Transcript

Sermon Transcript: Pay Close Attention

2/22/2022 Jeff Schwarzentraub 46 min read

We give you all the glory and honor and praise for who you are. We thank you Father for the gift of your son and the gift of your holy spirit. We thank you that we can gather in a place like this today. We thank you for your living and active word, that every time it is faithfully and accurately proclaimed, that you speak. So Lord, our prayer is, "Speak Lord, for we are ready to hear." Now, for all of God's people gathered, who desire to hear the word of the Lord, who will believe what God says and who will by faith, put into practice what the Lord shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, amen. Amen. May I have your attention, please?

Have you ever heard that before? I mean, oftentimes, it's usually by a teacher or a coach. When people aren't really paying attention and they say, "May I have your attention, please?" Sometimes it's on the back of a medicine bottle, "Attention, please. The use of this product causes harm in this way, or don't give this to your children, if they're under the age of 12, without the consultation of a physician." So may I have your attention, please? The challenge with that statement is that oftentimes we go to sleep when we hear it. Have you've ever flown on an airline? I've flown on them, hundreds of times.

They usually start by saying, "May I have your attention please?" And then, they go into the same routine about how to fasten a seatbelt. I mean, is there anybody here that doesn't know how to fasten a seatbelt on an airplane? Yet, they're going through all that and when they start going through that and they ask you to read the card, many times we're snoozing or we're falling asleep, because we say, "I've heard this before." If you sit in an exit row or you've seen someone sit in an exit row, they want to get all your attention, and then they'll ask you this question, in the event of an emergency, would you be willing to assist by opening the door?

I think to myself, "Okay, if this plane that was once going 500 miles an hour had to come to a screeching halt and land on the water, would you, amidst all the chaos and turmoil, be willing to open the door and assist everybody else?" And all you have to do is say yes, and they're fine with that. I've seen some of the people that sit in exit row and I'm like, "I don't that I trust them," but isn't it true that when somebody says, "May I have your attention, please?" Especially if it's something we're familiar with, we begin to go to sleep. We begin to think, "I already know this one." Today, I'm going to talk to you about the gospel. We've been talking about Jesus Christ in the book of Hebrews and how he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord.

He's superior to any other being that has ever been. He's the only one that wasn't created. He is God of all Gods. He is King of all Kings. He is Lord of all Lords. We took a look last week, how he is superior even to the angels, and now, we get in like any good preacher or gospel writer to the, "So what?" How are you going to respond to this great message? How are you going to respond to the gospel? I'm going to give you some heads up at the beginning because most of you have heard the gospel before there's going to be a tendency to fall asleep, but I'm asking, may I have your attention, please?

I almost titled this sermon, "The Number One Reason Why a Majority of Americans Will Go to Hell." Another way I could have titled this message is for those of you who don't know Christ, who will end up in hell, when you're surprised in hell, here's why. In case, you're thinking ... I wish I would've brought my friend today. I wish they could have heard this. I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to you. God wants you to hear the gospel and be familiar with the gospel and know the gospel in such a way that you know, that you know, that you know, without reservation what the gospel is and how you're called to respond.

So this message is an admonition. It's a strong message. It's a hard message from the word of God to challenge us. Whether we're a believer or not a believer as to, do I really believe this, and if so, what is my response to the message of Jesus Christ, being all that he is? And as the word of God admonishes us in four different ways today, I'm going to talk to you about why we need to hear it, because I believe that the biggest reason why a majority of Americans won't get into heaven is because of apostasy. Apostasy means a falling away. It means to walk away from the faith. It means, I no longer believe.

Some of us have friends, we've walked with the Lord long enough. We've seen people we know that at one time, we're serving in the church. Maybe they were even on a staff in the church that have gotten to a place that say, "I'm done with that Christian thing. I don't know that I believe that stuff anymore." And they're not just departing and finding another church, they're departing the faith altogether. As I taught in the Book of Revelation, we see there's going to be a great apostacy that's coming. People are apostates not because they once believed, it's because they were really close to believing, but never truly believed.

It's almost like they say, it's close, but no cigar. You can be really near Jesus but if you're one centimeter away from being tethered to him, you may as well be 500 million miles away. I believe the sin in our culture is the sin of apostacy. The sin of thinking that we're Christian, because we get around a lot of other Christians without truly being Christian. So as you're hearing this today, hear it for yourself, afresh. Hear it for what God wants to say. Now, for some of you, you take a shock value. You're like, "Are most of Americans going to hell?" Yeah, Jesus said that, Jesus said for broad is the gate and why does the road that leads to destruction and many find it, but narrow is the gate and small is the road that leads to life, and very few find it.

In every generation, in every culture there's few people who truly know the gospel and find salvation. There's few people who truly know the gospel and find salvation. That's Jesus' words, not mine. So it would not only be true of America. It'd be true of every place in the world. So if that's really true, then wouldn't we want to know what the gospel is? Wouldn't we really want to understand it at the depth of who we are. So we can say, I know that I know that I know that I know, that I'm in the faith. If you're interested in hearing that today, I believe God has a word for you. If you open your Bibles up to Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two.

We're going to look at verses one through eight, and then we'll unpack them together. Taking a look at four admonitions from scripture of what not to do, to be an apostate. He says this, after talking about the greatness of Jesus Christ and his superiority to angels, he says, "For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we will not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. God, also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by the gifts of the holy spirit, according to his own will.

For He did not subject to angels, the world to come concerning, which we are speaking, but one is testified somewhere saying, "What is man, that you remember Him or the son of man, that you are concerned about Him. You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, you have appointed him over are the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet, for in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him, but now, we do not yet see all the things subject to him." And hearing those short eight verses, the author of Hebrews gives us a warning.

