Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Neglect not. Neglect not. Does it take long to drive by
someone's house or yard before you realize it's been neglected
or it's been taken care of? And this is one of the things
that the writer of Hebrews tells us in this chapter 2, is neglect
not. Neglect not. Chapter 2 starts
out with therefore. That's looking back to chapter
1 and what was established there. I looked that word up, it means
by virtue of that very fact, by virtue of the very truth established
in chapter 1, the glorious things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
that were established in that chapter. It says in chapter 1
that God has spoken to us by His Son. In time past he spoke
to the fathers by the prophets, but hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son. His Son is the final spokesman,
and that he is the brightness of his Father's glory and the
expressed image of his person, and that he by himself purged
us from our sins. And if you really know anything
of what sin is, that's good news. There's no better news than that. To hear that you have been purged
from your sins. And that He is sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high. And He's so much better than
the angels. he hath by an inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. They are to worship him. He's
their commander. They do his bidding. He's the
creator of all things. The Christ of the cross is also
the creator. And that he's immutable, unchangeable,
that's a powerful chapter. That chapter is the foundation
for the rest of Hebrews. The rest of Hebrews builds on
this one chapter. Now after having laid the foundation
for the rest of this epistle, he writes and he says, we, including
himself, he doesn't say you, now you, he says we, we, including
himself, ought to give the more earnest, and that word means,
now listen, an intensely, an intensely state of mind, at being
very intense about what you've heard. I have learned, it helps me, when
I study, the first thing I do anymore, when I look at the verses
of Scripture that I'm going to look at, I do a word study. And it's really helped me and
finding out what that is saying. And he's saying here, we ought
to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we let them slip. This is not only advisable,
but that word ought means this. It means we have a moral obligation.
to give the more earnest attention. Pay attention. I know you who
teach say that to you. Pay attention. I said this to
the boys growing up. Pay attention. Now listen to
me. That's why he's saying pay attention. Give intense attention
to the things which you have heard. Now what have we heard? I wrote this outline down yesterday. And Maurice stood here this morning
and preached the truth. The truth. We have heard the
truth. Do we comprehend how valuable
that is? I thought this morning as Maurice
was preaching, I wish the world could be here. I wish everyone
could be here and hear this message that's being preached. God was
here this morning. The Lord was with us this morning.
Confident of it. The truth was with us this morning.
We heard the truth and we have heard the truth. The Lord has
been pleased. He gave us a pastor for years
that faithfully preached the truth to us. And we've heard
the truth. Now, listen, we've heard the
truth from God's Son. God sent His Son into this world
and spoke the truth to us. And we've heard the truth from
his son concerning God. No man knoweth a father save
the son and he to whomsoever the son will reveal. We've heard
the truth about God. You know, we're not trying to
imagine who God is. You know, that's why, you know,
back years ago, they still do. They had all these different
gods and they're trying to figure out an imagination of God. So they make these idols, one
to this, one to that, and then they have many gods. We know
the one God. There is one God. And we know
who He is, and we know His character. Holy, just, gracious, merciful. We know that because the Son
has come and revealed Him to us. We are not left to ourselves. We've heard the truth about Jesus
Christ. He is the Son of God. He's not
a mere man. He's the God-man. And we know
this. And we know the truth about ourselves. We know the truth. You know,
until we heard the truth, like we heard this morning, until
we heard it and God by His Spirit gave us faith and understanding.
We live the lie. Until a man hears the truth and
brought to faith, and he believes the truth, his whole life is
a lie. That man's life is a lie until
he hears the truth. And we've heard the truth. Look
over here at Psalm 50. In Psalm 50 verse 21, these things
hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such a one as thyself. That's how we thought of God
until He sent His Spirit, His Holy Spirit, and revealed the
truth. We thought God was something
like us, like ourselves. We have heard God speak, not
an angel, not a mere man, but God. I'm telling you something. God spoke this morning. God spoke
this morning through His servant, but He spoke. He was the spokesman. He spoke. We heard Him. God spoke. God spoke. God came into the
world. He took upon him flesh and he
preached the gospel to sinners. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And another reason to give the
more earnest heed is the subject matter. Salvation. Salvation. How God can have anything
to do with me and be God. Now if you find out what sin
is and you realize that's what you are, then this really becomes
interesting. This really becomes interesting.
