"A Sure & Steadfast Anchor" Sermon: Hebrews 6:13-20

“A Sure & Steadfast Anchor”

[Hebrews 6:13-20]

September 2, 2012 Second Reformed Church

            In these days, as we listen to the speeches at the Democratic convention and the speeches at the Republican convention and listen to all of the TV ads about the good, the bad, and the ugly of each candidate, it's not easy to know who is telling the truth, is it? And it would seem that we can say without skepticism, that whoever is elected will fail us. No matter what person is in leadership, whether it be the President or Congress or the Governor or the Mayor or the pastor or the Police Chief or the Fire Chief or whomever, every leader fails us. Every leader has flaws, and every leader sins.

            Or is there a leader who will never fail us? Is there a leader who is a sure and steadfast anchor?

The author of Hebrews left his discussion of the high priesthood of Jesus to address the fact that the Hebrews had become immature in the faith. The author of Hebrews told them that by this time they ought to have been teachers of the faith, but they had turned away from the meat of the faith and turned back to the milk – they had left the food and the doctrine of adults and gone back to the food and the doctrine of infants. They had turned away from all those conclusions that they had reached through the Gospel as they matured in their faith and turned back to the basics – even less than the basics – and questioned whether or not they were right in confessing that Jesus is the Savior.

The author of Hebrews warned them not to go back to a system where they believed that they could earn their salvation through good works. He warned them that if they committed apostasy – if they committed the one unforgivable sin – if they turned away from the place where they had stood – (which is what “apostasy” means) – if they denied the Gospel – that Jesus is the Savior, they would be eternally lost.

Last week, we saw the author of Hebrews warn them that it is impossible to restore to repentance – those who've been taught the Gospel, those who experienced the Holy Spirit in worship, those who experienced works by the Holy Spirit, those who understood the beauty of the Covenant, those who experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit – and yet despised Christ. The author of Hebrews explained that it is possible for someone to grow up in the Church, take part in the Church, say all the right things, understand the Scripture and be able to teach and preach it, and do mighty works by the Holy Spirit, and still go to Hell, because he or she does not believe the Gospel. Knowledge of the things of God and His Gospel are not salvation – belief in the Gospel and bearing the fruits of the Gospel – those good works, which proceed from faith in Jesus Alone – this shows who is a true believer.

            The author of Hebrews does not leave them in despair – wondering if they are true believers are not: he calls them “beloved” and tells them that he is sure that they are true believers because they continue to do good works as a result of their faith and they love their brothers and sisters in the faith.

We ended last week considering how important it is to be assured of your faith.  Search your heart, see if you believe, see if you love Jesus at all – remember, we saw that if we love Jesus at all, then we are true believers, because no one can love Jesus – truly love Him – unless he or she is a true believer.

The author of Hebrews adds to this that they ought to be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises – they ought to imitate true believers – good examples of faith and patience in hope of the sure promises of God.

We continue this morning with an example:

            “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.’”

First we need to ask, when did this happen?

After Abraham had passed the test of God asking him to sacrifice his only son, his beloved son, Isaac, we read:  “And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice’” (Genesis 22:15-18, ESV).

            Back in Genesis 15, God had promised to give the elderly Abraham the land of Canaan and an heir, so the heirs of Abraham would outnumber the stars. God swore this to Abraham by walking through the divided halves of a number of animals, symbolically saying that if God did not keep this promise, God's punishment would be to be torn in half.

Almost 25 years later, when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. When Isaac was a young man, God told Abraham to take Isaac and sacrifice him as an offering to God. Abraham obeyed and took Isaac to the altar and was ready to kill him when the Angel of the Lord called out and told him that God would provide the Lamb.

And then a second time the Angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham, and reaffirmed God's promise that the heirs of Abraham would outnumber the stars and the sand of the sea shore – adding to the promise that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by the seed of Abraham.

How long did Abraham have to wait to see the Seed Who would bless all the nations of the earth?

About 2000 years. Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56, ESV). Jesus is the Seed of Abraham Who blesses all the nations of the earth through the Gospel – through bringing salvation to the elect – through making atonement with God.  As Paul tells us through his confession: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, ESV).  The blessing that God brings – of salvation through Jesus Alone – is both for Jews who believe and for Gentiles – non-Jews – who believe. The blessing that God brings through the Seed of Abraham is for all the nations of the earth. God has become salvation for people from every nation and every tribe and every language.