This is the first of several warning passages in the book of Hebrews, and the reason for that is when we hear the word, we need to respond to the word. When I pray before I preach every message, I pray that we would hear the word of the Lord and then, we'd by faith put into practice what he shows us. The application of God's word is paramount to what the word of God is about. So really this author highlights four ways that he wants to get our attention, and the first is this. He says, don't drift away from the veracity of God's word. Don't drift away from the veracity of God's word. It means this, don't drift away from the truth of God's word.

Notice what he says for this reason, well, what reason are we talking about? The reason that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, for the reason that he's the greatest, for the reason that he's the only God of the universe, for the reason that there's no one else above him. He says, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. Paying attention is not just listening, paying attention biblically and the way this word describes it is both listening and doing. That's nothing new for the writers of the New Testament or the Bible in general.

I mean, think about how this is spelled out in James chapter one, in verse 22, "Prove yourself doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves." You hear that? Don't just be a hearer, be a hearer and a doer. Don't be one that deludes yourself. Don't be one that falsely thinks because you read your Bible or you go to church or you hear a sermon and you think to yourself, I heard it. That's good, that that's enough. No. It's people who hear it and practice it. People who hear the word and put it into practice. That's what God is looking for. That's why I love. Preaching. Preaching is different than giving an address or a speech.

Do you know why, because when the word of God is faithfully proclaimed, the holy spirit does a work in the life of the hearers. He brings conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment. He shows people exactly what you need to hear. That's why from this one passage, as I preach, God can specifically show you what you specifically need to apply. I mean, that's why when I preach, every now and again, I'll hear from somebody two or three weeks later and say, "Hey, that message you preached on forgiveness. I just needed to hear that." And I think I didn't just preach on forgiveness. That was the holy spirit speaking to you about forgiveness. "Pastor Jeff, you've been talking about tithing all the time. That's all I've been hearing."

I think I haven't done one message on tithing this year, but that's what you're hearing and you know how the holy spirit moves in your heart to show you what you need to hear. That's what he does. He says don't drift from the truth or the veracity of God's word, because he says, when we do, he gives us an example of what that's like. He says in James 1:23, "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks at his face in the mirror, for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was." People that hear and don't do are people like this, they hear a message like this or they read their Bible and they hear a word from the Lord and then, they do absolutely nothing with it.

It's people that gather for church, and by the time you make it to your car and somebody asks you, "What did God tell you today?" You say, "It was good. I don't quite remember, but it was good." That's not what God want us to do. God wants us to hear his word and then apply his word. Here's what he's speaking directly to you, and sometimes we don't like that because sometimes when God convicts us of what we need to do, we begin to argue with him and we say, "How come they don't have to do that? How come I see nobody else doing that? Why are you talking to me?" Here's why, because God loves you.

He loves you enough to speak to you about what he wants you to do, and if you want to grow in the fullness of God, do not drift away from the truth or veracity of his word. Now, what does it mean to drift away? Drift away means to pass by or to float by. It's the idea of giving up on a belief. It's the idea of a ship missing the harbor. It's somebody that comes alongside and thinks that because they're close to God, because they go to church or they're kind of close to people that love Jesus, they'll be fine. This group of people, they're not anchored to Christ. They're just kind of cruising with Christ. When push comes to shove, they're going to drift all the way on by.

Friends, I'm here to tell you on the authority of God's word, if you're not anchored to Christ now, you will not make it home to be with him. Jesus Christ wants you to be anchored to him and be anchored to him now. Now, this is why I said, may I have your attention please, because sometimes for many of us, we don't like being instructed in this way. We don't like being admonished and we don't like being challenged. The Bible really doesn't care how we feel. Have you ever noticed that? I find that the Bible challenges me. There have been times in my life, especially when I was a younger believer and I would read it, I didn't know that God's conviction was his love for me.

I thought his conviction was him telling me he didn't like me and so it was hard to read the Bible, because I always felt I was doing everything wrong. I didn't realize God was showing me, there was just a better way to live. That's what he continues to do in our life. So he says don't drift away, people that drift, they haven't been anchored in the first place. Now, this shouldn't come as a surprise to us because all throughout the Bible we have people who are walking with God that want God to challenge them. In the Old Testament, we see David in Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24. He says this, "Search me and try me, O Lord. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me into the way everlasting."

What was he saying? Hey Lord, just show me, me. Show me about myself. I need to make sure that I'm aligned with what you want because I want what you want. So whatever you want to show me, I'm willing to not only hear, but I'm willing to obey. That was the heart of David, the man after God's own heart. Sometimes, we think church is only place for instruction and certainly teaching the word is a place for instruction that results in love for God and love for one another, and there's truth to that, but it's not just teaching. I went to a seminary that taught all 66 books of the Bible, and before I went to seminary, I remember falsely thinking this, "I'm going to go to seminary. I'm going to learn everything there is to know about every book in the Bible and then I'm going to spend the rest of my life teaching it and it'll be great."

From day one I got to seminary, yeah, I learned a lot about the Bible and learned how much I didn't know about the Bible, but here's what happened to me, when I got under the ... teaching the word of God. From day one, all God did was convict me of all the things he wanted to change in me and that's never ever stopped. How many of you know that never stops? How many of you know there's never going to be a time in your life as a believer in Christ where God's going to pat you on the head on this side of heaven and say, "You made it you're perfect. Hey, good job. Just go, correct everybody else that's not like you." Never going to happen. God is constantly working in our lives, not just to teach us, but to grow us, to admonish us.

So don't drift from the truth of God's word. Be in a place that teaches the truth of God's word. If that was true of David, it was also true of Jesus' disciples. Remember on the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, he shared a meal with his disciples and at the meal, he made a startling comment. He said, "One of you will betray me." Jesus knew it was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot knew it was Judas Iscariot. Yet, what do the other 11 disciples respond? They don't say, "I know it's not me because once saved, I'm always saved." That's not what they say. They say, "Lord, it's not me. Is it? It's not me, is it? I don't want it to be me. Lord, is it me? Is it me?"

