Salvation (4991) (soteria from soter = Savior in turn from sozo = save, rescue, deliver) (Click here or here for in depth discussion of the related terms soter and sozo) describes the rescue or deliverance from danger, destruction and peril. Salvation is a broader term in Greek than we often think of in English. Other concepts that are inherent in soteria include restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health and well being as well as preservation from danger of destruction. Soteria is found 45 times in the NT (Luke 4x; John; Acts 6x; Romans 5x; 2 Corinthians 3x; Ephesians; Philippians 3x; 1 Thessalonians 2x; 2 Thessalonians; 2 Timothy 2x; Hebrews 7x; 1 Peter 4x; 2 Peter; Jude; Revelation 3x) and is translated in the NAS as: deliverance, 2; preservation, 1; salvation, 42. Note that soteria “salvation” is found seven times in Hebrews, more than in any other New Testament book. A SIMPLE SCRIPTURAL SUMMARY OF SOTERIA "So Great a Salvation" (1) A physical deliverance - rescue from danger deliverance, preservation, safety. For example the writer of Hebrews records that... "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation (soteria) of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." (see note Hebrews 11:7) Paul to all those on the ship bound for Rome "Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation (soteria) for not a hair from the head of any of you shall perish." (Acts 27:34) Paul to the saints at Philippi "For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (see note Philippians 1:19) (2) A religious technical term describing safety of the soul and so in a spiritual sense referring to salvation "(The preaching of John the Baptist was) To give to His people the knowledge of salvation (soteria) by the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 1:77) "And Jesus said to him (Zacchaeus), "Today salvation (soteria) has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham." (Luke 19:9) "And there is salvation (soteria) in no one else (other that Messiah); for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (sozo)." (Acts 4:12) "Brethren, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, to us the word of this salvation (soteria) ("the gospel") is sent out." (Acts 13:26) "Following after Paul and us (Luke, et al), she ("a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination") kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." (Acts 16:17) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation (soteria) to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (see note Romans 1:16) "for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (see note Romans 10:10) "The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation (soteria); but the sorrow of the world produces death." (2Corinthians 7:10) "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation (soteria) with fear and trembling" (see note Philippians 2:12) "For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation (soteria) which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory." (see note 2 Timothy 2:10) "from childhood you (Timothy) have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation (soteria) through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (see note 2 Timothy 3:15) "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation (soteria) ?" (see note Hebrews 1:14) "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation (soteria) through sufferings." (see note Hebrews 2:10) "And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation (soteria) " (see note Hebrews 5:9) "But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation (soteria) , though we are speaking in this way." (see note Hebrews 6:9) (3) A Messianic deliverance at the end of this present age. "Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation (soteria) without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." (see note Hebrews 9:28) "And this do (do what? express agape love which is unconditional), knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation (soteria) is nearer to us than when we believed. (see note Romans 13:11) (cf 1Thess. 5:9; Hebrews 9:28; see notes 1 Peter 5:5; 5:10; see note Revelation 12:10) "But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation (soteria). For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation (soteria) through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Thess. 5:8-9) (Those "born again to a living hope") are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation (soteria) ready to be revealed in the last time." (see note 1 Peter 1:5) "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation (soteria) , and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night." (see note Revelation 12:10) "After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation (soteria) and glory and power belong to our God." (see note Revelation 19:1) The idea of salvation is that the power of God rescues people from the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death which is followed by eternal separation from the presence of His Glory. Salvation delivers the believer from the power of sin (see discussion on Romans 6-8 beginning at Romans 6:1-3) Salvation carried tremendous meaning in Paul’s day, the most basic being “deliverance,” and it was applied to personal and national deliverance. The emperor was looked on as a "savior" as was the physician who healed you of illness. It is interesting that Collin's (secular) dictionary defines "salvation" as "the act of preserving or the state of being preserved from harm...deliverance by redemption from the power of sin and from the penalties ensuing from it."