WWUTT 1806 Pay Close Attention to What We’ve Heard (Hebrews 2:1-4)

The mission statement to the book of Hebrews is in chapter 2 verse 1. For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away. Hold fast to the gospel and do not lose it when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Hebrews 2:1 as the Mission Statement of the Letter

Thank you Becky. We're back to our study of the book of Hebrews and on to chapter 2. If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there, I'll be reading the first eight verses out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

This is the word of the Lord. For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away. For if the words spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

That salvation, first spoken by the Lord, 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.

For he did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, What is man that you remember him? Or the son of man that you are concerned about him?

You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.

For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Let's come back up to verse 1 where we read,. For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.

Christ as the Greater Word

For what reason? Well, there's actually three things that we could say are the reason why we need to pay close attention to these things. Number one, because Christ is the greater word. And that's what we had in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 4.

Knowing Christ and hearing what he has preached and knowing what he has confirmed through his life and his death and his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, all of these things that have been seen, what Christ has accomplished by this is greater than the word that had been given to us even by the prophets.

Everything that Christ had spoken and what he had done in his life was the fulfillment of what had come before in the law and the prophets. So Christ is the greater word. And knowing this, we should therefore pay closer attention to what we have heard.

Because we know Christ is the greater word, what he has said even greater than what had come from the prophets before him. So that's number one. Second thing is because Christ is greater than the angels.

And that was in the next verses, 5 through, well, pretty much 14, the rest of chapter 1. Christ has a position that is even higher than the angels. And we see over and over again with citations coming from the Old Testament, how in the prophets it had been foretold that Christ, the Messiah, would be ranked even higher than the angels.

Consider verse 5, for to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And again, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. And over and over through these references showing us that Jesus Christ reigns even over the angels.

They do his bidding. They obey his commands. And so when we get to the last portion of that or the last verse in chapter 1, are they, the angels, not all ministering spirits, sent to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Who are they sent by? They are sent by even the Son. Rendering service unto whom? They render service unto the Son, but for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. And who is that? That's us. We who have been predestined to hear the gospel and believe it and be called the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

We are those who will inherit salvation. And so the angels have worked in God's service to accomplish that very thing, that God's word would go forth so that we would hear it and we would know and therefore we would be saved.

The Gospel Confirmed by the Son, the Apostles, and the Spirit

Now, I'm going to talk about that a little bit more as we continue on here in chapter 2, but keep that in mind. So these are kind of the three elements in chapter 1 that make up or kind of precede the statement.

I guess we'll put it that way. Preceding the statement, for this reason, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard. For what reason? Because Jesus is the greater word. Jesus is ranked higher than even the angels.

And because the angels, rendering service unto him, minister to us by the word that has been delivered. All of that, even though there's three elements there, all of that is basically considered one argument there in chapter 1, because it's singularly referred to here at the start of chapter 2.

For this reason, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away. And this, I believe, is the mission statement of Hebrews. Why was this sermon preached? Why was this sermon then written down in a letter and sent out to all of the churches?

So that they would know that Christ is God. They would be reminded of the gospel once again, and through whom the gospel came. It was spoken by the Lord. God spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways.

But in these last days, he spoke to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. So if you rejected the word of God before, you were rejecting a prophet, you were rejecting an angel.

But now if you reject the word, you reject the son of God himself. So there's even greater weight now to believe what has been told. It came from God himself in human flesh who dwelt among us. So we need to pay closer attention to this.

And all of it's been revealed to us. Furthermore, those things that were veiled and in mystery and goodness, there was tension that had not yet been resolved. Things that we just didn't know how they were going to play out based on what was written down in the law and the prophets.

There was still so much mystery wrapped up in all of that. But now it's mystery revealed. Christ has come. In fulfillment of all of that, he has shown us the father. He has told us about glory. He's even talked about hell and warned us of that place.

No one in the Bible talked about hell more than Jesus did, so that we would not go there, so that we would turn to him and be saved from the wrath of God that comes against the sons of disobedience. Christ has revealed all of this to us.

