WEBVTT 00:00:01.449 --> 00:00:06.910 in recent days of the great flood of 93, bringing 00:00:06.910 --> 00:00:10.009 its devastation to thousands of families and 00:00:10.009 --> 00:00:15.470 millions of acres of cities and farmland. The 00:00:15.470 --> 00:00:19.289 staggering cost of this natural disaster will 00:00:19.289 --> 00:00:24.109 eventually affect the lives of all of us. The 00:00:24.109 --> 00:00:28.579 power of water, can you believe it? We have witnessed 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:33.039 it again and again, levees broken, houses taken 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.079 off their foundations and carried down rivers, 00:00:37.219 --> 00:00:40.500 huge trees hundreds of years old, uprooted like 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:44.020 they were matchsticks and carried away, whole 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:48.960 cities brought to a standstill. The water that 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:53.719 we drink, that we bathe in, that we play in, 00:00:54.219 --> 00:00:57.600 can become an overwhelming force of destruction 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.640 and ruin. We have seen that with our own eyes. 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:07.439 As I think of the flood of water around us, nearly 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.980 overwhelming everything in its path, it becomes 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.719 a parable to me about the times in which we live. 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:19.260 Do you as a saint of God ever feel overwhelmed 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:25.840 by this age? with its flood of ungodliness, evil, 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:30.040 and perversion of values? Do you feel like the 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:34.319 cultural levees are breaking down, allowing the 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:39.480 devastating flood of secularism and antichristism 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:44.140 to obliterate the values which made our nations 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:48.629 free and great? Do you feel like the powers of 00:01:48.629 --> 00:01:51.569 government are intended by God to punish evil 00:01:51.569 --> 00:01:53.909 and promote good are frequently being abused 00:01:53.909 --> 00:01:58.189 and perverted by unscrupulous people? Well, you 00:01:58.189 --> 00:02:00.150 may have said yes somewhere along the line to 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:02.590 those questions. And that's why I want to talk 00:02:02.590 --> 00:02:06.590 today about stability of soul in this series 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:14.030 of SOS messages. Stability of soul. It's easy 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:18.370 even for God's people. in circumstances like 00:02:18.370 --> 00:02:22.629 ours to feel insecure and uncertain about the 00:02:22.629 --> 00:02:29.189 future, sometimes even to abandon hope. It's 00:02:29.189 --> 00:02:32.849 important to remember that steadiness of soul 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:38.710 does not depend upon the times, but rather upon 00:02:38.710 --> 00:02:44.430 the eternal. We who know Jesus Christ have a 00:02:44.430 --> 00:02:49.599 hope that withstands the flood of world decay 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:53.840 and the currents of personal doubt. We read about 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:58.159 that in our text today in Hebrews chapter 6, 00:02:58.620 --> 00:03:02.800 where I'm going to read verses 19 and 20. I hope 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:04.780 if you have your Bible with you, and you should 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:08.860 by all means, you'll turn there with me to Hebrews 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:16.229 chapter 6. This hope we have as an anchor of 00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:22.210 the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and 00:03:22.210 --> 00:03:25.889 one which enters within the veil where Jesus 00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:31.689 has entered as a forerunner for us, having become 00:03:31.689 --> 00:03:35.509 a high priest forever according to the order 00:03:35.509 --> 00:03:41.990 of Melchizedek. The hope of the saints serves 00:03:41.990 --> 00:03:49.699 as an anchor for their souls. That hope is eternal 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:54.360 salvation. The salvation that God has promised 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:59.300 to His heirs, that is to those who are His children 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:04.060 through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The hope 00:04:04.060 --> 00:04:08.400 of the saints produces the steadiness of soul 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:14.099 that we need in times like these. But on what 00:04:14.099 --> 00:04:19.019 does this hope rest? Well, in the broader paragraph 00:04:19.019 --> 00:04:23.139 of Hebrews chapter 6, it seems to me there are 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:28.519 at least four pillars upon which our hope rests. 00:04:30.220 --> 00:04:35.680 They are the pillars of God's person, God's purpose, 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:42.759 God's pledge, and God's priest. Those are the 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.500 four pillars upon which our hope is founded. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.360 And because we have that foundation, our hope 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:57.579 produces for us stability of soul in turbulent 00:04:57.579 --> 00:05:01.639 times. Think with me about the first pillar, 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:06.879 that of the person of God. Back up to verse 13 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.430 with me in this paragraph where it says, For 00:05:10.430 --> 00:05:14.769 when God made the promise to Abraham, since he 00:05:14.769 --> 00:05:19.889 could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:25.470 saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:29.930 multiply you. And thus having patiently waited, 00:05:30.829 --> 00:05:35.990 he, Abraham, obtained the promise. Because of 00:05:35.990 --> 00:05:41.759 God's very nature, Because of the person of God, 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:47.459 our hope is secure. No floods in this world can 00:05:47.459 --> 00:05:52.120 possibly undermine this pillar, because this 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:55.660 pillar rests upon the very nature of the Eternal 00:05:55.660 --> 00:05:59.540 One in whom we have placed our faith. This is 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:05.420 the pillar of God's person. In verse 18, The 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:10.279 writer says, it is impossible for God to lie. 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:16.899 Now why is that? It is because God is, by His 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:21.560 very nature, truth. And therefore everything 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:28.100 that God says is true and trustworthy. Not one 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:32.759 word has failed of all His good promises. He 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:39.060 is the God who cannot lie. Therefore, He not 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:46.860 only will keep His promises, He must. It's not 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:49.879 just that God will do what He said He will do, 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:54.660 He must do what He said He would. Because that 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:59.319 is His very nature to do so. The illustration 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:05.500 given to us in the text is that of Abraham. And 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:09.680 the writer quotes from a repetition of the covenant 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:13.959 that God made with Abraham. Verse 14 is a quotation 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:18.319 from Genesis chapter 22. Now in that chapter 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.300 we have the great test of Abraham's faith. When 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:26.860 God called upon him to sacrifice his son, his 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:32.850 only son, Isaac, the son of promise, And Abraham 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:35.990 demonstrated great faith to God in that he was 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:39.870 willing to do that and would have done it had 00:07:39.870 --> 00:07:44.449 God not interrupted him and pointed to the ram 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:47.889 caught in the thicket who would serve as the 00:07:47.889 --> 00:07:54.089 substitute for Isaac. God then restated to Abraham 00:07:54.089 --> 00:07:58.449 his covenant with him. And among other things 00:07:58.449 --> 00:08:03.870 he said, I vow that I will bless you. Literally, 00:08:04.089 --> 00:08:08.730 that's what God said. I vow that I will bless 00:08:08.730 --> 00:08:16.949 you. God gave to Abraham the promised seed in 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:22.269 Isaac after many years of waiting. And then God 00:08:22.269 --> 00:08:27.250 said, sacrifice this promise. Abraham would have 00:08:27.250 --> 00:08:32.610 done it in his heart. He did do it. God honored 00:08:32.610 --> 00:08:36.789 such great faith and said, Abram, surely I will 00:08:36.789 --> 00:08:42.889 perform for you what I have promised you. God 00:08:42.889 --> 00:08:45.350 fulfilled for Abraham that promise and we see 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:48.509 it yet today. And that there's the family of 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:53.169 Ishmael still in the world. Ishmael being the 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:56.590 son of Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, and Abraham. 00:08:59.129 --> 00:09:02.470 The descendants of Ishmael are seen in the Arab 00:09:02.470 --> 00:09:08.710 peoples, the millions and millions of them. Furthermore, 00:09:08.889 --> 00:09:12.330 we see the family of Isaac in the world, through 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:16.750 his son Jacob, in the tribes of Israel, now regathered 00:09:16.750 --> 00:09:20.649 by God's sovereign hand to their own land, bearing 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:25.580 the name Israel. And beyond that, we see another 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:29.259 family of Abraham, his spiritual family, the 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:32.820 family of faith, those of us who believe in the 00:09:32.820 --> 00:09:35.659 Lord Jesus Christ are said in the Word of God 00:09:35.659 --> 00:09:40.700 to be the sons and daughters of Abraham. God 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:43.259 has fulfilled his promise to Abraham because 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:46.340 God said to