The Anchor of Our Hope

Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.

The Hope We Have as an Anchor

Introduction

Good morning.

It is wonderful to be remembering the Lord every week.

Before I start, I would like to thank the many people who are praying for me. I would like to thank Brother Man Wong last week for doing the heavy lifting. When they first asked me to talk on Sunday, they said, “Hebrews chapter 6.” I panicked. I thought I was going to talk about what he was talking about, and I was glad that I was taking the second half of Hebrews chapter 6. So, thank you for the heavy lifting.

Thank you also to the people who really prayed, and for your notes of encouragement.

Today, we have been spending quite a bit of time on the book of Hebrews. I would just like to talk about four different things. First, I will share a little summary of the background of the Hebrew Jewish saints who were in Jerusalem, who are being addressed in the book of Hebrews. Second, we will look at a case study on Abraham. Third, rather than going into more lecture, we will go into application: how we can apply the lessons that we have in Hebrews. And then we will summarize.

At the end of the day, as Christians, most of us have a lot of problems. We suffer. We have pain and disappointment. That was the same with the Christians being addressed in the letter to the Hebrews.

The Harsh Reality of Being a Christian in the First Century

As we look at the book of Hebrews, we see the harsh reality of being a Christian in the first century. In the book of Acts, we are told that there was a great persecution in Jerusalem. Economically and politically, families were torn apart. Christians were kicked out of fellowship within the Jewish community.

We talked about the danger of drifting away, and last week also we talked about drifting away. We talked about how some are falling into the danger of apostasy. The week before, we also talked about young Christians who remain infants because of all the pressure they are facing.

In Hebrews chapter 10, we are told that some had forsaken the assembling of themselves because of the struggle that they had. Some even considered returning back to Judaism. And some, we are told, had taken their eyes off the prize.

And it is not easy.

Today, in this chapter, the author has rebuked the Christians for their stand, for falling away, and for drifting. But he is also a pastor who is interested in encouraging. Even as he rebukes, even as he chastens, he encourages the Christians he is writing to.

Reading of the Passage: Hebrews 6:11–20

So let us read the passage that we have. I took the liberty to quote two more verses above what I am going to cover.

“And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of the hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise.”

So the author started this section by saying, “I am talking to you to encourage you. Through patience and faith, you can still inherit the promise, the joy of your salvation, and the blessings that are to come.”

Verse 13:

“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.”

So the first thing the author did is he used the example of Abraham. He used the example of Abraham to encourage the Christians there. The reason he used Abraham is because Abraham is the head of the patriarchs. Jehovah is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or Israel. So he drew on the ultimate person for the lessons that he was going to share.

Verse 16:

“For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end to every dispute. In the same way, God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Let us pray.

Our God and Father, as we come today and look at this passage, our hearts reach out and feel for the Jews, for the believers in Hebrews, who were under tremendous persecution and challenges, and whose faith was tested.

We thank You that You also share with us how to overcome and how to draw back to You, and claim the promises and the joy and the blessing of being a believer, a son of God, a child waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus, to come.

We pray for wisdom for each one of us. We pray for a ready heart. We pray for blessing from Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Case Study: Abraham

So let us go into the case study of Abraham.

The first thing he says in verse 13 is this: when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself:

“Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”

And so, after he had endured patiently, he obtained the promise.

This is interesting.

When God spoke to Abraham, He did two things. He promised Abraham, and He swore.

God does not need to swear. He is God. Why did He do it?

Later in the chapter, we are told why He did it.

But the fact is that God swore. He took a covenant oath. In Hebrew, although we translate it as “make a covenant,” it is actually “to cut a covenant.” It is like in legal terms, we say we “cut a deal.” If anyone breaks this deal, may they be like the animals that are cut up.

Abraham believed because of two things. First, it was God’s promise. Second, it was an oath. And at the end of the day, Abraham believed because he believed in the true character of God: that God never lies. When God says what He says, He will keep it.

And we are told to be imitators of Abraham, who through faith and patience inherited the promise.

Abraham’s Beginning

We are introduced to Abraham in Genesis 11. The genealogy of Terah: Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. But Sarai was barren.

So at the very start, when we see Abraham, we see that there is a problem with Abraham. He has no child, and his wife is barren. That was the introduction.

The second time we see something about Abraham is actually in the book of Acts. It says that the God of glory appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and He said, “Get out of your country, from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you.” And he came out and dwelt in Haran. From there, when his father died, he moved to this land in which you now dwell.

So at a very early stage, before he even went to the promised land, God had already called Abraham. He called Abraham to leave his family and come out, but Abraham did not. He went to live with his father in Haran. And when his father died, then God called him again: “Get out of your country, from your family, from your father’s house.” At this time, he was around 75 years old.

So when God first called Abraham, he was around 50; some people say 60 years old. And Terah—the name Terah means “delay”—he went to stay with “delay,” and he delayed his journey by over 20 years.

The Covenant and the Long Wait

Then in Genesis 15, God made a covenant with Abraham.

God spoke to Abraham and said, “I will bless you.” And Abraham said, “God, what will You give me? I am childless. How can You say You will bless me with a great nation, but I have no child?” So God made him a promise. And God swore an oath to Abraham.

But he had to wait a long time before it happened. It was over 20 years, and over 50 years by the time from when he was first called to when he first saw the evidence of the child.

It is interesting. Sarai means princess. Abram means exalted father.

Imagine every day Abraham calling, “My princess, my princess, my princess, come here, my princess.” And Sarah says, “Abraham, go take out the garbage.” “Yes, my princess.”

But they are barren.

Then at 99 years old, God appeared and made a covenant with Abraham and said, “Your name will be father of a multitude.” And Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah, and her name means princess of the multitude, or mother of the multitude.

So imagine a 90-year-old woman and a 100-year-old man waking up in the morning and saying, “Hi, exalted father of the multitudes.” And then Abraham says, “Hi, princess of the multitude.” It is quite an embarrassment, isn’t it? You have no child, and every day someone calls you, “Hey, princess of the multitude.”

And of course, the next year they had a baby, and Isaac was born.

Then Abraham faced the ultimate test: he was told to sacrifice Isaac. That was at least 15 years later. Some people say because Isaac was able to carry the wood, that means he was at least 15 to 20 years old.

So if you look at it, from the time Abraham was called and given the promise to the time Isaac was born was 25 years. But from the day he was called to the day he finally understood the blessing that God had given him, the four promises, it was over 75 years.

Over 75 years, he kept the faith. He struggled a lot. He had a lot of problems. How could he do it?

Is Blessing an Easy Life?

Some people say, “Oh, because Abraham was blessed.”

Before Chinese New Year, every Chinese newspaper talks about the blessing of the Chinese New Year reunion. I remember one picture of a 103-year-old man having a photo taken. The implication in Chinese is that if you live to a healthy old age and you have grandparents, parents, grandchildren, and maybe great-grandchildren, you are really blessed.

Imagine Abraham sitting in the wilderness, looking at the sky and the sun. Imagine how blessed he felt, and the joy that filled his heart.

So everyone says, “Since Abraham is blessed, he must have had an easier life.” All of us Christians can think that blessing means easier: you have money, you have children, you have health, you have everything. So when someone seems to be successful, we say, “Oh, God blessed him.”

But is that what it means?

When Abraham was called, he finally went to the promised land. What was the first thing that happened? Famine.

He had to run to Egypt, where he lost control of the safety of his family. His wife was kept in Pharaoh’s harem.

So Abraham had a lot of problems, and he was in exile. He went as an alien, an illegal refugee, to the promised land. And he waited, as I said, 75 years or more to finally understand the blessing God was blessing him with when he had to go.

Abraham’s Family Problems

In today’s terms, sometimes we read something and do not quite understand it; we skip over it. In today’s terms, Abraham had a lot of family problems. In fact, today a psychologist might say he had a dysfunctional family.

He waited, and then Sarai at that time said, “Why don’t you have a baby with my maid?” Then there was a lot of trouble when the baby came. It was so bad that Hagar had to run away, and God asked her to go back to her master.

Then in Genesis 21, Sarah finally could not take it, and she asked Abraham to chase the maid out. It says in chapter 21:

“And she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this maid and her son, for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son.’ And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. And God said to Abraham, ‘Let it not be grievous in your sight.’”

And let us jump to verse 14:

“And Abraham rose early in the morning, took bread and a flask of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness.”

If you look at this passage, sometimes we say, “Okay, he sent her out.” But if you look at the literal translation of the Hebrew Bible, the phrase that says it was grievous to Abraham literally means, “The matter was evil exceedingly in Abraham’s eyes.”

When Sarah demanded that Abraham kick Hagar and Ishmael out, it was exceedingly wicked in Abraham’s eyes.

Why?

God came to him and said, “Do not worry. I will take care of her.” But the next day he gave Hagar a flask of water and some bread, and they left.

At this time Abraham was very rich, and he sent Hagar and his son with a bottle of water and some bread into the wilderness, into the desert.

Would you send a mother and a child into the desert with a bottle of water, or Coke, and some bread? How long would it last?

