The Tragedy of Neglecting Salvation 

Hebrews 2:1‑4
 

We come tonight to Hebrews chapter 2 verses 1 to 4, passage of Scripture, portions of which are undoubtedly familiar to many of you who have studied the Word of God in days past.  Perhaps brand new to others of you who are new Christians, but very important verses they are.

Hell is undoubtedly full of people who were not actively opposed to Jesus Christ but who simply drifted into damnation by neglecting to respond to the gospel.  Such people are really here in view in these four verses.  These are people who know the truth, who even believe the truth, who are well aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus Christ but who never are willing to commit their lives to Jesus Christ.  And so they drift on past the call of God into eternal disaster.  Because that is the theme of these verses, it thus makes them extremely urgent and important verses.

Now as we approach this text, I want to give you a little bit of a background so that you'll understand where we are in the mind of the writer of the book of Hebrews.  This is an epistle addressed to Jews as is obvious from the title.  We do not know who the human author is, we do know that the Holy Spirit is the real author.  And we know that it was written to three different groups of Jews, all residing in a particular community.

First of all, included in this Jewish community were Jewish non‑ Christians who didn't believe anything about the gospel, who maybe never even heard it.  Strictly Judaistic oriented.  Secondly, there were also some Jewish Christians who had received Jesus Christ, who had believed the gospel, but who were still hanging on to the ritual of Judaism, who were going through some of the forms which were no longer necessary because once the reality had come, the ritual needed no longer to exist.  The third group then, were Jewish non‑Christians who were convinced intellectually but had never committed their lives to Christ.  They were the ones who heard the good news of salvation.

They'd heard of the forgiveness of sin in Christ.  They'd heard the message but they'd never been willing to commit themselves to it.

Maybe even many of them believed it.  Many of them undoubtedly were attending the community of believers with some sort of a profession that they were really believers when in fact they were not.  And so, the epistle of the Hebrews takes into view all three of these three groups.

And so, in the epistle, the writer really has one purpose and that is to show all of them that Jesus Christ has brought a marvelous new covenant called the New Testament.  He has died on a cross, shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins.  And in this new covenant, men can have forgiveness.  And the new one is better by far than the old one, the rituals of Judaism.  And so, the writer of Hebrews from the beginning of the book to the end of the book proves the new covenant better than the old and the new Mediator, Jesus Christ, better than anybody connected with the old covenant.  He is attempting to show Jews not that the old covenant was wrong, but that it was incomplete, but that the old covenant is only complete in Jesus Christ who fulfills it all and that they needed to accept the new covenant of His shed blood in final sacrifice for their sins and accept Him as the mediator of a better covenant.

So the whole theme of Hebrews, then, is that the new covenant is better, that Christ is better than everything and everybody.  And to receive Jesus Christ is what it's all about.

Now in order to prove this, the writer of Hebrews then goes through all of the characters of the old covenant:  Moses, Aaron, the priesthood, angels who were mediators of the old covenant.  And in every case he proves Christ to be better than all of those.  Now if Christ is a better mediator than any of the Old Testament, then His covenant is a better covenant.  And so, as we've begun to study Hebrews, we saw in verses 1 to 3 of chapter 1 that Christ is better than everybody and everything.  And then in verses 4 to 14, concluding chapter 1, we saw that Christ is superior to what?  To angels.

You say,.  "Well, why is that important?"  Because to the Jewish mind, angels were extremely important.  Angels mediated the old covenant.  And so, the Holy Spirit wants to show us that the new covenant is better because Christ is better than angels.  A better mediator means a better covenant.  And we've been into all that in detail.  If you want to catch up on it, why you can get those tapes and do that,

But as we come to our point, we come to what really amounts to an invitation thrown into the middle of this treatise on angels.  He's still talking about angels clear over far into chapter 2 and he's not done yet with the angels in terms of their relationship.  And so, at this point he is sort of stopping with the talk about angels for a minute to interject an invitation.  He is applying directly to the hearers what he has been saying about Christ.  All along he's been saying, Christ is the greatest one.  Christ is the one who alone can purge your sin.  Christ is God.  Christ is the creator.  Christ is worthy of your worship. Jesus Christ is the exalted one."  All the way along he's been saying this.  And now he stops all of a sudden and he gives a personal invitation for those readers and those hearer to respond to what he's been saying.