him, I will make your descendants 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:53.370 like the sand on the seashore. And today that 00:09:53.370 --> 00:09:55.470 has never been more clearly demonstrated than 00:09:55.470 --> 00:09:58.250 the millions of people who are both the physical 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:06.350 and the spiritual descendants of Abraham. God 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:12.529 fulfilled his word to his friend Abraham. God 00:10:12.529 --> 00:10:19.169 always keeps his promises. What is our hope founded 00:10:19.169 --> 00:10:25.600 on? We who profess salvation by grace through 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:31.559 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Our hope is founded 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:36.039 upon the very person of God who promised us eternal 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:41.039 salvation. And that hope is a pillar for our 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:44.200 souls in the floods of a wicked world like we 00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:50.200 live in. God is a God of integrity. He keeps 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:54.039 His Word. And by way of application, of course, 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:57.980 God calls us to be a people of integrity, people 00:10:57.980 --> 00:11:01.779 who keep our word, people who do what we say 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:04.720 we're going to do, even if it is to our own harm 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.879 and hurt. God wants us to reflect His likeness 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.679 in this sense. He is the God of all truth. We 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:17.500 are to be a people who walk in the truth. The 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.440 first pillar of our hope is the pillar of God's 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:27.980 person. The second pillar is God's purpose. Again, 00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:32.659 in verse 14, He says, I will surely bless you. 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:41.059 I will surely multiply you. Because God's purpose 00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:47.860 is to save a people for Himself, our souls find 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:54.039 security. We can't really find security in ourselves 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.360 because we're like roller coasters and we go 00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:01.360 up and down. Folks, God's purpose, like His person, 00:12:01.700 --> 00:12:07.080 never changes. God has purpose to call out a 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:12.259 people for His name's sake. A people as a love 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:15.879 gift for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.879 if you and I have trusted the Savior, we are 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.750 counted in that number. That's God's purpose 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:26.649 that all of those who trust in His Son one day 00:12:26.649 --> 00:12:32.070 be with Him in glory. God created Adam and Eve 00:12:32.070 --> 00:12:36.330 and placed them in a garden where their needs, 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:41.990 every one of them, were cared for. Tragically, 00:12:42.570 --> 00:12:46.590 Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and to do the 00:12:46.590 --> 00:12:50.669 one thing that God forbade of them and they sinned. 00:12:51.659 --> 00:12:54.539 They were cast out of the garden, and it was 00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:59.919 not long before Cain killed his brother Abel. 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:05.820 And then sin began to quickly multiply until 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:10.059 over the period of about 2 ,000 years, according 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:15.539 to a chronology that I would favor. Sin was so 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:18.179 prominent throughout the population of the world 00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:24.019 that every intention of the heart of human beings 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:29.200 was to sin. That was the pattern, that was the 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:32.700 continuous thought and aim and desire and imagination 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:40.679 of man's heart to sin. Therefore, God purposed 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:43.759 to send a flood to destroy mankind from the earth. 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:51.700 So wicked had man become. But, God, in His grace, 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:55.440 looked down and found favor with a man named 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:01.740 Noah and saved him and his wife and his three 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:05.600 sons and their wives. And God, in His grace, 00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:08.700 continued to cry out to the rest of mankind to 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:12.899 repent as Noah spent 120 years building that 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:17.840 ark. And then the flood came and carried all 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:21.220 of the rest away. Noah and his family only were 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:28.659 saved. And yet, after that great deluge, the 00:14:28.659 --> 00:14:33.320 heart of man had not changed. And once again, 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:38.440 through Noah and his three sons, Ham, Shem, and 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:43.539 Japheth, we see sin again multiplying and creating 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:47.779 within the heart of Noah's descendants, rebellion 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:51.039 against God, culminating a few hundred years 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:56.100 after the flood, in the building of a ziggurat, 00:14:56.539 --> 00:15:01.100 a tower, and a place that came to be called Babel. 