Good evening, everyone. If you will take your copy of the word of God and go with me to Hebrews chapter two. And before we begin, before we begin, please go with me to the Lord as we seek him to help us. 

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we praise you. We are here as your people, called by your name, covered in the blood of your son bearing his righteousness as we sing in that hymn and celebrating the new covenant which he secured for us in the elements of the Lord's Supper before us. I pray that you would empower us and call our hearts up to you in true worship You would equip us by your spirit that we would be able to delight in and worship you rightly. As we look at your word, as we see the glorious gospel, which we are to pay very careful attention to. So we ask for your blessing and we ask this in the name of our Lord and savior. Amen. 

We know the common, or we know the refrain from our hymn that's in our hymnals, a classic hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It's number 400 in our hymnal. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. And the Christian life is marked by our ups and downs, our Constant feelings like we're not succeeding well enough. And then feelings of total rapture with the Lord. And the fact of the matter is that as sinful creatures, we're prone to forgetfulness. And we're prone to desiring to coast. as if the journey to eternity is just a gradual decline downhill and we can ride our bike down it and just apply the brakes a little bit to make sure we don't pick up too much speed, but it's just nice and easy. 

And this text here, Hebrews 2, verses one to four, I think tells us that the Christian life is one where we need to pay very careful attention to the gospel message. And we need to all the more consider the gospel and its ramifications. So I want to look at this text and see that the excellency of Christ demands that we give even more study to his word and really most specifically to the gospel, but to all of his word. 

Now, why do I say that? Well, let me read these verses and then we'll consider this in three headings. Hebrews chapter two, verses one to four. For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how 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, 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. 

The book of Hebrews is written to a church and the church is made up of predominantly of Jewish Christians and Jewish believers. And yet there's also those in the group who are not yet fully convinced believers, but are going along and at least giving some kind of agreement with the facts. So you have this mixed group of Jews, some of them believing savingly, some of them just believing factually, but not yet fully committed. There's an expectation of persecution that is, if they're not experiencing it at the time of the writing, they will soon be experiencing it. And it makes, that helps us make sense of some of the difficult passages, like Hebrews six, where it says, if you fall away, it's impossible for you to be brought back. And so there's questions of, does that mean you can lose your justification? And so you know, but a convinced apostate who has been a part of the church and has seen, experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the group that he's in, he isn't gifted by the Holy Spirit if he's not a believer, but then walks away, that there's really not great likelihood that he's returning. So that's gonna help us here because when we look at what the author is getting across here, he spent the first chapter declaring how wonderful and how great the Lord Jesus Christ is.

And declares he's great by this. In the first few verses of the book that he's the full revelation of God. who is the one who communicates God to man as the radiance of the glory, the exact representation of God's nature, that he is God, upholding all things by the word of his power, that he is superior to everything because he has made purification of sins, And he's in glory now, having sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, because his work was fully accomplished. So he's so much more superior than any other created being. He's better than the angels, is where the author of Hebrews goes. And certainly he's greater than any other man. The Lord Jesus is the most excellent and glorious person that has ever lived.

And so you get to chapter two and he says, for this reason, for the reason that the Lord Jesus is more glorious, is is just better, is superior, is more excellent than anything, even all of the angels. For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.

Let me give you the first heading here. The first heading is this, and this is what we've just read, is the command. And the command is this, pay attention. Now, we're believers. We're here to celebrate the Lord's Supper as believers, but we're gonna partake of these elements, and by faith, remember the gospel that they represent, that they picture for us, and so be sanctified by the Lord, and be drawn closer to him in the partaking of it, as our hearts are stirred up with the gospel made kind of tangible for us in these pictures.

So, The command might seem a little abrupt, because it makes sense for us to say to a non-believer or somebody who's sort of on the outskirts, but hasn't really come into the group, hey, pay attention. This is important. This is a big deal. This is a matter of life and death for you. Well, the same is true for us, that we have a tendency in our own hearts to drift. We have a tendency to say, well, I was gonna get up and read the Word and pray, but I pressed the snooze button several times and I just ate up all that time. So I guess I'm just not gonna do those disciplines and I'll go about my day. And I'm not speaking to anybody who doesn't know that experience.

