The Book of Hebrews 6:13-20 "An anchor of the Soul, Part II"

Proceed through this passage. We've actually been stepping our way through it the last couple of weeks and especially focusing on the last couple of verses 19 and 20. And so we'll kind of do some quick review of the verses before so we get the context. One of the points we've been making and that applies to verse 13 through 18 here, God is the promise maker. He's the one who makes promises. He made promises to Abraham and those are prominent.

He made promises he was not obligated to make. He didn't have to make them, but he graciously chose to do just that. Abraham did not deserve the promises nor earn them. That's the other part of it. They were graciously made promises. God is the promise maker. God made promises to Abraham with an oath.

The oath was not necessary, however, because God is an unchanging and truthful being. He doesn't need to make an oath, as human beings do. He doesn't need it, but he graciously accommodates our human character and makes an oath anyway, even setting aside the implied insult that he would have to make an oath.

God is not only the promise maker here, but God graciously made gracious promises to Abraham. Why do I say graciously twice? He graciously, that is, he gave an oath when he didn't have to, and he made gracious promises to Abraham. He made gracious promises because they were promises that did not require Abraham to do something in order to earn them or deserve them. He made gracious promises graciously.

Abraham's response was not to do something to deserve or earn them, but rather to simply to believe what God had promised. God is not only the promise maker, but he's the promise keeper. God is the promise keeper. When God makes a promise, he doesn't forget it. He doesn't ignore it. He doesn't change his mind. He doesn't make a promise to Abraham and say, well, wait a minute, I've rethought that. He doesn't do that.

The rest of the Bible after Genesis 12 is about the extension and fulfillment of the promises that God made to Abraham. If you want to look for a summary, what's the rest of the Bible about starting from Genesis 12? It's the extension and fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. That's the quick summary of the Bible. God is still fulfilling his promises made to Abraham and other promises built on those promises and will fulfill all of those promises until the end of this present heavens and earth, and on into the new heavens and earth, the next one. God will be fulfilling the promises to Abraham when this world here is completely done away with. Still be fulfilling those promises.

Now, Hebrews 6, 17, and 18, to give us kind of a preface here, entering in those last couple of verses, in the same way God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed with an oath so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. That sets the stage for the verses we'll be going into here.

Now, we who have taken refuge, the Old Testament makes frequent references to God as the one in whom we take refuge. Those who put their trust in Him take refuge in Him. This would be an example, but just one. Psalm 62, 7 and 8, O God, my salvation and my glory rest the rock of my strength. My refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah, which means pause and think calmly about that, right? So the author of Hebrews is telling us that those who have trusted in Christ for salvation have taken refuge. We have taken refuge in the Lord.

We also pointed out in verse 18 last week this set of words, take hold of the hope set before us. One way to put this is that By all God's doing, we have a marvelous and graciously provided position in Christ that includes our unique hope. Our hope is not just hopefulness, it's actually a part of our position in Christ. Taking hold of it is a matter of our daily condition. So we have eternal position, and now our daily condition, moment by moment. We do that by faith. and what God has said and what He's done and what He's revealed because He loves us. To take hold means we walk by faith in what God's revealed to us in His Word. That's what it means to take hold.

Now, we've also pointed out last week our hope does more than float. The hope that this passage is talking about is not just an I hope so kind of hope. It's not just I hope that the probabilities turn out favorable. It's not just a hope of a possible outcome. I hope this works out okay. I hope this happens instead of that. It's not that kind of a hope. It's also not just a feeling of hopefulness. It's not about our subjective feeling of hopefulness. This hope is objective and it's about our eternal position. It is an absolutely certain hope that we have as believers.

We are certain of the outcome because the unchangeable God who always tells us the truth and who keeps his promises has told us how it's going to turn out. Quick summary, there are about 10,000 individual promises and prophecies in scripture. About 10,000 when you break it down into all these little things. about 5,000 of those have been fulfilled the other 5,000 are yet to be fulfilled and they start with the rapture they start with the tribulation period for seven years and then a thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth when we come back with him those 5,000 prophecies are yet to be fulfilled and those are all in great part a part of the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham now Hebrews 619 This hope that we have is an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil. Now let's talk about that. So this hope is how it begins. This hope that we have is something unique to believers in Christ.

Other people don't have this kind of hope. Not like us. It's unique because it's absolutely certain. It's not an I hope so kind of hope. It's not about our subjective feeling of hopefulness. It is a hope that is a part of our position. It's also unique because it's not centered on a set of circumstances.

