Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1 says, Therefore, properly understand any portion
of the word of God, especially a portion which begins with therefore. one needs to read what is written
before. I plan to teach this morning
from chapter 2, but it begins with therefore. So we have to
go back to chapter 1 and see what is therefore. And back in
chapter 1, verse 1, it says God, who at different times and in
different manners, different ways, spake in time past unto
the fathers of the prophets. God hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son. His Son whom he appointed heir
of the world, all things, by whom he made the worlds. His
Son, the brightness of his glory. His Son, the exact image of his
person. His Son who upholds all things
by the word of his power. His Son who by himself punished
our sins. His Son who has sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high. He's spoken to us by his
Son. Therefore, verse 1 of chapter 2, we ought
to give. the more earnest heed to the
things which we've heard. We ought to listen more attentively
because of the speaker, the one by whom God speaks to us, the
Son. We ought to be careful, he says,
lest at any time we let these words which the Son speaks slip
away. The reference in the center of
your Bible says run out as a leaking vessel. Slip away from us like
running through a leaky vessel, a bucket with a hole in it. Go
to the well to get water and get home, we don't have any water
because the bucket has holes in it. They all ran out, you
know. God spoke to the people by the
prophets, he spoke unto us by his Son. Therefore we ought to
more earnestly, attentively, carefully, prayerfully, earnestly
hear him. And don't let these words get
away from you. How do we let them get away from
us? Well, number one, by not receiving
them and believing them when we hear them. when we're here. It's been 49
years since I heard for the first time a man preach the gospel
of God's grace. 1950. I was sitting in a congregation,
much like you're sitting this morning, on the front row. sister and pastor of the church.
And this man told me who God is, who Christ is, what Christ
effectually has done, where he is, his lordship, his sacrifice,
his grace, what I am, and whom I need. And he told me, gave
me that message. God spoke to me through his servant,
the words of Christ. And by his grace, I heard them
right then. Right, as the fellow says, smack
dab then. And received them and believed
them right then. And started searching the scriptures
right then. From that service, walked over
to the house where I was staying. Opened the Bible. And like the
Bereans, I searched the Book of Romans to see if what he was
saying was true. I thank God I heard him, received
it, and believed it right then. I don't know what the consequences
would have been had I not heard it then. But the disciples, listen to
what Christ said in John 17. In other words, a man can dabble
with and play with the Word of God as it comes to him by the
Son, and maybe get away with it for a little while. But I
don't think for long. I don't think for long. How are
we going to escape if we neglect right now? How many times is
God obligated to tell you anything, and me? Our Lord said about his disciples,
he said, I've given them the word you gave me. And what did
they do? They received them. And if known
surely I came out from thee, and they believed them. I gave
them the word, and they received them, and they believed them. And that's one way not to let
them slip. It's to receive, it's the word of God. It's the word
of God, it's the word of Christ. It should be believed. So that's
one way we let them slip. It's like the ruler said to Paul,
I'll hear you again when I have a convenient season. He never
did hear him. He never did hear him. Another way we let them slip,
number two, is by not faithfully attending the place where they're
preached. You have to go where the word
of God is preached. In some places it's not preached.
The words of men are preached and the gospel of works is preached,
but the word of God is not preached. The scripture says, Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, and I shall
recall in him whom they have not believed. On him whom they
have not believed. You've got to believe him. Not
another him, him. Not another Jesus, another spirit,
another gospel, him. His spirit, his gospel, his way. No man comes to the Father but
by me. You can't just go anywhere, you've
got to go where Christ is preached. where the word of God is preached,
where truth is proclaimed. And you've got to go, when it's
preached, when it's proclaimed, how shall they call on him in
whom they've not believed, and how shall they believe in him
of whom they've not heard? Paul said they'll come preaching
another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. But how are they
going to call on him if they've never heard of him? And how are
they going to hear without a preacher? And how are they going to preach
except they be sad? So you reverse that, God sends
a preacher. We hear the preacher. We believe
the words, and we call on him. Now what we take a notion to,
when he sends the preacher, when he preaches the word, when we
hear it, believe it, and call on him. Don't let them slip. Thirdly, we let them slip by
being overly occupied with things that aren't as important as they
were, material things, worldly things, overly occupied. That's
one of our biggest problems in this day. In Mark chapter 4,
our Lord was giving that parable of the sower. And he said the
word was sown. In other words, he said the sower
is the son of man, the seed is the word of God. And in chapter 4 of Mark, verse
18, he said, and these are they which were sown among the thorns.
