Will you please turn to the book of Hebrews?
Hebrews Chapter 2. We will read the first four verses.
Hebrews 2:1-4
For this cause we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.
For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard;
God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, You say that we are standing on holy ground because we are before One who is so holy and who makes us holy.
Lord, we just pray that You will once again breathe upon Thy written Word and make it living and operative in our lives. We do want to see Jesus. We do want to follow Him. We do want to glorify Him.
Lord, we commit this time into Thy hands. We ask Thy blessing. In Thy precious name. Amen.
The book of Hebrews is a letter of exhortation. We find at the end of this book, in Hebrews 13:22, that the author himself tells us what this letter is all about.
“But I exhort you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written unto you in few words.”
So we know that the book of Hebrews is a letter of exhortation. It is written to the Hebrews, and historically speaking, these Hebrews were Hebrew Christians in the first century.
They were Hebrews because they were sons of Abraham. Now, we know Abraham is the first Hebrew, because the word Hebrew simply means “to cross the river.”
Abram used to live in Ur of the Chaldees, but he crossed the river Euphrates. He answered the call of God, and he entered into the promised land.
So Abraham was the first Hebrew, and the children of Abraham are called Hebrews. But here you find this letter was not written only to Hebrews—the Jewish people. It was actually written to Hebrew Christian believers.
They had crossed the river from Judaism into Christianity.
And, brothers and sisters, in a spiritual sense, we who believe in the Lord Jesus are the sons of Abraham—the believing ones, as Abraham was the believing one.
So, in a spiritual sense, this letter is written to us. We also have been brought through the river, out of the world and into Christ Jesus. Therefore, we believe this letter is written to us, and it is written for our exhortation.
Now, brothers and sisters, we know that exhortation has two sides. On the one hand, exhortation is encouragement. This is the positive side. On the other hand, exhortation is warning. This is the negative side. These two constitute an exhortation.
This letter to the Hebrews is full of exhortations. As a matter of fact, you will find at least five very clear exhortations, and probably a sixth concluding one.
It is written in such a way that either a great revelation is followed by an exhortation, or an exhortation is put between two great revelations. This is the way the book of Hebrews is written.
So I believe that if you have this in mind and then begin to read this letter of Hebrews, it will be very helpful.
Now this morning, we would like to look into the first exhortation.
This exhortation is given between two great revelations. We know that Hebrews Chapter 1, generally speaking, gives us the glory of the Son of God, and that certainly is a great revelation.
Hebrews Chapter 2 is a revelation of the suffering of the Son of Man—another great revelation.
Chapter 1 reveals to us Christ in eternity, and Chapter 2 tells us Christ in time. Chapter 1 emphasizes the Person of our Lord Jesus, and Chapter 2 emphasizes the work of our Lord Jesus.
So these are the two greatest revelations that God has ever given to mankind. In between these two revelations, there is an exhortation.
The exhortation is this: for this reason—that is, because of such a great revelation being given—we should give heed more abundantly to the things we have heard.
Now, this is an encouragement: give heed more abundantly to the things we have heard. “Lest in any way we should slip away”—that is a warning.
That is to say, if we do not pay more attention to what we have heard, then we are in danger of slipping away.
Now, in this letter to the Hebrews, there are two key words. One is “let”—“let us.” That is to encourage us. The other key word is “lest,” and that is the word of warning.
You find these two words all over this letter to the Hebrews. Sometimes you will find not the exact words, but similar words, such as “we should.” Just as Hebrews 2:1 says, “We should.” That is the same thing as “let us.” That is what we should do.
If you go through the book, you will find, for instance, in Hebrews 4:1, “Let us fear.” In the same chapter, you find, “Let us be diligent to enter into that rest.”
In the same chapter you find, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope,” and also, “Let us draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace.” You find this again and again throughout the whole book of Hebrews.
The same thing is true with the word “lest.” We find that in Hebrews 2:1: “Lest we slip away.” Then you find, “Lest we fail to enter into rest.”
All these things you will find throughout this book of Hebrews. So just remember these two key words: “let” and “lest.” I think that will open up the whole book for us.
We should take heed more abundantly to that which we have heard. Now, what have we heard?
We have heard what was given to us in Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Hebrews. Now, dear brothers and sisters, we will see that in these two chapters we are given such tremendous revelation from God.
We can say there is no greater revelation than that which you can find in these two chapters. They are all-inclusive. You will find everything that is really in the very heart of God opened up to us.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes we may hear something so often, so familiarly, that somehow it does not register in our hearts. That is the danger.
If you read Hebrews Chapter 1, you find that our God is a God who speaks. He is a God who reveals. He is the hidden One, but He reveals Himself to us.
