Hebrews 2:3b-4
8 September 2024
It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.
So as we come to the second half of verse 3 and verse 4 this afternoon, let’s first remember that the beginning of Hebrews chapter 2 is dealing with the first command, the first exhortation in the book of Hebrews, which began in verse 1 where we were exhorted to pay much closer attention to what we have heard.
So we are being given the command, the exhortation to pay much closer attention to what we’ve heard. And what is it that we’ve heard? Well, it is based on Hebrews chapter 1, which is the glory of the gospel, the glory of Jesus Christ being greater. Jesus Christ being greater than the angels specifically in chapter 1. We are to pay much closer attention to this, to Christ, to the gospel, lest we drift away from it.
We spent time considering that this is not simply a warning to the church, as it most certainly is today, but it is something that we can see in the context of church history. It’s something we see happening before our very eyes—the church drifting from what they have heard.
And we have another warning being given at the beginning of verse 3: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” And the answer is we shall not escape. There is no escape because, as we saw in verse 2, every transgression or disobedience receives a just retribution. Every sin must be dealt with. The law demands it. The law which, at the beginning of verse 2, the angels gave as it was delivered to Moses and the people of Israel in the time of the Old Testament. The law which condemns us.
And yet, praise be to God, there is a great salvation because there is one who has met the requirements of the law, and that is Jesus Christ. That is Jesus Christ who we are to pay much closer attention to. Jesus Christ who met the requirements of the law by laying down his very life at Calvary. His life being laid down to meet the just requirements of the living God, where God’s wrath would be satisfied and where our sins would be eternally put away, dealt with by Christ on the cross.
This is the gospel. This is the message that we have heard.
And as we come now to verses 3 and 4, the second half of verse 3 and verse 4, let’s just read this again.
It was declared at first by the Lord and attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.
When we consider the question at the beginning of verse 3, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” there is no escape if we were to neglect such a great salvation. And yet, as Christians here this evening, we sit with an absolute assurance of our salvation. How can that be? Because the answer, the hope, the foundation is in Christ and not in us. It is because of the gospel and the saving work of Christ—His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His exaltation, His being alive victorious on the throne today. That is the assurance that we have. It is a completed work upon which we are saved.
The rest of this passage deals with that message being proclaimed and its spreading. So this, for many of us, should be a systematic summarizing of how the message of the gospel was proclaimed, how that message spread, and how it was authenticated in the time of the New Testament. This is what we are dealing with in this small section at the end of this passage in Hebrews 2:1-4.
Declared first by the Lord Himself, then it was proclaimed and attested to by the apostles and the early church. What accompanied that message, the message of the gospel, were signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is what we are dealing with.
Now, brothers and sisters, we need to understand the relevance of these points, these truths with biblical precision. Subjects like what we are going to be dealing with this afternoon are where so many professing Christians go all over the map. There are so many misunderstandings and outright rebellions against biblical truth. So when we come to this text and work through it systematically, this is understanding how this gospel was proclaimed and why we are here today. Because if it wasn’t for what is summarised in tonight’s passage, we would not be sitting here in the way we are. This is what the Lord decreed, and it is how the church can exist and function in the way that she does here today.
That is what we are dealing with in this summary teaching of how the gospel was proclaimed and spread. So let’s get to the text and see, first, at the end of verse 3, it begins by saying, “It was declared at first by the Lord.”
Now we are going to go to a few passages in scripture this afternoon so that we see where these things happened in the scriptures. Was this declared by the Lord? Yes, it was. Turn with me to Luke chapter 4. Going back to Luke chapter 4, we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and chapter 4. We will read from verse 17 of Luke chapter 4. This is the word of God:
“To set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Amen.
Who is saying these words? It is the Lord Jesus, from Isaiah chapter 61 in the Old Testament. He is reading a text from the scriptures that we have before us, in front of the Jews in the synagogue. He is making the most bold and audacious claim in such a context to say, “This passage is about me. Its fulfilment is found in me. I am the one who will proclaim good news to the poor.”
Because Jesus Christ is the glory of this gospel which is to be proclaimed. In Mark 1:15, the Lord Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.”
This is Jesus coming to this earth. As we have seen in Hebrews chapter 1, it is the living God, the triune God, where the second person of the triune God, Jesus Christ, clothing Himself in human flesh, would come to this fallen and broken earth as the one who knew no sin, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the good news to the poor, calling sinners to repent. Because the fulfilment of all that we see pointing towards the coming of the promised one, the chosen one, the Messiah, is fulfilled now in the coming of Jesus Christ.
And this is what it means when we read in Hebrews 2:3, “It was declared at first by the Lord.” He declared it. He declares it in the gospel of John when He says, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), “I am the door” (John 10:9), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), “I am the true vine” (John 15:1).
