The Deadly Danger of Drift (Hebrews 2:1-4)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

And let us now take our Bibles and open them

to the New Testament book of Hebrews. Hebrews

chapter two, we're gonna look at verses one through

four today. We started this book just a few weeks

ago. And so we press on, just picking up where

we left off. Hebrews 2, 1 through 4. And I would

ask you to give attention to this. If you brought

your Bible to open it. If you do not have a Bible,

there is a pew Bible there in front of you. Hebrews

2, 1 through 4. Therefore, we must pay much closer

attention to what we have heard. lest we drift

away from it. For since the message declared

by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression

or disobedience received a just retribution,

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great

salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord,

and it was attested to us by those who heard.

While God also bore witness by signs and wonders

and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy

Spirit distributed according to his will. This

is God's word. Let's pray. Teach us your way,

O Lord, that we would walk in truth, unite our

hearts to fear you. We will give you thanks,

O Lord, our God. with all of our hearts and glorify

your name forever. Amen. I was told a story from

my family not too long ago, a story from my in

-laws. My father -in -law one day was leaving

work and I think he stopped to throw something

in a dumpster outside of his work. And in doing

so, he spotted a painting lying on top of the

rubbish in the dumpster. And he thought it looked

pretty. It was a beautiful painting. And so,

he fished it out of the dumpster and he brought

it home. He thought, my wife would like that.

And for years, the painting hung on their wall.

And they didn't really pay too much attention

to it. But something kind of inspired them one

day to look at it a little bit more closely and

notice that the painter's name was George Clawson.

I don't know a whole lot about art, but apparently

George Clawson's a pretty good painter and a

pretty famous painter. And so they called up

a friend in New York City to inquire about this

and this friend said, yeah, that's a pretty important

painting. I will sell it for you." And they ended

up banking tens of thousands of dollars from

this painting that at one point was lying in

the dumpster. They just did not know what they

had. Sometimes we are like that with Christ.

We don't seem to know what we have in Jesus Christ.

The writer of Hebrews wants you to know of the

greatness of Christ that surpasses everything

else and I would say that his main point can

be summed up in just two words pay attention

Pay attention For what the author has to say

is of the utmost importance to ignore such a

message such a great salvation can prove to be

deadly. Look at verse 1. My translation begins

with the word therefore. You may have something

similar there. What the therefore is doing is

connecting Hebrews 2 with Hebrews 1. We should

remember that chapters and verses are added later

and sometimes we read scripture and we think,

well, chapter 1 is just one complete thought.

Chapter two, something different. We should not

divorce Chapter two and Chapter one. He's continuing

in the same sort of argument here. And the argument

is that Christ is greater than everything else

in all creation, for he created it. And so we

must pay attention here, as he says. Children.

You have started back to school recently, you're

either in school or you're being homeschooled.

Does your mom or does a teacher ever say to you,

pay attention? How many times have you heard

that? Pay attention. Or some of our teenagers

who have recently gotten driver's license or

preparing for that, you ever on the road with

your parents and they're saying, pay attention

to the road. Because what happens if you don't

pay attention to the road? Again, it could be

deadly for you. And so what's he saying here?

Pay attention. Now, we've already said this,

that the recipients of this letter are undergoing

or in danger of undergoing some form of persecution.

And so as these people may have experienced some

form of persecution, they might have said, you

know what, life was better before I came to Christ.

Life was better before people hated me. Life

was better before this persecution came upon

me. And so some of them, perhaps they're thinking

like, I got I got to leave Christ behind here.

I don't think that they started off thinking

this though, but pressures mounted and the shine

of Christ may have wore off for some of them.

And I think the Old Testament parallel to this

is the Israelites getting out of Egypt in the

wilderness. You remember that, right? They after

getting out of Egypt after crossing the Red Sea

in in Exodus chapter 15 There is this incredible

Exodus 15 · chapter mention

time of worship and praise to God who is their

deliverer. I Wish I could have been there But

what happens after that? What do the Israelites

start to do after that? I'm hungry. I'm thirsty

They begin to complain. Now, I'm not belittling

that because I don't think any of us have ever

done anything as physically demanding as wandering

in the wilderness for 40 years. However, remember

where they were. They were under oppression.

