The Certainty of God’s Promise: Anchored Hope (Hebrews 6:19–20) with Pastor Andrew Courtis

This morning, I do invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 6.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

And our reading this morning will just be verses 19 to 20, but note this is the third part to a section of Scripture that we've been looking at closely the last number of weeks, Hebrews 6, 13 to 20.

We're going through the whole epistle to Hebrews, but we are getting into portions where it is important that we slow down and carefully gaze at what truths are there.

Hebrews 6.

We begin in verse 19.

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.

That is the reading of God's holy word.

Please join me in prayer.

Our gracious and loving Father, I thank you for the reading of your holy word.

I pray that you help me now to declare the greatness of your Son.

Encourage us, Lord, build us up, and help us through the ministry of your Spirit.

In Christ's name.

Amen.

The Christian's experience is one that faces many storms of life.

These storms are varied.

These storms are huge at times, and other times they will be brief and passing.

But the storms are real.

The storms rage against the people of God.

And we know from an actual storm that storms can bring damage.

There can be flooding.

There can be items broken, a people hurt.

A great devastation can be in the wake of a raging storm.

Well, there are storms that rage against the people of God throughout their pilgrimage on this side of heaven.

This imagery is found throughout God's word, and there is a number of passages that I want to show you later on in this message that capture this theme of storms in the life of a believer and how we are to endure these storms, how we are to get through them.

But think with me for a moment, not just about the reality of the storms, but the experience that you face when you're in the midst of that storm.

Even now, I know there are many of you who are in the midst of storms.

And in the midst of these storms, you will see the tides of sorrow rise, as we just sung off a moment ago.

And as the tides of sorrow rise, these waters will begin to make you gasp for air.

It will leave you struggling.

You may be anxious and worried.

It may cause you to even despair.

Sometimes we turn to those who aren't spiritually minded for advice, for help, for counsel.

Sometimes we embrace the prevailing thoughts and worldview that surrounds us.

We may even put our confidence in a particular institution or person.

We lean on the wisdom of man, hoping that that will get us out of the storm.

But the problem is none of those transcend the storm.

None of those are actually going to remove you from the tides of sorrow.

In fact, they will just disappoint you because they are limited.

And oh, how foolish we can be to even embrace ideas that sound Christian.

We can even, as little experts, justify it and make it sound so scriptural and so biblical.

But we inevitably learn from experience that we just mess things up more.

That was Abraham, wasn't it?

We learnt that Abraham was experiencing a storm in life.

He was old, he had no children, yet he was given a promise.

A promise of land, a promise of blessing, a promise of a seed, a promise that his seed would bless the nations.

He waited, and as he found himself in the midst of the storm, a storm that would bring discouragement, a storm that would bring difficulty, he tried to fix it himself at times, and that didn't ever go well.

Well, we know what it is to try to get ourselves out of the storm, but we go to the wrong place.

Where does the Christian go when we find ourselves in the midst of the storm?

As you find yourself in the midst of the raging waters, raging waters that come from outside of the church, from the world, raging waters that sometimes will come inside the church, and raging waters that will even come from within.

He will be in the midst of the storm and he will wreak havoc.

What is the child of God to do in the storms in which we are?

And let's be very real.

You, where you are, where you are seated, you think of the storm that you're in right now.

What storm are you facing?

What storm is getting you down?

What waters are rising up around you?

What trial?

What temptation?

What hardship?

What difficulty are you experiencing?

Now let's ask another question.

What is your hope in that storm?

Who are you truly looking to?

What are you looking to?

Where are you looking to?

Are you looking to yourself to get out of the storm?

I say kindly, how's that working out for you?

Are you looking really to the world's wisdom?

It's not gonna help you.

Have you got wishful thinking?

That it's just gonna work out and you'll just get out of it.

Are you embracing the world's ways, the world's ideas, the world's wisdom?

Was there a meme or a short on social media that just helps you because the person sounds confident?

You're in a storm.

What are you doing?

