Will you please turn to the book of Hebrews, chapter 13? Hebrews 13:22.
But I beseech you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation; for I have written unto you in few words.
In the Amplified Version, it says, “Listen patiently to this message of exhortation and admonition and encouragement, for I have written to you briefly.”
Now turn to Hebrews, chapter 2. We will read from Hebrews 2:1-4.
Therefore 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 steadfast, 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 pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that by the grace of God and the redemption of our Lord Jesus, we have the boldness not only to enter into Thy presence, but to remain there. We do praise and thank Thee that this morning we do remain in Thy presence.
We ask that the light of Thy countenance will shine upon us, reveal to us Thy heart, and draw us into Thyself. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
This letter to the Hebrews is a letter of exhortation. This is clearly stated at the end of the letter. The writer of Hebrews says, “I beseech you, brethren; I entreat you, brethren, to bear with the word of exhortation”—to listen patiently to this message of exhortation, admonition, and encouragement.
He says, “I have written to you briefly.” Now, we may think that the letter to the Hebrews is a long letter, but the writer says that he has written very briefly. It is not long at all, if we understand what he is talking about.
So this letter is primarily a letter of exhortation. Now, dear brothers and sisters, what is exhortation?
To exhort means to call to a person’s side. The word exhort means “to the side,” and “to call”—to call to the side. It simply means to entreat, to beseech, to call, to admonish, and to urge you to pursue a certain course of conduct.
Therefore, exhortation in the Scripture means to pay attention to, to warn against, and to encourage toward something. In this letter, you find many encouragements and warnings.
If you read this letter very carefully, you will find at least five distinctive exhortations, complete with encouragement and warning. You find the words “let us” a number of times, and whenever you find those words, they express encouragement. Then you also find the word “lest” used a number of times, and whenever that word is used, you know it is a warning.
These are the positive and negative sides: encouragement is positive; warning is negative. The reason there are these encouragements and warnings is because of the greatness of the subject, the theme, and the prospect that you find in this letter—and also the easiness of losing it.
So, brothers and sisters, if God wills, we would like to spend some time on this matter of exhortation: to see the greatness of the message, the encouragement given to us, and the warning also given to us.
This morning, we would like to focus on the first exhortation. It is found in the second passage that we have just read: Hebrews 2:1-4.
One thing is worth noticing: whenever an exhortation is given in the letter to the Hebrews, you find that it either follows or precedes a message, a truth, a teaching, or a reality that is of tremendous importance.
For instance, this first exhortation stands between chapters 1 and 2. In chapter 1, we see the glory of the Son of God. In chapter 2, we see the suffering of the Son of Man.
In chapter 1, we see what Christ is in eternity; in chapter 2, we find what He is in time. In chapter 1, we see especially the person of our Lord Jesus; in chapter 2, we see especially the work of our Lord Jesus. So, between these two chapters, you find the first exhortation. This is true throughout the whole book.
Here in this first exhortation, the writer says, “For this reason, we should give heed more abundantly to the things we have heard.” Now, brothers and sisters, what are the things that we have heard?
Certainly, these things do not refer to those things that the prophets in the past had spoken. Why? Because you find in Hebrews 1 that God, having spoken in many parts and in many ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets—our God is a God who speaks.
Now, thank God for that. If He should become silent, nobody would know Him. Nobody would know what His plan is. Nobody would know what He is going to do. But thank God, our God is One who speaks.
In the past, He spoke to our fathers through the prophets—many prophets—but in many parts and in many ways. In other words, the prophets were men. Even though they were holy men of God, yet they were human beings; therefore, they were very limited in their capacity.
When God used them, when the Spirit of God moved them to speak, they could only speak in parts. They could never speak in fullness. They could speak in many ways: sometimes in parables, sometimes in types, sometimes using history and stories. But they could only do it in many ways.
That was the way God spoke to our fathers in the prophets. But this is not what we have heard. Now, what is it that we have heard, to which we need to give very close attention?
