Warning, Don't Neglect Salvation

Amen, if you got your Bible turn me to Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 as we embark on the very first of the five warning passages in the book of Hebrews there are five of them and the writer of Hebrews is compelled to speak to those in the audience about coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and The very first warning he gives is directed at those who don't necessarily Outright deny the existence of God, but they simply Drift away from making the decision about committing their lives to Christ Do you know that that most people or?

Hell is filled with people who don't outright deny the existence of God. They just don't make a decision for God They just drift by in life never being compelled to to commit their life to Christ When the writer of Hebrew writes he writes with three groups of people basically two groups one group and category one two and category two and that is he writes to the Intimately committed Christian. All right when he calls him Holy Brethren, it refers to the intimately committed individual When he speaks to the brethren, they are the ones who fall in one of two categories the Inspirational curious or those who are intellectually Convinced But neither have made a commitment to follow Christ And so when he talks in these warning passages, he's addressing those who are curious about the Christ They are convinced that he exists.

They are convinced that he did die Even rose again But they never commit their life to following him That's a lot of people in the church today years ago I was Golfing with one of them in our church and I was talking to him about committing his life to Christ. I Said, you know, you've been in our church for over 15 years And you have yet to commit your life to Jesus Christ Why is that He looked at me and said, you know Lance I Believe what you say. I Don't disagree with anything that you say In fact, I am enamored by the things you say week in a week out I'm just not interested in making a commitment to follow Christ as Savior and Lord.

I said really He said yeah, I Said you had better wake up because the time is going to come Where it will be impossible for you to ever make a decision to follow Christ and that's gonna be too late so My concern for you is that Salvation and the opportunity is going to pass you by The right of Hebrews is concerned that the people in his audience Are going to let the opportunity for salvation pass Them by and Hebrews 2 1 to 4 Gives us that very first warning passage and will we view them for you as we go through them throughout the book of Hebrews?

To keep bringing you back into focus as to who he's talking to and why he's talking to them to understand the importance of Committing your life to Jesus Christ today This is what he says. He was 2 verses 1 to 4 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard So that we do not drift away from it For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord it was confirmed to us by those who heard God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will There are three points.

I want you to see today as to why it's imperative that you do not neglect this great salvation Number one deals with the identity and the superiority of God's Son Number two the inevitability and the severity of God's judgment Number three the authority the testimony and the authenticity of God's gospel Okay Those are the simple three points that put these four verses into focus for us So we understand exactly what it is.

The writer wants us to see and understand He's compelled to call them to repentance This is what he says For this reason what reason? For the very reason he's just given to us in the first 14 verses of chapter 1 That Jesus Christ is superior the identity of who the Son of God is Makes it imperative that you give your life to Jesus Christ Everything that was anticipated in the Old Testament came to fruition through the Son which was given The Son of God who is the firstborn of all creation who is the only begotten Son of God?

Who is the heir of all things who's a creator of all things and he uses seven Old Testament principles or excuse me verses To take these Hebrew writers or listeners back to the Old Testament to prove to them that Jesus Christ is their Messiah He says because of the identity because of the superiority of Christ over angels over the prophets You need to give your life to him Based on the identity of this Messiah Based on the ministry he made purification for your sins You need to give your life to Jesus Christ He tells him this for this very reason We must pay much closer attention Isn't it interesting that most people come to church and don't pay any attention at all?

let alone much closer attention It's used with one word Prosecco, which is the word that deals which is a nautical term. In fact, he uses two nautical terms to describe those Who are not making a decision for Christ He says you must pay much closer attention Meaning that it's used in nautical terms of a ship going into a harbor and not paying close enough attention To make sure it docks at the right spot at the right time He says you need because of who Jesus Christ is to make sure you don't continue to drift away And that's the second nautical term He uses to help you understand that if you don't pull your ship into the harvest of salvation or the harbor of salvation You're going to continue to drift on down through the harbor into the open sea and you will perish You will perish for all eternity You must be very very careful to listen to who Jesus is Because you're accountable Once you've heard Now you're accountable to what you've just heard And you need to make sure that you respond.

