Our Secure Anchor

Now we're in the study in Matthew, but since

we've had some time off, I was reading and I

wanted to go back and visit some things just

in my own personal study and the idea of this

anchor in Hebrews 6. I started looking at it

and it just was really rich and it ministered

to me and I'm like, I would like to give this

to the church. So we're going to take a break

from Matthew this morning and we're going to

look at Hebrews chapter 6. We'll be looking at

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

the whole chapter, but our text will primarily

be verses 18 through 20. It may seem a little

disjointed, like why did I pick it up there?

And I hope that will become clear as we continue

in the sermon. The author, whom we do not know,

says that by two immutable things, immutable,

unchangeable, 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. This hope we have as an anchor

of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which

enters into 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. Would you pray with

me? Father, thank you for your word. Thank you

for the richness of this passage, the beauty

of it. Lord God, we ask, Lord, this morning for

your help, that, Lord, you would give us the

help of the Holy Spirit of God that would allow

us not to hear from man, but to hear from you,

Lord. This is your word. It has relevance to

your people. Lord God, would you help me to articulate

it clearly and to be reminded that I will give

an account for every idle word that is spoken

in the day of judgment. Help my words not to

be idle or unhelpful, but God, only let what

is true be spoken. And Father, may Christ get

the glory, because in that you take pleasure.

And we ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus.

Amen. I owned a little pleasure boat. And I remember

one time Josh Freeman, he said that the two most

important things on my boat were the distress

flag and the anchor. And he said those are the

most important because any time people would

go out with me, the boat was always breaking

down. I could not tell you how many times I had

to literally have people tow me in or several

times I even swam the thing in myself. So the

anchor, it's important, right? Especially on

a boat. Because as we know, the anchor keeps

us from moving with the current. But I've also

learned the hard way, anchors will only work

if they're attached to something solid. Now the

book of Hebrews, the one we just referenced,

it gives us a picture this morning of an anchor

that is attached to the most solid, immovable

thing in all the universe, which is God himself.

Now again, I can testify, trust me, if you've

never been on a boat where an anchor is needed,

let me just say it is important that you have

one. Yes, anchors are important. And all of us

need an anchor. And we do because the storms

of life inevitably come. You and I, we need something

that our life, and let's say for metaphor, that

the ship of our life can be attached to that

will not give way. You have to be attached to

something eternal. If you're not tethered to

something eternal, we will be adrift. Now everyone

in the world, lost and believers alike, everyone

has an anchor. But the problem for so many, this

is the problem for so many, is that their anchor

is tied to things that move. And this is where

we see in our culture today, things like health.

Now listen, health is important and we ought

not to take it for granted. But if the anchor,

if you think that by your own volition that you're

going to have longevity simply because you're

eating well and you're exercising regularly,

God is sovereign. Jesus said, who by taking thought

can even add one hour to his lifespan? It is

not a sure anchor. Money. The book of Proverbs

says money you'll find, you'll wake up and it

will take wings and fly away. Beauty. You're

going to get old if God allows. Beauty fades.

Titles. Our names will be forgotten in the history

books. Reputation. All these are very movable

anchors. And when the storms of life come, and

they always do, the anchors will not and cannot

hold. Unless you have your life tethered. to

that which cannot be moved, then you will be

adrift. You will be at the mercy of your own

wisdom and the mercy of your own understanding.

And that's going to prove futile in time to come.

These anchors always prove feeble. This is why

storms, the storms come to test us. God in his

mercy sends storms to let us see what are we

being anchored to. Jesus said it this way at

the end of the Sermon on the Mount, his very

last illustration in Matthew 7, he said it this

way. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of

mine and does them, I will tell you what he's

like. He's like a wise man who built his house

on the rock. The rain descended, it always will.

The floods came and the winds blew and beat on

that house. It did not fall. It was found on

the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings

of mine and does not do them, let me tell you

what he's like. He's like the foolish man. He

also built his house, but he built it on the

sand. The same storm came, the rains descended,

the floods came, and the winds blew, beat on

that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

Our central text is actually taken from the book

of Hebrews this morning. We need to understand

something a little bit about the background or

we'll miss it. The letter to the Hebrews, it

was written, we don't know who, many say the

Apostle Paul, we don't know. It was written to

Jewish believers. We do know this, they were

experiencing persecution. There was social pressure.