The word was sown among the thorns, such as hear the word. People
hear the word. They hear me. They hear the gospel. They hear the preacher. And three
things, the cares of this world, overwhelming cares, that multiplies
your age multiplies, cares of this world. As your family multiplies,
as your influence multiplies, as your outreach multiplies,
cares. Deceitfulness of riches, they
promise what they can't produce. the lust of other things. Entering in, choke the word,
just literally choke it. It becomes unfruitful. That's
how we let it slip. And the fourth way we let it
slip, these are common in this day, by not receiving it, believing
it, right there. You don't need, show me, you
don't need, show me, you don't need proof, you just need the
word. He said it, that's sufficient. That's sufficient. By receiving
it right there. By faithfully, keep on listening,
we grow by hearing the word. Faith comes by hearing the word.
Growth comes by the word. I'm not becoming overly occupied. I use the word overly very carefully
because we have to be occupied with material things. We live
in a material world with cares because we've got to handle these
things. They're just our responsibilities.
They're things you've got to do. But overly occupied, they crowd
out the world. They become more important than
the world. But fourthly, we let them slip by a poor attitude. There are people to whom I preach
who have an attitude that the Word doesn't fit your vessel. That's just right. It doesn't
fit it. Now here's the man that hears
the Word, Isaiah 66. Now turn to this. Isaiah 66. Here's the man that's going to
hear the Word. and to whom God's going to speak, and to whom God
will look upon with favor. A poor attitude and hardness
of heart will not receive the word. The word won't be blessed.
Isaiah 66, 1 and 2, Thus saith the Lord, The heaven's my throne,
the earth is my footstool. Where's the house you build for
me? Where's the place you're going to put me? So here's God's
house. We limit God to this place. Where's
the place of my rest? All these things have my hand
made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord, have always
been. But here's the man to whom I
look, even him that's poor. Poor. Hold out the pick and say, has
nothing, is nothing, knows nothing. I told my class this morning,
there's not a poor person in my class, or in this congregation,
materially. That's right. We have more than
kings had years ago. Financially, materially, physically,
not a poor person here. But spiritually, we're a bunch
of bankrupts. That's spiritually. We're poor.
We're poor and needy. Arthur Pinck said we have nothing,
know nothing, can do nothing spiritually. We're poor and needy.
And God's going to look to the man who is nothing, has nothing,
and knows nothing, and pull it out of that. The poor, God delights
to show mercy to the poor, to feed the poor, the poor and the
needy, to bless them, to save them, to forgive the poor, poor.
I look to him that's poor, of him that's a contrite heart,
a broken heart, You know, when you come to the well with your
bucket, and you try to fill it and take water home with you,
and you have too many holes in the bucket, like self-importance,
that's a big hole. Self-importance. I thank you
God I'm not like other men. That's a big hole. How much water
gonna stay in that bucket? Here's another big hole. Certain
folks I don't like. They're just saying, folks, I
don't like. And you're going to keep on not liking them. And
that's a big hole. And that'll let all the mercy
wear out. If you hear the mercy, it'll go out with that. Because
God's only merciful to the merciful. That's right. And another hole
is old-time grudges. Way back up there. Hard feelings. Way back up there. Just hold on to them. That's
a big hole. Critical of others. Critical. Finding fault, just
finding fault. And looking for a point of disagreement.
And no man in this world can preach a sermon without saying
something is wrong. They never lived a man that's
perfect. In faith, in knowledge, in wisdom,
in anything he does. So when we look for a point of
disagreement, you're going to find it. I like that story I've
told you so many times. That lady came to the preacher
after he preached and she said, I just didn't like what you said
in your sermon. He said, what did I say? She
said, well you talked about some man and his britches. He said,
I did? She said, you are? He said, what
should I have said? She said, you should have said
his trousers. He said, what did I say before
I said bitches? He said, I don't know. What did
I say after I said bitches? He said, I don't know. He said,
if I hadn't said bitches, you would have gotten nothing, wouldn't
you? It's a good thing I said bitches. So this man, when I look, the man that has a container
that's not shot full of holes, that's right. self-importance
and pride and criticism and self-righteousness and folks he doesn't like and
folks he does like and grudges and hard feelings and looking
for a part of disagreement. Now don't let them slip. You
remember those four things, that's important. That's important. We need to give earnest heed
lest we let them slip. Look at verse 2. If the word
spoken by angels, now this principle is established throughout the
Old Testament. This principle is established.
The word spoken by angels, what's that mean? It means the messages
that God sent to men by angels, by revelation, by visions, by
prophets. This word was authentic. It was
absolutely authentic. It was steadfast. You see that?
The words spoken by the angels, by the prophets, by the ministers
of the Old Testament, were sure and steadfast and authentic.
