March 9, 2003
First Church of the Brethren
H. Kevin Derr
Hebrews 6:13-20
“Confidence and Steadfastness”
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
The promises of God are a major theme that spans the book of Hebrews. In an attempt to bolster the faith of those he was writing to, the Author of Hebrews brings us again to point of remembering that God’s promises are valid, trustworthy and safe. We are given an example from the life of Abraham, the Father of Israel. If God was faithful to his promise then, he will be faithful to keep his promise now. This is the point that the author of Hebrews is trying to drive home to us this week.
He wants to help his readers to hold fast to the fath that they have professed. He is attempting to enable our hearts and minds to endure through the difficult and painful times. He is trying to give us a strong and dependable hope. What God has promised to his people, this he will do. It does not seem like a big thing, but in reality it is foundational for faith and life. If we do not believe that God will do what he has said, how can we have faith. It seems like a simple thing, and in that regard it is, but the more that you and I trust the living God, the more robust our fath will be. It comes back to this point, you act on your beliefs not your opinions. If you want to know what you believe, Look at what you do. If you believe that stealing is wrong, you won’t do it. If you believe that life is precious, you will not kill be it the unborn, the aged or the infirm, the criminal or the enemy. You do what you believe, if you believe that God is trustworthy, you will hold fast in fath trusting in God’s promises.
PRAYER
I. Oaths, swearing an oath, making a pledge, your word is your bond.... all these expression are
used as a means of saying, “I am telling the truth.”
A. For example, if you go to court to testify you will be asked to swear an oath to tell the
truth. Brethren and others protested the swearing of oaths, because we took Jesus
instruction seriously, to let your yes be yes and your no be no. So, if you go to court
today you can affirm not that you will swear an oath but rather that your word is
truthful.
1. But, what does God do to make the point that he is trustworthy? There is no
one greater for him to swear by, we swear to God in court, but what about
God?
2. Remember that most of the world’s God’s are not trustworthy. Most must be
persuaded to do something for people. Make an offering, kill an animal, kill a
person, all of these and other things were done, not to remove guilt, but to control a god.
A. The notion of a Holy God, who demands holiness in his people is not
the norm of God’s in the ancient world.
B. In some cases a farmer would visit the temple prostitute to ensure good
fertility in his crops and animals
C. In the time of Abraham, it was customary to offer the firstborn son to
your God, to ensure that your household would be safe and prosperous
D. All these things were done in the sense of magic, if you do rite “X” the
god will do “Y”. This is in essence, incantations to force the deity of
your choice to do what you want them to do. God’s could not be
trusted to do what was required of them, they had to be forced.
E. You will see more of this notion emerging in our culture as the neo-
pagan revival continues. You see it already in power crystals, charms,
and the like. You will see even more in the next decade than you saw
in the last decade.
B. But our God is different. We do not have to force or entice our God to do what God is
to do. Our God is trustworthy. Hebrews 6:13-14 read, 13When God made his promise
to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by
himself, 14saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”
A. God’s promise as recorded here is that God would bless Abraham and give
him many descendants.
1. But in a time when god’s were assumed to be tricksters, mischievous,
and not necessarily concerned about the welfare of their people what
was Abraham to think about this promise.
2. So God made his promise and swore by himself, “I will surely bless
you. . . “
B. God was telling Abraham, “I will keep my word.”
C. What a overwhelming idea, that “God will keep his word”.
1. But how do we know this, that God kept his promise to Abraham.
2. We are in fact proof. Since we are spiritual descendants of Abraham
C. Vs. 15 reads, 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
A. First Isaac, the Jacob, then the Israel, and now all who claim the name of
Christ Jesus
II. God wants to make sure that we know he is trust worthy. The Author of Hebrews continues
to build this argument, he writes, 16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the
oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make
the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he
confirmed it with an oath.
A. In other words, both then and even today, sworn testimony is a valid thing and
considered truth.
B. In a similar way, God wanted to make te unchanging nature of his purpose clear.
1. He wanted to make it clear to the heirs of that promise
2. Something has happened here, a transition has occurred. We are no longer
speaking about Abraham he has received what was promised to him. And this
is mentioning heirs, plural, not heir as in Abraham.
3. Why is this now plural. Because those who are descendants of Abraham are
blessed by God. It would be easy to begin speaking about those who are
physical descendants of Abraham, but this is a Christian community that was
being addressed. We are speaking about those who have a faith like
Abraham’s, those who are spiritual descendants.
III. It becomes clear in the following verses. Vs. 19 begins to bring this into focus, the Author
writes, 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
A. God took an oath so that two things would be known
1. That God does not lie, that we can trust the promises of the Living God And because we can trust the Living God this should do something in us, it should
greatly encourage us.
2. The second is that we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered may be
greatly encouraged
B. In other words, God tells the truth, and so the hope that we have is genuine and we
will not be disappointed if hold fast, God will do as he has promised.
1. So be greatly encouraged!
2. Have hope!
3. Be optimistic
4. Be filled with joy, our God is trustworthy!
C. The author of Hebrews continues this hope filled thought, he writes, 19We have this
hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary
behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.
He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
1. Because God is trustworthy, we have a hope that functions as an anchor.
A. An anchor keeps a ship or boat in place, against the wind, the waves ad
the current, in some very real ways it keeps us safe from floating about
aimlessly and being dashed into the rocks and destroyed
B. Our genuine hope in God, because his word is safe, valid and true,
because it has been confirmed in us by Jesus, and because we have
seen that it is true, we can remain in place against the storms of life.
2. We have an anchor tat is firm and secure. It enters into the inner sanctuary
behind the curtain.
A. This is a reference to the throne of God, where we were told previously
that we could go with boldness and receive mercy in our time of need
B. This is not a temple reference, to the Holy of Holies, but it uses the
Holy of Holies language to point us to the dwelling of God
1. Our hope extends to the very dwelling place of God, and we
have a direct connection with it, like a ship has a direct
connection to it’s anchor, we have a direct connection to the
Living God.
2. Our hope is not empty but deeply powerful.
3. Our hope is Jesus himself. The Author continues 20where Jesus, who went
before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.
A. Jesus is behind the curtain, in the presence of God. And he has gone
before us, and has entered into God’s presence on our behalf
B. And thee he serves as our high priest forever,
1. So we can have hope, because just like us has experienced life
and death, pain and joy, frustration and happiness
2. He is there so that at anytime we are in need, we need not worry
but to only go and receive mercy.
IV. The point of this is that God is trustworthy and faithful. His word and promises are true and we can depend on them, without worry or fear. In a time when everything seems to be
falling apart, families, corporations, investments, stability world wide, it is a time when we
need an anchor to keep us off the rocks of life, but it is also a time that we can extend a hope
and offer an anchor to a world adrift and in danger of crashing on the rocks
A. Take on the attitude of the Author of Hebrews an work to help those around you to
have hope and security in Christ Jesus
B. But for people to see God’s trustworthiness they will need to see it in our lives
1. So we should speak honestly
2. We should live out mercy
3. We should show that we trust the word of our God
4. We should live out our lives showing that we believe in the promises of our
God
