Lay Hold of Hope

Introduction

Before we get started on our passage for tonight, let’s take a peek back at the last two verses from last week.

Hebrews 6:11–12 NKJV

11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The themes of hope, diligence, faith, and patience with regard to God’s promises will be echoed and explained in our verses for today. Let’s begin with verses 13-15

Hebrews 6:13–15 NKJV

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Those of you who know your bible might find it odd that Abraham was said to have “patiently endured”. Abraham, born Abram, fell short in his faith several times before this promise was repeated and confirmed in Genesis 22.

Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV

1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

But when Abraham approached Egypt as he was fleeing from a famine, he lied about being Sarah’s husband and put Pharoah in a very bad position with God.

Genesis 12:13 NKJV

13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

He basically would have pimped Sarah for his own protection if not for God’s intervention. He repeated this lowly behavior with Abimelech king of Gerar.

Genesis 20:2 NKJV

2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

Now, please forgive me for dredging all this dirt up on Abraham. I do not mean to gossip, but I do want us to understand the deeper message of our passage.

Our passage does not mention Abraham’s past failures. It is almost as though they were no longer counted against him. It is almost as though they were covered. All that remains that is worth mentioning is Abraham’s faith and patience.

Our Hope, The Blood of Jesus, Covers the Sins of Our Past

You see that quote in verse 14 of our passage

Hebrews 6:14 NKJV

14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”

That quote starts at Gen 22:17. This is right after the Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Right after Abraham demonstrated his faith in the Lord.

When we gave our lives to Jesus, humbling ourselves to admit that we are sinners in need of a Savior, repenting from our sins and striving for a life that pleases God. At that point in time our sins were no longer counted against us. And just like Abraham, they are not to be mentioned again.

So what changed? How did Abraham go from the cowering schemer that would sell his wife for protection and wealth to this new man of strong faith? Abraham laid hold of the hope that God set before him. After seeing God move to protect Sarah and honor His promise of an heir, Abraham came to trust God.

Hebrews 6:16–18 NKJV

16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that 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.

We Can Trust God - The Promise Keeper

Our passage points out that God not only promised Abraham that He would bless Abraham, but he also swore an oath. In a nod to the way that men behave, God swore an oath since that usually puts an end to doubts in the eyes of men. The issue however is that God id God. There is no higher entity for God to an oath upon so God had to swear upon himself.

God did this so that the heirs of Abraham, both genetically and spiritually (that’s us), might see that God does not and cannot lie. What God’s says is immutable, changeless. I can imagine God during Abraham’s early days in Egypt and Gerar thinking, “What are you doing? Abraham, no! Stop! Never mind, I’ll fix it”. God intervenes with the Kings and Pharaohs. Sarah’s honor is saved and Isaac, the child of promise is born.

You see, God is a promise keeper and He wants us to know that. We can be content in any situation we face because we have a hope in Jesus that anchors us. This hope is a confidence that is powered by the Holy Spirit living in us as described in

Romans 15:13 NKJV

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit who took up residence in us that gives us the power to trust God. However, I want to dig in a bit on a phrase found in verse 18 of our passage for tonight

Hebrews 6:18 NKJV

18 that 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.

The phrase is “lay hold of the hope set before us”. I believe that this phrase is the whole point of this passage. We are being encouraged to anchor ourselves in hope, to pursue it, to tenaciously and energetically lay hold of that hope and to not let go. Our hope leads to faith which allows us to trust God regardless of our circumstances.

Laying hold of hope, tenaciously holding onto hope once you have it, is important because ...

Hope will change your life and how you live

Why do I say that hope will change your life and how you live? Because the bible tells me so . . .

Thessalonians - we do not grieve like those who have no hope

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 NKJV

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

Our behavior when we suffer a loss should be different than those who don’t know the truth of the Gospel. Our confidence in eternal life with Jesus should color everything with do.

The boys in Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, provide an example of confidence and faith in God being lived out.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (and basically the known world at the time) said this to the boys when they did not bow down and worship the image as commanded:

Daniel 3:15–18 NKJV

15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

The boys had laid hold of their hope in God. Threats and bullying would not separate them from the God they knew to be true and faithful.

However, I think an even better example of the concept of laying hold of your faith, your hope is seen in Jacob. Let’s check out a few verses:

First a negative example. Esau by rights owned the promise but he valued being the son of the promise so little that he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

Genesis 25:30–34 NKJV

30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” 32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” 33 Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau thought little of the hope he had in God’s promise and was easily separated from it . Jesus tells us the following:

Matthew 13:44–46 NKJV

44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

This is why we must energetically and diligently pursue and lay hold of our faith. Because it is the most valuable thing. All else pales in comparison to our hope in Jesus Christ.

Now getting back to Jacob. Jacob valued God’s promises differently as he returned home, back into the reach of the brother he had tricked out of the birthright. First he prayed for God’s blessing.

Genesis 32:11–12 NKJV

11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. 12 For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

God heard Jacob’s prayer and tested Jacob.

Genesis 32:22–29 NKJV

22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.

Jacob prayed, reminded God of His promise, and laid hold of that promise by wrestling and not letting go until the promise was given. Jacob valued the blessing from God so much that he endured a separated hip to obtain the promise.

Just like Jacob, we cannot be saved or blessed unless we hang on tenaciously to the one who blesses, our Savior and High Priest, Jesus, the Christ. We needed a High Priest outside of the Mosaic priesthood. Those priests were only meant for the Jews and had to repeatedly sacrifice once a year for the people.

Jesus, our High Priest, is from the order of Melchizedek which existed before Israel and has no known beginning. Romans provides details on how we are covered by this Priest.

Romans 15:4–13 NKJV

4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.” 10 And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” 11 And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” 12 And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.” 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We have talked a lot about how we can be blessed by holding hope. However, I would be remiss in my duty if I did not clarify that the greatest blessing we can receive is to glorify God by walking confidently in our faith, in the knowledge that God’s promises are yes and amen. We spoke earlier about the boys in Daniel and their response to the threats of Nebuchadnezzar. I want to leave with the resultson Nebuchadnezzar of their stand and God’s faithfulness.

Daniel 3:26–29 NKJV

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit that you have given us through the sacrifice of Your son, Jesus will empower us to glorify you through our lives . We pray that others may come to know the hope we have in you. Amen.