God began human history with a warning. He told Adam and Eve that if they
ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would surely die.
Failure to heed that warning led to the fall of man, and failure to heed warnings
has ever since led to all of the sin and folly of human beings. It could easily be
established that the number one cause of suffering in this world is the neglect of
warnings. The task of the prophets was to warn the people of God of the great
danger ahead if they did not obey the Word of God. Every time judgment fell on
God’s people it was because they neglected these warnings.
When we come to the New Testament we see it was the task of the Apostles to do
the same thing with the new people of God. In Acts. 20:31 we read these words of
Paul, “So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped
warning each of you night and day with tears.” In I Cor. 4:14 he writes, “I am not
writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.” Just as parents
need to warn children to protect them from the many dangers in the world, so the
prophets and Apostles had to warn the children of God about the many dangers
they faced in living a godly life in the world.
As you study the history of mankind you begin to see quite clearly that people
tend to fall into two categories: Those who heed warnings, and those who neglect
them. In Heb. 11:7 we read, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet see,
in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” The rest of the world neglected the
warning and perished. Such has been the pattern ever since. People receive the
warnings and respond with appropriate actions that lead to escape, or they reject
the warnings and receive the negative consequences that are inescapable.
Volumes could be filled with examples, and you probably have some personal
experiences of your own to illustrate this reality. Here are just a couple that have
found their way into print. “In December of 1994, FBI agent John Wellman was
fined about $1,000 for an October incident in which he was charged with
disobeying traffic signs in Keokuk County, Iowa. While trying to locate a man in
an investigation, Wellman ignored the directions of a construction crew to drive
along the shoulder of the road and instead circumvented barricades and continued
to drive on the pavement. Minutes later, he drove his car into 6 inches of freshly
poured cement set out to resurface the road, resulting in a $70,000 expense to the
state.” “One winter a resort in Breckenridge, Colorado, posted signs instructing
skiers to keep off a certain slope. The signs, large and distinct, said, "DANGER!
OUT OF BOUNDS! In spite of the warnings, however, several skiers went into the
area. The result? A half-mile-wide avalanche buried four of the trespassers
beneath tons of snow and rock. This tragedy never would have happened if the
signs had been heeded.”
One of the key characteristics of the book of Hebrews is that it is a book of
warnings. The key theme is the exaltation of Jesus as supreme over all that has
gone before. He is better and superior to all that God gave His people in the Old
Testament. But there is so great a danger in neglecting such a higher revelation
that the book has to stress this danger, and so it is a book of warnings. If you
neglect a balloon floating toward a sharp object you risk losing your balloon. If
you neglect the oil in your engine you risk losing your car. If you neglect your mate
you risk losing your marriage. The higher the value you neglect, the greater the
loss you will suffer. Since Jesus is the highest revelation and the greatest gift of
God, far superior to anything God has ever given to man, the greatest loss will be
suffered by neglecting so great a salvation as we have in Him. That is why the book
of Hebrews is the book of the greatest warnings. The New International Version
lists the warnings of this book as:
1. Warning to pay attention 2:1-4
2. Warning against unbelief 3:7-19
3. Warning against falling away 5:11-14
4. Warning against refusing God 12:14-29
For some reason they left out the warning of 10:26-31, which is one of the
strongest warnings anywhere. Others include 6:4-8 also as a severe warning.
The Hebrew Christians who receive this letter were facing great dangers, and
they needed someone to warn them of these dangers. We need to recognize that
every believer is in the same boat with these Hebrew believers. God ordained that
we would have this letter for all of history because He knew we would all face these
same dangers, and if we do not heed the warnings of this book we will suffer great
losses. John W. Lawrence has put together this list of the major dangers being
warned about in this letter. I share them because he has done an excellent job of
summarizing how these dangers were a part of the history of God’s people, and the
consequences of their neglect.
“(1) The Danger of Drifting (Heb. 2). The children of Israel w ho were redeemed
by blood and by power, drifted from the truth at Mount Sinai, and they made a
golden calf. It cost the physical life of 5,000 saved Israelites. So the question is
asked us: “How shall we escape if we drift from so great salvation?”
(2) The Danger of Not Entering into Rest (Heb. 3-4). After leaving Mount Sinai,
the nation of Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. The nation and
generation that accepted His salvation perished in the wilderness because they
refused to continue a life of faith. Over a million perished. We are not only saved
“by faith,” but “the just shall live by faith.” Here is the danger for us of doubting,
of not walking by faith as a believer, and of missing His rest and His best.
(3) The Danger of Not Going on to Maturity (Heb. 5-6). This was the state of the
nation after entering into Canaan under the judges, the kings and the prophets.
They never grew up as a nation. They were never able to use the Word of God in
their lives. They never applied it to life’s situations. The result was that thousands
upon thousands perished in the sieges and conflicts of the Assyrian and Babylonian
Captivities.
(4) The Danger of the Willful Sin (Heb. 10). Here is a picture of the nation at the
time of the first coming of Christ. They kept on sinning willfully. Christ even spoke
a parable against those of His generation (Luke 20:9-16,19; cf. Matt. 21:43).
