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The Deadly Danger of Drift (Hebrews 2:1-4)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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And let us now take our Bibles and open them
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to the New Testament book of Hebrews. Hebrews
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chapter two, we're gonna look at verses one through
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four today. We started this book just a few weeks
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ago. And so we press on, just picking up where
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we left off. Hebrews 2, 1 through 4. And I would
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ask you to give attention to this. If you brought
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your Bible to open it. If you do not have a Bible,
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there is a pew Bible there in front of you. Hebrews
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2, 1 through 4. Therefore, we must pay much closer
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attention to what we have heard. lest we drift
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away from it. For since the message declared
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by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression
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or disobedience received a just retribution,
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how shall we escape if we neglect such a great
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salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord,
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and it was attested to us by those who heard.
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While God also bore witness by signs and wonders
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and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy
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Spirit distributed according to his will. This
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is God's word. Let's pray. Teach us your way,
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O Lord, that we would walk in truth, unite our
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hearts to fear you. We will give you thanks,
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O Lord, our God. with all of our hearts and glorify
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your name forever. Amen. I was told a story from
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my family not too long ago, a story from my in
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-laws. My father -in -law one day was leaving
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work and I think he stopped to throw something
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in a dumpster outside of his work. And in doing
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so, he spotted a painting lying on top of the
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rubbish in the dumpster. And he thought it looked
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pretty. It was a beautiful painting. And so,
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he fished it out of the dumpster and he brought
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it home. He thought, my wife would like that.
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And for years, the painting hung on their wall.
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And they didn't really pay too much attention
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to it. But something kind of inspired them one
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day to look at it a little bit more closely and
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notice that the painter's name was George Clawson.
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I don't know a whole lot about art, but apparently
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George Clawson's a pretty good painter and a
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pretty famous painter. And so they called up
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a friend in New York City to inquire about this
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and this friend said, yeah, that's a pretty important
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painting. I will sell it for you." And they ended
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up banking tens of thousands of dollars from
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this painting that at one point was lying in
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the dumpster. They just did not know what they
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had. Sometimes we are like that with Christ.
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We don't seem to know what we have in Jesus Christ.
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The writer of Hebrews wants you to know of the
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greatness of Christ that surpasses everything
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else and I would say that his main point can
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be summed up in just two words pay attention
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Pay attention For what the author has to say
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is of the utmost importance to ignore such a
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message such a great salvation can prove to be
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deadly. Look at verse 1. My translation begins
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with the word therefore. You may have something
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similar there. What the therefore is doing is
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connecting Hebrews 2 with Hebrews 1. We should
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remember that chapters and verses are added later
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and sometimes we read scripture and we think,
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well, chapter 1 is just one complete thought.
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Chapter two, something different. We should not
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divorce Chapter two and Chapter one. He's continuing
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in the same sort of argument here. And the argument
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is that Christ is greater than everything else
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in all creation, for he created it. And so we
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must pay attention here, as he says. Children.
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You have started back to school recently, you're
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either in school or you're being homeschooled.
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Does your mom or does a teacher ever say to you,
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pay attention? How many times have you heard
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that? Pay attention. Or some of our teenagers
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who have recently gotten driver's license or
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preparing for that, you ever on the road with
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your parents and they're saying, pay attention
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to the road. Because what happens if you don't
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pay attention to the road? Again, it could be
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deadly for you. And so what's he saying here?
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Pay attention. Now, we've already said this,
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that the recipients of this letter are undergoing
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or in danger of undergoing some form of persecution.
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And so as these people may have experienced some
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form of persecution, they might have said, you
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know what, life was better before I came to Christ.
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Life was better before people hated me. Life
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was better before this persecution came upon
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me. And so some of them, perhaps they're thinking
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like, I got I got to leave Christ behind here.
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I don't think that they started off thinking
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this though, but pressures mounted and the shine
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of Christ may have wore off for some of them.
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And I think the Old Testament parallel to this
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is the Israelites getting out of Egypt in the
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wilderness. You remember that, right? They after
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getting out of Egypt after crossing the Red Sea
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in in Exodus chapter 15 There is this incredible
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time of worship and praise to God who is their
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deliverer. I Wish I could have been there But
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what happens after that? What do the Israelites
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start to do after that? I'm hungry. I'm thirsty
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They begin to complain. Now, I'm not belittling
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that because I don't think any of us have ever
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done anything as physically demanding as wandering
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in the wilderness for 40 years. However, remember
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where they were. They were under oppression.
