Title /Subject: 7/27/14 Don’t Drift Away From Faith In Jesus (A series on the book of Hebrews) Text: Hebrews 2 (NLT) So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. This verse has 2 Greek words that are interesting and lend greater meaning to the passage. The word we translate “listen very carefully” and the word we translate “drift away” have nautical meanings. “Listen carefully” comes from a Greek word meaning to moor a ship – tie it to the dock. When people get married we say they tied the knot – meaning they have tied themselves together. If the marriage fails – we say it must have been a slip knot. In much the same way, once we have claimed Jesus for our Lord and savior, we need to tie the ship of our life closely to the mooring. Listen carefully to that truth. Storms will come and shake our faith. Watch your mooring lines. Prov. 4:20-22 (NIV) My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. When you hear the Word of God, take it seriously. Make it yours. Apply it. Obey it. The other Greek word with a Nautical theme is the one we translate “drift away”. It means a ship that has not been navigated properly. Someone did not pay attention to the charts, the helm, the currents… and the ship drifted off course and missed the harbor. Many people will not reach the harbor of heaven because they did not pay attention to spiritual things. It’s not that they had evil intention. We have all heard the saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. This passage is making just such a warning. … Hebrews 2:2-3 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Dear friends – do not neglect your soul. Warning: Simply intellectually believing in Jesus will not save me. (Vs 3) “We can know all the truths there are to know about Jesus Christ and yet go to hell if we do not make Him our own.” John McCarther Just because you were raised in a Christian family does not make you saved. Coming to church does not make you saved. You must accept Jesus as your own Lord and savior. The 5 foolish virgins in Christ’s parable about being ready for the Grooms return were not allowed to borrow anyone else’s oil. Peter fell back from faith in Jesus too. He followed far off. He thought he could do it himself, he spent time at the enemies fire… and slipped back. … Hebrews 2:1-9 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose. Jesus, the Man. 5 And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about.6 For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? 7 Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 8 You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. 9 What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God’s grace to us - lead Christ to His death Jesus did not come for power and prestige – He came to be obedient in suffering and death. When we find ourselves feeling proud, wanting position, wanting recognition… we need to look back at Jesus example. Jesus looked past the immediate trial and was willing to be obedient… even unto death on the cross. In dying, Jesus freed believers from the fear of dying: Hebrews 2:14-15 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. This is why we can boldly say, 1 Cor 15:55 (KJV) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? This does not mean we will not try to live – push me under water and I will hold my breath as long as I can. But that terror of what happens after death is gone. 2 years ago many of you may remember we suddenly discovered that my mom had a brain tumor. They did a MRI on her and found the tumor looked like it was attached to an artery in her brain and the doctor warned that the surgery was risky. It was scary for me because I did not want to lose her… but she was absolutely fearless. Even in her weak state, She said, “I am safe in His hands - and I am ready to go.” Last year I visited Rubin in the hospital. His heart was failing and the doctors said he would not recover. I prayed with him and we began to say goodby the best way we knew how. He told me how much he appreciated coming to church at Living Hope and how much he enjoyed my preaching style. I told him that blessed me and thanked him. And I stepped away from the bed feeling pretty sure I would not see him alive again. Then he preached a one sentence sermon to me. He said, “John… ( I looked back from the door) I will see you again” and he pointed to heaven. The blessing of Jesus is that he tasted death for us and conquered it. …Hebrews 2:10a God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory... Without proving it to you right now in scripture (I can if you like later: Rom 8:18, 19, 30 and 1 John 3:2), please trust me in this: Bring children into glory has to do with making it to heaven. That is Jesus ultimate goal and where final salvation takes place. Our glorification will be when we stand made righteous, made holy, and conformed into the image of His Son and hear those wonderful words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant – enter into the Joy of the Lord!” What a day that will be! There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come, No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye; All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore What a day, glorious day that will be! What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, And I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace; When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, What a day, glorious day that will be! Therell be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear, No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there; And forever I will be with the One who died for me, What a day, glorious day that will be! …Hebrews 2:10b-11 …And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. 11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy… I head of a common struggle this week: A young woman who felt that she had blown it and God was mad at her. She was still feeling shame for things that she had asked God to forgive her for – but she did not feel good enough. Here is a message from God to you: You will never be good enough for heaven. Only Jesus was. There is a blind man named Gary who comes to church here occasionally. I’d like us all to adopt his last name: Goodenough. His name is Gary Goodenough. We are good enough for one reason: When we are saved and God looks on us, He sees Jesus. Perfection. Holy. Righteous. And THAT, is good enough. Vs 11 says, Jesus and the ones HE MAKES HOLY. Romans 4:1-5 (NLT) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. One of the ways we can drift away from the truth is to try to be good enough on our own. That’s not what the word says about being made right with God. It says only He is good enough and we are good enough when we have Him as our savior. Story: There was an explorer named William Edward Parry who was trying to make it to the North pole. His party was tired but decided to go for it so they set off on foot. Hours later and exhausted from their effort, they took another compass reading and discovered that they were farther away than when they had started. They had tried with their own effort without considering God. You see, they had been walking on an ice flow and it was moving South faster than they were walking North. That’s how it is when we try to be good enough for God. Jesus left his place of honor in heaven and took on the form of man. That’s why he was made “a little lower than the angels” (vs 9) – he became man… who is not as capable as an angel. Not as strong, not as fast, not as powerful… 3 great consequences from Christ’s condescension: 1) Jesus became our mentor We are not taking time to read verses 11-15 in the text, but it speaks of how we become his brothers and sisters. He is our older brother. He is our mentor. He is our perfect example. 2) Jesus became our high priest We are not going to go into this today because it comes up a lot in later chapters, but its awesome. He became the ultimate intercessor between God and us. Even today He ever lives to make intercession for us. Don’t know how to pray – no problem. Just show Jesus your broken heart and ask him to make intersession for it. He is a brilliant councilor who takes our brokenness to God and makes just the right plea for our needs. 3) Jesus became our sympathizer …Hebrews 2:18 …Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. Whatever you are going through in life, Jesus understands. He has been hungry, tempted, felt the pull of lust, greed, known betrayal, had a broken heart, been sick, lost friends, suffered loss… He gets you! He not only understands us, He sympathizes. When we are suffering isn’t it nice to get some sympathy!? Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT) This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Do you struggle with temptation? Run to the throne of grace! “Jesus help me. My heart is pulling me in a wrong direction so hard…” He will put His great arm of love around you and say, “I know… I remember - but I have just what you need: Grace. Mercy, and help when you need it most!”
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 23:49:09 +0000
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