12. Jesus Our Anchor, Hebrews 6:9-20

[Music] well good morning everybody so glad to see you and especially because you know I wasn't here last week I'm very grateful for Ben Patterson the campus pastor of Cao Westmont College filling in for me last week it's because I was away leading a tour of I don't know 30 to 33 people from our congregation on what we call a footsteps of Paul to her where we didn't go to Israel proper but rather we went to Turkey and to Greece and visited so many of these important cities where early churches were founded and where you find it both in the book of Acts and then in church history and I got to say it was an amazing tour just amazing they say it was even beyond my expectation maybe I didn't know what to expect because I'd never been there before but just to go to places like Ephesus and Corinth and Smyrna and all these other places was just remarkable just to literally go some of the same places to stand on some of the same Roman roads where the Apostle Paul himself in the marketplaces where he would have met people and preached and the judgment-seat where he would have heard on and on and on it was just really special and very significant so look the next time we put on one of those tours to the footsteps of Paul sort of - I really encourage you to do it you don't have to wait that long next year we're going to Israel November I don't know what the dates are you can look at it on the back but 2014 and we just really look I know that these tours aren't cheap it's it's an investment but I think if you think ahead and plan ahead you can save up for it and plan to do it I just want to say this I really think it's worth it I genuinely do so join us on the next trip like this that we do next November 2014 with that let's give our attention to the text of the New Testament book of Hebrews today we're taking a look at Hebrews chapter 6 beginning at verse 9 so want to open up your Bibles with me let's stand and give reverence to the word of the Lord as I read this morning's text Hebrews chapter 6 starting at verse 9 we read but beloved we are caught of better things concerning you yes things that accompany salvation though we speak in this manner for God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown towards his name and that you have ministered to the Saints and do minister and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end that you do not become sluggish but imitators who through faith and patience inherit the promises for when God made a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no one greater he swore by himself saying surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you and so after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise for men indeed swear by the greater and a oath is for confirmation is for them the end of all dispute thus God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we might have strong consolation who have fled for the refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us this hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us even Jesus having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek Father we thank you for your word I pray Lord that your spirit would be with us now in his presence in his power in his illuminating gift to us to help us understand something beyond what can be apprehended mentally of your word we pray this in Jesus name Amen you may be seated the last time we were in the book of Hebrews which was two weeks ago today we studied together one of the more controversial passages in the book of Hebrews which was a very strong turning to the people who originally read the book and because of the inspirational holy spirit is a very strong warning to us against falling away not merely falling as a person might stumble or fall into sin but really falling away making a departure in heart in mind in life away from Jesus and away from the distinctively Christian life of saying that Jesus of who he is and what he did for his on the cross that that has to be the center of our walk with God so is a very strong warning against falling away and I wonder if the right of the Hebrews feeling that he really delivered a strong blow intentionally so by the inspiration of the holy spirit of warning to his original readers now he wants to come in starting with verse 9 with a lot of encouragement I'm not gonna say that this was a bad cop good cop routine but you know a good coach when he wants to motivate his players sometimes he'll just sort of sort of frighten them about the consequences of not playing to their best but then he'll turn it around and give them the most encouraging words they could ever hear he understands that a proper encouragement is made up both of warning and then of real anticipation and confidence in what victory will win and that's what he begins here verse 9 where he says but beloved we are confident of better things concerning you yes things that accompany salvation though we speak in this manner I know I've been tough with you I've know I've given you a very strongly worded and directed warning but now I want you to be encouraged I want you to know that I'm confident that you're gonna rise the occasion and that you're not gonna fall away but rather you're gonna fulfill everything that God has for you in Jesus Christ and now in the remaining verses in this chapter he is essentially going to give them according to my reading of it three reasons to be encouraged he's gonna sort of back up a dump truck full of encouragement and lay it down upon him and I trust that these will be encouragement to you as well because listen I know that there are some people who sometimes seem to check out of the Christian life maybe sort of seemed to check out in the Christian life based on ideology based on intellectual reasons maybe it's based on moral reasons maybe it's based on this but I think one of the great reasons why people either back off from Christian living or turn their backs on Jesus all together it's because of discouragement don't you think they just become weary they become weary of a promise that doesn't seem fulfilled yet they become weary a pressure that seems to come upon them from the outside maybe for a dozen different