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:08.179 And there, that plain of Shinar, modern day Iraq, 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:12.399 there was an attempt on the part of humanity 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:15.679 to build a tower up to God, and to throw him 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:21.899 out of heaven, that man might be autonomous and 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:30.500 independent of God." Again, God intervened. God 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:32.740 caused the language of those people. They had 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:35.039 all spoken the same language to this point. He 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:39.340 caused their languages to be confused. And He 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:41.899 drove them away from there. They scattered throughout 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:45.289 the earth. those language groups and cultures 00:15:45.289 --> 00:15:50.690 to their own nations. And yet God did not give 00:15:50.690 --> 00:15:57.429 up. Amidst all of that chaos, all of that idolatry, 00:15:57.549 --> 00:16:02.409 and all of that wickedness, God looked down yet 00:16:02.409 --> 00:16:05.669 again upon the earth. And just about the time 00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:11.370 that Noah finally died, God said to a man named 00:16:11.370 --> 00:16:14.960 Abram, who was living in Ur of the Chaldees, 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:20.940 get out to a country that I will show you. Now 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:23.440 what was there in Abram that caused God to look 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:28.299 with favor upon him? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.559 God is just carrying out His sovereign purpose. 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:37.899 It was His purpose since the garden to redeem 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:43.419 a remnant of Adam's race for Himself. to be restored 00:16:43.419 --> 00:16:49.539 and to rule over His new creation. And God was 00:16:49.539 --> 00:16:53.620 simply carrying out His purpose. You see, all 00:16:53.620 --> 00:16:55.919 of the wickedness and all of the sin and all 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:59.940 of the idolatry of man cannot overcome the purpose 00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:04.420 of God. And God said to Abram, you come out, 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:07.140 I'm going to bless you, and I'm going to make 00:17:07.140 --> 00:17:10.440 your seed a blessing to all the nations of the 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:14.160 world. ultimately talking about the seed which 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:19.900 is Jesus Christ. God is going to fulfill His 00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:25.119 purpose in redemption. What does our hope rest 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:29.259 upon? It rests upon God's purpose. That God has 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:33.700 already ordained that there will be a remnant 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:37.059 of humanity that will survive all of the wickedness 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:41.349 and be taken out from it. to belong to Him and 00:17:41.349 --> 00:17:44.809 to reign over the new heavens and the new earth. 00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:49.150 And dear friend of mine, if you are a child of 00:17:49.150 --> 00:17:52.549 God, you are one of those that God has already 00:17:52.549 --> 00:17:55.250 purposed will one day be glorified with Christ 00:17:55.250 --> 00:17:58.569 and will enter into what God has promised in 00:17:58.569 --> 00:18:03.329 the fullness of our redemption. We live in a 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:07.690 day like Noah's and not because of the rain. 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:13.680 I've heard some of those comparisons. But we 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.460 live in a day like Noah's because of the wickedness 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:20.700 of the heart of man. And yet God in the midst 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:23.940 of this day is calling out people for Himself 00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:28.000 as He did with Noah. On what does our hope rest? 00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:32.079 God's person. He is a God who cannot lie. And 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.380 God's purpose? He is determined that He will 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:40.799 save an elect group, a remnant. of Adam's race 