HEBREWS 1-2 1:5-2:42008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hebrews 1-2 1:5-2:4

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. Pastor John Corson often shares the saying, we are where we are in the word. The idea there is that we are at, the place that we are at is God.

That's exactly where we're at in the Word of God. The place that we're at in our lives personally, spiritually, the place that we're at as a congregation is where we are in the Word of God and that what we need to hear is, well, is right before us.

I don't know about you and how big you believe that God is, but I believe that we have a big God. And I believe firmly in this, and I don't have any doubts about this, although you might think I take it a little bit too far, but I believe that when Pastor Tom started the church back in 1991, that God was at work there and orchestrating those things, and

sovereign and in control and as he began to teach through the different books of the Bible all the way through 2004 when he left and I took over and the book that I started in and the books that we've covered thus far and the guest speakers that we've had and the time we've spent in the different passages and all of those things have been orchestrated by God so that we would be right here in this passage today so that you, God knowing that you would be

here on this day would hear the things that he is desperately trying to speak to you. We are here this day. We are gathered together this day because these are the things that God desires to reach through to our hearts, that he needs us to hear, that he wants us to respond to.

These are things that God is trying to speak to us. And we are right here in this place needing to hear these words. And I really believe that. Anytime you pick up the Scriptures as you're systematically going through the Scriptures and doing your devotions, that those are things that are not just the next chapter or the next passage you're to read, but those are the things God, knowing your life and knowing where you would be, those are the things that He was desiring to speak to you at that moment, at that time, as you are spending time with Him.

And so as we are looking at these things, we're entering into the book of Hebrews as a body, as a church. These are things that God has been speaking to me about personally, that He wants to do a work in me personally through the book of Hebrews. And I extend that on to you, that God wants to do a work. And so again, I ask you to engage, not to just sit through the service, but to really take these things and examine your own heart and apply them to your own life that you would allow God to do the work in you that He desires to do.

In our passage this morning, chapter 1 verse 5 through chapter 2 verse 4, the author of Hebrews is comparing the person of Jesus Christ to angels. And he's showing that Jesus is far superior to those angelic beings.

The word angel simply means messenger. And I think a good definition of what angels are and their purpose is there in verse 14 of chapter 1, where the author says, Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

This is what an angel is. It's a spiritual being that is created by God for the purpose of ministering, for the purpose of serving. They're ministering spirits who are sent forth to minister. They're sent forth and appointed to serve. This is what angels are. And the author of Hebrews is saying, this is not what Jesus is. He is not the same as an angel. In fact, He is far superior.

In the New Testament church, there was a danger because there were those within the church who would be worshipping angels. Paul deals with this in the book of Colossians chapter 2.

As the author of Hebrews here is writing to Jewish Christians, he's dealing with people who highly regarded angelic beings. Throughout the Old Testament, we see angels as part of God's work. And there was a great reverence that the Jewish people had for angels. And so they held them up very highly. And the author of Hebrews is writing to let them know.

based upon their background, their culture, although you consider angels to be very high and you reverence them highly, understand that Jesus Christ is far superior to those angelic beings.

Now, contrary to this teaching, contrary to what we read in Hebrews chapter 1, the Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus Christ is an angel. They teach that he is the archangel Michael. But clearly as we look at these things, this is not true. This is not what the Bible teaches.

The Mormons teach that there was an angel that appeared to Joseph Smith and added on to and changed some of the things that Jesus had spoken. But again, as we look at these things, we can understand that Jesus is the final authority and that he will not be overridden by some angel sometime in the future. They are very, very lesser beings than Jesus Christ. And that's really not even putting enough emphasis on the superiority of Jesus Christ as I say that.

Jesus is better than the angels. In chapter 1, verse 4, we ended with this verse last week. It tells us that he, that's Jesus, has become so much better than the angels as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Now, I'm sure many of you have heard these things before. This is not, you know, something that's brand new. But you know that Jesus Christ is God. I hope that you know that. But these things are written for us to, well...

He's going to end with a warning. These things are not for us to consider and say, well, I've heard this type of message before. I've studied this portion before, so I can just kind of coast through this one. I encourage you to give even more attention. If you've heard these things before...

