Hebrews 2
4 Outlines
Hebrews 2:1-4
ANCHORED?
We who are Christians, or who think we are Christians
have a problem. We figure that we know
Christ as our Savior. We have the truth
of Christianity and all that it provides. We consider ourselves to be
anchored. But we don’t practice our
Christianity the way we should. We don’t work at our relationship with
Christ. We start to drift away, and we
often don’t realize it, until adverse winds and tides move us right towards
some personal disaster. We then become
alert and find that we have drifted far away from the Lord! We don’t have the
closeness to Him that we once had.
As we continue our study of the Book of Hebrews this
morning, we find the first of five warnings that the author of Hebrews gives
us. The author of Hebrews suddenly stops
teaching for a moment in order to apply to our lives what he has just
said. It is as if he is saying in
Hebrews 2:1-4, “You say that you are anchored in your salvation. You had better
make sure that you actually are.” In these verses I find:
A CHALLENGE
Hebrews 2:1 -
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
You probably know by now that when you see the word
“therefore” you need to see “What it’s there for!”
In chapter 1 we are told that God has spoken to us
through His Son. (Review what Christ is according to chapter 1.) Because all these things are true of
the Son we are challenged …Therefore we
ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,
To give more earnest heed to the things which we’ve
heard is to “Pay Attention” earnestly or closely.
How pleased do you think God is with His children when
they don’t pay close attention to the one who is Almighty?
·
He tells us not to fear but do we pay attention?
·
He tells us to witness but do we pay attention?
·
He tells us to be baptized but do we pay attention?
·
He tells us to attend church regularly but do we pay
attention?
·
He tells us to read and memorize Scripture but do we
pay attention?
·
He tells us to anxiously wait for the coming of His
Son, but do we pay attention?
·
He tells us to live Godly lives, but do we pay
attention?
·
He tells us that we must make a personal, heart
commitment to Christ if we want to be saved, but do we pay attention?
What happens if we don’t pay close attention?
Therefore we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let
them slip.
To let them slip carries the idea of drifting away. It
is like thinking that you are anchored, when in reality, you are not. It is
being adrift away from God.
So what’s the point?
We must not simply believe that the Bible is God’s
Word. We must pay close attention to obey it.
We must not simply believe that the preacher is
preaching God’s Word. We must pay close attention to obey it.
We must not simply believe in Jesus in our heads, we
must have a heart to heart relationship with Him by abiding in Him!
The challenge is to “pay attention” lest we let the
things which we have heard “slip”.
A CAUTION
Hebrews 2:2 - For
if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
In some way the angels were involved with the giving
of the Law on
Now, according to Hebrews 2:2 this word communicated
through angels was steadfast.
The word was final! It stood as the law!
And as the Law every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward.
If a person stole, he was to be punished.
If a person murdered, he was to be punished.
If a person blasphemed against God, he was to be
punished.
And often, as in the case of blasphemy and murder, it
was punishable by death!
Now if the words communicated by angels from God were
so important that stiff judgment was meted out to violators, the author of
Hebrews goes on to say in verse 3, How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
I see the big word here as neglect.
We are surprised when we see someone neglect the care
of their home.
We are saddened when a student neglects to apply
himself to his schoolwork.
We are distraught when a husband neglects his wife, or a wife her husband.
We are appalled when parents neglect their children,
or when children neglect their parents.
It is even worse however when a person has heard the Gospel
of salvation time after time, and even believes it to be true, but has never
personally committed himself or herself to Christ as Savior. That is neglect with a capital “N”.
The author of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation.”
Why is salvation great?
·
Salvation is great because of God’s great love. John
3:16
·
Salvation is great because of the price Jesus paid to
secure forgiveness. 2 Corinthians 5:21
·
Salvation is great because of Jesus’ resurrection from
the dead which assures our resurrection from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:20
·
Salvation is great because of the change it brings to
the lives of true believers.
2 Corinthians 5:17
There are many other ways salvation is great, but
these are some of them. And we will not escape if we neglect them.
If you have heard the Gospel, but have never made a
heart commitment to Christ by faith, you will not escape. John 3:18, Revelation
20:15
If you have been “born again” and have drifted away
from Christ, not doing what you should, you will not escape. 2 Corinthians
5:10-11a
Every Christian
must stand before His Lord and give account. As the Lord reviews our lives and
points out the neglect that we never repented of, I don’t believe that we’ll
weep. I believe that we’ll ball or wail. We will not be condemned to Hell, but
we will suffer embarrassment and the loss of rewards.