People are always saying, I hope this turns out this way. I hope this circumstance is like that. In fact, some people even get mad at God if it doesn't turn out that way, right? This instead is a hope that is centered upon Christ and is absolutely certain.

As to the location, our hope is heavenly, as we'll soon see. Our hope is heavenly. You see, our citizenship is heavenly. Our seating is heavenly. Hebrews has said we have a heavenly calling. And our hope is heavenly. This is also the place where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Everything's in the heavenlies. For us, that's where it's at.

1st Timothy 1.1, Paul wrote to Timothy, and that's his first letter. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus who is our hope. Let me repeat that again. Christ Jesus who is our hope. Our hope is personal. It's not circumstantial. It's personal. It's in Christ. Period. That's it.

1st Peter 1.13 talks about fixing our hope in Christ.

It has to do with our hope that is objective. Now we set our minds, we set our hearts on this certain hope. Therefore prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Fix your hope completely. That's where it's at. Fix our hope completely on that objective hope.

I bring up this, not because we're going to go through it in detail, but for one thing. There are five crowns and three rewards mentioned for Christian believers in the New Testament, and they're identified here. The third one I want to point out is a rapture lover's crown, 2 Timothy 4.8. Do you know that there's an eternal crown and reward for you for looking for the Lord's coming? That's all you've got to do, is look for His coming. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be revealed, and you'll get an eternal reward for that.

Isn't that cool? I mean, that's simple. That's real easy. And nothing complicated. Just keep looking for the rapture. And God says, I'll give you a crown for that forever. That's cool. That's cool. And what is this crown? This crown is a capacity to glorify the Lord forever. And it's given to those who look for His coming. Alright, this is what the crown, the particular word for crown, is not a diadem crown, but it's a victor's crown in athletic competition.

Now this word pair we have at Holly Hills where we talk often, and it's a good thing, about our position that we have in Christ. But there's also something else to point out. There's something that comes from our position, and that's possessions, spiritual possessions. And we put it this way, because of our position, we have possessions. Hey, got that? Because of our position, we have possessions. Let me give you examples.

Galatians 2.4, Paul writes to the believers in Galatia, our liberty, which we have, where? In Christ. Our position is in Christ. Our possession is the liberty. So we have possessions because of our position. Here's another one.

Ephesians 1.7. In Him, that's our position, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. That's our possession. So in our position we have possessions.

And you can look for that. These aren't the only places. But that's one thing we have here. Our hope. Our hope is a possession we have because of our position. And that's true here in this verse too. This hope we have is an anchor of the soul. The words above begin the passage we're looking at this week. So this set of words, the hope we have is an anchor of the soul.

An anchor was used just like today in ancient times to keep a ship from drifting out. And they would do it sometimes in more ways than one. It's a Christian symbol, actually, in the early church. It's kind of been lost to us today. In the early church, a lot of the grave markers would show an anchor because they understood this passage here, that Christ is an anchor to the soul. As a matter of fact, in the catacombs in Rome, there are at least 66 of these anchors marked down in those catacombs. because they saw this anchor of the soul as being a key thing. That here I am here on this planet, but I've got an anchor in Christ. I've got an anchor in Christ.

I'm not going to drift. So in ancient times, a ship would set an anchor sometimes by lowering it, but also by carrying the anchor in a smaller boat and then taking it on shore and then hooking it into rocks and things on shore, maybe even a tree on shore. but using the anchor to keep them from drifting away too far from the shoreline. There were two things about an anchor that would make it have a secure hold. First one is a solid and rugged construction of the anchor itself, something where the anchor wouldn't snap or bend. But the other thing was a secure attachment to the shore. And typically, they'd go and look for large rocks where they could hook the anchor around these large rocks. So those two things, they'd look for a good, solid anchor and then attach to things on shore where it wouldn't slip away or move.

So a spiritual anchor is well made since God is the one who made our spiritual anchor. It's well built because he built it. And secondly, our spiritual anchor is attached to Christ. It doesn't get any more solid and secure than that. Our spiritual anchor is attached to Christ. In Christ, we have a hope that is totally secure, completely assured, and absolutely certain. We have, in Christ, an anchor of the soul, a certain and fixed hope. Now, we have these words sure and steadfast in verse 19. The New International Version, the NIV Bible, has these words firm and secure, and I think that's a good way to bring it across.

