The Anchor Of The Soul

Sermon: The Anchor of the Soul

Text: Hebrews 6:17-20

I want you to imagine for a moment a small vessel upon the great and mighty sea. The sun is bright, the water is like glass, and the journey is pleasant. But as any mariner will tell you, the sea is a fickle master. Without warning, the sky can turn to iron, the winds can begin to howl with a terrifying fury, and the placid water can rise into mountainous waves that threaten to swallow the ship whole. In such a moment of tempest and terror, what is the sailor's only hope? It is not the strength of the mast, nor the skill of the helmsman alone. It is the anchor. An anchor that can be cast down into the deep, to find purchase on something solid, something unseen, something that will hold the vessel fast against the rage of the storm.

We, you and I, are that vessel upon the sea of life. And there are storms. Oh, are there not storms? The winds of anxiety blow hard against us. The waves of grief and loss crash over our decks. The currents of uncertainty and fear try to pull us out into a hopeless expanse, to be dashed upon the rocks of despair. In this tumultuous world, the human heart cries out for something solid, something unshakeable, something to hold onto.

Our text this morning from the book of Hebrews speaks directly to this deep, human need. It presents to us the glorious, divine provision for the storms of our soul: a heavenly anchor. Let us unpack these profound verses together.

I. The Unshakeable Foundation of Our Hope (vv. 17-18a)

The writer begins by taking us into the very heart of God. Look at verse 17: "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." Who are the "heirs of promise"? That, beloved, is us. All who are in Jesus Christ are heirs of the promise made to Abraham, the promise of salvation and an eternal inheritance. And notice the heart of our God. He is not reluctant. He is not distant. He is "willing more abundantly." He overflows with a desire to show us, to prove to us, the "immutability of his counsel." "Immutability" is a grand word. It simply means "unchangeable." God's plan, His purpose, His promise to you does not shift with the changing tides of this world. It is fixed. It is eternal.

But our God, in His infinite grace, knew our fearful and doubting hearts. He knew we would struggle to believe. So He did something astonishing. He did more than just give His word. The scripture says He "confirmed it by an oath."

Now, when a man makes an oath, he swears by something or someone greater than himself to show his sincerity. But who is greater than God? There is none. So, as Hebrews 6:13 tells us, "when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself." Think of the weight of this! God has staked His very own character, His divine nature, on His promise to you. This leads us to verse 18: "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation..."

What are these two unchangeable things?

* His Counsel (His sovereign, eternal Promise).

* His Oath (His divine, unbreakable Swearing to that promise).

Both His promise and His oath are founded upon His very nature, and the Bible is clear: it is impossible for God to lie. He cannot. It is contrary to who He is. The result of this double guarantee is not a weak comfort, not a flimsy assurance, but a "strong consolation." It is a powerful, rugged, storm-proof comfort for our souls.

II. The Powerful Function of Our Hope (vv. 18b-19a)

Who is this strong consolation for? The verse tells us. It is for those "who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." This is the posture of a Christian. We are not those who stand defiantly in the storm, trusting our own strength. We are those who have recognized the danger. We have seen the coming judgment for sin and the chaos of a life without God, and we have fled. We have run, not in aimless panic, but we have run for refuge. We have run to the cross of Jesus Christ. And there, we "lay hold" of the hope He offers. We grab onto it like a drowning man grabs a life-raft.

And what is this hope? Verse 19 gives us that breathtaking metaphor: "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast..."