Pay more attention to these things. Pay more attention to what God has said because there's things that He desires to speak to your heart. Again, because He's brought you here this morning that we might study through this portion together. So let's pick it up in verse 5. The author of Hebrews says, For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. And again, I will be to Him a Father and He shall be to me a Son.

The first thing we see about Jesus in comparison with angels that the author of Hebrews will point out is that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is so much better than the angels, the author of Hebrews is saying, because He is God's Son. He is not just another created being. He's not just a good man or a great prophet. He is the Son of God.

Now, in order to demonstrate this and prove this, here in verse 5, the author quotes from two different portions of Scripture. And he uses this technique throughout the book. He uses the Old Testament to prove the validity of Jesus Christ, the superiority of His ministry, and all that Jesus has done for us.

The Old Testament is what these people would know as he was writing to those who were converted Jews. They would know the Old Testament and so he's using their scriptures and what they knew where we often would turn to the New Testament. He's referring them to the Old Testament because the New Testament wasn't even written yet. But he's writing... Well, it was actually in the process of being written. Forgive my...

continual corrections to myself. But he's referring to the Old Testament, the things that they knew to be true, the things that they believed to be authoritative, the things that they knew that God had written to prove that Jesus Christ is far superior. And he starts out with the question, to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And you can search the scriptures and

And you can search history, and you can ask God, and it's a question that really is not meant to be answered. The answer is obvious. God has not said this to any of the angels. He has only said this to Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. Today, I have begotten you. You are my Son, God says, of Jesus Christ. This is a quotation from Psalm chapter 2.

Psalm chapter 2 is one of those cool psalms. It's a messianic psalm, which means it's promising of the Messiah, the Anointed One, which is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ that is to come. And as it's promising this man to come, this person to come, Jesus Christ to come, God prophesies, not only will this be a man, but this person will be the Son of God. God promises this person will be...

My son. He says, today I have begotten you. And then he also quotes from 2 Samuel chapter 7, saying, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. The point of the author here is that Jesus Christ is far superior to angels because he's not a created being to serve like angels are, and we'll deal with that. But he is, he has the unique place, the unique position of,

of being the Son of God. Now, we could struggle with the concept. We won't really deal with this too in-depthly today. You can work on it on your own time. But how is it that Jesus became the Son of God or Jesus is the Son of God? We start dealing with the triune nature of God and things get confusing very quickly.

Here in the quotation, God says, You are my son, today I have begotten you. And so some people ask the question, which day is it that he's talking about? Which day is that today that God begot Jesus Christ and that he became the only begotten Son of God? Now, some say that it's the day that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary and that it was in that day that he became the only begotten Son of God.

because Paul quotes this as well in Acts chapter 13. They'll say that Jesus became the only begotten Son of God when He was resurrected and it was at the resurrection when His human body was glorified and the fullness of deity was reunited and unified

Those types of things, the reverse of Philippians chapter 2, and it was at that time that he became the only begotten Son of God. Others will go back before creation, before time began, and it was at that time, that day, that God begot Jesus Christ and he became the only begotten Son of God. Now, the issue I have is we're going to get in trouble if we try to force our logic and reasoning into these concepts.

They're true. We can believe they're true. We know they're true. The Word of God teaches them. John chapter 1, I think, makes it very simple for us. In the beginning was the Word, that is Jesus Christ. The Word was with God and the Word was God. So in the beginning, Jesus was. And in the beginning, He was with God. And in the beginning, He was God. Verse 2 of John 1 says, He was in the beginning with God. So, at the beginning, Jesus Christ...

was God and was with God, already existing. He's not a created being like the rest of creation or like the angelic creation. So how do you explain that? Well, I would ask you, how do you describe an infinite God with a finite language? Even more, if you just bear with me for a second, we have a hard enough time comprehending our own language that we made up.

Have you ever read a book or an article or listened to someone speak and it confused you? You had a hard time and you had to figure out what in the world is this person trying to say? Even if it's communicated well, our comprehension is not always there.