If an anchor is set in place, the intent is that the anchor is going to hold. You're not going to have the anchor start slipping and dragging and going through the sand, and the ship get lost as a result. It won't break loose. It won't slip. So the anchor should be firm and secure. That was the intent. And so you'd have wild, crazy waves out there, but still the ship would not drift. So that's the way our spiritual anchor is with Christ. No breaking loose. No slipping. A firm, secure, solid hold, even if everything else out in the world is breaking loose.

All of us have been through those kinds of circumstances and probably will go through them again. You may even be going through crazy circumstances like that now, where there's just wild times out there. Circumstances that may be in the world around you, maybe with your body's not functioning like it ought to, right? But difficult times can come, but an anchor of the soul in Christ is exactly what we need for those times.

Now, one which enters within the veil. I need to do some explaining here. In the earthly temple in Jerusalem, there was a veil in front of the Holy of Holies. This is a veil that was torn in two when Christ was crucified. So Exodus 26.33 describes that veil. And just so we can get some context, this is a model of Jerusalem from the New Testament era looking west.

And so then as we come zero in on that, on the temple courtyard, that temple courtyard was about six football fields in the area. And the middle part of that, the buildings and the walls there, was the area that only Jews could go. And there were certain qualifications for each section.

So zeroing in on that inner part of the temple, in that, and you have this on page two of your handout, It shows a veil between the holy place, and you see the front entry to that at the front of this building that's standing there. At the holy place, they would have a front entry door and then there was a veil inside. that was between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. And one of the things I'll point out is the veil went all the way across. The label there doesn't imply that there was a break in it. So you had a veil all the way across. And a similar thing in the tabernacle out in the wilderness before they even built the temple, where they had a veil between the front part, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. So there the high priest served to represent the Jewish people. The high priest would go before the Lord and represent the Jewish people there in the inner part of the temple.

So in the heavenly temple there is a veil in front of the place where Jesus, our high priest, represents us. So the earthly temple is a copy or a shadow of the reality what is there in the heavenlies now. It is there where Christ, our High Priest, represents us. There in the heavenly temple. It's behind that veil that we have an anchor with a firm hold Christ, who serves as our High Priest, representing us before God. There in that heavenly temple.

That heavenly temple is referred to repeatedly in the book of Revelation, and we'll talk about that here shortly. Now let's look at Hebrews 19 and 20 together so we can move on into context with verse 20. So this hope that we have is an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So this place where Jesus has entered in the heavenly temple Jesus has entered to minister as our Heavenly High Priest. He is there now. He has been representing us before God. He is there because he's qualified, he is holy, he is innocent and undefiled, separate from sinners.

We'll see those words when we get to Hebrews 7.26. Jesus is qualified as our Heavenly High Priest. Hebrews 3, 1, and 2, which we studied some weeks back, reads like this. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle, that's a special messenger, and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him. Jesus is qualified by his faithfulness. He is qualified by his holy, innocent, undefiled, and separate character. Now it also says in here he's a forerunner. And I'm not talking about this thing. Not that. Alright. Jesus is a forerunner. And what do we mean by that?

All of the earthly high priests were human beings and nothing more. They were human beings and nothing more. And they went into the temple as human beings. In fulfilling their duties, they entered the earthly temple alone. They left the earthly temple and the other people never followed him in. So you couldn't say that that high priest was a forerunner because nobody else is going in there. Nobody. Only the high priest. Christ, on the other hand, is a forerunner for you and for me.

So what difference does that make? He's there in the heavenly temple now, serving as the high priest, representing us before God forever. And you and I will go there to join with Him. Right there in the heavenlies. That's what it means by a forerunner. We'll join Him. That never happened with the Jews in their temple. But we will go there and join him and be with him. That's why he's a forerunner. He's going there first so that we can join him and be with him. He will come and take his church to be with him and I hope it's today. I hope it's today.

Some human priests served for a short period of time. All of them died in the earthly temple there in Jerusalem. Even the ones out in the wilderness, no high priest served forever. Christ, in contrast, is our heavenly high priest. He represents us before God always, having been that once and final sacrifice. And there will never be a time when he does not represent us before God. Unlike all the others, he is and will be a high priest forever. He is and will be a high priest forever and we will join him.

Now according to the order of Melchizedek, this is now the third time that the order of Melchizedek has come up in the book of Hebrews. We're going to look at it more closely when we get to Hebrews chapter 7. In Hebrews chapter 7, we're going to see first off an account of Abraham and Melchizedek. And so we'll look more closely at Abraham's life and look more closely at Abraham's interaction with Melchizedek.