We have a tendency to drift. Our flesh is weak. You think of the Lord Jesus praying because he knows the judgment, he's about to pay the penalty of sin on the cross. And he goes to the disciples, his disciples who are supposed to be praying with him. And what does he say to them? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. They're frail, they're not able to live as they ought and they don't even realize the seriousness and the ramifications of what the Lord is asking them to be engaged in.

We are commanded, based on the excellency of Christ, to pay attention to what we've heard. so that we do not drift away from it. So what have we heard? I think what we have heard is what he has begun to explain in chapter one, what he's going to explain throughout the rest of the book, which is the Lord Jesus is God in human flesh, who has come to fully accomplish your salvation. And therefore, we ought to believe and walk in it. I think that's a fair summary of what the book of Hebrews is getting across.

And the Lord Jesus' work is superior to anything you and I could do. in terms of keeping the demands of the law, the demands of the Old Testament. And that's where the author goes. He repeatedly puts Moses and the Aaronic high priest and the sacrificial system of the Old Testament in contradistinction to Jesus and his priesthood according to Melchizedek and the sacrifice of his own body to make purification for sins once for all time. It's the gospel that Hebrews is presenting to us. It's the doctrine of Christ. It's the doctrine, it's where righteousness comes from, from Christ. It's where justification comes from. It's the death of Christ. It's the gospel put before us. We need to be reminded of it. Not just because Jerry Bridges told us time and time again to preach the gospel to yourself every day, but he's right because that's what scripture is telling us to do. to pay attention to it, to take heed to it.

The Lord Jesus is the one who has fully accomplished salvation. Chapter two, verse nine says, we do see him. who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honors, that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one.

Verses 14 to 18. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly he did not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things. so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

You think about chapter 10, where it says, And verse 14, for by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And verse 19, therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near. with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

The author of Hebrews, whoever it was, in this was probably a sermon that was then written down, is telling us the gospel is the primary thing. There's nothing else that is primary. Pay attention to it, remind yourself of it, consider it. You say, well, I've been a believer for 30, 40 years. Why do I need this reminder? It's interesting, even Peter says to his people and second Peter, that he wants to stir up their hearts by way of reminder. And it just came to me, so I don't remember the reference. But he wants them to remember, there it is, chapter one, verse 13. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the latest sight of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure, you'll be able to call these things to mind.

What are these things? What's the stuff he's about to talk about, which is this. We do not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were 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.

We have the prophetic word made more sure 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 rises in your hearts.

What's he trying to get across? He's trying to tell them. to pay attention to the word of God, pay attention to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, think about it and remember it. Constantly go back and remember it. That's the command to remember, to remember the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no greater one than our Lord. We think about his atoning work on the cross, which I think is the primary emphasis here.

But if you just think about verses one to four of chapter one, that it's not only his saving work that makes him exalted, but it's also who he is as the Son of God, as the, as you might say, as the Messiah King, though that could be a redundant statement, because Messiah also includes that concept.

In 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16, there's this creedal statement, this confession of faith, which is that he who was revealed in the flesh was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. The church exalts the work of Christ, exalts the person of Christ and what he's done.

In Philippians 2, nine to 11, the Apostle Paul in that book says, for this reason also, considering the work of Christ and coming as a man, humbling himself, going through his saving work, For this reason also, God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Lord Jesus is. is not only, and I wanna say this carefully, where I don't belittle his saving work, okay? That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to say that along with his saving work is the reality that he is the reigning king and he is the son of God.

In that, those verses in Philippians 2, the apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 45, verse 23. And Isaiah in that passage, his talk is quoting, is giving the word of the Lord. So that at the beginning, it's a whole, it's just one big quote. And at the beginning it says, thus says the Lord who created the heavens. He is the God who formed the earth and made it. He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none else. And there's several verses, and you get to verse 23, where he says, I have sworn by myself, the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and will not turn back, that to me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance. That's what the Apostle Paul is referencing in Philippians. So the Lord Jesus, is the Lord God. He's the author and finisher of our salvation to quote chapter 12 of this book. He is the great and glorious savior, creator, sustainer of all.

