An Anchor for Our Soul Heb. 6:13-20 Main Idea: We should take courage to persevere because of God s unchanging purpose and promises. Intro: Chapter 6 of Hebrews has been quite a ride hasn t it? Verses 1-8 are unsettling. Last week, Stan preached on verses 9-12 explaining how the assurance of our salvation, that is, the inner confidence we have about our condition before God, is conditional on us persevering to the end. Some days as I examine my life, even that can feel pretty shaky. But then verses 13-20 that we are going to be examining this week, take us back to solid ground. They present something we can count on, the promises of our unchangeable God. In the verses Stan preached last week, He finished up with verses 11 & 12 which speak about persevering in faith and being patient to inherit the promises. Then in Verses 13-20, the author reminds those hearing this message about the security we have in God s promises. Let s stand together and read those verses together antiphonally starting in verse 12 as indicated on the PowerPoint slides. Hebrews 6:11 introduces the idea of a person full of faith, patiently waiting for the fulfillment of the promise. The author turns our attention to the nature of those promises of God. Verses 13-16 bring up the example of God giving His promise to Abraham. God gave the promise, I will bless you and I will surely multiply you to Abraham on at least three occasions, (Gen. 12:1; 15:1; 22:16-18). But on only one occasion did God confirm His promise to Abraham by using an oath. That was when Abraham placed his son Isaac on the altar and was going to sacrifice him. God stopped Abraham, providing a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac s place. But let s read the whole text that is alluded to in the book of Hebrews. Turn back to Genesis 22:16-18 with me. By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. God wanted to show Abraham the certainty and immutability of His promise and so He swore by Himself. As did the Hebrews, we commonly invoke someone greater or very important to us to emphasize the truth of what we are saying. Do you swear it upon the Bible? someone might ask. Someone will say, On my mother s grave, I promise or By God, I m only telling the truth or May God strike me dead if I don t do what I said I would. So the purpose of the oath is to invoke the greater as a witness, inviting their condemnation or punishment if the promise is not fulfilled. But God could swear by no one greater than Himself because there is no greater being than God Himself. So He swore by His own existence. 1
What an example Abraham was of patient endurance, of perseverance in faith! Abraham persevered in faith even when by all appearances, God s promises could never be fulfilled. After all Abraham was 75 years old when God called Him out of Haran (Gen. 12:1-5). Twenty four years went by before he was told how God was going to fulfil His promises (Genesis 17:1-16). So Abraham was 100 years old, persevering in hope in God s promises to him, before he received the first indication of the fulfillment of those promises in the birth of his son Isaac. The birth of Isaac served not as the fulfillment of all the promises, but only as a pledge that the promises would all someday be fulfilled. Abraham patiently waited, even past his death to receive the descendants that He was promised. But with the eyes of faith, Abraham was able to grasp the complete fulfillment of that promise of blessing coming through His descendants. By faith he saw Jesus the Messiah in the far distance. Look at Jesus words in John 8:56, Your father, Abraham rejoice d to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. Indeed, by persevering in faith, Abraham saw how in his descendant, Jesus, all nations were blessed. Because Abraham persevered when as far as he could see, it would be impossible for God s promise to be fulfilled, he serves as an encouragement to the Hebrew Christians in that day and to us today to persevere in our walk of faith and to avoid the dangers of falling away. Look now at verse 17 which again brings up the matter of God s oath. The oath of God gives those who are inheritors of Abraham s blessing, that is, those who are heirs of the promise, assurance that God will fulfill that promise. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath. Who are those heirs of the promise? It is obvious from the text that the Hebrew Christians were heirs of the promise to Abraham. But we too who have put our hope in Jesus are heirs of the promise. Let me explain. You see, the text only mentions specifically the summary of what God promised to Abraham with an oath. But the author invokes the whole of the promise, that promise in Gen. 22:16-18 that all the Hebrew Christians would have in their mind, when he says that they were heirs to the promise. The main point of the promise wasn t about the number of descendants that Abraham or his heirs might have, but rather about the promise of blessing through Jesus Christ, the One who is Abraham s seed. If we respond in faith, believing in and acting upon God s promises as did Abraham, then we too are his heirs, inheriting that promise of blessing in Jesus Christ. Verses 17 & 18 make it clear that the heirs of the promise are those who have taken refuge. We are the heirs of the Abraham s blessing from God if we have taken refuge in Jesus! We will visit this matter of the oath of God more in chapter 7 in relation to Jesus priesthood, but suffice it here to say that God wants those who are sons of Abraham by faith, those who inherit the promised blessing to Abraham, to know that God s purpose has not changed. So God swore by Himself that He would accomplish what He promised. 2
