THE ANCHOR HOLDS by Mark Hardgrove 1/18/98 TEXT: Heb 6:18-20 (This makes a good illustrated sermon. If you have a long piece of rope attach it overhead near the pulpit before the service begins. Don't tell anyone what it is for. It will have their curiosity at a peak before you begin to preach.) READ FROM CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION (6:13-20) INTRODUCTION: To understand this passage you need a little background on the book. It was written to Jewish Christians --hence the title, Hebrews-- who were beginning to face some persecution and they were considering going back to Judaism. The writer (who was the writer? A holy man of old moved upon by the Holy Spirit) addresses their wavering in the faith from negative and positive points. On the negative he tells them "..it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). Furthermore, he tells them there is nothing to go back to. The sacrifices of the Old Covenant have been fulfilled in Christ and if they go back, ". . .there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Heb. 10:26). And finally, while they were facing persecution and rejection from family and friends, the persecution was still fairly light. He reminds them, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" (Heb 12:4). On the positive side, the writer calls the readers to remember to promises of God. These promises are reserved for the people of God and the people of God are those who have been born into the family of God by the blood of His Son, Jesus. Gal 3:26-29 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. In our text, the writer is telling us that God has promised His people some things and He has made vows to His people. Given the fact that God cannot lie, we can claim the promises of God with hope, or assurance, and this hope reaches beyond what we can see here and now. This hope is like a rope which is anchored in the heavenlies. (Reach over and take hold of the rope and keep holding to it throughout your sermon.) I. JESUS CAME TO EARTH AND GAVE HIS CHURCH HOPE (ASSURANCE) This is not hope in the worldly sense of the word. Like saying, "I hope to get a pay raise, but I probably won't." Or, "I hope to get to walk on the moon someday, but I probably won't." Worldly hope is filled with doubt. But Godly hope maketh not ashamed (Rom. 5:5). Godly hope fills the believer with "all joy and peace" (Rom. 15:13). The hope of the Christian is the hope Jesus came to deliver to the Church. Paul writes to the Church at Thessalonica, "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace" (1 Thes. 2:16). Paul calls himself "an apostle of Jesus Christ . . .which is our hope" (1 Tim. 1:1). This hope is why we can sing: "Glory hallelujah, I shall not be moved. Anchored in Jehovah, I shall not be moved. Tho' all hell assail me, I shall not be moved. Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved." When Jesus came to earth, He came to give hope to the hopeless. He came to bring faith, hope and love; and while the greatest of these is love, it is faith which makes this love real and it is hope which keeps this love fresh. Godly hope is not filled with doubt, Godly hope is an assurance, it is a complete confidence in the God of hope. Our text it tells us that we have the hope, or the assurance that everything Jesus promised His Church, He will accomplish. He promised us that we would have everlasting life, abundant life. He promised us that He is preparing a home for us in the Father's house. He promised us that if He prepares us a place, He will without a doubt come back and receive us to Himself so that where He is there we may be also. II. WHEN JESUS ASCENDED, HE DID NOT LEAVE US HOPELESS, HE TOOK HOLD OF THE OTHER END AND ANCHORED IT TO THE THRONE OF GRACE. Our text tells us that Jesus passed beyond the veil in the temple of heaven, and with one end of that hope in our hands, He fastened the other end to the immutable, unchanging and never diminishing power of God. The Christian who is anchored in Jehovah shall not be moved. Just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved. Why? Because the anchor holds! III THE HOPE WE HAVE IS "STEADFAST." The word "steadfast" is from a Greek word which basically means, the base. In nautical terms it might be used of the floor of the ocean. The anchor is not in soft sand, or in the seaweed, or attached to a big stone. The anchor is steadfast, it is in the base, or the floor of the ocean. It is attached to something that will never move or let go. A. This anchor keeps us from drifting. How many of you have ever had a tendency to drift away from the fundamental practices of the Christian walk and had Jesus yank your chain? I have. When I haven't been praying like I should, or reading the word like I should, I've had the Lord yank my chain in the middle of the night and wake me from my sleep. He speaks to my heart and says, "I miss my time with you. Where have you been? Spend a little time with me." B. This anchor sets boundaries. Christianity is a relationship which maintains certain standards. As the song says, "There are some things, I cannot do, there are some places I just can't go. But this one thing, I truly know, my Lord is real for I can feel him in my soul." You can't hold on to the hope rope and follow the world into sin. You cannot hold on to this hope with one hand and the world with the other. You have to turn loose of the world and hold on to Jesus with both your hands, all your mind, soul, heart and strength. C. This anchor gives us access. The Word says we have been made to sit in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. How is that? We have ahold of one end, and He takes the other end to throne of grace. When we fall on our knees, or on our faces before God, it is as though we give the hope rope a tug that pierces the heavenlies and touches the heart of God. It's like the old movies of divers with the diving suite on, and before they go down they are instructed to give three tugs if they need help. When we pray we are tugging on the rope and heaven leaps into action on our behalf. He won't let us drown. D. This anchor gives us a power source. This hope rope is also a power cord connecting us to the power source. As long as you hold on to Jesus, He will sustain you. You don't hold on by your own power, but by your own decision. As long as you decide to hold on to Jesus, He will hold on to you and no power on earth or hell can separate you from the cords of love which bind you. He supplies the power for you to maintain your hold. You may face situations that look hopeless, but hold on, there is hope. You may feel helpless, but there is still help. You may feel powerless, but hold on, the anchor holds and there is power to see you through. IV. HOLD FAST THE PROFESSION OF YOUR FAITH WITHOUT WAVERING Jesus is the only anchor that will hold. An anchor in the sifting sands of popularity will not hold. An anchor in the rocky ground of finances will not hold. An anchor in weeds of deception and false religions will not hold. But the anchor that passes beyond the veil will never let you down. It is said that in Temple worship there was a rope tied to the High Priest when he went into the Holy of Holies once a year. If he was not sanctified, purified, when he went in the awesome holiness of God would result in the death of the priest and the Levites at the other end of the rope would drag him out. There is a hope rope to which we hold, not to drag Jesus, our High Priest down to our level, but that He might lift us up and make us to sit in the heavenlies in. CONCLUSION: How's your grip feel today? Are you holding on with confidence, with assurance? Or does your grip feel weak? Even the young men, they get weary, but they that wait upon the Lord, He shall renew their strength. If you need prayer today. . .prayer for strength. . . prayer for renewed determination to hold on to Jesus no matter what happens. . . let us as a church pray with you today.