The Anchor Holds

THE ANCHOR STILL HOLDS

TEXT: Hebrews 6:15-20

Hebrews 6:15-20 -- And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

l. INTRODUCTION -- ANCHORS

A. General

Lord Alfred Tennyson -- Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds.

-Illustrating the purpose of the anchor, Thomas Beddoes had this to say: The anchor heaves, the ship swings free, the sails swell full. To sea, to sea!

-The anchors of the ancient days on the sea worked because of their sheer weight and friction as they lay at the bottom of the sea. In modern times, the anchor has a long cable attached to it that allows it to actually drill into the bottom of the ocean floor, or to lodge into the coral reefs or a bed of rocks. Still it works on the same principle: To keep the ship steady on the seas.

-In an age of great change, when morality is scoffed at, when at times the world even encroaches the borders of the church, when the stern paths of righteousness are frequently avoided, men have chosen substitute anchors to try to hold them in place in the choppy seas of life.

-Because of the lack of anchors, men often spend themselves in perilous pursuits. There is the search for significance, a search for some semblance of value as they live out their lives. Because the wrong anchors are chosen, life loses it=s value. Life becomes nothing more than a seeming quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

-Several years ago, a music group (Truth) had a song entitled Living Life Upside Down. It explored the avenues of men who have the wrong anchors in their lives. A life that had all of the material riches but devoid of the spiritual strengths necessary for a Spirit-filled life.

B. Biblical

-The word "anchor" only appears four times in four verses. Yet, Paul makes an allusion to this word when he wrote to the Hebrews. There is nothing like having the Creator to be able to anchor the soul.

ll. HEBREWS 6:15-20 -- THE IDENTITY OF THE ANCHOR

-Our text states that Abraham patiently endured. In light of the volume of Scriptures concerning Abraham, what was it that he endured. Consider this in his patient enduring:

Mysterious providence.

The seeming slowness of God to make good His promises.

The attacks of Satan on his faith.

The insinuations of the serpent that God had ceased to be gracious.

The temptation of the devil to be enriched by the king of Sodom.

The cruel sneers of those around him.

The persecution by his fellow-men because of his godly walk that condemned their own ungodly ways.

-Paul knew the great Jewish minds that He would be addressing over this particular issue. The Holy Ghost, driving both the mind and pen of the Apostle, faithfully warns of apostasy in the opening segment of the chapter. It is the Holy Ghost that is commanding that men be faithful to their God. Yet, as it often is with the Holy Ghost, the closing segment of this chapter confers to men great comfort.

-Hebrews 6:16 enlightens us that men would in days gone by be held to their vows by God. Now, men are held to their vows by lengthy contracts with stipulations for every aspect of their agreement. But God has no greater, yet He confirmed His promises by an oath. This oath, in turn, relieves men of their worries and stresses about whether or not that God will uphold His end of the bargain. Rest assured that God has never failed on His promises.

Philippians 2:13 -- For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

-There is a much deeper sense of theology found here and there is not enough time to delve into the immutability and counsel of God.

A. The Incarnation

-However, by looking at the process of the Incarnation we can find out that the anchor still holds. It was a God who was concerned enough about men to began to try to reach for them. The only logical way to reach man was to become a man. This was accomplished by the work of robing Himself in flesh and coming to this earth. It was a God who breathed, who died, who rose again, and ultimately will appear again to take His Bride out of this world.