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FOCUS ON FAITH. Hebrews 2:1-4. 5/28/2023. #5.
1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
1. Pay attention!
a. Since Jesus is more important than angels and all other created things, both He and His message should be treated as paramount importance
b. “Earnest heed” = lit., to have as first (priority)
a1. A chosen focus, allowing no distractions
a2. To make faith to top priority of life
c. “That which we have heard” = to hear and accept the gospel message is to adopt a new life path
a1. II Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24 to be a new creation is to adopt a new life in Christ
a2. Requires rejection of fleshly desires
d. “Lest we drift away” = revert to old sinful life
a1. Not to lose salvation, but to live for self
a2. Must remember that sin is our default setting (not to live for Christ is natural)
a3. Jewish believers wanted to live like OT Jews under the Law
2. The higher word
a. The words of angels came true
a1. The angel’s words to Lot about Sodom
a2. The angel’s words to Hagar
a3. Gabriel’s words to Daniel
a4. Gabriel’s words to Zechariah
b. Christ’s words are far more important
a1. About salvation, judgment, future…
a2. Angels’ warnings had consequences
a3. Jesus’s warnings have greater consequences
c. Can’t escape judgment if we ignore salvation
a1. Acts 4:11-12 only one way to be saved
a2. To neglect salvation is to lost forever
d. For Christians to neglect salvation is to not to live as if one were saved (the Corinthians were prideful, lustful, envious, vindictive, stubborn…)
a1. To be more concerned about houses, things, entertainment, and image than about Christ is to neglect salvation
a2. To avoid gathering with God’s people in worship, serving, and prayer is to neglect one’s salvation and suffer loss (I Chronicles 3:12-15)
e. Matthew 6:25-34 the world and concerns in our lives can be very distracting, pulling us away from our focus
3. Multiple witness to our faith
a. Our faith is confirmed by many witnesses
b. Verses 2:3 “confirmed to us by those who heard Him”
a1. Some teach that this eliminates Paul as the author of Hebrews since he heard Him
a2. All this could mean is that Paul was not one of the original disciples with Jesus on earth (an actual eye witness)
c. God bore witness to his Son’s ministry
a1. Luke 3:22 God the Father declared that He was pleased with His Son at His baptism
a2. Matthew 17 God again bore witness of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration
a3. John 12 the Father declared that he will glorify Jesus as He had done before
d. After Jesus’s resurrection God gave signs through his disciples
a1. Acts 2 the miracle of diverse languages
a2. God healed the sick, lame, blind, and raised the dead through his disciples
e. Through prophetic fulfillment, testimonies, and many signs, we have an abundance of evidence
f. Coming to Christ and serving Him = top focus (anything less leads to loss of ministry, reward, and joy)
Key verse: Matthew 6:25-3425 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.