The author of Hebrews instructs his readers – including us – to learn and imitate faith and patience from those who inherit the promises – Abraham being an example. God made a promise to Abraham – that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him – through an heir of his – and about 2000 years later, that Heir came on the scene.

The author of Hebrews rather matter-of-factly wrote: “And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” And so we are called to be patient through all the various elements of life.

Do you consider yourself a patient person? Are you able to patiently wait – and not stress out and worry and assume the worst?

Abraham fell, not long after God's promise of an heir, and bore Ishmael by Hagar, but God kept His Promise and Isaac was born some 25 years later. Would you be able to wait 25 years for a promise to come to pass? Would you be able to wait 25 years for a promise that God made to you? The Heir who would bless all the nations of the world came 2000 years after the promise was made. Would you be patient enough to wait 2000 years for a promise to be fulfilled?

The amount of patience we have probably varies based on the person we are being patient with or for. And so, the author of Hebrews continues:

“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.”

The author of Hebrews explains why God swore by Himself – why God walked through the divided pieces of the animals – and placed the oath on His Own Head: there is no Being greater than God.

St. Anselm rightly defined God as, “that Being that than which none greater can be conceived.” The God Who exists is the Greatest Being, if there is any being greater than God, then God is not God. In order to be God, God must be the Greatest Being. By definition, God is the Greatest Being in existence – there is nothing and no being greater than Him.

Since God is the Greatest Being in existence, there was nothing greater than God, for God to swear by – nothing that could take action against God if God did not keep His Promise. So God did something absolutely extraordinary: He swore by His Very Being that He would self-destruct if He did not keep His Promise – God, symbolically walked through the divided animals, and swore that if He did not keep His Promise, He would be torn in half, just as the animals that He walked through had been torn in half. So, as the author of Hebrews explains, God not only made a promise, but He guaranteed it with an oath.

And we might wonder if this was a true oath, since there is no Being greater than God. Who could hold God liable, if God did not keep His Promise – if God broke His Oath?

            And here we are considering an issue about the Character of God: if God broke His Oath – if God did not keep His Promise – if God lied – for whatever reason – God would not – could not – be God. Because it is impossible for God to lie and it is impossible for God to change.

            James wrote:  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17, ESV). There is no variation with God. There is no change with God. God does not do one thing one day and then do something different another. God does not say that one thing is true and real one day, and that it is not another. Everything we know about God – and everything the Scripture tells us – is that God is Truth and Truth cannot change. God has all knowledge, and He is sovereignly in control of everything – He is Almighty, so there is never a time when He is surprised or has to choose “Plan B” – everything is exactly as God planned it and God will always keep His Promises and bring to pass exactly what He has always intended.

            The author of Hebrews tells us later in his letter:  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, ESV).  Why? Because Jesus is God. So the high priestly work that Jesus did to secure our salvation is settled forever and cannot be changed – there is no chance of being lost if you believe in Jesus Christ Alone for salvation.

            Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”? Dr. R.C. Sproul has pointed out that there is one phrase too many in this bumper sticker – the “I believe it.” is unnecessary. If God has said something, it is settled. If God has promised something, it will come to pass. If God has vowed something, He will keep His Vow. Because it is impossible for God to lie and it is impossible for God to change. What we believe about God does not change God one whit. But if we believe in the God of the Bible and we see that He cannot lie and He cannot change and He is the Greatest Being in all of existence, then even if we need to flee for refuge from someone who is persecuting us, “we have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that is set before us.”

            What is that strong encouragement that we have as believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The strong encouragement that we have is that God is Sovereign over everything and He cannot lie and He cannot change so we can be secure in whatever God has said and promised and vowed. We can patiently wait for the Promise of God because we know that it cannot fail to come to pass because it is was uttered by the God who is able and cannot lie and cannot change.

We can securely and surely wait on God and His Promises whether He fulfills them today, or in 25 years, or in 2000 years.

            Jesus promised that He would return and bring us eternally into His Kingdom after restoring the Earth and resurrecting our physical bodies. It's been 2000 years since he made that promise. But I have a sure hope it will come to pass – I do not doubt that it will come to pass – in God's Time – because the God Who is able, and cannot lie, and cannot change, promised it.

            The author of Hebrews wanted his readers to understand that the promises fulfilled in the Gospel were not fulfilled by chance or good luck – they were not mere coincidences – when we see the promises that God made over the 4,000 years covered in the Old Testament fulfilled in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we see that the Word of God is steadfast and sure. It did not make sense for them to turn away back to the Old Testament Ceremonial and Judicial Laws – it didn't make sense to go back to the promises and the shadows when the Fulfillment had come – the Promise had been kept – God made good on His Vow.