reasons they become weary and discouraged God is very much into encouraging you and let's let him do it now through these three different principles first of all in verse 10 starting with don't be discouraged because God has not forgotten about you look at it right here verse 10 for God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you've shown towards his name in that you have ministered to the Saints and do minister and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end and that you do not become sluggish but imitators who through faith and patience inherit the promises I love how verse 10 begins did you read it that God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love sometimes there's nothing more discouraging than the sense that God has forgotten about you then you know Lord I've been serving you I've been working for you I've been trying to serve your people I've served in this ministry I've tried to make Christ known in this area of my life or in this opportunity that I've had I've gone on missions trips I've done this and Lord it seems like you've forgotten about me friends if you have that sense isn't it sort of crushing to your soul don't you kind of feel like well what's the point of going on the ride of the Hebrews in the strongest terms possible he wants to encourage everybody and let them know God has not forgotten about you that good thing you did for someone else in Jesus name God hasn't forgotten about it that opportunity that you had to stand as a testimony to Jesus Christ and you stood God has not forgotten about it that temptation that you resisted and didn't give in to god never has forgotten about that matter of fact look at how he says that there in verse 10 he says God is not unjust to forget if God forgot the ways that you've sacrificed to serve Him and to love his people it would be unjust of him now there's one thing I can assure you of with all my heart God is a just God God is fair and he would violate his own character if he forgot the things that you've done for him and for his people so friends be comforted be assured God would be unjust if he forgot about those things and he'll never forget about him because your work and your labor of love is precious to him therefore look at it there in verse 11 we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end if God hasn't forgotten what you've done in the past he's not gonna forget what you do for him in the future so carry it along with the full assurance of hope until the end I've got good news for you God working in you God working through you you can make it through to the very end with Jesus Christ you can live your life as a strong testimony to the Lord fulfilling everything that he's given you to do until the very end sometimes you wonder about though don't you can i really make it will the discouragements and the depressions that i face all around me will they drive me down in the dust no no don't forget God sees everything he honors everything that you've done to him and that will give you the same diligence of hope to the end therefore look what he says in verse 12 don't be sluggish come on you know what it's like to live that sort of sluggish Christian life where it's just like you don't have the the enthusiasm you don't have the the vitality of life anymore it's like the difference between living of something that you feel on fire and burning for the Lord or you feel like well the proverbial wet blanket says no knowing that God remembers everything and will reward everything and nothing is forgotten for him it enables you and I to say no we will not be sluggish we will continue on until the very end you see this is what God wants us to do to have this heart that says no I will not give up I'm not gonna lose the desire to press on I'm not gonna lose the desire to go on with the Lord but no Lord you helping me I will continue to the very end and then I love how he says it here in verse 12 did you see this one but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises now in verse 13 which we'll read in a moment he puts up a shining example of somebody that we should imitate the great man of the Old Testament named Abraham isn't it great that we've been looking at the life of Abraham in our home groups you take a look at that man you go no it was through faith and patience that he inherited the promises of God I hope to be able to hear it the promise of God the same way Lord keep my faith strong keep my patience strong I love that phrase in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 12 imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises first of all look at those two things that go together faith and patience sometimes people have faith but they have no patience they won't endure it's like Lord I believe if you do it for me right now well we've all been in that place haven't we and to that the writer he person know you got faith add to it patience other people have patience they can endure but they don't endure in faith they're not enduring saying yes Lord I trust you yes I'm confident in you but friends those two things together faith and patience and what do you do you inherit the problems good by the way I love that he said inherit he did not say you earned the promises of God no they're not earned they're freely given by God but in order to receive that inheritance Oh Lord fill me with faith fill me with patience just as you did with Abraham think about Abraham had to wait so long to achieve some of the things that God promised him he had to wait more than 25 years to receive the child that God promised but no he stayed strong and God gave him the faith and the patience to do it and God calls upon us to imitate the faith and patience of men like Abraham so don't be discouraged God has not forgotten about you with faith and patience you will inherit the promises of God now starting in verse 13 he gives a second reason to be encouraged here's a second reason number two don't be discouraged because God's promises are reliable look at how he puts it here in verse 13 he says this for when God made a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no one greater he swore by himself saying surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you