Jesus Christ spoke the message of who He is—the Son of God, clothed in human flesh, with heavenly authority. This is what He declared, and it is the gospel. It took Him all the way to Calvary, with His sinless life being laid down.
And then we read in verse 3 of Hebrews 2, “It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard.” It was attested to us by those who heard.
Now, just as a way of inference, it is not the focus this evening, but this very point is the strongest argument against the book of Hebrews being written by the apostle Paul. Because note it is saying, “It was attested to us” (one group) “by those who heard” (another group). And those who heard included the apostle, Paul. He describes himself as the least of the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15. So he is one of them who heard. So just note this: those who still think Paul wrote this, you will need to reconcile this point in Hebrews 2:3.
So, dealing with this, it was attested to those who heard. These are the apostles, those who heard this message. They were eyewitnesses of the message of the gospel, eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ.
Now let’s just go to a couple of passages that we have gone to before.
To understand exactly what it was they heard and therefore what it was they were commanded and commissioned to do, let’s first turn to Matthew chapter 16. Right at the beginning of the New Testament, the gospel of Matthew, chapter 16.
In this passage from verse 13, Peter, a disciple of Christ at this point, has declared with the other disciples that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Then we read from verse 18 the words of the Lord Jesus, saying to His disciples, those to whom it was attested to (Hebrews 2:3):
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".
Now, what we are seeing here in this passage is an authority that the Lord Jesus Christ has. The one who declares the gospel, “Repent and believe, the time has come,” gives that authority to these men, to these disciples who would be His apostles. This “keys of the kingdom of heaven” is a heavenly authority by which Peter and these disciples would be the rock by which the church would be established. And what would it be established on?
Let’s go to Matthew chapter 28 and to the Great Commission. Matthew 28, from verse 18. What does the Lord Jesus say? Now the risen Lord, He has been crucified, He has died, He has been buried, and He has been raised from the dead. The risen Lord, appearing to the disciples, says in verse 18:
"And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’".
This is the authority given by the Lord Jesus to the apostles, an authority to go and make disciples. And this is what they do. In the book of Acts, they go first to mainly a Jewish audience, and then to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They proclaim the gospel, and by the grace of God and the providence of God, in the thousands and thousands, people hear the gospel and are saved by the grace of God. It is the miracle of saving grace.
What we have formed at the beginning of Acts is the church. We have gone from a physical people of Israel to now a spiritual people, the church, which is a fulfilment of all that is being promised in the lead-up to the time of the new covenant, fulfilled because of and by the blood of Jesus Christ.
So we have the church which grows, and the authority rests with these apostles to proclaim this message, to begin churches in local settings, and with this authority, appointing elders in these different churches. This, brothers and sisters, is why we have churches today. Where elders who were first being appointed by apostles then invest in discipling other men, who are then recognized as elders, sent out to become elders of other churches. This is how we understand how churches have authority today. It’s not just a hidden hope, and we’ll just make it up as we please. No, it is within the framework of the authority of the local church.
And we get this from Christ Himself and the apostolic authority, and the appointing of leaders of churches—a principle by which the church forms and grows.
Now, what we then have in verse 4 is this message that they proclaimed was authenticated by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit.
So what we’ve got so far: we’ve got the gospel, we’ve got Christ coming to this earth. He proclaimed it, He declared who He was, and we see what He did all the way to the cross and then in rising from the dead. We have disciples who follow Him, who are given a heavenly authority, now as His apostles, eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, sent and commissioned to proclaim the gospel, to make disciples.
And what we now see is that their message, the apostles’ message, was authenticated by signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now, the reason we’re just prolonging this, dwelling on this just for another moment, is because this is our understanding of what and why these signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts were being used in the time of the New Testament church. And this is what we must understand, lest we drift very rapidly into all manners of quite chaotic ways of thinking and application.
So let’s deal with definitions. We have signs and wonders. Signs would be making known that which could not be discerned, something supernatural or miraculous. And the wonders would be the striking nature of these signs and the impact that they would have upon those who saw and were blessed by them. This would include the miracles that took place in the time of the New Testament.
Now, these signs, these wonders, these miracles—we see them throughout the New Testament. We see them first very much in the life of the Lord Jesus. Because remember, first, verse 3 says, “It was declared at first by the Lord,” and we see many signs and wonders accompanying what the Lord Jesus did. We see in John 2:11, “This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.”
What do we see the Lord Jesus doing throughout His earthly ministry? He healed the sick, He gave sight to the blind, He made lame men walk, He cast out demons, He calmed the storm, He walked on water, He miraculously fed the thousands, He raised people from the dead. He Himself rose victorious from the dead, and He is the one who has the power to forgive people of their sins. So there were signs and wonders and various miracles in the time of the Lord Jesus’ ministry.
Then we come to the time of the apostles. And what do we find? Well, in Acts 2:22, our Lord Jesus’ ministry is commended: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know.”
