God's Unchangeable Promise

page 1004 end of hebrew 6 we're gonna look at verses 13 through 20 this morning

one of the things that we talk a lot about here at trinity if you've been around for a while is

the way in which the gospel uh gathers us together to god's self and into god's family and then sends

us out uh and isn't it awesome that this morning we got to see both of those things on display

that in membership god gathering us together and then giving us a heart for people who are on the

other side of the world just as god went out from himself to redeem a people for himself that were

far away so we then are sent out um so there it was the gospel on display before you i don't even

feel like i have to give a sermon this morning because you saw it already in membership and

admissions but anyway uh no we're going to preach this morning hebrew 6 13 through 20 let me read

this passage for us the writer of the hebrew says for when god made a promise to abraham

since he had no one greater by whom to swear he swore by himself saying surely i will bless you

and multiply you and thus abraham having patiently waited obtained the promise for people swear by

something greater than themselves and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation

so when god desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character

of his purpose he guaranteed it with an oath so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible

for god to lie we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope

set before us we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul a hope that enters into the inner place

behind the curtain where jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf having become a high priest

forever after the order of melchizedek let's pray together father indeed we do pray that even now

as we come to this word of comfort that you would come by your spirit and show us more deeply the

promise of our savior lord jesus so that we might be strengthened and encouraged to hold fast in these

days lord we ask all this in christ's name amen uh so you probably didn't notice this uh but just last

month shell oil the big sort of oil conglomerate announced that they had completed the construction of

the hull of what is going to be the world's largest floating vessel uh it's they're going to call it

the prelude i don't know why they picked that name but when it's completed this thing is going to be

1600 feet long that's actually longer than the empire state building is tall it's huge this thing is massive

uh and it's actually not a ship in the traditional sense it's actually like a giant floating natural gas

facility uh but the the anchorage and the moorage on this thing is apparently so strong that the

prelude can withstand a category five cyclone

which is the way they sort of rank tropical storms in australia that's where this thing is going to be

imagine a system of anchors and moors that could keep a 1600 foot 600 000 ton floating vessel firm and

secure in the midst of the strongest kind of hurricane that there is incredible

uh now before shell oil decided to build this monstrosity uh the biggest vessel the longest vessel

before that was something appropriately called sea wise giant that was the name of the longest boat

before they built the prelude uh 430 plus meters long and it too had a massive anchor it's actually on

display in the hong kong maritime museum this anchor for this ship weighed 36 tons

that's 72 000 pounds or by my calculations about 900 middle school boys the size of this anchor

huh now it's obvious why a ship needs an anchor right anchors are there for stability for security

so that when the currents pick up and the tide shift or the winds start to rise you don't drift out to sea

or you don't crash into the rocks on the shore so that you can stay firm in the midst of the dangerous seas

and verse 19 of our passage today speaks about an anchor that is sure and steadfast

but this isn't an anchor for a ship it's an anchor for the soul

and that very idea raises an incredibly important question for each one of us as we come to our passage

this morning and the question it causes us to ask is this what exactly is it that anchors

my life after all your soul is just that it's the central part of your personality it's it's your

identity it's you it's your life your soul

and when the storms rise and when the winds blow and when the currents move

what keeps you from drifting and what keeps you from going under

because make no mistake you will try and i will try to anchor my life on something

it's unavoidable we will always more our sense of self our identity our purpose to something

so it causes us to think what have i tried to use to anchor my life what's the thing i think will

keep me secure and resilient and strong when the storms come

for some of us we've tried to make our career our anchor we think as long as i'm successful and

respected in my field as long as things are going well in my professional life

then i'll be safe and strong in the storms

but of course we know that the problem is what if you're no longer able to be successful

what if through a turn of events you can no longer do your work

through a disability or through a change in the markets or through a change in intellectual fads

what if your work is no longer seen as relevant

what if the storms of life end your career what then will happen to your soul

so then for some of us we've tried making a relationship an anchor as long as i have

this person in my life we think then i'll be steadfast

haven't you heard it said sometimes this person's my rock

but again what if the storms take that person away

what if the relationship ends

what then becomes of our soul what then keeps us from drifting or sinking beneath the waves

so some of us not wanting to anchor our lives in anything external and changing outside of us

have tried to make personal integrity our anchor something inside of us we think as long as i'm a

person of values of principles as long as i do what is right and live a moral life

or as long as i follow my heart and do what i know to be true for me

a different kind of principial living isn't it as long as i do these things then i'll be steadfast in the storms

then whatever happens outside of me the winds won't rock me the waves won't overturn me

