Thank you for taking the time to listen to one of the recent sermons preached at Wilton Baptist Church. It is our desire as a church to strive together in building a faith, family, and future that honors and glorifies our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we can be a help to you in any way, please visit our website at wiltonbaptistchurch.com. You can specify that your drive-through order is to go. That'd be pretty funny. Another one is speak only in a robot voice. How about I preach the rest of the message like that? You could start each meal by licking all of the food and then making an announcement. I don't want any of you to steal my grub. You could do that. You could tell a really long joke. I mean a really long joke, just go on and on and on, and then forget the punchline, and then say, it was really good, it was really good. Some of us are guilty, aren't we, of that? Maybe you could irritate someone by following just a few paces behind them while spraying everything that they touch with Lysol. Oh, that's really, I like that one. You could go to a restaurant and refuse to be seated, but just stand there and eat the complimentary mints. That would be kind of irritating. Or, I like this one, the last one I'll share is this, invite a lot of other people to other people's parties. That'd be kind of irritating as well. It's good to laugh, it's good to enjoy the Christian life that God's given to us. Here in Hebrews chapter six, we have some truths that if we get a hold of them, it'll help us. It'll help us today, it'll worry. and fear can turn to faith. Anxiety can melt into hope and self-reliance can become faith in God. You can have peace, contentment, hope, having a settled mind. All of this can be yours in these following verses. Hebrews 6, verse 1. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. That word perfection there doesn't mean sinless. That's not what the Bible term perfection means. It means mature, more complete. More complete is what it's saying here. So growing up, you could say, unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gifts and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance. Seeing they crucified to themselves, the son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain, that cometh off upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. But that which bare thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." Our message today, we'll call it this, things that accompany salvation. And those verses that we'll look at in the rest of the chapters, where most of our message will be at, But notice just by way of introduction, verse 1, that we have, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ. Did you know that before you were saved, your life could have been full of good works, but because you were not yet saved, your life was full of actually dead works? Because our works, apart from Christ, are actually dead works. Because if we're lost, we're not yet made alive. in Christ, and so it could be good things, but they're not long-lasting and eternal type things. Even our works before salvation were dead. Before salvation, your body accomplished much, but your life was not yet acceptable to God because you did not yet have Jesus Christ in your heart. Verse 2 speaks about salvation as well. Before salvation, baptism meant nothing. Of the doctrine of baptisms and of the laying on of hands, So, people talk about a lot of different types of baptisms, even today. Back then, there was a Jewish baptism, there was the baptism of John the Baptist, there were other religious-type baptisms and other things around the world at the time. Then also, what we call believer's baptism, the baptism of Jesus, if a person's trusted Christ. Folks, that's the one that counts. Believer's Baptism. If you trusted Christ, follow Him. That baptism does not save a person, but it demonstrates to everyone, it's a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection. I am trusting in Jesus, that He is alive, and I'm asking Him for forgiveness of sins. And then Believer's Baptism. Now, verse 2 and 3 continues. with this idea that following salvation, the foundation in these major doctrines, they should be built upon. Now, some believers struggle with building their life around the Bible. As soon as they get saved, maybe they'll struggle, they'll flounder. And maybe you've been saved for a while, but you've been floundering in the Christian life, and that's what verses 1 through 9 is talking about in this chapter here. understanding who they are in Christ. Now look up in chapter 5 for just a moment because the idea of chapter 5 carries over into chapter 6. Verse 12, for when the time ye ought to be teachers ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." Different commentators say the following words. They had been Christians long enough to be teachers themselves. Instead, they had progressed so little in the faith that they were still in the ABC stage. They were still eating baby food long after the proper time. He indicates in this passage that if they had not been so dull of the mind and heart, they could have easily grasped the significance of the doctrines that are mentioned here in these first few verses. One cannot linger on with the ABCs, or like in building a house, one cannot keep going back to the foundation, and let's rework the foundation, and let's rework the foundation time and time again. Likewise, in the faith, there must be progress towards spiritual maturity. That's verses 1 through 3 of chapter 6. Apparently some were still at an elementary level, of who Jesus really was and who He is and was in their life back in that time. And we can be caught in the same cycle as well. Now, verses four through six is an interesting passage. It is impossible for those who are once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away. to renew them again into repentance. Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame." Now, some people will take these verses and teach that a person can lose their salvation. Arminianism, different terms, that's just a term of people that would believe that, well, you can lose your salvation following you trusting Christ. And they misread and misinterpret this passage. It actually If that was what it says, by the time you get to verse 6, it actually says, well, you couldn't get saved again. And so they wouldn't actually believe that whenever they would teach it. So some actually teach this in the wrong way. Let's consider these verses this way. is not the same thing as possessing salvation. Some people say they're saved, but they're not. They hadn't actually trusted Christ. They believed in a work, they believed in a baptism, their parents or their granddaddy was a Christian, or they grew up in a Christian home, and so, well, maybe because of that, maybe now I'm a Christian, and they would profess it, they would say it, but they don't actually have Jesus Christ in their heart and in their life. Let's consider this then. Genuine Christians remain saved, but sometimes need strong encouragement and warning even to keep growing. Just keep growing, keep studying the Bible, keep becoming more like Christ, keep yielding to the Lord. That's the warning today in our message. That's the warning in this passage today. For example, to a class of students, a teacher could say this, it is impossible for a student, once enrolled in this course, if he turns back the clock, which cannot be done, you cannot turn back the clock to start the course over. Therefore, because we cannot start the course over, You need to go on today and keep growing in your knowledge. That's how I understand this verse, is that if you are saved, you can't waste a lot of time in your Christian life. But no matter where you are at in how many years, weeks, months, however the time frame is that since you trusted Christ, whatever time you have left on this earth, use that to grow. You can't turn back the clock, folks. You can't go back to that that first year of salvation, that second year of salvation, you still have that excitement by the third year of salvation. And then somewhere along the way, maybe you just stop reading the Bible and you stop praying or you stop being faithful to church. You can't get that time back. You can't get that time back. There are some that would be still sipping on a bottle because they can't get that time back. They wasted that time. when they should have been eating the meat in a wager matters. Who is Christ? And like they were still debating about, who really is Jesus? Some believers in verses seven, eight, and nine bear thorns and briars, while maturing Christians are to bear good and productive and godly fruits in their life. years ago at an NBA game between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. The game was stopped for about five minutes because a bat was swooping over the courts and flying very close to the players. I mean, they're pretty tall to begin with, so here comes the bat swooping in. And so they stopped the game for that. It was just one little bat. Stopped all the thousands of fans from watching the game and the players from playing the game of basketball. Just like a little bat can disrupt an entire game. one little sin in the life of a Christian can disrupt his spiritual growth. It can happen. So I don't know where you're at or what's going on with you today, but you can grow in the Lord. Let me ask you some questions. What has God done in your life since you became saved? What have you done to become more like Christ? How have you yielded to him and his Holy Spirit each day? Is your life full of weeds and thorns? were full of the Word of God and bearing the fruit of the Spirit." We could summarize verses 1 through 9 by simply saying this, being a Christian should impact your life. It should impact your daily life. Every day should be impacted. It should be influencing you. I'm a Christian. I'm saved. and it should set the tone and direction for each day. Hebrews 6.1, let us go on to perfection or to maturity. I like how one commentator said, Christians should make progress. Christians should make progress. Here are three areas, three ways. or three areas to discover that should be in your life since your salvation. And so let's look at these. In verse 10, we have a labor of love. So verse 9 tells us that he expected better. But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. I expect more out of you because you've been saved for this amount of time. and things that accompany salvation. I just love that phrase. There are things that are to be in our lives that accompany your eternal salvation, things that we can see in our lives today. Verse 10 now, for God is not unrighteous, to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, and that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister a labor of love." Notice how we're to work with love. Our work should be done with love. Whatever you do for your family, for church family, for people around your community, our work should be done with love. And isn't there a great promise right in there? God doesn't forget your labor of love. Other people will forget to pat you on