They were enslaved to the Egyptians. Our memories

are so short, aren't they? Our memories are short.

But would they really want to return to slavery?

Would they really want to go back to that oppression?

Well, friends, when we neglect our salvation,

we're kind of saying the same thing. For these

Christians, abandoning Christ would mean going

back to the law. Listen to this from Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3. Verse 23 Now before faith came we

were held captive under the law imprisoned until

the coming faith would be revealed That's kind

of what they're saying if they are tempted to

go back They're going back to an old system in

which they will not thrive in which they will

fall short every single day of their lives They're

They're really considering going back to the

shackles and the chains of being not just under

the law, but being underneath our sin. Now, I

want to be very careful here because at this

point somebody usually says, well, I thought

you couldn't lose your salvation. And friends,

that is absolutely true. You cannot lose your

salvation. God does not. un -regenerate you.

He doesn't have your old, cold, stony heart on

a shelf. He doesn't surgically implant it back

into you. That doesn't happen. So what are we

talking about here? We are talking about apostasy.

We are talking about those who previously professed

faith in Jesus Christ, but now turn their backs

on that profession. I want to encourage your

hearts for a second. This is not talking about

every sin that you commit. This is not talking

about how we daily sin and thought word indeed.

This is those who fully and finally turn their

backs on Jesus Christ. This is the sort of people

that are described in First John 2 19. First

John 2 19 says they went out from us. But they

were not of us, for if they had been of us, they

would have continued with us. But they went out

that it might be complained that they all are

not of us. These are the sort of people that

we might think never possessed faith in the first

place. Friends, we are not merely after a profession

of faith. We are after a possession. of faith.

You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He

is the one and the only way to be saved. But

I also want to say this. I believe that this

is actually not unique to the recipients of this

letter. I think that what is described here is

actually a prevalent problem. This is a prevalent

problem. And so therefore, this is for all of

us. And so you've heard the command, pay attention.

Now look at the warning. Lest we drift away from

it. Have you had the experience of standing in

the ocean on a beautiful day? Maybe you're playing

in the water with your children. Maybe you're

throwing a football around. Maybe you're floating

on a raft. And it's just the kind of day that

summers are made out of. But then you take a

look at the shore and you realize that you have

drifted. Maybe you're a dozen yards away from

where you originally entered the water. Maybe

you're further than that. The sudden drift is

what is so surprising. And so what do you do?

You're in the water. You realize, hey, our stuff's

over there. And so what do you do? You get the

children or whoever's in the water with you.

Let's move back this way so that we are in front

of our beach towels and our chairs. You wave

hi to mom. You assure her that all is well. And

you continue playing. Friends, it's the gradual

currents that are surprising. I'm not describing

a rip current. I'm describing drift here. And

so sometimes without really realizing it, we

drift. And then when the storm arises, we are

very far from the shore. Rick Phillips says here,

there is a danger, the writer argues, and there's

also a remedy. To avoid drifting off course,

you hold the wheel of the ship in line. To avoid

slipping out with a current, you make fast the

anchor. You see, drifting, what's being described

here, is not making a beeline from your faith.

Let's say Christ is the boat. Drifting is not

jumping overboard. Drifting doesn't take a lot

of effort. It's simply putting your feet up on

the raft and slowly floating away. Drifting is

being careless with your faith, not being aware

of your surroundings and then suddenly finding

you are not where you once were. Because notice

the wording of this, even in verse three, how

shall we escape if we neglect, if we ignore such

a great salvation. O Palmer Robertson says this,

just as you might be towed away imperceptibly

from the ocean shore by a receding tide, so the

distance between yourself and Christ may increase

without your ever noticing the change. Doesn't

take a lot of effort to drift. Would you like

to know what takes effort? It is your growth

in Christ. He is your anchor. And here is where

I think it's helpful for us to go over two theological

terms that you have surely heard of, justification

and sanctification. Justification is the moment

when God pardons our sins and accepts us as righteous

in His sight through Christ Jesus. It's the one

and done. But what about sanctification? This

is a work wherein we are enabled more and more

to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.

It's like Paul writes, Paul at one point says,

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

And sometimes we read that and we think, wait

a second, I thought faith in Christ was monergistic.

How can this say work out your salvation? The

problem is that people don't continue reading.