That there is really salvation. There is salvation from sin. There is salvation from the power
of it, the guilt of it, the dominion of it. There is salvation. And
there is salvation, listen, from God's wrath against sin in His Son. We find out that God can be a
just God and save a wretch like me. He can do that. And then another reason to give
the more earnest heed to it is this. His glory. His glory that's
involved in it. Look over in 1 Timothy. Over
here in 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter
1 and verse 11, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed
God which was committed to my trust. According to the glorious
gospel. It's the gospel, Ralph Barnard
said it like this, it's the gospel of God's glory. It's the gospel
of God's redemptive glory. Therefore, give! With the intensity
of your mind, heed. He said, not just heed, but the
more earnest heed to the things which you heard. Lest at any
time we should let them slip. There is a real danger here or
the Holy Spirit would not have had this written. And remember,
he's writing to believers. He's writing to believers. Now,
the word slip here means to drift away. Over in your margin it says to
run out as a leaking vessel. But one of the other meanings
is to drift away, to slide away smoothly. Smoothly. It's to slide away almost imperceptibly. It takes effort. Real effort to follow Christ. Listen to these scriptures. Strive
to enter in. Strive. With much tribulation shall ye
enter the kingdom of heaven. Do you know how much effort it
takes to drift? Zero. Years ago, it's been probably
seven or eight years ago, Me and four or five other guys got
together and we did a float trip on the Elk River in a canoes. That was the most leisurely,
easy fishing trip I've ever been on. We talked, you know, we cast
out a little here, a little there, and we just drifted down with
the Elk River. It was just a slow drift. We drifted for I think it was
about seven miles. Just talking, carrying on, just drifting. Took no effort. No effort. But now if we had
turned that canoe around and tried to paddle back upstream,
that would have been a different thing. There would have been
some real effort trying to paddle seven miles back up. What we
did, we just left one truck down and one truck up. That's what
we did. It takes effort. It takes effort
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Look over in Jude. In the book of Jude, look in
verse 3. Beloved, I think you read this this morning. When
I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation,
it was needful. needful for me to write unto
you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints." Turn over to Philippians
chapter 1. We're in Philippians chapter
1. Paul says this in Philippians
1 in verse 7. Even as it is meet for me to
think this of you all, because I have you in my heart and as
much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel, defending the gospel. It takes effort to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says here, lest at any
time, that caught my attention today, there's never a time when
we can let down and just coast on in. You think, well, I've
been in this for 30 years or 40 years, 50 years. There's never
a time. Not in this life. Never a time
we just let down and coast in. Let him that thinketh he standeth,
think he lest he fall. Well, which age group does that
apply to? Every age group. Every age group. Paul said he never counted himself
to have arrived, didn't he? Look back over in Philippians.
We're back in Philippians chapter 3. Look in verse 9. Well, let me start with verse
8. Yea, Dallas, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may
win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know him. and the power of his resurrection.
This was a burning desire for the Apostle Paul until the day
he left this earth, that I might know him and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained,
it were already perfect. But I follow after, I strive
after, if that I may apprehend, lay hold of that for which also
I am apprehended of. Christ Jesus, brethren, I count
not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before. I press, I press toward the mark for the
pride of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Effort. Effort. Paul did not
doubt his salvation in Christ, but he never took it for granted.
Never took it for granted. It's too serious a matter. Way
too serious. Listen to this next verse in
verse 2. For if the word spoken by angels were steadfast, And
every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward. The law was given on Mount Sinai. Here's what he's talking about.
