Hebrews 2:3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him?
The question proposed in the text is not about the possibility of salvation. The Apostle is not here raising the previous question: How can the sentence of condemnation be arrested? How can the sinner escape the wrath due to his sins? That might be a question for Adam in the day when he fell: How shall we escape? For as yet the possibility of escape had not been revealed. It may be a question for the heathen, on whom the sun of gospel revelation has never yet shone. That was the question of a past eternity. It was then taken up and determined; and the voice was heard from the eternal throne: “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom”. And no one, with the Bible in his hand, ought to find any difficulty as to the way of escape: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”.
But the question brought before us in the text is widely different. It is not: How shall we obtain a way of escape? But, How shall we escape if we neglect that way? It is not: What shall we do to be saved? For the way of salvation is as manifest as the necessity for it. But it is, How shall we escape if we neglect the great salvation? The question put is conditional. It is not the case of a soul in quest of salvation, asking the way to Zion, but the case of a soul that puts salvation far from it.
The question for Noah and his family, in prospect of the flood, was not, How shall we escape? for God had taught him to build an ark for the saving of his house. But if Noah will not set himself to build the ark, or if his children will not enter it, how shall they escape – if they neglect the means of deliverance? The question for Lot when God rained fire and brimstone from heaven on the cities of the plain, was not, How shall we escape? For God commanded, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed”; but if they neglected the command, and would not flee to the mountain, how shall they then escape?
It is precisely so with our text. It is not a question about the remedy, but about the neglect of the remedy. It is not, How shall we escape? For the answer is plain, and the way is open: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth”. But the burden of the question – what gives it its special force and meaning – is the condition specified: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” In speaking on these words, we shall consider: (1) the character of those described here; (2) the question about them; and (3) the guilt of neglecting this great salvation.
1. The character of those described here – those who neglect the great salvation.
Now, to neglect a thing is just to leave it alone – to pass it by unheeded, or not to give it that reception to which it is entitled. When the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side, what crime were they guilty of? Had they wounded and stripped the poor traveller of his clothes? No, they had not lifted their hands against him. Had they been guilty of treating him with contempt, pronouncing him worthy of the foul treatment he had received? No, it was a case simply of neglect. They passed by on the other side. They did not go up to him and deal with him as his case so manifestly demanded.
It is precisely so with the great salvation of the gospel. The man who does not give to it that earnest heed, that diligent attention, that cordial reception which its infinite importance requires, is guilty of neglecting it. Beware, we beseech you, of imagining that, in order to be described by the text, you must be guilty of some special degree of transgression. Remember that in order to a person’s destruction, it is not at all necessary for him to hold sceptical opinions and deny the truth of Divine revelation – to be a bitter enemy or a contemptuous reviler of the cross, blaspheming the good name by which we are called, or to deny the leading doctrines of the Bible and construct for himself a way of salvation of his own. It is not even necessary that he should resolutely refuse to embrace Christ, treating the gospel as an idle tale. True indeed, one and all of them shall perish: the infidel, the blasphemer, the heretic, the self-righteous and the rejecter of the gospel offer shall not escape. But the list is not complete. To these must be added a far more numerous class – those who neglect it, who do not embrace its offer, comply with its invitation, and obey its call.
When an invitation is given to a banquet, in order to manifest your dislike and indifference, there is no necessity whatever for you to meet it with scorn and contempt, nor that you send an express refusal. It is quite enough if you do not answer it at all. And the man who, amid a multitude of other cares, sets the invitation aside and neglects it, is just as sure of missing the banquet as the man who decidedly rejects it. Precisely so it is with the gospel invitation. There is no necessity for you to treat it with contempt. It is quite enough if you make no answer, no matter what the motives or reasons that may have led you to do so – whether it was from pride or prejudice, from ignorance or indifference, from the love of the world or the love of sin. The one who neglects it is just as sure of going down to perdition as the one who scornfully rejects it.