and so after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise for men indeed swear by the greater and owed for confirmation is for them the end of all dispute thus God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us notice it verse 13 he reminds us of the promise that God made to Abraham he said God made a promise to Abraham and with this he's drawing his mind and our minds back to Genesis chapter 22 where God repeated a promise that he had made many times before to Abraham but that it was through Isaac that the Covenant would pass through that it would be through Isaac that the seed would be called and indeed it would be through Isaac that God would bring forth a messiah that would bring forth blessing to every family on earth and by the way that promise to Abraham and to Isaac and through their descendants was perfectly fulfilled in Jesus himself but it didn't come easy for Abraham it didn't come easy for Isaac instead notice what he says here in verse 15 it came after he had patiently endured he had to wait a long time for the promise to come and let's face it that's a discouraging time for us isn't it I think about the person very discouraged because there seems to be a stubborn sin in their life and they hate that and they pray for God to take it away and most of the time they do all right but even now occasionally they give in to that sin and they're so discouraged my friend would you please patiently endure with the promise that God has given to you I think of the person who's sick in their soul because they have a loved one who's far from God and they feel like Lord how long until you bring this person to yourself I pray for them every day they're on my heart on my consciousness all the time Lord how long will you do this I appeal to that brother or sister would you please patiently endure some people feel like God has given them a calling or a promise or a destined future that he's promised to them and it seems so far off you just say Lord how long Lord would you strengthen me but look at those words right there after he had patiently endured that's what God worked in Abraham and if we'll let him he will work it in us as well but all along the way God wants you to be assured of something that his promise is sure I love the word that he uses repeatedly in the section immutable or immutability and that's not a words you use in everyday language is it but it's a great word I just love it it sounds so noble and majestic immutable simply means unchanging you say well why didn't he just say unchanging there I don't know immutable sounds cooler at least admires in other words the promise the confidence that God gives unto us is unchanging look at it there in verse 17 he says determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel he confirmed it with an oath in other words God says so you'll know my promise is true I'm gonna put my reputation on the line and I'm gonna confirm it with an oath and like it says there in the text he could swear by no one greater so he swore by himself I hope I say this reverently but I think it's what the text is talking about God doesn't say I swear to God you know what God says I swear by myself I put my deity on the line I put my intent Groody on the line I put my character on the line and if I do not fulfill my promise you may rightly question my character but friends the character of God is unquestionable so we know he will fulfill his promise now that's what he promised to Abraham you say wouldn't it be great if he promised the same thing to me can I tell you friend he does promise the same thing to you he really does all the promises of God are yes in Jesus Christ the Bible tells us and so we have this great fact that the Bible makes these wide-open promises about who Jesus is and how we can compliment do you know that the Bible says that whoever comes to Jesus he will in no way cast out no way and so you come to Jesus through the cross there's Jesus what he did for you on the cross that he stood there as a substitute in our place and all the guilt all the shame all the judgment that my sin and your sin as well all of it that it deserved before God God the Father said I will lay it upon my son at the cross and that'll be the way that we make a road from me to you and now God says you come on that way through the cross and it's yours you will never be cast out that is an oath it's a promise God will never change it is that beautiful it doesn't matter necessarily how much you feel saved at the moment I hope that most of you have a wonderful sense of a right relationship with God but can I tell you your status with God doesn't depend on your feeling it depends on his oath his promise I hope that you have a wonderful day that it's pleasant that it's good that you sense the blessing in favor of God in your life but if you don't his promise is still sure can you just acknowledge it right now that the promise of God and the strength of his oath is greater than your feelings greater than your experience and say Jesus I'm gonna let you be true and every person a liar that is the strength of his oath so he does this for us he says that what Jesus did on the cross it counts for all who come to him that's an oath that he's made he's made this oath that if you draw near to he will draw near to you and he's never gonna break his promise he's never gonna break his oath and that can bring encouragement to a very discouraged soul this is how he piles point upon point here in verse 18 where he says that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we might have strong consolation I think the two unchanging things that God confirms his Oh to us are number one the promise and then the oath that confirms the promise and it is impossible for God to lie in either one of those two things the absolute reliability of God's promise should blow us away it's it impresses greatly nobody can accuse God of perjury God you made a promise but you didn't fulfill it why don't you put God's promise to the test and you'll see that it's true and all of this collectively look at it there in verse 18 where he says that we might have strong consolation I love that phrase strong consolation it's not enough for God to give us