Have I Got Your Attention Yet

Have I Got Your Attention Yet

Hebrews 2:1-4

Intro: Before refrigerators, people used ice houses to preserve their food. Ice houses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitting door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

One man lost a valuable watch while working in an ice house. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the ice house during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch.

Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. "I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking."

. Many times we have a hard time paying attention to things don’t we?

. While hunting, Larry and Elmer got lost in the woods. Trying to reassure his friend, Larry said, "Don’t worry. All we have to do is shoot into the air 3 times, stay where we are, and someone will find us."

They shot in the air 3 times, but no one came. After a while, they tried again. Still no response. When they decided to try once more, Elmer said, "I hope it works this time. We’re down to our last 3 arrows."

. Obviously they weren’t paying attention when the person giving this advice was telling them what to do. They needed a gun for this procedure.

. Our scripture this morning is checking to see if we have been paying attention.

. We are back in Hebrews this morning. Chapter 2: 1-4

. This scripture is somewhat unique in that it interrupts the flow of the letter.

. In chapter one, the writer is driving home to the Jewish recipients the fact that Jesus was and is the Messiah.

. He had spent the whole chapter driving home the point that Jesus was not an angel. This was a myth that was making the rounds.

. He spent the whole chapter defining who Jesus was .

. He was called the Son, God, Creator, King.

. The first chapter of Hebrews lays out the foundational facts that the one that is worthy to be worshipped and called Messiah was none other than Jesus Christ.

. What a great sermon. The book of Hebrews is much like a copulation of sermons that the writer delivered in writing instead of from a pulpit.

. Like any good sermon, there must be an invitation.

. The writer brings the readers to a conclusion and then basically says, it’s time for a decision.

. In this invitation, he gives the Jewish readers and us three reasons that they should accept Christ as their Messiah and for us to accept Him as our Savior.

. Hebrews 2:1-4

. 1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.

3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?

4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

. In these four verse we see three reasons that the Jewish people and all the world should receive Jesus Christ for their salvation.

. We see The Character Of Christ, The Certainty Of Judgment and The Confirmation of God.

. The Character Of Christ

. Look at verse 1 again: 1 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.

. This “so we must listen” is like saying therefore, since you have been exposed to these things pay attention.

. Pay attention to what’s going on around here.

. In Saint Louis in 1984, an unemployed cleaning woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees. The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second- floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees. While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect.