Why Salvation Is Great

Message 6/7/09
Introduction
Christians have something that we often neglect and are unappreciative of.
May we as Christians be reminded of what we neglect today and may the lost receive God's great salvation today.

Text Hebrews 2:1-4 "how shall escape if we neglect so great salvation"

We use the term "great" loosely today...
The greatest thing, the greatest gift anyone could ever have is salvation.
This verse does not say "how shall we escape if we REJECT so great salvation"
It says neglect, which means to have little or nothing to do with.
This verse is often preached to the lost and if the lost are saved as a result, glory to God.
But the primary intent is to saved people. We can and often do neglect our salvation and are unappreciative of our wonderful God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Why is salvation great?

I.It Comes With a Great Price
I Tim.1:15 / Rom.6:23
Illustration: Roman soldiers sometimes used other forms of execution than crucifixion. One form was to die a dead, decomposing body to a convicted criminal. The dead person had often died of leprosy or some other terrible disease. The criminal had to eat, work, sleep and live with this dead body attached to them. Soon, they began to die a slow, agonizing death because of the body attached to them.
The Bible says that we have a body of death tied to us...it's called sin.
How much would that convicted criminal have paid to have the decomposing body taken off them. This is a powerful picture of the salvation, deliverance, and freedom that we have in Christ.

Why else is salvation great?
II. It Comes With Great Promises
I John 1:7 / I John 5:13 / Rev.21:3,4

III.It Comes With Great Blessings
Eph.3:8 / Heb.13:5,6

IV. It Takes Away Fear
Fear of death. Fear of hell. Fear of trouble. Fear of uncertainty.
Psalm 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

V.It Comes With a Great Inheritance
I Peter 1:3-5

VI.It Is Personal
Ps. 23 "The Lord is MY shepherd"
Rev.2:17 (white stone given with a new name in it which no one knows except you and God)

Salvation is also great because

VII.It Is Simple
Acts 16:30,31
There is no premium on intelligence and no penalty for ignorance.

Conclusion
Do we neglect our salvation? Are we unappreciative?
Ill. Robert Robinson was a preacher and hymn writer. During one phase of his life he drifted away from the Lord. He sat down on a train and a woman sat down near him. Within a few minutes, she showed him a song she had been reading. The tears began to stream down his face as he realized this was a song he wrote years before entitled "Come Thou Fount."
Part of the song read, "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart oh take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."

Salvation is great for so many reasons. Will you reject it today?
Will you neglect it today?