Now, if the disciples who spent three years with Jesus, who were used of him mightily to proclaim the gospel, to cast out demons and to heal people, and they did all of that under the authority of Jesus, for them to be sitting around him at the end of their life, asking that question, it's pretty telling to me. Yet, if David was asking the Lord, "Lord, search me and try me," and the disciples were saying, "Lord, search me and try me," shouldn't we be the same way today? And yet for many places in our culture today, if we were to say, "Hey, may I have your attention please? Could we talk about the gospel?" Most people would say, "Well, it can't be me because I know I'm saved no matter what. It doesn't matter how I live. It doesn't matter how I speak. It doesn't matter how I act. My pastor told me if I prayed this prayer, I go to heaven."

They're wrong. There is not a shred of biblical evidence in the Bible that somebody that just believes in a concept about Jesus is going to heaven. Let me give you an example, I believe Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president of the United States. I believe George Washington was our first president of the United States. I've never met them. Perhaps, there's a couple of you in here who have. I have not, but I believe it based upon history. I believe it based upon what I've read. I believe it based upon the credibility of those who wrote that Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president. I believe that he wrote the emancipation proclamation. I believe those things, but when I say I believe that, I'm just saying, "Yeah, I think that happened."

What I'm not saying is I believe that Abraham Lincoln is still alive. That I believe he's the Lord of the universe, that he lives inside of me, that he speaks to me every day and I obey everything that Abraham Lincoln says, because if I said that, you go get the men in the white coats and lock me up. When I talk about believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm not talking about only believing in historical facts. I'm talking about repenting from my sin and believing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. I believe that I'm a new creation, that the old things have passed away and behold, all things have been made new.

I believe that I'm indwelled by the spirit of God at that very given time. I'm not talking about just a cognitive belief. I'm talking about a change of heart. Now, why do we need to talk about this? Because truth is not something to be nodded at. It's something to be obeyed. Truth is not something that we hear and say, "Pastor, good, sir, I like that one." Okay. Glad you did. What did you do with it? How did it impact your singleness? How did it impact your marriage? How does it impact your job? How does it impact the way you raise your kids? How does it impact your finances? How does it impact the way you interact with neighbors? How does it interact who you are when you're at the store?

I mean, how does it impact every aspect of your life? And here's the truth, we don't like to talk about the Lordship of Jesus, nor do we like to talk about repentance and yet that seems to be all the writers of the Bible ever want to talk about. Repentance. It's interesting for me when you study the Bible, you see that John, the Baptist first message in Matthew chapter three, verse two was, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus Christ's first message, in Matthew four verse 17 was, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." Peter's first message that he preached at Pentecost was ... what should we do, Peter? He goes, "Repent, be baptized and you will receive the holy spirit."

Even the apostle Paul later in the Book of Acts, in Acts chapter 17 verse 30, he says this, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent." We should repent. Now why is that important? It's important because we need to understand what repentance is. Repentance is not you feeling sorrow. It's not even an emotion. It's not you getting worked up about all your past sins. It's not you making promises about what you're going to do different in the future. All of us have prayed prayers like that. "Lord, if you get me through this, I promise I'll never ever do this again." Anybody ever prayed a prayer like that? That's not repentance.

Repentance by definition literally means change of mind. Repentance is a change of mind that produces a change of life. That's what repentance is. Repentance is a change of mind that produces a changed life. If there's no changed life, there is no repentance. A husband who's an adulterer says, "I repent." We know he's repenting, if he never does it again and comes under the authority of God's word and does whatever God wants him to do from that moment on. Saying you repent is not repentance. Turning from your sin is repentance. That's why Jesus said, "Continue to bear fruit in keeping with repentance." You say, "Well, how do I repent?" The Bible says, it's a gift of the Lord. It's a gift of the Lord. Think about second Corinthians chapter seven, in verse 10.

It says, "For the sorrow, that is according to the will of God, produces a repentance without regret leading to salvation." So repentance precedes, salvation. How do you get saved? Well, there's got to be a place of repentance in that process. Why? But the sorrow of the world produces death. There's a difference between saying, "Oh, I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that." That's not repentance. Repentance is a gift from the Lord where he shows you your sin and shows you're not going to make it and shows you that you're not anchored to him and shows you don't believe in the Lord, and shows you that your sin is more important than submitting your life to Christ. That's his grace.

Romans 2:4 says, "It's the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance." Repentance is a gift that begins with God. For those of you that are believers, you know this because there was a time in your life where God showed you your sin and therefore showed you a need for the Lord in your life to save you, because if you don't ever see your sin, like what do you need a savior for? Well, I just kind of wanted to get saved, why? Because I wanted to go to heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven. The gospel is not, how can you add Jesus to your sinful life, so you can go to heaven? The gospel is not, how can you add Jesus to your sinful life so you can experience blessing on this side of heaven? That's not the gospel.

The gospel is the kindness of the Lord that shows you that you are steeped in sin and by his grace shows you the glory of Christ who died on the cross for your sins, who shed his blood for you, who rose from the dead, who threw repenting and wanting to turn from your sin and turning to Christ. You can be totally saved. You can be totally free from the penalty of sin. You can be totally free from the power of sin. Repentance is part of it. Repentance and faith are like two sides of the same coin. Repentance is God's grace showing you your sin that you need to turn from and faith is showing you the Lord Jesus Christ for who you should turn to. Repentance and faith. They go hand in hand. It's all about his kindness. If Jesus told people to repent, if John the Baptist told people to repent, if all the prophets told people to repent, I don't know why we don't have people telling people to repent.

Well, repentance is for those that really want to get serious about God. I believe Jesus is my savior. One day, I'll make him my Lord. Friends, I've been studying the Bible for 30 years and I challenge you and you can show me anywhere you want, show me somewhere in the Bible where somebody that is not walking with Christ, who is not bearing fruit, who doesn't want anything to do with Christ is accepted by Christ in heaven. You won't see it. The doctorate of eternal security is for those who are truly saved, and how do you know if you're truly saved? Because you're walking in the fullness of the spirit and you want the things that God wants. If you're saved, no one can snatch you out of God's hand. The doctrine of eternal security is a doctrine for believers, not unbelievers.

The doctrine of eternal security is not, "Well, I prayed the prayer. I believe my pastor told me I'm going to heaven so I guess I have to go to heaven." No, for many will say to me on that day, in Matthew seven, for many will say, but Lord did we not cast out demons? Lord, did we not heal people? Lord did we not attend BRAVE church? Lord was I not a small group leader, was I not on staff? Then, I will say depart from me, you worker of iniquity for I never knew you. What did they never turn from? They never turned from there iniquity. They never turned from their sin. They wanted their sin more than they wanted Christ. When you want your sin more than you want Christ, that's not salvation. Salvation is a turning from sin to say, "I want Christ." It doesn't mean that the moment you get Christ, you'll never sin again, but because you have the holy spirit in your life, he's going to continue to grow you and challenge you to continue to walk in holiness, righteousness, and truth.

That's who our God is. Friends, I got online this week. I haven't done this in a long, long time just to watch preachers preach the gospel and I can tell you there's some people out there that love the word of God that are doing it for the Lord. I love that, but it was amazing to me, the scores of them, that never opened the Bible and never said a word. Friends, I think the reality of heaven and hell are as real as anything that you'll ever know. Some of us have this idea that when we die, there's this like waiting period. There's like a waiting room and then for those of us that are Christian, we get wheeled off to the pearly gates, and those of us that aren't, we kind of think through and maybe there's this season that God is going to be gracious to us. No. No, the moment that you die, you will either be brought into the presence of Jesus Christ immediately and all of his glory, or you'll be cast into hell forever and there's no coming back.

I mean, that's the reality of this. So why does anybody talk about this? Because here's the truth, the devil doesn't want you to believe this. Some of you are mad at me because I'm preaching this, this morning. I just want you to know in the authority of God's word, you ain't mad at me. You're mad at what God's saying, because I'm not telling you anything that's not in your Bible. For those of you who say, I'm never coming back to this church, I'm here to tell you the holy spirit is powerful, he'll follow you down and chase you until you believe it. This is the truth. God loves you enough. He says don't drift. Don't drift. Don't drift. It's his kindness, that's showing you your sin. I didn't believe this. When I was growing up, I thought I was going to heaven because I was a good person, at least in my own mind compared to all my friends. Isn't it amazing how we can trick ourselves to believe we're better than others?

I thought because I went to church nearly every Sunday. I thought because I went to a Lutheran grade school because I had memorized part of Lutheran small catechism that counted for something. See, it wasn't until I got to a camp when I was 18, where this was explained to me, that I realized, "Wait a second, if this is true, I'm totally lost and I'm on the same playing field as anybody who's ever lived on the planet," and I was so angered by that, but by God's grace, that's what God used to show me. I needed the Lord to save my life. Amen. That's what I'm telling you. The toughest group of people to reach are religious people that attend church, who think they're already saved, but aren't saved. You say, "Well, none of those go to BRAVE church." I hope you're right. I hope you're right, but I beg to differ. What makes us unique?

You don't become a Christian because you walk into this building and sense the presence of the holy spirit. You don't become a Christian because the word of God is preached, and you say I like that. There has to be a time in your life where you've turned from sin and turned to Christ, and my question is when did that happen? Well, Pastor Jeff, I prayed that prayer like 30 some times. Every church goer has prayed the prayer. Praying a sinner's prayer doesn't take you to heaven. A desire to turn from your sin and turn to Christ does. Do you recognize who you are? Don't drift away from the veracity of the word. Second is this. Don't neglect the generosity of salvation. Don't neglect the generosity of salvation. You know that God so loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

The greatest gift ever been given to this world is Jesus Christ. God of God, who put on flesh the Godman, who lived the perfect life, who fulfilled the law that you couldn't, who took the wrath of his dad on the cross, who shed his blood and died. Who rose from the dead, who ascended into heaven. He's still the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he offers life to all who will turn from their sin and turn to him. That's the greatest gift ever. Don't neglect the generosity of salvation. He says this, "For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" The reason he's talking about this is because he's gotten done talking about angels. If you have time this week, you can look these passages up.

In Deuteronomy chapter 33 in verse two or Acts 7:52 or Galatians 3:19, you'll see that when God brought the law to his people, he used an angel or a group of angels to bring the law to Moses, to God's people. When Jesus showed up on the scene, just to show you how binding the law was, he said, "I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it." Not one jot or tittle of this law will change. The law was binding. If people sinned apart from the law, they were punished apart from the law. If people sinned under the law, there was punishment under the law. We see Israel's history and disobeying the law and God's just punishment for them, and then asking them return, repent, repent, get right. He says, if the law was binding and God was just in punishing those who broke the law, how much more binding is it when God sends his only son to tell us the truth about the gospel, if we neglect so great a salvation.