What's gonna help you?

Well, I want to tell you today that the answer is found in our text.

And what I love about the passage that we're going to look at is this passage tells us that the Christian is able to experience in the midst of the storm certainty.

And I love the reality of this because it doesn't say that you're delivered from the storm instantaneously.

This passage says nothing about you being taken out of the difficulty, but what it does is it says to you that no matter how much this storm is raging against you, no matter how deep the waters get, you can be certain that you will experience the ultimate blessing.

There is hope in the midst of the storm.

And that hope was mentioned back in verse 18 at the end of the verse where it says, Concerning God's people, they are those who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Believers lay hold on a hope, and this hope gives them confidence.

Not confidence that's in themselves, not a self-confidence, a self-reliance, but a confidence that is found outside of them.

And this is what makes it certain.

Now remember the theme of verses 13 to 20 is blessed assurance.

Why can the Christian have blessed assurance?

It's because of God's promise.

And that promise is ultimately seen in God's purposes fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

We saw in verses 13 through to 16 the confirmation of God's promise.

God's promise has been confirmed.

It was confirmed by means of an oath in which God swore by his own name that he'll do it.

God's promise has been confirmed.

We then saw in verses 17 to 18 the comfort of God's promise.

And the comfort of God's promise is God's promise is based on his immutable, unchanging character, that God, who cannot lie, has made this promise.

And knowing that God's promise is based on the one who does not change, the one who is immutable results in consolation and comfort and joy for the child of God.

But now we see in this final passage that that promise of God not only has been confirmed, not only brings the children of God comfort, but it also gives them confidence.

There is confidence as a result of God's promise.

And the confidence is found, again, in the one who makes that promise.

So I want to say it like this.

We're all in the midst of storms.

The storms are real, the storms are raging, they weigh us down, they hurt us, they burden us, and we carry with us these trials.

And in the midst of the storm, we are so tempted to get out of it the wrong way.

And if you try to get out of the storm the wrong way, it will end badly for you.

You just think of somebody who literally is stuck in a horrible storm in the ocean.

And there is only one way for them to be rescued through the trained and qualified search and safety team, the rescue team.

They know what they're doing, they are experienced.

And then the person who is in the midst of the storm refuses to cooperate and says, I know how to get out of this my way.

I saw a video.

I did a course.

I've got a lot of hope in myself.

It inevitably will result in disaster and devastation.

And the passage is teaching us don't get out of the storm your way, but instead hold on to the one who is there to rescue you.

So as we come to Hebrews 6, verses 19 to 20, the last two verses of this text, we're going to learn three reasons why our hope ought to make us absolutely confident and certain.

Hebrews 6:19–20

We're learning about the certainty of God's promise, the confidence that comes from God's promise.

And I want you to note one more thing that when we hear the word hope, the word hope here is not the same as the hope we often experience.

I think I've told you before, and um you can have compassion on me because you know that I'm from another state.

I follow a code of football called AFL.

You're not allowed to boo me.

And the team that I follow is a team that was established in 1864.

They've won 16 premierships, but the last time they won was 1995.

Very proud history.

It's a club that I really love.

But since 1995, I've been living in hope that they will win.

Just a game, let alone a grand final.

But when I say I live in hope, you know what that hope is?

It's wishful thinking, isn't it?

It really is.

Like it's I don't have any genuine confidence or certainty that they're going to win.

That's not because I'm a bad supporter.

I'm just pointing out that what I feel and think about them, when I hope that they win, that is not based on anything objective.

That's just being driven by my desire.

But when the scripture says that the child of God has hope, it's not referring to wishful thinking.

Hope in the scripture is actually talking about certain reality, confident expectation.

It's something that is actually going to happen.

And therefore, when the scripture says we have hope, it's not saying that we live with wishful thinking.

It's saying that you have something that you can be sure of.

That's why I say that there is a confidence that comes with God's promise, a certainty that comes with God's promise.

And the certainty and the confidence does not come from us, it comes from the promise.