It's God's message. That's the only way God spoke
to people, by the prophets. It was authentic. And listen,
in every transgression, every refusal to hear those prophets,
Every refusal to hear them and to believe them and to receive
their word, every transgression and disobedience,
it received an appropriate judgment and penalty and punishment and
reward. What he said, he said, this is
an established truth all the way through. If David had not
heard Nathan, God would have handled him appropriately.
You see, Pharaoh didn't hear Moses, and God destroyed him. The ant of the Luvians didn't
hear Noah, and God destroyed them. The Israelites
didn't hear Caleb and Joshua when they came back from Canaan,
and God let every carcass fall in the wilderness, every one
of So if the word back yonder, which
the angels brought, inferior creatures, inferior to Christ. The word brought by Moses, and
Christ is worthy of more glory than Moses, as the house, as
the building is worthy of more glory than the house. And yet
when Moses said something and they didn't hear him, God killed
them. Destroyed them. Destroyed them. We wouldn't hear no one, God
wiped them out. And when words spoken by these
inferior messengers, every transgression, every disobedience received a
just penalty, and a just recompense, and an appropriate judgment.
Verse 3, how are we going to escape? This generation of know everything,
intellectual, successful, all-wise human beings, how are
they going to escape? If they neglect to hear and treat
lightly and do not receive and bow to with a trembling heart,
so great salvation. Great because of who purposed
it. Great because of who bought it.
Great because of the price he paid. Great because of the sufferings
he endured. Great because the covenant through
which it came is his covenant. How are we going to escape? That have so many things that
cause us to just not pay any attention. And this gospel, this
great salvation at first began to be spoken by our Lord, our
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the author of this gospel. Spoken by our Lord. I know there
are a lot of false preachers in this day. This part of Kentucky,
the woods are full of them. I was preaching down in Oregon
sometime last year before last. And I said, the woods are full
of preachers, just full of preachers. After the service, a man came
up to me and said, what did you mean by the woods are full of
preachers? Oh, that's a new doctrine I said, the preachers all camp
in the woods up there where I live. There's a lot of preachers, false
preachers, the woods are full of them. Now I said it again. But there's one true preacher.
That's him I'm talking about right here. His son. His son. And that's who we're not hearing.
That's who folks are not hearing. His son. They're not hearing
the word. They're not hearing Christ. This message began to
first be spoken by our Lord. Our Lord. Let's see what he said.
Turn to John 3. This is mighty clear here. This is our Lord speaking. in
John chapter 3. He said in verse 14 of John 3, as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up on
a cross, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. God so loved the world, he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might
be saved. And he that believeth on him is not condemned, but
he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." That's
Christ's gospel. Christ lived to that, crucified,
buried, risen, believed on him. Listen to him over here in John chapter 11. John 11 verse
25. Listen to this. John 11 verse
25. We talk about eternal life and
resurrection and heaven. He said in John 11 verse 25,
Jesus said to her, I'm the resurrection. I'm the life. He that believeth
on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me will never die. Do you believe this? That's the gospel. And then he
says over here in our text in Hebrews 2, how are we going to
escape if we neglect, fail to hear, push aside, ignore, postpone,
This great salvation which at first began to be spoken by our
Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, by the
apostles, by those faithful men God called and ordained and sent
to preach. The apostles who were with, I
read John said, I saw him, I touched him, I handled him, the word
of life. Faithful witnesses. They were the witnesses of Christ.
These men bore witness to Christ. They saw him having been raised
from the dead. They saw him ascend to heaven.
Now they were witnesses of Christ, and verse 4 says that God bore
witness of them. These apostles, Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John, Nathanael, Paul, James, these apostles, they went
forth preaching. They wrote, God used them to
write the New Testament. God also bearing them witness,
both with signs and wonders, and different miracles. They
were witnesses of Christ, and God bore witness of them. They
raised the dead, they gave sight to the blind, hearing to the
deaf, they spoke in other languages. See, these gifts and miracles were not means of salvation.
They were calling cards. A man goes into a place that
they don't know him, representing a company, and he presents his
card. The name of the company, authorization,
to the secretary or to the president. I represent Armco, Ashland Oil. Here's my card. Here's evidence,
here's proof I represent. Christ, this is the message,
the gospel is the gospel of Christ, spoken by our Lord, and confirmed,
witnessed by them that heard him, and God gave them a calling
card. He gave these apostles credentials. He gave them power to speak in
other languages. See what I'm saying? Power to
raise the dead. Power to do great and wonderful
things. Now you say, what about preachers
today? I don't need that. Here's my calling card. I represent
Christ. How do we know you represent
him? I'm reading his word. I'm giving you his gospel. It's
written. It's written. It's written. It's
written. That's my calling card. It's
written. So they be a witness of Christ. And God bore witness of them.
