JESUS IS THE ANCHOR
Heb. 6:19-20a
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Get to know your spouse first
1. A couple had a whirlwind romance and got married. They decided to go to the Grand Canyon for their honeymoon. They rented some donkeys to ride down the trail to the bottom.
2. Part of the way down, the wife’s donkey stumbled. She got off, walked around to stare it in the eyes, and said, “That’s one!” 20 minutes later, it stumbled again. She got off and told it, “That’s two!”
3. A little later, it stumbled again. She got off, opened her backpack & took out a pistol and shot the donkey dead.
4. Her husband, horrified, ran to her and said, “You can’t do that! That was a rented donkey!” She looked him in the eyes and said, “That’s one!”
B. TEXT
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” Heb. 6:19-20a, NIV
C. THESIS
1. An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that’s used to connect a surface vessel to the bottom of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current.
2. Figuratively, an anchor is something that is certain and gives stability to your life. Today we’re talking about the ANCHOR OF JESUS CHRIST! He’s the biggest anchor there is. [Pictured is the anchor from the ship “Knock Nevis,” the largest ship ever built. https://www.reddit.com/r/HumanForScale/comments/iluzth/the_anchor_from_the_knock_nevis_ulcc_the_largest
I. WHY WOULD CHRISTIANS NEED AN ANCHOR?
A. TO KEEP US FROM BEING WRECKED
1. When a gale is blowing and a ship can’t hold its course, it risks being driven aground on rocky coasts. Often, only an anchor can save it.
2. Life has storms and situations just like that: Satan tempts us, our own human weakness besets us, and the trials of the world break on us like waves and tempests. But God has provided His people an anchor, so that no storm can overwhelm us!
B. TO NOT BE CONTROLLED BY ENVIRONMENT
1. An anchor also brings “comfort” to sailors and passengers because it gives them assurance that they’re not completely at the mercy of the elements.
2. In life, people who’re driven helplessly by circumstances are miserable people, because they seem to have no control over their lives and their future direction is uncertain.
3. The anchor of God’s Word gives us peace and confidence. That’s why the Bible speaks of “strong consolation.”
C. TO NOT LOSE FORWARD PROGRESS
1. When a ship or a Christian has made good progress on their journey, but then encounters contrary winds in life, they may lose ground. When tough times come, we need to depend upon our anchor!
2. WE HAVE THE ANCHOR OF GOD’S PROMISE. When God makes a promise, He never goes back on it! He never changes, and His promises aren’t a “limited-time-offer,” but forever!
3. When the economy goes into recession, when our jobs become jeopardized, when our culture contradicts our beliefs, when our friends press us to do something wrong, or trials come -- it’s time to throw out the anchor! Hold your position in Christ until you can advance again!
II. THREE WAYS JESUS IS OUR ANCHOR
An anchor is that which alone can hold a ship from drifting, especially in storms. There are at least 3 levels at which Jesus acts as our anchor:
A. HE’S THE ANCHOR OF OUR FAITH
1. Jesus is the “Author and Finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). He’s God’s Word and “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” Rom. 10:17.
2. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Heb. 11:1. The faith God has given to us helps us see the invisible things that God has promised us and to trust God that all will come to pass just as God promised it would, even if we don’t see it now.
3. Our faith began with Jesus, through the Word, and He’s continually perfecting us by life’s trials and tests. Jesus Himself is the anchor of our faith. It is our faith in Him that saves us.
B. HE’S STABILITY IN LIFE’S TURBULENCE
1. In this life of troubles, difficulties, and losses, Jesus is the one unchanging reference point. The song says, “all may change but Jesus never!” Heb. 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
2. Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you; I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world” Heb. 13:3; Mt. 28:20. Our friends or family may betray us, but our Savior, Who loves us with an everlasting love, has proven His love by dying on the Cross for us. No one has greater love for you than Jesus!
3. IN TROUBLE, OUR GRIP BECOMES STRONGER
a. When storms hit a ship, the force of the wind (& pull on the anchor chain) only forces the anchor deeper into the seabed. The more the ship drags, the tighter its hold becomes.
b. Similarly, when we face trials and tests, they force us deeper into the things of God – and what the devil means for bad actually turns into good!
4. With our Anchor of Christ, we can face whatever gales of loss and persecution come our way, for we have more lasting possessions in Heaven. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and even if we face death, we are but ushered into our eternal reward! As we say in East Texas, “We can’t lose for winning!”
C. JESUS IS ETERNAL
1. Our material universe is TEMPORARY. It’s doomed to decay, to burn itself out, and eventually to be destroyed. Peter said, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” But God will create a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness” 2 Pet. 3:10,13.
2. It’s only if we are IN CHRIST that we will survive the cataclysm that is coming on this universe. Only in Christ are we guaranteed permanence & eternal life.
3. Not only will Jesus resurrect believers someday, but He Himself IS the Resurrection. Eph. 1:20 says, "the working of His mighty strength which [God] EXERTED in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms…" Why did God have to “exert” His mighty strength when He raised Jesus?
4. Because God took the perfect future universe, which He will create – free from sin & where all possess eternal life – and channeled it back through time into the body of Jesus, when He raised Him from the dead. God reversed entropy, making death and decay work backward. Jesus is the epicenter and generator of the coming New Creation. All who are “in Him” are new creations with Him (2 Cor. 5:17).