That's why Jesus said in luke 9 44 Make sure you take these words deep into your heart How many times did Jesus say he who has ears to hear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches? How many times are we exhorted all throughout the new testament to pay very close attention to the things that we're hearing? Because most people just don't So the writer of hebrews says listen, you guys have got to listen up pay very close attention lest you drift away Lest you continue on through the harbor of salvation and miss the opportunity To bring your heart into focus as to the reality of god's saving grace This is of utmost importance This is crucial I'll give you example We raise our children in the church, right?

We want them to hear the word of the lord But so many times our children grow up in the church and they hear a lot about the christ And yet they never commit themselves to following christ They become very familiar with the christianese terms. Maybe you're one of those people You grew up in the church and you know about The plan of salvation, you know about the identity of god, you know about the ministry of the savior You know about all those things, but yet you've never truly committed your life to christ That's a lot of people in today's churches across america Oh, they've heard the gospel And they're accountable to what they've heard But they say things like, you know, maybe maybe next week Maybe next year.

I have other things that I want to do and all throughout the ministry of christ He addressed it all addressed all those people who would put off Giving their life to christ just kind of drifting through life hearing listening But never truly committing their life to follow christ That's a very dangerous place to be because If you hear the voice of god, we'll see this hebrews 3 and you do not Follow christ you're in danger of hardening your hearts To the truth of the gospel And then in hebrews 5 and 6 you'll see where it will now become impossible for you to repent Because you've become so hardened to the things you've become so familiar with Because you've just passed through the harbor of salvation and drifted on by It's a very dangerous place to be Yet there's a lot of people and maybe you're one of them, I don't know That comes to church and hears the message believes the message But you just don't want to repent of your sins and give your life to jesus christ that he might take complete control of who you are He says listen because of the identity and the superiority of christ over all things It's imperative that you don't continue to drift down and away From making the decision to follow christ Why?

number two because of the inevitability and the severity of god's judgment Listen what he says For if the words spoken through angels proved unalterable And every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

In other words he says if the word given to us through angels Proved to be a just penalty for those who transgressed the law How much greater penalty will there be for those who having heard the son of god reject What he has said? Now the author said to us it was the angels who gave us The law of god God Gave the law through angels to moses who in turn gave it to the nation of israel How do we know that? psalm 68 deuteronomy 32 Acts chapter 7 Galatians 3 verse number 19 In fact, this is 319 says these words it says Why the law then it was added because of transgressions Having been ordained through angels By the agency of a mediator Moses until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made So not only glacius 319 but act 7 as well as deuteronomy 32 as well as Psalm 68 tells us that the law was given through angels So now the writer of hebrews is going to take these Hebrew people back to what they already know the law says And what how the law was given because they know the old testament He's going to explain to them if that law given through angels Was unalterable you can't change it you can't change the ten commandments And he says and Every transgression not not some transgression, but every transgression And disobedience received a just penalty in other words every time someone Received a just penalty in the old testament It happens because it came from a just god For example in the old testament if you committed adultery You were stoned right You were stoned to death That's how god dealt with those who committed adultery to keep others from committing adultery The wages of sin is death, right?

And so god set it up that if you commit adultery You'll be stoned if you commit immorality, you'll be stoned if you commit blasphemy You will be stoned in fact If you despise the word of god according to numbers chapter 15 and you go out and pick up sticks on the sabbath You're going to be stoned. You're going to die That was a just penalty Because it was ordained by god through angels to moses to israel And that transgression that you commit whether it was one of a transgression, which is a Parabasis, which is a crossing over the line a missing the mark and that is a sin of direct disobedience or it was a disobedient sin a sin of commission versus the sin of omission And the sin of omission would be the disobedience It would be the the sin of neglecting to hear and neglecting to obey the command and neglecting and not wanting to do what god says Not an outright disobedience a transgression of god's law.

Just not wanting to do what god says When you received a penalty, it was a just penalty And if What god did by giving the law through the angels to moses?

And everybody who broke that law Received a just penalty How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? Do you think that you'll escape the judgment of god if you postpone salvation? Do you think you'll escape the judgment of god if you neglect to follow through on committing your life to christ? Not on your life You will die the wage of sin is death It speaks of the inevitability and the severity of god's judgment He uses the word How shall we escape? Ecfuego which means to to flee out of a place It's a you a word used listen a word used in the new testament When it describes the punishment of the unbeliever for instance, matthew 23 verse number 33 Serpents you brood of vipers.