True, you may read the Bible, but that is merely to acknowledge receiving the message. To receive and read the message is one thing, to answer it is totally different. What have you done with the offer it makes to you? Have you accepted it or have you rejected it? We would press this with all earnestness upon you, for there are many who lull their conscience to sleep with the idea that they do not neglect this great salvation, because they have no quarrel with the gospel, and no peculiar dislike to the salvation which it brings. There are many who idle away a whole lifetime in a sort of passive indifference to the gospel, and go down to the grave utter strangers to its saving power. The man who is not diligent in prosecuting his worldly business is said to neglect it; likewise, if you do not esteem the salvation of the soul as the one thing needful, as the pearl of great price, for which you are willing to part with all you possess; if you do not strive to enter in at the strait gate, and give diligence to make your calling and election sure, then know that you are among those who are guilty of neglecting it.
2. The question put here: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”
Let no one imagine that mere neglect is a small thing and cannot be very dangerous, for observation and experience go to prove the very opposite. More injury is sustained through neglect than from any other cause. Escape is altogether impossible:
(1.) From the very nature of the case; for the neglect of salvation is just the rejection of the remedy, and if the remedy is rejected, only ruin can await us. If a sick man refuses the only medicine that can cure his disease, how can he escape? If a drowning man refuses to take the rope thrown out to save him from the water, how shall he escape? If Hagar in the wilderness would not fetch water from the well to give her son drink, how shall he escape? If the manslayer will not flee to the city of refuge, how shall he escape the sword of the avenger of blood? If the Israelites in Egypt will not kill the Paschal lamb, or neglect to sprinkle the door posts and lintels with the blood, how shall they escape from the destroying angel, as he passes though the land? If the wounded Israelites refuse or neglect to look to the brazen serpent lifted up on the pole, how shall they escape? If Naaman the Syrian will not wash himself seven times in the Jordan, how can he be cleansed from leprosy?
And so, if the sinner neglects to lay hold of this great salvation, how shall he escape the destruction that hangs over him. It comes to this: either he stands in need of no salvation at all, or else he must perish by neglecting it; for how can the polluted one be cleansed without washing? How can the sick be healed without a remedy? How can the lost soul be saved without salvation? The very least that can be said is this: a neglected gospel must leave you as it found you. If it found you uncleaned, it leaves you so; if it found you in sin and under the curse, it leaves you still in your sins, with the wrath of God abiding on you. It has failed of its object, which is to deliver you from the wrath to come. If the condemned criminal will not accept pardon, how can he be set free? If the sick man will not accept a remedy, how can he be healed? If the sinner will not receive a Saviour, how can he be saved? His destruction is certain, his salvation impossible – because he resolutely refuses the only way of escape.
(2.) From the history of God’s dealings. There is no reasoning against facts. What God has done in the past is the surest evidence of what we may expect Him to do in the future. Sin is no new thing in the world; it has existed for nearly 6000 years. Neither is the infliction of terrible judgments on sinners something unheard of. If we had only heard of the threatening, but never heard of the threatening being put into execution – the penalty pronounced but never inflicted – the case would have been very different.
But if the eating of the forbidden fruit was followed up by the immediate execution of the sentence; “if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” If God did the one, how much more will He do the other? If God brought in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, so that they did not escape; if He rained fire and brimstone from heaven on the cities of the plain, so that they did not escape, how shall we escape?
Look especially to the history of Israel. How many and sore were the judgements which God inflicted on them – as at the foot of Sinai, where they made and worshipped the golden calf! For that sin they did not escape: 3000 fell by the judgment of God. At Taberah they murmured because they had no flesh to eat. Neither for that were they suffered to escape, for God sent a pestilence among them, by which many were consumed. But time would fail us to tell how the earth opened and swallowed up alive Korah and his company; how 14 000 were destroyed by the plague for murmuring against Moses and Aaron; or how 24 000 were consumed for the sin of idolatry; while the carcasses of a whole generation fell in the wilderness.
Now what use are we required to make of these facts? Do not say that they have no lesson of warning or instruction for you, for all “these things happened unto them for ensamples . . . and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor 10:6-11). “God spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly” (2 Pet 2:4-6).
