- 1 day ago
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:01Ten signs Jesus isn't enough for you, even though He is.
00:07You've stopped being amazed by Him.
00:10Your time with Jesus feels more like a check-in than a relationship.
00:15What used to move you spiritually doesn't anymore, and you aren't sure why.
00:22You trust Jesus with eternity, but not with today.
00:27Your spiritual life is getting busier, but not deeper.
00:33You're more focused on what Jesus hasn't done for you than what He already did.
00:40Your walk with Jesus feels like it's stuck on repeat.
00:45Minor stress feels like a full-blown crisis.
00:50You don't expect Jesus to do anything big in your life.
00:55You're no longer living like Jesus could return at any time.
01:01Stop living like He's not enough.
01:05He is.
01:07Jesus is enough.
01:12Coming up today on Turning Point.
01:14And so, Lord, I confess my wayward heart.
01:18I confess that I allowed my heart to drift from you.
01:21And so I want to come back, and I want to begin again where we left off.
01:25And do you know what?
01:26God will take you back in a moment, and you can start where you got off the path and begin
01:32again to walk with Him.
01:35Deep roots, strong branches, abundant leaves.
01:39This is the flourishing life God designed for you.
01:42A life firmly planted, growing strong, and unshakable through any storm.
01:47In his new book, Five Psalms for a Flourishing Life, Dr. David Jeremiah invites you to step out of a
01:54faith
01:54that feels like just getting by and into an active, growing faith rooted in the unchanging truth of God's Word.
02:01In this powerful study, Dr. Jeremiah explores five key psalms that have nourished God's people for generations.
02:08Psalms with the power to revive your soul and transform the places in your life that feel dry, barren, or
02:13stuck
02:14into meaningful growth in God.
02:16These aren't self-help strategies or positive thinking techniques.
02:20They are time-tested truths that have sustained God's people through millennia of both triumph and trial,
02:26teaching us how to sink our roots deep into eternal resources while bearing fruit that blesses the world around us.
02:32Dr. David Jeremiah will send you five psalms for a flourishing life in appreciation when you give a gift of
02:38any amount in support of this program.
02:40Or for your gift of $75 or more, request three books, one to keep and two to share.
02:45Five Psalms for a Flourishing Life, new from Dr. Jeremiah.
02:49Contact Turning Point Ministries today.
03:00Today's message is about drifting, a word which appears in the first verse.
03:05And drifting, men and women, is so quiet, it's so easy, but it is so damning.
03:12All you need to do it is to do nothing.
03:17The first four verses of Hebrews, chapter 2, address words to the drifters.
03:23And the human writer of Hebrews is issuing a stern warning that needs careful attention.
03:29It is not enough for him that his readers appreciate Christ.
03:34He desires that they appropriate Christ.
03:37He doesn't want them to just know more about Jesus Christ as he has been declaring him in chapter 1.
03:44He desires that now that they know who Christ is, they embrace him in their faith, and they make a
03:52commitment to him.
03:53The verses that we're going to consider today are part of the first of many exhortations in the book of
04:00Hebrews.
04:01Hebrews is a book of exhortation.
04:04Exhortation is motivation to go forward.
04:06It is to go on in your faith and not get caught in the drifting tides that will lead you
04:14away from your goal.
04:16And this section is, first of all, about those who are close to salvation but never, ever get into the
04:25harbor.
04:25They're drifting along, and they drift right past the gospel, and they are lost.
04:31It is also, I believe, an application to those who are Christians who have been close to Christ and have
04:38walked with Christ,
04:39but along the way they have found themselves drifting away from Christ.
04:43And so, both those audiences are in view as we study these verses together.
04:49And drifting is an interesting thing, is it not?
04:52D.A. Carson, in one of his books, says,
04:55people do not drift toward holiness.
05:00Have you ever noticed that?
05:01People don't drift toward holiness.
05:04Apart from effort, people don't gravitate toward godliness.
05:08They don't drift toward a better prayer life.