but you know this turns out to be just as insecure doesn't it because even then what if you find

that your best version of you still doesn't live up to your standards

no matter how hard you try what if the storms of life start to show you that you can't always be the

thoughtful creative caring person you wish you were or the moral upright person you know you should be

it turns out even that anchor is not enough for the soul

and the list could go on and on as we consider all the faulty things that simply that simply can't keep us secure

all the anchors that can't possibly keep our souls firm

but as we think about these things doesn't verse not verse 19 of our passage come ringing out with

incredibly good news we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul there is an anchor that holds

there is something that can keep our soul secure when the storms come

and verse 18 tells us what the this is it's the hope set before us

of course at first it seems like that can't be right

how could hope be an anchor i mean in our common way of thinking doesn't hope seem like one of the

most ephemeral and fleeting things that there is isn't hope just wishful thinking isn't hope the word

that you use when you're just not sure whether something's going to be the case but you really

like it to be anyway like i really hope i get a parking spot downtown next to the restaurant we're

going to because it's really cold and rainy and snowy outside you don't know you're gonna find a

parking spot you probably won't it's new haven right

you've got no guarantee so okay so how could any mere hope be an anchor for my soul

well friends that's where we have to see that the hope that we're speaking of here is completely

different that hope in the new testament isn't something we merely wish will happen

no the language of hope is what describes the certain future the certain future of those who

place their trust in christ in fact the word hope nine times out of ten in the new testament

is almost never used as our sort of act of hoping our subjective hoping it's almost always used as the

concrete objective reality and you see it here the hope set before us it's the thing that's there

that is for us in the future that we look forward to

friends you see the book of hebrews was written to christians who needed an anchor for their souls

they were a fledgling community for whom storms and winds have come along and they rocked their boat

and they were almost feeling like they were lost at sea where do we go what do we do

and in this section of the book the thing that this section we've been looking at at the last two

weeks if you kind of think back if you've been with us the writer of hebrews has been telling them

press on to spiritual maturity that was two weeks ago and last week what greg showed us keep on showing

your love for the name of god in service to the saints don't let these things flag press on in other

words he's been emphasizing their responsibility but now in this passage he's going to show us god's provision

so that we might do those things the divine enablement so that we might press on so that we might keep

loving and show that steadfast zeal and faithful endurance and patience

and what we see here is that god has given us a sure and steadfast anchor of hope that will sustain us

and to the extent that we realize how certain that hope is that is how resilient and secure we will be in

the storms of this life in other words a life without hope is like a ship without an anchor

but when we have a robust sense of the hope set before us in christ then our lives will be enabled

and strengthened and fueled to hold fast and press on no matter what comes in other words certain hope

is the anchor that allows us to faithfully persevere

and what what the writer of the hebrews is doing in this section is showing us how utterly and absolutely

rock solid certain our hope it truly is and we need to know that don't we because we doubt

when circumstances take a turn for the worse we question god's promises and we start to wonder

whether the hope will really play out in the end we start to question whether god will do

what he promises he will do but hebrews is pointing us to something that will give us as he says strong

encouragement to hold fast

and they're big basically this passage falls into two halves and this is how we're going to look at

it this morning in verses 13 through 18 we see that our hope is utterly certain because god

has sworn it and then in verses 19 through 20 we see that our hope is utterly certain because christ

has accomplished it so that's where we're headed so first let's consider this first half that god

has sworn it as you look through the first part the first number of verses of our section you have to

admit that it's a little strange isn't it for god to be taking an oath i mean why do human beings

typically swear oaths you know you imagine the guy with a boston accent i swear my mother's grave

why because the guy's probably not that trustworthy right he's probably not telling the truth most of

the time but now he really wants to know let you know that he's telling the truth we swear oaths

because we're not completely truthful and reliable if everyone always kept their word we wouldn't make

oaths but we aren't reliable so we make vows that bind us to keeping our word

but god is in a totally different position friends we're told here in this passage that it is

impossible for god to lie

when god makes a promise or gives his word that settles it

he doesn't need to make an oath over and above that he's perfectly faithful and truthful

and yet here we see that god does swear an oath and he swore an oath to abraham

and we're told why god does this in verse 18 to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise

the unchangeable character of his purpose you see it wasn't any weakness or unreliability in god

that made him to swear this oath but it was a weakness in us god swore this oath because we are often too

slow to believe god's promises and to take him at his word aren't we often so much quicker to believe

the things that we feel rather than the things that god has said

we are programmed in our post-romantic individualistic culture to just believe our feelings

that for us is the standard of truth isn't it how much more quickly do we believe those things

than what god has said and yet god knowing our weakness in utter kindness and condescension