How can you escape the condemnation? of hell So the writer of hebrews uses a word that specifically refers to the unbeliever How shall you escape this condemnation how you shall you escape if you neglect and that word neglect means not to care enough about There are people who actually just don't care about salvation They don't care You tell them about christ you explain christ to them and you explain the judgment of god upon them like well You know, I know god's a god of love and he's going to forgive me of my sins and you know My friends are going to be in hell anyway, and it's just not that big a deal and they just don't care that much about being safe from their sins And the writer of hebrews says how shall we?

escape So great a salvation If we neglect to respond Now you see the writer of hebrews knows that these people he's writing to Are a lot more accountable Than those before the new testament He knows that In fact the greater the light you receive The greater the judgment you will receive That's the message of the new testament If you have a greater light that is you've seen more heard more no more and don't respond Your judgment in hell will be greater Than those who did not receive the light that you received Let me show you a couple of verses about that Matthew 11 verse 20 Christ began to announce the cities in which most of his miracles were done because they did not repent Woe to you corazon.

Woe to you beseda For the miracles that occurred in tyre and sidon which occurred in you They would have repented long ago and stacked it off in ashes Nevertheless, I say to you it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon in the day of judgment than it will be for you And you capernaum will not be exalted to heaven. Will you? You will descend to hades For if the miracles had occurred in sodom which occurred in you It would have remained to this day nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of sodom in the day of judgment than it will be for you self righteous rebellion blinds more than sinful Rejection It just does And christ says to you in corazon to you in beseda to you at capernaum To those of you who have seen the miracles have been a part of the ministry of of the christ And never outright denied the christ Never wanted to throw out of a synagogue If you don't respond Damned are you cursed are you?

Because it will be more tolerable For tyre and sidon for sodom and gomorrah on the day of judgment That it will be to you because you've seen more light than they would ever imagine seeing but they would have seen what you saw They would have repented long ago. They would have remained to this very day But they did not see what you saw and you have yet to repent And christ goes on to say these words In mark's gospel In mark chapter 12 verse 38 In his teaching he was saying beware the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like respectful greetings in the marketplace And chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets Who devour widows houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers.

These will receive a greater condemnation These were the religious people who appeared religious to those that came in contact with Who would put ash on their faces so that others would see that they were looking like they were fasting Who would say long prayers because they want people to think that because of the length of their prayers They were more spiritual than others They gave off an appearance of religiosity And christ says because there was an outward appearance, but no inward reality They will receive a greater judgment Than those who outright rebel against the risen christ Then he says in luke's gospel these words in verse 47 The slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will will receive many lashes But the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of flogging will receive but a few From everyone who has been given much much will be required And to whom they entrusted much of him They will ask all the more in the context christ is talking about those who knew the master's will and did not respond They just neglected to respond.

They just kind of drifted on by the master's will They knew what he said They knew what he demanded Because they had received a greater light Versus those who did not know what the master said Oh, they're going to be flogged but not nearly as much as those who knew what the master said and just neglected to obey his words Wow That's why we tell you that the most dangerous place in all the world to be is in a bible teaching church Because it will condemn you to a greater hell than those who are homosexuals Than those who live adulterous lives murderous lives because you've received a greater light See indifference to the gospel is the greatest sin there is To hear the gospel over and over again To hear about the god who gave the gospel who preached the gospel To realize his sacrifice for you And not to respond but know what he did There is going to be a a greater judgment for you That's why over in hebrews 10 the writer of hebrews says it this way hebrews chapter 10 Verse 26 for if we go on sinning willfully after Receiving the knowledge of the truth There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a terrifying expectation of judgment And the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries Anyone who has set aside the law of moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the son of god?

And and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of grace For we know him who said vengeance is mine. I will repay and again the lord will judge his people It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living god And the writer of hebrews would give that warning at the end of the book of hebrews To let you understand that with great severity the judgment comes upon those who like yourself the hebrew people Have heard the word Have listened to it, but not paid very close attention to it Are willing to let it pass on by Neglect it let it drift away So the opportunity of salvation is passed And yet because you've known the truth And had not responded You are in danger of the greatest condemnation That's why when you have children you raise them in the church You need to make sure they understand the gospel They need to understand their responsibility to obey the gospel to follow christ Just don't think because your children were taught in Sunday school and youth ministry the truth of the gospel That they automatically are going to go to heaven Not true Have they truly committed their life to christ?

