Danger of Neglecting Our Salvation

The book of Hebrews is believed to be written by the Apostle Paul or possibly Luke, but ultimately God is the ultimate author. The book is written to Jewish believers who are facing persecution and doubting their faith in Christianity. The author has a burden for the Jewish people and emphasizes the superiority of Jesus Christ. The book contains several warnings, including the danger of neglecting salvation, unbelief, falling away due to immaturity and fear, apostasy, and refusing to listen to Jesus. The goal is for Christians to love as Jesus loved, which requires faith, obedience, and discipline. and everything I think we can just about kind of do an overview of the book of Hebrews throughout this summer on Wednesday night. But if you remember, the book of Hebrews, we really don't know the author of it. History and a lot of people, including myself, consider the Apostle Paul to have wrote that. There's other ideas, but possibly Luke was the writer. There's some other different ideas. I kind of lean toward one of them, too, if anything. But really, we know that God was the ultimate author to begin with. And so I don't know that the author is that very much important. But what we do also understand is that he is writing to Jewish believers. And I think there's several categories of Jewish believers that he's writing to, and there's some in different stages and everything. But what we see is this predominant idea of these Jews that have turned to Jesus Christ, and yet because of persecution, because of the specific area that Paul was writing, the amount of persecution that they were suffering and the problems that was going on since they had turned to Christianity was causing them to have doubts about Christianity and wanting to go back into Judaism. And I think a lot of times one of the problems with that is that we see the burden of the author here for the Jewish people. And that's one of the reasons that I feel like I kind of lean toward the Apostle Paul for writing the book of Ephesians because even though he was an apostle to the Gentiles, over and over and over, the first place he went when he went into a city was to the Jewish synagogue. He went to the Jews. And we find the Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the church at Corinth, and he said, man, I wish that I could die in order that the Jews could have eternal life, my people. And so Paul had a deep longing for the salvation of the Jews that was there. And I think a lot of times that we lose when it comes to the book of Hebrews is because of that none of us, to my knowledge anyone here, none of us have come out of Judaism. None of us have been under the sacrificial system or anything like that. And so when we start looking at Hebrews as kind of one of them things, well, I'm not a Jew and he's writing to Jews and so what does Hebrews really have to do with me? And so pretty much my entire ministry I've kind of read and I've used Hebrews. I've preached a long series of messages out of Hebrews chapter 11 before and looked at chapters 12 and 13, but I've never just really gone through and looked at the book of Hebrews in depth or studied it. And it seems like here lately because of the tabernacle, and I mentioned the Bible reading that we're doing this year, if you have been doing it, the second book of the New Testament that we read through was the book of Hebrews. And the way that it put it in Hebrews reading along with Genesis, a lot of things began to click with me that never have because usually Hebrews is on over way in the later part of the year away from a lot of the Pentateuch and stuff. But this time having them so close together and that's why I encourage people, you know, find a way that you'll do and it doesn't matter which way you do it, but just read your Bible through. But I change it up every year. Sometimes I read through twice a year at different times, but I find different ways of chronological. I find different types of things because especially when you're reading the Bible and studying it all the time, things become so familiar and we get a lot of hearsay like we discovered in our class last week. Right? And sometimes even because we have been so ingrained into what we have heard been taught on something, when we read through the Scriptures, we kind of read it in there because we're so familiar with what that was. And so changing it up has really sparked this idea with the letter to the book of Hebrews. And Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 1 is really what the writer is trying to really accomplish in challenging these Jews to. He says in Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 1, he says, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. And so let us go on to perfection. And one of the things that I've learned and began to realize with the book of Hebrews is even though it's written to Jews, it's also writing to Jews that have also been Christians. And so that gives us a lot of things that we can look at and that we can study that is there with this. And so because I think a lot of us, just like the Jews that had converted over to Christianity, were wanting to go back to Judaism. Unfortunately, I see a lot of Christians today that have gave their life to Jesus Christ, but yet they want to go back to the world. They want to go back away from Jesus Christ. And we are saved by grace through faith, but then sometimes we forget to walk by grace through faith. We forget to live by grace through faith. And so when we look at this, it doesn't matter what we are experiencing in this life. Nothing is worth or better than leaving Jesus Christ behind. And that's what the letter to the Hebrews is. It shows us the superiority of Jesus Christ. That obtaining perfection can only be achieved by a lifelong pursuit of Jesus Christ that is seen in our works because our faith has been tested, our lives have become disciplined, and love is expressed through us. And that is our ultimate goal as a Christian is to wind up loving as Jesus Christ loved. And the only way that we can do that is our faith has to be tested. We have to be disciplined in our lives in order for that fruit to flow out of our lives. And this letter really gives us several different warnings. And that's what we're going to focus on each Wednesday night is a different aspect of these warnings that he gives. And I want you to understand tonight that a profession of faith makes you saved, but a profession of faith does not make you a Christian. A profession of faith makes you saved, but it takes faith and obedience in order to make you a Christian. A Christian is a disciple or a follower or an imitator of Jesus Christ. If you go to the book of Acts, you remember that it was at Antioch that they were first called Christians. And it was a derogatory term because they acted and looked just like Jesus Christ and guess where that landed Jesus Christ? Crucified. And so these people at Antioch were acting and looking just like Jesus Christ. So they gave them this term of Christian that was there. And so it wasn't their salvation that made them a Christian. It was their discipleship and their obedience that made them a Christian. And so I want to add that this is the first that what we're going to look at tonight is the first of five great warnings in the book of Hebrews. And these warnings are kind of interjected as you go through and you read the book of Hebrews. All of a sudden, the author will be talking and then he'll slap us with this interval. Right in the middle of this great treaty where he is explaining the superiority of Jesus Christ to something that has to do with Judaism or this world. And all of a sudden he stops and it's almost as if he says, now what are you going to do about this? Because of this greatness of Jesus Christ, what is your response? And so as we follow this, that's what we are going to look at over this summer that is there. And when you look at these, we're going to start tonight with the danger of neglecting our salvation. And many of you seem to think, well, I'm saved and so I haven't neglected my salvation. But I think as we study this passage of Scripture tonight, we're going to find that it's not necessarily talking about the salvation of our soul. And I think there is a lot of us at different times in our life and in our service that we neglect our salvation. We neglect the fruit of our salvation. And if you look at these things, as I begin to go through these warnings and write them down, it was amazing at how all of a sudden one begins to lead to another and another leads to another and another leads to another. And here's the five, six different warnings that we are going to look at. The first one tonight is the danger of neglecting our salvation. And then he comes up in chapter 3 and he gives us a warning of unbelief, of not believing. If we neglect our salvation and what Jesus Christ has done for us, then guess what? It's going to cause unbelief and it's going to cause doubt. And then when you start doubting and having unbelief, then he gives a warning about falling away because of immaturity, because we just haven't grown up and we don't have roots that are there grounded in the Word of God. Then he gives us a warning of falling away because of fear. If you don't have roots and you're not solid, what are you going to do? You're going to run when fear comes, when persecution happens. And then the next thing leads to the apostasy. In other words, an apostasy is a big fancy word for completely withdrawing, getting out of the race and out of Christianity. Can you lose your salvation? Absolutely not. But you can totally turn against God and not be in service for Him. And then the very last one is once that happens, then he warns of the danger of refusing to hear or listen to Jesus Christ, which is what should start all of this to begin with that we see in chapter 1. If you remember, I've mentioned several times, studying even in Genesis, it's about that hearing the Word of God, about the voice of God and obeying God, and how many times we saw in Deuteronomy 6 all through the Pentateuch we see where he tells Israel, Hear, O hear Israel. Listen up. How many times did Jesus Christ make the statement, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And so it's all about listening to God, but not just listening, but actually applying. He said don't be one that looks into the mirror, into the law of God, and walks away and does nothing about it. Don't be hearers of the Word only, but be doers. I know sometimes with Daniel, I'll tell him to do something, and then I come back and I ask the question, Do you hear me? What do I mean? I know that he heard me, but he hasn't shown that he heard me, because he's not doing what he's supposed to be doing. So that's a nice way of saying do I need to repeat myself or show you the urgency of what needs to be done. That wasn't a suggestion. And so that's what we find here. And so in chapter 2 and verse 1 through 4, we find this first danger of neglecting our salvation. In the first four verses, chapter 2, he says, 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. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will. And when we look at this warning here, it is directed to those that are intellectually convinced about Christ. That they've never really committed their life to Jesus Christ. We've met a lot of people like that. And you say, I don't know that I've ever met anybody like that. But I believe you have if you heard the statement, I believe all of that stuff, I'm just not ready to make a decision. That's what's going on here. You know, I go to church, but that's as far as my commitment to Jesus Christ goes. What brings us to the point of neglecting our salvation? And so really to understand this, in chapter 1, it starts off there with a therefore that sends us back to the previous chapter. And so when we go back, notice what the author is doing. He is declaring the wisdom of God. And he starts out in verse 1 and he says, God, who at sundry times, in divers or various manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, whom also He made all the worlds. Solomon said in Proverbs 9 and verse 10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. And so he starts out with the wisdom of God. And he declares the wisdom of God. He tells us, first of all, that God came to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the landmark fathers of the Jewish people, and he tells them that they were the first ones to give you this message. They were the first ones to prophesy about Jesus Christ. It was God that came to the Jews. Remember, God came to Abraham and then all the way through, we see the whole entire Old Testament where he used prophets to communicate his message about Jesus Christ and foretelling about the future of Jesus Christ. Notice he says, It wasn't just by the fathers of the prophets, but now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world. And so the prophets were one thing, and the prophets were great. Man, we love reading the prophets, right? We love studying the prophets, but the prophets are incomplete compared to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the prophets. And so that's what he's saying. He said what the prophets gave us, and when you read the prophets, there's a whole lot of stuff about the prophets that I don't understand. I don't get. A lot of it is clarified by the Apostle Paul and others in the New Testament where they take a passage of Scripture and what the prophets was talking about, and they apply it to Jesus Christ, and that helps me to begin to understand. But there's probably more questions and more things that I don't understand in the prophets than I do understand. But yet His Son is the completeness. We don't have to understand everything about the prophets if we understand Jesus Christ because He is better in the fulfillment of the prophets. But not only do we find here the declaration of wisdom, but we also see the demonstration of works. He says in verse 2, that in these last days, spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. Notice that Jesus Christ, that He is the one that made the universe. You say, well, I thought God made the universe. Well, guess what? God did make the universe, but He made it through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and my Father are one. And so notice here He says, it was Him who being in the brightness of His glory, the express image, not only did He make the universe, but He also mirrors the God of the universe. He says the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. And so not only did Jesus Christ make the universe, but He also mirrored the God of the universe. That's why Jesus Christ looked at Thomas, and Thomas said, where shall we go? And He said, Thomas, if you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Where I go, you will go also. And so He mirrored the God of the universe. Peter, James, and John got to see that glory on the Mount of Transfiguration where God lowered His humanity and allowed His glory, His excellence, His brightness to shine before them. So exciting that Peter did what? Let's build you a tabernacle right here. We've been studying the tabernacle of the men on Wednesday night. That makes it even much more funny because why? The tabernacle was where God came and dwelt with the people. But Jesus Christ, it says in John 4, that He became the tabernacle. That He Himself dwelt. And so He's already here. The tabernacle is already built. And what is Peter wanting to do? Peter's wanting to build a physical building and forget about Jesus Christ. But then He also tells us that He's there to make amends for us. And look at what He says there in the latter part of verse 3. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. When He by Himself purged our sins. When He cried, It is finished. The veil ripped. And thereby offering His blood on the Ark of the Covenant. And so this God, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who has come to show us the greatness of God. This God, Jesus Christ, this man, deserves to be worshipped. And He goes into that in verse 4 down through the rest of this chapter by telling us that He is greater than the angels. Jesus Christ, He's greater than the prophets, but He's also greater than the angels. He said being made so much better in verse 4 than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee, and again I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to me a son. And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, and let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels, He saith, who make us with angel spirits and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son, He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. And so notice what He's saying. He's saying me and Jesus Christ is so much better than the angels. Lucifer tried to get on the throne of God, didn't he? But God didn't give it to him. What happened? Him and one-third of the angels got cast out of heaven. But what happened? Jesus Christ said, God said, You come sit here at My throne. You come here and be My throne. And so He says, Me and none of them. He goes on in verse 9. And He says, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish. All this world's going to go away. Everything that's created is going to be done away with, but you remain. And they all shall wax old as doth the garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed. But thou art the same and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Now I want you to understand as we read these verses, and I'm not going to go into great detail on this because I want to get to our prop danger tonight, but I want you to understand that angels do exist. Angels are real. Angels are there. Angels have the glorious privilege of living in the presence of God. They have the glorious privilege of serving God day in, day out. And what we find in Jewish custom is just as we find also in the secular world today, if we're not very, very careful because of the presence of the angels and the presence of God, we begin to worship the angels more than we worship Jesus Christ. A lot of Jewish culture and stuff thought that they feared going into the presence of God. If you go and you study, you'll find that the angels in the Old Testament were actually the mediators between God and man. When you had the law of God, the Ten Commandments, and man didn't judge and take care of the death sentence. It was angels that stepped in. It was the angels that came in and wiped them out. And you can go and you can read that all through the Old Testament. And so these angels were that go-between. And what this passage is really attacking is that the emphasis that some people seem to do to exalt angels by seeking experiences with them and focusing thoughts and focusing their attention, focusing their prayers upon them. Angels are not God's intermediaries. They're not the go-between between us and God. No, that's Jesus Christ. Angels worship and minister on behalf of God. They do what God commands them to do. But Jesus Christ, He is the One. It's through Him that we approach boldly into the throne of God. He is the only One that can hear and answer our prayers. Jesus Christ is the only One that can take care of us and deal with our problems. This does not mean that He does not use angels to help us. He talks here. He says that angels are ministering spirits. Paul also reminded us that beware unless you entertain angels unaware. And so I don't understand everything about the angelic realm that is there, but we know that the good angels, the godly angels, we also know that there is demonic angels. We know that there are angels that bow down and serve Lucifer. But listen, all of the angels, whether good or whether bad, none of them are greater than Jesus Christ. None of them are able to get us to the throne room of God. The angel serves Christ. Even the demonic angels serve Christ. If you remember in the Gospels, you don't have to read the Gospels very long before you'll come across some demon that confronts Jesus Christ. And what do they do? They immediately obey His command. Whatever He tells them to do, that's what they do. And so the angels serve Jesus Christ. Christ alone is the Lord. Remember what Deuteronomy 6 says? There is one Lord, our God. He is Lord. And Jesus Christ is our Lord. Both of the angels and over us. And so therefore, Jesus Christ has to be the focus of our attention. Jesus Christ has to be the top of our thoughts. He has to be the completeness of our honor and worship. And this is the thrust of this passage telling us that Christ is far, far superior to the angels. And He's telling us if you broke it down, you'll see that Christ is better, first of all, in name. There is no other name given among heaven whereby men must be saved. Jesus Christ is of the most excellent, but He's also more excellent by nature because God placed Him there on the throne. And He's also the greatest by nobility. And so He goes through and He explains that. And as He is laying out the superiority of Jesus Christ, remember He is writing to Jewish Christians, those that have been saved that are wanting to go back under the Judaism, wanting to place themselves back under the yoke of the sacrifices and the law. And so notice, all of a sudden, man, when He is explaining the superiority of Jesus Christ, then He comes and all of a sudden He just stops. And He says, therefore... He's going to pick this thought back up of Jesus being superior, but He wants to start right here and He wants us to understand the danger of neglecting our salvation. If we neglect our salvation, notice what He says. He says, 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. When we talk about the danger of wanting, the danger of lacking, the danger of our salvation that is there, we're talking about a life of aimlessness. If you neglect your salvation, you think about all of the people in this world that struggle today. What's their number one problem? They have no purpose. Those that believe in reincarnation, if you're good in this life, you'll come back something better in next life. Those others that don't believe in reincarnation, you live this entire life, and what happens? You just turn back to dust and dirt. Your life is over with. So it doesn't matter what you achieve, what you don't achieve, right? Death is it. It's over with. And so man, without salvation, without Jesus Christ, our life is totally aimless. There's no purpose. There's no reason. And unfortunately, we see even Christians today that have made a profession...