Hebrews 2:3a. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
(4.) The gospel salvation is great because the glorious perfections of Jehovah are more conspicuously displayed in it than in all His other works.
In the love that prompted the plan and the wisdom that devised it, in the justice and mercy that pervade it, in the grace conferred on sinful men and the glory that redounds to God, we behold the most marvellous display of God’s character that was ever revealed to men or angels. All God’s works praise Him in the material universe; not less so the happiness diffused through all kinds of intelligent creatures as long as they continued in the state in which they were created.
The justice of God also was solemnly vindicated when sin broke out among the hosts of angels. “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Pet 2:4). Their immediate loss of happiness so exalted, being condemned to a doom so hopeless, must have impressed the whole unfallen creation with a profound sense of the justice of the Holy One, and made them bow with trembling awe before the great and terrible God.
But the grace of God in saving lost sinners was a new thing in the universe. The contrivance of the plan had occupied the mind of the Godhead from eternity. When the fact of salvation for the guilty was made known, the manner of it remained a mystery which the angels desired to look into. Gradually this great mystery was revealed. Types prefigured it, prophets predicted it, kingdoms were overturned to make way for it, a forerunner announced it. When at last the fullness of the time was come, and “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,” the inspired writers spoke of it as the brightest reflection of Jehovah’s glory, the very masterpiece of His mind.
Thus, Christ is called “the wisdom of God”; in Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. And one great purpose of preaching the gospel is “to make all men see what is the fellowship” – that is, the economy, order, or arrangement – “of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph 3:9,10). If the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy at creation, how they must contemplate with adoring wonder the new creation, by which the child of wrath is changed into an heir of glory, and the slave of lust is made a partaker of the divine nature! Here all God’s attributes converge in glorious harmony. Mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other in Him who is a just God and a Saviour. Surely then, unless the God of this world has blinded our minds, we must see that the gospel salvation is a great salvation.
1Taken with editing from Grierson’s Sermons. The earlier part of this sermon dealt with three out of five sub-points of the first main head: “so great salvation”. They were: (1) the nature of man, who is the subject of this salvation; (2) the depth of the degradation and misery that he is saved from; (3) the height of that glory and happiness to which he is exalted. The remainder of the sermon appears here.
5. Let us ponder the argument in the context to show the greatness of the gospel salvation. It is the infinite greatness of its Author, the true and proper divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the first chapter, the Apostle had shown that Christ is God’s only-begotten Son, infinitely exalted above the angels. “And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire; but unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Heb 1:7,8). And what use does the Apostle make of the Saviour’s divinity? It is to set forth the greatness of salvation. “For 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, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord?” (2:2,3). Salvation then is great because Jesus Christ is God.
I will not adduce any further proof of Christ’s divinity. I only ask you to consider what a halo of grandeur it throws around salvation. Must it not be a great salvation which none but the eternal Son of God could accomplish? And how does He accomplish it? Not by the word of His power as in the creation of all things; He must take our nature upon Him, obey, suffer and die on a malefactor’s cross.
The lowest circumstances in His history assume an amazing importance when considered in the light of His divinity. Is He born in a stable at Bethlehem? That humble spot is the birthplace of the Son of God. Is He poor? The riches of the universe belong to Him as the heir of all things. Is He despised and rejected of men? All the angels of God were commanded to worship Him. Does He weep at the grave of Lazarus? It is the compassion of God that glistens in that eye. Does He fulfil all righteousness in His people’s place? That righteousness is the righteousness of God. Does He suffer and die as a Surety on a shameful cross? His blood and death are the blood and death of One who was as truly God as He was truly man. Does an unbelieving world turn away in scorn from His cross? This fact of lowest abasement is to be the burden of everlasting song: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain”.
In each of the points we have been considering, there is an element of infinity, and hence there is a proportion or symmetry in them all. The soul is of infinite value because it is immortal. The misery of the second death is infinite because it is eternal. The glory of heaven is infinite because it is eternal. The wisdom in the plan of salvation is the very highest display of the infinite attributes of the only wise God. And the Saviour who does it all is Himself the infinite One and Lord of glory. And hence we may see some at least of the reasons why the apostle speaks of the gospel salvation as “so great salvation”.
2. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?
Our time is limited. I leave it to your own consciences to answer the question in the light of the truths that have been set before you. Let me only make a suggestion or two.