The one who made the promise is unchanging.

The one who made the promise cannot lie.

The one who made the promise has confirmed it by means of an oath.

And what he says can be counted on.

So if he has promised us something, then we can have hope and confidence in him.

So what is it about this hope that I want you to know?

Why can we say this hope is absolutely something that results in confirmation and confidence and certainty?

It's because we're going to see this beautiful image in verses 19 to 20, an image of an anchor.

An anchor is a very important part of a boat or a ship.

We know that the anchor serves a particular purpose.

When it's cast out of the boat or the ship, it goes down, down, down into the waters.

And the idea is for it to fasten onto something.

And as it fastens to the ground, digs in to the bottom of the water there, if it fastens to a rock, that vessel is now secure.

It's not going to sail away, it's not going to move.

But if that anchor doesn't contain the right weight, if that anchor isn't fastened to the right place, or if there is some defect in the anchor itself, even perhaps in the chain, then it's going to be pointless.

And it will anchor.

And the apostle here reminds his readers that in our Christian life we have an anchor.

He knows that we go through storms.

He knows the storms are real.

He knows the storms are raging.

He knows they're big.

He knows they're small.

But he reminds his readers, you have an anchor.

Well, what is it about this anchor that we need to learn?

Well, there's three things.

You need to learn what your anchor is, the properties of the anchor, the characteristics or nature of the anchor that you have.

You need to know where your anchor has gone to.

And then thirdly, you need to actually see what your anchor is fastened to.

You see the imagery there?

Just like a real anchor and a real boat, you need to actually look and say, what are the properties of this anchor?

Is this actually a good anchor?

Has it got the right weight?

Is it going to do its job?

Is it secure?

Is it attached to the chain?

Is it going to do its job?

What is my anchor?

And then you need to know where is my anchor going to go?

Is it going to go in the right place?

If your anchor's going to be effective, you don't keep it in the boat.

It goes out of the boat.

And finally, you need to think, well, what is my anchor going to be fastened to?

And if you're able to answer all of those questions, the sailor can then have confidence.

He's got assurance that he is able to going, he's going to be able to do what he needs to do because of the securities he has.

And using that nautical imagery, the writer brilliantly applies that to the Christian life.

And he wants us to see these three truths concerning our hope, our anchor.

So let's look at the very first one.

What is the anchor that we have?

We read in Hebrews 6 and verse 19, This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.

Our soul there is referring to you.

The anchor is referring to your hope.

And the storm by implication will be seen in all the hardships that we are going to experience.

But you'll notice that the anchor that we have is called sure and steadfast.

Some of you might be familiar with Boys Brigade.

I was in Boys Brigade in my primary school years, in my high school years, was able to get to the place where I was awarded the Queen's Badge as a part of Boys Brigade.

You would learn all sorts of knot tying.

There would be leadership courses.

There would be Bible time.

But there was a lot of discipline in Boys Brigade.

And one of the things that I remember to this day is the motto of Boys Brigade.

Sure and steadfast.

And of course, it was from Hebrews 6 and verse 19.

Sure and steadfast.

The logo for the Boys Brigade was an anchor.

And here we see in this text that the anchor that we have as believers is described with the words Sure and steadfast.

What the writer wants us to see there is the properties of the anchor that we have as Christians, the hope.

That we have, hope likened to an anchor, is it's both sure and steadfast.

In other words, it is something that is got no defects in it.

And it is strong, it is secure, it is going to do what it's supposed to do.

The writer needs us to understand that the hope that we have is not a wishful thinking.

The hope that we have is not something that just comes from a positive, optimistic outlook.

The hope that we have is sure and steadfast.

And in the context of verse 19, we know why it's sure and steadfast, don't we?

Because it comes from the one whose character is unchanging.

It comes from the one who has made promises and is kept his promises.

It comes from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It comes from the one who is faithful.

The one who created heaven and earth.

The one who rules and reigns.

The one who upholds the universe by the word of his power.