the back or send you a note or say thank you, but God Never forgets and notice this labor here now. I've heard people Just this last week. I was flying and stopped at a restaurant to get some food I heard some people in the back they were cooking food, but they were cursing they were cursing while they were cooking food That food was not made with love It wasn't made with love. It was out of necessity or anger or spite or whoever it was. Maybe constructing a home and putting up some two-by-fours and building a building while using vile language. Listen, that's not a house constructed with love. Whatever we're doing should be performed with a spirit of love. Now, this word labor, It's an interesting word, it means to cut, like you take a knife and cut something. It has to do with toil, or pains, or labor, trouble, or weariness. That's what the term means. Labor. When you labor, you're working hard. I mean, it does cost you something. It does hurt whenever you work hard. And so this labor is to be done with love. It may make you tired, but we serve with love. It's a labor of love. Work with love. Amy Carmichael said, you can give without loving. but you cannot love without giving. That's how we are giving our labor of love. Love is work. Love is a choice. It's also motivated by God's love for us. We love him because he first loved us, and God tells us to love God first and love other people second. That's the first and the great commandment, and the second one as well. And so to love like this, whether they deserve it or not, Well, he did this, or she said that, or this is what I think, and whether the person deserves love or not, we can have a labor of love. Now just, by the way, know that a labor of love does not save a person. It doesn't save you. Our works do not save us. The finished work of Christ, we believe in that. That's where we find salvation, it's in Jesus. But how you live, And the labor of love that you live in this life, that's how you're rewarded. That's how God rewards you when you get to heaven, the labor of love. So the labor, then also the way that it's conveyed with love as well. Notice then the words, words with love, have words. with love. There's a phrase here, which ye have showed toward his name, right in verse 10. The word showed means to indicate by word and action, not just action, but by actually by word. And God says here, God will not forget your labor of love, which you have shown both in your actions and what you're doing, but also in your speaking and showing his name, towards his name, even the words that you say. and so towards the name of God. Our Christian words are to be rooted in love. A Christian's words are rooted in truth, and a result of that then is that our words are bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Now think about this. Galatians 5.22. Listen to these verses. the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. Folks, all of those evidences of the fruit of the Spirit, each of those fruit, can be played out or evident in our interaction with one another, our personal and interpersonal relationships. Next then, win with love. Work with love, words with love, win with love. Notice the phrase, have ministered. He did minister and have ministered to the saints. Our ministry to other Christians is grounded in loving God and loving others. Our service to God is reflected then in our service to others. And notice how he says, and do minister, continue, the idea is to continue. We'll come back to that near the end of our message here today. All of us are called to be ministers. Now look at that word minister there. It's a word, it's a Greek word, diakonou, diakonou. It's the same Greek word that's used for the word deacon. diakonu, or deacon. It means to be an attendant, to wait upon, to host, to do something even menial for a friend, or to act as a Christian deacon. That's what the word minister means. Now this is interesting. because this is for all of us. All of us can have the ministry of serving. All of us can do things that would maybe even be considered menial. All of us can have this ministry of a deacon. Now, not the position of a deacon, but all of us should have this mindset of a deacon, I am a servant. Whether I have a role or a title or a position, I can be a servant. And God will not forget your labor of love whenever you serve this way as a minister, as a minister. And so all of us can be ministers whether we hold a title of deacon or not. You have served, he says. Keep on serving. Serve with love. Now, Natalie and I, we joke about dust. And in our house, sometimes we have dust and you have dust in your house. I understand that 80% of dust comes from the skin on the people living in the house. Did you know that? 80%, okay? So we have this thing when we see a lot of dust at our house or I know you don't have any dust in your house. But wherever we will see dust, we'll say, well, because you know how the foliation of your skin is and everything, it means your skin is falling off, it's dead skin. So we'll say this, that somebody's either coming or going. They're either dying off or falling off a little bit at a time, their skin, or they're just making a lot of dust because they're coming in and out. So somebody's either coming or going. So we have a good time. talking about skin and allergies and stuff like that. So, you know, that causes problems for us, though. Dust does, because of allergies. But when your skin falls off like that, that's a natural process. It's actually good for you. And so it's actually, there's a good balance there. Even though it affects our allergies, it does help our bodies. Now when it comes to churches, churches are very similar. Churches are always in transition. That's a good statement. that I've heard preachers say, and they'll say, churches are always in transition. We should always be changing to be more like Christ. Wouldn't you agree to that? We should, all of us, all of us. And sometimes that includes, sometimes that includes people moving in and out. Sometimes members will come, sometimes members will go. Leadership positions change. And let me tell you something, it's okay. God's still God. It's all right, God's still God. No matter who is coming or going, you and I can keep serving. All of us can. God is still God. Keep trusting God. Whose church is it? It belongs to God. It's His church. Let these words of Galatians 6 and 9 encourage you. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. And so let's continue in a labor of love. We may not hold the title of deacon, but all of us should be serving and laboring and ministering one to another. Next then, a complete hope, verses 11 through 20. And I'll read through here, and then we'll talk about these specific sections. Verse 11, and we desire that every one of you to show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, Because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so after he 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, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, in which entereth into that within the veil. whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Notice we can have a complete hope to follow examples, verse 11 and 12. And people who have gone before us, like Abraham, with great faith. Abraham was a man of faith. He was a man of patience. Abraham, receive the promise of God. I will give you a son. And then he waited for 25 years. Could you imagine? 25 years. There's young people here less than 25 years old, waiting 25 years. God said, I'll give you a son 25 years later. Could you imagine 24 years and a half? What's going on here? And then God gave him a sign. He came through on a promise. God always comes through. Sometimes we may not understand, but Abraham believed God. Other people didn't believe, but Abraham believed. We're to follow that example. We should have the same faith and the same belief in our God that Abraham had, and the same patience, because things do not normally work out in our timing, but we can be glad and thankful that they can work out in God's timing. We have the inheritance of the promise. He received the inheritance. He was indeed blessed by God. Now some of the greatest missionaries of history. devoted to the Word of God, they spread the seed of God's Word, and they waited years and years before they even saw their first converts. William Carey, he labored for seven years before the first Hindu convert was brought to Christ in Burma. There's Adoniram Judson, he told seven years. before somebody trusted Christ in his ministry. And he would just keep preaching. He would just keep giving out the gospel. Seven years. It takes a long time sometimes, but we need to follow the example of Abraham and men like him. Follow the examples. How about believing the promises? Notice in verse 13, the word immutable is used. As we go down through these verses, immutability, verse 17, the promise of immutability of his counsel It's a great word. It means unchanging. God is unchanging over time, and he is unable to be changed. That's the textbook definition of that. Now, he made this promise to Abraham by two immutable things, two unchanging things, things that cannot be changed. And here they are. The first one is God's promise to Abraham. Abraham, you don't have a son, but I'm making you this promise that I'm gonna give you the son. 25 years later, he had the son. Now, he made the promise on himself. There's no one greater than God. You can't make a pledge or a covenant with anyone greater than God, and God said, because of who I am, I can make this promise, and I will come through on this promise. And so God gave him a son, Isaac. And the fact that God is true, he cannot lie, verses 16 through 18. So that's the two immutable things. He came through on a promise, and God cannot lie. He couldn't swear by anyone greater than himself, and he cannot lie. So then our next one would be this, the confirmation. Since Jesus came to earth, he is coming again. Jesus came to save sinners, and you can be saved, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and you can have peace in your life today. Let us see then, you see this on the screen, to have consolation, to have consolation. We can have a complete hope, friends, to follow Bible examples, to follow good examples, to have this belief in God's promises, and to have this consolation in our lives. Now, here's an age-old question, which is addressed in the first few chapters of Hebrews, and it's this question. How can I enter into the presence of God? How can a man have access to God? How can I come into the presence of the Lord? It's an age-old question. Now in the Old Testament, priests were required for that. They'd go to a priest, the priest would pray, he'd offer a sacrifice on behalf of the person as an intercessor, as a mediator, as a priest. Abraham, in this example that we just read, he goes to a man named Melchizedek. Melchizedek is this mysterious figure in the Old Testament. He has no beginning of days or ending of days, the Bible tells us. I like the study of Melchizedek. It's a very interesting one. He was a high priest of God, and Abraham came to Melchizedek. He paid tithes to