In the old days, He spoke through the prophets—many prophets—to our fathers in many parts and in many ways. In other words, we have the whole Old Testament with us. God has spoken, and what He has spoken is recorded in what we call the Old Testament.
Through the prophets, holy men of God, He spoke to our fathers in many parts and in many ways. Because the revelation is so tremendous, God had to reveal it to man gradually, in pieces, preparing us for the greatest revelation that was coming.
But in these last days, in our days, He has spoken to us in His Son. There you find the revelation is complete, because when He speaks through His Son, that is perfect.
What is the revelation? What is the mystery of God? The mystery of God concerns His Son.
All the mysteries of God are centered upon His beloved Son. To this Son He has given all things. He has made Him heir of all things, and through His Son the worlds were created.
It is this Son who holds the universe together by the power of His word. It is this Son who purifies the sins of the world.
It is His Son because He has accomplished the work of redemption. He has ascended on high and is seated at the right hand of the Most High. To Him the Father has given everything.
He is greater than all the prophets, because all the prophets prophesied about Him. He is greater than the angels, because the angels worship Him.
His kingdom is everlasting. Everything will change; even this whole universe will be destroyed and changed. But He remains the same.
He is worthy to be worshipped: the Son of God, the eternal Son of God. Brothers and sisters, this is a tremendous revelation.
You know, the world, despite all its wisdom and knowledge, does not have this revelation.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He asked the disciples, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” The world only recognized Him as a great man, a great prophet, a great saint, a leader.
But the Lord said, “Whom do you say that I am?” You who have been with Me ought to know Me.
Simon Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And our Lord Jesus said, “Simon Bar-Jonah, thou art blessed, because this is not something given to thee by flesh and blood. It is the Father in heaven who has revealed it to thee.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, we find this is a great revelation: the revelation of our Lord Jesus as the Son of the living God. He is great. He is greater in everything.
Now, this is only one side of the revelation. There is another side of the revelation, and that is given in Chapter 2.
We find that, even though He was the Son of God, for a reason we know, He had to come to this earth to become a man. The Son of God was incarnated to become a man, made a little lower than the angels.
For the sins of man, He suffered death. Because we are flesh and blood, He partook of flesh and blood in order to redeem us out of death into eternal life.
Dear brothers and sisters, because of that, the Father will give everything to Him. One day, everything will be put under His feet. He shall be the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
Now, that is the revelation given to us in Chapter 2. Here we find the greatest revelation in the whole universe.
I believe we have heard this again and again: the Person of our Lord Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. We have heard many times of the work of our Lord Jesus, the work of redemption.
We have heard how He gave His blood for the remission of all sins, and how He gave His body that we might have life—eternal life.
We think we have heard this so often that it becomes familiar to us. Somehow, brothers and sisters, we need this exhortation: “Take heed more abundantly to what you have heard.”
Have we paid enough attention to the Person and the work of our Lord Jesus? When we hear about the glory of the Son of God or the suffering of the Son of Man, have they really entered into our hearts?
Have we prayed over the words we have heard? Have we allowed the Word of God to work in our lives?
These revelations are not given to us merely for our enjoyment. These revelations are given to us that we may be transformed.
Now, has that transformation been going on in our lives because of such great revelation? Why is it that we have heard and heard and heard, and somehow our lives do not measure up to what we have heard? The revelation has not become our vocation. Something is missing.
Why is it that we are still occupied with the world so much? Why is it that we are still occupied with ourselves so much? Why is it that we are so influenced by people?
Why are we still under the weather, as it were—under our environment? When things happen, we go under. Why is it that we are not fully occupied with the Lord and with His work? We should be different.
Is it because we have not paid enough attention to what we have heard? We hear it, and we do not hear it; it is gone.
You remember Matthew 13, how our Lord Jesus began to use parables to speak with the people. He changed His method of speaking.
In the beginning of His ministry, He spoke plainly. But after some time, He began to change His method of speaking into parables. Why? They hear and do not hear; they see and do not see.
Their heart has grown fat, their ears have become heavy, and they close their eyes, lest the Word of God transform and deliver them. Brothers and sisters, you find it comes down to a matter of the heart.
Why is it that we have heard so much about the Lord, and there is so little of the Lord in our lives? Why? The problem is with the heart.
In Jeremiah 17:9, it says:
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
No one knows the heart. God alone is the One who examines the heart and proves the reins. So, dear brothers and sisters, the heart is very, very important.
If our heart is not there, no matter how much we hear, it slips away. It does not stay. It does not register.
We confess that we do not know our hearts. If anyone thinks that he knows his heart, he is deceived, because the heart is deceitful. God alone knows our heart.
