Sermon Cloud

Safeguarding Against Apostasy

Hebrews 2:1-4

Grace Fellowship Church

July 8, 2007

Series 3 Sermon 5

 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, ⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

 

Introduction

Last week we looked at the possibility of apostasy in the Christian life.  But we need to ask some questions to clarify whether or not apostasy is compatible with what we believe as a church.  For instance, we believe strongly in the sovereignty of God in all things including salvation.  So how is the possibility of apostasy compatible with divine and sovereign election of sinners to eternal salvation? 

 

We first must understand what apostasy is not.  Last week we saw that there was danger of drifting away from the path that God had ordained for us to follow.  In the process of this drifting away, the drift becomes further and further until we are completely off track. 

 

Here is what apostasy is not.  Apostasy is not casual sin.  What I mean by that is if you sin you have not apostasized you have sinned which is bad enough.  But John the Apostle tells us that if we do sin we have “an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One.”  And he tells us that “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  So lets say ladies that you have a momentary lapse of Biblical judgment and you say something to your husband or children that is regrettable you are not in apostasy but rather in need of repentance.  Apostasy is not even committing what we would call a “major” sin such as adultery, stealing, or even murder as King David committed. 

 

Here is what apostasy is.  It is a continued and persistent rejection of the will of God, a rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and a refusal to heed the warnings of Scripture which were given by the Holy Spirit.  In essence, apostasy is an abandonment of Christian doctrine and conduct. 

 

So how is someone who is a believer then drifts away into apostasy compatible with divine and sovereign election?    First we must understand the covenant of Grace. 

 

In the Old Covenant there were promises and there were stipulations by which those promises would be kept.  The nation of Israel was expected by God to walk in covenant faithfulness to His law.  To err in this covenant faithfulness was to transgress God’s Law and therefore punishment ensued.  This is what verse 2 of our text is talking about.  Look at verse 2. 

² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

 

This message declared by angels was the Law.  Remember chapter one and Christ’s comparison to the angels?  In the tradition of the Jews the giving of the Law to Moses was attested by the angels of God.  This message attested by angels given by God was proven to be reliable.  It is God’s perfect Law but was never meant to justify a sinner.  It was the living out of the Law that proved that a Jew or a Gentile was part of the covenant.  Within the Old Covenant was the sacrificial system that atoned for various violations of the Law.  Often the breaking of the Law carried with it personal discipline as well.  If someone murdered or used the name of God in vain it carried with it the death penalty.  The reason for this was two fold; to punish a sin and to prevent it from happening again by those who either witnessed the punishment or heard about it.  Walking in covenant obedience to God was imperative for the Jew. 

 

For the Christian who has been brought into the New Covenant there is covenant rules for them that includes the moral Law of God. But the greatest rule for the Christian is to continue in the faith.  We are to avoid being taken in by deceptive philosophy, false doctrine, and even by charismatic personalities.  These are all warnings in Scripture.  Listen to Paul’s admonitions to Timothy concerning the Christian understanding of the Law.  Turn over to 1 Timothy 1 with me.  Start looking in verse 3.

3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. 

 

Then Paul tells us how the law effects the Christian.  Notice verse 8 and 9. 

8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just

What does Paul mean?  Does he mean that those who have been justified by faith in Christ are no longer obligated to keep God’s moral Law?  Does he mean that we can just do what we feel is correct and disregard the teachings of the Old Testament?  Absolutely not.  What Paul is sure of is this.  The one who has had the Law of God written on their hearts need no one to remind them that they should not be participating in the sins that follow.  Look at the rest of verse 9 and following to see who needs to be reminded of the Law. 

but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

 

Those who are involved in any of this whole block of particular sins and anything else that is in opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the ones that need the Law.  Those of us who have been converted have the Law written on our hearts and the Holy Spirit indwelling us so that we will walk in the ways of the Lord. 

 

Our passage this morning really highlights for us the importance of biblical preaching in the life of an individual believer and in the life of a congregation.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.  Timothy was instructed by Paul to continue in sound doctrine himself and to continue to teach sound doctrine.  Why?  The answer is in 1 Timothy 4:16.

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

One of the most misunderstood and often neglected aspects of pastoral ministry in our time is the neglect of sound doctrinal teaching from the pulpit.  There are all kind of objections to biblical preaching in our day like, people won’t listen to it, it is too boring, it does no one really any good, people are not smart enough to grasp difficult theological concepts.  The list could go on and on. 

 

PNP

But what we will discover today in our passage and what I would like for you to see from verses 2-4 is two reasons we must not neglect the hearing of the Gospel.