Even if it's in the language that we know, it's not a foreign language, but it's a language we know. You can look through some different writings and even Andrew Murray has some difficult things that you have to chew on in order to really digest them. But it's our language, it's not a foreign language. What we communicate to each other, we have a hard time communicating many times some of the complex things that are going on in our hearts and minds. And even if it's communicated perfectly,

We have a hard time comprehending that which is being communicated. So how on earth do you want God to communicate to you perfectly His infinite nature with our finite language and our finite comprehension, our limited comprehension? It just cannot be done. In the end, we have to take God as He has presented Himself to us without our figuring it out and without all of our logical conclusions and reasonings.

Jesus Christ is God. He was in the beginning with God and he's the only begotten son of the Father. More important than how this took place or when it took place is really what it means. Just as your son would have your character, your nature, the son of God, Jesus Christ has the character and nature of God. And so this is what the author of Hebrews is pointing out.

that Jesus has the character, the nature of God. He has the unique position and place of being the only begotten Son of God. He is far superior to the angels. Verse 6 and 7, But when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire.

So first of all, we see that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He has the unique place and position of being God's only begotten Son. But second now, the author of Hebrews will explain to us that Jesus is the object of worship. Jesus is to be worshipped. Now, the quotation here says,

is a little bit confusing to some people because it's actually from Deuteronomy 32.43 and you can check it out on your own time. But it's a quotation from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. And here's the deal. The New Testament is written in Greek.

And it was the language of the day that people spoke Greek and knew Greek. And so that's why the New Testament was written in Greek. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. And so in order for the people to understand and be able to have access to the Old Testament scriptures, there was a group of Jewish scholars that converted the Old Testament, translated really, the Old Testament into the Greek language.

And the quotations that we find throughout the New Testament are almost always from that Septuagint. It's that Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. And so that's why sometimes the wording varies a little bit and sometimes it doesn't seem to say exactly what we have in our Old Testament Scriptures. And that's why. It's because it's the Greek translation. Which is no problem. God can do that as He wills and as He chooses. So if you look at Deuteronomy 32, 43...

It's a little bit different than the way that it appears in the Septuagint. But regardless, God says, again, He says, He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, let all the angels of God worship Him. The point stands on its own, whether or not it's a direct quotation, word for word or not. The point is that the angels of God, God has commanded them to worship the Messiah, to worship Jesus Christ.

He is the firstborn, it says, which is not saying that he is a created being, as some would present, but firstborn is a title or it's a position. An example of this is the person of David in Psalm chapter 89 verse 27. God says of David, I will make him, my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. David, if you remember...

He was not the first man in the lineup whenever Samuel the prophet came to anoint the king to the house of Jesse. There was other brothers in front of David. In fact, David wasn't even in the original lineup. He was the youngest one that was out in the field with the sheep. And so,

He was not the firstborn. He was not the eldest child of Jesse. But God says, I will make him my firstborn because this is the place of prominence. It's a position and a title that is given. And so Jesus Christ is the firstborn in that sense, that he is the foremost. He's the first priority. He's the most important. And so as God has brought the firstborn child,

into the world, he pronounced, he commanded that the angels of God should worship him. This is incredibly significant because Jesus is a recipient of worship. And this is not true of angels. Of angels, he says, he makes his angels spirits and ministers a flame of fire. They're created to serve. They're created to minister, which means to serve. They're not created to be worshipped. They're created to serve.

Jesus, he comes into the world and God says, you guys are to worship him. Angels are not the objects of worship. Man is not the object of worship. God is the object of worship and Jesus Christ is God. So God says, let the angels worship him. We get to see a picture of this in Revelation chapter 5.

As the Apostle John is writing there of this great vision that he sees of heaven and the things that are going on there in the last days and how there's this scroll and no one can open it and so he weeps because no one can open it and then the angel tells him, hey, don't weep. The Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, He's worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals and so there's this great scene as the Lamb comes and takes the scroll and then all of heaven begins to

to rejoice and to worship the Lamb that was slain. Verse 11 of Revelation 5, John says, I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, the elders. The number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. We see this magnificent scene there in heaven with thousands upon thousands with the angels and all God's creation.

