Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / A Sure and Steadfast Anchor of the Soul, Part 1 (Hebrews 6:9-20)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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A Sure and Steadfast Anchor of the Soul, Part 1 (Hebrews 6:9-20)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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  you would Take your Bibles and open them up to
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  the New Testament book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter
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  6 just picking up where we left off Hebrews 6
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  we're gonna do Approximately 9 through 20, but
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  as is usual with the very word of God Sometimes
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  you bite off more than you can chew You think
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  you can cover it? And then you start to study
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  and realize, you know nothing. And so therefore,
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  I think we're probably going to divide this section
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  into two different sermons, but there is a unifying
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  theme throughout this particular passage, and
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  it's the theme of hope. And I believe that's
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  something that we all need right now. And so
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  would you listen, would you follow along to this
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  word of hope from Hebrews chapter six, verses
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  nine through 20? Though we speak in this way,
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  yet in your case beloved, we feel sure of better
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  things, things that belong to salvation. For
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  God is not unjust so as to overlook your work
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  and the love that you have shown for His name
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  in serving the saints as you still do. And we
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  desire each one of you to show the same earnestness.
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  to have the full assurance of hope until the
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  end, so you may not be sluggish, but imitators
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  of those who through faith and patience inherit
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  the promises. For when God made a promise to
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  Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom
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  to swear, he swore by himself, saying, surely
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  I will bless you and multiply you. And thus Abraham,
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  having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
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  For people swear by something greater than themselves
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  and then all of their disputes and oath is final
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  for confirmation. So when God desired to show
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  more convincingly to the heirs of the promise,
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  the unchangeable character of his purpose, he
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  guaranteed it with an oath. So that by two unchangeable
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  things in which it is impossible for God to lie,
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  We who have fled for refuge might have strong
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  encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before
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  us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor
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  of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner
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  place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone
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  as a forerunner on our behalf, having become
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  a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
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  This is God's holy word. Let us pray. Would you
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  guide us, O God, by your word and your spirit
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  that in your light we may see light, that in
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  your truth we would find wisdom, and that we
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  would indeed have the comfort and the hope that
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  we need in Christ Jesus through whose name we
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  do pray. Amen. Between October 20th and October
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  26th, At least 60 Christians were killed in Ethiopia.
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  On Friday, October 23rd, nine believers were
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  attacked in Jordan and killed while attending
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  a service. Call for Prayer continues to go up
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  for Christians living in the Congo who are at
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  risk of the same sort of treatment that they
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  have been enduring for years and for decades.
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  And according to various figures, more than 4
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  ,000 Christians have been killed just this year
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  in the country of Nigeria. Today, as Dalton mentioned,
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  is remembered by many to be the International
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  Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. And
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  we indeed are to pray. And to that end, I've
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  placed some materials on the back table to help
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  you pray for these brothers and these sisters
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  in Christ. And I started to think, what do these
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  people need perhaps more than anything else?
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  What do they need to get them through the next
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  day? And I believe that what they need is hope.
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  They need hope. But it's not just them. Not just
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  them. It's all of us. We need hope. And God's
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  word delivers. I saw what someone say this week.
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  Hope is faith. the future tense Friends Christianity
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  is the only religion in the world that provides
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  real hope because Christianity is the only religion
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  in the world that is true And so your hope is
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  found in Christ Jesus. I want you to be encouraged
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  in your faith I want you to have that hope and
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  I want you to see that if you are in Christ You'll
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  never be taken away from his hand He is our hope
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  and this is where the passage is going Look at
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  verse 9, though we speak in this way, yet in
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  your case beloved, we feel sure of better things.
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  What are the better things? Well, you have remembered
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  if you were here last week or maybe you heard
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  it online, you heard that the writer of Hebrews
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  has come with a strong, heavy warning to them.
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  He has spoken in a very stern way to these people
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  and their lack of faith or their dullness of
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  hearing. He says, and he writes to them now in
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  such a tender way because he doesn't believe
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  that they are apostate. He just warns them against
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  it. He warns them against fleeing from Christ
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  under the threat of persecution, but now he's
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  speaking of better things. He's speaking of salvation.
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  He believes that the majority of his audience
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  are justified. adopted into God's family and
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  are being sanctified because he would not have
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  given a word of hope if he thought otherwise.
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  And so look at verse 10. For God is not unjust
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  so as to overlook your work and the love that
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  you've shown for his name and serving the saints
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  as you still do. The reason that he gives these
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  better words is really twofold. One, it's got
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  to do with his promises. that God fulfills all
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  of his promises, but secondly it has to do with
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  their service towards God and towards one another.
