.

“But these ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing,” the woman assured him; and through her encouragement, Robinson was restored to fellowship with the Lord.

 

c.      It is easy to drift with the current, but it is difficult to return against the stream. Our salvation is a “great salvation,” purchased at a great price. It brings with it great promises and blessings, and it leads to a great inheritance in glory. How can we neglect it?

 

Inspiration

The basic theme of Hebrews is found in the word better, describing the superiority of Christ in His person and work (1:4; 6:9; 7:7, 19, 22; 8:6; 9:23; 10:34; 11:16, 35, 40; 12:24). In Christ we have something far better than any religion could ever muster.  The words perfect and heavenly are also prominent. Christ offers us a better revelation, position, priesthood, covenant, sacrifice, principle, and power. Hebrews develops this theme to prevent them from giving up the substance for the shadow by abandoning Christianity and retreating into the old Jewish system. This letter is also written to exhort us to become mature in Christ and to put away our spiritual dullness and degeneration. Thus, it stresses doctrine, particularly Christology (the study of Christ) and soteriology (the study of salvation).