WARNINGS (II)
This week we begin our study on the “warnings” found in Hebrews. We discussed that the “warnings” were written to born-again believers and not to those who merely professed to be Christians. We know that the book of Hebrews was written to born-again Jewish Christians based on two scripture verses found in the book. “3 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” Hebrews 3:1. When the author refers to the reader as “holy brothers and sisters” he is stating that the reader has accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. “10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” Hebrews 10:10, the author is acknowledging that the reader and himself all share in act of sanctification through Jesus. As discussed last week, these warnings are not written to scare the believers, but instead to encourage them to hold fast to the Blessed Hope that is Jesus Christ. I encourage you to go back and read the introduction to this lesson if you have not already, click here.
Today we begin with the first of these “warnings” which can be found in Hebrews 2:1-4.
“2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 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, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”
The actual warning can be found in Hebrews 2:1, “2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” First, I want to point out the use of the word “therefore”. The author of Hebrews is using this term to draw a conclusion from Hebrews Chapter 1. If you have not read this chapter, I encourage you to because Hebrews Chapter 1 shows how Jesus is greater than both prophets and angels.
During the time Hebrews was written, Christians were facing persecution from the Roman Empire and as such were tempted to return to Judaism. They were tempted to drift away from the faith. This is something that we have faced last year with the closing of churches and it is something that we will continue to face as we draw close to the end of the Church Age. We will face many hardships while here on earth and it will be tempting to slip into what the world deems as “okay”, it may seem that if we can only avoid persecution for a little while then we can come back and be a better Christian for it. And so the first “warning” is encouraging the believer to hold fast to the faith. This idea can be classified as a positive motivation, and the Bible is filled with these. “16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16, “The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” While these verses are great and provide much hope, we tend to get so focused on the loving aspect of God that we forget that He is also the Judge of the world. We forget the God will not sit idly by and allow His children to rebel against Him. But the Bible is filled with many negative motivations as well. These negative motivations are designed to show what happens when you ignore God’s Word and act against it. There are many comparative verses in the Bible, verses that depict a positive motivation, to come to Christ, and then will show a negative motivation as well. Just look at Matthew 11:28-30 and Matthew 5:29-30. One set depicts that God’s burden is light and in Him we will find rest, while the other shows that if there is an aspect that causes you to sin you need to cut it off. Or again look at Galatians 5:16 and Galatians 6:7. One verse shows that if you walk by the Spirit than you will not fall into fleshly desires and the other verse shows that God is not oblivious to the doings of man and man will reap what they sow.
However, the warning here shows us that this is not the case. If we drift back into this world, we will drift away from Christ.
This idea of a positive and negative motivation is also found in the “warnings” in Hebrews. These “warnings” provide a clear example of what happens when we ignore what we have been taught and “drift away”. This is a reminder that is again found throughout scripture, look at 1 Corinthians 10. This chapter is dedicated to reminding the readers that many were under the cloud of fire that was God, many passed through the Red Sea, many were baptized and ate the spiritual food, and yet many found death in the wilderness because they disobeyed the Word of God. “6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” 1 Corinthians 10:6
With the example of 1 Corinthians 10:6, we see that the individuals who fell in the desert did so because they desired evil things. They did not follow the Lord and began to drift away from what He desired. The danger of drifting from the faith is that we then allow sinful nature to take its course. When we drift from the faith we are neglecting our salvation. This does not mean that we lose our salvation, if that was the case then Moses, Aaron, and Peter all would have, but it does mean that if we drift from the faith we open ourselves up to the consequences our sinful desires led us to. “19This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil,” Hebrews 6:19. When we neglect our salvation by not doing our Bible studies, spending time in prayer, or meeting with other believers we begin to drift away from the faith. The anchor of God’s Word does not move, we do. When we drift from Him, God will continue to speak to us and when needed He will chasten us.
Hebrews 2:2 references how the Word that was spoken through angels proved to be unalterable, with every violation and act of disobedience receiving a judgment. This is a reference back to the ordinances that were given to the people in Exodus 21. When you read through these, you see that for every action there was a reaction, often this was a physical punishment or even death. For example, “12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.” Exodus 21:12.
Hebrews 2:3-4 continues to states that “3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 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.” In his book, Be Confident, Warren W. Wiersbe describes the consequence to drifting from the faith this way. “During the Old Testament days, people who did not heed the Word were sometimes punished. That Word was given through angels, so how much greater responsibility do we have today who have received the Word from the Son of God! In Hebrews 2:2, ‘transgression’ refers to sins of commission, while ‘disobedience’ suggests sins of omission.”
Many believers today believe that just because they are “under grace” that they will never be chastised by God. That is simply not true! When we neglect our faith by failing to study God’s Word, be in prayer, and spend time with other believers we are drifting from the faith. We do not know what God is saying because we are not listening to Him! We have received the Word from the Son of God and through apostolic miracles (Hebrews 2:4), we have been given the WHOLE of God’s Word, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” Luke 12:48b. We have the completed works of God but by not spending time with Him we neglect our faith and begin to drift. It is easy to get caught up in this world, especially when we are facing persecution. In these times we need to remember that our salvation was bought at a great price, it holds great promises and blessings. To neglect it only leads to chastisement and risks punishment in this world. Hal Lindsey once warned fellow believers, “You do not want to be taken to the Holy wood shed by God yet, when you are taken there because you will, repent and as quickly as possible get back where He wants you.” Remember this first Hebrews warning comes from the betterment of a Heavenly Father who knowingly has our best interests at heart. What we might think is right could actually be devastatingly wrong.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex