Hebrews
Christianity – A Superior Way of Life
Because of Who Jesus Is
Because Jesus is God…
…His Message is Vital to us(Hebrews 2:1-4)
His message has consequences if Ignored
His message is confirmed by Eyewitnesses
His message is authenticated by Miracles
Slide
Intro
Have you ever had instructions that you didn’t follow?
If you are a man, that answer has got to be yes.
We tend to think
we don’t need any instructions or
we know a better way or
the instructions might not be all that important.
When putting things together we think we can just take a look at things and instinctively know how it should go, so we should be able to put it together.
Well, I have tried that more than once and found that I have put things on backwards or upside down or in the wrong order only having to take things apart and start over.
All because I didn’t follow the instructions because I didn’t think it was that important.
However, there have been times when opening something that has instructions, I will see a plastic bag with a warning to
READ THIS FIRST in big bold letters.
When I see that, I usually do read that first and it has saved me countless hours in put together projects.
Wouldn’t it be great if everything came with that warning or reminder to do that. Maybe then we wouldn’t forget or we might remember again how important they are.
Well, that is what the author of Hebrews does at the beginning of Chapter 2. (turn there)
Slide
He gives us a warning to heed the message given and he gives us several reasons and reminders as to why we should do that.
So let’s continue on in the book of Hebrews and see why we should listen to this message being given.
Hebrews 2:1-4
1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Ok, so look with me for a second at verse 1
Notice in verse 1 the “therefore.” The author is pointing back to chapter one.
What did we learn in chapter 1 of the book of Hebrews?
That God sent the best messenger ever.
He is better than the prophets
He is better than the angels
He is the best because He is the Son of God, God in the flesh.
And because of Who Jesus is,
Because Jesus is God, His Message is Vital to Us
Slide
So we better listen to what He has to say.
God didn’t send His very Son to give us some message that we can ignore and things still turn out alright.
He sent His Son because the message He brings is vital to us.
The author spends the entire first chapter showing us that Jesus is the best messenger ever because He is the Son of God, God in the flesh so he can tell us how important the message is.
And what is his message?
It is the message of salvation.
Hebrews 2:3
He says “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation.”
This message is vital because
His message has Consequences if Ignored
Slide
This is a message that holds in the balance a persons life or death.
Eternal life or eternal damnation.
To the Jewish people that the author was writing to, it was not an easy time to be known as a Christian.
It would have been a lot easier to be one of the crowd, Jews just living a Jewish life.
Apply
We could say the same thing about our society today.
It is not easy to be living the Christian life. It would be easier to just go along and be a “decent” person in secular society.
Writing to Professed believers
I want to remind you again that the author is writing to a group of people that are professed believers, much like any church today. There are people who are true believers and there are people who have been seeing the truth of Christianity and beginning to be part of the group, but have not yet become Christians.
There are times in life that it is very hard to tell if a person is a Christian or not.
I can’t see everyone’s heart here. This is why about 90% of the time that I preach, I give a gospel presentation at the end of a message. There may be some here who have come for a long time who may be trying to live Christianity but have never really received Christ as Savior.
I want to tell you that living the Christian life
is hard for those of us with the power off the Holy Spirit.
It is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit.
So the author pauses here to give a warning to those who were hearing this letter, which he does 5 times throughout this letter, to speak of the dangers of ignoring this message.
He says
Hebrews 2:2-3a
2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?
There is no escape for those who ignore the message.
Don’t ignore it.
Don’t just hear it and ignore it and let yourself go along in life.
Drift away is what the author says.
This is probably one of the biggest problems in today’s society as well. We have heard the message but we don’t really pay attention and it becomes easy to just kind of drift away from it.
Excuses that allow us to drift away
“I know I need to follow God, but I am young, I have time.”
“If I receive Christ, my life may change and there are some things I want to do (i.e. sins I want to commit) before I might feel bad about it.”
What the author of Hebrews is saying, what God is saying, don’t gamble your life, your eternal life, because the reality is that none of us knows how long he has upon this earth.
Virginia Tech
Ask those who started out 2 weeks ago just going to class at Virginia Tech. I am certain those young adults had no idea what the day held in store for them.
They were probably planning to go to class, thinking through the end of the school year, where they might eat.
I am sure some of you are thinking future thoughts.
Where will we eat today?
Maybe you are already thinking about your workday tomorrow.
Maybe you are thinking of how to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.
All of those things are normal thoughts to have, but the reality is we don’t know what the next minute holds for us.
We are only guaranteed this moment to make arrangements for our eternity.
Now I have no idea what the eternal status of those at Virginia Tech was, but you can know yours.
You can know your eternal Status
Have you made arrangements for where you will spend your eternity?
The apostle John tells we can know for sure.
1 John 5:13
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (from New International Version)
You can know for sure.
And it is not just because you said some prayer.