So it's not only, I say that to say this, it's not only the facts of the gospel message. What do you think of like the first Corinthians 15 facts where it's, he came, he was born, he came according to the scriptures, he ministered according to the scriptures, he died according to the scriptures, he was raised according to the scriptures, then he was seen by many eyewitnesses, et cetera, et cetera. It's not just those facts, but it's, It's who he is, it's his truth, it's his word, it's all doctrine that is pertaining to him, which would then lead us to say that what we ought to be paying attention to, what we have heard, is just the whole corpus of Christian doctrine, which comes from scripture.

So, what do we need to be careful to pay attention to, to take careful heed of. It's God's word. It's God's word.

All right, let me go to point number two. What's the warning? What's the warning? So we have the command, pay attention. What's the warning? The warning is this, neglecting to pay attention, In other words, neglecting to give ourselves to knowing and understanding Christ and his word. Neglecting that leads to destruction. So it's the ultimate need. There couldn't be anything of higher stakes than this. I guess it'd be one way to say it. I don't mean to be crass in saying it that way. There's no day off because the truth, if neglected, it creates a vacuum into which error invades. Think about who we are, okay? We're in a particularly blessed state to be those who have heard the word of God, especially the truth of the gospel, but all the word of God. And if we were to fail to really give that what it demands, which is our response and faith and repentance and belief. If we fail to give it what it requires, we put ourselves in great danger.

And Will has even mentioned this in just going and talking about Hymenaeus and Alexander in 1 Timothy chapter one. Paul says this in 1 Timothy, I'll just read several parts of this book here. 1 Timothy three to seven, it says, as I urged you upon my departure from Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines. nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogy. See the same terminology, pay attention there, as is in Hebrews chapter two, which give rise to further speculation rather than furthering the administration of God, which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men strained from these things have turned aside to fruitless discussion. Wanting to be teachers of the law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

Same chapter, 1 Timothy, verses 18 and 19. This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son. It says the word command is the same as the instruction that he's supposed to be careful to instruct these men in. This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight. keeping the faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

And in chapter four of the same book, verses 11 to 16, prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance, with the laying on of the hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things. Be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for as you do this, you will ensure salvation, both for yourself and for those who hear you.

The danger of neglecting the word of God is that we would be, you know, placing ourselves in harm's way, spiritually. John Calvin said this in his letter to Cardinal Satellito. A soul, therefore, when deprived of the word of God is given up unarmed to the devil for destruction. Matthew Hendry, in his commentary on Hebrews, in this commentary on these verses, says, if we do not well attend, we shall not long retain the word of God. Inattentive hearers will soon be forgetful hearers. And in Calvin's commentary on here, the editor of that commentary inserted an appendix where he talked about this, and he said, there may be some attention without performance. There can be no performance, and he's thinking Christian obedience here, there can be no performance without attention. In other words, failing to give heed to Christian doctrine will result in not being able to obey and not being able to believe and not being able to follow the Lord. Neglecting the word of God will result in one's, let's say, their destruction.

Look at verses two to three, the first part of three in Hebrews chapter two here. The point is that if rejecting the law brought a just penalty, then how much more penalty is deserved for rejecting God's own son and his word? Look at this. If the word spoken, this is verse two, through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty. It's literally the word for reward. So received a reward coordinate to what it deserved. You could say, received the wages that it merited. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

Now this phrase might be a little confusing to you where he says, it was to me, where he says, if the word spoken through angels, you say, okay, where? Where were angels involved in the bringing of God's word? I know there's one angel. who was involved often in the bringing of God's word, and that's the angel of Yahweh, that's the angel of the Lord, and that's the Lord Jesus, that's the Son of God. So I don't think that's who he's talking about, because he's just talked about angels in contrast to the Son of God. So he's probably not thinking of those instances. Well, I think there's a clue in Deuteronomy 33, verse two, where Moses, when he's blessing the people, this is right after the song of Moses, and he's blessing the people and he tells them that at Sinai, the Lord came and he wasn't alone, but he came with his whole host.