Pretty soon they would die of thirst and starvation. So Abraham sent his own child to die in the desert. That is why it says it was exceedingly wicked to do this.

And God saved them.

So Abraham had a dysfunctional family. He had to sacrifice Isaac. He lived life as an immigrant and a sojourner. When Sarah died, he had to buy a piece of land. Abraham told the person he bought the land from, “I am a stranger and sojourner.”

After 50 years—after 70 years, sorry—of wandering in the promised land, he was still an alien.

Abraham’s Comparisons and Challenges

And sometimes when you read Scripture, there is a funny part.

In Genesis 22, Abraham finally saw what God had told him, the blessing he was going to get, and he was very excited.

Sometimes it is like when you start your job, fresh from university. You join the organization with a team of friends who are all with you. They get hired. Your best friend gets hired. You work very hard as a team. You are very enthusiastic. Then during evaluation, they call you in and give you a very good evaluation. They say, “Because you worked so hard, because you were so productive, because you were such a good employee, we are going to give you a 30% pay raise and make you a supervisor.”

You are so happy. You go home and tell your parents, “Today I got promoted to supervisor. I got a 30% pay increase.”

The next day, your friends go through the interview, and one of the friends comes out and says, “Oh, the boss said I did a good job and gave me a pay raise. He promoted me to assistant manager and gave me a 50% pay raise.”

Imagine how you feel.

Abraham was told he would be blessed. And some time later, he was told Milcah was also a mother, and she had 12 sons. Abraham only had one.

So there were challenges in Abraham’s life. His life was not so easy.

When God promised him, He said, “Blessing, I will bless you; multiplying, I will multiply you.” And Abraham believed, and he received. But God’s promise had four parts. The other two parts were: “Your descendants will possess the gate of the enemy,” and, “In your seed, the nations will be blessed.”

He lived his life without seeing the second two parts of the promise fulfilled. Yet he believed.

So just because we are blessed does not mean that everything we ask for is going to be given.

Faith, Patience, and Promises Not Yet Seen

We are told in Hebrews chapter 6 that Abraham believed by faith and patience, and he received—but only the first two blessings.

In Hebrews 11, we read:

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place…”

And if you look at verse 9:

“By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Then the next verse says:

“These all died, having not received the promises.”

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob believed in the promise of God. They all died without realizing the land would be theirs, without realizing that the seed would bless many nations.

But after their death, the Seed came. The Lord Jesus blessed all of us. That is why we are all here.

And the third promise, that they will inherit the land, even today is not fulfilled. In fact, the political class in Israel is trying to fulfill it by man’s way. They want to have the greater Israel. But the day when the Messiah comes, that will be fulfilled.

Why Did God Swear a Promise?

My time is running out.

Why did God swear a promise? Why did God promise and swear?

In verse 17 of chapter 6, God determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise. Just look at these phrases: that we might have strong consolation, that we might flee for refuge, and lay hold of the hope set before us. And this hope we have as an anchor.

Verse 20 tells us that Jesus the forerunner entered for us.

He made this promise not just for Abraham, but for the heirs of the promise, for each one of us. So that in our discouragement, in our discomfort, in our pain, we might have strong consolation.

And it is not just for Abraham. It is for us.

We are told in Ephesians that we Gentiles are co-heirs of the promise.

So let us walk and be encouraged in our disappointment, in our health, in our family problems, and in our financial problems. Let us have this strong consolation.

The Hope We Have as an Anchor

So he introduces the concept of the anchor.

He says this is for those who have fled to Him for refuge, and this hope we have as an anchor for our soul.

I would like to show you this picture. Sometimes you think the anchor is the solution: if you have a good anchor, everything is settled. But large ships are held in place mainly by the anchor, the chain’s weight, and the friction on the sea floor, not by the anchor’s weight alone. So when this writer, inspired by the Spirit of God, talks about the anchor, he also talks about the whole system, not just the anchor that holds the ship, but the anchor, the chain, and everything that ties it together.

So the solution here is for those of us who flee to Him for refuge.

An anchor is necessary for the storms of life.

One night in our prayer time, we were talking about a sister who was in trouble, and my wife said something interesting. She said, “It is good that she is a Christian, because then she can take this better.”

As Christians, we have an anchor that keeps us safe and in peace in the storms of life.

But the anchor also keeps us from drifting, as Brother Isumi warned us about drifting.

The other thing is that the anchor works only when you cannot see the anchor. It is inside the sea, on the seabed, holding firm.