They became tired, there was fatigue, all because

they were publicly identified with Christ. You

see, under Roman law, Judaism was a protected

religion. But Christianity was seen as a sect

or a cult, a branch off of Judaism that was not

protected under Roman law, and thus it brought

suspicion, and because people were suspicious,

it made them an easy target, and it brought persecution.

Now these people, the ones that are receiving

this letter, had all been Jewish. These are Hebrew

believers. So now because they are identified

with Christ and they're suffering so much, there's

a temptation to abandon their public identification

with Jesus and suffering stops. I mean, life

is getting too hard. So they were tempted to

return to their former way of life, living as

Jews and relying on the temple system, which

is what they had done in their youth. Now, why

would anyone ever decide to do that? Because

the storms of life had come. And these people

are being beaten mercilessly and tossed mercilessly

by this storm. They're being persecuted. Why?

Simply because they're Christians. Some, we know,

later on, you can go in chapters 9 and 10 and

11, some were forced from homes and lands. Literally,

they had them confiscated and taken away. Others

were even put to death. Now, if you want to put

yourself in their shoes, you're at this meeting

and you go home and now your home's gone. You're

homeless. Your land is confiscated by the government.

And there's nothing, there's no recourse you

can do. So these people are weary and they're

afraid. And some were being tempted to consider

turning away from Christ and let's just go back

to Judaism. Life will be better. And the author

wrote to them, don't do that. There is no salvation

outside of Christ. You will damn yourself. Verses

4 through 8. For it is impossible for those who

were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly

gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit

and have tasted the good word of God and the

power of the ages to come, if they fall away,

that means apostasy. If they fall away, it is

impossible, he says, to renew them again to repentance,

since they crucify again for themselves the Son

of God, and they put him to an open shame. For

the earth, which drinks in the rain that often

comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for by

those whom it is cultivated, receives blessing

from God. So the rain falls and produces herbs

and crops, it's good. But if it produces thorns

and briars, meaning fruit here, It's rejected

and near to being cursed, whose end is to be

burned. There's judgment. Now there's a strong

warning here. There's a couple of them throughout

this book. The author warned them, he's giving

them a warning of the dangers of apostasy. Now

what is apostasy? It is to willfully turn away

from Christ. This is not having doubts or questions.

All of us go through seasons like that. Apostasy,

the one who's in danger of this, is they understand

the truth. They're not confused. They get it.

And they deliberately and willfully turn away

from it. Apostasy is the public repudiation of

Christ. You are formally saying Jesus is not

the divine son of God who came as Messiah and

Lord. It is to treat the Lord Jesus worthy of

shame. It's to align yourself with those who

actually crucified him. So when we're talking

about this sin here, apostasy is a deliberate,

settled repudiation of Christ. It's not some

private internal struggle that you may endure.

Now there's a real possibility of some of these

believers committing this sin. But the author

is persuaded that these people, those who received

his letter, would not fall into this deadly sin.

Now how do we know that? Verse 9. We are confident

of better things concerning you. Don't fall away,

but I'm confident that you won't. We're persuaded

of better things. Yes, things that accompany

salvation, though we speak in this manner. So

he's warning them. He's giving a real warning

of the danger of apostasy. At the same time,

he's encouraging them, do not give up your faith

in Christ. Those who received this letter, they

needed to know something. There is irreversible

judgment for apostasy. They understood the truth,

they turned from it, and there is no repentance.

You can't bring them back. They align themselves

with the enemies of Christ. But the author assumed

this would not happen to those to whom he was

writing. He said, I'm confident of better things,

things that accompany salvation. So I ask you,

what accompanies salvation? Perseverance in the

faith. Perseverance, let me just say this, is

not the cause of salvation. But it is the fruit

of salvation. He was persuaded, the author was

persuaded, that the recipients of this letter

would persevere. They're not going to turn their

backs on Christ. They're going to continue on

with him in spite of the tremendous suffering.

So the warning, a real warning, it was not meant

to produce despair in them. Rather, it was meant

to produce a holy fear that would cause them

to continue with Christ even though there was

great suffering. So now he lays out the consequences

very clearly. If you do this, if then this. But

he also encouraged them, listen, God is faithful.