Now, if drifting is for those that aren't tethered to Christ, here's what neglect is. Neglect is an outright rebellion. Neglect isn't, "Man, I hate Christians. I hate the church. I hate Christianity. I don't like Pastor Jeff." That's not neglect. Neglect is this, it's disregard or being unconcerned. It's, "I know it's true. I've heard it from the time I was a little girl. I heard it from the time I was a young boy. I've been in church services, I've experienced Christ. I've felt his presence. I've worshiped. I mean, I call myself a Christian because I prayed the prayer and I've gone through all the religious routine and rituals and hoops. I've done all that, but deep down, I mean, I'm just not that into it." I'm not that concerned about it. It's not primary in my life. Jesus is not primary in my life.

I just kind of do this, but if push came to shove, I really don't mind so much. Neglect. Neglect is one of the biggest sins in our culture. It's not people that are outright rejecting Jesus. It's the people that say they love Jesus, but are just neglecting him and their obedience to him. Yeah, I don't really care. Not that important to me. I know I should be more aligned with what Jesus wants. I know I probably should get right with the Lord. My day will come. That's neglect. Neglect is I know God has more for my life. I feel it when pastor Jeff preaches, I hear it. I sense it. The holy Spirit is talking to me. I'm not against them, I'm just not ready for that yet. That's neglect and how will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation. Now, what does escape mean? Escape means to avoid. It means to flee.

It means to run away. It means to be acquitted. If God punished people under the law, even those that weren't under the law, they didn't obey the law, how much more will he punish those who aren't obedient to what he says, how much more? How will you escape? Here's what the author is saying. You won't. You will not escape. You may think everything you're doing in private is cool. You may say, "Well, I don't really worry about it. I think my good outweighs my bad." God sees it all, and the only thing he's looking for is have you turned from your sin and turn to Christ? You can't escape that, and how you respond to that will determine your entire eternity. It's not just this one passage in the Bible. This should not be shocking to us. It is all over the Bible, specifically in the New Testament, Friends, you won't escape. Let me just assure you, when you die, there's not a holding place. There is no such thing as purgatory.

There's no place you go and work off your sins. Jesus took care of them all in the cross, and you've either welcomed all of him or you haven't. If you die apart from Christ, there is no mercy and friends. There is no end. Eternal hell and punishment is just as long as eternal life is. Now, you can read authors that will tell you, "No, it's not what happens. You just get destroyed or you don't get to be with God and it's not as fun." No, no, no. Eternal hell is just as long as eternal life is. He says those will be the righteous will go into eternal life and the wicked will go into an eternal hell. It's real. That's why, if you feel like I'm passionate this morning, I am, because I think one of the biggest tragedies is not just people dying.

I think the biggest tragedy is to die apart from Christ and an even bigger tragedy is to go to a church that presents the gospel and you neglect it. You say, yeah, I kind of agree with that. I'm not going to do anything with it, and I think I'm just going to heaven because I'm a good person and I agree with Pastor Jeff and I haven't caused any problems. No, if you don't repent of your sin and trust Christ, you will go to hell, I promise you. You'll go there immediately when you'd breathe your last breath and Jesus Christ loved you so much, he came, so you never have to experience that. He came to tell you that he was the Lord. So, where do they preach the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the Bible? Well? All over the place.

I'll give you one verse, in second Corinthians chapter four, in verse five, the apostle Paul said this, "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord." Christ Jesus is Lord and ourselves, as your bond servants for Jesus Christ's sake. Friends, Jesus Christ is Lord. We have false teaching in our culture that say, "Yeah, Jesus Christ is my savior. I just don't know that I'm ready to make him Lord yet." You know what that says? Yeah, I kind of want heaven and I kind of want to bless life, but I don't want Jesus. Jesus is the Lord. If he's not the Lord in your life, then he's not your savior either. By Lord, I'm not saying you're perfect. By Lord, I'm saying you've submitted your life to the Lordship of Christ. You believe he's the Lord. You believe he's the only way. You believe he died for you.

You believe he rose from you and you no longer want to champion your sin. You want to be set free by clinging onto Christ. That's the gospel. That's the gospel of the Bible. There is no other. There is no other and how tragic it's going to be for some on judgment day who think in this life, they're a Christian because they attend worship services and they're quote, good people and they're well-liked and they've done different things, but they've never in their heart, turned from their sin and turned to Christ. You miss that, you miss everything. How will you escape? I mean, we see this all throughout the Bible. I don't have time to go into all of it today, but if you have time this week, read the parable of the soils in Mark chapter four.

In Mark chapter four, Jesus has talked about the parable of the soils. He talked about a farmer that went out to sow or a sower that went out to sow. The way sowed seed in that day was just, they reached into their bag and threw a bunch of seed out. He talked about four different kinds of soil. Some was hard soil, and when seed landed on the hard soil, the birds came and took it away. Some landed among Rocky places, had a little bit of root, grew up super fast, but because it had no root system, it withered away and died. Very similar to the first soil. Third soil was a weedy soil and as that plant grew up, the weeds choked it out, so it was unfruitful. Those first three soils, no fruit, no yield, no nothing, but then there's another kind of soil.

It's called good soil, and when word of God got in the good soil, it produced a harvest of 30, 60 or even 100 fold. Then, Jesus says this, "He who has ears, let him hear." You know what he's saying? May I have your attention please? That's what he was saying. Here's what he was saying, "There's nothing wrong with my word. I am the word." The problem is the heart of man. If you have a hard heart, that is Satan that comes and takes away the word. If you have a Rocky soiled heart, you might spring up, be super excited for a while, but when tribulation comes, you're going to fall away. You might have a heart that is starting to grow, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things, choke it out, making it unfruitful.

Friends, those first three soils aren't Christians. You say, "Well, Pastor Jeff, sometimes I go through a season." Yeah, I get it. There are seasons. We're talking about a quality of soil that's producing permanently. Yeah, we have times in our life, we have a little rocky this and we got to turn back and yeah, we have times in our life where we have a desire for other things. I'm talking about what's your life known by? Yes, is it known by your hardheartedness? Is it known by your joy with no root? Is it known by, that you won't take any tribulation or is it known by choking out and you care about the things of the world or is it known by your good soil? Because when the word of God gets in good soil, soil that's repented and turned to Christ. There's a harvest of 30, 60 or even 100 fold. What does it mean?

