4yKNYtZxQRU

1:10Well, again, we're back in Hebrews with the exhortation to us explicitly stated in our text this morning, pay attention to Jesus. That's been the message that's been building up in chapter one, all the way to this point. We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard. The exhortation is that we pay attention to what God has said in the person and work of Jesus. See, there's a great danger in drifting away from him, and that is why there is an exhortation to pay close attention.

1:57You know, last time in verse 14 of chapter 1, are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? We looked at the great dignity in receiving Christ, the incredible dignity that God gives to those who are to inherit salvation. All the angels themselves are ministering spirits to them. That's why you're not to pay attention to the angels, you are to pay attention to the Son. So great dignity is in store for those who pay attention to Jesus, the inheritors of salvation. But there is great disaster or great danger in store for those who drift away from him. Remember my years in California, almost every year we'd hear the story of a surfer or an individual off the coast just.

3:00Lollygagging around in the water, unsuspectingly getting swept away in the riptide and carried out to sea. Just as a careless surfer can get caught up in the rift tide and dragged out to sea, so a churchgoer, a careless churchgoer, can actually be swept away from knowing Christ, even in the midst of attending church regularly. Being swept away from truly knowing Christ, from really knowing who He is. And imagine for a moment a church where the gospel is faithfully preached. Hopefully, you don't have to imagine too hard.

3:43But now, picture some individuals who frequently sit among this congregation. They hear the gospel proclaimed, they sing the songs that we sing. Sometimes they may even nod in agreement with the things they hear, maybe even an occasional amen from time to time. But then something happens to them when they leave. They leave the church doors and they neglect what they hear. They go about other things. It's easy to do, isn't it? To get caught up in the pursuits and the pressures and the problems of life and to get distracted and to let that grab our attention rather than the message that we have heard.

4:30And there are those who frequent church, but they never really embrace the gospel because they get caught up, swept away. Their neglect of the gospel carries them away from God in their day-to-day routine, and it ultimately plunges them into spiritual ruin. This danger is real for the individuals in this church and real for even churches as a whole. But the main exhortation of the book of Hebrews is: don't let this happen to you. Don't let that happen to us. It doesn't have to be you. I appreciate what John Owen, whose commentary on the book of Hebrews is encyclopedic. It is a multi-volume, very lengthy. But I love how he condensed the purpose of the book of Hebrews. He says this: the apostles' main aim in this whole letter was to encourage the Hebrews to be steadfast in the faith of the gospel and diligent about the ways and means by which they might be established in their faith. The ways and means. Be diligent, friends, brothers and sisters. Be diligent in those ways and means whereby you can be established in the faith and go through life as one in the faith, not having merely heard, but one who has internalized the gospel, who has been gripped by the gospel, and so goes through life, one of faith. It's a very important message.

6:26Many in the people in the church that the Hebrews was written to, they were wanting to leave. The pressures, the persecutions, other pursuits, that kind of thing was causing them to let go of the gospel and sweeping them away. But that's true of us. We see that same condition in our own hearts, don't we? Oftentimes we remember what we shouldn't remember and we forget what we should remember. And the great disaster of all of this is to miss out on the great salvation in verse 3 called so great a salvation that God has for his people. So how does that happen? How do we drift away and plunge ourselves into disaster? How does that happen?

7:26Well, there's a very discernible progression in our text. This morning, and that's what I want to look at: a progression in these verses of how one progresses into disaster. So that's what I'm looking at, progression into disaster. And I want you to see, so that you're not ignorant about these things, I want you to see how one goes from just casually hearing the gospel into inescapable disaster. And I want you to see that so that you will take John Owen's advice or take the writer of Hebrews' advice and be very diligent about the ways and means of the faith.

8:13So that this won't be you. We need to be diligent in the ways and means of salvation. So, first of all, how does this progression into disaster begin? Well, it begins by failing to pay attention to the gospel. Look back at verse 1. For this reason, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard. For this reason, looking back to everything that's been said in chapter 1, for this reason, because of who Jesus is, and because of the great salvation, and who the angels are, that they are ministers to those who are to inherit salvation. For this reason, for who Jesus is and the great privilege there is in being among those who are saved, for this reason, we must pay much closer attention. Attention to what we have heard. So, drifting away begins by failing to pay attention. Failing to pay attention to the gospel. You see, there's a kind of attention that the gospel deserves, and we need to pay attention to the gospel with the kind of attention that the gospel deserves.