God bearing them witness with signs and miracles and different
gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. Now look at verse 5. It's not
the angels to whom God's put all things into subjection, it's
Christ. It's not the angels to whom God
has given all things, it's Christ. It's not the angels to whom God
has given the kingdom, it's Christ. He said in verse 5, unto the
angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we
speak. Not the angel. But one in a certain place, now
this is David writing over in the book of Psalms chapter, in
Psalms, it's chapter 8, we won't go over there, but here's a quote
Let's read verse 6-9. One in a certain place, that's
David, testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful
of him? Or the Son of man, that thou didst visit him? Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and
honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. And you
think when you read that first two verses, he's talking about
Adam in his original creation before he fell. But if you read
the next two verses, you'll see of whom he does speak. Now watch
this. Thou hast put all things in subjection
under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection
under him, he left nothing that's not put under him. But now we
see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who was
made a little lower than the angels. We see him who was made
a little lower than the angels for a while, for a purpose. For
what purpose? The suffering of death. We see
him crowned with glory and honor. We see that he, by the grace
of God, should taste death for every son. We see Christ. Now, this is written of us, verse
69, but it's written of us as represented by Christ. It's written
of Christ, who was a man. and in whom we are represented,
in whom we live in Christ. You see that? We see what is
man, Spurgeon said this, what is man but the heart mindful
of him? Oh God, what is man but the heart
mindful of him? The least grain of sand is not
so small to the whole earth as a man is to heaven. David said,
when I think of the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars,
the universe, oh God, what is man? Man in the pride of his
heart sees no wonder in God's being mindful of him, but man
with a broken heart and a humble soul is astonished that God would
be mindful of him. Will God have respect for such
a vile worm as I? Will the Lord of glory acquaint
himself with such as I? He will in Christ. He will in
Christ. That's where it is. God is mindful. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? The poet said man is but a piece
of clay animated by heavenly breath. When that breath is taken
away, he's clay again by death. But what is he that God's mindful
of him? In Christ. He's loved, he's chosen,
he's redeemed, he's justified in Christ. That's who this is
talking about here. Verse 8, Thou hast put all things
in subjection unto his feet, in that he hath put all in subjection
unto him. He left nothing that's not under
Christ. Christ is the heir of all things, and we're heirs,
John, heirs with him. Christ reigns, and we reign with
him. Now we see not all things put on him, not yet, not yet. But we see Jesus in this fashion
now. We see him made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death to redeem us. And we
see him having been buried and risen and rising and crowned
with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every son. One day we'll see him as he is
and be made like him. And the glory God has given him,
he's given us in Christ. God's mindful of us in him. Without Christ. All right, look
at verse 10. And this is interesting. Far
in bringing these sons to glory, far it became him. Now there are three persons here.
There are three persons. I want you to see this. There's
the Father, there are the sons, and there's the captain of their
salvation. It became him for whom are all
things, and by whom are all things. That's
God the Father. In bringing many sons from every
nation, tribe, kindred, tongue unto heaven, sons of God. to
glory, to make the captain of their salvation, that's Christ,
make him perfect. We've got to have a perfect Savior.
We can't have an imperfect Savior. He makes him perfect through
suffering. Now, what does that mean, where it became him? It's
becoming, mercy is becoming only to God. God is merciful. Love is becoming to God. You
might put this question this way, what is man, the thought,
mindful of him? Here's another question, what
is God that he should be mindful of us? What is man, the thought, mindful
of him? He's nothing. He's a worm, he's a wretch. But
what is God that he should be mindful of a wretch, a worm?
It's a good God. It's a merciful God. That's the
character of God. It's becoming to him. You ever
see somebody put on a suit or a dress and you say, that's very
becoming. In other words, it looks good on you. It's very
becoming. And it became him. for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things. It's just like God. God is love,
God is good, God is merciful. The reason for our salvation,
listen, is not found in us. It's found in him. It became him. In bringing many
sons to glory, in bringing many sons of multitude which no man
can number, Somebody said, just a handful
are going to be saved. Yeah, but whose hand? It's in my Father's hand. That's
what he said. That's a big handful. A number
which no man could number. Many sons to glory. To make the capital of their
salvation perfect. How? Through sufferings. The
perfect Savior was perfected in suffering, in obedience, in
death. The perfect Savior. You see,
these gods, they're God's many. Little letter G-O-D-S. God's
many. Mohammed, he can't say. Buddha,
he can't say. Confucius, he can't say. Marius,
he can't say. Saint Jude, he can't say. The
priest down here, he can't say. Nobody can put away sin. They're
not perfect. They're not perfected through
suffering. Our Lord Jesus Christ became a man, a perfect man.
