Hope: The Anchor For Our Soul
Advent 2024 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Children’s message: Advent 1: HOPE
What are you hoping to get for Christmas?
I’m hoping for an anchor.
Anchor in a rock for rock climbing.
If you were getting ready to climb and I said, “I sure hope that anchor will hold you,” what would you be thinking?
How do you know you can trust the anchor?
Someone has to go ahead to set those anchors for those who will follow.
And many times that forerunner goes at it alone.
Those anchors need to be secure so that those who follow will not clip into one and have it give way.
It’s a lot of hard work, but necessary.
Heb 6:20 tells us that Jesus is our forerunner. He is the one who has gone before us to set the course.
Also, the one who goes ahead is preparing the way.
Do any of you know what Season we are starting today? Advent
Well, the season of Advent is a time of preparing the way.
Preparing our minds to remember what God did for us by sending Jesus.
Preparing our souls to worship Him.
Preparing our hearts for His Second Coming.
And preparing our bodies to serve Him until that day.
Preparation also ties into hope - which is our theme this first Sunday in Advent.
Play brief video as the child lights the first candle.
Have children return to their seats.
Introduction
The first Sunday in Advent is preparation and anticipation of prophecy fulfilled, or HOPE.
Biblically, hope means to wait in anticipation of God’s answer.
But the emphasis is actually on the waiting part.
Romans 8:24–25 (NASB95)
For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.`
This perseverance is specifically in reference to things and circumstances.
There are times when the trials of life seem to weigh us down.
But it is hope that helps us persevere.
HOPE
HOPE
Today we’ll be talking about this hope:
Hebrews 6:19 (NASB95)
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast...
There are four things that God wants us to know this morning when it comes to Hope:
God wants us to realize the full assurance of this hope (vs 11).
He wants us to be strongly encouraged and take hold of this hope set before us (vs. 18).
He wants us to know this hope is sure and steadfast (vs. 19)
He wants us to know this hope can be and should be an anchor for our soul (vs 19).
Read Hebrews 6:11-20
God Wants Us To Realize The Full Assurance Of Hope (vs. 11)
God Wants Us To Realize The Full Assurance Of Hope (vs. 11)
vs. 12 - But imitate those who through faith and patience
There are those who have trusted the anchor and lived a life of faith.
A nod to Hebrews 11 the Hall of Faith
They were fully convinced that God would come through for them.
We should learn from them.
The example that the author of Hebrews uses is Abraham.
Promise given (vs 14)
By faith, Abraham believed God (Gen 15:6)
Waiting patiently, he obtained the promise (vs 15)
There are those who have trusted the anchor and lived a life of faith with much patience.
Patience and Perseverance
Patience here is makrothumia - patience in respect to persons, rather than circumstances, and is used in connection with mercy.
But earlier in Romans 8 we saw perseverance in connection with circumstances and situations.
2 Things that are learned through trials and tribulations.
Those who continue to put their faith in God and wait patiently for Him inherit the promises.
In other words, they are the ones that will see the promises fulfilled.
It took Abraham 25 years before he saw the fulfillment of God’s promise.
It’s like having a full assurance includes trusting that God will come through on His word, even if it doesn’t seem like it and is long in coming.
But this kind of faith is not blind faith.
It is a faith based upon the testimony of others.
Again Hebrews 11
But having a full assurance of hope is not really based upon the promise, perseverance or patience, but rather on knowing the one who made the promise.
The Promise Maker/Keeper
The Promise Maker/Keeper
vs. 13 - Epaggellomai – to declare strongly, firmly. On my honor, on my reputation, based on my ability.
Since He could swear by no one greater. He swore by or on Himself.
These promises then are based on the honor and reputation of God, and are as good as done since He has declared it.
The thought is that God’s reputation is at stake if He does not come through.
The promise is good because of who made the promise.
Look at the length of effort God goes to in order to obtain our confidence.
vs. 17 - God desiring EVEN MORE to show the heirs of the promise
vs 18 - so that by 2 unchangeable things, as if one eternal, unchangeable thing was not enough.
The unchangeableness of His character. Impossible for Him to lie.
The unchangeableness of His purpose. Seen in 2 promises.
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
He didn’t need to guarantee it with an oath, but He did - again, as proof upon proof. And as vs 16 says, the oath settles any argument about it.
God went well beyond what He needed to in order to PROVE it.
Just to hammer this point home a little more, let’s look at the history of this promise.
In context, this was quoted from Genesis 22, just after God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac on the altar.
Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,
indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
But this declaration of His covenant does not give us the oath.
