Christian Adjemian

Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

Chapter two begins by drawing consequences from what the apostle has declared in chapter one.

1. Chapter one of Hebrews contains some of the richest and deepest revelations of God concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.
   1. Because this is what God has done,

• Since
  1. Christ is the Son of God; "being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person"
  2. since his throne is the throne of God and he rules over all things; "upholding all things by the word of his power"
  3. since he lives forever; "they will perish, but you remain; they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will not fail"
  4. since he is certainly winning the battle against unrighteousness and evil... "appointed heir of all things; sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool"
  5. since "he has by himself purged our sins"
• since this is the case, we ought to pay close attention to what we have heard.
  1. God's apostle heaps blessing after blessing in chapter 1 of Hebrews. Incomparable blessings for us who believe.
     1. We live in the most exciting part of world history: these last days
     2. We have knowledge of God's nature and plans that the Israelites and Jews had only in bits and pieces. We look through a mirror darkly, they looked through pieces of mirror, waiting for God to put the whole picture together.
        1. windows of the secret garden vs. walking through it,
        2. smells and colors as wind and light bring them to our senses vs. putting our face in the flowers
        3. seeing the work of the gardener vs. seeing the gardener at work
• Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

1. The word spoken by angels was firmly enforced.
   1. Verse 2: Reference to the Covenant at Mount Sinai,

Acts 7:38 [of Moses] "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,

Acts 7:53 "who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."

Because they received the law but did not heed it earnestly, they received the curses of the covenant.

1. God's promises are firm and sure, but they are part of a covenant that places requirements on the recipients of the promises.

1. to know God and to embrace his covenant is to stand in a highly privileged position. You don't get there on your own; God has to draw you and give you the gift of faith.
2. God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt; God frees Christians from slavery to Satan, sin, and death.
3. Once freed, we thankfully cling to our God, to love and serve him. He is our Master, our Lord, our only Security in the world.
4. Once freed, we dare not take for granted the freedom that we have and think for a minute that we obtained it ourselves.
5. Once freed, we dare not take the freedom we have for granted and forget for a moment that it is a great treasure, purchased for us by the cost of the life of Christ and given to us freely.
6. God's requirement for us is that we continue in faith and obedience. This is a major theme in the next five chapters of Hebrews, and it comes back again in the last part of the epistle. A beautiful symphony of God's covenant!

1. "every transgression and disobedience received a just reward"
   1. Even Moses was judged for his disobedience; David was too.
   2. The rewards are just because God sets them out ahead of time and clearly explains that he will enforce his law. He does not surprise his people or change the rules whimsically. The only surprising change he makes is to show mercy when he chooses to show mercy.
   3. The rewards are just because God is just. Sin is evil rebellion against him. To refuse to believe in him when he has given such remarkable evidence that he is and that he has spoken to us, is to resist and rebel against him.

• Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
• Now for us, our privileges are greater still because we have God's word more directly.
  1. Instead of angels declaring it to us, we have the Son of God himself speaking.
     1. Heb 1:2 Christ spoke: the Son of God himself, not in a dream or an apparition, but alive and personally.

        Heb 2:3 first the Lord, then those who heard him: Matt, Mark, Luke, John, Paul wrote it all down.

1. God himself also testified to the truth of what we heard by providing miraculous signs to affirm them, Heb 2:4.
   1. When God wanted to confirm the covenant he made with Abraham, he provided a great sign, the flaming torches passing between the animals which had been split in two: He swore by Himself!
   2. When God wanted to confirm the covenant he made with Christ, he provided other amazing signs: the miracles of the Lord and of the apostles during Christ's teaching ministry, and then the great miracle of the resurrection of Christ:

1. With such great witness, how will be escape God's anger if we ignore the message or if we disobey?

1. Context: persecution and separation: Hebrew Christians: excluded, cut off from their people.
   1. That context is similar for every Gentile who worships the Lord of hosts: excluded, cut off from their peers in some way.
2. Why does the Gospel contain threats to those who disobey?
   1. Is God trying to frighten us into faith? (Foolishness of sin)
   2. Is God threatening us? (Covenant warnings)
   3. Is God encouraging us to not let anything get in the way of faith. (Run race)

• God loves his children. He disciplines those he loves. He is warning us in the same way our parents warn us when we are old enough to go out into the world by ourselves: take care that you don't forget what you learned at home; take care that you don't think that you can ignore the training you received for your protection and purity. You're heading into enemy territory.

1. Look again at the warning: "Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away."

• Drifting is easy, just let go. Another phrase for drifting is "go with the flow."
  1. Just adopt the fashions and trends and thinking of the world around you without thinking them through in the light of the gospel. Before you know it, you've flowed quite a ways down the river of the world, and your heart begins to shrink.
  2. Just ignore God's commandments because you think your particular situation is exceptional and "God will understand." Before you know it, you've flowed quite a ways down the river of indifference to God's law, and your heart draws further away from the Lord.
  3. Drifting away means drifting away. Away from Christ. No matter what warm sensations men may have in their hearts when they think about the Lord, the evidence of their lives is the measure of the distance between them and the truth.
  4. Drifting down the river away from the Lord ultimately brings you to a mighty water fall. Like drifting lazily down the Niagara river.

1. How do we take heed? Two main ways:
   1. The responsibilities of love:

This is what the apostle himself is doing in writing this epistle to the Church.

1. Use the means Christ has ordained for providing grace to our souls: primary means: Word, Sacraments, Prayer.

1. The Lord's Supper is a challenge to us to examine where we stand in our faith:

• Break --- take; is this for you?
• Pour --- drink; is this for you?
• This is my body, this is my blood. Is it for you?

1. I have set my angels to watch over you;
2. I am ruling all things in heaven and earth from my throne blessed with the praises of the angels and the saints in glory.
3. I am coming again, soon, at the end of these last days, to enter fully into my inheritance. Will you have your part?

WLC 172 May one who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation, come to the Lord's supper? A. One who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof;(1) and in God's account hath it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it,(2) and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ,(3) and to depart from iniquity:(4) in which case (because promises are made, and this sacrament is appointed, for the relief even of weak and doubting Christians(5)) he is to bewail his unbelief,(6) and labour to have his doubts resolved;(7) and, so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord's supper, that he may be further strengthened.(8)