05:11They don't drift toward obedience to the Scripture or faith or delight in the Lord.
05:17We drift always toward compromise.
05:20We drift toward tolerance.
05:22We drift toward disobedience, and we call it freedom.
05:26We drift toward superstition, and we call it faith.
05:29We cherish the indiscipline of no self-control, and we call it relaxation.
05:36We slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism.
05:43We drift.
05:45Drifting is always more away from something than it is toward something.
05:50And in these four short verses, the writer of Hebrews is going to tell us three things about drifting.
05:56First of all, drifting is irresponsible.
06:00It's irresponsible.
06:01Notice what it says in verse 1.
06:02Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
06:14The opening words of Hebrews 2 contain the first of five crucial warnings that are in the book of Hebrews.
06:20And all of these warnings are found within the context of the message of the superiority of Jesus Christ.
06:26These warnings are given to us so that we don't just take the information we are given and become smarter
06:34about Jesus,
06:35but we understand that when you know Jesus, there is always a requirement that comes to your heart because of
06:42that knowledge.
06:43And the warnings and the exhortations of the book of Hebrews are for us not just to read about him,
06:51not just to appreciate who he is, but to do something about what we have learned.
06:56The Hebrew Christians of the first century were vacillating between the benefits of salvation
07:02and the ritualism and sacrifices of the Mosaic law.
07:06And the writer of Hebrews is endeavoring to encourage them to make a commitment to Christ.
07:12Now, when you read the word, therefore, at the beginning of the verse, verse 1 of chapter 2,
07:18you know that you need to find out what it's there for, and it's there to show you to look
07:23back.
07:23Therefore, therefore, what?
07:26Therefore, what do you mean, therefore?
07:28Therefore, because of everything we have learned already about who Jesus Christ is,
07:33the writer of Hebrews has presented to us in chapter 1, Jesus Christ in his glorious person
07:39and in his wonderful work.
07:42He is the creator.
07:43He is the sustainer.
07:45He is the redeemer.
07:47His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting.
07:49And according to the Father in heaven, he is God.
07:56He supersedes the prophets of the Old Testament.
07:59He is exalted above the angels of the Bible.
08:02How could anyone neglect this wonderful Savior?
08:07But notice how the verse begins.
08:10Therefore, therefore what?
08:12Therefore, because of what you know about who Jesus is, therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the
08:21things we have heard.
08:23In other words, because of who he is, don't fall asleep.
08:28Don't take for granted that you know who Jesus is and consider that that is all you need to do.
08:35Notice, it says here you're to give heed to these things.
08:38What does that mean?
08:39Well, the word give heed in the language of the New Testament means to apply your mind and your heart
08:45and your life to what you have heard.
08:49We are being urged to take the message of Jesus Christ very seriously.
08:58Here the writer says, take heed because it's your responsibility to do that.
09:03In light of his greatness, this means we are to apply our minds to who Jesus is, not just to
09:10know him, but to take that truth into our being.
09:13If we do not do this, according to this writer, we are in danger of drifting altogether.
09:21Now, the word drift in the language here means to float passively.
09:26It is the picture of a sailing vessel that has been cut loose from its moorings, and so it's floating,
09:33and it's just being carried along with the current or with the wind.
09:37It has no control of its own destiny.
09:39It has lost its ability to chart its own course.
09:44Now, isn't it interesting to ponder why it is so easy to become drifters?
09:49Not just in this instance, but drifters in any way.
09:53I don't know all the answers to that, but I have two suggestions why it's easy to drift.
09:58First of all, we drift sometimes because of presumption.
10:02We don't do what we should do because we think somebody else is already doing it.
10:06And in the relationship with God and Christ, it sort of goes like this.
10:11A.W. Tozer said, some say God must take the initiative.
10:15I don't have to do anything.
10:18And Tozer says, I believe that God will always be the aggressor.
10:21By the way, he wrote, I believe he has already taken the initiative
10:25in sending his holy son, Jesus Christ, into this world.