For Paul continues to explain For it is God who

works in you both to will and to work for his

good pleasure And so do you hear who is working

within that passage? It is God and It's us. I'm

not talking about justification. I'm talking

about sanctification And so how do we work in

sanctification? Well, God has given us his means

of grace. Sanctification means feeding your faith

with the word, with worship, with the sacraments.

In these things you are growing. But friends,

if you are not feeding your faith, you are not

growing and you may be drifting. Friends, You

can be right here right now in this sanctuary

You can attend every Sunday school every men

of the Covenant every women in the church every

Vacation Bible school every table talk every

prayer meeting you can attend every single one

of these things and Your heart be far away We

need to feed our faith truly and not be neglectful,

not be careless of our faith, not just be going

through the motions. And so what is it? Why do

we drift? I've been thinking about this for a

long time. I heard a term just a couple of years

ago and I have not been able to stop thinking

about it and I know I've shared it before, but

it's pertinent. One of the biggest problems in

Christianity today is apotheism. We are apathetic

to Christ. We are apathetic to his word. We are

apathetic to what we're doing right here. We've

developed an apathy to prayer. We've developed

an apathy to evangelism and missions, and we

have developed slowly the mindset that these

things just are not that important. Friends,

nothing could be further from the truth. But

I also think it didn't start out as a deliberate

decision. I don't think a person starts out saying,

you know what? I'm gonna neglect God today. You

know what? I'm gonna break my membership vows

today. You know what? I'm going to forget about

loving my neighbor. I don't think it goes like

that. I don't see it as a conscious decision

that any Christian would make. Again, it's not

jumping overboard, but it's being apathetic.

That all of the cares and the concerns of this

world crowd out Jesus and we realize that we

are far away from safety. And so look at verse

three. How shall we escape if we neglect? such

a great salvation. Do you see how pastoral the

writer is here? Because what does he do? He lumps

himself into this group. Therefore, we must pay

close attention to what we have heard, lest we

drift away from it. How shall we escape if we

neglect such a great salvation? He lumps himself

in here as if to say, I need this to I need to

preach the gospel to myself every single day

lest I drift. And so as he lumps himself in here

I can say this for every single soul within the

sanctuary. We need this. We need to pay attention.

Because look at verse three as as this is a rhetorical

question. Look how he has asked the questions

and answered the questions so far in the book

of Hebrews. Chapter one, verse five, rhetorical

question answered in the negative. He says he

asks for to which of the angels did God ever

say, you are my son today, I begotten you. And

the implied answer is none. He never said that

to an angel. Or again, I will be to him a father

and he shall be to me a son. To which angel has

he ever said that to none of them? Verse 13 of

chapter one, and to which of the angels has he

ever said, sit at my right hand until I make

your enemies a footstool for your feet. To which

angel has he ever said this? He has not said

this to the angels. He has said this to Christ.

And so when we get to the rhetorical question

of chapter two, verse three, how shall we escape

if we neglect such a great salvation? The implied

answer is you won't. will not escape. There is

no escape. For there is no backup plan. There

is no other way for you to be saved. It is Christ

and it is Christ alone. Friends, you abandon

Christ, you have abandoned your faith. As Paul

would say, you have shipwrecked your faith and

there's no coming back for that. For there is

no other way to be saved. And so I think what

he's getting at here is eternal punishment. And

actually this is a big theme in Hebrews because

this is the first of five different warnings

to those who profess faith in Christ and yet

turn back. Let me show you this from chapter

10 verse 29. How much worse punishment do you

think will be deserved by the one who has trampled

underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the

blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified

and has outraged the spirit of grace. The idea

here is, friends, for those who have heard the

gospel, for those who have professed faith in

Jesus and yet would turn their backs on Christ,

that those people are heaping judgment upon themselves.

For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands

of the living God. And so we must give ourselves

to this great salvation. And so let's thirdly

look at his rationale. Why is this salvation

so great? Look at verse two. For since the message

declared by angels proved to be reliable. All

right, so once again, just like in chapter one,

we see the angels making an appearance here.

But we may ask, What is the message that he's

talking about? Friends, this is the message of

the law, the mosaic law, the 10 commandments.

But here is where you might think back to Exodus

20 towards the giving of those commandments.