This anchor is a gift from God.

This anchor is our hope.

Our hope is likened to an anchor.

So the first thing I want you to see is as Christians, we are able to have certainty when it comes to God's promise.

Certainty when it comes to all of God's promises, because we have a hope that is likened to an anchor described as sure and steadfast, secure, strong, immovable, unchanging, cannot be broken, no defects.

It is the best of the best.

There is no other anchor like it.

It makes the anchors of the world look like nothing.

It makes the anchors of the world look like floaty toys in a bubble bath.

This is the real deal.

This is the only anchor that will weather the storms that the people of God will go through.

This anchor is heavy.

This anchor is strong.

This anchor is something that the world is unable to detach or remove.

It cannot be forged by man, it cannot be replicated by man.

It is an anchor that has been made and designed in heaven, and it has been endowed upon those that are the sons of heaven.

What an anchor.

Sure and steadfast.

That's what our anchor is.

But the next question is where does our anchor go?

Well, the thing is, the anchor that we've been given is really unusual.

It's not just unusual because it has perfect properties, that in and of itself makes it completely different to the anchors of this world.

But our anchor is also unusual because you don't throw it down.

You throw it up.

Now that doesn't seem to make sense, does it?

But have a look at what it says in the second half of verse 19.

And which enters the presence behind the veil.

Our anchor doesn't go down into the waters, our anchor goes up to heaven.

As we find ourselves in the midst of the storms, can you actually imagine with me just for a moment?

This is obviously a metaphor, but just think of it in your own imagination.

This is a strange picture.

You are in a boat, the storms of hardship are raging against you, you have the most perfect anchor, and you have to throw it up in the midst of the storm.

And it goes up through the heavens, through the veil.

Now, straight away, there should be mystery here because we know where this is going, but the idea at this point of time is we don't actually know what it's fastened to.

We just know it's behind a curtain.

And when we hear the phrase that something's behind the curtain, it leaves us with a sense of uncertainty and mystery there.

Well, I hope we see the mystery because there's a mysterious name mentioned in the very next verse, but don't go there yet.

Look at verse 19.

The anchor has gone behind the veil.

Well, I want to just quickly say in shorthand, this is using the imagery of the earthly tabernacle, but the imagery of the earthly tabernacle always pointed beyond itself.

It was always a type and shadow of the substance.

And what this is referring to is the true temple, and that is where Christ is.

This is referring to the heavenly tabernacle.

And what it's saying here is that our anchor has gone up through the heavens through the curtain and is there in the presence.

Now, my translation here uses the word presence in verse 19.

It's not in the original language, but it's implied here.

It enters into the presence of God, which is behind the curtain.

Now, in order to fully appreciate this, I want to very quickly remind you of just a few facts concerning the tabernacle.

And I think we'll appreciate this when we get to verse 20.

You remember in the Old Testament, the Lord had ordered in the book of Exodus that there was to be the construction of the tabernacle.

And later on, that tabernacle would become the permanent structure, the temple.

Of course, it would be destroyed, but it would become the temple.

Tabernacle temple, referring to the same thing.

The difference one was the tabernacle was portable, the temple was in its permanent place as a built structure.

Now the tabernacle had an outer court, and then it had the tabernacle proper, the building itself, and the building had two rooms.

First room was a holy place, and then the separation from the first room to the second room, the second room being called the most holy place, the holy of holies, what separated the holy of holies from the holy place was this great big veil from ceiling to floor, this thick curtain.

And behind that curtain was the presence of God.

Now, let's note, if you were in the courtyard, follow the footsteps of the priest.

The very first thing that you would see is that there was this brazen altar where sacrifices were to be made.

And then you move past the bronze altar, and then the priest is immediately confronted by a bronze basin where he would cleanse his hand in the water, and the water would be a cleansing ritual.

Then that high priest would walk straight into the tabernacle itself.

And as soon as he walks in, seeing it decorated by beauty of all sorts of colours, later on as a temple covered with gold, it immediately looks like he's in the Garden of Eden.