stoops and swears an oath

swearing on himself because there's no one greater by whom to swear

just so

we will realize

and get it

that he means

what he says

think about that

the one

that than which

nothing greater can be thought

as anselm said

the one

who no one is greater

the most majestic

perfect

utterly holy god

compared to which

everything else is less

than nothing

and dust

has sworn an oath

to you and me

on the basis of his own

righteous character

and so now

there are two unchangeable things

hebrews says

god's promise

and god's oath

and if human oaths are sufficient for confirmation as verse 16 says

how much more confirmation is it when god himself takes an oath

answer

infinitely so

now

verses 13 through 15 the beginning of our section tell us

exactly what promise and which oath we're talking about

here hebrews takes us back

all the way

to abraham

in genesis chapters 12 through 25

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

we're told abraham's story

how god chose abraham

to be the one

through whom

god's blessing

would come to the world

god meets abraham

calls him out of his pagan past

and says abraham i'm going to bless you

and make your name great

and give you an offspring

and cause your offspring to inherit the land

and through your offspring

the entire

world

will be blessed

but as we learn

abraham's

faith

in god's promise

is almost immediately put to the test

and the first test

if you remember the abraham story

is that abraham and sarah are old

and childless

and they remain that way for some years

even after god has given them this wonderful promise

and at one point abraham even cries out to god

and says oh lord

what will you give me

for i continue childless

and the heir of my house is eliezer of damascus

but

even in abraham's

wrestling

to trust god's promises

god continues to confirm his promises to him

in chapter 15

god tells abraham

that his descendants will be like the number of the stars

and again in 17

god says to abraham

your offspring will come

and will inherit the land

and though he's not perfect

through all this

abraham patiently waits

and at last receives a son

isaac

he endures

and finally obtains

what was promised

but then a second test comes

and this one

seemingly unthinkable

isaac has been born

and god tells abraham

to sacrifice

his one and only son

that he loves

and abraham

in us

in a way that seems utterly incomprehensible

in faith

takes god at his word

believing

as hebrews will later said

that god

can still keep his promise

even if it means raising isaac

from the dead

but as soon as abraham

raises the knife

an angel stops him

and provides a ram instead

and it's at that point

the climax

of the abraham story

in the bible

that god issues the oath

that we read here

in hebrews 6 14

by myself

i have sworn

declares the lord

that's how this

section starts

that was quoted here

by myself

i have sworn

declares the lord

i will surely bless you

and i will surely

multiply you

so what are we to make

of all this

this going back

to abraham

now on the one hand

i think it's this

hebrews

hebrews here is telling us

the story of abraham

to encourage us

that with god's promises

it is possible

to faithfully persevere

even through the most

trying circumstances

you see even when

old age

and infertility

come crashing in

like storms

into abraham's life

and even when god

threatens to take away

the thing

that you hold

most precious

even then

his promises

can cause us

to stand firm

in our trust

we are not

without an anchor

after all

verse 12

right before our

section says

imitate those

who through faith

and patience

inherit the promises

and here is abraham

a great exemplar

of trust

if abraham can do it

then by god's grace

and with god's promises

he will enable us

to do it as well

and isn't it true

that knowing that

others have run

the race set before us

that it's a great

encouragement to us

to persevere

and to press on

but you know

there's more going on

than just that

it's more than just

abraham as example

hebrews is bringing

us back

to this promise

and oath

made to abraham

not just so that we

can see abraham's

example but more

importantly because

this oath

and because this

promise

were made for

our sake

isn't that abundantly

clear from verses

17 and 18

you see when god

swore on oath

to bless abraham

and to multiply him

to make his family

as numerous as the

stars in the sky

he was looking ahead

not merely

to those who would

be abraham's

physical descendants

but ultimately

to those who would

be his spiritual

descendants through

faith

you see think of it

this way

when god took

abraham

out of his tent

in his moment of

weakness and doubt

took him out of his

tent and said

abraham

look at the stars

can you count them

that is what i'm going

to do through you

and through your

seed

friends when he was

pointing at those

stars he was

pointing at you

and me and all of

those who have placed

their trust in christ

that was the promise

after all

that in you all the

nations will be

blessed

that your family will

span the nations

paul puts it this

way in galatians he

says the promises

were made to abraham

and to his

offspring

it does not say

into offsprings

referring to many

but referring to one

and to your

offspring

who is christ

in christ jesus you

are all

sons of god

through faith

and if you are

christ's then you

are abraham's

offspring

heirs according

to the promise