He met the law, he perfectly obeyed it. He was tempted and
tried as we are, he perfectly endured. He met Satan, handled
his temptation perfectly. He went to the cross and offered
a perfect sacrifice, a perfect sinless blood. He was born once
again a perfected Savior. He ascended to heaven and sat
down at the right hand of God, accepted perfectly. He's perfect
through suffering. And through his suffering, we're
perfect. He has perfected forever them
that believe. That's the gospel there. It became
God. It's just like God. God was good. in bringing many sons to glory,
to make the captain of their salvation, the one in whose hands
the war was given, who won the victory, who conquered the enemy,
who put away death, make him perfect through sufferings. Now
watch this, and this is the reason we're perfect, he that sanctifies,
he who perfects, And they who are sanctified are of one." Of
one! He said, they are one, I know
that, they are one. I and my people, I and my Father. But we're of one. Christ, the
Savior, is given of God. God ordained him. We talked that
this morning. And we are of God, the same God. He said this, He
said, I go to my Father and your Father, my God and your God. We're of one. Christ, they're
both. He that is sanctified is of God. He ordained of God, appointed
of God, sent of God, bruised of God. And we who are sanctified,
we are of God too. Of God are you in Christ, who
of God is made unto you wisdom, righteousness, and sanctity. But that's good news. That's
bigger than this. He became him in bringing new
sons to glory, to make the captor of their salvation perfect through
suffering. For he that sanctifies them,
and they who sanctify are of them. This is God's doing. This
is God's business. This is God's salvation. Of him
are you in Christ. Who of God is made unto us? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. That's a whole lot bigger than
your trip down the aisle in Mantua. That's a whole lot bigger than
our decision to go to heaven when it's convenient. That's
a whole lot bigger than getting religion. Somebody said to me
the other day, he went somewhere and preached and 150 were saved. Turn that town upside down and
150 people were saved. of selling the business, everyone,
if God reached down and brought them to himself and raised his
flag on their flagpole, conquered their soul, good night. Christ
Jesus and those whom he sanctifies have one father, they stand in
one relationship as brethren. He said, I send my father and
your father and my God and your God in Christ who is sons of
God, heirs of God, loved as he's loved, the glory which he has,
God's given us. That's what he says in verse
12. He calls us brethren, and he's not ashamed to call us brethren.
He said, I'll declare thy name unto my brethren. in the midst
of the church, I'll sing praise to thee. Again, I'll put my trust
in him. Again, I am the children you
gave me." So for as much then as the children, and this is
the gospel, hear it and believe it, the children are partakers
of flesh and blood. That's what we are. And flesh
and blood is not going to inherit the kingdom of God. That's what scripture says. He
also, likewise, the Savior of ours, took part of the same.
That's through death. Through death, through suffering. We've all but taken the blood
out of the pulpit in this day, through death. He might destroy
him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil. Destroy him. His power of death
is not to kill people. His power of death is that he's
the daddy of sin. He's the originator of sin. He's
the author of sin. He brought sin into this world,
and sin brings death. The sting of death is sin. And
our Lord Jesus Christ conquered him and conquered sin and put
it away, and we don't die because there's no sin. Through death
he destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil,
and delivered them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. For verily, verse 16, he didn't
take on him the nature of angels, he took on him the seed of Abraham. Angels fell before we did, but
these have no Savior. Wherefore in all things, in everything,
it behooves him to be made like his brethren. Listen to me. He
couldn't be a high priest unless he became a man. A man. You take the high priest from
among men. He couldn't have an atonement
unless he dies. without the shedding of blood,
no atonement. He couldn't be a merciful, faithful
high priest unless he rises from the dead and ascends to the presence
of God. The high priest has got to go
into the Holy of Holies with his blood. So in all things it
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might
be a merciful, faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God. And that's the things I'm most
interested in, aren't you? That's the things that affect
me most pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins
of the people. The hymn writer said this, not
all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain can give a guilty
conscience peace or wash away the stain, but Christ, our heavenly
lamb, takes all our sins away. a sacrifice of nobler name and
richer blood than they. Our priest reigns above, offered
up his blood, lives to carry out his promises before a sovereign
God. He lives to intercede before
our Father's face. Commit to him your cause to plead,
and never doubt his grace. Alright, I hope that's a blessing
to you.