Bowing down to worship and to exalt and to praise Jesus Christ. Jesus is the object of worship. But angels are ministering spirits. Later on in the book of Revelation in chapter 19, as the angel is revealing to John these things and showing him these visions,

It tells us in Revelation 19.10 that John fell at the angel's feet to worship him. But the angel says, See that you do not do that, for I am your fellow servant and one of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. There he says, Don't worship me. I'm just your fellow servant. I'm a minister. I was created to serve. You need to worship God.

Again, angels are not the object of worship, but Jesus is the object of worship. So Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the object of worship. And now, in verses 8 and 9, he'll go on to make it even more clear, saying that Jesus Christ is God. Look at verse 8, it says, But to the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Then you have loved righteousness

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. Here in verse 8 and 9, we see another quotation, this time from Psalm chapter 45, again speaking about the Messiah, speaking about Jesus Christ, speaking about the Son of God, and he's quoting God. So, it's interesting to look at these things as we see the Old Testament written in

by different men throughout the years, the human instruments, but the author of Hebrews recognizes, although there was these human instruments, it's God who wrote these things and God is the author of these things. And that's why through each of these quotations, the author of Hebrews says, he says, he referring to God, God said this, God says this, and he's quoting all of these different men that have written down the things that God spoke to them. And so God is speaking here

To the Son, and what does he say? He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. So let's make sure we get our players in the right place on the stage here, figure out what's going on. God is speaking. He's addressing the Son. He's addressing Jesus Christ. So God says, To Jesus, your throne, that's Jesus' throne, O God. God himself is testifying and saying this.

that Jesus Christ is God. God Himself is applying the title of God to Jesus. God says Jesus is God, so what further testimony do we need? If God calls Jesus God, who are we or who is anyone else, even angels that would appear, to say otherwise? No, Jesus Christ is God. God says so Himself.

Not only is He God, but He is on the throne. It says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Jesus Christ is on the throne. This should be great comfort to us because His authority, His power is, well, it's that of God. And He's the same God who gave Himself for you and I. He loves us dearly.

God says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of Your kingdom. He does what is right. His authority is always in righteousness. God goes on to say, You've loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Jesus Christ lived the perfect life. He never sinned. He was never lawless.

Therefore God, your God. So we see the distinction between the Father and the Son. When we say that Jesus Christ is God, we do not mean that Jesus Christ is the Father. There's the triune nature of God. Again, beyond our comprehension, beyond our ability to communicate and express what the details are of this relationship of God and the oneness of God and yet three persons together.

And it's, well, it's impossible really for us to logically and reason through and understand. And yet it's true. God doesn't ask you to figure it out. He just says this is how it is. And so he says to the Son, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And he says, therefore, God, your God, there's this interaction now between God the Father and God the Son. God the Father has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.

And so Jesus, again, as we look at these things and comparing them with angelic ministry and the angelic beings, we understand that Jesus Christ, well, really it's not even a comparison. There's no comparison. Jesus Christ is infinite. He's far superior to angels in that He is the Son of God, He is the object of worship, and He is God. Let's move on to verse 10.

He again quotes another portion of scripture, this time from Psalm 102, and it says, And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain, and they will all grow old like a garment. Like a cloak, you will fold them up, and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail.

Here God continues to speak. Not only does he say, your throne, O God, is forever and ever, but now in verse 10 he says, and you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. God says of Jesus Christ that he is the creator. But even more than saying that he is the creator, he applies the title Lord to him. Now if you'll notice there, if you have a New King James version of the Bible, the word Lord is all capitalized.

Every letter is capitalized. And that's to indicate that we're not just talking about the normal word for Lord that is being used. In the Hebrew Bible, as you look at the Old Testament, again in the New King James Version, when you see Lord and it's all capitalized, it's an indication that it's not the normal word for Lord that was used of the day, but it's the name of God that is there in the Hebrew text.

the YHVH, Yahweh or Jehovah. The name of God is being used in the Old Testament text and as this is quoting from the Old Testament, again, the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, it's God's name that is being mentioned and so it's all capitalized here. God is saying, and you, Jesus, are Jehovah, are Yahweh. You are God. Again, God is proving that Jesus Christ is God.

He says, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. Not only is Jesus Christ God, but He is the Creator. Not only is He the Creator, but He is everlasting. Verse 11, they will perish, but you remain. They will all grow old like a garment. They're going to fade. They're going to break down, but you are everlasting, He says. Not only that, Jesus Christ will not change. Verse 12, like a cloak you will fold them up. They will be changed.