! In short, this "so great a salvation" is not just escape from the penalty of sin but includes the ideas of safety, deliverance from slavery and preservation from danger or destruction. In addition, this "so great a salvation" includes the idea of what is often referred to as the Three Tenses of Salvation (justification = past tense salvation = deliverance from sin's penalty, sanctification = present tense salvation = deliverance from sin's power and glorification = future tense salvation = deliverance from sin's presence). It follows that the discerning student will check the context to determine which of the three "tenses" a given use of soteria is referring to. Mankind has continually looked for salvation of one kind or another. Greek philosophy had turned inward and begun to focus on changing man’s inner life through moral reform and self-discipline. The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus called his lecture room “the hospital for sick souls.” Epicurus called his teaching “the medicine of salvation.” Seneca taught that all men were looking ad salutem (“toward salvation”) and that men are overwhelmingly conscious of their weakness and insufficiency in necessary things and that we therefore need “a hand let down to lift us up”. Seneca was not far from the truth as Scripture testifies "(Jehovah speaking) Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver?...Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short that it cannot save...(Jeremiah speaking) 'Ah Lord GOD! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee" (Isa50:2...Isaiah 59:1... Jeremiah 32:17) Salvation through Christ is God’s powerful hand extended down to lost souls to lift them up. In context of Hebrews 1, this great salvation has first of all such a great Savior, Who has completed the purification for our sins (which deserved death) & has furnished us with His ministering angels to help those who will inherit salvation. This salvation was first spoken thru the Lord Jesus (it not so clearly spoken in the OT) Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament entry has the following interesting description of the word group ("salvation") as it was used in secular Greek. As you read through these various uses, see if you can identify any spiritual parallels (you will be intrigued I think)... 1. Saving. These terms first refer to salvation (human or divine) from serious peril. Curing from illness is another sense. Horses may save in battle, or night may save an army from destruction, good counsel may save ships, etc. Cities, castles, ships, etc. may be saved as well as people. At times protection may be the meaning, and soteria can have the sense of a “safe return.” 2. Keeping. The meaning at times may be that of keeping alive, e.g., pardoning, protecting, keeping from want, keeping a fire going. 3. Benefiting. The idea of rescuing from peril disappears when the idea is that of keeping in good health, or benefiting, or when the noun means “well-being,” i.e., of a city, country, family, etc. 4. Preserving the Inner Being. A special nuance is when the terms refer to preserving the inner being or nature. In philosophy inner health may be the point or the preservation of one’s humanity. 5. Religious Usage. All the nuances occur in religious usage. Thus the gods rescue from the perils of life. Philosophy discusses the preservation of all things from perishing. A demand arises for the preservation of life beyond death. In the Gnostic sphere gnósis supposedly saves from death as it is imparted by revelation (Paul's epistle to the Colossians refutes this heresy) In the mysteries initiates share in the salvation of a mythical divine being from death and thereby attain to a blissful life in the hereafter (a clear counterfeit!). A special Syrian belief mentioned in Origen Against Celsus 7.9 is that there is salvation from eternal punishment by worship of a divine envoy and faith in him. AFTER IT WAS AT FIRST SPOKEN THROUGH THE LORD: hetis arche labousa (AAPFSN) laleisthai (PPN) dia tou kuriou: (1:2; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14; Luke 24:19; Acts 2:22) Spurgeon comments... They could not trifle with the angels’ message without receiving just punishment from God. Much less, then, can we trifle with Christ’s gospel. We have not au angelic saviour; but God himself, in the person of his Son, has deigned to be the Mediator of the new covenant. Therefore, let us see to it that we do not trifle with these things. This Greek sentence is difficult to translate into intelligible English but reads literally something like "having received a beginning to be spoken" or "having begun to be spoken." Apparently this was a common Greek (Koiné) idiom (or language peculiar to the first century Greeks but difficult to translate into another language). John Calvin writes a pithy note reminding us that... It is not only the rejecting of the Gospel, but even the neglecting of it that deserves the severest penalty in view of the greatness of the grace which is offered in it.… God wishes His gifts to be valued by us at their proper worth. The more precious they are, the baser is our ingratitude if they do not have their proper value for us. In accordance with the greatness of Christ, so will be the severity of God’s vengeance on all despisers of the Gospel. (Hebrews 2) Lord (kurios) Jesus is Lord and He is superior to angels. The Lord Jesus Christ was and is God's full revelation and He is the source of this new and superior revelation. IT WAS CONFIRMED TO US: hupo ton akousanton eis hemas ebebaiothe (3SAPI): (Mark 16:15-19; Luke 1:2; 24:47,48; John 15:27; Acts 1:22; 10:40-42) Confirmed (950) (bebaioo from bébaios = sure, fixed, standing firm on the feet, steadfast, maintaining firmness or solidity. In classical Greek from the 5th cent. B.C. bebaios acquires the meaning of firm, durable, unshakeable, sure, reliable, certain; and in the legal sphere, valid, legal <> bebaios is derived from baino = fit to tread on = having a firm foundation) is a verb which means to make sure or certain, to prove valid or reliable