him. He offered up a sacrifice through Melchizedek. This is just amazing that Abraham would do this. Melchizedek is a picture of Jesus. He's an image of Jesus in the Old Testament. And so, that's who he is, a picture of Christ in the Old Testament. You can learn a lot from his illustration. Moses, later on, establishes the priest of the Old Testament, and then the high priest that we would be more familiar with. And the early chapters of this book of Hebrews, the point of the early chapters is this, to demonstrate the priesthood of Jesus is greater than the priesthood of the Old Testament priest. It's greater than the high priest of the Old Testament. The ministry of Jesus as high priest is better than even Melchizedek. And so he's greater, he's greater, the priesthood of Christ. Folks, when you trust in Christ, you know who the great high priest is, you know who the mediator is, the one who gave himself and offered himself as the sacrifice, even the lamb himself is Jesus. And so all of Hebrews is pointing to the fact that he is the better of all these other things that have been throughout history. Jesus is the best when it comes to the priesthood. And so notice that phrase, within the veil, within the veil, in the presence of God, within the veil, coming into God's presence. Believers, today we have a strong encouragement as we look to Abraham, the same encouragement that Abraham had in his time, because Jesus has already entered into the presence of God. And this assures us to our entrance into heaven as well. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he's accepted by God. And because we place our faith in Christ, the finished work of Jesus, he's alive today. We're also accepted into heaven because of Jesus. And notice how it talks about our hope and our anchor that is in Jesus. He is our hope and he is our anchor. He holds us secure even in times of trouble. Romans 5, 1 and 2. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." What an amazing truth. By whom also we have access into, by faith, into this grace wherein we stand. How many times have you lived a Christian life where you've gone throughout your day and week and you try to live by sight instead of by faith? All of us can get caught up in that. I understand that the African impalas, like a deer, can jump a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance greater than 30 feet in one leap. That's just, wow, it's an impala. But the animal, if you put it in a zoo with a three foot wall where he cannot see where his feet will land, he won't jump. He's confined by a three foot wall. He can jump 30 feet distance, 10 feet in height, and yet a three foot high wall will confine the impala. Here's what happens sometimes. We just get gripped by fear and we're looking and we're living by sight when we should live by faith. The just shall live by faith. We live by faith. So a labor of love, a complete hope. Live out your faith. Number three, a daily commitment. We'll wrap it up with these three ideas. Notice in verse 11 how they continue to serve. He says, do minister, do minister. I encourage every one of you that you would be a servant. Start with your family, your immediate family. Continue with your church family. Be a servant. Serve them. Do minister to them. Then to your neighborhood. Then to your workplaces. Then to others around you. Continue serving. Next, remain engaged. Look in verse 12, that you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience, inherit the promises. And so, remain engaged, slothful, dull, lazy. This should not be a description of our effort at Bible reading. It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be a description of our effort to attend church services. It shouldn't be a description of our effort at, I'm going to spend time with God in prayer, but I'm afraid that many times we become complacent and kind of just coast through life. And it could be that we have become slothful. Remember, In verses 1-9, these Christians were not growing like they should have been, and they had lost a lot of time, and here the writer is telling them, go ahead and keep serving, and keep growing, and keep becoming more like Christ. Don't become slothful, dull, and lazy. Folks, we should have a vibrant relationship with Christ, and a vibrant relationship with Jesus takes effort. It takes time. It takes hard work. to say faithful to God. We can get lazy, we can sit down, we can roll over. Men, you will wake up one day and your kids will be out of the house. And it will seem like that. If you are dull and lazy when it comes to Christianity, shame on you. You won't have another chance. Just like the first few verses of this chapter, just kind of wasting time. playing in the woods, playing in the garage, on the television, having fun, these things would be fine, but don't play games with Jesus. Dads, stepdads, uncles, role models and mentors, you need to make the most of every moment you have. Don't play games with Jesus. Remain engaged. Ladies, ladies, You wake up one day, and your boy or girl, he'll be a young man, or she'll be a young lady. It'll seem just like that. We can be consumed with so many things. Facebook this, issue over here, ballgame there. All kinds of things around us. Friends, remain engaged, in active, purposeful, vibrant, daily Christianity. In verse 19, we'll conclude with this, where we find, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. So Christ is already gone ahead of us. as that high priest, but notice that anchor of the soul. This is a nautical illustration. I like sailing. I used to sail sailboats, and that