The Sure and Steady Anchor For Your Soul (Heb. 6:9-20)

Intro

You’ve seen a picture of an anchor. You know what it does. You’ve seen the pirate movies or Naval movies where they drop that heavy metal piece down into the water. Sometimes they are made of other materials, and they are a lot of different designs. It’s supposed to hold a ship steady in the water. To keep it from drifting or moving.

Even this week, you might have seen this headline: “Cruise ship barred from docking by 4 governments anchors off Cambodia.” Four different governments would not allow this cruise ship with 2,200 people on it to dock in their ports, so they have to drop anchor .6 miles from the border of Cambodia.

The anchor keeps it in place while they wait for what is next.

The word picture in this passage couldn’t be clearer— Jesus is our anchor. This simple truth is that through all the waves and storms, Jesus keeps us from drifting off. He secures us.

That’s what is true in our salvation. Many things of this world could influence you to drift away; and like we looked at last week— there are some who hang around in the church but are not of the church — they aren’t born again.

Here’s the goal for us, or the command of the writer of Hebrews in this part of his letter: We are to have the full assurance of hope until the end (v.11); we are to hold fast to the hope set before us (v.18).

Let’s be honest— there can be times in your life that might not be the most “hopeful.” There can even be times in your walk with the Lord where you wonder if its worth it or can you actually persevere.

The diagnosis seems to severe.

The fear seems too real.

Your inadequacies are too prevalent.

The situation just seems impossible.

Sometimes it might seem like you’re losing hope. Is there anything better to come really?

Let me say very clearly— yes, you can hold fast to the hope set before us, because you are not the anchor on which standing firm is placed. This passage tells us that we have the example and encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

The example and encouragement. That’s what we’re going to see in this passage. The example and encouragement.

The Example

V.11 says that they were not be sluggish, but that they would imitate those who inherited the promises of God through faith and patience.

Our example to imitate is Abraham {READ v.13]. God promises Abraham that he would bless him. The quote here in v.13 is from . Now you might know right off that is the account of the sacrifice of Isaac. Now we know that Isaac was not eventually sacrificed, God provided a ram for sacrifice— but God commanded Abraham as a way of testing him to sacrifice his son.

But the promise to Abraham was first given in :

“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” (, ESV)

Then further reiterated and expanded on in

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (, ESV)

Even though Abram (changed to Abraham later) believed God, there was still some doubt as to how this promise would be accomplished.

Let’s cut him some slack— the promise is that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars, yet his wife is barren. Talk about feeling a little hopeless...

So explains Abram and his wife, Sarai’s, best plan to make this promise come true— Abram can have a child with Sarai’s servant woman. That produced Ishmael, but the whole plan wasn’t as good of an idea as they initially thought.

Chapter 17 is God’s mercy to remember his promise. He changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and listen to v.7: “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (, ESV)

It is an everlasting covenant.

But in v.16, God promises a son to Sarah, and in v.17, Abraham falls down and laughs. Maybe feeling a little hopeless again...

Can a 90-year-old woman give birth? Can’t you just accept what I did (v.18). And God quickly answers in v.19-

no. This is my promise, my plan. The best you can do isn’t good enough. Then eventually God blesses Abraham and Sarah with Isaac. In chapter 22, then God tests Abraham by telling him to go sacrifice his son Isaac as an offering to the Lord.

We could look here and say, what? You promised this child to Abraham and are going to make his offspring as numerous as the stars and now you want him put to death?

This doesn’t make sense! And this is how hopeless situations seem— confusing.

Hopeless situations often seem confusing to us. But God isn’t finished.

But at this point, Abraham wasn’t second-guessing God anymore. He didn’t fall down laughing when God told him to do this. He trusted God. He got up early the next morning and set off to do what God told him to do.

In fact, in , the Faith Chapter, listen to v.17-19: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” (, ESV)

Abraham was at the point where he just figured that if God was going to fulfill the promise through Isaac that he was going to raise him from the dead!

Abraham is the example we are supposed to imitate. Whenever you find yourself in those seemingly hopeless situations, think about Abraham’s journey.

It was confusing.

He even tried to help God out, and that wasn’t the solution.

But he learned through experience to live by faith and trust in God’s plan.

We have the example and encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

Now, what is the encouragement to us?

The Encouragement

Look at v.17— God desired to show even more convincingly to the heirs of the promise— we’re included in that— the unchangeable character of his purpose.

So, he guaranteed it with an oath. This makes it binding.

V.18— 2 unchangeable things— most likely referring to God’s promise and God’s oath.

“two unchangeable things”: God’s promise and God’s oath.

These are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.

God promised our salvation to come through Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and God made an oath, His Word— and these 2 things are the greatest encouragement you and I have to hold fast to the hope set before us, our very salvation. Because just like Abraham learned, we can always trust God to carry out His purposes.

We have this, God’s promise and oath, as a sure and steady anchor of our soul.

The anchor is “firm” or “sure” because it won’t bend, twist, or break when placed under strain, and it is “secure” or “steady” because it won’t drag or slip in the storm.

God has guaranteed our hope, our salvation, our eternity, through Jesus Christ, who, through his death and resurrection, forever tore the curtain that separated man from God.

God promised our deliverance, sealed it with an oath, and fulfilled it all through Jesus Christ.

We have the example and encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.