Christians produce fruit. Christians produce fruit. No fruit over time, examine yourself, make sure you're in the faith. How has your life changed since you quote unquote, trusted Christ? I said I was a Christian for a long time. Nothing changed. My love for sports grew. My love for myself got better. After becoming a Christian, I started watching, "God give me a love for him and for other people I didn't have." I still see God changing me. There's fruit and God doesn't show us all our fruit. He just wants us to know that that's what he does. John 15 tells us the same thing, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me will bear much fruit," but apart from me, you can do nothing, nada, if you're Hispanic. Nothing. Getting ready for Iglesia BRAVE. One day friends, I'm going to preach there.

Listen, it's true. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, "Do not fear those who can kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Don't worry about dying. Dying is not the worst thing that could happen to you. Dying apart from Christ is the worst thing that could ever happen to you. No matter what you experienced in this life, if you have Christ, even if you die, that's not as big of a deal. He who has ears, let him hear. Listen up, may I have your attention please? Why? Because if you go to a place that teaches a false gospel, what happens is you get inoculated and then you get angry when a true gospel like this comes forth and you get mad. The reason you're mad is because you've been inoculated with a false gospel.

You kind of like the idea that, "Hey, I just want to live my same sinful life, and this pastor told me if I live my same sinful life and never turn from it, I can still go to heaven. As long as I prayed this prayer at the church," and he's wrong. He's wrong. I mean, here's the truth, when we don't preach the fullness of the gospel and we don't tell people about what sin is and the realities of heaven and hell and call people to turn from their sin and turn to Christ, all we do is become waiting rooms for hell. We become a place that serves coffee, we become a place that encourages people in a really nice, but all we are is waiting rooms for hell. We're not going to be a waiting room for hell. We're going to be a church that advances the kingdom through the church with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I mean, I'm just going to give you a little preview when we get to Hebrews chapter 10, if you want to flip over to that. I'm just going to read this today. I'm not going to exposit it but just hear this, because we think that, "No, no, no, you don't understand pastor Jeff. I pray the prayer so I know I'm forgiven, I can do whatever I want." Okay, you won't find it in the Bible. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26, for if we go on sinning willfully, that means I'm going to continue my sinful lifestyle, if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. You continue to live in your willful sinful condition. There's no sacrifice for you. There's no payment for your sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of fire, which will consume the adversaries.

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses, how much severe punishment do you think he will deserve, who has trampled under foot, the son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of grace, for we know him who said, vengeance is mine. I will repay, and again, the Lord will judge his people. Now listen to this first. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. If you've not turned from your sin and turned to Christ, I'm telling you the moment you die, it is a terrifying thing. Terror of all terror. There's some things going on in our world that trouble me. I don't know if they do you. There's some things I see and like, man that's not good and that's going ... I see all that.

I'm here to tell you on the authority of God's word, there's nothing more terrifying than to not turn from your sin and trust Christ, because one day you will face him and it will be terrifying. Knee knocking, shaking, terrifying. So basic question, what if you don't know the word of God? Don't neglect salvation. Don't neglect your salvation. He goes on to say this, after it was at first spoken through the Lord, so who brought this message? Jesus did. Study Jesus. You'll see him talk about the wheat and the tears and how they both grow together and they both look like they're the same until the time of judgment, until the time of harvest and one becomes a weed and one becomes wheat and they look the same until they harvest.

Don't be the weed. Be connected to the vine. It was Jesus that brought it first, it came through the Lord. It was confirmed to us by those who heard. Well, who heard the gospel? Certainly his disciples did. Certainly there were several others in the new Testament that did. What happens is Jesus brought the message, and then those who heard him responded, they also started giving the message. And how did they do it? Not only in word, it was confirmed to us by those who heard God, also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and various miracles and by the gifts of the holy spirit, according to his own will. How does God use it? He uses his people to get the message out. Oftentimes with our mouth and our lifestyle.

Other times he accompanies it by signs. Signs are something miraculous that point back to Jesus, raising the dead, seeing people that get healed. That's sometimes how God chooses to use it, to bring people to himself. Sometimes miracles, miracles go against the natural order where we're like, "I don't even know how that happened. That goes against what the doctor said. That goes against what science says. That goes against everything." God did something miraculous. He does it by various powers where you see in an individual that loves the Lord, who is filled by his holy spirit, do something in the kingdom where you see them and you say, I know them. They're pretty ordinary but when they're doing that task for the Lord, there's something super natural that's coming out of them.

There's a power, when they speak. There's a power when they serve. There's a power in them when they're honoring the Lord. Then, how else he use it? Through his holy spirit. Friends, he uses all these same measures today. I've listened to some people exegete this text. I think they butcher it by saying that's what God used to do. He's just talking about his apostles there. Now, it says all that heard, there were 3000 that heard on Pentecost. All who heard were being used by God to bring the gospel. Sometimes God, accompanies it with signs, sometimes miracles, sometimes power, always by his holy spirit. He hasn't changed. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So don't neglect the generosity of salvation.

Third is this, don't discount the reality of the age to come. Don't discount the reality of the age to come. Some of us are so fixated on this world. We don't even have time to think about what's coming, and I'm here to tell you what's coming is going to last longer and is way greater than anything you'll ever experience here. Don't discount the reality of the age to come. Notice what he says in verse five, "For he did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking." Meaning this angels are not going to be ruling in the coming age. Who's going to be ruling in the coming age? Jesus Christ is going to be ruling in the coming age and who else is going to be co-heirs and ruling along with him? Those of us who have trusted him, that's who's going to rule? I mean, you go back to the original creation story in Genesis 1:26 and 27.