And God did accomplish what He had purposed. God did bring blessing through the seed of Abraham. Abraham placed Isaac, (Gen. 22:2) his son, his only son of the promise, the son he loved, on that altar and God spared Isaac. But do you see how God brought His promise to fulfillment when God gave His Son Jesus, His only begotten Son, the Son He loved, to bring salvation and blessing to all those who would embrace the promise by faith? God didn t spare His own Son but freely gave Him up for us all! Verse 18 makes it clear that the promise of inheriting that blessing, salvation through Jesus Christ, is guaranteed to us who embrace Jesus by faith. But notice that the guarantee comes through two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. First of all, it is impossible for God s purpose to change. If His purpose would change, God who is immutable would be untrue to His own character. If God was capricious in His purpose or if He would change His plans, who could count on what He says. Secondly, His promise will not change. Notice how the text in verse 17 says that God interposed with an oath. God makes Himself the guarantor of His fixed purpose and His sworn promise. When two parties make an agreement, they can interpose a witness between them, a witness to the agreement and a guarantor that the agreement will be fulfilled according to the terms agreed upon. When a man and a woman enter the covenant of marriage, it is not a contract between two people. In marriage, they call upon God as a witness to the agreement between them. God has joined them so that they are one. God is the guarantor of that union. He holds them to account so that a sin against a spouse is a sin against God. In the same way, God interposed with an oath between Himself and those who because of their faith in Jesus are heirs of the promise to Abraham. God can call no greater being to witness His promise, so He calls on Himself as witness. We could have no greater assurance from Him. Starting in verse 18 and through verse 20, the author uses nautical figures of speech. Remember in the second half of verse 18 we saw that the author was encouraging those who, like a sailor taking refuge in a safe harbor from a raging storm at sea, have taken refuge in Jesus. So we are encouraged to take hold of the hope set before us in Jesus. By faith we latch on to the promise. We live with the assurance of God s blessing through a relationship to Christ because God Himself guarantees it. Because we believe, we walk in the light of the promise. Because we believe, Jesus Himself is our refuge. Continuing with the nautical metaphor, the author says in verse 19 and 20 that this hope that we have in Jesus is a strong anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. 3
What a beautiful figure of speech this strong anchor of the soul is! This hope in Jesus, this anchor of the soul, is what holds us safe when the storm rages around us. It is sure and steadfast, unmovable, unfailing no matter how the turmoil of life batters us. One can trust this anchor because it will not move, it will never defraud the one who trusts Jesus. One thing for sure about an anchor, it is useless riding in the ship. Back a number of years ago, some of us at EBC who now have white hair, or no hair, used to canoe on the Santiam River from Mill City on down. It was wild and dangerous, in fact no place for an open canoe. We used to get metal weights from single hung windows and tie them to a rope for an anchor for the canoe. One way to avoid danger was to throw in the anchor and stop the canoe from being carried where it would certainly capsize or be turned over by things like fallen trees across the water. But if the anchor was not thrown out of the canoe, it was useless. Hooking the anchor somewhere on a ship doesn t do any good. And our hope, if it resides in us is useless! The anchor of our soul is functional only if it is hooked on something absolutely solid outside of the ship! If the anchor of our souls is hooked on something we can generate, something about who we are, if it is inside the ship, then we are shipwrecked! But there is something very particular about this anchor! Note that it enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. The author is doing something here that they taught us not to do in English class, back when I was drug up! We were not to mix metaphors. I wonder what my English teacher would say. But since it was the Holy Spirit who inspired this author, we ll try to unravel the metaphors. The author is going to take us in chapter 7 and beyond to consider the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, and so he speaks of this anchor entering behind the veil, into the Holy of Holies in the temple of God where only the High Priest could enter. Let me untangle those metaphors for you if I can. Next week we will really get into the priesthood of Jesus who is a priest after the order of Melchizedec. But I want you to remember that in the Old Testament temple worship, behind the veil was the unseen, eternal reality of God s presence. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year, all by himself. He entered as the people s representative, with blood to sprinkle on the Ark of the Covenant as an atonement offering for the sins of the people. Jesus has entered the Most Holy Place, that is, into God s presence. We saw in Heb. 1:3 that after He made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Remember how much emphasis Stan gave that verse when He preached that passage? Notice though that Jesus entered the veil as a forerunner, not as a representative. The High Priest could never take anyone into the Holy of Holies but our forerunner, Jesus, went before us and will take us to be with Him in God s presence. Until He takes us there, He is preparing a place for us (Jn. 14:2), interceding for us (Rom. 8:26-27), and when He takes us to be with Him He will share His glory (Jn. 17:24) with us! We will get to know Him even as we are known! Now let s return to the nautical metaphor. Jesus as forerunner has taken the anchor, the hope that we have in Jesus, directly into the presence of God. We are anchored in God s presence. The 4