So in Deuteronomy 33 verse two, he says, he said, that's Moses, the Lord came from Sinai. and dawned on them from Seir. He shone forth from Mount Paran, and he came from the midst of 10,000 holy ones. At his right hand there was flashing lightning for them, and 10,000 holy ones.

So when the law was given, angels were involved in some way. It wasn't just the Son of God speaking with Moses on the mountain. but it was also there was angels in some capacity involved.

So if that word proved unalterable, fixed, certain, established, and then every transgression of that word, every disobedience, so failing to obey that word, received what it justly merited, which was punishment, death, then how much more if we neglect what is spoken of and what is delivered to us and what is accomplished by the Lord himself?

This is important for us. I don't wanna shake anyone's assurance when I say that there's always a danger of backsliding. And there's always a danger of that backsliding ending up in apostasy, if left unchecked.

How many men, just in the last couple of years, have we seen men who we thought were the most trustworthy Bible preachers, and we see that they end up making total shipwreck of their faith, to where you say, I don't know if I can trust a single thing that came out of their mouths.

The Word of God needs to be kept, adhered to, remembered, not obeyed out of a pharisaical attempt to somehow please God, but out of a reminder that it's the Lord Jesus who's accomplished my salvation, and I need to be consistently reminding myself that he died for me, he accomplished salvation for me, and he calls me to a life that's in keeping with that.

That there's, it's not a legalistic burden. That's the problem of so much of current Christianity is they think anytime somebody says, the word of God tells you to do this, they think that's legalism because they think obedience is legalism.

No, we need to not neglect this salvation, but pay attention to it. The danger at the end of verse one is that will be carried away. There's a couple of different ways this is translated.

If you have a King James, it'll say something like, lest we let them slip. And the translators of that, translation were understanding this word drift away or slip away. It really has the idea of being carried along with a current of water.

They were understanding that to be talking about the truth, which is just fine. The New American Standard Bible translators understood it to be talking about us drifting away from the truth. And either one, you and the truth are separating from each other.

And you think about the illustration of being caught in a fast-moving current in the river. And you're quickly taken down. And who knows what kind of perilous rocks or rapids or waterfall or what you're heading for. But you're being taken away down the river.

And that's the idea here. Neglecting the truth is not a, doesn't leave you stagnant. It's not just you being still. It's not like you're making forward progress and you decide just to pull over at a vista point or something if you're heading down I-5 into California. There's a viewpoint or something. And so we're just going to pull over here and stretch our legs for a minute. And you're not going backwards or forwards. You're just pulled over.

No, this makes it sound like if you neglect to keep going forward, you end up going backwards. a consequence of how this works. So we need to pay even more careful attention to what the Lord has done.

Now, why? What are the proofs? What are the reasons to pay attention? Well, I've given you one, which is the first one he gives, which is the consequences of not paying attention are too serious to not pay attention to. Pay attention and look at the gospel, believe it and continue in it.

The other proofs mentioned are the quality of the witnesses. And that's the second half of verse three through verse four. What are these? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, that's Lord Jesus' ministry. Think of Luke four, where, He reads the scroll from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue and then says, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In Mark, it says the Lord Jesus came preaching the gospel and saying, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The Lord Jesus was the first one to bring the gospel in terms of him preaching it. It was spoken through him. Then it was also confirmed to us by those who heard. Well, that's the eyewitnesses. And this doesn't require that the author of Hebrews not be an eyewitness, but just that he's pointing out the value of the eyewitness testimony.

But in Acts chapter four, verse 20, this is Peter and John before the council, the Sanhedrin, And they're being told, you're not allowed to preach in the name of Jesus in the temple. You can't preach in his name anymore. And they say, whether it's right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, which is pretty obviously saying, you don't get to tell us not to obey God. And then they say, we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard, the words of Christ and the work of Christ. They're compelled to speak of it. They were eyewitnesses of Christ and earwitnesses, I guess, would be the other side. They didn't just see it, they heard it.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul says a very similar thing where he talks about all the eyewitnesses of the work of the Lord. The first witness he mentions is that it was according to the scriptures, but then in verse five of 1 Corinthians 15, he says that Jesus appeared to Cephas, then to the 12, then to more than 500 brethren at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared to me also, because Paul met him on the Damascus road and then was also taught by him, by the Lord Jesus himself in Arabia.

