The Anchor In Life

Isaiah 40:8 AV

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

THE ANCHOR FOR MY SOUL

How do we respond

A storm can destroy you or develop you. It depends how you respond.

He does not want to destroy us but to destroy the sin between you and him

How do you see the Lord. Judgmental or justifiable

It is natural and normal to drift because we live in a bad atmosphere

What anchors you?

When Jesus said peace be still. It was the same voice that spoke creation into existence.

Because He is omniscient he knows where i am in the storm. Because he is omnipresent he is with me in the storm. Because he is omnipotent he has the power to bring me through the storm.

There is no storm he does not know about

When ever the storm hits he is at work in the storm

There are many types of anchors.

The Christian life is a lot like a ship out on the sea. Storms can come from out of nowhere and come they do.

The Christian life is a lot like climbing a mountain

The Christian life is a lot like things that needs supporting

Like a ship we too have an anchor, His name is Jesus. Let’s examine several thoughts about this.

Does it seem like to you that everything that we used to be able to count on has changed?

ILL.- Two men were out fishing on Sunday morning and were feeling pretty guilty, especially since the fish weren’t biting. One said to the other, "I guess I should have stayed home and gone to church this morning."

The other man replied, "I COULDN’T HAVE GONE TO CHURCH ANYWAY, MY WIFE’S SICK IN BED."

Those two fisherman may have been anchored, but they weren’t anchored deeply.

Anchors find solid ground.

There is flexibility with the boat but not with the anchor

No matter who he or she is, and no matter how upstanding of a citizen they are, man will fail himself.

But it is God Who has never failed man.

Everyone is looking for someone, anyone, to rely on.

Man is primed and ready for someone to come along and fix all of the world’s woes and bring us peace.

The oath of God (in essence) is the way in which we can find reconciliation with the Lord.

He Is An Anchor That Is Sure (19a)

He Is An Anchor That Is Steadfast (19b)

He Is An Anchor That Is Sacred (19c)

Spiritually we have two problems.

First, we do not know when we need to drop our anchors (we delay dropping the anchor while we try to solve the issue ourselves)

Second, the anchors we have are not the right size for the boat we are on. In the natural the size of the anchor is matched to the length and weight to the boat. If the anchor is too small, although it might initially grab and hold the boat in place, if a strong enough storm come the anchor will lose its grip and the boat will drift through the storm.

Having the right size anchor is more important than knowing when to drop it because if your anchor is not the right size, it will not hold you anyway. Turn with me to Hebrews 6:17-19.

Hebrews 6:17-19: “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs the promise of the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one that enters within the veil.”

In order for me to make these verses clear, I want to go back to the temple of Jerusalem. The temple was for the Jews, but non-Jews could come into the “outer” areas of the temple but were not allowed to enter into the temple itself. Within the confines of the temple, there were areas for the Jews who were not priests and then the two rooms for the priests (the Holy Place and Most Holy Place).

The Court Place of your sacrifice

The Holy Place of your Worship

The Holy of Holies, were in God’s presence he is bigger than you your desire and your problems.

My point is this; the size of your anchor and its ability to hold you in place during a storm is directly proportional to your relationship with the God you serve. If you are worshipping God from the parking lot and never entering into His presence, your anchor is not going to be large enough to hold you steady.

. Rest in the hope that what God has promised, He will perform. His Word will not return to Him void and will fulfill what it is supposed to do in your life and in mine. We serve a mighty God who will not ever let go of us.

THE ASSURANCE WE HAVE

The Enemy of Assurance (5.11-6.8) A Hebrews 5:11 - 6:8 (NASB) 11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Immaturity (5:11-6:3)

“Dull” (vs. 11) would be better translated as “lazy” or “slothful”; An I don’t care, attitude towards the Word of God.

Hebrews 6:4-8 (NASB) 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the

The Essentials of Assurance (6:9-20)

The Bible is ABUNDANTLY clear on this issue:

John 10:26-29 26 "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 "My sheep hear my voice

Philippians 1:6 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Stand on the Promises (vv. 9-18)

True Christians will continue to serve the Lord regardless of what may happen outwardly.