Now, Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. That's why he is qualified to reign as king. King of Israel and King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all the earth when we come with him and he comes again. So he is of the tribe of Judah. As a matter of fact, Hebrews is going to say it is evident that Jesus is of the tribe of Judah. That does not qualify him to be the high priest of the line of Aaron and of the tribe of Levi.

He is not qualified into that. He is instead qualified according to the order of Melchizedek. So Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek. One thing I want to clarify, he is not Melchizedek. Some folks have said, oh, Melchizedek is Jesus. No, he's of the order of Melchizedek, but he's not Melchizedek.

He is not of the line of Aaron. One of the things that I've seen is someone will make a drawing of Jesus as our high priest, and they'll show him in a Jewish High priest garment and that's not correct. He's not on the line of Aaron Okay, the high priest garment for the line of Aaron. They've got stones for each of the tribes Okay, Jesus is not a priest according to the line of Aaron He's a priest according to the order of Melchizedek as we'll see in a bit in our study here So in Christ we have again we have as a possession a because of our position.

In Christ we have an anchor of the soul, a hope that is certain and sure. And I think that's something as believers, we're going to go through all kinds of different things. Some of them will be difficult. All sorts of things will happen in our lives. But our anchor is in Christ himself. In Christ we have as a possession an anchor of the soul. A hope that is certain and sure. In Christ we also have a forerunner.

He as a high priest goes before us, but we're going to join him. He doesn't just go in like the high priest did in the Old Testament times and then come out alone. No, he goes in to be the high priest with us joining him. us joining Him. We will be with Him. And the Lord will come for us to take us to be with Him. And so this is an entirely different kind of high priest. This isn't an earthly high priest where he goes in alone, he comes out alone, and nobody else comes with him.

Instead, we will be with Him. And so this forerunner picture is something that gives us hope and fits in with all the other promises that we will be with Him. 1 Thessalonians 4 talks about, and forever we will be with the Lord. That fits in with this forerunner picture.

In Christ we have a heavenly high priest who represents us before the Father as no other earthly high priest could ever represent anyone. He is also the once and final sacrifice. You see, the earthly high priest would come in, and he'd do a sacrifice, and next year he'd do another one, and the next year he'd do another one, and next year he'd do another one, and that high priest would eventually die, and then another one would go in, and he'd make another sacrifice, and then another one, and every year you'd have to do it again, and again, and again. Christ, as our high priest, doesn't die. He's a forerunner before us. We will join Him. And He's already been the once and final sacrifice. He needs make no other sacrifice. He presents His sacrifice to the Father. And that's it. It covers that and all the rest of them.

In Isaiah chapter 6 and in the book of Revelation, the throne room of heaven is also the temple. And sometimes people get confused, wait a minute, is that heaven the throne room or is it the temple? Yes. It's both. As a matter of fact, if you look through the various passages in Revelation, it talks about the temple which is the throne room, repeatedly. The temple which is the throne room.

This place where we have heavenly seating, this place where we have a citizenship, this place where we have a heavenly calling, this place where we're called to set our minds on things above, is indeed the throne room. God's in control, God's in charge, but it is also the temple as well. It is the place where Christ not only reigns from the heavenlies, where we're seated with him, but it is also the place where he represents us before God. He serves as our heavenly high priest there in the throne room of heaven and there in the temple.

And what is amazing is that we now have access to that room. And believe it or not, our access is astounding. The book of Revelation spells out that our prayers are held in golden bowls. You know, you pray something and you say, I wonder if God heard anything. Ever have that happen? You wonder, what happens to our prayers when they go there? When they go before the Lord?

They're held in golden bowls. He values them highly. He values them highly. So that's the place where it is the throne room of God. That's the place where being represented by Christ, our heavenly high priest, that's the place where our prayers are valued, held in golden bowls, as Revelation puts them.

Let's go to our Lord now. Lord, we're thankful that we can go before you into this heavenly throne room. We're thankful that we can count upon you to be our anchor of the soul. We thank you Lord that we can bring our concerns and requests before you. And we do thank you for the awesome privilege we have to bring before the Creator and Lord of the entire universe. the thoughts of our hearts and that you value what we present before you and you do care indeed what we say to you. And we thank you for the insights here from this passage here this morning. And we thank you that we have an anchor and a forerunner that we can count on. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.