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  Now this does not mean that they earn their salvation
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  by no means. God is the one who promises salvation
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  and God is the one who accomplishes salvation
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  through Jesus Christ. He says though that their
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  faith, their service is their evidence of being
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  in Christ. He says, I will not be unjust towards
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  you. And he does mention this service, doesn't
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  he? Service towards God and towards one another.
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  And in this way, it reminds me of Second Thessalonians,
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  chapter one, verse three. We ought always to
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  give thanks to you, God. For you, brothers, it
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  is right that because your faith is growing abundantly,
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  the love every one of you that you have for one
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  another is increasing. Paul writing to the Thessalonians,
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  note how they are growing in Christ. They're
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  growing in love towards one another. And certainly
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  that's what happens to us. As we come to Christ
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  Jesus, as we are brought to Him towards faith
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  in Him, our affections change and we have love
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  now for God and we have love for one another.
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  And so what the writer here is doing, I believe,
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  is to speak to their tender consciences for those
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  who have been wondering, am I in danger of drifting
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  off, of falling away from Christ? Am I apostate?
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  He writes to them affectionately to say, your
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  love, your service towards one another is evidence
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  of your being in Christ. It's very reminiscent
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  of Jesus. who said to his disciples in John chapter
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  13, they will know you are my disciples by your
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  love. They will know that you belong to me in
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  the way that you are towards one another. And
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  not only does the gospel of John pick up on this
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  theme, but the writer is the same. And so John,
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  1 John chapter 2, verses 9 and 10 say, whoever
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  says he is in the light, and hates his brother
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  is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother
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  abides in the light. Friends, are you abiding
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  in the light? You might say, well, how do I know
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  if I am? Well, one of the evidences given is
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  your love for others. But at the same time, verse
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  10, it's kind of tricky to understand because
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  it does mention they're serving the saints, but
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  it also mentions the love that he was shown for
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  his name. And so we might be looking at verse
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  10 saying, is it talking about their love for
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  God? Or is it talking about their love for one
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  another? Well, friends, these two things, these
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  two ideas, these two loves don't contradict at
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  all, do they? And so whatever it's talking about,
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  it's talking about obedient love, because isn't
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  that what Jesus said to do? You shall love the
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  Lord your God with all of your heart and with
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  all of your mind and with all of your soul. But
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  then what does he say? You shall love your neighbor
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  as yourself. And so regardless of where the love
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  is directed, it is obedient love. And what the
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  text says is that God doesn't overlook that.
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  He does not overlook that. And God doesn't give
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  us commands to love just to give us busy work.
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  No, this is evidence of our being in Him. That
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  we were made for good works towards one another.
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  And so friends, the good works you've been called
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  to do, they are essential to the Christian life.
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  They're essential for others to see. Christ in
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  us, but they're also helpful for helping us see
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  that Christ is, yes, in us. And so, yes, he is
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  writing to them. He is encouraging their hearts.
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  And the way that he writes to them reminds me
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  of Second Corinthians, Chapter two, which is
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  really a chapter about discipline. And yet there's
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  affection, there is tenderness and gentleness
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  in there. If you remember Second Corinthians,
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  Chapter two, Paul writes to them to show them
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  how they are to be towards one another when they
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  fall into sin. And so he says, punish the sinner.
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  But he doesn't stop there because then the next
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  thing that Paul says is to forgive and then to
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  comfort. Quite honestly, this is how you are
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  towards your children, isn't it? When when your
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  children or really when anybody realizes the
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  error of their ways and seeks to repent. Yes,
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  there might be discipline, there might be punishment,
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  but then what do you do with your children? You
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  wrap them up in your arms, don't you? And you
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  comfort them. You don't leave them wallowing
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  in their sin, in their grief. And that's exactly
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  what the writer is doing here in Hebrews. He
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  has spoken very sternly towards them about their
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  dullness of hearing, but now what does he say?
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  Friends, He gives them the hope that they need
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  as he writes of promises. Look at verses 11 and
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  12. And we desire each one of you to show the
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  same earnestness, to have the full assurance
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  of hope until the end. He is telling them, press
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  on, press on with your good works towards God,
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  towards one another. It's very reminiscent of
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  Galatians chapter six, verse nine. Do not grow
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  weary in doing what is right, for you will reap
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  at harvest time if you do not give up. Isn't
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  that a promise? And isn't that encouragement
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  that we need to keep serving one another and
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  so that they would be certain of these things?
