Dangers: Neglect and Hardness of Heart

In this part of the sermon: He focuses on Hebrews 2, explaining that 'drifting away' and 'neglecting' salvation are sins unique to those who have heard the gospel. He uses the analogy of a ship drifting and…

The Greek word for 'drift away' is illustrated by a river flowing out of its channel, something slipping from memory, a ring slipping from a finger, or a ship drifting from its mooring, conveying an unconscious, passive movement away from the gospel.

Lest perhaps we drift away from them. Give the more earnest heed to the things we heard lest we drift away from them. Now the verb translated drift away is found only here in the New Testament. But when we turn to secular Greek writers it's interesting to find the various ways it is used.

21:48 - 22:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He focuses on Hebrews 2, explaining that 'drifting away' and 'neglecting' salvation are sins unique to those who have heard the gospel. He uses the analogy of a ship drifting and…

Neglecting salvation is compared to a man neglecting his wife, not by active harm, but by insensitivity and failure to pay careful attention to her needs, illustrating the benign yet destructive nature of spiritual neglect.

A very benign word. What is neglecting something? It's just failure to pay close attention to something. When a man neglects his wife, what does he do?

25:55 - 26:08 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He focuses on Hebrews 2, explaining that 'drifting away' and 'neglecting' salvation are sins unique to those who have heard the gospel. He uses the analogy of a ship drifting and…

Jesus' parable in Matthew 22 is used as the most vivid illustration of neglecting an invitation, where guests did not deny the king or the feast but simply made light of it and went about their own business, paralleling the neglect of salvation.

To neglect her is simply not to pay careful attention to her. And this is the very word used in precisely the same construction. It's a participle of exactly the same construction in Matthew chapter 22. It's the most vivid illustration of what it means to neglect.

26:35 - 26:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin uses a vivid personal illustration of developing calluses on his hands from construction work, comparing it to the spiritual hardening of the heart that occurs with…

Martin recounts his experience as a young man developing thick calluses on his hands from construction work, which allowed him to stick a needle through them without feeling pain. This serves as a powerful metaphor for the spiritual hardening of the heart that occurs with repeated neglect of the gospel, leading to spiritual insensitivity.

Now this. I may gross some of you out, but as I was fishing for an illustration with which to close, this was the only one that came to mind. So a preacher's got to go with what he's got.

61:22 - 61:29 Read in full sermon