And you say, where were the angels? As I read

that episode, I don't see the angels. Well, friends,

it is true when you read Exodus chapter 20, you

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

don't see the mention of the angels, but scripture

interprets scripture. And so listen to these

passages to hear of the angels within the giving

of the law. Acts chapter seven, verse 38, and

I'm dropping you right down into the middle of

Stephen's sermon, and I don't have time to cover

it all, but just listen for the angels' involvement

in the giving of the law. Acts seven, 38, this

is the one. who was in the congregation in the

wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at

Mount Sinai. And then on down to verse 53 of

that same chapter, you who received the law as

delivered by angels and did not keep it. And

then because we've already been in Galatians,

let me take you to Galatians 3 19. Which says

why then the law it was added because of transgressions

Until the offspring should come to whom the promise

had been made and it was put in place through

angels by an intermediary Yes, the angels were

involved in the giving of the law and the message

that they give that they gave according to this

text proved to be reliable But also notice this,

that there is just retribution for the breaking

of these things. We remember that in the Old

Testament at times there was severe punishment

for the breaking of the law. There was death

in the Old Testament for these things. And so

what the writer of Hebrews is doing is arguing

from the lesser to the greater. Angels? Good.

Law? Good. Christ? greater. And if you deserved

punishment for disobeying the lesser law through

lesser means, how much more does one deserve

punishment for rejecting Christ, who is the author

and the perfecter of our faith? John Calvin said

here, in proportion to the greatness of Christ

will be the severity of God's vengeance on all

the despisers of the gospel. You see what's happening

in verse three is it shows us the Lord declared

this message by preaching it. Jesus preached

the gospel, the good news, and his followers

continued sharing that message all the way until

it reached the ears of the author of the book

of Hebrews. But he also bore witness through

signs, it says, and wonders and miracles. And

he didn't do this to show off. He did this to

signify his message that even the gifts of the

Spirit are for this purpose. And what is more,

as you look at verses three and four, do they

not show the involvement of the entire Godhead?

Verses three and four show us the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit were all working together

and attesting to the message of the gospel. Dennis

Johnson says, a four -fold concert of witnesses,

the Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles, God the

Father testifying through the miracles, and the

Holy Spirit empowering the church certifies the

message of salvation announced in these last

days. Those who taste this good word of God but

then drift away will not escape the destruction

that awaits those who commit treason against

the Lord of the Covenant. And so let me ask you,

friends. Do you know what you have in Jesus Christ?

More accurately, do you know who you have in

the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know what you have

in this great salvation? Do you know what Christ

went through to purchase you? That He lived for

you? and he kept the law perfectly and he underwent

all of the miseries of this life and finally

he was placed on a cross and all of the punishment,

all of the full wrath of God was placed upon

Jesus instead of upon you. Do you know the great

salvation that you have in Christ? He is the

Son of God perfect in every way. And on the cross,

He welcomed your and my unrighteousness, and

what was imputed to you was His righteousness.

He did this for you. It is a great salvation,

isn't it? Today, if you're trying to hold your

feet firm in the sand with the water coming upon

you, If today you're clinging to the dock of

your own self -righteousness, white -knuckling

it, if you are attempting to stay on course all

by yourself, I can tell you one thing, it is

not going well for you. It is not going well

for you. If you're simply floating through life

without a care of Christ or his means of grace,

you are going to drift off course. You are going

to get pulled under. And so would you recognize

Would you recognize the danger now and the means

that God has given for you to draw closer to

Him? If you are drifting, I have just two scriptures

to share with you and then I'll close. I would

like you to memorize James 4 -8. Draw near to

God and He will draw near to you. And then finally

Psalm 51. David's prayer of repentance created

me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit

within me. Cast me not away from your presence

and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore

to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me

with a willing spirit. Amen. Let's pray. Father,

I thank you. that if we are clinging to you,

you are clinging even more tightly to us. And

I thank you that within your grasp, we will not

be lost. For all that the Father has given to

you will not be lost. We are adopted in your

family, we're justified, but Lord, help us to

take this command and this warning to heart that

we would not drift from you. Keep us tightly

within your grip and help us to give ourselves

to your means of grace. These things we ask in

the name of the one who is our salvation, Jesus

Christ. Amen.