Hebrews 2:1-4 Slip sliding away... Beware the slow drift!

Bible Study Series: Jesus in Hebrews - Better by Far!

Bible Study Lesson: Hebrews 2 - Slip sliding away... Beware the slow drift!

by I Gordon

“People drift from church, drift from prayer, drift from the Word—and then wonder why they feel far from God.”
Jim Cymbala  

“Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.”
A.W. Tozer  The Pursuit of God

Having laid the foundation of the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, the writer of Hebrews now gives the 1st of 5 warnings in this book. So I've called this message 'Slip sliding away: beware the slow drift!' It has been said that most failures in the Christian life are not blowouts... they are slow leaks. So in this Bible study lesson we'll focus on the slow leak today exploring the first 4 verses of Hebrews 2 concerning the following:

• The warning of drifting away - what causes one to drift and what is the remedy?
• The warning of ignoring salvation - why is there no escape?
• The salvation that people drift or ignore - What is so great about this salvation?
• The God-given proof for salvation - why is man without excuse and what actually keeps him from God?

Let's drift, I mean dive, straight in!

Drifting... The problem and the cure

Heb 2:1  We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

So the chapter begins with the first of two warnings in just the first four verses of Hebrews 2. The two warnings relate to the words 'drift' and 'ignore'. Firstly, the writer of Hebrews starts by saying 'We must pay more careful attention... so that we do not drift away'. So what is drifting? What do you need to do to drift? The Greek word is 'pararréō' The Complete Word Study Dictionary states this is "from pará (G3844), by, past, beyond, and rhéō (G4483), to flow. To float by or drift past as a ship, or to flow past as a river. Figuratively to slip away, suggesting a gradual and almost unnoticed movement past a certain point." 

So note that last part - the word suggests a gradual and almost unnoticed movement past a certain point. So what do you need to do to drift in the Christian life in an 'almost unnoticed movement'? Well, nothing. That should do it. Just don't do anything to support your spiritual life and you will slowly drift. That's why I said that most failures in the Christian life are not blowouts but slow leaks. You see the world is like the current in an ocean or river and it is constantly pulling you in the direction it wants you to go in. All you need to do is stop swimming against it, just stop, and you'll start going with it. It will start slowly. It will likely be almost unnoticed at first. In fact with most heading in that same direction, it might be hard to even spot at first. But you will find yourself moving in the opposite direction to the Lord. 

This word is important for our day and age because we are in the last days. And the Bible has given many warnings about apostasy and people falling away at this time¹. For example:

1Ti 4:1  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
2Ti 3:1-5 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. (2) People will be lovers of themselves... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- (5) having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
2Ti 4:3-4  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  (4)  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

We are in those days. Now it is always important to remember that we, as believers, have three enemies working against us. This world, Satan and the fleshly nature. So we need to feed our spirit in our battle against them. Otherwise the drift occurs. There is an apt illustration of this within creation. When humanity disobeyed in the Garden and received a fallen nature, what else happened? Well, the ground was cursed. Creation itself came under bondage. Since then we've worked by the sweat of our brow to tend the ground. And what do we have to do to make weeds and thorns? Yeah... nothing. You don't plant them, water them and even sing opera to them. The only thing you have to do to allow that lovely garden of yours to go to rack and ruin is... nada. Just do nothing and it will get there. I've seen this first hand recently. I have been staying with my Mum following a fall she had which broke her hip. And when I went back to my house I was horrified! Argh... what a jungle! Where did all that come from and what did I do to cause it? I've learnt the hard way that you really do have to pay close attention if you want to have a nice garden. And more importantly, you have to pay close attention to your heart, and what you have heard, if you want to have a strong spiritual life! Always remember - this fallen world is not helping you in your Christian life... by nature it works against you. So as our scripture says, 'pay more careful attention!'

So that brings up the next question... why do some drift? We've seen that it can just be through neglect of our Christian life, but are there other reasons some drift from what they once stood for?

• For some it is a love of this world. This is the choking of the plant that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the sower (Matt 13:22).  
• For some it is the storms of life. Some find the Christian life too difficult expecting (sometimes through the messages of lightweight or false teachers) to have 'your best life now!' When trials and difficulties arise, and God isn't jumping on command to remove them, some become disillusioned and fall away. Jesus spoke about this also in the same parable where He mentioned the sun scorching the seed for it had no real root causing it to fail (Matt 13:6, 20-21)  
• Scripture also speaks of the 'deceitfulness of sin' and being hardened by sin. Some fall further in the deceitfulness of sin and not knowing how to deal with their guilt, overtime begin to move or even run, from God instead of to Him.
• For others it is a general desire to be our own Lord. Like Adam and Eve eating from the tree of 'good and evil' humanity wants to make the decision and call the shots. The Lordship of Christ causes a rebellion in some. 