A Our hope is alive . . . it’s a living hope (1 Peter 1.3)

WE CAN KNOW THE PRESESNCE OF GOD

When everyone was in despair and the situation hopeless, Paul was calm and confident because he knew God was presence

In the storm

In the jail house

• What is the use of believing in a God who cannot relate to you? Then it really does not matter whether He is around or not, right?

WE CAN KNOW THE PURPOSES OF GOD

The Enemy of Assurance (5.11-6.8) A Hebrews 5:11 - 6:8 (NASB) 11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Immaturity (5:11-6:3)

“Dull” (vs. 11) would be better translated as “lazy” or “slothful”; An I don’t care, attitude towards the Word of God.

Hebrews 6:4-8 (NASB) 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the

The Essentials of Assurance (6:9-20)

The Bible is ABUNDANTLY clear on this issue:

John 10:26-29 26 "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 "My sheep hear my voice

Philippians 1:6 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Stand on the Promises (vv. 9-18)

True Christians will continue to serve the Lord regardless of what may happen outwardly.

WE CAN KNOW THE PROMISES OF GOD BECAUSE OF HIS ACCOUNT.

GOD’S PROMISE CANNOT BE CHANGED. V.13. This speaks of God’s promise to Abraham, to bless him

GOD’S OATH CANNOT BE CHANGED BECAUSE OF THE AUTHORITY. (6:17-18a) Since God’s promise is trustworthy it was not

We have hope as an anchor of the soul which is sure and steadfast. It is grounded in the promise and oath of God. It comforts the soul, it is certain. That is why the Christian can sing "Blessed Assurance

THE BELIEVERS HOPE IS A COMFORT FOR THE SOUL BY THE ASSRANCE WE HAVE(6:18b)

The Enemy of Assurance (5:11)have become dull of hearing.

Immaturity (5:11-6:3)

“Dull” (vs. 11) would be better translated as “lazy” or “slothful”; An I don’t care, attitude towards the Word of God.

Hebrews 6:4-8 (NASB) 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the

The Essentials of Assurance (6:9-20)

John 10:26-29 26 "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 "My sheep hear my voice

Philippians 1:6 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Stand on the Promises (vv. 9-18)

True Christians will continue to serve the Lord regardless of what may happen outwardly.

A Our hope is a living hope (1 Peter 1.3)

THE BELIEVERS HOPE IS BOTH SURE AND STEADFAST. (6:19-20)

Jesus is mine." We can say, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness

YOUR ONLY HOPE IS TO ANCHOR DEEP. Good advice for weathering hurricanes and good advice for

ILL.- One day a certain old, rich man of a miserable disposition visited a rabbi, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street. "What do you see?" asked the rabbi. "I see men, women, and children," answered the rich man.

Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. "Now what do you see?" "Now I see myself," the rich man replied.

Then the rabbi said, "Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself."

Brothers and sisters, whenever silver or money is added to our lives we have a tendency to lose sight of things.

I. MY LIFE IS NOT FUTILE

My life has meaning because of Christ. As Paul said in Phil. 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

II. MY FAILURES ARE NOT FATAL

ILL: A little boy one day was in a small drugstore and tried to spend a quarter he had place on the railroad tracks and had been flattened. The proprietor said this is not worh anything now. The boy said why? He said because the image of Washington cannot been seen any more. He said yeah, but it still has the same stuff in it. You still have the same stuff you started with just put the Face of Jesus to it.

III. MY DEATH IS NOT FINAL

ILL.- Pete and Tony were great baseball fans. They were talking about baseball one day and Pete said, "I wonder if there is baseball in heaven." Tony replied, "I don’t know."

Soon after that Tony died. One day he called Pete from heaven and Pete said, "Tony, you gotta’ tell me. Is there baseball in heaven?"

Tony said, "Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there is baseball in heaven. The bad news is that you’re pitching tomorrow."

Most people are not looking forward to death and the reason is because they think all there is to life is this life.

Anchors find solid ground. There is flexibility with the boat but not with the anchor

In times like these you need a Savior.

In times like these you need an anchor.

Conclusion: In the midst of it all, the storms, the enemy, I don’t have to hold onto my Anchor, He holds onto me!

The Christian life is hard. Just as hard as those who do not know Jesus. The Hope is we have a holy of holies to enter into and speak with our anchor that understands our hurts.