God is going to fulfill his promises. Just cling

to Christ. Don't give up. Don't go back. And

he gives them an example. And the first example

he gave them was the example of Abraham. You

know the story. Abraham was given a promise from

God. You're going to have a son, Abraham, with

your wife, Sarah. Now, years passed. He had to

wait for that promise to be fulfilled. In fact,

he waited 25 long years for God's promise to

be answered. Nevertheless, the promise came.

The promise was fulfilled. And what's the point?

Why is the author writing this way? He's showing

them that God is faithful and his word always

proves reliable. And this is the point. You can

always count on God to keep his word, even if.

Your present circumstances are telling you otherwise.

Because that's what was happening. There was

nothing around them that said, hey, I'm the object

of God's affection and delight. Now the promise

for Abraham, it did not come when he had hoped.

Surely when Abraham first got that promise, he

was thinking next year, hey, we'll have a boy.

No. God was testing him. But it came. And the

lesson for us is that God often makes us wait.

but his word is always sure. Now, you know the

story of Abraham. After the promise for a son

to be born came, Abraham's faith was even more

severely tested. You would think that Abraham

had suffered enough. You would think that he

had proven himself enough, but no, God tempted

him even more, tested him, I should say. And

he said, I want you to offer up that son of promise,

Isaac, as a sacrifice. Well, you know that Abraham

successfully came through that trial. And after

he did, God reiterated to Abraham his promise.

And this time he confirmed it with an oath. He

swore. God swore. Took a vow. And he swore by

himself. That's what Hebrews is saying in verses

17 and 18. Thus God, determining to show more

abundantly to the heirs of promise, that's you

and me, the immutability, the unchangeableness

of his counsel, He confirms it by an oath that

by two immutable things in which it is impossible

for God to lie, we might have strong consolation,

strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge

to lay hold of the hope which is set before us.

There are two immutable, unchangeable things.

God's promise and God's oath. You would think,

now friends, listen, God's promise alone is sufficient.

But God then took a vow. He swore that he was

telling the truth, which made it doubly secure.

And again, what's the point? Why is the author

doing this? He wants believers to know you can

always trust God despite adverse circumstances

because God will never fail to keep his word.

He will always keep it. And the fact that God

is a promise keeper is an anchor for your soul.

You see this with Abraham and his wife Sarah.

At the age of 190, they're promised a child.

Things looked hopeless. I mean, honestly, if

we look back, it almost seems ridiculous. You

look and you see here's a couple. He's 100, she's

90, and God's like, you're going to conceive.

God makes 90 -year -old women conceive in order

to fulfill his promise, if need be. God makes

even virgins conceive in order to fulfill his

promise. See, we've got to be linked, we've got

to be tethered or anchored to the promise of

Almighty God. God, back in Genesis, promised

a serpent -crushing deliverer, Messiah, would

come to Israel. And he did. Galatians 4, but

when the fullness of the time was come, God sent

forth his Son. God will not, cannot, is incapable

of reneging on any promise that he's ever made.

This is why you can anchor your life to him.

You can count on him. And this is the Christian's

hope. This is what I want to talk about this

morning. The Christian's hope lies in God's unchangeable,

immutable promise so that you may possess the

unshakable encouragement to hold fast to Christ.

Let me say that one more time. The Christian

hope. lies in God's unchangeable promise so that

you and I might possess the unshakable encouragement

to hold fast to Christ. Our assurance is not

rooted in our own faithfulness, rather in God's.

Our salvation is not grounded in what we have

done, but what God has promised to his people

in Christ. It's all about God. What did God promise?

He promised that all who repent of their sin

and place their faith in Jesus Christ will be

saved. That's a promise of God. Our salvation

is certain because God made a promise and then

he took an oath. He swore that his promises are

reliable. That is double security. But here's

where we're often tripped up. That promise of

ultimate deliverance and salvation does not mean

that the winds of adversity will not blow in

our lives today. God's people certainly experience

crisis moments. But that doesn't change nor alter

the promise that he's made. In fact, it shows

to prove the reliability of his promise. This

is where I think sometimes we buy into what the

world and Christian television tells us. If you

turn on Christian programming for any length

of time, there'll eventually be some fake preacher

on there who's going to talk about it is God's

will that the Christian prosper and be in health

at all times because you're a son of royalty.