10:29And if God has taken the initiative, then our responsibility is to respond.
10:34We drift because while we know things to be true
10:39and we may, in the back of our minds, assume there's some action we should take,
10:45we rather suppose that somebody else has done it,
10:48that God is doing it, and that we're okay.
10:51We are presumptuous.
10:55But I think more practically for many of us here today,
10:59we drift because we're preoccupied.
11:02We're just preoccupied.
11:04I sat down this weekend and tried to get a picture
11:06of what it's like in our culture today just to function.
11:10Life is busy, is it not?
11:11Can I get a witness?
11:13Life is busy.
11:14And our young couples especially know that.
11:16All of us know it, but especially young couples with children.
11:20There's work to do.
11:21There's children to raise.
11:22There's relationships that demand attention.
11:25There are parents to care for, birthdays to celebrate,
11:28education to finish, bills to pay.
11:30It is so easy to fall prey to the busyness of life
11:35and lose our perspective on Christ.
11:38When we become preoccupied with life to the extent
11:43that we have little time to develop our spiritual core,
11:46then drifting is inevitable.
11:50Don't ever forget, men and women,
11:52that the ambition of the devil for all of us
11:56is to keep us away from the Word of God.
12:00That's his number one priority for any,
12:03because if he does that, he's won the battle.
12:05It's not possible to be victorious in your life as a Christian
12:09if you fold this book up and never read it,
12:13because this is what is the nourishment God has given us
12:17so that we can be victorious in our walk.
12:20The devil knows that if he can keep you from God's truth,
12:23he's won the war.
12:24On the other hand, God knows that if you will let
12:27the Holy Spirit take control of your life,
12:29what is it that says in the book of John?
12:31He will guide you into all truth.
12:33He will give you the things you need to go forward in your life
12:36so that you do not become a drifter.
12:38Here's what I want you to learn from this first point.
12:40Take heed, this means it's our responsibility not to drift.
12:45If we find ourselves drifting, it's irresponsible on our part.
12:50In the King James Version, not the New King James Version,
12:55this verse says something like this,
12:57Therefore we must give the more earnest heed
13:01to the things we have heard, lest we let them slip away.
13:06Almost as if the Word of God is going to slip away from us.
13:10Let me tell you something.
13:10This book isn't going to slip away from you.
13:13This book is solid.
13:14It's the anchor.
13:15It's going to be where it's been.
13:17It's not going to move.
13:18The drifting isn't on the part of the Word.
13:20They changed that in the New King James
13:21because it was inaccurately translated.
13:24The drifting isn't on the part of these things.
13:26The drifting is on the part of us.
13:28We must be careful lest we drift.
13:31So, here's the first thing.
13:34Drifting is irresponsible.
13:36Now, notice secondly, drifting is irreversible.
13:39Notice what it says in verse 2 and 3.
13:42For if the Word spoken through angels proved steadfast,
13:46and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
13:51how shall we escape if we neglect,
13:57if we drift away from so great a salvation?
14:01Now, listen to the argument of the writer.
14:04First of all, he appeals to the angels.
14:07We're back to the angels again.
14:08And he says,
14:10if the Word spoken through the angels,
14:12what is that Word?
14:13Well, it's evidently the law
14:16that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
14:19We're told that the angels participated
14:21in the mediation of the law.
14:23Hear the Word of God from Hebrews 10.
14:25Anyone who has rejected Moses' law
14:28dies without mercy on the testimony
14:30of two or three witnesses.
14:33Of how much worse punishment do you suppose
14:36will he be thought worthy,
14:38who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,
14:42counted the blood of the covenant
14:44by which he was sanctified a common thing,
14:47and insulted the Spirit of grace?
14:50Wow.
14:52The writer of Hebrews is trying to help us
14:54get the gravity of this and the sensitivity to it.
14:58He's saying,
14:59if God so dealt with those
15:00who were living under the law,
15:03how will he ever be able to ignore those
15:06who trample underfoot his so great salvation?
15:11This book is about the word better,
15:14that everything is better.
