The afternoon of the 1st of July 2022, good afternoon. I hope and do pray that as this goes out that God be glorified, his people also be edified. And that would be the good thing. to build you up. I hope that you take time out of your schedule to also endeavor to feed your own spirit by the word of God. I want to look at today something in Hebrews 6 that will be the core text. But the subject is the anchor of the soul. The anchor of the soul I spent four years in the Navy, got pretty familiar with what anchors were that shipped in the Navy. They were like really big ones. So yeah, and what their purpose was. And it's kind of interesting that you find this analogy in the book of Hebrews. So we'll look at Hebrews 6, 13 through 20. We'll expound on them to some degree. and bring in other things that are related to the subject. Hebrews 6, 13, for when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear, that doesn't mean swear like we would use the word, but like take an oath, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, just saying, Verse 14, surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15, and so after he had, that is after Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. So refuge and this hope that is set before us, in front of us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which entereth into that within the veil. Whether the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. If you look at the Greek word for this it's a Very similar to the English, but the definition of it is a crooked, something that's crooked. So most all anchors I know of, the whole aspect behind them is that they might find an irregularity on the seabed to grab onto something. But the other place where the word anchor is used in the plural is in Acts 27. And that text refers to Paul's experience in the shipwreck. And in that application, it speaks of literal anchors that ships use to keep themselves from hazard or to keep themselves in one place when not sailing. So the reference the writer of Hebrews uses speaks of a spiritual anchor, one that would keep us also from hazards of a spiritual nature, but also to keep us in a fixed place spiritually. Now there's a forewarning in Hebrews 2.1 Says, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should slip. We should let them slip. Let them slip, as in drift away from them. Now, if you're familiar with maritime stuff, slipping the anchor means that the ship is moving when it's supposed to be still. And this is conveyed in the verse. Sometimes when you drop anchor, you've got to give quite a bit of slack so as the ship moves, the whole design of the anchor is to be at an angle, not straight down. So those things are necessary. We'll look at this a little bit expositorily in the core verse. Hebrews 6, 13 and 14. For when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear or take an oath by no greater, he swore or took an oath by himself, saying, surely blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply you. So two things we want to see here. At least two things. God's oath and his promise. The context of the promise in Genesis is given to Abraham concerning future events and God having obviously no superior took an oath upon himself. The word surely is a confirmation of an assurance. Or if you want to flip that around, an assurance of a confirmation, either way I think it works. But the confirmation of an assurance. If we can understand and grasp that when God said, let there be light, and there was light, and then he spoke also the rest of creation into existence, Think that we may be able to have confidence and assurance in him and his word so If you can't get past the first four words in the Bible in the beginning God Then you probably won't get much out of the rest of it either There's a whole lot of things that point to the Creator and We talk about the creation, well that begs a creator. But we're not talking about that today. So when God said that to Abraham, blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee, I think he spoke with regard to the physical and the spiritual. Because he actually gave Abraham two covenants. One was physical, and the other one was spiritual. One was with regard to Israel, the bloodline of Abraham, and the other one was the spiritual line, and that was the line of faith. Now, for argumentation on that, we'll go to Romans 14, excuse me, Romans 4.13. For the promised, that he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Okay, so the heirship concerning being an heir of the world did not come through the law, it comes through the righteousness of faith. Verse 14 of Romans 4, for if they which are of the law be errors, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. Verse 15, because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression. There has to be this definitive difference between a lot of different things. I call it a definition by contrast. Light, darkness, time, eternity. truth lies. All that stuff. Verse 16, therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace. So the coupling of faith and grace and you can't divorce those two. To the end the promise might be sure to all the seed. not to that only which is of the law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all. So sure to all the seed so that would be with regard to there are some who came out of Israel and there were some who come out of the Gentile nations. And that is given encapsulated in the two covenants he gave to Abraham when he said, a great nation I will make of thee. But then he also said, all nations of the earth shall be blessed because of thee. So those two covenants, one covered Israel and the other one covered the Gentiles. Hebrews going back to Hebrews 6 15 and so after he had patiently endured He obtained the promise Patiently endured Okay, so Abraham's patient endurance was based upon a his faith in God and the word of God. Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. You know, if you believe God, it doesn't matter what anybody else says. That's a relationship between you and him. How much mocking did Noah take when he was building the ark? but he believed God as well. Did you know that faith is a fruit of the Spirit of God? Galatians chapter 5 talking about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Persistent endurance or continuation Persistent, he patiently endured, persistent endurance. Let me emphasize that, persistent endurance or continuation. It is one thing to claim faith, quite another to live in it with patient continuance. And yet it is the continuance in faith that gives a validity to your profession, to who you say you are. You have to continue in the faith to give validity to that profession. Matthew 24, 13 says, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Now we go back to Hebrews 6.15, he had patiently endured. Matthew 24.13, he that shall endure to the end. Well, we may know what the word endurance means, and maybe we would prefer that it would be assigned to someone else. You think about enduring. Think about this term endurance runner. I don't know what you think, but when I think about an endurance runner, it kind of speaks of a number of things necessary to be one. In other words, you just can't step up and say, yeah, that's what I am. And those things that would be necessary to be one invokes training, pain, dedication, sacrifice, discomfort, and so on. An endurance runner. They put up with that stuff, okay? You have to have a passion for it. Good word, that. If you're going to patiently endure, you have to have a passion for God and your relationship with Him. And it's kind of the same way, you know, when one endures spiritually, it's not a wide road, it's a narrow road. Paul spoke of running a race, and his advice was to so run that you may obtain, and what he said, by default, obviously, that if you don't run, then you're not going to obtain. Patient endurance. So if you consider the suffering of Jesus, and you know that the servant is not greater than his Lord, and knowing that if they persecuted him, they will persecute his followers, let me encourage you to patiently endure. not without grace, not without faith, not without hope, which is the anchor. Regardless of the externals, regardless of those things that we see on a day-to-day basis, the circumstantial stuff, regardless of that, there should abide within an inexpressible force centered in one's spirit, which looks not at the seen, but the unseen. When I say it's inexpressible, I don't have words to define it, I think Words are probably not the best vehicle to convey thought and feelings, but that's just my thinking. Hebrews 6.16, for men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Hebrews 617, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. Now, reasonable men, I think it's Isaiah says, come now, let us reason together. Well, one of my conclusions is, and observations in life, you cannot reason with unreasonable people. It's a contradiction in terms. But reasonable men in matters of differences often swear by something greater than themselves or even for an oath of confirmation as typically swearing on the Bible and taking an oath of office or taking a witness stand. God confirms the immutability of his counsel by saying this, I will. I'm going to do that. I will. So what God has spoken that will he do. Thus the blessings upon Abraham because he said I will multiply thee. The blessings upon Abraham and the fact that God did multiply him confirms the immutability of his counsel. And God multiplied him both biologically and spiritually. Hebrews 6, 18, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. Go back to verse 17, the immutability of his counsel. That pegs that whole concept. It's impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. Okay, not that we're trusting in the externals, we're not. And we're looking at the wrong things if we do. We might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. So we might have strong consolation, we'll define that in a minute, who have fled for refuge. You know, there's often times when you need to do that. You get crowded, I'm not talking about, you know, we get downloads in Singapore and I've Googled Earth Singapore and there's, I feel sorry for those people talking about crowded. My hats are off to you guys that you can do that. But everybody needs to go find this place of refuge and reassess, reconnect with who and what he is in Christ. And look at things through the eye of faith and not at things through the eye of circumstance. So we have fled for refuge to lay hold upon what? The hope set before us, not the here and now, but the hope set before us. So now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three. But the greatest of them is charity. But hope is an element that is necessary for the believer. So again, two immutable things are God's counsel and his oath. both which he gave to Abraham for him and his heirs, that is his physical and spiritual heirs. Now the strong consolation is a strong solace as we must from time to time remember to look not at the things that are seen but the unseen. One of two things. We are creatures of circumstance or we are creatures of faith. And that might be a thing that you want to think about pretty much on a daily basis. The just shall walk by faith and not by what? Sight. The just shall walk by faith and not by sight. We are either one or the other. Now, when you flee for refuge, this refuge often is more than likely not a group shelter, but a singular place of solace. And let me express that in this way, in the 23rd Psalms. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. So find that place where you can have that strong consolation and recenter your mind and your heart and your spirit and your soul on the things that really matter. What then do we look for? We look for the hope that is set before us. That element of faith that we have spoken of, the substance of things, hope for. So faith helps you to realize that substance of things, hope for. Well, we look for it and we lay hold of it. We have fled for a refuge to what? To lay hold. upon the hope set before us. What that word means is we seize it, we retain it, we hold it fast, just like you want the anchor to do when you drop it so it may hold fast the ship in position. We hang on to the hope set before us. We do not let it go. for the many facets of hope in this life. Hope is, let's say, a diamond, and as you hold it up to the light and you turn it, it has different reflections, and it has different aspects to it. It has different clarity and clearness, and it has different beauty, and it has different manifestations. So for the facets of hope in this life, they far outweigh the glittery cheap trinkets of this world. You know, one's