9:25It's like relaxing your grip. That's where the drift begins: relaxing your drift. Notice we must, the word must, it is necessary. We must engage ourselves in doing something, or else drift happens. Just going with what the plain meaning of the text says. We must pay attention, much closer attention, much more abundant attention. That's the idea. We must pay attention. What does that mean? We must turn our minds to something. You must pay attention. The idea of paying attention is that awareness that comes about through careful inspection, careful analysis.

10:16So you need to turn your mind to the gospel. Stop merely hearing the gospel and letting it flow through your brain. You need to let that gospel sink into your heart with the intention of awareness. Obeying it, heeding it. I remember when I was little, I went to a birthday party, and there was this great treasure hunt. And they handed out a map and said, Okay, kids, go find the treasure. Now, the map was there so that we would find the treasure. I told my friend, We don't need the map.

10:55And he said, Really? Okay, I think the treasure is over here. Come on. We took off. And after a search party found us, it was evident I had led him astray. I didn't pay attention to what I should have been paying attention to. You see, God isn't trying to keep his ways from you. That's why he's given you the gospel. That's why he's given you the truth. He's given you a map to great treasure because he wants you to find it.

11:34So pay much more closer attention to what we have heard. Notice that. The things proclaimed. There's great things that have been proclaimed among us. Great things in the gospel. Details, promises. But that's where it begins. The progression into disaster begins by failing to pay attention. To the gospel, which then, point number two, leads to being swept away from the gospel. Failing to hold on to the gospel is going to lead to being swept away from the gospel. Look back at Hebrews 2:1. For this reason, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard. So that, here it is, so that we do not drift away from it. Drift away. It's a passive word. Something is carrying you away. But the verb is very strong. The word is swept away, carried away. It pictures something that's unanchored being carried downstream by the current.

12:50Force pulls you away from a fixed point. And this is what happens when you let go, when you begin to ease your grip. There is a current that pulls you downstream. And that's what life in a fallen world is like, isn't it? You know, this world isn't falling, isn't drifting toward God. It's doing the opposite. It drifts away from God. There are cares and things that are happening in a fallen world that sweep us from God. Many forces at work. There's distraction, there's forgetfulness. As I mentioned earlier, there's the pressures, the pursuits, and the problems. Of life that serve as a current, that tend to get our distract, take our attention. Then there's our innate weakness.

13:42But the bottom line is: if we fail to pay careful attention to Jesus, we will get caught up in these downstream currents of life that take us away from God and all the good things that He wants to give us in the gospel. So, the progression into disaster, it begins by failing to pay attention to the gospel, which leads to being swept away from the gospel, which leads to neglecting God's salvation. Verb, I'll show you in verse 3: look at how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation. That's the progression of the verbs in this section. Failure to pay attention leads to being swept away, which leads to neglecting or disregarding. It's a strong word. It's not just, oops, I lost something, but it's neglect like, I disregard this, I neglect this, a willful forgetfulness, a high-handed disregard.

14:55It's neglect, a lack of intention. Leads to greater distance, which leads to a blatant disregard. Neglect. The word here is to neglect something is to fail to carry out a duty. A duty that is reasonable, a reasonable expectation of you. That's what neglect is about. You should respond appropriately in a given situation. And if you don't respond appropriately, shame on you. That's what neglect is. Certainly in salvation. Who God sent and what he said and what he did demands a response from us.

15:52All that was great. All that dying for sin and all that stuff, and great, all that resurrection, all that, all that's great. No, it demands something. So great a salvation. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Were there a large, how should we escape if we escape such an abundant, such a generous, such a large, such a huge salvation? We neglect something like that. How will we escape the inevitable cost? Consequences of that.

16:34Many of you probably enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner. And many of you probably hosted. You put on a lot of effort to prepare the table. Some of you just showed up and enjoyed somebody else's hospitality. Well, listen, if you showed up at somebody's house and they went to all the trouble to make you a big Thanksgiving dinner, it demands a response, doesn't it? You should at least say, thank you. You should say, I appreciate you. I enjoyed celebrating with you. How much more does the salvation, such a great salvation, demand a response from us? And rightfully so.

17:25You know, there's several implications of neglecting the gospel. Let me just in the very word neglect, there are several implications that we need to be mindful of. First of all, duty. When you neglect something, that implies there is a duty that's expected. And in the gospel, in the proclamation of the gospel, you can be sure there is a duty that is expected of you that God expects of you. Think about man's duty. Number one, we have a duty to image God.