It was given on Mount Sinai through the mediation of angels. Now,
this is one place where the New Testament sheds more light on
the Old Testament. You know, back in the Old Testament,
it speaks of God speaking through, giving the law to Moses and speaking. But you turn over here to the
New Testament, and he says it was given through the mediation
of angels to Moses. Look over in Galatians chapter
3. Galatians chapter 3. We give a fuller light in the
New Testament. In Galatians 3, look in verse
19. Wherefore, this serveth the law. It was added, because of transgressions,
till the seed should come, to whom the promise was made. And
it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. And so what he's saying here,
if the word spoken by angels, the giving of the law, was steadfast
and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward, how are we going to escape? If it was steadfast and the payment
was just. You know, God gives everyone
exactly what they deserve. As a believer, we have what Christ
deserved for us. But now, when God cast the wicked
into hell, they are getting exactly what they deserve, no more, no
less. None at all. But the law was steadfast. Could not be altered, even though
it was given and mediated through angels, it could not be altered. If a man transgressed it, he
was punished in whatever the punishment called for. You remember
Achan? You remember the story of Achan
and Joshua? In Joshua chapter 7, I've copied
this down. It says, but the children of
Israel committed a trespass. They were told not to take any
of the spoils, any of the accursed stuff. But the children of Israel
committed a trespass in the accursed thing, over in Joshua chapter
7. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zebedee, the son of
Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing. They
were told not to do that. Not to do that. And the anger
of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. They
were losing the battle. And Joshua in verse 18, he brought
his household man by man. Joshua is going to find this
thing out. He's going to find out, you know, there's a sin
in the camp. There's a problem here. So he
brought his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi,
the son of Zebediah, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah,
was taken. And then Joshua said unto Achan,
My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and
make confession unto him. And tell me now what thou hast
done. Hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua and
said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus
and thus have I done. In verse 24, And Joshua and all
Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver,
and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his
daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and
his tent, all that he had, all that he had, And they brought
them into the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou
troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this
day. And all Israel stoned him and
burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones." Now, I know there will be many
who read that and say, Man, that was harsh. Man, that was severe. burn his family up, set them
on fire after they stoned him. He got what he deserved. God
gave him exactly what he deserved. The law said, don't do that. He did it. And this was the punishment. Now, if that law which was mediated
through angels to Moses, how shall we escape? He says what
he's saying here. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation? There was no salvation in the
law. The law never saved anybody. But we have a gospel that saves.
We have a gospel that saves. So how shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord, not mediated through angels? The Lord Himself came
into this world, became flesh, and preached the gospel. He preached
it Himself. And it was confirmed unto us
by them that heard Him. How shall we escape? This implies
that there is a need to escape. There is a need to escape. And
escape from what? The condemning power of sin and
God's wrath against us. Now, we know through the gospel
how God saves sinners, and how God can save us from our sins,
and how he can be a just God in doing so. And if we neglect
that, make nothing of it, let it slip, he says, how much more
punishment, how much more punishment is that person worthy of? What does it mean to neglect? Here's the meaning I thought
fit it the best. Unattended to through carelessness. Unattended to through carelessness.
And this happens so easily. And it happens almost imperceptibly. And you know when it happens?
It happens even sitting right under the gospel. It happens sitting right under
the gospel. And I thought this, we can live
in the same house and neglect one another. How many children
are neglected by their parents every day living in the same
house? It's unattended to through carelessness,
by being taken up with so many other things. And I was thinking
when I was reading this, something came to my mind. I remember back
some years ago, running the business. And I'm telling you, a business
can just grab a hold of you and consume you. And I was running
the business and running, making it, trying to, you know, pay
the bills and keep it going, da-da-da. And one day I remember I sat
down, I remember this distinctly, and I thought, man, it's been
a long time since I've read the Word of God. I mean, I sat down
and I hadn't read the Word of God for a good while. I was just
so busy running that business and I got so focused on that
that I had let slip I had started reading the scriptures, prayer. I thought, I'm letting this slip.