And as he goes into there, on the left is a table of showbread.

And then on the right is the lampstands giving light inside of this tabernacle.

And then as he goes past those furniture items, he looks straight ahead and he sees that great big curtain.

But before his eyes go upon the curtain, he sees incense going up.

There is an altar of incense in which this is going up, representing prayer and petition to God.

But then once a year the high priest was allowed to go behind that curtain.

And as he goes through, immediately he sees a stunning sight.

He sees the Ark of the Covenant where he is to place the blood on the Day of Atonement on the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the people.

And then, of course, surrounding the Ark of the Covenant were these two gigantic angels, their wingspans covering the whole wall, covering the Ark of the Covenant.

But behind that veil, behind that curtain was the presence of God seen in the Ark of the Covenant.

What the writer wants us to know in the second half of verse 19 is our anchor has been cast up to heaven.

And our anchor has gone behind the curtain.

It is in the presence of God.

God's presence is absolutely everywhere, but this is talking about his special presence.

Our anchor is in the presence of the throne room of God itself.

The place where Jesus Christ has gone.

This now brings me to my final point.

And that is, well, what is our anchor fastened to?

Because if our anchor in the analogy has been thrown up and it's behind a curtain, and I don't know what's behind that curtain, and I pull on that anchor when I'm in the storm, if that's not fastened to anything, that anchor's going to come down and hit me on my head.

I need to know what's behind that curtain.

I need to know what is there.

And the writer then goes on to say, let me show you what's behind that curtain and why this is going to give you certainty and confidence and joy and why your hope is something that will carry you through to rely on the promises of God.

What is behind the curtain?

What is our anchor fastened to?

You've seen it coming.

Look at verse 20.

Where, when he says where, he's referring to the place where the anchor is behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us.

Jesus having become the high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

What the writer is saying here is our Lord Jesus, the glorious, sovereign Son of God, the one who came into this world in obedience to the covenant plan and agreement of God before the foundation of the world, made atonement for our sins after living a life of righteousness, upholding God's law.

He was crucified, he was buried, he rose again on the third day, and then he ascended up to the glory of heaven and there makes the pathway on this glorious coronation pathway to his throne, goes to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father.

Remember, he sits, the earthly priest had no seats inside of the tabernacle because his job was never done.

But Christ has seated at the right hand of the Father, and there he rules and reigns, and he is our forerunner.

He's gone before us, he has gone down the track, he has gone down the pathway, he has made it to glory, he is there, and he is going to bring his children home, and he is going to come good on the promise that was made that the nations will be blessed.

And I know this is not the precise imagery of this passage, but it is seen in other parts of Hebrews, it's seen in other parts of the New Testament.

But he is in heaven, reigning as king, as mediator through his church, and he is subduing his enemies, and the day will come in which they will be subjected to him, and his reign will be absolutely manifest.

This is glorious.

Christ is reigning, he's representing us as priest.

But what I find absolutely stunning here is the fulfillment language.

Remember, I said in verse 19 that our anchor enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered, even Jesus, having become the high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

This is a greater priesthood than what happened in the Old Testament.

The high priest in the Old Testament from the tribe of Levi represented the people of Israel and followed all those procedures I just mentioned a moment ago.

But the problem was he had to do it again the following year and again the year after.

His job was never done because he is not an eternal high priest.

He is not the one who could actually take the sins away from the people.

But isn't this amazing?

In John chapter 1 and verse 14, John records for us, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

John 1 · chapter mention

That word dwelt literally means tabernacled.

The word became flesh and tabernacled among us.

We then learn in John 1.29, just as in the tabernacle grounds, the priest first goes to the bronze altar where he will make sacrifices of animals.

John the Baptist says in John 1.29, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And then Jesus advances his ministry.

He goes to the Samaritan woman in John 4, and he says that I am the one who is living waters.

I can give you living waters in which you will never thirst again.

The high priest would go to the basin of the water and cleanse himself.