18:03We have the duty to do what is right. That's something God expects of us. He's made that very clear. We should do what is right. And sometimes we don't. Which brings us to a third duty that God expects. When you don't do what's right, you need to recognize, and God expects you to recognize your failure. And when we do recognize our sin and our failure, there's a fourth expectation that God has: a duty. We are to make things right. We are to make things right with God and with others. He expects us to make things right. Now, we can't undo sin, but we can bring the offering that He has given us to present before Him, which is Jesus Christ's sacrifice. And that's a duty in the gospel. To say that you have no sin is to make God out to be a liar. No, He expects you to make things right with Him and with others. Number five, duty. Sixth, He expects you to seek to honor God more perfectly in the future. These are duties, very basic duties. And if you boil all that down to one word, Word, it's faith. What does God expect from you in the gospel? Faith.

19:39Listen, gratitude, before there's gratitude, there's got to be faith. Before there's repentance, guess what? There's got to be faith. Before there's confession, guess what? There's got to be faith. Before there's restitution, there's got to be faith. Before there's sanctification and growing in Christ's likeness, there's got to be faith. Before you can celebrate the gospel and all that, there's got to be faith. Before you can bow down and worship him as he ought to be worshiped, there's got to be faith. That is the reasonable care. That's what duty means. Reasonable care. God expects reasonable care from us.

20:22And he desires that from every individual who hears the gospel. He expects reasonable care, duty. So one implication of the word neglect is this idea of duty. But also, second, there's this idea of a breach of duty. Those who refuse and do not respond to the gospel in faith, whether it's an act of defiance or whether it's by some kind of culpable omission, they shirk their duty. A breach of duty. You see, look, I don't care who you are, God expects us to recognize our need of Him. There's a cemetery over there. We're all heading to the grave. Do you not know that we're dying? Yes, we die. God expects you to get it. The same God who created you knows how to keep you alive, and He expects you to come to Him for that life, a union with Him spiritually, which ultimately matures in physical resurrection and life with Him.

21:47But God expects us to recognize our need. We need Him, we need His supply, and God expects you to know that you need to worship Him. You shouldn't worship yourself, you ought to get that pretty easily. You shouldn't worship anybody else. It's good for you to worship Him and worship Him alone. And so He expects it. And it's good that He expects this. There's a third implication of this idea of neglect. There's duty, then there's breach of duty, and then there's the damages caused by the breach of duty. Duty. So, as a result of not responding to the gospel appropriately, God is dishonored and others are harmed. When you live as if you're the only one to be pleased, inevitably you dishonor God and you offend and hurt and harm others, and the universe suffers for it. Yeah, we don't live on, we're not a bunch of people who are isolated such that what we do doesn't impact everyone else in the world around us.

23:10But there's a fourth implication of duty: not only is there duty, breach of duty, and the damages caused, there's the cause of the damages. Who's to blame for this negligence? Well, it's not God, it's the sinner who failed to respond to God's reasonable expectation, and therefore they will endure the consequences of the breach of duty. It's the idea of neglect. It goes through criminal cases all the time or civil cases. You ever been sued? It's like there's duty, breach of duty, damages caused by that breach, and then a cause, and the one. Who is tagged with the cause has to make restitution.

24:07So, failing to, or the progression into disaster begins by failing to pay attention to the gospel, which leads to being swept away from the gospel, which leads to neglecting God's salvation, which leads to inescapable disaster. Inescapable disaster. And that's what verses 2 through 4 are about. I want to quickly go through these and look at four truths about the disaster that awaits those who allow themselves to neglect the gospel. And then we'll come to that disaster. What is the disaster? We'll look at that as well. First of all, first truth about the disaster that awaits is that the disaster is just. The disaster is just. Look at Hebrews 2:2. For if the words spoken through angels proved unalterable and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, well, he's going to go down the line of thinking. The disaster is just. There is a just penalty.

25:20And look there, the word spoken through angels. What is that word? That's the law of Moses. The law of Moses, which was spoken through the angels. Even though the law, how does that work? Think about it. Even though the law was from God, the Bible is clear that it was mediated through angels. That's the very last thought of chapter 1 about the angels being the ministering spirits that are sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.

25:54That they're ministering spirits, and one of the important ways the angels served in this salvation enterprise was their role in bringing forth the law of Moses. And the evidence for this, we don't study this a whole lot, but it's there. Evidence is both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. You remember in the Song of Moses, way back in Deuteronomy 33, before he dies, he blesses the children of Israel and he puts forth this song. And in verse 2, he says this: The Lord came from Sinai and dawned upon them from Seir, the Israelite nation. He shone forth from Mount Peran, and he came from the midst of 10,000 holy ones. And the Septuagint goes on to read, At his right hand were angels before them.

