How Shall We Escape? (Hebrews 2:2-3)

Kootenai Church

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Find in your Bibles Hebrews chapter 2 again. We're gonna read together verses 1 through 4 of Hebrews chapter 2

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Before we do that, let's open with the word of prayer My father it is our desire that we may see you and your glory in the pages of Scripture that we may

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Apprehend the grace that you have given to us what you have bestowed upon us and what you have rescued us from Help us to appreciate those things today as we study your word pray that you and open your word to our eyes that we may

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Behold in a wonderful things and open our hearts to receive your word that we may give to you lives of obedience and joy

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Lived out before you by your grace and the sanctifying work of your spirit We pray that you would accomplish all these things through us and in us this morning through your word

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We ask it in Christ's name. Amen Hebrews chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 for this reason

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We must pay closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it

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For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty

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How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation after it was at the first spoken through the

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Lord? It was confirmed to us by those who heard God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders

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By various miracles by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will Just a few months ago, and that's rather recent really

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It was in the headlines Christian headlines at least that one of the greatest intellectual thinkers and reformed theologians of our age had died

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RC Sproul The text that I just read to you particularly verses 2 and 3 was the text he preached

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It was the text of his last sermon that he delivered. He preached from that passage and then several days later

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He was with his Lord in glory. I am hoping that this is not going to be my last sermon that I preached just because I Happen to be preaching on the same text and I would love to have heard

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RC Sproul continue his series in Hebrews and I would commend the message to you I've heard parts of it listen to parts of it online

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I would recommend that you go and listen to that the the final and closing Address to his congregation of his beloved people that he shared his life with Just wait until the memory of this message has faded from your memory

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Really well before you go listen to that and then go listen to that and enjoy it We're looking at these first four verses, which

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I've told you last time We were together is the first of five warning passages in the book of Hebrews those warning passages are notorious because they are the battleground between What are typically termed

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Calvinists and Arminians regarding the issue of the perseverance of the Saints? That is the question of whether or not somebody who is saved and redeemed can finally perish in eternal fire

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Whether or not is possible for one to lose their salvation these Five texts become the battleground over that issue and usually depending on what side of that equation you fall on you will read every other text of Scripture in light of How it is that you view the problem text in the book of Hebrews and this is the first of four of them and a

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Few months ago. In fact, there's just a couple months ago I read a book titled four views on the warning passages in Hebrews and It was written by four different authors and each author presented his perspective on the five warning passages and then his perspective was critiqued by each of the other three authors as they

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Offered what they thought were the weaknesses of his vantage his viewpoint and the weaknesses of his arguments and sort of presented their own critique of of that author's position and Here are the four views which were argued in the book these are this is how they were they were classified a classical

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Arminian view a Wesleyan Arminian view a classical reformed view and a moderate reformed view

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Now basically the two Arminians who believe that it's possible for you to lose your salvation They basically were arguing that perspective and there were some quibbles between the two of them over exactly how to interpret different things in the book of Hebrews, but ultimately they came to the same conclusion that is possible for you as a believer to Apostatize and to walk away from the faith and ultimately to lose your salvation now the two guys who argued on the reformed perspective

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They quibbled over different interpretations of different issues in the book of Hebrews But ultimately they came to the same conclusion as well that it is impossible for those who are once saved to end up Apostatizing and falling away and perishing in eternal flame

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So it really should have been called two views on the warning passages of Hebrews that would have been a better description of it because it was really just an

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Explanation from a couple of different vantage points of an Arminian perspective and of a reformed or what we call

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Calvinistic perspective on the issue Can a Christian ultimately lose their salvation now? There's no middle ground on that question the answer that is either yes or no either it is possible for one who is saved and Been redeemed for whom the blood of Christ has been spilt and who has been

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Regenerated and their sins have all been forgiven To walk away from Christ and to apostatize and to lose their salvation or it is impossible for one

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For whom Christ has died to walk away from their salvation and to lose that salvation

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It is either yes, or it is no now whether or not you believe that one It is possible for one to lose their salvation is going to be determined by the answer to a prior question in Terms of Hebrews that prior question being this to whom are the warning passages in Hebrews written

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Now see if the warning passages in the book of Hebrews are written to Christians Then the author to Hebrews is writing to Christians and telling

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Christians that it is possible for them to walk away from Christ to drift Away to apostatize to depart to fall away and ultimately to perish and to suffer eternal flames

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I don't believe that the warning passages in the book of Hebrews are written to Christians I believe they are written the entire book is written to a congregation

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Just like ours a congregation which had a different types of people in it There were people in that congregation who were genuinely saved

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Genuinely born again for whom the blood of Christ had been spilled who were who were saved and redeemed and their eternal

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Destiny was secure and then there were a group of people in that Congregation who were on the fence as it were

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They had been attracted by the love that they had seen in the Christian community and they had wanted some of that They had found the teachings of Jesus the

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Messiah intriguing and they had outwardly attached themselves to this body of people They had attended worship services.