15:16Christ is better than the prophet's message
15:19of the Old Testament.
15:20He's better than the angels.
15:21We're going to continue to learn
15:22the betterness of Christ.
15:24But that's the point.
15:26If Christ is better than the law,
15:29and if under the law
15:30there was a just recompensive reward,
15:33what will happen if we take that which is better
15:37and we drift away from it
15:39and we don't allow it to bring us to faith in Christ?
15:43Now, notice it says here
15:45that when we drift away from this opportunity,
15:49we drift away from, quote, unquote,
15:51so great salvation.
15:53It's not just salvation.
15:55It's not just great salvation.
15:57It's so great salvation.
16:00So great as what?
16:01So great as what has been written in the early book.
16:05So great about Jesus Christ and who he is.
16:08Why is salvation so great?
16:10First of all, it's so great because it's great enough for everyone.
16:14Salvation is enough for anyone.
16:17There's no other place to turn.
16:19Did you know that God doesn't have a plan B?
16:22He doesn't come to us in the Word and say,
16:24here's my so great salvation,
16:26and if you don't like this,
16:28why don't you try this?
16:29No, his so great salvation is so great
16:32because it's the answer for all mankind,
16:35not just our culture.
16:37The gospel is the gospel for the whole world,
16:40and that's why it's so great as salvation.
16:42It's so great also because it's a forever salvation.
16:46It's not just for today or tomorrow,
16:49and you don't have to come back 10 years from now
16:51to get it renewed.
16:53Salvation is an eternal covenant between you and God
16:56that cannot be broken.
16:59And it's also so great because of the cost
17:04which was required for it to be made available to us,
17:08the cost of the death of Jesus Christ,
17:13the bloody sacrifice of our Lord and Savior
17:18who died on the cross
17:20to make this so great salvation available to us.
17:23I like the word so in this little chapter,
17:26and it reminds me of another so in the Bible
17:30in John 3, 16.
17:31For God so loved the world
17:35that he gave his only begotten son.
17:37Those two so's go together, don't they?
17:40So great a salvation, so loved the world.
17:44The writer of Hebrews is saying,
17:46if you miss this so great salvation,
17:50if you allow your ship of state
17:52to float past the harbor of salvation,
17:57there's no other alternative.
17:59It's irreconcilable.
18:00There's no other place to go.
18:03This is God's plan.
18:05You say, well, that sounds very politically uncorrect.
18:10I don't know if it is or not.
18:11I just know it is biblically accurate
18:14that God has a plan,
18:16and that plan included the death of his own son.
18:18If there could have been any other way,
18:20surely he would have explored it,
18:22but he did not.
18:24He gave us his plan in Jesus,
18:26and the point is this so great salvation
18:29is God's only opportunity for you
18:32to know forgiveness of your sin
18:34and eternal life with God.
18:37And if you drift away,
18:40there's no other place to go.
18:44How shall we escape if we neglect,
18:49if we drift away from so great a salvation?
18:55Now, the third thing he wants us to know about drifting
18:57is that drifting is irresponsible, irreversible,
19:00and it is totally irrational.
19:02Why would you drift?
19:04And he wants us to understand that.
19:05In these last few verses and few words,
19:07this is what he's going to tell us.
19:09He's going to tell us that the message of salvation
19:13is, first of all,
19:14a message that was declared by Jesus Christ himself.
19:18And drifting is irrational
19:20because it dismisses the message of the Lord himself.
19:24Look at verse 3.
19:25This message of salvation, this so great salvation,
19:28notice this next phrase,
19:30which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord.
19:35This so great salvation at first
19:38began to be spoken by the Lord.
19:41Ladies and gentlemen,
19:42who was the first gospel preacher
19:44in the history of the world?
19:45It was the Lord Jesus Christ,
19:47at least from the New Testament perspective.
19:50He's the one who declared the gospel.
19:53He was the gospel,
19:55and he declared the gospel.