26:53Not much is made about the angelic role in the Old Testament, but it's there. But certainly in the New Testament, it's spelled out a little more explicitly. You remember when Stephen was before the Jewish council and they're about to kill him? What does he say in Acts 7:53? He says, You guys, you guys received the law as ordained by angels and yet refused to keep it. Paul, you remember we just spent some time in going through the book of Galatians in 3.19, Paul says this: Why is the law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. So, again, the New Testament affirms this mediation of angels involved in the giving of the law to Moses. Now, if you think about that, two layers of mediation took place when God gave his law to Israel. First, there's the angels give it to Moses. Second, Moses gives it to Israel. That's how the law of Moses comes into effect. So, now, now we all of a sudden are at a vantage point to understand why, in chapter one, the author of Hebrews is making such a big deal about why you should pay attention to the Son.

28:30More so than angels. He's coming to the law, and he's going to spend the book about why you should be listening and paying attention to the details of the gospel and understand how they illuminate what has been said already in the book of Moses. But it's interesting when you look at this emphasis upon the mediation of how the law came into effect. But you remember in the Abrahamic covenant, when God gave the covenant to Abraham, there was no mediator. God shows up, fiery pot. You remember walking around the dead pieces. And in the new covenant, it's God Himself. It's the Son Himself. He doesn't send the angels, but Jesus Himself, as Son of God, God Himself, comes to speak to us.

29:28And so there's a just penalty for those who disregard, who do not pay attention. A just penalty. What is just? It means something that's right and fair. A penalty. What is that? A payment, punishment, recompense. So a just penalty is a fair payment proportional to the crime. And he's saying those who do not pay attention to Jesus will receive a just penalty. A payment. A fair payment proportional to their crime for neglecting God's man of salvation, his way and means of salvation.

30:15If, look at what he says, if, the conditional situation, if the law, which came through angels, was firm or not able to be altered, unalterable, then how much more is the gospel firm in what it says? I think sometimes we come to the gospel and we think, oh, he didn't really mean that. We sweep it all under this notion of grace, as if grace is somehow, well, God doesn't really mean what he says he means. That's not what grace means.

30:44Grace is favor. And part of that favor is instructing you and exhorting you to come to him in the way and means which he has provided. What the author is saying is, if one violated the law by refusing to hear it and had to suffer the consequences, even if it was one little transgression or one little disobedience, there was payment for that. If such was the law, how much more is this going to be true of the gospel? If the words spoken through angels proved to be unchangeable, how much more will we take seriously the words of Jesus himself? Much more are those words not going to change?

31:35That's what he's saying. It's interesting, is that the law itself expected people to pay attention to Jesus. In fact, this was Jesus' whole situation with the religious leaders who rejected him. He said, Look, you cannot be listening to the law, truly, and not figuring out who Jesus is. This is what he says in John 5:45 with those who kill him. They thought they were following the law of Moses. He says, This, do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

32:30We'll look at the just penalty in a moment. But whatever it is, what this text is saying here in 2:2 is that there is a just penalty for disobeying the gospel, and those who disobeyed the gospel will certainly experience it. And the disaster is just. So, look about this disaster. First of all, the first. Truth about the disaster that awaits those who allow themselves to neglect the gospel is that the disaster is just. Second truth is that the disaster is inexcusable. Look at verse 3. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord and it was confirmed to us by those who heard? You know why it's inexcusable?

33:33Because the gospel is well attested. Its validity is established by its well-attested sources. The first source of the truth of the gospel is the Lord Himself. Look at first spoken through the Lord. After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, the gospel was first preached by Jesus. Now, how do we understand this? Well, we know that in the Old Testament, certainly the gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham. It says so. It said the gospel preached beforehand to Abraham said that all the world would be blessed through Abraham, through his seed, and through the faith of Abraham.