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They had been there for the observance of the Lord's Supper They had kept Christ at arm's length, though They had participated in a few of the activities of this believing congregation

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They had seen the grace of God demonstrated in the lives of genuine and true Christians they were close enough to the truth to have heard it to have understood it and even to have given mental assent to it and Ultimately to have said yes,

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I affirmed that that is true But they kept the truth of Christ at an arm's length far enough away that though they were familiar with it they were not changed by it and the author of Hebrews is writing to that group of people in the warning passages as he as he sort of takes a break from Explaining the glories of this salvation that we have in Jesus Christ in the in the warning passages he takes a break and he pauses as it were in all five of these instances and he

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Specifically addresses that group of people and the warning passages are intended to push them toward belief.

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He is saying to them believe Embrace take heed pay attention to what you have heard.

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Do not walk away from this. Do not go back to Judaism Don't go back to the Old Testament sacrifices and the feasts and the festivals

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Embrace what it is. You have heard you're sitting on the fence. You are you are Ambivalent and going between these two opinions you haven't quite made a commitment yet But you need to make a commitment or you will finally perish

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So that is the group to whom the warning passages are written and I think that the case can be made in all five of The warning passages that it is those type of people that the author is addressing

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So we are looking now at verses 1 through 4 and last time I gave something of an of an introduction to the warning passages

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Talked about how it is that we're going to be addressing them And then we just looked at the danger of drifting that is in verse 1 and today

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We're looking in verses 2 and 3 at the heart of this warning passage and then next week or I shouldn't say next week

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I think Cornell's preaching next week the next time we are together We're going to be looking at verse 4 and see how verse 4 contributes to the argument of the warning what the author is saying

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But it also teaches us something about the purpose and the role of signs and wonders and miracles in the

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New Testament And so we're going to be looking at both of those in verse 4 So verses 1 through 4 is the warning passage today

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We're looking at verses 2 and 3 verse 1 gives us our duty read it again for this reason We must pay close closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it

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Drifting away is the danger our duty is that we must pay close attention and give heed to what it is

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We have heard and then in verses 2 and 3 the author gives at least three that I can see Reasons why it is that we must take heed to the gospel truth first because the gospel was delivered through a greater mediator

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Second because the gospel promises a greater judgment and third because the gospel offers a greater salvation those three things

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It was delivered through a greater mediator It promises a greater and stricter judgment and it was and it offers a greater salvation

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Those are the three reasons why we must take heed So and that's our outline if you're keeping track and you wanted something to jot down Those are the three things that we're going to be looking at this morning

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So let's look first of all at the fact that it was delivered through a greater mediator And before we dive into the details of verses 2 and 3

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I want you to notice an intentional contrast here between what is at the beginning of verse 2 and what is midway through verse 3?

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there is a contrast between the word that was spoken through angels in verse 2 for the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and Every transgression disobedience received a just penalty.

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How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation after it? That is this great salvation was first spoken through the

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Lord That is Jesus Christ and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him God the Father also Testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles

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Notice the contrast between the word spoken through angels and the word spoken through the Sun That refers to two different covenants

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There is the Old Covenant which was the covenant given to Moses and in some way and we're gonna see this in just a second

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Mediated through and by angels and then there is the word that was spoken through the Sun That's the contrast in these in those those two covenants at the beginning of chapter 1

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Do you remember the author said that God spoke in these various ways in various manners in times past? But now he has spoken to us how in his son

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There is a final and full revelation in the person of Christ and this is Contrasted with the revelation that came through angels the

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Old Covenant the Mosaic Covenant and all of the terms and conditions were in some way delivered Through angels now

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We have a new covenant which has been delivered to us through the Sun and all through chapter 1 The author has been making the case that that Jesus is greater than the angels

