INTRODUCTION

1. In the information age, we are bombarded with countless messages from many sources every day.

   1. Conversations, news stories, advertisements, and more enter our ears and minds on a daily basis.

   2. These messages come from people we know, the internet, television, radio, and other sources.

2. While all of these messages compete for our attention, we must be certain that we reserve our greatest attention for the ancient message of God's word.

   1. Consider the exhortation and warning of Hebrews 2:1-4:

      ¹For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  ²For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, ³how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?  After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

   2. Presently, let us consider this passage of Scripture carefully and answer a few questions about it.

       

PAY ATTENTION

1. "We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard," but what is it exactly that we have heard?

   1. The letter to the Hebrews alone uses many terms to describe what we have heard.

      1. It is the message of the great salvation (Heb. 2:3).

      2. It is a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1; 9:15).

      3. It is the voice of God, not in the audible sense, but in its origin (Heb. 3:7, 15-16; 4:7).

      4. It is the good news that comes by preaching (Heb. 4:2).

      5. It is the word of God (Heb. 4:12; 6:4-5).

      6. It is the knowledge of the truth (Heb. 10:26).

   2. These descriptions alone are sufficient to explain why we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.  The message of God demands and deserves our attention.

2. From whom have we heard this message?

   1. The answer to this question is found in the very first words of the letter.  Notice Hebrews 1:1-2:

      ¹God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ²in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

   2. The main passage for this present study declares this as well, saying that "it was at the first spoken through the Lord" (Heb. 2:3), which is a reference to Jesus, the Son of God.

   3. Indeed, God has spoken through His Son, who is also the Prophet foretold by Moses.

      1. In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses said to Israel, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him."

      2. Moses prophesied of Jesus, and the Lord referred to this when He confronted the unbelieving Jews in John 5:46-47:

         ⁴⁶"For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.  ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

      3. Peter and Stephen confirmed that Jesus fulfilled Moses' prophecy (Acts 3:22-23; 7:37).  Peter even said that "every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people."

   4. Recall that when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, they heard the voice of the Father saying, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" (Matt. 17:5).  Jesus supplanted Moses and the prophets as the focus of our attention for God's message.

   5. Jesus is not the only one from whom we have heard, for others have testified as well.

      1. Again, our main passage says that the message "was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will" (Heb. 2:3-4).

      2. "Those who heard" refers to Christ's apostles, who were charged by Jesus to be His witnesses throughout the earth (Acts 1:8).

      3. Notice that God (the Father) and the Holy Spirit also testified along with the apostles by "the signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts."  Consider also Mark 16:20, which says, "And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed."

   6. Although we have not heard the voices of Jesus or His apostles, we have heard the same message they preached.  The power of this message is unaltered, for God is still the source of it.

3. Why must we pay much closer attention?

   1. The answer to this question is evident given the substance of the message and the source.  However, there are some more specific reasons given in the letter to the Hebrews for paying closer attention to this message.

   2. If we don't pay closer attention to what we have heard, then we will drift away from it.

      1. Drifting away from the message of salvation was the present danger for the Hebrew Christians who originally received this letter.  Some of them had considered turning away from Christ to their old ways of life.

      2. The same may happen to us.  If we become inattentive and apathetic toward the message of salvation, then we are likely to drift away from it as the currents of the world pull us.

   3. Furthermore, if we don't pay closer attention to what we have heard, then we will drift into danger.

      1. Consider Hebrews 12:25:

         See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.  For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

      2. This verse refers to Israel's refusal of Moses ("him who warned them on earth"), for many times in Israel's history they turned away from the warnings given by Moses and suffered tremendously.

      3. Jesus is much greater than Moses (Heb. 3:1-6), and refusing Jesus is a much greater offense.  Neglecting the word of Jesus incurs the wrath of God, who "is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).

      4. Notice the comparison of Hebrews 10:26-31:

         ²⁶For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.  ²⁸Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  ²⁹How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?  ³⁰For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."  And again, "The Lord will judge His people."  ³¹It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

          

CONCLUSION: ARE WE DRIFTING?

1. If you are not paying close attention to the word of God, then be assured that you are drifting away from it.

   1. Do not deceive yourself into thinking that you can neglect God's word and still stand in God's salvation.  The currents and tides of the world will pull you away.

   2. Dullness for hearing God's word will leave you ignorant and immature in the ways of God and His salvation (Heb. 5:11-14).  You will not be prepared for the force of the world against you, but rather you will be "tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming" (Eph. 4:14).

2. To ensure that you are not drifting, simply give God's word its proper attention and follow its directions.

   1. The word of God teaches us to hope in Christ, and "this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast" (Heb. 7:19).

   2. Our hope in Christ will keep us anchored and prevent us from drifting away from the source of our hope and into the danger of God's wrath.

   3. Therefore, let us anchor our souls to the Rock of Ages by abiding in His own words.