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They were enslaved to the Egyptians. Our memories
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are so short, aren't they? Our memories are short.
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But would they really want to return to slavery?
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Would they really want to go back to that oppression?
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Well, friends, when we neglect our salvation,
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we're kind of saying the same thing. For these
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Christians, abandoning Christ would mean going
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back to the law. Listen to this from Galatians
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chapter 3. Verse 23 Now before faith came we
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were held captive under the law imprisoned until
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the coming faith would be revealed That's kind
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of what they're saying if they are tempted to
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go back They're going back to an old system in
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which they will not thrive in which they will
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fall short every single day of their lives They're
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They're really considering going back to the
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shackles and the chains of being not just under
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the law, but being underneath our sin. Now, I
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want to be very careful here because at this
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point somebody usually says, well, I thought
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you couldn't lose your salvation. And friends,
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that is absolutely true. You cannot lose your
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salvation. God does not. un -regenerate you.
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He doesn't have your old, cold, stony heart on
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a shelf. He doesn't surgically implant it back
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into you. That doesn't happen. So what are we
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talking about here? We are talking about apostasy.
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We are talking about those who previously professed
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faith in Jesus Christ, but now turn their backs
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on that profession. I want to encourage your
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hearts for a second. This is not talking about
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every sin that you commit. This is not talking
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about how we daily sin and thought word indeed.
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This is those who fully and finally turn their
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backs on Jesus Christ. This is the sort of people
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that are described in First John 2 19. First
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John 2 19 says they went out from us. But they
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were not of us, for if they had been of us, they
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would have continued with us. But they went out
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that it might be complained that they all are
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not of us. These are the sort of people that
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we might think never possessed faith in the first
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place. Friends, we are not merely after a profession
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of faith. We are after a possession. of faith.
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You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
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is the one and the only way to be saved. But
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I also want to say this. I believe that this
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is actually not unique to the recipients of this
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letter. I think that what is described here is
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actually a prevalent problem. This is a prevalent
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problem. And so therefore, this is for all of
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us. And so you've heard the command, pay attention.
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Now look at the warning. Lest we drift away from
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it. Have you had the experience of standing in
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the ocean on a beautiful day? Maybe you're playing
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in the water with your children. Maybe you're
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throwing a football around. Maybe you're floating
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on a raft. And it's just the kind of day that
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summers are made out of. But then you take a
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look at the shore and you realize that you have
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drifted. Maybe you're a dozen yards away from
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where you originally entered the water. Maybe
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you're further than that. The sudden drift is
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what is so surprising. And so what do you do?
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You're in the water. You realize, hey, our stuff's
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over there. And so what do you do? You get the
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children or whoever's in the water with you.
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Let's move back this way so that we are in front
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of our beach towels and our chairs. You wave
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hi to mom. You assure her that all is well. And
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you continue playing. Friends, it's the gradual
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currents that are surprising. I'm not describing
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a rip current. I'm describing drift here. And
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so sometimes without really realizing it, we
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drift. And then when the storm arises, we are
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very far from the shore. Rick Phillips says here,
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there is a danger, the writer argues, and there's
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also a remedy. To avoid drifting off course,
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you hold the wheel of the ship in line. To avoid
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slipping out with a current, you make fast the
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anchor. You see, drifting, what's being described
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here, is not making a beeline from your faith.
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Let's say Christ is the boat. Drifting is not
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jumping overboard. Drifting doesn't take a lot
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of effort. It's simply putting your feet up on
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the raft and slowly floating away. Drifting is
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being careless with your faith, not being aware
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of your surroundings and then suddenly finding
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you are not where you once were. Because notice
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the wording of this, even in verse three, how
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shall we escape if we neglect, if we ignore such
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a great salvation. O Palmer Robertson says this,
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just as you might be towed away imperceptibly
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from the ocean shore by a receding tide, so the
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distance between yourself and Christ may increase
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without your ever noticing the change. Doesn't
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take a lot of effort to drift. Would you like
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to know what takes effort? It is your growth
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in Christ. He is your anchor. And here is where
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I think it's helpful for us to go over two theological
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terms that you have surely heard of, justification
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and sanctification. Justification is the moment
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when God pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous
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in His sight through Christ Jesus. It's the one
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and done. But what about sanctification? This
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is a work wherein we are enabled more and more
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to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.
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It's like Paul writes, Paul at one point says,
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work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
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And sometimes we read that and we think, wait
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a second, I thought faith in Christ was monergistic.
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How can this say work out your salvation? The
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problem is that people don't continue reading.
