Sermon Tone Analysis

Good Morning… Excited about this new Series we kicked off last weekend called Greater than…

The book of Hebrews is a sermon written to second Generation Christians who are on the fringe of departing from their Faith - This was the “Next generation” that followed those who had seen and experienced Jesus personally… written somewhere after 60 AD.

These young Christians were living in a world where Christians were marginalized... and there were all kinds beliefs system, ideas and Philosophies that were previlant in the day… They were also close enough to Judaism where they could be tempted to turn back to former roots…

In someways ..we are facing similar challenges today in the modern world...

We are living in times when…the church is marginalized...where there are a lot of ideas and philosophies out there…and the truth is that

The Up coming generations are simply not going follow what previous generations have done and believed… And this is not To be honest I think that this is not necessary a bad thing…

For example there is their curiosity and optimism about the future… … they are interested and willing to engage in conversation, discussion and debate… more importantly ---is that there is their sincerity… The challenge today is that we cannot only simply to know what we believe - bu we need to know Why We believe?

If you have a reason you are going to continue… you are going to push through… If you don’t have the why you loose the point of the exercise..

… This is the message of the book of Hebrews —

Hebrews is a Sermon on Perseverance....It is why should we keep going… as Tim Keller says Hebrews is about the journey “from Isolation to the City of God… like any journey there are going be bumps along the way…and in order to get through you have to push through..

In the Book of Hebrews there are 4 major warnings… It is common pattern in Hebrews where starts with an Exhortation or Imperative - (or a warning) followed by supporting Reasoning and explanation..

Warning are needed information... it’s why you look both ways before you cross the road……There are some interesting Road signs around.. Check these out these signs..

(correctional facility Area… Do not pick up Hitchhikers)..Especially if they are waring orange jump suites...

(Caution Falling cows?) that kind of scary..

(Id turn back if I was you) This probably before the cow sign… that would make sense...

(This one is actually not that funny)...

The warning sign in Hebrews… is to be careful of drifting…

“Drifting”—is a gradual shift in position - We’re not usually aware of it until the change becomes great enough to notice.

Then we suddenly wonder what has happened.

.Everyone is affected by drift.

We are all creatures of habit -- and habits are strong, powerful things.

When you begin to make changes in your lifestyle, there will be a strong pull toward your old habits… what is needed is mindfulness..mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to your current experience, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future.

living in the now...

ingression

T/S How do you avoid drifting?

1. Being Mindful of the Message of Salvation

Instruction

Chapter 2 Begins with the Conjunction... “Therefore”… That means that it is connected to chapter One… Preacher of Hebrews is making some applications...

In Chapter One - we are told that… In the past God spoke through the prophets and through the angels but in these last days... God has spoken through the the Son… or Son Revelation...Not only has God spoken to us through words… but through his person… He is the Radiance of the Father and the exact representation of God… This Son Revelation is far superior to angels and other messengers.

So Therefore…in light of the “Son Revelation” we ought to “Pay attention to the things we have heard.”

-

The implication is that they HAD grown lax in their commitment to Christ and were neglecting the Christian message.

Have you noticed that The New Testament writers were never satisfied with theology alone.

They are never two separate tracks… Faith and action ...Belief is always followed by living it out… pay attention to what you have heard...

These words encouraged the readers to listen very carefully so as not to lose their bearings....

The first warning is in Vrs 2-3 look it again.

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?

.’

The point that is being made — if the message delivered by angels often came with consequences .. disobedience came with just retribution… How can we escape if we neglect such great Salvation?

Notice that it’s addressed to WE...

There has been a lot written on who the“WE’s” are in this verse because of the words just retribunion … if … are they are referring to believers dies it mean that they are in danger of loosing Salvation…so it presents a problem for those in the Calvinist camp… who believe in unconditional election… once saved always saved…therefore they solve the verse by saying this is addressed to non believers... now this is really not what this verse is about.

the word retribution… here means wages… Consequences… not eternal judgment.

Also, we have to remember who he is addressing… he is speaking to believers… for example…

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling....

Secondly… there is a difference between Rejecting and Neglecting…Salvation… You can neglect a relationship with out rejecting the person....

Neglect a Spouse without rejecting a spouse..…

We can neglect our relationship with Christ without rejecting Christ… they were in danger of neglecting faith..

This makes sense in context… because when when we neglect God’s Word, prayer, worship with God’s people (see Heb. 10:25), and other opportunities for spiritual growth.....we start to drift.

Over and over in the History of Israel we see what happened when people Disobeyed God— Israel as a nation wondered in the wilderness for 40 years because they disobeyed… Moses himself only saw the promise from afar… never entered into the promised land..

What the preacher of Hebrews is Saying

.. If you don’t pay attention to your Salvation… overtime you will slip away and fall into disobedience.. and therefore face God’s discipline… consequences... God disciplines those he love… Correction..