You might say that doctrine breaks into invitation.  You see, the Word of God always demands a response.  That's the point.  The Word of God always demands that somebody react to it.  And may I add, too, that any effective teacher must do a lot more than just dispose of facts, dumping them on his hearers.  Any really effective teacher knows that he must warn, that he must exhort and that he must invite.

And the writer, by the time he gets to chapter 2 verse 1, is impassioned and he really cares about the salvation of his hearers.

He's not so egocentric that all he cares about is spewing out doctrine then shutting his mouth and walking away, he cares about response.  He cares that people respond to what he's been saying.  He not only cares to exalt Christ, but he cares that they respond to Christ.

And I'll tell you something.  A man may know a lot of truth and he may know a lot of doctrine, but if he doesn't have a passionate concern for how people react to it, he's not worth a nickel as a teacher.  There must be a concern for response.

The Apostle Paul was like this.  As great a theologian as he was, as masterful a mind and a grasp of philosophy and logic as he had, he was still an impassioned individual.  And in Romans chapter 9 verse 1, after this great eight chapters of treatise on the tremendous character of the gospel, Paul all of a sudden bursts into an invitation.  And he says, "I say.  the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have .

great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart." You say, "Why, Paul?"  "For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen." Paul had such a cry in his heart that ?

??or.?e respond to the gospel and that his own Jewish kinsmen come to Christ that it ate away at him.

In chapter 10 of the same epistle in verse 1, he says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved." Now there is the character of a true teacher.  It's not just academics.  It's not just pedantics.  It's not just cranking out the information.  It's having a passionate concern with how people respond.

In 1 Corinthians 9 and chapter 9 and verse 19, Paul says, .For though I am free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all that I may gain the more.  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews, to them that are under the law as under the law, not being myself unto the law, that I might gain them that are under the law.  To them that are without law is without law, being not without law to God but unto the law to Christ that I might gain them that are without law.  To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak.  I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some and this I do for the gospel's sake." Now there's a guy who really had it right.  There's a guy who not only could turn out the academics, but he had the passion.

In John chapter 5 verse 39 and 40, Jesus said this, "Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they.  are they which testify of Me."  Now listen to what the next verse says, and ye will not come to Me that you might have life."  Jesus had a passionate concern that His hearers respond.  Always teaching that is true teaching demands a response.

In fact, in chapter 13 of Hebrews, I think it's verse 22, the ?

whole book of Hebrews is called a word of exhortation.  The whole book is a word of exhortation.  It demands a response.  And so right in the middle of this treatise on the superiority of Christ to angels, the writer just jabs in there this tremendous invitation.  And it's an invitation that includes really two things that all invitations must include and that is an exhortation and a warning.  In other words, what to do and what happens if you don't.

And may I add that this is the first of five great warnings in the book of Hebrews?  And you must understand this.  Interjected throughout the book of Hebrews are warnings.  They're slapped at intervals in the middle of great treatises on the superiority.  of Christ.  And it's as if he can only go so far and finally he has to stop and say, "Now what are you going to do about this,"  see?  I mean, you can know all the truth about Jesus Christ and go to hell if you never do anything about it, if you never make it your own.  And so here we come to the first of five warnings.

Now you say, "To whom is the warning directed?"  This warning is directed to Hebrew non‑Christians who are intellectually convinced.

We've only got three groups to choose from.  This warning here is directed to those Hebrew non‑Christians who are intellectually convinced but they've never committed their life to Christ.  Now you've met a lot of people like that who say, "Oh yeah, I believe all that stuff, I'm just not ready.  to make that commitment."  Right?  "Oh yeah, I go to church." Some of you are married to people like that.

Maybe your husband comes with you very frequently, women.  Or maybe, men, your wife or your brother or somebody, they come to church and they sit here and they hear the Word of God and they hear the Word of God and they hear the Word of God, they know it's true but they are not willing to commit themselves to that belief and to personally appropriate Jesus Christ.  They've got all the facts but they've never made the commitment.  It's like the man who believes the boat can hold him but he never gets in.

Now this warning cannot be to Christians, first of all, because Christians could never be in danger of neglecting salvation since they've already got it.  Secondly, it can't be directed at people who've never heard the gospel because they can't neglect what they don't know exists.  So the only group left is these Christians, these non‑Christians who are intellectually convinced but not committed.