I have spoken about this before, but I remember a message I heard as a young believer that always stuck with me. It was given by Hal Lindsey called 'The peril of unconscious decay'. Let me just adapt an example from the life of David, written about in another study:

The cure for drifting...

Now the Bible doesn’t just diagnose the drift or state the problems... no, it gives solutions and shows the way to avoid the slow slide. 

• Firstly, our passage reminds us to pay careful attention to what we have heard. As we shall see, this message of salvation is HUGELY important and demands careful attention. And to that we would also add, pay attention to that which grips your heart. Is it leading you to or from the Lord?
• The book of Hebrews will go on, in the next chapter, to tell us to encourage one another daily to avoid being hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Heb 3:13). So look out for others and hopefully you have others looking out for you!
• Hebrews also tells us of the promises of God that are like an anchor for our soul. We will speak more on it in chapter 6. But one sure way to prevent drifting is to have a solid anchor in place! I live near the ocean and one thing you learn pretty quickly when in the ocean is to fix your position to a given landmark - something that is solid and unmovable. That for the believer is the word of God and the character of God. Both are unchanging and unmovable giving the perfect reference point to avoid unnoticed drifting.  
• And the Lord is always waiting for our response. Jesus spoke to an apathetic and worldly church, Laodicea, saying 'Be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.' (Rev 3:19-20). Jesus was clear that without Him we can do nothing, but as we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit (John 15:4-5). 

Ignoring Salvation - How shall we escape?

Heb 2:2-3  For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,  (3)  how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

These verses continue with an even greater warning. This second warning is how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation. This word translated 'ignore' is 'ameleo' from 'α' (used as a negative particle) and mélei 'to care, be concerned. To be of interest to'. So it essentially means to have no care at all concerning salvation. It means to make light of salvation or not have any regard for it. You have probably met people like that. To such a person, with no concern, regard or care for this great salvation, the author asks this penetrating question - 'how shall they escape?' This word 'ameleo' was also used by Jesus in the following parable:

Mat 22:1-5  Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:  (2)  The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  (3)  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.  (4)  Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'  (5)  But they paid no attention ('ameleo') and went off--one to his field, another to his business.

And yes, there are many like that in this world! The Amplified Bible translates this verse 'How shall we escape [appropriate retribution] if we neglect and refuse to pay attention to such a great salvation [as is now offered to us, letting it drift past us forever]?' 

A great Welsh preacher began his sermon by saying, "I have a question to ask. I cannot answer it. You cannot answer it. Even God cannot answer it." Then he gave this as his text: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" And I have a sermon entitled, "A Question that God Cannot Answer." I do not mean to be irreverent, but God makes it clear that He cannot answer the question, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" Do you know a way of escape? The only way is Christ. He said so in Joh_14:6: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." In the Scriptures we also read, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Pro_16:25). There are many ways that seem right to men. In California you can hear about as many ways as you want to hear. If you are looking for a religion, you will find one in California. If you don't find one that you like, you can start one, and I will guarantee that you will find some followers who will go along with you. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end are the ways of death. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? What do you do to be lost? Nothing. You can be lost by neglect.  
J. Vernon McGee  

So great a salvation

Now note also that the salvation that God provides in Christ is called 'great' here. He says 'how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?' That obviously begs the question, what is so great about this salvation? It is great...

• Because of who planned it - This salvation is so great because it comes from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, planned even before the foundation of the world! It is something that God alone could devise. 
• Because of what it involves - This salvation is so great for it involves God becoming a man in order to work out this plan. All members of the Godhead are personally involved in this salvation. Jesus was chosen even before creation to be our sacrifice:
  1Pe 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 
• Because of the cost that was paid - This salvation is so great for it cost our Lord His life. It involves the most utter shame and suffering for God Himself! 
• Because of the glory it achieved - This salvation is so great for it brought in eternal glory for God in bringing fallen man and exalting him to a place of glory with His Lord!
  Eph 2:6-7  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
• Because of its eternal duration - This salvation is so great for it is eternal. The consequences of accepting or rejecting/ignoring salvation are eternal for both those that believe and those that don't.  
• Because there is no other! - This salvation is so great for there is no other name or way given by God for mankind to be saved. 

