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).