Thankfully, the Lord will have something good to say
about every Christian. 1 Corinthians 4:5
But there is such a high price to pay, Christian, for
neglect.
We need to heed the caution found here.
Hebrews 2:2-3 -
For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompence of reward; [3] How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
A COMMUNICATION
Hebrews 2:3 - How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to
be spoken by the Lord,
Who communicated the Gospel to man?
·
The very Son of God left the splendors of Heaven to
communicate to us.
·
The very Son of God walked this earth teaching the way
of salvation.
·
The very Son of God walked this earth and taught us
how to live.
He is the one we call “Lord”.
He is the one we call “Master”.
He is the one who deserves to be called these things.
John 13:13
And Jesus’ miracles actually proved that what He was
saying was true. The miracles proved Him
to be the Son of God!
Oh my friend, if the very Son of God has communicated
to us, should we not listen, and strive to obey with all our hearts?
A CONFIRMATION
Hebrews 2:3 - How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to
be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Not only did Jesus come and speak, but there were
those who heard Him, who confirmed that He had spoken them.
We know these people to be the Apostles.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter and the other Apostles
boldly confirmed the message of Salvation.
Then they eventually took the Gospel to the world.
They also wrote what they were confirming down so that
we have the Gospels, Epistles, and Book of Revelation.
And God got involved in the confirmation process.
Hebrews 2:4 - God
also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles,
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own
will?
It was important that the world knew that what the
Apostles were saying was true. Therefore
He confirmed that their message confirming Jesus message was true. He confirmed
their message by allowing them to do signs, wonders, divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will.
These miracles are no longer needed because we now
have a completed Scripture. But until
the Scripture was complete, God often confirmed the authenticity of the
Apostles word’s with miracles.
So, how anchored are you?
Have you been paying attention to the things you’ve
heard, or are they slipping and you are drifting?
Are you pretending to be something you’re not?
Have you been neglectful?
Matthew 23:28 - Even
so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of
hypocrisy and iniquity.
Is it time to come back and make things right with the
Lord and to start paying attention?
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Hebrews 2:1-4
A SERIOUS CHALLENGE
CHARGE - Therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest
at any time we should let them slip.
CAUTION - [2] For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; [3] How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
COMMUNICATION - …which
at the first began to be spoken by the Lord…
CONFIRMATION - …and
was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; [4] God also bearing them
witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of
the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
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Hebrews 2:1-4
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
POINTED CHALLENGE - Vs.
1
PROMISED RETRIBUTION -
Vs. 2
PIERCING QUESTION - Vs.
3a
POWERFUL WITNESSES -
Vss. 3b-4
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Hebrews 2:5-9
WHO DO YOU SEE?
One of the greatest physical gifts that we have from
God is our vision. The ability to see is
so important and so wonderful. We see the beauties of nature and the beauty of
our loved ones. We see the road so we can drive, the food so we can cook it,
and the job so we can do it.
Seeing, however, often goes beyond physical
sight. To truly “see” something means
that we understand or grasp it. When we
truly “see” something it means that we understand how something works or why
someone does what they do. True sight includes insight!
God has always been concerned that our seeing go
beyond the physical and enter into the spiritual. God wants us to see the
things that concern Him and are about Him.
And it is possible to have poor physical vision, but
great spiritual vision.
In order for someone to see physically they must have
light.
In order for someone to see spiritually, they must
have light.
God has provided us with light to see through his Son.
John 8:12
In order for you to see spiritually, the Lord Jesus
has sent us his Holy Spirit to indwell those who have trusted Jesus as their
Savior. John 16:12-14
One of the tools that the Spirit of God uses to guide
us into all truth, is the Word of God. The more we see in the Word of God the more
Spiritual insight we will have.
This morning we return to the Book of Hebrews. This is the Book of the Bible which talks of
things which are better. In the verses
before us this morning, Hebrews 2:5-9, the author is showing us that Jesus is
better than the Angels. He also shows us
three things that we need to see, if we are going to have Spiritual sight,
perspective, and/or understanding.
Vs. 5 – One of the recurring themes of the
Book of Hebrews is Christ’s superiority.
In chapter 1, Jesus is shown to be superior. One of the ways He is superior is to the
angels, God’s spirit-being servants. After a brief interlude to warn us not to
drift spiritually in verses 1-4, the author of Hebrews returns to the theme of
Christ’s superiority to the angels.
In verse 5 we are told that reign in the world to come
will not be under the rule of angels. Of
course, the world to come will be under the rule of God the Son. But it is important for you to see that God
the Son is a man. He is both God and
man.