It's a lie. The storms of life will come to the

Christian as well. God promised it. And these

Hebrew believers, they lost everything. Reputation,

gone. Homes, gone. Lands, gone. Freedom, gone.

And some had even been put to death. But the

writer says, listen, all that being true, none

of that alters the promise of God. Heaven's your

home and Christ is your inheritance, even if

you lose your life. Now look at verses 19 and

20. This hope that God keeps his promise, we

have as an anchor of the soul. It is sure, it's

steadfast, it's not letting go. And which enters...

The presence behind the veil. Oh, that's so good.

We'll get to it in a moment. Where the forerunner

has entered in for us, even Jesus, having become

high priest forever according to the order of

Melchizedek. So the word hope there, right? And

we've said this so many times. Most of you know

this. But when the Bible uses the word hope,

particularly the New Testament, it does not mean

wishful thinking. It means a confident expectation.

So the word, you know, we use this word like,

well, I hope it doesn't snow or I hope the ice

melts. But no, that's not biblical hope. Biblical

hope is confidence and it's an expectation that

what God has promised, I am confident and expectant,

will come to pass. That's what it means to have

hope. And this confidence that God keeps his

promises, you have to be fully persuaded, God

keeps his promises. He said that's the anchor

for your soul right there. Just like a ship's

anchor keeps that boat from drifting and being

secure in the midst of a storm, this confidence,

this confident hope or expectation keeps the

believer anchored even when violent storms enter

into your life. And our church has seen them

this past year. The Puritan Samuel Rutherford,

he says, Our salvation is fastened with God's

own hand and Christ's own strength. To the strong

stake of God's unchangeable nature. Amen. It's

sure and steadfast. This anchor you have, it's

sure, it's steadfast. It can't be moved. It can't

be broken. It can't be shaken. It is founded

upon the character of God himself. That's why

it's sure. And God has given this promise. And

then he promised, he swore, he gave an oath.

What mercy, what condescension from the Almighty.

Now I want you to notice something. Where does

this anchor go? Most anchors go down, right?

They go down to the bottom of a river, the bottom

of a sea. But this anchor goes up. It goes up

into heaven. Notice he says it goes within the

veil, behind the curtain. What's he saying? Oh,

he's writing to Jews. They know exactly what

he's saying. This anchor goes into the throne

room of God. The anchor goes into the very holy

of holies. How? Because the Lord Jesus has already

gone before us with his own blood into that very

room. He has gone before us. Our anchor, it's

not tied to shifting circumstances. Rather, it

is tethered to the presence of God. Love that.

The world has hopes and it has dreams. But friends,

all the world has is wishful thinking. That's

all they have. So we see people and we hear that

they hope for world peace. And that's a beautiful

hope. They hope for security or prosperity or

we hope that there's a cure for diseases like

cancer. But none of that is based on promise.

There's no divine promise. So therefore, the

world's hope is uncertain and it ends in futility,

which leads to despair, which leads to depression,

because there is nothing solid to which they

can anchor their hope upon. But not so for the

Christian. The Christian has confidence. He has

encouragement that no matter what the circumstances

of life bring, he has been accepted in Christ,

heaven is his home, and God is his father. And

all of that is based upon the unchanging, immutable

promise that God has given. And the writer says

that's an anchor for your soul. Tie your life

to it. He said that anchor goes behind the veil.

Remember the earthly temple and the earthly tabernacle?

There's a thick curtain that divided the inner

and the outer chambers of the temple or tabernacle.

So no one could see through the curtain. It was

a very thick curtain, and behind it was the very

Holy of Holies. And it was off limits to everyone

except the high priest, and only he could go

in on one day of the year on the Day of Atonement.