This is the very argument of the apostle: “If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward” – with what terrible and fiery indignation shall they be smitten who neglect the great salvation spoken by Him before whom those angels fall down, veiling their faces with their wings! If under an imperfect economy that had carnal ordinances and a worldly sanctuary, and priests that had infirmity, every transgression was visited with swift retribution, what must it be under the new and better dispensation, with its spiritual sacrifices, its heavenly temple, and unchangeable priesthood? If under a system of types and shadows, every disobedience received a just recompence of reward, what retribution shall be deemed adequate under the new dispensation that excels in glory? If the word spoken by the servant took effect, how much more that which was spoken by the Lord and Master? Moses was but a man, a feeble worm, a wandering shepherd on the plains of Midian. But if they “that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses, of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” What God has done already must be perfectly just and right; and what is there to hinder Him doing it again? Do not say that God is too merciful to inflict the penalty He has threatened; for was God not merciful then, and yet He did not permit them to escape? And how can you, who have clearer light and greater privileges than they, ever hope to escape if you neglect so great salvation?
(3.) From the means employed for our deliverance. The very nature of the gospel is of itself sufficient to demonstrate the utter impossibility of escape. The existence of the remedy proclaims the reality of the ruin. The greatness of the means employed to rescue sinners proclaims the greatness of the danger in which we were involved. Why was Christ made a curse for us, if no curse rested upon man? Why were stripes inflicted upon Him, if we had done nothing worthy of stripes? Why did the sword of eternal justice awake against the Man who is Jehovah’s Fellow, if there was no danger of that sword being unsheathed against us? The gospel does not come proclaiming that there is no danger, else how could it come bringing a great salvation?
The cross of Christ sweeps away, as the broom of destruction, all those refuges of lies to which sinners are ready to flee for shelter. Does it come making the announcement that sin is a trivial evil, not worthy of creating one feeling of anxiety or alarm? No, for it reveals the exceeding sinfulness of sin when “the Lord laid on Him the iniquities of us all”. Does it say, Do not be disturbed, for God is not very angry with the wicked, and will not execute the fierceness of His wrath? No, for we would never have known the power of Jehovah’s wrath unless He had poured the vials of that wrath on the head of His own Son. Thus He has overwhelmingly demonstrated His determination to punish sin, showing that He will by no means clear the guilty. Does it say that the law of God is not very strict, that its rigour may be relaxed, and its requirements broken with impunity? No, does Scripture not proclaim aloud that heaven and earth may pass away, but one jot or tittle can in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled? If sin was trivial, if the law was flexible, if God was changeable, Christ would never have suffered, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God! In the cross we see wrath revealed, the sentence executed, the threatening fulfilled, the law magnified; and all this with the very purpose that the sinner might be saved, proclaiming that there is no way of escape except through Christ. And how utterly hopeless it is for the sinner to expect to escape who neglects that way! Nothing but the dire extremity of our condition can account for the sacrifice of Christ. If sin is not an infinite evil, then the redemption of man is far too costly. Had we not been in danger of lying down amid everlasting burnings, the cross would never have been erected. Immanuel would never have bled and died, and such a ransom would never have been paid. Such was the love that the Father bore to His Son that He would have spared Him and not delivered Him unto death, if salvation could have been accomplished in any other way. If He sent His Son into the world, we may well be convinced that it is last of all that He did so, because no other could make atonement for sin or open up a way of escape. The cross of Christ is Jehovah’s uttermost, both in the revelation of His wrath and the manifestation of His mercy. It is a sacrifice which can never be equalled and can never be repeated. Nothing inferior in worth could meet the necessities of man; nothing loftier in value can be found in the universe of God. If this salvation is lost, all is lost – for ever. “There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” What then remains? What is kept in reserve for those who have neglected the great salvation which the wondrous sacrifice of Christ Jesus procured? There remaineth no other sacrifice to be offered for sins, but there remains “a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries”. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
3. The guilt of neglecting this great salvation.
We have shown you already that escape is impossible for all who neglect salvation. But we now proceed further: not merely can they not escape, but they do not deserve to. In the solemn language of Scripture, “their damnation is just”, for if ever condemnation is justly deserved, it is the everlasting condemnation of that soul that neglects the great salvation, that refuses or declines to receive it. The mariner who refuses to cast his anchor on the seabed deserves to suffer shipwreck. The man who declines to accept of the bread that is offered to him deserves to die of famine. And so the destruction of the sinner that puts salvation far away from him is sure, and it is solemnly deserved.