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:45.819 for himself. The third pillar of our hope is 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:51.160 that of the pledge of God. It says in verse 13, 00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:56.700 God swore by himself. You understand, of course, 00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:02.279 this is not blasphemous swearing as we sometimes 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:06.700 use the word swear or swore. What it means here 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:12.559 is that God took an oath. And since there is 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.460 none that He could swear by greater than Himself, 00:19:16.140 --> 00:19:22.099 He swore on the basis of who He is. Verse 16 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:25.759 says, Men swear by one greater than themselves, 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:30.220 and with them an oath given as confirmation is 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:34.069 an end of every dispute. In the same way God, 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:37.529 desiring even more to show to the heirs of the 00:19:37.529 --> 00:19:41.549 promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, 00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:47.150 interposed with an oath, in order that by two 00:19:47.150 --> 00:19:50.609 unchangeable things, in which it is impossible 00:19:50.609 --> 00:19:54.849 for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, 00:19:55.609 --> 00:19:59.690 we who have fled for refuge, in laying hold of 00:19:59.690 --> 00:20:04.690 the hope set before us. Again, that hope is our 00:20:04.690 --> 00:20:10.750 salvation. Because God has given His oath, His 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:17.009 pledge, we can be certain of our hope. It was 00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:21.390 the custom in ancient days to declare an oath 00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:26.109 to seal a transaction. In fact, there were times 00:20:26.109 --> 00:20:29.210 when God commanded His people, according to Exodus, 00:20:29.950 --> 00:20:33.880 to give an oath. so that there would be no further 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:39.359 argument or dispute. The deal was done when the 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:43.819 oath was made. Certainly no one made an oath 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:48.759 unless it was a commitment that he intended to 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:53.740 keep. It says here that God made an oath. He 00:20:53.740 --> 00:20:57.799 swore by himself that he would keep his promise 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:01.970 to Abraham. and not only to Abraham, but to all 00:21:01.970 --> 00:21:04.589 of those who are his children by faith and who 00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:11.750 are heirs of the promise. God swore by himself. 00:21:13.190 --> 00:21:17.450 God may be referring to that occasion when he 00:21:17.450 --> 00:21:20.269 was speaking with Abram and after again restating 00:21:20.269 --> 00:21:24.230 and elaborating on his covenant with Abram, he 00:21:24.230 --> 00:21:28.029 put Abram to sleep. Excuse me, first of all, 00:21:28.130 --> 00:21:33.640 Abram laid out some sacrifices. This is according 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:36.799 to one of the ways an oath was made. Certain 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.400 animals were cut in two, right down the middle, 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:43.079 and they were laid half on each side of a path. 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:49.039 Now normally, the two people who were making 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:53.019 an oath between each other would join hands, 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:56.960 walk arm in arm, down through that path between 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:00.859 the sacrifices. That was a way of establishing 00:22:00.859 --> 00:22:05.460 a permanent agreement or covenant between them. 00:22:07.019 --> 00:22:09.339 Well in this case, after Abraham had laid out 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:16.599 the sacrifices, God put Abraham to sleep. And 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:21.839 God Himself came and walked that pathway between 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:26.180 the sacrifices, signifying that the covenant 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:29.240 he was making with Abraham did not depend upon 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:34.599 Abraham at all, but solely upon God who was giving 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:39.680 his oath. The two unchangeable things that the 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.259 writer is talking about in this verse are God's 00:22:43.259 --> 00:22:49.279 promise confirmed by God's oath. God gave his 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:53.740 word and then he provided an oath to signify 00:22:53.740 --> 00:22:59.109 that he would keep his promise. God did not need 00:22:59.109 --> 00:23:03.829 to make an oath. His word was enough. But to 00:23:03.829 --> 00:23:07.190 reassure his heirs, he confirmed his promise 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:13.890 with a pledge. It is interesting, if not a bit 00:23:13.890 --> 00:23:18.670 sad for me, to note that there are some who are 00:23:18.670 --> 00:23:23.099 related to God, the God who makes pledges. who 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:29.359 