INTRODUCTION
• As we get closer to the Christmas holiday, what is one thing that seems to take center-stage with this holiday?
• It is gifts. I mean how many of us get up at 5:00 am to pray or read the word compared to going shopping? How many of us would max out the credit cards to help with some program at the church? (I do not want anyone to max out their credit cards for anything.)
• How many of you enjoy receiving gifts? We all enjoy gifts, and I believe God wants us to enjoy our gifts.
• I want you to picture with me the following scene. Your loved one really wants a particular gift. If can be a car, a piece of jewelry or whatever you can think of. You know your loved one wants this gift and you really want to give to it to them. There is one problem; the gift is very, very expensive. But still, you want to be able to give this gift to your loved one. It is going to take a great sacrifice on your part to get this gift.
• Well, now you make the sacrifices necessary to purchase the gift. It was a struggle; you put in a lot of extra hours of hard work to get it. Now comes the time to give the gift. You hand the gift over and you wait for the reaction.
• Your loved one is ecstatic! They are going crazy, they love the gift. After they settle down you tell them that this gift comes with instructions for the proper care of the gift. You ask that they take good care of the gift because it was so costly.
• A few weeks later, you see they are just neglecting the gift. Let’s say it was an expensive car. You look outside and see it is dented up and the paint is scratched. Then you happen to look at the odometer and see the oil has not been changed for 10,000 miles.
• Let us say it was a nice ring. You start to notice that your loved one is just leaving it around the house.
• How would you feel if you went to the trouble of giving this nice gift only to have it neglected or abused?
• Last week I spoke from Hebrews 1 about the importance of listening to Jesus. This week we are going to look at why it is not only important to listen to Jesus, but it is important for us to do something with what we have heard.
• Jesus has given those who have been immersed into Christ a great gift called salvation.
• Today we are going to see that we are called to take care of and enjoy this precious gift. We will also look at the consequences of neglecting so great a salvation.
SERMON
I. TAKING CARE OF YOUR GIFT (V1)
• Let us look at verse 1 together.
• The Hebrew writer tells us, “for this reason.” The reason we are to pay closer attention to what Jesus has said is because He is superior to everything else!
• What are we to pay closer attention to? We are told to pay closer attention to what we have heard! This includes all the facts, commands, warnings, and promises of the Gospel! We have a tendency to just listen to the wonderful promises of heaven and we forget the rest.
• Those who belong to Jesus have been given the great gift of salvation. We are told that we are to pay attention to that gift, to keep the maintenance up on it.
• The context of this section tells us that the writer of Hebrews is addressing these things to those who are saved. Some try to say this section is meant for the lost, but that does not make sense given what is said.
• We are told to “pay much closer attention” to what we have heard. This means much more than just listening and hearing, it takes us to the next level of DOING. The words translated “pay much closer attention” means to not only focus the mind on something, but to direct the actions towards the something also. This same verb was used in Greek literature when speaking of a Captain of a ship bringing the ship to shore. The Captain not only had to look closely at what was being done, but he had to also direct the actions of the ship to accomplish the goal of safe harbor.
• Hearing is not enough; we must act upon what we know.
• James 2:18, 20 and 26 tells us that faith without works is dead, it is useless. Something dead does nothing for us. THINK ABOUT HAVING A DEAD CAT FOR A PET. A dead cat is good for nothing except maybe to look at. It cannot catch anything; it cannot chase string nor do anything else that makes a cat nice to have around.
• We use dead things as a trophy. Our faith is more than a trophy to place on the shelf.
• If your faith is not active, it is as useless as having a dead cat for a pet.
• Our faith requires a lot of effort to be put out by us. In Luke 13:24 Jesus tells us, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
• That striving implies a lot of effort on our part. Our faith should lead to our actions.
• Why do we need to pay closer attention to what we heard?
• We are told if we do not pay closer attention to our faith WE WILL DRIFT AWAY from it!
• This passage tells us that WE can drift away from our faith. God does not do the drifting, we do.
• The word used here is a nautical term that was used of a ship that was not tied down in the harbor. The chip would be carried out to sea by the current. There are many passages that tell us how we must be anchored to Jesus lest we drift away or get tossed around by every wave of doctrine. (2 Peter 1:10; James 1:6; Ephesians 4:14, 6:11)
• The word “drift away” also deals with letting something slip off. It would be like letting your ring slip off your finger when you swim. It can also mean taking the wrong path.
• The common thread that ties all 3 of these meanings together is that the loss was sustained because of a failure to pay close attention!
• This passage does not say the only way to hell is the pursuit of evil, but the neglect of what we have.
• Did you catch that? Doing evil is not the only path to hell, we can simply get there by doing NOTHING; simply drifting in by going with the flow.