or to verify and (in legal language) to guarantee. The writer is saying that the word of this great salvation is put beyond doubt. It is guaranteed. It has been made firm and reliable so as to warrant security and inspire confidence. It produces an inner solidity. One of the two LXX uses of bebaioo in a prayer by the psalmist parallels the use in Hebrews 2:3: My soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen (bebaioo) me according to Thy Word." (Psalm 119:28 read Spurgeon's excellent note) Bebaioo was used in secular Greek as a legal technical term meaning "to designate properly guaranteed security". Its use in a legal sense therefore gives it great force here, indicating that there cannot be the slightest doubt about the salvation offered. The main point then is that this is truth that can be trusted without hesitation or reservation. The 8 NT uses of bebaioo... Mark 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Romans 15:8 (note) For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 1 Corinthians 1:6 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, 8 who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, Colossians 2:7 (note) having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. Hebrews 2:3 (note) how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were thus occupied were not benefited. Marvin Vincent says that this means that... "it was confirmed, proved to be real, by the testimony of ear-witnesses." Spurgeon was fully convinced of the truth of God's word writing that... "I hold one single sentence out of God's Word to be of more certainty and of more power than all the discoveries of all the learned men of all the ages...The Bible is a harbor where I can drop down my anchor, feeling certain that it will hold. Here is a place where I can find sure footing; and, by the grace of God, from this confidence I shall never be moved." The writer conveys to his readers the truth that one can stake their eternal destiny on the Word spoken through Jesus. Have you dear reader received the Word of truth implanted which is able to save your soul from eternal destruction? If not, then please do not be careless and neglect this great salvation another day. It is as true today as when Paul spoke it to the Philippian jailer that if you "Believe in the Lord Jesus... you shall be saved." (Acts 16:31) BY THOSE WHO HEARD: hupo tôn akousantôn: Heard (191) (akouo) means not just to hear sounds per se but implies hearing with attention or hearing so to speak with the "ear of one's mind". “To hear” implies “to obey.” The words of the gospel of salvation were first spoken by Christ, then confirmed in writing by His apostles and thus there was only one generation between Jesus and the writer. Paul for example got his message directly from Christ as he recorded in his letter to the Galatians writing that... "I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:11-12) Hebrews 1:3-4 can be depicted as follows: Spoken thru the Lord | Signs, Wonders, Various Miracles V Gifts of Holy Spirit Those who heard | Confirmed = guarantee V ~Spirit Ephesians 1:14 (note) To Us The writer perceives that under the pressure some were “going with the flow”—they were drifting away. They had not rejected Christ outright, but they were, in fact, ignoring Him. Their anchors, so to speak, were up, and they did not even realize they were moving away on the deceptive tides. Ryrie feels that Hebrews 2:2-4 presents a contrast between law and grace (Hebrews 2:2 referring to the Mosaic Law): "The revelation of grace in contrast to law came through the Lord ("For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." John 1:17) and was confirmed to the writer and readers of Hebrews by those who heard Him and by God, Who authenticated it by signs and wonders." (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publisher) R A Torrey has the following message from Hebrews 2:3 A Question that Should Startle Every Man Who is Not a Christian “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” — Hebrews, 2:3. I have a text to-night which I believe God has given me for this hour, a text that ought to startle every man and woman in this building who has not accepted the Gospel of Christ. You will find it in Hebrews 2:3: “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” I wish that that text would burn itself into the heart of every man and woman in this house who is out of Christ, “How shall I escape if I neglect so great salvation?” I wish that every man and woman that may go away from this place to-night without definitely having received Christ as their Saviour and Lord and Master would hear it ringing in their ears as they go down the street, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” I wish that every one that may lie down to sleep to-night without a definite assurance of sins forgiven through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and of acceptance before God in Him, would hear it all through the night, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” Our text sets forth the folly and guilt of neglecting the salvation that God has sent to us in and through His Son Jesus Christ, and that is my subject to-night. My sermon is all in the text—the folly and guilt of neglecting the salvation that God the Father has sent through His Son and in His Son Jesus Christ. You notice I say not merely the folly but the guilt. There is many a man who thinks that perhaps it may be a foolish thing not to accept Christ, and admits the folly of it, but he has never realized the guilt of it. But I shall endeavour to show you to-night in the unfolding of this text that it is not merely an egregiously foolish thing, but that it is an appalling wicked thing to neglect this salvation. I. The Greatness of the Salvation We see the folly and guilt of neglecting this salvation, in the first place, by a consideration of the greatness of the salvation. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” 1. We see the greatness of the salvation first of all in the way in which the salvation was given. God sent His Son, His only Son, down into the world to proclaim this salvation. As we read in the preceding chapter, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Have you ever thought of it in the light of the context, that when God, in infinite condescension, the great and infinitely holy God, sent down His own Son to proclaim pardon to the vilest sinner, if you and I neglect this salvation we are pouring contempt upon the Son of God, and upon the Father that sent Him? If God had spoken this salvation by the lips only of inspired prophets, it would have a right to demand our attention. If God had gone above prophets, and had spoken this salvation by the lips of angels sent down from Heaven, it would have a still greater right to demand our attention. But when God, in His infinite condescension, sent not merely prophets or angels, but sent His own Son, the only begotten one, the express image of His person, God manifest in the flesh, to proclaim this salvation, and you and I do not heed it, we are guilty of the most appalling presumption and defiance of God. “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses,” but how much sorer punishment you and I shall receive if we neglect this greater salvation. 2. In the second place, the greatness of this salvation is seen in the way in which it was purchased. This is a costly salvation. It was purchased by the shed blood, by the outpoured life of the incarnate Son of God. Ah, friends, when God in wondrous love went to that extent that He sacrificed His very best, when God went to that extent that He gave His own and only Son to die on the cross at Calvary, that He might purchase your salvation and mine, if you and I neglect so great salvation we are pouring contempt on the precious blood of the Son of God. “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses,” but how much greater punishment shall he merit who tramples under foot the Son of God, and counts the blood of the covenant wherewith He was sanctified an unholy thing, and insults the Spirit of Grace (Hebrews 10:28, 29). 3. Again, the greatness of this salvation is seen in the third place by a consideration of what it brings. It brings pardon for all our sins, it brings deliverance from sin, it brings union with the Son of God in His resurrection life, it brings adoption into the family of God, it brings an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, laid up in store in Heaven for us, who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. When you think that God has put at our disposal in Jesus Christ all His wealth, and is ready to make us heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, who can measure the guilt of neglecting and of turning a deaf ear to this wonderful salvation? Suppose that on his coronation day King Edward had ridden down to the East End of London, and seeing some wretched little boy on the street, clad in rags, with filthy face and hands, his great heart of love had gone out to that wretched boy, and he had stopped the royal carriage and said, “Bring that boy here,” and they had brought the boy, and he had said, “I want to take you out of your poverty, out of your squalor and rags and wretched home; I am going to take you to the royal palace and adopt you as my son.” Then suppose the boy had turned and said, “Go along, I don’t want to be adopted as your son; I would rather have my wretched crust of bread, I would rather have my rags and filthy home than live in your old palace; I don’t want to go to be your son.” But when the great King of Glory, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the great Eternal Son of God comes to you and me, in our filth and rags and sin, and wants to take us out of our filth and sin and rags of unrighteousness, and says, “I want to adopt you into my family and make you an heir of God and a joint-heir with Me,” there are some of you men and women in this building to-night who, by your actions, are saying, “Go away with your salvation, go away with your adoption into the family of God; I would rather have the crust of the world’s pleasure and the rags of my sin than all the royal apparel of righteousness and glory which you offer me.” Oh, the daring, damning guilt of any man or woman who neglects so great salvation! II. The Only Salvation A second thought which the text suggests is that our folly is great in neglecting this great salvation because it is the only salvation that is open to us. As Peter puts it in Acts 4:12: “There is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” It is salvation in Christ, or it is no salvation at all. A man is in a burning building. If there were one way of escape by a fire-escape, and another by a great broad stairway, he would have a perfect right to neglect the fire-escape for the easier escape by the stairway. But suppose there was no way of escape but the fire-escape, how great would be his folly in neglecting it. Men and women, you are in a burning building, in a doomed world. There is just one way of escape; that is by Christ. In Christ any one can be saved; out of Christ no one shall be saved. By Christ, or not at all. There is a class of men to-day who say, “Give up your Bible, give up your Christ of the Bible,” and we turn to them and say, “What have you got to give us in place of our Bible; what have you got to give us in place of the Christ of our Bible?” Now we know by personal experience that the Bible and Christ bring forgiveness of sins and peace of heart, for they have brought them to us. We know that they bring deliverance from sin’s power, for they have brought it to us. We know that they bring joy unspeakable and full of glory, for they have brought it to