Sermon #4                                                         Hebrews Notes

 

          Title:            LEST WE LET THEM SLIP

          Text:            Hebrews 2:1-4

          Readings:     Paul Winderl and Buddy daugherty

          Subject:       The Danger of Apostasy

          Date:            Tuesday Evening – November 9,1999

          Tape #         V-53b

          Introduction:

 

"Therefore – Here, the Holy Spirit calls us to roll over in our hearts and minds the excellence, glory, and superiority of Christ and the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in him. With this word, “therefore,” he is telling us to recall, gather up our thoughts, and focus our attention upon what he has just told us. The word, “therefore,” might be translated “since.”

·        Since God has spoken to us by his holy prophets..

·        Since God has spoken to us by his own Son…

·        Since the Lord Jesus Christ is the appointed heir of all things…

·        Since he who is our Savior is the Creator of all things…

·        Since Christ, the God-man, is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person…

·        Since he upholds all things by the word of his power…

·        Since he has by himself purged our sins…

·        Since he who is our Savior is the exalted, reigning Monarch of the universe…

·        Since our great Savior is so much better than and superior to the angels…

 

          We ought” – The apostle doesn’t say, “you ought,” but “we ought!” It is as though he said, the message I have for you is the message of God to me. I’m in the same boat you’re in. I have the same struggles you have. I face the same dangers you face. I have the same responsibilities you have.

 

Gospel preachers are men just like you. Even the apostles and prophets of old were men just like you. We are sinners saved by grace alone, -- Sinners in the midst of great conflict, -- Sinners with great trials, -- Sinners in constant need of grace, -- Sinners under the unceasing assault of hell! What is worse, our flesh is in league with hell! Therefore, we must ever watch and pray. We must ever be vigilant. We must constantly press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed” – We must, each one, personally and diligently apply to ourselves and faithfully lay to heart, “the things which we have heard.

 

It is our duty and responsibility to bow to the Word of God, to bend our wills to God’s will, our minds to God’s revelation, and our thoughts to God’s gospel. We must set our affection upon Christ; and we must do so constantly. We must bring our whole man, every thought and imagination, every faculty of our being, into willing captivity and subjection to Christ. It is not enough that we have heard and do hear the gospel, we must apply it to ourselves and set our hearts upon it.

 

The things which we have heard” – The things we have heard are the glorious truths of the gospel set forth in Holy Scripture. Now, look at the next line.

 

Lest at any time we should let them slip.” – This is a very unusual expression. It is used nowhere else in the Word of God. It could be translated – “Let them slip,” – or “Let them run by,” or “Let slip.” However the word is translated, it is an expression of real danger, the danger of apostasy, the danger of losing the benefit of the gospel, the danger of eternal ruin. How can I impress upon your hearts the seriousness of this matter? It is absolutely vital that we persevere in the faith, that we continue in the Word. There are many who once seemed to have a real interest in the things of God who have made shipwreck of the faith and of their immortal souls (1 Tim. 1:19).

 

John 8:31  "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;"

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-3  "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (2) By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. (3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;"

 

Colossians 1:23  "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"

 

Hebrews 3:14  "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;"

 

Hebrews 4:1  "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."

 

Hebrews 12:25  "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:"

 

 

The admonition of Hebrews 2:1 is this – If we would be saved, if we would continue in the faith, if we would avoid making shipwreck of our souls, we must bind the gospel to our hearts and bind our hearts to the gospel.

 

Proverbs 6:20-22  "My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: (21) Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. (22) When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee."

 

Now, read verses 2 and 3 – “For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation.”

 

If those who heard and neglected the law of God, given by the mediation of mere angels, perished under the wrath of God, how much more surely shall they perish who neglect, take lightly the gospel of Christ, which is the proclamation of “so great salvation?”

 

The salvation we preach is here called “so great salvation” with good reason.

 

1.    The Author of It

 

Hebrews 5:8-9  "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (9) And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;"

 

2.    The Wisdom of It

 

Romans 3:25-26  "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

 

3.    The Objects of It

 

1 Timothy 1:15  "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."

 

4.    The Cost of It

 

1 Peter 1:18-20  "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,"

 

5.    The Power of It

 

Romans 1:15-17  "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. (16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

 

          Read on – Hebrews 2:3-4 –

 

(3) 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; (4) God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?"

 

This gospel was spoken and preached by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It was confirmed by the apostles, who gave us the Epistles of the New Testament. Their authority as God’s messengers was established and endorsed by God the Father, who gave them great, supernatural gifts and marvellous manifestations of the Holy Spirit. These were credentials that they spoke for God and spoke the truth.  They spoke in other languages, healed the sick, cast out demons and even raised the dead (Mark 16:17,18).

 

In light of all this, how shall we escape the judgement and wrath of God if we are indifferent to this gospel? The answer is as clear as the noon day sun -- We shall not!

 

Matthew 10:20  "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."

 

Hebrews 12:1-4  "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (4) Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-3  "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (2) By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. (3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;"

 

Hebrews 10:38-39  "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. (39) But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."

 

AMEN.