But you are the same and your years will not fail. These are characteristics of God. The fact that He is the Creator. The fact that He is everlasting. The fact that He is immutable or that He does not change. The author of Hebrews is making the point very clearly with just a few things.

It's a lot maybe for us to tackle in one morning and get all the context for all these passages, but really it's just a few scriptures he's using and it's proving this incredible point that Jesus Christ is indeed God and far superior to angelic beings. Well, he's got one more proof in verse 13 and 14. But to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

Again, he asks the question, to which of the angels has God ever said, sit here at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. I would challenge you to search the scriptures and find out which angel God said that to. You won't find it. Again, the answer is, God did not say that to any angel. He said it only to Jesus Christ.

And there's a couple of things we see. We looked at this last week. Jesus Christ is seated, which means His work is accomplished. It's already done. It's already taken place. It's already been fulfilled. Jesus Christ, His work is done. It was fulfilled. It was finished upon the cross. He's not sitting up there fretting about and biting His nails. Man, there's the last days and there's so much to do and how am I going to get all this work done?

His work is done. It's accomplished. Similar, not quite relating, and not quite equitable, but we do our voting in November. We're going to be electing our president, and the president is elected at that time, but the inauguration doesn't take place until later on in January. And so there's this time that elapses between November and in January where...

Although he's been elected president, he's not yet in the office yet, and it's not yet been fulfilled. In the same way, the work has been accomplished, and there's this time that has elapsed. Jesus Christ's work is done, yet we will not see the fulfillment of this, the final outcome of this work until later on.

And what is the reason for this delay? It's not that it's taking a long time, but this is God's patience. This time that we have, this elapsed time, is simply God's patience because 2 Peter 3 tells us He's not willing that any should perish, but that He's patient because He wants all to come to repentance. And so this time that is elapsed between when the work was accomplished and when we see the final fulfillment is God's grace and mercy and His patience allowing people to get right with Him

so that when He returns, they will be forever with Him. So Jesus Christ is seated. Now, last week we talked about priests. And if you look at the articles of the temple, the different pieces of furniture, there's no chairs for the priest inside the temple or the tabernacle. There is no place that the priest would kind of go in and kick back, sit next to the table of showbread, grub down for a little bit and just chill out.

No, there was always work to be done. And when they were there in the presence of God, they were to be ministering, they were to be serving. In the same way, there's no seats for angels in the presence of God. They don't just kind of kick back in the throne room of God and hang out and wonder, man, what are we going to do next week? Because, well, he says, they're all ministering spirits and they're sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.

Go back in your mind to Isaiah chapter 6 and that glorious appearance there of Isaiah into the throne room of God and he sees God high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple and the angels are continually flying around and crying out to each other, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.

They weren't sitting down. They didn't have places where they would rest. No, they were continually, constantly praising God, worshiping Him and serving Him about His business. The point is the work of Jesus Christ is completed. He is far superior to angelic beings because He's done. He is now seated at the right hand of God. Now again, this is something we talked about last week. The right hand being the position of honor and power and authority of God.

It's where Jesus Christ is seated with the work accomplished. Jesus has the place of honor. Angels have the place of service. Now you say, okay, so what? Things we've known, things we've heard. We know Jesus is God. You don't have to give us another five-point message to prove the point. Verse 1 of chapter 2. Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

You cannot learn something without being accountable for it. He says, therefore. He now goes into this challenge, to this warning, one of several that will be given throughout the book, and they kind of increase in intensity each time. And he gives this warning based upon the truth that he has just shared about who Jesus is in comparison to angelic beings.

It's really a climax. Although it's the normal size font in your Bible, it should be like size 25. Therefore, since Jesus Christ is God, since He is the Son of God, the object of worship, since He's at the right hand of God, His work is accomplished, He's in the place of honor and authority and power, since this is who Jesus Christ is...

He says, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. There's a warning here that takes place as a result of this information, as a result of this knowledge. Since you know that Jesus Christ is God, you must give the more earnest heed to the things that you've heard. Now, if you've studied Hebrews before, then this time as we go through Hebrews...