And from Acts 2 to around Acts 19, this period of New Testament history, we see many miraculous signs and wonders.
Taking place where we have examples such as a lame man walking. In Acts chapter 3, we see Peter being used by the Lord to raise Dorcas. In Acts chapter 9, we see Paul smiting Elymas with blindness. In Acts 13, we see people even being healed just by touching the garments of Paul in Acts chapter 19.
So yes, very much in the time of Acts, the time of the apostles, there were signs and wonders and various miracles that took place. And we know, we have already considered, the danger of looking at this part of biblical history and thinking that what happened in that period in Acts is something that we can or should replicate here in 21st century Scotland or other parts of the world.
As it so often is, people look at this, they look at these things, and they try to do likewise. We have so-called faith healers today, people going by the name of "Apostle", and taking their saliva on people’s eyes. We have people literally, as if they have a magic wand, moving their limbs and expecting rows of people to fall over, people dancing and writhing around on the ground, and it’s all done supposedly in the name of the Holy Spirit.
What are we to make of this? Well, again, we need to see what is being stated in the word of God. In Hebrews 2:4, it says, “While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.” This is at the time when this message was declared. This was a unique, formative time where these eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, commissioned to preach Christ, make disciples, and plant churches, were given supernatural gifts of miracles to authenticate their message.
And this is something that 2 Corinthians 12:12 states, where it says, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.” And Romans 15:19 also says, “By the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.”
This was how the message of the gospel was authenticated in the time of the apostles, this New Testament time. Now let me explain in very clear and black-and-white terms why it fundamentally cannot be the same thing here today. Because we have the Bible. Anytime we want to authenticate something and know whether something is authoritative, to know whether something is true, we turn to the scriptures.
To know whether something is right to do as Christians, what do we do? We are not looking for a new apostle to give us a new word from the Lord. We are looking to the word of God, and that is our authority. The Lord has decreed it, to give us this book, which is His word. It goes from Genesis to Revelation, and that is our authority. That is how we know today how God speaks. And it is from the Bible that we can know and understand about subjects like signs, wonders, and various miracles. That is the fundamental difference. And praise be to God that He has given to us His word upon which we stand and seek to live our lives.
What we must be very clear on is that many people could pick up this book, read it, and be utterly indifferent or disinterested in it. Now, that in no way makes it any less absolutely the word of God. And this is why we need the Holy Spirit today. In no way, shape, or form are we as Christians in this local church seeking to stifle the Holy Spirit. Everything that we yearn to do as we gather to worship, as we live our lives, is fundamentally dependent upon the Holy Spirit.
Including as we consider, even at the end of this verse, the gifts that He has given to us. Gifts, as we see in 1 Corinthians 12, are for the upbuilding of the church, for the common good, for the glory and advance of Christ’s kingdom. We believe in the God of the supernatural. We pray that the living God would speak upon the authority of His word, that He would speak through the preaching of His word. We pray that our God will heal in accordance with His will and purpose. But this is in no way the grounds and means by which our faith depends.
It is only and truly in what we see at the end of verse 4: according to His will. It is according to His will. And the direction and way by which God works in and by and through His Spirit is not determined by what we do, as if we are in the business of summoning the Holy Spirit into this place and He is welcome to do things that we give Him permission to do. Such a theological framework is an abomination in the sight of God.
We come in submission to God, obedient to His will, knowing that His will, His purpose, is absolutely right and perfect. And that He has given us the Holy Spirit, who isn’t some abstract floating entity somewhere out there. No, it is the Spirit of God who is now alive in the hearts of the believer. And it is the Spirit of God who reveals the truth of God’s word, that this book is alive, alive to our hearts and lives, the foundation by which we live, that we may glorify Christ.
John 16:13-14: “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
The reason why any of you have ears to hear here this afternoon is the Spirit of God. The only reason you have faith to believe that what is being said here, what you are reading in the pages of scripture, is true. This is the Spirit of God. Of your own volition, of your own will, you would not believe this because you are in a fallen, broken, sinful state. It is only by the Spirit of God revealing this truth in saving you that you are born again. And this is the miracle of God’s grace.
Any time one person comes to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the miracle of grace. Would we ever dare to belittle this, to go striving for some of these other things which in the New Testament were to authenticate this very message that we have? The central foundational focus of our hearts and lives is the gospel. It is Christ.
And it is why this exhortation began in Hebrews 2:1, that we are to pay much closer attention to what we have heard, to the gospel, to the Lord Jesus Christ. For we know and we are seeing and will continue to see as we work through the book of Hebrews, He is greater, He is superior, He is glorious.
This is the gospel, the gospel which the Lord first declared, which was attested by those who heard, a message they proclaimed, which was authenticated by signs, wonders, various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. This is what we stand upon as Christians. It is how we live and function today as the church of Jesus Christ. And to this, we give our Lord.