us. We know that they bring pardon and a firm assurance of eternal life, for they have brought them to us. We know that Christ makes us sons of God, and if sons, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Himself. What have you got that will bring us the same, that will bring us pardon and peace and set us free from the power of sin? What have you got that will bring us joy unspeakable and full of glory? What have you got that will bring us the assurance of eternal life? Have you anything? No, you have not. Well, then, please, we are not quite so great fools as to give up a book and a Saviour that bring us all these for nothing. Salvation in Christ, or salvation not at all. Point me to one saved man in London that was not saved by Christ. I have been away round this round earth. I have been in every latitude and almost every longitude, north and south; I have talked with all kinds of people, of all races and all classes, but I have never yet found a saved man, who had a glad assurance of salvation and practical deliverance from sin’s power, that was not saved by Jesus Christ; neither has anybody else. III. To Miss Salvation All that is Necessary is Merely to Neglect It In the third place, this text teaches us that to miss this salvation, and to bring upon ourselves the just and awful displeasure of a holy God for our light and contemptuous treatment of a salvation so wonderful, given and purchased at so great a cost, all that is necessary is simply to neglect it. “How shall we escape if we neglect—just neglect, so great salvation?” In order to bring upon your head the awful displeasure of God, and to be lost forever, it is not necessary that you go into any outrageous immoralities; it is not necessary that you should be an arrant and blatant blasphemer; it is not necessary that you should abuse churches and preachers of the Gospel; it is not necessary that you should even positively refuse to accept Jesus Christ; all that is necessary is that you simply neglect. More people are lost in Christian lands by neglecting than in any other way. There are millions in England to-day who are going through life neglecting, drifting into their graves neglecting, drifting into eternity neglecting, drifting into hell neglecting. That is all that is necessary to be lost. Here is a dying man, there stands a table by the dying man’s bedside, within easy reach, and standing on that table there is a tumbler in which there is a medicine that has power to save the dying man’s life. The man has strength enough to put out his hand and take the tumbler and drink the medicine. Now what is all that is necessary for that man to be saved? All that is necessary is simply for him to put out his hand and take the tumbler and drink the medicine. What is all that is necessary for that man to be lost and die? It is not necessary that he should cut his throat or blow out his brains; it is not necessary that he should throw the medicine out of the window; it is not necessary that he should assault or insult the doctor or the nurse; it is not necessary that he should positively refuse to take the medicine; all that is necessary for that man to die is to neglect to take the medicine. Men and women out of Christ, you are dying. Eternal death is at work in your souls to-night, but on that table, in that Book, in the Christ of that Book, there is a medicine that will save you, and save you to-night if you will take it. The medicine is within the reach of anybody in this building. Christ is nearer to you than the man or woman that sits next to you in that pew. All you have to do to-night to be saved is to put out your hand and take Christ. “To as many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” What is all that is necessary to you to perish eternally? Not to commit moral suicide; not to commit to-night some awful act of immorality; not to get up and curse Christ and the Bible; not loudly to proclaim that you are an infidel; not to refuse blatantly to take Christ; all that is necessary for you to be lost is simply to neglect. Here is a boat on the Niagara River, away above the Falls, towards Lake Erie, where there is scarcely any current. A man sits in the boat, being carried on very slowly by the gentle current. There is a good pair of oars in the boat, and the man could take them and pull up the river towards the lake, or to either bank, if he liked; but the man sits there and is carried on, almost imperceptibly at first, and then faster and faster, until, before he knows it, he is in the swift current just upon the rapids, and he is being carried on towards the Falls. The oars are no good to him now, the current is too swift; he could not save himself if he would—but on the shore there are men who have seen his peril; they have run along the bank and have thrown a line good and strong. It falls right into the boat, at the man’s very feet. What is all that the man has to do to be saved? All he has to do is to lay hold of the rope and they will pull him ashore, as has been done more than once on that river. What is all that he has to do to be lost? It is not necessary that he should take up the oars and pull with the current; it is not necessary that he should throw the oars overboard; it is not necessary that he himself should jump into the river; all that is necessary is simply for him to neglect to lay hold of the rope that lies before him, and the swift current of the river will carry him on to absolutely certain death over the cataract. Men and women, that is a picture of every man and woman in this building out of Christ. You are in a boat in a perilous stream, being carried towards the cataract of eternal perdition. There is no man who has the power to take the oars in his own strength and pull against that awful current; there is no man on earth who can save himself; but God has seen your peril, and, in the Gospel of His Son, has thrown out a rope. It has fallen at your feet to-night; all you have to do is to lay hold, and He will pull you safely on to the glorious shore. But what is all that you have to do to be lost? It is not necessary that you should jump into the current or pull with the stream, or refuse to accept Christ. All that is necessary is that you simply neglect and that awful current that you are already in will sweep you over the cataract to eternal death and ruin. Some one put a little card into my hand one day, a short, narrow card, and on the one side were these words, “What must I do to be saved?” Underneath was written God’s answer in Acts 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Then it said “Over,” and I turned it over. On the other side of the card was this question, “What must I do to be lost?” and there was the answer in just one word: “Nothing.” “Nothing!” You don’t have to do anything to be lost. You are lost already; if you do not do something, and do it quickly, you will be lost forever. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” To sum it all up, friends, all that is necessary to be lost to-night, all that is necessary to bring upon our heads the awful wrath of God for our light and contemptuous treatment of a Gospel proclaimed by the lips of His own Son and purchased by the atoning death of His own Son, all that is necessary is simply to neglect. Years ago in Minneapolis, the leading paper was the Minneapolis Tribune, published in a magnificent six or seven-story building, the finest newspaper building at that time in the Northwest. I had occasion very frequently to go into the upper stories of that building to see editorial friends. There was one great defect in that great building which I had never noticed. The defect was this, that the stairway went right round the elevator shaft, so that if a fire broke out in the elevator shaft escape by the stairway was cut off as well. There was, however, a fire-escape outside. That very thing happened. There broke out a fire in the elevator shaft, and it commenced to sweep up the shaft, story by story, cutting off escape by the elevator and cutting off escape by the stairway as well. But they had a brave elevator boy, who went up a number of times until he got a large number of men down from the upper stories, and almost all the rest escaped by the fire-escape outside the building. But away up in the sixth story there was a man, a despatcher for the Associated Press, which is the largest news-gathering agency in the United States. He was urged to escape, but he refused to move. There he sat by his instrument, telegraphing to all parts of the country that the building was on fire. He could have gone out of the building by the fire-escape, and across the road to an instrument there, and could have done just as well; but, like a typical newspaper man, he wanted to do something sensational, and so there he sat telegraphing the news. There had been a similar case above Johnstown in the time of the Johnstown flood, when the dam of the river was breaking. A woman sat in a telegraph office at the bottom of the dam telegraphing down to the people at Johnstown that the dam was breaking and that they had better flee for their lives. But she sat there, because duty required her, until the dam burst, and she was swept down in the flood. This man, however, sat there quite unnecessarily, merely because of his desire for notoriety. “I am in the Tribune building,” he telegraphed, “in the sixth story, and the building is on fire. The fire has now reached the second story; I am in the sixth.” In a little while he sent another message: “The fire has now reached the third story.” Soon he telegraphed: “The fire has reached the fourth story; I am in the sixth.” Soon again the message went over the wires: “The fire has reached the fifth story; I am in the sixth.” Then he thought it was about time to leave; but, in order to do this, he had to cross the hallway to a window to reach the fire-escape. He went to his door and opened it, and, to his dismay, found that the fire had not only reached the fifth story, but the sixth story, and that the hallway was full of smoke and flame, which, the moment he opened the door, swept into the room. He shut the door quickly. What was he to do? The stairway, the elevator and the fire-escape were all cut off; but he was a brave man, and he went to the window and threw it up. Down below stood a great crowd, six stories down. There was no means of catching him if he jumped, and he stood there on the window sill, not knowing what to do. But presently he looked up. Above his head was a long wire guy-rope that passed from the Tribune building to the roof of a building across an opening. Below him was a chasm six stories deep, but he caught hold of the guy-rope and began to go hand-over-hand across that chasm. The people down in the street looked on in breathless suspense. On and on he went, and then he stopped. The people below could hardly breathe. Would he let go? No. On and on he went, and again he stopped, and again the crowd below gasped, but only for a moment. His strength was gone; he was now obliged to let go, and down he came tumbling through those six stories of space, crushed into a shapeless mass below. All through mere unnecessary neglect! Men and women, you are in a burning building to-night, you are in a doomed world; but, thank God, there is a way of escape, and one way only, in Christ Jesus. No one knows how long that way will be left open. But, I beg of you, do not neglect it, and then when it is too late lay hold on some poor guy-rope of human philosophy, and go a little way, and then let go and plunge, not six stories down, but on and on and on through the awful unfathomable depths of the gulf of eternal despair. Men and women, turn to Christ to-night! “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”