If you've studied the Scriptures before, then this time as we go through the Scriptures, you should be paying even more attention, you should be giving the more earnest heed than even last time. Now, we naturally do the opposite, don't we? Well, yeah, I've heard this, and I've heard this teaching, and some of the worship team, you know, they sat through first service, and now they're sitting through second service, and so I hope this time around, they're giving the more earnest heed, because that's what God calls us to do. See,

Since you know, since you've heard these things already, you need to pay more attention. It's not like in school where I've already learned those things and so I don't need to pay attention during this time. No, God says it's the other way. You've heard these things, you've known these things, you know Jesus Christ is God, therefore you need to give the more earnest heed. Just think about that phrase for just a moment. To give the more earnest heed. Does that describe your Christian walk?

Does that describe your spiritual life, your spiritual condition? That you give the more earnest heed to your relationship with Jesus Christ. This idea of giving heed is not just about hearing. It's not just about listening or reading, but it's about doing what it is that's being said.

It's like what James said, not to just be hearers of the Word and deceiving ourselves. Do what it says. That's what taking heed to the Word of God, taking heed to what we have heard is all about. It's about living in relationship with God. Not about knowledge and information as it is about application.

Are you earnestly applying? Are you being more diligent than ever in taking God's Word and living it out? Therefore, since you know that Jesus Christ is God, the call to you and I is to live in right relationship with God and be obedient to Him and live by His Word and live according to what He has said. Lest we drift away, He says. This warning that He gives, like every warning that is given, there's a danger that

for those who do not heed the warning. Now, we're often given warnings and you may or may not consider that warning applicable to you. There's warning signs along the road and you kind of evaluate. I don't see no danger. I don't need to take heed. I can just keep going as I desire to do. Sometimes people give us counsel. Sometimes people give us warnings. Sometimes your boss will give you a warning. If you continue to do this...

This is going to be the consequence. And you evaluate that warning and you decide if you want to take heed to it or if you want to disregard it. This is a warning that God has given. There's a danger of drifting away. And regardless of how we want to define that and what that actually means and without getting into the whole argument of can a Christian lose their salvation, throw all that out the window. There's a warning that God has given. Are you going to pay attention to it?

Are you going to apply it to yourself or not? You need to give the more earnest heed so that you do not drift away. Notice the we here in verse 1. Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away. This is not an evangelistic call. This is not those who...

have never been born again or never received Jesus Christ. That's not what the intention of the author of Hebrews is. Although, hey, if you need to get right with God, there's a great opportunity today. Today is the day of salvation and God will forgive you and set you free. However, the point and the purpose of this passage is to challenge we, the author includes himself, those who believe in Jesus Christ.

There's a great danger for us and we need to take heed so that we do not drift away. This idea of drifting, I mean, I think it paints a pretty clear picture in our head, doesn't it? I don't know about you, but I automatically think about a boat in the water. It's a nautical term.

And drifting happens pretty naturally because the currents are always going. There's waves and things happening in the water, but then there's also the winds. And so there's this drifting that takes place. You don't just sit in one place in the water. I read about today, there was an article that was released recently

about a few guys who were in Sri Lanka and they were fishermen. They were off the coast of Sri Lanka. They go out in the open sea. They're doing their work and their engine dies, their motor dies. And so they're unable to get back and they're drifting out there in the sea for about three weeks. I think it was about three weeks or it was after three weeks that their food gave out. So all in all, it's been about two months and they finally returned home. But where they ended up

After drifting for three weeks or so, they ended up in Thailand. I don't know if you're familiar with your geography, but it's about 1400 miles away. Drifting for just a short amount of time can take you a great distance from where you want to be. They didn't have a motor, they didn't have a sail. All they could do is just be carried along by the currents. That's what drifting is. And in the ocean, you will drift if you're not anchored, and you will drift if you're not being propelled.