anchor will not be moved. Indeed it is secure and steadfast! So if we persevere in our hope in Jesus, our anchor penetrates the eternal and unshakeable Most Holy Place. Combining the two metaphors, we see the Christian soul as a ship tossed in the raging sea of the world. But just as an anchor sometimes was taken by a small boat to be dropped in the safe harbor so that the ship could be safely warped into the harbor, Jesus, our forerunner, took the anchor that is the hope we have in God s promise of salvation through Christ into the very presence of God. When He passed within the veil into God s presence, our hope passed with Him, because Christ is the basis, the substance and the object of our hope. All of our hope is tied up in Jesus who sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. No matter how violent the storm, we are secure when our anchor is secure in Jesus who is in God s presence. That is why we need to be encouraged to hang on to that hope, that assurance of His promise. Faith in God s promise through Jesus is the hawser, the rope that ties the ship in the tempest to the anchor in the safe harbor; so we need to persevere in faith in Jesus! Our hope is in His promise! We should take courage to persevere because of God s unchanging purpose and promises! You might be saying, I understand the metaphor, but how does that look in real life? Let me give you a few examples. The first is a personal example and fairly dramatic. About thirteen years ago, Stan and I were dealing with a demon possessed woman. Her husband, Stan and I were all in the room, trying to keep her from hurting herself. The demons had demonstrated superhuman strength through her body multiple times to us, and so we were under no illusions as to the danger we were in. But we were there in Jesus name with His Sprit indwelling us, so there was no fear. But out of this woman s contorted mouth, a terrible demon s voice said, I m going to kill everybody in this room! The Spirit of God brought to my mind the truth of God. Quoting Colossians 3:3, I answered the demon, You can t touch us because we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. The demon could not answer that, and He could not touch us without God s permission. You see, all three of us had the anchor of our souls hidden with Christ in God! That was reality and the demon couldn t fight against God s truth! But look around you here in this auditorium. When Wayne Steffen was paralyzed by a tractor tire falling on him, Wayne and Doris weren t carrying the anchor of their souls in their ship. They were anchored with Christ in God. All their hope was in Jesus. There are a number of you who like Wade and Brenna Weigand have lost children or other close relatives. Or worse yet, maybe your child is walking in darkness away from the Lord. You can take courage even today in the fact that Jesus, our hope, is in God s presence. Some of you like Ken and Becky Tscheigg, have faced life threatening medical issues head on without wavering in faith because your lives are hidden with Christ in God. 5
Some of those from our congregation, because of their age or state of health, stare death in the face daily, unafraid, because over the years the rope of faith has tied them to their anchor which is beyond the veil with Christ in God. Their anchor holds and they trust God s promises in Christ! Many of you have been separated from your spouses by death, and some have been separated by something worse than death, by divorce. But you have found that your anchor is absolutely secure because Jesus, your hope, has ascended to the Majesty on high! We should take courage to persevere because of God s unchanging purpose and promises. God Himself is the guarantor. 6
An Anchor for Our Soul Heb. 6:13-20 Main Idea: We should take courage to persevere because of God s unchanging purpose and promises. V 13-15 God s Promise to Abraham Genesis 22:16-18 V16 The Oath V17-18 God s Promise to Abraham s Heirs V 19-20 The Mixed Metaphor Nautical Metaphor Ship Anchor Anchor rope or chain Priestly Metaphor Veil Application Encouragement to: Take hold of the hope set before us. (V 18) Persevere in faith because: (V 11-12) God s promises and purposes don t change Christ, our hope, is in God s presence An Anchor for Our Soul Family Life Group Questions Heb. 6:13-20 Main Idea: We should take courage to persevere because of God s unchanging purpose and promises. 7
What about your background, personality, experience, etc. makes it difficult for you to trust God s promises and His purposes? For what particular area of your life do you need to trust God s promises and His purposes? (Stop for prayer) Can you tell of a time when you were particularly conscious of the ascended Christ being your secure anchor? How did it give you hope and stability? What difference might it make for you to count on Jesus presence with the Majesty on high? (Stop for prayer) 8