We see that on the crown of God's creation, he created human beings in his likeness. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. God created two genders. Okay, and God created both genders in the image of God, both male and female are created in his image and they were created to have dominion on the earth. We let go of that dominion because of sin. So in some way, we don't have the full dominion we will have, but one day when Jesus Christ rules and reigns and takes all the wicked off the planet and we rule and reign with him, we will have dominion with Jesus and the angels as it says in Hebrews chapter one and verse 14, they're going to be servants forever. They're going to help serve, but don't make this mistake.

Paul even says in first Corinthians 6:23, "We will judge the angels." You don't worship angels. In God's created order were higher than the angels. Although for a time, we're lower. So the author of Hebrews quotes, Psalm chapter eight and notice what he says, "But one has testified somewhere saying," now the one is David, through the power of the holy spirit in Psalm chapter eight. Now why does he say someone somewhere has. Maybe he doesn't know that it was in the Bible? Well, he does because whoever this author is quotes about more old Testament scripture than anybody else, word, perfect. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the old Testament. This is word perfect to the Greek translation of the old Testament.

He knows it comes from the Bible. He's just saying ... you don't want to mention David. He's talking about the glory of Christ somewhere someone said, meaning, this is God that spoke this. You can read it in Psalm chapter eight. What did he say? What is man that you remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him? What is it about human beings that you care? What is it about your son that you care so much about, for you have made him a little while lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor. Some versions read, you have made him a little lower than the angels. Some versions read, you have made him for a little while lower than the angels. Some talk about scope in time.

Some talk about just that in terms of position, both are true. When God sent the second person of the Trinity Jesus Christ to this earth for a season, he humbled himself, and for those 33 years became obedient to his father, became obedient to death, even to the point of death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him and gave him the name that was above every name. What did Jesus do? He humbled himself. He became a little lower than the angels for a little bit of time. Friends, he's not lower than the angels now. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. He's the king of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's ruling from heaven and he's coming back soon to a city near you and you better be ready, right?

That's who he is. So he's saying, well, what is man that you can care about them? What was it about your son that you cared about? Well, here's why because God's son is his one and only son. Human beings are created in the image of God, that's why he cares about human beings so much, and how has he crowned us with glory and honor? He crowned his son with glory and honor, but because we're in Christ, we've been crowned that way too. I love this. You talk to people sometime, I ask him how they're doing and what do they tell you? "Fine. Okay. Have an okay week." If you're a Christian, maybe this could be a response you try this week, because I'm in Christ. I'm crowned with glory and honor, and a little less than the angels for a period of time. Until I rule as a co-heir with Christ in the coming kingdom, I'm doing pretty good. How are you? Amen.

That's what we want to think about because the devil wants us to focus here and yeah, there are blessings here, and if you want to get married, get married here and if you want to have kids, have kids here. You know what, pursue that job that you enjoy, make a difference for the kingdom and make the money you can make and be as generous as you can. All those things are great and God gives us glimpses of blessing, but nothing is better than the age to come. Nothing is going to be better than the millennial reign and the eternal state with God. God cares for us. He's going to give us dominion over the earth. He says, I've appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet for in subjecting all things, he left nothing that is not subject to him.

When Jesus Christ comes back, there's nothing that's not going to be under his authority and rule. It's not as though Jesus will say, "Well, I'll run America. I'll run Russia, I'll run China," and some other people can run. No, he's running it all. He's running the universe, he's running everything. There is nothing that he won't be running, and we as men and women who are in Christ as Romans chapter 8:17 tells us that we're co-heirs with him. We're God's children. We're going to get to rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ. How awesome is that? That's what he says. Don't discount the reality of the age to come. Most people that neglect the gospel don't think about the fact that heaven and hell are real places.

Most people don't think about the fact that this is just like the rehearsal for the real drama, that's going to play out, that everything we're doing in this life is to prepare ourself for meeting Jesus Christ and being ready to enter in that kingdom with him. Amen. Then finally he says this, but now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. You might ask, well, why? If it's true, that all this stuff is true. Jeff, why don't I see it? Let me give you the fourth reason. Don't underestimate the severity of your sin. Don't underestimate the severity of your sin. Your sin keeps you from seeing reality. My sin keeps me from seeing reality. Second Corinthians chapter four, and verse four says this, "The God of this world has blinded the mind of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Friends, I want you to know something because of your sin. When your born, you are blind to the things of God. When I hear somebody say, "I've always been a Christian," I say, you've always been blind. You are born blind. You can't see the glory of God unless Jesus Christ, intervenes and removes the blinders from you, where you can see your sin and see his glory. I was blind to it for 18 years. I have my own way of seeing the world. I have my own way of being religious. I have my own way of believing that I believed in Jesus because what else was I going to believe in, but I didn't have a personal relationship with Christ. I never wanted to turn for my sin. I never turned to Christ. I didn't like people that talked like that. Blind. You know what the Bible says, "Not only are you born blind, you're born spiritually dead."

Ephesians two says we were dead in our transgressions and sins. So that's not a good start. Blind and dead. Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories about a lost coin, a lost sheep and two lost sons. Not only are you dead and blind, but you're also lost. Then, how about this word? This is the word I wanted to use today. You're wretched. Most of us don't like that word. Some of you said, Pastor Jeff, that does not build up my self-esteem. That's what God says we are. Romans 3:23 says, "We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." In Romans chapter seven, Paul who through the power of the holy spirit is penning that book. He says, "Oh, what wretched man, I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death?" You know what wretched means? Wretched means a person of despicable or base character.