For us as Christians, we're not called to be anchored. You anchor whenever you've reached your destination. You and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, will never in this lifetime, in eternity for sure, but in this lifetime, we won't get to the point where God says, you're perfect. Anchor down, just stay right there in your Christian walk. Don't grow, don't move, just stay exactly how you are. You're the perfect Christian. That's not going to happen. So the only way for us not to drift is

is for us to be propelled, for us to be moving forward, to be giving the more earnest heed. See, we need to be growing in our Christian walk. We need to be growing in our passion for the Lord, in our love for Jesus Christ, in our relationship with God. There needs to be growth. Otherwise, if we're not moving forward, we're drifting, we're being carried away. The world has incredible pressure all around us.

Our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Our flesh seeks to lead us astray. There's all of these winds and currents and things around us that would seek to carry us and just a little bit of time we could be carried way off course and very far from where we want to be. And so there's a great warning here for you to take heed, to pay attention, to give them more earnest heed, to pay more attention today than you did last week.

Are you closer in your relationship with God this week than you were last Sunday at this time? Have you grown this week? Have you grown this month? Have you grown this year? Have you been increasing in your relationship with God and your passion for Him? We are to be in a constant state of growth and progress in our spiritual lives. Otherwise, we're drifting. If you're not pressing forward, if you're not pursuing God, you're drifting. If you've...

not been paying him much attention, if you've not been spending time with him, you're drifting. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way, I've discovered that neglect of the word of God and prayer, publicly and privately, is the cause of most spiritual drifting. He says, I need not multiply examples because every believer knows that it's true. Here's what Warren Wiersbe says, neglect of the word of God and prayer causes spiritual drifting. And he says, and I don't need to give you a bunch of examples because you know it's true.

He's saying, if you're not spending time in the Word, and you're not spending time in prayer, you're drifting. Now, that does not mean that just because we are spending time in the Word, and this is something that God's been challenging myself with personally, just because I do spend time in the Word doesn't mean that I'm not drifting, doesn't mean that I'm drawing close. We can be legalistic and we can read through things and not be affected by it and not have it help us in our relationship with God.

The key is the relationship part here, that we're using the Word of God for which it was intended, that we would be drawn close to Him, that we would have personal communication with Him, that we would be growing in our relationship with Him. Andrew Murray says, it is the lack of this taking more earnest heed, the lack of intense earnestness, and giving God and religion the first place and best powers of our life, which is at the root of feebleness and sickliness of the Christian life.

He says, you want to know why you're a feeble Christian? You have little strength and you're not able to do much as a Christian and you're not able to overcome those things. You want to know why? He says, it's the lack of taking more earnest heed. It's the lack of giving God the rightful place and priority in your life. The rightful energy and strength and diligence that He deserves that belongs to Him in your life. We must not become comfortable and complacent in our Christian walk.

We must not become lukewarm in our faith. We must pay careful attention to what we've heard, putting it to practice in our lives. Why? Well, he continues to give us the reason why. In verse 2 he says, Verse 3,

which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him. Verse 4, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. Why do we need to give the more earnest heed? Why do we need to pay so much attention? Well, he continues with the warning saying, look, if the word that was spoken through angels proved steadfast, what is this word that was spoken through angels? Well,

Most believe that this is a reference to the giving of the law. In Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 2, it describes there the thousands of saints or the thousands of angels, as is applied later in the New Testament, that were there and participated in Moses receiving the law in Mount Sinai. You can check out Acts chapter 7 verse 53 and

Stephen brings this up as well as Paul in Galatians 3.19 talk about the angels being involved in the giving of the law. And so it's very possible the word spoken through angels is the Old Testament, the Old Covenant. And as we've seen true throughout the scriptures, that is proved steadfast. The word that was brought forth, God has been faithful to that word.

But if you're not comfortable with that, just consider some very basic examples. In Genesis chapter 19, hopefully you read through that this last week, the story of Lot. There the angels appeared to him and brought him and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah before God rained down fire from heaven upon them. The angels said to go and to not look back. And Lot's wife looks back and she received her just reward. She was turned into a pillar of salt, just like

As they said it, their word proved steadfast. Or, if you don't like that example, consider Daniel chapter 4 with the person of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And the watchers, another term that's used for angels. The watchers speak to him and say, listen, if you don't honor God and glorify Him as God, if you don't humble yourself, you're going to be humbled and you're going to become like an animal and for seven seasons you're going to be out there and like an animal and out in the field.