1.  If we neglect the hearing of the Gospel as believers we could end up in apostasy and perdition.  

2.  If we neglect the hearing of the Gospel as believers we neglect the only saving message that is available to all mankind. 

 

Purpose

My purpose this morning is the same as the writer of this epistle.  That is that you will avoid the real possibility of spiritual apostasy by clinging tightly to the Gospel of Christ and the Christ of the Gospel. 

 

So why do we as believers need to hear the Gospel?  After all, aren’t we already saved?  Well yes you are but we still need to be nourished on the Words of Christ.  The whole of Scripture either points to, reveals, or explains the Gospel.  To say we no longer need to hear the Gospel because we are believers is like saying we don’t need to partake of the Lord’s Supper because we already did that.  The Gospel preached is a preventative for apostasy.  So I need the Gospel preached and so do you and so do the unsaved.  And by the way, holy living and sanctification are not separate from the Gospel message as so many think and believe. 

 

So how do we answer the seeming contradiction between election and the possibility of apostasy?  I think that it is very simple.  Jesus gave some “if” statements Himself in His earthly ministry.  He told the Jews who believed in John 8 that they were truly disciples of his if they continued in His Word.  In John 15 the Lord tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches and if we do not remain in the vine we are gathered and thrown into the fire.  So the Christian has a responsibility to maintain his or her standing in the covenant by fulfilling covenant obedience and the only people who will fulfill this are those who have been elected by God and sovereignly and supernaturally saved.  There will be some who do not persevere.  There will be some who become apostate. And the apostle John tells us about these in 1 John 2:19.

 ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

 

So we do have the responsibility to make our calling and election sure and this is fleshed out in our passage today. 

 

RPNP

So look with me at these two reasons we must not neglect the hearing of the Gospel.

 

1.  If we neglect the hearing of the Gospel as believers we could end up in apostasy and perdition.  

Notice verses 2 and 3.

² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

 

Let me first say to you this morning that what I am about to tell you that this passage means would not be very popular in most churches this morning.  There are many churches in our day that are under the direct judgment of God and they are so spiritually dead they are utterly unaware of it.  You don’t think that can happen?  Listen to Revelation 3:1.

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

 

This was a whole congregation that thought they were okay.  They thought they were doing the will of God when in fact they were under judgment because of their rebellion. They had left the purity of the Gospel and had become like the world in as many ways as they could but in their depraved sinful minds they thought they were doing the will of God.

 

This can happen to individual Christians as well.  A little spiritual carelessness, a little spiritual pride and sudden and swift punishment can fall on them from the hand of God. 

 

But some would argue.  “God is not in the business of punishing His people anymore.  The Bible says that “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” 

 

To that I would reply with the words of the Lord Jesus to the Church at Pergamum in Revelation 2 and verse 16.

¹⁶ 'Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

 

I would also remind them of Anninias and Sapphira who were struck down dead in the very first act of church discipline. 

 

I would also remind you of the so called brother in 1 Corinthians that was living in sin with his stepmother and what the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:5.

⁵ I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus .

 

And then in 1 Timothy 1:18-20 Paul tells Timothy this.

¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. ²⁰ Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.

 

What is undeniable in the New Testament is the discipline of the Lord on His wayward people.  The writer of Hebrews calls the readers attention back to the Old Testament in order to make this point.  Look at verse 2 with me. 

² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

The Law of God is filled with “if then” statements.  If you do this then I will do that.  But if you don’t do this then I will do this. 

A great example of this is in Deuteronomy 6.  Listen to verse 3.

"O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it (the Law), that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

 

Those are good promises.  Keep the Word of the Lord and life will be good.  Pretty simple right?  But now listen to verses 10-15.

¹⁰ "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, ¹² then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery . ¹³ "You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. ¹⁴ "You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, ¹⁵ for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

 

God is serious about His glory and His people must walk in integrity. 

 

I want you to look at verse 2 again. 

² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

Here the writer is saying that the Law was from God mediated through angels and was binding on the nation of Israel.  You could not sidestep the Law without bringing punishment on yourself and on others.  This punishment was always a “just retribution.”  In other words the punishment fit the crime.  To ignore or neglect the Law of God was to invite the judgment of God on yourself. 

 

In the context of Hebrews here is what the writer is saying.  “God has spoken in the past by prophets and through the mediation of angels.  This was a good word and binding upon the nation and people.  When someone transgressed the Law of God then they received the due punishment deserved.  Now God has spoken to us fully and finally in His Son, Jesus Christ, and that word is greater than the word spoken by prophets and angels and simply because of who Christ is, this is a more binding word.” 