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And so there is a greater a lesser to the greater argument here There is an Old Covenant which was delivered through angels

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There's a new covenant given to us in the Sun who is greater between the angels in the Sun If if the angels are inferior to the

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Sun Then the covenant given through the angels is also inferior to the covenant or the word spoken through the

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Sun That is why the revelation given in Christ carries with it a stricter judgment. It offers a greater salvation

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There is more clarity to it But the covenant or the word spoken through angels and that's reference to the Old Covenant the

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Mosaic Covenant That is inferior to the new because it was delivered through an inferior mediator So who's the greater one

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Jesus is the greater one and now we are contrasting the revelation that is given in the Sun With the

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Old Covenant revelation given to and by angels This is a reference to the

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Old Covenant and we talked about this back in chapter 1 at some point I don't remember exactly when it was and if I don't remember when it was then you probably don't remember when it was and if I don't remember when it was you probably don't remember what

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I said when I don't remember when I said it So I'm just gonna briefly cover that for just a second in some manner the

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Old Covenant the Mosaic Covenant was mediated through angels it was given by God through angels to the nation of Israel and This was a firmly believed by people during the first century scripture reveals very little about it

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But both Testaments both the Old and the New Testament give evidence that this is the case In fact

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Stephen when he was being stoned in his indictment against the religious leaders of Israel He said this he refers to them and he said you who received the law as ordained by angels and yet did not keep it

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So Stephen made reference to that fact talked about the law ordained by angels

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Paul in Galatians chapter 3 verse 19 says why then why the law then it was added because of transgressions having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator who was the mediator as The angels the angels mediated this covenant in some way and Paul references that and he said this came by angels ordained by angels through a mediator until the seed would come that is

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Christ to whom the promise had been made in The Old Testament Deuteronomy 33 verse 2

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He said the Lord came from Sinai and dawned on them from seer He shone forth from Mount Paran and he came from the midst of ten

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Thousand Holy Ones in reference to angels notice the connection with angels and Mount Sinai in the giving of the law

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Something was going on there with angels now The the giving of the law in Exodus and Leviticus and numbers does not record exactly what that is

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We just have references to the fact that angels were in some way connected to the giving of the law and were some

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Involves involved in some way in mediating it between standing between God and the Nation of Israel Psalm 68 verse 17 says the chariots of God are myriads thousands upon thousands

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The Lord is among them as at Sinai in holiness Describing God's holiness and being surrounded by angels the author of Psalm 68 says that is how

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God is He is surrounded by angels just like he was at Sinai Surrounded by his myriad of 10 ,000 upon 10 ,000 of his

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Holy Ones his chariots referring to angels So scripture doesn't give us the details of it. What did it look like?

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What did the angels say? How was that given we don't know but in some way angels were involved as mediators

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Between God and men in the giving of the Old Testament now Why didn't God just simply communicate directly face -to -face with the

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Nation of Israel the demands of his covenant? Why didn't he do that? I'll give you a couple of reasons why he wouldn't have done that Number one in order to demonstrate the

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Nation of Israel and to us and to all people that he cannot be approached except through a mediator That's the

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Old Testament principle you want to approach God There must be a sacrifice and there must be a priest and there must be a mediation

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Someone must stand between he and us right? That's what Job's cry was Job's lament

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If only there were someone to lay hands on both God and me to mediate between us

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That's what we need all the Old Testament testifies to this Priests mediated between men and God prophets spoke on behalf of God to men kings ruled on behalf of God over men

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There was all of this relationship with God in the Old Testament through a mediator our Relationship with the Father today is through a mediator, but it's not a priest an earthly priest

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It's not through a sacrifice an earthly sacrifice It's through the Lord Jesus Christ who is our High Priest and the sacrifice that he has made

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But we still need someone to stand between us and the Father to give mediation So why didn't God just deliver it directly to the

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Nation of Israel in order to demonstrate that he cannot be approached except through a mediator? Second in order to demonstrate that the covenant given through the angels is inferior to the new covenant

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God was going to step into human history and give a revelation Institute a new covenant and then if you compare these two covenants you look at the new one in Christ You say this one was initiated by the blood of the high priest who is the

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Son of God? He is the one who made purification for sins and has sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high That's the covenant in which we are and now we compare this to the old covenant