No other time could anyone ever go in there or

it was certain death. Now, so you had the Holy

of Holies. That curtain, then on this side would

be what's called the holy place. On the other

side, the holy of holies. What was inside the

holy of holies? The Ark of the Covenant. Why

was that so significant? Because it represented

the presence of God. God promised to dwell with

his people and he did there in the Ark. Now we

are told, Hebrews 6, tells us that Jesus entered,

he went behind the veil. He went into the Holy

of Holies and he anchored us, his people, into

the very throne room of God. You and I are anchored

in heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's

stability. That's security. Storms are going

to come. I can't say that enough. I think that

one of the things you cannot, you must have a

theology of suffering in your life or you will

be blown off course. storms are going to come

trials will always enter our lives yet because

we've been anchored in christ we will not ultimately

be blown off course so you can't and those storms

they serve a purpose they're going to show the

reliability of this anchor which is why it's

such a wonderful testimony and witness when god's

people endure suffering well because it points

to the unchangeable promise that they're clinging

to in christ See, why do trials come? Well, we

don't have to guess. 1 Peter tells us that sometimes

God sends trials to prove and try and test our

faith. 1 Peter 1. In this, you greatly rejoice.

Really? Though now for a little while, if need

be, you have been grieved, so you're greatly

rejoicing. Well, right now you might be sorrowing

by various trials. Now, he says, now notice his

purpose statement, that the genuineness of your

faith. the authenticity of your faith, being

much more precious than gold that perishes, though

it is tested by fire, it may be found to the

praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of

Jesus Christ. He said, you're going to ultimately,

you're going to rejoice. Right now you may be

grieved, because right now life hurts. Jesus

promised his disciples, he said, in the world

you have tribulation. But he gave you a promise

to anchor you there. John 16, 33. These things

have I spoken to you that in me you may have

peace. Praise God. In the world, no. You're going

to have tribulation. You're going to have trials.

You're going to have suffering. But be of good

cheer. Take heart. For I've conquered the world.

I've overcome it. See, the Christian, what Jesus

is telling us, we're not exempt. From life in

a fallen world. Life in a fallen world is hard.

It hurts. There's suffering. That means cancer

may come. We're not exempt from that. That means

you may lose your job. You may experience a financial

downturn. You may have your home be repossessed.

You may have many woes. The government may bring

persecution. You may be ridiculed at work. You

may be ostracized at your job. You may be ostracized

at school. But he said none of those are going

to shake you from the anchor that's holding in

Christ. Don't quit. Persevere. Why? Because you're

secure in him. Your anchor's in heaven and it

can't be moved. Another reason God sends trials

is to loosen this world's grip upon you. I promise

you this, if you've ever gone through a season

of suffering, what's ultimately important comes

sharply into focus. When you're sitting in a

hospital room and you're wondering if that person's

going to lose their life or not, you don't care

about 401ks, you don't care about retirement

plans, you don't care about homes. When trials

come, what's ultimately important becomes very

clear. They have a way of centering us to what

is ultimate. What is ultimate? The kingdom of

God. Which is why the Lord Jesus in Matthew 6

Matthew 6:33

verse 33 said what? Seek first the kingdom of

God and his righteousness because that's ultimate.

In the old temple, the veil separated the people

from God's presence. There was a separation.

But because of the work of Christ, because of

his atonement, the veil has been removed, torn

in two, and there's no longer separation between

God and his people. See, Jesus didn't just enter

into the veil behind the Holy of Holies. Rather,

he tore that thing in two from top to bottom

by his nail -pierced hands. It's gone. Christ

has carried us as our forerunner, our trailblazer,

into God's presence. And he stays there. constantly

mediating as a priest for us. That's what verse

20 says. Where the forerunner has entered for

us, even Jesus, having become high priest for

how long? Forever. According to the order of

Melchizedek. What is a forerunner? He's like

a Toyota. No, that's not what we're talking about

here. It's one who goes ahead of us. You could

use the word trailblazer. That's probably another

vehicle, isn't it? Stop about vehicles, but we're

talking about Jesus here. But someone who goes

before us. Now how do we know, how are we certain,

how are we confident that God's promises do not

and will not fail? Because Jesus is already there.

He went before us. And he anchored us there.

Lewis Talbot said this in his commentary. He

said, So you've got the Mediterranean there,

which is where a lot of the people who received

this letter would have been living. Greek harbors

were often cut off by the sea by sandbars, and

larger ships could not pass that sandbar until

the full tide came in. So they would have a lighter

vessel, a forerunner, that would take the big

ship's anchor and drop it off in the harbor.

