Don't Neglect So Great a Salvation

In one paragraph

This message came from Hebrews 1:4 through 2:3, with the pastor walking through the author's extended argument that Jesus is greater than the angels. The central claim is the one that runs through the whole book of Hebrews: Jesus is better than everything else, so do not turn away from Him. The warning at the end of the passage, "how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation," gave the...

Read together

1. Psalm 34:8 opening call to worship, taste and see that the Lord is good
2. Hebrews 13:15 prayer before sermon, continual sacrifice of praise proclaiming allegiance to God's name
3. Hebrews 1:1-4 the exordium, God speaking in His Son who is radiance of His glory and exact representation of His nature
4. Psalm 2:7 quoted to show God never said to any angel, you are my son today I have begotten you
5. 2 Samuel 7 I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me, appropriated toward Messiah
6. Psalm 97 let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, worship him all you gods
7. Psalm 104:4 he makes the winds his messengers, flaming fire his ministers, about angels serving God
8. Psalm 45:7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God has anointed you with oil of joy
9. Isaiah 61:1-3 spirit of the Lord is upon me, anointed to bring good news, connected to Jesus as the anointed one
10. Luke 4 Jesus reads Isaiah 61 in Nazareth and declares today this scripture is fulfilled
11. Psalm 102:25-27 you founded the earth, heavens are work of your hands, they perish but you remain the same
12. Isaiah 51 sky will vanish like smoke, earth wear out like garment, but my salvation will be forever
13. Psalm 110:1 sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool, applied to Jesus
14. Hebrews 1:14 angels are ministering spirits sent to render service for those who inherit salvation
15. Psalm 103:20-22 bless the Lord you his angels mighty in strength who perform his word and do his will
16. Hebrews 2:1-3 for this reason pay closer attention to what we have heard so we do not drift away, warning not to neglect so great a salvation
17. Deuteronomy 33:2 the Lord came from Sinai amid ten thousand holy ones, read as angels surrounding the giving of the law
18. Galatians 3 the law was ordained through angels by a mediator until the seed would come
19. Acts 7 Stephen preaching as he is stoned, you received the law as ordained by angels yet did not keep it
20. Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death, cited as the just penalty every transgression receives
21. James 2 if we err in even one point of the law we have broken the whole law

Talk about it

1. The pastor described the central message of Hebrews as 'Jesus is better than everything else, don't turn away from him.' What in your own life has tempted you to drift away from that focus, and what brought you back?
2. The sermon described a theology of angels that had gotten out of hand among the original readers of Hebrews, and said the author was trying to correct their perspective. Are there things Christians today give too much attention to that can pull focus away from Jesus himself?
3. The pastor pointed out that when Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in Nazareth, he stopped in the middle of the passage and did not read the part about the day of God's vengeance. What does it mean to you that we are currently living in the favorable year of the Lord that Jesus proclaimed?
4. The sermon used the image of swimming upstream to describe the Christian life, and quoted John Piper saying there is no neutral gear. Where do you feel that pull most strongly right now, and what does paying closer attention to what you have heard look like practically for you?
5. The warning in Hebrews 2 asks, 'How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?' The sermon said the original readers had already tasted this salvation but were tempted to turn back under persecution. What do you think makes someone who has genuinely encountered Jesus still vulnerable to drifting away?