themselves are afraid to make pledges and commitments 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:36.240 to God. Nowhere does it say in the Word of God 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.140 that we are not to do that. It does say that 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:45.619 it's serious when we do it. But God is a God 00:23:45.619 --> 00:23:51.200 who Himself establishes things by an oath and 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:56.529 who swears by His own great name that He will 00:23:56.529 --> 00:24:02.490 keep His Word. Let us not as the people of God 00:24:02.490 --> 00:24:06.630 back away from keeping our commitments to Him 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:09.049 and being willing even to sign our names if need 00:24:09.049 --> 00:24:12.869 be to something to signify that we will keep 00:24:12.869 --> 00:24:17.390 our Word that is fully consistent with what God 00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:22.920 says in His Word. Not only Do we have God's promise? 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:26.700 We have God's oath. That He will give eternal 00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:31.660 salvation to those who trust Him. And so we have 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:34.180 the pillar of God's person, the pillar of God's 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:36.400 purpose, the pillar of God's pledge. And by the 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:41.839 way, that pledge for us today may be the Holy 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:45.920 Spirit. That may be what the writer has in mind. 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:49.559 Certainly the Spirit is called a pledge of our 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:53.589 inheritance. God has already given us the down 00:24:53.589 --> 00:24:56.150 payment. He has signed on the line, as it were, 00:24:56.569 --> 00:25:01.009 that we will be saved by giving us His Holy Spirit. 00:25:01.970 --> 00:25:05.009 That is the pledge of our future redemption. 00:25:06.730 --> 00:25:08.970 But the fourth pillar that I want to get to before 00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:14.029 we close is the pillar of God's priest. Because 00:25:14.029 --> 00:25:17.690 we have a high priest who has entered heaven 00:25:17.690 --> 00:25:23.660 for us, we can be sure of our hope. In these 00:25:23.660 --> 00:25:28.140 verses, Jesus is called the forerunner. The forerunner 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:34.140 is one who acts as a herald, who goes before 00:25:34.140 --> 00:25:40.880 royalty, announcing royalty's arrival. Or a forerunner 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:44.660 was one who was a scout, who would be sent out 00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:47.799 in advance of the rest of the party. in order 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:50.400 to make adequate preparation so that when the 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.480 party arrived, all would be cared for. Can you 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:56.660 see how that name applies to Him? In fact, in 00:25:56.660 --> 00:26:00.019 my Bible, I've written the capital F on the word 00:26:00.019 --> 00:26:04.099 forerunner because that's a name for Jesus. He 00:26:04.099 --> 00:26:10.700 has gone before us as our great priest. He has 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:14.539 gone before us to make preparations for our eventual 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:18.920 arrival there. He has gone as a herald as it 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:22.559 were into the Father's presence to announce our 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:28.000 soon arrival. It says that He has gone within 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:34.140 the veil for us on our behalf. By the way, we 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:39.319 can follow Him wherever He goes. He's gone within 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:43.559 the veil. You say, what does that mean? Well, 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:47.990 if you're familiar with the figure of the Jewish 00:26:47.990 --> 00:26:51.630 temple or tabernacle, you know that that tent, 00:26:51.730 --> 00:26:54.329 that building as it came to be was divided into 00:26:54.329 --> 00:26:57.430 two sections. The most inner part of it, the 00:26:57.430 --> 00:27:02.809 holiest part, was behind the veil. And in the 00:27:02.809 --> 00:27:06.029 Jewish days, only the high priest could enter 00:27:06.029 --> 00:27:12.109 in behind the veil. That was where God indicated 00:27:12.109 --> 00:27:15.509 His presence by the Shekinah glory. over the 00:27:15.509 --> 00:27:18.890 mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Now it 00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:22.329 tells us here that Jesus has entered in behind 00:27:22.329 --> 00:27:28.349 the veil and our hope is anchored to him. Notice 00:27:28.349 --> 00:27:32.450 how he puts it, this hope we have as an anchor 00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:38.069 of the soul both sure and steadfast and one which 00:27:38.069 --> 00:27:42.539 enters within the veil. So he mixes the metaphors 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:45.099 here. There's the metaphor of the temple and 00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:48.539 the Holy of Holies. And he mixes with that then 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:53.039 the metaphor of a ship setting anchor in the 