And sure enough, Nebuchadnezzar did not humble himself, he did not glorify God, and exactly what the angels said was fulfilled. So the point here, the things that angels spoke, the things that were brought forth by God's ministering spirits, those things were proved steadfast. And if you disregarded those things, well, you received a just reward. They were fulfilled. The consequences were very real and they were applied.

So therefore, again, comparing angels versus Jesus, if their word was true and consequences were real in that situation, now he's saying, how much more with Jesus Christ and what Jesus has said. That's why he says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

This one is far better because the person who brings it, the person who proclaims it, is far better than the angels who brought forth the message before. He says, "...which at first began to be spoken by the Lord."

This was not spoken by angels. It was not brought forth by angels, but it was brought forth by Jesus Christ. And it was confirmed by those who heard Him. We have the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. Not only do we have Jesus Himself and the apostles, but we also have God who bore witness with those things, with various miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, with signs and wonders. God proved...

that the testimony of Jesus Christ was indeed genuine and accurate. So we have these three witnesses, Jesus Himself, the eyewitnesses, the apostles, and God proving all of these things are true. The whole point of this is saying that Jesus Christ has brought forth, He's brought forth this message, He's spoken forth this desire to have relationship with us, this new life that's found in Him. How shall we escape if we neglect this great salvation? How do you think that we'll be saved

Not held responsible if we neglect these things when the word that was brought forth by angels was steadfast and people were held accountable for it. See, we often think, well, you know, there's grace and God's going to, He won't be harsh. He's going to be merciful. And there's grace and mercy that's found in Jesus Christ, that's found in right relationship with God. But if we neglect so great a salvation, don't be confused. God cannot be mocked.

Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. The consequences are real. There's a great danger. And so the author of Hebrews warns us so that we don't neglect so great a salvation. This word neglect, same type of concept of drifting. We justify ourselves and say, well, I'm not an outright sin or I'm not in full-fledged rebellion against God. But you know, laziness in your walk, drifting away, not pursuing God, not growing in your relationship with God.

is a danger. It's a danger that's worthy of consequences. Again, without discussing what we may or may not think those consequences are, God wanted us to know that there's a danger. He wanted us to know that we better not neglect the salvation that He's given to us. That we better not neglect this relationship with God. And neglecting the salvation is not

We're not talking about, well, I said the prayer there at the time, and this year at that time, and this date, and I said this prayer, and so I'm not neglecting the salvation that God has offered. I accepted Jesus Christ. But we're not talking about a one-time event that happened in the past. He says, right now, to take the more earnest heed to the things we've heard, lest we drift away.

He's talking about this relationship with God. This continual ongoing work that God wants to do in our hearts and lives and drawing us closer and making us more like Him. And drawing us closer in intimacy that we would have personal communication and fellowship with Him. Understand that the whole purpose of the cross, of Jesus Christ coming to die for us, is so that we can have relationship with God. And so if we neglect that relationship with God, it's something that's punishable. Don't neglect the relationship with God.

Don't neglect this great salvation which has been given to us. Don't drift away. This morning he challenges us, the author of Hebrews, to pursue God. Don't be lazy. To not be lukewarm in the faith, but to be pressing forward, constantly rowing, because we know who Jesus is. He's far greater than any angelic being. He is God. He died on the cross for us so that we could live in relationship with him.

And to not live in relationship with Him is an offense to Him. So don't offend Him. As I was preparing for this this morning, well this past week as I was preparing, there's an old school song and please forgive the dating of this song. I know it's a little dated but I wanted to share it with you today. And so we're going to end with this song. They're going to play it in just a second. And I would ask as they play this song, as they play this CD, that you would just listen to the words and be attentive.

to the cry of the song, the meaning of the words. Because it was really my heart's cry as I was studying these things. The basic gist of it is that I don't want to be a casual Christian. I don't want to just kind of get by and live a lukewarm life. I want to pursue the things of God and chase after the things of God.

And so I would ask that you would continue to meditate on these things that God is speaking to you as they play this song. And afterwards, if you need prayer, there'll be people up here. They'd love to pray with you and encourage you. If you need to get right with God, just come on up afterwards. You'll be dismissed after this song. But let God continue to speak to you for these next few moments.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.