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Which is not mediated by the blood of the Sun It's mediated by the blood of lambs and bulls and goats and doves and this old covenant is now mediated through earthly priests who died and that sacrifice has to be made over and over and over again and it was given to us through angels now if you have to choose between the two a

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Covenant given to by the Sun to us through the Sun directly based upon his blood or an inferior covenant given to us by angels

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Which would you choose? That's the argument of the book of Hebrews That a new covenant that we have is greater than the old covenant because it was media is given to us by a greater

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Mediator and so he says in verse 2. This is the word spoken through angels and it proved unalterable and that's kind of an interesting

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Interesting word unalterable is the old covenant the Mosaic Covenant unalterable

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Isn't the entire argument of the book of Hebrews that the old covenant has been done away with Right. That's the argument of Hebrews.

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It's inferior. It's done away with it's no longer valid It's no longer in force.

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We are not under that. We're not under the law We're not under the Mosaic law the ceremonial aspects of the law do not apply to us

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We're not bound by the dietary and the and the legalistic requirements of the law We don't have that and if that has been set aside if that's been done away with and in what sense is it?

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unalterable now I would say that and This pains me to say it the

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NASB and using the word unalterable has probably the worst Possible translation of that Greek word of any of any modern translation even the

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NIV Oh, it hurts to say it Even the NIV is better than the NASB at this point because the word that is translated unalterable is only used

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In eight places in all of the New Testament So it's easy to kind of see what the word means in the various ways that is translated in the

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New Testament This is the only place by the way where it's translated unalterable It is used four times in the book of Hebrews and I'll give you the translation

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In fact in in the NASB it is translated eight different times in the eight uses of the word in the

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New Testament But here's the ways that is translated in the in the book of Hebrews It is used here in chapter 2 verse 2 and is translated unalterable in chapter 3 verse 14

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The word is translated firm in chapter 6 verse 19 The word is translated steadfast in the chapter 9 verse 17.

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The word is translated valid It's also translated guaranteed firmly grounded certain and sure so the

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ESVs translation of the word when it renders at this for since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and Every transgression or disobedience resulted in a just retribution

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Reliable that's the idea. It's firm. And here's what the author of Hebrews is saying That old covenant was given through angels angels are inferior to the

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Sun We already acknowledge that but it was given to angels now if that lesser covenant was reliable and certain and sure and firm

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And could require a penalty for disobeying that covenant How much more the new covenant which was given to us through the

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Sun? Would you not say that that new covenant given to us through the Sun is even more certain more sure more reliable and more true we would have to say that if one inferior covenant is

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Reliable certain and sure and rest assured that the new covenant is also certain and reliable and sure so the message given through angels proved to be valid how much more the message given through the

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Sun and This points out the inferior the inferiority of the old covenant

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And this is the foundation of or one of the foundational themes all the way through the book of Hebrews that the old covenant is

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Inferior it was given through angels. It was not given through the Sun. The new one has come through the Sun The new one is better and the new one has replaced the old one now some in the audience to the

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Hebrews were considering going back to the old covenant and There are references to this all the way through the book as he's describing in the warning passages

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Some who are considering going back to those sacrifices There were Jews who had come out of Judaism and they had left the temple worship and the synagogue worship and they had outwardly embraced the revelation that was in Christ as I said they found the message of Christ and the truth that he proclaimed intriguing and the love of the

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Christian community alluring and they had come out of that and Now they began to miss the smells and bells of the old covenant and the things that we were familiar with and not only that But they had started to suffer soft persecution we find out in chapter 10 that some of them had their property seized and they were being ostracized from their family and they were being kicked out of the camp as it were and set outside and And put apart from the community and now they're suffering for what they had faced what they had

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They were suffering for their commitment and faith in Jesus Christ Then I look back at the old covenant thing.