These are not the words spoken by the prophets, however important those words may be. These are the words spoken by our Lord Jesus. In other words, in the last days, at the end of these days, God has spoken to us in the person of His own Son.
In the past, God spoke through the prophets. It was God speaking, but He spoke through the prophets. Now God has spoken to us in the person of His own Son. When He speaks in His Son, what is spoken is full, rich, final, and total. That is what we have heard.
What we have heard does not refer to what we have heard through angels. In Hebrews 2:2, it says, “If the word which was spoken through angels was firm.” Now, we wonder, when did the angels speak?
Of course, it refers to the time when Moses received the Ten Commandments, the law, at Mount Sinai. The Bible says that when he received the word at Mount Sinai, it was through the ministration of angels.
In other words, God used the angels as His agents. Through the angels, the word came to Moses, and from Moses to the children of Israel. But here, what we have heard does not refer to the word spoken by angels, however important those words might be.
These words that we have heard are spoken by our Lord Himself—not the words spoken by angels, the word of law, but the words spoken by our Lord Jesus, the word of truth and grace.
So how much more important is that which we have heard? If we need to hear the prophets, if we need to take heed to the word spoken by angels, how much more we need to pay close attention to the word spoken by the Son of God, by our Lord Jesus.
Now, brothers and sisters, what has He spoken? What have the prophets spoken? What have the angels spoken? What is it? I think this is important for us to know. What has He spoken? What have we heard today?
Did any of you read the third verse? He says, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” Now, that is it, brothers and sisters. What we have heard from the Lord Himself is so great salvation.
Salvation is an all-inclusive word. Sometimes we limit salvation in our understanding to mean merely having our sins forgiven, receiving eternal life, and having the promise of going to heaven.
Now, thank God, these are big things to us—tremendous things. Just think of that: our sins forgiven. We who were dead in sins and transgressions, and the wages of sin is death—there was no hope for us. Thank God that our sins are completely forgiven, not only forgiven but forgotten. Now, that is good news to us.
Think of having eternal life. This life that we have is a mortal life, a corrupted life, a sinful life, a defeated life—a life destined for death. But now we receive eternal life, a life that never dies, a life that not only continues on but continues on in glory. Now, that, of course, is wonderful to us.
Going to heaven—now, who wants to go to hell? We who were destined for hell, thank God, through the salvation of our Lord Jesus, have had our direction changed. We are going to heaven. Wonderful.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the salvation that we usually understand. But is this all that our Lord Jesus has spoken to us as so great salvation? So far as we are concerned, it is great. But so far as God is concerned, so far as our Lord Jesus is concerned, that is not great enough for Him.
The salvation that we usually understand may be called initial salvation. Now, you do not find that expression in the Scripture; we use it in order to differentiate it. The salvation that we usually know is what we may call common salvation.
But if you read the Word of God and listen to what our Lord Jesus says, you will find that salvation is much, much greater than having our sins forgiven, receiving eternal life, and having the promise of going to heaven.
Salvation not only has something to do with the past; it has to do with the present and, of course, with the future.
For instance, Ephesians 2:5 and Ephesians 2:8 say, “By grace ye are saved.” In the Greek original, it says, “By grace ye are having been saved.” That is past tense.
When you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are saved. This being saved is a settled matter, a thing that is done once and forever. So that is salvation in the past tense: “Ye are having been saved.” Now, is that not wonderful?
Lots of people believe in the Lord Jesus, yet they live in fear and trembling, wondering whether, after they die and go to the gate of heaven, they will meet Moses or they will meet the Lord Jesus—whether they will be received into heaven or barred from heaven.
But thank God, if we believe in the Lord Jesus, by grace we are having been saved. Our salvation is sure and secure. Nothing can take it away from us—not even ourselves.