was a lot of fun on the bay. And so sailing, nautical illustrations, there's several throughout the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 2.1, there's the word slip, and it has the idea of drifting away. Like, I'm not anchored like I should be, I'm just kind of drifting away, and I'm afraid that sometimes, some listening even to this message today, that we're drifting in our Christianity, we're not purposeful, we're not active, we're not following God with as much enthusiasm as we need to or should. Hebrews 2.1, don't slip, don't drift away. Hebrews 3.6 and also verse 14, the word's firm. And we hold, and steadfast are used. The word firm means steadfast and sure. And we hold, to hold down, even like in the middle of a storm, you tie things down onto your ship, onto your boat, so things don't go drifting off or falling off the boat. Steadfast, to be firm and sure. And notice in our verse even, we're in that verse there, to be sure or steadfast until the end. That's Hebrews 3.14. But some of us are steadfast halfway through life. and then we stop being steadfast. Folks, there's no days off in the Christian life. Somebody said something to me recently, I thought it was a good statement, Satan doesn't take Sundays off. Satan doesn't take Sundays off, and you know, friends, we don't take any day off as Christians. we should always be engaged in serving God and being faithful to Him and becoming more like Him. Hebrews 10, verse 23 and 38, if you're writing these down, the words hold fast and draw back are used. Again, these are two nautical terms. To hold down in the storms, to hold fast, to draw back, has the idea of shrinking or actually going below deck during a storm. You know, we could stick our heads in a stand, we could go below deck while a storm's happening all around us, or we could just go back to the anchor of the soul and just keep clinging to the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks, don't drift. Don't drift. Keep focused on Christ. Exactly 500 years ago, Tuesday, 500 years ago, Tuesday, this Tuesday, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Catholic Wittenberg Church. And from that time, the world was thrust out of the Dark Ages and then into a new era where people were actually reading the Bible and knowing Jesus for themselves for the first time. Martin Luther wrote a great hymn, one of the greatest hymns of the faith. It's called In Feste Burg, A Mighty Fortress. Its majestic and thunderous proclamation of our faith is a real symbol of the Reformation. Now, as Baptists today, we were never part of the Catholic Church, so realistically, we were never part of the Reformation. We're not actually Protestants. But we benefited a lot from Protestants and from those who did come out of the Catholic Church, Martin Luther being one of those. So he was reading Psalm 46 one day, and that's where the idea of the song, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, came about. In Psalm 46, right down towards the middle of that chapter, is the passage that says, Be still and know that I am God. What a beautiful passage it is. From that, he caught the very essence of faith and fervor and the zeal that we should have. What a majestic song it is. Folks, if we have faith in the Lord, no matter what storms come, what trials arise, or what difficulties you'll face, just keep holding on to the anchor of your soul. His name is Jesus. and have this hope, have this daily commitment, continue to serve, remain engaged, and be steady on the open seas. Be a steady Christian. Let's bow together in prayer. Thank you for your good listening and participation in our church service today. This is a challenging message. Christians should make progress. Let us go on to perfection. Hebrews 6.1, maturity, growing in our faith. Has Christianity impacted your life? While I'm saved, do you let it impact your daily living? The labor of love, a complete hope, a daily commitment. These are things that accompany salvation. Maybe you say, Pastor, I have never trusted Christ. You mentioned the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection. I would like to know more about salvation and how to have my sins forgiven. No one's looking around. It's just a personal time. I'm looking. I want to pray with you. I would like to know more about salvation. Just raise your hand right where you're at, anyone at all. Just raise it quickly. All right, thank you. Then maybe Christian, ask yourself this, is my labor for God, is it a labor of love? Do I serve other people trying to serve God with love? Next question, am I trusting God with my circumstances, with my family, with my job, with my church? Is my hope in myself or is my hope really in God? Is my confident expectation in myself or is it in God? Ask yourself that. And then men and ladies, are you drifting? Are you drifting? Not in love with Jesus like you used to be, not in the Bible as much, not participating in church life like you used to. Maybe you never started in some of these areas. Don't be a drifter. to the anchor of your soul. Renew your commitment or make a commitment to vibrant discipleship today. Father, we pray that you bless this time as we yield ourselves to you. Take the decisions of our heart and use them for your glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please stand as the pianist plays? We call this an invitation where you can Meet with the Lord, talk to him about a decision. Have you been drifting? Come back to the anchor of the soul. Are you serving with love? Are you trusting God with the circumstances that you find yourself in?