that sounds familiar

doesn't it

right here in hebrews

so that the heirs

of the promise

might have a strong

encouragement to hold

fast

so friends we are the

recipients of this

oath-bound promise as

well and christ's

promise is for us

and what is the hope

that this oath

guarantees

what is it that god

is so deeply

condescended and

sworn to us

that he'll give us

it's that we will

live

eternally

under god's

blessing

and not under

his curse

surely

i will bless

you

and of course

this blessing

doesn't mean

material prosperity

or a life of

comfort and ease

here and now

it's not that

the very fact

the very fact

that we need

an anchor

presupposes that

the life of faith

is going to be

hard

no

god's

blessing

is much

more profound

and much

more satisfying

than any

material possession

because you see

to receive god's

blessing

is to be counted

righteous

in his sight

and to be adopted

into his family

that when abraham

believed god

and it was

counted to him

as righteousness

that the same

is true for all

who share the

faith of abraham

this hope

that we have

this hope

of god's

eternal

blessing

is to know

that your future

will be one

not of god's

just condemnation

and judgment

for your sin

but one of his

acceptance

and one of his

freedom

forever

and friend

without that

hope

that god

says i will

bless you

and nothing

will remove it

without that

hope

you won't

survive the

storms of this

life

because without

that hope

the hope

of blessing

the hope

of righteousness

you will

always wonder

in hard times

when things do

not go your

way

you will

always question

whether or not

god is punishing

you

or angry at

you

or abandoning

you

and what it

is that you

have done

to turn god's

favor against

you

when the winds

come raging

you will question

his fatherly

love for you

and you will

live in guilt

and doubt

and uncertainty

nearly all your

days

but here

is his promise

and his oath

two unchangeable

things

in which it is

impossible for god

to lie

his promise

and his oath

i will surely

bless you

and that is an

anchor for the

soul friends

that his judgment

has been satisfied

in christ

that in him

you are accepted

as a child

verse 18

describes believers

as those who

have fled

for refuge

have fled

from sin

and self-righteousness

and fled to

god's mercy

and grace

in christ

and if that's

true of you

if you have

fled for refuge

to the son

then god's promise

and oath

made thousands

of years ago

to abraham

and to everyone

of faith

since then

is for you

and he will

never change

his mind

and he will

never go back

on his word

he will never

renege his

promises

or decide

one day

that bets

are off

no

it's impossible

for him

to do so

his purpose

is unchangeable

so what makes

our hope

in christ

an anchor

for the soul

what gives

it such

certainty

first

hebrews

says

the fact

that god

has sworn

it

and god

cannot lie

second

the fact

that christ

has accomplished

it

look again

at verses

19 through 20

and try to

follow the

metaphors here

as we read

picture it

in your mind

we have this

as a sure

and steadfast

anchor of the

soul

a hope

that enters

into the inner

place behind

the curtain

where jesus

has gone

as a forerunner

on our behalf

having become

a high priest

forever after

the order

of melchizedek

isn't this

strange and

bizarre language

when you first

read it

aren't anchors

meant to be

sunk into the

depths of the

sea

and yet here

hebrews is telling

us that this

anchor as

weighty and as

deep and as

immovable as

god's oath

has been taken

and driven

into the heart

of heaven

never to be

moved

you see where

this anchor has

taken hold

he says it's the

inner place

behind the

curtain

and that was a

way of speaking

about the temple

or the tabernacle

which inside was

basically two rooms

the holy place

and the most holy

place and there

was a big thick

curtain and veil

in between them

and in the holy

place the first

room the outer

room there was

some incense and

there were some

lamps and there

was some bread

and the priest

went in there a

bunch and prayed

and did their

thing but in the

most holy place

one person went

once a year on

the day of

atonement that

place was

representational of

the very presence

of god

friends that room

was a symbol of

heaven on earth

of god's dwelling

place in the midst

and not just that

but as we'll see

in hebrews coming

up that that room

was a picture of

the future

when god would

dwell with his

people and be

all in all in the

new heavens and

the new earth

so you see

figuratively

hebrews is saying

that in the true

temple of god's

presence our anchor

of hope has been

driven into god's

presence and into

his future

friends don't you

see that there is

an unshakable and

an unbreakable

connection between

us and the

intimate fellowship

and communion with

god that you were

created for

that what

christ

is and offers

to us

is that very

thing that your

soul longs for

to know and to be

known by god

in an immediate

way

to have the veil

between you and

god's presence

finally opened

so that your

true self can

emerge in the

light of god's

glory

in verse 20

we're told how

our anchor

comes to be

driven there

and it's because

of jesus

because he has

gone ahead of

us on our

behalf as our

forerunner he

says which is a

beautiful image

it's actually an

image from the

military or from

athletics this idea

of a forerunner