But this is salvation in the past tense. In the Scripture, there is also salvation in the present tense. For instance, 1 Corinthians 1:18 says:
For the word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness;
but unto us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Then, of course, you also find in Romans 5:10, “Having been reconciled, we shall be saved in His life.” In the Amplified Version, you will find that this means daily deliverance from sin’s dominion.
Deliverance from sin’s dominion—that is present salvation. In other words, in the present time, you can be saved by being daily delivered from the power of sin. You do not need to live under the dominion of sin anymore. You can overcome the law of sin and death because now the law of the Spirit of life is operating in you in Christ Jesus.
Then you find salvation in the future tense. For instance, Hebrews 1:14 speaks of “those who shall inherit salvation.” Salvation is something that we shall inherit.
Now, brothers and sisters, whenever you think of inheritance, that is something in the future. An heir is to inherit something in the future, because when the heir inherits, he is no longer merely an heir; he is an owner. So inheritance has something to do with the future.
If you look at 1 Peter 1:3-5:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Here you find that we are begotten again, born again, to a living hope. Hope is something in the future. What is that hope? It is an incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading inheritance.
Everything in this world is corruptible—not only corruptible, but corrupted. Everything in this world is defiled—not only defilable, but defiled. Everything in this world is fading, passing away. But thank God, we have a hope.
We have a hope of an inheritance which is incorruptible—not only not corrupted, but unable to be corrupted—undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you.
It is reserved for you who are kept, guarded by the power of God through faith. We cannot keep ourselves, but God can. Yet you need to believe Him. We are kept, guarded by the power of God through faith, for a full salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
There is a salvation reserved for you, ready to be revealed in the last time, for those who are kept by the power of God through faith to inherit this salvation. This is salvation in the future.
So you see, salvation is a big thing. It covers the past, the present, and the future. Not only that, but in the Scripture we are also told that salvation reaches to different areas of our being.
We are tripartite persons. Man is made of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. First Thessalonians 5 speaks of your whole being—the spirit, the soul, and the body.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are born again. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” That is the salvation of the spirit. Your spirit, which was dead in sins and transgressions, is quickened into new life and becomes a new spirit. The Spirit of God comes and dwells in your spirit. This is regeneration. This is being born again. This is salvation of the spirit.
Then you find that the Scripture mentions the salvation of the soul. You actually have this term in the Bible: salvation of the soul. If we lose our soul today for the gospel’s sake, for Christ’s sake, we shall gain it unto eternity. That is the salvation of the soul.
Then there is salvation of the body—the redemption of our body. When the Lord Jesus comes, this mortal body shall be changed into immortality, and this corruptible body shall be changed into incorruptibility. We shall have a body of glory.
Today we have a body of humiliation. This body really humiliates me. But one day we shall have a body of glory. Thank God, when that day comes, that is complete salvation.
So salvation is so great salvation. Brothers and sisters, we limit God’s salvation to a corner. We think that is good enough for us. But remember, all the time, it is not good enough for God; it is not good enough for our Lord Jesus.
What He has spoken to us, what He has provided for us, is so great salvation. It is impossible for me to try to describe to you so great salvation within an hour, but perhaps this morning we can restrict ourselves to the so great salvation found within this first exhortation.
Why are we exhorted to pay special attention to what we have heard? Because it is so great salvation. Why are we warned lest we slip away or drift apart? Because of so great salvation.
Now, what is the so great salvation that we find in these two chapters of Hebrews? Hebrews 2:5 says:
For not unto angels did He subject the world to come, whereof we speak.
That is the habitable world which is to come. Perhaps we need to go back a little bit—back to Genesis.
After God created the heavens and the earth, and after, in six days, He restored it to be habitable, then on the sixth day He created man. He created man in His own image, according to His likeness.
Then He blessed the man He had created and said, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and have dominion over the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea.”
In other words, as God created man in His own image, He gave man the earth to rule. He subjected the earth to the dominion of the man whom He created. Now, this is God’s will.