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  He gives them an illustration in verse 13 and
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  onward. So look there. You know that when I'm
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  preaching or others are preaching sometimes we'll
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  have illustrations, stories within a sermon,
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  and that's kind of what the writer of Hebrews
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  is doing here. He's going to take them back to
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  a story, a story of Scripture. He's going to
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  take them back to Abraham. And if you remember
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  Abraham's story very well, it's full of promises,
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  of covenants, right? And so look at verse 17
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  Look at verse 17 So when God desired to show
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  more convincingly to the heirs of the promise
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  the unchangeable character of his purpose He
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  guaranteed it with an oath and so there are two
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  it speaks of two Unchangeable to use a good theological
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  term immutable things within the passage the
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  two things are the promise and the oath and then
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  it quotes from some other place in scripture.
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  Look at verse 14 saying, surely I will bless
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  you and multiply you. And so when you see those
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  quotation marks, you should be thinking this
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  is coming from somewhere else. Where else could
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  it be from? This one's coming from Genesis, Chapter
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  22. Again, you remember the life. I hope you
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  remember the life of Abraham and you remember
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  that in Genesis 12 and 15 and 17, God has made
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  promises to Abram, the promise of offspring too
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  numerous to count. And that's incredible. I don't
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  care who you are, but it's especially incredible
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  in that it's given to Abram, who is an old man
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  at this point, and has Sarah, his wife, who is
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  90. And at times, Abraham doesn't seem to believe
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  this promise because in Genesis 17, He laughs.
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  It seems preposterous, God, that you would fulfill
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  your promises even though I'm 100 years old.
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  But nothing shall be impossible with God. And
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  so a child is born, that child being Isaac. And
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  you can only imagine how Abram desired. He longed
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  for a son, and then God finally provides the
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  son. Alleluia, praise God. But then what does
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  God say to do? You are to sacrifice that child.
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  Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you
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  love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him
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  there as a burnt offering. And so Abraham, he
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  walks with his son. He cuts the wood. He gets
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  it all ready. And then Isaac, that son, asks
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  this most gut wrenching question. Dad, where
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  is the lamb for the sacrifice? Can you imagine
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  hearing that question, knowing what you were
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  told to do? Where is the lamb? And so Abraham
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  gets it all ready and he has the knife to plunge
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  into his son. And then in the last moment, God
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  stops him and says, do not lay your hand on the
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  boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know
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  that you fear God seeing you have not withheld
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  your son your only son from me and we know this
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  we know this of Abraham's obedience that he believed
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  the promise for what else could lead you to do
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  that he trusted God and Through that trust of
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  God. We know this also that Abrams name is changed
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  to Abraham the father of many nations. That name
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  comes to the one who nearly sacrificed his son.
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  And so there's the promise that God fulfills.
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  For all who are in faith are considered children
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  of the promise, right? But there's also the oath,
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  according to our text today. Any one of you ever
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  been in a courtroom under oath? I have. And I
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  would prefer to never have to do that again.
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  But the defendant in the case told me that if
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  I would testify on his behalf, he and his family
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  would take me to Denny's afterwards. So I said
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  yes. But why do we do that? Why do we take O's?
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  We are saying, I am telling the whole truth,
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  right? And antiquity for an oath to be taken
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  was a serious matter, and it should be today.
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  But in these days with Abraham, to take an oath
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  was to promise such a commitment to truth that
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  should you speak falsely, you're inviting the
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  Lord's wrath upon yourself. Pastor Dennis Johnson
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  says to take an oath was to seal one's word with
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  one's very life. But what about when God is the
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  one who takes the oath? What happens then? Well,
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  I've mentioned Genesis 12, I've mentioned Genesis
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  17, I've mentioned Genesis chapter 22, but what
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  about Genesis 15? Because it's not just that
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  Abraham was promised children, too many to count.
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  Abraham was also promised land and Abraham asks
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  the Lord, how am I to know that I shall possess
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  it? He's asking for assurance. And God provides,
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  within that chapter, God provides a heifer, a
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  goat, a ram, a turtle dove, and a pigeon. And
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  they're all cut in half. Quite literally, cutting
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  a covenant. The animals are cut in half. And
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  then the Lord causes a deep sleep to fall upon
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  Abram. And the Lord, manifested by a smoking
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  pot and a flaming torch, passes through the pieces.
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  Notice Abram still asleep. Abram doesn't pass
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  through the pieces of the animals. Yahweh does.
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  Yahweh passes through them. Yahweh is saying,
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  I'm going to keep all of the parts of this covenant.