Jesus says, I'm the one who issues that water out.

And then, of course, the high priest would go inside of the tabernacle itself, and the first thing he sees on his left is a table of showbread.

And Jesus says in John 6, I am the bread of life.

And then, of course, the priest looks to his right and he sees the lampstands, he sees the bright shining lights, and Jesus says in John 8, I am the light of the world.

The priest would continue and he would approach that curtain and he would see that altar.

That altar as he's entering the most serious of moments, the most sombre of moments, he sees an altar of the incense going up to heaven.

In John 13 to 17, in the most solemn of moments, Jesus goes into the upper room.

And in John 17, Jesus prays for his people.

His prayers like incense go up to heaven.

And then in John 18, Jesus goes into a garden.

This whole tabernacle area is consciously designed like the Garden of Eden.

Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And then in John 19, just as we see the high priest then goes through the curtain to place the blood of sacrifice upon the mercy seat.

In John 19, Jesus is crucified on the cross, and he declares the words, it is finished.

He makes atonement once and for all.

And then Jesus is buried.

And then we see on the third day in John 20, two angels sitting outside of the tomb, saying, He is not here, he is risen.

As the high priest went into the tabernacle, he sees surrounding the mercy seat where there is a sacrifice, two great angels.

What's the point of all of this?

The point is that tabernacle was always a preview and a picture of the greater.

And what the writer is saying, and you want to go back to Judaism?

You want to go back to that?

Go to the real deal.

That is just like you and me going through a trial and using world's wisdom.

You really want the world's wisdom?

You have the best anchor in the world.

Your anchor has gone up to the heavens, and your anchor is actually fastened to Jesus.

And he got it all done.

And here's the thing: your anchor's not just fastened to the Lord Jesus, so that when the storms come, you're not going to blow away.

But you know what Jesus is doing?

Your anchor, or I like to call it your rope of hope, has been cast up to the glory of heaven.

It has gone through the presence and it's held by your forerunner.

And as the storms of life beat upon you, he is not only holding you, he is pulling you to glory, and he will bring you home.

This is the stunning description here, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

And it is here at the mention of Melchizedek that the writer is saying, You are now ready to hear about the Melchizedekian ministry of Christ.

And that's what we're going to learn about for about three or four sermons in chapter seven.

We are going to look at mysterious Melchizedek and how this shows us something most glorious about our Savior, something that you can count on today, something that is going to help you weather those storms.

But in my closing words, what are the storms that we experience?

As a Christian, you are going to experience many storms.

And I don't want to give you the wrong impression that if you place your hope in Christ, that that means you will not experience storms.

No, you will experience storms.

The difference is if your hope is in Christ, you will make it to glory.

You can have confidence and hope that the promises of God will unfold, no matter how discouraging things may be for you or around you.

What are the storms that we are facing?

Let me just quickly give you three, and with this we finish.

There are storms of deception.

There are storms of doubting, and there are storms of difficulty that we face in the Christian life.

The storms of deception are those storms in which the evil one who hates the truth, who hates Christ, who hates what Christ loves, deceives.

And he sows deception around this world.

He seeks to blind minds.

He sows deception.

His deception is seen in the world, but this deception invades the church.

And it invades the church through many means, through false teachers, but also through the ungodly counsel given by other Christians.

Sometimes someone can say something that's just not biblical.

It's deception.

And these deceptions, whatever shape it takes, whatever form it takes, wherever it is seen, deception can bring great harassment to the life of God's people.

What do we do when we're in the storm of deception?

As we sail through this world, we will have to go through the storms of deception sometimes.

Deception will surround us.

The fiery darts will be shot at us.

As our vessel goes through this storm of deception, again, what must we do?

We must take our anchor and we must make sure it's firmly placed in Christ.

Ephesians 4 and verse 14.

We should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine.

The best way to overcome error is not to become Mr.

and Mrs.

Obsessed obsessed with error.

But it's just look to Christ.

Look to him.