And in fulfillment of the law and the prophets, he himself becomes the perfect sacrifice to die on the cross for our sins and rise again from the dead. He took our sins upon himself as that perfect spotless lamb, the atoning sacrifice.

The preacher here is going to argue in Hebrews that the blood of bulls and goats never had the power to redeem us of our sins anyway. But Christ has done it. And so knowing that he has done it and the father received that sacrifice by raising him from the dead, that's been witnessed, that's been seen.

He's ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God. All of that was testified to in the prophets and has even been seen by the apostles, witnessed and observed. Mount of Transfiguration, or even standing there on the Mount of Olives and seeing him ascend into the air.

Stephen at his martyrdom in Acts chapter seven. What did he say before he died? Before Stephen was martyred? He said that he saw Christ and testified to it. He said, and this is Acts 7 56, behold, I see the heavens opened and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.

He testified to that and they put him to death. So there were some who even saw and testified to the fact that Christ had ascended to that place and was right there with the father in heaven above. All of these things have been spoken to us.

We know and have heard. And so we must pay closer attention lest we drift away. If we do not pay close attention to Christ, like the prophets are going to be more convincing than the son of God himself who came in human flesh.

So we must pay close attention to that word that has been given to us through Christ, through his apostles that has come to us now, or else we're going to drift away. And again, like I said, this is kind of the mission statement of this letter.

To encourage the believers to hold fast their faith and not wander away or not become flippant about it or think that it's no big deal or fall back into works righteousness instead of righteousness that comes only by faith in the righteous one who is Jesus Christ.

The Prophetic Word More Fully Confirmed

So because of all that had been said, the Old Testament revealed in a single chapter there in Hebrews chapter one, for this reason, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away.

Let me read to you also from, uh, this is from Peter in second Peter chapter one. This is the section where he talks about how no prophecy comes from man. Second Peter one beginning in verse 16. We did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ following cleverly devised myths, but being eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he received honor and glory from God, the father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory.

This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain and we have as more sure the prophetic word to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

No, this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes by one's own interpretation for no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So consider once again, that statement, Peter makes in verse 19, we have as more sure the prophetic word.

See, since Christ has come, the, the word that had been given to us by prophecy, we now know it. It's, it's prophecy revealed. It's prophecy fulfilled in Christ, our Lord. So we have as more sure the prophetic word and Peter going on to say to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

Same kind of a thing that we see here in Hebrews two, one, pay close attention to what we have heard lest we drift away. We are sanctified by this word. We're saved by this word. We're sanctified by this word.

The Law Delivered Through Angels

And as Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians one six, I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of Christ. So we go on where the preacher here describes the word that has been spoken for if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

That's the rest of the sentence going on into verse three, but consider verse two here again, if the word spoken through angels, what word is that? The word spoken through angels, I mean, it could be the prophecy or rather a prophecy.

The news that was delivered to the shepherds in Luke chapter two, that was angels that appeared to them, right? And said, born to you this day in the city of David is a savior who is Christ the Lord. So maybe that is the word that was spoken through angels, but then the next portion goes on to say, and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty.

So this is a word that was spoken by angels, and if you neglected that word, there was a just penalty. Well, that doesn't quite seem like it would be the message then that was delivered to the shepherds.

So what might this be in reference to? Believe it or not, it's in reference to the law. The law that was delivered to Israel from Mount Sinai, we don't talk about this very often, but the voice that the people of Israel heard was not God, the father.

Now, oftentimes it is said, well, yeah, indeed, it was God, the son. And I've said the same thing. And indeed, that's true, but it wasn't even technically God, the son, not his audible voice that the people of Israel heard.

They rather heard angels because even the voice of Christ in his glory would have been so great that the people of Israel would not have been able to hear it. And we're talking about a pre-incarnate Christ here, of course, the son of God speaking from Mount Sinai and delivering the law to the people.

The people did not hear exactly his voice. Rather, you might consider it this way. It was the voice of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit, though spoken through legions of angels. So like a multitude that was proclaiming the law, which we know, according to the testimony that's given in Exodus 19 and 20, we know it was extremely chaotic.