So how do we come to know our hearts? Not by self-examination or introspection.
There is only one way that we may know our heart, and that is to place our hearts before God and let Him examine our hearts.
I believe that the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 139 is most fitting. The psalmist concludes his psalm with these words:
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any way of wickedness in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
In the original, it is, “See if there is any idolatrous way in me.” Dear brothers and sisters, we need to place our hearts before the Lord and let Him examine our hearts.
Do not deceive yourselves by thinking that your heart is good, that your heart is all for the Lord. Let Him examine it. Let Him prove your thoughts.
Then we will see how often our hearts are idolatrous, how often our hearts are in an idolatrous way—that is, aside from the Lord Himself, our heart is somewhere else.
May He lead us in the way everlasting.
Solomon says in Proverbs, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.” Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Is our heart really pure before the Lord? Not only clean, but pure—single, wholly for the Lord.
So, brothers and sisters, if our heart is really upon the Lord, we will hear what He has to say to us.
We will allow Him—He who is the Son of God and the Son of Man, He who has wrought so great a salvation—to work out that salvation in our lives. It is a matter of the heart.
If our heart is right, our ears will hear, our eyes will be single, and we will see. Then you will find that such great revelation will become living and operative in our lives.
So, brothers and sisters, the exhortation is: pay more attention, more abundantly. Turn your heart to the Lord and let Him fill your heart.
If you do that, then you will be kept from the danger of slipping away. Here you find the negative side: if you do not pay more attention to what you have heard, what will happen? You will slip away.
Now, the word “slip away” in the original has two meanings. That is why you find it translated in different ways in different English versions of the Bible.
In one way, it is translated as drifting. The other meaning is leaking. It is either drifting or leaking. When it drifts, it slips; when it leaks, it slips.
Now we know what drifting is. The picture is a boat.
A boat is sailing, and it is supposed to sail to the haven or to the anchorage. But if you leave the boat so that the current carries it, instead of putting effort into it, rowing the boat, and keeping it toward the anchorage or the haven, you will slip by and slip into danger.
I remember a story that was told. I do not know whether it is true or not, but it is a story.
A man was on a boat in a stream—a river that leads to Niagara Falls. While he was in the boat on that river, the water was so calm, and he was enjoying the scenery.
So he just lay back in the boat and let the boat go. You know, if the boat is not being rowed, then of course it flows with the current.
The current gradually brought that boat on and on. He was lying there idly, enjoying the scenery, not knowing that gradually he was drifting toward the falls.
When he noticed it, he was greatly alarmed. That is drifting.
Dear brothers and sisters, in spiritual life it is a life of effort, a life of diligence.
This world has a current. Not only does the world have a current; the world within us, our flesh, has its current.
If we allow ourselves to drift—that is, if we do not apply ourselves, if we are not diligent and do not hold fast—we will find ourselves drifting with the current.
The world will carry us downstream until we come to the falls. Then it is too late.
If we allow the current of our self-life to carry us and do not deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord, we will find that we are drifting, and we will slip by.
Brothers and sisters, are we drifting?
What is our haven? What is our anchorage? What is our goal? Where are we heading?
Is our Lord Jesus our goal, that we may be like Him? He has so great a salvation for us. Do we allow ourselves to drift?
Should we not be stirred by the Spirit of God? Especially in these last days, brothers and sisters, it is very easy for us to drift.
The current of the world is strong. The current of the self-life is strong. If you just allow it, it will sweep you away. You will slip by.
We all are exposed to this danger. I wonder, brothers and sisters, what is your spiritual condition today?
Do you seek the Lord with your whole heart? Are you still denying yourself, taking up the cross, and following the Lord?
Or, because the current of the world is too strong, have you allowed yourself to be carried downstream?
Or is it because your eyes are not fixed upon the Lord? You look upon people, you are disappointed, and you give up.
Is it because you find the struggle of going upstream too great, and you begin to relax and become lax? Where is your spiritual condition today?
Do not deceive yourself. Be honest before the Lord. Is your spiritual condition right with the Lord?
Does He still occupy your whole heart, or somehow has your heart been stolen? Are you occupied with yourself, with your self-righteousness, justifying yourself in everything?
Do you think that you are right and everybody else is wrong—even the Lord is wrong? Where are you?
The greatest danger among God’s people today is drifting, because it is unconscious. You do not realize it. If you do not wake up in time, it is too late.
Brothers and sisters, this is a time for us to wake up. Forget everything. Just concentrate on the Lord. If you do that, your first love will be restored.
The other meaning of slipping away is leaking. The picture is a vessel.
Suppose a vessel has holes in it. You go to a well and fill the vessel with water, but when you bring it home, because there are holes in it, the water has all leaked out. When you get home, it is an empty vessel.