consolation although we would need it yes Lord I could use some consolation thank you for that but you know what God says I'm gonna give you strong consolation and I think about compared to the substitutes that the world would have to ever think about the void that people try to fill in their life with some sense of consolation think about that person who opens up the bottle of alcohol and drinks too much and escapes into an alcoholic stupor aren't they trying to find some consolation but think about the person who lives a life that that doesn't respect biblical morality when it comes to their sexual behavior and they try this relationship or that relationship or this pleasure to fulfill and aren't they seeking for consolation somewhere along the line think of the person who wants to find the content of their life in some kind of achieve success or material prosperity or the place that they live or the things that they have aren't they trying to find some consolation in their life let me tell you all that stuff offers some of consolation but it's weak consolation you know what Jesus Christ offers you by the strength of his oath strong consolation it's there for you to take for you to receive and therefore he says there in verse 18 that it's for us who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us it's like Jesus's our rescue he's our refuge and we can run to him and find that place of strong consolation I think it's beautiful and powerful how again and again the writer of the Hebrews says to us flee to Jesus flee to Jesus find it in him find it in him and I hope that you would friends you're not gonna find it in me I hope to be a good messenger of God's Word I hope to teach it properly and and passionately as much as God can give me to do it but you're not gonna find that strong consolation to me you're not gonna find it merely in church-going you're not gonna find it in doing good works but here's where you will find it you will find it in Jesus Christ now he goes to the third point of encouragement starting at verses 19 and 20 where he says don't be discouraged because Jesus is gonna lead you into God's glory he's not just gonna pick you up and give you strong consolation where you are but he's gonna lead you into this glorious future look at at verses 19 and 20 where he says this this hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters into the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us even Jesus having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek isn't that beautiful it's so powerful the hope that you have in the strength and the surety of God's oath of his promise it can be like an anchor for your soul my friends isn't this what you need when your life is tossed about by storms which I can tell you it will be if it's not already at the moment it will be every person goes through stormy seasons in life you can count on it and being a follower of Jesus Christ doesn't insulate you those stormy seasons is life you'll have them but this is what following Jesus Christ gives you it gives you an anchor it gives you an anchor of hope that is set down into firm rock matter-of-fact I love it how he says he says there in verse 19 we have an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and enters the presence behind the veil the anchor is put into something that's sure and certain but it's unseen have you ever thought about how an anchor works when you can see the anchor it's no good there it is on the ship what a fine anchor it's a nice anchor it's a very good one might be the strongest anchor in the world but listen that anchor doesn't do you any good until it's in a place where you can't see it until it's dropped down into the depths of the sea and it finds a anchoring point into solid ground and then it keeps you connected to something firm and stable and so that's what the anchor does for the ship it keeps it connected it keeps it from being wrecked on the rocks the anchor stabilizes the ship and it makes it more comfortable for everybody on board and the anchor also helps the ship to maintain its progress that it's already made if it wasn't for the anchor it might go for and then just get blown back but no the anchor the anchor is a beautiful and powerful illustration of what Jesus Christ and his hope is to be for our life now if we only had a symbolic representation of an anchor somewhere here in this building I could draw the point far more powerfully but you get the point don't you that here we are with Jesus as this powerful anchor of our soul but can I remind you of something the anchor does no good for the ship unless it's connected to it your picture in your mind the sailors and the storms upon the ship and there it is it's a perilous situation they throw the anchor overboard they just forgot to connect it to a chain it might be the best anchor in the world right but it's not connected you need to be connected to your anchor and Jesus Christ has gone beyond I love how he puts this word and he said this hope we have is the anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil in other words up in heaven the anchor of a ship goes down to find stability our anchor goes up and it's anchored firmly within the heavenlies and now Jesus says connect to me and you will have that stability that you need even though you can't see the anchor don't worry about it you can't see the anchor and a ship when it's doing it good you can't see the anchor up in heaven yet you can know that you have it and you have that representation I love what it says in verse 19 which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us Jesus has gone to heaven before us like a forerunner and if he's the forerunner you're the after runner you're coming right after him and he's gone there to prepare a place for you and to make it sure and secure for you and for I this is God's encouragement to us you stay connected to that anchor and you're gonna make it to the end the ship will come to shore it will come to its desired destination and that's why we see in verse 20 where he makes this plane the forerunner we have even Jesus Jesus has gone into the heavens before us he went knowing others would follow there's no point in having a forerunner if