And I believe clearly that's whom he's referring to.

Now you say, What about the ?us' when he says .we' and .us', is he including himself with these intellectually convinced?  Is that the author saying that I'm not a Christian either?"  No.  The "us"  is an ush?.an "us" of nationality or an "us"  of those who have heard the truth.  We cannot build a theological case on the use of a pronoun.

What I'm saying by that is, it says in verse 1, "We ought to give them more earnest heed?"  and collectively the author's including himself with the readers, so does that mean they're in the same boat he is spiritually?  Not necessarily at all.  He could be using it in a Jewish context if he's a Jewish author.  Or he could be saying all of us who have heard ought to respond.  He already has, but he could be using it in that collective sense.  So we can't build a case on the word "us"  or the word "?e."

And we do not believe that he can be referring to Christians because there's no way that Christians could ever neglect salvation.

That is a fact that has occurred in time, that is done, that is sealed that is settled, that is forever.  They could neglect growth, they could neglect discipleship, they could not neglect salvation.

And so, we believe it is a warning to the intellectually convinced, those who have heard the gospel, know the facts about Jesus Christ, know that He died for them, know that He desires to forgive their sin, know that He can some into their life and change their life but are not willing to receive Christ as Savior.  And may I hasten to add that's the most tragic category of people in existence.  And I've told you a story once before that points it up as graphically as .

anything.  I'll never forget on one occasion when a lady came into my office and informed me that she was a prostitute.  And she said, "I need help"  And I said, "I guess you do."  And she said, "Please, I'm desperate."

And so I.?I presented the claims of Christ to her from beginning to end and I said, "Would you like to invite Jesus Christ into your life?" And she said yes.  She said, "I've had it."  She was at the bottom to say the least through the dope scene, the whole bit.  So she prayed a prayer and evidently she invited Christ into her life.  And I said, "Now,"  I said, "I want to ask you to do something."  I said, "Do you have your little book that you have all your contacts in with you?"  And she said yes.  I said,   "Well, let's just take a match here and we'll burn it."  And she looked at me and she said,  "What do you mean?"  I said, "Just what I said.  I mean, if you're really going to live for Jesus Christ and you've really accepted His forgiveness and you really met Him as your Savior, let's burn that book and we'll just have a little party here and just praise the Lord."  And she said to me, "That's worth a lot of money.." She said, "That's worth an awful lot of money." I said, "Well, good."

Then she said to me, "I don't want to burn my book."  Put it in her purse and looked at me right in the eye and said, "I guess I don't really want Jesus, do I?"  And she left.

Now you see, there was somebody who when the..when it really came down to the nitty‑gritty and counted the cost, she wasn't ready.

I don't know what the story of that dear girl is.  My heart has often ached for her and I've often thought about her.  But I do know that she knows the facts and she believes them, but she's not willing to make the sacrifice.  And it's a bad bargain, for what she kept wasn't worth anything compared to what she could have had in Jesus Christ forever.

And so, here are these kind of people.  They know the truth.

They're standing, kind of hanging on the edge of decision and they don't ever make that decision.  They.  just kind of drift, do you see.

They are the ones in view and the idea of these four verses is to give those people a big shove toward Jesus Christ.

Now may I add that this is not only a Jewish pas.... Jewish passage, but it also fits any man who's on the edge of decision for Christ and because of self‑will, because of fear, because of sin, because of sin of the persecution of his family and his friends says no to Christ and just continues to neglect, you see.  It could be true of any man who does that.

And may I hasten to add that there are some of you like that here tonight?  That's right, bless your hearts, you're here and just hanging on the fence about Jesus Christ.  You know the truth.  You may even believe the truth but you're not willing to make a commitment of your whole life to Jesus Christ and you're just hanging on the edge.

I'm talking to you tonight and the Holy Spirit is giving you one more warning.  And may I add that a man is a fool, he is a fool beyond fools, he is an eternal tragedy when he neglects to make the right decision.

You say, "Why?.  There are three reasons and I'll point them out to you in the text.  There are three great reasons to receive this salvation:  the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the conformation of God?.the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment and the conformation of God.  Three great reasons not to neglect salvation.

First of all, the character of Christ in verse 1.  A man is a fool to neglect salvation offered in Christ because of who Christ is, look at verse 1.  "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let slip."