Do they understand the inevitability and the severity of god's judgment upon their souls if they do not respond? So important to communicate that to our children So important to communicate that to people who have been in the church for years, but never responded to the truth That's what made uh Most of you know george baskerville who's been in our church for years But he was a methodist preacher for almost 20 years But had never given his life to christ A methodist preacher for 20 years But one day he came to christ community church and realized He was a sinner And realized he had never repented of his sin and never gave his life to christ And I remember the day that he was baptized Here at christ community the testimony he gave About how he led all those people astray For all those years as a preacher in a church because he never had committed his life to jesus christ We've had people in our church who have served the ministry in our church been on missions trips in our church And did not get saved until a third or fourth or fifth missions trip realizing That they had never repented of their sins Yet they had served in the ministry of our church at christ community Had been faithful in their service but realized that they had never committed their life to christ and repented of their sins and realized That they were never saved But had gone through the motions Convinced everybody else they were saved But truly were never born again The writer of hebrews Is in the place where he says be careful He can't help but give the warning He's already described the identity and the superiority of christ Based on who he is.

Don't just let that message drift by without paying So close attention to it because if not, you're in danger of never ever hearing it again And if you've received the light of that message Have not responded And you know that every transgressor every sin of commission every sin of omission disobedience Received a just penalty under the law of god in the old testament Just think what will happen to those of you who know about the christ and the gospel that he has preached And have rejected that How shall we escape if we neglect just don't care that much About so great a salvation ever met those people just don't care They've become so familiar with the message so familiar with church so Immune To the truth because they've heard it for so long.

They just don't really care that much those people Are in the most dangerous position in the history of the world Because their condemnation Will be so much more severe then What we would see as the worst of all sinners Who commit acts of all kinds of sin on daily basis? But never heard what the people in church Have heard So the writer of hebrews says because of the identity and the superiority of the son of god Because of the inevitability and the severity of the judgment of god And thirdly because of the authority And the testimony and the authenticity of the gospel of god You better repent.

Let's know what he says He says After it was at the first spoken through the lord, what's that this great salvation?

Our lord came and preached the kingdom of heaven did he not sure he did And he said in luke 4 13, uh, I think it's luke 4 13 Um, I must continue to preach the gospel for I was sent for this purpose In luke's gospel the fourth chapter he he was compelled to preach the gospel because this is why he came So the writer of hebrews is going to go back to the ministry of christ because everything that was anticipated verse number one arrived with the coming of the son of man when he was here And he is the son of god the heir of all things the creator of the universe.

He is The king the one who sits at the right hand of god the father he is the one who came to preach the gospel And as he preached it The authority of that message as it came From the mouth of our lord. Can you imagine being our lord preaching with all that authority? And nobody responding Think about this christ had this ministry on earth for three years And when he was all said and done he died and rose again there were 620 followers of the christ Not a very good evangelist was he Didn't do a very good job at presenting his own gospel.

Did he? Oh, no, he did Well, he presented it very well Better than anybody else good Because he's the author of it Can you imagine christ as he preached? A great sermon on the mount matthews 5 6 and 7 What's it mean to live like a child of the king? And when everybody was enamored awestruck by the things that he said, but nobody made a decision to follow him Can you imagine preaching the greatest sermon you've ever preached and nobody responding That was the christ every time he preached it was the greatest sermon ever preached Nobody responded Nobody came forth and said hey I want to do that.