This is a just a continuation of the original giving of the promise in Genesis 12:1-3 and restated and expanded in Genesis 15:5-8
As if repeating the promise twice already was not enough, God makes the oath, which we see in Genesis 15:5-8; to confirm the promise.
This is the oath mentioned in Hebrews 6:16-17
Back then it was called cutting covenant.
So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:
The significance of the sacrifice: May we be like this bull if we do not fulfill our end of the deal.
In God’s case, He put Abraham to sleep knowing that a man’s word is not good enough, even one like Abraham who was known as a friend of God.
NO, in this case God made sure that the responsibility to fulfill the promise was solely and totally on Him, because He knew that betting on Himself was a sure thing, 100% guaranteed.
Why? In the end it was for our sake, that we could know the trustworthiness of His word.
Did God fulfill His promise? YES.
Dual - literally Isaac, which we see referenced in Genesis 22, but then ultimately, Jesus.
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
This demonstration of God’s faithfulness is so that you can realize the full assurance of hope.
God Wants Us To Be Strongly Encouraged To Take Hold Of The Hope Set Before Us (vs. 18).
God Wants Us To Be Strongly Encouraged To Take Hold Of The Hope Set Before Us (vs. 18).
vs 18 - Have You Taken Refuge In Him?
This is a little bit of the problem the believers were having to whom the book of Hebrews was written.
They had stopped taking refuge in God.
As a result they had become (vs 12) - Sluggish - lazy, slothful, dull in the practice of their faith.
Their sword had gotten dull
Their lights had gotten dim
Their effort had become sluggish
Their attitude had become a shrug
affected - their witness, their maturity, and their Christlikeness.
In a ship metaphor, it’s like they pulled up anchor, or worse, cut the anchor, but they also didn’t engage the sails or oars. They just drifted.
What might cause one to drift?
disappointment and disillusionment
brokenness and hurt
sin
a sense of helplessness
This truth of life is a lot like rock climbing.
Sometimes we are barely hanging on.
Sometimes we are hanging upside down.
Sometimes we just need a break.
Sometimes we need to sleep.
The exhortation is to stop looking at your circumstances and the people around you and put your focus back on God.
Find your refuge in God!
This exhortation ties into the next thing that God wants us to know.
God Wants Us To Know This Hope Is Sure And Steadfast (vs 19).
God Wants Us To Know This Hope Is Sure And Steadfast (vs 19).
Sure means that which cannot be thrown down.
Firm and unmoveable.
Carries more of a foundational thought like the rock itself.
Steadfast means fixed and unfailing, just like those anchors in the rock.
So we trust the rock as well as the anchor in the rock.
The rock is God and the anchors are His promises.
The exhortation is to find your refuge in God and be strengthened for the rest of the climb.
In finding your refuge in God, you are reminded that God is sure and steadfast.
You are reminded that He’s got you in the palm of His hand and His purposes for you are good.
You are reminded that you can trust Him.
Grab hold of the rope of hope that God has given you and take hold of His promises knowing that He has been faithful before and He will continue to be faithful.
Then, get out and start climbing again.
Hook into the anchor, lock it down, look up and you’ll see Jesus waiting for you at the top.
Remember, He is the forerunner who has gone ahead of you to prepare the way, and His anchors are sure and the rock steadfast.
Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us,looking off to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
God Wants Us To Know This Hope Should Be An Anchor For Our Soul (vs 19).
God Wants Us To Know This Hope Should Be An Anchor For Our Soul (vs 19).
This final point is a perfect transition into communion.
The Promise Maker and the Promise Embraced should be an anchor for our soul.
We already looked at this from a rock climbers perspective, now we’re going to use the example from a ship.
The one who enters veil. Jesus
Jesus dropped anchor in the Holy of Holies and tethers us to that anchor.
Because in truth the anchor, the hope we have, is Jesus Himself.
We are tethered to Jesus.
And the veil we entered through was His flesh torn in two on the cross.
Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Again this hope stands in the veil - meaning, our hope in the promises which cannot be undone, allows us to stand in the very presence of the Most High God naked and unashamed, blameless and holy, without stain, wrinkle or spot.
Our hope is in the unchanging character and purposes of God and in the finished work of Jesus.
Communion is a reminder of that anchor for our soul.
Communion Song: Light Of The World
I hope you better understand the full assurance you can have of this hope.
I hope you have been encouraged to take hold of this hope that is set before you.
I hope you can see that this hope is sure and steadfast.
And I hope you are tethered securely to this hope as an anchor for your soul.
Closing Song: Great Things
Let the fulfillment of God’s promise of Jesus Christ’s first coming and the promise to be fulfilled of His Second Coming fill your heart with joyful peace for the present and hopeful expectation of what’s to come.