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Now, that's alluring all I have to do is turn my back from my Christian community and step back into Judaism and Just like that all of the affliction all of the suffering and all the persecution goes away

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Just like that. I can be welcomed back into my community. I'll be able to find work again I won't be ostracized from my family

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All I have to do is go back to that and the author of Hebrews is constantly trying to show them

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What you have is better than that. That's the shadow This is the substance move toward this because it is a greater covenant

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Because it was mediated to us by a greater mediator The second reason that we are to not go back or to take heed to this

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Gospel message is not just because it is given by a greater mediator But also because it promises a greater judgment and again, we have a lesser to the greater argument

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Look at verse 2 this word spoken through angels proved Reliable not just unalterable but reliable and sure and certain and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty

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He mentions there are two types of sin transgression and disobedience The word transgression was a word that meant to step across a line

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And it refers to refers to the idea that you walk up to the line and you see it And the other side of the line is written thou shalt not do not cross you shall not do this

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This is sin. This is iniquity. God will judge you if you do this and willfully and intentionally and knowingly

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You step across that line and do exactly the same the thing that you understood clearly and knowingly you were not supposed to do

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That's transgression. You step across the line The second word is the word disobedience and it refers to the idea of it kind of carries the idea of not hearing something having

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Your ears dulled so you read in the Old Testament for instance God will say those who hear my word or you did not hear my word and the idea behind hearing in those in those instances is not just that the words fall upon our auditory nerve and it communicates a message to our brain and we have

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Heard what is said, but that we have heard and understood it and obey it That's the idea behind hearing and so not this type of disobedience the word translated disobedience here refers to the idea of our eyes

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Or sorry our ears being deafened to it. In other words, we turn a deaf ear. We have heard what has been said and Rather than doing it or not doing it

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We just allow the words to fall Definitely on our ears as it were and pretend as if we have not heard it

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And so we don't do what it is that we are commanded to do. God says thou shalt and that's what we do.

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Nothing Right. We don't do what we shall do So one transgression refers to doing what we should not do and that is an active sin of disobedience and the word disobedience

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There refers to not doing what it is The God has commanded us to do or that we should do and in fact God tells us to do something and we turn a deaf

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Ear to it. Now both of those types of sins are Willful both of those types of sins are serious and under the

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Old Covenant both of those kinds of sins brought a just penalty one of those is an active sin one is an inactive or a passive sin, but both are serious and both are willful and Each of those received a just penalty and the

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Old Testament is filled with examples of these just penalties now you can think of all kinds of examples where the children of Israel faced a punishment for a sin and The punishment was just like for instance the rebellion of Korah in Numbers chapter 16 they rebelled against the authority of Moses and the earth opened up and swallowed them and their families and their tents and all their belongings whole or Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron who in Leviticus chapter 10 offered strange fire before the

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Lord and they were consumed by Fire the generation in the wilderness They saw the good land. They had seen all the miracles of God bringing them out of the land of Egypt They saw the ten plagues visited upon the

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Egyptians. They saw the sea part that were brought through They were sustained there they saw a water given to them and food given to them and manna every day in the wilderness and yet when they were had the

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Opportunity to go into the land of promise and they looked upon the land of plenty which God had promised to them What did they do?

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They did not believe and so they all died in the wilderness. That was a just penalty the grumbling about meat meat that the children of Israel did in the wilderness

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And God gave them quail and then ate the quail and then what happened it plagued and they killed them blasphemy idolatry adultery sexual immorality homosexuality

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Kidnapping all of these required the death penalty The terms of the Old Covenant were blessing for obedience and punishment for disobedience and those were just punishments now

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We look at those and we think okay now challenging the authority of a leader and the and the ground opens up and Swallows me whole.

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How is that just? That doesn't sound just does it? That's not just To question whether or not

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God is gonna provide water for me in the wilderness and then or meat for me in the wilderness and Then I finally get to eat a quail.

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I eat a quail and it rots in my mouth and I die Is that just that a just punishment? Notice that the author

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Hebrew says it is a just punishment We look at those punishments and we don't think they are just and you know, we're in the problem lies

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With us we from our perverted minds are perverted hearts We think that we are able to judge the judgments and the decrees of God and determine whether or not

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What he does is just or not And I think one of the problems is we are so used to receiving nothing But grace and mercy in spite of our sin that when we do see something that approaches just judgment and justice

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We recoil against it and we think that's not just and those glimpses at Uzza reaching out to steadying the ark of God with his hand and he's immediately struck dead.

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Is that just it is just Because Oz's sin was in thinking that his hands were cleaner than the dirt that God had made

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And his hands were not cleaner and he touched that ark and God had told him do not touch it And he sinned against God in doing that and God immediately struck him down.

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That's justice That's just a glimpse of justice And look at these Glimpses of justice in the Old Testament and we we can't go to God or go before God and think that those in some way

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Are not just that's what that approaches justice. That's what we that's what justice looks like when it is meted out immediately and The wrath of God is poured out immediately.