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:57.720 harbor. The picture is that of a cable that stretches 00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:01.859 from the ship to its anchor where it firmly rests 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:06.539 embedded upon the rock. In our case, He says 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:09.740 that the cable goes out from our souls as it 00:28:09.740 --> 00:28:14.500 were and stretches all the way to heaven and 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:18.539 it disappears behind the veil and is anchored 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:23.619 into the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This 00:28:23.619 --> 00:28:30.599 anchor of our souls is just as secure as is our 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:36.150 priest. This anchor will keep us from drifting 00:28:36.150 --> 00:28:40.190 away into condemnation with the rest of the world. 00:28:44.470 --> 00:28:47.390 The fourth pillar for our souls is the priest 00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:50.849 of God. How do I know that God will keep His 00:28:50.849 --> 00:28:57.829 Word? What causes my hope to be steadfast when 00:28:57.829 --> 00:29:03.289 we live in a world of floods that rush against 00:29:03.289 --> 00:29:07.670 our souls? It is that we have a priest who stands 00:29:07.670 --> 00:29:12.970 in the presence of God on our behalf. This morning 00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:16.009 there may be perilous waters that are swirling 00:29:16.009 --> 00:29:20.170 at your feet, threatening to undermine your life, 00:29:20.289 --> 00:29:24.369 threatening your faith, making you anxious about 00:29:24.369 --> 00:29:26.990 the promises of God. I want to encourage you 00:29:26.990 --> 00:29:31.329 this morning, despite the rushing waters that 00:29:31.329 --> 00:29:34.819 may be about your life, If you are a child of 00:29:34.819 --> 00:29:41.039 God, your soul is secure. That hope that you 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:45.660 have rests upon pillars that can never be undermined 00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:50.039 or eroded. If you are a saint of God, there is 00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:55.099 a security for you that locks you safe to God 00:29:55.099 --> 00:30:01.079 Himself. All the more reason then for us to abandon 00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:04.880 our self -reliance and to cease our self -service 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:08.839 and to be diligent in our service to Jesus Christ. 00:30:13.579 --> 00:30:16.880 There may be someone here today whose hope is 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:21.180 not resting on these pillars. Perhaps your hope 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:24.660 is resting upon your church membership or baptism 00:30:24.660 --> 00:30:28.230 or some ritual you've been through. or the faith 00:30:28.230 --> 00:30:32.029 that your grandmother had, or the home that you 00:30:32.029 --> 00:30:38.309 were raised in. Let me tell you that the only 00:30:38.309 --> 00:30:43.109 pillars that cause your hope to be secure are 00:30:43.109 --> 00:30:44.990 the pillars we've talked about this morning. 00:30:45.809 --> 00:30:49.509 And they can be yours if you will trust in Jesus 00:30:49.509 --> 00:30:54.670 Christ as your own Lord and Savior. If you are 00:30:54.670 --> 00:30:58.279 a child of God and you are frightened, because 00:30:58.279 --> 00:31:00.940 of the mass of waters that have come into your 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:06.740 life this week or in recent weeks. And you are 00:31:06.740 --> 00:31:09.700 anxious and you're worried about what's happening. 00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:13.359 And you're beginning to doubt, is my hope going 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:19.519 to be secure? Am I going to be steadfast? I'd 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.009 love the opportunity to pray with you. When this 00:31:23.009 --> 00:31:25.210 service is over I'm going to be up here shaking 00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:27.190 hands for a few moments, but if you'll just wait 00:31:27.190 --> 00:31:30.150 around a few minutes I would love to have a time 00:31:30.150 --> 00:31:33.029 of personal prayer with you and others who may 00:31:33.029 --> 00:31:36.670 come Who are today deeply burdened about the 00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:40.029 floods? They're coursing their ways through your 00:31:40.029 --> 00:31:48.920 life today Let's pray together Father, we thank 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:50.880 you that we have an anchor that holds in the 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:55.759 storms of life. When the doubts unfurl their 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:00.960 winds of strife, we have an anchor that holds. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:07.440 I pray today for your children who, passing through 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:13.759 a flood, are anxious and threatened and worried. 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:18.420 I pray that you will come alongside of them this 00:32:18.420 --> 00:32:22.579 very day to reassure them that you, their sovereign 00:32:22.579 --> 00:32:26.420 God, are in charge, that the flood will not overtake 00:32:26.420 --> 00:32:31.799 their faith, that their hope rests secure upon 00:32:31.799 --> 00:32:35.559 your person, your purpose, your pledge, your 00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:39.640 priest. In Jesus' name, amen.