Of course, for a reason—but I will not tell you. You have to find it yourself. When God created man, He put man in a habitable world and gave the dominion to him: to rule the earth for God. What a privilege.
But unfortunately, man disobeyed God. Man fell into temptation, and by doing so, he not only lost the image of God, but he also lost dominion over the earth.
Today, even a little sparrow you cannot command. Oftentimes you see a sparrow there, and you really like that sparrow, and you say, “Come here.” That sparrow will not listen to you. If you go forward and try to befriend a sparrow, he will fly away.
Man has lost dominion—not to mention a tiger or a lion, but even a sparrow.
But does this mean that God has given up man? Has God given up His purpose concerning man? Not at all.
Three thousand years later, through King David, as a prophet of God, he wrote Psalm 8:
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
And crownest him with glory and honor.
Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet.
So far as the order of creation is concerned, man is a lower order than the angels. Why? Because angels are spirits, while we have spirit, soul, and body. This body really encumbers us. A spirit can be everywhere, but with this body you can only be in one place.
So we are created a little lower than the angels. Yet, even though man is created a little lower than angels, God has crowned him with glory and honor and has given him dominion over the things that He has created.
Now, you may say that this is no longer true. In Genesis 1, when God first created man, that was true. But man has lost his inheritance, his place. It is no longer true.
But David, the sweet singer of Israel, in the spirit of prophecy, still continues to say, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?” God has not given him up. What God has purposed concerning him is still there. He is still going to let man have dominion over the earth.
Then another thousand years passed. When you come to Hebrews 2, you find the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s purpose and His prophecy.
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
Or the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels;
Thou crownedst him with glory and honor,
And didst set him over the works of Thy hands:
Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet.
For in subjecting all things unto him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. But we see Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, the man of God’s heart, as God created Adam, was sought for four thousand years. God was still looking for the man that He had created, and finally He found that Man in Jesus.
Here you find our Lord Jesus. Even though He was the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, yet He was made a little lower than the angels. The Word became flesh. God was incarnated.
When God came to become a man, He was made a little lower than angels. He took a place lower than the angels as a man. But God crowned Him with glory and honor and subjected all things to Him, giving all things to Him.
But we have not seen this completed yet. We only see Jesus, made a little lower than the angels on account of the suffering of death.
Why was He made a little lower than angels? Why did He have to be made a man like you and me? It is because He had to suffer the suffering of death. God cannot die. God is immortal.
In order for God to die, He had to become a man. The reason He was incarnated is because He wanted to suffer; He wanted to die for us. Because He tasted death for everyone, God has now crowned Him with glory and honor.
He is risen. He is ascended. He has been anointed as Lord and Christ. God has given all things to Him, and all things are going to be subjected to Him.
This is the Man.
But is it just for Jesus Himself? No. If it were just for Himself, He did not need to become a man. As God, the Son of God, He was crowned with glory and honor, and all things were subject to Him. That was His right; it belonged to Him.
But God gave this to man, and man lost it. So here you find the Lord Jesus came to regain it—to take it out of the hand of the enemy and regain it for man, for God.
He did not do it merely for Himself. He did it for a new mankind, for those whom He has begotten and is going to bring forth.
“For not unto angels did He subject the world to come, whereof we speak.” Now, the habitable world to come points to the millennium that is coming. This is this age, and according to Jewish usage, when they say “the world to come,” it means when the Messiah shall come and establish His kingdom.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is so great salvation? So great salvation is this: Christ has come. He has taken this earth out of the hand of the usurper, Satan, and brought it back to Himself and to those whom He has redeemed, that they may inherit that incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading inheritance.
To use one word to describe it: glory. Glory.
That is why you find in Hebrews 2:10:
For it became Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Here you find the words “their salvation.” What does that salvation mean? That salvation means glory.
Brothers and sisters, it is not merely a matter of having our sins forgiven. Of course, having sin upon us is shameful, condemning, and despicable. Having our sins forgiven is a very joyous experience; that is true.