 “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul,”

The author of Hebrews now turns to imagery that would've been familiar to everyone living in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.  “In every harbor there was a great stone – some examples of which can still be seen today. In some harbors there were many of them. Each such stone was securely and immovably embedded by the water's edge and was known [as an anchor.]  Small vessels were moored to it; but it had another purpose.

“…. Very often, by means of its sails alone, a ship could not get into harbor, especially if the wind was against it. When this happens, one of the crew would go ahead in a rowing boat. This man, who was known as ‘the forerunner,’ would attach a line from the struggling ship to the [anchor], which was ‘sure and steadfast.’  Those remaining on the ship simply had to hold onto the line. and, by patient and persevering effort, to pull on it. If they did this, without letting go or slackening in their effort, they arrived safely in port every time!

“... All of us who are believers nursed the hope that the Gospel proclaims. That hope is an [anchor], ‘sure and steadfast’ ....  The forerunner has safely arrived there and attached the line. All we now have to do is to hold on to the hope and never let go. If we endure, making a patient and persistent effort to do this, every one of us will arrive in the harbor, whatever storms, doubts, or difficulties we are currently facing” (Stuart Olyott, I Wish Someone Would Explain Hebrews to Me!, 79 – 80.)

Jesus and His Gospel are as secure and steadfast as those immovable rocks in the harbors around the Mediterranean Sea. He does not move, the Gospel does not change, and so we are not only safe and secure but wise to hold on to Him and pull, in response to the Salvation that He gives us through His Gospel. If we know that Jesus and His Gospel are immovable – secure – steadfast, we have every reason to hope in Him. We have every reason to strive forward – to push ahead – to fight against the world, the flesh and the devil, knowing that we are safe and secure and cannot be lost because He and His Promises and His Vows are less likely to move than the anchors in the Mediterranean Sea.

 “a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf,”

What is the author of Hebrews telling us here? What curtain is this that Jesus has gone behind?

When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” on the cross, we read, “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38, ESV).  What did the curtain in the Temple separate? The curtain in the Temple separated the Holy of Holies – where the Glory of God descended upon the Ark of the Covenant – from the rest of the Temple. It separated that holy place where only the high priest could go once a year on the Day of Atonement from the rest of the Temple. For the first time in history the place where God revealed Himself was open to every believer.

Jesus, on our behalf, tore open the curtain between the Holy of Holies and the rest of the Temple, so we could now come boldly before our God – and know Him as our Father. Our hope in the Promises of God – in the Gospel of Jesus Christ – in the Salvation that Jesus Alone provides – is confirmed and affirmed in our now being able to come before God in His Throne Room. As we saw, back in chapter four, the author of Hebrews encourages all those who believe “with confidence [to] draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, ESV).

Jesus has gone before us. Jesus has opened the Way to the Father. Jesus is the Only Way for us to go and be safe and be saved. He has done all the work – He is the unchangeable God, Who cannot lie, and He is the reason that we are encouraged to have hope to move forward, to stand patiently in faith and wait for the fulfillment of the Promises of our God and Savior.

 “having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”

And He was able to do this because He is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. About whom we will finally speak next week if the Lord is willing.

As we turn to the Sacrament Lord's Supper, we are united with all other Christians, and we spiritually meet with Jesus, the Son of God, Himself.  As we receive the bread and the cup, Jesus ministers to us and gives us His Grace that we would be equipped to do all that He has called us to do. This is one of the reasons why we have decided to begin receiving the Sacrament each time we meet:  We need grace. We need to commune with Jesus. We need to have our hope encouraged through this visible sign by meeting with the One Who never changes and never fails and has promised that He will bring to completion the good work that He began in each one of us who believes (cf. Philippians 1:6).

            Let us pray:

           Almighty God, in this world of change and uncertainty, we have hope in knowing that You are the Sovereign God Who does not change and Who cannot lie. We thank You for the Promises that You made, for the Oaths that You have taken, for sending Your Very Son that we who You have chosen would be Your sons and daughters. We thank You for revealing Yourself to us that our hope could be secure and steadfast with You. Continue to grow in us the assurance of our salvation and give us, this day, in Your Wisdom, what we need to be Your people.  For it is in Your Name Alone we pray. Amen.