Why is this important? To understand the importance of
Jesus being a man please,
SEE GOD’S INTENTION – Vss. 6-8a
Vs 6 – The author of Hebrews is quoting
Scripture. The location of the quote was
not important to the author of Hebrews as he wrote although it is obvious that
he knew where to find it. It is actually
a quote from Psalm 8.
David is amazed at God’s kindness to man. And it you
think about it, it is only because of God’s kindness that anyone exists at
all. But God did not stop at just
creating man. It is the position that he gave man that is amazing!
Vss. 7-8a – Man was made a little lower than the
angels.
How is man a little lower than the angels?
Angels are spiritual beings and have far more freedom
to get around. Although there is a spiritual side of man, he has a spirit, man is primarily a physical being.
But God crowned man with glory and honor. Man has the glory and honor of being superior
to every other being. Genesis 2:7,
Genesis 1:26 - And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.
God’s intention from the very beginning was that man
would rule the earth.
SEE GOD’S INTENTION
SEE MAN’S INDISCRETION – Vs. 8b
Hebrews 2:8 - Thou
hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in
subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see
not yet all things put under him.
God’s intention was that man rule over the earth.
It is obvious that man does not rule now.
If the deer we hunt were subject to man it would be
“no contest”. It would be very easy for
us to get a prize buck.
If wild animals were subject to man, Roy, of
“Seigfried and Roy”, would not have been mauled by a Tiger.
And when it comes to agriculture, just because we plant
and weed and fertilize, there is no guarantee of a perfect crop! If we were
truly in charge of the earth things would grow wonderfully all the time.
And man as being in charge of the earth has not done a
great job ecologically. Often man has not ruled well, causing pollution and
even destruction of certain animals so they are non existent or almost non
existent.
Man is obviously not ruling over the earth today.
It was God’s intention that he did rule.
What happened?
God had given man one basic rule. Genesis 2:15-17
Man violated God’s one basic rule. – Genesis 3:1-6
So man blew it.
When man disobeyed God he lost in many ways his
dominion over the earth. Genesis 3:17-19, 23-24
Man, through Adam lost his kingdom.
And worse man, through Adam lost his soul.
Death entered the world through Adam’s sin.
Physical death entered through Adam and Spiritual
death entered through Adam.
Like Adam, we have sinned.
Because of our sin we have no right to reign on the
earth.
Because of our sin we have no right to eternal life.
Oh, we haven’t eaten forbidden fruit, but we have
failed to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds.
We haven’t eaten forbidden fruit but we have listened to
the devils’ subtle temptations to lie, steal, cheat, deceive and explode in
unrighteous anger. Ezekiel 18:4
Humanly speaking we have no hope.
Because of our indiscretions we have not only lost our
rule of the earth but life itself!
SEE CHRIST’S INTERVENTION – Vs. 9
Hebrews 2:9 -
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by
the grace of God should taste death for every man.
The first word in this verse is what I call a “blessed
but”.
Man blew it big time.
His indiscretion is inexcusable.
There needs to be punishment because man blew it! He
failed God.
You deserve punishment because you blew it! You failed
God.
The blessed “but” turns us away from man’s indiscretion
and turns us to see Christ’s intervention.
But we see Jesus!
It is one thing to say man was made a little lower
than the angels, but quite another to say that Jesus was made a little lower
than the angels.
For Jesus to be made lower than the angels, it was a
definite demotion. Jesus is God! John
1:1-2
And why was Jesus made a little lower than the angels?
He was made a little lower than the angels so that he
could die for your sins. Philippians 2:6-8
Jesus tasted death for you, so that you can live.
He has paid for your sins.
He wants your trust. If you but trust that He died for
you, He will give you forgiveness and eternal life.
1 John 5:11-12
But what about the earth?
It was God’s intention that man rule.
Christ is a man, the God-man.
Through His death for sin, he has regained for man the
rule of the earth. He is crowned with
glory and honor.
Jesus will return to earth and set up His Kingdom.
His kingdom will again have man in control of the
earth. Isaiah 11:6-9
Through Jesus man will reign on the earth.
But what about you and I?
What will we be doing while Jesus reigns?
We will be reigning with him! Revelation 5:9-10,
Do you see Jesus as the one who died for you?
Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior?
If you have, you are in an awesome position.
You will one day reign with Him!
Are you acting like a future ruler?
Are you acting like a child of God?
Are you appreciating your position enough to live like
the king you are?
In a one sense your kingdom is future. You will reign
with Christ.
In another sense your kingdom is now. As a child of God, God gives us victory in
this life.
Romans 6:10-14
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