The Tragedy of Neglecting Salvation
Hebrews 2:1-4
Intro
Hell is undoubtedly full of people who were never actively opposed to the gospel. Such people are in view in these four verses. They know the truth and even believe the truth, in the sense that they acknowledge its truthfulness, its rightness. They are well aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus Christ, but are not willing to commit their lives to Him. So they drift past the call of God into eternal damnation. This tragedy makes these verses extremely important and urgent.
I. Right Teaching Demands Response
a. An effective teacher must do much more than simply present biblical facts.
i. He must also warn, exhort, and invite.
ii. The writer of Hebrews is not satisfied with simply setting out doctrine and then going on his way.
iii. He longs for his readers to respond positively to what he says.
iv. He not only wants Christ to be seen and exalted, but also to be accepted.
v. A teacher may know a lot of truth, but if he does not have compassionate concern for how people react to this truth, he is not a worthy teacher.
vi. God’s word demands response, and a faithful teacher of the Word teaches for response.
b. The apostle Paul was like this.
i. Paul over and over again voiced his concern for people to come to God.
ii. Paul had a holy obsession that all people, especially his Jewish kinsmen, come to Christ.
iii. Romans 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
1. Here is the character of a true teacher.
2. He is interested in more than just academics, more than just information.
3. He has a compassionate concern for how people respond to what they hear.
c. Jesus Christ himself is a great example of this.
i. Despite the rejection of his own people, their hardness of heart, and their history of persecuting God’s messengers, Jesus nevertheless ached for their salvation.
d. The opening verses of Hebrews 2 contain the first of five major warnings scattered throughout the book – often, as here, in the middle of a discourse on one of the superiorities of Christ.
II. Warning to the Intellectually Convinced (v. 3)
a. This warning is not directed to the Christian or those who have never heard the gospel, but rather to those people that have heard the gospel message and have failed to receive it.
b. The writer is basically saying here, that all of “us” that have heard the gospel ought to accept it.
c. We have all met people who say, “yes, I believe that Christ is the Savior and that I need Him, but I’m not ready to make that commitment yet.”
i. Perhaps your husband, your wife, your brother, or a good friend is like that.
ii. They come to church and hear and hear and hear the Word of God preached and taught.
iii. They know it is true and they know they need it, but they are not willing to commit themselves and personally accept Jesus Christ.
iv. They have all the facts but will not make a commitment.
v. They are like that man who believes a boat will hold him, but who will not get into it.
vi. ILLUSTRATION: Man stuck on the roof during the flood.
d. There are many such people out there.
i. They know the truth, they stand on the edge of the right decision, but they never make it.
ii. There are the ones to whom this passage in Hebrews is speaking of.
e. The purpose of these four verses is to give such a person a powerful spiritual shove toward Jesus Christ.
III. 3 Reasons to Receive Christ
a. We are given three great reasons to receive salvation: the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the confirmation of God.
i. The Character of Christ (v. 1)
1. So what does this statement have to do with the character of Christ?
a. For this reason is equivalent to “therefore.”
b. The first reason we should pay attention is given in chapter 1.
c. It is Christ.
i. He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact representation of the divine nature, the sustainer of the universe, the purifier form sin, and the One who sits at the right hand of the Majesty of high.
ii. This is who Christ is.
iii. Who could possibly reject Him?
iv. What kind of person could reject that kind of Christ, the Christ who came into the world as God incarnate, died on a cross to forgive our sins, paid our penalty, showed us divine love, and offers to introduce us to God and give us blessing and joy beyond our imagination?
d. To reject God is to reject the reason for our existence.
2. Four words to understand in verse 1.
a. Pay much closer attention
i. The Greek translation of this would mean to, Give attention to Christ, that His teaches may not slip away from us.
ii. At the time this letter was written, countless Jews had heard the gospel, many directly from an apostle.
iii. Many, no doubt were favorably impressed with the message, even intrigued by it.
iv. They heard it and perhaps even pondered it.
v. But must did not accept it.
3. One cannot help wondering how many thousands of people in hell were close to salvation, how many thousands were close to being safely anchored to God, only to drift away forever by their failure to receive what they heard and, in many case, actually believed.
4. A person should never be satisfied with religious feelings, with coming to church, with being married to a Christian spouse, or with church activities.
a. He will be drifting into a hell unless he has make a personal commitment to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
ii. The Certainty of Judgment (vv. 2-3)
1. Two words are used here for sin:
a. Transgression (parabasis)
i. This means to step across the line, as a willful act.
ii. It is an overt sin of commission, of intentionally doing something we know to be wrong.
b. Disobedience (parakoe)
i. This carries the idea of imperfect hearing, but not like that of a deaf man, who cannot help not hearing.
ii. Disobedience deliberately shuts its ears to the commands, warnings, and invitations of God.
iii. It is sin of neglect, of omissions, doing nothing when we should do something.
2. God made it clear of his view of sin in Leviticus
a. Leviticus 24:14-16, “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heart him lay their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him. And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “If anyone curses his God, then he shall bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. They alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”
b. That seems severe, but God wanted to make sure that all false prophets and blasphemers were dealt with immediately in order to maintain the spiritual and moral purity of His people.
3. Now notice the word just in verse 2.
a. God is often accused of being unjust when His punishment seems to be out of proportion to the wrong committed.
b. But God, by His very nature cannot be unjust.
c. Under the Old Covenant he punished severely those who were determined to live without Him and to defy Him.
4. Punishment is always related to light.
a. The more light we have, the more severe our punishment.
b. Jesus made it perfectly clear in Matthew 11:20-24, when he told the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida that their punishment would be greater then Sodom, because they knew better.
c. The principle is this: the more you know, the greater the punishment for not abiding by what you know.
5. Hell is a very real place
a. The New Testament called it a place of eternal fire, where worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
b. The worse spots of hell are going to be reserved for those that have trampled under foot the Son of God.
iii. The Confirmation of God (vv. 3-4)
1. The third important reason for accepting Christ is the confirmation of God.
a. The gospel was first given by Christ and was then confirmed by the apostles who had heard Him in person.
b. Even more importantly however, it was confirmed by God Himself bearing witness.
2. When Jesus preached the gospel, He also did some things that made it even more believable.
a. John 10:38, “Though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
b. When he claimed to be God and then did things that only God could do, He confirmed His divinity and, consequently, the truth of His message.
3. The primary point at the end of verse 4 is that the apostles’ gift of the Holy Spirit was additional confirmation by God of their message and ministry.
Closing
Thus, the three great reasons why a man should not neglect the gospel of salvation are: the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the confirmation of God. God has attested to this gospel with signs, wonders, and miracles. Neglecting Christ’s salvation will cost you eternal blessing, eternal joy and will bring you damning judgment and eternal punishment. Please do not let the gospel message slip away from you without doing something.