19:57And the writer of Hebrews says,
19:59how are you going to escape
20:00if you neglect so great salvation,
20:03the salvation that the Lord himself spoke?
20:06He was the original speaker.
20:09He was the salvation,
20:10and he was the speaker of salvation.
20:14So, the Lord spoke this at the beginning.
20:17Was there anybody who heard him?
20:19And that brings us to the second point.
20:21It disregards the men who heard the Lord speak.
20:24It says in verse 3,
20:26and was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
20:31The writer of Hebrews
20:33wasn't one who was there to hear Jesus,
20:37but he heard the messages of those who were there.
20:40When Jesus spoke the gospel,
20:43when he walked upon this earth,
20:44the Bible tells us there were those who walked with him
20:46who were with him in all of his miracles,
20:49in all of his workings, all of his speakings.
20:53And they heard him.
20:55And they gave testimony to the fact
20:57that everything he said was true.
20:59So, now you have,
21:00if you walk away from the gospel,
21:02you're walking away from Jesus and what he says.
21:05You're walking away from everybody who knew him
21:07and walked with him and heard him,
21:09and you're saying,
21:09I don't believe that either.
21:11And if you think we're finished,
21:14we're not quite,
21:15because there's one third thing you walk away from irrationally
21:19when you walk away from Christ.
21:21You not only dismiss the message of the Lord himself
21:24and disregard the men who heard the Lord,
21:27but you disbelieve the miracles of God.
21:29Notice the rest of our passage today.
21:32And was confirmed to us by those who heard him,
21:36God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders
21:41and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit
21:44according to his own will.
21:46Do you know how much God wanted you to know
21:50that Jesus Christ was the Savior?
21:52He allowed him to come as the message,
21:55to speak the message,
21:56others to hear the message,
21:58and then, if you still aren't convinced,
22:00he gave to Jesus Christ the power to do signs and wonders
22:04so that every obstacle would be removed.
22:07You see, when Christ walked upon this earth,
22:09there was no New Testament.
22:11There was no final word from God.
22:13And so, the spoken word had to be authenticated by miracles,
22:18signs and wonders, it says.
22:20The Bible says that signs are for the purpose
22:23of convincing the Jews, 1 Corinthians 1, 22,
22:27the Jews require a sign.
22:30What is a sign?
22:31A sign was a miracle that was so marvelous
22:35that there could only be one explanation,
22:38and that is that it came from God
22:39and it authenticated the speaker
22:41or the one who did the miracle.
22:43The Gospel of John is built around
22:45seven sign miracles that Jesus did.
22:50And if you read the Gospels of John,
22:53you will find them.
22:53They start in chapter 2
22:55with the changing of water into wine.
22:58And then, throughout the book,
22:59you have the feeding of the 5,000,
23:02Jesus walking on the water,
23:03the boy born blind,
23:05the paralytic at the pool.
23:06You have all these miracles.
23:07There's seven of them.
23:09And all these miracles, we are told,
23:11were done for a purpose.
23:12Do you know what the purpose was?
23:14Well, in case anyone didn't understand it,
23:17at the end of the book of John,
23:18in the 20th chapter,
23:19we are told why these sign miracles were done.
23:25John chapter 20, listen to these words.
23:29This is like a postscript to the Gospel of John.
23:32And truly, Jesus did many other signs
23:36in the presence of his disciples,
23:38which are not written in this book.
23:41But these are written that you may believe
23:44that Jesus is the Christ,
23:47the Son of God,
23:49and that believing you may have life in his name.
23:53The writer of John's Gospel said,
23:57Jesus did many other miracles.
23:59But these seven are written in this book
24:02so that when you read about how the Lord Jesus
24:05fed 5,000 people,
24:07and you read about how he walked on water,
24:10and you read about how he raised Lazarus from the dead,
24:13and you read about how he healed a paralytic,
24:16if you read all these things,
24:17you see that no one else could do this but God.
24:19These miracles were given as a sign
24:21to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be.
24:26And they were given to us
24:27that we might believe that God did this
24:30and that we might believe on Jesus Christ.