There are many he could I said I want to follow you But let me first go bury my father. Let the dead bury the dead you follow me That's just too harsh They like that It's just it's too hard That's why christ wouldn't be a very good pastor today in churches because he'd be too harsh People would like what he said, but nobody go to his church Because he wouldn't be kind enough not loving enough. Not not not sensitive enough to people's own opinions and people's own lifestyles Because he demanded you follow him now People didn't do that Didn't want to do that, but he preached the gospel and then he says After it that great salvation was that the first spoken through the lord it was confirmed to us by those who heard God also testifying with them by both signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the holy spirit according to his own will In other words, we heard these people didn't hear christ directly, but they heard from those who had responded to christ the apostles And everything that they said was confirmed with signs and wonders You can read through the book of acts and realize that as these men these apostles would preach They were given the gifts of an apostle second corinthians chapter 12 verse number 12 says Truly the signs of an apostle were accompanied among you with all perseverance and signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

Why? Why because when the church first began remember christ came All the miracles that he would perform They authenticated the fact that not only was he the messiah But that his message was the truth And so he would perform miracle after miracle after miracle and basically banish all disease in the land of israel But nobody believed very few did In fact, one guy said if you if you send somebody back from the dead, my family will believe And christ said no, they won't They won't They have moses and the law If they don't believe what i've already said They're not going to believe a miracle even though somebody be raised from the dead You got to believe what I say Because people don't believe miracles.

Oh, they say they do but they don't It's the message not the miracles that saves a man from a sin Nobody was ever saved by a miracle, but the miracles confirmed the miracles authenticated the message so now christ gave his apostles the opportunity through signs and wonders and miracles to do what it is they did because The message they preached was the same message christ preached And so because of their testimony because of their authority because of the authenticity of that message As confirmed by signs and wonders the writer says listen, we've heard this You can't afford to neglect it any longer That which was preached on by the christ was confirmed By those who preached that same message By all kinds of signs and wonders and miracles through the spirit of god himself There's no way around it You must follow The christ So he gives the warning He states it very briefly Because he's then going to go on and talk more about about the angels and talk about the superiority of christ in his ministry Because he because everything is about the identity of christ, but he has to throw in A warning so people don't fall asleep So don't people fall into a a daze and realize well, yeah, I believe that so that means I must be going to heaven No, no, no, no No, no, you must commit your life to following christ You must Devote yourself to following the christ If any man come after me let him deny himself take up his cross And follow me That's the gospel message That's the message that christ gave Like the writer of hebrews we must always always Be willing and ready to warn Our listeners Because most don't pay very close attention to what they're hearing They'll postpone a decision They'll say well, I like what I hear but i'm not so sure They're curious They might even be convinced But they're not committed big difference Hell is filled with people who are curious about the christ Hell is filled with people who are absolutely convinced that jesus was the messiah of israel Convinced that he died and rose again the third day Hell is filled with those kinds of people But we're unwilling To say lord jesus take my life I'm yours I'm willing to repent of all my sin.

I am going to follow you and you alone I need to receive the gift of eternal life that only you offer Lord I am yours I want To bow in submission to you as lord and savior of my life My life is yours That's the kind of people christ is looking for That's the kind of people that christ save I was asked this morning by one of the members of our church What makes confession of christ as lord Not a work good question If christ requires us to confess If christ requires us to repent If christ requires us to believe If christ requires us to have faith If christ requires us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him How is that not a work?

Well, the answer simply is that if god Called for it Then god grants it because salvation is a gift of the living god So whatever he calls for He enables you to do it that you might be a true son Of the living god, that's what he wants from his children The bible tells us that repentance has been granted to us by god, it's a gift Grace is a gift Belief in christ is a gift and faith Is a gift. It's all a gift As you read through your new testament, you realize that everything about salvation is a free gift So when god makes the call He says if any man whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved Whosoever shall believe in the lord.

Jesus shall be saved If you confess with your mouth jesus as lord and believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead You shall be saved The only people who can do that are the ones that he grants the opportunity to do so because he's given them the gift to do so I wonder How many today in our church Have heard the message week after week after week after week and yet Have refused to respond Not an outright Angry refusal just uh letting the offer pass by Neglected as if it doesn't mean that much anyway I can always do it tomorrow I can always do it when I when I get older I don't have to do it today.

Oh How mistaken you are? For today is the day of salvation Let me pray with you Father we thank you lord for the opportunity.

We have to be in your word as brief as it is To be reminded once again Of the great offer of salvation The severity of not responding And to realize lord how it is we as your children Have the great responsibility of leading others to the true knowledge of jesus christ our lord We pray lord for all who are here today That there would be none who would leave without knowing for certain That they died today eternity with christ Is their destiny We pray in jesus name. Amen