From that moment, that big ship was safe from

the storm, but it still had to wait for the tide

before it could ever enter in the harbor. The

entrance of the small vessel or the forerunner

into that harbor carrying the ship's anchor was

the pledge that the ship would safely enter the

harbor as soon as the tide was full. Christ,

because he's our forerunner, has entered heaven

itself, having torn asunder everything that separates

the redeemed sinner from the presence of God.

He himself is the pledge that we too shall one

day enter into the harbor of our souls, into

the very presence of God in the new Jerusalem.

That's what a forerunner does. Christ has anchored

us in our union, in our union with Christ. We

are anchored to him and there's nothing that

gets to separate us from him. Paul wrote about

that in Romans 8 so beautifully, so eloquently.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Tribulation, no. Distress, persecution, famine,

nakedness, peril, sword. You think suffering

doesn't come? Look at verse 36. As it is written,

for your sake we are killed all day long. We're

counted sheep for the slaughter. Paul said, don't

despair. Yet in all these things we are still

more than conquerors through him who loved us.

How? How are you more than a conqueror when you're

getting slaughtered like an animal? For I am

persuaded that neither death nor life. Nor angels,

nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,

nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor

any other created thing shall be able to separate

us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus

our Lord. Amen. I love that. Now notice what

he didn't say. There's no promise that tribulation

or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness

or peril or sword doesn't come to your life.

In fact, these people experience those things.

The promise from God is that they can't tear

you away from Christ's love. They can't separate

you from Christ. Jesus told his disciples before

he was crucified, on the night before, he told

them, I'm going ahead of you, John 14. Let not

your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe

also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions.

In other words, there's rooms, there's dwelling

places. If it were not so, I would have told

you. But I go, I'm going first to prepare a place

for you. And if I go and prepare a place for

you, I will come again, and I will receive you

to myself. Why? So that where I am, there you

may be also. This is our forerunner, our trailblazer.

Jesus went on ahead of us. He blazed the trail

so that you and I can come behind him, follow

in his footsteps, and enter into the Holy of

Holies with him. How, though? You and I are defiled.

We're sinful. But Jesus cleansed us by his atoning

work, his atonement, his shed blood. And now

he stands in heaven. representing us before the

Father, pleading the merits of his sacrifice

and his obedience for his people. He's become

a high priest forever. We have in Jesus a great

high priest. What's he doing? He's standing in

the throne room of God, constantly interceding

for his church as high priest forever. Praise

God, we've got a priest that's constantly mediating

for us. Instead of fear, instead of temerity,

we can have boldness to enter the throne room

of God. Isn't that presumption? Isn't that arrogance?

No, because Jesus is there. Come boldly now.

This is what the writer is saying in chapter

4. I hope all this is starting to become clear.

See, because of what Christ did, see, in the

old covenant, you never had boldness. You didn't

go behind the veil. You would be foolish to go

behind the veil. You would die to do that. But

now, seeing that we have a great high priest

who's passed through the heavens, Jesus, the

Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Don't give up. For we don't have a high priest

who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but

rather was in all points tempted as we are yet

without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to

the throne of grace. Why? That we may obtain

mercy and find grace to help in our time of need

because we're all going to have times of need.

Yeah, the people of God have always faced challenges.

I know I sound like a stuck record on this, but

trials and storms. Will come, and that's even

clearly seen in this letter. You don't need to,

but you can go over five chapters to the end

of chapter 11. The first part of chapter 11 is

a great hall of faith, and you see all these

people who conquered, who did victorious feats,

and it's just wonderful, and we're praising God

for all the wonderful things they did. And then

you get to the end of the chapter, and you read

this, verse 36. Still others. There were some

other people, though. They had trial of mockings

and scourgings, just like Jesus was scourged.

Yes, of chains, imprisonment. They were stoned.