Look at the Lord Jesus as he's portrayed in Scripture.

Look at the sovereign savior.

Look at the Lord Jesus.

And as you look at him, you will get through the storm of deception.

The best way to overcome deception is with truth.

Truth.

Secondly, we're going to experience the storms of doubt.

Our vessel will go through these horrible storms of deception and we'll get through it.

But then we'll have clear sailing, but then suddenly we'll be faced by another storm, a storm of doubt.

And in this storm of doubt, you'll begin to question yourself.

You'll question whether you should do what you should do.

Things are getting hard around you.

You'll waver and you'll go through horrible trials.

And in these trials, you know what you should do.

You know what the word of God says, but you'll begin to question it.

You'll begin to think, well, what happens if I just do this?

And as you're going through the storm of doubt, it starts playing with you.

You question things, you start doubting yourself.

You start doubting your commitment to the word of God.

And the more the word of God says that this is what God tells you to do, you doubt it's going to help because the storm's just too hard.

And it's in the midst of those storms that we need to remember James 1 and verse 6.

But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

In the midst of the storm of doubt, we need to remember that in our pocket is a key.

And that key is the promises of God.

And it will unlock God's promises.

But that key must be by faith.

You must trust God.

You must say, Lord, this is hard.

This situation is so difficult.

It is overwhelming.

People around me are saying, do this and do that and do this.

Even believers are saying, do this and do this, but it just doesn't match your word.

It's hard.

I don't know what to do.

The answer is when you are in the storm of doubt, stop listening to the madness.

Take the key of faith and trust God and take him at his word and say, I will unlock your promise.

And as you get through that storm, you will have times of clear sailing, but then you'll experience another storm.

It's called the storm of difficulty.

The storm of difficulty, I think, is a storm that is quite nasty because it will often combine those other two storms into one.

It's a violent storm.

It brings all sorts of difficulty into your life.

The difficulty might be coming because it's a trial.

It might be coming because it's a temptation you're struggling with.

It might come because it's an attack.

It might come because it's something that just weighs down as you're seeking to honor the Lord.

And as you seek to honor the Lord, this storm rages.

And the easiest thing to do is listen to the storm, is just comply.

Do what the world says.

Adjust your way of living.

Be like the world, but use your Christian ease language.

It makes you feel good and no one will question you.

But that's not what we do in that storm.

In the storm of difficulty, as that rage breaks against us, as Satan seeks to deceive, as we get discouraged, as we get down, as attacks begin to mount, as the tide of sorrows rise, as we begin to gasp for air.

We need to remember Psalms 57 and verse 1.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusts in you, and in the shadow of your wings I will make my refuge until the difficulties have passed by.

These storms rage against us.

But what we can be certain of is that if we have found our refuge in Christ, if our anchor is truly the anchor that He has given us in salvation, and that anchor is cast up to heaven and is firmly fixed to the Lord Jesus, then when those storms come, you will go through the storm, but you will be pulled through it.

Oh, you'll be you'll be beaten and and and and bothered coming out of it, but you will come out of it, and you will make it to glory, and you will be with your Lord Jesus.

And that, friends, is why Hebrews 12 and verse 1 says, looking, verse 2, sorry, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

Your forerunner has gone before you, he weathered the worst of storms at the cross, the fury of God's wrath.

So he tells us, hold on, hold on to that rope.

I'm bringing you home.

Let's pray.

Oh Heavenly Father.

As all of us must face the raging storms around us, some of your dear people are facing some horrible ones right now.

As we face the storms of the culture, as we face the storms of trials and temptations, help us to cling to Christ.

Help us to draw near to you.

Please forgive us for when we actually take that anchor and cast it elsewhere.

Forgive us for agreeing to use the anchors that the world offers.

Forgiving us, forgive us for putting them into the world.

Forgive us for convincing ourselves that we're happy because we're trusting the world's ways.

Oh Lord, forgive us.

Help us to cling to Christ.

I pray this in his name.

Amen.