 

So if the word spoken through angels is binding and reliable and to ignore it was to bring punishment on yourself then something more serious is about to take place.  Look at the beginning of verse 3. 

³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Notice that the writer again has placed himself in this same predicament.  How shall “we” escape?  The question is, what are we escaping from?  The answer I think is very obvious.  It has to do with the crime committed.  What is the crime?  It is neglecting such a great salvation.  Look at verse 3 again.

³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

But there is more.  There are three words in verse 2 and verse 3 that clue us in to what is happening.  There is in verse 2 transgression and disobedience and in verse 3 neglect. 

 

Transgression is doing what you are not supposed to do while disobedience is not doing what you should have done.  Our children do this don’t they.  They know they are supposed to treat their brothers and sisters with respect and then you hear the hit and the crying begins.  That is a transgression.  Or they know they are supposed to keep their room clean and then you open the door only to find you can’t push it open because the toys and books are now blocking it.  But why do these things happen?  Why do these things happen in our lives and not just our children’s?  Because of neglect. 

 

Here we have been given the great salvation by the grace of God.  This salvation is not given to everyone and many will live their whole lives and never hear a clear and correct proclamation of it.  And we have been privileged to both be born in a time and live in a place and speak a language that can communicate this gospel and have the mental faculties to understand what is being said in order for the Holy Spirit of God to use that proclamation in our conversion.  The glorious Son of God left His heavenly dwelling, lowered Himself by taking on human flesh and suffered an horrific death on a Roman cross in order to redeem us from our sin and the due punishment of that sin and yet we as depraved humans justified by faith in Christ have the innate ability to become careless in our Christian walk and begin to neglect this great salvation that has been fully and finally delivered to us. 

 

And if and when we do this, how can we not expect the just retribution and discipline from our Lord?  How can we expect to walk through this life calling ourselves Christians and then neglect the Gospel and its demands?  

 

I am afraid it is because most have not been taught that the Gospel has demands.  Look at all the passages that tell us that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow the Lord.  Look at all the passages that tell us that we are called to suffer.  Philippians 1:29 says “Not only has it been given unto us to believe but also to suffer for His sake.”  The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ demands not just our hearts but our whole being.  If we belong to Christ then we have been bought with a price and that was the highest price that could possibly be paid and that was the life and blood of the Son of God, the Lord of the Universe. 

 

The writer of Hebrews uses the classic argument from the least to the greatest.  If God punished those who transgressed the Law delivered merely by prophets and angels, just understand that He will punish those who neglect the great salvation that has been proclaimed and completed by His Son. 

 

If those who had been rescued from sin and redeemed from the curse of the Law, now because of persecution were being tempted to return to the Law and Old Testament Judaism then they would not escape the wrath and judgment of God. 

 

Jesus said “whoever puts his hands to the plow and looks back is not worthy of me.” 

 

The writer is not clear about exactly what the punishment would be for this neglect.  My assumption is based on the whole of Scripture there are two options. 

1.  The rod of discipline would bring back a true believer to the fold. 

2.  The defection from the faith would prove a spurious confession.  In other words all that profess Christ as Lord do not truly have Him as Lord. 

 

That is why I said this point was that neglect can lead to perdition.  At best if we neglect the Gospel we will end up under the harsh discipline of the Lord and He will bring us back into the fold or He may possibly take our life in order to rescue us from ourselves.  At worst we will prove ourselves to be truly not in the faith and be the dog that returns to its own vomit as Peter says. 

 

So why must we pay such close attention to what we have heard so that we don’t drift away, neglecting the great salvation that God has provided? 

1.  It is because as human beings our mental and spiritual facilities are deformed because of the Fall.  To put it bluntly, we leak.  We read our Bibles, we hear sermons and yet we remember and hold onto some of it for a short time.  Conviction comes about some sin and we repent and yet fall right back into the same old patterns. 

 

One of my favorite hymns expresses this well.  A verse in “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” says this.

“Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.  Take my heart Lord take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above.” 

 

Sometimes we are just not good listeners.  We like what we hear in a sermon but automatically assume that someone else needs to hear that when in fact it is us that has the major problem.  Often we are even unaware of our own sins and we neglect the conviction of the Word.  Pray for a sensitive heart that loves the Lord and is soft to the conviction of sin by the Word.

 

2.  We must pay attention to this great salvation because temptation is all around us.  Sin is tailor made for our own depravity.  And the sin that I am drawn to may not be the same sin that you are drawn toward.  So we must watch ourselves lest we fall. 