Consequently the Lord Himself said: “The blood of all the prophets, which was
shed from the foundation of the world (shall) be required of this generation” (Luke
11:50). Josephus tells us that millions of Jews perished in A.D. 70 under the
Roman, General Titus. The nation had committed the willful sin.
(5) The Danger of Indifference.(Heb 12). This will yet be the sin of the nation of
Israel during the coming tribulation. The Lord speaks in Matthew 25:1-13 of the
five wise and five foolish virgins, and shows the indifference on part of even those
who profess. Many will not patiently endure. The Old Testament prophets have
prophesied that two-thirds of the nation of Israel will perish in the tribulation
period because they are indifferent to spiritual realities.”
In a simpler outline he puts it this way:
Drifting from the Word -- 2:1-4
Doubting the Word -- 3:7 - 4:13
Dullness toward the Word -- 5:11 - 6:20
Despising the Word -- 10:26-39
Defying the Word -- 12:14-29
The first danger, that of drifting away, and of neglecting so great salvation, is
the primary danger, for it leads to all the rest of them. If people are drifting away
and paying no attention to the revelation of God, then all the dangers that are
possible are likely. The most dangerous thing a believer can do in life is to ignore
what they have heard and neglect the great salvation they have in Jesus. Someone
said that to hear and not heed is to cook and then not eat. It is foolishness.
We live in a world with more options than ever before. The Hebrew Christians
had the temptation to slip back into Judaism and trust in the law, or to look to
angels as the prime messengers of God’s will for them, but today we have the
temptation of many cults who can and do seduce believers to follow other ways
than Him who is the Way. There are so many cults and religious sites on the
internet that it is impossible for Christians to escape reading the messages of those
who would lead us away from Jesus as our supreme authority and Savior. We need
to be warned not to listen to and follow those who in any way reduce Jesus from
the place of the highest. Any message that puts Jesus in second place to anyone or
anything is not the message of God, and to give heed to it is to neglect our great
salvation, and it is a failure to heed the greatest warning.
The great salvation we are never to neglect is the salvation that comes to us
through the Sovereign, Supreme, Superior, Sufficient Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. All the warnings of this book are designed to make sure that Jesus remains
the supreme love and loyalty of our lives. The greatest warning is to not drift from
this solid rock foundation, and to not neglect giving this the major attention in our
lives. The author specializes in telling us to look to Jesus; consider Jesus, and fix
your eyes on Jesus. If we give heed to the greatest warning to never neglect Jesus,
then we will experience the greatest blessings and escape the greatest dangers. The
essence of the greatest warning is, do not neglect the greatest Word God has given
to man, which is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.
It is inexcusable to ignore the great salvation that is given in Jesus, for it has
been made clear through three sources that it is the greatest salvation ever. In
verses 3 and 4 the author gives us these three sources of information.
1. It was first announced by the Lord.
2. It was confirmed by eyewitnesses who heard Him.
3. It was testified to by God through signs, wonders, miracles; gifts of the Spirit.
The bottom line is that all three persons of the Godhead were involved in
making this salvation clear to man, and there were human witnesses who also give
testimony to its reality. To ignore and neglect a message of such great importance,
and with such authority behind it, is to court disaster of the worst kind. People
ignore warnings of all kinds and suffer loss, but to ignore a warning of this
magnitude is to risk suffering the very wrath of God. The Old Testament warnings
came to the people of God through His messengers the angels, and neglect of them
led to severe punishment of God’s people. The Old Testament is filled with
suffering and sorrow that came upon God’s people because they paid no attention
to the warnings. How much greater can you expect the judgment to be on those
who pay no attention to the greatest message even given, and the greatest warning
about neglecting it? There is no way to escape the obvious conclusion that
Christians can experience the judgment of God in time as well as in the final day of
judgment.
There is much debate as to how great a loss a Christian can suffer. Some go so
far as to say they can even lose their salvation, and others say this can never be
,but they will lose their rewards. We will consider this debate when we get to the
controversial texts. Whatever the case, the loss will be great, and it is pure folly to
lose what is meant to be ours as children of the King. In I Cor. 3 Paul writes about
those who build with wood, hay and stubble, and that these things will be tested by
fire. In v. 15 he says, “If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved,
but only as one escaping through the flames.” Only a very foolish Christian can be
content to be saved, but lose all of the rewards Christ made it possible for them to
enjoy for eternity. It is wonderful to escape from a burning house with your life,
but far greater is it to have a house that fire cannot touch. The warnings of this
book need to be taken seriously so that we get the full salvation that Jesus died for
us to have. A minimal salvation is to be avoided, for the maximum salvation is
available, and we can claim it all by paying attention to what God has revealed
through Jesus, His greatest prophet and spokesman.
Dr. John Allan Lavender describes a scene that may be what is to be
experienced by those who live life without paying attention to what they have
heard. He writes, “Picture yourself on that day. You are standing in the great
receiving line of heaven. You are looking forward to meeting the Savior face to
face. Perhaps you are standing beside some prominent and well-known Christian.