34:30And the law provided a sketch of salvation. But here's what's different: what waited in the New Testament. The promise of the gospel that was revealed in the Old Testament awaited Christ's fulfillment in the first advent before it could be proclaimed. Christ began preaching the good news. If you remember in Mark chapter 1, very first verse, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is the beginning of the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Mark goes into telling us about that. And where did it start? You remember after John was put up in prison. Then Jesus comes and he starts preaching the gospel in verse 15. And he says this, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

35:26And that's where he starts. The validity of the gospel is that it first came to us from the mouth of our Lord. And you really can't appreciate this until you put into context all that this touches upon from the first chapter. He says a lot. You remember all that the writer said in chapter 1 about who Jesus is, who this Son is. He gave us all kinds of reasons to pay attention to Jesus. You remember. No further revelation is going to be given. Verse 1, verse 2. He is heir of all things. Jesus is creator of all things. Verse 2. He radiates God's glory. Verse 3 of chapter 1. He upholds all things.

36:14Chapter 1, verse 3. He purifies his people. He is seated in the most exalted place in heaven. You should be listening to Jesus. And then he goes on in verses 5 through 13 of chapter 1 on the multiple ways that Jesus is superior to the angels. His name is superior to the angels. He is son. His rule, his preferences, his joy are going to characterize eternity forever. So pay attention to Jesus. He is forever. Pay attention to him. He is the one who is going to author the new creation that is coming and determine your place and all that. You need to pay attention to Jesus.

36:57All of his enemies will be put down. Pay attention to him. And then it comes to the end, verse 14 of chapter 1, and he speaks about that great dignity that is for those who receive him. You see, it's no small matter that this individual personally came and has communicated to us the incredible truths of the gospel. Don't let go of them. Pay attention. Second source that affirmed truth of the gospel is confirmed by those who heard back at verse 3. The whole record of Christ's ministry came through those who heard Jesus firsthand.

37:50As I said earlier, another sermon, this is why I don't think Paul is the direct author here, because Paul was not a first-generation author. I mean, Paul, the writer of Hebrews, is not a first-generation author, and neither is the audience a first-generation audience. Though I do think it represents Paul's thoughts. But the third validating factor of the gospel has to do with God's testimony. Look at verse 4. God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. Signs, wonders, miracles, gifts. All these are tokens of God's affirmation of their message.

38:44It's like God, as they preached, and things were happening that could only be explained by something that God can do. It was God's testifying moment, validating and affirming their message. Amen from heaven. Guthrie, one commentator says it like this: the language used here is legal, suggesting that God has entered the courtroom of history to corroborate the testimony of those who followed the Lord by proclaiming salvation. And it's clear that those who, the audience of Hebrews, was very much familiar with these signs, these wonders, these miracles and gifts. They were very much, very much aware of these things.

39:42But the third truth, the third truth I want to come to about the disaster that awaits those who allow themselves to drift away is that the disaster is ineescapable. Not only is it inexcusable, but the disaster is ineescapable. Back to verse 3. Take your mind back there. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? How will we escape? The idea implies a judgment, a coming judgment, a terrible moment that needs deliverance from. How do we escape?

40:29How do we get away? When it comes, it's a future verb. How do we get away? How will we be safe? It's a rhetorical question. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? The answer is, you won't. We won't. You cannot escape it on your own if you neglect. That is, if you refuse to pay attention to what Jesus is saying. That's what he's telling you. He's giving you a treasure map. He's telling you, this is the way to it.

41:05Don't refuse him. So great is salvation. Something to be thankful for, something that excels all other gifts that God has provided. We talked about this last time. Salvation is from something, from everything that harms the soul. It's to something, to everything that blesses the soul. It is for something. It is for the purpose of truly living, to image God. And it is by someone. It is by our Lord. It is by God. And so, as we think about this progression into disaster, it begins by failing to pay attention to the gospel, which leads to being swept away from the gospel, which leads to neglecting God's salvation, which leads to inescapable. Disaster. And that disaster is not experiencing the salvation that he has given.

42:17Well, I'll go back to what John Owen said. The apostles' main aim in this whole letter was to encourage the Hebrews to be steadfast and diligent in the ways and means of salvation. You see, the faithless are not only going to experience the lake of fire, but they're going to miss out on the new heavens and the new earth. And even more, as Revelation closes in chapter 21 and bringing it to a conclusion, it makes it clear that they're going to experience the great white throne judgment. They're going to experience hell, but they're not going to experience the new heavens and the new earth, and they're not going to experience life eternally knowing God.

43:14Judgment is more than just going to hell, missing out on the new heavens and the new earth. The unsaved, this is the progression: the unsaved will grow in their opposition. And if this is you, you will grow in your opposition. You will not be delivered from the sin that entangles you. You will not escape the sentence of death. And you will miss out on the glories that are to come unless you pay attention to Christ and put your faith and trust in Him.