walk can be either carnal or spiritual, but listen, a carnal man cannot walk a spiritual path. and a spiritual man should not walk a carnal path. Let me run that by you again. A carnal man cannot walk a spiritual path. A spiritual man should not walk a carnal path. Let me give you an example here. Peter warmed himself by the fire and renounced the Lord three times. So be sober, be vigilant, sober minded. Being sober minded is not being like Well, since we're talking about anchors drifting off, don't be drifty. Be sober, be vigilant. For the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Listen, Satan and his allies will always be diligent to set traps in your life, in your path, in your mind. before your eyes by many avenues and means, whom resist steadfast in the faith. Hebrews 6, 19, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and that which entereth into that within the veil, that hope than which we have seized and grasped and retained becomes the anchor of the soul. When I talk about the soul, the word soul is like a suitcase, the life force, but this life force when it talks about it in that context, it's a soul that has come to understand the difference between the flesh and the spirit. So it's an anchor for the soul. It's sure and steadfast anchor. Having that anchor is pictured here as being able to enter into the Holy of Holies. And you have to kind of follow this a little bit. Having that anchor is pictured here as being able to enter the Holy of Holies as pictured in the tabernacle and the temple. I hope you're familiar with that. And that hope is both sure and steadfast. It is secure and stable and firm. The attributes of this hope are security, stability, and firmness, as like being solid. So then we pose a question. Is the character of your faith in line with these definitions, secure and stable and firm, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. The opposite of those three things would be insecure, unstable, and shaky. So I hope that you are of the former and not of the latter. Now this hope gives us the view through Christ into the holy of holies, into heaven itself. You might be thinking, well this guy has probably slipped a cog. but just bear with me, bear with me in my folly here. This hope dares to envision the mysterious glory of divine perfection, to see the attendant glory of all that is around the throne of God. Consider for a moment what element it was that affords the believer this view. Because when the high priest went in the Old Testament, when he went into the Holy of Holies, he did not enter without what? He did not enter without blood. The life is in the blood. So now, I want you to keep that in mind. We'll go to John 17, where Jesus is praying to his father. And I want you to pay attention to this. It's speaking some pretty weighty things here. And just consider what he says. talking to his father he's talking about the disciples he said neither pray I in John 17 20 neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one in the same way father that you are in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. At 22, and the glory which you gave me, I have past tense. He didn't say I shall give them, he says I have given them that they may be what? One. Even as we are one. Verse 23, I in them, and talking to his father, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that one would not be themselves. and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Verse 24, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, what, be with me. Present tense, be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. If you want to look at that term, before the foundation of the world, go to Ephesians 1, 1 through 11, ponder the things that are written there. Might get a blessing out of that. So consider also the following. Hebrews 9 we were in Hebrews 6 is Hebrews 9 22 and Almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding the blood is what no remission Without shedding the blood there's no remission verse 23 it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens are should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. So it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. 924, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. I believe it is hope, that sure and steadfast anchor of the soul that gives us that ability to somehow see the unseen. For faith is a substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. And I want you to just go back here again to John. 17 verse 21 that they all may be one as thou father are in me and I and thee that they also may be one in us now do you get that that they may be one in us that is the son and the father verse 22 and the glory which you gave me I have given them past tense, that they may be one even as we are one. You catching the word one there? I in them and you thou in me that they may be made perfect in one. Verse 24, but I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory. So we talk about this. If you go to Ephesians 1, you start getting an insight into some things. It's called the eternal and vital union with Christ. So it is more of the fact that he knew us before we knew him, but we were, as you want to see, like in Romans 8, Ephesians 1, that those things were ordered before the foundation of the world. Get the right page here. So the deeper contemplations of the scripture, there's a term called cognitive dissonance that is that you are presented with evidence that so stagger your mind that you refuse to believe them, not because they're not the truth, but because you refuse to believe them. Faith should take you places you have never been before. And why would you study the truth if you do not allow it to take you places you have never been before? So John 16, 13. The promise of the spirit. How be it when he, and this is Christ talking to the disciples, how be it when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, For he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Now pay attention to verse 15. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore said I he shall take of mine that is the spirit shall take of mine and Shall show it on to you That is all things that the father hath are mine and the Holy Spirit shall take of mine and show it unto you Grasp that Is God able to do above all that you ask or think and Will you recognize it when he does? So remember what said in the text, we might have strong consolation or solace who have fled for refuge. And when we flee to that refuge, what do we do? We lay hold, we seize, retain and hold fast the hope set before us. Listen, regeneration is not simply an escape. It is a birth onto a new life and a new way in that life, a new way of thinking, a new way of living, a new way of loving. It's like put on the new man. Putting on the new man would automatically mean that you would be putting off the old one. But Ephesians 4.22 through 24, that you put off concerning the former conversation or the former manner of life, the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust. And that's the total hereditary depravity right there. It's corrupt according to the deceitful lust. and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Now you take and go look at Romans 12 too, that you be not conformed to this world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So the transformation is a metamorphosis and the renewal is a remodel. And that pretty much has to happen every day to remodel your mind. There's three things that'll capture it. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life will capture your mind and you have to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Anyway, verse 24 of Ephesians 4, that you put on the new man, so put off concerning the former conversation, the old man. Put on the new man, which after God, or in his image, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now listen, I'm not talking about your carnal flesh, I'm not talking about that. We go to Colossians 3, 9. Lie not one to another. How about this, don't even lie to yourself. Self-deception, you think it's not real, it is. Lie not one to another, don't lie to yourself either, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. Verse 10, and have put on the new man, which is renewed, there's that word again, knowledge after the image of him that created him you so we will be like him now Peter is going to give us confirmation of our God-given ability to do these things Second Peter 1 3 According as his God's divine power has given unto us all things Unto us all believers that is all things that pertain Unto life and godliness now, let's just stop there and absorb what he's just said According as God's divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life godliness Now that's either true or it's not through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory. So he called us to glory, he's gonna endue you with that. All things that pertain unto life and godliness. I'm not saying you're gonna be manifesting that the next day after you've been regenerating, that's not what I'm talking about. But it's going to, as a seed that is sown in the soil, it will spring up and it will flower and it will bear fruit. Verse four of 2 Peter 1, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, now pay attention here, that by these promises you might be what? Partakers of the divine nature. having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust whereby he called us a glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust Brethren, perhaps it is not that you don't have it. Perhaps it is that you are not using those things that you have been given. You ever wonder if Jesus looks at your life and he just kind of shakes his head? I know I thought about that about my own life sometimes. It's like he would look at me and say, what were you thinking? Right. So we all curse with this thing that we call humanity. And it's it's part of the plan, obviously. But it is a vaccine sometimes. And Paul, in Galatians 5, talks about the contest. In Romans 7, he talks about his own personal conflict within himself. And it's not a mystery. It's there. But the law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death, Romans 8, 2. So keep that in mind. It's not maybe that you don't have it. Maybe you're just not using it. You're not using those things that you have been given. Hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. So by that then are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be what? Partakers of the divine nature. Be ye holy as I am holy, he says. Be set apart. Haggai was the Greek for 40 and you're strong. Many derivatives of that, of sanctification, being set aside, all that stuff. But be holy even as I am holy. Be different. Don't conform to the world. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And then finally Hebrews 620, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was, if you understand that Abraham was the first Jew, Melchizedek had to be some kind of Gentile. I know that that might rattle some cages, but draw your own conclusions there. Levi paid tithes. under Melchizedek when he was yet in the loins of his father. And I'm not gonna tell you I got all of that figured out, but that's just what it says. I want to, I'm not gonna go into the priesthood of Christ, that's not my aim today. But my aim was that you understand what the anchor of your soul is. And I wanna close with a refreshing on John 17, 24. because we talk about that eternal and vital union in Christ and this will be relevant to this passage. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me And what he's saying, John, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and all that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. So, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. And if you look at Ephesians chapter one, he hath made us accepted and a beloved. The beloved, I believe, is Christ Jesus. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The beloved is Christ. Yeah, bless us in Christ and the heavenlies before the foundation of the world, Ephesians chapter three or four, chapter one, verse three or four, somewhere around there anyway. I hope that maybe, maybe the word of God took down some cobwebs in your mind and in your spirit today. some places that maybe you haven't been for a while, or maybe you've never visited. Maybe they might provoke some contemplation about the greater things. And it's okay to call them mysterious, because great is the mystery of godliness. It doesn't mean you can't embrace it. It doesn't mean that you can't hold. And even in a dark place, you can still have hope. May God bless his word to your heart today. I hope this has been edifying to you. Thank you for listening.