I could not believe the gospel to be true, or at all consistent with itself, if after telling us of the Divine dignity, the amazing condescension and the mysterious agony and suffering of Christ – after telling us of the preciousness of His blood, the worth of His sacrifice and the value of His great salvation – I could not believe it to be true if it did not set down the neglect of such a great salvation as a crime of crimson dye, as guilt of the most aggravated character and deserving the very darkest doom.
But how shall we set forth the magnitude of this guilt? We are utterly unable to do so. Could we tell you the greatness of that salvation which you neglect, we might be able to tell the guilt and the punishment of those who neglect it. But we cannot comprehend its greatness, for it is high as heaven and deep as hell. What can we know? It is so great that even angels desire to look into it. If we could tell you of the glory and majesty of Him who procured it, we might be able to estimate the guilt of those who turn away from Him who speaks to us from heaven. But here again we are baffled, for He is “the brightness of [the Father’s] glory, and the express image of His person,” the infinite and everlasting God.
Sin committed under the gospel dispensation has such fearful aggravations that it makes other sins appear small in comparison. Jesus says, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin”. You provoke an amount of wrath proportioned to the greatness of the gospel scheme, to the dignity of Him who wrought it out, to the value of those sufferings by which He procured it, and to the magnitude of those means by which it is carried forward and applied. It is by one act to be guilty of the highest rebellion and the basest ingratitude. You sin as the fallen angels never sinned, as the ungodly cities of the plain never sinned, as the idolatrous heathen never sinned; for it is to be guilty of despising a Saviour whom they never knew, neglecting a salvation of which they never heard, and sinning against a light they never enjoyed. “It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of judgement than for thee.”
God has not provided this great salvation at such a cost and left men to trifle with it at their pleasure. If it does not exalt you to the highest heaven, it will sink you down to the lowest hell. If it is not the saviour of life unto life, it will prove to be the saviour of death unto death. Surely you cannot be willing that this should be the result for you. You surely cannot have reconciled your mind to the thought of perdition, for who can dwell with the devouring fire? Who can lie down amid everlasting burnings? Dear dying hearer, listen to the earnest entreaty of a dying man and be done with indifference to the safety of your soul; be done with the dangerous neglect of this great salvation. “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” Why choose death rather than life, a great destruction rather than a great salvation? Why rush on the thick bosses of the Almighty’s buckler [projections on His shield]?
You might even be as happy as the saints and seraphs are happy round the throne in heaven! And will you push the cup of bliss away from your lips? Can you find it in your heart to leave Jesus standing at the door outside? Will you not give up to Him the throne of your affections? Look what hands are stretched forth to plead: “My son, give Me thine heart”. Are they not the hands that were nailed to the accursed tree? Surely you may well feel that in such hands your soul is safe. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Do not say, Go thy way for this time; for now is the only accepted time. “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
I cannot, I will not, I dare not take an excuse. The day is coming when every Christless soul will be left without excuse. “Friend, how camest thou in hither not having the wedding garment? And he was speechless.” That was the dumbness of despair. What will you be able to say against the sentence of condemnation going forth against you? “What shall I do when God riseth up? And when He visiteth, what shall I answer Him?” If you refuse to listen now, then that awful declaration awaits you: “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded;” therefore “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh”. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
Taken with editing from Memorials of Thomas Main. Main (1816-1881) was a minister, first in the Church of Scotland and then in the Free Church, in Kilmarnock and Edinburgh.