We have all experienced leaks… drive over a nail… you continue your life as normal and then… one day your tire is completely flat… how did that happen?… neglect…? is a slow leak!

What the point of the sermon is this.....

How do we Avoid Drifting?

The word drift has nautical overtones.. the picture is that of ship drifting by the current beyond a fixed point.. It’s a vivid metaphor of the failure to hold onto truth… and how easily it is too loose your bearings...

The answer lies in Paying attention to Salvation… being mindful of Salvation..

A few years ago there was an article published in the Huffington Post about life lessons learned from white water rafting....The author Grace Bluerock tells of several valuable lessons she learned from white water rafting with her family...

1. Stay a float - Try to always keep your head above water.

When you go under, you are no longer in control of your situation

2. Roll with the current… Going with the flow gives you momentum and keeps you propelling forward.

3. Realize that you will have obstacles..

4. Know you won’t always be uncomfortable..

5. Be willing to take risks..

6. Keep on paddling.

When going through rough and rapid waters, it’s vitally important to keep paddling the boat in order to maintain stability.

When things get difficult and hard to manage, it’s more important than ever to keep moving forward.

Otherwise, it’s easy to lose your direction.

When you stop paddling you are going to loose direction and start drifting… this is what

Our Preachers antidote for “drifting” consists of earnest heed, intense concentration, thoughtful clarification.

We Pay close attention to the Message of Salvation --- because the messager is reliable...

The Good News was hand delivered by God himself...

1. Message declared by Jesus -

When it comes to research… you have primary and secondary sources.. sometimes secondly sources are helpful but they sometimes make mistakes or misquote… misinterpret…

The message of Salvation came to them through the Lord Himself… The foundation of Christianity is the proclaimation of the Lordship of Christ.... His ministry was both in word and deed… Jesus word was not simply information about salvation… He embodied the word of God… the Word the message of Salvation came to them in a comprehensive way… through stages through proclamation, sacrificial death and exaltation.

In his book Seeing Salvation Macgregor tells us that Christianity is a religion of the image.

They saw him first with their eyes.

Later on they heard him speak with their ears.

The words of Christ…God declaring the message of salvation guaranteed its accuracy… It wasn’t the disciples taking a stab at the message… Jesus came proclaim that kingdom of God is near… Further more the Gospel was

2. Attested too by witnesses and Miracles..

God demonstrated his power through his own ministry and it continued though the apostles minstry…These extraordinary events, thereby testifying to the truth of the great salvation that the apostles proclaimed---

Miricales in the Bible have confirmatory value, because they point to the glory of Jesus Christ

J.I. Packer

“A miracle is an observed event that triggers awareness of God’s presence and power”

Belief in the miraculous is integral to Christianity... Jesus life came with miracles… both is arrival and departure were miracles… Jesus incarnation and resurrection, the two supreme miracles of Scripture,

There is nothing irrational about believing that God who made the world can still intrude creatively into it.

Christians should recognize that it is not faith in the biblical miracles, and in God’s ability to work miracles today should he so wish, but doubt about these things, that is unreasonable.

The application is for us today… Pay attention to the message of Christ… it’s effect on us… the other is the things that we have witnessed… miracles we have experienced… Don’t loose sight of these things… someone coming to Christ… timing of a gift… The things that triggered our awareness of God… made us praise God..

T/S These Jewish Christians had the message of Jesus and proof of miracles… that attested to the Supremacy of Christ…they needed to be reminded their personal need of Jesus...

T/S How do you avoid drifting?

Being Mindful of the Message of Salvation

2. Being Mindful of the our Need of Salvation

When we think about saving something… think we have to think of the worth or the value of the item.. you may find a penny on the floor and ignore it… but if your saw a $100.00 laying on the street you may rescue it… why because of value… God did not provide a means of salvation for the angels… when Satan fell 1/3 the angels… no plan of rescue...

The first Century Jewish believed that Angels were above the creation of mankind....It was the belief by some that angels would be ruling in the coming Age… in the future… Jews had this high view…of angels messengers as intermediaries… They thought to have given the law to Moses on Mt.Sinai..

look at verse 5 again...

“For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.”

So the preacher is setting the record straight…by going back to the OT and showing what weight it bear upon the character of Jesus.. Angels were never given the place of honor to reign… the invitation to sit at God’s right hand is only given to the Son.. it’s about the Supremacy of Christ… He is over all things..

It is not going to be angels who have dominion but it’s going to Christ and this will be people extended to the Children of God.

He makes a case for this ---going back to psalms 8:4-6…

What does psalms 8 say?

What is man that you are mindful of him?

that you care for him… made him lower than the angels.

for a while this brief moment.... putting everything under his subjection…