And it's not "let them slip,"  it's that we should slip.  The word goes nowhere, you're the one that slips.  Read it again.  "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 say, "What does that have to do with the character of Christ?"  One word in there keys the whole thing, it's the first word, what is it?  "Therefore."  What do you mean therefore, where does therefore take us?  Back, right?  And who has he been presenting in all the verses of chapter 1?  Jesus Christ.  And so what he's saying is this, because of who Christ is therefore you ought to give more earnest heed to the things which you have heard lest at any time you slip. Now it goes back to Christ.

Have you seen who Christ is?  He just starred in chapter 1 and you see it in verse 2, He's called "the Son."  In verse 2 He's called "the heir of all things, the one who made the world."  In verse 3, "the brightness of the glory of God, the exact image of His person."

He's the one who upholds the word.?upholds all things by the word of His power.  He's the one who purged our sins.  He's the one who's seated on the right hand of the majesty.  He's the one in verse 4, better than angels.  He's the one in verse 5 who is the Son.  He's the one in verse 6 who is the ??????????, the chief of all.  He's the one in verse 6 of whom the angels worship.  He's the one in verse 7 whose angels are His servants.  He's the one in verse 8 called God who is forever and ever.  He's the one in verse 9, anointed above all others.

He's the one in verse 10 who is the Lord of creation.  This is who He is.

What kind of a fool would reject Christ?  What kind of a fool would reject that kind of Christ who came into the world, God incarnate, to die on a cross to forgive your sin, to pay your penalty, to show you love, to introduce you to God, to give you blessing and joy beyond imagination?  This Christ by.  His own character makes rejection the most idiotic and foolish act that a man could ever commit in his whole life, Jesus was God's voice.  Jesus was God in the world and to reject Jesus Christ is to reject God.  And to reject God is to reject the reason for your existence.

And so, because of the magnificence of the person of Christ, a man is a fool to reject the salvation that Christ offers.  A person who understands who Jesus Christ and rejects Him is a fool above all fools.  And I don't understand how people can come and they.  can know who Christ is and they can believe it and yet they can never commit their lives to Him.  What a tragedy.

Now I want to take this verse apart a little bit and show you how the words are used in the Greek and show you the meaning of the verse.

There are two key.  words in this verse:  ???????1?  which is a very important word.  ?????????  means to give attention to.  And it's translated here, "We ought to give the more earnest heed."  Now that's just one verse to give the more earnest heed, ???????1?, The other one is ???????????(?)???????e????, get it right.  And it translates into several meanings.  But it really means to let slip in the simplest sense.  So one of them means to give attention to, and the other means to kind of let slip.

Now let me take it apart a little bit and show you how these words have significance.  The word ????????  which is translated "We ought to give the more earnest heed,"  is a word that is very emphatic and it means we must give attention to.  And the writer is saying on the basis of who Christ is, we must give attention to the things we've heard about Him.  We can't just hear these things and let them just slide through our brains.  We've got to give attention to what we're listening to.

Then the word ???????????  translates into several meanings.  It can be used of something flowing, or slipping past.  It can be used of a ring slipping off a finger.  It could even be used of something slipping down the wrong whatever down here and getting it caught in the wrong place.  It's used in many, many meanings both in classical and biblical use.  And it is regularly used of something which has carelessly or thoughtlessly been allowed to slip away.

But both of these words also have a very different significance.

They both, now watch this one, have a nautical significance.  Having to do with ships and sailing and are used in that regard.  And this is the significance here.  The first one, ????????  means to moor a ship, to tie it up.  The second one, ???????????  can be used of a ship which has carelessly been allowed to drift past the harbor because the sailor has forgotten to attend to the steerage or he has forgotten to chart the wind, the tides and the current.  And so these words have that kind of meaning and the verse could be translated this way, "Therefore must we the more eagerly anchor our lives to the things which we have been taught lest the ship of life drift past the harbor of salvation and be lost forever."  That's exactly the picture of a ship sliding past the harbor while the sailor isn't paying attention and then it's lost.

And you see, that is so graphic and that is just how it is.  It's not that..that men go headlong diving and plunging into hell, you know.  It's that they drift into it.  Most people don't deliberately and in a moment turn their backs on God, curse God.  Most people slowly, almost imperceptibly slip past the harbor of salvation and are broken on the rocks of destruction.