III. HOW CAN JESUS DO ALL THAT?
A. HE’S GOD IN HUMAN FORM
1. He’s God made visible; Image of the invisible, unknowable God. John said, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son...has made him known” (1:18).
2. He is the revelation of God, the “out-raying of the Divine...the perfect imprint and very image of God” Heb. 1:3, AMPC.
3. All Truth is contained in Him. If we wish to know the truth about life and our purpose, we must turn to Jesus. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32. You can only find freedom in Christ.
4. Jesus is the “light that shined in the darkness and the darkness has not comprehended it” John 1:5. We all know that darkness is simply the absence of light. When people lack the light of Jesus, they walk in darkness. Satan blinds them to truth and they think and do what displeases God.
B. JESUS = SALVATION, TRANSFORMATION
1. All the social programs in the world CAN take a drunk and put new clothes on the man, but they CAN’T put a ‘new man’ in the old clothes. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ has power to revolutionize men and women from the inside out.
2. Jesus’ words are unique: His disciples once said, "Who else has the Words of Eternal Life?"
3. You can ask the followers of all the world’s religions if they know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they’re going to heaven; you won’t find any who’ll say “yes.” Why? Because those religions base their salvation on human perfection; and who’s perfect? No one! So they can’t be sure.
4. But in Christianity, it’s NOT OUR attainments which secure our salvation, but what Jesus, the Son of God, did! He lived a sinless life and died in our place on the Cross!
5. When Jesus was dying, He cried, “It is finished” and the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom by the hands of God.
7. THAT VEIL WAS NEVER TORN WHEN BUDDHA DIED, OR KRISHNA DIED, OR WHEN OTHER RELIGIOUS LEADERS DIED, BUT ONLY WHEN JESUS CHRIST DIED! That veil symbolized the separation of sin between God and man, and only in Christ was it taken away!
8. And Jesus sent His Spirit to live in our hearts as the “down-payment” & guarantee of our eternal life. We have our boarding pass to heaven!
C. HAVE YOU GOT THE ANCHOR?
1. Are you in a storm? Here is your anchor! You ask, “Can I use this anchor”? That’s the very reason God has made it available to you!
2. Any captain in a storm would not hesitate to use an anchor on his ship, even if it was merchandise for sale—he would not care about that! “The ship has got to be saved. Here is an anchor, over it goes.”
3. JESUS IN THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
• In Genesis, Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman.
• In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.
• In Leviticus, He’s our High Priest.
• In Numbers, He’s the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night.
• In Deuteronomy, He’s the prophet like unto Moses.
• In Joshua, He’s the captain of our salvation.
• In Judges, He’s our judge and lawgiver.
• In Ruth, He’s our kinsman redeemer.
• In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He’s our trusted prophet.
• In Kings and Chronicles, He’s our reigning king.
• In Ezra, He’s the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
• In Esther, He’s our Mordecai.
• In Job, He’s our ever-living redeemer.
• In Psalms, He’s our shepherd.
• In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He’s our wisdom.
• In the Song of Solomon, He’s the loving bridegroom.
• In Isaiah, He’s the prince of peace.
• In Jeremiah, He’s the righteous branch.
• In Lamentations, He’s our weeping prophet.
• In Ezekiel, He’s the wonderful four-faced man.
• In Daniel, He’s the fourth man in life’s “fiery furnace.”
• In Hosea, He’s the faithful husband, forever married to the backslider.
• In Joel, He’s the baptizer with the Holy Ghost and fire.
• In Amos, He’s our burden-bearer.
• In Obadiah, He’s the mighty to save.
• In Jonah, He’s our great foreign missionary.
• In Micah, He’s the messenger of beautiful feet.
• In Nahum, He’s the avenger of God’s elect.
• In Habakkuk, He’s God’s evangelist, crying, “revive thy work in the midst of the years.”
• In Zephaniah, He’s our Savior.
• In Haggai, He’s the restorer of God’s lost heritage.
• In Zechariah, He’s the fountain opened up in the house of David for sin and uncleanness.
• In Malachi, He’s the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.
• In Matthew, He’s King of the Jews.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Good Intentions Not Enough
1. A Hindu said to a native missionary, "I am sure if I lead a good life and do what is right, giving up my bad habits, God will be pleased with me and receive me into heaven."
2. "That is the way most people reason today," replied the missionary. "You know the babul tree (a tree with long, sharp thorns). Now, suppose you break off from its branches a hundred or more of the nasty thorns, then will the tree cease to be a babul tree?" "Certainly not." "Suppose you should stop many of your evil ways and habits, you would still remain the same, like the babul tree. You must have an entirely new nature, must become a new man, in order to please God. Only Christ can give you a new heart."
3. The missionary's reply was sound and scriptural. God’s first and only message to sinful man is to repent. Have you done that? [Anonymous]
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you would like to have Jesus as your anchor? Yes? Then you need to repent and then put your faith in Jesus as your Savior.
2. Good intentions aren’t enough to save you; you must take concrete steps to gain Jesus Christ as your Helper. PRAYER.