Yes, I believe that is a way that we express our belief and make that conscious decision of the will to receive Christ.
But if our heart is not believing those words, they are just words.
We can know the reality of our words by our actions.
Paul tells us
2 Corinthians 13:5
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-unless, of course, you fail the test?
This doesn’t mean that you don’t sin. You do. I do. We all do.
But if sin is our way of life with no remorse or conviction and there is no steps forward (i.e. fruit), to turn from that sin, then you have got some tough questions to answer.
But the author continues saying listen, this message is not only vital and has consequences if ignored but even beyond it being given by the best messenger ever, the very Son of God,
His message has been Confirmed by Eyewitnesses
Slide
Hebrews 2:3b
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
The message was given by the Son of God and this message is confirmed by the apostles.
At this point, when this letter was written, many of the Apostles had already given their lives proclaiming the message of salvation but they are the ones who told this message to these Hebrews and to the author of this letter.
The author places himself in the same category as the other Jews who got this message from those who were apostles.
He says, it “was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” Those who heard it from the Lord Himself.
You remember when they told you. These men were eyewitnesses to this.
1 John 1:1-3
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
But not only that.
Not only did God send His one and only Son, the best messenger ever, and not only was the message he brought confirmed by those who heard Him, but
His Message has been Authenticated by Miracles
Slide
Hebrews 2:4
4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
(from New International Version)
Throughout Scripture we see that God used signs wonders and miracles for a specific purpose.
To authenticate his message and messengers
God authenticated Jesus Christ as His Messenger.
Acts 2:22
22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.
God authenticated the Apostles as messengers
2 Corinthians 12:12
12 The things that mark an apostle-signs, wonders and miracles-were done among you with great perseverance. (from New International Version)
And here (Hebrews 2:4) we see also that
God authenticated his message, the message of salvation, with signs, wonders and miracles.
Even when you go back to the Old Testament, we see that this was the purpose of signs wonders and miracles.
Exodus 4:28-31
28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform.
29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed.
Numbers 14:11
11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? (from New International Version)
God did signs to authenticate the message so they would believe those who were speaking it.
These men were able to heal others, do miracles, etc, as signs from the Lord to listen to what they were saying. It was often at a time when God was doing something new.
When God gave Moses the Covenant of Law, God did signs and wonders through Moses and Aaron.
When the new covenant in Jesus blood came into effect, God did signs and wonders.
Why we don’t see Miracle Workers today
This is why we don’t see men performing miracles and wonders today.
We are under the New Covenant and his message and messenger is authenticated by the Miracle of the Bible, the same message that the author of Hebrews is talking about that was already authenticated by miracles.
We have this message
given by the Lord,
confirmed by eyewitnesses, and
evidenced by miracles at the time and the miracle that this message still is here and in our hands and being proclaimed 2000 years later.
This is not to say that God doesn’t still do miracles.
He does.
But the purpose for miracle workers no longer exists.
We have the miracle of God’s word to know if a message or messenger is from God.
If what is being proclaimed is not in accord with the revealed word of God in the Bible, the message is not from God, nor is the messenger.
The Word of God is how we know if a message is from God.
And honestly, if you look into the Bible and why it is the word of God, and don’t believe it, no amount of miracles are going to make you believe it either.
God said that even to Moses
Numbers 14:11
11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? (from New International Version)
Conclusion
We need to hear the message that God has given us through the best messenger, the Son of God, God in the flesh.
It has consequences if ignored.
It was confirmed by eyewitnesses.
It was authenticated by Miracles.
Believe it and live it.
As we do that.
As we accept the message of salvation that is given in this Word, God also gives us teaching that is for living, so we can experience the full life.
After receiving the Gospel, the first thing that the Bible says we should do is get baptized.
Baptisms
We have 2 following the Lord’s teaching and being baptized today, Don and Sharon Nudi. (Go get ready)
Baptism, we find in God’s word, is for those who have believed and received Jesus Christ as Savior.
It is not for babies who are unable to make that decision for themselves at that point or for anyone who has not made a conscious decision to receive Christ as Savior.
And we also find in the Bible that Baptism is by immersion. It associates us with and is symbolic of
Christ’s death, burial and resurrection and.
Our own death burial and resurrection.
That is why a person goes under the water, as if they were being buried and then raised in the newness of life in Christ, the Superior life in Christ.
For those of you here today who have heard this message, don’t ignore it.
If you have yet to receive salvation through Christ, do not delay. Do that today.
Maybe you have said a prayer in the past, but as you think back over your life, there is no evidence of change.
As you examine yourself, you don’t see the fruit of the Spirit.
Well reaffirm that decision to trust Christ today and acknowledge your need and repentance to Him and receive Him today.
If you see yourself in there somewhere, pray with me now heed the message of salvation that God offers you right now.
Let’s pray.