Do you see yourself that way? I would've been offended if somebody would've told me, that's how they saw me. I'm just telling you on the authority of God's word. I'm not telling you that you're despicable. I'm not telling you your base character. I'm telling you when you're born because of your sin. That's how God the Father sees you, because he's perfect and holy. If you're really not wretched, then why do you want to get saved? What do you want to get saved from? I don't know, heaven sounds better than hell. I guess I'll go there. That's not salvation. Yes, Jesus Christ came to save you, but it wasn't just only to get you to heaven. It was to see your sin, so you turn to him and have his eternal life on the inside now and forevermore.

Do you see yourself as wretched? Because if you don't, why would you want to be saved? Well, I don't really want to be saved, I just want to know that I'm going to heaven and I just want God to bless my sinful life. That's not salvation. Salvation is a desire for a man, woman, boy or girl that through God's grace experiences the messages of repentance, who sees their sin and goes running to Jesus and said, "I need that. That's what I want. That's what I need." Not this. Yeah, I know I did a few bad things and I still do a few bad things now, but I know I'm going to heaven. By God's mercy and kindness, has he ever showed you what a wretch you were? Has he ever showed you, you're not going to make it.

Has he ever showed you that you should turn to him and be saved? I remember when I got saved, that was the first time I ever heard that. At the end of the camp that week, they said that we could stand to our feet and we could say, "This week, I committed my life to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ." Now I thought I was a Christian when I went to campus. As a matter of fact, in the little small groups we had every night, I was answering all the questions because I knew the Bible when I was religious, but I was neglecting so great at salvation. I was too prideful to think, "Well I don't want to tell people I wasn't a Christian cause what would they think?" I remember that night when they give that invitation, I think I was the first person in the room to stand and I couldn't wait to get those words out of my mouth, and when I did, I began weeping for like two hours.

I knew God had changed me, when I got home, I remember telling my dad, I'm never going to church again. I was wrong, but I said, because I was lied to. Everybody at our church told me I was going to heaven because I was a good person, and I was kind and I did the right things and my good outweigh my bad. That's the way I understood it. They didn't tell me the truth. Friends, I'm here because I love you. I'm telling you the truth. I'm telling you the truth on the authority of God's word. There is no other way to salvation, but through Jesus, he is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes through the father except through him. There's a song that was written a long time ago called Amazing Grace.

Remember that song? You know the lyrics of that song, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a good person like me. Some people don't like the word wretched, but before Christ, that's what we are, and I was praying about this as I was preparing this message and in the first service I did this and I'm so glad that I did because I think it would be spiritual malpractice on my part to teach this message about what you need to turn from and who you need to turn to and not give you the opportunity to respond, because there's some of you in this place and there were several in the first service, I know there were several in Westminster. I know there were several on mine because I heard back from them. That would say today, if the world ended, you're not anchored to Christ.

You've been neglecting so great a salvation. You've been thinking that you're close, but you know you're not and in this moment, in a couple seconds, I'm going to have you stand to your feet, if you want to respond to Christ and here's why because some of you are like, "I'm not standing, my wife is here. I'm not standing, my husband is here. My boss is here. I haven't even been to church before, what do they guys think of me?" Here's what the Bible says. There is more rejoicing in heaven by the angels over one person who repents than over 99 that don't need to. There are some of you here and in Westminster and others who are listening to my voice right now and I'm going to ask everybody to participate. I'm not asking, have you prayed the prayer of salvation? Most church goers have prayed that like 373 times just to make sure.

I'm not asking you to rededicate your life. I'm asking you in the depth of your heart, when was it that you actually turned from your sin and turned to Jesus, where Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life, where you want him to rule and reign in and through you? When was that? If you say, I don't know when that is. Let's make now your time. Let's make today the day of salvation, so if that's you in the show, I'm just going to invite you to stand right where you're at and say, "Jesus, I need you in my life." Thank you very much. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. All right. I'm going to ask you to stay standing for just a minute. I want you to know something, there's nowhere in the Bible where it says, "Hey, rededications and all these things." I want you to know the enemy is going to lie to you and say what you just experienced wasn't true. You won't even be out to your car before he lies to you.

What you just experienced is the holy spirit in your life, convicting you of sin, righteousness and judgment. What you experienced today is the Lord saying, "I want you to walk with me all the days of your life," and he's going to bring you home. Amen. Amen. So can we just invite everybody everywhere to stand here for just a minute? And before we close with that song, Amazing Grace, which I think is appropriate for us to sing today, here's what I want to do. I just want to pray and we'll just have everybody out loud repeat after me and just pray. Even if you prayed this before, let's pray together. Dear Jesus.

Dear Jesus.

I believe that you're God.

I believe you're God.

I believe you died on the cross for all my sins.

I believe you died on the cross for all my sins.

I believe you rose from the dead.

I believe you rose from the dead.

Right now, I turn from my sin.

Right now, I turn from my sin.

I confess you as my personal Lord and savior.

I confess you as my personal Lord and savior.

Let me pray for you, Lord Jesus, when we repent of our sin and by faith turned to you, we know that we are transformed. We're a new creation. The old is gone and behold, all things have been made new and Lord you're doing a work in our lives. Lord, we just praise you for the work that you're doing, and even for those that didn't stand, the good news is that your holy spirit will continue to do an incredible work in their heart. That any time, in any place you can turn to Jesus. Lord, do a work in our church and glorify your name here, and Lord for the eternities that you're changing right now, here and in Westminster and those who hear my voice, Lord, I just pray that you would help people walk in the fullness of who they are and they would see changes this week.

Ways that they see the world differently. Ways that they hear you differently. Ways that they respond differently. Lord, we know it's all by your grace. There's nothing we've done here today, this has all been a work of you and we give you all glory, all honor and praise as we sing to you, these great lyrics of Amazing Grace in Jesus name. Amen. Can we praise God this morning?