But, dear brothers and sisters, what God has in mind for us is far greater than merely having our sins forgiven. What God has in mind is to lead us into glory.
Christ is now in glory. One day He is going to lead many sons to share His glory, to share His reign, to share His throne, to rule upon this earth over all things as heirs and co-heirs with Christ. Brothers and sisters, is that not great?
But remember: how is He to bring many sons to glory? He has already gone to glory. He went through the path of suffering to make perfect the Author of their salvation through suffering.
It is through His suffering that He was perfected. He is perfect, and yet He needed to be perfected, because in Hebrews 5 you find that, being Son, He learned obedience through the things which He suffered, that He might become the Author of eternal salvation.
Our Lord Jesus has not only provided salvation for us; He has also provided a way to that salvation. The way is through suffering.
You find these words: “For both He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of One; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
He that sanctifies is the Lord Jesus. Those sanctified are we who are sanctified. We are all of one. In other words, we are united with Him.
First, He came to be united with us. We were of flesh and blood, so He partook of flesh and blood to be united with us, in order that He might die for us. Now you find that He has made us united with Him.
He that sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one, and He calls us brethren. Is that not wonderful? He calls us brothers—male brothers or female brothers, we are all brothers to Him. Why? Because we share His life. We are His brethren.
In Hebrews 2:12, He says:
I will declare Thy name unto My brethren,
In the midst of the congregation will I sing Thy praise.
We are His assembly, His church. Through His death and resurrection, we are united with Christ. So He says, “Go and tell My brethren, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” We become His brethren, and we become His assembly—that is, His church.
He will sing praises in the assembly, and we become His children whom God has given to Him. Think of that. By believing in the Lord Jesus, we are His children, His brothers and sisters—not merely babes.
We begin as babes, but He is to lead many sons into glory. Think of that. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, you become a child of God, a babe in Christ. But do not remain as a babe, because if you remain as a babe, then God’s purpose cannot be realized.
God wants you to rule and reign with Christ in glory. God wants to put all things under your feet, as He has put all things under the feet of Christ. Can you do that if you are just a babe? You cannot manage.
You need to grow up into sonship. God wants sons—grown-up sons and daughters. That is what God wants. We need to grow up.
What does it mean to grow up? It means that the measure of Christ in us has to increase. Christ has to increase in us, and we must decrease. Then we are growing. We grow into sonship.
One day, at the manifestation of the sons of God, the whole earth will be transformed. The earth today is groaning because it is subjected to corruption and vanity.
The whole world is vanity—vanity, no purpose. The whole earth is corrupted. Everything is corrupted. You look at the trees. In springtime, the trees have all their leaves, and it is wonderful. But it does not last long.
Not to be pessimistic, but autumn comes, winter comes, and it is bare. Corrupted. Everything is corrupted. Everything is vain—no purpose.
The whole creation is subjected to vanity and corruption. But one day, when the sons of God shall be manifested, when the Son of God shall lead many sons into glory, when the only begotten Son shall be the firstborn among many brethren, the whole world will be restored.
Wonderful. And this is so great salvation—nothing less than this.
Dear brothers and sisters, are you excited about it? Think of the so great salvation that Christ has spoken to us and has called us into.
Because of the greatness of the theme, the greatness of the subject, we are encouraged and exhorted to give heed more abundantly to the things we have heard. We need to pay much closer attention to what we have heard.
Many people hear, but they do not hear, because their heart is not there.
You remember the parable of the sower. When the word is being scattered, some seed falls on the pathway, trodden hard by feet. In other words, the traffic of the world is so heavy that the heart is hardened by the things of the world, and the seed cannot enter into the heart.
A person may hear, but he does not hear. The birds—Satan—will come and take the seed away. So he has not heard.
Or your heart may be like stony ground. There is a stone underneath and only a very thin layer of earth. The seed falls and begins to come forth, but there is no root. When tribulation comes, it is gone.