Our Lord said, “I need to go away, because if I do not go away, the Helper cannot come. I have to go into the presence of the Father.”

And we are told that this anchor is within the veil, entering the presence of God beyond the veil.

When Jesus died, the curtain was torn in half. The curtain was 18 meters tall, five HDB flats high, nine meters wide, and 10 centimeters thick, which is six inches thick. And it was rent. The word rent means violently torn.

Our Lord Jesus’ body was rent, and because the veil is torn, the anchor now enters into the very presence of God. So the anchor is holding the ground in the presence of God.

There is a strong weight of friction for the anchor to hold.

And then we are told that this anchor is Jesus, our forerunner, after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews says that we have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.

The high priest went into the veil because the veil is broken. The body is rent, and He put the blood on the altar. The blood is His own blood, the indestructible blood.

So you have an anchor that strong: our Savior, who is held on at the right hand of God, in the very presence of God. And the strength of that cable, that chain, is His blood.

That is what we have in our disappointment, in our pain, in our illness, in our suffering. We have a strong anchor who is hooked on to God.

We are told He holds us in His hand, and His Father holds us. So we are wrapped by the Lord Jesus and God the Father Himself. The chain cannot be broken.

Summary: Trust, Wait, Flee, and Hold Fast

So what is the solution? Let us summarize.

We are told to look at Abraham, who trusted and believed. He patiently waited.

So believe in the very nature and character of our Lord Jesus Christ. He does not lie. He keeps His promise.

We wait in faith. But for it to have effect, we have to flee to Him. Run to Him for refuge. And when we run, we take Christ as our anchor, who is in the presence of God, who is at the right hand of God, and who is our forerunner, our high priest, linking us back to God.

Is this not our topic for this year?

We stand fast in our faith, and we hold fast to the promised hope of God. We hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Illustration: George Müller and Prayerful Perseverance

As I said, there were many messages of encouragement that came. In my CEP group, one brother sent the video of George Müller, about how one day there was no food in the orphanage. There were 300 children ready for the meal, but they had no food.

George Müller asked the helpers to set the table and put out the cups. There was zero food for 300 children. And they gave thanks.

After he gave thanks, it was interesting: someone knocked at the door. It was a baker. The baker said, “I was awake at 2:00 a.m. today, and something told me that I should bake bread for you. And here is the bread.”

After the baker left, someone else knocked on the door. It was a milk delivery man. He said, “My cart is broken. I have to get rid of the milk. It will spoil. Can you use it?”

So he gave thanks with empty plates, and 300 children were fed that day.

But George Müller is an interesting fellow. He was talking to a group of friends, and he declared that he would pray for them to be saved until they were saved. There were five unbelievers. Three of them, after he prayed, were saved within a few years. One brother was saved after 35 years of praying. And when George Müller died, there was still one man in the group of five who was not saved.

He did not see the last one saved. A few months after George Müller died, the last man he prayed for accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior. He prayed for 52 years, and he did not see the last one.

So he kept a record of everything he prayed for, and researchers went through it and found that he had documented over 50,000 answered prayers. Out of 50,000, 30,000 were answered within the same day or the same hour of prayer.

But he noted something: many of the prayers required significant perseverance.

He prayed 52 years for salvation.

Our soul has a lot of hopes, expectations, and dreams that we pray for. Many are answered. Some are not yet.

We need to hang on to the anchor.

An Invitation to Salvation

Another sister sent me a quote from J. I. Packer’s Knowing God: “The world becomes a strange and painful place, and life is a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God.”

Is there anyone here today who has been attending church, breaking of bread, Sunday school, or young people’s meetings, and still has not given their life to Christ?

Today is the day, as we are told in 2 Corinthians:

“For He says, ‘In the time of My favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the day of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation.”

Conclusion

So as we end this discussion in Hebrews, we see the suffering and the pain of the Christians in Jerusalem.

We reflect and think of our own suffering and pain: in our family, in our lives, and in the health of the people we love.

We hold on to the anchor. We believe in the true character of God. We believe that Christ has gone through the veil and offered His own blood, and now the anchor is strong.

He is hooked on to the throne of God, strengthened by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

Our God and Father, we thank You for today. We thank You for this time that we have to learn about our high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

We learn from the case study of Abraham how by faith and patience he received all the promises: those that were given to him in his lifetime, and those that will be given to him in times to come.

We thank the Lord Jesus for being our high priest who has gone through the veil and offered His own blood. For those of us who believe in You, we pray for a strong encouragement of the heart as we flee to You for refuge. And for those of us here who do not know You yet, we pray for their salvation in the name of Christ. Amen.