• MAT 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.”For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
• Our path to heaven will be an upstream swim that will take a lot of effort on our part.
• For most people who fall from Jesus, the fall is gradual. They slowing stop doing the things they need to do to grow and then one day we no longer see them.
• Have you not seen people drift away from God?
• We drift when we are not anchored in the truth (Ephesians 4:14)
• We drift because we let the subtle and powerful currents of life tug on our soul
• We drift away because we fail to exercise due care and diligence in the defense and development of our faith. EXPLAIN
• We drift because we are preoccupied with unimportant and secondary things that take too much of our time and attention. EXPLAIN!
• We MUST pay close attention to the gift we have been given!
II. NEGLECTING THE GIFT OF THE OLD COVENANT HAD CONSEQUENCES (V 2)
• Let us look at verse 2.
• The Old Covenant was binding until the New was ratified by the resurrection of Jesus. It could not be changed for people.
• The Old Testament or Covenant had an appropriate punishment for EVERY transgression.
• If you did the crime, you did the time.
• A “transgression” would be a “stepping over the established line.” If God told you to do something and you did not do it, you were in line for punishment. If you did what God told you not to do, you were in line to be punished, no matter who you were.
• There was a penalty for everything you could do wrong, children disobeying parents, adultery, stealing, immorality, touching the Ark of the Covenant.
• God is a just and fair God so every penalty was a fair one, one that you earned.
• The reason we cannot escape if we neglect so great a salvation is that in the Old Testament, which is inferior to the New, God dished out the punishments prescribed for disobedience.
• The Bible tells us that every disobedience received a just penalty. Disobedience is the unwillingness to hear. A sin from neglecting to hear what God says.
• DEUT 17:12 "The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
• DEUT 27:26 ’Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ’Amen.’
• The just of verse two is that God did what He said He would do. If He did that with the Old Covenant, then what about the New?
• The Book of Hebrews us written to show us the New was superior to the Old. If the punishment in the Old was death for many of the offenses, the punishment for those who neglect the new must be worse than death! What could that be?
III. NEGLECTING THE GREATER GIFT OF THE NEW COVENANT WILL HAVE GREATER CONSEQUENCES (V 3-4)
• As we look at verses 3-4 we will see why this statement is true.
• Verse 3 asks us how will WE escape if we NEGLECT so great a salvation.
• What are we escaping? A fate worse than death when we neglect our faith to the point of drifting away.
• READ HEBREWS 6:1-6
• When we have been given the gift of salvation, much is expected of us. In the church we have gotten to the point where we are afraid to let people know that because they may quit coming.
• LUKE 12:48... From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
• This is why I do not want to rush people to salvation; they need to be sure they want to do it because the stakes are high if they then reject Jesus.
• Remember all you have to do for this to happen is to do NOTHING!
• Why are the stakes higher? Why is our salvation so GREAT?
• Look at verses 3-4.
• Our salvation is so great because it came to us by a great price. Jesus paid the price of our salvation by His own blood. 1CO 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
• Jesus Himself spoke the message. His ministry was public.
• The Apostles themselves heard the message and could attest to it. EXPLAIN.
• God also testified to it by the following:
a. Signs. Purpose to point To God.
b. Wonders. The effect on the viewers.
c. Various miracles. Focus on the power it took to perform the signs and wonders.
d. Gifts of the Spirit. Probably the powers that the Apostles were empowered to do and pass to other people.
• Side note. Miracles, signs and wonders were never an everyday occurrence throughout the Old Testament times; God used them when we wanted to get peoples attention with more revelation.
• In the New Testament they were used by God to get the attention of the people until the New Testament was completed. (1 Corinthians 13:10) Notice that verse 3 tells us the signs were performed to CONFIRM and testify to the validity of the message. The verb “confirmed” denotes a past action with continuing results. It speaks of something that had happened PRIOR to this writing.
CONCLUSION
• Can we just coast our way into heaven? NO. God’s desire for us is to be with Him in Heaven, but He loves you enough not to force you into the Kingdom.
• We are called to pay closer attention to the wonderful gift of salvation we have been given.
• How are you doing with your great salvation? Are you trying to coast into heaven?
• Are you doing little to nothing with the gift you have been given?
• What kind of fruit are we displaying in our lives?
• Do we serve Jesus so we can be saved or out of appreciation for the salvation we have been given? It is the latter.
• What it really boils down to is if you love Jesus, you will try your best to do what He tells you. You will want to take the time to seek His will and read His word. You will want to be at church, you will want to pray and be as shining light.
• Living for Jesus is not easy, but God is there with you all the way and He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit within us to help us to live for Him.
• Are you paying attention to God or are you preoccupied with things that really don’t matter?
• I really hope that each one of us will take our faith seriously. God paid too high a price to lose people. God loves you so much; He wants to spend eternity with you!
