SOUNDING
OUT:
Give More Earnest Heed (Part 3 of 3)
In the last two newsletters we looked at the
warning in Hebrews 2:1 to give the more earnest heed to the Word
we have heard and the reasons God gave for the warning in Hebrews
2:2 and 3. This week we will look at the great extent to which
God went to confirm His Word. He never leaves Himself without
witness (Acts 14:17).
Hebrews
2:4:
God also bearing [them] witness, both with signs and wonders,
and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according
to his own will?
God
added witness upon witness. He did this by signs and wonders and
various kinds of miracles, and spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit,
which He gives to the church. All this was according to God’s
own will. He confirmed His Word by supernatural demonstrations
of power — because He willed to do so. He gives spiritual
gifts and works miracles and signs as it pleases Him.
“This salvation,” it says, “...was confirmed
to us by those who heard him.” I think about what Paul says
in Galatians chapter one.
Galatians
1:11,12:
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Regarding
the gospel, he says, “I want you to know, brothers, that
the gospel I preach is not something that man made up. I did not
receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received
it by revelation.” Paul’s testifying to the truth
that his message was from God. He reported it as a reliable witness.
Hebrews keeps piling on reasons why we’re not to
neglect what we have heard. He says it’s more important,
it’s spoken by the Lord, it’s reported and confirmed
by God. God testified to it.
God confirmed the message and the messenger, and continues
to confirm it by the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are distributed
according to His will. Now that’s a loaded phrase, it’s
not my phrase; it’s the Bible’s phrase. The gifts
of the Holy Spirit are gifts that are distributed according to
God’s will.
These verses are like warning lights on the dashboard of
our soul. Don’t neglect salvation in the sense that you
ignore it and you don’t manifest the gift God has given
you. Salvation is something that we need to take care of. We need
to stay strong in our commitment to God. We need to continue to
grow in Christ. If we ignore what’s available, we will not
be able to escape.
II
Peter 1:1-4:
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them
that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness
of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto
you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and
virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.
We
escape the corruption that is in the world by partaking of God’s
divine nature. We get born-again and then find out what we have.
You know, this is the time of year that for many of us, we need
to remind ourselves of the danger of slipping. For those of us
that live in the north, where there’s freezing rain, or
where there’s ice, we know what it’s like to slip
and fall in the physical sense. But what this passage does for
us no matter what the atmosphere is like where we live, is it
reminds us of the fact that there are other ways in which we slip.
Ours is not the first generation to face the challenge,
but that doesn’t excuse us from listening to this passage.
It says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore,
to what we’ve heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Life has its distractions, we get busy, and before you
know it, we’ve drifted from God. That’s why I’m
glad Jesus Christ is our anchor. Our mooring is secure. This reminds
me of the instruction we’re given to be doers of the word,
not only hearers.
James
1:21-25:
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to
save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word,
and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face
in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth
his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed.
Doing
God’s Word insures that we do not neglect it. We are going
to give heed to something. We should ask ourselves whether we
want to give heed to God’s Word or someone else’s
word. Acts 8 juxtaposes the genuine and the counterfeit in Samaria.
Acts 8:5-13 presents Philip the Evangelist destroying the works
of the adversary. It demonstrates the genuine prevailing over
the counterfeit.
A. Vs 5a - Philip
B. Vs 5b - His message
C. Vs 6a - Heed given
D. Vs 6b, 7 - Reason they gave heed
E. Vs 8 - Result: Philip’s genuine sphere of influence
increased
A. Vs 9a - Simon
B. Vs 9b - His message
C. Vs 10, 11a - Heed given
D. Vs 11b - Reason they gave heed
E. Vs 12,13 - Result: Simon’s counterfeit sphere of influence
negated
Like Bob Dylan sang, “You Got To Serve Somebody.”
We decide whom we serve by whose words we give heed to. Let’s
cleave to the words that bring salvation and manifest it to all.
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