24:32And in believing in him, we would have eternal life.
24:35Do you see that?
24:36So, at the end of this passage,
24:38we are told that when we drift away from these things,
24:42it's just totally irrational to do it.
24:45We have the Word of Christ.
24:47We have the Word of those who walked with Christ.
24:49We have the testimony of all these signs and miracles
24:52and wonders that were done.
24:53And even at the end, it says,
24:55and the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
24:57which he gave for the church.
25:00Men and women, if I'm a little excited today
25:04and a little passionate today, it's this.
25:06I realize that if you miss this,
25:09you've missed everything.
25:11If you miss salvation in Jesus Christ,
25:14there is salvation in no other name,
25:18for there is one name under heaven given among men
25:22whereby we must be saved.
25:32Thank you for watching Turning Point.
25:34Dr. Jeremiah would like to offer you
25:35five psalms for a flourishing life.
25:38In his new book, Dr. Jeremiah invites you
25:40to step out of a faith that feels like just getting by
25:43and into an active, growing faith,
25:45rooted in the unchanging truth of God's Word.
25:48In this powerful study,
25:50Dr. Jeremiah explores five key psalms
25:52that will help you experience life as God intended
25:55to the fullest.
25:57Dr. Jeremiah will send you five psalms
25:59for a flourishing life in appreciation
26:01when you give a gift of any amount
26:03in support of this program.
26:04Or for your gift of $75 or more,
26:07request three books,
26:08one to keep and two to share.
26:10Thank you for your support.
26:12Request five psalms for a flourishing life,
26:15new from Dr. Jeremiah,
26:17when you contact Turning Point Ministries today.
26:22Thank you for joining us today
26:24as Dr. Jeremiah shared how Jesus is enough
26:27for everything we need.
26:28To help you start or deepen your relationship with Christ,
26:32Dr. Jeremiah would like to send you two resources.
26:35The first is a booklet called
26:37Your Greatest Turning Point,
26:38which will help you begin your relationship with Christ.
26:41And the second is our monthly devotional magazine,
26:44Turning Points,
26:45to give you encouragement and inspiration
26:47throughout the year.
26:48These resources are yours completely free
26:51when you contact Turning Point Ministries today.
26:56David Jeremiah and Turning Point
26:58are making a global impact for the kingdom of God,
27:00but we can't do it alone.
27:02That's where Bible Strong Partners come in.
27:05Bible Strong Partners form the foundation of Turning Point,
27:08allowing Dr. Jeremiah to reach the world with the gospel
27:11and enabling you to share
27:12in the eternal impact of the ministry.
27:14In return, we want to support your faith
27:17with special and exclusive resources.
27:19To become a Bible Strong Partner,
27:21go to davidjeremiah.org slash Bible Strong today.
27:27Next time on Turning Point.
27:30I want to be a casualty in the last years of my life.
27:34I don't want to let anything that God has done in my life
27:36keep me from believing that He has still much more to give.
27:40The land of Canaan is filled with promise.
27:42And if that's true for me,
27:44it ought to be true for all of us.
27:46Thank you for being with us today.
27:49Join Dr. Jeremiah next time for his message.
27:52Do you have a hard heart?
27:55Here on Turning Point.
28:00Dr. David Jeremiah is delivering
28:02the unchanging Word of God every month
28:03to more than half a million homes
28:05through Turning Point's magazine and devotional.
28:08Request your first issue now
28:09to read inspirational in-depth articles
28:11and quick, clear, and creative devotionals
28:14from Dr. Jeremiah each month
28:15that will encourage, challenge,
28:17and strengthen your walk with the Lord.
28:19Request your first three issues
28:20of Turning Point's completely free
28:21or give a gift of any amount
28:23to receive an annual subscription.
28:25Contact Turning Point today.
28:27Try and tell me to stay away.
28:27Day. Thank you.
28:28We'll be
28:29We'll be there.
28:29Let's do it.
28:29Let's be. Let's
Comments