(1.) Mark well the character of those to whom the appeal is here made, and the danger against which they are warned.
It is not addressed to the more flagrant violators of God’s law, the openly immoral and profane. Such persons are more than neglecters of the great salvation, they are rejecters and despisers. The question here is not: How shall they escape the righteous judgements of God? But it is: How shall the neglecters of salvation escape? Do your thoughts go off to those in your neighbourhood who profane the Sabbath and forsake public worship? No doubt their sin is very heinous, and unless they repent, their punishment will be very fearful. It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement than for many in this generation.
But at present let me entreat you to confine your thoughts nearer home. I speak to you and to myself. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Neglecters of salvation may often be found among professors of religion who have a decent exterior like ourselves. The neglecter of the great salvation is just one who takes the matter of his soul’s salvation easy, who takes no active interest in the matter. He may have a form of religion, but if he is indifferent about securing a personal interest in so precious a blessing as salvation, he must be ranked among those who neglect it. Only the Lord knows how many among us must be so ranked. But it is a solemn fact for us all to learn that unless we manifest some measure of genuine concern and activity about our souls’ eternal interests, we can have no good ground to hope that we shall at last share in the blessings of the great salvation.
The wisest of men has told us: “He that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster” (Prov 18:9). And it is with salvation just as with any of the ordinary affairs of life. The merchant does not need to be a spendthrift; he has only to neglect his business and it will soon go to ruin. The farmer does not need to destroy the bounty of heaven by extravagant wastefulness; he has only to neglect his work in the field in its season, and the finest summer or the most abundant harvest will not enrich him. It is the same with regard to the things of salvation. Have you, professing Christian, a name to live while you are dead, destitute alike of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ? If so, you need not join the ranks of the infidel, the drunkard, or the profane. You have only to persevere a little longer in your present neglect of the great salvation, and – awfully solemn thought – the ruin of your soul is sure.
But do you say, Here we are in the place of prayer, listening to the gospel preached, and is that not a proof that we at least do not neglect the great salvation? I answer, salvation may be neglected while there is much outward attention to the forms of religion. Like the Jews of old, we may come before God as His people come, and sit before Him as His people, and hear His words, yet not do them. With our mouth we may show much love, while our heart goes after its covetousness. What shall we say of those who imagine that they make up for their neglect of religion throughout the year by going through the forms of a communion Sabbath, as if they could atone for one sin by committing another? Family worship may degenerate into routine. Prayer may be only a dead form instead of living fellowship with God.
With such outward observances, many fancy themselves to be rich, while they are poor indeed. All the while the love of the world may be twining itself round the heart like a scorpion. Some secret lust may be burning up the soul within; or the cares of the world, like the locusts of Egypt, may be devouring every blade of spiritual vegetation in the soul. But Jesus alone must occupy the throne of the heart. The kingdom of God and His righteousness must be sought first – as the one thing needful, in preference to everything else – if they are ever sought to any good purpose. Otherwise, notwithstanding all our light and privileges, we shall rank at last with the neglecters of the great salvation.
(2.) How shall we escape?
Does not the sinner’s own conscience ratify the sentence as just? Conscience now may be perverted or asleep, but on the great day of manifestation, every conscience will approve the sentence which justice shall then pass: they that do such things are worthy of death. And as it forms an impregnable security to the believer that justice acquits him through Christ’s righteousness, so it must sound as the death-knell of all the false hopes of the neglecters of salvation when the Saviour Himself, the merciful One, says to the wicked from His throne of judgement: “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”.
But while it is impossible for those who neglect salvation to escape, salvation is now offered freely. God has no pleasure in your death. He waits to be gracious. He pardons abundantly, with all the liberality of a prince and all the love of the Father. “Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Your eternity may hinge on your reception or rejection of God’s message this day. Now is the accepted time. If you turn to Him now in penitence and trust; the saints on earth will welcome you to their society, the angels in heaven will rejoice over you in the presence of God; the Saviour will see in you the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Yes, “the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph 3:17).
But if you still halt and hesitate, and defer the matter till death’s terrors have laid hold of you, it may prove with you as with many. They desire the counsels and the prayers of the man of God, like the foolish virgins who said, “Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out”. But, alas, while the man of God would wish to point them to the Saviour, the sands of life run out; they pass into an undone eternity. They neglected the great salvation while they lived, and how can they escape? God grant it may not be so with you.