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For Paul continues to explain For it is God who
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works in you both to will and to work for his
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good pleasure And so do you hear who is working
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within that passage? It is God and It's us. I'm
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not talking about justification. I'm talking
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about sanctification And so how do we work in
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sanctification? Well, God has given us his means
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of grace. Sanctification means feeding your faith
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with the word, with worship, with the sacraments.
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In these things you are growing. But friends,
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if you are not feeding your faith, you are not
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growing and you may be drifting. Friends, You
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can be right here right now in this sanctuary
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You can attend every Sunday school every men
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of the Covenant every women in the church every
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Vacation Bible school every table talk every
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prayer meeting you can attend every single one
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of these things and Your heart be far away We
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need to feed our faith truly and not be neglectful,
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not be careless of our faith, not just be going
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through the motions. And so what is it? Why do
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we drift? I've been thinking about this for a
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long time. I heard a term just a couple of years
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ago and I have not been able to stop thinking
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about it and I know I've shared it before, but
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it's pertinent. One of the biggest problems in
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Christianity today is apotheism. We are apathetic
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to Christ. We are apathetic to his word. We are
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apathetic to what we're doing right here. We've
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developed an apathy to prayer. We've developed
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an apathy to evangelism and missions, and we
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have developed slowly the mindset that these
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things just are not that important. Friends,
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nothing could be further from the truth. But
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I also think it didn't start out as a deliberate
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decision. I don't think a person starts out saying,
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you know what? I'm gonna neglect God today. You
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know what? I'm gonna break my membership vows
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today. You know what? I'm going to forget about
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loving my neighbor. I don't think it goes like
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that. I don't see it as a conscious decision
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that any Christian would make. Again, it's not
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jumping overboard, but it's being apathetic.
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That all of the cares and the concerns of this
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world crowd out Jesus and we realize that we
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are far away from safety. And so look at verse
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three. How shall we escape if we neglect? such
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a great salvation. Do you see how pastoral the
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writer is here? Because what does he do? He lumps
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himself into this group. Therefore, we must pay
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close attention to what we have heard, lest we
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drift away from it. How shall we escape if we
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neglect such a great salvation? He lumps himself
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in here as if to say, I need this to I need to
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preach the gospel to myself every single day
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lest I drift. And so as he lumps himself in here
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I can say this for every single soul within the
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sanctuary. We need this. We need to pay attention.
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Because look at verse three as as this is a rhetorical
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question. Look how he has asked the questions
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and answered the questions so far in the book
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of Hebrews. Chapter one, verse five, rhetorical
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question answered in the negative. He says he
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asks for to which of the angels did God ever
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say, you are my son today, I begotten you. And
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the implied answer is none. He never said that
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to an angel. Or again, I will be to him a father
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and he shall be to me a son. To which angel has
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he ever said that to none of them? Verse 13 of
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chapter one, and to which of the angels has he
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ever said, sit at my right hand until I make
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your enemies a footstool for your feet. To which
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angel has he ever said this? He has not said
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this to the angels. He has said this to Christ.
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And so when we get to the rhetorical question
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of chapter two, verse three, how shall we escape
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if we neglect such a great salvation? The implied
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answer is you won't. will not escape. There is
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no escape. For there is no backup plan. There
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is no other way for you to be saved. It is Christ
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and it is Christ alone. Friends, you abandon
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Christ, you have abandoned your faith. As Paul
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would say, you have shipwrecked your faith and
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there's no coming back for that. For there is
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no other way to be saved. And so I think what
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he's getting at here is eternal punishment. And
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actually this is a big theme in Hebrews because
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this is the first of five different warnings
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to those who profess faith in Christ and yet
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turn back. Let me show you this from chapter
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10 verse 29. How much worse punishment do you
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think will be deserved by the one who has trampled
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underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the
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blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified
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and has outraged the spirit of grace. The idea
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here is, friends, for those who have heard the
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gospel, for those who have professed faith in
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Jesus and yet would turn their backs on Christ,
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that those people are heaping judgment upon themselves.
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For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
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of the living God. And so we must give ourselves
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to this great salvation. And so let's thirdly
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look at his rationale. Why is this salvation
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so great? Look at verse two. For since the message
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declared by angels proved to be reliable. All
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right, so once again, just like in chapter one,
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we see the angels making an appearance here.
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But we may ask, What is the message that he's
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talking about? Friends, this is the message of
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the law, the mosaic law, the 10 commandments.
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But here is where you might think back to Exodus
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20 towards the giving of those commandments.