it was the captain

who went ahead of

the rest

blazing the way

leading the way

carving out the

path through

danger and

harm so that

all those who are

his could come

streaming in his

path and follow

surely behind

you see

friends because

christ is our

forerunner on

our behalf

because he has

gone through

death and into

god's presence in

the resurrected

life that all

those who are

united to him by

faith are

guaranteed that

we too will share

in that destiny

that our captain

that our king

has gone before

us securing the

path that will

bring us into

god's presence

you see he has

taken it there

in some sense as

you read this

passage isn't it

clear that this

anchor and this

hope are they

christ himself

as the metaphors

start to spin and

turn in this

passage isn't the

anchor jesus who

is gone and

planted himself in

the father's

presence on our

behalf as our

forerunner and

as our high

priest and

because christ is

there i too will

be there that it's

finished that it's

done that he is

there and so i

shall be

now what's what's

coming up in

hebrews as we

look forward to

the winter and

spring where we're

headed in this

series in some

sense friend this

passage that we're

at right now is

setting the stage

in verses 7 8 9

10 in some sense

hebrews is saying

buckle your seat

belt because i'm

going to show you

how secure this

hope actually is

i'm going to show

you how rock solid

the work of christ

is for you so that

nothing will shake

you it's secure and

it's efficient that's

where we're going but

right now as we

finish up this

morning just think

friend if you've

placed your trust in

christ then what

your future holds

according to this

passage is

fellowship and

intimacy intimacy

with god forever

that those storms

rage now there is

perfect peace to

come and depths of

delight like you

cannot imagine that

those sorrow as the

psalmist says may

last for the night

joy comes in the

morning that when

the wind and the

waves finally cease

our ships will be

brought safely home

into the harbor and

if that is true what

sacrifice or what

hardship couldn't you

face with courage now

what difficulty or

change in circumstances

couldn't you face with

courage if you knew

for sure that the

morning held the

sunrise of god's new

creation and that you

would be a part of it

because christ has paid

for your sins and gone

as a forerunner on your

behalf what wouldn't you

be able to withstand

endure go through if

you knew that was ahead

of you even if your

career were wrecked on

the storms of life and

you lost everything that

you had worked for during

your professional life

that like so many great

academic books they end

up as door stops and

giveaway boxes in front of

people's offices and all

the things that we labored

for just end up being

dust or even if close

relationships gave way

and friends betrayed you

and a spouse never came

and even if your self

image that pristine

picture of yourself that

you try so hard to keep

up even if that got

shattered on the reality

of your heart you could

endure the fiercest

storms the most brutal

winds because you have an

anchor Jesus Christ who

has taken hold of you and

all your sin and

selfishness and gone as a

forerunner on your behalf

into God's future into God's

presence

you know in the tomb of

some of the earliest

Christians in Rome you can

actually go visit them one is

called the catacombs of

Priscilla if you go there and

you see a few hundred years

of Christian leaders and

Christian martyrs and even

just loved ones sort of

buried there down in the

depths underneath the earth in

secrecy and you know what you

find over and over again

painted on those tombs one image

again and again and again and

again an anchor an anchor over

this tomb and this tomb and this

tomb of believers the anchor

you see they're there as a

declaration of hope as a

defiant claim in the face of

death in the face of Rome in the

face of anything that stands

against us that our hope in

Christ is sure and steadfast and

not even death can rock us from

our destiny in Christ because our

forerunner has gone before us and

our place in the presence of God is

secure so you see friends our hope

the hope that will maintain our

souls is sure because God has sworn

it and because Jesus has

accomplished it and if you hold fast

to that no matter what storms you

face you will persevere and in the

morning joy let's pray

father help us to see the

certainty of the hope before us

that our Lord and Savior shed his own

blood to secure for us God that your

oath your covenant your blood support

us in the whelming flood that when all

around our strength gives way you are

all our open stay or that our anchor

holds within the veil God for my

brothers and sisters here this morning

who are wrestling with doubts and

fears and uncertainties for whom the

storms of life have been raging and

pounding Lord would you support them

this morning help them to see the

anchor of Christ in their life and

Lord for those who do not know you

who've been trying to find an anchor

to support them and have found it to

be bankrupt God open their eyes to

take hold of Christ the one anchor that

will not fail we pray all this in

Jesus name amen well friends we're going

to sing a song that picks up all these

themes of this passage and you'll hear

them we're going to sing this as a great

declaration of our hope in Christ so

let's stand and let's celebrate what we

have in him

mind you

you

yeah

you

My