These are eyewitnesses and the book you have, the Bible, is eyewitness testimony of what the Lord Jesus did and preached. It comes from the people who were there and it comes faithfully down to us through the preservation that the Lord enabled the church to keep.

Thirdly, The works of God are witnesses. This is very similar to how the Lord Jesus in John 5 lists a number of witnesses and says, believe on account of the work I do. They give testimony to me. But the author of Hebrews here says, 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. Signs, wonders, Miracles, gifts, things that could only come about if God is at work. Things that could only occur if God brings them about. What kinds of things? Well, these are mentioned all through the book of Acts.

In Acts chapter three, Verses 1 to 10, you have Peter and John, they're at the temple, this is before they're arrested. And they heal the man who's lame and is at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. And they're coming up and that's when they tell him, we don't have silver and gold, but we do have, we give you, walk in the name of Jesus Christ. And then that's used as a way for their message to be authenticated. And this is the purpose of miracles. The purpose of miracles is not just that people are being made whole again, but they're bearing witness, they're testifying to the validity of the apostles, that these men are speaking the message given them by God.

How do we know it comes from God? Because It is accompanied by acts of God. And so it's highlighting the trustworthiness of these men. The gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter two, you see the gifts of tongues is the first one that shows up. And these are given according to his will. And the Apostle Paul makes that very clear in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14, that the gifts are given by the Lord according to whom he desires and according to how he desires. It has nothing to do with whether or not you desire a particular gift, you can't train yourself into a particular gift, they come from the Lord.

And the author of Hebrews is pointing out, that's just even more evidence that the message which came from the apostles and the men and women with them is from the Lord. So this passage is telling us, pay attention, to what you know. Why? Because the consequences of not, of neglecting it, of falling away from church and Christianity, the word of God, are dire. And because God has made it abundantly clear that this is the gospel which brings life. This is the Lord Jesus who brings salvation from your sins.

Let me just give you three applications, just one paragraph here in my notes, as we end and as we come to the Lord's Supper. If we ought to pay attention, how should we do that? Well, I just came up with three that You could have others. Here's three.

First, think about the superiority of the Lord Jesus and reaffirm that truth in your heart. Believe it afresh and be strengthened in your faith. I don't know if you've ever paused to just think about what we believe, just sort of in the abstract, and then to say, yes, that is true. I believe that wholeheartedly. Not to just assume it, but to even just re-examine it and delight in what the Lord has done and who he is.

Second, I would say this, make corporate worship and your Christian devotional practices, the word of God and prayer, primary in your life. Don't just have those be tasks alongside other tasks. Let those be the point of reference.

Third, in the observation of the Lord's table before us, I saved it to last so I can end on this. In the observation of the Lord's table before us, think about what these elements represent. This is the gospel made visible and tangible to us. These aren't saving in themselves. They remind us of what is saving, which is the work of the Lord Jesus. Recognize the significance of the sacrifice of Christ. His body was broken. His bones weren't broken, but his body was broken for you. His blood was spilt. And as his blood was spilt, which means his, is he's giving his life that his death paid the wages of your sin. And so the new covenant is established that the Lord would die and provide salvation for his people.

So what's the application? Pay attention, continue believing, be encouraged and press on.

The text that we looked at might seem kind of like a slap in the back of the head, you know, like your teacher come behind you and saying, sit up straight or something like that. We do need that, but there's huge encouragement in this. Remember what the Lord has done. and believe it and continually bring yourself, Jerry Bridges style, back to the gospel and be encouraged and built up and edified in what these elements put on display for us.

Please pray with me.

Heavenly Father, we just delight in what our Lord has accomplished for us in providing salvation through the offering of his own body and the shedding of his own blood. We praise you. We praise him. We praise the Holy Spirit through whom these gifts and this sacrifice, the benefits of it are applied to us. We praise you, Lord God. Enable us to delight in you in the partaking of these elements. We pray this in Christ's holy name. Amen.