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  And should I fail to keep any of it, that I would
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  be torn asunder like these animals. God is saying
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  that if I do not keep the covenant, place a curse
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  upon myself and so look back at our text at verse
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  13 because I believe this is alluding to that
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  for when God made a promise to Abraham since
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  he had no one greater by whom to swear he swore
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  by himself this is reminiscent of Isaiah 45 23
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  by myself I have sworn from my mouth has gone
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  out in righteousness a word that cannot return
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  Friends, God doesn't swear an oath because he's
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  in danger of not keeping it. We're told in the
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  text he doesn't lie. It's impossible for him.
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  So what is he doing? He swears an oath to strengthen
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  our faith in him that he never breaks his promises.
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  His word cannot fail. It cannot return void that
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  when God speaks, he really speaks. Commentator
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  Robert Kara says, ultimately, one cannot have
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  a higher authority than God speaking in scripture.
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  And this should give us the hope that we need,
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  shouldn't it? To know that God is true, he is
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  honest, he is perfect, he brings everything to
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  fruition that he promises. Yes, it's true, friends.
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  Jesus is the yes. and the amen to all of the
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  promises of God. And yet I think that we need
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  assurance of this. We'll think about the questions
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  that I have posed from scripture. Abram asking,
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  how am I to know that I'll possess the land?
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  Or Isaac, dad, where is the lamb? What are they
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  asking for? They're asking for assurance. They're
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  saying, where is the object of the oath? Where
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  is the hope? We'll look at verse 19. The hope
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  is the one who went behind the curtain. The hope
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  is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The hope is in the
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  one who is put up on that cross for you. Jesus
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  is the Son's sacrifice. Jesus is the spotless
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  lamb who underwent our punishment for us because
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  we know this about ourselves, that we have all
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  fallen short of the glory of God, that we struggle,
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  that we battle against sin every single day.
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  It's what we needed was somebody to do it for
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  us to keep the law for us and ultimately to be
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  declared guilty for us because what happens as
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  we consider that Jesus is the propitiation for
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  our sins that Jesus in the courtroom of God is
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  declared guilty for you And he gave up his life
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  on that cross and underwent all of the very wrath
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  of God for you. And yet Jesus didn't stay on
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  that cross, did he? He didn't stay in the grave
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  either because he lives forever as our great
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  high priest. And there is no taking that away
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  from you. There is no taking you out of the Lamb's
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  book of life. It cannot happen because what Jesus
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  did for you He'll keep doing for you and he'll
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  bring you all of the way home Today, I was reflecting
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  on how yes, it is the International Day of Prayer
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  for the persecuted church, but as Dalton mentioned
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  It's also reformation season, isn't it? Maybe
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  you were visiting with people. Did anybody say
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  to you happy reformation day? It is happy Because
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  what the reformers did was take us back to the
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  truth of scripture And so I started thinking
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  about those reformers. I started thinking about
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  Luther and Calvin and Zwingli and Knox. But then
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  I started to think about it's no accident that
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  the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted
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  Church happens at the same time as we celebrate
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  the Reformation. And so I started thinking this
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  morning about Jan Hus. Do you remember Jan Hus?
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  He was the pre -reformer before Luther in the
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  1400s who took the people of modern -day Czech
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  Republic in Prague back to the scriptures and
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  the people of Rome. The Catholics did not like
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  this and so they summoned him. They said you
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  must appear at the Council of Constance but we
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  promise you you will have safety. We promise
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  you that you will return home and so he went
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  to the Council of Constance. But their promises
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  were flimsy and so they locked him in a cage
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  And they put him in a dungeon a prison and they
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  held him there for nine months but even in those
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  nine months As they prepared to tie him to a
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  stake and light a fire around him. He said this
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  I Trust in the Lord God Almighty That he will
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  not take away from me the cup of redemption But
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  I firmly hope to drink from it today in his kingdom
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  And so the wood is prepared and the fire is lit
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  with husks right in the middle of it and during
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  his martyrdom He sang and he prayed and he prayed
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  for his persecutors Isn't that what Jesus did
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  and isn't that what Jesus teaches us to do? Yes
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  friends. We are to continue reforming the church,
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  but what I really want you to hear today is do
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  not lose heart. Do not lose heart. We're not
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  in danger right now of those things that we read
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  about in Nigeria or Eritrea or Pakistan or Rwanda
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  or wherever it might be. But I know what some
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  of you are going through and I know how heavy
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  your hearts are. Be it the loss of a loved one.
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  Be it concerns about the future. Be it concerns
• 28:00
  about a loved one. Whatever it is, friends, we
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  need the hope of Christ, but this tells us that
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  Jesus Christ is the anchor for our souls. And
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  so no matter what you are going through, stand
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  firm in the faith, hold on to Christ, and know
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  that He is holding on to you. Let's pray.