there's not after runners and you and I we make up that great glorious company now in verses 19 and 20 he brings this idea of going up behind the veil that's heaven talk having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek that's heaven talk and he's introducing this idea of Melchizedek again Melchizedek being this figure of a great high priest and an intermediary between God and man mentioned as I said before like a meteor that strikes across the sky of the Old Testament this exciting person Melchizedek which we'll talk about next week I feel like I keep putting Melchizedek off it's like a bad soap opera you know tune in next week to find it but that's what it is that's what the text does for us and we'll come back to Melchizedek but I don't want you to miss with the text lays right down before us for you and for I what we can grab ahold of with certainty we have no reason to be discouraged I'm not speaking about the circumstances of your life maybe if you looked at the circumstances of your life you would have great reason to be discouraged okay I'm not gonna give you some great big don't worry be happy every cloud has a silver lining bla bla bla bla bla it might be bad in your life and let me give you this cheery thought it may be even worse than you think it's possible right maybe you think things are bad but you don't even know the half of it so I'm not trying to tell you that things aren't bad or that there's not these difficulties in your life it may very well be so here's what I'm trying to tell you is that Jesus Christ is greater than even the greatest difficulty and you can be encouraged you can be encouraged because God has not forgotten about you he would be unjust to forget about you and if you're burdened by that thought that God has forgotten about you I want you to reject it as a lie coming from the Prince of Darkness himself no God has not forgotten about you secondly God's promises are reliable he will never go back on his promise and thirdly Jesus is gonna lead you into glory he is the forerunner that is true for everyone who's connected to the anchor and now we come back to what Jay Carney spoke to us about before about this idea of being born again I mean for a person to be born again means that they have established that connection to the anchor and again for us that connection doesn't go up go down I mean it goes up into heaven do you have that connection as Jesus come and brought that transforming power in your life have you repented have you believed if not I'm gonna give you an opportunity today I don't want to waste anything that's been said here today about being born again without giving people the opportunity to do so in a few moments I'm gonna pray and in the midst of that prayer I'm gonna give an invitation I'm telling you this because I'm not using manipulation I'll tell you exactly what I'm gonna do in the midst of my prayer I'm gonna give an invitation and here's I'm gonna do I'm gonna invite anybody who wants to be born again who wants today to be their day of repentance and faith in Jesus you say I want to be connected and if you want to think about repentance --is repentance is disconnecting from all those lame anchors that you've tried to make for yourself and faith is connecting to the true anchor Jesus Christ if you're willing to disconnect from the false and connect to the true about who Jesus is and what he did for you especially what he did view on the cross if that's what you want to do this morning and receive Jesus Christ I'm gonna invite you in a few moments when I pray to stand when I give that invitation and for the rest of us I just want us to be praying because it isn't wonderful to think that there can be people right now among us that today can be a day that they remember for all eternity today can be the day when they pass from death to life from old to new and they can receive God's promise so let's pray that that would exactly happen father in heaven we thank you that you don't forget we thank you that your promises are true and we thank you that you've gone before us to glory lord I pray that you would remind people of that great heavenly confidence and hope that you'd give us a renewed sense of it right here right now Lord I can't help but think that there's got to be at least a few people in this room they are not connected to their anchor their anchor is there their anchor is sufficient but they're not connected to it and so lord I pray that by repentance and faith that you work within the hearts of those whom you've called to be your people let through that repentance and faith people would connect to Jesus to who he is to what he did for them on the cross and they would receive new life in you that they would be Lord born again so Jesus would you do that in our midst and would you work with an eloquence and a power infinitely beyond anything I can say and speak to people's hearts right now and while heads are bowed and eyes are closed in reverent prayer I simply want to ask who would like to put their faith in Jesus today who would like to be born again who would like to receive the power of God to repent and believe if that's you right here right now would you please stand to your feet as a demonstration of that faith anyone now I'll give you a few moments you want to stand to say I receive you Jesus I want to be born again I give just another few moments for anybody here Father in heaven we thank you for the greatness of what you've given to us in Jesus Christ and I pray God that you would by the presence and the power of your Holy Spirit speak of surance to everyone who belongs to you and that by the power and the work of your Holy Spirit speak to those who have yet to belong to you and draw them lovingly and powerfully into your kingdom this is your word Lord which your promise will accomplish the work that you set out for it we trust that it will we trust that it has in the fulfillment of your promise we pray this in Jesus name [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: hebrews, book of hebrews, hebrews 6, anchor, jesus our anchor, david guzik, guzk, enduring word, pastor guzik, pastor david guzik

Id: 9zj_L6cBop8

Length: 35min 25sec (2125 seconds)

Published: Sat May 25 2019