That is the picture. Brothers and sisters, are there holes in our lives so that what we have heard has all leaked away?
The words do not stay. They do not do their work. If that is the case, you will find there is nothing but emptiness.
So the book of Hebrews warns the Hebrew believers: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?”
Brothers and sisters, we have a great Savior and a great Lord. Because of His greatness, He gives us so great a salvation.
You know, the salvation in the book of Hebrews is not what we usually call initial salvation. That is, we who were dead in sins and transgressions, we who had no hope, we who were going to hell—thank God, in Christ Jesus He has provided salvation for us.
Because of His precious blood, our sins can be forgiven—fully forgiven. Because He gives us eternal life, our eternity is secured. Now that is initial salvation, and that is the thing with which most Christians are concerned.
But, brothers and sisters, the book of Hebrews does not deal with initial salvation. It speaks of so great a salvation.
In other words, this salvation is not just leading us out of hell into heaven. This salvation is leading us into glory.
Here you find that Hebrews Chapter 2 speaks of leading many sons into glory. Our Lord Jesus is the Firstborn. He is leading many of His brethren into glory.
We are not just to be babes in Christ. We ought to be sons and daughters grown up, so that we may be led into glory and reign and rule with Christ.
Brothers and sisters, the kingdom is in view. This is the great salvation.
Because we have such a great Savior and such a great salvation, how shall we escape if we are negligent of so great a salvation? It is not something small.
God’s will is to lead us into glory, into the kingdom of God—not just merely saved, but to rule and reign with Christ as kings and priests unto God.
That is God’s will, and that is what He has provided for us with so great a salvation. But, brothers and sisters, are we being negligent of such salvation?
The Bible says, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.” He that saves his soul-life today shall lose it, but he who is willing to lose his soul-life for My sake, the Lord said, shall gain it unto eternity.
That is the so great salvation. Are we aware of it? Or are we just sitting back and saying, “The cross is too much,” not knowing that the grace is even greater? Do we just let it slip on and let it go? How shall we escape?
The law was given through angels. If anyone did not obey the law or was negligent of it, they received their just retribution. You find that in the Old Testament with the children of Israel.
When they did not take the law to heart, when they disobeyed the law and violated the law, you know what retribution came upon them.
So the word of warning says that the word we have heard was first spoken by the Lord Himself. It was confirmed by those who heard—the apostles—and God, by His Holy Spirit, bore witness to it.
Is it serious? It is even more serious than hearing the law. Brothers and sisters, what we have heard, we are responsible for.
God will require of us according to what He has given to us. To whom He gives more, He requires more.
In a sense, thank God, we are privileged, because what we have heard and seen—the prophets and righteous people in the old days hoped to see and hear, but they did not have this privilege.
But you are blessed because you have seen and you have heard. Brothers and sisters, thank God for that; but at the same time, there is tremendous responsibility.
We will not escape just retribution if we neglect so great a salvation. It is not a small thing, brothers and sisters.
People think greatly about initial salvation. Thank God, we understand it is a great thing. Many people are still blind and sleeping. They are not aware of eternity.
But thank God, He has awakened us to this matter of eternity. We have heard, and we have believed.
Brothers and sisters, we who know the Lord now have so great a salvation before us. Have we heard? Have we seen? What is our attitude toward it?
So I feel that we need a warning. You know, I struggled over this message. The Lord may many times give you something else, but somehow I feel a burden in my heart. Maybe this is a time that we need an exhortation.
Brothers and sisters, forget what is behind. Press forward. We do not have much time before us.
We cannot waste our time. We cannot drift anymore. We cannot say, “Wait till tomorrow.” This is the time.
So may the Lord have mercy upon us. Be before the Lord. Ask the Lord where we are. What is our spiritual condition today?
Repent. Humble ourselves before the Lord. Ask Him to deliver us out of every situation and restore our first love.
May He fill our hearts with Himself and with all that He has done for us, and with nothing else. May the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, You have been so gracious and so merciful. You have revealed Yourself to us to such a great degree. You have shown us Your so great salvation.
And yet, Lord, we have to confess that much of what You have given us has been lost. We have been drifting, leaking; very little is left.
O Lord, we do pray that Thy Word and Thy Spirit will speak to us. Awaken us as from a dream, that we may see our true condition before Thee.
That we may repent in dust and ashes, and look to Thy abundance to restore us to first love.
O, that Thou wouldest fill our hearts with Thyself, that we see no one but Jesus only.
O Lord, lead us all that we may, by Thy grace, anchor in Christ and reach the goal to the praise of Thy glory. Do not let us drift.
O Lord, have mercy upon us as a people. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.