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We get nothing but grace and we get nothing but mercy But under the Old Covenant every sin of disobedience and every transgression had a just penalty if you do commit it

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Idolatry you will be stoned if you disobey your parents Will be stoned if you commit this sexual immorality you will be stoned if you work on the

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Sabbath you will be stoned these are just punishments because when God says thou shalt not even if it's just a matter of eating a piece of fruit off a tree as good and as lovely as that might look if God says thou shalt not then to do that is

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To flaunt your sin and rebellion in the face of God and to do exactly what he says thou shalt not do it is to transgress and what

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Adam and Eve deserved was immediate and instant death and They got grace instead they were allowed to live

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God should have struck them dead I shouldn't say God should have because God is able to do whatever he wants to do, but God could have struck them dead immediately and instantly like he did

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Uzzah and we would say that is just Eve was told what she should not do she did it and she should have she could have received a just penalty so under the

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Old Covenant every act of disobedience and transgression received a just penalty and notice the

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Language of from the lesser to the greater under the New Covenant Concerning the revelation which God has given in his son.

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How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That's a rhetorical question. You know what the answer that question is you shall not

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That's it. You neglect so great a salvation and you will not escape There was a certain and sure judgment for the punishment to those who ignored the word spoken through angels

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How much greater do you think the punishment will be for those who ignore the word spoken through the Sun? That's the argument if you turn a deaf ear to the command given by an angel to From God through an angel to the nation you turn a deaf ear to that and you are executed

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What do you think is going to happen to those who turn a deaf ear to the Sun and ignore him? You think your judgment will be any less severe.

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Do you think your judgment will be any less certain? Do you think your judgment will be any less just it won't be and that's the argument if the

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Old Testament promised this and that's what people got Under the Sun you ignore that how shall you escape?

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You're not going to escape You will not escape and you cannot escape God has stepped into history and spoken to us in Christ and his teachings are written down in the

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New Testament and they were confirmed By God the Father through signs and wonders that they did it is written and it is inscripturated and we know the truth

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We have the light that is given to us by which we might know what is true and know who is true and know what?

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God demands of us We are not going to escape if we neglect so great a salvation We cannot and we will not and it is a fearful thing

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Hebrew says to fall into the hands of the Living God And that is why God commands us to repent and to believe this is the command of the

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New Testament The gospel is not an invitation to be accepted. It's a command to be obeyed Repent and believe upon the

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Lord Jesus Christ or you will be damned. That's the promise That's the threat

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That is what God has Promised those who reject his son And so if you neglect that if you turn your ears away from that and will not listen to that How will you escape on that day?

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This is not written to Christians who have embraced the message of the gospel This command is a threatened warning to those who sit on the fence and have not yet embraced the gospel they are in danger of neglecting this message of salvation and the salvation that is brought to us in Jesus Christ and They are promised that they will not escape

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Where will you go from the one who upholds all things by the word of his power where you go from him? Where are you gonna go?

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Where are you gonna hide from the one who created everything? Where you gonna run? Is there any place you can run?

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Is there any place you can hide? You can call for the mountains to fall down upon you on the day of judgment But that's not gonna hide you from the wrath of the

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Lamb Revelation promises that Justice will find you out if it found out Nadab and Abihu, it'll find out you.

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If justice found out Sodom and Gomorrah It'll find out you. If justice found out Uzzah, it'll find out you.

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There's no way to escape We cannot escape from the eyes with him of whom we have everything to do He searches us and he knows us and he sees us and there's no place we can hide

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And if the Old Covenant promised judgment to those who ignored it The New Covenant promises stricter judgment to those who ignore it.

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Why? Because it is given through a greater mediator There's a principle in Scripture that justice is always according to the light that is rejected

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Jesus taught this sometimes people ask the question is hell going to be the same for everybody and the answer that is no

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It's not going to be the same for everybody There's greater condemnation for those who have rejected greater light. Jesus taught this in Matthew chapter 11

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He said and you Capernaum which was the city in which Jesus had lived most of his earthly ministry and done most of his miracles

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And you Capernaum will you be exalted to heaven? You'll be brought down to Hades for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom It would have remained until this day

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But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you It will be more tolerable for Sodom than it would be for Capernaum Capernaum was the city who housed the