Literally rocks hurled at them until they breathed

their last. They were sawn in two. They were

tempted. They were slain with a sword. They wandered

about in sheepskins and goatskins. They're homeless,

destitute, afflicted, tormented. And this is

what we scratch our head, of whom the world was

not worthy. They were not bereft of God. They

were chosen, precious possession of God. They

wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and

caves of the earth. And yet the world is not

worthy of these people, right? What the writer

wants his people to know, because remember, he's

writing to a persecuted church. The Christian

must sail through stormy seas. We do. Life has

a way of bringing that to us. But he does so

being anchored to Jesus Christ. We're sailing.

Winds are churning. Sea is raging. And Christ

is anchored. That knowledge, if you have that,

and you have it here, you have it here. I mean,

it's in your DNA. That secures you even in the

most violent storm imaginable. That's why people

who endure things and you're like, how do they

do it? They're looking toward the promise that

God is a promise keeper. This will all be different

one day. So our confidence, as we close here,

our confidence comes from knowing that the believer,

that we are, anchored in heaven behind the veil.

We are anchored in Christ. He's our forerunner

who went to prepare a place for us. We are anchored

in our high priest. Jesus is the eternal high

priest after the order of Melchizedek. And we

are anchored in the promise and oath of God who

cannot lie. God's promise plus God's oath gives

the people of God an unbreakable assurance that

causes us to persevere till the end. I want you

to know this, church. Your hope is not fragile.

And you know why it's not fragile? Because it

doesn't rest in you. It doesn't rest in me. It

rests, the hope of the believer rests in the

unchangeable promise of God and the finished

work of Christ. Jesus, he's already gone in the

holy place and he secured your future. It's secure.

So what do we do now? This is the whole purpose

of this message. It's the whole tenor of the

book of Hebrews. So what do we do in light of

that? We hold fast with confidence because our

anchor holds. That's what you can cling to. Let's

pray. Father, Lord, you have given us your sure

word. It is good. It is rich. Lord, I think of

some brothers and sisters from this church right

now who are going through difficult times. I

think of Christy Davis, Lord, with breast cancer

and no doubt uncertainty and some fear. God,

I pray that, Lord, you would undergird her with

the strength she needs as she endures this long

battle ahead of her. Lord, but knowing that,

Lord God, she is anchored in Christ and that

is going to give her the strength she needs to

persevere. Father, I thank you of my sister Rose,

Lord. who's now in the hospital, Lord, now going

on almost entering into a second week. Father,

I pray that, God, you would help her, Lord, especially

as she's battling pleurisy. But, Lord, I know

that she's not feeling well. And, Lord, God,

that she's having trouble breathing and other

things. And, Lord, God, that brings fear. But,

Lord, bring peace with the certainty that she's

anchored to Christ. Lord, as we got a call last

night in the middle of the night. Praying for

John Paul, Lord, as he was on his way to an ER,

not knowing what was going to happen. Lord, we're

thankful that we can call upon you, Lord, in

the darkest moments, even the middle of the night.

For you don't sleep, you don't slumber, you don't

take a nap. Lord, you're there for your people.

We are anchored in heaven. Lord, there are some

of these dear saints, Lord, who have gone through

really unbearable things, humanly speaking. But

their anchor has held because you have given

them Christ. You're holding us. We're not holding

you. The anchor is Christ himself, and he's in

the presence of God. They're mediating for us.

Thank you for that. Lord, as we prepare to celebrate

this, Lord, your presence with us at the table,

Lord, your covenant faithfulness, because you're

in covenant with us, Lord, you will never, ever

lie or renege or break a promise. And, Lord,

that's what we celebrate. This promise has been

ratified in the body and blood of your son, Jesus.

And in that, we take comfort and joy. Father,

we take delight in this. Lord God, meet us at

this table by your spirit. Not do we only remember,

but we commune with Jesus, our risen Lord. Thank

you for the anchor, the one who holds it. Lord

God, thank you for the gift of salvation in your

son. Thank you for sending him to the world that

we might have life in him. Lord, if there's anyone

here this morning, Lord God, who's away from

Christ, who's separated from him, may you bring

this awareness to them, Lord, that the one who

has a son has life. and the one who does not

have the Son of God does not have life, but the

wrath of God abides upon him. Show them, Lord,

that there is salvation. Lord, open their eyes

to the beauty and glory that is Christ. Lord,

we'll want to give you the praise for that. We

ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Deacons, would

you come and prepare the table?