It was very, very loud, bright and terrifying. The people of Israel were scared of what it was that they were hearing with the mountain burning like a furnace, smoke going up with peals of thunder, loud blasts.

And the reason why it was loud blasts is because it's thousands upon thousands of angels speaking to the people of Israel. And it's so loud and terrifying that they can hardly stand it. Now, where am I getting that from?

Am I just theoretically throwing that upon Exodus 19 and 20 that it was the voices of angels that were coming to the Israelites? No, I go back to Acts chapter seven. In fact, the speech of Stephen before he was martyred, he said to them, beginning in verse 51, this is the very end of the speech right before they put him to death.

But he says, you men stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. So do you. And which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You who received the law as ordained by angels. And yet did not observe it.

So we have in the New Testament something revealed to us in our understanding with regards to how the law was transmitted to the people of Israel. It was transmitted through angels. Now, it's certainly not wrong to say that God was the one who spoke.

After all, Exodus 20, verse one says, then God spoke all these words saying, I am Yahweh, your God. But it's as though the voice was spoken from behind a veil and then transmitted by angels to the Israelites because the voice of God would have been too powerful for them to hear.

So there was another messenger or minister of that word that would deliver the word to the people since they could not stand to hear the voice of God. Listen to this from John Gill, great London preacher, who was a predecessor to Charles Spurgeon.

He said, Yahweh, the father's voice was never heard. When he came to give the law, 10 ,000 angels came along with him and the ministry of these he used in the delivery of the law. By them, he spoke it.

They formed in the air, the voices heard. It was ordained by them and given by the disposition of them. That's from John Gill's commentary on Hebrews chapter two. So it is the word spoken through angels, unalterable.

It's unchanged. Even Christ has come. The law remains unchanged. There are things he's fulfilled about the law. He fulfills the whole law, but there are elements, of course, about the ceremonial law that have been fulfilled in Christ that we no longer have to observe because Christ has accomplished them.

But the law remains unalterable. As Jesus said in Mark 13, 31, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away. The word that was delivered at Mount Sinai was also the word of Christ.

So the word proved unalterable and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty. So for disobeying that word, there was a just penalty that came along with that. What else does that describe but the law?

So Great a Salvation Spoken by the Lord

Verse three, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That salvation first spoken by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard. So now we're talking about the incarnate Christ having spoken this word, which is the gospel.

The salvation that was spoken by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard. And once again, as I said in my introduction to the book of Hebrews a week ago, this is not a first person reference to the apostle Paul, because Paul said in Galatians, Ephesians and I believe some other places as well, that the gospel that he heard was given to him by the Lord.

It was not given by other apostles and confirmed by those who had been eyewitnesses. Paul was himself an eyewitness to the majesty of Christ. So again, the salvation was spoken by the Lord. It was confirmed to us by those who heard those who heard would have been the apostles confirmed to us or are we who have now been the recipients of that gospel that Christ gave to his apostles to go out and preach God also testifying with them.

Verse four, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will. I'm going to come back to that again tomorrow. But mainly what this is saying is that the gospel was confirmed through miraculous signs and wonders.

How do we know that the message that comes from the apostles is actually what Christ told them to preach? And so what we've heard is has actually been the word of the Lord because it's been confirmed through miraculous signs, which only those who are of God could possibly do.

And so as we see them performing these miracles, these supernatural signs, it affirms that the word that they proclaim comes not from man, but from God. Once again, the statement that Peter makes in second Peter chapter one, we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, which we would do well to pay attention to lest we drift away.

It is this word that is the gospel that by faith in the word of Christ, we are saved. Heavenly father, we thank you for the goodness of God that has been testified to us. You had sent somebody to us to proclaim the gospel that we would recognize our sin and repent and turn to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and so be saved.

May we not drift away from this word. In fact, may we be emboldened to go out with the message of the gospel to the world for there are so many others who need to hear this, that they would understand they would recognize their sin and need for a savior and turn to Jesus Christ and have everlasting life.

It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

This is when we understand the text with pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

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