On the other hand, you may be standing beside some dear, sweet, unknown,
unremembered saint who simply lived out a life of faithfulness praying for those
who did the things she could not do herself.
You stretch to catch a glimpse of Jesus as He welcomes the saints into glory.
Finally, He comes to stand before the one who is beside you. As you strain to hear
every word that falls from His blessed lips, you hear Him say, "Well done,
prominent person," or "Well done, unremembered saint; well done thou good and
faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord."
Then comes that moment for which every true believer has longed. You are face to
face with Jesus. But, as you look, you see a gaze of sadness come into His eyes and
He asks, "Where are your trophies? Have you no rewards?" And you hear
yourself say, "No, Lord, my works were consumed by fire."
It is the purpose of the great warnings of this book to make sure no believer has
to experience the unbelievable sorrow of such a scene. Pay attention! Pay
attention! Pay attention! That is the message of the whole Bible, and that is the
message of all that we do in preaching and teaching and in worship and fellowship.
Everything is designed to keep us with a focus on Jesus as the Savior, and as the
author and perfecter of our faith. Don’t look away, don’t wander, and don’t ignore
the warning signs that you might be drifting from the only dock where there is
security.
Pay attention to the warning.
Do not slip and drift away.
Such great folly leads to mourning
When you see what price you pay.
Jesus died to give us God’s best.
He gave all that we might see,
And enjoy forever God’s rest
With Him in eternity.
But we daily face the danger
Of not heeding what we’ve heard.
We treat Jesus as a stranger
Instead as the Living Word.
So please heed the greatest warning
That the ears of man can hear.
So that on that judgment morning
You will hear the Savior cheer.
You have fully obeyed my will.
You have lived worthy of me.
It is my joy to see you thrill
As your rewards now you see.
You might conclude that you do not like the book of Hebrews because it is too
negative, critical and judgmental. That is how most every child feels about their
parents at some point in life. We feel that way about teachers also, for they are
forever putting red marks on our papers and tests. We don’t seem to be able to get
through life without critics. And more often than not they are a pain in the neck.
Ray Stedman gives a good example from a comic strip.
Snoopy was having the time of his life as he was spinning and twirling on the
frozen pond. It was so much fun. But then Lucy showed up and hollered at Snoopy,
“That’s not skating. That’s sliding! You don’t have skates on! You’re just sliding
on your feet! That’s not skating!’ Poor Snoopy slinks off to the side of the pond
and thinks, “How could I be so stupid?” In the last scene he is sitting on a bench
and saying, “I thought I was having fun.” The critic ruined everything for him,
and this is often the case, but the fact is, we sometimes need the critic to help us
have fun and enjoy life to its fullest. All who develop any gift and skill need the help
of the expert to give constructive criticism to enable them to become all that they
can become.
We need criticism to become the Christian that God wants us to be. That is why
we have the Bible, and especially the letters of the New Testament. They are very
critical of the failures of the Christian to live on the highest level. They are filled
with warnings, as we see in this letter, for the purpose of keeping us on track, or of
getting us back on track when we have fallen off. We need to recognize that the
criticism and warnings are not negative, but positive. They are in the same
category with the loving warnings of parents that are designed to prevent suffering
and sorrow. We need to appreciate them just as we do when the highway
department puts up warnings signs that prevent us from doing something stupid
that will kill or injure us. Most warnings are positive in purpose. They are for the
purpose of giving you information that will benefit you if you pay attention to their
message. A bottle of what looks like a cool and refreshing liquid with a skull and
crossbones on it is a blessing. We are to be thankful for the warning sign, for
without it you can misuse it and die. All the warnings of this book are for the same
reason, that you might avoid folly and achieve success in the Christian life. Thank
God for this book that is filled with the greatest warnings.
You can look at salvation as salvation period; end of story. You are saved by
grace and justified, and that is all there is. Or you can look at it as salvation plus;
no end to the story. It is a free gift of God that you receive by faith, but there is
another stage of salvation called sanctification. In this stage you work with God to
develop the abundant life with the fruits of the Spirit. In the first stage you have no
input, for it was all accomplished by Jesus on the cross, and all you can do it
receive it as a gift. In the second stage you can cooperate with God and do many
things to become more of the person He wants you to be. You can become more
like Jesus, and live a holy life that lets your light shine and bring glory to your
Father in heaven. You can develop gifts in cooperation with the Holy Spirit that
make you a fruitful servant in touching many other lives. This salvation plus is
what the Christian life is all about. If justification was the end of salvation then we
could all die the moment we receive Christ as Savior, for that would be the highest
level we could reach. This is not the case, and we are left on earth to grow in grace
and knowledge that we might live a life that is pleasing to God. The only way to do
this is to keep our eyes on Jesus and give heed to the need to pay attention to what
we have heard in the Word. If we do this we are gaining the benefits of wisely
responding to His greatest warning.