I'm letting these things go. I was letting it go for a good
while there, because I was just so involved in doing that. That's how you let these things
slip. When you start letting these things slip, it's because
you're taking hold of something else, or something else is taking
hold of you. Unattended. Unattended through
carelessness. You can let it slip. That's why
he says be so intense about this. So intense about it. Give earnest attention. I think
one of the hardest things to do is to give earnest attention
on a regular basis. Now, I can give attention to
something. I can give earnest attention to something for a
little while. But this is earnest attention day after day after
day until you finally leave this life. Give earnest attention
to it. Earnest attention. That's why
Paul says, set your affection on things above where our Lord
sits at God's right hand. Whatever has your affection has
you. That's what has you. Now let's consider what we are
to give such earnest attention to. And I'll wind this up. He says here, so great a salvation. Hard to put it into words. This
salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ from sin the full reality of it will not
and cannot be known until we stand in His presence. Not till then. But we do have
an understanding. The Son of God hath come and
given us an understanding. And we do know that the salvation
that we have is a great salvation. It's not just a It's just not,
you know, we're barely saved. You know, we barely make it by
the skin of our teeth. It's a great salvation. It's
a salvation that can't be challenged. It's a salvation that cannot
be broken. It's a great salvation because it's of God. It's of
God. God is the one who came up with
this. He's the one who planned it. He's the one who devised
it. He's the one who executed it.
It's of God. And it's great because it's a gift. He's given it to
you. I didn't purchase it. It was given. Given. And then it's great because it
saves from the guilt of sin. Well, if you know anything what
guilt is, you'll know it's a great salvation. And it saves from
the reigning power of sin. It does not have dominion over
you. It's not your master no more. It's not your master. And it saves from the wrath of
God. Our Lord, whose God manifested in the flesh,
when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before going
to the cross, He's going to be made sin. He's
going to face the wrath of Almighty God against sin. He broke out
into a great sweat of blood, drops of blood. Sweat started
coming out of his pores. And I imagine, I just imagine
that that wasn't just a little, you know, a little drop here.
I imagine, you know, when I sweat, I know what it's like when I
sweat. Face covered with sweat. I imagine his face and body began
to be covered with blood, where he was sweating great drops of
blood from the fact that he was about
to face the wrath of God against sin. He knew what he was about
to face, and that is what he has saved us from. We'll never
taste that wrath. When the believer dies, he's
going to hear, enter in. Enter in. To the kingdom prepared
for you by my Father before the foundation of the world. Enter in. But he cried, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? We won't have to do that. We
won't have to experience that forsakenness. Not at all. And then it's great because the
Lord of glory spoke it. The author of it. He spoke it. Which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord. Not until he came and preached
the gospel did the mystery that had been hid from ages begin
to be revealed in its fullness. Not till then. We understand the gospel. We
understand redemption. We've been going through the
gospels. Peter and the apostles, he's
telling them he's going to go away. And what are they saying?
No, don't do that. And you and I are saying, yes,
I'm glad he did. But that's because now we understand
the mystery of redemption. They didn't even understand it
at that point. But we do now. We do. Look over in Ephesians chapter
5. Ephesians chapter 5. In Ephesians chapter 5, look
in verse, I mean Ephesians chapter 3, look in verse 5, 5 through
9. Which in other ages, well let
me go to verse 1. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you were to have
that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote
it for a few words, whereby, when you read, you may understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers
of his promise in Christ by the gospel, whereof I was made a
minister. according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His
power, unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this
grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery which from the beginning of the world had been
hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." But you and
I now know that mystery. We know who He is. We know who
the Lord is. Psalm 24, who is this? Who is the King of glory? Lord
of hosts? Well, we know who that is. Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. That's who He is. And then verse 4, God also bearing
them witness, the apostles, both with signs and wonders and with
diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His
own will. John said in 1 John chapter 1,
that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the word of life. These men heard the
Lord themselves. The Lord came and preached the
gospel. And then these apostles, He sent
them out. And they preached the gospel.
And he confirmed their message by signs and wonders and miracles,
just like that attended his, to verify the message. But you
know what? We have the Word of God now.
And I can honestly say I would rather have his Word, the written,
complete Word of God, than signs and miracles and wonders. I'd
rather have His Word. They were writing the Word. They
were writing the Word. I'd rather have it. Now listen. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter
2, and I'm going to just read these first four verses. And
pray that the Lord will quicken His Word Therefore, because of
all that was established in chapter one, 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 witnessed, both with signs and wonders,
and with diverse miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according
to his own will. I do pray that the Lord will
not let us, allow us, to neglect so great a salvation.