Or it may be ground with thorns. The seed goes in and begins to come up in stalk, but it can bear no fruit because the weeds, thorns, and thistles take away all the nourishment. Thorns abort fruit; it does not come to fruition.
Only the ground, the heart, that has been tilled, turned over, softened, and prepared can receive the word. Then the word will fall into the heart and patiently bear fruit—an hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold—to the glory of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, pay close attention to what you hear. Be careful lest your heart is not in it. Otherwise, you will hear as if you have not heard.
This phrase, “more abundantly,” is used a second time in Hebrews 6:17. There it says:
Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed with an oath.
Here you find “more abundantly” on God’s side. He wants to show us the immutability, the unchangeableness, of His purpose. So He gives us His truth more abundantly.
Whatever God says is true. He does not need to take an oath, but He takes an oath in order to encourage us more abundantly. Dear brothers and sisters, in response to such more abundant grace, surely we need to pay more abundant attention. Let us hear.
Then the warning comes: “Lest in any way we should slip away.”
This expression, “slip away,” in the original has been explained in three different ways. The original Greek is very rich, but when you translate it into English, you can only put one shade of meaning into it.
Some say this word means “running out,” like a leaking vessel. Suppose you have a vessel with holes in it, and you try to draw water with it. You go to the river and draw water, then you bring it home; but when you get home, it is all gone. Why? Because it has all leaked away.
Be careful what you have heard, lest it leak out and run out. Is that not true? Oftentimes you come to a meeting and hear the Word of God, but after you step out the door, if anybody asks you what you have heard, you cannot even remember a word. It has all leaked out.
Is it not strange that we can remember lots of things, but when it comes to the things of God, we cannot remember? They have leaked.
Be careful lest all that you have heard runs out from a leaking vessel. Oh, that we may not be leaking vessels—that we have heard a lot but retained very little. It does not produce what it should.
Oh, how we need to be careful before God.
Another way to put it is “slip away.” We often say, “Well, it just slipped my mind. I just do not remember.” Why does it slip away? Why does it slip from your mind? Because, in the first place, your heart is not in it.
If your heart is really in it, it cannot slip; it will not slip away. Why do you remember lots of things? Because your heart is there.
Suppose somebody does something wrong to you. You can never forget. Why? Because it touches your heart; you remember it. But when somebody does something good to you, you can easily forget. You take it for granted.
Be careful lest in any way it may slip away from you. Since it can slip away, hold it tight.
How do we hold it tight? Brothers and sisters, when we hear the Word of God and simply go away, it is almost like what you find in the book of James: people look at a mirror, then turn around and forget what they look like.
Many people are like that. We hear the Word, we go home, and it all slips away. How can you hold it and fix it?
Mingle it with faith. Pray through it. That will hold it and fix it, so it will not simply slip away.
That is why it is always good, at the end of a message, that we pray—to fix it, to hold it. Not only a few prayers here, but even after you go home, think about it, ponder over it, pray over it, and let it be fixed in your heart. Then it will not slip away.
Another way of putting it is “drift apart.” It is like a ship in the river, in the water. There may be a storm, and the ship is sailing toward a haven.
But if you do not put forth effort to steer the ship and let it drift, then the storm and the wind will blow the ship away from the haven where you want to arrive. You will simply be drifting away.
Dear brothers and sisters, how true this is. Oftentimes we cannot attain to what God has provided for us because we make no effort at all. We simply let our life drift.
If you allow your life to drift, the current will take you away from God, not toward God. A living fish has to swim against the current. When it flows with the current, you know it is a dead fish.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not drift. If you drift, you miss the haven.
The terrible thing with drifting is that it does not occur suddenly. Drifting is something that goes on in your life day by day, hour by hour, unknowingly.
You can picture a man in a canoe on a lake that joins to Niagara Falls. The water is smooth, the sun is good, so he drops his oar, lies back, and lets the canoe drift. He thinks everything is fine until suddenly he comes to the edge of the falls. It is too late.
