HoHum:
I love Job’s sarcasm. Job 16:3: Will your long-winded speeches never end?
WBTU:
Great Bible questions for all of us to chew upon (W. A. Criswell):
Genesis 4:9- “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Job 14:14- If a man dies, will he live again?
Matthew 27:22- “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?”
Acts 16:30- “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Hebrews 2:3- how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?
In a presentation on evangelism, one man said, “The person who talks the most does not control the conversation. The person who asks the questions controls the conversation. He directs the conversation where he wants it to go.” We feel an obligation to answer questions.
Thesis: Today we are going to chew upon the question of Hebrews 2:3 with more questions.
For instances:
What makes it a great salvation?
Salvation is great because of God’s great love. John 3:16- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Salvation is great because of the price Jesus paid to secure forgiveness. Ephesians 1:7- In him (Christ)we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
Salvation is great because of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead which assures our resurrection from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
Salvation is great because of the change it brings to the lives of true believers. 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Salvation is great because it saves from great sins. No one is saved who feels that his sins are small, or that they are of no consequence. Colossians 2:13-14: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Salvation is great because it gives us eternal life and delivers us from eternal death. John 5:24: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
How do we ignore (or neglect- KJV) such a great salvation?
Ignore (NIV)
This term refers to those who hear the invitation to salvation but pay it no mind. The word in Greek literally means “pay no attention.” They dismiss it and do not take it seriously.
Reminds us of a parable that Jesus told. Matthew 22:1-6: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ But they paid no attention (make light of it) and went off—one to his field, another to his business.
Neglect (KJV)
In the context here is written to Jewish Christians. They did not reject or ignore the salvation offered through Jesus Christ. They were in danger of neglecting Jesus Christ and going back to Judaism. At the first they accepted the invitation but now they are “drifting away (Vs. 1).”
Imagine yourself fishing. You have steered your motorized fishing boat into a tidal inlet on the California coast. You find a good spot, and let down your anchor. But as you fish, the winds and surging tide gradually lift the anchor from the bottom the sea. As you concentrate on fishing, your boat starts to drift towards the rocks on the shore. Suddenly you look up from your fishing and discover yourself several hundred yards from when you let down your anchor and close to the disaster of running into the rocks. This happened to R. Kent Hughes.
What was the problem? Hughes had thought that he was anchored, but neglected to pay attention. He wasn’t trying to drift. He wasn’t trying to head for the rocks. He wasn’t trying to leave where he thought he was anchored. Tides and winds had almost done him in.
We who are Christians have a similar problem. We figure that we know Christ as our Savior. We have the truth of Christianity and all that it provides. We consider ourselves to be anchored. We have our ticket punched for heaven and that is done so we can move on to something else. I’m saved and that’s all that matters. Let me say, Watch out for the rocks.
What are some things that can cause us to drift away?
Familiarity
The Old Story of Jesus and His love becomes the boring story that we have heard so long.
We want something new and novel because we have heard it all before. “That which is familiar we have to look at more closely”
We take it all for granted. We lose our sense of wonder and awe.
Culture
Our society continues to shove its teachings and ideas down our throats.
We become desensitized and have difficulty recognizing truth from error.
Flesh
Our battle is not just without but also within.
Our flesh is constantly waging war against our souls.
Daily concerns
The constant pressure of daily cares, anxieties, duties, can distract us.
The monotony of day to day life can cause us to want some variety. Variety is good but may it not cause us to drift away from our salvation in Christ.
2 John 9: Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
How shall we escape?
For those who ignore:
Matthew 22:7: The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed (them) and burned their city.
John 3:36: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.
For those who neglect and drift away.
Reminds us of the end of the parable that Jesus told. Invited many outcasts and they came to the wedding banquet. However, in Matthew 22:11-13: But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Hebrews 2:2 tells us that if every violation of the message of the OT received its just punishment, then the same will be true for us and even more so.
The punishments in Old Testament days were severe. God's judgment on Israel was severe because they knew better. We have been blessed with more than those of the OT, and with more comes more responsibility and also more punishment if disobeyed.
Salvation is precious and should be like a prized possession. We need to take care of it and value it and not neglect it. If we treat it as a common thing or something of not much value, look out. Listen to Hebrews 10:28-29, 31: Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Conclusion and invitation:
For the Christian, how can we not neglect this great salvation?
Maintain a healthy diet for the Word of God. Vs. 1- Careful attention to what we have...
Honestly deal with our sins. Hebrews 3:12: See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
Be faithful in church. Hebrews 10:25- Let not give up meeting together.
Seek to serve and not be served. Ephesians 4:12- works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
Be active in sharing our salvation. Philemon 6: I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
For the non-Christian, how can we not ignore this great salvation? Don’t put off coming to Christ for salvation. Plan of salvation. No tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation.