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And you say, where were the angels? As I read
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that episode, I don't see the angels. Well, friends,
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it is true when you read Exodus chapter 20, you
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don't see the mention of the angels, but scripture
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interprets scripture. And so listen to these
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passages to hear of the angels within the giving
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of the law. Acts chapter seven, verse 38, and
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I'm dropping you right down into the middle of
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Stephen's sermon, and I don't have time to cover
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it all, but just listen for the angels' involvement
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in the giving of the law. Acts seven, 38, this
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is the one. who was in the congregation in the
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wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at
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Mount Sinai. And then on down to verse 53 of
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that same chapter, you who received the law as
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delivered by angels and did not keep it. And
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then because we've already been in Galatians,
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let me take you to Galatians 3 19. Which says
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why then the law it was added because of transgressions
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Until the offspring should come to whom the promise
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had been made and it was put in place through
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angels by an intermediary Yes, the angels were
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involved in the giving of the law and the message
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that they give that they gave according to this
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text proved to be reliable But also notice this,
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that there is just retribution for the breaking
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of these things. We remember that in the Old
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Testament at times there was severe punishment
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for the breaking of the law. There was death
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in the Old Testament for these things. And so
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what the writer of Hebrews is doing is arguing
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from the lesser to the greater. Angels? Good.
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Law? Good. Christ? greater. And if you deserved
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punishment for disobeying the lesser law through
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lesser means, how much more does one deserve
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punishment for rejecting Christ, who is the author
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and the perfecter of our faith? John Calvin said
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here, in proportion to the greatness of Christ
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will be the severity of God's vengeance on all
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the despisers of the gospel. You see what's happening
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in verse three is it shows us the Lord declared
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this message by preaching it. Jesus preached
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the gospel, the good news, and his followers
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continued sharing that message all the way until
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it reached the ears of the author of the book
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of Hebrews. But he also bore witness through
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signs, it says, and wonders and miracles. And
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he didn't do this to show off. He did this to
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signify his message that even the gifts of the
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Spirit are for this purpose. And what is more,
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as you look at verses three and four, do they
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not show the involvement of the entire Godhead?
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Verses three and four show us the Father, the
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Son, and the Holy Spirit were all working together
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and attesting to the message of the gospel. Dennis
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Johnson says, a four -fold concert of witnesses,
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the Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles, God the
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Father testifying through the miracles, and the
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Holy Spirit empowering the church certifies the
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message of salvation announced in these last
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days. Those who taste this good word of God but
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then drift away will not escape the destruction
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that awaits those who commit treason against
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the Lord of the Covenant. And so let me ask you,
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friends. Do you know what you have in Jesus Christ?
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More accurately, do you know who you have in
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the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know what you have
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in this great salvation? Do you know what Christ
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went through to purchase you? That He lived for
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you? and he kept the law perfectly and he underwent
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all of the miseries of this life and finally
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he was placed on a cross and all of the punishment,
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all of the full wrath of God was placed upon
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Jesus instead of upon you. Do you know the great
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salvation that you have in Christ? He is the
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Son of God perfect in every way. And on the cross,
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He welcomed your and my unrighteousness, and
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what was imputed to you was His righteousness.
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He did this for you. It is a great salvation,
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isn't it? Today, if you're trying to hold your
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feet firm in the sand with the water coming upon
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you, If today you're clinging to the dock of
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your own self -righteousness, white -knuckling
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it, if you are attempting to stay on course all
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by yourself, I can tell you one thing, it is
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not going well for you. It is not going well
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for you. If you're simply floating through life
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without a care of Christ or his means of grace,
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you are going to drift off course. You are going
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to get pulled under. And so would you recognize
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Would you recognize the danger now and the means
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that God has given for you to draw closer to
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Him? If you are drifting, I have just two scriptures
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to share with you and then I'll close. I would
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like you to memorize James 4 -8. Draw near to
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God and He will draw near to you. And then finally
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Psalm 51. David's prayer of repentance created
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me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit
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within me. Cast me not away from your presence
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and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore
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to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me
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with a willing spirit. Amen. Let's pray. Father,
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I thank you. that if we are clinging to you,
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you are clinging even more tightly to us. And
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I thank you that within your grasp, we will not
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be lost. For all that the Father has given to
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you will not be lost. We are adopted in your
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family, we're justified, but Lord, help us to
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take this command and this warning to heart that
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we would not drift from you. Keep us tightly
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within your grip and help us to give ourselves
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to your means of grace. These things we ask in
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the name of the one who is our salvation, Jesus
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Christ. Amen.