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Son of God. He lived in that city He did his most of his miracles in the northern region surrounding the city of Capernaum on the north shore of the

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Sea of Galilee It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment that it will be for them Why because they rejected greater light

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Mark chapter 12 Jesus teaching said quote beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at the feast to devour widows houses and for a pretense

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Make long prayers. They will receive greater condemnation There are degrees of condemnation. The Pharisees will receive greater condemnation because they sinned against greater light

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Luke chapter 12 and that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will receive a severe

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Beating but the one who did not know and did what was deserved a beating will receive a light beating Everyone to whom much has been given of him much will be required and from him to whom they entrusted much

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They will demand the more this is the stunning truth The judgment is based upon the amount of light that we reject

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You grew up in a Christian family and you hear the gospel and you attend this church You hear the gospel preached from this pulpit and in a

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Sunday school and an adult Sunday school and it'll wanna And then you turn and you walk away from that having never embraced it.

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Your judgment will be so severe It will be worse for you on the day of judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah worse

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Sodom and Gomorrah did not know what you know Capernaum did not know what you know

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Nineveh did not know what you know, the people who lived before the flood did not know what you know We have been given tremendous light.

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We have the light of creation. We know who God is. We know where he is We know what he is. We know that information doesn't come from non -information

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We know that order doesn't come from an explosion. We have the light of creation. We have the light of conscience We know what is right and wrong.

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We have the law of God written on our hearts We know that it's wrong to steal wrong to lie wrong to commit adultery wrong to be involved in fornication

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We know that lusting is wrong. We know that gossiping is wrong and coveting is wrong. Those laws are written on our hearts

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We never have to read a Bible in order to know those things the law of creation The law of conscience is written on the hearts and then we have the revelation that is in Christ We have creation we have conscience and then we have

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Christ and then we have the message of Christ written down for us and is Scripturated in his word and we have copies of it available on our phones and in our homes and in our laps each and every day

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There for us to read we know what the truth is. We have greater light than any generation in all of human history

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How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? You cannot you will not

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We must take heed to this gospel because it has been mediated to us through a greater mediator It promises a stricter judgment and third because it offers so great a salvation

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In fact, this is what the author says. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation think about what it is

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That you have been given that the Divine Son has left the worship of angels and come down into human history and took upon himself a human body and they

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Lived here a perfect life and he died a death that you and I deserve to die on a cross He was buried and he rose again having made purification for sins and taken all of our sins out of the way

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He has ascended and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high and he is coming again To take possession of the kingdom to establish that kingdom and then give it to all who will trust in him

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So that every promise that he has made to me will most certainly come to pass everything he has guaranteed me

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He will complete he will complete that which he has started in me until the day of Christ Jesus I know whom

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I have believed and persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him against that day all of That he has promised to me and his word is certain and sure

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He's taken away my sin. He's cleansed my conscience. He's removed from me the guilt of the law He has taken me out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son all these things he has done to us so that he might then raise us from the dead after we die and Take us to heaven to be with him in glorified bodies and to live forever in the endless and joyous Delights of his eternal presence and he has planned and purpose for us pleasures and joys and delights that are unimaginable

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For all of eternity. He has that plan for us and you would neglect that You would turn your back on that Would any of us turn our back on that?

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The word neglect here is there's not a word that means an active word that means to to go to war with something

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It's really a passive word. It just simply means to pay no attention to it it's a word used in Matthew chapter 22 verse 5 and Jesus to tell the parable of the

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King who was throwing a wedding feast for his son and he told his servants as slaves to go out into the marketplace and to Call those who had been invited and the slaves went out and Matthew chapter 22 and it says they were unwilling to come so he said the slaves out again to invite those who have been called and They did so and here was their response

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The King said to them behold I have prepared my dinner my ox and my fatted livestock. We're all butchered and everything is ready

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Come to the wedding feast. It's the invitation. I've done everything for you. Just come to the feast And Matthew chapter 22 verse 5 says this but they paid no attention.

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That's the word. They neglected it. They paid no attention They went their way one to his farm and another to his business

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You see neglect does not It's not describing. They're a passionate hatred for something.

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There are people who who do that It's not describing a passionate active hatred against something. It's just describing

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Yeah, great offer I Said a couple weeks ago. Most people do not go running into hell.