That is drifting. Dear brothers and sisters, our Christian life cannot afford to be drifting.
What God has given us—so great salvation—is so precious. We cannot afford to let it slip away. You cannot let it run out. Lay hold of it. Just as the Bible says, “Lay hold on eternal life.” Lay hold on it.
Why do you slip? Why do you drift? It is because you are being negligent. Neglect—that is the reason.
You do not need to commit something terrible. All you need to do is neglect it. That is all you need to do. Just by neglecting it, you lose it.
The word neglect in the New Testament is used not only here—“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”—but also in three other places.
One is Hebrews 8:9. There you find:
Because they continued not in My covenant,
And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
The words “I regarded them not,” or “I disregarded them,” in the original are the same word as “neglect.” God said, “I neglected My covenant.” Why? Because they had first violated His covenant.
A covenant is between two parties. When one party has violated the terms of the covenant, the other party has every right to neglect it, to declare it null and void. That is what God did. He declared that covenant null and void; He neglected it.
So neglect does not mean merely being careless. It means deliberately putting aside what you should pay attention to or what you should perform.
Brothers and sisters, do not think that neglect is only carelessness. Sometimes neglect is carelessness, that is true. But sometimes neglect is more than carelessness—it is deliberate.
How sinful it is if we deliberately neglect so great salvation, spoken to us by the Son of God, endorsed by the heavenly Father, and established by the Holy Spirit. How can we deliberately disregard and neglect so great salvation?
Another place is 1 Timothy 4:14. Paul says:
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
There, the word “neglect” has the sense of continuation. In other words, it is not merely neglecting once, but neglecting from time to time, until it becomes a habit.
Negligence can become a habit. It can be habitual. If you neglect, neglect, neglect, the thing is gone. It is gone.
The gift that God has given to you—if you neglect it the first time when the Holy Spirit moves you to exercise your gift, then neglect it the second time, and continue to neglect it—you will find that it is as if you do not have it.
Then, in Matthew 22:5, in the parable of the marriage feast, it says, “But they made light of it.”
A feast, a marriage feast, was provided, and persons were invited. But when they were asked to come, they made light of it. They considered other things more important.
They considered the oxen they had bought more important. They considered the field they had bought more important. They considered their wives and marriage more important than the son of the king.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we make light of all that Christ has spoken to us—so great salvation—we neglect it. Do not make light of it. Give it your first priority.
I remember Andrew Murray saying that the feebleness and sickliness of Christian life today is because we do not pay intense attention, close attention, and priority to God and to His Word.
That is how it is.
So, dear brothers and sisters, here you find the first exhortation. Because of the tremendous greatness of the theme—so great salvation—we are encouraged to pay close attention. We are warned not to neglect it.
How shall we escape? If you neglect it, you not only miss it—that is, you will not be able to enter into glory and reign with Christ for a thousand years during the millennium. Oh, what you have missed.
But worse than that is this: how shall you escape? Escape what? To lose something is one thing, and it is bad enough; but not to escape something terrible is another thing.
What is that which you shall not escape? Read it again. Hebrews 2:2 says:
For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
Think of it. The words spoken by angels are the words of the law. If anyone should violate the word of the law, he will receive just retribution.
Go back to the Old Testament and read of those people who disobeyed and transgressed the law of God. What happened to them? Just retribution. They were paid back what they deserved.
How shall we escape if we have been negligent of so great salvation? Brothers and sisters, the principle is this: the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility—and the greater the retribution.
Think of that. I am not going to enter into the details, but just the warning of it. May the Lord have mercy upon us.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, oh, our hearts do cry out to Thee. What grace, what mercy, what salvation Thou hast spoken and provided for us.
Oh, that we may hear, that we may see, that we may take it to heart, that we may pay close attention to it and give our life to it, that we may not lose it, let it slip, let it run away, or drift past.
Lord, we pray that we may not be negligent people, but that we may be a people who are diligent toward Thyself. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.