43:52So pay attention to Jesus, what the author's been saying this whole time. And do you know what a cable ferry is? A cable ferry is a means to transport people across a body of water, like a river with a current, or an inlet with a flowing current. And these ferries come in all shapes and sizes, but the one thing that's consistent with them is they are connected to the shore by a rope. And they are to travel across the river, the body of water, connected to the boat. I mean, connected to the rope. And so they come in all shapes and sizes.

44:42I think about life. Life can be compared to crossing a wide river with a strong downstream current that leads to a great waterfall. And those who hold on to the rope. That connects to the shore will arrive safely. But those who do not will plunge themselves into ruin. One thing that's true about all these fairies, no matter how size, whether it's an individual little fairy or whether it's a large one, they're all connected to the rope. And the idea, they hold on, and this is what the author of Hebrews is saying: hold on to the faith that has been delivered. The gospel is true. Pay attention to Jesus. Pay attention to Him.

45:37Pay attention to the ways and means whereby you will be established in the faith. What happens is we tend to let go. So, how do we do that? How can we be diligent in the ways and means of salvation? Well, let me just say a few things in closing. First of all, you have your Bibles. Pay attention to the words of Christ. We have the words of Christ recorded for us, accurate words, inerrant words, words given to connect us to Him so that we can understand Him. So we have His words, His direct words, His teachings, we have His exhortations. And it's no wonder that one of the biggest attacks against Christianity.

46:30In our lifetimes, it has been the attack on the gospels. No, the gospel, no, Matthew didn't write Matthew. Mark, no, Mark came first, no, Matthew really did, friends. But all that is attacks against the reliability of the gospel. Second thing, how can you be diligent? Pay attention to the words of Christ, but second, pay attention to the judgments and warnings in Scripture. They're true. Hell is a promise as much as heaven. Universalism, the notion that everybody's going to heaven, is categorically false. Or else Jesus is a liar because he spoke more about hell than anybody than he even did about heaven.

47:18A warning. Pay attention to the judgments. Pay attention to the warnings. Number three, pay attention to the gospel itself. I think so often we lose focus on the gospel and we'll get distracted by gospel substitutes. You know what some of the gospel substitutes are? Well, I think of religious observances, just going to church, maybe some kind of moral works, maybe some kind of humanitarian sermon service, humanitarianism, maybe social action, or maybe political involvement. And there's no doubt that those things have their rightful place in the life of a Christian, but they're not to be the ultimate focus.

48:00The gospel is about living to the glory of God, which involves evangelizing the lost, edifying the believer, and exalting our Savior. And we can easily get distracted in the substitutes. And number four: how? How can you be diligent in the ways and means of salvation? Pay attention to your routine. Get your routine right. Where does the Lord's Day fit in your routine? Don't go down a pattern of life that takes you away from the Lord's Day on a regular basis that causes you not to gather with the people of God who are part of the ways and means whereby we stay whole to the faith. And this doesn't set aside God's sovereignty in all of this. Yes, we rest in Him. We rest in His strength. But we have a responsibility, and that's what this writer of Hebrews is bringing to our attention: to pay attention. Turn your mind to hold on. Get your routine right. Get your Lord's Day right. Your mornings, mornings to God. Meet Him first thing in the morning. Give your days to man.

49:25Give your evenings back to the Lord. Family, and to the Lord, and however that looks out. But get your routine right. Get your weekly routine right. Get your mornings, get your days right, get your evenings right, and rely on God's grace because we know we are weak. And if it's all up to us, if salvation were all up to my ability to hold on to it, guess what? I'd lose it. But He's holding on to us.

50:05Continue in the faith, pay attention to Him, and you will not be swept away from the gospel, nor any of the benefits that God is going to bring about through them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we bow our hearts, we do humbly come before you, recognizing that there is no way in our own strength we can even hold on, apart from the imparting of your Spirit in us to give us the desire to love the things that we have heard and a desire to remember the things that we have heard, and then all those various ways which you remind us. So, Father, we recognize all of this and we cry out to you. We don't want to drift away from you, but quite the contrary, we want to hold on, we want to pay attention to you. You and we want your glorious gospel to have its full effect in us. So help us to pay attention. Help our unbelief. Help those here who do not know you to take that step of faith and crying out to you. And Father, for those who are here who need your assurance, assure them that you're not going to let them go. Father, be with us now as we go this week. to glorify, to magnify your name, as we continue in the spirit of thanksgiving for your great salvation. For truly it is high and great. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.