Simply put, it is a salvation that God alone could devise and execute. It places the worst sinner into the greatest position, if they would simply repent and believe! Someone has said that “Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.” 

Grace is not only undeserved favor, but it is favor, shown to the one who has deserved the very opposite."
HARRY IRONSIDE

Yeah, it is a great, incredible salvation that God has come up with so we need to pay careful attention to it! 

Salvation: God testifies that it is true!

Now look at what God has done to testify to this salvation. Reading the wider passage it says:

Heb 2:2-4  For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,  (3)  how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.  (4)  God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

The writer gives various reasons why there is no escape if one is to make light of salvation and ignore it:

• Firstly, he speaks of the angelic realm. Angels gave the law which everyone had to listen to and obey lest they were punished. And One greater than angels has given the Gospel - Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself. He came in person to give this wonderful message of salvation!
• Secondly, not only was this message given by Jesus but it has been confirmed by witnesses who were with Jesus. These witnesses, like Jesus' disciples, were nearly all martyred for their faith. That is, they were willing to die for what they believed.  
• Thirdly, it has been confirmed by miracles from God - signs and wonders by both Jesus and the Apostles so that there should be no doubt concerning it's truth. The book of Acts is full of miracles² that the Apostles and disciples of Jesus did in His name. There was more than enough God-given evidence for those with a heart to believe! 

To ignore all that and have no regard for this message God has personally given us by becoming a man leaves only one result - no escape from God's judgment. We could add to this all the fulfilled Bible prophecies that our generation has seen, especially regarding Israel.³ There is more than enough evidence if one wants to find the truth! Scripture also tells us that there is enough in creation itself for humanity to know that there is a God (Rom 1:18-20)

So think of all those today, some you know personally, who have no care or regard for salvation. They just don't care. They don't want to know. They are happy to live and control their own lives giving little to no thought of the next life or what happens after death. Maybe they have heard the message but just think they can put it off to a future day. There is an example of this in the book of Acts when the Roman Governor of Judea, Felix, heard the gospel up close and personal - from the Apostle Paul himself. We read:

Act 24:24-25  Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.  (25)  As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self- control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you."

But, as far as the scripture records, he didn't find it 'convenient' to call Paul again and ignored the warnings, just putting it off for another day which never came. 

Why do people reject the light?

So why did Governor Felix put the message of salvation off? He didn't want to hear it! He didn't like hearing about the judgement to come and his need and responsibility to an Almighty God. So scripture says he became frightened and sent Paul away. Now it doesn't say exactly what his fear was. Unbelievers should be fearful before a holy God and this is not a bad thing! But in that fear they are to come humbly before Him grasping onto the hope of salvation that they have heard, not run from Him. But there is another fear that Jesus spoke of that keeps people from God. This is the fear of having your love of the darkness exposed. Ultimately, the reason that people reject the light is not intellectual or due to a lack of evidence. It is a moral decision. People don't come into the light because they don't want to be accountable and don't want their deeds to be exposed. Jesus was clear on this saying:

Joh 3:19-21  This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  (20)  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  (21)  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Again, it is a moral decision based on fear of being exposed, as well as having to change their deeds which they love, that keeps people from God. But there is only one way of salvation that God has given and it is through a narrow gate where a man must humble himself to accept God's grace. For, as scripture repeatedly says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 

Conclusion 

So as we conclude these first four verses of Hebrews chapter 2, what have we seen? We've seen that the author of Hebrews has given clear warnings not to drift from, or totally neglect, this great salvation that God has planned before the creation of the world and executed in the fullness of time. We have seen that drifting is often a slow almost unseen process, just slowly being carried from the true path by the ways of this world. As we saw in the example given from the life of David, there is 'the peril of unconscious decay' where even a godly man can slowly drift away in his walk with God, and eventually end up in unforeseen trouble. As F.B Meyer stated, The cankerworm takes its toll before the noble tree crashes to the ground.

Scripture tells us to be on guard against this. It says to pay 'careful attention to what you have heard'. And as we go on in Hebrews it will give other 'drifting cures' instructing us to encourage one another daily to avoid being hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Heb 3:13). It will also instruct us to lay hold of the hope given by the promises and character of God, which are an anchor for our souls! And yes, in this day and age with all the winds that blow and the storms arising we all need a firm and dependable anchor to hold us firm!

We will carry on next time with the rest of Hebrews 2 next time, exploring this 'great salvation' a little deeper, looking at what the author of Hebrews teaches concerning the fall and restoration of humanity.

Blessings! 

FOOTNOTES