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They drift into it They drift right past the safe harbor of God's safety from the wrath that is to come

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With salvation and eternal life in view all the time with Bible sitting on their bedside stands

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With Bibles on their shelves at home having heard the message having understood the message Yeah I'll get to it someday and they watch as they drift right past it right past the offer of eternal life

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Right into eternal damnation that pay no heed no attention to it How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation if you pay no attention to it?

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We have heard this our culture Our culture and our nation is going to be judged so severely

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The people of this era are going to be damned so severely and the justice will be swift and it will be severe

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Because we have heard the gospel and we know the gospel and the people in this nation have heard it and we have light shined upon our conscience and our souls like no other generation in all of human history and For the most part we're neglecting it

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How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation the one who just simply ignores the gospel and pays no attention to it?

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Is no less culpable than the one who wages war against it both are culpable and The one sits there and hears it

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Knows it and gives mental assent to it and the author of Hebrews is saying don't let that be you

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Do not neglect so great a salvation. Don't just pay no heed to this message. Don't sit on the fence Don't think about going back.

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Don't remain ambivalent. Don't not make a decision. No, don't don't make it Yeah, that's it. Don't not make a decision because if you don't make a decision that in fact is a decision

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Don't be ambivalent about this choose it one way or the other do something take heed to it. Why? Because it's been given to us by a greater mediator.

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It promises a greater judgment and it offers so great a salvation So what are we to do with this? For you a believer if you're a

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Christian here today Does this describe a danger that you are faced with that you might neglect so great a salvation and suffer eternal punishment and perish

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No, not if you're a believer if you're a Christian, then the very definition of a Christian is that you have not neglected this

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You've turned from your sin you acknowledge your sinfulness. You've come to self come to faith in Christ Come to salvation through faith in Christ You have given heed to this thing and given ears to it and you paid attention to it

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This warning is addressed to those who might sit amongst genuine Christians who have never done that You sit and you hear the

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Word of God preached you hear the gospel proclaimed and yeah Interesting, maybe not for me.

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Maybe for somebody else maybe tomorrow maybe next week and you have the sword of Damocles which is the judgment of God hanging over your head and it could fall at any moment and You keep neglecting this

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You were a fool. How will you escape? You shall not escape. You will not escape. I promise you you cannot escape

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Because the judgment of God will be swift and severe the God judgment of God will be just upon such people Do not turn away from that light and we have before us here this morning the

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Lord's Supper And we celebrate communion We celebrate the fact that God has delivered us and rescued us as believers from his wrath through the offering of his

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Son the Lord Jesus Christ We deserve judgment because of our sin we've sinned against the light of creation.

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We've sinned against the light of conscience we've sinned against the light of God's Word in our blasphemies and our idolatries and our fornications and our

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Lustful thoughts and our hatred our envy our gossip our slander And our worship of false gods our love of ourselves

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We have sinned against God in all of those ways and what we deserved was to die the death that Christ died That's what we deserved

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But Christ stepped into this world to die the death that I deserve and he lived a life that I could not live and then he died the death that I could never die in order that I might have credit for the life that he lived and I might have credit for the death that he died in the life that he lived

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He gives me his righteousness in the death that he died He pays the price for my unrighteousness And this is the great exchange around which all of Scripture is written this great exchange being that for my sin

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I get his righteousness and he takes in place of his righteousness my sin upon himself so that he becomes my sin bearer and If you are not a believer and you're sitting here this morning and you've passed up this offer of salvation

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I beg with you. I plead with you You have the wrath of God hanging over your head which could snap and come down and fall upon you justly and swiftly and severely

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At any moment do not neglect so great a salvation because you grew up in a Christian family You've gone to a

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Christian Church, you know Christian truth. Do not neglect so great a salvation. You shall not escape If you wish to escape the wrath of God provision has been made in the person of Christ for you

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He died in your place. And if you come to him, he promises you He will forgive your sin and grant you and give you eternal life before we remember what

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Christ has done for those who are in the kingdom of light and out of the kingdom of darkness and Take a few moments to confess our own sin before the

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Lord we do not want to partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner, which means to To partake of communion with unrepentant sin in our hearts or to partake of communion

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As an unbeliever, we don't want to do either one of those So if you're not a believer here, let the cup pass from before you don't partake of this

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If you're living in unrepentant sin, you're not dealing with that. You should question your own salvation You need to make your calling an election sure and examine yourself to see if you're in the faith