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The Book of Hebrews: Message
Fourteen
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
Bozo, the
famous clown, of whom it was said, "He made a
million people laugh," spent his later years
performing for the American Cancer Society. He always
closed his show with the words, "Bye, bye
now…and be sure to have your doctor check you for
cancer." One day he became ill. Do you know what
he discovered at his first checkup? You guessed it.
He had cancer, and he was hopelessly beyond help. He
had neglected his own advice.
Present
neglect makes future regret. So heed the words of
Hebrews 2:2 and 3, "If the word spoken by angels
was stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation?"
Consider the
examples. The word spoken through the angels was the
law given at Sinai, and the demands of the law were
unyielding. People have been punished for disobeying
them. For the Bible says, "Every transgression
and disobedience received a just recompence of
reward." Now the word "transgression"
means "stepping over the line." There's a
line that's been drawn by Christ and your conscience.
To step across that line is to sin. The word
"disobedience" in this verse begins by
meaning "imperfect hearing." But it doesn't
stop there. It goes on to mean "careless
hearing," and finally "unwillingness to
hear." When anyone is careless to Christ and his
conscience, he finally comes to the place where he's
unwilling to hear the commands of Christ. He becomes
casehardened. Then he steps over the line. The
result? Punishment. Sometimes the punishment is
administered in this life, but always in the next.
Consider the
excellency. This salvation, said Dr. G. Campbell
Morgan, "is of the highest height, for it comes
from the heaven of heavens. It's profound, for it
descends to the lowest depths. It's so vast, so
wonderful, that the only final adverb possible for
the illumination of its greatness is 'so,' 'so great
salvation, the 'so' which laughs at logic, defies
mathematical exactness, and finds its own best
explanation in the equally comprehensive declaration
that 'God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son.' When we can place our final
measurement on the 'so loved the world' we shall be
able to express in final terms the greatness of the
'so great salvation.'" This salvation is
"so great" because of its Author. It
originates in God. All other religions are attempts
of man to find God. But this salvation declares that
God has come to find man. It's "so great"
because of the amount it costs; not silver, not gold,
not the cattle upon a thousand hills, not the
countries and the cities, not the lands and the
buildings, but the precious blood of Christ. This
salvation necessitated the incarnation and
humiliation, the shame and the pain, the tempting and
the crucifixion of the divine Son of God. "Come
with me to Calvary," invited Hyman Appleman.
"Stand in the shadow of the cross; look into the
agonizing face of Christ; once more listen to the
drip, drip, dripping of the life blood shed for your
sins and mine. That's the price God paid to redeem us
from our sins. Salvation is free, but it's not cheap.
It cost more than all the riches of the universe put
together." It cost God His only begotten Son!
It's "so great" because of the aim. The man
who receives this salvation isn't only forgiven of
his sins, but he's set free from his sins. He isn't
only pardoned from his sins, but he's given the power
to overcome his sins. This salvation is internal,
external, eternal and supernal.
Consider the
evil. It's found in the word "neglect." To
neglect salvation isn't to deny it. It's to know, but
fail to do. It's to admit, but fail to administer. If
you're drowning, and you can't swim, and a friend has
thrown a lifebelt to you, you don't have to put a
bullet through your brain to perish. All you have to
do is to neglect the salvation. If you're in a
hospital and you're sick unto death, and a friend
comes to you with a remedy that will make you well,
and he places it within your reach, you don't have to
jump out of the window to perish. All you have to do
is to neglect the salvation. Just so, you have
sinned. You're about to perish. But God has sent His
Son to save you. All you have to do to perish is to
neglect His salvation. A man from Wales leaned over
his pulpit one Sunday morning and said,
"Friends, I have a question to ask. I can't
answer it. You can't answer it. If an angel from
heaven were here, he couldn't answer it. If a devil
from hell were here, he couldn't answer it. The
question is this: 'How shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation?'"
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
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the book of Hebrews.
This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