 

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul is admonishing the Corinthian church to pay attention to themselves and their manner of life.  He cites the examples of the judgment of God on the nation of Israel and tells them that this is an example for us.  And then in verse 12 he tells us, “¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

 

Why?  Because all we like sheep have gone astray.  We are in constant need of correction and discipline in our lives.  We move quickly away from faithful living. 

 

Paul struck a chord in 1 Corinthians 10.  He said let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  What he was addressing at Corinth was intense spiritual pride.  Spiritual pride is a spiritual destroyer.  Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” 

 

Some of you may find what I am about to say offensive but it needs to be said.  Spiritual pride is a destroyer of faith, families, and churches.  Here at Grace Fellowship we have tried our best to establish a biblical church.  As well as we have done so far we need not become arrogant.  The only thing the Lord will do to a prideful church is judge it.  Think about this with me.  We are for the most part homeschoolers.  What is that going to add to your salvation?  Nothing. We believe in the proper ordering of our households.  What will that add to your justification?  Nothing.  We want and desire to have godly well behaved children and that is a biblical and good thing.  But what merit does that add to the finished work of Christ on the cross?  Not one single atom of anything is added. 

 

So the minute that we put ourselves up on a pedestal and start looking down on people who are believers who are not exactly like us in every way then we have become spiritually prideful and arrogant and are in great danger of destruction and falling.  Pride was the sin that caused Lucifer to become Satan.  Pride is the sin that caused so much upheaval in the church at Corinth.  Pride is the sin that will destroy you, your family, and any church that you happen to attend if you do not by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you squelch that pride that wants to rear its ugly head early and often. 

 

Its easy to look down on others by their outward appearances and by the way they live their lives but let me assure you of this one thing, the minute pride takes over in your life and you are appalled at bad behavior and not seriously distraught over it then you have ceased to be aware of your own depravity and ability to fall. 

 

I told you last week that over the last year I have watched as five of the men that I went to seminary with fall morally in the ministry and shipwreck their lives it would have been easy for me to sit back and think about how wonderful I am and how secure I am at this point but you know what?  It scares me to death.  And it ought to scare you. 

 

So be careful not to neglect this great salvation because not only will it result in discipline from the Lord but it could result in perdition or ultimate destruction.

 

Jesus warned, “Many will say to me in that day, “Lord. Lord did we do all these things in your name. and He will say, Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.” 

 

Second I want you to see and quickly:

2.  If we neglect the hearing of the Gospel as believers we neglect the only saving message that is available to all mankind. 

Notice verses 3 and 4.

³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, ⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

 

Peter told the Jews in the Book of Acts that there was not another name under heaven by which men could be saved except the Lord Jesus Christ.  The writer of Hebrews calls on the Old Testament law of “on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” 

 

The writer here in verses 3 and 4 provides those three witnesses. 

 

1.  There is the Lord Jesus Himself that bears witness.  His life and ministry proves that He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.  Look at verse 3.  ³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord

The writer uses an important word here in the Greek text and it is the word Lord or Kurios.  This was the Old Testament designation for God and clearly in this text the writer is showing us that Jesus Christ was more than a mere human being, He is the God man, fully God and fully human.  Remember chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2? 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son

 

So God the Son is the first witness of the Gospel.  He even had witnesses before Him, the Old Testament which spoke of Him and John the Baptist who proclaimed Him.   Then there is the second group of witnesses.  Look at the rest of verse 3. 

It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

 

2.  These were the eyewitness accounts of the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord.  So the writer of Hebrews and the people reading had been evangelized by those who were eyewitnesses. 

 

This would have been enough but there was one more proof.  Look at verse 4. 

 ⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

 

We have the third and fourth witnesses to the truth of the Gospel and that is God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  By the way, as a side note, many think you can just go get spiritual gifts but what is evident in this passage is that spiritual gifts are distributed according to the will of God and not the will of man. 

 

Conclusion

We have seen that in order to avoid apostasy we must continue to not only hear the Gospel but also to heed the Gospel because  it is the only message of salvation for the whole world. 

 

This morning are you doing that?  Do you recognize your ongoing need for Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord?  Do you understand that it isn’t just your unconverted children, family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who need to hear the Gospel but it is you who are in constant need of hearing and heeding? 

 

The admonition and commands of this passage are very plain and very frightening.  Stay on course.  Continue to hear and heed the Gospel lest you drift away and endure the judgment or discipline of the Lord.  Cling desperately to the Lord.  Hold on tightly like a person clinging to the edge of a cliff hanging on for dear life. 

 

That is our only hope.  Lets pray.